title: The Sky Is Pink

text: The film's casting news first appeared in the media in May 2018, suggesting Chopra Jonas, Abhishek Bachchan and Zaira Wasim had been cast in Bose's next untitled project. The media reports suggested Wasim had been cast as Aisha Chaudhary with Chopra and Bachchan playing her character's parents. A month later, media reports said Farhan Akhtar, who was also one of Bose's top choices, had replaced Bachchan and would be playing the father. Chopra Jonas confirmed her involvement in the film on 9 July 2018 by posting a picture of the script of "The Sky Is Pink" on her Instagram account, revealing the film's title. The official announcement followed the next day, confirming Akhtar's and Wasim's casting in the film.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Sky Is Pink" is the second film to feature Chopra Jonas and Akhtar opposite each other after "Dil Dhadakne Do" (2015). Bose had said Aisha's brother Ishaan was the most difficult character to cast; the casting directors auditioned hundred boys for the part. Finally, Rohit Suresh Saraf was cast after four rounds of auditions over four months. "The Sky Is Pink" marked the return of Chopra Jonas to Bollywood films after three years being busy with her Hollywood work. After accepting her role in the film, Chopra Jonas asked Kapur and Screwvala to join them as the producer because she believed in the film, wanted to take more responsibility for it and learn about producing from them. Kapur and Screwvala, both frequent collaborators of Chopra Jonas, who had starred in several of their films under UTV, agreed to engage Chopra Jonas as a producer, making "The Sky Is Pink" making the first Hindi film to be produced under her company Purple Pebble Pictures. Bose had organized workshops for the actors, who did several rehearsals before the start of filming.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Chopra Jonas was drawn to the film because of the story and the way it was written, saying she found the treatment of a heavy subject with humour refreshing and beautiful. Chopra Jonas found her character Aditi immersive and described her as "a ferocious mom". Chopra Jonas did a lot of preparations and research before the filming and also met the real-life Aditi. Bose was opposed to Chopra Jonas meeting Aditi but Chopra Jonas was adamant the meeting must go ahead because Aditi treated the situation differently than her husband and she felt like she needed to have those difficult conversations with Aditi. According to Chopra Jonas, she was also dependent on Bose and would ask a lot of questions about the character. She learnt a lot from Bose and Aditi, and Bose's interpretation of Aditi. Chopra Jonas said, "I'm not a mother, I needed to understand from both Aditi and Shonali who have both lost their children ... where does that take you? What do you feel in your heart?" She said Aditi reminded of her of own mother and chose to channel her in Aditi. Chopra Jonas, who had no children, found the role challenging, saying the "film was scaring me in every scene" but felt the role made her experience two aspects of motherhood.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Akhtar chose to appear in "The Sky Is Pink" because of the story, which he found "moving and incredibly inspiring", and the people involved in the film. Akhtar also relied on Bose's vision of Niren to form his character. Akhtar was also instructed to not meet the real-life Aditi and Niren before filming; Bose did not want her actors to be influenced by or to imitate the film's subjects. Akhtar was given filmed interviews of the family for research, and also found that the research material in the form of writing and the footage helped him create his own version of Niren. Akhtar met Niren while filming; he felt he and Niren had a lot in common. Being a parent, Akhtar found easy to relate to his character; he said, "the challenge was not in feeling the kind of parental love I needed to evoke, but imagining what losing a child could potentially feel like". The actor said he chose not to over-dramatise his portrayal because "the real parents never over-dramatised their situation". Akhtar revealed that Aditi and Niren dealt with the situation in such a normal way that it would seem very abnormal to others and would invite the question of "How are they happy and smiling all the time?" He said, "They wanted to give their daughter a joyous life ... they didn't want her to be mournful and keep thinking about the end, they just wanted her to be happy as long as she was here ...It's so, so inspiring".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Like Chopra and Akhtar, Wasim was and drawn to the story of the film and said she had immediately fallen in love with it. Wasim said her character touched her heart and that she was honoured to be playing this role. Saraf described his character Ishaan as someone who becomes the pillar of the family during the tragedy. He said portraying the character was delightful because he could explore human emotions a lot more than he had before in his career. Unlike the rest of the cast, Saraf was not allowed to see the documented footage of the Chaudhary family because Bose thought he would not be able to take it well. To prepare for his character, Saraf had researched the Chaudhary family during the audition process. After his casting, he stopped his research and relied mostly on Bose's advice and the collaborative efforts of the cast, which he said enhanced his performance.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Costume designer Eka Lakhani designed the clothes for the film, which spans 25 years, during which Aditi's and Niren's looks undergo several changes as they age. These changes were mostly accomplished with make-up and hair styling. Chopra Jonas's hairstyle informs the age of her character; when her character is young, her hair is long and shortens as she ages in the film; at 50 she has short hair. Staying true to the real-life Aditi, Chopra Jonas was given a glamorous and make-up-heavy look because Aditi had made an effort to look glamorous and, throughout her 40s, her philosophy was "when life sucks, look like a million bucks". Chopra Jonas had suggested she should put on some weight and colour her hair grey to show her character's aging in the film but Bose declined her request. Bose thought it would be a cliché to show Aditi as dowdy in the later portions of the film because the real Aditi is very glamorous and likes to dress up, even in difficult times. When he is young, Akhtar's character Niren has curly hair but as he ages, he is given a moustache in the later portions of the film.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Principal photography of "The Sky Is Pink" began on 8 August 2018 in Mumbai with all of its cast members. The cinematographers were Kartik Vijay and Nick Cooke, and production design was done by Aradhana Seth. The second schedule of filming began on 13 October 2018 in London. The London schedule lasted six days and concluded on 19 October 2018. Filming moved to Delhi as a part of the second schedule on 12 November 2018. The scenes were filmed at several locations in Delhi, including Chandani Chowk, which Bose specifically chose to show the culture of the locality on film. Bose said, "Delhi has a lot of character and every locality means something. You can capture its beauty in the greenery here, the charm of old Delhi – this mix is very interesting." While filming in the locality, a "sea of people" gathered to watch Chopra and Akhtar, who were filming their scenes on a terrace. The second schedule of the film was completed in the last week of November. Chopra, who was getting married on 1 December 2018, filmed her scenes up until four days before her wedding to Nick Jonas. The film's producer Siddharth Roy Kapur praised Chopra Jonas for her commitment, saying, "Priyanka has been wonderful. She will be shooting with us right till the very eve of her nuptials, which I think shows a tremendous amount of professionalism." The producers and Bose were accommodating; they created a separate "wedding approvals room" for Chopra Jonas so she could discuss her wedding preparations with her team between filming her scenes.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: In February 2019, Bose announced the final schedule of filming would occur in March. The final schedule began in the Andaman Islands on 1 March 2019 and continued until 9 March 2019 when the filming wrapped. Although the filming was completed, Bose said a song was still to be filmed. The filming of the song started on 6 June 2019 in Mumbai and lasted five days. The song "Pink Gulaabi Sky" was supposed to feature as part of the plot but Bose felt it did not go with the flow of the story. The song was cut from the final film and was ultimately used for promotional purposes. Bose complimented the producers for agreeing with her decision to cut the song, saying, "When we shot the song, I thought that it was a fun number and looked lovely. Later, I was surprised to see that the makers are in sync with my view. Considering the fact that the team had spent a lot of money to shoot the song, it requires guts to take a decision like this". The filming was done over ten months. The film was edited by Manas Mittal.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Sky Is Pink" central theme of death and its acceptance was noted by many critics. Priyanka Roy of "The Telegraph" noted the melancholic theme and found its treatment in the film to be completely opposite, writing that the film "recognises the pain that arises from loss but it never makes loss the centre of what it wants to say". Subhash K. Jha said the director's conscious effort to keep the "going bouncy and bright" in spite of the looming presence of death could have gone horribly wrong but that "the war-cry to stay positive" is implemented with exceeding delicacy. According to Jha, the audience feel the presence of death underlining every moment of the film and yet the dilemma of mortality is "never trivialized, glamorized or underplayed". Jha felt that Bose's narrative sparkles with a "joie de vivre", adding, "There is an unstoppable gusto woven into the story's somber spirit, like a shot of rum in coke. Bracing and clarity-inducing."


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Ishita Sengupta of "The Indian Express" said the film goes beyond the central theme of "embracing death rather than feeling betrayed by it", commenting on the restroom scene in which Aditi and Niren talk after their daughter has died and Niren suggests a move to another country as a way to deal with their daughter's death and an astounded Aditi asking what will they do about their daughter's belongings. She noted Aditi was immersed in grief while Niren had moved on, saying "it no longer remains preoccupied with the act of letting go but delves into how much to let go of, asks who decides it and—mainly—how to". Sengupta said the film closely examines the "contours of grief" and the emotions surrounding it. Sengupta appreciated of the nonlinear narrative, which according to her makes the more sombre moments happier and offsets pathos with love. Bose, having lost her son, which resulted in end of her marriage, said she wanted to explore the relationship of couples who lose a child and its effects on their lives, often leading to the end of the marriage. Sengupta noted the director does not let mourning severe the ties between Aditi and Niren, writing, "It is not acceptance that brings Aditi and Niren together but the shared promise they had extracted in youth to stay with each other come what may. They do not fall back on who they have become but on who they were." Sengupta said the characters' reconciliation at the end of the film can be taken as "wish fulfillment" of Bose's own marriage or a compromise on reality from aching adversity. This sentiment was shared by Poulomi Das of Arré, who noted the film serves as both a post-mortem of the filmmaker's own fate and an exercise in second-hand catharsis or wish-fulfillment.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: According to Das, "The Sky Is Pink" examines the ethos of parenthood, noting the film feels less like a biopic of a dead teenager and more like an unabashed tribute to the parents, writing, "the afterlife of caregiving that depletes one while nourishing the other". She noted Bose had adopted a "curiously alternative gaze" to the dying girl template popularized by films such as "My Sister's Keeper" (2009) and "The Fault in Our Stars" (2014) to reverse conventions by focusing on the parents rather than the dying girl. A review published in "Mid-Day" said the film is about the resilience of parents "who move heaven and earth for the good of their children". The reviewer said, "the film smartly plays with the structure to dive audience deeper and deeper into the characters and circumstances on screen—rather than simply a plot", which makes audience emerge from "an astonishingly personal story navigating through dark spaces with reasonable hope and incredible insight".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Sonia Chopra of Sify said, "If the film's idea is to make you rethink life, it succeeds to a great extent. It also makes you think about choices and how they affect our lives. At one point, the film explores what constitutes a "right choice" and whether such a thing exists." She noted the humour and emotional pay-offs in the film while praising the director for going deeper while keeping things palatable, and said it makes us think about Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Anand" (1971). Bose said she told her own philosophy in the film, but she did not aim to teach anyone anything, saying, "I am simply showing you certain characters with certain relationships and things that happened to them. The fact that they are absolutely real and nothing is made up, may give you food for thought and inspire you a little".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Shrishti Negi of News18 noted "The Sky Is Pink" courageous and sobering portrayal of motherhood, calling Aditi a "ferociously protective mother" who uses her daughter's impending death to inspire her to live an eventful life. According to Negi, "Aditi's journey is just as crucial to the film in all its complex, transfixing and wrenching dynamics". This sentiment was echoed by Charvi Kathuria of SheThePeople, who wrote, "The movie is a subtle reminder for us to live our life to the fullest because we really don't know which day becomes our last day. Aditi knew that her daughter won't be alive for very long. She wanted her daughter to enjoy her life to the hilt."


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Bose said Aditi was a tigress (in terms of her children), who "came up with a mental bucket list for her daughter and made each moment count of her remaining short life". Nishi Trivedi of Bengaluru Central University noted the significance of the "metaphorical title", writing the film's message is "live life on your own terms", adding, "The idea that you can paint the sky with the colour you want gives a deeper meaning to the title of the film". The film's title comes from a real incident involving Aditi and Ishaan. An incident [as shown in the film] where Ishaan is unfairly punished at school for painting his sky pink instead of blue. Consoling the child, Aditi tells him that everyone has their own sky and they can paint it with whichever colour they like. Sonia Chopra took note of the scene calling it a "standout" moment. Bose told an interviewer: "I found a beautiful metaphor in this real incident where a mother teaches and encourages her child to think out of the box and not be bound by society's restrictions and preconceived notions".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: A review published in "HuffPost" took note of the colour palette used in the film, saying, "the dark shadow of death looms large over the film's bubblegum-wrapped, glossy universe". According to the reviewer, London's winters look "ominous" with the city's red Tube trains and telephone boxes popping out as "signages of gloom" in frames composed mostly of depressing greys, writing, "The frames (and the character wardrobes) light up as the film's mood progresses to become more cheerful, with dramatic reds, purples, and yellows illuminating the screen". Jha noted London to be a living character in the film.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: The music soundtrack to "The Sky Is Pink" was composed by Pritam and the lyrics were written by Gulzar. It contains four original songs and a reprisal, with vocals performed by Arijit Singh, Antara Mitra, Arjun Kanungo, Lisa Mishra, Shashwat Singh, Jonita Gandhi and Sreerama Chandra. The soundtrack album was released on 21 September 2019 by Zee Music Company. Though not a part of the main soundtrack, the film's closing credits include a song titled "For Aisha" that was composed by Aisha Chaudhary's brother Ishaan under his band name "Memba". The song is sung by the Nooran Sisters, Naomi Wild and Evan Giia. Anvita Dutt wrote the song with Memba, Wild and Giia.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Times of India" called the album "powerful", particularly praising the composition and the spellbinding lyrics of the song "Dil Hi Toh Hai". The review also complimented the "silk-like smooth" vocals of Mitra and Singh's "slow rock-like" performance on the duet. Nair of "The Hindu" called it a "hummable soundtrack" that "traverses familiar territories, but is an eminently enjoyable work", and said it is Pritam's best work of 2019 to that point. Nair declared "Zindagi" to be his favorite song on the album, noting its "beautiful melody" that almost "feels like a ghazal at times".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Sky Is Pink" was one of the most anticipated Indian films of 2019. Roy Kapur had hoped for the film to be released in the first half of 2019 but in February 2019, it was announced the film would be released on 11 October 2019. The first look of the film was released on 23 July 2019. Several exclusive stills from the film were released on 8 September 2019. The first poster was released on 9 September 2019 and Chopra Jonas tweeted that the official trailer would be released the next day. Firstpost commented that the "aesthetically-pleasing poster" looked "fun-filled and refreshing." The film's trailer was released on 10 September 2019. "HuffPost" said the film looked like a "winner" while "The New Indian Express" called the trailer "heart warming", noting it "promises to be a love story high on emotional quotient with an equal amount of humour".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: In July 2019, media reported "The Sky Is Pink" had been selected to premiere at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival. The only Asian film to be selected for "Gala Presentation", "The Sky Is Pink" premiered at the festival at the Roy Thomson Hall on 13 September 2019 and received a 15-minute standing ovation. The premiere was attended by 2,000 people and tickets sold out. The Chaudhary family were in the attendance at the premiere along with the cast, director and the producers. The premiere was followed by another sold-out screening at the Elgin Theatre. The film also premiered at the 24th Busan International Film Festival and the 2019 BFI London Film Festival.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: The promotion of the film started in the last week of September 2019. Chopra Jonas, Akhtar, Saraf and Bose took part in the promotion of the film but Wasim, who by the time of its release had retired from acting due to her religious beliefs, did not. After promoting the film in India, Chopra Jonas promoted it in the United States by appearing on American prime time talk show "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and the daytime talk show "The View". "The Sky Is Pink" became the first Hindi film to be promoted on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Made on a budget of 240 million, "The Sky Is Pink" was released on 11 October 2019. It received a limited release in the United States. Netflix brought the worldwide streaming rights of the film, a first for an Indian film. It became available on the platform on 11 December 2019. The film is also available on Apple TV Plus.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Sky Is Pink" received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . Devesh Sharma of "Filmfare" rated the film four stars out of five, lauding its ability to make viewers laugh despite its tragic undertone. He concluded, "this bitter-sweet film will make you laugh, will make you cry and will surely make you ruminate on the glorious uncertainty of life". Writing for "Mid-Day", film critic Mayank Shekhar rated "The Sky Is Pink" three and a half stars out of five, praising Bose for telling an "astonishingly dark personal story with reasonable hope" that never felt exploitative or manipulative. He complemented the "smart" screenplay, which he felt was structured to dive viewers "deeper and deeper" into the characters and circumstances on screen. In a three and a half stars out of five review, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com declared Chopra Jonas's "fiery performance" to be the film's highlight while also praising the performances of Akhtar, Wasim and Saraf.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Ankur Pathak of "HuffPost" called the film a "soul-stirring portrait of love, life and death" that is "cinematic equivalent of visiting a therapist". He singled out Chopra Jonas' "extraordinary" performance which he thought was "hard to look away from" while also noting Akhtar's "measured performance" and Wasim's "fantastic" turn. Sreeparna Sengupta of "The Times of India" gave the film three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a stirring watch" and noting the film scores high on the emotional quotient and the performances of its principal cast. Writing for NDTV, Saibal Chatterjee rated the film three and a half stars out of five, praised Bose for her direction and writing, and added it had been "enhanced appreciably by the presence of Chopra".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Writing for "Firstpost", Anna M. M. Vetticad said "The Sky Is Pink" is a "moving, uncommonly calm take on grief" which is "funny, believable and heart-wrenching all rolled into one". She praised Chopra Jonas for her "remarkably controlled performance", Akhtar for a solid turn and for matching Chopra Jonas's "simmering restraint", Wasim for her "cheeriness" and for not going "over the top", and Saraf's "matured performance". Teo Bugbee of "The New York Times" lauded Bose for achieving a balanced tone in the film, writing, "The writer and director Shonali Bose bounces from tone to tone, livening the somber subject matter with bright hues, quippy dialogue and an ever-jubilant score". Bugbee also highlighted the appeal of the performances, particularly that of Chopra Jonas. Samira Sood of "ThePrint" said the film is "an emotionally wrenching yet bitingly funny exploration of family and death". Vinayak Chakraborty of "Outlook" rated the film three stars out of five, criticising the "flashback-driven storyline" and its runtime, which he felt was too long at nearly two and half hours. He said, however, the film still works with all of its flaws. Anupama Chopra of "Film Companion" found the film to be "sensitive" but highly "sanitised". She wrote ""The Sky is Pink" is sincere and heartfelt but it never gets raw or messy". Rajeev Masand criticised the film's "blatant manipulation" but added, "there are moments that left me with a heavy heart". Both Anupama Chopra and Masand considered Akhtar's performance to be more effective than that of the other cast members while also praising the performances of Chopra Jonas and Wasim.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" rated "The Sky Is Pink" with two stars out of five, and said the film only occasionally works and that it feels "both constructed and sentimental", writing, "With the material at hand, you expect a legitimate heart-breaker but this one left me mostly unmoved". Cath Clarke of "The Guardian" dismissed the film as "way too saccharine" and said there are only "occasional moments ... that shine with truth". Dennis Harvey of "Variety" disliked "The Sky Is Pink" and wrote that the "somewhat bland polish on all levels doesn't much assist the raw pain that should be at this story's center". Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in also disliked the film, writing that the "attempt to be insouciant about death produces no emotional pay-offs". Ramnath found Wasim and Saraf to be "lovely"; Chopra Jonas to be "more affecting than Akhtar" but said Chopra Jonas' "perfectly made-up face and fashion-forwardness are huge distractions".


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: Being an "offbeat and niche" film targeting a mature audience in big cities, commercial expectations from "The Sky Is Pink" were low. In an interview with "Hindustan Times", trade analyst Girish Johar noted the business of the film largely relied on word of mouth, saying, "It is an upmarket film, a human drama for limited audience. It will release only in big cities and metros." The film collected 2.50 crore on the opening day and revenue was expected to grown the next day. The film showed 60% of growth on its second day and earned 4 crore. Revenue remained static on its third day, collecting 4 crore for an opening weekend collection of 10.70 crore at the domestic box office.


title: The Sky Is Pink

text: "The Sky Is Pink" faced strong competition from the Bollywood action thriller "War" and the comic book film "Joker", both of which were doing business exceeding the expectations of the trade. "The Sky Is Pink" dropped over 40% on its first Monday, collecting 1.30 crore on its fourth day and earning 15.40 crore in its first week. The film collected 4.50 crore in its second week, and collections stood at approximately 20 crore after two weeks. It did not perform well at the box office. Trade Analyst Joginder Tuteja summarised the reason for the film's disappointing commercial performance, which he thought "deserved better", in an article published on Moneycontrol.com, blaming the "poor marketing" that "didn't really convey clearly what the film was all about", in addition to strong competition from other films. He also said the film's English title was its biggest problem because it was too literary and made it sound like an American and European art film. According to Bollywood Hungama, "The Sky Is Pink" grossed 23.85 crore in India and 10.56 crore overseas for a worldwide gross revenue of 344.1 million.


title: David Koepp

text: David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion.


title: David Koepp

text: Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial success in a wide variety of genres: thriller, science fiction, comedy, action, drama, crime, superhero, horror, adventure, and fantasy.


title: David Koepp

text: Some of the best-known films he has written include the sci-fi adventure films "Jurassic Park" (1993), "" (1997), and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008); the crime film "Carlito's Way" (1993); the action spy films "" (1996) and "" (2014); the superhero film "Spider-Man" (2002); the sci-fi disaster film "War of the Worlds" (2005) and the mystery thriller "Angels & Demons" (2009). Koepp has directed seven feature films over the course of his career: "The Trigger Effect" (1996), "Stir of Echoes" (1999), "Secret Window" (2004), "Ghost Town" (2008), "Premium Rush" (2012), "Mortdecai" (2015), and "You Should Have Left" (2020).


title: David Koepp

text: Koepp was born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, to Donald Koepp, who owned a billboard company, and a family therapist mother. While attending Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin, he worked evenings and weekends at the McDonald's restaurant in Delafield. He received his bachelor's degree in film from UCLA.


title: David Koepp

text: As a writer, Koepp worked on blockbuster Hollywood films such as "Jurassic Park", "", and "Spider-Man". He had a cameo appearance as the "Unlucky Bastard", a minor character devoured by a "T. rex" roaming San Diego in "", which he co-wrote and was second unit director of. Although Koepp did not write "Jurassic Park III", he did devise the film's basic storyline. Koepp later declined an offer to write a script for the series' fourth film, "Jurassic World", as he felt he had nothing left to contribute to the series.


title: David Koepp

text: Koepp was reportedly paid $4,000,000 for his "Panic Room" screenplay. He wrote the screenplay for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and co-wrote and directed 2008's "Ghost Town" starring Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear.


title: David Koepp

text: Koepp's work as a director has not had quite the same box office success. His films include "Secret Window", "Stir of Echoes", and "The Trigger Effect".


title: David Koepp

text: In 2012, Koepp directed "Premium Rush", which he co-wrote with John Kamps. In an August 2011 lawsuit, Joe Quirk, the author of the 1998 novel "The Ultimate Rush", accused Koepp and the makers of "Premium Rush" of copyright infringement. On April 2, 2013, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed this case, finding that the two works were not substantially similar.


title: David Koepp

text: On February 17, 2013, Koepp received the WGA East's Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.


title: David Koepp

text: On July 10, 2013, Lionsgate was reported to have acquired the comedic crime novel "The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery", written by Kyril Bonfiglioli. Koepp directed the film, titled "Mortdecai", from a script by Eric Aronson; Johnny Depp played the lead role of Charlie Mortdecai, and the film also featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, and Paul Bettany. Koepp adapted the Marcus Sakey novel "Brilliance", which will star Will Smith and Noomi Rapace.


title: David Koepp

text: On March 15, 2016, The Walt Disney Company announced a fifth installment of the "Indiana Jones" saga, with Koepp as its screenwriter. By June 2018, Koepp ultimately backed out of the project due to his commitment to "You Should Have Left", a horror drama film Koepp wrote and directed. Based on the novel of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann, "You Should Have Left" was released in 2020, and stars Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried.


title: David Koepp

text: On September 3, 2019, Koepp made his novel debut with the publication of "Cold Storage", a science-fiction thriller. Koepp's second novel, "Aurora" was published on June 7, 2022, and a film adaptation of the book is in development for Netflix, with Koepp writing the script and Kathryn Bigelow directing.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: Problem Child is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan in his feature film directorial debut and produced by Robert Simonds. It stars John Ritter, Michael Oliver, Jack Warden, Gilbert Gottfried, Amy Yasbeck, and Michael Richards. It was released on July 27, 1990.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film received negative reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing $72.2 million worldwide against a production budget of $10 million.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: Ben Healy is a pleasant but brow-beaten yuppie working for his father "Big Ben", a tyrannical sporting goods dealer running for mayor. Ben would love to have a son, but his obnoxious wife Flo has been unable to conceive. Ben approaches less-than-scrupulous adoption agent Igor Peabody with his dilemma, and Peabody presents Ben and Flo with a cute 7-year-old boy, Junior.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: However, Junior is hardly a model child; mean-spirited and incorrigible, the child leaves a path of serious destruction in his wake, and is even pen pals with Martin Beck, a notorious serial killer. The cat ends up in the hospital, Big Ben ends up falling down the stairs, and the house catches on fire. He messes up a camping trip with the neighbors by urinating in the fire, and manipulating a practical joke played on the kids by their father. He then terrorizes his neighbor's birthday party, after Lucy, the snobby birthday girl, bans him from the magic show. Finally, Junior displays his method for winning in Little League, which involves hitting rival players in the crotch with a baseball bat. Ben is having serious doubts about Junior, and takes him back to the orphanage. However, upon hearing he was returned to the orphanage thirty times by previous adoptive families, he decides to keep him and love him, something no one has ever done. Distraught that his parents do not love him, Junior retaliates by driving Ben's car into his father's store, and his bank account is wiped out to pay for the damages. Ben is on the verge of cracking until Beck arrives at the house, and decides to kidnap his faithful correspondent, along with Flo.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: While Ben first sees this as good riddance to his browbeating wife and the trouble making Junior, he soon notices signs that Junior is not the monster he appeared; through a series of pictures Junior drew, he depicts children and adults who treated him poorly as deformed monsters with hostile surroundings, but depicted Ben as a person in a pleasant background, revealing that he did value him as a father figure. Ben, realizing that Junior's behavior was simply a reaction to how he himself was treated as a child, undertakes a rescue mission to get Junior back from Beck.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: Now exerting a more assertive attitude, Ben first steals his neighbor's car and hat, and confronts his father for money. When he is rudely dismissed, Ben pushes a button that puts Big Ben unknowingly on camera, where he ends up revealing his true nature on the news, even mooning the camera.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: Ben catches up with Beck and Junior at the circus. Junior is rescued after escaping from Beck through a trapeze act. Beck drives away, but the Healys are now on his tail. After a collision, Flo, who was stuffed in a suitcase, flies over the wall and ends up in the back of a truck loaded with pigs. Beck is arrested, but not before getting a shot off, which hits Ben in the chest. Thinking he has died, Junior apologizes and tells him he loves him. Ben wakes up and realizes the bullet ricocheted off his good-luck prune he was holding in his pocket. Junior then removes his bow tie and throws it over the bridge, as a symbol perhaps that he has changed his ways, and then walks away together with his new father.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film was shot on location in Texas, from October 2 to November 24, 1989. The primary locations were Dallas, Farmers Branch, Fort Worth, Irving, and Mesquite. Also, there were two weeks of reshoots in Dallas (see below) in March 1990.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Martin, Rick Moranis and Kurt Russell were considered for the role of Little Ben before it was turned over to John Ritter. The part of Martin "The Bow-Tie Killer" Beck was originally offered to Christopher Lloyd, who turned it down because of his commitments with "Back to the Future Part III", released two months before "Problem Child", and was replaced by Michael Richards; this was the second role, following "UHF" (1989), that Lloyd had turned down only to be taken by Richards. A then-unknown child actor Macaulay Culkin reportedly auditioned for Junior, but Michael Oliver was ultimately cast. (Culkin played a character akin to Junior albeit with a far darker motive three years later in "The Good Son".)


title: Problem Child (film)

text: During a 2014 interview on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski revealed that the story was inspired by the 1988 "Los Angeles Times" article "An Adopted Boy--and Terror Begins" about a married couple suing an adoption agency after they were not informed that their adopted son had severe mental health issues with violent tendencies and had been previously returned to the agency multiple times. While other writers pitched the story as a horror film in the vein of "Bad Seed" or "The Omen", Alexander and Karaszewski thought it had potential as a comedy, envisioning a dark, adult satire of the then-popular trend in films where cute kids teach cynical adults how to love, as seen in "Baby Boom", "Parenthood" (directly spoofed by the film's poster), "Look Who's Talking", "Uncle Buck", "Mr. Mom", "Kindergarten Cop" and "Three Men and a Baby". However, the studio insisted upon turning it into a children's film, a conversion that necessitated numerous reshoots and rewrites, leading to a difficult production that left all involved disappointed and anticipating a box office failure. It defied these expectations, becoming a surprise hit and Universal's most profitable film of 1990 but was still so embarrassing for Alexander and Karaszewski (Alexander even cried after the cast and crew screening) that they tried to distance themselves from it, which proved difficult. Studios were initially reluctant to hire them or take them seriously based on their work on such a prominent disreputable film but, as the years went by, they would eventually come to work with executives who were children when it first came out, and grew up watching its frequent TV airings, and were excited to be meeting its writers. Looking back, they still feel it's "a mess" but take some pride in being involved with one of the "very few [PG-rated] children's films "that" black and "that" crazy", citing the scene where Flo commits adultery with Martin while Ben is catatonic and contemplating murdering Junior in the next room as an example. They added, "And it's funny".


title: Problem Child (film)

text: In 2015, Dennis Dugan revealed that he was hired to direct the film, his first feature one (he'd previously directed episodes of the TV series "Moonlighting", "Wiseguy", and "Hunter"), after jumping on a coffee table in a meeting with Universal executives: "You're looking at me like I'm fucking nuts, and this is what we want. We want this kind of chaos". Dugan suggested John Ritter, with whom he'd worked as an actor before turning to direct, for the role of Ben Healy. The studio was initially reluctant, feeling they needed a more famous actor, but eventually relented. Jack Warden turned down the role of "Big Ben" Healy before Dugan offered him half of his net points; he was so touched that he took the part, although he refused Dugan's offer. Amy Yasbeck was cast as Flo; she and Ritter fell in love during production, eventually marrying in 1999. Ritter died in 2003. Both Ritter and Gilbert Gottfried were allowed to ad lib while filming, but Universal reprimanded Dugan for shooting too much footage of the latter. The film's first test screening was disastrous, with 70 percent of the audience walking out, verbal complaints from viewers, and a score of only 30. The studio forced two weeks of reshoots, including a retooled ending and the addition of key scenes, such as Lucy's birthday party.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: A soundtrack was released by Universal the same day as the film, and included an original composition by The Beach Boys.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film debuted at third place. It went on to be a commercial success at the box office, grossing $54 million domestically and $72 million worldwide.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film received negative reviews upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rare approval rating of 0% based on 29 reviews, and an average rating of 2.27/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Mean-spirited and hopelessly short on comic invention, "Problem Child" is a particularly unpleasant comedy, one that's loaded with manic scenery chewing and juvenile pranks". On Metacritic, it has a score of 27 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film is heavily censored when shown on television, due to the remarks made about adoption, which critics saw as insensitive. It was not screened for critics prior to its release.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: One of the posters for the film (shown above) showed a cat in a tumble dryer, with the implication being that Junior had put it inside. A group named In Defence Of Animals organized protests against the posters, and some cinemas took them down in response. Director Dennis Dugan later issued a disclaimer saying that "kitty in the dryer" was metaphorical and never an actual scene in the movie. The protests sparked the inspiration for the film's sequel, this time with a poster of John Ritter inside a dryer looking out, while the cat stands by the dryer.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: For the film (as well as "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" and "Look Who's Talking Too"), Gilbert Gottfried was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Donald Trump in "Ghosts Can't Do It".


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film was more successful on home video. The VHS version adds an extra bit just before the closing credits, in which Junior interrupts it to tell the audience that he'll be back next summer for "Problem Child 2". Then he disappears and a loud flatulent noise is heard, followed by Ben shouting "Junior!", him laughing, then the closing credits roll. The VHS version was released on January 31, 1991.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The first DVD release was released by GoodTimes Entertainment on May 1, 2001. It and "Problem Child 2" were released together on DVD in the US on March 2, 2004, as a package entitled "Problem Child Tantrum Pack". They were presented in open-matte full screen only. However, no home video release thus far features the deleted footage shown on TV airings of it.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film was re-released on the "Family Comedy Pack Quadruple Feature" DVD (with other comedy films like "Kindergarten Cop", "Kicking & Screaming", and "Major Payne") in anamorphic widescreen (being its first widescreen Region 1 DVD release) on August 5, 2008.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: It was released on Blu-ray on October 10, 2017. "Problem Child 2" was released on Blu-ray on May 15, 2018.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: "Problem Child" first aired on NBC-TV on September 15, 1991, with 12 minutes of previously deleted scenes and all the profanity was dubbed with different and appropriate words and phrases.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film inspired two sequels: the first, "Problem Child 2", was released theatrically in 1991; the second, "", was a television film aired on NBC in 1995. The first one brought back the original cast in their original roles and picked up where the first film ended. However, Yasbeck was given a new role with a new dynamic opposite to her original character. In the third and final film, William Katt and Justin Chapman replaced John Ritter and Michael Oliver as Ben and Junior respectively, while Gottfried and Warden reprised their roles as Igor Peabody and Big Ben and does not follow the storyline of the first two films.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: The film was adapted into an animated television series that aired on USA Network for two seasons, from October 31, 1993, to December 4, 1994. Gottfried was the only original cast member to be featured as a voice-over actor, making him the only cast member involved in all three films as well as the cartoon (Warden was in all three films, but not the TV series).


title: Problem Child (film)

text: In 2015, NBC ordered a pilot for a live-action TV series based on the film, produced by STXtelevision, Imagine TV, and NBCUniversal, but was never made.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: "Problem Child" was featured in a famous scene from Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of "Cape Fear", where the movie is shown screening at a movie theatre attended by ex-convict Max Cady (Robert De Niro), attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) and the latter's family. Cady, trying to unsettle Bowden and his family, loudly and obnoxiously cackles at the film.


title: Problem Child (film)

text: In 1995, a Turkish-language adaptation of the film was made called "Zıpçıktı", which was directed by Ünal Küpeli and featured Şenol Coşkun in the lead role.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and Mike in 2015); as the songwriter of "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson and songs by Toto; and as the composer of the TV series "Justified". He has won three Grammys, including Record of the Year for "Rosanna" and Album of the Year for "Toto IV", and three nominations.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro has appeared as a session musician on recordings by Yes (on "Union" and "Open Your Eyes") and Jefferson Airplane (on their self-titled 1989 reunion album). He was also a member of Chris Squire's short-lived band, The Chris Squire Experiment, in 1992.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro is a native of Connecticut. Just like his brothers Jeff and Mike, Steve Porcaro started out as a drummer under the tutelage of his father Joe Porcaro, before taking up piano. In 1967, his father bought him an organ made by Rheem, a company that specializes in heating and air conditioning. Soon after, he brought his father down to a Guitar Center to trade in the keyboard for a Farfisa with a Leslie 147 and preamp, which Porcaro called his "first real rig".


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro's touring career began playing with Gary Wright during his tour in 1977, supporting the latter's "The Dream Weaver" album. Porcaro and the other original members of Toto then played with Boz Scaggs before forming Toto.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro wrote or co-wrote at least one song on each of Toto's first six albums, with the exception of "Isolation". His two older brothers Mike and Jeff were Toto's bassist and drummer as well as session musicians while his father Joe was a prolific session percussionist.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Unlike most of his Toto bandmates, he generally did not contribute lead or even backing vocals; he considered himself a weak singer, and sang lead on two of his earlier compositions only because he felt that the vocal styles of his bandmates, with the exception of Joseph Williams, were not appropriate for his songs. The song "Rosanna" was supposedly inspired by Porcaro's girlfriend at the time, Rosanna Arquette but this has since been denied by the song's writer, David Paich, and Arquette herself.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: In an interview with Ben Mankiewicz in 2022 both Paich and Arquette admitted on camera that yes, she was the inspiration.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: He left Toto in 1987 after the "Fahrenheit" album in order to pursue a more full-time songwriting and composing career. However, Porcaro continued working with Toto in various supporting capacities, assisting with keyboards, drum looping, synthesizers and arranging/composing.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro composed the music for the song "Human Nature" and produced the synthesizer for "The Girl Is Mine" from Michael Jackson's album "Thriller", as well as playing synthesizer and keyboard on "Stranger in Moscow" from Jackson's "" album.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Steve Porcaro composes music for film and television, including the FX television show "Justified", among others.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro returned to play with Toto at live performances since 2010, when they decided to reform the band and tour in Europe to support Mike Porcaro. They scheduled further concerts in Europe.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Porcaro performed on the band's 2015 studio album "Toto XIV", co-writing and singing lead on "The Little Things" and writing/singing lead on the Japan-only bonus cut, "Bend". When the band dissolved in 2019 and regrouped in 2020, Porcaro did not return.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Steve released his first ever solo album on June 10, 2016. "Someday/Somehow" was co-written/produced by Michael Sherwood, former member of the band Lodgic. The album contains 13 songs, one of which reunites Steve with his late brothers Mike and Jeff Porcaro, from recordings made prior to their passing.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Contributions are from Michael McDonald, Jamie Kimmett, Michael Sherwood, Mabvuto Carpenter, Marc Bonilla, Steve Lukather, Lenny Castro, Jimmy Haun, Shannon Forrest, Jeff Porcaro and Mike Porcaro.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: Steve Porcaro played a huge variety of synthesizers on Toto albums. While David Paich handled piano duties, it was usually Steve's job to complement the music with creative synth sounds. He was known to use Yamaha GS1, Yamaha DX1, Yamaha DX7, Yamaha CS-80, Roland Jupiter-8, Minimoog, Oberheim Xpander, Polyfusion Modular, Dynacord Add-one and Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizers among others. The synth solo in the Toto song "Rosanna" is a noted example of his approach.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: In later years he gravitated towards working with software synthesizers. Onstage he is using two Yamaha keyboards (a Montage 8 and a Yamaha Motif XF7) to drive his Apple MainStage-based virtual synth rig, which draws samples from Logic's ES2 plug-in and Spitfire Audio libraries among others.


title: Steve Porcaro

text: He collaborated with his daughter Heather Porcaro on her debut album, "The Heartstring Symphony", released in 2009. Heather was featured in "Paper" magazine's "Most Beautiful People" issue in 2002.


title: Uranium-238

text: Uranium-238 (U or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is "fertile", meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239. U cannot support a chain reaction because inelastic scattering reduces neutron energy below the range where fast fission of one or more next-generation nuclei is probable. Doppler broadening of U's neutron absorption resonances, increasing absorption as fuel temperature increases, is also an essential negative feedback mechanism for reactor control.


title: Uranium-238

text: Around 99.284% of natural uranium's mass is uranium-238, which has a half-life of 1.41 seconds (4.468 years, or 4.468 billion years).


title: Uranium-238

text: Due to its natural abundance and half-life relative to other radioactive elements, U produces ~40% of the radioactive heat produced within the Earth. The U decay chain contributes 6 electron anti-neutrinos per U nucleus (1 per beta decay), resulting in a large detectable geoneutrino signal when decays occur within the Earth. The decay of U to daughter isotopes is extensively used in radiometric dating, particularly for material older than ~ 1 million years.


title: Uranium-238

text: Depleted uranium has an even higher concentration of the U isotope, and even low-enriched uranium (LEU), while having a higher proportion of the uranium-235 isotope (in comparison to depleted uranium), is still mostly U. Reprocessed uranium is also mainly U, with about as much uranium-235 as natural uranium, a comparable proportion of uranium-236, and much smaller amounts of other isotopes of uranium such as uranium-234, uranium-233, and uranium-232.


title: Uranium-238

text: In a fission nuclear reactor, uranium-238 can be used to generate plutonium-239, which itself can be used in a nuclear weapon or as a nuclear-reactor fuel supply. In a typical nuclear reactor, up to one-third of the generated power comes from the fission of Pu, which is not supplied as a fuel to the reactor, but rather, produced from U. A certain amount of production of from is unavoidable wherever it is exposed to neutron radiation, however, depending on burnup and neutron temperature, different shares of the are in turn converted to , which determines the "grade" of produced plutonium from weapons grade through reactor grade to plutonium so high in (usually used "recycled" MOX fuel which entered the reactor containing significant amounts of plutonium) that it cannot be used in current reactors operating with a thermal neutron spectrum.


title: Uranium-238

text: U can produce energy via "fast" fission. In this process, a neutron that has a kinetic energy in excess of 1 MeV can cause the nucleus of U to split. Depending on design, this process can contribute some one to ten percent of all fission reactions in a reactor, but too few of the average 2.5 neutrons produced in each fission have enough speed to continue a chain reaction.


title: Uranium-238

text: U can be used as a source material for creating plutonium-239, which can in turn be used as nuclear fuel. Breeder reactors carry out such a process of transmutation to convert the fertile isotope U into fissile Pu. It has been estimated that there is anywhere from 10,000 to five billion years worth of U for use in these power plants. Breeder technology has been used in several experimental nuclear reactors.


title: Uranium-238

text: By December 2005, the only breeder reactor producing power was the 600-megawatt BN-600 reactor at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station in Russia. Russia later built another unit, BN-800, at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station which became fully operational in November 2016. Also, Japan's Monju breeder reactor, which has been inoperative for most of the time since it was originally built in 1986, was ordered for decommissioning in 2016, after safety and design hazards were uncovered, with a completion date set for 2047. Both China and India have announced plans to build nuclear breeder reactors.


title: Uranium-238

text: The breeder reactor as its name implies creates even larger quantities of Pu or U than the fission nuclear reactor.


title: Uranium-238

text: The Clean And Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor (CAESAR), a nuclear reactor concept that would use steam as a moderator to control delayed neutrons, will potentially be able to use U as fuel once the reactor is started with Low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This design is still in the early stages of development.


title: Uranium-238

text: Natural uranium, with 0.7% , is usable as nuclear fuel in reactors designed specifically to make use of naturally occurring uranium, such as CANDU reactors. By making use of non-enriched uranium, such reactor designs give a nation access to nuclear power for the purpose of electricity production without necessitating the development of fuel enrichment capabilities, which are often seen as a prelude to weapons production.


title: Uranium-238

text: U is also used as a radiation shield – its alpha radiation is easily stopped by the non-radioactive casing of the shielding and the uranium's high atomic weight and high number of electrons are highly effective in absorbing gamma rays and X-rays. It is not as effective as ordinary water for stopping fast neutrons. Both metallic depleted uranium and depleted uranium dioxide are used for radiation shielding. Uranium is about five times better as a gamma ray shield than lead, so a shield with the same effectiveness can be packed into a thinner layer.


title: Uranium-238

text: DUCRETE, a concrete made with uranium dioxide aggregate instead of gravel, is being investigated as a material for dry cask storage systems to store radioactive waste.


title: Uranium-238

text: The opposite of enriching is downblending. Surplus highly enriched uranium can be downblended with depleted uranium or natural uranium to turn it into low-enriched uranium suitable for use in commercial nuclear fuel.


title: Uranium-238

text: U from depleted uranium and natural uranium is also used with recycled Pu from nuclear weapons stockpiles for making mixed oxide fuel (MOX), which is now being redirected to become fuel for nuclear reactors. This dilution, also called downblending, means that any nation or group that acquired the finished fuel would have to repeat the very expensive and complex chemical separation of uranium and plutonium process before assembling a weapon.


title: Uranium-238

text: Most modern nuclear weapons utilize U as a "tamper" material (see nuclear weapon design). A tamper which surrounds a fissile core works to reflect neutrons and to add inertia to the compression of the Pu charge. As such, it increases the efficiency of the weapon and reduces the critical mass required. In the case of a thermonuclear weapon, U


title: Uranium-238

text: can be used to encase the fusion fuel, the high flux of very energetic neutrons from the resulting fusion reaction causes U nuclei to split and adds more energy to the "yield" of the weapon. Such weapons are referred to as "fission-fusion-fission" weapons after the order in which each reaction takes place. An example of such a weapon is Castle Bravo.


title: Uranium-238

text: The larger portion of the total explosive yield in this design comes from the final fission stage fueled by U, producing enormous amounts of radioactive fission products. For example, an estimated 77% of the 10.4-megaton yield of the Ivy Mike thermonuclear test in 1952 came from fast fission of the depleted uranium tamper. Because depleted uranium has no critical mass, it can be added to thermonuclear bombs in almost unlimited quantity. The Soviet Union's test of the Tsar Bomba in 1961 produced "only" 50 megatons of explosive power, over 90% of which came from fusion because the U final stage had been replaced with lead. Had U been used instead, the yield of the Tsar Bomba could have been well above 100 megatons, and it would have produced nuclear fallout equivalent to one third of the global total that had been produced up to that time.


title: Uranium-238

text: The decay chain of U is commonly called the "radium series" (sometimes "uranium series"). Beginning with naturally occurring uranium-238, this series includes the following elements: astatine, bismuth, lead, polonium, protactinium, radium, radon, thallium, and thorium. All of the decay products are present, at least transiently, in any uranium-containing sample, whether metal, compound, or mineral. The decay proceeds as:


title: Uranium-238

text: The mean lifetime of U is 1.41 seconds divided by 0.693 (or multiplied by 1.443), i.e. ca. 2 seconds, so 1 mole of U emits 3 alpha particles per second, producing the same number of thorium-234 atoms. In a closed system an equilibrium would be reached, with all amounts except for lead-206 and U in fixed ratios, in slowly decreasing amounts. The amount of Pb will increase accordingly while that of U decreases; all steps in the decay chain have this same rate of 3 decayed particles per second per mole U.


title: Uranium-238

text: Thorium-234 has a mean lifetime of 3 seconds, so there is equilibrium if one mole of U contains 9 atoms of thorium-234, which is 1.5 mole (the ratio of the two half-lives). Similarly, in an equilibrium in a closed system the amount of each decay product, except the end product lead, is proportional to its half-life.


title: Uranium-238

text: While U is minimally radioactive, its decay products, thorium-234 and protactinium-234, are beta particle emitters with half-lives of about 20 days and one minute respectively. Protactinium-234 decays to uranium-234, which has a half-life of hundreds of millennia, and this isotope does not reach an equilibrium concentration for a very long time. When the two first isotopes in the decay chain reach their relatively small equilibrium concentrations, a sample of initially pure U will emit three times the radiation due to U itself, and most of this radiation is beta particles.


title: Uranium-238

text: As already touched upon above, when starting with pure U, within a human timescale the equilibrium applies for the first three steps in the decay chain only. Thus, for one mole of U, 3 times per second one alpha and two beta particles and a gamma ray are produced, together 6.7 MeV, a rate of 3 µW. Extrapolated over 2 seconds this is 600 gigajoules, the total energy released in the first three steps in the decay chain.


title: Uranium-238

text: U abundance and its decay to daughter isotopes comprises multiple uranium dating techniques and is one of the most common radioactive isotopes used in radiometric dating. The most common dating method is uranium-lead dating, which is used to date rocks older than 1 million years old and has provided ages for the oldest rocks on Earth at 4.4 billion years old.


title: Uranium-238

text: The relation between U and U gives an indication of the age of sediments and seawater that are between 100,000 years and 1,200,000 years in age.


title: Uranium-238

text: The U daughter product, Pb, is an integral part of lead–lead dating, which is most famous for the determination of the age of the Earth.


title: Uranium-238

text: The Voyager program spacecraft carry small amounts of initially pure U on the covers of their golden records to facilitate dating in the same manner.


title: Uranium-238

text: Uranium emits alpha particles through the process of alpha decay. External exposure has limited effect. Significant internal exposure to tiny particles of uranium or its decay products, such as thorium-230, radium-226 and radon-222 can cause severe health effects, such as cancer of the bone or liver.


title: Uranium-238

text: Uranium is also a toxic chemical, meaning that ingestion of uranium can cause kidney damage from its chemical properties much sooner than its radioactive properties would cause cancers of the bone or liver.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Gaius Cassius Longinus (c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspiracy. He commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's former supporters, and committed suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cassius was elected as Tribune of the plebs in 49 BC. He opposed Caesar, and eventually he commanded a fleet against him during Caesar's Civil War: after Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender. After Caesar's death, Cassius fled to the East, where he amassed an army of twelve legions. He was supported and made Governor by the Senate. Later he and Brutus marched west against the allies of the Second Triumvirate.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: He followed the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, although scholars debate whether or not these beliefs affected his political life. Cassius is a main character in William Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" that depicts the assassination of Caesar and its aftermath. He is also shown in the lowest circle of Hell in Dante's "Inferno" as punishment for betraying and killing Caesar.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Gaius Cassius Longinus () came from a very old Roman family, gens Cassia, which had been prominent in Rome since the 6th century BC. Little is known of his early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of despots while still at school, by quarreling with the son of the dictator Sulla. He studied philosophy at Rhodes under Archelaus of Rhodes and became fluent in Greek. He was married to Junia Tertia, who was the daughter of Servilia and thus a half-sister of his co-conspirator Brutus. They had one son, who was born in about 60 BC.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: In 54 BC, Cassius joined Marcus Licinius Crassus in his eastern campaign against the Parthian Empire. In 53 BC, Crassus suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Carrhae in Northern-Mesopotamia losing two-thirds of his army. Cassius led the remaining troops' retreat back into Syria, and organised an effective defence force for the province. Based on Plutarch's account, the defeat at Carrhae could have been avoided had Crassus acted as Cassius had advised. According to Dio, the Roman soldiers, as well as Crassus himself, were willing to give the overall command to Cassius after the initial disaster in the battle, which Cassius "very properly" refused. The Parthians also considered Cassius as equal to Crassus in authority, and superior to him in skill.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: In 51 BC, Cassius was able to ambush and defeat an invading Parthian army under the command of prince Pacorus and general Osaces. He first refused to do battle with the Parthians, keeping his army behind the walls of Antioch (Syria's most important city) where he was besieged. When the Parthians gave up the siege and started to ravage the countryside, he followed them with his army harrying them as they went. The decisive encounter came on October 7 as the Parthians turned away from Antigonea. As they set about their return journey they were confronted by a detachment of Cassius' army, which faked a retreat and lured the Parthians into an ambush. The Parthians were suddenly surrounded by Cassius' main forces and defeated. Their general Osaces died from his wounds, and the rest of the Parthian army retreated back across the Euphrates.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC, when civil war was about to break out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Cassius was elected tribune of the Plebs for 49 BC, and threw in his lot with the Optimates, although his brother Lucius Cassius supported Caesar. Cassius left Italy shortly after Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He met Pompey in Greece, and was appointed to command part of his fleet.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: In 48 BC, Cassius sailed his ships to Sicily, where he attacked and burned a large part of Caesar's navy. He then proceeded to harass ships off the Italian coast. News of Pompey's defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus caused Cassius to head for the Hellespont, with hopes of allying with the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II. Cassius was overtaken by Caesar en route, and was forced to surrender unconditionally.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Caesar made Cassius a legate, employing him in the Alexandrian War against the very same Pharnaces whom Cassius had hoped to join after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus. However, Cassius refused to join in the fight against Cato and Scipio in Africa, choosing instead to retire to Rome.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cassius spent the next two years in office, and apparently tightened his friendship with Cicero. In 44 BC, he became "praetor peregrinus" with the promise of the Syrian province for the ensuing year. The appointment of his junior and brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus, as "praetor urbanus" deeply offended him.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot against Caesar, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of tyrannicide, Brutus became their leader. On the Ides of March, 44 BC, Cassius urged on his fellow liberators and struck Caesar in the chest. Though they succeeded in assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived, as Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against them. In letters written during 44 BC, Cicero frequently complains that Rome was still subjected to tyranny, because the "Liberators" had failed to kill Antony. According to some accounts, Cassius had wanted to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but Brutus dissuaded him.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cassius' reputation in the East made it easy to amass an army from other governors in the area, and by 43 BC, he was ready to take on Publius Cornelius Dolabella with 12 legions. By this point, the Senate had split with Antonius, and cast its lot with Cassius, confirming him as governor of the province. Dolabella attacked but was betrayed by his allies, leading him to commit suicide. Cassius was now secure enough to march on Egypt, but on the formation of the Second Triumvirate, Brutus requested his assistance. Cassius quickly joined Brutus in Smyrna with most of his army, leaving his nephew behind to govern Syria as well.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: The conspirators decided to attack the triumvirate's allies in Asia. Cassius set upon and sacked Rhodes, while Brutus did the same to Lycia. They regrouped the following year in Sardis, where their armies proclaimed them imperator. They crossed the Hellespont, marched through Thrace, and encamped near Philippi in Macedon. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (later known as Augustus) and Mark Antony soon arrived, and Cassius planned to starve them out through the use of their superior position in the country. However, they were forced into a pair of battles by Antony, collectively known as the Battle of Philippi. Brutus was successful against Octavian, and took his camp. Cassius, however, was defeated and overrun by Mark Antony and, unaware of Brutus' victory, ordered his freeman Pindarus to help him kill himself. Pindarus fled afterwards and Cassius' head was found severed from his body. He was mourned by Brutus as "the Last of the Romans" and buried in Thassos.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: "Among that select band of philosophers who have managed to change the world," writes David Sedley, "it would be hard to find a pair with a higher public profile than Brutus and Cassius – brothers-in-law, fellow-assassins, and Shakespearian heroes," adding that "it may not even be widely known that they "were" philosophers."


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Like Brutus, whose Stoic proclivities are widely assumed but who is more accurately described as an Antiochean Platonist, Cassius exercised a long and serious interest in philosophy. His early philosophical commitments are hazy, though D.R. Shackleton Bailey thought that a remark by Cicero indicates a youthful adherence to the Academy. Sometime between 48 and 45 BC, however, Cassius famously converted to the school of thought founded by Epicurus. Although Epicurus advocated a withdrawal from politics, at Rome his philosophy was made to accommodate the careers of many prominent men in public life, among them Caesar's father-in-law, Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. Arnaldo Momigliano called Cassius' conversion a "conspicuous date in the history of Roman Epicureanism," a choice made not to enjoy the pleasures of the Garden, but to provide a philosophical justification for assassinating a tyrant.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cicero associates Cassius's new Epicureanism with a willingness to seek peace in the aftermath of the civil war between Caesar and Pompeius. Miriam Griffin dates his conversion to as early as 48 BC, after he had fought on the side of Pompeius at the Battle of Pharsalus but decided to come home instead of joining the last holdouts of the civil war in Africa. Momigliano placed it in 46 BC, based on a letter by Cicero to Cassius dated January 45. Shackleton Bailey points to a date of two or three years earlier.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: The dating bears on, but is not essential to, the question of whether Cassius justified the murder of Caesar on Epicurean grounds. Griffin argues that his intellectual pursuits, like those of other Romans, may be entirely removed from any practical application in the realm of politics. Romans of the Late Republic who can be identified as Epicureans are more often found among the supporters of Caesar, and often literally in his camp. Momigliano argued, however, that many of those who opposed Caesar's dictatorship bore no personal animus toward him, and Republicanism was more congenial to the Epicurean way of life than dictatorship. The Roman concept of "libertas" had been integrated into Greek philosophical studies, and though Epicurus' theory of the political governance admitted various forms of government based on consent, including but not limited to democracy, a tyrannical state was regarded by Roman Epicureans as incompatible with the highest good of pleasure, defined as freedom from pain. Tyranny also threatened the Epicurean value of "parrhesia" (παρρησία), "truthful speaking," and the movement toward deifying Caesar offended Epicurean belief in abstract gods who lead an ideal existence removed from mortal affairs.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Momigliano saw Cassius as moving from an initial Epicurean orthodoxy, which emphasised disinterest in matters not of vice and virtue, and detachment, to a "heroic Epicureanism." For Cassius, virtue was active. In a letter to Cicero, he wrote:


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Sedley agrees that the conversion of Cassius should be dated to 48, when Cassius stopped resisting Caesar, and finds it unlikely that Epicureanism was a sufficient or primary motivation for his later decision to take violent action against the dictator. Rather, Cassius would have had to reconcile his intention with his philosophical views. Cicero provides evidence that Epicureans recognized circumstances when direct action was justified in a political crisis. In the quotation above, Cassius explicitly rejects the idea that morality is good to be chosen for its own sake; morality, as a means of achieving pleasure and "ataraxia", is not inherently superior to the removal of political anxieties.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: The inconsistencies between traditional Epicureanism and an active approach to securing freedom ultimately could not be resolved, and during the Empire, the philosophy of political opposition tended to be Stoic. This circumstance, Momigliano argues, helps explain why historians of the Imperial era found Cassius more difficult to understand than Brutus, and less admirable.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: In Dante's "Inferno" (Canto XXXIV), Cassius is one of three people deemed sinful enough to be chewed in one of the three mouths of Satan, in the very centre of Hell, for all eternity, as a punishment for killing Julius Caesar. The other two are Brutus, his fellow conspirator, and Judas Iscariot, the Biblical betrayer of Jesus.


title: Gaius Cassius Longinus

text: Cassius also plays a major role in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" (I. ii. 190–195) as the leader of the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. Caesar distrusts him, and states, "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous." In one of the final scenes of the play, Cassius mentions to one of his subordinates that the day, October 3, is his birthday, and dies shortly afterwards.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: David Benjamin James MBE (born 1 August 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His most recent position was manager at Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League in 2018. He is also a pundit on Sky Sports football coverage.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James is fifth on the list of all-time Premier League appearances, having played in 572 top-level matches, and held the Premier League record for most clean sheets with 169 until Petr Čech surpassed this record. He holds the record for most penalties saved in Premier League history (13).


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: He was capped 53 times by England between 1997 and 2010, and was first choice goalkeeper during the team's Euro 2004 and the 2010 World Cup campaigns. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to football and charity.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Having started his career with Watford, James went on to feature in the Premier League for Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City and Portsmouth. He gained a Football League Cup winner's medal with Liverpool in 1995, an FA Cup winner's medal with Portsmouth in 2008, as well as runners-up medals with Aston Villa in 2000, Liverpool in 1996 and Portsmouth in 2010. In 2010, at the age of 39, he became the oldest goalkeeper to appear in an FA Cup Final. James dropped down a division in 2010 to play for Bristol City and later played for League One side AFC Bournemouth. He joined Icelandic side ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar in 2013 in a joint playing and coaching capacity, before officially retiring.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In October 2013, James took up a coaching position at Luton Town, the club he has supported since his childhood. The following year, he became the marquee player and manager of the newly formed Kerala Blasters. He returned to the club in 2018, being dismissed in December following an 11-match winless run.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, James grew up supporting Luton Town. He signed as a trainee with Luton's local rivals Watford upon leaving school, and was first selected for the club's senior team in 1989. In his days as a youth player, he helped Watford win the FA Youth Cup. Following the departure of Tony Coton, James made his league debut on 25 August 1990 in a 1–2 defeat against Millwall, and his performance resulted in an England U21 call-up for a match against the Republic of Ireland. He earned a total of ten caps for the U21s.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: At club level, James made 89 first-team appearances for Watford, and was named the club's Player of the Season for the 1990–91 season, when he kept goal in all 46 Second Division games as Watford escaped relegation. He was signed for £1.25m by Liverpool on 6 July 1992. In 2008, James was inducted into the Watford Hall of Fame for his services to the club.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James made his Liverpool debut on 16 August 1992 in a 0–1 league defeat to Nottingham Forest. After conceding twenty goals in eleven matches in the first half of the 1993–94, he was dropped in favour of veteran Bruce Grobbelaar, but was recalled to the starting line-up and kept his first clean sheet of the season in a 1–0 away win over Arsenal on 31 January 1993, which included a penalty save from Paul Merson. He also received a runners-up medal in 1996 in the FA Cup while being on the losing side against Manchester United.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James rose to fame together with Liverpool teammates Steve McManaman, Jamie Redknapp, and Robbie Fowler, who were nicknamed the "Spice Boys" – an epithet named after the Spice Girls that was used by those who alleged the Liverpool team of the 1990s were more focused on partying than winning games. James' frequent blunders earned him the nickname "Calamity James". He put down his spate of errors to an overindulgence in playing computer games that in turn affected his concentration. Despite winning the 1995 Football League Cup, James' hold on the starting position was put in jeopardy with the acquisition of Brad Friedel. On 23 June 1999, after 277 games for Liverpool, he was sold to Aston Villa for £1.8 million.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James made his Villa debut on 7 August 1999, and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 away win over Newcastle United in the opening Premier League game. He was decisive in a penalty shoot-out against Bolton Wanderers in the 2000 FA Cup semi-final, but conceded Chelsea's winning goal in the ensuing final, the last to be staged at the old Wembley.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: After just two years and 85 appearances, James moved to West Ham United for £3.5 million on 11 July 2001, signing a four-year contract. However, a serious knee injury sustained while on international duty kept him out for several months.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James made his debut for West Ham on 24 November 2001 in a 1–0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur. In 2002–03, West Ham were relegated to the First Division. James stayed with West Ham at the start of the 2003–04 season before returning to the Premier League, signing for Manchester City on 14 January 2004 for an undisclosed fee as a replacement for the retired David Seaman. He played 102 total games in all competitions for West Ham.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James made his Manchester City debut on 17 January 2004 in a 1–1 home draw with Blackburn Rovers. City won only four of the seventeen matches that James started, two of which came after James saved penalties against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City. James said that exploring the field of sport psychology improved his skills as a goalkeeper, particularly saving penalty kicks.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On the last day of the 2004–05 season, James was playing for City who needed to beat Middlesbrough to qualify for the UEFA Cup at the opposition's expense. With five minutes remaining the score was 1–1, when City's manager Stuart Pearce replaced midfielder Claudio Reyna with the substitute goalkeeper Nicky Weaver, and James was moved to play in attack for the remainder of the game. The unusual tactic almost worked when, in injury time, Middlesbrough defender Franck Queudrue conceded a penalty by handling a cross that was aimed at James. However, Robbie Fowler's penalty was saved by Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and so Middlesbrough not City qualified for the UEFA Cup.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 10 August 2006, James, who had separated from his wife, stated that he needed to leave Manchester City to be closer to his children, who lived in London. Manchester City confirmed they had accepted a bid from Portsmouth. Two days later, he joined Portsmouth for £1.2 million, signing a two-year deal.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James kept clean sheets in his first five appearances for Portsmouth. On 22 April 2007, James kept his 142nd Premier League clean sheet in a goalless draw with Aston Villa, breaking the record of 141 previously held by David Seaman. At the end of 2006–07, James was named Portsmouth's player of the season.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James has made the most league appearances of any goalkeeper since the formation of the Premier League over fifteen seasons, in addition to conceding the most goals. On 30 January 2008, in a league match against Manchester United, he became the third player (after Gary Speed and Ryan Giggs) to cross the 500-match threshold.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James signed a one-year contract extension in May 2007, which kept him at Fratton Park until the end of the 2008–09 season. James won the second major trophy of his career during that season, as Portsmouth claimed a 1–0 victory over Cardiff City at Wembley Stadium in the 2008 FA Cup Final. On 8 November 2008, he made his 100th appearance for Portsmouth.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: He holds the distinction of twice having been the record holder for consecutive Premier League appearances, with 159 during his Liverpool days from February 1994 to February 1998, and 166 between Manchester City and Portsmouth from 2006 to 2008; both streaks were eventually topped by Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Tottenham Hotspur's Brad Friedel, respectively.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James had the significant distinction of being named as the Goalkeeper in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in 2008, one of only 2 players outside the "Big 4" clubs to be named.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 14 February 2009 against Manchester City, James made his 536th Premier League appearance, breaking Gary Speed's all-time record.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James captained Portsmouth in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur where Portsmouth won 2–0 in extra time, describing the experience as "superb". He also captained the team in the final as Portsmouth were beaten 1–0 by double winners Chelsea.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: His contract expired at the end of the 2009–10 season, and he expressed interest in succeeding Avram Grant as Portsmouth manager, though this came to nothing. The club offered him a new playing contract, but withdrew the offer after he failed to commit to the club; therefore, James left Portsmouth and became a free agent.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James signed a one-year contract with Championship side Bristol City on 30 July 2010, with the option of a second year. He stated that he hoped that his performances at the club would keep him on the radar for the England team and that his decision to join them was motivated by a desire to be closer to his family home in Devon.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James' league debut for Bristol City came on 7 August 2010 in a 3–0 defeat to Millwall. On 11 February 2011, the eve of his 850th club appearance, James announced he had signed a contract extension with the club until June 2012. On 10 March 2012, James reached 900 club appearances in a game against Cardiff City in the Severnside derby, in which he was made captain as a mark of respect.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 27 September 2012, he arrived at Dean Court to train with AFC Bournemouth, signing a one-year deal to play for them the following day. However, he did not see out the contract, leaving the club by mutual consent in March 2013 after making 19 appearances.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 2 April 2013, James signed a contract with Icelandic club ÍBV until the end of the 2013 season in a joint player/coach capacity. He linked up with former Portsmouth teammate Hermann Hreiðarsson, the manager of ÍBV. The ÍBV chairman stated that James was not being paid high wages, and that he was primarily playing out of kindness and to gain coaching experience. His arrival at ÍBV saw much higher attendances than in previous years. ÍBV ended the season in sixth position, and James announced his retirement from playing.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: He was signed by Kerala Blasters FC, owned by Sachin Tendulkar, for the 2014 Indian Super League season as a player-manager. He said "I hope my involvement with ISL will be the start of something great." The team's first fixture on 13 October, in which James played, resulted in a 1–0 defeat at NorthEast United. His team eventually became the runners up in the inaugural ISL tournament by losing to Atletico de Kolkata 1–0 in the finals. James retired at the end of the season.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: After making one England under-21 appearance whilst at Watford, James made his full debut for Glenn Hoddle's England in a friendly against Mexico on 29 March 1997 when he was a Liverpool player. He kept his first international clean sheet as England beat Mexico 2–0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and James' Liverpool teammate Robbie Fowler. He was in the provisional 28-man squad for Euro 2000 before missing the final cut.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was selected by Sven-Göran Eriksson for his 23-man squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was third choice behind David Seaman and Nigel Martyn, as the veteran Arsenal goalkeeper played in all five of England's games.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: For several years he had to play understudy to England's regular keeper, David Seaman. When Seaman was dropped after making a mistake against FYR Macedonia in 2002, James became the new England number one. He retained his place in the England team even after West Ham's relegation to the First Division in 2003, and was the only player from outside the top flight to win an England cap between 1999 (Michael Gray) and 2007 (David Nugent). He went on to play in all of England's matches at Euro 2004.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was dropped from the starting XI, his place being taken by Tottenham's Paul Robinson. James came on as a half-time substitute and conceded all four goals in the 4–1 drubbing England suffered at the hands of Denmark during a friendly on 17 August 2005 – their worst defeat in 25 years. James still remained part of the England squad, and was selected as the second-choice goalkeeper behind Robinson for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, though he did not play.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Along with fellow veterans David Beckham and Sol Campbell, James was dropped from the England squad at the start of Steve McClaren's reign and was not called up during the 2006–07 season. He was recalled for the friendly with Germany on 22 August 2007, over a year since first being omitted. James played the whole of the second half of England's 2–1 defeat to Germany as a substitute for Robinson. In so doing, he became the first Portsmouth player to play for the senior England team since Mark Hateley in 1984. However, Scott Carson was chosen ahead of both James and Robinson for the decisive Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia on 21 November 2007. England lost the match 2-3, partly due to a fumble by Carson, which gifted Croatia the game's opening goal. Following England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 McClaren was sacked as England manager and replaced by Fabio Capello. James was subsequently critical of McClaren's treatment of England's goalkeepers.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 7 February 2008, James was selected as goalkeeper for Capello's first match in charge, a friendly against Switzerland. It was his first start for England since a friendly with Colombia in May 2005. James firmly re-established himself as England's first choice goalkeeper, starting in each of Capello's first 13 games in charge. Persistent injury problems over the following year left James' hopes of retaining the No. 1 spot for the 2010 World Cup in doubt, with Capello stating he would only consider players who were 100% fit for his squad. After the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on 1 April 2009, James did not start a match for England until the final friendly before the World Cup against Japan on 30 May 2010.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Prior to the tournament, James was backed to reclaim the number one shirt by former England goalkeepers Gordon Banks and David Seaman.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: On 3 June 2010, it was confirmed that James would be travelling to the World Cup Finals in South Africa, and would be allocated the number 1 jersey. He was the oldest footballer in the tournament. James was not selected for the first game of the World Cup against the United States, with Robert Green instead starting in the England goal. However, Green made an error that allowed Clint Dempsey to score an equaliser that resulted in the game being drawn. James returned to the starting line-up in the next game, keeping a clean sheet against Algeria on 18 June 2010. In doing so James became the oldest ever World Cup debutant at 39 years and 321 days old. Five days later, he kept another clean sheet as England won against Slovenia 1–0 to ensure that they would reach the last 16, although they finished second in Group C behind the United States. They were eliminated in the following round after a 4–1 defeat to Germany.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Commenting on the comparatively low numbers of black players who become managers in English football, James said in 2012 that "I struggle with the racist issue in football because I don't see it, and that's not because I've got my head in the sand. In the earlier days, yes, but the game's changed...If you don't want to go, an ["sic"] moan about not getting jobs, well, probably because you haven't been on the course is the reason why you haven't got a job."


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James served as a player-coach for manager Hermann Hreiðarsson at ÍBV in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla during the 2013 season.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Following his stint at ÍBV, James joined Luton Town in October 2013 in a coaching capacity in order to gain experience towards a UEFA A-licence qualification.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was the player-manager of Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League 2014 season. Utilising a distinctly British identity, signing players such as Stephen Pearson and Michael Chopra, he took them to the ISL playoffs at the first attempt, after a 4th-place finish in the league phase. In the playoffs, extra time was needed to see off Chennaiyin 4–3 on aggregate, taking James and Kerala Blasters to the 2014 Indian Super League final, only to lose 1–0 to Atlético de Kolkata. James left the club at the end of his contract.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James returned to the helm of the club as their head coach a day after the sacking of Rene Meulensteen on 3 January 2018, following a string of poor performances. He set about rebuilding the side in the January transfer window, releasing Mark Sifneos and signing Iceland international midfielder Guðjón Baldvinsson on loan from Stjarnan, along with appointing former Portsmouth teammate Hermann Hreiðarsson as his assistant. Despite overseeing a turnaround in form, he could only guide the Blasters to 6th place at the end the 2017–18 Indian Super League season, missing out on the play-offs.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: The club started the 2018–19 Indian Super League season with a victory, beating ATK 2–0 at Salt Lake Stadium. However this was followed by an 11-match winless run, which resulted in James' sacking in December 2018


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In July 2020, James served as an assistant coach to Hermann Hreiðarsson with Icelandic club Þróttur Vogum for one game.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was brought up in Welwyn Garden City, attending the Sir Frederic Osborn School. He is of mixed Jamaican and English descent, and spent part of his childhood in Jamaica. He has four children with his former wife Tanya, whom he divorced in 2005, and as of June 2007 lived in Chudleigh, Devon with his partner, Amanda Salmon.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James has gained attention for modelling assignments, first with Giorgio Armani in 1995, and with H&M in 2005.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was known for experimenting with his hairstyle. In May 2007, a "Who Ate All the Pies" column ridiculed him, among David Beckham and others, for "backcombed efforts", and likened a previous November 2006 cut to fictional character Clark Kent, both captured by BBC "Match of the Day".


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: During the 2003 off-season, James was a guest at the training camp of American football team the Miami Dolphins, where he studied their training and conditioning methods.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was a 20-a-day smoker during his early career, having taken up the habit while sidelined with injury at the age of 15 and quit for the new millennium. He fronted an anti-smoking campaign in 2008.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In 2005, James visited the south eastern African nation of Malawi to help raise AIDS awareness. He subsequently set up the David James Foundation in order to help maize farmers in Malawi develop more efficient production techniques. The foundation also aims to give teenagers the skills, such as mechanical and construction skills, needed to go out and work. James has also made connections with West Exe Technology College, Exeter. This college has brought to his attention the Malawian charity, Friends of Mulanje Orphans. The foundation funds the David James Foundation Scholarship at the University of Westminster, which funds a student from Malawi to study for a master's degree at Westminster. The charity has been supported by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). James is also a global ambassador for the Special Olympics and works with Access Sport to provide sports provision in deprived areas of the United Kingdom.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In addition to being an art lover, he writes a regular column for "The Observer" newspaper, and donates his article fee to charity. James was also the illustrator on the children's book "Harry's Magic Pockets: The Circus" written by his friend, Steve Pearson.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In May 2014 James was declared bankrupt. Despite earning an estimated £20m from his footballing career, owning several properties and having a lucrative contract modeling for Armani, James' debts had built up since his divorce from his wife, Tanya, in 2005.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: In November 2014, James placed for sale hundreds of items of football memorabilia collected during his career, to pay off the debts. Items included 150 signed shirts, shorts and match balls as well as his customised Vauxhall Astra van and Raleigh Chopper bikes.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: Shortly before Euro 2012, James presented a BBC programme entitled "Euro's Most Shocking Moments" alongside Richard Bacon. He was also a pundit for the channel at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was one of BT Sport's first pundits in 2013. James worked as a pundit for Eurosport at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and for India's Sony Ten at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 6 June 2021, James presented "Football Scores with David James" on classical music radio station Scala Radio.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James was a contestant on the seventeenth series of "Strictly Come Dancing" in 2019. He was partnered with Nadiya Bychkova and was the fourth celebrity to be eliminated after a dance-off with Mike Bushell and Katya Jones.


title: David James (footballer, born 1970)

text: James has been a guest on television game shows, including "Countdown" (2016), "Go 8 Bit" (2016), "Richard Osman's House of Games" (2020) and "Celebrity Catchphrase" (2021). In March 2021, he won £1,250 for a homeless people's charity on "Pointless Celebrities". In 2022, James competed on "Celebrity Mastermind" with his specialist subject being the artist Roy Lichtenstein.


title: Geek

text: The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". In the 21st century, it was reclaimed and used by many people, especially members of some fandoms, as a positive term.