title: Starro

text: During the pages of "R.E.B.E.L.S.", Starro's new origin was told: Starro the Conqueror was once a alien boy named Cobi who lived peacefully along with his people (specifically his brother Andrez) on the "unremarkable" planet Hatorei. The Hatorei people lived simple lives and they had few semblances of a developed world but in one respect they were unsurpassed. Once a day the planet's inhabitants would congregate in a species-wide telepathic link and open up to each other, which made their society the pinnacle of ethics and cultural stability.


title: Starro

text: However, a Starro Motherstar descended on their planet enslaving their civilization. At that point in time the Star Conquerors were only nomadic predators who wandered conquering planets until the Motherstar landed and birthed a new queen. On the planet Hatorei, things were different; the link between the people was still extant and it was impossible for the Star Conquerors to completely control the people while serving. The link between the Hatorei was filled with outrage due to their enslavement and the deaths of their people; this outrage loosened the hold of the Star Conquerors on Andrez. So while Cobi worked in the nest, his brother, driven by his people's outrage, entered the nest determined to destroy the Starro hatchlings before a new queen could be born.


title: Starro

text: Unfortunately, one of the eggs hatched and the hatchling, desperate to protect itself, used Cobi to defend against his brother's attack and in doing so led Cobi to kill Andrez. Afterward, the force that drove Andrez (the collective outrage of his people) seemed to enter Cobi who then, having been driven mad by that force, ripped the Starro off his face regaining his independence. The hatchling attacked Cobi but to no avail; as it leapt it became attached to Cobi's chest and Cobi subsequently destroyed the remaining hatchlings declaring that every Star Conqueror would be his.


title: Starro

text: Now "Starro the Conqueror", he used his control of the Star Conqueror species to begin a series of conquests. While he would enslave most foes with Star Conqueror starfish, he would grant some particularly useful opponents larger starfish to wear upon their backs and a place at the head of his armies under him, allowing them free will so long as they turned their talents towards his conquests. As his empire's expansion continued, he was able to draw power from everyone so controlled. Between his mind-controlling Starros, ever-growing strength and his still independently thinking elites, his forces were unstoppable, leading him to gain control of nine galaxies.


title: Starro

text: Upon his forces reaching the Milky Way, Starro took control of L.E.G.I.O.N.'s robotic forces and used their widespread galactic influence to further his goals towards dominating the universe.


title: Starro

text: During "New 52", Starro is still linked with the Justice League via historian David Graves' book making sporadic appearances throughout.


title: Starro

text: A future version of Starro mentally enthralls the Time Master Rip Hunter, using his time-travelling technology to conquer Earth in the past. With the assistance of the villain Lady Chronos, the hero Booster Gold is able to restore history as it should be.


title: Starro

text: In "", Lois Lane discovered a splicing of Krypto and Starro seen in a LexCorp Labs facility near Smallville.


title: Starro

text: One version of Starro is recruited to join a team to protect the universe against the Omega Titans. Convinced of the virtues of heroism by its teammate Martian Manhunter, Starro dies in battle with the Omega Titans. Batman preserves a bit of Starro's remains which grows into a new individual who Batman names "Jarro", raising him as a son.


title: Starro

text: A separate future called "Titans Tomorrow" features Starro's being indoctrinated into the Sinestro Corps and wielding five yellow power rings, which give it additional superpowers. Using its psychic abilities, it also controls several supervillains. This version of Starro is destroyed by a future version of the Flash.


title: Starro

text: Starro makes a brief appearance in the comics tie-in to "Smallville"; it is seen captured by the Department of Extranormal Operations.


title: Starro

text: In the "Injustice" comics, Starro exists as an extremely powerful Red Lantern. In the video game Injustice, Starro appears in the Fortress of Solitude stage in the background.


title: Starro

text: Starro is an alien conqueror with a humanoid central mind commanding spores that resemble either giant or small Terran starfish. An asexual creature, Starro's spores are capable of generating clones that act in accordance with the original's will. The clones are parasites by nature and can attach themselves to a humanoid's face, and subsequently take control of the host's central nervous system, thereby controlling the host. Control of the host is lost once removed from the victim. Originally the first Starro could transform two Earth starfish into duplicates of itself equal to it in size and power.


title: Starro

text: Both variants of the parasite are capable of energy absorption/projection, flight, changing color and self-regeneration, while the larger ones have a high degree of invulnerability as well as telepathy; the giant Starro possessing much more potent mental capabilities is able to indirectly influence the minds of a potential host race, capable of lulling countless people into an induced slumber and accessing their thoughts via dreams. Another of the original Star Conquerors possessed psychic abilities powerful enough to overwhelm and circumvent the willpower of Hal Jordan to prevent access to his Lantern Ring's abilities. Their size can also vary from being as big as city blocks to larger than a small planetary ocean body, in which case said Starro probe can radically alter the very climate, topography, and geography within its vicinity akin to terraforming. A future Starr Conqueror spore eventually came to weaponize five Qwardian power rings on its pointed tentacles; the rings could create objects based on the wielder's thoughts, but only those fueled by fear instead of willpower. Given the difficulty in their usage, Starro's capacity to use five at once indicated a mastery of the fear element and its usage in battle, as shown when it went up against multiple iterations of Titans all at once. The latest version of the Star Conqueror shows how it uses its parthenogenesic capabilities to breed microscopic clones of itself, which can be inhaled by potential victims, serving as a catalyst to affect the giant iteration's telepathic abilities.


title: Starro

text: The humanoid "Starro the Conqueror" possesses telepathy strong enough to control the entire Starro alien race and possesses immeasurable levels of physical resilience further bolstered by the energies drawn from the victims of his Starro probes. Being physically strong enough to behead the all-but-invulnerable Despero in single combat, Starro the Conqueror is all but impervious to physical harm much like his larger Starro clones; also akin to said spores the humanoid Starro can reproduce its own Starro clones from the mother Starro on his chest; a unique power of its own making is the ability to convert normal Earth-based starfish into Starro-based spores.


title: Starro

text: Starro is featured in Mattel's 2010 line at San Diego Comic-Con. The package (designed by Frank Varela) is a recreation of the original "Brave and the Bold" #28 cover and features a light and sound display, with each figure in the line possessing a recorded description by Kevin Conroy.


title: Starro

text: Starro the Conqueror appears in the attraction at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia. A shooting dark ride, Starro spore-possessed people serve as targets for guests to fire at.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The Toyota Previa, also known as the in Japan, and Toyota Tarago in Australia, is a minivan that was produced by Toyota from 1990 until October 2019 across three generations.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The name "Previa" is derived from the Spanish and Italian for "preview", as Toyota saw the first Previa as a vehicle that would preview technologies used in future minivans. The Previa was the second largest minivan in Toyota's lineup in Japan after the bigger and more luxurious Alphard/Vellfire.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first generation, designed by Toyota designer Tokuo Fukuichi and Calty designer David Doyle in 1987 (patent filed 24 December 1987), was introduced on 27 January 1990, and had only one sliding side door for the rear passengers. It featured a mid-engined platform, where the inline-four cylinder gasoline-powered engine was installed almost flat (at a 75-degree angle), beneath the front seats.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Installing the engine in this configuration allowed moderately easy access to the spark plugs, which were located underneath a panel on the upper left-side of the vehicle, after removing the front passenger seat, the carpet and an access panel.


title: Toyota Previa

text: All engine-driven accessories, such as the alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning compressor and radiator fan, are accessible from the front hood, driven off the front of the engine by an accessory driveshaft, and is known as the Supplemental Accessory Drive System, or "SADS". This allows even front/rear weight distribution, which benefits ride quality and handling. However, it also prevents the installation of a larger engine, while the cost could not be relayed by sharing the platform with other vehicles.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first generation Previa was long and wide. In Japan, two smaller versions, the Toyota Estima Lucida and Toyota Estima Emina, were produced from January 1992, which were approximately narrower and shorter than the standard model, which continued to be sold in Japan, but as the "wide-body" Estima.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The reason for the difference between the smaller Emina and Lucida models is the vehicle tax system in Japan, which is based on the product of length and width of the car, and the smaller variants fall into a lower tax band. The Estima Emina and Estima Lucida were also available with a 2.2-liter diesel engine (3C-T and 3C-TE). In Japan, the Estima and Estima Emina were exclusive to the dealerships called "Toyota Store". The Estima Lucida sold at "Toyota Corolla Store" dealerships. The two received small redesigns in 1994 and a facelift in 1996.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first generation Previa was available in both rear- and all-wheel drive versions (called All-Trac) and powered by a JIS four-cylinder 2.4-liter fuel injection engine. Available with a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual gearbox, this Previa also seated seven or eight people, with three seating configurations offered (North America only received the seven passenger configurations, however).


title: Toyota Previa

text: All configurations have a driver and front passenger seat forward, and a three-seat bench seat at the rear that splits and folds flat against the sides of the cabin. The eight-seat configuration contains a 2/1 split swiveling bench seat in the middle row, while the seven-seat configurations contain either two independently swiveling captain's chairs (referred to as "Quad Seating"), in the middle row or a two-seat bench offset towards the driver's side.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The third row is also better upholstered in the seven-seat version. It was available with either four-wheel disc brakes or traditional front disc/rear drum brake setup, with anti-lock brakes (ABS) as an option.


title: Toyota Previa

text: In the United States, the Previa was sold from March 1990 (for the 1991 model year) until 1997. It was imported from Japan to compete with Chrysler Corporation's successful Dodge Caravan minivan, and its twins, the Chrysler Town and Country and Plymouth Voyager. Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca accused Toyota of dumping the Previa in the United States in order to take market share in the minivan segment from Chrysler. However, his claims were never substantiated.


title: Toyota Previa

text: While the Previa proved more popular than the Toyota Van it replaced, it did not acquire significant market share from Chrysler—due to its higher price, controversial styling (for its time), lower fuel economy and engine performance—and also due to Chrysler launching redesigned minivans around the same time.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The mid-engine design proved to have a significant limitation—the inability to incorporate larger engine sizes, which proved a problem as American drivers were used to having more power; the Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler models were sold with available V6 engines with slightly more power. At the same time, this layout granted the Previa greater interior space than the Chrysler competitors.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Starting with the 1994 model year, Toyota attempted to rectify engine performance by fitting a Roots-type supercharger with air-to-air intercooler, providing of boost (these models were called the "S/C"), bringing the engine power up to a competitive and increasing fuel efficiency from . Initially, the S/C engine was only available as an option on the LE for the 1994 model year and all models for 1995.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The United States version of the Previa was discontinued after the 1997 model year, replaced by the more traditionally designed, front-wheel drive, US-designed and built, Camry-based Sienna.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first UK market Previas were sold in September 1990, with one trim level called GL, followed by GX and GS in later years. No diesel engine Previas were made for the UK market.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first generation Previa was marketed in the Netherlands between 1991 and 1994. In 1994, the supercharged or SC model was made standard on all Previas. The only engine available was a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine until 1995. Trim levels were base (later renamed to i denoting an injection engine), GL, GLi and GXi. The 2.2-liter diesel version was a popular grey import.


title: Toyota Previa

text: In Australia, the Tarago was offered in GL/GLi, GLS and GLX forms with 7–8 passenger seating from launch in September 1990. In addition to the Australian market, there were various special edition models available, which varied in trim levels. These include the RV (either 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic with 4WD), commemorative Rugby World Cup editions and Getaway. Feature-wise, all of the special edition models are marketed between the base GLi and GLX models. When the later-style update models were released in Australia, the top-of-the-line GLS model was renamed "Ultima" and the Getaway became a mainstay trim level, being renamed Getaway II.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The first generation Previa was sold outside the United States until 8 January 2000, when a newer front-wheel drive second generation replaced it. The second generation was not available in North America, as they received the Toyota Sienna. The second generation Previa had a slightly longer wheelbase (2900 mm) and was both narrower (1790 mm) and lower (1770 mm) than the first one; it switched to FF layout and was based on the Camry platform.


title: Toyota Previa

text: It was produced with sliding rear passenger doors on both sides and offered space for up to six, seven or eight passengers and, as with the first generation, was sold as the Estima in Japan and as the Tarago in Australia. The range available in Australia was the GLi, GLX and Ultima.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Models sold on the European markets were available with both gasoline and diesel-powered four-cylinder engines. The diesel engine was a 2.0-liter "1CD-FTV" with and the gasoline-powered one a 2.4-liter "2AZ-FE" with . Both models featured a five-speed manual transmission as the part of standard equipment, while a four-speed automatic was available as an option on gasoline-powered model.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Australian models (known locally as ACR30R) were only available with the 2.4-liter petrol engine and a four-speed automatic.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The Estima Hybrid employed the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive and used two electric motors. A 2.4-liter gasoline engine and a electric motor power the front wheels, while the rear wheels are propelled by a electric motor. The vehicle had been on sale in Japan since June 2001. Production of the hybrid started in May 2001 at the Motomachi plant and June 2002 at the Fujimatsu plant. It is claimed by Toyota to be the world's first hybrid minivan.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The third-generation model was introduced in 2006 in Japanese and Australian markets as the Estima and Tarago respectively, and as the Previa in other markets. This generation was notably absent from the European market.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Features include an available second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive drivetrain (only in the Japanese market), automatic parallel and reverse parking (only on Toyota Estima), Lane-Keep Assist (LKA) system which detects the lane markers on the road and steers the car on the right direction (for Estima only), Adaptive Front-Lighting System low beam headlamps which assists to light up the upcoming road around a bend, track-mounted second row reclining seats with footrests, and power-folding split third row seats (for seven-seater models). It received a minor facelift in 2009. G-BOOK was added to the list of optional features. Active driver assist features such as Lane Keeping Assist and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control were offered as an option exclusively to V6 variants.


title: Toyota Previa

text: In some markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, Toyota announced the 3.5-liter V6 model in January 2007, but was dropped from the lineup after its major facelift in 2016.


title: Toyota Previa

text: In the Philippines, the XR50 replaced the XR40 Previa in 2009. It only has the 2.4L Q variant. It is powered by Toyota's 2.4L 2AZ-FE inline-four engine with VVT-i paired to a 4-speed automatic transmission. It came with power sliding doors, automatic climate control, faux wood trim, 2DIN 6 CD audio system, speakers, remote keyless entry, leather seats among other features.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The third generation Estima Hybrid, only sold in Japan and Hong Kong, is powered by Toyota's 2.4-liter E-Four hybrid system with all-wheel drive. It is said to be similar to that of the Lexus RX 400h, but a generation behind.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The model is known as the GSR50R Tarago in Australia, and was released in March 2006. As with the previous generation, the Australian version of the model continued to use a 2.4-liter inline-four engine. In February 2007, a 3.5-liter V6 engine (, torque) became available in order for the automobile to remain competitive against its main rivals in Australia.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The model had a facelift in 2009, with revisions to the headlamps and bumpers. The option of a seven-seater variant was introduced in 2008. Another update was released in 2012 with smart start as standard on all models, smart entry on GLX V6 and Ultima models, new audio systems on all models, automatic headlights and a new "Rustic Brown" colour option. It also received the major facelift in 2016, with updated interior and other new standard features offered, however it still bears its exterior looks mostly unchanged as with the pre-facelift design. It is available as a family van, a taxicab for regular passengers and a specially designed wheelchair accessible taxi featuring a ramp and longer wheelbase.


title: Toyota Previa

text: In May 2019, Toyota revealed the Granvia, which is heavily based on the latest HiAce van. Toyota Australia confirmed the Granvia will replace the Tarago by the end of 2019, however, they were sold alongside each other for a short period of time. As of March 2020, the Tarago has been discontinued in the Australian market and removed from the Toyota Australia website.


title: Toyota Previa

text: The facelifted model was launched in mid-2016, its dimensions remain mostly unchanged while it receives various new additional equipment to keep up with its competitors. In the interior features a redesigned multifunction steering wheel and a piano black center console that neatly houses a large touchscreen infotainment display. A new safety system "Toyota Safety Sense C" was offered for the first time in the facelifted Estima, but only for Japanese models. The former includes pre-collision system with pedestrian detection function, lane keep assist, high beam assist and radar cruise control.


title: Toyota Previa

text: Along with the new safety features comes with slightly redesigned headlights with LED daytime running lights, tail lights, bumpers, as well as interior with updated steering wheel design, it also becomes the first Toyota to have 360 degree 99% UV cut glass preventing 99% of UV rays from entering into the vehicle creating a cooler environment overall, this 99% UV cut glass also gets a recommendation from Skin Cancer Foundation and has a SPF 50+/PA++++ rating. The Estima drops its 3.5L V6 engine option and now only offers the 2.4L inline-4 producing , and and its hybrid variant.


title: Vertical farming

text: Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. Some common choices of structures to house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers, tunnels, and abandoned mine shafts. , there is the equivalent of about of operational vertical farmland in the world.


title: Vertical farming

text: The modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University. Despommier and his students came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people. Although the design has not yet been built, it successfully popularized the idea of vertical farming.


title: Vertical farming

text: The main advantage of utilizing vertical farming technologies is the increased crop yield that comes with a smaller unit area of land requirement. Another sought-after advantage is the increased ability to cultivate a larger variety of crops at once because crops do not share the same plots of land while growing. Additionally, crops are resistant to weather disruptions because of their placement indoors, meaning fewer crops are lost to extreme or unexpected weather occurrences. Because of its limited land usage, vertical farming is less disruptive to the native plants and animals, leading to further conservation of the local flora and fauna.


title: Vertical farming

text: These advances have led vertical farming companies to raise unprecedented amounts of funding in North America as well as in other parts of the world such as the Middle East. Today, venture capitalists, governments, financial institutions, and private investors are among the principal investors in the sector.


title: Vertical farming

text: Vertical farming technologies face economic challenges with large start-up costs compared to traditional farms. In Victoria, Australia, a "hypothetical 10 level vertical farm" would cost over 850 times more per square meter of arable land than a traditional farm in rural Victoria. Vertical farms also face large energy demands due to the use of supplementary light like LEDs. Moreover, if non-renewable energy is used to meet these energy demands, vertical farms could produce more pollution than traditional farms or greenhouses.


title: Vertical farming

text: Hydroponics refers to the technique of growing plants without dirt. In hydroponic systems, the roots of plants are submerged in liquid solutions containing macronutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, as well as trace elements, including iron, chlorine, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. Additionally, inert (chemically inactive) mediums such as gravel, sand, and sawdust are used as soil substitutes to provide support for the roots.


title: Vertical farming

text: The advantages of hydroponics include the ability to increase yield per area and reduce water usage. A study has shown that, compared to conventional farming, hydroponic farming could increase the yield per area of lettuce by around 11 times while requiring 13 times less water. Due to these advantages, hydroponics is the predominant growing system used in vertical farming.


title: Vertical farming

text: The term "aquaponics" is coined by combining two words: "aquaculture", which refers to fish farming, and "hydroponics"—the technique of growing plants without soil. Aquaponics takes hydroponics one step further by integrating the production of terrestrial plants with the production of aquatic organisms in a closed-loop system that mimics nature itself. Nutrient-rich wastewater from the fish tanks is filtered by a solid removal unit and then led to a bio-filter, where toxic ammonia is converted to nutritious nitrate. While absorbing nutrients, the plants then purify the wastewater, which is recycled back to the fish tanks. Moreover, the plants consume carbon dioxide produced by the fish, and water in the fish tanks obtains heat and helps the greenhouse maintain temperature at night to save energy. As most commercial vertical farming systems focus on producing a few fast-growing vegetable crops, aquaponics, which also includes an aquacultural component, is currently not as widely used as conventional hydroponics.


title: Vertical farming

text: The invention of aeroponics was motivated by the initiative of NASA (the National Aeronautical and Space Administration) to find an efficient way to grow plants in space in the 1990s. Unlike conventional hydroponics and aquaponics, aeroponics does not require any liquid or solid medium to grow plants. Instead, a liquid solution with nutrients is misted in air chambers where the plants are suspended. By far, aeroponics is the most sustainable soil-less growing technique, as it uses up to 90% less water than the most efficient conventional hydroponic systems and requires no replacement of growing medium. Moreover, the absence of growing medium allows aeroponic systems to adopt a vertical design, which further saves energy as gravity automatically drains away excess liquid, whereas conventional horizontal hydroponic systems often require water pumps for controlling excess solution. Currently, aeroponic systems have not been widely applied to vertical farming, but are starting to attract significant attention.


title: Vertical farming

text: Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) is the modification of the natural environment to increase crop yield or extend the growing season. CEA systems are typically hosted in enclosed structures such as greenhouses or buildings, where control can be imposed on environmental factors including air, temperature, light, water, humidity, carbon dioxide, and plant nutrition. In vertical farming systems, CEA is often used in conjunction with soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.


title: Vertical farming

text: Abandoned buildings are often reused for vertical farming, such as a farm at Chicago called "The Plant", which was transformed from an old meatpacking plant. However, new builds are sometimes also constructed to house vertical farming systems.


title: Vertical farming

text: Recycled shipping containers are an increasingly popular option for housing vertical farming systems. The shipping containers serve as standardized, modular chambers for growing a variety of plants, and are often equipped with LED lighting, vertically stacked hydroponics, smart climate controls, and monitoring sensors. Moreover, by stacking the shipping containers, farms can save space even further and achieve higher yield per unit area.


title: Vertical farming

text: A "deep farm" is a vertical farm built from refurbished underground tunnels or abandoned mine shafts. As temperature and humidity underground are generally temperate and constant, deep farms require less energy for heating. Deep farms can also use nearby groundwater to reduce the cost of water supply. Despite low costs, a deep farm can produce seven to nine times more food than a conventional farm above ground on the same area of land, according to Saffa Riffat, chair in Sustainable Energy at the University of Nottingham. Coupled with automated harvesting systems, these underground farms can be fully self-sufficient.


title: Vertical farming

text: Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University, founded the root of the concept of vertical farming. In 1999, he challenged his class of graduate students to calculate how much food they could grow on the rooftops of New York. The students concluded that they could only feed about 1000 people. Unsatisfied with the results, Despommier suggested growing plants indoors instead, on multiple layers vertically. Despommier and his students then proposed a design of a 30-story vertical farm equipped with artificial lighting, advanced hydroponics, and aeroponics that could produce enough food for 50,000 people. They further outlined that approximately 100 kinds of fruits and vegetables would grow on the upper floors while lower floors would house chickens and fish subsisting on the plant waste. Although Despommier's skyscraper farm has not yet been built, it popularized the idea of vertical farming and inspired many later designs.


title: Vertical farming

text: Developers and local governments in multiple cities have expressed interest in establishing a vertical farm: Incheon (South Korea), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Dongtan (China), New York City, Portland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Surrey, Toronto, Paris, Bangalore (India), Dubai, Shanghai, and Beijing. Around US$1.8 billion were invested into startups operating in the sector between 2014 and November 2020.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2009, the world's first pilot production system was installed at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in the United Kingdom. The project showcased vertical farming and provided a solid base to research sustainable urban food production. The produce is used to feed the zoo's animals while the project enables evaluation of the systems and provides an educational resource to advocate for change in unsustainable land-use practices that impact upon global biodiversity and ecosystem services.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2010 the Green Zionist Alliance proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund in Israel) to develop vertical farms in Israel. Moreover, a company named "Podponics" built a vertical farm in Atlanta consisting of over 100 stacked "growpods" in 2010 but reportedly went bankrupt in May 2016.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2012 the world's first commercial vertical farm was opened in Singapore, developed by Sky Greens Farms, and is three stories high. They currently have over 100 nine-meter-tall towers.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2012, a company named The Plant debuted its newly developed vertical farming system housed in an abandoned meatpacking building in Chicago, Illinois. The utilization of abandoned buildings to house vertical farms and other sustainable farming methods are a fact of the rapid urbanization of modern communities.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2013 the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) was founded in Munich (Germany). By May 2015, the AVF had expanded with regional chapters all over Europe, Asia, USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This organization unites growers and inventors to improve food security and sustainable development. The AVF focuses on advancing vertical farming technologies, designs, and businesses by hosting international info-days, workshops, and summits.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2015 the London company, Growing Underground, began the production of leafy green produce underground in abandoned underground World War II tunnels.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2016, a startup called Local Roots launched the "TerraFarm", a vertical farming systems hosted in a 40-foot shipping container, which includes computer vision integrated with an artificial neural network to monitor the plants; and is remotely monitored from California. It is claimed that the TerraFarm system "has achieved cost parity with traditional, outdoor farming" with each unit producing the equivalent of "three to five acres of farmland", using 97% less water through water recapture and harvesting the evaporated water through the air conditioning. The first vertical farm in a US grocery store opened in Dallas, Texas in 2016, now closed.


title: Vertical farming

text: In 2017, a Japanese company, Mirai, began marketing its multi-level vertical farming system. The company states that it can produce 10,000 heads of lettuce a day—100 times the amount that could be produced with traditional agricultural methods because their special purpose LED lights can decrease growing times by a factor of 2.5. Additionally, this can all be achieved with 40% less energy usage, 80% less food waste, and 99% less water usage than in traditional farming methods. Further requests have been made to implement this technology in several other Asian countries. As of 2021, Bowery Farming is the largest indoor vertical farming company in the United States.


title: Vertical farming

text: Traditional farming's arable land requirements are too large and invasive to remain sustainable for future generations. With the rapid population growth rates, it is expected that arable land per person will drop about 66% in 2050 in comparison to 1970. Vertical farming allows for, in some cases, over ten times the crop yield per acre than traditional methods. Unlike traditional farming in non-tropical areas, indoor farming can produce crops year-round. All-season farming multiplies the productivity of the farmed surface by a factor of four to six, depending on the crop. With crops such as strawberries, the factor may be as high as 30.


title: Vertical farming

text: Vertical farming also allows for the production of a larger variety of harvestable crops because of its usage of isolated crop sectors. As opposed to a traditional farm where one type of crop is harvested per season, vertical farms allow for a multitude of different crops to be grown and harvested at once due to their individual land plots.


title: Vertical farming

text: According to the USDA, vertical farm produce only travels a short distance to reach stores compared to traditional farming method produce.


title: Vertical farming

text: The United States Department of Agriculture predicts the worldwide population to exceed 9 billion by 2050, most of which will be living in urban or city areas. Vertical farming is the USDA's predicted answer to the potential food shortage as the population increases. This method of farming is environmentally responsible by lowering emission and reducing needed water. This type of urban farming that would allow for nearly immediate farm-to-store transport would reduce distribution costs and shorten produce travel time.


title: Vertical farming

text: In a workshop on vertical farming put on by the USDA and the Department of Energy experts in vertical farming discussed plant breeding, pest management, and engineering. Control of pests (like insects, birds, and rodents) is easily managed in vertical farms because the area is so well-controlled. Without the need for chemical pesticides the ability to grow organic crops is easier than in traditional farming.


title: Vertical farming

text: Crops grown in traditional outdoor farming depend on supportive weather and suffer from undesirable temperatures, rain, monsoon, hailstorm, tornado, flooding, wildfires, and drought. "Three recent floods (in 1993, 2007 and 2008) cost the United States billions of dollars in lost crops, with even more devastating losses in topsoil. Changes in rain patterns and temperature could diminish India's agricultural output by 30 percent by the end of the century."


title: Vertical farming

text: The issue of adverse weather conditions is especially relevant for arctic and sub-arctic areas like Alaska and northern Canada where traditional farming is largely impossible. Food insecurity has been a long-standing problem in remote northern communities where fresh produce has to be shipped large distances resulting in high costs and poor nutrition. Container-based farms can provide fresh produce year-round at a lower cost than shipping in supplies from more southerly locations with a number of farms operating in locations such as Churchill, Manitoba, and Unalaska, Alaska. As with disruption to crop growing, local container-based farms are also less susceptible to disruption than the long supply chains necessary to deliver traditionally grown produce to remote communities. Food prices in Churchill spiked substantially after floods in May and June 2017 forced the closure of the rail line that forms the only permanent overland connection between Churchill and the rest of Canada.


title: Vertical farming

text: Up to 20 units of outdoor farmland per unit of vertical farming could return to its natural state, due to vertical farming's increased productivity. Vertical farming would reduce the amount of farmland, thus saving many natural resources.


title: Vertical farming

text: Deforestation and desertification caused by agricultural encroachment on natural biomes could be avoided. Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, protecting soil, and reducing emissions.


title: Vertical farming

text: Traditional farming is often invasive to the native flora and fauna because it requires such a large area of arable land. One study showed that wood mouse populations dropped from 25 per hectare to 5 per hectare after harvest, estimating 10 animals killed per hectare each year with conventional farming. In comparison, vertical farming would cause nominal harm to wildlife because of its limited space usage.


title: Vertical farming

text: Vertical farms must overcome the financial challenge of large startup costs. The initial building costs could exceed $100 million for a 60 hectare vertical farm"." Urban occupancy costs can be high, resulting in much higher startup costs – and a longer break even time – than for a traditional farm in rural areas.


title: Vertical farming

text: Opponents question the potential profitability of vertical farming. In order for vertical farms to be successful financially, high-value crops must be grown since traditional farms provide low-value crops like wheat at cheaper costs than vertical farms. Louis Albright, a professor in biological and environmental engineering at Cornell stated that a loaf of bread that was made from wheat grown in a vertical farm would cost US$27. However, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average loaf of bread cost US$1.296 in September 2019, clearly showing how crops grown in vertical farms will be noncompetitive compared to crops grown in traditional outdoor farms. In order for vertical farms to be profitable, the costs of operating these farms must decrease or the price of traditional farming must increase. The developers of the TerraFarm system produced from second-hand, 40-foot shipping containers claimed that their system "has achieved cost parity with traditional, outdoor farming".""


title: Vertical farming

text: A theoretical 10-story vertical wheat farm could produce up to 1,940 tons of wheat per hectare compared to a global average of 3.2 tons of wheat per hectare (600 times yield). Current methods require enormous energy consumption for lighting, temperature, humidity control, carbon dioxide input and fertilizer and consequently the authors concluded it was "unlikely to be economically competitive with current market prices".


title: Vertical farming

text: According to a report in "The Financial Times" , most vertical farming companies have been unprofitable, except for a number of Japanese companies.


title: Vertical farming

text: During the growing season, the sun shines on a vertical surface at an extreme angle such that much less light is available to crops than when they are planted on flat land. Therefore, supplemental light would be required. Bruce Bugbee claimed that the power demands of vertical farming would be uncompetitive with traditional farms using only natural light. Environmental writer George Monbiot calculated that the cost of providing enough supplementary light to grow the grain for a single loaf would be about $15. An article in the Economist argued that "even though crops growing in a glass skyscraper will get some natural sunlight during the day, it won't be enough" and "the cost of powering artificial lights will make indoor farming prohibitively expensive". Moreover, researchers determined that if only solar panels were to be used to meet the energy consumption of a vertical farm, "the area of solar panels required would need to be a factor of twenty times greater than the arable area on a multi-level indoor farm", which will be hard to accomplish with larger vertical farms. A hydroponic farm growing lettuce in Arizona would require of energy per kilogram of lettuce produced. To put this amount of energy into perspective, a traditional outdoor lettuce farm in Arizona only requires 1100 kJ of energy per kilogram of lettuce grown.


title: Vertical farming

text: As the book by Dr. Dickson Despommier "The Vertical Farm" proposes a controlled environment, heating, and cooling costs will resemble those of any other multiple story building. Plumbing and elevator systems are necessary to distribute nutrients and water. In the northern continental United States, fossil fuel heating costs can be over $200,000 per hectare. Research conducted in 2015 compared the growth of lettuce in Arizona using conventional agricultural methods and a hydroponic farm. They determined that heating and cooling made up more than 80% of the energy consumption in the hydroponic farm, with the heating and cooling needing 7400 kJ per kilogram of lettuce produced.


title: Vertical farming

text: According to the same study, the total energy consumption of the hydroponic farm is 90,000 kJ per kilogram of lettuce. If the energy consumption is not addressed, vertical farms may be an unsustainable alternative to traditional agriculture.


title: Vertical farming

text: The energy requirements of vertical farming lead to significant land use to provide the energy. For every acre of crops grown via vertical farming, 5.4 acres of solar panels would be required to supply the energy via solar power. Thus in practice, vertical farming may require more land than traditional farming, not less.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Carpenter bees are species in the genus Xylocopa of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo. The main exceptions are species in the subgenus "Proxylocopa"; they dig nesting tunnels in suitable soil.


title: Carpenter bee

text: The French entomologist Pierre André Latreille described the genus in 1802. He derived the name from the Ancient Greek "xylokopos"/ξυλοκὀπος "wood-cutter".


title: Carpenter bee

text: Many species in this enormous genus are difficult to tell apart; most species are all black, or primarily black with some yellow or white pubescence. Some differ only in subtle morphological features, such as details of the male genitalia. Males of some species differ confusingly from the females, being covered in greenish-yellow fur. The confusion of species arises particularly in the common names; in India, for example, the common name for any all-black species of "Xylocopa" is "bhanvra" (or "bhomora" - ভোমোৰা - in Assamese), and reports and sightings of "bhanvra" or "bhomora" are commonly misattributed to a European species, "Xylocopa violacea"; however, this species is found only in the northern regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, and most reports of "bhanvra", especially elsewhere in India, refer to any of roughly 15 other common black "Xylocopa" species in the region, such as "X. nasalis", "X. tenuiscapa", or "X. tranquebarorum".


title: Carpenter bee

text: Non-professionals commonly confuse carpenter bees with bumblebees; the simplest rule of thumb for telling them apart is that most carpenter bees have a shiny abdomen, whereas bumblebee abdomens are completely covered with dense hair. Males of some species of carpenter bees have a white or yellow face, unlike bumblebees, while females lack the bare corbicula of bumblebees; the hind leg is entirely hairy.


title: Carpenter bee

text: The wing venation is characteristic; the marginal cell in the front wing is narrow and elongated, and its apex bends away from the costa. The front wing has small stigma. When closed, the bee's short mandibles conceal the labrum. The clypeus is flat. Males of many species have much larger eyes than the females, which relates to their mating behavior.


title: Carpenter bee

text: In the United States, two eastern species, "Xylocopa virginica" and "X. micans", occur. Three more species are primarily western in distribution, "X. sonorina", "X. tabaniformis orpifex", and "X. californica". "X. virginica" is by far the more widely distributed species.


title: Carpenter bee

text: In several species, the females live alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a small social group. They use wood bits to form partitions between the cells in the nest. A few species bore holes in wood dwellings. Since the tunnels are near the surface, structural damage is generally minor or superficial. However, carpenter bee nests are attractive to woodpeckers, which may do further damage by drilling into the wood to feed on the bees or larvae.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Carpenter bees have short mouthparts and are important pollinators on some open-faced or shallow flowers; for some they even are obligate pollinators, for example the maypop ("Passiflora incarnata") and "Orphium", which are not pollinated by any other insects. They also are important pollinators of flowers with various forms of lids, such as "Salvia" species and some members of the Fabaceae. However many carpenter bees "rob" nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollae. "Xylocopa virginica" is one example of a species with such nectar robbing behavior. With their short labia the bees cannot reach the nectar without piercing the long-tubed flowers; they miss contact with the anthers and perform no pollination. In some plants, this reduces fruit and seed production, while others have developed defence mechanisms against nectar robbing. When foraging for pollen from some species with tubular flowers however, the same species of carpenter bees still achieve pollination, if the anthers and stigmata are exposed together.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Many Old World carpenter bees have a special pouch-like structure on the inside of their first metasomal tergite called the acarinarium where certain mites ("Dinogamasus" species) reside as commensals. The exact nature of the relationship is not fully understood, though in other bees that carry mites, they are beneficial, feeding either on fungi in the nest, or on other harmful mites.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Carpenter bees are traditionally considered solitary bees, though some species have simple social nests in which mothers and daughters may cohabit. Examples of this type of social nesting can be seen in the species "Xylocopa sulcatipes" and "Xylocopa nasalis". When females cohabit, a division of labor between them occurs sometimes. In this type of nesting, multiple females either share in the foraging and nest laying, or one female does all the foraging and nest laying, while the other females guard.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Solitary species differ from social species. Solitary bees tend to be gregarious and often several nests of solitary bees are near each other. In solitary nesting, the founding bee forages, builds cells, lays the eggs, and guards. Normally, only one generation of bees live in the nest. "Xylocopa pubescens" is one carpenter bee species that can have both social and solitary nests.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Carpenter bees make nests by tunneling into wood, bamboo, and similar hard plant material such as peduncles, usually dead. They vibrate their bodies as they rasp their mandibles against hard wood, each nest having a single entrance which may have many adjacent tunnels. As a subfamily, they nest in a wide range of host plants, but any one species may show definite adaptations or preferences for particular groups of plants. The entrance is often a perfectly circular hole measuring about on the underside of a beam, bench, or tree limb. Carpenter bees do not eat wood. They discard the bits of wood, or reuse particles to build partitions between cells. The tunnel functions as a nursery for brood and storage for the pollen/nectar upon which the brood subsists. The provision masses of some species are among the most complex in shape of any group of bees; whereas most bees fill their brood cells with a soupy mass and others form simple spheroidal pollen masses, "Xylocopa" species form elongated and carefully sculpted masses that have several projections which keep the bulk of the mass from coming into contact with the cell walls, sometimes resembling an irregular caltrop. The eggs are very large relative to the size of the female, and are some of the largest eggs among all insects. Carpenter bees can be timber pests, and cause substantial damage to wood if infestations go undetected for several years.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Two very different mating systems appear to be common in carpenter bees, and often this can be determined simply by examining specimens of the males of any given species. Species in which the males have large eyes are characterized by a mating system where the males either search for females by patrolling, or by hovering and waiting for passing females, which they then pursue. In the other mating system, the males often have very small heads, but a large, hypertrophied glandular reservoir in the mesosoma releases pheromones into the airstream behind the male while it flies or hovers. The pheromone advertises the presence of the male to females.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Male bees often are seen hovering near nests, and will approach nearby animals. However, males are harmless, since they do not have a stinger. Female carpenter bees are capable of stinging, but they are docile and rarely sting unless caught in the hand or otherwise directly provoked.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Woodpeckers eat carpenter bees, as do various species of birds, such as shrikes and bee-eaters as well as some mammals such as ratels. Other predators include large mantises and predatory flies, particularly large robber-flies of the family Asilidae. Woodpeckers are attracted to the noise of the bee larvae and drill holes along the tunnels to feed on them.


title: Carpenter bee

text: Apart from outright predators, parasitoidal species of bee flies (e.g. "Xenox") lay eggs in the entrance to the bee’s nest and the fly maggots live off the bee larvae.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for his rich bass-baritone voice and down-home humor, he is remembered for his hit recordings of "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford was born in Bristol, Tennessee, United States, to Maud (née Long) and Clarence Thomas Ford. He spent a lot of his time in his early years listening to country or western musicians, in person or on the radio.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford began wandering around Bristol in his high school years, taking an interest in radio and began his radio career as an announcer at WOPI-AM in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week. In 1938, the young bass-baritone left the station and went to study classical music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Ohio. He returned for the announcing job in 1939 and did it from 1939 to 1941 in stations from Atlanta to Knoxville. A First Lieutenant, he served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II as the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress, but the War ended before he was to be sent to Japan. He was also a bombing instructor at George Air Force Base, in Victorville, California.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: After the war, Ford worked at radio stations in San Bernardino and Pasadena, California. At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as a radio announcer. He was assigned to host an early morning country music disc jockey program, "Bar Nothin' Ranch Time". To differentiate himself, he created the personality of "Tennessee Ernie", a wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly. He became popular in the area and was soon hired away by Pasadena's KXLA radio. He also did musical tours. The Mayfield Brothers of West Texas, including Smokey Mayfield, Thomas Edd Mayfield, and Herbert Mayfield, were among Ford's warmup bands, having played for him in concerts in Amarillo and Lubbock, during the late 1940s.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: At KXLA, Ford continued doing the same show and also joined the cast of Cliffie Stone's popular live KXLA country show "Dinner Bell Roundup" as a vocalist while still doing the early morning broadcast. Cliffie Stone, a part-time talent scout for Capitol Records, brought him to the attention of the label. In 1949, while still doing his morning show, he signed a contract with Capitol. He became a local TV star as the star of Stone's popular Southern California "Hometown Jamboree" show. RadiOzark produced 260 15-minute episodes of "The Tennessee Ernie Show" on transcription disks for national radio syndication.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: He released almost 50 country singles through the early 1950s, several of which made the "Billboard" charts. Many of his early records, including "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Blackberry Boogie", were exciting, driving boogie-woogie records featuring accompaniment by the 'Hometown Jamboree' band, which included Jimmy Bryant on lead guitar and pioneer pedal steel guitarist Speedy West. "I'll Never Be Free", a duet pairing Ford with Capitol Records pop singer Kay Starr, became a huge country and pop crossover hit in 1950. A duet with Ella Mae Morse, "False Hearted Girl" was a top seller for the Capitol Country and Hillbilly division.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford eventually ended his KXLA morning show and in the early 1950s, moved on from "Hometown Jamboree". He took over from bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the TV version of NBC quiz show "College of Musical Knowledge" when it returned briefly in 1954 after a four-year hiatus. He became a household name in the U.S., largely as a result of his portrayal in 1954 of the 'country bumpkin', "Cousin Ernie", in three episodes of "I Love Lucy". In 1955, Ford recorded "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" (which reached number 4 on the country music chart) with "Farewell to the Mountains" on the B-side.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford scored an unexpected hit on the pop chart in 1955 with his rendering of "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament. Merle Travis had first recorded it in 1946. It reflected experiences of the Travis family in the mines at Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The song's fatalistic tone and bleak imagery were in stark contrast to some sugary pop ballads and rock & roll also on the charts in 1955:


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: With Ford's snapping fingers and a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement by Ford's music director, Jack Fascinato, "Sixteen Tons" spent ten weeks at number one on the country chart and seven weeks at number one on the pop chart. The record sold over twenty million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song made Ford a crossover star, and became his signature song.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford subsequently hosted his own prime-time variety program, "The Ford Show", which ran on NBC television from October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961. Ford's last name allowed the show title to carry a unique double entendre by selling the naming rights to the Ford Motor Company (Ford had no known relation to the Ford family that founded that company). The "Ford Theatre", an anthology series also sponsored by the company, had run in the same time slot on NBC in the preceding 1955–1956 season. Ford's program was notable for the inclusion of a religious song at the end of every show, a tradition he recalled during his days as a cast member on Cliffie Stone's "Hometown Jamboree" live radio and TV show. Ford insisted on ending with a hymn on his own show despite objections from network officials and the ad agency representing Ford, who feared it might provoke controversy. Everyone relented after the hymns received overwhelmingly favorable viewer response. The hymn became the most popular segment of his show. He earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his catchphrase, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" He began using the term during his disc jockey days on KXLA.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: In 1956 he released "Hymns", his first gospel music album, which remained on "Billboard"s Top Album charts for 277 consecutive weeks; his album "Great Gospel Songs" won a Grammy Award in 1964 and was nominated for several others. After the NBC show ended, Ford moved his family to Portola Valley in northern California. He also owned a cabin near Grandjean, Idaho, on the upper South Fork of the Payette River, where he would regularly retreat. In 1961, he recorded two albums of American Civil War songs, one for songs of the Union and another for songs of the Confederacy.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: From 1962 to 1965, Ford hosted a daytime talk/variety show, "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show" (later known as "Hello, Peapickers") from KGO-TV in San Francisco, broadcast over the ABC television network. In 1968, Ford narrated the Rankin/Bass Thanksgiving TV special "The Mouse on the Mayflower" for NBC. The mouse narrator seen at the beginning of the special, William the Churchmouse, was a caricature of Ford, in keeping with a Rankin/Bass tradition. Ford was the spokesman for the Pontiac Furniture Company in Pontiac, Illinois, in the 1970s. He also became the spokesman for Martha White brand flour in 1972.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Although he left his own TV show, he went on other shows like "The Dolly Show" and on "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters" in the early 1980s.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford left Capitol Records in 1975. By that time the quality of his country albums had become uneven and none of his releases were selling well. He would never record for a major label again.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford's experiences as a navigator and bombardier in World War II led to his involvement with the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force), a war plane preservation group in Texas. He was a featured announcer and celebrity guest at the annual CAF Airshow in Harlingen, Texas, from 1976 to 1988. He donated a once-top-secret Norden bombsight to the CAF's B-29 bomber restoration project. In the late 1970s, as a CAF colonel, Ford recorded the organization's theme song "Ballad of the Ghost Squadron".


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Over the years, Ford was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for radio, records, and television. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Out of the public eye, Ford and wife Betty contended with serious alcohol problems; Betty had the problem since the 1950s, as well as emotional issues that complicated both their lives and the lives of their sons. Though his drinking began to worsen in the 1960s, he worked continuously, seemingly unaffected by his heavy intake of whiskey. By the 1970s, however, it had begun to take an increasing toll on his health, appearance and ability to sing, though his problems were not known publicly. After Betty committed suicide in 1989 because of prescription drug abuse, Ernie's liver problems, diagnosed years earlier, became more apparent, but he refused to reduce his drinking despite repeated doctors' warnings. His last interview was taped on September 23, 1991, by his long-time friend Dinah Shore for her TV show, and was later aired on December 4 that year.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford received posthumous recognition for his gospel music contributions by being added to the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Ford was married to Betty Heminger from September 18, 1942, until her death on February 26, 1989. They had two sons: Jeffrey Buckner "Buck" Ford (born 1950); and Brion Leonard Ford (born 1952, in San Gabriel, California), who died on October 24, 2008, in White House, Tennessee, of lung cancer, aged 56. In 1980 Ford lived in the Smoke Tree neighborhood of Palm Springs, California.


title: Tennessee Ernie Ford

text: Less than four months after Betty's death in 1989, Ford married again. On September 28, 1991, he suffered severe liver failure at Dulles Airport, shortly after leaving a state dinner at the White House, hosted by then-President George H. W. Bush. Ford died in H. C. A. Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Virginia, on October 17. Ford was interred at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto, California. His second wife, Beverly Wood Ford (1921–2001), died 10 years after Ernie; her body was interred with his.


title: Bud Abbott

text: William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 2, 1897, into a show business family. His parents, Rae Fisher and Harry Abbott, had met while working for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. She was a bareback rider of German Jewish background and he was a concessionaire and forage agent. Bud was the third of the couple's four children. When Bud was a toddler, the family relocated to Harlem, then to the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, and his father became a longtime advance man for the Columbia Burlesque Wheel. During the summer, when burlesque was on hiatus, his father worked at Dreamland Park in Coney Island. Bud dropped out of grammar school to work at the park. In his teens, Abbott signed on as a cabin boy on a Norwegian steamer, but was soon forced to shovel coal. He worked his way back to the United States a year later.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In his late teens, Abbott began working in the box office of the Casino Theatre in Brooklyn, a burlesque house on the Columbia wheel. He spent the next few years in burlesque box offices, rising to treasurer. In 1918, while working in Washington, D.C., he met and married Jenny Mae Pratt (1902–1981), a burlesque dancer and comedienne who performed as Betty Smith. They remained together until his death 55 years later. Betty performed on the Columbia Wheel, while Bud mostly remained behind the scenes. In 1923, he produced a cut-rate vaudeville tab show called "Broadway Flashes", which toured on the small-time Gus Sun circuit. Abbott began performing as a straight man in the show when he could no longer afford to pay one. He continued producing and performing in burlesque shows on the Mutual Burlesque wheel, and as his reputation grew, he began working with veteran comedians like Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott crossed paths with Lou Costello in the early 1930s, when Abbott was producing and performing in Minsky's Burlesque shows in New York, and Costello was a rising comic. They worked together for the first time in 1935 at the Eltinge Theatre on 42nd Street, after an illness sidelined Costello's regular partner. They formally teamed up in 1936, and performed together in burlesque, minstrel shows, what was left of vaudeville, and stage shows.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In 1938, they received national exposure as regulars on the "Kate Smith Hour" radio show, which led to roles in a Broadway musical, "The Streets of Paris" in 1939. In 1940, Universal signed the team for their first film, "One Night in the Tropics". Despite having minor roles, Abbott and Costello stole the film with several classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Universal signed the team to a two-picture deal, and the first film, "Buck Privates" (1941), became a major hit and led to a long-term contract with the studio.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Arthur Lubin, who directed the team's first five starring films, later said: "I don't think there has ever been a finer straight man in the business than Bud Abbott. Lou would go off the script – because he was that clever with lines – and Bud would bring him right back."


title: Bud Abbott

text: During World War II, Abbott and Costello were among the most popular and highest-paid stars in the world. Between 1940 and 1956, they made 36 films and earned a percentage of the profits on each. They were among the Top 10 box office stars from 1941 through 1951, and placed No. 1 in 1942. They also had their own radio program ("The Abbott and Costello Show") throughout the 1940s, first on NBC from 1942 to 1947, and from 1947 to 1949 on ABC. During a 35-day tour in the summer of 1942, the team sold $85 million worth of War Bonds.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In the 1950s, they introduced their comedy to live television on "The Colgate Comedy Hour", and launched their own half-hour filmed series, "The Abbott and Costello Show" (1952–54).


title: Bud Abbott

text: Relations between Abbott and Costello were strained by egos and salary disputes. In burlesque, they split their earnings 60/40, favoring Abbott, because the straight man was always viewed as the more valuable member of the team. This was eventually changed to 50/50, but after a year in Hollywood, Costello insisted on a 60/40 split in his favor. It remained 60/40 for the rest of their careers. Costello also demanded that the team be renamed "Costello and Abbott," but this was rejected by Universal because the studio had been promoting "Abbott and Costello" for years. Abbott's top billing resulted in a "permanent chill" between the two partners, according to Lou's daughter Chris Costello in her biography "Lou's on First". Their relationship was further strained by Abbott's alcohol abuse, a habit motivated by his desire to stave off epileptic seizures.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In mid-1945, the comedians were not on speaking terms after Costello fired a maid and Abbott, having no grievance with the maid, hired her. As Costello recalled in 1958: "She went to work for Abbott. I explained to Bud why I let her go, and asked him to fire her, but he wouldn't." Costello refused to speak to Abbott except when they were working. In 1946, the team's box office ranking dropped out of the Top 10 and the studio, with Costello's assent, split the team in character roles in two films: "Little Giant" and "The Time of Their Lives". "Bud didn't like doing them at all," said Abbott's nephew Norman Abbott. "He felt that Lou wanted to go on and be a different kind of comedian, that he didn't want to be a team anymore. So the parts were written that way in couple of pictures, and it didn't work." Abbott resolved their personal situation when he suggested that the team's ongoing plans to build a civic center for underprivileged children be named after Costello's son, who drowned before his first birthday. The Lou Costello, Jr. Youth Foundation opened in Los Angeles in 1947 and is still serving the community.


title: Bud Abbott

text: The team's popularity waned in the mid-1950s, and the IRS demanded substantial back taxes, forcing the partners (both of whom had been free spenders and serious gamblers) to sell most of their assets, including the rights to many of their films. When the team's long-term contract with Universal was up in 1954, they demanded more money than the studio was willing to pay, and they were dropped after 14 years at the studio.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In November 1956, Costello was the subject of the Ralph Edwards-produced TV show "This Is Your Life". A month later the team opened in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the act went badly. Witnesses differ on exactly what happened (one version has Costello leading a drunk Abbott off the stage), but the accounts agree that Abbott's timing had slowed down noticeably, throwing Costello's responses off and embarrassing him.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott and Costello split in 1957, shortly before Costello appeared on Steve Allen's variety show. Costello made solo appearances on several TV shows, including the Steve Allen show, and did one film, "The Thirty-Foot Bride of Candy Rock" (released posthumously in 1959.) Costello died on March 3, 1959.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott faced financial difficulties in the late 1950s when the IRS disallowed $500,000 in tax exemptions which forced him to sell his home and come out of semi-retirement.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In 1960, Abbott began performing with a new partner, Candy Candido, to good reviews. But Abbott called it quits, remarking that "No one could ever live up to Lou." The following year, Abbott played a straight role in a dramatic television episode of "General Electric Theater" titled "The Joke's on Me". In 1962, he was interviewed by NBC's Jack Lescoulie, in a nostalgic segment. That year, as it's reported, Abbott was considered for a cameo in Stanley Kramer's comedy "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". In 1964, he suffered the first in a series of strokes and recuperated at the Motion Picture Country Home. The following year, he was filmed on the set of the Elvis Presley movie, "Frankie and Johnny", with Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra and other celebrities when Presley donated $50,000 to the Motion Picture Relief Fund to help its $40 million building and endowment drive. In 1967, Abbott provided his own voice for the Hanna-Barbera animated series "The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show". Stan Irwin provided the voice of Lou Costello.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Bud and Betty Abbott were married for 55 years. The couple adopted two children: Bud Jr. (August 23, 1939 – January 19, 1997) in 1942 and Rae Victoria (Vickie) (March 27, 1942 — April 28, 2021) in 1949.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Norman and Betty Abbott, the children of Bud's older sister, Olive, started their careers in Hollywood working behind the scenes on the Abbott and Costello films. Betty became Blake Edwards' longtime script supervisor, and Norman directed many episodic television series, including "Leave It to Beaver", "The Jack Benny Program", "Sanford and Son" and "Welcome Back, Kotter".


title: Bud Abbott

text: Bud has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: the radio star is located at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard, the motion pictures star is located at 1611 Vine Street, and the television star is located at 6740 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott died of cancer at age 76 on April 24, 1974, at his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He was cremated at Grandview Crematory in Glendale, California and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean three miles out from Santa Monica.


title: Bud Abbott

text: When asked about Abbott shortly after his death, Groucho Marx replied that Abbott was "the greatest straight man ever."


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott and Costello are among the few non-baseball personnel to be memorialized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they are not inductees of the Hall itself. A plaque and a gold record of the "Who's On First?" sketch have been on permanent display there since 1956, and the routine has run on an endless video loop in the exhibit area since 1967.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott and Costello each have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work in radio, television and motion pictures.


title: Bud Abbott

text: In 1942, they were voted the country's No. 1 Box Office Stars by exhibitors. They ranked among the Top Ten in 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951.


title: Bud Abbott

text: Abbott received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting (posthumously) from the Garden State Film Festival in 2006; it was accepted on his behalf by his daughter Vickie Abbott Wheeler.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The national flag of Switzerland (; ; ; ) displays a white cross in the centre of a square red field. The white cross is known as the Swiss cross or the federal cross. Its arms are equilateral, and their ratio of length to width is 7:6. The size of the cross in relation to the field was set in 2017 as 5:8.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The white cross has been used as the field sign (attached to the clothing of combatants and to the cantonal war flags in the form of strips of linen) of the Old Swiss Confederacy since its formation in the late 13th or early 14th century. Its symbolism was described by the Swiss Federal Council in 1889 as representing "at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". As a national ensign, it was first used during the Napoleonic Wars by general Niklaus Franz von Bachmann, and as regimental flag of all cantonal troops from 1841. The federal coat of arms ("eidgenössisches Wappen") was defined in 1815 for the Restored Confederacy as the white-on-red Swiss cross in a heraldic shield. The current design was used together with a cross composed of five squares until 1889, when its dimensions were officially set.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The civil and state ensign of Switzerland, used by Swiss ships, boats and non-governmental bodies, is rectangular in shape and has the more common proportions of 2:3. The Swiss flag is the only square national flag in the world. The emblem of the Red Cross is the Swiss flag with switched colours.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: According to the 2017 flag law (SR 232.21), "the Swiss flag shows a Swiss cross on a square background". Special provisions are made for the naval ensign and for civil aircraft identification. The Swiss cross is defined as


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Swiss Standard German consistently uses (cognate with "vane") rather than the term used for national flags in Germany. The name of the flag of the Swiss Confederation is a nominal compound, .


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: While the proportions of the cross have been fixed since 1889, the size of the cross relative to the flag (the width of the margin separating the "cross couped" from the edge of the flag) had not been officially fixed prior to 2017.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The annex to the flag law provides an image specifying that the margin is to be of the same width as the cross arms, so that the total height of the cross is fixed at 20:32 = 5:8 of the height of the flag (in other words, the width of the margin is 6:32 = 3:16). This ratio is also given as a "vexillological recommendation" in the flag regulation used by the Swiss Armed Forces. Flags with a cross of larger relative widths than the prescribed 20:32 = 62.5% remain in wide use; common ratios include 20:26 ≈ 76.9%


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: For the ensign, the ratio of the size of the cross to the height is likewise 5:8, so that the ratio of cross to flag width is 5:12.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The shade of red used in the flag was not defined by law prior to 2017. Since then, the colour of the flag is defined as pure red, with the color values as follows:


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The ultimate origin of the white cross is attributed by three competing legends: To the Theban Legion, to the "Reichssturmfahne" (Imperial War Banner) attested from the 12th century, and to the "Arma Christi" that were especially venerated in the three forest cantons, and which they were allegedly allowed to display on the formerly uniformly red battle flag from 1289 by king Rudolph I of Habsburg at the occasion of a campaign to Besançon.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Use of a white cross as a mark of identification of the combined troops of the Old Swiss Confederacy is first attested in the Battle of Laupen (1339), where it was sewn on combatants' clothing as two stripes of textile, contrasting with the red St. George's cross of Habsburg Austria, and with the St. Andrew's cross used by Burgundy and Maximilian I.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The first flag used as a field sign representing the confederacy rather than the individual cantons may have been used in the Battle of Arbedo in 1422 (notably without the participation of the Canton of Schwyz). This was a triangular red flag with an elongated white cross.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The white cross was thus in origin a field mark attached to combatants for identification, and later also to cantonal flags.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Lucerne chronicle of 1513, in battle scenes of the Burgundy wars of the 1470s shows cantonal flags with an added white cross.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: In this context, the solid-red war flag of Schwyz with the addition of the white cross appears much like the later flag of Switzerland.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Other depictions in the illustrated chronicles show a flag of Schwyz with an asymmetrical white cross, drawn in greater detail.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The symbol of the confederation as it developed during 1450-1520 was thus the white cross itself, not necessarily in a red field, but attached to existing flags, so that it appeared before a red background in those cantonal flags that contained red, notably the solid-red flag of Schwyz.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The first explicit mention of a separate flag representing the Confederacy dates to 1540, in the context of an auxiliary force sent by the Swiss to aid their associate, the city of Rottweil, in a feud against the lords of Landenberg.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The "Tagsatzung" decided that the Swiss auxiliaries sent to Rottweil should receive "a red flag with a white upright cross".


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Because of the Swiss pledge of neutrality, there was no military conflict in which the Swiss confederate troops participated after 1540. Consequently, the confederate field sign fell out of use.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: At the same time, the former field sign develops into a representation of the Confederacy during this time, without achieving the full status as official heraldic emblem.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The cross is shown as a symbol of the Swiss Confederacy on the "Patenmedallie" cast by Jacob Stampfer and given by the Confederacy as a baptismal gift to Princess Claude of France in 1547.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The cross appears on similar medals and on throughout the early modern period, but most symbolic depictions of the Confederacy in the 17th century do without the federal cross.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Beginning in the later 16th century, forces of the individual cantons adopted a type of flag which was based on a white cross design. These flags usually showed a white cross drawn to the edge of the field in front of a background striped in the respective cantonal colours. From this type, the "flammé" military flag develops in the 17th century, which also came to be used by Swiss mercenary regiments by the end of the 17th century.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The "flammé" design remained popular for military flags of the 18th and 19th centuries. A "flammé" flag was introduced as ordonnance for the Bernese troops in 1703.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: After the French invasion of Swiss territory in 1798 and the subsequent collapse of the Confederation, the authorities of the newly proclaimed Helvetic Republic confiscated all earlier flags, replacing them with a green-red-yellow tricolour.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: General Niklaus Franz von Bachmann used the white cross in a red field his campaigns of 1800 and 1815.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Tagsatzung (Swiss Diet) re-introduced the white cross in the red field for the seal of the Confederacy in 1814.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The commission for drafting a federal constitution on 16 May 1814 recommended the adoption of a seal of the Confederacy based on the "field sign of the old Swiss".


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: described as "in the center, the federal red shield with the white cross as common federal heraldic emblem, surrounded by a simple circular Gothic ornament, on the outside of which the inscription 'Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft' with the year number MDCCCXV, and in an outer circle all XXII cantonal coat of arms in circular fields, according to their federal order of precedence; around all, a simple wreath".


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: This decision remained in force after the formation of the federal state in 1848, as was recognized by the Federal Council in 1889.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: As opposed to the definition of an official seal or coat of arms, it was not, at the time, usual to specify a "national flag".


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: However, the white cross in a red field had seen frequent use on flags flown by private organizations during the Regeneration period (1830s), especially shooting, singing and gymnastics associations which at the time were a pool for progressive or "radical" agitation.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Tagsatzung on 2 September 1839 passed a resolution prescribing the use of a unified flag design for all cantonal infantry regiments. In a first circular sent to the cantonal authorities, the flag was described as a red flag with a cross touching the edges, but in 1841, the Tagsatzung opted for a proposal by Carl Stauffer, which was announced to the cantons on 11 October 1841. The 1841 flag shows a bold cross suspended in the center of the square field. The proportions of the cross arm are 1:1, i.e. the cross is composed of five squares. The absolute width of the flag is given as 4.5 feet (105 cm), that of the cross as 3 feet (90 cm),


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The specifications include the flag pole and the ribbon with the cantonal colours attached to the pole (the example depicted is the flag of the Zürich battalion). The flag itself is described as of good silk cloth, four feet five inches squared, scarlet, in the center a white cross, arms measuring one foot by three feet.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Swiss constitution of 1848 did not name a national flag, but it prescribes the federal flag for all federal troops.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: In November 1889, the Federal Council published a "communication regarding the federal coat of arms", detailing the history of the use of the Swiss cross since the 15th century.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Seals produced from 1815 onward, and cantonal coins minted from 1826 showed the arms of the cross in the 7:6 length to width ratio. Later in the 19th century, there was a trend of depicting the cross as composed of five equal squares.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The two competing designs were controversially discussed in the late 19th century, especially after the introduction of the


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: new design for the five franks coin, which showed the Swiss coat of arms in a Baroque-style heraldic shield.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Federal Council in 1889 introduced the 7:6 ratio as official. The associated communication explains that


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: "our heraldic cross is not a mathematical figure, but at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". The 1889 law explicitly avoids specification of the shape of the shield, which was to be left to the "tastes of the current time and practical necessity".


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The proposed legislation defining the Swiss federal coat of arms was passed on 12 December 1889 (SR 111).


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The rectangular variant of the flag is used as a naval ensign only, officially introduced with a federal law passed 23 September 1953.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The current flag law of the Swiss Confederacy is the "Wappenschutzgesetz" ("WSchG", SR 232.21) of 2013 (in force since 2017).


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The 2013 law for the first time defines both the Swiss flag and the Swiss coat of arms based on an image, declared as authoritative in the text.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The flag is flown around the year from private and commercial buildings as a display of patriotism, particularly in rural areas and often together with the cantonal and municipal flag. On Swiss National Day, 1 August, the streets and buildings are traditionally festooned in celebration with Swiss flags and banners.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Prominent display of the Swiss flag on clothing and apparel has become more frequent with the "Swissness" fashion trend in the first decade of the 21st century, while such use of the flag had previously been largely limited to conservative and right-wing circles. The flag and coat of arms are also often used (frequently in contravention of federal law, see below) as design elements on merchandise, particularly on high-quality goods or on merchandise aimed at tourists; for example, the emblems of Victorinox and Wenger, manufacturers of Swiss Army knives and the sole purveyors of these knives to the Swiss army, are based on the Swiss coat of arms.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The display of the flag on federal, cantonal and municipal public buildings follows no uniform pattern or regulation. Many public buildings are equipped with flag posts (most often one each for the federal, cantonal and municipal flag), but the flag(s) may only be flown during part of the year or only on National Day. In Bern, the flag is flown on the cupola of the Federal Palace while the Federal Assembly is in session.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: Destruction, removal or desecration of a Swiss, cantonal or municipal flag or coat of arms that has been installed by a public authority is punishable by a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up to three years according to the federal penal code.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The commercial use of the Swiss cross, Swiss flag or Swiss coat of arms was technically prohibited by the 1931 Federal Act for the protection of public coats of arms and other public insignia, but that prohibition was not enforced. Increasing commercial use of the Swiss coat of arms prompted a number of federal regulations, dubbed "Swissness regulation" ("Swissness-Verordnung"), in force since 2017. The "Coat of Arms Protection Act" of 2017 ("Wappenschutzgesetz", "Loi sur la protection des armoiries", SR 232.21) now prohibits the commercial use of the Swiss coat of arms (defined as "a Swiss cross in a triangular shield"). Use of the Swiss flag is generally permitted with the provision that such use "is neither misleading nor contrary to public policy, morality or applicable law". Provisions are made for a "right to continued use" for trademarks registered before 2010.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The Red Cross symbol used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, a red cross on white background, was the original protection symbol declared at the first Geneva Convention, the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field of 1864. According to the ICRC the design was based on the Swiss flag by reversing of the colours of that flag, in order to honour Switzerland, where the first Geneva Convention was held, and its inventor and co-founder, the Swiss Henry Dunant.


title: Flag of Switzerland

text: The modern banner of the Pontifical Swiss Guard was designed in 1912–14 by commander Jules Repond. The design has a Swiss cross design based on the 18th-century regimental flags of the Swiss Guards, with the papal coat of arms of the reigning pope in the upper hoist and the Della Rovere coat of arms of Julius II in the lower fly, and a vignette with the commander's coat of arms in the center.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include "Wordy Rappinghood", "Genius of Love", and a cover of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", all released on their 1981 debut album "Tom Tom Club".


title: Tom Tom Club

text: Originally established as a side project from Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club comprised a loose aggregation of musicians, sound engineers, and artists of the Compass Point All Stars family, including Tina Weymouth's sisters and guitarist Adrian Belew, the latter of whom toured with Weymouth and Frantz in the expanded version of Talking Heads in 1980 and 1981. Named after the dancehall in the Bahamas where they rehearsed for the first time while on hiatus from Talking Heads in 1980, Tom Tom Club enjoyed early success in the dance club culture of the early 1980s with the hits "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood", both of which were taken from their self-titled first album released on Sire and Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Island Records elsewhere in 1981. Despite being dismissed by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne for its more commercial direction, the album was a moderate success, peaking at No. 23 on the "Billboard" 200 and certified gold by the RIAA.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: "Genius of Love" has been sampled or reinterpreted by many artists, including L'Trimm, Redman, Funkdoobiest, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers in "Tumblin' Down", the 12" Remix, and Mariah Carey in her hit single "Fantasy". "It's Nasty" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was one of the early hip-hop versions of the song; however, it was re-recorded by a live band, as interpolation and not sampling (using the actual original recording) was the more common practice at the time. Another version, "Genius Rap" (1981), by Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, was the first cover version. Max B also sampled "Genius of Love" in his single "Get Outta Jail".


title: Tom Tom Club

text: Early British pressings of the first Tom Tom Club album featured shorter versions of "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood", but to capitalize on the club success of these songs, Island Records reissued the album with the full 12-inch versions in 1982. A new single, a cover version of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", which was the group's second and final UK Top 40 hit, replaced another song "Booming and Zooming". The US version did not contain these modifications until the album was released on compact disc in the 1990s.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: "Genius of Love" was featured in the 1984 Talking Heads concert film "Stop Making Sense" (filmed in December 1983). Frantz and Weymouth were credited as Tom Tom Club, but in this case the band was simply Talking Heads minus Byrne.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: The following year, the group released a follow-up, "Close to the Bone", which was similar in style to their first album but did not fare as well, though "The Man with the Four Way Hips" was a minor hit on urban radio in the United States. The album was released on cassette and vinyl and was not released on CD until May 2009, as part of a Deluxe Edition package of Tom Tom Club's first album. The original British vinyl album was released in six different colors. One of the album's singles, "Pleasure of Love", was sampled in "Turning You On", by the Treacherous Three. As it happened with "It's Nasty", the sample was re-recorded by a live band rather than just taken from the original recording.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: There was then a four-year gap until the band's next album, the first version of "Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom", released in 1988. By this stage, the band's non-US deal with Island had expired and the album was released outside the United States on Fontana/PolyGram. On the album, the group adapted a more conventional rock style with a harder edged sound and a hint of menace in the lyrics of some songs. The group's line-up was also solidified along more conventional commercial lines. Whereas the previous two albums had been recorded by a loose collective of a dozen musicians, the band was now reduced to the trio of Weymouth, Frantz, and Weymouth's sister Laura Weymouth. Members Bruce Martin and Victoria Clamp were part of the recording of this album and there were a number of prominent guest musicians on the record, including Lou Reed and Talking Heads' front man David Byrne on a cover of Reed's "Femme Fatale". The fourth member of Talking Heads, Jerry Harrison, also featured on some tracks. As with "Close to the Bone", the album was not a commercial success although "Suboceana" received some radio play, mainly in the UK, and the single "Don't Say No" made the UK Singles Chart (Tom Tom Club's fifth, and to date final, single to do so). The album was the first Tom Tom Club album to be issued on CD and the Japanese CD version featured an added bonus track, the B-side "Devil, Does Your Dog Bite?", which was also featured on the soundtrack to the film "Married to the Mob". "Suboceana" and " Don't Say No" were also remixed for dance clubs in Deep House and Acid House styles respectively by house music pioneer Marshall Jefferson in 1988.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: The following year, in a bid to recapture the attention of the US market, the group and Sire Records decided to issue a radically altered version of the album in the United States. The US version of "Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom" replaced four songs with four others, one of which, "I Confess", was a total overhaul of the original album's "Mighty Teardrop". The running order of the rest of the album was shuffled while the artwork was revamped. However, the changes had little effect on the album's US commercial success.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: In 1991, Frantz and Weymouth built the Clubhouse, a painting and music studio, over their garage near Gamecock Island, Connecticut. In 1992, they released the fourth Tom Tom Club album, "Dark Sneak Love Action", which included a cover of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing". The album focused on the burgeoning techno music scene. A single, "Sunshine and Ecstasy", featured remixes by Roger Sanchez.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: The group's next album, "The Good, the Bad, and the Funky", was released in 2000 and featured cover versions of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" and Lee "Scratch" Perry's "Soul Fire". One of the album's tracks, "Who Feelin' It", was also featured in remixed form in of the 2000 film "American Psycho". Among the musicians on "The Good, the Bad, and the Funky" are Jamaican singer Mystic Bowie, Charles Pettigrew and Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals. The album's release was followed by one European and several American tours. Tom Tom Club also recorded a cover of Phish's "Sand" for a benefit CD, helping them bring in a new, jamband audience.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: In 2002, Frantz and Weymouth, along with their former Talking Heads bandmates, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A complete live concert was released in 2003 on the double CD "Live @ the Clubhouse", recorded at Tom Tom Club's regular hide-out studio, the Clubhouse in Connecticut, in front of an audience of fifty guests. Since then, Tom Tom Club has done incidental live shows.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: In 2007, the band released a special Christmas single called "Mistletunes", containing two specially recorded Christmas songs: "Il est né" and "Christmas in the Club", which featured Mystic Bowie and scratcher/turntableist Kid Ginseng (Weymouth and Frantz's son, Robin). The single was released by Dutch indie label La La Land Records, which was founded by the former Tom Tom Club merchandise crew. In 2009, a deluxe expanded edition of the band's first album was released, with "Close to the Bone" added on disc 2. That marked the first time the latter was ever released on CD in its entirety. On September 28, 2010, the band released "Genius of Live" on Nacional Records. The album featured tracks from the album "Live @ the Clubhouse" as well as remix tributes of "Genius of Love" by such artists as Ozomatli, Nortec Collective, Kinky, Mexican Institute of Sound, Money Mark and The Pinker Tones.


title: Tom Tom Club

text: Their first studio material in twelve years, "Downtown Rockers", was released in 2012 on Nacional Records and featured guitarist Pablo Martin and keyboard player Bruce Martin.


title: Jo Andres

text: Mary Jo Andres Buscemi (May 21, 1954 – January 6, 2019) was an American filmmaker, choreographer and artist.


title: Jo Andres

text: Andres was born in Wichita, Kansas, on May 21, 1954. She first became known on the kinetic downtown New York performance scene of the 1980s for her film/dance/light performances, shown at the Performing Garage, La Mama Experimental Theater Club


title: Jo Andres

text: P.S. 122, St. Marks Danspace, and the Collective for Living Cinema. As a filmmaker, Andres drew acclaim and awards for the 1996 film "Black Kites" which aired on PBS and played several film festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, London and Human Rights Watch Film Festivals. Andres directed music and art videos, as well as her own film performance works. Andres was a dance consultant to the acclaimed Wooster Group.


title: Jo Andres

text: She was an artist-in-residence at leading universities, museums and art colonies, including Yaddo, and The Rockefeller Study Center in Bellagio, Italy. Andres created a series of cyanotype photographs which can be seen on her website.


title: Jo Andres

text: Andres died at her home in Brooklyn on January 6, 2019, at age 64, from encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis, a rare disease of the bowel. A private memorial service was held on January 8.