title: Wingsuit flying

text: As suit technology and pilot skill have improved, wingsuit BASE jumpers have learned to control their flight so that they can fly just meters away from terrain. “Proximity flying” is the practice of flying a wingsuit close to the faces and ridges of mountains. Flying near terrain gives a greater sense of speed due to having a close visual reference. Loic Jean-Albert of France is one of the first proximity flyers, and his pioneering flying brought many BASE jumpers into the sport. In November 2012, Alexander Polli became the first wingsuit BASE jumper to successfully strike a wingsuit target. Alexander Polli died August 22, 2016 in a wingsuit accident, after crashing into a tree.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Wingsuit BASE jumping carries additional risk beyond a wingsuit skydive. Jumping from a fixed object means starting with low airspeed which requires different flying positions and skills. During the flight, hazards exist such as trees, rocks and the ground which must be avoided. While skydivers typically carry two parachutes, a main and a reserve, wingsuit BASE jumpers typically only carry one BASE-specific parachute.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Wingsuit BASE jumping is an unregulated sport. But to perform the activity safely requires jumpers to be an experienced skydiver, wingsuit pilot, and BASE jumper. It takes hundreds of practice jumps to achieve skill in each of these disciplines before considering wingsuit BASE.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: As of 2010, there have been experimental powered wingsuits, often using small jet engines strapped to the feet or a wingpack setup to allow for even greater horizontal speeds and even vertical ascent.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: On 25 October 2009, in Lahti, Finland, Visa Parviainen jumped from a hot air balloon in a wingsuit with two small turbojet engines attached to his feet. The engines provided approximately 160 N (16 kgf, 35 lbf) of thrust each and ran on JET A-1 fuel. Parviainen achieved approximately 30 seconds of horizontal flight with no noticeable loss of altitude. Parviainen continued jumping from hot air balloons and helicopters, including one for the "Stunt Junkies" program on Discovery Channel.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Christian Stadler from Germany invented the "VegaV3 wingsuit system" that uses an electronic adjustable hydrogen peroxide rocket. The rocket provides 1000 Newtons (100 kgf) of thrust and produces no flames or poisonous fumes. His first successful powered wingsuit jump was in 2007, when he reached horizontal speeds of over 255 km/h (160 mph).


title: Wingsuit flying

text: In November, 2020, professional base jumper Peter Salzmann completed the first electric wingsuit flight, using a wingsuit developed by BMW's BMW i division.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Another variation on which studies are being focused is the wingpack, which consists of a strap-on rigid wing made of carbon fibre.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Flying a wingsuit can add considerable complexity to a skydive. So, according to the Skydivers' Information Manual, the United States Parachute Association requires that any jumper have a minimum of 200 freefall skydives before completing a wingsuit first jump course and making a wingsuit jump. Requirements in other nations are similar. Wingsuit manufacturers offer training courses and certify instructors, and also impose the minimum jump numbers required before purchasing a wingsuit. Wingsuit pilots start on smaller wingsuits with less surface area. With practice, pilots can learn to fly larger suits with more surface area, which allow for increased glide and airtime. Within the sport of wingsuit flying, there are many sub-disciplines that participants may pursue, including: acrobatic flying, performance flying, and wingsuit BASE jumping.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world governing airsports body, established judging criteria for official world record wingsuit formations in February 2015. The rules are available on the FAI website.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Prior to this, the largest wingsuit formation recognized as meeting the criteria for a national record consisted of 68 wingsuit pilots, which set a U.S. national record at Lake Elsinore, California, on 12 November 2009. The largest global record was a diamond formation involving 100 wingsuit pilots at Perris, California, on 22 September 2012. These records have since been retired as they do not meet the current rules.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Two World Records have been set since the rules update. A 42-person formation over Moorsele, Belgium, set an FAI record on 18 June 2015. This was broken on 17 October 2015, when 61 wingsuit pilots set the current FAI world record over Perris Valley Airport near Perris, California.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The current U.S. national record includes 43 wingsuit pilots. It was set on 5 October 2018 in Rosharon, Texas at Skydive Spaceland-Houston.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: On 23 May 2006, the Australian couple Heather Swan and Glenn Singleman jumped from off Meru Peak in India, setting a world record for highest wingsuit BASE jump.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: This record was broken on 5 May 2013, by the Russian Valery Rozov, who jumped from on Mount Everest's North Col.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The longest verified wingsuit BASE jump is by the American Dean Potter on 2 November 2011. Potter jumped from the Eiger mountain and spent 3 minutes and 20 seconds in flight, descending of altitude.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The biggest wingsuit BASE jump as measured from exit to landing was performed on 11 August 2013 by Patrick Kerber with a height of off the Jungfrau in Switzerland.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: On 22 May 2017, British wingsuit pilot Fraser Corsan set world records for the fastest speed reached in a wingsuit of .


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The current world record for greatest average horizontal speed within the performance competition rules, i.e. within of vertical distance, was set by Travis Mickle (USA) with a speed of 325.4 km/hr (202.19 mph) 6 November 2017. American Ellen Brennan is considered the fastest flying woman in the world.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: On 20 and 21 April 2012, Colombian skydiver Jhonathan Florez set Guinness World Records in wingsuit flying. The jumps took place in La Guajira in Colombia. The longest (duration) wingsuit flight was 9 minutes, 6 seconds


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The current world record for longest time in flight within the performance competition rules, i.e. within of vertical distance, was set on 28 Aug 2018 by Chris Geiler (USA) with a time of 100.2 sec (1.67 min)


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The highest altitude wingsuit jump is , and was achieved by James Petrolia above Davis, California, USA, on 11 November 2015.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: , the Guinness World Record for "greatest absolute distance flown in a wing suit" is 32.094 km (19.94 mi) set by Kyle Lobpries (USA) in Davis, CA on 30 May 2016.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: The current world record for longest horizontal distance covered within the performance competition rules, i.e. within of vertical distance, was set on 27 May 2017 by U.S. wingsuit pilot Alexey Galda with a distance of 5.137 km (3.19 mi)


title: Wingsuit flying

text: On 23 May 2012, British stuntman Gary Connery safely landed a wingsuit without deploying his parachute, landing on a crushable "runway" (landing zone) built with thousands of cardboard boxes.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Despite training and regulation, wingsuit BASE jumping remains a dangerous pastime, and fatalities occur regularly. A 2012 University of Colorado study found that in wingsuit BASE jumping, there was approximately one severe injury for every 500 jumps undertaken.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: A detailed study on wingsuit deaths completed primarily by the University of Colorado found that out of 180 studied fatalities, 97% launched from cliffs and another 1% from buildings. The vast-majority of these deaths were related to the use of the wingsuit, not to do with external sources. This makes aircraft descending a much less-deadly form of wingsuit flying, though deemed less extreme by fans of the sport.


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Matt Gerdes, wingsuit tester at the Squirrel wingsuit company claims that wingsuit fatalities are on the rise because the experience of becoming a wingsuit pilot is becoming less personal as many for-profit BASE jumping instructors are allowing some students to skip steps and start testing out wingsuits after fewer and fewer regular parachute jumps. With little oversight from the government, "...instruction in some courses turns out poorly-prepared jumpers who unwittingly skip steps on their way to flying high-performance wingsuits."


title: Wingsuit flying

text: Some concerns regarding the nature of wingsuit flying exist due to injuries and death. The French government banned wingsuit flying multiple times following the deaths of French pilots.


title: Amy Locane

text: Amy Rose Locane (born December 19, 1971) is an American television and film actress known for her role in John Waters' 1990 musical comedy "Cry-Baby". In 1992, Locane portrayed Sandy Harling in the first season of the prime time soap opera "Melrose Place". She appeared in the 1992 film "School Ties" alongside Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser, as the object of their affections.


title: Amy Locane

text: In September 2020, Locane began serving an eight-year sentence for a fatal DUI car crash that occurred in 2010. She had previously been sentenced to three years in prison, of which she served two and a half, and was re-sentenced due to the leniency of the original sentence.


title: Amy Locane

text: Locane was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and graduated from Villa Victoria Academy. By age 12, she had performed in more than 60 commercials before being cast as a series regular on the sitcom "Spencer" (1984).


title: Amy Locane

text: In 1989, Locane made her big screen debut in the independent teen drama film "Lost Angels" starring opposite Adam Horovitz. The following year, Locane had a lead role opposite Johnny Depp as Allison Vernon-Williams in John Waters' romantic comedy film "Cry-Baby". The film was a commercial failure, but has since become a cult classic. She twice played the girlfriend of Brendan Fraser, in the films "School Ties" (1992) and "Airheads" (1994).


title: Amy Locane

text: In 1992, Locane was a member of the original cast of the Fox prime time soap opera "Melrose Place" but left the series after only 13 episodes. She played Jessica Lange's daughter in the 1994 drama film "Blue Sky". She played the young lover of Dennis Hopper in the 1996 film "Carried Away". In 1997, she starred alongside Ben Affleck and Rose McGowan in "Going All the Way" and with Jared Leto in "Prefontaine". In 1998, she starred in the black comedy "Bongwater" and fantasy horror "Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy". Locane returned to television starring in the Christmas movie "Ebenezer" opposite Jack Palance. Her later credits include "The Heist" (2001) and "Secretary" (2002).


title: Amy Locane

text: In 2006, Locane became engaged to businessman Mark Bovenizer and subsequently retired from acting in films. She acted occasionally in local community theater near their Hopewell, New Jersey, home and appeared in two eight-minute shorts released in 2009. They have two daughters, born in 2007 and 2009.


title: Amy Locane

text: On June 27, 2010, at 9:05 pm, Locane-Bovenizer was involved in a fatal motor vehicle collision in Montgomery, New Jersey. Locane was driving in a zone and rapidly closed on the car driven by Fred Seeman, which was traveling at as it made a left-hand turn in front of her to enter his driveway. The crash killed Seeman's wife, 60-year-old Helene Seeman.


title: Amy Locane

text: Following the crash, testing revealed Locane's blood alcohol level was .23 percent, nearly three times the limit for legal impairment. In December 2010, Locane was indicted for aggravated manslaughter and assault by automobile. On November 27, 2012, a Somerset County jury convicted Locane of vehicular homicide and assault by auto. On February 14, 2013, she was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime, with Montgomery Superior Court Judge Robert B. Reed imposing less than the minimum five-year sentence due to mitigating factors that included consideration of her children's welfare. Locane served her sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and was released on parole on June 12, 2015. Late in 2015 following Locane's release from prison, her husband filed for divorce and for custody of their two daughters.


title: Amy Locane

text: On July 22, 2016, a New Jersey appeals court ruled that the three-year sentencing would be re-reviewed due to what the court felt was an inadequate explanation by Reed for leniency. Upon review, Reed stated in September 2016 that he had erred in his decision and that she should serve an additional six months. On January 13, 2017, however, Reed ruled Locane would not have to go back to prison, saying her conduct since her release indicated she was not a threat to society. Speaking later about the crash and victims, Locane said the memory of Helen Seeman will "be forever in her thoughts." In February 2019, Locane was re-sentenced to five years behind bars but remained free on bail pending an appeal.


title: Amy Locane

text: On July 22, 2020, an appeals court ruled that a different judge incorrectly resentenced Locane in 2019 and sent the case back for another sentencing. The ruling issued also rejected Locane's argument that sentencing her again violates double jeopardy protections since she had already completed her sentence and parole term. James Wronko, Locane's attorney, said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court, a process that could take several months to play out.


title: Amy Locane

text: On September 17, 2020, Locane was sentenced to eight years in New Jersey state prison after a judge agreed with prosecutors that Locane's initial sentence was too lenient. New Jersey state law requires Locane to serve more than six years before being eligible for parole.


title: Amy Locane

text: On January 31, 2021, Locane emailed Eric Brenner from prison after appearing on his show Breaking News Los Angeles. Responding to his suggestion that he approach Howard Stern for help; "Howard actually spoke up one morning after "Carried Away" came out. I didn't hear him, but he was supposedly very supportive of me."


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr remained constant members. The band's final line-up also included drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardist John Goetchius, and trombonist Chris Rhodes.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The Bosstones are often credited as one of the progenitors of the genre of ska punk and the creators of its subgenre ska-core, which mixes elements of ska with hardcore punk. Starting with the release of their 1989 debut "Devil's Night Out", the band toured and recorded extensively throughout the 1990s, becoming influential in the development of the American third-wave ska scene and was one of the first bands to popularize the genre in the musical mainstream. They reached their commercial peak with their platinum-selling 1997 album "Let's Face It" and its hit single "The Impression That I Get". The band was also notable for being featured in the 1995 film "Clueless" as the frat party house band. The band had released seven studio albums, three EPs and a live album by the time they announced a hiatus in December 2003. In 2007, the Bosstones reunited to resume recording and touring, and released four more studio albums between 2009 and 2021. From 1994 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2019, they hosted the annual Hometown Throwdown music festival, held annually around Christmas time in Cambridge and later Boston.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band's roots lie in the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s, along with a strong influence from the British 2 Tone ska scene of the 1970s. Bassist Joe Gittleman played with local hardcore band Gang Green, while vocalist Dicky Barrett was a member of Impact Unit and, later on, Cheapskates. The Cheapskates lineup went through frequent changes and would feature members of Gang Green on occasion. It was through Cheapskates that a core lineup coalesced around Barrett, Gittleman, Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton (saxophone), Nate Albert (guitar), Josh Dalsimer (drums), Tim Bridwell (trumpet) and Ben Carr (a ubiquitous, dancing non-musician onstage presence, later credited as "Bosstone"). The group decided on the name, "the Bosstones" as a reference to the city near their hometowns. While some of the band members were influenced by bands such as AC/DC, Social Distortion, Motörhead, The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers, Barrett had become enthralled with 2 Tone ska, which was in the tail end of its prominence.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In 1987, the Bosstones made their recorded debut when they were featured on the "Mash It Up" ska compilation. The Bosstones' contribution was "The Cave", and "Ugly". Another early recording, "Drums and Chickens," appeared on the 1989 ska compilation "Mashin' Up The Nation". By the time "Mashin' Up The Nation" was released, the Bosstones had temporarily disbanded in order for Albert and Gittleman to finish high school. After their graduation, the band reunited. Around this time, it was brought to the band's attention that an a cappella group, The Bosstones, had already used the name during the 1950s. A bartender friend arbitrarily suggested that they become the "Mighty Mighty Bosstones", in order to avoid any possible legal hassles, to which the band agreed.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Despite not consistently drawing large crowds at their live shows, the Taang! record label gave the band a recording contract which would result in the "Devil's Night Out" album, produced by Paul Q. Kolderie. The album was released to positive local and lukewarm national reaction during a time when ska was struggling to move out of the American underground. The band found resistance from ska purists who did not like that the band were not playing traditional ska while hardcore fans were against the ska and heavy metal elements in the music. Despite the initial reaction, "Devil's Night Out" has gone on to become one of the band's most popular albums.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: It was during this time that the band's trademark plaid clothing came to be. After a show where Barrett wore plaid, fans started to show up wearing it as well. It was noticeable enough that the band was approached by the Converse sneaker company to promote their new line of Chuck Taylor sneakers. The band accepted the proposal and were seen in several television commercials promoting the sneakers.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: By this time, Tim Bridewell had left the band, to be replaced by Dennis Brockenborough (trombone) and Kevin Lenear (saxophone). The band's next release was an EP titled "Where'd You Go?". The EP featured the title track as well as cover versions of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" and a new version of "Do Somethin' Crazy", originally featured on "Devil's Night Out."


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In 1991, the band set out on their first full American tour. It was during the first leg of touring that drummer Josh Dalsimer would leave the band to pursue a college education. He would be replaced by Joe Sirois, who Barrett met at Bunker Hill Community College. Sirois would immediately join his new bandmates in the recording studio to start work on the band's second album.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Once again produced by Paul Q. Kolderie, "More Noise and Other Disturbances" was released in June 1992. The band would film a video for the song "Where'd You Go?" which had previously been available on the EP of the same name (though the band had also recorded a video for "Guns and the Young"), the video was not finished until a few years after it was recorded.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band signed to their first major label when they joined the Mercury Records roster and soon recorded the "Ska-Core, the Devil, and More" EP. Released in March 1993, it was largely a collection of cover songs. Four of the seven tracks paid homage to the band's influences: The Angry Samoans' "Lights Out", Minor Threat's "Think Again", SSD's "Police Beat" and The Wailers' "Simmer Down". Three live tracks were included as well. The EP contained one new studio track "Someday I Suppose," which would later appear on the band's third full-length album.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Produced by Tony Platt, the band's third LP, "Don't Know How to Party" contained a cover of Stiff Little Fingers' song "Tin Soldiers" as well as a vocal appearance by Daryl Jennifer of Bad Brains. A video was also filmed for "Someday I Suppose" and it received minor airplay on MTV. Though the footage was originally intended to serve as a promo for the Bosstones debut on Mercury, the label liked the footage and turned it into a single. The band would also appear on the 1994 "Kiss My Ass" tribute to Kiss album, covering "Detroit Rock City". Mercury Records released it as a single, appearing on 7-inch green vinyl and backed by the original Kiss version of the song. Soon after, the band found themselves invited by fellow Bostonian Steven Tyler, to open up for Aerosmith at their New Year's Eve concert in Boston. While it was not the most successful show the Bosstones had played, it ensured that the Bosstones started 1994 on the road as they had intended.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band released their fourth album, "Question the Answers," in October 1994. The album featured production work by the Butcher Brothers, Paul Q. Kolderie and Ross Humphrey. It was at this time that the band decided it wanted to release their albums on vinyl, leading to a partnership with Mercury Records to form Big Rig Records, a vanity label that allowed the band to release their albums on vinyl. The Big Rig vinyl versions often contained a bonus track not seen on the cassette or CD versions. Besides touring, the band found itself making their network television debut on "The Jon Stewart Show" and hosting MTV's "120 Minutes". They also contributed a new version of "Where'd You Go?" to the Alicia Silverstone movie "Clueless". The band also made an appearance in the film, performing the songs "Where'd You Go?" and "Someday I Suppose" during a college fraternity party scene. On top of their TV and film appearances, the band was added to the main stage of the 1995 Lollapalooza tour. Mercury set about repromoting "Question the Answers" by adding a second disc with five B-side tracks. The EP was titled "Here We Go Again" and it was compiled by Barrett at the request of Mercury.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: After touring as part of the 1996 Warped Tour lineup (which they would repeat the following year), the Bosstones began work on their next studio album. Released in 1997, "Let's Face It", would prove to be the band's biggest seller, mostly due to its first single "The Impression That I Get", which reached number one on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album was followed by "Video Stew", a VHS compilation of the band's twelve music videos. The mainstream exposure led to the band's appearance on "Sesame Street"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Elmopalooza" television special and Grammy Award-winning soundtrack album, in which they performed the song "The Zig Zag Dance" with The Count. The band also made their "Saturday Night Live" debut, performing "The Impression That I Get".


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Capitalizing on the band's popularity, Mercury released the band's live album, "Live From the Middle East" in October 1998. The album was recorded live in Cambridge, Massachusetts at The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub during the band's annual end-of-the-year Hometown Throwdown from 1997. In 1999, the band contributed their cover version of the song, "Rudie Can't Fail," to the "Burning London" Clash tribute compilation. Shortly after all of these releases, Kevin Lenear quit the band to work on his own material and was replaced by Roman Fleysher. Founding member Nate Albert also left in order to obtain a degree in political theory from Brown University. His next musical venture would be as a member of Evan Dando’s re-formed Lemonheads before forming The Kickovers, which focused more on a 1970's punk sound than ska. Albert eventually became involved in band management, handling bands such as Bayside and Lost City Angels. Albert's replacement on guitar was Lawrence Katz.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In 2000, the band released "Pay Attention" which failed to meet expectations set by the previous album. "So Sad to Say", was released as a single, but it never reached a position higher than No. 22 on the "Billboard" charts. Ultimately, the album did not sell as well as their previous release. This was to be the band's last album with Mercury Records, who along with PolyGram, had become part of the Universal Music Group who subsequently merged Island Records and Def Jam Recordings forming the new Island Def Jam label. The band, unhappy with the way the newly formed label had been handling them, asked for a release from their contract, to which the label agreed. "Pay Attention" was also the last album for Dennis Brockenborough who had already formed his own band, Chubby, for which he sang and played guitar. Brockenborough's replacement was former Spring Heeled Jack member Chris Rhodes. Spring Heeled Jack had dissolved in 2000, and Rhodes had recently taken a vacant trombone position with Bim Skala Bim when he received the invitation to join.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band announced their return to an independent label when they signed with SideOneDummy Records. In July 2002, the band released "A Jackknife to a Swan" and from it the song "You Gotta Go!" was released as a single and video. The band continued to tour but in December 2003, they announced their decision to go on a hiatus and were forced to forgo that year's Hometown Throwdown. One contributing factor was that several band members were reported to already be busy with other bands and side projects. Another factor was that the band had been touring, almost non-stop, since 1991, and some of the band members desired a break.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: After the hiatus announcement, several members went on to work on other projects and bands. Barrett became the announcer on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" late night talk show. In 2005, he became the host of the "Mighty Morning Show" on Los Angeles radio's Indie 103.1 FM. In March 2006, he was dismissed from the radio station.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Before the hiatus announcement, Gittleman had already formed a side project band named Avoid One Thing featuring members of Darkbuster, the Raging Teens and Spring Heeled Jack. The band released two albums for SideOneDummy before announcing their own hiatus in 2005.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Sirois recorded and toured with Nate Albert's next band, Kickovers, and also played drums for the Street Dogs and Frank Black.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Rhodes went on to play with The Toasters until his departure in 2006. Rhodes had just joined Bim Skala Bim before the Bosstones' hiatus came to an end and left Bim Skala Bim as a result. He also performed with former Spring Heeled Jack bandmate Rick Omonte in The Mountain Movers and as a fill-in trombonist for Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, and NOFX.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Fleysher continued his pursuit of a professional pilot's license. In 2005, after taking classes near his home in South Florida and working as a flight instructor in his spare time, he was hired as an airline pilot for CommutAir, a Continental Airlines regional affiliate based in Plattsburgh, New York. After a short stint with the company, he began flying as a charter pilot in Los Angeles, California.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Burton and his family moved to Los Angeles where he became active in the movie business. Besides working for a Hollywood agent, he wrote several scripts and developed projects for television. He also contributed saxophone for a Cypress Hill song. In 2007, he appeared in the film "Crazy", which was inspired by the life of Hank Garland.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Katz formed a band named Resistant. Katz has also played guitar on several motion picture soundtracks including "Aquamarine", "The Good Night" and "London", the latter recorded in collaboration with The Crystal Method.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Because the band left the possibility of playing together again open, rumors and speculation frequently circulated that a reunion was inevitable. The hiatus of Joe Gittleman's band, Avoid One Thing, fueled further speculation of such a reunion.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: During an "Alternative Press" Acoustic Session, members of fellow Boston area ska band Big D and the Kids Table hinted that the Bosstones were in fact reuniting for another Hometown Throwdown. Jerry Mattes, the creator of the band's bulldog mascot, also acknowledged the chances of a reunion and announced that he was designing a new logo for the band.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: On October 11, 2007, on Boston Radio Station WBCN, Dicky Barrett confirmed what he called "the worst kept secret in Boston": the announcement that the Bosstones would indeed play a tenth official Hometown Throwdown at Cambridge's famed Middle East club on December 26–30, 2007. Barrett would not confirm any long-term plans for the band. Soon after Barrett's announcement, Gittleman declared that the band intended to record three new songs to be included on an upcoming collection of unreleased material and vinyl B-sides. The album, titled "Medium Rare", was released on December 18, 2007. The three new songs marked the first new material recorded since the 2002 release of "A Jackknife to a Swan".


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: After the 2007 Throwdown, the Bosstones played a few shows every couple of months. At two of the March shows in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel served as a guest star on bass clarinet during "The Impression That I Get". Former saxophonist Lenear rejoined the band, replacing Fleysher, whose job prevented him from being able to play with the band. Despite the activity, the Bosstones remained non-committal on whether they would record and release a studio album. They did make it known that they would no longer tour at the frequency they were known for in the past.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: On May 15, 2008, it was reported that the Bosstones would be embarking on a short United States tour in July with the Dropkick Murphys. During the tour, the Bosstones made three stops at Boston Red Sox minor league ballparks. On October 20, 2008, their website announced that they would return to the Middle East in Cambridge to play an eleventh Hometown Throwdown on December 26–29. In late 2008, the game "Rock Band 2" was released and featured a re-recorded version of "Where'd You Go?" that the band had recorded earlier in the year. On November 4, 2008, a MySpace blog announced the recording of a new album, and streamed two new songs, "The Impossible Dream" and "Next to Nothing". On July 29, 2009, the band announced the completion of tracking for the album. On October 16, 2009, the album title was announced to be "Pin Points and Gin Joints" and a free download of the song "Graffiti Worth Reading" was made available. The release date was later stated as December 8, 2009.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band continued to tour through the summer of 2009 with shows in Buffalo, New York, Providence, Rhode Island, Asbury Park, New Jersey, Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California, Anaheim, California, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and Victoria, British Columbia where they performed at the Victoria Ska Fest with Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Slackers and Chris Murray. The band toured during the summer of 2010 with Teenage Bottlerocket and the Flatliners. They also hosted their annual Hometown Throwdown festival over three nights in December 2010.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In August 2011, Chris Rhodes posted a Facebook update stating that The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had begun work on their next album. The album, titled "The Magic of Youth", was released on December 6, 2011.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: March 2017 saw the release of their first recording in six years with a limited edition vinyl 7" featuring a cover version of the Burt Bacharach song, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" backed with the track "I Won’t Go Out Like That". In the time between releases, the lineup saw the addition of former Cherry Poppin' Daddies keyboard player, John Goetchius in 2008 and Leon Silva in 2016 to replace Kevin Lenear who departed the band for a second time earlier that same year.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In September 2017, Tim Burton announced in a post Riot Fest interview that the band was working on a new album set for release in early 2018. According to guitarist Lawrence Katz and producer Ted Hutt's Instagram accounts, recording started on Friday, November 17 at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles, California. The new album's title was announced to be "While We're at It".


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: "While We're at It", the band's tenth album, was released on June 15, 2018. It is the final part of a musical trilogy that began with "Pin Points and Gin Joints" in 2009 followed by "The Magic of Youth" in 2011. For the initial 2018 tour dates supporting the album, Silva could not participate due to his commitments performing with Justin Timberlake. To temporarily fill in for Silva, the band brought in Roman Fleysher and Peter "JR" Wasilewski of Less Than Jake to play saxophone on select dates.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: On January 25, 2021, it was announced that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones had signed a new record contract with Hellcat Records. In conjunction with the announcement, the band released a new single titled, "The Final Parade" which features guest appearances by Jamaican singer Stranger Cole and members of Rancid, The Interrupters, Fishbone, Stiff Little Fingers, The Suicide Machines, Less Than Jake, Murphy's Law, HO, Goldfinger, Sonic Boom Six, The Toasters, Bim Skala Bim, Big D and the Kids Table, Doped Up Dollies, The Aggrolites, Dance Hall Crashers, The Aquabats, Buck-O-Nine, The Porkers, The Pietasters, Los Skanarles, Buster Shuffle, Kemuri, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and The Specials.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: In March 2021, the band announced their first album since signing to Hellcat Records, "When God Was Great", would be released on May 7, 2021, and released the album's second single "I Don't Believe in Anything". The album's third single, "The Killing of King Georgie (Part III)", a song about the death of George Floyd, was released on April 21, 2021.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: On January 27, 2022, the band announced that they had split up. The statement shared by the band reads: "After decades of brotherhood, touring the world and making great records together we have decided not to continue on as a band. Above all, we want to express our sincere gratitude to every single one of you who have supported us. We could not have done any of it without you. Love Always, The Mighty Mighty BossToneS." Although the band chose to keep to keep their reasoning for the split private, speculation suggested that it was over Barrett's stance on COVID-19 vaccines and his participation in the production of a video promoting the "Defeat the Mandates" anti-vaccination mandate rally held by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In February 2017, Barrett was a guest on The Highwire with Del Bigtree podcast where he confirmed that it was his anti-vaccination views that had made the rest of the band uncomfortable.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Big Rig Records started as a vanity label in 1993 due to the band's desire to release their records on vinyl. While the band wanted to release their albums on vinyl, the label had ceased pressing albums in that format. A partnership between Mercury and the band resulted in the label continuing to handle the conventional CD and cassette versions of the albums while allowing the band's Big Rig label to focus on the vinyl editions. The new label immediately issued re-releases of "Don't Know How To Party" and "Ska-Core, The Devil, and More" on colored vinyl.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: Besides the band's own albums, additional releases include the first CD release of Dicky Barrett's previous band Impact Unit, as well as "Vow Of Poverty" by the Boston punk band Mung, and "Half Hour Of Power" by Sum 41. Additionally, the label also released a benefit compilation featuring various artists titled "Safe And Sound: A Benefit In Response To The Brookline Clinic Violence", as well as, "You Decide: Warped Tour 2000 Sampler", a sampler of bands featured on the 2000 Vans Warped Tour. The first new release under this partnership was "Question the Answers" and it continued through "Pay Attention", the band's final album with the Island Def Jam Music Group, the label formed after the merger of Mercury Records, Island Records, and Def Jam Recordings. After leaving Mercury, the vinyl release of "A Jackknife to a Swan" was handled directly by SideOneDummy, the band's label at the time. Since the band's return from hiatus, Big Rig has been run exclusively by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones as their own independent record label, handling all of their new releases up until 2021's "When God Was Great", which was released on Hellcat Records.


title: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

text: The band has been typically aligned with ska punk. The L.A. Times, described their sound as "blending the brassy after-beat groove of ska with the uncompromising intensity of hard-core punk". The Tampa Bay Times described it similarly as an "eclectic swirl of good-time music fuses the perky pick-it-up sound of pre-reggae ska with monstrous hard-core guitars." AllMusic credited them as being "one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and hard rock guitars", and "[laying] a great deal of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s ska explosion, helping shift its tone toward party music." The Boston Herald said that they "were one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and heavy metal.".


title: Jack Donnelly

text: Jack Donnelly (born 28 October 1985) is an English actor, best known for his role in BBC series "Atlantis", in which he played the role of Jason.


title: Jack Donnelly

text: Donnelly was born the first of four boys in Bournemouth on 28 October 1985, the son of Chrissie Wickham and Tony Donnelly. His mother was the choreographer of Bucks Fizz's winning dance routine at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, as well as an actress and former Hot Gossip dance troupe member. He was raised primarily in Ringwood, Hampshire. He attended St Catherine's Primary School in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, and then St Peter's School in Bournemouth. He later joined the Big Little Theatre School in Bournemouth.


title: Jack Donnelly

text: Donnelly is a founding member of the improvisational comedy group "Chuckle Duster", which performs occasionally in east London.


title: Jack Donnelly

text: Donnelly's first acting was as Jason Winkler in Nickelodeon's TV series "House of Anubis". He then guest starred in shows such as "Doctors", "Threesome", "Misfits", "Dancing on the Edge". In 2013, he landed a lead role in BBC's fantasy series "Atlantis", where he played the role of Jason who washes up on the shores of the ancient and mysterious city of Atlantis. In 2014, he played the role of a cocky footballer Olly Hunter in the wholly improvised spoof documentary "United We Fall." In 2016, he guest starred as Samuel Walker in the TV series "Death in Paradise".


title: Jack Donnelly

text: In 2017, Donnelly played lead role of Prince Adrian in the Hallmark original movie "A Royal Winter" alongside Merritt Patterson.


title: Jack Donnelly

text: In October 2017, Donnelly became engaged to Swedish-Canadian actress Malin Åkerman. They were married in Tulum on 1 December 2018.


title: Faisal Khan

text: Mohammad Faisal Hussain Khan (born 3 August 1966) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is famous for his role as Shankar Shane in "Mela" (2000).


title: Faisal Khan

text: Khan is the son of producer Tahir Hussain. His brother is Aamir Khan, who is an actor and producer, and he has two sisters, Nikhat Khan, who is a producer, and Farhat Khan. His uncle Nasir Hussain was a producer and director. His nephew Imran Khan is an actor and his cousin Tariq Khan was an actor in the 1970s and 1980s. He is related to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.


title: Faisal Khan

text: Khan made a brief appearance in his uncle Nasir Hussain's 1969 film "Pyar Ka Mausam", playing Shashi Kapoor's role as a child at the age of three years. He made his film debut as an adult in 1988, playing a minor role as a villain in his brother Aamir's film "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak". He worked as an assistant director in his father's 1990 film "Tum Mere Ho", which starred his brother Aamir in the lead.


title: Faisal Khan

text: Khan got his first leading role in the 1994 film "Madhosh", which was produced by his father and directed by Vikram Bhatt. After a five-year hiatus, he made his comeback alongside his brother in "Mela" (2000). He appeared in several other films that fared poorly at the box office. He also appeared in the TV serial "Aandhi" in 2003. His last film was "Chand Bujh Gaya" in 2005.


title: Faisal Khan

text: After a decade long hiatus, it was announced that he would be making his comeback and star in the 2015 film "Chinar Daastaan-E-Ishq", a film produced by Rajesh Jain. In 2017 he starred in "Danger", a horror film directed by Faisal Saif. The film remains unreleased.


title: Faisal Khan

text: In 2021, he made his directorial debut and starred in the film "Faactory" as well as singing a song for the film.


title: Faisal Khan

text: In 2007, Khan was reported missing for two days. He had filed a report to the police several days earlier accusing his brother Aamir of keeping him confined in his home because Aamir thought that his brother Faisal was mentally ill. He was eventually traced to Pune and brought back to Mumbai where he went through a medical examination. His brother Aamir and his father were in a custody battle over Faisal that garnered much press coverage. Faisal's custody was awarded to his father, Tahir.


title: Mason Ramsey

text: Mason Ramsey (born November 16, 2006) is an American singer. In March 2018, after gaining Internet fame from a viral video of him yodeling "Lovesick Blues" by Hank Williams at a Walmart, Ramsey was signed to Big Loud. He is known for his single "Famous".


title: Mason Ramsey

text: In March 2018, 11-year-old Mason Ramsey, from Golconda, Illinois, was seen on camera singing "Lovesick Blues" in a Walmart store in Harrisburg, Illinois. Within a few days, videos of his performance collectively garnered over 25 million views and he became a viral sensation and internet meme. Ramsey's performance sparked new interest in Hank Williams' 70-year-old recording of the song and in March "Rolling Stone" reported that Spotify's Viral 50 chart for the U.S. ranked Williams' "Lovesick Blues" at number three, and number four around the globe.


title: Mason Ramsey

text: As a result of his newfound fame Ramsey made an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". Saying that his dream was to appear on the Grand Ole Opry one day, DeGeneres surprised Ramsey by saying he had been booked for the following weekend. On April 13, 2018, American DJ Whethan brought Ramsey out during his set at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. In late April, he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and Nashville-based label Big Loud. His debut single "Famous" entered at number 62 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, while the EP debuted in the top 10 of "Billboard"s Heatseekers Albums chart at number 7. Ramsey performed iconic number 1 songs on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart's 60th anniversary; starting from the 1960s, he sang hit songs by Mariah Carey, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, The Monkees, The Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and Adele. On June 8, 2018, he released his cover of "Lovesick Blues". On June 29, 2018, he released "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" and "The Way I See It". On July 20, 2018, he released his debut extended play (EP), "Famous". He was featured on Lil Nas X's third "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus along with Young Thug.


title: Mason Ramsey

text: After a hiatus since 2019, he did a Burger King commercial in which he yodels about cow-based methane emissions in 2020. It is unknown when he will come back to music and as of 2021, he is still on hiatus. Ramsey himself said he now plays basketball under the name Mason Blake, and that he plays on an outside field with friends.


title: Mason Ramsey

text: In 2022, Ramsey's song "Before I Knew It" from his 2019 EP "Twang" gained popularity on TikTok after he used it in several videos updating followers about his life, revealing he now works at Subway.


title: José Saramago

text: José de Sousa Saramago, (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony [with which he] continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality." His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the theopoetic human factor. In 2003 Harold Bloom described Saramago as "the most gifted novelist alive in the world today" and in 2010 said he considers Saramago to be "a permanent part of the Western canon", while James Wood praises "the distinctive tone to his fiction because he narrates his novels as if he were someone both wise and ignorant."


title: José Saramago

text: More than two million copies of Saramago's books have been sold in Portugal alone and his work has been translated into 25 languages. A proponent of libertarian communism, Saramago criticized institutions such as the Catholic Church, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. An atheist, he defended love as an instrument to improve the human condition. In 1992, the Government of Portugal under Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva ordered the removal of one of his works, "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ", from the Aristeion Prize's shortlist, claiming the work was religiously offensive. Disheartened by this political censorship of his work, Saramago went into exile on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, where he lived alongside his Spanish wife Pilar del Río until his death in 2010.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago was born in 1922 into a family of very poor landless peasants in Azinhaga, Portugal, a small village in Ribatejo Province, some one hundred kilometers northeast of Lisbon. His parents were José de Sousa and Maria de Piedade. "Saramago", the Portuguese word for "Raphanus raphanistrum" (wild radish), was the insulting nickname given to his father, and was accidentally incorporated into his name by the village clerk upon registration of his birth.


title: José Saramago

text: In 1924, Saramago's family moved to Lisbon, where his father started working as a policeman. A few months after the family moved to the capital, his brother Francisco, older by two years, died. He spent vacations with his grandparents in Azinhaga. When his grandfather suffered a stroke and was to be taken to Lisbon for treatment, Saramago recalled, "He went into the yard of his house, where there were a few trees, fig trees, olive trees. And he went one by one, embracing the trees and crying, saying good-bye to them because he knew he would not return. To see this, to live this, if that doesn't mark you for the rest of your life," Saramago said, "you have no feeling." Although Saramago was a good pupil, his parents were unable to afford to keep him in grammar school, and instead moved him to a technical school at age 12.


title: José Saramago

text: After graduating as a lathe operator, he worked as a car mechanic for two years. At this time Saramago had acquired a taste for reading and started to frequent a public library in Lisbon in his free time. He married Ilda Reis, a typist and later artist, in 1944 (they divorced in 1970). Their only daughter, Violante, was born in 1947. By this time he was working in the Social Welfare Service as a civil servant. Later he worked at the publishing company "Estúdios Cor" as an editor and translator, and then as a journalist. By that time, in 1968, he met and became lover of writer Isabel da Nóbrega, the longtime partner of author and critic João Gaspar Simões. Nóbrega became Saramago's devoted literary mentor, to whom he would later dedicate "Memorial do Convento" and "O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis".


title: José Saramago

text: After the democratic revolution in 1974, on 9 April 1975, during the rule of Vasco Gonçalves, Saramago became the assistant director of newspaper "Diário de Notícias", and the editorial line became clearly pro-communist. A group of 30 journalists - half the editorial staff - handed the board a petition calling for the editorial line to be revised and for it to be published. A plenary was called and, following an angered intervention by Saramago, 24 journalists were expelled, accused of being right-wingers. After the Coup of 25 November 1975 that put an end to the communist PREC, Saramago, in turn, was fired from the newspaper.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago published his first novel, "Land of Sin", in 1947. It remained his only published literary work until a poetry book, "Possible Poems", was published in 1966. It was followed by another book of poems, "Probably Joy", in 1970, three collections of newspaper articles in 1971, 1973 and 1974 respectively, and the long poem "The Year of 1993" in 1975. A collection of political writing was published in 1976 under the title "Notes". After his dismissal from "Diário de Notícias" in 1975, Saramago embraced his writing more seriously and the following years he published a series of important works including "Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia" (1977), "Objecto Quase" (1978), "Levantado do Chão" (1980) and "Viagem a Portugal" (1981).


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago did not achieve widespread recognition and acclaim until he was sixty, with the publication of his fourth novel, "Memorial do Convento" (1982). A baroque tale set during the Inquisition in 18th-century Lisbon, it tells of the love between a maimed soldier and a young clairvoyant, and of a renegade priest's heretical dream of flight. The novel's translation in 1988 as "Baltasar and Blimunda" (by Giovanni Pontiero) brought Saramago to the attention of an international readership. This novel won the Portuguese PEN Club Award.


title: José Saramago

text: Followed by acclaimed novels such as "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis" and "The History of the Siege of Lisbon", Saramago was hailed by literary critics for his complex yet elegant style, his broad range of references and his wit.


title: José Saramago

text: For the former novel Saramago received the British Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The multilayered "The History of the Siege of Lisbon" deals with the uncertainty of historical events and includes the story of a middle-aged isolated proofreader who falls in love with his boss. Saramago acknowledged that there is a lot of himself in the protagonist of the novel, and dedicated the novel to his wife.


title: José Saramago

text: In 1986 Saramago met a Spanish intellectual and journalist, Pilar del Río, 27 years his junior, and he promptly ended his relationship with Isabel Nóbrega, his partner since 1968. They married in 1988 and remained together until his death in June 2010. Del Río is the official translator of Saramago's books into Spanish.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago joined the Portuguese Communist Party in 1969 and remained a member until the end of his life. He was a self-confessed pessimist. His views aroused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially after the publication of "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ". Members of the country's Catholic community were outraged by Saramago's representation of Jesus and particularly God as fallible, even cruel human beings. Portugal's conservative government, led by then-prime minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, did not allow Saramago's work to compete for the Aristeion Prize, arguing that it offended the Catholic community. As a result, Saramago and his wife moved to Lanzarote, an island in the Canaries.


title: José Saramago

text: In 1998 Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature with the prize motivation: "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality."


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago was expected to speak as the guest of honour at the European Writers' Parliament in 2010, which was convened in Istanbul following a proposal he had co-authored. However, Saramago died before the event took place.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago suffered from leukemia. He died on 18 June 2010, aged 87, having spent the last few years of his life in Lanzarote, Spain. His family said that he had breakfast and chatted with his wife and translator Pilar del Río on Friday morning, after which he started feeling unwell and died. "The Guardian" described him as "the finest Portuguese writer of his generation", while Fernanda Eberstadt of "The New York Times" said he was "known almost as much for his unfaltering Communism as for his fiction".


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago's English language translator, Margaret Jull Costa, paid tribute to him, describing his "wonderful imagination" and calling him "the greatest contemporary Portuguese writer". Saramago had continued his writing until his death. His most recent publication, "Claraboia", was published posthumously in 2011. Saramago had suffered from pneumonia a year before his death. Having been thought to have made a full recovery, he had been scheduled to attend the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2010.


title: José Saramago

text: Portugal declared two days of mourning. There were tributes from senior international politicians: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Bernard Kouchner (France) and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (Spain), while Cuba's Raúl and Fidel Castro sent flowers.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago's funeral was held in Lisbon on 20 June 2010, in the presence of more than 20,000 people, many of whom had travelled hundreds of kilometres, but also notably in the absence of right-wing President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who was holidaying in the Azores as the ceremony took place. Cavaco Silva, the Prime Minister who removed Saramago's work from the shortlist of the Aristeion Prize, said he did not attend Saramago's funeral because he "had never had the privilege to know him". Mourners, who questioned Cavaco Silva's absence in the presence of reporters, held copies of the red carnation, symbolic of Portugal's democratic revolution. Saramago's cremation took place in Lisbon, and his ashes were buried on the anniversary of his death, 18 June 2011, underneath a hundred year old olive tree on the square in front of the José Saramago Foundation (Casa dos Bicos).


title: José Saramago

text: The José Saramago Foundation announced in October 2011 the publication of a so-called "lost novel" published as "Skylight" ("Claraboia" in Portuguese). It was written in the 1950s and remained in the archive of a publisher to whom the manuscript had been sent. Saramago remained silent about the work up to his death. The book has been translated into several languages.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago's experimental style often features long sentences, at times more than a page long. He used periods sparingly, choosing instead a loose flow of clauses joined by commas. Many of his paragraphs extend for pages without pausing for dialogue (which Saramago chooses not to delimit by quotation marks); when the speaker changes, Saramago capitalizes the first letter of the new speaker's clause. His works often refer to his other works. In his novel "Blindness", Saramago completely abandons the use of proper nouns, instead referring to characters simply by some unique characteristic, an example of his style reflecting the recurring themes of identity and meaning found throughout his work.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago's novels often deal with fantastic scenarios. In his 1986 novel "The Stone Raft", the Iberian Peninsula breaks off from the rest of Europe and sails around the Atlantic Ocean. In his 1995 novel "Blindness", an entire unnamed country is stricken with a mysterious plague of "white blindness". In his 1984 novel "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis" (which won the PEN Award and the "Independent" Foreign Fiction Award), Fernando Pessoa's heteronym survives for a year after the poet himself dies. Additionally, his novel "Death with Interruptions" (also translated as "Death at Intervals") takes place in a country in which, suddenly, nobody dies, and concerns, in part, the spiritual and political implications of the event, although the book ultimately moves from a synoptic to a more personal perspective.


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago addresses serious matters with empathy for the human condition and for the isolation of contemporary urban life. His characters struggle with their need to connect with one another, form relations and bond as a community, and also with their need for individuality, and to find meaning and dignity outside of political and economic structures.


title: José Saramago

text: When asked to describe his daily writing routine in 2009, Saramago responded, "I write two pages. And then I read and read and read."


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago was an atheist. The Catholic Church criticised him on numerous occasions due to the content of some of his novels, mainly "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" and "Cain", in which he uses satire and biblical quotations to present the figure of God in a comical way. The Portuguese government lambasted his 1991 novel "O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo" ("The Gospel according to Jesus Christ") and struck the writer's name from nominees for the European Literature Prize, saying the atheist work offended Portuguese Catholic convictions.


title: José Saramago

text: The book portrays a Christ who, subject to human desires, lives with Mary Magdalene and tries to back out of the crucifixion. Following the Swedish Academy's decision to present Saramago with the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Vatican questioned the decision on political grounds, though gave no comment on the aesthetic or literary components of Saramago's work. Saramago responded: "The Vatican is easily scandalized, especially by people from outside. They should just focus on their prayers and leave people in peace. I respect those who believe, but I have no respect for the institution."


title: José Saramago

text: Saramago was a member of the Communist Party of Portugal, and in his late years defined himself as a proponent of libertarian communism. He ran in the 1989 Lisbon local election as part of the "Coalition For Lisbon," and was elected alderman presiding officer of the Municipal Assembly of Lisbon. Saramago was also a candidate of the Democratic Unity Coalition in all elections of the European Parliament from 1989 to 2009, though he ran for positions of which it was thought he had no possibility of winning. He was a critic of European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies.


title: José Saramago

text: Many of his novels are acknowledged as political satire of a subtle kind. It is in "The Notebook" that Saramago makes his political convictions most clear. The book, written from a Marxist perspective, is a collection of blog entries from September 2008 to August 2009. According to "The Independent", "Saramago aims to cut through the web of 'organized lies' surrounding humanity, and to convince readers by delivering his opinions in a relentless series of unadorned, knock-down prose blows." His political engagement has led to comparisons with George Orwell.


title: José Saramago

text: When speaking to "The Observer" in 2006, Saramago said he "believe[s] that we all have some influence, not because of the fact that one is an artist, but because we are citizens. As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved, it's the citizen who changes things. I can't imagine myself outside any kind of social or political involvement."


title: José Saramago

text: During the Second Intifada, while visiting Ramallah in March 2002, Saramago said that "what is happening in Palestine is a crime we can put on the same plane as what happened at Auschwitz ... A sense of impunity characterises the Israeli people and its army. They have turned into rentiers of the Holocaust." Some critics of this statement claimed that it was antisemitic. Six months later, Saramago clarified. "To have said that Israel's action is to be condemned, that war crimes are being perpetrated – really the Israelis are used to that. It doesn't bother them. But there are certain words they can't stand. And to say 'Auschwitz' there ... note well, I didn't say that Ramallah was the same as Auschwitz, that would be stupid. What I said was that the spirit of Auschwitz was present in Ramallah. We were eight writers. They all made condemning statements, Wole Soyinka, Breyten Breytenbach, Vincenzo Consolo and others. But the Israelis weren't bothered about those. It was the fact that I put my finger in the Auschwitz wound that made them jump."


title: José Saramago

text: During the 2006 Lebanon War, Saramago joined Tariq Ali, John Berger, Noam Chomsky, and others in condemning what they characterized as "a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation".


title: José Saramago

text: He was also a supporter of Iberian Federalism. In a 2008 press conference for the filming of "Blindness" he asked, in reference to the Great Recession, "Where was all that money poured on markets? Very tight and well kept; then suddenly it appears to save what? lives? no, banks." He added, "Marx was never so right as now", and predicted "the worst is still to come."


title: José Saramago

text: The Swedish Academy selected Saramago as 1998 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The announcement came when he was about to fly to Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair, and caught both him and his editor by surprise. The Nobel committee praised his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony", and his "modern skepticism" about official truths.


title: José Saramago

text: The José Saramago Foundation was founded by José Saramago in June 2007, with the aim to defend and spread the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the promotion of culture in Portugal just like in all the countries, and protection of the environment. The José Saramago Foundation is located in the historic Casa dos Bicos in the city of Lisbon.


title: Duck test

text: The duck test is a form of abductive reasoning, usually expressed as "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."


title: Duck test

text: The test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject's habitual characteristics. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be.


title: Duck test

text: The French automaton maker Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck in 1738. The mechanical duck would quack, move its head to eat grain which it would appear to digest, and after a short time would excrete a mixture that looked and smelled like duck droppings. The irony is that while the phrase is often cited as proof of abductive reasoning, it is not proof, as the mechanical duck is still not a living duck.


title: Duck test

text: Monty Python also referenced the test in the Witch Logic scene in their 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", where Sir Bedevere reasons that if ducks float and wood burns, then a person who weighs the same as a duck is made of wood and should be burned as a witch.


title: Duck test

text: The Liskov Substitution Principle in computer science is sometimes expressed as a counter-example to the duck test:


title: Duck test

text: Vladimir Vapnik, co-inventor of the support-vector machine and a major contributor to the theory of machine learning, uses the duck test as a way to summarize the importance of simple predicates to classify things. During the discussion he often uses the test to illustrate that the concise format of the duck test is a form of intelligence that machines are not capable of producing.


title: Duck test

text: The philosopher Slavoj Žižek has cited the Marx Brothers' rewording of the duck test: "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." The humor of this line lies in its violation of an expected opposite.


title: Duck test

text: A common variation of the wording of the phrase may have originated much later with Emil Mazey, secretary-treasurer of the United Auto Workers, at a labor meeting in 1946 accusing a person of being a Communist:


title: Duck test

text: The term was later popularized in the United States by Richard Cunningham Patterson Jr., United States ambassador to Guatemala in 1950 during the Cold War, who used the phrase when he accused Guatemala's Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán government of being Communist. Patterson explained his reasoning as follows:


title: Duck test

text: Later references to the duck test include Cardinal Richard Cushing's, who used the phrase in 1964 in reference to Fidel Castro.


title: Duck test

text: In 2015, a variation of the duck test was applied in the revocation of tax-exempt nonprofit status to Blue Shield of California:


title: Duck test

text: Also in 2015, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov used a version of the test in response to allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria were not targeting terrorist groups, primarily ISIS, but rather Western-supported groups such as the Free Syrian Army. When asked to elaborate his definition of "terrorist groups", he replied:


title: Duck test

text: In 2021, a version of the test was used by Singapore's Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong in response to claims by members of the Progress Singapore Party that their parliamentary motion on free trade agreements was not racist. He said:


title: Duck test

text: Similarly, the term "elephant test" refers to situations in which an idea or thing, "is hard to describe, but instantly recognizable when spotted".


title: Duck test

text: The term is often used in legal cases when there is an issue which may be open to interpretation, such as in the case of "Cadogan Estates Ltd v Morris", when Lord Justice Stuart-Smith referred to "...the well-known elephant test. It is difficult to describe, but you know it when you see it", and in "Ivey v Genting Casinos", when Lord Hughes (in discussing dishonesty) opined "...like the elephant, it is characterised more by recognition when encountered than by definition." This decision partially overruled "R v Ghosh".


title: Duck test

text: A similar incantation (used however as a rule of exclusion) was invoked by the concurring opinion of Justice Potter Stewart in "Jacobellis v. Ohio", 378 U.S. 184 (1964), an obscenity case. He stated that the Constitution protected all obscenity except "hard-core pornography". Stewart opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, IMSA, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary high-speed tri-oval, a sports car course, a motorcycle course, and a karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's infield includes the Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054. Dale Earnhardt is Daytona International Speedway's all-time winningest driver, with a total of 34 career victories (12- Daytona 500 Qualifying Races) (7- NASCAR Xfinity Series Races) (6- Busch Clash Races) (6- IROC Races) (2- Pepsi 400 July Races) (1- The 1998 Daytona 500).


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France Sr. to host racing that was held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third-largest single-lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated four times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010. The track is north of Orlando.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On January 22, 2013, the fourth speedway renovation was unveiled. On July 5, 2013, ground was broken on "Daytona Rising" to remove backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation was by design-builder Barton Malow Company in partnership with Rossetti Architects. The project was completed in January 2016, and cost US $400 million. It emphasized improved fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors"), as well as wider and more comfortable seats, and more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations were complete, the track's grandstands had 101,500 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was finished before the start of Speedweeks in 2016.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: NASCAR founder William France Sr. began planning for the track in 1953 as a way to promote the series, which at the time was racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course. France met with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenny to discuss his plans for the speedway. He wanted the track to have the highest banking possible to allow the cars to reach high speeds and to give fans a better view of the cars on track. Moneypenny traveled to Detroit, Michigan to visit the Ford Proving Grounds which had a high-speed test track with banked corners. Ford shared their engineering design of the track with Moneypenny, providing the needed details of how to transition the pavement from a flat straightaway to a banked corner. France took the plans to the Daytona Beach city commission, who supported his idea and formed the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The city commission agreed to lease the parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport to France's corporation for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period. France then began working on building funding for the project and found support from a Texas oil millionaire, Clint Murchison, Sr. Murchison lent France $600,000 along with the construction equipment necessary to build the track. France also secured funding from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, a second mortgage on his home and selling 300,000 stock shares to local residents. Ground broke on construction of the speedway on November 25, 1957.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: To build the high banking, crews had to excavate over a million square yards of soil from the track's infield. Because of the high water table in the area, the excavated hole filled with water to form what is now known as Lake Lloyd, named after Joseph "Sax" Lloyd, one of the original six members of the Daytona Beach Speedway Authority. (The lake was stocked with 65,000 fish, and France arranged speedboat races on it.) 22 tons of lime mortar had to be brought in to form the track's binding base, over which asphalt was laid. Because of the extreme degree of banking, Moneypenny had to come up with a way to pave the incline. He connected the paving equipment to bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking. This allowed the paving equipment to pave the banking without slipping or rolling down the incline. Moneypenny subsequently patented his construction method and later designed Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway. By December 1958, France had begun to run out of money and relied on race ticket sales to complete construction. He also received a substantial sum of money from the Pepsi company after attempting to obtain the money to finish construction from the Coca-Cola Company and being turned down. For years from when the track opened to France's death, France never allowed Coca-Cola to be sold as a concession at any of the tracks he owned as a result.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The first practice run on the new track was on February 6, 1959. On February 22, 1959, 42,000 people attended the inaugural Daytona 500. Its finish was as startling as the track itself: Lee Petty beat Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish that took three days to adjudicate. When the track opened it was the fastest race track to host a stock car race, until Talladega Superspeedway opened 10 years later. On April 4, it hosted a Champ Car event which saw Jim Rathmann beat Dick Rathmann and Rodger Ward, at an average speed of , at the time the fastest motor race ever. It was the occasion of Daytona's first fatality: George Amick, attempting to overtake for third late in the race, hit a wall and was killed. April 5, a scheduled sports car event (shortened to by darkness) was won by Roberto Mieres and Fritz d'Orey, who shared a Porsche RSK, which proved more durable than more potent competition.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Lights were installed around the track in 1998 to run NASCAR's July race, the Coke Zero 400 at night. The track was the world's largest single lighted outdoor sports facility until being surpassed by Losail International Circuit in 2008. Musco Lighting installed the lighting system, which took into account glare and visibility for aircraft arriving and departing nearby Daytona Beach International Airport, and costs about $240 per hour when in operation.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Daytona's tri-oval is long with 31° banking in the turns and 18° banking at the start/finish line. The front straight is long and the back straight (or "superstretch") is long. The tri-oval shape was revolutionary at the time as it greatly improved sight lines for fans. It is one of the two tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit that uses restrictor plates to slow the cars down due to the high speeds, the other being Talladega Superspeedway.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On July 15, 2010, repaving of the track began. This came almost a year earlier than planned due to the track coming apart during the 2010 Daytona 500. The project used an estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave including the racing surface, apron, skid pads and pit road. Because of good weather, the project was completed ahead of schedule.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On October 9, 2013, Colin Braun drove a Daytona Prototype car prepared by Michael Shank Racing to set a single-lap record on the tri-oval configuration of . During NASCAR events, it takes less than a minute for the cars to complete a lap around the tri-oval course.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: While the more famous 24 Hours of Le Mans is held near the summer solstice, Daytona's endurance race is held in winter (meaning more of the race is run at night). The track's lighting system is limited to 20% of its maximum output for the race to keep cars dependent on their headlights.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The road course was built in 1959 and first hosted a three-hour sports car race called the Daytona Continental in 1962. The race length became in 1964, and in 1966 was extended to a 24-hour endurance race known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It was shortened again to six hours in 1972 and the 1974 rendition of the race was cancelled entirely.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In 1984 and 1985, the layout was modified, re-profiling road course turns 1 and 2, and moving what is now turn 3 (nicknamed the "International Horseshoe") closer to its preceding turns. Also, the chicane on the backstretch was modified. A new entry leg was constructed approximately earlier, resulting in a longer, three-legged, "bus stop" shape. Cars would now enter in the first leg, bypass the second leg, and exit out of the existing third leg. Passing would now be possible inside the longer chicane. The construction resulted in a final length of for the complete road course.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In 2003, the backstretch chicane was modified once again. The middle leg was repaved and widened, and now cars would enter through the first leg, and exit out of the second leg. The existing third leg was abandoned. This allowed cars a cleaner entry into oval turn three. After favorable results, in 2010 the third leg was demolished and removed permanently.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In 2005, a second infield road course configuration was constructed, primarily for motorcycles. Due to fears of tire wear on the banked oval sections, oval turns 1 and 2 were bypassed giving the new course a length of . The Daytona SportBike that runs the Daytona 200 however, uses the main road course except for the motorcycle Pedro Rodríguez Hairpin (tighter than the one used for cars; the car version is used as an acceleration lane for motorcycles).


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On September 26 and 27, 2006, the IndyCar Series held a compatibility test on the 10-turn, modified road course, and the 12-turn motorcycle road course with 5 drivers. The drivers who tested at the track were Vítor Meira, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. This marked the first time since 1984 that open wheel cars have taken to the track at Daytona. On January 31 – February 1, 2007, IndyCar returned for a full test involving 17 cars.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On July 8, 2020, NASCAR announced that it would race the Daytona road course in all of its national series for the first time in mid-August (with the Cup Series racing the Go Bowling 235), due to current COVID-19 pandemic health restrictions in New York state (requiring 14 days self-isolation on arrival from other states) preventing the use of Watkins Glen International. On July 30, a modification of the course to add a chicane near the exit of Turn 12 (NASCAR Turn Four) was announced, lengthening the course to 3.61 miles.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: During Daytona Beach Bike Week, a supercross track is built between the pit road and the tri-oval section of the track. Historically the track has used more sand than dirt, providing unique challenges to riders. The 2008–2013 track configurations were designed by former champion, Ricky Carmichael.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Popular dirt-track races in karting and flat-track motorcycle racing had been held at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium but in 2009, the city announced the stadium was replacing its entire surface with FieldTurf, and thereby eliminating the flat-track racing at the stadium. To continue racing, speedway officials built the Daytona Flat Track, a new quarter-mile dirt track outside of turns 1 & 2 of the main superspeedway. It seats 5,000 in temporary grandstands and opened in December 2009 for WKA KartWeek. From 2010 to 2016, it also hosted the AMA Grand National Championship, before it was moved in 2017 to the tri-oval section and became a TT course.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: There is also a short paved kart/autocross track in the infield just inside of turn 3. The SCCA holds autocross on this track in addition to hosting sprint karting races during KartWeek.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In February 2012, it was announced that a short track would be constructed along the backstretch of the Speedway's main course, for NASCAR's lower-tier series to compete at during Speedweeks called the UNOH Battle at the Beach, which is similar to the Toyota All-Star Showdown, formerly held at Irwindale Speedway. The first races were held on that track in February 2013. The track was shortened to a oval in 2014 by shorter straightaways. The future of racing at the short track became uncertain after 2015 with the grandstands on the back straightaway being demolished as a part of the Daytona Rising project.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In the fall of 1959, the track hosted several high school football games for the Father Lopez Green Wave in the first year of the school's football program.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The track hosted four college football games featuring the Daytona-based Bethune–Cookman Wildcats in 1974 and 1975. In early 2014 track president Joie Chitwood expressed a desire to bring football back to the track.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: On July 2 and 3, 2022, the track hosted Daytona Soccer Fest, a 2 day event highlighted by a friendly match between heated Colombian rivals América de Cali and Deportivo Cali and a NWSL regular season match between the Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville FC.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: In 1994, Sega released an arcade game called "Daytona USA", using their Model 2 Arcade hardware. It was developed by their famed "AM2" development team. It featured a fully detailed 3D model of the circuit for the very first time. The soundtrack for the game included vocals by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. It is widely considered to be one of the most successful and influential racing games of all time. "Daytona USA" spawned many sequels, both in the arcades and on various home videogame consoles. The latest version, "Daytona Championship USA", was released to arcades in 2017.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: iRacing.com have laser-scanned the facility twice. The first in 2008, and 2011 once the repave was completed. Both are available in official racing series. There has been no word to when and if it will be re-scanned now that the Daytona Rising project has now been completed.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Both the oval layout and Rolex 24 Hour layout are available in both PlayStation 3 video games "Gran Turismo 5" and "Gran Turismo 6", and in the PlayStation 4 game "Gran Turismo 7". Daytona International Speedway is also featured in "Forza Motorsport 6" and "Forza Motorsport 7" for the Xbox One and Windows 10.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: "Real Racing 3"s second NASCAR update featured the Daytona International Speedway as a new circuit coming in three layouts. In addition to the oval and Rolex 24 Hour layouts in "Gran Turismo", there also exists a Daytona 200 layout in the game.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: A total of 40 people have been fatally injured in on-track incidents: 23 car drivers, twelve motorcyclists, three go-kart drivers, one powerboat racer, and one track worker. The most notorious death was that of Dale Earnhardt, who was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The UNOH Fanzone is an access package similar to pit passes for fans to get closer to drivers and race teams. The fanzone was built in 2004 as part of a renovation of the track's infield. Fans are able to walk on top of the garages, known as the "fandeck", and view track and garage activity. Fans can also view race teams working in the garage, including NASCAR technical inspection, through windows. The garage windows also include slots for fans to hand merchandise to drivers for autographs. The fanzone also includes a live entertainment stage, additional food and drink areas and various other activities and displays.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The 2004 renovation of the infield, headed by design firm HNTB, was the first major renovation of the infield in the history of the track. In addition to the fanzone, a new vehicle and pedestrian tunnel was built under turn 1. The tunnel posed a challenge to engineers because it was to be built under the water table. Another challenge came during construction when three named hurricanes passed by the track, flooding much of the excavation work. The infield renovation involved landscaping and hardscaping, such as a new walkway along the shore of Lake Lloyd, and the construction of 34 new buildings, including garages and fueling stations, offices and inspection facilities, and a club. The renovation project received a 2005 Award for Excellence from Design-Build Institute of America. Following the success of the UNOH Fanzone at Daytona, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway each built a similar infield fanzone. On December 9, 2016, the speedway announced that the University of Northwestern Ohio purchased entitlement rights to the fanzone, and that the area will be named 'UNOH Fanzone'.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: The Budweiser Party Porch was a porch located along the backstretch of the track. It was built on top of a portion of the backstretch grandstands and includes a , sign, the largest sign in motorsports. The porch featured tables, food and drinks, offering fans a "fun-filled" atmosphere that breaks fans away from the confines of grandstand seating without sacrificing the view. Below the porch was an interactive fan zone featuring amusement rides, a go-kart track, show cars and merchandise trailers. After the 2015 racing season, the Party Porch was torn down with the backstretch grandstands as part of the DAYTONA Rising project.


title: Daytona International Speedway

text: Daytona has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa"), which enables year-round use of the facility. Light frosts are in theory possible, but unlikely, during the 24-hour event's nighttime under clear conditions, but general racing conditions are mild also during winter. With a dry season taking place during the winter months, the 500 generally has good odds of being run without rain delays. The summer event under the floodlights is more likely to undergo disturbances, due to the rainy tendencies of the hot, muggy, and humid summers. Due to the complete difference of seasons, the two NASCAR Cup races at Daytona see vastly different track conditions.


title: We Were Liars

text: We Were Liars is a 2014 psychological horror young-adult novel by E. Lockhart. The novel has received critical acclaim and won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. It was also listed as an ALA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults for 2015.


title: We Were Liars

text: "We Were Liars" focuses on the theme of consequences of one's mistakes. It is centered on the wealthy, seemingly perfect Sinclair family, who spend every summer sitting gathered on their private island. However, not every summer is the same—when something happens to Cadence during the summer of her fifteenth year, the four "Liars" (Cadence, Johnny, Gat and Mirren) re-emerge two years later to prompt Cadence to remember the incident.


title: We Were Liars

text: Cadence Sinclair Eastman is the eldest grandchild of the wealthy Harris Sinclair. Although her family pretends to be perfect, Cadence knows that beneath the surface, wealth and privilege have taken an insidious toll on her family and that any unhappiness or odd behavior is ignored or repressed to perpetuate the image of refinement. Harris has three daughters, Cadence's mother Penny, and her aunts Carrie and Bess. Harris owns an island called Beechwood Island near Martha's Vineyard and has built a home for himself along with a house for each of his daughters.


title: We Were Liars

text: The Sinclairs spend their summers on the island. Cadence and the other older cousins, Mirren, Johnny, along with Gat Patil (the nephew of Carrie's partner Ed) are known by the family as "The Liars". The summer Cadence is fifteen, which she refers to as Summer Fifteen, Gat and Cadence fall in love and begin a relationship.


title: We Were Liars

text: During Summer Fifteen, Cadence suffers a serious head injury recalling only that she struck her head in the water. She loses most of her memories of that summer and begins to suffer from migraines. She also becomes addicted to Percocet and is forced to repeat a year at school. When she tries to reach out to her cousins she is ignored. Rather than allowing her to go to the island for the summer, Cadence's mother forces her to go on a tour of Europe with her father, with whom Cadence is no longer close to after he had an affair and abandoned the family.


title: We Were Liars

text: During Summer Seventeen, Cadence is allowed to go back to the island and is surprised to find much has changed. Her controlling grandfather now suffers from dementia. His estate, Clairmont, has been replaced by New Clairmont, a cold architectural monstrosity that has none of the charms of the previous Clairmont. The Liars act strange around Cadence and refuse to talk about what happened in Summer Fifteen. They reject the idea of spending time at New Clairmont and instead camp out at Cuddledown, formerly the estate of Bess and her family.


title: We Were Liars

text: Cadence begins to slowly remember events from the Summer Fifteen. She recalls that after her grandmother Tipper had died, her mother and aunts began to bicker over their inheritances. Though each woman had been given access to trust funds and education, none of them were able to earn a living independently and continued to depend on their controlling father to ensure their financial futures. Carrie had refused to marry Gat's uncle despite living together for nine years because Harris is opposed to her marrying a man of Indian descent. Cadence finally remembers that in Summer Fifteen, she proposed that she and the rest of the Liars should burn down Clairmont in order to get the family to stop feuding over the property. She is delighted with the idea that she was able to keep the family together until she recalls that the Liars forgot to release her grandfather's dogs, killing them. When she goes to Gat for comfort, he asks if she was able to recall anything else. In a plot twist, Cadence realizes that Johnny, Mirren, and Gat all died in the fire. She goes to visit the Liars at Cuddledown where they tell her that their deaths were not her fault and reveal that they will no longer be able to appear to her, all diving into the ocean and disappearing.


title: We Were Liars

text: E. Lockhart wrote "We Were Liars" with knowledge of the ending. She was particularly inspired by the twist endings in Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl", because the first twist still kept the reader interested, as well as Rebecca Stead's "When You Reach Me" which contained a lot of small details that fell into place at the end. The novel is written in five acts, though pieces of each were rearranged, particularly the middle three. Lockhart wrote the novel on the writing software Scrivener which made it easy to rearrange segments of text. She changed the structure of the ending shortly before the advance reader copy, based on suggestions from young adult author John Green.


title: We Were Liars

text: As a child, Lockhart was "captivated" by fairy tale collections her mother had and incorporated a fairy tale feel to "We Were Liars"; she stated, "Fairy tales have been a preoccupation of mine for a very long time, and for a long time I wanted to write a contemporary story with a fairy-tale structure so I could unpack some of what I had spent so much time thinking about." The relationship between the Liars was inspired by Lockhart's "fantasy" of having close friends growing up, but also an attempt to "unpack" potential consequences of the bond. The character of Gat, who is part of the Liars but also an outsider to the family, was drawn from Lockhart's experience as a scholarship student at private schools, as well as Emily Brontë's novel "Wuthering Heights". Lockhart also stated that some individuals close to her experience migraines and she was interested in exploring how pain affects one's personality and perception of the world.


title: We Were Liars

text: The publisher hoped that the novel would have a large crossover appeal to adult readers because it had "teens who must interact with imperfect adults and imperfect adults who are important to the entire dynamic of the plot." To promote "We Were Liars" without giving too much of the plot away, a blog on Tumblr was created, focusing on the aesthetic of the Sinclair's island with quotes from the book. The promotional material urged readers to "just lie" if they were asked about the ending.


title: We Were Liars

text: "Los Angeles Times" writer Amy Benfer described that thematically, "We Were Liars" was "a classic story of decaying aristocracy and the way that privilege can often hamstring more than help."


title: We Were Liars

text: "We Were Liars" debuted at #6 on the "New York Times" Bestseller List in the young adult category. From June 1 to September 7, it spent 13 weeks on the top ten. Goodreads determined that it was the most-searched standalone title of 2014 on the website, leading them to declare it a possibility for the year's "it" book. "Bustle" affirmed this declaration, believing that the novel was "compulsively readable," had a "meaningful" plot, and was frequently talked about.


title: We Were Liars

text: "We Were Liars" received mostly positive reviews from critics. "Kirkus Reviews" awarded "We Were Liars" a starred review, stating that it was "riveting, brutal and beautifully told." The review particularly praised Lockhart's humanizing of the Sinclairs. "Publishers Weekly" also wrote a starred review, referring to Lockhart's depiction of the family as "astute." "School Library Journal" reviewer Karyn Silverman said that Cadence's voice was the highlight of the novel, but also praised the "smart" writing in regards to plotting and complex characters. Katrina Hedeen of "The Horn Book Magazine" also gave a starred review, describing it as an "intriguing, atmospheric story" with a "taut psychological mystery" and unexpected twist. "The Wall Street Journal" also gave a positive review, noting the crossover appeal to adults and praising Cadence as an unreliable narrator.


title: We Were Liars

text: Josh Lacey of "The Guardian" described the novel as "cunning" and "clever", calling the twist ending "nastier and more shocking than anything I had imagined." "The Daily Telegraph"'s Martin Chilton gave the book four out of five stars, calling it "a mysterious and addictive treat" with a twist that is "dramatic and severe." Meg Rosoff, writing for "The New York Times", felt that the execution "fell oddly flat"; she enjoyed the "snappy characterizations" of the privileged family, but felt that overall the novel was not able to fully delve into the personalities of the characters. In regards to the ending, however, she wrote that "Lockhart just about manages to pull it off, thanks to the freshness of the writing and the razor-sharp metaphor amnesia provides for the Sinclair family habit of denial."


title: We Were Liars

text: "We Were Liars" was listed among the best young adult books of 2014 by "Kirkus Reviews", "Publishers Weekly", "School Library Journal," and "The Wall Street Journal". It was also the only young adult novel listed in Amazon's Best 20 Books of the Year.


title: We Were Liars

text: In July 2022, Lockhart announced that "We Are Liars", as well as the prequel, "Family of Liars", would be adapted into a television show. The screen rights were acquired by Julie Plec’s My So-Called Company and Universal Television. Plec will adapt the books for television and called the opportunity a "career highlight".


title: Storyboard

text: A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios.