title: Fundamentalism

text: In order to carry out the fundamentalist program in practice, one would need a perfect understanding of the ancient language of the original text, if indeed the true text can be discerned from among variants. Furthermore, human beings are the ones who transmit this understanding between generations. Even if one wanted to follow the literal word of God, the need for people first to understand that word necessitates human interpretation. Through that process human fallibility is inextricably mixed into the very meaning of the divine word. As a result, it is impossible to follow the indisputable word of God; one can only achieve a human understanding of God's will.


title: Fundamentalism

text: Howard Thurman was interviewed in the late 1970s for a BBC feature on religion. He told the interviewer:


title: Fundamentalism

text: Influential criticisms of fundamentalism include James Barr's books on Christian fundamentalism and Bassam Tibi's analysis of Islamic fundamentalism.


title: Fundamentalism

text: A study at the University of Edinburgh found that of its six measured dimensions of religiosity, "lower intelligence is most associated with higher levels of fundamentalism."


title: Fundamentalism

text: The Associated Press' "AP Stylebook" recommends that the term fundamentalist not be used for any group that does not apply the term to itself. Many scholars have adopted a similar position. Other scholars, however, use the term in the broader descriptive sense to refer to various groups in various religious traditions including those groups that would object to being classified as fundamentalists, such as in the Fundamentalism Project.


title: Fundamentalism

text: Tex Sample asserts that it is a mistake to refer to a Muslim, Jewish, or Christian fundamentalist. Rather, a fundamentalist's fundamentalism is their primary concern, over and above other denominational or faith considerations.


title: Civil union

text: A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage except child adoption and/or the title itself.


title: Civil union

text: Civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in several, mostly developed, countries in order to provide legal recognition of relationships formed by unmarried same-sex couples and to afford them rights, benefits, tax breaks, and responsibilities similar or identical to those of legally married couples. In 1989, Denmark was the first country to legalise civil unions, for same-sex couples; however most other developed democracies did not begin establishing civil unions until the 1990s or early 2000s, often developing them from less formal domestic partnerships. While civil unions are often established for both opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples, in a number of countries they are available to same-sex couples only. In Brazil, civil unions were first created for opposite-sex couples in 2002, and then expanded to include same-sex couples through a supreme court ruling in 2011. In the majority of countries that established same-sex civil unions, they have since been either supplemented or replaced by same-sex marriage. Civil unions are viewed by LGBT rights campaigners as a "first step" towards establishing same-sex marriage, as civil unions are viewed by supporters of LGBT rights as a "separate but equal" or "second class" status.


title: Civil union

text: Many jurisdictions with civil unions recognize foreign unions if those are essentially equivalent to their own; for example, the United Kingdom lists equivalent unions in the Civil Partnership Act 2004 Schedule 20. The marriages of same-sex couples performed abroad may be recognized as civil unions in jurisdictions that only have the latter.


title: Civil union

text: The terms used to designate civil unions are not standardized, and vary widely from country to country. Government-sanctioned relationships that may be similar or equivalent to civil unions include civil partnerships, registered partnerships, domestic partnerships, significant relationships, reciprocal beneficiary relationships, common-law marriage, adult interdependent relationships, life partnerships, stable unions, civil solidarity pacts, and so on. The exact level of rights, benefits, obligations, and responsibilities also varies, depending on the laws of a particular country. Some jurisdictions allow same-sex couples to adopt, while others forbid them to do so, or allow adoption only in specified circumstances.


title: Civil union

text: In the United States, the term "civil union" was introduced in the state of Vermont in 2000 to connote a status equivalent to marriage for same-sex couples; it was chosen by the state's legislators in preference to phrases such as "domestic partner relationship" or "civil accord".


title: Civil union

text: "Domestic partnership", offered by some states, counties, cities, and employers since as early as 1985, has generally connoted a lesser status with fewer benefits. However, the legislatures of the West Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington have preferred the term "domestic partnership" for enactments similar or equivalent to civil union laws in East Coast states.


title: Civil union

text: Civil unions are not seen as a replacement for marriage by many in the LGBT community. "Marriage in the United States is a civil union; but a civil union, as it has come to be called, is not marriage", said Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry. "It is a proposed hypothetical legal mechanism, since it doesn't exist in most places, to give some of the protections but also withhold something precious from gay people. There's no good reason to do that." However, some opponents of same-sex marriage claim that civil unions rob marriage of its unique status; Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families, calls civil unions "homosexual marriage by another name" and contends that civil unions provide same-sex couples "all the rights of marriage available under state law". The California Supreme Court, in the In Re Marriage Cases decision, noted nine differences in state law.


title: Civil union

text: Civil unions are commonly criticised as being 'separate but equal'; critics such as former New Zealand MP and feminist Marilyn Waring note that same-sex couples remain excluded from the right to marry and are forced to use a separate institution. Supporters of same-sex marriage contend that treating same-sex couples differently from other couples under the law allows for inferior treatment and that if civil unions were the same as marriage there would be no reason for two separate laws. A New Jersey commission which reviewed the state's civil union law reported that the law "invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children". Some have suggested that creating civil unions which are open to opposite-sex couples would avoid the accusations of apartheid.


title: Civil union

text: Proponents of civil unions say that they provide practical equality for same-sex couples and solve the problems over areas such as hospital visitation rights and transfer of property caused by lack of legal recognition. Proponents also say that creating civil unions is a more pragmatic way to ensure that same-sex couples have legal rights as it avoids the more controversial issues surrounding marriage and the claim that the term has a religious source.


title: Civil union

text: Many supporters of same-sex marriage state that the word 'marriage' matters and that the term 'civil union' (and its equivalents) do not convey the emotional meaning or bring the respect that comes with marriage. Former US Solicitor General and attorney in the "Perry v. Schwarzenegger" case Theodore Olsen said that recognizing same-sex couples under the term 'domestic partnership' stigmatizes gay people's relationships, treating them as if they were "something akin to a commercial venture, not a loving union". Many also contend that the fact that civil unions are often not understood can cause difficulty for same-sex couples in emergency situations.


title: Civil union

text: As of August 13, 2022, the states that provide civil unions but not marriage for same-sex couples are:


title: Civil union

text: The following is a list of countries and other jurisdictions which have established civil unions for same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples, categorized by continent, with the year in which the law establishing civil unions in the listed country or other jurisdiction came into effect in brackets:


title: Civil union

text: Several countries used to offer civil unions only for same-sex couples. The laws that allowed civil unions were repealed when same-sex marriage was legalized. The following is a list of countries and other jurisdictions that used to offer civil unions for same-sex couples with the years in which they were available in brackets:


title: Civil union

text: Since 2003, the Argentine province of Río Negro and the city of Buenos Aires allow domestic partnerships. The City of Villa Carlos Paz (Córdoba) allowed it from 2007. Since 2009, the city of Río Cuarto (Córdoba) allows Civil Unions.


title: Civil union

text: All levels of Australian Governments under nearly all Australian statutes do recognise same-sex couples as de facto couples as unregistered co-habitation or de facto status since 2009. From 1 July 2009 Centrelink recognised same-sex couples equally regarding social security – under the common-law marriage, de facto status or unregistered cohabitation.


title: Civil union

text: Cohabitation grants 112 benefits as family entities in Brazil since 2002. It is known as when both parts are legally authorized to marry, and as when at least one party is legally prohibited from doing so. Cohabitation grants all rights marriage confers, with the exception of automatic opt-in for one of four systems of property share married couples have access to, and automatic right to inheritance. Potential confusion might arise regarding terminology, given how when Brazilian Portuguese refers to the term , it tends to be short for , or civil marriage.


title: Civil union

text: Couples that have at least one child registered as a descendant of both parties might also have access to or rights.


title: Civil union

text: Same-sex stable cohabitation in Brazil is legally recognized nationwide since May 5, 2011. Brazil's Supreme Court voted 10–0 with one abstention to allow same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples, following pointed recognition of such relationships that dates as far back as 2004. The ruling gave same-sex couples in such relationships the same financial and social rights enjoyed by those in mixed-sex ones.


title: Civil union

text: were extended to same-sex couples before the enactment (2005) nationwide of same-sex marriage in Canada.


title: Civil union

text: Another notable attempt to extend civil union rights, the Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act in Ontario, was defeated in 1994.


title: Civil union

text: In 2007, Colombia came close to passing a law granting legal recognition to same-sex couples, but the bill failed on final passage in one house of the national legislature. However, a court decision in October 2007 extended social security and health insurance rights to same-sex couples. On January 29, 2009, the Constitutional Court ruled that cohabitating same-sex couples must be given all rights offered to unmarried heterosexual couples, making Colombia the first Latin American country to fully grant this right to all its citizens. Couples can claim these rights after living together for two years. Colombia has since approved same-sex marriage.


title: Civil union

text: The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica passed a bill in early July 2013 that "confers social rights and benefits of a civil union, free from discrimination", language inserted by lawmaker José María Villalta Florez-Estrada of the Broad Front party. After the bill passed, several media outlets reported that conservative lawmakers realized the bill's implications for same-sex unions and urged President Laura Chinchilla, who is set to face Villalta in the 2014 presidential election, to use her veto power to stop the bill from becoming law. Chinchilla, who has suggested the courts should determine the legality of same-sex unions in Costa Rica, refused and signed the bill into law on 4 July. A gay couple has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica asking that their union be recognized under the new law. Gay rights activists reacting to the law said it needs to survive a constitutional challenge in court. Some constitutional lawyers stated that same-sex couples will "still lack legal capacity" to formalize their unions, despite passage of the bill.


title: Civil union

text: The 2008 Constitution of Ecuador enacted civil unions between two people without regard to gender, giving same-sex couples the same rights as legally married heterosexual couples except for the right to adopt.


title: Civil union

text: In 2018, Minister of Justice Josef Moser announced that both marriage and registered partnership would be open to homosexuals and heterosexuals. This occurred because Helga Ratzenböck and Martin Seydl have been appealing for years in court for a registered civil partnership in Austria. At the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg they attempted to sue Austria for discrimination against their sexuality, because they were a heterosexual couple and were excluded from the benefits of registered partnership, but this failed.


title: Civil union

text: Civil unions were introduced in Denmark by law on 7 June 1989, the world's first such law, and came into effect on 1 October 1989. On 7 June 2012, the law was replaced by a new same-sex marriage law, which came into effect on 15 June 2012.


title: Civil union

text: Registered partnership was by civil ceremony only, but the Church of Denmark allowed priests to perform blessings of same-sex couples, as it stated that the church blesses people, not institutions. The new law makes same-sex marriages in churches possible, but allows vicars to decline marriages of same-sex couples in their church.


title: Civil union

text: On 17 March 2009, the Folketing introduced a bill that gave same-sex couples in registered partnerships the right to adopt jointly. This bill was approved on 4 May 2010 and took effect on 1 July 2010.


title: Civil union

text: The French law providing benefits to same-sex couples also applies to opposite-sex couples who choose this form of partnership over marriage. Known as the "Pacte civil de solidarité" (PACS), it is more easily dissolved than the divorce process applying to marriage. Tax benefits accrue immediately (only from 2007 on), while immigration benefits accrue only after the contract has been in effect for one year. The partners are required to have a common address, making it difficult for foreigners to use this law as a means to a residence permit, and difficult for French citizens to gain the right to live with a foreign partnerespecially since the contract does not automatically give immigration rights, as marriage does.


title: Civil union

text: Between 2000 and 2010, the number of marriages decreased while the number of PACS strongly increased. In 2010, there were 3 PACS for every 4 marriages celebrated in France. Especially amongst heterosexual couples PACS is very popular, with 96 out of 100 PACS couples being heterosexual in the year 2019.


title: Civil union

text: In 2017, registered civil partnership was replaced with marriage, with any couple regardless of sex allowed to marry.


title: Civil union

text: Greek parliament voted in favor of a Cohabitation Pact (Greek: Σύμφωνο Συμβίωσης) giving almost the same rights as marriage to couples regardless of their sex. The draft was approved in the relevant Greek parliament committee and during voting on 22 December 2015, the law was passed with 194 positive votes (out of 300).


title: Civil union

text: Iceland does not have a comprehensive legal act on civil unions (). Instead, various laws deal with civil unions and their meaning. When Iceland legalised same-sex marriages in 2010, the Act on Registered Partnerships (87/1996) was abolished. Registered partnerships () had been the principal legal unions for same-sex partners since the law was passed in 1996.


title: Civil union

text: In 2010, the lower house of the Irish Parliament Dáil Éireann passed the bill on Civil Partnerships unanimously. This bill allows civil partnerships of same-sex couples, and establishes an extensive package of rights, obligations and protections for same-sex couples who register as civil partners. The bill passed all stages of in both Houses of the Oireachtas, and came into effect on 1 January 2011. The first partnership between two men was registered on 7 February 2011.


title: Civil union

text: In 2001, the Netherlands passed a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, in addition to its 1998 "registered partnership" law (civil union) for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.


title: Civil union

text: In 2004, Senator Maria Szyszkowska proposed a bill which would legalize same-sex civil unions in Poland. The project was approved by the Senate but was never voted upon by the Sejm, as Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (then the Marshal of the Sejm) did not bring it for the deliberation.


title: Civil union

text: In 2008, when asked about same-sex civil unions, First Cabinet of Donald Tusk spokeswoman Agnieszka Liszka answered: "Council of Ministers did not and would not take care of that matter."


title: Civil union

text: On January 25, 2013, Sejm voted upon three separate bills regarding same-sex civil unions in Poland: by the centre-left Democratic Left Alliance, liberal Palikot's Movement and centre-right Civic Platform. The first bill had 283 against, 137 for, 30 abstaining. The second had 276 against, 150 for, 23 abstaining. The third had 228 against, 211 for, 10 abstaining. All three were rejected, mainly with the votes of centre-right, right-wing and conservative parties: Polish People's Party, Law and Justice and United Poland. A majority of deputies from the ruling centre-right Civic Platform also voted against the first two bills. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland, Polish Orthodox Church and Polish Muslims opposed all three bills.


title: Civil union

text: In March 2013, Prime Minister Donald Tusk officially stated that a new project of civil unions bill would be presented to the parliament "in two months time" (in May 2013), but no such initiatives took place.


title: Civil union

text: In a 2013 opinion poll conducted by CBOS, 68% of Poles were against gays and lesbians publicly showing their way of life, 65% of Poles were against same-sex civil unions, 72% were against same-sex marriage and 88% were against adoption by same-sex couples.


title: Civil union

text: In December 2014, the Sejm refused to deal with a civil partnership bill proposed by Your Movement, with 235 MPs voting against debating the bill, and 185 MPs voting for.


title: Civil union

text: In May 2015, the Sejm again refused to deal with the topic, with 215 MPs voting against and only 146 for. The Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz, said that civil partnerships are an issue for the next parliament to deal with.


title: Civil union

text: The Canton of Geneva has a law on the cantonal level, the Partenariat cantonal (the Cantonal Domestic Partnership), since 2001. It grants unmarried couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, many of the rights, responsibilities and protections that married couples have. However, it does not allow benefits in taxation, social security, or health insurance premiums (unlike the federal law). Geneva was the first Canton to recognise same-sex couples through this law.


title: Civil union

text: On September 22, 2002, voters in the Swiss canton of Zurich voted to extend a number of marriage rights to same-sex partners, including tax, inheritance, and social security benefits. The law is limited to same-sex couples, and both partners must have lived in the canton for six months and formally commit to running a household together and supporting and aiding each another.


title: Civil union

text: On November 12, 2003, the Constituent assembly of the Canton of Fribourg granted Registered Partnership as a constitutional right under the Article 14.


title: Civil union

text: On January 27, 2004, the Canton of Neuchâtel voted for a law on the cantonal level, the Partenariat enregistré (the Cantonal Registered Partnership). It grants unmarried couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, the same rights as married couple for cantonal matters such as responsibilities and protections, benefits in taxation, social security, or health insurance premiums.


title: Civil union

text: On June 5, 2005, voters extended this right to the whole of Switzerland through a federal referendum. This was the first time that the civil union laws were affirmed in a nationwide referendum in any country. The Federal Domestic Partnership Law, reserved for same-sex couples, came into force on January 1, 2007. It grants the same rights as marriage, but full joint adoption rights, facilitated naturalization and medically assisted procreation are explicitly forbidden for same-sex domestic partners.


title: Civil union

text: In 2017, the Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga addressed the issue that civil union is not open yet for heterosexual couples, in collaboration with experts at the University of Bern. In Geneva and Neuchâtel a type of civil union called cantonal PACS is available to opposite-sex and same-sex couples.


title: Civil union

text: On September 26, 2021, the people of Switzerland approved on national referendum the initiative "Marriage for all", which would grant marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. This initiative would be made effective on July 1, 2022.


title: Civil union

text: In 2003, the British government announced plans to introduce civil partnerships which would allow same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities resulting from marriage. The Civil Partnership Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 30 March 2004. After considering amendments made by the House of Commons, it was passed by the House of Lords, its final legislative hurdle, on 17 November 2004, and received royal assent on 18 November. The Act came into force on 5 December 2005, and same-sex, but not opposite-sex, couples were able to form the civil partnerships from 19 December 2005 in Northern Ireland, 20 December 2005 in Scotland and 21 December 2005 in England and Wales. Separate provisions were included in the first Finance Act 2005 to allow regulations to be made to amend tax laws to give the same tax advantages and disadvantages to couples in civil partnerships as apply to married couples. At that time, the Church of England, the state church in England, permitted clergy to enter into same-sex civil partnerships.


title: Civil union

text: Aside from the manner in which couples register and the non-use of the word "marriage", civil partnerships grant most of the same legal rights as marriage and generally operate under the same constrictions (one difference being that marriage requires dissolution by divorce while a civil union does not). It is not legal to be in both a civil partnership and a marriage at the same time. Nevertheless, some of those in favour of legal same-sex marriage object that civil partnerships do not grant full equality.


title: Civil union

text: Both same-sex marriages and civil unions of other nations will be automatically considered civil partnerships under UK law providing they came within Section 20 of the Act. This means, in some cases, non-Britons from nations with civil unions will have greater rights in the UK than in their native countries. For example, a Vermont civil union would have legal standing in the UK; however, in cases where one partner was American and the other British, the Vermont civil union would not provide the Briton with right of abode in Vermont (or any other US state or territory), whereas it would provide the American with right of abode in the UK.


title: Civil union

text: In September 2011, the succeeding coalition government announced its intention to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales by 2015 at the latest. The future status of civil partnerships is unclear. The Scottish Government, which has devolved responsibility for such legislation, held a consultation concerning both civil and religious same sex marriage in the autumn of 2011. Legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in July 2013 and came into force on 13 March 2014, and the first same-sex marriages took place on 29 March 2014. The first same-sex marriages in Scotland took place in December 2014.


title: Civil union

text: In June 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that restricting civil partnerships to same-sex couples was discriminatory. In response, the Prime Minister announced in October 2018 that civil partnerships would be opened to heterosexual couples.


title: Civil union

text: On 9 November 2006, Mexico City's unicameral Legislative Assembly passed and approved (43–17) a bill legalizing same-sex civil unions, under the name "Ley de Sociedades de Convivencia" (Law for Co-existence Partnerships), which became effective on 16 March 2007. The law gives property and inheritance rights to same-sex couples. On 11 January 2007, the northern state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, passed a similar bill (20–13), under the name "Pacto Civil de Solidaridad" (Civil Pact of Solidarity). Unlike Mexico City's law, once same-sex couples have registered in Coahuila, the state protects their rights no matter where they live in the country. Twenty days after the law had passed, the country's first same-sex civil union took place in Saltillo, Coahuila. Civil unions have been proposed in at least six states since 2006.


title: Civil union

text: In Colima, governor Mario Anguiano Moreno has agreed to discuss the legalization of civil unions and adoption by same-sex couples. In Jalisco, local congress approved on 31 October 2013 the Free Coexistence Act, which allows the performance of civil unions in the state.


title: Civil union

text: On 9 December 2004 the New Zealand Parliament passed the Civil Union Bill, establishing civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The debate over Civil Unions was highly divisive in New Zealand, inspiring great public emotion both for and against the passing. A companion bill, the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill was passed shortly thereafter to remove discriminatory provisions on the basis of relationship status from a range of statutes and regulations. As a result of these bills, all couples in New Zealand, whether married, in a civil union, or in a de facto partnership, now generally enjoy the same rights and undertake the same obligations. These rights extend to immigration, next-of-kin status, social welfare, matrimonial property and other areas.


title: Civil union

text: The Civil Union Act 2004 came into effect on 26 April 2005 with the first unions able to occur from Friday 29 April 2005.


title: Civil union

text: In South Africa, a "civil union" is either a marriage or a civil partnership, although confusingly the term "civil union" is commonly used when "civil partnership" is meant. Same-sex and opposite-sex couples may register their unions either as marriages or as civil partnerships. In laws where "marriage" is mentioned, its definition now retroactively includes civil partnerships.


title: Civil union

text: The first civil unions in the United States were offered by the state of Vermont in 2000. The federal government does not recognize these unions. By the end of 2006, Connecticut and New Jersey had also enacted civil union laws; New Hampshire followed in 2007. Furthermore, California's domestic partnership law had been expanded to the point that it became practically a civil union law as well. The same might be said for domestic partnership in the District of Columbia, domestic partnership in Washington, and domestic partnership in Oregon.


title: Civil union

text: Jurisdictions in the U.S. that offer civil unions or domestic partnerships granting nearly all of the state-recognized rights of marriage to same-sex couples include:


title: Civil union

text: States in the U.S. with domestic partnerships or similar status granting some of the rights of marriage include:


title: Civil union

text: Since October 2014, all states that provide for civil unions, domestic partnerships, or similar arrangements between same-sex partners also allow same-sex partners to legally wed.


title: Civil union

text: In 2013, Bisbee became the first city in Arizona to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples. After its passage, the state's Attorney General, Tom Horne, threatened to challenge the law in court, arguing that it violated the state's constitution. However, the Attorney General agreed to withdraw the challenge after Bisbee amended the law, and the civil union ordinance was approved.


title: Civil union

text: Following Bisbee, also in 2013, Tucson became the second municipality to legalize civil unions.Jerome followed in the same year. Also in 2013, Clarkdale and Cottonwood were the next cities in the Verde Valley to pass civil unions. A measure to allow civil unions failed in Camp Verde by a split 3–3 vote in the city council making it the only city in the Verde Valley to not have passed the bill.


title: Civil union

text: Sedona passed civil unions in September 2013. The city of Tempe considered legal advice about a civil union ordinance, but it did not pass a bill. After the legalization of same-sex marriage in Arizona, civil unions may continue to be registered in the cities that had legalized the ordinances.


title: Civil union

text: In California, where domestic partnership (DP) has been available to same-sex and certain opposite-sex couples since 2000, a wholesale revision of the law in 2005 made it substantially equivalent to marriage at the state level. In 2007, the Legislature took a further step when it required same-sex DP couples to file state income taxes jointly. (Couples must continue to file federal taxes as individuals.) In the May 2008 "In re Marriage Cases" decision, the state supreme court noted nine differences between Domestic Partnerships and same-sex marriage in state law, including a cohabitation requirement for domestic partners, access to CalPERS long-term care insurance (but not CalPERS in general), and the lack of an equivalent to California's "confidential marriage" institution. The cohabitation requirement was dropped on January 1, 2012, and a "confidential option" for domestic partners became available the same day.


title: Civil union

text: A bill to establish civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples passed both chambers of the Colorado legislature and was signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper. Civil unions began on May 1, 2013.


title: Civil union

text: In 2005, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a bill to adopt civil unions in Connecticut. Connecticut's civil unions were identical to marriage and provided all of the same rights and responsibilities except for the title. Connecticut was the first state in the U.S. to voluntarily pass a same-sex civil unions law through the legislature without any immediate court intervention. The law was repealed on October 1, 2010, and replaced with a law making marriage gender-neutral.


title: Civil union

text: Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed a civil union bill on May 12, 2011, that establishes civil unions in the state effective January 1, 2012. The law was repealed on July 1, 2014, and replaced with a law making marriage gender-neutral.


title: Civil union

text: Same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia was legalized on December 18, 2009. Marriage licenses became available on March 3, 2010, and marriages began on March 9, 2010. Domestic Partnerships in the District of Columbia (1992 law implemented, 2002 law came into effectexpanded over time to 2009)


title: Civil union

text: Hawaii legalized civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples on January 1, 2012. Same-sex marriage became legal on December 2, 2013.


title: Civil union

text: On December 1, 2010, the Illinois state senate passed SB1716the "Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act"in a 32–24–1 vote, just one day after the Illinois House of Representatives did the same in a 61–52–2 vote. On January 31, 2011, Illinois state Governor Pat Quinn signed SB1716 into law, establishing civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The new law came into effect on June 1, 2011. The provision allowing opposite-sex couples to establish a civil union effectively doubles as a tool for widowed seniors to keep survivor's benefits from a marriage while gaining marital rights at the state level with another partner.


title: Civil union

text: Maine legalized domestic partnership for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in 2004. Maine's domestic partnership registry only provides limited rights, most of which are geared toward protecting couples' security in emergency situations.


title: Civil union

text: On April 26, 2007, the New Hampshire General Court (state legislature) passed a civil union bill, and Governor John Lynch signed the bill into law on May 31, 2007. At the time, New Hampshire was "... the first state to embrace same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one". The New Hampshire civil union legislation became effective on January 1, 2008. The law was replaced by the same-sex marriage law on January 1, 2010.


title: Civil union

text: On October 25, 2006, the Supreme Court of New Jersey gave New Jersey lawmakers 180 days to rewrite the state's marriage laws, either including same-sex couples or creating a new system of civil unions for them. On December 14 the Legislature passed a bill establishing civil unions in New Jersey, which was signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine on December 21, 2006. The first civil unions took place on February 19, 2007.


title: Civil union

text: There are differences between civil unions and domestic partnerships. In 2004, the state of New Jersey enacted a domestic partnership law, offering certain limited rights and benefits to same-sex and different-sex couples. In 2006, however, after a state Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples must be extended all the rights and benefits of marriage, the Legislature passed a civil unions law, effective in 2007, which is an attempt to satisfy the court's ruling.


title: Civil union

text: On May 31, 2009, the Nevada legislature overrode Governor Jim Gibbons' veto of a domestic partnership bill. The bill allows registered domestic partners, whether they are a same-sex or opposite-sex couple, to have most of the state level rights and responsibilities afforded to married couples. It does not require any other entity to provide rights or benefits afforded to married individuals. This has left the partnership bill ineffective compared to those of other states. The law took effect on 1 October 2009.


title: Civil union

text: Since 4 February 2008, Oregon offers domestic partnerships which grant nearly all of the state-recognized rights of marriage to same-sex couples.


title: Civil union

text: The controversial civil unions law that was passed in the Vermont General Assembly in 2000 was a response to the Vermont Supreme Court ruling in "Baker v. Vermont", requiring that the state grant same-sex couples the same rights and privileges accorded to married couples under the law.


title: Civil union

text: A Vermont civil union is nearly identical to a legal marriage, as far as the rights and responsibilities for which state law, not federal law, is responsible are concerned. It grants partners next-of-kin rights and other protections that heterosexual married couples also receive. However, despite the "full faith and credit" clause of the United States Constitution, civil unions are generally not recognized outside Vermont in the absence of specific legislation. Opponents of the law have supported the Defense of Marriage Act and the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment in order to prevent obligatory recognition of same-sex couples in other jurisdictions. This means that many of the advantages of marriage, which fall in the federal jurisdiction (over 1,100 federal laws, such as joint federal income tax returns, visas and work permits for the foreign partner of a U.S. citizen, etc.), are not extended to the partners of a Vermont civil union.


title: Civil union

text: Regarding voluntary recognition of the civil union in other jurisdictions, New York City's Domestic Partnership Law, passed in 2002, recognizes civil unions formalized in other jurisdictions. Germany's international civil law (EGBGB) also accords to Vermont civil unions the same benefits and responsibilities that apply in Vermont, as long as they do not exceed the standard accorded by German law to a German civil union. The law was replaced by the same-sex marriage law on September 1, 2009.


title: Civil union

text: Washington offers domestic partnerships which grant nearly all of the state-recognized rights of marriage to same-sex couples. Washington is the first state to have passed a same-sex civil union bill by a popular vote.


title: Civil union

text: Washington legalized same-sex marriage early in 2012, which provided that a couple in a civil union would have two years to convert their civil union to a marriage. The law was upheld by popular referendum in November 2012.


title: Civil union

text: To date, only two countries, Spain and Portugal, have signed onto the Convention on the Recognition of Registered Partnerships, a draft multilateral agreement on the status of civil, unmarried partnerships. The document is inclusive of rights for both same and opposite sex partnerships.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: Stacy Douglas Peralta (born October 15, 1957) is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: Peralta was born in Venice, California, of Mexican and Irish descent. At age 15, he began competing with the Z-Boys, a group sponsored by the surf shop Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions along with Perry Caravello. His second sponsor was Gordon and Smith. Peralta graduated from Venice High School in 1975.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: At the age of 19, Peralta became the highest-ranked professional skateboarder. Soon after, he joined forces with manufacturer George Powell to form Powell Peralta, which would grow to be one of the most successful skateboard brands of the 1980s. With the financial backing of Powell-Peralta, Peralta formed the seminal Bones Brigade, a team composed of some of the best skaters at the time, many of whom revolutionized modern skateboarding.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: In 1984, Peralta also directed and produced the first-ever skate video, the Bones Brigade Video Show.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: Peralta is also credited in the 1985 movie "Real Genius", playing the commander of a fictional space vehicle delivering a deadly laser blast to an unsuspecting criminal during the film's opening scene.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: In 1992, Peralta left Powell-Peralta to direct and produce for television full-time. His love of skateboarding manifested itself in "Dogtown and Z-Boys", a documentary film co-written with CR Stecyk III, regarding the legendary skateboard team known as the Z-Boys. The film, produced by Agi Orsi, reinforces the conviction that in the 1970s, much of the attention of the skateboarding media centered on Dogtown. "Dogtown" won Director's and Audience Awards for documentary at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Peralta also directed "Riding Giants", a 2004 documentary of the history of modern big wave surfing and tow-in surfing. Following that, Peralta wrote the screenplay for the dramatic re-telling of the Dogtown days with "Lords of Dogtown" (2005). His 2008 documentary, "" (2008), focuses on gang violence in South-Central Los Angeles. This film provides insights into the origins of the infamous Crips and Bloods street gangs, and also offers a look at the social injustice in Los Angeles in the 1950s and '60s. In 2012, Peralta produced "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography", which chronicles the Powell-Peralta skateboarding team of the same name. It includes interviews with Rodney Mullen, Craig Stecyk, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, and Peralta himself, among others.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: In 2008, Peralta directed a series of television commercials for Burger King in which the Greenlandic Inuit, Transylvanians of Romania and Hmong of Thailand, known as "Whopper virgins" in the ads, were offered their first taste of a fast food hamburger and asked to compare Burger King's Whopper to McDonald's Big Mac. Peralta subsequently came under attack for what some deemed exploitation of native peoples.


title: Stacy Peralta

text: Peralta's experience as an entrepreneur and skate video filmmaker was adapted for the video game "Tony Hawk's Underground". In 2003, Peralta also did cameo work for the game in which he played himself.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy is a fast-food chain that was founded in the United States. It found its success internationally, mainly in the United Kingdom and South Africa. It has changed between being a table-service establishment and counter-service establishment throughout its history.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: The chain was founded in Bloomington, Indiana, by Edward Gold in 1934 as Wimpy Grills, with the chain in the United States hitting its peak with 26 locations in 1947. In 1954, Gold signed a license with J. Lyons and Co. for them to operate Wimpy Bar across the United Kingdom, with further international agreements a few years later through its subsidiary company, Wimpy International. By 1977, there were only seven Wimpy locations in the United States, which all folded following Gold's passing in that year. Despite the brand's demise domestically, the chain would peak at 1,500 international locations the following year.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: The company was sold to United Biscuits in 1977, and then to Grand Metropolitan in 1989. Grand Metropolitan began to phase out the Wimpy Bar in the United Kingdom, rebranding many of them as Burger King (which it also owned) because Burger King had the greater brand recognition amongst consumers, and to aid market competition against McDonald's. Following various buyouts, Wimpy was sold to Famous Brands in 2007. Famous Brands had operated the South African Wimpy franchise for a number of years, and the acquisition made it the parent company.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: As of October 2021, the company remains headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, where it has 459 outlets, this is followed by the United Kingdom with 71 outlets. In 2017 and 2020, the company announced plans for nationwide expansion in the United Kingdom.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: The Wimpy brand was established in 1934 by Edward Gold, when he opened his first location in Bloomington, Indiana, under the name "Wimpy Grills". The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons created by E. C. Segar. Gold did not open his first Chicago area location until two years later in 1936, after opening units in five other Midwestern cities. By 1947, the "Chicago Tribune" reported that the chain had 26 units, and expected to sell eight million hamburgers annually in the Chicago area.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: According to a 1978 "Chicago Tribune" article, Gold's company Wimpy Grills Inc. of Chicago, had 25 locations in the United States at its peak, but only seven locations remained at the time of his death in 1977. The chain vanished within the United States after Gold's death because no one had purchased the rights and trademark to the Wimpy name from Gold's estate.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In 1954, Gold sold a licence to J. Lyons and Co. to use the Wimpy name in the United Kingdom. Wimpy Grills Inc. of Chicago later formed a joint company with Lyons called Wimpy's International Inc. in 1957. Wimpy's International was based in Chicago and allowed the brand to operate Wimpy Grills in the rest of the world.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: The joint company eventually grew to 1,500 locations, with Gold later selling his share to Lyons prior to his death. After obtaining full control of the international licensing outside of the United States, Lyons and its successors handled global franchising through their United Kingdom-based subsidiary "Wimpy International Ltd". This arrangement ceased when Wimpy UK became a subsidiary of the South Africa-based Famous Brands in 2007. The South African company started to handle worldwide franchising duties directly from Johannesburg.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Lyons obtained a licence to use the Wimpy brand in the United Kingdom from Edward Gold's Chicago based Wimpy Grills Inc. and, in 1954, the first "Wimpy Bar" was established at the Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street, London. The bar began as a special fast food section within traditional Corner House restaurants, but the success soon led to the establishment of separate Wimpy restaurants serving only hamburger-based meals.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In a 1955 newspaper column, Art Buchwald, syndicated writer for the "Washington Post", wrote about the recent opening of a "Wimpy's Hamburger Parlor" on Coventry Street and about the influence of American culture on the British.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Buchwald wrote, "Food served at the table within ten minutes of ordering and with atomic age efficiency. No cutlery needed or given. Drinks served in a bottle with a straw. Condiments in pre-packaged single serving packets." In addition to familiar Wimpy burgers and milkshakes, the British franchise had served ham or sardine rolls called torpedoes and a cold frankfurter with pickled cucumber sandwiches called Freddies.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: During the 1970s Wimpy refused entry to women on their own after midnight. This may be because of an assumption they might be prostitutes.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In July 1977, the business was acquired by United Biscuits. In 1978 the long-running Mr Wimpy advertising character was introduced. starting in Brighton. The fast food chain coined its name from J. Wellington Wimpy in the Popeye cartoon strip, so used Mr Wimpy, an exaggerated beefeater figure, to advertise and promote their product, including employing people to wear Mr Wimpy suits outside the restaurants. By the end of the 1980s, Wimpy was beginning to lose ground to McDonald's, which had opened its first restaurant in the country in 1974, and so the new management of Wimpy began to streamline the business, by converting some of the traditional table service restaurants to counter service. When United Biscuits decided to divest its restaurant division in 1989, it sold the business to Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo). At the time of the sale, there were 381 locations in the United Kingdom. Grand Metropolitan had acquired Burger King the previous year, and it began to convert the counter service restaurants to Burger King since it had a greater global brand recognition.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In February 1990, the remaining 216 table service restaurants were purchased by a management buyout, backed by 3i. These were locations that were considered less desirable by Grand Metropolitan. At the time of the buyout, there were also 140 franchised locations outside of the United Kingdom. In October 1999, Wimpy rolled out a chain of restaurants known as "Dr. Beaks", to take on brands such as KFC.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: A second management buyout occurred in May 2002, backed by the Bank of Scotland. At the time of the sale in 2002, there were approximately 300 locations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Although Wimpy outlets have decreased in numbers in the United Kingdom, they are still found in many towns and cities, including Huddersfield, and at seafront/seasonal locations, such as Felixstowe, Clacton-on-Sea, Clarence Pier in Southsea and Brean Leisure Park in Somerset. By the beginning of the 21st century, most Wimpys were found in less desirable low-rent locations that primarily cater to pensioners and others on a fixed income, rather than the high street locations of former times. Another big change from earlier times was that most locations were now franchises and not company-owned operations.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: On 27 February 2007, Famous Brands, which owns the Wimpy franchise in South Africa, announced that it had acquired Wimpy UK. Having acquired the brand, Famous Brands has rebranded Wimpy in the United Kingdom, to bring it in line with Wimpy South Africa. The "new" logo is the one that had been used by Wimpy UK from the 1960s until the 1980s. In November 2009, Famous Brands began to upgrade its 170 locations in the United Kingdom to resemble United States-style diners. As of July 2022, 67 restaurants remain in the United Kingdom.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: On 26 October 1981, Kenneth Howorth, an explosives officer with London's Metropolitan Police, was killed whilst attempting to defuse a bomb planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the basement of "Wimpy's" in Oxford Street.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy International opened its first South African location in Durban in 1967. The South African restaurants were sold to Bakers SA Ltd in the late 1970s, which in 1987 sold the South African chain to Pleasure Foods, then known as Juicy Lucy SA. Famous Brands Limited, then known as the Steers Holdings Limited, acquired Wimpy when it bought Pleasure Foods in 2003.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Famous Brands acquired the United Kingdom-based Wimpy in February 2007, thus becoming the parent company for the chain and beginning to collect the franchise fees from the other franchises.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: By 2011, Famous Brands had 509 Wimpy restaurants in South Africa, making it the largest franchise in the Wimpy franchise system.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Since 1970, the Americana Group has operated a single Wimpy restaurant within the Arab League nation of Kuwait.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: During the late 1970s and 1980s there was a Wimpy restaurant in the Zamalek area of Cairo, but this subsequently closed. In 2021 the opening of a new Wimpy in Cairo was announced, and it opened on 30 June.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In May 1961, French businessman Jacques Borel opened his first Wimpy restaurant in Paris after obtaining an exclusive franchise to operate Wimpy restaurants in France. His restaurant was the first hamburger restaurant in France and predated the opening of the first McDonald's restaurant by a decade.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: By the end of that year, he was able to open three more locations within Paris. By 1966, he began to expand outside the capital, starting with Lille. Within a short time, Borel had 20 locations; 15 in Paris and five in the rest of the country. Borel's company was so successful that the French newspaper "France-Soir" called the French franchise "public enemy number 1" for introducing American hamburger cuisine and fast food to French public at large. Although successful, Borel was forced to close the chain in 1969, owing to a disagreement he had with Lyons, the British parent company.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy has been in Ireland on two occasions, in the 1960s and 1970s, and in the early 2000s. In the 2000s, petrol station chain operator Petrogas took on the master franchise for Ireland, and operated a large number of sites until 2010.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Most have been replaced by Grill'n'Fill own-branded areas – selling virtually identical products – or Burger King, for which Petrogas had obtained the franchise. Petrogas terminated its master franchise agreement with Wimpy International in 2010.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In 1963, the Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn obtained a license from Chicago-based Wimpy International to open the first Wimpy restaurant in the Netherlands on Leidsestraat in Amsterdam. A second restaurant opened the following year on Damrak. Although there are no verifiable records showing when the last Wimpy closed in the Netherlands, it appears that Wimpy may have left the Netherlands by 1969 since Albert Heijn ceased to mention Wimpy in their corporate annual reports after 1969. In 1971, Albert Heijn later helped McDonald's to open its first restaurant in Europe by opening a McDonald's franchise in Zaandam.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Restaurateur Heinrich Lobenberg opened the first Wimpy restaurant in West Germany under a franchise license from Wimpy International at the Bochum Hauptbahnhof in December 1964, exactly seven years before the first McDonald's in West Germany, with plans to open up to 300 units in West Germany. Lobenberg had cofounded the then five-unit Kochlöffel chain just three years before in Lingen. There are no verifiable records that Lobenberg opened a second Wimpy unit or how long the Bochum restaurant operated before it closed. A food historian writing in 2014 believes that Wimpy's failure to survive in Cold War era West Germany was caused by West German consumers of the 1960s preferring to eat familiar German-style chicken meals at the local Wienerwald chain instead of getting an unfamiliar American-style hamburger sandwich at Wimpy. At that time, Wimpy "was regarded with mere curiosity".


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: The Wimpy licence in Australia was held by Happysnaks Pty Ltd and was owned by restaurateur and entrepreneur Oliver Shaul. The first Wimpy bar opened in Sydney in November 1964, owned and operated directly by Happysnaks. Subsequent Wimpy bars operated as franchises.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: By 1971, there were 70 Wimpy bars around Australia, the most successful being in Hindley Street, Adelaide. Unable to compete with McDonald's, the Wimpy brand was withdrawn in 1975 and most Wimpy bars became independent fast food outlets.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy had branches in New Zealand, including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Paraparaumu, Wanganui, Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Taupo. These were all rebranded in 2002. One store remained in Rotorua trading as Wimpy, although it was not part of the franchise chain. The last Wimpy in New Zealand was put up for sale in May 2008.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy was one of the first fast food restaurant chains to open in India's free market economy. With a run of initial success, Wimpy was often touted as the first icon of 'Westernization' in India. A few of the restaurants which were still in business were located in Punjab until 2002.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Wimpy entered the Israeli market in the 1960s, and for a time dominated the hamburger restaurant market. The Israeli subsidiary also operated branches in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Iran, as well as Sharm el Sheikh within the then-Israeli occupied Sinai. Before its final failure and pullout in the 1980s, Wimpy was joined in an emerging market for hamburger restaurants by Burgeranch (since 1972) and MacDavid (since 1978). Wimpy restaurants were infamous in Israel for poor product flavor, sanitation and hygiene; however, the chain did pioneer hamburger restaurants in Israel.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: In Colombia, Wimpy was established in 1976, being one of the first international fast food chains operating in the country. The first Wimpy restaurant in the country began operations with the inauguration of Unicentro, the first mall-type shopping centre in Bogotá, in April 1976.


title: Wimpy (restaurant)

text: Competition from other chains was difficult, and the assets of Wimpy Colombiana Ltd were sold to competitor Presto (Frayco) in 2008, thus ending the presence of the chain in the country.


title: Phil X

text: Theofilos Xenidis (born March 10, 1966), better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016.


title: Phil X

text: In 1982, Xenidis formed the hard rock-heavy metal band Sidinex (naming it after himself, the moniker being his last name spelled backwards) with singer Todd Farhood, bassist Kevin Gingrinch and drummer Scott Masterson. The band released only one EP in 1985, "Forever Young", before changing name to Flip City in 1987 and disbanding soon after. An opportunity in Xenidis' career came when he was asked in 1990 to tour with Randy Coven, whom he met through Aldo Nova; in 1991, he toured the US with Aldo Nova. From 1992 to 1993 he played with Triumph, recording "Edge of Excess" and touring with them.


title: Phil X

text: In 1994, Xenidis collaborated with Terry Brown, Doug Varty, Rob Kennedy and others to form a short lived band, The Bushdoctors, in Mississauga, Ontario. They recorded one album, a self-titled debut, now out of print. Also in 1994 he played a guitar solo for Our Lady Peace's song “Denied” from the album "Naveed". Phil X was guitarist for US power pop band Powder alongside vocalist and then-wife Ninette Terhart. The band released three albums between 2002 and 2008.


title: Phil X

text: In 2011, Phil X substituted for Bon Jovi's lead guitarist Richie Sambora, who missed 13 dates after entering rehab, and later filled in for Sambora on the US and Europe leg of the 2013 tour after Sambora left the band suddenly due to personal reasons. It was a mutual friend between Phil X and Jon Bon Jovi, Arman Ghasemi, who recommended to Jon Bon Jovi to use Phil X as a substitute.


title: Phil X

text: In mid-2013 he filled in for Sambora during a number of dates of the Because We Can tour, including their only Italian date in Milan, the entire British leg of the tour including the Isle of Wight Festival, Hyde Park BST dates, the South African leg, the South American leg, and the Australian leg. In 2016, Phil X became an official member in the band along with bass guitarist Hugh McDonald and also features as guitarist for the band on their single "This House Is Not for Sale" on the album of the same name as well as their latest studio effort "". In 2019, Phil X was inducted into the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame, which recognizes notable people with musical talent that have their roots in the Ontario city.


title: Phil X

text: Phil X was born to Greek-Canadian parents and grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, raised in the Erindale subdivision. Phil was previously married to Ninette Terhart. In 2013, Phil married Lindy Green and has two children with her.


title: Phil X

text: Phil X has used many guitars during his session and live work. He prefers bridge pickups and often removes the neck pickup from his personal guitars for added vibration, clarity and harmonics. For humorous effect, he will usually place an action figure and fan grille in the pickup cavity. He also favors P-90 pickups due to their tonal flexibility; their tone can be cleaned up on an overdriven amp by simply lowering the volume on the guitar.


title: Phil X

text: His most notable guitar is his ESP LTD Viper, which he refers to as the "sticker guitar". This guitar originally had a Seymour Duncan JB pickup and later a Gibson P-94, but it has since been replaced with an Arcane PX-100.


title: Phil X

text: In 2012, Phil X received a signature guitar from Yamaha, in 2015 followed the release of a signature XG model made by Framus. Phil invented the "Flip Stick", a specially modified replacement for the usual whammy bar on Floyd-Rose-equipped guitars. He is endorsed by Cleartone Treated Guitar Strings and Everly Star Picks as well.


title: Phil X

text: His demonstrations of rare and vintage guitars have had over 30 million views on the frettedamericana YouTube channel.


title: Phil X

text: Phil X has four custom pickups which he designed in conjunction with pickup manufacturer Arcane, Inc. They are available for sale on his official website:


title: Phil X

text: Phil X is a prolific session guitarist, having played on albums by Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Orianthi, Rob Zombie, Chris Daughtry, Alice Cooper, Thousand Foot Krutch and many others. He wrote the song "Tired" and also played guitar on Tommy Lee's "" album. He has appeared with Tommy Lee and Bon Jovi on Ellen and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Phil X was featured in the "making of" bonus features for the movie "Josie and the Pussycats". He acted as a music coach for the film and taught the young actresses to appear as if they were actually playing their instruments. The following is a list of Phil X's discography as a band member, apart from his session work.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the beginning has had a focus on fundamental research in science, engineering and humanities.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: During the Soviet period, it was known as Leningrad State University (). It was renamed after Andrei Zhdanov in 1948 and was officially called "Leningrad State University, named after A. A. Zhdanov and decorated with the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour." Zhdanov's was removed in 1989 and Leningrad in the name was officially replaced with Saint Petersburg in 1992.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: It is made up of 24 specialized faculties (departments) and institutes, the Academic Gymnasium, the Medical College, the College of Physical Culture and Sports, Economics and Technology. The university has two primary campuses: one on Vasilievsky Island and the other one in Peterhof.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In international rankings, the university was ranked 35th by "The Three University Missions Ranking" in 2022, 242th by the "QS World University Rankings" in 2022, 607th by "U.S. News & World Report" in 2021, 601-800th by the "Times Higher Education World University Rankings", and 301–400th by the "Academic Ranking of World Universities" in 2021.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: It is disputed by the university administration whether Saint Petersburg State University or Moscow State University is the oldest higher education institution in Russia. While the latter was established in 1755, the former, which has been in continuous operation since 1819, claims to be the successor of the university established along with the Academic Gymnasium and the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences on 24 January 1724, by a decree of Peter the Great.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Between 1804 and 1819, Saint Petersburg University officially did not exist; the institution founded by Peter the Great, the Saint Petersburg Academy, had been disbanded, because the new 1803 charter of the Academy of Sciences stipulated that there should not be any educational institutions affiliated with it.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The Petersburg Pedagogical Institute, renamed the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1814, was established in 1804 and occupied a part of the Twelve Collegia building. On 8 February 1819 (O.S.), Alexander I of Russia reorganized the Main Pedagogical Institute into Saint Petersburg University, which at that time consisted of three faculties: Faculty of Philosophy and Law, Faculty of History and Philology and Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. The Main Pedagogical Institute (where Dmitri Mendeleev studied) was restored in 1828 as an educational institution independent of Saint Petersburg University, and trained teachers until it was finally closed in 1859.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1821, the university was renamed Saint Petersburg Imperial University. In 1823, most of the university moved from the Twelve Collegia to the southern part of the city. In 1824, a modified version of the charter of Moscow University was adopted as the first charter of the Saint Petersburg Imperial University. In 1829, there were 19 full professors and 169 full-time and part-time students at the university. In 1830, Tsar Nicholas returned the entire building of the Twelve Collegia to the university, and courses resumed there.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1835, a new Charter of the Imperial Universities of Russia was approved. It provided for the establishment of the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of History and Philology, and the Faculties of Physics and Mathematics, which were merged into the Faculty of Philosophy as the 1st and 2nd Departments, respectively.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1849, after the Spring of Nations, the Senate of the Russian Empire decreed the Rector should be appointed by the Minister of National Enlightenment rather than elected by the Assembly of the university. However, Pyotr Pletnyov was reappointed Rector and ultimately became the longest-serving rector of Saint Petersburg University (1840–61).


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1855, Oriental studies were separated from the Faculty of History and Philology, and the fourth faculty, Faculty of Oriental Languages, was formally inaugurated on 27 August 1855.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1859–61, female part-time students could attend lectures in the university. In 1861, there were 1,270 full-time and 167 part-time students in the university, of them 498 were in the Faculty of Law, the largest subdivision. But this subdivision had the cameral studies department, where students learnt safety, occupational health and environmental engineering management and science, including chemistry, biology, agronomy along with law and philosophy. Many Russian, Georgian etc. managers, engineers and scientists studied at the Faculty of law therefore. During 1861–62, there was student unrest in the university, and it was temporarily closed twice during the year. The students were denied freedom of assembly and placed under police surveillance, and public lectures were forbidden. Many students were expelled. After the unrest, in 1865 only 524 students remained.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: A decree of the Emperor Alexander II of Russia adopted on 18 February 1863, restored the right of the university assembly to elect the rector. It also formed the new faculty of the theory and history of art as part of the faculty of history and philology.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In March 1869, student unrest shook the university again, but on a smaller scale. By 1869, 2,588 students had graduated from the university.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1880, the Ministry of National Enlightenment forbade students to marry and married persons could not be admitted. In 1882, another student unrest took place in the university. In 1884, a new Charter of the Imperial Russian Universities was adopted, which granted the right to appoint the rector to the Minister of National Enlightenment again. On 1 March 1887 (O.S.), a group of the university students was arrested while planning an attempt on the life of Alexander III of Russia. As a result, new admission rules to gymnasiums and universities were approved by the Minister of National Enlightenment Ivan Delyanov in 1887, which barred persons of non-noble origin from admission to the university, unless they were extraordinarily talented.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: By 1894, 9,212 students had graduated from the university. Among the scholars of the second half of the 19th century, affiliated with the university were mathematician Pafnuty Chebyshev, physicist Heinrich Lenz, chemists Dmitri Mendeleev and Aleksandr Butlerov, embryologist Alexander Kovalevsky, physiologist Ivan Sechenov and pedologist Vasily Dokuchaev. On 24 March 1896 (O.S.), on the campus of the university, Alexander Popov publicly demonstrated transmission of radio waves for the first time in history.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: As of 1 January 1900 (O.S.), there were 2,099 students enrolled in the Faculty of Law, 1,149 students in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, 212 students in the Faculty of Oriental Languages and 171 students in the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1902, the first student dining hall in Russia was opened in the university.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Since about 1897, regular strikes and student unrest shook the university and spread to other institutions of higher education across Russia. During the Revolution of 1905, the charter of the Russian universities was amended once more; the autonomy of the universities was partially restored and the right to elect the rector was returned to the academic board for the first time since 1884. In 1905–06, the university was temporarily closed due to student unrest. Its autonomy was revoked again in 1911. In the same year, the university was once again temporarily closed.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1914, with the start of the First World War, the university was renamed Petrograd Imperial University after its namesake city. During the War, the university was the center of mobilization of Russian intellectual resources and scholarship for the victory. In 1915, a branch of the university was opened in Perm, which later became Perm State University.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The Assembly of Petrograd Imperial University openly welcomed the February Revolution of 1917, which put an end to the Russian monarchy, and the university came to be known as Petrograd University. However, after the October Revolution of 1917, the university's staff and administration were initially vocally opposed to the Bolshevik takeover of power and reluctant to cooperate with the Narkompros. Later in 1917–22, during the Russian Civil War, some of the staff suspected of counter-revolutionary sympathies suffered imprisonment ("e.g.", Lev Shcherba in 1919), execution, or exile abroad on the so-called Philosophers' ships in 1922 ("e.g.", Nikolai Lossky). Furthermore, the entire staff suffered from hunger and extreme poverty during those years.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1918, the university was renamed 1st Petrograd State University, and in 1919 the Narkompros merged it with the 2nd PSU (former Psychoneurological Institute) and 3rd PSU (former Bestuzhev Higher Courses for Women) into Petrograd State University. In 1919, the Faculty of Social Science was established by the Narkompros instead of the Faculty of History and Philology, Faculty of Oriental Languages and Faculty of Law. Nicholas Marr became the first Dean of the new faculty. Chemist Alexey Favorsky became the Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Rabfaks and free university courses were opened on the basis of the university to provide mass education.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In the fall of 1920, as observed by freshman student Alice Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand), enrollment was open and the majority of the students were anti-communist including, until removed, a few vocal opponents of the regime. Seeing they were educating "class enemies", a purge was conducted in 1922 based on the class background of the students, and all students, other than seniors, with a bourgeois background were expelled.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1924, the university was renamed Leningrad State University after its namesake city. In order to suppress intellectual opposition to Soviet power, a number of historians working in the university, including Sergey Platonov, Yevgeny Tarle, and Boris Grekov, were imprisoned in the so-called Academic Affair of 1929–30 on fabricated charges of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the government. Some other members of the staff were repressed in 1937–38 during the Great Purge.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: During the 1941–44 Siege of Leningrad in World War II, many students and staff died from starvation, in battles, or from repressions. The university evacuated to Saratov in 1942–44. A branch of the university was in Yelabuga during the war. In 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union awarded the university the Order of Lenin. In 1948, the Soviet Council of Ministers named the university after Andrei Zhdanov, a deceased Communist official. This decision was revoked in 1989 during Perestroika.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1949–50, several professors died in prison during the investigation of the Leningrad Affair fabricated by the central Soviet leadership, and the Minister of Education of the RSFSR, former rector Alexander Voznesensky, was executed.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In 1966, the Council of Ministers decided to build a suburban campus in Petrodvorets for most of the mathematics and natural science faculties. The relocation of the faculties was completed by the 1990s. In 1969, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union awarded the university the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. In 1991, the university was renamed back to Saint Petersburg State University after its namesake city. The university educated Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Dimitry Medvedev, both of whom studied law at the university.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In early 2022, the university expelled 13 students who had protested against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: In response to the Russian invasion, in March 2022 the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and University of Bremen suspended their longstanding relationships with the university, Dartmouth College stopped running its Russian language study abroad program in the university, and CEMS - The Global Alliance in Management Education suspended its partnership with the Graduate School of Management in St Petersburg. In addition, the European Coimbra Group expelled the university, and the European University Association suspended the school. The Council on International Educational Exchange stopped its programs at the university, and relocated students to other non-Russian universities.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The university is a federal state institution of higher education managed by the government of the Russian Federation. It has 24 faculties and institutes which are further subdivided into departments, and other main structural subdivisions.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The superior body of self-government of the university is its Assembly, which elects the rector and the Academic Board of the university for a five-year term. The Assembly consists of the members of the Academic Board of the university and the staff delegated by the general assemblies of the main structural subdivisions according to quotas set by the Academic Board of the university. The general administration of the university is vested in the Academic Board, which consists of the rector, who presides over it, as well as the president of the university, vice rectors and representatives of the main structural subdivisions.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Likewise, the general administration of a faculty is vested in its respective academic board elected by the faculty assembly for five years. The procedure of election and department quotas are decided by the faculty-level academic board itself. The dean, who leads the faculty and presides over its academic board, is elected for five years by the faculty academic board.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The academic year in St. Petersburg State University according to the Routine Regulations normally starts on 1 September. One lesson normally lasts an hour and a half (two academic hours). The academic year is divided into two semesters. The first semester (term) ends by late December, the second starts in mid-February and lasts until late May. Each term is followed by a series of preliminary tests (in the last week of December/May) and exams (in January/June).


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The university has two main campuses: on Vasilievsky Island in the historic city center and in Peterhof (formerly Petrodvorets), a southwestern suburb, which can be reached by railway from the city's Baltiysky Rail Terminal. The main building of the university, Twelve Collegia, is on Vasilievsky Island and includes the Library, the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Earth Sciences. The Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Oriental Studies share the nearby 18th-century Petrine Baroque building on Universitetskaya Embankment of the Bolshaya Neva, designed by Domenico Trezzini and originally built as the Palace of Peter II of Russia. The New Gostiny Dvor designed by Giacomo Quarenghi and built in the 19th century in that part of the island is occupied by the Institute of History, Institute of Philosophy. The Faculty of Psychology is in front of it on Admiral Makarov Embankment of the Malaya Neva. The Graduate School of Management, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Medical Technologies, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Military Studies are on Vasilievsky Island, but farther to the west. Four other social science faculties are east of the city center on the southern bank of the Neva: the Faculty of Economics is not far from the Chernyshevskaya metro station, while the Faculty of Sociology, Faculty of Political Science and the School of International Relations occupy historical buildings of Smolny Convent.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The new suburban campus consists of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, and Faculty of Physics, which are in modern buildings in Peterhof. Nearby the Peterhof campus there is a park area called Sergievka. In the Sergievka park there are buildings of the Faculty of Biology.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Russian revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, was an alumnus. Russian Prime Ministers Pyotr Stolypin and Dimitry Medvedev, the incumbent president and former prime minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, and the past president of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė are alumni.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Eight graduates of the university are Nobel Prize recipients: Ivan Pavlov (Physiology and Medicine, 1904), Ilya Mechnikov (Physiology and Medicine, 1908), Nikolay Semyonov (Chemistry, 1956), Lev Landau (Physics, 1962), Aleksandr Prokhorov (Physics, 1964), Wassily Leontief (Economics, 1973), Leonid Kantorovich (Economics, 1975), and Joseph Brodsky (Literature, 1987). Graduates Grigori Perelman and Stanislav Smirnov were awarded the Fields Medal.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Among the scholars affiliated with St-Petersburg State University have been Leonard Euler, Mikhail Lomonosov, chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, and mathematicians Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Abram Besicovitch, Lev M. Bregman, Pafnuty Chebyshev, Yakov Eliashberg, Leonid Frankfurt, Israel Gohberg, Yuri Linnik, Aleksandr Lyapunov, Andrey Markov, Solomon Mikhlin, Vladimir Rokhlin, Vladimir Smirnov,Sergei Sobolev, Vladimir Steklov, Victor Zalgaller, and Aleksandr Aleksandrov. In addition, physicists Boris Rosing, Vladimir Fock, Leonid Frankfurt, Lev Pavlovich Rapoport, Elena Besley, astrophysicist Viktor Ambartsumian, botanists Vladimir Komarov and Vladimir Sukachev, physiologists Ivan Sechenov, Kliment Timiryazev, philosopher and sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, historians Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, Yevgeny Tarle, Gregory Areshian, and Boris Grekov, philologists Ivan Turgenev, Ilia Chavchavadze, Alexander Blok, Lev Shcherba, Vladimir Propp, Viktor Zhirmunsky, orientalists Vasily Struve, Joseph Orbeli, Boris Piotrovsky, artists Nicholas Roerich, and Zare Yusupova. Composer Igor Stravinsky attended the university from 1901 to 1905.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: The American novelist Ayn Rand attended the university from 1920 to 1924, graduating with honors in history. Ukrainian nationalist and publicist Dmytro Dontsov studied law at the university for some time after 1900.


title: Saint Petersburg State University

text: Alexander Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion, Gennadiy Shatkov was an Olympic champion in boxing, and Eduard Vinokurov was an Olympic and world champion sabre fencer. Joseph Shor, a student of the School of Mathematics and Mechanics, is known as the main protege of Ostap Bender. Igor Artimovich is known for creating Festi. Yakov Rekhter is known for creating BGP. Pavel Durov graduated the department of philology while his brother Nikolai Durov received his PhD from the department of mathematics. Kyrgyz sociologist Rakhat Achylova received her DPhil in 1988.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Winter's Tale (released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as A New York Winter's Tale) is a 2014 American romantic fantasy film based on the 1983 novel "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin. The film is written, produced and directed by Akiva Goldsman (in his directorial debut). It stars Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint (in her final film role before her retirement), Russell Crowe and Will Smith. "Winter's Tale" premiered at London on February 13 and was theatrically released on February 14 in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film has a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $30.8 million on a $75 million budget. It also received a Golden Trailer nomination for Best Romance Poster. "Winter's Tale" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2014 by Warner Home Video.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: In 1895, a young immigrant couple is refused entry into Manhattan because they have consumption (Tuberculosis). When their infant son is not allowed entry to the country without them, the family is forced to return to their ship named City of Justice. The parents break the display case containing a model of the ship and place their baby inside it on the water, then watch him float to the New York City shoreline. In 1916, the baby boy has grown up to become Peter Lake (Colin Farrell), a thief raised by a supernatural demon posing as the gangster Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe). Peter is marked for death when he decides to leave Pearly's gang. In a confrontation, he is rescued by a mysterious (winged at times) white horse, his guardian angel.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Although Peter hopes to move to Florida and come back in the summer, the horse encourages him to steal from one last mansion. The mansion is the home where Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay) lives, a young woman dying of consumption, whose fever is so high she sleeps outside in a tent in the winter cold. While her publisher father Isaac (William Hurt) and younger sister Willa are not home, Beverly discovers Peter preparing to rob the house. When Peter assures her that he no longer wishes to commit robbery, Beverly offers to make him a cup of tea. They tell each other their stories and fall in love. Pearly orders his men to Beverly's home, believing that saving her is Peter's "miracle" and spiritual destiny and that he can destroy Peter by preventing it. Peter rescues Beverly from being knifed by Pearly, and they escape to the Lake of the Coheeries, where Pearly, who is supernaturally limited to the five boroughs of New York City, cannot follow. Peter meets Beverly's family at their summer home and wins their respect.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: While on a walk, Beverly explains to Peter that everyone is born with a miracle inside and they are ultimately destined to become stars when they die. Pearly asks Lucifer (Will Smith), for access to the lake home, but his request is denied. Instead, Pearly, who refers to himself as a Knight among Lucifer's angels, calls in a debt owed to him by another of Lucifer's angels. At a ball, the angel disguised as a waiter poisons Beverly's drink. When Peter and Beverly return home from the ball, Peter watches the shadows she casts upon the sides of her lighted tent, joins her, and the two make love. Her pulse races faster than ever due to the poison in her heart, and she dies. After the funeral, when Peter and his mysterious white horse return to the city, Pearly and his men surround them on the Brooklyn Bridge. To save its life, Peter orders his mysterious winged horse to fly away, and Pearly gives Peter five vicious head-butts, pushing him off the bridge.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Peter miraculously survives but wanders around the city with amnesia for a century, drawing chalk art of a red-headed girl on the pavements. In 2014, the 119 year-old, but physically undiminished Peter, bumps into a young girl named Abby and meets her mother, Virginia Gamely (Jennifer Connelly). He rediscovers the brass name plate of the "City of Justice", the model ship in which his parents placed him. Peter then discovers the Theatre of the Coheeries, founded by Isaac, who has dedicated it to Beverly. He visits the Isaac Penn Reading Room where Virginia works, and she helps him restore his memory using historical photographs archived at the library. While there, he meets Beverly's now elderly sister Willa (Eva Marie Saint), the owner of Virginia's newspaper, who recognizes him.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: When Peter visits the Gamelys for dinner, he learns that Abby has cancer. Realizing that Abby, who is wearing a red scarf (like his sketches) and has red hair, is his "miracle" and spiritual destiny, instead of Beverly as he originally believed, Peter convinces Virginia that he can save Abby. Pearly learns that Peter is still alive and with Virginia, and he is surprised to learn from Lucifer that Peter was Beverly's miracle, making him love her so much that he couldn't die. Enraged, Pearly asks to fight Peter as a mortal so he can destroy him forever, and Lucifer grants his request while reminding him that if he loses then he himself will be destroyed forever. Pearly and his men arrive at Virginia's apartment, causing Peter and Virginia to flee to the rooftop with Abby. The mysterious winged horse flies them to the Lake of the Coheeries, but Pearly, now mortal, can pursue Peter beyond the Five Boroughs. After Horse dispatches Pearly's men by crashing the ice so that they all drown, Peter and Pearly engage in a fistfight. Peter is losing until a light shines from the heavens and allows Peter to stab Pearly in the neck with the name plate from the boat, "City of Justice." Pearly turns to snow and Peter is able to save Abby on the princess bed after he kisses her forehead. After visiting Beverly's grave one last time, Peter mounts the horse to be carried away to the stars, while the elderly Willa witnesses his ascension.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Initially Warner Bros. attempted to sign Martin Scorsese in 2002, but he turned down the chance to direct the movie, calling it "unfilmable." Later on, "Winter's Tale" became a "passion project" for director Akiva Goldsman, who was given the go-ahead by Warner Bros. In February 2011 with a budget of $75 million. It was reported that the film's budget was dropped to $60 million in February 2012; at the same time Will Smith and Russell Crowe were linked to the project in supporting roles. Benjamin Walker, Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Garrett Hedlund auditioned for the role of Peter Lake while Elizabeth Olsen, Bella Heathcote, Gabriella Wilde and Sarah Gadon tested for the role of Beverly Penn. In March 2012 it was reported that Jessica Brown Findlay had been offered the role of Beverly, Colin Farrell was linked to the role of Peter Lake in the following month. William Hurt joined the cast as Beverly's father, Isaac Penn, in August 2012. In September 2012 multiple new cast members were announced, including Matt Bomer, Lucy Griffiths and Eva Marie Saint. The final major addition to the cast was Jennifer Connelly, whose involvement was confirmed in October 2012 shortly before the start of filming. Principal photography began in October 2012 but was delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. Shooting took place at locations across New York City including Grand Central Terminal, Red Hook, Brooklyn, East Village, Manhattan, and Central Park. Filming was also done at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York. The cinematographer was Caleb Deschanel, who photographed the film with Arri Alexa digital cameras and Panavision C-, E- and G-Series anamorphic lenses.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: "Winter's Tale" premiered in London on February 13, 2014, and was theatrically released on February 14, 2014, in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film opened poorly at #7, grossing $7.3 million in its first weekend. "Winter's Tale" grossed just $12.6 million in the United States and $18.2 million abroad for a total of $30.8 million worldwide. Warner Home Video released it on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2014.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: On review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 13% based on 151 reviews and an average rating of 3.55/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Winter's Tale" tries to retain the grandiose sweep of its source novel, but fails to fill it in with characters worth rooting for or a sensible plot." On another aggregation site, Metacritic, it has a score of 31 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: In a negative review for RogertEbert.com, Sheila O'Malley awarded the film one-and-a-half stars, stating: "It lacks visual splendor... It lacks emotional depth. It lacks scope and magic." O'Malley criticized Russell Crowe for "hoping that a facial tic will somehow translate as menacing", finding his first scene with Will Smith to be "incomprehensible". She did, however, praise Colin Farrell's "urgent, heartfelt performance".


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: In his one-star review for "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw was more critical of Farrell, questioning why he gives Peter an Irish accent when "[h]is character has never been to Ireland." Bradshaw concluded his review by suggesting that the film could be made worse only by "releasing a giant, vicious, genetically engineered man-eating badger into the cinema while it's playing."


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Reviewing the film for "Variety", Justin Chang claimed that writer-producer-director Akiva Goldsman was "out of his depth" but "fortunate in his choice of actors", finding Farrell to be "watchable", Jessica Brown-Findlay to be "luminous and intelligent", and Eva Marie-Saint's first film appearance since "Superman Returns" to be "welcome". Chang also praised the production design of Naomi Shohan, and the "moody, muted tones" of Caleb Deschanel's cinematography.


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: Slackerwood's Jordan Gass-Pooré also gave the movie a negative review: "This movie may have people believe that there is a miracle inside everyone, which is on one hand uplifting, and on the other, really disappointing because, in the end, the moral of the movie is that people are all the same. And Winter's Tale is no different."


title: Winter's Tale (film)

text: The musical score for "Winter's Tale" was composed by Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams. A soundtrack album was released on February 11, 2014 by WaterTower Music. On February 4, 2014, four tracks were revealed on SoundCloud. "Miracle", by Scottish singer KT Tunstall became the lead single of the soundtrack. The three other tracks were "What's the Best Thing You've Ever Stolen?", "You Don't Quit Me, Boy", and "She Was Like a Bright Light" all composed by Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams.


title: City of London Corporation

text: The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector.


title: City of London Corporation

text: In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London as the corporate body needed to be distinguished from the geographical area to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority.


title: City of London Corporation

text: Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in City elections, and in addition to its functions as the local authority—analogous to those undertaken by the 32 boroughs that administer the rest of the Greater London region—it takes responsibility for supporting the financial services industry and representing its interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery of the City.


title: City of London Corporation

text: The "Liberties and Customs" of the City of London are guaranteed in Magna Carta’s clause 13, which remains in statute.


title: City of London Corporation

text: In Anglo-Saxon times, consultation between the City's rulers and its citizens took place at the Folkmoot. Administration and judicial processes were conducted at the Court of Husting and the administrative part of the court's work evolved into the Court of Aldermen.


title: City of London Corporation

text: There is no surviving record of a charter first establishing the Corporation as a legal body, but the City is regarded as incorporated by prescription, meaning that the law presumes it to have been incorporated because it has for so long been regarded as such (e.g. Magna Carta states that "the City of London shall have/enjoy its ancient liberties"). The City of London Corporation has been granted various special privileges since the Norman Conquest, and the Corporation's first recorded royal charter dates from around 1067, when William the Conqueror granted the citizens of London a charter confirming the rights and privileges that they had enjoyed since the time of Edward the Confessor. Numerous subsequent royal charters over the centuries confirmed and extended the citizens' rights.


title: City of London Corporation

text: Around 1189, the City gained the right to have its own mayor, later being advanced to the degree and style of Lord Mayor of London. Over time, the Court of Aldermen sought increasing help from the City's commoners and this was eventually recognised with commoners being represented by the Court of Common Council, known by that name since at least as far back as 1376. The earliest records of the business habits of the City's chamberlains and common clerks, and the proceedings of the courts of Common Council and Aldermen, begin in 1275, and are recorded in fifty volumes known as the Letter-Books of the City of London.


title: City of London Corporation

text: The City of London Corporation had its privileges stripped by a writ "quo warranto" under Charles II in 1683, but they were later restored and confirmed by Act of Parliament under William III and Mary II in 1690, after the Glorious Revolution.


title: City of London Corporation

text: With growing demands on the Corporation and a corresponding need to raise local taxes from the commoners, the Common Council grew in importance and has been the principal governing body of the City of London since the 18th century.


title: City of London Corporation

text: In January 1898, the Common Council gained the full right to collect local rates when the City of London Sewers Act 1897 transferred the powers and duties of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London to the Corporation. A separate Commission of Sewers was created for the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, and as well as the construction of drains it had responsibility for the prevention of flooding; paving, cleaning and lighting the City of London's streets; and churchyards and burials. The individual commissioners were previously nominated by the Corporation, but it was a separate body. The Corporation had earlier limited rating powers in relation to raising funds for the City of London Police, as well as the militia rate and some rates in relation to the general requirements of the Corporation.


title: City of London Corporation

text: The Corporation is unique among British local authorities for its continuous legal existence over many centuries, and for having the power to alter its own constitution, which is done by an Act of Common Council.


title: City of London Corporation

text: Local government legislation often makes special provision for the City to be treated as a London borough and for the Common Council to act as a local authority. The Corporation does not have general authority over the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple, two of the Inns of Court adjoining the west of the City which are historic extra-parochial areas, but many statutory functions of the Corporation are extended into these two areas.


title: City of London Corporation

text: The chief executive of the administrative side of the Corporation holds the ancient office of Town Clerk of London.


title: City of London Corporation

text: Because of its accumulated wealth and responsibilities, the Corporation has a number of officers and officials unique to its structure who enjoy more autonomy than most local council officials, and each of whom has a separate budget:


title: City of London Corporation

text: The first direct elections to Common Council took place in 1384. Before that date the representatives of the wards had been elected by the livery companies; originally they were merely appointed by the aldermen.