title: Pharoah Sanders

text: Sanders's major-label return came in 1995 when Verve Records released "Message from Home", followed by "Save Our Children" (1998). But again, Sanders's disgust with the recording business prompted him to leave the label. Sanders worked with Laswell, Jah Wobble, and others on the albums "Message From Home" (1996) and "Save Our Children" (1999). In 1999, he complained in an interview that despite his pedigree, he had trouble finding work. In 1997 he was featured on several Tisziji Muñoz albums which include Rashied Ali.


title: Pharoah Sanders

text: In the 2000s, a resurgence of interest in jazz kept Sanders playing festivals including the 2004 Bluesfest Byron Bay, the 2007 Melbourne Jazz Festival, and the 2008 Big Chill Festival, concerts, and releasing albums. He has a strong following in Japan, and in 2003 recorded with the band Sleep Walker. In 2000, Sanders released "Spirits" and, in 2003, a live album titled "The Creator Has a Master Plan". He was awarded an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for 2016 and was honored at a tribute concert in Washington DC on April 4, 2016.


title: Pharoah Sanders

text: In 2020, Sanders recorded a collaboration with electronic music producer Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra. Titled "Promises", the album was released in March 2021, making it the first major new album released by Sanders in nearly two decades. The album was widely acclaimed by critics, with "Pitchfork" declaring it "a clear late-career masterpiece".


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Hellraiser: Bloodline (also known as Hellraiser IV: Bloodline) is a 1996 American science fiction horror film and the fourth installment in the "Hellraiser" series, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel. Directed by Kevin Yagher and Joe Chappelle, the film stars Doug Bradley as Pinhead, reprising his role and now the only remaining original character and cast member. It also features Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Kim Myers and Adam Scott in his first major film role. It was the last "Hellraiser" film to be released theatrically, the last to have any major official involvement with series creator Clive Barker until 2022 reboot and the final installment in the original series chronologically.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: In the 18th century, a celebrated toymaker (Ramsay) is hired to create his greatest work, the Lament Configuration, not knowing that it will allow the summoning of the demonic Cenobites, including Pinhead (Bradley) and Angelique (Vargas). Hundreds of years in the future, the toymaker's descendant (also played by Ramsay), an engineer, has designed a space station that he believes can trap and destroy the Cenobites. Major themes include time, toys and game-playing, adultery and slavery.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: The film had a troubled history and, after completing the film, original director Yagher left the production when distributor Miramax demanded new scenes be shot. It was subsequently completed by Chappelle. The new scenes and re-shoots changed several characters' relationships, gave the film a happy ending, introduced Pinhead earlier, and cut 25 minutes. Yagher felt the changes diverged too strongly from his vision and was granted the Alan Smithee pseudonym, an alias used by directors who want to go uncredited. Miramax released it in the United States on March 8, where it grossed $9 million. It was not screened for critics and received negative reviews.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: In 2127, Dr. Paul Merchant, an engineer, seals himself in a room aboard The Minos, a space station that he designed. As armed guards attempt to break through the door, Merchant manipulates a robot into solving the Lament Configuration, destroying the robot in the process. The guards break through the door and apprehend Merchant, who agrees to explain his motivations to their leader, Rimmer.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: The film flashes back to Paris, France, 1796. Dr. Merchant's ancestor, Phillip LeMarchand, a French toymaker, makes the Lament Configuration on commission from the libertine aristocrat Duc de L'Isle. Unbeknownst to LeMarchand, L'Isle's specifications for the box make it a portal to Hell. Upon delivering the box to L'Isle, LeMarchand watches as he and his assistant Jacques sacrifice a peasant girl and use her flayed-off skin to summon a demon, Angelique, through the box. LeMarchand runs home in terror, where he begins working on blueprints for a second box which will neutralize the effects of the first. Returning to L'Isle's mansion to steal the box, LeMarchand discovers that Jacques has killed L'Isle and taken control over Angelique, who agrees to be his slave so long as he does not impede the wishes of Hell. The pair kill LeMarchand, and Jacques informs him that his bloodline is now cursed for helping to open a portal to Hell.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: In 1996, LeMarchand's descendant, John Merchant, has built a skyscraper in Manhattan that resembles the Lament Configuration. Seeing an article on the building in a magazine, Angelique asks Jacques to take her to the United States so that she can confront him. When Jacques denies her request, Angelique kills him, as Merchant poses a threat to Hell. Angelique travels to the United States, where she fails to seduce Merchant. Discovering the Lament Configuration in the building's foundation, Angelique tricks a security guard into solving it, which summons Pinhead. The two immediately clash, as Pinhead represents a shift in the ideologies of Hell, which she left behind two hundred years ago: while Angelique believes in corrupting people through temptation, Pinhead is fanatically devoted to pain and suffering. Despite their conflicting views, the pair forge an uneasy alliance to kill Merchant before he can complete the Elysium Configuration, an anti-Lament Configuration that creates perpetual light and would serve to permanently close all gateways to Hell.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Angelique and Pinhead initially collaborate to corrupt Merchant, but Pinhead grows tired of Angelique's seductive techniques and threatens to kill Merchant's wife and child. Having grown accustomed to a decadent life on Earth, Angelique wants no part of Hell's new fanatical austerity, and she intends to force Merchant to activate the Elysium Configuration and destroy Hell, thus freeing her from its imperatives. However, Merchant's flawed prototype fails. Pinhead kills Merchant, but his wife opens Angelique's Lament Configuration, sending Pinhead and Angelique back to Hell.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: In 2127, Rimmer disbelieves Dr. Merchant's story and has him locked away. Pinhead and his followers - now including an enslaved Angelique - have already been freed after Merchant opened the box. Upon learning of Dr. Merchant's intentions, they kill the entire crew of the ship, save for Rimmer and Dr. Merchant, who escape. Dr. Merchant reveals that the Minos is, in fact, the final, perfected form of the Elysium Configuration, and that by activating it, he can kill Pinhead and permanently seal the gateway to Hell.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Dr. Merchant distracts Pinhead with a hologram while he boards an escape pod with Rimmer. Once clear of the station, he activates the Elysium Configuration. A series of powerful lasers and mirrors create a field of perpetual light, while the station transforms and folds around the light to create a massive box. The light is trapped within the box, killing Pinhead and his followers, thus ending Pinhead's existence, this time, permanently.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Clive Barker, acting as executive producer, wanted a fresh turn for the series after two sequels to his original 1987 film. The initial premise for the film, a shape-changing structure used to trap Pinhead, was inspired by the ending of "Hellraiser III", which featured a building whose architecture resembled the Lament Configuration. Barker suggested a three-part film set in different time periods, and Peter Atkins added the Lemarchand storyline, going back to Barker's novella. Atkins had previously written "Hellraiser II" and co-written "Hellraiser III". Atkins and Barker pitched the idea to Miramax, who greenlit it without requiring an outline.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: In "The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy", author Paul Kane described the screenplay as ambitious and "one of the best of the "Hellraiser" sequels". This screenplay featured a linear timeline, more special effects, and violent confrontations between Pinhead and Angelique. When Miramax was unwilling to provide a budget to realize these scenes, the film was scaled back. Stuart Gordon, known for his low-budget horror films, was approached to direct but backed out after artistic disagreements. Special effects technician Kevin Yagher was subsequently hired after his cost-saving directing work on "Tales from the Crypt" for Joel Silver. Yagher was initially hesitant about taking the job, as he did not want to do a retread of the previous installments of the series. However, he was impressed with the script and became enthusiastic after Barker described his vision for the film.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Doug Bradley, who had played Pinhead in all the previous films, joined the cast first. Bradley agreed the film should focus more on the other characters, and several lesser-known actors joined in major roles, including Canadian Bruce Ramsay and Chilean Valentina Vargas. As the script was scaled back once again to save money, the number of characters was reduced, and several were rewritten to have simpler motivations and origins. Gary J. Tunnicliffe of Image Animation, who had previously worked on "Hellraiser III", was recruited to perform special effects. Tunnicliffe was worried that Yagher would want to perform the effects himself, but Yagher wanted to collaborate with Image Animation and believed their experience with prior films in the series would be valuable. Yagher himself only contributed to the Chatter Beast. For Angelique's appearance, Tunnicliffe was inspired by Morticia Addams and "Sister Act", converting the imagery of a nun's habit to flayed skin. In "Hellraiser III", Bradley's make-up as Pinhead had changed to make it easier to apply and take off at the cost of increased discomfort. Tunnicliffe reverted to the old make-up, which he believed looked better.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Filming began in Los Angeles in August 1994. Locations included the I. Magnin Building, which was rumored to be haunted, and an abandoned factory, which was converted into the space station. Problems began early and continued throughout production. Bradley called it "the shoot from hell". Gerry Lively, who had shot "Hellraiser III", replaced the original cinematographer, the assistant director was called away on an emergency, several people suffered from illnesses, and Bradley said the art department and camera crew were all dismissed within the first week. Despite the issues, "Hellraiser IV" was completed on time and within its budget. The initial cut of the film, shown to studio executives in early 1995, was 110 minutes.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Miramax's reaction was negative, however, and they demanded that Pinhead receive a more prominent role and appear earlier. Atkins said they knew about the script but possibly panicked when they saw the reality. Miramax's demands required rewrites; Pinhead was inserted into the opening of the film, which was changed so that the 22nd century Paul Merchant narrates his ancestors' story, and a happy ending was added. Yagher, coming off the difficult shoot, declined to direct the new scenes and left the production, citing a lack of time and energy. Though he was not necessarily opposed to Miramax's suggested changes, Yagher said he also did not want to see the film slowly morph into a different product after spending so much effort on it.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Director Joe Chappelle was brought in to complete the film. Atkins wrote three new scenes, and, when he became unavailable, Barker recommended Rand Ravich, who had previously worked on "". New footage was shot in April and May 1995. Bradley said they consisted of entirely new material and were not truly re-shoots. Angelique's origin and relationships with Pinhead and the Lemarchand line were changed. Many scenes were removed during editing, especially from the Lemarchand storyline. Angelique and Pinhead originally had a more violent and adversarial relationship; Angelique represented an older, more chaotic version of Hell that favors drawn-out temptation, and Pinhead represented an ascetic, results-based order that takes over. The theatrical cut makes this more ambiguous and replaces some of their hostility with sexual tension. The final cut was 85 minutes long. When Yagher saw the finished film, he felt it strayed too far from his original vision and had his name removed from the credits, using the DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Kane identifies several themes in the film. The first, time, is evident in the film's non-linear narrative, which takes place in the past, present, and future. Kane compares the flashbacks told from the future with time travel stories. Though Paul does not travel through time, he succeeds in his task, Kane writes, because of his knowledge of the past, including his ancestors' plans and their failings. The characters frequently reference time in dialog, and clocks are a common background element, especially in Phillip's toy shop. In the space station, a countdown announces the time until the Elysium Configuration will kill Pinhead and his fellow Cenobites. Before he dies, Pinhead announces, "I am forever!"


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Toys and game-playing are a common theme in the film series, all of which feature the Lament Configuration, a mystical puzzle box created by a toymaker. Kane identifies these themes as "much more blatant" in "Bloodline". In the original shooting script, demonic gamblers served Angelique. She plays sexual games with her victims, and Pinhead toys with mortals for amusement. Kane draws parallels to video games when John uses a computer to design the Elysium Configuration, and Kane compares the space station scenes to a shoot 'em up game in which Paul insists only he can win the endgame. Pinhead makes many references to game-playing, including when he kills John, and John's wife, Bobbi, references game-playing when she sends Pinhead back to Hell.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: Kane identifies sex, death, and adultery as frequently intertwined, though he says this is somewhat weakened in the theatrical cut. Angelique tempts the Lemarchand bloodline, and adultery results in their death. Due to cuts made during editing, Kane says this is most evident in Angelique's relationship with John; in the shooting script, Phillip's obsession with Angelique and the Lament Configuration more explicitly mirrored that of a marital affair. Kane writes that Paul avoids death by ignoring relationships and is rewarded with a relationship once he redeems his bloodline. Jacques orders Angelique to kill Phillip out of jealousy, and it is this same jealousy that later causes his death at Angelique's hands.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: According to Kane, many of the characters' relationships are based on slavery and bondage. Angelique is a slave to de L'Isle, then Jacques. When she rebels against the new austerity in Hell, she comes into conflict with Pinhead, who eventually puts her under his control. Pinhead himself is a slave to the will of Hell, though Kane says he exercises more independence than Angelique. The Lemarchand bloodline are slaves to the Lament Configuration; John, and, to a lesser extent, Phillip are also slaves to their obsession with Angelique. Mirror images feature prominently in the film, including the twin cenobite and literal mirrors that Angelique and Paul use. In Kane's analysis, Paul not only mirrors his ancestors but also Pinhead, whom he emulates to become stronger. Kane describes how darkness and light also show up in the film, sometimes literally, as when light kills Pinhead, and sometimes metaphorically, as when Angelique and Pinhead show elements of their underlying humanity.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: The score was composed by Daniel Licht and was released on March 19, 1996. Kane wrote of it: "The whole score is powerful, blending unconventional instrumentation occasionally augmented by a chorus". Kane highlighted the chase sequence music in the Chatter Beast's scenes.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: "Bloodline" was not screened for critics. It was released on March 8, 1996, in the United States and Canada, where it grossed $4.5 million in its opening weekend and came in fifth place. At the end of its U.S. run, it grossed $9.3 million. "Bloodline" was the final "Hellraiser" film to receive a theatrical release, though it was released direct-to-video in the UK. Following the film's release, questions of a sequel immediately rose. Atkins said he was uninterested in exploring more "Hellraiser" stories, as he could not see anywhere for the series to go creatively, but he recognized Miramax had a financial interest in keeping the series alive. Bradley said he was open to reprising his role, but Barker's reaction was more negative.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: "" followed in October 2000, going direct-to-video. Dimension released "Bloodline" on VHS and DVD in 1996 and 2001, and Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released it on Blu-ray for the first time in 2011.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: "Bloodline" received negative reviews on release. Kane wrote that "reviewers lined up to criticize and condemn the movie". At Rotten Tomatoes, which collects both contemporary and modern reviews, "Bloodline" has a 24% approval rating based on 17 reviews; the average rating is 4.10/10. "Variety" called it "a pointless mess" without a likable protagonist. The reviewer further criticized the acting and said the grotesque special effects have become tiresome since the first film, except for the space-based effects. Also criticizing the special effects, Richard Harrington wrote in "The Washington Post" that they are "decidedly gross but not particularly frightening". Harrington said the film would need a "a far bigger budget and some real input from horrormeister Clive Barker" to realize its aspirations. Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" wrote that the film is "incoherent and (except for Mr. Bradley's Pinhead) wretchedly acted". Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that if Barker himself had rewritten and directed the film, it might have worked; however, the writing is convoluted, and the film's atmosphere is "more repellent than intriguing". Thomas praised the acting of Bradley, Cottrell, and Ramsay but called the rest of the cast "mediocre". In rating the film one star out of four, "TV Guide" called it the most ambitious but worst of the film series.


title: Hellraiser: Bloodline

text: The film also received retrospective reviews. Reviewing the film on Blu-ray for Dread Central, Matt Serafini rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote that the film was not respected by producers, ultimately causing it to become "a half-baked compromise" that does not live up to its interesting premise, ultimately degenerating into a generic slasher film in the climax. Serafini identified Vargas' role as wasted and said the thin material limits the supporting cast. Also reviewing the film of video, "Entertainment Weekly"s J. R. Taylor gave it a letter grade of "B" and called it "actually rather interesting" despite its incoherent moments, which are made more tolerable when watched on DVD. After watching a marathon of "Hellraiser" films, religion scholar Douglas E. Cowan called "Bloodline" his favorite. While acknowledging fan criticism, he identified the film's expanded mythology and religious themes as making it more interesting than previous installments. Cowan describes Pinhead's dismissive rejection of God's will as possibly symbolic of modern society's views on religion. Katie Rife, who also watched the series in a marathon for a retrospective at "The A.V. Club", called it "an entertaining mess". Rife wrote that fans passionately defend the film, and, despite its flaws, "Bloodline" never becomes boring.


title: Sun sign astrology

text: Sun sign astrology, or star sign astrology, is a modern simplified system of Western astrology which considers only the position of the Sun at birth, which is said to be placed within one of the twelve zodiac signs, rather than the positions of the sun and the other six 'planets'. This sign is then called the "sun sign" or "star sign" of the person born in that twelfth-part of the year. Sun sign astrologers take this basic twelve-fold division and relate all the current movements of all the planets to each other, using traditional rules to divine meanings for each sign separately. Because the Moon has the fastest apparent movement of all the heavenly bodies, it is often used as the main indicator of daily trends for sun sign astrology forecasts.


title: Sun sign astrology

text: Each Sun sign is composed of 30 degrees (0-29), which make up the circle, so people born near the end of a sign may need to mathematically re-calculate their chart.


title: Sun sign astrology

text: and the form of astrology most commonly found in many newspaper and magazine columns. Scientific investigations of the theoretical basis and experimental verification of claims have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power.


title: Sun sign astrology

text: Although William Lilly in the 17th century was the first newspaper astrologer, it isn't known exactly when sun sign astrology first began. However, it was largely popularized by horoscopes which began appearing in English newspapers in the 1930s. Astrologer R. H. Naylor was claimed to have accurately predicted events surrounding the birth of Princess Margaret and the crash of the R101 airship in his horoscopes featured in "The Sunday Express". By 1937, Naylor began writing a regular column for the paper called "Your Stars," which featured horoscopes based on the 12 star signs.


title: Sun sign astrology

text: The following table shows the zodiac names in Latin, with their English translation and the individuals' names. It also shows the element and quality associated with each sign. The starting and ending dates of the sun sign are approximate, as they may differ from one year to another (by a day or so), due to the fact that the earth's orbit around the sun is not synchronous with earth's rotation (one year does not comprehend a whole number of days).<ref name="http://gryphonastrology.com"></ref> The exact date and time of sign entrance/exit (which is corresponded to the 12 "mid-climates" within Chinese lunisolar calendar) must be obtained with appropriate software or with the help of an ephemeris.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress. Andrew W. Mellon donated a substantial art collection and funds for construction. The core collection includes major works of art donated by Paul Mellon, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Samuel Henry Kress, Rush Harrison Kress, Peter Arrell Browne Widener, Joseph E. Widener, and Chester Dale. The Gallery's collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts traces the development of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the present, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas and the largest mobile created by Alexander Calder.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The Gallery's campus includes the original neoclassical West Building designed by John Russell Pope, which is linked underground to the modern East Building, designed by I. M. Pei, and the Sculpture Garden. The Gallery often presents temporary special exhibitions spanning the world and the history of art. It is one of the largest museums in North America.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: For the breadth, scope, and magnitude of its collections, the National Gallery is widely considered to be one of the greatest museums in the United States of America, often ranking alongside the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Of the top three art museums in the United States by annual visitors, it is the only one that has no admission fee. In 2021 it attracted 1,704,606 visitors, and ranked fifth on the list of most visited art museums in the world.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh banker and Treasury Secretary from 1921 until 1932, began gathering a private collection of old master paintings and sculptures during World War I. During the late 1920s, Mellon decided to direct his collecting efforts towards the establishment of a new national gallery for the United States.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In 1930, partly for tax reasons, Mellon formed the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which was to be the legal owner of works intended for the gallery. In 1930–1931, the Trust made its first major acquisition, 21 paintings from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg as part of the Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings, including such masterpieces as Raphael's "Alba Madonna," Titian's "Venus with a Mirror", and Jan van Eyck's "Annunciation".


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In 1929 Mellon had initiated contact with the recently appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Charles Greeley Abbot. Mellon was appointed in 1931 as a Commissioner of the Institution's National Gallery of Art. When the director of the Gallery retired, Mellon asked Abbot not to appoint a successor, as he proposed to endow a new building with funds for expansion of the collections.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: However, Mellon's trial for tax evasion, centering on the Trust and the Hermitage paintings, caused the plan to be modified. In 1935, Mellon announced in "The Washington Star" his intention to establish a new gallery for old masters, separate from the Smithsonian. When asked by Abbot, he explained that the project was in the hands of the Trust and that its decisions were partly dependent on "the attitude of the Government towards the gift".


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In January 1937, Mellon formally offered to create the new Gallery. On his birthday, 24 March 1937, an Act of Congress accepted the collection and building funds (provided through the Trust), and approved the construction of a museum on the National Mall.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The new gallery was to be effectively self-governing, not controlled by the Smithsonian, but took the old name "National Gallery of Art" while the Smithsonian's gallery would be renamed the "National Collection of Fine Arts" (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum).


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The museum stands on the former site of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station, where in 1881 a disgruntled office seeker, Charles Guiteau, shot President James Garfield (see James A. Garfield assassination). The station was demolished in 1908 because it did not conform to the McMillan Plan for the Mall. In 1918, temporary war buildings were constructed on the site; these were demolished by 1921 to construct the foundation of the George Washington Memorial Building, which was never completed. The site was then reassigned to the new National Gallery of Art.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: Designed by architect John Russell Pope, the new structure was completed and accepted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of the American people on March 17, 1941. At the time of its inception it was the largest marble structure in the world. Neither Mellon nor Pope lived to see the museum completed; both died in late August 1937, only two months after excavation had begun.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: As anticipated by Mellon, the creation of the National Gallery encouraged the donation of other substantial art collections by a number of private donors. Founding benefactors included such individuals as Paul Mellon, Samuel H. Kress, Rush H. Kress, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Chester Dale, Joseph Widener, Lessing J. Rosenwald and Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The Gallery's East Building was constructed in the 1970s on much of the remaining land left over from the original congressional action. Andrew Mellon's children, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, funded the building. Designed by architect I. M. Pei, the contemporary structure was completed in 1978 and was opened on June 1 of that year by President Jimmy Carter. The new building was built to house the Museum's collection of modern paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints, as well as study and research centers and offices. The design received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1981.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The final addition to the complex is the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Completed and opened to the public on May 23, 1999, the location provides an outdoor setting for exhibiting a number of large pieces from the Museum's contemporary sculpture collection.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In 2011, an extensive refurbishment and renovation of the French galleries were undertaken. As part of the celebration of the reopening of this wing, organist Alexander Frey performed 4 sold-out recitals of music of France in one weekend in the French Gallery.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The National Gallery of Art is supported through a private-public partnership. The United States federal government provides funds, through annual appropriations, to support the museum's operations and maintenance. All artwork, as well as special programs, are provided through private donations and funds. The museum is not part of the Smithsonian Institution.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: Noted directors of the National Gallery have included David E. Finley, Jr. (1938-1956), John Walker (1956–1968), and J. Carter Brown (1968–1993). Earl A. "Rusty" Powell III was named director in 1993. In March 2019 he was succeeded by Kaywin Feldman, past director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The museum hired Evelyn Carmen Ramos, the first woman and the first person of color to be the chief curatorial and conservation officer, in 2021.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The president of the museum is billionaire businessman Mitchell Rales and its chairperson is Sharon Rockefeller.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: Entry to both buildings of the National Gallery of Art is free of charge. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. It is closed on December 25 and January 1.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Gallery was largely closed to the public. However, visitors were able to schedule appointments to access the west building in small numbers.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The museum comprises two buildings: the West Building (1941) and the East Building (1978), linked by an underground passage. The West Building, composed of pink Tennessee marble, was designed in 1937 by architect John Russell Pope in a neoclassical style (as is Pope's other notable building in Washington, D.C., the Jefferson Memorial). Designed in the form of an elongated H, the building is centered on a domed rotunda modeled on the interior of the Pantheon in Rome. Extending east and west from the rotunda, a pair of skylit sculpture halls provide its main circulation spine. Bright garden courts provide a counterpoint to the long main axis of the building.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The West Building has an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures by European masters from the medieval period through the late 19th century, as well as pre-20th century works by American artists. Highlights of the collection include many paintings by Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In contrast, the design of the East Building, by architect I. M. Pei, is geometrical, dividing the trapezoidal shape of the site into two triangles: one contains public galleries, and the other houses a library, offices, and a study center. The triangles establish a motif that is echoed throughout the building, realized in every dimension.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The East Building's central feature is a high atrium designed as an open interior court that is enclosed by a sculptural space spanning . The atrium is centered on the same axis that forms the circulation spine for the West Building and is constructed in the same Tennessee marble.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: However, in 2005 the joints attaching the marble panels to the walls began to show signs of strain, creating a risk that panels might fall onto visitors below. In 2008, NGA officials decided that it had become necessary to remove and reinstall all of the panels. The renovation was completed in 2016.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The East Building focuses on modern and contemporary art, with a collection including works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Alexander Calder, a 1977 mural by Robert Motherwell and works by many other artists. The East Building also contains the main offices of the NGA and a large research facility, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA). Among the highlights of the East Building in 2012 was an exhibition of Barnett Newman's "The Stations of the Cross" series of 14 black and white paintings (1958–66). Newman painted them after he had recovered from a heart attack; they are usually regarded as the peak of his achievement. The series has also been seen as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The two buildings are connected by a walkway beneath 4th street, called "the Concourse" on the museum's map. In 2008, the National Gallery of Art commissioned American artist Leo Villareal to transform the Concourse into an artistic installation. Today, "Multiverse" is the largest and most complex light sculpture by Villareal featuring approximately 41,000 computer-programmed LED nodes that run through channels along the entire -long space. The concourse also includes the food court and a gift shop.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The final element of the National Gallery of Art complex, the Sculpture Garden was completed in 1999 after more than 30 years of planning. To the west of the West Building, on the opposite side of Seventh Street, the Sculpture Garden was designed by landscape architect Laurie Olin as an outdoor gallery for monumental modern sculpture.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The Sculpture Garden contains plantings of Native American species of canopy and flowering trees, shrubs, ground covers, and perennials. A circular reflecting pool and fountain form the center of its design, which arching pathways of granite and crushed stone complement. (The pool becomes an ice-skating rink during the winter.) The sculptures exhibited in the surrounding landscaped area include pieces by Marc Chagall, David Smith, Mark Di Suvero, Roy Lichtenstein, Sol LeWitt, Tony Smith, Roxy Paine, Joan Miró, Louise Bourgeois, and Hector Guimard.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The NGA's West Building was renovated from 2007 to 2009. Although some galleries closed for periods of time, others remained open.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: After congressional testimony that the East Building suffered from "systematic structural failures", NGA adopted a Master Renovations Plan in 1999. This plan established the timeline for closing the building, and planned for the renovation of the electronic security systems, elevators, and HVAC. Space between the ceilings of existing galleries and the building's skylights (which was never completed when the building was constructed in 1978) would be renovated into two, high, hexagonal Tower Galleries. The galleries would have a combined of space and will be lit by skylights. A rooftop sculpture garden would also be added. NGA officials said that the Tower Galleries would probably house modern art, and the creation of a distinct "Rothko Room" was possible.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: Beginning in 2011, NGA undertook an $85 million restoration of the East Building's façade. The East Building is clad in thick pink marble panels. The panels are held about away from the wall by stainless steel anchors. Gravity holds the panel in the bottom anchors (which are placed at each corner), while "button head" anchors (stainless steel posts with large, flat heads) at the top corners keep the panel upright. Mortar was used on the gravity anchors to level the stones. Joints of flexible colored neoprene were placed between the panels. This system was designed to allow each panel to hang independent of its neighbors, and NGA officials say they are not aware of any other panel system like it.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: However, many panels were accidentally mortared together. Seasonal heating and cooling of the façade, infiltration of moisture, and shrinkage of the building's structural concrete by over time caused extensive damage to the façade. In 2005, regular maintenance showed that some panels were cracked or significantly damaged, while others leaned by more than out from the building (threatening to fall).


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The NGA hired the structural engineering firm Robert Silman Associates to determine the cause of the problem. Although the Gallery began raising private funds to fix the issue, eventually federal funding was used to repair the building. In 2012, the NGA chose a joint venture, Balfour Beatty/Smoot, to complete the repairs. Anodized aluminum anchors replaced the stainless steel ones, and the top corner anchors were moved to the center of the top edge of each stone. The neoprene joints were removed and new colored silicone gaskets installed, and leveling screws rather than mortar used to keep the panels square. Work began in November 2011, and originally was scheduled to end in 2014. By February 2012, however, the contractor said work on the façade would end in late 2013, and site restoration would take place in 2014. The East Building remained open throughout the project.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In March 2013, the National Gallery of Art announced a $68.4 million renovation to the East Building. This included $38.4 million to refurbish the interior mechanical plant of the structure, and $30 million to create new exhibition space. Because the angular interior space of the East Building made it impossible to close off galleries, the renovation required all but the atrium and offices to close by December 2013. The structure remained closed for three years. The architectural firm of Hartman-Cox oversaw both aspects of the renovation.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: A group of benefactors — which included Victoria and Roger Sant, Mitchell and Emily Rales, and David Rubenstein — privately financed the renovation. The "Washington Post" reported that the donation was one of the largest the NGA had received in a decade. NGA staff said that they would use the closure to conserve artwork, plan purchases, and develop exhibitions. Plans for renovating conservation, construction, exhibition prep, groundskeeping, office, storage, and other internal facilities were also ready, but would not be implemented for many years.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The NGA's collection galleries and Sculpture Garden display European and American paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, and decorative arts. Paintings in the permanent collection date from the Middle Ages to the present. The Italian Renaissance collection includes two panels from Duccio's "Maesta", the tondo of the "Adoration of the Magi" by Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi, a Botticelli work on the same subject, Giorgione's "Allendale Nativity", Giovanni Bellini's "The Feast of the Gods", "Ginevra de' Benci" (the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas) and groups of works by Titian and Raphael.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The collections include paintings by many European masters, including a version of "Saint Martin and the Beggar," by El Greco, and works by Matthias Grünewald, Cranach the Elder, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Dürer, Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Francisco Goya, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, and Eugène Delacroix, among others. The collection of sculpture and decorative arts includes such works as the "Chalice" of Abbot Suger of St-Denis and a collection of work by Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas. Other highlights of the permanent collection include the second of the two original sets of Thomas Cole's series of paintings titled "The Voyage of Life", (the first set is at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York) and the original version of "Watson and the Shark" by John Singleton Copley (two other versions are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Detroit Institute of Arts).


title: National Gallery of Art

text: The National Gallery's print collection comprises 75,000 prints, in addition to rare illustrated books. It includes collections of works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, William Blake, Mary Cassatt, Edvard Munch, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg. The collection began with 400 prints donated by five collectors in 1941. In 1942, Joseph E. Widener donated his entire collection of nearly 2,000 works. In 1943, Lessing Rosenwald donated his collection of 8,000 old master and modern prints; between 1943 and 1979, he donated almost 14,000 more works. In 2008, Dave and Reba White Williams donated their collection of more than 5,200 American prints.


title: National Gallery of Art

text: In 2013, the NGA purchased from a private French collection Gerard van Honthorst's 1623 painting, "The Concert", which had not been publicly viewed since 1795. After initially displaying the "The Concert" in a special installation in the West Building, the NGA moved the painting to a permanent display in the museum's Dutch and Flemish galleries. Art experts estimated the sale price of "The Concert" at $20 million, though the NGA did not reveal the amount that it had paid.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G7 series or Cyclone V6 engine is a series of V6 piston engines from Mitsubishi Motors. Five displacement variants were produced from 1986 to 2021, with both SOHC and DOHC, naturally aspirated and turbo charged layouts. While "MIVEC" variable valve timing has also been implemented in some versions the 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 L versions were also available with gasoline direct injection. This engine has been the flagship powerplant of the company except when they briefly built a V8 in 1999–2001. The staple of their high-end sedans, it was given twin-turbos for the Mitsubishi GTO, and became the most powerful car ever built by the company at the time.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G71 model featured SOHC and produced at 5,500 rpm and at 4,500 rpm. It was installed with two valves per cylinder, and used Mitsubishi's ECI-Multi multiple port fuel injection fuel delivery system. The compression ratio was 8.9:1. An earlier version, with single-point fuel injection, only had at 5,000 rpm and at 4,000 rpm.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: A supercharger was installed and exclusive to the Debonair. It produces at 5,000 rpm and at 3,000 rpm. The compression ratio for the supercharged model is 8.0:1. The 6G71 engine was also converted to run on LPG, a version which was only available to the Debonair and mainly intended for commercial (taxi) use.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G72 was manufactured in three different models which featured SOHC with 12-valves, SOHC with 24-valve, and DOHC with 24-valves.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The latest version was used in the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT and Galant. Output in 2004 was at 5500 rpm with of torque at 4000 rpm. In the older version, used in many Chrysler models since 1987 this V6 was a SOHC 12-valve developing at 5000 rpm and of torque at 3600 rpm. The Mitsubishi models were with a 3.0 Litre 6G72 engine SOHC 24-valve developing at 5000 rpm and of torque at 4000 rpm. For the MIVEC engine output is at 6000 rpm and at 4500 rpm.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The SOHC 12-valve for the second generation of Pajero can provide and , the SOHC 24-valve can provide and .


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The DOHC 24-Valve was used in the Mitsubishi Debonair, 3000GT and Dodge Stealth producing and of torque with a 10.0:1 compression ratio in naturally aspirated form, and as much as and of torque in turbocharged form. The turbocharged variant had the lowest compression ratio at 8.0:1, with each bank of the V6 having its own independent turbocharger and intercooler. Turbo chargers were built by Mitsubishi.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G73 is a 24-valve SOHC design with two valves running off a single cam lobe on the exhaust valves using a forked rocker arm and each intake valve actuated with two cam lobes, with a smaller bore than the 3.0 liter version of the same block. Bore and stroke are ; it is a 60-degree V6 and weighs around . The engine has low-profile cast aluminum heads which help it to fit into compact engine bays, while pent-roof combustion chambers increase efficiency and make room for four valves per cylinder, arranged in a cross-flow pattern with a "tumble" intake port for both strong breathing and low emissions. Spark plugs are centered in the combustion chambers. The intake valves are in diameter while exhaust valves are . The SOHC 24 valve version of the 6G72 uses these same cylinder heads. A toothed timing belt is used. The output of 6G73 is at 5,900 rpm with of torque at 4,350 rpm.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G74 is a 24-valve unit available with either SOHC, DOHC, or MIVEC DOHC. Output for the SOHC version varies from at 4,750 rpm with of torque at 3,750 rpm in the Pajero to the highest output of at 5,250 rpm with of torque at 4,500 rpm in the Australian-made Magna Sports, VR-X and Verada GTV/GTVi and at 5,500 rpm with of torque at 4,000 rpm in the Magna Ralliart. For the MIVEC, only available in the Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, the output is at 6,000 and at 4,500 rpm. It uses Multi-port fuel injection and uses forged steel connecting rods.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The gasoline direct injection version of the 6G74 was launched in April 1997 as the first GDI V6 engine ever produced. It differed from the basic 6G74 in many ways apart from its unique fuel injection system — it had a crown-curved rather than flat piston head, upright intake ports rather than angled, and a 10.4:1 rather than 10.0:1 compression ratio. Mitsubishi claimed 30 percent better fuel economy, a 30 percent reduction in emissions, and higher power outputs than diesels.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: The 6G75's Output varies from and to and depending on application. In the interest of durability, the pistons are high-pressure castings attached to forged steel connecting rods that swing from a heat-treated forged steel crankshaft. Intended to be used with 95 RON fuel, lower octane fuels will be detected by the vehicle's knock sensors, and the engine detuned to compensate.


title: Mitsubishi 6G7 engine

text: 5. https://media.mitsubishicars.com/channels/2004-Galant/releases/d8fa6a4a-5172-57cd-7b04-a59f4b06fbf0


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA (pronounced "CHEE-vahs") was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara, sharing common ownership and branding.


title: Chivas USA

text: The club was the eleventh MLS team upon its entry into the league in 2004. Chivas USA was intended to be seen as a "little brother" to its parent club C.D. Guadalajara, one of the most widely supported and successful teams in Mexico. "Chiva" is Latin American Spanish for "goat", seen as a tough and resilient animal in Mexico, and is the nickname of C.D. Guadalajara.


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA played its home games at the StubHub Center in Carson, which it shared with its rival, the LA Galaxy. The club was originally owned by Antonio Cue and Jorge Vergara, who also owned C.D. Guadalajara. In 2014, MLS purchased the club from Vergara with plans to sell to new owners.


title: Chivas USA

text: The club ceased operations after the 2014 regular season, and is currently the most recent major professional North American soccer team to fold.


title: Chivas USA

text: Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara took ownership of the struggling Chivas de Guadalajara in 2002 and sought to use the rejuvenated club to establish an international brand. In June 2003, the league announced that the 2003 MLS All-Star Game would be played against Chivas and that Vergara was interested in purchasing an expansion team. The team, named "Chivas USA", would be affiliated with Chivas and play in either Los Angeles or San Diego beginning in the 2005 season. On August 2, 2004, Major League Soccer announced that Chivas USA would share The Home Depot Center in Carson with the Galaxy, and begin play in 2005 as the league's eleventh team.


title: Chivas USA

text: In 2005, Chivas USA kicked off its inaugural season in Major League Soccer at The Home Depot Center with a 2–0 loss to then MLS Cup Champions D.C. United on April 2, 2005, under the guidance of Chivas USA's first head coach Thomas Rongen. After a 1–8–1 start (their sole win coming against fellow expansion club Real Salt Lake), Thomas Rongen was named Chivas USA's sporting director and assistant coach Javier Ledesma became the club's interim head coach. On June 3, 2005, Hans Westerhof was named Chivas USA's second head coach. After a disappointing season, Westerhof did not return to coach the team in 2006.


title: Chivas USA

text: On November 23, 2005, former MLS Coach of the Year Bob Bradley became Chivas USA's third head coach, replacing Hans Westerhof. Under Bradley, the 2006 season saw a major turnaround for Chivas USA. The team finished the 2006 season with a 10–9–13 record and earned a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Bradley was named MLS Coach of the Year, becoming the first two-time winner of the award and Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein was named 2006 Gatorade Rookie of the Year. After the season ended, Coach Bradley was named interim head coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team and head coach of the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team by the U.S. Soccer Federation, and was replaced by Chivas USA's fourth head coach, Predrag "Preki" Radosavljevic.


title: Chivas USA

text: The team's third season, under Preki, was the most successful. Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan was named MLS's Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2007 season. On November 7, 2007, Preki was named MLS Coach of the Year for 2007 after the first-year manager led the Red-and-White to a 15–7–8 record and first place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference. In January 2008, Preki signed a multi-year contract with Chivas USA securing his position as head coach for the 2008 season. Chivas finished the 2007 MLS season atop of the Western Conference. However, they lost in the Conference Semifinals of the MLS Cup 2007 playoffs to the Kansas City Wizards, who were the conference's No. 4 seed under new MLS seeding rules despite being in the Eastern Conference.


title: Chivas USA

text: In 2008 Chivas USA competed in their first official international tournament, playing Pachuca in the 2008 SuperLiga. Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan were named to the MLS All-Star team. Goalie Brad Guzan became the first Goat to transfer to a European first division club. The Red-and-White clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season, losing to Real Salt Lake in the first round. Kljestan scored the U.S. Soccer Goal of the Year while playing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was also named to the MLS Best XI, and was selected as U.S. Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year.


title: Chivas USA

text: Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan competed with the U.S. National Team in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton was named to the 2009 MLS All-Star Team. Chivas USA announced the Team Award Winners, naming Thornton the team's Most Valuable Player. Thornton was also named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and MLS Comeback Player of the Year, and he was nominated to the MLS Best 11.


title: Chivas USA

text: Martín Vásquez was named the team's head coach after serving as an assistant coach from 2005 to 2007. Kljestan and Bornstein were named co-captains for the 2010 season. During the World Cup break Kljestan signed a deal with Belgian club Anderlecht, leaving Chivas USA after parts of five seasons. Bornstein played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, starting in two matches for the United States as they made it to the Round of 16. On October 27, the team released head coach Martín Vásquez from his contract. On November 2, president and CEO Shawn Hunter announced he was stepping down. On December 14 the club's vice president of soccer operations, Stephen Hamilton revealed he too, was leaving his post. After Hamilton stepped down, Jose L Domene was named Interim General Manager. On January 4, 2011, Robin Fraser became head coach of Chivas USA.


title: Chivas USA

text: On August 29, 2012, Vergara and his wife, Angélica Fuentes, became sole owners of the club, buying out former partners Antonio and Lorenzo Cué. On May 29, 2013, two Chivas USA youth coaches, Dan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the club, on the grounds they had been dismissed because they were not Latino. Shortly after the acquisition of the club, Vergara is alleged to have told his staff that those who did not speak Spanish would be fired. Chronopoulos claimed that Jose David, the team's new president and chief business officer, asked Chronopoulos for a list of youth players and coaches who were Mexican or Mexican American and of those that weren't.


title: Chivas USA

text: Following the release of Preki, Chivas USA failed to stay consistent on and off the field, just like its parent club, CD Guadalajara, Chivas USA had four coaches after the start of the 2010 season; all four coaches failed to impress Jorge Vergara, and were let go. Their last coach was Colombian-born Wilmer Cabrera.


title: Chivas USA

text: On February 20, 2014, Major League Soccer purchased Chivas USA from Vergara. They announced plans to sell to a buyer dedicated to keeping the club in Los Angeles, as well as a plan to rebrand the club in time for the 2015 MLS season. ESPN reported on September 29, 2014, that the club would suspend operations at the end of the MLS regular season, according to multiple sources.


title: Chivas USA

text: On September 30, 2014, Grant Wahl of "Sports Illustrated" reported that a group of investors headed by Henry Nguyen, Los Angeles Dodgers investor Peter Guber and Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan agreed to purchase the club for a fee over $100 million. The sale would mean that Chivas USA would fold, with the second Los Angeles team to take the field as an expansion team with a new stadium in Downtown Los Angeles.


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA ceased operations on October 27, 2014, with its player development academy continuing to be operated by MLS until June 2015. A dispersal draft took place after the 2014 season, having the remaining players from the club dispersed to other teams in the league. The league added two teams (New York City FC and Orlando City SC) to increase the total number from 19 to 20, with Kansas City and Houston shifting to the Western Conference to keep the conferences balanced. Los Angeles FC began play in 2018. They are not considered by the league to be a continuation of Chivas USA.


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA's home uniform mirrored that of their parent club, Guadalajara, with a red-and-white striped shirt, blue shorts and blue socks. Chivas USA wore variations throughout its existence (with slight variations in trim, stripe width, number of stripes, and other minor details), and usually complemented this with a dark blue away uniform.


title: Chivas USA

text: The club badge was also virtually identical to that of Guadalajara, featuring the coat of arms of the city, but omitting the stars around the outside of the logo that represent each league title won by Guadalajara.


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA played its home games at StubHub Center, on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California, approximately 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Built in 2003 as the home stadium for LA Galaxy, the "SHC" is a 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, the second of its kind in MLS, but has hosted other sports such as rugby and football. For its entire existence, "Los Rojiblancos" shared the stadium with the Galaxy, with whom they competed for the Honda SuperClasico. During their tenure, this arrangement and those of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets in MetLife Stadium and NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers in the Staples Center were the only cases in the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada of two teams of the same league sharing a venue.


title: Chivas USA

text: Chivas USA occasionally held home games at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton, and at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara, such as in the US Open Cup when both they and the Galaxy had been drawn to play at home on the same day, but this was generally a rare occurrence.


title: Chivas USA

text: On May 16, 2007, Comex, Mexico's leading paint company, became Chivas USA's first presenting sponsor, with their name on the front of the jerseys. At the opening of the 2010 season, the team's jerseys were blank. On April 1, 2010, the new presenting sponsor, Extra, was finally unveiled prior to the match against rivals LA Galaxy; Extra is a Mexican convenience store chain owned by Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona beer. The chain's logo appeared on the front of Chivas USA jerseys and training jerseys for the rest of that year. On February 16, 2011 Corona became the presenting sponsor for Chivas USA.


title: Chivas USA

text: For the 2014 season, Chivas USA non nationally televised matches were televised by KDOC in English and Time Warner Cable Deportes in Spanish. KDOC agreed to televise 10 matches while Time Warner Cable Deportes agreed to televise 16 matches. Matches not televised in Spanish on Time Warner Cable Deportes aired on the Univision family of networks (UniMas, Galavision, Univision Deportes Network).


title: Chivas USA

text: Until 2012, FS West/Prime Ticket and KDOC televised all Chivas USA matches that were not nationally televised. In 2013, Chivas began the year with no local television partner; however, in August a deal was reached with KDOC (English) and MundoFOX22 KWHY-TV (Spanish) for the remainder of the 2013 season.


title: Chivas USA

text: This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Chivas. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Chivas USA seasons.


title: Royal Dano

text: Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 - May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic Lincoln for Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" attraction at the 1964 World's Fair (brought to Disneyland in 1965), as well as Lincoln's voice at the "Hall of Presidents" attraction at Disney's Magic Kingdom in 1971.


title: Royal Dano

text: Dano was born in New York City on November 16, 1922, the eldest of three siblings born to Mary Josephine (née O'Connor), an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers.


title: Royal Dano

text: Dano appeared as McSnoyd the leprechaun in the stage show "Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley", based on the comic strip by Crockett Johnson. McSnoyd appears to the audience only as a blinking light on a large mushroom, so only his voice is heard. However, at the conclusion of the show Dano joined the rest of the cast, wearing a leprechaun costume.


title: Royal Dano

text: Dano is remembered for his supporting roles in a number of 1950s western and mystery films. The chance for the breakout role of a lifetime escaped him in the theatrical release of "The Red Badge of Courage". Dano, cast as The Tattered Man, delivered such a disturbing performance in his death scene, according to director John Huston, that the initial test audience left the theater in droves, e.g., "I've never seen so many people get up and leave the theater...they liked no part of it." The death scene was lent a human touch by Dano, and in 1951, war-weary Americans rejected it (Huston: "...[the audience rejection] was a pretty sickening event."). "Red Badge" was immediately recut, and the death scene was removed. It is long believed, and as early as Huston commenting in an interview in 1972, the scene has been lost ("I doubt very much, whether the scene still exists.").


title: Royal Dano

text: He often worked with Anthony Mann and James Stewart. Over the years, Dano made many television appearances, often in bizarre, macabre roles. Dano was also a frequent guest star on "Gunsmoke", with a total of thirteen appearances.


title: Royal Dano

text: Dano was the voice of Abraham Lincoln for Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" attraction, first presented at the 1964 World's Fair. Disney personally selected Dano, because he felt the actor came closest to the historical descriptions of Lincoln's voice. "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" was moved to Disneyland in 1965, and Dano's vocals continued to be a part of the attraction until 2001. In 1971, his voice was also used for a revised Lincoln speech in the new "Hall of Presidents" attraction at Magic Kingdom in Florida, which ran to 1993.


title: Royal Dano

text: In 2009, Dano's vocals were returned to "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at Disneyland in an updated version of the show.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The economy of Romania is a high-income economy with a skilled labour force, ranked 13th in the European Union by total nominal GDP and 8th largest when adjusted by purchasing power parity. The World Bank notes that Romania’s efforts are focused on accelerating structural reforms and strengthening institutions in order to further converge with the European Union. The country's economic growth has been one of the highest in the EU since 2010, with the first half of 2022 seeing an unexpected 5.8% increase.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In recent years, it witnessed growth rates such as: 4.8% in 2016, 7.1% in 2017, 4.4% in 2018 and 4.1% in 2019. In 2020, its GDP per capita in purchasing power standards reached 72% of the European Union average, up from 44% in 2007, the highest growth rate in the EU27. Romania's economy ranks 46th in the world by its GDP, with a $300 billion annual output (nominal).


title: Economy of Romania

text: The country is a leading destination in Central and Eastern Europe for foreign direct investment: the cumulative FDI since 1989 totals more than $170 billion. Romania is the largest electronics producer in the region. In the past 20 years Romania has also grown into a major center for mobile technology, information security, and related hardware research. The country is a regional leader in fields such as IT and motor vehicle production. Bucharest, the capital city, is one of the leading financial and industrial centres in Eastern Europe.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The top 10 exports of Romania are vehicles, machinery, chemical goods, electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, basic metals, food products, and rubber and plastics. Imports of goods and services increased 9.3%, while exports grew 7.6% in 2016, as compared to 2015. Exports of goods and services were expected to grow by 5.6% in 2017, while imports were seen increasing by 8.5%, according to the latest CNP (National Prognosis Commission) projections.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The industry in Romania generated 33.6% of the local gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of 2018.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The economy of Romania entered modernity with the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, ending centuries of Turkish control. Economic growth was stimulated by several milestones: the discovery and industrial exploitation of oil in 1857, the political union between Wallachia and Moldavia in 1859, land reforms, adoption of a local currency, the leu (1867), the state independence (1877), as well as the building of an extensive rail-road system under king Carol I.


title: Economy of Romania

text: After the dissolution of neighbouring Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires following World War I, Romanian-speaking provinces of Transylvania and Banat united with the Kingdom of Romania. Romanian troops occupied Bessarabia and Bukovina during the chaotic period of uncertain authority over the ex-imperial lands, forming the Romanian state in its modern form. The application of radical agricultural reforms and the passing of a new constitution created a democratic framework and allowed for quick economic growth (industrial production doubled between 1923 and 1938, despite the effects of the Great Depression in Romania).


title: Economy of Romania

text: After 1945, Soviet-occupied Romania became a member of the Eastern Bloc and switched to a Soviet-style command economy. During this period the country experienced rapid industrialisation in an attempt to create a "multilaterally developed socialist society". Economic growth was further fuelled by foreign credits in the 1970s, eventually leading to a growing foreign debt, which peaked at $11–12 billion.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania's debt was completely paid off during the 1980s by implementing severe austerity measures which deprived Romanians of basic consumer goods. In 1989, before the Romanian Revolution, Romania had a GDP of about 800 billion lei, or $53.6 billion. Around 58% of the country's gross national income came from industry, and another 15% came from agriculture. The minimum wage was 2,000 lei, or $400.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The end of the communist period marked the beginning of a sharp economic downturn. Romania's weight in the global economy dropped to 0,3% in 1993 down from 0,8% in 1983.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Privatisation of industry started with the 1992 transfer of 30% of the shares of some 6,000 state-owned enterprises to five private ownership funds, in which each adult citizen received certificates of ownership. The remaining 70% ownership of the enterprises was transferred to a state ownership fund, with a mandate to sell off its shares at the rate of at least 10% per year. The privatisation law also called for direct sale of some 30 specially selected enterprises and the sale of "assets" (i.e., commercially viable component units) of larger enterprises.


title: Economy of Romania

text: As of 2008, inflation stood at 7.8%, up from 4.8% in 2007 estimated by the BNR at coming within 6% for the year 2006 (the year-on-year CPI, published in March 2007, is 3.66%). Also, since 2001, the economy has grown steadily at around 6–8%. Therefore, the PPP per capita GDP of Romania in 2008 was estimated to be between $12,200 and $14,064.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania was the largest U.S. trading partner in Central-Eastern Europe until Nicolae Ceaușescu's 1988 renunciation of Most Favored Nation (non-discriminatory) trading status, which resulted in higher U.S. tariffs on Romanian products. Congress approved restoration of the MFN status effective 8 November 1993, as part of a new bilateral trade agreement. Tariffs on most Romanian products dropped to zero in February 1994 with the inclusion of Romania in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Major Romanian exports to the U.S. include shoes and clothing, steel, and chemicals.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania signed an Association Agreement with the EU in 1992 and a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1993, codifying Romania's access to European markets and creating the basic framework for further economic integration. Romania formally joined the EU in 2007.


title: Economy of Romania

text: During the later part of the Ceauşescu period, Romania had earned significant contracts from several developing countries, notably Iraq, for oil-related projects. In August 2005 Romania agreed to forgive 43% of the US$1.7 billion debt owed by an Iraq still largely occupied by the military forces of the U.S.-led "Coalition of the Willing", making Romania the first country outside of the Paris Club of wealthy creditor nations to forgive Iraqi debts.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Growth in 2000–07 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Italy and Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. Current account deficits of around 2% of GDP are beginning to decline as demand for Romanian products in the European Union increases. Accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction to structural reform.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In early 2004 the government passed increases in the value-added tax (VAT) and tightened eligibility for social benefits with the intention to bring the public finance gap down to 4% of GDP by 2006, but more difficult pension and healthcare reforms will have to wait until after the next elections. Privatisation of the state-owned bank Banca Comercială Română took place in 2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds is expected to accelerate economic growth. However, the Romanian economy was affected by the financial crisis of 2007–08 and contracted in 2009.


title: Economy of Romania

text: After communism, Romania needed capital infusion, entrepreneurial and managerial skills, the fastest way to obtain that was through foreign direct investment (FDI). As of 2018, total FDI in Romania was 81 billion EUR, 63% of total (51 billion) are greenfield investments. Top ten FDI stock by country of origin in 2018 were: Netherlands (23.9%), Germany (12.7%), Austria (12.2%), Italy (9.5%), Cyprus (6.2%), France (6%), Switzerland (4.5%), Luxembourg (4.2%), Belgium (2.2%) and United Kingdom (2.1%).


title: Economy of Romania

text: The level of investment remains above EU average. Investment accounts for almost 25% of GDP in Romania as opposed to 19% of GDP in the EU, in 2016.


title: Economy of Romania

text: On 1 January 2007 Romania and Bulgaria entered the EU, giving the Union access to the Black Sea. This led to some immediate international trade liberalisation. Romania is part of the European single market which represents more than 447 million consumers. Several domestic commercial policies are determined by agreements among European Union members and by EU legislation. This is to be contrasted with enormous current account deficits. Low interest rates guarantee availability of funds for investment and consumption. For example, a boom in the real estate market started around 2000 and has not subsided yet. At the same time annual inflation in the economy is variable and during the mid-2000s (2003–2008) has seen a low of 2.3% and high of 7.8%.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania adopted 1 January 2005 a flat tax of 16% to improve tax collection rates. Romania subsequently enjoyed the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union, until Bulgaria also switched to a flat tax of 10% in 2007. Since 2018 the flat rate was lowered to 10%.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania posted 6% economic growth in 2016, the highest among European Union member states. According to Bloomberg, the country's economic growth advanced at the fastest pace since 2008. It is now considered the next tech-startup hub country in EU. Nowadays, that Romania's digital infrastructure ranks higher than other eastern and central European countries makes it an attractive place to start a tech business.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In the Romanian press the economy has been referred to as the "Tiger of the East" during the 2000s. Romania is a country of considerable economic potential: over 10 million hectares of agricultural land, diverse energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, and wind), a substantial, if aging, manufacturing base and opportunities for expanded development in tourism on the Black Sea and in the mountains.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Net investments in Romania's economy totaled RON 33.6 billion (EUR 7.2 billion) in the first half of 2018, up by 5.8% compared to the same period of 2017, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS).


title: Economy of Romania

text: In the same year (2018) foreign direct investment (FDI) was 81 billion, 63% (51 billion) being "green field"


title: Economy of Romania

text: The planned national budget for 2017 is 422 billion lei ($103 billion), with an estimated budget deficit to GDP of 1.1%.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has growing middle and upper classes with relatively high per-capita income. World Bank estimated that in 2002 99% of the urban and 94% of the rural population had access to electricity. In 2004, 91% of the urban and only 16% of the rural population had access to improved water supply and 94% of the urban population had access to improved sanitation. In 2017 there were about 22.5 million mobile phone users in Romania and about 18 million with internet access.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In March 2017, the gross average monthly wage was RON 3,256 (€716), and the net average monthly wage was RON 2,342 (€515).


title: Economy of Romania

text: Countries tend to benefit from sharing borders with developed markets as this facilitates trade and development. Below is a table of Romania's neighbouring countries, their GDP per capita, and trade values between the pairs. In 2017, 11.58% of Romanian exports went to its neighbours; while 12.95% of imports came from these five countries. For comparison, Germany alone accounted for 23% of Romania's exports and 20.1% of its imports.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The minimum gross wage in the Romanian economy amounts to RON 2550 (≈EUR 515) from 1 January 2022. The same minimum wage applies to employees with a seniority of over 15 years.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In 2018, the median wealth per adult in Romania was estimated by Credit Suisse at USD 17,658. Average wealth per adult was US$20,321.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania is a popular tourist destination, with more than 15.7 million domestic and foreign tourists in 2018.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania's tourism took a great hit during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, with a drop of as much as 68% of foreign visitors in 2020. But thankfully it's beginning to recover in 2022.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has cities of great cultural interest (Bucharest, Constanța, Brașov, Iași, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca or Alba Iulia), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and well-preserved rural regions appreciated for their beauty and tranquillity. Romania is the destination of many religious pilgrimages, hosting several thousands visitors each year.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The leu (pronounced ), plural: lei (); (ISO 4217 code RON; numeric code 946), "leo" (lion) in English is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 "bani" (singular: "ban"). On 1 July 2005, Romania underwent a currency reform, switching from the previous leu (ROL) to a new leu (RON). 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL. Romania joined the European Union on 1 January 2007 and initially hoped to adopt the euro in 2014, but with the deepening of the Euro crisis and with its own problems, such as a low workforce productivity, postponed its adoption plans indefinitely.


title: Economy of Romania

text: As of February 2021, 1 RON is worth about 0.2045 EUR and US$0.2483. Romania is expected to adopt the euro in 2029.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania, as a member state of the European Union, is required to adopt the common European currency, the Euro. For this reason Romania must fulfil the five Maastricht criteria, of which it met none as of June 2020.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania is an oil and gas producer. The pipeline network in Romania included 2,427 km for crude oil, 3,850 km for petroleum products, and 3,508 km for natural gas in 2006. Several major new pipelines are planned, especially the Nabucco Pipeline for Caspian oilfields, the longest one in the world. Romania could cash in four billion dollars from the Constanta-Trieste pipeline.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has considerable natural resources for a country of its size, including coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, uranium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestine (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land and hydropower.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania's mineral production is adequate to supply its manufacturing output. Energy needs are also met by importing bituminous and anthracite coal and crude petroleum. In 2007 approximately 34 million tons of coal, approximately 4,000 tons of tungsten, 565,000 tons of iron ore, and 47,000 tons of zinc ore were mined. Lesser amounts of copper, lead, molybdenum, gold, silver, kaolin, and fluorite also were mined.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The energy sector is dominated by state-owned companies such as Termoelectrica, Hidroelectrica and Nuclearelectrica. Fossil fuels are the country's primary source of energy, followed by hydroelectric power.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Due to dependency on oil and gas imports from Russia, the country has placed an increasingly heavy emphasis on nuclear energy since the 1980s. The Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant is the only one of its kind in Romania, although there are plans to build a second one in Transylvania, possibly after 2020.


title: Economy of Romania

text: For domestic heating and cooking 48% of rural and small-town households use directly burned solid fuel (almost exclusively domestically produced wood) as the main energy source.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Wind power had an installed capacity of 76 MW in 2008, and 3028 MW in 2016. The country has the largest wind power potential in Southeast Europe, with Dobruja listed as the second-best place in Europe to construct wind farms. As a result, there are currently investor connection requests for over 12,000 MW. There are also plans to build a number of solar power stations, such as the Covaci Solar Park, which will be one of the largest in the world.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The volume of traffic in Romania, especially goods transportation, has increased in recent years due to its strategic location in South-East Europe. In the past few decades, much of the freight traffic shifted from rail to road. A further strong increase of traffic is expected in the future.


title: Economy of Romania

text: As of December 2020, 914 km of motorways are in use with a small portion of Lugoj-Deva (between Margina and Holdea)to be finished while Sibiu-Pitesti is still tendering. The railway network, which was significantly expanded during the Communist years, is the fourth largest in Europe.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Bucharest is the only city in Romania which has an underground railway system, comprising both the Bucharest Metro and the light rail system managed by Regia Autonomă de Transport București. Although construction was planned to begin in 1941, due to geo-political factors, the Bucharest Metro was only opened in 1979. Now it is one of the most accessed systems of the Bucharest public transport network with an average ridership of 800,000 passengers during the workweek. In total, the network is 71 km long and has 53 stations.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has become a natural gas exporter. Romanian Scientist, Lazar Edeleanu, had managed, for the first time in the world, to refine oil based products with sulphur dioxide, in other words separation from the oil of some hydrocarbon groups, without their chemical alteration.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Agriculture employs about 26% of the population (one of the highest rates in Europe) and contributes about 4.3% of GDP. The Bărăgan is characterized by large wheat farms. Dairy products, pork, poultry, and apple production are concentrated in the western region.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Beef production is located in central Romania, while the production of fruits, vegetables, and wine ranges from central to southern Romania. Romania is a large producer of many agricultural products and is currently expanding its forestry and fishery industries. The implementation of the reforms and the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have resulted in reforms in the agricultural sector of the economy.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Fishing is an economic mainstay in parts of eastern Romania and along the Black Sea coast, with important fish markets in places such as Constanta, Galați and Tulcea. Fish such as european anchovy, sprat, pontic shad, mullet, goby, whiting, garfish, Black-Sea Turbot or horse mackerel are landed at ports such as Constanta.


title: Economy of Romania

text: There has been a large scale decrease in employment in the fishing industry within Romania due to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, which places restrictions on the total tonnage of catch that can be landed, caused by overfishing in the Black Sea. Along with the decline of sea-fishing, commercial fish farms – especially in salmon, have increased in prominence in the rivers and lochs of the east of Romania. Inland waters are rich in fresh water fish such as salmon, trout, and in particular, carp which traditionally has been the most popular fish, including its eggs ("icre"), fresh or canned.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has been successful in developing its industrial sector in recent years. Industry and construction accounted for 32% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, a comparatively large share even without taking into account related services. The sector employed 26.4% of the workforce. Romania excels in the production of automobiles, machine tools, and chemicals. In 2013, some 410,997 automobiles were produced in Romania, up from 78,165 in 2000. As of 2018, the turnover generated by Romania's automobile industry was estimated at 28 billion Euros, with 230,000 Romanians employed in the sector.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In 2004 Romania enjoyed one of the largest world market share in machine tools (5.3%). Romanian-based companies such as Dacia, Petrom, Rompetrol, Bitdefender, Romstal and Mobexpert have expanded operations throughout the region. However, small- to medium-sized manufacturing firms form the bulk of Romania's industrial sector.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Industrial output growth was 6.9% year-on-year in December 2009, making it the highest in the EU-27 zone which averaged −1.9%.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania has the third-highest percentage of women working in information and communications technologies (ICT) in Europe. 29% of their workforce is made up of women.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In 2003 the service sector constituted 55% of gross domestic product (GDP), and employed 51.3% of the workforce. The subcomponents of services are financial, renting, and business activities (20.5%); trade, hotels and restaurants, and transport (18%); and other service activities (21.7%). The service sector in Romania has expanded in recent years, employing some 47% of Romanians and accounting for slightly more than half of GDP.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The largest employer is the retail sector, employing almost 12% of Romanians. The retail industry is mainly concentrated in a relatively small number of chain stores clustered together in shopping malls. In recent years the rise of big-box stores, such as Cora (hypermarket) (of France) and Carrefour (a French subsidiary), have led to fewer workers in this sector and a migration of retail jobs to the suburbs.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania is aggressively promoting and developing its biotechnology industry. Hundred of millions of dollars were invested into the sector to build up infrastructure, fund research and development and to recruit top international scientists to Romania. Romania features one of the world's newest competitive bio-industries, in key areas as pharmacogenomics, protein engineering, glyco-engineering, tissue engineering, bio-informatics, genome medicine and preventive medicine. Romania is devoting substantial resources to developing universities and R&D facilities, increasing bioventure startups, growing bio-clusters (communities of biotechnology companies and institutions) and developing human resources, all with the goal of making it one of the world's most advanced biotechnology regions.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The strength of the Romanian economy varies from region to region. PPP, and GDP per capita is the highest in Bucharest. The following table shows the highest GDP per capita of the other 4 counties, with data supplied by CNP.


title: Economy of Romania

text: The highest GDP per capita is found in Bucharest and surrounding Ilfov County. Values well above the national average are found in Timiș, Argeș, Brașov, Cluj, Constanța, Arad, Sibiu and Prahova. Values well below the national average are found in: Vaslui, Botoșani, Călărași, Neamț, Vrancea, Suceava, Giurgiu, Mehedinți, Olt and Teleorman.


title: Economy of Romania

text: In 2017, Romania's largest trading partner was Germany, followed by Italy. Romania's main imports and exports are electrical machinery, motor vehicles & parts and industrial machinery. While Romania imports substantial quantities of grain, it is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products and food stuffs, due to the fact that food must be regulated for sale in the Romania retail market, and hence imports almost no food products from other countries.


title: Economy of Romania

text: Romania imported in 2006 food products of 2.4 billion euros, up almost 20% versus 2005, when the imports were worth slightly more than 2 billion euros. The EU is Romania's main partner in the trade with agri-food products. The exports to this destination represent 64%, and the imports from the EU countries represent 54%. Other important partners are the CEFTA countries, Turkey, Republic of Moldova and the USA. Despite a decline of the arms industry in the post-communist era, Romania is a significant exporter of military equipment, accounting for 3–4% of the world total in 2007. EU members are represented by a single official at the World Trade Organization.


title: Economy of Romania

text: During the first trimester of 2010, Romanian exports increased by 21%, one of the largest rates in the European Union. The trade deficit stood at roughly 2 billion EUR, the eighth largest in the EU. The annual trade deficit has widened every year since 2014, standing at about EUR 18.77B in 2020.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), better known as Raffaella Carrà (), was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, actress and model.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: She was well known in Europe and Latin America as a result of her many television shows and records. Carrà is the interpreter of very popular songs such as "A far l'amore comincia tu" from her album "Forte forte forte".


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: Carrà was born on 18 June 1943 in Bologna to Raffaele Pelloni and Angela Iris Dell'Utri (of Sicilian ancestry) and had a brother named Enzo (dead in 2001) her parents, however, separated shortly after the wedding and Carrà spent most of her childhood between her mother's bar and the ice cream shop in Bellaria – Igea Marina. At the latter establishment, she grew up watching the television programme "Il Musichiere", learning by heart titles, ballets, and refrains of the songs.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: When she was only eight years old, she left the Romagna Riviera to continue her studies directly in Rome at the National Academy of Dance. At the age of 14 she dropped out of ballet classes. In 1952 she began her studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia until she graduated in 1960.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: At the age of 9, while walking with her mother in Rome and through a family friend, she met the director Mario Bonnard who cast her in his film "Tormento del passato", in which she played the character of Graziella.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: Carrà made her debut as a recognized actress in 1960 in the film "Long Night in 1943" and in 1963 "I compagni" directed by Mario Monicelli and starring Marcello Mastroianni. That same year she worked in the French film "La chance et l'amour" with Michel Piccoli. She then appeared in many Italian peplum films, including "Fury of the Pagans" (1960), "Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops" (1961), "Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules" (1961), "Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules" (1962), "Pontius Pilate" (1962) and "Caesar the Conqueror" (1962), as well as comedies and action films such as "5 marines per 100 ragazze" (1961), "The Terrorist" (1963), "The Organizer" (1963), and "La Celestina P... R..." (1965).


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1965, Carrà moved to Hollywood after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox and following in the footsteps of her fellow artists Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren and Virna Lisi, Carrà appeared in the film "Von Ryan's Express" alongside Frank Sinatra, Edward Mulhare and Trevor Howard. In 1966, she guest starred in an episode of the American television series "I Spy" with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. Feeling homesick and not liking life in Los Angeles, she decided to return to Italy that same year where she starred in several Italian and French films such as "Le Saint prend l'affût" (1966), the "Our Man Flint" parody "Il vostro super agente Flit" (1966), "Why Did I Ever Say Yes Twice?" (1969), and "Cran d'arrêt" (1970), as well as a few television shows.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: On 3 March 1967, Carrà was broadcast on the National Program "Tutto per bene", a TV adaptation of the novel of the same name by Luigi Pirandello.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In January 1968, she presented a special broadcast on the second national network, entitled "Tempo di samba". In June of the same year, she participated in the play "Processo di Famiglia", by Diego Fabbri and, at the end of the following year, she starred in "Il sorriso della gioconda".


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In the mid-1960s the director Dante Guardamagna gave her the pseudonym Carrà; fond of painting, he combined her real name, Raffaella, which reminded him of the painter Raphael Sanzio, with the surname of the painter Carlo Carrà.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1970 Carrà participated as a guest actress in the program "" together with Nino Ferrer. Shortly after, Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) hired her to present "Canzonissima 70", a Saturday night show in which she was also an actress and dancer. She also presented "Canzonissima 71" and "Canzonissima 74" in which she released her hit single "Ma che musica Maestro". In 1971, she participated alongside Georges Descrières in the French-produced television series "Arsenio Lupin", starring in the episode entitled "La donna dai due sorrisi".


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: After her success on the Italian market, in 1975 Carrà made her first appearance in Spain on Televisión Española (TVE) when she performed in the variety show '; she subsequently released a compilation album with Spanish versions of her songs. In 1976, TVE hired her to host four episodes of the variety show '.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: During these years Carrà concentrated more on her singing career, achieving success in countries including Spain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, England, Greece, and in particular Latin American countries. One of her most resounding successes was the song "A far l'amore comincia tu", the English version of which reached ninth place in the UK Singles Chart, besides obtaining several gold and platinum records worldwide.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1976 Carrà recorded the album "Forte forte forte", which was released in 36 countries around the world, earning her a Gold certification in Canada'. The album was followed up in 1977 with "Fiesta", which features Eurodisco songs; the title track has been described as "symbol" of the soubrette.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1978 Carrà was a guest on the Chilean programme "Sábado gigante". That year she released the song "Hay que venir al sur", the Spanish version of "Tanti Auguri", and it was another of Carrà's greatest hits.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1980 she starred in the film "Bárbara", shot in Argentina and distributed for the South American market and which was her last feature film as a leading actress. That same year she recorded the album "Mi spendo tutto" which features the song "Pedro", one of her biggest hits.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1981 she presented "Millemilioni", which was the first experiment in international television cooperation: five specials, each filmed in a different capital: Buenos Aires, Mexico City, London, Rome and Moscow.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1982 she presented "Fantastico 3" alongside Corrado, and sang the opening theme song, "Ballo ballo", a song that would be the focus of some controversy, as accused by some of plagiarising "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: Riding the wave of the success of "Fantastico", the disc "Raffaella Carrà 82" was released, it was arranged and composed, among others, by Franco Bracardi and Danilo Vaona, and written by Gianni Boncompagni, G. Belfiore, and Giancarlo Magalli. Later that year, Carrà appeared as the guest of honour at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In February 1983, she was also a guest at the Sanremo Music Festival 1983. "Soli sulla luna" and "Ahi" written by Valsiglio - Peace – Depsa, are songs recorded specifically for the occasion, recorded – "in a hurry" – as stated by the same singer.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: From 1983 to 1985, Carrà presented "Pronto, Raffaella?", the first midday programme on Rai that cemented her role as a presenter as the show became a success, with more than 14 million viewers tuning in to watch her interview of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Carrà also sang the theme song of the programme: "Fatalità".


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: The success of "Pronto, Raffaella?" won her the title of "Female TV Personality at European Level" in 1984, awarded by the European TV Magazines Association. In 1984 she signed a two-year, multimillion-dollar contract with kitchen manufacturer Scavolini, with the slogan "the most loved by Italians". That same year, the renewal of the contract with RAI was at the center of a heated controversy with the then prime minister, Bettino Craxi, who called the amount that the conductor would have earned for an exclusive three years "immoral and scandalous". During this time, Carrà released the albums "Fatalità" (1983) and "Bolero" (1984).


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In the 1985–86 television season she was the presenter of the supershow "Buonasera Raffaella", the first ten episodes of which were broadcast from Rome, while the last five were broadcast live from the studios of the Rai Corporation in New York and thanks to Rai International, visible throughout North and South America. Raffaella also interviewed and duetted with illustrious guests such as Henry Kissinger, Joe Cocker, Riccardo Cocciante, Patty Pravo, Stevie Wonder, Ginger Rogers and Sammy Davis Jr. and sang the theme songs "Fidati!" and "Bellissimo". The opening and closing theme songs of the program are contained in the album "Fidati!", released in the same year. The program put Carrà once again at the centre of controversy because of high production costs, especially for the episodes transmitted via satellite from the United States.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: However, the transmission achieved great success, so much so as to arouse the interest of American televisions that invited Raffaella to the most famous talk shows of the time, interviewed by Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan and David Letterman.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In the 1986–87 season, Carrà presented the programme conceived by Corrado in 1976 "Domenica in", and sang both the opening theme song, "Curiosità", and the closing theme song, "Casa dolce casa". In November 1986, during a broadcast, Carrà reacted to an article published by the weekly scandal tabloid "Novella 2000", threatening legal action against the newspaper, which had accused her of neglecting her dying mother. Raffaella's mother in fact died in 1987. Raffaella paid tribute during another episode of "Domenica in", dedicating her song "I thank you life" to her.


title: Raffaella Carrà

text: In 1987 she struck a deal with Fininvest, with a multi-million dollar contract lasting two years. The first appearance on Canale 5 of Carrà dates back to 27 December 1987: on late evenings a special titled "Benvenuta Raffaella" was broadcast, and the "Raffaella Carrà Show" debuted shortly after on 9 January 1988. It was followed by "Il principe azzurro", in the spring of 1989, which was the last program presented by Carrà for Canale 5.