title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: During the French Revolution nine bells were taken out and melted down to make cannon, but the "Totonglock" and a second bell, the "Zehrnerglock" (1.58 meters, 2.225 tons), made in Mathieu Edel in 1786, were preserved to ring the hours and serve as alarm bells for the city. More recently, a group of six modern bells was cast in Heidelberg between 1974 and 1976; they range from 1.7 meters to 0.9 meters in diameter, and from 3.9 to 5.7 tons in weight. Other


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: The four bells in the octagon tower are rung on the hour. These include an old bell made by Jean Rosier and Cesar Bonbon (1691). Another two old bells by Mathieu Edel (1787) ring on the quarter hours. An even older bell, by Jean Jacques-Miller (1595), repeats the sounding of the hours one minute later.


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: Under the roof of the Klotz tower are the six bells that ring the weekly masses but also the baptisms, marriages and deaths of parishioners.


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: The cathedral has a particularly fine group of fourteen tapestries depicting the life of the Virgin Mary. They were commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu for the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, and were made to accompany a painting there, "The Vow of Louis XIII". They were manufactured between 1638 and 1657 in Paris by Pierre Damour. They were purchased by the Chapter of Strasbourg Cathedral in 1739, and were an example of the importation of the French style of that period into Alsace. They are traditionally hung in the arcades of the nave during Advent.


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, or Museum of the Work of Notre-Dame, is located in a medieval and Renaissance building not far from the cathedral, and displays a collection of some of the most delicate original works of sculpture and art from Cathedral, moved there to protect them from environmental damage. These include some of the original statues from the portals and façade dating from the 13th century, including the statues of "The Church" and "The Synagogue" from the portal of the south transept. The statue of the "Synagogue" is blindfolded, since Jews did not recognise the divinity of Christ. It also preserves the earliest plans of the cathedral, as well as paintings and tapestries and other objects.


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: Other objects and works from the cathedral, including the mechanism of the original astronomical clock, are found in the Musée des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg.


title: Strasbourg Cathedral

text: Protestant and Revolutionary iconoclasm, the war periods of 1681, 1870 and 1940–1944, as well as changes in taste and liturgy, have taken a toll on some of Strasbourg Cathedral's most outstanding features such as the choir screen of 1252 and the successive high altars (ca. 1500 and 1682), but many treasures remain inside the building; others, or fragments of them, being displayed in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved to Halebidu.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysala rulers were originally from Malenadu, an elevated region in the Western Ghats. In the 12th century, taking advantage of the internecine warfare between the Western Chalukya Empire and Kalachuris of Kalyani, the Hoysalas annexed areas of present-day Karnataka and the fertile areas north of the Kaveri delta in present-day Tamil Nadu. By the 13th century, they governed most of Karnataka, minor parts of Tamil Nadu and parts of western Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the Deccan Plateau.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysala era was an important period in the development of South Indian art, architecture, and religion. The empire is remembered today primarily for Hoysala architecture; 100 surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Well known temples which exhibit what the historian Sailendra Sen has called "an amazing display of sculptural exuberance" include the Chennakeshava Temple in Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu, and the Chennakesava Temple in Somanathapura. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts, encouraging literature to flourish in Kannada and Sanskrit.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Kannada folklore tells a legend of a young man, Sala (also known as Poysala), who saved his Jain guru Sudatta by killing a tiger (sometimes described as a lion) that they encountered whilst in a forest, near the temple of the goddess Vasantika at Angadi, now called Sosevuru. The word "strike" translates to "hoy" in Old Kannada, hence the name 'Hoy-sala'. The legend purporting to show how Sala became the founder of the Hoysala dynasty is shown in the Belur inscription of the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, dated , but owing to several inconsistencies in the story it remains in the realm of folklore. Vishnuvardhana achieved a victory over the Cholas at Talakadu in 1116, and the legend may have arisen or gained popularity after this event, as the Hoysala emblem depicts Sala fighting a tiger, the tiger being the emblem of the Cholas.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysalas originated from the Western Ghats, mountains north-west of Gangavadi in Mysore. They emerged as borderland chiefs during the conflict between the Western Chalukya Empire and the Cholas, gaining power as they sided with the Chalukyas and were made provincial governors. After the authority of the Chalukyas declined, the Hoysalas managed to gain their independence. Under Vishnuvardhana, the Hoysalas achieved the status of a real kingdom. He annexed Gangavadi and parts of Nolambavadi from the Cholas in 1116 and moved the capital from Belur to Dorasamudra (modern Halebidu), After taking Talakadu and Kolar in 1116, Vishnuvardhana assumed the title "Talakadugonda" in memory of his victory. Historians refer to the founders of the Hoysala dynasty as "Maleparolganda" ('Lord of the hills'), basing their evidence on inscriptions that describes them as being originally from Malenadu.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Irunkōvēl lines of Velir kings are considered to be of the same stock as the Hoysalas as in one of the Sangam poems, the ancestor of the Irungovel chieftain is said to have ruled the fortified city of Tuvarai. This city is identified with the Hoysala capital Dwarasamudra by some historians. Also, the legend of the chief killing a tiger ("Pulikadimal") has a striking resemblance to the origin legend of the Hoysalas where ‘'sala'’ kills the tiger to save a sage. As per historian Arokiaswami, the Hoysala title ‘'Ballala'’ is only a variant of the Tamil word ‘'Vellala'’. The Hoysala king Veera Ballala III is even now locally known as the ‘'Vellala Maharaja'’ in Thiruvannamalai, the town that served as their capital in 14th century.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Also, the medieval period work "Karmandala satakam" stresses that Hoysalas were ruled by the Velir (Eighteen groups of vellalas) who came to south india with the leadership of sage Agastya.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The earliest record of a member of the Hoysala dynasty is dated 950 and names Arekalla as the chieftain. Arekalla was succeeded in turn by Maruga and Nripa Kama I (976), and Munda (1006–1026). The next king, Nripa Kama I, had the title "Permanadi", showing that an early alliance with the Western Ganga dynasty existed at the time of his reign.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Vishnuvardhana's ambition of creating an independent empire was fulfilled by his grandson Veera Ballala II, who freed the Hoysalas from domination by the Chalukya Empire during the first 20 years of his reign. He declared war against the Yadavas and defeated the Kadambas. He declared independence in 1193. During the establishment of the Hoysala Empire, the Deccan Plateau saw a four-way struggle for hegemony between four dynasties: the Hoysalas, the Pandyans, the Kakatiyas, and the Seunas. In 1217, Veera Ballala II defeated the aggressive Pandya after they invaded the Chola kingdom, and helped to restore the Chola king.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysalas extended their foothold in modern-day Tamil Nadu around 1225, making the city of Kannanur Kuppam near Srirangam a provincial capital and taking control over the southern Deccan region. Vira Narasimha II's son Vira Someshwara earned the honorific "uncle" ("Mamadi") from the Pandyas and Cholas. From 1220 to 1245 the dynasty's hegemony increased southwards to cover both the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. Toward the end of the 13th century, Veera Ballala III recaptured territory in the Tamil country which had been lost during a Pandya uprising, thus uniting the northern and southern portions of the kingdom.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: In the early part of the 14th century, major political changes took place in the Deccan region during a period when large areas of northern India were under Muslim rule. Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, was determined to control southern India. In 1311 he sent his commander Malik Kafur on an expedition to plunder Devagiri, the capital city of the Seuna kingdom By 1318 the Seuna kingdom had been subjugated. The Hoysala capital Halebidu was besieged and sacked twice, in 1311 and 1327. By 1336, the Sultan had conquered the Pandyas of Madurai, the Kakatiyas of Warangal and the tiny kingdom of Kampili. The Hoysalas were the only remaining Hindu empire who resisted the invading armies. Veera Ballala III stationed himself at Tiruvannamalai and offered stiff resistance to invasions from the north and the Madurai Sultanate to the south. Then, after nearly three decades of resistance, Veera Ballala III was killed at the battle of Madurai in 1343, and the sovereign territories of the Hoysala empire were merged with the areas administered by Harihara I in the Tungabhadra River region. This new Hindu kingdom resisted the northern invasions and would later prosper and come to be known as the Vijayanagara Empire.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The empire consisted of the valleys of three main rivers, the Krishna, the Tungabhadra, and the Kaveri, whose systems facilitated the growth of crops and generated an agricultural output that was immense. The highlands ("malnad" regions) with its temperate climate was suitable for raising cattle and the planting of orchards and spices. Paddy and corn were staple crops in the tropical plains ("Bailnad"). As agricultural land was scarce, forests, waste land and previously unfarmed land was reclaimed, and new settlements were established. Large areas of forest were cleared to bring lands under cultivation and build villages. The Hoysala kings gave grants of land as rewards for service to the heads of families, who then became landlords ("gavunda") to tenants who worked on the land and in the forests. The "praja gavunda" ("the "gavunda" of the people") had a lower status than the wealthier "prabhu gavunda" ("of the lord")


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysala administration supported itself through revenues from an agrarian economy. Land was assessed as being wet land, dry land or garden land for the purposes of taxation, and judged according to the quality of the soil. Taxes on commodities (gold, precious stones, perfumes, sandalwood, ropes, yarn, housing, hearths, shops, cattle pans, sugarcane presses) as well as produce (black pepper, betel leaves, ghee, paddy, spices, palm leaves, coconuts, sugar) are noted in village records. The Hoysalas encouraged people to move to newly-built villages by means of land grants and tax concessions.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Taxes, collected in the form of cash, from trade and commerce generated considerable wealth for the Hoysala state, and enabled it to buy armaments, elephants, horses and precious goods. The state and the merchant class became interdependent, with some more prosperous merchants being known as "Rajasresthigal" (royal merchants), officially recognised on account of their wealth. They were seen as "puramulasthamba" (‘the pillars of the towns’). The increased prosperity and prestige of some merchants encouraged them to open markets and weekly fairs, with some becoming "Pattanaswami" (town administrators), who had the authority to collect tolls on goods that entered the town. Merchants engaged in minting activities, sometimes producing the coins and supplying them to the state.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Tanks (large reservoirs) were created at the expense of the state. The Hoysalas put resources into repairing breached tanks and broken sluices, easily damaged by heavy rainfall. They collected taxes on irrigation systems, canals and wells, all of which were built and maintained at the expense of local villagers. Repairs were undertaken by the landlords as well as their workers; such repairs were considered to be a duty and a pious act.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Importing horses for use as general transportation and in army cavalries of Indian kingdoms was a flourishing business on the western seaboard. Song dynasty records from China mention the presence of Indian merchants in ports of South China, indicating active trade with overseas kingdoms. South India exported textiles, spices, medicinal plants, precious stones, pottery, salt made from salt pans, jewels, gold, ivory, rhino horn, ebony, aloe wood, perfumes, sandalwood, camphor and condiments to China, Dhofar, Aden, and Siraf (the entryport to Egypt, Arabia and Persia).


title: Hoysala Empire

text: In its administrative practices, the Hoysala Empire followed some of the well-established and proven methods of its predecessors covering administrative functions such as cabinet organisation and command, the structure of local governing bodies and the division of territory. Several of their major feudatories were Gavundas of the peasant extraction. Records show the names of many high-ranking positions reporting directly to the king. Senior ministers were called "Pancha Pradhanas", ministers responsible for foreign affairs were designated "Sandhivigrahi" and the chief treasurer was "Mahabhandari" or "Hiranyabhandari". "Dandanayakas" were in charge of armies and the chief justice of the Hoysala court was the "Dharmadhikari".


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The kingdom was divided into provinces named "Nadu", "Vishaya", "Kampana" and "Desha", listed in descending order of geographical size. Each province had a local governing body consisting of a minister ("Mahapradhana") and a treasurer ("Bhandari") that reported to the ruler of that province ("Dandanayaka"). Under this local ruler were officials called "Heggaddes" and "Gavundas" who hired and supervised the local farmers and labourers recruited to till the land. Subordinate ruling clans such as Alupas continued to govern their respective territories while following the policies set by the empire.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: An elite and well-trained force of bodyguards known as "Garudas" protected the members of the royal family at all times. These servants moved closely yet inconspicuously by the side of their master, their loyalty being so complete that they committed suicide after his death. Hero stones ("virgal") erected in memory of these bodyguards are called Garuda pillars. The Garuda pillar at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu was erected in honor of Kuvara Lakshma, a minister and bodyguard of King Veera Ballala II.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: King Vishnuvardhana's coins had the legends "victor at Nolambavadi" ("Nolambavadigonda"), "victor at Talakad" ("Talakadugonda"), "chief of the Malepas" ("Maleparolganda"), "Brave of Malepa" ("malapavira") in Hoysala style Kannada script. Their gold coin was called "Honnu" or "Gadyana" and weighed 62 grains of gold. "Pana" or "Hana" was a tenth of the "Honnu", "Haga" was a fourth of the "Pana" and "Visa" was fourth of "Haga". There were other coins called "Bele" and "Kani".


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The defeat of the Jain Western Gangas by the Cholas in the early 11th century and the rising numbers of followers of Vaishnavism and Lingayatism in the 12th century was mirrored by a decreased interest in Jainism. Two notable locations of Jain worship in the Hoysala territory were Shravanabelagola and Panchakuta Basadi, Kambadahalli. The decline of Buddhism in South India began in the eighth century with the spread of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta. The only places of Buddhist worship during the Hoysala time were at Dambal and Balligavi. Shantala Devi, queen of Vishnuvardhana, was a Jain but nevertheless commissioned the Hindu Kappe Chennigaraya temple in Belur, evidence that the royal family was tolerant of all religions.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: During the rule of the Hoysalas, three important religious developments took place in present-day Karnataka inspired by three philosophers, Basava, Madhvacharya and Ramanuja.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: While the origin of Lingayatism is debated, the movement grew through its association with Basava in the 12th century. Madhvacharya was critical of the teachings of Adi Shankara and argued the world is real and not an illusion. His Dvaita Vedanta gained popularity, enabling him to establish eight mathas in Udupi. Ramanuja, head of the Vaishnava monastery in Srirangam, preached the way of devotion ("bhakti marga") and wrote "Sribhashya", a critique on Adi Shankara's Advaita.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The effect of these religious developments on culture, literature, poetry and architecture in South India was profound. Important works of literature and poetry based on the teachings of these philosophers were written during the coming centuries. The Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties of the Vijayanagara Empire were followers of Vaishnavism and a Vaishnava temple with an image of Ramanuja exists in the Vitthalapura area of Vijayanagara. Scholars in the later Kingdom of Mysore wrote Vaishnavite works upholding the teachings of Ramanuja. King Vishnuvardhana built many temples after his conversion from Jainism to Vaishnavism. The later saints of Madhvacharya's order, Jayatirtha, Vyasatirtha, Sripadaraja, Vadiraja Tirtha and devotees ("dasa") such as Vijaya Dasa, Gopaladasa and others from the Karnataka region spread his teachings far and wide. His teachings inspired later philosophers like Vallabha in Gujarat and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal. Another wave of devotion ("bhakti") in the 17th and 18th centuries found inspiration in his teachings.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Hoysala society in many ways reflected the emerging religious, political and cultural developments of those times. During this period, the society became increasingly sophisticated. The status of women was varied. Some royal women were involved in administrative matters as shown in contemporary records describing Queen Umadevi's administration of Halebidu in the absence of Veera Ballala II during his long military campaigns in northern territories. She also fought and defeated some antagonistic feudal rebels. Records describe the participation of women in the fine arts, such as Queen Shantala Devi's skill in dance and music, and the 12th-century vachana sahitya poet and Lingayati mystic Akka Mahadevi's devotion to the "bhakti" movement is well known. Temple dancers ("Devadasi") were common and some were well educated and accomplished in the arts. These qualifications gave them more freedom than other urban and rural women who were restricted to daily mundane tasks. The practice of sati in a voluntary form was prevalent and prostitution was socially acceptable. As in most of India, a caste system was conspicuously present.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Trade on the west coast brought many foreigners to India including Arabs, Jews, Persians, Europeans, Chinese and people from the Malay Peninsula. Migration of people within Southern India as a result of the expansion of the empire produced an influx of new cultures and skills. In South India, towns were called "Pattana" or "Pattanam" and the marketplace, "Nagara" or "Nagaram", the marketplace serving as the nuclei of a city. Some towns such as Shravanabelagola developed from a religious settlement in the 7th century to an important trading centre by the 12th century with the arrival of rich traders, while towns like Belur attained the atmosphere of a regal city when King Vishnuvardhana built the Chennakesava Temple there. Large temples supported by royal patronage served religious, social, and judiciary purposes, elevating the king to the level of "God on earth".


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Temple building served a commercial as well as a religious function and was not limited to any particular sect of Hinduism. Shaiva merchants of Halebidu financed the construction of the Hoysaleswara temple to compete with the Chennakesava temple built at Belur, elevating Halebidu to an important city as well. Hoysala temples however were secular and encouraged pilgrims of all Hindu sects, the Kesava temple at Somanathapura being an exception with strictly Vaishnava sculptural depictions. Temples built by rich landlords in rural areas fulfilled fiscal, political, cultural and religious needs of the agrarian communities. Irrespective of patronage, large temples served as establishments that provided employment to hundreds of people of various guilds and professions sustaining local communities as Hindu temples began to take on the shape of wealthy Buddhist monasteries.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Although Sanskrit literature remained popular during the Hoysala rule, royal patronage of local Kannada scholars increased. In the 12th century some works were written in the "Champu" style, but distinctive Kannada metres became more widely accepted. The "Sangatya" metre used in compositions, "Shatpadi" (six line), "tripadi" (three line) metres in verses and "ragale" (lyrical poems) became fashionable. Jain works continued to extol the virtues of Tirthankaras (Jain saviour figures).


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Hoysala court supported scholars such as Janna, Rudrabhatta, Harihara and his nephew Raghavanka, whose works are enduring masterpieces in Kannada. In 1209, the Jain scholar Janna wrote "Yashodharacharite", the story of a king who intends to perform a ritual sacrifice of two young boys to a local deity, Mariamma. Taking pity on the boys, the king releases them and gives up the practice of human sacrifice. In honour of this work, Janna received the title "Emperor among poets" ("Kavichakravarthi") from King Veera Ballala II.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Rudrabhatta, a Smarta Brahmin, was the earliest well-known Brahminical writer. HIs patron was Chandramouli, a minister of King Veera Ballala II. Based on the earlier work "Vishnu Purana", he wrote "Jagannatha Vijaya" in the "Champu" style relating the life of Krishna leading up to his fight with the demon Banasura.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Harihara, (also known as Harisvara) a Lingayati writer and the patron of King Narasimha I, wrote the "Girijakalyana" in the old Jain "Champu" style which describes the marriage of Shiva and Parvati in ten sections. He was one of the earliest Virashaiva writers who was not part of the "vachana" literary tradition. He came from a family of accountants ("Karanikas") from Halebidu and spent many years in Hampi writing more than one hundred "ragales" (poems in blank verse) in praise of Virupaksha (a form of Shiva). Raghavanka was the first to introduce the "Shatpadi" metre into Kannada literature in his "Harishchandra kavya" which is considered a classic even though it occasionally violates strict rules of Kannada grammar.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: In Sanskrit, Madhvacharya wrote the "Rigbhshya" on the Brahma Sutras (a logical explanation of Hindu scriptures, the Vedas) as well as many polemical works rebutting the doctrines of other schools. He relied more on the Puranas than the Vedas for logical proof of his philosophy. Another famous writing was "Rudraprshnabhashya" by Vidyatirtha.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The modern interest in the Hoysalas is due to their patronage of art and architecture rather than their military conquests. The brisk temple building throughout the kingdom was accomplished despite constant threats from the Pandyas to the south and the Seunas Yadavas to the north. Their architectural style, an offshoot of the Western Chalukya style, shows distinct Dravidian influences. The Hoysala architecture style is described as "Karnata Dravida" as distinguished from the traditional "Dravida", and is considered an independent architectural tradition with many unique features.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: A feature of Hoysala temple architecture is its attention to exquisite detail and skilled craftsmanship. The tower over the temple shrine ("vimana") is delicately finished with intricate carvings, showing attention to the ornate and elaborately detailed rather than to a tower form and height. The stellate design of the base of the shrine with its rhythmic projections and recesses is carried through the tower in an orderly succession of decorated tiers. Hoysala temple sculpture replicates this emphasis on delicacy and craftsmanship in its focus on depicting feminine beauty, grace and physique. The Hoysala artists achieved this with the use of Soapstone (Chloritic schist), a soft stone as basic building and sculptural material.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The Chennakesava Temple at Belur (1117), the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu (1121), the Chennakesava Temple at Somanathapura (1279), the temples at Arasikere (1220), Amruthapura (1196), Belavadi (1200), Nuggehalli (1246), Hosaholalu (1250), Aralaguppe (1250), Korvangla (1173), Haranhalli (1235), Mosale and Basaralu (1234) are some of the notable examples of Hoysala art. While the temples at Belur and Halebidu are the best known because of the beauty of their sculptures, the Hoysala art finds more complete expression in the smaller and lesser known temples. The outer walls of all these temples contain an intricate array of stone sculptures and horizontal friezes (decorative mouldings) that depict the Hindu epics. These depictions are generally clockwise in the traditional direction of circumambulation ("pradakshina"). The temple of Halebidu has been described as an outstanding example of Hindu architecture and an important milestone in Indian architecture. The temples of Belur and Halebidu are a proposed UNESCO world heritage sites.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: The support of the Hoysala rulers for the Kannada language was strong, and this is seen even in their epigraphs, often written in polished and poetic language, rather than prose, with illustrations of floral designs in the margins. According to historian Sheldon Pollock, the Hoysala era saw the complete displacement of Sanskrit, with Kannada dominating as the courtly language.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Temples served as local schools where learned Brahmins taught in Sanskrit, while Jain and Buddhist monasteries educated novice monks. Schools of higher learning were called "Ghatikas". The local Kannada language was widely used in the rising number of devotional movements to express the ecstatic experience of closeness to the deity ("vachanas" and "devaranama"). Literary works were written in it on palm leaves which were tied together. While in past centuries Jain works had dominated Kannada literature, Shaiva and early Brahminical works became popular during the Hoysala reign.


title: Hoysala Empire

text: Writings in Sanskrit included poetry, grammar, lexicon, manuals, rhetoric, commentaries on older works, prose fiction and drama. Inscriptions on stone ("Shilashasana") and copper plates ("Tamarashasana") were written mostly in Kannada but some were in Sanskrit or were bilingual. The sections of bilingual inscriptions stating the title, genealogy, origin myths of the king and benedictions were generally done in Sanskrit. Kannada was used to state terms of the grants, including information on the land, its boundaries, the participation of local authorities, rights and obligations of the grantee, taxes and dues, and witnesses. This ensured the content was clearly understood by the local people without ambiguity.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: Stepfanie Kramer (born Stephanie Lyla Kramer; August 6, 1956) is an American actress best known for having played Detective Sgt. Dee Dee McCall on the 1980s NBC police series "Hunter". She was nominated for an Emmy in Special Class Programming and won Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress from First Americans in the Arts Awards in 1995, 2002, and 2003. Kramer has written and directed for television, and is also a singer-songwriter.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: Kramer was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She is part Native American from her mother's side. She graduated from Chatsworth High School in 1974. Her father was a classical violinist and her mother is an artist.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: Kramer's professional acting career started in the late 1970s, while she was still in school. Kramer graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West, where she has occasionally taught as a guest instructor. Kramer starred in the NBC sitcom "We Got It Made" in 1983. Her big break came in 1984, when she landed a starring role as Sgt Dee Dee McCall in the internationally popular crime drama "Hunter", a creation of television mogul Stephen J. Cannell. After a rough start, the show was broadcast for seven consecutive seasons. Kramer starred in six of them, appearing in 130 episodes. In an interview with Jay Leno in 1989, Kramer admitted that she had not believed the show would be as long-lived as it was, and was grateful for its global popularity and long lasting run.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: In 1986, Kramer stated she was working on a rock album with composer Mike Post, who had penned music for "Hunter". She announced that she might put out an album the following year. No album was forthcoming, though, and in 1990, Kramer announced her departure from "Hunter". The press said it was to concentrate on her music career.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: Shortly after leaving "Hunter", she began recording an album in England with producer Nils Lofgren. The album was never released. In 1992, Kramer married. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter. She continued to write music and star in made-for-TV movies and indie films. She is a trained mezzo-soprano, and during her TV career, she used her musical abilities on several episodes of "Hunter", as well as on Bob Hope television specials. Kramer's first album "One Dream" was released on October 12, 1999. It contains 10 adult contemporary songs. Most are originals. "The Great American Song Book", her second album, was released in early 2008. On it, Kramer covers 14 classic songs recorded live in a one-woman show which she performs in various national venues. In 2008, she represented the US at the International Music Festival in Queretero, Mexico.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: After her departure from "Hunter", she appeared in several TV shows and movies. Her most notable movie projects include "Coins in a Fountain", "Twin Sisters" (1992), "Beyond Suspicion" (1994), "Deceived by Trust" (1995), "The Dogwalker" (1999), and "" (2006). She reprised her role as Dee Dee McCall in the two "Hunter" television movies which were the highest rated films of the year for NBC(2002 and 2003). NBC attempted to bring back the popular television show, but the 2003 revival was canceled after only three episodes.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: Kramer teamed with writer/producer David Chisolm to write feature films, as well as writing feature films and television projects with writer/producer Chip Hayes. Kramer starred in a book reading of the New York musical "A Twist of Fate". She was a special guest in the Los Angeles stage production of "Menopause—The Musical".


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: She made a guest appearance on Pure Flix's internet series "The Encounter", playing attorney Dee Sanders. She portrayed the matriarch Kate Meade in the CW series "The Secret Circle" (2012). In 2019, she appeared as Susan in the feature film "Crossing". Kramer portrayed Dorothy Calvin in the Hallmark film "A Merry Christmas Match" in 2020. She also co-produced, along with David Chisholm, a new stage production "Doc Holliday The Musical" in Los Angeles. In 2021, she portrayed Sandra Holden on NCIS.


title: Stepfanie Kramer

text: In 2015, Kramer was honored as an Icon of Television at the 55th Golden Nymph Awards International Television Festival in Monte Carlo. She returned in 2016 serving as a member of the Fiction Jury. In 1985 she co hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and was nominated in the Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Special Class Program for the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 1996 at the First Americans in the Arts awards (FAITA), she won for Outstanding Lead Performance by an Actress in the TV movie "Deceived by Trust." In 2003 at the First Americans in the Arts Awards (FAITA), she won for Outstanding Lead Performance by an Actress in the TV movie "Hunter: Return to Justice." In 2004 at the First Americans in the Arts Awards (FAITA), she won for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in the TV movie "Hunter: Back in Force."


title: Sting operation

text: In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's wrongdoing. Mass media journalists occasionally resort to sting operations to record video and broadcast to expose criminal activity.


title: Sting operation

text: Sting operations are common in many countries, such as the United States, but they are not permitted in some countries, such as Sweden or France. There are prohibitions on conducting certain types of sting operations, such as in the Philippines, where it is illegal for law enforcers to pose as drug dealers to apprehend buyers of illegal drugs.


title: Sting operation

text: Sting operations are fraught with ethical concerns over whether they constitute entrapment. Law enforcement may have to be careful not to provoke the commission of a crime by someone who would not otherwise have done so. Additionally, in the process of such operations, the police often engage in the same crimes, such as buying or selling drugs, soliciting prostitutes, etc. In common law jurisdictions, the defendant may invoke the defense of entrapment.


title: Sting operation

text: Contrary to popular misconceptions, however, in the USA rules against entrapment do not prohibit undercover police officers from posing as criminals or denying that they are police. Entrapment is typically a defense only when suspects are pressured into being implicated in a crime they would probably not have committed otherwise, but the legal definition of this pressure varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.


title: Sting operation

text: For example, if undercover officers coerced a potential suspect into manufacturing illegal drugs to sell them, the accused could use entrapment as a defense. However, if a suspect is already manufacturing drugs and police pose as buyers to catch them, entrapment usually has not occurred.


title: Sting operation

text: The term "sting" was popularized by the 1973 Robert Redford and Paul Newman movie "The Sting", though the film is not about a police operation: it features two grifters and their attempts to con a mob boss out of a large sum of money.


title: Sting operation

text: In 1998, three agencies joined forces to conduct a sting operation where they successfully recovered the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock from a vault in Miami. The sting operation was known as "Operation Lunar Eclipse" and the participating agencies were NASA Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Customs. The moon rock was offered to the undercover agents for  million. Journalist broke that story in Geotimes in 2002. Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project were the subject of the book "The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks" by Joe Kloc.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells. The class is exclusively designed for export market. The submarine class combines the design principles of the Type 209 family and the features of the Type 212A submarines. However, as an export design, it lacks some of the classified technologies of the smaller Type 212, the most important of which is probably the non-magnetic steel hull, which makes the Type 212 submarine difficult to detect using a magnetic anomaly detector.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: Due to improvements in the pressure hull materials, the Type 214 can dive nearly . It can also carry food, fresh water and fuel for 84 days of operation.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: A contract to build four boats for the Hellenic Navy was signed 15 February 2000 and a fourth unit was ordered in June 2002. The first boat was built at HDW in Kiel, Germany and the rest at the Hellenic Shipyards Co. in Skaramangas, Greece. The Hellenic Navy named them the "Papanikolis" class.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The Republic of Korea Navy has ordered nine Type 214 submarines, designated as "Son Won-Il" class, to be built in Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering; three first batch models entered service since 2007, and six second batch models entered service from 2012.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The Hellenic Navy ordered four Type 214 submarines to be known as the "Papanikolis" class. The first, "Papanikolis", was built in Germany; the following three were scheduled for construction at HDW's Hellenic Shipyards in Greece. In December 2006, "StrategyPage" reported that "Papanikolis" was found to have numerous technical problems. Among the reported problems with the submarine were excessive propeller cavitation, overheating of the air-independent propulsion system's fuel cells, and excessive rolling in bad weather when surfaced. "Seapower magazine" reported the Hellenic Navy refused to accept "Papanikolis"; additional problems noted were inadequate air-independent propulsion system output power, inappropriate periscope vibration, sonar flank array problems and seawater leakage into the ship's hydraulics.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The Hellenic Navy officers in charge of the testing program at the Kiel shipyards in Germany made their case clear in a 2007 investigative journalism program called "Neoi Fakeloi" on Skai TV (Greece). Retired Rear Admiral M. Simionakis, who had been in charge of the "Papanikolis" program for the navy, told the interviewer that the manufacturer had made two attempts to fix a severe balance problem in the submarine, including shifting 21 tons of material from the top to the bottom, yet the vessel continued to heel as much as 46 degrees in sea trials. Photographic evidence of the severe heeling was presented. In the same TV program, the officer replacing Simionakis in Kiel, Capt. K. Tziotis, listed seven ongoing, serious problems with the vessel, including balance problems when traveling on the surface, problems with the AIP system, problems with the weapon system, problems with the periscope, and problems with flooding.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: For its part, TKMS, the German shipbuilder of Type 214, has asserted that it solved all the boat's technical problems in 2006 (before the interviews of the Greek officers mentioned above) and claimed the Greek Navy's continuing complaints about "Papanikolis" technical condition are just a ploy to justify a price reduction. Therefore, TKMS refused to deliver the boat to the Greek Navy until all debts were paid and "Papanikolis" remained in Kiel harbor. Despite this position by TKMS, the Hellenic Navy officers in charge of the submarine delivery have repeatedly stated there are problems with "Papanikolis". In October 2008, "Papanikolis" conducted a new round of trials, which showed that the excessive rolling problem had finally been fixed. The rest of the problems are considered solved. According to the Greek defence press, acceptance of the vessel was imminent. The second boat, "Pipinos", was officially launched on 6 October 2014 and passed through Greek harbour acceptance trials in Elefsina.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: On 21 September 2009, TKMS announced that the contract with the Greek Navy for all four submarines had been cancelled due to country's arrears of more than 520 million Euros. TKMS began seeking arbitration to resolve the matter.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: On 27 October 2009, the Greek Ministry of Defence confirmed that they intended to accept the three boats built in Greece. The Greek "Papanikolis" U214 class is equipped with a hoistable radar mast which does not penetrate the pressure hull of the submarine. In the top of the radar mast the radar transmitter is installed. This transmitter is part of the SPHINX Radar System supplied by Thales Defence Deutschland GmbH in Kiel. The radar sensor is a FMCW transceiver which can't be detected by ESM systems in medium terms. This technology is so called LPI radar, which means "Low probability of intercept". The transmitting power is lower than the power of a mobile phone but the resolution more precise compared to high power Pulse radar. Thales SPHINX radar is a tactical radar, designed for submarines. Greece ordered four submarines and paid the list price of six. (2 bn euros)


title: Type 214 submarine

text: In 2005 Portugal awarded a contract to Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft for two Type 214 submarines, which were delivered in 2010. These two submarines, called, NRP Tridente (S160) and NRP Arpão (S161) are today the only submarines in active service in the Portuguese Navy and replaced the Albacora-class submarines in 2010. In 2014, the two submarines received new UGM-84G Sub-Harpoon Block II missiles. From 2016 to 2018 the Tridente submarine carried out a major mid-term overhaul at Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyards, and the Arpão submarine, from 2018 to 2021 carried out a major mid-term overhaul at the Portuguese Arsenal do Alfeite shipyards The Portuguese Military Programming Law signed in May 2019 aims for the modernization of the two submarines by 2030.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The South Korean "Son Won-Il" U214-class submarine (Hangul: 손원일급 잠수함, Hanja: 孫元一級潛水艦) is equipped with a SPHINX-D Radar System supplied by Thales Defence Deutschland GmbH. It uses an additional pulse transmitter in the top of the mast. The combination of high power pulse radar and a very low power LPI transmitter is very effective for submarines. During surface operations, the boat sails with an open pulse fingerprint for ESM systems, but within a secret mission the operator switches to LPI mode. The boat remains invisible to others. Total of 9 are planned and 8 are in active duty. South Korea ordered its first three KSS-II/ Type 214 boats in 2000, which were assembled by Hyundai Heavy Industries. The Batch 2 order will add six more submarines to the Navy, to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: In March 2008, it was reported in the media that the first Type 214 submarine of the Republic of Korea Navy suffered from defects related to excessive noise from the screw, according to anonymous sources. Later ROKN denied the report. There were no further reports of such noise problems in succeeding South Korean Type 214 submarines. The first three Type 214 submarines of South Korea were built by Hyundai Heavy Industries. In August 2008, South Korea signed another contract with HDW for six more Type 214 submarines. The Batch 2 order will add six more submarines to the Navy, to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. "Hong Beom-do", a specialized guided missile submarine was launched on 5 April 2016.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The first request by the Turkish Naval Forces was made in 2009 and considered to be delivered in 2014. However, due to delay, a new contract was signed in 2016 and it is planned to be delivered in 2020.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: The Turkish Navy had commenced negotiations with HDW for six licence-built Type 214 class air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines. According to the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries of the Turkish Government these submarines will be produced with maximum local content at Gölcük Naval Shipyard in Kocaeli, Turkey.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: On 2 July 2009, HDW and the Turkish Ministry of Defence entered into an agreement for the licensed production of six platforms. The agreement was the largest defence acquisition project in Turkey at the time after the firm order for 116 F-35 fighters at a cost of in excess of $10 billion. Ankara hoped that its advanced, locally produced and highly modified Type 214 submarines will enter into service by 2015. Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul stated that "Turkish industrial participation in the project would be worth around 80 percent of the total value of the deal".


title: Type 214 submarine

text: As the Turkish Type 214 will have a significant amount of Turkish indigenous systems on board, this variant of the Type 214 will be known as the Type 214TN (Turkish Navy). HDW will preassemble classified elements such as the fuel cells and propulsion system and will then ship them to Turkey. All electronic and weapon systems (including the C4I system) will be of Turkish production.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: On 1 July 2011, the 2 billion euros order for six U 214 submarine material packages placed with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems by Turkey entered into force with receipt of the advance payment. This enabled ThyssenKrupp to begin executing the order. The order was designated to contribute to securing employment at HDW in Kiel, as well as at many subcontractors in Germany and Turkey, for the next ten years. Yet, recently Turkey has received around 2 Million euros compensation from ThyssenKrupp due to delayed manufacturing of the Type214TN. A possible reason for this delay is Turkey's demand for in-house developed software within the submarines. However, Germany refused Greek demands to block delivering six Type 214 submarines to Turkey, as the manufacturer Thyssen was bound by contracts signed since 2002.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: In the MEF III (Minimum Essential Force) it mentioned the Type 214 submarine from Germany alongside the submarine from France. The Indonesian Navy is planning in procuring four to six superior Type 214 submarines.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: On 2 March 2021, representatives of the German shipbuilder TKMS began discussions with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises regarding the procurement of up to 4 submarines of the Type 214 submarine.


title: Type 214 submarine

text: In 2008, the Pakistan Navy entered in negotiation of possibly purchasing three Type 214 to be built in KSEW through a technology transfer, and the HDW CEO Walter Freitag confirming and reportedly telling the news media in Pakistan during the IDEAS 2008 convention that: "The commercial contract has been finalised up to 95 per cent."


title: Type 214 submarine

text: It was reported that the first Type 214 diesel-electric submarine would be delivered to the Pakistan Navy in 64 months after signing of the contract while the rest would be completed successively in 12 months. After wavering for over two years, Pakistan dropped out from this deal when successfully negotiating with China to develop and design Eight Type 039A submarine that features the AIP technology with a complete transfer of technology to be built in Pakistan.


title: Belsnickel

text: Belsnickel (also known as Belschnickel, Belznickle, Belznickel, Pelznikel, Pelznickel, Bell Sniggle) is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald area of Baden-Württemberg. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities and Brazilian-German communities.


title: Belsnickel

text: Belsnickel is related to other companions of Saint Nicholas in the folklore of German-speaking Europe. He may have been based on an older German myth, Knecht Ruprecht, a servant of Saint Nicholas and a character from northern Germany. Unlike those figures, Belsnickel does not accompany Saint Nicholas but instead visits alone and combines both the threatening and the benign aspects which in other traditions are divided between the Saint Nicholas and the companion figure.


title: Belsnickel

text: Belsnickel is a man wearing furs and sometimes a mask with a long tongue. He is typically very ragged and disheveled. He wears torn, tattered, and dirty clothes, and he carries a switch in his hand with which to beat naughty children, but also pocketsful of cakes, candies, and nuts for good children.


title: Belsnickel

text: A first-hand 19th-century account of the "Beltznickle" tradition in Allegany County, Maryland, can be found in "Brown's Miscellaneous Writings", a collection of essays by Jacob Brown (born 1824). Writing of a period around 1830, Brown says, "we did not hear of" Santa Claus. Instead, the tradition called for a visit by a different character altogether:


title: Belsnickel

text: The Belsnickel character originated in the Palatinate. When people immigrated to Pennsylvania, they brought their German traditions with them. Belsnickel was known in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. Amongst the Pennsylvania Germans, Belsnickel is the character who visits homes prior to Christmas to check up on the behavior of the children. The traditional Belsnickel showed up at houses 1–2 weeks before Christmas and "often created fright because he always knew exactly which of the children misbehaved". He would rap on the door or window with his stick and often the children would have to answer a question for him or sing some type of song. In exchange he would toss candies onto the floor. If the children jumped too quick for the treats, they may end up getting struck with Belsnickel's switch.


title: Belsnickel

text: An 1853 article in a British magazine describing Pennsylvanian customs refers to ""Pelsnichol", or Nicholas with the fur, alluding to the dress of skins in which he is said to be clad. Some make "Pelsnichol" identical with "Krishkinkle", but the more general opinion is that they are two personages, one the rewarder of the good, the other the punisher of the bad." According to this article, Pelsnichol merely leaves a birch rod in the stockings of naughty children.


title: Belsnickel

text: There are two versions of Belsnickel, the rural and the urban characters. Both are described in the book, "Christmas in Pennsylvania: a folk cultural study", by Alfred L. Shoemaker and Don Yoder. The tradition fell into decline toward the end of the nineteenth century, but has seen a revival in recent years.


title: Belsnickel

text: The tradition of Belsnickel was brought to Indiana by immigrants from the Palatinate. His garb could vary from one locality to another. He might wear a long, black or brown coat or robe, held together at the waist with a rope, and a fur cap or bear skin hat, decorated with bells. In this branch of the tradition, the father or other older male relative was often "busy working outside" or had to see to some matter elsewhere in the house when Pelznickel (or Belsnickel) arrived. "Belsnickling" or "Klausentreiben," was the "running" of groups of young men or youth dressed in false faces and fantastic costumes on "Belsnickle Night", the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas ("St. Nikolaustag"), and was the occasion of good-natured boisterousness. Young men, dressed in skins and furs, would move through the streets of town or village, rattling chains and bells.


title: Belsnickel

text: The tradition also exists in parts of Newfoundland (see mummering), Nova Scotia, and some communities in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.


title: Belsnickel

text: A writer to the letters column of "The Times" refers to an illustration of "Pelz-Nickel" in a book by English author Harriet Myrtle, "The Little Sister" (1851). German illustrator H.J. Schneider depicts him "in a long cloak, pointed hood, a fur round his neck, with a long white beard, and a big bag."


title: Belsnickel

text: Stoudt's Brewing Company of Adamstown, Pennsylvania, brews a seasonal dark lager called "Belsnickle". Otto's Pub and Brewery of State College, Pennsylvania, brews a "Belsnickle" ale.


title: Belsnickel

text: The antagonist of the John R. Neill book "The Scalawagons of Oz", the thirty-fifth entry in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum, is a mysterious monstrosity called Bell-snickle. It first appears as "a large bluish-green object, flat as a buckwheat cake, and rolling along on its edge like a cartwheel." The creature does have arms and legs, as well as facial features; it wears bells on its ears, explaining at least one portion of its name. The creature has the egotism and petulance of a spoiled child.


title: Belsnickel

text: In 2000, author Chet Williamson published "Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas", a children's picture book that includes Belsnickel in a Pennsylvania Dutch version of "The Night Before Christmas".


title: Belsnickel

text: In "Dwight Christmas", a season nine episode of "The Office", Dwight Schrute dresses as Belsnickel and spends a significant portion of the episode deciding if his co-workers were "impish or admirable" at the company Christmas party.


title: Belsnickel

text: The 2020 Netflix film "The Christmas Chronicles 2" features Belsnickel, played by actor Julian Dennison, as the movie's main antagonist. His goal in the movie is to destroy Christmas.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Earth Girls Are Easy is a 1988 American science fiction musical romantic comedy film that was produced by Tony Garnett, Duncan Henderson, and Terrence E. McNally and was directed by Julien Temple. The film stars Geena Davis, Julie Brown, Charles Rocket, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, and Jim Carrey. The plot is based on the song "Earth Girls Are Easy" from Brown's 1984 EP "Goddess in Progress".


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Three furry aliens—Mac, Zeebo, and Wiploc—from the planet Jhazalla are traveling in a spaceship. It has been a long time since they have had female companionship, and they receive a broadcast showing human females. They are titillated by these "hairless", shapely creatures, and when they discover that the broadcast came from Earth, they set off and land in Southern California.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: In the San Fernando Valley, Valerie Gail works as a manicurist at the Curl Up & Dye salon. Dissatisfied with the lack of sexual interest from her fiancé, Dr. Ted Gallagher, she receives a makeover from her friend and the salon manager, Candy Pink. That night, Valerie sets out to seduce Ted, but instead, he arrives home with a nurse. Heartbroken and angry, Valerie kicks him out and destroys his belongings. The next day, she is sunbathing when the aliens' spaceship crash lands in her pool. She befriends them and calls her surf bum friend Woody to come over and drain the pool so the aliens can work on their ship and get it flying again. Meanwhile, she brings them into her home, and, despite an initial language barrier, the aliens prove to be quick learners and absorb American pop culture and language by watching television.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Ted tries to call Valerie and leaves a message informing her that he will return home later that night. Fearing Ted's reaction, Valerie takes Mac, Zeebo, and Wiploc to the salon. Although initially scared, Candy agrees to help the aliens blend into their surroundings. After having their fur shaved off, the aliens turn out to be human-looking and attractive. The group decides to go out and party at a local nightclub, where the aliens' looks, athleticism, and incredibly long tongues soon catch the eyes of every woman in the place. Valerie and Mac begin to fall for each other.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Ted arrives home and, finding Valerie missing, calls the police. She soon arrives with the aliens, claiming she won an MTV contest to spend the weekend with a rock band. Ted angrily demand that the aliens leave, but when two police officers arrive, Valerie tells them that Ted is attacking her guests. As the officers escort Ted away, he calls off the wedding. Despondent, Valerie retreats to her bedroom and Mac goes in to console her. They discover that they are anatomically compatible and have sex.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The next day, the pool is fully drained, and Zeebo and Wiploc are working on their ship when Woody stops by and offers to take them to the beach. They agree, and after accidentally holding up a convenience store, Zeebo and Wiploc are soon driving down a freeway the wrong way, in reverse, with the police in pursuit. Mac discovers his crew mates are in trouble and goes to help, but gets arrested along with Woody in a case of mistaken identity. Valerie smashes the police vehicle to get arrested, too, so she can go with Mac.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The police pursuit ends in a crash, and Zeebo and Wiploc are taken to the emergency room. There, they are examined by Ted, who discovers they have two hearts. While he is envisioning achieving fame and fortune from his discovery, Valerie and Mac elude the police and enter the emergency room disguised as a doctor and a nurse; they manage to convince Ted he is delusional. They then escape back to Valerie's house where work continues on the space ship. Meanwhile, Valerie and Ted reconcile and plan to elope to Las Vegas immediately.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Mac is heartbroken and prepares the ship for takeoff. Valerie goes to say goodbye to her alien friends, followed by Ted, who discovers the ship. While struggling to keep him from calling the authorities, Valerie comes to the realization that Mac is the one she truly loves. She boards the spaceship and they take off.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: After the release of Julie Brown's 1984 EP "Goddess in Progress", Warner Bros. Pictures began writing a musical comedy based on the song "Earth Girls Are Easy", starring Brown. The film was to have a screenplay written by Brown, Terrence McNally, and Charlie Coffey. The film was originally slated to go into production in 1986, but the studio lost confidence in the project when director Julien Temple's previous film, "Absolute Beginners" (1986), proved to be a dismal box-office failure. The role of Valerie Gail was offered to some of the era's box-office draws such as Madonna and Molly Ringwald, but when they rejected it, Warner Bros. dropped the project. Several other studios expressed interest in producing the film, but none wanted Temple to direct. Ultimately, French bank Crédit Lyonnais agreed to finance the film with Temple at the helm (if $4 million was shaved off of the film's estimated $14 million budget) and the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group agreed to distribute it.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Principal photography was finally underway in late 1987 and Temple brought his own ideas to the project, including peppering the background with then-modern-sounding pop songs, featuring an homage to "The Nutty Professor" (1963), and using media personality Angelyne in a brief cameo (the director declared her "the patron Saint of Los Angeles"). However, Temple's studious eye for detail caused delays on the set, and according to producer Tony Garnett, "The first cut we had of the picture was a problem." The film underwent more than five months of post-production tinkering, including the removal of numerous scenes and the production number "I Like 'em Big and Stupid" (a different version of the song plays in the club scene; the deleted sequence appears on the DVD extras) and reshoots later commenced (the song "Cause I'm a Blonde" was injected into the film late in production), by which time the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group had filed for bankruptcy.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The finished print of the film had several very positive previews, which captured the interest of potential distributors Nelson Entertainment, New World, MGM/UA, Carolco Pictures, Lorimar Studios, and 20th Century Fox, but ultimately Vestron Pictures acquired the distribution rights. The film debuted at the Toronto Festival of Festivals in September 1988 and was slated to be released the following February, but legal entanglements delayed its release until May 1989.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Box office returns were low, with the film earning only a little more than a third of its $10 million production cost.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Earth Girls Are Easy" is messy, silly, and not particularly bright – qualities it comes by honestly and deliberately." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Roger Ebert concluded, ""Earth Girls Are Easy" is silly and predictable and as permanent as a feather in the wind, but I had fun watching it." "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide" called it an "[i]nfectiously goofy musical" and went on to cite "some good laughs" and "an endearing performance by Davis". George Anderson of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" gushed over the absurdity of the story, and how fun the film was, saying it "is so cheerful about so many stupid things that you cannot, in good conscience, endorse it, but you may be tempted to adopt it." Chris Hicks of the "Deseret News" criticized the film for being "less a movie than a stretched-out, padded [music] video."


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The accompanying soundtrack album was released on vinyl, cassette and CD by Sire Records on May 9, 1989. Most of the songs on the album are different mixes than were heard in the film, several songs from the film were omitted altogether and Geena Davis' song "The Ground You Walk On" was replaced with a rendition by Jill Jones.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Royalty's song "Baby Gonna Shake" was issued as a single (available in several formats with numerous remix variations) and Hall & Oates' rendition of "Love Train" was released as a single backed with the film's title song, performed by The N.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The film served as inspiration for the music video for the 2015 song "Pretty Girls" by American singer Britney Spears and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Beginning on September 16, 2001, there were several staged reading/performances of a musical play version of the film. Based on the film's screenplay and written by Charlie Coffey and Michael Herrmann, Brown reprised her role as Candy, Kristin Chenoweth took over the role of Valerie, Marc Kudisch assumed the role of Ted and Hunter Foster was cast as Mac. Although costumes and props were utilized, there were no sets and the actors carried their scripts around the stage—these stagings were merely devised to find investors for the show.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: The play did not feature any original songs; the performers sang renditions of 1980s pop songs along with several numbers from the film. The play followed the film's story and scenes pretty closely, but a lot of new dialogue was written, a few characters were omitted, and there were some other slight deviations. Audio and video recordings of the September 30, 2002, staging are circulating, and several video clips from this performance have surfaced on YouTube.


title: Earth Girls Are Easy

text: Despite positive reaction, the timing of the initial staging was bad (coming mere days after the September 11 attacks), and even after subsequent readings, the show never attained the investors needed to become a full-blown production.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: The Battle of Camlann ( or "Brwydr Camlan") is the legendary final battle of King Arthur, in which Arthur either died or was fatally wounded while fighting either with or against Mordred, who also perished. The original legend of Camlann, inspired by a purportedly historical event said to have taken place in the early 6th-century Britain, appears only in vague mentions found in several medieval Welsh texts dating since around the 10th century. The battle's much more detailed depictions have emerged since the 12th century, generally based on that of a catastrophic conflict described in the pseudo-chronicle "Historia Regum Britanniae". The further greatly embellished variants originate from the later French chivalric romance tradition, in which it became known as the Battle of Salisbury, and include the 15th-century telling in "Le Morte d'Arthur" that remains popular today.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: The name may derive from a Brittonic "*Cambo-landa" ("crooked/twisting-enclosure" or "crooked/twisting open land"), or (less likely) "*Cambo-glanna" ("crooked/twisting bank (of a river)"), as found in the name of the Roman fort of Camboglanna (Castlesteads) in Cumbria.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: The earliest dateable reference to the battle is found in the 10th-century Welsh annals "Annales Cambriae". An entry for the year 537 mentions the "strife of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell, and there was great mortality in Britain and Ireland." This is also the first written mention of Medraut (the later Mordred), but it does not specify whether he and Arthur fought on the same side or who won the battle.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Andrew Breeze (2020) argues that the battle is historical, and it was an aftermath of the famine associated by the documented extreme weather events of 535–536, which caused, in the words of the "Annales Cambriae", "great mortality in Britain and Ireland". He interprets Camlann as a cattle raid on central Britain; Breeze cites R.G. Collingwood, to the effect that an identification of Camlann with "Camboglanna on Hadrian's Wall" was "convincing". Discussing further indications suggesting Camlann as Castlesteads, near Carlisle, Breeze concludes: "There is every reason to think that, in 537, when the walls of this stronghold stood high [...], Arthur was killed [there] by men of Rheged, the British kingdom centred on Penrith." Flint Johnson disagrees with Breeze's interpretation of Camlann as a cattle raid, but also agrees that the battle was historical and that the causes would have been political, although the date is still uncertain. Johnson concluded: "The most reasonable reason why Arthur's death was associated with 537 is because as a king he was associated with the fertility of his kingdom and 537 was a period of famine. It would have made perfect sense to a medieval scholar with a British cultural background that the death of a renowned king had caused [that]."


title: Battle of Camlann

text: However, most historians regard Arthur and the Battle of Camlann as legendary. Nick Higham argued that, as Camlann is not mentioned in the list of Arthur's battles in the ninth-century "Historia Brittonum", the source of the "Annales Cambriae" entry was probably an Old Welsh elegy or lament about a different Arthur, perhaps one listed in the genealogy of the kings of Dyfed.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Besides the "Annales Cambriae", one of the earliest mentions of Camlann is found in the circa 9th/10th-century "Englynion y Beddau" ("Stanzas of the Graves", Stanza 12) from the "Black Book of Carmarthen", as the site of the grave of Osfran's son. The Welsh prose text "Culhwch and Olwen", dated to the 11th or 12th century, mentions the battle twice in connection to heroes who fought there. The text includes a triad naming Morfran ail Tegid, Sandde Bryd Angel, and Cynwyl Sant as the three men who survived Camlann: Morfran because of his fearsome ugliness, Sandde because of his angelic beauty, and Cynwyl because he left Arthur last. This triad shows that Camlann was famous as a battle that few survived. Caitlin Green suggests that "Osfran's son" from the "Englynion y Beddau" is connected to Morfran from "Culhwch and Olwen". The text also mentions Gwyn Hywar, overseer of Cornwall and Devon, one of the nine men who plotted the Battle of Camlann, suggesting a now-lost tradition of complex intrigue underpinning Arthur's last battle.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: The Welsh Triads offer clues to the alleged cause of the Battle of Camlann. Triad 51 largely reflects (and is derived from) Geoffrey (see below): Medrawd (Mordred) rebels against Arthur while the latter is campaigning on the continent and usurps the throne, instigating the battle. Triad 53 lists a slap Gwenhwyvach gave to her sister Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), wife of Arthur, as one of the "Three Harmful Blows of the Island of Britain", causing the Strife of Camlann. Calling Camlann one of Britain's "Three Futile Battles", Triad 84 also mentions this dispute between sisters. Triad 54 describes Medrawd raiding Arthur's court, throwing Gwenhwyfar to the ground and beating her. Other Triads in which Camlann is mentioned include Triad 30 ("Three Faithless War Bands") and Triad 59 ("Three Unfortunate Counsels").


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Camlann is mentioned in Peniarth MS.37, a 14th-century copy of the Gwentian code of the Cyfraith Hywel (Welsh law), which (according to Peter Bartrum) shows that it was a topic familiar to Welsh writers. The law states "when the queen shall will a song in the chamber, let the bard sing a song respecting Camlan, and that not loud, lest the hall be disturbed." The 15th/16th-century poet Tudur Aled says that the battle came about through the treachery of Medrod and happened "about two nuts". In the 13th/14th-century Welsh tale "The Dream of Rhonabwy", the immediate cause of the battle is a deliberate provocation by Arthur's rogue peace envoy named Iddawg (Iddawc Cordd Prydain) who intentionally insulted Medrawd.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Geoffrey of Monmouth included the Battle of Camlann in his pseudo-historical chronicle "Historia Regum Britanniae", written circa 1136. Geoffrey's version drew on existing Welsh tradition, but embellished the account with invented details. His focus was not on individuals but the 'character of the British nation'. In Books X and IX, Arthur goes to war against the Roman leader Lucius Tiberius, leaving his nephew Modredus (Mordred) in charge of Britain. In Arthur's absence, Modredus secretly marries Arthur's wife Ganhumara (Guinevere) and takes the throne for himself. Arthur returns and his army faces Modredus' at Camblana (the River Camel in Cornwall). Many are killed, including Modredus; Arthur is mortally wounded and taken to the Isle of Avalon to recover, passing the crown to his kinsman Constantine.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Geoffrey's work was highly influential, and was adapted into various other languages, including Wace's Anglo-Norman "Roman de Brut" (c. 1155), Layamon's Middle English "Brut" (early 13th century), and the Welsh "Brut y Brenhinedd" (mid-13th century). Various later works are based fairly closely on Geoffrey, including the Middle English Alliterative "Morte Arthure", written around 1400. The chronicle tradition typically follows Geoffrey in placing Camlann on the Camel in Cornwall: Wace places it at "Camel, over against the entrance to Cornwall," and Layamon specifies the location as Camelford. In Layamon's telling, only Arthur and his two nameless knights are left alive after the battle. Wace wrote: "I neither know who lost, nor who gained that day. No man wists the name of overthrower or of overthrown. All alike are forgotten, the victor with him who died."


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Further traditions about Arthur's final battle are developed in the Arthurian chivalric romances. These often follow Geoffrey's blueprint, but alter many of the details. The legend shifts to the 'character of individuals' and the proposed adultery between Guinevere and Lancelot is first mentioned.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: In the Vulgate "Mort Artu", part of the French Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) cycle, Arthur goes to France not to fight the Romans, but to pursue his former prime knight Lancelot, who had engaged in an affair with Guinevere and killed Arthur's nephews (Mordred's and Gawain's siblings) Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth. He leaves Mordred in charge of Britain when he departs, only for Mordred to betray him and seize the throne. Arthur brings his veteran army back to Britain, where they meet Mordred's forces outnumbering them two-to-one with his British supporters and foreign allies (Saxon and Irish) at Salisbury Plain in south central England (Camlann is not mentioned). The fighting begins by an accident of fate, when a startled knight draws his sword to kill an adder during the standoff negotiations between Mordred and Arthur. After great numbers die on both sides (including several other kings and most of the Knights of the Round Table remaining after the Grail Quest), Arthur kills Mordred in a duel, but is himself mortally wounded. The dying Arthur tasks his knight (depending on the telling, either Griflet or Bedivere) with returning his sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and he is then taken to Avalon. The "Mort Artu" narration laments that the brutal and bloody battle resulted in the deaths of so many that, afterwards, Arthur's "kingdom of Logres was doomed to destruction, and many others [in Britain] with it."


title: Battle of Camlann

text: This account of Arthur's last battle was adapted into many subsequent works of the preriod from 13th to 15th century, including the Old French Post-Vulgate Cycle, the Middle English Stanzaic "Morte Arthur", and Thomas Malory's influential Middle English work "Le Mort d'Arthur". These works all locate the battle at Salisbury. In the Italian "La Tavola Ritonda", Mordred actually survives Arthur's death in their battle, only to be later defeated by Lancelot.


title: Battle of Camlann

text: In a popular motif, introduced by Geoffrey in "Historia" and elaborated in his later "Vita Merlini", Arthur was then taken from the battlefield of Camlann to Avalon, an often otherworldly and magical isle, in hope that he could be saved. Geoffrey has Arthur delivered to Morgen (Morgan le Fay) in Avalon by Taliesin guided by Barinthus, replaced by two unnamed women in the "Brut". Later authors of the prose cycles featured Morgan herself (usually with two or more other ladies with her) arriving in a fairy boat to take the king away, the scene made iconic through its inclusion in "Le Morte d'Arthur".


title: Battle of Camlann

text: Some accounts, such as the Stanzaic "Morte Arthur" and the Alliterative "Morte Arthure", as well as the commentary by Gerald of Wales, declare that Arthur died in Avalon (identifying it as Glastonbury Tor) and has been buried there. Geoffrey gives only a hopeful possibility (but not assurance) for Arthur's wounds to be healed eventually, but a successful revival of Arthur by Morgan is stated as a fact in the rewrite of Geoffrey in the "Gesta Regum Britanniae"; Wace and Layamon also tell this did happen, claiming that Arthur is about to return. Other versions, like the Vulgate "Mort Artu" and Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur", do not give a definitive answer to Arthur's ultimate fate.


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: Duck, Duck, Goose (also called Duck, Duck, Gray Duck or Daisy in the Dell or Quail, Quail, Quarry sometimes in New Jersey and New England) is a traditional children's game often first learned in preschool or kindergarten. The game may be later adapted on the playground for early elementary students. The object of this game is to walk in a circle, tapping on each player's head until one is finally chosen; the chosen player must then chase the picker to avoid becoming the next picker.


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: A group of players sits in a circle, facing inward, while another player, who is "it", walks around tapping or pointing to each player in turn, calling each a "duck" until finally calling one a "goose", which designates the chosen player as the chaser. The chaser (goose) then stands and tries to tag the chasee (it), while the chasee tries to return to and sit where the chaser had been sitting before. If the chasee (it) succeeds, the chaser (goose) becomes the chasee and the process begins again. If the chaser (goose) tags the chasee (it), the chaser (goose) may return to their previous spot and the original chasee (it) restarts the process.


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: In this version of the game, as described by the British folklorist Alice Gomme in 1894, the picker touches the shoulder of each person in the ring with a handkerchief saying "not you", "not you", until the picker reaches the desired chaser, places the handkerchief on the person's shoulder, and says "but you". The picker then runs around the outside of the circle pursued by the chaser. Once the chaser catches the picker, the chaser is entitled to lead the picker into the center of the ring and claim a kiss. The original picker then takes the chaser's place in the ring and the chaser becomes the picker for the next round. Gomme describes various regional variations: In Shropshire, the two players run in opposite directions and compete to be first to reach the starting point; around London, the chase weaves in and out under the clasped hands of the other people in the ring. Gomme describes Drop Handkerchief as a variant in which there is no kissing. She also connects it to similar games such as French Jackie and Cat after Mouse.


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: Gomme suggests that " 'Kiss in the Ring' is probably a relic of the earliest form of marriage by choice or selection. The custom of dropping or sending a glove as a signal of a challenge may have been succeeded by the handkerchief in this game."


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: A variation described in the 1919 book, "Entertaining Made Easy" by Emily Rose Burt, has children standing in a circle, joining hands. The daisy picker goes around the outside, saying "Daisy in the dell, I don't pick you … I do pick you."


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck" is a variation of the game played in some parts of Minnesota. The only difference is that the picker calls "gray duck!" (instead of "goose!") to signal which player must chase the picker. The picker can make the game trickier, by calling various colors or adjectives that might sound like "gray duck", such as saying "Duck, duck, green duck, gross duck, grape duck, GRAY DUCK!" In some regions and variations, the caller may change the direction in which they run.


title: Duck, duck, goose

text: "Drip, Drip, Drop" is another version played by children mostly in warmer climates. One player who is "it" goes around the circle with a container of water and "drips" a small amount on each person's head. They will then select someone in the circle to "drop" the entire container on top of them. This player will then try to tag the "it" before the "it" sits in the spot of the person who got "dropped" on. If "it" is tagged then they will remain "it" for another round.


title: Significant Other (album)

text: Significant Other is the second studio album by American rap rock band Limp Bizkit, released on June 22, 1999, by Flip and Interscope Records. It saw the band expand their sound from that of their 1997 debut "Three Dollar Bill, Y'all" to incorporate further metal and hip hop influences, but with a more melodic and albeit less hardcore punk-influenced sound.


title: Significant Other (album)

text: "Significant Other" received high commercial sales, peaking at number one on the US "Billboard" 200. Critical reception was favorable, with many responding well to its unique sound and the band's performance, which was considered to be an improvement over the band's debut. The album has sold at least 16 million copies worldwide.


title: Significant Other (album)

text: Following the radio success of the band's cover of George Michael's "Faith", the band was determined to record the follow-up to their first album in order to show that they weren't a "Korn ripoff" or a cover band; the band began writing an album which dealt with issues deriving from their newfound fame. Producer Terry Date, known for working with Pantera, White Zombie and Deftones, was chosen by Limp Bizkit to produce "Significant Other". Guitarist Wes Borland stated of Date's production, "he doesn't get overly involved at the 'music' end of things. He's a producer who fools with sound and sonically makes everything perfect. He gets sounds that translate really well on tape and pretty much completely captures what we do, perfectly." The band immediately began recording after the conclusion of the Family Values Tour, despite the insistence of Interscope Records that the band take a break after it.


title: Significant Other (album)

text: "Significant Other" has been described as a nu metal and rap metal album. An early version of "I'm Broke" was recorded for "Three Dollar Bill, Yall$", but was left off the album because of how different the song sounded from the rest of that album's material. The melody for "Trust?" originated from a melody played in rough form in early 1998, during the Ladies Night in Cambodia tour. In response to claims that the lyrics of "Three Dollar Bill, Yall$" were misogynistic, Fred Durst, member of Limp Bizkit, toned down his lyrical content on this album, which he described as being more lyrically mature. Durst's breakup with his girlfriend inspired the songs "Nookie" and "Re-Arranged".


title: Significant Other (album)

text: The band allowed Durst and DJ Lethal to explore their hip hop influences by recording with Method Man. DJ Premier of Gang Starr was brought in to produce the collaboration. The band wanted to record "a track that was straight hip-hop", according to Borland. The song was originally titled "Shut the Fuck Up", but was retitled "N 2 Gether Now" for marketing purposes. Durst also recorded a song with Eminem, "Turn Me Loose", which was left off the album. Durst also recorded a song with System of a Down's vocalist Serj Tankian named "Don't Go Off Wandering". Serj's vocals only appeared on the demo version of the song where he sang the bridge and ending chorus but his vocals don't appear on the album version of the song. The band also collaborated with Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots on "Nobody Like You". Weiland would frequently visit NRG Recording Studios and help with the recording, vocally coaching Durst. Staind singer Aaron Lewis provided backup vocals on the song "No Sex", while Scott Borland, Wes' brother, played keyboards on "Just Like This", "Nookie", "Re-Arranged", "I'm Broke", "9 Teen 90 Nine" and "A Lesson Learned". The song "Show Me What You Got" is a sequel to "Indigo Flow" from "Three Dollar Bill, Yall$". "A Lesson Learned" is a psychedelic trip hop track similar to "Everything" from "Three Dollar Bill, Yall$".


title: Significant Other (album)

text: Describing the album's music, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that it contains "flourishes of neo-psychedelia on pummeling metal numbers and there are swirls of strings, even crooning, at the most unexpected background." While the band was opposed to solos, they allowed John Otto to perform an extended drum solo in the middle of "Nobody Like You". Scott Borland wrote string melodies for "Don't Go Off Wandering".


title: Significant Other (album)

text: The band also recorded interludes featuring celebrity cameos. The first was "Radio Sucks" with MTV VJ Matt Pinfield, in which he rants about "pre-fabricated sorry excuses for singers and musicians who don't even write their own songs" before praising Bizkit for helping launch a musical revolution. The second, "The Mind of Les" featured Primus bass player and singer Les Claypool in what begin as an album intro. Claypool stated, "I came in and they wanted me to write some sort of intro for the record. I got stoned and got in front of the mic and started babbling and they ended up not using the intro and using that instead."


title: Significant Other (album)

text: "Significant Other" received generally positive reviews from critics. "Entertainment Weekly" reviewer David Browne wrote, ""Significant Other" isn't simply modern rock; it's postmodern rock." Robert Christgau gave the album an honorable mention and noted the songs "Just Like This" and "N 2 Gether Now" as highlights of the album, writing, "Give their image credit for having a sound." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album "considerably more ambitious and multi-dimensional" than the band's previous album, "Three Dollar Bill, Yall$".


title: Significant Other (album)

text: In later reviews of the album, About.com's Tim Grierson gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "A buzz saw of bad attitude, metal guitar and white-boy rapping, Limp Bizkit's breakthrough album, "Significant Other", is unapologetically rude and immature. But perhaps more importantly, it also rocks very, very hard." "Rolling Stone" and its album guide awarded the album three and a half out of five stars. A less favorable notice came from author Martin C. Strong, who gave the album 5 out of 10 stars in his book "The Essential Rock Discography". In 2014, "Revolver" magazine said "Significant Other" was "one of the great guilty-pleasure hard-rock albums of all time", and listed it as one of ten essential nu metal albums "you need to own."


title: Significant Other (album)

text: "Significant Other" climbed to No. 1 on the "Billboard" 200, selling 643,874 copies in its first week of release. In its second week of release, the album sold an additional 335,000 copies. The band promoted the album by appearing at Woodstock 1999 and headlining the year's Family Values Tour. Durst directed music videos for the songs "Re-Arranged" and "N 2 Gether Now".


title: Significant Other (album)

text: Violent action sprang up during and after Limp Bizkit's performance at Woodstock 1999, including fans tearing plywood from the walls during a performance of the song "Break Stuff". Several sexual assaults were reported in the aftermath of the concert. Durst stated during the concert, "People are getting hurt. Don't let anybody get hurt. But I don't think you should mellow out. That's what Alanis Morissette had you motherfuckers do. If someone falls, pick 'em up. We already let the negative energy out. Now we wanna let out the positive energy". Durst later stated in an interview, "I didn't see anybody getting hurt. You don't see that. When you're looking out on a sea of people and the stage is twenty feet in the air and you're performing, and you're feeling your music, how do they expect us to see something bad going on?" Claypool told the "San Francisco Examiner", "Woodstock was just Durst being Durst. His attitude is 'no press is bad press', so he brings it on himself. He wallows in it. Still, he's a great guy."


title: Significant Other (album)

text: Durst saw the band as being scapegoated for the event's controversy and later stated that the promoters of Woodstock '99 were at fault for booking his band, due to their reputation for raucous performances. While the performance was the subject of much controversy, the violence did not affect sales of "Significant Other". The video for "Re-Arranged" would refer to the controversy, with the band being shown on trial for the events of the concert.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Benoit B. Mandelbrot (20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010) was a Polish-born French-American mathematician and polymath with broad interests in the practical sciences, especially regarding what he labeled as "the art of roughness" of physical phenomena and "the uncontrolled element in life". He referred to himself as a "fractalist" and is recognized for his contribution to the field of fractal geometry, which included coining the word "fractal", as well as developing a theory of "roughness and self-similarity" in nature.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: In 1936, at the age of 11, Mandelbrot and his family emigrated from Warsaw, Poland, to France. After World War II ended, Mandelbrot studied mathematics, graduating from universities in Paris and in the United States and receiving a master's degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. He spent most of his career in both the United States and France, having dual French and American citizenship. In 1958, he began a 35-year career at IBM, where he became an IBM Fellow, and periodically took leaves of absence to teach at Harvard University. At Harvard, following the publication of his study of U.S. commodity markets in relation to cotton futures, he taught economics and applied sciences.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Because of his access to IBM's computers, Mandelbrot was one of the first to use computer graphics to create and display fractal geometric images, leading to his discovery of the Mandelbrot set in 1980. He showed how visual complexity can be created from simple rules. He said that things typically considered to be "rough", a "mess", or "chaotic", such as clouds or shorelines, actually had a "degree of order". His math and geometry-centered research included contributions to such fields as statistical physics, meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, anatomy, taxonomy, neurology, linguistics, information technology, computer graphics, economics, geology, medicine, physical cosmology, engineering, chaos theory, econophysics, metallurgy, and the social sciences.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Toward the end of his career, he was Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University, where he was the oldest professor in Yale's history to receive tenure.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot also held positions at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Université Lille Nord de France, Institute for Advanced Study and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. During his career, he received over 15 honorary doctorates and served on many science journals, along with winning numerous awards. His autobiography, "The Fractalist: Memoir of a Scientific Maverick", was published posthumously in 2012.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Benedykt Mandelbrot was born in a Lithuanian Jewish family, in Warsaw during the Second Polish Republic. His father made his living trading clothing; his mother was a dental surgeon. During his first two school years, he was tutored privately by an uncle who despised rote learning: "Most of my time was spent playing chess, reading maps and learning how to open my eyes to everything around me." In 1936, when he was 11, the family emigrated from Poland to France. The move, World War II, and the influence of his father's brother, the mathematician Szolem Mandelbrojt (who had moved to Paris around 1920), further prevented a standard education. "The fact that my parents, as economic and political refugees, joined Szolem in France saved our lives," he writes.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot attended the Lycée Rollin (now the Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour) in Paris until the start of World War II, when his family moved to Tulle, France. He was helped by Rabbi David Feuerwerker, the Rabbi of Brive-la-Gaillarde, to continue his studies. Much of France was occupied by the Nazis at the time, and Mandelbrot recalls this period:


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: In 1944, Mandelbrot returned to Paris, studied at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon, and in 1945 to 1947 attended the École Polytechnique, where he studied under Gaston Julia and Paul Lévy. From 1947 to 1949 he studied at California Institute of Technology, where he earned a master's degree in aeronautics. Returning to France, he obtained his PhD degree in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Paris in 1952.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: From 1949 to 1958, Mandelbrot was a staff member at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. During this time he spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was sponsored by John von Neumann. In 1955 he married Aliette Kagan and moved to Geneva, Switzerland (to collaborate with Jean Piaget at the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology) and later to the Université Lille Nord de France. In 1958 the couple moved to the United States where Mandelbrot joined the research staff at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. He remained at IBM for 35 years, becoming an IBM Fellow, and later Fellow Emeritus.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: From 1951 onward, Mandelbrot worked on problems and published papers not only in mathematics but in applied fields such as information theory, economics, and fluid dynamics.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot saw financial markets as an example of "wild randomness", characterized by concentration and long range dependence. He developed several original approaches for modelling financial fluctuations. In his early work, he found that the price changes in financial markets did not follow a Gaussian distribution, but rather Lévy stable distributions having infinite variance. He found, for example, that cotton prices followed a Lévy stable distribution with parameter "α" equal to 1.7 rather than 2 as in a Gaussian distribution. "Stable" distributions have the property that the sum of many instances of a random variable follows the same distribution but with a larger scale parameter. The latter work from the early 60s was done with daily data of cotton prices from 1900, long before he introduced the word 'fractal'. In later years, after the concept of fractals had matured, the study of financial markets in the context of fractals became possible only after the availability of high frequency data in finance. In the late 1980s, Mandelbrot used intra-daily tick data supplied by Olsen & Associates in Zurich to apply fractal theory to market microstructure. This cooperation lead to the publication of the first comprehensive papers on scaling law in finance. This law shows similar properties at different time scales, confirming Mandelbrot's insight of the fractal nature of market microstructure. Mandelbrot's own research in this area is presented in his books "Fractals and Scaling in Finance" and "The (Mis)behavior of Markets".


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: As a visiting professor at Harvard University, Mandelbrot began to study mathematical objects called Julia sets that were invariant under certain transformations of the complex plane. Building on previous work by Gaston Julia and Pierre Fatou, Mandelbrot used a computer to plot images of the Julia sets. While investigating the topology of these Julia sets, he studied the Mandelbrot set which was introduced by him in 1979.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: In 1975, Mandelbrot coined the term "fractal" to describe these structures and first published his ideas in the French book "Les Objets Fractals: Forme, Hasard et Dimension", later translated in 1977 as "Fractals: Form, Chance and Dimension". According to computer scientist and physicist Stephen Wolfram, the book was a "breakthrough" for Mandelbrot, who until then would typically "apply fairly straightforward mathematics ... to areas that had barely seen the light of serious mathematics before". Wolfram adds that as a result of this new research, he was no longer a "wandering scientist", and later called him "the father of fractals":


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Wolfram briefly describes fractals as a form of geometric repetition, "in which smaller and smaller copies of a pattern are successively nested inside each other, so that the same intricate shapes appear no matter how much you zoom in to the whole. Fern leaves and Romanesque broccoli are two examples from nature." He points out an unexpected conclusion:


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot used the term "fractal" as it derived from the Latin word "fractus", defined as broken or shattered glass. Using the newly developed IBM computers at his disposal, Mandelbrot was able to create fractal images using graphics computer code, images that an interviewer described as looking like "the delirious exuberance of the 1960s psychedelic art with forms hauntingly reminiscent of nature and the human body". He also saw himself as a "would-be Kepler", after the 17th-century scientist Johannes Kepler, who calculated and described the orbits of the planets.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot, however, never felt he was inventing a new idea. He described his feelings in a documentary with science writer Arthur C. Clarke:


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: According to Clarke, "the Mandelbrot set is indeed one of the most astonishing discoveries in the entire history of mathematics. Who could have dreamed that such an incredibly simple equation could have generated images of literally "infinite" complexity?" Clarke also notes an "odd coincidencethe name Mandelbrot, and the word "mandala"—for a religious symbol—which I'm sure is a pure coincidence, but indeed the Mandelbrot set does seem to contain an enormous number of mandalas.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: In 1982, Mandelbrot expanded and updated his ideas in "The Fractal Geometry of Nature". This influential work brought fractals into the mainstream of professional and popular mathematics, as well as silencing critics, who had dismissed fractals as "program artifacts".


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot left IBM in 1987, after 35 years and 12 days, when IBM decided to end pure research in his division. He joined the Department of Mathematics at Yale, and obtained his first tenured post in 1999, at the age of 75. At the time of his retirement in 2005, he was Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences.


title: Benoit Mandelbrot

text: Mandelbrot created the first-ever "theory of roughness", and he saw "roughness" in the shapes of mountains, coastlines and river basins; the structures of plants, blood vessels and lungs; the clustering of galaxies. His personal quest was to create some mathematical formula to measure the overall "roughness" of such objects in nature. He began by asking himself various kinds of questions related to nature: