title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters entered training camp slated as the No. 1 cornerback after Sean Smith departed in free agency. Head coach Andy Reid named Peters and Phillip Gaines the starting cornerback tandem in 2016. During Week 2, Peters recorded a season-high seven combined tackles, made four pass deflections, and intercepted Brock Osweiler twice during a 19–12 loss at the Houston Texans. The following week, Peters made one tackle, two pass deflections, and two interceptions off Jets’ quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as the Chiefs defeated the New York Jets 24–3 in Week 3. He was inactive for the Chiefs' Week 11 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after suffering a hip pointer the previous week.


title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters finished his second season with 45 combined tackles (35 solo), 20 passes defensed, six interceptions, and a forced fumble in 15 games and starts. Peters was named to his second career and consecutive Pro Bowl and was named a first-team All-Pro. He was also ranked 32nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017. Peters’ six interceptions tied for second in the league in 2016.


title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters retained his role as the No. 1 starting cornerback in 2017 and started the season opposite Terrance Mitchell. On October 27, 2017, Peters was fined $9,115 for a helmet hit on Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in the 31–30 road loss. During Week 12, he collected a season-high six solo tackles during a 16–10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. In the next game against the New York Jets, Peters threw a penalty flag into the crowd after his teammate Steven Nelson was flagged for defensive holding while the Jets were attempting a two-point conversion. Peters was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for throwing side judge Keith Washington's flag into the crowd; the holding penalty was accepted while the unsportsmanlike penalty was declined. Peters was seemingly ejected, but instead retreated to the locker room and later returned, but did not play for the remainder of the 38–31 loss.


title: Marcus Peters

text: On December 6, 2017, the Chiefs announced their decision to suspend Peters for the next game. Three days after the suspension was announced, it was revealed that Peters’ suspension also was the result of an argument he got into with an unnamed coach for the Chiefs. On December 8, 2017, he received a $24,309 fine from the NFL for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty stemming from the incident involving the penalty flag. During Week 15, Peters recorded three solo tackles, deflected three passes, and also intercepted Philip Rivers twice during a 30–13 win against the Los Angeles Chargers. His performance earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Peters was inactive for the Chiefs’ Week 17 victory at the Denver Broncos.


title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters finished his third season with 46 combined tackles (42 solo), nine passes defensed, five interceptions, and four forced fumbles in 14 games and 14 starts. Peters led the Kansas City Chiefs in interceptions for the third consecutive season. Peters received an overall grade of 85.7 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked as the 17th best grade among all qualified cornerbacks in 2017. He was ranked 79th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.


title: Marcus Peters

text: On March 14, 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs traded Peters and a sixth round pick (209th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft to the Los Angeles Rams for a fourth round pick (124th overall) in 2018 and second round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. On April 24, the Rams exercised the fifth-year option on Peters' contract. Head coach Sean McVay named Peters and Aqib Talib the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season.


title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters started in the season-opener at the Oakland Raiders and made three combined tackles, deflected a pass, and returned an interception thrown by Derek Carr for a 50-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter of the 33–13 victory. On September 14, 2018, he was fined $13,000 for an endzone celebration. During Week 4, Peters collected a season-high six solo tackles in a 38–31 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.


title: Marcus Peters

text: Peters started in all 16 games in 2018 and recorded 43 combined tackles (33 solo), eight pass deflections, three interceptions, and a touchdown. Peters received an overall grade of 60.1 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 95th among all qualified cornerbacks in 2018.


title: Marcus Peters

text: The Rams finished atop the NFC West with a 13–3 record and earned a first-round bye. They went on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 30–22 in the and defeated the New Orleans Saints 26–23 in overtime in the NFC Championship Game. The victory advanced the Los Angeles Rams to Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots. In the Super Bowl, Peters recorded 7 tackles and 1 pass defended, but the Rams lost 13–3.


title: Marcus Peters

text: During Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Peters recorded a 32-yard pick-six off Jameis Winston in the 55–40 loss. In the next game against the Seattle Seahawks, he recovered a fumble by wide receiver Jaron Brown in the narrow 30–29 road loss. In the next game against the San Francisco 49ers, Peters recorded an interception off of Jimmy Garoppolo in the 20–7 loss.


title: Marcus Peters

text: On October 15, 2019, Peters was traded to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for linebacker Kenny Young and a 2020 fifth-round selection.


title: Marcus Peters

text: During Week 7, Peters played his first game as a Raven against the Seahawks. In that game, he intercepted a pass from Russell Wilson and returned it for a 67-yard pick six in the 30–16 road victory. Peters’ interception was Wilson’s first on the season, and Wilson’s first interception in his last 207 pass attempts. Three weeks later against the Cincinnati Bengals, Peters recorded an 89 yard pick six off a pass thrown by Ryan Finley in the 49–13 road victory. Two weeks later against the Los Angeles Rams, he intercepted a pass thrown by former teammate Jared Goff in the 45–6 road victory. After the game, Peters and Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, for whom the Rams traded hours after trading Peters to the Ravens, had an altercation on field which carried over into the tunnel to the locker room.


title: Marcus Peters

text: In Week 2 against the Houston Texans, Peters recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Deshaun Watson during the 33–16 win.


title: Marcus Peters

text: In Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Peters recorded a sack on Joe Burrow and intercepted a pass thrown by Burrow during the 27–3 win.


title: Marcus Peters

text: In Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts, Peters intercepted a pass thrown by Philip Rivers and forced a fumble on running back Jonathan Taylor that was recovered and returned by teammate Chuck Clark for a 65 yard touchdown during the 24–10 win.


title: Marcus Peters

text: On January 10, 2021, in the AFC Wild Card playoffs, Peters intercepted a pass thrown by Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill with 1:58 remaining in the 4th quarter to help seal a 20–13 win.


title: Marcus Peters

text: On September 8, 2021, Peters tore his ACL during practice. He was placed on injured reserve the following day.


title: Marcus Peters

text: After missing Week 1, Peters would return to his starting role alongside fellow cornerback Marlon Humphrey. In a Week 3 37–26 win over the New England Patriots, Peters had a solo tackle, returned an interception eight yards, forced a fumble, and recovered another fumble.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: American Idiot is a sung-through rock musical based on the concept album of the same name by punk rock band Green Day. After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009, the show moved to the St. James Theatre on Broadway. Previews began on March 24, 2010, and the musical officially opened on April 20, 2010. The show closed on April 24, 2011, after 422 performances. While Green Day did not appear in the production, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of "St. Jimmy" occasionally throughout the run.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The story, expanded from that of the album, centres on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions, while Will stays at home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Heather. The former pair look for meaning in life and try out the freedom and excitement of the city. Tunny quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military and is shipped off to war. Johnny turns to drugs and finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship and experiences lost love.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The book was written by Armstrong and director Michael Mayer. The music was composed by Green Day and the lyrics were by Armstrong. The score included all the songs from the band's original "American Idiot" album, as well as additional Green Day songs from the 2009 concept album "21st Century Breakdown", and "When It's Time", a song originally only released as a single in Britain.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The musical won two Tony Awards: Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Christine Jones and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Kevin Adams. It also received a nomination for Best Musical. In 2011, its won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Set in the recent past, the musical opens with a group of suburban youths living unhappily in "Jingletown, USA". Fed up with the state of the union, the company explodes in frustration during "American Idiot". One of the youths, Johnny, begins to tell his story in "Jesus of Suburbia", revealing he comes from a broken home and feels dissatisfied with the world. He soon goes to commiserate with his friend Will, and a third friend, Tunny, joins the two at Will's house. As they party and get drunk they run out of beer, prompting them to pick up more at the local 7-Eleven. Tunny exposes the do-nothing go-nowhere quicksand of their lives in the "City of the Damned". Realizing they aren't going anywhere, Johnny challenges his friends to start caring about their lives and everything around them ("I Don't Care"). Will's girlfriend, Heather, finds out that she is pregnant with Will's child, and expresses her conflicting feelings in "Dearly Beloved". Johnny borrows money and buys bus tickets to the city for the three young men, eager to escape suburbia. Before the boys are able to leave, Heather tells Will of her pregnancy. With no other choice, he tells his friends he must stay at home in "Tales of Another Broken Home". Johnny and Tunny depart for the city with a group of other jaded youths ("Holiday").


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Johnny's dreams and expectations of the city have fallen short so far, and he walks around the city to establish more of a bond with it. while wandering the streets alone, he pines for a woman he sees in an apartment window ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams"). While Tunny finds it hard to adjust to urban life, he spends his time watching television and is seduced by advertisements featuring America's favorite son, an attractive and masculine all-American sex symbol. He becomes convinced that the favorite son is everything he wants to be as well. The favorite son is revealed to be an American soldier ("Favorite Son"). Believing that joining the military will give Tunny the purpose he believed Johnny and the city would give him, Tunny enlists ("Are We the Waiting").


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Back in the city, a frustrated Johnny manifests a rebellious drug-dealing alter ego called St. Jimmy, who is the carefree punk Johnny has always wanted to be. Johnny takes party drugs for the first time during "St. Jimmy". His new-found courage thanks to St. Jimmy and the drugs allow Johnny to make a successful move on the girl in the window. Two weeks later, Johnny admits he has injected heroin for the first time and spends the night with the girl he saw in the window, whom he calls "Whatsername". Back in Jingletown, Will sits on the couch as Heather's pregnancy progresses. He drinks beer and begs for a release. Meanwhile, Tunny is deployed to a war zone, and is shot and wounded. Will and Tunny beg for relief in "Give Me Novacaine".


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Johnny is smitten with Whatsername and they go to a club together to celebrate, but St. Jimmy has other plans for them in "Last of the American Girls / She's a Rebel". St. Jimmy hands Johnny heroin and Johnny pressures Whatsername into injecting with him. St. Jimmy sets the mood, Whatsername expresses her trust in Johnny, and Heather pledges her love to her newborn baby in "Last Night on Earth".


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Will is increasingly neglectful as Heather devotes herself to caring for their baby. Heather has had enough of Will's pot-and-alcohol-fuelled apathy. Despite Will's protestations, she takes the baby and walks out ("Too Much, Too Soon"). At around the same time, lying in a bed in an army hospital surrounded by fellow injured soldiers, Tunny falls victim to the hopelessness he has seen during wartime ("Before the Lobotomy"). Tunny hallucinates while on medication and imagines he and his nurse engaging in a balletic aerial dance ("Extraordinary Girl"). He quickly falls in love with her. His hallucination disappears, and he's left with his fellow soldiers in agony ("Before the Lobotomy (Reprise)").


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Back in the city, Johnny refuses some dope from Jimmy and instead chooses to reveal the depth of his love for Whatsername as she sleeps ("When It's Time"). His relationship with Whatsername threatens the very existence of St. Jimmy, and so Jimmy forces Johnny to become increasingly erratic, and amidst hallucinations and paranoid delusions, Johnny threatens Whatsername and then himself with a knife ("Know Your Enemy"). Whatsername attempts to convince Johnny to get help, while the Extraordinary Girl tends to Tunny's physical and emotional wounds as it is revealed that Tunny is now an amputee, and Heather and her baby are far away from Will who sits alone on his couch ("21 Guns"). Jimmy makes Johnny leave a note for Whatsername, saying he has chosen St. Jimmy and drugs over her. Angry and done, Whatsername tells Johnny that he is not the "Jesus of Suburbia" and reveals that St. Jimmy is nothing more than "a figment of [his] father's rage and [his] mother's love" ("Letterbomb"). She leaves him and his unwillingness to acknowledge his issues behind.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Hurt by Whatsername's departure, Johnny longs for better days ahead, Tunny longs for home, and Will longs for all the things he's lost ("Wake Me Up When September Ends"). St. Jimmy appears and makes one last attempt to get Johnny's attention, but Johnny has made the conscious decision to end his self destruction, resulting in the metaphorical suicide of St. Jimmy ("The Death of St. Jimmy"). Johnny cleans up and gets a desk job but realizes there is no place for him there or in the city ("East 12th St."). Will, all alone with his television, bemoans his outcast state ("Nobody Likes You"). Will imagines Heather appearing with her new show-off rockstar boyfriend who is much cooler than Will ("Rock and Roll Girlfriend"). Sick of staying on his couch, Will heads to the 7-Eleven and, surprisingly, finds Johnny there. Johnny had sold his guitar for a bus ticket home. Tunny also appears at the 7-Eleven, having returned from deployment with the Extraordinary Girl. Johnny becomes furious with Tunny for leaving him in the city, but quickly forgives him, and the three friends embrace. Tunny introduces his friends to the Extraordinary Girl. Heather and her rockstar boyfriend arrive in style, and in an uneasy truce, she allows Will to hold their baby. Other friends show up to greet the three men they haven't seen in a year ("We're Coming Home Again"). One year later, Johnny laments that he lost the love of his life, but he accepts that he can live with the struggle between rage and love that has defined his life. With this acceptance comes the possibility of hope ("Whatsername").


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: After the cast takes their bows, the curtain rises to reveal the entire company with guitars, and they perform "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". Each performance of this song was recorded and given to the audience as a free digital download.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: In 2000, Green Day released the album "Warning". "Village Voice" music critic Robert Christgau compared "Warning" to the band's previous album ("Nimrod"), and noted that "[Billie Joe Armstrong is] abandoning the first person. He's assuming fictional personas. And he's creating for himself the voice of a thinking left-liberal." Christgau also detected "a faint whiff" of the work of the theatrical composer/lyricist team of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. The trend of writing in the third person came to fruition with Green Day's next studio album, "American Idiot" in 2004. The first new song Green Day wrote was the single "American Idiot".


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: One day, bassist Mike Dirnt was in the studio recording a 30-second song by himself. Armstrong decided that he wanted to do the same, and drummer Tré Cool followed suit. Armstrong recalled, "It started getting more serious as we tried to outdo one another. We kept connecting these little half-minute bits until we had something." This musical suite became "Homecoming", and the group subsequently wrote another suite, "Jesus of Suburbia".


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Green Day made the record an album-long conceptual piece which was a response to the realities of the post-9/11 era. The band took inspiration from the concept records by The Who, sources in the musical theater repertoire like "The Rocky Horror Show" and "West Side Story", and the concept album-come-stage musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". Armstrong also said the band intended "that it would be staged or we'd create a film or something... we were thinking in terms that it kind of felt like scoring a movie."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Director Michael Mayer heard the album and expressed an interest in adapting it for the stage. When he approached the band regarding a collaboration, they agreed to work with him. The band also gave Mayer a wide latitude for his adaptation after seeing his earlier work in "Spring Awakening". Though additional songs were included from the Green Day catalogue, Mayer added very little dialogue to the show. He felt instead that the music and lyrics were expressive enough on their own, and even removed some of the dialogue that was part of the Berkeley production before the show moved to Broadway.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The musical premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Previews began on September 4, 2009, and the official opening was on September 15, 2009. After becoming the top-grossing show in the theatre's history, the producers extended the limited run twice to November 15, 2009. The cast included John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Matt Caplan as Tunny, Michael Esper as Will, Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The musical transferred to the St. James Theatre on Broadway, with previews beginning on March 24, 2010. It officially opened on April 20, 2010. The cast for the Berkeley Repertory production was retained for the Broadway production, with the exception of Caplan, who was replaced by Stark Sands. It was rumored that the show cost between $8 million and $10 million to produce. After six months of performances, the show was "still a ways off from possibly turning a profit" according to a "The New York Times" report. As a part of the promotion for the show, the cast performed at the Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010, with Green Day.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Tom Kitt was the music supervisor and orchestrator for both the Berkeley and Broadway productions. The lead producers for the show were Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce. Vivek Tiwary was another producer. The creative team for the show was largely the same as for the musical adaptation of "Spring Awakening": director Michael Mayer, scenic designer Christine Jones and lighting designer Kevin Adams. Steven Hoggett was the choreographer, Andrea Lauer was the costume designer and Brian Ronan was the sound designer.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong played the role of St. Jimmy from September 28 to October 3, 2010. Ticket sales for the week Armstrong performed were up 77%, average ticket prices increased 22%, and gross sales increased 127% from the previous week's totals. The singer-songwriter filled in for Tony Vincent who took time off for personal matters. Armstrong made another 50 appearances as St. Jimmy between January 1 and February 27, 2011. Melissa Etheridge played the part of St. Jimmy on Broadway from February 1–6, 2011, and Davey Havok took the role from March 1–15, 2011.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Following Armstrong's departure from the cast, the show experienced weak sales. The Broadway production closed on April 24, 2011, after 27 previews and 421 performances. Armstrong returned to the role of St. Jimmy for the final three weeks. The show's cast recording won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: "American Idiot" toured North America beginning on December 28, 2011, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original national tour cast included Van Hughes reprising his role as Johnny, Jake Epstein as Will, Scott J. Campbell as Tunny, Leslie McDonel as Heather, Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername, Nicci Claspell as The Extraordinary Girl, and Broadway alumnus Joshua Kobak as St. Jimmy. The tour closed on July 8, 2012, at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A UK and Ireland tour visited Manchester, Southampton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham and London later in 2012. The cast included Alex Nee as Johnny, Casey O'Farrell as Will, Thomas Hettrick as Tunny, Kennedy Caughell as Heather, Alyssa DiPalma as Whatsername, Jenna Rubaii as The Extraordinary Girl, and Trent Saunders as St. Jimmy. It started on October 9, 2012, in Southampton and ended on December 16, 2012, at HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London. A second US tour began performances in Norfolk, Virginia on January 25, 2013, with the UK touring cast. It ended Las Vegas, Nevada on June 16, 2013.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: On August 7, 2013, "American Idiot" made its debut in Tokyo, Japan, and a few weeks later on September 5, it made its South Korean debut in Seoul. Sean Michael Murray took over the role of Johnny, Mariah MacFarlane took over as Heather, and Daniel C. Jackson took over as St. Jimmy.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A non-Equity third US national tour cast included Jared Nepute as Johnny, Casey O'Farrell as Will, Dan Tracy as Tunny, Mariah MacFarlane as Heather, Olivia Puckett as Whatsername, Taylor Jones as Extraordinary Girl, and Daniel C. Jackson as St. Jimmy. On January 16, 2014, Carson Higgins, who had previously been a part of the previous non-equity/UK tour, took over the role of St. Jimmy, after Daniel C. Jackson left the show.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: "American Idiot"s Scandinavian premiere at the Malmö Opera from February to April 2015 was a new production of the musical. It was the first official production not to be directed by Michael Mayer. The songs were performed in English but the dialogue was spoken in Swedish.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A production opened in 2015 at the Arts Theatre in the West End. The cast includes Amelia Lily as Whatsername, Aaron Sidwell as Johnny, Alexis Gerred as Tunny, Steve Rushton as Will and Lucas Rush as St. Jimmy The show was produced by Sell a Door Theatre Company and directed and Choreographed by Racky Plews


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: It was announced in April 2016 that the production would return to the Arts Theatre for the summer of 2016 after a UK tour concluding in Belfast in early July 2016. Matt Thorpe played Johnny in the early stages of the tour until Newton Faulkner became available. In the West End, Newton Faulkner continued to play Johnny. Matt Thorpe made a few further guest appearances as Johnny before taking over the role of Will from Steve Rushton.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A production was completed in San Jose by City Lights Theatre Company. It ran from July 14 to August 21, but was extended by an extra week.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A production by Fighting Chance Productions ran from July 28 to August 27 alongside the theatre company's production of "Heathers" at Granville Island's Waterfront Theatre. This was the Western Canadian premiere of "American Idiot".


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: "American Idiot" had its Australian debut at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre from February 23 to March 12. The role of St. Jimmy was shared between Australian rock musicians Chris Cheney (The Living End), and Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon).


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: A production opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina on August 14, 2017, and ran over the course of eight weeks. All the songs from the musical were adapted to Spanish with a few selected dates on its original language.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The first production in Copenhagen, Denmark opened on September 15, 2017. It played at legendary concert venue Den Graa Hal at Christiania, which was also the first concert venue Green Day performed in Copenhagen in the 1990s. A revival of the show will open 26 June 2021 at the iconic Østre Gasværk Teater as one of the first musical theatre productions to play in Denmark after lockdown due to the corona pandemic.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: On January 17, 2018, the first German production of "American Idiot" opened at the renowned rock concert venue Batschkapp in Frankfurt. The production, which is mounted by the startup company Off-Musical Frankfurt, is directed by Thomas Helmut Heep. The creative team also consists of Ludwig Mond (choreographer) and Dean Wilmington (musical director). The lyrics were translated into German by Titus Hoffmann. The production garnered positive reviews, with Jens Alsbach from "Musicalzentrale" saying that it "sets new standards for musical theatre in Germany."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Following the success of the musical's 2017 run in Brisbane, it returned for a second season in 2018, touring around Australia. Performances took place in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne, before returning to Brisbane, and then ending in Darwin. The role of St. Jimmy was shared between Australian rock musicians Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus) and Adalita Srsen (Magic Dirt).


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: From February 8 through February 17, Encore Theatrical Company presented a limited 6 show engagement; the production was hailed by audiences and critics alike and featured aerial sequences staged by Jason Whicker (aerial choreographer from the original Berkeley Rep production) and On the Fly Productions.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The cast includes Tom Milner as Johnny, Joshua Dowen as Tunny, Samuel Pope as Will, Luke Friend as St. Jimmy, Sam Lavery as Whatsername. The tour wrapped on July 14, 2019.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The first Czech production of "American Idiot" premiered on February 15, 2020 at Pilsen's J. K. Tyl Theatre Small Scene.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The show features all of the songs from the album "American Idiot", some b-sides from the "American Idiot" and "21 Guns" singles, and a few songs from "21st Century Breakdown". The show also features an onstage band.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Green Day re-released the single "21 Guns" with the musical cast on Spinner.com on December 3, 2009. This version features Billie Joe Armstrong, together with Christina Sajous, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Mary Faber, and Stark Sands, with back-up from the rest of "American Idiot" cast. Another version was released with John Gallagher Jr., Michael Esper, and Sands singing the parts that Armstrong had previously sung. Green Day and the cast of the musical also performed the song at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The of the musical was released on April 20, 2010. The cast album includes all the songs featured in the musical plus a brand new recording of "When It's Time" by Green Day. The album won Best Musical Show Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Reviews for the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production were mixed. Charles McNulty of the "Los Angeles Times" called the show "kinetically entertaining in a way that intentionally reflects the shallow, media-saturated culture the album rails against". Karen D'Souza of "San Jose Mercury News" called the production "a thrashing collage of songs fused together with hypnotic movement and eye-popping visuals" and thought the show "as compelling as it is abstract [and] channels the grungy spirit of punk while also plucking at the heartstrings." However, Jim Harrington of the "Oakland Tribune" compared the show unfavorably to the original album, writing: "[what] once was a fine Gouda, has been prepackaged as Velveeta", and continued sarcastically, "In other words, it should do big business on Broadway." Charles Isherwood of "The New York Times" commented that the show contained "characters who lack much in the way of emotional depth or specificity, and plotlines that are simple to the point of crudity" but also felt that "the show possesses a stimulating energy and a vision of wasted youth that holds us in its grip."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Isherwood's review for the Broadway production was enthusiastic. He called the show "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions... only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution, the show is as invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I've seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past." Jed Gottlieb of the "Boston Herald" enjoyed the premise of the show but found that "the music and message suffer in a setting where the audience is politely, soberly seated". Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press found the show to be "visually striking [and] musically adventurous", but noted that "the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development". Paul Kolnik in "USA Today" enjoyed the contradiction that Green Day's "massively popular, starkly disenchanted album ... would be the feel-good musical of the season". "Time" magazine's Richard Zoglin opined that the score "is as pure a specimen of contemporary punk rock as Broadway has yet encountered [yet] there's enough variety... Where the show fall short is as a fully developed narrative." He concluded that ""American Idiot", despite its earnest huffing and puffing, remains little more than an annotated rock concert... Still, [it] deserves at least two cheers – for its irresistible musical energy and for opening fresh vistas for that odd couple, rock and Broadway." Peter Travers from "Rolling Stone" wrote, "Though "American Idiot" carries echoes of such rock musicals as "Tommy", "Hair", "Rent" and "Spring Awakening", it cuts its own path to the heart. You won't know what hit you. "American Idiot" knows no limits — it's a global knockout."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Paul Taylor's review in "The Independent" hails "American Idiot" as "the "Hair" of its generation". Yet, as noted by Harry Lou in "The Indianapolis Business Journal", "[i]ts female characters are sketched even lighter than the main men are". Although intended to empower the disillusioned youth of early 21st century America, "American Idiot" excludes the female voice from this discourse. This disempowering of the female is evident in the fact that the female leads are denied identity, let alone agency. Just one of the three is given a name, and all represent a stereotypical form of 'woman'; the mother, the artistic muse, and the object of the voyeuristic male gaze.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Reviews of the West End production were generally positive. Rachel Ward of "The Telegraph" gave it four out of five stars, calling "90 minutes of uninterrupted chaos". Kate Stanbury from Official London Theatre summarized, "Chaotic, intense and pulsating with legendary Green Day hits, a trip to this Tony Award-winning musical may just give you the time of your life." Paul Taylor of "The Independent" also gave four out of five stars, praising director and choreographer Racky Plews for making "a sharp-witted version that throbs with some of the energy of a rock gig (if minus the feeling of unpredictability) while being shrewdly calibrated to suit the intimacy of the 350-seater Arts Theatre."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: "American Idiot" won a total of five awards. At a meeting of the Tony Administration Committee on April 30, 2010, the score of "American Idiot" was deemed ineligible for a Tony Award for Best Original Score nomination because less than 50% of it was written for the stage production.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: The following is a month-by-month breakdown of sales, attendance, and performance data for the production at the 1,709-capacity St. James Theatre.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: On January 23, 2012, it was announced that a documentary showing Armstrong's journey from punk rock to Broadway was to be released. Called "Broadway Idiot" and showing a lot of behind-the-scenes of the musical production, the movie was directed by Doug Hamilton, veteran television journalist for CBS News' "60 Minutes" and PBS documentaries such as "Nova", "Frontline" and "American Masters". A trailer was released on January 30, 2013. The documentary premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 15, 2013. On October 11, 2013, it was released in some theaters and on video on demand by FilmBuff.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 65% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 20 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film has a score of 51 (citing "mixed or average reviews") based on 14 reviews.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: In April 2011, production company Playtone optioned the musical to develop a film version, and Universal Pictures began initial negotiations to distribute it. Michael Mayer, who directed the Broadway production, was named as director. Dustin Lance Black was initially hired to adapt the musical. Billie Joe Armstrong was asked to star as St. Jimmy, and the film was proposed for a 2013 release. Armstrong later posted on his Twitter account that he had not "totally committed" to the role but was interested in it.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: In July 2013, at a screening of "Broadway Idiot", Mayer reported that the film adaptation was still happening, but production had not been scheduled due to "Hollywood bullshit". In March 2014, playwright Rolin Jones told the "Hartford Courant" that he was writing a new screenplay for the film. Comparing it to the musical, Jones said, "The idea is to get it a little dirtier and a little nastier and translate it into visual terms. There's not going to be a lot of dialogue and it probably should be a little shorter, too. After that, it just takes its 'movie time' in getting done". He expected to finish the script by the end of the month.


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: In October 2016, in an interview with "NME", Armstrong revealed that the film was now being made at HBO and the script was getting rewrites. He confirmed he would reprise his Broadway role as St. Jimmy. In November 2016, Armstrong stated that the film was "going to be a lot different from the musical. It's kind of, more surreal but I think there's going to be parts of it that might offend people – which is good. I think it's a good time to offend people. I think there's just going to be a lot of imagery that we couldn't pull off in the musical in the stage version. You know, I don't want to give away too much, but it will be shocking in a way which makes you think."


title: American Idiot (musical)

text: In February 2020, Billie Joe Armstrong revealed to "NME" that plans for a film adaptation of the stage musical had been "pretty much scrapped", without providing any more details as to the reason.


title: Emma Peel

text: Emma Peel is a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series "The Avengers", and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight. She is the crime-fighting partner of John Steed.


title: Emma Peel

text: As a lady spy adventurer and expert in martial arts, she became a feminist role model around the world and is considered an icon of British popular culture. Regarded as a 1960s fashion icon and sex symbol, the character is often remembered for the leather catsuit sometimes worn by Rigg in the first series.


title: Emma Peel

text: Mrs. Peel was introduced as a replacement for the popular character Cathy Gale, played by actress Honor Blackman. Blackman left the programme at the end of the third season to co-star in the James Bond film "Goldfinger".


title: Emma Peel

text: Elizabeth Shepherd was initially cast as Emma Peel and production on the fourth series began. After filming all of one episode and part of a second, the producers decided that Shepherd was not suitable for the part, and she was dismissed. No footage of Shepherd as Peel is known to have survived.


title: Emma Peel

text: The producers had to quickly replace her and gave the job to Diana Rigg; the episodes with Shepherd were then subsequently re-filmed.


title: Emma Peel

text: The character was particularly notable for a number of characteristics. Peel is a strong heroine; she is rarely defeated in fights and is capable of rescuing Steed if he is in trouble. She is a master of martial arts and a formidable fencer. A certified genius, she specialises in chemistry and other sciences. She is often seen in episodes engaging in artistic hobbies and had success in industry at the helm of the company of her late father, Sir John Knight. Her husband, Peter Peel, was a pilot whose plane had disappeared over the Amazonian forest. He was presumed dead for many years, and Peel went on to work with Steed. She drove a convertible Lotus Elan at high speeds, and convincingly portrayed any series of undercover roles, from nurse to nanny. Her favourite guise was that of a women's magazine reporter, trying to interview big business tycoons and rich playboys. The name "Emma Peel" is a play on the phrase "Man Appeal" or "M. Appeal", which the production team stated was one of the required elements of the character. (Diana Rigg was never comfortable in her position as a world-famous sex-symbol.)


title: Emma Peel

text: Peel's verbal interactions with Steed range from witty banter to thinly disguised innuendo. Regarding the constant question of whether they had a sexual relationship at any time, Patrick Macnee thought the characters went to bed on a very regular basis (just not in view of the camera). However, Rigg thought they were most likely engaging in an enjoyable extended flirtation that ultimately went nowhere. Writer/producer Brian Clemens said he wrote them with the idea that they had an affair before Emma's first appearance in the series, and they certainly appear to already know each other very well when Emma is first introduced to the series.


title: Emma Peel

text: Her style of dress typified the period, and the character is still a fashion icon. John Bates was brought in as the costume designer for Emma Peel in the second half of the fourth series. He created a wardrobe of black and white op-art mod clothing and miniskirts. Before this, people had believed that lines, circles and other bold patterns would not work on the television cameras of the day. Episodes were filmed before the miniskirt had even become a mainstream fashion statement. Bates had to stop leaving hems on the mini skirts because the production team kept lowering them again. He also licensed his designs to several manufacturers under the "Avengerswear" label and these pieces were sold in various shops throughout the country. Diana Rigg is often remembered for the leather catsuit she wore early on in her first season. Rigg disliked wearing the leather outfit, so Bates designed softer stretch jersey and PVC catsuits for her instead.


title: Emma Peel

text: When the show transitioned from black and white to colour, the designer was Alun Hughes, who used bold colours and lurid, psychedelic patterns. Hughes also created the "Emmapeeler" catsuit, which was made of stretch jersey in bright block colours. The Emmapeelers and several other pieces from this season's wardrobe were licensed and sold in women's fashion shops as well.


title: Emma Peel

text: When her husband, Peter Peel, surprisingly reappears at the end of "The Forget-Me-Knot", Emma decides to leave Steed and her spy career behind. In the distant shot in which he appears, Peter Peel looks suspiciously like Steed (and was in fact played by Patrick Macnee's stunt double, Peter Weston), and like Steed, he drives a two-door convertible Bentley, albeit a contemporary model. Emma meets her replacement, Tara King (played by Linda Thorson), who enters the building as she herself is leaving and tells her that Steed likes his tea stirred "anti-clockwise". Peel would be the last of the "talented amateurs" with whom John Steed was teamed, as her successor is a neophyte professional agent.


title: Emma Peel

text: In real life, Diana Rigg had chosen to leave the series for a number of reasons, one of which was to accept a role in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (similarly, her predecessor Honor Blackman departed to appear in the Bond film "Goldfinger").


title: Emma Peel

text: During her first series, Rigg eventually discovered that she was being paid less than the cameramen: afterwards her salary was tripled and combined with her loyalty to Macnee, she was persuaded to come back for 25 additional episodes (including her farewell episode, which was actually shot well into the Tara King season). Eventually the arduous shooting schedules, various conflicts with the producers, the lure of film and stage roles, and a desire to challenge herself as an actress all combined in her decision to leave the show for good.


title: Emma Peel

text: After leaving the series, Rigg played a variation of the Emma Peel character in two German short films produced for the 8mm market: "The Diadem" and "The Mini-Killers". Little behind the scenes information has surfaced, though the films themselves have survived.


title: Emma Peel

text: Emma Peel re-appeared on "The New Avengers" using archive clips from the original series, featured in the episode entitled "K is for Kill". She briefly speaks with Steed over the phone and mentions that her last name isn't Peel anymore; Steed replies, "You'll always be Mrs. Peel to me." Sue Lloyd provided her voice for the new dialogue.


title: Emma Peel

text: The character was revived and reworked for the 1998 film version of the show, ""The Avengers". Uma Thurman was cast in the role of Peel opposite Ralph Fiennes as Steed. In the film, Mrs. Peel is a scientist working as part of a weather project. When the project is sabotaged by someone who appears to be her double, she is investigated by Ministry agent John Steed. Ultimately, they team up to find out the truth. The film was a critical and box office failure with the new incarnation of the characters being panned. In 2003, "Total Film" magazine voted Fiennes and Thurman as "The Worst Movie Double Act of All Time" for their performances as Steed and Peel.


title: Emma Peel

text: The music video for the Pretenders' 1986 single "Don't Get Me Wrong" is a tribute to "The Avengers" and inserts lead singer Chrissie Hynde into the role of Emma Peel. Other tracks related to Emma Peel include:


title: Walter Hamada

text: Walter Hamada is an American film executive and producer. He joined New Line Cinema in 2007, where he served as an executive producer on horror films such as "The Conjuring" (2013), "Annabelle" (2014), "The Conjuring 2" (2016), "Lights Out" (2016), and "It" (2017). In January 2018, he was appointed the President at Warner Bros. Pictures for DC-based film production (DC Films) before departing from the company in October 2022. He was hired by Paramount Pictures to oversee their horror film franchises beginning in 2023.


title: Walter Hamada

text: Hamada began his career as an assistant at TriStar Pictures and became Vice President of production at Columbia Pictures, overseeing films such as "The Big Hit", "Godzilla" and "S.W.A.T." He also oversaw development for MBST Entertainment. Hamada worked for four years as a partner at the management and production company H2F Entertainment before leaving in 2007 to join New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros., where he served as a production executive for a decade. He oversaw their horror slate of films with Dave Neustadter, including "The Conjuring" series and "It" (2017). He also co-wrote the story for "47 Ronin" (2013), a Universal Pictures film starring Keanu Reeves.


title: Walter Hamada

text: In January 2018, after "Justice League" underperformed critically and commercially, Warner Bros. appointed Hamada as the President for DC-based film production (DC Films) at Warner Bros. Pictures. In this capacity he oversaw production of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and other DC-based films. According to "The Hollywood Reporter", his overseeing of the DC film "Shazam!" (2019) at New Line impressed Toby Emmerich, the then-President and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures. In January 2021, he signed an extension to his contract with DC Films until 2023.


title: Walter Hamada

text: Former DCEU cast member Ray Fisher has accused Hamada of "undermining an investigation into misconduct that is alleged to have occurred during Joss Whedon's reshoots of "Justice League"", a claim that Warner Bros. and Katherine B. Forrest, the person in charge of the investigation, disputed.


title: Walter Hamada

text: When the release of the film "Batgirl" was cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery, Hamada was reportedly not consulted regarding the decision and only learned about it when Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy informed him at a test screening for "Black Adam". Hamada was upset and considered resigning, but agreed to stay until the release of film. He stepped down on October 19, 2022, two days before its release.


title: Walter Hamada

text: On November 15, 2022, Paramount Pictures announced that they had signed a multi-year production deal with Hamada to oversee their mainstream horror movies. The contract will become effective on January 1, 2023.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The Wakhan Corridor (, ) is a narrow strip of territory in Afghanistan, extending to China and separating the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. From this high mountain valley the Panj and Pamir rivers emerge and form the Amu Darya. A trade route through the valley has been used by travellers going to and from East, South and Central Asia since antiquity.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The corridor was formed by an 1893 agreement between the British Empire (British India) and Afghanistan, creating the Durand Line. This narrow strip acted as a buffer zone between the Russian Empire and the British Empire (the regions of Russian Turkestan, now in Tajikistan, and the part of British India now in Pakistan and the contested region of Gilgit-Baltistan). Its eastern end bordered China's Xinjiang region, then ruled by the Qing dynasty.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: Politically, the corridor is in the Wakhan District of Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province. As of 2010, the Wakhan Corridor had 12,000 inhabitants. The northern part of the Wakhan, populated by the Wakhi and Pamiri people, is also referred to as the "Pamir".


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The Wakhan Corridor forms the salient of Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province. At its western entrance near the Afghan town of Ishkashim, the corridor is wide. The western third of the corridor varies from in width and widens to in the central Wakhan. At its eastern end, the corridor forks into two prongs that wrap around a salient of Chinese territory, forming the boundary between the two countries. The Wakhjir Pass, which is the easternmost point on the southeastern prong, is about from Ishkashim. The easternmost point of the northeastern prong is a nameless wilderness about from Ishkashim. On the Chinese side of the border is the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The northern border of the corridor is formed by the Pamir River and Lake Zorkul in the west and the high peaks of the Pamir Mountains in the east. To the north is Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region. To the south, the corridor is bounded by the high mountains of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram. Along the southern flank of the corridor, there are two mountain passes that connect the corridor to its neighbours. The Broghol pass offers access to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan, while the Irshad Pass connects the corridor to Gilgit-Baltistan. The Dilisang Pass, which also connects to Gilgit-Baltistan, is disused. The easternmost pass, as indicated above, is the Wakhjir Pass, which connects to China and is the only border connection between that country and Afghanistan.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The corridor is higher in the east than in the west; (the Wakhjir Pass is in elevation) and descends to about at Ishkashim. The Wakhjir River emerges from an ice cave on the Afghan side of the Wakhjir Pass and flows west, joining the Bozai Darya near the village of Bozai Gumbaz to form the Wakhan River. The Wakhan River then joins the Pamir River near Kala-i-Panj to form the Panj River, which then flows out of the Wakhan Corridor at Ishkashim.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The Chinese consider Chalachigu Valley, the valley east of Wakhjir Pass on the Chinese side connecting Taghdumbash Pamir, to be part of the Wakhan Corridor. The high mountain valley is about long. This valley, through which the Tashkurgan River flows, is generally about wide and less than at its narrowest point. This entire valley on the Chinese side is closed to visitors; however, local residents and herders from the area are permitted access.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: Although the terrain is extremely rugged, the Corridor was historically used as a trading route between Badakhshan and Yarkand. It appears that Marco Polo came this way. The Portuguese Jesuit priest Bento de Goes crossed from the Wakhan to China between 1602 and 1606. In May 1906, Sir Aurel Stein explored the Wakhan and reported that at that time, 100 pony loads of goods crossed annually to China. There were further crossings in 1874 by Captain T.E. Gordon of the British Army, in 1891 by Francis Younghusband, and in 1894 by Lord Curzon.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The corridor is in part a political creation from The Great Game between the United Kingdom and Russian Empire. In the north, an agreement between the empires in 1873 effectively split the historic region of Wakhan by making the Panj and Pamir Rivers the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire. In the south, the Durand Line agreement of 1893 marked the boundary between British India and Afghanistan. This left a narrow strip of land ruled by Afghanistan as a buffer between the two empires, which became known as the Wakhan Corridor in the 20th century.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The corridor has been closed to regular traffic for over a century and there is no modern road. There is a rough road from Ishkashim to Sarhad-e Broghil built in the 1960s, but only rough paths beyond. These paths run some from the road end to the Chinese border at Wakhjir Pass, and further to the far end of the Little Pamir.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: Jacob Townsend has speculated on the possibility of drug smuggling from Afghanistan to China via the Wakhan Corridor and Wakhjir Pass, but concluded that due to the difficulties of travel and border crossings, it would be minor compared to that conducted via Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province or through Pakistan, both having much more accessible routes into China.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The remoteness of the region has meant that, despite the long-running wars of Afghanistan since the late 1970s, the region has remained virtually untouched by conflict and many locals, who are mostly composed of ethnic Pamir and Kyrgyz, are not aware of wars in the country.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The closure of the Afghan-Chinese border crossing at the Wakhjir Pass, on the east end of the Wakhan Corridor, has left the valley bereft of trade.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan asked the People's Republic of China on several occasions to open the border in the Wakhan Corridor for economic reasons or as an alternative supply route for fighting the Taliban insurgency. The Chinese resisted, largely due to unrest in its far western province of Xinjiang, which borders the corridor. , it was reported that the United States had asked China to open the corridor.


title: Wakhan Corridor

text: In July 2021, the area came under Taliban control for the first time during the group's summer offensive. It was reported that hundreds of ethnic Kyrgyz nomads along with their livestock attempted to flee north into Tajikistan.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Unwind is a 2007 dystopian novel by young adult literature author Neal Shusterman. It takes place in the United States in the near future. After the Second Civil War was fought over abortion, a compromise was reached, allowing parents to sign an order for their children between the ages of 13 and 18 to be "unwound" — taken to "harvest camps" and dissected into their body parts for later use. The reasoning is that, since 99.44% of the body is used, unwinds do not technically die because their individual body parts live on.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: "Unwind" received positive reviews upon release, with praise focusing on the novel's immersive environment and sociological implications. It received the Best Book for Young Adults award. A film adaptation of "Unwind" was in production, but Shusterman announced in January 2020 that a television series would be developed instead. A second novel titled "UnWholly" was released in August 2012, a third titled "UnSouled" in December 2013, and a fourth titled "UnDivided" in October 2014. A novella, "UnStrung", was also published. "UnBound" is the most recent addition to the "Unwind" series and was written by Shusterman, Michelle Knowlden, Jarrod Shusterman, Terry Black, and Brendan Shusterman. It was published December 15, 2015, by Simon & Schuster and is a collection of novellas that explore the secrets and lost stories of the Unwind world.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: In a near-future dystopian United States, the conflict between the pro-choice and pro-life movements escalated into a second civil war. In response, the government fought against both sides to stop the war from escalating and closed down schools and other services for children in order to do so. Children, teenagers, and young adults began protesting and rioting against the actions and nearly toppled the government in an event known as the Teen Uprising. At the same time, technology in organ transplants advanced into a process known as "unwinding"; organs and body parts can be harvested from any acceptable body and used by other bodies without rejection.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: As a way to end the war, the government passed a set of amendments known as The Bill of Life. Abortion is banned, "storking" (the act of abandoning newborn babies to be left in someone else's care) becomes an accepted practice, and the Unwind Accord allows families to have their children between ages of 13 and 18 undergo unwinding as an option. Unwinding is justified as legal because the patient is kept alive during the entire process and roughly 99% of the body is harvested. Many parents use it to get rid of unwanted children who have reached their teenage years.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: The story centers around three teenagers who have been scheduled to be unwound: Connor Lassiter, Risa Ward, and Levi "Lev" Jedediah Calder.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Connor is a sixteen-year-old delinquent who discovers his parents signed an order to get him unwound. When his attempt at running away gets him cornered by a Juvey-cop, a law-enforcement officer who serves to round up teenagers signed to be unwound, he holds another teenager hostage, shoots the cop with his own tranquilizer gun, and causes a massive pile up. Connor's action gave him the name "Akron AWOL" and earns him the reputation of being the runaway who took down a police officer. At the same time, Risa, a fifteen-year-old orphan on her way to becoming unwound in order to cut her orphanage's costs, uses the jam to escape from the bus she was traveling on. Lev, a thirteen-year-old who was raised to believe it was his duty to be a "tithe" (chosen member to be unwound as an act of charity or service to a religion) for his family, is also on his way to be unwound and is the teenager who was held hostage. He is then abducted after being tranquilized. Connor and Risa escape the scene with Lev being forced to follow.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Connor picks up a storked newborn girl after remembering a past experience his family had with storking. Risa grudgingly agrees to take the baby in with the group after they are caught holding her. The three enter a nearby high school to hide, and Lev attempts to escape by turning himself and the other two in to the school authorities. Feeling guilty about his actions, Lev decides to escape and pulls the fire alarm to help the other two escape as the police begin to arrive. Risa and Connor are found by a school teacher named Hannah, who helps them escape and tells them to find an antique store owner named Sonia. Sonia runs a safe house for runaway teenagers signed to be unwound. There, Connor and Risa meet Hayden Upchurch, a teen whose parents decided to have him unwound rather than choose who can have custody over him; Mai, a girl whose parents signed her due to the excess of girls in her family; Zachary, who is nicknamed "Mouth Breather" due to his asthma; and Roland Taggart, a bully with a tiger shark tattoo. Before the group is to be shuttled to the next safe house, Sonia has each teenager write a letter to someone they love. The letters would be sent a year after their eighteenth birthday if they were not picked up. Hannah decides to adopt the newborn girl, and the group was sent to a warehouse that serves as another safe house.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Meanwhile, Lev encounters another teenager named Cyrus "CyFi" Finch, who teaches Lev street smarts. Lev learns that CyFi struggles to find closure with his actions, which has caused him to run away and engage in delinquent activities such as stealing. The struggle comes from Tyler Walker, an unwound teenager who has part of his brain in CyFi and is unaware that he has been unwound. As a result, CyFi constantly engages in Tyler's old habits and experiences Tyler's emotions sporadically. Lev helps CyFi and Tyler find peace by allowing Tyler to speak to his parents once again through CyFi, with Cyrus dubbing himself Cy-Ty as a way to represent both him and Tyler.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Risa and Connor realize Roland manipulates, lies, and uses fear as a means to get what he wants and create chaos. The group of teenagers eventually make it to "The Graveyard," an airplane graveyard run by "The Admiral," a former admiral known as Admiral Dunfee. There, teenagers are taught skills and put to work until they turn eighteen or need to be transported elsewhere. Roland, with a new motive to become the new leader, spreads rumors in order to make the teenagers at The Graveyard turn against The Admiral. Connor confronts The Admiral and discovers that the rumors about him are false. The Admiral explains he had his own son unwound out of expectation and created The Graveyard as a way to make up for that mistake. The Graveyard is also acknowledged by the government as a compromise to keep runaways off the streets while allowing them to not be unwound. Connor and Risa decide to side with The Admiral, with Connor serving as his spy. Suspicions against The Admiral's motives led to the death of "The Goldens," a group of five teenagers who help The Admiral run The Graveyard, and Connor suspects Roland to be responsible. Lev arrives at The Graveyard and reunites with Connor and Risa. However, Lev decides to join a secret group within The Graveyard dedicated to destroying Unwinding facilities, known as harvest camps, rather than work in The Graveyard until he is eighteen. Lev becomes a "clapper", a suicide bomber injected with liquid explosive that can be detonated by clapping, alongside Mai and another runaway named Blaine.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: A riot ensues when the bodies of The Goldens are discovered, and The Admiral has a heart attack during the resulting chaos. Connor eventually calms the riot down and forces Roland to help him fly The Admiral to the hospital. Risa joins them, and all three teenagers are arrested and taken away to a harvest camp. Risa is forced to play in the harvest camp's band and plays for every teenager about to undergo the procedure. Connor's reputation as Akron AWOL causes the staff to treat him with disrespect and contempt. Lev enters the harvest camp as a tithe, ready to detonate the harvest camp. However, he discovers Connor is also at the camp, and the time planned to self detonate is when Connor will be unwound. He attempts to stop Mai and Blaine, who also came to the camp, but is too late. Roland is unwound first due to his blood type, and the staff prepare to take Connor. The clappers detonate themselves as Connor is about to enter the procedure room. The explosion causes the building Risa and the band were on collapse, and Connor is knocked unconscious as well. The explosion causes chaos as the building begins to collapse. Lev, initially willing to clap, backs out and helps the survivors escape before turning himself in to the police.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Connor wakes up in the hospital, and a nurse saves him from being unwound by purposely misidentifying him as a young Juvey-cop killed in the explosion. Connor ends up with a new eye and arm against his will and learns that the arm came from Roland's body.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Risa ends up being paralyzed from the hip down and will need to use a wheelchair. She refuses treatment, exploiting the loophole that people with disabilities could not be unwound. Connor and Risa reunite and continue their relationship from their time at The Graveyard.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Lev, because he was a clapper, is also excluded from becoming unwound. The liquid explosive damaged his organs, making them unsuitable for transplantation. His family refuses to take him back, and his older brother Marcus, who spoke out against having Lev being unwound as a tithe in the beginning, is willing to take custody of him.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: The Admiral, weak from the heart attack, refuses to receive an unwound heart and resigns from his position at The Graveyard. During his career, The Admiral used his status to find where his son's body parts are being used. The Admiral manages to contact most of the people who ended up with one of his son's parts and organizes a reunion at his home. Connor and Risa return to The Graveyard, with Connor being the new leader and vowing to fight against unwinding.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Shusterman says that the idea for "Unwind" came to him from three separate news articles. The first was from a scientist that claimed that "within our lifetime, 100% of the human body will be viable for transplant" without rejections. The second was a report on teenagers residing in Britain labeled as "feral" and how some opinions on those teenagers include an indifference in having them killed for the sake of society. The last was an article studying the trends of voting in America and the number one topic that determine's a candidate's vote is the voter's view on abortion.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: Shusterman explains that "Unwind" is a novel that imagines not a technological future, but a sociological future. There are mentions of slightly more advanced technology than today, such as advanced holograms and pigment injections to cosmetically change eye colors, but much of the novel is set to be a near future of America.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: In 2010, the film rights to "Unwind" were sold to Tasty Films and Contagion Film. Casting has yet to begin, but as of April 15, 2012, the film has moved into the early stages of pre-production. Novel-author Neal Shusterman drafted the screenplay. On December 9, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Constantin Film had picked up the film rights to the whole series. In January 2020, Shusterman announced that production of the film was not going well but that there would be a television series.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: "Unwind" is the first book in a four-book series. A sequel, entitled "UnWholly", was released on August 26, 2012. A third installment, titled "UnSouled", was released on October 15, 2013. The last book is "Undivided" and was published on October 14, 2014.


title: Unwind (novel)

text: A novella entitled "UnStrung", written by Neal Shusterman and Michelle Knowlden, was released on July 24, 2012. "UnStrung" is a companion story, set within "Unwind" and follows the events that led Lev to become a clapper. The story picks up shortly after Lev and CyFi part ways, as he finds himself on a Native American (or ChanceFolk) reservation. "UnStrung" was later collected in "UnBound", a collection of short stories and novellas, which was released on December 15, 2015. The author says that this might be one of his most favorite books to write.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Prince Arthur was born on 13 January 1883 at Windsor Castle. His father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Arthur was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 16 February 1883, and his godparents were Queen Victoria (his paternal grandmother), the German Empress (his great-great aunt, for whom his paternal aunt Princess Beatrice stood proxy), Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (his maternal uncle, who was represented by the German Ambassador Count Münster), Princess Henry of the Netherlands (his maternal aunt, who was represented by Countess Münster), the Duke of Cambridge (the Queen's cousin), and the Duke of Edinburgh (his paternal uncle, whose brother the Prince of Wales represented him).


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at Eton College. He was known to his family as "young Arthur" to distinguish him from his father.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Prince Arthur was educated at Eton College, but left there early to enter the Royal Military College, Sandhurst at the age of sixteen years and two months. From there he was commissioned into the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars as a second lieutenant in May 1901. He saw his first active posting the following year. After the end of the Second Boer War in June 1902, most of the British troops left South Africa, but the 7th Hussars were posted there to keep the peace. Prince Arthur and 230 men of his regiment left Southampton in the SS "Ortona" in October 1902, and arrived at Cape Town later the same month. He spent several months stationed at Krugersdorp. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). He became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: During the First World War, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919 and became a colonel in the reserves in 1922. In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general and became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin, King George V.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Since the king's children were too young to undertake public duties until after the First World War, Prince Arthur carried out a variety of ceremonial duties at home and overseas. This included opening the Scottish National Exhibition, which was held in Saughton Park, Edinburgh. One of the attractions was the Senegal Village with its French-speaking Senegalese residents, on show demonstrating their way of life, art and craft while living in beehive huts.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: On 15 October 1913, Prince Arthur married his first cousin once removed Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959) at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, London. She was the eldest daughter and heiress of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife by his wife Princess Louise the Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Edward VII. They had one son Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: After the accession of his cousin, King George V, Prince Arthur and his aging father were the most senior male members of the Royal Family over the age of 18 to reside in the United Kingdom. As such, he undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of the King, and acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the King's absence abroad.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: In 1906, by order of the King, he vested the Meiji Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Garter, as a consequence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In 1918, he was a guest aboard the Japanese battlecruiser when she voyaged from Japan to Canada. He visited Tokyo and then Nagoya and was welcomed at Tsuruma Park and the Buntenkaku, and then traveled on to Kyoto. In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: In May 1935, he was appointed High Steward (civic) of Reading, Berkshire, a post which had been vacant since 1910. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55 on 12 September 1938 at his London home - 41 Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London. His coffin was subsequently taken to the Middlesex Hospital, where Prince Arthur had been the Chairman, and his body lay-in-state in the private chapel, with nurses from the hospital keeping vigil. Following his funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor on 16 September 1938, his remains were interred in the Royal Vault, beneath St George's Chapel. On 22 September 1938, he was reburied privately in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. His will was sealed in London in 1939. His estate was valued at £109,418 (or £4.9 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation). His father, the Duke of Connaught, survived him by four years. Prince Arthur's son, who used the courtesy title Earl of MacDuff after 1917, succeeded his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1942, but died the following year.


title: Prince Arthur of Connaught

text: As a male-line grandchild of a British sovereign, Prince Arthur was awarded, on his twenty-first birthday, the use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, and differenced by a label argent, of five points, the outer pair and central point bearing crosses gules, and the inner pair fleur-de-lys azure. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: It tells a story of a girl named Mary Smith (Sugisaki) who finds "fly-by-night", a mysterious flower that can give her the power to become a witch for only one night. The film was released in Japan on 8 July 2017. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation and visuals. The English-language version (concurrently released with a subtitled version in the United States on 19 January 2018) features the voices of Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Mary Smith moves into the northern English country estate of her Great Aunt Charlotte. The bored, friendless girl tries to make herself useful through chores, but repeatedly messes up. A local boy named Peter teases her for her clumsiness and wild red hair. Tib and Gib, Peter's cats, lead Mary to some mysterious glowing flowers. The gardener identifies the flowers as "fly-by-night"; legend has it that witches covet the flower for its magical power. The next day, Gib disappears. Tib leads Mary to a broomstick but she accidentally bursts a fly-by-night bulb on it. The bulb releases magical power, making the broomstick come to life and enabling Mary to ride it like a witch. The Little Broomstick whisks Mary away to a complex of buildings in the clouds, known as Endor College for witches.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Head mistress Madam Mumblechook assumes Mary is a new pupil with Tib as her familiar, and takes her on a tour of the college. She introduces Mary to Doctor Dee, the college's renowned chemistry teacher. Mary finds herself able to perform advanced spells such as invisibility. Madam and Doctor Dee become convinced that Mary is a prodigy because of her performance as well as her red hair, which is a distinguishing feature among the best witches.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Mary admits that her magical ability comes from fly-by-night, and that Tib belongs to Peter. Madam's attitude changes then but she lets Mary return home once Mary turns over Peter's address. That night, Madam sends a message to Mary, informing that she's kidnapped Peter, and demands that Mary bring the fly-by-night bulbs to her. She and Tib quickly fly back to Endor with the bulbs, but Madam and Doctor Dee imprison her in their transformation lab. Mary finds Peter locked in with her, and discovers that Doctor Dee has been experimenting on animals, including Gib, transforming them into fantastic creatures. From the spell book she took from Madam's office, Mary uses a spell to undo the transformations and unlock the lab. They try to escape on the Little Broomstick, but Peter is recaptured.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: The Little Broomstick takes Mary to an isolated cottage on a tiny island that seems to be alive. Inside the cottage, Mary finds notes on spells and a mirror that Great-Aunt Charlotte uses to contact her. Through visions, Charlotte reveals that the cottage was her old home, and she used to be a red-haired pupil who excelled at Endor. One day Charlotte found fly-by-night on the campus, leading Madam and Doctor Dee to obsessively pursue a project to use the flower to transform all humans into witches. When their experiments failed, Charlotte escaped Endor, taking the flower with her. Charlotte begs Mary to use her last bulbs to return home, but Mary vows to rescue Peter.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Mary returns to Endor and finds Madam and Doctor Dee trying to transform Peter into a warlock. The experiment fails again, leaving Peter trapped within a gelatinous monster. Mary gets the spell book to Peter, and he uses it to undo the failed experiment and all of Madam and Doctor Dee's research. Mary and Peter fly home, with her throwing away her last bulb and saying she does not need magic.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: On 15 December 2016, Yonebayashi and Nishimura held a press conference. Here Yonebayashi, who had previously worked with Ghibli on "When Marnie Was There" and "Arrietty", said "This is the first movie since leaving Studio Ghibli. At Studio Ponoc, we are working diligently with Yoshiaki Nishimura, a producer, and excellent staff."


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: When Nishimura was asked about the establishment of the new studio he said, "When the Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki notified me about the dissolution of the Ghibli Production Department, I was stimulated by the oversea creators when I went to the Academy Awards venue with "The Tale of Princess Kaguya". Remember that you received it." After announcing it was based on The Little Broomstick, Nisimura said ""Marnie of Memories" is a work that proved that Yonebayashi, who excels at dynamic painting, sealed his specialty and can draw trivial emotions. But as a producer, I want to see dynamic animation, so I decided to do a fantasy with a cheerful girl moving around." When asked if he consulted with Takahata or Miyazaki, he said he did not show Miyazaki any storyboards but he did talk to him. They both said the same thing, "be prepared". Yonebayashi announced the voice actors on 13 April 2017.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Composer Muramatsu Takatsugu, who also scored Yonebayashi's last film "When Marnie Was There", is in charge of the soundtrack for "Mary and the Witch's Flower". Joshua Messick, one of the world's leading performers of the hammered dulcimer, participated in the score recording.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: "Mary and the Witch's Flower" was released theatrically in Japan on July 8, 2017 by distributor Toho, airing on 458 screens across Japan. Altitude Film Sales announced at the Berlin International Film Festival that it had acquired the worldwide rights to the film, and would release it within the UK. Madman Entertainment announced that it had secured the rights to the film within Australia and New Zealand, and would premiere it theatrically at Madman Anime Festival in Melbourne on 5 November 2017, with a wider release on 18 January 2018. GKIDS later announced that it would distribute the film within North America, with a one-week Oscar qualifying run on 1 December 2017, a limited opening on 18 January 2018, and a wider release on January 19, 2018. Altitude (the UK distributor) confirmed in early March 2018 that the film will have a special holding at selected Vue Cinemas on 10 April 2018 before its official UK-wide release on 4 May 2018.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: The English dub of "Mary and the Witch's Flower" (starring Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent) was directed by Giles New and produced by Geoffrey Wexler. The English dub was recorded in July and August 2017 in London, and had its premiere in Los Angeles on 23 October 2017 at the GKIDS "Animation is Film" festival.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: The movie was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Digital HD and 4K Ultra HD by Walt Disney Japan on March 20, 2018. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America by GKIDS' main home media distributor Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on May 1, 2018. Madman Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia and New Zealand on 4 July 2018. Altitude Film Distribution released the film on DVD, Blu-ray and a Blu-ray Steelbook in the United Kingdom on 10 September 2018.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: According to Box Office Mojo, "Mary and the Witch's Flower" ultimately grossed $2.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $38.8 million in other territories (including $27.6 million in Japan, $3.8 million in South Korea, $3.2 million in China and $2.6 million in France), for a worldwide total of $42.2 million. JPBox-Office reports the film's box office revenue of $41.8 million, while a 2017 list from Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan shows the box-office revenue as ¥32.9 billion (approx. $).


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: In Japan, it opened at second place, grossing ¥428 million ($3.9 million) during its opening weekend—more than Yonebayashi's previous film, "When Marnie Was There" (2014), which grossed ¥378.86 million in its first weekend.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: In the US, it held a special Thursday night preview on 18 January 2018 where it grossed $1.2 million from 573 theaters. It then stayed at 161 theaters over the weekend and grossed $329,097, bringing its four-day gross to $1.5 million.


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 90 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Mary and the Witch's Flower" honors its creator's Studio Ghibli roots with a gentle, beautifully animated story whose simplicity is rounded out by its entrancing visuals." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating that the film received "generally favorable reviews".


title: Mary and the Witch's Flower

text: Sheila O'Malley of "RogerEbert.com" gave the film a rating of three stars out of four and stated that "the total lack of inner conflict in Mary might be why "Mary and the Witch's Flower"—as transportive and entertaining as it is—feels a little slight". Moira Macdonald of "The Seattle Times" noted that although the film "isn't quite a masterpiece" and "the screenplay needs a polish", she concluded that the film is "a joy to look at: a visual adventure, and a continuation of a remarkable legacy".


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development program run by the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH in an attempt to identify potential future racing stars in open wheel racing. The similar Red Bull Driver Search, now ended, was an American spinoff of the same idea held in 2005. Members of the Junior Team are financed and sponsored by Red Bull in lower racing formulae.


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: The programs have been successful in bringing a selection of drivers into Formula One. Five of them, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, and Carlos Sainz Jr. have won a Formula One race, with two of them (Vettel and Verstappen) having won at least two World Championships. Red Bull owns two teams in Formula One, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri.


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: The "Red Bull Junior Team" was also the name of RSM Marko, a team that competed in International Formula 3000 between 1999 and 2003, sponsored by Red Bull and run by Helmut Marko.


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: The Red Bull Junior Team was formed in 2001 as Red Bull's European driver programme. Red Bull offers funding and support for the promising young drivers that are part of the programme. In 2004, Christian Klien became the first Red Bull Junior to race in Formula One, while in 2008, Sebastian Vettel became the first Red Bull Junior to win a Formula One Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix. Two years later, in 2010, Vettel became the first Red Bull Junior graduate to win the Formula One World Championship.


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: This list includes drivers who have graduated from the Junior Team to Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri but have not raced for Red Bull Racing. Former Red Bull Junior Team drivers who have driven for Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing appear on the Graduates to Red Bull Racing table.


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: The scheme has been successful, with several of the drivers backed by Red Bull making it into Formula One:


title: Red Bull Junior Team

text: Red Bull Driver Search was an American spin-off run from 2002 to 2005 in parallel with the Red Bull Junior Team. Its aim was "Searching for the future American F1 Champion". The winner was Scott Speed, who went on to compete in F1 in 2005.


title: Heliotrope (mineral)

text: The mineral aggregate heliotrope (), also known as bloodstone, is a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper (opaque) or sometimes as chalcedony (translucent). The "classic" bloodstone is opaque green jasper with red inclusions of hematite. The red inclusions may resemble spots of blood, hence the name "bloodstone".


title: Heliotrope (mineral)

text: The name "heliotrope" derives from various ancient notions about the manner in which the mineral reflects light. Such notions are described, for example, by Pliny the Elder ("Nat. Hist." 37.165).


title: Heliotrope (mineral)

text: Heliotrope was called "stone of Babylon" by Albertus Magnus and he referred to several magical properties, which were attributed to it from Late Antiquity. Pliny the Elder (1st century) mentioned first that the magicians used it as a stone of invisibility. Damigeron (4th century) wrote about its property to make rain, solar eclipse and its special virtue in divination and preserving health and youth.


title: Heliotrope (mineral)

text: A Christian tradition states that the red spots come from blood falling upon the stone during the crucifixion of Jesus, as he was stabbed in the side by a Roman soldier. Ancient Roman soldiers believed that the stone had the ability to slow bleeding and wore it for this reason. In India it is held that one can staunch the bleeding by placing upon wounds and injuries after dipping it in cold water, which may have a scientific basis in the fact that iron oxide, contained in the stone, is an effective astringent. The Gnostics wore the stone as an amulet for longevity, for wealth and courage, to strengthen the stomach, and to dispel melancholy. In the Middle Ages it was considered useful for animal husbandry. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore the stone to bring renown and favor, to bring endurance, and as a charm against the bite of venomous creatures. Greek and Roman athletes favored it as talisman for success in their games.


title: Heliotrope (mineral)

text: It has been found in Western Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Nova Scotia, and numerous locations in the United States. There are also occurrences of bloodstone on the Isle of Rum, in Scotland.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as "Crackerjack", "Aspel & Company", "Give Us a Clue", "This is Your Life", "Strange but True?" and "Antiques Roadshow".


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel was born on 12 January 1933 in Battersea in London. During the Second World War, he was evacuated from the area and spent nearly five years in Chard, Somerset. He attended Emanuel School after passing his eleven-plus in 1944 and served as a conscript during his National Service, in the ranks of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, from 1951 to 1953.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel worked as a drainpipe-layer and gardener and sold advertising space for the "Western Mail" newspaper in Cardiff. He worked as a teaboy at William Collins publishers in London and then entered National Service. He took up a job at the David Morgan department store in Cardiff until 1955, before working as newsreader for the BBC in Cardiff in 1957. He also acted in Cardiff, in a BBC Children's Hour serial "Counterspy", produced by BBC Wales and written by and starring John Darran. Aspel played "Rocky" Mountain, a Canadian. By the early sixties, he had become one of four regular newsreaders on BBC national television, along with Richard Baker, Robert Dougall and Corbet Woodall.


title: Michael Aspel

text: At the BBC, Aspel began presenting a number of other programmes such as the series "Come Dancing", "Crackerjack", "Ask Aspel", and the Miss World beauty contest, which he covered 14 times. He narrated the BREMA cartoon documentary, "The Colour Television Receiver" (aka "Degaussing" or "The Colour Receiver Installation Film"), which was shown every day (except Sunday) on BBC2 between 14 October 1967 and 8 January 1971. He also provided narration for the BBC nuclear war drama documentary "The War Game", which won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1966, but was not shown on British television until 1985.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel was a studio announcer at the BBC on 14 February 1969 during a live broadcast from the Dorchester Hotel of an awards ceremony, when the host, Kenneth Horne, died of a heart attack. Aspel filled in unscripted until the show resumed. He was later quoted as saying: "I got round this in a suitably dignified way. But it was awful as Kenneth Horne was not only a great performer, but such a wonderful man."


title: Michael Aspel

text: In both 1969 and 1976, Aspel hosted the BBC's "A Song for Europe" contest to choose Britain's Eurovision entry and provided the UK TV commentary twice at the "Eurovision Song Contest" in the same years, 1969 and 1976, in which year he also presented the contest previews. He provided the Eurovision radio commentary for the UK in 1963.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel also had a regular joke slot on the Kenny Everett radio show on Capital Radio, and guest-starred twice on "The Goodies", appearing as himself, including in the episode "Kitten Kong", which won the Silver Rose at the Montreux Light Entertainment Festival.


title: Michael Aspel

text: From 2 September 1974 until 27 July 1984, Aspel also presented a three-hour weekday, mid-morning music and chat programme on Capital Radio in London. He then presented a Sunday show on Capital (which only lasted for a few months, ending on 30 December 1984) before moving to LBC for the remainder of the decade. He also presented weekend shows on BBC Radio 2 in the late 1980s and again in the 1990s.


title: Michael Aspel

text: In 1977, Aspel appeared with a number of other newsreaders and presenters in a song-and-dance routine ("There ain't Nothing Like a Dame") on "The Morecambe and Wise Show". The sketch, in which the presenters were dressed as traditional sailors, is often cited as one of the classic moments of British TV comedy. In another episode, Morecambe refers to him as "Michael Aspirin" (a name also used by 'Disc' music magazine when Aspel was at Capital Radio). In the 1970s and 1980s he presented popular ITV programmes such as "Give Us a Clue", "Child's Play" and "The 6 O'Clock Show", a live current affairs and entertainment programme shown only in the London Weekend Television region. In 1989, he hosted a televised interactive murder mystery set at a wedding called Murder Weekend, devised and written by Joy Swift, which invited viewers to solve a whodunnit to win a prize.


title: Michael Aspel

text: During the early 1990s, Aspel presented two documentaries on BBC Radio 2 written by Terence Pettigrew, on subjects of which he and Pettigrew had personal knowledge. "Caught in the Draft" was a nostalgic look back at compulsory national service. Both had served, at different times, in West Germany, Aspel in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and Pettigrew in the REME. Also taking part in the programme were comedian/compere Bob Monkhouse, Leslie Thomas, author of "The Virgin Soldiers", and BBC Radio 2 drivetime host John Dunn. This was followed by "Nobody Cried When The Trains Pulled Out", a documentary about the evacuation of children from major British cities during World War 2 that included champion boxer Henry Cooper, actor Derek Nimmo and author Ben Wicks.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel was the host of the chat show "Aspel & Company", which ran in the 1980s and 1990s on ITV. The show was successful in attracting high-profile guests including then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. In 1993, "Aspel & Company" was censured by the Independent Television Commission because of an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone who were promoting their joint business venture Planet Hollywood. For a time, "Aspel & Company" performed well for ITV in the highly competitive Saturday night ratings but after the Planet Hollywood controversy, Aspel vowed never to host a chat show again.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel was featured on "This is Your Life" in 1980, and when host Eamonn Andrews died in 1987 he became presenter of the programme until its run ended in 2003. In 1993, Aspel began presenting the ITV supernatural programme "Strange but True?", a series exploring supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. The programme ran between 1993 and 1997. He presented a new version of the ITV game show "Blockbusters" for the BBC in 1997; Aspel presented 60 episodes in total. In 1993, Aspel became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to broadcasting", and has been voted "TV Times" and Variety Club Television Personality of the Year. He was also voted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame for outstanding services to television.


title: Michael Aspel

text: He presented BBC's "Antiques Roadshow" from 2000 until 2008; his last programme (recorded at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk) was shown on 30 March 2008, being a tribute to himself. In 2003, Aspel starred in a BBC Three spoof documentary, "Sex, Lies & Michael Aspel", which claimed he had affairs with Pamela Anderson, Valerie Singleton and Angie Best, among others. Aspel guest hosted the topical quiz show "Have I Got News for You" on two occasions (October 2005 and November 2007).


title: Michael Aspel

text: In 2006, he played the role of the narrator in the UK tour of Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show". During July and August 2008, Aspel filmed "Evacuees Reunited", a five-part documentary series made by Leopard Films for ITV1, which aired from 15 to 19 December 2008. Along with 15 other wartime evacuees, he returned to the locations of his own youth, including his wartime home in Chard, Somerset. He was reunited with his childhood gang of evacuees at Forde Abbey, just outside the town. Later he caught up with his 96-year-old former school teacher, Audrey Guppy.


title: Michael Aspel

text: Aspel has been married three times and has seven children. He married Dian Sessions in 1957; they had two children and divorced in 1961. Aspel married Anne Reed, a TV scriptwriter, in 1962 and they had twin children, divorcing in 1967. In 1977, Aspel married actress Elizabeth Power, best known for her role as Christine Hewitt in "EastEnders"; the couple had two sons, but Aspel left her in 1994 for a production assistant on "This Is Your Life", Irene Clarke.


title: Michael Aspel

text: As a supporter of the charity Cancer Research UK, Aspel was made a Freeman of the borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, in April 2008.


title: Michael Aspel

text: He is also a Patron and long time supporter of Princess Alice Hospice, Esher and The British Evacuees Association.


title: Workers' compensation

text: Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. The trade-off between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain.” One of the problems that the compensation bargain solved is the problem of employers becoming insolvent as a result of high damage awards. The system of collective liability was created to prevent that and thus to ensure security of compensation to the workers.


title: Workers' compensation

text: While plans differ among jurisdictions, provision can be made for weekly payments in place of wages (functioning in this case as a form of disability insurance), compensation for economic loss (past and future), reimbursement or payment of medical and like expenses (functioning in this case as a form of health insurance), and benefits payable to the dependents of workers killed during employment.


title: Workers' compensation

text: General damage for pain and suffering and punitive damages for employer negligence are generally not available in workers' compensation plans, and negligence is generally not an issue in the case.


title: Workers' compensation

text: Laws regarding workers compensation vary, but the Workers' Accident Insurance system put into place by Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1884 with the start of Workers' Accident Laws is often cited as a model for the rest of Europe and, later, the United States. After the early Prussian experiments, the development of compensation laws around the world was in important respects the result of transnational networks among policymakers and social scientists. Thus while different countries have their own unique history of workers' compensation, compensation laws developed around the world as a global phenomenon, with each country's deliberation on compensation laws being informed by deliberation in other countries.


title: Workers' compensation

text: Workers' compensation statutes are intended to eliminate the need for litigation and the limitations of common law remedies by having employees give up the potential for pain- and suffering-related awards in exchange for not being required to prove tort (legal fault) on the part of their employer. The laws provide employees with monetary awards to cover loss of wages directly related to the accident as well as to compensate for permanent physical impairments and medical expenses.