title: Sakura Wars

text: All titles from 1996 to 2005 were developed by the same central team. These included writer Satoru Akahori, artists Kōsuke Fujishima and Hidenori Matsubara, director and later chief director Tomoyuki Ito, producer and later executive producer Noriyoshi Ohba, and designer Takaharu Terada. Hiroi had contributed to all the projects as a general producer. Red Entertainment co-developed the games with an internal Sega team which shifted identity over the years—originally known as CS2 R&D during development of the first two "Sakura Wars", the team was renamed Overworks in 2000 when Sega consolidated its 9 semi-autonomous subsidiaries into six studios; they worked on the series between "Sakura Wars 3" and "Sakura Wars V: Episode 0". "Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love" was developed by the same team as part of Sega's GE2 R&D division, the same team which would develop "Valkyria Chronicles". The 2019 "Sakura Wars" was developed by a team within Sega's CS2 R&D division, a newer group including Sonic Team. New team members included character designer Tite Kubo, and writers Jiro Ishii and Takaaki Suzuki, all famous names in anime and video games respectively. Hiroi remained in a supervisory role, and also wrote the theme song lyrics.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Other developers worked on the series alongside Sega and Red Entertainment, including Idea Factory, who created the Wii port of "So Long, My Love"; Jupiter Corporation, producers of the "Sakura Wars GB" duology and the "Pocket Sakura" peripheral; and Neverland, who developed "Dramatic Dungeon: Sakura Wars". A notable feature of the series is its FMV anime sequences. The first game's scenes were animated by Sega's animation subsidiary, Kyokuichi Tokyo Movie (now known as TMS Entertainment). From "Thou Shalt Not Die" to "Fall in Love, Maidens", they were produced by Production I.G. For "So Long, My Love", the scenes were primarily produced by M.S.C. In the 2019 "Sakura Wars", the anime FMV sequences were produced by Sanzigen.


title: Sakura Wars

text: The "Sakura Wars" series features a variety of music, and frequently reuses themes. Kohei Tanaka is the chief music composer of the series. Tanaka's first major work in the video game industry, it brought him widespread recognition. Tanaka was among the first to support Hiroi with "Sakura Wars", having worked with him during work on an original video animation (OVA) of "". Tanaka acted as a teacher figure for the rest of the development team. At that time, rhythm and percussion dominated Japanese popular music rather than melody. Both Tanaka and Hiroi wanted to reintroduce younger Japanese to beautiful melodies. Tanaka has been involved to some degree in most of the "Sakura Wars" games, composing the music for all mainline entries, and several spin-off titles. A recurring theme in the series is a piece called "Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan". Tanaka wrote the theme based on Hiroi's request to combine the music of a "Super Sentai" opening theme with the vocal style of the title song for the film "Aoi sanmyaku" (1949). Versions of it were included in "Sakura Wars 2", "Sakura Wars 4", and the 2019 soft reboot of "Sakura Wars".


title: Sakura Wars

text: While Hiroi wanted the series to be released worldwide, nearly all games in the "Sakura Wars" series remain exclusive to Asian territories. Early efforts at localizing the series were not undertaken because of Sega's uncertainty over whether the game's blend of genres would find a large enough audience outside Japan to be profitable. An unspecified attempt by Sega to localize the game stalled during the concept approval stage. No official reason was ever given. The PSP ports of "Sakura Wars" and "Thou Shalt Not Die" were scheduled for the North American market, but it were canceled. It was later explained that the Sony classified "Sakura Wars" as a text novel, which made then-future licensing for importation and translation difficult.


title: Sakura Wars

text: A Korean translation of "So Long, My Love" was published in South Korea by Sega in 2006. The PC CD-ROM versions of "Sakura Wars" and its sequel were localized and released in Russia by Akella in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Dysin Interactive published the PC versions of "Sakura Wars" to "Is Paris Burning?" in China, and "Fall in Love, Maidens" was released in the region by Beijing Entertainment All Technology.


title: Sakura Wars

text: The first official English release in the "Sakura Wars" series is "So Long, My Love", which was translated by NIS America in collaboration with Red Entertainment and Idea Factory. The dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment, and included actors from NIS America's localization of the "Disgaea" series. The team also included the Japanese voice track in the PlayStation 2 version, with a dedicated translation which preserved the original character names being created for it. The localization took two years to complete, becoming NIS America's largest localization effort to date. For the 2019 reboot, Sega brought on "Yakuza 0" translators Inbound Games to localise the game. The localised version uses the Japanese audio with subtitles in other languages.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Between the series' debut in 1996 and 2010, the series has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. Each entry on Sega hardware rank among the best-selling titles for their respective hardware. The original "Sakura Wars" was an immediate success, with several stores being sold out of copies within hours of its release. "Sakura Wars 2" remains the best-selling title in the series, with over 500,000 copies sold on the Saturn alone, making it one of the console's best-selling titles in Japan. "So Long, My Love" is the worst-selling mainline entry to date, and was a commercial failure in the West.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Japanese website 4Gamer.net described the series as a "legendary" property connected to Sega, citing several elements such as the anime-style presentation and blend of genres that were hardly seen in gaming at the time. Jenni Lada of TechnologyTell wrote a retrospective on the series in 2009, calling "Sakura Wars" "an odd series [...] that defies genres". In a 1999 IGN article on the franchise following the announcement of "Sakura Wars 3", journalist Anoop Gantayat described it as "probably the greatest series of games to never make their way stateside", citing its unprecedented success when compared to other games on Sega hardware at the time.


title: Sakura Wars

text: The series has been popular with both journalists and fans in Japan since the first game's release. At the inaugural CESA Awards, "Sakura Wars" won the Grand Award, as well as awards in the Best Director, Best Main Character and Best Supporting Character categories. "Sakura Wars 2" won the Packaged Work Award at the 1998 Animation Kobe event. The soundtrack album of "Sakura Wars 4" won in the "Animation – Album of the Year" category at the 2003 Japan Gold Disc Awards. Prior to release, "Sakura Wars" was the second most-wanted game in a "Famitsu" poll in 1996, coming in behind "Final Fantasy VII". The first four games all appeared on a public "Famitsu" poll from 2006 of the 100 best games of all time. A second later poll ranked the "Sakura Wars" games as among the best on the Saturn and Dreamcast. "Sakura Wars" heroine Sakura Shinguji was rated in 2009 by "Famitsu" as the 17th best Japanese video game character.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Red Company and Sega have expanded the "Sakura Wars" series into various media. These include anime, manga, stage shows, several light novels, concerts and CD album releases of soundtracks. The latter have met with substantial commercial success. Despite a shared identity, Hiroi took care to keep each of these elements distinct and separate from each other. A dedicated themed cafe and merchandise store based in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, "Sakura Wars Taisho Romando", opened in 1998. "Taisho Romando" remained open for ten years until it closed in March 2008.


title: Sakura Wars

text: A prominent feature was an annual stage show dubbed "Sakura Wars Kayou Show" supervised by Hiroi, for which new musical numbers were created by Tanaka. The show featured the cast reprising their roles and performing stage shows drawn from the series. Each character had songs themed after their characters. The cast, which grew to include those of later games, remained for the entire run with the exception of actress Michie Tomizawa who retired from the series and her role as character Sumire Kanzaki in 2002. Tomizawa appeared as a guest in later revival concerts. The original stage shows ran regularly from 1997 to 2006. Since then, it has seen irregular revivals with both the first cast and later additions. The stage shows were originally meant to end in 2008 along with the franchise, but fan support allowed future revivals. A stage adaptation of the 2019 game was planned to run from March 5–8, 2020 at Sogetsu Hall. However, on February 26, 2020, Sega announced that the event would not take place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The play will now be postponed to winter 2020 with precautions to protect the spread of the virus.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Hiroi wrote a manga adaptation of the first "Sakura Wars", which began serialization in 2002. The original run finished in December 2008, but its popularity led to a second series continuing the narrative. Since 2003, the manga has been published as tankōbon by Kodansha. A comedy manga titled "Sakura Wars: Show Theater", which featured comedy skits of characters from each main "Sakura Wars" location, was serialised between 2005 and 2009, and published by Kodansha in four volumes between 2006 and 2009. A manga adaptation of the 2019 game, "Shin Sakura Taisen: The Comic", began serialization in 2019 by Shueisha. It was written by Ishii, and illustrated by Koyuri Noguchi.


title: Sakura Wars

text: A spin-off manga "Sakura Wars: Kanadegumi" was created by Chie Shimada, based on concepts from the "Sakura Wars" team, and published in the shojo magazine "Hana to Yume" published by Hakusensha. In contrast to the main series, it was aimed at a female audience and shifted the narrative to a male harem set-up; main protagonist Neko Miyabi is assigned to the titular Kanadagumi, and develops relationships with its five male members. Originally a two-chapter special published between November and December 2011, it was expanded into a full series in February 2012. The manga ran from 2012 to 2013. Between its debut and final issue, the manga inspired both an anime short and a dedicated stage show. It was published in four tankōbon by Hakusensha between September 2012 and July 2013.


title: Sakura Wars

text: Multiple anime films, television series and original video animations (OVAs) have been produced that are based either on individual "Sakura Wars" games or on the series as a whole. The first was an OVA, titled "". The OVA was released as four 30-minute episodes from 1997 to 1998, following the cast of the first game. A second OVA series, "", was released as six 30-minute episodes from 1999 to 2000, relating side stories from between "Sakura Wars" and the end of "Thou Shalt Not Die". Further OVA series based around the characters of "Is Paris Burning?" and "So Long, My Love" ("École de Paris"; "Le Nouveau Paris"; "Sumire"; "New York, New York") were released from 2003 to 2007. The OVAs were produced by Radix Ace Entertainment until "New York, New York" in 2007, when production shifted by Anime International Company.


title: Sakura Wars

text: An anime television series based on the first game was produced by Madhouse. The 25-episode series was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System Television from April 8 to September 23, 2000. While based on the first game's narrative and preserving Hiroi's vision, the series changed and added in several events. A major problem was remaining faithful to the source material within a TV format. In 2001, an animated theatrical film, "", was released. The film takes place between "Is Paris Burning?" and "Fall in Love, Maidens" and features new character Ratchet Altair who would later appear in "So Long, My Love". The film was animated by Production I.G; production took three years and was inspired by the wish to expand the series animation beyond what the short cutscenes and OVA projects had achieved. A second anime television series, titled "Sakura Wars the Animation" and serving as a sequel to the 2019 "Sakura Wars", premiered on April 3, 2020. It is animated by Sanzigen, which helped create the animated sequences for the game.


title: Sakura Wars

text: In North America, the first two OVA series and the television series were localised by ADV Films. "École de Paris" and "Sumire" were dubbed and released by Funimation, The film was released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment in 2003, and later by Funimation in 2013. Funimation is streaming the 2020 anime for a simulcast release in North America and the United Kingdom.


title: Glycoside

text: In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of "Heliconius" butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body.


title: Glycoside

text: In formal terms, a glycoside is any molecule in which a sugar group is bonded through its anomeric carbon to another group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides can be linked by an O- (an "O-glycoside"), N- (a "glycosylamine"), S-(a "thioglycoside"), or C- (a "C-glycoside") glycosidic bond. According to the IUPAC, the name ""C"-glycoside" is a misnomer; the preferred term is ""C"-glycosyl compound". The given definition is the one used by IUPAC, which recommends the Haworth projection to correctly assign stereochemical configurations.


title: Glycoside

text: Many authors require in addition that the sugar be bonded to a "non-sugar" for the molecule to qualify as a glycoside, thus excluding polysaccharides. The sugar group is then known as the "glycone" and the non-sugar group as the "aglycone" or "genin" part of the glycoside. The glycone can consist of a single sugar group (monosaccharide), two sugar groups (disaccharide), or several sugar groups (oligosaccharide).


title: Glycoside

text: The first glycoside ever identified was amygdalin, by the French chemists Pierre Robiquet and Antoine Boutron-Charlard, in 1830.


title: Glycoside

text: Molecules containing an N-glycosidic bond are known as glycosylamines. Many authors in biochemistry call these compounds "N-glycosides" and group them with the glycosides; this is considered a misnomer and is discouraged by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Glycosylamines and glycosides are grouped together as glycoconjugates; other glycoconjugates include glycoproteins, glycopeptides, peptidoglycans, glycolipids, and lipopolysaccharides.


title: Glycoside

text: Much of the chemistry of glycosides is explained in the article on glycosidic bonds. For example, the glycone and aglycone portions can be chemically separated by hydrolysis in the presence of acid and can be hydrolyzed by alkali. There are also numerous enzymes that can form and break glycosidic bonds. The most important cleavage enzymes are the glycoside hydrolases, and the most important synthetic enzymes in nature are glycosyltransferases. Genetically altered enzymes termed glycosynthases have been developed that can form glycosidic bonds in excellent yield.


title: Glycoside

text: There are many ways to chemically synthesize glycosidic bonds. Fischer glycosidation refers to the synthesis of glycosides by the reaction of unprotected monosaccharides with alcohols (usually as solvent) in the presence of a strong acid catalyst. The Koenigs-Knorr reaction is the condensation of glycosyl halides and alcohols in the presence of metal salts such as silver carbonate or mercuric oxide.


title: Glycoside

text: If the glycone group of a glycoside is glucose, then the molecule is a glucoside; if it is fructose, then the molecule is a fructoside; if it is glucuronic acid, then the molecule is a glucuronide; etc. In the body, toxic substances are often bonded to glucuronic acid to increase their water solubility; the resulting glucuronides are then excreted. Compounds can also be generally defined based on the class of glycone; for example, biosides are glycosides with a disaccharide (biose) glycone.


title: Glycoside

text: Depending on whether the glycosidic bond lies "below" or "above" the plane of the cyclic sugar molecule, glycosides are classified as α-glycosides or β-glycosides. Some enzymes such as α-amylase can only hydrolyze α-linkages; others, such as emulsin, can only affect β-linkages.


title: Glycoside

text: Glycosides are also classified according to the chemical nature of the aglycone. For purposes of biochemistry and pharmacology, this is the most useful classification.


title: Glycoside

text: An example of an alcoholic glycoside is salicin, which is found in the genus "Salix". Salicin is converted in the body into salicylic acid, which is closely related to aspirin and has analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory effects.


title: Glycoside

text: These glycosides contain an aglycone group that is a derivative of anthraquinone. They have a laxative effect. They are mainly found in dicot plants except the family Liliaceae which are monocots. They are present in senna, rhubarb and "Aloe" species. Anthron and anthranol are reduced forms of anthraquinone.


title: Glycoside

text: Here, the aglycone is coumarin or a derivative. An example is apterin which is reported to dilate the coronary arteries as well as block calcium channels. Other coumarin glycosides are obtained from dried leaves of "Psoralea corylifolia".


title: Glycoside

text: In this case, the aglycone contains a cyanohydrin group. Plants that make cyanogenic glycosides store them in the vacuole, but, if the plant is attacked, they are released and become activated by enzymes in the cytoplasm. These remove the sugar part of the molecule, allowing the cyanohydrin structure to collapse and release toxic hydrogen cyanide. Storing them in inactive forms in the vacuole prevents them from damaging the plant under normal conditions.


title: Glycoside

text: Along with playing a role in deterring herbivores, in some plants they control germination, bud formation, carbon and nitrogen transport, and possibly act as antioxidants. The production of cyanogenic glycosides is an evolutionarily conserved function, appearing in species as old as ferns and as recent as angiosperms. These compounds are made by around 3,000 species. in screens they are found in about 11% of cultivated plants but only 5% of plants overall; humans seem to have selected for them.


title: Glycoside

text: Examples include amygdalin and prunasin which are made by the bitter almond tree; other species that produce cyanogenic glycosides are sorghum (from which dhurrin, the first cyanogenic glycoside to be identified, was first isolated), barley, flax, white clover, and cassava, which produces linamarin and lotaustralin.


title: Glycoside

text: Amygdalin and a synthetic derivative, laetrile, were investigated as potential drugs to treat cancer and were heavily promoted as alternative medicine; they are ineffective and dangerous.


title: Glycoside

text: Some butterfly species, such as the "Dryas iulia" and "Parnassius smintheus", have evolved to use the cyanogenic glycosides found in their host plants as a form of protection against predators through their unpalatability.


title: Glycoside

text: Among the important effects of flavonoids are their antioxidant effect. They are also known to decrease capillary fragility.


title: Glycoside

text: Here, the aglycone is a simple phenolic structure. An example is arbutin found in the Common Bearberry "Arctostaphylos uva-ursi". It has a urinary antiseptic effect.


title: Glycoside

text: These compounds give a permanent froth when shaken with water. They also cause hemolysis of red blood cells. Saponin glycosides are found in liquorice. Their medicinal value is due to their expectorant, corticoid and anti-inflammatory effects. Steroid saponins are important starting material for the production of semi-synthetic glucocorticoids and other steroid hormones such as progesterone; for example in Dioscorea wild yam the sapogenin diosgenin, in the form of its glycoside dioscin. The ginsenosides are triterpene glycosides and ginseng saponins from "Panax ginseng" (Chinese ginseng) and "Panax quinquefolius" (American ginseng). In general, the use of the term saponin in organic chemistry is discouraged, because many plant constituents can produce foam, and many triterpene-glycosides are amphipolar under certain conditions, acting as a surfactant. More modern uses of saponins in biotechnology are as adjuvants in vaccines: Quil A and its derivative QS-21, isolated from the bark of Quillaja saponaria Molina, to stimulate both the Th1 immune response and the production of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) against exogenous antigens make them ideal for use in subunit vaccines and vaccines directed against intracellular pathogens as well as for therapeutic cancer vaccines but with the aforementioned side-effect of hemolysis. Saponins are also natural ruminal antiprotozoal agents that are potential to improve ruminal microbial fermentation reducing ammonia concentrations and methane production in ruminant animals.


title: Glycoside

text: Here the aglycone part is a steroidal nucleus. These glycosides are found in the plant genera "Digitalis", "Scilla", and "Strophanthus". They are used in the treatment of heart diseases, e.g., congestive heart failure (historically as now recognised does not improve survivability; other agents are now preferred) and arrhythmia.


title: Glycoside

text: These sweet glycosides found in the stevia plant "Stevia rebaudiana" Bertoni have 40–300 times the sweetness of sucrose. The two primary glycosides, stevioside and rebaudioside A, are used as natural sweeteners in many countries. These glycosides have steviol as the aglycone part. Glucose or rhamnose-glucose combinations are bound to the ends of the aglycone to form the different compounds.


title: Glycoside

text: As the name implies (q.v. thio-), these compounds contain sulfur. Examples include sinigrin, found in black mustard, and sinalbin, found in white mustard.


title: Aztec religion

text: The Aztec religion is a monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of was construed as the supreme god , as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embrace the mythological and polytheistic aspects, and the Aztec Empire's state religion sponsored both the monism of the upper classes and the popular heterodoxies.


title: Aztec religion

text: The Aztec Empire officially recognized the most popular cults such that the deity was represented in the central temple precinct of the capital . The imperial cult was specifically that of the distinctive warlike patron god of the Mexica . Subjugated peoples were allowed to retain their own religious traditions in conquered provinces so long as they added the imperial god to their local pantheons, while the Empire would often incorporate practices from its new territories into the mainstream religion.


title: Aztec religion

text: In common with many other indigenous Mesoamerican civilizations, the Aztecs put great ritual emphasis on calendrics, and scheduled festivals, government ceremonies, and even war around key transition dates in the Aztec calendar. Public ritual practices could involve food, storytelling, and dance, as well as ceremonial warfare, the Mesoamerican ballgame, and human sacrifice.


title: Aztec religion

text: The cosmology of Aztec religion divides the world into thirteen heavens and nine earthly layers or netherworlds. The first heaven overlaps with the first terrestrial layer, so that heaven and the terrestrial layers meet at the surface of the Earth. Each level is associated with a specific set of deities and astronomical objects. The most important celestial entities in Aztec religion are the Sun, the Moon, and the planet Venus (as both "morning star" and "evening star").


title: Aztec religion

text: Many leading deities of the Aztecs are worshiped in the contemporary or present-day world. These deities are known by names such as Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, who are venerated by different names in multiple cultures and have been throughout the history of Mesoamerica. For the Aztecs, deities of particular importance are the rain god Tlaloc; Huitzilopochtli, patron of the Mexica tribe; Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and god of wind and learning; and Tezcatlipoca, the shrewd, elusive god of destiny and fortune. Tezcatlipoca was also connected to war and sorcery. Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli were worshipped in shrines at the top of the largest pyramid (Templo Mayor) in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. A third monument in the plaza in front of Templo Mayor was devoted to the wind god, Ehecatl, who was an aspect or form of Quetzalcoatl.


title: Aztec religion

text: Nahua metaphysics centers around , "a single, dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power, energy or force." This is conceptualized in a kind of monistic pantheism as manifest in the supreme god , as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire. Priests and educated upper classes held more monistic views, while the popular religion of the uneducated tended to embrace the polytheistic and mythological aspects.


title: Aztec religion

text: In first contact with the Spanish prior to the conquest, emperor Moctezuma II and the Aztecs generally referred to Cortés and the conquistadors as "". Some historians interpret this to mean that the Aztecs believed them to be gods, but a better understanding of suggests that they were being referred to as "mysterious" or "inexplicable".


title: Aztec religion

text: The Aztecs would often adopt gods from different cultures and allow them to be worshiped as part of their pantheon. For example, the fertility god, Xipe Totec, was originally a god of the Yopi (the Nahuatl name of the Tlapanec people), but became an integrated part of the Aztec belief system. Further, sometimes foreign gods would be identified with an already existing god. Other deities, such as Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, had roots in earlier civilizations of Mesoamerica, and were worshiped by many cultures under different names.


title: Aztec religion

text: The many gods of the Aztecs can be grouped into complexes related to different themes. Some were associated with aspects of nature, such as Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl, and other gods were associated with specific trades. Reflecting the complexity of ritual in Aztec society, there were deities related to pulque, a sacred alcoholic beverage, but also deities of drunkenness, excess, fun, and games. Many gods had multiple aspects with different names, where each name highlighted a specific function or trait of the god. Occasionally, two distinct gods were conflated into one, and quite often, deities transformed into one another within a single story. Aztec images sometimes combined attributes of several divinities.


title: Aztec religion

text: Aztec scholar H. B. Nicholson (1971) classed the gods into three groups according to their conceptual meaning in general Mesoamerican religion. The first group he called the "celestial creativity—divine paternalism group". The second: the Earth-mother gods, the pulque gods, and Xipe Totec. The third group, the War-Sacrifice-Sanguinary Nourishment group, contained such gods as Ometochtli, Huitzilopochtli, Mictlantecuhtli and Mixcoatl. A more specific classification based upon the functional attributes of the deities is as follows:


title: Aztec religion

text: Religion was part of all levels of Aztec society. On the state level, religion was controlled by the Tlatoani and the high priests governing the main temples in the ceremonial precinct of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. This level involved the large monthly festivals and a number of specific rituals centered around the ruler dynasty and attempted to stabilize both the political and cosmic systems. These rituals were the ones that involved a sacrifice of humans. One of these rituals was the feast of Huey Tozoztli, when the ruler himself ascended Mount Tlaloc and engaged in autosacrifice in order to petition the rains. Throughout society, each level had their own rituals and deities and played their part in the larger rituals of the community. For example, the class of Pochteca merchants were involved in the feast Tlaxochimaco, where the merchant deity would be celebrated and slaves bought on specific slave markets by long-distance traders would be sacrificed. On the feast of Ochpaniztli all commoners participated in sweeping the streets. Afterwards, they also undertook ritual bathing. The most spectacular ritual was the New Fire ceremony which took place every 52 years and involved every citizen of the Aztec realm. During this, commoners would destroy house utensils, quench all fires, and receive new fire from the bonfire on top of Mt. Huixachtlan, lit on the chest of a sacrificed person by the high priests.


title: Aztec religion

text: Women were also a vital part of Aztec society and religion. Many women had the right to land and the ability to vote on important issues. The Aztec deities also reflected this, as many of the essential deities were women.


title: Aztec religion

text: In the Nahuatl language, the word for priest was "teopixqui" - meaning "god guard". These men were seen as prominent leaders of the community who taught various ideas and morals to the public. "Tlamacazqui" the "giver of things" ensured that the gods were given their due in the form of offerings, ceremonies, and sacrifices.


title: Aztec religion

text: The Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan was the head of the cult of Huitzilopochtli and of the state religion of the Aztec empire. He had special priestly duties in different rituals on the state level.


title: Aztec religion

text: However, the Aztec religious organization was not entirely under his authority. Bernardino de Sahagún and Duran describe the pairs of high priests (q"uetzalcoatlus") who were in charge of the major pilgrimage centres (Cholula and Tenochtitlan) as enjoying immense respect from all levels of Aztec society—akin to archbishops—and a level of authority that partly transcended national boundaries. Under these religious heads were many tiers of priests, priestesses, novices, nuns, and monks (some part-time) who ran the cults of the various gods and goddesses. Sahagún reports that the priests had very strict training, and had to live very austere and ethical lives involving prolonged vigils, fasts, and penances. For instance, they often had to bleed themselves and undertake prescribed self-mortifications in the buildup to sacrificial rites.


title: Aztec religion

text: Additionally, Sahagún refers to classes of religious specialists not affiliated with the established priesthood. This included wandering curers, black magicians, and other occultists (of which the Aztecs identified many types, most of which they feared) and hermits. Finally, the military orders, professions (e.g. traders ("pochteca")) and wards ("calpulli") each operated their own lodge dedicated to their specific god. The heads of these lodges, although not full-time religious specialists, had some ritual and moral duties. Duran also describes lodge members as having the responsibility of raising sufficient goods to host the festivals of their specific patron deity. This included annually obtaining and training a suitable slave or captive to represent and die as the image of their deity in that festival.


title: Aztec religion

text: Aztec temples were basically offering mounds: solid pyramidal structures crammed with special soils, sacrifices, treasures and other offerings. Buildings around the base of the pyramid, and sometimes a small chamber under the pyramid, stored ritual items and provided lodgings and staging for priests, dancers, and temple orchestras. The pyramids were buried under a new surface every several years (especially every 52 years—the Aztec century). Thus the pyramid-temples of important deities constantly grew in size.


title: Aztec religion

text: In front of every major temple lay a large plaza. This sometimes held important ritual platforms such as the "eagle stone" where some victims were slain. Plazas were where the bulk of worshippers gathered to watch rites and dances performed, to join in the songs and sacrifices (the audience often bled themselves during the rites), and to partake in any festival foods. Nobility sat on tiered seating under awnings around the plaza periphery, and some conducted part of the ceremonies on the temple.


title: Aztec religion

text: Continual rebuilding enabled Tlatoani and other dignitaries to celebrate their achievements by dedicating new sculptures, monuments, and other renovations to the temples. For festivals, temple steps and tiers were also festooned with flowers, banners and other decorations. Each pyramid had a flat top to accommodate dancers and priests performing rites. Close to the temple steps there was usually a sacrificial slab and braziers.


title: Aztec religion

text: The temple house ("calli") itself was relatively small, although the more important ones had high and ornately carved internal ceilings. To maintain the sanctity of the gods, these temple houses were kept fairly dark and mysterious—a characteristic that was further enhanced by having their interiors swirling with smoke from "copal" (meaning incense) and the burning of offerings. Cortes and Diaz describe these sanctuaries as containing sacred images and relics of the gods, often bejeweled but shrouded under ritual clothes and other veils and hidden behind curtains hung with feathers and bells. Flowers and offerings (including a great amount of blood) generally covered much of the floors and walls near these images. Each image stood on a pedestal and occupied its own sanctuary. Larger temples also featured subsidiary chambers accommodating lesser deities.


title: Aztec religion

text: In the ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, the most important temple was the Great Temple which was a double pyramid with two temples on top. One was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli; this temple was called "Coatepec" (meaning "snake mountain"), and the other temple was dedicated to Tlaloc. Below the Tlatoani were the high priests of these two temples. Both high priests were called by the title Quetzalcoatl—the high priest of Huitzilopochtli was "Quetzalcoatl Totec Tlamacazqui" and the high priest of Tlaloc was "Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc Tlamacazqui". Other important temples were located in the four divisions of the town. One example was the temple called "Yopico" in "Moyotlan" which was dedicated to Xipe Totec. Furthermore, all the calpullis had special temples dedicated to the patron gods of the calpulli. Priests were educated at the Calmecac if they were from noble families and in the Telpochcalli if they were commoners.


title: Aztec religion

text: The Aztec world consisted of three main parts: the earth world on which humans lived (including Tamoanchan, the mythical origin of human beings), an underworld which belonged to the dead (called Mictlan, "place of death"), and the upper plane in the sky. The earth and the underworld were both open for humans to enter, whereas the upper plane in the sky was impenetrable to humans. Existence was envisioned as straddling the two worlds in a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. Thus as the sun was believed to dwell in the underworld at night to rise reborn in the morning and maize kernels were interred to later sprout anew, the human and divine existence was also envisioned as being cyclical. The upper and nether worlds were both thought to be layered. Mictlan had nine layers which were inhabited by different deities and mythical beings. The sky had thirteen layers, the highest of which was called Omeyocan ("place of duality") and served as the residence of the progenitor dual god Ometeotl. The lowest layer of the sky was a verdant spring-like place with abundant water called Tlalocan ("the place of Tlaloc").


title: Aztec religion

text: After death, the soul of the Aztec went to one of three places: the sun, Mictlan, or Tlalocan. Souls of fallen warriors and women that died in childbirth would transform into hummingbirds that followed the sun on its journey through the sky. Souls of people who died from less glorious causes would go to Mictlan. Those who drowned would go to Tlalocan.


title: Aztec religion

text: In Aztec cosmology, as in Mesoamerica in general, geographical features such as caves and mountains held symbolic value as places of crossing between the upper and nether worlds. The cardinal directions were symbolically connected to the religious layout of the world as well; each direction was associated with specific colors and gods.


title: Aztec religion

text: To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. This worldview is best described in the myth of the five suns recorded in the Codex Chimalpopoca, which recounts how Quetzalcoatl stole the bones of the previous generation in the underworld and how later the gods created four successive worlds or "suns" for their subjects to live in, all of which were destroyed. Then, by an act of self-sacrifice, one of the gods, Nanahuatzin ("the pimpled one"), caused a fifth and final sun to rise where the first humans, made out of maize dough, could live thanks to his sacrifice. Humans were responsible for the sun's continued revival. Blood sacrifice in various forms were conducted. Both humans and animals were sacrificed, depending on the god to be placated and the ceremony being conducted, and priests of some gods were sometimes required to provide their own blood through self-mutilation.


title: Aztec religion

text: Sacrificial rituals among the Aztecs, and in Mesoamerica in general, must be seen in the context of religious cosmology: sacrifice and death was necessary for the continued existence of the world. Likewise, each part of life had one or more deities associated with it and these had to be paid their dues in order to achieve success. Gods were paid with sacrificial offerings of food, flowers, effigies, and quail. But the larger the effort required of the god, the greater the sacrifice had to be. Blood fed the gods and kept the sun from falling. For some of the most important rites, a priest would offer his own blood by cutting his ears, arms, tongue, thighs, chest, genitals, or offer a human life or a god's life. The people who were sacrificed came from many segments of society and might have been a war captive, slave, or a member of Aztec society; the sacrifice might also have been man or woman, adult or child, or noble or commoner.


title: Aztec religion

text: An important aspect of Aztec ritual was the impersonation of deities. Priests or otherwise specially elected individuals would be dressed up to achieve the likeness of a specific deity. To honor the gods, various outfits and festivals were held. The Aztec deities served as providers for all of the society's needs. Along with various rituals and offerings, dressing up was thought as a way to respect the gods worshiped. A person with the honorable charge of impersonating a god was called "ixiptla tli" and was venerated as an actual physical manifestation of the god until the inevitable end when the god's likeness had to be killed as the ultimate sacrifice under great circumstance and festivities.


title: Aztec religion

text: As with the impersonation of gods, Aztec ritual was often a reenactment of a mythical event which at once served to remind the Aztecs of their religion, but it also served to perpetuate the world by repeating the important events of the creation.


title: Aztec religion

text: The Aztec religious year was connected mostly to the natural 365-day calendar, the xiuhpohualli ("yearcount"), which followed the agricultural year. Each of the 18 twenty-day months of the religious year had its particular religious festival—most of which were connected to agricultural themes. The greatest festival was the x"iuhmolpilli," or New Fire ceremony, held every 52 years when the ritual and agricultural calendars coincided and a new cycle started. In the table below, the veintena festivals are shown, the deities with which they were associated and the kinds of rituals involved. The descriptions of the rites are based on the descriptions given in Sahagún's "Primeros Memoriales", the Florentine Codex, and of Diego Durán's "Of the Gods and Rites—"all of which provide detailed accounts of the rituals written in Nahuatl soon after the conquest.


title: Aztec religion

text: When the Spaniards documented Aztec religious and ritual life, they provided abundant evidence that suggests that there existed a correspondence between the tropical year, the cycles of nature, and Aztec ceremonies. Given that such a relation existed, and that ritual functioned to reinforce it, scholars speculate that an unknown method must have been used to maintain the calendar in harmony with the solar year.


title: Aztec religion

text: The main deity in the Mexica religion was the sun god and war god, Huitzilopochtli. He directed the Mexicas to found a city on the site where they would see an eagle, devouring an animal (not all chronicles agree on what the eagle was devouring, one says it was a precious bird, and though Father Duran says it was a snake, this is not mentioned in any pre-Hispanic source), while perching on a fruit bearing nopal cactus. According to legend, Huitzilopochtli had to kill his nephew, Cópil, and throw his heart on the lake. But, since Cópil was his relative, Huitzilopochtli decided to honor him, and caused a cactus to grow over Cópil's heart which became a sacred place.


title: Aztec religion

text: Legend has it that this is the site on which the Mexicas built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, where modern-day Mexico City is located. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of Arms of Mexico.


title: Aztec religion

text: According to their own history, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac Valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all. The Mexicas decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan). To the Mexicas, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Mexica legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.


title: Aztec religion

text: In the process, they adopted most of the Toltec/Nahua pantheon, but they also made significant changes in their religion. As the Mexica rose in power, they adopted the Nahua gods at equal status to their own. For instance, Tlaloc was the rain god of all the Nahuatl-speaking peoples. They put their local god Huitzilopochtli at the same level as the ancient Nahua god, and also replaced the Nahua Sun god with their own. Thus, Tlaloc/Huitzilopochtli represents the duality of water and fire, as evidenced by the twin pyramids uncovered near the Zocalo in Mexico City in the late 1970s, and it reminds us of the warrior ideals of the Aztec: the Aztec glyph of war is burning water.


title: Aztec religion

text: Human sacrifice was practiced on a grand scale throughout the Aztec empire, although the exact figures were unknown. At Tenochtitlán, the principal Aztec city, "between 10,000 and 80,400 people" were sacrificed over the course of four days for the dedication of the Great Pyramid in 1487, according to Ross Hassig . Excavations of the offerings in the main temple has provided some insight in the process, but the dozens of remains excavated are far short of the thousands of sacrifices recorded by eyewitnesses and other historical accounts. For millennia, the practice of human sacrifice was widespread in Mesoamerican and South American cultures. It was a theme in the Olmec religion, which thrived between 1200 BCE and 400 BCE and among the Maya. Human sacrifice was a very complex ritual. Every sacrifice had to be meticulously planned from the type of victim to the specific ceremony needed for the god. The sacrificial victims were usually warriors but sometimes slaves, depending upon the god and needed ritual. The higher the rank of the warrior the better he is looked at as a sacrifice. The victim(s) would then take on the persona of the god he was to be sacrificed for. The victim(s) would be housed, fed, and dressed accordingly. This process could last up to a year. When the sacrificial day arrived, the victim(s) would participate in the specific ceremonies of the god. These ceremonies were used to exhaust the victim so that he would not struggle during the ceremony. Then five priests, known as the Tlenamacac, performed the sacrifice usually at the top of a pyramid. The victim would be laid upon the table, held down and subsequently have his heart cut out.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis (, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The total area of Lewis is .


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis is, in general, the lower-lying part of the island: the other part, Harris, is more mountainous. Due to its larger area and flatter, more fertile land, Lewis contains three-quarters of the population of the Western Isles, and the largest settlement, Stornoway. The island's diverse habitats are home to an assortment of flora and fauna, such as the golden eagle, red deer and seal, and are recognised in a number of conservation areas.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis has a Presbyterian tradition and a rich history. It was once part of the Norse Kingdom of the Isles. Today, life is very different from elsewhere in Scotland, with Sabbath observance, the Scottish Gaelic language and peat cutting retaining more importance than elsewhere. Lewis has a rich cultural heritage as can be seen from its myths and legends as well as the local literary and musical traditions.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The Scottish Gaelic name may be derived from Norse ('song house'), although other origins have been suggested – most notably the Gaelic ('marshy'). It is probably the place referred to as by Ptolemy, which also means 'marshy'. It is also known as the "Isle of Lewis" (Gaelic: ). Another name usually used in a cultural or poetic context is ('Heather Isle'), although this refers to the whole of the island of Lewis and Harris.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The earliest evidence of human habitation on Lewis is found in peat samples which indicate that about 8,000 years ago much of the native woodland was torched to make way for grassland to allow deer to graze. The earliest archaeological remains date from about 5,000 years ago. At that time, people began to settle in permanent farms rather than following their herds. The small houses of these people have been found throughout the Western Isles; in particular, at Dail Mòr, Carloway. The more striking great monuments of this period are the temples and communal burial cairns at places like Calanais (English: Callanish).


title: Isle of Lewis

text: About 500 BC, island society moved into the Iron Age. The buildings became larger and more prominent, culminating in the brochs – circular, dry-stone towers belonging to the local chieftains – which testify to the uncertain nature of life then. The best remaining example of a broch in Lewis is at Dùn Chàrlabhaigh (English: Dun Carloway). The Scots arrived during the first centuries AD, bringing the Scottish Gaelic language with them. As Christianity began to spread through the islands in the 6th and later centuries, following Columban missionaries, Lewis was inhabited by the Picts.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: In the 9th century AD, the Vikings began to settle on Lewis, after years of raiding from the sea. The Norse invaders intermarried with local people and abandoned their pagan beliefs. At that time, rectangular buildings began to supersede round ones, following the Scandinavian style. Lewis became part of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, an offshoot of Norway. The Lewis chessmen, found on the island in 1831, date from the time of Viking rule. The people were called the Norse Gaels or Gall-Ghàidheil (lit. "Foreigner Gaels"), reflecting their mixed Scandinavian/Gaelic background, and probably their bilingual speech. The Norse language persists in many island placenames and some personal names to this day, although the latter are fairly evenly spread across the Gàidhealtachd.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis (and the rest of the Western Isles) became part of Scotland once more in 1266: under the Treaty of Perth it was ceded by the Kingdom of Norway. Under Scottish rule, the Lordship of the Isles emerged as the most important power in north-western Scotland by the 14th century. The Lords of the Isles were based on Islay, but controlled all of the Hebrides. They were descended from Somerled (Somhairle) Mac Gillibride, a Gall-Ghàidheil lord who had held the Hebrides and West Coast two hundred years earlier. Control of Lewis itself was initially exercised by the Macleod clan, but after years of feuding and open warfare between and even within local clans, the lands of Clan MacLeod were forfeited to the Scottish Crown in 1597 and were awarded by King James VI to a group of Lowland colonists known as the Fife adventurers in an attempt to anglicise the islands. However the adventurers were unsuccessful, and possession passed to the Mackenzies of Kintail in 1609, when Coinneach, Lord MacKenzie, bought out the lowlanders.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Following the 1745 rebellion, and Prince Charles Edward Stewart's flight to France, the use of Scottish Gaelic was discouraged, rents were demanded in cash rather than kind, and the wearing of folk dress was made illegal. Emigration to the New World increasingly became an escape for those who could afford it during the latter half of the century. In 1844 Lewis was bought by Sir James Matheson, co-founder of Jardine Matheson, but subsequent famine and changing land use forced vast numbers off their lands, and increased the flood of emigrants again. Paradoxically, those who remained became ever more congested and impoverished, as large tracts of arable land were set aside for sheep, deer-stalking or grouse shooting. Agitation for land resettlement became acute on Lewis during the economic slump of the 1880s, with several land raids (in common with Skye, Uist and Tiree); this quietened down as the island economy recovered.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: During the First World War, thousands of islanders served in the forces, many losing their lives, including 208 naval reservists from the island who were returning home after the war when the Admiralty yacht sank within sight of Stornoway harbour. Many servicemen from Lewis served in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, and again many people died. Afterwards, many more inhabitants emigrated to the Americas and mainland Scotland.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: In May 1918 the Isle of Lewis was purchased by the soap magnate Lord Leverhulme, who intended to make Stornoway an industrial town and build a fish cannery. His plans were initially popular, but his opposition to land resettlement led to further land raids, especially around the farms of Coll, Gress and Tong. These raids, commemorated in monuments in several villages, were ultimately successful, as the government was prepared to take legal action in support of land resettlement. Faced with this, Leverhulme gave up on his plans for Lewis and concentrated his efforts on Harris, where the town of Leverburgh takes his name.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Much of Lewis consists of mostly sandy beaches backed by dunes and machair on the Atlantic west coast, giving way to an expansive peat-covered plateau in the centre of the island. The eastern coastline is markedly more rugged and is mostly rocky cliffs broken by small coves and beaches. The more fertile nature of the eastern side led to the majority of the population settling there, including the largest (and only) town, Stornoway. Aside from the village of Achmore in the centre of the island, all settlements are on the coast.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Compared with Harris, Lewis is relatively flat, except in the south-west, where Mealaisbhal, , is the highest point, and in the south-east, where Beinn Mhor reaches ; but there are 16 high points exceeding in height. Southern Lewis also has a large number of freshwater lochs compared to the north of the island.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: South Lewis, Harris and North Uist together comprise a National Scenic Area. There are four geographical Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on Lewis – Glen Valtos, Cnoc a' Chapuill, Port of Ness and Tolsta Head.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The coastline is severely indented, creating a number of large sea lochs, such as Lochs Resort and Seaforth, which form part of the border with Harris, Loch Roag, which surrounds the island of Great Bernera, and Loch Erisort. The principal capes are the Butt of Lewis, in the extreme north, with hundred foot (30 m) cliffs (the high point is high) and crowned with a lighthouse, the light of which is visible for ; Tolsta Head, Tiumpan Head and Cabag Head, on the east; Renish Point, in the extreme south; and, on the west, Toe Head and Gallon Head. The largest island associated with Lewis is Bernera or Great Bernera in the district of Uig and is linked to the mainland of Lewis by a bridge opened in 1953.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The geology of Lewis is dominated by the metamorphic gneisses of the eponymous Lewisian complex. Exceptions are a patch of granite near Carloway, small bands of intrusive basalt at Gress and in Eye Peninsula and some sandstone at Stornoway, Tong, Vatisker and Carloway, which was originally thought to be Torridonian, but is now considered more likely to be Permo-Triassic in age.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Exposure to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream lead to a cool, moist climate on Lewis. There is relatively little temperature difference between summer and winter, both of which are moderately cloudy (although cloud and wet weather often blows over quickly in summer). Both seasons also have significant rainfall and frequent high winds, particularly during the autumn equinox. These winds have led to Lewis being designated a potential site for a significant wind-farm, which has caused much controversy amongst the population.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: There are 15 Sites of Special Scientific Interest on Lewis in the biology category, spread across the island. Additionally, the Lewis Peatlands are recognised by Scottish Natural Heritage as a Special Protection Area, Special Area of Conservation and a Ramsar site, showing their importance as a wetland habitat for migratory and resident bird life.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Many species of seabirds inhabit the coastal areas of Lewis, including shag, gannet, fulmar, kittiwake, guillemot, and gulls. Red grouse and woodcock are found in the interior.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: In the Uig hills, it is possible to spot both golden and white-tailed eagles. In the Pairc area, oystercatchers and curlews can be seen. A few pairs of peregrine falcons inhabit the coastal cliffs and merlin and buzzard are common everywhere on hill and moor. An important feature of the winter bird life is the great diversity of wildfowl. Several species of waterfowl, including eider and long-tailed duck, are found in the shallow water around Lewis.<ref name="cne-siar.gov.uk/factfile/environment/wildlife">Local Authority Web Site</ref>


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Salmon frequent several Lewis rivers after crossing the Atlantic. Many of the fresh-water lochs are home to fish such as trout. Other freshwater fish present include Arctic char, European eel, 3 and 9 spined sticklebacks, thick-lipped mullet and flounder.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Offshore, it is common to see grey seals, particularly in Stornoway harbour, and with luck, dolphins, harbour porpoises, sharks and even the occasional whale can be encountered.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: There are only two native land mammals in the Western Isles: red deer and otter. The rabbit, mountain hare, hedgehog, feral cat, polecat and both brown and black rats were introduced. The origin of mice and voles is uncertain.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: American mink, another introduced species (escapees from fur farms), cause problems for native ground-nesting birds, the local fishing industry and poultry farmers.<ref name="http://www.snh.org.uk/scottish/wisles/species.asp"></ref> Mink have been successfully eradicated<ref name="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/5306182.stm"></ref> from the Uists and Barra. The second and ongoing phase of the Hebridean Mink Project aims to rid Lewis and Harris of mink in similar fashion.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: There are claims that the Stornoway castle grounds are home to bats.<ref name="http://www.echoesecology.co.uk/documents/AnIntroductionToTheBatsofScotlandEdition1Dec2006_002.pdf"></ref> In addition, some residents keep farm animals such as Hebridean sheep, Highland cattle or kyloe and a few pigs.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: In common with Ireland, no snakes inhabit Lewis, only the slowworm which is merely mistaken for a snake. Actually a legless lizard, it is the sole member of its order present. The common frog may be found in the centre of the island though it, along with any newts or toads present are introduced species.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The island's most famous insect resident is the Scottish midge which is ever-present near water at certain times of the year.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: During the summer months, several species of butterflies and dragonflies can be found, especially around Stornoway.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The richness of insect life in Lewis is evident from the abundance of carnivorous plants that thrive in parts of the island.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The machair is noted for different species of orchid and associated vegetation such as various grasses. Three heathers; ling, bell heather and cross-leaved heath are predominant in the large areas of moorland vegetation which also holds large numbers of insectivorous plants such as sundews. The expanse of heather-covered moorland explains the name "Eilean an Fhraoich", Scottish Gaelic for "The Heather Isle".<ref name = "http://news.scotsman.com/gaelic.cfm?id=140952005"></ref>


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis was once covered by woodland, but the only natural woods remaining are in small pockets on inland cliffs and on islands within lochs, away from fire and sheep. In recent years, Forestry Commission plantations of spruce and pine were planted, although most of the pines were destroyed by moth infestation. The most important mixed woods are those planted around Lews Castle in Stornoway, dating from the mid-19th century.<ref name="cne-siar.gov.uk/factfile/environment/flora"></ref>


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Historically, while Harris was part of Inverness-shire, Lewis was part of Ross-shire or Ross and Cromarty. The Western Isles Islands Council was established in 1975. Now called Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, its remit covers the whole of the Outer Hebrides and its headquarters are in Stornoway.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis is home to the majority of the Western Isles' electorate and six of the nine multi-member council wards are within Lewis and one is shared with Harris. 22 councillors are effectively elected by Lewis residents using the Single Transferable Vote system, and following the 2007 elections 19 are independents, one has Labour and two SNP party affiliation.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The Isle of Lewis is in the Highlands electoral region and is part of the identical Na h-Eileanan an Iar Scottish Parliamentary and Na h-Eileanan an Iar Westminster constituencies, both currently represented by members of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and previously held by members of the Labour Party before the respective elections.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis' main settlement, the only burgh on the Outer Hebrides, is Stornoway ("Steòrnabhagh"), from which ferries sail to Ullapool on the Scottish mainland. In the 2011 census Lewis had a population of 19,658.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The island's settlements are on or near the coasts or sea lochs, being particularly concentrated on the north east coast. The interior of the island is a large area of moorland from which peat was traditionally cut as fuel, although this practice has become less common. The southern part of the island, adjoining Harris, is more mountainous with inland lochs.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: It is claimed that the site of the Stornoway War Memorial was chosen as it would be visible from at least one location in each of the four parishes; therefore, it may be possible to see all four parishes of Lewis from the top of the monument.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: While Lewis has only one town, Stornoway, with a population of approx 8,000, there are also several large villages and groupings of villages on Lewis, such as North Tolsta, Carloway and Leurbost with significant populations. Near Stornoway, Laxdale, Sandwick and Holm, although still de facto villages, have now become quasi-suburbs of Stornoway. The population of the greater-Stornoway area including these (and other) villages would be nearer 12,000.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The island of Great Bernera contains the first planned crofting township created in the Outer Hebrides, Kirkibost created in 1805. This village was subsequently 'cleared' in 1823 and re-settled in 1878 using the exact land lotting divisions from 1805.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Traditional industries on Lewis are crofting, fishing and weaving. Though historically important, they are currently in decline and crofting in particular is little more than a subsistence venture today. Over 40% of the working population is employed by the public sector (chiefly Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local authority; and NHS Western Isles). Tourism is the only growing commercial industry.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: According to the Scottish Government, "tourism is by far and away the mainstay industry" of the Outer Hebrides, "generating £65m in economic value for the islands, sustaining around 1000 jobs". The report adds that the "islands receive 219,000 visitors per year". The Outer Hebrides tourism bureau states that 10–15% of economic activity on the islands was made up of tourism in 2017. The agency states that the "exact split between islands is not possible" when calculating the number of visits, but "the approximate split is Lewis (45%), Uist (25%), Harris (20%), Barra (10%)".


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Despite the name, the Harris tweed industry is today focused in Lewis, with the major finishing mills in Shawbost and Stornoway. Every length of cloth produced is stamped with the official Orb symbol, trademarked by the Harris Tweed Association in 1909, when Harris Tweed was defined as "hand-spun, hand-woven and dyed by the crofters and cottars in the Outer Hebrides"; Machine-spinning and vat dyeing have since replaced hand methods, and only weaving is now conducted in the home, under the governance of the Harris Tweed Authority, established by an Act of Parliament in 1993. Harris Tweed is now defined as "hand woven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the islands of Harris, Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra and their several purtenances (The Outer Hebrides) and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides."


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Aside from the concentration of industry and services in the Stornoway area, many of the historical sites have associated visitor centres, shops or cafes. There is a pharmaceutical plant near Breasclete which specialises in fatty acid research.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The main fishing fleet (and associated shoreside services) in Stornoway is somewhat reduced from its heyday, but many smaller boats perform inshore creel fishing and operate from smaller, local harbours right around Lewis. There are fish farms in many of the sea lochs, and along with the onshore processing and transportation required the industry as a whole is a major employer.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Stornoway is the commercial centre of Lewis; there are several national chains with shops in the town, two national supermarket chains as well as numerous local businesses. Outwith Stornoway, many villages have an all-purpose shop (often combined with a post office). Some villages have more than one, with these usually being specialist stores such as pharmacies or petrol stations. There are almost no rural public houses (for the sale of alcohol); instead, local hotels or inns function as meeting, eating and drinking places, often with accommodation provided. Recently, Abhainn Dearg distillery at Carnish, Uig, on the Isle of Lewis is producing Scotch whisky, the first legal whisky in over 200 years.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Itinerant, travelling shops also tour the island visiting some of the more remote locations. The ease of transport to Stornoway and the advent of the internet have led to many of the village shops closing in recent times. Mobile banking services are provided to remote villages by the Royal Bank of Scotland's travelling bank.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: A daily Caledonian MacBrayne ferry (MV "Loch Seaforth") sails from Stornoway to Ullapool on the Scottish mainland, taking 2 hours 30 minutes connecting Lewis with the mainland. There are two return crossings a day, with one on a Sunday in the winter. Other ferries sailing from Harris are easily accessible by road, enabling transport to Skye and Uist.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Suggestions for the possibility of an undersea tunnel linking Lewis to the Scottish mainland were raised in early 2007. One of the possible routes, between Stornoway and Ullapool, would be over long and hence the longest road tunnel in the world;<ref name="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2245144.ece">"The Independent" </ref> however, shorter routes would be possible.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Stornoway is the public transport hub of Lewis, with bus services to Point, Ness, Back and Tolsta, Uig, the West Side, Lochs and Tarbert, Harris. These services are provided by the local authority and several private operators as well as some community-run organisations.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Stornoway Airport is away from the town itself, and is located next to the village of Melbost. Loganair operate services to Benbecula, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow. Eastern Airways flights to Aberdeen ended in November 2018. The airport is the base of a HM Coastguard Search & Rescue Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, and was previously home to RAF Stornoway.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Peat is still cut as a fuel in many areas of Lewis. Peat is usually cut in late spring with a tool called a "tairsgeir" (that is, a peat iron, peat spade, peat knife or tosg; sometimes "toirsgian") which has a long wooden handle with an angled blade on one end. The peat bank is first cleared of heather turfs. The peat, now exposed, is cut using the "tairsgeir" and the peats thrown out on the bank to dry. A good peat cutter can cut 1000 peats in a day.<ref name = "http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/education/crofting/src8.jsp"></ref>


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Once dried, the peats are carted to the croft and built into a large stack. These often resembled the shape of the croft house – broad, curved at each end and tapered to a point about 2 metres high. They varied in length from about 4 to 14 metres. Peat stacking also follows local customs and a well built peat stack can be a work of art. Peat stacks provide additional shelter to houses. A croft can burn as many as 15,000–18,000 peats in a year.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The odour of the peat-smoke, especially in winter time, can add to the general atmosphere of the island. While peat burning still goes on, there has been a significant decline in recent years as people move to other, less labour-intensive forms of heating; however, it remains an important symbol of island life. In 2008, with the large increase in the price (and theft) of liquefied petroleum gas and heating oil, there were signs that there may be a return to peat cutting.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Religion is important in Lewis, with much of the population belonging to the Free Church or the Church of Scotland (both Presbyterian in tradition). The Sabbath is generally observed, with most shops and licensed premises closed on that day, although there has been a scheduled air service to mainland Scotland as well as a scheduled ferry service since 19 July 2009.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: While Presbyterianism dominates Lewis, other denominations and other religions have a presence, with a Catholic church, a Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion); there is also a Catholic priest of the Anglican Ordinariate in Stornoway, a Salvation Army corps, a Pentecostal church (New Wine Church), a Plymouth Brethren church, a Baptist church, a meetinghouse of the LDS Church and a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall all present in Stornoway. The island's first mosque opened in Stornoway in May 2018.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Some churches in Lewis practise precenting the line, a distinctive, heterophonic style of congregational psalm singing in Scottish Gaelic.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: School education in Lewis is under the remit of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. There are a total of 15 schools covering the 5–18 age range. Unusual features are the prevalence of Scottish Gaelic medium education (offered in 12 of 14 primary schools) and the Nicolson Institute, the only secondary school on the island. The large number of village schools led to necessarily small rolls, and falls in pupil numbers led to the closures of all of the rural secondary departments and some of the primary schools.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Stornoway is home to a small campus of the University of Stirling, teaching nursing, which is based in "Ospadal nan Eilean" (Western Isles Hospital). There is also a further education college, Lews Castle College, which is part of the UHI Millennium Institute. The college is the umbrella organisation for other vocational and community education, offered in several rural learning centres as well as on the main campus and covering subjects such as basic computer skills, Scottish Gaelic language classes and maritime qualifications.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis has a linguistic heritage rooted in Scottish Gaelic and Old Norse, which both continue to influence life in Lewis. Today, both Scottish Gaelic and English are spoken in Lewis, but in day-to-day life, a hybrid of English and Scottish Gaelic is very common.<ref name = "http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_15_Steornabhagh_Ed_II.pdf"></ref> As a result of the Scottish Gaelic influence, the Lewis accent of Highland English is frequently considered to sound more Irish or Welsh than stereotypically Scottish in some quarters. The Scottish Gaelic culture in the Western Isles is more prominent than in any other part of Scotland. Scottish Gaelic is the language of choice amongst many islanders and around 60% of islanders speak Scottish Gaelic as a daily language, whilst 70% of the resident population have some knowledge of Scottish Gaelic (including reading, writing, speaking or a combination of the three). Most signposts on the islands are written in both English and Scottish Gaelic and much day-to-day business is carried out in the Scottish Gaelic language. Almost all of the Gaelic speakers are bilingual.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Most of the place names in Lewis and Harris come from Old Norse. The name "Lewis" is the English spelling of the Scottish Gaelic "Leòdhas" which comes from the Old Norse "Ljóðhús", as Lewis is named in medieval Norwegian maps of the island. Various suggestions have been made as to a Norse meaning such as "song house". The name is not of Gaelic origin, the Norse credentials are questionable and it may have a pre-Celtic root.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: As well as regularly playing host to the Royal National Mòd, there are annual local mods. Stornoway Castle Green hosts the annual 3-day Hebridean Celtic Festival in July, attracting over 10,000 visitors. The festival includes events such as ceilidhs, dances and special concerts featuring storytelling, song and music with performers from all round the Isles and beyond.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The radio station Isles FM is based in Stornoway and broadcasts on 103FM, featuring a mixture of Scottish Gaelic and English programming. The town is also home to a studio operated by BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, and Studio Alba, an independent television studio from where the Scottish Gaelic TV channel TeleG was broadcast.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The "Stornoway Gazette" is the main local paper, covering Lewis and beyond and is published weekly. "The Hebridean" is a sister paper of the Gazette and also provides local coverage. Some community organisations in the rural districts have their own publications with news and features for these particular areas, such as the "Rudhach" for the Point district.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: Lewis has been home to, or inspired, many writers, including bestselling contemporary author Kevin MacNeil, whose cult novel "The Stornoway Way" was set in the island's capital. In April 2020, the Isle of Lewis Distillery published a list of 10 recommended books that feature the Outer Hebrides. Parts of the crime/mystery series by author GR Jordan are also set in this area, with the action in "Water's Edge" and "Horror Weekend" taking place primarily on the Isle.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: There is a good provision of sporting grounds and sports centres in Lewis. Sports such as football, rugby union and golf are popular.


title: Isle of Lewis

text: The Isle of Lewis has a rich folklore, including "Seonaidh" – a water-spirit who had to be offered ale in the area of Teampull Mholuaidh in Ness – and "The Blue Men" who inhabited the Minch, between Lewis and the Shiants.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: In mathematics, bilinear interpolation is a method for interpolating functions of two variables (e.g., "x" and "y") using repeated linear interpolation. It is usually applied to functions sampled on a 2D rectilinear grid, though it can be generalized to functions defined on the vertices of (a mesh of) arbitrary convex quadrilaterals.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Bilinear interpolation is performed using linear interpolation first in one direction, and then again in the other direction. Although each step is linear in the sampled values and in the position, the interpolation as a whole is not linear but rather quadratic in the sample location.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Bilinear interpolation is one of the basic resampling techniques in computer vision and image processing, where it is also called bilinear filtering or bilinear texture mapping.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Suppose that we want to find the value of the unknown function "f" at the point ("x", "y"). It is assumed that we know the value of "f" at the four points "Q" = ("x", "y"), "Q" = ("x", "y"), "Q" = ("x", "y"), and "Q" = ("x", "y").


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Note that we will arrive at the same result if the interpolation is done first along the "y" direction and then along the "x" direction.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: in agreement with the result obtained by repeated linear interpolation. The set of weights can also be interpreted as a set of generalized barycentric coordinates for a rectangle.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: If we choose a coordinate system in which the four points where "f" is known are (0, 0), (1, 0), (0, 1), and (1, 1), then the interpolation formula simplifies to


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: In both cases, the number of constants (four) correspond to the number of data points where "f" is given.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: As the name suggests, the bilinear interpolant is "not" linear; but it is linear (i.e. affine) along lines parallel to either the "x" or the "y" direction, equivalently if "x" or "y" is held constant. Along any other straight line, the interpolant is quadratic. Even though the interpolation is "not" linear in the position ("x" and "y"), at a fixed point it "is" linear in the interpolation values, as can be seen in the (matrix) equations above.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: The result of bilinear interpolation is independent of which axis is interpolated first and which second. If we had first performed the linear interpolation in the "y" direction and then in the "x" direction, the resulting approximation would be the same.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: The interpolant is a bilinear polynomial, which is also a harmonic function satisfying Laplace's equation. Its graph is a bilinear Bézier surface patch.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: In general, the interpolant will assume any value (in the convex hull of the vertex values) at an infinite number of points (forming branches of hyperbolas), so the interpolation is not invertible.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: However, when bilinear interpolation is applied to two functions simultaneously, such as when interpolating a vector field, then the interpolation is invertible (under certain conditions). In particular, this inverse can be used to find the "unit square coordinates" of a point inside any convex quadrilateral (by considering the coordinates of the quadrilateral as a vector field which is bilinearly interpolated on the unit square). Using this procedure bilinear interpolation can be extended to any convex quadrilateral, though the computation is significantly more complicated if it is not a parallelogram. The resulting map between quadrilaterals is known as a "bilinear transformation", "bilinear warp" or "bilinear distortion".


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Alternatively, a projective mapping between a quadrilateral and the unit square may be used, but the resulting interpolant will not be bilinear.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: In the special case when the quadrilateral is a parallelogram, a linear mapping to the unit square exists and the generalization follows easily.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: The obvious extension of bilinear interpolation to three dimensions is called trilinear interpolation.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Let formula_16 be a vector field that is bilinearly interpolated on the unit square parameterized by formula_17. Inverting the interpolation requires solving a system of two bilinear polynomial equations:formula_18where formula_19Taking a 2-d cross product (see Grassman product) of the system with a carefully chosen vectors allows us to eliminate terms:formula_20which expands toformula_21whereformula_22The quadratic equations can be solved using the quadratic formula. We have the equivalent determinants formula_23and the solutionsformula_24(opposite signs are enforced by the linear relation). The cases when formula_25 or formula_26 must be handled separately. Given the right conditions, one of the two solutions should be in the unit square.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: In computer vision and image processing, bilinear interpolation is used to resample images and textures. An algorithm is used to map a screen pixel location to a corresponding point on the texture map. A weighted average of the attributes (color, transparency, etc.) of the four surrounding texels is computed and applied to the screen pixel. This process is repeated for each pixel forming the object being textured.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: When an image needs to be scaled up, each pixel of the original image needs to be moved in a certain direction based on the scale constant. However, when scaling up an image by a non-integral scale factor, there are pixels (i.e., "holes") that are not assigned appropriate pixel values. In this case, those "holes" should be assigned appropriate RGB or grayscale values so that the output image does not have non-valued pixels.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Bilinear interpolation can be used where perfect image transformation with pixel matching is impossible, so that one can calculate and assign appropriate intensity values to pixels. Unlike other interpolation techniques such as nearest-neighbor interpolation and bicubic interpolation, bilinear interpolation uses values of only the 4 nearest pixels, located in diagonal directions from a given pixel, in order to find the appropriate color intensity values of that pixel.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: Bilinear interpolation considers the closest 2 × 2 neighborhood of known pixel values surrounding the unknown pixel's computed location. It then takes a weighted average of these 4 pixels to arrive at its final, interpolated value.


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: As seen in the example on the right, the intensity value at the pixel computed to be at row 20.2, column 14.5 can be calculated by first linearly interpolating between the values at column 14 and 15 on each rows 20 and 21, giving


title: Bilinear interpolation

text: This algorithm reduces some of the visual distortion caused by resizing an image to a non-integral zoom factor, as opposed to nearest-neighbor interpolation, which will make some pixels appear larger than others in the resized image.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: Stormtroopers of Death (abbreviated to S.O.D.) was an American crossover thrash band formed in New York City in 1985. They are credited as being among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal into a style sometimes referred to as crossover thrash. The band is also known for reuniting Anthrax members Scott Ian (guitars) and Charlie Benante (drums) with their former bassist Dan Lilker. Their instrumental song "March of the SOD" from their 1985 debut album, "Speak English or Die", was the "Headbangers Ball" intro anthem for many years. Another song from the same album, "Chromatic Death", was also used during the show as a segue between ads and videos.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: The band was the source of some controversy due to their deliberately offensive lyrics. Scott Ian described the songs on "Speak English Or Die" as "ridiculous" and "just a big inside joke", adding: "Some people thought we were racist, and those people are stupid." Bassist Dan Lilker stated: "The lyrics were never intended to be serious, just to piss people off." The band had several periods of inactivity following their formation in 1985. According to singer Billy Milano, the 24-song extended play of live and unreleased material called "Rise of the Infidels", released in August 2007 on Megaforce Records, "will finally be the last of S.O.D.", laying to rest rumors of another reunion.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: After finishing his guitar tracks on the Anthrax album "Spreading the Disease", Scott Ian would draw pictures of a character known as "Sargent D." The pictures would be accompanied by slogans such as "I'm not racist; I hate everyone" and "Speak English or Die", and Ian would write lyrics about the character. He decided to form a hardcore band based on Sargent D, so he recruited Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, ex-Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, and Psychos bassist Billy Milano on vocals.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: They recorded a 63-song demo called "Crab Society North" and set to work on an album for Johnny Zazula's Megaforce Records. The album, titled "Speak English or Die", was recorded and mixed over three days, and has since been hailed as a landmark album that was among the first to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal. They toured in support of the album in 1985, opening for Motörhead and The Plasmatics, among others. Their music served as the theme of the 1980s incarnation of MTV's "Headbangers Ball". They planned a follow-up titled "USA For S.O.D.," which was ultimately scrapped and never recorded.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: After their tour ended, Lilker carried on with the band Nuclear Assault while Benante and Ian continued with Anthrax. Milano formed the spin-off band Method of Destruction, known as M.O.D. The band's first album "U.S.A. for M.O.D.", featured many lyrics written by Scott Ian, as well as an altered version of "Aren't You Hungry", an unrecorded S.O.D. song played during their 1985 tour.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: S.O.D. reformed for a one-off gig in New York City in 1992, which was recorded and released as the live album "Live at Budokan." The record featured most songs from the "Speak English or Die" album, a few songs from the demo and covers of Ministry, Nirvana and Fear. In 1997, S.O.D. reunited again to play the Milwaukee Metal Fest. They played their first European gig at the With Full Force festival in Germany, and in 1999 they released their second studio album, titled "Bigger Than the Devil". Its hardcore metal and black humor was welcomed by fans and the band toured again in the late 1990s. "Bigger Than the Devil" featured the original S.O.D. version of "Aren't You Hungry".


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In 2001, the DVD/video "Speak English or Live" was released. It added to the original "Live at Budokan" video by including a gig from a German metal festival and footage of the band recording overdubs for live tracks recorded in Japan. These would be included on the platinum reissue of "Speak English or Die", along with two new studio tracks, to celebrate one million copies of "Speak English or Die" sold. In 2002, the concert film "" was released on DVD.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: Heavy metal news outlets reported in 2003 that the band had split up due to disagreements between Ian and Milano. In 2007, however, S.O.D. reconvened and released its third album, "Rise of the Infidels." The album consists of previously unrecorded material and live recordings. However, Milano said that the album would be the band's final release.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In October 2011, Scott Ian was asked by UnRatd Magazine if there was any chance of another reunion, to which he replied:


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In December 2012, it was announced that Billy Milano and Dan Lilker had reunited in a new band called United Forces.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In July 2015, Horns Up Rocks reported that S.O.D. would reunite again in celebration of their 30th anniversary. However, bassist Dan Lilker said that there were no plans for an S.O.D. reunion, and added that Billy Milano did not "consult anybody else that played in S.O.D. He just kind of announced something."


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In 2017, Lilker formed a new version of S.O.D. under the name Not S.O.D. – Fist Banging Maniacs, with Brazilian musicians João Gordo, Cléber Orsioli and Guilherme Cersosimo filling in for Milano, Ian and Benante respectively.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In April 2020, Benante posted video of himself along with Ian and Lilker on YouTube performing S.O.D. songs during the COVID-19 lockdown.


title: Stormtroopers of Death

text: In May 2020, Benante, Ian and Lilker, along with Mike Patton on vocals, posted a video on YouTube of "Speak Spanish or Die".


title: Richie Furay

text: Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Timothy B. Schmit, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner. His best known song (originally written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield, but eventually performed by Poco as well) was "Kind Woman," which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.


title: Richie Furay

text: Before Buffalo Springfield, Furay performed with Stills in the nine-member group, the Au Go Go Singers (Furay, Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Jean Gurney, Michael Scott, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, and Stills), the house band of the famous Cafe Au Go Go in New York City.


title: Richie Furay

text: In the late 1960s, he formed the country rock band Poco with Jim Messina (who produced albums and occasionally played bass for Buffalo Springfield) and Rusty Young. This band, while influential to many future country rock acts, experienced uneven commercial success. Furay's best-known songs, "Kind Woman", "Pickin' Up The Pieces", and "Good Feelin' To Know", however, have reached classic status and appear on many country rock compilations.


title: Richie Furay

text: Furay left Poco in 1974 to form the Souther Hillman Furay Band. During this time Al Perkins, the band's pedal steel guitar player, introduced Furay to Christianity. His newfound faith helped him rebuild his troubled marriage.


title: Richie Furay

text: Although Souther Hillman Furay Band's self-titled first album was certified Gold and yielded the top thirty hit with "Fallin' in Love" in 1974, the group could not follow up on that success, and poor record sales eventually led to its demise.


title: Richie Furay

text: After moving from Los Angeles to Sugarloaf Mountain near Boulder, Colorado, Furay formed The Richie Furay Band with Jay Truax, John Mehler, and Tom Stipe, releasing the album "I've Got a Reason" in 1976, which reflected Furay's newfound beliefs. To support the release of this album, Furay formed an alliance with David Geffen and Asylum Records. Furay assured Geffen that his album would be Christian influenced but would not be an attempt to preach his newfound beliefs. "I've Got a Reason" did, however, establish Furay as a pioneer in Christian Rock.


title: Richie Furay

text: Overall, his albums charted unsatisfactorily, and, compounded with the strain of touring wearing on him and his family, he retired as a performer to join the ministry. In 1983, Furay became senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado, a non-sectarian Christian church in the Denver area.


title: Richie Furay

text: In 2006 he released his album "The Heartbeat of Love", and also toured as an opening act for America and Linda Ronstadt. In 2007, he toured with a new formation of the Richie Furay Band. At the Boulder and Bluebird Theatres in Colorado, they recorded a double live album "ALIVE". The "ALIVE" set covers 29 songs of Furay's career. The Richie Furay band continued to tour through 2008 and 2009.


title: Richie Furay

text: Furay appeared with Poco for several shows in early 2009. At the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California in 2009, Furay and the current Poco lineup were joined onstage by original members Jim Messina and George Grantham and former bass player Timothy B. Schmit.


title: Richie Furay

text: On October 23, 2010, he reunited with surviving Buffalo Springfield bandmates Stephen Stills and Neil Young for a set at the 24th annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. The reunion continued in 2011 for a one-month tour of California, headlining 2011 Bonnaroo. In July 2011, Furay announced on his Facebook page that he would be touring with Buffalo Springfield in early 2012, ending speculation there would be a 2011 fall tour with them.


title: Richie Furay

text: In 2011, Furay collaborated with the Piedmont Brothers Band as an occasional back-up vocalist on the album "PBB III" (2011). He later appear on the 2013 Carla Olson album, "Have Harmony, Will Travel".


title: Richie Furay

text: On June 13, 2018, the Richie Furay Band began the Deliverin' Tour at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in New Jersey. The first set consisted of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther, Hillman & Furay Band and solo material, followed by a second set in which the classic 1971 Poco live album ""DeLIVErin'"" was performed in its entirety. A single, “I Guess You Made It”, was released on Furay's website (richiefuray.com).


title: Richie Furay

text: The tour continued throughout the year, culminating with a Poco 50th Anniversary Celebration on November 16, 2018 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where Poco first performed in 1969. Randy Meisner and Peter Asher were in the audience (Poco bandmate and longtime friend, Timothy B. Schmit performed with Furay.) Furay's Troubadour show was recorded and, in April, 2021, was released in both CD and DVD as "DeLIVErin' Again (50th Anniversary: Return to the Troubadour)". That same year, Furay released the single, "America, America" through his website.


title: Richie Furay

text: In mid-2019, Furay announced he would be retiring from headline touring. He embarked on a tour of the west coast in the fall of 2019, sharing the bill with Dave Mason. Furay's “Farewell/76th Birthday Celebration” was originally scheduled to take place at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in New Jersey in 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic and storm damage to the SOPAC building, the show was postponed until 2022, so he performed a "Farewell Show" at Drew University in Madison NJ on November 14, 2021 (the date of the originally scheduled SOPAC show.) He has scheduled a few one-off shows in Colorado and California in the spring of 2022, with the SOPAC "Farewell Show" rescheduled for June 2022 at SOPAC, under the direction of his manager, David Stone. He has included "Crazy Love" and "Bad Weather" in his shows, as a tribute to Poco bandmates Rusty Young and Paul Cotton, respectively, who both died in 2021.


title: Richie Furay

text: In June and July 2022, Furay kicked off a mini-tour, beginning in New Jersey, as well as the City Winery's in Nashville, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Boston. The shows, being bill as Furay's farewell tour, are in support of his new album "In the Country" which includes cover versions of Furay's favorite country songs. "In the Country" features a cover of Keith Urban's "Someone Like You", released as a single. The recording also contains songs by John Denver, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Marc Cohn, and Ricky Nelson, as well as a remake of the Poco song "Pickin' Up the Pieces".


title: Richie Furay

text: A documentary, "Through It All: The Life and Influence of Richie Furay" is currently in post-production. It is narrated by Cameron Crowe.


title: Steve Trevor

text: General Steven Rockwell Trevor is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Wonder Woman. The character was created by William Moulton Marston and first appeared in "All Star Comics" #8 (December 1941). Steve Trevor is a trusted friend, love interest, and partner who introduces Diana (Wonder Woman) to "Man's World", and has served as Wonder Woman's United Nations liaison. He is the first foreigner to have ever set foot on Themyscira and the first ambassador to open diplomatic relations with the Amazons.


title: Steve Trevor

text: The character has appeared in various adaptations of the comics. He has been voiced by actors such as Tahmoh Penikett, Nathan Fillion, and George Newbern, among others in various "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League" productions. Lyle Waggoner portrayed the character in the 1970s "Wonder Woman" series, while Chris Pine portrayed him in the DC Extended Universe films "Wonder Woman" (2017) and "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020).


title: Steve Trevor

text: Steve Trevor was originally introduced as an intelligence operative and officer in the United States Army Air Corps who became stranded on Wonder Woman's homeland where he was a herald to the Amazons that World War II was occurring in "Man's World". He also developed a close relationship with the heroine. Though a military man with experience in the field, storylines involving post-Marston Steve and Wonder Woman also involved Wonder Woman coming to Steve's rescue, as well as vice versa.


title: Steve Trevor

text: The character was killed off in "Wonder Woman" #180 (January - February 1969), shot by the henchmen of Doctor Cyber. In a "WW" letter column in issue #195, artist Mike Sekowsky explained, "Steve Trevor was dull and boring and I didn't like him much, so I disposed of him." The character was later resurrected by another creative team.


title: Steve Trevor

text: Steve's visibility in comics varied through the 1970s to the 1990s, with his character either absent or sidelined in favour of fantasy and action-adventure Wonder Woman stories without romantic interests.


title: Steve Trevor

text: In more recent portrayals, and particularly since DC's 2011 reboot, Steve is portrayed as a senior government agent and super spy whose close connection to Wonder Woman makes him the United States' liaison to the Justice League. In 2013, in his capacity as a skilled government agent, Steve himself became the member of a new incarnation of the Justice League of America.


title: Steve Trevor

text: The character was designed to be a complement to Wonder Woman's character. Chris Pine described Trevor as a "rogue-ish, cynical realist who's seen the awful brutish nature of modern civilization" and added he is a "worldly guy, a charming guy". Steve Trevor gave Diana the nickname, "Angel", because having been delirious from his injuries, Themyscira seemed heaven-like with her being the "angel" that saved him. Throughout his comic book appearances Steve is often shown to have a strong moral compass and has been depicted as jaded and even insubordinate towards his superior officers if he deems their decisions to be unethical.