title: Jake Arrieta

text: Following the 2018 season, Arrieta revealed that he had injured his knee in June, and that he had chosen to pitch through the pain, hiding the injury from his teammates and from manager Gabe Kapler. After re-injuring his knee during an offseason workout, Arrieta discovered that he had suffered a meniscus tear, and he underwent surgery in January to repair the joint. Believing himself healthy and with an improved arm angle while pitching leading into the 2019 MLB season, Arrieta captured his 100th career win on April 12, pitching seven innings of the Phillies' 9–1 rout of the Miami Marlins. By July 7, however, Arrieta seemed mired in a slump, with a 6.63 ERA through his last seven starts. On August 17, Arrieta and the Phillies announced that the pitcher would undergo a season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur in his pitching elbow. The spur had been causing pain over Arrieta's last seven starts of the year, limiting him to fewer than six innings per outing. By the time his season ended, Arrieta was 8–8 with a 4.64 ERA in 24 starts for the Phillies, and he struck out 110 batters in innings.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: Entering spring training in 2020, Arrieta declared himself "100 percent healthy" and was confident that he would be able to perform during the regular season. The COVID-19 pandemic, which shortened the 2020 MLB season to only 60 regular-season games, proved an added challenge for Arrieta, who was entering the final year of his contract with the Phillies. Rather than having 30 starts to prove himself to the free market crowd as expected, the shortened schedule meant that starters like Arrieta would only expect to see around 10 games of action. He opened the season as the Phillies' No. 3 starter, behind Nola and recent acquisition Zack Wheeler. Two positive COVID-19 tests in the Phillies clubhouse shut the team down for one week, and Arrieta did not receive his first start of the season until August 3, his first MLB appearance in nearly one year. He allowed three runs in five innings of a 6–3 loss to the New York Yankees. Arrieta remained healthy until September 15, when he was shut down for the season with a hamstring injury. In nine starts for the Phillies, he posted a 4–4 record and a 5.08 ERA. Philadelphia chose not to extend his contract at the end of the season, leaving him a free agent.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: On February 17, 2021, Arrieta rejoined the Cubs on a one-year, $4 million contract. After spending spring training tweaking his pitching delivery, Arrieta opened the season as Chicago's No. 2 starter, behind Kyle Hendricks. Arrieta's return to the Cubs was marred by injury. First, he suffered a cut on his right thumb on April 30 during a game against the Cincinnati Reds; after giving up seven runs in innings, Arrieta was removed from the game and was placed on the 10-day injured list. On June 4, he attempted to play through a bout of gastroenteritis and proceeded to allow six runs in two innings of an 8–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants. As the season progressed, Cubs management began to voice concerns about Arrieta's pitch command and durability: not once in his first 13 starts of the year did he remain on the mound past the fifth inning. On July 5, Arrieta faced the Phillies for the first time since leaving the team. He threw only 55 pitches across innings, allowing seven runs in the process, including a first-inning grand slam to outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The Cubs unconditionally released Arrieta on August 12, the day after he allowed seven runs on eight hits in one inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. He posted a 5–11 record with a 6.88 ERA during his second stint with the Cubs.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: Four days after his release from the Cubs, Arrieta signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres, whose starting rotation had been depleted by injuries to Chris Paddack and Yu Darvish. He made his first start for the team on August 18, allowing five earned runs in innings before departing with a hamstring injury. The injury caused Arrieta to miss 10 games on the injured list; three starts later, on September 19, he departed a game against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning with a right adductor magnus muscle strain. He faced only six batters and allowed five runs on two hits and a walk. Arrieta was designated for assignment on September 21. In only four starts for the Padres, he recorded a 10.95 ERA, allowing 15 earned runs in innings. He was released the following day.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: On April 18, 2022, Arrieta announced his retirement from professional baseball on the Barstool Sports podcast "Pardon My Take", saying, "I haven't signed the papers, but I'm done ... At some point, the uniform goes to somebody else, and it's just my time." He finished his career with a 115–93 record and a 3.98 ERA in 285 games, all but six of which were starts, across 12 seasons. Arrieta struck out 1,433 batters while walking 571 and allowing 713 earned runs in career innings pitched.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: During his MLB career, Arrieta threw five different kinds of pitches: a four-seam fastball, a sinker, a changeup, a slider, and a curveball. During 2015 and 2016, his two most dominant seasons, Arrieta's most effective pitch was a cross between a slider and a cut fastball. He described the pitch as taking on more of a cutter shape towards right-handed batters while leaning towards a slider for left-handed opponents. The hybrid pitch proved effective in inducing strikeouts: in the first three weeks of the 2016 season, Arrieta struck out 17 batters in 80 at bats where his last pitch was the slider/cutter. Later in his career, Arrieta struggled with decreasing velocity on most of his repertoire: between 2015 and 2021, his sinker dropped from to , while his slider fell from to . To combat this decreased velocity, Arrieta increased his use of breaking balls to confuse hitters while also relying on a sinking fastball to keep pitches low to the ground and playable for fielders.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: Arrieta and his wife, gymnast Brittany Arrieta, have known each other since elementary school, and they began dating during their junior year of high school. They have two children together: a son and a daughter. The family lives in Austin, Texas, where they are frequent hikers. Arrieta took up Pilates in 2013 and began incorporating it into his everyday workouts when he saw an improvement in his pitching.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: Politically, Arrieta does not identify with either the Democratic or Republican political parties, and he did not vote in the 2016 United States presidential election. When the Cubs visited the White House to meet with then-President of the United States Barack Obama after their World Series victory in 2016, Arrieta clarified that his absence was not for political reasons, but due to the needs of his family. In 2021, Arrieta voiced his skepticism towards the COVID-19 vaccine, referencing the fact that several members of the New York Yankees tested positive for the virus despite being vaccinated. That May, he told reporters that he doubted the need to vaccinate as long as other COVID-19 safety guidelines were being followed.


title: Jake Arrieta

text: Outside of baseball, Arrieta has made multiple television appearances. In the "Baseball" episode of the HBO comedy series "Veep", protagonist Selina Meyer meets several members of the Orioles, including Arrieta and teammate Tommy Hunter. In 2017, Arrieta and Cubs teammate Kris Bryant appeared in an episode of "Chicago Fire" that focuses on a young Cubs fan injured in a car accident.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer, originally referred as "Onionhead" and sometimes "the Mean Green Ghost", is a character from the "Ghostbusters" franchise. He appears in the films "Ghostbusters" (1984), "Ghostbusters II" (1989), and the remake "Ghostbusters" (2016), in the animated television series: "The Real Ghostbusters", "Slimer!" and "Extreme Ghostbusters", and in the video games: "" (2009), "Beeline's Ghostbusters" (2013) and "" (2022). Slimer was voiced by Ivan Reitman and Adam Ray in the films and by Frank Welker in the animated series. In "The Real Ghostbusters", he is the Ghostbusters' mascot and friend (unlike the films, where he is a ghost who needs to be busted).


title: Slimer

text: During the pre-production of "Ghostbusters", Ivan Reitman remarked Slimer was sort of like Bluto in the film "Animal House", like the ghost of John Belushi.


title: Slimer

text: Special effects artist Steve Johnson sculpted the gluttonous, slimy, green ghost then known only as the "Onion Head ghost" on set due to the puppet's unpleasant smell. Now commonly known as "Slimer", it was not called that until the 1986 animated television series "The Real Ghostbusters". The Slimer design took six months, and approximately $300,000 to develop. It went through many variations, which Johnson blamed on executive interference through micromanagement, constant adjustments, and conflicting notes on how to modify each detail. He said: "In the beginning they asked for a 'smile with arms' but before I knew it ... 'give him 13% more pathos, put ears on him, take his ears off, less pathos, more pathos, make his nose bigger, now his nose is too big, make his nose smaller ... Make him more cartoony, make him less cartoony."


title: Slimer

text: The day before his deadline, Johnson learned Aykroyd and Ramis had wanted Slimer to be an homage to John Belushi's likeness. With that information and a series of Belushi headshots, Johnson took at least three grams of cocaine and believed that Belushi's ghost was visiting him to provide encouragement. It was during this episode that he sculpted the final Slimer design that appears in the film. Aykroyd admitted the character was inspired by Belushi, particularly his body. Ramis said the comparison was not malicious, explaining that Belushi was the person most likely to trip over a coffee table and knock a bookcase over. The model had three interchangeable faces for larger expressions, while smaller features like blinking were controlled by cables and rods by a team of puppeteers. Smaller, egg-size models were made for less animated movements like flying around the ceiling of the Sedgewick Hotel ballroom. The full-size Slimer puppet was performed by Mark Bryan Wilson, who wore the foam rubber suit reinforced with spandex while being filmed against a black background. As Wilson's movement was restricted by the puppet's cables, the camera was moved around him to simulate movement. Wilson worked with oversized props so the ghost would appear smaller after composited into live-action.


title: Slimer

text: For the live-action set, in the scene where Ray spooks Slimer, a room service cart trailed after him. The cart was motorized and piloted from underneath by one of Chuck Gaspar's crew. Naturally, when the cart crashes, the driver is not present. The shot of Slimer phasing through the wall was shot at Entertainment Effects Group and incorporated optically later on.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer was not always a definite part of the "Ghostbusters II" script. It was a matter of considerable debate if he should appear at all. Slimer's appeal was widespread among children thanks in part to the first movie and "The Real Ghostbusters". Slimer was given a subplot and written into the movie: Slimer would eat various foods in the Firehouse while Louis Tully would try to trap him, then they would become friends. Michael Gross requested that elements of the animated version of Slimer be incorporated into the movie. Tim Lawrence and Thom Enriquez worked on a new design. Meanwhile, Bobby Porter was called in to portray Slimer. Some of the technology and techniques used for Nunzio Scoleri were used for Slimer – the divided head construct, pneumatic jaws, SNARK, and a fat suit – a departure from the first movie where he was hand puppeteered. Then Slimer was removed from the script. Porter was released.


title: Slimer

text: Two weeks later, Slimer was back in the script and had a bigger role. However, Porter was no longer available. Effects coordinator Ned Gorman remembered working with Robin Navlyt on "Willow" and she was brought in. Navlyt was the same height as Porter and fit into the suit very well. Chris Goehe and his mold shop crew made a full lifecast on her and Al Coulter worked on a new skullcap. The Slimer shoot was finished close to the first day of shooting. Michael Gross was on hand to push the crew to keep Slimer subtle and reduce any complicated approaches to moving him. Slimer's segments were deemed intrusive by preview audiences. During editing, Ivan Reitman decided to limit Slimer's role even though all scripted scenes were filmed and completed. Ultimately, Slimer's scenes were trimmed to two brief shots plus one during the end titles.


title: Slimer

text: In the script for "Ghostbusters", and in the film itself, Slimer is never actually called by any name (the term "slimers" is used to identify a kind of ghost). The creature was called "The Onionhead Ghost" by the film crew, and in the film's closing credits, Steve Johnson is credited as the sculptor for "Onionhead". Slimer was marketed as "the Green Ghost" in initial merchandise for "The Real Ghostbusters". When the cartoon series was produced, and in response to the name much given to the character by audiences, the writers renamed the green ghost "Slimer", and the name stuck on all subsequent "Ghostbusters" properties, including "Ghostbusters II" and "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call", despite the character never actually being referred to as Slimer within either film. Although Slimer was referred to as "The Green Ghost" early in the related toy line, in later releases of his first figure, an extra label was applied, specifying "Known as 'Slimer' in the Real Ghostbusters TV show".


title: Slimer

text: The in-narrative explanation for Slimer's name was revealed in the eleventh episode of "The Real Ghostbusters", "Citizen Ghost" (first broadcast on November 22, 1986). A flashback depicting how the Ghostbusters made friends with Slimer reveals the ghost was so nicknamed by Ray Stantz.


title: Slimer

text: In "", according to its Tobin's Spirit Guide, Stantz named the green ghost Slimer to annoy Venkman, who still nurses a grudge against the creature.


title: Slimer

text: Throughout the first film, Slimer appears to lack intelligence, only caring about gaining food to eat. In the second movie, Slimer appears fatter and more intelligent and could drive a bus (Louis wonders who gave him a license). Slimer is shown to be caring in "The Real Ghostbusters", showing compassion from Ray Stantz, and kissing Janine. The 2016 reboot features a different incarnation of Slimer, who savages a hot dog cart and, after an attack by the Ghostbusters, steals the Ecto-1 to go on a joyride with his girlfriend, Lady Slimer, and other ghosts.


title: Slimer

text: His origins were told by the Marvel UK comic book "The Real Ghostbusters" #22, though it is non-canonical to the film series and the animated television series. It is explained that he was King Remils ("Slimer" backwards), an obese king who died of heart failure, while a deleted scene from the 2016 "Ghostbusters" film was meant to expand on Slimer's rebooted continuity origins: when he was alive, Slimer was a gangster who killed a restaurant waiter that got his order wrong, resulting in his imprisonment and execution. After his death, the Ghostbusters encounter him haunting the same restaurant, but due to the experimental nature of their equipment, they inadvertently disfigure him, destroying his legs and turning him green, before he escapes. In Erik Burnham's "Tobin's Spirit Guide", it is believed by the Ghostbusters that Slimer was conjured by the Sedgewick Hotel's owner Godfrey M. Sedgewick (who was one of Ivo Shandor's disciples) in the early 1920s after a ritual went awry.


title: Slimer

text: Voiced by Ivan Reitman, Slimer (not named until "The Real Ghostbusters") was a legendary ghost to all on the original staff of the Sedgewick Hotel. His usual territory was the twelfth floor, but his outings were usually non-violent and simply involved gorging himself on food from room service carts. As a result, the hotel was able to keep a lid on the supernatural problems for a while. For some reason, Gozer's approaching time of arrival provoked Slimer (and many other ghosts) into being much more active than usual. Eventually, the staff could no longer keep the ghost a secret and called the Ghostbusters. However, the team had not yet fully tested their equipment and were not completely prepared for a full capture. Ray Stantz attempted to hold Slimer by himself, but the ghost escaped through a wall, charged at Peter Venkman, and covered him in ectoplasmic residue.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer fled into the hotel's Alhambra Ballroom, where the Ghostbusters successfully caught and trapped him after causing extensive property damage. Stantz loaded him into the team's storage facility as a demonstration for Winston Zeddemore after the latter was hired to work for them. He and all the other captured ghosts were released when Walter Peck ordered the facility to be shut down. Slimer took refuge in a hot dog cart soon afterward, surprising the vendor greatly upon opening it. After the defeat of Gozer, the film's closing credits begin over scenes of the Ghostbusters being celebrated by the citizens of New York City. The last shot of the film is Slimer flying towards the screen, after which the film cuts to black, and the remainder of the credits roll.


title: Slimer

text: Again voiced by Ivan Reitman, and now officially known as Slimer (due to the popularity of "The Real Ghostbusters"), Slimer first appears in "Ghostbusters II" when Louis Tully caught Slimer eating his lunch, to which the two of them fled in fear from one another. In a deleted scene set between the scene with Dana's bathtub and the scene with Dana and Venkman going out for dinner (mentioned in the novelization), Louis attempts to catch Slimer using a Proton Pack by baiting him with fried chicken.


title: Slimer

text: Later in the film, on New Year's Eve, Louis decides to take up a Proton Pack and help the Ghostbusters. In an attempt to patch up their initial misunderstanding, Slimer helped an exhausted Louis by giving him a ride to the Manhattan Museum of Art (to which Louis wonders how he got a license to drive a bus).


title: Slimer

text: Slimer appears in the 2016 film "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call", voiced by Adam Ray and puppeteered by Ronald Binion (who fit into the character suit) and Rick Lazzarini (who operated his facial controls). After Rowan North unleashes an army of ghosts upon New York City, the Ghostbusters see a green glow coming from a hot dog stand, and find Slimer inside. Slimer promptly hijacks the Ecto-1 and rides off. The Ghostbusters are unable to stop him. Slimer is later seen driving the Ecto-1 around New York City and several of his ghostly friends. While the original Slimer was created as an androgynous blob with no gender-defining characteristics, "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" introduces a female "Lady Slimer" character with red lipstick and a bow tie in her blonde hair (voiced by "Ghostbusters II's" Slimer suit puppeteer Robin Shelby). The Ghostbusters later cause both Slimers to crash the Ecto-1 into the portal to cause "Total Protonic Reversal" and close the portal.


title: Slimer

text: After the Ghostbusters stopped Gozer, they began rebuilding their Firehouse. During this process, the green ghost from the Sedgewick Hotel secretly observed them. Once the Firehouse was fully restored, a celebratory dinner was held. The ghost made himself known and attempted to steal the food. Janine Melnitz speculated the ghost was lonely and the Ghostbusters were the first humans to pay him any attention. The Ghostbusters dismissed her theory. Over the next few months, they occasionally saw Slimer.


title: Slimer

text: Ray Stantz took a liking to the ghost and named him "Slimer" to annoy Venkman. When the Ghostbusters were attacked by their ghostly Doppelgängers, Slimer distracted the entities long enough for them to be drained of their energy. The Ghostbusters were then able to overpower and trap them. The Ghostbusters agreed to adopt Slimer from then on. For an official statement to the press given by Venkman, Slimer is allowed to freely roam for "scientific research being conducted".


title: Slimer

text: In 1988, Slimer got his own cartoon series primarily aimed at young children. Unlike the previous series, Slimer was able to talk very well. Many episodes of "Slimer!" had little to do with the "Ghostbusters" franchise, simply being about everyday events for Slimer. Like in the first film, he still haunts the Sedgewick Hotel, visiting it in many episodes as a visiting pest.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer was given personal enemies in the show, such as an eccentric scientist named Professor Dweeb who wanted to capture Slimer in order to study him, an alley cat named Manx, a dog named Bruiser, and two ghosts named Goolem and Zugg.


title: Slimer

text: After the dissolution of the Ghostbusters, Slimer stayed with Egon Spengler as he watched over the Containment Unit in the Ghostbusters Firehouse. In 1997, when there was a sudden surge in supernatural activity, Slimer flew to Egon's class to inform him of the bad news. After the formation of the "Extreme Ghostbusters", Slimer joined them in their cases.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer's appearance was slightly different from the previous series, as he had a ghostly tail and a slightly bigger face, which was less compacted than the previous series. Unlike the version of Slimer from "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II", this version acted much like the version from the original "Ghostbusters". Slimer's voice was noticeably higher in pitch than in "The Real Ghostbusters", because he was voiced by Billy West, instead of Frank Welker, who reprised his role as Ray in the two-part series finale "Back in the Saddle".


title: Slimer

text: Slimer, as he appeared in "The Real Ghostbusters", is among the various cartoon characters who help the main character Michael turn away from drugs.


title: Slimer

text: At one point, Slimer was recaptured and kept in a Paranormal Containment Research Tank in the Firehouse in the lobby. Egon Spengler is said to have used him for various paranormal studies and the Tobin's Spirit Guide reveals that Ray named Slimer out of mockery to Peter (nods to the take on Slimer in "The Real Ghostbusters"). Ray, however, occasionally referred to the green ghost Onionhead or Spud. Slimer, along with the other ghost that had also haunted the hotel, Arbison Morguncher (the Sloth Ghost), is gluttonous. The specters of Evelyn "The Spider-Witch" Lewis, fisherman and restaurateur Enzo "Pappy" Sargassi, and some bellhop and guest ghosts also reside the hotel with them. Thanksgiving weekend 1991, Slimer was playing with Peter Venkman's ESP cards inside the Paranormal Containment Research Tank.


title: Slimer

text: The Psi Energy Pulse damaged the Tank and Slimer escaped. The team finds him looking at the Containment Unit. When the Rookie takes a shot, Slimer avoids it and the Proton Stream hits the Unit, releasing the Sloth Ghost. Rookie and Ray pursued Slimer into the Sub-Basement but it escaped through a wall. After the Sloth Ghost was recaptured, the Ghostbusters headed to the Sedgewick Hotel on Ray's hunch Slimer would return to his old haunt. Sure enough, Slimer was found by Ray, Peter, and Rookie eating and drinking off someone's tray in front of Room 1218. The rookie took a shot but Slimer ran for it and tried to hide. Rookie roused him out and Slimer flew off towards the elevators where he descended back to the ground floor (but not before sliming Peter for a second time). Slimer is joined by Bellhop Ghosts. With renewed paranormal activity, Egon opts to split up. Rookie and Peter are tasked with recapturing Slimer. Peter believes he's feasting in the Alhambra Ballroom but the manager John O'Keefe bars entrance. Peter regroups and leads Rookie through the kitchen to access the other entrance to the ballroom. Rookie and Peter successfully trap Slimer.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer is placed back into a working Paranormal Containment Research Tank when the team returns from Times Square. When Ivo Shandor and his Gozarian cultists shut down the containment grid, Slimer is among the escapees. After the Ghostbusters destroy Shandor and return to the physical plane, Slimer slimes Ilyssa Selwyn just as she and Peter are about to kiss in Central Park. In the stylized version of the game, Slimer flies around, on the loose once again, as the Rookie fires on him during the credits.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer appears in Beeline's "Ghostbusters" game for iOS. The game was released on January 24, 2013. Slimer's role in the game is that Slimer escapes the Containment Unit and floats around the Ghostbusters Firehouse. The player can tap on him for a daily reward, which increases in value if the player is consistent.


title: Slimer

text: Slimer appears as a playable character in "Lego Dimensions", packaged with the "Slime Shooter" vehicle, with Frank Welker reprising his voice role. He makes cameo appearances in the main campaign, causing trouble for the heroes, while a bonus level adapting the first film recreates his original encounter with the Ghostbusters in the Sedgewick Hotel. He also appears as a quest-giver in the "Ghostbusters" adventure world. He appears once again as part of the "Ghostbusters" (2016) Story Pack, recreating his role in the events of the rebooted film's story.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Transformers: Armada, known in Japan as , is an anime series which debuted on August 23, 2002. As the first series co-produced between the American toy company Hasbro and their Japanese counterpart Takara, "Armada" begins a new continuity/universe for "Transformers", with no ties to any of the previous series, including the immediately prior "" in 2001. It inspired two sequels, "" and "". Hasbro handled the distribution of the English license, while Takara handled the distribution of the Japanese license. "Transformers: Armada" and both of its following series are all part of a saga known as the "Unicron Trilogy".


title: Transformers: Armada

text: On the planet of Cybertron, war rages between the two factions known as the Autobots and the Decepticons over the race of smaller, power-enhancing Transformers called Mini-Cons. Seeking to flee the conflict that surrounds them, the Mini-Cons escape Cybertron with the aid of the Autobots, but an attack by the Decepticons cripples the ship as it flees through a spacebridge. The ship materializes in the Solar System and impacts with the Moon, breaking in two. One portion of the ship stays embedded on the Moon, while the other plummets to the planet below. The Mini-Cons, all locked in pentagonal stasis panels, are scattered across the globe. The ship crashes to Earth and 4 million years pass.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: When Bradley "Rad" White and Carlos Lopez investigate the caves outside their city, they accidentally uncover the wreckage of the Mini-Con ship and activate it, causing it to send a signal that alerts both the Autobots and Decepticons as to the Mini-Cons' presence on Earth. Megatron and Optimus Prime's forces teleport to Earth from Cybertron as a result. Rad, Carlos, and their friend Alexis Thi Dang befriend the Autobots, along with the Mini-Cons High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock (known commonly as the Street Action Mini-Con Team in the toyline). The Transformers assume earthen alternate modes, and the hunt begins to locate the scattered Mini-Cons.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: After a series of battles, each of the Transformers successfully acquires a partner Mini-Con. Smokescreen arrives to join the Autobots' team. Hologram-recordings in a sunken city reveal the existence of the mighty Mini-Con weapon, the Star Saber. The Decepticons possess one component of the weapon, and invade the Autobot base to steal the remaining two pieces, only for the Autobots to seize possession of the sword.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: A mysterious mercenary named Scavenger arrives on Earth and sides with the Decepticons, urging them to locate the components of the Skyboom Shield, another Mini-Con weapon that can counter the power of the Star Saber. At the same time, an Autobot drifter named Sideways enters the fray, but soon reveals his true allegiance to the Decepticons after he betrays Hot Shot, allowing the Star Saber to fall into the Decepticons' hands.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Concurrently Scavenger reveals himself to be an undercover Autobot, and rejoins his fellows, soon followed by Blurr, the latest arrival from Cybertron. When the Decepticons complete the Skyboom Shield, a mighty battle ensues that ends with the Autobots gaining possession of the shield. The two weapons unleash a powerful energy flare, drawing the Decepticons, Thrust, a master tactician, and Tidal Wave, a large and powerful warrior, to Earth.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Meanwhile, Sideways surreptitiously stirs up trouble in the Decepticon camp by playing on their contradictions. While luring the Autobots' human allies into cyberspace in an attempt to capture their Mini-Cons, Sideways reveals that he serves a mysterious higher power. Thrust arrives and puts his tactical prowess into play, only for his schemes to be foiled by the arrival of the Autobot, Jetfire, whose power to combine with Optimus defeats Thrust's schemes.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Eventually, Sideways' deception is discovered and Megatron proceeds to destroy him with the Star Saber, only for Sideways to escape by reforming his body. Tidal Wave arrives on Earth, and the Autobots prove vastly outmatched. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis are alerted to the existence of the Requiem Blaster, the third Mini-Con weapon by Sideways, and locate Skyblast, one of its components. Skyblast sings an eerie harmony that summons the other two Mini-Cons from their stasis, and they form the Blaster, allowing Optimus to defeat Tidal Wave.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Both sides soon gain new members in Sideswipe, an eager new Autobot, and Wheeljack, a former Autobot who has joined the Decepticons, believing that Hot Shot betrayed him on Cybertron. Thrust formulates a new scheme that allows the Decepticons to steal the Requiem Blaster, which involves mortally wounding Smokescreen in the process, causing Red Alert to re-format him into the more powerful form of Hoist. Starscream is his patsy, leading the already-alienated Decepticon to turn on Megatron and side with the Autobots. Starscream forms a friendship with the kids, particularly Alexis, and allowing the Autobots access to the Decepticons' base.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: A raid allows the Autobots to free the Mini-Cons, but Starscream is soon deceived by Thrust, who in the meantime is being manipulated by Sideways, into stealing the Skyboom Shield and Star Saber and rejoining the Decepticons. With all three Mini-Con weapons now in their possession, the Decepticons create the Hydra Cannon, a weapon that combines all their power, and plan to destroy Earth from orbit. Optimus uses his Matrix to absorb the blast, but sacrifices himself in the process.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: The Decepticons head for Cybertron in their craft, and the Autobots, now with Hot Shot in command, hastily construct a craft named the "Axalon" to pursue them. The Mini-Cons, now unleashing their true powers, accompany them into space, immediately leading into a battle that sees them use their full power to resurrect Optimus.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: A black hole transports a small number of Autobots and Decepticons to a barren world where they are ravaged by Nemesis Prime, a twisted clone of Optimus, and have their power and armor enhanced by the Mini-Cons and with Megatron renaming himself Galvatron. Subsequently, the Decepticons return to Cybertron and quickly overthrow most of the planet through the powers of the Mini-Con weapons. Hot Shot assaults the Decepticon base solo, resulting in the revelation of Thrust's treachery. Thrust escapes with the Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster, delivering them to Sideways, who uses them to awaken the great and terrible Unicron, an enemy whose coming the Mini-Cons had foretold.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Rad and his friends are sent drifting through time, where it is revealed that via this, they played a part in the development of the Mini-Cons and the Mini-Cons are also revealed to be the cells of Unicron. Galvatron refuses to believe in the threat of Unicron and Starscream forces him into a duel - a duel Starscream purposefully loses, sacrificing himself to prove to Galvatron the threat of Unicron exists. Sideways steals the Star Saber, fully awakening Unicron, as the Autobots and Decepticons unite into one armada to attack the colossal Transformer who had been disguised as Cybertron's moon. During the battle, Galvatron confronts Thrust over his betrayal and leaves him to perish after the latter inadvertently gets himself crushed in Unicron's shoulder.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: While Unicron attacks Cybertron, Galvatron and Optimus enter Unicron's body, where Sideways reveals himself to be created by Unicron as an emissary to bring the Mini-Cons back under his master's control only to have Rad re-awaken their minds, allowing the Mini-Con weapons to free themselves, de-powering Unicron. With Sideways eliminated and the threat of Unicron apparently gone, Galvatron challenges Optimus to a final battle, only for the energy released by their conflict to reactivate Unicron. Upon realizing his mistake to continue their hatred, Galvatron decides to sacrifice himself to end the cycle of hate that allows Unicron to exist. With Galvatron's death, Unicron mysteriously disappears and peace returns to Cybertron. Despite justice being given to all Transformers, Optimus feels dishonored, stating that he doesn't deserve the Matrix anymore, and goes into exile.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: "Transformers: Armada" was written and produced in Japan, with creative input from America (the Japanese originally envisioned the series as set in the G1 continuity, but this idea was discarded by Hasbro, who also mandated the inclusion of Unicron, who had not been in the original story treatment for the series). However, the show premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami in America before its original Japanese counterpart had aired - the result of an unreasonable production schedule set by the network, which caused the series to be rushed out of production. Consequently, "Armada" features a lot of unfinished animation (which would go on to be perfected for the completed Japanese episodes), and a hastily produced dub which features many errors in naming such as Sureshock being repeatedly called "Grindor" in multiple episodes, Hot Shot being called "Hot Rod", and Optimus's Mini-Con partner Sparkplug being called "Leader-1" (the same name as Megatron's Mini-Con), as well as transliteration and nonsensical dialogue which does not match the action onscreen.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: When "Armada" was released on DVD in Japan, each of the thirteen volumes came with a four-page mini-manga and an exclusive repainted Mini-Con figure. The manga, titled "Tales of the Microns: Linkage", feature these repaints in an original story which served to fill in many of the blank spots and plot holes in the animated series.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Despite "Transformers: Armada" being made by a Japanese studio, it premiered first in the United States. The series premiered on Cartoon Network on August 23, 2002 at 4 P.M. with a 90-minute movie special, consisting of the first three episodes. Following its premiere, new episodes started coming out on August 30, airing every Friday at 6:30 P.M.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: In the December issue of Japanese magazine "Animage", it was announced that the anime would start airing in Japan on January 10, 2003 on TV Tokyo, with new episodes coming out every Friday at 6 P.M.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: In the 2000s, Rhino Entertainment Company released "Transformers: Armada" on DVD in North America. It is now discontinued and out-of-print.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: In August 2013, it was announced that Shout! Factory had partnered with Hasbro Studios to release numerous "Transformers" series in the United States, including "Transformers: Armada".


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Developed by Atari Melbourne House and released for PlayStation 2 by Atari on May 11, 2004 in North America and May 7, 2004 in Europe, the Transformers video game (originally called "Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon", but simply titled again as "Transformers".) is loosely based on the "Armada" series. In the game you play as three Autobots: Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, and Red Alert. The general story is the same as the TV show, you must find and collect the Mini-Cons and fight off Megatron and his Decepticons. In the game, you travel through various large environments on Earth (such as the Amazon Jungle and Antarctica) while fighting off Megatron's "Decepticlone" army and finding Mini-Cons that give the player's character different abilities in order to get further into the game. The player will also fight a number of familiar Decepticons from the "Armada" show, such as Starscream, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave. The plot is similar to Armada, right down to the final battle with Unicron at the end. A few of the voice actors from the show (notably Garry Chalk as Prime and David Kaye as Megatron) voiced for the game. There are also subtle references to "". The game is rated T on the ESRB ratings scale.


title: Transformers: Armada

text: Built to Rule was a building blocks toyline from Hasbro that is compatible with such leading brands as Lego. Each Transformers kit is centered around a "Trans-Skeleton", a very simple humanoid body that folds up for vehicle mode without dis-assembly. From there, extra parts are added to the Trans-Skeleton for either mode. For "Armada", the Trans-Skeleton was a very broad, flat solid plate with thin, stick-like limbs attached to it, which led to very awkward-looking robot modes.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Marcia Carolyn Kaptur (; born June 17, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in either chamber of Congress, and the second-longest-serving woman in congressional history, behind Barbara Mikulski, whose record she will beat upon being sworn into the 118th United States Congress. Her district stretches from her hometown of Toledo east to Cleveland, including all of Ottawa and Erie counties, and parts of Lucas, Lorain, and Cuyahoga counties.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur was born on June 17, 1946, in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Anastasia Delores (Rogowski) and Stephen Jacob Kaptur. Her parents were both of Polish descent. Her mother was an automobile union organizer and her family operated a small grocery. Kaptur started volunteering with the Ohio Democratic Party when she was 13.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur graduated from St. Ursula Academy in 1964 and became the first person in her family to attend college. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1968 and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan in 1974. She did doctoral studies in urban planning development finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur served on the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions from 1969 to 1975. She was director of planning for the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs (1975–1977), founded by Geno Baroni. She later served as a domestic policy advisor during President Jimmy Carter's administration.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: While at MIT, Kaptur was recruited to run for Congress in 1982 against freshman Republican Ed Weber, who had upset 26-year incumbent Lud Ashley two years earlier. Despite being outspent by almost 3–1, she defeated Weber 58–39%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: In 1984, Kaptur faced a strong challenge from Republican Frank Venner, longtime anchorman and weatherman at WTVG, but defeated him 55–44%, even as Ronald Reagan carried the district. From 1986 to 2002, she won every election with at least 74% of the vote. In 2004, she faced her strongest challenger in 20 years in Lucas County auditor Larry Kaczala, but won the election 68–32%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Shortly after achieving fame during the 2008 election, conservative figure Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher announced that he was considering challenging Kaptur in the 2010 election,


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: but chose not to run. Kaptur was instead challenged by Republican Rich Iott, a Tea Party movement favorite. She was reelected to a 15th term with 59% of the vote, her closest victory since 1984.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: For her first three decades in Congress, Kaptur represented a compact district centered around Toledo. Redistricting after the 2010 census extended the 9th district to western Cleveland. The new map put the home of incumbent 10th district congressman Dennis Kucinich into the 9th, so they ran against each other in the Democratic primary. Graham Veysey, a small-business owner from Cleveland, also ran in the primary. Retaining over 60% of her former territory, Kaptur won the primary with 56% of the vote to Kucinich's 40%. In the general election, she won a 16th term against Wurzelbacher and Libertarian Sean Stipe. The reconfigured 9th was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Kaptur had effectively clinched reelection by defeating Kucinich in the primary.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur's 2014 opponent was Richard May, a longtime Republican activist from west Cleveland, who beat Lakewood resident Robert C. Horrocks Jr. in the May 6 primary. Kaptur won 68–32%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur's 2016 opponent was Donald Larson, who defeated Steven Kraus and Joel Lieske in the Republican primary on March 15. Kaptur won 68–31%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur's 2020 opponent was Rob Weber, who defeated Charles W. Barrett, Tim Connors, and Timothy P. Corrigan in the Republican primary on March 17. Kaptur won 63–37%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur was seemingly placed in a vulnerable position when redistricting shifted her district to the west in order to take in territory previously in the neighboring heavily Republican . While Joe Biden carried the old 9th with 59% of the vote, the new 9th would have voted for Donald Trump with 51% of the vote. Despite this, Kaptur defeated Republican nominee J.R. Majewski, 56% to 43%.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur opposed the America Invents Act that passed into law and changed the U.S. Patent System. She opposed changing from a "first to invent system" to a "first to file system", saying it hurt small businesses and "Our patent system is the finest in the world... the proposed solutions are special fixes that benefit these few giants at the expense of everyone else."


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur co-sponsored the Restoring America's Leadership in Innovation Act. In order to strengthen inventors' property rights, the bill would remove the administrative review process that allows the public to challenge patent filings' validity; the process exists to prevent misuse of the patent system.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: On December 10, 1987, Kaptur introduced the World War II Memorial Act in the House. The bill authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II memorial. It was not voted on before the end of the session and so failed to be enacted. Kaptur introduced similar legislation twice in 1989 but these bills also failed to become law.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur introduced legislation for the fourth time on January 27, 1993. This time the legislation was voted on and passed in the House on May 10, 1993. After a companion bill was passed in the United States Senate, President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on May 25, 1993.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur later said that she felt "a great sense of fulfillment" that the memorial was built. "This generation was the most unselfish America has ever seen," she said. "They never asked anybody for anything in return."


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur holds a 95% rating from NARAL. She supported "Roe v. Wade", calling it "the law of the land" ("Washington Journal", September 17, 2015). She has voted for some proposals to restrict access to abortion and opposed others. In January 2007, she was the only member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to vote against federally funded embryonic stem-cell research. Kaptur voted for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, an amendment to America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. She was one of only 16 Democrats to vote for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act on May 4, 2011. Kaptur also voted to ban partial-birth abortions in 2000 and 2003. She voted against the Child Custody Protection Act in 1999 and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act in 2005. Kaptur voted against allowing privately funded abortions at overseas military hospitals twice in 1995, as well as in 1997, 1998 and 1999. In 2005, Kaptur voted to lift the ban on abortions at overseas military hospitals.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur opposes free trade agreements. She helped lead opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement, permanent normal trade relations for the People's Republic of China, and fast track authority for the president.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur opposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which provided a bailout for U.S. banks. Her opposition to the bailout was highlighted in Michael Moore's 2009 documentary "".


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: On April 12, 2011, Kaptur introduced H.R. 1489 to restore the Glass–Steagall Act, "To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called 'Glass–Steagall Act', and for other purposes." There were 30 co-sponsors.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur backed the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the U.S. House after she was able to insert an amendment that would authorize the Secretary of Energy to create power marketing authorities in regions where none exist. One such area would be the Great Lakes region. Kaptur said the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation could administer up to $3.5 billion in borrowing authority to stimulate economic development through creation of green energy such as solar power and wind power. She said the $3.5 billion in borrowing authority would promote "regional equity" and serve as a powerful engine for job creation in a region that has suffered from high energy costs, especially expensive electricity.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur was one of 38 Democrats to vote against the DREAM Act in December 2010. It passed the House but failed in the Senate.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, and introduced him at a rally in Toledo. On October 3, 2016, she endorsed the nominee, Hillary Clinton, who had won Ohio and her district in the primary, at a rally in Toledo.


title: Marcy Kaptur

text: Kaptur co-chairs the Ukrainian Caucus. She has been a vocal supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kaptur has said Ukraine "voted for her own independence and has been laboring to be free with continued Russian meddling in her country all these decades."


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Solid Gold is an American syndicated music television series that debuted on September 13, 1980, and ran until July 23, 1988. The program was a production of Brad Lachman Productions in association with Operation Prime Time and Paramount Domestic Television.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Usually airing on Saturday evenings, "Solid Gold" was one of several shows that focused on the popular music of any given week; other examples included the long-running "American Bandstand" and "Soul Train". While "Solid Gold" did share elements with those two programs, such as appearances by performers, it also stood out by including something they did not: an in-house crew of professional dancers that performed routines choreographed to the week's featured songs.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Reviews of the show were not always positive, with "The New York Times" referring to it as "the pop music show that is its own parody...[enacting] mini-dramas...of covetousness, lust and aerobic toning—routines that typically have a minimal connection with the songs that back them up."


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: "Solid Gold" was created by Al Masini as part of his Operation Prime Time production unit, and was developed by Bob Banner. It was produced by Brad Lachman Productions for all eight of its seasons and Bob Banner Associates for its first four, after which Banner's company began producing "Star Search" for Television Program Enterprises, Masini's other production company.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: "Solid Gold" was packaged by Operation Prime Time (which was a co-venture of Masini and Universal Pictures through its MCA Television unit) and Paramount Television, and was distributed by the remains of Paramount Television Service for its first two seasons. Paramount's syndication unit took over distributorship for the remaining six seasons. Operation Prime Time continued to produce "Solid Gold" until Masini elected to merge it with Television Program Enterprises in 1987 (TPE did not, however, share in any distribution or packaging as Paramount assumed that themselves).


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: From its debut in 1980 until the end of its fourth season, the show was taped at the Golden West Broadcasters studio facility. Beginning in September 1984, Paramount, who had previously owned the Golden West facility in the early days of television, moved production of "Solid Gold" to its studios with a redesigned set.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: At the start of "Solid Gold's" first season (1980), Michael Miller was chosen by its first host, Dionne Warwick, to be the show's musical director. Miller stayed on for the entire series and composed the theme song for "Solid Gold" with Academy Award-winning songwriter Dean Pitchford providing the lyrics. The song, re-recorded various times to reflect current music trends, was performed by the show's hosts (with the exception of the 1984–85 season, which was performed by session singer, Deborah Ludwig Davis) at the beginning and end of each program, with the closing theme accompanied by a final routine from the Dancers.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: The first episode of the show in January 1980 would become a yearly tradition, as they counted down the Top 50 songs of 1979 in a two-hour television pilot special, called "Solid Gold '79," hosted by Dionne Warwick and Glen Campbell. The year end countdown would be reduced to forty songs beginning in 1981 and would be presented every year through 1986.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: The data featured by "Solid Gold" came from the weekly pop music chart compiled "Radio & Records", a music industry trade newspaper that was responsible for providing data to various chart tracking programs for over 30 years. The difference between the "R&R" chart and those used by competitors like "America's Top 10", which was hosted by Casey Kasem and also launched in 1980, was that only radio airplay was tracked. Kasem's program, which later adopted the "Radio & Records" chart as its source, and several others (including Kasem's radio counterpart, "American Top 40") used the "Billboard Hot 100", which also tracked record sales.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: In the summer of 1984, the producers of "Solid Gold" added a daily 30-minute series called "Solid Gold Hits" to the weekend program. Actor Grant Goodeve presided over a general grouping of the week's hit songs, and a second roster of "Solid Gold" Dancers was employed for this series; regular "Solid Gold" Dancer Deborah Jenssen was the principal dancer of this roster. Additional Solid Gold Hits Dancers were Pam Rossi, Cooley Jackson, Raymond Del Barrio, Macarena Gandarillas, Flo Lyle, Debra Johnson, Tricia McFarlane, Wanja Mcyntire and Corky Cortez (appearing with Cooley in the opening dance numbers).


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Dionne Warwick hosted the first season of "Solid Gold", aided by comedian Marty Cohen, with veteran Los Angeles DJ Robert W. Morgan announcing. Dionne Warwick was fired in 1981. After Warwick left the series, singers Andy Gibb and Marilyn McCoo were brought in as co-hosts and puppeteer Wayland Flowers joined the series as a secondary comedic act with his puppet Madame. Gibb left "Solid Gold" in 1982 and Rex Smith replaced him, but he too would leave after one season. Following a season where McCoo hosted by herself, she left in 1984 and Rick Dees of the "Weekly Top 40" radio show was hired. Arsenio Hall joined the series during this time as the in-house comedian in place of Marty Cohen. At the midway point of the 1984–85 season, Dees left "Solid Gold" and a series of guests were used in the interim. Original host Dionne Warwick returned toward the end of the 1984–85 season and stayed on through the following season, finally leaving the program for good in 1986.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: When "Solid Gold" returned for its seventh season in September 1986, several changes were made. Marilyn McCoo returned to the series after a two-year absence. Arsenio Hall was promoted from his role as in-house comedian to co-host, with Jeff Altman replacing him, and the series added an additional co-host with Nina Blackwood, one of the original MTV VJs who was a correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight" at the time, joining the cast. The title of the series added the current year to it and "American Bandstand" announcer Charlie O'Donnell replaced Robert W. Morgan in that role. Chuck Riley was the announcer for that season's first episode with O'Donnell announcing the remainder of the season. The season was also referred to as "Solid Gold '87."


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: "Solid Gold" was overhauled again in 1987, with the series putting more of an emphasis on live performances and changing its name to "Solid Gold in Concert". McCoo, Hall, and Blackwood stayed on as hosts with Dick Tufeld replacing Charlie O'Donnell as announcer after O'Donnell decided to remain with "American Bandstand" as it left its longtime home at ABC to join "Solid Gold" in syndication.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Linda Greene of the Peaches and Herb duo ("Reunited" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" hits) was also offered the hosting duties according to the January 2015 TV One "Unsung" broadcast.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: The weekly one-hour show played segments from the Top 10 charting songs accompanied by the "Solid Gold Dancers." Of the eight original "Solid Gold '79" dancers, only four would join the "Solid Gold" series cast: Darcel Wynne (1980–1984 & 1985–1986), who would be the program's principal dancer for its first five years and was often credited by her first name alone, Paula Beyers (1980–1982), Deborah Jenssen (1980–1984), Tony Fields (1980–1984) and Alexander Cole (1980–1983). Gayle Crofoot (1982–1985) would join the roster in late fall of 1982, replacing dancer Lucinda Dickey (1982). The other remaining "Solid Gold '79" dancers were Larry Blum, Candy Brown and Judy Pierce. Cooley Jackson/Jaxson (1983–1986) joined the show in 1983, replacing Alexander Cole. Cooley also was the White Ranger in the Power Rangers Live Tour, Breakin' the Movie, and Electric Boogaloo Breakin' 2. Other dancers who appeared on Solid Gold were: Pam Rossi (1980–1986), Helene Phillips (1980–1982), Kahea Bright (1980–1984), Janeen Best (1982–1983 & 1985), Macarena Gandarillas (1982), Tricia McFarlane (1983), Jamilah Lucas (1983 & 1984–1988), Chelsea Field (1983–1984), Kelly Stubbs (1983), Lezlie Mogell (1984–1985), Steve La Chance (1984), Mark Sellers (1984–1986), Arlene Ng (1984), Beverly Jeanne (1984–1986), Nicole Romine (1984–1986), Eileen Fairbanks (1985–1987, Leslie Cook (1986–1988), Gigi Hunter (1986–1988), Audrey Baranishyn (1986–1987), Darrell Wright (1986–1988), Paul Michael Thorpe (1986–1988), Regan Patno (1986–1988), Andrea Moen (1987–1988), and Betsy Harris (1987–1988).


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Some of the dancers moved on to acting careers, including Dickey ("", "Breakin'" ) and the late Tony Fields in the 1986 horror movie "Trick or Treat" (as dead rock icon Sammi Curr) and in the 1988 movie musical "Dance Academy" along with Steve La Chance. Another example is Chelsea Field, whose movie credits include "Commando" (as an airline stewardess), "Masters of the Universe" (she was Teela), and "The Last Boy Scout" (as Bruce Willis's philandering ex-wife).


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: Darcel appeared on the show from 1980 to 1984, but she took most of the 1984–85 season off to work with a traveling ministry and Jamilah Lucas was appointed principal dancer. Darcel rejoined the roster for the 1985–86 season, reclaiming her position from Jamilah, who remained in the regular lineup. During that season, she became a de facto co-host as she took on a more active voice role in the series, regularly announcing the countdown re-caps toward the end of each program. The 1986 season was Darcel's last as a member of the cast as she and many of the dancers, including some of the originals, left. Jamilah was once again appointed to lead dancer for the remainder of the series.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: The last appearance of the Solid Gold Dancers in media was not on "Solid Gold" itself, but rather in the 1988 motion picture "Scrooged." The movie, which premiered in November 1988, was scripted and filmed before "Solid Gold" was officially cancelled.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: In 2011, Darcel Wynne, Deborah Jenssen, and Lezlie Mogell were competitors on the reality competition series "Live to Dance." They managed to advance past the audition stage but did not advance further.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: The choreographers who plotted out the dancers' routines over the years included Kevin Carlisle, Anita Mann and Lester Wilson (the choreographer for "Saturday Night Fever").


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: At times, artists who had a single among the week's Top 10 appeared as guest performers. Often the vocals were lip-synchronized ("lip-synched"). For the live performances, Miller would either record the backing instrumental tracks with his Solid Gold Band or with the artist's band and be sung live on stage at the taping. Arguably one of the more prominent guests to receive this treatment was Joe Cocker, who performed "Up Where We Belong" on "Solid Gold" several times with Jennifer Warnes, as well as one solo performance of his song "Seven Days." All the duets that Warwick, McCoo, Gibb, or Smith performed with their guest hosts were done live. During the 1986–87 season, the Top 10 was no longer accompanied with dancing from the Solid Gold Dancers but instead was simply listed halfway through the show.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: "Solid Gold" won Robert A. Dickinson three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Series (two of which were co-won by Frank Olivas). Choreographer Anita Mann was nominated in 1985 and 1986, for Outstanding Choreography.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: All episodes of "Solid Gold" exist, including the 1979 pilot. VH1 aired episodes of this series for a brief time, as did The Family Channel in the mid-1990s. Neither CBS Television Distribution (now currently renamed as CBS Media Ventures since 2021), CBS Home Entertainment nor Paramount Home Entertainment, however, had made them available on home video, DVD or Blu-ray as of 2021.


title: Solid Gold (TV series)

text: About all Cox-owned stations at the time carried "Solid Gold" when it launched. As previously mentioned, "Solid Gold" was part of Operation Prime Time, which was more or less a joint between Paramount Television and Cox Broadcasting; "Entertainment Tonight" was also part of the consortium.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The carbonic anhydrases (or carbonate dehydratases) () form a family of enzymes that catalyze the interconversion between carbon dioxide and water and the dissociated ions of carbonic acid (i.e. bicarbonate and hydrogen ions). The active site of most carbonic anhydrases contains a zinc ion. They are therefore classified as metalloenzymes. The enzyme maintains acid-base balance and helps transport carbon dioxide.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase helps maintain acid–base homeostasis, regulate pH, and fluid balance. Depending on its location, the role of the enzyme changes slightly. For example, carbonic anhydrase produces acid in the stomach lining. In the kidney, the control of bicarbonate ions influences the water content of the cell. The control of bicarbonate ions also influences the water content in the eyes. Inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase are used to treat glaucoma, the excessive build-up of water in the eyes. Blocking this enzyme shifts the fluid balance in the eyes of the patient to reduce fluid build-up thereby relieving pressure.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase is critical to hemoglobin function via the Bohr effect which catalyzes the hydration of carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid and rapidly dissociate into water. Essentially an increase in carbon dioxide results in lowered blood pH, which lowers oxygen-hemoglobin binding. The opposite is true where a decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide raises the blood pH which raises the rate of oxygen-hemoglobin binding. Relating the Bohr effect to carbonic anhydrase is simple: carbonic anhydrase speeds up the reaction of carbon dioxide reacting with water to produce hydrogen ions (protons) and bicarbonate ions.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: To describe equilibrium in the carbonic anhydrase reaction, Le Chatelier's principle is used. The tissues are more acidic than the lungs because carbon dioxide is produced by cellular respiration and it reacts with water in the tissues to produce the hydrogen protons. Because the carbon dioxide concentration is higher, equilibrium shifts to the right, to the bicarbonate side. The opposite is seen in the lungs, where carbon dioxide is being released so its concentration is lower so equilibrium shifts to the left towards carbon dioxide to try to raise its concentration.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase was initially found in the red blood cells of cows in 1933 and was simultaneously discovered by Rougton in Cambridge and Meldrum in Philadelphia who were searching for a catalytic factor.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase plays an essential role in regulating the blood pH, which speeds up the CO + HO <chem> <=> </chem> HCO+ H reaction to ensure the equilibrium balance is rapidly maintained. The equilibrium reaction is influenced by the proportion of bicarbonate and H to carbon dioxide. The HCO is a conjugate base that neutralizes acids, and the H is a conjugate acid that neutralizes bases by Acid-base homeostasis. The HCO and H are ideal for buffering pH in the blood and tissues because the pKa is close to the physiological pH = 7.2 – 7.6. Since HCO and H are regulated in the kidneys and plasma carbon dioxide is regulated in the lungs, both actions in the kidneys and lungs are important to maintain the stability of blood pH. Therefore, carbonic anhydrase helps with the H+ secretion into the lumen of the kidney renal tubule and the reabsorption of HCO in the kidneys. Also, it helps the carbon dioxide transport from the lung tissue to the alveoli in the pulmonary capillary, where the carbon dioxide will be excreted during exhalation.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase is a very ancient enzyme found in both domains of prokaryotes that exists in six different classes among most of the living organisms. These families are not similar in sequence or structure because they evolved independently of each other, but all evolved the same Zn active site structure, showing a great example of convergent evolution.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: An enzyme is a substance that acts as a catalyst in living organisms which helps to speed up chemical reactions. Carbonic anhydrase is one important enzyme that is found in red blood cells, gastric mucosa, pancreatic cells, and even renal tubules. It was discovered in the year 1932 and it has been categorized into three general classes. Class one being alpha carbonic anhydrase which is found in mammals, class two being beta carbonic anhydrase which is found in bacteria and plants and lastly, class three which is gamma carbonic anhydrase which is found in methanogen bacteria in hot springs. The three classes of carbonic anhydrase all have the same active site with a Zn metal centre; however, they are not structurally similar to each other. The main role of carbonic anhydrase in humans is to catalyze the conversion of carbon dioxide to carbonic acid and back again. However, it can also help with CO transport in the blood which in turn helps respiration. It can even function in the formation of hydrochloric acid by the stomach.[Citation needed] Therefore, the role of carbonic anhydrase depends on where it is found in the body.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: In mammalian CA II, the active site consists of the following: a hard Lewis acid Zn metal atom coordinated to His -94, -96, and -119 residues 109˚ apart from one another and a hydroxide ion (pKa=6.8; 120° in T  configuration, a hydrophobic pocket adjacent to Zinc-bound hydroxide consisting of by Val-143 at its base and Val-121, Trp-209, and Leu-198 at its neck, a Proton Shuttling Residue (PSR) His-64 H shuttles H in and out of active site via conformational switching, and a hydrogen bonding network consisting of Thr-199 hydroxyl group and Glu-106 the carboxyl group which stabilizes the Zinc-bound hydroxide by facilitating the orientation of water molecules in the active side to a specific geometric configuration. CA II has a turnover frequency of 10 s which is 10 times faster than the uncatalyzed reaction.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The reason for the reactions being in opposite directions for the tissues and lungs is because of the different pH levels found in them. Without the carbonic anhydrase catalyst, the reaction is very slow, however with the catalyst the reaction is 10 times faster.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic acid has a pK of around 6.36 (the exact value depends on the medium), so at pH 7 a small percentage of the bicarbonate is protonated.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase is one of the fastest enzymes, and its rate is typically limited by the diffusion rate of its substrates. Typical catalytic rates of the different forms of this enzyme ranging between 10 and 10 reactions per second.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The uncatalyzed reverse reaction is relatively slow (kinetics in the 15-second range). This is why a carbonated drink does not instantly degas when opening the container; however, it will rapidly degas in the mouth when it comes in contact with carbonic anhydrase that is contained in saliva.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: An anhydrase is defined as an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of a water molecule from a compound, and so it is this "reverse" reaction that gives carbonic anhydrase its name, because it removes a water molecule from carbonic acid.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: A zinc prosthetic group in the enzyme is coordinated in three positions by histidine side-chains. The fourth coordination position is occupied by water. A fourth histidine is close to the water ligand, facilitating formation of Zn-OH center, which binds CO to give a zinc bicarbonate. The construct is an example of general acid – general base catalysis (see the article "Acid catalysis"). The active site also features a pocket suited for carbon dioxide, bringing it close to the hydroxide group. Kinetic studies performed determine the following mechanism for the enzyme: In Step 1 & 2, the nucleophile O on the hydroxide ion coordinated to Zn performs a nucleophilic attack on the partially electrophilic carbon on the CO molecule. Here the Zn acts as a Lewis acid that lowers the pK of the coordinated OH ligand from ~7-8 down to 6.8  as T , which drives the deprotonation of water to a hydroxide ion and the free proton is neutralized by the surrounding buffer. In step 3), a proton transfer (H) occurs from the OH to the non-coordinated O in CO coordinated to the Zn atom in the active site. Next, a bicarbonate ion is released and the catalytic site is regenerated through the binding of another water molecule in exchange for the bicarbonate ion . In step 4), the coordinated water ligand is deprotonated facilitated by the Zn to generate another hydroxide ion to start the cycle over again.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: At least five distinct CA families are recognized: α, β, γ, δ and ζ. These families have no significant amino acid sequence similarity and in most cases are thought to be an example of convergent evolution. The α-CAs are found in humans.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The CA enzymes found in mammals are divided into four broad subgroups, which, in turn consist of several isoforms:


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: There are three additional "acatalytic" human carbonic anhydrase isoforms (CA-VIII, CA-X, and CA-XI) (, , ) whose functions remain unclear.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The delta class of CAs has been described in diatoms. The distinction of this class of CA has recently come into question, however.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The zeta class of CAs occurs exclusively in bacteria in a few chemolithotrophs and marine cyanobacteria that contain cso-carboxysomes. Recent 3-dimensional analyses suggest that ζ-CA bears some structural resemblance to β-CA, particularly near the metal ion site. Thus, the two forms may be distantly related, even though the underlying amino acid sequence has since diverged considerably.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The eta family of CAs was recently found in organisms of the genus "Plasmodium". These are a group of enzymes previously thought to belong to the alpha family of CAs, however it has been demonstrated that η-CAs have unique features, such as their metal ion coordination pattern.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The iota class is the most recent class of CAs described. It has been discovered in the marine diatom "Thalassiosira pseudonana," and is widespread among marine phytoplankton. In diatoms, the ι-CA is essential for the CO-concentrating mechanisms and - in contrast to other CA classes - it can use manganese instead of zinc as metal cofactor. Homologs of the ι-CA have been also confirmed in gram-negative bacteria, where can be present as a protein homodimer.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Several forms of carbonic anhydrase occur in nature. In the best-studied "α-carbonic anhydrase" form present in animals, the zinc ion is coordinated by the imidazole rings of 3 histidine residues, His94, His96, and His119.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The primary function of the enzyme in animals is to interconvert carbon dioxide and bicarbonate to maintain acid-base balance in blood and other tissues, and to help transport carbon dioxide out of tissues.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: There are at least 14 different isoforms in mammals. Plants contain a different form called "β-carbonic anhydrase", which, from an evolutionary standpoint, is a distinct enzyme, but participates in the same reaction and also uses a zinc ion in its active site. In plants, carbonic anhydrase helps raise the concentration of CO within the chloroplast in order to increase the carboxylation rate of the enzyme RuBisCO. This is the reaction that integrates CO into organic carbon sugars during photosynthesis, and can use only the CO form of carbon, not carbonic acid or bicarbonate.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Marine diatoms have been found to express a new form of ζ carbonic anhydrase. "T. weissflogii", a species of phytoplankton common to many marine ecosystems, was found to contain carbonic anhydrase with a cadmium ion in place of zinc. Previously, it had been believed that cadmium was a toxic metal with no biological function whatsoever. However, this species of phytoplankton appears to have adapted to the low levels of zinc in the ocean by using cadmium when there is not enough zinc. Although the concentration of cadmium in sea water is also low (about 1x10 molar), there is an environmental advantage to being able to use either metal depending on which is more available at the time. This type of carbonic anhydrase is therefore cambialistic, meaning it can interchange the metal in its active site with other metals (namely, zinc and cadmium).


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: The mechanism of cadmium carbonic anhydrase (CDCA) is essentially the same as that of other carbonic anhydrases in its conversion of carbon dioxide and water into bicarbonate and a proton. Additionally, like the other carbonic anhydrases, CDCA makes the reaction go almost as fast as the diffusion rate of its substrates, and it can be inhibited by sulfonamide and sulfamate derivatives.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Unlike most other carbonic anhydrases, the active site metal ion is not bound by three histidine residues and a hydroxide ion. Instead, it is bound by two cysteine residues, one histidine residue, and a hydroxide ion, which is characteristic of β-CA. Due to the fact that cadmium is a soft acid, it will be more tightly bound by soft base ligands. The sulfur atoms on the cysteine residues are soft bases, thus binding the cadmium more tightly than the nitrogen on histidine residues would. CDCA also has a three-dimensional folding structure that is unlike any other carbonic anhydrase, and its amino acid sequence is dissimilar to the other carbonic anhydrases. It is a monomer with three domains, each one identical in amino acid sequence and each one containing an active site with a metal ion.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Another key difference between CDCA and the other carbonic anhydrases is that CDCA has a mechanism for switching out its cadmium ion for a zinc ion in the event that zinc becomes more available to the phytoplankton than cadmium. The active site of CDCA is essentially "gated" by a chain of nine amino acids with glycine residues at positions 1 and 9. Normally, this gate remains closed and the cadmium ion is trapped inside. However, due to the flexibility and position of the glycine residues, this gate can be opened in order to remove the cadmium ion. A zinc ion can then be put in its place and the gate will close behind it. As a borderline acid, zinc will not bind as tightly to the cysteine ligands as cadmium would, but the enzyme will still be active and reasonably efficient. The metal in the active site can be switched between zinc and cadmium depending on which one is more abundant at the time. It is the ability of CDCA to utilize either cadmium or zinc that likely gives "T. weissflogii" a survival advantage.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Cadmium is still considered lethal to phytoplankton in high amounts. Studies have shown that "T. weissflogii" has an initial toxic response to cadmium when exposed to it. The toxicity of the metal is reduced by the transcription and translation of phytochelatin, which are proteins that can bind and transport cadmium. Once bound by phytochelatin, cadmium is no longer toxic, and it can be safely transported to the CDCA enzyme. It's also been shown that the uptake of cadmium via phytochelatin leads to a significant increase in CDCA expression.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Other phytoplankton from different water sources have been tested for the presence of CDCA. It was found that many of them contain proteins that are homologous to the CDCA found in "T. weissflogii". This includes species from Great Bay, New Jersey as well as in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. In all species tested, CDCA-like proteins showed high levels of expression even in high concentrations of zinc and in the absence of cadmium. The similarity between these proteins and the CDCA expressed by "T. weissflogii" varied, but they were always at least 67% similar.


title: Carbonic anhydrase

text: Carbonic anhydrase could in principle prove relevant to carbon capture. Some carbonic anhydrases can withstand temperatures up to 107 °C and extreme alkalinity (pH > 10). A pilot run with the more stable CA on a flue stream that consisted of 12–13% mol composition CO₂ had a capture rate of 63.6% over a 60-hour period with no noticeable effects in enzyme performance. CA was placed in a N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) solution where it served to increase the concentration difference (driving force) of CO between the flue stream of the power plant and liquid phase in a liquid-gas contactor.


title: Life hack

text: A life hack (or life hacking) is any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. The term was primarily used by computer experts who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow in ways other than programming.


title: Life hack

text: The original definition of the term "hack" is "to cut with rough or heavy blows". In the modern vernacular it has often been used to describe an inelegant but effective solution to a specific computing problem, such as quick-and-dirty shell scripts and other command line utilities that filtered, munged and processed data streams like e-mail and RSS feeds. The term was later extended to "life hack," in reference to a solution to a problem unrelated to computers that might occur in a programmer's everyday life. Examples of these types of life hacks might include utilities to synchronize files, track tasks, remind oneself of events, or filter e-mail.


title: Life hack

text: The term life hack was coined in 2004 during the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego, California by technology journalist Danny O'Brien to describe the "embarrassing" scripts and shortcuts productive IT professionals use to get their work done.


title: Life hack

text: O'Brien and blogger Merlin Mann later co-presented a session called "Life Hacks Live" at the 2005 O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference. The two also co-author a column entitled "Life Hacks" for O'Reilly's "Make" magazine which debuted in February 2005.


title: Life hack

text: The American Dialect Society voted "lifehack" (one word) as the runner-up for "most useful word of 2005" behind "podcast". The word was also added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online in June 2011.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer.


title: Damon Runyon

text: He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from Brooklyn or Midtown Manhattan. The adjective "Runyonesque" refers to this type of character and the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicts.


title: Damon Runyon

text: He spun humorous and sentimental tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit", "Benny Southstreet", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charley", "Dave the Dude", or "The Seldom Seen Kid".


title: Damon Runyon

text: His distinctive vernacular style is known as "Runyonese": a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in the present tense, and always devoid of contractions. He is credited with coining the phrase "Hooray Henry", a term now used in British English to describe the upper-class version of a loud-mouthed, arrogant twit.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon's fictional world is also known to the general public through the musical "Guys and Dolls" based on two of his stories, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure". The musical additionally borrows characters and story elements from a few other Runyon stories, most notably "Pick The Winner". The film "Little Miss Marker" (and its three remakes, "Sorrowful Jones", "40 Pounds of Trouble" and the 1980 "Little Miss Marker") grew from his short story of the same name.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon was also a newspaper reporter, covering sports and general news for decades for various publications and syndicates owned by William Randolph Hearst. Already known for his fiction, he wrote a well-remembered "present tense" article on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential inauguration in 1933 for the Universal Service, a Hearst syndicate, which was merged with the co-owned International News Service in 1937.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Damon Runyon was born Alfred Damon Runyan to Alfred Lee and Elizabeth (Damon) Runyan. His relatives in his birthplace of Manhattan, Kansas, included several newspapermen. His grandfather was a newspaper printer from New Jersey who had relocated to Manhattan, Kansas, in 1855, and his father was the editor of his newspaper in the town. In 1882 Runyon's father was forced to sell his newspaper, and the family moved westward. The family eventually settled in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1887, where Runyon spent the rest of his youth. By most accounts, he attended school only through the fourth grade. He began to work in the newspaper trade under his father in Pueblo. In present-day Pueblo, Runyon Field, the Damon Runyon Repertory Theater Company, and Runyon Lake are named in his honor.


title: Damon Runyon

text: In 1898, when still in his teens, Runyon enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Spanish–American War. While in the service, he was assigned to write for the "Manila Freedom" and "Soldier's Letter".


title: Damon Runyon

text: After military service, he worked for Colorado newspapers, beginning in Pueblo. His first job as a reporter was in September 1900, when he was hired by the "Pueblo Star"; he then worked in the Rocky Mountain area during the first decade of the 1900s: at the "Denver Daily News", he served as "sporting editor" (today a "sports editor") and then as a staff writer. His expertise was in covering the semi-professional teams in Colorado. He briefly managed a semi-pro team in Trinidad, Colorado. At one of the newspapers where he worked, the spelling of his last name was changed from "Runyan" to "Runyon", a change he let stand.


title: Damon Runyon

text: After failing in an attempt to organize a Colorado minor baseball league, which lasted less than a week, Runyon moved to New York City in 1910. In his first New York byline, the "American" editor dropped the "Alfred" and the name "Damon Runyon" appeared for the first time. For the next ten years, he covered the New York Giants and professional boxing for the "New York American".


title: Damon Runyon

text: He was the Hearst newspapers' baseball columnist for many years, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, is credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered. Perhaps as confirmation, Runyon was voted 1967 J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), for which he was honored at ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 1968, and added to what is commonly referred to as the "writers wing" of the Hall. He is also a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame and is known for dubbing heavyweight champion James J. Braddock, the "Cinderella Man". Runyon frequently contributed sports poems to the "American" on boxing and baseball themes and wrote numerous short stories and essays.


title: Damon Runyon

text: One year, while covering spring training in Texas, he met Pancho Villa in a bar and later accompanied the unsuccessful American expedition into Mexico searching for Villa. It was while he was in Mexico that he met the young girl whom he eventually married.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Gambling, particularly on craps or horse races, was a common theme of Runyon's works, and he was a notorious gambler. One of his paraphrases from a line in Ecclesiastes ran: "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's how the smart money bets."


title: Damon Runyon

text: A heavy drinker as a young man, he seems to have quit drinking soon after arriving in New York, after his drinking nearly cost him the courtship of the woman who became his first wife, Ellen Egan. He remained a heavy smoker.


title: Damon Runyon

text: His best friend was mobster accountant Otto Berman, and he incorporated Berman into several of his stories under the alias "Regret, the horse player". When Berman was killed in a hit on Berman's boss, Dutch Schultz, Runyon quickly assumed the role of damage control for his deceased friend, correcting erroneous press releases (including one that stated Berman was one of Schultz's gunmen, to which Runyon replied, "Otto would have been as effective a bodyguard as a two-year-old.").


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon's marriage to Ellen Egan produced two children (Mary and Damon, Jr.), but broke up in 1928 over rumors that Runyon had become infatuated with Patrice Amati del Grande, a Mexican woman he had first met while covering the Pancho Villa raids in 1916 and discovered once again in New York when she called the "American" seeking him out. Runyon had promised her in Mexico that if she would complete the education he funded for her, he would find her a dancing job in New York. She became his companion after he separated from his wife. After Ellen Runyon's death, Runyon and del Grande married on July 7, 1932; that marriage ended in 1946 when she left him for a younger man.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon died in New York City from throat cancer in late 1946, at age 66. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered from a DC-3 airplane over Broadway in Manhattan by Eddie Rickenbacker on December 18, 1946. This was an infringement of the law but widely approved. The family plot of Damon Runyon is located at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.


title: Damon Runyon

text: The English comedy writer Frank Muir comments that Runyon's plots were, in the manner of O. Henry, neatly constructed with professionally wrought endings, but their distinction lay in the manner of their telling, as the author invented a peculiar argot for his characters to speak. Runyon almost totally avoids the past tense (English humorist E.C. Bentley thought there was only one instance and was willing to "lay plenty of 6 to 5 that it is nothing but a misprint", but "was" appears in the short stories "The Lily of St Pierre" and "A Piece of Pie"; "had" appears in "The Lily of St Pierre", "Undertaker Song" and "Bloodhounds of Broadway"), and makes little use of the future tense, using the present for both. He also avoided the conditional, using instead the future indicative in situations that would normally require conditional. An example: "Now most any doll on Broadway will be very glad indeed to have Handsome Jack Madigan give her a tumble" ("Guys and Dolls", "Social error"). Bentley comments that "there is a sort of ungrammatical purity about it [Runyon's resolute avoidance of the past tense], an almost religious exactitude." There is an homage to Runyon that makes use of this peculiarity ("Chronic Offender" by Spider Robinson), which involves a time machine and a man going by the name "Harry the Horse".


title: Damon Runyon

text: Bentley notes that Runyon's "telling use of the recurrent phrase and fixed epithet" demonstrates a debt to Homer.


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon's stories also employ occasional rhyming slang, similar to the cockney variety but native to New York (e.g.: "Miss Missouri Martin makes the following crack one night to her: 'Well, I do not see any Simple Simon on your lean and linger.' This is Miss Missouri Martin's way of saying she sees no diamond on Miss Billy Perry's finger." (from "Romance in the Roaring Forties")).


title: Damon Runyon

text: The comic effect of his style results partly from the juxtaposition of broad slang with mock-pomposity. Women, when not "dolls", "Judies", "pancakes", "tomatoes", or "broads", may be "characters of a female nature", for example. He typically avoided contractions such as "don't" in the example above, which also contributes significantly to the humorously pompous effect. In one sequence, a gangster tells another character to do as he is told, or else "find another world in which to live".


title: Damon Runyon

text: Runyon's short stories are told in the first person by a protagonist who is never named and whose role is unclear; he knows many gangsters and does not appear to have a job, but he does not admit to any criminal involvement, and seems to be largely a bystander. He describes himself as "being known to one and all as a guy who is just around". The radio program "The Damon Runyon Theatre" dramatized 52 of Runyon's works in 1949, and for these the protagonist was given the name "Broadway", although it was admitted that this was not his real name, much in the way "Harry the Horse" and "Sorrowful Jones" are aliases.


title: Damon Runyon

text: There are many collections of Runyon's stories, in particular "Runyon on Broadway" and "Runyon from First to Last". A publisher's note in the latter claims that collection contains all of Runyon's short stories not included in "Runyon on Broadway", but two Broadway stories originally published in "Collier's Weekly" are not in either collection: "Maybe a Queen" and "Leopard's Spots", both collected in "More Guys And Dolls" (1950). The radio show, in addition, has a story, "Joe Terrace", that appears in ‘More Guys and Dolls’ and the August 29, 1936, issue of "Colliers". It is one of his "Our Town" stories that does not appear in the “In Our Town” book, and the only episode of the show which is not a Broadway’ story, however, the action is changed in the show from Our Town to Broadway.


title: Damon Runyon

text: The "Our Town" stories are short vignettes of life in a small town, largely based on Runyon's experiences in his home town of Pueblo, Colorado. They are written in a simple, descriptive style and contain twists and odd endings based on the personalities of the people involved. Each story's title is the name of the principal character. Twenty-seven of them were published in the 1946 book "In Our Town".


title: Damon Runyon

text: In 1938, his unproduced play "Saratoga Chips" became the basis of The Ritz Brothers film "Straight, Place and Show".


title: Damon Runyon

text: "The Damon Runyon Theater" radio series dramatized 52 of Runyon's short stories in weekly broadcasts running from October 1948 to September 1949 (with reruns until 1951). The series was produced by Alan Ladd's Mayfair Transcription Company for syndication to local radio stations. John Brown played the character "Broadway", who doubled as host and narrator. The cast also comprised Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Du Val, Gerald Mohr, Frank Lovejoy, Herb Vigran, Sheldon Leonard, William Conrad, Jeff Chandler, Lionel Stander, Sidney Miller, Olive Deering and Joe De Santis. Pat O'Brien was initially engaged for the role of "Broadway". The original stories were adapted for the radio by Russell Hughes.


title: Damon Runyon

text: "Broadway's New York had a crisis each week, though the streets had a rose-tinged aura", wrote radio historian John Dunning. "The sad shows then were all the sadder; plays like "For a Pal" had a special poignance. The bulk of Runyon's work had been untapped by radio, and the well was deep."


title: Damon Runyon

text: Mike McShane told Runyon stories as monologues on British TV in 1994, and an accompanying book was released, both titled "Broadway Stories".


title: The Big Bang Theory (season 2)

text: The second season of the American sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" was originally aired on CBS from September 22, 2008, to May 11, 2009, consisting of 23 episodes. The Complete Season DVD was released September 15, 2009, and a Blu-ray version was reissued on July 10, 2012, with remastered surround sound audio, whereas the DVD version only had stereo.


title: The Big Bang Theory (season 2)

text: Jim Parsons submitted the episode "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis" for consideration due to his nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2009, TV Guide ranked the episode the #60 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. Christine Baranski submitted the episode "The Maternal Capacitance" for consideration due to her nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: The Big Bang Theory (season 2)

text: Sheldon becomes increasingly obsessive. Leonard and Penny's relationship takes a turn for the worse when they break up, but this is quickly resolved and their relationship progresses to a stronger friendship than before, while Sheldon and Penny's friendship slowly begins. In the season finale Penny hints at her true feelings for Leonard when the guys leave for a 3-month expedition to North Pole and she admits to herself that she does not want him to go. Howard has a short-lived sexual relationship with Leslie Winkle in the second half of the season. Meanwhile, Rajesh manages, without having consumed alcohol, to briefly apologize to Penny for what he did in "The Griffin Equivalency". Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie) makes his first appearance in "The Killer Robot Instability".


title: The Big Bang Theory (season 2)

text: Compared to season one, the second season received critical acclaim. Jessica Paff of Screener wrote that "if they can keep the funny coming, I will keep watching", Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" praised the improvements to the character of Sheldon Cooper, writing that "Prickly Sheldon has become a character to love, and [actor Jim] Parsons is doing something rare on network TV: making intellectualism admirable, even heroic", and James Chamberlin of "IGN" wrote that "Jim Parsons is a riot and is reason enough to tune in each week."


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Lolly Vegas (born Candido Albelando Vasquez-Vegas; October 2, 1939 – March 4, 2010) was a Mexican American musician of Indigenous descent. He played in numerous ensembles alongside his brother Pat, including Pat & Lolly Vegas, the surf group The Avantis and the group Redbone. The brothers have Yaqui, Shoshone and Mexican heritage.


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Candido Albelando Vasquez-Vegas was born in Coalinga, California, on October 2, 1939. He and his younger brother Pat played in bands around the Fresno area. They shortened their last name to Vegas when they relocated to Los Angeles in 1963 to pursue their musical career.


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Lolly and Pat performed together as The Vegas Brothers in their early careers. They later formed the group Redbone, becoming best known for their 1974 hit "Come and Get Your Love".


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Together with brother Pat, Lolly led a band called The Avantis. The ensemble also consisted of drummer Mike Kowalski and guitarist Danny Hamilton. They became a support act for the Beach Boys. The Avantis did some work with Judd Hamilton (older brother of Dan Hamilton) who was the arranger and co-composer on their records. In 1963 The Avantis had a minor hit with "Wax 'Em Down". The single was distributed in Canada by Sparton of Canada Ltd where it made the charts. On October 12, 1963, Canada's C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY recorded the single's chart status as having moved up one notch from the previous week's position of 36 to 37, putting it right behind "Fools Rush In" by Rick Nelson.


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Vegas co-wrote the Rick Lancelot & The Peppermint Sticks single "Sick Chick" / "Ain't That Soul" which was released in 1964. Rick Lancelot was in fact Ricky Lancelotti. Vegas also wrote "Love Will Make You Crawl" for Cliff Wagner which was the B-side to his 1966 single, "Exception to the Rule".


title: Lolly Vegas

text: In 1969, along with his brother Pat, rhythm guitarist Tony Bellamy and drummer Pete DePoe he formed the band Redbone, for which he was the lead singer. The band produced the singles "Maggie", "The Witch Queen of New Orleans", and their biggest hit "Come and Get Your Love".


title: Lolly Vegas

text: Vegas died of lung cancer in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 4, 2010, at age 70. He had been in poor health after suffering a stroke 15 years earlier.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: Jonathan Frederick Togo (born August 25, 1977) is an American actor, best known for his role in "" as Ryan Wolfe.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: Togo was born in Rockland, Massachusetts, the son of Sheila, a housewife and former visual merchandiser and Michael Togo, a commercial artist and graphic designer who previously worked for the "Boston Globe". Sheila Togo runs Simply Sheila, a booth at the SoWa Open Market in Boston.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: Togo's mother is of Italian and Irish descent and his father is Jewish; the original surname, Tonkaviev, shortened by a forefather who wanted something snappier for his carpet business.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: He attended Hebrew school as a child and graduated from Rockland High School in 1995, where he was a wrestler. He attended the Project Contemporary Competitiveness, Advanced Study Program (a.k.a. PCC ASP) as a student in 1991 and 1992, then worked as a proctor in 1996.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: He attended Vassar College, graduating with a B.A. in theater. He studied at the National Theater Institute of the Eugene O’Neill Theater.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: While at Vassar, Togo was classmates with future Bravery singer/songwriter Sam Endicott and keyboardist John Conway. The three played in various bands together in the Poughkeepsie area.


title: Jonathan Togo

text: Togo has performed and participated in numerous plays, including "Our Country's Good". While he is most famous for his role as Ryan Wolfe in "", he has other TV show credits including a starring role in "Special Unit 2", as well as appearances in "Judging Amy". He also played a store clerk in "Mystic River".