title: Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

text: The gang drives to the home of Hilda Trowburg, who is Wanda's descendant. They see the witch's figure through the windows, who is soon discovered to be a very warty Velma. She claims to not be Velma and attacks the gang, knocking them out for a moment. The gang wakes up later and find Trowburg, who says that the spirit of her ancestor has possessed Velma. The gang realizes that their infighting caused them to miss all the little signs - the warts, Velma's fear of fire, her love of moonstones and how she spilled the tea on the video of the witch because it was going to show her face - that should have proved Velma was up to something. Trowburg says that Wanda probably would have gone to the underwater caves; they arrive in the cave and Shaggy bursts out of hiding and confronts Wanda, who turns a trio of frogs into new monsters and sends them after the gang.


title: Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

text: As the monsters corner Fred and Daphne, Shaggy tries to save Velma by singing her favorite song. Velma joins in and manages to break free of Wanda's possession. Wanda tries to reclaim her staff, but Scooby arrives just in time and smashes it, destroying Wanda and turning the monsters back into their original forms. Shaggy confesses how much he really likes Velma and they share a kiss, but both realize that they did not feel a single spark and, along with Fred and Daphne, agree that it is better if they are just friends. Thornton thanks the gang for saving his county club and promises to hook them up with a lawyer so they can avoid any future legal problems, prompting Daphne to name their group Mystery Inc.


title: Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

text: A short trailer of the film was shown on Cartoon Network on August 1, 2010, depicting Scooby and Shaggy at the beach.


title: Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

text: The film was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on March 1, 2011. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment distributed the film on Blu-ray Disc.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: Through the 2015 edition, the tournament took place every two years and was also a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament. However, since 2017, the tournament was renamed the FIBA Asia Cup and now includes teams from FIBA Oceania. Also, it was the first to be played on a new four-year cycle, and is no longer a part of the qualifying process for the World Cup or the Olympics.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship was inaugurated in Manila in 1960. The championship was held to find Asia's best team and for qualification to the World Championship and the Olympics. On the next four tournaments, the Philippines won 3 with the Japanese beating the Filipinos on 1965. Korea, Japan and the Philippines split the next 3 championships until China debuted on 1975 at Bangkok with the championship, where they have dominated for 40 years.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: Right after the Philippines had started sending amateur players when the Philippine Basketball Association was establish in 1975 as the first professional basketball in Asia and refused to lend the country's best players, China emerged as the new dominant country in Asian basketball.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: From 1975 to 2007, there were only two instances where China did not win the championship. In 1985, the Philippines defeated a full-strength Chinese team, which were by then five-time defending champions, in the championship round. The Chinese then won every game in the championship until 1997, where they to lost to South Korea in the semi-finals where they complained about the climate in Riyadh. The Koreans beat the Japanese in the final, but the Chinese would then start a championship streak of four tournaments, led by Yao Ming.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: By 2005, the tournament had been renamed as the FIBA Asia Championship; in that year's tournament in Doha, the Chinese easily won against the Lebanese in the final. During the 2007 championship, the Chinese did not send their "A" team since they had already qualified to the Olympics by virtue of hosting it. In this championship, West Asian teams started to compete with the traditional East Asian powers, as evidenced of an all-West Asian final when Iran defeated Lebanon. In 2009, Iran defeated the Chinese team A in the 2009 final to become only the 3rd team to successfully defend the championship. The 2009 championship started a streak of finals contested between a team from the Middle East and a team from the Far East; in 2011, Iran was eliminated by Jordan in the quarterfinals, which would then lose to hosts China by one point in the final. The 2013 championship would be the first to be hosted outside East Asia since 2005 in the Philippines, the hosts, emerged as finalists; China had been eliminated by Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, which were then defeated by the Iranians, who then beat the Filipinos in the Final.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: As FIBA implemented a new cycle and tournament format, the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila and the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship held in Changsha were the last Asian Championships to serve as qualification to either the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic Games, respectively.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: The 2017 FIBA Asia Championship marked firsts and lasts for the Asian Championship, as it was the first Asian Championship as a standalone tournament, meaning it did not serve as the qualifier for either the Basketball World Cup or the Olympic Games. The 2017 tournament was the last Asian Championships to be ever held under a 2-year cycle. After 2017, the Asian Championships and the FIBA Oceania Championship merged into a tournament to be known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It was held every 4 years like the EuroBasket, AfroBasket and AmeriCup, which are held 2 years before/after the FIBA World Cup.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: Qualification is via the different FIBA Asia subzones. The East, Gulf, Southeast and West subzones receive two berths each, while the Central and South zones get one each. The host and the champion from the preceding FIBA Asia Cup also get a berth each. Each subzone conducts a qualification tournament up to a year before the championship to determine the qualifying teams. The other four berths are distributed to the subzones in reference to their performance in the previous year's FIBA Asia Cup, with the subzone receiving an extra berth for each team in the top four excluding the champion and the host.


title: FIBA Asia Cup

text: There had been a variety of tournament formats used before. Most were similar to the format of two group stages and a knockout stage. The current format, as first applied in 2017, is a multistage tournament. The 16 teams are grouped in four groups in the preliminary round. The teams play against each other once; the top team will directly advance to the quarterfinals, and the second placed teams will play an elimination game between the third placed team of another group. The four winning teams of the elimination games will advance to the quarterfinals. After the elimination games, the knock-out phase will follow.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: Erin Karpluk (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Erica Strange on the CBC Television series "Being Erica" from 2009 to 2011.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: Erin Karpluk was born in Jasper, Alberta, to a mother who was a high-school principal and a father who was a railway engineer. She is of Ukrainian descent. Karpluk majored in theatre at the University of Victoria and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2000.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: Karpluk began her acting career in Vancouver and between 2000 and 2005, appearing in more than a dozen television movies and series before landing the role of Kate in "Godiva's". Her work during this period included "Voice of Sylan" in the final episode of "Dark Angel" and the TV movie "Family Sins". She was also in a short-lived US television series called "Glory Days" in 2002.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: In 2004, she appeared in "Legend of Earthsea" and played a serial killer in "". She earned a Leo nomination for her first season of "Godiva's" and a 2006 Gemini nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: After "Godiva's", Karpluk continued to work in television and short films. In 2007, she appeared in "Bionic Woman", "Flash Gordon", and "The L Word". She had a leading role in a 2008 television movie, "Smokejumpers", directed by John Terlesky.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: Karpluk was offered the lead role of Erica Strange in the CBC Television series "Being Erica" when she was working in Los Angeles on "The L Word". In 2009, Karpluk won the Gemini award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for her portrayal of the titular character.


title: Erin Karpluk

text: She also had a recurring role as Alice the radio station manager during the first season of The CW's "Life Unexpected". Her only appearance during the second season was in the series finale because of the scheduling conflict that resulted when "Being Erica" was picked up for a third year. Karpluk has also had recurring roles on "Rookie Blue" and "Slasher", and starred in the web series "Riftworld".


title: Erin Karpluk

text: Since 2017, she has had a recurring supporting role on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries series "Fixer Upper Mysteries".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: Dare to Be Stupid is the third studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 18, 1985. The album was one of many Yankovic records produced by former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between August 1984 and March 1985, the album was Yankovic's first studio album released following the success of 1984's "In 3-D", which included the Top 40 single "Eat It".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: The music on "Dare to Be Stupid" is built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the mid-1980s, featuring reimaginings of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis and the News, and the Kinks. The album also features many "style parodies", or musical imitations that come close to, but do not copy, existing artists. These style parodies include imitations of Devo and Elvis Presley, as well as imitations of various musical genres such as doo-wop, sci-fi soundtracks, and music from the 1920s and 1930s.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: Despite a mixed critical reception, "Dare to Be Stupid" sold well and peaked at number fifty on the "Billboard" 200. The album produced one of Yankovic's more famous singles, "Like a Surgeon", a parody of Madonna's "Like a Virgin"; the single peaked at number 47 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The album was Yankovic's second Gold record and became certified Platinum for sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1986.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: In January 1985 Yankovic began the recording sessions for his "In 3-D" follow-up album. Rick Derringer, former guitarist for the McCoys, returned as producer. Backing Yankovic were Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, and Jim West on guitar. The first session yielded four originals: "Dare to Be Stupid", "Cable TV", "Slime Creatures from Outer Space", and "One More Minute". The band also recorded a cover of the theme from "George of the Jungle". The following month, Yankovic began recording the album's four parodies and polka medley: "Yoda", "Like a Surgeon", "I Want a New Duck", "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch", and "Hooked on Polkas".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: "This Is the Life", originally commissioned for the gangster spoof movie "Johnny Dangerously" and comically describing a gangster's lavish lifestyle, had already been recorded and released as a single in November 1984. The album's title track, "Dare to Be Stupid", is an ode to living life stupidly. According to the liner notes of , the song represents "Al's motto in life". The song is a style parody of the band Devo, whose reaction to the pastiche was positive. Yankovic said, "Right after I finished "Dare To Be Stupid", I went over to Mark Mothersbaugh's house and played it for him. He seemed to enjoy it a lot." The song was later released on the soundtrack to the 1986 film "", and Yankovic later mused that more people were introduced to the song by the movie than by his own album.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: "One More Minute", about an ex-girlfriend, was written in the style of an Elvis Presley doo-wop song. According to the liner notes of "", Yankovic was preparing to write songs for "Dare to Be Stupid" when his then-girlfriend broke up with him. In order to mentally deal with the heartbreak, Yankovic decided to write a humorous song to express his anger, eventually writing "One More Minute". Yankovic tears up her picture in the video. "Slime Creatures from Outer Space" features prominent usage of a theremin, courtesy of Steve Jay, in order to emulate the sound of "cheesy 50s sci-fi soundtracks."


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: On February 21, 1985, Yankovic began recording the parodies for "Dare to Be Stupid". The first parody recorded for the album was "Yoda". "Yoda" was originally written by Yankovic during the initial run of the 1980 American film "The Empire Strikes Back". After the success of the movie, Yankovic toyed with the idea of writing a song based on the break-out character, but was unable to find a suitable song to use as the base. Yankovic remembers, "I was still in college at the time, and a friend of mine named Mike suggested that I do the song to the tune of 'Lola'—which I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of myself, since I was such a huge Kinks fan." Yankovic wrote and recorded a version of the song, using only an accordion, on a four-track cassette Portastudio. This version of "Yoda" was a hit on "The Dr. Demento Show", and even managed to hit, and hold onto, number one on the Funny Five countdown for several weeks. This early demo was later released on the sixth volume of Dr. Demento's "Basement Tapes".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: After the success of the demo version, Yankovic wanted to put the song on one of his albums. However, securing permission from George Lucas and the Kinks delayed the release of the song for about five years. Eventually, after Lucas gave Yankovic permission, the song's publishers turned Al down. Several versions of why the parody was turned down exist. In a 1985 interview with "Spin", Yankovic explained that, "We approached Ray Davies [the song's composer], we've been approaching him every year and a half, two years before each album comes out and he's always been a little skeptical, a little afraid because 'Lola' was a very personal song for him. Then just out of the blue he decided this time to let us do it." However, the liner notes to the "" present a different story. According to the album's notes, the song may have remained unreleased for some time had it not been for a chance encounter Yankovic had with the song's original songwriter, Ray Davies. When Yankovic asked why he hadn't given him permission, Davies remarked that he had never been asked. Davies immediately gave Yankovic permission to record the song, and the song was later released on "Dare to Be Stupid".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: The day after recording "Yoda", Yankovic started recording "Like a Surgeon", the lead single for the album. Although Yankovic normally refuses to use parody ideas from other people, Madonna is partly responsible for "Like a Surgeon". Madonna asked one of her friends how long it would take until Yankovic satirized her song "Like a Virgin" into "Like a Surgeon". This friend was a mutual friend of Al's manager, Jay Levey. When word got back to Yankovic, he decided it was a good idea and wrote the song. This is the only known time that Yankovic has gotten a parody idea directly from the original artist.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: The third parody recorded for the album was a parody of "I Want a New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News entitled "I Want a New Duck". After the recording of "I Want a New Duck", Yankovic was comfortable with releasing the album as it was. However, Scotti Bros. insisted that Yankovic include a parody of a Cyndi Lauper song. Yankovic complied, producing "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch". However, because he was effectively forced to record the parody, Yankovic has cited "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" as one of his least favorite songs, and ultimately left it off his 1993 compilation album "The Food Album". Yankovic also approached Prince about a potential parody of "When Doves Cry", circa 1984. Prince refused, and did not accept any future parody ideas Yankovic presented to him.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: On March 25, 1985, Yankovic rounded out the recording of his new album with a polka medley of then-popular songs in music. "Dare to Be Stupid" also includes "George of the Jungle", a cover of the theme song to the 1967 TV series. It was the first of only a few cover songs, not counting polka medleys, released by Yankovic. The song later appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film adaptation of "George of the Jungle".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: After the release of the album, Yankovic undertook the 70-city "Stupid Tour"; this was his biggest tour of the 1980s, and featured "costume changes, carefully designed lighting, and several of Al's videos cleverly integrated into the stage show". Yankovic's on-stage wardrobe changed dramatically during the tour, and he specifically stipulated that every promoter "had to supply one garish Hawaiian shirt" for him to wear. Yankovic eventually acquired "a couple closets full" of them. Yankovic also started wearing exclusively Vans, and joked that "whenever I need some they let me go to their warehouse and take home an armload."


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: The videos that were made to promote "Dare to Be Stupid" were later compiled, with additional material, into a direct-to-video mockumentary called "The Compleat Al". This production, directed by Yankovic's manager Jay Levey and Robert K. Weiss, was one of "the first programs of its kind to be made specifically for the home video market". A 60-minute version was later aired on Showtime. To go along with the video, the tongue-in-cheek book "The Authorized Al" was also released. The book, co-written by Yankovic and Tino Insana, has since gone out of print.


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: "Dare to Be Stupid" received moderately favorable reviews from critics. AllMusic reviewer Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album three and a half stars, and cited "Like a Surgeon" and "Dare to Be Stupid" as some of Yankovic's best songs. Christopher Thelen from The Daily Vault wrote that "while "Dare To Be Stupid" is not Yankovic's finest album [...] there's enough on this one to recommend it". The song "Yoda" has gone on to become one of Yankovic's most famous songs. Although it was left off his first greatest hits album, the song was featured on the second volume, the box set "", and the 2009 compilation "The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic". The song appeared on "The Time Machine" episode of "The Weird Al Show", and on the compilation album "".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: Although the lead single "Like a Surgeon" and the parody "Yoda" were met with praise, many criticized the album's other parodies. Many critics were split on the amount of emphasis the original songs were given. "Rolling Stone" writer David Hinkley wrote positively that "the pick of this album's original litter is 'One More Minute', which is a parody of a style (Fifties vocal group) rather than a specific song and is a superb tune besides – right down to the perfect little gasp right before the final chorus". In contrast, Chadbourne was disappointed with the original material, stating that "only someone who is missing important brain cells would suggest this artist's original songs are any good". The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1986, though it lost to Whoopi Goldberg's "Whoopi: Original Broadway Recording".


title: Dare to Be Stupid

text: "Dare to Be Stupid" was released on June 18, 1985; it was the first album of musical comedy to be released on compact disc. "Dare to Be Stupid" eventually peaked on the "Billboard" 200 at number 50. The album spent a total of eight weeks on the chart. On January 27, 1986, a little less than a year after its release, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On February 24, 2003, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Marco Wulfert Cornelis van Ginkel (; born 1 December 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club PSV.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel began his career in the youth ranks of Vitesse, joining the Arnhem-based club as a six-year-old in 1999. After making his way through the various youth levels at the club, Van Ginkel debuted for the senior team in 2010 before sealing a transfer around £9 million to Chelsea in 2013. He suffered a serious knee injury early into his Chelsea career which ruled him out for seven months. He then went on season-long loans to AC Milan in 2014–15, Stoke City in 2015–16 and PSV from 2016 until 2018.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: At international level, Van Ginkel represented the Netherlands at the under-19 and under-21 levels before making his senior team debut against Germany in November 2012.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel made his debut for Vitesse on 9 April 2010, replacing Nicky Hofs in the 67th minute as the club fell to a 4–1 defeat to RKC Waalwijk in Eredivisie action. He was just seventeen at the time of his senior club debut. His first senior goal for the club came in his first appearance of the 2010–11 Eredivisie campaign, netting in the 43rd minute to bring the game to 2–2 before two second-half goals sent Ajax to a 4–2 win. Van Ginkel scored Vitesse's second and fifth goals in a 5–2 defeat of Roda JC on 29 January 2011.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: In the KNVB Cup on 19 December 2012, Van Ginkel scored Vitesse's second goal in a memorable 10–1 win over third division side ADO '20. On 23 February 2013, Van Ginkel notched a brace and Wilfried Bony netted a hat-trick as Vitesse defeated Heracles in a 5–3 win. After a stellar campaign that saw Van Ginkel net eight Eredivisie goals and Vitesse finish in fourth, the club's highest position since finishing in third in 1998, he was voted as the Dutch Talent of the Year awarding his play as the best footballer in the league under 21. Upon his prospected moved to Chelsea, he was regarded as being the next Frank Lampard by Vitesse manager Peter Bosz.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 3 July 2013, English Premier League club Chelsea announced that they had reached an agreement with Vitesse for the transfer of Van Ginkel. With the fee reported to be in the region of £8 million. On 5 July, Chelsea confirmed that they had completed the signing of Van Ginkel, with the Dutch international midfielder signing a five-year contract with the club. Speaking to the official Chelsea website upon his signing with the club, Van Ginkel described himself as "a box-to-box player" who "covers a lot of metres and can score a goal".


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On the opening day of the 2013–14 Premier League season, Van Ginkel made his competitive debut for Chelsea as a substitute against Hull City. On 18 September 2013, he played his first UEFA Champions League game in a 2–1 home defeat by Basel. On 24 September, in a League Cup match against Swindon Town, Van Ginkel suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that kept him out of play for around seven months.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel made his competitive return to football in Chelsea's under-21s' match away to Manchester United on 21 March 2014.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 1 September 2014, AC Milan announced that Van Ginkel had joined the Serie A club on loan from Chelsea for the 2014–15 season. During his loan spell, Van Ginkel wore the number 21 jersey, formerly owned by some of the great names of the club such as Andrea Pirlo and Mauro Tassotti.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel made his first appearance for Milan on the bench against Parma on 14 September 2014, but he did not make his debut until 23 September. On 23 September, he made his first start, as well as his debut, for Milan against Empoli. His debut, however, was cut short as he was taken off on a stretcher in the 34th minute after suffering an ankle injury.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Following his injury, Van Ginkel made his way back on the bench on 19 October, as Milan faced Hellas Verona, but was an unused substitute. Van Ginkel would continue to be left on the bench without a single minute of game time, leading his agent, Karl Jansen, to speak out: "We aren't happy about that is clear. It [leaving Van Ginkel out] went against all logic. Marco didn't have to go to Italy, if he wasn't going to be used anyway. Milan agreed with that. A fit and in-form Van Ginkel plays his way into Milan's starting XI."


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: After Jasen speaking out for Van Ginkel, rumors started around about the possibly of Van Ginkel returning to Chelsea, or going on loan for another team.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 30 November, Van Ginkel was finally deemed fit enough to start for Milan in a match against Udinese. He played nearly the entire game, being substituted off for Riccardo Montolivo in the 89th minute in a 2–0 Milan victory. In the following game, on 7 December, Van Ginkel was again left on the bench as an unused substitute as Milan crashed into a 1–0 defeat against Genoa.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel took a turn for the worst as he picked up an ankle injury during practice caused by teammate Sulley Muntari. The tackle from Muntari was described as "hard challenge, but it was not a violent challenge" by head coach Filippo Inzaghi; with the injury, Van Ginkel was ruled out for two months.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel made his return to the bench on 18 January 2015, but it was not until 24 January that Van Ginkel made his return onto the pitch, playing against Lazio; he was substituted off in the 55th minute. Van Ginkel played every minute in the league since 4 April, and on 9 May, he scored the opener in a 2–1 home victory over Roma.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 10 July 2015, Van Ginkel joined Stoke City on loan for the 2015–16 season as part of a deal that saw goalkeeper Asmir Begović move to Chelsea for £8 million. Van Ginkel made his debut for Stoke on 9 August in a 1–0 defeat against Liverpool. After starting the first six matches of the season his place in midfield was taken by Ibrahim Afellay. Following the arrival of Giannelli Imbula on 1 February 2016, Stoke cancelled Van Ginkel's loan.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Following Stoke's decision to cancel Van Ginkel's loan, he joined PSV on loan for the remainder of the season and reuniting him with former Vitesse teammate Davy Pröpper. Van Ginkel was given the number 28 jersey upon arrival. He made his PSV debut against Utrecht in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, which ended in a 3–1 loss for PSV. He made his league debut on 7 February against Utrecht, three days after PSV's loss in the KNVB Cup. In his league debut, Van Ginkel scored his first goal for PSV as they won 2–0. In the following match, Van Ginkel scored the third goal in a 3–0 win over NEC. On 2 April, Van Ginkel scored a brace against AZ which ended in a 4–2 victory. On 1 May, he scored another brace in a 6–2 win over Cambuur. He won the Eredivisie title with PSV, playing a crucial part for the team by scoring eight goals during his spell.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Although there was talk of a return to PSV on another loan in the summer, Van Ginkel confirmed that he will not be leaving the London side due to a knee injury. After his recovery at Chelsea, however, Van Ginkel signed a new three-year contract on 31 December 2016 and rejoined PSV for a second loan spell.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 16 July 2017, Van Ginkel's loan spell at PSV was extended for the 2017–18 campaign. Despite his age and being a loanee, Van Ginkel replaced Luuk de Jong as captain.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 15 April 2018, he played the full 90 minutes as PSV beat rivals Ajax 3–0 to clinch the 2017–18 Eredivisie title. Three months later, Van Ginkel underwent surgery to reconstruct his anterior cruciate ligament and treat damage in his knee, and was expected to be out for around eight months.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: After his loan ended with PSV and he returned to Chelsea, Van Ginkel remained out of action for the following two seasons. On 26 June 2020, Van Ginkel signed a new one-year deal with Chelsea despite just four appearances for the first-team in seven years.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: On 6 October 2020, Van Ginkel returned to the Netherlands with PSV until the end of 2020–21 season. He will be in his third spell with the club, having previously won two Eredivisie titles in 2016 and 2018, the second one of those as captain. He made his move to PSV permanent on 18 June 2021.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel made his senior debut with the Netherlands national team against Germany on 14 November 2012, coming on as a late substitute in their 0–0 friendly at the Amsterdam Arena. In May 2013, Van Ginkel was included in the Netherlands squad for the UEFA U21 Championship in Israel. After being absent from the senior team for four years, Van Ginkel was recalled to the squad for a friendly against England on 29 March 2016, a 2–1 Dutch victory.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Van Ginkel primarily plays as a central midfielder but has been lauded for his ability to play in a multitude of positions including defensive midfield and across the attacking midfield. From his early playing days at Vitesse, he has primarily played in an attacking role, though he has matured in his ability to play in a deeper defensive role. Van Ginkel is recognized as a solid, well-rounded player who has all the tools of a future superstar. On the pitch he is widely known for his maturity on the ball, impressive ball control and an extensive range of passing. He is comfortable with both feet, makes intelligent runs into the box and has an exceptional long-range shot.


title: Marco van Ginkel

text: Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho spoke of the youngster, likening him to England greats Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. He has described Van Ginkel as an engine with immense physical power. As with several others, Mourinho was quick to point out his overall game: "He covers a fantastic area of the field defensively and after that he has this instinct where he wants to go into finishing areas, he wants to score goals. He’s very good in the air."


title: Sobriety

text: Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations of the temperance movement have encouraged sobriety as being normative in society.


title: Sobriety

text: In a treatment setting, sobriety is the achieved goal of independence from consuming alcohol. As such, sustained abstinence is a prerequisite for sobriety. Early in abstinence, residual effects of alcohol consumption can preclude sobriety. These effects are labeled "PAWS," or "post-acute-withdrawal syndrome." Someone who abstains, but has a latent desire to resume use, is termed a "Dry drunk" and not considered truly sober. An abstainer may be subconsciously motivated to resume alcohol consumption, but for a variety of reasons, abstains (e.g. a medical or legal concern precluding use).


title: Sobriety

text: Sobriety has more specific meanings within specific contexts, such as the culture of many substance use recovery programs, law enforcement, and some schools of psychology. In some cases, sobriety implies the achievement of "life balance."


title: Sobriety

text: Sobriety may refer to being clear of immediate or residual effects of any mind-altering substances. Colloquially, it may refer to a specific substance that is the concern of a particular recovery support program (e.g. alcohol, marijuana, opiates, or tobacco). "Clean and sober" is a commonly used phrase, which refers to someone having an extended period without alcohol or other drugs in their body.


title: Sobriety

text: Recovery can start in many different ways for all people. One may go to rehab, a detox center or engage a sober companion to start. The next recovery support program may be slightly more difficult to find. Sober living can be confusing using any generic search engine. Recovery resources exist for many different companies, mainly across the United States.


title: Sobriety

text: Organizations of the temperance movement have encouraged sobriety as being normative in society. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union disseminates literature on the living a sober lifestyle, while fraternal organisations such as the Independent Order of Rechabites and International Organisation of Good Templars provide a space for teetotalers to socialize.


title: Sobriety

text: Field sobriety tests and breathalyzer testing are two ways law enforcement officers often test for sobriety in a suspected high or drunk driver. In the US, these "standardized field sobriety tests" are at the officer's discretion. They can also administer other tests including blood and urine tests. In other countries (for example The Netherlands), only breathalizer and blood testing is used. Standardized tests that can be performed in the US include:


title: Sobriety

text: Since these tests rely on cooperation of the subject, the final result often depends on the presiding officer's interpretation. There are many factors that can lead to inaccuracies in sobriety testing including orthopedic or neurologic conditions, and fatigue.


title: Michael Larson

text: Paul Michael Larson (May 10, 1949 – February 16, 1999) was an American television game show contestant from Ohio who appeared on the CBS program "Press Your Luck" in 1984. Larson is notable for winning US$110,237 () in cash and prizes, at the time the largest one-day total ever won on a game show. He was able to win by memorizing the patterns used on the "Press Your Luck" game board.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson used his cash winnings to pay taxes and invested most of the rest in bad real estate deals. As a result, he lost all of his winnings within two years of the show's taping. He later fled Ohio while under investigation for fraud. He was found to be living in Florida when he died of throat cancer at the age of 49. Since his death in 1999, Larson's game has re-aired on television at various times and inspired two Game Show Network documentaries: "Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal" in 2003 and "Cover Story: The Press Your Luck Scandal" in 2018.


title: Michael Larson

text: Michael Larson was born May 10, 1949 in Lebanon, Ohio. He was the youngest of four sons. James Larson, Michael's older brother, remembers him as being "well meaning, but a little different." Teresa McGlynn Dinwitty, his partner for eleven years and former common law wife, recalled Larson "had a good heart and a thirst for knowledge." He took some college courses, but never finished, and eventually earned a certification in air conditioner repair. He worked as a repairman while also driving an ice cream truck in the summers. During a period of unemployment in the early 1980s, Larson began watching television game shows, growing so enamored with the genre that he built up a shrine of old television sets in his living room to watch multiple programs at the same time.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson used his VCR to record episodes of "Press Your Luck" shortly after its premiere on CBS in September 1983. While watching, he noticed that the randomizer that moved the light indicator around the eighteen-square "Big Board" had only five patterns. Larson began memorizing these patterns, increasingly confident he could predict when and where the randomizer would land. He began playing along with the "Big Board" rounds to test his hypothesis and paused his VHS tape at various intervals.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson also discovered that the fourth and eighth squares (from #1 in the top left corner then clockwise around the board) always contained cash and never a "Whammy!", a bandit-like cartoon character that, when landed on, would result in the resetting of the player's score to zero, accompanied by an on-screen animation that showed the Whammy taking the player's earnings. Larson also learned that square #4 always contained the top dollar values and that in round two, contestants were awarded an additional spin if landing on those spots ($3,000, $4,000, or $5,000 in square #4, and $500, $750, or $1,000 in square #8). This proved crucial to Larson's theory, as he could retain control of the board in the second round indefinitely if he kept following the patterns.


title: Michael Larson

text: In May 1984, Larson used most of his savings to fly to Los Angeles, California, to audition for "Press Your Luck". Contestant supervisor Bobby Edwards was suspicious of Larson's motives when he interviewed Larson on May 19, and was unwilling to allow him on the show, but executive producer Bill Carruthers viewed Larson's claim to be a "small-town plebeian desperately in need of a chance to win some money" as a good sob story for the show, and overruled Edwards. Carruthers would later regret this move. Larson was added as a contestant on the fourth episode of the taping session, scheduled to air on Friday, June 8, 1984.


title: Michael Larson

text: While waiting in the green room, Larson met Ed Long, a Baptist minister from California booked for the third episode of the session, and struck up a conversation. Long recalled that Larson asked him how many times he had seen the show. When Long replied he had seen it only once, Larson responded by looking at him as though he "were from another planet." Larson told Long, "I really hope we don't have to play each other," before leaving the green room, but they would in fact face off as Long won his match and a total of $11,516 in cash and prizes. The two men competed against dental assistant Janie Litras in the next episode of the session.


title: Michael Larson

text: At the taping, host Peter Tomarken introduced the three players, starting with a recap of Long's winnings from the previous episode and a joke about a question Long missed in the earlier episode. Tomarken then introduced Larson and asked him what he did for a living. Larson mentioned driving an ice cream truck in the summer and how he was hoping to win enough money to be able to retire from it, and Tomarken asked if he had the truck with him, joking that they had orders for ice cream. Tomarken then introduced Litras, who talked about the eccentric Polish dentist she worked for.


title: Michael Larson

text: As customary, the game began with the first of two rounds in which contestants answered questions to earn spins for the "Big Board"; a correct buzz-in answer earned three spins, while a correct multiple-choice answer earned one spin. Larson's memorization of the patterns could not help him here, and he struggled early. On the second question, the host asked, "You've probably got President Franklin D. Roosevelt in your pocket or purse right now, because his likeness is on the head side..." Larson buzzed in at this point and answered, "$50 bill" (which has a portrait of President Ulysses S. Grant), after which Tomarken finished the question "...of what American "coin"?" with the answer being "a dime", the other choice being "a nickel". He did not buzz in again, answering the last two questions multiple choice and finishing with three spins, behind Long's four and Litras's ten. With the fewest spins, Larson went first. On his first spin, he hit a Whammy; however, on his next two, he hit square #4 twice for $1,250 and finished the round with $2,500. Long and Litras finished the round without a Whammy and won $4,080 and $4,608, respectively, putting Larson in last place.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson buzzed in correctly for two of the four questions, and earned a total of seven spins in the second question round, ahead of Litras's three and Long's two. Since he was in third place, he got to play first at the "Big Board" and went to his pattern play, aiming for squares #4 and #8. Larson quickly bumped his total to over $10,000. Early on, his pattern play was irregular, as he stopped four times on squares that did not follow his pattern: a trip to Kauai worth $1,636 in square #7 (aiming for $3,000 + spin in square #4), $700 and one spin in square #17 (aiming for $750 + one spin in square #8), "Pick a Corner" in square #6 (where he was given the choice of $2,250 in square #1, $2,000 in square #10, or $1,500 and one spin in square #15; he chose $2,250) (aiming again for $750 + one spin in square #8), and a sailboat worth $1,015 in square #7 (aiming for $3,000 + spin in square #4).


title: Michael Larson

text: After the sailboat, Larson's pattern play became more accurate, as he hit his target squares each time he spun. Tomarken was increasingly astounded that Larson was still spinning despite not having seen a Whammy for so long. Larson continued to press on, passing more and more milestone markers without losing any of his four remaining spins. The episode was taped into two parts since Larson kept pressing. As he passed the $40,000, $50,000, and $60,000 marks, Tomarken virtually begged Larson to stop more than once, fearing he would hit a Whammy. Larson intended to keep spinning until he had reached $100,000. Larson finally decided to stop once he reached $102,851. He had by this time made 40 spins on the board without hitting a Whammy, of which 37 were for those 37 cash spins he hit square #4 a total of twenty times, including a run of six in a row, and square #8 a total of fifteen times, including two runs of three in a row. After he announced he was passing his remaining four spins, Larson raised his arms in triumph and received a standing ovation from the audience.


title: Michael Larson

text: By rule, Larson's spins went to Litras as she had the next highest money total. However, since she was the leader after the first round, she had to wait to play until Long, who earned two spins in the second round of questions, completed his turn. On the first of his two spins, a bewildered Long hit a Whammy and lost the money he earned in the first round, leading Tomarken to wonder aloud if Larson "knew that the Whammy was coming." Long hit $5,000 and a spin on his next spin and did it again on the spin after that, but hit a second Whammy with his final spin.


title: Michael Larson

text: Litras then took her turn, starting with the first of the four spins Larson had passed that she was required to take by rule. On that spin, she hit a Whammy and lost her first round total. However, since she had Whammied, the remaining passed spins were moved into the earned column and added to the three spins Litras earned in the second question round, giving her a total of six spins. Litras picked up $9,385 in cash and prizes in five total spins, but because she managed to hit spaces with extra spins, she used only three. Litras then passed those spins to Larson, who was visibly upset and said, "I didn't want 'em," as he received the three spins.


title: Michael Larson

text: Nonetheless, Larson picked up where he had left off, following his patterns, and hit his marks with his first two spins. He hit square #17 on his last spin, which was the same space where Larson hit a Whammy on his first spin, but he stopped the board before the Whammy could shuffle into the square and won a trip to the Bahamas valued at $2,636, causing Tomarken to joke, "With that money, you could "buy" The Bahamas, Michael!" This brought Larson's total to $110,237, and he had two earned spins to work with. Larson passed them to Litras, who failed to earn any additional spins with them, and despite winning extra money on them could not come anywhere near Larson's grand total, thus ending the game. Larson's final total included $5,287 in prizes and $104,950 in cash.


title: Michael Larson

text: At the end of the episode, Tomarken asked Larson why he decided not to pass his remaining spins before he did, considering the lead he rapidly gained over Litras and Long. Side-stepping revealing how he had won the game, Larson responded with, "Two things: one, it felt right, and second, I still had seven spins and if I passed them, somebody could've done what I did."


title: Michael Larson

text: Each episode of "Press Your Luck" was thirty minutes in length, and prior to Larson's appearance, the series had never needed to straddle games or stop during play as a match would always be completed within the allotted time frame. However, Larson's streak of hitting his marks every time stretched the length of the episode well past the usual thirty minutes and the producers were unsure how to proceed. While the entire episode was recorded in one shot, the production staff decided that it would need to be split up for airing.


title: Michael Larson

text: Once Larson racked up $36,851 ($34,200 in cash, $2,651 in prizes) in 15 spins, the producers cut to a freeze frame of the contestant area and Tomarken (in a chroma key shot) then tossed to a commercial. Once back from the commercial, Tomarken informed the viewers that because of the extraordinary circumstances, the match could not be completed on the June 8 episode and would instead be finished on the next scheduled airing on Monday, June 11. He then signed off with the words "To be continued..." superimposed on the screen.


title: Michael Larson

text: When "Press Your Luck" returned after the weekend break, the episode started with the same freeze frame image. Tomarken (again chroma keyed over the image) then brought the viewers up to speed on what Friday's episode entailed, first by introducing Larson's opponents and then introducing Larson and explaining what he had done so far, before the game resumed. Freeze frames, with voiceovers by Tomarken, were also used to lead into and out of the first three commercial breaks when Larson eclipsed the $50,000 and $100,000 marks, and when Litras later passed her spins to Larson.


title: Michael Larson

text: While Larson was running up the score, the show's producers contacted Michael Brockman, then head of CBS's daytime programming department. In a 1994 "TV Guide" interview commemorating the Larson sweep, conducted at the time the film "Quiz Show" was released, he recalled, "Something was very wrong. Here was this guy from nowhere, and he was hitting the bonus box every time. It was bedlam, I can tell you, and we couldn't stop this guy. He kept going around the board and hitting that box."


title: Michael Larson

text: The program's producers and Brockman met to review the videotape. They noticed that Larson would immediately celebrate after many of his spins instead of waiting the fraction of a second it would take for a contestant to see and respond to the space they had stopped on, effectively showing he knew he was going to get something good. It was also noticed that Larson had an unusual reaction to his early prize of a Kauai trip, which was out of his pattern – he initially looked puzzled and upset, but then recovered and celebrated after a pause.


title: Michael Larson

text: At first, CBS refused to pay Larson, considering him a cheater. However, Brockman and the producers could not find a clause in the game's rules with which to disqualify him (largely because the board had been constructed with these patterns from the beginning of the series) and the network complied. Because he had surpassed the CBS winnings cap (at the time) of $25,000, Larson was not allowed to return for the next show.


title: Michael Larson

text: The five original light patterns on the "Big Board" were replaced with five new ones for about a month, and those were replaced with a different set of five new patterns for another month. A further reprogramming of the board with 32 patterns was completed in August 1984, effectively ensuring that no one could duplicate Larson's trick; all subsequent versions employ this method.


title: Michael Larson

text: After the broadcast of Larson's two episodes, CBS suppressed the episodes for nineteen years, as both the network and Carruthers considered the incident to be one of their biggest embarrassments. When USA Network bought the rights to rerun "Press Your Luck", CBS and Carruthers insisted that the Larson episodes must not be aired.


title: Michael Larson

text: On March 16, 2003, GSN was allowed to air the episodes as part of a two-hour documentary called "Big Bucks: The "Press Your Luck" Scandal", hosted and narrated by Tomarken. The documentary was produced by and aired on GSN (in association with Lionsgate and RTL Group, the latter of which now owns the "Press Your Luck" franchise), and broke all previous viewership records for the network. The "Big Bucks" documentary included additional footage, directly from the original master tapes, that had been edited out of the episodes for their initial broadcast. The original telecast was dedicated to the memory of Carruthers, who had died two weeks before the airing.


title: Michael Larson

text: As part of the commemoration, Larson's opponents from 1984 were invited back to be contestants on "Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck". Larson had died by this time - his brother, James, was invited to take his place. Tomarken also returned to host the question round. Despite the fact that the board was now fully random (host Todd Newton called it "Larson-proof"), and there was no way the same trick could have been performed, Long and Litras (who had remarried and taken the surname Litras-Dakan) still lost. When James hit the "Big Bank" space on his first spin of the first round, Long proceeded to joke with Newton that he had "seen this before". At one point, Litras-Dakan advanced to first place before hitting a Double Whammy shortly afterward, effectively giving James the win. Long, who was in last place, was the last to spin and racked up some winnings, but not enough to catch up to James, who had won a digital grand piano worth $6,695, while Newton closed the game by announcing, "The legacy continues."


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson's performance on "Press Your Luck" was featured in a July 2010 broadcast of "This American Life".


title: Michael Larson

text: On January 14, 2018, GSN aired a second documentary on the Larson story entitled "Cover Story: The "Press Your Luck" Scandal". The debut airing earned 583,000 viewers. The Larson episodes themselves aired after the "Cover Story" documentary.


title: Michael Larson

text: Both of Larson's episodes were edited together into one video and uploaded onto the Buzzr YouTube channel on July 17, 2019.


title: Michael Larson

text: After "Press Your Luck", Larson became an assistant manager at local Walmart stores in Lebanon, Dayton, Xenia and Bellbrook, Ohio. He also ran a promotions and marketing company, Group Dynamics Downline, out of his Lebanon home.


title: Michael Larson

text: In November 1984, Larson learned about a local radio show promotion promising a $30,000 prize for matching a $1 bill's serial number with a random number read out on the air. Over several days, he withdrew his remaining winnings in $1 bills, examined each dollar, and (upon discovering that he did not have the winning number) re-deposited roughly half of the money. Larson left about $50,000 in his house, which was stolen in a burglary while he was attending a Christmas party. Larson told "TV Guide" in 1994 that after the burglary, he called on the producers of "Press Your Luck" to stage a "tournament of champions" for a chance to score big again. The producers declined.


title: Michael Larson

text: In 1994, the release of the film "Quiz Show" renewed discussion about game show scandals, and Larson was interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America". By this time, he had been diagnosed with throat cancer and his voice was noticeably weakened.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson ultimately never saw the return of his winnings and failed at several get-rich-quick schemes. In 1995 he engaged in an internet fraud scheme run by a company called Pleasure Time, Inc, which raised $1.8 million from 14,000 investors for a non-existent American-Indian lottery. After the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against the operation, Larson fled Ohio and moved to Apopka, Florida, where he died of cancer in 1999 before he could be found and prosecuted.


title: Michael Larson

text: Larson's daytime network game show winnings record stood until 2006, when Vickyann Chrobak-Sadowski won $147,517 in cash and prizes on the Season 35 premiere of "The Price Is Right". However, it was not enough to surpass Larson's inflation-adjusted record ($110,237 was ).


title: Michael Larson

text: A biographical feature film was planned in 2000 in which Bill Murray would portray Larson, but was never produced.


title: Michael Larson

text: In 2017, Spanish author Javi de Castro published a graphic novel about the scandal, titled "Larson: el hombre con más suerte del mundo" ("Larson: The Luckiest Man in the World").


title: Michael Larson

text: In 2022, magician Brian Brushwood adapted Larson's endeavors for an episode of his podcast "World's Greatest Con".


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya alias Muktapida (IAST: Lalitāditya Muktāpīḍa; r. c. 724 CE–760 CE) was a powerful ruler of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir region in the Indian subcontinent.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The 12th-century chronicler Kalhana characterizes Lalitaditya as a world conqueror, crediting him with extensive conquests and miraculous powers in his "Rajatarangini". According to Kalhana, Lalitaditya defeated the central Indian king Yashovarman, and then marched to eastern and southern parts of India. He subjugated several more rulers on his way back to Kashmir, and then subdued several northern kings. Based on a reconstruction of Kalhana's account, art historian Hermann Goetz (1969) theorized that Lalitaditya managed to create a short-lived empire that included major parts of India as well as present-day Afghanistan and Central Asia. Goetz' analysis was accepted and cited widely by subsequent authors writing on the history of Kashmir. However, Kalhana's account is not supported by the records of Lalitaditya's neighbouring rulers; for example, the Tang dynasty chronicles present him as a vassal of the Tang emperor. As a result, several other scholars have dismissed Kalhana's account as legendary exaggeration.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Despite these exaggerations, Lalitaditya is generally accepted as the most powerful king of his dynasty. He commissioned a number of shrines in Kashmir, including the now-ruined Martand Sun Temple. He also established several towns, including a new capital at Parihasapura, although he also maintained the dynasty's traditional capital at Srinagara.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The main source of information about Lalitaditya is "Rajatarangini", a chronicle of the rulers of Kashmir, by the 12th century Kashmiri writer Kalhana. Lalitaditya also finds a brief mention in the New Book of Tang ("Xin Tang shu"), a record of the Tang dynasty of China. This text mentions him as "Mu-to-pi" or "Muduobi" (a variation of Muktapida). The 11th century Persian chronicler Al-Biruni mentions a Kashmiri king called Muttai, who was most probably Lalitaditya ("Muttai" being derived from the Apabhramsha form of "Muktapida").


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The "Rajatarangini" names Lalitaditya as the youngest son of the Karkota king Durlabhaka (alias Pratapaditya) and queen Narendraprabha. His mother Narendraprabha was previously married to a foreign merchant settled in Kashmir. He had two elder brothers named Chandrapida (alias Vajraditya) and Tarapida (alias Udayaditya), who preceded him as the rulers of Kashmir.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana states that Lalitaditya's reign lasted for 36 years, 7 months and 11 days. He suggests that Lalitaditya ruled during 700-736 CE. However, this is not correct, as Lalitaditya's predecessor is known to have sent an embassy to the Tang capital Chang'an in 720 CE. This predecessor, mentioned as "Tianmu" in the Tang records, was probably Tarapida, although some scholars have identified him as Chandrapida. Modern historians date Lalitaditya's reign to c. 724/5 - c. 760 CE.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana describes Lalitaditya as a universal monarch, who spent most of his life in military expeditions. He gives the following account of Lalitaditya's career:


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya invaded the Antarvedi country, whose capital was located at Gadhipura (Kanyakubja). The defending king Yashovarman submitted to him after a long war and offered a peace treaty. Yashovarman drew up a document outlining the terms of this treaty, titled ""The treaty of Yashovarman and Lalitaditya"". Lalitaditya's minister Mitrasharman objected to this title, and insisted that Lalitaditya's name appear before Yashovarman's name in the title. Lalitaditya's generals, who were uneasy about the long duration of the war, blamed Mitrasharman for delaying the treaty. But Lalitaditya himself was pleased with Mitrasharman: he broke off the peace negotiations, and "uprooted" Yashovarman. As a result of this defeat, Yashovarman, who had been served by the court poets such as Vakpati and Bhavabhuti, himself became a panegyrist of Lalitaditya. The land of Kanyakubja, located between the Yamuna river and the Kalika river (possibly modern Kali Nadi), came under Lalitaditya's control.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya instituted five new offices, which were occupied by Shahi and other princes. After consolidating power in Kanyakubja, Lalitaditya proceeded to the eastern ocean, just like the Ganges river flows from the Himalayas to the eastern ocean. During this expedition, the elephants in this army saw the land of their birth. Lalitaditya reached Kalinga and Gauda, and a number of elephants joined his army from Gauda.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: From the eastern sea-shore, Lalitaditya proceeded to the southern region, where the Karnatas bowed down before him. The sovereign of Dakshinapatha at this time was a Karnata queen named Ratta. She had constructed obstacle-free roads over the Vindhya mountains, and was as powerful as the goddess Vindhyavasini (Durga). Even a powerful figure like her bowed down to Lalitaditya. In the south, Lalitaditya's soldiers forgot their fatigue, as they sipped wine of the coconut trees and enjoyed the breeze on the banks of the Kaveri river. The snakes dropping from the sandalwood trees on Chandanadri (the Malaya mountains) appeared like curved swords falling from the arms because of the fear of an attack by Lalitaditya. The Kashmiri king crossed the oceans via the islands, as one crosses a rivulet by stepping over stones.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: After crossing the ocean, Lalitaditya reached the seven Konkanas. Dvaraka, located on the western sea shore, inspired Lalitaditya's soldiers with desire [to enter that city]. Lalitaditya's elephant army then marched into Avanti. The dust raised by his army's crossing of Vindhya mountain made the Vindhya appear red with anger. In Avanti, the tusks of his elephants were split only by the moonlight falling on the diadem of Mahakala. (This is a reference to the traditional myth that the moonlight can split the elephant tusks).


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Having defeated most of the other kings, Lalitaditya proceeded from Avanti to Uttarapatha (the northern region), where he fought with several mighty kings. His army emptied the Kamboja stables of horses (a reference to the Kamboja country's reputation for good-quality horses). The resulting darkness made them appear as if they were filled with black buffaloes instead. The Tuhkharas fled to mountain ranges on Lalitaditya's approach, leaving behind their horses. He also defeated Mummuni three times in a battle, and made the Bhauttas very anxious. Lalitaditya was too dignified to tolerate the wine-drinking Daradas.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: When Lalitaditya approached the deserted town of Pragjyotisha, he saw the smoke arising from the black aloes burning in the forests. In "Valukambudhi" ("sea of sand"), where the mirage resulted in an illusion of water, Lalitaditya's elephants appeared like large crocodiles. The women of "Stri-rajya" (literally "women's kingdom") melted the hearts of Lalitaditya's warriors by showing their "high breasts". When the trembling queen of Strirajya met Lalitaditya, no one could determine whether the emotion displayed by her was the terror or the desire of love. On Lalitaditya's approach, the Uttarakurus took shelter in the trees just like snakes hide in holes on seeing a Garuda.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya returned to Kashmir with the immense wealth obtained from his conquests. He appointed his attendants as the kings of Jalaṃdhara, Lohara and other countries. By Lalitaditya's order, the Turushkas and Dakshinatyas in his kingdom had to display a badge of shame. The Turushkas had to carry their arms at their backs and shave half of their heads, to mark their bondage. The Dakshinatyas had to wear a tail that swept the ground, to signify their similarity to beasts.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya established several cities and shrines during his stay in Kashmir. Once, he invaded and conquered the kingdom of Sikata-sindhu ("Ocean of the Sand"), after crossing a massive wasteland (see miraculous powers section below). After some time, he marched towards the "boundless regions of the north", because he was curious to visit the lands where no one had reached before. During this campaign, he had several adventures with demons sent by the deity Kubera to test his power.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: When Lalitaditya's ministers did not receive any news about him for several days, they sent a messenger to find him. The messenger came back with the news that the king did not wish to return, having decided to remain engaged in military conquests until his death. In his message, Lalitaditya provided political wisdom on how to govern the kingdom, and asked for his elder son Kuvalayapida to be appointed as his successor.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Later, some people reported that Lalitaditya died in the Aryanaka country, as a result of excessive out-of-season snowfall. Others reported he immolated himself in a dire situation, because he wanted to die while he remained a great king.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: M. A. Stein (1900), who first translated "Rajatarangini" into English, accepted Lalitaditya's subjugation of Yashovarman as a historical fact. However, he rejected the subsequent victories described by Kalhana as "manifestly legendary", given the absence of historical details. According to him, the kingdom of Kashmir did not have manpower or resources to carry out such extensive campaigns.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to historian C. V. Vaidya (1861–1938), Kalhana's account is corroborated by the 13th century text "Chach Nama". A letter in this text, addressed by Raja Dahir to Muhammad bin Qasim, mentions "the King of Kashmir on whose royal threshold the other rulers of Hind had placed their heads, who sways the whole of Hind, even the countries of Makran and Turan, whose chains a great many noblemen and grandees have willingly placed on their knees and against whom no human being can stand." This letter is stated to have been written in 712 CE, so Vaidya theorizes that Lalitaditya's conquests must have occurred during 700-712 CE.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Later, art historian Hermann Goetz (1969) devised a historical reconstruction supporting Kalhana's account, although he admitted that "this reconstruction cannot claim to be more than a working theory trying plausibly to interconnect the sparse and uncertain data". Goetz argued that Kalhana's account of Lalitaditya's military exploits is not only probable, but also supported by other evidence. According to Goetz, Lalitaditya's extensive conquests were possible because the other contemporary kingdoms in the region had been weakened by foreign invasions and wars. In addition, Goetz speculated that Lalitaditya managed to create a powerful army as a result of superior China-influenced military organization, administrative set-up and weaponry. Goetz identified several persons mentioned in Kalhana's account as historical figures, and argued that a distant writer like Kalhana could not have invented such historical persons.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: André Wink (2002) described Goetz' theory as convincing, but Ronald M. Davidson (2012) dismisses Wink's affirmation of Goetz's analysis as uncritical. Davidson rejects the argument that the conquests described by Kalhana must have been real, because Kalhana could not have invented historical persons. In his support, Davidson presents the example of the "Nilamata Purana", which is one of Kalhana's sources for "Rajatarangini", and which ascribes fictional events to historical persons. He argues that Kalhana's dubious sources could have fabricated a conquest of known parties. Davidson points out that Yashovarman's court poet Vakpati credits him with similar conquests in "Gaudavaho", according to which Yashovarman conquered not only eastern and southern India, but also defeated the king of Persia. Davidson dismisses both "Gaudavaho" and "Rajatarangini" as poetic boast, describing Kalhana's account as "Kashmiri boosterism". He, however, believes that Kalhana's claims might be closer to the truth than Vakpati's claims. According to Davidson, Lalitaditya launched his attack in 733 CE, advanced up to Magadha in the east, and then returned to Kashmir in 747 CE.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Tansen Sen (2004) similarly rejects the claims about Lalitaditya's conquest of Hindukush-Pamir region, based on numismatic evidence and contemporary records other than "Rajatarangini". According to him, Lalitaditya provided military and logistical support to the Tang campaigns against Tibetans, and the success of these campaigns later led to Kashmiri legends describing him as a great conqueror.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Shyam Manohar Mishra (1977) points out that Lalitaditya's achievements "must have been coloured and exaggerated by the popular imagination" by the time of Kalhana, who lived four centuries after Lalitaditya. This is evident from the fact that Kalhana ascribes miraculous powers to Lalitaditya. According to Susan L. Huntington (1997), Lalitaditya's campaigns were probably "massive raiding and looting expeditions rather than true conquests".


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz theorizes that Lalitaditya had captured Punjab, Afghanistan, and western part of the Central Asian highlands before embarking upon his campaign in central India. He dates Lalitaditya's conquest of Afghanistan before 730 CE, and presents the following arguments in his support:


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Tansen Sen (2004) criticizes Goetz' theory, based on numismatic evidence and other contemporary records. These sources suggest that Kapisa and Zabulistan regions in present-day Afghanistan were under control of the independent Turkic Shahi rulers. The records of the Tang dynasty, whose rulers received regular embassies from the Turkic Shahis, testify to their independent status. According to Sen, the Karkota kingdom had peaceful relations with these Turkic neighbours: this very fact may have enabled Lalitaditya to leave Kashmir and lead troops to central and eastern India.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya's victory over Yashovarman appears to be historically true. Historical evidence suggests that the two kings were immediate neighbours before their conflict: Lalitaditya's empire extended up to present-day Punjab in the south-east, while Yashovarman's north-eastern frontier included parts of present-day Haryana. The discovery of some coins bearing the legend "Shri-Pratapa" in present-day Uttar Pradesh is also considered as an evidence of Lalitaditya's success in this region (as Pratapaditya was the name of Lalitaditya's father). Abhinavagupta's ancestor Atrigupta, a scholar who originally lived in Yashovarman's territory, was brought to Kashmir by Lalitaditya. This may have happened during Lalitaditya's invasion.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: However, Kalhana's account of this victory over Yashovarman cannot be taken at the face value. According to historian Shyam Manohar Mishra (1977), the earlier historians have overrated Lalitaditya's success against Yashovarman: the defeated king acknowledged Lalitaditya's suzerainty for a short period, but became practically independent when Lalitaditya became engaged in other conflicts.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The date of the conflict between the two kings is not certain. The Annals of the Tang dynasty suggest that Lalitaditya and a Central Indian king had fought against Tibet as allies. Assuming that this central Indian king was Yashovarman (after his subjugation by Lalitaditya), M. A. Stein dated Lalitaditya's conquest to sometime before 736 CE. However, Mishra interprets the Tang records differently to theorize that Lalitaditya and Yashovarman were allies at least until 736 CE. According to Mishra, the conflict between Lalitaditya and Yashovarman took place after 736 CE, and before Yashovarman's death in 749-753 CE.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: German Indologist Hermann Jacobi dated Lalitaditya's invasion of Kannauj to 14 August 733 CE, a date that was accepted by several later historians. This theory is based on the "Gaudavaho", a text composed by Yashovarman's court poet Vakpati. This text describes a solar eclipse (an inauspicious omen), which Jacobi considers to be an allusion to Yashovarman's defeat. Jacobi also bases his conclusion on a subsequent verse, which he translates as ""The corner of his [Yashovarman's] eye-brow became twisted on account of the shaking of his [kingly] position."" Assuming 733 CE as the date of Lalitaditya's victory, Goetz dated the beginning of the conflict to 730 CE or earlier.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Shyam Manohar Mishra rejects Jacobi's conclusion, pointing out that the 733 CE solar eclipse could be seen from several other regions (including Kashmir), and there is no evidence linking it to Yashovarman's defeat. In fact, the surrounding verses in the poem make it clear that the verse about solar eclipse does not signify any debacle for Yashovarman. Moreover, Jacobi has mistranslated the subsequent verse, which actually states that if Yashovarman's order was defied, he twisted his eyebrow (became angry), resulting in great calamities in the realms of those who defied the order.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Goetz, Lalitaditya conquered present-day Bihar, Bengal and Odisha by 735-736 CE. Based on Kalhana's account, Goetz theorized that Lalitaditya marched to Gauda after defeating Yashovarman. There, he defeated the Later Gupta ruler Jivitagupta, and then advanced up to the Bay of Bengal through present-day Odisha. Goetz further theorized that Yashovarman supported Lalitaditya in these campaigns as a vassal. In the poem "Gaudavaho", Yashovarman's courtier Vakpati credits him with victories in eastern and southern India. The "Rajatarangini" makes similar claims for Lalitaditya. According to Goetz, the invasion routes described in both these texts are "practically identical". He, therefore, concludes that Yashovarman participated in Lalitaditya's wars as a vassal. Goetz argues that "Gaudavaho" fails to mention this, because Yashovarman's court poet wanted to whitewash his master's vassal status. "Gaudavaho" mentions that Yashovarman visited the Mandara mountain. According to Goetz, this is the poet's way of hiding Yashovarman's visit to Lalitaditya's court, which was located in the mountainous region.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Shyam Manohar Mishra (1977) rejects Goetz theory, pointing out that no sources (including "Rajatarangini" and "Gaudavaho") suggest that Yashovarman participated in Lalitaditya's subsequent campaigns as a vassal. Mishra believes that the conflict between the two kings happened after Yashovarman's successful campaign, which must have "evoked the jealousy and concern of Lalitaditya".


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The term "Ratta" in Kalhana's account appears to be a reference to the Rashtrakutas, who ruled the Karnata region. The term "Vindhyas" here cannot refer to the present-day Vindhya mountains: it is probably used for poetic effect, to compare Queen Ratta to the goddess Vindhyavasini (who is said to reside in the Vindhyan region).


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz identified Kalhana's Queen Ratta with Bhavagana, who was a wife of the Rashtrakuta king Indra I. Goetz speculates that she acted as a queen regent for her son Dantidurga after Indra's death, but her rule was threatened by her brother-in-law Krishna I. As a result, she appealed Lalitaditya for help, who arrived in Deccan and fought on her side. Goetz further theorized that Yashovarman and Jivitagupta participated in this campaign as his vassals. His arguments include:


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz identified Kalhana's "Mummuni" with the contemporary Shilahara ruler of Konkan. Although no contemporary Shilahara king by this name is known, there was an 11th-century Shilahara king with the same name. Goetz speculates Lalitaditya's Shilahara contemporary was also called Mummuni: his name must have been removed from the Shilahara family records because of his humiliating defeat against Lalitaditya.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana mentions that Kayya, the king of Lata, built a temple in Kashmir during Lalitaditya's reign. Goetz identifies Kayya with Karka II, the Rashtrakuta governor of the Lata region (present-day southern Gujarat). Although Kalhana doesn't mention Kayya in connection with Lalitaditya's campaign, Goetz argues that a ruler of Lata would not have gone all the way to Kashmir to build a temple. Goetz assumes that he was taken there as a vassal. However, Karka's presence in Gujarat is attested by a 757 CE grant inscription. Goetz theorizes that Lalitaditya must have died before this year, and Karka must have returned to Gujarat after his death.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Goetz, Lalitaditya invaded Kathiawar (in present-day Gujarat) between 740 and 746 CE. By this time, the local rulers Maitrakas had already been subjugated by the Chalukyas, which would have allowed Lalitaditya to establish his hegemony in the region.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Goetz, Lalitaditya returned to Kashmir, when the Tibetan king Me Agtsom invaded Kashmir around 747 CE. Goetz theorizes that during this return journey, Lalitaditya passed through Ujjain, Chittorgarh, Marwar and Thanesar. He also speculated that the legendary Guhila ruler Bappa Rawal of Chittorgarh served Lalitaditya as a vassal, and died fighting in the Kashmiri king's Central Asian campaigns.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz goes on to connect Lalitaditya to the mythological Agnikula legend, according to which some later regional dynasties originated from a fire pit during a sacrificial ceremony at Mount Abu. Goetz speculated that Lalitaditya wanted to leave behind some governors before marching against Tibetans; therefore, he conducted a ceremony to induct the "various Gurjara tribes" into the Hindu political system as Kshatriyas (recognized warriors).


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Goetz, after returning to Kashmir, Lalitaditya not only repulsed the Tibetans but also invaded the Tarim Basin. Goetz identified Kalhana's "sea of sand" as the desert areas of Turkestan and Tibet. Goetz speculated that in 755-756 CE, Lalitaditya invaded the towns in Taklamakan and Gobi deserts, and marched to Kucha and Turfan, after the Tang power declined as a result of the An Lushan Rebellion.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz' interpretation was widely accepted and cited by the subsequent scholars. However, Tansen Sen (2004) rejects Goetz' assessment of Lalitaditya's exploits as exaggerated, based on his study of the contemporary Chinese and Tibetan records, as well as numismatic evidence. Sen also analyzed the writings of the Korean monk Hyecho (who visited Kashmir in 725 CE, at the beginning of Lalitaditya's reign) and the Chinese monk Wukon (who stayed in Kashmir for four years during c. 753-763 CE, after Lalitaditya's death). None of these sources support Goetz' assertion that Lalitaditya managed to establish a vast Kashmiri empire in the Hindukush-Pamir region, or that he marched across the Taklamakan desert. Historical evidence indicates that the Tang dynasty retained control of the oasis states in the desert region until the early 780s CE, when the Tibetans established their dominance. There is no evidence of Lalitaditya's march to Pamir region either: the "Old Tibetan Annals" establish that a number of northern Pamir rulers sent envoys to pay homage to the Tibetan court in 756-757 CE. This suggests that this area was under control of the Tibetans, whose records do not mention any conflict with Kashmir.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Goetz considered the Tokharian origin of Lalitaditya's minister Chankuna (IAST: Caṇkuṇa) as an evidence of the Kashmiri hegemony over the Turkic kingdoms. According to Kalhana, Lalitaditya brought Chankuna to Kashmir from the Tuhkhara land (Tokharistan). "Chankuna" is believed to be a Sanskrit transcription of the Chinese title "jiangjun" ("military general"). Goetz speculated that Chankuna was a Tokharian general in the Chinese army, and introduced the Chinese warfare techniques in Kashmir, which enhanced Lalitaditya's military campaigns. Sen criticizes this theory, pointing out that Kalhana's writings acclaim Chankuna for magical powers, not military expertise. Moreover, the Tokharian origin of Chankuna cannot be considered as concrete evidence of Kashmiri control over southern Hindukush region.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Sen's theory, the Karkotas achieved successes against Tibetans as part of an alliance with the Tang dynasty. These successes led to development of legends about Kashmir's dominance in the southern Hindukush-Pamir region. Based on these legends, four centuries later, Kalhana characterized Lalitaditya as a world-conqueror.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Sen points out that according to the "New Book of Tang", Lalitaditya's envoy came to the Tang court with a letter in March–April 933 CE. In this letter, Lalitaditya presents himself as a Tang vassal who had "submitted to the Heavenly Qaghan". Lalitaditya further explains that the Tibetans had distressed him and another king of Central India by blocking the five great routes. But the two Indian kings had managed to defeat the Tibetans. Finally, Lalitaditya requests the Tang army to arrive at Palur (present-day Gilgit-Baltistan), offering to set up a camp for them beside the Mahapadma lake (modern Wular Lake). He promises to supply provisions for the Tang army, even if it numbered as large as 200,000.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to the Tang records, the Tang emperor was pleased by Lalitaditya's offer, and bestowed the title of "King" upon Lalitaditya. In the subsequent years, Tang forces fought with the Tibetans over Little Palur (present-day Gilgit Valley). The Tangs finally captured it in 747 CE, after three failed attempts. Lalitaditya's Kashmir seems to have played a significant role in these conflicts.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: The Tang records also mention that an envoy from Tokharistan visited the Tang court in 749 CE, and requested it to renew its alliance with Kashmir by sending the Kashmir king precious gifts. The envoy's objective was to enlist the Tang help against the Tibet's ally Kashgar. The envoy pointed out that the ruler of Kashmir respected the Chinese, and had a large cavalry and infantry. The Chinese accepted the envoy's recommendation, and in 750 CE, the Tang general Gao Xianzhi conquered Kashgar. These records suggest that Lalitaditya provided military assistance and logistical support to Gao Xianzhi's forces in this campaign.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Tansen Sen believes that the "Bhauttas" (Tibetans) and the "Daradas" mentioned by Kalhana may have been Lalitaditya's rivals in these 747 CE and 750 CE campaigns.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Lalitaditya was succeeded by his sons: first Kuvalayapida and then Vajraditya. Kuvalayapida was a son of queen Kamaladevi, while Vajraditya was a son of Chakramardika. Vajraditya was succeeded by his sons Prthivyapida and Samgramapida.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana also mentions that while Lalitaditya was away from his kingdom, his architect built a town called Lalitapura after him, but this angered Lalitaditya. One theory identifies this place with the modern Lethipora (or Latpor). Lalitaditya's wife Chakramardika is also said to have built the city of Chakrapura with 7,000 houses.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Kalhana, Lalitaditya once ordered the Pravarapura town to be burnt down, while in a drunken stupor. The town had been built by an earlier king named Pravarasena, and Lalitaditya did not want another town as beautiful as Parihasapura to exist. However, when Lalitaditya came to his senses, he regretted his decision. He was relieved when his ministers informed him that they had not actually carried out his order. He was pleased with his ministers' wise decision, and instructed them to similarly ignore his commands whenever he was drunk.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana states that Lalitaditya constructed a shrine in every town, village, river, sea and island. His wives, ministers and attendants consecrated hundreds of images in these temples. Lalitaditya placed idols of the deities' attendants, made of gold and silver, in these shrines.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Kalhana, Lalitaditya commissioned shrines dedicated to various aspects of Vishnu, including Keshava, Nṛhari and Muktasvamin:


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana also mentions a legend describing the discovery of two ancient idols: Lalitaditya, who was a skilled horse-rider, once took an untrained horse to a wasteland alone. There he saw some lovely dancing girls, who said that they belonged to a temple in the Suravardhamana village located in the wasteland. Next, day the king had the wasteland dug up. This excavation resulted in discovery of two decayed temples, each with an idol of Keshava. The inscriptions on these idols indicated that they had been made by Rama and Lakshmana. The king brought these idols to Parihasapura, where he erected a stone shrine beside the Parihasa-Keshava temple. He installed the "Rama-svamin" (Rama's idol) in this stone building. His queen Chakramardika installed the "Lakshmana-svamin" (Lakshmana's idol) beside her Chakreshvara shrine.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Kalhana, the "Rama-svamin" idol was later destroyed by the men of Gauda to avenge their king's assassination by Lalitaditya. The Gauda king had come to Kashmir on a visit, and the idol of "Parihasa-Keshava" had been made a surety for his safety. Despite this, Lalitaditya had him assassinated in Trigrami (modern Trigam). To avenge their king's treacherous murder, his servants came from Gauda to Kashmir, determined to destroy Lalitaditya's beloved "Parihasa-Keshava" idol. They entered Kashmir under the pretext of visiting the shrine of the goddess Sharada. Lalitaditya was away from Parihasapura at that time, and the attendants of the Parihasa-Keshava temple closed its gates to prevent the Gauda men from entering the shrine. The Gauda men mistook the "Ramasvamin" idol for the "Parihasa-Keshava" idol, and destroyed it, before being killed by Lalitaditya's soldiers.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana mentions that Lalitaditya built a shrine of Aditya (the sun god) in Lalitapura, and granted the land of Kanyakubja and its villages to this shrine. In addition, he commissioned the Martanda sun temple and the surrounding town.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana states that Lalitaditya made an arrangement at Chakradhara to distribute the Vitasta river water to several villages using a series of water wheels. Chakradhara is identified with modern Tsakdar Udar plateau near Bijbehara. Ishanadevi, a wife of his minister Chankuna, constructed a water-well whose pure water cured the sick.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: According to Kalhana, Lalitaditya collected wise men from different countries, just "as the wind collects masses of full-blown flowers". For example, from Tuhkhara, he brought Chankuna (IAST: Caṇkuṇa), who had great qualities.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana states that Lalitaditya started the "Sahasra-bhakta" festival at Parihasapura. During this festival, he distributed 100,001 food dishes beside dakshinas (donations). The 11th century Persian writer Al-Biruni states that the people of Kashmir organized an annual festival on the second day of the Chaitra month to celebrate their past king Muttai's alleged victory over the Turks. This Muttai can be identified with "Muktapida", that is, Lalitaditya. According to Al-Biruni, Kashmiris claimed that Muttai as well as most of the other Kashmiri kings "ruled over the whole world". Al-Biruni dismissed these claims as lies because of chronological inconsistencies.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana declares that Lalitaditya's commands were not disobeyed even by the gods. Once, while encamped on the shores of the eastern ocean in the cold weather, Lalitaditya ordered "kapittha" fruits to be brought to him. His attendants were perplexed, as this fruit was not common in the given season and place. But then, Indra's divine messenger brought these fruits to him from the heaven. The messenger explained to him that in his previous birth, he offered his own food and water to a starving Brahmin during a famine. As a result of this good deed, Lalitaditya became entitled to a hundred wishes in the heaven. For example, the king could make streams of sweet water appear in deserts at his mere wish. The messenger cautioned Lalitaditya that he had few wishes left, and therefore, he should not waste these wishes on frivolous requests such as ordering a fruit.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana also claims that Lalitaditya's minister Chankuna was a brother of the magician Kanakavarsha (literally "the one who rains gold"). He produced gold in the king's treasury using his magic powers. Once the king's army was stranded in the "Panchanada" country (identified with Punjab), because the local streams had "united" and could not be crossed. Chankuna magically parted the waters by throwing a "mani" (gem) into the streams, enabling the king's army to cross the waters. He then retrieved his "mani" by using another "mani", and the streams were united again. The king requested these two "mani"s from Chankuna, offering anything else in return. Chankuna asked for an idol of "Sugata" (Buddha), which had been brought to Kashmir from Magadha on an elephant. The king fulfilled this demand, and Chankuna placed the idol in his "vihara". This image still existed in the time of Kalhana, and according to him, the metal bands fastened around it proved that it was once fixed on an elephant.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana also claims that Lalitaditya made several streams appear by pushing his spear ("kuntavahini") into the ground. Narrating one such incident, he states that one day, when Lalitaditya was engaged in the world conquest, a wounded man came to him. The man, whose limbs and nose had been chopped off, introduced himself as a minister of the rival king of Sikata-sindhu ("Ocean of the Sand"). He said that he had been punished for advising his king to accept Lalitaditya's suzerainty. Lalitaditya promised to punish the rival king, and had the wounded minister restored to health under his care. The minister then encouraged Lalitaditya to march to the Sikata-sindhu country through a shortcut, and led his army to a wasteland without water. When Lalitaditya's army was on the verge of dying of thirst, the minister revealed that this was all a set-up: he was actually loyal to the rival king and intended to misguide Lalitaditya and his army to their death. Lalitaditya announced that he was impressed with the minister's loyalty to his own master, but declared that his plan would not be successful. The Kashmiri king then put his sword into the ground, making a stream come out of the water. He then reached Sikata-sindhu, where he reduced the rival king to the same pitiful condition as his limbless minister.


title: Lalitaditya Muktapida

text: Kalhana mentions that several other wonderful legends about Lalitaditya existed during his time, but he could not include them all in "Rajatarangini" because he did not want to break the flow of the narrative.


title: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

text: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed is an American sports and entertainment talk show starring Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. The series premiered on Fox Sports 1 on September 6, 2016.


title: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

text: The show's opening theme song, "No Mercy", was recorded by American rapper Lil Wayne, a friend of Bayless' and a frequent guest from his former ESPN show "First Take". The song was written and produced by Jared Gutstadt, president and CCO of Jingle Punks Music, which had partnered with Fox Sports prior to the show's launch. The full-length version of "No Mercy" was released by Cash Money Records to iTunes in September 2016, and Lil Wayne appeared on "Undisputed"s inaugural episode on September 6 and has since regularly made guest appearances.


title: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

text: "Undisputed" averaged 107,000 viewers per episode from September 9 to December 31, 2016, and 155,000 viewers during 2017, representing a 45% increase in viewership. During July 24–28 of that year, it averaged 136,000 viewers, 65,000 of which were adults in the 18–49 years of age range. Compared to competing weekday morning sports programs in the same time slot, it outdrew ESPN2's edition of "Sportscenter" (117,000) but fell behind "First Take" (320,000) in overall viewership.


title: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

text: In 2018, "Undisputed" averaged 165,000 viewers, and in 2019 through August 9, 2019), averaged 169,000 viewers. In 2021, the show averaged 199,000 viewers during the month of October, which beat the show's previous October peak of 182,000 viewers in 2019 and granting the show its most successful October to date.


title: Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

text: As of November 2022, the series' highest-rated broadcast occurred following FS1's English language telecast of England vs Iran, when the show averaged 499,000 viewers.


title: Cepheid variable

text: A Cepheid variable () is a type of star that pulsates radially, varying in both diameter and temperature and producing changes in brightness with a well-defined stable period and amplitude.


title: Cepheid variable

text: A strong direct relationship between a Cepheid variable's luminosity and pulsation period established Cepheids as important indicators of cosmic benchmarks for scaling galactic and extragalactic distances. This robust characteristic of classical Cepheids was discovered in 1908 by Henrietta Swan Leavitt after studying thousands of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds. This discovery allows one to know the true luminosity of a Cepheid by simply observing its pulsation period. This in turn allows one to determine the distance to the star, by comparing its known luminosity to its observed brightness.


title: Cepheid variable

text: The term "Cepheid" originates from Delta Cephei in the constellation Cepheus, identified by John Goodricke in 1784, the first of its type to be so identified.


title: Cepheid variable

text: The mechanics of stellar pulsation as a heat-engine was proposed in 1917 by Arthur Stanley Eddington (who wrote at length on the dynamics of Cepheids), but it was not until 1953 that S. A. Zhevakin identified ionized helium as a likely valve for the engine.


title: Cepheid variable

text: On September 10, 1784, Edward Pigott detected the variability of Eta Aquilae, the first known representative of the class of classical Cepheid variables. The eponymous star for classical Cepheids, Delta Cephei, was discovered to be variable by John Goodricke a few months later. The number of similar variables grew to several dozen by the end of the 19th century, and they were referred to as a class as Cepheids. Most of the Cepheids were known from the distinctive light curve shapes with the rapid increase in brightness and a hump, but some with more symmetrical light curves were known as Geminids after the prototype ζ Geminorum.


title: Cepheid variable

text: A relationship between the period and luminosity for classical Cepheids was discovered in 1908 by Henrietta Swan Leavitt in an investigation of thousands of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds. She published it in 1912 with further evidence.


title: Cepheid variable

text: In 1913, Ejnar Hertzsprung attempted to find distances to 13 Cepheids using their motion through the sky. (His results would later require revision.) In 1918, Harlow Shapley used Cepheids to place initial constraints on the size and shape of the Milky Way and of the placement of our Sun within it. In 1924, Edwin Hubble established the distance to classical Cepheid variables in the Andromeda Galaxy, until then known as the "Andromeda Nebula" and showed that those variables were not members of the Milky Way. Hubble's finding settled the question raised in the "Great Debate" of whether the Milky Way represented the entire Universe or was merely one of many galaxies in the Universe.


title: Cepheid variable

text: In 1929, Hubble and Milton L. Humason formulated what is now known as Hubble's Law by combining Cepheid distances to several galaxies with Vesto Slipher's measurements of the speed at which those galaxies recede from us. They discovered that the Universe is expanding, confirming the theories of Georges Lemaître.


title: Cepheid variable

text: In the mid 20th century, significant problems with the astronomical distance scale were resolved by dividing the Cepheids into different classes with very different properties. In the 1940s, Walter Baade recognized two separate populations of Cepheids (classical and type II). Classical Cepheids are younger and more massive population I stars, whereas type II Cepheids are older, fainter Population II stars. Classical Cepheids and type II Cepheids follow different period-luminosity relationships. The luminosity of type II Cepheids is, on average, less than classical Cepheids by about 1.5 magnitudes (but still brighter than RR Lyrae stars). Baade's seminal discovery led to a twofold increase in the distance to M31, and the extragalactic distance scale. RR Lyrae stars, then known as Cluster Variables, were recognized fairly early as being a separate class of variable, due in part to their short periods.


title: Cepheid variable

text: The mechanics of the pulsation as a heat-engine was proposed in 1917 by Arthur Stanley Eddington (who wrote at length on the dynamics of Cepheids), but it was not until 1953 that S. A. Zhevakin identified ionized helium as a likely valve for the engine.


title: Cepheid variable

text: Cepheid variables are divided into two subclasses which exhibit markedly different masses, ages, and evolutionary histories: classical Cepheids and type II Cepheids. Delta Scuti variables are A-type stars on or near the main sequence at the lower end of the instability strip and were originally referred to as dwarf Cepheids. RR Lyrae variables have short periods and lie on the instability strip where it crosses the horizontal branch. Delta Scuti variables and RR Lyrae variables are not generally treated with Cepheid variables although their pulsations originate with the same helium ionisation kappa mechanism.


title: Cepheid variable

text: Classical Cepheids (also known as Population I Cepheids, type I Cepheids, or Delta Cepheid variables) undergo pulsations with very regular periods on the order of days to months. Classical Cepheids are Population I variable stars which are 4–20 times more massive than the Sun, and up to 100,000 times more luminous. These Cepheids are yellow bright giants and supergiants of spectral class F6 – K2 and their radii change by (~25% for the longer-period I Carinae) millions of kilometers during a pulsation cycle.


title: Cepheid variable

text: Classical Cepheids are used to determine distances to galaxies within the Local Group and beyond, and are a means by which the Hubble constant can be established. Classical Cepheids have also been used to clarify many characteristics of our galaxy, such as the Sun's height above the galactic plane and the Galaxy's local spiral structure.


title: Cepheid variable

text: A group of classical Cepheids with small amplitudes and sinusoidal light curves are often separated out as Small Amplitude Cepheids or s-Cepheids, many of them pulsating in the first overtone.


title: Cepheid variable

text: Type II Cepheids (also termed Population II Cepheids) are population II variable stars which pulsate with periods typically between 1 and 50 days. Type II Cepheids are typically metal-poor, old (~10 Gyr), low mass objects (~half the mass of the Sun). Type II Cepheids are divided into several subgroups by period. Stars with periods between 1 and 4 days are of the BL Her subclass, 10–20 days belong to the W Virginis subclass, and stars with periods greater than 20 days belong to the RV Tauri subclass.


title: Cepheid variable

text: Type II Cepheids are used to establish the distance to the Galactic Center, globular clusters, and galaxies.