title: Mike Read

text: Read's poetry books include "The Aldermoor Poems", "Elizabethan Dragonflies", "A Room With Books" and the latest, "New Poems for Old Paintings". He has edited and supplied biographies for the two best-selling poetry books, "100 Favourite Poems" and "100 Favourite Humorous Poems", and contributed to many of the titles in the series "Poets' England". He has also written two crime novels.


title: Mike Read

text: In October 2007, Read started to produce contemporary art, with a gallery of works in the medium of confectionery entitled "Choc Art". The work includes recreations of album sleeves by the Beatles, his own take on the famous map of the London Underground, and works based on the paintings of L.S. Lowry.


title: Mike Read

text: Read had a stalker who had changed her name to Blue Tulip Rose Read and believed that she was married to him. Rose was from Welwyn Garden City and her original name was Carol Ballard. She was featured in a 1996 film made by Jaine Green for Channel 4, entitled "I'm Your Number One Fan". The film formed part of Channel 4's "Fame Factor" season, which examined the dark side of fame. Rose was one of the most candid interviewees in the film. She was filmed as she travelled to the offices of Classic FM, and as she wrote "love letters" to Read. The film stated that Rose had been writing obscene and threatening letters to Read for many years.


title: Mike Read

text: Having spoken three times at Conservative Party conferences, including entertaining guests at a Tory conference dinner in 2006 with a ten-minute political rap, Read said that he was asked to run for the Conservative Party nomination for the London Mayoral elections in 2008. He subsequently announced that he was instead putting his energies behind the ultimately successful candidate Boris Johnson.


title: Mike Read

text: On 21 July 2012, Read spoke at the UK Independence Party's South East regional Conference in Frimley, where he was also announced as a member of the party. Read has since spoken at the UKIP 2012 Annual Conference at Birmingham Town Hall on 21 September.


title: Mike Read

text: Read wrote and recorded a song in support of the party, "UKIP Calypso", which was released in October 2014 as a single credited to The Independents. An online petition was filed by former Labour borough councillor Richard McKenzie in which he called Read's song 'racist and offensive'. Party leader Nigel Farage endorsed it and called for the party's supporters to download the song. Read adopted a faux-Jamaican accent, but said that it was 'not remotely racist' to do so, saying: 'It's a satire and a bit of fun. It's not terribly serious. It wouldn't have sounded very good sung in a Surrey accent.' Debate over the single featured on "Newsnight", with UKIP spokesman Winston McKenzie, himself of Caribbean origin, praising the song and likening it to adaptations of predominantly black musical styles by Elvis Presley and The Beatles, although the BBC Asian Network's Nihal was critical of it. Read withdrew the song from sale on 22 October 2014 and apologised 'unreservedly' for the fact that it had 'unintentionally caused offence'. On 26 October 2014, the song reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Mike Read

text: In 1999, Read founded the Rupert Brooke Society of which he was chairman for a few years, as well as editing the society's twice-yearly magazine and creating a museum at the Orchard Grantchester.


title: Mike Read

text: In 2013, Read and three friends formed the British Plaque Trust, a charity established to commemorate deceased achievers in show business, sport and the general arts by unveiling blue plaques on buildings with which they were associated. The organisation aimed to act alongside the work in London of English Heritage who stated that they were "restructuring" their plaque scheme.


title: Mike Read

text: In the same year, he was one of the event presenters at Concert at the Kings in All Cannings, Wiltshire.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Alvin "Al" Goldstein (January 10, 1936December 19, 2013) was an American pornographer. He is known for helping normalize hardcore pornography in the United States.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to a Jewish family. He attended Boys High. He served in the Army as a photographer (in the Signal Corps), captained the debate team at Pace College (for whose newspaper he interviewed Allen Ginsberg), and was a photojournalist, taking pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy on a 1962 state trip to Pakistan and spending several days in a Cuban jail for taking unauthorized photos of Fidel Castro's brother, Raúl.


title: Al Goldstein

text: He sold insurance; wrote freelance articles; ran a dime-pitch concession at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair; sold rugs, encyclopedias, and his own blood; drove a cab (he kept his taxi license active until his death); and landed a job as an industrial spy infiltrating a labor union, an experience that so appalled him he wrote an exposé about it for the "New York Free Press", a radical weekly.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In November 1968 in New York, Al and his partner Jim Buckley, investing $175 each, founded "Screw", a weekly tabloid. It featured reviews of porn movies, peep shows, erotic massage parlors, brothels, escorts and other offerings of the adult entertainment industry. Such items were interspersed with sexual news, book reviews of sexual books, and hardcore "gynecological" pictorials. He regularly ran, without permission, photos and drawings of celebrities.


title: Al Goldstein

text: ""Screw" grew from a combination of many factors, chief of which was my own dissatisfaction with the sex literature of 1968 and my yearning for a publication that reflected my sexual appetites," he wrote. "I may be making a lot of money, but I really believe I'm doing some good by demythologizing a lot about sexuality", he said in a Playboy Interview. It was described as "raunchy, obnoxious, usually disgusting and sometimes political." The initial price was 25¢. At its peak, "Screw" sold 140,000 copies a week.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Arrested 19 times on obscenity charges, he spent millions on First Amendment lawsuits, ultimately scoring a major victory when a federal judge dismissed an obscenity case in 1974. (Goldstein believed that the case began as a result of "Screw" article, "Is J. Edgar Hoover a Fag?", the first published comment on Hoover's sexuality.) Venue-shopping prosecutors selected conservative Wichita, Kansas, to prosecute Goldstein for obscenity; when he was found not guilty, he flew the jury to New York to attend a party at the swing club Plato's Retreat. His long-term attorney was Herald Price Fahringer.


title: Al Goldstein

text: According to Will Sloan, "Goldstein was the first journalist to seriously review porn films. Had he not written a rave review of a low-budget film called "Deep Throat" ('I was never so moved by any theatrical performance since stuttering through my own bar mitzvah'), it would never have become a hit at New York's World Theater, would never have been targeted by the vice squad, would never have spawned a First Amendment cause célèbre, and might not have led to the modern porn industry."


title: Al Goldstein

text: In the March 11, 1974, issue of "Screw" Goldstein ran an ad seeking subscribers to a new magazine, "Bitch", which "brings women's sexuality out of the closet for the first time" and also "takes women out of politics and puts them back on their back where they belong." (Note: there have been several other magazines also called "Bitch".) The first issue "contain[ed] an explosive symposium about blowjobs by four women who talk about giving head and what they like and don't like about it". It also included an interview with actor James Caan, and a centerfold of a man shot by a female photographer.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In the same March 11, 1974, issue of "Screw" Goldstein also ran an ad seeking subscribers to "Smut", a magazine "so filthy that not only do you have to wash after every page, but every reader must disinfect after reading! SMUT is so dirty, so scummy, that once you have it on your hands you can't get it off!" The magazine offered pornography in images and words, without the news articles found in "Screw".


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1976-1977 "National Screw" was published; the place of publication was given as Secaucus, New Jersey. The June 1977 issue of the magazine contained, according to its cover, a new story by William Burroughs and an interview with Allen Ginsberg. It is known to have published at least nine issues (76-77), also containing original adult comic strip work from comic artist legends Wally Wood and Will Eisner.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1979, Goldstein began "Death" magazine. It lasted four issues. The February, 1980 issue had a picture of Elvis Presley on the cover, "Grim Reaper Awards", "Eulogy to a War Lover", "Death by Hanging", "Femme Fatales", and other articles.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1979-1980 Goldstein's company, Milky Way Productions, published "Screw West" out of an office in Hollywood, California. According to an advertisement, it was intended to answer such questions as, "Where can I get laid in San Francisco? What's the best swinger's club in Los Angeles? How do I find all those out-of-the-way Pacific Coast nude beaches? And what are those bawdy brothels outside Las Vegas really like?" It is known to have published 54 issues.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1973, "Screw Magazine present[ed]" "It Happened in Hollywood", a pornographic movie, produced by Goldstein's partner Jim Buckley. Goldstein played a character in the movie, and is also credited as "fourth unit director." At the 2nd Annual New York Erotic Film Festival it won awards for Best Picture, Best Female Performance, and Best Supporting Actor.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1974 Goldstein began "Screw Magazine of the Air", soon renamed "Midnight Blue", a thrice weekly hour-long adult-oriented public access television program that ran for nearly 30 years on Manhattan Cable's Channel J; federal regulations regarding public access to cable TV systems made it impossible for the cable system to refuse his program. (Similarly, Goldstein used a legal prohibition on the censorship of political advertisements to force television broadcast of pornography, under a transparent, but legal, veil of "political candidacy".) In it, he regularly interviewed porn stars, other adult industry figures, and sympathetic celebrities and "freaks", and ran advertisements for brothels and phone sex services.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In the later years, after departure of original director Alex Bennett, Goldstein featured on each program a "Fuck You" segment, a few minutes in which he viciously attacked celebrities, politicians, the judge who presided over his latest trial, the New York County District Attorney, and businesses he felt had wronged him.


title: Al Goldstein

text: "In its early years, "Midnight Blue" captured porn star Georgina Spelvin doing her nude tap-dance act at the Melody Burlesque; Tara Alexander attempting the world's biggest gang bang at Plato's Retreat, the New York swing club; the 10th anniversary "Screw" party, where Buck Henry and Melvin Van Peebles hobnob with Goldstein's jurors; and an early look at the S&M community in New York. Throughout its run, Midnight Blue interviewed almost every major porn star, and regularly hit the limits of what was acceptable for cable television." Seven volumes of excerpts from the show have been reissued on DVD.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1975, Goldstein issued "SOS: Screw on the Screen", a stridently unsexy attempt at a cinematic newsmagazine that included a lot of goofy comedy, a gay scene, and several minutes of Goldstein ranting about America's sexual hypocrisy. Also appearing was Honeysuckle Divine (who often appeared in "SCREW"). A poster of her was on sale in the same issue. Honeysuckle Divine was a Times Square stripper whose specialty was inserting objects such as pickles in her vagina, shooting out many of them. She put the pickles in baggies and sold them to patrons. Goldstein said that her act "was unbelievably disgusting, so naturally, we made her our symbol."


title: Al Goldstein

text: In the May 17, 1976, issue of "Screw" Goldstein ran an ad for the "Screw Store", which offered dildos, including a "Bicentennial Dildo", vibrating Ben wa eggs, and a vibrating cock ring. Selling dildos brought one of Goldstein's many arrests.


title: Al Goldstein

text: The October 17, 1977, issue of "Screw" contained an advertisement for "Al Goldstein's Cinema", located at 8th Avenue and 46th Street near Times Square. Admission was 99¢. In the same issue, in the movie listings, it is described as "a large, comfortable porn house which shows average hardcore features. Some of these are first-run features, some have already played theaters in the city." The theater is not found in a listing of porn theaters from 1979.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 2001, on Saint Martin, an island in the Lesser Antilles, Goldstein planned to open the Rabbit Ranch, the first of what he hoped would be a chain of 10 to 30 bordellos that would flourish wherever prostitution is legal. He intended to use the profits to finance his second run for sheriff. The brothel never opened; authorities refused to give him a license because he was not a citizen of that nation. "We didn't bribe the right people or something," he said.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1989, Goldstein ran a full page ad in "Screw" offering $1 million for the assassination of the Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to Khomeini's fatwa against novelist Salman Rushdie for allegedly blaspheming Islam.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In his book "XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul", Luke Ford wrote about a conversation with Goldstein, in which Ford asked Goldstein why Jews were dramatically overrepresented in the porn industry. He answered, "The only reason that Jews are in pornography is that we think that Christ sucks. Catholicism sucks. We don't believe in authoritarianism. Pornography thus becomes a way of defiling Christian culture and, as it penetrates to the very heart of the American mainstream (and is no doubt consumed by those very same WASPs), its subversive character becomes more charged." Ford then asked, "What does it mean to you to be a Jew?" To which Goldstein responded, "It doesn't mean anything. It means that I'm called a kike." Ford also asked, "Do you believe in God?" Goldstein said, "I believe in me. I'm God. Screw God. God is your need to believe in some super being. I am the super being. I am your God, admit it. We're random. We're the flea on the butt of the dog."


title: Al Goldstein

text: One of Goldstein's best friends was Larry Flynt. Goldstein said that Flynt's "Hustler" magazine, founded seven years after "Screw", stole the "Hustler" format from "Screw", but that he was not angry. According to Goldstein, Flynt succeeded in creating a national publication, at which he had failed.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein married five times and had a son, Jordan Ari Goldstein, with his third wife, Gina. According to Goldstein, he and Jordan had a close relationship until the Goldsteins' divorce. They became estranged after Al called Gina "a contemptible vagina".


title: Al Goldstein

text: While mostly associated with the city of New York, Goldstein was also a well-known figure in Broward County, Florida, making the cover of a local alternative tabloid, "New Times". He owned a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Pompano Beach, famous for its statue, high, of a raised middle finger on the back lawn, visible to boaters on the Intracoastal Waterway.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 1992, he filed to run for sheriff against Nick Navarro, who had gained Goldstein's enmity by arresting on obscenity charges 2 Live Crew members and a record dealer who sold their album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be". (The accused were convicted, but won on appeal.) Goldstein withdrew before the election took place. In 2001 he spoke publicly of his intent to run a second time, against Ken Jenne, on a platform of "leaving folks the hell alone". He never filed, saying that he could not afford the campaign.


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 2002, Goldstein was found guilty of harassing a former employee, having published her telephone number and place of employment in "Screw" and encouraging readers to call her and tell her "to stop being such a cunt." Goldstein was sentenced to 60 days in jail. He served six days before the charges were overturned on appeal. Goldstein apologized as part of a plea bargain. "Screw" folded in 2003, unable to make payroll; only 600 copies were sold of the last issue.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein's company, Milky Way Productions, which published "Screw" and "Midnight Blue", entered bankruptcy in 2004, having lost sales and subscribers as a result of the proliferation of internet pornography, abetted by Goldstein's financial mismanagement.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein lost his Florida mansion and his townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Jobless and penniless, he ended up living briefly in a Manhattan homeless shelter. He was fired from New York's well-known Second Avenue Deli for sleeping in the basement, after a brief stint there as a greeter.


title: Al Goldstein

text: He was arrested for shoplifting four health-related books from Barnes & Noble. He worked in 2005 as a commissioned salesman for New York City Bagels. Between 2005 and 2008, he blogged for booble.com, a pornographic search engine he then continued on his own website until 2009.


title: Al Goldstein

text: He was financially supported in his last years by his friend the illusionist Penn Jillette, on whose floor he once slept, and who admired Goldstein for his First Amendment activism. His final residence, prior to a nursing home, was a small apartment in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, paid for by Jillette.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein died on December 19, 2013, aged 77, from renal failure at a nursing home in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.


title: Al Goldstein

text: Goldstein was described in his obituary in "The New York Times" as "a cartoonishly vituperative amalgam of Borscht Belt comic, free-range social critic and sex-obsessed loser who seemed to embody a moment in New York City's cultural history: the sleaze and decay of Times Square in the 1960s and ‘70s."


title: Al Goldstein

text: In 2003, Lancaster Pictures produced a documentary on Goldstein entitled "Goldstein: The Trials of the Sultan of Smut". It focused on his legal troubles. Larry Flynt, Ron Jeremy, and Jimmy Breslin appeared in the movie. He claimed to have had 7,000 sexual partners. Another writer called him "a hairy, sweaty, cigar-chomping, eczema-ridden fatso".


title: Al Goldstein

text: In his 2011 book "Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! – of Playboys, Pigs, and Penthouse Paupers, an American Tale of Sex and Wonder", former "Screw" writer and editor Mike Edison documents Goldstein's rise and fall against the successes of his peers Larry Flynt of "Hustler", Bob Guccione of "Penthouse", and Hugh Hefner of "Playboy". Edison also lauds Goldstein as a staunch fighter for the First Amendment, quoting Gay Talese, who referred to Goldstein in his book "Thy Neighbor's Wife", saying, "We need a free society, and freedom is not won by literary tea parties and well-meaning, virtuous publishers, it is won by disreputable people like Al Goldstein." Edison also quotes the New York reporter Jimmy Breslin as saying, "Al Goldstein is one of four people in the last 35 years who has effectively protected the First Amendment rights of reporters who bring the news to you. The others are Ralph Ginzburg, Larry Flynt, and Lenny Bruce. I know you don’t want to meet them, but you owe them.”


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: The fifth season of the American television drama series "Mad Men" premiered on March 25, 2012, with a two-episode premiere, and concluded on June 10, 2012. It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running approximately 48 minutes in length. AMC broadcast the fifth season on Sundays at 10:00 pm in the United States. The fifth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on October 16, 2012.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Season 5 takes place between Memorial Day (May 30) 1966 and spring 1967. The season explores Don Draper's new marriage to Megan, which leads him to ignore his work at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency. Meanwhile, Lane, Pete, Roger, Joan, and Peggy learn that it is "every man for himself" in their personal and professional lives, as they each face painful new beginnings.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Don Draper has married his secretary Megan Calvet, who throws a surprise birthday party for Don and their co-workers. Don is embarrassed by the party and Megan serenading him in front of his co-workers. Megan (who has been promoted to copywriter) meanwhile struggles with Don's growing detachment with work, as he is constantly having Megan come in late and leave early to the agency, and her own unfulfilled dream of being an actress. Don's detachment alienates Peggy, who is being made to train Megan, and Bert, who feels that Don has gone "on love leave", not caring about his job or turning in quality work.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Feeling her chances at work have been undercut by Don's detachment, the couple have a fight while touring a Howard Johnson's hotel. Don leaves Megan behind in a huff when she tells him that she's come to find the advertising industry hollow and superficial. But as he's driving home, he rethinks leaving her behind and goes back to the Howard Johnson, only to find Megan isn't there. He waits around for 7 hours and then drives home, where he finds Megan. She hitched a ride to the Greyhound bus station and then a cab back to their new apartment, where they fight and ultimately reconcile.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Don's slacking at work coincides with the arrival of a new hire, in the form of young advertising phenom Michael Ginsberg. Young, aggressive, and anti-social, Ginsberg proves to be a rival for Don and Peggy. When the two are made to pitch advertisements for a snow cone company, Don purposely leaves behind Ginsberg's child-friendly campaign material in order to pitch his own darker, devil-themed campaign instead, which is ultimately chosen. Meanwhile, Peggy finds herself reaching a glass ceiling with regards to Ginsberg being able to rise faster within the company. However, one evening Ginsberg confides his dark secret to Peggy: that he was born in a Nazi concentration camp for Jews, where his mother died and that he spent his first five years in an orphanage before his father found him and took him to America to live. By the end, Peggy decides to leave the agency for another firm in order to fulfill her full potential. Don attempts to keep her by offering her a raise but ultimately concedes that Peggy has to leave him to continue out of his shadow. Before she leaves the office forever, Don kisses her hand, finally realizing how important she was to him. Peggy also makes a new change at home: she accepts her boyfriend's proposal to live together, to her mother's disapproval.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Roger struggles to remain relevant in the company as Pete Campbell schemes to steal his plush office for himself. Roger begins to secretly pay Peggy and Ginsberg to produce material for him to pitch to clients. He also experiments with LSD, which has a profound impact on him and his own marriage to Jane; under the influence of the drug the two confess that their marriage has failed and they divorce. Roger meanwhile begins pursuing an affair with Megan's mother, including Don's daughter Sally catching her step-grandmother performing oral sex on Roger.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Pete Campbell, having moved to the suburbs, begins to become more and more detached from his life and starts missing the big city. His relationship with Lane Pryce collapses and the two fight, with Lane beating Pete up in front of the other partners. He also begins a relationship with Beth Dawes, the wife of a fellow train commuter, who later breaks off the affair out of guilt even though she and Pete know that her husband is unrepentant in his own adultery. She later tells Pete that her husband is forcing her to undergo electroshock therapy because of her manic depression. Pete visits his mistress one last time in the hospital, whose memories of the affair have been destroyed. He confronts Beth's husband later on the train, revealing the affair and culminating in a fist fight. Returning home defeated and alone, his wife Trudy agrees to allow Pete to rent an apartment in the city for overnight stays.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Joan struggles with single motherhood while her husband is overseas, with help from her mother. However, when she discovers that Greg has signed up for another tour of duty in the Army Medical Corps without consulting her, Joan confronts Greg and in the process denounces him for his earlier rape of her and orders him out of her and their son's life. Greg reluctantly agrees but then files for divorce, which upsets Joan as she fears that Greg will paint her as the villain in their divorce case. Further complicating things is the firm's pursuit of Jaguar as a client, as Pete is able to get a promise that the agency will get the account if Joan sleeps with the head of the Jaguar dealers' association. Pete arranges a vote behind Don's back, and the other partners reluctantly agree to pay Joan to have sex with the executive to secure the account for them. However, Lane convinces Joan to take an ownership percentage of the company instead as Don tries to stop Joan from doing the deed. The firm wins the account, but alienates Joan and Don from the rest of the partners and from each other.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Lane Pryce struggles with his own demons as he is revealed to be greatly in debt and owing a good amount of taxes from when he moved his money to the US last season to help keep the firm afloat. When his scheme to use his Christmas bonus to pay off his tax debt fails, Lane is forced to steal from the company to pay his debt. Don discovers this and asks Lane for his resignation, who then kills himself rather than face the disgrace of resigning and returning to England. He hangs himself in his office, leaving Roger, Pete, and Don to cut him down. Nobody but Don knows the reason behind his suicide. Don takes it especially hard and has hallucinations of his brother Adam, who also committed suicide by hanging. In some ways, Don blames himself for both deaths.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Megan (who has returned to acting) seeks Don's help to secure a commercial role for her. Megan's visiting mother cruelly denounces Megan's ambitions and tells Don that he should not help Megan, as she believes that Megan's dream of acting must be crushed and that she should behave like the proper wife of a wealthy man. While Don is at the dentist, Megan's mother reduces her daughter to a quivering wreck, resulting in Don agreeing to help Megan get the role in order to secure her the happiness she needs to function. Eventually, she gets the role, and after dropping her off at the studio, Don leaves to a bar where he sits by himself and orders a drink.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: The season ends with a montage of all the main characters having realizations about themselves. Pete, in the aftermath of his affair with Beth, is seen sitting alone on his couch with his headphones on and eyes closed. Peggy, having quickly risen through the ranks in her new career, is shown toasting a single glass of champagne to herself with a smile on her face. A naked Roger looks out the window of his hotel room at the city, in the throes of an LSD trip, and raises both of his arms into the air. And lastly, Don is seen at the bar, where a woman begins to flirt with him and asks if he is alone. He turns and looks at her ambiguously.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Series creator Matthew Weiner also served as showrunner and executive producer, and is credited as a writer on 10 of the 13 episodes of the season, often co-writing the episodes with another writer. Erin Levy was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Victor Levin joined as co-executive producer and wrote two episodes. Frank Pierson joined as consulting producer and wrote one episode. Semi Chellas was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Jonathan Igla wrote two episodes. Writing team Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton were promoted to executive producers and co-wrote one episode together. Other producers included Blake McCormick and executive producer Scott Hornbacher.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: Jennifer Getzinger, Scott Hornbacher, Michael Uppendahl, and Phil Abraham each directed two episodes for the season. The remaining episodes were directed by Matt Shakman, cast member John Slattery, Matthew Weiner, who directs each season finale; with cast member Jon Hamm and cinematographer Christopher Manley each making their directorial debuts.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: The fifth season of "Mad Men" has received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 97% of 34 critics have given the season a positive review. The site's consensus is: "With its brilliantly crafted characters, razor-sharp writing, and ambitious sweep, "Mad Men" continues to surprise and unsettle." On Metacritic, the fifth season has scored an 89 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.


title: Mad Men (season 5)

text: The fifth season received three nominations from the Television Critics Association Awards for Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama, while Jon Hamm was nominated for Individual Achievement in Drama.


title: Bill (law)

text: A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an "act of the legislature", or a "statute". Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.


title: Bill (law)

text: The word "bill" is primarily used in Anglophone United Kingdom and United States, the parts of a bill are known as "clauses", until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as "sections".


title: Bill (law)

text: In Napoleonic law nations (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal), a proposed law may be known as a "law project" (Fr. "projet de loi"), which is a government-introduced bill, or a "law proposition" (Fr. "proposition de loi"), a private member's bill. For example the Dutch parliamentary system does not make this terminological distinction ("wetsontwerp" and "wetsvoorstel" being used interchangeably).


title: Bill (law)

text: Bills generally include titles, enacting provisions, statements of intent, definitions, substantive provisions, transitional clauses, and dates which the bill will be put into effect. The preparation of a bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature. In the United Kingdom, draft bills are frequently considered to be confidential. Pre-legislative scrutiny is a formal process carried out by a parliamentary committee on a draft bill.


title: Bill (law)

text: In Parliament of India, the draft bill is sent to individual ministry relating to the matter. From there the bill goes to Ministry of Law and Justice (India) and then is passed on to Cabinet committee which is headed by Prime Minister.


title: Bill (law)

text: Pre-legislative scrutiny is required in much of Scandinavia, occurs in Ireland at the discretion of the Oireachtas (parliament) and occurs in the UK at the government's discretion.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the Parliament of Ireland under Poynings' Law (1494–1782) legislation had to be pre-approved by the Privy Council of Ireland and Privy Council of England, so in practice each bill was substantively debated as "heads of a bill", then submitted to the privy councils for approval, and finally formally introduced as a bill and rejected or passed unamended.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the Westminster system, where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by the executive (government bill). In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, as set out in the Queen's Speech or "Speech from the Throne".


title: Bill (law)

text: While mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, these are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, all bills must originate from the legislature. Bills can be introduced using the following procedures:


title: Bill (law)

text: Bills are generally considered through a number of readings. This refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the United Kingdom, for a new law to be made it starts off as a bill and has to go through the seven stages of the legislative process: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading, opposite house, and then royal assent. A bill is introduced by a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons or by a member of the House Of Lords.


title: Bill (law)

text: There will be a first reading of the bill, in which the proposition in the bill is read out, but there is minimal discussion and no voting.


title: Bill (law)

text: After this there is a second reading of the bill, in which the bill is presented in more detail and it is discussed between the MPs or Lords.


title: Bill (law)

text: The third stage is the committee stage, in which a committee is gathered. This may include MPs, Lords, professionals and experts in the field, and other people who the bill may affect. The purpose of this stage is to go into more detail on the bill and gather expert opinions on it (e.g. teachers may be present in a committee about a bill that would affect the education system) and amendments may be brought.


title: Bill (law)

text: After this is the report stage, in which the entire house reviews any and all changes made to the bill since its conception and may bring further amendments.


title: Bill (law)

text: The fifth stage is the third reading of the bill, in which the full bill is read out in the house along with all amendments and is given final approval by the House.


title: Bill (law)

text: The next stage is where the bill is handed over to the opposite house for approval. (If it started in the House of Commons it will be handed to the House of Lords and vice versa.) Here the bill will go through the exact same process as before, with amendments able to be brought. If amendments are brought the bill will again be handed to the opposite house, going through the same process, which repeats until both houses arrive at an agreement on the bill. (In the rare circumstance that the two houses cannot agree, the House of Commons has the final say as it is an elected body, whereas the House Of Lords is not).


title: Bill (law)

text: Once the bill is finalized, it will move to the final stage, royal assent, when the monarch signs or otherwise signifies approval for the bill to become law. Theoretically, the monarch could refuse assent to a bill, but no monarch has done so since Queen Anne in 1708, and the royal veto has fallen into disuse. Once the assent is granted, the law comes into effect at the date and time specified within the act; if this is not specified within the act, it comes into effect at midnight on the same day it is granted royal assent.


title: Bill (law)

text: Where a piece of primary legislation is termed an act, the process of a bill becoming law may be termed enactment. Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may automatically become law, or it may need further approval, in which case enactment may be effected by the approver's signature or proclamation.


title: Bill (law)

text: Bills passed by the legislature usually require the approval of the head of state such as the monarch, president, or governor to become law. The refusal of such an approval is typically known as a "veto".


title: Bill (law)

text: Exceptions are the Irish Free State from the abolition of the Governor-General in December 1936 to the creation of the office of President in December 1937, and Israel from its formation until today, during which period bills approved by the Oireachtas and Knesset respectively became/become law immediately (though, in Israel's case, the laws are ceremonially signed after their passage by the President).


title: Bill (law)

text: In parliamentary systems, approval of the head of state is normally a formality since the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead. The exercise of the veto is considered a reserve power and is typically only used in rare circumstances, and the legislature can usually override the veto by a simple majority vote. However, in most cases, the executive - a cabinet of Ministers responsible to parliament - takes a veto by the head of state into account.


title: Bill (law)

text: In presidential systems, the head of state is also the chief executive, and the need to receive approval can be used as a political tool by them. The legislature is only able to override the veto by means of a supermajority vote.


title: Bill (law)

text: In some jurisdictions, a bill passed by the legislature may also require approval by a constitutional court. If the court finds the bill would violate the constitution it may annul it or send it back to the legislature for correction. In Ireland, the President has discretion under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer bills to the Supreme Court. In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court has discretion to rule on bills.


title: Bill (law)

text: Some bills may require approval by referendum. In Ireland this is obligatory for bills to amend the constitution; it is possible for other bills via a process that has never been used.


title: Bill (law)

text: A bill may come into force as soon as it becomes law, or it may specify a later date to come into force, or it may specify by whom and how it may be brought into force; for example, by ministerial order. Different parts of an act may come into force at different times.


title: Bill (law)

text: An act is typically promulgated by being published in an official gazette. This may be required on enactment, coming into force, or both.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the United States, all bills originating in the House of Representatives begin with "H.R." and all bills originating from the Senate begin with an "S.". Every two years, at the start of odd-numbered years, the United States Congress recommences numbering from 1, though for bills the House has an order reserving the first 20 bill numbers and the Senate has similar measures for the first 10 bills. Joint resolutions also have the same effect as bills, and are titled as "H. J. Res." or "S. J. Res." depending on whether they originated in the House or Senate, respectively. This means that two different bills can have the same number. Each two-year span is called a "congress", tracking the terms of Representatives elected in the nationwide biennial House of Representatives elections, and each congress is divided into year-long periods called "sessions".


title: Bill (law)

text: In the United Kingdom, for example, the Coroners and Justice Act in 2009 started as Bill 9 in the House of Commons. Then it became Bill 72 on consideration by a public bill committee; after that it became House of Lords Bill 33. Then it became House of Lords Bill 77, returned to the House of Commons as Bill 160, before finally being passed as Act 29. Parliament recommences numbering from one at the beginning of each session. This means that two different bills may have the same number. Sessions of parliament usually last a year. They begin with the State Opening of Parliament, and end with Prorogation.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the Irish Oireachtas, bills are numbered sequentially from the start of each calendar year. Bills originating in the Dáil and Seanad share a common sequence. There are separate sequences for public and private bills, the latter prefixed with "P". Although acts to amend the constitution are outside the annual sequence used for other public acts, bills to amend the constitution are within the annual sequence of public bills.


title: Bill (law)

text: In the Philippines, all bills passed into law, regardless of whether they were introduced in the House of Representatives or the Senate, are numbered sequentially beginning with the first Republic Act that became law on July 15, 1946. There have been 11,646 Republic Acts as of January 21, 2022. All Laws passed by Congress, once given Presidential Assent become law and are given a sequential number and are prefixed with "Republic Act" or "R.A." for short. They are also given a secondary sequential number by the chamber they are introduced in. Aforementioned numberings restart every 3 years after the formation of a new Congress.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 "Billboard" Top Twenty hit Verve album "Organ Grinder Swing". He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: Burrell was born in Detroit. Both his parents played instruments, and he began playing guitar at the age of 12 after listening to Charlie Christian's recordings. During World War II, due to metal shortage, he abandoned the idea of becoming a saxophonist, and bought an acoustic guitar for $10. He was inspired to play jazz after listening to Oscar Moore, but it was Django Reinhardt who showed him "that you could get your own individuality on an instrument." He went on to study composition and theory with Louis Cabara and classical guitar with Joe Fava. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his recording debut as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951, followed by the "Rose of Tangier"/"Ground Round" single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records in Detroit. While in college, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: Burrell toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956 with pianist Tommy Flanagan. Within months, Burrell had recorded his first album as leader for Blue Note and both he and Flanagan were sought-after as sidemen and studio musicians, performing with singers Tony Bennett and Lena Horne and recording with Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons, and Kenny Dorham, among others. From 1957 to 1959, Burrell occupied the former chair of Charlie Christian in Benny Goodman's band. Since his New York debut Burrell has had a prolific recording career, and critics have cited "The Cats" with John Coltrane in 1957, "Midnight Blue" with Stanley Turrentine in 1963, and "Guitar Forms" with arranger Gil Evans in 1965 as particular highlights.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: In 1978, he began teaching a course at UCLA called "Ellingtonia," examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. Although the two never collaborated directly, Ellington called Burrell his "favorite guitar player," and Burrell has recorded a number of tributes to and interpretations of Ellington's works. Since 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kamasi Washington.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: Burrell wrote, arranged, and performed on the 1998 Grammy Award-winning album "Dear Ella" by Dee Dee Bridgewater, received the 2004 Jazz Educator of the Year Award from "Down Beat", and was named a 2005 NEA Jazz Master.


title: Kenny Burrell

text: Burrell was a Grammy Salute To Jazz Honoree in 2010. The Grammy website states that between "...1956 and 2006, Mr. Burrell has excelled as a leader, co-leader and sideman releasing recordings with stellar musicians in the world of jazz."


title: Kenny Burrell

text: In 2019, concerns arose about Burrell's well-being and living circumstances as he became increasingly socially and physically isolated in his home and major frictions developed between his wife, Katherine Goodrich, 37 years his junior, and others living in their Westwood apartment building. A GoFundMe account was set up to pay medical bills and other putative expenses, which became controversial because he was covered by medical insurance through employment at UCLA and through Medicare. Subsequently, a letter from Burrell was published, providing a detailed explanation of the situation and justification for the GoFundMe campaign.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: "We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released in April 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979) and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: "We Are Family" went gold, becoming the number one R&B and number two pop song on the American charts in 1979 (behind "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer). Along with the tracks "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "Lost in Music", "We Are Family" reached number one on the "Billboard" Dance Club Songs.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant." "Billboard" magazine named the song number 20 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" in 2017.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: "We Are Family" was the first song that Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards wrote for any act other than their own band Chic. After their first hit, "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)", Atlantic Records President Jerry L. Greenberg wanted the pair to write and produce for other acts on the label; Rodgers and Edwards did not feel confident enough to work with big, established recording artists and performers, e.g.: The Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, etc. They also felt that if they worked as Greenberg had suggested, credit for a hit would just go to those established people, and Rodgers/Edwards would not gain proper notice as songwriter/producers. So the pair suggested that they write and produce a song for the label's least established act; if they got a hit record, then they could take the challenge of writing for someone bigger.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: According to Rodgers, the verses were mostly verbatim based on how Greenberg described Sister Sledge to them when first commissioning the work. Rodgers/Edwards then simply walked immediately to the studio, rearranged their notes from the meeting into lyrics, and wrote a song melody underneath them. The chorus (and therefore the title) makes reference to the fact that the group are the four sisters of a family.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: The song has since gone on to be used more generally as an expression of solidarity in various contexts, notably as the anthem of the We Are Family Foundation, which is named after it. The lead vocals to "We Are Family" were recorded in a single take by then-19-year-old Kathy Sledge.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: "We Are Family" became the rally song of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates as the Pirates came from behind to win.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: A reviewer from "Cash Box" said that "We Are Family" has "caressing, exuberant lead vocals backed by Sister Sledge's infectious harmony vocals."


title: We Are Family (song)

text: Music writer James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "Your eyes do not deceive you. at a time when the 1970s are suddenly hip again, one of the best soul disco records ever made return in a new set of mixes for 1993." Alan Jones from "Music Week" stated that the song "gets a new treatment from the Sure Is Pure dream team. The result, while less dinstinctive than the original with much of Chic's sterling instrumental work suppressed, is a hot and contemporary garage track." Another editor, Andy Beevers added, "This most enduring and endearing of club classics should make the Top 40 for the third time thanks to a wonderful and suitably reverential remix by Sure Is Pure."


title: We Are Family (song)

text: A music video was filmed in 1979 to promote the single, featuring the group wearing red outfits and dancing to the song in a street-like setting. It was later published on YouTube in December 2013. The video has amassed more than 4.9 million views as of November 2021.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: "Billboard" magazine ranked "We Are Family" number 18 in their list of "The 35 Best Disco Songs Ever" in 2016 and number 20 in their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" in 2017. "Rolling Stone" ranked it number 34 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: Many artists have covered the song. Among the more notable versions is one by Babes in Toyland, which was a dance club hit in the U.S. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1995. In addition, Nile Rodgers organized a re-recording of the song in 2001 as a benefit record for the September 11 attacks. This in turn led to his co-creation of the We Are Family Foundation, a global charity named for the song and designed to inspire and educate young people to find solutions to problems such as hunger and illiteracy that impede world peace.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: Rodgers also produced a version featuring characters from popular television shows from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon and Disney such as "SpongeBob SquarePants", "Sesame Street", etc. This version aired on Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and PBS Kids on March 11, 2002 and subsequently was commercially released on DVD in 2005 as a public service announcement to promote diversity and tolerance, but it was attacked by an evangelical group which felt that SpongeBob promoted homosexuality. In December 2007, the song was announced as one of the 2008 inductees to the Grammy Hall of Fame.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: Australian singer Samantha Jade recorded a cover version of the song, which was played in the 2020 Robert Zemeckis film "The Witches".


title: We Are Family (song)

text: The song appears in 2021's "Coming 2 America" film, played by the fictional band Sexual Chocolate and sung by Eddie Murphy as Randy Watson.


title: We Are Family (song)

text: The song appears repeatedly, from the opening to the closing, of the 1996 hit feel-good comedy movie "The Birdcage", set in South Florida's South Beach Art Deco District, with the main characters (played by Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Calista Flockhart, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria, Dan Futterman, Tom McGowan, and Christine Baranski), and the entire Birdcage cast and audience, some in drag, singing and dancing to the number.


title: Amsterdam Admirals

text: The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe.


title: Amsterdam Admirals

text: The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to be based entirely in Europe. The Admirals were one of three new teams, the others being the Scottish Claymores based in Edinburgh and the Rhein Fire based in Düsseldorf, Germany, to join the old World League's European Division teams: the Barcelona Dragons, the Frankfurt Galaxy, and the London Monarchs.


title: Amsterdam Admirals

text: The Admirals began playing their home games at the old Olympisch Stadion, built in 1928 for the Summer Games. They played there for two years until the Amsterdam ArenA was completed in 1996. When the Admirals were forced to schedule their last home game of the 2000 season against the Claymores away from the ArenA as Euro 2000 preparations were finalized, they made a return to the Olympisch Stadion in what turned out to be one of the most unusual games in American football history. The end zone at the north end of the stadium was ruled unsafe by the officials as the surface was in poor condition, so it was decided that the teams would change ends at every change of possession and play towards the other end zone.


title: Amsterdam Admirals

text: They qualified for the 1995 World Bowl with a 9–1 regular season record, but lost to the Frankfurt Galaxy by a score of 26–22. Ten years later, on their 11th year of existence, the Admirals won their first World Bowl by defeating the defending champion Berlin Thunder 27–21 in the championship game's 13th edition. The next season, they failed to defend their title against the Frankfurt Galaxy 22–7 in World Bowl XIV.


title: Amsterdam Admirals

text: Under the "Player Continuity Program", the Admirals contracted linebacker Derrick Ballard and running back Jonathan Smith for the 2007 season.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Kowloon Walled City Park is a historical park in Kowloon City, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City had been a military stronghold since the 15th century due to its coastal location and was a centre of vice and crime until 1987. Under the agreement between the Government of Hong Kong and the PRC, the Kowloon Walled City was demolished in the 1990s while the indigenous buildings and features were preserved for incorporation in the new park.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Kowloon Walled City Park is designed as a Jiangnan (江南) garden of the early Qing dynasty. The park, 31,000 square metres (7.66 acres) in total, is divided into eight theme zones with their own characteristic scenery, matching with the style of the whole park. The design was awarded a Diploma at the IGO Stuttgart Expo 93 (International Garden Exposition).


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: In the middle of the 19th century, the Qing government started to build an enclave beside Kowloon Bay, surrounded by stone walls. The Walled City was initially used for military purposes, housing many soldiers and their families. During World War II, the stone walls were demolished by the Imperial Japanese Army. Part of them were buried and well preserved under the soil. By the 1970s, the population of the city had risen to 41,000. The number of buildings was 503 in 1994. By that time, the British colonial government found it increasingly difficult to manage and control the serious crime in the area related to drugs, illegal gambling, prostitution and quackery. As well, domestic factories, including textile, candy-making and production of jook-sing noodles, were situated in the area. After the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, Britain and China embarked on a discussion about solving the problems in the Walled City, and subsequently announced the demolition of the City on 14 January 1987. Between 1987 and 1989, residents were resettled, and demolition began in 1993.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: By 1995, the site had been transformed into a park for nearby residents. Due to its proximity to the Kai Tak Airport, and so that the park could have a more open view, regulation of the height of buildings was strictly enforced.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The park consists mainly of eight landscape features: the "Yamen" (), Old South Gate (), Eight Floral Walks (), Garden of Four Seasons (), Garden of Chinese Zodiac (), Chess Garden (), Mountain View Pavilion () as well as the Fei Sing Pavilion () and Guibi Rock ().


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The "Yamen" () is located in the centre of the Park and it is the only remaining old Qing building. It was built in 1847 and its interior was dominated by the offices of the Commodore of the Dapeng Brigade () and the Kowloon Assistant Military Inspectorate (). It was designed with three rows and four wings of houses. Its walls and column bases are built from bricks and granite, while the roof is a traditional structure covered with cylindrical and flat tiles. After 1899, the "Yamen" was used for charitable purposes like home for the elderly named Almshouse. It is now officially classified as a declared monument in Hong Kong. Six exhibition rooms are housed inside.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The original site of South Gate () has been designated as a declared monument and all related relics unearthed have been preserved. Flagstone pavement, cornerstones of the buildings, and a drain were discovered. Also, two granite plaques with Chinese characters for "South Gate" and "Kowloon Walled City" were unearthed at the site of the original South Gate when the Walled City was torn down in 1994.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Garden features 12 Chinese zodiac sculptures. They are arranged according to the Heavenly Stems ("Tiangan" 天干) and Earthly Branches ("Dizhi" 地支) in Chinese astrology.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Guibi Rock was carved from Taihu stone. It is named Guibi because its veins are similar to those of ancient jade. Fui Sing Pavilion symbolises a constellation of literature and wisdom. Guibi Rock also symbolises the hope of returning Hong Kong to China.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Mountain View Pavilion provides a fine distant view of the Lion Rock, which resembles a lion sitting with its head facing the Pavilion.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: There are four large chessboards built on the ground with pebbles for visitors to enjoy a game of chess.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The Eight Floral Walks is a web of paths which connects the distinct landscape features of the Park. Various types of flowers that bloom in different seasons are planted on both sides of the path to accentuate the scenery of the park in all seasons.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: Located to the west of "Yamen", the Kwong Yam Square is a garden where flowers of the four seasons could be seen.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: This exhibition was officially opened for public use on 19 April 2009. It consists of one outdoor display area and six exhibition rooms inside the former "Yamen".


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: The outdoor display area is located near the South Gate which shows a tablet and a model of the Kowloon Walled City. The front of the tablet has an introductory article inscribed whereas the back presents the cross-section of the pre-demolished Kowloon Walled City and the depiction of the daily lives of its residents. Behind the tablet stands a bronze miniature model of the Walled City which allowed the visitors touch and have a closer look at the City.


title: Kowloon Walled City Park

text: Six exhibition rooms are located inside the "Yamen" which illustrate the living environment inside the Walled City through interactive imagery and sound.


title: Volta (album)

text: Volta is the sixth studio album by Icelandic singer Björk, released on 1 May 2007 by One Little Indian Records. A wide array of artists collaborated with Björk on material for the album, including longtime collaborator Mark Bell, along with new producers Timbaland and Danja.


title: Volta (album)

text: The album received positive reviews upon its initial release, and is Björk's first and only album to reach the top 10 on the US "Billboard" 200, peaking at number nine. "Volta" spent nine weeks at number one on the US Top Electronic Albums chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. In the United Kingdom it was certified Silver. The lead single, "Earth Intruders", reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart, while the remix EP later charted on its own at number 150. In the United States, the song became her second entry on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 84. "Volta" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Volta (album)

text: The album was re-released in June 2009 in expanded versions, under the name "Voltaïc". There were five separate versions of related material from "Volta". The full version included a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of live performances in Paris and Reykjavík during the "Volta" tour, a second DVD of the "Volta" music videos, videos of the top ten runners-up from the "Innocence" video contest, and a second CD of remixes from "Volta"'s singles. The official worldwide release date of all editions was 23 June 2009. The artwork was nominated for an award at the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards. It was a collaboration between the German fashion designer Bernhard Willhelm and British fashion photographer Nick Knight.


title: Volta (album)

text: In the run-up to the release of the album, many media outlets were lauding the album as a return to the supposed "pop" sound of Björk's earlier solo albums "Debut" and "Post". This was due in part to the inclusion of three tracks co-produced by record producer Timbaland; in interviews before the album's release he had stated that seven of the tracks he worked with Björk on would end up on her album, seemingly indicating that the decision was made to choose other tracks than the Timbaland-produced ones, or else other versions of the tracks. At the time Timbaland had also had recent hits with Justin Timberlake ("SexyBack") and Nelly Furtado ("Promiscuous" and "Maneater"), with him and his protégé Danja being responsible for some of the biggest hits of 2006 and 2007. As the news of Björk's having worked with Timbaland spread across the Internet, many websites started speculating on whether the album would be "hip hop" flavoured; in one interview Timbaland himself referred to the upcoming album as "hip hop".


title: Volta (album)

text: "Pitchfork", in their exclusive first interview with Björk for the promotion of "Volta", quoted Björk as saying that the new album would be "full-bodied and really up". This was taken by fans as further evidence of a more "pop" album (as compared to her more recent output). A week later, the head of One Little Indian Records, Derek Birkett, heralded the new album as "the most commercial thing she's ever done" in "Music Week".


title: Volta (album)

text: The first mention of "Earth Intruders" as a song title was made on All Access on 10 March 2007, and was later confirmed as the lead single through an article in "The Guardian" on 11 March 2007. On 26 March 2007, a distorted sample of the song was uploaded to YouTube as part of the viral marketing campaign for the "Volta" album. A fifteen-second sample of the track then appeared on the Rhino Records online ringtone website on 1 April 2007. The purchased ringtone featured a different clip (with different lyrics) to the one used in the online preview on the site; both audio samples were subsequently spread across online music forums. On 3 April 2007, it was reported that the Björk section of the Rhino Records online ringtone store had been removed. After internet radio station WOXY played the song on 6 April 2007, the song was made widely available across file-sharing networks.


title: Volta (album)

text: Björk has since stated that the album was not "hip hop" and that she had not intended for it to be so. She said that she did not want to work with Timbaland as a "hitmaker", or because of his affiliation to a particular genre, but wanted to work with him solely as a musician in his own right. Björk has also explained that when the two of them were together, Timbaland asked Björk what kind of music she would like to make with him, for example a hit song or "something weird", and Björk replied that she was interested in finding out where they "overlapped" musically, and they would go from there. The result was a tribal sound, because they were both interested in it. She has also said that One Little Indian "always feel that 'my latest release is the most commercial to date'", and that she feels "Volta" is no more commercial than any of her previous work.


title: Volta (album)

text: A wide array of artists collaborated with Björk on material for the album. Björk first contacted Timbaland about a possible collaboration in December 2005. The first session took place in February 2006 in Studio 4 at Manhattan Center Studios in New York City, soon after Björk had visited Banda Aceh in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami – in May 2005 Björk released the charity album "" to help UNICEF's work in the south east Asian region. Björk's experiences in Indonesia led to the track "Earth Intruders", originally a ten-minute song which Björk then subsequently edited for the album version. Björk collaborated on seven tracks in total with Timbaland. Timbaland had stated that he intended one of the tracks he did with Björk to appear on his new solo album but this did not materialise. The lead-off single from "Volta", "Earth Intruders", is co-produced by Timbaland, as well as the second single "Innocence"; the album track "Hope" is co-written by Timbaland. Björk has stated that the other Timbaland tracks are unlikely to ever be released.


title: Volta (album)

text: Anohni, lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons, appears on the album for two duets—"The Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile". The collaborative sessions took place in Jamaica. Björk has also put together her own fourteen-piece brass section of female Icelandic musicians who play on three tracks on the album. Its members comprise Sylvía Hlynsdóttir, Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir, Dröfn Helgadóttir, Valdís Þorkelsdóttir, Karen J. Sturlaugsson, Björk Níelsdóttir, Sigrún Jónsdóttir, Harpa Jóhannsdóttir, Vilborg Jónsdóttir, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Erla Axelsdóttir, Særún Pálmadóttir, Lilja Valdimarsdóttir and Brynja Guðmundsdóttir.


title: Volta (album)

text: Other collaborators include American drummers Brian Chippendale and Chris Corsano, Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, Congolese ensemble Konono N°1, Chinese pipa player Min Xiao-Fen, British electronic musician Mark Bell, Icelandic lyricist Sjón programmer and engineer Damian Taylor and Estonian producer Michael Pärt.


title: Volta (album)

text: "Volta" was labeled as an electropop, experimental, world and avant-pop album. Stylistically, it's a distinctive and eclectic album that, while incorporating the efforts of many collaborators, touches on forms of music like brass music, Chinese folk music, percussive tribal music, electro, Malian folk music, ambient and industrial music. Björk opted to incorporate plucked stringed instruments "like the ocean ... but more dirty sounding than when [she] did, for example, "Vespertine"", and thematically, she intended the album to be "going for something more pagan".


title: Volta (album)

text: She used brass instrumentation for almost every song on the album, and most of the instrumentation is courtesy of an all-female Icelandic brass ensemble. However, Björk also used samples from her previous project, "The Music From Drawing Restraint 9", as in the case of "Vertebræ by Vertebræ" and "Declare Independence", because she was interested to find out how the sounds from that soundtrack album would sound in a less ambient or atmospheric soundscape. For the song "Pneumonia", also featuring an independent horn section, she drew inspiration from her own bout with the disease, and an emotionally moving viewing of the film "Pan's Labyrinth".


title: Volta (album)

text: "Earth Intruders" incorporates the efforts of multiple collaborators, including Timbaland and Danja's tribal production, Congolese ensemble Konono N°1 who play electric likembés, and experimental American percussionist Chris Corsano, as well as a continuously playing, "squelching" unified marching sound. "Declare Independence" was originally an instrumental track by British musician and frequent musical collaborator Mark Bell, performed at his live shows as early as November 2006. Björk later added her vocals on top. It features noisy and distorted industrial techno-style production, similar to "Pluto" on Björk's 1997 album "Homogenic", and has been compared to Atari Teenage Riot because of its stylistic nods to punk. The lyrics are dedicated to the Faroe Islands and Greenland.


title: Volta (album)

text: Björk has described "Wanderlust" as being the heart of "Volta", and has said that the song is about "the state of looking for something and almost knowing you're never going to find it" and that it makes fun of her hunger for "something new". It was released in the UK on 30 June. As Björk said in an interview for "Harp", "Things go in circles. Wanderlust, for example, is a sort of continuity of 'Hyperballad'."


title: Volta (album)

text: Björk has since said that "Initially after its release, I felt Volta was just OK", and that she regards the tour versions of the songs as better than those found on the album - in this sense the live recordings released on "Voltaïc" are to be seen as the true version of the album.


title: Volta (album)

text: The track titles were confirmed in a 14 March 2007 article on MTV, and confirmed in a post on sprk.nl on 20 March 2007. The unreleased "Volta" track, "Trance", appears in the short film dedicated to Alexander McQueen, "To Lee, With Love, Nick", directed by Nick Knight. The track entitled "Vertebræ by Vertebræ" was retitled from the previous, "Energy".


title: Volta (album)

text: The full album was accidentally made available on the UK iTunes Store at midnight on 23 April 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date. This led to the album being leaked online the following day.


title: Volta (album)

text: "Volta" was released in three editions in the UK: a digipak CD edition; a limited edition CD-DVD edition (featuring surround audio in DTS); and a double vinyl edition. The UK and Japanese editions of the album feature the Mark Bell Mix of "I See Who You Are" as a bonus track. Later editions were released in regular jewelcases.


title: Volta (album)

text: As part of the marketing campaign for the album, a series of cryptic videos were circulated on various websites, specifically via YouTube and MySpace. The videos contained distorted audio samples and snippets of the lyrics from some of the tracks on "Volta". The videos were discovered on 28 March 2007, though one of the videos had been uploaded to YouTube as early as 19 March 2007. A mysterious MySpace profile link was then discovered on 28 March 2007, which featured another cryptic video and four new audio samples. The profile belonged to a fictitious "Gerome Voltaire" (a play on "Alessandro Volta", the inventor of the electric battery) of the band "itshardtofindabandname" from Iceland. An article on "Pitchfork" on 29 March 2007 later confirmed the authenticity of the viral marketing campaign. A podcast shot by Ragnheidur Gestsdóttir detailing the album's production was made available on iTunes on 10 April 2007; six episodes were made for download, though the final installment cuts out before the video ends.


title: Volta (album)

text: A special edition of the album was released on 23 June 2009 as "Voltaïc", and includes two live concerts filmed in Paris and Reykjavík, remixes and videos from the Volta era and a live session at Olympic Studios in London. The release was originally announced as "Volta Revisited" and rumoured to be released in March 2008, and some online music shops made the album available for pre-order, while the Olympic Studio session was originally announced on 4 September 2007 as the "Live Sessions Album". The "Voltaïc" release is available in five different editions, each featuring varying versions of the 'full' 2 CD and 2 DVD edition.


title: Volta (album)

text: The release was subject to numerous delays, mostly due to manufacturing problems. The first mention of the release of live material from the Volta tour was made through an announcement made on Björk's official website regarding a "Live Session Album" made at the now-closed Olympic Studios. This was then followed by online stores adding to their pages a release titled "Volta Revisited" in February 2008, with projected (and incorrect) release dates of April/May 2008 listed. An email from Derek Birkett, head of One Little Indian, stated the proposed contents of the release, meant to 'tie-up' the Volta campaign. The release was originally not going to include a live DVD, but amongst those items that did not make the final release were the online blips made as part of the viral marketing campaign for "Volta", the EPK interview that was used in the Volta podcasts available on the iTunes Store, and an unreleased "AOL Online session".


title: Volta (album)

text: A Björk concert was filmed at L'Olympia in Paris, France during the last leg of the Volta tour and a small concert in Reykjavík, Iceland straight after the tour had finished. The "Volta Revisited" collection eventually surfaced as "Voltaïc" and was to include a live DVD among 3 other discs, although manufacturing problems lead to a delay of up to six months for its release. One manufacturing error led to 20,000 copies of the box-set having to be destroyed, and with a remanufacture necessary, Björk decided to make changes to the track listing resulting in four songs being cut from the live DVD. Towards the end of April 2009 Universal Europe accidentally shipped their copies of "Voltaïc" early. A statement released by One Little Indian stated that the projected release date was meant to be June 2009 as they wanted all three versions of "Voltaïc" to be available upon official release - the early shipment by Universal Europe was only of the Deluxe Edition. However, UK-based music retailer CD Wow was found to be for a brief period selling un-cut copies of the box set, before its official release. These copies, which had allegedly been destroyed, were manufactured in Malaysia, and as such contained more tracks than the other released (cut) editions. "Voltaïc" eventually enjoyed its full official release on 23 June 2009.


title: Volta (album)

text: The lead single from "Volta" was "Earth Intruders", released digitally on 9 April 2007, though leaked on 6 April 2007. Originally expected to be released as a physical single on 21 May 2007, the release was instead replaced by another digital release, "Earth Intruders - Club Mixes", via iTunes. Indeed, there were no chart eligible physical singles released at all during the "Volta" era, although box sets were eventually released of each single some months after the corresponding digital release.


title: Volta (album)

text: The second single from "Volta" was originally meant to be "Declare Independence", but due to the worldwide success of "Volta" Björk had to perform more international promotion work than her label One Little Indian had originally planned, meaning that the previously planned video shoot for "Declare Independence" with Michel Gondry in London could not take place. The deadline for the music video contest for "Innocence" (originally announced on 19 March 2007) was then brought forward a month to 10 June 2007 so as to provide a finished video able to coincide with the July release originally planned for Declare Independence. "Innocence", the other Timbaland-co-produced track, was released digitally across the globe on 23 July 2007. It was announced that the release would be available in the US on 31 July 2007, though this date was moved later.


title: Volta (album)

text: "Declare Independence" was released as the third single from "Volta" on 1 January 2008. The video, directed by Michel Gondry (his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's "Bachelorette"), was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007 and on Channel 4 in the UK on 13 December 2007. A making-of was made available on November 29, 2007. The video shoot took place on 11 October 2007 in New York City. Unlike the first two singles from "Volta", the single has a physical release in the form of two 12-inch vinyls, a CD and a DVD.


title: Volta (album)

text: On 7 April 2007, the "Mark Stent Extended Edit" of "Earth Intruders" was released on the Australian iTunes Store; most other iTunes Stores made the single available on April 9, the official release date of the digital single. The album version of Earth Intruders (which differs from the iTunes Store version both in terms of mixing and track length) was leaked to the Internet on 24 April 2007, due to the full album being made available accidentally on the UK iTunes Store on 23 April 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date.


title: Volta (album)

text: A digital-only "Earth Intruders – Club Mixes" EP was released on the iTunes Store in the US and UK on 21 May 2007. The European iTunes release contained only three of the original five tracks. It is only the second time (the first being "Play Dead") that an instrumental of a Björk track has been officially released. With this release, it was determined that "Earth Intruders" would have no physical release in any territory worldwide. Also, the Mark Stent mix was initially labelled as an "Extended Edit", but on 23 May 2007, was retitled to "Radio Edit"; the "xxxChange Mix" was retitled from the previous non-descriptive title "Earth Intruders Remix".


title: Volta (album)

text: On 21 April 2007, Björk appeared as musical guest on an episode of the US TV show "Saturday Night Live" in promotion of the album. She performed the songs "Earth Intruders" and "Wanderlust". On 8 June 2007, it was aired a performance by Björk on UK show "Later... with Jools Holland". She performed the songs "Earth Intruders", "The Anchor Song", and "Declare Independence". On 27 September 2007, she appeared on the American late night talk show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", performing the song "Wanderlust". Björk performed three songs, at a benefit concert at Club NASA in Reykjavík on April 1 for FORMA, an Icelandic organisation which deals with people who have eating disorders. Tour rehearsals began shortly before this performance.


title: Volta (album)

text: Björk went on an 18-month tour in support of the album, which was her first tour in four years. On the tour, which was conducted on a month-on/month-off basis, Björk performed with fourteen musicians on stage. Björk's touring band for this tour consisted of drummer Chris Corsano, musician Mark Bell (who also accompanied Björk on the Homogenic tour), pianist Jónas Sen (who played celeste on the tracks Gratitude and Cetacea on the "Drawing Restraint 9" soundtrack), musician Damian Taylor and a 10-piece female Icelandic brass section. Björk had described the tour as "kind of primitive, raw, almost butch", in marked contrast to her 2001 tour for "Vespertine". At several of the concerts Björk had been joined on stage by some of the musicians who collaborated on the album (but who are not part of the touring band), including ANOHNI, Min Xiao-Fen and Toumani Diabaté. Björk has voiced her dislike of fans recording video or taking pictures with flash at her concerts using their mobile phones, stating that it affects her ability to perform. The tour is taking Björk to countries that she has not played in for over a decade, including Mexico, Brazil, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Live footage of two concerts in Paris and Reykjavík, as well as a session with the tour band at Olympic Studios, were released as part of the "Voltaïc" box set on 23 June 2009.


title: Volta (album)

text: Björk has used live performances of "Declare Independence" to declare political support for various causes, often to some controversy. At two concerts in Tokyo, Japan she showed her support for Kosovo's declaration of independence. When her upcoming performance at the 2008 Serbian Exit Festival was cancelled, Björk suggested that "Maybe a Serb attended my concert [in Tokyo] and called home, and therefore the concert in Novi Sad was cancelled." The organiser behind the Exit Festival denied that Björk's cancellation from the festival was because of her song dedication to Kosovo; that it was actually their inability to guarantee the safety of her fans. Björk's management maintained that the cancellation was because of the dedication, claiming that they had received an email from Exit Festival saying that they would only allow the concert to go ahead if Björk's management "denied that Björk has ever [dedicated the song to Kosovo]". On 7 March 2008, Exit Festival organiser Bojan Bošković changed his position and told "NME" that Björk has an "open invitation" to play at the festival. Björk's dedicating of "Declare Independence" to the Faroe Islands caused some minor controversy in the country.


title: Volta (album)

text: At a concert in Shanghai, China, on 2 March 2008, Björk shouted "Tibet, Tibet!" three times followed by "Raise your flag!" four times during the finale performance of "Declare Independence". Immediately there was an 'uneasy atmosphere' and fans left the venue quickly, and internet forums such as Tianya fielded many negative comments on her statement. China's Ministry of Culture issued a statement denouncing Björk's outburst, and warned that she would be banned from future appearances in China if she repeated such behavior. In an interview, Björk said that she did not "[plan] a trip to China with the purpose of... propaganda" and that Chinese officials "sensationalized" her performance. On July 17, 2008 the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced that artistic groups who "threaten national unity" or "whip up ethnic hatred" among other things during live events would be banned from performing. Fans of Oasis and Bob Dylan, who had previously performed in Tibetan Freedom Concerts, blamed the new regulations for their subsequent denials of permission to perform in Chinese venues.


title: Volta (album)

text: "Volta" was well received by critics upon its release, though to a lesser extent than Björk's previous albums. According to Metacritic, the album holds a rating of 77/100, indicating favourable reviews. Heather Phares of AllMusic stated that ""Volta" finds the perfect balance between [Björk's] poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s." Arwa Haider also stated that "this ["Volta"] is arguably [Björk's] strongest album yet", while Priya Elan praised the album as 'another amazing statement of intent-full of hope, eccenticity and wonderfulness.' Michael Keefe, in a more balanced review, said that Volta is not 'a great album, but it is quite good.' The song "Earth Intruders" got favourable reception by music critics. "Drowned in Sound" reviewer Mike Diver gave the song 9/10, praising it as 'immediately catchy, compellingly left of centre, and undeniably unique'. Digital Spy reviewer Miriam Zendle cited "Earth Intruders" as returning to Björk's earlier commercial sound, comparing it to her more recent albums that were "incredibly difficult to grasp hold of". Music website Popjustice called it the 80th greatest single of 2007. However, "Volta" also received some mixed reviews with "Pitchfork" stating that 'Volta is mostly proof that Björk is as fallible as the messy, unpredictable humanity she celebrates, and that even her definition of 'pop' is avant-garde.'


title: Volta (album)

text: "Volta" spent nine weeks at number one on "Billboard" Top Electronic Albums chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. It also managed to peak at number nine in the "Billboard" 200 chart, making it her highest charting album ever in the United States. "Volta" was also released by both Polydor and Universal in selected Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia in which each country mentioned had a corresponding tour in 2008. In Japan, the album debuted at number 12 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart with 16,425 copies sold on its first week of release. The single "Earth Intruders" reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart, while the remix EP later released charted on its own at number 150. In the United States, the song debuted on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 84 in the issue dated 28 April 2007. This is Björk's highest position on the US Hot 100, the previous being "Big Time Sensuality" in 1993, which peaked at number 88. The single's success on the US charts has been mainly attributed to internet downloads; the single sold 16,000 downloads on the week of its release, propelling it to number 65 on the US Billboard Hot Digital Tracks. The song also peaked at number 75 on the US "Billboard" Pop 100 chart. Perhaps because of the lack of a physical release, "Innocence" failed to chart in the UK, becoming only the third single of Björk's career up until this point not to chart, the first being "Jóga" in 1997 (the EP charted at number 191 in 1998, however), and the second being "Oceania" in 2004.


title: Volta (album)

text: The music video for "Earth Intruders" was directed by Michel Ocelot. It features Björk's face floating in the background, first upside down, then upright, singing with her eyes closed. In the foreground, a large group of silhouetted tribal warriors dance in time to the music. The video features psychedelic colours and patterns imposed on an earthy backdrop. The video ends with Björk's face slowly fading into the middle of a glade, her eyes being opened just as she sings the last lyric. Ocelot stated that Björk had originally wanted Kirikou to be featured as a 20-year-old in the video. It was accomplished within strict time constraints through a combination of live-action, silhouette animation, 3D computer graphics, traditional animation, cut-outs and other special effects. "Kirikou" was danced by Legrand Bemba-Debert in a costume made, based on Ocelot's ideas, by paper sculptor Anne-Lise Kœhler. The full video was made available in the iTunes Store on 24 April 2007. It was nominated for the 2007 Q Award for Best Video.


title: Volta (album)

text: A fan contest to submit ideas for the music video for "Innocence" was announced, with the intention being that Björk would work with the chosen fan director to fully flesh out the video idea. The original deadline for the competition was to be on July 10; however, a decision was subsequently made to move the deadline for the contest forward by a month to June 10 in order to release the track "Innocence" around the same period that "Declare Independence" would have been originally released. The decision was met with mixed reactions by fans as many were subsequently unable to submit their ideas due to the new deadline. The shooting for the video of "Declare Independence", originally announced as the album's second single, was rescheduled to August. On 27 July 2007 it was announced that the winner of the video contest was to be decided via an online poll from a shortlist of eleven videos. On 7 August 2007, the winners, a French duo known only as Fred & Annabelle, were chosen.


title: Volta (album)

text: The military-themed video for "Declare Independence" was directed by French director Michel Gondry. The video shoot was originally going to take place in August 2007 in London, but it was eventually rescheduled to 11 October 2007 in New York City. The finished video was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007. It opens with Mark Bell standing on a wall suspended above Björk, playing a loom-shaped bass guitar. The strings from this guitar thread themselves through Björk's megaphone, the helmets of several foot soldiers and then up through a pulley system before returning to the guitar. As the song progresses, the strings are spraypainted with several colours as they pass through the loop. All the people in the video including Björk wear jumpsuits with the flags of Greenland and the Faroe Islands on their shoulders. The video is also available on the DVD compilation "". A video was shot for the track "Wanderlust", directed by Encyclopedia Pictura and shot in New York City in stereoscopic 3D. The video involves "a mixture of large scale puppeteering, live action acrobatics, miniatures, and CG". The video was released in February 2008. Björk said in an interview that she and ANOHNI had recorded themselves singing "The Dull Flame of Desire" on a green screen, then she sent the video to three directors who had taken part in the "Innocence" video contest, and the directors made "The Dull Flame of Desire" video together via e-mail. She credited three "Innocence" competition applicants as the promotional video's directors: Cristoph Jantos, Masahiro Mogari, and Marçal Cuberta Junca.


title: Shibu Soren

text: Shibu Soren (Santali: ᱥᱤᱵᱩ ᱥᱚᱨᱮᱱ) (born 11 January 1944) is an Indian politician who thrice served as Chief Minister of Jharkhand, first in 2005 for 10 days (2 March to 12 March), then from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2009 to 2010. He was sworn in as the third Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 30 December 2009 after winning the Jharkhand Assembly elections. He resigned on 30 May 2010 after failing to obtain coalition support from the Bharatiya Janata Party, his national party partner. He previously represented the Dumka constituency of Jharkhand in the 14th Lok Sabha, and is the President of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) political party, a constituent of the UPA.


title: Shibu Soren

text: On 9 January 2009, Soren was defeated in the by-election for the Tamar assembly constituency by political novice Gopal Krishna Patar, alias Raja Peter, of the Jharkhand Party by a margin of over 9,000 votes. Soon he contested another by poll after the rebel BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya resigned from his seat in his favour and Soren won the by election from that Jamtara constituency. But the Government could not last longer. In 2009 after the Assembly elections Soren once again formed the Government along with the BJP, and was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 30 December 2009.


title: Shibu Soren

text: He was the Minister for Coal in the Union Cabinet in November 2006, when a Delhi district court found him guilty in the murder of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994. He has also been indicted in the past on other criminal charges.


title: Shibu Soren

text: Soren was born in Nemra village of Ramgarh district, in what was, at the time, Bihar state, India. He belongs to Santal tribe. He completed his schooling in the same district. During his schooling his father was murdered by thugs employed by money lenders.


title: Shibu Soren

text: In 1972, Bengali Maxist trade union leader A. K. Roy, Kurmi-Mahato leader Binod Bihari Mahato and Santal leader Shibu Soren formed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Soren became the general secretary of JMM. JMM organised agitations to reclaim the tribal lands which were alienated. They started forcibly harvesting in the lands. Shibu Soren was known for delivering summary justice against landlords and money lenders, sometimes by holding own courts. On 23 January 1975, he allegedly incited a campaign to drive away "outsiders", or the 'non-tribal' people. At least eleven people were killed. Soren and numerous others were charged with various crimes related to this incident. After extended legal proceedings, Soren was acquitted on 6 March 2008. However, possibly related incitement charges—dating from two earlier deaths in 1974—remain pending.


title: Shibu Soren

text: He lost his first Lok Sabha election in 1977. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from Dumka. An arrest warrant was issued against him. He was subsequently elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991 and 1996 as well. In 2002, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He won the Dumka Lok Sabha seat in a by-election the same year and resigned his Rajya Sabha seat. He was re-elected in 2004.


title: Shibu Soren

text: He became the Union Coal Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, but was asked to resign following an arrest warrant in his name in the thirty-year-old Chirudih case. He was one of the main accused amongst 69, with allegations to kill 10 people (including 9 Muslims) on 23 January 1975, in a clash between tribals and Muslims. After the warrant was issued, he initially went underground. He resigned on 24 July 2004. He was able to secure bail after spending over a month in judicial custody; released on bail on 8 September, he was re-inducted into the Union Cabinet and given back the coal ministry on 27 November 2004, as part of a deal for a Congress-JMM alliance before assembly elections in Jharkhand in February/March 2005.


title: Shibu Soren

text: On 2 March 2005, after much political bargaining and quid pro quo he was invited to form the government in Jharkhand by the Governor of Jharkhand. He resigned as Chief Minister nine days later, on 11 March, following his failure to obtain a vote of confidence in the assembly. In 2019 Lok Sabha Elections he lost to Sunil Soren of BJP from Dumka constituency.


title: Shibu Soren

text: On 28 November 2006, Soren was found guilty in a twelve-year-old case involving the kidnapping and murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha. It was claimed that Jha was abducted from the Dhaula Kuan area in Delhi on 22 May 1994 and taken to Piska Nagari near Ranchi where he was killed. The CBI chargesheet stated that Jha's knowledge of the reported deal between the Congress and the JMM to save the Narasimha Rao government during the July 1993 no-confidence motion and an act of sodomy was the motive behind the murder. The charge-sheet asserted that: "Jha was aware of the illegal transactions and also expected and demanded a substantial share out of this amount from Soren." .


title: Shibu Soren

text: Soren resigned from his post of Union Minister for Coal after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that he should do so in the wake of the verdict. This is the first case of a Union Minister of the Government of India being found guilty of involvement in a murder. On 5 December 2006, Shibu Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment. A Delhi court rejected his bail plea, stating: 'We cannot overlook the fact that the appellant (Soren) has been convicted after a detailed and elaborate trial only in November 2006 and sentenced in December 2006.


title: Shibu Soren

text: The bench also noted that he was also being tried in a number of other cases, including the case of mass murder in Jharkhand.


title: Shibu Soren

text: On 25 June 2007, Shibu Soren was being escorted to his jail in Dumka, Jharkhand when his convoy was attacked by bombs, but no one was hurt.


title: Shibu Soren

text: The Delhi High Court on 23 August 2007 overruled the District Court and acquitted Soren, stating that "The trial court's analysis is far from convincing and not sustainable."


title: Shibu Soren

text: The five men convicted by the Tis Hazari court were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abduction and murder primarily on the basis of forensic evidence provided by a post-mortem report of a body discovered in Jharkhand, namely a skull superimposition test and skull injury report. This was in addition to eyewitness accounts and some circumstantial evidence.


title: Shibu Soren

text: He is married to Roopi Kisku. He has three sons Durga Soren, Hemant Soren, and Basant Soren and a daughter, Anjali Soren. Hemant Soren is the current Chief Minister of Jharkhand, having held the same office previously from July 2013 to December 2014. His elder son Durga Soren was MLA from Jama from 1995 to 2005. Durga's wife Sita Soren is current MLA from Jama. Basant Soren is president of the Jharkhand Yuva Morcha, a youth wing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and current MLA from Dumka.


title: Palearctic realm

text: The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.


title: Palearctic realm

text: The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin; the Sahara and Arabian Deserts; and Western, Central and East Asia. The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions.


title: Palearctic realm

text: The term 'Palearctic' was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification.


title: Palearctic realm

text: In an 1858 paper for the "Proceedings of the Linnean Society", British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/Afrotropic, Indian/Indomalayan, Australasian, Nearctic, and Neotropical. The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration.


title: Palearctic realm

text: Alfred Wallace adopted Sclater's scheme for his book "The Geographical Distribution of Animals", published in 1876. This is the same scheme that persists today, with relatively minor revisions, and the addition of two more realms: Oceania and the Antarctic realm.


title: Palearctic realm

text: The Palearctic realm includes mostly boreal/subarctic-climate and temperate-climate ecoregions, which run across Eurasia from western Europe to the Bering Sea.


title: Palearctic realm

text: The boreal and temperate Euro-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest biogeographic region, which transitions from tundra in the northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga, the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests. This vast Euro-Siberian region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species, and has many affinities with the temperate and boreal regions of the Nearctic realm of North America. Eurasia and North America were often connected by the Bering land bridge, and have very similar mammal and bird fauna, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia. Many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic realm. The Palearctic and Nearctic also share many plant species, which botanists call the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora.