title: Candide (operetta)

text: Candide and Martin have been rescued from the ship, and are floating about the ocean on a raft. Martin is devoured by a shark, but Dr. Pangloss miraculously reappears. Candide is overjoyed to find his old teacher, and Pangloss sets about repairing the damage done to his philosophy by Candide's experiences.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: In a luxurious palazzo of Venice ("Money, Money, Money"), Cunegonde turns up as a scrubwoman and the Old Lady as a woman of fashion (Madame Sofronia) ("What's the Use?"), both working as shills for Ferone, the owner of a gambling hall. Candide and Dr. Pangloss, both wearing masks, appear and are caught up by the merriment, the wine and the gambling. Candide is accosted by a masked Cunegonde and Old Lady, who try to steal his remaining gold ("The Venice Gavotte"), but recognizes Cunegonde when her mask falls off. His last hopes and dreams shattered, he drops his money at her feet and leaves. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are fired by Ferone and Pangloss is now penniless, having been completely swindled out of all his money.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: With Candide now completely disillusioned, he and Pangloss return to the ruined Westphalia. Cunegonde, Maximilian (minus his teeth) and the Old Lady appear and within them a spark of optimism still flickers. Candide, however, has had enough of the foolish Panglossian ideal and tells them all that the only way to live is to try to make some sense of life ("Make Our Garden Grow").


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The operetta begins with an overture. The chorus welcomes everyone to Westphalia ("Westphalia Chorale") and Voltaire begins to narrate his story. Candide, the illegitimate nephew of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck, lives in the Baron's castle Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck. He is snubbed by the Baroness and bullied by her son Maximilian. Paquette, a very accommodating serving girl, also lives in the castle. However, Candide is in love with Cunegonde, the Baroness' daughter as Maximilian, Candide, Cunegonde and Paquette find their happiness in life ("Life is Happiness Indeed"). The four discover that Dr. Pangloss, a man thought to be the world's greatest philosopher, has taught them happiness ("The Best of All Possible Worlds"). The philosopher asks his four students to summarize what they have learned ("Universal Good"). When Cunegonde spies Dr. Pangloss being physically intimate with Paquette, he explains it away as being a "physical experiment", and she decides to share the "experiment" with Candide. Professing their love to each other at a park, Candide and Cunegonde dream of what married life would look like ("Oh, Happy We"). The Baron, however, is angered at what Candide has done to Cunegonde, as he is a social inferior. Candide is promptly exiled, wandering alone with his faith and optimism to cling to ("It Must Be So"). He is then shanghaied by and into the Bulgar Army, which plots to "liberate" all of Westphalia. His escape attempt fails, and is recaptured by the Army. The Bulgar Army attacks Schloss Thunder-ten-Tronck and in the castle the Baron's family prays as the chorus joins in ("Westphalia"). However, the Baron, the Baroness, Maximilian, Paquette, Pangloss and (after being repeatedly ravished by the Bulgar Army) Cunegonde are all killed in the attack ("Battle Music"). Candide returns to the castle's ruins and searches for Cunegonde ("Candide's Lament").


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Some time later, Candide becomes a beggar. He gives the last of his coins to Pangloss, who reveals that he was revived by an anatomist's scalpel. He then tells Candide of his syphilis condition brought on by Paquette ("Dear Boy"). A merchant offers the two employment before sailing off to Lisbon, Portugal. However, as they arrive, a volcano erupts and the ensuing earthquake results in the death of 30,000 people. Pangloss and Candide are blamed for the disaster, arrested as heretics and publicly tortured by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Pangloss is hanged and Candide is flogged ("Auto-da-Fé"). Candide eventually ends up in Paris, France, where Cunegonde shares her favors (on different mutually-agreed-upon days of the week) with wealthy Jew Don Issachar and the city's Cardinal Archbishop ("The Paris Waltz"). She contemplates what she has done to survive while in Paris ("Glitter and Be Gay"). Candide finds Cunegonde and reunites with her ("You Were Dead, You Know"). However, the Old Lady, Cunegonde's companion, forewarns Cunegonde and Candide of Issachar and the Archbishop's arrival. Candide inadvertently kills both of them by stabbing them with a sword.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The three flee to Cadiz, Spain with Cunegonde's jewels, where the Old Lady tells Candide and Cunegonde about her past. The jewels are stolen and the Old Lady offers to sing for their dinner ("I Am Easily Assimilated"). The French police arrive, intending to arrest Candide for murdering Don Issachar and the Archbishop. Accepting an offer to fight for the Jesuits in South America, Candide decides to take Cunegonde and the Old Lady to the New World, and the three begin their journey on a ship ("Quartet Finale").


title: Candide (operetta)

text: In Montevideo, Uruguay, Maximilian and Paquette, now revived and disguised as slave girls, reunite. Soon after, Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, the governor of the city, falls in love with Maximilian, but quickly realizes his mistake and sells him to a priest. Meanwhile, Candide, Cunegonde and the Old Lady also arrive in Montevideo, where the Governor falls in love with Cunegonde ("My Love"). The Old Lady convinces Cunegonde that her marriage to the governor will support her financially ("We Are Women"). Candide soon befriends Cacambo and accepts him as his valet. Convinced by the Old Lady that the police are still after Candide for the Archbishop's murder, Candide and Cacambo flee Montevideo and eventually stumble upon a Jesuit camp and are joined by the Father and Mother Superiors ("The Pilgrims' Procession – Alleluia"). Candide soon discovers that the Mother Superior is actually Paquette and the Father Superior is Maximilian. When Candide tells Maximilian that he will marry Cunegonde, however, Maximilian angrily challenges him to a fight. However, Maximilian is once again inadvertently stabbed to death by Candide. Candide is forced to flee into the jungle as a result.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Three years later, Cunegonde and the Old Lady discuss the miseries shared by the upper classes while the Governor doesn't want to hear their complaints ("Quiet"). Meanwhile, Candide and Cacambo are starving and lost in the jungles. Finding a boat in the ocean, they float downriver into a cavern for 24 hours until they finally reach Eldorado, the city of gold ("Introduction to Eldorado"). The two discover that the locals worship one god as opposed to three, palaces of science, rosewater and stones with cinnamon and clove scents. Dissatisfied without Cunegonde, Candide decides to leave. The locals think him foolish, but offer to help, giving him some of the town's golden sheep and constructing a lift that will guide him, Cacambo and the sheep over the mountain ("The Ballad of Eldorado"). One by one, the sheep die until only two remain. Unwilling to go back to Montevideo, Candide gives Cacambo one of the golden sheep to ransom Cunegonde, telling them that they will meet again in Venice, Italy.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Arriving at Suriname, Candide meets Martin, a local pessimist. He shows him a slave with one hand and one foot lost while harvesting sugar-cane, which is the result of Europeans eating sugar; Candide is unable to convince Martin otherwise ("Words, Words, Words"). Vanderdendur, a Dutch villain, offers his ship, the Santa Rosalia, in exchange for the golden sheep. Candide is excited when he is told that the "Santa Rosalia" is to depart for Venice. The locals and Vandendur wish Candide a safe journey to Venice ("Bon Voyage"). However, the ship sinks and Martin drowns as a result. After reuniting with his golden sheep, Candide is picked up by a galley, meeting five deposed kings. The galley is rowed by slaves, including Pangloss, revived once again. The kings say that they will live humbly, serving both god and men, and Pangloss leads their debate ("The Kings' Barcarolle").


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The ship arrives in Venice, where the Carnival festival is taking place ("Money, Money, Money"). While the kings play roulette and baccarat, Candide searches for Cunegonde. Maximilian, revived once again, is now the corrupt Prefect of Police and the town's leader. Paquette is now the town's reigning prostitute. Cunegonde and the Old Lady are employed to encourage the gamblers ("What's the Use?"). Pangloss celebrates a victory after winning roulette and spends his money on the other ladies ("The Venice Gavotte"). Candide, however, masked for the Carnival, is accosted by Cunegonde and the Old Lady (both of whom are also masked), who try to swindle him out of his money. During the exchange, all the masks come off and they are horrified to recognize each other. Seeing what Cunegonde has become, Candide's image of and belief in her is shattered ("Nothing More Than This"). Candide does not speak for several days; with what little money they have left, they purchase a small farm outside Venice and the chorus says that life is just life and paradise is nothing ("Universal Good"). Candide finally speaks and resolves to marry Cunegonde ("Make Our Garden Grow").


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Though the show as a whole received mixed reviews at its opening, the music was immediately a hit. Much of the score was recorded on an original cast album, which was a success and is still in print as of 2009.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Cunegonde's coloratura aria "Glitter and Be Gay" is a favourite showpiece for many sopranos. Barbara Cook's performance of the aria at its introduction impressed audience and critics, bringing her wide recognition.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: This aria poses some difficulties. If sung as written throughout (alternative phrases are provided at several points in the score), there are three high E-flats (above high C), two staccato and one sustained; there are also numerous uses of high C and D-flat. Some of the florid passages are very intricate. Theatrically, it demands an elaborate comic staging, in which Cunegonde adorns herself with jewelry while singing and dancing around the stage, and has a satirical quality that is a challenge to perform.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: This aria has been performed in concert by many musical theatre and opera stars, including (in addition to those listed above): Natalie Dessay, Diana Damrau, Sumi Jo, Edita Gruberová, Renée Fleming, Simone Kermes, Roberta Peters, and Dawn Upshaw.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The overture to "Candide" soon earned a place in the orchestral repertoire. After a successful first concert performance on January 26, 1957, by the New York Philharmonic under the composer's baton, it quickly became popular and was performed by nearly 100 other orchestras within the next two years. Since that time, it has become one of the most frequently performed orchestral compositions by a 20th century American composer; in 1987, it was the most often performed piece of concert music by Bernstein.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The overture incorporates tunes from the songs "The Best of All Possible Worlds", "Battle Music", "Oh, Happy We", and "Glitter and Be Gay" and melodies composed specifically for the overture.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: While many orchestrations of the overture exist, in its current incarnation for full symphony orchestra, which incorporates changes made by Bernstein during performances in December 1989, the piece requires a standard-sized contemporary orchestra of piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, an E-flat and two B-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, a large but standard percussion contingent, harp, and a standard string section. It is approximately four and a half minutes long. The theatre-sized orchestration, as in the published full score of the operetta, includes one flute doubling on piccolo, one oboe, two clarinets rotating between an E-flat, B-flat, and bass, one bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, one tuba, standard orchestral percussion, harp, and strings. Main differences between the two are doublings and increased use of percussion effects (especially the addition of a drum roll during the opening fanfares) in the symphony orchestral arrangement. Differences between the first publication and later printings (of both orchestrations) include a slowed opening tempo (half note equal 132 instead of 152). An arrangement for standard wind ensemble also exists, composed by Clare Grundman in 1991, published under Boosey and Hawkes. Peter Richard Conte has also transcribed it for the Wanamaker Organ.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: Dick Cavett used the "Glitter and Be Gay" portion of the overture at the midpoint of his ABC late-night TV show "The Dick Cavett Show". The song also served as his signature introduction during the years the Cavett show aired on PBS.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: At a memorial concert for Bernstein in 1990, the New York Philharmonic paid tribute to their Laureate Conductor by performing the overture without a conductor. This practice has become a performance tradition still maintained by the Philharmonic.


title: Candide (operetta)

text: The New York Philharmonic performed the Overture to Candide as part of its historic concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 26, 2008.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Mystery Road is a 2013 Australian crime film with neo-Western elements and setting, written and directed by Ivan Sen. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. A film sequel entitled "Goldstone" was released in 2016, and TV series in 2018, all featuring Aaron Pedersen as the brooding Indigenous Australian detective Jay Swan.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Near the rural town of Winton, Queensland, a truck driver finds the body of a teenage Aboriginal girl named Julie Mason inside one of the drainage culverts under the road. Newly promoted Aboriginal Detective Jay Swan, recently returned from training in the city, investigates the murder. He learns that Julie used to exchange sex with truck drivers for money. He attempts to question another local Aboriginal girl, Tarni Williams, who was friends with Julie, but she refuses to speak to him. A boy gives Jay Julie's phone, which has several text messages to Jay's teenage daughter, Crystal. He visits his ex-wife, Mary, and speaks to Crystal. Jay searches a farm near where Julie's body was found and meets its owner, Sam Bailey. Jay later finds out that another teenage Aboriginal girl had also gone missing earlier.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: On morning Jay goes to the radio tower where truck drivers would take girls, and Jay observes men taking something off a truck and driving it to what appears to be a drug lab. As he drives away, his police colleagues, Johnno and Constable Roberts, flag him down. Johnno attempts to intimidate Jay. Jay later asks his boss about Johnno and is told that Johnno had some unspecified trouble in his previous assignment and had to transfer here, but that he is close to making some big arrests.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Jay visits the motel where Julie used to go to have sex with truckers. The motel owner tells him about a white man registered under the name "William Smith", who drives a white hunting truck who had registered there. He returns to Sam's farm, where he encounters Pete, who says his father isn't around, insults Jay, refuses to let him search his truck, and states that he works as a kangaroo hunter and is an expert shot. Jay goes back to the police station and pulls up Pete Bailey's police record, which shows a long criminal record, and that Pete had last been arrested for drug possession by another local police officer who had recently been killed on the job. The investigation file of the slain police officer is missing. Jay visits the young widow of the deceased police officer, who tells him that the officer had been called to work by another, unnamed police officer on the night that he was killed.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Jay follows Johnno leaving the police station in a police car. Johnno switches vehicles and leaves in his own hunting truck, driving to a rest stop, where he meets up with a local drug dealer named Wayne Silverman. Jay later goes to Wayne's house and arrests him. Wayne tells Jay that he deals drugs to local Aboriginal girls and then prostitutes them out when they can't pay. He says that he had stolen a car that contained heroin, but subsequently lost the drugs. Johnno interrupts the interrogation to release Wayne, who is his informant. Jay then discovers a further murder victim, Tarni. He then finds that Mary's house has been broken into and Crystal's whereabouts are unknown.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Jay stakes out the drug lab and sees a man in an orange car hand over Wayne to someone in a Land Rover. Johnno and Jay go to a restaurant, where Johnno ignores his questions, but states that he is looking for something that's missing, implying that its discovery will keep Crystal safe. Jay searches the house of the initial victim, Julie, finding several bags of heroin hidden in the TV. He calls Johnno to arrange their return at a hill off Mystery Road.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: When he arrives first for the drop-off, Jay loads his hunting rifle and pistol. The orange car and Land Rover arrive and Jay hands over the heroin. Jay sees Pete's truck in the distance, and Pete uses his hunting rifle to wound Jay in the arm. A shootout ensues as Jay runs back to his car for cover. The man who is wearing a mask and was driving the orange car is shot by Johnno, using a hunting rifle from afar. Jay and Johnno shoot several of the men dead. Pete and Johnno exchange long-distance shots as Jay kills all the rest of the criminals as they attempt to flee, and then disables Pete's truck when he tries to drive away. Jay kills Pete, then spots the dead body of Johnno, and unmasks the car driver to discover he is Constable Roberts. Jay finds Sam Bailey shot through the neck in the Land Rover, sees scratch marks on the backseat and finds a necklace with the name "Julie" on it.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Jay returns to Winton and sees Mary and Crystal waiting for him. He gets out of the car, and the three stare at each other as the sun sets.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: "Mystery Road" received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 92% based on reviews from 36 critics, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads, ""Mystery Road" evokes classic Westerns while using its Australian outback setting to delve into a surprisingly layered -- and powerfully impactful -- array of social issues."


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Tom Clift of "FILMINK" called it a "masterfully executed slice of storytelling that rates as one of our finest films of the past few years." Sandra Hall of "The Sydney Morning Herald" also gave a positive review, commenting that ""Mystery Road's" links to the classic Hollywood western are as obvious as its hero's cowboy boots and white hat but they do nothing to diminish its Australianness." Craig Mathieson of "The Sunday Age" called it a "deeply satisfying and slow-burning modern-day western set in outback New South Wales, Ivan Sen's outstanding film "Mystery Road" bridges the current divide in Australian cinema with a prominent and precise work."


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Not all reviews were positive. Alex Doenau of "Trespass" commented "There simply isn't enough dynamism to justify Sen's story. Australian movies have to work harder to secure audiences beyond those who go to them out of a sense of duty or worthiness; "Mystery Road" simply doesn't go that far."


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: The film was a rare foreign screening at the 2014 Pyongyang International Film Festival, North Korea.


title: Mystery Road (film)

text: Sen wrote and directed a sequel to "Mystery Road", entitled "Goldstone". Pedersen reprises his role, and joining the cast is David Wenham, Alex Russell, David Gulpilil and Jacki Weaver. A spin-off six-part TV series also titled "Mystery Road" screened on the ABC in 2018, with Series 2 shown in 2020, and Series 3 in 2022.


The 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 2010, during the 2010 midterm elections. Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ran for reelection to a sixth term, but lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak. Republican nominee Pat Toomey then won the seat.


title: 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

text: Toomey had previously run for United States Senate in 2004, challenging Specter for the Republican nomination, but was narrowly defeated in the primary. Specter went on to be reelected to his fifth term, defeating the Democratic nominee, Congressman Joe Hoeffel. Toomey announced on April 15, 2009, that he would again seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election.


text: The primary season was marked by Specter's decision in early 2009 to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party due to his disagreement with the increasingly conservative positions of the party, pitting him against Sestak in the Democratic primary. The contest, characterized by attacks between the two Democratic candidates, was one of the most-watched primary races of the 2010 election cycle. Sestak ultimately defeated Specter in the May 18 primary, garnering 53.9% of the vote, to Specter's 46.1%. Pat Toomey easily defeated challenger Peg Luksik for the Republican nomination. Toomey received 81.5% of the vote, to Luksik's 18.5%.


text: Toomey defeated Sestak in the general election on November 2, 2010. Toomey garnered 2,028,945 votes (51.01%) to Sestak's 1,948,716 (48.99%), a margin of 80,229 votes (2.02%). The race was called by the Associated Press shortly before midnight. Not long thereafter, Sestak officially conceded the election to Toomey. Toomey's winning margin made this election the third-closest race of the 2010 Senate election cycle, behind only the elections in Illinois and Colorado. As of 2022, this is the last time that Lehigh County and Monroe County voted Republican.


text: The Democratic party race between Specter and Sestak was considered one of the most bitter and highly watched of all the 2010 primary elections. On April 28, 2009, Specter switched to the Democratic Party after having served in the Senate as a Republican for 28 years, encouraged by Vice President Joe Biden and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, after he had voted in favor of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan and was faced with opposition from Pennsylvania Republicans. Although Specter claimed he switched largely because he disagreed with the increasingly conservative direction the Republican Party was heading in, he also admitted that the switch was due to his poor chances of winning a Republican primary against Toomey due to Specter's support of the Obama stimulus package . The Democratic establishment had till then encouraged Sestak, a former U.S. Navy admiral and the representative of Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district, to run in the Democratic primary. But after Specter switched parties he was largely embraced by such major Democratic figures as Obama, Biden, Rendell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Democratic establishment now feared Sestak would harm Specter's chances in the general election and encouraged him to drop out, but Sestak refused and strongly criticized Specter's party switch as an opportunistic move aimed solely at political self-preservation.


text: Specter led Sestak by more than 20 percentage points in polling for most of the race and, while Sestak struggled to overcome problems from his low name recognition, Specter received endorsements from major Democratic figures and influential organizations like the AFL-CIO and Pennsylvania Democratic Committee. Specter's lead narrowed significantly in the final month of the campaign, when Sestak concentrated his funds and efforts on television commercials that questioned Specter's Democratic credentials. As the race progressed, Specter grew more strongly critical of Sestak, attacking his House attendance record, accusing him of failing to pay his staffers' minimum wage, and claiming that he was demoted in the Navy for creating a "poor command climate". On May 18, Sestak ended Specter's nearly 30-year Senate career, earning 53.8 percent of the primary vote to Specter's 46.2 percent. Political observers said the commercials played a major part in Sestak's victory, and that a national swing in momentum toward Republicans and against incumbents ultimately harmed Specter's chances. During the primary campaign, it was revealed that former President Bill Clinton had offered Sestak a position in the Obama administration if he withdrew his candidacy. This drew allegations from Republicans that the administration violated federal statutes forbidding government employees from interfering with a Senate election, but no formal investigation was opened. The Democratic primary occurred on May 18, 2010. Although Specter had won the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, at 10:14 PM EDT that evening, the Associated Press projected the race as won by Sestak.


text: Pat Toomey, a Republican former Congressman representing the Lehigh Valley-based 15th congressional district, had previously challenged incumbent Arlen Specter in the Republican primary of the 2004 Senate race, in which the conservative Toomey tried to portray Specter as too liberal. Although Toomey ultimately lost, he came within 17,000 votes (less than two percentage points) of beating Specter, despite the long-time Senator's strong name recognition and wide support from party leaders. In an interview with "The Hill" on 1 December 2008, Toomey said he was considering a 2010 bid against Specter, whom he said was "significantly more vulnerable now than he was in 2004". Toomey claimed that many liberal and moderate Republicans had since abandoned the party to join the Democratic Party during the 2008 presidential primaries, eliminating many of Specter's core constituents from a closed Republican primary.


text: The next month, however, Toomey announced he would not likely not run for Senate again and said he was instead seriously considering a possible bid for governor in 2010. But after Specter voted in favor of the Barack Obama-supported stimulus proposal aimed at stopping the economic recession, Toomey began to once again contemplate running for Senate, claiming he believed the incumbent Senator was supporting federal government bailouts and spending plans that were "taking the country on a dangerously wrong path". In discussions with potential supporters in his possible governor bid, dozens of Pennsylvanians urged Toomey to challenge Specter, who was considered particularly vulnerable because he had supported the Democrats' stimulus plan. In early March, Toomey began to privately assure supporters he would run against Specter, and during a March 28 keynote address before the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg, he announced, "It's very likely that very soon I will be a candidate for the U.S. Senate"; the 600 audience members gave him a standing ovation at the news.


text: Peg Luksik, a conservative anti-abortion activist from Johnstown who previously lost bids for governor in 1990 and 1994, had announced her candidacy for the Republican primary in March. Although some questioned her lack of elected office experience and limited knowledge of foreign affairs, Luksik said she planned to be an advocate against big government and excessive spending. During a conversation in February 2009, Toomey had assured her he did not plan to run for Senate again. She was present the next month at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference when Toomey announced his plans to run, but Luksik said she nevertheless planned to stay in the race. She said she did not feel betrayed by Toomey's surprise announcement, adding, "I understand these two men have a long, personal and rather vindictive history and there's a real desire for the two of them to go and hit each other with sticks. I get that. I have five sons." Her candidacy led to speculation that Luksik and Toomey could split the conservative vote, which could help Specter secure a victory in the primary from moderate voters, but Luksik said she would resist any efforts by conservative Republicans to pressure her into withdrawing.


text: Pat Toomey formally announced his candidacy on April 15, 2009, Tax Day, via a video on his website, and stepped down as head of the anti-tax political organization Club for Growth to concentrate on his campaign. A Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll released the previous month had indicated Toomey would defeat Specter by 14 percentage points in a two-man race if the primary were held that day. That same poll, however, found three out of four Republicans didn't yet know enough about Toomey to form an opinion about him. Some Republicans expressed concerns that if Toomey defeated Specter in the closed Republican primary, he would be a weaker candidate in the general election and the party could risk losing the Senate seat to the Democrats. Toomey rejected such concerns, pointed to his two successful reelections in the Democratic-leaning Lehigh Valley congressional district as proof he could win votes from the opposing party. Rumors began to circulate that Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a Specter supporter, had asked Toomey to drop his candidacy, but Toomey denied those claims. Nevertheless, Toomey received some early support from conservatives like Jim DeMint, the senator from South Carolina who endorsed Toomey and donated thousands of dollars to his campaign.


text: Starting in April, Specter made the rare move of starting to run television advertisements more than a year before the primary election, linking Toomey's background as a Wall Street banker and support of credit default swaps to the economic crisis. While Toomey criticized Specter as a liberal who consistently sided with the Democratic majority, Specter stressed that if Toomey won the primary, he would lose the general election and give Democrats a 60th seat in the Senate, which would allow them to suppress Republican filibusters. In an interview on Morning Joe, Specter said, "If Mr. Toomey is the nominee, you can be sure he'll lose. He's to the right of Rick Santorum. Santorum lost by 18 points, spent $31 million and was a two-term incumbent." Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the "Rothenberg Political Report", said of the expected primary match-up, "Republicans will have to decide whether they want to hold the seat or make a statement about issues and ideology."


text: On April 28, 2009, however, Specter announced he was leaving the Republican Party and becoming a Democrat, claiming he disagreed with the increasingly conservative direction the party was heading in and found his personal philosophy was now better aligned with the Democratic Party. Although Specter said his decision was made primarily based on principle, he admitted it was also partially due to his poor chances of beating Toomey in the Republican primary: "I have traveled the state and surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak." Toomey became widely considered the favorite to win the Republican primary as a result of Specter's defection. Peg Luksik said of Specter's switch, "It is clear that Arlen Specter stands with President Obama on a host of issues and with this decision, has gone home to the Democratic Party."


text: With Specter's departure from the primary, some speculated that a less conservative candidate than Toomey was needed to defeat Specter in the general election, since the state had previously supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. John Cornyn declined to immediately endorse Toomey and Senator Orrin Hatch, vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said of him, "I don't think there is anybody in the world who believes he can get elected senator there." Names of other potential Republican candidates began to be floated, like Congressman Jim Gerlach, Lieutenant Governor Joseph B. Scarnati, and State Senate Majority Leader Dominic F. Pileggi, none of whom ruled out running. Some, like Senator Lindsey Graham and Republican State Committee Chairman Robert Gleason, suggested former governor Tom Ridge might be a suitable candidate. Ridge began to seriously contemplate a run, and Quinnipiac University polls indicated Specter held a projected lead over Ridge of only three percentage points, compared to 20 points over Toomey.


text: Even before Ridge made a final decision, however, conservative bloggers began criticizing Ridge's moderate positions and support for abortion rights. Political opponents also circulated e-mail messages questioning Ridge's residency eligibility because, although he still voted in Pennsylvania, he lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland. On May 7, Ridge announced he would not run in the primary, claiming he preferred to continue supporting the Republican Party by promoting causes as a private citizen. Some felt Ridge's decision not to run ended the Republican Party's best chance to win the seat from Specter. But Toomey expressed confidence he could beat the incumbent senator, claiming Democrats would find him difficult to trust after seeing the way he abandoned the Republicans. Toomey said he "expected to beat Arlen Specter soundly in the Republican primary, but I had no idea I would drive him clear out of the party." A Quinnipiac University poll released on May 28 projected Toomey now trailed Specter by nine percentage points, a smaller gap than Specter's 20-point lead from a May 4 survey.


text: Although Toomey anticipated that other candidates would enter the race, the Republican primary remained a two-way race between him and Luksik. State Senator Jane Orie, from the North Hills area of Pennsylvania, briefly considered entering the race but announced on July 13 that she would not run because she wanted to concentrate on the state budget. The National Republican Senatorial Committee announced on July 14 that it was endorsing Toomey, even though the group previously helped Specter defeat Toomey in 2004. It was considered a key endorsement expected to help improve fund-raising efforts for Toomey, who had already raised $1.6 million in the previous three-month quarter. By July 22, polls indicated that Specter's projected lead over Toomey had nearly disappeared, as the Senator now led him only 45-44 percent. That same poll showed Toomey led Luksik by 47 percent to 6 percent, a margin so large that media outlets predicted Luksik stood little chance of overcoming him; the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" said Luksik was "not considered to be a stiff challenge". By August, Toomey had an even greater advantage in the polls, 12 points, over Specter.


text: Following an e-mail exchange with the Democratic challenger Joe Sestak about health care, Toomey agreed to an unorthodox proposal by Sestak to hold a joint town hall about the issue, which was held September 2 at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. Specter was not invited to participate, and political pollster G. Terry Madonna described it as an "informal pact" between Sestak and Toomey to weaken their joint rival, something the two men denied. Commentators suggested Toomey was willing to help Sestak at this stage of the race because he preferred Sestak as a general election opponent rather than Specter, who could possibly steal Republican and Independent voters from Toomey. By October, Toomey had raised a total of $3.1 million for the race, but spent $861,000 in the past three-month quarter as he traveled across the state for his campaign. In contrast, Luksik raised less than $100,000 from June to October. Also in October, Toomey was endorsed by former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who called Toomey the "man for the job" and pledged to help him raise funds.


text: Toomey continued to hold projected leads against his Democratic opponents as the primary campaign entered 2010, with January polls indicating he held a 14-point lead over Specter and a 17-point lead over Sestak. Some political scientists, like G. Terry Madonna and Jeff Brauer, attributed Toomey's gains to voter dissatisfaction with the health-care plan before Congress and a poor national political climate for Democrats and incumbents. Toomey's campaign continued to portray him as a political outsider and small-government advocate while condemning Specter and Sestak as "a rubber stamp for the Reid-Pelosi big government agenda". In February, it was announced Toomey raised more money than Specter in the final three months of 2009, earning $1.67 million compared to Specter's $1.15 million, although Specter's total war chest of $8.66 million was still significantly larger than Toomey's $2.8 million. In that same quarter, Peg Luksik raised $163,000 and had $66,000 on hand. On February 13, the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania endorsed Toomey over Peg Luskik in the Senate race. Toomey told the committee he would work to restore fiscally conservative principals to Washington and fight to eliminate street money, or state grants offered in exchange for support on key issues. When asked whether Luksik would continue to run, she replied, "Absolutely. Are you kidding? I always run un-endorsed."


text: With news outlets like the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" and Fox News predicting Toomey would have little difficult defeating Luksik in the primary, Toomey again became involved with the Democratic primary by accepting an invitation to a second debate with Sestak, who had been trying unsuccessfully to engage Arlen Specter in more than one primary debate. In accepting the April 11 debate, Toomey said, "Like many politicians who have spent decades in Washington, Sen. Specter maintains a sense of entitlement to his office and he is unwilling to put his record and ideas to the test of open and honest debate." In response to the scheduled debate, Luksik spokesman Steve Clark said Toomey had to remember he was running against Luksik in the primary, not Sestak or Specter. By March, Specter appeared to be gaining momentum in the Democratic primary, with polls indicating he not only led Sestak by 24 percentage points, but had recaptured a projected lead against Toomey in the general election by a margin of 49 percent to 42 percent. Pollsters indicated Specter was benefiting greatly from the large amount of media attention the Democratic primary had received, as well as the Senator's strong name recognition, whereas Sestak and Toomey remained relatively unknown.


text: When the Senate candidates publicly released their quarterly campaign finance reports on April 15, it was revealed that Pat Toomey once again raised more in the first three months of 2010 than either Democratic candidate, increasing his funds by $2.3 million to a total of a $4.1 million war chest compared to Specter raising $1.1 million to a total of $9.1 million and Sestak raising $0.4 million to a total of $5.3 million. The funds raised that quarter made Toomey the best-funded Senate challenger in the country to that point. Political analysts attributed Toomey's success to the national swing in momentum toward Republicans, and said it could indicate the Republicans would be victorious in many Senate races, including in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Luksik continued to campaign in low-attendance appearances on conservative anti-abortion, anti-tax and anti-spending principles, while portraying herself as a down-to-earth housewife and common-sense candidate. In the days leading up to the primary election, Toomey received endorsements by the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" and the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". On May 10, he ran his first television advertisement, which called for more jobs and less government and included a narrator saying, "Trillion dollar bailouts and deficits, government-run health care, record unemployment. Had enough?" John Baer of the "Philadelphia Daily News" said Toomey was so widely expected to defeat Luksik that he said of the Republican primary, "The race is a balloon with no air. It sits flat while the Democratic fight between Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak sucks up all the oxygen."


text: Pat Toomey won the May 18 primary with 81.5 percent of the vote, or 668,409 of the votes cast, compared to 18.5 percent and 151,802 votes for Peg Luksik. The Associated Press wrote that Luksik could not overcome Toomey's financial advantages, particularly when the Republican primary was so overshadowed by the Democratic race. "The Philadelphia Inquirer" wrote that Toomey's run against Luksik in the primary "will help him maintain his competitive condition" against Sestak, who defeated Specter in the Democratic primary.


text: Shortly after Joe Sestak's primary victory, Arlen Specter called him to offer congratulations and vowed to support his candidacy, saying that "I think it's vital to keep this seat in the Democratic Party." Both Sestak and Pat Toomey began campaigning for the general election the day after the May 18 primary. Before reporting to Capitol Hill for House matters, Sestak appeared in interviews on several national media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, NPR and CBS News. Both Toomey and Sestak said they considered each other friends and vowed to engage in a "clean" campaign focusing on policy rather than personal attacks. The two quickly began challenging each other's records, however, with Sestak citing Toomey's past Wall Street career and claiming he would rather aid rich bankers than the working class, and Toomey portraying Sestak as a liberal aligned with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. The day after the primary, Sestak claimed that Toomey wanted to continue "to back failed policies of George W. Bush" and "to let Wall Street do whatever it wants". At a rally at the Allegheny County Airport, Toomey said Sestak's politics were more liberal than most mainstream Democrats and described him as a proponent of "even-larger government".


text: Within minutes of Sestak's victory, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn issued a statement describing Sestak as too liberal for Pennsylvania, claiming that he consistently voted with Washington Democratic leaders and supported energy policies that would reduce jobs. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, all of whom vocally supported Specter in the primary, each called Sestak after his primary victory and pledged to support him in the general election. Congressman Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said it would "be incredibly disingenuous and reek of political payback" for Sestak to accept any such support from the Obama administration after Sestak had accused the White House of offering him a job in exchange for dropping out of the Democratic primary. Nevertheless, while Sestak said he would not become "part of the establishment", he welcomed the Obama administration's support and said, "I plan on being the president's best ally."


text: On May 20, Toomey released the first statewide advertisement of the campaign, a television commercial with a narrator describing both candidates as "Two good men with very different ideas." The ad contrasted the positions between the two candidates on the Wall Street bailout, national health-care debate and terrorist trials. Meanwhile, Sestak said Toomey needed to be held accountable for his support of bank deregulation and former President George W. Bush's financial policies which helped lead to the economic recession. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said Toomey was "conveniently failing to mention his decades of service to Wall Street" in his advertisements. When asked about the promise between Sestak and Toomey to maintain a clean and friendly campaign, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney said, "Guess what? That all changed at 10:30 p.m. (Tuesday). I hope the congressman adheres to his word, but I have no consuming expectation that he will. It's going to get hard in a moment. This race is going to take a turn."


text: Early polls showed varied results over who was leading, although some indicated Sestak had an advantage due to the positive press he received for defeating Arlen Specter. Despite Specter's stated support for Sestak, the Senator's former chief of staff David Urban, now a lobbyist, offered his support to Toomey after the Democratic primary ended. Urban sought to connect moderate Republicans, conservative Democrats and the current and former chiefs of staff of Republicans and encourage them to help Toomey get elected. Both candidates sought to use online media avenues to reach out to prospective voters, which was still considered a relatively new field for politicians. The two started accounts on Twitter, with the ToomeyForSenate account amassing 4,907 followers and the Sestak2010 account 3,796 followers as of June 4. Both also had accounts on Facebook, where Toomey had 10,361 friends and Sestak had 3,146.


text: Sestak and Toomey had wildly different views on almost every issue, including abortion, health care, energy, social security and the recent stimulus bill and financial bailouts. Sestak favored the bailouts of the United States financial system, automobile industry and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, claiming they saved many jobs and homes. Toomey condemned them as a waste of taxpayer money that rewarded irresponsible behavior. Sestak praised the financial regulatory reform bill before Congress as "a victory for the American people over Wall Street" that would protect the economy from shadow banking and toxic assets. Toomey said it did nothing to prevent taxpayer bailouts of failing corporations. Toomey also argued against a proposed cap and trade bill, which he said would encourage firms to move manufacturing jobs overseas and force Pennsylvania businesses to close. Sestak claimed the bill would help businesses by lowering energy costs in the long-run, claiming, "Pat Toomey is in the pocket of big oil, and big oil doesn't want alternative energy."


text: Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Sestak criticized Toomey for his support of offshore drilling in Lake Erie, claiming the proposal risked placing 90 percent of the country's surface water in danger. Toomey said that he supported allowing states to retain the right to make decisions about drilling, and claimed Sestak was too willing to cede control to the federal government. Both Sestak and Toomey sought to portray themselves as the ideal candidates for small-business issues. Toomey campaigned on lower taxes and less regulation, and released a 30-second television advertisement emphasizing his experience as owner of a small chain of bars and restaurants in the 1990s. Sestak countered that image, however, citing past court depositions that indicated Toomey was not very involved in the businesses and delegated most responsibilities to his brother Steven. Sestak said he would help small businesses through tax cuts and federal loan guarantees.


text: Heading into July, polls still indicated that the two candidates were roughly even. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said this was better news for Toomey than Sestak because it meant Toomey had "limited the damage" from the national positive publicity Sestak received after defeating Arlen Specter. From April 1 to June 30, Toomey raised $3.1 million compared to Sestak's $1.95 million. This left Toomey with $4.56 million in total funds, more than twice Sestak's total amount of about $2 million. Toomey was considered to have a financial advantage in part because he did not have as challenging a primary as Sestak, and thus was able to save most of his money. Additionally, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $1.4 million of the allotted sum in support of Specter during the primary, which left them with only $200,000 for the general election race.


text: In July, Toomey began airing five new television commercials, focusing on how he would oppose the Democratic establishment if elected, and four focusing on different votes Sestak had cast in the House: the stimulus plan, health-care reform, cap and trade, and tax increases. The ads characterized Sestak's positions as extreme, and each ended with a narrator saying, "That's liberal. That's Joe Sestak." Although they directly attacked Sestak, Toomey claimed that they did not break the candidates' pledge for a clean campaign because they focused on his policies, not his character. By running the commercials four months before the general election campaign, Toomey hoped to gain an advantage in name recognition. Also in July, the United States Chamber of Commerce began running television advertisements criticizing Sestak's support of "a government takeover of health care" and "billions in job-killing energy taxes", claiming he voted with Nancy Pelosi "100 percent of the time". Sestak called the ads inaccurate, citing specific instances when he voted against Pelosi; Two Pennsylvania television stations removed the ads, but Toomey defended them, claiming they were not misleading and accusing Sestak of being "hyper-sensitive".


text: Starting in July, both Sestak and Toomey blamed each other for the federal budget deficits that had become a national spotlight amid the troubled economy. Toomey portrayed Sestak as lacking "fiscal discipline" and supporting budget earmarks for pet projects, while Sestak said Toomey supported President George W. Bush's deficit spending and damaged the economy by helping deregulate Wall Street. On July 15, "The Philadelphia Inquirer" reported that Sestak received at least $119,650 in campaign contributions from employees of companies that received federal earmarks he had steered to the state since 2008. Although a common practice among political candidates, Sestak had advocated banning earmarks in favor of a competitive grant program, and vowed on his website to return any contributions from organizations or individuals who "has made a request for an appropriations project". In response to the story, Toomey called on Sestak to return those contributions, which he did not respond to. However, Sestak said he routinely returned money from employees of such companies, but sometimes had difficulty tracking donations from low-level employees. Toomey vowed never to seek earmarks if elected, while Sestak said although he favors ending the practice, he would continue advocating for them as long as earmarks continued to exist.


text: While Sestak presented economists who agreed with his positions, the conservative non-profit Citizens Against Government Waste gave him a zero rating on spending issues based on a review of 120 of his votes in Congress. Toomey challenged Sestak to sign a "No Pork" pledge offered by the organization. In turn, Sestak criticized Toomey for accepting campaign contributions from Club for Growth, a group that Toomey used to spearhead and which received criticism from such prominent Republicans as Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator John McCain and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.


text: On August 2, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who was once condemned by Toomey's Club for Growth for her support of the stimulus package, headlined a $1,000-a-plate luncheon for Toomey's campaign at Philadelphia's Union League. "The Philadelphia Inquirer" said Collins' support indicated Toomey was finding success in seeking moderate support for his candidacy. The newspaper noted other apparent efforts to draw in centrists, including Toomey's support for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who many conservatives opposed, and the fact that throughout the campaign Toomey had rarely brought up social issues like gay rights and abortion, for which he held conservative views. Sestak's campaign claimed those gestures only sought to conceal an extremely conservative voting record.


text: The first debate was held on October 20 at WPVI-TV studios in Philadelphia and the second held on October 22 at WPXI studios in Pittsburgh. Both candidates criticized the each other's ideology and referred to the other as extreme. Toomey heavily criticized Sestak for his support of Obama's stimulus, cap and trade, and healthcare reform. Sestak not only supported these measures but said they did not go far enough, referred to Toomey as "Pennsylvania's most right-wing congressman", and criticized him for working at Wall Street and supporting the elimination of corporate taxes.


text: Toomey was endorsed by former longtime Democratic Mayor of Harrisburg Stephen Reed, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, United States Chamber of Commerce, NRA, U.S. Senator Scott Brown and former governor Sarah Palin. Newspaper endorsements include the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review", "The Intelligencer", "The Tribune-Democrat" and the "Bucks County Courier Times".


text: Sestak was endorsed by independent NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. Sestak received newspaper endorsements from the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette", "The Philadelphia Inquirer", the "Erie Times-News", "The Citizens' Voice", "The Patriot-News", the "Observer-Reporter", and "The Huffington Post".


text: Toomey defeated Sestak on election day by a margin of 80,229 votes, and 2.1 percentage points. The Associated Press called the race for Toomey shortly after midnight. "The Washington Post" credited his victory to voter discontent with the Obama administration and unemployment rates. Sestak conceded defeat addressing a crowd at a suburban Philadelphia hotel in his congressional district, stating "it is now Alex time" referring to his 9-year-old daughter. Toomey gave his victory speech at a get together in Allentown, stating that the election was a "simple, clear message to the establishment" with some conciliatory notes that he would cooperate with the White House and fellow Pennsylvania Senator, Bob Casey Jr, a Democrat. It was third-closest race of the 2010 Senate elections, behind only Illinois and Colorado.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: , sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad, Night Train to the Stars or Fantasy Railroad in the Stars, is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1934 as part of published by . Four versions are known to be in existence, with the last one being the most famous among Japanese readers.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: The novel was adapted as a 1985 anime film of the same title as well as various stage musicals and plays.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Giovanni is a lonely boy, whose father is away on a long fishing trip, while his mother is ill at home. As a result, the young Giovanni must undertake paid jobs before and after school, delivering papers and setting type at the printers, in order to provide food for his poor family. These adult responsibilities leave him with no time to study or socialize, and he is ridiculed by his classmates. Apart from Giovanni's mother and sister, the only person who really cares for him is his former playmate Campanella, whose father is a close friend of Giovanni's father.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: During a lesson about the galaxy, the teacher asks Giovanni what the Milky Way is made of. Giovanni knows it is formed of stars, but is unable to say so, and Campanella does the same to save Giovanni from further teasing by the rest of the class. At the end of the lesson, the teacher encourages all the children to attend the festival of stars that evening. Upon returning home, Giovanni finds that no milk was delivered that day, so he heads out to the dairy to fetch it for his mother's dinner. Giovanni only encounters an elderly woman at the dairy, and once he pleads that his ill mother needs her milk that night, the woman advises him to come back later.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Giovanni intends to watch the festival with Campanella, but on his way into town, he is mocked by his schoolmates for expecting an otter-skin coat from his father. Upset by this taunt, Giovanni flees from the town. He walks alone to the top of a nearby hill and lies on the ground at the base of a "weather wheel" (天気輪). As he gazes up at the Milky Way in the sky above, Giovanni suddenly finds himself with Campanella onboard a steam train, which travels past the Northern Cross and many other stars in its journey across the galaxy. The two boys witness many amazing sights and meet various people, including scholars excavating a fossil from sands of white crystal, and a man who catches herons to turn them into candy.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: When a ticket inspector appears, Giovanni discovers he has a rare ticket which allows him to go anywhere that the train runs. Shortly after, the boys are joined in their seats by a tutor and two children, Kaoru and Tadashi, who were onboard a ship that sank after hitting an iceberg. As the train passes the flame of Scorpio, Kaoru recalls that it was once a scorpion who ate other insects, but perished in a well after escaping a weasel; regretting that it did not sacrifice itself for a good cause, the scorpion prayed to bring happiness to others in the next life, and its body burst into a bright flame that still burns in the night sky.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: The train next stops at the Southern Cross, where all the other passengers disembark for the Christian heaven, leaving only Giovanni and Campanella onboard as the train continues its journey. Giovanni pledges that they should go on together for ever, and vows to follow Scorpio's example of bringing true happiness to everyone. However, as the train approaches the Coalsack - a hole in the sky - Campanella sees what he considers 'the true heaven', where his mother is waiting for him, and suddenly vanishes from the train, leaving Giovanni alone in despair.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Giovanni wakes up on the hilltop, and initially dismisses his journey through the Milky Way as a dream. He heads back to the dairy, where this time he collects a bottle of milk from a farmer, who explains that an escaped calf drank half of the day's milk supply. As Giovanni passes through town on his way home, he learns that Campanella has fallen into the river while saving another boy from drowning. Giovanni hurries to the river, in fear of what he already knows, and finds Campanella's father just as he sadly gives up searching for his son, believing Campanella to have drowned. He tells Giovanni that he has received a letter from his father, announcing that he will be home soon. Continuing homeward to deliver this news and the milk to his mother, Giovanni secretly knows where Campanella went, and vows to stay strong throughout life.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: After Miyazawa's most beloved sister Toshi died in 1922, Miyazawa, in sorrow, went on a railroad trip to Sakhalin. He started working on this novel soon afterward in 1924, and this trip is said to be the basis of the story. He kept on polishing the work steadily until his death in 1933. The middle part of the novel was never completed but was published as it is nevertheless.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: A tribute to those who give themselves to others is a recurring theme throughout the storyline, and according to Hasebe (2000), they are reflections of Miyazawa's philosophy of self-sacrifice, a view appearing in many other juvenile novels of his such as "Yodaka no Hoshi" and "Guskō Budori no Denki". Meanwhile, Suzuki (2004) interprets them as representing a "holistic thought of Ecosystem".


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Hiroshi Masumura released a manga adaptation of the novel in 1983 with Asahi Sonorama. The protagonists in the manga are anthropomorphic cats. The manga then was made into a 1985 anime film directed by Gisaburo Sugii based on a screenplay by Minoru Betsuyaku. It was released on July 13, 1985, and features Mayumi Tanaka as Giovanni and Chika Sakamoto as Campanella.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Playwright Sō Kitamura made the story into a drama titled . Note that 想稿 could be a play on the word and the character carrying meanings such as "conception" or "idea". Premièred in 1986, the play was performed by Kitamura's theatrical company Project Navi.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: A part in a 2002 play consisting of various works by Kenji written by Yutaka Narui for a theatrical company Caramelbox, features the story by the name of . It follows through the episodes in the novel rather briefly. The play also includes some lines by Professor Burukaniro, which appear only in the first three versions of the novel.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: Warabiza, a performing arts company in Akita Prefecture, made a musical version of the story. The musical premièred in April 2004 and toured around Japan until March 2007.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: This is an illustrated book with music, launched in 2011 as an application for Apple Inc.'s iPad. Using the final fourth draft of Miyazawa's original as the source text, this version is made up of 272 pages, an unusually large number for a picture book. Apple Japan has recommended the Japanese version as an educational application.


title: Night on the Galactic Railroad

text: As copyright for the novel has expired in Japan (and most of the world), Aozora Bunko distributes full text of the novel for free.


title: Film censorship in China

text: Film censorship in China involves the banning of films which are deemed unsuitable for release and it also involves the editing of such films and the removal of content which is objected to by the governments of China. In April 2018, films were reviewed by the China Film Administration (CFA) under the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which dictates whether, when, and how a movie gets released. The CFA is separate from the NRTA under the State Council.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The beginning of film censorship in China came in July 1923, when the "Film Censorship Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Education Association" was established in Jiangsu. The committee set out specific requirements for film censorship, such as that films must be submitted for review, and that films that failed to pass must be deleted and corrected, or else they would not be allowed to be screened. However, since the committee was a non-government organization and was mostly composed of educators, film makers did not comply with the requirements, which made film censorship ineffective.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In 1926, after the Hangzhou Film Censorship Board, this was the most specific censorship procedure in recorded history and the first film censorship organization to cooperate fully with the police. The Beijing government also established the Film Censorship Committee in the same year. The censorship included issues of morality and crime, as well as indecency, obstruction of diplomatic relations, and "insult to China". However, the Chinese government is not able to extend its jurisdiction over localities, and the effect of film censorship is limited.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In July 1930, the Nationalist Government established the Film and Drama Censorship Committee in Nanjing. In 1931, the Executive Yuan passed the Film Censorship Law, and the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior of the Nanjing Government jointly established the Film Censorship Committee. In May 1934, the Film Censorship Council was reorganized into the Central Film Censorship Committee, which became the official film censorship Institution.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The 1930s were a period of nationalism in China. Patriotic sentiment was strong in China, and the Kuomintang government often accused foreign films of insulting China. For example, the 1934 release of the American film "Welcome Danger" was accused by Hong Shen of degrading the Chinese and he had a dispute with the cinema manager. The film was eventually banned by the Kuomintang government.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In addition to crimes and insults to China, pornography was also one of banned contents. In 1932, the "Outline of the Enforcement of the Film Censorship Law" had vague and ambiguous provisions: depicting obscene and unchaste acts; depicting those who use tricks or violence against the opposite sex to satisfy their lust; depicting incest directly or indirectly; depicting women undressed and naked in an abnormal manner; depicting women giving birth or abortion. All were prohibited.


title: Film censorship in China

text: For the film censorship after 7 December 1949, please see the film censorship of the Republic of China after 1949 section.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In 1949, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established. The department in charge of films was changed from the "Central Propaganda Bureau of the Communist Party of China" to the "Ministry of Culture of the Central People's Government". In 1954, it was renamed as the "Ministry of Culture Film Bureau". During the Cultural Revolution, film work came to a halt.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In the 1980s, video tapes and television were gradually introduced into China. The Ministry of Radio and Television of the State Council led the censorship process. In 1986, the ministry in charge of films was changed from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Radio and Television, resulting in a confusing pattern of multiple management.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In 1987, the State Council intended to centralize the management of the broadcasting, film, and television industries, but the intended legislation was temporarily suspended in the face of political turmoil.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In 1993, a preliminary draft of the Film Regulations was sent to film studios throughout China for comments, and the Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the State Council coordinated with the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance, and the Press and Publication Administration to revise the submitted draft repeatedly. In May 1996, after several discussions, the State Administration of Radio and Television (SARFT) confirmed that the film regulations would be promulgated by the State Council, and on May 29, the Standing Committee of the State Council approved the Film Regulation, which came into effect on July 1, 1996. However, the 1996 film regulations soon failed to keep up with the development of the film industry, and China was actively seeking to join the WTO in order to comply with the open-door policy. The Ministry of Radio, Film and Television prepared a new version of the draft, and on December 25, 2001, the Standing Committee of the State Council approved the amendments and issued a new version of the , which came into effect on February 1, 2002, and repealed the 1996 version.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The 2001 regulations already require studios to conduct self-censorship when preparing their productions, and after self-censorship, scripts must be submitted to the SARFT for the record. The film must be submitted for review and approval before it is issued with a Film Public Screening Permit.


title: Film censorship in China

text: After 2015, China strengthened the standards of control over film legislation.On October 12, 2015, the NPC's Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Health deliberated on the draft proposed by the State Council at the NPC Standing Committee. After three deliberations, in October 2016, the 12th NPC Standing Committee confirmed that it could be adopted with one amendment, and on November 3, 2016, a meeting was held to conclude the matter. The passage of the Film Industry Promotion Law is getting closer and closer.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In January 2017, the SARFT issued a notice to its affiliated units throughout China to promote the Law, and on March 1, the Film Industry Promotion Law came into effect.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In March 2018, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party decided its publicity department would centralize the film management, taking that responsibility away from SAPPRFT, the latter of which was renamed National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). In April 2018, the department formally put up a China Film Administration sign.


title: Film censorship in China

text: Indian films were de facto banned from theatrical release in China in 2020 and 2021 due to border skirmishes in addition to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Film censorship in China

text: On June 11, 2021, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced that effective that day that it would begin censoring films according to the requirements from Hong Kong national security law, bringing itself more in line with the rest of the country.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The Film Public Screening Permit () is issued by the Chinese film censorship department. Since July 1, 1996, films shot locally in China and films imported from abroad must be reviewed and filed in China before they can be released.


title: Film censorship in China

text: According to the Motion Picture Association of America's handbook, Hollywood producers who want to co-produce with Chinese must also apply for a permit before they can be released in China.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The Chinese censorship department's restrictions on the importation of foreign films were also under pressure from the United States, and China's position in the post-Cold War world had to be recognized by the United States. In 1999, China and the United States reached a bilateral agreement on WTO accession, and all countries except the United States opposed the inclusion of film and television products in the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. However, with Hollywood's lobbying group pushing China to neither obey nor ignore this rule, China increased the quota for foreign films in accordance with the U.S.-China agreement. Just before the agreement was reached, the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia resulted in a five-month ban on U.S. films in China.


title: Film censorship in China

text: In February 2012, China and the U.S. signed the Memorandum of Understanding between China and the U.S. on the Resolution of WTO Film-Related Issues (the U.S.-China Film Agreement), based on the 1999 agreement. The main content of the agreement is that the import quota for 20 Hollywood films can be unchanged, and 14 commercial films (3D or IMAX) can be added.


title: Film censorship in China

text: The passage of the Film Industry Promotion Act was the cause of China's anti-WTO lawsuit. Back in April 2007, the U.S. requested China to lift restrictions on the import of movies, music and books. After unsuccessful negotiations, the U.S. requested the WTO to establish a trade dispute resolution panel. In December 2009, the Appellate Body upheld the decision, finding that China's restrictions violated WTO member states' obligations and could not be justified on the grounds of protecting public morals. That is, China did violate the restrictions on U.S. entertainment products. China's appeal on the grounds of protecting its citizens, especially minors, from harmful information such as pornography was not accepted. The BBC also reported that if China does not change its current practices within two years, the U.S. has the right to request WTO authorization to impose trade sanctions on China.


title: Film censorship in China

text: Below are films that may be banned or self-censored and not released. For official bans and specific reasons at the government level, see List of films banned in China.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The Suzuki V-Strom 650 (DL650) is a mid-weight, sport touring motorcycle made by Suzuki since 2004, in its third generation since model year 2017. It has a standard riding posture, fuel injection and an aluminum chassis. Marketed in Europe, Oceania, the Americas, and since 2018, India, the DL650 is manufactured at Suzuki's final assembly plant in Toyokawa, Japan. The V-Strom 650 trades strength in a single area for adaptability to a variety of riding conditions: commuting, cruising, adventure touring, and to a lesser degree, off-road riding. The bike is variously categorized as dual sport, sport enduro tourer, street/adventure, commuter, or entry-level.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: According to the New York Times, the V-Strom has a loyal following worldwide, and the DL650 outsells the larger Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and the Suzuki V-Strom 1050 and the smaller Suzuki V-Strom 250.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The name V-Strom combines V, referring to the bike's V engine configuration, with the German word "Strom", meaning stream or current.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The V-Strom has a six-speed transmission with a fuel-injected and slightly retuned 645 cc engine from Suzuki's SV650 sport bike, using a two-into-one exhaust system. An upright, standard riding posture contributes to the bike's handling characteristics.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The engine is a 90°, liquid cooled, four-stroke V-twin, with bore and a stroke, four valves per cylinder, and intake and exhaust valving each with their own camshaft. Its more relaxed cam profiles, compared with the SV engine, boost the power between 4,000 and 6,500 rpm, along with slight changes to the airbox and exhaust. Relative to the SV, the crank inertia (flywheel effect) is also increased by 4% via a redesigned starter clutch.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: As well, the DL650 engine uses a plastic outer clutch cover and engine sprocket cover for reduced weight and noise.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: Unlike the SV engine, which uses cast iron cylinder sleeves, the DL650 uses Suzuki's proprietary SCEM (Suzuki Composite Electro-chemical Material) plated cylinders, a race-proven nickel-phosphorus-silicon-carbide coating for reduced weight and improved heat transfer, allowing for tighter and more efficient piston-to-cylinder clearance, similar to a Nikasil coating.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The DL650 engine electronics aid starting and throttle control and uses Suzuki's AFIS (Auto Fast Idle System), eliminating a fast-idle control. The engine control module (ECM) reads engine information, such as coolant temperature, via a 32-bit central processing unit (CPU), controlling the fuel system's dual throttle bodies.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The DL650 uses Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV) fuel-injection and exhausts via a two-into-one exhaust system with a catalytic converter in the muffler. European models meet Euro 3 emissions specifications. In the US, a "PAIR" air injection system reduces CO and HC emissions.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: A stiff, twin-spar aluminum frame and swingarm accommodates a rear Showa mono-shock with rebound and hydraulic preload adjustment. Front Showa damper-rod forks are not adjustable. The DL650 has a 19-inch front wheel and a 17-inch rear wheel.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The bike's instrument cluster includes a compact analog step-motor speedometer and tachometer (both with LED illumination) and a digital LCD unit with odometer, trip meter, coolant temperature gauge, fuel gauge, LED neutral, digital clock, turn signal and high beam lights and an oil pressure warning light.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: An adjustable windshield allows movement of . A small underseat compartment, suitable for small tools, gloves, or an owner's manual, can be accessed by removal of the seat, via a lock located at the rear of the bike, just below the built-in rack.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The V-Strom 650 was named one of the "ten best" bikes under $10,000 by "Motorcyclist (USA)" magazine, October, 2007—beating out, among many others, the V-Strom 1000. In a September 2006 article, "Cycle World" magazine wrote "the DL650 may just be the most shockingly competent machine in the world today."


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: A 2004 article from "MotorcycleUSA.com" said "it was hard to imagine another machine with a competitive versatility-per-dollar ratio."


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: Twice consecutively, the DL650 has earned the title "Alpenkoenig" (King of the Alps), winning German "Motorrad" magazine's trans-alp multi-bike test in 2005 and 2006.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: At the DL650's launch, Kevin Ash said "taking everything into account - price, comfort, fuel range, general ability, you could argue it was the bike of the year," adding, "there's something honest and solid about the V-Strom." Having ridden a DL650 as his daily rider, in 2005 Ash called it the "best bike you can buy." Ash complimented the bike's comfort, fuel range, engine and handling, faulting its brakes and corrosion resistance, and described the bike as "perhaps the ultimate all-round machine." At the launch of the revised 2012 model, Ash said that the previous generation, which could be very vulnerable to corrosion, had "been left behind, especially by direct rival, the Kawasaki Versys." After the release of the 2012 model, Ash placed the Vstrom ahead of the Versys.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: The 2012 model had minor changes in styling and some specifications, including fuel capacity reduced from , seat height raised from , and 10mm more rear suspension travel.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: Beginning in 2017, the DL650 was available in two model versions; the base and XT. The base has Ten spoked cast-aluminum, while the 650 XT features tubeless tire wire-spoked wheels. This version of the DL650 now has intercompatible luggage rack with the updated DL1000 from 2014. It also now features adjustable traction control and throttle assist which slowly increases the rpm of the engine when the clutch is released or riding at slow speeds. This decreases the chance the rider will stall the motorcycle. The 2017 model is also Euro4-compliant.


title: Suzuki V-Strom 650

text: Unique to the V-Strom 650XA are the knuckle covers to support harsh condition riding, and the engine under cowling to give the rider that extra adventure feel, both as standard equipment.


title: October Rust

text: October Rust is the fourth studio album by Type O Negative. It was released in 1996. This is the first album with Johnny Kelly credited as the band's drummer, although programmed drums are used on the album. "October Rust" has more ballads and less of the doom metal sound of previous or subsequent albums. It also features a very heavy cover of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl".


title: October Rust

text: It is the first of the band's albums with a "joke intro"; in this case, "Bad Ground", which is 38 seconds of low-level buzzing, meant to sound as if one or more audio leads is incorrectly plugged into the input jacks of an amplifier. Tracks 2 and 15 are humorous untitled spoken word intros and outros to the album, respectively, with the band downplaying the recording of the album. Another production technique employed on the album is the use of very abrupt endings and segues to a few of the songs, heard on the tracks "Green Man", "Red Water", and "Haunted".


title: October Rust

text: "October Rust" was well received by critics. In 2017, former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward ranked "October Rust" as one of his favorite Metal albums of all time.


title: The Ataris

text: The Ataris are an American punk rock band from Anderson, Indiana. Formed in 1996, they released five studio albums between 1997 and 2007. Their best-selling album is "So Long, Astoria" (2003), which was certified gold. Their high-charting single is the cover song "The Boys of Summer" from "So Long, Astoria". The only constant member throughout their history has been singer/songwriter/guitarist Kristopher Roe.


title: The Ataris

text: Formed on November 1, 1996, the band originally consisted of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kristopher Roe and guitarist Jasin Thomason. Using a 4-track, Roe wrote and recorded demos in his bedroom, using a drum machine while he searched for a full-time drummer. The band's first big break came in 1996 when Roe attended a show at the club Bogart's in Cincinnati, where Thomason passed one of the band's demo tapes to a roadie from the band. The roadie gave the tape to Joe Escalante, bassist from the band The Vandals who owned their own label, Kung Fu Records. A few weeks later, Roe received a call from Kung Fu Records, who told him they were interested in putting out their record, even though he was really only searching for a drummer. The Ataris signed to Kung Fu and the label passed the tape along to various drummers. Eventually, Roe decided upon ex-Lagwagon drummer Derrick Plourde. The band then proceeded to record their debut album "Anywhere but Here", tracking the whole thing in less than a week. The album was released on April 29, 1997 and the band held a release show party at Missing Link Records in Indianapolis on May 2.


title: The Ataris

text: In June 1997, Roe moved from Anderson, Indiana to Santa Barbara, California. Shortly afterward, Marko Desantis joined the band on bass for a short time. Thomason decided to leave the band to stay in Indiana, and the group toured as a three-piece for a short while. After a brief tour in October 1997, this lineup disbanded. Roe, out of money and living in a van, contemplated moving back to Indiana. But the band still had an upcoming tour booked with Dance Hall Crashers and Unwritten Law, so Roe decided to give the band one more shot. He got his friend from Santa Barbara, Mike Davenport, to play bass. Davenport shared a small rehearsal space on East Haley Street with his friend Marco Peña, who was in a different band. One day at the rehearsal space, Roe and Davenport heard the drummer of Peña's band, Chris Knapp, playing and immediately asked him to join The Ataris. While Roe and Davenport joked that Peña would be upset over them "stealing" his band's drummer, Peña surprised them by showing up at their practice the next day, strapping on his guitar, and playing along. It turned out Peña had learned all the songs from "Anywhere But Here". He joined the band as a second guitarist and the foursome went on their scheduled tour. However, Peña soon left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by Patrick Riley.


title: The Ataris

text: From there, the band gradually increased in popularity in the underground rock scene due to their consistent touring and personal, DIY approach to the band. They then found more success with their 1998 EP "Look Forward to Failure", released on San Francisco punk label Fat Wreck Chords. However, it wasn't until the release of "Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits" in 1999 that they started to gain widespread acclaim. The album's name comes from the name of a mobile home park along Highway 101 in Santa Barbara. Also, "...next 12 exits" refers to a nearby sign on Highway 101 North that reads "Santa Barbara, Next 12 Exits". The album contained personal, storytelling lyrics. After this album, Riley left the band to go back to school, and Marco Peña re-joined the band. In 2001 the band took part in the Vans Warped Tour. The band's third full-length studio album, "End Is Forever", was also released in 2001.


title: The Ataris

text: In 2002, the lineup changed again, with John Collura replacing Peña on guitar. Prior to this, Collura had played in his own band Beefcake who'd toured with The Ataris. He'd also done time on tour as a guitar tech for The Ataris just prior to Peña's departure.


title: The Ataris

text: During this same period, the Ataris' contract with Kung Fu Records expired, and the band chose to sign with Columbia Records. Later that year, they began recording their fourth full-length album and major label debut, "So Long, Astoria", released on March 4, 2003. Produced by Lou Giordano, the album's production served as a stark contrast to any of the band's past releases, as previous efforts were recorded in short time spans between tours.


title: The Ataris

text: "So Long, Astoria" was widely credited for introducing The Ataris to a larger mainstream audience and generating several successful singles, including "In This Diary" and "The Saddest Song". Musically, the album showcased very personal, encrypted and slightly more optimistic songwriting with a more refined, straightforward rock sound, not unlike Jimmy Eat World. This album also included their hit cover song, originally recorded by Don Henley, "The Boys of Summer", which much to the dismay of the band became their "accidental" second single after the radio station KROQ in Los Angeles started playing it, even though the band had already chosen the song "My Reply" as their second single. The single is their highest-charting single to date, reaching No. 20 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Ataris

text: The band toured behind this record for most of 2003 and into early 2004. That year also saw the release of a low-key live album, "Live at the Metro", along with a track on the "Spider-Man 2" soundtrack. "So Long, Astoria" sold over 700,000 copies and was certified gold. After a number of personal, financial and artistic differences, this line-up decided to go its separate ways over the summer and fall of 2004.


title: The Ataris

text: Davenport, interested in playing heavier music, became a founding member of the band Versus the World, while Knapp stopped playing music altogether and stayed in Santa Barbara. Looking for some time off, Roe headed back to Indiana while Collura moved back to New York; though they would later regroup to begin the recordings of the band's next album.


title: The Ataris

text: After some time off, Roe and Collura later moved forward and began writing songs that would become part of the follow-up to "So Long, Astoria" titled "Welcome the Night". They held some informal practices with some friends from New York, who played in the band Park Ranger. These sessions led to three members of Park Ranger joining The Ataris: Sean Hansen on bass, Shane Chickeles on drums, and Paul Carabello on third guitar. To round out the lineup they added longtime friends Bob Hoag, formerly of Pollen and The Go Reflex (which was managed by Roe), on piano and keyboards, and Angus Cooke on cello. Cooke played cello on past Ataris records, and helped with production as well. Starting in 2005, the band began recording "Welcome the Night" at Seedy Underbelly in California, with producer Nick Launay. Writing and recording eventually took the better part of two years and was extended to multiple studios. The album was routinely delayed by Columbia.


title: The Ataris

text: On June 10, 2006, the band announced that it had left Columbia Records due to the label's internal disintegration. In November 2006, The Ataris started their own imprint, Isola Recordings, through Sanctuary Records and RED Distribution, and simultaneously announced the official release date of their fifth album "Welcome the Night" as February 20, 2007. "Welcome the Night" debuted at number 85 on the "Billboard" charts with over 12,000 copies sold. Following the album's release, the band embarked on a tour of the United States and Europe.


title: The Ataris

text: In June 2008, the band began demoing at The Gallows Recording Studio in Muncie, Indiana in preparation for recording in late summer, with the aim of releasing a new album in 2009. In November, the band posted a clip of a demo online. The following month, the band entered the studio to record their next album. On December 29, it was mentioned that drums had been completed and that guitars were next. In January 2009, the band went on a tour of the UK. On April 12, a demo titled "All Souls' Day" was posted on the group's Myspace. In addition, it was mentioned that their next album would be released in the summer. Between April and June 2009, the band toured the US, with shows in South Africa in the middle of this trek. After this, they appeared on the 2009 Warped Tour. The finished version of "All Souls' Day" was posted online in June 2009. On August 17, 2009, the band announced they had nearly finished recording their next album, tentatively titled "Graveyard of the Atlantic". They went on a short Midwest tour in November 2009.


title: The Ataris

text: Between February and April 2010, the Ataris went on a cross-country US tour with Don't Panic, and then performed at the Windy City Sound Clash festival. Following this, they went on another US tour between July and September 2010. That same year, a two track EP, "All Souls' Day & the Graveyard of the Atlantic" containing just its title tracks was released under the Paper + Plastick label. In 2012, the band released a four track EP entitled "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". From 2013, The Ataris began a North American tour with Kris Roe as singer and the former members John Collura, Mike Davenport and Chris Knapp to celebrate the 10 years of their most successful album "So Long, Astoria".


title: The Ataris

text: In 2016, the band released a six-song EP entitled "October in This Railroad Earth" through Bandcamp. In 2017, Warped Tour announced that The Ataris was going to play on the 2017 tour. On June 18, 2017, the band released a compilation titled "Silver Turns to Rust" on Bandcamp. This compilation featured four previously released tracks from "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" and six from the previously released EP "October in this Railroad Earth".


title: The Ataris

text: The Ataris has been described as pop punk, emo, and punk rock. The band's influences include Descendents, Jawbreaker, All, Fugazi, Avail, the Ramones, and the Replacements.


title: The Ataris

text: While performing in Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 7th, 2012, frontman Kris Roe, in an admittedly drug-induced loss of inhibition and control, acted hostile towards then-drummer Rob Felicetti on stage. Kris said he had "had enough" and "could not take it anymore" as the drummer was performing “off-time” throughout their set (a claim refuted by various professional drummers). A fan had captured the incident on camera, and was subsequently uploaded to social media. Roe claimed in a follow up video regarding the incident that Felicetti was drunk during the performance, a claim Felicetti later denied. This incident led Felicetti to exit the band.


title: Madrid Metro

text: The Madrid Metro (Spanish: "Metro de Madrid") is a rapid transit system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the 14th longest rapid transit system in the world, with a total length of 293 km (182 mi). Its growth between 1995 and 2007 put it among the fastest-growing networks in the world at the time, rivaling many Asian metros such as the Mass Transit Railway (Hong Kong), Shanghai Metro, Guangzhou Metro, Beijing Subway, and Delhi Metro. However, the European debt crisis greatly slowed expansion plans, with many projects being postponed and canceled. Unlike normal Spanish road and rail traffic, which drive on the right, Madrid Metro trains use left-hand running on all lines because traffic in Madrid drove on the left until 1924, five years after the system started operating.


title: Madrid Metro

text: Trains are in circulation every day from 6:00 am until 1:30 am, though during the weekends, this schedule is to be extended by one more hour in the morning in 2020. Furthermore, the regional government intends to keep stations opened around the clock during these days from 2023 onwards. It has only stayed open 24 hours during the 2017 World Pride and during the 2021 Madrid snowstorm.


title: Madrid Metro

text: A light rail system feeding the metro opened in 2007 called Metro Ligero ("light metro"). The Cercanías system works in conjunction with the metro, with a majority of its stations providing access to the underground network.


title: Madrid Metro

text: On 19 September 1916, a royal decree approved the 4-line plan for the creation of the metro of Madrid. The engineers who created the plan, Mendoza, González Echarte, and Otamendi then began the process of raising the 8 million pesetas to begin the first phase of the project, the construction of Line 1 from Sol to Cuatro Caminos. Carlos Mendoza made contact with Enrique Ocharán, the director of Banco de Vizcaya, who offered 4 million pesetas on the condition that the public pledged an additional 4 million.


title: Madrid Metro

text: Mengemor published a brochure in order to persuade people to make donations. The men were able to raise 2.5 million pesetas of the 4 million they needed. King Alfonso XIII intervened and invested 1.45 million pesetas of his own money.


title: Madrid Metro

text: The first phase of construction was finished in 1919. It was constructed in a narrow section and the stations had platforms. The enlargement of this line and the construction of two others followed shortly after 1919. The Madrid metro was inaugurated on 17 October 1919 by King Alfonso XIII. At the time of inauguration, the metro had just one line, which ran for between Puerta del Sol and Cuatro Caminos, with eight stops.


title: Madrid Metro

text: The king, the royal family, and others, then took part in the first official metro ride which went from Cuatro Caminos to Río Rosas, and took 40 seconds. There they stopped for one minute, before traveling to the Chamberí station which took 45 seconds. The trip went all the way to the end point, Sol. The king and his family then rode the metro back to Cuatro Caminos from Sol, this time without stopping. The journey took 7 minutes and 46 seconds.


title: Madrid Metro

text: After the journey, a lunch was served on the Cuatro Caminos platform, and the engineers were congratulated for creating a "miracle."


title: Madrid Metro

text: Two days later, on 19 October 1919, the Madrid metro was opened to the public. On its first day, 390 trains ran, 56,220 passengers rode the metro, and the company earned 8,433 pesetas in ticket fares.


title: Madrid Metro

text: During November and December 1919, the metro had an average of 43,537 passengers a day and earned an average of 6,530 pesetas a day in ticket sales. Due to their success, the company decided to expand more, and created 12,000 new shares to sell to the public in order to raise more funds to fund further expansion.


title: Madrid Metro

text: The Company then began to gather materials necessary to expand the Line 1 from Sol-Progreso-Antón Martín-Atocha.


title: Madrid Metro

text: On 31 July 1920 the company submitted it proposal to extend Line 1 from Atocha to Puente de Vallecas. In 1921 the company declared its interest in beginning the line from Sol-Ventas, with the first phase of the project being built from Sol-Goya, along Calle Alcalá.


title: Madrid Metro

text: Work began on 27 March 1921 to expand the Line 1 from Atocha to Vallecas, and to begin construction on a line from Sol-Goya.


title: Madrid Metro

text: On 26 December 1921 the Sol-Atocha section of the Line 1 was inaugurated, adding three new metro stops to the line: Progreso, Antón Martín, and Atocha. The king and queen, Don Alfonso XIII and Doña Victoria, attended the inauguration.


title: Madrid Metro

text: In 1924, traffic in Madrid switched from driving on the left to driving on the right, but the lines of the Madrid Metro kept operating on the left hand side. In 1936, the network had three lines and a branch line between Ópera and the old Estación del Norte (now Príncipe Pío). All these stations served as air raid shelters during the Spanish Civil War. After the Civil war, the public works to extend the network went on little by little. In 1944, a fourth line was constructed, absorbing the branch of Line 2 between Goya and Diego de León in 1958, a branch that had been intended to be part of Line 4 since its construction but was operated as a branch of Line 2 until construction works had finished.


title: Madrid Metro

text: In the 1960s, a suburban railway was constructed between Plaza de España and Carabanchel, linked to lines 2 (at Noviciado station with a long transfer) and 3. A fifth metro line was constructed as well with narrow sections, but 90 m platforms. Shortly after opening the first section of Line 5, the platforms of Line 1 were enlarged from 60 to 90 m, permanently closing Chamberí station since it was too close to Iglesia (less than 500 m). Chamberí has been closed ever since and was recently reopened as a museum.


title: Madrid Metro

text: In the early 1970s, the network was greatly expanded to cope with the influx of population and urban sprawl from Madrid's economic boom. New lines were planned with larger 115 m long platforms. Lines 4 and 5 were enlarged as well. In 1979, bad management led to a crisis. Works already started were finished during the 1980s and all remaining projects were abandoned. After all those projects, of rail track had been completed and the suburban railway had also disappeared since it had been extended to Alonso Martínez and subsequently converted to the new Line 10.


title: Madrid Metro

text: At the beginning of the 1990s, control of the network was transferred to a public enterprise, Metro de Madrid S.A. More large-scale expansion projects were carried out. Lines 1, 4 and 7 were extended and a new Line 11 was constructed towards the outlying areas of Madrid. Lines 8 and 10 were joined together into a longer Line 10 and a new Line 8 was constructed to expand the underground network towards the airport. The enlarged Line 9 was the first to leave the outskirts of Madrid to arrive in Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Arganda del Rey, two satellite towns located in the southeast of Madrid.


title: Madrid Metro

text: In the early 2000s, a huge project installed approximately of new metro tunnels. This construction included a direct connection between downtown Madrid (Nuevos Ministerios) and the airport, a further extension of Line 8, and adding service to the outskirts with a huge 40 km loop called "MetroSur" serving Madrid's southern suburbs.