title: Stranger Things (soundtrack)

text: Stranger Things is the original soundtrack for the first season of the Netflix series of the same name. The first and second volume were released digitally by Lakeshore and Ivada Records on August 12 and 19, 2016, respectively. Consisting of 75 songs produced and composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of the electronic band Survive, this release sums up to the duo's first collaboration outside of the band. The CD release of the soundtrack was similar to the digital rollout, with the first and second volumes being released on September 16 and 23, respectively, and limited editions on vinyl, in both individual and boxed sets, were released in July 2017. A cassette version of the first volume of the soundtrack, sold exclusively by Urban Outfitters, was released on July 14, 2017. The cassette packaging features a cardboard cover that emulates an old VHS sleeve, while the cassette tape is made to look like a VHS tape.


title: Stranger Things (soundtrack)

text: Both volumes were nominated individually for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, though neither won.


title: Stranger Things (soundtrack)

text: The first volume of the soundtrack was released on August 12, 2016, and features the show's wildly popular main theme, along with a number of the season's other common musical motifs ("Kids" and "Hawkins"), and Eleven's theme ("Eleven").


title: Stranger Things (soundtrack)

text: The second volume of the soundtrack was released on August 19, 2016, and features an extended version of the show's main theme as well as an alternate version of one of the show's more prominent musical motifs, "Kids" ("Kids Two").


title: Stranger Things (soundtrack)

text: Volume One garnered 14,000 "equivalent album units" in the United States in its first week of sale according to Nielsen Soundscan.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: The Amazing Race 29 is the twenty-ninth season of the American reality television show "The Amazing Race". Unlike previous seasons, which almost exclusively featured teams with pre-existing relationships, this season featured 22 contestants who were all complete strangers who met for the first time and formed eleven teams of two at the starting line. These teams competed in a race around the world.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: The season premiered on CBS on Thursday, March 30, 2017, and the season finale aired on June 1, 2017.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: Brooke Camhi and Scott Flanary were the winners of this season, while Tara Carr and Joey Corvino finished in second place, and London Kaye and Logan Bauer finished in third.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: In March 2016, CBS renewed "The Amazing Race" for the 2016–17 season, but it was left off the fall schedule for the first time since season 12. It was announced in November 2016 that the season would premiere on Friday, April 21, 2017, in its regular Friday time slot after "MacGyver" finished its season run. On March 10, 2017, CBS announced that it was moving its low-rated new drama "Training Day" to Saturdays and would move the season premiere up to March 30.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: The season included visits to 17 cities across five continents and nine countries over . Filming began on June 10, 2016, in Los Angeles, and concluded on July 2, 2016, in Chicago.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: This season also introduced a few alterations to the show's rules. While the traditional limit on Roadblock performances was still enforced, there was an additional requirement for this season wherein team members could not perform more than four Roadblocks before the ninth leg. Additionally, there was no limit on how many times a team could use the U-Turn on this season.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: Winter X Games snowboarder Matt Ladley was one of the twenty-two individuals included in this season's cast. The contestants were all strangers to each other who met for the first time at the starting line where they paired up into impromptu teams.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: Becca & Floyd returned to compete on "The Amazing Race: Reality Showdown". In 2020, Jenn Lee appeared on the of "The Challenge".


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.


title: The Amazing Race 29

text: "The Amazing Race 29" received mostly positive reviews. Andy Dehnart of "reality blurred" wrote that the twist of casting individuals was able to refresh the format of "The Amazing Race" and the season "delivered a cast that has consistently delivered." Mikey Glazer of "TheWrap" wrote that the format of this season worked because "unlike previous seasons where the two-person teams often suffered from one clunker team member — camouflaged in the edit under proverbial team nicknames like 'the frat boys' or 'the dancers' — each of the 22 racers on this season was identifiable, memorable and got a full story arc." Lincee Ray of "Entertainment Weekly" praised how this format was able to deliver "highly entertaining" teams like Brooke & Scott due to their love/hate relationship. Conversely, Ken Tucker of Yahoo! called this season "dire" as the format led to teams that either got along well or despised each other and said that he wasn't rooting for "anyone" to win.


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: Hyperlink cinema is a style of filmmaking characterised by complex or multilinear narrative structures with multiple characters under one unifying theme.


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: The term was coined by author Alissa Quart, who used the term in her review of the film "Happy Endings" (2005) for the film journal "Film Comment" in 2005. Film critic Roger Ebert popularized the term when reviewing the film "Syriana" in 2005. These films are not hypermedia and do not have actual hyperlinks, but are multilinear in a more metaphorical sense.


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: In describing "Happy Endings", Quart considers captions acting as footnotes and split screen as elements of hyperlink cinema and notes the influence of the World Wide Web and multitasking. Playing with time and characters' personal history, plot twists, interwoven storylines between multiple characters, jumping between the beginning and end (flashback and flashforward) are also elements. Ebert further described hyperlink cinema as films where the characters or action reside in separate stories, but a connection or influence between those disparate stories is slowly revealed to the audience; illustrated in Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's films "Amores perros" (2000), "21 Grams" (2003), and "Babel" (2006).


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: Quart suggests that director Robert Altman created the structure for the genre and demonstrated its usefulness for combining interlocking stories in his films "Nashville" (1975) and "Short Cuts" (1993). However, his work was predated by several films, including Satyajit Ray's "Kanchenjunga" (1962), Federico Fellini's "Amarcord" (1973), and Ritwik Ghatak's "Titash Ekti Nadir Naam" (1973), all of which use a narrative structure based on multiple characters.


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: Quart also mentions the television series "24" and discusses Alan Rudolph's film "Welcome to L.A." (1976) as an early prototype. "Crash" (2004) is an example of the genre, as are Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" (2000), Fernando Meirelles's "City of God" (2002), Stephen Gaghan's "Syriana" (2005) and Rodrigo Garcia's "Nine Lives" (2005).


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: The style is also used in video games. French video game company Quantic Dream has produced games, such as Heavy Rain and , with hyperlink cinema style storytelling, and the style has also influenced role-playing games such as "Suikoden III" (2001) and "Octopath Traveler" (2018).


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: The hyperlink cinema narrative and story structure can be compared to social science's spatial analysis. As described by Edward Soja and Costis Hadjimichalis spatial analysis examines the "'horizontal experience' of human life, the spatial dimension of individual behavior and social relations, as opposed to the 'vertical experience' of history, tradition, and biography." English critic John Berger notes for the novel that "it is scarcely any longer possible to tell a straight story sequentially unfolding in time" for "we are too aware of what is continually traversing the story line laterally."


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: An academic analysis of hyperlink cinema appeared in the journal ‘’Critical Studies in Media Communication,’’ and referred to the films as Global Network Films. Narine's study examines the films "Traffic" (2000), "Amores perros" (2000), "21 Grams" (2003), "Beyond Borders" (2003), "Crash" (2004; released 2005), "Syriana" (2005), "Babel" (2006) and others, citing network theorist Manuel Castells and philosophers Michel Foucault and Slavoj Žižek. The study suggests that the films are network narratives that map the network society and the new connections citizens experience in the age of globalization.


title: Hyperlink cinema

text: Alberto Toscano and Jeff Kinkle have argued that one popular form of hyperlink cinema constitutes a contemporary form of it-narrative, an 18th- and 19th-century genre of fiction written from the imagined perspective of objects as they move between owners and social environments. In these films, they argue, "the narrative link is the characters' relation to the film's product of choice, whether it be guns, cocaine, oil, or Nile perch."


title: Potential National Hockey League expansion

text: The National Hockey League (NHL) has undergone several rounds of expansion and other organizational changes during its history to reach its current thirty-two teams: twenty-five in the United States, and seven in Canada. The newest additions to the league are the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken in 2021. The league has also relocated several franchises, most recently in 2011 when the former Atlanta Thrashers became the second and current incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets.


text: To gauge interest and help determine whether the NHL should entertain further expansion, the NHL Board of Governors accepted applications for new franchises during the 2015 offseason. Two potential ownership groups submitted applications for prospective teams in Las Vegas and Quebec City. The geographic distribution of teams between the NHL's two conferences was not a primary consideration for expansion, and the earliest time when a new franchise could start play was the 2017–18 season. On June 22, 2016, the NHL approved expansion to Las Vegas starting in the 2017–18 season with the Vegas Golden Knights, but deferred Quebec City's bid for a team. With the Quebec City bid still shelved by the league's board of directors, the league opened up another expansion window in December 2017, specifically to allow an ownership group from Seattle to place a bid; no other cities were allowed to submit bids in that window. The Seattle bid was approved on December 4, 2018, and the team began play in the 2021–22 season as the Seattle Kraken; commissioner Gary Bettman then stated the league would not expand any further for the foreseeable future, while deputy commissioner Bill Daly stated that the league may revisit expansion in the near future if it is deemed in the best interest of the league.


text: The potential of adding additional franchises in Canada had been an ongoing source of controversy for the NHL in recent years as numerous groups proposed expanding the league into a new Canadian city, or purchasing a struggling American franchise and relocating it north; to a certain extent, these issues continue even after the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, becoming the country's seventh active team. Quebec City and the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario are most frequently proposed as locations for new Canadian teams, as was Winnipeg prior to the announced relocation of the Thrashers.


text: Throughout the history of the NHL, attempts to bring franchises to Canadian cities have caused points of contention. Among them, the league's existing Canadian teams, especially the Montreal Canadiens, historically have raised concerns about further dividing the NHL's Canadian television revenue.


text: Vancouver's rejected bid for one of six new franchises added in 1967 outraged Canadians, who felt they had been "sold out". Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson stated that "the NHL decision to expand only in the US impinges on the sacred principles of all Canadians."


text: The 1979 defeat by a single vote of a merger agreement between the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association that would have resulted in three Canadian WHA franchises (the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets) joining the NHL led to a mass boycott of Molson products across Canada. In a second vote, the Montreal Canadiens, owned by Molson, reversed their position, allowing the Oilers, Nordiques (who were owned at the time by then-rival brewery Carling O'Keefe), and Jets to join the NHL for the 1979–80 NHL season (along with the New England Whalers, who would be renamed the Hartford Whalers). The Calgary Flames became Canada's seventh franchise in 1980, relocating from Atlanta.


text: There was considerable upheaval amongst Canadian franchises in the 1990s. In 1992, the NHL returned to Ottawa, beating out Hamilton for an expansion team. However, the declining value of the Canadian dollar at that time, coupled with rapidly escalating salaries, placed hardships on Canadian franchises. As a result, the Nordiques and Jets left Canada, becoming the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 and the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996 respectively. Fears persisted up to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that the Flames, Oilers, and Senators could follow suit. The financial fortunes of Canada's teams rebounded following the lockout: Canada's six franchises represented one-third of NHL revenues in 2006–07, primarily due to the surging value of the Canadian dollar.


text: In May 2011, True North Sports and Entertainment, an ownership group with the support of billionaire David Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet, purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and moved the team to Winnipeg, Manitoba. This was the first franchise relocation since 1997 and the first franchise to locate in Canada since the Ottawa Senators entered the league in 1992. At the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, it was announced that the team would be named the Jets.


text: Former National Hockey League Players Association executive director Paul Kelly has repeatedly argued in favor of bringing a new team to Canada. In early 2008, he described the Canadian market to "The Palm Beach Post": "The six Canadian franchises do so well, they pack the buildings, get great TV, great revenue streams. If you put another team up there, be it in Nova Scotia or Hamilton, it would be more of the same." Prior to the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke in favor of another team in Canada, stating he has spoken with NHL owners in the past about bringing a new team to southern Ontario.


text: A study published in April 2011 by the University of Toronto's Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation concluded that Canada can support 12 NHL teams, twice the number it had at the time of the study, including second franchises for Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.


text: In May 2013, Nate Silver, editor of the polling and statistical analysis website "FiveThirtyEight", concluded that there were about as many avid hockey fans in Canada as in the United States, despite the US having nine times Canada's population. He determined that among current NHL media markets, the average Canadian market had considerably more hockey fans than the typical US market, and that Canada could support 11 or 12 teams, with two additional franchises in the Golden Horseshoe, a second franchise in Montreal, and a team in Quebec City. Silver also believed Vancouver could support a second franchise, although he thought that some of the Vancouver-area hockey market could be drawn by a Seattle-based team.


text: Quebec City has been home to two NHL hockey teams. The first, the Quebec Bulldogs, were founded in 1878 and joined the NHL upon its founding in 1917. After 1920, they moved to Hamilton, Ontario. The second, the Quebec Nordiques, played from 1972 to 1979 in the World Hockey Association before joining the NHL as part of the NHL–WHA merger. In 1995, they moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche. Part of the challenge for both the Bulldogs and Nordiques was that Quebec City was by far the smallest market in the NHL. According to the Television Bureau of Canada, a prospective Quebec City team would now be in the league's second-smallest market, ahead of only Winnipeg. However, Silver's analysis suggested that the Quebec City market was comparable to the US markets of Buffalo and Washington, D.C. in terms of avid hockey fans.


text: In October 2009, Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume spoke with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and former Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut regarding a new Nordiques team (no relation to the previous team of the same name). Bettman stated that Quebec City could be considered as a candidate for an NHL team provided it built a new arena and a team were for sale.


text: In May 2011, Labeaume stated that Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor, was in talks with the NHL regarding a new Nordiques' team in Quebec City. He later became a politician for and leader of the Parti Québécois, a sovereignist political party in the province. In September 2012, Quebec premier Jean Charest (a member of the rival Liberal Party and whose government had invested in the new arena) claimed that the political aspect might hinder Quebec City's chances of getting a franchise, saying that Bettman might be less likely to allow a team to move if sovereignists were in power. According to "Sports Illustrated", the league is wary of the Quebec sovereignty movement because of concerns that it could destabilize the Canadian dollar. However, Mayor Labeaume insisted that Péladeau's involvement in politics would not hinder either the management of the new arena or the negotiations over getting a franchise.


text: In March 2014, news broke that former Canadian prime minister and vice-chairman of Quebecor Brian Mulroney was also involved with negotiations. Labeaume pointed out that Mulroney and Bettman had negotiated directly for some time, and that "Mr. Bettman is a businessman. The Quebec sovereignty project will not bother him."


text: Prior to the 2011–12 NHL season, an exhibition game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning was played at the Colisée Pepsi, the former home of the Nordiques. The Canadiens were well received despite being from rival Montreal, and the designated away team of the game. Montreal was also scheduled to host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Colisée Pepsi in 2012; however, that game was canceled due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. In September 2012, construction started on an 18,000-seat arena in Quebec City that would eventually become known as Centre Vidéotron, the cost of which (C$400 million) was split equally between the provincial and municipal governments. The arena opened on September 12, 2015.


text: On June 24, 2015, Quebecor announced that it planned to apply for an NHL expansion franchise, with the aim of bringing a Nordiques team back to Quebec City. Nearly a month later, on July 20, 2015, Quebecor formally announced it had submitted an application to the NHL for an expansion franchise. On July 21, 2015, the NHL confirmed it had received an application from Quebecor. On August 5, 2015, it was announced that Quebec City had moved on to Phase II of the expansion process. The bid subsequently advanced to Phase III, which ended on September 4.


text: Centre Vidéotron hosted a neutral-site preseason game between the Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins on September 28, 2015. The following day in New York City, Quebecor and the Las Vegas ownership group presented their bids to the NHL's executive committee. However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated in a press conference after the NHL's Board of Governors meeting that though the league continued to explore the possibility of expansion, no deadline had been established for a decision. Commissioner Bettman also said that expansion requires a three-quarters affirmative vote from the Board of Governors, but the members of the executive committee would first have to make a recommendation to the group.


text: Quebec City's 2015 bid on an expansion team, while not entirely ruled out, was significantly weakened after the Canadian dollar declined in value against its US counterpart. , the Quebec City bid was said to be still being seriously considered, but not yet decided. Accepting the Las Vegas bid, the league ultimately decided to defer the Quebec City bid in 2016, citing the value of the Canadian dollar (78 cents to one US dollar when the deferment was announced) and the distribution of teams across the two conferences, which at the time placed 14 teams in the West and the other 16 in the East; the league was therefore more interested in adding teams to the West.


text: Centre Vidéotron was awarded some exhibition games leading into the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, an international tournament operated by the NHL, as well as a pair of NHL preseason games in successive years; on October 4, 2016, and September 18, 2017, between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. In November 2021, Quebec Premier François Legault stated that he would meet with Commissioner Bettman in the coming months to "find out what we need to bring back the Nordiques".


text: Hamilton was a candidate for expansion in 1990, being one of the favorites, but lost out to the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning. Hamilton's bid group attempted to negotiate the $50 million expansion fee; a condition the NHL rejected. While it was speculated that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres did not want an NHL team in Hamilton due to territorial competition, former league president Gil Stein has denied that was the case.


text: BlackBerry founder and former co-CEO Jim Balsillie has made several attempts to purchase an existing NHL team with the purpose of bringing it to Southern Ontario. He signed an agreement in principle to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins for US$175 million on October 5, 2006. Penguins' majority owner Mario Lemieux agreed to the sale after struggling to gain support from local governments to build a new arena. Balsillie's purchase agreement offered to help finance a new arena, but also contained a stated intention to relocate the team to Hamilton or Kitchener-Waterloo if no deal on a new arena could be reached. Balsillie later retracted his bid, claiming that the NHL had placed conditions on the sale that he was not comfortable with, including a commitment to keep the team in Pittsburgh under any circumstances.


text: Balsillie then reached an agreement to purchase the Nashville Predators for $238 million on May 24, 2007, and began a season ticket campaign in Hamilton a week later intending to prove that the city was capable of hosting an NHL team. Thousands of fans purchased tickets, however the sale again fell through a month later when Predators owner Craig Leipold terminated the agreement. The Predators were later sold to a group of ten investors, led by Nashville businessman David Freeman, who promised to keep the team in Nashville. Leipold accepted $40 million less from Freeman's group than Balsillie offered, and later ended up as the majority owner of the Minnesota Wild.


text: During the 2008–09 NHL season, the future of the Phoenix Coyotes was on shaky ground as the team expected to lose as much as $45 million, and the league had to step in to assist with paying the team's bills. Coyotes' managing partner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early May 2009. Immediately afterwards, an offer by Balsillie to purchase the team was made public. The NHL challenged the Coyotes' ability to file for bankruptcy, claiming that as a result of the financial support the league had been offering the franchise, the league itself is in control of the team, and that Moyes did not have authority to act as he did. Balsillie launched a public relations campaign aiming at igniting Canadian nationalistic feelings and the perception that Bettman had an anti-Canadian agenda, including a website. His bid to purchase the Coyotes failed as the bankruptcy judge ruled his offer did not meet the NHL's rules on relocation.


text: "The Hamilton Spectator" reported in May 2009, that a Vancouver-based group led by Tom Gaglardi was planning to make a bid to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and relocate the team to Hamilton in time for the 2010–11 NHL season. This never materialized, and the idea was eventually rendered moot by the Thrashers' sale and relocation to Winnipeg. Gaglardi later purchased the Dallas Stars and kept the team in Dallas.


text: Under NHL rules, an expansion or relocation of a team to Hamilton could potentially be blocked by the Buffalo Sabres or the Toronto Maple Leafs, because FirstOntario Centre, the likely venue for a Hamilton NHL team, is located less than from the Sabres' and the Leafs' home arenas. Roughly 15% of the Sabres' business comes from residents of the area of Ontario between Hamilton and Buffalo, and the Sabres or the Leafs could require "an enormous indemnification payment" to allow an additional team to be established within a 50-mile radius. An unnamed bidder made a bid for the Sabres in February 2011, offering $259 million for the team to move it out of Buffalo, which would either mean the team would relocate to Hamilton or it would clear the way for another team to make such a move. The bid was rejected in favor of an offer from Terry Pegula, who planned to keep the team in Buffalo.


text: Although Toronto is already home to the Toronto Maple Leafs and that team's AHL development team, the Toronto Marlies, its suburbs have been mentioned as potential sites for an NHL franchise, under the premise that the Greater Toronto Area, or GTA, is the most-populous metropolitan area in Canada and therefore could support two NHL teams. Unlike other potential expansion markets, a new arena would need to be constructed, and most of the proposals for a new Toronto area team include a new arena along with them.


text: In April 2009, a group of businesspeople met with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to discuss the possibility of bringing a second NHL franchise into the Toronto area, most likely in Vaughan, Ontario. Despite the talks, Daly reportedly stated the NHL is "not currently considering expansion nor do we have any intention or desire to relocate an existing franchise."


text: In June 2009, a group headed by Andrew Lopez and Herbert Carnegie proposed a $1 billion plan for a second Toronto team, called the "Legacy", to begin play no earlier than 2012. The group announced a plan for a 30,000-seat arena, half of which would be priced at C$50 or less. The arena would be situated in Downsview Park in the north of the city. Twenty-five percent of net profits would be given to charity.


text: In 2011, a proposal surfaced to build a multi-purpose 19,500-seat arena in Markham, Ontario, northeast of Toronto, that could be used for an NHL team. The C$300 million arena was proposed as part of a proposed entertainment complex. The company behind the proposal, GTA Sports and Entertainment, was headed by W. Graeme Roustan. Roustan, a Montreal-raised private equity investor whose firm Roustan Capital partnered with Kohlberg & Company and purchased Bauer from Nike, was also the chairman of Bauer. The proposed location for the arena was near the Unionville commuter train station on land owned by Rudy Bratty, chairman and CEO of Remington Group, an organization that is charged with the development of Markham's downtown. However, the GTA Sports and Entertainment Group did not file an application for expansion prior to the July 20, 2015 deadline in the most recent round of league expansion.


text: Bill Hunter, the founder of the Edmonton Oilers, had an agreement to purchase the St. Louis Blues (then in a state of abandonment after its previous owner Ralston Purina walked away from the team) and move the team to Saskatoon as the "Saskatoon Blues" in the 1983–84 NHL season, with Don Cherry provisionally hired to be head coach; however, the NHL (which did not want to leave the St. Louis market) vetoed the sale. Faced with the prospects of either having to allow the sale or contract the franchise, the league found an owner (Harry Ornest) willing to keep the team in Missouri and, in an eleventh-hour deal, preserved the Blues in St. Louis, where they remain. Saskatoon again bid for a franchise during the league's early 1990s expansion, but the bid was considered a long-shot and was withdrawn before the league made its final decision.


text: A proposal from Ice Edge Holdings to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes would have moved a portion of the team's home games to Saskatoon in an effort to maintain the team's viability in its main home in Phoenix, similar to the former Bills Toronto Series arrangement in the National Football League; the group, had it bought the team, was ready to go forward and had leased Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre for five home games in the 2009–10 season. The group was believed to lack the funds to buy the team outright, but remained in contention as potential minority owner until May 2011, when it pulled out of negotiations. Some members of the Ice Edge group later joined the ownership group led by Canadian businessman George Gosbee who ultimately purchased the Coyotes and kept them in Arizona.


text: On Ice Management, an ownership group backed by auto racer, former Moncton Wildcats owner, and former professional hockey player John Graham, backed a long-shot bid to bring the NHL to Saskatoon. The Calgary Flames were scheduled to host the Ottawa Senators in Saskatoon, for a preseason game (sponsored by Graham) in September 2013; that game led to speculation that the city may host the Flames if the team's regular arena, Scotiabank Saddledome, which had been damaged in the 2013 Alberta floods, did not complete its repairs in time for the 2013–14 season. In the end, repairs were completed on a compressed schedule, and the Saddledome reopened in September 2013. Although neither Graham nor any other bidder representing Saskatoon placed a bid in the expansion window, the city again hosted a neutral-site preseason game in 2015.


text: Several cities in the United States have been mentioned in the media as possible future sites for new or relocated NHL teams. In December 2007, organizations from Kansas City, Las Vegas, Houston, and Seattle presented their proposals for a franchise to the NHL's executive committee.


text: Greater Houston is the largest market in terms of both city proper and metro population in the US or Canada without an NHL franchise; since 2016, Houston is also now the largest metropolitan area without a complete set of teams in the major professional sports leagues. The area ranks second in the nation with 22 based Fortune 500 companies, only behind New York City, which has 45.


text: Professional ice hockey dates back to 1946 in Houston with the establishment of the Houston Skippers. This was followed by the Houston Apollos, the Houston Aeros of the WHA and the Houston Aeros of the AHL. The WHA Houston Aeros were an original member of the World Hockey Association. From 1972 to 1978, the Aeros twice won the AVCO World Trophy and featured the first father/son combination to play together in professional hockey, Gordie Howe and his two sons Mark and Marty. The Aeros, despite being a successful franchise, were left out of the NHL–WHA merger and were forced to fold in 1978. Another team also named the Aeros, of the American Hockey League (AHL), played at The Summit (renamed the Compaq Center in 1998 and converted to a megachurch after the Aeros' departure), and moved to the Toyota Center in 2003; the Aeros were unable to negotiate a lease extension, leading to the team's departure from Houston in 2013.


text: As part of the lease agreement between Toyota Center (which has NHL capacity, with 17,800 seats in its hockey configuration) and the Houston Rockets, only an NHL team owned by the owner of the Rockets is allowed to play at the center. The Rockets have twice explored the purchase of an NHL team for the building, with the closest being then-owner Les Alexander's attempt to purchase the Edmonton Oilers in 1998 which was thwarted when a local ownership group came together and matched his offer.


text: In 2017, the Toyota Center and Houston Rockets were purchased by Tilman Fertitta. In a press conference, Fertitta expressed his interest in bringing an NHL team to the Toyota Center and he had reportedly met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Fertitta has stated his intentions of possibly finding a tenant that could help fill the building throughout the year, including the mention of attracting an NHL franchise.


text: Kansas City, Missouri has hosted NHL ice hockey before. The Kansas City Scouts played in Kemper Arena from 1974 until 1976. The team averaged only 8,218 in attendance per game in the 17,000-seat arena, leading to the team's sale and relocation to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies, who then relocated to East Rutherford, New Jersey (later Newark) in 1982 and became the New Jersey Devils.


text: Professional hockey continued at the arena in the form of the minor league Kansas City Blues, followed by the Kansas City Blades and the Kansas City Outlaws. The ECHL's Kansas City Mavericks currently play at the suburban Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri.


text: Kansas City opened an NHL-ready arena named T-Mobile Center (originally the Sprint Center) in 2007. The arena is managed by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns the Los Angeles Kings, among other sports interests. In 2007, when the Pittsburgh Penguins faced financial troubles and no prospect of a new arena, the president of AEG offered to relocate the team to Missouri to play in the then-new Sprint Center rent-free and become managing partners in the facility. The Penguins, however, remained in Pittsburgh and got their new arena in 2010.


text: Kansas City sports investor Lamar Hunt Jr., brother of Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt and son of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt Sr., called the NHL's $500 million price tag for an expansion franchise "a ridiculously big fee," and said that he is not aware of anyone in Kansas City who will make a push for a team. Neither he nor Cliff Illig, co-owner of MLS's Sporting Kansas City, bid in the NHL most recent expansion window.


text: Speculation about NHL expansion to Europe took place as far back as the 1960s. David Molson, then-owner of the Montreal Canadiens, stated that he looked forward to a "world playoff" for the Stanley Cup. In 1969, Clarence Campbell, president of the NHL, was quoted as saying "It is conceivable that the Stanley Cup will be played for in Moscow in the not too distant future. When it does, the World Tournament as we know it will just disappear... The game will continue to expand."


text: Although no European cities have been named in recent years, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly stated in 2008 that expansion into Europe was a possibility "within 10 years' time." In August 2010, the International Ice Hockey Federation president René Fasel stated that he would strongly oppose any expansion by the NHL into European markets. Time zone complications would also be an obstacle. 2008 was also the year that the Russian Superleague evolved into the Kontinental Hockey League, which is recognized as one of the world's premier professional leagues after the NHL and has grown to include several other European cities.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Salman Khurshid Alam Khan (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian politician, designated senior advocate, eminent author and a law teacher. He was the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of External Affairs. He belongs to the Indian National Congress. He is a lawyer, and a writer who has been elected from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in the General Election of 2009. He belongs to the Farrukhabad area. Prior to this he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha (1991–1996) from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency. He became the Union Deputy Minister of Commerce in June 1991, and later became the Union Minister of State for External Affairs (Jan. 1993 – June 1996). He started his political career in 1981 as an Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under the prime ministership of Indira Gandhi.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, he is the son of Khurshed Alam Khan a former Union Minister of External affairs, Government of India, and maternal grandson of Zakir Hussain, the third President of India. He is of Pathan descent maternally, tracing his ancestry to the Afridi tribe.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: He studied in St. Xavier's High School, Patna, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. He obtained B.A. (English and Jurisprudence) from St. Stephen's College, Delhi and later did M.A., Bachelor of Civil Law at St Edmund Hall of Oxford University. He also taught as lecturer in law at Trinity College, Oxford.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Salman started his political career as an Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister's Office, during the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi in the early 1980s. Later he became the Deputy Minister of Commerce in the Government of India. In 1991, he won the election to parliament from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh and was appointed Minister of State for External Affairs by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He lost the election of 1996 and it was not until 2009 that he returned to Parliament.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: In the General Election of 2009, he was elected as Member of Parliament from Farrukhabad, winning as a candidate of the Indian National Congress, with 169,351 votes. He became the Union Minister of State (with Independent Charges) of Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs in the Government of India. He took over as Minister on Friday, 29 May 2009. In the Cabinet reshuffle of 12 July 2011, he was made Cabinet Minister for Law and Justice, and for Minority Affairs, in the Government of India.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: He came 4th and lost his deposit in the Lok Sabha elections 2014 contesting from the same constituency of Farrukhabad. In the next parliamentary election (2019), he stood 3rd in with 55,258 votes.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: He has been the President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee twice. He was also the President of the Delhi Public School Society and Dr. Zakir Hussain Study Circle and PATRON of Mother Teresa Memorial Trust/Mother Teresa Foundation.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Salman Khurshid appeared for Students Islamic Movement of India, a group banned in India and frequently charged by Indian authorities with terrorist activities, as its defence lawyer, appealing the 2002 ban; in June 2006 the Supreme Court of India rejected the appeal noting "the appeal against the ban should be first argued before the tribunal established for the purposes". Asked about his appearance, Khurshid said :


title: Salman Khurshid

text: I would refuse a client only when I am personally satisfied that taking up the case would go against the ethics of the profession. A lawyer has to appear for an accused. It is my constitutional duty. A party and the government too cannot pre-judge an organisation.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: In 2009, Salman Khurshid criticized the partition of India, opining that a united India would have been better than a divided one.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: In 2009, incumbent president Sirajuddin Qureshi beat Salman Khurshid for the presidency of India Islamic Cultural Centre. Campaign for the election was very intense which became high-profile with Khurshid's entry in the fray.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Khurshid has been deeply involved in writing and acting in plays since his student days in Delhi and Oxford. He is the author of the play "Sons of Babur", published by Rupa & Co., which has been staged, with Tom Alter in the lead role, at the Red Fort in Delhi.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Salman Khurshid has also been the editor of "The Contemporary Conservative: Selected Writings of Dhiren Bhagat" published in 1990.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: In October 2021, Khurshid published "Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times", writing about India's decline in secularism surrounding the Ayodhya dispute. BJP leaders shared an excerpt from the book and triggered a controversy regarding Khurshid's attempt to draw a parallel between Hindutva and radical Islamist groups. The controversy resulted in his Nainital home being vandalized and set on fire.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: A suit filed by Hindu Sena President Vishu Gupta, wanting to stop the publication, circulation, and sale of the book "Sunrise over Ayodhya" was dismissed by a Delhi court on 18 November 2021. The court said that the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: Khurshid and his wife Louise run the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust for physically challenged people. The trust was founded on 30 October 1986 and commemorates the third President of India, Zakir Hussain, who is the maternal grandfather of Salman Khurshid. The Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust is registered at Khurshid's residence as an NGO and Louise is its chief functionary officer. It has been operating in many states and receiving substantial grants from several important ministries of the government of India. , it is chaired by Sayeeda Alam, Khurshid's father. In October 2012, "India Today" and "Aaj Tak" alleged that the Khurshids had embezzled funds, a charge denied by them. The ruling party Congress strongly defended Khurshid, but former social activist Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party began what he called "indefinite agitation". Angered by the allegations, Khurshid called Arvind Kejriwal a 'guttersnipe'. About 7.1 million was allegedly used by Salman Khurshid which was funded by the government to buy tricycles for the disabled.


title: Salman Khurshid

text: "Operation Dhritrashtra" was an investigation conducted by TV news channel Aaj Tak which alleged financial misappropriation by the trust. The investigation conducted by Deepak Sharma, Editor, SIT, India Today Group, revealed that it forged signatures and stamps of senior officials of several districts in Uttar Pradesh. Aaj Tak gathered documentary evidence of the alleged forgery and false reporting from at least ten districts in the state. The Uttar Pradesh Economic offence wing investigated the matter. Louise filed a defamation case against the TV Today news broadcaster, which had publicised the allegations.


title: Aham Sharma

text: Aham Sharma (born 22 July 1989) is an Indian actor from Salimpur, Bihar, India. Best known for his work in Indian television, he has also featured in several Bollywood films including "1962 My Country Land" which premiered at Marche du Film of the 69th Cannes Film Festival.


title: Aham Sharma

text: Sharma's most recognizable TV roles include Karna in "Mahabharat" (2013–2014), Rishabh Srivastava in "Brahmarakshas" (2016–2017) and Vikramaditya in "Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha" (2018–2019).


title: Aham Sharma

text: In 2008, Sharma began his acting career in Hindi television. He signed the lead role of Rehaan, a Lucknow young man of aristocratic lineage who was sent to London in childhood by his over protective mother before returning to his hometown Lucknow after growing up, in Gul Khan's production debut "Chand Ke Paar Chalo" for NDTV Imagine that co-starred Yami Gautam and Zalak Thakker. It failed to gain good ratings, ending just after 80 episodes in February 2009.


title: Aham Sharma

text: In 2009, Sharma made his Hindi cinema debut with the release of his first movie, the suspense crime thriller "Blue Oranges".


title: Aham Sharma

text: Sharma achieved three projects in 2010. Firstly he teamed up with producer Ekta Kapoor for the first time in "Bairi Piya" for Colors TV as Nirbhay Pundir. Next he appeared as Anil and Amit respectively in two different episodes of Fireworks Productions's horror supernatural anthology "Aahat" on Sony Entertainment Television. In his final work of the year, he did a cameo as the strong Aditya Ahlawat, an aspiring politician in the crime drama "Kaali – Ek Agnipariksha" on Star Plus produced by Undercover Productions Ltd.


title: Aham Sharma

text: Sharma's first project of 2013 was an episodic part in the scary horror series "" with Neetha Shetty. Consecutively he bagged two episodics in Fireworks Productions's popular police procedural television series "CID". In May 2013, he found a villainous role for the first time in his career in Firefly Productions's crime detective supernatural series "SuperCops vs Supervillains" on Life OK as Scientist Dr. Ajay/Vidyut - The Flash Man, an antagonist with superpowers.


title: Aham Sharma

text: Sharma had his break through in 2013 with "Mahabharat" TV series on Star Plus, based on the Hindu epic of the same name, in which he performed as warrior Karna. It co-starred Shaheer Sheikh, Pooja Sharma, Saurabh Raj Jain among others. His acting gained him the Indian Telly Award for Best Supporting Actor award.


title: Aham Sharma

text: In 2014, Sharma essayed Jass in the romantic drama film "Karle Pyaar Karle". It was a box office disaster. In early-2015, he was finalised as the main lead for Swastik Productions's new project "Dosti... Yaariyan... Manmarziyan", a television show on Star Plus. He portrayed the role of Arjun Mehra, a man with a hidden motif having various shades of constantly striving between good and bad in himself.


title: Aham Sharma

text: Sharma began 2016 in "1962 My Country Land", a period film about the Indo-China War, featuring him as an Army Lance Naik who gets responsibility for mapping along the Indo-China border. In August 2016, he reteamed with Kapoor for the supernatural show "Brahmarakshas" on Zee TV wherein he enacted the character of Rishabh Srivastava, the main protagonist opposite Krystle D'Souza. Being a finite series, it culminated in February 2017.


title: Aham Sharma

text: In 2014, Sharma was rated 26th in the 11th edition of "50 Sexiest Asian Men in The World" by the British weekly newspaper "Eastern Eye".


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Bad Santa 2 is a 2016 Christmas black comedy drama film directed by Mark Waters and written by Shauna Cross and Johnny Rosenthal. A standalone sequel to the 2003 film "Bad Santa", the film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Kathy Bates, and Christina Hendricks, and features criminals Willie and Marcus again teaming up to work as Santa and an elf, respectively, this time to rob a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Principal photography began on January 11, 2016, in Montreal, and the film was released in the United States on November 23, 2016, by Broad Green Pictures. In contrast to the original film, it received generally negative reviews and grossed $24.1 million worldwide against its $26 million budget (less than a third of the original film's $76.5 million), making it a box-office bomb.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Set 13 years after the first film, Willie Soke remains depressed as ever, upset his "happy ending" did not pan out, as he is again addicted to sex and alcohol. As he tries and fails to kill himself, he is visited by Thurman "The Kid" Merman, who has just turned 21 and works at a sandwich shop called Hungry Hoagies. Unfortunately, Thurman's father has abandoned him and his grandmother has passed on two years before making Willie the closest thing to family he has left. Thurman delivers to Willie a package containing a large sum of cash, and Willie soon finds out it's from Marcus, his former partner who has been released from jail after the events 13 years earlier. Marcus, expressing sincere remorse for betraying Willie, tells Willie he has an opportunity in Chicago that can potentially net them millions, though he is unwilling to disclose the name of his contact. Willie reluctantly agrees, while unsuccessfully trying to help Thurman lose his virginity before he leaves for Chicago.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Upon their arrival, Willie is annoyed to learn that not only is target of the con a charity but that his estranged mother, Sunny, uses "shit stick" as a term of endearment for Willie, is Marcus' contact. Willie reluctantly agrees since Sunny is suffering from the early stages of Parkinson's Disease, though he secretly makes a deal with Marcus to cut Sunny out when the time comes. Forced to don the Santa suit once more, Willie is arrested when he beats up a much jollier Santa (due to mistakenly thinking the other Santa is a pedophile) but is bailed out by one of the charity's founders, Diane. Though she wants to fire Willie for his behavior, she relents when he agrees to attend AA meetings with her. Diane's husband, the Regent, who also runs the charity and is cheating on Diane with his secretary, orders his head security guard Dorfman to track and follow Willie, becoming suspicious of how much time he's spending with Diane.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Meanwhile, Marcus, after doing recon work, tries to seduce security guard Gina so he can obtain the keys to Regent's office where the charity's safe is kept, but he fails to do so, as Gina is "high maintenance". Elsewhere, Willie starts a sexual relationship with Diane, and he and Sunny start to bond, especially when the two of them rob a mansion together with Willie posing as Santa and Sunny as Mrs. Claus. As they bond over their haul afterward, Sunny gives Willie a gun so he can betray and take revenge on Marcus, despite Willie's insistence that Marcus has changed.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Thurman soon arrives in Chicago, having followed Willie to the city. Willie at first considers leaving him at a laundromat but soon takes him to the charity's shelter. Thurman ends up joining the children's choir, which is set to have a concert on the night of Willie, Sunny, and Marcus's heist. Willie soon encounters Gina, who, thanks to Sunny's prodding, believes Willie wants to sleep with her. They have sex in the bathroom of a bar, and Willie obtains the keys. On the night of the show/robbery, Willie catches Thurman singing, which makes the kid very happy. As Willie cracks the safe, Marcus is about to betray him again, but they escape just as Regent and Dorfman discover the con. However, Sunny reveals she is betraying them both, telling Willie the bullets in the gun she gave him are blanks before shooting Marcus. She tries to escape by disappearing into a crowd of people dressed as Santa at an outdoor party. Willie, Regent, and Dorfman chase her. Despite blending in, Willie catches her and attempts to take the bag of stolen cash by saying the kids need it more. In their struggle, the bag is torn open and the money goes flying into the crowd. Enraged, Sunny attempts to shoot him again, but hits Thurman in his behind instead. Both Sunny and Willie are arrested, but Willie is not charged due to his help in catching Sunny. While he recovers, he is visited in the hospital by Diane who wakes him up with a handjob.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Willie soon takes a job as a janitor at the charity, where he continues to visit Thurman and accepts him as family. He also visits an injured Marcus, but proceeds to "tea bag" him and post pictures of this on Instagram, as revenge against Marcus for doing the same thing to him.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: In 2009, Billy Bob Thornton first mentioned the sequel to the 2003 film "Bad Santa", with an aim for release at Christmas 2011. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Miramax and The Weinstein Company had signed on an agreement to develop sequels including one for "Bad Santa". On March 18, 2011, "TheWrap" reported that Weinstein confirmed the sequel and negotiations had begun with Thornton to return for the lead role. On July 14, 2011, the "Los Angeles Times" confirmed that Dimension Films and other producers on the film, including Geyer Kosinski, had hired two writers Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips to work on the screenplay. The sequel was scheduled to begin shooting in fall 2012 for a December 2013 release. On July 30, 2012, it was reported that Steve Pink was in early talks with the studio to rewrite and direct the film. On May 30, 2013, it was revealed that Miramax has hired "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin to rewrite the script, and to possibly direct the sequel.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: In October 2014, Thornton confirmed that the sequel was in development, adding "We're never gonna beat the first one but you got to get as close as you can." On October 29, 2015, it was confirmed that Thornton would return to play Willie in "Bad Santa 2", and that filming would begin in Montreal in January 2016, for a scheduled release of Christmas 2016. Miramax and Broad Green Pictures would co-finance the film, with Broad Green also distributing the film in the United States, and Sierra/Affinity handling the international sales for the film. On November 3, 2015, it was announced that "Mean Girls" director Mark Waters would direct the film from a script by Rosenthal, Ellin, and Shauna Cross, while Brett Kelly and Tony Cox from the first film also signed on to return.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: On November 19, 2015, it was announced that Kathy Bates would join the cast as Willie's foul-mouthed mother, while Andrew Gunn would also produce the film, along with Kosinski. Originally, Rosenthal had written the character as Willie's father, Earl, but Cross believed changing the character to Willie's mother would be funnier. Cross explained, "I think that while there's something funny about an absentee father, the terrible father figure is played out. You're screwed if you have a bad dad, but you're extra screwed if you have a mother who is that terrible. It almost seemed to thematically show the origins and set the tone of what the original film was about." Rosenthal agreed with the change, adding, "Seeing Earl turn into Sunny didn't change anything story-wise. You wouldn't notice much of a difference between the two – they were both chauvinistic, misogynistic, racist, abusive alcoholics. But I think it was a great choice just to add a little estrogen, no matter how testosterone-fueled it was. I think that switch only added to the humor of the finished product." Cross was convinced that only one actress was right for the part, saying, "I think the minute we had the idea to make it the mom I only pictured Kathy Bates as that person. It had to be her. I think I kept calling her 'Kathy' while I was writing her even before we had her."


title: Bad Santa 2

text: On January 6, 2016, Christina Hendricks joined the cast, playing the head of a charitable organization. On January 11, 2016, more cast was added to the film, including Ryan Hansen, Jenny Zigrino, and Jeff Skowron Principal photography on the film began on January 11, 2016, in Montreal. Filming took place on locations including Saint Catherine Street and Saint-Alexandre.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: In December 2015, it was announced that "Bad Santa 2" would be released on November 23, 2016, by Broad Green Pictures in America, while Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions would handle worldwide distribution. The first promotional trailer for the film was released on August 9, 2016.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: "Bad Santa 2" grossed $17.8 million in the United States and Canada and $5.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $23.2 million, against a production budget of $26 million.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: "Bad Santa 2" opened alongside "Moana", "Rules Don't Apply" and "Allied", and was expected to gross $15–20 million from 2,920 theaters over its first five days. The film ended up grossing $9 million over its first five days ($6.1 million in its opening weekend), finishing below expectations and 7th at the box office. It was also down 46% from the five-day opening of the first film, which made $16.8 million in 2003.


title: Bad Santa 2

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Loaded up with the same scatological and misanthropic humor as its predecessor but precious little of its heart or genuine wit, "Bad Santa 2" presents a foulmouthed shadow of Christmas past." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale (lower than the first film's "B"), while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 69% overall positive score and a 51% "definite recommend".


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Alex Welch of IGN gave the film 5/10, and wrote that it "does little to dispel the notion that most sequels simply aren't necessary." Kyle Smith for the "New York Post" described it as "vulgar, nasty and offensive, but it has flawed aspects also", and "so raunchy, you may feel the urge to wash your ears out with soap, not that the language is the only dirty thing about it." Ben Kenigsberg for "The New York Times" also found the film wanting, although praised Kathy Bates' performance. Vince Mancini for "Uproxx" said that the sequel will make [one] appreciate the original, and criticised the film's humor as "plug-to-play one liners", while also noting that the film "isn't terrible".


title: Bad Santa 2

text: Amy Nicholson for MTV mockingly referred to the film as "Badly Traumatized Santa", and wrote that "[it] doesn't hate Christmas."


title: U.S. Route 30

text: U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest U.S. highway, after US 20 and US 6. The western end of the highway is at US 101 in Astoria, Oregon; the eastern end is at Virginia Avenue, Absecon Boulevard, and Adriatic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The "0" as the last digit in the number indicates that it is a coast-to-coast route and a major east-west route. Despite long stretches of parallel and concurrent Interstate Highways, it has not been decommissioned unlike other long haul routes such as US 66. It's also the only route that has always been coast-to-coast since the beginning of US highways.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Much of the historic Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States (from New York City to San Francisco), became part of US 30; it is still known by that name in many areas.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: The western terminus of US 30 is at an intersection with U.S. Route 101 at the southern end of the Astoria–Megler Bridge in downtown Astoria, Oregon, approximately from the Pacific Ocean. It heads east to Portland, where it uses a short section of freeway built for the canceled Interstate 505. From there it heads around the north side of downtown on Interstate 405 and Interstate 5 to reach Interstate 84 (I‑84). Most of the rest of the route is concurrent with I‑84, with only about , under 1/5 of its remaining length, off the freeway, mainly on old alignments.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Upon entering Idaho, US 30 runs along its old surface route through Fruitland and New Plymouth before joining I‑84. It leaves at Bliss and soon crosses the Snake River, running south of it through Twin Falls and Burley before crossing it again and rejoining I‑84. At the split with Interstate 86 (I‑86), US 30 continues east with I‑86 almost to its end at Pocatello. US 30 cuts southeast through downtown Pocatello to Interstate 15, where it heads south to McCammon. There it exits and heads east and southeast into Wyoming, not paralleling an Interstate highway for the first time since Portland.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: In Wyoming, US 30 heads southeast through Kemmerer to Granger, where it joins Interstate 80 across the southern part of the state. It is also here that it joins the historic Lincoln Highway. As in the previous two states, US 30 remains with the Interstate highway for most of its path, only leaving for the old route in the following places:


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Unlike the three states to the west, Nebraska keeps US 30 completely separate from its parallel Interstates (Interstate 80 [I‑80] in this case). From the state line to Grand Island, US 30 closely parallels I‑80. East of Grand Island, US 30 diverges from I‑80 and runs northeast towards Columbus on a highway parallel to the Platte River. At Columbus, it turns east towards Schuyler and Fremont and crosses the Missouri River into Iowa east of Blair.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 crosses Iowa from west to east approximately north of Interstate 80. Between Missouri Valley and Denison, US 30 runs in a southwest-to-northeast direction. Several freeway bypasses have been built around the major cities on US 30 - Ames, Marshalltown, Tama, Cedar Rapids, Mt. Vernon and DeWitt. It crosses the Mississippi River into Illinois on the Gateway Bridge at Clinton.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: U.S. Route 30S and U.S. Route 30A are two previous alternate alignments of US 30 in Iowa. They followed the original alignment of US 30 in the state. They both began in Nebraska, entered Iowa in Council Bluffs, and extended north to Missouri Valley via Crescent to meet the current highway.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 heads east in Illinois to Rock Falls, where it begins to parallel Interstate 88. At Aurora it turns southeast to Joliet, where it is a major thoroughfare in the city of Joliet (Plainfield Road), and then back east through New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, and Lynwood to the Indiana state line, bypassing Chicago to the south. Notwithstanding, the original 1926 routing of US 30 ran directly through downtown Chicago.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 in Indiana is a major rural divided highway. It is not a freeway except at Fort Wayne, where it runs around the north side on Interstate 69 (I‑69) and Interstate 469. Between Interstate 65 (at Merrillville) and I‑69 (Fort Wayne), there are over 40 traffic signals on this divided highway, hindering smooth traffic flow. This is especially pronounced near Warsaw and Columbia City, where the speed limit is reduced as the highway runs through a commercial section with many businesses and traffic signals. Many of the other signals are concentrated between Hobart and Valparaiso, the two cities being about apart. It is, however, a four lane divided road through its entirety within Indiana, generally avoiding small towns. Speed limits range, but are generally .


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 continues into Ohio, where it is mainly a 4 lane divided highway until in Canton. A proposal to make US 30 a limited access freeway from Trump Ave and OH 11 was set in 2019 & federal funding has set $18 Million to construct the new freeway. As of 2020 the only sections that are limited access freeways are in Van Wert, Bucyrus, Mansfield, Wooster, & Canton. A section between I-71 & US-250 is a divided 4 lane highway. Also a section between OH 57 & OH 172 is a 4 lane divided highway with Traffic Signals at 2 intersections. The highway passes through Van Wert. After Van Wert it travels through Upper Sandusky where, the highway runs concurrent with US 23. The section between Mansfield and Canton follows the old Lincoln Highway. The last remaining segments that will be upgraded to a freeway is past Canton, currently the highway is a 2 lane route that passes through East Canton, Minerva, & Lisbon. After Lisbon it concurs with OH 45 for 3 miles and it becomes a freeway. Designated with signs marking routes OH 11, OH 7, OH 39, & US 30. After joining Ohio 11, Ohio 7 becomes a part of the freeway where all 3 routes split in East Liverpool where US 30 joins OH 39 for 1 mile and US 30 crosses the Ohio River into West Virginia.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 runs for only about in West Virginia. It crosses the Ohio River over the Jennings Randolph Bridge, continuing the freeway from the Ohio section. After cutting through the town of Chester with only one interchange, West Virginia Route 2 (Carolina Avenue), the freeway section ends not too long after. US 30 continues across the northernmost piece of the Northern Panhandle on a two-lane road.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 heads southeast into Pennsylvania, joining US 22 and then the Penn-Lincoln Parkway West west of Pittsburgh. It heads through downtown Pittsburgh on Interstate 376/US 22, leaving at Wilkinsburg for its own alignment. From there it roughly parallels the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76 [I‑76]) to the Philadelphia area, though in many areas, particularly from York past Lancaster, and bypassing Coatesville, Downingtown, and Exton, it is far enough from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to require its own freeway. As it approaches Philadelphia, US 30 constitutes the main road of the Philadelphia Main Line, a string of affluent suburbs west of the city; often called Lancaster Avenue and Lancaster Pike through this stretch. US 30 then briefly joins I‑76 near Center City Philadelphia, splitting onto Interstate 676 as it crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 splits from Interstate 676 just east of the Ben Franklin Bridge toll plaza in Camden and heads southeast to Atlantic City, generally parallel to the Atlantic City Expressway, passing through the New Jersey Pine Barrens. For most of its New Jersey run, it is known as the White Horse Pike. It ends in Atlantic City at the intersection of Absecon Boulevard, Virginia Avenue, and Adriatic Avenue, about from the Atlantic Ocean.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 was originally proposed to run from Salt Lake City, Utah to Atlantic City, New Jersey. West of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this was designated largely along the Lincoln Highway, as part of a promise to the Lincoln Highway Association to assign a single number to their road as much as possible. West of Salt Lake City, U.S. Route 40 continued to San Francisco, California, although it ran farther north than the Lincoln Highway east of Wadsworth, Nevada and west of Sacramento, California.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Around 1931, a split in Ohio was designated, from Delphos east to Mansfield. The original US 30 was assigned U.S. Route 30S (US 30S), and a straighter route became U.S. Route 30N (US 30N). US 30S was eliminated ca 1975, putting US 30 on former US 30N.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 was rerouted ca 1931 to bypass Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa to the north. The former route, from Fremont, Nebraska to Missouri Valley, Iowa, was designated U.S. Route 30S. Around 1934 it was truncated to Omaha and c. 1939 it was changed from US 30S to US 30A and was removed from service in 1969 when the historic Douglas Street bridge was demolished.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Metropolitan Portland, Oregon has a signed US 30 "Bypass", beginning at the St. John's bridge, following (roughly) Lombard Street in North Portland, continuing along Sandy Boulevard, and rejoining the Interstate 84|/US 30 route in the center of the town of Wood Village. Junctions with Interstate 5, US 30 at the St. John's bridge, and Interstate 205 are all signed with "US-30 BYPASS" markers. Portland also had a U.S. 30 Business route along N.E. Sandy Boulevard, however the route was decommissioned in 2007.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: During the planning stages US 30 was proposed to run through and terminate in Salt Lake City, Utah, but Idaho and Oregon objected. What is now US 30 through those states (west of Burley, Idaho) had been designated as part of U.S. Route 20, another transcontinental route, but it took a detour to the north through Yellowstone National Park, making it inaccessible during the winter season. The states agreed to take US 30 along that route, splitting from the route to Salt Lake City at Granger, Wyoming and running along what had been designated as U.S. Route 530 (US 530). (That number was then reused for the spur towards Salt Lake City.) The planned US 530 had ended at U.S. Route 91 at McCammon, Idaho, where the new US 30 turned north to Pocatello, meeting the planned US 20. (US 20 was truncated to Yellowstone but later extended along its own route to the Pacific Ocean.) What had been designated as U.S. Route 630 (US 630), from US 30 at Echo, Utah to Ogden, Utah, was to be extended east on former US 30 to US 30 at Granger and northwest on US 91 and what had been designated U.S. Route 191 to US 30 at Burley.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: Utah objected to that plan, however, as it removed US 30 from that state, giving them only US 630, a branch. A compromise was reached, in which the US 630 route would become the main line of US 30, once improved to higher standards, but that was still not deemed completely satisfactory. Ultimately, in the final system, a split was approved between Burley, Idaho and Granger, Wyoming, with U.S. Route  30N running along the modern routing US 30, and U.S. Route 30S taking the route through Utah (planned as US 630). In the final plan (dated November 11, 1926), the route towards Salt Lake City became U.S. Route 530, ending at U.S. Route 40 at Kimball Junction, Utah.


title: U.S. Route 30

text: In 1988 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) engineers proposed that US 30 be rerouted and upgraded to a four-lane controlled-access expressway through a portion of Lancaster County. The American Farmland Trust (AFT) opposed the plan because, according to Jim Riggle, then Director of Operations at AFT, it "would have cut right through the heart of the best farmland [and] would probably have been the death knell of the Amish community." The plans were averted when more than a thousand Old Order Amish, people who do not usually participate in the public process, "drove their buggies to the meeting hall and expressed their concern by simply sitting quietly in the audience in their black homespun suits."


title: U.S. Route 30

text: US 30 has had multiple alternate routes during it existence, but all have been finally eliminated. Although several business loops of US 30 have been decommissioned as well, nearly a dozen remain. In addition to these business loops, there is also one bypass, one emergency route, and one business alternate truck route.


title: Jessy Hodges

text: Jessy Hodges (born August 8, 1986) is an American actress. She played Sophie Parker in the web series "Anyone But Me". She is the daughter of "The Evil Dead" star Ellen Sandweiss.


title: Jessy Hodges

text: Hodges lives in Los Angeles and is originally from Huntington Woods, Michigan. She studied drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. About her acting career, Hodges said that she was very involved in theater during the early years of her life. She also said she has a strong connection to her mother. Her mother Ellen Sandweiss went to school for theater and is also an actress. Hodges and her mother starred in "Satan's Playground" together. Hodges married her boyfriend and former SNL cast member Beck Bennett on August 25, 2018.


title: Jessy Hodges

text: For her work in the critically acclaimed web series "Anyone But Me", Hodges was nominated for an Indie Soap Award in the breakthrough performance category. The storyline pertinent to her character Sophie's sexual questioning was nominated for best storyline in the same year. Her other Web video work includes appearing in several sketches by comedy duo BriTANicK, including their famous "Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer."


title: Petr Aven

text: Petr Olegovich Aven (also transliterated Pyotr Aven; ; Latvian: Pjotrs Avens; born 16 March 1955) is a Russian oligarch, businessman, economist and politician who also holds Latvian citizenship. Until March 2022 he headed Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest commercial bank. In March 2022, he resigned from the board of directors at Alfa-Bank and LetterOne Group to help them avoid sanctions.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven is believed to be a member of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's inner circle. He is one of many Russian oligarchs named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA. In 2022, Aven was included in EU sanctions imposed in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He criticized the sanctions, alleging that they had been applied on a "spurious and unfounded basis," and filed a lawsuit in the European Court of Justice.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven was born in Moscow, his father, professor of computer science , was half Latvian and half Russian, and his mother was from a Jewish family. His paternal grandfather Janis Aven or Jānis Avens was a Latvian rifleman.


title: Petr Aven

text: Petr Aven studied at . He graduated from Moscow State University in 1977 and holds a PhD in economics (1980).


title: Petr Aven

text: After graduation from university, Aven was a senior researcher at the at the USSR Academy of Sciences and then spent time at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria (1989–1991).


title: Petr Aven

text: Concerning Russian economic reform in the early 1990s, he and other reformer colleagues had consulted with foreign academics by 1990 on trying to find a new system. When Boris Yeltsin became president, he appointed Aven with the task of making the ruble convertible and finding a solution to foreign debt. Aven went on to become the Minister of Foreign Economic Relations for the Russian Federation (1991–1992), serving as Russia's representative to the Group of Seven and conducting a number of high-level trade and economic missions to Western capitals. After leaving the government in December 1992, Aven became an adviser to the president of JSC "LogoVAZ" Boris Berezovsky and remained in this post until the end of 1993. In 1993 he joined the Russia's Choice movement and was a candidate for State Duma.


title: Petr Aven

text: In October 1994, Aven met Alfa Group's Mikhail Fridman, and soon became an Alfa-Bank shareholder serving as a member of the supervisory board of the Alfa Group Consortium. From 1994 until June 2011, he served as the president of Alfa-Bank Russia. Currently Aven is a member of the board of directors and chairman of the board of directors of ABH Holdings S.A. Aven is also chairman of the board of directors at AlfaStrakhovanie Group, co-chairman of the board of directors of CTC Media, Inc. In 2012, the Alfa Group together with Viktor Vekselberg of Renova Group and Leonard Blavatnik of Access Industries sold their aggregate 50% stake in TNK-BP to state-owned Rosneft for $28 billion.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2013, Aven joined the Board of LetterOne Group, an international investment business founded by Mikhail Fridman and focused on the telecoms, technology and energy sectors. The L1 Group owns companies – and has equity investments in companies – with operations in 32 countries around the world.


title: Petr Aven

text: LetterOne acquired assets from German utility business E. ON in October 2015, in a deal worth $1.6bn, that saw the Luxembourg-based group gain Norwegian oil and gas resources. In the following month, LetterOne also announced their intention to deal with Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA, and boost their presence in the mobile phone sector there.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2015 Petr Aven and Alfred Kokh published "Gaidar's Revolution: The Inside Account of the Economic Transformation of Russia", drawing on their experience of the Russian Government and the former First Minister for the Economy, Yegor Gaidar. In his review of the book, John Lloyd of the "Financial Times" called it "an illuminating study of the reformers who sought to revive Russia's post-Soviet economy."


title: Petr Aven

text: On 28 February 2022, the European Union blacklisted Aven and had all his assets frozen in relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Petr Aven

text: On 9 April 2022, the French Ministry of Culture seized a Pyotr Konchalovsky painting owned by Petr Aven, "Autoportrait" (1910), as part of the personal sanctions imposed on Aven in relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The canvas had been part of the "Icônes de l'Art Russe" exhibition of the late Morozov brothers' collection of artworks at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven is currently the subject of a UK investigation into the possible evasion of sanctions, with transfers totaling £3 million to the UK from Austria in February 2022 under scrutiny. In May 2022 Aven's home was raided by officers from the National Crime Agency. Nonetheless, Aven's legal team scored a victory of sorts in July 2022, when a judge ruled that some of the accounts used to fund expenses for Aven's London mansion could be unfrozen. In late October 2022, Aven was granted living expenses of £60,000 by the UK Treasury, as well as a one-off payment of £388,000 to settle “pressing debts”, an award that drew condemnation from supporters of the UK sanctions regime. Aven claimed the money was needed to meet his “basic needs” and those of his family.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2005, a United States district court in Washington, D.C., dismissed a 2000 libel suit by Aven and fellow Alfa-Bank owner Mikhail Fridman against the Center for Public Integrity over an online article which included a suggestion that they had been involved in drug-running and organized crime; the federal judge ruled that there was no evidence of actual malice on the part of the publication and that Fridman and Aven were limited public figures regarding the public controversy involving corruption in post-Soviet Russia.


title: Petr Aven

text: In May 2017 Aven, along with fellow Alfa-Bank owners Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, filed a defamation lawsuit against "BuzzFeed" for publishing the unverified Steele dossier, which alleges financial ties and collusion between Putin, Trump, and the three bank owners. In October 2017 Aven, Fridman, and Khan also filed a libel suit against the private-investigation firm Fusion GPS and its founder Glenn Simpson, who had commissioned former MI6 agent Christopher Steele to compile the dossier, for circulating the dossier among journalists and allowing it to be published. In May 2018, the Kremlin released a statement noting that Aven, Fridman and Khan were not representing interests of Putin or the Russian government. The statement followed a meeting between the Kremlin, Aven and Fridman. In April 2018 Aven, Fridman, and Khan filed a libel suit against Steele in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, but the suit was dismissed with prejudice the following August.


title: Petr Aven

text: In September 2018, attorneys for Aven, Fridman and Khan filed another suit against investigative firm Fusion GPS and founder Glenn Simpson alleging defamation from the Steele report. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon has yet to rule on the suit.


title: Petr Aven

text: Together with fellow Alfa-Bank partners Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, Aven brought a lawsuit for defamation in Britain against Orbis Business Intelligence, Steele's private intelligence firm. In July 2020, Justice Warby from the Queen's Bench Division of the British High Court of Justice ordered Steele to pay damages to Aven and Fridman who Steele claimed had delivered "large amounts of illicit cash" to Vladimir Putin when Putin was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Judge Warby stated that the claim was "demonstrably false" and awarded the damages to compensate "for the loss of autonomy, distress and reputational damage caused by the breaches of duty". The judge stated that Steele's dossier also inaccurately claimed that Aven and Fridman provided foreign policy advice to Putin.


title: Petr Aven

text: Since April 2006, Aven has been a member of the board of directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. In 2007, Aven became chairman of the Russia-Latvian Business Council.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven has acted as a guest professor and lecturer at some universities, including Yale University, Bar-Elan University (Israel), and the University of Glasgow and has published two books on econometrics and on economic reform and numerous articles in Russian and international journals, including in Communist Economies and Economic Transformation in Economic Policy. Yale University Press and the Kiel Institute of World Economics, and other scientific and academic institutes have published Aven's monographs.


title: Petr Aven

text: He has received a number of international awards, including the best manager in the financial services sector in Russia in 2004 by Institutional Investor.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven is a supporter of the arts and theatre in Russia. Aven along with Stan Polovets and three fellow Russian Jewish billionaires, Mikhail Fridman, Alexander Knaster, and German Khan, founded the Genesis Philanthropy Group whose purpose is to develop and enhance Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2008, Petr and Elena Aven established the charity foundation "Generation". Its priorities are "support for children's healthcare, cultural exchange projects between Latvia and Russia, as well as scholarships and grants in the field of science.


title: Petr Aven

text: Since 2012 the foundation has been supporting the Madona Hospital in northeastern Latvia. One of the first baby boxes in Latvia is equipped with the help of the foundation.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven is also a recognised art collector. His first art purchase was a still life by Pavel Kuznetsov in 1993, and afterwards he began collecting mostly pre-Soviet Russian art, as well as art by artists of other nationalities. Works from his collection have been lent to the Jewish Museum in Moscow, the Tate in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and recently the Royal Academy. In May 2015, pieces from Aven's private collection were put on display at New York's Neue Galerie in an exhibition examining early twentieth century Russian art and its relationship with German art of the time.


title: Petr Aven

text: Aven has been vociferous in his criticism of fake artworks from the school of Russian avant-garde.  This included criticism of the recent showing of avante-garde works at the Ghent Museum.


title: Petr Aven

text: On 3 November 2015, Aven received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in recognition of his contribution to corporate and public service to U.S.-Russia relations, at the 2015 Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Awards Dinner. The award was given to Aven in recognition of his many achievements in building understanding between Russians and Americans during his career, and for his role as co-founder of the Alfa Fellowship Program, which gives emerging young leaders from around the world the opportunity to gain professional experience in the private sector, government, and non-profit community, creating a new generation of American experts on Russia.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2021 Aven bought a building in the center of Riga to establish a museum for his collection. He is a trustee of the UK Royal Academy of Arts Development Trust.


title: Petr Aven

text: In 2013, Aven was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Latvia "for scientific and practical contributions to Latvia's development and cooperation with Russia." Said doctorate was revoked unanimously in 2022 because of Aven's support for Vladimir Putin and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Lux (soap)

text: Lux Soap was introduced to America in 1925 by the Lever Brothers. It was a white soap packaged in pastel colors designed to be comparable to the finer French soaps, but more affordable. Once Lux Soap began its national campaign in 1926, it was also advertised for men and children. The Thompson agency then began a campaign in 1928 to get endorsements from Hollywood actresses, by sending 425 actresses cases of Lux Soap. It received 414 endorsements in return, leading them to claim that 9 out of 10 stars in Hollywood use Lux Soap.


title: Lux (soap)

text: In 1933, advertisements claimed that Lux Soap was used by 686 out of 694 more well known actresses. Lux Soap's Hollywood campaign along with its many other advertising efforts, would assist Lux Soap in becoming a worldwide leader in soap sales. As the focus of advertising shifted from the use of Hollywood starlets to a focus on everyday women, Lux Soap declined in sales and was removed from the shelves in the 1990s. Lever Brothers shifted their focus to another soap, Dove.


title: Lux (soap)

text: Lux Soap followed Colonial Great Britain to Zimbabwe, Africa, in the 1920s, but it took until the mid-20th century before Africans became familiar with toilet soap and few used it. In the 1940s Lever Brothers began mass advertising for Lux, introducing their product as a soap associated with glamour and intelligence, and began using existing advertisements of international celebrities endorsing their products. Lever Brothers began to offer different colored bars other than white and used depictions of African people with slogans that insinuated intelligent people used only Lux Soap. In the 1960s and 1970s Lux Soap advertising shifted back to emphasizing glamour but this time used local models and singers instead of international stars.


title: American Movie

text: American Movie is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith, produced by Smith and Sarah Price, and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann. The film chronicles the making of "Coven", an independent short horror film directed by Wisconsin-based filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Produced for the purpose of financing "Northwestern", a feature film Borchardt wishes to make, "Coven" suffers from a troubled production, from a lack of planning to the ineptitude of the friends and family whom Borchardt enlists as his cast and crew.


title: American Movie

text: "American Movie" received generally positive reviews, and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. It has since been considered a cult film.


title: American Movie

text: Filmed between September 1995 and August 1997, "American Movie" documents the making of "Coven", an independent short horror film directed by filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Produced for the purpose of raising capital for "Northwestern", a feature film Borchardt intends to make, "Coven" suffers from numerous setbacks, including poor financing, a lack of planning, Borchardt's burgeoning alcoholism, and the ineptitude of the friends and family he enlists as his production team. The documentary follows Borchardt's filmmaking process from script to screen, and is interspersed with footage from both of Borchardt's developing projects.


title: American Movie

text: The film was a critical success upon its debut and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. It has since gone on to be considered a cult film.


title: American Movie

text: In 1996 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Mark Borchardt dreams of being a filmmaker. Currently however, he delivers papers for a living, is deeply indebted, still lives with his parents, is a borderline alcoholic, and is estranged from his ex-girlfriend, who is threatening to move out of state with their three children. He acknowledges his various failures, but aspires to one day make more of his life.


title: American Movie

text: Hoping to jump-start his amateur filmmaking career, Mark restarts production on "Northwestern", a feature-length film he has been planning for most of his adult life. Initially, the project attracts some interest from the group of amateur actors with whom Mark has produced some radio plays, but by the fourth production meeting almost no one shows up and Mark is forced to acknowledge that he currently lacks the resources to move "Northwestern" past the pre-production phase.


title: American Movie

text: To drum up the attention and financial resources needed to film "Northwestern", Mark decides to finally complete "Coven" (which Borchardt mispronounces with a long 'o'), a horror short that he began shooting on 16 mm film in 1994, but ultimately abandoned. He receives financing from his Uncle Bill, a wise, but increasingly senile, eighty-two-year-old retiree who lives in a dilapidated trailer despite having $280,000 in his bank account. Bill hesitantly agrees to invest in "Coven", with the goal of selling three thousand VHS tapes, which Mark says will raise enough capital to finance "Northwestern".


title: American Movie

text: Mark restarts production on "Coven", but suffers numerous mishaps. Although he is hard-working and knowledgeable about film making, he is also poor at planning ahead and inarticulate as a director. Additionally, he builds his production crew out of friends and neighbors, many of whom are incompetent at the tasks to which he assigns them. Particular attention is given to his best friend, guitarist Mike Schank, an amiable recovering alcoholic and drug addict with reduced affect who is one of the most reliable members of the crew (and also recorded the music for the soundtrack of the documentary). In their adolescence, Mark and Mike bonded over their shared love of vodka, but Mike is now sober and has joined Alcoholics Anonymous, though he has become a compulsive gambler, buying scratch-off lottery tickets from the gas station, sometimes accompanied by his AA sponsor, who then drives them both to Gamblers' Anonymous meetings; Mike reasons that, while you sometimes win and sometimes lose the lottery, you always lose with drugs and alcohol.


title: American Movie

text: As the work on "Coven" moves forward, Mark faces the skepticism of his family and his own burgeoning alcoholism, though he does eventually wrap principal photography. At Thanksgiving dinner and, later, a family party to watch Super Bowl XXXI, he gets drunk and becomes alternately agitated, cheery, and despondent. At one point, he wistfully watches footage he shot for "Northwestern" back in 1990 and contemplates whether or not he is a failure.


title: American Movie

text: After an extended post-production process during which Mark, and sometimes Mike and Mark's children, occasionally sleep in an editing room at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Mark finally finishes work on "Coven" minutes before its premiere at a local theater in Milwaukee in summer of 1997. The screening sells out, and Mark's family and friends are happy that the project has finally been completed.


title: American Movie

text: In the final scene, Mark goes to visit Uncle Bill and discusses the prospect of future fame and wealth and realizing the American Dream. Bill's response is a combination of rambling, cryptic, and poetic, but he seems to be advising Mark to focus on spiritual matters and bringing happiness into other people's lives. The closing text reveals that Bill died on September 13, 1997, and left Mark $50,000 in his will for the completion of "Northwestern".


title: American Movie

text: On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 49 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.28/10; the site's consensus reads: "Well worth watching for film buffs and anyone who believes in following your dreams, "American Movie" is a warm, funny, and engrossing ode to creative passion". Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote that the film conveys Borchardt's passion "Insightfully and stirringly, not to mention hilariously", and that "For anyone wondering where the spirit of maverick independent filmmaking has its source, you need look no further". Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four possible stars, calling it "a very funny, sometimes very sad documentary".


title: American Movie

text: Amy Goodman of IndieWire called the film "An inspiration for filmmakers everywhere", and Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that it "is sure to draw lots of laughs". Glenn Lovell of "Variety" called the film an "ambitious, wildly funny chronicle" and a "madcap tribute to a beer-guzzling Midwestern filmmaker".


title: American Movie

text: The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, it was named by "The New York Times" as one of the "1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made", and the International Documentary Association named it as one of the top 20 documentaries of all time.


title: American Movie

text: The film was released on VHS on January 16, 2001. It was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on May 23, 2000, as a "Special Edition", which includes a commentary by Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank, as well as the short film "Coven" and 22 deleted scenes.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: A pitch-accent language, when spoken, has word accents in which one syllable in a word or morpheme is more prominent than the others, but the accentuated syllable is indicated by a contrasting pitch (linguistic tone) rather than by loudness (or length), as in many languages, like English. Pitch-accent also contrasts with fully tonal languages like Vietnamese and Standard Chinese, in which each syllable can have an independent tone. Some have claimed that the term "pitch accent" is not coherently defined and that pitch-accent languages are just a sub-category of tonal languages in general.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Languages that have been described as pitch-accent languages include: most dialects of Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Baltic languages, Ancient Greek, Vedic Sanskrit, Tlingit, Turkish, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish (but not in Finland), Western Basque, Yaqui, certain dialects of Korean, Shanghainese, and Livonian.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Pitch-accent languages tend to fall into two categories: those with a single pitch-contour (for example, high, or highlow) on the accented syllable, such as Tokyo Japanese, Western Basque, or Persian; and those in which more than one pitch-contour can occur on the accented syllable, such as Punjabi, Swedish, or Serbo-Croatian. In this latter kind, the accented syllable is also often stressed another way.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Some of the languages considered pitch-accent languages, in addition to accented words, also have accentless words (e.g., Japanese and Western Basque); in others all major words are accented (e.g., Blackfoot and Barasana).


title: Pitch-accent language

text: The term "pitch accent" is also used to denote a different feature, namely the use of pitch when speaking to give selective prominence (accent) to a syllable or mora within a phrase.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Scholars give various definitions of a pitch-accent language. A typical definition is as follows: "Pitch-accent systems [are] systems in which one syllable is more prominent than the other syllables in the same word, a prominence that is achieved by means of pitch" (Zanten and Dol (2010)). That is to say, in a pitch-accent language, in order to indicate how a word is pronounced it is necessary, as with a stress-accent language, to mark only one syllable in a word as accented, not specify the tone of every syllable. This feature of having only one prominent syllable in a word or morpheme is known as "culminativity".


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Another property suggested for pitch-accent languages to distinguish them from stress languages is that "Pitch accent languages must satisfy the criterion of having "invariant tonal contours" on accented syllables ... This is not so for pure stress languages, where the tonal contours of stressed syllables can vary freely" (Hayes (1995)). Although this is true of many pitch-accent languages, there are others, such as the Franconian dialects, in which the contours vary, for example between declarative and interrogative sentences.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: According to another proposal, pitch-accent languages "can only use F0" (i.e., pitch) to mark the accented syllable, whereas stress languages may also use duration and intensity (Beckman). However, other scholars disagree, and find that intensity and duration can also play a part in the accent of pitch-accent languages.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: A feature considered characteristic of stress-accent languages is that a stress-accent is "obligatory", that is, that every major word has to have an accent. This is not always true of pitch-accent languages, some of which, like Japanese and Northern Bizkaian Basque, have accentless words. But there are also some pitch-accent languages in which every word has an accent.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: One feature shared between pitch-accent languages and stress-accent languages is "demarcativeness": prominence peaks tend to occur at or near morpheme edges (word/stem initial, word/stem penult, word/stem final).


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Often, however, the difference between a pitch-accent language, a stress-accent language, and tonal language is not clear. "It is, in fact, often not straightforward to decide whether a particular pitch system is best described as tonal or accentual. ... Since raised pitch, especially when it coincides with vowel length, makes a syllable perceptually more prominent, it can often require detailed phonetic and phonological analysis to disentangle whether pitch is playing a more stress-like or a more tone-like role in a particular language" (Downing).


title: Pitch-accent language

text: Larry Hyman argues that tone is made up of a variety of different typological features, which can be mixed and matched with some independence from each other. Hyman claims that there can be no coherent definition of pitch-accent, as the term describes languages that have non-prototypical combinations of tone system properties (or both a tone system, usually still non-prototypical, and a stress system simultaneously). Since all pitch-accent languages can be analysed just as well in purely tonal terms, in Hyman's view, the term "pitch-accent" should be superseded by a wider understanding of what qualifies as a tone system - thus, all "pitch-accent" languages are tone languages, and there is simply more variety within tone systems than has historically been admitted.


title: Pitch-accent language

text: When one particular tone is marked in a language in contrast to unmarked syllables, it is usual for it to be a high tone. There are, however, a few languages in which the marked tone is a low tone, for example the Dogrib language of northwestern Canada and certain Bantu languages of the Congo such as Ciluba and Ruund.