title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In 18th century Britain, the penalty for a vast number of serious crimes, including murder, was death. This rule traveled with the colonists to America, and was the law in all states at the time the Eighth Amendment was adopted in 1791. By then, however, a problem with the common-law mandatory death penalty had crept into the legal system. If the jury has only two options—convicting a defendant of murder, where the penalty is death, or acquitting the defendant outright—it has no vehicle to express the sentiment that the defendant should be punished "somehow", but not executed. Faced with this dilemma, some juries would acquit the defendant in order to spare his life. Of course, this meant that an obviously guilty person would go free.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: To mitigate the harshness of the common-law rule, Pennsylvania divided murder into "degrees" in 1794. First-degree murder, a capital crime, was limited to all "willful, deliberate, and premeditated" murders. All other murder was second-degree murder, and not a capital crime. This development eased the tension created by the common-law mandatory death penalty, but some juries still refused to convict defendants who were clearly guilty of first-degree murder because that crime carried a mandatory death penalty.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Recognizing that juries in capital cases found discretion in sentencing desirable, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana afforded their juries this discretion in the 1840s. Finally, the jury could respond to mitigating factors about the crime or the criminal and withhold the death penalty even for convicted first-degree murderers. This development spread, and by 1900, 23 states and the federal government had discretionary sentencing in capital cases. Fourteen more states followed in the first two decades of the 20th century, and by 1963, all death-penalty jurisdictions employed discretionary sentencing.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The Court set out two broad guidelines that legislatures must follow in order to craft a constitutional capital sentencing scheme:


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In "Gregg", "Proffitt", and "Jurek", the Court found that the capital sentencing schemes of Georgia, Florida, and Texas, respectively, met these criteria; whereas in "Woodson" and "Roberts", the Court found that the sentencing schemes of North Carolina and Louisiana did not.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The proposition that the death penalty was not always cruel and unusual punishment was just the beginning of the discussion. "Furman" had held that "where discretion is afforded a sentencing body on a matter so grave as the determination of whether a human life should be taken or spared, that discretion must be suitably directed and limited so as to minimize the risk of wholly arbitrary and capricious action." The question the Court confronted in these five cases was whether the procedures crafted by Georgia, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana adequately minimized that risk. In all five cases, the Court's primary focus was on the jury.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Although in most criminal cases the judge decides and imposes the sentence, "jury sentencing has been considered desirable in capital cases in order to maintain a link between contemporary community values and the penal system—a link without which the determination of punishment could hardly reflect the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." The drafters of the Model Penal Code concluded that the now-familiar bifurcated procedure, in which the jury first considers the question of guilt without regard to punishment, and then determines whether the punishment should be death or life imprisonment, is the preferable model. This was the model that the Court approved in these cases—although it tacitly approved a model without any jury involvement in the sentencing process, an approval that persisted until 2002's "Ring v. Arizona".


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The drawback of having juries rather than judges fix the penalty in capital cases is the risk that they will have no frame of reference for imposing the death penalty in a rational manner. Although this problem may not be totally correctible, the Court trusted that the guidance given the jury by the aggravating factors or other special-verdict questions would assist it in deciding on a sentence. The drafters of the Model Penal Code "concluded that it is within the realm of possibility to point to the main circumstances of aggravation and mitigation that should be weighed and weighed against each other when they are presented in a concrete case." For the Court, these factors adequately guarded against the risk of arbitrary imposition of the death sentence.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Every death sentence involves first an "eligibility" determination and then a "selection" of an eligible defendant for the death penalty. A defendant is eligible for the death penalty once the jury has concluded that he is a member of that narrow class of criminal defendants who have committed the most morally outrageous of crimes. An eligible defendant is then selected for the death penalty after the sentencer takes into account mitigating evidence about the character and record of the defendant in order to decide whether that individual is worthy of a death sentence.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In addition to jury sentencing through the guidance of aggravating factors, a constitutional capital sentencing scheme must provide for appellate review of the death sentence, typically by the state's supreme court. This review must not be a rubber stamp; there must be evidence in the state's decisional law that the court takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that the sentence imposed was not arbitrary. Currently, those states which still maintain a death penalty option have a mandatory appeal of the sentence (defendants sentenced to death cannot waive this appeal, but can waive appeals beyond this stage subject to a competency hearing).


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: With "Gregg" and the companion cases, the Court approved three different schemes that had sufficiently narrow eligibility criteria and at the same time sufficiently broad discretion in selection. By contrast, the two schemes the Court disapproved had overly broad eligibility criteria and then no discretion in sentencing.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Under the Georgia scheme (which generally followed the Model Penal Code), after the defendant was convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a capital crime (under the first part of the bifurcated trial proceeding), the second part of the bifurcated trial involved an additional hearing at which the jury received additional evidence in aggravation and mitigation. In order for the defendant to be eligible for the death penalty, the jury needed to find the existence of "one" of ten aggravating factors:


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Once the jury found that one or more of the aggravating factors existed beyond a reasonable doubt, then the defendant would be eligible for the death penalty. The jury may, but was not required to, then evaluate all the evidence it had heard, including mitigating evidence and other aggravating evidence not supporting one of the ten factors beyond a reasonable doubt—and decide whether the defendant should live or die. This scheme is called a "non-weighing" scheme, because the sentencer is not required to weigh the statutory aggravating factors against mitigating evidence before imposing a death sentence.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The Court found that, because of the jury's finding at least one aggravating factor was a prerequisite for imposing the death penalty, Georgia's scheme adequately narrowed the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty. Although there was admittedly some discretion as to the mitigation phase, that discretion is channeled in an objective way, and therefore provided for individualized sentencing. Thus, Georgia's death penalty scheme complied with the "Furman" requirements and was thus approved by the Court.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: First, at the sentencing hearing of a capital felon, the jury determined whether one or more aggravating factors exist, drawing on a list very similar to Georgia's. Then the jury was specifically asked to weigh the mitigating evidence presented against the statutory aggravating factors that have been proved. This scheme is called a "weighing" scheme.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Second, the jury's role was only advisory; the judge could disregard the jury's sentencing recommendation, but had to explain his reasoning if he did. Under Florida law, if the jury recommended life but the judge imposed a death sentence, "the facts suggesting a sentence of death should be so clear and convincing that virtually no reasonable person could differ." The trial judge must independently reweigh the aggravating factors against the mitigating factors.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The Court concluded that, as the sentencer's discretion was limited in an objective fashion and directed in a reviewable manner, Florida's scheme also adequately narrowed the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty. The Court noted that Florida's scheme came closest to the Model Penal Code's recommendation of an ideal sentencing scheme, as it used a weighing scheme whereas Georgia's scheme did not, thus allowing for individual sentencing. Thus, Florida's death penalty scheme also complied with the "Furman" requirements and was thus also approved by the Court.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Texas's scheme differed considerably from that suggested by the Model Penal Code and followed in large part by Georgia and Florida.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In order to narrow the class of death penalty-eligible defendants as required by "Furman", the Texas Legislature did not adopt the "aggravating factors" approach outlined by the Model Penal Code. Instead, it chose to modify and severely narrow the legal definition of "capital murder", thus requiring certain objective elements to be present before one could be charged with capital murder and thus eligible for the death penalty. The 1976 law defined capital murder in Texas as involving one of the five situations:


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: If the defendant was convicted of capital murder, and if the prosecution sought the death penalty (which it has never been required to do in Texas), the second part of the bifurcated trial required the jury to consider two (or sometimes three) "special issues":


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: If all applicable special issues were answered in the affirmative, then the result would be an automatic death sentence; if any special issue was not answered in the affirmative, the sentence would be life imprisonment.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The Court concluded that Texas's narrow legal definition of capital murder served the same purpose as the aggravating factors in the Georgia and Florida schemes, that being to adequately narrow the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty. The Court even observed that "the principal difference between Texas and the other two States [Georgia and Florida] is that the death penalty is an available sentencing option - even potentially - for a smaller class of murders in Texas"


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: However, the special issues feature and its automatic death sentence imposition (if all were answered in the affirmative) was the key issue in the Court's analysis. In its review, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the state's highest criminal court, to which all death sentences in Texas are automatically and directly appealed) indicated that the "continuing threat to society" special issue would allow the defendant to present mitigating evidence to the jury. The Court concluded that this special issue would allow for the same extensive consideration of mitigating evidence as the Georgia and Florida schemes. Thus, Texas's death penalty scheme, though considerably different from Florida's and Georgia's also complied with the "Furman" requirements and was thus also approved by the Court.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The defendant in this case, Jerry Jurek (TDCJ #508), would ultimately see his sentence commuted to life in prison. Texas would later amend its three questions, keeping the "continuing threat to society" question, adding a second question specifically dealing with mitigating evidence, and adding a third question applicable only if the defendant was convicted as an accessory.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In 1974, the North Carolina General Assembly (similar to the approach taken by the Texas Legislature) chose to adopt a narrow definition of "first-degree murder" which would be eligible for the death penalty, which was defined as:


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: North Carolina had also enacted a mandatory death penalty for first-degree rape, but the Court later ruled in "Coker v. Georgia" that rape is not a capital crime, at least where the victim is not killed; the statutes mandating death penalty for first-degree arson and first-degree burglary were abrogated by the General Assembly.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The North Carolina Supreme Court had ruled that its capital sentencing scheme could survive "Furman" analysis if the legislature removed the discretionary sentencing provision. However, it was the lack of discretion in sentencing that the Court used to rule the scheme unconstitutional.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: In 1973, the Louisiana Legislature adopted the approach taken by North Carolina, by redefining first-degree murder as the killing of a human being in one of five circumstances:


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Also, unlike North Carolina, Louisiana law required the jury in all first-degree murder cases to be instructed on second-degree murder and manslaughter, crimes ineligible for the death penalty.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Although Louisiana had created a class of death-eligible crimes somewhat narrower than North Carolina had, it still had a mandatory death penalty for a significant range of crimes, which were aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping and treason; the lack of discretion in sentencing caused the Louisiana scheme to suffer the same unconstitutional infirmities as North Carolina's.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Justices William J. Brennan and Thurgood Marshall expressed their views, which they also articulated in "Furman", that the death penalty does not deter crime and that American society has evolved to the point that it is no longer an appropriate vehicle for expressing retribution. In every subsequent capital case that would come before the Court during their tenures, they would refer to their opinions in "Gregg" in support of their vote against the death penalty.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Justice Byron White countered that capital punishment cannot be unconstitutional because the Constitution expressly mentions it and because two centuries of Court decisions assumed that it was constitutional. Furthermore, for White the judgment of the legislatures of 35 states was paramount, and suggested that the punishment should remain in use. He also felt that the Court should defer to a state legislature's response to the problem of juror response to the prospect of capital punishment, rather than dictate that the Eighth Amendment requires a particular response. White also disagreed that the Constitution required a separate penalty hearing before imposing the death penalty. "Even if the character of the accused must be considered under the Eighth Amendment, surely a State is not constitutionally forbidden to provide that the commission of certain crimes conclusively establishes that the criminal's character is such that he deserves death." He also saw no difference between Louisiana's definition of first-degree murder and Texas's definition of capital murder.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Justice William Rehnquist would have upheld North Carolina's and Louisiana's mandatory death penalties. He disputed the historical evidence adduced in support of the claim that American juries dislike mandatory death penalties. He also felt that the Court's decisions had an analytical flaw. The Court had struck down the mandatory death penalty because it took away discretion from the jury. Yet, Rehnquist pointed out, a jury in Georgia could reject the death penalty for no reason at all. Thus, Georgia's scheme did not alleviate the concerns articulated in "Furman" about the arbitrariness of the death penalty any more than North Carolina's ignored them. He also disputed whether the appellate review of death sentences inherent in the systems the Court had approved could truly ensure that each death sentence satisfied those concerns. He finally took issue with the idea that the fact that "death is different" requires any extra safeguards in the sentencing process.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Justice John Paul Stevens remarked in October 2010 that his vote in the decision was regrettable. Stevens wrote that his vote was made with respect for precedent within the court that held capital punishment to be constitutional.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: Utah was the first state to resume executions after capital punishment was reinstated in the United States in 1976, when Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad on January 17, 1977. Following his conviction and death sentence, Gilmore insisted he wanted to be executed, and for this reason some consider the national moratorium to have only ended in 1979 with electrocution of John Spenkelink, who resisted his execution.


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: The July 2 Cases mark the beginning of the United States' modern legal conversation about the death penalty. Major subsequent developments include forbidding the death penalty for rape ("Coker v. Georgia"), restricting the death penalty in cases of felony murder ("Enmund v. Florida"), exempting the mentally handicapped ("Atkins v. Virginia") and juvenile murderers ("Roper v. Simmons") from the death penalty, removing virtually all limitations on the presentation of mitigating evidence ("Lockett v. Ohio", "Holmes v. South Carolina"), requiring precision in the definition of aggravating factors ("Godfrey v. Georgia", "Walton v. Arizona"), and requiring the jury to decide whether aggravating factors have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt ("Ring v. Arizona").


title: Gregg v. Georgia

text: "Gregg" has been described as a "judicial surrender to political pressure". In the wake of the "Furman" decision, 35 states reenacted death penalty statutes. There was a significant shift in the attitudes towards capital punishment between "Furman" and "Gregg"; in 1972, when "Furman" was decided, public support for the death penalty was around 50 percent. By the time "Gregg" was decided, a mere four years later in 1976, 66 percent of the public favored capital punishment.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: "It Don't Come Easy" is a song by English rock musician Ringo Starr that was released as a non-album single in April 1971. It was produced by Starr's former Beatles bandmate George Harrison, who also helped write the song, although only Starr is credited. Recording for the track took place in March 1970 at Trident Studios in London, with overdubs added in October. Starr and Harrison performed the song together in August 1971 at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh shows in New York City, a recording from which was released on the live album of the same name. Starr has continued to perform it in subsequent decades with his All-Starr Band.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Apart from in North America, where "Beaucoups of Blues" had been a single in October 1970, "It Don't Come Easy" was Starr's first single release since the break-up of the Beatles. Heavily promoted by Apple Records, the song was a commercial success, peaking at number 1 in Canada and number 4 on singles charts in the UK and the US. It was critically well received on release and remains one of his most popular hits as a solo artist.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Ringo Starr began writing "It Don't Come Easy" in late 1968, having recently completed his first composition, "Don't Pass Me By". When referring to his early songwriting efforts in a 2003 interview, he described himself as "great at writing two verses and a chorus" but often unable to develop the ideas further. Although Starr received sole writing credit for "It Don't Come Easy", Beatles historian Bruce Spizer writes that he had "substantial, but uncredited, assistance" from his bandmate George Harrison. In author Robert Rodriguez's description, the official songwriting credit was long thought to be "bogus" and, notwithstanding Starr's involvement, a sign of Harrison's "great generosity" in wanting to help the drummer establish himself independently of the Beatles.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The song's original title was "You Gotta Pay Your Dues". Starr completed it as the Beatles were heading towards disbandment in early 1970, following John Lennon's unpublicised decision to leave the group in September 1969. Starr said that in trying to find a song that would establish his identity at this time, he had to "combat... the original image of me as the downtrodden drummer", adding, "You don't know how hard it is to fight that." In journalist Bob Woffinden's view, as "It Don't Come Easy", the title alone "[betrayed] a wealth of information" about Starr's feelings of vulnerability while the other Beatles, as proven songwriters, could each look to further their achievements outside the band.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: In its completed form, the song opens and closes with a lead guitar riff. Music historian Andrew Grant Jackson describes the lyrics as "Starr's exhortation to stay resilient in the face of hardship", and he views the reference to paying "your dues" as an apt image, given Starr's health issues as a child and limited education. In Rodriguez's view, the song was most likely inspired by "a Ringo-ism or two", but the guitar riff, "quasi-philosophical" lyrics and other musical details make it a typical Harrison composition from the period.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Starr subsequently acknowledged that Harrison helped write "It Don't Come Easy". He discussed the song's creation during his appearance on "VH1 Storytellers" in 1998. Starr said: "I wrote this song with the one and only George Harrison." He went on to say that Harrison suggested the last verse be about God. When Starr protested, Harrison suggested Hare Krishna. Starr protested again, and Harrison suggested "peace" as a topic, and they settled on that.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Starr first recorded the new composition during the sessions for "Sentimental Journey". The latter project was an album of pre-rock 'n' roll standards that he undertook to keep active following Lennon's decision, and to please his mother. Recording for the song began during an all-night session on 18 February 1970 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios), with George Martin producing. The studio log listed the track as "You Gotta Pay Your Dues". Harrison played acoustic guitar and directed the other musicians – namely Starr (on drums), Klaus Voormann (bass) and Stephen Stills (piano). They taped 20 takes of the basic track. Starr added a vocal to the take selected as best and Harrison two electric guitar parts, and by 4.40am the recording had been mixed.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: On 19 February, after final overdubs were carried out on "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" during an afternoon session at EMI, recording resumed on "You Gotta Pay Your Dues", with Starr adding another lead vocal. Harrison was not present that evening, although Eric Clapton may have been involved. During the session, Starr decided to remake the song; ten further takes were required to achieve a new basic track. Take 30 was labelled "best" and onto this take were added two bass parts. This version was also discarded, however, since Starr again decided to remake the song.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Recording for the third version of "It Don't Come Easy" began at Trident Studios on 8 March 1970, two days after Starr had completed work on "Sentimental Journey". Harrison produced the sessions and played guitar. According to author Bill Harry, Voormann and Stills again contributed on bass and piano, while the other participants included Mal Evans (on tambourine) and Ron Cattermole (saxophone, trumpet). Overdubs were added to the new basic track on 11 March, again at Trident.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: When news of the sessions reached the press that month, Apple insisted that there were "absolutely no plans for the record to be released as a single at the present time". Following the Beatles' break-up in April, Starr played drums on Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album, a project that led to Starr recording a country album, "Beaucoups of Blues", in Nashville. Despite these and other musical activities, Starr admitted to feeling "absolutely lost" with regard to his future outside the Beatles. According to Mike Gibbins of the Apple band Badfinger, Harrison offered "It Don't Come Easy" to Badfinger, but they did not take up the offer.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Work on the song resumed in October 1970, when Starr was otherwise contributing to Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album and Harrison was completing "All Things Must Pass". Starr recorded his lead vocal at this time. Former Trident engineer Ken Scott recalls that Harrison first sang a guide vocal to help Starr with the phrasing.<ref name="Terrill/DT"></ref> Other overdubs included backing vocals by Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans, and a new piano part, played by Gary Wright. Also added in October was a horn section, which, further to Harrison's use of horns on the Beatles' 1968 track "Savoy Truffle", was a staple of his 1970s productions. Another familiar Harrison device was the Leslie speaker effect on his lead guitar part, particularly in the song's intro.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: In a 2002 interview, Jim Keltner said he added maracas to the finished recording, at Trident, having arrived in London in February 1971 to escape the Los Angeles earthquake. Referring to the arrangement on the completed track, author Alan Clayson highlights the combination of an opening "fizz of cymbal", Harrison's "clanging guitar arpeggios", the "fat gusto" horns, Evans' tambourine supporting the "moderato punch" of the Starr–Voormann rhythm section, and "gospel-esque" backing vocals.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: An early mix from the sessions has appeared on bootlegs, featuring Harrison on lead vocal. While the instrumentation is almost identical to the released version, during the guitar break Ham and Tom Evans shout the line "Hare Krishna!" This was retained in the official release, but buried in the mix. Following the guitar solo, there is a repeat of the song's opening guitar phrase, although this section was subsequently edited out.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Apple Records issued "It Don't Come Easy", backed with "Early 1970", as a single on 9 April 1971 in the United Kingdom, with the catalogue number Apple R5898. It was released on 16 April in the United States as Apple 1831. After Starr's forays into standards and country music with his two 1970 albums, it was his first rock record as a solo artist. Although "Beaucoups of Blues" had been issued as a single in the US and some other markets, "It Don't Come Easy" was Starr's debut single in the UK and most other countries.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The "NME"s Alan Smith described the song as "undoubtedly one of the best, thumpin'est things the Starr man has ever done", with a "very strong hook" and, thanks to Harrison, a "fat, pumping backing full of guts and stuff". Smith was critical of Starr's vocal, but concluded: "on the credit side we have an inventive mind and a dry wit coming more and more into play with better songs. One day he may even write a masterpiece." "Billboard"s reviewer admired the single as Starr's "most commercial solo effort" yet and said that "Potent Top 40 rock material and vocal workout has it to take him all the way." "Cash Box" described the song as "stunning and delightful". Peter Jones of "Record Mirror" praised the guitars and drums, and predicted an "easy" top-five hit. He wrote that "At first hearing, it didn't mean much – but it has a built-in grow-on-you appeal."


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The single was heavily promoted by Apple. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 5 on "Melody Maker"s national chart. In the US, the song reached number 4 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and topped the charts compiled by "Cash Box" (for one week) and "Record World". It was also number 1 on the "RPM" 100 in Canada and a top-five hit in many other countries around the world. Starr's single outsold those released by his former bandmates around this time: Lennon's "Power to the People", Paul McCartney's "Another Day" and Harrison's "Bangla Desh". Fans' attention was also drawn to the B-side, to which Lennon and Harrison had contributed, as Starr offered his view of how likely each of the other ex-Beatles was to make music with him again. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 3 August, signifying US sales of 1 million.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The assuredness and commercial success of "It Don't Come Easy" came as a surprise to commentators who had written off Starr's potential as a solo artist. Author Peter Doggett writes that with Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" easily outselling any of the former bandmates' singles in the year after their break-up, Starr's achievement was similarly part of a "decisive shift in power" and encouraged speculation that competition between the four solo artists could inspire "the quartet to new creative heights". In an interview with "Melody Maker" that summer, Starr said he hoped to record a full album in the "poppy" style of "It Don't Come Easy" once he had completed filming his role in the Spaghetti Western "Blindman". Although he recorded a follow-up single with Harrison, "Back Off Boogaloo", Starr avoided committing to a new album project for two years, and instead took on further film roles.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The 22 April 1971 edition of the BBC TV show "Top of the Pops" showed the promotional film for the song, prepared by Apple. On 27 April, Starr was in Norway to shoot another promo clip for "It Don't Come Easy", which was broadcast two days later on "Top of the Pops". Starr was filmed performing the song live in Stockholm on 24 June backed by an orchestra, for the BBC TV show "Cilla", which aired on 27 November. Further to his breakthrough as a solo artist, Starr's public profile was lifted by the formation of the first fan club devoted to him, and he was voted Top Drummer in the "NME" readers' poll for 1971.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Backed by Harrison and a large band that included Voormann, Keltner and Badfinger, Starr performed "It Don't Come Easy" as his vocal turn at the two Concert for Bangladesh shows, held at Madison Square Garden in New York on 1 August 1971. Starr had been among the first musicians to respond when Harrison began organising the event, and extricated himself from his filming commitments in Spain for "Blindman". The shows marked the first time that two Beatles had shared a concert stage in the US since the band quit touring in August 1966, and they were also Starr's first public concert performances since that time. Starr forgot some of the words to the song. According to Beatles biographer Nicholas Schaffner, he nevertheless "received the show's biggest ovation" for his turn in the spotlight.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The evening performance of "It Don't Come Easy" was included on the "Concert for Bangladesh" triple album and in the 1972 Apple Films documentary film of the same name. A "Rolling Stone" writer commented that "Seeing Ringo Starr drumming and singing on stage has a joy in it that is one of the happiest feelings on earth still." In his album review for the same publication, Jon Landau approved of the decision to retain Starr's live vocal, saying that his idiosyncratic delivery and "tremendous good-nature and humor" added to the authenticity of the concert.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Writing in "The Village Voice" soon after attending the event, critic Robert Christgau conceded his favouritism towards Starr when ruing how Harrison, at the front of the stage, blocked his view of the drummer dressed in "grand ole black-on-black" as he sang "It Don't Come Easy". Christgau described Starr's demeanour during the performance as "brimming with quiet happiness, as if after eight years he still couldn't quite believe his own good fortune"; he cited this deferential quality as the reason why "unlike the others he remains immune to the vagaries of our affection. Ringo is our representative on the Beatles."<ref name="Christgau/VV"></ref>


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The studio version of the song remained unavailable on an LP until the release of Starr's 1975 Apple greatest hits compilation, "Blast from Your Past". It was also heard in the 1978 NBC-TV special "Ringo". Although Starr recorded new versions of several songs for the special, the released recording of "It Don't Come Easy" was used.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: According to author Andrew Grant Jackson, "It Don't Come Easy" became the artist's "signature single"; Nick DeRiso of "Ultimate Classic Rock" describes it as "a kind of theme song for Starr". Starr's re-recording of "Back Off Boogaloo" for his 1981 album "Stop and Smell the Roses" references the song, along with several Beatles tracks, by reprising Harrison's opening guitar riff. On 12 March 1984, EMI released a UK single pairing "It Don't Come Easy" and "Back Off Boogaloo" as part of the company's Golden 45s series.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Starr has frequently performed "It Don't Come Easy" in concert with his All-Starr Band. He included it in the set list for his July–September 1989 American tour, and a performance of the song opens the 1990 album "Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band" and the 2001 live compilation "The Anthology... So Far". It was also included on a bonus 5-inch CD single issued with the US limited edition deluxe CD version of "Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band". Recorded at The Bottom Line in New York in May 1998, his live version for "VH1 Storytellers" appeared on the album and video releases from the programme.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: In 1991, "It Don't Come Easy" was added as a bonus track on the CD version of "Ringo", along with Early 1970" and "Down and Out". Starr's song "Don't Go Where the Road Don't Go" from his 1992 album "Time Takes Time" includes a homage to the song during the bridge with the line ""Well I said it don't come easy, well I sure know how it feels"". His song "Eye to Eye" from his 2003 album "Ringo Rama" starts with the lines ""Remember when I said it don't come easy / That seems so long ago"".


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The song was the opening theme of the 1973-1975 ABC late night talk show "Good Night, America" hosted by Geraldo Rivera.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: In 1987, a cover version of "It Don't Come Easy" was used in a commercial for 7-Eleven using the slogan "Where the good things come easy".


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: In 1991, along with a guest appearance by Starr, the song was featured in "The Simpsons" episode "Brush with Greatness". The song is used as inspirational background music for a montage of Marge Simpson painting a portrait of Mr. Burns.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: The song was covered by the American band the Smithereens on their album of rarities, "Attack of the Smithereens". A cover is featured in the 2014 film "The Identical".


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: Morse/Portnoy/George released this as their second single from their 2020 covers album "Cov3r to Cov3r" on 19 June 2020.


title: It Don't Come Easy

text: According to Bruce Spizer, the following musicians played on the released version of "It Don't Come Easy":


title: Impossible Princess

text: Impossible Princess (briefly retitled Kylie Minogue in Europe) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 22 October 1997, by Deconstruction, BMG and Mushroom Records. The singer asserted greater creative control over the project — as a co-producer and composer of the material — compared to her previous work, assisted by Brothers in Rhythm, Manic Street Preachers, David Ball and Rob Dougan.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Influenced by the techno and Britpop revolution in the mid-to-late 1990s, sonically, "Impossible Princess" is a departure from Minogue's previous work. Conceived as an experimental record, the material encompasses a variety of darker styles from the dance genre, including trip hop, electronica, and rock. Lyrically, the album focuses on Minogue's self-discovery after a series of trips worldwide and delves into freedom of expression, relationships, and emotions.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Upon its release, critical and public reception of "Impossible Princess" was divided over its new musical direction and Minogue's intimate lyrics. Commercially, the album reached the top 10 in Australia, Scotland, and the United Kingdom; the British media, however, mocked its lack of success in Europe. Four singles were released from the album, including two UK top-20 entries "Did It Again" and "Breathe". Minogue embarked on the Intimate and Live tour in 1998 to support the album.


title: Impossible Princess

text: In retrospect, various commentators have cited "Impossible Princess" as Minogue's most personal and misunderstood work. Despite this, Minogue has said she would never create another studio album of personal songs like "Impossible Princess". To celebrate 25 years since the album's original release, it was released on vinyl for the first time in September 2022, leading to its resurgence and reaching new peaks on record charts.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue left her label PWL in 1992 because of creative differences and signed a three-album deal with Deconstruction Records the following year. She worked with a diverse group of collaborators to experiment with different sounds, including the British duo Brothers in Rhythm. Their first offering was Minogue's self-titled album in late 1994, which peaked at number three in Australia and number four in the United Kingdom. Besides promotional commitments for the album, Minogue expanded her acting career by taking part in several projects. Among them were big-budget films "Street Fighter" (1994) and "Bio-Dome" (1996), which were received poorly by critics. Minogue worked with Australian musician Nick Cave and his band, the Bad Seeds on their 1995 single "Where the Wild Roses Grow", which peaked at number two in Australia and number eleven in the UK. The song earned three ARIA Awards for Best Pop Release, Single, and Song of the Year in 1996.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue's friendship with Cave continued over the years; on Cave's advice, Minogue recited the lyrics to her 1987 song "I Should Be So Lucky" as poetry at A Hip Mass: The Superjam – First International Poetry Day at London's Royal Albert Hall in July 1996. In December, she made a surprise appearance at a Manic Street Preachers concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, singing "Little Baby Nothing" with them. The track was planned initially as a duet with Minogue but did not materialise during her years under contract with PWL. Both 1996 live performances were viewed as the starting point of her new alter ego, "IndieKylie", a pseudonym that dealt with Minogue's move to rock music. Minogue began a romantic relationship with French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui and embarked on a series of trips with him throughout North America, Asia, and Australasia to gain inspiration for her upcoming record. By the end of the trip, Minogue was enamoured by the experience and felt "truly anonymous and free to be [herself]".


title: Impossible Princess

text: Plans for "Impossible Princess" began in mid-1995 after meetings with Brothers in Rhythm had taken place and recording the album began. By June 1997, the album had been in production for twenty-one months, and Deconstruction were adding the final touches to it. The album took nearly two years to record—the longest period Minogue had worked on a project since her time acting on the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" (from 1986 to 1988). Many changes of direction, remixes and cowriters lengthened the process which at times upset and infuriated Minogue. Brothers in Rhythm member Steve Anderson explained this was "due to the pure perfectionism" of everyone involved; Minogue felt the album was worth the wait.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue's trips with Sednaoui, her Deconstruction label mates, and clients of Sednaoui's work including Björk, Garbage, and Tricky inspired the album. Sednaoui and Cave were key factors during the production. In the biography "Kylie" (2014), Sean Smith notes Sednaoui had a huge effect on Minogue's belief in herself and contributed to her vision of the future, while Cave helped her to embrace the past. Minogue began writing lyrics after Sednaoui and Cave convinced her to take creative control over her next musical project. She wrote every track on the album—in contrast, she co-wrote only one song on her 1994 studio album. She did not have any specific method for writing: she wrote constantly in her notebook and composed many songs during the holidays. "Cowboy Style" and "Dreams" were among the earliest songs Minogue wrote for the album; the lyrics and melodies came easily to her. Minogue imagined performing "Too Far" while working on its lyrics, which she did at a local cafe. She found the track easy to write and did not sound like anything she had written before. She wanted to put herself into the album as much as possible, and felt the songs were more personal: "I've written lyrics before, but they've been safe–just neatly rhymed words and that's that. Now I have songs in which, from beginning to end, I don't want another word, I don't want a word removed," Minogue said.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Brothers in Rhythm put together a few songs initially planned for "Impossible Princess" but scrapped them because Minogue had started writing and they saw she had development as an artist. In order to work closely with Brothers in Rhythm, Minogue shared a house with them across the road from the Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire, where each morning she would present a set of lyrics from the night before to Brothers in Rhythm producer Dave Seaman. Minogue then sang her ideas for the melody to the duo who tried to compose the backing tracks, find a suitable style, record rough demos, and add subtle lyric and melody ideas to each of them. Production took place mainly at Real World, where the rough demos were rearranged. Strings were added at Sarm West Studios in London, and the tracks were then sent back to Real World for the final mixes, handled by engineer Alan Bremner.


title: Impossible Princess

text: From those sessions, Brothers in Rhythm developed five more songs that ended up on the final tracklist: "Did It Again", "Limbo", "Dreams", "Say Hey", and "Cowboy Style". "Too Far" was written at Sarm West, where Anderson came up with the piano line on the final version. According to Anderson, the production grew as the song was created, and many ideas on the demos made it onto the finished tracks. "Limbo", "Too Far", "Did It Again" and "Cowboy Style", were released in their original demo form because Minogue felt the rawness of the tracks worked better than being polished. Anderson considered "Too Far" and "Drunk" to be the examples of Minogue's artistic progression, and her poetry lyrics were different from standard pop song structure. Pete Hadfield, the label's director, was ill, leaving Minogue to take partial creative control over the project. To help produce the album, she attended each session with Anderson and Seaman to learn about composing, arranging instruments, and distorting sections of the album's tracks. As a result, she is credited as a co-producer with Brothers in Rhythm on the songs "Too Far", "Breathe", and "Say Hey"; she played the synthesizer and provided backing vocals.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Deconstruction encouraged Minogue to work with other artists, besides her sessions with Brothers in Rhythm, to produce enough potential tracks to release as singles. Like she had done on her 1994 album, Minogue was open to the idea of experimenting her sounds with different producers. She wrote "Through The Years", "Breathe", and "Limbo" during her sessions with the electronic producers Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk at their home studios; Minogue wrote the lyrics to "Through the Years" within 10 minutes of hearing Ball and Vauk's track. Minogue had heard of Rob Dougan's work and thought that it would be interesting to work with him; they wrote and produced "Jump". She worked on two songs with English band Olive, but they were scrapped. Cave wrote a track for the album based on Minogue's lyrics, entitled "Soon", but she was disappointed with her recording and dropped it.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue said that James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers had a clear idea of how he wanted her to sound during their first session at his home. Minogue found it difficult to re-write Bradfield's demo of "I Don't Need Anyone", so he had taken pieces of the original demo lyrics and mixed them with other lyrics she had written, with help from Nicky Wire, to create the finished version of "I Don't Need Anyone". She found this method of writing interesting and did it again with Bradfield and Sean Moore on "Some Kind of Bliss". She felt the lyrics worked together, and was pleased with the final result. Bradfield and frequent collaborator Dave Eringa produced both tracks.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Musically, "Impossible Princess" experiments and blends different musical styles, as Minogue wanted the album to reflect her many sides. It is a departure from her previous sound, encompassing various elements from the dance genre. Music critics commented on the album's musical diversity. Marcel Anders of "Orkus", and Nick Levine at Digital Spy labeled it a dance record, while a writer from "Who" magazine wrote the album ranges from trip hop, torch songs to scratchy guitar pop, and disco tracks. "Sputnikmusic" writers pointed out trance, rock, and alternative influences, and described the album as "something you would expect Björk to make". Michael Dwyer of "The West Australian" found the club-oriented production made the album standout. Chris True of AllMusic and Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine" identified the record as part of the electronica and Britpop revolution that spanned the mid-to-late 1990s.


title: Impossible Princess

text: "Impossible Princess" incorporates live instrumental tracks, such as a trumpet solo by English trumpeter Guy Barker on "Through the Years". Minogue found this unusual because she was familiar only with the use of synthesizers on her tracks, and considered the album a mixture between synthetics and real instruments. The album contains several guitar-driven songs, such as "Did It Again" and "I Don't Need Anyone". "Did It Again" blends drums and electric guitar, which Smith found similar to the sound of The Beatles' "Revolver" (1966). "I Don't Need Anyone" is a rock song heavily influenced by Middle Eastern beats. Moore played drums and Bradfield played guitars on the joyful Britpop-style tracks "I Don't Need Anyone" and "Some Kind of Bliss". Critics compared the latter track to Motown music and the work of Manic Street Preachers.


title: Impossible Princess

text: "Cowboy Style" is a country number that was influenced by Celtic music and tribal percussion. Ian Phillips of "Sputnikmusic" wrote that the orchestral pop ballad "Dreams" uses a mixture of eerie-sounding strings, booming bass, and drums. Cinquemani described the chaotic drum and bass "Too Far" as a blend of crisp breakbeats, a Moby-style piano progression and lush strings; "Drunk" as a trance song; and "Limbo" as a hybrid between rock and techno in the style of The Chemical Brothers. "Jump" is a dark trip hop track, while "Say Hey" and "Breathe" are subtle electronic-infused songs. "Through the Years" contains muted horns, experimental vocal tracks and mournful lyrics; Cinquemani compared it to Björk's 1993 single "Venus as a Boy".


title: Impossible Princess

text: The record's vocals feature segments of spoken word and rapping, alongside whispering and singing. John Mangan of Australia's "The Age" newspaper felt the songs were tailored-made for her voice. A writer from "Who" noted Minogue was developing her own voice on the album, saying she is "whispering breathlessly one moment, shrieking like a young Sinead O'Connor the next". Another writer from the same publication felt that Minogue "never sounded more human", with many songs showcase her unique phrasing. In the biography "Kylie: Naked" (2012), Nigel Goodall and Jenny Stanley-Clarke likened Minogue's vocals to those of Tori Amos, Björk, Sinead O’Connor, Kate Bush and Madonna. Cinquemani and Dwyer also compared Minogue's seductive delivery to Madonna, and described her vocals as a "sexy [and] reliable secret weapon". Larry Flick of "Billboard" commented that Minogue had dropped the pitch-perfect vocals and let her "odd noises flow freely" on the album.


title: Impossible Princess

text: "Impossible Princess" deals with the theme of romantic relationships, self-discovery, emotional pain and freedom of expression. Critics and Dave Seaman noted that Minogue's personal input was more significant on this album. Most of the album is autobiographical, based upon Minogue's life during the two years preceding the album. Sean Smith believed the songs reveal her life more than any interview, as they were more "complex, serious, introspective and challenging" than the songs on her previous albums. Minogue discuss her paranoia, pain and anger in "Too Far", in which she sings in a quick, rambling way about suffering from claustrophobia. Negative stories that the British press had published about Minogue inspired "Did It Again". The track sees Minogue struggling to find the right identity. She uses an aggressive vocal style and whines about how she is messed up despite having it all. "Jump" advises the public to accept her and her personal choices throughout the course of her career.


title: Impossible Princess

text: "I Don't Need Anyone" does not have a linear storyline; the set of lyrics was taken from four songs, each interpreting a different mood and story. Cinquemani noted the energetic track sees Minogue wildly declare her independence while admitting her inborn vulnerability. "Some Kind of Bliss" talks about Minogue's experiences while away from people and being happy. Written in Japan, the fifth track, "Breathe", expresses her ability to contemplate and feel peaceful while in an intense environment. "Dreams" discussing the persistence of pushing boundaries and experimentation throughout her career. Phillips wrote that "Dreams", the closing cinematic track, tells a thought-provoking fairytale.


title: Impossible Princess

text: The record's remaining tracks discuss her relationship with Sednaoui. "Cowboy Style" details Minogue meeting Sednaoui for the first time. Minogue wrote "Limbo" in Spain, in which discusses her inability to leave a certain country to meet someone, because of problems with its bureaucracy. Inspired by her relationship with Sednaoui, "Say Hey" highlights the need for communication, though not delving into conversation. Flick highlighted the self-examining lyrics of "Limbo" and "Say Hey", commenting that Minogue had liberated darker thoughts from her subconscious on the album. The theme of frustration lingers in "Drunk", which has Minogue feeling unsatisfied with the relationship, despite having so much feeling for someone. Minogue mentions meeting an ex-boyfriend on "Through the Years", feeling insecure and doubtful about the entire situation.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Stéphane Sednaoui shot the images and designed the cover sleeve. Inspired by French and Japanese pop culture, Sednaoui took inspiration from Nobuyoshi Araki's erotic work and tried to convey a similar aesthetic to the photos. Initially, the cover art was based on a string of experimental images of Minogue in geisha costume; the concept was later revisited for the music video of "GBI (German Bold Italic)" (1997), Minogue's collaboration with Towa Tei. The final cover depicts Minogue sitting and surrounded by swirling multi-coloured lights, dressed in a blue sleeveless Véronique Leroy minidress, with no title or name imprinted. Because Deconstruction wanted to distribute a limited-edition version of the album with a hologram sleeve, Sednaoui had to photograph separate artwork for those editions. The three dimensional lenticular sleeve required multiple static cameras to shoot Minogue in the dark. To create the long-exposure effect of the lights circulating around the singer, Sednaoui fully dressed in a black bodysuit so he could not be seen in the final shot. The shoot took a week to complete, and Minogue had to pose for hours. She remarked "the shoot was so very difficult but we knew that once we got it right it would be amazing". In 2004, Minogue donated the dress worn for the cover shot to the Cultural Gifts Program of the Arts Centre Melbourne.


title: Impossible Princess

text: The record's title is a reference to the 1994 novel, "Poems to Break the Harts of Impossible Princesses", written by Billy Childish. A copy of the book had been dedicated to Minogue but was accidentally passed on to Nick Cave, who eventually gave it to Minogue not long after, when she started working on the album. She recalled only looking at the title of the book and saying, "It had me written all over it." Additionally, she believed the book's poems summarised where she was at that point in her life under the spotlight. Minogue considered the title to be ironic, imaginary and that it conjured up a lot of truths from her life, saying, "Sometimes my life feels so good that it's almost too much–it's like a joke–and sometimes it should be so good... but it doesn't feel that way." The title is referenced in the chorus of the album track "Dreams".


title: Impossible Princess

text: Deconstruction planned to have the album out in January 1997, but postponed its release to May. Even with copies of the album already printed in mid-1997, it was delayed again to September. On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident. Because of the impact of her death, Minogue and Deconstruction felt the album's title was inappropriate and delayed its release for three months. The album also missed the planned January 1998 release. Frustrated with the constant delays, Minogue came to an agreement with her label to re-title it "Kylie Minogue" in Europe and the United Kingdom. It is her third self-titled studio album, following her debut in 1988 and her 1994 album. Released on 28 March 1998, the album had the original cover design; the 1997 copyright year; and Minogue's tribute to Sednaoui in the credits, despite having ended their relationship in late 1997.


title: Impossible Princess

text: On 22 October 1997, Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) released the album in the Japanese market, which included the bonus track "Tears", alongside the lenticular cover sleeve. The following month, "Impossible Princess" was produced in both CD and cassette formats in Russia and Poland. The standard edition of "Impossible Princess" was finally made available in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in early January 1998, and was issued in Europe and the United Kingdom in March that year. The following month, BMG distributed it as a cassette tape in Malaysia, whilst the standard edition with new artwork was released in Taiwan. Deconstruction cancelled plans to release "Impossible Princess" in North America following the sudden closure of her US distributor Imago Records in late 1994. In May 2003, "Impossible Princess" was remastered by Festival Mushroom in Australia and New Zealand, and BMG for European and UK regions, as a double CD album; the release contained a bonus disc featured remixes and three unreleased recordings: "Love Takes Over Me", "Tears", and "This Girl". The album re-instated the "Impossible Princess" title in Europe and the United Kingdom upon its re-release.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Because of constant delays in 1997, Mushroom Records premiered six of the album tracks—"Some Kind of Bliss", "Too Far", "Say Hey", "Limbo", "I Don't Need Anyone", and "Did It Again"—on a special sample compact disc, and all six recordings were distributed as radio singles to both Australia and New Zealand. Deconstruction conducted a similar promotional campaign in Europe and distributed six different songs on a sample cassette tape. "Live and Other Sides" was released accompanied by Australian releases of the album at HMV in 1998, with two unreleased "Impossible Princess" tracks, one unreleased "Kylie Minogue" track, and three live tracks. The EP was removed from sale and replaced with "Other Sides" for unknown reasons. "Other Sides" featured the two B-sides, "Love Takes Over Me" and "Tears" and an unreleased "Impossible Princess" track, "Take Me with You". Minogue's fourth remix album, "Mixes", includes singles from the album; it was released in the UK in August 1998. In Australia, the remix album was replaced by "Impossible Remixes", featuring the previously unreleased "Breathe (TNT Club Mix)". Several album tracks and three unreleased tracks from "Impossible Princess" appear on "Hits+" (2000) released in Europe.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue's press campaign for the album began in mid-1995, including interviews with magazines and a performance at the Radio 1 Roadshow in Newquay on 21 August 1997. The promotional campaign was aimed at album buyers, rather than the singles market. The label stressed Minogue's wide-reaching appeal by setting up press cover interviews for her in various markets: broadsheets, dance specialists, tabloids, gay magazines, and style monthlies. During the release week in March 1998, Deconstruction and Minogue held a release party at Tower Records in London. She conducted a small-concert tour travelling to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong through October 1997; it was her first time in both New Zealand and Hong Kong. Minogue expanded the tour by adding venues in Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. She appeared on several television shows to promote the album's singles. She promoted the album at the 1998 Mardi Gras ceremony in Sydney, Australia.


title: Impossible Princess

text: In May 1998, Minogue confirmed the Intimate and Live concert tour, which began on 2 June at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, that same year. Initially, she wanted to finish the tour in Melbourne on 4 July, but because of high demand in England, Minogue hosted three additional concert performances there. The tour attracted positive reviews from spectators and publications, praising the idea of a smaller venue show. She received compliments for her vocal performance and her stage presence. Each concert had drawn in approximately 2,000 audience members in Australia, and the media there deemed it a commercial success. To complete the tour's promotion, an accompanying live album and DVD, shot at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, were released on 30 November (album) and 23 July 2003 (DVD).


title: Impossible Princess

text: Minogue wanted to introduce the album in a way that would intrigue and surprise the public. "Some Kind of Bliss" was chosen as the lead single in September 1997. David Mould directed the music video shot in the Desert of Tabernas in Spain; it features Dexter Fletcher as Minogue's lover. Released a week after Diana's death, "Some Kind of Bliss" was a commercial disappointment: it peaked at number 22 in the UK, Minogue's first single to not reach the top 20 there. It reached number 27 in Australia, and number 46 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, her last charting release there in the 1990s.


title: Impossible Princess

text: The second single was "Did It Again", released on 24 November 1997 with the B-side "Tears". Minogue promoted the single heavily on television in the UK, which led to it peaking at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in December where it remained for another six weeks. In Australia, it peaked at number 15 and lasted 17 weeks in the top 50, one of her longest spanning singles on the chart. Petro Romanhi directed the accompanying music video shot in London, in which Minogue portrays four different versions of herself: SexKylie, CuteKylie, IndieKylie, and DanceKylie. "Breathe", Minogue's final single under Deconstruction, was released on 9 March 1998 featuring mixes from Sash! and Todd Terry. Welsh film director Kieran Evans directed the accompanying music video in which Minogue floats in an airspace of spiral effects. The single reached number 23 in Australia and inside the top 20 in the UK.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Because of popular demand, "Too Far" was released on 12" vinyl in May 1998 as a promotional single. Two remixes were made for the single: a Brothers in Rhythm remix that contains new vocals and adlibs from Minogue, and an europop remix by Junior Vasquez. "Too Far" was planned to be the final single and was to be released commercially as a vinyl triple pack, but these plans were scrapped. Instead, "Cowboy Style" was released as the album's final single, with "Love Takes Over Me" on the B-side, on 5 October 1998 and distributed only in Australia. It was not released in the UK because of Minogue's departure from Deconstruction in November. Owing to a limited number of issued formats, the track only charted for a single week at number 39 on the Australian regional top 50.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Upon its release, critical reception of "Impossible Princess" was sharply divided. UK magazines "Music Week" and "Q" lambasted the record's repetitious nature, though "Music Week" acknowledged the improvement in Minogue's vocal range and abilities. Ben Willmott of "NME" criticised the production of collaborator James Dean Bradfield, and labelled Minogue a "total fraud" for introducing new musical genres that were disparate from her previous work.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Some reviewers, mostly from outside of the UK, gave overwhelming praise to its production and Minogue's contribution. An editor at "Who" magazine and Cameron Adams of "Herald Sun" called it Minogue's best and most complete work, praising her vocal delivery. Mangan commended her songwriting skills and the diverse set of styles, writing that the album "sounds right and constitutes another step in the right direction." Adams opined that Minogue had produced "the classy, personal pop album she has always threatened." Dwyer highlighted the club-dance tracks as the better cuts, adding that the album shows Minogue's progress musically despite its wide range of styles and collaborators. Flick commented that Minogue "has finally found her voice—both literally and spiritually".


title: Impossible Princess

text: Retrospective reviews of "Impossible Princess" have been much more positive. In the "Encyclopedia of Popular Music" (2011), British writer Colin Larkin gave it three out of five stars, classifying it as "recommended" and "highly listenable". True found the album stronger and more natural than her previous efforts, and it flows together as an album. Cinquemani was impressed with the album's personal and unified cord, saying it is "the work of an artist willing to take risks". Levine noticed its lack of commercial appeal, while praising the diverse set genres and Minogue's input. He called the album a "brave, revealing and rarely less than surprising" piece of work. While reviewing her tenth album "X" (2007), Evan Sawdey of "PopMatters" commented that "Impossible Princess" is "one of the most crazed, damn-near perfect dance-pop albums ever created."


title: Impossible Princess

text: During its commercial release, "Impossible Princess" was criticised by the British public, who did not appreciate her move into indie music and electronica. The audience failed to identify with her new intimate image, dubbed as "IndieKylie", and was unimpressed with her new musical direction, viewing it as a trend-chasing attempt. The backlash resulted in "Impossible Princess" making little impact on British record charts, which led British publications to label "Impossible Princess" Minogue's worst-selling studio album at the time in those regions. A year after its release, mocked the album's sales, stating: "We've done something to improve Kylie's records: we've banned them."


title: Impossible Princess

text: Several factors were named as reasons for the poor public perception: the lack of promotional activity, the three-year gap since her last album, the constant delays and title changes, and the change of musical direction. Minogue cited the incohesive material, her "IndieKylie" image portrayed by the media, as well as the long gap between albums, as the main reasons for the album's commercial failure; while Baker felt it was the lack of proper promotion and management on Deconstruction's end. Anderson felt the release of "Some Kind of Bliss" as the lead single overshadowed Minogue's involvement on the track, and the album as a whole. Minogue said that after the single release, she had to "keep telling people that this isn't an indie-guitar album. I'm not about to pick up a guitar and rock." James Dean Bradfield admitted he felt guilty that the single release had "landed [Minogue] with a whole new set of problems".


title: Impossible Princess

text: "Impossible Princess" debuted and peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the third highest debuting album of that week and Minogue's sixth top-10 entry. It fell to number 22 the following week, and again to number 41, its final charting position was at number 70. The album sold 20,000 copies in the first two weeks of release, just ten percent of the expected sales figures. The album entered its fifth and final week, during the start of May 1998, at number 91. In a similar run, the album charted at number 10 on the Scottish Albums Chart. "Impossible Princess" had sold 64,483 copies in the UK as of October 2020.


title: Impossible Princess

text: The album experienced success on the Australian Albums Chart, where it debuted and peaked at number four on 25 January 1998. It stalled at number eight during its second and third week, but fell outside the top ten in its fourth. By 26 April, the album had spent 14 weeks on the chart and was placed at number 48, before leaving the chart. When Minogue promoted the album with live shows, alongside the announcement of a national tour, "Impossible Princess" re-entered the charts on 10 May at number 40. Whilst embarking her Intimate and Live tour in June, it entered the top ten for three non-consecutive weeks between the months of June and July. In total, the album appeared in the top 50 for 35 weeks, making it Minogue's longest charting album at the time. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified the Platinum by for physical shipments of 70,000 units.


title: Impossible Princess

text: In September 2022, 25 years after its original release, BMG announced they would release the album for the first time on vinyl under its original title "Impossible Princess". The album went on to reach number five on the UK Albums Chart on 28 October 2022, eclipsing its original number-ten peak and officially giving Minogue her eleventh top-five studio album in the UK to date. The album also reached new chart peaks in Australia and Germany, peaking at numbers three and 25, respectively.


title: Impossible Princess

text: "Impossible Princess" gained four nominations at the 1998 ARIA Music Awards show, which was held in October. The album was nominated for Best Pop Release, Best Female Musician, and Album of the Year—her first nomination in this category. She lost Album of the Year to "Unit" (1997) by Regurgitator, while losing Pop Release and Female Musician to Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. The following year, Minogue was nominated for Best Female Artist for "Cowboy Style", which lost to Imbruglia's "Wishing I Was There" (1998). The music video for "Did It Again" won the 1998 International Viewer's Choice Award – MTV Australia.


title: Impossible Princess

text: Because of pressure from the British press and public, Minogue contemplated retiring from the music industry for good. She decided instead to part with Deconstruction and BMG in November 1998. In 1999, Minogue signed to Parlophone and released her studio album "Light Years" in 2000 to a positive reception. "The Guardian"s Tim Jonze believes that "Light Years" saved her career, while Louise Bruton of "The Irish Times", said that "Impossible Princess" is the low point "she needed to reach the great heights of 2000's "Light Years"". Minogue has considered "Impossible Princess" the most disappointing moment in her career, and commented that if she wrote another album of personal songs, "it would be seen as "Impossible Princess" 2 and be equally critiqued".


title: Impossible Princess

text: Retrospectively, the album has been regarded by music critics as Minogue's most personal and misunderstood work. True and Cinquemani applauded her writing contribution, calling it her "great leap forward" in terms of musical composition. On the 20th anniversary of the album, Ben Neutze of "Daily Review" opined that it stands as "the most intriguing chapter of her career, and the only significant glimpse at who this pop icon might be when stripped of other glorious facades." Caz Tran of ABC Online called it "the creative detour [Minogue] needed to take" regarding her evolution and self-discovery. Levine and Larrisa Dubecki of "The Age" viewed the album as one of the key re-inventions of her recording career. Several critics noticed the sonic and lyrical similarities between the album and "Ray of Light" (1998) by Madonna. Cinquemani observed that despite the success of "Ray of Light", "Impossible Princess" brought a harsh reaction from the public. Media publications "Flavorwire", "Slant Magazine", and "Faster Louder" listed the album as one of the most underrated pop albums.


title: Impossible Princess

text: All lyrics written by Kylie Minogue, except "I Don't Need Anyone", with lyrics by Minogue and Nick Jones.


title: Virginia Company

text: The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Maine to the Carolinas. The company's shareholders were Londoners, and it was distinguished from the Plymouth Company, which was chartered at the same time and composed largely of gentlemen from Plymouth, England.


title: Virginia Company

text: The biggest trade breakthrough resulted after adventurer and colonist John Rolfe introduced several sweeter strains of tobacco from the Caribbean. These yielded a more appealing product than the harsh-tasting tobacco native to Virginia. Cultivation of Rolfe's new tobacco strains produced a strong commodity crop for export for the London Company and other early English colonies and helped to balance a national trade deficit with Spain. The company failed in 1624, following the widespread destruction of the Great Massacre of 1622 by indigenous peoples in the colony, which decimated the English population. On May 24, James dissolved the company and made Virginia a royal colony from England with colonists retaining self-government.


title: Virginia Company

text: 1606 a ruling council in London composed of major shareholders in the enterprise. The members were nominated by the company and appointed by James. The council in England then directed the settlers to appoint their own local council, which proved ineffective. The council had to obtain approval from London for expenditures and laws, and limited the enterprise to 100 square miles.


title: Virginia Company

text: The Charter of 1606 did not mention a Virginia Company or a Plymouth Company; these names were applied somewhat later to the overall enterprise. The Charter of 1609 stipulates two distinct companies:


title: Virginia Company

text: that they should devide themselves into two colonies, the one consistinge of divers Knights, gentlemen, merchaunts and others of our cittie of London, called the First Collonie; and the other of sondrie Knights, gentlemen and others of the cities of Bristoll, Exeter, the towne of Plymouth, and other places, called the Second Collonie.


title: Virginia Company

text: By the terms of the charter, the London Company was permitted to establish a colony of 100 miles square between latitudes 34° and 41° N, approximately between Cape Fear and Long Island Sound. It also owned a large portion of inland Canada. The company established the Jamestown Settlement on 14 May 1607, about 40 miles inland along the James River, a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. In 1620, George Calvert asked James for a charter for English Catholics to add the territory of the Plymouth Company.


title: Virginia Company

text: The Plymouth Company was permitted to establish settlements between latitudes 38° and 45° N, roughly between the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and the U.S.-Canada border. On 13 August 1607, the Plymouth Company established the Popham Colony along the Kennebec River in Maine. However, it was abandoned after about a year and the Plymouth Company became inactive. A successor company eventually established a permanent settlement in 1620 when the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, aboard the Mayflower.


title: Virginia Company

text: The Second Charter expanded the area of the enterprise from sea to sea and appointed a governor, because the local councils had proven ineffective. Governor Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (known as Lord Delaware) sailed for America in 1610. James delegated the governor of Virginia absolute power.


title: Virginia Company

text: Also in 1609, a much larger Third Supply mission was organized. A new purpose-built ship named the "Sea Venture" was rushed into service without the customary sea trials. She became the flagship of a fleet of nine ships, with most of the leaders, food, and supplies aboard. Aboard the "Sea Venture" were fleet Admiral George Somers, Vice-Admiral Christopher Newport, Virginia Colony governor Sir Thomas Gates, William Strachey, and businessman John Rolfe with his pregnant wife.


title: Virginia Company

text: The third supply convoy encountered a hurricane that lasted three days and separated the ships from one another. The "Sea Venture" was leaking through its new caulking, and Admiral Somers had it driven aground on a reef to avoid sinking, saving 150 men and women but destroying the ship. The uninhabited archipelago was officially named "The Somers Isles" after Admiral Somers. The survivors built two smaller ships from salvaged parts of the "Sea Venture," which they named "Deliverance" and "Patience".


title: Virginia Company

text: Ten months later, they continued on to Jamestown, arriving on May 23, 1610. They left several men behind on the archipelago to establish possession of it. At Jamestown, they found that more than 85-percent of the 500 colonists there had perished during the "Starving Time". The "Sea Venture" passengers had anticipated finding a thriving colony and had brought little food or supplies with them. The colonists at Jamestown were saved only by the timely arrival three weeks later of a supply mission headed by Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, better known as "Lord Delaware".


title: Virginia Company

text: The Virginia Company of London failed to discover gold or silver in Virginia, to the disappointment of its investors. However, they did establish trade of various types. The company benefitted from lotteries held throughout England until they were cancelled by the Crown. The company even considered titles of nobility to gain support for the colony.


title: Virginia Company

text: In February 1613, company projects were promoted at court when the lawyer Richard Martin helped produce "The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn" at Whitehall Palace for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate. The masque represented Virginian peoples on the stage and also introduced the theme of gold mining.


title: Virginia Company

text: In 1612, the company's charter was officially extended to include the Somers Isles as part of the Virginia Colony. However, the isles passed to the London Company of the Somers Isles in 1615, which had been formed by the same shareholders as the London Company. The third charter expanded territory eastward to include Summer Islands and other islands.


title: Virginia Company

text: On 18 November 1618, Virginia Company officers Thomas Smythe and Edwin Sandys sent a set of instructions to Virginia Governor George Yeardley that are often referred to as "The Great Charter", though it was not issued by James. This charter gave the colony self-governance, which led to the establishment of a Council of State appointed by the governor and an elected General Assembly (House of Burgesses), and provided that the colony would no longer be financed by shares but by tobacco farming. The birth of representative government in the United States can be traced from this Great Charter, as it provided for self-governance from which the House of Burgesses and a General Council were created.


title: Virginia Company

text: The indigenous peoples had grown increasingly resistant to the competition from the colonists and mistreatment at their hands. They rose in what is known as Jamestown Massacre of 1622, also known as the Great Massacre, which decimated the population. Survivors of some eighty plantations gathered into eight near Jamestown. In Britain, company officers debated over guarding the original charter, or deciding to disband the company. The Jamestown Massacre brought unfavorable attention to the colony, particularly from James who had originally chartered the company. There was a period of debate in Britain between company officers who wished to guard the original charter, and those who wanted the company to be disbanded. On 24 May 1624, James dissolved the company and made Virginia a royal colony.


title: Antkind

text: Kaufman said in 2016 that the novel was being written so as to be unfilmable, and is itself about "an impossible movie."


title: Antkind

text: Neurotic failed film critic B. Rosenberger Rosenberg stumbles upon what may be the greatest artistic achievement in human history: a three-month-long film, complete with scheduled sleeping, eating, and bathroom breaks, that took its reclusive auteur, a psychotic African-American man named Ingo Cutbirth, ninety years to complete. B makes it his mission to show it to the rest of humanity. The only problem: The film is destroyed when he stops for a soda, leaving just a single frame from which B must somehow attempt to recall the film that might just be the last great hope of civilization. The novel grows to encompass a vast array of concepts and plotlines.


title: Antkind

text: B is obsessed with proving his political correctness bonafides, boasting of his relationship with a Black sitcom star and his constant use of an uncommon non-binary pronoun "thon". His daughter is an estranged filmmaker whose work receives negative reviews from her father, who is himself obsessed with both ultra-obscure experimental films and the works of Judd Apatow. B's attempts to psychologically reconstruct the three-month movie send him to a wide variety of psychiatrists and hypnotists, most notably the sinister Barassini, whose work begins to have perverse effects on his body. He finds himself beginning to shrink in size, and is constantly falling down manholes. He becomes addicted to ketamine, and develops a clown fetish. At one point plastic surgery is conducted on him without his consent. He is forced at another point to pursue careers selling shoes at Zappos or working in a laundromat to impress a woman. His knowledge of film is seemingly deteriorating, as he constantly and surreally misquotes and misremembers many movies.


title: Antkind

text: Several other plotlines concern the St. Augustine Monster, a war fought between android clones of Donald Trump and a fictitious fast food restaurant called Slammy's, a murder attempt by Abbott and Costello on a rival comedy team Mudd and Molloy, which is depicted in Cutbirth's film, and several forms of time travel, including by a precognitive meteorologist, clones of other characters (including Trump and a more financially successful B), and a virus invented by a sapient ant living in the distant future.


title: Antkind

text: Review aggregator Book Marks reports seven rave reviews and seven positive reviews out of a total of 18 reviews, signifying that the book received a positive critical reception.


title: Antkind

text: Matthew Specktor writing for "The New York Times" praised the novel for its surrealism and humor, writing "It must be said that, by any standard — and even for someone who remembers the shock of Kaufman’s work when it was passed around Hollywood as unproduced samizdat in the 1990s — "Antkind" is an exceptionally strange book. It is also an exceptionally good one." Anita Felicelli of the "Los Angeles Review of Books" praised Kaufman's storytelling calling it "a thrilling first novel trying to assume the form of consciousness itself, with all its digressions and delusions ... "Antkind" is Kaufman pushing himself to every formal and social limit, no holds barred, bleak and devastating, yet marvelous." Chief film critic of "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw wrote in a positive review "[Kaufman] may be someone for whom anxiety and sadness are a personal ordeal, but he transforms them into bleak, stark, unearthly monuments to comic despair."


title: Antkind

text: In a review for "Slate", Laura Miller wrote "What at first appears to be a parody of the parasitical nature of criticism soon metastasizes into a grab bag of long-standing Kaufman motifs and themes...This proves a mixed blessing, as B himself is such a relentlessly broad caricature that he makes the cadaverous restaurant critic in "Ratatouille" seem nuanced."


title: Max Charles

text: Max Joseph Charles (born August 18, 2003) is an American actor. He appeared in the 2012 film "The Three Stooges", as young Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man", and had a role in the ABC comedy science fiction series "The Neighbors". In 2014, Charles voiced Sherman in DreamWorks' "Mr. Peabody & Sherman". He played the recurring role of Spin in Disney XD's "Lab Rats: Bionic Island". He voiced Kion on the Disney Junior series "The Lion Guard," and Harvey on the Nickelodeon series "Harvey Beaks". He also played Zach Goodweather on seasons two through four on the TV series "The Strain", replacing Ben Hyland from the first season.


title: Max Charles

text: Charles was born in Dayton, Ohio on August 18, 2003. He has 3 older brothers, Logan, Brock, and Mason who are also actors. He first appeared in a third-season episode of the HBO series "True Blood" in 2010. His later television guest starring work includes the Fox series "Raising Hope", the NBC series "Community", the TV Land series "Hot in Cleveland", and the Disney Channel series "Jessie". Charles has also had roles in the 2010 television film "November Christmas" and the 2011 direct-to-DVD film "Spooky Buddies".


title: Max Charles

text: In early 2012, Charles appeared in "The Three Stooges" as Peezer, a young orphan who encounters the three title characters. That year, he also appeared in the films "Least Among Saints" and "White Space". In 2012, Charles played a young Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man", a role whose adult counterpart was Andrew Garfield. In fall 2012, Charles began co-starring in the ABC comedy science fiction series "The Neighbors". Charles voiced Sherman in DreamWorks Animation's "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" (2014).


title: Max Charles

text: Charles has four brothers, and received his first audition after a producer asked one of his brothers to audition for a role; Charles asked his mother if he could accompany his brother, and was hired for his first acting role. In "The Three Stooges", Charles can be seen in a scene with all three brothers. Charles is represented by CESD Talent Agency and Symington Talent Management. In January 2015, he was cast as Zach Goodweather, on the television series "The Strain".


title: Max Charles

text: Charles voiced Kion on the Disney Channel television film "The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar" and its subsequent Disney Junior TV series "The Lion Guard".


title: Max Charles

text: Charles was cast as Ali's best friend in the independent imaginary reality film, "Ali’s Realm", which was released in 2020.


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: "Angel Baby" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan. Released on 10 September 2021 via EMI, Universal and Capitol Records, "Angel Baby" is the lead single from Sivan's upcoming third studio album and his first solo release of new material since "Rager Teenager!" in August 2020.


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: Sivan first announced the single on 27 August 2021 through social media posts, stating "surprise gushy juicy doting adoring power bottom gay ballad 'Angel Baby' out sept 10". It followed "You", a track by Regard which was released in April 2021, featured Sivan and Tate McRae, and reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart, becoming Sivan's third number one on a "Billboard" chart after "Youth" and "My My My!" topped the chart.


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: Speaking to "NME", Sivan explained that the song is his "his crack at an adoring, doting, love struck, mega pop, gay, power ballad. I thought we needed a few more of those".


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: The song was written by Sivan, James Abrahart, Jason Evigan, Sarah Hudson and Michael Pollack. Lyrically, it features Sivan confessing to his lover that he has saved him, stating that he "almost died, but you're bringing me back to life". In the chorus he confesses that he wants to "stay in this moment forever" because he is "afraid living couldn't get any better", and that his lover has sacrificed a lot to be with him and has "gave up heaven so we could be together, declaring him his "angel baby".


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: The official cover art for the single features a shirtless Sivan staring at the ground while wearing jeans and a white jockstrap. He is standing against a cloudy blue sky and has a small pair of neon angel wings on his back. Other promotional images released in the lead-up to the track's debut were similarly themed, including a black and white photograph of Sivan wearing tight silver leather trousers sitting on a fence with huge, feathery white wings and a black and white close-up of Sivan wearing a white top in the shower also being used to advertise the song.


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: A visualiser featuring Sivan dancing around shirtless, wearing large angel wings and looking into the camera was released to accompany the song on 10 September 2021 and was directed by Lucas Chemotti. A music video for "Angel Baby" directed by Luke Gilford was released on 21 October.


title: Angel Baby (Troye Sivan song)

text: Reviews of the track have praised the song's "yearning and romance" and described it as a "nostalgia-soaked love ballad", with "cinematic 90s synth glory".


title: Grinding machine

text: A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is a power tool (or machine tool) used for grinding. It is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation.


title: Grinding machine

text: Grinding is used to finish workpieces that must show high surface quality (e.g., low surface roughness) and high accuracy of shape and dimension. As the accuracy in dimensions in grinding is of the order of 0.000025 mm, in most applications it tends to be a finishing operation and removes comparatively little metal, about 0.25 to 0.50 mm depth. However, there are some roughing applications in which grinding removes high volumes of metal quite rapidly. Thus, grinding is a diverse field.


title: Grinding machine

text: The grinding machine consists of a bed with a fixture to guide and hold the workpiece, and a power-driven grinding wheel spinning at the required speed. The speed is determined by the wheel’s diameter and manufacturer’s rating. The grinding head can travel across a fixed workpiece, or the work piece can be moved while the grind head stays in a fixed position.


title: Grinding machine

text: Fine control of the grinding head or table position is possible using a vernier calibrated hand wheel, or using the features of numerical controls.


title: Grinding machine

text: Grinding machines remove material from the workpiece by abrasion, which can generate substantial amounts of heat. To cool the workpiece so that it does not overheat and go outside its tolerance, grinding machines incorporate a coolant. The coolant also benefits the machinist as the heat generated may cause burns. In high-precision grinding machines (most cylindrical and surface grinders), the final grinding stages are usually set up so that they remove about 200 nm (less than 1/10000 in) per pass - this generates so little heat that even with no coolant, the temperature rise is negligible.


title: National symbols of Japan

text: National symbols of Japan are the symbols that are used in Japan to represent what is unique about the nation, reflecting different aspects of its cultural life and history.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Henry Ross Perot Jr. (born November 7, 1958) is a real estate developer and American businessman who is best known for his development of Alliance, Texas, an inland port near Dallas–Fort Worth, and making the first circumnavigation of the world in a helicopter at the age of 23.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Perot serves as the chairman for multiple companies including The Perot Group and Hillwood. He is the only son and eldest child of American billionaire businessman and former United States presidential candidate Ross Perot.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Perot was born and raised in Dallas, the son of Margot (née Birmingham) and Ross Perot. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1977. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, he served in the United States Air Force for eight and a half years.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: In 1982 Perot co-piloted the first flight by helicopter around the world. Using a Bell 206 L-1 Long Ranger II, Perot completed the circumnavigation on September 30, 1982.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Perot serves as chairman of The Perot Group, which manages the various Perot family interests that include real estate, oil and gas, and financial investments. He developed the Fort Worth Alliance Airport and is a large real estate developer. Hillwood's residential division, is building Harvest, a $1 billion, 1,150-acre development in Northlake and Argyle. Hillwood Communities recently kicked off developments including the 1006.5 acres development Pomona in Manvel, TX and the 787-acre Union Park in Little Elm.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: From 2002 to 2003, Perot served as chairman of the Texas Governor's Task Force for Economic Growth. In March 2007, presidential candidate Mitt Romney, seeking the Republican Party nomination selected Perot as a member of his Texas finance committee.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Perot was a member of the Board of Directors for Dell Inc. Perot is a board member of Guide IT. He is Chairman of the United States Air Force Memorial Foundation and Co-Chairman of the EastWest Institute. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of St. Mark's School of Texas, Southern Methodist University, and Vanderbilt University. In 2010 "Forbes" reported Perot's net worth at $1.5 Billion. Perot was the 1983 recipient of the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution..


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: In April 2020, Governor Greg Abbott named Perot to the Strike Force to Open Texas – a group "tasked with finding safe and effective ways to slowly reopen the state" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: Perot purchased the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team from original owner Don Carter in March 1996. Under his four-year tenure, the Mavericks made no more progress on the court than they had in Carter's final seasons, and nowhere near what they would do under his successor, Mark Cuban. It was said that he was a basketball novice, or disinterested in the sport and was using his position as team owner to front his projects, most notably Victory Park, which was anchored by the American Airlines Center which opened in 2001. He sold the team to Cuban in January 2000 and the franchise did not have a losing season in any of the subsequent fifteen seasons, winning two Western Conference championships and the 2011 NBA championship.


title: Ross Perot Jr.

text: In May 2010, Perot, who retained 5 percent ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. Perot retains a minority stake in the team, as does his predecessor Carter's estate.


title: Dalano Banton

text: Dalano Banton (born November 7, 1999) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Banton's selection with the 46th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft by the Raptors made him the first Canadian player to be drafted by the Canadian franchise.


title: Dalano Banton

text: Banton grew up in the Mount Olive area inside the Rexdale neighbourhood of Toronto. He began playing basketball as a kid at the North Kipling Community Centre, the Rexdale Community Hub, and a local parking lot. He also attended camps hosted by former Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan in the neighbourhood.


title: Dalano Banton

text: Banton, originally a member of 2019 class, reclassified into 2018. He played for Redemption Christian Academy in Northfield, Massachusetts and MacDuffie School in Granby, Massachusetts.


title: Dalano Banton

text: By the end of his high school career, Banton was a consensus four-star recruit and was ranked in the top 100 recruits nationally in 2018 by Rivals (No. 80) and 247Sports (No. 92).


title: Dalano Banton

text: As a freshman, Banton played 31 games at Western Kentucky, averaging 3.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Banton made 12 starts and nearly had a triple-double with 13 rebounds, 10 assists and eight points in a career-high 38 minutes in a win over No. 15 Wisconsin. Banton was one of only six players in Division I basketball to have a game with at least eight points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 2018–19. He had three double-figure scoring efforts on the season, including a season-high 11 points against both Belmont and Saint Mary's, as he also had six assists and three blocks against the Gaels. On April 10, 2019, Banton announced his intent to transfer from Western Kentucky. On May 1, 2019, Banton announced, via Twitter, his commitment to Nebraska.


title: Dalano Banton

text: Banton sat out the 2019–20 season after transferring from Western Kentucky and honed his skills on the scout team. Banton played during the Huskers' trip to Italy in August of 2019, averaging 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in helping the Huskers post a 4–0 record.


title: Dalano Banton

text: On December 17, 2020, Banton recorded just the second triple-double in Nebraska men’s basketball history with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in Nebraska's 110–64 win over Doane University. He averaged 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Following the season, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. However, on July 2 he announced he was remaining in the draft.


title: Dalano Banton

text: Banton was drafted with the 46th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors, making him the first ever Canadian to be drafted by the franchise. On August 14, he signed a multi-year contract with the Raptors. Banton chose to wear the number 45 to honour the TTC 45 Kipling bus which regularly served the neighbourhood he grew up in. He made his professional debut on 20 October 2021 in the Raptors' season- and home-opener against the Washington Wizards, and scored his first career points in the NBA with a buzzer-beating three-point field goal at the end of the third quarter. On November 13, 2021, Banton scored a career-high 12 points while adding three rebounds, two assists and a steal in a 127–121 loss to the Detroit Pistons. On November 14, 2022, Banton broke his previous career-high scoring 27 points while adding five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a 115-111 win against the Pistons.


title: Bootstrap aggregating

text: Bootstrap aggregating, also called bagging (from bootstrap aggregating), is a machine learning ensemble meta-algorithm designed to improve the stability and accuracy of machine learning algorithms used in statistical classification and regression. It also reduces variance and helps to avoid overfitting. Although it is usually applied to decision tree methods, it can be used with any type of method. Bagging is a special case of the model averaging approach.