title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In April 2009, the company announced that it was suspending the Cirrus SRS light sport aircraft project. It cited economic conditions, that the aircraft required development, an expanded flight-training strategy and that the LSA rules were expected to change over time to allow LSAs with a broader mission profile.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On 29 April 2009, the company announced that it was increasing production from the previous 3-4 aircraft per week back to 6 aircraft per week. The change was accomplished without recalling any laid-off workers. The company stated: "We continue to see very encouraging trends in sales activities and interest from sales prospects domestically and around the world. Clearly, this is an upward move and is indicative of a stronger bias toward growth in aircraft orders. Though we remain in a very challenging environment, our hope is that this new rate is the first step and initial indicator of what will become a more substantial trend into the second half of the year and beyond."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On 1 June 2009, the company announced it was recalling 50 workers and boosting production to 8 aircraft per week.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On 26 June 2009, it was reported by AvWeb that Cirrus Aircraft co-founder and former CEO Alan Klapmeier intended to buy the Vision SF50 project from Cirrus and its major shareholder Arcapita and produce the aircraft under a new company. The new venture had been receiving financial advice from Merrill Lynch. Klapmeier indicated that his reason for wanting to take over the project was to speed up development and get the aircraft on the market sooner. Cirrus CEO Brent Wouters indicated that while the company intended to proceed with the SF50 program itself, he would listen to Klapmeier's proposal. On Monday 27 July 2009 Wouters and Cirrus co-founder Dale Klapmeier stated at a press conference that they would find a way to produce the SF50, either at Cirrus or through selling it to Alan Klapmeier. They both said that the key factor was raising enough capital to proceed with the project, complete certification and commence production. On Friday 31 July 2009 Alan Klapmeier announced that his offer to buy the SF50 program had not succeeded, with the key issue having been the program selling price, as well as other points and that the negotiations were at an end. Wouters responded saying further talks were possible, but that Cirrus would continue to develop the SF50 in house.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In late August 2009, Cirrus announced that it was laying off 85 employees, mostly office workers. Todd Simmons, vice president of marketing, stated: "These are challenging days for Cirrus, but the decision made is in the best interest in the entire company. Our outlook is still positive. We are making forward progress within the industry."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In November 2009, the company laid off an additional 58 workers, or 10% of the remaining payroll. The company indicated that it had failed to achieve some "institutional sales of aircraft" and that meant the lay-offs were expected, emphasizing that it does not indicate deeper problems with the company. As of 11 November 2009, the company had about 550 production workers employed.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In March 2010, Cirrus went to court in an attempt to get an order to prevent former supplier L-3 Communications from telling other Cirrus suppliers that Cirrus was heading into bankruptcy and from discouraging companies from doing business with Cirrus. On 1 April 2010, Cirrus applied for a "voluntary dismissal" of the case against L3, before L3 had filed a response. L3 had been engaged in a lawsuit against Cirrus for non-payment of US$18.7M in development costs for flat panel electronics, with Cirrus countering that L3 did not abide by the contract terms.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In June 2010, the company began paying back-rent owed to the city of Grand Forks. Cirrus had stopped paying its rent 16 months earlier. It also owed the city of Duluth back rent, which the city has indicated would be forgiven in exchange for job creation.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In February 2011, Cirrus was sold for US$210M to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China. The announcement of the sale was met with mixed responses. The "Duluth News-Tribune" labelled it "a sinking feeling of impending loss", while Russ Niles of "AvWeb" said "Chinese participation in the aviation industry isn't necessarily a bad thing and the folks in Duluth and Grand Forks could have suffered a worse fate. In the absence of a sale, bankruptcy was a real possibility for Cirrus and it might have been hard for a trustee to justify operating the business with the numbers it was showing. As for where it leaves current Cirrus owners and those thinking of buying one, the sale is probably a positive thing."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In mid-March 2011, aviation industry analyst Brian Foley indicated that he was trying to organize a group of US investors to make a counter-offer to the Chinese buy-out to keep Cirrus as a US-owned company. Foley stated that he had seen an "overwhelming response" from the U.S. aviation community, indicating that Americans want Cirrus "to be owned and operated on American soil, period." Foley's counter-offer did not materialize.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In late March 2011, freshman Minnesota congressman Chip Cravaack urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to exercise "extreme caution" over allowing the sale of Cirrus to the Chinese government, indicating that he was concerned that company technology would be used for Chinese military programs. Cirrus spokesman Todd Simmons responded to the congressman's remarks with surprise, responding that, "the CAIGA transaction is an investment in Duluth and our local communities." On 30 March 2011, at the Sun 'n Fun airshow, company co-founder Dale Klapmeier provided reassurances that Chinese ownership would not result in production being moved out of the US. Klapmeier also expressed disappointment in the political issues raised, particularly by Cravaack. Klapmeier explained, "His concerns are unfounded," detailing that Cirrus did not have any unique technology that could be employed in military applications. Former 18-term Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar also came out in support of Cirrus and the acquisition, saying Cravaack was "undermining" the situation, and that "we have nothing to fear from an investment such as this by the Chinese."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: The sale was reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and was approved, as Cirrus has no national security-sensitive trade secrets. The sale to CAIGA was completed as a merger of the two companies on 28 June 2011.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In July 2011, CAIGA president Xiangkai Meng and Duluth Mayor Don Ness signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding that the jobs at Cirrus Aircraft would remain in Duluth and not be moved to China. Ness said "Verbal assurances are wonderful, but a written assurance, signed by the president of CAIGA, certainly carries much more weight."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: Following the company's merger with CAIGA in July 2011, company CEO Brent Wouters indicated that Cirrus would move quickly to expand its line of aircraft, including bringing the Vision SF50 jet to market. Wouters said "We need to expand our product line -- bigger, smaller, faster airplanes, a much broader range, and very quickly. And we need more penetration in the top 10 foreign markets. And we must go forward quickly on both avenues."


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On the first anniversary of Chinese government ownership in 2012, company CEO Dale Klapmeier indicated that Cirrus was financially in a much better position and progress was being made with certifying the Vision SF-50 jet.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In March 2013, the company was granted a loan for US$950,000 from the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota to purchase an autoclave for composite production at the company's Grand Forks facility. The loan was originally turned down by the city, questioning whether the company would ever repay it. The loan was later allowed and an apology issued.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In July 2013, Cirrus president and COO Pat Waddick indicated that the ongoing Chinese government investment would allow it to continue to develop new models of aircraft with innovative powerplants. CEO Dale Klapmeier stated that the company hopes to eventually establish additional aircraft manufacturing facilities in China.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In 2013 the company delivered 276 new aircraft. This was a 10 percent increase in the number of deliveries over 2012 and the company's best year since before the 2008 recession. In 2013 the SR22 and SR22T were the highest-selling general aviation fixed-wing aircraft in the world and had been for eleven years in a row. Cirrus passed Textron Aviation as the largest producer of piston aircraft by unit-volume in 2013, and has remained the largest ever since.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On 25 March 2014 the company's first conforming Vision SF50 jet flew. Cirrus also indicated that it was continuing to hire engineers, technicians and designers for the jet program. From 2011 to 2014 Cirrus hired more than 300 new workers, bringing the total number of employees to over 800.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In 2015, the company announced plans to expand to Knoxville, Tennessee and establish a customer delivery center there, which officially opened on 12 January 2017.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: On 28 October 2016, Cirrus received FAA type certification for the Vision SF50 very light jet, with deliveries beginning in December of that year in the company's new Duluth aircraft finishing facility.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In April 2018, the company was named the 2017 winner of the Collier Trophy for the "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America" in the past year. The trophy was awarded for "designing, certifying, and entering-into-service the Vision Jet — the world’s first single-engine general aviation personal jet aircraft with a whole airframe parachute system".


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: By the end of 2019, Cirrus employed 1,600 people and produced 81 Vision Jets and 384 SR-series aircraft that year, resulting in the company's fifth year of growth and its best year in sales. The Vision SF50 became the world's best-selling general aviation jet.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: The Cirrus SR (Single Reciprocating) Series aircraft (including the SRV, SR20, SR22 and SR22T) are produced with "Cirrus Perspective" by Garmin (and previously Avidyne Entegra) integrated digital flight displays and modern avionics as standard equipment, a first in the light general aviation (GA) manufacturing industry when the Entegra instrument panel became available on the series in 2003. The aircraft are all electric - no vacuum systems are used. Redundancy is provided by dual batteries and alternators. The series originally began as a four-seat aircraft, with a smaller fifth seat added in 2013. The SR22 is also available with TKS anti-icing equipment, which has enabled flight into known icing (FIKI) conditions since 2009. The SR aircraft series was the first of its kind to come equipped with flight envelope protection in the form of an electronic "level" button, as well as "airbag seatbelts", two airbags installed in the shoulder harnesses of both the pilot and co-pilots' seat belts.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: The series incorporates other unusual design elements. All SR-aircraft use a mechanical side yoke instead of the traditional yoke or stick flight controls, and a single power lever that adjusts both throttle and propeller RPM via a mechanical cam actuated throttle and propeller control system. The aircraft also include a leading-edge cuff on the wing for improved spin protection and 26G energy-absorbing seats for improved crashworthiness. Construction is dominated by composite materials (a technique the company has used with every model since its first design in 1988, the VK-30), with traditional aluminum being used only for flight control surfaces. Although not the first certified GA aircraft built with composites, the SR-series was the first composite aircraft produced in large numbers (over 3,000 units delivered from 1999–2006 alone).


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: The SR22T, introduced in 2010, is powered by a Continental TSIO-550-K turbocharged piston engine. Turbocharging allows the engine to maintain maximum power at higher altitudes while increasing the maximum operating altitude to .


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: SR-series aircraft are equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), developed in association with Ballistic Recovery Systems, a ballistic parachute deployed from the back of the aircraft. In many inflight emergencies, it allows the entire airplane to descend safely to the ground and has been credited with saving over 200 lives to date. Cirrus was the first manufacturer to receive FAA certification for production aircraft with ballistic parachute systems, and remains the only aviation company to implement the device as a standard equipment on all its models. The system was first tested in 1998 by late Air National Guard F-16 pilot and chief Cirrus test pilot, Scott D. Anderson, who completed the tests in an SR20 over the southern California desert.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: The turbofan-powered Vision SF50 also comes equipped with CAPS, making it the first jet with a whole-plane parachute to receive certification.


title: Cirrus Aircraft

text: In October 2019, Cirrus became the first GA company, along with Piper Aircraft, to announce an emergency autoland system, developed by Garmin, which Cirrus calls "Safe Return" on the Vision SF50. It initiates at the push of a button and allows landing on runways over 5,836 ft (1,779 m) without any human input. The SF50 became the first jet, and third GA aircraft, to become certified with the system, earning certification in August 2020. In June 2021, Garmin won the Collier Trophy for its development of autoland, an award Cirrus had been honored with three years prior for the SF50, as the first certified single-engine civilian jet.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Laetiporus sulphureus is a species of bracket fungus (fungi that grow on trees) found in Europe and North America. Its common names are crab-of-the-woods, sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken-of-the-woods. Its fruit bodies grow as striking golden-yellow shelf-like structures on tree trunks and branches. Old fruitbodies fade to pale beige or pale grey. The undersurface of the fruit body is made up of tubelike pores rather than gills.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: "Laetiporus sulphureus" is a saprophyte and occasionally a weak parasite, causing brown cubical rot in the heartwood of trees on which it grows. Unlike many bracket fungi, it is edible when young, although adverse reactions have been reported.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: "Laetiporus sulphureus" was first described as "Boletus sulphureus" by French mycologist Pierre Bulliard in 1789. It has had many synonyms and was finally given its current name in 1920 by American mycologist William Murrill. "Laetiporus" means "with bright pores" and "sulphureus" means "the colour of sulphur".


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Investigations in North America have shown that there are several similar species within what has been considered "L. sulphureus" and that the true "L. sulphureus" may be restricted to regions east of the Rocky Mountains. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS and nuclear large subunit and mitochondrial small subunit rDNA sequences from North American collections have delineated five distinct clades within the core "Laetiporus" clade. Sulphureus clade I contains white-pored "L. sulphureus" isolates, while Sulphureus clade II contains yellow-pored "L. sulphureus" isolates.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: The fruiting body emerges directly from the trunk of a tree and is initially knob-shaped, but soon expands to fan-shaped shelves, typically growing in overlapping tiers. It is sulphur-yellow to bright orange in color and has a suedelike texture. Old fruitbodies fade to tan or whitish. Each shelf may be anywhere from across and up to thick. The fertile surface is sulphur-yellow with small pores or tubes and produces a white spore print. When fresh, the flesh is succulent with a strong fungal aroma and exudes a yellowish, transparent juice, but soon becomes dry and brittle.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: "Laetiporus sulphureus" is widely distributed across Europe and North America, although its range may be restricted to areas east of the Rockies. It grows on dead or mature hardwoods and has been reported from a very wide variety of host trees, such as "Quercus", "Prunus", "Pyrus", "Populus", "Salix", "Robinia", and "Fagus", occasionally also from conifers, from August to October or later, sometimes as early as June. In the Mediterranean region, this species is usually found on "Ceratonia" and "Eucalyptus". It can usually be found growing in clusters.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: The fungus causes brown cubical rot of heartwood in the roots, tree base and stem. After infection, the wood is at first discolored yellowish to red but subsequently becomes reddish-brown and brittle. At the final stages of decay, the wood can be rubbed like powder between the fingers.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Due to its taste, "Laetiporus sulphureus" has been called the "chicken polypore" and "chicken-of-the-woods" (not to be confused with "Grifola frondosa", the so-called "hen-of-the-woods").


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Many people think that the mushroom tastes like crab or lobster leading to the nickname "lobster-of-the-woods". The authors of "Mushrooms in Color" said that the mushroom tastes good sauteed in butter or prepared in a cream sauce served on toast or rice. It is highly regarded in Germany and North America.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Young specimens are edible if they exude large amounts of a clear to pale yellow watery liquid. Only the young outer edges of larger specimens should be collected, as older portions tend to be tough, unpalatable, and bug-infested. The mushroom should not be eaten raw. Certain species of deer consume this type of mushroom.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Some people have experienced gastrointestinal upset after eating this mushroom, and it should not be consumed raw.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Severe adverse reactions can occur, including vomiting and fever, in about 10% of the population, but this is now thought to be the result of confusion with morphologically similar species such as "Laetiporus huroniensis", which grows on hemlock trees, and "L. gilbertsonii", which grows on "Eucalyptus".


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: The fungus produces the Laetiporus sulphureus lectin (LSL), which exhibits haemolytic and haemagglutination activities. Haemolytic lectins are sugar-binding proteins that lyse and agglutinate cells. These biochemical activities are promoted when bound to carbohydrates.


title: Laetiporus sulphureus

text: Compared with species such as "Agaricus bisporus" (Swiss Brown mushroom) and the oyster mushroom, commercial cultivation of "Laetiporus" occurs at a much smaller and less mechanized scale.


title: Avaí FC

text: Avaí Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian football team from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, founded on 1 September 1923. Their home stadium is Estádio Aderbal Ramos da Silva, also known as Ressacada, with a capacity of 17,800. They play in blue and white shirts, shorts and socks.


title: Avaí FC

text: The club was founded after a businessman called Amadeu Horn gave football kits to a group of boys. The boys played a match against a team called Humaitá, and won. On September 1, 1923, at Amadeu Horn's house, the club was founded, known as Avahy Football Club at the time. The team was named Avahy after the Battle of Avay, in the Paraguayan War. In the following year, it became the first Santa Catarina State Championship champion.


title: Avaí FC

text: Avaí has played in the Brazilian First Division ("Série A") eleven times: 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022. In 1998, they won their only national title, the Brazilian Third Division ("Série C"). From 1999 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2014, they played in the Série B with their best campaigns being the third place attained in 2004 (when Avaí reached the Final Four, but could not be promoted to the First Division because only the two best placed teams were promoted) and 2008.


title: Avaí FC

text: In 2008 they finished 3rd in the championship and were promoted to the First Division for the first time in 30 years. In its first year playing in Série A, Avaí finished in 6th place, thus qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana. This has been the best participation ever by a club from the State of Santa Catarina in the Brazilian first division. The team eventually was relegated in 2011, and returned to the Série A in 2014, when the team won the promotion in the last round. Avaí won the most Santa Catarina State Championship titles in the 20th Century (13), and is currently the all-time record state champions (18), same as cross-bridge rivals Figueirense.


title: Avaí FC

text: The club colors are blue and white, and it is known as ""The Lion of the Island"" (because 90% of the Florianópolis territory is established on an island).


title: Avaí FC

text: Avaí's stadium is Estádio Aderbal Ramos da Silva (though it's mostly referred to as Ressacada), and it was inaugurated in 1983. It has a maximum capacity of 17,800 people, but its record crowd was 32,000 at the 1988 State Championship final. Before 1983, Avaí's stadium was Estádio Adolfo Konder (which has been subsequently demolished).


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010) was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in "The New York Times", described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In his teenage years, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut as Winston Sinclair, with the single "Another Heartache", recorded for producer Byron Lee. The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with Errol Dunkley to start the African Museum record label and shop, and soon had a hit with "My Only Lover", credited as the first lovers rock record ever made. He recorded for other producers to finance further African Museum recordings, having a string of hits in the three years that followed, ranging from ballads to roots reggae, including "All I Have Is Love", "Lonely Soldier", "Black a Kill Black", "Extra Classic" and his cover version of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper". In 1974, he began working with producer Alvin Ranglin, and that year he had his first Jamaican no. 1 single with "Love Is Overdue".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Coco"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sydney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop"). By the late-1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, challenged only by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley. Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: He opened the Cash and Carry shop at 118 Orange Street, later moving to no. 125, next door to Prince Buster's Record Shack, which was also the base for the Cash and Carry record label that he ran with Trevor "Leggo" Douglas.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film "Rockers", in which he performed "Slavemaster". The "Cool Ruler" (which became one of his nicknames) and "Soon Forward" albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected, although they are now considered among his best work. In 1981, he made his first appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival (returning annually until 1991), and he moved on to the Charisma Records offshoot Pre, who released his "The Lonely Lover" and "More Gregory" albums along with a string of increasingly successful singles including "Tune In", "Permanent Lover", "Wailing Rudie" and "Tribute to Waddy". He signed to Island Records and released the record that broke through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label ("Night Nurse" (1982)). Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was popular in clubs and received heavy radio play, and the album reached number 32 in the UK. It was also used in adverts for an over the counter cold & flu remedy of the same name.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: This success for Isaacs coincided with drug problems with cocaine. He served a six-month prison sentence in Kingston in 1982 for possession of unlicensed firearms. Isaacs claimed that he had the weapons only for protection, but it emerged that this was his 27th arrest and that he had become involved in drug dealing and was addicted to crack cocaine. He celebrated his release from prison with his second album for Island, "Out Deh!" (1983). Yellowman wrote the song "Gregory Free" also celebrating Isaacs release, and was later featured on the Young, Gifted and Yellow album. He was featured in the 1982 documentary "Land of Look Behind".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: When his contract with Island ended, Isaacs returned in 1984 with the "Kool Ruler Come Again" single, and began a period of prolific recording, working with producers including Prince Jammy, Hugh "Redman" James, Bobby Digital, Tad Dawkins and Steely & Clevie, maintaining a consistent standard despite the volume of work produced. Isaacs then built a strong relationship with Gussie Clarke of the Music Works label. They began with Isaacs's 1985 album "Private Beach Party", and had a hit with "Rumours" in 1988, which was followed by further popular singles including "Mind Yu Dis", "Rough Neck", "Too Good To Be True" and "Report to Me". The association with Clarke continued into the early 1990s, teaming up with singers including Freddie McGregor, Ninjaman and J.C. Lodge. He dueted with Beres Hammond on the 1993 Philip "Fatis" Burrell-produced "One Good Turn", Burrell also producing Isaacs's 1994 album "Midnight Confidential".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In the 1990s, the African Museum label continued to release all of Isaacs's music, and that of artists he produced. In 1997 Simply Red covered "Night Nurse". Isaacs continued to record and perform live in the 2000s. In 2005 Lady Saw produced another version of "Night Nurse" with her toasting over the original lyrics.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: Isaacs's drug addiction had a major impact on his voice, with most of his teeth falling out as a result. Isaacs said of his addiction in 2007: "Drugs are a debasing weapon. It was the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid – the Cocaine High School. I learnt everything, and now I've put it on the side."


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: He performed at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Inauguration at Jamaica, and in 2007 he collaborated with the Spanish rap group Flowklorikos/Rafael Lechowski album "Donde Duele Inspira".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In 2008, Isaacs released a new studio album "Brand New Me," which was nominated for the Grammy Awards for 2010. The album received positive reviews from critics; Reggae Vibes wrote: "Gregory is back, and how! 'Brand New Me' is a very suitable album title for the cool ruler's new album. He is back in a different style, more or less like we were used to from this great 'lovers & roots' artist" This was followed in 2009 by the album "My Kind Of Lady".


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In 2010, Isaacs put out the last of his albums to be released while he was still living; "Isaacs Meets Isaac," with Zimbabwean reggae singer King Isaac. In November 2010, "Isaacs Meets Isaac" was nominated for Best Reggae Album for the 2011 Grammy Awards, Isaacs's fourth Grammy nomination, and King Isaac's first.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: Isaacs died of lung cancer on 25 October 2010 at his home in Harrow Weald, London. A memorial service was held on 20 November at Kingston's National Indoor Sports Centre, including a musical tribute from artists including Lloyd Parks and We the People Band, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Shaggy, Judy Mowatt, Mavado, the Tamlins and Bongo Herman, before his remains were interred at the Dovecot Cemetery.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: The Gregory Isaacs Foundation was set up on 15 July 2011 (Isaacs's birthday) by his wife June Wyndham, with the intention of continuing his charitable work. A year later a free concert was staged featuring artists such as U-Roy, Big Youth, and the Mighty Diamonds, to raise funds for two schools.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In July 2015, a mural by Junior Moore depicting Isaacs was unveiled at 125 Orange Street, the former site of his Cash and Carry shop and now the Leggo Recording Studios. The unveiling also saw the launch of "Cool Ruler" spring water.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In 2016, the Jamaican government announced that it would posthumously award Isaacs the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) in recognition of his contribution to the country's music.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: In October 2016 the UK branch of the Gregory Isaacs Foundation installed a commemorative blue plaque at 59 Weald Lane, Harrow, the house where Isaacs lived for the last three years of his life. In February 2018, a blue plaque was unveiled at Isaacs's former home at 15 Sunrise Crescent in St. Andrew, with the foundation also announcing plans to open a museum dedicated to Isaacs at the site.


title: Gregory Isaacs

text: More than 500 Gregory Isaacs albums have been released to date, a great many of them being compilations of previously released material. Only studio albums of original material are listed below:


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League. Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in both New Zealand and Oceania, having won eight New Zealand Football Championship titles and ten OFC Champions League titles since their foundation.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Formed in 2004 following the inception of the New Zealand Football Championship, Auckland City currently play their home matches at Kiwitea Street in Sandringham, New Zealand. The club is the most successful in Oceania, having won seven consecutive OFC Champions League titles between 2011 and 2017 – the most consecutive continental titles of any football team in history. This has resulted in Auckland becoming a regular fixture at the FIFA Club World Cup, famously achieving a third-placed finish in the 2014 edition. Auckland City's youth team formerly played in the National Youth League, becoming the most successful team in competition history with seven titles.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland City's regular kit colours are faintly striped royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The current crest, in use since the club's inception, features the Sky Tower, an iconic Auckland landmark.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland City has won the New Zealand Football Championship regular season eleven times, and the Grand Final eight times. They represented the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in the OFC Champions League, which they won most recently in 2017 for the ninth time (seventh in a row). With a third place in 2014, they also became the only OFC team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup. They are also the only team to win the continental treble three times.


title: Auckland City FC

text: In 2017, Auckland City were invited to play in the Lunar New Year Cup, a friendly tournament hosted in Hong Kong. Auckland City defeated South Korean champions FC Seoul in the semifinal, before defeating Hong Kong side Kitchee in the final to lift the trophy. Auckland City were again invited for the 2019 edition, falling to Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng 2–1.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Following the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, in which Auckland City won all but one game in their undefeated season but fell short in both the OFC Champions League and the league playoffs, long-term manager Ramon Tribulietx brought his association with the club to an end and was replaced by Team Wellington coach José Figueira ahead of the 2019–20 season.


title: Auckland City FC

text: After the first season of the New Zealand National League Auckland City finished 1st in the Northern League but didn't get to play in the championship phase due to COVID-19 affecting the Auckland Region. The club then announced that Albert Riera would take over as head coach for the next season.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland City overcame local champions Al Ahli 2–0 in the opening play-off match, with goals by Adam Dickinson and Chad Coombes. In their quarter final clash against CONCACAF champions Atlante of Mexico, the side lost 0–3.


title: Auckland City FC

text: The play-off for fifth and sixth place was described by coach Paul Posa as "the greatest night in the history of Auckland City Football Club", as the team defeated CAF Champions League winners TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo 3–2. The goal scorers on this special occasion were Jason Hayne with two and Riki van Steeden.


title: Auckland City FC

text: These historic victories were the first recorded by a New Zealand team at the Club World Cup, and the first by an amateur side at this tournament. This was also the first time that a senior men's representative team from New Zealand has recorded a victory in a world FIFA competition.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland City played Moroccan league champions Moghreb Tétouan in a play-off for the quarter-finals on 10 December. The match finished goalless, with Auckland winning 4–3 in a penalty shoot-out and qualifying for a quarter-final clash against AFC Champions League winners ES Sétif. Auckland City defeated ES Sétif 1–0, courtesy of a John Irving goal, and advanced to the semi-finals for the first time ever.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Auckland played Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo in the semifinals, but lost 2–1. A shock seemed possible when a second-half goal from Ángel Berlanga cancelled out Pablo Barrientos' first-half strike for San Lorenzo, but substitute Mauro Matos netted San Lorenzo's winner in extra time.


title: Auckland City FC

text: They finished the tournament with a historic 4-2 penalty shootout win over CONCACAF Champions League winners Cruz Azul in the third-place playoff after a 1–1 draw at full time, with substitute Sanni Issa scoring the ultimate penalty just days after signing for the club. The result gained the side worldwide acclaim, as the team of part-timers and amateurs defied all expectations in the competition. Club stalwart and defender Ivan Vicelich came third in the Golden Ball award for best player at the tournament, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid.


title: Auckland City FC

text: The following players gained international caps for their respective countries. Players listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Auckland City.


title: Auckland City FC

text: The following foreign players made at least 50 appearances in a professional league prior to or following their time at Auckland City.


title: Auckland City FC

text: Freyberg Field, then a public park, was made available for use as a football field in 1965 for tenants Central United. Following intense development on what became affectionately known as Kiwitea Street, the field quickly became one of the best playing surfaces in New Zealand, and was made available to Auckland City following their foundation in 2004. Since then, the amenities at Kiwitea Street have been overhauled, including a new clubrooms and a resurfaced pitch in 2007.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: Trisa Laughlin (née Hayes; born March 14, 1969) is an American author and retired professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995–1998.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: Hayes made a one-off appearance in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta in 1988 as Brian Pillman's sister. She was dating Pillman at the time and they had her appear in the crowd to be harassed by the heels so that Pillman could get over as a face by standing up for her.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: While working as a backup dancer for the singer Prince, Hayes met the baseball player Ron Gant, who introduced her to his friend, professional wrestler Raven. Raven in turn introduced her to Paul Heyman, the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: In 1995, Heyman introduced Hayes to ECW under the ring name "Beulah McGillicutty". She made her debut at Three Way Dance on April 8, 1995, helping Raven defeat Tommy Dreamer. At Hostile City Showdown the following day, her backstory was revealed: while Raven and Tommy Dreamer (allegedly former childhood friends) had been attending a summer camp in their teens, they had met Beulah, who was overweight. Beulah had fallen in love with Tommy Dreamer, but he rejected her, so she slept with Raven. Raven's lackey Stevie Richards brought Beulah (now a slim "Penthouse" model) to ECW so she could gain revenge on Dreamer by helping Raven. Beulah became Raven's valet, and suffered several piledrivers at the hands of Dreamer during the course of the feud.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: At the same time, Beulah feuded with Francine and Luna Vachon, and was involved in several "catfights" with each of them. Her first match was on June 17, 1995 at Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams, when she pinned Luna after Richards hit her with a chair. At House Party on January 7, 1996, she claimed that she was pregnant and told a shocked Raven that it was Dreamer's baby, intensifying their feud. On the January 16, 1996 episode of "ECW Hardcore TV", Beulah left Raven and aligned herself with Dreamer. However, at Hostile City Showdown 1996, Shane Douglas informed Dreamer that Beulah was never pregnant, and also had been cheating on him. When Dreamer demanded to know who with (suspecting Douglas), Raven's new valet Kimona Wanalaya proclaimed that it was her, and she proceeded to kiss Beulah to the mat. After some hesitation, Dreamer kissed both women, proclaiming "I'll take em both, I'm hardcore!"


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: In 1997, Beulah and Dreamer teamed up for a few intergender tag team matches against Francine and Douglas, with Beulah surprising fans by performing moonsaults in the matches. In September 1997 at As Good as It Gets, she defeated Bill Alfonso in what Paul Heyman said was one of the most brutal matches in ECW history, due to the amount of blood lost by Alfonso.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: When the ECW wrestlers invaded the World Wrestling Federation, appearing on an episode of "Raw", Beulah was at Dreamer's side.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: In 1998, Beulah was attacked by Justin Credible and was put out of action. She returned to help Dreamer feud with Credible and his entourage. A few months later, Hayes grew tired of wrestling and Beulah was written out of storylines via The Dudley Boyz breaking her neck with their Dudley Death Drop maneuver.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: Beulah returned to the ring on June 12, 2005, at the World Wrestling Entertainment-produced ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view. She interfered in the main event, helping Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman, but their opponents, The Dudley Boyz, won despite her efforts. Beulah was involved in a catfight with Francine, who had just kicked Dreamer in the crotch.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: On August 8, 2010, Hayes appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, first shown sitting in the front row with her two daughters, before later getting involved in Dreamer's match with Raven by giving Raven a low blow.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: In 2014 Hayes officially retired after accompanying her husband to the ring one final time at his House of Hardcore 7 Pay Per View. During Dreamer's match, Hayes got into a brief cat fight with TNA Knockout Velvet Sky. After the match Hayes thanked all of the fans in attendance and those watching for their love and support over the years.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: On June 7, 2006, it was announced that Beulah would be in the corner of Dreamer and Terry Funk against then-heels, Mick Foley and Edge as an equalizer to the heel gimmick of Lita. On the day of the pay-per-view, the tag match was later changed to a six-person mixed tag match pitting Edge, Foley, and Lita against Dreamer, Funk, and herself. Wrestling barefoot, Beulah handled Lita and appeared on the bottom of a catfight. Dreamer, Funk, and Beulah would lose the match when Edge speared and pinned Beulah with a cover that resembled the "legs up" version of the missionary position.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: Beulah appeared on the December 29, 2009 edition of "ECW on SyFy". She and her twin daughters were sitting in the front row during Tommy Dreamer's last match in World Wrestling Entertainment.


title: Beulah McGillicutty

text: After retiring from wrestling in 1998, Hayes returned to college. On October 12, 2002 at the Lake Isle Country Club in Eastchester, New York, Hayes married Thomas Laughlin, known as ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer, with whom she later had twin girls, Brianna Laughlin and Kimberly Laughlin. The twins appeared in the season six episode of "The Sopranos" called "The Ride" as Domenica Baccalieri, Tony Soprano's baby niece.


title: Maude Hirst

text: Maude Gabriella Hirst (born February 1988) is an English actress. She is known for her appearances on television in the series "The Tudors" (2007–2010) and "Vikings" (2013–2017).


title: Maude Hirst

text: Hirst was born in Hackney, East London. She is the daughter of producer and writer Michael Hirst and artist Susan Aldworth, and was primarily raised by her mother. Hirst won a scholarship to the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.


title: Maude Hirst

text: Before appearing on screen, Hirst founded the women-centred production company Tuppence Films. She appeared on the British television series "The Tudors", created by her father, in the role of Kat Ashley between 2008 and 2010, then starred in "Vikings", also created by her father, for four seasons between 2013 and 2017 as Helga, wife of Floki, played by Gustaf Skarsgård.


title: Maude Hirst

text: In 2017, after "Vikings," Hirst decided to step away from acting and changed life direction by devoting her endeavors to the art of Mindfulness.


title: Lee Johnson (wrestler)

text: Lee Johnson (born December 13, 1997) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is a member of The Factory alongside Cole Karter, Nick Comoroto, Aaron Solo, and QT Marshall.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Allomyrina dichotoma, also known as Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Japanese horned beetle, or , is a species of rhinoceros beetle.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: In Japanese, rhinoceros beetles are called . "Mushi" is Japanese for insect, and "kabuto" is Japanese for helmet, literally referring to the samurai helmet. The beetle's Korean name 'Jangsupungdeng-i (장수풍뎅이, "General beetle") sounds very differently but is similar in nature. In Chinese the beetle is called '獨角仙' (which translates to 'single-horned immortal') or '雙叉犀金龜'.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: "Allomyrina dichotoma" shows a striking sexual dimorphism. The males are much larger, reaching a length of 40–80 mm, while females can reach a length of about 40–60 mm. The long cephalic horn of this species has a characteristic shape in the form of the letter Y and it is used by males during the mating period and to maintain territories. By means of their forked horn they lift other males off the ground and throw them into the air. In addition to their impressive and ornate protuberance they also have a smaller thoracic horn, also forked. Their eyes may be white or red and are adapted to low light levels, as this species is nocturnal. The body is dark brown, while the ventral part of the body is black and brilliant and the front legs are unusually long. Like all Dynastinae species, these beetles are strong flyers, although they never cover long distances during the flight.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: This species is present in Japan (Honshu, Kyūshū and other islands including Okinawa), Taiwan, Korean Peninsula and eastern China. It can be found in broad-leaved forests in tropical and subtropical mountainous habitats. Across populations and regions, male beetles can vary greatly in size and horn performance, and it is suggested that differences are due to relative intensities of selection.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: The Japanese rhinoceros beetle will live most of its life underground in larval and pupal stages, spending only about four months as an actual beetle before death. The earliest beetles will emerge from the ground in late spring; they will usually die around mid-September to early October. Their preferred foods are tree saps, fruits and anything sugary.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Male beetles normally die in the fall after mating many times, while female beetles normally die shortly after laying eggs as reproduction shortens their lifespan. Fighting occurs among males competing for mates and territory. The eggs are laid directly in the ground, which will hatch into larvae that usually mature in a year.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Japanese kabuto breeders are trying to find supplements to make the Japanese rhinoceros beetle mature faster and grow to a larger size.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: In the larval stage, it can decompose recalcitrant wood material and humus efficiently through secreting various digestive enzymes comprising cellulase, glycanase, and glycosidases to degrade lignocellulose-rich plant polymers. This has been harnessed industrially to biotransform the waste substrate from mushroom production. To study this process, a 636.27 Mb/10 chromosome reference genome was produced, and transcriptome analysis carried out on larvae feeding on sawdust or mushroom residue. Revealing that the expression of digestive enzyme genes was significantly higher in the midgut.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Japanese rhinoceros beetles are very popular in anime, tokusatsu, advertisements, televisions, and films in Japan. Characters based on "Kabutomushi" include the title characters from "Kamen Rider Stronger" and "Kamen Rider Kabuto", kaiju Megalon from the "Godzilla" franchise, and Heracross from the "Pokémon" series of video games.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Many children in Japan buy or catch these beetles and breed them. Male and female insects will cost about 500 to 1000 yen (approximately five to ten US dollars). This beetle is sold as a pet in department stores in many countries of Asia where it is also frequently depicted in popular media as a common cartoon character for various uses; for example, gorillas, lions, and "T. rex" are seen in advertisements and product labels in the United States.


title: Japanese rhinoceros beetle

text: Japanese rhinoceros beetles are popular in gambling, especially in the Ryukyu Islands, similar to Siamese fighting fish and cricket fights. In the most popular game, two different male beetles are placed on a log to battle each other, trying to push each other off the log, with the one to stay on the log deemed the winner.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: Willie Eldon O'Ree (born October 15, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, best known for being the first Black player in the National Hockey League (NHL). O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. O'Ree is referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of ice hockey" for breaking the black colour barrier in the National Hockey League, and has stated publicly that he had met Jackie Robinson when he was younger. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2018.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: Also in 2018, the NHL instituted the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in his honour, to "recognise the individual who has worked to make a positive impact on his community, culture or society to make people better through hockey."


title: Willie O'Ree

text: Midway through his second minor-league season with the Quebec Aces, O'Ree was called up to the Boston Bruins of the NHL to replace Leo Labine, who was unable to play due to an illness. Two years earlier, O'Ree had been blinded when he was hit in his right eye by an errant puck; which would have precluded him from playing in the NHL if the Bruins had known. However, O'Ree managed to keep it secret, and made his NHL debut with the Bruins on January 18, 1958, against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first black player in league history. He played two games that year, with centre man Don McKenney and right wing Jerry Toppazzini as his line mates. O'Ree played 43 games for the Bruins during the 1960-61 NHL season. An incident occurred during a game from that season against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago Stadium. O'Ree claims he was called racist names by several of the Blackhawks players. During the game, Eric Nesterenko butt-ended O'Ree, knocking out his two front teeth and breaking his nose. O'Ree responded by hitting Nesterenko over the head with his stick, which O'Ree claims "almost created a riot". O'Ree claims the fans called him racist names and that the Blackhawks players were threatening to kill him, and that he was "lucky to get out of the arena alive". After playing the 43 games for the Bruins during that season, O'Ree was then traded to the Montreal Canadiens. O'Ree claims that the Canadiens were run by racists and that he wasn't invited to try out for the team. O'Ree scored 4 goals and 10 assists in his NHL career, all in 1961.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: O'Ree noted that racist remarks were much worse in the U.S. cities than in Toronto and Montreal, the two Canadian cities hosting NHL teams at the time, and that "Fans would yell, 'Go back to the South' and 'How come you're not picking cotton?' Things like that. It didn't bother me. I just wanted to be a hockey player, and if they couldn't accept that fact, that was their problem, not mine."


title: Willie O'Ree

text: In the minor leagues, O'Ree won two scoring titles in the Western Hockey League (WHL) between 1961 and 1974, scoring 30 or more goals 4 times, with a high of 38 in 1964–65 and 1968–69. O'Ree played 50 games for the American Hockey League's New Haven Nighthawks in 1972–73. Most of O'Ree's playing time was with the WHL's Los Angeles Blades and San Diego Gulls. The latter team retired his number, which now hangs from the rafters at Pechanga Arena, formerly known as the San Diego Sports Arena. O'Ree continued to play in the minors until the age of 43.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: After O'Ree's stint in the NHL, there were no other black players in the NHL until another Canadian player, Mike Marson, was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1974. There were 23 black players in the NHL as of the mid-2010s. Art Dorrington was the first black player to sign an NHL contract, in 1950 with the New York Rangers organisation, but never played beyond the minor league level. NHL players are now required to enroll in a preseason diversity training seminar, and racially based verbal abuse is punished through suspensions and fines.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: Since 1998, O’Ree has been the NHL's Diversity Ambassador, travelling across North America to schools and hockey programs to promote messages of inclusion, dedication, and confidence.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: O'Ree was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1998, O'Ree was working at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California when the National Hockey League approached him to be the director of youth development for its diversity task force. The NHL/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force is a non-profit program for minority youth that encourages them to learn and play hockey. As of the mid-2000s, O'Ree lives in Berkeley, California. O'Ree and Kevin Weekes appeared in the "Everybody Hates Chris" episode "Everybody Hates Gretzky" in 2008. In 2008 he was in the nfl halftime show as a pangin.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: On the afternoon of January 19, 2008, the Bruins and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly honoured O'Ree at TD Garden in Boston to mark the 50th anniversary of his NHL debut. In addition, The Sports Museum of New England located in the TD Garden, established a special exhibit on O'Ree's career, comprising many items on loan from his personal collection. Those in attendance included a busload of friends from O'Ree's hometown of Fredericton. Two days earlier, the City of Fredericton honoured him by naming a new sports complex on the North side after him. Around the time of the 60th anniversary of O'Ree's contribution to ice hockey in early 2008, he was once again honoured by the Bruins and the NHL, with a new street hockey rink in Boston named in his honour, one of many accolades with which the Bruins and NHL legend are involved. On January 27, 2008, the NHL also honoured O'Ree during the 56th National Hockey League All-Star Game in Atlanta, Georgia. On February 5, 2008, ESPN did a special on him in honour of Black History Month. On October 29, 2008, San Diego State University presented O'Ree with an Award for Outstanding Commitment to Diversity and Cross Cultural Understanding. In 2008, O'Ree was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honouring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: The same year, O'Ree received the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award for a Canadian citizen. He was honoured as a pioneer of hockey and dedicated youth mentor in Canada along with the U.S. On June 28, 2011, The Sports Museum at TD Garden in Boston honoured O'Ree with the Hockey Legacy Award at the 10th Annual "The Tradition." Other honourees that evening included Larry Bird, Mike Lowell, and Ty Law. The Buffalo Sabres hosted a Willie O'Ree skills weekend in March 2012. His jersey was retired by the San Diego Gulls on October 16, 2015.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: As the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals were about to start, the San Jose Sharks' Barbadian Canadian star right winger Joel Ward was preparing to play against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and told ESPN that O'Ree was one of his inspirations to play pro hockey, and should have his player number 22 retired by the NHL league-wide, just as Jackie Robinson, the first player of color in Major League Baseball has been honoured. Ward himself honoured Robinson's legacy through his last season in NHL play by wearing jersey number 42 in NHL play; Robinson's own player number 42 has been retired league-wide in pro baseball.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: On November 3, 2017, O'Ree was honoured with a banner by the Springfield Thunderbirds during a pregame ceremony to commemorate his time with the Springfield Indians.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: A more personal honour for O'Ree was arranged by John Grzelcyk, father of current Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. A long-time member of the Boston Garden and TD Garden "bull-gang" team of arena personnel that assists with "changeovers" for different events at each facility, the senior Grzelcyk had saved an original number 22 Bruins uniform jersey worn by O'Ree from the 1960–61 Boston Bruins season, when O'Ree last played in the NHL as a Bruin. Both Grzelcyks personally presented the jersey to O'Ree, to honour him for his time with the Bruins and the NHL. At about the same time as O'Ree received his vintage Bruins game-sweater, it became known that Madison Bowey, a then-Washington Capitals rookie of bi-racial ethnicity, had been taught by his Black Canadian father about O'Ree's importance in NHL history, and selected 22 as his number with the Capitals to honour O'Ree's achievement.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: On June 26, 2018, it was announced that O'Ree would be inducted as a builder into the Hockey Hall of Fame later that year.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: Almost ten months after receiving his original Bruins sweater from the Grzelcyks, on November 1, 2018, O'Ree attended the ceremonial dedication of a street hockey rink named in his honour in the Boston neighbourhood of Allston, as part of the continuing legacy of O'Ree's time with the Bruins.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: By early May 2019, following O'Ree's builder honour with the Hockey Hall of Fame the previous year, a bill in the 116th U.S. Congress is authorising the award of the United States Congressional Gold Medal for O'Ree's achievements "in recognition of his contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, and recreational opportunity."


title: Willie O'Ree

text: O'Ree was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on May 27, 2020, in the Builder category. The formal induction ceremony was postponed to October 3, 2021, due to concerns over COVID-19.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: On January 12, 2021, the Boston Bruins announced that they would retire O'Ree's number 22 on February 18. However, the jersey retirement ceremony was moved to January 18, 2022, by the NHL.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: In 2021, as a celebration of Black History Month, all NHL players wore a commemorative helmet decal honouring O'Ree from January 16 to February 28.


title: Willie O'Ree

text: In 2022, US President Joe Biden signed the Willie O'Ree Congressional Gold Medal act. The bill awarded O'Ree a Congressional Gold Medal, the U.S. Congress' highest honour, for his contributions to "hockey, inclusion and recreational opportunity." O'Ree is the first player in NHL history to receive the honour.


title: Speed skating

text: Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".


title: Speed skating

text: An international federation was founded in 1892, the first for any winter sport. The sport enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands, Norway and South Korea. There are top international rinks in a number of other countries, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Belarus and Poland. A World Cup circuit is held with events in those countries plus two events in the Thialf ice hall in Heerenveen, Netherlands.


title: Speed skating

text: The standard rink for long track is 400 meters long, but tracks of 200, 250 and 333 meters are used occasionally. It is one of two Olympic forms of the sport and the one with the longer history.


title: Speed skating

text: Short track speed skating takes place on a smaller rink, normally the size of an ice hockey rink, on a 111.12 m oval track. Distances are shorter than in long-track racing, with the longest Olympic individual race being 1500 meters (the women's relay is 3000 meters and the men's relay 5000 meters). Event are usually held with a knockout format, with the best two in heats of four or five qualifying for the final race, where medals are awarded. Disqualifications and falls are not uncommon.


title: Speed skating

text: There are variations on the mass-start races. In the regulations of roller sports, eight different types of mass starts are described. Among them are elimination races, where one or more competitors are eliminated at fixed points during the course; simple distance races, which may include preliminary races; endurance races with time limits instead of a fixed distance; points races; and individual pursuits.


title: Speed skating

text: Races usually have some rules about disqualification if an opponent is unfairly hindered; these rules vary between the disciplines. In long track speed skating, almost any infringement on the pairmate is punished, though skaters are permitted to change from the inner to the outer lane out of the final curve if they are not able to hold the inner curve, as long as they are not interfering with the other skater. In mass-start races, skaters will usually be allowed some physical contact.


title: Speed skating

text: Team races are also held; in long track speed skating, the only team race at the highest level of competition is the team pursuit, though athletics-style relay races are held at children's competitions. Relay races are also held in short track and inline competitions, but here, exchanges may take place at any time during the race, though exchanges may be banned during the last couple of laps.


title: Speed skating

text: Most speed skating races are held on an oval course, but there are exceptions. Oval sizes vary; in short track speed skating, the rink must be an oval of 111.12 metres, while long track speed skating uses a similarly standardized 400 m rink. Inline skating rinks are between 125 and 400 metres, though banked tracks can only be 250 metres long. Inline skating can also be held on closed road courses between 400 and 1,000 metres, as well as open-road competitions where starting and finishing lines do not coincide. This is also a feature of outdoor marathons.


title: Speed skating

text: In the Netherlands, marathon competitions may be held on natural ice on canals, and bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, but may also be held on artificially frozen 400 m tracks, with skaters circling the track 100 times, for example.


title: Speed skating

text: The origins of speed skating date back over a millennium in the North of Europe, especially Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where the natives added bones to their shoes and used them to travel on frozen rivers, canals and lakes. In contrast to what people think, ice skating has always been an activity of joy and sports and not a matter of transport and travel. For example, winters in the Netherlands have never been stable and cold enough to make ice skating a regular way of travelling or a mode of transport.


title: Speed skating

text: Later, in Norway, King Eystein Magnusson, later King Eystein I of Norway, boasts of his skills racing on ice legs.


title: Speed skating

text: However, skating and speed skating was not limited to the Netherlands and Scandinavia; in 1592, a Scotsman designed a skate with an iron blade. It was iron-bladed skates that led to the spread of skating and, in particular, speed skating.


title: Speed skating

text: By 1642, the first official skating club, The Skating Club Of Edinburgh, was born, and, in 1763, the world saw its first official speed skating race, at Wisbech on the Fens in England for a prize sum of 70 guineas.


title: Speed skating

text: While in the Netherlands, people began touring the waterways connecting the 11 cities of Friesland, a challenge which eventually led to the Elfstedentocht.


title: Speed skating

text: The first known official speed skating competition for women was in Heerenveen, the Netherlands from 1 to 2 February 1805. The competition was won by Trijntje Pieters Westra.


title: Speed skating

text: By 1851, North Americans had discovered a love of the sport, and the all-steel blade was later developed there. In Norway speed skating also became popular, as there was a huge interest in the 1885 speed skating race at Frognerkilen between Axel Paulsen and Renke van der Zee.


title: Speed skating

text: The Netherlands came back to the fore in 1889 with the organization of the first world championships. The ISU (International Skating Union) was also born in the Netherlands in 1892.


title: Speed skating

text: By the start of the 20th century, skating and speed skating had come into its own as a major popular sporting activity.


title: Speed skating

text: Organized races on ice skates developed in the 19th century. Norwegian clubs hosted competitions from 1863, with races in Christiania drawing five-digit crowds. In 1884, the Norwegian Axel Paulsen was named Amateur Champion Skater of the World after winning competitions in the United States. Five years later, a sports club in Amsterdam held an ice-skating event they called a world championship, with participants from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the host country. The "Internationale Eislauf Vereinigung", now known as the International Skating Union, was founded at a meeting of 15 national representatives in Scheveningen in 1892, the first international winter sports federation. The Nederlandse Schaatsrijderbond was founded in 1882 and organised the world championships of 1890 and 1891. Competitions were held around tracks of varying lengths—the 1885 match between Axel Paulsen and Remke van der Zee was skated on a track of 6/7 mile (1400 metres)—but the 400 metre track was standardised by the ISU in 1892, along with the standard distances for world championships, 500 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m. Skaters started in pairs, each to their own lane, and changed lanes for every lap to ensure that each skater completed the same distance. This is what is now known as long track speed skating. Competitions were exclusively for amateur skaters, which was enforced. Peter Sinnerud was disqualified for professionalism in 1904 and lost his world title.


title: Speed skating

text: Long track world records were first registered in 1891 and improved rapidly, Jaap Eden lowering the world 5000-metre record by half a minute during the Hamar European Championships in 1894. The record stood for 17 years, and it took 50 years to lower it by further half a minute.


title: Speed skating

text: The Elfstedentocht was organized as a competition in 1909 and has been held at irregular intervals, whenever the ice on the course is deemed good enough. Other outdoor races developed later, with Friesland in the northern Netherlands hosting a race in 1917, but the Dutch natural ice conditions have rarely been conducive to skating. The Elfstedentocht has been held 15 times in the nearly 100 years since 1909, and, before artificial ice was available in 1962, national championships had been held in 25 of the years between 1887, when the first championship was held in Slikkerveer, and 1961. Since artificial ice became common in the Netherlands, Dutch speed skaters have been among the world top in long track ice skating and marathon skating. Another solution to still be able to skate marathons on natural ice became the Alternative Elfstedentocht. The Alternative Elfstedentocht races take part in other countries, such as Austria, Finland or Canada, and all top marathon skaters, as well as thousands of recreative skaters, travel from the Netherlands to the location where the race is held. According to the NRC Handelsblad journalist Jaap Bloembergen, the country "takes a carnival look" during international skating championships.


title: Speed skating

text: At the 1914 Olympic Congress, the delegates agreed to include ice speed skating in the 1916 Olympics, after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics. However, World War I put an end to the plans of Olympic competition, and it was not until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924—retroactively awarded Olympic status—that ice speed skating reached the Olympic programme. Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid, New York, won the first Olympic gold medal, though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time. Timing issues on the 500 were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s; during the 1936 Olympic 500–metre race, it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud's 500-metre time was almost a second too good. Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games, with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres, and allround. It was the first and only time an allround Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating. Speed Skating is also a sport in today's Olympics.


title: Speed skating

text: Norwegian and Finnish skaters won all the gold medals in world championships between the world wars, with Latvians and Austrians visiting the podium in the European Championships. However, North American races were usually conducted pack-style, similar to the marathon races in the Netherlands, but the Olympic races were to be held over the four ISU-approved distances. The ISU approved the suggestion that the speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics should be held as pack-style races, and Americans won all four gold medals. Canada won five medals, all silver and bronze, while defending World Champion Clas Thunberg stayed at home, protesting against this form of racing. At the World Championships held immediately after the games, without the American champions, Norwegian racers won all four distances and occupied the three top spots in the allround standings.


title: Speed skating

text: Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, and Japanese skating leaders protested to the USOC, condemning the manner of competition and expressing the wish that mass-start races were never to be held again at the Olympics. However, the ISU adopted the short track speed skating branch, with mass-start races on shorter tracks, in 1967, arranged international competitions from 1976, and brought them back to the Olympics in 1992.


title: Speed skating

text: Artificial ices entered the long track competitions with the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the competitions in 1956 on Lake Misurina were the last Olympic competitions on natural ice. 1960 also saw the first Winter Olympic competitions for women. Lidia Skoblikova won two gold medals in 1960 and four in 1964.


title: Speed skating

text: More aerodynamic skating suits were also developed, with Swiss skater Franz Krienbühl (who finished 8th on the Olympic 10,000 m at the age of 46) at the front of development. After a while, national teams took over development of body suits, which are also used in short track skating, though without headcover attached to the suit—short trackers wear helmets instead, as falls are more common in mass-start races. Suits and indoor skating, as well as the clap skate, has helped to lower long track world records considerably; from 1971 to 2009, the average speed on the men's 1500 metres has been raised from 45 to 52 km/h. Similar speed increases are shown in the other distances.


title: Speed skating

text: After the 1972 season, European long track skaters founded a professional league, International Speedskating League, which included Ard Schenk, three-time Olympic gold medallist in 1972, as well as five Norwegians, four other Dutchmen, three Swedes, and a few other skaters. Jonny Nilsson, 1963 world champion and Olympic gold medallist, was the driving force behind the league, which folded in 1974 for economic reasons, and the ISU also excluded tracks hosting professional races from future international championships. The ISU later organised its own World Cup circuit with monetary prizes, and full-time professional teams developed in the Netherlands during the 1990s, which led them to a dominance on the men's side only challenged by Japanese 500 m racers and American inline skaters who changed to long tracks to win Olympic gold.


title: Speed skating

text: During the 20th century, roller skating also developed as a competitive sport. Roller-skating races were professional from an early stage. Professional World Championships were arranged in North America between the competitors on that circuit. Later, roller derby leagues appeared, a professional contact sport that originally was a form of racing. FIRS World Championships of inline speed skating go back to the 1980s, but many world champions, such as Derek Parra and Chad Hedrick, have switched to ice in order to win Olympic medals.


title: Speed skating

text: Like roller skating, ice speed skating was also professional in North America. Oscar Mathisen, five-time ISU world champion and three-time European champion, renounced his amateur status in 1916 and travelled to America, where he won many races but was beaten by Bobby McLean of Chicago, four-time American champion, in one of the races. Chicago was a centre of ice speed skating in America; the "Chicago Tribune" sponsored a competition called the Silver Skates from 1912 to 2014.


title: Speed skating

text: In 1992, short track speed skating was accepted as an Olympic sport. Short track speed skating had little following in the long track speed skating countries of Europe, such as Norway, the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union, with none of these nations having won official medals (though the Netherlands won two gold medals when the sport was a demonstration event in 1988). The Norwegian publication "Sportsboken" spent ten pages detailing the long track speed skating events at the Albertville Games in 1993, but short track was not mentioned by word, though the results pages appeared in that section.


title: Speed skating

text: Although this form of speed skating is newer, it is growing faster than long-track speed skating, largely because short track can be done on an ice hockey rink rather than a long-track oval.


title: Speed skating

text: Races are run counter-clockwise on a 111-meter track. Short track races are almost always run in a mass start format in which two to six skaters may race at once. Skaters may be disqualified for false starts, impeding, and cutting inside the track. False starts occur when a skater moves before the gun goes off at the start of a race. Skaters are disqualified for impeding when one skater cuts in front of another skater and causes the first skater to stand up to avoid collision or fall. Cutting inside the track occurs when a skater's skates goes inside the blocks which mark the track on the ice. If disqualified the skater will be given last place in their heat or final.


title: Speed skating

text: Races are run counter-clockwise on a 400-meter oval. In all individual competition forms, only two skaters are allowed to race at once. Skaters must change lanes every lap. The skater changing from the outside lane to the inside has right-of-way. Skaters may be disqualified for false starts, impeding, and cutting inside the track. If a skater misses their race or falls they have the option to race their distance again. There are no heats or finals in long track, all rankings are by time.


title: Speed skating

text: The starting procedure in long-track speed skating consists of three parts. First, the referee tells the athletes to ""Go to the start"". Second, the referee cues the athletes to get "Ready", and waits until the skaters have stopped moving. Finally, the referee waits for a random duration between 1 and 1.5 seconds, and then fires the starting shot. Some argue that this inherent timing variability could disadvantage athletes that start after longer pauses, due to the alerting effect.


title: Speed skating

text: In the only non-individual competition form, the team pursuit, two teams of each three to four skaters are allowed to race at once. Both teams remain in the inner lane for the duration of the race; they start on opposite sides of the rink. If four skaters are racing one skater is allowed to drop off and stop racing. The clock stops when the third skater crosses the finish line.


title: Speed skating

text: The team pursuit is a team event in speed skating and is skated by teams of three skaters. Races resemble the team pursuit event in track cycling. Two teams race at a time, starting at a line in the middle of the straightaway. One team starts on each side of the track. Only the inner lane is used. The distance is eight laps for men and six for women. The team's time is the third skater to cross the finish line.


title: Speed skating

text: There are several formats for the team pursuit. The Olympic format is unusual in that it is a cup format, with several rounds of exclusion between two teams. In the World Cup and World Championships, one race is skated and the teams are ranked by their finishing time. In the Olympic format, a team that overtakes the other has automatically won the race and the remaining distance is not skated. In practice, the distance is so short that this rarely happens unless one team has a fall.


title: Speed skating

text: The team pursuit is a new event in major international competitions. The event was introduced at international level at the world junior championships around the turn of the millennium, and to the World Cup in 2003, but it was not considered an official ISU event until around 2004, and eventually introduced at the Olympics in 2006.


title: Speed skating

text: Speed skates Speed skates differ greatly from hockey skates and figure skates. Unlike hockey skates and figure skates, speed skates cut off at the ankle and are built more like a shoe than a boot to allow for more ankle compression. The blades range in length from 30 to 45 cm depending on the age and height of the skater. Short track blades are fixed to the boot in at the heel and immediately behind the ball of the foot. Long track skates, also called clap skates, attach to a hinge at the front of the boot. The heel of the boot detaches from the blade on every stroke, through a spring mechanism located at the front connector. This extends the skater's stroke by keeping the blade on the ice longer. Speed skates are manually sharpened using a jig to hold them in place.


title: Speed skating

text: All short track skaters must have speed skates, a spandex skin suit, protective helmet, specific cut proof skating gloves, knee pads and shin pads (in suit), neck guard (bib style) and ankle protection. Protective eyewear is mandatory. Many skaters wear smooth ceramic or carbon fiber tips on the left hand glove to reduce friction when their hand is on the ice at corners. All skaters who race at a national level must wear a cutproof kevlar suit to protect against being cut from another skater's blade.


title: Speed skating

text: For long track skaters the same equipment should be worn as short track racers but with the exception of a helmet, shin pads, knee pads, and neck guard which are not required; along with their blades. Long track skaters skate on what are called "clap blades". These blades have hinges under the boot towards the back. It is described in more detail above. Protective eyewear is not mandatory. The suit also does not need to be kevlar. Long track skaters wear a hood that is built into the suit.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: Crash is a novel by English author J. G. Ballard, first published in 1973 with cover designed by Bill Botten. It is a story about car-crash sexual fetishism: its protagonists become sexually aroused by staging and participating in real car crashes, inspired by the famous crashes of celebrities.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: The story is told through the eyes of narrator James Ballard, named after the author himself, but it centers on the sinister figure of Dr. Robert Vaughan, a "former TV-scientist, turned nightmare angel of the expressways". James meets Vaughan after being injured in a car crash near London Airport. Gathering around Vaughan is a group of alienated people, all of them former crash victims, who follow him in his pursuit to re-enact the crashes of Hollywood celebrities such as Jayne Mansfield and James Dean, in order to experience what the narrator calls "a new sexuality, born from a perverse technology". Vaughan's ultimate fantasy is to die in a head-on collision with movie star Elizabeth Taylor.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: The novel received divided reviews when originally published. One publisher's reader returned the verdict "This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do Not Publish!" A 1973 review in "The New York Times" was equally horrified: ""Crash" is, hands-down, the most repulsive book I've yet to come across."


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: However, retrospective opinion now considers "Crash" to be one of Ballard's best and most challenging works. Reassessing "Crash" in "The Guardian", Zadie Smith wrote, "C"rash" is an existential book about how "everybody uses everything". How everything uses everybody. And yet it is not a hopeless vision." On Ballard's legacy, she writes: "In Ballard's work there is always this mix of futuristic dread and excitement, a sweet spot where dystopia and utopia converge. For we cannot say we haven't got precisely what we dreamed of, what we always wanted, so badly."


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: The Papers of J.G. Ballard at the British Library include two revised drafts of "Crash" (Add MS 88938/3/8). Scanned extracts from Ballard's drafts are included in "Crash: The Collector's Edition," ed. Chris Beckett.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: "Crash" has been difficult to characterize as a novel. At some points in his career, Ballard claimed that "Crash" was a "cautionary tale", a view that he would later regret, asserting that it is in fact "a psychopathic hymn. But it is a psychopathic hymn which has a point”. Likewise, Ballard previously characterized it a science fiction novel, a position he would later take back.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: Jean Baudrillard wrote an analysis of "Crash" in "Simulacra and Simulation" in which he declared it "the first great novel of the universe of simulation". He made note of how the fetish in the story conflates the functionality of the automobiles with that of the human body and how the characters' injuries and the damage to the vehicles are used as equivalent signs. To him, the hyperfunctionality leads to the dysfunction in the story. Quotes were used extensively to illustrate that the language of the novel employs plain, mechanical terms for the parts of the automobile and proper, medical language for human sex organs and acts. The story is interpreted as showing a merger between technology, sexuality, and death, and he further argued that by pointing out Vaughan's character takes and keeps photos of the car crashes and the mutilated bodies involved. Baudrillard stated that there is no moral judgment about the events within the novel but that Ballard himself intended it as a warning against a cultural trend.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: The Normal's 1978 song "Warm Leatherette" was inspired by the novel as was "Miss the Girl," a 1983 single by The Creatures.


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: The Manic Street Preachers' song "Mausoleum" from 1994's "The Holy Bible" contains the famous Ballard quote about his reasons for writing the book, "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit. I wanted to force it to look in the mirror."


title: Crash (Ballard novel)

text: An apparently unauthorized adaptation of Crash called "Nightmare Angel" was filmed in 1986 by Susan Emerling and Zoe Beloff. This short film bears the credit "Inspired by J.G. Ballard".


Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), often referred to as just Arthur, is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; the television programme was never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray and guitarist Dave Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning.


title: Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

text: A stereo version was released internationally. A mono version was released in the UK, but not in the US.


text: The album was met with poor sales but nearly unanimous acclaim, especially among the American music press. Although "Arthur" and its first two singles, "Drivin’" and "Shangri-La", failed to chart in the UK, the Kinks returned to the "Billboard" charts after a two-year absence with "Victoria", the lead single in the US, peaking at number 62. The album itself reached number 105 on the "Billboard" album chart, their highest position since 1965.


text: "Arthur" paved the way for the further success of the Kinks’ 1970 comeback album "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One".


text: British production company Granada TV approached Ray Davies in early January 1969, expressing interest in developing a film or play for television. Davies was to collaborate with writer Julian Mitchell on the "experimental" programme, with a soundtrack by the Kinks to be released on an accompanying LP. Agreements were finalised on 8 January, and the project was revealed at a press release on 10 March. Separately, the Kinks began work on the programme's companion record, entitled "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)".


text: Development of "Arthur" occurred during a rough period for the band, due to the commercial failure of their previous album "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" and the subsequent single, "Plastic Man", as well as the departure of founding member and bassist Pete Quaife. In early 1969, Quaife had told the band he was leaving, though the other members did not take the remark seriously because Quaife had previously left the band in 1966, only to have a change of heart and rejoin shortly afterwards. When an article in the "New Musical Express" mentioned Maple Oak, the band he had formed without the rest of the Kinks' knowledge, Davies unsuccessfully asked Quaife to return for the upcoming sessions of "Arthur". Bassist John Dalton, who had briefly replaced Quaife when the latter had quit three years prior, was asked by drummer Mick Avory to rejoin the band.


text: Ray Davies travelled to United Recording Studios in Los Angeles on 11 April 1969, to produce American band the Turtles’ LP "Turtle Soup" with engineer Chuck Britz. While in Los Angeles, Davies helped negotiate an end to the concert ban placed on the Kinks by the American Federation of Musicians in 1965. Although neither the Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour. After negotiations with Davies, the Federation allowed the group to return to touring in America. Once the main sessions for the Turtles LP were completed, Davies returned to England.


text: While Davies was abroad, the other members of the band had been rehearsing and practising for the upcoming album, as well as lead guitarist Dave Davies' solo album, nicknamed "A Hole in the Sock of". When Ray returned, the Kinks regrouped at his house in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, to rehearse "Arthur".


text: The group turned to the recording proper on 1 May 1969. The first tracks worked on were "Drivin’", intended as their next single release, and "Mindless Child of Motherhood", written by Dave Davies (the latter would eventually be used as the B-side to "Drivin'", and was not included on the LP). The Kinks began a two-week series of focused sessions on 5 May, laying down an early version of the entire "Arthur" album. Recording was interrupted when the Kinks travelled to Beirut, Lebanon on 17 May to play three dates at the Melkart Hotel; sessions for "Arthur" resumed the day after their return, and most of the recording for the album was finished by the end of the month. Mixing and dubbing began in early June, with arranger Lew Warburton handling string overdubs. The Kinks played a few small gigs in England throughout the remainder of the month, but devoted most of their time to finishing Dave Davies' solo album.


text: Writing for the TV play progressed through May and June, and on 15 June mixing for Dave Davies’ solo LP was completed (tapes for this record were eventually delivered to Pye and Reprise Records, although it never saw official release). A press release announced that the "Arthur" LP was scheduled for a late July release. As Davies and Mitchell completed their script, the "Arthur" TV play began to crystallise, and British filmmaker Leslie Woodhead was assigned the role of director. By early September production was scheduled to begin, with a planned broadcast of late September, but these plans were continually delayed. As problems with the TV play got progressively worse—and, consequently, distracted the Kinks from completing the post-production of the album—the release dates for both projects were pushed further and further back. In early October Ray Davies moved from Borehamwood back to his old family home on Fortis Green, in Muswell Hill, and travelled to Los Angeles, where he delivered the tapes to Reprise for "Arthur"’s American release. The album’s release date was set for 10 October, and the Kinks began gearing up for an upcoming US tour to support the album, for which they would depart on 17 October. Shooting for the TV play was set for 1 December. Roy Stonehouse was hired as a designer, and the casting was completed, but the show was cancelled at the last minute when the producer was unable to secure financial backing. Davies and Mitchell were frustrated at an entire year’s work wasted: Doug Hinman said Davies witnessed "his grand artistic visions once again dashed by bureaucracy and internal politics".


text: The story is partially inspired by the Davies brothers’ older sister Rose, who emigrated to Australia in 1964 with her husband Arthur Anning. Her departure devastated Ray Davies, and it inspired him to write the song "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home", included on the 1966 album "Face to Face". The lead character in the album, the fictional Arthur Morgan—modelled after Anning—is a carpet layer whose family's plight in the opportunity-poor setting of post-war England is depicted. Writer Julian Mitchell detailed the story line and characters in depth, explaining in the liner notes for the album's LP release:


text: Davies later commented in his autobiography, "X-Ray", that Anning later "told me that he... knew it ["Arthur"] had been partly inspired by him... [it] reminded him of home... I told Arthur that I felt guilty for using him as a subject for a song, but he shrugged off my apology, saying that he was flattered." With an underlying theme of nostalgia, the songs describe the England Arthur once knew ("Victoria", "Young and Innocent Days"), the promise of life in Australia for one of his sons ("Australia"), the emptiness of his superficially comfortable life in his home ("Shangri-La"), the resolve of the British people during the Second World War ("Mr. Churchill Says"), the privations that marked the austerity period after the war ("She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina"), and the death of his brother in World War I ("Yes Sir, No Sir", "Some Mother's Son").


text: "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)" was released in the UK and US on 10 October 1969. It was the last Kinks album to be released in mono, and the mono edition was not released in the US. The album set the stage for the Kinks' return to touring the United States in late 1969, and paved the way for even greater commercial success with the hit song "Lola" in 1970.


text: While the sessions for "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)" were nearing completion in June 1969, the track "Drivin'" was released as a single in the UK, backed with "Mindless Child of Motherhood. For the first time since their breakthrough in 1964, a Kinks single failed to make an impression on the UK charts—Johnny Rogan notes that "This was the first of two pilot singles for... "Arthur" and its failure did not augur well". The group followed with another single in September, "Shangri-La", which again failed to chart in the UK. As with "Village Green", the album itself failed to chart when released in October.


text: In the US, "Victoria" was the lead single, backed with the album track "Brainwashed", and was released the same week as the LP. The single reached number 62 on the "Billboard" Hot 100—their highest position since their Top 20 hit "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. The success of the single led to its release in the UK; backed with "Mr. Churchill Says", it reached a peak of number 30. "Arthur" itself was a moderate commercial success in the US, where it peaked at number 105 (the highest for a Kinks album since 1965) and remained on the charts for 20 weeks.


text: Reprise Records, the Kinks' US label, devised an elaborate, multi-levelled promotional campaign for "Arthur" in early 1969. The most famous branch of the programme involved a promo package entitled "God Save the Kinks". The set featured various items, including a consumer's guide to the band's albums, a bag of "grass" from the "Daviesland village green", and an LP entitled "Then, Now and Inbetween". The set was accompanied by a positive letter from Hal Halverstadt of creative services at Warner/Reprise, part of which read, "...[We are led] to believe that the Kinks may not have had it at all... The Kinks are to be supported, encouraged, cheered. And saved." The campaign was officially launched on 3 July, at a meeting between Ray Davies and Reprise executives in Burbank, California. Reprise considered seeding false stories in the press to create an "outlaw" image for the group as part of the campaign, including pieces about marijuana possession and income tax evasion. Ray called the idea "mad", and the programme was dropped. Several pieces were used in the press kit for "Arthur"s release, with titles including "English Pop Group Arrested on Rape Rap".


text: Artwork for "Arthur" was created by Bob Lawrie. The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve, and included a shaped insert depicting Queen Victoria (holding a house containing Arthur Morgan), with lyrics on the reverse. Liner notes in the UK were written by Geoffrey Cannon and Julian Mitchell; in the US, notes by rock critic John Mendelsohn replaced Cannon's.


text: The album was critically acclaimed at the time of release, especially in the US rock press. It was favourably compared to "Tommy" by the Who, released earlier in the year. In "Rolling Stone" magazine, "Arthur" was spotlighted in its lead section, with back-to-back reviews by Mike Daly and Greil Marcus. Daly called it "an album that is a masterpiece on every level: Ray Davies' finest hour, the Kinks' supreme achievement". Rolling Stone reviewer Greil Marcus also praised the record, and said: "Less ambitious than "Tommy", and far more musical... Arthur is by all odds the best British album of 1969. It shows that Pete Townshend still has worlds to conquer and that the Beatles have a lot of catching up to do." A review by Sal Imam ran in Boston's "Fusion" magazine read that "If Tommy was the greatest rock opera, then Arthur most surely is the greatest rock musical." Writing in his "Consumer Guide" column of "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau gave the record a positive review, saying that although Ray Davies' lyrics could get "petulant and preachy at times", the album featured "excellent music and production".


text: Reception in the UK was not as warm, although reviews were still generally positive. "Disc & Music Echo" commented that ""Arthur" works as a complete score because it is basic and simple and pleasing to the ear, and powerfully conjures up pictures in the eye." "Melody Maker" seconded Mike Daly's comments in "Rolling Stone", again calling it "Ray Davies' finest hour", and adding that it was "beautifully British to the core". Doug Hinman later commented on the album's reception in Britain: "In the British music press there [was] less celebration, and coverage [was] relatively routine, though everyone saw the rock opera angle."


text: Today the album receives generally positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said "Arthur" was "one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era", and in 2003 Matt Golden of "Stylus" called it "the best rock opera ever". "Switch" magazine included "Arthur" on their "100 Best Albums of the 20th Century" in 1999, and in 2003 "Mojo" featured the album on their list of the "Top 50 Most Eccentric Albums". The album was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".


title: Pith

text: Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, which in some cases can store starch. In eudicotyledons, pith is located in the center of the stem. In monocotyledons, it extends also into flowering stems and roots. The pith is encircled by a ring of xylem; the xylem, in turn, is encircled by a ring of phloem.


title: Pith

text: While new pith growth is usually white or pale in color, as the tissue ages it commonly darkens to a deeper brown color. In trees pith is generally present in young growth, but in the trunk and older branches the pith often gets replaced – in great part – by xylem. In some plants, the pith in the middle of the stem may dry out and disintegrate, resulting in a hollow stem. A few plants, such as walnuts, have distinctive chambered pith with numerous short cavities (See image at middle right). The cells in the peripheral parts of the pith may, in some plants, develop to be different from cells in the rest of the pith. This layer of cells is then called "the perimedullary region of the pithamus". An example of this can be observed in "Hedera helix", a species of ivy.


title: Pith

text: The term pith is also used to refer to the pale, spongy inner layer of the rind, more properly called mesocarp or albedo, of citrus fruits (such as oranges) and other hesperidia. The word comes from the Old English word "piþa", meaning substance, akin to Middle Dutch "pitte" (modern Dutch "pit"), meaning the pit of a fruit.