title: Neolithic Revolution

text: Living in one spot permitted the accrual of personal possessions and an attachment to certain areas of land. From such a position, it is argued, prehistoric people were able to stockpile food to survive lean times and trade unwanted surpluses with others. Once trade and a secure food supply were established, populations could grow, and society could diversify into food producers and artisans, who could afford to develop their trade by virtue of the free time they enjoyed because of a surplus of food. The artisans, in turn, were able to develop technology such as metal weapons. Such relative complexity would have required some form of social organisation to work efficiently, so it is likely that populations that had such organisation, perhaps such as that provided by religion, were better prepared and more successful. In addition, the denser populations could form and support legions of professional soldiers. Also, during this time property ownership became increasingly important to all people. Ultimately, Childe argued that this growing social complexity, all rooted in the original decision to settle, led to a second Urban Revolution in which the first cities were built.


title: Neolithic Revolution

text: Compared to foragers, Neolithic farmers' diets were higher in carbohydrates but lower in fibre, micronutrients, and protein. This led to an increase in the frequency of carious teeth and slower growth in childhood and increased body fat, and studies have consistently found that populations around the world became shorter after the transition to agriculture. This trend may have been exacerbated by the greater seasonality of farming diets and with it the increased risk of famine due to crop failure.


title: Neolithic Revolution

text: Throughout the development of sedentary societies, disease spread more rapidly than it had during the time in which hunter-gatherer societies existed. Inadequate sanitary practices and the domestication of animals may explain the rise in deaths and sickness following the Neolithic Revolution, as diseases jumped from the animal to the human population. Some examples of infectious diseases spread from animals to humans are influenza, smallpox, and measles. Ancient microbial genomics has shown that progenitors to human-adapted strains of "Salmonella enterica" infected up to 5,500 year old agro-pastoralists throughout Western Eurasia, providing molecular evidence for the hypothesis that the Neolithization process facilitated the emergence of human-disease. In concordance with a process of natural selection, the humans who first domesticated the big mammals quickly built up immunities to the diseases as within each generation the individuals with better immunities had better chances of survival. In their approximately 10,000 years of shared proximity with animals, such as cows, Eurasians and Africans became more resistant to those diseases compared with the indigenous populations encountered outside Eurasia and Africa. For instance, the population of most Caribbean and several Pacific Islands have been completely wiped out by diseases. 90% or more of many populations of the Americas were wiped out by European and African diseases before recorded contact with European explorers or colonists. Some cultures like the Inca Empire did have a large domestic mammal, the llama, but llama milk was not drunk, nor did llamas live in a closed space with humans, so the risk of contagion was limited. According to bioarchaeological research, the effects of agriculture on dental health in Southeast Asian rice farming societies from 4000 to 1500 BP was not detrimental to the same extent as in other world regions.


title: Neolithic Revolution

text: Jonathan C. K. Wells and Jay T. Stock have argued that the dietary changes and increased pathogen exposure associated with agriculture profoundly altered human biology and life history, creating conditions where natural selection favoured the allocation of resources towards reproduction over somatic effort.


title: Neolithic Revolution

text: In his book "Guns, Germs, and Steel", Jared Diamond argues that Europeans and East Asians benefited from an advantageous geographical location that afforded them a head start in the Neolithic Revolution. Both shared the temperate climate ideal for the first agricultural settings, both were near a number of easily domesticable plant and animal species, and both were safer from attacks of other people than civilizations in the middle part of the Eurasian continent. Being among the first to adopt agriculture and sedentary lifestyles, and neighboring other early agricultural societies with whom they could compete and trade, both Europeans and East Asians were also among the first to benefit from technologies such as firearms and steel swords.


title: Neolithic Revolution

text: The dispersal of Neolithic culture from the Middle East has recently been associated with the distribution of human genetic markers. In Europe, the spread of the Neolithic culture has been associated with distribution of the E1b1b lineages and Haplogroup J that are thought to have arrived in Europe from North Africa and the Near East respectively. DNA studies have shown that agriculture was introduced in Europe by the expansion of the early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: The Girl from Plainville is an American drama miniseries created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus. The series stars Elle Fanning, Chloë Sevigny, and Colton Ryan. It premiered on Hulu on March 29, 2022. A portion of the series showed at SXSW on March 12, 2022. The series is a dramatization of the events leading to the death of Conrad Roy and his girlfriend Michelle Carter's conviction for involuntary manslaughter. The series received mostly positive reviews, with praise going towards the performances of Fanning, Ryan and Sevigny.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: "The Girl from Plainville" explores the events leading to the death of Conrad Roy and his girlfriend Michelle Carter's conviction for involuntary manslaughter.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: On August 15, 2019, it was announced that Universal Content Productions was developing a television series inspired by the case, with documentarian Erin Lee Carr and journalist Jesse Barron serving as consulting producers. On August 7, 2020, it was reported that series was given a straight-to-series order and the series would be titled "The Girl From Plainville" which would be on Hulu. The series is created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus who are also expected to executive produce alongside Elle Fanning and Brittany Kahan Ward. Universal Content Productions, Echo Lake Entertainment, and Littleton Road Productions are the production companies involved with producing the series. On April 14, 2021, it was announced that Lisa Cholodenko is set to direct the first two episodes of the series. On September 2, 2021, it was reported that Hannah, Zetna Fuentes, and Pippa Bianco were added as directors for the limited series. The series was released on March 29, 2022.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: The series is scheduled to release on StarzPlay in UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: Filming for the series began on August 17, 2021, and concluded on December 10, 2021, in Savannah, Georgia.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: Upon the series order announcement, it was reported that Elle Fanning was cast to star. On May 6, 2021, it was announced that Colton Ryan joined that cast on a starring role. In August 2021, it was reported that Chloë Sevigny, Norbert Leo Butz, Cara Buono, and Kai Lennox were cast as series regulars. On October 1, 2021, it was announced that Peter Gerety, Michael Mosley, Ella Kennedy Davis, Pearl Amanda Dickson, Kylie Liya Page, and Jeff Wahlberg joined the cast in recurring roles.


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: "The Girl from Plainville" received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating based on 29 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Grounded by a disturbingly powerful performance by Elle Fanning, "The Girl from Plainville" dramatizes a sordid true story with tasteful restraint." On Metacritic, the limited series has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: The Girl from Plainville

text: Saloni Gajjar "The A.V. Club" gave the limited series a B- and said, "it succeeds in bringing a humane element to a puzzling crime without sensationalizing it. And for the most part, this is because of rousing performances by Fanning, Ryan, and Chloë Sevigny..."


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 epic war film depicting Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied operation in Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. Based on a non-fiction book of the same name by historian Cornelius Ryan, the film is directed by Richard Attenborough and with a screenplay by William Goldman. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Independently produced by Richard and Joseph E. Levine, it was the second film based on a book by Ryan to be adapted for the screen (after "The Longest Day") (1962). It was the second film based on the events of World War II's failed Operation Market Garden (after "Theirs Is the Glory") (1946). A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film was shot on location in the Netherlands, in many of the real locations where the historical events took place. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film ever produced.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Though it received a tepid critical response, "A Bridge Too Far" received several awards. At the 31st BAFTA Awards it won four out of eight nominated categories, including Best Supporting Actor for Edward Fox and Best Score for John Addison—who himself had served in the British XXX Corps during Market Garden. Attenborough was nominated for Best Direction, and the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Operation Market Garden envisages 35,000 men being flown from air bases in England and dropped behind enemy lines in the Netherlands. Two divisions of US paratroopers are responsible for securing the road and bridges as far as Nijmegen. A British division, under Major-General Roy Urquhart, is to land near Arnhem and hold both sides of the bridge there, backed by a brigade of Polish paratroopers under General Stanisław Sosabowski. XXX Armoured Corps are to push up the road over the bridges captured by the American paratroopers and reach Arnhem two days after the drop.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: As General Urquhart briefs his officers some of them are surprised they are going to attempt a landing so far from their objective since the distance from their landing zone to the bridge will render their portable radios useless. Although the consensus is that resistance will consist entirely of inexperienced old men and Hitler Youth, reconnaissance photos show the presence of German tanks at Arnhem. General Browning nevertheless dismisses the photos and also ignores reports from the Dutch underground, believing the operation will be successful regardless.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: The Arnhem bridge is the prime target, since it serves as the last means of escape for the German forces in the Netherlands and a direct route to Germany for the Allies. However the road to it is only a single lane linking the various key bridges and vehicles have to squeeze onto the verge to pass. The road is also elevated, causing anything moving along it to stand out.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Though the airborne drops catch the enemy by surprise and encounter little resistance, the Son bridge is demolished by the Germans just before it can be secured. Furthermore, troubles beset Urquhart's division, since many of the jeeps either do not arrive or are destroyed in an ambush, in addition to their nonfunctional radio sets.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Meanwhile, XXX Corps' progress is slowed by German resistance, the narrowness of the road and the need to construct a Bailey bridge to replace the one destroyed at Son. They are then halted at Nijmegen, where soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division perform a dangerous daylight river crossing to capture the Nijmegen bridge and XXX Corps is further delayed waiting for infantry to secure the town.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: The Germans close in on the isolated British paratroopers occupying part of Arnhem at the bridge, and although Sosabowski's troops finally arrive after being delayed in England they are ultimately too late to reinforce the British. After days of intense fighting against SS infantry and panzers the outgunned troops are eventually either captured or forced to withdraw to Oosterbeek. Urquhart receives orders to retreat, while the other Allied commanders blame the various difficulties encountered for their failure to provide the needed support.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Urquhart escapes with less than a fifth of his original 10,000 troops while those who are too badly injured to flee stay behind to cover the withdrawal. On arrival at British headquarters Urquhart confronts Browning about his personal sentiments regarding the operation and the latter contradicts his earlier optimism regarding it.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Back in Oosterbeek Kate ter Horst, whose home has been converted into a makeshift hospital by the British, abandons its ruins. Passing through the front yard, now a graveyard for fallen troops, she and her children leave with an elderly doctor, pulling a few possessions in a cart, while wounded British troops sing "Abide with Me" as they await capture.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Air filming was done in the first weeks of September 1976, culminating in a series of air drops of a total of 1,000 men. Supplies were dropped from a number of Dakota aircraft. The Dakotas were gathered by the film company Joseph E. Levine Presents Incorporated. All aircraft were required to be CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) or FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) registered and licensed to carry passengers. An original deal for the purchase of 10 fell through when two airframes were rejected as passenger configured without the necessary jump doors. Eleven Dakotas were procured. Two ex-Portuguese Air Force, 6153 and 6171 (N9984Q and N9983Q), and two from Air Djibouti, operating from Djibouti in French Somaliland, F-OCKU and F-OCKX (N9985Q and N9986Q) were purchased by Joseph E. Levine. Three Danish Air Force K-685, K-687, and K-688, and four Finnish Air Force C-47s, DO-4, DO-7, DO-10 and DO-12, were loaned for the duration of the parachute filming.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Aircraft 6171 doubled as the camera ship on most formations, with a camouflaged Piper Aztec, G-AWDI. A camera was mounted in the astrodome, one on the port upper mainplane surface, with a third camera on the outside of the forward port cabin window and a fourth under the aircraft centre section. In addition, centre escape hatches were removed to make additional camera ports available, provided that no troops were aboard during filming. A second Aztec, G-ASND, was a backup camera ship on some shots, but it was not camouflaged. An Alouette, G-BDWN, was also employed. After a mishap with G-AWDI, two locally hired Cessna 172s, PH-GVP and PH-ADF, were also used. Ten Horsa glider replicas were built, but a windstorm damaged almost all of them. Seven or eight were hastily repaired for the shoot. The replica gliders were tail-heavy and required a support post under the rear fuselage, with camera angles carefully chosen to avoid revealing this. Dakota 6153 was fitted with tow gear and Horsa replicas were towed at high speed, though none went airborne. A two-seat Blaník sailplane, provided by a member of the London Gliding Club, Dunstable, was towed aloft for the interior takeoff shots.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Four Harvards portrayed American and German fighters. Their original identities were PH-KLU, PH-BKT, B-64 and B-118, the former two aircraft loaned by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. These were flown by members of the "Gilze Rijen Aero Club", which also provided an Auster III, PH-NGK, which depicted an Auster V, RT607, in wartime camouflage. Spitfire Mk. IX, MH434, depicting a photo reconnaissance variant, coded AC-S, was lent by the Hon. Patrick Lindsay, and was flown by aerobatic champion Neil Williams.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Sufficient American tanks, jeeps, and trucks of World War II vintage were found because many of the vehicles were being discarded from European military (almost entirely reserve) units, especially from Greece and Turkey.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: The scenes set around the Arnhem bridge were shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was still available. Although a replica of the original road bridge in Arnhem existed, by the mid-1970s modern urban development surrounded it, making it impossible to use as a setting for a 1940s city. A few scenes were shot in Zutphen, where the old municipality house and the main church can be seen. Additional scenes were filmed at Twickenham Studios.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: The Motion Picture Association of America initially gave the film an R rating for its use of the F-word and depictions of war violence, but United Artists lobbied it to change it to a PG rating so that younger audiences could see the film. Cuts were also made to the film when released in the United Kingdom to avoid an AA rating from the British Board of Film Censors.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: In order to keep costs down, all the star-name actors agreed to participate on a "favoured-nation" basis (i.e. they would all receive the same weekly fee), which in this case was $250,000 per week (the 2012 equivalent of $1,008,250 or £642,000).


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Shooting of the American-led assault on the Bridge at Nijmegen was dubbed the "Million-Dollar Hour". Because of heavy traffic, the crew had permission to film on the bridge only between eight and nine o'clock on October 3, 1976. Failure to complete the scene would have necessitated rescheduling at a cost—including Redford's overtime—of at least a million dollars. For this reason, Attenborough insisted that all actors playing corpses keep their eyes closed.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: After United Artists agreed to pay $6 million for US and Canada distribution rights, the film was a box office disappointment in North America, but performed well in Europe.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Critics agreed that the film was impressively staged and historically accurate, although many found it too long and too repetitive. Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" said further, "The movie is massive, shapeless, often unexpectedly moving, confusing, sad, vivid and very, very long."


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: James Caan and Anthony Hopkins were cited by many critics for the excellence of their performances in a film with hundreds of speaking roles and cameos by many of the period's top actors.


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Officers Urquhart and Horrocks acted as military advisers to the film, adding to its historical accuracy. However, some reviewers suggested that the film contains historical inaccuracies and needs to be viewed as a 'Hollywood' interpretation of events. Robin Neillands commented, "A countless number of veterans have urged me to ignore most of the story in the film "A Bridge Too Far"".


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: John Pym of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote that "by the end of this extravagant film, we have a fair idea of the who-did-what logistics of a costly military operation. The root problem with "A Bridge Too Far", however, is that the top-heavy complement of stars never allows for any focus of attention."


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" called it "an unusually conscientious and impressive war epic" that justified its high budget


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: The film has a 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The film also has a score of 63 out of 100 on Metacritic based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: A "making-of" documentary included in a special edition DVD of "A Bridge Too Far" says that, at the time of its release, "the film was shunned by American critics and completely ignored at Oscar time for daring to expose the fatal inadequacies of the Allied campaign."


title: A Bridge Too Far (film)

text: To promote the film, scriptwriter William Goldman wrote a book titled "Story of A Bridge Too Far" as a favour to Joseph E. Levine. It was published in December 1977 and divided into three sections:


title: S. J. Suryah

text: S. Justin Selvaraj, known by his stage name S. J. Suryah is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, composer, producer & music director who has worked in the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi film industries. He sought to become an actor but started out directing, assisting Vasanth and Sabapathy.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: Surya made his directorial debut with "Vaali" in 1999 whose success catapulted him to stardom. His other notable films include "Kushi" (2000), "New" (2004), "Anbe Aaruyire" (2005) and "Isai" (2015). He made his acting debut with "New" and went on to act in films like "Kalvanin Kadhali" (2006), "Thirumagan" (2007), "Vyabari" (2007) and appeared as the antagonist in "Spyder" (2017), "Mersal" (2017) and "Maanaadu" (2021).


title: S. J. Suryah

text: After completing his schooling near his birthplace in Vasudevanallur near Sankarankovil in South Tamil Nadu, Suryah moved to Chennai to complete a Physics degree at Loyola College. Despite getting an opportunity to pursue further studies at an engineering college in Madurai, he declined the offer and stayed in Chennai, with the hope of finding a breakthrough as an actor in Tamil films. To be financially self-dependent, he began working in hotels and as a steward, before receiving an offer to apprentice under K. Bhagyaraj. He subsequently worked as an assistant director in the teams of "Aasai" (1995) under Vasanth and "Sundara Purushan" (1996) under Sabapathy, while also being seen in uncredited appearances as an actor, notably as a cock fighter in Bharathiraja's "Kizhakku Cheemayile" (1993).


title: S. J. Suryah

text: While working in the team of "Ullaasam" (1997), the film's lead actor Ajith Kumar recognised Suryah from their collaboration in "Aasai", and accepted to listen to a script narration. Ajith, impressed with the narration, subsequently helped approach S. S. Chakravarthy to produce the film and the team began work on "Vaali" (1999) in late 1997. Keerthi Reddy was announced to be the lead actress before she was replaced by Simran, while Suryah also chose to introduce Jyothika in the film. A thriller film, a reviewer from the "Deccan Herald" described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance. The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", describing Suryah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again". "The New Indian Express" mentioned the film as "outstanding" while mentioning Surya does a "good job and succeeds". The film's commercial success meant that it provided a breakthrough for both Suryah's and the lead actors' careers.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: After watching the première show of "Vaali", producer A. M. Rathnam offered Suryah an opportunity to make another film and thus "Kushi", a romantic comedy featuring Vijay and Jyothika materialised. Telling the story of a pair of egoistic lovers with a college backdrop, the film was shot in early 2000 across South India and New Zealand. The film opened to positive reviews from critics in May 2000 and also went on to achieve box office success. Rediff.com gave a positive verdict stating that the movie is a "neat family entertainer", praising the director's story-telling, while Bizhat.com also gave the movie a positive review. "The Hindu" featured the film as runner-up in their list of top Tamil films in 2000, while Jyothika went on to win the Filmfare Best Actress Award in Tamil for her performance in the film.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: The team then approached Pawan Kalyan to star in a Telugu version of the film and after a positive narration session, the actor prioritised the venture over two other films. Bhumika Chawla was added to the cast to play Jyothika's role, while a few changes were inserted to make it fit for the Telugu audiences. Pawan Kalyan had also insisted inserting few extra action sequences for the Telugu version, and despite an initial difference of opinions, Suryah eventually allowed the scenes to be filmed but refused to be at the shoot when they were shot. The film also titled as "Kushi" (2001), opened to positive reviews and went on to become the most successful Telugu film ever at release in June 2001. A film critic noted Suryah "has come up with another winner this time. There is no story in this film, but it runs with a neat screenplay", adding "he has done an extraordinary job as screenplay writer". He made a third version of the film, "Khushi" (2003) in Hindi, for producer Boney Kapoor, with Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor starring. In comparison to the other two versions, the film received negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office, with a critic writing "plenty of Suryah's scenes are also somewhat contrived, in the vein of those eighties family pot-boilers... [she] just cannot get effective emoting from his lead actors".


title: S. J. Suryah

text: Suryah began pre-production work on a third story titled "New" in early 2001, which he would also produce. Starring Ajith Kumar and Jyothika, music director Deva had composed ten songs for the film by June 2001. After Ajith Kumar had become busy with other commitments, Suryah decided to enact the lead role himself, revealing he had always wanted to be an actor. Simran signed on to play the leading female character, while Kiran and Devayani were cast in pivotal roles. A simultaneously shot Telugu version titled "Naani" featuring Mahesh Babu in the lead role, with Amisha Patel, Ramya Krishnan and Devayani in supporting roles was also made. "New" told the tale of an 8-year-old boy who is turned into a 28-year-old man by a scientist and Suryah noted that he was loosely inspired by the Hollywood film "Big" (1988). The film was shot in hundred days, with Suryah revealing he would often stop acting in between the scenes, when he knew that his performance was not up to his expectation as a director.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: "New" released in 9th JULY 2004 to mixed reviews, with a critic from The Hindu claiming that "belonging to a genre that is rare to our cinema, "New" however, gets bogged down in a mire of duets and double entenders", but hinted at potential success citing that director "seems to have hit the bull's eye." The movie subsequently went on to become a blockbuster, with music composed by A. R. Rahman being labelled as one of the film's largest selling points. "Naani" opened the following month to mixed reviews from critics, with a reviewer noting the film suffers from "a bad script and artificialness". The film's adult theme generated controversy, and post-release, women activists in the state of Tamil Nadu demanded a ban on a film after release, which they say contained obscene sex scenes. Suryah responded by claiming that the sex scenes are there because the story line requires them and described his film as "fiction laced with sex and comedy".


title: S. J. Suryah

text: In August 2005, the Madras High Court revoked the censor certificate for the film and directed the Chennai Commissioner of Police to investigate two criminal complaints registered against Suryah, ruling that the film did not provide a "clean and healthy entertainment" and that it would be failing in its duty if it did not revoke the censor certificate of the film, claiming it originally attained an "A" certificate "under questionable circumstances". Suryah was then arrested by city police for allegedly throwing a mobile phone at a woman censor board official in a fit of anger during the post-production of the film. He was later released without charge. A further case was launched in March 2006, with the Censor Board filing a complaint against Surya for using stills from scenes that were deleted from the film, with a poster which showed Suryah resting on Simran's cleavage resurfacing. He was subsequently arrested for the second time before being released.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: He announced a film titled "Isai" in 2004 shortly after the release of "New", when he revealed that A. R. Rahman would also collaborate for two further ventures titled "Anbulla Nanbane" and "Aezhumazhai vs Chitra". While "Isai" was postponed, "Anbulla Nanbane" developed under the title "Best Friend", before the title "Anbe Aaruyire" (2005) was finalised. Featuring himself in the lead role again, he signed up newcomer Meera Chopra for the film and rechristened her under the stage name Nila. He revealed that he was inspired to make the film to convey that young lovers must give each other space and wanted to showcase that attitudes towards relationships by the Indian youth was changing from the previous decade. He called the film a "sequel to "Kushi"", revealing that the film's lead actors would have similar ego clashes. Like "New", the film faced hurdles prior to release with the censor boards insisting on several cuts and Suryah's ongoing legal tussles meant the film was delayed. The film opened to mixed reviews in September 2005, with Sify.com labelling it as "adult entertainment" though added he "tries hard to bring his character Shiva to life but has to go miles as far as dialogue delivery and voice modulation goes but has improved leaps and bound on the dancing front". The film became his fourth consecutive commercial success in Tamil films, with Suryah adamant on thanking his crew for helping get through the controversies, labeling that "team effort" helped them overcome the problems.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: Suryah began pre-production work on a directorial venture, "Aezhumazhai vs Chitra", a romantic comedy starring Silambarasan and Asin, in January 2005 and the team released images taken from a promotional photo shoot. However the film, which was to be produced by S. S. Chakravarthy, eventually failed to develop and those involved moved on to different ventures. Suryah then began work on a venture titled "Puli", a police thriller which would feature Vijay in the lead role, and would have Navodaya Appachan as the producer. In late 2005, reports suggested that Asin would play the leading female role, while Suryah developed the project alongside his commitments as an actor. However, by early 2006, Vijay dropped out of the project after Suryah had refused to make alterations to the script. In January 2006, "Isai" was reported to be back under way with either S. S. Chakravarthy or Navodaya Appachan being producer and it was suggested that the film would be about a "cunning assistant music director comes to the top". Other reports had also suggested that the film told the tale of the tensions between South Indian musicians Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman. However the film failed to materialise again, and Suryah postponed production work. Following the postponement of several of his projects, Suryah revealed in April 2006 that he would direct and star in a venture titled "Pesum Deivangal" for children and family audiences, in an attempt to remove the "sleazy" image he had been associated to in films. Despite pre-production works being carried out, the film also failed to materialise.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: Following the positive reception he received on his acting with "New" and "Anbe Aaruyire", Suryah chose to take a break from directing and opted to act in films directed by other film makers. He was cast as a casanova in Tamilvannan's romantic comedy "Kalvanin Kadhali" (2006) opposite Nayantara, and the film garnered the industry's anticipation prior to release. It eventually won average reviews and performed well at the box office, with a critic noting "Suryah is improving with each film though he hams the usual way." He had two releases as an actor in 2007, with Sakthi Chidambaram's science fiction comedy "Viyabari" being the first release. Featuring in an ensemble cast, alongside Tamannaah, Namitha and Vadivelu, Suryah was cast as a businessman who creates a clone of himself to care for his family and playing both roles, Suryah's performance was described as "outrageous, over the top and loud". Similarly, critics noted he is just "a limited actor who just walks through the first half effortlessly doing what he had done in his earlier films" for his performance in "Thirumagan". The failure of both films prompted another ongoing venture titled "Pandigai" to be shelved, and Surya chose to concentrate instead on directing. He made a brief comeback as a lead actor in the psychological thriller "Newtonin Moondram Vidhi" (2009), which won good reviews but only performed averagely at the box office.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: Suryah announced he would re-begin work on his directorial venture "Puli", but would instead make it as a Telugu film and Pawan Kalyan would play the lead role. Produced by Singanamala Ramesh, he signed on A. R. Rahman to compose the film's music, while newcomer Nikeesha Patel was selected to play the lad actress. The film took close to three years to produce and was faced delays at regular intervals. The film was finally released in September 2010 and received negative reviews from critics. A reviewer from Sify.com noted "the main problem with the film is that it does not have a credible story or script", adding that Suryah "has done a haphazard work in his writing. There is absolutely no consistency in characterization". Another critic noted Suryah "fails in the screenplay department" and the film has loopholes galore, labelling it as a "disappointment".


title: S. J. Suryah

text: In between directorial commitments, he played guest roles in Shankar's "Nanban" (2012) and as a film director in the horror "" (2013). In 2011, Suryah announced that he would restart "Isai" and would compose music for the film himself after being recommended by A.R. Rahman, describing it as a "musical" which would explore the battle between a veteran and an emerging music composer. In May 2012, the film's first look posters were revealed, with Sulagna Panigrahi, an Oriya television and film actress introduced in the leading role under the new name Savithri. The film was shot for more than two years, undergoing a notable change in the film's antagonist from Prakash Raj to Sathyaraj in the midst of production. Suryah trained as a musician by taking lessons lasting up to ten hours for a six-month stretch. "Isai" finished post-production work in late 2014 and had a theatrical release in early 2015.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: In 2016, Suryah acted in the drama film, "Iraivi". His performance as an alcoholic and abusive director fetched highly positive reviews from both critics and audiences, for which he was nominated for national award. Later, Suryah signed and starred in two films, "Spyder", a bilingual and "Mersal". He played the villain in both the movies. "Spyder" received mixed response, whereas "Mersal" became a blockbuster hit. Suryah's performance in "Spyder" was widely appreciated. In March 2017, Suryah signed a new project titled "Iravaakaalam" which is to be directed by "Maya" fame Ashwin Saravanan to star along with Sshivada and Wamiqa Gabbi. Surya's 2019 venture is "Monster", a comedy film co-starring Priya Bhavani Shankar and directed by Nelson Venkatesan of "Oru Naal Koothu" fame. The film released on 17 May 2019 to positive reviews from critics. Once again, Suryah's performance was critically praised.


title: S. J. Suryah

text: In 2021, his film "Nenjam Marappathillai" was released directed by Selvaraghavan. S. J. Suryah completely steals the show as the lecherous businessman with a deadly performance. Undeniably, Ramsay is one of the finest yet entertaining characters of S. J. Suryah. Suryah's next venture was the Venkat Prabhu-directed "Maanaadu" (2021), starring Silambarasan and Kalyani Priyadarshan. He played the role of a corrupt cop, his antagonistic role for the third time. This film received highly positive reviews and Suryah's performance was praised. He was seen in "Don" starring Sivakarthikeyan, essaying the role of an antagonist for the fourth time. He was seen last time as a protagonist in "Kadamaiyai Sei" which received negative response reviewers and mixed responses from the audience.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous. Their highest charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Oingo Boingo were known for their high energy live concerts and experimental music, which can be described as mixing rock, ska, pop, and world music. The band's body of work spanned 17 years, with various genre and line-up changes. Their best-known songs include "Only a Lad", "Little Girls", "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science".


title: Oingo Boingo

text: As a rock band, Oingo Boingo started as a ska and punk-influenced new wave octet, achieving significant popularity in Southern California. During the mid-1980s, the band changed line-ups, and adopted a more pop-oriented style, until a significant genre change to alternative rock in 1994. At that point, the name was shortened to simply Boingo and the keyboard and horn section were dropped. The band retired after a farewell concert on Halloween 1995, for which they reverted to the name Oingo Boingo and readopted the horn section.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo began as a street theater troupe in Los Angeles, founded by Richard Elfman. The name was inspired by a fictional secret society on the "Amos 'n' Andy" TV series called "The Mystic Knights of the Sea". The earliest version of the band employed as many as 15 performers at any given time, playing over 30 instruments, including some instruments built by band members.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Richard's brother Danny Elfman joined the band in 1974 and later became its leader. The group gradually moved away from its street theater origins and transformed into a dedicated musical theater act. The group performed an eclectic repertoire, ranging from Cab Calloway covers to instrumentals in the style of Balinese gamelan and Russian ballet music and, later, original songs by Danny Elfman. Guitarist Steve Bartek joined in 1976 as musical co-director. That year, the troupe appeared on the TV talent contest program "The Gong Show", which they won.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 1979, Danny Elfman reformed the group as a dedicated rock band, under the new name "Oingo Boingo", at which point most existing members left. Steve Bartek and a brass trio of Dale Turner, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, and Leon Schneiderman continued with the new band. Various reasons were given for the restart as a rock band, notably Danny's emerging musical interests, and reducing the need for transportation and set-up of multiple stage sets and props. Elfman stated the shift was inspired by ska revival bands such as the Specials, Madness, and the Selecter, new wave bands like XTC, Devo, and Fun Boy Three, as well as the "energy and speed" of punk.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: For some early gigs during the reformation, the band used the shortened name The Mystic Knights – in the animated short "Face Like a Frog," by Sally Cruikshank, the song "Don't Go in the Basement" is credited to that name. The name Oingo Boingo was settled on in 1979, at which point their early song "I'm Afraid" appeared on the Rhino Records Los Angeles rock and new wave "up and coming" compilation, "L.A. In".


title: Oingo Boingo

text: That same year, the band self-funded a promo EP record, known as the "Demo EP", for distribution to radio stations and recording industry A&R representatives to help land a contract. The effort paid off, as the record caught the attention of I.R.S. Records, who released a revised version of the EP in 1980: the "Oingo Boingo" EP.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: The band had now coalesced as an octet: Danny Elfman on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Steve Bartek on lead guitar; Richard Gibbs on keyboards; Kerry Hatch on bass; Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez on drums; and Leon Schneiderman, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, and Dale Turner on horns. Early success for the group came in 1980 with the song "Only a Lad" from the eponymous EP. The song aired frequently in Los Angeles on KROQ-FM, and complemented the station's then-unusual new wave format.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Following regional success of "Only a Lad", the group released its first full-length album in 1981, also titled "Only a Lad" (and featuring a new recording of the song). The band released further albums "Nothing to Fear" in 1982, and "Good for Your Soul" in 1983. Although the band's sound was termed as new wave, Oingo Boingo's use of exotic percussion, a three-piece horn section, unconventional scales and harmony, and surreal imagery was a genre-skewing combination.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 1984, bassist Kerry Hatch and keyboardist Richard Gibbs departed to form the short-lived band "Zuma II" and Oingo Boingo went on temporary hiatus, although this was not known publicly at the time. Elfman later claimed the two departing members had "lost the spirit", but stated, "I could never blame anybody for losing the spirit. It's very hard being an 8-piece ensemble doing what, at the time, was non-commercial music".


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Elfman used the 1984 hiatus as an opportunity to release a solo album, co-produced with Steve Bartek, with the remaining members of Oingo Boingo returning as session musicians. This was released as "So-Lo" in late 1984. At this point, new manager Mike Gormley, who had just left the position of VP of Publicity and Asst. to the Chairman of A&M, negotiated a release from the label and signed the band to MCA Records.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Shortly after releasing "So-Lo", Oingo Boingo returned to performing with new bassist John Avila and keyboardist Mike Bacich. The first release with the new line-up was "Dead Man's Party" in 1985. The album marked a notable change towards more pop oriented songwriting and production style, and became the band's most commercially successful record. It featured their highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100, "Weird Science", which was written for the John Hughes film of the same name.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: The band appeared on a number of movie soundtracks in the early to mid-1980s, including an appearance in the movie "Back to School" in 1986, performing their hit single "Dead Man's Party". The soundtrack to the movie "Bachelor Party" included a theme song written by Elfman, and a song unreleased on any Oingo Boingo album: "Something Isn't Right".


title: Oingo Boingo

text: During this era, Danny Elfman also began scoring major films, beginning with 1985's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure". Elfman would go on to write the scores to almost all of Tim Burton's films. Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek has orchestrated most of Elfman's film and television scores.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: The album "BOI-NGO" was released in 1987. Following its recording, Bacich was replaced by new keyboardist Carl Graves. The band's 1988 release, "Boingo Alive", comprised "live" re-recordings of previous album songs on a studio soundstage, plus a new song, "Winning Side". This new track was also released as a single, and became a No. 14 hit on US Modern Rock radio stations.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 1990, the band released their seventh studio album, "Dark at the End of the Tunnel", featuring more mellow songs than any previous release, and including the singles "Out of Control" and "Flesh 'N Blood".


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Oingo Boingo continued to regularly perform live, most notably with annual Halloween concerts at Irvine Meadows and the Universal Amphitheatre. Following a short hiatus in 1992, during which time Elfman was busy scoring films, the band returned in 1993 with an increasingly different, hard-rock musical direction, and debuted new material such as "Insanity", "Helpless" and the unreleased song "Did It There". Shows during these years often included the so-called "Sad Clown Orchestra" providing additional accordion and circus percussion.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: That same year, Oingo Boingo began recording an eighth studio album for new label Giant Records. The sessions stalled when Elfman became heavily involved writing the music for animated musical "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with Tim Burton. Of this period, Elfman would later reflect that, after over 15 years, he had begun losing his passion for the band.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 1994, the band consolidated their new musical style, and shortened its name to Boingo. Guitarist Warren Fitzgerald joined while keyboardist Carl Graves and the horn trio were removed. This marked the only year that the band toured without the horn section.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: The previously-shelved album was completed with the new 5-piece line-up, including orchestral instrumentation, and several songs improvised in the studio for the first time in the band's history. This was released as "Boingo" in 1994, and would be the band's final studio album.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 1995, it was announced that Boingo would be disbanding after 17 years. The band embarked on a farewell tour in 1995, restoring the original horn trio, and reverting its name to Oingo Boingo, ending with a final Halloween performance at the Universal Amphitheatre. The concert was filmed and released as a live album and DVD.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Following the band's dissolution, Danny Elfman continued composing for film, and has been nominated for four Academy Awards for his work. While he has provided the scores for Tim Burton's films almost exclusively since "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" in 1985, Elfman continues to be much sought-after by other directors in the movie business as well. Elfman's scores have included those for "Batman", "Edward Scissorhands", "Good Will Hunting", "Men in Black", "Spider-Man", "Big Fish", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Elfman has also written themes for more than a dozen TV series, including "The Simpsons", "", "Tales from the Crypt", and "Desperate Housewives". Elfman almost exclusively employs former Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek as his orchestrator.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In the 1990s, John Avila and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, along with guitarist Michael Tovar, formed the trio Food for Feet. Avila and Hernandez also formed the rhythm section of Tito & Tarantula, a Los Angeles band fronted by Tito Larriva of the Plugz and the Cruzados. Avila and Hernandez also joined Larriva and guitarist Stevie Hufstetter in a one-off project band called Psychotic Aztecs. The Aztecs released one album on the Grita label called "Santa Sangre". Doug Lacy (Boingo live keyboardist and percussionist) recruited bassist John Avila, guitarist Steve Bartek, drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, and saxophonist Sam Phipps (among other musicians) for a band called Doug & The Mystics. They recorded one album, "New Hat", which included a cover of the Oingo Boingo song "Try to Believe", as well as original songs and covers of songs by Frank Zappa and other artists. Doug had released one solo album previously.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In 2003, former keyboardist Richard Gibbs scored the "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries with composer Bear McCreary. In 2005, John Avila, Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, and Steve Bartek began contributing to the subsequent McCreary-scored "Battlestar Galactica" television series.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Since the 2005 Halloween season, former drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez has regularly put together an Oingo Boingo tribute band for performances at different venues, mainly throughout Southern California and Arizona, including the Grove of Anaheim. Initially billed as the "Johnny 'Vatos' Tribute to Halloween, Featuring Former Members of Oingo Boingo", Hernandez eventually titled the project "Johnny Vatos Oingo Boingo Dance Party and then Oingo Boingo Former Members". The group is joined intermittently by former Oingo Boingo members such as Steve Bartek, Carl Graves, John Avila, and Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, while vocals are usually provided by singer Brendan McCreary, also known as Bt4. During the 2006 Halloween season, there were two "Johnny 'Vatos' Tribute to Halloween" shows: one in Los Angeles, and one in Orange County, California, with Vatos, Bartek, Avila, Phipps, and Legacy. In 2015, Elfman officially endorsed the group as the only authorized Oingo Boingo tribute band, and gave Hernandez exclusive rights to use the names 'Boingo' and 'Oingo Boingo'.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: In early 2007, Danny Elfman had said there would not be an Oingo Boingo reunion, due to fears that playing live would exacerbate his, and possibly other band members', hearing loss. Not withstanding this announcement, on Halloween 2015, Danny Elfman, along with two of the other original voices from the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas", Catherine O'Hara and Ken Page, performed at the Hollywood Bowl, singing all of the songs from the movie with a complete orchestra, while the film played in its entirety. Paul Reubens made a special guest appearance in an encore performance of "Kidnap the Sandy Claws", reprising his original role of Lock from the film, and the event culminated in Elfman and Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek performing "Dead Man's Party" for the first time in twenty years.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: Oingo Boingo were honored with a resolution at Los Angeles City Hall in April 2016. Popular L.A. radio and television personality Richard Blade gave a speech about the band's legacy. Several members attended the meeting from across the band's changing line-ups, including Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, founding keyboardist Richard Gibbs, John Avila, Carl Graves, and Sam "Sluggo" Phipps.


title: Oingo Boingo

text: On June 11, 2021, Elfman released his first solo studio album in 37 years, "Big Mess." Although it features former members of Oingo Boingo, such as Bartek, Fitzgerald, and Mann, it is not an Oingo Boingo collaboration in the vein of Elfman's 1984 "So-Lo" album. When asked by "Variety" if he would still consider a reunion, Elfman said no, due to his hearing loss, and added that bands to him are like "zombies," and that band reunions "eat brains." "Big Mess" includes a modern remake of Oingo Boingo's "Insects" from their 1982 album "Nothing to Fear", for which Elfman also produced a 3D music video.


title: Linus Roache

text: Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He is known for playing Executive ADA Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas "Law & Order" (2008–2010) and "" (2011–2012). More recently, Roache played Ecbert, King of Wessex in "Vikings" from 2014 to 2017.


title: Linus Roache

text: He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for playing Robert F. Kennedy in "RFK" (2002) and won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor (TV) for his role as Ralph Wigram in "The Gathering Storm" (2002). His film appearances include "Priest" (1994), "The Wings of the Dove" (1997), "Pandaemonium" (2000), "Batman Begins" (2005), "Non-Stop" (2014) and "Mandy" (2018). In 2018 and 2020 he had a recurring role in the final two seasons of "Homeland".


title: Linus Roache

text: Roache was born in Manchester, England, the son of "Coronation Street" actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester, West Sussex, and at Rydal School in Colwyn Bay in north Wales. He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He married Rosalind Bennett in Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, in 2002. They have no children.


title: Linus Roache

text: In 1975 Roache appeared in "Coronation Street" playing Peter Barlow, the son of his father's character Ken Barlow. Roache is also a past member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.


title: Linus Roache

text: In the 1990s Roache began a career in films while remaining active in television and on stage. In 1994 he received acclaim for his leading role in Antonia Bird's "Priest". He went on to star opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the 1997 film "The Wings of the Dove" and to play the role of Thomas Wayne, father of Batman, in "Batman Begins" (2005). On television he played Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter in two American series, "Law & Order" (2008–2010) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2011–2012).


title: Linus Roache

text: In June 2010 it was announced that he would return to play Laurence Cunningham alongside his father William Roache in "Coronation Street". In July 2010 he was cast in the HBO pilot "The Miraculous Year".


title: Linus Roache

text: In April 2011 Roache was cast as the lead in the ITV miniseries "Titanic", airing in March and April 2012 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ship.


title: Linus Roache

text: In February 2014 Roache debuted in season two of the TV series "Vikings" as Ecbert of the Kingdom of Wessex.


title: Psalms

text: The Book of Psalms ( or ; , , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, (), meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music". The book is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many are linked to the name of David, but modern mainstream scholarship rejects his authorship, instead attributing the composition of the psalms to various authors writing between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. In the Quran, the Arabic word ‘Zabur’ is used for the Psalms of David in the Hebrew Bible.


title: Psalms

text: The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections, each closing with a doxology (i.e., a benediction). These divisions were probably introduced by the final editors to imitate the five-fold division of the Torah:


title: Psalms

text: Many psalms (116 of the 150) have individual superscriptions (titles), ranging from lengthy comments to a single word. Over a third appear to be musical directions, addressed to the "leader" or "choirmaster", including such statements as "with stringed instruments" and "according to lilies". Others appear to be references to types of musical composition, such as "A psalm" and "Song", or directions regarding the occasion for using the psalm ("On the dedication of the temple", "For the memorial offering", etc.). Many carry the names of individuals, the most common (73 psalms—75 if including the two Psalms attributed by the New Testament to David) being 'of David', and thirteen of these relate explicitly to incidents in the king's life. Others named include Asaph (12), the sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Ethan the Ezrahite (1), and Heman the Ezrahite (1). The Septuagint, the Peshitta (the Syriac Vulgate), and the Latin Vulgate each associate several Psalms (such as 111 and 145) with Haggai and Zechariah. The Septuagint also attributes several Psalms (like 112 and 135) to Ezekiel and Jeremiah.


title: Psalms

text: Psalms are usually identified by a sequence number, often preceded by the abbreviation "Ps." Numbering of the Psalms differs—mostly by one—between the Hebrew (Masoretic) and Greek (Septuagint) manuscripts. Protestant translations (Lutheran, Anglican, Calvinist) use the Hebrew numbering, but other Christian traditions vary:


title: Psalms

text: The variance between Masorah and Septuagint texts in this numeration is likely enough due to a gradual neglect of the original poetic form of the Psalms; such neglect was occasioned by liturgical uses and carelessness of copyists. It is generally admitted that Psalms 9 and 10 (Hebrew numbering) were originally a single acrostic poem, wrongly separated by Massorah and rightly united by the Septuagint and the Vulgate. Psalms 42 and 43 (Hebrew numbering) are shown by identity of subject (yearning for the house of Yahweh), of metrical structure and of refrain (comparing Psalms 42:6, 12; 43:5, Hebrew numbering), to be three strophes of one and the same poem. The Hebrew text is correct in counting as one Psalm 146 and Psalm 147. Later liturgical usage would seem to have split up these and several other psalms. Zenner combines into what he deems were the original choral odes: Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4; 6 + 13; 9 + 10; 19, 20, 21; 56 + 57; 69 + 70; 114 + 115; 148, 149, 150. A choral ode would seem to have been the original form of Psalms 14 and 70. The two strophes and the epode are Psalm 14; the two antistrophes are Psalm 70. It is noteworthy that, on the breaking up of the original ode, each portion crept twice into the Psalter: Psalm 14 = 53, Psalm 70 = 40:14–18. Other such duplicated portions of psalms are Psalm 108:2–6 = Psalm 57:8–12; Psalm 108:7–14 = Psalm 60:7–14; Psalm 71:1–3 = Psalm 31:2–4. This loss of the original form of some of the psalms is considered by the Catholic Church's Pontifical Biblical Commission (1 May 1910) to have been due to liturgical practices, neglect by copyists, or other causes.


title: Psalms

text: Verse numbers were first printed in 1509. Different traditions exist whether to include the original heading into the counting or not. This leads to inconsistent numbering in 62 psalms, with an offset of 1, sometimes even 2 verses.


title: Psalms

text: The Septuagint, present in Eastern Orthodox churches, includes a Psalm 151; a Hebrew version of this was found in the "Psalms Scroll" of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some versions of the Peshitta (the Bible used in Syriac churches mainly in the Middle East) include Psalms 152–155. There are also the Psalms of Solomon, which are a further 18 psalms of Jewish origin, likely originally written in Hebrew, but surviving only in Greek and Syriac translation. These and other indications suggest that the current Western Christian and Jewish collection of 150 psalms were selected from a wider set.


title: Psalms

text: Hermann Gunkel's pioneering form-critical work on the psalms sought to provide a new and meaningful context in which to interpret individual psalms—not by looking at their literary context within the Psalter (which he did not see as significant), but by bringing together psalms of the same genre () from throughout the Psalter. Gunkel divided the psalms into five primary types:


title: Psalms

text: Hymns are songs of praise for God's work in creation or history. They typically open with a call to praise, describe the motivation for praise, and conclude with a repetition of the call. Two sub-categories are "enthronement psalms", celebrating the enthronement of Yahweh as king, and Zion psalms, glorifying Mount Zion, God's dwelling-place in Jerusalem. Gunkel also described a special subset of "eschatological hymns" which includes themes of future restoration (Psalm 126) or of judgment (Psalm 82).


title: Psalms

text: Communal laments are psalms in which the nation laments some communal disaster. Both communal and individual laments typically but not always include the following elements:


title: Psalms

text: In general, the individual and communal subtypes can be distinguished by the use of the singular "I" or the plural "we". However, the "I" could also be characterising an individual's personal experience that was reflective of the entire community.


title: Psalms

text: Royal psalms deal with such matters as the king's coronation, marriage and battles. None of them mentions any specific king by name, and their origin and use remain obscure; several psalms, especially Psalms 93–99, concern the kingship of God, and might relate to an annual ceremony in which Yahweh would be ritually reinstated as king.


title: Psalms

text: Individual laments are psalms lamenting the fate of the psalmist. By far the most common type of psalm, they typically open with an invocation of God, followed by the lament itself and pleas for help, and often ending with an expression of confidence.


title: Psalms

text: In individual thanksgiving psalms, the opposite of individual laments, the psalmist thanks God for deliverance from personal distress.


title: Psalms

text: In addition to these five major genres, Gunkel also recognised a number of minor psalm-types, including:


title: Psalms

text: The composition of the psalms spans at least five centuries, from psalm 29 to others clearly from the post-Exilic period (not earlier than the fifth century BC.) The majority originated in the southern kingdom of Judah and were associated with the Temple in Jerusalem, where they probably functioned as libretto during the Temple worship. Exactly how they did this is unclear, although there are indications in some of them: "Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar," suggests a connection with sacrifices, and "Let my prayer be counted as incense" suggests a connection with the offering of incense.


title: Psalms

text: According to Jewish tradition, the Book of Psalms was composed by the First Man (Adam), Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah. According to Abraham ibn Ezra, the final redaction of the book was made by the Men of the Great Assembly.


title: Psalms

text: Some of the psalms show influences from related earlier texts from the region; examples include various Ugaritic texts and the Babylonian Enūma Eliš. These influences may be either of background similarity or of contrast. For example Psalm 29 seems to share characteristics with Canaanite religious poetry and themes. Not too much should be read into this, however. Robert Alter points out that the address to "sons of God" at the opening "are best thought of the flickering literary afterlife of a polytheistic mythology" but that "belief in them...is unlikely to have been shared by the scribal circles that produced "Psalms"". The contrast against the surrounding polytheistic religion is well seen in where their convention of a monstrous sea-god in fierce conflict, such as the Babylonian Tiamat, Canaanite Yam and the Leviathan which also appears in the Hebrew Bible, is "reduced to an aquatic pet with whom YHWH can play".


title: Psalms

text: The biblical poetry of Psalms uses parallelism as its primary poetic device. Parallelism is a kind of symmetry, in which an idea is developed by the use of restatement, synonym, amplification, grammatical repetition, or opposition. Synonymous parallelism involves two lines expressing essentially the same idea. An example of synonymous parallelism:


title: Psalms

text: Two lines expressing opposites is known as antithetic parallelism. An example of antithetic parallelism:


title: Psalms

text: Two clauses expressing the idea of amplifying the first claim is known as expansive parallelism. An example of expansive parallelism:


title: Psalms

text: Many scholars believe the individual Psalms were redacted into a single collection during the Second Temple period. It had long been recognized that the collection bore the imprint of an underlying message or metanarrative, but that this message remained concealed, as Augustine of Hippo said, "The sequence of the Psalms seems to me to contain the secret of a mighty mystery, but its meaning has not been revealed to me." ("Enarr." on Ps. 150.1) Others pointed out the presence of concatenation, that is, adjacent Psalms sharing similar words and themes. In time, this approach developed into recognizing overarching themes shared by whole groups of psalms.


title: Psalms

text: In 1985, Gerald H. Wilson's "The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter" proposed – by parallel with other ancient eastern hymn collections – that psalms at the beginning and end (or "seams") of the five books of Psalms have thematic significance, corresponding in particular with the placement of the royal psalms. He pointed out that there was a progression of ideas, from adversity, through the crux of the collection in the apparent failure of the covenant in Psalm 89, leading to a concert of praise at the end. He concluded that the collection was redacted to be a retrospective of the failure of the Davidic covenant, exhorting Israel to trust in God alone in a non-messianic future. Walter Brueggemann suggested that the underlying editorial purpose was oriented rather towards wisdom or sapiential concerns, addressing the issues of how to live the life of faith. Psalm 1 calls the reader to a life of obedience; Psalm 73 (Brueggemann's crux psalm) faces the crisis when divine faithfulness is in doubt; Psalm 150 represents faith's triumph, when God is praised not for his rewards, but for his being. In 1997, David. C. Mitchell's "The Message of the Psalter" took a quite different line. Building on the work of Wilson and others, Mitchell proposed that the Psalter embodies an eschatological timetable like that of Zechariah 9–14. This programme includes the gathering of exiled Israel by a bridegroom-king; his establishment of a kingdom; his violent death; Israel scattered in the wilderness, regathered and again imperilled, then rescued by a king from the heavens, who establishes his kingdom from Zion, brings peace and prosperity to the earth and receives the homage of the nations.


title: Psalms

text: These three views—Wilson's non-messianic retrospective of the Davidic covenant, Brueggemann's sapiential instruction, and Mitchell's eschatologico-messianic programme—all have their followers, although the sapiential agenda has been somewhat eclipsed by the other two. Shortly before his untimely death in 2005, Wilson modified his position to allow for the existence of messianic prophecy within the Psalms' redactional agenda. Mitchell's position remains largely unchanged, although he now sees the issue as identifying when the historical beginning of the Psalms turns to eschatology.


title: Psalms

text: The Psalms were written not merely as poems, but as songs for singing. According to Bible exegete Saadia Gaon (882–942) who served in the geonate of Babylonian Jewry, the Psalms were originally sung in the Temple precincts by the Levites, based on what was prescribed for each psalm (lineage of the singers, designated time and place, instruments used, manner of execution, etc.), but are permitted to be randomly read by anyone at any time and in any place. More than a third of the psalms are addressed to the Director of Music. Some psalms exhort the worshipper to sing (e.g. Pss. 33:1-3; 92:1-3; 96:1-3; 98:1; 101:1; 150). Some headings denote the musical instruments on which the psalm should be played (Pss. 4, 5, 6, 8, 67). Some refer to the Levites who sang one of eight melodies, one of which was known simply as "the eighth" (Hebrew: "sheminit") (Pss. 6, 12). And others preserve the name for ancient eastern modes, like "ayelet ha-shachar" (hind of the dawn; Ps. 22); "shoshanim" / "shushan" ("lilies" / "lily"; Pss. 45; 60), said to be describing a certain melody; or ʻalmuth / "ʻalamoth" ("mute"; Pss. 9, 46), which, according to Saadia Gaon, is "a silent melody, nearly inaudible."


title: Psalms

text: Despite the frequently heard view that their ancient music is lost, the means to reconstruct it are still extant. Fragments of temple psalmody are preserved in ancient synagogue and church chant, particularly in the "tonus peregrinus" melody to Psalm 114. Cantillation signs, to record the melody sung, were in use since ancient times; evidence of them can be found in the manuscripts of the oldest extant copies of Psalms in the Dead Sea Scrolls and are even more extensive in the Masoretic text, which dates to the Early Middle Ages and whose Tiberian scribes claimed to be basing their work on temple-period signs. (See Moshe ben Asher's 'Song of the Vine' colophon to the Codex Cairensis).


title: Psalms

text: Several attempts have been made to decode the Masoretic cantillation, but the most "successful" is that of Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura (1928–2000) in the last quarter of the 20th century. Her reconstruction assumes the signs represent the degrees of various musical scales – that is, individual notes – which puts it at odds with all other existing traditions, where the signs invariably represent melodic motifs; it also takes no account of the existence of older systems of notation, such as the Babylonian and Palestinian systems. Musicologists have therefore rejected Haïk-Vantoura's theories, with her results dubious, and her methodology flawed. In spite of this, Mitchell has repeatedly defended it, showing that, when applied to the Masoretic cantillation of Psalm 114, it produces a melody recognizable as the "tonus peregrinus" of church and synagogue. Mitchell includes musical transcriptions of the temple psalmody of Psalms 120–134 in his commentary on the Songs of Ascents.


title: Psalms

text: Regardless of academic research, Sephardic Jews have retained a tradition in the Masoretic cantillation.


title: Psalms

text: Most individual psalms involve the praise of God for his power and beneficence, for his creation of the world, and for his past acts of deliverance for Israel. They envision a world in which everyone and everything will praise God, and God in turn will hear their prayers and respond. Sometimes God "hides his face" and refuses to respond, questioning (for the psalmist) the relationship between God and prayer which is the underlying assumption of the Book of Psalms.


title: Psalms

text: Some psalms are called "maskil" ("maschil"), meaning "enlightened" or "wise", because they impart wisdom. Most notable of these is Psalm 142 which is sometimes called the "Maskil of David"; others include Psalm 32 and Psalm 78.


title: Psalms

text: A special grouping and division in the Book of Psalms are fifteen psalms (Psalms 120–134) known in the construct case, "shir ha-ma'aloth" (= "A Song of Ascents", or "A Song of degrees"), and one as "shir la-ma'aloth" (Psalm 121). According to Saadia Gaon, these songs differed from the other psalms in that they were to be sung by the Levites in a "loud melody" (Judeo-Arabic: ). Every psalm designated for Asaph (e.g. Psalms 50, 73–83) was sung by his descendants while making use of cymbals, in accordance with 1 Chronicles 16:5. Every psalm wherein is found the introductory phrase "Upon Mahalath" (e.g. Psalms 53 and 88) was sung by the Levites by using large percussion instruments having wide and closed bezels on both sides and beaten with two wooden sticks.


title: Psalms

text: Individual psalms were originally hymns, to be used on various occasions and at various sacred sites; later, some were anthologised, and might have been understood within the various anthologies (e.g., ps. 123 as one of the Psalms of Ascent); finally, individual psalms might be understood within the Psalter as a whole, either narrating the life of David or providing instruction like the Torah. In later Jewish and Christian tradition, the psalms have come to be used as prayers, either individual or communal, as traditional expressions of religious feeling.


title: Psalms

text: Psalms are used throughout traditional Jewish worship. Many complete Psalms and verses from Psalms appear in the morning services ("Shacharit"). The "pesukei dezimra" component incorporates Psalms 30, 100 and 145–150. Psalm 145 (commonly referred to as "Ashrei", which is really the first word of two verses appended to the beginning of the Psalm), is read three times every day: once in "shacharit" as part of "pesukei dezimrah", as mentioned, once, along with Psalm 20, as part of the morning's concluding prayers, and once at the start of the afternoon service. On Festival days and Sabbaths, instead of concluding the morning service, it precedes the Mussaf service. Psalms 95–99, 29, 92, and 93, along with some later readings, comprise the introduction ("Kabbalat Shabbat") to the Friday night service. Traditionally, a different "Psalm for the Day"—"Shir shel yom"—is read after the morning service each day of the week (starting Sunday, Psalms: 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, 92). This is described in the Mishnah (the initial codification of the Jewish oral tradition) in the tractate "Tamid". According to the Talmud, these daily Psalms were originally recited on that day of the week by the Levites in the Temple in Jerusalem. From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah, Psalm 27 is recited twice daily following the morning and evening services. There is a "Minhag" (custom) to recite Psalm 30 each morning of Chanukkah after Shacharit: some recite this in place of the regular "Psalm for the Day", others recite this additionally.


title: Psalms

text: When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and "tehillim" (Psalms) are recited constantly by sun or candlelight, until the burial service. Historically, this watch would be carried out by the immediate family, usually in shifts, but in contemporary practice this service is provided by an employee of the funeral home or "chevra kadisha".


title: Psalms

text: Many Jews complete the Book of Psalms on a weekly or monthly basis. Each week, some also say a Psalm connected to that week's events or the Torah portion read during that week. In addition, many Jews (notably Lubavitch, and other Chasidim) read the entire Book of Psalms prior to the morning service, on the Sabbath preceding the calculated appearance of the new moon.


title: Psalms

text: The reading of psalms is viewed in Jewish tradition as a vehicle for gaining God's favor. They are thus often specially recited in times of trouble, such as poverty, disease, or physical danger; in many synagogues, Psalms are recited after services for the security of the State of Israel. Sefer ha-Chinuch states that this practice is designed not to achieve favor, as such, but rather to inculcate belief in Divine Providence into one's consciousness, consistently with Maimonides' general view on Providence. (Relatedly, the Hebrew verb for prayer, "hitpalal" התפלל, is in fact the reflexive form of "palal" פלל, to judge. Thus, "to pray" conveys the notion of "judging oneself": ultimately, the purpose of prayer—"tefilah" תפלה—is to transform ourselves.)


title: Psalms

text: New Testament references show that the earliest Christians used the Psalms in worship, and the Psalms have remained an important part of worship in most Christian Churches. The Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Anglican Churches have always made systematic use of the Psalms, with a cycle for the recitation of all or most of them over the course of one or more weeks. In the early centuries of the Church, it was expected that any candidate for bishop would be able to recite the entire Psalter from memory, something they often learned automatically during their time as monks. Christians have used Pater Noster cords of 150 beads to pray the entire Psalter.


title: Psalms

text: Paul the Apostle quotes psalms (specifically Psalms 14 and 53, which are nearly identical) as the basis for his theory of original sin, and includes the scripture in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 3.


title: Psalms

text: Several conservative Protestant denominations sing only the Psalms (some churches also sing the small number of hymns found elsewhere in the Bible) in worship, and do not accept the use of any non-Biblical hymns; examples are the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, the Presbyterian Reformed Church (North America) and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).


title: Psalms

text: New translations and settings of the Psalms continue to be produced. An individually printed volume of Psalms for use in Christian religious rituals is called a Psalter.


title: Psalms

text: Furthermore, psalms often serve as the inspiration for much of modern or contemporary Christian worship music in a variety of styles. Some songs are entirely based on a particular psalm or psalms, and many quote directly from the Book of Psalms (and other parts of the Bible).


title: Psalms

text: Orthodox Christians and Greek-Catholics (Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine rite) have long made the Psalms an integral part of their corporate and private prayers. The official version of the Psalter used by the Orthodox Church is the Septuagint. To facilitate its reading, the 150 Psalms are divided into 20 "kathismata" (Greek: καθίσματα; Slavonic: каѳисмы, ; lit. "sittings") and each "kathisma" (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, ) is further subdivided into three "stases" (Greek: στάσεις, lit. "standings", sing. στάσις, "stasis"), so-called because the faithful stand at the end of each "stasis" for the Glory to the Father ...


title: Psalms

text: At Vespers and Matins, different "kathismata" are read at different times of the liturgical year and on different days of the week, according to the Church's calendar, so that all 150 psalms (20 "kathismata") are read in the course of a week. During Great Lent, the number of "kathismata" is increased so that the entire Psalter is read twice a week. In the twentieth century, some lay Christians have adopted a continuous reading of the Psalms on weekdays, praying the whole book in four weeks.


title: Psalms

text: Aside from "kathisma" readings, Psalms occupy a prominent place in every other Orthodox service including the services of the Hours and the Divine Liturgy. In particular, the penitential Psalm 50 is very widely used. Fragments of Psalms and individual verses are used as "Prokimena" (introductions to Scriptural readings) and "Stichera". The bulk of Vespers would still be composed of Psalms even if the kathisma were to be disregarded; Psalm 118, "The Psalm of the Law", is the centerpiece of Matins on Saturdays, some Sundays, and the Funeral service. The entire book of Psalms is traditionally read out loud or chanted at the side of the deceased during the time leading up to the funeral, mirroring Jewish tradition.


title: Psalms

text: Several branches of Oriental Orthodox and those Eastern Catholics who follow one of the Oriental Rites will chant the entire Psalter during the course of a day during the Daily Office. This practice continues to be a requirement of monastics in the Oriental churches.


title: Psalms

text: The Psalms have always been an important part of Catholic liturgy. The Liturgy of the Hours is centered on chanting or recitation of the Psalms, using fixed melodic formulas known as psalm tones. Early Catholics employed the Psalms widely in their individual prayers also; however, as knowledge of Latin (the language of the Roman Rite) became uncommon, this practice ceased among the unlearned. However, until the end of the Middle Ages, it was not unknown for the laity to join in the singing of the Little Office of Our Lady, which was a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours providing a fixed daily cycle of twenty-five psalms to be recited, and nine other psalms divided across Matins.


title: Psalms

text: The work of Bishop Richard Challoner in providing devotional materials in English meant that many of the psalms were familiar to English-speaking Catholics from the eighteenth century onwards. Challoner translated the entirety of the Little Office into English, as well as Sunday Vespers and daily Compline. He also provided other individual Psalms such as 129/130 for prayer in his devotional books. Bishop Challoner is also noted for revising the Douay–Rheims Bible, and the translations he used in his devotional books are taken from this work.


title: Psalms

text: Until the Second Vatican Council the Psalms were either recited on a one-week or, less commonly (as in the case of Ambrosian rite), two-week cycle. Different one-week schemata were employed: most secular clergy followed the Roman distribution, while regular clergy almost universally followed that of St Benedict, with only a few congregations (such as the Benedictines of St Maur) following individualistic arrangements. The Breviary introduced in 1974 distributed the psalms over a four-week cycle. Monastic usage varies widely. Some use the four-week cycle of the secular clergy, many retain a one-week cycle, either following St Benedict's scheme or another of their own devising, while others opt for some other arrangement.


title: Psalms

text: Official approval was also given to other arrangements by which the complete Psalter is recited in a one-week or two-week cycle. These arrangements are used principally by Catholic contemplative religious orders, such as that of the Trappists.


title: Psalms

text: The "General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours", 122 sanctions three modes of singing/recitation for the Psalms:


title: Psalms

text: Over the centuries, the use of complete Psalms in the liturgy declined. After the Second Vatican Council (which also permitted the use of vernacular languages in the liturgy), longer psalm texts were reintroduced into the Mass, during the readings. The revision of the Roman Missal after the Second Vatican Council reintroduced the singing or recitation of a more substantial section of a Psalm, in some cases an entire Psalm, after the first Reading from Scripture. This Psalm, called the "Responsorial Psalm," is usually sung or recited responsorially, although the "General Instruction of the Roman Missal", 61 permits direct recitation.


title: Psalms

text: Following the Protestant Reformation, versified translations of many of the Psalms were set as hymns. These were particularly popular in the Calvinist tradition, where in the past they were typically sung to the exclusion of hymns (exclusive psalmody). John Calvin himself made some French translations of the Psalms for church usage, but the completed Genevan Psalter eventually used in church services consisted exclusively of translations by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze, on melodies by a number of composers, including Louis Bourgeois and a certain Maistre Pierre. Martin Luther's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott is based on Psalm 46. Among famous hymn settings of the Psalter were the Scottish Psalter and the paraphrases by Isaac Watts. The first book printed in North America was a collection of Psalm settings, the Bay Psalm Book (1640).


title: Psalms

text: By the 20th century, they were mostly replaced by hymns in church services. However, the Psalms are popular for private devotion among many Protestants and still used in many churches for traditional worship. There exists in some circles a custom of reading one Psalm and one chapter of Proverbs a day, corresponding to the day of the month.


title: Psalms

text: In the early 17th century, when the King James Bible was introduced, the metrical arrangements by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins were also popular and were provided with printed tunes. This version and the "New Version of the Psalms of David" by Tate and Brady produced in the late seventeenth century (see article on Metrical psalter) remained the normal congregational way of singing psalms in the Church of England until well into the nineteenth century.


title: Psalms

text: In Great Britain, the 16th-century Coverdale psalter still lies at the heart of daily worship in Cathedrals and many parish churches. The new Common Worship service book has a companion psalter in modern English.


title: Psalms

text: The version of the psalter in the American Book of Common Prayer prior to the 1979 edition is the Coverdale psalter. The Psalter in the American Book of Common Prayer of 1979 is a new translation, with some attempt to keep the rhythms of the Coverdale psalter.


title: Psalms

text: According to the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an, God has sent many messengers to mankind. Five universally acknowledged messengers ("rasul") are Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, each believed to have been sent with a scripture. Muslims believe David ("Dāwūd") received Psalms, or "Zabur" (cf. ); Jesus ("Īsā") the Gospel, or "Injeel"; Muhammad received the Qur'an; and Abraham ("Ibrahim") the Scrolls of Abraham; meanwhile, the "Tawrat" is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to have been given by God to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel, and often refers to the entire Hebrew Bible. God is considered to have authored the Psalms.


title: Psalms

text: The Psalms are one of the most popular parts of the Bible among followers of the Rastafari movement. Rasta singer Prince Far I released an atmospheric spoken version of the psalms, "Psalms for I", set to a roots reggae backdrop from The Aggrovators.


title: Psalms

text: Psalms have often been set as part of a larger work. The psalms feature large in settings of Vespers, including those by Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (84 settings H.149 - H.232) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wrote such settings as part of their responsibilities as church musicians. Psalms are inserted in Requiem compositions, such as Psalm 126 in "A German Requiem" of Johannes Brahms and Psalms 130 and 23 in John Rutter's "Requiem".


title: Psalms

text: There are many settings of individual psalms. One of the better known examples is Gregorio Allegri's "Miserere mei", a "falsobordone" setting of Psalm 51 ("Have mercy upon me, O God"). Settings of individual psalms by later composers are also frequent: they include works from composers such as George Frideric Handel, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Psalms also feature in more modern musical movements and popular genres.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: According to popular legend, she asks potential victims if they think she is beautiful. If they respond with "no", she will either kill them with her long medical scissors on the spot or wait until nightfall and murder you in your sleep. If they say "yes", she will reveal that the corners of her mouth are slit from ear to ear, and she will then repeat her question. If the individual responds with "no", she will kill them with her weapon, and if they say "yes" hesitantly she will cut the corners of their mouth in such a way that resembles her own disfigurement. Methods that can be used to survive an encounter with Kuchisake-onna include answering her question by describing her appearance as "average", or by distracting her with money or hard candies. Some variations claim that if the victim says “yes” calmly and fearlessly, that she will reward them with a blood red ruby and will let them live but if they look back, she will show her blood-curdling smile and slash them to death.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: According to legend, Kuchisake-onna was a woman who was mutilated during her life, with her mouth being slit from ear to ear. In some versions of the story, Kuchisake-onna was the adulterous wife or a mistress of a samurai during her life. She grew lonely as the samurai would always be away from home fighting, because of this she would begin to have affairs with men around the town. When the samurai heard of this he was outraged. As punishment for her infidelity, her husband sliced the corners of her mouth from ear to ear. Other versions of the tale include that her mouth was mutilated during a medical or dental procedure, that she was mutilated by a woman who was jealous of her beauty, or that her mouth is filled with numerous sharp teeth.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: After her death, the woman returned as a vengeful spirit, or "onryō". As an "onryō", she covers her mouth with a cloth mask (often specified as a surgical mask), or in some iterations, a hand fan or handkerchief. She carries a sharp instrument with her, which has been described as a knife, a machete, a scythe, or a large pair of scissors. She is also described as having supernatural speed. She is said to ask potential victims if they think she is attractive, often phrased as ""Watashi, kirei?"" (which translates to "Am I pretty?" or "Am I beautiful?"). If the person answers "no", she will kill the person with her weapon, and if the person answers "yes", she will reveal her mutilated mouth. She then repeats her question (or asks ""Kore demo?"", which translates to "Even with this?" or "Even now?") and if the person responds with "no" or screams in fright, she will kill the person with her weapon. If the response is "yes", she will slice the corners of the person's mouth from ear to ear, resembling her own disfigurement.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: An individual can survive an encounter with Kuchisake-onna by using one of several methods. In some versions of the legend, Kuchisake-onna will leave the potential victim alone if they answer "yes" to both of her questions, though in other versions, she will visit the individual's residence later that night and murder the person while sleeping. Other survival tactics include replying to Kuchisake-onna's question by describing her appearance as "average", giving the individual enough time to run away; distracting her by giving or throwing money or hard candies (particularly the kind of candy known as "bekko ame", made of caramelised sugar) in her direction, as she will stop to pick them up; or by saying the word "pomade" three times.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: Author and folklorist Matthew Meyer has described the Kuchisake-onna legend as having roots dating back to Japan's Edo period, which spanned from the 17th to 19th centuries.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: In print, the legend of Kuchisake-onna in dates back to at least as early as 1979. The legend was reported in such publications as the Gifu Prefecture newspaper "Gifu Nichi Nichi Shinbun" on 26 January 1979, the weekly publication "Shukan Asahi" on 23 March 1979, and the weekly news magazine "Shukan Shincho" on 5 April 1979. Rumors about Kuchisake-onna spread throughout Japan, creating hysteria to the point that young children would sometimes be accompanied by members of parent–teacher association groups while walking home from school.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: Historian and manga author Shigeru Mizuki considered Kuchisake-onna to be an example of a "yōkai", a term which can refer to a variety of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. According to Zack Davisson, a translator of many of Mizuki's works, "When Mizuki put her in one of his newest yokai encyclopedias, that's when she was officially considered a yokai."


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: Kuchisake-onna has appeared in live-action films, as well as in manga, anime, and video games. The character appears in the 1994 animated film "Pom Poko", produced by Studio Ghibli, and later appears in the 1996 live-action short film "Kuchisake-onna", directed by Teruyoshi Ishii. She is also mentioned in the 1998 film "Ring", directed by Hideo Nakata. In 2007, the film "" (also known under the titles "Kuchisake-onna" or "A Slit-Mouthed Woman"), directed by Kōji Shiraishi and featuring Miki Mizuno as Kuchisake-onna, was released. The film was followed by "" (also known as "Kuchisake-onna 2") and "The Slit-Mouthed Woman 0: The Beginning" (or "Kuchisake-onna 0: Biginingu"), both of which were released in 2008. The Kuchisake-onna character later appeared in the 2012 film "Kuchisake-onna Returns", as well as in the webcomic "Mob Psycho 100".


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: Kuchisake-onna was also the basis for a character that appears in the episode "Danse Vaudou" of the American television series "Constantine".


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: This urban legend terrified elementary and junior high school students all over the country, and there are events such as police car dispatches (Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture and Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture), and mass going homes in Kushiro City, Hokkaido and Niiza City, Saitama Prefecture. It developed into a state of panic that engulfed society.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: Rumors arose in Gifu Prefecture in early December 1978, and it is said that the first appearance in the mass media was in the Gifu Nichinichi Shimbun on January 26, 1979. This was followed by an article in the June 29, 1979 issue of "Weekly Asahi". In early December 1978, in Shinsho-cho, Motosu-gun, Gifu Prefecture, an old farmer woman stood in a toilet separate from the main house and saw a woman with a slit mouth. Rumors were introduced that he lost his waist when he saw it.


title: Kuchisake-onna

text: On June 21, 1979, a 25-year-old woman in Himeji City was arrested for violating the Firearms and Swords Act by playing a prank and dressing up as a slit mouth woman and wandering around with a kitchen knife.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as head coach of La Liga club Valencia.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the centre as a defensive midfielder, although he was also capable of playing on the wing. He initially played for Perugia, Salernitana, and Rangers, though he is mostly remembered for his time with AC Milan in Serie A, where he won the Champions League, in 2002–03 and 2006–07, the Coppa Italia in 2002–03, and also the Serie A title in 2003–04 and 2010–11. In addition to these titles, he won two Italian Supercups, two UEFA Supercups, and a FIFA Club World Cup. At international level, he represented the Italy national football team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gattuso's talismanic midfield partnership with playmaker Andrea Pirlo, both at club and international level, played a key role in Italy's World Cup victory in 2006, as well as Milan's domestic, European, and international successes during the mid-2000s. Despite not being blessed with notable technical skills, Gattuso's pace, strength, and work-rate complemented and supported Pirlo's composed, creative playing style, while his energy, aggression, and hard-tackling style of play enabled him to make a name for himself as one of the best players in the world in his position. In addition to his ball-winning abilities, Gattuso was renowned for his competitive nature and leadership qualities throughout his career, often wearing the captain's armband for Milan following Paolo Maldini's retirement.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gattuso's coaching career began as player-coach of his final club, Sion of the Swiss Super League, and he also had short spells in charge of Palermo and OFI Crete. In June 2016, he led Pisa to Serie B promotion. He later coached both the youth side and the first team of his former club Milan between 2017 and 2019, before being appointed as manager of Napoli later that year, where he won his first title as a coach, the 2019–20 Coppa Italia.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gattuso was born in Corigliano Calabro, Italy. He started his career with Umbrian side Perugia, but transferred in July 1997, at the age of 19, to the Scottish team Rangers.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Walter Smith, who brought Gattuso to Glasgow, left the club in 1998. Smith's successor, Dick Advocaat, did not favour Gattuso and, after being played out-of-position as a right-back, the Italian was sold in October 1998 to then recently promoted Serie A club Salernitana for £4 million.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gattuso was bought by AC Milan for €8 million from Salernitana in the summer of 1999. He made his debut with the club on 15 September 1999, in a 0–0 away draw with Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League; he soon broke into the starting line-up that season, also playing his first Milan-derby match on 24 October 1999, in which he stood out and immediately endeared himself with the Milan fans for the maturity and tenacity he demonstrated when facing Inter striker Ronaldo, who was widely regarded as the best player in the world at the time.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: During his time at the club, Gattuso's work-rate and versatility as a ball-winner later allowed Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place midfield playmaker Andrea Pirlo alongside him in a more creative, attacking position, while Gattuso supported him in a deeper role, as a defensive midfielder; this midfield partnership was pivotal to Milan's domestic and international successes under Ancelotti, which included the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup in 2003, as well as the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana in 2004. Gattuso signed a contract extension with Milan in June 2003 and in October 2004. During this period, Gattuso also reached the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final with Milan, only to be defeated by Liverpool on penalties, after initially leading 3–0 at half-time.


title: Gennaro Gattuso

text: Gattuso played his 300th game for the club in a goalless Champions League draw against Lille on 26 September 2006, and he extended his current deal with Milan until 2011 on 1 February 2007. On 23 May 2007, Gattuso won the Champions League for the second time in his career when Milan beat Liverpool 2–1 in the final.