title: Soul

text: Quantum indeterminism has been invoked as an explanatory mechanism for possible soul/brain interaction, but neuroscientist Peter Clarke found errors with this viewpoint, noting there is no evidence that such processes play a role in brain function; Clarke concluded that a Cartesian soul has no basis from quantum physics.


title: Soul

text: Some parapsychologists have attempted to establish, by scientific experiment, whether a soul separate from the brain exists, as is more commonly defined in religion rather than as a synonym of psyche or mind. Milbourne Christopher (1979) and Mary Roach (2010) have argued that none of the attempts by parapsychologists have yet succeeded.


title: Soul

text: In 1901 Duncan MacDougall conducted an experiment in which he made weight measurements of patients as they died. He claimed that there was weight loss of varying amounts at the time of death; he concluded the soul weighed 21 grams, based on measurements of a single patient and discarding conflicting results. The physicist Robert L. Park wrote that MacDougall's experiments "are not regarded today as having any scientific merit" and the psychologist Bruce Hood wrote that "because the weight loss was not reliable or replicable, his findings were unscientific."


title: Ween

text: Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are known for their irreverent, highly eclectic catalog of songs inspired by funk, soul, country, gospel, prog, psychedelia, R&B, heavy metal, and punk rock.


title: Ween

text: Ween self-released several cassette albums from their formation until 1989. Afterward, they put out three officially-released lo-fi albums: "" (1990); "The Pod" (1991); and "Pure Guava" (1992). For "Pure Guava", the band signed with major label Elektra Records. The album spawned the single "Push th' Little Daisies", which was a chart hit in Australia and the United States. Under Elektra, the band released four professionally-recorded albums: "Chocolate and Cheese" (1994); "12 Golden Country Greats" (1996); "The Mollusk" (1997); and "White Pepper" (2000). They later returned to independent labels for their albums "Quebec" (2003) and "La Cucaracha" (2007). After a 28-year run, Freeman quit the band in 2012, citing the need to focus on his alcohol and drug addiction issues. Ween reformed in late 2015 and toured extensively with no stated plans to release new recorded material.


title: Ween

text: For their first ten years of existence, Ween performed live as a duo backed by a Digital Audio Tape. With the release of "Chocolate and Cheese", they expanded to a four-piece act, later adding a fifth member as well. Their live members include Claude Coleman Jr., Dave Dreiwitz, and Glenn McClelland. Ween also collaborated extensively with Andrew Weiss, who joined the band as a bassist in 1989 and also produced five of their nine studio albums. Despite never receiving much mainstream recognition, Ween developed a large, devoted cult following and garnered critical acclaim.


title: Ween

text: Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in a junior high school typing class in 1984. Freeman recalled, "We didn't like each other. He was a jock, and I was more of a trench-coat guy. But we sat next to each other in typing class and both realized we were into music." The name Ween was a word made up by the duo, a combination of the words wuss and penis. Their earliest home recordings were drug fueled and free-spirited; Melchiondo would later say about this era, "the music was designed to be obnoxious".


title: Ween

text: From 1984 until 1994, Ween's live lineup consisted of Freeman on lead vocals and occasional rhythm guitar, Melchiondo on lead guitar and backing vocals, and a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) machine providing the pre-recorded backing tracks. They self-released six cassettes in the late eighties: "Mrs. Slack" (1985), "The Crucial Squeegie Lip" (1986), "" (1987), "Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death" (1987), "The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD" (1988), and "Prime 5" (1989). In 1987, Freeman also released his own tape, "Synthetic Socks", which featured Melchiondo on a few tracks. Ween's public debut was at the New Hope-Solebury High School talent show in 1986, where they performed a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" with Chris Williams (a.k.a. Mean Ween) on bass and Karl Weimer on drums. Although this era was mostly just Freeman, Melchiondo and the DAT machine, they did play a few shows in the '80s as "The Ween" backed by the Rollins Band rhythm section, Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain.


title: Ween

text: By 1988, Ween had become regulars at John and Peter's in New Hope and City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey. At City Gardens, they opened for acts such as They Might Be Giants, GWAR, Butthole Surfers, and Henry Rollins. Following a February 1990 City Gardens performance where Ween's reception was lukewarm, Rollins got on stage and warned the crowd to "start liking them now", for one day, "you will get down on your filthy knees and crawl to the altar that is Ween".


title: Ween

text: Dave Ayers, working in A&R for Minneapolis-based record label Twin/Tone, went to see a live performance by alt-rock band Skunk in the late '80s in Maplewood, New Jersey in anticipation of signing them to a record deal. Ween, friends of Skunk, were the opening act that night. Ayers signed Ween to Twin/Tone that night, and would soon become the band's manager. Skunk would break up in 1991 and their drummer, Claude Coleman, Jr., would play a few shows with Ween in 1992 before joining the band full-time in 1994.


title: Ween

text: Ween's debut album for Twin/Tone, "", was released on November 16, 1990. It consisted of 26 tracks that were written during their first six years, and can be thought of as a "best of" this era. Some of the songs, such as "You Fucked Up" and "Bumblebee", had already appeared on various Ween cassettes from the late '80s. "You Fucked Up", "Fat Lenny", "Nan", and the retitled Prince cover "L.M.L.Y.P." would become staples of the band's live show for years to come. Ween played their first overseas shows in support of the album, with a series of dates in the Netherlands in December/January 1990–91.


title: Ween

text: The band released their second full-length album, "The Pod", in 1991 on the Shimmy-Disc label. It was recorded on a four-track cassette recorder from January to October 1990. The album borrows its title from the Solebury Township, Pennsylvania apartment in which it was recorded. The duo's use of drum machines, pitch-shifted guitars/vocals and drug-laced humor became a trademark part of their sound. The cover of "The Pod" was a parody of the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen album, "The Best of Leonard Cohen", but with the head of Chris "Mean Ween" Williams (who played bass on the "Pod" track "Alone") in place of Cohen's. Although the liner notes claim the album was recorded under the influence of scotchgard, Freeman would later say that this was tongue-in-cheek. Following the release of "The Pod", Ween embarked on their first extensive U.S. tour, as well as a week-long U.K. tour that included a recording with John Peel in the BBC studio. The February 1992 U.K. tour would be Ween's first performances with Claude Coleman Jr., and also featured Shimmy-Disc founder Kramer on bass.


title: Ween

text: Ween signed with Elektra Records and released their major label debut "Pure Guava" on November 10, 1992. Pure Guava featured their highest charting single, "Push th' Little Daisies" which gained them media and MTV attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV's "Beavis and Butt-Head". The song was also a hit in Australia, reaching #18 on the singles chart. The track "Flies on My Dick" featured lead vocals by Guy Heller, singer of Melchiondo's other band, Moistboyz. Heller would occasionally perform the song live with Ween. Ween toured the U.S. in support of the album, and the show of December 9 in Chapel Hill, NC would later be released as the CD/DVD package "At the Cat's Cradle, 1992" in 2008. Also in support of "Pure Guava", Ween performed at "MTV's Spring Break" in Daytona Beach, FL as well as on "The Jane Pratt Show".


title: Ween

text: Following the release of "Pure Guava", Ween began to expand their live and studio lineup, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup. Claude Coleman Jr. officially joined the band as drummer in March 1994, while Ween's long-time producer Andrew Weiss picked up the bass duties. The Weiss-produced "Chocolate and Cheese" was released in 1994, featuring tracks influenced by '70s pop/rock and soul, such as "Freedom of '76" and "Voodoo Lady", the latter of which appeared on the "Road Trip" and "Dude, Where's My Car?" soundtracks. The "Freedom of '76" music video was directed by Spike Jonze and the video for "I Can't Put My Finger On It" was filmed at a Middle Eastern restaurant and featured actual employees of the restaurant. Both videos would be shown on season 5 of "Beavis and Butt-Head" in 1995. Ween performed "I Can't Put My Finger On It" on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in January 1995. The "Chocolate and Cheese" track "Roses Are Free" began being covered by Phish regularly in concert in 1997. Freeman would later comment: "I like Trey Anastasio as a person, but as far as the music goes, all that jam band shit makes me want to puke". In 2011, "Chocolate and Cheese" would have a book written about it by Hank Shteamer, as a part of the 33⅓ book series about music albums. Of recording the album, Dean Ween said, "I saw someone wrote a book about Chocolate and Cheese, and my son put it in the bathroom. I was reading through it. What people were saying about me and Aaron [Freeman, aka Gene Ween] was that there was all this thought that went into this shit. It's total bullshit. We wrote a lot of material—it was good, we knew it was good—we picked our favorite songs and we put them out on the record. That was it. [Laughter.] And that's been true of every record I've made, from the first Ween record to the second Dean Ween record."


title: Ween

text: One month prior to the release of "Chocolate and Cheese", Ween appeared in the Saturday Night Live film "It's Pat", starring Julia Sweeney. The band (which in the film consisted of Freeman, Melchiondo, Weiss, and Weiss' brother John Weiss as the drummer) was featured in a supporting role and performed the "Pod" track "Pork Roll, Egg & Cheese" and the "Pure Guava" track "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)". The film was both a critical and box office failure, and was subsequently pulled from theaters one week after its opening weekend.


title: Ween

text: Also in 1994, Freeman, Melchiondo and Coleman collaborated with Japanese noise rock band Boredoms on a project released two years later as "Z-Rock Hawaii". Melchiondo became a big fan of Boredoms upon seeing them live in Philadelphia in 1993, calling them "the heaviest band [he] had ever seen since the Butthole Surfers". Boredoms frontman Yamantaka Eye had previously released an album that heavily sampled Ween's "Pod" album. These recording sessions took place in a Pennington, New Jersey studio during the recording of "Chocolate and Cheese".


title: Ween

text: Ween turned to Nashville studio musicians and producer Ben Vaughn for the November 1995 recording of "12 Golden Country Greats" (1996) which contained only ten tracks. There are two theories regarding the title of the album. The first claim is that it refers to the dozen veteran musicians, known as The Shit Creek Boys, who played on the album. The second claim refers to the fact that the band did indeed record twelve songs during the demo sessions for the album. When it came time to record the actual album, the band chose not to use the songs "I Got No Darkside" and "So Long, Jerry" but kept the album title. "So Long, Jerry", a tribute to the then recently deceased Jerry Garcia, was featured as a B-Side on the "Piss Up a Rope" single. Sticking to Nashville tradition, Freeman and Melchiondo provided only vocals, allowing The Shit Creek Boys to play all the instruments. Elvis Presley's former backing vocal quartet The Jordanaires appeared on the tracks "I'm Holding You" and "Powder Blue".


title: Ween

text: After a brief return to the original lineup of Freeman, Melchiondo and the DAT machine for a series of dates opening for the Foo Fighters, Ween toured with the Shit Creek Boys in October 1996. This lineup performed not only "12 Golden Country Greats" material, but also played Ween songs from previous eras with added country instrumentation, including the "Pure Guava" tracks "Pumpin' 4 the Man" and "Push th' Little Daisies" and the "Chocolate and Cheese" tracks "What Deaner Was Talkin' About" and "Buenas Tardes Amigo". Parts of the show of October 23 at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre would later be released as the album, "Live in Toronto Canada" (2001).


title: Ween

text: The nautically themed album "The Mollusk" followed in 1997. The album was another eclectic set showing Ween's penchant for satire, deconstruction, and pastiche, including 1960s Brit-pop, sea shanties, Broadway show tunes, and especially progressive rock. Months prior to its release, Freeman would describe the album as "our dark, acid rock record". In 2007, Melchiondo himself named "The Mollusk" his favorite among Ween's oeuvre. "The Mollusk" was the album to finally feature studio recordings of "Buckingham Green" and "The Blarney Stone", both of which had been performed regularly in concert for years. Although they did not play on the album, bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Glenn McClelland joined the band in April 1997; their debut was a performance of the "Mollusk" track "The Golden Eel" on an episode of the Comedy Central show "Viva Variety". The lineup of Freeman-Melchiondo-McClelland-Dreiwitz-Coleman would remain the same until Ween's hiatus in 2012.


title: Ween

text: Following the release of "The Mollusk", Ween contributed two songs to two different Trey Parker/Matt Stone projects. The song "Love" appeared in the film "Orgazmo" in September 1997. The song "The Rainbow", as well as Freeman and Melchiondo themselves, appeared in a season 2 episode of "South Park", titled "Chef Aid" in October 1998. It was later released on the compilation "". Parker & Stone later directed the music video for the "White Pepper" track "Even If You Don't". The band's desire to pursue alternate forms of media led to the MP3-only release "Craters of the Sac" (1999), presented by Melchiondo for online download and free trade. Elektra Records released a live compilation titled "" in 1999.


title: Ween

text: Ween's sixth studio album, "White Pepper", was the band's final studio release for Elektra and was released May 2, 2000. The pop-themed, Lennon-McCartney–inspired album produced two singles: "Even If You Don't", which was made into a music video directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and "Stay Forever". Shortly after the release of "White Pepper", Ween started the Internet radio station WeenRadio, which was awarded third best Internet music site by "Rolling Stone". In July 2000, Ween performed the "White Pepper" track "Exactly Where I'm At" on the "Late Show with David Letterman".


title: Ween

text: In November 2000, Ween contributed the song "Loop de Loop" for the "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode "Your Shoe's Untied". SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg had contacted Ween and told them that "The Mollusk" was one of the show's biggest inspirations. Many future episodes of SpongeBob would also contain subtle references to Ween. Additionally, the "Mollusk" track "Ocean Man" was featured in the closing credits of "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" in 2004. Ween also teamed up with Ben Vaughn to compose and perform the theme song and the interstitial music for the sitcom "Grounded for Life" which aired from 2001–2005.


title: Ween

text: Ween formed their own label in 2001, Chocodog Records, which oversaw the release of several self-produced live sets. "Paintin' the Town Brown", which was compiled and mastered by the band, was meant to be the first Chocodog release. According to Melchiondo, once the album was completed, Elektra realized the sales potential of the CD and denied Ween the right to release it through Chocodog. Later, Ween released the first official Chocodog album, "Live in Toronto". The limited-pressing CD, available exclusively through the band website, became an instant collector's item. Subsequent Chocodog releases were produced in higher volumes to meet demand. To celebrate the re-release of the band's debut album "GodWeenSatan: The Oneness", Ween returned to the original lineup of Freeman, Melchiondo, and the DAT to perform the album in its entirety on September 14, 2001, at John and Peter's in New Hope. Taping was not permitted at this show; not for long was it "the ultimate unreleased bootleg" as Melchiondo called it; it was released in 2016 as "GodWeenSatan Live".


title: Ween

text: On August 7, 2002, Claude Coleman Jr. was seriously injured in a car accident on Route 78 near Newark, New Jersey, suffering a broken back and pelvis. Ween quickly organized a couple of benefit shows at New York City's Bowery Ballroom in October to help cover his medical bills. Ween recruited Vandals drummer Josh Freese to perform at these gigs as well as on the band's next album, "Quebec". Coleman would make his comeback in December, backing up Freeman at an acoustic show in Brooklyn. Also in December, Ween would release the three-disc "Live at Stubb's", which contained parts of two performances in Austin, Texas from July 2000 during the "White Pepper" tour.


title: Ween

text: Ween signed to Sanctuary Records and released "Quebec", their first studio release in three years, on August 5, 2003. "Quebec" was noticeably darker in tone than much of Ween's work; according to Freeman, many of the songs were written as he was going through a divorce: "I wrote most of these songs right before the end [of the relationship]. A lot of these songs are about that. Even if it's not direct, you can feel the beginning of the end of the breakup in these songs." Melchiondo would add, "I like it as a record, but it's very negative. It's one of our darker records, I think. I don't listen to any of our records, but I have "never" listened to that one." On September 3, Ween performed the "Quebec" track "Happy Colored Marbles" on "Last Call with Carson Daly".


title: Ween

text: Later that year, the band held a poll on their official message boards to select songs for the band to play on their forthcoming live-in-studio album "All Request Live". Released on November 22, the album would feature a performance of all five parts of "The Stallion" (Parts 1 & 2 from "The Pod", Part 3 from ""Pure Guava"", the unreleased Part 4 from the demos for ""Chocolate and Cheese"", and Part 5 from Craters of the Sac). On November 3, 2017, they would perform "The Stallion Suite" live at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX. All Request Live also included rarely played early Ween tracks such as "Pollo Asado", "Mononucleosis", and "Cover it with Gas and Set it on Fire", and Ween's rejected Pizza Hut jingle, "Where'd the Cheese Go?".


title: Ween

text: In 2004, Ween released "Live in Chicago", a DVD and CD set that compiled tracks from two live performances from the "Quebec" tour at Chicago's Vic Theatre in November 2003. After playing the festival circuit in the summer, Ween hit the road for a West Coast tour in October. Following the show of October 17 in San Diego, Ween's manager Greg Frey announced that the upcoming Midwest tour would be canceled so Freeman could enter alcohol rehab. In the statement, Frey wrote: "There is a problem within the band, that requires immediate intervention, for the health, welfare, and safety of one of its members. For this member, years of touring have taken their toll." Ween would take a year-long hiatus from touring before hitting the road again in October 2005.


title: Ween

text: In 2005, Ween hit the studio to record better quality versions of previously unreleased songs for the compilation "Shinola, Vol. 1". The twelve tracks were all, according to Melchiondo, "songs we regretted not putting on other records". The tracks spanned the band's career, from "Tastes Good on th' Bun", a "Pod" outtake, to "Someday", a "Quebec" outtake. Different versions of three of the songs, "Big Fat Fuck", "How High Can You Fly?" and "Monique the Freak" had previously appeared on "Craters of the Sac". Melchiondo would later comment, "We called it Volume 1, but I don't know if I want to go through that again anytime soon".


title: Ween

text: In February 2006, Ween rented an old farmhouse and converted it into a working studio. After writing over 50 songs and recording rough versions through 2006, they picked through them and, with Andrew Weiss as a producer, re-recorded album versions for what would become "The Friends EP" and the full-length "La Cucaracha" which was released October 23, 2007, on Rounder Records. "La Cucaracha", which would prove to be Ween's final album, would later be called a "big piece of shit" by Freeman, adding, "I think the songs on it were good, or a bunch of songs, but overall that was a big clue Mickey and I were finito".


title: Ween

text: On September 21, 2008, Melchiondo announced on the official Ween website that they planned to release a CD-DVD combo before Christmas of that year. He stated, "This time we're going to be going all the way back to the days when we were still a duo with a cassette deck in the early 90s. It's probably the brownest CD on the Chocodog label yet." That CD was titled "At the Cat's Cradle" and was recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. The package also included a DVD featuring some video of performances from the same era.


title: Ween

text: Although Freeman had occasionally played solo acoustic shows before 2008, he turned his focus towards these shows—billed as "Gene Ween"—following the "La Cucaracha" tour. In December 2008, he began performing with "The Gene Ween Band", which featured Dreiwitz on bass along with Joe Russo on drums and Scott Metzger on guitar. The set-lists of these shows featured more obscure Ween songs rarely played at Ween shows, a few covers, as well as numerous Freeman-penned songs being performed for the first time. Freeman would perform dozens of shows both solo and with the Gene Ween Band from 2008 to 2011. His first solo record, "Marvelous Clouds", an album of Rod McKuen covers, would be released three weeks before Ween's breakup.


title: Ween

text: While Freeman was working on non-Ween musical projects, Melchiondo turned his focus to fishing. Melchiondo, who spent a lot of time in his youth at his parents' beach house in Beach Haven, New Jersey, became a licensed fishing boat captain and hosted a web series, "Brownie Troop Fishing Show", from 2008 to 2011. As of 2015, he still offers trips on his website, "Mickey's Guide Service", running them out of New Hope as well as Belmar, NJ. In 2013, it was announced that Trey Parker and Matt Stone would be producing a pilot for a reality television show about fishing, starring Melchiondo and Les Claypool.


title: Ween

text: On February 3, 2010, Ween released a new song, "DC Won't Do You No Good", that became available through a Target Cancer website. On July 28, 2010, the "National Post" featured an article, with an interview with Melchiondo, in which it was stated that the band is due in the studio this winter to start work on their tenth album.


title: Ween

text: Ween embarked on a brief West Coast tour at the beginning of 2011. The first show of the tour, January 24 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, was a turning point in Ween's history. It was noticeable from the start that something was off with Freeman, who played the tambourine off-beat on the first song, "Fiesta". His vocals were off-key throughout the night, and he appeared to be heavily intoxicated. Eventually, Freeman lay down on stage while the rest of the band played an instrumental, jam version of the Carpenters song "Superstar". As Freeman began tuning his guitar in preparation for "Birthday Boy", Melchiondo and Dreiwitz walked off the stage, while Coleman and McClelland switched instruments. After "Birthday Boy" was finished, Coleman and McClelland left Freeman to play the final four songs by himself and horribly off-key. Despite this disaster, the band performed in Seattle, Washington, the following night with no issues. Freeman later wrote a song about the Vancouver incident, "Covert Discretion", which appeared as the opening track to self-titled debut album, by his new band, called Freeman, in 2014. That same year, he commented, "You don't blow it on stage, lying on your back, screaming nonsense in front of 5,000 people and not try to change something. Chances are when you're doing something like that, you've got to do something differently."


title: Ween

text: On August 11, 2011, Melchiondo quietly released an MP3-only collection of songs called "The Caesar Demos", named after the band's original working title for "Quebec", to friends on his Facebook page. In his comment, he stated the songs were all recorded between 2001 and 2003 while Claude Coleman was recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident, and that many of the tracks featured only himself and Freeman. In addition to a handful of tracks that eventually made "Quebec", "Caesar Demos" would also feature several previously unreleased tracks. Freeman was not happy with Melchiondo's decision to release "Caesar Demos" without consulting him. Posting on the band's official message boards under the handle "Taer", Freeman commented: "The Caesar demo release was the straw that broke the camels (sic) back. Nobody asked Gener before releasing...Deaner broke the golden rule. the Boognish wept that day."


title: Ween

text: Freeman announced to "Rolling Stone" on May 29, 2012, that he was "retiring Gene Ween", and a few days later, Ween's manager, Greg Frey, told fans on Facebook that Freeman had decided to "end his musical relationship with Ween", in order to "more fully explore and pursue his solo career". Melchiondo appeared to be unaware of this, stating, "This is news to me, all I can say for now I guess". On July 20, Melchiondo addressed the supposed "breakup" and stated "I can only speak for myself, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as Aaron and I are both alive on this planet, Ween is still together. We've never broken up. The idea of quitting is just laughable. This isn't something you can quit. This is a life sentence."


title: Ween

text: Later, Freeman confirmed his departure from Ween was triggered by his desire to remain sober, saying "All that matters to me is that I'm getting sober. Becoming an out of control drug addict and alcoholic is my own fault and I take responsibility for it. I HAD to leave the Ween organization to stay sober."


title: Ween

text: Although no one knew it at the time, Ween's final performances for more than four years were a three-night run at Denver's Fillmore Auditorium December 29–31, 2011, with "The Blarney Stone" being the final song performed by the band until their 2016 reunion. Melchiondo quickly re-formed Moistboyz, which had been on a six-year hiatus, and also started a new band, The Dean Ween Group. Freeman played solo shows until 2014, when he began touring and recording with his new band, "Freeman". In 2015, Freeman began using the Gene Ween moniker again for live performances.


title: Ween

text: On November 16, 2015, Ween announced that they would reunite for two concerts at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado on February 12 and 13, 2016. During ticket presale, a third show was added on February 14, 2016 due to demand. Throughout 2016, Ween played sporadic reunion shows in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. The band also made festival appearances in Toronto, Chicago, Portland, Arrington, Virginia, Okeechobee, Florida, and Manchester, Tennessee, for Bonnaroo, which was streamed online via Red Bull TV. The band was also due to appear in April at Levitation Festival in Austin, which was canceled the day before the weekend began.


title: Ween

text: A sequel to the first outtakes collection, "Shinola vol. 1", was confirmed to be in the works by Dean Ween on Facebook in January 2016. On October 19, 2016 the band announced the release of the live album "GodWeenSatan Live", which was recorded on September 14, 2001, and features the band performing its debut album in its entirety. It was released on November 16, 2016. On June 1, 2018, Warner Brothers released a compilation album titled "Bananas and Blow"; according to Melchiondo, the band had no knowledge of the compilation until it was released. Melchiondo noted that the song choice for the compilation felt "random".


title: Ween

text: Like most concert tours by music artists in 2020, Ween's touring was disrupted by COVID-19; dates for June and July were postponed into 2021.


title: Ween

text: On August 9 and 10, 2022, Ween played the South Park 25th Anniversary Concert alongside Primus and South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. It was broadcast on Comedy Central on August 13 and on Paramount+ on August 14.


title: Ween

text: Ween is known for its far-reaching musical approach which takes influence from many different genres of music. This style has been termed alternative rock and experimental rock by critics and journalists. Melchiondo once stated, "Each of us had different things in our record collections that the other one didn't have. Aaron's dad had a lot of psychedelic records, I was really into punk rock, and we would just turn each other on to music." Freeman remarked in 2011, "I think when Ween formed I was really into the synthesizer New Wave thing of the mid-'80s and Mickey was more into the punk rock thing".


title: Ween

text: Both Freeman and Melchiondo have stated several times that one of the band's biggest influences was Prince. The "GodWeenSatan" track "L.M.L.Y.P." borrows lyrics from two Prince songs, "Alphabet St." and "Shockadelica". Additionally, on rare occasions, Ween has jammed on Prince's "Kiss", placing it in the middle of "Voodoo Lady" during live performances. Other Prince songs covered in concert by Ween include "1999", "Housequake", and "Purple Rain". In 2012, Melchiondo remarked on his website that "by far, hands down the greatest living guitarist in any genre is Prince Rogers Nelson. Prince does so many things well that it's easy to forget that he is also a world class shredder."


title: Ween

text: Other stated influences include The Beatles, Parliament-Funkadelic, the Butthole Surfers, Pink Floyd, the Dead Kennedys, Laurie Anderson, The Allman Brothers Band, James Brown, Devo, The Residents and Earth, Wind and Fire. In concert, Ween has frequently covered songs by David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Motörhead, Van Halen, The Doors, Frank Sinatra, and Billy Joel.


title: Ween

text: Because of Ween's wide variety of styles and humorous lyrics, they have often been compared to Frank Zappa. Both members have denied Zappa's influence, and in a 2011 interview Freeman stated that although he was influenced by The Mothers of Invention, he was never a fan of Zappa's post-Mothers work. Melchiondo says he is not a fan of Zappa because Zappa's take on different genres of music seem sarcastic and insincere. Freeman performed the Mothers-era Zappa song "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" at the Frank Zappa Day Festival in Baltimore in September 2011.


title: Ween

text: From Ween's earliest days, they claimed to be "sprouted from the demon-god Boognish". The image of the Boognish is the band's logo. Boognish is also featured in the lyrics of several Ween songs, including "Up on th' Hill", "Pass the Bong", and "The Stallion, pt. 4". The band coined their own term "brown", which is used to describe performances, songs, etc. that are "fucked up, in a good way". The word "brown" is also featured in the lyrics of the songs "Can't Put My Finger on It", "Mutilated Lips", "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)", and "Chocolate Town," as well as the title of the band's live album "Paintin' the Town Brown". Another commonly used word is "waste" ("Can U Taste the Waste?", "Tender Situation", "Chocolate Town", and "Back to Basom").


title: Ween

text: The band's lyrics also commonly contain references to the band's members, frequent collaborators, and friends, including Freeman ("I Saw Gener Cryin' In His Sleep", "Up on th' Hill", and "Puffy Cloud"), Melchiondo ("What Deaner Was Talkin' About", "Puffy Cloud", "The Stallion, pt. 2", and "Leave Deaner Alone"), Williams ("Booze Me Up and Get Me High" and "Sketches of Winkle"), Weiss ("Pass the Bong" and "Booze Me Up and Get Me High"), and Larry "Eddie Dingle" Curtin ("Nan", "Laura", "Pork Roll, Egg & Cheese", and "Molly"). Coleman states that the song "I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm" was written about him not wanting to leave his then-girlfriend to go on tour, but denied that "Waving My Dick In the Wind" was about him, calling the idea "complete nonsense."


title: Ween

text: Ween has also been known for countless references to food, most notably the New Jersey regional favorite pork roll, found in the lyrics to four "Pod" tracks: "Pork Roll, Egg & Cheese", "Frank", "Awesome Sound", and "She Fucks Me". The "Pod" track "Pollo Asado" features Freeman giving a rendition of a conversation he had with a customer while he worked at New Hope's El Taco Loco. The liner notes of "" instructed Ween fans to bring food for the band to their concerts, with the request updated in the liner notes of "Pure Guava" to "bring us hot meals. No more junk food, thanks".


title: Gin Tama

text: The series has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) by Sunrise and was featured at Jump Festa 2006 Anime Tour in 2005. This was followed by a full 367-episode anime television series, which debuted in April 2006 on TV Tokyo, and finished in October 2018. Three animated films have been produced. The premiered in April 2010. The premiered in July 2013. premiered in January 2021. Besides the anime series, there have been various light novels and video games based on "Gin Tama".</onlyinclude> A live-action film adaptation of the same name was released in July 2017 in Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures.


title: Gin Tama

text: The manga has been licensed by Viz Media in North America. In addition to publishing the individual volumes of the series, Viz serialized its first chapters in their "Shonen Jump" manga anthology. It debuted in the January 2007 issue and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month. Sentai Filmworks initially licensed the series. The website Crunchyroll purchased the anime's streaming rights and home video rights.


title: Gin Tama

text: In Japan, the "Gin Tama" manga has been popular, with over 55 million copies in print, making it one of the best-selling manga series. The anime and its DVDs have been featured, at various times, in the Top Ten rankings of their respective media, while TV Tokyo has announced that the first "Gin Tama" anime was responsible for high sales overseas along with the anime adaptation from "Naruto". Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on the "Gin Tama" manga. Positive responses have focused on the comedy and characters from the series, as well as its overarching plot and action choreography.


title: Gin Tama

text: The story is set in an alternate-history late-Edo period, where humanity is attacked by aliens called . Edo Japan's samurai fight to defend Earth, but the "shōgun" cowardly surrenders when he realizes the aliens' power. He agrees to an unequal contract with the aliens, placing a ban on carrying swords in public and allowing the invaders to enter the country. The samurai's swords are confiscated and the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate) becomes a puppet government.


title: Gin Tama

text: The series focuses on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata who works as an odd-jobs freelancer. He helps a teenager named Shinpachi Shimura save his sister Tae from an alien group that wants to send her to a brothel. Impressed by Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his freelance apprentice to pay the bills and learn more about the enigmatic samurai. When the pair rescues a teenage alien girl with super-strength, Kagura, from a Yakuza group, they accept her into their freelancing business and the three become known as .


title: Gin Tama

text: While working, they regularly encounter the Shinsengumi police force, who often ally with Gintoki when work involves dangerous criminals. The trio also meets Gintoki's former comrades from the Amanto invasion, including the revolutionary Kotaro Katsura who is friendly toward them despite his terrorist activities against the alien-controlled government.


title: Gin Tama

text: Although the story is mostly episodic, a few story arcs and recurring antagonists develop. For example, Gintoki's former comrade Shinsuke Takasugi is a major antagonist who regards Gintoki and his other former comrades as enemies and seeks to destroy the shogunate. Over time, Takasugi gains allies, including Kagura's brother Kamui, and the elite fighting unit Mimawarigumi to prepare for his large-scale "coup d'état". After the true antagonist—the immortal Utsuro—is introduced, Gintoki works with both friends and enemies to stop Utsuro from destroying the Earth.


title: Gin Tama

text: Hideaki Sorachi's main focus in "Gin Tama" is the use of gags; during the manga's second year of serialization, he started to add more drama to the story while still keeping the comedy. Various jokes from the manga are comments regarding elements from other manga series. For example, in the first chapter, after Gintoki fights a group of aliens to protect Shinpachi and Tae, Shinpachi complains that he only fought for "one page" and Gintoki replies, "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga artist!" Gintoki's exaggerated desire to read the "Weekly Shōnen Jump" (which causes him to fight other readers to get it) also makes fun of "shōnen" series, since during those parts characters quote them. Other types of comedic situations are more general so that the reader must know about Japanese culture to understand them. The humor is described by publications as being "bizarre" and "weird". It is also described as being divided between two categories: "sci-fi comedy" and a "samurai comedy" with the former referring to the aliens. It tends to point out "an irritating foible about modern society" including celebration days or famous mythical figures. Additionally, there are references to several historical figures with a few characters from the story being based on them. Besides the series' comedy, the aliens' invasion of Japan brings several social issues between them and the humans with the most recurring one being the lack of social equality. As a result, one of the main themes involves society trying to preserve their way of living rather than fulfilling a dream like in other "shōnen" series.


title: Gin Tama

text: In 2003, Hideaki Sorachi was an up-and-coming manga artist who had already created two one-shots for the "Weekly Shōnen Jump" magazine. Although he was preparing to write his first serialized series, his editor suggested he create a manga series based on the Shinsengumi, mostly inspired by an upcoming TV drama about the 1860s troupe as depicted by idol actors. Sorachi attempted to create this series since he admitted to liking the Shinsengumi but ultimately failed to get anything off the ground. Instead of abandoning the idea completely, he remained focused on the historical Japanese era but began to create his own story, adding in elements of science fiction and fictionalizing many of the figures from the era to create a story more to his liking. The original title of the series was meant to be , but it did not have any impact on Sorachi. After a great debate, he decided to go with the name "Gin Tama" after discussing it with his family, deciding on a name that sounded close to the edge without being completely off it. Although Sorachi considered the one-shot "Samuraider" to be very poor, the setting of one-shot served as the base for "Gin Tama" such as the addition of alien characters. Sorachi liked the Bakumatsu and Sengoku periods due to how both were eras of change and thus presented the positive and negative points of humanity. The series was then set in an alternate Bakumatsu to give a bigger significance to the characters' bushido as in that time samurais were at the low point of their lives. Sorachi also cited the manga series "Rurouni Kenshin" (1994–1999), set during the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods, as a major source of inspiration.


title: Gin Tama

text: The main character of the series was originally meant to be Toshiro Hijikata as Sorachi was a fan of the Shinsengumi, most notably from Hijikata Toshizō (the Shinsengumi who was the base for the one of "Gin Tama") after he saw the film "Burn! Sword!". When Sorachi could not "shake off" Hijikata's initial design, he decided not to use him as the lead character but added him along with the Shinsengumi to the story. The pilot chapter from the series had a different plot to the one from the serialization: Shinpachi already met Gintoki in the story and there were more Shinsengumi to the story such as one based on Harada Sanosuke. As all these new Shinsengumi were older than most of the recurring characters from the series, Sorachi removed them thinking they were not entertaining. When asked by a fan, Sorachi mentioned that most characters from the series are based on real-life Edo citizens while Gintoki's character is roughly based on the folk hero Sakata no Kintoki.


title: Gin Tama

text: When starting serialization the manga was unpopular and was close to being canceled. Although Sorachi was pleased with the first "tankōbon" selling all of its copies, he later learned Shueisha was afraid of poor sales which resulted in the minimum printed. To increase its popularity, the author introduced new characters, the Shinsengumi, who felt memorable to his assistants. Sorachi had little hope on the manga's popularity, as he noted that people used to tell him the manga would not surpass the number of two "tankōbon" volumes. However, once the third volume was released, Sorachi found that he did not have "any fresh material to use." During the first year of the series, Sorachi believed that the source of the popularity of "Gin Tama" was partially connected to the Shinsengumi drama. While the drama ran during the first year of the series, when the manga was mostly shorter stories that established the characters and the world, he felt uncomfortable making things related to the drama. By the second year and beyond, he became more daring in his stories and concepts, creating longer storylines that included more drama while keeping his sense of humor and satirization of modern Japan by way of his fictionalized past.


title: Gin Tama

text: When working on a chapter of Gintama, Sorachi sometimes had problems finishing the manuscript, leaving his supervisor to take it before he can revise it. He figured out what to write by staying in his room or going for a walk. Although he commented that some of his ideas are "random," he focused on the fact that they are all related to the manga, and when he had problems coming up with ideas, Sorachi was often helped by his editor. Thinking of "Gin Tama" as a "non-sense manga," before writing a chapter, Sorachi decided whether it should be a comedy or a drama. Sorachi defined "Gin Tama" as a "science fiction human drama pseudo-historical comedy."


title: Gin Tama

text: When Sorachi illustrated "Gin Tama", he usually used a felt-tip pen, a fountain pen, a brush-tip pen, and a multiliner, but for the major characters, he only used a felt-tip pen and a fountain pen and did their outlines with a multiliner-0.8.


title: Gin Tama

text: "Gin Tama" is written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. The manga started in Shueisha's "shōnen" manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump" on December 8, 2003. Shueisha published the first chapters of "Gin Tama" online on their "Weekly Shōnen Jump" official website. In August 2018 it was announced that the manga would end on September 15 in "Weekly Shōnen Jump", however, it was later announced on September 15 that the manga would be transferred to "Jump Giga". It ran in three consecutive issues from December 28, 2018, to February 22, 2019. In February 2019, it was announced that the manga would continue in a free "Gin Tama" app. The new chapter was published on May 13, 2019. The final 704th chapter of the series was initially announced to be published on June 17, 2019, however, it was delayed to June 20. Shueisha has been collecting the chapters in "tankōbon" volumes with the first being published on April 2, 2004. The series ended with its 77th volume, published on August 2, 2019.


title: Gin Tama

text: Viz Media licensed "Gin Tama" for publication in North America. A 55-page preview from the series was first featured in the January 2006 "Shonen Jump" issue. Viz acquired the license to publish chapters from the series in the "Shonen Jump" during the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2006. The chapters were serialized in "Shonen Jump" from January to May 2007 at a rate of one chapter a month. The "tankōbon" volumes were published under Viz's "Shonen Jump Advanced" imprint. The first volume was published on July 3, 2007, while on August 2, 2011, Viz published the twenty-third volume. Publication of the series by Viz Media ended with that volume with no reasons given.


title: Gin Tama

text: The Spanish Glénat–EDT edition had already been stalled with 16 volumes in 2010. In August 2012 EDT's director, Joan Navarro claimed the last six volumes sold less than 600 copies, causing about €3,170 in losses each. After EDT had Shueisha's publishing rights withdrawn the following month, Gintama was one of several series not picked up by other publishers.


title: Gin Tama

text: Two animated specials of "Gin Tama" were developed by Sunrise for the Jump Festa Anime Tour 2005 and 2008. The first one, having the same title, is composed of various auto conclusive stories meant to introduce the characters from the series. The second special titled is initially set in the war between aliens and samurai and it is later revealed to be a hoax. On September 30, 2009, a DVD named "Gintama Jump Anime Tour 2008 & 2005" was published by Aniplex. It contains the 2005 and 2008 specials and an audio commentary. In "Weekly Shōnen Jump"s 34th issue of 2014, it was announced that the "Gin Tama" anime would return for a one-episode special for the year's Jump Festa. The anime special DVD was bundled with the limited edition of the 58th manga volume released on April 3, 2015. The fourth special was released in 2015.


title: Gin Tama

text: An anime adaptation by Sunrise debuted on TV Tokyo on April 4, 2006. The first ninety-nine episodes were initially directed by Shinji Takamatsu. Episodes 100 to 105 were directed by Takamatsu and Yoichi Fujita, while the following episodes are being directed only by Fujita. The subtitle for the "Gintama" anime could be loosely translated as "The starting point is the utmost importance for anything, so trying to outdo oneself is just about right." In January 2009, Fujita mentioned he was not going to work in the fourth season of the series starting in such year. However, in February 2009, it was confirmed that the anime would continue for a fourth year, once again directed by Fujita. The series ended on March 25, 2010, with a total of 201 episodes.


title: Gin Tama

text: In Japan, Aniplex distributes the anime in DVD format. A total of thirteen volumes were released for the first season, between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007. The second season was released over another set of thirteen volumes between July 25, 2007, and July 23, 2008. Season 3 was also released in thirteen volumes from August 27, 2008, to August 26, 2009. The fourth season was collected released in thirteen DVD volumes from October 28, 2009, to October 27, 2010.


title: Gin Tama

text: In November 2008, an agreement was reached between TV Tokyo and the streaming video service Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll would stream English-subtitled episodes for free one week after they had aired in Japan. Paying subscribers can watch new episodes an hour after they air in Japan. On January 8, 2009, Crunchyroll uploaded their first episode (episode 129) to the service. Alongside new episodes each week, Crunchyroll also uploads episodes from the beginning of the series. The anime is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, with distribution from Section23 Films. Section23 Films' Chris Oarr commented that only the first two seasons were licensed, with an option on the rest. The first collection containing thirteen English-subtitled episodes was released on DVD, April 27, 2010. Only 49 episodes were released before the releases stalled. However, shortly after licensing the "Gin Tama" film, Sentai Filmworks announced that based on the film's performance, they would consider releasing more of the series in North America, possibly with an English dub. An English subtitled version of the series began airing on Shorts HD on July 12, 2015. On July 1, 2016, Crunchyroll announced that they would re-release the series on Blu-ray and DVD with an English dub. On November 23, 2019, it was announced that Hulu would add an English dub for the first season to their service beginning on December 1, 2019.


title: Gin Tama

text: On April 5, 2010, TV Tokyo stations began airing high-definition reruns of older episodes of "Gintama" under the title , the title being a parody of the "best of" reruns of the anime "Sazae-san". In addition to being broadcast in HD, new opening and ending animations and themes have been made. The opening and ending for episodes 1–9 are Does's and . Starting with episode 10 and going to 26, the opening was changed to Joe Inoue's and the ending was changed to Vijandeux's "WAVE". Starting with episode 27, the opening changed to Chiaki Kuriyama's and the ending changed to Azu's "IN MY LIFE". Starting with episode 40, the opening changed to FLiP's and the ending changed to Piko's .


title: Gin Tama

text: In March 2010, Yoichi Fujita hinted the anime would continue once the staff gets enough material to work on it. Shinji Takamatsu claimed the TV series "is absolutely not over. It hasn't even begun yet! It will definitely return." In December 2010, Shueisha stated that the "Gintama" anime would resume in April 2011. , the sequel to the original "Gintama" anime, premiered in Japan on April 4, 2011. The main staff from the first TV series remain in "Gintama" with Fujita as the director. Crunchyroll simulcasted the premiere of "Gintama" to subscribers from its site. The first DVD from the series was released on July 27, 2011. The episode released on September 26, 2011, contains "Sket Dance" as a crossover special. The series ended on March 26, 2012, with a total of 51 episodes, which were collected in thirteen DVDs by Aniplex.


title: Gin Tama

text: The series premiered on TV Tokyo on October 4, 2012. It is a continuation of the second "Gintama" anime that ended in March 2012. The main staff from the second TV series remain in Gintama with Yoichi Fujita as the director. The series ended on March 28, 2013, with a total of 13 episodes The episodes were collected in a total of four DVDs from December 19, 2012, to May 22, 2013.


title: Gin Tama

text: On December 21, 2014, during Jump Festa's super stage event, it was announced that a new Gintama TV series was in the works for an April 2015 premiere. The cast of Yorozuya; Tomokazu Sugita (Gintoki), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Shinpachi), and Rie Kugimiya (Kagura) attended the event. A key visual was also revealed.


title: Gin Tama

text: The new series aired on TV Tokyo and its affiliates for 51 episodes from April 8, 2015, to March 30, 2016, which also aired the previous seasons.


title: Gin Tama

text: Crunchyroll began streaming an English dub of the first 12 episodes of the series on February 1, 2017. 12 additional episodes were added weekly.


title: Gin Tama

text: A new season of Gintama was announced via "Weekly Shōnen Jump" in September 2016. On November 27, 2016, it was announced that the new season would premiere on January 9, 2017, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates. The staff from the "Gintama°" anime series returned to reprise their roles in this season.


title: Gin Tama

text: An anime, adapting the skipped comedic arcs taking place before the events of the Shogun Assassination Arc, began airing in October 2017. The series spanned 13 episodes and ran until December 25.


title: Gin Tama

text: Sunrise announced that the final arc of the manga would be adapted into an anime series and began airing on January 7, 2018, spanning 12 episodes and running until March 25. In March of the same year, it was announced that the series would go on a hiatus until July. The series resumed on July 8 and ran for another 14 episodes until October 7, 2018.


title: Gin Tama

text: There have been three films based on the franchise. The first one is , a retelling of the Benizakura arc from "Gin Tama" in which Kotaro Katsura is attacked by a member of the army Kiheitai, and Odd Jobs Gin start searching for him. One of the TV commercials of the film teases that the "true last scene" of the anime is in the film. It premiered on April 24, 2010, picking up US$2.118.342 on 90 screens during its first days, and earned US$12.86 million in total. Sentai Filmworks released the film in both DVD and Blu-ray format in North America on May 29, 2012, as "Gintama: The Motion Picture". Manga Entertainment distributed the film in the United Kingdom while Madman Entertainment published it in Australia.


title: Gin Tama

text: A second film was announced in August 2012 by the "Weekly Shonen Jump" with the script being written this time by Hideaki Sorachi. It is titled "" and follows Gintoki as he travels to a future where he has to deal with a mysterious group of sorcerers. It was released in Japan on July 6, 2013. Although the film is marketed as "Final" director Yoichi Fujita commented they would make a continuation if it became a hit. The film managed to surpass the success of its predecessor.


title: Gin Tama

text: A third film was announced in August 2019 by the manga's 77th volume. The film, titled "Gintama: The Final" in Japan and "" in the West, premiered on January 8, 2021. It adapts the finale of the original manga, combined with new story elements. Spyair performs the film's theme song , while Does performs an insert song. A "" card illustrated by Sorachi, depicting Tanjiro Kamado and the Hashira, were given to the theatergoers in the film's first week of screenings. An anime special "Gintama The Semi-Final", tied into the film, premiered on January 15, 2021, on the dTV online service, with the second episode released on January 20.


title: Gin Tama

text: In June 2016, Shueisha announced the series would have a live-action adaptation. It premiered on July 14, 2017. The direction of the film as well as the script was handled by Yūichi Fukuda. The film stars Shun Oguri as Gintoki Sakata, along with Kanna Hashimoto as Kagura, and Masaki Suda as Shinpachi Shimura. The film follows a retelling of the franchise's successful Benizakura arc in which Kotaro Katsura is attacked by a member of the army Kiheitai, and Odd Jobs Gin starts searching for him.


title: Gin Tama

text: A sequel to the live-action was announced in November 2017 by Director Yuichi Fukuda and Shun Oguri and was slated to release in Summer 2018. In April 2018, it was announced that Shun Oguri, Kanna Hashimoto and Masaki Suda would reprise their roles as Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi respectively. The film was also given a working title of "Gintama 2 (Kari)" or "Gintama 2 (Working title)". which was eventually replaced by the final name, remaining as "Gintama 2: Okite wa Yaburu tame ni koso Aru". ("Gintama 2: Rules are Made to be Broken"). The film premiered on August 17, 2018, raising 280 million yen on its first day, selling a million tickets in just 7 days.


title: Gin Tama

text: Along with the release of the film, a 3-episode miniseries called "Gintama 2 - Yonimo Kimyou na Gintama-chan" ("Gintama 2: The Strange and Unusual Gintama-chan") was also premiered on dTV. The 3 episodes would be revealed one per week, starting on August 18. The names of them would be 1. "I can not sleep". 2. "Hijikata quits smoking". 3. "No matter how old you are, you hate going to the dentist". In only 7 days of its release, the first episode reached 4 million views.


title: Gin Tama

text: The 65th and 66th volumes of the manga were bundled with an original animation DVD each, the 65th manga volume that was released on August 4, 2016, and the 66th manga volume on November 4, 2016. Both OADs adapted the "Love Potion" arc in the manga.


title: Gin Tama

text: The music for the "Gin Tama" anime is composed by Audio Highs. On September 27, 2006, Audio Highs published the first CD soundtrack for the series known as "Gintama Original Soundtrack". It featured 36 tracks including the TV version from the first opening theme and the first two ending themes. The second CD soundtrack, "Gintama Original Soundtrack 2", was released on November 11, 2007. It included 40 tracks but it did not have TV versions of the opening and ending themes from the series. The next CD is "Gintama Original Soundtrack 3" published on June 24, 2009. It features a total of 28 tracks including the theme which was used as a gag in episode 100 from the series. The fourth and latest CD soundtrack is composed of thirty-four tracks and was released on March 21, 2013.


title: Gin Tama

text: Apart from soundtracks from the TV series, there have been three CDs known as which include the full versions from the opening and ending themes. Each of the CDs also has an extra DVD with the original videos. The two movies have also had their original CD soundtracks.


title: Gin Tama

text: A series of light novels based on the "Gin Tama" manga has been authored by Tomohito Ōsaki, illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, and published by Shueisha. They feature the series characters transposed to a school setting with Gintoki acting as their teacher. It is running in "Jump Square" under the title . The first novel was published on February 3, 2006. As of September 4, 2013, seven light novels have been published by Shueisha.


title: Gin Tama

text: A novelization of the second film has also been authored by Ōsaki and was released in 2013 alongside the film.


title: Gin Tama

text: In Japan, a PlayStation 2 "Gin Tama" game, , was released on August 30, 2007, and a Wii game, , was released on October 25, 2007. A game for the Nintendo DS called was released on December 6, 2007. Other two games for the DS include and . "Gin Tama" characters also appear in the "Weekly Shōnen Jump" crossover "Jump Super Stars" and its sequel, "Jump Ultimate Stars", both for Nintendo DS. Gintoki also appears as a playable fighter in the "Jump" crossover fighting game "J-Stars Victory VS" on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, with Kagura and Sadaharu acting as support. "Gintama's Sugoroku - 銀魂のすごろく" was released on January 24, 2013, for the PlayStation Portable by Namco Bandai Games. On August 31, 2017, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced "Gintama Rumble", a hack and slash action game for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita. On October 18, 2018, in the Japanese version and follow-up on July 22, 2020, including all other regional versions of the game, Gintama crossed over with The King of Fighters All Star, a mobile beat'em up a spinoff of The King of Fighters. In the original crossover Gintoki, Kagura, Kondo, Hijikata, Okita, and Takasuki as well as non-playable Shinpachi and Elizabeth in a few costumes such as Terry Bogard. In the second collab Katsura, White Yaksha Gintoki, Kamui, and a playable Elizabeth incorporating the costumes from the previous collab into their moveset.


title: Gin Tama

text: There have been various guidebooks for the "Gin Tama" manga and its anime. The first guidebook for the manga is released by Shueisha on April 4, 2006. It features characters files, an interview with Hideaki Sorachi, and original character stickers. The second book is which was published on May 5, 2009. Like the previous book, this one also has an interview with Sorachi and files for the new characters that have appeared in the series since the first guidebook's release. The first guidebook for the anime is named . It was published on April 4, 2008, to celebrate the airing of the anime's 100th episode. This guidebook features commentaries by the Japanese voice actors and the cast from the series. It was followed by on April 5, 2011. A series of three anime character guidebooks titled have also been published in Japan within 2010.


title: Gin Tama

text: The "Gin Tama" manga had 50 million volumes in print as of May 2016 and over 55 million as of February 2018. In March 2007, Shueisha announced that sales of the first volume had passed one million copies. Following volumes from the manga have also had good sales, having appeared various times in the Japanese comic ranking. The 17th volume from the manga ranked as the 10th bestseller volume from Japan during 2007. During 2008, the manga ranked as the 10th bestseller series with over 2.3 million copies sold. It also hit number 5 in Japan in the most sold manga in the first half of 2009 list, selling over 2.7 million volumes from November 17, 2008, to May 17, 2009.


title: Gin Tama

text: In 2008 "Gin Tama" was featured in two Oricon surveys; it ranked at the top as "funniest manga" and 5th in "most interesting manga". In another survey from 2009, it was listed as the sixth choice for what manga could be adapted into a live-action film. In a poll from Zassosha's "Puff" Japanese manga magazine, "Gin Tama" was second in the category "Best Long Stories". Fuji News Network has cited "Gin Tama" as one of the anime responsible for the wooden swords' popularity during 2008 as Hokkaido's retailers have experienced brisk sales in wooden swords to foreigners. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, "Gin Tama" ranked 12th.


title: Gin Tama

text: In North America, "Gin Tama" has ranked as the best new "shōnen" manga from 2007 in About.com's 2007 Readers Poll: Best New Shonen Manga. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Award from 2008, "Gin Tama" was nominated for the category "Best Manga - Comedy", losing to "Negima! Magister Negi Magi". English sales from the manga volumes have also been good with some of them having appeared in Diamond Comic Distributors's Top 300 Graphic Novels.


title: Gin Tama

text: The first "Gin Tama" light novel became the top-selling novel from Japan in 2006. The same achievement was made by the third novel during 2008. The anime adaptation has also been featured several times in the Japanese TV ranking, with the first two episodes having a rating of 5.6. DVD sales of the series have also been featured in the Japanese anime DVD ranking various times, while the third DVD of season 3 ranked ninth in the Japanese Amazon.com Top Ten of best sellers DVDs during 2008. In August 2008, TV Tokyo announced that "Gin Tama" and "Naruto" "contributed to robust sales of overseas rights in the last fiscal year which ended in March." In a poll from "Puff", "Gin Tama" won in the category "Best Animation". The DVD from the "Gin Tama" OVAs became the top-selling OVA in Japan in 2009, having sold 61,226 units after two weeks of being released. In the Oricon survey "2009's Top-Selling DVDs in Japan", the same DVD ranked at the top of the category "Animation/Special Effects DVDs" with a total of 76,000 units sold. The CD soundtrack "Gintama The Best" received the "Animation Album of the Year award" from the Kinema Junpo's "DVD Navigator" Japanese magazine.


title: Gin Tama

text: Critical response to the "Gin Tama" manga has generally been positive when it comes to gags. Carlo Santos from Anime News Network found the manga to be a "one-of-a-kind comedy" praising the characters' personalities and gags. On the other hand, the artwork was criticized for being "hard to follow" when there are fast scenes. Jokes regarding clichés from other "shōnen" series were also positively received by About.com writer Deb Aoki, who, like Santos, found the artwork to be "the only thing that distracts from the otherwise considerable pleasures of this loveable, goofy "manga"". However, characters' designs were praised for their variations including the ones from the aliens appearing in the series by Katherine Dacey from Pop Culture Shock who remarked that "These characters add visual interest and life to every panel, keeping the reader invested when the stories stall." Other negative comments regarding the manga have the few numbers of aliens appearing in the series as well as how some chapters are focused on fights such as Hijikata's fight against Gintoki. Michael Aronson from Manga Life concluded his review of the manga by saying that "The potential is there, but the execution is struggling" as still, he liked the comedy from the story. Comics Village's Alex Hoffman mentioned that "Gin Tama" "can't truly be compared to those comics because of one thing: the jokes." He found the context from the series hilarious and like how there are new jokes in every chapter. Like other reviewers, Hoffman also disliked Sorachi's artwork, but still found the manga to be "a great comedy, or a great read." Comic Book Bin writer Leroy Douresseaux found that the large number of characters with different appearances in the series allows the reader to remain entertained with the series as "at least every few pages or so present some unusual and interesting visual." Anime News Network criticized its constant amount of penis jokes as well as the narrative's style which might bother readers. The series' story arcs were also criticized for being derivative to common "Shonen Jump" series and that the battles were poorly illustrated and coreographed. The ending of the series was criticized as for its messy storytelling where multiple plots are explained but not all are solved as the title instead focuses on telling multiple jokes from different point of views. Anime News Network praised the ending's gags but lamented how several of the subplot of the series were not properly closed as a result of using several characters. IGN was more positive, comparing the narrative to two other popular shonen manga series "Naruto" and "Jujutsu Kaisen" for how Gintoki and his friends deal with the Shoyo and Utsuro in their final fights "distilling a major conflict into a massive good-versus-evil showdown helps it to become interesting even for those who aren't as up to date on the saga as others"- Crunchyroll felt the animation felt more a "Dragon Ball" film rather than "Gintama" as a result of Toei working on it but still praised for retaining a humor and style reminiscent of the comedy "Konosuba". Yahoo panned the movie for being too difficult to follow unless the audience has knowledge about previous "Gintama" events and found some jokes did not feel appealing. Nevertheless, he praised fight scenes which would appeal to the fans of samurai series "Rurouni Kenshin" and "Afro Samurai".


title: Gin Tama

text: The anime adaptation of "Gin Tama" has received positive and mixed responses. The humor was noted to be improved after the series' introduction although some jokes were hard to understand because some of them are references to Japanese culture and other series. The notes on the DVD releases were criticized for lacking an explanation of cultural jokes. Additionally, the humor's quality was found to be inconsistent within the first episodes due to the depth some bring, to the point that some viewers may abandon the series. The quality of the series was found to improve as the series continues as people would not be intimidated by its large number of episodes. The characters' actions were praised due to their knowledge that their tendencies to "break the fourth wall", while the female characters were found appealing based on their unusual qualities. The series has been noted for its ability to shift between comedy and drama without a loss of quality.


title: Gin Tama

text: At the Japanese box office, "The Movie" grossed , and "The Final Chapter" grossed , giving a total Japanese box office gross of () for both anime films.


title: Gin Tama

text: Episode 232 of the anime series had a defamatory depiction of a character that referenced a specific politician, then–Minister for Government Revitalisation Renhō Murata, which resulted in the cancelation of its rerun on AT-X. Series supervisor Shinji Takamatsu explained that TV Tokyo canceled the rerun on its own. Renhō's representative denied having objected to the episode although a report from the newspaper "Mainichi Shimbun" stated the affected party contacted TV Tokyo. When the story arc the episode belonged to was completed, Takamatsu expressed doubts about the arc's release in DVD format.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Malcolm Irving Glazer (August 15, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American businessman and sports team owner. He was the president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his varied business interests, and owned both Manchester United of the Premier League and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer was born in Rochester, New York, the fifth of seven children of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants, Abraham and Hannah Glazer. He began working in his father's watch parts business at age 8. At 15, when his father died, he sold watches door to door to help support his family. Reuters quoted Glazer stating that his father's death "was probably the most tragic thing that ever happened in my life, but it was good in one way" because "it made me a man." He briefly attended Sampson College in Romulus, New York before committing himself full-time to jewelry and watch repair. A small man with a reddish beard, he was referred to in the news media as "the leprechaun".


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer obtained the watch repair concession at the Sampson Air Force Base. When the base closed in 1956 he expanded into real estate investing in single-family homes, duplexes and commercial buildings in Rochester, eventually owning commercial real estate across America. In 1963, he bought the National Bank of Savannah in upstate New York. In 1973, he bought the first of five health care facilities he was to own, the West Hill Convalescent Center in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1976, he purchased three television stations for $20 million including WRBL in Columbus, Georgia. In 1984, he founded First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his various endeavors where he served as president and chief executive officer. First Allied invested in a diverse portfolio of international holdings and public companies including: Zapata Corporation, Houlihan's Restaurant group, Harley-Davidson, Formica, Tonka Toys, Specialty Equipment and Omega Protein.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer first gained national business attention in 1984, when he launched an unsuccessful $7.6 billion bid to buy the government-controlled freight rail company, Conrail. He was later the largest shareholder of kitchen designer Formica in 1988 and, later, with motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson. Glazer achieved control of Zapata Corporation, an oil and gas company founded by George H. W. Bush. Glazer successfully diversified it into fish protein and Caribbean supermarkets.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer owned a diverse portfolio of investments, which included food service equipment, food packaging and food supplies, marine protein, broadcasting, health care, property, banking, natural gas and oil, the Internet, stocks and bonds.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer purchased the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League (NFL) franchise on January 16, 1995, following the death of former owner Hugh Culverhouse. He paid $192 million, a league record at that time. Glazer served as president of the team, while sons Bryan, Joel and Edward were co-chairmen at the time.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Since coming under the Glazer family's ownership, the club has experienced an upswing in its fortunes, winning 131 regular season games, earning seven playoff berths and winning Super Bowl XXXVII and Super Bowl LV, the latter following Glazer's death. Prior to Glazer's acquisition of the franchise, the Buccaneers had won just 87 games in 19 seasons and advanced to the postseason just three times.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Tampa Bay also eclipsed the club record for wins in a regular season with 12 in 2002. Tampa Bay was the only team in the league to play in the postseason each year from 1999 to 2002. The 2007 campaign saw the Buccaneers claim their third NFC South Division title in six years, the sixth division crown in franchise history.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: After the team finished 9–7 in 2008, the team fired Jon Gruden, the most successful coach in franchise history. The team did not make the playoffs again until the 2020 season under the leadership of Bruce Arians as coach and Tom Brady as quarterback.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: In January 2009, Glazer and his family hired Raheem Morris as head coach of the Buccaneers, making him the youngest head coach in the National Football League upon his appointment. In addition, the family named longtime Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik as the fourth general manager in club history. Morris went 17–31 as a head coach and was fired after three seasons. The fact that the Bucs lost their final 10 games of the 2011 season was a likely contributor to the decision.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: On January 27, 2012, Glazer and his family hired long-time Rutgers University head coach Greg Schiano as the ninth head coach in franchise history. Schiano only lasted two seasons, being fired following a disappointing 4–12 season in 2013. Mark Dominik was also fired at that time, lasting five seasons. During his tenure the team compiled a record of 28–52, which included only one winning season.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer devoted a significant amount of time working to make the organization more fan-friendly by greatly increasing fan activities at Buccaneers home games through the expansion of the club's community relations and special events departments. His mandate to enhance the team's visibility in the community was reflected through increased appearances by Buccaneer players, coaches, cheerleaders and front office officials in recent years. Since 1999, the team has also coordinated with the Glazer Family Foundation to host "Gameday for Kids", a program that has hosted over 13,000 underprivileged youth at Buccaneers home games, giving them an opportunity to spend pregame moments on the playing field and to cheer on the Buccaneers from exclusive seats in Raymond James Stadium.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Manchester United is one of the most popular and profitable football clubs in the world. Glazer acquired ownership of United in a £790m takeover by gradually buying out United shareholders between 2003 and 2005. Glazer's takeover was protested by a large portion of United's fans due to financial concerns. When Glazer suffered a stroke in April 2006 his sons Joel and Avram took over the day-to-day running of the club, and his family continued to control the club following his death in 2014. Its 90% stake in the club is equally split among Glazer's six children.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: In addition to his business ventures, Glazer was also involved in philanthropic efforts. He launched the Glazer Family Foundation in 1999, which is dedicated to assisting charitable and educational causes in the Tampa Bay community. During its existence, the foundation has donated millions in programs, tickets, grants and in-kind contributions. The foundation donated $5 million toward the construction of the Glazer Children's Museum in downtown Tampa, which opened on September 25, 2010.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer also oversaw the operations of the far-reaching Glazer Family Foundation's Vision Program, created in 2006 to provide school children with an opportunity to have vision problems identified in schools at an early age. The initiative, highlighted by the Vision Mobile, visits schools and provides eye examinations to thousands of disadvantaged children.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer's charitable activities also included the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, an organization that promotes amateur sports activities. Glazer committed $2 million to the Commission.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer married his wife, Linda, in 1961. They lived in Palm Beach, Florida, and they attended Palm Beach Synagogue regularly. They had five sons, Avram Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Bryan Glazer, Joel Glazer and Edward Glazer, and one daughter, Darcie S. Glazer Kassewitz.


title: Malcolm Glazer

text: Glazer, who had been in poor health since suffering two strokes in April 2006, died at age 85 on May 28, 2014.


title: Amaretto

text: Amaretto (Italian for "a little bitter") is a sweet Italian liqueur that originated in Saronno. Depending on the brand, it may be made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones, or almonds, all of which are natural sources of the benzaldehyde that provides the almond-like flavour of the liqueur. It generally contains 21 to 28 percent alcohol by volume.


title: Amaretto

text: When served as a beverage, amaretto can be drunk by itself, used as an ingredient to create several popular mixed drinks, or added to coffee. Amaretto is also commonly used in culinary applications.


title: Amaretto

text: The name "amaretto" originated as a diminutive of the Italian word "amaro", meaning "bitter", which references the distinctive flavour lent by the "mandorla amara" or by the drupe kernel. However, the bitterness of amaretto tends to be mild, and sweeteners (and sometimes sweet almonds) enhance the flavour in the final products. Thus, one can interpret the liqueur's name as a description of the taste as "a little bitter". Cyanide is processed out of the almond preparation before its use.


title: Amaretto

text: One should not confuse amaretto with amaro, a different family of Italian liqueurs that, while also sweetened, have a stronger bitter flavour derived from herbs.


title: Amaretto

text: Despite the history of introducing and accepting almonds into Italian cuisine, newer takes on the meanings and origins have been popularized by two major brands. Though of sometimes questionable provenance, these tales hold a sentimental place in Saronno culture:


title: Amaretto

text: Amaretto is sometimes used as a substitute for Orgeat syrup in places where the syrup cannot be found or to impart a less sweet flavour.


title: Petr Čech

text: Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as one of the greatest goalkeepers in history, he is argued, alongside Peter Schmeichel, to be the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech began his senior career at Chmel Blšany in 1999, where he played sporadically for two seasons prior to relocating to Sparta Prague in 2001. At age 19, Čech became a first team regular, and his single campaign with the club saw him register a league record of not conceding a goal in 903 competitive minutes. This led to his first move abroad, when he relocated to France to join Ligue 1 side Rennes for a fee of €5.5 million (£3.9 million) in 2002.


title: Petr Čech

text: In France, Čech starred in an under-performing team, and was the subject of a then club-record transfer for a goalkeeper when he moved to Premier League side Chelsea for a fee of £7 million (€9.8 million) in 2004. During his eleven year association with the club, Čech registered 494 senior appearances, making him the club's highest overseas appearance maker, and sixth all-time. He also helped the club win four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, and one UEFA Europa League title. Čech also holds Chelsea's all-time record for clean sheets, with 228. Čech departed Chelsea in 2015 to join city rivals Arsenal for a fee of £10 million, where he won another FA Cup before retiring in 2019.


title: Petr Čech

text: A Czech international, Čech made his debut with the Czech Republic in 2002, and is the most capped player in the history of the Czech national team, with 124 caps. He represented his country at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 European Championships. He was voted into the Euro 2004 All-Star team after helping the Czechs reach the semi-finals, and served as the team's captain, prior to retiring from international competition in 2016. Čech also holds the record for the most Czech Footballer of the Year and Czech Golden Ball wins.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech holds a number of goalkeeping records, including the Premier League record for fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets, having done so in 180 appearances, the most clean sheets in a season (24), as well as the record for the most clean sheets in Premier League history (202). Čech is also the only goalkeeper to have won the Premier League Golden Glove with two separate clubs, and has won it a joint record four times; in the 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14 and the 2015–16 seasons. He was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 2005, received the award of Best Goalkeeper in the 2004–05, 2006–07 and 2007–08 editions of the UEFA Champions League, and went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal in the 2004–05 season, a league record. He has the third-most clean sheets since 2000 among all goalkeepers.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech started playing football aged seven for Škoda Plzeň (later known as Viktoria Plzeň). In his early days, he played as a striker, although he moved to the goalkeeper position after breaking his leg at age ten. Čech joined Czech First League team Chmel Blšany in June 1999 and made his league debut at the age of 17 in October 1999, in a 3–1 loss against Sparta.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech signed a -year contract with Sparta Prague at the age of 18 in January 2001, although he remained at Blšany until the end of the 2000–01 season. In November 2001, Čech broke the record formerly held by Theodor Reimann for the longest time elapsed without conceding a goal in the Czech professional league, stretching his run to 855 minutes. His clean sheet record finally ended when he was beaten by a goal from Marcel Melecký of Bohemians on 17 November 2001, ending his record at 903 consecutive minutes without conceding.


title: Petr Čech

text: Despite Čech not winning the league title in the spring of 2002 with Sparta, he attracted interest from English clubs including Arsenal due to his international performances. Due to difficulties in obtaining a work permit, however, a proposed deal with the "Gunners" fell through.


title: Petr Čech

text: In July 2002, Čech moved to French club Rennes, signing a four-year contract for a transfer fee reported as CZK150 million (€5.5 million).


title: Petr Čech

text: During his first season in France, he was awarded man of the match against Paris Saint-Germain by "L'Équipe". In May 2003, Rennes was at the bottom of the league table, yet escaped relegation with a win over Montpellier in the final matchday.


title: Petr Čech

text: Chelsea made a transfer bid for Čech in January 2004 which was rejected. However in February Rennes agreed to Čech's move to Chelsea for £7 million. Čech signed a five-year contract, to commence in July 2004, becoming the most expensive goalkeeper in Chelsea's history at that time. Čech's was one of many British club transfers that came under the spotlight in the 2006 football corruption investigation for being potentially in breach of transfer regulations. The Stevens inquiry report, published in June 2007, found no evidence of illegal payments.


title: Petr Čech

text: When Čech arrived at Chelsea, Carlo Cudicini was already established as Chelsea's first choice goalkeeper. Cudicini, however, suffered a pre-season elbow injury that allowed Chelsea manager José Mourinho to promote Čech into the starting spot, where he became the first-choice goalkeeper in his first season. He kept a clean sheet in his Premier League debut in a 1–0 victory over Manchester United.


title: Petr Čech

text: On 5 March 2005, Čech set a new Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without letting in a goal, though his record was later broken by Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar. Čech finally conceded to Leon McKenzie of Norwich City, after keeping a clean sheet in the league since 12 December 2004 when Thierry Henry scored for Arsenal. Čech was given a special award by the Premier League for the new record, and he was also awarded the Premier League Golden Glove at the end of the 2004–05 season for keeping a record 24 clean sheets in the Premier League.


title: Petr Čech

text: Chelsea retained the Premier League title in the 2005–06 season, with Čech playing in 34 league matches. Chelsea conceded just 22 times during the season. In January 2006, he was named the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper for 2005. In February 2006, Čech signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2010. He was also named the Czech Footballer of the Year for the first time.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech underwent minor shoulder surgery on 27 June 2006 to repair a long-standing injury stemming from the previous season. He returned to action on 27 August 2006.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech sustained a head injury in the match against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on 14 October 2006 when he collided with Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt inside Chelsea's penalty area within the first minute of a Premier League match. Hunt's right knee hit Čech's head, leaving the goalkeeper requiring treatment. Čech was taken off after several minutes and replaced by Carlo Cudicini, who himself was knocked unconscious later in the same game, forcing Chelsea captain John Terry to play in goal for the match's remaining minutes. Čech underwent surgery for a depressed skull fracture. Initially unaware of the seriousness of the injury, the doctors later reported that it nearly cost Čech his life, and as a result of the collision, he suffered intense headaches. Chelsea went on to win the match 1–0.


title: Petr Čech

text: Chelsea manager José Mourinho blamed Hunt for Čech's injury, saying that his challenge was "a disgrace". He also criticised the South Central Ambulance Service and match referee Mike Riley. A number of commentators, including current and former goalkeepers, saw the incident as highlighting the need for greater protection for goalkeepers.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech was able to return home on 24 October 2006 and participated in light training the following week. Chelsea, however, announced that the goalkeeper would be out for three months, in line with medical advice on the time needed for complete recovery from the skull fracture. In an interview, Čech said that he had no memory of the injury itself.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech made his comeback in a Premier League match in a 2–0 defeat against Liverpool on 20 January 2007, wearing a rugby style headguard made by Canterbury of New Zealand and carrying the manufacturer's logo. This caused friction with Czech national team sponsor Puma and Chelsea's apparel manufacturer Adidas. The matter was resolved after the latter sponsor developed its own headgear for Čech to wear in club matches, while the player went on to wear an unbranded cap for national team games. Čech wore the headguard for the rest of his career.


title: Petr Čech

text: Although Chelsea lost Čech's comeback match, he then went approximately 810 minutes of Premier League play without conceding a goal. On 11 April 2007, Čech was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month for the first time in his career, in recognition of his eight successive league clean sheets. He was the first goalkeeper to receive the award since Tim Flowers in 2000. This run was ended during a 4–1 Chelsea victory over West Ham United on 18 April 2007 when Carlos Tevez scored against him.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech also kept a clean sheet for Chelsea in the 2007 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. He and United's Edwin van der Sar shared the honour of being the first goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet over 90 minutes in a competitive fixture at the new Wembley Stadium, but Čech became the first goalkeeper to end a competitive game unbeaten, as Chelsea beat United 1–0 to win the FA Cup.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech started the 2007–08 season conceding two goals against Birmingham City in the first match of the season. Despite this, Chelsea managed to win 3–2 and set an English record for their 64th consecutive unbeaten league match at home.


title: Petr Čech

text: In November 2007, Čech suffered an injury to his right calf muscle in the 0–0 UEFA Champions League group stage match at Schalke 04. The following month, on 23 December 2007, he had to be replaced during a match against Blackburn Rovers due to a hip injury.


title: Petr Čech

text: Chelsea suffered their first major blow when they lost the League Cup final to Tottenham Hotspur, with Čech parrying the ball onto Jonathan Woodgate's head for the winner. He played in several games until injuring his ankle in training on the eve of Chelsea's home Champions League tie with Greek champions Olympiacos. In the weeks that followed, Čech missed key games of Chelsea's campaign, including the derby with Arsenal and both legs of the Champions League quarter-final.


title: Petr Čech

text: On 7 April 2008, it was announced that Čech had undergone emergency surgery on his chin and lips following an accidental collision with Tal Ben Haim during training. He had 50 stitches put on his mouth and chin. He returned to action on 14 April, in a home match against Wigan Athletic which Chelsea drew 1–1. He appeared in the Champions League final against Manchester United, where Chelsea lost in a penalty shoot-out.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech signed a new five-year contract in July 2008 to keep him at Chelsea until 2013. Chelsea started the 2008–09 season in good form, conceding only 7 goals in 17 games and keeping 11 clean sheets, 10 of which with Čech in goal.


title: Petr Čech

text: In November 2008, Chelsea beat Sunderland 5–0 at Stamford Bridge, a game which marked the 100th match Čech had played for Chelsea without conceding a goal. Chelsea had a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League on his 200th appearance for the club, and he also starred in a 1–0 away victory at Villa Park against Aston Villa, saving from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Gareth Barry. The following week, Čech helped Chelsea move up to second place in the league by saving from Paul Scharner in the first half against Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea won 2–1. Successive clean sheets by Čech in Chelsea's wins against Portsmouth and Coventry City saw his side consolidate their position in the Premier League whilst progressing into the FA Cup semi-finals. Čech also made saves from Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso as Chelsea beat Liverpool 3–1 at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.


title: Petr Čech

text: In a crucial Premier League game in April 2009, with Chelsea comfortably leading 4–0 against Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink took off both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard only for Bolton to score three late goals which questioned the Chelsea defence, and in particular Čech. Čech, however, responded when he saved a penalty from Mark Noble in Chelsea's 1–0 win at the Boleyn Ground against West Ham. He also kept a clean sheet in the next game against Barcelona during the Champions League semi-final first leg match. Following a 3–2 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Čech and Chelsea finished the season with the joint-tightest defence in the Premier League along with Manchester United, having conceded just 24 goals over the course of the season. Despite conceding the fastest goal in FA Cup final history, Čech helped Chelsea's 2009 FA Cup Final triumph over Everton. Chelsea won 2–1, earning the Czech his seventh trophy at the club.


title: Petr Čech

text: Former Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari accused Čech, Michael Ballack and Drogba of causing his sacking, saying that they "did not accept my training methods or my demands". Scolari also said that it stemmed from a row between him and the Czech goalkeeper over the latter's alleged insistence on being given a personal coach. Čech denied the claims saying that he was "disappointed with [Scolari] because never in my life have I had a personal goalkeeping coach".


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech began the 2009–10 season in winning form with Chelsea, beating Manchester United in the Community Shield final at Wembley. With the game level at 2–2 at the end of normal time, Čech saved penalties from Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra. Čech kept goal for Chelsea in the six-match winning run that opened their season and placed them on top of the Premier League. On 26 September 2009, however, Čech was sent off and at the same time conceded the winning penalty for a trip on Wigan forward Hugo Rodallega, in the defeat that broke the run and conceded the lead in the league to Manchester United. On 27 February 2010, Čech sustained a calf injury in the Champions League match against Inter Milan. On 13 April, Čech kept his 100th Premier League clean sheet for Chelsea, against Bolton. He won his second Premier League Golden Glove award for the season, having kept 17 clean sheets in the Premier League as Chelsea secured a third title. He concluded his season by saving a Kevin-Prince Boateng penalty against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final, ensuring that the "Blues" went on to retain the Cup and achieve their first domestic double.


title: Petr Čech

text: During 2010–11 pre-season training, Čech reaggravated the calf injury he suffered against Inter the previous season. Scans revealed a muscle tear that sidelined him for the next three weeks, including Chelsea's 3–1 loss to Manchester United in the Community Shield. He returned on 14 August and kept a clean sheet as Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion 6–0. Čech then kept another clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Arsenal, before keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw at Villa Park. On 7 March, Čech made his 300th Chelsea appearance, against Premier League side Blackpool, which Chelsea went on to win 3–1. On 19 May, Čech was awarded the Chelsea Player of the Year for the first time. More than 28,000 fans voted for the award, which was handed over by Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech started the opening game of Chelsea's 2011–12 Premier League season away to Stoke City, which ended 0–0. On 18 August 2011, Čech was ruled out for up to four weeks after he sustained a knee injury in training. He made his return three weeks later against Sunderland in which Chelsea won 2–1. He kept a clean sheet in Chelsea's first Champions League match of the season in a 2–0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. On 27 February, Čech was announced as the Czech Footballer of the Year for 2011, winning the award for the fifth time. On 24 March, Čech played his 250th league game for Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur in a 0–0 draw at Stamford Bridge. Čech saved a penalty in extra time against former teammate Arjen Robben, and two penalties in the subsequent penalty shoot-out, of the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich resulting in the first Champions League win for Chelsea. Čech was named the Fans' Man of the Match following his heroic performance in goal for "The Blues". By winning the Champions League, Čech became just the fourth Czech to win the competition. He finished the season by signing a new four-year contract with Chelsea in May, keeping him with the club until the end of the 2015–16 season.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech started in Chelsea's first match of the 2012–13 season, the 2012 Community Shield against Manchester City, but failed to keep a clean sheet as Chelsea went down 3–2 to goals from Yaya Touré, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri. He also featured in the last UEFA Super Cup to be played at Monaco's Stade Louis II, in which he conceded four goals as Chelsea lost 4–1 to the UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid. In October 2012, Čech took the captain's armband as regular Chelsea captain John Terry was sidelined with a four-match ban.


title: Petr Čech

text: On 19 October 2013, Čech made his 300th Premier League appearance for Chelsea, in a 4–1 home win over newly promoted side Cardiff City. On 11 January 2014, he kept his 209th clean sheet for Chelsea in all competitions in a 2–0 away win at Hull City, beating the club record set by Peter Bonetti.


title: Petr Čech

text: On 18 March 2014, Čech made his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance in a 2–0 win over Galatasaray at Stamford Bridge. He became the fourth goalkeeper to make a century of appearances in the competition after Iker Casillas, Víctor Valdés and Oliver Kahn.


title: Petr Čech

text: On 22 April 2014, Čech was substituted in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid with a shoulder injury. Chelsea manager José Mourinho stated that the injury would prevent Čech from playing again in the 2013–14 season. Despite the injury, Čech would finish the season as the joint winner of the Premier League Golden Glove award along with Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, both keeping 16 clean sheets.


title: Petr Čech

text: Čech's place as Chelsea's starting goalkeeper was taken at the start of the season by Thibaut Courtois. This was possibly due to Čech's long standing injury concerns to his shoulder, back and knees. On 24 September 2014, Čech made his first appearance of the season against Bolton in the third round of the League Cup, a 2–1 victory. He made his first league appearance of the season on 5 October, replacing the injured Courtois in the first half of a 2–0 home win over Arsenal. His second start of the season came in the Champions League group stage victory against Slovenian side Maribor, keeping a clean sheet as Chelsea won 6–0. With Courtois injured, Čech made his first league start of the season on 13 December against Hull, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win.