title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The TCAs are used primarily in the clinical treatment of mood disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), dysthymia, and treatment-resistant variants. They are also used in the treatment of a number of other medical disorders, including cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) and anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP) also known as social anxiety disorder (SAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and panic disorder (PD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, certain personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), neurological disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Parkinson's disease as well as chronic pain, neuralgia or neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia, headache, or migraine, smoking cessation, tourette syndrome, trichotillomania, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (IC), nocturnal enuresis (NE), narcolepsy, insomnia, pathological crying and/or laughing, chronic hiccups, ciguatera poisoning, and as an adjunct in schizophrenia.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: For many years the TCAs were the first choice for pharmacological treatment of major depression. Although they are still considered to be highly effective, they have been increasingly replaced by antidepressants with an improved safety and side effect profile, such as the SSRIs and other newer antidepressants such as the novel reversible MAOI moclobemide. However, tricyclic antidepressants are possibly more effective in treating melancholic depression than other antidepressant drug classes. Newer antidepressants are thought to have fewer and less severe side effects and are also thought to be less likely to result in injury or death if used in a suicide attempt, as the doses required for clinical treatment and potentially lethal overdose (see therapeutic index) are far wider in comparison.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Nonetheless, the TCAs are commonly prescribed for treatment-resistant depression that has failed to respond to therapy with newer antidepressants, they also tend to have fewer emotional blunting and sexual side effects than SSRI antidepressants. They are not considered addictive and are somewhat preferable to the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). The side effects of the TCAs usually come to prominence before the therapeutic benefits against depression and/or anxiety do, and for this reason, they may potentially be somewhat dangerous, as volition can be increased, possibly giving the patient a greater desire to attempt or commit suicide.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The TCAs were used in the past in the clinical treatment of ADHD, though they are not typically used anymore, having been replaced by more effective agents with fewer side effects such as atomoxetine (Strattera, Tomoxetin) and stimulants like methylphenidate (Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta), and amphetamine (Adderall, Attentin, Dexedrine, Vyvanse). ADHD is thought to be caused by an insufficiency of dopamine and norepinephrine activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Most of the TCAs inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine, though not dopamine, and as a result, they show some efficacy in remedying the disorder. Notably, the TCAs are more effective in treating the behavioral aspects of ADHD than the cognitive deficits, as they help limit hyperactivity and impulsivity, but have little to no benefits on attention.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The TCAs show efficacy in the clinical treatment of a number of different types of chronic pain, notably neuralgia or neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. The precise mechanism of action in explanation of their analgesic efficacy is unclear, but it is thought that they indirectly modulate the opioid system in the brain downstream via serotonergic and noradrenergic neuromodulation, among other properties. They are also effective in migraine prophylaxis, though not in the instant relief of an acute migraine attack. They may also be effective to prevent chronic tension headaches.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Many side effects may be related to the antimuscarinic properties of the TCAs. Such side effects are relatively common and may include dry mouth, dry nose, blurry vision, lowered gastrointestinal motility or constipation, urinary retention, cognitive and/or memory impairment, and increased body temperature.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Other side effects may include drowsiness, anxiety, emotional blunting (apathy/anhedonia), confusion, restlessness, dizziness, akathisia, hypersensitivity, changes in appetite and weight, sweating, muscle twitches, weakness, nausea and vomiting, hypotension, tachycardia, and rarely, irregular heart rhythms. Twitching, hallucinations, delirium and coma are also some of the toxic effects caused by overdose. Rhabdomyolysis or muscle breakdown has been rarely reported with this class of drugs as well.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Tolerance to these adverse effects of these drugs often develops if treatment is continued. Side effects may also be less troublesome if treatment is initiated with low doses and then gradually increased, although this may also delay the beneficial effects.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: TCAs can behave like class 1A antiarrhythmics, as such, they can theoretically terminate ventricular fibrillation, decrease cardiac contractility and increase collateral blood circulation to ischemic heart muscle. Naturally, in overdose, they can be cardiotoxic, prolonging heart rhythms and increasing myocardial irritability.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: New research has also revealed compelling evidence of a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like TCAs and dementia. Although many studies have investigated this link, this was the first study to use a long-term approach (over seven years) to find that dementias associated with anticholinergics may not be reversible even years after drug use stops. Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine, which transmits messages in the nervous system. In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Antidepressants in general may produce withdrawal. However, since the term "withdrawal" has been linked to addiction to recreational drugs like opioids, the medical profession and pharmaceutical public relations prefer that a different term be used, hence "discontinuation syndrome." Discontinuation symptoms can be managed by a gradual reduction in dosage over a period of weeks or months to minimise symptoms.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: In tricyclics, discontinuation syndrome symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, headache, nausea, malaise, or motor disturbance.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: TCA overdose is a significant cause of fatal drug poisoning. The severe morbidity and mortality associated with these drugs is well documented due to their cardiovascular and neurological toxicity. Additionally, it is a serious problem in the pediatric population due to their inherent toxicity and the availability of these in the home when prescribed for bed-wetting and depression. In the event of a known or suspected overdose, medical assistance should be sought immediately.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: An overdose on TCA is especially fatal as it is rapidly absorbed from the GI tract in the alkaline conditions of the small intestines. As a result, toxicity often becomes apparent in the first hour after an overdose. However, symptoms may take several hours to appear if a mixed overdose has caused delayed gastric emptying.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Many of the initial signs are those associated to the anticholinergic effects of TCAs such as dry mouth, blurred vision, urinary retention, constipation, dizziness, and emesis (or vomiting). Due to the location of norepinephrine receptors all over the body, many physical signs are also associated with a TCA overdose:


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Initially, gastric decontamination of the patient is achieved by administering, either orally or via a nasogastric tube, activated charcoal pre-mixed with water, which adsorbs the drug in the gastrointestinal tract (most useful if given within 2 hours of drug ingestion). Other decontamination methods such as stomach pumps, gastric lavage, whole bowel irrigation, or (ipecac induced) emesis, are "not"  recommended in TCA poisoning.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: If there is metabolic acidosis, intravenous infusion of sodium bicarbonate is recommended by Toxbase.org, the UK and Ireland poisons advice database (TCAs are protein bound and become less bound in more acidic conditions, so by reversing the acidosis, protein binding increases and bioavailability thus decreases – the sodium load may also help to reverse the Na+ channel blocking effects of the TCA).


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The TCAs are highly metabolised by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) hepatic enzymes. Drugs that inhibit cytochrome P450 (for example cimetidine, methylphenidate, fluoxetine, antipsychotics, and calcium channel blockers) may produce decreases in the TCAs' metabolism, leading to increases in their blood concentrations and accompanying toxicity. Drugs that prolong the QT interval including antiarrhythmics such as quinidine, the antihistamines astemizole and terfenadine, and some antipsychotics may increase the chance of ventricular dysrhythmias. TCAs may enhance the response to alcohol and the effects of barbiturates and other CNS depressants. Side effects may also be enhanced by other drugs that have antimuscarinic properties.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The majority of the TCAs act primarily as SNRIs by blocking the serotonin transporter (SERT) and the norepinephrine transporter (NET), which results in an elevation of the synaptic concentrations of these neurotransmitters, and therefore an enhancement of neurotransmission. Notably, with the sole exception of amineptine, the TCAs have weak affinity for the dopamine transporter (DAT), and therefore have low efficacy as dopamine reuptake inhibitors (DRIs). Both serotonin and norepinephrine have been highly implicated in depression and anxiety, and it has been shown that facilitation of their activity has beneficial effects on these mental disorders.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: In addition to their reuptake inhibition, many TCAs also have high affinity as antagonists at the 5-HT (5-HT and 5-HT), 5-HT, 5-HT, α-adrenergic, and NMDA receptors, and as agonists at the sigma receptors (σ and σ), some of which may contribute to their therapeutic efficacy, as well as their side effects. The TCAs also have varying but typically high affinity for antagonising the H and H histamine receptors, as well as the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. As a result, they also act as potent antihistamines and anticholinergics. These properties are often beneficial in antidepressants, especially with comorbid anxiety, as it provides a sedative effect.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Most, if not all, of the TCAs also potently inhibit sodium channels and -type calcium channels, and therefore act as sodium channel blockers and calcium channel blockers, respectively. The former property is responsible for the high mortality rate upon overdose seen with the TCAs via cardiotoxicity. It may also be involved in their efficacy as analgesics, however.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: In summary, tricyclic antidepressants can act through NMDA antagonism, opioidergic effects, sodium, potassium and calcium channel blocking, through interfering with the reuptake of serotonin and acting as antagonists to SHAM (serotonin, histamine, alpha, muscarinic) receptors.  Thus their dangerous side effect profile limits their use in daily practice.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: The binding profiles of various TCAs and some metabolites in terms of their affinities (, ) for various receptors and transporters are as follows:


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: With the exception of the sigma receptors, the TCAs act as antagonists or inverse agonists of the receptors and as inhibitors of the transporters. Tianeptine is included in this list due to it technically being a TCA, but with a vastly different pharmacology.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Therapeutic levels of TCAs are generally in the range of about 100 to 300 ng/mL, or 350 to 1,100 nM. Plasma protein binding is generally 90% or greater.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: There are two major groups of TCAs in terms of chemical structure, which most, but not all, TCAs fall into. The groupings are based on the tricyclic ring system. They are the dibenzazepines (imipramine, desipramine, clomipramine, trimipramine, lofepramine) and the dibenzocycloheptadienes (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, protriptyline, butriptyline). Minor TCA groups based on ring system include the dibenzoxepins (doxepin), the dibenzothiepines (dosulepin), and the dibenzoxazepines (amoxapine). In addition to classification based on the ring system, TCAs can also be usefully grouped based on the number of substitutions of the side chain amine. These groups include the tertiary amines (imipramine, clomipramine, trimipramine, amitriptyline, butriptyline, doxepin, dosulepin) and the secondary amines (desipramine, nortriptyline, protriptyline). Lofepramine is technically a tertiary amine, but acts largely as a prodrug of desipramine, a secondary amine, and hence is more similar in profile to the secondary amines than to the tertiary amines. Amoxapine does not have the TCA side chain and hence is neither a tertiary nor secondary amine, although it is often grouped with the secondary amines due to sharing more in common with them. In 2021, a new method was developed at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia for designing photochromic analogs of tricyclic drugs via (1) isosteric replacement of the two-atom bridge between the aromatic systems with an azo group and (2) opening of the central ring. The authors named the strategy "crypto-azologization".


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: A very small number of cases involving non-medical use of antidepressants have been reported over the past 30 years. According to the US government classification of psychiatric medications, TCAs are "non-abusable" and generally have low misuse potential. Nonetheless, due to their atypical mechanism of action, amineptine and tianeptine (dopamine reuptake inhibition and μ-opioid receptor agonism, respectively) are the two TCAs with the highest addiction and misuse potential. Several cases of the misuse of amitriptyline alone or together with methadone or in other drug dependent patients and of dosulepin with alcohol or in methadone patients have been reported.


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Those that preferentially inhibit the reuptake of serotonin (by at least 10-fold over norepinephrine) include:


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Those that preferentially inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine (by at least 10-fold over serotonin) include:


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: Whereas either fairly balanced reuptake inhibitors of serotonin and norepinephrine or unspecified inhibitors include:


title: Tricyclic antidepressant

text: And the following are TCAs that act via main mechanisms other than serotonin or norepinephrine reuptake inhibition:


title: Clark Duke

text: Clark Duke (born May 5, 1985) is an American actor, comedian, and director known for his roles in the films "Kick-Ass", "Sex Drive", and "Hot Tub Time Machine", as well as playing Clark Green in the TV series "The Office", Dale Kettlewell in "Greek", and Barry in "Two and a Half Men". Duke is also known for his role in "I'm Dying Up Here" as Ron Shack.


title: Clark Duke

text: Duke was born in Glenwood, Arkansas, and raised near Hot Springs, Arkansas, the son of Angela and Ronnie Duke. He was raised a Baptist. Duke graduated from Centerpoint High School in 2004.


title: Clark Duke

text: In 1992, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award as an "Outstanding Actor Under Ten in a Television Series" for his work on "Hearts Afire".


title: Clark Duke

text: Along with best friend Michael Cera, Duke created, wrote, directed and produced the web series "Clark and Michael" in which he plays a fictional version of himself. The pilot episode was directed by Duke as his college thesis film at Loyola Marymount University.


title: Clark Duke

text: He was a regular on the television series "Greek" as Rusty's Christian dorm roommate Dale. Duke appeared in the film "Superbad" in the small role of 'Party Teenager #1'.


title: Clark Duke

text: In February 2008, he starred in "Volume 2" of the web video series "Drunk History" with Jack Black, which can be found on YouTube. Michael Cera had appeared in the previous episode, "Drunk History, Volume 1".


title: Clark Duke

text: In 2008, Duke had his first co-starring film role in "Sex Drive". He co-starred with Eddie Murphy in "A Thousand Words", which was completed in 2008 but remained unreleased until 2012. He appeared in "Kick-Ass" with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Nicolas Cage, and played Jacob, the nephew of Adam Yates (John Cusack) in "Hot Tub Time Machine". He voiced Thunk in the 2013 animated film, "The Croods".


title: Clark Duke

text: He also appeared as Clark Green in the ninth and final season of the American version of "The Office". He reprised his role from "Kick-Ass" in its sequel "Kick-Ass 2", released August 2013.


title: Clark Duke

text: Duke made his major motion picture directorial debut in 2020 with the film "Arkansas", about two friends who live in Arkansas and work for a Chicago-based drug kingpin, whom they have never met. Set in his home state, Duke co-starred with Liam Hemsworth, Michael Kenneth Williams, Vince Vaughn, John Malkovich, and Vivica A. Fox.


title: Jasper

text: Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron(III) inclusions. Jasper breaks with a smooth surface and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for items such as vases, seals, and snuff boxes. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9. Jaspillite is a banded-iron-formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper.


title: Jasper

text: The name means "spotted or speckled stone," and is derived via Old French "jaspre" (variant of Anglo-Norman "jaspe") and Latin "iaspidem" (nom. "iaspis") from Greek ἴασπις "iaspis" (feminine noun), from an Afroasiatic language (cf. Hebrew ישפה "yashpeh", Akkadian "yashupu"). This Semitic etymology is believed to be unrelated to that of the English given name Jasper, which is of Persian origin, though the Persian word for the mineral jasper is also "yashp" ().


title: Jasper

text: Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th and 5th millennium BC. Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin. On Minoan Crete, jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800 BC, as evidenced by archaeological recoveries at the palace of Knossos.


title: Jasper

text: Although the term jasper is now restricted to opaque quartz, the ancient "iaspis" was a stone of considerable translucency including nephrite. The jasper of antiquity was in many cases distinctly green, for it is often compared to emerald and other green objects. Jasper is referred to in the "Nibelungenlied" as being clear and green. The jasper of the ancients probably included stones which would now be classed as chalcedony, and the emerald-like jasper may have been akin to the modern chrysoprase. The Hebrew word may have designated a green jasper. Flinders Petrie suggested that the "odem", the first stone on the High Priest's breastplate, was a red jasper, whilst "tarshish", the tenth stone, may have been a yellow jasper.


title: Jasper

text: Jasper is an opaque rock of virtually any colour stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. Patterns arise during the consolidation process forming flow and depositional patterns in the original silica-rich sediment or volcanic ash. Hydrothermal circulation is generally thought to be required in the formation of jasper.


title: Jasper

text: Jasper can be modified by the diffusion of minerals along discontinuities providing the appearance of vegetative growth, i.e., dendritic. The original materials are often fractured and/or distorted, after deposition, into diverse patterns, which are later filled in with other colorful minerals. Weathering, with time, will create intensely colored superficial rinds.


title: Jasper

text: The classification and naming of jasper varieties presents a challenge. Terms attributed to various well-defined materials includes the geographic locality where it is found, sometimes quite restricted such as "Bruneau" (a canyon) and "Lahontan" (a lake), rivers and even individual mountains; many are fanciful, such as "forest fire" or "rainbow", while others are descriptive, such as "autumn" or "porcelain". A few are designated by the place of origin such as a brown Egyptian or red African.


title: Jasper

text: Jasper is the main component in the silica-rich parts of banded iron formations (BIFs) which indicate low, but present, amounts of dissolved oxygen in the water such as during the Great Oxidation Event or snowball earths. The red bands, typically more competent than the hematite layers surrounding it, are made of microcrystalline red chert, also called jasper.


title: Jasper

text: Picture jaspers exhibit combinations of patterns resulting in what appear to be scenes or images, when seen on a cut section. Such patterns include banding from flow or depositional patterns (from water or wind), as well as dendritic or color variations. Diffusion from a center produces a distinctive orbicular appearance, i.e., leopard skin jasper or linear banding from a fracture as seen in liesegang jasper. Healed, fragmented rock produces brecciated (broken) jasper.


title: Jasper

text: While these "picture jaspers" can be found all over the world, specific colors or patterns are unique to the geographic region from which they originate. One source of the stone is Indonesia, especially in Purbalingga district. From the US is Oregon's Biggs jasper and Idaho's Bruneau jasper from the Bruneau River canyon are particularly fine examples. Other examples can be seen at Ynys Llanddwyn in Wales. A remarkable, pale, blue-green jasper, with patterns somewhat resembling those of malachite, occurs in a deposit at Ettutkan Mountain, Staryi Sibay, Bashkortostan, Russia. (The town of Sibay, in the far south of the Ural Mountains, near the border with Kazakhstan, is noted for its colossal, open-cast copper mine.)


title: Jasper

text: Basanite is a deep velvety-black variety of amorphous quartz, of a slightly tougher and finer grain than jasper, and less splintery than hornstone. It was the "Lydian stone" or "touchstone" of the ancients. It is mentioned and its use described in the writings of Bacchylides about 450 B.C., and was also described by Theophrastus in his book "On Stones" (Ancient Greek title: Περὶ λίθων: "Peri Lithon"), a century later. It is evident that the touchstone that Pliny had in mind when he wrote about it was merely a dense variety of basalt.


title: Jasper

text: Basanite (not to be confused with bassanite), "Lydian stone", and radiolarite (a.k.a. lydite or flinty slate) are terms used to refer to several types of black, jasper-like rock (also including tuffs, cherts and siltstones) which are dense, fine-grained and flinty / cherty in texture and found in a number of localities. The "Lydian Stone" known to the Ancient Greeks is named for the ancient kingdom of Lydia in what is now western Turkey. A similar rock type occurs in New England. Such rock types have long been used for the making of touchstones to test the purity of precious metal alloys, because they are hard enough to scratch such metals, which, if drawn (scraped) across them, show to advantage their metallic streaks of various (diagnostic) colours, against the dark background. There are, confusingly, not one but two rocks called basanite, one being a black form of jasper and the other a black volcanic rock closely akin to basalt. Add to this the fact that many different rock types - having in common the colour black and a fine texture - have, over the ages, been pressed into service as touchstones and it will be seen that there is ample scope for confusion in this petrology- and mineralogy-related field of study.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and US versions of the improvisational TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie honed his comedic talents with Vancouver's TheatreSports League and Toronto's Second City theatre. He has appeared in dozens of television series and films, as well as theatrical shows. With his wife, comedian Debra McGrath, Mochrie co-wrote, co-produced, and co-starred in the Canadian sitcoms "Getting Along Famously" and "She's the Mayor". He has written for numerous other series and events, and wrote and performed for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Canadian Comedy Awards, a Gemini Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada award. He was named Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the 2013 Canadian Comedy Awards.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the oldest of three children. His father was an airline maintenance executive. He was shy as a child, stating that neighbours would have commented that he "watched way too much television." In 1964, when Mochrie was seven years old, his family immigrated to Canada. They first settled in a neighbourhood just outside Montreal, Quebec, and five years later moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School, where he was a self-proclaimed loner who wanted to become a marine biologist. He was persuaded by a friend to try out for a play titled "The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch" in which Mochrie played the role of the undertaker. He was hooked when he got his first laugh, which inspired him to pursue a career in entertainment. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58 theatre school at Langara College for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Upon graduation from Studio 58, Mochrie found his first line of work as a member of the Vancouver TheatreSports League. He started working with the group in 1980. Fame was slow to start, as Mochrie "literally had to pull people out of McDonald's to come see the shows." Mochrie originally had parts in plays while working for the group, but working for the TheatreSports League eventually became a full-time job for Mochrie. He met fellow improvisor Ryan Stiles during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. Though it has been stated that the two met while members of The Second City, the pair were already close friends, according to both Mochrie and Susan Trimbee, the former manager of The Second City Toronto (1985–1988).


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Following Expo '86, Mochrie ended his tenure with the Vancouver TheatreSports League and moved to Toronto. Once there, Mochrie auditioned for The Second City comedy troupe, where Stiles was working. He began performing with the Second City National Touring Company where he met Debra McGrath, who was the director of the company at the time. The two married in 1989 and had a child, Kinley, in 1990.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie worked for The Second City for three years, co-writing and starring in three productions and directing three seasons of their national touring company. As a member of the touring company, he performed in many skits, including one where he and two others are at a bar, and they help him to rewrite an anecdote from his youth involving his father taking him to a baseball game; and a five-minute version of a James Bond movie, complete with Mochrie in a downhill ski chase and parachuting off a cliff.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Upon finishing his stint with Second City in 1988, Mochrie's career was quiet for a while as he spent some time with his new wife and child. In 1989, he auditioned for the new British Channel 4 improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that the audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself the chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, but again auditioned for the British "Whose Line", this time making the cut and being asked to fly to London. He appeared on one episode and was again let go. The third time Mochrie auditioned, he earned a regular spot on the show. He spent seven years as a regular on the UK version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and remained a cast member until the show's end in 1998.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: After the British version of the show ended its run, Mochrie joined the American version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" hosted by Drew Carey on ABC. He was brought on alongside Ryan Stiles, who was also a regular member of the UK cast. Mochrie appeared on every episode from its debut in August 1998 to its finale in 2006. He noted his favourite games as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes based on suggestions by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a scene and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He believed his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" game, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who cannot sing, usually spoke his lines instead of singing them.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie's co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian and for his receding hairline. Very early on in the UK version, however, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair, and the bald jokes were done at the expense of the UK host, Clive Anderson. In the American version, Mochrie would often perform the female role in certain frequently-performed skits, such as "Whose Line" and "Two Line Vocabulary". In the few times he played the man in the scene, the producers were making further fun of his baldness (e.g. Colin was Samson, and Ryan was his girlfriend, and Samson had lost all his strength because Ryan had cut off his hair).


title: Colin Mochrie

text: According to Mochrie's agent, Jeff Andrews, during the show's run Mochrie was better known in Canada as a "commercial king", performing as characters such the Detergent Crusader for Sunlight detergent. In March 2005, a Nabisco advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu over ordinary slacks and a shirt. At the end of each commercial, he declares "Snack happy!" and waves his scepter with a smile.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie remained active elsewhere during his tenure as a "Whose Line" cast member. In early 1994, he played the role of Mike Brady in a musical version of "The Brady Bunch", directed by fellow Second City member Bruce Pirrie. In the production, Mochrie plays the character as caffeine-fuelled, jittery, and neurotic, an exaggeration of the Mike Brady television character, who often had a coffee in his hand on the show. Shortly before his move to the US version of "Whose Line" in 1998, Mochrie starred in the Canadian comedy series "Supertown Challenge" as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed. He also appeared in several episodes of the Canadian improvisational comedy series "Improv Heaven and Hell".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In an interview, it was revealed that in 1999 Mochrie worked on the Miloš Forman film "Man on the Moon", but his scenes were deleted from the final movie. Mochrie was a guest star in three episodes of "The Drew Carey Show": "She's Gotta Have It" (1999), "Drew Live" (1999), and "Drew Live II" (2001). He also appeared on Nickelodeon's "Figure It Out" as a celebrity guest panelist; in one segment of the show, he was slimed. He had a one-liner in the "Bad Hare Day" episode of "Goosebumps", and he made special guest appearances in several episodes of "The Red Green Show".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: From 2001 through 2002, Mochrie co-starred in the Canadian comedy series "Blackfly" for the series' two seasons. He appeared in "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" on CBC Television from 2001 through 2003, and on the WB Television Network series "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" in 2004.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen, Wayne Gretzky, and Roy Halladay appeared in print and television advertisements to encourage people to visit Toronto after the SARS outbreak that struck the city.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet known as "Wild Survival Guide". He has done a commercial supporting Habitat For Humanity. He appeared briefly in a commercial for Buckley's Cough Syrup, and he was featured in a commercial for New York Fries, manning a steamroller. He appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as the superhero Overly Sensitive Man (inspired by "Whose Line").


title: Colin Mochrie

text: By 2004, Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, "Corner Gas", made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance in the tenth episode. In 2005, Mochrie appeared in "Burnt Toast", a series of eight comedic mini-operas, each depicting a different stage of a romantic relationship in a contemporary setting, produced by Canada's Rhombus Media. He also appeared in an episode of "The Surreal Gourmet". Along with Rosie O'Donnell, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney California Adventure Park. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation premièred the TV movie "The Magical Gathering". Mochrie starred in this, and his daughter, Kinley, co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie starred in "Getting Along Famously" in 2006. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of "Little Mosque on the Prairie", a Canadian television comedy series.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: On March 28, 2007, Mochrie and his "Whose Line" costar Brad Sherwood hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. At that event, Sherwood and Mochrie featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove rapping. Rove's only line was "MC Rove". On August 29, 2007, it was announced that Mochrie would host the Canadian version of the game show "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?". The first of five episodes aired on October 25, 2007. As a result, Mochrie became the fifth member of the American "Whose Line?" cast to become a game show host, after colleagues Brad Sherwood ("The Dating Game" and "The Big Moment"), Greg Proops ("VS.", "Head Games" and "Rendez-View"), Wayne Brady ("Don't Forget the Lyrics!" and "Let's Make A Deal"), and Drew Carey ("Power of 10" and "The Price Is Right").


title: Colin Mochrie

text: The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega, the creator of Animutation, would place Mochrie in almost every Animutation he made, making the inclusion of him in Animutation somewhat of a running gag. Mochrie is aware of his status among Animutation artists and fans, having been quoted, "It was very odd when I first saw the animutations. Obviously, the animators are more than a little crazy, but I am very proud of my standing in the animutation arena and hope that some day I can make millions off of it."


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In 2010, Mochrie acted in the Canadian television sitcom "She's the Mayor", which debuted in 2011. On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in "Degrassi Takes Manhattan".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In 2011, Mochrie appeared as a regular cast member on "Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza" on GSN. In 2012, Mochrie starred in the ABC improv comedy series "Trust Us with Your Life".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie returned for the CW network's revival of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" in the summer of 2013. He had a recurring role in the short-lived television comedy series "Working the Engels".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In 2017 Mochrie made a cameo appearance complete with his trademark dry humour, as Ralph Fellows a hotel detective in an episode of the Canadian detective TV series "Murdoch Mysteries".


title: Colin Mochrie

text: In 2020 he hosted "", a webcast collaboration between Second City alumni and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra which presented a comedic history of the use of classical and liturgical music in the church, for which he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lead Performance in a Web Program or Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: He has appeared on the revival of sketch comedy series "The Kids in the Hall", which was released on Amazon Prime Video on May 13, 2022.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie and "Whose Line" co-star Brad Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show since 2002. Initially called "An Evening with Colin and Brad", they played primarily in small theatre venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group", was released on March 8, 2011.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: As of 2018, Mochrie and Sherwood have continued their performances, billed as the "Scared Scriptless Tour", and are playing in larger venues such as the Sydney Opera House and London's Royal Albert Hall.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie lives with his wife, Canadian actress Debra McGrath, in Toronto. The two have been married since January 8, 1989, and together they have a daughter, Kinley Mochrie. In 2017, with her permission, Mochrie revealed on Twitter that Kinley is transgender. In 2018, after Mochrie posted a picture with his wife and daughter on Facebook wishing her a happy birthday, he received hateful comments from trolls. He responded by saying in a post the following day, "Thanks to the fans of this page for being supportive and human. To the trolls, my thoughts and prayers to your body for losing it's [sic] mind and soul so tragically." When Mochrie competed on "LOL: Last One Laughing Canada" in 2022, he played for Rainbow Camp, an affirming summer camp program for LGBTQ youth in Thessalon.


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie and his wife McGrath are both related to Canadian actor Munro Chambers. In a 2010 interview, Chambers stated:


title: Colin Mochrie

text: "I could say many things... my uncle, for one thing, is Colin Mochrie. He's been my inspiration getting into the industry. He's my uncle-in-law; his wife is my dad's cousin. My dad and his cousin, they were kind of like brother and sister growing up, so he's my uncle by law. We have a good relationship."


title: Colin Mochrie

text: Mochrie has been nominated for five Canadian Comedy Awards and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award for "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". In 2013, Mochrie was awarded Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from certain non-carbohydrate carbon substrates. It is a ubiquitous process, present in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. In vertebrates, gluconeogenesis occurs mainly in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the cortex of the kidneys. It is one of two primary mechanisms – the other being degradation of glycogen (glycogenolysis) – used by humans and many other animals to maintain blood sugar levels, avoiding low levels (hypoglycemia). In ruminants, because dietary carbohydrates tend to be metabolized by rumen organisms, gluconeogenesis occurs regardless of fasting, low-carbohydrate diets, exercise, etc. In many other animals, the process occurs during periods of fasting, starvation, low-carbohydrate diets, or intense exercise.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In humans, substrates for gluconeogenesis may come from any non-carbohydrate sources that can be converted to pyruvate or intermediates of glycolysis (see figure). For the breakdown of proteins, these substrates include glucogenic amino acids (although not ketogenic amino acids); from breakdown of lipids (such as triglycerides), they include glycerol, odd-chain fatty acids (although not even-chain fatty acids, see below); and from other parts of metabolism they include lactate from the Cori cycle. Under conditions of prolonged fasting, acetone derived from ketone bodies can also serve as a substrate, providing a pathway from fatty acids to glucose. Although most gluconeogenesis occurs in the liver, the relative contribution of gluconeogenesis by the kidney is increased in diabetes and prolonged fasting.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: The gluconeogenesis pathway is highly endergonic until it is coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP or GTP, effectively making the process exergonic. For example, the pathway leading from pyruvate to glucose-6-phosphate requires 4 molecules of ATP and 2 molecules of GTP to proceed spontaneously. These ATPs are supplied from fatty acid catabolism via beta oxidation.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In humans the main gluconeogenic precursors are lactate, glycerol (which is a part of the triglyceride molecule), alanine and glutamine. Altogether, they account for over 90% of the overall gluconeogenesis.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Other glucogenic amino acids and all citric acid cycle intermediates (through conversion to oxaloacetate) can also function as substrates for gluconeogenesis. Generally, human consumption of gluconeogenic substrates in food does not result in increased gluconeogenesis.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In ruminants, propionate is the principal gluconeogenic substrate. In nonruminants, including human beings, propionate arises from the β-oxidation of odd-chain and branched-chain fatty acids is a (relatively minor) substrate for gluconeogenesis.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Lactate is transported back to the liver where it is converted into pyruvate by the Cori cycle using the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase. Pyruvate, the first designated substrate of the gluconeogenic pathway, can then be used to generate glucose. Transamination or deamination of amino acids facilitates entering of their carbon skeleton into the cycle directly (as pyruvate or oxaloacetate), or indirectly via the citric acid cycle. The contribution of Cori cycle lactate to overall glucose production increases with fasting duration. Specifically, after 12, 20, and 40 hours of fasting by human volunteers, the contribution of Cori cycle lactate to gluconeogenesis was 41%, 71%, and 92%, respectively.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Whether even-chain fatty acids can be converted into glucose in animals has been a longstanding question in biochemistry. Odd-chain fatty acids can be oxidized to yield acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA, the latter serving as a precursor to succinyl-CoA, which can be converted to pyruvate and enter into gluconeogenesis. In contrast, even-chain fatty acids are oxidized to yield only acetyl-CoA, whose entry into gluconeogenesis requires the presence of a glyoxylate cycle (also known as glyoxylate shunt) to produce four-carbon dicarboxylic acid precursors. The glyoxylate shunt comprises two enzymes, malate synthase and isocitrate lyase, and is present in fungi, plants, and bacteria. Despite some reports of glyoxylate shunt enzymatic activities detected in animal tissues, genes encoding both enzymatic functions have only been found in nematodes, in which they exist as a single bi-functional enzyme. Genes coding for malate synthase alone (but not isocitrate lyase) have been identified in other animals including arthropods, echinoderms, and even some vertebrates. Mammals found to possess the malate synthase gene include monotremes (platypus) and marsupials (opossum), but not placental mammals.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: The existence of the glyoxylate cycle in humans has not been established, and it is widely held that fatty acids cannot be converted to glucose in humans directly. Carbon-14 has been shown to end up in glucose when it is supplied in fatty acids, but this can be expected from the incorporation of labelled atoms derived from acetyl-CoA into citric acid cycle intermediates which are interchangeable with those derived from other physiological sources, such as glucogenic amino acids. In the absence of other glucogenic sources, the 2-carbon acetyl-CoA derived from the oxidation of fatty acids cannot produce a net yield of glucose via the citric acid cycle, since an equivalent two carbon atoms are released as carbon dioxide during the cycle. During ketosis, however, acetyl-CoA from fatty acids yields ketone bodies, including acetone, and up to ~60% of acetone may be oxidized in the liver to the pyruvate precursors acetol and methylglyoxal. Thus ketone bodies derived from fatty acids could account for up to 11% of gluconeogenesis during starvation. Catabolism of fatty acids also produces energy in the form of ATP that is necessary for the gluconeogenesis pathway.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In mammals, gluconeogenesis has been believed to be restricted to the liver, the kidney, the intestine, and muscle, but recent evidence indicates gluconeogenesis occurring in astrocytes of the brain. These organs use somewhat different gluconeogenic precursors. The liver preferentially uses lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids (especially alanine) while the kidney preferentially uses lactate, glutamine and glycerol. Lactate from the Cori cycle is quantitatively the largest source of substrate for gluconeogenesis, especially for the kidney. The liver uses both glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis to produce glucose, whereas the kidney only uses gluconeogenesis. After a meal, the liver shifts to glycogen synthesis, whereas the kidney increases gluconeogenesis. The intestine uses mostly glutamine and glycerol.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Propionate is the principal substrate for gluconeogenesis in the ruminant liver, and the ruminant liver may make increased use of gluconeogenic amino acids (e.g., alanine) when glucose demand is increased. The capacity of liver cells to use lactate for gluconeogenesis declines from the preruminant stage to the ruminant stage in calves and lambs. In sheep kidney tissue, very high rates of gluconeogenesis from propionate have been observed.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In all species, the formation of oxaloacetate from pyruvate and TCA cycle intermediates is restricted to the mitochondrion, and the enzymes that convert Phosphoenolpyruvic acid (PEP) to glucose-6-phosphate are found in the cytosol. The location of the enzyme that links these two parts of gluconeogenesis by converting oxaloacetate to PEP – PEP carboxykinase (PEPCK) – is variable by species: it can be found entirely within the mitochondria, entirely within the cytosol, or dispersed evenly between the two, as it is in humans. Transport of PEP across the mitochondrial membrane is accomplished by dedicated transport proteins; however no such proteins exist for oxaloacetate. Therefore, in species that lack intra-mitochondrial PEPCK, oxaloacetate must be converted into malate or aspartate, exported from the mitochondrion, and converted back into oxaloacetate in order to allow gluconeogenesis to continue.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Gluconeogenesis is a pathway consisting of a series of eleven enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The pathway will begin in either the liver or kidney, in the mitochondria or cytoplasm of those cells, this being dependent on the substrate being used. Many of the reactions are the reverse of steps found in glycolysis.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: While most steps in gluconeogenesis are the reverse of those found in glycolysis, three regulated and strongly endergonic reactions are replaced with more kinetically favorable reactions. Hexokinase/glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase enzymes of glycolysis are replaced with glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, and PEP carboxykinase/pyruvate carboxylase. These enzymes are typically regulated by similar molecules, but with opposite results. For example, acetyl CoA and citrate activate gluconeogenesis enzymes (pyruvate carboxylase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, respectively), while at the same time inhibiting the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase. This system of reciprocal control allow glycolysis and gluconeogenesis to inhibit each other and prevents a futile cycle of synthesizing glucose to only break it down. Pyruvate kinase can be also bypassed by 86 pathways not related to gluconeogenesis, for the purpose of forming pyruvate and subsequently lactate; some of these pathways use carbon atoms originated from glucose.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: The majority of the enzymes responsible for gluconeogenesis are found in the cytosol; the exceptions are mitochondrial pyruvate carboxylase and, in animals, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. The latter exists as an isozyme located in both the mitochondrion and the cytosol. The rate of gluconeogenesis is ultimately controlled by the action of a key enzyme, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, which is also regulated through signal transduction by cAMP and its phosphorylation.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Global control of gluconeogenesis is mediated by glucagon ("released when blood glucose is low"); it triggers phosphorylation of enzymes and regulatory proteins by Protein Kinase A (a cyclic AMP regulated kinase) resulting in inhibition of glycolysis and stimulation of gluconeogenesis. Insulin counteracts glucagon by inhibiting gluconeogenesis. Type 2 diabetes is marked by excess glucagon and insulin resistance from the body. Insulin can no longer inhibit the gene expression of enzymes such as PEPCK which leads to increased levels of hyperglycemia in the body. The anti-diabetic drug metformin reduces blood glucose primarily through inhibition of gluconeogenesis, overcoming the failure of insulin to inhibit gluconeogenesis due to insulin resistance.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Studies have shown that the absence of hepatic glucose production has no major effect on the control of fasting plasma glucose concentration. Compensatory induction of gluconeogenesis occurs in the kidneys and intestine, driven by glucagon, glucocorticoids, and acidosis.


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: In the liver, the FOX protein FOXO6 normally promotes gluconeogenesis in the fasted state, but insulin blocks FOXO6 upon feeding. In a condition of insulin resistance, insulin fails to block FOXO6 resulting in continued gluconeogenesis even upon feeding, resulting in high blood glucose (hyperglycemia).


title: Gluconeogenesis

text: Insulin resistance is a common feature of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. For this reason gluconeogenesis is a target of therapy for type 2 diabetes, such as the antidiabetic drug metformin, which inhibits gluconeogenic glucose formation, and stimulates glucose uptake by cells.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: My Octopus Teacher is a 2020 Netflix Original documentary film directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, which documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it won the award for Best Documentary Feature.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: In 2010, Craig Foster began free-diving in a cold underwater kelp forest at a remote location in False Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa. The location was near Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula, which is exposed to the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic Ocean.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: He started to document his experiences and, in time, met a curious young octopus that captured his attention. The film shows Foster's growing intimate relationship with the octopus as he follows her around for nearly a year. They form a bond where she plays with Foster and allows him into her world to see how she sleeps, lives, and eats. She frequently has to defend herself against pyjama sharks. In one attack upon her, the octopus loses an arm, and retreats to her den to recover, slowly regenerating the arm over three months. In a later shark attack, she shows an incredibly improved creativity to survive, including sticking on the shark's back. After mating with a male octopus and producing a large number of eggs, she dies naturally while tending to her eggs. Later, a shark scavenges her dead body and carries it off.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: Foster describes the effect of this mentorship-like relationship the octopus provided him, teaching him a lesson on the fragility of life and humanity's connection with nature. This transfers to Foster creating a deeper bond with his son, Tom Foster, as his son develops as a diver and marine biology student.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: In partnership with Sea Change Project, Off The Fence and ZDF Enterprises, "My Octopus Teacher" was executively produced by Ellen Windemuth. It was directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. Cinematography was directed by underwater cameraman Roger Horrocks with footage from Craig Foster and Roger Horrocks. A smaller amount of underwater footage, not shown in the film, but filmed by the same pairing at the same location, had been shown previously on "Blue Planet II", episode 5.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: Foster was also a producer via his involvement with the Sea Change Project, and his wife, Indian environmental journalist Swati Thiyagarajan, was production manager for the film.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: The film, which Foster began filming in 2010, was ten years in the making and was the first South African nature documentary to be a Netflix Original.


title: My Octopus Teacher

text: "My Octopus Teacher" received critical acclaim. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads: "A heartwarming look at the way a meaningful bond can transcend just about any barrier, this documentary will leave you asking your friends to come and see "My Octopus Teacher" with you." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 82% based on reviews from 5 critics.


title: Chris Larkin

text: Born Christopher Larkin Stephens on 19 June 1967 in London, Larkin is the elder son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens. His younger brother is actor Toby Stephens. Larkin revealed in an interview that he chose his stage name in order to distance himself from his famous parents, not wanting "to trade on the family connection", and selecting "Larkin" in honour of his favourite poet Philip Larkin.


title: Chris Larkin

text: Larkin trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He is best known for playing Hermann Göring in the film "", but also played Charles Darwin for the PBS series "Evolution" and the abolitionist William Wilberforce in the radio production of "Grace Victorious". Larkin also played Capt. Howard of the Marines in Peter Weir's "" alongside Paul Bettany and Russell Crowe, and appeared in "Valkyrie" with Tom Cruise playing Sgt. Helm. Other film credits are "Angels and Insects", Franco Zeffirelli's "Jane Eyre" and "Tea with Mussolini", and "Heroes and Villains" directed by Selwyn Roberts.


title: Chris Larkin

text: Larkin played Cambridge in three series of John Sullivan's "Roger Roger" for BBC1 and George Marsden in Charles Sturridge's critically acclaimed "Shackleton" for Channel Four. Larkin also appeared in the 2007 episode of "Doctor Who" "The Shakespeare Code" and the 2012 low-budget horror film "The Facility" (originally titled "Guinea Pigs") directed by Ian Clark.


title: Chris Larkin

text: In 2013 he starred in the television revival of "Yes, Prime Minister" as Bernard Woolley, reprising the role he had played in the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.


title: Chris Larkin

text: Other theatre credits include: Edgar in "The Lady from Dubuque" starring his mother, Maggie Smith, and directed by Anthony Page; Jopari in Nicholas Hytner's production of "His Dark Materials" at The National Theatre; "The Whisky Taster" by James Graham at the Bush Theatre, London; and the nationwide tour of "Noises Off", directed by Lindsay Posner.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is a song by Italian music group Eiffel 65. It was first released in October 1998 in Italy by Skooby Records and became internationally successful the following year. It is the lead single of their 1999 debut album, "Europop". The song is the group's most popular single, reaching number one in at least 18 countries, charting at number three in Italy, and peaking at number six on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 in January 2000.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: In the United Kingdom, the song initially entered the top 40 purely on import sales; it was only the third single to do this. The song also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2001 Grammy Awards.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: Written by Eiffel 65 lead singer Jeffrey Jey, keyboardist Maurizio Lobina, and producer Massimo Gabutti, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" was inspired by Lobina's composed opening piano hook. The producers of the song then came up with the idea for a dance song. Jey explained that his inspiration for the lyrics was how a person chooses their lifestyle. The colour blue as the main theme of the song was picked at random, with Lobina telling him to write nonsensical lyrics. Gabutti came up with the "da ba dee" hook. The pitch-shifted vocal effect used in the song was created with a harmonizer.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is written in the key of G minor, with the vocal range spanning from C to E, and is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 128 beats per minute.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: The song's lyrics tell a story about a man who lives in a "blue world." It also explains that he is "blue inside and outside," which, alongside the lyric "himself and everybody around 'cause he ain't got nobody to listen," and "blue are the feelings that live inside me" may indicate that the term "blue" represents his emotional state; however, the song also explains that a vast variety of what he owns is also blue, including his house and his car ("a blue Corvette"): different blue-coloured objects are also depicted on the single's cover.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: The song received mixed reviews from critics. Chuck Taylor from "Billboard" wrote that "the hook here, with its dancy but curiously compelling singsongy rhythm and lyric, is destined to react instantly with listeners far and wide." He also noted that it has a "euro sound", and "it's creative, it will affect listeners on both ends of the demographic spectrum, and it's anthemic." A reviewer from "Entertainment Weekly" positively reviewed the song, calling the song "a fleeting, feel-good foot-tapper" and gave the song a rating of B−. Scottish newspaper "Daily Record" said it is the "strangest-sounding Euro-club hit of the summer". The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen described it as a "quirky little hit" with a "bouncy chorus". He also noted that "the key is the use of the voice synthesizer". "PopMatters" reviewer Chris Massey, in his review of "Europop", described his initial reaction to the song as being "really, really bad." However, he later stated in the review that after many repeated listenings of the song he "loved it." AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis described the song as a "hypnotic smash" in his review of "Europop".


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: "Rolling Stone", however, in their review of "Europop", gave the song a negative review, commenting that the song "blends Cher-esque vocoder vocals, trance-like synth riffs, unabashed Eurodisco beats and a baby-babble chorus so infantile it makes the Teletubbies sound like Shakespeare." The magazine also placed the song on their list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs," at No. 14.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: The single, released in October 1998, was a chart-topper in many European countries. The song initially found success in France, where it debuted in August 1999 and reached number one for three weeks. It then found success in other European countries, reaching the top spot on many charts in September the same year, including Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, The song re-charted on 6 May 2013 at No. 40 in the UK, following its inclusion in Iron Man 3.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: The accompanying music video for the song was released in 1999 by BlissCoMedia, a computer graphics division of Bliss Corporation, known at the time the video was produced and released as BlissMultiMedia.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: Like much of the Bliss Corporation's music videos, this one was done in a green screen garage studio at BlissCoMedia, and it featured computer-generated graphics that were done in 3ds Max. With very few resources, tutorials and books, and only one editing machine, the video was made between 1998 and 1999 in a garage in about two to three months, much like other videos made by BlissCo.


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: Former BlissCo employee Davide La Sala has talked about coming up with the story for the video: "We had brainstorming sessions and we were a very imaginative team, huge fans of sci-fi movies and video games: "Blade Runner", "Star Wars", etc… we were master in doing our best and working with the few tools we had to create complete short stories in a very short period of time."


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: Similar to other music videos by BlissCo, a total of five people worked on this video. The green-screen footage was done in a short amount of time, and some of it was put into a computer-generated 3D environment, while components of the band were also shot. La Sala said, "We were very flexible but every person in the team had his own special skill who was more towards motion graphics, design and editing, others more skilled in architectural design and me and the CEO experts in animation."


title: Blue (Da Ba Dee)

text: The video takes place on Tukon4, where lead singer Jeffrey Jey is abducted by blue-coloured aliens Zorotl and Sayok6 during a concert.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach in the Chinese Basketball Association. After his freshman year with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was selected as the 4th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, but was traded shortly thereafter to the Minnesota Timberwolves. A two-time All-Star and a two-time member of the All-NBA Team, Marbury played in the NBA from 1996 until 2009. He then played in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) until his retirement in 2018.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury has often gone by the nickname "Starbury", a name created during his youth. Marbury, the sixth of seven children, was born and raised in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. He attended elementary school, PS 329. During his teenage years, he starred at NYC powerhouse Abraham Lincoln High School, After his senior year Marbury was named New York State Mr. Basketball, after averaging 27.4 points, 8.3 assists and 3 steals per game. He was often heralded as the next great NYC point guard, expected to follow the success of NBA stand-outs Mark Jackson and Kenny Anderson.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: While still attending Abraham Lincoln High School he was one of the subjects of Darcy Frey's book "The Last Shot", which followed three seniors and Marbury, a freshman, through the early months of his first season with the school's team. In high school, he played for the renowned AAU team the New York Gauchos.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: He was named a 1995 McDonald's All-American along with future NBA All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Antawn Jamison. Marbury was listed as one of the top five recruits in the country that year and was pursued by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets coach Bobby Cremins, with whom he eventually committed.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: At Georgia Tech, Marbury took over the starting point guard role left vacant with Travis Best's departure. Teaming with future NBA players Matt Harpring and Drew Barry, Marbury led Georgia Tech to a 24–12 record en route to the Regional Semi-final game of the NCAA tournament, where the Yellow Jackets lost to Cincinnati 87–70. For the season, Marbury averaged 18.9 ppg and 4.5 assists and was named a Third Team All American by the Associated Press, along with several conference honors. Following the season he declared himself eligible for the 1996 NBA draft.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: He was selected fourth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1996 NBA draft, then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the draft rights to Ray Allen (who was drafted immediately after him) and a future first-round pick. In his first season in the league, Marbury averaged 15.8 points and 7.8 assists per game and was named to the 1997 All-Rookie Team. He and second-year player Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to the NBA Playoffs in 1997 and 1998.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: During the lockout-shortened 1999 season, Marbury's agent, David Falk, demanded a trade. Marbury said he wanted to be closer to his family and friends. Other reports said he wanted to go to a market that would provide more endorsement opportunities, while others suggested that Marbury genuinely disliked Minnesota and was jealous of Kevin Garnett's new contract. Marbury was ultimately traded to the New Jersey Nets in a three-way trade in which Terrell Brandon was sent from Milwaukee to Minnesota and Sam Cassell was sent from New Jersey to Milwaukee.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: While in New Jersey, Marbury blossomed into an All-Star. Marbury made the All-NBA 3rd Team in 2000 and was selected as a reserve for the 2001 All-Star Game, where he hit 2 clutch threes to win the game. Marbury also scored a career-high 50 points on February 13, 2001 in an overtime loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite his individual accolades, the Nets never made the playoffs during Marbury's time with the team.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Johnny Newman and Soumaila Samake in the 2001 offseason for Jason Kidd and Chris Dudley. As a Sun, Marbury made his second All-Star team and the All-NBA 3rd team in 2003. Teamed with Rookie of the Year Amar'e Stoudemire and All-Star Shawn Marion, the trio took the team to the playoffs, but the Suns were ousted by the Spurs in the first round.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury, Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybański were traded to the New York Knicks on January 5, 2004 for Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess, Maciej Lampe, draft rights to Miloš Vujanić, a first-round 2004 draft choice, and an additional future first-round draft choice. This brought Marbury full circle, as he grew up in New York and was a lifelong Knicks fan.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury played for the U.S. in the 2004 Summer Olympics, the first of the U.S. teams composed of NBA players to fail to win the gold medal at the Olympics. He and his teammates returned with bronze. Despite the disappointment, Marbury scored a U.S. team Olympic record 31 points in a game against Spain (since eclipsed by Carmelo Anthony in 2012).


title: Stephon Marbury

text: During the 2005–06 season Marbury feuded with head coach Larry Brown. Towards the end of the 2005–2006 season, the Knicks' poor performance combined with Marbury's public spats with his coach led to a severe decline in Marbury's popularity, with Frank Isola and Michael O'Keefe of the "New York Daily News" stating that Marbury is "the most reviled athlete in New York."


title: Stephon Marbury

text: The public feud between Marbury and Brown was one of the reasons Larry Brown was fired at the end of the 2005–06 season. Isiah Thomas took over the coaching role and the Knicks were slightly more successful during the 2006–2007 season, surpassing the previous year's 23 wins, 54 games into their 82-game season, before falling off and finishing with only 33.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In September 2007, Marbury testified at the trial of a sexual harassment lawsuit that had been filed against the Knicks and Isiah Thomas. At the trial, Marbury testified that he and a Knicks intern had "got[ten] together" in his car outside a strip club in 2005.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: The start of the 2007–08 season found the Knicks again floundering and Marbury again involved in a public feud, this time with Thomas. The pivotal incident involved Marbury leaving the team after learning that Thomas planned to remove him from the starting lineup. There were reports that Marbury and Thomas actually came to blows on the team plane, and that Marbury threatened to blackmail Thomas for taking him out of the starting lineup—both in the presence of Knick teammates. Following the incident and Marbury's return to the team in mid-November after one missed game, Knick fans consistently chanted "fire Isiah" at home games and constantly booed virtually all of the Knicks, especially Marbury. The dysfunction and drama were accompanied by 8 straight Knicks losses, and several newspapers reported that Isiah's job was in jeopardy. There were also rumors that the Knicks wanted to trade Marbury to another team. However, this proved difficult for the Knicks to accomplish, in view of the two years and approximately $42 million remaining under his contract with the Knicks. Following a season-ending ankle surgery in February 2008, which was reportedly deemed unnecessary by the team, but which Marbury elected to undergo regardless, Isiah Thomas hinted that Marbury could have played his final game in a Knicks uniform. However, in April 2008, it was Thomas who was removed from his position; first as president, being replaced by Donnie Walsh, and then as coach, being replaced by Mike D'Antoni.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: After D'Antoni took over, the Knicks signed Chris Duhon, leading to speculations over Marbury's future in New York. Marbury arrived to training camp, and competed with Duhon for the starting point guard job, which Duhon won. When D'Antoni told Marbury that he had an opportunity to play approximately 35 minutes in a game if he wanted to, Marbury, apparently feeling he and the Knicks had gone their own ways, allegedly refused. Following that, on December 1, Marbury was banned from attending any Knicks' practices or games.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On February 24, 2009, the Knicks and Marbury agreed to a buyout after much speculation. He cleared waivers two days later, making him a free agent. Marbury had been speculated to join the Boston Celtics by many NBA analysts since late 2008, and on February 27, 2009, Marbury signed with the Celtics. In his debut, he played against the Indiana Pacers, adding 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting, and 2 assists in 13 minutes. Marbury wore the jersey number 8, as No. 3 had been retired in honor of Dennis Johnson.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury was offered a one-year contract by the Celtics for the 2009–10 season for the veteran's minimum. However, he did not agree to the contract. He later announced that he would take a year off from basketball to attend to his business interests.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In January 2010, it was announced that Marbury had signed with the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association. In his first game, Marbury, suffering from jet lag, contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals in 28 minutes of action. He averaged 22.9 points, 9.5 assists and 2.6 steals in 15 games, but Shanxi eventually failed to advance to the playoffs. Marbury later participated in the CBA All-Star match between the North and the South teams, contributing 30 points and 10 assists for the North team. He won the MVP title for the All-Star game. In July 2010, Marbury agreed to a three-year deal to remain with the Brave Dragons. However, he left the team in December 2010


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In December 2010 Marbury joined the Foshan Dralions. Like the previous season, Marbury played in the starting five of the 2011 CBA All-Star match, but his team failed to make the playoffs.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: During the 2011–2012 season, the Beijing Ducks, led by Stephon Marbury, started out the season with a 13–0 record. Like the previous two seasons, Marbury played in the starting five for the 2012 CBA All-Star match, but unlike the previous two years, his team made the playoffs. Averaging 45 points per game during the Shanxi series, Marbury led Beijing to their first ever CBA Finals match-up against the 7-time champion Guangdong Southern Tigers. Marbury then led his Beijing Ducks Team to the 2011–2012 season CBA championship. Following the team's championship, in May 2012, a statue of Marbury was unveiled on the lawn of the MasterCard Center, the 2008 Olympic basketball arena, in Beijing. Dennis Rodman spoke at the ceremony.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Writing in the state-run "China Daily", Marbury credited the success in his life to Chinese culture which he described as one "filled with love, compassion, and care".


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In the second game of the 2012–13 CBA season, Marbury tallied 13 assists in a victory over the Jilin Northeast Tigers. This was the highest number of assists Marbury had produced in a single game since his tenure with the Ducks began. He then scored 32 points in an away game against Liaoning. Beijing won that game by 4 points. He was named the CBA Foreign MVP for the season.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On March 30, 2014, Marbury won a second CBA championship with the Beijing Ducks. On March 22, 2015, he won his third CBA championship with his team, as well as his first official CBA Finals MVP award.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On July 19, 2017, Marbury announced that for his last season, he would play for the Beijing Fly Dragons. He later posted that after his season with the Fly Dragons concluded, he'd look to try and finish his career with an NBA team. However, on February 11, 2018, Marbury played his final game in the CBA, scoring 20 points in a 104–92 win over the Jiangsu Dragons, and announced his retirement from basketball.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On June 24, 2019, Marbury was named head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On March 8, 2020, Marbury warned NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to stop the 2019–2020 season, saying, "the game won't be fun if people die." He specifically asked Silver to "be the one to make the hard, easy decision." This request was made three days before the first NBA player tested positive for the coronavirus and Silver suspended the season.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Stephon's brother Zach has played professional basketball in Venezuela. Marbury is a cousin of former professional basketball player Sebastian Telfair. He is also a cousin of former Providence College star and former NBA journeyman Jamel Thomas. In a book, Thomas claimed Marbury's selfish actions in Minnesota prevented Thomas from signing a contract with the Timberwolves.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Stephon and his wife Latasha married on September 14, 2002. He has three children: Xaviera, Stephon II, and Stephanie.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2001, Marbury donated $250,000 of the money derived from Pepsi sponsorships to help victims of the September 11 attacks.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2007, Marbury donated $4,000,000 to New York City, $1,000,000 each to the NYPD, FDNY, EMT, and New York City Teacher's Fund.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2014, Marbury was named one of the Top 10 Model Citizens for Beijing due to his commitment to the Beijing community and the charity work he provided for it. He became the first international citizen to earn such an honor since its inception by the Beijing government.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marbury worked with a China supplier to sell millions of masks at cost to assist first responders and hospital workers in New York City.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2006, Marbury partnered with Steve & Barry's to promote a line of shoes and clothing bearing his nickname, "Starbury".


title: Stephon Marbury

text: The line of shoes he endorsed sold for $14.98, far less than many other shoe lines. The reason for doing so, he stated at the time, was to provide kids a way to get fashionable basketball shoes for a reasonable price, and avoid the problem of having expensive shoes that are the target of theft.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury was not paid to endorse the shoes, but was compensated based on sales of the shoes. Since then, but not due to business with Marbury, Steve & Barry's filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Shortly after Steve & Barry's closed, Marbury opened Starbury.com to sell his shoes and an expanded product line through a partnership with Amazon.com. Starbury has also announced plans to open dozens of stores and a distributorship in China.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In May 2017, Marbury expressed interest in helping Big Baller Brand partner with a Chinese sports apparel company.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: Marbury is on the cover of the Midway video game "NBA Ballers". He has been named to "The Sporting News" list of "Good Guys in Sports" three times.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In the Spike Lee movie "He Got Game", fictional Brooklyn high school star Jesus Shuttlesworth (played by Ray Allen) mentions Stephon Marbury as one of the great New York City legends to make it out of Coney Island to the NBA. The high school in the movie, Abraham Lincoln, is where Marbury attended high school.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 1999, Marbury, alongside fellow former Georgia Tech point guard Kenny Anderson, appeared in the video for Big Pun's single "Whatcha Gonna Do" which was produced by Juju of The Beatnuts. In the video, Marbury and Anderson play a 2 on 2 game versus Terror Squad members Fat Joe and Cuban Link.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2003, Marbury's arrival with the New York Knicks was referenced in the Scrubs episode titled "My Porcelain God".


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2007, Marbury co-authored his first children's book with Marshall Dean entitled "". The book was illustrated by Ryan Nakai.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In March 2008, wrestler Montel Vontavious Porter said in an interview that he based his wrestling persona on Marbury. M.V.P. said he had an encounter with Marbury when he was a doorman at a club.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In July 2009, Marbury began a live-streaming broadcast, a format not yet commonplace, for 24 hours, where he answered questions from fans, openly wept, and ate vaseline to soothe a sore throat. He would later admit that he was depressed and suicidal at the time.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2017, Marbury starred in his own autobiographical movie titled "My Other Home", alongside Jessica Jung.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: In 2015, Marbury applied for and received a Chinese "green card", or Permanent Resident ID Card (). He is the fifth American basketball player to receive a green card in China. He also earned the nickname Commissar Ma () for his role as a mentor to the teammates and younger players while playing in China.


title: Stephon Marbury

text: On October 20, 2017, it was announced that Marbury had reached an agreement to become the owner of the Beijing Lions of the China Arena Football League.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 adventure comedy film and a parody of the Robin Hood story. The film was produced and directed by Mel Brooks, co-written by Brooks, Evan Chandler, and J. David Shapiro based on a story by Chandler and Shapiro, and stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle in his film debut. It includes frequent comedic references to previous "Robin Hood" films, particularly "" (upon which the plot is loosely structured), and the 1938 Errol Flynn adaptation "The Adventures of Robin Hood".


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: The film also features Brooks in a minor role – the first time he had appeared in one of his own films in which he does not receive top billing or play the lead role since "Young Frankenstein". In addition to Brooks, it features cameos from Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise, Dick Van Patten, and Rudy De Luca.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Robin of Loxley is captured during the Crusades and is imprisoned in Jerusalem. With the help of fellow inmate Asneeze, he escapes and frees the other inmates. Upon returning to England, Robin finds Asneeze's son, Ahchoo, and discovers that Prince John has assumed control while King Richard is away fighting in the Crusades. Unbeknownst to Richard, the prince is abusing his power. Robin returns to his family home, Loxley Hall, only to find it being repossessed by John's men. His family's blind servant, Blinkin, informs Robin that his family is dead, and his father left him a key which opens "the greatest treasure in all the land."


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Robin recruits Little John and Will Scarlet O'Hara to help regain his father's land and oust Prince John from the throne. On his quest, Robin attracts the attention of Maid Marian of Bagelle, who wants to find the man who has the key to her Everlast chastity belt. They are also joined by Rabbi Tuckman, who shares with them his sacramental wine and bargain circumcisions.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: While Robin is training his band of tights-clad Merry Men, the spoonerism-spouting Sheriff of Rottingham hires the mafioso Don Giovanni to assassinate Robin at the Spring Festival. They plan to hold an archery tournament to attract Robin. Maid Marian hears of the plot, and sneaks out of her castle to warn Robin, accompanied by her heavyset, German lady-in-waiting, Broomhilde.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: At the archery tournament, a disguised Robin makes it to the final round, but loses after his arrow is split in two by his opponent. Confused that he lost, Robin reviews the movie's script to discover that he gets another shot. Giovanni's assassin attempts to kill Robin by shooting at him with a scoped crossbow, but Blinkin catches the arrow in midair. Robin then takes the second shot, this time using a special "PATRIOT arrow", hitting the target. Robin is arrested, with Marian promising to marry the Sheriff to spare his life.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Robin and the Merry Men interrupt the wedding between the Sheriff and Maid Marian. She is carried off to the tower by the Sheriff, who wants to deflower her but cannot open her chastity belt. Robin arrives and duels the sheriff, during which Robin's key falls into the lock of Marian's chastity belt.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: After winning the fight Robin spares the Sheriff's life only to miss his sheath and accidentally run the Sheriff through. The witch Latrine, Prince John's cook and adviser, saves him by giving him a magical Life Saver in exchange for marriage. Before Robin and Marian can attempt to open the lock, Broomhilde arrives, insisting they get married first. Rabbi Tuckman conducts the ceremony, but they are suddenly interrupted by King Richard, recently returned from the Crusades, who orders Prince John to be taken away to the Tower of London and made part of the tour.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Robin and Marian are married, and Ahchoo is made the new sheriff of Rottingham. That night, Robin and Maid Marian attempt to open the chastity belt, only to discover that even with the key, the lock won't open. The film ends with Robin calling for a locksmith.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote, "What's missing is the kind of densely packed comic screenplay that helped to make "Young Frankenstein" and "High Anxiety" two of the most delectable movie parodies of the last 20 years. "Men in Tights" has the manner of something that wasn't argued over long enough. A few good gags are supplemented by dozens of others that still need to be worked on or tossed out entirely." Caryn James wrote, ""Men in Tights" is not as relentlessly clever and comic as his '70s films, but its funniest moments prove that Mr. Brooks has not lost his shrewd, nutty irreverence." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film half of one star out of four and called it "a most disappointing Mel Brooks movie parody that suggests that the once hilarious Brooks has lost his way. The pacing is agonizingly slow, and many of the jokes are recycled from his earlier, better work."


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called it "a pointless and untimely lampoon of "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" from the increasingly creaky spoofmeister Mel Brooks." Peter Rainer of the "Los Angeles Times" was mixed, writing that "what's enjoyable about the best parts of "Men in Tights" is its grab-bag, throwaway style", but also finding "something a little dutiful and desperate about portions of the film, as if Brooks were trying to capture an audience he didn't really connect with." Jay Boyar of the "Orlando Sentinel" called the film "crashingly unfunny" and a sign that "the 67-year old comedian's sense of humor isn't nearly as sharp as it once was." In his book, "Reel Bad Arabs", Jack Shaheen saw the movie positively, describing it as a "funny fable" that spoofs "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", containing "harmless visual and verbal puns".


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41%, based on 44 reviews, and an average rating of 5.10/10. The critical consensus reads: "Undisciplined, scatological, profoundly silly, and often utterly groan-worthy, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" still has an amiable, anything-goes goofiness that has made it a cult favorite." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Over time, the film has developed a cult following.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" debuted at number six at the weekend box office in the United States, with a gross of $6.8 million and a total of over $10 million, after opening on the previous Wednesday. Fox was reportedly "thrilled" with the film's performance.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: The film went on to gross $35.7 million in the United States and Canada. It is Brooks' fifth-highest-grossing film. Internationally it grossed $36.3 million for a worldwide total of $72 million.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: Brooks has mentioned that "Men in Tights" and "Spaceballs" are his two top-selling films on video in a DVD interview for the latter film.


title: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

text: "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" was released via Laserdisc and VHS in 1994 by Fox Video. A Region 1 DVD was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and was doubled-featured with "Spaceballs" on February 6, 2007. Columbia TriStar also released the film on DVDs, VHS and Laserdisc in other territories from 1994 to 2002, while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-released the DVDs from 2006 to 2016. The film was released on Blu-ray on May 11, 2010, and was re-released in a DVD Combo Pack on October 1, 2018, in the United States, Fabulous Films on April 22, 2019, in Europe, and Umbrella Entertainment on December 15, 2021, in Australia.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the multinational–international women's youth football championship, contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 2008. The tournament was hosted by India, which would have hosted the 2020 edition before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the second time that India have been hosting a FIFA tournament, after the men's 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the first time that India hosting a FIFA women's football tournament.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: Spain were the defending champions, having won their first title in 2018. They managed to retain the title.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: India were originally selected as hosts of the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup on 15 March 2019. On 17 November 2020, FIFA announced that the 2020 edition of the tournament would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, India were appointed as hosts of the next edition of the tournament in 2022.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: On 16 August 2022, it was announced that the All India Football Federation, or AIFF, was suspended by FIFA due to undue influence from third parties. As a result, the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was stripped from India, as FIFA assessed the next steps when it came to hosting the tournament. On 26 August 2022, the AIFF were reinstated by FIFA due to the AIFF administration regaining control of daily affairs. As a result, the tournament will be going ahead as planned.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: A total of 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to the hosts, 15 teams qualified from six continental competitions.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The official emblem for the tournament was unveiled by FIFA and the local organising committee on 2 November 2019 at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. According to FIFA, the design combines elements from the natural world and Indian culture. The emblem takes the form of the tournament trophy with bright blue waves and "a paisley flourish" at its base. The two elements extend towards the top of the trophy which resembles a ball made of marigold flowers framed by a water droplet. The colour and style of the marigold was inspired by Bandhani textiles, and the stem features symbols inspired by Warli paintings and Bandhani patterns.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The official mascot for the tournament, named Ibha, was unveiled on 11 October 2021 coinciding with the International Day of the Girl Child. Ibha is an Asiatic lioness, a lion subspecies that today survives in the wild only in India. The name Ibha means "one with good vision or judgement" in Khasi, a language spoken primarily in the state of Meghalaya. According to FIFA, the mascot represents "Nari Shakti" (woman power) and is a "strong, playful and charming Asiatic lioness that aims to inspire and encourage women and girls by using teamwork, resilience, kindness and empowering others."


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The official draw took place on 24 June 2022, 12:00 local time CEST () at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. The teams were allocated based on their performances in the 5 previous U-17 Women's World Cups, five bonus points are added to each of the confederation's current champions that won the respective qualifying tournament (for this cycle).


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The hosts India were automatically assigned to position A1. Teams of the same confederation could not meet in the group stage.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: A total of 14 referees, 28 assistant referees and 16 video match officials were appointed officially by FIFA for the tournament on 30 August 2022.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The Video assistant referee (VAR) system will be utilize for the first time in a FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: Originally, Susana Corella (Ecuador) was assigned as support referee only. However, she was assigned as principal referee during the tournament.


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The format for tiebreakers were determined as follows:


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:


title: 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

text: In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (no extra time was played).


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy-drama film, based on the story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson and CIA operative Gust Avrakotos, whose efforts led to Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989).


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: The film was directed by Mike Nichols (his final film) and written by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted George Crile III's 2003 book "". Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman starred, with Amy Adams and Ned Beatty in supporting roles. It was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, but did not win in any category. Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: In 1980, Congressman Charlie Wilson is more interested in partying than legislating, frequently throwing huge galas and staffing his congressional office with attractive young women. His social life eventually brings about a federal investigation into allegations of his cocaine use, conducted by federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani as part of a larger investigation into congressional misconduct. The investigation results in no charge against Wilson.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: A friend and romantic interest, Joanne Herring, encourages Charlie to do more to help the Afghan people, and persuades him to visit the Pakistani leadership. The Pakistanis complain about the inadequate support of the U.S. to oppose the Soviet Union, and they insist that Wilson visit a major Pakistan-based Afghan refugee camp. The Congressman is deeply moved by their misery and determination to fight, but is frustrated by the regional CIA personnel's insistence on a low key approach against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Wilson returns home to lead an effort to substantially increase funding to the mujahideen.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: As part of this effort, Charlie befriends maverick CIA operative Gust Avrakotos and his understaffed Afghanistan group to find a better strategy, especially including a means to counter the Soviets' formidable Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship. This group was composed in part of members of the CIA's Special Activities Division, including a young paramilitary officer named Michael Vickers. As a result, Charlie's deft political bargaining for the necessary funding and Avrakotos' careful planning using those resources, such as supplying the guerrillas with FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers, turns the Soviet occupation into a deadly quagmire with their heavy fighting vehicles being destroyed at a crippling rate. Charlie enlists the support of Israel and Egypt for Soviet weapons and consumables, and Pakistan for distribution of arms. The CIA's anti-communism budget evolves from $5 million to over $500 million (with the same amount matched by Saudi Arabia), startling several congressmen. This effort by Charlie ultimately evolves into a major portion of the U.S. foreign policy known as the Reagan Doctrine, under which the U.S. expanded assistance beyond just the mujahideen and began also supporting other anti-communist resistance movements around the world. Charlie states that senior Pentagon official Michael Pillsbury persuaded President Ronald Reagan to provide the Stingers to the Afghans.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: Gust vehemently advises Charlie to seek support for post-Soviet occupation Afghanistan, referencing the "zen master's" story of the lost horse. He also emphasizes that rehabilitating schools in the country will help educate young children before they are influenced by the "crazies". Charlie attempts to appeal this with the government but finds no enthusiasm for even the modest measures he proposes. In the end, Charlie receives a major commendation for his support of the U.S. clandestine services, but his pride is tempered by his fears of the blowback his secret efforts could yield in the future and the implications of U.S. disengagement from Afghanistan.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: The film was originally set for release on December 25, 2007; but on November 30, the timetable was moved back to December 21. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.6 million in 2,575 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking No. 4 at the box office. It grossed a total of $119 million worldwide—$66.7 million in the United States and Canada and $52.3 million in other territories.


title: Charlie Wilson's War (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 204 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Charlie Wilson's War" manages to entertain and inform audiences, thanks to its witty script and talented cast of power players." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.