title: Ocean liner

text: Ocean liners were often a setting of a love story in films, such as the 1939's "Love Affair" Liners were also used as a setting of disaster films. The 1960 film "The Last Voyage" was filmed on board the "Íle de France", which was used as a floating prop and was scuttled for the occasion. The 1972 film "The Poseidon Adventure" has become a classic of the genre and has spawned many remakes.


title: Ocean liner

text: The sinking of "Titanic" also attracted attention of filmmakers. Nearly fifteen films were made to depict it, with James Cameron's 1997 film being the most commercially successful.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Chevrolet Colorado, and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are series of compact and later mid-sized pickup trucks marketed by American automaker General Motors. They were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma compact pickups. It is named for the U.S. state of Colorado.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Chevrolet Colorado and its twin, the GMC Canyon were jointly designed by GM's North American operations, GM's Brazil operations, and Isuzu, which began selling its own version worldwide in 2002. In late 2005, Isuzu offered a version in North America called the Isuzu i-series. This North American model Isuzu shared North American powertrains, styling, and equipment with the Colorado/Canyon twins and differed from Isuzu's worldwide offering. All Chevrolet, GMC, and Isuzu versions worldwide are based on the GMT355, itself the basis for the GMT 345-based Hummer H3. Most vehicles for markets outside North America are manufactured at a GM plant in Rayong, Thailand. All North American-market vehicles were manufactured by Shreveport Operations.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The cooperation between GM and Isuzu to build a light-duty truck and offer it in North America returns to an original arrangement the two companies had in the 1970s with the Chevrolet LUV, a rebadged Isuzu Faster.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Colorado/Canyon trucks in the North American market offer both manual and automatic transmissions. GM also offers either a rear-wheel drive (4x2) or four-wheel drive (4x4) drivetrain with standard, extended, and four-door crew-cab body styles. Most models come with the LK5 I4 engine as standard, but a more powerful 3.5 I5 comes with the Z71 package on four-door versions and is optional on all others. The 4-door Z71s also get the four-speed automatic transmission standard. This package was later dropped in favor of LT2 and LT3.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Colorado was offered in three basic trim levels: Base, LS, and LT, while the Canyon was also offered in three trim levels, but with different names: Canyon, SLE, and SLT.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Three different cab configurations were offered on Colorado and Canyon: a two-door regular-cab model with a box and seating for either two or three passengers, a four-door extended-cab model with a box and seating for either four or five passengers, and a four-door crew-cab model with a shorter box and seating for either five or six passengers. Top trim levels in crew-cab configuration offered upscale features such as leather-trimmed seating surfaces, dual power-adjustable front bucket seats with lumbar support and heat, a six-disc, in-dash CD changer, XM satellite radio, and rear side-impact airbags.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Three different suspension options were offered on the Colorado and Canyon: The base Z85 suspension offered a comfortable ride quality. The Z/71 Off-Road suspension added a locking rear differential axle (RPO code G80) and heavier-duty shock absorbers for improved performance off-road, also offering an increased ride height for better clearance. The ZQ8 Sport suspension (see below) offered a lower ride height than the standard Z85 suspension, as well as firmer suspension for improved handling. All suspension packages were offered on 4x2 or 4x4 models in all cab configurations, except for the ZQ8 Sport suspension, which was only offered on 4x2 models.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: A ZQ8 edition is available with a lower and more road-tuned "sport" suspension than the standard Z85 and comes with 17 inch wheels, color-matched bumper and grille, and low profile fender flares. There is also a Xtreme edition of the ZQ8 which has a different front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts, fender flares, grille, headlights, and 18-inch wheels. The Xtreme edition is basically a continuation of a trim package from its predecessor, the Chevrolet S-10.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: For 2007, Colorado/Canyon was facelifted and offered new engines, which include the LLV I4 and LLR I5 which were both introduced due to numerous head problems, new colors — Deep Ruby (Sonoma Red for the Canyon), Pace Blue (Sport Blue for the Canyon), and Imperial Blue (Midnight Blue for the Canyon), and new tires and wheels. Minor changes to the grille and interior for the LT and LTZ models; the LS models kept the same pre-facelift look, similar to the facelift of the TrailBlazer in 2005. In addition, the "Colorado" and "Canyon" badges were phased out from the doors in favor of GM's corporate logo. For model year 2009, the Colorado was facelifted again and a LH8 V8 was offered, producing and . For the 2010 model year, the GM badges were phased out, although a few 2010 models had the GM logo on the doors.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: In 2009, both trucks, as with most 2009 GM vehicles (and combined with OnStar), received a Bluetooth hands-free phone system for the first time as optional equipment. The six-disc in-dash CD changer was discontinued as well, leaving the single-disc CD/MP3 player, and a standard A/M-F/M only radio, with two-, four-, or six-speaker audio systems. Most later trucks received alloy wheels as standard equipment, with optional polished and chrome-plated wheels, in 16-, 18, or 18-inch diameters. Only later base-model trucks, with the exception of the base received 16-inch steel wheels, and were a new wheel design. In addition, most newer trucks also featured standard SiriusXM satellite radio, when equipped with a CD/MP3 player.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Colorado/Canyon U.S. sales peaked in 2005 at 163,204 units, surpassing the perennial segment leader, the Ford Ranger, by almost 35% and just 3.3% behind the new best-seller, the Toyota Tacoma. In 2006, however, while still leading the Ford pickup by 27.5%, Colorado/Canyon's sales lagged their Toyota competitor's by almost 34%. One 2005 Canyon owned by successful U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown became famous as it was widely featured in his TV advertisements.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's frontal offset test the Colorado (extended version) is given a "Good" overall score, however the crew cab is rated "Acceptable". In the side impact test, the Colorado crew cab is rated "Poor" with or without side curtain airbags. Side curtain airbags were made standard on all 2010 models; side torso airbags are not offered.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Isuzu i-series midsized pickup truck line was manufactured from 2005 to 2008. Launched at the 2005 New York International Auto Show, for the 2006 model year, the i-series replaced the Hombre, which had been out of production since 2000. Like the Hombre, which was based on the compact Chevrolet S-10/GMC Sonoma, the i-series was based on the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon. Two models were offered at launch: the i-280, powered by the 2.8 L I4 engine, and the i-370, powered by the 3.7 L I5 engine. The i-280 was available only with an extended cab, while the i-370 could be had with either an extended cab or crew cab. The i-280 was replaced by the i-290 for 2007 with the introduction of a 2.9 L engine.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The sales for the i-series were poor, with just 1,377 sold from the start of production through February 2006 according to "Automotive News". As part of Isuzu's withdrawal from the United States market after the 2008 model year, the i-series was discontinued.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: GM Thailand manufactured the Colorado from March 2004 with a mildly altered styling compared to the North American version. In late January 2006, Chevrolet introduced a G-80 differential lock system as optional for most Colorado trim levels. This feature is not available on the D-Max. Thai-market Colorados received a minor redesign in late 2007, with the front fascia being altered by toning down the American influence. The facelifted model was exported to Australia as the Holden Colorado from 2008.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: In 2008, GM also introduced the Colorado 4x2 2.5 with diesel dual fuel system via CNG tank. It is switchable between diesel fuel and compressed natural gas with the ratio of 65:35. It is also compatible with pure diesel and biodiesel B5 fuel. Location of the tank is on the bed behind the cab. It was available for two cab styles.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Colorado was released in Australia and New Zealand in 2008 as the Holden Colorado. It replaced the D-Max-based Holden Rodeo due to the split between General Motors and Isuzu. Imported from Thailand, it is essentially a rebadged version of the facelifted Thai-specification Colorado, retaining its front styling. As with the Rodeo, the Colorado is available as either 4x2 or 4x4 and in a range of body styles, including single-cab, space-cab, and crew-cab. Power is provided by a range of gasoline and diesel engines. Of the gasoline engines, Holden offers a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and the Australian-made 3.6-liter "Alloytec" engine. The diesel powerplant is a four-cylinder Isuzu 4JJ1 unit displacing 3.0 liters. It was replaced by the second-generation Holden Colorado in 2012.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: In March 2011, Chevrolet revealed the prototype version of the all-new Colorado at Bangkok International Motor Show. It was shown as an extended cab with a rear access system, and some of the high-tech equipment. In June 2011, Chevrolet revealed its crew cab in adventure concept at Buenos Aires, Argentina (this car also shown at Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011), and in July 2011, a Holden version of crew-cab version concept got its premiere at Australian International Motor Show.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The production model is available in three different cab styles: regular cab (single cab), extended cab (space cab), and crew cab (double cab), and may either be 4x2 or 4x4.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: On 9 September 2011, General Motors (Thailand) opened the diesel engine manufacturing plant, to make the Duramax engine used by the Colorado. The engine is a rebranded VM Motori turbodiesel engine with 2.5- or 2.8-liter, paired with a manual or automatic transmission.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Colorado was revealed at the 2011 Australian International Motor Show and went on sale in June 2012 in both Australia and New Zealand, sourced from the Rayong factory in Thailand. In Australia and New Zealand, the Colorado is badged as a Holden. Only one engine is offered, the 2.8 L turbo diesel, built by GM in the Rayong factory. It is available in four trim levels: DX (single cab chassis only), LX (chassis only), LT, and LTZ. Single-cab and crew-cab models are available as either 4x2 or 4x4.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The facelifted Colorado model for the Australian and New Zealand markets was released in 2017 with GM's MyLink infotainment system including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring. The model is built in right-hand drive at the GM Thailand plant.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: A "Thunder Edition" is available on 4x4 LX, LT, and LTZ models. Among the features included with the pack are a nudge bar and towing kit, front carpet floor mats and a one-piece rear carpet floor mat, a bonnet protector, slimline weather shields, and "Thunder" badging.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Production of the Colorado in Thailand ended in 2020 as General Motors ended operations in the country. A refresh in line with the global Colorado was planned for the 2021 model year.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The North American model was revealed on November 20, 2013, at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Production began at Wentzville Assembly in 2014, and vehicles started arriving at dealerships nationwide by mid- to late 2014, as an early 2015 model year vehicle. It competes with other midsized pickup truck offerings.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The North American model features a different front fascia, with its design being similar to the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, and different engines. The North American Colorado's frame is 40% lighter than the global version despite the fact that it uses high-strength steel, and is much longer. General Motors' Wentzville assembly plant received a $380 million expansion of 500,000 sq ft that was constructed to support the new Colorado's assembly. In September 2014, GM added workers to the Wentzville factory after it received advanced orders of 30,000 Colorado/Canyons from its dealerships.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: For the initial launch, the Colorado was available with either a 2.5 L "Ecotec" I4 engine or the 3.6 L "LFX" V6 engine. The 2.8 L "Duramax LWN" turbodiesel engine was added in 2016, and is a first for its class in the US market. It is also available in three cab configurations: extended cab with a bed, crew cab with a bed, or crew cab with a bed, with four-wheel drive being optional.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Sixteen- or 17-inch steel wheels or alloy wheels are available, as well as a decor package for the W/T model that adds a chrome front grille and body-colored door handles and side-view mirrors.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The base Colorado trim level includes as standard equipment: 16-inch steel wheels, vinyl seating surfaces, an A/M-F/M stereo with auxiliary audio input and a six-speaker audio system, power windows and door locks (no keyless entry), a 2.5 L EcoTec I4 gasoline engine, a six-speed manual transmission (until mid-2019, when the manual transmission was discontinued and a six-speed automatic transmission became standard), carpeted flooring, and a chrome front grille. This model is available exclusively as an extended cab.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The W/T includes the same standard equipment as the base Colorado trim level, but has more optional equipment, such as a seven-inch color touch-screen MyLink radio, cloth seating surfaces, keyless entry, 16-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, color-keyed door mirrors, an automatic transmission, and a 3.6 L V6 gasoline engine. It is available as either an extended cab, or as a crew cab with either a short or long box.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The LT adds this equipment to the base Colorado and W/T trim levels: 17-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, 3.6 L V6 gasoline engine, automatic transmission, eight-inch color touch-screen MyLink radio, SiriusXM satellite radio, OnStar with 4G LTE Wi-Fi connectivity (later models only), cloth seating surfaces, and keyless entry. Optional equipment includes a 2.8 L Duramax I4 turbodiesel engine, remote start, a rear-view backup camera system, a premium Bose seven-speaker audio system, a GPS navigational radio with MyLink, and chrome exterior accessories. It is available as either an extended cab, or as a crew cab with either a short or long box.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Z71 is the top-of-the-line trim level, and adds this to the LT trim level: unique aluminum-alloy wheels, vinyl and cloth combination seating surfaces, and a black front grille. Optional equipment is the same as the LT. It is available as either an extended cab, or as a crew cab with either a short or long box.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Later 2015 Colorado and Canyon models offered 4G LTE Wi-Fi capabilities through the OnStar system, standard on higher trim levels, and optional on lower trim levels. For 2016, trucks equipped with the eight-inch MyLink or GMC IntelliLink touchscreen infotainment system received standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Starting with the 2017 model year, base Colorado and Canyon models received a standard seven-inch Chevrolet MyLink (or GMC Intellilink) touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth for hands-free calling and wireless stereo audio streaming, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, an A/M-F/M radio, and auxiliary and USB audio inputs, along with a six-speaker audio system. Most models also included a rear backup camera system. OnStar with 4G LTE Wi-Fi capabilities was optional on base Colorado and Canyon models.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The six-speed manual transmission was discontinued during the 2019 model year and is no longer available in the Colorado or Canyon.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Starting with the 2020 model year, both the 4x2 Z71 Extended Cab and Z71 crew-cab long-box models were removed from the lineup, along with the RST and Redline editions, as both will be combined with the luxury edition.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The ZR2 is the "off-road" trim level, and adds to the Z/71 trim level: 2-inch taller suspension, 3.5-inch wider track, 31-inch off-road tires, unique aluminum-alloy wheels, leather-trimmed seating surfaces, functional rock sliders, Multimatic DSSV position-sensitive shock absorbers, aluminum skid plates to protect the radiator, oil pan, and front differential, locking front and rear differentials, and high approach-angle front bumper. Optional equipment is the same as the LT and Z/71 trim levels, except for the availability of a rear bed-mounted light bar. It is available as either an extended cab with a long box, or as a crew cab with a short box.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The 2021 model year Colorado will receive a refreshed look and an updated grille in line with the Chevrolet design language, but will see its level trims reduced to four: Work, LT, Z71, and ZR2. The 2WD base trim is eliminated.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: In Mexico, three configurations are available: WT Double Cab, with a 2.5 L engine, six-speed automatic transmission, and rear wheel drive; the LT Double Cab, with a 2.5 L engine, six-speed automatic transmission, and rear wheel drive; and the LT Double Cab, with a 3.6L V6 engine, 8 speed automatic transmission, connectable transmission and 4x4.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The all-new GMC Canyon was introduced on January 12, 2014. GMC introduced in an official press and video release and made its public debut the following day (January 13, 2014) at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Sales started at dealerships in the second quarter of 2014 as a 2015 model.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Canyon offers the same features as its cousin, but will have a higher MSRP and more options. It also sports a front grille design that closely resembles its full-size sibling, the GMC Sierra. The Canyon comes in three trims and either two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The base model is only available with the 2.5 L Ecotec I4 engine, a 6-speed manual transmission (until mid-2019 when the manual transmission was discontinued and a six-speed automatic transmission became standard), and two-wheel drive.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Optional features (based on trim) will include active aero grille shutters, available OnStar 4G LTE connectivity with on-board wifi, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and an available Teen Driver feature that limits speed and audio volume.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: On February 16, 2015, GMC posted spy shots of a Canyon with Denali styling, indicating plans to add the mid-size truck to the Denali lineup as a 2016 model.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Both the Canyon and Colorado received a facelift for the 2021 model year, prior to the debut of a third generation in either the 2023 or 2024 model years.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: GMC also saw its level trims reduced and renamed for the 2021 model year: Elevation Standard, Elevation, AT4, and Denali. The SLE and SLT trims are eliminated.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The ZR2 concept was shown at the 2014 LA Auto Show. Due to positive feedback, a production ready version was introduced two years later at the 2016 LA Auto Show, which joined the 2017 lineup.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The Colorado ZR2 offers the same amenities as its brother the Z71, but is heavily tailored towards off-road performance. The ZR2 model is available in 2 body configurations; crew cab with 5 ft bed or extended cab with 6 ft bed. Engine options are the 3.6 L "LGZ" V6 engine and the 2.8 L "Duramax LWN" turbodiesel engine.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: Chevrolet designed many new parts specifically for the ZR2 to improve off-road performance. New features and parts standard or optional on the ZR2 include:


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The 2018 Colorado ZR2 was featured in Season 9 Episode 99 of Motor Trend Head 2 Head, where it faced off against a 2017 Ram Power Wagon.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: GM Defense and U.S. Army TARDEC partnered in 2016 to develop and successfully test the Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 fuel cell electric truck, with low acoustical and heat signatures as well as the advantages of on-board water production, exportable electric power and off-road capability.


title: Chevrolet Colorado

text: The US Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) is heavily based on the diesel variant of the ZR2, with 90% of the vehicle coming from Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson (, ; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish writer, journalist, and activist. He is best known for writing the "Millennium" trilogy of crime novels, which were published posthumously, starting in 2005, after he died of a sudden heart attack. The trilogy was adapted as three motion pictures in Sweden, and one in the U.S. (for the first book only). The publisher commissioned David Lagercrantz to expand the trilogy into a longer series, which has six novels . For much of his life, Larsson lived and worked in Stockholm. His journalistic work covered socialist politics and he acted as an independent researcher of right-wing extremism.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: He was the second-best-selling fiction author in the world for 2008, owing to the success of the English translation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", behind the Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini. The third and final novel in the "Millennium" trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest", became the bestselling book in the United States in 2010, according to "Publishers Weekly". By March 2015, his series had sold 80 million copies worldwide.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Stieg Larsson was born on 15 August 1954, as Karl Stig-Erland Larsson, in Skelleftehamn, Västerbottens län, Sweden, where his father and maternal grandfather worked in the Rönnskärsverken smelting plant. Suffering from arsenic poisoning, his father resigned from his job, and the family subsequently moved to Stockholm. However, because of their cramped living conditions, they chose to let one-year-old Larsson remain behind. Until the age of nine, Larsson lived with his grandparents in a small wooden house in the countryside, near the village of Bjursele in Norsjö Municipality, Västerbotten County. He attended the village school and used cross-country skis to get to and from school during the long, snowy winters in northern Sweden, experiences that he remembered fondly.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In the book ""There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me", Eva Gabrielsson describes this as Larsson's motivation for setting part of his first novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in northern Sweden, which Gabrielsson calls "godforsaken places at the back of beyond."


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson was not as fond of the urban environment in the city Umeå, where he resided with his parents after his grandfather, Severin Boström, died of a heart attack at age 50.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson earned a secondary diploma in social sciences in 1972. He applied to the Joint Colleges of Journalism in Stockholm, but he failed the entrance examination. In 1974, Larsson was drafted into the Swedish Army under the conscription law. He spent 16 months in compulsory military service, training as a mortarman in an infantry unit in Kalmar.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson's first efforts at writing fiction were in the genre of science fiction. As an avid science fiction reader from an early age, he became active in Swedish science-fiction fandom around 1971; he co-edited, with Rune Forsgren, his first fanzine, "Sfären", in 1972; and he attended his first science-fiction convention, SF•72, in Stockholm. Through the 1970s, Larsson published around 30 additional fanzine issues; after his move to Stockholm in 1971, he became active in the Scandinavian SF Society, of which he was a board member in 1978 and 1979, and chairman in 1980.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In his first fanzines, 1972–74, he published a handful of early short stories, while submitting others to other semiprofessional or amateur magazines. He was co-editor or editor of several science-fiction fanzines, including "Sfären" and "FIJAGH!"; in 1978–79, he was president of the largest Swedish science-fiction fan club, Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction. An account of this period in Larsson's life, along with detailed information on his fanzine writing and short stories, is included in the biographical essays written by Larsson's friend John-Henri Holmberg in "The Tattooed Girl", by Holmberg with Dan Burstein and Arne De Keijzer, 2011.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In early June 2010, manuscripts for two such stories, as well as fanzines with one or two others, were noted in the Swedish National Library (to which this material had been donated a few years earlier, mainly by the Alvar Appeltofft Memorial Foundation, which works to further science-fiction fandom in Sweden). This discovery of what was called "unknown" works by Larsson generated considerable publicity.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: While working as a photographer, Larsson became engaged in far-left political activism. He became a member of "Kommunistiska Arbetareförbundet" (Communist Workers' League), edited the Swedish Trotskyist journal "Fjärde internationalen", journal of the Swedish section of the "Fourth International". He wrote regularly for the weekly "Internationalen".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson spent parts of 1977 in Eritrea, training a squad of female Eritrean People's Liberation Front guerrillas in the use of mortars. He was forced to abandon that work after he contracted a kidney disease. Upon his return to Sweden, he worked as a graphic designer at the largest Swedish news agency, Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå, between 1977 and 1999.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson's political convictions, as well as his journalistic experiences, led him to found the Swedish Expo Foundation, similar to the British Searchlight Foundation, established to "counteract the growth of the extreme right and the white power culture in schools and among young people." He also became the editor of the foundation's magazine, "Expo", in 1995.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: When he was not at his day job, he worked on independent research into right-wing extremism in Sweden. In 1991, his research resulted in his first book, "Extremhögern" ("The Extreme Right"). Larsson quickly became instrumental in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organisations. He was an influential debater and lecturer on the subject, reportedly living for years under death threats from his political enemies. The political party Sweden Democrats ("Sverigedemokraterna") was a major subject of his research.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson's first name was originally Stig, which is the standard spelling. In his early 20s, he changed it to avoid confusion with his friend Stig Larsson, who went on to become a well-known author well before Stieg did. The pronunciation is the same regardless of spelling.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson died of a heart attack after climbing the stairs to work on 9 November 2004. He was 50. He is interred at the Högalid Church cemetery in the district of Södermalm in Stockholm.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In May 2008, it was announced that a 1977 will, found soon after Larsson's death, declared his wish to leave his assets to the Umeå branch of the Communist Workers League (now the Socialist Party). As the will was unwitnessed, it was not valid under Swedish law, with the result that all of Larsson's estate, including future royalties from book sales, went to his father and brother. His long-term partner Eva Gabrielsson, who found the will, has no legal right to the inheritance, sparking controversy between his father and brother and her. Reportedly, the couple never married because, under Swedish law, couples entering into marriage were required to make their addresses (at the time) publicly available, so marrying would have created a security risk.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: An article in "Vanity Fair" discusses Gabrielsson's dispute with Larsson's relatives, which has also been well-covered in the Swedish press. She claims the author had little contact with his father and brother, and requests the rights to control his work so it may be presented in the way he would have wanted. Larsson's story was featured on the 10 October 2010 segment of "CBS News Sunday Morning".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson had originally planned a series of 10 books and had completed two and most of a third when he began looking for publishers. At the time of his death in 2004, only three had been completed, and although accepted for publication, none had yet been printed. These were published posthumously as the "Millennium" series.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The first book in the series was published in Sweden as (literally ""Men who hate women"") in 2005. It was titled for the English-language market as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and published in the United Kingdom in February 2008. It was awarded the Glass Key award as the best Nordic crime novel in 2005.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: His second novel, "Flickan som lekte med elden" (2006, "The Girl Who Played with Fire"), received the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award in 2006 and was published in the United Kingdom in January 2009.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The third novel, "Luftslottet som sprängdes" (literally "The castle in the air which was blown up"), published in English as "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest", was published in the United Kingdom in October 2009 and the United States in May 2010.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson left about three-quarters of a fourth novel on a notebook computer, now possessed by his partner, Eva Gabrielsson; synopses or manuscripts of the fifth and sixth in the series, which he intended to comprise an eventual total of ten books, may also exist. Gabrielsson has stated in her book ""There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me" (2011) that she feels capable of finishing the book.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In 2013, Swedish publisher Norstedts contracted David Lagercrantz, a Swedish author and journalist, to continue the "Millennium" series. Lagercrantz did not have access to the material in Gabrielsson's possession, which remains unpublished. The new book was published in August 2015 in connection with the 10-year anniversary of the series, under the Swedish title (literally "That which doesn't kill us"); the English title is "The Girl in the Spider's Web".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The fifth book in the "Millennium" series was released in September 2017. The Swedish title is (literally "The man who hunted his shadow") and the English title is "The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The sixth book in the "Millennium" series was released in August 2019. The Swedish title is (literally "She who must die") and the English title is "The Girl Who Lived Twice".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The Swedish film production company Yellow Bird has produced film versions of the "Millennium" series, co-produced with the Danish film production company Nordisk Film. The three films were all released in 2009 in Scandinavia.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Through his written works, as well as in interviews, Larsson acknowledged that a significant number of his literary influences were American and British crime/detective fiction authors. His heroine has some similarities with Carol O'Connell's "Mallory", who first appeared in "Mallory's Oracle" (1994). In his work Larsson made a habit of inserting the names of some of his favourites within the text, sometimes by making his characters read the works of Larsson's favorite authors. Topping the list were Sara Paretsky, Agatha Christie, Val McDermid, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth George, and Enid Blyton.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: One of the strongest influences originates from his own country: "Pippi Longstocking", by Sweden's much-loved children's author Astrid Lindgren. Larsson explained that one of his main recurring characters in the "Millennium" series, Lisbeth Salander, is actually fashioned on a grown-up Pippi Longstocking as he chose to sketch her. Additional connections to Lindgren's literary work are in the Larsson novels; for example, the other main character, Mikael Blomkvist, is frequently referred to mockingly by his detractors as "Kalle Blomkvist", the name of a fictional teenaged detective created by Lindgren.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The name Salander was actually inspired by the strong female character in the Kalle Blomkvist trilogy by Astrid Lindgren, Kalle's girlfriend Eva-Lotte Lisander.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson has said when he was 15 years old, he witnessed three of his friends gang-raping a young girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. His longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson, writes that this incident "marked him for life" in a chapter of her book that describes Larsson as a feminist. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, and this inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books. According to Gabrielsson, the "Millennium" trilogy allowed Larsson to express a worldview he was never able to elucidate as a journalist. She described, in great detail, how the fundamental narratives of his three books were essentially fictionalised portraits of the Sweden few people knew, a place where latent white supremacy found expression in all aspects of contemporary life, and anti-extremists lived in persistent fear of attack. "Everything of this nature described in the "Millennium" trilogy has happened at one time or another to a Swedish citizen, journalist, politician, public prosecutor, unionist, or policeman," she writes. "Nothing was made up."


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Similarities also exist between Larsson's Lisbeth Salander and Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise. Both are women from disastrous childhoods, who somehow survive to become adults with notable skills, including fighting, and who accomplish good by operating somewhat outside the law. One of Larsson's villains, Ronald Niedermann (blond hulk), has much in common with the invulnerable, sociopathic giant named Simon Delicata in the fourth Modesty Blaise book "A Taste for Death".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Kurdo Baksi, Larsson's former colleague at "Expo", published "Min vän Stieg Larsson" ("My Friend Stieg Larsson") in January 2010.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Larsson's widow Eva Gabrielsson released her memoir "Millennium, Stieg & jag" in 2011, published in English the same year as ""There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: In 2018 a study by Jan Stocklassa of Larsson's research into Palme's assassination was released in Swedish, and in English the following year, translated by Tara F. Chace, under the title "The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin".


title: Stieg Larsson

text: Since 2009 Larsson's family and Norstedts have instituted an annual award of 200,000 Swedish Krona (US$18,668 in 2022 terms) in memory of him. The prize is awarded to a person or organisation working in Stieg Larsson's spirit.


title: Stieg Larsson

text: The recipient in 2015 was Chinese author Yang Jisheng for his notable work "Tombstone" which describes the consequences of The Three Years of Great Chinese Famine.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In any given national economy, SMEs sometimes outnumber large companies by a wide margin and also employ many more people.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: For example, Australian SMEs makeup 98% of all Australian businesses, produce one-third of the total GDP (gross domestic product) and employ 4.7 million people. In Chile, in the commercial year 2014, 98.5% of the firms were classified as SMEs. In Tunisia, the self-employed workers alone account for about 28% of the total non-farm employment, and firms with fewer than 100 employees account for about 62% of total employment. The United States' SMEs generate half of all U.S. jobs, but only 40% of GDP.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Developing countries tend to have a larger share of small and medium-sized enterprises. SMEs are also responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors. Although they create more new jobs than large firms, SMEs also suffer the majority of job destruction/contraction.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: SMEs are important for economic and social reasons, given the sector's role in employment. Due to their sizes, SMEs are heavily influenced by their Chief Executive Officer, a.k.a. CEOs. The CEOs of SMEs are often the founders, owners, and managers of the SMEs. The duties of the CEO in a SME mirror those of the CEO of a large company: the CEO needs to strategically allocate their time, energy, and assets to direct the SMEs. Typically, the CEO is the strategist, champion and leader for developing the SME or the prime reason for the business failing.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: This definition is provided in Section 7 of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act) and was notified in September 2006. The Act provides for the classification of enterprises based on their investment size and the nature of the activity undertaken by that enterprise. As per MSMED Act, enterprises are classified into two categories - manufacturing enterprises and service enterprises. For each of these categories, a definition is given to explain what constitutes a micro-enterprise or a small enterprise or a medium enterprise. In India, if an enterprise does not fall under the above categories, it would be considered a large-scale enterprise.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: At the employee level, Petrakis and Kostis (2012) explore the role of interpersonal trust and knowledge in the number of small and medium enterprises. They conclude that knowledge positively affects the number of SMEs, which in turn positively affects interpersonal trust. Note that the empirical results indicate that interpersonal trust does not affect the number of SMEs. Therefore, although knowledge development can reinforce SMEs, trust becomes widespread in a society when the number of SMEs is greater.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Multilateral organizations have been criticized for using one measure for all. The legal boundary of SMEs around the world vary, and below is a list of the upper limits of SMEs in some countries.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: African small businesses frequently struggle to get the cash they require to thrive. According to the SME Finance Forum, the formal financing gap for African SMEs averaged 17% of GDP across the 43 countries assessed in 2017.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The European Investment Bank's Banking in Africa survey, 2021 suggests that most of the responding banks had a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of at least 5%. NPLs account for at least 10% of the SME portfolio in approximately one-third of African banks. Furthermore, 50% of the banks had at least 5% of their SME portfolio under the moratorium, and 40% had at least 5% of SME loans under some type of restructuring.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Most of Egypt's businesses are small-sized, with 97 percent employing fewer than 10 workers, according to census data released by state-run statistics body CAPMAS (Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics).


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Medium-sized enterprises with 10 to 50 employees account for around 2.7 percent of total businesses. However, big businesses with over 50 employees account for 0.4 percent of all enterprises nationwide.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The data is part of Egypt's 2012/13 economic census on establishments ranging from small stalls to big enterprises. Economic activity outside the establishments – like street vendors and farmers, for example – were excluded from the census.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Seventy percent of the country's 24 million businesses have only one or two employees. But less than 0.1 percent – only 784 businesses – employ between 45 and 49 people.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: For micro-enterprises, the minimum number of employees is up to 10 employees. For small enterprises, it is from 10 to 50. For medium enterprises, it is from 50 to 100.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The Central Bank of Nigeria defines small and medium enterprises in Nigeria according to asset base and a number of staff employed. The criteria are an asset base that is between ₦5 million ($15,400) to ₦500 million ($1,538,000), and a staff strength that is between 11 and 100 employees.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Somalia, the term is SME (for "small, medium, and micro enterprises"); elsewhere in Africa, MSME stands for "micro, small, and medium enterprises". An SME is defined as a small business that has more than 30 employees but less than 250 employees.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In the National Small Business Amendment Act 2004, micro-businesses in the different sectors, varying from the manufacturing to the retail sectors, are defined as businesses with five or fewer employees and a turnover of up to R100,000 ZAR ($6,900). Very small businesses employ between 6 and 20 employees, while small businesses employ between 21 and 50 employees. The upper limit for turnover in a small business varies from R1 million ($69,200) in the agricultural sector to R13 million ($899,800) in the catering, accommodations and other trade sectors as well as in the manufacturing sector, with a maximum of R32 million ($2,214,800) in the wholesale trade sector.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Medium-sized businesses usually employ up to 200 people (100 in the agricultural sector), and the maximum turnover varies from R5 million ($346,100) in the agricultural sector to R51 ($3,529,800) million in the manufacturing sector and R64 ($4,429,600) million in the wholesale trade, commercial agents and allied services sector.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: A comprehensive definition of an SME in South Africa is, therefore, an enterprise with one or more of the following characteristics:


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Hong Kong defines Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as any manufacturing business that employs less than 100 people or any non-manufacturing business that employs less than 50 people.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: India defines Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises based on dual criteria of investment and turnover. In June 2020, India updated the definition as follows:


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Businesses that are declared as MSMEs and within specific sectors and criteria can then apply for "priority sector" lending to help with business expenses; banks have annual targets set by the Prime Minister's Task Force on MSMEs for year-on-year increases of lending to various categories of MSMEs. MSME is considered a key contributor to India's growth and contributes 48% to India's total export.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Indonesia, the government defines micro, small, and medium enterprises (Indonesian: "usaha mikro kecil menengah", UMKM) based on their assets and revenues according to Law No. 20/2008:


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bank defines Small and medium enterprises based on fixed asset, employed manpower and yearly turn over, and they are definitely not Public Limited Co. and requires these characteristics -


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: According to the Department of Trade and Industry's 2020 List of Establishments report, there are 957,620 registered business enterprises operating in the country, composed of 99.51% MSMEs and 0.49% large firms. The MSMEs consist of 88.77% microenterprises, 10.25% small enterprises, and 0.49% medium enterprises. Among the top industry sectors include (1) wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (445,386); (2) accommodation and food service activities (134,046); (3) manufacturing (110,916); (4) other service activities (62,376); and (5) financial and insurance activities (45,558) which accounted for about 83.77% of the total number of MSME establishments. Prior to the pandemic, MSMEs generated more than 5.38 million jobs or 62.66% of the country's total employment with a 29.38% share from micro-enterprises followed by 25.78% and 7.50% for small and medium enterprises.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: With effect from 1 April 2011, the definition of SMEs is businesses with annual sales turnover of not more than $100 million or employing no more than 200 staff.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Small companies are important to the European economy as they account for 99.8% of non-financial enterprises in the European Union (EU) and employ two-thirds of the workforce in the EU. The majority of European firms are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), employing over 100 million people. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large majority of SMEs saw a decline in revenue during 2020-2021.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The pandemic has had a greater impact on SMEs than on large businesses, with an average sales loss of 26% versus 23% for large businesses. Government assistance appears to have benefited SMEs more than large corporations among the companies that do have overdraft facilities, indicating a successful application of policies to ease financial limitations for SMEs even when they receive help from the banking sector.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: SMEs were more quick in altering output during the pandemic, despite the intensity of the shock. In reaction to the crisis, one-third of major enterprises altered their output or services, compared to 37% of SMEs.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Large businesses, on the other hand, embraced digitization to a greater extent than small businesses, with 26% boosting their online distribution of products and services, compared to 22% for SMEs. The most significant difference in adaption measures was shown in the chance of expanding remote work, which increased by 25% among SMEs but 50% among large businesses.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The criteria for defining the size of a business differ from country to country, with many countries having programs of business rate reduction and financial subsidy for SMEs. According to the European Commission, SMEs are enterprises which meet the following definition of staff headcount and either the turnover or balance sheet total definitions:


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In July 2011, the European Commission said it would open a consultation on the definition of SMEs in 2012. A consultation document was issued on 6 February 2018 and the consultation period closed on 6 May 2018. , no conclusions or responses have yet emerged.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The European definition of SME follows: "The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is made up of enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euro, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million euro." In order to prepare for an evaluation and revision of some features of the small and medium-sized enterprises definition European Union established public consultation period from 6 February 2018 to 6 May 2018. Public consultation is available for all EU member country citizens and organizations. Especially, national and regional authorities, enterprises, business associations or organizations, venture capital providers, research and academic institutions, and individual citizens are expected as the main contributors.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: EU member states have had individual definitions of what constitutes an SME. For example, the definition in Germany had a limit of 255 employees, while in Belgium it could have been 100. The result is that while a Belgian business of 249 employees would be taxed at full rate in Belgium, it would nevertheless be eligible for SME subsidy under a European-labelled programme.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: SMEs are a crucial element in the supplier network of large enterprises which are already on their way towards Industry 4.0.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: According to German economist Hans-Heinrich Bass, "empirical research on SME as well as policies to promote SME have a long tradition in [West] Germany, dating back into the 19th century. Until the mid-20th century, most researchers considered SME as an impediment to further economic development and SME policies were thus designed in the framework of social policies. Only the Ordoliberalism school, the founding fathers of Germany's social market economy, discovered their strengths, considered SME as a solution to mid-20th century economic problems (mass unemployment, abuse of economic power), and laid the foundations for non-selective (functional) industrial policies to promote SMEs." Only around 20% of European SMEs are substantially digitalized, compared to almost 50% of major businesses. Small and medium-sized companies make up 56.2% of the non-financial sector.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Smaller companies account for more than 60% of the value contributed to the non-financial sector in Belgium, Italy, and Spain, three of the nations worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. An estimated 50% of Europe's small firms may fail because they lack the substantial financial reserves required to weather the crisis.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The results of an EU survey conducted in 2021 suggest that during the pandemic, in countries with larger fiscal packages, SMEs were on average more likely to experience bankruptcy even after controlling for the size of the shock, the use of bank financing, and country and sector fixed effects. When policy assistance rises by 1% of GDP, the probabilities of bankruptcy for a SME are 2.7 times higher than for a non-SME. Credit limitations are especially difficult for SMEs and new businesses to overcome. Credit constraints affect 24% of SMEs and 27% of young businesses.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The SME sector in Poland generates almost 50% of the GDP, and out of that, for instance, in 2011, micro companies generated 29.6%, small companies 7.7%, and medium companies 10.4% (big companies 24.0%; other entities 16.5%, and revenues from customs duties and taxes generated 11.9%). In 2011, out of the total of 1,784,603 entities operating in Poland, merely 3,189 were classified as "large", so 1,781,414 were micro, small, or medium. SMEs employed 6.3 million people out of the total of 9.0 million of labour employed in the private sector. In Poland in 2011 there were 36.2 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Nearly seven million people are employed by small businesses in Poland, which accounts for around half of the country's GDP, yet smaller businesses are less likely than larger ones to invest in strategies to combat climate change or boost energy efficiency. In October 2021, the Bank Ochrony rodowiska, a Polish bank that specializes in funding environmental protection initiatives received €75 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for these small enterprises.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The Polish bank wants to use at least 50% of the loan for initiatives with a clear emphasis on tackling climate change, such improving building energy efficiency or turning to renewable energy sources like solar power. The money is set to be distributed across Poland, with around 80% of it projected to go to cohesive regions.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In the United Kingdom (UK), a company is defined as being an SME if it meets two out of three criteria: it has a turnover of less than £25m, it has fewer than 250 employees, it has gross assets of less than £12.5m. Very small companies are called in the UK micro-entities, which have simpler financial reporting requirements. Such micro-enterprises must meet any two of the following criteria: balance sheet £316,000 or less; turnover £632,000 or less; employees 10 or less.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Many small and medium-sized businesses form part of the UK's currently growing , or "Brittelstand" as it is also sometimes named. These are businesses in Britain that are not only small or medium but also have a much broader set of values and more elastic definition.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills estimated that at the start of 2014, 99.3% of UK private sector businesses were SMEs, with their £1.6 trillion annual turnover accounting for 47% of private sector turnover.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In order to support SMEs, the UK government set a target in 2010 "that 25% of government’s spend, either directly or in supply chains, goes to SMEs by 2015"; it achieved this by 2013.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Norway it is normal to design small and medium-sized businesses as businesses with less than 100 employees. Businesses with 1-20 employees are defined as small, while businesses with 21-100 employees are considered medium-sized. Businesses with more than 100 employees would be considered a big business. Micro-sized businesses is a little used expression in Norway.NHO


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Small and medium-sized businesses make up more than 99% of all businsesses in Norway, and together they employ 47% of all employees in the private sector. Together, SMEs account for 44% of the economic value added each year - almost 700 billion Norwegian Kroners (NOK).


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office defines small and medium-sized enterprises as companies with less than 250 employees. The categories are the following:


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Industry Canada defines a small business as one with fewer than 100 paid employees, and a medium-sized business as one with at least 100 and fewer than 500 employees. As of December 2012, there were 1,107,540 employer businesses in Canada of the rally . Canadian controlled private corporations receive a 17% reduction in the tax rate on taxable income from active businesses up to $500,000. This small business deduction is reduced for corporations whose taxable capital exceeds $10M and is eliminated for corporations whose taxable capital exceeds $15M. It has been estimated that almost $2 trillion of Canadian SMEs will be coming up for sale over the next decade, which is twice as large as the assets of the top 1,000 Canadian pension plans and approximately the same size as Canadian annual GDP.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: The small and medium-sized companies in Mexico are called PYMEs, which is a direct translation of SMEs. But there's another categorization in the country called MiPyMEs. The MiPyMEs are micro, small and medium-sized businesses, with an emphasis on micro which are one man companies or a type of freelance.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In the United States, the Small Business Administration sets small business criteria based on industry, ownership structure, revenue and number of employees (which in some circumstances may be as high as 1500, although the cap is typically 500).


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: Both the US and the EU generally use the same threshold of fewer than 10 employees for small offices (SOHO).


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In Australia, a SME has 200 or fewer employees. Micro Businesses have 1–4 employees, small businesses 5–19, medium businesses 20–199, and large businesses 200+. Australian SMEs make up 98% of all Australian businesses, produce one-third of total GDP, and employ 4.7 million people. SMEs represent 90 per cent of all goods exporters and over 60% of services exporters.


title: Small and medium-sized enterprises

text: In New Zealand, 99% of businesses employ 50 or less staff, and the official definition of a small business is one with 19 or fewer employees. It is estimated that approximately 28% of New Zealand's gross domestic product is produced by companies with fewer than 20 employees.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: Jeremy Philip Northam (born 1 December 1961) is an English actor and singer. After a number of television roles, he earned attention as Mr. Knightley in the 1996 film adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma". He has appeared in the films "An Ideal Husband", "Gosford Park", "Amistad", "The Winslow Boy", "Enigma", "Cypher", "Dean Spanley", and "Martin and Lewis", amongst others. He also played Thomas More in the Showtime series "The Tudors". From 2016 to 2017 he appeared as Anthony Eden in the Netflix series "The Crown".


title: Jeremy Northam

text: Northam was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, the youngest of four children. His mother, Rachel (née Howard), was a potter and professor of economics, and his father, John Northam, was a professor of literature and theatre, as well as being an Ibsen specialist and lecturer (first at Clare College, Cambridge and later at Bristol). He has described his upbringing as not wealthy, but warm.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: Northam was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, Bristol Grammar School and Bedford College, London (B.A. English, 1984) now part of Royal Holloway, University of London, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: Northam performed at the Royal National Theatre – he replaced both Ian Charleson and Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of "Hamlet" (1989) when they had to withdraw and won the Olivier Award in 1990 for "most promising newcomer" for his performance in "The Voysey Inheritance".


title: Jeremy Northam

text: He has appeared frequently in British films such as "Carrington" (1995), "Emma" (1996), "The Winslow Boy" (1999), "An Ideal Husband" (1999), "Enigma" (2001) and as Welsh actor and singer Ivor Novello in "Gosford Park" (2001). He made his American film debut in "The Net" (1995).


title: Jeremy Northam

text: That same year, he portrayed singer Dean Martin in the CBS film "Martin and Lewis" and golfer Walter Hagen in "" in 2004.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: In 2007 and 2008, he portrayed Thomas More on the Showtime series, "The Tudors". He played John Brodie Innes in the 2009 film "Creation", based on the life of Charles Darwin. In the 2015 film "The Man Who Knew Infinity", he portrayed the philosopher Bertrand Russell. He played British Prime Minister Anthony Eden in the 2016 Netflix drama series "The Crown".


title: Jeremy Northam

text: His audiobook work includes "The Silver Chair" by C. S. Lewis for Harper Audio and "A Death Divided" by Clare Francis for Macmillan. For SilkSoundBooks, he recorded "The Real Thing and Other Short Stories" and "The Aspern Papers", both written by Henry James. In 2007 he recorded Gerard Manley Hopkins poems for "The Great Poets" edition for Naxos Audiobooks. In 2009, he recorded "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene for CSA Word. He recorded the audio book "Dark Matter", a ghost story by Michelle Paver, in September 2010; it was released on 21 October 2010, by Orion.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: In the "Gosford Park" soundtrack, Northam sings the Ivor Novello songs "And Her Mother Came Too", "What a Duke Should Be", "Why Isn't It You", "I Can Give You the Starlight" and "The Land of Might Have Been" accompanied by his brother Christopher on piano.


title: Jeremy Northam

text: Northam married Canadian film/television make-up artist Liz Moro in April 2005, though they later divorced.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post-punk, synthpop, and techno music scenes, as well as their various related genres, and was an early influence on the Manchester music scene that presaged the "Madchester" movement of the late 1980s centered on Factory Records and The Haçienda club in Manchester.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: He began his career playing guitar and keyboards for Joy Division. Following lead singer Ian Curtis's death, the remaining members of Joy Division formed New Order with Sumner taking on lead vocal duties. His complex electronic compositions became less guitar-driven and more focused on electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and programming throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He formed Electronic with Johnny Marr in the late 1980s as a creative outlet outside of New Order, which continued after New Order went on hiatus in 1993. New Order became active again from 1998 through 2006, after which he returned to a more traditional rock context with the band Bad Lieutenant. He continues to record and perform with the latest iteration of New Order, which reformed in 2011.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Sumner was educated at Salford Grammar School, before joining Manchester-based animation studio Stop Frame (later Cosgrove Hall Films) as an animator (credited as Bernard Dickin) on "Jamie and the Magic Torch".


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Sumner was a founding member of Joy Division, formed at Salford in 1976. He and childhood friend Peter Hook both attended the fabled Sex Pistols concert at Manchester's Free Trade Hall on 4 June 1976 and whose music inspired them to perform together. Widely considered one of the most influential bands of the era, Sumner was lead guitarist (his main guitars were a Gibson SG and a custom Shergold Masquerader), as well as playing electronic keyboards and made his first vocal appearance on record singing the chorus of "Walked in Line" on the "Warsaw" album. In May 1980, after the suicide of its lead singer, Ian Curtis, Joy Division disbanded.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Sumner and remaining band members Peter Hook and Stephen Morris started a new band named New Order, joined by keyboardist Gillian Gilbert in October 1980. Though Hook, Morris and Gilbert also contributed vocals on some early tracks, Sumner emerged as the band's permanent singer and lyricist, alongside playing guitar and keyboards. Through a series of splits and reformations, the band has released ten studio albums.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: In 1989, Sumner joined up with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to form Electronic. The Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant collaborated on two tracks on their debut eponymous album, providing vocals. Sumner was their singer, guitarist, keyboardist and lyricist.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Bad Lieutenant included fellow New Order member Phil Cunningham and Jake Evans of Rambo & Leroy. Stephen Morris of New Order and Blur bassist Alex James also performed on the band's debut album. Sumner provided vocals, guitar and lyrics.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: In 1981, Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls released their last single "Searching for Heaven", which included a guitar solo by Sumner, although he was not credited in the sleeves of its 7" and 10" edition at the time. In 1983, Sumner co-produced, with Donald Johnson, the single "The Great Divide"/"Love in a Strange Place" by the band Foreign Press. Foreign Press (aka Emergency) had had a long history with Sumner through both Joy Division and New Order.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: In 1990, he worked with former Factory Records label mates A Certain Ratio, remixing their song "Won't Stop Loving You". He has also recorded tracks with fellow Mancunians 808 State and Sub Sub. Sumner appeared as guest singer and guitarist (alongside Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie) on The Chemical Brothers' 1999 album "Surrender", on the track "Out of Control"; and in a 2005 Chemical Brothers show at the Brixton Academy, Sumner appeared live onstage as a special guest on this track. He has also lent vocals and guitar to a track ("Miracle Cure") on German trance outfit Blank & Jones 2008 release, "The Logic of Pleasure". Sumner also appeared on the Primal Scream track "Shoot Speed Kill Light" from their 2000 album "XTRMNTR".


title: Bernard Sumner

text: He has produced several remixes for tracks such as Technotronic's "Rockin' Over the Beat" (which was featured in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" soundtrack) and served as a record producer and/or songwriter for other Factory Records acts including Happy Mondays (whose second single, "Freaky Dancin'," he produced in 1986), Shark Vegas, Abecedarians, 52nd Street and Section 25.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: In 2020, Sumner collaborated with composer/producer Zachery Allan Starkey on two singles, “Force” and “Fear City”, which were recorded for Starkey’s solo album, FEAR CITY, released in April 2020. Based in New York City, Starkey opened for New Order during the Music Complete Tour in 2016/2017, after which he and Sumner began to discuss a collaboration. Starkey and Sumner co-produced “Force” and “Fear City”, and Sumner provided synthesizers, guitar, keyboards, and drum programming on both tracks. The Starkey/Sumner collaborations received positive reviews from critics and were featured in Clash Magazine, The London Times, Under the Radar, Filter Magazine, and Brooklyn Vegan, amongst other publications.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Sumner married Sue Barlow on 28 October 1978; they had a son, James (born 1983), before divorcing in 1989. Sumner currently lives with his second wife, Sarah Dalton, and their three children.


title: Bernard Sumner

text: Sumner was portrayed by John Simm in the 2002 film "24 Hour Party People" and James Anthony Pearson in the 2007 film "Control".


title: Sea Org

text: The Sea Organization (also known as the Sea Org) is a Scientology organization, which the Church of Scientology describes as a "fraternal religious order, comprising the religion’s most dedicated members". All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org. David Miscavige, the "de facto" leader of Scientology, is the highest-ranking Sea Org officer, holding the rank of captain.


title: Sea Org

text: The Sea Org has been described as a paramilitary organization and as a private naval force, having operated several vessels in its past and displaying a maritime tradition. Some ex-members and scholars have described the Sea Org as a totalitarian organization marked by intensive surveillance and a lack of freedom. The Sea Org has also been compared to a monastic organization.


title: Sea Org

text: In a 1992 memorandum by the Church of Scientology International, the following information was provided to the Internal Revenue Service with regards to nature of the Sea Org:


title: Sea Org

text: The Sea Org was established on August 12, 1967, by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Dianetics and Scientology, initially on board three ships, the "Diana", the "Athena", and the "Apollo", with the latter serving as flagship.


title: Sea Org

text: In 1971, the Sea Org assumed responsibility for the church's ecclesiastical development, and in particular the delivery of the upper levels of its auditing and training, known as the Operating Thetan or "OT" levels. In 1981, under the aegis of the Commodore's Messenger Organization led by David Miscavige, the Sea Org dissolved the Guardian's Office (GO) and assumed full responsibility for the church's international management, later reassigning the GO's duties to the Office of Special Affairs in 1983 during the corporate restructuring of the Church.


title: Sea Org

text: It moved to land-based organizations in 1975, though maritime customs persist, with many members wearing naval-style uniforms and addressing both male and female officers as "sir." In 1985, the church purchased a motor vessel, the "Freewinds", which docks in Curaçao in the southern Caribbean and is used as a religious retreat and training center, staffed entirely by Sea Org members. Sea Org members make a lifetime commitment to Scientology by signing a billion-year contract officially described as a symbolic pledge. In exchange, members are given free room and board, as well as a small weekly allowance. Sea Org members agree to strict codes of discipline, such as disavowing premarital sex, working long hours (on average at least 100 hours per week) and living in communal housing called "berthings." They are allowed to marry, but must relinquish their membership if they have or want to raise children.


title: Sea Org

text: According to Hubbard, much of the galaxy, including Earth (known as "Teegeeack"), was ruled tens of millions of years ago by the Galactic Confederacy. The confederacy was controlled by a tyrant named Xenu, who was eventually overthrown by a group within the Galactic Confederacy known as the "Loyal Officers". Religious scholar Hugh Urban writes that the Sea Org is modeled after these Loyal Officers. Urban also describes the Sea Org, with the naval uniforms and ranks, as an idealized re-creation of Hubbard's own World War II military career. He also states that the Sea Org is reminiscent of the "Soldiers of Light" in Hubbard's science fiction story collection "Ole Doc Methuselah".


title: Sea Org

text: Academic Stephen A. Kent has argued that at least part of the reason for the establishment of the Sea Org was that the Church of Scientology's practices encountered resistance from the American Food and Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as from the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Rhodesia. Sailing on the high seas meant the church could escape their attention.


title: Sea Org

text: In 2000 the number of Sea Org members was listed at around 7,000. As of 2009, the number was listed by the church at around 5,000. Most Sea Org members reside in church complexes in Los Angeles, Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Saint Hill, and Sydney, with some at smaller centers or on assignment elsewhere.


title: Sea Org

text: According to scholar Susan Raine, Hubbard created the Sea Org as a "kind of space navy, melding SF space ideas with Earthbound naval ones." Hubbard biographer Jon Atack recalled a confidential Sea Org executive directive that claimed that governments of the world were on the verge of collapse: "The Sea Org would survive and pick up the pieces."


title: Sea Org

text: All new recruits are required to complete compulsory novitiate before they are allowed to join the Sea Org, which has been described as a boot camp. During this phase, known as the Estates Project Force (EPF), recruits are not considered to be full Sea Org members. They are required to address all members as "sir," regardless of rank, and must run everywhere instead of walking. Married couples are separated for the duration of the EPF and are not allowed to have private or intimate contact with each other.


title: Sea Org

text: While on the EPF, recruits are assigned an intensive daily regimen divided between five hours of manual labor and five hours of study and indoctrination known as "Product Zero". Scientology courses that are required to complete the EPF include:


title: Sea Org

text: The EPF does not have a definite schedule. A recruit graduates the EPF as soon as all the required courses have been completed and upon successfully undergoing a mandatory "7A Security Check," they are then allowed to join the Sea Org as full members. Sea Org recruits verbally agree to an 18-point code or pledge as part of a swearing in ceremony. Members formally reaffirm their acceptance of this code annually on August 12, the day when the organization was founded.


title: Sea Org

text: In 1967, the Church of Scientology purchased HMS "Royal Scotsman" which they renamed the "Apollo", which was used as the Sea Org's Flagship. In 1975, the church sold the Sea Org's ships and moved the organization to land bases around the world, which as of 2003, were operating in Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Saint Hill Manor in the UK, and Sydney, with smaller offices in Budapest, Johannesburg, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, and Toronto. In 1987, they purchased a ship, "La Bohème", which they renamed "Freewinds". OT VIII, the highest auditing level of Scientology currently available, is exclusive to the "Freewinds" and can only be undertaken there. The ship also hosts various courses, seminars, conventions and events throughout the year, including the annual "Maiden Voyage" celebration.


title: Sea Org

text: According to Hubbard, the Sea Org's mission is "an exploration into both time "and" space". Sea Org members act as goodwill representatives and administrators of Scientology; all policy and administrative posts in the church's key organizations are held by Sea Org members. Most members are given room, board and a weekly allowance of about $75.


title: Sea Org

text: In accordance with Scientology beliefs, members are expected to return to the Sea Org when they are reborn; the Sea Org's motto is "We Come Back". Members must therefore sign a symbolic billion-year "religious commitment", pledging to "get ethics in on this planet and the universe." The church contends that the agreement is not a legally binding contract and is merely a symbolic demonstration of the dedication members are expected to give to the organization, and that they are free to leave if they wish. After signing, members report to the Estates Project Force, the Sea Org's induction program; Melton writes that members may take several years between signing the commitment and attending the induction. Once induction is completed, the final decision to join is made.


title: Sea Org

text: Members who leave the Sea Org are issued a "freeloader's bill", retroactively billing them for any auditing or training they have received. Although the bill is not legally enforceable, these Scientologists may not receive services at any Scientology organization until they pay the bill and perform an ethics course.


title: Sea Org

text: From the early 1970s to the start of the 21st century, the children of Sea Org members were often placed in the Cadet Org. Sea Org members may marry one another, but are not permitted to marry outside the organization; extra-marital sex is also prohibited. According to Melton, couples with children must leave the Sea Org and return to other staff positions within the church until the child is six years old; thereafter the children are raised communally and allowed to visit their parents in the Sea Org on weekends. Children of members have themselves joined the Sea Org when they came of age. Several former members have said they were advised (or even forced) to have an abortion when they became pregnant to avoid being sent to lower organizations. Scientology presents itself as opposed to abortion and actively speaks out against it in its publications.


title: Sea Org

text: The Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) was created in January 1974 as a system of work camps set up by the Sea Org, intended to isolate and rehabilitate members who have not lived up to the church's expectations, have failed security checks, or have violated certain policies. Melton writes that the RPF areas are located within Sea Org facilities, and that there are no locks on the doors.


title: Sea Org

text: Many ex-Sea Org members have reported gruelling treatment. According to Melton, there are eight hours of physical work – such as painting, plumbing, and upkeep of grounds – six days a week; the work may involve teaching the member a skill such as carpentry. Members also spend five hours a day studying with or auditing a partner. Former Scientologist Jon Atack argued, in "A Piece of Blue Sky" (1990), that treatment of Sea Org members in the RPF was a "careful imitation of techniques long-used by the military to obtain unquestioning obedience and immediate compliance to orders, or more simply to break men's spirits ..." One former member, Gerry Armstrong, said that during his time in the Sea Org in the 1970s he spent over two years banished to the RPF as a punishment:


title: Sea Org

text: It was essentially a prison to which crew who were considered nonproducers, security risks, or just wanted to leave the Sea Org, were assigned. Hubbard's RPF policies established the conditions. RPF members were segregated and not allowed to communicate to anyone else. They had their own spaces and were not allowed in normal crew areas of the ship. They ate after normal crew had eaten, and only whatever was left over from the crew meal. Their berthing was the worst on board, in a roach-infested, filthy and unventilated cargo hold. They wore black boilersuits, even in the hottest weather. They were required to run everywhere. Discipline was harsh and bizarre, with running laps of the ship assigned for the slightest infraction like failing to address a senior with "Sir." Work was hard and the schedule rigid with seven hours' sleep time from lights out to lights on, short meal breaks, no liberties and no free time ... When one young woman ordered into the RPF took the assignment too lightly, Hubbard created the RPF's RPF and assigned her to it, an even more degrading experience, cut off even from the RPF, kept under guard, forced to clean the ship's bilges, and allowed even less sleep.


title: Sea Org

text: Several scholars, writers and former members have compared the Sea Org to a paramilitary group. In "" (2008), Andrew Morton described it as a "fraternal paramilitary organization", and wrote that members are instructed to read "The Art of War" by General Sun Tzu, and "On War" by General Carl von Clausewitz. He wrote that Scientology leader David Miscavige created an elite unit within the Sea Org called the "SEALs", named after the United States Navy SEALs, who receive better lodging, sustenance, and uniforms than other Sea Org members.


title: Sea Org

text: Lawrence Wright wrote in "The New Yorker" in 2011 that the Sea Org used small children drawn from Scientology families for what the article described as forced child labor. The article described extremely inhumane conditions, with children spending years in the Sea Org, sequestered from mainstream life.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records. Following the success of her self-titled debut album, Madonna wanted to become the record producer of her next album. However, her label was not ready to give her the artistic freedom and she chose Nile Rodgers instead to produce the album due to his work with David Bowie. Madonna wrote six songs on the record, five of which feature Steve Bray as a co-writer. The album was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York at a quick pace. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards, who was the bassist, and Tony Thompson, who played drums. Jason Corsaro, the record's audio engineer, persuaded Rodgers to use digital recording, a new technique introduced at that time.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: The album's photographs were shot by Steven Meisel. Madonna wanted the album title and the cover image to make a provocative link between her own religious name Madonna, as the Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary, and the Christian concept of the virgin birth. While not a substantial musical departure from Madonna's first album, she felt that the material from "Like a Virgin" was stronger. After its release, "Like a Virgin" received mixed reviews from music critics; however, retrospective reviews of the album have been much more positive. "Like a Virgin" was a commercial success and became Madonna's first number one album on the "Billboard" 200 and set the record as the first female album in history to sell over five million copies in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) later certified it diamond for shipment of ten million units. It also reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of over 21 million copies worldwide.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Five singles were released from the album, including Madonna's first US number-one "Like a Virgin" and her first UK number-one "Into the Groove". To promote the album, she embarked on The Virgin Tour, which had shows in cities of North America only. "Like a Virgin" has attained significance as a cultural artifact of the 1980s. Madonna proved that she was not a one-hit wonder and was able to provide herself with a permanent footing in the music world. Her songs became a lightning rod for both criticism by conservatives and imitation by the younger female population, especially "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin". According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment; for Madonna, "Like a Virgin" was just such a defining moment."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: A former dancer and fixture on the New York club scene, Madonna Ciccone became known to the world simply as Madonna, with the release of her 1983 self-titled debut album "Madonna". Fueled by hit songs like "Holiday", "Borderline" and "Lucky Star", the album was one of the best selling of the year and helped Madonna become one of the most exciting new artists of the 1980s. When she started work on her second album, Madonna felt that her first album had succeeded in introducing her "street-smart dance queen" persona, and she wanted to solidify and build upon that concept. According to her, "My work, my dedication—the stubbornness for getting "Madonna" released—had paid off. Now it was time to solidify my future."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: For "Like a Virgin", Madonna attempted to become one of the primary record producers, feeling the need to control the various aspects of her music. She believed that depending on a particular producer for her album was not something that suited her. Madonna said "I learnt my lesson while creating my debut album, and the way [Reggie, the producer of her debut project] Lucas left me in the water with the project, you can't trust men"—referring to the incident, when due to a certain difference of opinion between producer Reggie Lucas and Madonna, Lucas had left the project half-way. However, Warner Bros. Records was not ready to give her the artistic freedom that she wanted. In J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography of Madonna, she commented,


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Ultimately, Nile Rodgers was chosen by Madonna as the producer of the album, with the approval of the Warner Brothers executives. Madonna chose Rodgers mostly because of his work as a member of the 1970s band Chic, and his most recent production work with David Bowie on his 1983 album "Let's Dance". She commented, "When I was making the record, I was just so thrilled and happy to be working with Nile Rodgers. I idolized Nile because of the whole Chic thing. I couldn't believe that the record company gave me the money so that I could work with him."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: For his part, Rodgers recalled that he had first seen Madonna perform at a small club in New York in 1983. In an interview with "Time" magazine, Rodgers explained: "I went to the club to see another woman sing, but when I got there Madonna was onstage. I loved her stage presence and then we met right after that. I kept thinking to myself, 'Damn, is she a star', but she wasn't at that time. I always wanted to work with her and "Like a Virgin" seemed like a perfect opportunity."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: The album was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York at a quick pace. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards, who was the bassist, and Tony Thompson, who played the drums; they appeared on several tracks of the album. Rodgers decided to be the guitarist, when Edwards requested him to do so, in exchange for their help. The recording sessions did not start until the afternoon as Rodgers, who attended late-night parties, was not accustomed to work in early mornings. The schedule was also difficult for Madonna, who recalled that she used to "go to the swim club on the Upper West Side and go swimming and walk from there to the recording studio. It was impossible for me to reach there at morning." Rodgers recalled that Madonna was a hard worker and incredibly tenacious. He commented: "I am always amazed by Madonna's incredible judgement when it comes to making pop records. I've never seen anyone do it better, and that's the truth. When we did that album, it was the perfect union, and I knew it from the first day in the studio. The thing between us, man, it was sexual, it was passionate, it was creativity ... it was pop."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Jason Corsaro, the record's audio engineer, persuaded Rodgers to use digital recording, a new technique at the time which Corsaro believed was going to be the future of recording. To ensure this, Corsaro used a Sony 3324 24-track digital tape recorder and a Sony F1 two-track during the mixing of the tracks. Madonna recorded the lead parts of the songs in a small, wooden, high-ceilinged piano room at the back of Studio C, also known as Power Station's "R&B room". Corsaro then placed gobos around her while using the top capsule of a stereo AKG C24 tube microphone, with a Schoeps microphone preamplifier and a Pultec equalizer. Once the tracks met with everybody's approval, Robert Sabino added the keyboard parts, playing mostly a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, as well as some Rhodes piano and acoustic piano, while Rodgers also played a Synclavier. Madonna, although not required, was present every minute of the recording sessions and the mixing process, Corsaro commented: "Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left".


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: The cover sleeve and images were shot by Steven Meisel, who would become a regular collaborator with Madonna, in a suite at the St. Regis New York. Madonna wanted the album title to make provocative link between her own religious name—Madonna as the Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary—and the Christian concept of the virgin birth. With the title song alluding to this concept, Madonna wanted the album cover to have mixed messages as well. Author Graham Thompson described that "reclining on a satin sheet, with a bouquet on her lap and wearing a wedding dress, a closer inspection reveals Madonna's image as highly fetishized and sexualized." He added that the heavy make-up, pouting lips, and despoiled hair, along with the tight-fitting bustier and full-length gloves, turned Madonna's image into a figure not of virtue, but of desire. This point, according to Thompson, is further emphasized by the belt she is wearing, the wording on which is just visible as "Boy Toy". He added: "The image was ambiguous and was based upon the fact that Madonna's appeal at that point of her career was not presenting herself just as an object of desire, but also as a desiring female subject".


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic commented that the "Steven Meisel-shot cover ... was as key to her reinvention as the music of the album itself." William McKeen, author of "Rock and roll is here to stay: an anthology", felt that the image was another trigger and testament to the fact that Madonna was the last word on fashion for women and young girls of that era, the epitome of cool. Costume designer Arianne Phillips commented of the "Like a Virgin" look: "This was one of the most shocking, liberating and influential moments in pop culture/fashion history ... Fashion has never been the same." Madonna herself declared: "I have always loved to play cat and mouse with the conventional stereotypes. My "Like a Virgin" album cover is a classic example. People were thinking who was I pretending to be—the Virgin Mary or the whore? These were the two extreme images of women I had known vividly, and remembered from childhood, and I wanted to play with them. I wanted to see if I can merge them together, Virgin Mary and the whore as one and all. The photo was a statement of independence, if you wanna be a virgin, you are welcome. But if you wanna be a whore, it's your fucking right to be so."


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: According to Taraborrelli, "Madonna and Rodgers' collective energy—she wanting to score with a smash second album and he wanting to be the producer to give it to her—drove the production of "Like a Virgin" with great precision." Madonna also collaborated with her former boyfriend Steve Bray, who co-wrote many of the album's songs. Reflecting on the music composition for the album, Bray noted: "I've always kind of made the rib cage and the skeleton of the songs already—she's there for the last things like the eyebrows and the haircut." The opening track "Material Girl" was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans. Madonna explained that the concept of the song was similar to her life's situation at that time. According to her, the song was provocative, hence she was attracted to it. "Material Girl" incorporated new wave music and consists of synth arrangements with a robotic voice repeating the hook. The lyrics identify with materialism, with Madonna asking for a rich and affluent life, rather than romance and relationships. Written by Madonna and Steve Bray, "Angel" is the second track on the album. It was one of the first songs developed for the project and, according to Madonna, was inspired by a girl who is saved by, and subsequently falls in love with an angel. "Angel" consists of a three-chord ascending hook, which serves as the verse and chorus. It has vocal harmonies beneath the main chorus and the lyrics repeat the angel-like image of Madonna's savior. The title track "Like a Virgin" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Steinberg said that the song was inspired by his personal experiences of romance. It was chosen for Madonna by Michael Ostin of Warner Bros. Records, after listening to a demo sung by Kelly. However, Rodgers initially felt that the song did not have a good enough hook and was not suitable for Madonna, but subsequently changed his opinion after the hook was stuck in his mind. He credits Madonna with recognizing the song's potential: "I handed my apology to Madonna and said, 'you know ... if it's so catchy that it stayed in my head for four days, it must be something. So let's do it.'" "Like a Virgin" is a dance-oriented song, composed of two hooks. Madonna's voice is heard in a high register while a continuous arrangement of drums are heard along the bassline. According to author Rikky Rooksby, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous and consist of hidden innuendo. In sexual terms, the lyrics can be interpreted in different ways for different people.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: In "Over and Over", Madonna sings about determination despite disappointments. The song consists of instrumentation from drums, synths and has a three-chord progression. An emotional moment occurred in the recording studio when Madonna covered the 1978 Rose Royce song "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Rodgers recalled: "Madonna had never performed with a live orchestra before. I was very much into doing everything live, so I just said, 'Madonna, you go out there and sing and we will follow you.' At first Madonna was hesitant, but the live setting ended up producing memorable results. She sang and she was overcome with emotions and she started crying, but I left it on the record." The song features Madonna's vocals supported by acoustic guitars and synth strings, with Thompson playing the drum in the second verse. Towards the end, Madonna emotes in the voice of a soul singer.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: "Dress You Up" was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale. Although Rodgers rejected it as there was no time to compose a melody and record it for the album, Madonna pushed for the song's inclusion on "Like a Virgin", as she particularly liked its lyrics. The song is a drum beat-driven dance track featuring instrumentation of guitars and vocals from a choir. The lyrics are an extended metaphor for fashion and sex, comparing dressing up with passion. "Shoo-Bee-Doo" contains homage to Motown music. Beginning with a slow introduction, the song is in the doo-wop genre and resembles the songs of early Sixties girl groups like The Shirelles or The Crystals. The saxophone breakdown is played by Lenny Pickett. The lyrics discuss relationship problems, and are phrased as clichés in the coda. "Pretender" starts with the chorus and then moves to the verse. It talks about seduction and the insecurity felt by a woman who feels that things are moving too quickly for her with her man. "Stay" is the final track on the album. Using triple-rhythms and double-tracked vocals, the song includes a noise resembling someone slapping a microphone and a spoken sequence which fades away in the end.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: "Into the Groove" was added as a bonus track in the 1985 international reissue of "Like a Virgin". Madonna's inspiration behind the song was the dance floor, and she wrote it while watching a handsome Puerto Rican man across her balcony. Initially written for her friend Mark Kamins, Madonna later decided to use it in the soundtrack of her 1985 film "Desperately Seeking Susan". Unlike the other songs on "Like a Virgin", "Into the Groove" was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray. Madonna's friend Erika Belle was present during the recording and watched the whole process. In Andrew Morton's "Madonna" biography, she noted that at one point of the recording, Bray was facing difficulties with the bridge of the song, as the melody thought by him was not syncing with the rest of the composition. Undeterred by his obvious difficulties, Madonna stepped up to the microphone and sang the words "Live out your fantasy here with me". Bray's problem was solved; Belle remembered the experience as: "[The song] seemed to come out of her, I was awestruck." The song consists of instrumentation from drums, percussion, congas and whistles. Madonna's voice is double-tracked in the chorus. The lyrics are simple, and written as an invitation to dance with the singer, with sexual innuendos and undertones in the meaning.


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: Madonna debuted the first single "Like a Virgin" at the first MTV Video Music Awards on September 14, 1984, where she appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake dressed in a wedding dress, adorned with the infamous "Boy Toy" belt buckle, and veil. The climax of her risqué performance found her masturbating and rolling around on the stage. The performance is noted as one of the iconic performance in MTV's history. On December 13, 1984, Madonna performed "Like a Virgin" on BBC One's program "Top of the Pops", wearing punky torn tights, a vivid pink wig, religious accessories and layered mesh tops. It was later voted as the second best "Top of the Pops" performance of all time. She also appeared at the 1985 Live Aid charity concert, where she performed "Into the Groove".


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: The album was further promoted on her first headlining tour, The Virgin Tour, which only visited cities in the United States and Canada. Early on there were plans to schedule dates in England and Japan due to Madonna's large fan base in both countries. However, the final schedule did not reflect the idea. In the end several more US dates were added and moved to larger concert venues due to overwhelmingly strong ticket sales. Madonna's performance on the tour was described by Taraborrelli as "full of excitement", singing songs from her debut album as well as "Like a Virgin", and asking the audience "Will you marry me?" The costumes included colorful new wave jackets for "Holiday" and white wedding gowns similar to the one worn in her "Like a Virgin" music video. Referring to her Detroit roots and contemporary artist Michael Jackson, Madonna sang a verse of "Billie Jean" during "Like a Virgin".


title: Like a Virgin (album)

text: The Virgin Tour was a success and collected a total of more than US$5 million. During a 2009 interview with "Rolling Stone", interviewer Austin Scaggs asked Madonna regarding her feelings and emotions during the tour, since it was the first time she was playing in arenas. Madonna replied saying,