title: Amity University, Noida

text: Amity School of Engineering & Technology, Noida was ranked 32 in India by the NIRF engineering ranking for 2020. The university was ranked 236 in "Times Higher Education" Global Employability Ranking 2020.


title: Amity University, Noida

text: Amity University, Noida has been accredited by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) with grade 'A+'. The university has secured the IET’s international accreditation for six of its engineering programmes. Amity law programs are recognised by Bar Council of India. Distance mode programs of the university are recognized by the Distance Education Bureau. The management programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Amity University, Noida has also been accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: Wild Cherry was an American funk rock band formed in Mingo Junction, Ohio, in 1970 that was best known for its song "Play That Funky Music".


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: Rob Parissi (lead vocals and guitar) was raised in the steel-mill town of Mingo Junction, Ohio. He graduated from Mingo High School in 1968 and formed the band Wild Cherry in 1970 in Steubenville, Ohio. The band's name, 'Wild Cherry,' was taken from a box of cough drops. The band played the Ohio Valley region, the Northern West Virginia panhandle, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original lineup included Ben Difabbio (drums and vocals) and Louie Osso (guitar, lead, and background vocals) from Steubenville, Larry Brown (bass, lead, and background vocals) from Weirton, West Virginia, Larry Mader (keyboards, lead and background vocals) from East Springfield, Ohio, and Ron Vallera (guitar, background vocals) from Steubenville, Ohio). Over time, the band members changed; Osso, Brown, Mader and Vallera left the band and were replaced by Parissi's cousin, Coogie Stoddart (guitar, lead, and background vocals), and Joe Buchmelter (bass). Buchmelter was soon replaced by Bucky Lusk.


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: In the early 1970s, several records were released under their own label, including "You Can Be High (But Lay Low)," and "Something Special On Your Mind," in 1971. The music at this stage was pure rock music. Wild Cherry eventually gained a record contract with Brown Bag Records, owned and operated by the late Terry Knight. Brown Bag produced several demos and singles that were later distributed by United Artists, including "Get Down" (1973) and "Show Me Your Badge" (1973).


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: The new lineup consisted of Bryan Bassett (guitar/vocals), Allen Wentz (bass guitar/synthesizer/vocals), Ronald Beitle (drums), and Parissi. As the group began to develop a following in the Pittsburgh area, disco was becoming increasingly popular, and they were repeatedly asked by listeners to play more dance music. While brainstorming for new song ideas, Beitle recounted hearing a fan shout, "Are you white boys gonna play some funky music?" Parissi was inspired to write a song based on the phrase, so he began writing on a drink order pad with a pen borrowed from the bartender. After the band recorded the song, studio engineer Ken Hamann brought the band to the attention of Sweet City Records, distributed by Epic/CBS, which signed the group. Parissi had intended to record the song as the B-side to a cover version of the Commodores' "I Feel Sanctified," but the label suggested it as the A-side instead.


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: "Play That Funky Music" became a huge hit when released in 1976, peaking at number one on both the " Billboard" R&B and pop charts. Both the single and Wild Cherry's self-titled debut album went platinum. The band was named Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard and received an American Music Award for Top R&B Single of the Year as well as a pair of Grammy nominations for Best New Vocal Group and Best R&B Performance by a Group or Duo.


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: "Play That Funky Music" was the only hit on the album, although "Hot to Trot" was a minor follow-up hit in some non-U.S. markets. The album featured contributions from keyboardist Mark Avsec, who soon thereafter became a permanent member of the band. None of Wild Cherry's three subsequent albums were very popular. Neither "Electrified Funk" (1977) (which contained the "Play That Funky Music" soundalike single "Baby Don't You Know") nor "I Love My Music" (1978) produced any top 40 hits, and "Only the Wild Survive" (1979) did not even produce a top 100 single. The band broke up in late 1979.


title: Wild Cherry (band)

text: Coogie Stoddart returned to perform with Wild Cherry, beginning with the tour to support "Electrified Funk", and recorded "I Love My Music" with the band. Stoddart toured with the group, in support of "I Love My Music" but left before "Only the Wild Survive" was recorded.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: Kristoff St. John (July 15, 1966 – February 3, 2019) was an American actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera "The Young and the Restless" from 1991 until his death in 2019, which earned him two Daytime Emmy Award from eleven nominations, and ten NAACP Image Awards. He was also known for his role as Adam Marshall in the NBC soap opera "Generations", for which he received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations; and his role as a young Alex Haley on ABC miniseries "".


title: Kristoff St. John

text: Kristoff St. John was born July 15, 1966, in New York City and grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Los Angeles. His father, Christopher St. John, is a producer, actor and director, while his mother, Marie, is an entertainer.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: As a ten-year-old child, St. John had a featuring role on the Saturday-morning comedy "Big John, Little John", broadcast on NBC in 1976. St. John portrayed a young Alex Haley in the 1979 ABC miniseries "". He also made a small appearance as Booker Brown on the ABC sitcom "Happy Days", as well as a boyfriend of Denise Huxtable on an early episode of "The Cosby Show". In his first major role, he appeared as Charlie Richmond Jr. in the 1985 CBS sitcom "Charlie & Co."


title: Kristoff St. John

text: St. John's first major soap role was Adam Marshall on the NBC soap opera, "Generations". After the show's cancellation in 1991, he originated the role of Neil Winters on "The Young and the Restless", and played the character for 28 years; no African American actor had appeared on the series more frequently than St. John. In 1992, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his role. On September 5, 1994, he hosted "CBS Soap Break".


title: Kristoff St. John

text: In 2005, St. John became a special host for TV Guide Channel. In 2007, he received his fifth Daytime Emmy nomination. He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2008, St. John won his second Daytime Emmy, as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: In 2014, "A Man Called God", a documentary that St. John co-directed with his father Christopher St. John, debuted at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The film was awarded there, and at other festivals such as the American Documentary Film Festival, and the Beverly Hills Film Festival.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: Kristoff's final appearance as Neil aired on February 6, 2019. Late in April, it was revealed that Neil had died of a stroke.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: St. John was married and divorced twice. He had a son Julian (1989–2014) and a daughter Paris Nicole (born 1992) with his first wife, boxer Mia St. John. Julian died by suicide on November 23, 2014, following a long history of mental illness. St. John was married to Allana Nadal from 2001 to 2007, and they had a daughter, Lola (born April 15, 2003). On August 31, 2018, he was engaged to Russian model Kseniya Olegovna Mikhaleva.


title: Kristoff St. John

text: St. John died at his Los Angeles, California, home on February 3, 2019, at age 52. His death was ruled accidental with the cause listed as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: Emanuel Hirsch Cohen (June 1, 1915 – February 24, 2004), better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City on June 1, 1915, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania. His mother, Dorothy (née Shorr), was an insurance agent, and his father, Louis Cohen, was a hat manufacturer. In the 1930s, he spent his summers at the Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut which was the summer home of the Group Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in 1938 in "Coriolanus". Randolph joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. He had a small role in the 1948 film "The Naked City".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: He and wife Sarah Cunningham were blacklisted from working in Hollywood films and in New York film and television and radio after 1948. In 1955 they were both called before the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify concerning ongoing investigations regarding Communist infiltration in the American entertainment industry. Both he and his wife refused to answer questions and cited the Fifth Amendment protection against testifying against themselves.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: John and Sarah Randolph were very active in AFTRA, SAG and in Actor's Equity, were elected members of union boards and became vice presidents at various times during their careers.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: Randolph was one of the last blacklisted actors to regain employment in Hollywood films when director John Frankenheimer cast him in a major role in "Seconds" in 1966. Randolph was in the original New York stage productions of "The Sound of Music" (as Von Trapp's butler, Franz), "Paint Your Wagon", and "The Visit".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: He won the 1987 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the Neil Simon play "Broadway Bound". He made his last Broadway appearance in 1991 in "Prelude to a Kiss".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: Randolph made numerous screen and television appearances in secondary roles, among which he played Donna Pescow's father in-law on the television series "Angie".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: In the 1970s, he made three appearances as Cornelius "Junior" Harrison, father of Emily Hartley in "The Bob Newhart Show". In 1974, he played an Air Force Colonel in the "Columbo" episode "Swan Song". In 1975, Randolph was cast as General Philip Blankenship in "The New Original Wonder Woman" pilot. He was replaced by Richard Eastham in the television series. He had an uncredited role in the 1976 film "All The President's Men" as the voice of Richard Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell. He played Judge J. Waties Waring in "With All Deliberate Speed", a 1976 episode of CBS's mini-series: "The American Parade", dealing with events culminating in the 1954 Supreme Court decision (Brown v Board of Education) barring racial segregation in US public schools. In 1979, he had a guest appearance on "M*A*S*H" as an adjutant army general admiring the culinary prowess of a master chef errantly assigned as a foot soldier in a front unit.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: Randolph also appeared in a made-for-TV movie entitled "The Gathering", a Christmas-themed show along with Edward Asner and Maureen Stapleton. The movie was nominated and won the Emmy for Outstanding Special - Drama or Comedy.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: In 1982, he appeared in a first-season episode of "Family Ties" as Jake Keaton, Steven Keaton's father. He was the special guest star in the 1986 ABC made-for-TV movie "The Right of the People", playing Police Chief Hollander in a town soon allowing all adults to carry handguns. In 1990, he co-starred in the NBC comedy "Grand".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: He appeared as Frank Costanza, George Costanza's father, in "The Handicap Spot", an early episode of the television sitcom "Seinfeld". He was later replaced in that role by Jerry Stiller. In 1995, the scenes in which Randolph appeared were re-shot with Stiller, though Randolph continued to be credited in some airings. The re-shot version is shown in syndication in the United States (but can also be seen on the DVD). The original version, with Randolph, can be seen outside the U.S. and on DVD, Hulu and Crackle.


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: He also appeared in a Season 2 episode of "Matlock" as the head of a crime family in "The Investigation".


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: He co-starred with Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Jeanne Moreau and Lauren Bacall, in the BBC production of "A Foreign Field" (1993) as a World War II veteran returning to France to find the woman he fell in love with. He played Chief Sidney Green in "Serpico" (1973), directed by Sidney Lumet. He also played the father of Charlie Partana (played by Jack Nicholson) in "Prizzi's Honor" and Clark W. Griswold, Sr. in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (with Chevy Chase). One of his last film roles was as Joe Fox's grandfather in "You've Got Mail" (1998).


title: John Randolph (actor)

text: In 1989 he appeared in two episodes of "Roseanne" playing Al, Roseanne's dad. In 1991 he guested in an episode of "Married ... With Children" entitled "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick".


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh water, especially in arid regions which have relatively little annual rainfall.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs are driven out onto the surface by various natural forces, such as gravity and hydrostatic pressure. Their yield varies widely from a volumetric flow rate of nearly zero to more than for the biggest springs.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs are formed when groundwater flows onto the surface. This typically happens when the groundwater table reaches above the surface level. Springs may also be formed as a result of karst topography, aquifers, or volcanic activity. Springs also have been observed on the ocean floor, spewing hot water directly into the ocean.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs formed as a result of karst topography create karst springs, in which ground water travels through a network of cracks and fissures—openings ranging from intergranular spaces to large caves, later emerging in a spring.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of a confined aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells. This is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher elevated recharge area of groundwater to exit through the lower elevation opening.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Non-artesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation through the earth to a lower elevation and exit in the form of a spring, using the ground like a drainage pipe. Still other springs are the result of pressure from an underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity. The result can be water at elevated temperature such as a hot spring.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable bedrock such as limestone and dolomite, creating vast cave systems.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Spring discharge, or resurgence, is determined by the spring's recharge basin. Factors that affect the recharge include the size of the area in which groundwater is captured, the amount of precipitation, the size of capture points, and the size of the spring outlet. Water may leak into the underground system from many sources including permeable earth, sinkholes, and losing streams. In some cases entire creeks seemingly disappear as the water sinks into the ground via the stream bed. Grand Gulf State Park in Missouri is an example of an entire creek vanishing into the groundwater system. The water emerges away, forming some of the discharge of Mammoth Spring in Arkansas. Human activity may also affect a spring's discharge—withdrawal of groundwater reduces the water pressure in an aquifer, decreasing the volume of flow.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs fall into three general classifications: perennial (springs that flow constantly during the year); intermittent (temporary springs that are active after rainfall, or during certain seasonal changes); and periodic (as in geysers that vent and erupt at regular or irregular intervals).


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge. The largest springs are called "first-magnitude", defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 liters or of water per second. Some locations contain many first-magnitude springs, such as Florida where there are at least 27 known to be that size; the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks, which contain 10 known of first-magnitude; and 11 more in the Thousand Springs area along the Snake River in Idaho. The scale for spring flow is as follows:


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks. This mineral content is measured as total dissolved solids (TDS). This may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending on the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is often bottled and sold as mineral water, although the term is often the subject of deceptive advertising. Mineral water contains no less than 250 parts per million (ppm) of tds. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called 'mineral springs'. (Springs without such mineral content, meanwhile, are sometimes distinguished as 'sweet springs'.) Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called 'soda springs'. Many resorts have developed around mineral springs and are known as spa towns. Mineral springs are alleged to have healing properties. Soaking in them is said to result in the absorption of the minerals from the water. Some springs contain arsenic levels that exceed the 10ppb World Health Organisation standard for drinking water. Where such springs feed rivers they can also raise the arsenic levels in the rivers above WHO limits.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Water from springs is usually clear. However some springs may be colored by the minerals that are dissolved in the water. For instance, water heavy with iron or tannins will have an orange color.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: In parts of the United States a stream carrying the outflow of a spring to a nearby primary stream may be called a spring branch, spring creek, or run. Groundwater tends to maintain a relatively long-term average temperature of its aquifer; so flow from a spring may be cooler than other sources on a summer day, but remain unfrozen in the winter. The cool water of a spring and its branch may harbor species such as certain trout that are otherwise ill-suited to a warmer local climate.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs have been used for a variety of human needs - including drinking water, domestic water supply, irrigation, mills, navigation, and electricity generation. Modern uses include recreational activities such as fishing, swimming, and floating; therapy; water for livestock; fish hatcheries; and supply for bottled mineral water or bottled spring water. Springs have taken on a kind of mythic quality in that some people believe, falsely, that springs are always healthy sources of drinking water. They may or may not be. In order to know how to use a spring appropriately, whether for a mineral bath or drinking water one needs to access a comprehensive water quality test. Springs that are managed as spas will already have such a test.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs are often used as sources for bottled water. When purchasing bottled water labelled as spring water one can often find the water test for that spring on the website of the company selling it.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs have been used as sources of water for gravity-fed irrigation of crops. Indigenous people of the American Southwest built spring-fed acequias that directed water to fields through canals. This method was later used by the Spanish missionaries.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: A sacred spring, or holy well, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either some religious context: Christian and/or pagan and/or other. The lore and mythology of ancient Greece was replete with sacred and storied springs—notably, the Corycian, Pierian and Castalian springs. In medieval Europe, pagan sacred sites frequently became Christianized as holy wells. The term "holy well" is commonly employed to refer to any water source of limited size (i.e. not a lake or river, but including pools and natural springs and seeps), which has some significance in local folklore. This can take the form of a particular name, an associated legend, the attribution of healing qualities to the water through the numinous presence of its guardian spirit or of a Christian saint, or a ceremony or ritual centred on the well site. Christian legends often recount how the action of a saint caused a spring's water to flow - a familiar theme especially in the hagiography of Celtic saints.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The geothermally heated groundwater that flows from thermal springs is greater than human body temperature, usually in the range of 45–50 °C / 110–120 °F, but they can be hotter. Those springs with water cooler than body temperature, but warmer than air temperature are sometimes referred to as warm springs.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Hot springs or geothermal springs have been used for balneotherapy, bathing and relaxation for thousands of years. Because of the folklore surrounding hot springs and their claimed medical value, some have become tourist destinations and locations of physical rehabilitation centers.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Hot springs have been used as a source of heat for thousands of years. In the 20th century they became a renewable resource of geothermal energy to heat homes and buildings. The city of Beppu, Japan contains 2,217 hot spring well heads that provide the city with hot water. Hot springs have also been used as a source of sustainable energy for greenhouse cultivation and the growing of crops and flowers.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Springs have been represented in culture through art, mythology and folklore throughout history. The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring, which was said to restore youth to anyone who drank from it. It has been claimed that the fountain is located in St. Augustine, Florida, and was discovered by Juan Ponce de León in 1513, though it has not demonstrated the power to restore youth and most historians dispute the veracity of Ponce de León's discovery.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: Pythia, also known as the Oracle at Delphi was the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo. She delivered prophesies in a frenzied state of divine possession that were "induced by vapours rising from a chasm in the rock". It is believed that the vapors were emitted from the Kerna spring at Delphi.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The Greek myth of Narcissus describes a young man who fell in love with his reflection in the still pool of a spring. Narcissus gazed into "an unmuddied spring, silvery from its glittering waters, which neither shepherds nor she-goats grazing on the mountain nor any other cattle had touched, which neither bird nor beast nor branch fallen from a tree had disturbed." (Ovid)


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The early 20th century American photographer, James Reuel Smith created a comprehensive series of photographs documenting the historical springs of New York City before they were capped by the city after the advent of the municipal water system. Smith later photographed springs in Europe leading to his book, "Springs and Wells in Greek and Roman Literature, Their Legends and Locations" (1922).


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The 19th century Japanese artists Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Toyokuni III created a series of wood-block prints, "Two Artists Tour the Seven Hot Springs (Sōhitsu shichitō meguri)" in 1854.


title: Spring (hydrology)

text: The Chinese city Jinan is known as "a City of Springs" (Chinese: 泉城), because of its 72 spring attractions and numerous micro spring holes spread over the city centre.


title: Wasting Light

text: Wasting Light is the seventh studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on April 12, 2011, through Roswell and RCA Records. Wanting to capture the essence of their earlier work and avoid the artificiality of digital recording, Foo Fighters recorded in the garage of frontman Dave Grohl in Encino, California, using only analog equipment. The sessions were produced by the band alongside Butch Vig, with whom Grohl had worked on Nirvana's "Nevermind". Since the old equipment did not allow for many mistakes to be corrected in post-production, the band spent three weeks rehearsing the songs, and Vig had to relearn outdated editing techniques. The band sought a heavier and rawer sound in contrast to the experimentation of their previous albums. Most of the lyrics were written as Grohl reflected upon his life and possible future. Guest musicians include Bob Mould, Krist Novoselic, Jessy Greene, Rami Jaffee and Fee Waybill. Pat Smear played as an official member of the band for the first time since "The Colour and the Shape" (1997); he appeared on their previous album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" (2007), as a session musician only.


title: Wasting Light

text: The recording sessions were documented on the band's website and Twitter. Promotion included the documentary "Back and Forth" and a worldwide concert tour that included performances in fans' garages. "Wasting Light" was preceded by the successful single "Rope", which became only the second song ever to debut at number one on "Billboard"s Rock Songs chart. The follow-up single, "Walk", also charted highly. "Wasting Light" debuted at number one in eleven countries, including the United States, and received positive reviews from most music critics, who praised the production and songwriting. In 2012, "Wasting Light" earned four Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album.


title: Wasting Light

text: After the "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" tour ended in 2008, Foo Fighters went to Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood to record a new album, but abandoned recording to take a break. They later rerecorded two of the songs, "Wheels" and "Word Forward", for their 2009 "Greatest Hits" album. The recording reunited frontman Dave Grohl with producer Butch Vig, who had worked with Grohl's band Nirvana on their breakthrough album "Nevermind" (1991).


title: Wasting Light

text: Grohl wanted to create an album that would "define" Foo Fighters, as he felt "Back in Black" defined AC/DC or the Black Album defined Metallica: "It might not be their best album, but it's the one people identify the band with the most ... You take all of the things that people consider your band's signature characteristics and just amplify them and make one simple album with that." He hired Vig for the project as he felt Vig was skilled at "trimming all the fat and making sense of it all".


title: Wasting Light

text: On tour in 2010 with Them Crooked Vultures, Grohl developed songs and recorded demos, which he took to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins for development. The band also saw the return of guitarist Pat Smear as a permanent member; Smear had left Foo Fighters after the release of "The Colour and the Shape" (1997), but had been part of the touring band since 2006.


title: Wasting Light

text: Instead of recording the album in a modern studio, Grohl decided to record in his garage in Encino, Los Angeles. Grohl said: "There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage. Why go into the most expensive studio with the biggest producer and use the best state-of-the-art equipment? Where's the rock'n'roll in that?" Grohl felt it was a way to make an innovative "primal sounding" record, subvert expectations, and "make records the way we used to fucking make records"."Wasting Light" was recorded using entirely analogue equipment until post-mastering. Grohl said he felt digital recording was getting out of control: "When I listen to music these days, and I hear Pro Tools and drums that sound like a machine it kinda sucks the life out of music." According to Grohl, the analog strategy would make the record "sound rawer and somewhat imperfect; Chris Shiflett agreed that "rock n'roll is about flaws and imperfections". Hawkins wanted to avoid the "artificial sound" of contemporary recording and believed an analog project would help the band reclaim artistic freedom.


title: Wasting Light

text: Vig initially thought the idea was a joke. He warned the band that they would have to play well, as mistakes were not easily corrected without digital technology. The band spent three weeks in pre-production and rehearsals at their usual studio, Studio 606, where the composition was completed, going "from forty songs to fourteen". They rehearsed the songs with the intent of recording them live in Grohl's garage, unlike their previous approach of coming up with parts during the recording process. The band committed to not changing what they recorded; according to Smear, "Whatever we did, we didn’t change it. If a distorted vocal went through a pedal, that’s what it was going to be.”


title: Wasting Light

text: Grohl's garage was equipped with microphones, sound baffles on the garage door and behind the drums to prevent sound leakings, and a carpet under the drum kit to make it sound less "loud and bright". To reduce the cymbal bleed, the microphones were rearranged and the crash cymbal was traded for a "shorter-decay Zildjian cymbal with holes drilled in it". A room next to the study was turned into an isolation booth to record the vocals. For the recording itself a makeshift control room was built inside a tent on the backyard, and a system of two cameras and a television provided the communication between the garage and the control room. The equipment was the same the band employed to record the albums "There Is Nothing Left to Lose" and "One by One" at Grohl's former house in Alexandria, Virginia.


title: Wasting Light

text: Recording of the album began September 6, 2010, lasting for eleven weeks, each one focusing on a particular song, something Vig stated "was good because each song kinda had its own life". The recordings started with Grohl's rhythm guitar and Taylor Hawkins' drumming to provide the foundations and see if both could "lock in". Hawkins usually played for hours before he got "a drum track I'd be proud of". Click tracks were used, but Vig said that there was not a worry for the drums to follow it exactly as they "wanted it to groove" and "we realized that when everything is off just a few milliseconds, the sound gets wider and thicker." After the guitar and drum track, Mendel would play his basslines, which were practiced enough for them to be recorded perfectly on the first take. The following day, Shiflett and Smear would play guitars, with the latter being the last and usually being given a baritone guitar to have a different sound from the other guitarists. After the instrumental backing was ready, Grohl did the vocals either on the control room or the isolation booth. As Grohl wanted the songs "to have maximum emotional potential", the vocals were screamed to the point he had headaches—"when the mic is picking up every tiny inconsistency, you really strain to make it sound right."


title: Wasting Light

text: Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü, one of Grohl's idols, was brought in to do vocals in a song Grohl conceived as a duet with him, "Dear Rosemary". Mould also played guitar on the track, even though Vig's plans had him just singing. Grohl's and Smear's former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic appeared in "I Should Have Known" as Grohl thought "it would be nice to have him come down and share the experience" and that the song would be enhanced by his bass and accordion-playing." "Miss the Misery" features Fee Waybill of The Tubes, a personal friend of Grohl who said that the frontman invited him because "the background vocal sounded like him". Other guest musicians included three members of the expanded touring band, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, violinist Jessy Greene and percussionist Drew Hester.


title: Wasting Light

text: Vig started doubting it could be done fully analog once the tapes for the first song recorded, "Miss the Misery", started falling apart, but Grohl reassured him "no, Butch, I don't want any computer in this house at all." The producer said that during recording he "had to force my brain to fire different synapses" to remember how to deal with the analog equipment and the lack of a digital display. One of the habits Vig had to call back was editing using a razor blade—"I used to be able to do 20 edits in half an hour if need be. It took me about 20 minutes to do the first edit!"—a technique he employed for the first songs recorded. Eventually he gave up and decided to punch in and punch out tapes instead, as the process was time-consuming and a more editable tape sent to Vig from Smart Studios was mostly ruined by one of Grohl's daughters. While many recordings had inserts and some parts rerecorded, the only song that had to be redone from scratch was "I Should Have Known", as Grohl felt Vig was "trying to make this into a radio single" when the singer wanted it "to sound really raw and primal".


title: Wasting Light

text: The mixing started at Chalice Recording Studios, but moved to Grohl's house as engineer Alan Moulder said it was the way "to make it sound like your garage." Since Grohl's mixing console was not automated, at times four people—Vig, Grohl, Moulder and engineer James Brown—had to work simultaneously on the board, something Grohl found interesting because every song was done differently and "even the mixes sounded like performances" The mixes were tested out in the cars of the band members and Vig, as they felt that "if it sounds good on a lousy stereo, it will sound good anywhere".


title: Wasting Light

text: The recording of the album was filmed as part of a career-spanning documentary called "Back and Forth", which Grohl said was essential to make audiences understand the decision to record the album in his garage. The album name, taken from a lyric in "Miss the Misery", was chosen by Grohl because "it seemed to resonate with me: 'OK, that's what we're here doing'", as the band always "recorded each album thinking it could be our last" and tried to take the most of their tenure together—"we're only here for a short time, we're lucky to be alive, lucky to be a band; I don't take any of this for granted; I don't want to spend my time looking backwards, I want to look forwards".


title: Wasting Light

text: For "Wasting Light", Grohl stated that they would go back to a rawer and heavier sound after "exploring new musical ground" on the previous records, adding that "with the last album we were too concerned with being musical, now it's time for us to be a rock band again". To contrast with the "seven or eight minute-long songs, with seven or eight sections, and two or three time changes" Grohl played with Them Crooked Vultures, he instead tried to compose the "tightest, catchiest four-and-a-half-minute 'softball bat to your face' songs". Hawkins added that he liked "Wasting Light" for being "straightforward, and that’s a good thing for us right now. The last couple [records] had some big dynamic changes." Grohl described the effort as their heaviest yet, later saying it was done because "I'm 42 now. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make this record when I'm 46 or 49. It's my last chance." While the demos that prompted Grohl to say the album would be their heaviest yet were not used on the album, Vig took the declarations to heart, following three criteria while recording: "It's got to be hooky, heavy, and we're going analog all the way." Critics described the album's overall sound as alternative rock, hard rock, and post-grunge.


title: Wasting Light

text: For the guitar sound, the group tried to balance Grohl's "playing the rhythm straight up the middle", Shiflett's "sharp and clean sense of melodic playing", and Smear's more aggressive sound, with Grohl declaring that "with three guitars, you have to be careful that it doesn't become a huge fucking mess. But when everybody's playing their thing really well, it sounds perfectly orchestrated." Smear would usually play his parts on a baritone guitar, which would both contrast with Grohl and Shiflett and add a heavier sound – as Grohl declared, "if we ever felt like a section wasn't heavy enough, we put the fuckin' baritone on it, and it became huge." Hawkins added many buzz rolls to his drum fills at the suggestion of Vig, as buzz rolls were a trademark of one of the producer's favorite drummers, Ian Paice.


title: Wasting Light

text: The lyrics for "Wasting Light" were completed during the week each song was being recorded. Grohl said that the words were "what was on my mind each week", most being "written from the perspective of who I was then and who I am now", with references to the past, life and death, and "time, but questioning whether it matters at all. There's so much focus on the before that people forget there's an after." The frontman said this was helped by the environment – "a lot of retrospection and introspection and nostalgia going back to the way we used to make records" - and working with Vig again, which "made me think a lot about starting over, and rebirth, and making your way through tragedy and coming out the other side." An example was "I Should Have Known", partially inspired by former Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain – "a song like 'I Should Have Known' is about all the people I've lost, not just Kurt". Grohl still tried to do simpler songs such as "White Limo", which had its lyrics written in just two minutes, specially after Mendel sent him an e-mail saying, "I really like it when you write songs that are silly and mean nothing, too. You don't have to try to write 'Imagine' every time you sit down with a pen and paper".


title: Wasting Light

text: The first CD copies of the album contain a small section of the original analogue master tape. Grohl decided to it both for thinking it "would be an extraordinary move to destroy all the masters and give the pieces of the tapes to the fans", as the digital recording does not allow for such a memento, and also due to every technician involved with "Wasting Light" being overtly worried about the tapes. The art direction was done by New York studio Morning Breath Inc., and keeping with the album's analog recording, the images did not use computer graphics, instead being created with "old tools of the trade" such as copy machines, transparent ink and X-Acto blades, and the end result was not printed in CMYK.


title: Wasting Light

text: The album was issued on CD, a double vinyl record and digital download. The pre-orders had the option for both the CD and LP with a T-shirt, and a Deluxe packaging that came with both the CD and LP, a T-shirt, a beer coaster, an iron-on patch, a wristband and a signed lithograph of the album cover. iTunes in turn issued a deluxe edition that included a remix of "Rope" made by Deadmau5, the outtake "Better Off", the video for "White Limo" and a live performance of "Walk".


title: Wasting Light

text: Extensive updates on the production of "Wasting Light" were up on the band's website and Twitter, because, as put by RCA Records executive Aaron Borns, "the band wanted to be more engaged with the fans earlier this time." Along with images of the sessions themselves and both a whiteboard and papers that showed the progress in recording, a live feed of the tape machine would be put on the Foo Fighters website.


title: Wasting Light

text: On December 21, 2010, the same day the album was finished, the band played a secret gig at the Tarzana, California bar Paladino’s, on which four songs from the new record made their live debuts. The Wasting Light World Tour started in 2011, with some concerts having the album played in its entirety along with other hit songs by the band. Given the album was recorded in a garage, the band held a contest for which some shows of the promotional tour would be performed in eight fans' garages.


title: Wasting Light

text: On January 17, 2011, the band released a 30-second teaser of the song "Bridge Burning" on their website, and on February 1, the band revealed a teaser for "Miss the Misery" along with the album name and an April 12 release date. On February 12, a music video was released for "White Limo", featuring Lemmy of Motörhead. On February 23, 2011, "Rope" was made available for online stream. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Rock Chart, making it only the second single to do so since the chart's advent in 2009, and would later top the Alternative Songs chart as well. Another part of the promotional campaign was a contest held by Fuse TV where fans created their own videos for the "Wasting Light" tracks.


title: Wasting Light

text: After "Rope", four other songs were issued as singles: "Walk", "Arlandria", "These Days", and "Bridge Burning". The most successful was "Walk", which also topped the Rock and Alternative charts. Five songs on the album were licensed for ESPN and two others were featured in movies, "Miss the Misery" in "Real Steel" and "Walk" in "Thor". In addition, "Bridge Burning" appears in the video game "Madden NFL 12". "Walk" was also featured in a video package that was put together by the WWE to be included for Edge's induction into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame and it was played again after he said he wanted real rock n' roll to close out the ceremony.


title: Wasting Light

text: "Wasting Light" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 37 reviews. Andrew Perry of "The Daily Telegraph" viewed it as by far the band's best album and found it "tough but accessible, reliably catchy, yet also surprising at the last." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called its rock sound "untrammeled" and cited it as "the fiercest album they've ever made ... the kind of record they've always seemed on the verge of delivering but never have." Mikael Wood of "Spin" observed a "back-to-basics aspiration" and dubbed the album "Grohl's most memorable set of songs since 1997's "The Colour and the Shape"." Rob Parker of "NME" said that it "sounds phenomenal" on headphones or sound systems and is "both broad and focused enough to appeal to casuals and longhairs alike". Paul Brannigan of "Q" praised Grohl's lyrics and called "Wasting Light" "the most life-affirming, positively-charged album of his career." David Fricke, writing for "Rolling Stone", commended Grohl's themes and Butch Vig's "nuanced approach to weight and release." Kyle Ryan of "The A.V. Club" said that, although it lacks recognizable hooks, the album also lacks the filler of the band's previous albums and stated, "As a return to Foo Fighters' specialty—melodic, hard-hitting rock with soaring choruses—"Wasting Light" is a success."


title: Wasting Light

text: In a mixed review, "Slant Magazine"s Kevin Liedel criticized the band's "growing aversion to anthemic songs," writing that "the obvious high points of "Wasting Light" are those that strive for stadium-pleasing melodies." Dave Simpson of "The Guardian" noted an "undue" arena influence and called the album "a typically supersized arena-rock barrage, with lots of howling and wailing, every chorus tailored to imaginary walls of pyrotechnics and some tracks seemingly specifically constructed to accommodate a guitar spot or drum solo." Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" felt that, although it is "competently" performed, the songs are not innovative and suffer from "clichés", including "hardcore punk screed", "streamlined rocker", and "melodramatic power ballad". "Pitchfork"s David Bevan commented that "there just isn't a melody or hook to really amplify." Andy Gill of "The Independent" criticized its "bombastic level" and stated "the presumed desire for back-to-the-roots simplicity ... jettisons the diversity of "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"."


title: Wasting Light

text: "Wasting Light" and its songs were nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The record won the Best Rock Album award, while "White Limo" was chosen as the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance and "Walk" won both Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. The album was chosen as the 4th best album of 2011 by "Kerrang!", and listed in three rankings of the 50 best albums of the year: 20th by "Rolling Stone", 43rd by "NME", and 46th by "Spin". It was also listed among "The Hollywood Reporter"s ten best albums of 2011, and chosen as the album of the year by iTunes.


title: Wasting Light

text: The album debuted at number one in twelve countries. "Wasting Light" was the first Foo Fighters album to top the United States' "Billboard" 200 chart, with first-week sales of 235,000 copies, their second-highest sales week, following "In Your Honor"s first-week sales of 311,000 copies in 2005. In Canada, the album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 21,000 copies in its first week. In the UK, the album's 114,000 units broke Adele's 11-week run atop the UK Album Charts.


title: Wasting Light

text: On the week of "Wasting Light"s release, 6 different tracks from the album made the UK Top 40 Rock Chart. These were the iTunes bonus track "Better Off" at number 5, "Bridge Burning" at number 14, "Walk" at number 24, "White Limo" at number 28, "Arlandria" at number 35 and "These Days" at number 39. In both Australia and New Zealand "Wasting Light" had the biggest first week digital album sales in their chart histories. The album also topped the charts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Singapore. "Wasting Light" has sold 663,000 copies in the US as of January 6, 2012, and closed 2011 with 380,000 units sold in the UK.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Pyrus calleryana, or the Callery pear, is a species of pear tree native to China and Vietnam, in the family Rosaceae. It is most commonly known for its cultivar 'Bradford' and its offensive odor, widely planted throughout the United States and increasingly regarded as an invasive species.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: "Pyrus calleryana" is deciduous, growing to tall, often with a conical to rounded crown. The leaves are oval, long, glossy dark green above, on long pedicels that make them flash their slightly paler undersides in a breeze. The white, five-petaled flowers are about in diameter. They are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: The fruits (which are often assumed to be inedible due to their abundant, cyanide laced seeds) of the Callery pear are small (less than in diameter), and hard, almost woody, until softened by frost, after which they are readily taken by birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. In summer, the shining foliage is dark green and very smooth, and in autumn the leaves commonly turn brilliant colors, ranging from yellow and orange to more commonly red, pink, purple, and bronze. However, since the color often develops very late in autumn, the leaves may be killed by a hard frost before full color can develop.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Callery pears are remarkably resistant to disease or fireblight. However, some cultivars, such as 'Bradford', are particularly susceptible to storm damage and are regularly disfigured or killed by strong winds, winter weather, or limb loss due to their naturally rapid growth rate.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: The species is named after the Italian-French Joseph-Marie Callery (1810–1862), a sinologue who sent specimens of the tree to Europe from China.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Numerous cultivars of Callery pear are offered commercially, including 'Aristocrat', 'Autumn Blaze', 'Bradford', 'Capital', 'Chanticleer' (also known as 'Cleveland Select'), 'New Bradford', 'Redspire', and 'Whitehouse'.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: The trees were introduced to the U.S. by the United States Department of Agriculture facility at Glenn Dale, Maryland, as ornamental landscape trees in the mid-1960s. They became popular with landscapers because they were inexpensive, transported well and grew quickly. Lady Bird Johnson promoted the tree in 1966 by planting one in downtown Washington, D.C. "The New York Times" also promoted the tree saying, "Few trees possess every desired attribute, but the Bradford ornamental pear comes unusually close to the ideal."


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: In much of North America these cultivars, particularly 'Bradford', are widely planted as ornamental trees. The trees are tolerant of a variety of soil types, drainage levels, and soil acidity. Their crown shape varies from ovate to elliptical, but may become asymmetric from limb loss due to excessive and unstable growth rate. The initial symmetry of several cultivars leads to their attempted use in settings such as industrial parks, streets, shopping centers, and office parks. Their dense clusters of white blossoms are conspicuous in early spring, with an odor often compared to rotting fish or semen. According to extension specialist Kelly Oten of North Carolina State University, the smell attracts flies which are the primary pollinators rather than bees. At the latitude of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the trees often remain green until mid-November, and in warm autumns, the colors are often bright, although in a cold year they may get frozen off before coloring. In the South, Callery pears tend to be among the more reliable coloring trees.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: The Bradford pear and related cultivars of "Pyrus calleryana" are regarded as invasive species in many areas of the Eastern and Midwestern regions in North America, outcompeting many native plants and trees. In the northeastern United States, wild Callery pears sometimes form extensive, nearly homogeneous stands in old fields, along roadsides, and in similar disturbed areas. The species was first noticed spreading outside of human cultivation in the 1990s, and by the latter half of the 2000s, Callery pear trees were widespread and could be found in habitats ranging from wetlands to forests.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: While various cultivars of the Callery pear are commonly planted for their ornamental value, their prolifically produced fruits are taken by birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. The various cultivars are generally themselves self-incompatible, unable to produce fertile seeds when self-pollinated, or cross-pollinated with another tree of the same cultivar. However, if different cultivars of Callery pears are grown in proximity (within insect-pollination distance, about 300 ft or 100 m), they often produce fertile seeds that can sprout and establish wherever they are dispersed. The resulting wild individuals, of various genetic backgrounds, can in turn interbreed, producing more viable seed and furthering expansion and dispersal of the wild stand of the species. These plants often differ from the selected cultivars in their irregular crown shape and (sometimes) presence of thorns.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Callery pear is reported as established outside cultivation in 152 counties in 25 states in the United States. While these wild plants are sometimes called "Bradford pear" (for the 'Bradford' cultivar), they are actually wild-growing descendants of multiple genotypes of "Pyrus calleryana", and hence more correctly referred to by the common (or scientific) name of the species itself. Currently, the spread of the invasive trees is limited by their intolerance to extreme cold, but they are creeping northward as climate change causes warming temperatures, and have been found as far north as Madison, Wisconsin.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: The Bradford pear in particular has become further regarded as a nuisance tree for its initially neat, dense upward growth, which made it desirable in cramped urban spaces. Without corrective selective pruning at an early stage, these weak crotches result in a multitude of narrow, weak forks that are very susceptible to storm damage. Because of this, and the resulting relatively short life span (typically less than 25 years), many groups have discouraged further planting of 'Bradford' and other similarly structurally deficient Callery pear cultivars (such as 'Cleveland Select') in favor of increasing use of locally native ornamental tree species.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Pear wood (of any species) is among the finest-textured of all fruitwoods. It is prized for making woodwind instruments, and pear veneer is used in fine furniture. Pear wood is also among those preferred for preparing woodcuts for printing, either end-grained for small works or side-grained for larger.


title: Pyrus calleryana

text: Callery pear has been used as rootstock for grafting such pear cultivars as Comice, Bosc, or Seckel, and especially for Nashi. "Pyrus calleryana" was first introduced into the United States in 1909 and 1916, largely influenced by the dedicated research of Frank N. Meyer, plant explorer for the US Department of Agriculture, commonly known for the discovery of the Meyer lemon, for agricultural experimentation, pre-dating recognition in the 1950s of the species' potential as an ornamental plant.


title: Taylor Bagley

text: Bagley was born on September 9, 1987, in Oklahoma (city unknown) to Robert and Donna. She has one older sister, Erin. She spent part of her childhood in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and attended Centennial High School in Franklin, Tennessee. Although being born in Oklahoma, Bagley states in interviews that she considers herself a Nashville, Tennessee, native.


title: Taylor Bagley

text: Bagley is signed to the Wilhelmina Models agency in London. She is also signed to Ford Models (New York) and Vision Los Angeles. She has appeared in editorials for Vogue Italia. In 2013, she appeared as the angel in "La Passione", James Franco's short film for Gucci. In 2014, she made a small appearance in her then-boyfriend Zach Braff's movie "Wish I Was Here" as a cosplayer. In 2015, she participated in Interpol's music video "Everything is Wrong".


title: Taylor Bagley

text: Bagley was in a relationship with actor/director Zach Braff from 2009 to 2014. She was in a relationship with the frontman of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner from 2015 to early 2018.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Sabah, nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word "labuhan" which means harbour.


title: Labuan

text: For three centuries from the 15th century, the north and west coast of Borneo including the island of Labuan was part of the Sultanate of Brunei. In 1775, Labuan was temporarily occupied by the British East India Company after the failure of the company's station at Balambangan Island. The Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddin I tried to secure the British East India Company’s support against the Sulu raiders by offering Labuan as an alternative to Balambangan but, as the company faced a second but failed attempt to set up a station on Balambangan; Likewise, the reoffering Labuan to the company did not result in the establishment of a permanent British settlement on the island.


title: Labuan

text: British policy changed in the 18th century, when Labuan started to attract British interest again. James Brooke acquired the island for Britain through the Treaty of Labuan with the Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddin II on 18 December 1846. A British naval officer, Rodney Mundy, visited Brunei with his ship HMS "Iris" to keep the Sultan in line until the British Government made a final decision to take the island and he took Pengiran Mumin to witness the island's accession to the British Crown on 24 December 1846. Some sources state that during the signing of the treaty, the Sultan had been threatened by a British navy warship ready to fire on the Sultan's palace if he refused to sign the treaty while another source says the island was ceded to Britain as a reward for assistance in combating pirates.


title: Labuan

text: The main reason why the British acquired the island was to establish a naval station to protect their commercial interest in the region and to suppress piracy in the South China Sea. The British also believed the island could be the next Singapore. The island became a Crown Colony in 1848 with James Brooke appointed as the first governor and commander-in-chief, with William Napier as his lieutenant-governor. In 1849, the Eastern Archipelago Company became the first of several British companies to try to exploit Labuan coal deposits. The company was formed to exploit coal deposits on the island and adjacent coast of Borneo but soon became involved in a dispute with James Brooke. Not proving itself a great commercial or strategic asset, administration of Labuan was handed to the British North Borneo Company in 1890. In 1894, a submarine communications cable was built by the British to link the island's communications with North Borneo, Singapore and Hong Kong for the first time. By 30 October 1906, the British Government proposed to extend the boundaries of the Straits Settlements to include Labuan. The proposal took effect from 1 January 1907.


title: Labuan

text: In World War II, Labuan was occupied by Japan from 3 January 1942 until June 1945 and garrisoned by units of the Japanese 37th Army, which controlled Northern Borneo. The island served as the administrative centre for the Japanese forces. During the occupation, the Japanese Government changed the island name to Maida Island ( ["Maeda-shima"]) on 9 December 1942 after Marquis Toshinari Maeda, as a remembrance to the first Japanese commander in northern Borneo. Maeda was killed in an air crash at Bintulu, Sarawak when en route to the island to open the airfield there. As the Allied counter-attack came closer, the Japanese also developed Labuan and Brunei Bay as a naval base.


title: Labuan

text: The liberation of Borneo by the Allied forces began on 10 June 1945 when the Australian Army under the command of Australian Major General George Wootten launched an attack under the codename of Operation Oboe Six. Labuan became the main objective for the Allied forces to repossess. Soon, the 9th Division of the Australian Army launched the attack with support from airstrikes and sea bombardments until the capture of the Labuan airstrip. Most of the Labuan island area including the main town of Victoria was under the control of Allied forces within four days of the landing on 10 June. On 9 September 1945, the Japanese Lieutenant General Masao Baba officially surrendered at a place now known as Surrender Point near the Layang-layang beach which he had been brought to the 9th Division headquarters on the island to sign the surrender document in front of the Australian 9th Division Army Commander George Wootten.


title: Labuan

text: The name of Labuan was later restored by the British and the island was administered under the British Military Administration together with the rest of the Straits Settlements. Labuan then on 15 July 1946 joined the North Borneo Crown Colony, which in turn became a part of the state of Sabah and Malaysia in 1963. In 1984, the Government of Sabah ceded Labuan to the federal government and later was admitted as a federal territory. It was declared an international offshore financial centre and free trade zone in 1990.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan's area comprises the main island (Labuan Island – ) and six other smaller islands, Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Big Rusukan, Small Rusukan and Papan island with a total area of . The islands lie off the coast of Borneo, adjacent to the Malaysian state of Sabah and to the north of Brunei Darussalam, on the northern edge of Brunei Bay facing the South China Sea. Labuan Island is mainly flat and undulating; its highest point is Bukit Kubong at above sea level. Over 70% of the island is still covered with vegetation. The main town area of Victoria is located in a position facing Brunei Bay.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan has a tropical rainforest climate with no dry season. Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from and is rarely below or above . The warm season lasts from 1 April to 13 June with an average daily high temperature above . The hottest day of the year is 29 April, with an average high of and low of . The cold season lasts from 7 January to 17 February with an average daily high temperature below . The coldest day of the year is 8 September, with an average low of and high of . The weather station for Labuan is located at Labuan Airport.


title: Labuan

text: Thunderstorms are the most severe precipitation observed in Labuan during 60% of those days with precipitation. They are most likely around October, when they occur very frequently. Meanwhile, the relative humidity for Labuan typically ranges from 63% (mildly humid) to 96% (very humid) over the course of the year, rarely dropping below 53% and reaching as high as 100% (extremely humid).


title: Labuan

text: Labuan is one of the Malaysian federal government territories. The island is administered by the federal government through the Ministry of Federal Territories. Labuan Corporation is the municipal government for the island and is headed by a chairman who is responsible for development and administration of the island. Labuan has one representative in each of the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament. Typically, the current member of parliament of Labuan will be appointed to become chairman of Labuan Corporation.


title: Labuan

text: The island is represented in the lower house of parliament by MP Datuk Rozman bin Datuk Haji Isli of WARISAN and in the upper house by Senator Bashir Alias of UMNO.


title: Labuan

text: The Federal Territory is administratively subdivided into the capital Bandar Victoria and 27 "kampung" (administrative villages), and which are ruled by appointed "Ketua Kampung" (headmen):


title: Labuan

text: Security is the responsibility of the federal government, with naval patrol vessels, a garrison, and an air detachment based on the island. The vigilance of the local Coast Guard and Customs and Excise contribute to the maintenance of Labuan's reputation and status as an international offshore financial centre and free trade zone.


title: Labuan

text: According to Malaysia's Department of Statistics, Labuan's population was 86,908 at the 2010 Census and 95,120 at the 2020 Census. The ethnic composition in 2010 in Labuan was: Brunei Malay and Kedayan (30,001), Kadazan-Dusun including/excluding Rungus (7,380), Bajau (6,300), Murut and Lun Bawang/Lundayeh (701), Chinese (10,014), Indians (641), other ethnic groups (19,727), and non-Malaysian citizens (12,144). The majority of Chinese people in Labuan are from the Hokkien dialect group (but has been since decreasing due to migration to the Peninsula as well as overseas); however, there are also many Hakkas, most of whom are migrants or descendants of migrants from mainland Sabah as well as local-born Hakkas, whom are settled for more than 2 to 3 generations in the island dating as long as the colonial period, in which they came as stopover migrants or traders before embarking to the mainland (even when it was still an only island offshore municipality within Sabah state jurisdiction from 1963 to 1984) as well as a negligible minority of Foochows from neighbouring Sarawak, mostly working as government staff and those posted in the petroleum and gas offshore industries and to a lesser extent a large minority of Dayaks also from Sarawak who are resident here and their local-born descendants whom are mostly ethnically Iban with pockets of Bidayuh and Orang Ulu residents.


title: Labuan

text: The economy of Labuan thrives on its vast oil and gas resources and international investment and banking services. Labuan is very much an import-export oriented economy. Virtually all of its commodities including crude oil, methanol, HBI, gas, flour, animal feed, sea products, and ceramic tiles are exported either to Peninsular Malaysia or overseas. Raw materials, parts, and equipments for industrial uses well as consumer products are imported. In 2004, the total value of Labuan's external trade reached MYR11.8 billion from only MYR5.0 billion in 1995 for a net trade surplus of MYR5.1 billion. Among its major trade partners are India, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, and South Korea. 65% of its exports are petroleum and gas-based products.


title: Labuan

text: The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Labuan is estimated at MYR3.63 billion in 2012 with a growth rate of 5.8 percent. Labuan GDP per capita in 2012 is MYR39,682. The total employment for Labuan is around 39,800 in 2012. The main economic sectors in Labuan is service and manufacturing which contributed 94.6 percent to the island GDP. The service sector consisted mainly of Finance and Insurance and Real Estate and Business Services. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector consists mainly of oil and gas industry and support.


title: Labuan

text: The Labuan International Business and Financial Centre Labuan IBFC was created as Malaysia's only offshore financial hub in October 1990 and was operating under the name of Labuan International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC). At the time it was established to strengthen the contribution of financial services to the Gross National Product (GNP) of Malaysia as well as to develop the island and its surrounding vicinity. The jurisdiction, supervised by the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority or LOFSA, offers benefits such as 3% tax on net audited results or a flat rate of Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) 20,000 to trading companies; low operational costs; liberal exchange controls; and a host of other advantages including readily available, experienced and professional service providers. In 2010 the notion "offshore" was excluded from all the statutes of Labuan due to world pressure on the tax havens and offshores.


title: Labuan

text: Since its inception, the jurisdiction has expanded to become a base for more than 17,600 offshore companies and more than 300 licensed financial institutions including world leading banks. The IBFC also has over 370 registered foundations, 100 partnerships, and over 63 licensed trusts. Labuan IBFC is embarking on an aggressive growth strategy to become the premier international business and financial centre in the Asia Pacific region.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan's business focus is on five core areas: offshore holding companies, captive insurance, Shariah-compliant Islamic Finance structures, public and private funds, and wealth management. Labuan IBFC's position is further enhanced by the launch of the Malaysian International Islamic Finance Centre initiative in August 2006.


title: Labuan

text: There are several attractions and places of interest on Labuan. The Labuan War Cemetery contains various war graves and memorials to the fallen of World War II. This includes British, Australian, Indian, Sarawakian, Bruneian, North Bornean, and Empire troops, making it the largest war grave with 3,908 graves of fallen soldiers. A memorial service is held on Remembrance Day once every four years.


title: Labuan

text: There is also a memorial celebrating the surrender of the Japanese to the Australian Forces in 1945. There are also remnants of Labuan's history as a Royal Navy coaling station, including the chimney, a well known local landmark. There is also a Labuan Maritime Museum.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan is also the base for diving on four popular wreck dives: the Cement wreck, the American wreck, (the first USS Salute), the Australian wreck and the Blue Water wreck.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan has many schools. However, it has only one international school, Labuan International School. Other places of interest include the Labuan International Sea Sport Complex. Newly proposed is the Marina Centre and Labuan Square project which were completed in 2010.


title: Labuan

text: Labuan's own institution of higher education is Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus, a branch of Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Sepanggar Bay, Kota Kinabalu. Labuan also has a matriculation college, Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan, the only matriculation college in East Malaysia. Thus, all pre-university students from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan will take their courses here.


title: Labuan

text: A post office was operating in Labuan by 1864, and used a circular date stamp as postmark. The postage stamps of India and Hong Kong were used on some mail, but they were probably carried there by individuals, instead of being on sale in Labuan. Mail was routed through Singapore. From 1867, Labuan officially used the postage stamps of the Straits Settlements but began issuing its own in May 1879.


title: Labuan

text: Although initially the design for the first stamp issue was proposed to be depicting a clump of sago palms, for economic reasons, the queen heads design was finally adopted, having been used initially for postage stamps of Grenada. The first stamps of Labuan therefore depict the usual profile of Queen Victoria but are unusual for being inscribed in Malay-Arabic (Jawi) and Chinese scripts in addition to "LABUAN POSTAGE". Perennial shortages necessitated a variety of surcharges in between the several reprints and colour changes of the 1880s. The original stamps were engraved, but the last of the design, in April 1894, were done by lithography.


title: Labuan

text: Beginning in May 1894, the stamps of North Borneo were overprinted "LABUAN". On 24 September 1896, the 50th anniversary of the cession was marked by overprinting "1846 / JUBILEE / 1896" on North Borneo stamps. Additional overprints appeared through the 1890s. In 1899 many types were surcharged with a value of 4 cents.


title: Labuan

text: The last Labuan-only design came out in 1902, depicting a crown and inscribed "LABUAN COLONY". After incorporation into the Straits Settlements in 1906, Labuan ceased issuing its own stamps, although they remained valid for some time. Many of the remainder were cancelled-to-order for sale to collectors and are now worth only pennies; genuine franked/post used stamps are worth much more.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Younghoe Koo (; pronounced ; born August 3, 1994) is a South Korean-born American football placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Southern. He began his professional career with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017, but was released four weeks into the season after missing consecutive game-ending kicks. Following a year away from football, Koo played for the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), where he scored the first points in league history and converted all of his field goal attempts until the AAF indefinitely suspended operations. This success led to Koo's NFL return with the Falcons the same year. Koo is known for his ability to successfully execute onside kicks, a reputation he developed as a member of the Falcons, and received Pro Bowl honors in 2020. He is also the NFL's third-most accurate placekicker.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Koo was born in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to Seungmae Choi and Hyunseo Koo. He played soccer growing up and won a regional kicking competition. He attended sixth grade in the United States after moving to New Jersey to live with his mother, who had gone to the country two years earlier to become a nurse while Koo's father remained in Seoul as a university professor.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Koo played on the football team for Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He was named team MVP his senior season, contributing on both special teams and defense, where he tallied six interceptions.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Koo was a four-year contributor for the Georgia Southern Eagles, earning first-team all-conference honors in the Sun Belt Conference in his final season, during which he converted 19 of 20 field goal attempts. Koo was also named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the best college kicker in the nation. At the conclusion of his college career, Koo ultimately converted 88.6% of his field goal attempts, a Georgia Southern team record.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Koo signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft. He won the starting job over incumbent kicker Josh Lambo following the conclusion of the preseason. Koo became the fourth player in NFL history to have been born in South Korea.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: In the 2017 season opener on the road against the Denver Broncos, Koo's game-tying 44-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds of the game was blocked by the Broncos' Shelby Harris, and the Chargers lost 24–21. The kick had little chance of succeeding after Denver overwhelmed the Chargers' line on the play. An earlier attempt by Koo was successful, but it was called off after the Broncos had called a timeout right before the snap. The following week, Koo missed a game-winning 44-yard attempt in a 19–17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: The following two weeks, Koo converted both of his field goal attempts and all four of his extra points. However, the 0–4 Chargers waived him after Week 4, replacing him with 10-year veteran Nick Novak. Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn stated that he wanted "someone with a little more consistency and experience" than Koo. Lynn added that, "I think Koo is going to have a long NFL career ... A lot of rookies get cut early in their career, and they come back and play for a lot of years." "Koo's a very talented kicker," Novak said. "He's got a live leg and a lot of talent." Overall with the Chargers, Koo was 3-of-6 on field goals and recorded 8 touchbacks on 14 kickoffs. Frank Schwab of "Yahoo Sports" wrote that the winless Chargers were "using [Koo] as a scapegoat."


title: Younghoe Koo

text: On January 14, 2019, Koo signed with the Atlanta Legends of the AAF. On February 9, he scored the first points in AAF regular season history, making a 38-yard field goal against the Orlando Apollos. After the Legends started the 2019 AAF season 0–3, on March 3, Koo kicked two field goals, including the 33-yard game winner, against the Arizona Hotshots to seal the 14–11 Atlanta win. The following week against the Memphis Express, he made all three of his attempts, including the game-winning 35-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining to secure a 23–20 victory, and was eventually named AAF Special Teams Player of the Week. The league ceased operations during midseason in April 2019. For the year, Koo had been a perfect 14-of-14 on his field goals.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: Following the suspension of the AAF, Koo worked out with the Chicago Bears, who were in need of a kicker after releasing Cody Parkey, but did not end up signing with the team. After longtime kicker Stephen Gostkowski was placed on injured reserve, the New England Patriots signed Koo to their practice squad on October 4, 2019. On October 15, 2019, Koo was released.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: On October 29, 2019, Koo was signed by the Atlanta Falcons after they cut their longtime kicker and franchise leading scorer, Matt Bryant. In his Falcons debut, Koo made all four of his field goals (including a 48-yarder) and both of his extra points in a 26–9 upset win over the New Orleans Saints.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: He was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 13 against the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving Day, Koo delivered three successful onside kicks, one of which was undone by a penalty, in the 26–18 loss. In Week 14 against the Carolina Panthers, Koo made four field goals (including a then career-long 50-yarder), four extra points, and recovered a fumble forced by teammate Damontae Kazee on wide receiver Greg Dortch during a kickoff return in the 40–20 win. For this performance, he was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: On February 18, 2020, Koo signed a one-year contract extension with the Falcons. In Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, Koo made all four of his field goal attempts, and all three of his extra points in the 39–40 loss. In Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers, Koo made both of his field goal attempts (including a career-long 54-yarder), in the 16-23 loss. In Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings, Koo went 4-for-4 on field goals, as well as 4-for-4 on extra points, in the 40–23 win. In Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers, Koo made all four of his field goal attempts in the 25–17 win. In Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Koo made a career-high 5 field goals in the 43–6 blowout win. For his efforts in the month of November, Koo was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month. Koo became the NFL's leading scorer following Week 13, having made 32 of 33 field goals and 23 extra points for a total of 119 points. In Week 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Koo missed a game-tying 39-yard field goal in the 14–17 loss after the ball was tipped by the Chiefs' Tanoh Kpassagnon.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: On December 20, 2020, Koo was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He signed a contract extension with the Falcons on March 11, 2021.


title: Younghoe Koo

text: In Week 3, Koo made a game winning 40-yard field goal as time expired to defeat the New York Giants 17–14. Koo made another game-winning field goal in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins to give the Falcons a 30–28 win as time expired. Koo made his third game-ending field goal of the season in a 27–25 Week 9 road win over the New Orleans Saints.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and literary criticism. He is best known for satirical comedies such as "Lucky Jim" (1954), "One Fat Englishman" (1963), "Ending Up" (1974), "Jake's Thing" (1978) and "The Old Devils" (1986). His biographer Zachary Leader called Amis "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century." He is the father of the novelist Martin Amis. In 2008, "The Times" ranked him ninth on a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Kingsley Amis was born on 16 April 1922 in Clapham, south London, the only child of William Robert Amis (1889–1963), a clerk for the mustard manufacturer Colman's in the City of London, and his wife Rosa Annie (née Lucas). The Amis grandparents were wealthy. William Amis's father, the glass merchant Joseph James Amis, owned a mansion called Barchester at Purley, then part of Surrey. Amis considered J. J. Amis – always called "Pater" or "Dadda" – "a jokey, excitable, silly little man," whom he "disliked and was repelled by". His wife Julia "was a large, dreadful, hairy-faced creature... whom [Amis] loathed and feared. His mother's parents (her father an enthusiastic collector of books employed at a gentleman's outfitters, being "the only grandparent [Amis] cared for") lived at Camberwell. Amis hoped to inherit much of his grandfather's library, but he was only permitted by his grandmother to take five volumes, on condition he wrote "from his grandfather's collection" on the flyleaf of each.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis was raised at Norbury – in his later estimation "not really a place, it's an expression on a map [–] really I should say I came from Norbury station." In 1940, the Amises moved to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He was educated at the City of London School (as his father had been) on a scholarship, after his first year, and in April 1941 was admitted to St John's College, Oxford, also on a scholarship, where he read English. It was there he met Philip Larkin, with whom he formed the most important friendship of his life. While at Oxford in June 1941, Amis joined the Communist Party of Great Britain, although he broke with communism in 1956, in view of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Joseph Stalin in his speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences". In July 1942, he was called up for national service and served in the Royal Corps of Signals. He returned to Oxford in October 1945 to complete his degree. Although he worked hard and earned a first in English in 1947, he had decided by then to give much of his time to writing.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In 1946 he met Hilary Bardwell. They married in 1948 after she became pregnant with their first child, Philip. Amis initially arranged for her to have a back-street abortion, but changed his mind, fearing for her safety. He was a lecturer in English at the University College of Swansea from 1949 to 1961. Two other children followed: Martin in August 1949 and Sally in January 1954.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Days after Sally's birth, Amis's first novel, "Lucky Jim", was published to great acclaim. Critics felt it had caught the flavour of Britain in the 1950s and ushered in a new style of fiction. By 1972, its impressive sales in Britain had been matched by 1.25 million paperback copies sold in the United States. It was translated into 20 languages, including Polish, Hebrew, Korean, and Serbo-Croat. The novel won the Somerset Maugham Award for fiction and Amis became one of the writers known as the Angry Young Men. "Lucky Jim" was among the first British campus novels, setting a precedent for later generations of writers such as Malcolm Bradbury, David Lodge, Tom Sharpe and Howard Jacobson. As a poet, Amis was associated with The Movement.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In 1958–1959 Amis made the first of two visits to the United States, as visiting fellow in creative writing at Princeton University and a visiting lecturer in other north-eastern universities. On returning to Britain, he fell into a rut, and he began looking for another post. After 13 years at Swansea, Amis became a fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1961, but regretted the move within a year, finding Cambridge an academic and social disappointment. He resigned in 1963, intent on moving to Majorca, although he actually moved no further than London.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In 1963, Hilary discovered that Amis was having an affair with the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard. Hilary and Amis separated in August and he went to live with Howard, divorcing Hilary and marrying Howard in 1965. In 1968 he moved with Howard to Lemmons, a house in Barnet, north London. She and Amis divorced in 1983.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In his last years, Amis shared a house with Hilary and her third husband, Alastair Boyd, 7th Baron Kilmarnock. Martin's memoir "Experience" contains much about the life, charm and decline of his father.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis was knighted in 1990. In August 1995 he fell, suffering a suspected stroke. After apparently recovering, he worsened and died on 22 October 1995 at St Pancras Hospital, London. He was cremated and his ashes laid to rest at Golders Green Crematorium.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis is widely known as a comic novelist of life in mid to late 20th-century Britain, but his literary work covered many genres – poetry, essays, criticism, short stories, food and drink, anthologies, and several novels in genres such as science fiction and mystery. His career initially developed in an inverse pattern to that of his close friend Philip Larkin's. Before becoming known as a poet, Larkin had published two novels; Amis originally sought to be a poet and turned to novels only after publishing several volumes of verse. He continued throughout his career to write poetry, in a straightforward, accessible style that often masks a nuance of thought.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis's first novel, "Lucky Jim" (1954), satirises the highbrow academic set of an unnamed university, through the eyes of a struggling young lecturer of history. It was widely perceived as part of the Angry Young Men movement of the 1950s, in reacting against stultification of conventional British life, although Amis never encouraged this interpretation. Amis's other novels of the 1950s and early 1960s likewise depict contemporary situations drawn from his own experience. "That Uncertain Feeling" (1955) features a young provincial librarian (perhaps with an eye to Larkin working as a librarian in Hull) and his temptation to adultery. "I Like It Here" (1958) takes a contemptuous view of "abroad", after Amis's own travels on the Continent with a young family. "Take a Girl Like You" (1960) steps away from the immediately autobiographical, but remains grounded in the concerns of sex and love in ordinary modern life, tracing the courtship and ultimate seduction of the heroine by a young schoolmaster.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: With "The Anti-Death League" (1966), Amis begins to show some of the experimentation – in content, if not style – that marked much of his work in the 1960s and 1970s. His departure from the strict realism of his early comedic novels is not so abrupt as might first appear. He had been avidly reading science fiction since a boy and developed that interest in the Christian Gauss Lectures of 1958, while visiting Princeton University. These were published that year as "New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction", giving a serious yet light-handed treatment of what the genre had to say about man and society. Amis was especially keen on the dystopian works of Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, and in "New Maps of Hell" coined the term "comic inferno" to describe a type of humorous dystopia, exemplified in the works of Robert Sheckley. He further displayed his devotion to the genre in editing, with the Sovietologist Robert Conquest, the science-fiction anthology series "Spectrum" I–V, which drew heavily upon 1950s numbers of the magazine "Astounding Science Fiction".


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Though not explicitly science fiction, "The Anti-Death League" takes liberties with reality not found in Amis's earlier novels. It introduces a speculative bent that continued to develop in others of his genre novels such as "The Green Man" (1969) (mystery/horror) and "The Alteration" (1976) (alternative history). Much of this speculation concerned the improbability of the existence of any benevolent deity involved in human affairs. In "The Anti-Death League", "The Green Man", "The Alteration" and elsewhere, including poems such as "The Huge Artifice: an interim assessment" and "New Approach Needed", Amis showed frustration with a God who could lace the world with cruelty and injustice, and championed the preservation of ordinary human happiness – in family, in friendships, in physical pleasure – against the demands of any cosmological scheme. Amis's religious views appear in a response, reported in his "Memoirs". To the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko's question, "You atheist?" Amis replied, "It's more that I hate Him."


title: Kingsley Amis

text: During this time, Amis had not turned completely away from the comedic realism of "Lucky Jim" and "Take a Girl Like You". "I Want It Now" (1968) and "Girl, 20" (1971) both depict the "swinging" atmosphere of London in the late 1960s, in which Amis certainly participated, though neither book is strictly autobiographical. "Girl, 20", for instance, is set in the world of classical (and pop) music, in which Amis had no part. The book's noticeable command of music terminology and opinion shows Amis's amateur devotion to music and almost journalistic capacity to explore a subject that interested him. That intelligence is similarly displayed, for instance, in the ecclesiastical matters in "The Alteration", for Amis was neither a Roman Catholic nor a devotee of any church.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Amis regularly produced essays and criticism, principally for periodical publication. Some were collected in 1968 into "What Became of Jane Austen? and Other Essays", in which Amis's wit and literary and social opinions were displayed on books such as Colin Wilson's "The Outsider" (panned), Iris Murdoch's début novel "Under the Net" (praised), and William Empson's "Milton's God" (inclined to agreement). Amis's opinions on books and people tended to appear, and often were, conservative, and yet, as the title essay of the collection shows, he was not merely reverent of "the classics" and of traditional morals, but more disposed to exercise his own rather independent judgement in all things.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis became associated with Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, which he admired, in the late 1960s, when he began composing critical works connected with the fictional spy, either under a pseudonym or uncredited. In 1965, he wrote the popular "James Bond Dossier" under his own name. That same year, he wrote "The Book of Bond, or, Every Man His Own 007", a tongue-in-cheek how-to manual about being a sophisticated spy, under the pseudonym "Lt Col. William ('Bill') Tanner", Tanner being M's Chief of Staff in many of Fleming's Bond novels. In 1968 Amis wrote "Colonel Sun", which was published under the pseudonym "Robert Markham".


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis's literary style and tone changed significantly after 1970, with the possible exception of "The Old Devils", a Booker Prize winner. Several critics found him old-fashioned and misogynistic. His "Stanley and the Women", an exploration of social sanity, could be said to instance these traits. Others said that his output lacked the humanity, wit and compassion of earlier work.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: This period also saw Amis as an anthologist, displaying a wide knowledge of all kinds of English poetry. "The New Oxford Book of Light Verse" (1978), which he edited, was a revision of an original volume done by W. H. Auden. Amis took it in a markedly new direction: Auden had interpreted light verse to include "low" verse of working-class or lower-class origin, regardless of subject matter, while Amis defined light verse as essentially light in tone, though not necessarily simple in composition. "The Amis Anthology" (1988), a personal selection of his favourite poems, grew out of his work for a London newspaper, in which he selected a poem a day and gave it a brief introduction.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, for "Ending Up" (1974) and "Jake's Thing" (1978), and finally, as prizewinner, for "The Old Devils" in 1986.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In 2008, "The Times" ranked Kingsley Amis 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: As a young man at Oxford, Amis joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and left it in 1956. He later described this stage of his political life as "the callow Marxist phase that seemed almost compulsory in Oxford." Amis remained nominally on the Left for some time after the war, declaring in the 1950s that he would always vote for the Labour Party.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis eventually moved further right, a development he discussed in the essay "Why Lucky Jim Turned Right" (1967); his conservatism and anti-communism can be seen in works like the dystopian novel "Russian Hide and Seek" (1980). In 1967, Amis, Robert Conquest, John Braine and several other authors signed a letter to "The Times" entitled "Backing for U.S. Policies in Vietnam", supporting the US government in the Vietnam War. He spoke at the Adam Smith Institute, arguing against government subsidy to the arts.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: By his own admission and according to his biographers, Amis was a serial adulterer for much of his life. This was a major contributory factor in the breakdown of his first marriage. A famous photograph of a sleeping Amis on a Yugoslav beach shows the slogan (written in lipstick by wife Hilary) on his back "1 Fat Englishman – I fuck anything."


title: Kingsley Amis

text: In one memoir, Amis wrote, "Now and then I become conscious of having the reputation of being one of the great drinkers, if not one of the great drunks, of our time". He suggests this reflects a naïve tendency in readers to apply the behaviour of his characters to himself. In fact he enjoyed drink and spent a good deal of time in pubs. Hilary Rubinstein, who accepted "Lucky Jim" for Victor Gollancz, commented, "I doubted whether Jim Dixon would have gone to the pub and drunk ten pints of beer... I didn't know Kingsley very well, you see." Clive James commented: "All on his own, he had the weekly drinks bill of a whole table at the Garrick Club even before he was elected. After he was, he would get so tight there that he could barely make it to the taxi." Amis was, however, adamant in his belief that inspiration did not come from a bottle: "Whatever part drink may play in the writer's life, it must play none in his or her work." This matches a disciplined approach to writing. For "many years" Amis imposed a rigorous daily schedule on himself, segregating writing and drink. Mornings were spent on writing, with a minimum daily output of 500 words. Drinking began about lunchtime, when this had been achieved. Such self-discipline was essential to Amis's prodigious output.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Yet according to James, Amis reached a turning point when his drinking ceased to be social and became a way of dulling his remorse and regret at his behaviour towards Hilly. "Amis had turned against himself deliberately... It seems fair to guess that the troubled grandee came to disapprove of his own conduct." His friend Christopher Hitchens said: "The booze got to him in the end, and robbed him of his wit and charm as well as of his health."


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis had an unclear relationship with antisemitism, which he sometimes expressed but also disliked and opposed. He occasionally speculated on the commonly advanced Jewish stereotypes. Antisemitism was sometimes present in his conversations and letters to friends and associates, such as "The great Jewish vice is glibness, fluency ... also possibly just bullshit, as in Marx, Freud, Marcuse", or "Chaplin [who was not Jewish] is a horse's arse. He's a Jeeeew you see, like the Marx Brothers, like Danny Kaye." It is a minor theme in his "Stanley and the Women" novel about a paranoid schizophrenic. As for the cultural complexion of the United States, Amis had this to say: "I've finally worked out why I don't like Americans ... . Because everyone there is either a Jew or a hick." Amis himself described his antisemitism as "very mild".


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis's first, 15-year marriage was to Hilary Bardwell, the daughter of a civil servant, by whom he had two sons and one daughter: Philip Amis, a graphics designer; Martin Amis, a novelist; and Sally Amis, who died in 2000.


title: Kingsley Amis

text: Amis was married a second time, to the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard from 1965 to 1983, with whom he had no children. At the end of that marriage, he went to live with his former wife Hilary and her third husband, in a deal brokered by their two sons Philip and Martin to ensure he could be cared for until his death.


title: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

text: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous exhibits, including the Space Shuttle "Discovery", the "Enola Gay", and the Boeing 367-80, the prototype for the popular Boeing 707 airliner.


title: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

text: The facility was made possible by a $65 million donation in October 1999 to the Smithsonian Institution by Steven F. Udvar-Házy, an immigrant from Hungary and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation, an aircraft leasing corporation. The main NASM building, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., had always contained more artifacts than could be displayed, and most of the collection had been stored, unavailable to visitors, at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. A substantial addition to the center encompassing restoration, conservation and collection-storage facilities was completed in 2010. Restoration facilities and museum archives were moved from the museum's Garber facility to the new sections of the Udvar-Hazy Center.


title: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

text: Designed by Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, who also designed the National Air and Space Museum building, the Center required 15 years of preparation and was built by Hensel Phelps Construction Co. The exhibition areas comprise two large hangars, the Boeing Aviation Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. The Donald D. Engen Observation Tower provides a view of landing operations at adjacent Washington Dulles International Airport. The museum also contains an IMAX theater. A taxiway connects the museum to the airport.


title: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

text: An expansion of the Udvar-Hazy Center is dedicated to the behind-the-scenes care of the Smithsonian's collection of aircraft, spacecraft, related artifacts and archival materials. On December 2, 2008, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center received a gift of $6 million for phase two from Airbus Americas Inc. — the largest corporate gift to the Smithsonian Institution in 2008.