title: Creepshow 2

text: Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote that the film "has three suitably grisly ideas that are only glancingly developed. The episodes are marginally interesting, but each is a little too long. And each could be fully explained in a one-sentence synopsis." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" panned the film as an "omnibus snoozefest which is utterly lacking in chills or thrills," with all three stories "so deficient in imagination and scare quotient they wouldn't pass as even satisfactory episodes on a tv show like "Amazing Stories" or "The Twilight Zone"." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" called the film "a cut-rate sequel from those two popular masters of horror, Stephen King and George Romero, that plays like leftovers. Fans of both deserve better." Richard Harrington of "The Washington Post" wrote that the film "goes nowhere slowly. Part of the problem is that King's short stories simply work better in print." Allmovie awarded 1.5 stars out of 5 in a retrospective review and stated: "Despite its strengths -- a livelier pace, some creatively gory set-pieces -- this is a much cheaper-looking effort than its predecessor, with the deft guidance of Romero conspicuously absent (long-time collaborator Michael Gornick took up the directorial reins); as a result, King's gross-out sensibilities don't come off as well."


title: Creepshow 2

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 29% approval rating with a 4.30/10 average rating based on 24 reviews . The site's critical consensus reads, "Not even the melding of Stephen King and George A. Romero's writing sensibilities can elevate this spineless anthology, which is too simple in its storytelling and too skimpy on the genuine scares."


title: Creepshow 2

text: The Blu-ray reviews by Jake Keet and M. Enois Duarte suggests that the film "admittedly not as good as [the first "Creepshow"]", but it "still makes for a decent follow-up that offers a few amusing moments of horror-comedy".


title: Creepshow 2

text: After its theatrical release, the film was released on VHS the same year by New World Home Video. While being released by Anchor Bay Entertainment on DVD, a special edition DVD of the film was released with the cover art being a homage to the "Tales from the Crypt" comic books from EC. In 2013, the film was released on Blu-ray by Image Entertainment on September 3, 2013. On December 13, 2016, Arrow Video released a special edition Blu-ray in the United States. The release contains many interviews with the cast and crew along with behind the scenes footage.


title: Creepshow 2

text: The music to the film was composed and conducted by Les Reed and Rick Wakeman. A soundtrack album was released by Waxwork Records as a double-LP record in the United States in 2017.


title: Creepshow 2

text: "Creepshow 3" was released in 2006 via Taurus Entertainment who had purchased the naming rights. The film featured no involvement whatsoever from Stephen King or George Romero and was critically panned.


title: Icelandic magical staves

text: Icelandic magical staves () are sigils that were credited with supposed magical effect preserved in various Icelandic grimoires, such as the Galdrabók, dating from the 17th century and later.


title: Susan Jameson

text: Susan I. M. Jameson (born 13 August 1941) is an English actress. She is best known for two roles: portraying Esther Lane in the BBC crime drama series "New Tricks" between 2003 and 2013, and voicing Mrs Wibbsey opposite Tom Baker in a series of "Doctor Who" audio dramas.


title: Susan Jameson

text: She is married to fellow actor James Bolam, with whom she has appeared in many television episodes from various series including "New Tricks", "Heartbeat" (playing 3 different characters), "When The Boat Comes In", and "Grandpa in my Pocket".


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Far Beyond Driven is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 22, 1994 by East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album was also certified Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. "Far Beyond Driven" is the first album by Pantera where the band's guitarist Darrell Abbott is credited as "Dimebag Darrell", having changed his nickname from "Diamond Darrell" soon after "Vulgar Display of Power" was released. The Japanese and the "Driven Downunder Tour '94 Souvenir Collection" editions contain a bonus thirteenth track, "The Badge", a Poison Idea cover. This cover was also featured on "The Crow" soundtrack.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: The original album cover shows a drill going into someone's anus, but the record label rejected it, worrying it would harm sales and would be rejected by stores like Walmart and Target. The band then changed it to a drill put in the frontal lobe of a human skull.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: At the time of its release, Pantera's vocalist Phil Anselmo was injured with ruptured discs in his back and was suffering from chronic pain from degenerative disc disease. Anselmo began drinking heavily, abusing painkillers and muscle relaxants, and using heroin to alleviate the pain.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: The song "I'm Broken" is about back pain that Phil Anselmo felt. Anselmo said "This is right when I started feeling the pain in my lower back, and it felt scary," says Anselmo. "I think this is one of the first times in my life, man, that I had this thing called 'vulnerability' kick in, and that was a very uncomfortable feeling." Anselmo adds, "I think that was really my first glimpse into kind of screaming to the world, 'Fucking... I am broken! Somebody fucking help me here!'"


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: In the liner notes of the album, all the songs' lyrics are printed apart from the cover of "Planet Caravan". The liner note reads:


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: The band tuned lower on the album than on previous efforts, with many songs going as low as C# standard. Several lyrical topics appear on "Far Beyond Driven". The track "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" seems to be a reference to the song "Good Friends and a Bottle of Wine" on the Ted Nugent album "Weekend Warriors". Phil Anselmo spoke about the track "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" saying:


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Phil Anselmo talked about the song "Strength Beyond Strength" saying "I was a rambunctious child," begins Anselmo. "None of it is regrettable, lyrically. You can look back at your lyrics and snicker. I'll always do, whether I'm embarrassed over it, or whether I'm embarrassed over it, or whether I'm embarrassed over it. You can tell growing spurts and pains and where you were in life, so I don't know. Strength fucking Beyond Strength is the old puffin' the chest up, 'look at us now,' we're as cute as [we're] fucking extreme."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Anselmo explained the meaning behind the song "Becoming" saying "The most popular heavy metal bands in the world at that time were, in my estimate and definitely all of our estimates, playing the game," Anselmo says. "They had reached this pinnacle; now they were kind of tapering off and writing more commercial stuff, whereas we realized our strong point, once again, was sticking to heavy metal and making it as heavy as our style would allow. Therefore, with 'Becoming,' it is what it says. We were becoming. Honestly, we had arrived."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Anselmo talks about the meaning behind the song "Shedding Skin" saying, "'Shedding Skin' was about me being in my 20s and any girlfriend, lady-friend of mine trying to tie me down at that age, at that particular time," begins Anselmo. "Basically, 'lay off, right now.' A relationship with me? A serious relationship with me at that age? Forget it, fuck off. Really, it's impossible."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Anselmo talked about the song "Slaughtered" saying "I've always had a distorted view of organized religion and I was never more confused than when I was in my 20s and whatnot," Anselmo says about 'Slaughtered.' "And still I like to use a fusion, if you will, of religions and fuck with them, so to speak. And then tear them down and piss all over them or build them up only to tip over."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Anselmo spoke about the song "Use My Third Arm" saying "A song like 'Use My Third Arm'... sometimes I just go off on just, tangents," Anselmo explains. "It's almost like a formulated temper tantrum over aimless things. Try and find the dead target on that song and I'll shake your hand, because I really don't know. It might take a psychologist or something. It's a temper tantrum, really, put to music."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Anselmo spoke about the song "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" saying "I think it was a foreshadowing of the fear that I felt of not being the same. ... I know for a fact, I guess, that I dabbled in pain pills and stuff like that because I was miserable, and that's always a friggin' dead end, dead road, a terrible path to take. But at the time, I didn't have any other answers."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: The song "25 Years", one of Pantera's most personal songs" is about Phil Anselmo's father. Anselmo said, "'25 Years' was written about my father. At the time [I] had a gigantic falling-out with him and I resented the fuck out of him and wrote a beautiful song about it." Anselmo continues, "It was a time capsule of how far he and I had not come, and I think a lot of fans could relate with the dysfunctional family vibe. I think I put in some pretty clever wording here and there, and it might be that wording that they had been searching for themselves for quite a while when it comes to anger."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: At midnight on March 22, 1994, Pantera launched the release of "Far Beyond Driven" with an extensive record store campaign. They traveled to 12 cities in almost five days with MTV documenting their progress. Band members signed autographs, met fans, and promoted the album. The band released "I'm Broken" as the album's first single, which reached #19 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's highest charting single worldwide. The LP also contained the first cover song on one of their major-label releases—Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" which served as the album's closing track and reached #21 on "Billboard"s Mainstream Rock Tracks and #26 on the UK Singles Chart. By March, the LP had sold over 185,000 copies and had reached #1 on the U.S "Billboard" 200 album charts and Australian charts upon release. It remained on the "Billboard" 200 for 29 weeks.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: The album received positive reviews. "Rolling Stone" gave the album four out of five stars. "Rolling Stone" would eventually rank "Far Beyond Driven" #39 on their list "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". However, AllMusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia stated ""Far Beyond Driven" may have been Pantera's fastest selling album upon release, but it's hardly their best. In fact, although it shot straight to the number one spot on the "Billboard" sales chart in its first week (arguably the most extreme album ever to do so), this incredible feat doesn't so much reflect its own qualities as those of its predecessor, 1992's "Vulgar Display of Power"."


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: In November 2011, "Far Beyond Driven" was ranked number six on "Guitar World" magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994. The album was also ranked at number twenty in "Guitar World"s "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: On March 24, 2014, a two-disc deluxe edition of "Far Beyond Driven" was released to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Disc one is a remastered version of the original album. Disc two is a live album featuring Pantera's set at the 1994 Monsters of Rock Festival.


title: Far Beyond Driven

text: Pantera toured South America, and were accepted into another "Monsters of Rock" billing. At that festival on June 4, 1994, the Abbott brothers got into a scuffle with journalists from the music magazine "Kerrang!" over unflattering cartoon depictions of drummer Vinnie Paul. Then in late June, Anselmo was charged with assault for hitting a security guard after he prevented fans from getting on stage, Anselmo was released on $5,000 bail the next day. The trial was delayed three times. In May 1995, he apologized in court and pleaded guilty to attempted assault and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Pantera continued their tour of the United Kingdom in 1994 and eventually ended it in the United States where the band was opened for by fellow heavy metal bands Sepultura and Prong. The tour of "Far Beyond Driven" also took Pantera to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in November–December 1994.


title: Um Ki-joon

text: Um Ki-joon made his acting debut in 1995 in the stage play "Richard III", though he later became best known as a musical theatre actor, starring in "Singin' in the Rain", "The Sorrows of Young Werther", "Grease", "The Three Musketeers", "Jack the Ripper", "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Catch Me If You Can", and "Rebecca". He also appeared in the Patrick Marber play "Closer".


title: Um Ki-joon

text: Um's popularity increased after he began playing supporting roles in television dramas such as "Life Special Investigation Team", "Worlds Within", "Hero", "Dream High", "Scent of a Woman" and "Phantom". He was also the leading actor in "Good Job, Good Job" and "The Virus".


title: Um Ki-joon

text: Um played the villain in his first film "Man of Vendetta", opposite Kim Myung-min. This was followed by a role as Lee Ki-cheol, a detective investigating serial murders in horror film "Killer Toon", opposite Lee Si-young.


title: Um Ki-joon

text: In 2018, he reunited with the director and writer of "Innocent Defendant" in medical drama "Heart Surgeons".


title: Um Ki-joon

text: In 2020, he appeared in TV series "" as Joo Dan-tae, the main villain and a scheming real estate genius. The series aired on SBS TV from October 26.


title: Um Ki-joon

text: In 2021, Um signed a contract with Your Entertainment. It was founded by a manager who has been with him since his debut.


title: Isabella Gomez

text: Isabella Gomez (born February 9, 1998) is a Colombian-American actress, best known for starring in "One Day at a Time". Gomez has previously had minor roles in both "Modern Family" and "Matador". She was later cast in a starring role in HBO Max's reboot of "Head of the Class", which premiered in October 2021.


title: Isabella Gomez

text: In 2020, Gomez was awarded an Impact Award by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for her "Outstanding Performance in a Television Series" on "One Day at a Time".


title: Isabella Gomez

text: Gomez was born in Medellín, Colombia, in 1998. Gomez began acting in commercials at the age of five. Her family later immigrated to Orlando, Florida, when she was ten years old. There, she received lessons from a vocal coach to help moderate her accent. In 2015, her family moved to Los Angeles to improve her ability to pursue an acting career.


title: Luis Gerardo Méndez

text: Luis Gerardo Hernández Méndez (born 12 March 1982) is a Mexican actor and producer born in Aguascalientes City. Having previously mostly appeared in smaller films and on television, Méndez shot to fame with his starring role in the 2013 comedy film "The Noble Family", which for a few months was Mexico's highest-ever grossing film. The following year, he played a role in the movie "Cantinflas", and as of 2015 he is co-producing (with friend Gary Alazraki) and co-starring (with Mariana Treviño) in "Club de Cuervos", which is Netflix's first ever original production in Spanish. More recently, his production company Cine Vaquero had a first look deal with ViacomCBS International Studios.


title: Luis Gerardo Méndez

text: Méndez was asked about his sexuality following an interview where he used a masculine form to refer to his past relationships. As of January 2016, he was in a relationship with Pablo Chemor.


title: Luis Gerardo Méndez

text: Méndez has a dog named Tuba, and they both appeared in a PETA campaign encouraging people to treat their pets as members of the family.


title: Luis Gerardo Méndez

text: For his role as Javi Noble in "The Noble Family" (2013), Méndez was nominated for the Ariel Award for Best Actor. He won a New York Latin ACE Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in "Cantinflas" (2014). In 2019, Méndez received a second Ariel Award nomination for Best Actor for his lead role in "Bayoneta".


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League). The competition was the idea of FIFA vice-president and executive committee member Ernst Thommen, Italian Football Federation president and FIFA executive committee member Ottorino Barassi, and the English Football Association general secretary and president of FIFA from 1961 to 1974, Stanley Rous. As the name suggests, the competition was set up to promote international trade fairs. Friendly games were regularly held between teams from cities holding trade fairs and it was from these games that the competition evolved. The competition was initially only open to teams from cities that hosted trade fairs and where these teams finished in their national league had no relevance. Early competitions also featured a "one city, one team" rule. After 1964, it was sometimes referred to as the Runners-up Cup, with teams now qualifying based on league position. The winning team received the Noel Beard Trophy ("Trophée Noel Beard"), named for the cutler who designed it.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The competition was organised by the Fairs Cup Committee which was led by some FIFA executives until 1971, when it was abolished and replaced by the UEFA Cup.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: While the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup is generally considered to be the predecessor to the UEFA Cup, it was not organised by UEFA. Consequently, the confederation does not consider clubs' records in the Fairs Cup to be part of their European record and regards its prestige as lesser than the UEFA Cup. There is no documentary evidence to support the claim that FIFA views the competition as a major honour, other than in articles submitted by clubs for inclusion in a series of club profiles, which was removed from the FIFA website in 2015.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The first competition was to be held over two seasons to avoid clashes with national leagues fixtures. Because it was also intended to coincide with trade fairs, it ran over into a third year. It commenced in 1955 and finished in 1958. Cities that entered teams included Barcelona, Basel, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Vienna, Cologne, Lausanne, Leipzig, London, Milan, and Zagreb. The first competition included a group stage and also featured some city representative teams instead of clubs. The eventual finalists were the city of Barcelona, dubbed Barcelona XI, and a London XI. While the latter side consisted of players from 11 clubs, the former was effectively FC Barcelona with one player from RCD Espanyol. After a 2–2 draw at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona emerged triumphant after winning the return 6–0. A second tournament took place between 1958 and 1960. This time, the group stage format was abandoned in favour of a knockout tournament. Barcelona retained the cup, beating Birmingham City 4–1 in the final.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The third tournament was held over the course of the 1960–61 season and all subsequent tournaments were completed over one season. The season also saw the holders, Barcelona, compete in both the Fairs Cup and European Cup. During the early days of European competition, these tournaments were effectively rivals and there was little or no co-ordination between the administrators running them. The European Cup quickly established itself as the premier club competition, largely because it had the advantage of featuring national league champions and was completed in a single season from the very start. The efforts of Barcelona ended in failure in both competitions. In the Fairs Cup quarter-finals, they lost 7–6 on aggregate to Hibernian, while in the European Cup, they were beaten in the final by Benfica. Roma took three games to beat Hibernian in the semi-finals before they progressed to the final. Birmingham City reached their second final in two years but once again they were defeated. After a 2–2 draw at home, they lost 2–0 to Roma in the return.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The 1961–62 season saw the rules amended to allow three teams from each country to enter. The "one city, one team" rule was temporarily abandoned and two teams represented each of Edinburgh, Milan, and Barcelona (respectively Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian, Internazionale and A.C. Milan, and FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol). This increase in teams resulted in Spanish teams continuing to dominate the competition. FC Barcelona were now regularly joined by Valencia CF and Real Zaragoza. These three clubs won the competition six times between them from 1958 to 1966. The Fairs Cup saw three all-Spanish finals in 1962, 1964, and 1966. The 1962 final saw Valencia CF beat FC Barcelona 7–3 on aggregate and in 1963 they retained the title after beating Dinamo Zagreb with a 4–1 aggregate score. They reached their third final in 1964 but lost 2–1 to Real Zaragoza in a single game at the Camp Nou.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The 1965 tournament saw a record entry of 48 teams, testimony to the growing status of the Fairs Cup. It also produced only the second final not to feature a Spanish team. Ferencvárosi TC of Hungary beat Juventus in another single-game final. The 1966 competition attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. Chelsea were pelted with rubbish at Roma and Leeds United fought a bruising encounter with Valencia CF which ended with three dismissals. Leeds also had Johnny Giles sent off in the semi-final against Real Zaragoza. The final saw FC Barcelona beat Real Zaragoza 4–3 on aggregate.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The 1967 tournament saw the emergence of English clubs with Leeds United reaching the final. Although they lost to Dinamo Zagreb, they returned the following season and defeated Ferencvárosi TC to become the first English club to win the competition. The subsequent victories of Newcastle United and Arsenal and a second win for Leeds United saw English clubs winning the last four Fairs Cup tournaments. The last final saw Leeds United declared winners on away goals after drawing with Juventus 3–3 on aggregate.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: In the 1971–72 season the competition was abolished and replaced by the UEFA Cup after UEFA revised the entry regulations and concluded that the "one city one team" rule related with the Fairs Cup must be abolished, which had had a particularly bad effect on English entrants for 1969–70, when Liverpool (2nd), Arsenal (4th), Southampton (7th), and Newcastle United (9th-also holders) got the places, at the expense of Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Tottenham Hotspur (6th), and West Ham United (8th). The Football League upheld the geographic rule until 1975, when UEFA pressured the League to drop it or face sanctions. Everton that year, having come 4th, would have been excluded from the competition due to Liverpool's 2nd-place finish.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: After the 1970-71 tournament, the last of the Fairs Cup, the competition was abolished and replaced with the UEFA Cup.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The Fairs Cup trophy had not been won by any club permanently, so a play-off match was organised to decide who would gain permanent possession of the original competition trophy. Before the match, then FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous presented silver insignia to the members of the 1958 title-winning side, CF Barcelona.


title: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

text: The one-off match was played on 22 September 1971, between the first ever Fairs Cup winners, Barcelona, and the last winners, Leeds United. Barcelona won this play-off 2–1.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The 2000 Royal Rumble was the 13th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and 100th PPV overall produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 23, 2000, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Six matches were contested on the event's card.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2000 event, the winner received a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 2000. The main event was the 2000 Royal Rumble match, which The Rock won by last eliminating Big Show. The undercard included a street fight match between Triple H and Cactus Jack for the WWF Championship which Triple H won to retain the title, a Triple Threat match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg)


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: This Royal Rumble was the first WWF pay-per-view event to air on terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, as Channel 4 had acquired the rights to broadcast World Wrestling Federation programming that year. The Royal Rumble aired live, with commercial breaks—a format that was changed for later PPVs on Channel 4. The event has been named as one of "the 15 best pay-per-views ever" by WWE, with the Street Fight match being critically acclaimed among various reviewers.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2000, the winner earned a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 2000. The 2000 event was the 13th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 23, 2000, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The card consisted of six matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, with storylines produced on their weekly television shows, "Raw" and "SmackDown!".


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The main feud going into the event was between Triple H and Mick Foley. At Armageddon the previous month, Stephanie McMahon turned on her father Vince during his match with Triple H, with whom he had been feuding and who (in storyline) had married Stephanie against her will in a drive-through wedding. Vince and his son, Shane McMahon, left the company the next night out of anger. This left Stephanie, who began referring to herself as Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, in control and she and her husband formed the McMahon-Helmsley Era with Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and X-Pac, where they set out to make life miserable for all of their enemies in the WWF.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Two of the biggest targets of the group were The Rock 'N' Sock Connection, the team of Mankind (Foley) and The Rock. Mankind was one of the most vocal of the objectors to what Triple H and Stephanie were doing, and in the December 27, 1999 episode of "Raw is War", Triple H decided that the company was “not big enough” for the three of them and forced Mankind and Rock to face each other in a Pink Slip on a Pole match later that evening. Rock won the match, which meant that Mankind was fired from the company. Triple H then began featuring a Mankind impersonator (Dennis Knight) in an attempt to mock him; Foley would eventually confront and beat up the impostor on "SmackDown!" on January 6, 2000.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: On the January 10 episode of "Raw is War", The Rock brought every superstar to the ring, demanding that Foley be reinstated or the entire roster would walk out. Triple H, who had defeated The Big Show to regain the WWF Championship the week before, acquiesced and reinstated Foley, who promptly requested a Street Fight for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble. Foley and Triple H fought in a four-on-four tag team match later that night. Triple H pinned Foley after using the ring bell, and delivering two Pedigrees. After the match, Foley took off his mask and attacked Triple H.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: On the January 13 episode of "SmackDown!", Triple H called out Foley again only to have the Mankind impersonator come out instead. When Foley did come out moments later, he revealed to Triple H that he had been thinking about what Mankind was and declared that “Mankind” was not ready to face him for the title at the Royal Rumble. Instead, he said the fans deserved a substitute; he then took off his mask and shirt and tie to reveal a black “Wanted Dead” shirt underneath and revealed to Triple H that, instead of taking on Mankind, he would be facing instead the much more brutal and violent Cactus Jack.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Buildup towards the Royal Rumble match began on January 10, when The Rock announced his participation in the match and a week later guaranteed victory. The Big Show, who had lost the WWF Championship the week before, also declared his intention to win the match.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Bad blood had begun to spread between the two several days earlier on "SmackDown!" when the two were involved in a tag team match where Big Show abandoned The Rock after claiming he did not think much of him. Later that night, Rock and Big Show faced the New Age Outlaws. At the end, Big Show attacked The Rock, who then hit Big Show with a steel chair, and a People's Elbow. On the January 20 episode of "SmackDown!", a confrontation between The Big Show and The Rock was interrupted by Tori, who declared Kane the favorite, leading to a Triple Threat Over-the-Top-Rope Lumberjack match. In the match, the Big Show eliminated The Rock with a chokeslam, and Kane eliminated The Big Show with a back body drop to win, sparking a fight involving all the competitors and lumberjacks.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Another feud going into the event was between Chris Jericho, Chyna and Hardcore Holly over the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Chyna and Jericho had been feuding over the Intercontinental Championship for some time. After Chyna defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the title at No Mercy in October 1999, Jericho began challenging her for it. After coming up short at Survivor Series, Jericho dethroned Chyna at Armageddon. Chyna then began randomly assisting Jericho in his title defenses, claiming that she wanted to ensure he remained champion so she could take the title back from him.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: On the December 30 edition of "SmackDown!" Chyna and Jericho wrestled a match that ended in a double pin. Instead of declaring the match a draw and keeping the belt with Jericho, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley declared Jericho and Chyna to be co-Intercontinental Champions. This meant that both Chyna and Jericho would defend the belt, albeit separately, and if one of them lost a title defense both of them lost the title.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Since neither Chyna nor Jericho wanted to be the one to lose the title, both wrestlers began interfering in each other’s matches to make sure they held onto the Intercontinental Championship until a match to settle the dispute could be signed. This ended up drawing Hardcore Holly into the mix, as he challenged both wrestlers for the title only to come up short each time. Holly eventually challenged the co-champions to a match at the Royal Rumble, and a triple threat title match was signed.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The pay-per-view was preceded by an episode of Sunday Night Heat, which aired live on USA Network and included backstage interviews from Madison Square Garden as well as several participants drawing their entry numbers for the Royal Rumble match. An upset Kaientai and The Mean Street Posse were shown backstage not being able to draw numbers because they were denied entry into the Rumble match. The Big Show also did a live in-ring promo talking about his entry in the Rumble match.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The first match of the event was between Kurt Angle and an unannounced opponent. Before the match, Angle spoke to the audience, putting down the New York Knicks, and his opponent. Tazz then made his WWF debut as Angle's opponent. Tazz gained the early advantage, performing a back body drop, sending Angle outside the ring. Angle gained the advantage after performing a vertical suplex outside the ring. After performing a belly to belly suplex, Angle climbed the turnbuckles, but Tazz hit the ropes. Angle fell onto the top turnbuckle, and Tazz performed a belly to belly suplex off the turnbuckles. Angle regained the advantage after a small package, and a bridging German suplex. Tazz then countered an Olympic slam into a German suplex. After a T-Bone suplex and a Head and arm suplex, Tazz applied the Tazzmission. Angle passed out and Tazz won the match, ending Angle's undefeated streak.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The second match was the first-ever Tag Team Tables match, between the Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley). Before the match, the Dudley Boyz set up their heel status and insulted the fans (which ironically, the Dudley Boyz are both from New York City), expressing their dislike for the booing of John Rocker, the Atlanta Braves closer, which had defeated the hometown New York Mets 4-2 in the National League Championship Series two months earlier and trashed New York City and its people in what was a heated second-round playoff series. This Tables match was different in that instead of one person having to go through a table to win the match, both members from the same team had to go through a table. The Hardy Boyz gained the advantage with a double superplex to Bubba Ray, and the use of a ladder. After using the chair, Matt placed Bubba Ray on a table outside the ring. Matt then performed a diving leg drop as Jeff performed a diving splash (known as the Event Omega) on Bubba Ray through the table. The Hardy Boyz then placed D-Von on a table outside the ring. Matt attempted a diving leg drop through the table, but D-Von avoided it. Jeff then attempted a suicide senton, but missed, sending himself into a table. Bubba Ray performed a superbomb through a table on Matt. The Dudley Boyz then beat down the Hardy Boyz, and stacked tables in the entrance way under a balcony in the seating area. Bubba Ray dragged Jeff to the balcony, but Jeff performed a low blow, and used a chair on Bubba Ray. Matt moved as Bubba Ray fell through the tables. Matt then placed D-Von onto a table, and Jeff sent him through it with a Swanton Bomb from the balcony for the Hardy Boyz to win the match, which ultimately turned out to be a violent and brutal affair- it featured no less than twelve total steel chair shots to the head, including four to Bubba Ray Dudley.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Next was the Miss Rumble 2000 swimsuit contest. The contestants were Ivory, Terri, Jacqueline, Barbara Bush, Luna Vachon, and The Kat, while the judges consisted of comedian Andy Richter and WWF alumni Sgt. Slaughter, Tony Garea, Johnny Valiant, Freddie Blassie, and The Fabulous Moolah. The contestants showed their swimsuits, though Luna refused to take off her coat. As the judges were deciding, Mae Young appeared, and announced her participation in the contest. After showing her swimsuit, she flashed her breasts. The video was censored before Mark Henry covered her up. The judges then unanimously decided Young as the winner, unfortunately Young's actions would end up costing the WWF their deal with Channel 4 in the UK.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The third match was a Triple Threat match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship between Hardcore Holly, and co-champions Chris Jericho and Chyna. Before the match, Jericho declared his plans for a celebration after winning the match. The match went back and forth before Holly sent Chyna outside the ring. Jericho then fought with Holly, applying the Walls of Jericho. Chyna returned to the ring, and attacked Jericho. Jericho performed a springboard splash to Holly outside the ring. Back in the ring, Chyna performed a handspring back elbow, and a DDT to Jericho. Chyna attempted a pin, but Holly returned and threw her out of the ring. All three were outside the ring, and Holly attempted to use a chair, but Chyna performed a dropkick to the chair into Holly's face. In the ring, Chyna performed a diving splash onto Holly, and Jericho performed a diving splash onto both of them. Chyna countered a belly to back suplex, and performed a low blow to Jericho. Chyna then performed a Pedigree to Holly. Jericho performed a diving crossbody to Chyna, who was on Holly's shoulders. Chyna performed a superplex to Holly, hit him with a chair, and applied the Walls of Jericho. Jericho then performed a one-handed bulldog, and a Lionsault to Chyna, to pin her for the victory. Jericho gained sole possession of the title as a result.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The fourth match was between the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) and The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Before the match, the New Age Outlaws delivered their signature speech to the audience. The Acolytes gained the early advantage after a fallaway slam from Bradshaw to Gunn. After avoiding an attack in the corner, Bradshaw performed the Clothesline from Hell on Gunn. Faarooq then executed a spinebuster on Dogg. As Faarooq attempted a pin, Gunn pulled the referee outside the ring, and Bradshaw knocked down both Gunn and the referee. After The Acolytes performed an aided powerbomb on Dogg, X-Pac came down to interfere, and performed a spinning heel kick on Bradshaw. Gunn then pinned Bradshaw after a Fameasser to retain the title.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The fifth match was between Triple H and Cactus Jack in a violent and brutal Street Fight for the WWF Championship. Jack gained the early advantage after repeated punches, and they fought outside the ring, where Triple H hit Jack with the ring bell. Triple H then hit Jack with a chair, but Jack got up, and performed a leg drop with the chair. The fight continued into the audience, with Jack performing a suplex onto pallets, and using a trash can. Triple H performed a belly to back suplex, but Jack came back with a running knee lift into the steel steps. Jack attempted to use a barbed wire two-by-four, but Triple H performed a low blow, and used the weapon on Jack. Jack came back, hit Triple H's groin with the weapon, and performed a double arm DDT. Jack attacked Triple H's head repeatedly with the weapon. Jack attempted a back to belly piledriver through the announce table, but Triple H countered with a back body drop. Jack countered a Pedigree attempt and performed a bulldog onto the two-by-four. Triple H performed a hip toss into the steps, and targeted Jack's knees, using the two-by-four. Triple H then handcuffed Jack but as he tried to use the steel steps, Jack performed a drop toe hold, sending Triple H's head into the steps. Triple H came back by using the chair. The Rock came out, and struck Triple H with a chair, as a police officer removed Jack's handcuffs. Jack performed a pulling Texas piledriver on the announce table, and spilled a bag of thumbtacks in the ring. Triple H came back with a back body drop onto the thumbtacks, and a Pedigree for a near-fall. Frustrated, Triple H finally hit Jack with a brutal second Pedigree onto the thumbtacks to win, and retain his title. After the match, Triple H was lifted onto a stretcher but Jack caught up to the emergency staff as they left the ringside area, pushed Triple H on the stretcher back to the ring, and hit Triple H with the two-by-four again.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The main event was the Royal Rumble match. During the match, non-participants Kaientai (Funaki and Taka Michinoku) repeatedly and randomly entered the ring, and attacked the participants. They were thrown out soon after each time. Rikishi, the fifth entrant, dominated upon entering, and eliminated all except Grand Master Sexay. Scotty 2 Hotty entered next, and the three Too Cool members danced in the ring until Rikishi eliminated the other two, and continued to dance. Rikishi eliminated the first to eighth entrants. The Big Boss Man, the ninth entrant, refused to enter the ring until Test, the following entrant, threw him in. During Kaientai's second interference, Taka was injured when he was thrown out of the ring, and sent to the hospital. Funaki continued to interfere by himself. It took six men to eliminate Rikishi. After Faarooq, the eighteenth entrant, entered, non-participants Mean Street Posse came out, and attacked Faarooq, helping The Big Boss Man eliminate him. Bradshaw, entering twenty-seventh, was attacked by the Mean Street Posse, and eliminated soon after. Faarooq came out and, with Bradshaw, fought with the Mean Street Posse backstage.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The final four participants in the Royal Rumble match were The Rock, The Big Show, Kane, and X-Pac. The New Age Outlaws pulled Kane out of the ring, and attacked him. The Rock eliminated X-Pac, but the referees were preoccupied with Kane and did not see this. X-Pac re-entered the match. Kane hit an enzuigiri, and a scoop slam on The Big Show, but X-Pac then eliminated Kane with a spinning heel kick. X-Pac hit The Big Show with a Bronco buster, but The Big Show eliminated him with a gorilla press drop, leaving The Rock and The Big Show. The Rock performed a spinebuster and a People's Elbow, but The Big show came back with a chokeslam. The Big Show had The Rock on his shoulder, and attempted to throw him over the top rope, but The Rock hung onto the rope, and pulled The Big Show over. The Rock won the match.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: In 2011, Jack Bramma of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 8.0 [Very Good], writing, "Easy, easy thumbs up. Triple H-Cactus Jack is a hardcore match with some psychology and tells an awesome story. One of the best brawls you'll ever see. The tables match is a frenzied melee and one of my favorite 10 minute matches ever. Taz's debut and the raucous ovation from the crowd and the rest is good enough to keep up. But please for the love of God, don't watch the Miss Rumble pageant."


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: Triple H and Cactus Jack's feud continued into No Way Out, the following pay-per-view. On the January 31 episode of "Raw is War", Jack fought Triple H in a match where Mick Foley beat Triple H down. The following week, Triple H, in an attempt to end their feud, made a match between the two for the WWF Championship at No Way Out, but Foley would have to retire if he lost. Jack then decided that the match would be a Hell in a Cell match.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The feud between Big Show and The Rock, which was in its infancy at the time, kicked into high gear after the finish to the Royal Rumble match. While the television cameras never actually showed this to the viewing audience, the sequence where Rock used Big Show’s momentum to eliminate the big man and pull himself back into the ring ended with Rock accidentally touching the floor with both feet before Big Show’s feet hit. The unintentional botched move was worked into the feud, where Big Show began claiming Rock had touched first and that he had indisputable video evidence of his victory (which consisted of a shot from a different camera filming the side of the ring where the elimination took place, and which clearly proved Big Show’s statement). Once the evidence was shown to Triple H, Big Show received a match with Rock at No Way Out for the WrestleMania championship shot.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The feud between Chris Jericho, Chyna and Hardcore Holly ended when Holly failed to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Jericho, and Chyna aligned herself with Jericho, who moved on to feud with Kurt Angle. Angle won the WWF European Championship on the February 10 episode of "SmackDown!", and on the February 14 episode of "Raw is War", Angle challenged Jericho to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at No Way Out.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: The feud between the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz continued, with Edge and Christian joining the feud. While initially showing respect, the Dudley Boyz attacked the Hardy Boyz during their match on the January 24 episode of "Raw is War". On the January 27 episode of "SmackDown!", Edge and Christian supported the Hardy Boyz and fought the Dudley Boyz, who put Edge and Christian through a table. On the January 31 episode of "Raw is War", the Hardy Boyz put the Dudley Boyz through tables, and, later, the Dudley Boyz put the Hardy Boyz through three stacked tables. On the February 14 episode of "Raw is War", D-Von Dudley defeated Edge and Jeff Hardy to earn a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship at No Way Out, starting their feud with the champions the New Age Outlaws. Also during the match, the Hardy Boyz had a confrontation with Edge and Christian, starting their feud. They would also have a match at No Way Out.


title: Royal Rumble (2000)

text: X-Pac was originally thrown out by The Rock. However, the referees were distracted by the Outlaws beating up Kane, so he got back in the ring, then after the Outlaws left and Kane and the referees got back, Big Show eliminated X-Pac.


title: Maid café

text: Maid cafés were traditionally associated with Akihabara (秋葉原), a district in Tokyo famous for its extensive electronics and anime/manga related stores. Commonly a place for otaku to visit, Akihabara contains several themed cafes and within those, maid cafes specifically. However, with the increasing media attention on these cafes, they have developed into tourist attractions as well and less of an otaku hotspot. Because of this, peak wait times can be about two hours. These establishments also tap into a new trend in Japan that deals with alternate forms of intimacy. Historically, following Japan’s economic crash during the 1990s, the ideas surrounding intimacy changed to become more individualistic. Because of this, some people who cannot form organic relationships with others turn to other forms of intimacy in order to fulfill the missing intimacy in their lives. Therefore, maid cafes provide a place for people to do so, especially for those who are interested in manga and anime because these cafes tend to mimic these works. In addition, though maid cafes can have certain connotations, these establishments do not provide any sexual services.


title: Maid café

text: Though maid cafes do not provide sexual services, the gender relations contribute to the popularity and enjoyable experience for patrons. Scholars such as Patrick Galbraith and Anne Allison conclude that maid cafes provide a very different experience compared to things such as hostess clubs. These places focus more on the workplace and satisfying men due to their hard work, whereas maid cafes operate in quite different ways. For example, visiting maid cafes often is not seen as anything shameful, whereas chronically visiting a hostess bar is viewed quite differently in Japan. In fact, many maid cafes rely on regular customers to provide stable business. Instead, maid cafes focus on providing an escape from the home and work spheres. Furthermore, according to anthropologists such as Anne Allison, a maid cafe lacks the same sexual and caretaker undertones that hostess bars do. Maids encapsulate a more pure form that provides an alternate world to patrons. Customers tend to not stray from appropriate topics as an attempt to preserve this space created through role play with the maid.


title: Maid café

text: These maids are almost always younger women, ranging from around 18 years old to their mid twenties. These women make roughly around the Japanese minimum wage and tend to live with their families. The maids themselves tend to enjoy anime and manga and other aspects of otaku culture, allowing them to create further connections with their patrons. However, these jobs tend to not be careers for these women, rather being stopgaps before acquiring permanent employment elsewhere. Contrary to popular belief, the maids themselves tend to enjoy their work due to the ability to express themselves and explore the cafe's alternate character universe alongside the patrons. However, issues still remain regarding patron conduct outside the workplace. Although strict rules are established to prevent disorderly conduct at these cafes, some customers violate these rules and attempt to make contact outside the workplace, causing maids to experience discomfort. Preserving a particular image/identity is also vital to upholding the fantasy component of these establishments. In addition to the strict rules for patrons, the maids adopt different names for work and are not allowed to smoke or drink. Their personal relationships with men are also affected, as they cannot spend time with other Akihabara men. By doing so, this allows the maids to uphold a specific identity to their patrons and potential customers. When their careers as maids come to a close, whether due to age or by choice, some can opt to work for the corporate agencies behind these cafes. For example, one prominent maid from @home cafe opted to work on the advertising side of the industry after entering the dating scene and therefore altering her identity as a maid.


title: Maid café

text: The maid costume varies from café to café but most are based upon the costume of French maids, often composed of a dress, a petticoat, a pinafore, a matching hair accessory (such as a frill or a bow), and stockings. Often, employees will also cosplay as anime characters. Sometimes, employees wear animal ears with their outfits to add more appeal. Most commonly, manga style costumes are worn.


title: Maid café

text: Waitresses in maid cafés are often chosen on the basis of their appearance; most are young, attractive and innocent-looking women. Applicants are sometimes tested to determine whether they can sufficiently portray a given character that they will be cosplaying. In order to maintain the cosplay fantasy, some employees may be contractually obligated to not reveal personal information to patrons, to slip out of character or to allow patrons to see them out of costume.


title: Maid café

text: These maids are traditionally female, with men working in operational tasks such as cooking. However, some maid cafés also have cross-dressing males as maids. Because they're men dressed up as maids instead of women, crossdressing maid cafés have attracted a lot of attention and become very popular.


title: Maid café

text: Maid cafés were originally designed primarily to cater to the fantasies of male otaku – fans of anime, manga and video games. They have been analogized as the otaku's equivalent of hostess bars. The image of the maid is one that has been popularized and fetishized in many manga and anime series, as well as in gal games. Important to the otaku attraction to maid cafés is the Japanese concept of "moe". People who have moe fetishes (especially a specific subcategory known as maid moe) are therefore attracted to an establishment in which they can interact with real-life manifestations (both physically and in demeanor) of the fictional maid characters that they have fetishized. Cafés may also employ a "tsundere" theme - another character trope which is a subset of the moe phenomenon and refers to a character who is initially cold or hostile before revealing feelings of warmth or affection.


title: Maid café

text: Around the early 2000s, maid cafés became more common and popular in Japan as otaku culture became increasingly mainstream. As a result, there has been a diversification of themes and services at the restaurants but they are ultimately still predominantly colored by anime and video games. Today, the maid café phenomenon attracts more than just male otaku, but also couples, tourists, and women.


title: Maid café

text: Most maid cafés offer menus similar to those of more typical cafés. Customers can order coffee, other beverages, and a wide variety of entrées and desserts. However, in maid cafés, waitresses will often decorate a customer's order with cute designs at his or her table. Syrup can be used to decorate desserts and , a popular entrée combining omelettes and rice, is typically decorated using ketchup. This service adds to the image of the waitress as an innocent but pampering maid. These prices are typically raised in order to compensate for the service provided by these maids.


title: Maid café

text: In the making of these decorative desserts and entrées, maids will often also begin to say chants, making both the experience and food that their customers are about to receive seem more .


title: Maid café

text: There are many rituals and additional services offered at many maid cafés. Maids greet customers with and offer them wipe towels and menus. Maids will also kneel by the table to stir cream and sugar into a customer's coffee, and some cafés even offer spoon-feeding services to customers. Increasingly, maid cafés offer grooming services, such as ear cleanings and leg, arm, and back massages (provided the customer remains fully clothed), for an additional fee. Customers can also sometimes play rock-paper-scissors, card games, board games and video games with maids as well as prepare arts and crafts and sing karaoke. Despite these services, maids maintain some distance between them and their customers by doing things such as sitting across from them and never alongside them.


title: Maid café

text: Maid cafes tend to have more of a fantasy-like bar style where counters and stages are smoothed over. There, entertainment will be seen and pictures can be taken in a more creative way.


title: Maid café

text: Customers are also expected to follow basic rules when they are at a maid café. One Tokyo maid café recently published a list of ten rules that customers should follow in a maid café. For example, customers should not touch a maid's body, ask for a maid's personal contact information, or otherwise invade her personal privacy (by stalking). One common rule in a maid café is that photographs of maids or the café interior are forbidden. However, customers may have the option of paying an extra fee to have their photograph taken with a maid, possibly hand-decorated by the maid. Some maid cafes implement an hourly charge. Patrons are further reminded of these rules when entering, as posters are often on the wall listing rules for that particular establishment.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome (now known as cyanotic heart disease) in the 1940s. He was the assistant to surgeon Alfred Blalock in Blalock's experimental animal laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and later at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Thomas was unique in that he did not have any professional education or experience in a research laboratory; however, he served as supervisor of the surgical laboratories at Johns Hopkins for 35 years. In 1976, Hopkins awarded him an honorary doctorate and named him an instructor of surgery for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Without any education past high school, Thomas rose above poverty and racism to become a cardiac surgery pioneer and a teacher of operative techniques to many of the country's most prominent surgeons.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: A PBS documentary, "Partners of the Heart", was broadcast in 2003 on PBS's "American Experience". In the 2004 HBO movie "Something the Lord Made", based on Katie McCabe's National Magazine Award–winning "Washingtonian" article of the same title, Vivien Thomas was portrayed by Mos Def.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas was born in small-town Louisiana during the Jim Crow era, but sources disagree in which small town. Most sources say he was born to Willard Maceo Thomas and the former Mary Alice Eaton in New Iberia, Louisiana in 1910. He listed New Iberia as his birthplace on his World War II draft card, and when he died in 1985, his obituary in "The Baltimore Sun" also listed New Iberia. But in his autobiography, published shortly after his death, Thomas writes that he was born in Lake Providence, Louisiana. New Iberia was his mother's hometown, Lake Providence his father's. Either way, the family did not stay in Louisiana for long, moving to Nashville, Tennessee when Thomas was about two years old.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas attended Pearl High School in Nashville in the 1920s, and graduated in 1929. Thomas' father was a carpenter, and took pleasure in passing down his expertise to his sons. Thomas worked with his father and brothers every day after school and on Saturdays, doing jobs such as measuring, sawing, and nailing. This experience proved beneficial to Thomas, as he was able to secure a carpentry job at Fisk University repairing facility damages after graduating from high school. Thomas had hoped to attend college and become a doctor, but the Great Depression derailed his plans. Thomas intended to work hard, save money, and gain a higher education as soon as he could afford it. Determined to broaden his skill set, in 1930 he reached out to childhood friend Charles Manlove (who was working at Vanderbilt University at the time) to ask if there were any jobs available.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In the wake of the stock market crash in October 1929, Thomas put his educational plans on hold and, through a friend, in February 1930 secured a job as surgical research assistant with Dr. Alfred Blalock at Vanderbilt University. On his first day of work, Thomas assisted Blalock with a surgical experiment on a dog. At the end of Thomas's first day, Blalock told Thomas they would do another experiment the next morning. Blalock told Thomas to "come in and put the animal to sleep and get it set up." Within a few weeks, Thomas was starting surgery on his own. Thomas was classified and paid as a janitor, despite the fact that by the mid-1930s, he was doing the work of a postdoctoral researcher in the lab.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas struggled with finances despite saving most of what he earned. The salaries that he received did not provide enough comfort to quit his laboratory research job and go back to school. Nashville's banks failed nine months after Thomas started his job with Blalock, and his savings were wiped out. He abandoned his plans for college and medical school, relieved to have even a low-paying job as the Great Depression deepened. Vivien Thomas continued his work with Dr. Blalock, and saving his earnings, so that he could provide for his daughters and wife the best he could.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas and Blalock did groundbreaking research into the causes of hemorrhagic and traumatic shock. This work later evolved into research on crush syndrome and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers on the battlefields of World War II. In hundreds of experiments, the two disproved traditional theories which held that shock was caused by toxins in the blood. Blalock, a highly original scientific thinker and something of an iconoclast, had theorized that shock resulted from fluid loss outside the vascular bed and that the condition could be effectively treated by fluid replacement. Assisted by Thomas, he was able to provide incontrovertible proof of this theory, and in so doing, he gained wide recognition in the medical community by the mid-1930s. At this same time, Blalock and Thomas began experimental work in vascular and cardiac surgery, defying medical taboos against operating upon the heart. It was this work that laid the foundation for the revolutionary life saving surgery they were to perform at Johns Hopkins a decade later. Vivien Thomas spent 11 years at Vanderbilt with Blalock before moving to Johns Hopkins.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: By 1940, the work Blalock had done with Thomas placed Blalock at the forefront of American surgery, and when he was offered the position of Chief of Surgery at his alma mater Johns Hopkins in 1941, he requested that Thomas accompany him. Thomas arrived in Baltimore with his family in June of that year, confronting a severe housing shortage and a level of racism worse than they had endured in Nashville. Hopkins, like the rest of Baltimore, was rigidly segregated, and the only Black employees at the institution were janitors. When Thomas walked the halls in his white lab coat, many heads turned. He began changing into his city clothes when he walked from the laboratory to Blalock's office because he received so much attention. During this time, he lived in the 1200 block of Caroline Street in the community now known as Oliver, Baltimore.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In 1943, while pursuing his shock research, Blalock was approached by pediatric cardiologist Helen Taussig, who was seeking a surgical solution to a complex and fatal four-part heart anomaly called tetralogy of Fallot (also known as blue baby syndrome, although other cardiac anomalies produce blueness, or cyanosis). In infants born with this defect, blood is shunted past the lungs, thus creating oxygen deprivation and a blue pallor. Having treated many such patients in her work in Hopkins's Harriet Lane Home, Taussig was desperate to find a surgical cure. According to the accounts in Thomas' 1985 autobiography and in a 1967 interview with medical historian Peter Olch, Taussig suggested only that it might be possible to "reconnect the pipes" in some way to increase the level of blood flow to the lungs, but did not suggest how this could be accomplished. Blalock and Thomas realized immediately that the answer lay in a procedure they had perfected for a different purpose in their Vanderbilt work, involving the anastomosis (joining) of the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery, which had the effect of increasing blood flow to the lungs. Thomas was charged with the task of first creating a blue baby-like condition in a dog, and then correcting the condition by means of the pulmonary-to-subclavian anastomosis. Among the dogs on whom Thomas operated was one named Anna, who became the first long-term survivor of the operation and the only animal to have her portrait hung on the walls of Johns Hopkins. In nearly two years of laboratory work involving 200 dogs, Thomas was able to replicate two of the four cardiac anomalies involved in tetralogy of Fallot. He did demonstrate that the corrective procedure was not lethal, thus persuading Blalock that the operation could be safely attempted on a human patient. Blalock was impressed with Thomas' work; when he inspected the procedure performed on Anna, he reportedly said, "This looks like something the Lord made." Even though Thomas knew he was not allowed to operate on patients at that time, he still followed Blalock's rules and assisted him during surgery.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: On November 29, 1944, the procedure was first tried on an eighteen-month-old infant named Eileen Saxon. The blue baby syndrome had made her lips and fingers turn blue, with the rest of her skin having a very faint blue tinge. She could only take a few steps before beginning to breathe heavily. Because no instruments for cardiac surgery then existed, Thomas adapted the needles and clamps for the procedure from those in use in the animal lab. During the surgery itself, at Blalock's request, Thomas stood on a step stool at Blalock's shoulder and coached him step by step through the procedure. Thomas performed the operation hundreds of times on a dog, whereas Blalock did so only once as Thomas' assistant. The surgery was not completely successful, though it did prolong the infant's life for several months. Blalock and his team operated again on an 11-year-old girl, this time with complete success, and the patient was able to leave the hospital three weeks after the surgery. Next, they operated upon a six-year-old boy, who dramatically regained his color at the end of the surgery. The three cases formed the basis for the article that was published in the May 1945 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association", giving credit to Blalock and Taussig for the procedure. Thomas received no mention.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: News of this groundbreaking story was circulated around the world by the Associated Press. Newsreels touted the event, greatly enhancing the status of Johns Hopkins and solidifying the reputation of Blalock, who had been regarded as a maverick up until that point by some in the Hopkins old guard. Thomas' contribution remained unacknowledged, both by Blalock and by Hopkins. Within a year, the operation known as the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt had been performed on more than 200 patients at Hopkins, with parents bringing their suffering children from thousands of miles away.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas' surgical techniques included one he developed in 1946 for improving circulation in patients whose great vessels (the aorta and the pulmonary artery) were transposed. A complex operation called an atrial septectomy, the procedure was executed so flawlessly by Thomas that Blalock, upon examining the nearly undetectable suture line, was prompted to remark, "Vivien, this looks like something the Lord made." To the host of young surgeons Thomas trained during the 1940s, he became a figure of legend, the model of a dexterous and efficient cutting surgeon. "Even if you'd never seen surgery before, you could do it because Vivien made it look so simple," the renowned surgeon Denton Cooley told "Washingtonian" magazine in 1989. "There wasn't a false move, not a wasted motion, when he operated." Surgeons like Cooley, along with Alex Haller, Frank Spencer, Rowena Spencer, and others credited Thomas with teaching them the surgical technique that placed them at the forefront of medicine in the United States. Despite the deep respect Thomas was accorded by these surgeons and by the many Black lab assistants he trained at Hopkins, he was not well paid. He sometimes resorted to working as a bartender, often at Blalock's parties. This led to the peculiar circumstance of his serving drinks to people he had been teaching earlier in the day. Eventually, after negotiations on his behalf by Blalock, he became the highest paid assistant at Johns Hopkins by 1946, and by far the highest paid African-American on the institution's rolls. Although Thomas never wrote or spoke publicly about his ongoing desire to return to college and obtain a medical degree, his widow, the late Clara Flanders Thomas, revealed in a 1987 interview with "Washingtonian" writer Katie McCabe that her husband had clung to the possibility of further education throughout the blue baby period, and had only abandoned the idea with great reluctance. Mrs. Thomas stated that in 1947, Thomas had investigated the possibility of enrolling in college and pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor, but had been deterred by the inflexibility of Morgan State University, which refused to grant him credit for life experience and insisted that he fulfill the standard freshman requirements. Realizing that he would be 50 years old by the time he completed college and medical school, Thomas decided to give up the idea of further education.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Vivien Thomas felt nervous when he first met Dr. Alfred Blalock because his friend, Charles Manlove, made it apparent that many people had a hard time working with him. However, Thomas felt as if Dr. Blalock was pleasant, relaxed, and informal during his interview, which provided excitement and comfort. Thomas quickly learned that Blalock moved quickly and expected his technicians to also be just as efficient. As Blalock performed experiments daily, Thomas observed thoroughly so that he would be able to recreate the steps when Blalock had other responsibilities to attend to. On the contrary, there were times where Blalock would lose his temper and use obscene profanity; this often bothered Thomas, and almost threatened their stable working relationship.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: During Thomas' time working at Vanderbilt in the lab, he struggled with his salary because he needed to be able to provide for himself, but he also was saving up to go back to school. After many encounters with Blalock about a pay raise and no results, Thomas was going to return to his old job as a carpenter. However, Blalock saw Thomas as a valuable asset and did everything he could to keep Thomas from leaving. Blalock's approach to the issue of Thomas's race was complicated and contradictory throughout their 34-year partnership. Thomas, a hard-working laboratory technician, was only paid a janitorial salary. However, white men performing an equivalent of Thomas' job were paid an appreciable dollar more per hour. On the one hand, he defended his choice of Thomas to his superiors at Vanderbilt and to Hopkins colleagues, and he insisted that Thomas accompany him in the operating room during the first series of tetralogy operations. On the other hand, there were limits to his tolerance, especially when it came to issues of pay, academic acknowledgment, and his social interaction outside of work. Tension with Blalock continued to build when he failed to recognize the contributions that Thomas had made in the world-famous blue baby procedure, which led to a rift in their relationship. Thomas was absent in official articles about the procedure, as well as in team pictures that included all of the doctors involved in the procedure.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: After Blalock's death from cancer in 1964 at the age of 65, Thomas stayed at Hopkins for 15 more years. In his role as director of Surgical Research Laboratories, he mentored a number of African-American lab assistants as well as Hopkins' first Black cardiac resident, Levi Watkins, Jr., whom Thomas assisted with his groundbreaking work in the use of the automatic implantable defibrillator.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas' nephew, Koco Eaton, graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, trained by many of the physicians his uncle had trained. Eaton trained in orthopedics and is now the team doctor for the Tampa Bay Rays.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In 1968, the surgeons Thomas trained — who had then become chiefs of surgical departments throughout America — commissioned the painting of his portrait (by Bob Gee, oil on canvas, 1969, The Johns Hopkins Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives) and arranged to have it hung next to Blalock's in the lobby of the Alfred Blalock Clinical Sciences Building.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In 1976, Johns Hopkins University presented Thomas with an honorary doctorate. Due to certain restrictions, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws, rather than a medical doctorate, but it did allow the staff and students of Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to call him doctor. After having worked there for 37 years, Thomas was also finally appointed to the faculty of the School of Medicine as Instructor of Surgery. Due to his lack of an official medical degree, he was never allowed to operate on a living patient.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In July 2005, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine began the practice of splitting incoming first-year students into four colleges, each named for famous Hopkins faculty members who had major impacts on the history of medicine. Thomas was chosen as one of the four, along with Helen Taussig, Florence Sabin, and Daniel Nathans.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In the summer of 1933, Thomas met Clara Beatrice Flanders. Thomas was so fond of Flanders that he married her that same year on December 22, and the newly wed couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The couple had two daughters. Olga Fay, the oldest, was born in 1934, and Theodosia Patricia was born 4 years later in 1938.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: In 1971, Thomas was recognized for all his hard work "behind the scenes" with a ceremony, and the presentation of his portrait to the medical institution. Thomas spoke humbly to the full capacity auditorium. He stated that he lived in humble satisfaction that he was able to help solve some of the world's numerous health problems. He was overjoyed that he was finally getting recognition for his significant role in the research leading to developmental skills that many surgeons now practice.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: On July 1, 1976, Thomas was appointed to the faculty as an Instructor of Surgery; Thomas served as the Instructor of Surgery for 3 years and retired in 1979. Following his retirement, Thomas began work on an autobiography. He died of pancreatic cancer on November 26, 1985, and the book was published just days later.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Having learned about Thomas on the day of his death, "Washingtonian" writer Katie McCabe brought his story to public attention in a 1989 article entitled "Like Something the Lord Made," which won the 1990 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing and inspired the PBS documentary "Partners of the Heart", which was broadcast in 2003 on PBS's American Experience and won the Organization of American Historians's Erik Barnouw Award for Best History Documentary in 2004. McCabe's article, brought to Hollywood by Washington, D.C. dentist Irving Sorkin, formed the basis for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning 2004 HBO film "Something the Lord Made".


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Thomas's legacy as an educator and scientist continued with the institution of the Vivien Thomas Young Investigator Awards, given by the Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesiology beginning in 1996. In 1993, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation instituted the Vivien Thomas Scholarship for Medical Science and Research sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. In fall 2004, the Baltimore City Public School System opened the Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy. In the halls of the school hangs a replica of Thomas' portrait commissioned by his surgeon-trainees in 1969. The "Journal of Surgical Case Reports" announced in January 2010 that its annual prizes for the best case report written by a doctor and best case report written by a medical student would be named after Thomas.


title: Vivien Thomas

text: Vanderbilt University Medical Center created the Vivien A. Thomas Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, recognizing excellence in conducting clinical research.


title: Amanda Wyss

text: Amanda Louise Wyss (born November 24, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in the early 1980s in teen-oriented roles such as Lisa in the coming-of-age comedy film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), Tina Gray in the slasher film "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), and Beth in the black comedy film "Better Off Dead" (1985). Additionally, she had a supporting role as investigative reporter Randi McFarland in the television series "" (1992–1993). She is also known for playing Woody's ex-girlfriend, Beth, in two episodes of "Cheers" in the mid-1980s.


title: Amanda Wyss

text: Wyss was born in Manhattan Beach, California. She was discovered by an agent who saw her portray Flora in "The Innocents", and Rhoda in "The Bad Seed" at local LA theatres. After appearing in commercials, Wyss landed her first television role, recurring on Universal's "When the Whistle Blows" (1980) as Dolph Sweet's daughter. The same year, she guest-starred on the television series "The Righteous Apples". In 1981, Wyss starred in the films "This House Possessed" and "", and guest-starred on episodes of the several television series, including "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "ABC Afterschool Specials", "Jessica Novak", and "Teachers Only".


title: Amanda Wyss

text: In 1982, Wyss had a supporting role as high-school student Lisa in Amy Heckerling's teen comedy classic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", written by Cameron Crowe and featuring then-unknown actors Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nicolas Cage. Wyss was called in specifically to audition for the character of Lisa and had to improvise with Judge Reinhold.


title: Amanda Wyss

text: The same year, she guest-starred on two episodes of the television series "Star of the Family". In 1983, Wyss appeared in the television films "Lone Star", "The Tom Swift and Linda Craig Mystery Hour", and "A Killer in the Family".


title: Amanda Wyss

text: The following year, Wyss starred in the television film "My Mother's Secret Life" before starring in Wes Craven's horror film "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) as Tina Gray (the first person murdered onscreen by Freddy Krueger), along with Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Johnny Depp. Like all of the other actresses auditioning for the film, she originally read for the part of Nancy Thompson. After receiving a callback, she was paired with Langenkamp and auditioned for the supporting role of Tina, which ultimately went to her.


title: Amanda Wyss

text: The following year, Wyss guest-starred in the television series "Otherworld" before starring in the films "Silverado" as Phoebe and "Better Off Dead" as Beth, who sunk the main character into his depression by breaking up with him. From 1985 to 1986, Wyss guest-starred on "St. Elsewhere" as Pru Dowler and "Cheers" as Beth Curtis. In 1986, Wyss starred in the television films "Firefighter" and "Something in Common". The same year, she starred in "Flag". In 1987, Wyss was cast in the television film "Independence" and the television series "The New Adventures of Beans Baxter", "My Two Dads", and "Cagney & Lacey". In 1989, Wyss starred in the horror film "To Die For" as Celia Kett. The same year, she portrayed Rabbit Layton in "Powwow Highway".


title: Amanda Wyss

text: In 1990, Wyss appeared in the cult horror film, "Shakma" (1990). In 1991, Wyss reprised her role as Celia in "" and starred alongside Mark Hamill in "Black Magic Woman". The following year, Wyss starred in season one of the fantasy television series "Highlander: The Series" (1992) as a reporter named Randi McFarland. In 1997, Wyss was cast as Michelle Harding in "Strategic Command". In 1999, Wyss guest-starred as Stevie on the television series "Charmed". The following year, Wyss was cast in the short film "Bella! Bella! Bella!" as Charlotte Breceda. In 2001, Wyss guest-starred on the crime series "". In 2002, she appeared in an episode each of "Judging Amy" and "Drew Carey Show". In 2004, Wyss portrayed Sonya Witkowski in an episode of the television series "Cold Case". In 2006, Wyss guest-starred as a social worker in the television series "Dexter".


title: Amanda Wyss

text: She was a special guest of the Crypticon 2010. The same year, Wyss appeared in "The Graves" (2010). In 2014, Wyss portrayed Joanna Cass in an episode of "Major Crimes". In 2016, Amanda starred in the horror film "The Id". The same year, Wyss had a recurring role as Kat Cooper in three episodes of the television series "Murder in the First".


title: Raijū

text: Its body is composed of lightning and with the form of a white and blue wolf or dog (or even a wolf or dog wrapped in lightning) being the most common, although it can be represented with other forms such as tanuki, leopard, fox, weasel, marten, tiger, cat, bear, porcupine, tapir, elephant, rat, rabbit, bat, squirrel, boar, deer, badger, mongoose, civet, insectivoran, pangolin, monkey, rhinoceros, sea creature (usually a marine mammal such as a dugong, whale, dolphin, porpoise or seal, although it can also take form of a fish, mollusk or crustacean), insect, arachnid, millipede, centipede, qilin or dragon. It may also fly about as a ball of lightning (in fact, the creature may be an attempt to explain the phenomenon of lightning, such as ball lightning). Its cry sounds like thunder.


title: Raijū

text: Raiju is the companion of the Raijin, the Shinto god of lightning. While the beast is generally calm and harmless, during thunderstorms it becomes agitated, and leaps about in trees, fields, and even buildings (trees that have been struck by lightning are said to have been scratched by Raiju's claws).


title: Raijū

text: Another of Raiju's peculiar behaviors is sleeping in human navels. This prompts the Raijin to shoot lightning arrows at Raiju to wake the creature up, and thus harms the person in whose belly the demon is resting. Superstitious people therefore often sleep on their stomachs during bad weather, but other legends say that Raiju will only hide in the navels of people who sleep outdoors.


title: Raijū

text: It is believed that the myth of Raiju originated from the Chinese materia medica text "Bencao Gangmu". Scholars believe that Raiju citings and documentation during the Edo period in the history of Japan. However, it is also believed that sky being an unexplored territory in and western scientific and technological knowledge had not reached Japan, the mysterious phenomenon of thunder and lightning were attributed to the notoriety of Raiju.


title: Raijū

text: Raijus are given negative connotations as many things were happening in the sky, beyond human beings of Edo period's reach. While the depths of oceans were also inaccessible to human reason, oceans were helping humans with fishes (food) and sustained life forms. In this sense, phenomena of the sky were transcendental and given negative connotations to the phenomena and the creature.


title: Raijū

text: One stormy night, samurai Tachibana Dosetsu was taking shelter. He drew his sword just in time when the lightning bolt was about to strike. The clash between his sword and the lightning adorned Raiju smoked up the environment. Once the smoke cleared, the samurai saw a dead Raiju on the ground.


title: Raijū

text: Dead animals were found from under trees after a stormy night in Japan. Attempts were made to debunk this myth. It was claimed that dead Raijus are essentially real dead animals startled or knocked off from the tree during tempestuous weather of Japan. Recent theory suggests that Raijus are essentially a small tree-dwelling creature called "hakubishin (Paguma larvata)" found in East Asian countries such as China and Taiwan. While, some scholar believe that Paguma larvata was brought by soldiers of World War II as pets, the bearish resemblance of Raijus in paintings from Edo period also suggest that Paguma larvata (Masked palm civet) have been in Japan since much earlier. The gem-faced civet has also been considered the inspiration for legends of the kuda-gitsune.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she concurrently serves as a member of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise's Whip Team for the 117th Congress.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel served as the member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd district from 2015 to 2021 and of the California State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2015. Steel, fellow California Republican Young Kim and Democrat Marilyn Strickland of Washington are the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress. Steel and Kim, along with David Valadao, also became the first Republican congressional candidates since 1994 to unseat incumbent House Democrats in California.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her father was born in Shanghai to Korean expatriate parents. Steel was educated in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. She holds a degree in business from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Korean and Japanese.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel has been active in Republican Party politics and served on various commissions in the George W. Bush administration.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in 2006 when Republican incumbent Claude Parrish ran unsuccessfully for state Treasurer. Throughout her tenure, she served as the country's highest-ranking Korean American officeholder and California's highest-ranking Republican woman. She represented more than eight million people in the 3rd district, which then included all of Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties and parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. In 2011, she was elected vice chair of the Board of Equalization.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In 2014, Steel was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing the 2nd district, defeating state Assemblyman Allan Mansoor.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In March 2018, Steel was the only elected official to greet President Donald Trump when he landed at LAX on his first official visit to California as president. In 2019, Trump appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel chaired the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2017 and again in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she opposed mandatory face masks in Orange County. She voted against requiring face coverings for retail employees and opposed mask mandates in public schools. She questioned masks' efficacy in preventing the virus spread.


title: Michelle Steel

text: On September 15, 2020, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved plans that could lead to increased private jet traffic at John Wayne Airport. Steel was criticized by her Democratic opponent, Harley Rouda, for taking campaign contributions from ACI Jet, the corporation that was awarded the contract.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel and her husband Shawn supported the 2020-21 recall initiative against California Governor Gavin Newsom and endorsed Larry Elder to replace him.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In 2020, Steel ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 48th congressional district. She received 34.9% of the vote to advance from the primary and defeated incumbent Democrat Harley Rouda in the November 3 general election with 51.1% of the vote. Steel raised $200,000 more than Rouda.


title: Michelle Steel

text: During her campaign, Steel spoke out against COVID-19 mask mandates. Her platform included opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, and the creation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A conservative, she aligned herself with President Donald Trump.


title: Michelle Steel

text: On December 23, 2021, Steel announced that she would run in California's 45th congressional district in 2022 due to redistricting. She was endorsed by Kevin McCarthy, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, Mimi Walters, Andrew Do, and the Republican Party of Orange County.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Along with several other Republican U.S. House freshmen, Steel is a member of the Freedom Force, an informal group styled as a Republican counterpart to the Democratic group The Squad.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Steel tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021. She referenced her own mild symptoms from her bout with COVID to advocate for opening up schools and businesses.


title: Michelle Steel

text: Due to her COVID-19 quarantine, Steel missed voting on the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. She voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021.


title: Michelle Steel

text: On February 25, 2021, Steel voted against the Equality Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to explicitly include new protections.


title: Michelle Steel

text: On February 27, 2021, Steel voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief and stimulus bill.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In March 2021, Steel introduced a bill that would block federal funding from being used to support California’s high-speed rail project, which she called a "failure."


title: Michelle Steel

text: In 2021, Steel joined a majority of Republican representatives in signing onto an "amicus" brief to overturn "Roe v. Wade".


title: Michelle Steel

text: As of December 2022, Steel had voted in line with President Joe Biden's stated position 21% of the time.


title: Michelle Steel

text: , Steel had a A+ rating from the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List for her voting history on bills related to abortion during the 117th Congress.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In July 2022, Steel voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which would require the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages.


title: Michelle Steel

text: In 1981, Steel married Shawn Steel, who became California Republican Party chairman from 2001 to 2003 and Republican National Committeeman from California since 2008. They have two daughters and live in Seal Beach, California. Steel is a Christian.


title: Michelle Steel

text: At a 2014 Tea Party event in Newport Beach, Steel said she had withdrawn her younger daughter from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and sent her to Loyola Marymount University for a one-year "brainwash" after her daughter voiced support for same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama.


title: Urinary meatus

text: The urinary meatus, (, ) also known as the external urethral orifice, is the opening of the urethra. It is the point where urine exits the urethra in both sexes and where semen exits the urethra in males. The meatus has varying degrees of sensitivity to touch. The meatus is located on the glans of the penis or in the vulval vestibule.


title: Urinary meatus

text: The male external urethral orifice is the external opening or urinary meatus, normally located at the tip of the glans penis, at its junction with the frenular delta. It presents as a vertical slit, possibly bounded on either side by two small labia-like projections, and continues longitudinally along the front aspect of the glans, which facilitates the flow of urine micturition. In some cases, the opening may be more rounded. This can occur naturally or may also occur as a side effect of excessive skin removal during circumcision. The meatus is a sensitive part of the male reproductive system.


title: Urinary meatus

text: The female external urethral orifice is the external opening of the urethra, from which urine is ejected during urination. It is located about behind the clitoris and immediately in front of the vagina in the vulval vestibule. It usually assumes the form of a short, sagittal cleft with slightly raised margins. To its left and right are the openings of the Skene's glands.


title: Urinary meatus

text: Some evidence exists to suggest that the clitoral-urinary meatus distance (CUMD) in human females relates to the ease with which the female may achieve orgasm through penetrative sex. Orgasm from penetration alone is observed to be more likely as CUMD decreases.


title: Urinary meatus

text: Evidence also suggests that decreased distance from the vaginal opening to the urethral meatus is associated with recurrent post-coital urinary tract infections. Surgical repositioning of the distal urethra to prevent recurrent post-coital urinary tract infections has been employed with some success by Russian physicians.


title: Urinary meatus

text: Unlike most other mammals (including human), female spotted hyenas have a urinary meatus that is located on the clitoral glans.


title: Urinary meatus

text: Congenital disorders of the meatus, in the male, include epispadias (the misplacement to the upper aspect) and hypospadias (the misplacement to the underside of the penis). A congenital misshaping can result in its narrowing (meatal stenosis), causing a partial or total urinary blockage or the bifurcation of the urinary stream. A urethral blockage can also be caused by foreign material, kidney stones, or bladder stones (lithiasis).


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Doctor Destiny (John Dee) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Jeremy Davies played the character in his live-action debut on the Arrowverse crossover "Elseworlds". David Thewlis plays a version of the character in the television series "The Sandman".


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Doctor Destiny first appeared in "Justice League of America" #5 (June 1961), and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Doctor Destiny was once a petty criminal scientist who used his genius to create astounding devices for crime. He first encountered the Justice League of America shortly after he invented an anti-gravity device and will-deadener beam that allowed him to capture Green Lantern by luring him into his base by using anti-gravity discs to fly over the city as Green Lantern to impersonate and infiltrate the JLA. Before Destiny could further his criminal ends, the League discovered his treachery as Green Arrow had heard from an underworld informant that a member of the League had been captured and was being impersonated. The League was captured by his will-deadening beam which also had kryptonite as an element. Destiny then revealed he planned to send his ship into space, thus getting rid of the JLA. However, when drawing the JLA upwards, the station suffered a brief power drain, lessening the effects of the will-deadener. Green Lantern was able to free himself during the drain and promptly imprisoned Destiny and his two henchmen.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: He then created the "Materioptikon", a device which allowed him to create reality from the fabric of dreams. In a later retcon in "The Sandman" series written by Neil Gaiman, his mother Ethel (the former mistress of Roderick Burgess) gave Morpheus' Dreamstone to him, which powered the device. He manipulated the Dreamstone, forcing flaws and adding circuitry, until it was attuned to him and not the Dream King. Morpheus was imprisoned by Alex Burgess at the time, unaware of what Destiny was doing and unable to stop or prevent it.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Doctor Destiny's power was so great that the Justice League resorted to drastic measures to stop him. They hypnotized him and manipulated his psyche to prevent him from dreaming; this kept him from using the Materioptikon for criminal purposes but caused him to lose his mind and shrivel to a skeletal wreck of a man. He was then sent to Arkham Asylum, where his sanity eroded further.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: He escaped from Arkham and captured the Sandman (Dr. Garrett Sanford), and used equipment to pit people's dreams against the Justice League, eventually capturing most of the current Leaguers. Thanks to the efforts of others such as Zatanna and Elongated Man, the Sandman was freed and reclaimed his equipment, aiding Doctor Destiny's recapture.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Again from "The Sandman" series by Neil Gaiman, when his mother died, Doctor Destiny escaped Arkham, reclaimed the Ruby, which he used to go on a rampage, driving the whole world insane. Destiny makes his way to a 24-hour diner and proceeds to torture the patrons in numerous sadistic ways over the span of 24 hours before having them kill each other. Dream, recently freed and searching for stolen tokens of power, could not stop Destiny until the villain decided to leech all of Dream's power into the Ruby and destroy the gem. The destruction of the Dreamstone returned all of its power back to Dream, including power the Lord of Dreams had been without for millennia. Morpheus then returned Destiny to Arkham and returned the ability to dream (or at least sleep). Although he is able to dream once again, Destiny's sanity is still extremely shaky.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Doctor Destiny later learned that continued use of the Materioptikon meant he still had some dream manipulation powers even without the Dreamstone. He warped the Atom's dreams of the original Justice League into a world where the superheroes were fascist bullies as part of a plan to trap the then-current Justice League there. He was defeated when the comatose Blue Beetle was able to enter the dream world. Later, Doctor Destiny threatened the JLA once again by bringing his "dream self" into the real world and attacking them with bizarre and irrational dream-logic, "haunting" scenes of his old crimes as well as Atlantis (the ocean signifying a spiritual centre in dreams). Before Destiny's dream-self fully realized what was happening to him, he was defeated when the League tracked down his real-world self and projected their dream selves into reality to confront Destiny; since the League were dreaming about victory, they couldn't lose, and Destiny was swiftly returned to his cell in Arkham.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: Over the years, Doctor Destiny has proven one of the Justice League's most persistent foes. In his earliest appearances, before he lost his sanity, his goals were more rational: to acquire wealth and personal power, to eliminate all his enemies, and so on. All of these schemes revolved around the creative and liberal use of the Materioptikon, a strategy which often caught his opponents off-guard. One can assume that Destiny is still interested in attaining all of his former goals: the elimination of the Justice League, the restoration of his human appearance, and the reconstruction of the Materioptikon.


title: Doctor Destiny

text: During the "4th Parallel" storyline in "JLA Classified", Doctor Destiny's control over the Materioptikon is usurped by Darrin Profitt, the Red King.