title: Anglican Church in North America

text: At the ACNA's inaugural assembly in June 2009, Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America, while recognizing theological differences, said that he was "seeking an ecumenical restoration" between Orthodox and Anglicans in the United States. An agreement was announced between Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and Nashotah House, an Anglo-Catholic seminary, to guide ecumenical relationships and "new dialogue" between the two churches. Archbishop Foley Beach met Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, at an ecumenical meeting that took place at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York, on November 8, 2014. The main purpose of the meeting was the prosecution of the Anglican and Orthodox dialogue in the United States and other parts of the world. Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America was also present and invited Archbishop Foley Beach to the Orthodox All-American Council, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia, in July 2015.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: At the invitation of Patriarch Kirill, Archbishop Beach led a nine-member ACNA delegation to Moscow, Russia, to participate in formal ecumenical meetings with the Russian Orthodox Church. The delegation met Metropolitan Hilarion and was officially received by Patriarch Kirill on August 23, 2015. Both churches expressed their desire to develop and deepen the ecumenical relationships between Orthodox and faithful Anglicans through the world. Archbishop Beach delivered a letter of greeting from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON. The ACNA is about to start ecumenical relationships with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, due to the mediation of Greek Orthodox Bishop Kyrillos Katerelos.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: Archbishop Foley Beach and Bishop Kevin Bond Allen met Patriarch Theophilos III, of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem, on May 31, 2017.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA representatives had a meeting with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, during his visit to the United States, on October 23, 2015, during which he was presented with a letter of Bishop Todd Hunter, welcoming him and celebrating the recent ecumenical dialogue held between Anglican and Coptic Orthodox churches. Pope Tawadros II met Archbishop Foley Beach and Bishop Charlie Masters, of ACNA, during his meeting with several Global South representatives, in Cairo, in November 2015.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA established dialogue with several Lutheran groups. In March 2010, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod announced that it and the ACNA would hold discussions to "explore dialogue". The ACNA has approved a request from the North American Lutheran Church to share clergy where there are vacancies. In addition, there is a Lutheran group which has requested to be admitted into the ACNA as a diocese.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: A "Marriage Summit", was held in Dallas, Texas, May 3–5, 2013, with representatives of ACNA and three Lutheran denominations, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Lutheran Church-Canada and the North American Lutheran Church. It resulted in an official joint document, "An Affirmation of Marriage", approved by the heads of all the four church bodies and described as "a strong example of biblical ecumenicism at work", defining the divine nature of "marriage to be the life-long union of one man and one woman".


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA has held ten ecumenical dialogue meetings with the Polish National Catholic Church, since the first, held in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on June 19–20, 2012. The most recent took place at St. Vincent's Cathedral, in Bedford, Texas, on February 15–16, 2017.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA has been involved with evangelical movements such as the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism and has observer status with the National Association of Evangelicals. It has also established dialogue with the Charismatic Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Assemblies of God USA and the United Methodist Church. The ACNA is also partnering with Messianic Jewish groups. The ACNA has also held ecumenical contacts with the Believers Eastern Church, an Evangelical denomination whose headquarters are situated in Kerala, India.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA has established friendly ecumenical relationships with the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was represented by Bishop Kevin Vann at their inaugural Provincial Assembly, in Bedford, Texas, on June 22, 2009. In October 2009, ACNA's leadership reacted to the Roman Catholic Church's proposed creation of personal ordinariates for disaffected traditionalist Anglicans by stating that although they believe that this provision will not be utilized by the great majority of its laity and clergy, they will happily bless those who are drawn to participate in this proposal. The ACNA expressed its support for the Catholic Church's opposition to the 2012 US Health and Human Services' contraceptive mandate, with Archbishop Robert Duncan being one of the signatories of the statement of the Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, representing 26 Christian denominations, on April 13, 2012. Archbishop Duncan and Bishop Ray Sutton were also invited to the weekly private audience by Pope Benedict XVI, which took place in Rome, on November 28, 2012, whom they meet and greet afterwards on behalf of the ACNA and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. The ACNA Provincial Assembly, which reunited more than 900 participants, and their College of Bishops conclave, which elected Foley Beach as the second Archbishop of the province, took place at the Roman Catholic Benedictine St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on June 19–21, 2014, due to the kind permission of Archabbot Douglas Robert Nowicki, a personal friend of Archbishop Duncan. Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta offered Foley Beach an African-made crozier, which he used at his investiture ceremony, that took place at the Church of the Apostles, in Atlanta, Georgia, at October 9, 2014. Former Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America read at the ceremony a message by his personal friend Pope Francis, who sent Archbishop Foley Beach his "personal greetings and congratulations as he leads his church in the very important job of revival" and asked Archbishop Venables to embrace him on his behalf.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA has started official talks with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Ray Sutton, Provincial Dean for Ecumenical Affairs led the team that met with a USCCB delegation, led by Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Chair of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, in Chicago, Illinois, on October 12, 2016.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: The ACNA endorsed a concordat with the Philippine Independent Church, in January 2020, in a meeting held in Melbourne, Florida, which was meant to be presented for approval by the Provincial Council in June.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: In August 2010, the executive committee approved the creation of a task force on "Islam and interfaith engagement". Regarding the task force, Julian Dobbs, a member of the ACNA College of Bishops and Missionary Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, stated, "we need to undertake a prayerful, sensitive and honest approach to the issues involved".


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: In its 2011 annual report, the ACNA said it was forming partnerships with Messianic Jewish groups to proselytize.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: Archbishop Foley Beach and Bishop Charlie Masters, of ACNA, met the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, when he welcomed a delegation of several Global South representatives during their visit to Egypt in November 2015. Ahmed el-Tayeb expressed the "importance of the partnership and collegiality between religious leaders for the common good of humanity" and his solidarity with the Anglican realignment. He also stated that Christians and Muslims should be united in their opposition to the pressure for the acceptance of same-sex marriage and homosexual practice, especially in the western world.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: He visited Pakistan in November 2019, at invitation of the Kul Masalak Ulama Board Leadership, where he attended an interfaith gathering with Muslim scholars, in Lahore, on 19 November 2019.


title: Anglican Church in North America

text: In the wake of the terrorist attack to the Tree of Life Synagogue, in Pittsburgh, on October 27, 2018, Archbishop Beach expressed his full solidarity with the Jewish communities of the United States and endorsed the "ShowUpForShabbat" initiative by which ACNA parish members were to attend local synagogues for the Shabbat.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Yaguda), though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and Stoller, who gave the group its name.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: Soon they signed with United Artists Records. With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune "She Cried", which reached #5 (later covered by The Shangri-Las, Aerosmith, and others). The next two singles did not fare as well, and Traynor left the group. Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) joined the group. He brought David Black (né Blatt) of "The Empires" in to take Traynor's place (after David first agreed to adopt the name Jay Black), and Black sang lead for the rest of the group's major hits.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: They recorded "Only in America", a song originally meant for The Drifters. Other notable hits for Jay and the Americans were "Come a Little Bit Closer" in 1964, which hit #3, and "Cara Mia" in 1965, which hit #4. They also recorded a commercial for H.I.S. Slacks and a public service announcement for the Ad Council, featuring a backing track by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. Two tracks from this era later found favor with the Northern Soul crowd: "Got Hung Up Along The Way" and "Living Above Your Head".


title: Jay and the Americans

text: In 1966, the group was featured in the Universal comedy film, "Wild Wild Winter," singing "Two of a Kind" at the film's finale, with surf band The Astronauts depicted as providing backup instrumentals. As of February 2017, the song has been released only on the 1966 soundtrack LP.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: In 1969, they recorded an album of their favorite oldies called "Sands of Time", which included "This Magic Moment", which was originally done by the Drifters. The single went to #6 in early 1969. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in May 1969. "This Magic Moment" was the last top ten record for Jay and the Americans, although a follow-up album, "Wax Museum", in January 1970, did yield the #19 hit single "Walkin' In The Rain", first recorded by The Ronettes. Their next singles failed to chart, and the band grew apart, but the demand for appearances remained. (Around the same time the band recorded "This Magic Moment", Jay and the Americans member Sandy Yaguda produced a Long Island teen sextet called The Tuneful Trolley. Their late-1968 Capitol LP, "Island In The Sky" — a hybrid of Beach Boys and Beatlesque psych-pop—was reissued in 2008 in the UK on Now Sounds.) From 1970 to 1971 Jay and the Americans' touring band included Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (of later Steely Dan fame) on backup bass guitar and electric organ.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: The group split in 1973. All of the members moved on to solo musical careers, with the exception of Jay Black, who continued to perform as "Jay and the Americans", using a variety of musicians. In 2001, he was featured in the PBS special "Rock, Rhythm, and Doo Wop" as "Jay Black & The Americans".


title: Jay and the Americans

text: In 2006, Jay Black filed for bankruptcy due to gambling debts, and his ownership of the name "Jay & The Americans" was sold by the bankruptcy trustee to Sandy Deanne (Yaguda), Black's former bandmate and original member of Jay & The Americans, for $100,000. With the name purchase, former members Deanne, Howard Kane, and Marty Sanders reunited, and recruited a sound-alike singer from Chicago, coincidentally nicknamed "Jay." Thus, John "Jay" Reincke became the third "Jay" and the band returned to playing both national and international music venues. Their show covers the history of Jay and The Americans, acknowledging all three Jays and featuring all of the top hits in their original arrangements.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: Until 2017, David Blatt continued to tour under his stage name, "Jay Black". In a 2014 interview, he announced that he had Alzheimer's; he continued to perform until 2017. Kenny Vance is currently the lead singer of Kenny Vance and the Planotones, a neo-doo wop band that he formed in the 1970s. After leaving the group, John Traynor recorded a handful of songs on the Coral label, including "I Rise, I Fall" in 1964. None were hits, but "I Rise, I Fall" became a minor hit for Johnny Tillotson. The label billed Traynor as "JAY formerly of Jay and the Americans." Traynor toured with Jay Siegel's Tokens until shortly before his death on January 2, 2014.


title: Jay and the Americans

text: Black died on October 22, 2021. In a statement, Jay and the Americans acknowledged that Black and the rest of the group had experienced "very contentious times" but that they respected the success that they achieved with Black as their lead singer.


title: Docusate

text: Docusate is the common chemical and pharmaceutical name of the anion bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate, also commonly called dioctyl sulfosuccinate (DOSS).


title: Docusate

text: Salts of this anion, especially docusate sodium, are widely used in medicine as laxatives and as stool softeners, by mouth or rectally. In 2020, it was the 163rd most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 3million prescriptions. Some studies claim that docusate is not more effective than a placebo for improving constipation. Other docusate salts with medical use include those of calcium and potassium.


title: Docusate

text: Docusate salts are also used as food additives, emulsifiers, dispersants, and wetting agents, among other uses.


title: Docusate

text: Sodium docusate was patented in 1937 by Coleman R. Caryl and Alphons O. Jaeger for American Cyanamid, which commercialized it for many years as a detergent under the brand name Aerosol OT.


title: Docusate

text: Its use for the treatment of constipation was first proposed in 1955 by James L. Wilson and David G. Dickinson, and quickly popularized under the name Doxinate.


title: Docusate

text: The main medical use of docusate sodium is to treat constipation, acting as a laxative and stool softener. In painful anorectal conditions such as hemorrhoid and anal fissures, it can help avoid pain caused by straining during bowel movements.


title: Docusate

text: When administered by mouth, a bowel movement often occurs in 1 to 3 days, while rectal use may be effective within 20 minutes.


title: Docusate

text: However, its effectiveness for constipation is poorly supported by evidence. Multiple studies have found docusate to be no more effective than a placebo for improving constipation. Others have found it to be less useful for the treatment of chronic constipation than psyllium.


title: Docusate

text: The medication may be given to people who are receiving opioid medication, although prolonged use may cause irritation of the gastrointestinal tract.


title: Docusate

text: Docusate sodium, when used with ear syringing, may help with earwax removal, particularly in the case of impaction.


title: Docusate

text: Sodium docusate is also used as a lubricant in the production of tablets and as an emulsifier in topical preparations and other suspensions.


title: Docusate

text: Side effects are uncommon and typically mild, and may include stomach pain, abdominal cramps or diarrhea, Efficacy decreases with long-term use, and may cause poor bowel function.


title: Docusate

text: Serious allergic reactions may occur with the drug. The most severe side effect of docusate, although very rare, is rectal bleeding.


title: Docusate

text: Docusate might increase resorption of other drugs, for example, dantron (1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone).


title: Docusate

text: Docusate is an anionic surfactant, which works by reducing the surface tension of the stool, allowing more intestinal water and fat to combine with the stool. This decreases the strain and discomfort associated with constipation.


title: Docusate

text: It does not stay in the gastrointestinal tract, but is absorbed into the bloodstream and excreted via the gallbladder after undergoing extensive metabolism.


title: Docusate

text: The effect of docusate may not necessarily be all due to its surfactant properties. Perfusion studies suggest that docusate inhibits fluid absorption or stimulates secretion in the portion of the small intestine known as the jejunum.


title: Docusate

text: In the U.S., docusate sodium for pharmaceutical use is available under multiple brand names: Aqualax, Calube, Colace, Colace Micro-Enema, Correctol Softgel Extra Gentle, DC-240, Dialose, Diocto, Dioctocal, Dioctosoftez, Dioctyn, Dionex, Doc-Q-Lace, Docu Soft, Docucal, Doculax, Docusoft S, DOK, DOS, Doss-Relief, DSS, Dulcolax - Stool Softener (not to be confused with another drug marketed under the Dulcolax brand, bisacodyl, which is a stimulant laxative), Ex-Lax Stool Softener, Fleet Sof-Lax, Genasoft, Kasof, Laxa-basic, Modane Soft, Octycine-100, Pedia-Lax, Preferred Plus Pharmacy Stool Softener, Regulax SS, Sulfalax Calcium, Sur-Q-Lax, Surfak Stool Softener, and Therevac-SB. Generic preparations are also available.


title: Docusate

text: In the UK, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate is sold under the brand name Docusol (Typharm Ltd) and DulcoEase (Boehringer Ingelheim).


title: Docusate

text: In India, preparations include Laxatin by Alembic, Doslax by Raptakos Laboratories, Cellubril by AstraZeneca, and Laxicon by Stadmed.


title: Docusate

text: Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate is used as a surfactant in a wide range of applications, often under the name Aerosol-OT. It is unusual in that it is able to form microemulsions without the use of co-surfactants, and it has a rich variety of aqueous-phase behavior including multiple liquid crystalline phases.


title: Docusate

text: Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate has been approved by the US FDA as a "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) additive. It is used in a variety of food products, as a surface active agent, stabilizer, thickener, wetting agent, processing aid, solubilizing agent, emulsifier, and dispersant. The highest amount found in food products is 0.5% by weight, which include pasteurized cheese spreads, cream cheeses and salad dressings. The FDA also approved its use as a wetting agent or solubilizer for flavoring agents in carbonated and non-carbonated drinks at levels up to 10 parts per million.


title: Docusate

text: As a surfactant, docusate sodium is or has been commercialized under many brand names, including DSSj Aerosol OT, Alphasol OT, Colace, Complemix, Coprol, Dioctylal, Dioctyl-Medo Forte, Diotilan, Diovac, Disonate, Doxinate, Doxol, Dulsivac, Molatoc, Molofac, Nevax, Norval, Regutol, Softili, Solusol, Sulfimel DOS, Vatsol OT, Velmol, and Waxsol


title: Docusate

text: The structural formula of the docusate anion is , where R is the 2-ethylhexyl group . The conjugate acid can be described as the twofold carboxylate ester of sulfosuccinic acid with 2-ethylhexanol.


title: Docusate

text: The compound is a white, wax-like, plastic solid, with an odor suggestive of octyl alcohol. It starts to decompose at about 220 °C.


title: Docusate

text: Solubility of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate in water is 14 g/L at 25 °C, increasing to 55 g/L at 70 °C. Solubility is better in less polar solvents: 1:30 in ethanol, 1:1 in chloroform and diethylether, and practically unlimited in petroleum ether (25 °C). It also is highly soluble in glycerol, although this is a rather polar solvent. It is also highly soluble in xylene, oleic acid, acetone, diacetone alcohol, methanol, isopropanol,


title: Docusate

text: Sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate can be obtained by treating dioctyl maleate with sodium bisulfite. The bisulfite anion adds to the double bond:


title: Docusate

text: Ingestion may cause the side effects described above, such as diarrhea, intestinal bloating, and occasionally cramping pains. Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate is not known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic.


title: Docusate

text: Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate is of low toxicity for crustaceans such as the hermit crab "Clibanarius erythropus" and the shrimp "Crangon crangon". Toxicity for molluscs varies widely, with 48-hour LD found between 5 mg/L for the common limpet and 100 mg/L for the common periwinkle. Various species of phytoplankton have an LD around 8 mg/L.


title: Docusate

text: In a 2010 study, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate exhibited higher toxicity against bacteria ("Vibrio fischeri", "Anabaena" sp.) and algae ("Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata") than did a number of fluorinated surfactants (PFOS, PFOA, or PFBS). Measuring bioluminescence inhibition of the bacteria and growth inhibition of the algae, the LD were in the range of 43–75 mg/L. Combinations of the fluorinated compounds with dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate showed mid to highly synergistic effects in most settings, meaning that such combinations are significantly more toxic than the individual substances.


title: Docusate

text: The substance is highly toxic for rainbow trout with a median lethal concentration (LC) of 0.56 mg/L after 48 hours for the pure substance. It is only slightly to moderately toxic for rainbow trout fingerlings, and slightly toxic for harlequin rasboras (LC 27 mg/L of a 60% formulation after 48 hours).


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Janine Melnitz is a fictional character in the "Ghostbusters" series. She is the Ghostbusters' secretary, confidante, and occasionally, a ghostbuster herself. She was played by Annie Potts in the first two movies, and in "The Real Ghostbusters" she was voiced initially by Laura Summer, and later on the series by Kath Soucie. In "Extreme Ghostbusters", she was voiced by Pat Musick. Potts reprised the role for 2009's "" and 2021's "", and had a cameo as a similar hotel receptionist in the 2016 remake.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Throughout most "Ghostbusters" media, Janine is often displayed as having a romantic attraction to Egon Spengler. This is shown in the original movie and the 2021 film "", and more prominently in "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoons. In "Ghostbusters II", however, she becomes involved with Louis Tully, who has become the team's financial advisor and lawyer. Despite this, Janine retains her attraction to Egon throughout the entire "Real Ghostbusters" series and into the "Extreme Ghostbusters" series.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In "Janine's Genie", in which Janine encounters an evil genie after receiving a possessed lamp (unaware that the genie is evil), one of her wishes was for Egon to fall in love with her, and in one instance when she is driving Ecto-1, Egon comments "Janine, you're beautiful when you drive." Egon and Janine share a handful of tender moments throughout the series, but Egon's somewhat stilted emotions often create a barrier between them.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In "Ghostbusters", Janine is hired as the secretary of the Ghostbusters, where she keeps tabs on the clients. In the film's novelization, it is stated that she was the one who helped designed the Ghostbusters' "no ghost allowed" logo. She also interviews Winston Zeddemore for the job as the fourth member of the team. Later, she helps Egon interviewing Louis Tully who was possessed by Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster of Gozer. After the battle with Gozer, she is seen outside of 55 Central Park West, hugging Egon, happy to see him alive and well, joining the rest of the Ghostbusters as they drive off in the Ecto-1.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Janine is the youngest daughter of a working-class family from Brooklyn. Though her parents, sister, nephew and grandmother all live in Canarsie (as seen in "Janine's Day Off"), she has remained in Brooklyn Heights, where she grew up. She tends to wear loud, blocky jewelry and (in early seasons) wears a mini-skirt at work.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In 1987, Janine owns a red Volkswagen Beetle convertible, which is severely damaged after being loaned to the Ghostbusters in "Beneath These Streets". In "Baby Spookums" she has a yellow Renault 5 Le Car, although it is not known if this is a loaner/rental or her own car; in later instances she owns a pink Beetle convertible.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: On numerous occasions, Janine has taken up a proton pack, and usually a jumpsuit, to help the Ghostbusters in episodes including "Janine's Genie", "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me A Dream", "Janine’s Day Off", "Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster" and "Jailbusters". However, her jumpsuit color has never been consistent. For example, in "Janine's Genie", it was brownish-orange, similar to Venkman's but lighter. In "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me A Dream", it was a very pale pink, nearly white. In "Janine’s Day Off", she does not wear a jumpsuit at all, just a proton pack. In the episode "Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster", she borrows one of Peter Venkman's uniforms, and in the "Extreme Ghostbusters" episode "A Temporary Insanity", she borrowed one of Egon Spengler's.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: She has a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor and has been known to make jokes about the Ghostbusters, either to their faces or under her breath, but most of the time she usually gets along with Ray and Winston, while usually having a kind of sibling rivalry with Peter.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Significant changes to the character occurred over the course of "The Real Ghostbusters". In the first two seasons, her portrayal was almost identical to the rude secretary Potts portrayed in the film. However, production season 3 (ABC season 2) saw Kath Soucie replace Laura Summer as Janine's voice actor. Notably, her marked Brooklyn accent disappeared. Her appearance and personality were also "softened". After the release of Ghostbusters II, her appearance was revised again to match her appearance in that movie.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In the Season 6 episode "Janine, You've Changed", it is revealed that the changes of the past three years were the result of her wishes to a "makeoveris lotsabucks", a demon posing as a fairy godmother (and even referred to as such by Janine herself). This was one of a handful of episodes writer J. Michael Straczynski wrote as a favor to the show's producers, as he could not return as a full-time writer due to other working commitments he had at the time. As such, the demon fed off of Janine's insecurity regarding her looks, and frustration in failing to win Egon's heart. The demon used her magic to blind Egon (and the other Ghostbusters) to Janine's changes, thus making Janine more dependent on the demon for "improvements" on her appearance in hopes she would become "perfect," making Egon notice her. Unknown to Janine, the demon was feeding on desire to be "perfect" for Egon to slowly strip away her humanity, and turn her into a "makeoveris lotsabucks" herself.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: None of the Ghostbusters noticed until Slimer showed them pictures of Janine in their photo album. They demonstrated her startling changes over the years with a hologram projector. The demon had used ectoplasmic energy to alter Janine's cellular and bone structure. When Janine leaves the firehouse to meet the demon alone, the Ghostbusters send Slimer to go after her. In the car Egon tells the others, just as he's realizing how much Janine means to him, now he could lose her forever. In the climax of the episode, Janine turns into a "makeoverus lotsabucks" with powers similar to those of her "fairy godmother" (allowing her to change her own appearance at will). She lashes out at Egon when he comes to her rescue, blaming him for hardly ever acknowledging her affection for him. Egon defeats the demon's hold over Janine by confessing his love for her (the NOW and Marvel UK comics ignore these changes). Egon's confession proves sincere (and is not just a way of defeating the demon), as he and Janine are later seen sitting on a bench together, watching the sun rise. It is here Egon puts his arm round Janine and asks her out on a date.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Janine's character was changed at the suggestion of consultants, who said that they wanted to change the shape of Janine's glasses (which they thought would frighten children), and change her from a feisty character to the "mother" of the Ghostbusters group as they felt she was "too abrasive". Additionally, the Brooklyn accent was discarded with a change in voice actresses. This, among other reasons, was why writer J. Michael Straczynski left "The Real Ghostbusters".


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In "Ghostbusters II", she is rehired as secretary by the Ghostbusters, working side-by-side with Louis Tully, who became the team's financial advisor, accountant and lawyer. At some point prior to the film, she dyed her hair red (to match the appearance of the animated iteration of the character from "The Real Ghostbusters"), Peter Venkman assigns her to baby-sit Dana Barrett's baby Oscar. She asks Louis Tully to babysit with her, where she, along with Dana and Louis see Oscar being kidnapped by Dana's boss, Janosz Poha. In order to help the guys fight Vigo the Carpathian, she lends Louis one of Egon's spare suits and a spare Proton pack, so he can join them in the battle. After the battle, she attends a ceremony to restore the Statue of Liberty, where she and the Ghostbusters are awarded the Key to the City from the mayor.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Set six years after the series finale of "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II", Janine had bounced from various jobs since the Ghostbusters closed down in 1991. Having been recently downsized from her last job she returned to school at the New York City College and amongst the various (and unmentioned) courses she was taking was a paranormal one, where she was reunited with Egon, going on to help him form the new team.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Potts reprised her role as Janine in "" (2021). In the film, now an elderly woman, Janine informs Egon's daughter Callie of her father's death and her inheritance of his decrepit farm in Summerville, Oklahoma. A post-credits scene includes a deleted clip from the original "Ghostbusters", in which Janine gives one of her lucky coins to Egon, followed by a present-day meeting between her and Winston in which they reminisce about their time with the Ghostbusters.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Janine has had brief appearances in the "Extreme Ghostbusters" Game Boy Color game (only released in Europe) and in the "Extreme Ghostbusters" game, Code Ecto-1 for the Game Boy Advance.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Annie Potts reprised her role as Janine in the "", once again being the team's secretary, warning them about what's going on, either by calling them or by radio, and making sarcastic comments about the situation. A man named Mark from the Gamble Architectural firm left her a message on the Ghostbusters' answering machine, offering her a job as his personal assistant to replace the one he fired during Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man's rampage. Her physical appearance is quite similar to the way she appeared in the second movie, but again being a brunette.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: Janine appears as a non-playable character in the Ghostbusters Adventure World of "Lego Dimensions" voiced by Courtenay Taylor. She has two missions for the player: The first one has the player bust some ghosts for the mayor, while the second one requires the player to assist her in recovering the books for Ray's bookstore after they're scattered by ghosts.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: During the filming of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife", Potts also reprised her role as Janine in a 2020 commercial for QuickBooks.


title: Janine Melnitz

text: In the film series and "", she was portrayed by Annie Potts. In the cartoon series "The Real Ghostbusters", she was originally voiced by Laura Summer and later by Kath Soucie.


title: Peanut oil

text: Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or arachis oil, is a vegetable oil derived from peanuts. The oil usually has a mild or neutral flavor but, if made with roasted peanuts, has a stronger peanut flavor and aroma. It is often used in American, Chinese, Indian, African and Southeast Asian cuisine, both for general cooking, and in the case of roasted oil, for added flavor. Peanut oil has a high smoke point relative to many other cooking oils, so it is commonly used for frying foods.


title: Peanut oil

text: Due to war shortages of other oils, use of readily available peanut oil increased in the United States during World War II.


title: Peanut oil

text: Unrefined peanut oil is used as a flavorant for dishes akin to sesame oil. Refined peanut oil is commonly used for frying volume batches of foods like French fries and has a smoke point of 450 °F/232 °C.


title: Peanut oil

text: At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, the Otto Company, at the request of the French Government, demonstrated that peanut oil could be used as a source of fuel for the diesel engine; this was one of the earliest demonstrations of biodiesel technology.


title: Peanut oil

text: Peanut oil, as with other vegetable oils, can be used to make soap by the process of saponification. Peanut oil is safe for use as a massage oil.


title: Peanut oil

text: Its major component fatty acids are oleic acid (46.8% as olein), linoleic acid (33.4% as linolein), and palmitic acid (10.0% as palmitin). The oil also contains some stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid and other fatty acids.


title: Peanut oil

text: If quality control is neglected, peanuts that contain the mold that produces highly toxic aflatoxin can end up contaminating the oil derived from them.


title: Peanut oil

text: Those allergic to peanuts can consume highly refined peanut oil, but should avoid first-press, organic oil. Most highly refined peanut oils remove the peanut allergens and have been shown to be safe for "the vast majority of peanut-allergic individuals". However, cold-pressed peanut oils may not remove the allergens and thus could be highly dangerous to people with peanut allergy.


title: Peanut oil

text: Since the degree of processing for any particular product is often unclear, many believe that "avoidance is prudent".


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Bastion is an action role-playing video game developed by independent developer Supergiant Games and originally published in 2011 by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In the game, the player controls "the Kid" as he moves through floating, fantasy-themed environments and fights enemies of various types. It features a dynamic voiceover from a narrator (Logan Cunningham), and is presented as a two-dimensional game with an isometric camera and a hand-painted, colorful art style. "Bastion"s story follows the Kid as he collects special shards of rock to power a structure, the Bastion, in the wake of an apocalyptic Calamity.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The game was built over the course of two years by a team of seven people split between San Jose and New York City. They debuted the game at the September 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, and it went on to be nominated for awards at the 2011 Independent Games Festival and win awards at the Electronic Entertainment Expo prior to release. "Bastion" was published in July 2011 for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, and in August 2011 through digital distribution for Microsoft Windows on Steam. Supergiant Games made it available as a browser game for Google Chrome in December 2011. It was released for Mac OS X and iOS in 2012, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2015, for Xbox One in 2016, and Nintendo Switch in 2018. "Bastion"s soundtrack was produced and composed by Darren Korb, and a soundtrack album was made available for sale in August 2011.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: During 2011, the game sold more than 500,000 copies, 200,000 of which were for the Xbox Live Arcade. It sold over three million copies across all platforms by January 2015. The game was widely praised by reviewers, primarily for its story, art direction, narration, and music. Opinions were mixed on the depth of the gameplay, though the variety of options in the combat system was praised. "Bastion" has won many nominations and awards since its release, including several for best downloadable game and best music, from review outlets such as IGN and "Game Informer" as well as from the Spike Video Game Awards, the Game Developers Conference, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: "Bastion" is an action role-playing game with a level structure. The player character, "the Kid", moves through floating, fantasy-themed environments that form paths as the player approaches the edge. Levels consist of a single plane, and are viewed isometrically. They are filled with enemies of various types, which attempt to harm the Kid. The Kid carries two weapons, which may be selected from the choices available to the player at specific locations called arsenals. The Kid also has the ability to perform a special attack. Weapons and special attacks must be acquired before they can be used. There are a limited number of special attacks that the player can perform at any time, represented by "black tonics" that can be found in the levels or dropped from enemies. Special attacks may be used a total of three times. This maximum number of uses can be increased in the Distillery. The Kid's health is represented by a health bar, which can be replenished with "health tonics". Like black tonics, the Kid can only carry a certain number of health tonics at a time, and can replenish them by finding more in the levels.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Levels contain many different environment types, including cities, forests, and bogs. At the end of most levels, the player collects an item called a core or a shard; occasionally, the level begins to disintegrate once the Kid takes the item, forcing him to hastily retreat. As the player progresses through the levels, a voice narrates their actions. This narration gives scripted plot information as well as dynamic comments, such as on the player's skill with a weapon or performance while fighting enemies.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Between levels, the Kid visits the Bastion, where the player can use fragments—the game's form of currency—that they have accrued to buy materials and upgrade weapons. With each core the player collects, they can add one of six structures to the Bastion, such as a shrine, an armory, or a distillery, and each shard allows the player to expand a structure. Each structure serves a different purpose; for example, the distillery lets the player select upgrades, and the shrine allows the player to choose idols of the gods to invoke, causing the enemies to become stronger and giving the player increased experience points and currency. Experience points are used to determine the Kid's ability level; higher values give the player more health and increase the number of upgrades they can select.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Whenever the player leaves the Bastion, they can choose between one or two regular levels to play. In addition to these levels, however, the Kid can engage in challenge courses designed to test the player's skills with the weapons the player has found. They are called Proving Grounds. The challenges differ depending on the weapon, such as destroying a certain number of objects within a given time or breaking targets in the fewest shots possible. According to the player's score, different tiers of prizes are awarded. Additionally, the Kid can fight waves of enemies while the narrator tells a character's backstory by journeying to "Who Knows Where" from the Bastion. The back story battles occur during 'Memories.' The player earns fragments and experience for each completed wave. After the game is completed, the player can choose to begin a "new game+" mode, where the player replays through the game while keeping the experience points, fragments, and weapons that they have gained. This mode also offers more options in the buildings, as well as two more journeys to "Who Knows Where".


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The game takes place in the aftermath of the Calamity, a catastrophic event that suddenly fractured the city of Caelondia () as well as the surrounding areas of the game's world into many floating pieces, disrupting its ecology and reducing most of its people to ash. Players take control of the Kid, a silent protagonist who awakens on one of the few remaining pieces of the old world and sets off for the eponymous Bastion, where everyone was supposed to go in troubled times. The only survivor he meets there is an elderly man named Rucks, the game's narrator, who instructs him to collect the Cores that once powered Caelondia. A device in the Bastion can use the power of the crystalline Cores to create landmasses and structures, as well as enable the Kid to travel farther afield via "skyways" that propel him through the air.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: During his quest, the Kid meets two more survivors: Zulf, an ambassador from the Ura, underground-dwelling people with whom Caelondia was once at war; and Zia, an Ura girl who was raised in Caelondia. Both of them return to the Bastion, but upon reading a journal that the Kid discovers, Zulf intentionally damages parts of the Bastion's central device (the monument) and returns to Ura territory. The Kid learns that the journal belonged to Zia's father, Venn, who had worked for the Caelondians. He had helped Caelondian scientists ("Mancers") build a weapon intended to destroy the Ura completely to prevent another war. Venn rigged the weapon to backfire, so that when he was finally forced to trigger it, the resulting Calamity destroyed most of Caelondia as well.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: To repair Zulf's damage to the Bastion, the Kid starts collecting Shards, a lesser form of Cores. As he obtains the penultimate shard needed, the Ura attack the Bastion, damaging it and abducting Zia. In the next seven days, The Kid engages in sporadic skirmishes in Ura territory. When he finally blasts through an Ura outpost and meets Zia, she tells him that she had left with the Ura voluntarily to find out their intentions; Rucks had previously told Zia that the Bastion had the ability to somehow fix the Calamity. The Kid travels to the once-underground Ura homeland to retrieve the last shard. There, he discovers Zulf being attacked by his own people: the battle with the Kid has devastated the Ura forces, and they blame Zulf for bringing the Kid to their home. The Kid can choose to drop his weapon to help Zulf or leave him. If he leaves Zulf behind, the Kid destroys the remnants of the Ura and escapes through a skyway. If he chooses to carry Zulf, Ura archers initially open fire on them but ultimately cease fire and watch silently as the Kid and Zulf take the skyway back to the Bastion.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: After the Kid returns and recovers, Rucks gives him another choice: He can have the Bastion rewind time to before the Calamity in the hopes of preventing it, or use it to evacuate the survivors and move on to somewhere safe. Rucks is unsure if there is any way to prevent the Calamity from reoccurring if the time is rewound, as there was no way to test the process. The game ends either way, showing images of the characters (with the inclusion of Zulf if the player chose to rescue him) flying away or of their lives before the Calamity along with the credits. In the New Game+ mode, which is unlocked after beating the game once, it is hinted that restoring the world did not prevent the Calamity.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: "Bastion" was created by a team of seven people, who composed the studio Supergiant Games. It was the company's first game. The game was directed by Amir Rao and Greg Kasavin wrote the game's narration, which was spoken by Logan Cunningham. Jen Zee was the artist, Gavin Simon developed the gameplay, Andrew Wang helped develop the game, and Darren Korb handled the sound effects and music. The co-founders of Supergiant Games, Rao and Simon, previously worked for Electronic Arts, where they helped develop "" and "". They left to form the studio because they wanted the development speed and the ability to try new ideas that would be possible with a smaller team. Development began on the game in September 2009. The team created the game over almost two years, and funded the development themselves. Most of the team built the game in a house in San Jose, though the music and voice acting were recorded in New York City. Some of the San Jose designers—including the writer—did not meet Rucks' voice actor in person until near the release of the game. The team spent the first nine months of development prototyping various ideas, before settling on the game's design.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The original idea was based around the premise of creating a town like those found in a role-playing game. The team chose the design elements of a fractured, floating world due to their wish to portray a sky in the game, which is usually not possible with an isometric camera, as it always points down. They also wanted to forgo a map system, and felt that having the ground come up to the Kid allowed the player to easily see without a map where they had already been in a level. The story of the Calamity was created as a way to explain this game mechanic. Jen Zee developed the art style of the game to express beauty in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The hand-painted style was intended to soften the sharpness she saw as typical in isometric games and the colorless, harsh depictions of most devastated landscapes. Zee was inspired by the pixel art landscapes of earlier Japanese isometric games.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The narrator was added early in the game's development as a way to provide background details and depth to the world without requiring the player to read long strings of text or wait through cutscenes. To avoid slowing the pace of the action-oriented gameplay, the team had the narrator mainly speak in short, evocative phrases, with long pauses between speaking parts. The narrator is intended to feel like an "old acquaintance" to the player, a connection built by his commentary on the player's actions as they happen, both major and minor. Kasavin sought to make the game feel as if it were the player's story, rather than just a story being watched. The development of "Bastion" was chronicled in the monthly Building the Bastion video series from October 2010 to May 2011 in which Supergiant Games collaborated with Kasavin's former GameSpot co-workers at Giant Bomb. The videos showed early game concepts in addition to the process of building the final game, as well as interviews with the team.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Supergiant Games showed an early, unplayable version of the game at the March 2010 Game Developers Conference, to little acclaim. They debuted a playable version of the game at the September 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, where it was well received. After a strong showing at the March 2011 Game Developers Conference, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment signed on to publish and distribute the game. This publishing agreement lasted until September 2019, when Supergiant Games took over as publisher on all platforms. The team decided to partner with a publisher in order to get through the process of Xbox Live certification. "Bastion" was released on July 20, 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), and on August 16, 2011 for digital distribution on Windows through Steam. It was released as a browser game for Google Chrome on December 9, 2011. A version for Mac OS X was made available via the Mac App Store on April 26, 2012 along with a SteamPlay update for Mac OS X and Windows. Ports followed for PlayStation 4 on April 7, 2015, PlayStation Vita on December 5, 2015, Xbox One on December 12, 2016, and Nintendo Switch on September 13, 2018.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: "Bastion"s soundtrack was produced and composed by Darren Korb, a songwriter and composer. He was selected to pen the soundtrack by Rao, who was a childhood friend of Korb. "Bastion" was the first video game that Korb had scored; prior to it he had worked on a few smaller television shows and movies. He was brought onto the team in the beginning stages of the project, and several of the pieces he developed were created prior to the final design of the levels with which they were associated. The musical style of the soundtrack has been described by Korb as "acoustic frontier trip hop". It was intended to evoke both the American frontier and an exotic fantasy world. The songs combine "heavily sampled beats in layers, along with acoustic elements", and he determined that he wanted to create the soundtrack in that style as it was different from video game soundtracks that he had heard before. The music was recorded in Korb's closet at his New York City apartment, as were the sound effects and more than three thousand lines of narration by Cunningham.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: In addition to composing the music, Korb wrote all the lyrics for the soundtrack. The soundtrack features four vocal themes: "Build That Wall", "What's Left Undone", "Mother, I'm Here", and "Setting Sail, Coming Home". "Build That Wall" features the voice of Ashley Lynn Barrett, "What's Left Undone" features that of Cunningham and "Mother, I'm Here" features Korb, and both Korb and Barrett perform in "Setting Sail, Coming Home". Supergiant Games originally had not planned to release a full soundtrack album for the game, but due to fan demand they released one in digital format on August 5, 2011, with two songs not heard in the game. These songs are "Get Used to It", which has a voiceover written by Greg Kasavin and spoken by Logan Cunningham, and "The Pantheon (Ain't Gonna Catch You)", with lyrics written by Korb and sung by Cunningham. A physical limited edition CD signed by Korb was released on September 2. The soundtrack sold 30,000 copies by November 2011. On March 15, 2012, Supergiant Games released sheet music for piano and guitar arrangements by Korb of "Build That Wall", "Mother, I'm Here", "Setting Sail, Coming Home", and "The Pantheon (Ain't Gonna Catch You)" free in their online store.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: "Bastion" was released to strong sales and critical acclaim. The game sold more than 500,000 copies during 2011, 200,000 of which were for the Xbox Live Arcade. In March 2013 at the PAX East gaming convention, Bastion's creative director Greg Kasavin stated that the game had sold more than 1.7 million copies combined across all platforms. By May 2014, the game had sold over 2 million copies, and by January 2015, it had sold over 3 million. Bob Mackey of 1UP.com called it "the perfect mesh of game and story", and McKinley Noble of "GamePro" said that it "raises the visual and narrative bar for downloadable titles". Maxwell McGee of GameSpot called it "wonderfully crafted" and "an amazingly good time", and Greg Miller of IGN concluded that "Bastion" "is amazing and you owe it to yourself to download it".


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The presentation of the game was widely praised, especially the narration. Mackey said that the game "could be sold on its presentation alone", focusing on the graphics, music, and story. "Edge" said that the narration added "emotional resonance" to the game, and Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer praised the "dazzling visuals" and "artful commentary". "Game Informer"s Matt Miller highlighted "the well-written narration, excellent music, and bright visuals" as factors that made the game feel "like a storybook in which you control the outcome." Of the presentation elements, the story was the least praised, though several reviewers such as Noble enjoyed it, saying that it "just gets better the further you delve into it." Ryan Scott of GameSpy, however, termed it a "just-sorta-there plot", and Greg Miller said that it "could have been better" and never "hooked" him.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: Reviewers had a more mixed opinion of the gameplay. Mackey praised the variety of gameplay elements and said that combat has "a deceptive amount of depth", but Bramwell felt that the combat did not "invite experimentation" and was somewhat disappointing. "Edge" said that the gameplay was "more interested in variety than challenge", for which he praised it, and Matt Miller said that combat was "a lot of fun", though he felt it lacked "the depth, speed, or complexity of a true action game". Greg Miller highlighted the variety of the gameplay as the best part of the game, and Scott called it "enjoyable", though not "challenging".


title: Bastion (video game)

text: The game won several awards, both before and after publication. It was nominated for the 2011 Independent Games Festival awards at the Game Developers Conference in the Excellence In Visual Art and Excellence In Audio categories. It went on to win the Game Critics Award for Best Downloadable Game of E3 2011, and received a nomination for Best Original Game. The game continued to be nominated for awards after release. It was nominated for the Best Independent Game award at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, and won the Best Original Score and Best Downloadable Game awards, "Build That Wall (Zia's Theme)" won the Best Song in a Game award, and "Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)" was nominated for the same award. It was named the Downloadable Title of the Year by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and was nominated for their Outstanding Innovation in Gaming award.


title: Bastion (video game)

text: 1UP.com gave "Bastion" their Best Narrative in a Game award, and "Game Informer" gave it the Best RPG Innovation award for the narration in the game. In GameSpot's Game of the Year awards, "Bastion" won the Song of the Year award for "Build That Wall" as well as the Readers' Choice award for Best Download-only Console Game. IGN termed it the "Best XBLA Game of 2011", and RPGamer gave the game their Role-Playing Game of the Year award. "Official Xbox Magazine" awarded it their Best Music award and nominated it for Best Art Direction, Role-Playing Game of the Year, and XBLA Game of the Year. The music won the Game Audio Network Guild's Best Audio in a Casual/Indie/Social Game award, and Darren Korb was selected as the Rookie of the Year. The game was nominated for the 2012 Game Developers Conference awards in the Innovation, Best Audio, and Best Narrative categories, and won the Best Downloadable Game award. Supergiant Games won the Best Debut award.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: ' (Sanskrit: वैश्रवण) or ' (Pali; , , , , ), is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is considered an important figure in Buddhism.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: The name is a derivative (used, e.g., for patronymics) of the Sanskrit proper name from the root "hear distinctly", (passive) "become famous". The name is derived from the Sanskrit " which means "son of Vishrava", a usual epithet of the Hindu god Kubera. is also known as Kubera and Jambhala in Sanskrit and Kuvera in Pāli.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: The character of is founded upon the Hindu deity Kubera, but although the Buddhist and Hindu deities share some characteristics and epithets, each of them has different functions and associated myths. Although brought into East Asia as a Buddhist deity, has become a character in folk religion and has acquired an identity that is partially independent of the Buddhist tradition (cf. the similar treatment of Guanyin and Yama).


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: He is often portrayed with a yellow face. He carries an umbrella or parasol (chatra) as a symbol of his sovereignty. He is also sometimes displayed with a mongoose, often shown ejecting jewels from its mouth. The mongoose is the enemy of the snake, a symbol of greed or hatred; the ejection of jewels represents generosity.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In the Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism, is called . is one of the "Cāturmahārājika deva" or "Four Great Heavenly Kings", each of whom rules over a specific direction. 's realm is the northern quadrant of the world, including the land of Uttarakuru. According to some suttas, he takes his name from a region there called ; he also has a city there called Ālakamandā which is a byword for wealth. governs the yakshas – beings with a nature between 'fairy' and 'ogre'.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: 's wife is named Bhuñjatī, and he has five daughters, Latā, Sajjā, Pavarā, Acchimatī, and Sutā. He has a nephew called , a yakkha, husband of the nāga woman Irandatī. He has a chariot called Nārīvāhana. He is called gadāvudha (Sanskrit: gadāyudha) "armed with a club", but he only used it before he became a follower of the Buddha.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: As with all the Buddhist deities, is properly the name of an office (filled for life) rather than a permanent individual. Each is mortal, and when he dies, he will be replaced by a new . Like other beings of the Cātummahārājika world, his lifespan is 90,000 years (other sources say nine million years). has the authority to grant the yakkhas particular areas (e.g., a lake) to protect, and these are usually assigned at the beginning of a 's reign.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: When Gautama Buddha was born, became his follower, and eventually attained the stage of sotāpanna, one who has only seven more lives before enlightenment. He often brought the Buddha and his followers messages from the gods and other humans, and protected them. He presented to the Buddha the verses, which Buddhists meditating in the forest could use to ward off the attacks of wild yakkhas or other supernatural beings who do not have faith in the Buddha. These verses are an early form of paritta chanting.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: Bimbisāra, King of Magadha, after his death was reborn as a yakkha called Janavasabha in the retinue of .


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In the early years of Buddhism, was worshipped at trees dedicated to him as shrines. Some people appealed to him to grant them children.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In China, Vaiśravaṇa, also known as Píshāméntiān (毗沙門天), is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is he is considered to be a warrior god and protector of the north. He is also regarded as one of the "Twenty Devas" (二十諸天 Èrshí Zhūtiān) or the "Twenty-Four Devas" (二十四諸天 Èrshísì zhūtiān), a group of Buddhist dharmapalas who manifest to protect the Dharma. In Chinese Buddhist iconography, he holds a pagoda in his right hand and a trident in his left hand. In Chinese temples, he is often enshrined within the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (天王殿) with the other three Heavenly Kings. His name Duōwén Tiānwáng (多聞天王 lit. "listening to many teachings") is a reference to the belief that he guards the place where the Buddha teaches. In Taoist belief, he is conflated with the god Li Jing, whose iconography incorporates many of Vaiśravaṇa's characteristics, such as carrying a pagoda.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In Japan, Bishamonten (毘沙門天), or just Bishamon (毘沙門) is thought of as an armor-clad god of war or warriors and a punisher of evildoers. Bishamon is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, the latter symbolizing the divine treasure house, whose contents he both guards and gives away. In Japanese folklore, he is one of the Seven Lucky Gods.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: Bishamon is also called Tamonten (多聞天 lit. "listening to many teachings") because he is seen as the guardian of the places where the Buddha preaches. He is believed to live halfway down Mount Sumeru. He is also associated with Hachiman. Especially in the "Shingon tradition" that gives some place and worth to this hybrid character of Bishamon although most Mahayana temples have Bishamon and his counterpart as guardians at the entrance gate.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In Tibet, is considered a lokapāla or dharmapāla in the retinue of Ratnasambhava. He is also known as the King of the North. As guardian of the north, he is often depicted on temple murals outside the main door. He is also thought of as a god of wealth. As such, is sometimes portrayed carrying a citron, the fruit of the "jambhara" tree, a pun on another name of his, Jambhala. The fruit helps distinguish him iconically from depictions of Kuvera. He is sometimes represented as corpulent and covered with jewels. When shown seated, his right foot is generally pendant and supported by a lotus-flower on which is a conch shell. His mount is a snow lion. Tibetan Buddhists consider Jambhala's sentiment regarding wealth to be providing freedom by way of bestowing prosperity, so that one may focus on the path or spirituality rather than on the materiality and temporality of that wealth.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: In Thailand, he resolves the dispute that arose in the legend of Nang Ai and Phadaeng. At Wat Chulamanee temple in Samut Songkhram Province, there is a huge statue of him that is very popular in worship, until becoming a phenomenon in the early 2022.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: The 2011 manga "Noragami", which revolves around Japanese mythology, depicts this deity's Japanese iteration Bishamonten as a lady possessing similar traits and equipped with modern weapons.


title: Vaiśravaṇa

text: Bishamonten also made a depiction as a fighter of the Ragnarok, representing the Gods, in Record of Ragnarok.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the Scottish rugby team played their first official test match, winning 1–0 against England at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in 1999—and sharing it another 8. In 2000 the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy, thus forming the Six Nations. Since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. The Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and Scotland have competed in all nine competitions, the most recent being in 2019, where they failed to reach the quarter-finals. Their best finish came in 1991, where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland have a strong rivalry with the English national team. They both compete annually for the Calcutta Cup. Each year, this fixture is played out as part of the Six Nations, with Scotland having last won in 2022.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In December 1870 a group of Scots players issued a letter of challenge in "The Scotsman" and in "Bell's Life in London", to play an England XX at rugby rules. The English could hardly ignore such a challenge and this led to the first-ever rugby international match being played at Academical Cricket Club's ground at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, on Monday 27 March 1871. In front of around 4000 spectators, the Scots won the encounter by a try (made by Angus Buchanan) and a goal (made by William Cross) to a solitary try scored by England (a points scoring system had not then been devised so only the goal counted towards the 1–0 score). England later got revenge by winning the return match at the Kennington Oval, London in the following year.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Calcutta Cup was donated to the Rugby Football Union in 1878 by the members of the short-lived Calcutta Rugby Club. The members had decided to disband: the cup was crafted from melted-down silver rupees which became available when the club's funds were withdrawn from the bank. The Cup is unique in that it is competed for annually only by England and Scotland. The first Calcutta Cup match was played in 1879 and, since that time, over 100 matches have taken place.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1882 the Home Nations Championship, the fore-runner of the modern Six Nations Championship was founded with Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland taking part. The Scots enjoyed occasional success in the early years, winning their first Triple Crown in 1891 and repeating the feat again in 1895, and vying with Wales for dominance in the first decade of the 20th century. Further Triple Crowns wins for Scotland followed in 1901, 1903 and 1907. However, Scotland's triumph in 1907 would be the last for eighteen years as the First World War (1914–1918) and England's dominance afterwards would deny them glory.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1897 land was purchased by the SFU at Inverleith, Edinburgh. Thus the SFU became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground. The first visitors were Ireland, on 18 February 1899 (Scotland 3–9 Ireland). International rugby was played at Inverleith until 1925. The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield Stadium which was opened on 21 March 1925.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1925 Scotland already had victories over France at Inverleith (25–4), Wales in Swansea (24–14) and Ireland in Dublin (14–8). England, the Grand Slam champions of the two previous seasons were the first visitors to Murrayfield. 70,000 spectators saw the lead change hands three times before Scotland secured a 14–11 victory which gave them their first-ever Five Nations Grand Slam.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1926, Scotland became the first Home nation side to defeat England at Twickenham after England had won the Grand Slam five times in eight seasons.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 brought rugby union in Scotland to a halt. The SRU cancelled all arranged trial and international matches and encouraged the member clubs to carry on as best they could. Some clubs closed down, others amalgamated and carried on playing other local clubs and, sometimes, teams from the armed forces stationed in their various areas.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Internationals resumed in the 1946–47 season, although these were not formally recognised and no caps were awarded to participating players. In January 1946, Scotland played and defeated a strong New Zealand Armed Forces team by 11–6. Scotland resumed full international matches in February 1947, losing 22–8 to Wales at Murrayfield.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The period after World War Two was not a successful one for Scotland. In 1951, the touring Springboks massacred Scotland 44–0 scoring nine tries, a then record defeat. Scotland suffered 17 successive defeats between February 1951 and February 1955, scored only 54 points in these 17 games: 11 tries, six conversions, and four penalties.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The teams from 1955 to 1963 were an improvement. There were no wins over England, but three of the games were drawn. Occasional wins were recorded against Wales, Ireland and France. 1964 was a good year for Scotland. New Zealand were held to a 0–0 draw, the last international match in which no points were scored. The Calcutta Cup was won 15–6, the first time since 1950 and they shared the Five Nations title in 1964 with Wales.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1971 the SRU appointed Bill Dickinson as their head coach, after years of avoidance, as it was their belief that rugby should remain an amateur sport. He was officially designated as an "adviser to the captain".


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland were the first of the Home Unions to run a truly nationwide club league. This was introduced in 1973 and still flourishes today with several of the country's original clubs still very much in evidence, such as Heriots, West of Scotland, Watsonians and the famous 'border' clubs such as Gala, Hawick, Jed-Forest, Kelso and Melrose. However the advent of professionalism saw Scotland's District championship abandoned and two 'Super Districts' formed, which have resulted in the top players generally being unavailable for their clubs. These teams play in international club competitions such as the Heineken Cup and the Pro14.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: On 1 March 1975, around 104,000 spectators watched Scotland defeat Wales 12–10 in a Five Nations match at Murrayfield. The attendance at the time was a World Record for a Rugby Union match, and remains the record attendance at Murrayfield. That win was part of a run of nine successive wins at Murrayfield during the 1970s for the national side, but they were unable to transfer that form outwith Scotland, only managing two away wins during the decade.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 1977 Nairn McEwan succeeded Bill Dickinson as national coach. However, he was only able to win one international in his three years in charge. Nevertheless, rugby in Scotland was clearly developing. The establishment of the national leagues in 1973–74 was beginning to bear fruit; the standard of club and district rugby was higher than ever and players were more accustomed to experiencing pressure in matches where the result really mattered. Fewer players were being selected from English clubs to represent Scotland as the domestic game was producing an adequate number of players of genuine international class for the first time since the First World War.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Jim Telfer became national coach in 1980, inheriting a squad of genuine potential. In March 1982 Scotland won away in Wales for the first time in 20 years. Scotland toured Australia in July 1982 and won the first test, Scotland's first away victory against any of the big three Southern Hemisphere sides. After this, the 1983 season was a disappointment; losing their first three Five Nations matches. However, the tournament ended on a high when Scotland recorded only their second victory over England at Twickenham since 1938. Scotland then went on to draw with the All Blacks 25–25 in the late autumn.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland recovered their form in 1984 and achieved their second Grand Slam, and their first since 1925, under the captaincy of Jim Aitken. The team benefited from consistent selection – 12 players took part in all four Five Nations matches, and of the 20 players used in total throughout only two played for clubs outwith Scotland. Jim Telfer stood down after the Grand Slam to concentrate on his professional career as a school master. He was succeeded by his assistant, the former Hawick fly-half, Colin Telfer (not a relative). He lasted just over a year, enduring a whitewash in the 1985 Five Nations, before resigning to concentrate on his business. Derrick Grant was then appointed head coach.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In January 1986, a trial match between "Blues" (players expected to feature for Scotland) and "Reds" (emerging players with a possible international future) resulted in a shock 41–10 win for the "Reds". The "Reds" team included Gavin and Scott Hastings, Finlay Calder and David Sole, all of whom who would debut for Scotland in the Five Nations that year and feature prominently for side in the years that followed. Scotland went on to share the 1986 Five Nations championship with France, each side winning three out of their four games. The series also saw Scotland thrash England 33–6 at Murrayfield; Scotland's record win over the English, at the time one point short of Scotland's best score in any rugby union international and England's heaviest defeat in over a century.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland went to the first World Cup, played in New Zealand and Australia in the summer of 1987. John Rutherford, the team's general and controlling influence, had injured his knee on an unauthorised tour of Bermuda. He broke down after less than a quarter of an hour of the first World Cup match against France and never played for Scotland again. Scotland had been in the lead but the match finished level. Scotland lost to New Zealand in the quarter-final. On 27 June 1988, Ian McGeechan was appointed as head coach to succeed Derrick Grant who had retired after the end of the 1988 Five Nations series.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Their greatest year in the modern era was 1990, when their season came down to one game, a Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield against the "auld enemy", England. Both sides had won all their Five Nations fixtures, and England were overwhelming favourites despite being the away side. Scotland under the captaincy of prop David Sole went on to win 13–7,> and with it their third Grand Slam. The match against England in 1990 was also only the second time that Flower of Scotland was played at Murrayfield, having become Scotland's pre-match national anthem that year.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The second World Cup took place in 1991 with matches shared between the Five Nations. Scotland won their pool, though the game against Ireland was close, and then beat Western Samoa in the quarter-final. They lost to England in the semi-final held at Murrayfield to a Rob Andrew drop goal. In the third place play-off they were beaten by New Zealand.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland went through 1994 without a single win, but bounced back in 1995 to win their first three Five Nations matches. This run of wins included a 23–21 win away against France, courtesy of a last minute try and conversion by Gavin Hastings. This was Scotland's first win in Paris since 1969. The last Five Nations match was another Grand Slam decider against England; however, this time the English defeated the Scots 24–12, largely due to the kicking prowess of Rob Andrew.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The third World Cup, held in South Africa, came in 1995. Pool play saw a narrow defeat by France, thanks to an injury-time try, and Scotland finished second in the pool. They were eliminated in the quarter-final against New Zealand.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland won the last-ever Five Nations Championship in 1999 with a last minute win by Wales over England. However, in the 1999 World Cup they suffered a quarter-final defeat to New Zealand.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland endured a torrid Six Nations in 2000, losing their first four straight games. but won the final game against England 19–13 under captain Andy Nicol.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Australian coach Matt Williams became the first foreigner to coach Scotland in 2003. However his tenure was both controversial and unsuccessful, marred by a string of poor results and fall-outs with coaches and players. In 2004 Williams attempted to introduce a controversial "Fortress Scotland" policy, whereby only those currently playing in Scotland were eligible to play in the national team. Meanwhile, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) came under new management, chief executive Phil Anderton (known as 'Firework Phil' for his pre-match entertainment spectacles) was leading the way back to financial solvency and implementing major reforms to reverse the decline of the game in Scotland, but he resigned in January 2005 after his boss David Mackay was forced to resign by the SRU's general committee. By April 2005, Scotland had won only three out of 17 matches under Williams. Following a review by the SRU and public criticism from several of his players, Williams was finally sacked on 25 April 2005.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Frank Hadden, the head coach of Edinburgh Gunners, was appointed interim coach for the 2005 summer internationals against the Barbarians and Romania, winning both. On 15 September 2005, he was appointed national coach of the Scotland team.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In the first match of the 2006 Six Nations campaign, against France, Scotland won 20–16, and this was the first time since 1999 that they had beaten France. Scotland also beat England 18–12 at home at Murrayfield to reclaim the Calcutta Cup.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In the 2006 Autumn internationals Scotland won two of three fixtures. They convincingly beat Romania and put up a solid first half performance against the Pacific Islanders. In the final match against Australia, Scotland failed to impress, with Australia winning 44–15.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In 2007, Scotland became the first Six Nations team to lose at home to Italy, 17–37. This was Italy's biggest ever victory over Scotland, home or away. Later that year, the side travelled to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. They made their way through their group and reached the quarter finals, where they were knocked out by Argentina.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland opened their 2008 Six Nations campaign losing 27–6 to France at home. Pressure on Frank Hadden started to intensify after Scotland lost to Wales and then to Ireland. They then defeated England in the Calcutta Cup with a 15–9 victory before succumbing to Italy, avoiding the wooden spoon only on scoring difference. They then toured Argentina in the summer to play two tests against Argentina. They lost the first test 21–15, but won the second 26–14.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In a dismal 2009 Six Nations campaign, Scotland won just one match for a second consecutive year (against Italy) and thus, on 2 April 2009 Frank Hadden resigned as head coach of the national side. On 4 June 2009, ex-England, Edinburgh and Bath coach Andy Robinson was named head coach in time for the 2009 Autumn Internationals. Scotland's form picked up with a 23–10 victory over Fiji and a memorable 9–8 win against Australia (the first win over the Wallabies for 27 years) at Murrayfield.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In the 2010 Six Nations Scotland lost against France, Wales and Italy before drawing with England. Against Ireland, in the final rugby match at Croke Park, Scotland gained their only win of the tournament 23–20 with a last-minute penalty by Dan Parks, denying the Irish the Triple Crown and assuring they themselves would avoid the wooden spoon. That summer, Scotland toured Argentina and recorded their first ever away series victory, beating the Pumas in both tests, 24–16 and 13–9. In the Autumn Internationals of 2010, Scotland lost heavily against New Zealand before recording victories against South Africa, 21–17, and Samoa, 19–16.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland had a poor showing in the 2011 Six Nations, winning just one match, a 21–8 victory over Italy. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Scotland struggled to beat Romania 34–24 and Georgia 15–6, before losing 13–12 to Argentina. Needing a win going into their final match against England in Auckland, they led 12–3 with a quarter of the game to go, only to lose out to a Chris Ashton try, going down 16–12. This was the first time Scotland had been knocked out in the group stages of the Rugby World Cup.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland were terrible during the 2012 Six Nations, picking up the wooden spoon and being whitewashed, despite promising moments, and falling to 12th, Scotland's lowest ever in the IRB rankings. Even after this whitewash, Scotland defeated Australia 9–6 in the 2012 Scotland rugby union tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa. This was Scotland's first win in Australia since 1982 and the first time in 30 years that Scotland defeated Australia more than once in a row. Scotland also recorded away wins over both Fiji and Samoa. During Scotland's 2012 Autumn Tests they suffered a series of defeats, versus the All Blacks, South Africa and most notably Tonga, which caused head coach Andy Robinson to resign.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: During the 2013 Six Nations, Scotland won their matches against Italy and Ireland to finish third, their best finish in the competition since 2006. On 3 May 2013, Johnson was named the first ever Director of Rugby for Scotland responsible for overseeing all rugby in the nation. On 27 May 2013, it was announced that Vern Cotter would become head coach of Scotland, but the SRU had to wait until 2014 as club Clermont failed to reach an agreement with the SRU to release Cotter a year early from his contract.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland had a dismal 2014 Six Nations campaign; managing only one win (away in Italy), finishing second bottom and hammered 51–3 by Wales in the final match. Vern Cotter finally assumed his role as head coach, and in June of the same year Scotland won three tests against the top teams of the Americas, before being hammered by South Africa 55–6. The three autumn tests held at Murrayfield during November yielded wins over Argentina and Tonga, and a narrow defeat against New Zealand. The test against Tonga took place at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, and was the first Rugby Union international to be played on an artificial surface.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The 2015 Six Nations Championship ended in a whitewash for Scotland, despite optimism amongst players and supporters beforehand. However, Scotland displayed improved performances in their World Cup warm-up games over the summer, with two wins over Italy and narrow defeats away in Ireland and France. Scotland played well at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England; qualifying from their group by beating Japan, USA and Samoa, although they lost to South Africa. Scotland played Australia in the quarter-finals, and with 30 seconds remaining led 34–32, having benefited from an incorrect refereeing decision that resulted in Scotland's second try. However, referee Craig Joubert then awarded the Wallabies a highly controversial penalty, later judged by the game's ruling body to be incorrect, which Bernard Foley scored to give Australia victory.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland lost their first two games in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, extending their losing streak in the Six Nations to nine matches, their worst run in the championship since the 1950s. The Scots finally ended their losing run with a 36–20 win over Italy in Rome; John Barclay, John Hardie and Tommy Seymour all scoring tries. Scotland followed that win up with a victory over France at Murrayfield; Stuart Hogg, Duncan Taylor and Tim Visser scoring tries in a 29–18 win. It was Scotland's first victory over France since 2006, and also ended a 10 match losing streak against "Les Bleus". Scotland had a successful tour of Japan in June (winning both test matches), and during the Autumn Internationals recorded a third consecutive win against Argentina (their seventh recognised win overall against the Pumas).


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In the 2017 Six Nations, Scotland saw a marked improvement in performance with three home wins and two away defeats. This was Vern Cotter's last tournament as head coach of Scotland, despite them also beating Australia 24–19 on the summer tour of the Southern Hemisphere. In their first 6Ns game, Scotland went in with confidence to win their first opening match for eleven years against Ireland in a close match at Murrayfield Stadium. This followed with a defeat in Paris to France. Scotland secured a win over Wales in their third game, Scotland's first since 2007. In the eagerly anticipated Calcutta Cup tie against England at Twickenham, however, Scotland were thrashed 61–21. This was a record defeat against the English, and a result which ended their hopes of winning the Six Nations. In the last week, Scotland defeated Italy at Murrayfield with a 29–0 victory, securing fourth place in the tournament table.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Gregor Townsend took over as head coach in June 2017. His first fixture as head coach was against Italy in Singapore where Scotland won 34–13. A week later Scotland defeated Australia 24–19 in Sydney, the second time in a row Scotland had won on Australian soil. The victory was made more notable by the list of absentees, such as Stuart Hogg and Grieg Laidlaw, who were in New Zealand on Lions' duty. The tour was concluded by a 27–22 loss to Fiji in Suva.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Victory over Samoa in November 2017 was followed by a breathtaking performance against New Zealand at a sold-out Murrayfield. Tries from Jonny Gray and Huw Jones brought Scotland to 17–22 with barely a minute to go, but it took a superb cover tackle from the All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett to prevent Stuart Hogg from scoring a winning try. A week later Scotland registered a record win over the Wallabies, who played with 14 men for the majority of the game after Kepu's dismissal, inflicting eight tries on the visitors in what was the Australian hooker Stephen Moore's final international game. Scotland won 53–24, their biggest ever margin of victory over Australia.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Scotland took an early exit with losses to both Ireland and the hosts. Scotland did however score ninety-five unanswered points across two wins against Samoa and Russia.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: On 6 February 2021, Scotland won their first game of that year's Six Nations tournament, defeating England 6 – 11 at Twickenham for the first time since 1983 and securing the Calcutta Cup. On 13 February they lost their next match, against Wales, 25–24 at Murrayfield.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The thistle is the national flower, and also the symbol of the Scotland national rugby union team. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in the defence of Scotland against a night attack by Norwegian Vikings, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" in English) is an ancient motto of the Kings of Scotland, and also of Scotland's premier chivalric order, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and of the Scots Guards (the latter both "belonging" to the monarch).


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: "Flower of Scotland" has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. It was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace "God Save the Queen". In the first year of using "Flower of Scotland" as an anthem, Scotland walked onto the pitch at the beginning of the Five Nations Championship deciding match against England. This combination was explosive and Scotland went on to beat England 13–7 and win the Five Nations Championship with a Grand Slam.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Before "Flower of Scotland" was adopted as national anthem, "Scotland the Brave" was played for Scotland in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Said song was usually immediately played before "God Save the Queen" when Scotland was playing at home (during the entrance of the teams), as result from a decision of the SRU to defuse any possibility of a "national embarrassment" (which the Scottish press feared) caused by the crowd booing the latter anthem, as the Queen was visiting Murrayfield during the 1976 Calcutta Cup.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. Traditionally this is a white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks. For a brief period, when Cotton Oxford were the shirt sponsors, the white shirt was replaced by a bright orange one with orange and blue hoops on the sleeves. This was first used against the New Zealand Māori on 14 November 1998. This change strip was replaced by the traditional white one just two years later. Also during this sponsorship deal, purple was introduced to the traditional blue jersey. This was a significant departure from the traditional colours of blue and white, although purple is inspired from the thistle flower.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: In September 1993, a sponsorship deal was announced with The Famous Grouse, resulting in a sponsors' name being added to Scottish international players' kit for the first time in addition to the jersey manufacturers' emblem. In 1997 a new deal saw the Grouse logo appear on the Scotland jersey. Further deals followed and it became the longest association with a sponsor in world rugby. During this time, when Scotland played test matches in France, The Famous Grouse logo was replaced by the initials "TFG" due to the Evin law that bans any alcohol advertisement (including in sports events) in France. In May 2007, after seventeen years, The Famous Grouse ended its shirt sponsorship with the team. The Famous Grouse did maintain a low profile link to the Scottish Rugby Union by becoming the main spirit sponsor. This deal is thought to be worth a tenth of the original cost and forbids the Scottish Rugby Union from affiliating itself from any other whisky manufacturer.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: On 3 September 2007 it was announced that the then Rangers chairman Sir David Murray's company would become the new shirt sponsor, in a deal worth £2.7million over three years. In August 2011, the Royal Bank of Scotland took over as main sponsors of Scottish Rugby, after Sir David Murray's company decided to end their sponsorship. BT became the primary shirt sponsor as part of the £20 million deal signed in 2014. In the summer of 2021 Peter Vardy Group replaced BT as principal partner and shirt sponsor.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Between the 2007 Rugby World Cup warm up games and the 2013 South African quadrangular tournament, the fonts used for their number kit on the back of their kits were Crillee Extra Bold Italic. But since Macron took over as kit supplier, the number fonts on the back of their kits were Arial rounded MT bold (or Oswald Bold, during the 2015 Rugby World Cup).


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland play at Murrayfield Stadium which is the largest sports stadium in Scotland and with a capacity of 67,144 the fifth largest in the UK. In the early years the Scottish rugby team played at Inverleith in Edinburgh. In 1923 SRU identified 19 acres of land at Murrayfield on which to build a purpose-built stadium, purchasing this from Edinburgh Polo Club. One stand and three embankments were constructed over the following two years with the first international match taking place in 1925 where 70,000 people watched Scotland win 14–11 against England, thereby securing both the championship and a Grand Slam.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The stadium has been developed over the years with the East Stand built in 1983, the new North and South stands in 1993 and a redeveloped West Stand completed in 1994.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Murrayfield's record attendance of 104,000 was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeated 12–10 during the 1975 Five Nations Championship. This attendance stood as a world record until 1999 when 107,042 attended the Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand in Stadium Australia.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which is played against five other European nations: France, England, Ireland, Italy and Wales. The Six Nations started out as the Home Nations Championship in 1883, with Scotland sharing the championship with England in 1886 before winning the title outright for the first time a year later. Scotland have won the title outright 14 times and shared the championship a further eight times. Scotland have won three Grand Slams (including the Triple Crown) in 1925, 1984 and 1990, in addition to a further seven Triple Crowns. They also contest the Calcutta Cup with England as part of the championship. Scotland were the winners of the last Five Nations in 1999, before Italy joined the competition to make it the Six Nations.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Triple Crown is awarded to the Scotland, England, Ireland or Wales national side if they can beat the other three 'Home Nation' sides in the Six Nations tournament of that year.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Calcutta Cup is awarded to the winner of the Scotland – England match in the Six Nations tournament. Scotland is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Centenary Quaich is awarded to the winner of the Scotland – Ireland match in the Six Nations tournament. Ireland is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Auld Alliance Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Scotland – France match in the Six Nations tournament. France is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Doddie Weir Cup is awarded to the winner of the Scotland – Wales match in the Six Nations tournament. Wales is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Hopetoun Cup is awarded to the winner of Scotland – Australia test matches. Australia is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: The Douglas Horn Trophy is awarded to the winner of Scotland – Canada test matches. Scotland is the current holder.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland has competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. Their best finish was fourth in 1991. In their semi-final on 26 October 1991 Scotland lost 6–9 to England at Murrayfield after Gavin Hastings missed a penalty almost in front of and a short distance from the posts. On 30 October Scotland lost the third-place play-off to New Zealand in Cardiff 13–6. Since then they have qualified for the quarter-finals in all but two occasions, in 2011 and 2019. In 2015, they came within 30 seconds of a famous win over Australia; however, a last minute penalty sealed the win for the Wallabies.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Scotland achieved 100 points for the first time in defeating a young and inexperienced Japan side 100–8 on 13 November 2004. The previous record had been 89–0 against Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in the first round of Rugby World Cup 1995. The game versus Japan was played at the home of St Johnstone F.C., McDiarmid Park, Perth. It was the first time that Scotland had ever played "North of the Forth" (i.e. the Firth of Forth) in the Caledonian region. In the same game Chris Paterson moved ahead of Andy Irvine in the list of Scotland's all-time points scorers.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Scotland national XV at test level up until 19 November 2022.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: On 19 October, Scotland named a 40-man squad for their 2022 Autumn International Series against Australia "(29 Oct)", Fiji "(5 Nov)", New Zealand "(13 Nov)" and Argentina "(19 Nov)".


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: On 14 November, Callum Hunter-Hill was called into the squad. Hamish Watson and Rory Sutherland dropped out.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Before 1971, there was no appointed coach of the Scotland team, the role being assumed by the captain. In 1971, the SRU appointed the first coach as "adviser to the captain". He was Bill Dickinson, a lecturer at Jordanhill College, and his contribution to Scottish rugby in the 1970s was immense. Nairn McEwan took the reins in 1977 for three years before the team was led by Jim Telfer in 1980. Colin Telfer took over for a year before being succeeded by Derrick Grant in the autumn of 1985. From 1988 onwards, Scotland was coached by Jim Telfer, Richie Dixon or Ian McGeechan until 2003 when the Australian Matt Williams was appointed, becoming the first non-Scot to coach the national side. Scotland have appointed a further three non-Scottish coaches to lead the national side, the others being Scott Johnson, an Australian, Andy Robinson, an Englishman, and Vern Cotter from New Zealand.


title: Scotland national rugby union team

text: Robinson took the reins in 2009 after Frank Hadden stepped down. Robinson was no stranger to Scottish rugby as, like his predecessor Hadden, had been the head coach of Edinburgh Rugby and joint coach of Scotland A before being promoted head coach of the national side. Scott Johnson was Robinson's assistant coach when Robinson stood down in 2013, which ended in the result of Johnson being announced as interim head coach for Scotland in 2013, taking the team through the 2013 Six Nations Championship and the 2013 South African Quadrangular Tournament. Vern Cotter was announced as Scottish Head coach but would not take up on the role until June 2014 as he had one year left on his contract with Clermont Auvergne. This meant that Scott Johnson would remain as Interim Coach until the end of that year's Six Nations Championship.