title: Johnson Space Center

text: Another 14 sites were then added, including two additional Houston sites chosen because of proximity to the University of Houston and Rice University. The team visited all 23 sites between August 21 and September 7, 1961. During these visits, Massachusetts Governor John A. Volpe and Senator Margaret Chase Smith headed a delegation which exerted particularly strong political pressure, prompting a personal inquiry to Webb from President Kennedy. Senators and congressmen from sites in Missouri and California similarly lobbied the selection team. Proponents of sites in Boston, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia, went so far as to make separate presentations to Webb and the headquarters staff, so Webb added these additional sites to the final review.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Following its tour, the team identified MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa as its first choice, based on the fact the Air Force was planning to close down its Strategic Air Command operations there. The Houston Rice University site was second, and the Benicia Ordnance Depot in San Francisco was third. Before a decision could be made, however, the Air Force decided not to close MacDill, omitting it from consideration and moving the Rice University site to first place. Webb informed President Kennedy on September 14 of the decision made by him and deputy administrator Hugh Dryden in two separate memoranda, one reviewing the criteria and procedures, and the other stating: "Our decision is that this laboratory should be located in Houston, Texas, in close association with Rice University and the other educational institutions there and in that region." The Executive Office and NASA made advance notifications of the award, and the public announcement of the location followed on September 19, 1961. According to Texas A&M University historian Henry C. Dethloff, "Although the Houston site neatly fit the criteria required for the new center, Texas undoubtedly exerted an enormous political influence on such a decision. Lyndon B. Johnson was Vice President and head of the Space Council, Albert Thomas headed the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Casey and Olin E. Teague were members of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, and Teague headed the Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight. Finally, Sam Rayburn was Speaker of the House of Representatives."


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The land for the new facility was donated to Rice by the Humble Oil company, situated in an undeveloped area southeast of Houston adjacent to Clear Lake near Galveston Bay. At the time, the land was used to graze cattle. Immediately after Webb's announcement, Gilruth and his staff began planning the move from Langley to Houston, using what would grow to of leased office and laboratory space in 11 scattered sites. On November 1, the conversion of the Task Group to MSC became official.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Tracts of land in the vicinity of the Manned Spacecraft Center were either owned or being under exclusive control of Joseph L. Smith & Associates, Inc.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: NASA purchased an additional so the property would face a highway, and the total included another reserve drilling site. Construction of the center, designed by Charles Luckman, began in April 1962, and Gilruth's new organization was formed and moved to the temporary locations by September. That month, Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University on the US space program. The speech is famous for highlighting the Apollo program, but Kennedy also made reference to the new Center:


title: Johnson Space Center

text: In 1961, as plans for Project Gemini began, it became increasingly clear that the Mercury Control Center located at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch center would become inadequate to control missions with maneuverable spacecraft such as Gemini and Apollo. Christopher Kraft and three other flight controllers began studying what was needed for an improved control center, and directed a study contract awarded to Philco's Western Development Laboratory. Philco bid on and won the contract to build the electronic equipment for the new Mission Control Center, which would be located in Building 30 of MSC rather than Canaveral or the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Construction began in 1963.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The new center had two Mission Operations Control Rooms, allowing training and preparation for a later mission to be carried out while a live mission is in progress. It was brought online for testing purposes during the uncrewed Gemini 2 flight in January 1965 and the first crewed Gemini flight, Gemini 3 in March 1965, though the Mercury Control Center still retained primary responsibility for control of these flights. It became fully operational for the flight of Gemini 4 the following June, and has been the primary flight control center for all subsequent US crewed space missions from Project Gemini forward.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: In addition to housing NASA's astronaut operations, JSC is also the site of the former Lunar Receiving Laboratory, where the first astronauts returning from the Moon were quarantined, and where the majority of lunar samples are stored. The center's Landing and Recovery Division operated MV "Retriever" in the Gulf of Mexico for Gemini and Apollo astronauts to practice water egress after splashdown.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: On February 19, 1973, after Johnson's death, President Richard Nixon signed into law a Senate resolution renaming the Manned Spacecraft Center in honor of Johnson, who as Senate Majority Leader had sponsored the 1958 legislation which created NASA. Dedication ceremonies under the new name were held on August 27 of that year.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: One of the artifacts displayed at Johnson Space Center is the Saturn V rocket. It is whole, except for the ring between the S-IC and S-II stages, and the fairing between the S-II and S-IVB stages, and made of actual surplus flight-ready articles. It also has real (though incomplete) Apollo command and service modules, intended to fly in the canceled Apollo 19 mission.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: In the wake of the January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan traveled to JSC on January 31 to speak at a memorial service honoring the astronauts. It was attended by 6,000 NASA employees and 4,000 guests, as well as by the families of the crew. During the ceremony, an Air Force band led the singing of "God Bless America" as NASA T-38 Talon supersonic jets flew directly over the scene in the traditional missing-man formation. All activities were broadcast live by the national television and radio networks.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: A similar memorial service was held at the Johnson Space Center on February 4, 2003, for the astronauts who perished in the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster three days before, which was attended by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. Although that service was broadcast live by the national television and radio networks, it was geared mainly to NASA employees and the families of the astronauts. A second service for the nation was led by Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne at Washington National Cathedral two days later.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston as a category 2 hurricane and caused minor damage to the Mission Control Center and other buildings at JSC. The storm damaged the roofs of several hangars for the T-38 Talons at Ellington Field.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The Johnson Space Center is home to Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), the NASA control center that coordinates and monitors all human spaceflight for the United States. MCC-H directed all Space Shuttle missions, and currently directs American activities aboard the International Space Station. The Apollo Mission Control Center, a National Historic Landmark, is in Building 30. From the moment a crewed spacecraft clears its launch tower until it lands back on Earth, it is in the hands of Mission Control. The MCC houses several Flight Control Rooms, from which flight controllers coordinate and monitor the spaceflights. The rooms have many computer resources to monitor, command, and communicate with spacecraft. When a mission is underway, the rooms are staffed around the clock, usually in three shifts.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: JSC handles most of the planning and training of the US astronaut corps and houses training facilities such as the Sonny Carter Training Facility and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a critical component in training astronauts for spacewalks. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory provides a controlled neutral buoyancy environment—a very large pool containing about 6.2 million US gallons (23,000 m) of water where astronauts train to practice extra-vehicular activity tasks while simulating zero-g conditions. The facility provides preflight training in becoming familiar with crew activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Building 31-N houses the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, which stores, analyzes, and processes most of the samples returned from the Moon during the Apollo program.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The center is also responsible for direction of operations at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, which served as a backup Space Shuttle landing site and would have been the coordinating facility for the Constellation program, which was planned to replace the Shuttle program after 2010, but was canceled in 2009.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The visitor center has been the adjacent Space Center Houston since 1994; JSC Building 2 previously housed the visitor center.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: About 3,200 civil servants, including 110 astronauts, are employed at Johnson Space Center. The bulk of the workforce consists of over 11,000 contractors. As of October 2014, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies took over United Space Alliance's primary contract. the center's director is Vanessa E. Wyche.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: NASA's astronaut training is conducted at the Johnson Space Center. Astronaut candidates receive training on spacecraft systems and in basic sciences including mathematics, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, and physics. Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying instruction. Candidates are also required to become scuba-qualified for extravehicular training and are required to pass a swimming test. EVA training is conducted at the Sonny Carter Training Facility. Candidates are also trained to deal with emergencies associated with hyperbaric and hypobaric atmospheric pressures and are given exposure to the microgravity of space flight. Candidates maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of T-38 jets based at nearby Ellington Field.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Johnson Space Center leads NASA's human spaceflight-related scientific and medical research programs. Technologies developed for spaceflight are now in use in many areas of medicine, energy, transportation, agriculture, communications, and electronics.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) office performs the physical science research at the center. ARES directs and manages all functions and activities of the ARES scientists who perform basic research in earth, planetary, and space sciences. ARES scientists and engineers provide support to the human and robotic spaceflight programs. The responsibilities of ARES also include interaction with the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the Human Space Flight Programs.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Johnson Space Center was granted a five-year, $120-million extension of its agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute at Baylor College of Medicine to study the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The extension will allow a continuation of biomedical research in support of a long-term human presence in space started by the institute and NASA's Human Research Program through 2012.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The Prebreathe Reduction Program is a research study program at the JSC that is currently being developed to improve the safety and efficiency of space walks from the International Space Station.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: The Overset Grid-Flow software was developed at Johnson Space Center in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center. The software simulates fluid flow around solid bodies using computational fluid dynamics.


title: Johnson Space Center

text: Astronauts, center directors, and other NASA employees are memorialized in a Memorial Grove near the main entrance and visitor badging center (building 110). Trees dedicated to the memory of astronauts and center directors are in a round cluster closest to the entrance, other employees are memorialized behind along a road on the facility leading to the main entrance.


title: Blind (South Korean TV series)

text: Blind () is a South Korean television series starring Ok Taec-yeon, Ha Seok-jin, and Jung Eun-ji. It aired on tvN from September 16, to November 5, 2022, airing every Friday and Saturday at 22:40 (KST) for 16 episodes.


title: Blind (South Korean TV series)

text: The series follows the story of ordinary people who have unfairly become victims to different crimes, their perpetrators, and those who try to catch the perpetrators.


title: Blind (South Korean TV series)

text: "Blind" was initially confirmed to be released on OCN. However, it was later announced that the series will air on tvN's Friday and Saturday time slot instead, on September 16.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: A Brighter Summer Day is a 1991 Taiwanese epic teen crime drama film directed by Edward Yang, associated with the "New Taiwanese Cinema." The English title is derived from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards but was not nominated.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the film centers on Xiao Si’r (Chang Chen), a boy from a middle-class home who veers into juvenile delinquency.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: "A Brighter Summer Day" was ranked 78th in the 2022 "Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time" poll, one of four Chinese-language films to be included and above Yang's "Yi Yi".


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Zhang Zhen (nickname Si'r), a junior high student in 1959 Taipei, is forced to attend night school after failing a test. This upsets his father, a career government worker, who is aware of and worried about the delinquency rampant among night school students. The next morning, Si'r and his father listen to a radio broadcast of distinguished students.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: In 1960, Si'r, along with his best friend, Cat, spy on an actress changing clothes during the filming of a drama in a movie studio. Caught by a guard, they steal his flashlight and flee back to school. Si'r, noticing movement in a darkened classroom, turns on the flashlight and startles a pair of lovers but does not see their faces. Two gangs, the Little Park Boys and their rivals the 217s, are introduced. Si'r is not a member of either gang but he is closer to the Little Park Boys. The Little Park Boys are led by Honey, who is hiding in Tainan from police after killing one of the 217s over his girlfriend, Ming. Sly leads the gang in his absence. Sly and Si'r become rivals after Si'r gets Sly in trouble, believing him and his girlfriend, Jade, to be the pair of lovers he saw. Meanwhile, Si'r and Ming meet by chance and become friends.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Sly proposes a truce, arranging a concert with members from both gangs. Honey unexpectedly resurfaces and berates Sly for setting up the concert; however, he realizes the gang respects Sly more. The night before the concert, Honey "bequeaths" Ming to Si'r, believing him to be a stable boyfriend. The next night, Honey appears outside of the concert hall, antagonizing the 217s. Honey takes an ostensibly friendly walk with the 217's leader, Shandong, only to be killed when Shandong pushes him in front of an oncoming car. The Little Park Boys do not believe police reports that it is an accident, and plot revenge; they murder the 217s, including Shandong, during a typhoon, using weapons acquired by Ma, one of Si'r's wealthy classmates. Sly and the surviving Little Park Boys go into hiding. The same night, Si'r's father is arrested by secret police and interrogated about his past connections with the Chinese Communist Party. While eventually freed, he is demoted.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Si'r starts dating Ming and seems to be improving academically. However, she reveals her flirtations with other boys, including an older doctor, bothering Si'r. The next day, Si'r is expelled after lashing out at the doctor and smashing a light bulb. He promises to pass his transfer exams to get into day school, upsetting Ming, who knows this means she will see him less. Later, Sly emerges from hiding and apologizes to Si'r for their past feud and reveals that Ming and Ma are dating. Upset, Si'r begins dating Jade, but he upsets her and she bitterly reveals that the girl he saw kissing Sly was Ming, not her.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: After threatening Ma at his home, Si'r steals Cat's knife and waits outside the school for him. Instead, he sees Ming and berates her for her promiscuity, saying that he is her only hope. Ming chides Si'r for being selfish and trying to change her; like the world, she cannot be changed. He stabs her to death and breaks down. Si'r is sentenced to death but the media frenzy around the case provokes the sentence to be changed to 15 years imprisonment. In Si'r's now-barren house, his mother unexpectedly finds Si'r's school uniform. As she sobs, the radio broadcasts a list of distinguished students.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Set in early 1960s, in Taipei, the film is based on a real incident that the director remembers from his school days when he was 13. The original Chinese title, , translates literally as "The Homicide Incident of the Youth on Guling Street", referring to the 14-year-old son of a civil servant who murders his girlfriend, who was also involved with a teenaged gang leader, for unclear reasons. The gang leader and girlfriend are involved in the conflict between gangs of children of formerly-mainland families and those of Taiwanese families. The film places the murder incident in the context of the political environment in Taiwan at that time. The film's political background is introduced in intertitles thus:


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: Chang Kuo-chu, and his son Chang Chen (in his debut) are both cast in this film playing father and son.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: The film received much critical acclaim and was awarded several wins in Golden Horse Film Festival, Asia Pacific Film Festival, Kinema Junpo Awards and Tokyo International Film Festival. Three different versions of the film were edited: the original 237-minute version, a three-hour version and a shorter 127-minute version.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: "A Brighter Summer Day" is ranked as the 121st most acclaimed film ever and the most acclaimed from 1991 on the review-compiling list "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?". On Rotten Tomatoes, the films holds a perfect rating of 100% based on 20 reviews, with an average score of 9.40/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "A fantastic cinematic and artistic achievement, Edward Yang's "A Brighter Summer Day" depicts youth, ideals, violence and politics in a melancholic, tender light, culminating in a complex portrait of Taiwanese identity."


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: A.O. Scott wrote in his 2011 review for "The New York Times," "In every aspect of technique —from the smoky colors and the bustling, off-center compositions to the architecture of the story and the emotional precision of the performances — this film is a work of absolute mastery."


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: David Bordwell considers it his favorite Yang film and voted it as one of the 10 best films of the 1990s. He argues that in "A Brighter Summer Day", Yang combined some of the cinematographic and staging tendencies that were revealed to him by his contemporary Hou Hsiao-hsien's "A City of Sadness" and other contemporary films. He also remarks that the "breadth of action is extraordinary, and a sense of the contradictory pulls of daily life emerges steadily... the result is a dispassionate look at teenaged passions, a deromanticized treatment of young people growing up in a repressive milieu." Jonathan Rosenbaum named it one of his 100 favorite films of all-time in 2004 and arguably the greatest Taiwanese film ever, likewise voted it one of the 10 best films of the 1990s, and extolled its "novelistic richness of character, setting, and milieu," use of objects, significance in the Taiwanese New Wave, and likened it to "Rebel Without a Cause" in their "nocturnal lyricism and cosmic despair." In "Film Comment"s best films of the 1990s poll, "A Brighter Summer Day" was considered one of the 10 best or 10 most underrated films of the 1990s by 7 critics, academics, and programmers, including Barbara Scharres, former programmer at the Chicago Film Center, who named it "the" film of the 1990s, calling it a "film that transforms narrative through its deeply personal sense of observation, and grips the emotions and imagination with its steadfast power." Ari Aster named it one of his favorite films in The Criterion Collection in 2018 and commented that ""A Brighter Summer Day" is just an amazing gangland epic. I don’t know how you watch it without becoming convinced that you’re watching the greatest movie ever made. It’s like "The Godfather" in that way."


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: According to film critic Godfrey Cheshire, the film has "two faces, just as it has two titles" due to the sudden change of plots the film experiences halfway through its running time. "A Brighter Summer Day" shifts from a fraught, violent story about teenage gangs to a more introspective and family-oriented movie where the main character passively witnesses how his father is accused of espionage, his brother is in huge debt and his mother suffers in silence. Cheshire explains this transition of "faces":


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: The film's story reflects divisions of nationality, culture, and age in Taiwan a decade after the island was occupied by the Nationalist Chinese government following the end of mainland China's civil war and the establishment of the Communist People's Republic of China. The young characters in the film are affected by the social dislocations caused by their families' exile, changes in traditional social values, the turmoil of young love and friendships, and the lack of a clear direction to a meaningful future. Gradually developing youth gangs, coming under the sponsorship of adult criminals, provide some degree of social acceptance. The adults in their lives, such as Si'r's father, are constricted by their own social status and jobs, the need for money, and unrewarding employment. Further context is seen in the ethnic and class tensions between Chinese, native Taiwanese, and Japanese residents of the island, as well as the cultural influence of the West, especially the United States.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: In 2009, the World Cinema Foundation issued a restoration of "A Brighter Summer Day", using the original 35mm camera and sound negatives provided by the Edward Yang Estate.


title: A Brighter Summer Day

text: On December 17, 2015, The Criterion Collection announced the official North American DVD and Blu-ray release of a new 4K digital restoration of the film in its original running time. This release marks the first time "A Brighter Summer Day" is released on home video in the United States, after more than two decades of obscurity due to difficulty in finding an official copy of the film. The release includes a new English subtitle translation, an audio commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns, an interview with actor Chang Chen; "Our Time, Our Story", a 117-minute documentary from 2002 about the New Taiwan Cinema movement, featuring interviews with Yang and film-makers Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, among others; a videotaped performance of director Edward Yang's 1992 play "Likely Consequence"; an essay by critic Godfrey Cheshire, and a 1991 director's statement by Yang.


title: St John's Wood

text: St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from Regent's Park and Primrose Hill to Edgware Road, with the Swiss Cottage area of Hampstead to the north and Lisson Grove to the south.


title: St John's Wood

text: The area is best known for Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex CCC, and is a regular international test cricket venue. It also includes Abbey Road Studios, well known through its association with the Beatles.


title: St John's Wood

text: The area was once part of the Forest of Middlesex, an area with extensive woodland, though it was not the predominant land use.


title: St John's Wood

text: The area's name originates, in the Manor of Lileston, one of the two manors (the other the Manor of Tyburn) served by the Parish of Marylebone.


title: St John's Wood

text: The Manor was taken from the Knights Templar on their suppression in 1312 and passed to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem whose English headquarter were at Clerkenwell Priory.


title: St John's Wood

text: The name of the knights was applied to a former wood within the area of the Manor, which in turn gave its name to St John's Farm, the farmhouse of which is now occupied by St John's Wood Barracks.


title: St John's Wood

text: The Priory allocated the estate to agricultural tenants as a source of produce and income. The estate remained Crown property until 21 March 1675 (1676) when Charles II granted the St John's Wood estate to Charles Henry Wotton. On 22 March 1732 (1733) City merchant Henry Samuel Eyre (1676-1754) acquired the majority of the estate, around 500 acres, from Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The St John's Wood estate came to be known as the Eyre estate in the 19th century after it was developed by the Eyre brothers. The estate still exists, much reduced geographically.


title: St John's Wood

text: A masterplan for the development of St John's Wood was prepared in 1794 but development did not start until 1804 when Henry Samuel Eyre II (1770–1851) and Walpole Eyre (1773–1856) held their first auction. St John's Wood developed from the early 19th century onwards. One of the first developers was James Burton.


title: St John's Wood

text: St John's Wood was among the first London suburbs with lower-density villa housing and frequent avenues but fewer communal garden squares. Most of the villas have since been subdivided and replaced by small apartment blocks or terraces. This pattern of development has made it one of the most expensive areas of London.


title: St John's Wood

text: Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Middlesex County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), is an international test cricket ground known as the "Home of Cricket" on account of its role as the original headquarters of cricket.


title: St John's Wood

text: Abbey Road Studios are located on Abbey Road, where The Beatles recorded, notably the "Abbey Road" album, the cover of which features the band crossing the road.


title: St John's Wood

text: RAK Studios, founded by producer Mickie Most, are located near Regent's Park. A number of notable songs were recorded there, including the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now", Johnny Hates Jazz's "Shattered Dreams", Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" and Big Country's "In a Big Country". The studios have a Nubian Jak Community Trust plaque for Errol Brown, who recorded there as lead singer for Hot Chocolate.


title: St John's Wood

text: St. John's Wood Church Grounds contains the only nature reserve in the City of Westminster. Much of the neighbourhood is covered by a conservation area, a small part of which extends into neighbouring Camden.


title: St John's Wood

text: Wellington Hospital is the largest independent hospital in the United Kingdom. The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth is also nearby.


title: St John's Wood

text: Avenue Road, which is known for its mega mansions, was the street with the UK's most expensive home sales in 2020. In early 2021, prices for a property on the street averaged over £30.5 million.


title: St John's Wood

text: St John's Wood Barracks was the headquarters for The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery until 2012, when the regiment moved to Woolwich. Ananda Krishnan's Usaha Tegas conglomerate plans to develop the site.


title: St John's Wood

text: Allitsen Road drill hall was formerly the headquarters of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).


title: St John's Wood

text: The former Marlborough Road tube station is on the northern end of St John's Wood and is now a power substation.


title: St John's Wood

text: The main London Underground station is St John's Wood, which is on the Jubilee line. Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue and Kilburn Park are nearby on the Bakerloo line. The nearest London Overground station is South Hampstead. The 13, 46, 113 and N113, 139, 187, 189 and 274 bus routes transit St John's Wood.


title: Philippine English

text: Philippine English (similar and related to American English) is any variety of English native to the Philippines, including those used by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos and English learners in the Philippines from adjacent Asian countries. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino (Tagalog). Due to the influx of Filipino English teachers overseas, Philippine English is also becoming the prevalent variety of English being learned in the Far East as taught by Filipino teachers in various Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and Thailand, among others. Due to the highly multilingual nature of the Philippines, code-switching such as Taglish (Tagalog-infused English) and Bislish (English infused with any of the Bisayan languages) is prevalent across domains from casual settings to formal situations.


title: Philippine English

text: Filipinos were first introduced to English when the British invaded and occupied Manila and Cavite in 1762 as part of the Seven Years' War, but this occupation had no lasting effect on English in the country. A national variety called Philippine English evolved as a result of the American colonization, and was arguably one of the fastest to develop in the postcolonial world. Its origins as an English language spoken by a large segment of the Philippine population can be traced to the American introduction of public education, taught in the English medium of instruction. This was marked by the arrival of the Thomasites in 1901, immediately during re-colonization after the Philippine Revolution in the late 19th century up to the early 1900. After a tumultuous period of colonial transition, Filipino leaders and elites, and the American colonial government alike begun discussing the formation of a Philippine national language. The retained high ethnolinguistic diversity of the new colony was due to low penetration of Spanish under Spain's rule. Spanish was limited to a medium of instruction for the landed elites and gentry. At the end of Spanish colonization, only 3-5% of the colonial population could speak Spanish. The lingering effects of Spanish amongst the general population nevertheless had notable effects on the lexical development of many Philippine languages, and even Philippine English, in the form of hispanisms. Tagalog was selected to be the basis for a national language in 1937, and has since remained so. It was re-labelled as "Pilipino" in 1959, and "Filipino" in 1987. With the successful establishment of American-style public education having English as a consequential medium, more than 20% of the Philippine population were reported to be able to understand and speak English just before the turn of mid-20th century. This meteoric growth was sustained post-World War II, much further through Philippine mass media (e.g. newsprint, radio, television) where English also became the dominant language, and by the ratification into the current Philippine Constitution in 1987, both Filipino and English were declared co-official languages. In 2020, the Philippines was ranked 27th worldwide (among 100 countries ranked) in the EF English Proficiency Index. In the same report, it was ranked 2nd in Asia next only to Singapore.


title: Philippine English

text: Today Philippine English, as formally called based on the World Englishes framework of linguist Braj Kachru, is a recognized variety of English with its distinct lexical, phonological, and grammatical features (with considerable variations across socioeconomic groups and level of education being predictors of English proficiency in the Philippines). As English language became highly embedded in Philippine society, it was only a matter of time before the language was indigenized to the point that it became differentiated from English varieties found in the United States, United Kingdom, or elsewhere. This, along with the formal introduction of the World Englishes (WE) framework to English language scholars in the Philippines opened the floodgates to research on this new emerging English, which has since been branded as such as Philippine English.


title: Philippine English

text: The abundant supply of English speakers and competitive labor costs enabled the Philippines to become a choice destination for foreign companies wishing to establish call centers and other outsourcing. English proficiency sustains a major call center industry and in 2005, America Online had 1,000 people in what used to be the US Air Force's Clark Air Base in Angeles City answering ninety percent of their global e-mail inquiries. Citibank does its global ATM programming in the country, and Procter & Gamble has over 400 employees in Makati, a central Manila neighborhood, doing back office work for their Asian operations including finance, accounting, human resources and payments processing.


title: Philippine English

text: An influx of foreign students, principally from South Korea, has also led to growth in the number of English language learning centers, especially in Metro Manila, Baguio, Metro Cebu and Metro Bacolod.


title: Philippine English

text: Philippine laws and court decisions, with extremely rare exceptions, are written solely in English. English is also used in higher education, religious affairs, print and broadcast media, and business. Most educated Filipinos are bilinguals and speak English as one of their languages. For highly technical subjects such as nursing, medicine, computing and calculus, English is the preferred medium for textbooks, communication, etc. Very few would prefer highly technical books in either Filipino or the regional language. Movies and TV shows in English are usually not dubbed in most cable channels except a few such as Tagalized Movie Channel.


title: Philippine English

text: Because English is part of the curricula from primary to secondary education, many Filipinos write and speak in fluent Philippine English, although there might be differences in pronunciation. Most schools in the Philippines, however, are staffed by teachers who are speakers of Philippine English and hence notable differences from the American English from which it was derived are observable.


title: Philippine English

text: As a historical colony of the United States, the Philippine English lexicon shares most of its vocabulary from American English, but also has loanwords from native languages and Spanish, as well as some usages, coinages, and slang peculiar to the Philippines. Due to the influence of the Spanish languages, Philippine English also contains Spanish-derived terms, including Anglicizations, some resulting in false friends, such as "salvage". Philippine English also borrowed words from Philippine languages, especially native plant and animal names (e.g. "ampalaya", balimbing"), and cultural concepts with no exact English equivalents (e.g. kilig); some borrowings from Philippine languages have entered mainstream English, such as abaca and ylang-ylang.


title: Philippine English

text: For rail transport terminology, Philippine English uses both British and American parlance. Both the British rail"way" and the American rail"road" spellings are acceptable in formal discussion and official documents, the former being used in the context of the Philippine National Railways while the latter having more genericized usage. British terms used in the country include "bogie" (US "truck"), "coach" (US "railcar"), and "train driver" (US "[railroad] engineer"). American terms used in the country include "boxcar" (UK "goods wagon"), "caboose" (UK "brake van"), and "consist" (UK "rake").


title: Philippine English

text: Philippine spelling is significantly closer to American than British spelling, as it adopted the systematic reforms promulgated in Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary. However, there are exceptions below.


title: Philippine English

text: The DD/MM/YYYY and MM/DD/YYYY date format are used in the Philippines for date notation and the 12-hour clock for time notation.


title: Philippine English

text: There are two major English language keyboard layouts, the United States layout and the United Kingdom layout. Keyboards and keyboard software for the Philippine market universally use the US keyboard layout, which lacks the pound sterling, euro and negation symbols and uses a different layout for punctuation symbols than the UK keyboard layout.


title: Philippine English

text: Philippine English is a rhotic accent mainly due to the influence of Philippine languages, which are the first language of most of its speakers. Another influence is the rhotic characteristic of American English, which became the longstanding standard in the archipelago since Americans introduced the language in public education. This is contrary to most Commonwealth English variants spoken in neighboring countries such as Malaysia or Singapore. The only exception to this rule is the word "Marlboro", which is frequently read as "Malboro". Therefore, phonemes are pronounced in all positions. However, some children of Overseas Filipinos who are educated in Commonwealth countries (such as Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom) may speak in a non-rhotic accent unless taught otherwise. Native and well-educated speakers (also called acrolectal speakers) may also feature flapping and vowel sounds resembling the California vowel shift due to the influence of Hollywood movies and call center culture mostly pegged towards the American market.


title: Philippine English

text: For non-native speakers, Philippine English phonological features are heavily dependent on the speaker's mother tongue, although foreign languages such as Spanish also influenced many Filipinos on the way of pronouncing English words. This is why approximations are very common and so are hypercorrections and hyperforeignisms. The most distinguishable feature is the lack of fricative consonants, particularly , and . Another feature is the general absence of the schwa , and therefore pronounced by its respective full equivalent vowel although the r-colored variant is increasingly popular in recent years.


title: Philippine English

text: Vowels in Philippine English are pronounced according to the letter representing each, so that are generally pronounced as , respectively. The schwa —although a phonological feature across numerous Philippine languages such as Kinaray-a, Meranao, or the "Abagatan" (Southern) dialect of Ilokano—is absent.


title: Philippine English

text: Many Filipinos often have distinct non-native English pronunciation, and many fall under different "lectal" variations (i.e. basilectal, mesolectal, acrolectal). Some Philippine languages (e.g. Ibanag, Itawis, Surigaonon, Tausug) feature certain unique phonemes such as , , , and , which are also present in English. However, Filipinos' first languages have generally different phonological repertoires (if not more simplified compared to English), and this leads to mis- or distinct pronunciations particularly among basilectal and to some extent mesolectal speakers.


title: Christian Stolte

text: Christian Stolte (born October 16, 1962) is an American character actor. He portrayed corrections officer Keith Stolte on the TV series "Prison Break" and Charles Makley in the film "Public Enemies". He starred as chief appraiser David Kim Parker in "The Onion"s web series "Lake Dredge Appraisal". He also portrayed Clarence Darby in the film "Law Abiding Citizen". Stolte's acting career also includes voice over work (or voice acting) with "Breathe Bible". Since 2012 he has portrayed Randy McHolland (Mouch) in the NBC series "Chicago Fire" and other shows in the Chicago franchise.


title: Ami Koshimizu

text: At the age of 12, Koshimizu joined Theater Company Wakakusa. In the second year of junior high school, she was over 160 cm tall and was troubled by the fact that she could not get roles as a child actor. Influenced by her senior in the troupe, Mayumi Iizuka, she began to aspire to become a voice actor. In 2003, she passed an audition for "Ashita no Nadja" and made her voice acting debut as the lead Nadja Applefield. She continued her career with roles in "School Rumble" (as Tenma Tsukamoto), "Onegai My Melody" (as Miki Sakurazuka), and "Eureka Seven" (as Anemone).


title: Ami Koshimizu

text: In 2007, she won the 1st Seiyu Awards for Best Actress in a supporting role for her role as Kallen Stadtfeld in "Code Geass", and in 2011, she starred in "Suite PreCure" (Hibiki Hojo/Cure Melody) for the second time since her debut in the 8:30 - 9:00 Sunday slot produced by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. She also visited Anime Expo as a guest of honor to promote "Kill la Kill" as Ryuko Matoi.


title: Ami Koshimizu

text: On September 30, 2011, Koshimizu left Production Baobab, where she had belonged for four years, and joined Axlone on October 1, 2011. On February 28, 2018, she left Axlone and announced that she would be working as a freelancer. On January 7, 2022, she announced that she will be under her own agency, Office Restart.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: "Man on the Moon" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 1992 album "Automatic for the People". The lyric was written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck, and the track is credited to the whole band as usual. The song was well received by critics and reached number 30 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number one in Iceland. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations "" and "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011".


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: Lyrically, the song is a tribute to the comedian and performer Andy Kaufman, with numerous references to his career, including his Elvis impersonation, wrestling, and the film "My Breakfast with Blassie". The song's title and chorus refer to the Moon landing conspiracy theories, as an oblique allusion to rumors that Kaufman's death in 1984 was faked. The song gave its name to Miloš Forman's comedy-drama film "Man on the Moon" (1999), starring Jim Carrey and based on Kaufman's life, and features prominently in the film's soundtrack.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: "Man on the Moon" is a mid-tempo country-rock song following a verse-chorus structure with an added pre-chorus and an instrumental bridge following the second and third choruses. The song has six lines in the first verse but only four in the second and third verses.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: An early instrumental demo of the song was known to the band as "C to D Slide". Guitarist Peter Buck has explained how the music came together: "'Man on the Moon' was something that Bill [Berry] had, this one chord change that he came in with, which was C to D like the verse of the song, and he said: 'I don't know what to do with that.' I used to finish some of Bill's things ... he would come up with the riffs, but I would be the finish guy for that. I sat down and came up with the chorus, the bridges, and so forth. I remember we showed it to Mike and Michael when they came in later; definitely we had the song finished. I think Bill played bass and I played guitar; we kept going around with it. I think we might have played some mandolin on it in the rehearsal studio."


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: Michael Stipe explained in an interview with Charlie Rose how the lyric was written independently of the music, which had no prior association with the song's eventual lyrical content regarding Kaufman. Stipe recounted the other R.E.M. members had written and performed the music of the song and recorded it along with the rest of the "Automatic for the People" album during studio sessions in Seattle. As of the final week of the recording sessions, Stipe was still struggling to write the lyric, and the others continued to plead with him to finish it. Stipe attempted to argue the track should be an instrumental, but his bandmates were insistent. Stipe listened to the track on a walk around Seattle on his Walkman cassette player and was inspired to write about the performances of entertainer Andy Kaufman. After Stipe went back to the studio to complete the vocal track, the master was mixed that night and sent out the following day to be mastered.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: The song's lyric does not tell a conventional story and may instead be seen as a collection of cultural references, images and ideas. There are repeated mentions of Andy Kaufman, including references to his Elvis impersonation and work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry Lawler. Some critics find the song also invokes the conspiracy theories surrounding the Moon landing and Elvis Presley as an indirect nod to the persistent rumors that Kaufman faked his own death. Speaking in 2017 to the "NME", Mills explained that the perceived ambiguity of Kaufman's legacy, including questions of whether he was a comedian or a performance artist, and whether his work was funny or irritating, was a way to frame other questions about life within the song:


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: He's the perfect ghost to lead you through this tour of questioning things. Did the moon landing really happen? Is Elvis really dead? He was kind of an ephemeral figure at that point so he was the perfect guy to tie all this stuff together as you journey through childhood and touchstones of life.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: Regarding the cryptic lyric, critic Greg Kot wrote that the song "presents a surreal vision of heaven." According to Ann Powers, "Mentioning Kaufman in the same breath as Moses and Sir Isaac Newton, Stipe makes a game of human endeavor, insisting that it all ends in dust. 'Let's play Twister, let's play Risk,' Stipe jokes to the notables he's invoked. 'I'll see you in heaven if you make the list.'"


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: The lyric to "Man on the Moon" also features a prominent refrain of "Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah". Stipe explained Kurt Cobain was in the habit of placing 'yeah' in the lyrics of his band Nirvana, and that Stipe intended to outdo him, even to the extent of counting the 'yeah's.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: "Man on the Moon" was released as the second single from "Automatic for the People" on November 9, 1992, reaching number 30 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was enthusiastically received by critics. Writing for the "New York Times", Ann Powers said it "shines with a wit that balances R.E.M.'s somber tendencies." Stewart Mason went even further in his review for AllMusic, calling the song "near-perfect", "almost inarguably Stipe's pinnacle as a singer", and "one of R.E.M.'s most enduring achievements". Music writer James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, that it "may be typical REM but is not their most commercial ever. The wave of following they have at the moment though means they can do little wrong with this possibly following 'Drive' into the Top 10." The song was listed at number 19 on the "Village Voice" "Pazz & Jop" year-end critics' poll in 1993.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: The song's music video, directed by Peter Care, was shot over three days in the desert, at Lancaster in the Antelope Valley area of California, in October 1992. Care kept a journal of the unusually long planning, filming, and editing process, which was published by "Raygun" magazine and reprinted in the R.E.M. fan club newsletter. It gave a clear idea of the amount of work, money, and attention-to-detail involved.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: The video depicts Michael Stipe, attired in a cowboy hat, walking along a desert road before leaping onto a passing truck (driven by Bill Berry) and hitching a ride to a truck stop, where Peter Buck is tending bar and Mike Mills is shooting pool. Berry trades his truck seat for a bar stool, and along with a few of the other customers sings along during the choruses. Stipe eats an order of fries and then leaves and walks back into the desert. The video is punctuated with Moon-related images, including footage of the NASA Moon landings, an orrery in motion and a clip from Georges Méliès' 1902 film "A Trip to the Moon". Television footage of Kaufman wrestling and impersonating Elvis Presley is also shown.


title: Man on the Moon (song)

text: This video, which uses the shorter version instead of the full album version, was ranked number 41 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's The 100 Top Music Videos and has been described as 'iconic' by the "NME" Andrew Trendell.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: The .30-40 Krag (also known as .30 U.S. and .30 Army) was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the U.S. armed forces with a smokeless powder cartridge suited for use with modern small-bore repeating rifles to be selected in the 1892 small arm trials. Since the cartridge it was replacing was the .45-70 Government, the round was considered "small-bore" at the time. The design selected was ultimately the Krag–Jørgensen, formally adopted as the M1892 Springfield. It was also used in M1893 and later Gatling guns.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: Though the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps had adopted limited numbers of smokeless powder and bolt-action rifles, the .30-40 was the first cartridge adopted by the US Army that was designed from the outset for smokeless powder. It was patterned after .303 British, to which it is very similar geometrically. After a brief experiment with a 230-grain bullet loading, the .30 Army loading was standardized in 1894 using a metal-jacketed round-nose bullet with of nitrocellulose powder. This loading developed a maximum velocity of in the barrel of the Krag rifle, and in the barrel of the Krag carbine.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: The rimmed .30-40 round was also known as .30 Army or .30 U.S. Although the .30-40 Krag was the first smokeless powder round adopted by the U.S. military, it retained the "caliber-charge" naming system of earlier black powder cartridges, i.e. a .30-caliber bullet propelled by of smokeless powder. The first use of a smokeless powder round by Winchester was a single shot in 30–40, and it was one of only three rounds for which the 1895 Winchester lever action, introduced in 1896, was originally chambered.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: From the outset, the .30-40 cartridge proved popular for hunting and was chambered in a variety of firearms. In 1899, a Krag in .30-40 caliber was used to shoot the world-record Rocky Mountain elk. The record stood until the latter half of the 20th century.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: In October 1899, after reviewing the experiences of the Spanish–American War, U.S. Army ordnance authorities developed a new loading for the .30 Army used in the Krag rifle, in an attempt to match the ballistics of the 7×57mm Mauser cartridge employed by Spanish forces in that conflict. The new loading increased the muzzle velocity in the rifle version of the Krag to at 45,000 psi. However, once the new loading was issued, reports of cracked locking lugs on service Krags began to surface. In March 1900 the remaining stocks of this ammunition (some 3.5 million rounds) were returned to the arsenals, broken down, and reloaded back to the original specification.


title: .30-40 Krag

text: In 1903, after recommendations from the infantry Small Arms Board, the U.S. Army formally adopted a higher-velocity .30-caliber replacement for the .30-40 or .30 Army cartridge. The new cartridge was designated by its year of adoption, the .30-03.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Il Postino: The Postman (; the title used for the original US release) is a 1994 comedy-drama film co-written by and starring Massimo Troisi and directed by English filmmaker Michael Radford. Based on the 1985 novel "Ardiente paciencia" (English translation: "Burning Patience") by Antonio Skármeta, itself adapted from a 1983 film written and directed by Skármeta, the film tells a fictional story in which the real life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda forms a friendship with a simple Procida postman (Troisi) who learns to love poetry. The cast includes Troisi, Philippe Noiret, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta. The screenplay was adapted by Radford, Troisi, Anna Pavignano, Furio Scarpelli, and Giacomo Scarpelli.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Writer/star Troisi was severely ill during filming, postponing heart surgery so it could be completed. The day after principal photography ended, he suffered a fatal heart attack, and the film was completed and released posthumously. The film was critically acclaimed, earning numerous accolades including BAFTA Awards for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Direction, and Best Film Music. Composer Luis Bacalov won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score, and the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: In 1950, Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean poet, is exiled to a small island in Italy for political reasons. His wife accompanies him. On the island, a local, Mario Ruoppolo, is dissatisfied with being a fisherman like his father. Mario looks for other work and is hired as a temporary postman, with Neruda as his only customer. He uses his bicycle to hand deliver Neruda's mail. (The island seems to have no cars). Though poorly educated, the postman eventually befriends Neruda and becomes further influenced by Neruda's political views and poetry.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Meanwhile, Mario falls in love with a beautiful young lady, Beatrice Russo, who works in her aunt's village cafe. He is shy with her, but he enlists Neruda's help. Mario constantly asks Neruda if particular metaphors that he uses are suitable for his poems. Mario is able to better communicate with Beatrice and express his love through poetry. Despite the aunt's strong disapproval of Mario, because of his sensual poetry (which turns out to be largely stolen from Neruda), Beatrice responds favourably.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: The two are married. The priest refuses to allow Mario to have Neruda as his best man because of politics; however, this is soon resolved. This was because Di Cosimo was the politician in office in the area with the Christian Democrats. At the wedding, Neruda receives the welcome news that there is no longer a Chilean warrant for his arrest so he returns to Chile.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Mario writes a letter but never gets any reply. Several months later, he receives a letter from Neruda. However, to his dismay, it is actually from his secretary, asking Mario to send Neruda's old belongings back to Chile. While there Mario comes upon an old phonograph and listens to the song he first heard when he met Neruda. Moved, he makes recordings of all the beautiful sounds on the island onto a cassette including the heartbeat of his soon-to-be-born child.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Five years later, Neruda finds Beatrice and her son, Pablito (named in honour of Neruda) in the same old inn. From her, he discovers that Mario had been killed before their son was born. Mario had been scheduled to recite a poem he had composed at a large communist gathering in Naples; the demonstration was violently broken up by the police. She gives Neruda the recordings of village sounds that Mario had made for him. The film ends with Neruda walking on the beach where he used to talk with Mario, showing at the same time the communist gathering in which Mario was killed.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Massimo Troisi, a popular Italian actor and filmmaker, had purchased the film rights to Antonio Skármeta's "Ardiente paciencia" intending to adapt it into a feature film. The novel was itself an adaptation of a largely-unknown 1983 film of the same name, written and directed by Skármeta. Troisi, having seen Michael Radford's 1983 film "Another Time, Another Place", wrote a script treatment and gave it to Radford, who appreciated Troisi's enthusiasm but was dissatisfied with the script. Together with Troisi's ex-girlfriend Anna Pavignano, they stayed in a Santa Monica beachfront hotel and wrote a new screenplay. Among the changes made to the original novel was changing the setting from contemporary Chile to 1950s Italy, and the character of Mario from a teenage fisherman to a 40-year old postman. Whereas the novel and the 1983 film were set in Chile, with Neruda living in his home at Isla Negra around 1970, "Il Postino: The Postman" moves the setting to Italy in about 1950.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: The film is set and was filmed on the island of Procida, gulf of Naples; some additional filming took place on Salina, one of the volcanic Aeolian Islands that form an archipelago off the northern coast of Sicily. Corricella is the setting for some of the waterfront scenes in the movie. Filming took 11 weeks, with only one break for the Easter holiday.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Troisi's performance was hampered by his worsening heart condition, brought on by childhood rheumatism. Troisi was so weak that it was only possible for him to work for about an hour each day. Most of his scenes were shot in one or two takes. A shooting schedule was designed to allow the film to be shot around him. This was aided greatly by the fact his stand-in bore such a striking resemblance to Troisi. He was used for all back to camera, long/medium shots and most of the bicycle riding sequences. Troisi recorded all of his dialogue early in the production, in case he died before filming could be completed. This later proved necessary, since Troisi died one day after principal photography at his sister's house.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Troisi originally intended to co-direct the film with Radford, but was unable to effectively do so due to his illness. Though he is credited as co-director in the Italian release version, he is not credited in any other version, and as such was not eligible to be nominated for directing awards outside of Italy.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: In 1994 to promote the film, Miramax published "The Postman (Il Postino): Music From The Miramax Motion Picture", which besides the film's score, composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, includes Neruda's poems recited by many celebrities. There are a total of 31 tracks.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: In 2002 CAM Original Soundtracks released a 17 track version of the score (CAM 509536-2) which was mastered in Dolby Surround.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: The album won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: The film was very well-received. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of the critics liked the film, based on 32 reviews, the website's critic consensus says, ""Il Postino" movingly explores themes of love and friendship through sensitively depicted -- and beautifully acted -- relationships in 1950s Italy."  It received a score of 81 on Metacritic, indicating "Universal Acclaim", based on 13 critic reviews.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: In Italy, the film grossed over $8 million. The film was the second-highest grossing non-English language film in the UK for 1995 (behind "La Reine Margot") with a gross of £534,673. It also grossed almost $1 million each in Germany and Spain. In the United States and Canada, the film surpassed "Like Water for Chocolate" as the highest-grossing non-English language film of all-time, with a gross of $21,848,932. Worldwide, it grossed in excess of $33 million.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: At the 68th Academy Awards (1995), "Il Postino: The Postman" received five nominations and one Academy Award.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Troisi received posthumous Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. Furthermore, producer Mario Cecchi Gori also received a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.


title: Il Postino: The Postman

text: Troisi received posthumous BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Screenplay.


title: Tony Alva

text: Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957) is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician. He was a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also known as the Z-Boys. The "Transworld Skateboarding Magazine" ranked him eighth in its list of the "30 Most Influential skateboarders" of all time.


title: Tony Alva

text: Tony Alva was born September 2, 1957, in Santa Monica, California, to Dutch and Mexican-American parents. He first began surfing and skateboarding around 1967 at the age of 10.


title: Tony Alva

text: Influenced by the new, aggressive surfing style happening on the Hawaiian Islands, Alva brought a radical new and powerful free form surf style to skateboarding. Alva's style was revolutionary and stood in stark contrast with the contrived traditional style of the era, which was still based around tricks formulated in the 1960s. His skill, style and charismatic nature led him to become a professionally sponsored skateboarder.


title: Tony Alva

text: In 1972, he joined the Zephyr Skateboard team along with Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. Alva and the other Z-Boys (also all surfers), were among the first to bring the dangerous art of skating empty swimming pools into the mainstream. Alva is considered an originator of vertical skating and is credited as one of the first skateboarders to successfully pull a Frontside Air. That moment, captured on film by photographer Glen E. Friedman, is considered by many to be the birth of modern skateboarding.


title: Tony Alva

text: Alongside professional skaters Arto Saari, Brandon Biebel, Perry Caravello, and Stevie Williams, Alva completed a photo and video shoot for Playboy magazine, that was shot by Irish photographer Tony Kelly. The shoot is entitled "Playboy Poolside" and features the four subjects skateboarding in and around an empty swimming pool.


title: Tony Alva

text: Alva started his long relationship working with Vans in 1974, helping to design the off-the-wall skateboard shoe, the original skate shoe. Alva's father had been buying Vans shoes for his kids since they were young. Vans was established in 1966 and was the shoe of choice for the Santa Monica youth culture.


title: Tony Alva

text: In 1977, at the age of 19, Alva shunned the major skate companies to form his own company, entitled Alva Skates. It was the first company run and owned by a skateboarder, as well as being one of the first to use layered Canadian maple plywood in skateboard decks. In December 2005, Alva opened two retail stores in Southern California located in Oceanside, near San Diego, and on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles.


title: Tony Alva

text: In December 2006, he celebrated the first anniversary of the stores with a party at the Los Angeles shop, which was attended by some of the old Z-Boys, current Alva Team members, MySpace friends, skate fans, and other minor celebrities. Alva signed autographs and served as the DJ for the catered event. The "bad boy" image of the Z-Boy was reiterated in the postcard invitation for the event, which featured a profane drawing.


title: Tony Alva

text: Alva pioneered the first Rip Grip product, a material that could stick onto the underside of a skateboarder's deck, making it easier to maintain grip.


title: Tony Alva

text: In the early 1980s, Alva played bass guitar for the "Skoundrelz", a Venice, California punk band. Three songs appeared on BCT's First Strike compilation released in 1983. Later, Alva was in an early line-up of sleaze rock band Junkyard. In 2007, he formed the band G.F.P. (General Fucking Principle) with Dead Fucking Last vocalist Tom Paul Davis (Crazy Tom), guitarist Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks, Bad Religion) and former Suicidal Tendencies drummer Amery Smith. In 2013, Alva began playing with Los Angeles rock band, His Eyes Have Fangs.


title: Tony Alva

text: Tony Alva is featured in the 2001 documentary on Santa Monica and Venice Beach skate culture "Dogtown and Z-Boys", which was fictionalized into the 2005 feature film "Lords of Dogtown". He also played the role of Tony Bluetile in the 1978 film "Skateboard: The Movie". Alva makes an appearance in the 2012 documentary "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography", directed by Stacy Peralta. In 2012, Alva appeared on an episode of the A&E reality series, "Storage Wars" to appraise a skateboard. Alva was featured in the 2005 skateboarding video game "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland". He is seen on the cover of the album "The Action Is Go" by stoner rock band Fu Manchu. Alva also featured in the 1978 documentary "Skateboard Kings" produced by director Horace Ové.


title: Tony Alva

text: 1975 USSA World Invitational Skateboard Champion. Alva was voted "Skateboarder of the Year" in "Skateboarder Magazine"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s readers poll and he set the Guinness World Record for barrel jumping.


title: Sofia Helin

text: Sofia Margareta Götschenhjelm-Helin (born 25 April 1972) is a Swedish actress. She was nominated for a Guldbagge Award for her role in "Dalecarlians", and stars as Saga Norén in the Danish/Swedish co-produced TV series "The Bridge" (Danish: Broen; Swedish: Bron).


title: Sofia Helin

text: Sofia Helin was born in Hovsta in Örebro, Närke. Her father was a salesman and her mother was a nurse. When she was 10 days old, her grandmother and her six-year-old brother were in a car accident; her grandmother survived, but her brother was killed. From 1994-1996, she went to Calle Flygares theatre school and graduated from the Stockholm Theatre Academy in 2001. She was brought up in Linghem, outside Linköping but in 2015 was living in Stockholm.


title: Sofia Helin

text: Helin played the leading role of Chief Inspector Klara in the film "At Point Blank" ("Rånarna") in 2003. In 2004, she took the leading role of Mia in "Masjävlar", and was nominated for a Guldbagge award. In 2007 she played the leading role of Cecilia Algottsdotter in "Arn", an adaptation of Jan Guillou's "The Knight Templar", about Arn Magnusson. She also featured in the Swedish animated film "Metropia" (2009).


title: Sofia Helin

text: She became famous outside Sweden after 2012, when the first series of the highly successful TV crime drama series "The Bridge" went to air. In it, she played Saga Norén, a homicide detective from Malmö.<ref name="love/hate"></ref> In the UK, the series attracted more than a million viewers per episode, and she was called a role model for women with Asperger syndrome. The fourth season of the series aired in 2018.


title: Sofia Helin

text: In 2015, she starred in a Danish science fiction film called "Fang Rung". In the same year, she acted in a British/German TV series directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, about divided Berlin in the 1970s, called "The Same Sky", in which she spoke in both German and English. The series was shot in Prague.


title: Sofia Helin

text: Helin is married to Daniel Götschenhjelm, a priest in the Church of Sweden and former actor whom she met at drama school. She has two children: a son, Ossian, aged and a daughter, Nike, aged (as of ). Helin is a Christian.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Agilent Technologies, Inc. is an American company with global headquarters is located in Santa Clara, California. Agilent was established in 1999 as a spin-off from Hewlett-Packard. The resulting IPO of Agilent stock was the largest in the history of Silicon Valley at the time.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: From 1999 to 2014, the company produced optics (LED, Laser), semiconductors, EDA software and test and measurement equipment for electronics; that division was spun off to form Keysight.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Agilent serves analytical laboratories and the clinical and routine diagnostics markets with a full suite of technology platforms. These include: automation, bioreagents, FISH probes, gas and liquid chromatography, immunohistochemistry, informatics, mass spectrometry, microarrays, spectroscopy, target enrichment, and vacuum technologies.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Agilent also provides lab management services, including enterprise asset management, laboratory business intelligence, equipment management and service, software maintenance, regulatory compliance, sample preparation, genomics and cloning, GC and HPLC columns, spectrometry and spectroscopy supplies, and consumables. The company is known for investing in R&D within its own research labs and those of leading universities to advance the state of knowledge in the life sciences, diagnostics, and chemical analysis space.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: In recent years, the company has advanced digital lab instrumentation and technology that improves lab workflow and overall efficiency and productivity. In 2020, Agilent introduced CrossLab Virtual Assist, a mobile app that facilities high-quality remote technical support. Agilent’s digital advancements, including CrossLab Connect, have also improved lab optimization and sustainability by providing more efficient utilization of instruments, which can lower a lab’s energy consumption.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Agilent is also a pioneer of the target enrichment used as part of a NGS workflow. The portfolio also includes sample prep, QA/QC instrumentation, 2100 bioanalyzers, and automation tools.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Agilent Technologies was created in 1999 as a spin-off of several business units of Hewlett-Packard including test & measurement, optics, instrumentation and chemical analysis, electronic components, and medical equipment product lines. The split was predicated on the difficulty of growing HP's revenue stream and on the competitive vigor of smaller, more agile competitors. The company's launch slogan was "Innovating the HP Way", which capitalized on the strong HP corporate culture. The starburst logo was selected to reflect "a burst of insight" (or "spark of insight") and the name "Agilent" aimed to invoke the notion of agility as a trait of the new firm. The Agilent spin-off was accompanied by an initial public offering which raised $2.1 billion, setting a record at the time.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: In the early 2000s, "economic uncertainty" depressed demand for Agilent's products, including slow sales of health care products to hospitals in the United States, which accounted for 60% of the company's revenue at the time. The downturn also struck sales in the communications and semiconductor markets, where orders amounting to $500 million were canceled by buyers. These poor economic conditions prompted large reductions in force; from a headcount in 1999 of 35,000, which had risen to 48,000 by May 2001, it had by early 2003 cut 18,500 positions. In 2001, in midst of this downsizing, Agilent sold its health care and medical products organization to Philips Medical Systems, and was noted as having a valuation of about $11 billion. HP Medical Products had been the second oldest part of Hewlett-Packard, acquired in the 1950s.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: In August 2005, Agilent announced the sale of its business which produced semiconductor integrated circuits (known as "chips") for consumer and industrial uses to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Silver Lake Partners for $2.66 billion. This move was part of a broad effort to concentrate "on the test-and-measurement business at its historic core," and would entail termination of about 1,300 of the company's 28,000 employees. The group operated as a private company, Avago Technologies, until August 2009, when it was brought public in an IPO. After purchasing Broadcom Corporation in 2016, Avago changed its name to Broadcom Limited.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Also in August 2005, Agilent sold its 47% stake in the light-emitting diode manufacturer Lumileds to Philips for $1 billion. Lumileds originally started as Hewlett-Packard's optoelectronics division.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Also in August 2005, Agilent announced a plan to divest its semiconductor test business, composed of both the system-on-chip and memory test market areas. Agilent listed the new company as Verigy on NASDAQ in mid-2006.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: In 2009, Agilent announced the closure of a subsection of its Test & Measurement division. The product lines affected included the automated optical inspection, solder paste inspection, and automated products [5DX] in 2004. In 2011, the company, along with the University of California, Davis, announced that it would be establishing the "Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center". Agilent announced it would increase its life sciences engagement through the acquisition of Halo Genomics, based in Uppsala, Sweden, which was involved in next-generation sequencing technology development.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: On May 17, 2012, Agilent agreed to buy Dako, a Danish cancer diagnostics company, for $2.2 billion, to expand its presence in the life sciences industry.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: On September 19, 2013, Agilent announced its decision to separate into two publicly traded companies: Agilent, a life sciences, diagnostics, and applied markets company, and an electronic measurement company. The life sciences company retained the Agilent name and the electronic measurement company was called Keysight Technologies. On October 14, 2014, the company announced that it is exiting its Nuclear Magnetic Resonance business. On November 1, the formal separation of Agilent and Keysight Technologies was completed. Agilent announced it had completed the spin-off of its electronic measurement business, Keysight Technologies. Keysight began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KEYS. The separation was implemented through a spinoff of Keysight's common stock and was intended to be tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes. On November 1, 2014, in a special dividend distribution of all outstanding shares of Keysight's common stock, Agilent shareholders received one share of Keysight common stock for every two shares of Agilent common stock held as of close of business October 22, 2014.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: Hewlett-Packard Co., Agilent's predecessor, acquired F&M Scientific Corp., maker of gas chromatographs, on August 8, 1965. In September 2015, the company announced it would acquire Seahorse Bioscience for $235 million.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: On July 7, 2016, Agilent announced that they had acquired U.K. based Cobalt Light Systems, which develops and manufactures Raman spectroscopy instruments, for £40 million in cash. In December the company acquired Multiplicom N.V.


title: Agilent Technologies

text: In January 2018, the company announced it would acquire Luxcel Biosciences, increasing the company's cell analysis portfolio. In May, Agilent acquired Lasergen, Inc. after the end of its two-year option on a prior investment. In the same month it acquired digital laboratory management company, Genohm, Ultra Scientific, provider of chemical standards and reference materials and Advanced Analytical Technologies, Inc. (AATI), provider of capillary electrophoresis-based molecules for $250 million in cash. In August the company announced it would acquire glycan reagent producer, ProZyme, Inc. and South Korean instrument distributor, Young In Scientific Co. Ltd. In September Agilent acquired ACEA Biosciences for $250 million increasing the company's presence in cell analysis technologies. In August 2019, Agilent acquired US-based BioTek Instruments, a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of life science instrumentation, for $1.165 billion.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Kenneth Alan Florian (born May 26, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial artist and commentator who formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly served as an analyst for UFC on Fox from 2011–2018, and he also worked as a color commentator on the robot combat television series "BattleBots" and color commentator for UFC Fight Night. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as a commentator.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian has a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. He is known for his cerebral approach to the sport based on his meticulous game plans. Florian is recognized for his tendency to finish his opponents, having earned stoppages in twelve of his fourteen career victories. He is also one of only two fighters in history to compete in four different weight classes in the UFC: Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight and Featherweight, the other being Diego Sanchez.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian defeated Chris Leben on the inaugural season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, but succumbed in the finale against Diego Sanchez. He has competed on two occasions for the UFC Lightweight Championship and once for the UFC Featherweight Championship, but came up short against Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn, and José Aldo respectively. Recognized as one of the elite competitors during his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Florian is considered one of the best mixed martial artists never to have won a UFC Championship.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian is one of six children born to Peruvian parents: Agustin, a thoracic surgeon, and Ines Florian; however, none of his grandparents are from Peru, his ancestry includes: Spanish, Italian, German, French and Armenian. Florian was born in Westwood, Massachusetts and grew up in neighboring Dover, Massachusetts where he was a standout soccer player for Dover-Sherborn Regional High School. He attended Boston College where he played for the varsity soccer team (NCAA Division 1). He also holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru.


title: Kenny Florian

text: After college, his interests turned towards mixed martial arts and he earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Prof. Roberto Maia of Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, formerly Gracie Barra Boston). Florian worked as a translator, reworking financial documents into various foreign languages and planned on doing that for a few years before applying to law school. However, a near-death experience in Brazil inspired him to pursue his passion for mixed martial arts instead.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian made his MMA debut in January 2003 at Mass Destruction 10, defeating Jason Giroux via TKO 3:23 into the first round. Florian made another appearance in the Mass Destruction Promotion at MD – 15 and scored a victory over Bobby McAndrews by submission (kimura). Following those victories, Kenny suffered his first loss to UFC regular Drew Fickett via decision at Combat Zone 7 – Gravel Pit on July 10, 2004. This is the fight that got Kenny on the Ultimate Fighter as Dana White was at the show scouting Fickett for the show but he was so impressed with Kenny that he offered him, not Fickett, the spot on the show.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Kenny went on to compete on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" as a middleweight. He made it to the finals by beating Chris Leben via cut stoppage, before losing at the finale in the first round to Diego Sanchez due to strikes.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Following his loss to Sanchez, Florian returned at the first "UFC Ultimate Fight Night" to defeat fellow TUF 1 competitor Alex Karalexis by delivering a vicious cut across the nose with a right elbow. Karalexis was arguably winning the fight up until the cut. Florian famously danced and cheered immediately after the strike landed and the cut opened up. Picking up momentum, Kenny went on to face Muay Thai competitor Kit Cope, winning with a rear naked choke submission early in round 2. Florian earned a title shot after defeating Canadian TKO Major League MMA Lightweight champion Sam Stout at The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale; Florian won in the first round by rear naked choke.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On October 14, 2006, Florian fought Sean Sherk for the UFC Lightweight championship title at "UFC 64: Unstoppable" and lost via unanimous decision. Sherk completely dominated the fight despite being cut severely by one of Florian's elbows. The judges scored it 50–45 and 49–46 twice for Sherk. In doing so, Sherk became the new UFC lightweight champion.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On April 5, 2007 at "UFC Fight Night 9", Florian defeated Japanese fighter Dokonjonosuke Mishima via rear naked choke submission. Florian managed to break free of an excruciating knee-bar attempt made by Mishima late in the fight.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On July 7, 2007 at "UFC 73", he fought and defeated UFC newcomer Alvin Robinson via submission due to strikes in the first round. Florian tripped Robinson to the mat before moving to side-control. Florian then transitioned into mount before pounding away until Robinson tapped due to strikes.


title: Kenny Florian

text: In his next fight, Florian managed to get another win via submission due to a rear naked choke against Din Thomas at "UFC Fight Night 11". Thomas injured his knee while attempting a takedown during the bout. Thomas was originally slated to face off against Spencer Fisher, but Fisher had to pull out due to a staph infection. Florian took his place.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On April 2, 2008 Florian defeated Joe Lauzon at "UFC Fight Night 13" by TKO due to strikes from mount early in the second round to secure his spot among the UFC's top lightweight contenders. The first round went back and forth as Kenny landed a vicious body kick and Lauzon looked for knee bars and heel hooks. Florian finished the round with some hard shots to Joe's head. Florian opened the 2nd round with a takedown and rained down punches on Lauzon from the mount position. Lauzon attempted another heel hook but Florian continued to strike which resulted in Herb Dean stopping the fight.


title: Kenny Florian

text: At "UFC 87" on August 9, 2008 Florian defeated Roger Huerta by unanimous decision. By winning, Florian ended Huerta's 17-fight win streak. All three judges scored the bout 30–27 for Florian.


title: Kenny Florian

text: At "UFC 91" on November 15, 2008, Florian defeated Joe Stevenson by rear naked choke submission in the first round. Florian executed a takedown before mounting Stevenson and transitioning to a position to finish him with the choke.


title: Kenny Florian

text: With the win Florian established himself as the #1 contender for the Lightweight Championship. Florian said "I want B.J.'s belt. B.J., you're one of the best fighters out there. I'm here to test myself. I think you're a great fighter, someone I look up to. I consider you a master. It's time to kill that master." Florian faced off against Penn at the UFC 101 Main Event for the title. During the fight, Florian repeatedly pushed Penn against the fence and attempted to take him down but was never successful. During the 4th round Penn took him down and mounted him. Penn eventually took his back and locked up a rear naked choke, submitting Florian and defending his title. Florian was visibly crying as he left the octagon after his loss to Penn.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian fought Clay Guida on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107. During the second round, Florian caught Guida with a right hand on the chin that dropped Guida. He followed up with a short flurry and finished the fight via rear naked choke at 2:19.


title: Kenny Florian

text: He has expressed interest in getting a rematch with Diego Sanchez. On an episode of MMA Live (before the Penn loss) he said that his loss to Sanchez is the one he would most like to avenge. Sanchez has expressed similar interest as have many fans, though this looks to be unlikely as Sanchez has moved back to the Welterweight division.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian defeated former Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi at UFC Fight Night 21 via rear naked choke in the third round. He won the first two rounds decisively with superior striking, utilizing multiple jabs. Florian eventually took Gomi down in the third round and submitted him shortly after. Florian also won his first Submission of the Night bonus.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian suffered a staph infection in his knee just weeks after his win over Gomi and was admitted to hospital for minor surgery.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian faced Gray Maynard on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118. Dana White announced the winner of the fight would receive a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship. Although striking very well throughout the fight, he was taken down at will and lost via unanimous decision.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian was expected to face Evan Dunham at UFC 126, but the bout was then expected to headline UFC Fight Night 23 on January 22, 2011. However, Florian had to pull out of the bout due to knee injury on December 6, 2010. Melvin Guillard defeated Dunham as Kenny's replacement.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On February 7, 2011 it was announced that Florian would be moving down to featherweight. He made his Featherweight debut with a unanimous decision victory over Diego Nunes on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131, with the judges' scorecards being (29–28, 29–28, and 30–27). Dana White said on MMA Live if Kenny wins this fight he'll most likely get a title shot.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian was given the title shot against José Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship on October 8, 2011 at UFC 136 and was defeated by unanimous decision.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Following his loss to Aldo, his third loss in a championship fight, Florian initially contemplated retirement from active competition. But in an interview with The Boston Herald., he stated that he still loved the sport tremendously, learning and competing. Kenny then went on to say that he would be making a return to the UFC's lightweight division, but would not fight for at least 6 months so that he can rebuild his body to compete in the higher weight class.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian has dealt with back problems throughout his career, but suffered a new injury in November 2011 while lifting weights. Having already planned to take six months off to build back to lightweight after losing a featherweight title shot in October 2011, Florian didn’t expect the injury to be a major setback.


title: Kenny Florian

text: After the Aldo bout, Florian had been dealing with tingling and numbness down his right leg and hadn’t been able to train. After meeting with an orthopedic doctor and a neurologist, both advised the 35-year-old to retire. On May 31, 2012, Florian announced his retirement during weigh-ins show.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Florian co-hosted "MMA Live", alongside Franklin McNeil and others, for ESPN.com which is shown online and on TV on ESPN. Florian contributed to the show with his MMA experience and perspective as a fighter. Florian now co-hosts "UFC Tonight" on FS1 with Michael Bisping, providing similar analysis and perspectives as he did on MMA Live. Florian was a guest writer for FIGHT!, an MMA magazine, in their April 2009 issue.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On April 19, 2008, Florian filled in for Joe Rogan as the color commentator for UFC 83 and again at UFC Fight Night 19. On June 7, 2009, Kenny Florian would fill in for Frank Mir, whose wife gave birth two days later, as color commentator for WEC 41. Florian also provided color commentary for WEC 49 and the TUF 11 Finale. Florian also took Joe Rogan's place as commentator for UFC 134.


title: Kenny Florian

text: Kenny Florian was briefly suspended by Fox Sports on January 16, 2016 for plagiarism in his preview of . The offending article lifted significant portions from boxing analyst Lee Wylie's breakdown of Willie Pep.


title: Kenny Florian

text: In 2015, Florian was named as the color commentator for ABC's revival of the robot combat series "BattleBots", joined by Fox Sports personality Chris Rose on play-by-play. Florian continued his role on the revival's third season, which moved to Science Channel.


title: Kenny Florian

text: In March 2021, Florian revealed that he had signed an exclusive deal with the Professional Fighters League as a commentator.


title: Kenny Florian

text: On Dr Phil, Florian, along with UFC President Dana White and former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin, talked to two high school students who participated in classroom "MMA" fights, telling them of the dangers of fighting outside of a sanctioned organization and telling them they should be training in an MMA gym instead. Dr. Phil addressed him as "Kenny Florini".


title: Kenny Florian

text: On June 10, 2010, Keith and Kenny received their second degree on their black belt from Prof. Roberto Maia. Kenny and his brother Keith own and operate Florian Martial Arts Center, a martial arts academy in Brookline, Massachusetts near Coolidge Corner, which teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai, wrestling and mixed martial arts. Instructors at the academy include Kenny Florian, Keith Florian, and Alex Lewis.


title: Kenny Florian

text: In a GQ interview, actor Jonah Hill credits Florian as helping him get comfortable enough to train jiu-jitsu.


title: Billu Barber

text: Billu, previously known as Billu Barber, is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film by Priyadarshan, produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and distributed by Eros International, with an adapted screenplay by Manisha Korde and Mushtaq Sheikh based on the script by Sreenivasan. It stars Irrfan Khan as the title character and Lara Dutta in lead roles with Om Puri, Asrani and Rajpal Yadav in supporting roles. Shah Rukh Khan makes an extended guest appearance. Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, make special appearances in songs. The film was released on 13 February 2009 worldwide.


title: Billu Barber

text: It is an official adaptation of the critically acclaimed Malayalam film "Kadha Parayumbol" (2007). It is also a retelling of the story of Sudama and Krishna. The film was screened at the 2009 Hawaii International Film Festival.


title: Billu Barber

text: Billu (Irrfan Khan) is a poor barber who lives with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and their two children, Gunja (Mitali Mayekar) and Ronak (Pratik Dalvi) in the village of Budbuda. He also spends time with his close friends Budbudiya (Rajpal Yadav) and Naubat Chacha (Asrani). Billu lives an uneventful life until Bollywood superstar Sahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) comes to the village for a film shoot.


title: Billu Barber

text: Billu has mentioned to his family that he knows Sahir from the past but has never elaborated how he knows the star. When his children talk about their father's friendship with the star, word spreads throughout the village. Virtually overnight, Billu, who had previously been scorned by most due to his lowly state, becomes the center of attention. People who had spurned him only the week before now call him a close friend so that he will introduce them to Sahir. Billu refuses and downplays the friendship. Even so, the powerful businessman Sahukaar Daamchand (Om Puri) demands to see Sahir and offers Billu expensive gifts in order to gain such a meeting. When Billu consistently fails to introduce the people of the village to Sahir, his situation changes once again. He is accused of lying about his friendship and everyone – including his wife and children – begins to doubt his character and integrity. Rather than defend himself, Billu remains quiet about the nature of his and Sahir's friendship.


title: Billu Barber

text: On Sahir's last day in the village, the star speaks at Gunja and Ronak's school function. He tells the children about his own impoverished childhood when he had nothing but a special bond of friendship with another young boy, named Billu. It was Billu who had taken care of Sahir and eventually helped him travel to Mumbai by giving him his gold earring where Sahir became a star. Billu, who is standing at the back of the event, leaves during the talk without revealing to Sahir that he is there. However, the townspeople realized their error, and take Sahir to Billu's house. Billu's children come home and apologize to their father. Then, Sahir appears in his car and is reunited with Billu. In the end, Sahir must leave for another shoot but promises that his and Billu's friendship is reignited and will remain friends.


title: Billu Barber

text: Director Priyadarshan cast Shah Rukh Khan and Lara Dutta in pivotal roles in the film. While these roles were initially offered to Akshay Kumar and Tabu, Kumar eventually opted out of the project due to date clashes, as did Tabu. The director then offered Kumar's and Tabu's role to Shah Rukh Khan and Ameesha Patel respectively, and both of them agreed to do the film. Patel also opted out of the film and sources have indicated that Juhi Chawla was signed on for the role.


title: Billu Barber

text: In April 2008, the director announced that he had cast Lara Dutta as Billu's wife. The cast began filming for the project on 8 April 2008 and according to Shahrukh Khan, "the film is a sweet story of friendship...quite similar to the bond shared between Krishna and Sudama". The film also features Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone in item numbers with Shah Rukh Khan.


title: Billu Barber

text: "Billu" opened to positive reviews. In reviewing the film, Derek Elley of "Variety" stated: "Bigtime Bollywood meets small-town India with quietly entertaining, finally moving results in "Billu Barber". A simple tale of friendship cleverly manages to bring together superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in full-on pin-up mode, with Irfan Khan, who's developed into one of the industry's best character actors, in a movie that straddles both mainstream Hindi cinema and more specialty fare. Mid-February release, produced by Khan's own company, "Red Chillies", won't approach the grosses of his last starrer, "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", but is way more engaging on an emotional level". Lisa Tsering of "The Hollywood Reporter" states that "Billu" is a "Bollywood comedy about an unlikely friendship [that] is full of unexpected pleasures". Frank Lovece of "Film Journal International" describes the film as a "delight" and states, "What makes it work ... is that neither Billu nor his situation is played for laughs—his hardscrabble poverty isn't glossed over, and neither is his wife's longing for acceptance in the class-conscious village. And a climactic speech by Khan at a school gathering works fully well emotionally, despite a huge potential for hokiness—and incidentally provides concrete reason why real-life Khan, who's often starred in glowering action-hero roles, is a genuinely top-notch actor in addition to being a popular star". "Times of India" gave the film three stars and describes it as "a moving ode to friendship and ordinariness". While CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand gave the film two out of five stars, he stated that it "works smoothly as a simple, moral tale, its charm interrupted every time the director goes for broader, more 'commercial' appeal. But it's enjoyable and heart-felt too, and for that reason deserves to be watched". Shashi Baliga of the "Hindustan Times" said that, "Though the film has its share of stock characters, maudlin and over-the-top moments and sags in the latter half, there's also good story-telling, some great acting, and a healthy dose of masala in the item numbers".then he come to meet with billu and promised that there friendship will be never end.


title: Billu Barber

text: Released on 5 January 2009, the soundtrack for "Billu" has music by Pritam with lyrics from Gulzar, Neeraj Shridhar, Sayeed Quadri, Ashish Pandit and Mayur Puri.


title: Billu Barber

text: The song "Khudaya Khair" was recorded by playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya who has rendered his voice for Shahrukh Khan in many movies. However, due to the ongoing controversy between Abhijeet and SRK, the song was withdrawn and was only used as a reprised version.


title: Billu Barber

text: The song "Love Mera Hit Hit" was sampled by Serbian pop singer Anabela in her song "Igra Istine", by Serbian singer Dejan Stanković in his song "Kaligula" and by Macedonian singer Boki 13 in his song "Kaligula".


title: Billu Barber

text: The film was originally titled "Billu Barber", but salon and beauty parlour associations of Bandra raised objections by finding the word "Barber" derogatory. As head of the film's production company, Shah Rukh Khan eventually removed the word from the movie title and promotions, renaming the film "Billu". He also invited 'The Hairdressers' Association of Mumbai members to the premier of the movie in order to assuage their protests.