title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia has a sizable hydroelectric capacity, a factor that has become an increasingly important component of its energy supplies and policies. The country's topography and abundance of hydro resources give it serious potential to dominate hydroelectric markets in the Caucasus region. The Georgian Ministry of Energy estimates that there are around 26,000 rivers within Georgian territory, with approximately 300 of those rivers being significant in terms of energy production. The Ministry also claims that current projects for hydroelectric power plants total around US$2.4 billion. Alexander Khetaguri, the former Georgian Minister of Energy, proposed new hydroelectric projects worth well over 22,000 megawatts of capacity, which would cost over US$40 billion and would be privately funded. These projects alone would transform Georgia into the world's second-largest hydropower producer.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: In 2007, Georgia generated 8.34 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity while consuming 8.15 billion kWh. Most of Georgia's electricity generation comes from hydroelectric facilities. In 2005, the country generated 6.17 billion kWh of hydropower, or 86% of total electricity generation. In 2006 rapid growth in hydroelectricity output (by 27%) was matched by equally strong growth in thermal electricity (by 28%). Since then the share of hydropower has grown even bigger, when Inguri power plant reached full capacity in November 2007. In addition to state-owned Inguri, which has an installed capacity of 1,300 megawatts, Georgia's hydroelectric infrastructure consists of many small private plants.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: In recent years, Georgia became a major exporter of electricity in the region, exporting 1.3 billion KWh in 2010. Hydropower stations of Georgia produce 80-85% of the electricity utilized within the country, the remaining 15-20% is produced by thermal power stations. According to Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, so far Georgia has been exploiting only 18% of its hydro resource potential.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia's reliance on hydropower leaves the country vulnerable to climatic fluctuations, which requires imports to meet seasonal shortages, but also opens the possibility of exports during wetter conditions. Georgia still has the potential to increase hydro-generated power, through refurbishing existing facilities, as well as constructing new hydropower plants.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: One of the more difficult realities facing many of the former Soviet republics was the loss of Soviet-subsidized fuel and utility transfers. Prior to 2004, Georgia's transmission network was in critical condition, with electricity blackouts being common throughout the country. In response to mounting pressures, the Georgian government initiated a series of legislative reforms in 1998 and 1999 to begin to develop the power sector and electricity markets. While measures were taken to unbundle and liberalize the energy sector, a new law was drafted and Georgia's independent regulatory authority, the Georgian National Energy Regulatory Commission (GNERC), was formed. In addition to providing government subsidies, the GNERC was able to increase the prices of electricity and natural gas in Georgia to buffer the costs of recovery from the state's reform process. Following these reforms, distribution has been increasingly more reliable, approaching consistent 24-hour-a-day services. Investments in infrastructure have been made as well.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Currently, a privately owned Energo-Pro Georgia controls 62.5% of the electricity distribution market.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia has transmission lines that connect its power grid to Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In July 2008 Georgia began exporting electricity to Russia through the Kavkasioni power line. Later in 2009, Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri incited scandal for a business deal struck with the Russian energy company, Inter RAO, to jointly manage the Georgian Inguri hydropower plant for 10 years. Khetaguri's proposal would entail a cash flow of around US$9 million into Georgia for use of the plant. Tensions ran high, however, as the Inguri hydropower plant provides nearly 40 to 50 percent of the country's electricity and is located at the administrative border of the secessionist Abkhazia region.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgian Natural gas consumption stood at 1.8 billion cubic meters in 2007. Natural gas used to be supplied to Georgia by Russia. In recent years, however, Georgia has been able to eliminate its dependency on imports from Russia, thanks to increased hydroelectricity production, and the availability of natural gas sources from Azerbaijan. In addition, all Russian gas exports to Armenia pass through the Georgian pipeline system. Georgia takes 10% of that gas as a transit fee.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia is a partner country of the EU INOGATE energy programme, which has four key topics: enhancing energy security,


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: supporting sustainable energy development, and attracting investment for energy projects of common and regional interest.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Currently, about 55% of the total labor force is employed in agriculture, though much of this is subsistence farming.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgian agricultural production is beginning to recover following the devastation caused by the civil unrest and the necessary restructuring following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Livestock production is beginning to rebound, although it continues to be confronted by minor and sporadic disease outbreaks. Domestic grain production is increasing, and government invests in improvement of infrastructure improvements to ensure appropriate distribution and revenues to farmers. Tea, hazelnut and citrus production have suffered greatly as a result of the conflict in Abkhazia, a crucial area for planting the latter crops.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Viticulture and winemaking are the most important fields of Georgia's agriculture. Over 450 species of local vine are bred in Georgia, and the country is considered as one of the oldest places of producing top-quality wines in the world. Russia was traditionally the biggest export market for Georgian wine. This, however, changed in 2006, when Russia banned imports of wine and mineral water from Georgia, preceded by statements of Georgian governmental officials about low quality requirements of the Russian market. Since then Georgian wine producers have struggled to maintain output and break into new markets.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: In 2011 Georgia sold wine in total amount of 54 mln USD in 48 countries and alcoholic beverages in total amount of 68 mln USD in 32 countries. Vines and alcoholic beverages are in the top 10 export commodity's list with 2,5% and 3.1% share respectively.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: According to National Wine Agency of Georgia export of Georgian wine is increasing. 2011 wine export is 109% higher than 2007 exports. According to 2012 information, Georgia trades wine with 43 countries, selling over 23 million bottles. Biggest export partners for Georgia in wine industry are Ukraine (47.3% of wine export), Kazakhstan (18.9%) and Belarus (6.9%).


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: In 2011 export of vines, mineral waters and alcoholic beverages exceeded export of all years after 2006.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia is rich with spring waters and production of mineral waters is one of the main spheres of industry. Export of mineral waters in 2011 amounted to 48 mln USD in 35 countries. Share of mineral water in total export is 2.1%.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Food processing industry is developing align with the primary agricultural production and export of processed products is increasing year by year. Export of nuts constituted about 6% of Georgian export (2011) and is among 10 top export commodity list with total amount of 130 mln USD. Nuts was exported in 53 countries.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Rural population as a percentage of total population in Georgia was 48.2% in 2011 and decreased to 46.3% in 2014.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Tourism in Georgia (country) is one of the fastest growing sectors of the local economy, which has high potential for further development. During recent years the number of visitors to Georgia increased significantly contributing to the growth of other tourism related sectors. In 2011, more, about 3 million visitors visited Georgia 40 percent more, than in 2010. To foster the development of the tourism sector the Government of Georgia invests heavily in the development of the transportation and basic infrastructure, renovation and development of tourism destinations, which is a stimulus for the private investment generation. In 2011, total output of tourism related services production increased by 77% compared to 2006 and constituted 7.1% of total output of economy. In 2018 tourism generated 3.4 billion dollars in tax revenue for Georgia.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: The following table shows the monthly average for incoming tourists in Georgia by citizenship and number of visits (in thousands).


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: According to data from Georgia's National Tourism Administration, TASS reported that Armenia is third on the list of countries with the most visits from citizens in 2021. Turkey leads the pack in terms of trips made by visitors to Georgia last year, with 326 thousand, 2.7% fewer than in the previous year. With more than 212 thousand tourist visitors, 2.1% more than in 2020, Russia comes in second. Georgia received over 1.8 million international visits in total in 2021, an increase of 7.7% from the previous year.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia is one of the key members in international TRACECA programme due to its important geographical and political location. Since it is situated right in between of Europe and Asia, the country is supposed to become a busy transitional hub of a modern Silk Road in the near future. On March 11 of 2015, Georgian media declared that the Chinese and Georgian companies have reached an agreement in Beijing concerning the developing of the deep-water port at Anaklia, which existence is crucial for the TRACECA route. The port will be constructed on a plot of over 1,000 hectares and have access to a deep sea canyon. US-Based SSA Marine was later finally chosen to Invest in and Operate Container Terminal of Anaklia Deep Sea Port in Georgia by signing an agreement with Anaklia Development Consortium on 1 August 2017.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: First train containing 82 containers and 41 platforms came from China to Baku, Azerbaijan on July 28. It is planned to launch a first carriage using this way through Georgia to Istanbul in September 2015. Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway became operational on October 30, 2017.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Re-exportation of vehicles which is one of the income sources for Georgia has lowered much during 2014–2015 stagnation, most noticeably to Azerbaijan: it became 5.1 times less (on 10 337 cars) comparing to the previous year.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Like most other post-soviet countries, Georgia's finance sector is dominated by banks. As of 2015, there were 21 commercial banks, of which 5 large banks controlled most of financial assets. There are some major challenges facing the banking sector. For instance, banks play a limited role in financing the real economy and in investing in activities that are required to stabilize the country's persistent trade.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Human Development Index is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.


title: Economy of Georgia (country)

text: Georgia's HDI value for 2017 is 0.780— in the high human development category—positioning it at 70 out of 189 countries and territories. The rank is shared with Antigua and Barbuda. Between 2000 and 2017, Georgia's HDI value increased from 0.673 to 0.780, an increase of 15.9 percent or average annual increase of about 0.9 percent. Between 1990 and 2017, Georgia's life expectancy at birth increased by 3.1 years, mean years of schooling increased by 1.1 years and expected years of schooling increased by 2.6 years, also Georgia's GNI per capita increased by about 21.0%. However, it is misleading to compare values and rankings with those of previously published reports, because the underlying data and methods have changed over time.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: The Children Act is a 2017 drama film directed by Richard Eyre, produced by Duncan Kenworthy, and written by Ian McEwan, based on his 2014 novel of the same name. It stars Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, and Fionn Whitehead.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2017. and was released in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2018, by Entertainment One, and through DirecTV Cinema on 16 August 2018, before opening in the US in a limited release on 14 September 2018, by A24.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: Fiona Maye is a judge in the Family Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. A case is brought before her involving a 17-year-old boy, Adam Henry, who is suffering from leukaemia. Adam's doctors want to perform a blood transfusion, as that will allow them to use more drugs to cure him. However, Adam and his parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and believe that having a blood transfusion is against biblical principles. Fiona goes to the hospital to see Adam. The two talk, with Fiona attempting to determine what it is that Adam really wants, and whether he has been persuaded by his parents. When she asks Adam whether he is aware refusing the blood transfusion could, rather than kill him, render him disabled, Adam answers yes, and he'd hate it but accept the cost. She asks Adam to play a song for her. Adam starts to play "Down by the Salley Gardens", which Fiona then sings. Adam is very drawn to Fiona, and begs her not to leave. Fiona nevertheless leaves, and returns to court. She rules that, as a matter of law, Adam's welfare is the "paramount consideration" and declares that the medical treatment, including blood transfusion, may proceed despite the absence of Adam's consent and that of his parents.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: Meanwhile, Fiona's marriage is failing. Her husband, Jack, has said that he wants to have an affair with a colleague. He has become tired of Fiona constantly working and never having time for him. He says that he will have an affair, but is being totally open about it. He claims that he has never stopped, and will never stop, loving her. He packs his bags and drives off. She carries on with work without making contact, changes the locks, and begins rehearsing the piano with Mark Berner (Anthony Calf), a colleague. Jack returns after two days. After letting him in, Fiona acts very coldly towards him, resulting in an argument between the two, after Fiona is seen to have been to the office of a divorce solicitor.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: The transfusion is successful, and Adam is released from the hospital. He leaves many messages for Fiona, saying that she has changed the way that he thinks about the world. He follows her to work one day, and gives her various poems and letters that he has written. She tells him to stop following her; she has other cases, while he is still young and has his whole life in front of him. Next, Fiona travels to Newcastle for an Oath of Allegiance ceremony, and Adam follows her there. He tells her that he wants to live with her, as he does not understand why his parents were happy for him to die. Fiona sends him back to London. He kisses her on the lips and in the moment she accepts.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: Shortly after she returns to London, Fiona accompanies Mark Berner on the piano at a lawyers' concert. Just before she is due to play, she gets a note saying that Adam has relapsed and may not make it through the night. Instead of the planned encore, she plays and sings "Down by the Salley Gardens", before rushing to the hospice to see Adam. Adam has refused another blood transfusion, saying that it is his choice. Fiona returns home, and breaks down in front of Jack, telling him the story and calling Adam a "lovely boy". She falls asleep holding Jack's hand.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: On 29 August 2016, it was reported that Emma Thompson was in talks to star in an adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel "The Children Act" directed by Richard Eyre and produced by Duncan Kenworthy. On 3 October 2016, Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead joined the cast. Production was set to begin in London in October 2016, and it was reported on 8 December 2016, that filming had wrapped.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2017. Shortly after that, A24 and DirecTV Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: The film was released in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2018 by Entertainment One. It is scheduled to be released in the United States through DirecTV Cinema on 16 August 2018, before being released in a limited release on 14 September 2018.


title: The Children Act (film)

text: "The Children Act" received positive reviews from film critics. It holds an approval rating of 74% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 112 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""The Children Act" showcases yet another powerful performance from Emma Thompson, who elevates this undeniably flawed picture into an affecting adult drama." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 62 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Children Act (film)

text: Peter Debruge of "Variety" gave the film a positive review, writing, ""The Children Act" is that rarest of things: an adult drama, written and interpreted with a sensitivity to mature human concerns." Stephen Farber of "The Hollywood Reporter" also gave the film a positive review, saying, "The two central performances could hardly be better. Thompson works here with remarkable subtlety."


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical (promoted as Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell: The Musical) is a rock musical with music, lyrics and book by Jim Steinman, based on the "Bat Out of Hell" album by Meat Loaf. Steinman wrote all of the songs, most of which are from the "Bat Out of Hell" trilogy of albums ("Bat Out of Hell", "", and ""). The musical is a loose retelling of "Peter Pan", set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan (now named 'Obsidian'), and follows Strat, the forever young leader of 'The Lost' who has fallen in love with Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical ruler of Obsidian. Steinman has said in interviews that a version of the Peter Pan story inspired some of the songs on the 1977 album "Bat Out of Hell", and that is the connection between this musical and the 1977 album. Before the album "Bat Out of Hell" was released, Steinman worked on a musical of that storyline that was called "Neverland" at the time.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The musical premiered at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester, England, on February 17, 2017 and ran there until April 29, 2017. The production was directed by Jay Scheib and choreographed by Emma Portner. It was produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox and Tony Smith. The show originally starred Andrew Polec as Strat and Christina Bennington as Raven, with Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The show opened in London on June 5, 2017 and ran there until August 22, 2017 before moving to Toronto, from October 14, to January 7, 2018. The musical returned to London at the Dominion Theatre on April 2, 2018. An original cast recording album was released by BOOH Label on October 20, 2017.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: It is currently (as of late 2022) on an International Tour (UK, Ireland, Germany and Australia), and is a residency show at the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino, in Las Vegas, NV, USA. The show is due to return to London's West End at the Peacock Theatre in 2023.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In 1968, while at Amherst College, Jim Steinman wrote a newspaper article about the contemporary issues of the time, then decided to turn that into a rock musical called "The Dream Engine", working with fellow student Barry Keating, who became the show's director. "The Dream Engine" starred Steinman as Baal, the charismatic 19-year-old leader of a tribe of semi-feral youths in California, and showed Baal's interactions with tribe members and recruits (inductions involving pain rituals) and various adult authority figures (the chief of police, a draft board representative, a psychiatrist, and killer nuns). Staging was very much influenced by Bertolt Brecht and The Living Theatre. It also contained the song "Who Needs The Young" and the "Hot Summer Nights" speech, which are in "Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical".


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Rights to "The Dream Engine" were bought by Joseph Papp of the New York Shakespeare Festival in April 1969, and upon his graduation that summer, Steinman was recruited to refine his work for larger productions, but these productions never took shape. By 1973, Papp moved Steinman from "The Dream Engine" and put him to work on the rock musical "More Than You Deserve", where Steinman met the actor and singer Meat Loaf. In August 1974, Steinman wrote to Papp to say he had rewritten much of "The Dream Engine" and it was now a musical called "Neverland". Throughout 1975, Meat Loaf, Steinman, Ellen Foley, and others worked on the National Lampoon Road Show, substituting for John Belushi and Gilda Radner who had left to work on "Saturday Night Live". During this time, Steinman wrote most of the songs for the album "Bat Out of Hell" and began to rehearse and record them with Meat Loaf and Foley.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In early 1977, Steinman went to Washington, D.C. to work on a workshop production of "Neverland", which had many of the core elements of "The Dream Engine", but was now a futuristic sci-fi interpretation of Peter Pan. Foley starred as Wendy. In September 1977, "Bat Out of Hell" was released.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In the late 1990s, "Neverland" was rewritten into a film script called "Bat Out of Hell 2100", including earlier songs by Steinman such as "Who Needs The Young", "All Revved Up With No Place To Go", and the song "Bat Out Of Hell", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Objects In The Rear View Mirror", and "I'd Do Anything For Love". It draws more from the Peter Pan story, with characters including Peter, Wendy, Police Chief Captain Hook, Doctor Darling, and Mother Superior.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In 2008, "Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical" was announced. In 2015 a developmental lab for the show took place in New York, and in late 2016 a cast was assembled for the first public production, in the U.K.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Act One begins with Strat recalling his first encounter with rock and roll ("Love and Death and an American Guitar (Strat's Soliloquy)") before his DNA froze causing him to remain eighteen forever.(In The 21/22 UK Tour This is Performed by Raven) The story is set in the dystopian city of Obsidian, once known as Manhattan. Strat and his friends who are also frozen like him: Tink, Blake, Ledoux, Jagwire, Zahara and other teens call themselves 'The Lost' protest in Falco Square outside Falco Towers ("All Revved Up with No Place to Go" / "Wasted Youth"), the residence of the tyrannical leader of Obsidian, Falco. During the scuffle, Strat's shirt is torn from his back and thrown to the ground. Falco's only teenage daughter, Raven, sneaks outside and is drawn to the discarded shirt. Picking it up, her eyes meet with Strat, but she is immediately rushed back inside by her mother and Falco's wife, Sloane. Falco himself joins the fight, throwing Tink to the ground as he was spraying graffiti on the wall of Falco Towers, so Ledoux breaks a bottle over Falco's head, giving him a facial injury.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Falco eventually drives 'The Lost' away, and returns home to Falco Towers, where Raven expresses her resentment towards him for forbidding her from ever going outside. After sending Raven to bed, Falco discusses with Sloane about how he wants to make Obsidian great again with his planned house project. However, this involves: destroying disused tunnels and subways which have become residential areas for the homeless community and 'The Lost'. They then talk about the teenagers today while lamenting their long gone youths ("Who Needs the Young?"). In her room, Raven is trying on Strat's shirt when Strat briefly climbs in and he quickly steals a magazine with her image on it. His presence startles her, but he disappears quickly just as Sloane arrives. Raven eagerly asks Sloane about 'The Lost', so her mother tells her: a chemical warfare and an earthquake occurred in this city 25 years ago. Those teenagers were trapped in a tunnel filled with poison which didn't kill them, but froze their genes causing them to remain eighteen forever. Sloane then gives Raven an early eighteenth birthday present; Falco's old biker jacket. She also encourages her to not make the mistakes she made and that she wants her to be free and to be able to fall in love.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The following day, 'The Lost' are gathered in an area of Obsidian which they call the Deep End. It is their hideaway, which is located in a disused subway tunnel nearby the 81st Street–Museum of Natural History station. Strat's best friend, Tink crashes his bicycle, then acts aggressively towards Jagwire - but the fight is stopped from escalating by Strat, who takes Tink aside, tends his wounds and tussles with him. Unbeknownst to Strat, Tink secretly has a crush on him and attempts to kiss him, but Strat pulls back. Zahara discusses Falco's house project and she also attempts to make a move on Strat which he pulls back on as well. He asks Zahara: 'on a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?', but this falls flat, and both Zahara and Strat are a little alienated by each other.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: As Zahara leaves, she tells Strat that he needs to give up and forget about Raven, but Strat refuses. As he expresses his desire to see Raven; Blake, Ledoux, Tink and 'The Lost' briefly discuss kidnapping her in exchange for ransom. They then encourage him to pursue her romantically ("Out of the Frying Pan And Into the Fire").


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Meanwhile, Jagwire pulls up on his motorbike outside of Falco Towers, after seeing Zahara there. It is briefly established that they have an ongoing unromantic relationship which is going sour. Zahara accuses Jagwire of following her and attempts to drive him away, but Jagwire persists to get his feelings through to her. Although she is aware of Jagwire's love for her, Zahara gently rejects him as she still cannot get over her first love ("Two Out of Three Ain't Bad").


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Within Falco Towers, Falco and Sloane throw a party for Raven to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, much to her chagrin. Raven once again asks her father to let her explore the subways and to hang out with 'The Lost' which he bluntly and firmly refuses. Sloane attempts to brighten up the atmosphere by reminding everyone that it is Raven's birthday, but it quickly devolves into Falco and Sloane making out while reminiscing about how they got together during their wild-and-free youth ("Paradise by the Dashboard Light"). This causes Raven to leave in frustration and disgust.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In her room, Raven tearfully rips up her family photos until Falco and Sloane enter. They apologize for embarrassing her on her birthday and Zahara appears in a nurse outfit. Zahara gives Raven 'dream suppressant' medication, while Falco and Sloane tuck her into bed. Once they leave the room, Strat sneaks in through the window, and his presence soon awakens Raven, who is initially startled. Strat asks her: 'on a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?', but she's too busy expressing other feelings to notice the question, which disappoints Strat - who begins to leave, but she stops him. They have a heart-to-heart talk; Strat tells Raven what life is like being a 'Lost', and Raven reveals that she can never dream due to Falco making her take 'dream suppressant' medication. This leads them to serenade each other ("Making Love Out of Nothing at All") and Strat invites her to go out with him for one night. Raven agrees to go with him and just as they are about to make love, a frantic Zahara interrupts by entering the bedroom to warn them that Falco is coming, and has already invaded the Deep End. Strat then grabs Raven and they escape via her bedroom window. Outside, they are met up with Jagwire who appears with Strat's motorbike and he urges them to go just as he gets apprehended by Falco's militia. Strat takes Raven on his motorbike and they begin their escape, but Raven has second thoughts about going with him ("Bat Out of Hell"). Halfway through the ride, Raven starts fearing about what her father would do to Strat, prompting her to jump off his motorbike and run away, leaving Strat to grab the handlebars, brake and stop. Devastated and hurt, he gets back on his motorbike and zooms ahead. Strat ends up driving his motorbike at full speed, off the Atlantic Ocean cliffs when he 'misses' a sudden curve. His motorbike shatters and crushes him, severely injuring and seemingly killing him.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Act One ends with Zahara and Tink discovering his body. Zahara climbs down from the top of the cliffs and she calls the paramedics who arrive to help her carry Strat away.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: As Zahara briefly mentioned before Strat and Raven escaped, Falco was invading the Deep End. At the start of Act Two, Falco has captured many members of 'The Lost' and has confined them in 'The Vaults Of Punishment' (a cage barely big enough to hold them all) in the prison basement of Falco Towers. Falco gleefully tortures Jagwire by electrocution and Zahara appears in her nurse outfit while holding Strat's bloodied shirt. She grimly informs 'The Lost' that Strat has died just as Raven and Sloane arrive. Raven breaks down upon hearing this and is dragged away by Zahara and Sloane, leaving Falco and his militia to torture 'The Lost' ("In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher Is King"). Up in her room, Raven mourns over Strat's death ("Heaven Can Wait"). Below, 'The Lost' are still shocked to have lost their leader and they all admit that their lives are a mess - but then, their lives have always been a mess - prompting Jagwire, Blake and Ledoux to share their pasts ("Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are"). Having had enough of Falco's tyrannical behaviour, Sloane sneaks into the basement and frees 'The Lost' from the cage, allowing them to escape.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In the 21/22 UK Tour, In The Land of Pig is cut;Instead, Falco walks into the living room holding Strat's shirt, Raven gets mad and accuses him of killing Strat and runs to her room. Sloane tries to ask what happened and Falco says he warned Raven what would happen if she hung out with them. Then we transition into ("Heaven Can Wait") Objects is instead sung in the Deep End between Jagwire, Valkyrie, and Ledoux.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Meanwhile, Zahara takes a pint of blood from Raven and wakes her up. She tells Raven to come with her and they leave. Unbeknownst to them, Tink has been hiding in the room behind the door, and in a fit of jealousy, he violently rips into the pillows on Raven's bed - sending feathers flying everywhere - before throwing his knife at her photo. Zahara takes Raven to the safe area (script says: the attic of the Natural History Museum, but this is depicted on stage as an area filled with rocks), where she and Tink have been secretly looking after Strat who had miraculously survived his accident. She transfuses Raven's blood into Strat, enabling him to become mobile again, and he stumbles down from the rocks reciting poetry ("Teenager In Love"). Raven is shocked and overjoyed to see Strat and attempts to thank Tink for saving him, but he rudely rebuffs her. Zahara forcibly makes Tink leave with her while Strat and Raven have a heartfelt reunion ("For Crying Out Loud").


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The following day, Zahara returns to Falco Towers to prepare a bag for Raven and is confronted by Falco who violently demands her to reveal Raven's location. She denies knowing where Raven is and Falco reveals that he knows that she is actually part of 'The Lost'. Sloane enters the room and she defends Zahara from Falco. She attempts to talk some sense into Falco, but he pushes her away prompting her to yell that she is leaving him. Falco is about to strike Sloane until Zahara fires two warning shots with her gun. She beckons Sloane to come with her - so they can both leave in safety.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: At the museum, Strat once again asks Raven: 'on a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?' Raven responds to his words and happily agrees to become his, just as 'The Lost' show up. 'The Lost' become shocked and overwhelmed to see Strat alive. They joyously welcome him 'back from the dead' while serenading him with Raven ("You Took the Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)"). A 'wedding' is held - 'The Lost' dress Strat in a ruffled shirt with a sparkly silver jacket, and they dress Raven in a white dress, accompanied by a bouquet. Sloane joins in the celebration and she accepts Strat as Raven's partner. Raven throws the bouquet over her shoulder - this is caught by Zahara, who is simultaneously overjoyed and freaked out to catch it, so she throws it again - where it is caught by a female Lost member - Scherzzo(Or Valkyrie In The 21/22 UK Tour) - who gets down on one knee and proposes to Sloane.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: After the 'wedding', Strat and Raven go to the Dunes where they talk - Raven reveals she is now able to dream for the first time - and they attempt to consummate their relationship. They are soon interrupted by a jealous Tink who urges Strat to send Raven back to Falco. Strat refuses, leading into a heated argument and Tink vows to get rid of Raven while lamenting his unrequited love for Strat ("Not Allowed to Love"). At Falco Towers, Falco unsuccessfully tries to dissuade Sloane from leaving him after losing Raven ("What Part of My Body Hurts the Most"), and he is left all alone to reflect on his actions. He is later visited by Tink who offers him a deal: he will take him to where Raven is, in exchange that no one gets hurt and that he will leave 'The Lost' alone "after" he gets Raven back. Falco becomes convinced and he agrees to the deal while amused by Tink's betrayal.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In the Deep End, 'The Lost' are gathered at the bar continuing to celebrate the union between Strat and Raven while Jagwire serenades Zahara ("Dead Ringer For Love"). Their celebration is interrupted when Falco bursts in through the wall with his militia and Tink. He reveals the deal he and Tink made and orders 'The Lost' to return Raven to him if they want him to leave them alone. Everyone resists and a scuffle ensues, which abruptly ends when Falco accidentally and unintentionally shoots Tink. Overwhelmed with shock and anger, Strat orders Raven to get away from him, prompting her to run off - heartbroken. Weak from blood loss, Tink apologizes for what he did because he only wanted to remain as they always were and Strat forgives him, telling him that he will always be his best friend and his soulmate. Tink dies in Strat's arms and 'The Lost' hold a funeral for him ("Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through"). Meanwhile, Raven is left with no choice but to return home to Falco Towers where she furiously blames her father for ruining everything.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Six months later, Sloane is still wandering through the city, delivering a beautiful monologue about how she's tried and failed to recapture her youth. In Falco Towers, Raven has become a recluse by secluding herself in her bedroom until Strat slips in through the window. He apologizes for spurning her six months ago when he knew it wasn't her fault Tink died and that he still loves her. Realizing she is still in love with Strat, Raven rekindles her feelings for him, and so does Sloane when she returns to Falco to rekindle their marriage ("It's All Coming Back to Me Now"). Raven suddenly has second thoughts about their relationship, because after being apart for so long, she has realized that they cannot be together. When Strat asks her why, she reveals that unlike him, she is "not" frozen. Thus, she will age normally while he remains young forever. Strat tells Raven that he doesn't care if she gets old, because she will always be eighteen in his eyes and he will always love her no matter what.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Finale: Strat and Raven, Falco and Sloane, and Zahara and Jagwire make vows to their respective partners ("I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)"). During this song, Falco is forced at gunpoint into a lake by Zahara, where he emerges several seconds later dressed in a different outfit (a baptism/redemption). [In the US tour, during the song 'The Lost' surround Falco and when they disperse, he is wearing a rock style outfit.]


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Note: In the 21/22 UK Tour, Tink comes back for the finale, as he did not die and was merely injured, and he hugs Raven.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: An excerpt from the Meat Loaf recording of "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back" can be heard at the beginning of the scene in Raven's bedroom between "Who Needs the Young?" and "Out of the Frying Pan (And Into the Fire)". Lines from the title track of the album "Bad for Good" are used frequently in dialogue spoken by Raven, with one line also being sung as part of Sloane's monologue towards the end of act two.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Teenager In Love" is the name of the monologue Strat recites immediately before he and Raven sing "For Crying Out Loud". Performed by Steinman, a shorter version of this piece was first released as "Shadows On The Freeway" in 1979, then as "Nocturnal Pleasure" on the 1981 album "Dead Ringer". This full length version - titled "Teenager In Love" - was initially only the prologue to the music video for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Pandora's Box (1989) but was later released as a stand-alone audio track on the digital-only special 19-track version of the album, which includes promotional tracks and single edits.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Bat Out of Hell" began previews at the Manchester Opera House on February 17, 2017 ahead of an official opening on March 14. It closed on April 29.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: Dianne Bourne of the "Manchester Evening News" gave the show a 5-star review, calling it 'a truly staggering piece of musical theatre, which breaks new boundaries in its staging, choreography and concept on an epic scale'. Paul Downham of "North West End" said, "this show has literally changed the way musicals are staged forever."


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Bat Out of Hell" began previews at the London Coliseum on June 5, 2017 ahead of an official opening on June 20, 2017 and ran until August 22, 2017. On its final performance, the cast announced a return to London at the Dominion Theatre in 2018.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The London Coliseum production was nominated for a 2018 Olivier Award for Best Sound Design, by Gareth Owen.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Bat Out of Hell" made its North American premiere at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on October 14, 2017 and ran until January 7, 2018.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: After the production completed its run in Toronto, "Bat Out Of Hell"'s return engagement in London began previews on April 2, 2018, before opening at the Dominion Theatre on April 19, 2018. After originally being scheduled to run until July 28, 2018, the Dominion production was first extended until October 27, 2018, and subsequently extended again to January 5, 2019. The show broke box office records at the Dominion, selling £350,000 worth of tickets in its first day of sale.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: In August 2018, one of the show's producers David Sonenberg was quoted in "Forbes" magazine as saying the show was "unbelievably profitable", and that more than 500,000 people had seen the show to that point.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The North American tour of "Bat Out of Hell" was originally scheduled to run from October 2018 through Summer 2019. The tour opened October 16, 2018 in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, and was first scheduled to end July 7, 2019 in Dallas at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, then - after the Toronto run had begun - further dates were announced in Las Vegas and an 8-week run in New York (off-Broadway) from July 30, 2019 to September 22, 2019.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: On November 1, 2018, the North American tour was postponed by producers and concluded with the scheduled end of the Toronto run on November 3, 2018. No reason for the postponing was given, and this decision was criticized by many of the tour's cast, who voiced their displeasure with the news on social media.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: On November 5, 2018, an official announcement was made on social media and the show's website to say that the tour will relaunch in 2019, "ahead of a previously announced season at New York City Center." No explanation was given for the postponement. Several cast members contacted prominent theatre news website "BroadwayWorld" to say that their contracts have been terminated and they have not been approached about the 2019 tour.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Bat Out Of Hell" began previews in Oberhausen at the Metronom Theater on November 2, 2018 ahead of an official opening on November 8, 2018. It closed on September 19, 2019, and was replaced by Tanz Der Vampire in October 2019.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: "Bat Out Of Hell" made its US debut off-Broadway at the New York City Center theater - August 1, 2019 to September 8, 2019. Tickets went on sale on May 15, 2019 and large billboards were seen on Times Square to promote the show. The cast announced for this run include Andrew Polec, Christina Bennington and Danielle Steers - who originated their characters for the UK productions of the show - and Bradley Dean, Avionce Hoyles, Tyrick Wiltez Jones, Harper Miles and several ensemble actors rejoin the show from the previously-aborted 2018 'US Tour'. There were changes to the creative team - Randy Lennox is no longer listed as one of the producers, with Bob Broderick and Lorne Gertner joining the list of producers. Choreography is now credited to both Emma Portner and Xena Gusthart. Ryan Cantwell is named as Musical Director. On 4 June 2019, they announced Lena Hall for the role of Sloane.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The show has been announced for a series of short runs in venues under the Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos group; three US hotels with dates ranging from March to April 2020. It is stated on each press release that this is due to a new partnership between the named hotel and Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment. These shows were all postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: On November 25, 2019, announcements were made of an Arena Tour version of the show for June 2020, stopping at Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. The production has been re-branded as "Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell: The Rock Musical" and an 'Arena Experience'. Venues and promotion are being run by Australian entertainment company TEG Dainty with the long-time promoter and company CEO Paul Dainty being quoted on press releases. These shows have also been postponed until May 2021. The production also had plans to tour New Zealand, but plans were later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: On December 5, 2019, a UK tour in Q3-Q4 2020 and 2021 was announced to open in Manchester on 10 September 2020 but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 21 June 2021, producers confirmed the new tour dates from September 2021. The show will now open at the Manchester Opera House on 11 September 2021 before visiting Oxford, Glasgow, Birmingham, Wimbledon, Stockton, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Eastbourne, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Plymouth, Newcastle, Bristol, Belfast, Dublin, Hull, Cardiff, Liverpool and Woking.


title: Bat Out of Hell: The Musical

text: The cast for US / Australia / UK 2020 was revealed on 27 February 2020, simultaneously on WhatsOnStage.com and on the official website. Returning cast were Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton as Falco and Sloane in the UK tour, and Alex Melcher as Falco in the US and Australia. Glenn Adamson would play Strat in the US and UK, and Martha Kirby would be playing Raven in all territories. As with the North American tour and NYCC versions of the show, no one is listed in the role of Blake. There are now only 10 members of the ensemble cast - to compare, there were 26 members of the ensemble cast for the show's West End run at the Dominion Theatre.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In Norse mythology, Gram (Old Norse Gramr, meaning "Wrath"), also known as Balmung or Nothung, is the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It is primarily used by the Völsungs in the "Volsunga Saga". However, it is also seen in other legends, such as the "Thidrekssaga" in


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Depending on the story and source material, Gram may have other names. In "The Nibelungenlied" it is named Balmung. In Richard Wagner's work, "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Ring of the Nibelung"), it is referred to as Nothung.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Nowhere in the "Volsunga Saga" is a clear description of Gram given, but there is enough scattered throughout the story to draw a picture of the sword. Sigurd's weapons, Gram included, are described as being "all decked with gold and gleaming bright". Depending on how the text is read, the sword may or may not have a dragon emblazoned on it and/or depending on the translation been "brown of hue".


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Gram is primarily seen in the "Volsunga Saga" used by men in the Volsung line after Sigmund. Sigmund receives it during the wedding feast for his sister, Signy. Part of the way through the feast a strange man appears carrying a sword. Although unknown to Sigmund, this is the god Odin. He thrusts the sword into the Barnstokkr tree that grew in the middle of the hall and said, “The man to pull out this sword from the trunk shall receive it from me as a gift and he will find out for himself that he never bore in hand a better sword than this.” Soon after he departed every man made his attempt to pull the sword out of the wood. All fail except Sigmund, who easily extracts it. The sword is a fine sword, and King Siggeir is covetous of it, offering Sigmund three times its weight in gold. When he refuses, King Siggeir grows angry and secretly begins plotting to steal it from Sigmund, eventually killing his father and capturing him and all of his brothers. After this, the sword disappears from the narrative until Signy secretly gives it back to Sigmund as he is buried alive with Sinfjotli. After Sigmund avenges his family, he uses the sword in several battles before it is eventually broken by Odin during Sigmund's final battle with King Lyngvi. Hjördis, Sigmund's wife, takes up the two halves of the blade and keeps them for Sigurd, their son.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: After Gram was broken by Odin, Hjördis took the two halves and kept them for her future son. Soon after the dwarven smith, Regin, comes and begins teaching Sigurd. After a period of time, he tells Sigurd of the mighty dragon, Fafnir, and the treasure which it guards, asking Sigurd to slay it for him. Sigurd agrees on one condition: that Regin makes him a mighty sword capable of slaying such a monster.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Regin confidently makes Sigurd an admirable sword, but when Sigurd sees it, he is disappointed and breaks it over the anvil. On his second attempt, Regin makes him a sword superior to the last, but it also breaks. On his third attempt, Sigurd brings Regin the two halves of Gram, his father's sword, and when he strikes the anvil with Gram, it is cloven in two. Once he tested the strength of the sword, he left the workshop and went to a nearby stream to check its edge. Throwing a piece of wool upstream, he lets it press against Gram, causing it to be sliced through. After testing the blade's sharpness, he uses it to avenge his father, Sigmund, slaying King Lyngvi. Of the many feats done by Gram, by far the most well-known and important is the slaying of Fafnir the dragon. This deed is accomplished by Sigurd with a single, mighty thrust to the left shoulder where he drives the sword so deep he gets his arms bloodied up to the shoulder. Eventually, Gram is used as a sign of chastity when it is placed between Sigurd and Brynhild on their funeral pyre after Brynhild arranged Sigurd's death before killing herself in turn. After this, the sword is no longer found in the manuscript.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In "Siegfried", the third of the four operas in the "Ring des Nibelungen" cycle, Mime, who essentially takes Regin's part, is unable to reforge Nothung (as Gram is called in the "Ring"). Siegfried, however, manages. Apart from this, the story of Regin and Sigurd is more or less identical to that of Mime and Siegfried.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In "Ulysses" by James Joyce, Stephen Dedalus is confronted by a vision of his dead mother's corpse in a brothel. He uses his ashplant walking stick to smash a chandelier and dispel the hallucination, crying out "Nothung!" as he does so.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: The sword is featured in the 2017 video game "", where it is found and used in combat by the main character, Senua. The sword's origins are explained to the character by her friend Druth, including the story of Sigmund and Sigurd.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the "Castlevania" series of video games, Gram is a one-handed sword ("Symphony of the Night", "Aria of Sorrow" and "Harmony of Despair"), while Balmung is a two-handed great sword ("Aria of Sorrow", "Dawn of Sorrow" and "Portrait of Ruin").


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Gram is a heavy blade (two-handed sword) in the game "Warframe", the sword also has a variant with better attributes called "Gram Prime".


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Gram (under the name "Nothung") appears in the Cartoon Network animated series "Adventure Time" as the sword wielded by the legendary hero Billy.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: 'Gram the Sword of Grief' appears as a two-handed sword in the game "", specifically dropped by the dragon Abazigal (one of the half-siblings of the protagonist). Its description mentions it as being one of the many weapons of the great hero Siegfried.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein refers to Gram (using the name "Nothung") in his work "Philosophical Investigations".


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In "Konosuba", Mitsurugi Kyouya was given the 'Cursed Sword Gram' by Aqua and, at one point, used it to slay a dragon.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the series "Highschool DxD", Gram is one of the legendary demon swords alongside Balmung and Nothung being considered the most powerful demon swords, Gram used by the original Siegfried to kill the Norse Dragon King Fafnir, it was passed down to Siegfried's artificial descendant Siegfried and Gram's ownership was transferred to Kiba Yuuto after Siegfried was defeated.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the game "Fate/Grand Order", Gram is wielded by Sigurd (as a reforged version) and Siegfried (under the name Balmung).


title: Gram (mythology)

text: Gram can be obtained by sending characters on missions in the game "Brigandine: Legend of Forsena". Once obtained it can be equipped by Knight, Paladin, and Avenger classes.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the game "", the character named Od (which is another reference on Norse mythology, see Óðr) have one of the twelve holy weapons named Balmung.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the anime series "Sword Art Online" (specifically in the second arc of season 1, also known as Fairy Dance Arc) the sword Gram appears in Alfheim Online wielded as a two-handed sword named "Demonic Sword Gram." It has the ability "Ethereal Shift" which allows the sword to phase through a weapon or shield that is blocking an attack from the demonic sword, but the ability has a cooldown.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In the game "Final Fantasy XIV", Gram (as Nothung) is a stage of the Anima Weapon upgrade line for the Dark Knight class.


title: Gram (mythology)

text: In Book V in "Fire Emblem Heroes", the Order of Heroes searches for a sword called Gramr to slay Fáfnir, the King of Niðavellir. The sword was given to the Jötnar of Jötunheimr as a gift in the name of peace.


title: Bluestone

text: Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:


title: Bluestone

text: The term "bluestone" in Britain is used in a loose sense to cover all of the "foreign," not intrinsic, stones and rock debris at Stonehenge. It is a "convenience" label rather than a geological term, since at least 46 different rock types are represented. One of the most common rocks in the assemblage is known as Preseli Spotted Dolerite—a chemically altered igneous rock containing spots or clusters of secondary minerals replacing plagioclase feldspar. It is a medium grained dark and heavy rock, harder than granite.


title: Bluestone

text: Preseli bluestone tools, such as axes, have been discovered elsewhere within the British Isles. Many of them appear to have been made in or near Stonehenge, since there are petrographic similarities with some of the spotted dolerites there. The bluestones at Stonehenge were fist used there during the third phase of construction at Stonehenge around 2300 BC. It is assumed that there were about 80 monoliths originally, but this has never been proven since only 43 remain. The stones are estimated to weigh between 2 and 4 tons each. The majority of them are believed to have come from the Preseli Hills, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) away in Wales, either through glaciation (glacial erratic theory) or through humans organizing their transportation.


title: Bluestone

text: A summary of the major aspects of the Stonehenge "bluestone conundrum" was published in 2008. In 2018 a book devoted specifically to the problem of bluestone provenance and transport concluded that the Stonehenge bluestones are essentially an ill-sorted assemblage of glacial erratics. Much further research into the origin of the bluestones has been published between 2012 and 2022 particularly by geologists Richard Bevins and Rob Ixer. If a glacier transported the stones, then it must have been the Irish Sea Glacier. In support of the glacial erratic theory, researchers reporting in 2015 found no firm evidence of quarrying at Rhosyfelin in the Preselis. However, in such event, one might expect to find other bluestone boulders or slabs near the Stonehenge site, but no such bluestones (apart from fragments) have been found.


title: Bluestone

text: The archaeological find of the Boscombe Bowmen has been cited in support of the human transport theory. Preseli Bluestone dolerite axe heads have been found around the Preseli Hills as well, indicating that there was a population who knew how to work with the stones, In 2015, researchers claimed that some of the stones at Stonehenge came from Neolithic quarries at Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin in the Preseli Hills. The quarrying hypothesis has been hotly disputed by Brian John, Dyfed Elis-Gruffydd and John Downes, whose own detailed research led to the conclusion that the so-called quarrying features were all natural, created over a long period of glacial and periglacial landscape change. Further, no independent evidence has ever been found to support the thesis of long overland or sea transport of Preseli bluestones from Wales to Salisbury Plain.


title: Bluestone

text: In Victoria, what is known as bluestone is a basalt or olivine basalt. It was one of the favoured building materials during the Victorian Gold Rush period of the 1850s. In Melbourne it was extracted from quarries throughout the inner northern suburbs, such as Clifton Hill, Brunswick and Coburg, where the quarry used to source the stone for Pentridge Prison is now Coburg Lake.


title: Bluestone

text: Bluestone was also sourced in many other regions of the Victorian volcanic plains, and used in towns and cities of central and western regions, including Ballarat, Geelong, Kyneton, Port Fairy and Portland. It is still quarried at a number of places around the state.


title: Bluestone

text: Bluestone is very hard and therefore difficult to work, so it was predominantly used for warehouses, miscellaneous walls, and the foundations of buildings. However, a number of significant bluestone buildings exist, including the Old Melbourne Gaol, Pentridge Prison, St Patrick's Cathedral, Victoria Barracks, Melbourne Grammar School, Deaf Children Australia and Victorian College for the Deaf, Vision Australia, the Goldsbrough Mort warehouses (Bourke Street) and the Timeball Tower at Williamstown, as well as St Mary's Basilica in Geelong. Some examples of other major structures that use bluestone include Princes Bridge, the adjacent Federation Wharf, and Hawthorn Bridge. Because of its distinctive qualities, post-modern Melbourne buildings have also made use of bluestone for nostalgic reasons. These include the Southgate complex and the promenade in Southbank, Victoria.


title: Bluestone

text: Bluestone was also used extensively as cobblestone, and for kerbs and gutters, many examples which still exist in some of Melbourne's smaller city lanes and 19th century inner-suburban lanes. Crushed bluestone aggregate, known as "blue metal" (or "bluemetal"), is still used extensively in Victoria as railway ballast, as road base, and in making concrete. Combined with bitumen, it is used as a road surfacing material.


title: Bluestone

text: In South Australia, the name bluestone is given to a form of slate which is much less durable than Victorian bluestone, but was valued for its decorative appearance. The interior of the stone is usually pale grey or beige in colour, but is given attractively coloured surfaces by ferric oxide and other minerals deposited in joints and bedding planes. The slate is laid in masonry with the mineralised surfaces exposed. Bluestone was most popular from about the 1850s to the 1920s, quarried in the Adelaide Hills at Dry Creek, O'Halloran Hill (formerly Tapley's Hill) and Glen Osmond, as well as a number of other places in rural areas.


title: Bluestone

text: In Tasmania, the name bluestone is given to dolerite (diabase), which is a dominant stone variety in the landscape, and used in a variety of building roles.


title: Bluestone

text: Timaru bluestone (also known as Port Chalmers bluestone) is an attractive building material, used both historically and to the present. It is a grey basalt similar to Victorian bluestone, quarried near Timaru in the South Island. Bluestone from near Kokonga in Central Otago is also widely used, and is the main construction material (often with facing of Oamaru stone, a local compact limestone) in many of the notable historic buildings in the southern South Island, most of which were constructed during the financial boom following the Central Otago gold rush. Prominent structures to use this combination include Otago University Registry Building, Dunedin Law Courts, and Dunedin Railway Station. Similar construction using Timaru bluestone was used for Christchurch Arts Centre.


title: Bluestone

text: There are two distinct building materials called "bluestone" in the United States, one of which is also found in Canada.


title: Bluestone

text: Bluestone from Pennsylvania and New York is a sandstone defined as feldspathic greywacke. The sand-sized grains from which bluestone is constituted were deposited in the Catskill Delta during the Middle to Upper Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 370 to 345 million years ago. The Catskill Delta was created from runoff from the Acadian Mountains ("Ancestral Appalachians"). This delta ran in a narrow band from southwest to northeast and today provides the bluestone quarried from the Catskill Mountains and Northeastern Pennsylvania. The term "bluestone" is derived from a deep-blue-colored sandstone first found in Ulster County, New York. It can, however, appear in many other hues, mostly shades of grays and browns. Bluestone quarrying is of particular value to the economy of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The Starrucca Viaduct, finished in 1848, is an example of Pennsylvania bluestone as a building material. Bluestone is quarried in western New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and eastern New York. It is also quarried in the Canadian Appalachians near Deer Lake in Western Newfoundland. The Pennsylvania Bluestone Association has 105 members, the vast majority of them quarriers.


title: Bluestone

text: The other, lesser known, type of American "bluestone" is a blue-tinted limestone abundant in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It is a limestone formed during the Ordovician Period approximately 450 to 500 million years ago, at the bottom of a relatively shallow ocean that covered what is today Rockingham County, Virginia. The limestone that accumulated there was darker in color than most other limestone deposits because it was in deeper waters exposed to less light. The darker blue color resulted in limestone from this region being dubbed "bluestone" and with two sequences measuring about thick, it gives the area one of the largest limestone deposits in the world. The stone eventually fades from a deep blue to a light grey after prolonged exposure to sun and rain. Given the abundance of the stone in the Rockingham County area, the first settlers used it as foundations and chimneys for their houses. When James Madison University was built, the local bluestone was used to construct the buildings because of its high quality and cultural heritage.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Anti-British sentiment is prejudice, persecution, discrimination, fear or hatred against the British Government, British people, or the culture of the United Kingdom.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: The first and older cause was the intervention of British capital and companies together with their disproportional political influence. This political influence is associated with the local oligarchy and its economic model based on the primary sector and commodities. In turn, this led to controversial actions by successive Argentine governments such as the Roca–Runciman Treaty and the Treaty of Madrid (1989).


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: The second one is the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute and the Falklands War in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom. Due to this, anti-British and acts of vandalism do erupt.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: "Gott strafe England" was an anti-British slogan used by the German Army during World War I. The phrase literally means "May God punish England". In 1946, in Hamburg, "Ausgebombte" (bombed-out refugees) demonstrators sang the song.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Indian independence movement encouraged this sentiment, which was borne out of opposition against British colonial and imperial activities in these countries, called British Raj.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Anti-British sentiment, sometimes described as Anglophobia, has been described as "deeply entrenched in Iranian culture", and reported to be increasingly prevalent in Iran. In July 2009, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Britain "worse than America" for its alleged interference in Iran's post-election affairs. In the first half of the 20th century, the British Empire exerted political influence over Iran (Persia) in order to control the profits from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. As a result, British influence was widely known to have been behind the overthrow of the Qajar dynasty in the 1920s, the subsequent rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi, and the successful coup d'état overthrowing prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: On Monday 9 August 2010, the senior Iranian minister and Iran's first vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi declared that the British people were "stupid" and "not human". His remarks drew criticism from Simon Gass, the British ambassador in Iran, and also from the media in Britain.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: In November 2011 the Iranian parliament voted to downgrade relations with the UK after British sanctions were imposed on Iran due to its nuclear programme. Politicians reportedly shouted "Death to Britain". On 29 November 2011, Iranian students in Tehran stormed the British embassy, ransacked offices, smashed windows, shouted "Death to England[sic]" and burned the British flag.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Parts of the Iranian media campaigned against the reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran in August 2015, referring to Britain as an "old fox " – a term popularised by the Pakistani writer Seyyed Ahmad Adib Pishavari (born Peshawar 1844, died Tehran 1930) – and accusing Britain of having provoked protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: There is a long tradition of anti-British sentiment, specifically anti-English sentiment since the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland and often more specifically Anglophobia, within Irish nationalism. Much of this was grounded in the hostility felt by the largely Catholic poor for the Anglo-Irish gentry, which was mainly Anglican. In post-famine Ireland, anti-English hostility was adopted into the philosophy and foundation of the Irish nationalist movement. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Celtic Revival movement associated the search for a cultural and national identity with increasing anti-colonial and anti-English sentiment.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: A feeling of anti-English sentiment intensified within Irish nationalism during the Boer War leading to xenophobia underlined by Anglophobia. In 2011, tensions and anti-English or anti-British feelings flared in relation to the proposed state visit of Queen Elizabeth II, the first British monarch to visit Ireland in 100 years. A republican demonstration was held at the GPO Dublin by a group of Irish Republicans on 26 February 2011, and a mock trial and decapitation of an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II were carried out by republican group Éirígí. Other protests included a Dublin publican hanging a banner declaring "She and her family are all officially barred from this pub as long as the British occupy one inch of this island they will never be welcome in Ireland" during her visit. Following the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II's death on 8 September 2022, a video of Shamrock Rovers fans chanting "Lizzie's in a box, in a box, Lizzie's in a box!" to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band's "Give It Up" at a UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match in Dublin circulated on social media.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: The relationship between Israel and the UK is generally regarded as close and warm, and as a strategic partnership of the two nations. According to the a BBC World Service poll in 2014, five in ten Israelis (50%) have favourable attitudes to the UK, and only 6% of Israelis hold negative views towards the UK, the second lowest percentage after Japan.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Occasional criticism is also found. In Israel, anti-British sentiment may historically stem from British rule and policies in the mandate era, and in modern times from the perceived anti-Israel stance of the British media.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: The Jewish population of the United Kingdom was recorded as being 269,568 in the 2011 Census. Reacting to 609 anti-Semitic incidents across the UK in the first half of 2009, and to the announcement of numerous UK organizations to impose a boycott on Israel, some Israelis claimed that the UK is anti-Israeli and Antisemitic. According to an opinion piece by Eytan Gilboa, "the British media systematically supports the Palestinians, and openly slants its reporting about Israel and Israeli policy. The left-wing Guardian and Independent newspapers regularly print accusatory, anti-Israel editorials, and their correspondents in Israel file biased, and occasionally false, reports. The supposedly prestigious BBC has long been a sounding board to trumpet Palestinian propaganda." In 2010 Ron Breiman, a former chairman of the right-wing organisation "Professors for a Strong Israel", claimed in one of Israel's leading newspapers, "Haaretz", that the United Kingdom has raised and armed Israel's enemies in Jordan and the Arab Legion and described the British media as anti-Israeli.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Reacting to the UK government's decision to expel an Israeli diplomat because of Mossad's forging of 12 British passports for an assassination operation in 2010, former National Union members of the Israeli parliament Michael Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad accused the British government of being "anti-semitic" and referred to them as "dogs".


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Anti-British sentiments evolved in Spain following the ceding of Gibraltar to the British through the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 following the War of the Spanish Succession. In August 2013, Spain was considering forging an alliance with Argentina over the status of the Falkland Islands.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: President Thomas Jefferson complained of an unreasonable hostility towards the British state by the people in the United States during the Napoleonic Wars, brought about by the American Revolutionary War.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: The anti-Tom novel "Tit for Tat" (written anonymously in 1856 by "A Lady of New Orleans") encouraged anti-British sentiment in reaction to Britain's positive reception of the anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: During the World War II alliance, anti-British sentiment took different forms. In May 1942, when conditions were highly problematic for British prospects, American journalist Edward R. Murrow privately gave a British friend an analysis of the sources of persistent anti-British sentiment in the United States. He attributed it especially to:


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Senior American military officers often tried, with little success, to push against Roosevelt's support for Britain. Fleet Admiral Ernest King had been noted for these views which affected his decision-making during the "Second Happy Time" (in the Battle of the Atlantic). Joseph Stilwell, a four-star general in the China, Burma and India theatre of the Second World War was another noted for anti British views (for example, in this diaries he wrote, "Boy, will this burn up the Limeys!" when Myitkyina was finally taken). Curiously, he got on well with British military commander William Slim, even volunteering to serve under him for a time rather than under George Giffard. Slim noted that Stilwell had a public persona that differed from his private relations.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: In the 21st century, the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom has come under attack by advertising executive Steven A. Grasse who published "", although this work is partly tongue in cheek and forms part of a larger media project launched by the author.


title: Anti-British sentiment

text: Roland Emmerich's 2000 movie "The Patriot" drew controversy for demonising the British army, and misrepresenting British forces depicted as engaging in savagery – such as the burning of a church with civilians inside – in the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution. Liverpool City Council went on to claim that the film misrepresented British officer Banastre Tarleton and sought an apology from the producers. Other commentators noted that a similar incident was committed by German troops in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre in World War II, and suggested that the film producers may have had, consciously or subconsciously, an anti-British agenda in changing the nationalities and relocating the event to an earlier and different conflict and one stated that it was similar to a "blood libel".


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is located at the junction of the Chicago River's branches. The building is a leading retailing and wholesale location, hosting 20,000 visitors and tenants per day in the late 2000s.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Built by Marshall Field & Co. and later owned for over half a century by the Kennedy family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating architectural and interior design vendors and trades under a single roof. It has since become home to several other enterprises, including the Shops at the Mart, the Chicago campus of the Illinois Institute of Art, Motorola Mobility, the Grainger Technology Group branch of W.W. Grainger, and the Chicago tech startup center 1871. It was sold in January 1998 to Vornado Realty Trust.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Merchandise Mart is so large that it had its own ZIP Code (60654) until 2008, when the Postal Service assigned the ZIP Code to part of the surrounding area. In 2010, the building opened its Design Center showrooms to the public.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 1926, a westward extension of double-deck Wacker Drive increased development on the south riverbank. In 1927, Marshall Field & Co. announced its plans to build on the north bank opposite Wacker Drive. The site, bordered by Orleans Street, Wells Street, Kinzie Street and the Chicago River, was formerly a Native American trading post and the site of Chicago and North Western Railway's former Wells Street Station, abandoned in 1911 in favor of the Chicago and North Western Passenger Terminal. With the railroad's air rights, the site was large enough to accommodate "the largest building in the world". Removing the train yard supported the Chicago Plan Commission's desire to develop and beautify the riverfront.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: James Simpson, president of Marshall Field & Co. from 1923 to 1930 and chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission from 1926 to 1935, turned the first shovels of dirt at groundbreaking on August 16, 1928, along with architect Ernest Graham. General contractor John W. Griffiths & Sons brought building construction into the machine age through the use of techniques "ordinarily used in the construction of big dams." Concrete arriving by boat was lifted by compressed air to bins above the ground, with gravel and sand delivered by railroad cars to conveyor belts and transfer elevators. Giant mixers provided wet concrete to skip hoists in vertical towers that were extended as the building rose. Continuously employing 2,500 men and as many as 5,700 men altogether, the construction project lasted a year and a half into the early months of the Great Depression. With a foundation footprint of nearly two square city blocks, the building required 29 million bricks, of plumbing, of wiring, nearly of concrete, of stone, and 4,000 windows. Bethlehem Steel fabricated much of the 60,000 tons of steel. An estimated of corridors and over 30 elevators were included in the construction. The total cost of construction was estimated to be $26 million.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Merchandise Mart opened on May 5, 1930, just east of Chicago's original trading post, Wolf Point.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The building realized Marshall Field’s dream of a single wholesale center for the entire nation and consolidated 13 different warehouses. It was purchased in 1945 or 1946, depending on the source, by the Kennedy family through Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., and managed by Sargent Shriver. Kennedy's purchase price was reported to be either $12.5 or $13 million, and it is said that his initial capital was $1 million, though records say his original mortgage was $12.5 million, this was roughly half of what it had cost to construct the complex twenty years earlier. The building's sale was brokered by a good friend of Marshall Field and Joseph Kennedy, E. Stanley Klein. Klein at that time was a partner of Field and together they started Fieldcrest Mills.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Klein maintained that Kennedy's bargain price was predicated on an oral agreement between Field and Kennedy that after the sale the building would be donated to the University of Chicago and that Kennedy would take the tax deduction, although as an oral agreement no documentary evidence of this exists.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The building revenues became a principal source of Kennedy family wealth, including being a source of political campaign funding.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Kennedy family sold the complex center property to Vornado Realty Trust in 1998 as part of a larger $625 million ($ billion in current dollars) transaction, When it was sold, the Merchandise Mart was also the Kennedy's family's last remaining operating business. That year, MMPI was acquired by Vornado for $450 million cash and a $100 million-plus stake in Vornado. As of early 2007, the building was valued at $917 million.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Merchandise Mart was modernized in the late 1950s and 1960s. The Indian chiefs were removed and replaced with concrete plates in 1961, of minimal note to onlookers as skyscrapers did not rise on the north side of the river as predicted. Some of the carvings were later found in a suburban backyard and auctioned in 2014. In 1962, an entrance canopy was constructed over the south for vehicle use.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 1977, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the Chicago Apparel Center, located on the west side of Orleans Street, which increased the Merchandise Mart’s total floor space to . Making use of plazas, esplanades and overlooks employed the waterfront location for pedestrian use. In 1988, Helmut Jahn designed an enclosed pedestrian walking bridge over Orleans Street connecting the Mart and the Apparel Center.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: After a 10-year, $100 million modernization in the late 1980s that included public utility upgrades, Beyer Blinder Belle's commission in 1989 was to create additional perimeter entrances and restore the display windows, main entrance and lobby. On the south facade, the drive-through canopy was removed and two smaller doorways aside the main entrance were added. Display windows, painted over during the earlier modernization campaign, were restored with clear glass to showcase merchants' wares. New main and corner entrances were added to the rear facade, and the loading dock that occupied the north portion of the first floor of the river level was removed in order to use the bottom deck of North Bank Drive. Improvements to the lobby included restoration of the original glass curtain wall over the entrance, shop fronts and reception desk using terrazzo floors and wall sconces influenced by the original design. The project was completed in 1991.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Merchandise Mart was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White to be a "city within a city". Second only to Holabird & Root in Chicago art deco architecture, the firm had a long-standing relationship with the Field family. Started in 1928, completed in 1931, and built in the same art deco style as the Chicago Board of Trade Building, its cost was reported as both $32 million and $38 million. The building was the largest in the world in terms of floorspace, but was surpassed by the Pentagon in 1943, and now stands forty-fourth on the list of largest buildings in the world. Once the largest commercial space in the world, New Century Global Center in China is now recognized by Guinness World Records as holding the record.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Designer Alfred Shaw integrated art deco stylings with influences from three building types—the warehouse, the department store and the skyscraper. A warehouse block stands as the 18-story bulk of the building. Ribbon piers define the windows, and the building's chamfered corners, minimal setbacks, and corner pavilions disguise the edges of the mass and visually reduce bulk. The south corner pavilions are of greater height than the north corner pavilions. The building is open at the pedestrian level with bronzed framed display windows, typical of a department store, on the south, west and east boundaries. The 25-story central tower ascends with a peak in the form of a skyscraper, and rests in the southern half of the building. Deeply recessed portals occur between raised panels, and are adorned with medallions featuring the interlocked initials of the Merchandise Mart. The same logo occurs throughout the building. Fifty-six American Indian chiefs circled the tower's crown, a reference to the site's history and Chicago's early trade activities. Three and a half feet wide by seven feet tall, the terra cotta figures were barely visible from the street, meant to be viewed from the upper floors of the skyscrapers planned to rise along the riverbank.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The lobby of The Merchandise Mart is defined by eight square marble piers, with storefronts in side aisles framed in embossed bronze trim. The green and orange terrazzo floor was conceived as a carpet: a pattern of squares and stripes bordered by overscaled chevrons inlaid with The Mart's initials. The chevron theme is continued in the column sconces lighting an ornamented cornice overhead. Referred to as "business boulevards", two wide long corridors with terrazzo floors in the upper levels featured six and one-half miles of display windows. Building regulations specified identical entrances along corridors but tenants could personalize the individual floor space. Excepting the corridors, elevator halls, and exhibition space on the fourth floor, the of each upper floor was "raw space" with concrete floors.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Jules Guerin's frieze of 17 murals is the primary feature of the lobby and graphically illustrate commerce throughout the world, including the countries of origin for items sold in the building. The murals depict the industries and products, the primary mode of transportation and the architecture of 14 countries. Drawing on years as a stage set designer, Guerin executed the murals in red with gold leaf using techniques producing distinct image layers in successive planes. In a panel representing Italy, Venetian glassware appears in the foreground with fishing boats moored on the Grand Canal and the facade of the Palazzo Ducale rises above the towers of the Piazza San Marco.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: "To immortalize outstanding American merchants", Joseph Kennedy in 1953 commissioned eight bronze busts, four times life size, which would come to be known as the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame:


title: Merchandise Mart

text: All of the busts rest on white pedestals lining the Chicago River and face north toward the gold front door of the building.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: "Art on theMART" is a digital art display begun in 2018. It provides a 2.5 acre "canvas" (2 football fields) for digital artwork projected on the Chicago River facing facade of the Merchandise Mart. The project is intended to be the largest digital art projection in the world and is scheduled to occur over thirty years with annual showings initially between March and December. In 2019 it was expanded from five nights a week to every night. Displays begin 15 minutes after sunset and loop for two hours. Obscura Digital studio initially installed 34 projectors to allow the rotating roster of artists to display their work.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Dominating the skyline in the south end of the Near North Side, the Mart lies just south of the gallery district on the southern terminus of Franklin Street. Eateries and nightclubs abound on Hubbard Street one block to the north. The Kinzie Chophouse, popular with politicians and celebrities, stands on the northwest corner of Wells and Kinzie, across from the Merchandise Mart. The Chicago Varnish Company Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now housing Harry Caray's restaurant, is located east on Kinzie Street. Across the street to the east is 325 N. Wells Street, home to The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and DIRTT Environmental Solutions.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Mart is not rectangular in shape, having been constructed after the bascule bridges over the Chicago River were completed. The control house for the double decked Wells Street Bridge stands between the lower level and the southeast corner of the building. The Franklin Street Bridge stands at the southwest corner of the building, at the junction of Orleans Street and Franklin Street. The building slants at the same angle as Franklin Street, from southeast to northwest along Orleans Street.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: A heritage of lighting the structure finds the central and corner towers, along with the columns between each window on the setbacks, bathed nightly in an upwardly focused white light. Tradition dictates annual changes to green in mid-March for St. Patrick's Day and orange during the fall months around Halloween and Thanksgiving. Prominent events have found the behemoth lit in pink for Cancer Awareness Month. To note the 2006 Chicago Bears season, highlighted by reaching Super Bowl XLI, the building was lit with team colors, orange floodlights for the setbacks and blue floodlights for the towers. Red and green lights are used during the Christmas season. During the Art Chicago 2008 the American artist Jenny Holzer illuminated the facade of the building with a poem by the Polish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Wisława Szymborska. In 2018, a large projection screen began displaying images and videos across the structure's riverfront side.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Nighttime lighting on the Mart typically matches the colors of antenna lighting on the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center, as well as the colors used on the top floors of the Aon Center.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Under Chris Kennedy's leadership of the Mart, it was the largest building in the world to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification in 2007 from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The Mart has long been implementing sustainable practices. The Mart Center began operating a thermal storage facility in 1986, capable of building of ice per night, cooling 71 buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, and saving $200,000 in electricity costs in the first year.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 1990, the Mart Center began using Green Seal-approved green cleaning products and the next year implemented a recycling program, which today includes all forms of paper products, glass, light bulbs, batteries, aluminum and construction materials. In 1996, the Mart Center became one of the first major property owners in downtown Chicago to enter into an agreement with the district cooling system now known as Thermal Chicago, thus contributing to the national effort to reduce the discharge of ozone-damaging CFCs.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 2006, MMPI joined Clean Air Counts, a voluntary initiative to reduce smog forming pollutants and energy consumption in the Chicago area. Part of the campaign strategies included utilizing only low VOC cleaning products, paints and building materials, as well as energy efficient lighting and alternative workplace transportation options. To date, the Mart Center has reduced pollution by , the largest reduction by a commercial building.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: That same year, the Mart Center recycling program saved over 13,000 trees and recycled nearly 11 million pounds of waste, while water conservation efforts saved of water. More than eight percent of the estimated 10,000 people working at the Mart walk, bike or take public transportation; to encourage greener methods of transportation, the Mart expanded bicycle storage capacity to more than 200. In 2009, MMPI converted all stationery to a one hundred percent post-consumer recycled product.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Wholesale showrooms occupy 50% of the usable floor space, and the Sultan of Brunei once spent $1.6 million at the Mart to furnish his entire palace, claiming the location was the only place where the task could be completed in one week. Select showrooms are open only to wholesalers, with others accessible to the general public. Unlike stores with traditional shelf and rack displays, entire usable rooms are created, providing consumers an opportunity to compare form and function between applications and manufacturers. A portion of the stores offer items for purchase singly or as a collection, while others offer design services, preservation, renovation, or installation. In addition to being a resource for architects and decorators, the Mart also has featured award-winning designs as selected by the American Institute of Architects. Catering to suppliers, on-site firms specialize in providing professional services for market research projects.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 1931, Marshall Field and Company lost $5 million, followed by $8 million in 1932. The wholesale division was greatly reduced and Field's reduced its space in the Mart from four floors to one and half. The Mart continued to display the latest trends in home furnishings within the showrooms and trade shows. The company recovered late in the decade, but did not return to all previously occupied space.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: In 1942, L. L. Skaggs formed a partnership with three other men and named the partnership the Owners Service Company, hence Osco. The headquarters moved from Waterloo, Iowa, to the Merchandise Mart.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: A retail shopping area, named The Shops at the Mart, opened in 1991 and includes apparel shops, beauty services, bookstores and newsstands, financial services, telecommunication services, travel services, specialty food and wine stores, photo services, a dry cleaner, shoe shine stand, and a food court. A U.S. Post Office is located on the first floor and a FedEx location is on the second floor.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: The Apparel Center houses the 521-room Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North hotel, the offices of the "Chicago Sun-Times" and the Chicago campus of the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago, as well as the Chicago office of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency. GoHealth occupies on the 5th floor of Merchandise Mart, the Potbelly Sandwich Works' corporate offices are located in the tower. Motorola Mobility moved its headquarters to the Merchandise Mart in 2014.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Since 1969, the Merchandise Mart has been home to the annual National Exposition of Contract Furnishings, known as NeoCon. With over 1,000 exhibitors of contract and commercial furnishings, and 50,000 attendees, it is the largest trade show of its kind in North America.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Before the location even opened, NBC announced plans to build studios in the Mart. When opened on October 20, 1930, the nineteenth-floor location covered and supported a variety of live broadcasts including those requiring orchestras. WENR and WMAQ broadcast from the location. Expanded in 1935, with office space in the previously unoccupied tower, the additional provided room for an organ chamber, two echo rooms, and a total of 11 studios. A staff of more than 300 produced up to 1,700 programs each month, including "Amos 'n' Andy".


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Hugh Downs contributed to the Burr Tillstrom children's show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" from the NBC studios after the network picked up the program from WBKB. The "Captain Midnight" radio program was broadcast from the Mart from 1942 until 1945.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: WMAQ and WMAQ-TV moved to the NBC Tower in 1989, though NBC sold WMAQ radio to Westinghouse Broadcasting two years earlier). WMAQ's former sister FM station, now WKQX, stayed at the Merchandise Mart until 2016, when it moved to NBC Tower itself.. The nineteenth floor is currently vacant.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: On January 7, 1949, NBC station WNBQ commercially debuted its television broadcast schedule on channel 5, with a minimum of two hours of programming per day. April 15, 1956, is remembered as "C-Day" at WMAQ-TV, and was described by Broadcasting-Telecasting magazine as "a daring breakthrough the black-and-white curtain." With Mayor Richard J. Daley looking on, NBC President David Sarnoff operated the controls as Channel 5 became the world's first all-color TV station as "Wide, Wide World" was broadcast to 110 NBC-TV affiliated stations across the country. The color conversion project cost more than $1.25 million with advertising costing $175,000. On "C-Day", three skywriting planes flew over the city, trailing streams of red, green and blue smoke.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: WMAQ-TV first installed color equipment in late 1953, with the Tournament of Roses Parade of 1954 as the first major broadcast. Introduced in March 1955, the first local color program was John Ott's "How Does Your Garden Grow?", featuring the use of time-lapse color film.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Although WMAQ-TV has since moved to NBC Tower about a mile away, and for the most part the 19th floor of the Mart has been turned into office space, one former tenant (Bankers Life and Trust Company) maintained a remnant of the original studios as their video and multimedia department.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Local regional sports network Comcast SportsNet Chicago has their control room, and broadcasts their live studio programming from the Apparel Center expansion; the studios had been home to previous RSNs FSN Chicago and SportsChannel Chicago.


title: Merchandise Mart

text: Built in under four months and opened on December 5, 1930, the Merchandise Mart elevated train station served the Main Line of the North Side Division. The station is now noted for being one of two commercial locations to have its own station on the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) 'L' system. The station is now served by the Brown and Purple Lines. The station complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; the turnstiles are located within the building on the second floor, while the platforms are connected to the east side of the building. The northbound platform is accessed by an overhead bridge or elevator. It was rebuilt in 1988, prior to the Wells Street Bridge reconstruction in 1989.


title: Sara Carbonero

text: Sara Carbonero Arévalo (born 3 February 1984) is a Spanish sports journalist. Since early 2000, she was a TV presenter for Telecinco, until she moved to Porto, in Portugal, when her ex-husband Iker Casillas joined Porto in July 2015.


title: Sara Carbonero

text: When she was in the 3rd year of Journalism bachelor's from the Complutense University of Madrid, she entered as an intern at Radio Marca and six months later she was hired. In April 2009, she signed for Telecinco as editor and sports presenter.


title: Sara Carbonero

text: In 2015 she created a clothing brand with two friends called "fast love" selling clothing, accessories and beauty products online.


title: Sara Carbonero

text: In July 2016, she was introduced as a host of a fashion TV-show on Telecinco called "Quiero Ser" (I Want to Be).


title: Sara Carbonero

text: During the 2010 FIFA World Cup it was alleged that Carbonero, reporting during the match between Spain and Switzerland, had distracted Casillas, causing the unexpected Swiss victory. Carbonero and her TV crew were standing near the Spanish end of the pitch less than 60 feet from the goal, where Casillas was. The allegations were made in the English press, originally by Graham Keeley of "The Times" and later repeated by several other English newspapers, prompting the Madrid-based Spanish newspapers "El Mundo", "El País" and the popular sports daily "Marca" to all run articles suggesting that the claims were preposterous and untrue.


title: Sara Carbonero

text: Questions were also raised about her journalistic integrity after she undertook to interview her boyfriend Casillas after the match. As a result of the controversy, Carbonero in Spain became "one of the most photographed people of the World Cup".


title: Sara Carbonero

text: In July 2010 after the World Cup, it was announced that Carbonero would collaborate during the 2010–11 season with the Italian digital television platform Mediaset Premium, taking charge of information on the La Liga and especially on the career of José Mourinho in Real Madrid.