title: Intertitle

text: Intertitles have also had a long history in the area of amateur film. The efforts of home movie aficionados to intertitle their works post-production led to the development of a number of innovative approaches to the challenge. Frequently lacking access to high-quality film dubbing and splicing equipment, amateur film makers must plan ahead when making a film to allow space for filming an intertitle over the existing film. Intertitles may be printed neatly on a piece of paper, a card, or a piece of cardboard and filmed, or they may be formed from adhesive strips and affixed to glass. In the early 1980s, digital recording technology improved to the point where intertitles could be created in born-digital format and recorded directly onto the film. Several specialty accessories from this period such as Sony's HVT-2100 Titler and cameras such as Matsushita's Quasar VK-743 and Zenith VC-1800 could be used to generate intertitles for home movies. Early 1980s video game consoles and applications catering to the demo scene were also adapted for the generation and recording of intertitles for home films. Among these were included the ColecoVision, the Magnavox Odyssey² (using programs such as the "Type & Talk" cartridge and the "Voice" module), the Bally Astrocade (using the built-in "Scribbling" program or the more advanced "Creative Crayon" cartridge), and the intertitle-specialized Famicom Titler.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: Dauntless is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed by Phoenix Labs and published and distributed by Epic Games. The game initially launched in beta in May 2018 for Microsoft Windows. An early access version launched on May 21, 2019 for PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, including full support for cross-platform play, and was fully released for those platforms on September 26, 2019. A Nintendo Switch version was released on December 10, 2019. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released on December 2, 2021.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: "Dauntless" takes place in a fantasy setting, where a cataclysmic event has torn the world apart, releasing monstrous creatures known as Behemoths that prey on the surviving humans. Players take on the role of Slayers to take down Behemoths, collecting loot that they use to craft and upgrade weapons and equipment as to take down larger and more powerful Behemoths. While hunting, the game plays as a third-person action game; the player uses a combo system to attack the creature, while monitoring their own health and stamina gauge. Such hunts can take upwards of twenty minutes of in-game time to complete. The game can be played both as single-player, cooperatively in a party of up to four or in public cooperative instances of up to six people.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: Phoenix Labs was formed by former Riot Games developers Jesse Houston, Sean Bender and Robin Mayne, and as of January 2017 includes 40 developers formerly from BioWare, Blizzard Entertainment, and Capcom. While a small studio compared to the AAA studios they left, Houston said that they are positioned in a way to offer "a new, unique approach to crafting AAA experiences".


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: "Dauntless" is the studio's first release. It was heavily inspired, as well as frequently compared to, Capcom's "Monster Hunter" series, which can see hundreds of hours put into a game by a player; the developers themselves have over a collective 6000 hours in various "Monster Hunter" titles. "Dauntless" was also influenced by "Dark Souls" and "World of Warcraft". Houston credits "Dark Souls" specifically for helping to prove out that there is a market for "hardcore action games" focused on player versus environment encounters, which allowed them to take a safe risk on their approach to "Dauntless". The game is intended to be played cooperatively as they see it as a social experience, and intend to add social/multiplayer interactions that are persistent in games like "World of Warcraft" and "Destiny" to differentiate "Dauntless" from the "Monster Hunter" games. Houston said that they plan to make extremely difficult quests within the game, so that while most players will be able to reach a principle endgame state, only a few will be skilled enough to take on these quests, similar to some quests in "World of Warcraft". The game's look and feel was inspired by the animated film "Tangled" and other Disney films, avoiding hyper-realism so that the game's graphics will age well.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: Since its announcement, the game has garnered a great deal of interest from players, prompting Phoenix Labs to be much more transparent about the development plans for the game and interact with their fans to help guide development. They also plan to move the closed alpha sooner by a few months to get more early feedback. They later announced plans to start the alpha testing in April 2017.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: The game was first revealed during The Game Awards in December 2016. Phoenix Labs planned to start with a closed alpha period, followed by an open beta period prior to the game's full release in the last quarter of 2017. The alpha was launched August 18, 2017; though players could register to be selected for the alpha, Phoenix Labs also offered premium early alpha access in for-cost packages that included in-game buffs, features for customization, and the ability to create guilds. By the PAX East 2017 event in March 2017, they had the basic combat for the game completed, and were starting the development of the impact of skills and boosts into the game. By September, Phoenix Labs pushed back the release schedule for the game, citing issues found during the closed alpha period including game stability and game balance in comparison to the "Monster Hunter" formula. The open beta was moved to early 2018, and formally launched in May 2018, though prior to that, they invited small waves of players to the closed beta to increase feedback. Within two weeks of the open beta period, over one million new players had played the game. By July 2018, they had seen over 2 million players.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: While there would be microtransactions in the game, the developers plan to limit this to cosmetic items and temporary boosts rather than to require players to access game content. Houston said it was important to them that players shown wearing rare armor or weapons in the game got those through skill and not by "a deep wallet". While initially they had offered cosmetics through loot boxes within the game, the team opted to remove them following criticism towards the growing trend of loot boxes that was raised in October 2017; instead, they allow players to directly purchase cosmetics with real-world funds for monetization purposes. Houston, who had previously worked with Electronic Arts on "Mass Effect 3", one of the first games that introduced loot boxes, said that they wanted to give players "a clearer relationship to the content that [they're] purchasing" in their decision to eliminate these. Instead, Phoenix Labs opted to use a battle pass system using Hunt and Season passes, providing a rotating set of cosmetics and emotes.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: "Dauntless" was initially planned for a personal computer-only release, but Phoenix Labs have been in discussions with publishers for consoles, and would like to support cross-platform play if they do publish to these systems. Houston said that his team was not worried about potential competition from "", which was announced to be coming in 2018 for personal computers and consoles during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 in June 2017. Houston said "The more AAA products that are coming into this genre, the wider it’s going to get", and believes that "Dauntless" differs itself by being tuned to a co-operative experience and using free-to-play mechanics. The studio later affirmed in May 2019 that "Monster Hunter World" had initially dipped some of its player count, but "Dauntless" has since steadily grown thanks to the interest in this style of game created by the success of "Monster Hunter World", and was around 3 million total players at that point.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: At The Game Awards 2018 in December 2018, Phoenix Labs affirmed that "Dauntless" would release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early 2019, and with future plans for a Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms. Phoenix Labs wants to offer a "One Dauntless" system to players, with their progress being saved through a single account regardless of which platform they play on, as well as for cross-platform play, and worked with Sony and Microsoft to work out these details. By January 2019, Phoenix Labs announced the game would be migrated to the Epic Games Store and into the Store's account systems. This helped Phoenix to support cross-platform play through Epic Games' previous efforts to secure that for "Fortnite Battle Royale".


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: On May 21, 2019, while still in early access, "Dauntless" was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as transitioned Windows players to the Epic Games Store. Prior to release, Phoenix Labs only had anticipated having cross-platform play between Windows and Xbox One users, as they were still in discussions with Sony on PlayStation 4 cross-platform support, but by May 21, they had secured the approval from Sony. As such, "Dauntless" is the first game to ship at launch with cross-play between these three major platforms. Within days of launch, the 3-million player base doubled to 6 million, putting initial stress on the game's servers during this period while Phoenix worked to expand server capacity. The game officially left early access on September 26, 2019 with its 1.0 launch and first major expansion "Aether Unbound", with a total of 15 million players at that point.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: The Switch version was released on December 10, 2019, and versions for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S launched on December 2, 2021. These versions support cross-platform play and progression with Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: Phoenix Labs acquired Bot School Inc. in August 2019 to help with "Dauntless" support and cross-play features. Phoenix Labs were acquired themselves by Garena in January 2020. The acquirement did not affect normal operation of Phoenix Labs or "Dauntless", and served to bolster Garena's international presence. For Phoenix, the acquisition potentially allowed them to develop towards mobile game space.


title: Dauntless (video game)

text: "Dauntless" received tentatively positive reviews at the time of release. "Game Informer" thought that the core monster hunting gameplay was focused and fun, but warned that advanced players would run out of new content fairly quickly. "GameSpot" was less enthusiastic, praising the weapon variety and monster design, but criticizing the bugs in the early version of the game and the setting, story, and characters being unfulfilling and not fleshed out.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Marcus Cornelius Armstrong (born 29 July 2000) is a New Zealand motor racing driver. He is due to compete in IndyCar on road and street courses with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Previously he competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship between 2020 and 2022. He was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2017 and 2021.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong started single-seaters in 2014, and in the following year won his only single-seater title to date in the 2017 Italian F4 Championship whilst becoming runner-up in the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship. He stepped to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2018, ending 5th. The championship merged into the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2019, and Armstrong became runner-up to teammate Robert Shwartzman. He was promoted to the 2020 Formula 2 Championship with ART Grand Prix but a difficult season saw him finish 13th. He also finished in the same position in the the following year with DAMS, and came 13th again in the 2022 Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Born in Christchurch, Armstrong began karting in 2010, winning all his major titles in New Zealand from 2011 to 2014. He did not achieve much in international competitions, placing a highest of 12th during the Karting World Championship in the KF2 category in 2015. While still karting, Armstrong graduated to single seaters in 2014 in the 2014–15 season of New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, ending seventh in the standings. In an article by Motorsport.com, Armstrong was ranked third of the most exciting karting talents of 2016.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In November 2015, Armstrong tested a Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 car in 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 post-season test. In 2016, Armstrong once again diversified his karting with stints in BRDC British Formula 3 and the two Formula Renault 2.0 series. In the latter series, he competed as a guest driver during the final round at Estoril, and finished ninth and tenth.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In November 2016, Armstrong was among five drivers invited to join the Ferrari Driver Academy and was confirmed as a member the following month. That same month, he was confirmed to race in the 2017 Toyota Racing Series with M2 Competition. Armstrong won the season opener on his debut, but retired in the third race due to a collision. His next would come at the third round in Hampton during the first race, but again failed to finish the third race after touching with Richard Verschoor. A further win and two second places in the final round saw Armstrong managed fourth in the championship.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In February 2017, it was announced Armstrong would race in both the ADAC F4 and Italian F4 championships with Prema Powerteam. Armstrong had a relatively slow start to the season, scoring three third-places and two non-scoring finishes across the opening two rounds. The next round at Vallelunga saw Armstrong claim his maiden win of the year From then, Armstrong's form had been stellar, winning three more times including appearing on the podium at all races during the second Mugello round. In the Monza season finale, Armstrong finished second in the first race, which was enough to claim the title with two races to spare.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong partook in all races, as the races did not clash with his Italian F4 campaign. Armstrong had two non-scoring finishes in the first two rounds. However, he bounced back and took his first ADAC F4 win at the Red Bull Ring and two more podium finishes there. His podium streak continued towards Oscbersleben, scoring another win and a second place. Another win at the Nürburgring hauled him into championship contention, but eventually lost out to eventual champion and future F2 teammate Jüri Vips by a mere 4.5 points, and Armstrong settled as vice-champion.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: For 2018, Armstrong returned to the Toyota Racing Series with M2 Competition. Armstrong started his season in perfect fashion, taking third in the first race and winning the other two, though those wins would be the only one of the season. Armstrong continued his podium streak in Teretonga and Hampton, which increased his lead to 41 points. However, he only yielded one podium in the next five races, bringing the gap down to ten points over second-placed Robert Shwartzman and 23 points to Richard Verschoor. With four laps to go after a safety car restart, Armstrong had a mechanical failure whilst leading, and dropped to seventh at the flag. This was meant that Shwartzman and Verschoor dropped Armstrong to third in the championship, the former winning the championship. Overall, Armstrong lost the title by 15 points.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong continued his collaboration with Prema, graduating to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, alongside fellow Ferrari juniors Robert Shwartzman and Guanyu Zhou. He scored a podium in just his second race at Pau, and a second place during the second round at the Hungaroring. His first win came at the Norisring and also capitalised by claiming two more podiums during the round, which saw him take the lead of the standings. He continued his championship lead for the next two rounds, which yielded two podiums. In Silverstone, Armstrong struggled with tyre wear and lost the lead of the standings to Dan Ticktum. At Misano, Armstrong scored a second place in the first race, but did not score in the other two which included a retirement in the third race from pole due to being hit from behind. Armstrong earned his ninth and last podium at the Red Bull Ring, but a triple retirement in the final round at the Hockenheimring saw him drop from 3rd to 5th in the standings, scoring 260 points.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: At the season ending Macau Grand Prix, Armstrong finished eighth on his Macau debut having finished in the same position during the qualification race.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In 2019 before his main campaign, Armstrong returned to the 2019 Toyota Racing Series with M2 Competition. He started the season by taking podiums in all three races, He would take his first win at the only race at Teretonga. He took two wins in four races at Hampton Downs, which saw him take the lead of the championship from fellow Kiwi Liam Lawson. Armstrong had a suspension issue during the fourth round at Taupo, yet still won the final race during the round but lost the championship lead heading into the final round by five points to Lawson. In the first race during the final round, Armstrong beat Lawson in the first race, but ended the other two behind him. This meant that Lawson was the champion by ten points, and Armstrong ended the series as runner-up with 346 points and five wins.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong reunited with Prema Racing to contest the inaugural FIA Formula 3 Championship, partnering 2018 teammate Robert Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala. In April 2019, Armstrong joined Nicolas Todt's All Road Management scheme. In the first round in Barcelona, Armstrong qualified third. He finished in the same position having tried to challenge Shwartzman on the opening lap. In Race 2, Armstrong made a strong start to take fourth on the opening lap, and later passed Max Fewtrell for third. However, Armstrong would fall to fifth place at the end of the race. Armstrong qualified fifth in Paul Ricard, and had a strong Race 1 up till lap 16, where Armstrong collided and spun with Jake Hughes whilst fighting for second place. Hughes was out on the spot, but Armstrong managed to continue and finish sixth. Armstrong had bad luck in Race 2, where he stalled from starting third, but made a brilliant charge to take sixth place in the end.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: At the Red Bull Ring, Armstrong topped practice and later took his first pole position of the year. He lost the lead to Renault junior Max Fewtrell and re-took it back later. However, him and Jüri Vips passed him which dropped Armstrong to third, and defended from teammate Daruvala to cling onto third and another podium. He later stated that "it was a lot more difficult to overtake than [I] expected". From sixth in Race 2, Armstrong quickly moved up into second behind Shwartzman and kept him honest for most of the race. On the final lap, Armstrong overtook Shwartzman however the Russian clipped Armstrong which punctured the New Zealander's rear tyre and fell to 19th. In Silverstone, Armstrong qualified on the front row in second, but dropped two places at the start. He re-passed Renault junior Christian Lundgaard and pressured Daruvala for second place, but ultimately settled for third. In Race 2, Armstrong sat in seventh for most of the race until Daruvala and Pedro Piquet collided on the penultimate lap, and also overtook Lundgaard to snatch fourth. At the Hungaroring, Armstrong qualified lower down in 13th. He was unable to progress through the field easily, during the first race and managed to take eighth place and claim reverse pole for Race 2. He defended from Leonardo Pulcini at the start, but managed to take his first victory of the season, in a lights-to-flag manner. Heading into the summer break and the final three rounds of the season, Armstrong sat fourth in the standings with 98 points, 36 off leader Shwartzman.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong had his worst qualifying of the year in Spa-Francorchamps, securing only 19th. In Race 1, Armstrong was up to 11th by lap 6, and cruised to eighth position to once again take reverse pole for the next race. He once again took victory by winning Race 2 over Yuki Tsunoda, and he dedicated his win to Anthoine Hubert, who died in a crash the night before. In Monza, Armstrong qualified second, but was demoted to start seventh for driving unnecessarily slowly. In Race 1, Armstrong bolted to second at the end of the opening lap when Lundgaard and Lirim Zendeli, before taking the lead on lap 4 from Richard Verschoor. However ten laps later, he would succumb the lead to Shwartzman and Armstrong would finish in second place. Unfortunately, he was penalised twenty seconds for exceeding the minimum delta time during the race's first safety car period and dropped to 21st. A small collision with David Beckmann saw Armstrong drop back, but recovered to 14th and end the weekend without points. Topping practice at the final round in Sochi, Armstrong went on to qualify third. In Race 1, he moved into the lead into the first corner, but lost the lead to Niko Kari on lap 9 and two further positions a lap later. Despite that, he would re-pass Pulcini and Kari back before overtaking Shwartzman on the final lap to claim the win while Shwartzman clinched the title. In Race 2, Armstrong moved up to third on lap 5 when Pulcini and Hughes collided. He passed Piquet on lap 17 to take second in the final race of the year. His result meant he became vice-champion and overhauled Daruvala's tally by one point. Overall, Armstrong scored 158 points whilst claiming three victories, seven podiums, three poles (two reverse), and four fastest laps.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong returned to participate in the 2019 Macau Grand Prix. finishing eighth in the overall race having started seventeenth on the grid. Armstrong finished 17th in the qualification race, but recovered and claimed eighth place.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong was ranked seventh in Motorsport.com's article of top 20 junior single-seater drivers in 2019.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: On 28 November 2019, it was announced Armstrong would graduate to the FIA Formula 2 Championship with ART Grand Prix to partner F3 rival and Renault Sport Academy member Christian Lundgaard. Before his debut F2 season, he stated that he "[felt] massively privileged" and "really confident". In the delayed start of the season, he qualified 13th in the Austrian opening round. He pitted very early on lap 8 during the feature race and his gamble would pay off, as he ran in fourth place once all drivers had pitted. When Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher ahead encountered problems of their own, Armstrong capitalised on the opportunity and rushed to second placed podium on his debut.. During the sprint race, he made a lightning start, picking up four places on the opening lap to move into third. He nearly overtook Louis Delétraz on lap 7, but suffered a mechanical issue on lap 14 and was forced to retire from the race. During the second Austrian round, he qualified 12th. He made progress in the feature race and made his way to seventh place. Starting second in the sprint race, he was passed by Lundgaard at the start and later by Schumacher on lap 12. But just two laps later, Schumacher had a problem with his fire extinguisher and Armstrong re-took third place and claimed his second and last podium of the season.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Following that however, Armstrong went pointless for the next six rounds. It started in Hungary, where he qualified in the top ten for the first time that year. He lost three places in the feature race, and his race worsened as he tried to avoid the slowing Lundgaard and tagged Artem Markelov, sending the Russian into the barriers. Armstrong suffered damage and peeled into the pits to retire. He made a rocket start in the sprint race, he was up to 14th by the first lap. Armstrong overtook more of his rivals and narrowly missed out on points, in ninth as he lost the final points-paying position to Zhou on the last lap. The next five rounds yielded little for Armstrong, and he would get mediocre results. During the ninth round in Mugello, until the feature race in Mugello, Armstrong qualified fourth his joint-best qualifying of the year. He made a decent start, passing Callum Ilott at the start, but was overtaken by Luca Ghiotto seconds later. Armstrong ran in sixth place before the safety car periods, which he avoided the chaos following the first restart. He managed to take his first points since Austria in ninth place. and fell out of the top ten in the standings. In the sprint race, Armstrong made a great start to seventh, but was overtaken by many rivals and eventually finished 11th.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Russia, Armstrong started 14th and took another points finish, claiming ninth in the feature race. In the red-flagged sprint, he lost four positions whilst running tenth after making a careless error and running wide, which left him to finish 14th. He qualified fourth again in Bahrain. He moved past Ticktum at the start, and later passed Ilott for second despite being on the harder tyres. However, he would soon be behind Schumacher, and fell back to third. Following the pit stops, he lost positions to his rivals and eventually secured seventh. Starting second in the sprint race, he would be overtaken by Nikita Mazepin midway through the race, then later overtaken by both Charouz drivers. However when Pedro Piquet had a mechanical issue, Armstrong went to finish fourth. He ended his season by finishing 11th and 14th in the final race. Overall, Armstrong ended 13th in the standings with 52 points compared to teammate Lundgaard's 149, his worst ever placing in a full-time series. He scored two podiums and five more points finishes.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: For the 2021 season, Armstrong moved to DAMS to partner Roy Nissany. Having topped the final day of pre-season testing, while saying that "the intensity is really high". He qualified in 13th, and his sprint race 1 was relatively short as he suffered a power loss after just completing two laps. In Sprint Race 2, he had another unfortunate race. He impressively made his way up to sixth place by lap 13 but two laps later, the safety car was deployed due to a collision. He stayed out, and dispatched Bent Viscaal for second place during the restart. However, rivals on fresher tyres passed him and he eventually finished in tenth. In the feature race, Armstrong had a good beginning half of the race, as he was up to fourth by lap 8. He made a timely pit stop under the safety car and led the field. However, during the restart he dropped two places to Oscar Piastri and Richard Verschoor. He lost a few more places and capped off the race in fifth place. In Monaco, he qualified 14th and made up two places at the start of the first sprint. He inherited a place following Christian Lundgaard's retirement. On the final lap, he made a divebomb on Jehan Daruvala into the penultimate corner, sending him up to tenth and giving him reverse pole for the second sprint. Unfortunately, Armstrong was forced to start from the pit lane due to a car problem. Further issues continued and he dropped out of the race on lap 3. In the feature race, whilst running tenth, he collided with Jüri Vips, the Estonian driver shoving him into the wall and capping off a miserable weekend for Armstrong.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Baku, he qualified sixth and would start fifth in sprint race 1. He made up a position at the start on Ralph Boschung but was back in fifth after being overtaken by Dan Ticktum. He lost two positions on the penultimate lap to end seventh, and was nearly passed by Vips on the line. In the second sprint, Armstrong battled Bent Viscaal on lap 8 following a safety car restart, but misjudged his braking point due to cold tyres and slammed into the wall, ending his race. His feature race barely lasted half a lap, as he was sent into the wall due to being hit by Théo Pourchaire, which was ultimately caused by Ticktum. By that point, Armstrong had only 12 points to his name, and trailed teammate Nissany in the standings. In Silverstone, he again qualified 14th and made a storming start in the first sprint race, moving up to ninth and remaining there for the entire race. Starting second in the second sprint race, Armstrong could not find a way past eventual race winner Richard Verschoor throughout the 21-lap race but managed to claim his first F2 podium in slightly more than a year. He had an uneventful feature race, he finished 12th.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Monza, he qualified 17th and had poor performances in the sprint races, he ended 11th and 15th in sprint 1 and sprint 2 respectively. In the feature race, he started on the hard tyres and it would pay off as he managed to overtake some rivals following a safety car restart to finish tenth, though he was later promoted to ninth due to Verschoor's disqualification. In Russia where the second sprint was cancelled, Armstrong qualified 11th, and finished both races in the same position.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: The inaugural race in Jeddah, saw the New Zealander qualify ninth, giving him second for the first sprint race. He managed to overtake fellow Kiwi Liam Lawson into the first corner. Despite Lawson pressuring him on the final lap, Armstrong held on and won his first Formula 2 race. On his win, Armstrong stated that the win was "a reward for the work done by [his] DAMS team during a difficult 2021 season". In the second sprint race however, his fortunes were reversed as he was hit from behind by Clément Novalak. In a shortened feature race, he secured points in eighth place. In Yas Marina, Armstrong finished sprint race 1 in tenth having started 11th, giving him reverse pole for the second time that year. He would be on course for his third podium of the season in the second sprint race, but had to retire due to an engine failure whilst leading the race. In the feature race, he went on the alternate strategy and overtook his rivals, which rewarded him with seventh in the end, despite attacking Ticktum in the dying minutes of the race. Armstrong once again ended his F2 campaign in 13th with 49 points, two podiums, five other points finishes while also beating teammate Nissany. Talking about the season in general, Armstrong admitted that “at times last year I felt like I was a bit blind," and that he didn't have the data to push for better results.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Having driven in the post-season test with them, Armstrong signed a deal to for Hitech Grand Prix during the 2022 season, partnering Jüri Vips. Shortly before the season, Armstrong commented that he "not going to give up" F1 seat and "[did] not want to leave anything off the table in 2022".


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: For the opening Bahrain round, Armstrong qualified 13th and made up positions until his race was cut short on lap 3 when Jake Hughes thumped him at the back, sending Armstrong into a stall. He had a much better feature race, starting on the softs saw the Kiwi up to third by lap 11. A late safety car saw him jump Felipe Drugovich and cross the line in fifth place. In Jeddah, he qualified fourth, but was given his first ever top-3 start after Jack Doohan was disqualified. In the sprint race, Armstrong was engrossed in a tight battle with Vips but the Estonian driver won out. With just three laps to go, Armstrong again retired as he spun, with his engine unable to get going. In the feature race, he was passed by Liam Lawson at the end of the opening lap, before regaining it as Lawson had a problem in the pits. However, Armstrong would end in fifth place as he was overtaken by Jehan Daruvala and Hughes towards the end.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Imola, he qualified ninth, giving him a second place start for the sprint race. He made a decent start to jump Logan Sargeant off the line, and never looked back to take his first win of the year and second overall ahead of both Prema cars, despite having no radio for the entire race. In the feature race, he finished in 16th after an early safety car ruined his alternate strategy. The Barcelona round saw him end tenth after starting 13th in the sprint race. Again on the alternate strategy in the feature race, Armstrong would exit the pits in tenth, but fought back and claim seventh, passing Théo Pourchaire on the last lap.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: Armstrong qualified seventh in Monaco. Starting fourth in the sprint race, he was immediately in third when Hughes stalled. He would remain in the position for the remainder of the race and claim another podium. His feature race was uneventful, he ended seventh, giving his first double points finish in an F2 event and climbed to fourth in the standings. In Baku, he qualified fourth. In the sprint race, he avoided all the chaos and broke through with a P4 finish. In the feature race, Armstrong passed Dennis Hauger at the start then later on Lawson during the lap 5 safety car restart. Another safety car restart on lap 15 saw the Kiwi lock up and nosed into the back of teammate Vips on the restart, and was forced to pit due to damage. Armstrong would eventually finish the race in 12th place, in a race which would have been so much more for the Kiwi driver.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Silverstone, he started 12th and made up positions to claim ninth, narrowly missing points. In the feature race, he did manage points however, finishing eighth after having a good start that saw him P9 at the end of the first lap. During the Red Bull Ring round, he qualified tenth, giving him reverse pole for the sprint race. He proceeded to dominate the sprint race, leading every lap to claim victory. In the feature race on a drying track, some of his rivals opted to start on wets while the Kiwi was the leading driver on slicks. At Turn 3, Armstrong ran wide to avoid Richard Verschoor but was hit by another rival, and came to a halt moments later.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In France, he qualified eighth. Lining up third for the sprint race, he jumped Lawson at the start but he was back down in third on lap 4. On lap 19, Armstrong made an unsuccessful overtake and collided with Daruvala which opened the door for Pourchaire, and the Frenchman forced him wide which dropped Armstrong to sixth. He was again forced off by Vips and he eventually finished in ninth, before being dropped to 14th for colliding with Daruvala. Once again in the feature race, his race finished on lap 1 as he was sent into a spin by David Beckmann, before being collected by Hauger. In Budapest, he took his first front row start in F2 by qualifying P2. Ending the sprint race in seventh, despite contact with Daruvala. In the feature race, he stormed into the lead passing polesitter Ayumu Iwasa before Turn 1. However, a slow pit stop saw him passed by Pourchaire and Iwasa towards the end. He would also be jumped by Enzo Fittipaldi. Drivers behind passed him on fresher tyres, and Armstrong had to settle with sixth place in the end.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Spa-Francorchamps, he qualified 12th and made a brilliant start in the sprint race, passing five cars to take seventh place on the opening lap, and would finish in that position. In the feature race, he ended down in 13th after a penalty was given to him for forcing another driver off track. Zandvoort went better for him, he qualified ninth and started second for the sprint race. He was able to jump polesitter Clément Novalak and lead every remaining lap to claim his third win of the season. In the feature race, he made contact early on with Novalak while fighting over seventh but both came out unscathed. On the alternate strategy it was ruined when Marino Sato brought out the safety car, and Armstrong was not allowed to pit under safety car conditions. He pitted shortly after the safety car withdrew and he finished 14th.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In Monza, he qualified third. Armstrong initially finished sixth in the sprint race, but was given a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage off-track. He was up to second before the pit stops and pitted during the lap 8 safety car but entered beyond the pit lane entry bollard which earned a ten-second stop and go penalty, and was added by another of the same penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He eventually finished in 12th.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: At the start of 2017 Armstrong became a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He made his F1 test debut in January at the Fiorano, driving the 2018 Ferrari SF71H, stating that "the car was not too difficult to drive". He tested the same car at Fiorano in April, completing more than 200km. Following his 2021 season, he and Ferrari parted ways. Speaking about his departure, the Kiwi said that "[he] knew [staying with the FDA] was a dead end".


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In October 2022, Armstrong tested an IndyCar car for the first time with Dale Coyne Racing at the Sebring International Raceway. Following the test, team boss Dale Coyne said that "he was a very good candidate" for Dale Coyne Racing, as the American-based team is currently intending to expand to three entries for the 2023 IndyCar Series.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: On 2 December 2022, it was announced that Chip Ganassi Racing signed Armstrong to drive the No. 11 entry (formerly the No. 48) on the road courses and street circuits in 2023.


title: Marcus Armstrong

text: In November 2022, Armstrong tested an endurance racing car for the first time, testing the LMP2 Alpine car at the Bahrain International Circuit.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Sankarabharanam () is a 1980 Indian Telugu-language musical drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath. Produced by Edida Nageswara Rao under the production company Poornodaya Movie Creations, "Sankarabharanam" starred J. V. Somayajulu, Manju Bhargavi, Chandra Mohan, and Rajyalakshmi. The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan and remained a chartbuster. The film throws light on the chasm between Classical and Western Music based on the perspective of people from two different generations.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: "Sankarabharanam" won the "Prize of the Public" at the "Besançon Film Festival of France" in the year 1981. It was screened at the 8th International Film Festival of India, the Tashkent Film Festival, the Asia Pacific Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival held in May 1980, and the AISFM Film Festival. "Forbes" included J. V. Somayajulu's performance in the film on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". In 2013, in an online poll conducted by "CNN-IBN" on their website as part of the hundred years celebration of Indian cinema, "Sankarabharanam" came eleventh in the poll for finding the "greatest Indian film ever."


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: "Sankarabharanam" opened to near-empty halls and by the end of the first week, all theaters were houseful for every show. It had an extraordinary run, running for more than 25 weeks in many centers. Released in Bangalore without dubbing it ran for a year. It won four National Film Awards including the Best Film with Mass Appeal, Wholesome Entertainment & Aesthetic Values, the first for a "South-Indian" film at the 27th National Film Awards, and seven state Nandi Awards. It was later dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam under the same title. The Malayalam dub went on to run for over an year in theatres. Viswanath subsequently directed the Hindi remake "Sur Sangam".


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Sankara Sastri, a widower with a daughter named Sarada, is one of the most popular Carnatic singers of the day, famed for having mastered the raga "Sankarabharanam". Tulasi is the daughter of a "devadasi", who admires Sastri from afar. Once, when Sastri came to their town on tour, Tulasi met him on the riverbank when Sastri was teaching his own daughter.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: One morning Tulasi was so thrilled by Sastri's singing that she begins dancing on the riverbank, oblivious of her surroundings. Sastri sees her, and Tulasi also comes to her senses and abruptly stops. She expects Sastri to rebuke her. But he appreciates her sincerity and continues singing.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Tulasi's mother wants her to follow in the family tradition of becoming a courtesan, believes she can extract a high price for Tulasi from a rich man. Once the deal was struck, the man raped Tulasi. Seeing a photo of Sastri in Tulasi's room, he breaks it and taunts her by saying that she is now free to be the old Sastri's mistress. The enraged Tulasi stabs her rapist with a shard of glass from the broken frame of Sastri's photo, killing him.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: At the subsequent murder trial Sastri engages a close friend, a lawyer, to defend Tulasi. Tulasi's mother is sent to jail for engaging in prostitution, while Tulasi goes free but finds herself homeless. When Sastri takes Tulasi to his own house, the rumour spreads that Tulasi has become Sastri's mistress. Engaged to sing at a temple, everyone, including Sastri's musical accompanists, leaves on seeing Tulasi. Feeling responsible for this public insult to the man she reveres, Tulasi leaves Sastri's home.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Over time, while pop music is on the ascendant, the popularity of classical music wanes, Sastri loses his audience and, with them his comfortable lifestyle. Ten years later, Sastri is living in a small house with his daughter, who has grown into adulthood. Meanwhile, Tulasi has inherited her mother's property after her mother's demise.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Tulasi has a ten-year-old son, the result of her rape, and desires that he become Sastri's student. Tulasi gets her son to pretend to be homeless, entering Sastri's household as a servant. Tulasi is content to watch from a distance as her son gradually becomes Sastri's musical protege.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Pamulaparti Venkata Kameswara Rao, a schoolteacher by profession but a dilettante singer at heart, falls in love with Sarada. Although Sastri rejects the alliance at first, he agrees after hearing the man sing at the village temple.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Tulasi arranges for a concert on the day of Sarada's wedding, in a new auditorium which she named for her mentor. Sastri sings at the concert but suffers a heart attack part-way through it. His disciple, Tulasi's son, takes over from the sidelines and continues singing the song.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: As Sastri watches his student with pride, he also sees Tulasi at the side of the hall and realizes that the boy is Tulasi's son. A doctor is brought to attend to Sastri, but Sastri waves him off, knowing that his end is near. As Tulasi's son completes the song, Sastri symbolically anoints the boy as his musical heir by giving his "aabharanam" (his leg bracelet) to him and dies. Tulasi comes running to her "guru", and dies at his feet. The film ends on this tragic but uplifting note, as Sastri's newly-wed daughter and son-in-law take charge of Tulasi's son.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: After hearing the plot, the producers were initially taken aback due to the parallel cinema tone to the subject matter, but finally Edida Nageswara Rao agreed to produce the film. He wanted Akkineni Nageswara Rao to enact the role of Sankara Sastry, K. Viswanath wanted Sivaji Ganesan to perform the role, but couldn't approach him for various reasons and also wanted Krishnam Raju for the role, but later refused as Viswanath felt his image as a star would ruin the role and he chose a debutant J. V. Somayajulu, a stage artist for the role. K. Viswanath scripted and directed the film, while Jandhyala gave the dialogues. Balu Mahendra performed the cinematography while the film is edited by G. G. Krishna Rao. Thota Tharani worked as the film's production designer. Vamsy, who went on to direct films like "Sitaara", "Anveshana" and "Ladies Tailor" was one of the assistant directors in the film.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: The music, largely Carnatic based, was composed by K.V. Mahadevan. M. Balamuralikrishna was the original choice for the male playback singer, due to the heavy classical content of the compositions. Since M. Balamuralikrishna was not so much inclined to sing in the movie, K. V. Mahadevan, having faith in the mettle of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, insisted on him taking up this challenge. The soundtrack has lyrics by Veturi and vocals by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Vani Jayaram, S.P. Sailaja, Madhavapeddi Ramesh, Jit Mohan Mitra, and Pattabhi.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: Released on 2 February 1980, the film was released in only a very few theatres and opened to almost empty halls. However, in a week through positive reviews and word of mouth theatres were packed. The film had 216-day run at Royal theatre, Hyderabad. The film was dubbed into Malayalam and released in New Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram and Kavitha Theatre, Ernakulam on 12 September 1980, where it ran successfully for over 200 days. It is considered a cult classic in Telugu cinema especially due to the use of carnatic music that is more true to the classical form than for film.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: The film won four National Film Awards, primarily in the Music categories. This makes "Sankarabharanam" the only Telugu film to win four National Film Awards at the time. The film is one of the three Telugu films to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film also won seven Nandi Awards, including the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. Four of the seven Nandi Awards are from the Music categories.


title: Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

text: The success of this film triggered a sequence of classical films in Telugu, including "Tyagayya" (by Bapu), "Meghasandesam" (by Dasari N. Rao), and Viswanath's own follow-ups: "Saptapadi", "Saagara Sangamam", "Sruthi Layalu", "Swarna Kamalam", "Swayam Krushi", "Sirivennela", and "Swati Kiranam". S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, the Telugu playback singer who rendered all the songs of Sastri's character, has often said this movie was the highlight of his career. It got 'SPB' his first National Award, and made him a household name across all of South India. Film critic Gudipoodi Srihari called it the best Telugu film he has seen after "Mayabazar".


title: Car wash

text: A car wash, carwash, or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or fully automated (possibly connected to a gas station).


title: Car wash

text: Car washes may also be events where people pay to have their cars washed by volunteers, often using less specialized equipment, as a method to raise money for some purpose.


title: Car wash

text: The history of commercial car washes in the United States began in 1914. People used manpower to push or move the cars through stages of the process. The name is credited to Automobile Laundry in Detroit, Michigan, opened in 1914 by Frank McCormick and J.W. Hinkle .


title: Car wash

text: Manual car wash operations peaked at 32 drive-through facilities in the United States. The first semi-automatic car wash in the United States made its debut in 1946. A facility in Detroit, Michigan, used automatic pulley systems and manual brushing.


title: Car wash

text: Dan Hanna, encouraged by car washers in Detroit, made his own car wash in 1955 called the Rub-a-Dub in Oregon. In 1957, he formed the Hanna Enterprises and eventually reached about 31 locations. In 1959, Hanna operated his wash rack until he made the first mechanized car washing system. Hanna saw expansion as the popularity of his mechanized system spread throughout the city.


title: Car wash

text: By the mid 1960s, Hanna Enterprises established itself as the main manufacturer of car washing equipment and materials. This includes the Wrap-Around Brush, Roller-on-demand Conveyor belt, soft cloth friction washing, several ways to wash the tires, and a recirculating water system.


title: Car wash

text: Modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic, or self-serve, detergents, and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate dirt and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. There has been a move in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain wastewater discharge permits. This is in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one's home), where wastewater can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in streams, rivers, and lakes.


title: Car wash

text: A chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and polish car surface. This method is claimed to be eco-friendly. It is recommended only for cars with light dirt accumulation to avoid paint damage.


title: Car wash

text: Mechanized car washes, especially those with brushes, may risk damaging the exterior finish. Paint finishes have improved as also car washing processes. More facilities utilize "brushless" (cloth) and "touch-free" (high-pressure water) equipment, as well as modern "foam" washing wheels made of closed-cell foam.


title: Car wash

text: A self-serve car wash is a simple and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes offer the ability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inside a large covered bay that is equipped with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) as well as a foam brush for scrubbing. When customers insert coins or tokens into the coin box, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to start the equipment. These facilities are often equipped with separate vacuum stations that allow customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inside their cars. Some self-service car washes offer hand-held dryers.


title: Car wash

text: The first conveyorized automatic car wash appeared in Hollywood, California in 1940. Conveyorized automatic car washes consist of tunnel-like buildings into which customers (or attendants) drive.


title: Car wash

text: Some car washes have their customers pay through a computerized "POS", or point of sale unit, also known as an "automatic cashier", which may take the place of a human cashier. The mechanism inputs the wash PLU into a master computer or a tunnel controller automatically. When the sale is automated, after paying the car is put into a line-up called the stack or queue. The stack moves sequentially, so the wash knows what each car purchased. After pulling up to the tunnel entrance, an attendant usually guides the customer onto the conveyor. At some washes, the system will send the correct number of rollers automatically, based on tire sensors. The tire sensor lets the wash know where the wheels are and how far apart they are. On other systems the employee may guide the customer on and press a 'Send Car' button on the tunnel controller, to manually send the rollers which push the car through.


title: Car wash

text: The car wash will typically start cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. CTAs, or "chemical tire applicators," apply specialized formulations, which remove brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires.


title: Car wash

text: In some car washes, the presoak application is followed by an empty space or idle zone. Wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high-pressure wheel blasters, may be placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly that is pushed against the car's wheels and door sill area. Brushes typically use flagged bristle, as dirt is usually most heavily concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use a material that is intentionally mounted off-center to allow wheel surfaces of various depths to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer's car's wheels in order to achieve complete wheel contact. Similar to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and follow it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. At the end of a car wash's presoak idle zone is often a high-pressure arch that directs water at a vehicle's surface.


title: Car wash

text: Mitters are ribbon-like components that suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing motion to increase friction against the car's surface. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Older automatic washes - a majority of which were built prior to 1980 - used to use brushes with soft nylon bristles, which tended to leave a nylon deposit in the shape of a bristle, called brush marks, on the vehicle's paint. Many newer facilities use either a soft cloth or a closed-cell foam brush, which does not hold dirt or water, thus is less likely to harm the painted finish.


title: Car wash

text: After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to entering the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is immediately followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the first of these services is a polish wax. After the polish wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a thin protective film over a vehicle's surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver's ability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end wax or clear coat protectant follows the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle's surface prior to forced air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a "spot free" rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce highly purified water that will not leave spots.


title: Car wash

text: Dryers may be present in a variety of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as small circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may follow the dryers.


title: Car wash

text: At "full-service" car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically, by hand, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car manually and to clean the interior. Many full-service car washes also provide "detailing" services, which may include polishing and waxing the car's exterior by hand or machine, shampooing, and steaming interiors as well as other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.


title: Car wash

text: Like soft-touch car washes, touchless car washes are automated, with the vehicle passing through a tunnel where it is cleaned. However, touchless car washes do not use the foam or cloth applicators that soft-touch washes use, instead relying on high-pressure washers to clean and rinse the vehicle. Sensors utilized by these washes allow for a more precise clean along with the vehicle's exact shape. To compensate for not physically contacting the vehicle, touchless washes use higher pressures and more caustic detergents than ordinary car washes. Because the vehicle is not physically touched during a touchless wash, the vehicle is at a lower risk of being damaged. However, touchless washes have a harder time cleaning off tougher materials or reaching difficult-to-reach locations on vehicles, and their usage of stronger chemicals can potentially damage a vehicle's paint finish.


title: Car wash

text: The use of water supplies and energy are self-evident since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will continue to accelerate due to regulation and consumer demand. Many car washes use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a variety of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water restrictions are in place.


title: Car wash

text: Contamination of surface waters may arise from the rinse discharging to storm drains, which eventually drain to rivers and lakes. Chief pollutants in such wash-water include phosphates; oil and grease; and lead. This is almost exclusively an issue for home/driveway washing, and parking lot style charity washes. Professional carwashing is a "non-point source" of discharge that has the ability to capture these contaminants, normally in interceptor drains, so the contaminants can be removed before the water enters sanitary systems. (Water and contaminants that enter storm-water drains does not undergo treatment, and are released directly into rivers, lakes, and streams.)


title: Car wash

text: Soil contamination is sometimes related to such surface runoff and is associated with soil contamination from underground fuel tanks or auto servicing operations which commonly are ancillary uses of car wash sites — but not an issue for car washing itself.


title: Car wash

text: For these reasons, countries like Switzerland and Germany have banned citizens from washing their cars at home. In the US, some state and local environmental groups (the most notable being the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) have begun campaigns to encourage consumers to use professional car washes as opposed to driveway washing, including moving charity car wash fundraisers from parking lots to professional car washes. Poland, Portugal, Italy and many other countries have no regulations in regards to wastewater from car washing.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a British force of 1,200 men under Sir Harry Rawson in response to the ambush of a previous British party under Acting Consul General James Phillips, of the Niger Coast Protectorate. Rawson's troops captured and sacked Benin City, bringing to an end the Kingdom of Benin, which was eventually absorbed into colonial Nigeria.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had managed to retain its independence during the Scramble for Africa, and the Oba of Benin exercised a monopoly over trade in Benin's territories which the Royal Niger Company considered a threat. In 1892, Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul Captain Henry Lionel Galway (1859–1949) tried to negotiate a trade agreement with Oba Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi (1888–1914) to allow for the free passage of goods through his territory and the development of the palm oil industry. Captain Gallwey (as his name was then spelled) would push for British interests in the region, especially of the palm oil industry, by attempting to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Oba at the time. Later on, Moor would urge the Foreign office to use whatever means to secure the signed treaty, up to and including force. Gallwey signed the treaty with the Oba and his chiefs which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence in the region. While the treaty itself contained clauses which suggested that the Oba had sought British protection, this was not corroborated by either him or Gallwey. According to Gallwey's own account, the Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty. After the British consul Richard Burton visited Benin in 1862 he described it a place of "gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death", a narrative which was publicized in Britain and increased pressure for the territory's incorporation into the British Empire. The treaty itself does not explicitly mention anything about the so-called "bloody customs" that Burton had written about, and instead includes a vague clause about ensuring "the general progress of civilization". While the treaty granted free trade to British merchants operating in the Kingdom of Benin, the Oba persisted in requiring customs duties. Since Major (later Sir) Claude Maxwell Macdonald, the Consul General of the Oil River Protectorate authorities considered the treaty legal and binding, he deemed the Oba's requirements a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Although some historians have suggested that humanitarian motivations were driving British foreign policy in the region, other historians, such as Igbafe, consider that the annexation of Benin was driven largely by economic designs. The treaty itself did not mention any goal that removed the "bloody customs" that Burton had written about.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: In 1894, after the capture of Ebrohimi, the trading town of the chief Nana Olomu (the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District) by a combined Royal Navy and Niger Coast Protectorate force, the Kingdom of Benin increased the military presence on its own southern borders. These developments combined with the Colonial Office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin City scuttled an expedition the Protectorate had planned for early 1895. Even so, between September 1895 and mid-1896 three attempts were made by the Protectorate to enforce the Gallwey Treaty of 1892: firstly by Major P. Copland-Crawford, Vice-Consul of the Benin District; secondly by Ralph Frederick Locke, the Vice-Consul Assistant; and thirdly by Captain Arthur Maling, Commandant of the Niger Coast Protectorate Force detachment based in Sapele.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: In March 1896, following price fixing and refusals by Itsekiri middle men to pay the required tributes, the Oba of Benin ordered a cessation of the supply of oil palm produce to them. The trade embargo brought trade in the Benin River region to a standstill, and the British merchants in the region appealed to the Protectorate's Consul-General to "open up" Benin territories and to send the Oba (whom they claimed was an obstruction to their trading activities) into exile. In October 1896 the Acting Consul-General, James Robert Phillips, visited the Benin River District and met with the agents and traders, who convinced him that "there is a future on the Benin River if Benin territories were opened".


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: In November 1896, Phillips, the Vice Consul of a trading post on the African coast, decided to meet with the Oba in Benin City in regards to the trade agreement that the Oba had made with the British but was not keeping. He formally asked his superiors in London for permission to visit Benin City, claiming that the costs of such an expedition would be recouped by trading for ivory. In late December 1896, without waiting for a reply or approval, Phillips embarked on an expedition comprising:


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Phillips had sent a message to the Oba, claiming that his present mission was to discuss trade and peace and demanding admission to the territory. Ahead of Phillips, he had sent an envoy bearing numerous gifts for trade. It was during this time that the Oba was celebrating Igue, and he sent word that he did not wish to see the British at the time, and he would send word in a month or two, when he was ready to receive just Philips and one Jakri chief.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: On 4 January 1897, Phillips and his entire party was ambushed along their journey to Benin City, at Ugbine village near Gwato. British officers and African porters were both slaughtered. Only two British survived their wounds, Alan Boisragon and Ralph Locke. Within the week, news had made it to London of the massacre. This event led to the mounting of the Punitive Expedition.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: As a result of this attack, the Foreign Office of Britain authorized military action, leading to the "punitive expedition", the purported intention by Moor: »It is imperative that a most severe lesson be given the Kings, Chiefs, and JuJu men of all surrounding countries, that white men cannot be killed with impunity, and that human sacrifices, with the oppression of the weak and poor, must cease.« According to historian Philip Igbafe, the humanitarian and punitive justifications given by Moor ran counter to the economic justifications for military action that he and other members of the Protectorate administration promoted in the months and years before the events of February 1897.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: The two British that survived the annihilation of Phillips' expedition, which became known as the 'Benin Massacre', were Captain Alan Maxwell Boisragon, Commandant of the Constabulary of the Niger Coast Protectorate, who had been shot in the right arm and knee, and Ralph Locke, District Commissioner of Warri, who had been shot four times in the arm, and once in the hip.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson, commander of the Royal Navy forces at the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, was appointed by the Admiralty to lead a force to invade the Kingdom of Benin, capture the Benin Oba and destroy Benin City. The operation was named the Benin Punitive Expedition.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: On 9 February 1897, the invasion of the Kingdom of Benin began. The British invasion force of about 1,200 Royal Marines, sailors and Niger Coast Protectorate Forces was organised into three columns: the 'Sapoba', 'Gwato' and 'Main' columns. Flotillas of warships (including HMS "Philomel" and "Phoebe") and gunboats approached Benin City from the east and west. The 'Sapoba' and 'Main' columns reached Benin City after ten days of fighting. The 'Gwato' column (under Captain Gallwey) took the same route as that taken by the previous mission and came on the scene of the massacre, finding headless bodies of the victims.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Elspeth Huxley spent some time researching in Benin in 1954, and wrote:" ... to hear an account of the Benin massacre of 1897 and its sequel from one who had taken part. It is a story that still has power to amaze and horrify, as well as to remind us that the British had motives for pushing into Africa other than the intention to exploit the natives and glorify themselves. Here, for instance, are some extracts from the diary of a surgeon who took part in the expedition.:-


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: 'As we neared Benin City we passed several human sacrifices, live women slaves gagged and pegged on their backs to the ground, the abdominal wall being cut in the form of a cross, and the uninjured gut hanging out. These poor women were allowed to die like this in the sun. Men slaves, with their hands tied at the back and feet lashed together, also gagged, were lying about. As we neared the city, sacrificed human beings were lying in the path and bush—even in the king's compound the sight and stench of them was awful. Dead and mutilated bodies were everywhere – by God! May I never see such sights again! . . .'"Herbert Walker, a soldier serving in the punitive expedition, believed that the human sacrifices he saw were an attempt by Benin City residents to appease the Gods as they tried to defend themselves from the expedition.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: According to Robin Law, the issue of human sacrifices is an extremely sensitive one and prone to bias. Law suggests that the reported extent the practice in Benin was exaggerated by the British in order to establish the need for military intervention.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Historian Dan Hicks has described the punitive expedition's actions during their push to Benin City as democidal, claiming that it involved: "massacres of towns and villages from the air and thus women and children across the whole of the Benin Kingdom, scorching the earth with rockets, fire and mines. Primary among the war crimes was the scale of the killing and bombings of civilian targets." On 18 February Benin City was captured by the expedition, in spite of its defensive "iya". The city was set ablaze, although it has been claimed that this was accidental.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Eight members of the punitive force were recorded as being killed in action during the Benin Expedition; the number of military and civilian casualties amongst the Benin people was not estimated but is thought to have been very high.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: After the capture of Benin City, houses, sacred sites, ceremonial buildings and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted and many buildings were burned down, including the Palace building itself on Sunday 21 February. There was evidence of previous human sacrifice found by members of the expedition, with journalists from Reuters and the "Illustrated London News" reporting that the town 'reeked of human blood.' Inside the abandoned palace, a terrible sight was revealed to the British. The Oba in panic of what he had done and in fear of a retaliatory attack, had embarked in a great mass of human sacrifice in order to stave off full disaster. Bodies of those sacrificed by the Oba laid in pits and many hung crucified in trees.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: The Oba was eventually captured by the British consul-general, Ralph Moor. He was deposed and exiled, with two of his eighty wives, to Calabar. A British Resident was appointed, and six chiefs were hanged in Benin City's marketplace.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Most of the plunder from the city was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figures) religious artefacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to Britain. They include over a thousand metal plaques and sculptures collectively known as the Benin Bronzes. The Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to defray the costs of the expedition.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: About 40% of the art was accessioned to the British Museum, while other works were given to individual members of the armed forces as spoils of war, and the remainder was sold at auction by the Admiralty to pay for the expedition as early as May 1897 (Stevens Auction Rooms, 38 King Street, London, 25 May 1897; followed by several sales by the ethnographic dealer William Downing Webster, Bicester, between 1898 and 1900). Most of the Benin Bronzes sold at auction were purchased by museums, mainly in Germany. The dispersal of Benin artworks to museums around the world catalysed the beginnings of a long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art. The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: The British occupied Benin, which was absorbed into the British Niger Coast Protectorate and eventually into British colonial Nigeria. A general emancipation of slaves followed in the wake of British occupation, and with it came an end to human sacrifice. However, the British instituted a system of drafting locals to work as forced labourers in often poor conditions that were not much better than had been during the previous Benin Empire.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: There has much debate of why James Phillips set out on the mission to Benin without much weaponry. Some have argued he was going on a peaceful mission. Such commentators argue that the message from the Oba that his festival would not permit him to receive European visitors touched the humanitarian side of Phillips's character because of an incorrect assumption that the festival included human sacrifice. According to Igbafe, this does not explain why Phillips set out before he had received a reply from the Foreign Office to his request where he stated that: "F.O. 2/I02, Phillips to F.O. no. 105 of i6 Nov 1896. 'there is nothing in the shape of a standing army. ... and the inhabitants appear to be if not a peace-loving at any rate a most unwarlike people whose only exploits during many generations had been an occasional quarrel with their neighbours about trade or slave raiding and it appears at least improbable that they have any arms to speak of except the usual number of trade guns... When Captain Gallwey visited the city the only canon he saw were half a dozen old Portuguese guns. They were lying on the grass unmounted'. Compare this with the opinion of his immediate predecessor, Ralph Moor, who was convinced that 'the people in all the villages are no doubt possessed of arms' (F.O. 2/84, Moor to F.O. no. 39 of I2 Sept. 1895)."


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Igbafe also points to Phillips' November 1896 advocacy of military force regarding Benin, arguing that this is inconsistent with the perception of Phillips as a man of peace in January 1897. Igbafe posits that Phillips was going on a reconnaissance mission and that Phillips' haste to Benin can be explained by a belief that nothing bad would happen to him or his party.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: Phillips's journey was has been described by Mona Zutshi Opubor as a period of lull before the outbreak of a violent storm which had been gathering for years with the pressure of traders, consuls and a few visits of armed Europeans to the Benin Empire. The suspicion among the Oba of Benin, therefore, only deepened with Phillips's mission. The previous deportations of the Jaja of Opobo in 1887 and Nana Olomu in 1894 in neighboring British controlled territories may have made the Benin Empire anxious about safety of their Oba and the true intentions of the British. According to Igbafe, evidence at the Oba's trial in September 1897, showed that the people of Benin Empire did not believe that Phillips' party had peaceful intentions, since the capture of Nana, there had been a long expectation of war in Benin.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: In 2017 a cockerel statue or "okukor" looted during the 1897 Benin Expedition was removed from the hall of Jesus College, Cambridge, following protests by students of the university. Jesus College's student union passed a motion declaring that the sculpture should be returned. A spokesperson from the university stated that "Jesus College acknowledges the contribution made by students in raising the important but complex question of the rightful location of its Benin bronze, in response to which it has removed the "okukor" from its hall" and that the university is willing "to discuss and determine the best future for the "okukor", including the question of repatriation. On 27 October 2021, the okukor was received by Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments in a Benin Bronze Restitution Ceremony held and livestreamed by Jesus College.


title: Benin Expedition of 1897

text: The University of Aberdeen became the first institution to agree to the full repatriation of a Benin Bronze from a museum in March 2021 and handed back a bronze sculpture, depicting the head of an Oba, to the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments on 28 October 2021. It had been purchased by the university at an auction in 1957 and was identified as a Benin bronze in a recent collections review.


title: CAS latency

text: Column Address Strobe (CAS) latency, or CL, is the delay in clock cycles between the READ command and the moment data is available. In asynchronous DRAM, the interval is specified in nanoseconds (absolute time). In synchronous DRAM, the interval is specified in clock cycles. Because the latency is dependent upon a number of clock ticks instead of absolute time, the actual time for an SDRAM module to respond to a CAS event might vary between uses of the same module if the clock rate differs.


title: CAS latency

text: Dynamic RAM is arranged in a rectangular array. Each row is selected by a horizontal "word line". Sending a logical high signal along a given row enables the MOSFETs present in that row, connecting each storage capacitor to its corresponding vertical "bit line". Each bit line is connected to a "sense amplifier" that amplifies the small voltage change produced by the storage capacitor. This amplified signal is then output from the DRAM chip as well as driven back up the bit line to "refresh" the row.


title: CAS latency

text: When no word line is active, the array is idle and the bit lines are held in a precharged state, with a voltage halfway between high and low. This indeterminate signal is deflected towards high or low by the storage capacitor when a row is made active.


title: CAS latency

text: To access memory, a row must first be selected and loaded into the sense amplifiers. This row is then "active," and columns may be accessed for read or write.


title: CAS latency

text: The CAS latency is the delay between the time at which the column address and the "column address strobe" signal are presented to the memory module and the time at which the corresponding data is made available by the memory module. The desired row must already be active; if it is not, additional time is required.


title: CAS latency

text: As an example, a typical 1 GiB SDRAM memory module might contain eight separate one-gibibit DRAM chips, each offering 128 MiB of storage space. Each chip is divided internally into eight banks of 2=128 Mibits, each of which composes a separate DRAM array. Each bank contains 2=16384 rows of 2=8192 bits each. One byte of memory (from each chip; 64 bits total from the whole DIMM) is accessed by supplying a 3-bit bank number, a 14-bit row address, and a 13-bit column address.


title: CAS latency

text: With asynchronous DRAM, memory was accessed by a memory controller on the memory bus based on a set timing rather than a clock, and was separate from the system bus. Synchronous DRAM, however, has a CAS latency that is dependent upon the clock rate. Accordingly, the CAS latency of an SDRAM memory module is specified in clock ticks instead of absolute time.


title: CAS latency

text: Because memory modules have multiple internal banks, and data can be output from one during access latency for another, the output pins can be kept 100% busy regardless of the CAS latency through pipelining; the maximum attainable bandwidth is determined solely by the clock speed. Unfortunately, this maximum bandwidth can only be attained if the address of the data to be read is known long enough in advance; if the address of the data being accessed is not predictable, pipeline stalls can occur, resulting in a loss of bandwidth. For a completely unknown memory access (AKA Random access), the relevant latency is the time to close any open row, plus the time to open the desired row, followed by the CAS latency to read data from it. Due to spatial locality, however, it is common to access several words in the same row. In this case, the CAS latency alone determines the elapsed time.


title: CAS latency

text: Because modern DRAM modules' CAS latencies are specified in clock ticks instead of time, when comparing latencies at different clock speeds, latencies must be translated into absolute times to make a fair comparison; a higher numerical CAS latency may still be less time if the clock is faster. Likewise, a memory module which is underclocked could have its CAS latency cycle count reduced to preserve the same CAS latency time.


title: CAS latency

text: Double data rate (DDR) RAM performs two transfers per clock cycle, and it is usually described by this transfer rate. Because the CAS latency is specified in clock cycles, and not transfers (which occur on both the rising and falling edges of the clock), it is important to ensure it is the clock rate (half of the transfer rate) which is being used to compute CAS latency times.


title: CAS latency

text: Another complicating factor is the use of burst transfers. A modern microprocessor might have a cache line size of 64 bytes, requiring eight transfers from a 64-bit-wide (eight bytes) memory to fill. The CAS latency can only accurately measure the time to transfer the first word of memory; the time to transfer all eight words depends on the data transfer rate as well. Fortunately, the processor typically does not need to wait for all eight words; the burst is usually sent in "critical word first" order, and the first critical word can be used by the microprocessor immediately.


title: CAS latency

text: In the table below, data rates are given in million transfers—also known as megatransfers—per second (MT/s), while clock rates are given in MHz, million cycles per second.


title: Placer County, California

text: Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn.


title: Placer County, California

text: Placer County is included in the Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. It is in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions, in what is known as the Gold Country. The county stretches roughly 65 miles (105 km) from Sacramento's suburbs at Roseville to the Nevada border and the shore of Lake Tahoe.


title: Placer County, California

text: The discovery of gold in 1848 brought tens of thousands of miners from around the world during the California Gold Rush. In addition, many more thousands came to provide goods and services to the miners. On April 25, 1851, the fast-growing county was formed from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties with Auburn as the county seat. Placer County took its name from the Spanish word for sand or gravel deposits containing gold. Miners washed away the gravel, leaving the heavier gold, in a process known as "placer mining".


title: Placer County, California

text: Gold mining was a major industry through the 1880s, but gradually the new residents turned to farming the fertile foothill soil, harvesting timber and working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Auburn was settled when Claude Chana discovered gold in Auburn Ravine in May 1848 and later became a shipping and supply center for the surrounding gold camps. The cornerstone of Placer's courthouse, which is clearly visible from Interstate 80 through Auburn, was laid on July 4, 1894. The building was renovated during the late 1980s and continues to serve the public with courtrooms, a sheriff's office and the Placer County Museum. Roseville, once a small agricultural center, became a major railroad center and grew to the county's most populous city after Southern Pacific Railroad moved its railroad switching yards there in 1908.


title: Placer County, California

text: Loomis and Newcastle began as mining towns, but soon became centers of a booming fruit-growing industry, supporting many local packing houses. Penryn was founded by a Welsh miner, Griffith Griffith, who established a large granite quarry. Rocklin began as a railroad town and became home to a number of granite quarries. Lincoln and Sheridan continue to support ranching and farming. Lincoln also is the home of one of the county's oldest businesses, the Gladding, McBean terra cotta clay manufacturing plant, established in 1875.


title: Placer County, California

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (6.4%) is water. Watercourses in Placer County include the American River and Bunch Creek. 40.96% of Lake Tahoe's surface area is in Placer County, more than in any of the four other counties in which it lies.


title: Placer County, California

text: "Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race."


title: Placer County, California

text: The 2010 United States Census reported that Placer County had a population of 348,432. The racial makeup of Placer County was 290,977 (83.5%) White, 4,751 (1.4%) African American, 3,011 (0.9%) Native American, 20,435 (5.9%) Asian, 778 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 13,375 (3.8%) from other races, and 15,105 (4.3%) from two or more races. There were 4,710 Hispanics or Latinos of any race (12.8%).


title: Placer County, California

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 248,399 people, 93,382 households, and 67,701 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 107,302 housing units at an average density of 76 per square mile (30/km). The racial makeup of the county was 88.6% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 3.0% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 3.4% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. 9.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.5% were of German, 12.3% English, 10.6% Irish, 7.1% Italian and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 89.7% spoke only English at home; 6.0% spoke Spanish.


title: Placer County, California

text: There were 93,382 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.06.


title: Placer County, California

text: In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.


title: Placer County, California

text: The median income for a household in the county was $57,535, and the median income for a family was $65,858 (these figures had risen to $68,463 and $80,987 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $50,410 versus $33,763 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,963. About 3.9% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over. Unemployment in the county is just under 7% which is considerably lower than the state's average.


title: Placer County, California

text: County government is by a five-person four-year term elected board of supervisors with a board-appointed county manager and his/her department administrators.


title: Placer County, California

text: The Placer County Sheriff's Office provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner services for all of Placer County. It provides patrol, detective, and other police services for the unincorporated areas of the county plus by contract to the city of Colfax and the town of Loomis.


title: Placer County, California

text: In its early history Placer County was solidly Republican: it voted Republican in every election between 1860 and 1912, when Bull Moose nominee Theodore Roosevelt was California's official Republican nominee. Between 1916 and 1976, however, the county voted Republican only in three landslide elections of 1920, 1952 and 1972 – in all of which its GOP margins were much smaller than for the state or nation. Since the “Reagan Revolution” Placer County has become and remained a stronghold of the Republican Party; it consistently elects Republican public officials and has voted for presidential candidates from the party in every election since 1980.


title: Placer County, California

text: In the United States House of Representatives, Placer County is split between California's 1st and 4th congressional districts, represented by and , respectively.


title: Placer County, California

text: In the California State Senate, Placer County is split between the 1st and 4th districts, represented by and , respectively.


title: Placer County, California

text: In the California State Assembly, the county is split between the 1st, 5th, and 6th districts, represented by , , and , respectively.


title: Placer County, California

text: The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.


title: Placer County, California

text: According to the county's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:


title: Placer County, California

text: mPOWER Placer is Placer County's Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. It provides financing to commercial, industrial, agricultural and multifamily property owners to install energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy retrofits. The program, administered by the Placer County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office, was approved by the Board of Supervisors on February 9, 2010, and launched on March 22, 2010, and is open to eligible Placer County property owners.


title: Mick Karn

text: Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretless bass guitar sound and melodic playing style were a trademark of the band's sound.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn was born Andonis Michaelides in Nicosia on 24 July 1958. When he was three, his Greek-Cypriot parents moved with him to London, where he was raised. In his youth he began playing mouth organ at the age of seven and violin at the age of eleven, before he took up playing bassoon for the school orchestra. As a bassoon player he performed with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra in a concert in October 1972 which was broadcast by Radio 4. However, when his bassoon was stolen and his school refused to buy him a new one, he bought a bass guitar for £5 from a school friend. At school he became friends with David Sylvian and his younger brother Steve. As an escape from their south London environment they began to play music together and in June 1974 they made their first public performance.


title: Mick Karn

text: Initially with Karn as lead vocalist, they christened themselves Japan in 1974. Joined by keyboardist Richard Barbieri and guitarist Rob Dean the following year, they signed a recording contract with German disco label Hansa in 1977, with whom they recorded three studio albums and became an alternative glam rock outfit in the mould of David Bowie, T.Rex, and The New York Dolls. They switched to Virgin Records to record their subsequent albums "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" and "Tin Drum".


title: Mick Karn

text: As the band started to achieve commercial success with the release of "Tin Drum" and "Ghosts", which reached the top five in 1982, tensions and personality conflicts between band members arose. "Tin Drum" was to be the band's final studio album. Long-simmering differences among the band members came to a head when Karn's girlfriend, photographer Yuka Fujii, moved in with Sylvian, and the individual members forged ahead with their own projects. Karn said in an interview that as tensions with their record company had abated following Japan's commercial success, band members began focusing on personal differences rather than on the common enemy.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn played bass guitar and saxophone on Gary Numan's 1981 No.6 hit "She's Got Claws" and tracks on the song's parent No.3


title: Mick Karn

text: hit album, "Dance". In November 1982, Karn released his first solo album, "Titles", just as Japan had announced their split. In 1982 Karn wrote some material with Michael Finbarr Murphy guitarist and writer for Heatwave, Alan Murphy of Level 42, and Diana Ross among others. They did some low key gigs around London during the summer of 1982, and then went their separate ways. In 1983, he collaborated with Midge Ure on the UK top 40 single "After a Fashion", and in 1984, he formed Dalis Car with Peter Murphy. The duo released one album, "The Waking Hour", in late 1984. In 1982, he appeared on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" along with Angie Bowie, former wife of David Bowie.


title: Mick Karn

text: In the 1990s he worked with artist David Torn, Andy Rinehart and a number of Japanese musicians, and formed the multinational new wave band, NiNa. Later, he worked as a solo artist.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn contributed to recordings by other artists, playing bass guitar on Bill Nelson's "Chimera" mini-LP, bass guitar and saxophone on Gary Numan's 1981 album "Dance", and also played with Kate Bush and Joan Armatrading. In the 1990s he started the Medium Productions label along with Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri, two of his fellow former Japan-members. and Debi Zornes (label management and artist co-ordination). In 2006, the MK Music imprint was established, by Karn, Debi Zornes and Mike Trenery — and beginning with 2006's "Three Part Species", all releases, including the autobiography, have the MK Music logo on them.


title: Mick Karn

text: In 2001, Karn began to work with Gota Yashiki, Vivian Hsu, Masahide Sakuma, and Masami Tsuchiya in the band The d.e.p., or doggy eels project. In 2001, he worked with Paul Wong on his "Yellow Paul Wong" release. Karn left London in 2004 to live in Cyprus with his wife and son, financially enabling himself to keep working as a musician/artist. In 2009, Karn also released his autobiography, titled "Japan & Self Existence", available through his website and Lulu, which details his music career, his interests in sculpture and painting, his childhood, relationships, and family.


title: Mick Karn

text: On 30 August 2010, Peter Murphy disclosed via video message (subsequently removed/hidden) on his personal Facebook profile that he would be reuniting with Karn for a week in London, perhaps in November, to begin writing and recording for a second Dalis Car album. Murphy also added that this would be the first time the two had seen each other since 1983. The project was cut short, however, as Karn had recently been diagnosed with cancer. After his death, five of the tracks they did record were released on 5 April 2012 as an EP entitled "InGladAloneness". The tracks were mixed by Steve Jansen, mastered by Pieter Snaper in Istanbul and the artwork for the EP was created by Thomas Bak with a painting by Jarosław Kukowski.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn was essentially a self-taught musician, stating, "I rely very much on my ears. If it sounds as if it's the right thing, then I'll keep it—even if it may not be." His first musical instrument was bassoon, with which he attended and passed an LSSO audition. After his bassoon was stolen from him, he purchased a bass guitar for £5. It was then he joined up with David Batt (Sylvian), who played acoustic guitar.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn was principally the bassist within Japan, but also played all the wind instruments, including the saxophone; on "Tin Drum", he played the Chinese suona (credited as "dida") for the authentic oriental sound. Karn's use of the fretless bass guitar, a relatively unusual instrument in modern popular music, produces a distinctive sound and playing style, which makes his playing immediately recognisable.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn played an aluminium-neck Travis Bean bass on all Japan albums up to "Gentlemen Take Polaroids". In 1981 he moved to Wal basses, purchasing two Mark I instruments, one with rare African tulipwood facings, the other a cherry solidbody. Karn recorded Japan's last studio album "Tin Drum" with the Wal and had continued to use these, along with a headless Klein K Bass.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn was a self-taught sculptor working mainly in clay, although he explored other mediums. He held several exhibitions. He also painted in oils and experimented with using ceramic on the canvas to create a 3D effect. He was photographed in the early 1980s by Steve Jansen. Several of his paintings were used as sleeve covers for his music including, "Buoy" and "The Concrete Twin". His sculpture "Mask of Confidence", combining his hands with the arms, upper torso and face of photographer Yuka Fujii, was used as the inner sleeve cover for Kajagoogoo's "Islands" album. Karn, influenced by Chinese edible folk sculpture dating back thousands of years, also experimented in designing and creating edible life size portraiture, some of which were showcased at his restaurant "The Penguin Cafe". Karn said, "There was a definite change in style when I stopped using self-hardening clay in the mid '80s and began sculpting with more conventional clay. Finding it much more malleable, the pieces could be worked on a larger scale and needn't be focused, as was the case previously, on small detail." He continued to sculpt throughout his life and eventually learned to fire his own pieces.


title: Mick Karn

text: Karn had two diplomas in psychotherapy from a West London college, entitling him to call himself "Member of the Associated Stress Consultants, Psychotherapy, and Regression & Hypno-analysis".