text: In a 2009 guidebook on evaluating American Indian resources for classroom use, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has described Chief Wahoo as an example of a disrespectful image of Native Americans.


title: Cleveland Indians name and logo controversy

text: The faculty senate at Kent State University passed a resolution in 2004 objecting to the use of Chief Wahoo by members of the school community.


text: Students at Oberlin College discussed the logo's use in 2001 with team owner Larry Dolan, who formerly served on Oberlin's board of trustees. The head of the American Indian Council at Oberlin presented Dolan with a packet "containing historical, scholarly and position papers about American Indian team mascots".


text: In 1999, Cuyahoga County Public Library barred its workers from wearing the Chief Wahoo logo to work. The ACLU protested the decision, and the legal director for ACLU Ohio said that the issue was one of free speech, not racism.


text: The Youth "Indian" Mascot and Logo Task Force is a group in Wisconsin that has asked high schools to retire Native American mascots. In a statement, the group has contrasted the relative acceptance of Chief Wahoo versus that of Little Black Sambo: "How is it that our society can agree to get rid of the image of 'Little Black Sambo', but allow our schools to continue to use caricatures like 'Chief Wahoo' or the sacred symbolism of a chief's headdress? In an age when we are teaching our children to be morally responsible and racially sensitive, we cannot continue to let this form of institutional racism be a matter of choice."


text: The Chief Wahoo image was featured in a 2012 Ohio Historical Society exhibit called "Controversy 2: Pieces We Don't Talk About". The exhibit featured "difficult" objects from Ohio Historical Society collections, including a vintage Chief Wahoo jacket, a Nazi flag, and 19th-century prints that stereotyped African Americans. The following year, the National Museum of the American Indian advertised a daylong seminar on racist stereotypes in American sport with a handout that featured the Chief Wahoo image.


text: Native American artist Charlene Teters has incorporated Chief Wahoo merchandise into installation pieces. She describes this art as "an extension of the work that I've been doing on the front lines, of the struggle to remove stereotypes and symbols that reinforce the stereotype of the Native people". Teters goes on to say, "What I do is collect these things and put them in a context for people to examine them. I think that we become so desensitized to them that we don't even see them for what they are. And so what I'm doing is putting them in a very concentrated space for people to feel the bombardment. The purpose for me is to create a forum for people to debate the issue." In a work titled "What We Know About Indians", large black and white portraits of the artists' family members are "blocked" by brightly colored overlays of mass-media depictions of Native Americans. Teters' childhood portrait is overlaid with a Disney image of Pocahontas, and another portrait is overlaid with an image of Chief Wahoo.


text: In 1996, the Cleveland Institute of Art opened an exhibit featuring the work of Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds, a half-Arapaho, half-Cheyenne associate professor of art at the University of Oklahoma. Among the pieces he designed for the exhibition was a billboard featuring an image based upon Chief Wahoo and the text "Smile for Racism". Amidst controversy, the school initially announced that the piece would not be funded or shown. Heap of Birds announced his intent not to attend the opening, and alleged that the school was afraid of losing donations from Indians owner Richard Jacobs. The Indians' spokesman had no comment on the matter, while the chairman of the institute's board explained that he was offended by the piece and said, "I don't think that's art." Eventually, the school reversed its position after determining that it was contractually obligated to fund the work. Heap of Birds decided to attend the opening, and the piece was eventually shown. He produced at least two different variations on the work, referred to in a journal as "American Leagues 1" and "American Leagues 2", both of which used the same design. The billboard itself was installed in 1998 near the approach to Jacobs Field.


text: Kenneth Paul, who at the time of a 1993 interview was Louis Sockalexis' oldest surviving relative, described his reaction to being photographed in a Chief Wahoo hat, saying, "They made me look like a fool." On the subject of the logo itself, he said, "Wahoo or Yahoo, it's more insulting than anything. I think they should change the whole thing to something else. It won't break my heart. It won't break anybody's." Paul's son, Kenneth Jr., has said of Chief Wahoo, "I wish they'd get rid of that smiling Indian head."


text: The Penobscot Indian Nation formally asked the Cleveland Indians to stop using the Chief Wahoo logo in 2000, unanimously passing a resolution calling on the team to retire the logo. The resolution stated that the Penobscot Nation found Chief Wahoo "to be an offensive, degrading, and racist stereotype that firmly places Indian people in the past, separate from our contemporary cultural existence." It also said that the logo "emphasizes a tragic part of our history—focusing on wartime survival while ignoring the strength and beauty of Indian cultures during times of peace." Tribal Governor Barry Dana predicted that "reasoned discussion" would be productive and that the Cleveland franchise would be willing to talk with the Penobscot Nation. However, although Indians vice-president of public relations Bob DiBiasio received a hand-delivered copy, as of 2009 the team had not acknowledged the resolution.


text: The Maine State Legislature then passed a bill that condemned the logo, making explicit reference to the team's failure to acknowledge the Penobscot resolution. The bill read in part: "WHEREAS, the Cleveland Indians team ignored a petition by the Penobscot Nation in 2000 to cease and desist the use of its caricature mascot "Chief Wahoo," which the Penobscot Nation and many other Americans consider racist and disrespectful to the memory of Louis Sockalexis ... [we] respectfully urge and request that the Cleveland Indians baseball team immediately drop the use of the mascot "Chief Wahoo," which would demonstrate the team understands the disrespect this symbol represents to the Penobscot Nation, the citizens of Maine and the legacy of Louis Sockalexis. Donna Loring, the Penobscot Indian Nation's representative to the Maine State Legislature, has criticized the logo, saying that it "denigrated the contribution that Sockalexis made to the team and to professional sports."


text: When the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred began discussing a change in 2016–2017, members of the Penobscot Nation again voiced their opposition to the logo as being derogatory, and distorting rather than honoring the legacy of Louis Sockalexis.


text: When local Native Americans were asked to participate in the 175th anniversary of the founding of Cleveland in 1971, they used the occasion to protest the history of native mistreatment by non-natives, from massacres to Chief Wahoo. Protests have continued on Opening Day of the baseball season each year since 1973. The size of the protests grew in the 1990s. In 1991, a group called the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance was formed to protest quincentennial Columbus Day celebrations. The next year, the group shifted its efforts, and since then has focused on protesting the Indians' team name and logo. In its early years, the group drew national media attention as it negotiated with team management over whether Chief Wahoo would continue to be used once the Indians moved to their new stadium. When the team moved to its new ballpark, the stadium manager, Gateway Economic Development Corporation, attempted to prohibit demonstrations there, and protesters sued for access. The logo drew renewed scrutiny during the 1995 World Series, when the Cleveland Indians played the Atlanta Braves. The games were marked by protests in both cities. The 1997 All-Star game was also home to protests; these were attended by a descendant of Louis Sockalexis, the Native American player in whose honor the Cleveland team is supposedly named. The Cleveland Indians played again in the World Series that year; before the series began "ABC News" covered the Chief Wahoo protests and named Native American activist and artist Charlene Teters their person of the week.


text: Newspapers and other publications have described a tense atmosphere surrounding these protests, some of which resulted in legal actions (see below). Reporters have described antagonistic behavior from game attendees (e.g, shouting "You killed Custer!", or directing war whoops at protesters), and characterized fans as "ambivalent and sometimes belligerent". According to researchers, "it is the protestors whose phenotypic traits correspond with stereotypical representations of Indians that receive the most negative attention ... [the] most vocal fans make darker-skinned protestors the targets of their most disparaging remarks". Physical confrontations have included fans throwing beer on protestors, and participants have described derogatory remarks:


text: "Each year for the past six or seven years I have joined our native American brothers and sisters and others from the Cleveland area in protesting the use of the racist symbol of Chief Wahoo. Each year we stand outside the stadium, and hear people yell at us to 'go back home.' The irony of telling a native American to go back home is never understood by them it seems."


text: Protests remain a regular feature, but are smaller than they were in the 1990s. Today, the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance has 8 to 12 core members and a total membership of approximately 150 people. Researchers have suggested that Cleveland's low Native American population and its transient status, traveling to and from reservations, have contributed to recruiting difficulties. American Indian Movement chapters elsewhere in the country have sometimes held protests at Cleveland's away games.


text: When the Cleveland Indians played in the 1997 World Series, protesters demonstrated against the team's use of the Chief Wahoo mascot. When American Indian activist Vernon Bellecourt burned an effigy of Chief Wahoo, police arrested him and ordered others to leave. Later, the police arrested two other protesters who had moved to another part of the stadium. Officials claimed all three had actively resisted arrest. Bellecourt was charged with criminal endangerment and resisting arrest, while the other two were charged with criminal trespass and aggravated disorderly conduct. Charges against the defendants were later dismissed.


text: During opening day protests in 1998, Cleveland police arrested three protesters for burning an effigy of Chief Wahoo, and shortly thereafter arrested two more protesters for burning an effigy of Little Black Sambo. They were booked and jailed for aggravated arson. However, no formal charges were filed after the booking, and the protesters were released the next day. The protesters, led by Bellecourt, later sued the city for violating their free speech rights.


text: In 2004, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 5–2 decision that the arrest did not violate the protesters' First Amendment rights. Justice Maureen O'Connor wrote in the majority opinion that "without question, the effigy burnings were constitutionally protected speech," but, citing the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision in "United States v. O'Brien", O'Connor also wrote that "the windy conditions coupled with the spraying of additional accelerant on the already burning effigies created a hazard" and that "the police were obligated to protect the public, including the protesters themselves."


text: In 2004, ruling on a lawsuit brought by protesters who wished to demonstrate against Chief Wahoo's use, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the sidewalks near Jacobs Field were a public forum and the owner could not place content-sensitive restrictions on its use. Demonstrators had moved their protests to a nearby public area while the case was pending.


text: After the Indians' management chose to retain Chief Wahoo in 1993, Clark Hosick, executive director of the North American Indian Cultural Center in Akron, Ohio, explained his position on the logo. Hosick said he believed that the logo encouraged stereotypical comments, such as sports reports describing how "the Indians scalped" their opponents. He also said that he believed some of these comments would disappear if the team dropped the logo.


text: Charlene Teters, a Native American artist and activist, was interviewed for a 1997 story on Chief Wahoo and remarked, "We are the only group of people still used as mascots. You wouldn't have someone painted in blackface run on the field." Teters again discussed the logo in a 2009 documentary produced by New Mexico PBS: "This image should have gone by the wayside along with Little Black Sambo and the Frito Bandito. ... That this image honors neither Indian or non-Indian people, and that I think anyone who looks at this can recognize it as a blatant racist caricature, tells you, really, again, our place in the society. ... If it is trivial, as they like to say, then why is there any objection whatsoever to changing these images? I really feel that it has to do more with power than it has to do with money."


text: In a 2011 statement before the Senate, Morning Star Institute president Suzan Shown Harjo cited Chief Wahoo as an example of the "savage savage" stereotype of Native Americans (as opposed to the "noble savage"), describing the logo as one of several prominent "hideous, inhuman, insulting or just plain dumb-looking" depictions.


text: Russell Means has criticized Chief Wahoo, saying, "It epitomizes the stereotyped image of the American Indian. It attacks the cultural heritage of the American Indian and destroys Indian pride."


text: James Fenelon, a researcher and member of the Dakota tribe, has described Chief Wahoo as an "unambiguous racial icon meant to symbolize stereotypical and usually negative images of Native people as "wild" but "friendly" savages."


text: Writer Jack Shakely described his childhood purchase of Chief Wahoo hat in a "Los Angeles Times" editorial that criticized the use of Native American mascots:


text: "I got my first lesson in Indians portrayed as sports team mascots in the early 1950s when my father took me to a Cleveland Indians-New York Yankees game. Dad gave me money to buy a baseball cap, and I was conflicted. I loved the Yankees, primarily because fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle had just come up and was being touted as rookie of the year. But being mixed-blood Muscogee/Creek, I felt a (misplaced) loyalty to the Indians. So I bought the Cleveland cap with the famous Chief Wahoo logo on it. When we got back to Oklahoma, my mother took one look at the cap with its leering, big-nosed, buck-toothed redskin caricature just above the brim, jerked it off my head and threw it in the trash. She had been fighting against Indian stereotypes all her life, and I had just worn one home. I was only 10 years old, but the look of betrayal in my Creek mother's eyes is seared in my memory forever."


text: Native American writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie has referenced Chief Wahoo when describing the impact of his book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven": "To break Indians out of museums and movies and Chief Wahoo—that's a legacy for any book." In an interview for "Time" magazine, Alexie compared the logo to Little Black Sambo: "A lot of people think it's a minor issue. Google search Chief Wahoo, put it up on one side of your screen, and then Google search Sambo, and put it on your screen. And this horribly racist, vile depiction of African Americans looks exactly like the Chief Wahoo mascot of the Cleveland Indians. Exactly. And why is one acceptable and the other isn't?" An article in the "Santa Cruz Sentinel" described Alexie's point of view that white people have the privilege of being appalled at logos like Chief Wahoo, but that being appalled never feels like being humiliated.


text: Anton Treuer, author of "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask", was asked in an interview whether "native people can be more readily imagined than known". Treuer replied that this was the case, and cited sports mascots as an example. He went on to describe the persistence of Chief Wahoo: "We've come a long way since, you know, Little Black Sambo, you know, effigies and things like that kind of dominated the cultural landscape in America, but for some reason Chief Wahoo has persisted."


text: The issue was framed similarly in "The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America" by Bruce Elliott Johansen. Johansen writes:


text: "The term "Indians", on its face, is not overtly defamatory. Sometimes the context, not the name itself, is the problem. In the case of the Cleveland Indians, face value is the clincher — the face, that is, of the stupidly grinning, single-feathered Chief Wahoo."


text: A writer for "The Encyclopedia of Race and Racism" makes a similar point, writing that the "use of laudatory nicknames contrasts sharply with the practice of using racial caricatures as mascots—such as Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians".


text: There have been multiple failed legal and legislative attempts to end the use of Chief Wahoo. In 1972, Indian activist Russell Means announced a $9 million suit by the Cleveland American Indian Center against the team for libel, slander, and defamation from the use of Chief Wahoo. Writer Don Oakley criticized both the dollar amount and the grounds for the suit in an editorial article, saying, "$9-million is 'umpteen' dollars in anybody's vocabulary, including that of the original Chief Wahoo, the comic strip character who coined the word. But the suit is real enough, and it reads like something that might have been brought against a defendant at the Nuremberg trials ... Such a heavy burden for such a little guy to carry. The 'racism' behind Chief Wahoo will be news to the millions of people who have followed the baseball Indians over the years, and who no more associated their symbol with real Indians than they believe that Englishmen are short, pot-bellied, run around in knee breeches and wear a Union Jack for a vest."


text: Russell Means described receiving hate mail for the only time in his career after a TV appearance on the subject, including letters advocating the "ethnic cleansing" of Indians, and the legal process lasted over a decade. In 1982, both sides announced that they were near an agreement; one method of settlement being considered was an annual "Indian Day" at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. A lawyer for the defense said that an out-of-court settlement was preferred, but that he doubted a financial agreement would be part of it. The suit was finally settled in 1983.


text: In 1993, an Ohio state lawmaker promised to introduce legislation that would have blocked the use of public funds for a new stadium if the Indians did not change their logo. A similar measure had been introduced in 1992, but it failed to pass by six votes. Former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White once condemned the logo as a racist caricature and proposed a referendum to strip it from all city-owned property, but the suggestion went nowhere. However, Juan Reyna, chairperson of a local activist group, criticized White's reasoning, saying, "There will never be a majority in favor of getting rid of it. There are more people at a single Indians game than all the Indians in the whole tri-state area. It needs to be done because it's the right thing to do."


text: A 1998 article in the "Cleveland State Law Review" outlined several possible legal challenges to the use and validity of the Chief Wahoo trademark. Among the possible arguments was the notion that the Indians' actions in Jacobs Field (since renamed "Progressive Field") were a state action according to the symbiotic relationship test established in "Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority". If there was also an implicit discriminatory intent in the design of the logo, then its use would be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The author indicated that this approach would face significant legal hurdles. An alternative and perhaps more successful approach would be to challenge the validity of the trademark, because trademark law bars the registration of disparaging or scandalous marks. A 1999 article in the Harvard Law Review also outlined an equal protection (Fourteenth Amendment) strategy for suits against teams that use native American names and symbols.


text: Native American activists used one of these strategies—suing to remove trademark protection on disparaging marks—against the Washington Redskins in the 1990s. After early victories for the activists, newspapers including the Ohio State University "Lantern" and "The Akron Beacon Journal" suggested that trademark protection for Chief Wahoo might be in jeopardy.


text: A pair of editorials published in 2009 by "The Akron Beacon Journal" avoided the issue of trademark protection, but raised questions about how Chief Wahoo might affect Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption. One of the editorials concludes that money, not legal issues, will be the ultimate cause of change: "But private schools and private businesses like the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins have a constitutional right to call themselves whatever they want and, if they wish, they may use logos and mascots that offend people. When it no longer makes them any money they will change."


text: In 1991, the United Church of Christ passed a resolution condemning the use of Chief Wahoo, saying that "the use and misuse of Native American imagery affronts basic human rights and dignity and has a negative impact on human self worth". The Native American head of the group's Indian council criticized the logo, saying, "The image that it depicts looks kind of sub-human. It doesn't look like someone I would consider to be Indian." In an article on the resolution, the team spokesman defended the use of the logo, describing the team's relationship with the local Native American community as "very positive".


text: Two years later, the Catholic Church's Diocese of Cleveland denounced the use of the logo in a statement by their Commission on Catholic Community Action to Promote Justice. The statement cited a 1988 Vatican document saying that acts "which lead to contempt and to the phenomena of exclusion must be denounced and brought to light without hesitation and strongly rejected in order to promote equitable behavior."


text: In 1997 the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, calling the use of Chief Wahoo "insulting and racially insensitive marketing," succeeded in pressuring various companies to stop using the logo. As a result of their efforts, Anheuser-Busch stopped using Chief Wahoo in their Ohio beer ads, and Denny's Restaurants barred its Ohio employees from wearing the logo to work.


text: The United Methodist Church denounced the use of Chief Wahoo in a vote taken during their quadrennial General Conference that took place in Cleveland in 2000. The measure passed without debate by a vote of 610-293, and was similar to previous resolutions that did not specifically mention Chief Wahoo.


text: The United Church of Christ reaffirmed their position in 2000, when Bernice Powell Jackson, the executive director of the UCC Commission for Racial Justice and executive minister of one of the UCC's five covenanted ministries, called for the logo to be discontinued.


text: When stadium management made efforts to exclude protesters, the United Church of Christ joined others in a First Amendment suit. A 2005 editorial appearing in Religion News Services said the UCC had been active against Chief Wahoo since the 1980s, and added that "no other major-league city has a logo with such an offensive stereotype".


text: The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism has joined the UCC in their efforts. According to Mark Pelavin, the associate director of the organization, said that the UCC "asked us to sign letters to team owners and to join in some quiet meetings with team officials, and we were glad to do so".


text: At their 2001 general assembly in Cleveland, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations passed a resolution urging "the Planning Committee and the Board of Trustees to consult and cooperate" with the UCC's struggle against the use of the Chief Wahoo. At a 2012 Unitarian Universalist workshop in Cleveland, participants suggested joining again with the yearly protests against Chief Wahoo.


text: Former owner Richard Jacobs vowed not to drop the logo as long as he owned the team. When owner Larry Dolan bought the team in 2000, he said, "I have no problem with Chief Wahoo. I don't think there is any disrespect meant. If I did, I would consider a change."


text: Asked if the strength of the argument was more important than the size of the protest, team owner Larry Dolan agreed that it was, and said that "you can whip a group of non-thoughtful people to come up and protest anything". Later, in the same interview, Dolan described the protests in greater detail: "It frankly bothers me when I see protestors out there, every opening day. Invariably in the last few days, they want to go to the court to say they ought to be able to protest closer to where the folks are. Now, people who are serious about what they're about don't do it that way. It's difficult for me to give them a whole lot of credence when they just show up, television cameras are there, they do their thing, and they're gone. I'm not encouraging them to come back, you understand, but if we're going to have a possible dialogue, they need to understand where we're coming from."


text: The Oberlin student newspaper recorded the interview and quoted Dolan as saying, "I firmly reject that Wahoo is racist. I see that it makes some Natives uncomfortable—clearly not all. I think I understand racism when I see it." The paper reported that Dolan claimed his incentive to action was weakened by the fact that Native Americans do not universally find the logo offensive. Larry Dolan's son, Paul Dolan, was at the meeting, and was quoted as saying, "Whether or not [Chief Wahoo] is offensive is not really a debate. Whether it's racist is really the crux of the issue."


text: Team spokesman Bob DiBiasio has defended the use of Chief Wahoo, saying that while the logo is a caricature, it is "not meant to represent anyone or any group." He has also stated that Chief Wahoo is not meant to be racist, and asked "if there is no intent to demean, how can something demean?" DiBiasio has expanded on these statements elsewhere. In another interview, he said:


text: "We believe this is an issue of perception. We think people look at the logo and they think about baseball—they think about CC Sabathia, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Omar Vizquel. "The Wall Street Journal" did an editorial about the Jeep Cherokee and concluded that something cannot be demeaned if there is no intent to demean. We still believe the vast majority of our fans like Chief Wahoo."


text: Statements from other members of Cleveland management have ranged from noncommittal to very supportive. Kurt Schloss, former director of merchandising and now vice president of concessions, has defended the use of the logo as part of the team's identity: "Chief Wahoo is a piece of who we are. ... It's not about representing a person or a group, it's about our history." In 2007, while working as general manager of the team, Mark Shapiro stated, "It's not an area I have control over or choose to focus." In 2013, after becoming president of the Indians, Shapiro was asked by an interviewer about "the official position of the club on the, on the whole, you know, Chief Wahoo thing". He explained:


text: "I think you always want to be sensitive to anybody that finds it offensive, that, you know ultimately the Indians name and the team, ah, is in recognition of our pride and affiliation with the first Native American baseball player. So I think what we choose to do is celebrate, you know, Louis Sockalexis and his history and tradition with the Indians and, and not to focus on uh anything that we would view, that, you know, anything that we don't view and certainly don't want to put, uh, be offensive to anyone."


text: DiBiasio has described conversations about Chief Wahoo with the Cleveland American Indian Movement and others as "an exchange of ideas, concepts, philosophies". The Cleveland American Indian Movement also sought comment from Progressive Insurance, owners of the naming rights to the Cleveland stadium. The group's request had gone unanswered for several months as of May 2013, when a Progressive spokesperson claimed to have no knowledge of their letter.


text: Surveys from a 2012 dissertation on Native American identity in northeast Ohio identified several different American Indian viewpoints about Chief Wahoo. The majority of participants thought that the logo was harmful. However, there was disagreement among this group over whether the elimination of the logo should be a priority in light of the other issues facing Native Americans. Those who felt most strongly negative about the use of the logo tended to have lived in both cities and reservations. Participants were drawn from two groups, Native People Reclaiming Indian Identities (NatPride) and Relocated Indians of Ohio (RelOH). A 1995 survey asked college students whether the logo should be retained and whether its use was discriminatory. Indian and black students were most likely to believe that the logo was discriminatory and should not be retained.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Armed Forces is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 at Eden Studios in London under the working title "Emotional Fascism". Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to "This Year's Model" (1978), while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Most of the material for "Armed Forces" was written on the road throughout 1978. For the album, Costello sought a more commercial sound than the punk rock style employed on his two previous records, resulting in a more pop-oriented production reflecting the new wave era. Musical influences included David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Kraftwerk, the Beatles and ABBA. The overtly political lyrics concern the effect of politics on human relationships. The UK release featured an elaborate fold-out LP packaging, with a cover depicting a herd of elephants; it was simplified for the US release through Columbia Records, which featured an alternate drip-cover. Initial pressings of also included a promotional three-song EP titled "Live at Hollywood High".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Supported by the successful UK singles "Oliver's Army" and "Accidents Will Happen", "Armed Forces" reached number two in the UK, becoming Costello's biggest commercial success up to that point. The American version, released in February 1979, omitted "Sunday's Best" and replaced it with Costello's version of Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". The album received positive reviews from music critics and appeared on several lists of the year's best albums. Costello and the Attractions supported the album on the Armed Funk tour in America, which was plagued with issues, including an incident with Stephen Stills that nearly destroyed Costello's reputation in the country.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: In later decades, "Armed Forces" has continued to receive positive reviews, with many highlighting the production. Others noted that it contained musical styles Costello would utilise for later records. It is considered one of Costello's best works and has appeared on various best-of lists. The album has been reissued multiple times, including in 2020 as a super deluxe edition, which was positively received.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Elvis Costello's second studio album "This Year's Model" (1978) was his first with the backing band the Attractions–bassist Bruce Thomas, drummer Pete Thomas (no relation) and keyboardist Steve Nieve, after using the American band Clover for his debut album "My Aim Is True" (1977). From mid-July to mid-December 1977, Costello and the Attractions underwent a rigorous touring schedule before taking a break to record "This Year's Model". Another gruesome touring schedule followed throughout 1978, which contributed to growing exhaustion for the artist and band. Nevertheless, Costello continued writing new material; songs that would appear on "Armed Forces" began appearing in the setlists starting in May. In July, Costello recorded his song "Stranger in the House" with country artist George Jones, which appeared on the latter's "My Very Special Guests" album in 1979, after which the former began recording "Armed Forces".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Under the working titles "Cornered On Plastic" and "Emotional Fascism", "Armed Forces" was recorded at London's Eden Studios starting in August 1978 and lasted six weeks. Returning from "This Year's Model" were musician Nick Lowe as producer and Roger Béchirian as engineer. Costello's work ethic during the sessions was strong. His on-again/off-again romantic partner at the time Bebe Buell recalled: "Elvis wasn't the kind of guy who slept all day. He got up and went to the studio to record and rehearse. He was a working boy, not a loller." Unlike the previous album sessions, he asserted himself as the final decision maker on all takes, production and mixes. He later admitted: "By the third [album] I thought I was God's gift. I was totally convinced. I had no doubts."


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Despite tensions present, Lowe remained instrumental in keeping high morale and orchestration. He was also responsible for incorporating the new sounds Costello wanted for the record. Béchirian later explained: "The whole way those things were directed and put together was very much down to Nick. Nick had a real pop sensibility about him." For his process, Lowe had the band record backing tracks first before commencing on overdubs. Regarding band dynamics, Costello contended that he and the Attractions reached a level of musical agreement that would never be matched again. Nieve, in particular, was more involved in the song arrangements, particularly on "Oliver's Army". Also recorded was a cover of Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", originally released by his band Brinsley Schwarz on "The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz" (1974). The new version was prepared for release as a B-side for Lowe's upcoming single "American Squirm", released in November 1978; the band were credited as "Nick Lowe and His Sound". Recording wrapped in September, after which Costello and the Attractions continued live performances.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: After having achieved relative commercial success with "My Aim Is True" and "This Year's Model", Costello decided to take "Armed Forces" in his most commercial direction yet, stating in a 1982 interview that he was selling out modestly-sized venues but received little success with singles compared to artists such as the Bee Gees and Fleetwood Mac. As such, "Armed Forces" marked a departure from the punk rock of its two predecessors to become, according to biographer David Gouldstone, Costello's most pop-oriented album up to that point. Joe Marchese of "The Second Disc" retrospectively noted that Costello embraced the new wave sound of the era, working with Lowe and Béchirian to create a "more intricate" sound compared to its predecessors, while still "immediate and direct in its power and aggression". "Spin" and "Ultimate Classic Rock" later identified the album's sound as new wave and post-punk, respectively. Writer Greil Marcus noted that compared to its two predecessors, the sound of "Armed Forces" is "suppressed, claustrophobic, [and] twitching". Lowe's production, which some compared to the Wall of Sound-style of Phil Spector, utilised the studio to greater effect, creating a grander production overall, particularly on tracks such as "Accidents Will Happen", "Chemistry Class" and "Party Girl".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Costello also used a variety of influences when crafting the sound he wanted for "Armed Forces". He stated in an interview that while on the road during tours, he and the Attractions listened to the 1976–77 works of David Bowie ("Station to Station", "Low" and ""Heroes"") and Iggy Pop ("The Idiot", "Lust for Life"), Kraftwerk ("Autobahn"), the 1969 works of the Beatles ("Abbey Road" and "Yellow Submarine"), as well as ABBA ("Greatest Hits"). Reviewing in 2002, "Mojo"s Mat Snow found a cross between "Abbey Road" and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" (1965). ABBA influenced Nieve's keyboard part for "Oliver's Army" and due to his greater contributions to the arrangements, his keyboards are more prominent throughout the entire album, predominantly on "Green Shirt" and "Party Girl". Béchirian later downplayed the numerous influences, stating that "a lot of that was just in the air".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: While its two predecessors dealt with issues of immediate concern to the narrators, "Armed Forces" focuses on bigger issues on a broader scale. Marcus described it as a political album, or "a set of songs about how we live out the politics of our age whether we want to, mean to, or not". He specifically writes that on the album, "every moment of personal failure or unsatisfied passion is invaded by the cruelty and shamelessness of the political world." Indeed, Gouldstone identifies tracks that reflect political themes include "Senior Service", "Oliver's Army", "Goon Squad" and "Sunday's Best". Writing for "PopMatters", Zeth Lundy described the album as "a collection of musings on human nature and relationships, bolstered by the pervasive military metaphors". The interplay is reflected by the album's working title "Emotional Fascism". Although he had previously displayed fascist themes in tracks such as "Less Than Zero", "Night Rally" and "Radio Radio", Costello references fascist ideals frequently on "Armed Forces", from Nazis to the Holocaust. Like its two predecessors, Thomson finds that Costello uses his signature wordplay on the album to great effect, composing various puns, double entendres, double-bluffs and non-sequiturs.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The opening track, "Accidents Will Happen", is a non-political pop song that reflects the complexities of human relationships. Labelled by Hinton as a cross between the Byrds and the Beatles, it is addressed to Buell-type figure, but the actual subject is Costello himself, referring to his newfound sexual possibilities after achieving fame. "NME"s Charles Shaar Murray described it as "an ornate, melodic and exquisitely danceable pop song designed to lull American record executives into a state of false security". The second track, the upbeat "Senior Service", concerns office politics and class warfare. More specifically, the song is about the brutality of big business in striking those down who are too weak to obtain power for themselves. It contains the first reference to the 'armed forces'. Writer Franklin Bruno states that while "Accidents Will Happen" was a showcase for Costello's voice, "Senior Service" "reintroduces" the Attractions and contains a widely different production style from the previous track. Continuing the political theme is "Oliver's Army", which boasts a pop-friendly production and melody over sinister lyrics on military imperialism. According to Gouldstone, the song's narrator is "presumably" a British soldier serving in Northern Ireland. Costello refers to the Irish as "white niggers" and references the conquest of Ireland in 1649 by English Parliamentarian leader Oliver Cromwell. Musically, Bruno makes comparisons to ABBA's "Dancing Queen" (1976) and the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" (1964).


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Described by Murray as "sexual fascism", "Big Boys" follows a narrator who is split between sympathy and contempt in his infatuation with a woman; he wants to be a 'big boy' and is seen as immature. Gouldstone compares it to "The Beat" from "This Year's Model". Bruno states that it is the album's first track on which the mixture of personal and political themes appear as "volatile". The fifth track, "Green Shirt", concerns paranoia and predicts the rise of sex hotlines. It uses three different themes: assault on the media, a woman tidying herself, and images of betrayals to establish a connection between personal behaviour and relationships on a larger scale. Musically, it is primarily led by a loop created on a Minimoog. Regarding the colour green, Bruno interprets it as a possible reference to the members of the Romanian fascist movement Iron Guard. "Party Girl" is a ballad in the vein of "Alison" and "Little Triggers"; away from the new wave of the rest of the album. Reportedly about Buell, Costello denied this in the 2002 "Armed Forces" reissue liner notes, stating he wrote it for an art student he barely knew. In the song, the narrator pleads for the 'party girl' not to dismiss him even though he knows she has control over him and does not care how long it will take. After multiple political-related tracks, "Party Girl" represented a return to a more personal side.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The first track on side two, "Goon Squad" builds on the theme of "Oliver's Army" of "underhand recruitment". In the song, a soldier relays messages on his experiences back to his family but by the end, he has lost his hand and fully joined the 'good squad'. Gouldstone notes that the vague lyrics do not specifically mention the 'good squad' as being the army–they could be police or big businesses–but the song nevertheless paints them in a poor light. Musically, Costello traced the song back to Don Covay's "It's Better to Have (and Don't Need)", but admitted that "we were too wound up to play it in that fashion". Described by Lundy as "intentionally cavernous and bleak", Gouldstone finds it "near heavy metal", while Hinton compares the intro to Thin Lizzy and the outro to the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966). "Busy Bodies" is, in Gouldstone's words, a "snappy pop tune" that evokes Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and the Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains" (1967). Like "Pump It Up", it concerns the insignificance of modern life; people spend their lives purchasing superfluous items, sleeping with each other and ultimately amounting to nothing, becoming busy bodies. Originally written for Ian Dury, "Sunday's Best" is a waltz that targets the worst aspects of British life. Gouldstone writes that it shows how ordinary people are "trivial and monotonous". On the song, Costello said that it is "not so much a song as an attack on the small-ads page of "The News of the World" with a big pair of scissors". It has been musically compared to John Cooper Clarke's "You Never See a Nipple in the Daily Express".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Murray considered "Moods for Moderns" a "charming pastiche of Booker T & the MGs overlaid with an oddly disturbing ghost of a song". Gouldstone finds it "borderline funk", while Bruno compares it to Bowie's "plastic soul" era. Lyrically, the song is about the pain one feels at the end of a relationship, with sinister undertones that reflect moods of disillusionment, alienation and fear. "Chemistry Class" combines the personal and political themes to tell a tale about the natural attraction of two people. One of the last lines references Adolf Hitler's Final Solution as a metaphor for two lovers parting ways. Costello described it as a reaction to the gratification of American college campuses he experienced while on tour in America. Like the previous track, "Two Little Hitlers" captures the album's dual themes of love and politics, fully comparing the disagreements in personal relationships to opposing factions of fascism. According to Hinton, it paints a picture of two long-time lovers, "like beasts engaged in a fight to the death". Musically, it uses Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" (1974) riff and elements of "TVC 15" (1976).


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The new album was to be titled "Emotional Fascism" until the last minute. Author Tony Clayton-Lea nevertheless contends that "Armed Forces", coined by Pete Thomas, continued Costello's theme of "control and domination over both governing and individual bodies". In his memoir, Costello acknowledged changing the title to "Armed Forces" after knowing radio stations would refuse to play an album titled "Emotional Fascism". Although Hinton opined that the titles were "much [of] the same", Murray argued that "Emotional Fascism" was the superior title, stating: ""Armed Forces" tells you what institution Mr. Costello has in his gunsights this time around... but "Emotional Fascism" tells you what attitude is about to be subjected to both long-and-short-range fire." In the 2002 liner notes for the album, Costello explained: "Two or three half-formed notions collided uneasily in that title, although I never would have admitted to having anything as self-conscious as a 'theme' running through the songs. Any patterns that have emerged did so as the record was completed or with the benefit of hindsight." Bruno contends that the album "embodies a critique" under either title, but also deduces that it "does not present an "argument"".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The packaging for "Armed Forces" was designed by Barney Bubbles and featured different cover artworks for the UK and US releases. In the UK, the cover was a painting depicting a herd of elephants in front of mountains, with birds flying overhead and mist overlaying the ground. The lead elephant stares directly at the onlooker, which Gouldstone notes mirrors Costello on the cover of "This Year's Model". For the first time, the Attractions received co-artist credit on the sleeve. The artist credit is on top while the album title is on bottom. Initial UK editions boasted an elaborate fold-out sleeve containing four colour postcards of the band. The back cover illustrated art pop geometric patterns, of which emerged various army soldiers and animal prints. Meanwhile, the inner sleeve contained two photographs: one showed Costello and the Attractions on a suburban road, while the other featured Costello laying across a swimming pool diving board with a body lying submerged at the bottom, overall surrounded by numerous yellow boxes; the words "my place... or yours" and "emotional fascism" appeared on the sides. When it was reissued on CD, the album failed to replicate the elaborate fold-out sleeves, instead having the booklet appear in the shape of a cross. Bruno argues that the cover "conveys an unmistakable sense of attack" and is more significant for its statement on Costello's position at that point in his career rather than its actual design.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The US release opted for a more standarised LP packaging. The elephant cover was replaced with the drip-image that was unveiled in the inner sleeve of the UK release. The UK image had various black scribble lines extending into the outer panels that utilised various animal prints. Additionally, the US sleeve moved the elephant cover to the back and reduced it to make room for a track listing and larger rendering of the album title and artist name. Bruno argues that the "modest" cover reflected Costello's lesser status in America. He furthermore associates Bubbles' decision to use the splatter design as a "mocking appropriation" of Roy Lichtenstein's mid-1960s "brushstroke" paintings. A promotional photo taken for the album depicted Costello holding a machine gun barrel down his throat with the words "Don't Join" over him. The first 100,000 pressings of the LP in both the UK and the US included a bonus EP titled "Live at Hollywood High", recorded in June 1978, which contained live recordings of "Alison", an extended "Watching the Detectives" and a slower version of "Accidents Will Happen".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: "Radio Radio" was issued as a standalone single in October 1978 as a stopgap release between "This Year's Model" and the still-titled "Emotional Fascism", which was scheduled for release in early 1979. The single reached the UK top 30, earning Costello and the Attractions an appearance on BBC's "Top of the Pops". From November to December, the band toured Canada, Japan and Australia and filmed promotional videos for "Oliver's Army" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". By the start of another British tour at the end of December, the band's growing exhaustion began to affect their performances. Bruce Thomas later admitted: "We were all fried... we just didn't get a break. I know what Jake [Riviera] was doing, but I think he pushed it too hard, I think he really did."


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Now titled "Armed Forces" due to a complaint from Columbia/CBS, Radar Records issued the new album in the UK on 5January 1979, with the catalogue number RAD 14. The album was Costello's biggest commercial success to date, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart, held off the top spot by the disco compilation "Don't Walk – Boogie"; it remained on the chart for 28 weeks, twice as long as "This Year's Model".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: For its February 1979 release in the US, Columbia replaced "Sunday's Best" with "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". This release went gold by the end of the year. After garnering significant radio exposure in the UK, "Oliver's Army" was released as a single on 2February 1979, backed by Costello's rendition of the 1937 show-tune "My Funny Valentine". It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in March. "Accidents Will Happen" was issued as a single on 4May, backed by "Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week", and peaked at number 29 in the UK.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: "Armed Forces" received positive reviews from music critics on release. Murray hailed the record as containing "some of the best rock music we'll hear this year" in "NME", while a writer in "The Observer" cited it as "an album you just can't ignore". "The Guardian"s Robin Denselow named "Armed Forces" the "first important album" of the year, and referred to it as musically "Costello's most relaxed, mellow and gentle album yet". In the "Los Angeles Times", Robert Hilburn named "Armed Forces" the best album at mid-year in July 1979. Citing it as Costello's "most compelling" album yet, Hilburn described it as "a feverish, unflinching approach" that is a cross between the "social fury of John Lennon's first two solo albums" and the "haunting dissection of Bob Dylan's choicest works". "The Washington Post"s Geoffrey Himes also compared Costello's lyrical strategy of placing harsh ideals into more seductive settings with Dylan's break from the folk rock movement in the mid-1960s. In his review of "Armed Forces", Himes singled out "Accidents Will Happen" as "the kind of high point that marks a great era of music". The same publication's Eve Zibart described "Armed Forces" as Costello's "third and most polished album [that] stakes out New Wave's first major fiefdom in the United States".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Writing for "Rolling Stone", Janet Maslin felt the album was a "killer in several senses of the word", remarking on the brief, energetic songs with dense and sometimes overly clever but snappy lyrics. Maslin felt that Costello "wants to be daring, but he also wants to dance". Meanwhile, "The Village Voice" critic Robert Christgau felt Costello was using words to "add color and detail to his music" rather than as "a thinking, feeling person", though he approved of the "intricate pop constructions" and found the album overall to be "good" but not "great". Both reviewers felt that the album was more densely or richly produced than its two predecessors. Other reviewers compared "Armed Forces" to its two predecessors, including Ira Robbins of "Trouser Press", who considered it inferior to the "supercharged bite" of "This Year's Model", but nevertheless deemed it a good record in its own right. On the lyrics, Robbins found that they "suffer from an excessive penchant towards cheap puns and pseudo-Spoonerisms". Additionally, in a review titled "Swell El", "Record Mirror"s Sheila Prophet found the "bitter bite" of its predecessors exchanged for "depth and subtlety and new textures". Tony Rayns of "Melody Maker" took issue with the use of the terms "nigger" and "darkies" in "Oliver's Army" and "Sunday's Best", respectively, but was overall positive to Costello's improved vocals and songwriting, and the performance of Nieve on keyboards. "Sounds" magazine's Giovanni Dadomo highlighted "Accidents Will Happen", "Big Boys" and "Green Shirt", while also naming "Goon Squad" "easily the best 'political' song of the last five years".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: In "The Village Voice"s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, "Armed Forces" finished at number five. It also featured on year-end lists by "Melody Maker" and "NME" at numbers fourteen and six, respectively.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: To support the album, Costello and the Attractions embarked on the Armed Funk tour in America, which lasted from February to April. The tour was plagued with issues, including drug and alcohol problems, aggressive behaviour from Riviera and Costello to the press, and poor performances that led to critical and audience backlash. In March, a racist-filled exchange between Costello and Stephen Stills, where the former insulted various American musical artists, was leaked to the public and received additional backlash. Even though "Armed Forces" had reached the top ten on "Billboard"s Top LPs & Tape chart during the tour, by April it fell off quickly after boycotts were enacted by American radio stations and listeners. By the tour's end, Costello's reputation in America was nearly destroyed. Bruce Thomas later admitted, "We never really recovered from that tour. Every time Elvis is doing something well, he kind of sabotages it." His reputation in the UK, however, remained largely unaffected, mostly due to newspapers failing to pick up the story. Author Mick St. Michael compared it to the worldwide response from John Lennon's 1966 more popular than Jesus comment.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Following the disastrous tour, Costello decided to reevaluate himself and his career. He ended his relationship with Buell and reconciled with his wife Mary and son Matthew. Apart from the occasional demo, he and the Attractions took some time off over the summer of 1979. Upon reconvening in the studio later in the year, Costello took a more soul-influenced direction for his next album, "Get Happy!!" (1980). Costello acknowledged the incident in an interview with "Rolling Stone" in 1982, feeling that it "outweighs my entire career", but later reflected in his 2015 memoir "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink": "So what if my career was rolled back off the launching pad? Life eventually became a lot more interesting due to this failure to get into some undeserved and potentially fatal orbit." Although he was not dropped by Columbia, he did not tour America again until 1981 in support of "Trust".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Hinton argues that "Armed Forces" marked the end of the angry persona of Costello's early works, although Thomson cites "Get Happy!!" as the first step away from the persona. Bruno saw the songs on "Get Happy!!" as a response to the events of the Armed Funk tour. Despite the tour's initial impact on him, his career recovered from the incident. He later reflected: "Some of the highly charged language may now seem a little naive; it is full of gimmicks and almost overpowers some songs with paradoxes and subverted clichés piling up into private and secret meanings. I was not quite 24 and thought I knew it all." Although he continued to reference aggressive and fascist themes in his lyrics, including on his 2020 album "Hey Clockface", David A. Graham of "The Atlantic" argued that "he has never written another record so searing in its combination of romantic and political fury as "Armed Forces"." Graham further contended that the fascist elements described on "Armed Forces" were still alive in America during the presidency of Donald Trump, writing: "More than four decades after its release, "Armed Forces" feels more frighteningly vital and relevant than ever."


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: In later decades, "Armed Forces" has continued to receive positive reviews. In 1991, "Entertainment Weekly"s Armond White called the album a "landmark", while Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" called it "Costello's 'political' record, and also one of his most irresistibly melodic." Reviewing for "Rolling Stone" in 2002, Gavin Edwards found a record "filled with great rock songs that explore the boundaries between the political and the personal". He further highlighted Costello's wordplay, Nieve's keyboard playing and the inclusion of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" as the final track. "Ultimate Classic Rock"s Jeff Giles stated that with the album, Costello achieved a balance between critical and commercial success, creating an album that proves "a smart, sardonic set of pop songs can also be a hit". In "PopMatters", Lundy described "Armed Forces" as "a bold, highly ambitious effort" that represented a "giant leap" from its two "flawless" predecessors. However, he noted that neither of the earlier records could match "Armed Forces" "acidic intellectualism".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Several reviewers commented on the production. In AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine found a more "detailed and textured pop production" on "Armed Forces" compared to Costello's first two albums, making the music more accessible, though the lyrics were "more insular and paranoid". Although he felt some of the lyrics were forced, he hailed the music as "demonstrat[ing] the depth of Costello's compositional talents", and named "Armed Forces" the artist's "third masterpiece in a row". Meanwhile, "Pitchfork"s Matt LeMay described the production as "extravagantly layered with dense instrumentation and rich, effusive textures" that "often serve[s] to conceal, rather than reveal the nuances of Costello's songwriting". He concluded that "the greatest strength of "Armed Forces" may be the same thing that makes it less viscerally powerful than Costello's two prior records – its songs absolutely demand to be appreciated for their craftsmanship." He further argued that the album marks the point at which Costello found his voice as a songwriter. Paul Sexton of uDiscoverMusic wrote that the production's "crisp and disciplined" delivery kept the material "live and vital" on a record "that enhanced Costello's reputation as an artist with depth behind the vitriol".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: Some reviewers noted that the album contained styles that hinted at the artist's later works. AllMusic's Mark Deming highlighted "Accidents Will Happen" as previewing the "stylistic diversity" Costello would incorporate into future works, while Stewart Mason felt that "Party Girl" presaged the soul music he would explore on "Get Happy!!", and Bruno cited the keyboards on "Green Shirt" as foreshadowing "Imperial Bedroom" (1982). Sexton stated that the songs hinted at the artist's future rock and soul directions but nevertheless "sounded entirely cutting-edge at the same time". Lundy also noted that "Armed Forces" enacted "an eclectic blueprint of restless genre hustling" that Costello continued to utilise throughout his long career.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: In lists ranking Costello's albums from worst to best, "Armed Forces" has consistently ranked as one of Costello's best. In 2021, writers for "Stereogum" placed it at number one, calling it the culmination of his earlier works that fully realise it as his best work. A year later, writing for "Spin" magazine, Al Shipley placed it at number five, stating that it represented the artist "at the height of his commercial powers", as well as presenting a "relentless display" of the Attractions' strength as a band. The same year, Gallucci also placed it at number four in "Ultimate Classic Rock", finding it the end of "a three-year run that rivals any in rock history".


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: "Armed Forces" has appeared on several best-of lists. In 1993, the album placed at number 61 on "The Times"' "100 Best Albums of All Time" list. In 2000, it was voted number 264 in the third edition of English writer Colin Larkin's book "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000). The same year, "Q" placed "Armed Forces" at number 45 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". In 2003, the album was ranked number 482 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and then was moved to number 475 on an updated list in 2012. "NME" and "Sounds" ranked "Armed Forces" at numbers 89 and 67 in 1985 and 1986, respectively, on lists compiling the 100 greatest albums of all time.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The album was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Based on the album's appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists "Armed Forces" as the 12th most acclaimed album of 1979, the 119th most acclaimed album of the 1970s and the 426th most acclaimed album in history.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: "Armed Forces" was first released on CD through Columbia and Demon Records in January 1986. Its first extended reissue through Demon in the UK and Rykodisc in the US on CD came in October 1993. The single disc featured the original album as well as bonus tracks, including the addition of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" as the album's closing track. Rhino Records reissued the album in 2002 as a two-disc set; disc one contained the original UK album plus "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding", and disc two contained bonus tracks.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: On 6 November 2020, "Armed Forces" was reissued as a vinyl-only super deluxe box set. Titled "The Complete Armed Forces" and issued by UM, the nine-LP set consists of a 2020 remaster of the original album plus various B-sides, demos, outtakes, unreleased live recordings from the era, and a new set of liner notes written by Costello himself totalling over 10,000 words. The collection was praised by critics for giving an in-depth view of the artist's work during the period.


title: Armed Forces (album)

text: The American release omitted "Sunday's Best" and added Costello's cover of Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" as the side two closer. Following the 1993 reissue, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" was added as the album's final track.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: It's a Boy Girl Thing is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Nick Hurran and written by Geoff Deane, starring Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong and set in the United States but produced in the United Kingdom. The producers of the film are David Furnish, Steve Hamilton Shaw of Rocket Pictures and Martin F. Katz of Prospero Pictures. Elton John serves as one of the executive producers.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: "It's a Boy Girl Thing" was produced by Elton John's motion picture company Rocket Pictures and independently distributed by Mel Gibson's Icon Productions and was released on 26 December 2006 in the United Kingdom and has since then been released in some countries in cinemas, in others directly to DVD, and in others as a TV film. Most of the school scenes were shot at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: Woody Deane (Kevin Zegers) and Nell Bedworth (Samaire Armstrong) are neighbors and former childhood friends who go to the same high school, but are otherwise completely different. Woody is a popular varsity football player while Nell is a girl who loves literature but lacks social skills. They loathe each other and are constantly in dispute. One day their class goes on a school trip to a museum and they are forced to work together on an assignment. They quickly begin arguing in front of a statue of the ancient Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. As they argue, the statue casts a spell upon them—causing them to wake up in each other's bodies the next morning. When they arrive at school, they immediately blame each other for the body swap, but agree to pretend to be the other person until they can find a way to switch back. At first, they seem to succeed, but quickly return to arguing when they each feel the other is misrepresenting them in the opposite body, such as Woody (in Nell's body) answering a question oddly and surprising a teacher.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: The following day, Nell (in Woody's body) arrives at school wearing "Chinos and an Oxford cotton button-down" making Woody's appearance look "dorky" which frustrates Woody, and he is even more frustrated after he hears about how Nell (in Woody's body) failed Woody's football practice the previous day. As payback, Woody (in Nell's body) dresses in inappropriate and provocative clothing the following day. After school, Nell, in retaliation, breaks up with Breanna (Brooke D'Orsay), Woody's girlfriend, much to the disappointment of Woody. The humiliation competition continues when Woody (in Nell's body) drives off with a biker boy, Nicky (Brandon Carrera), and makes Nell think she is going to lose her virginity. However, Woody decides it is "so gay" and leaves Nicky just as he is removing his clothing.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: The following day, rumors are being spread around school by Nicky about his night with Nell. When Nell finds out, she gets very upset. When Woody finds Nell, he admits that he didn't actually lose Nell's virginity and that everyone was simply spreading Nicky's lies. However, Nell is still let down and so Woody decides to confront Nicky. It turns out that Woody (in Nell's body) can't fight him, and Nell (in Woody's body) runs up and punches him in the face. After this, Nell and Woody reach a truce and realize the statue of Tezcatlipoca at the museum had something to do with their body swap. They head down to the museum and even after confronting the statue, they fail to return to their original bodies. They realize they are going to have to help each other in two important upcoming events. Nell must learn how to play football for Woody's Homecoming game and Woody must learn about poetry and literature for Nell's Yale interview. Later that night Nell (in Woody's body) is getting drunk at a party while Woody (in Nell's body) is stuck at a slumber party listening to all the gossip about himself, and is surrounded by nail polish, pajamas, slippers, and gets a bikini wax.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: After spending so much time together, Nell and Woody become very fond of each other and start to understand each other better. The night before the interview and the game, they agree to go to the Homecoming Dance together, as "not a date." The day of the interview and match, Woody goes to Yale for the interview and at first messes things up and is asked to leave, but he starts to talk about poetry in rap, which impresses and astonishes the interviewer. After that, he goes to the football game and watches Nell run in the winning touchdown in the closing seconds. A college recruiter witnesses his good performance and wants to talk to him later. After the game, they congratulate each other for their successes. Shortly after this, the spell lifts and they return to their original bodies. The scene finishes with Woody being kissed by Breanna and Nell going home very upset about it.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: The following day, Woody tries to talk to Nell, but is stopped by her mother, who sees Woody's family as uneducated. Nell receives an acceptance letter from Yale, meaning that her interview (done by Woody in her body) was successful; however, she is still upset with Woody and decides not to go to the Homecoming Dance. Meanwhile, Nell's father has a talk with her on the porch about Woody, during which she confesses she truly likes him, and her father surprises her with a dress and shoes for the dance. Woody and Breanna are selected as the Homecoming King and Queen. As the Homecoming King and Queen prepare to dance, an upset Woody sees Nell and both confess their love for each other. They leave the school together and share a kiss in front of their houses. The following day, Nell tells her mother that she is taking a year's sabbatical before attending Yale, and hops into Woody's car as they drive off together.


title: It's a Boy Girl Thing

text: The movie's soundtrack features a range of music. Tracks include a cover version of "I Think We're Alone Now" by Girls Aloud, "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Be Strong" by Fefe Dobson, "High" by James Blunt and "Push the Button" and "Red Dress" by the Sugababes, as well as other songs by the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, Orson, Marz and many more. (Woody, as Nell, refers to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" as "crappy music!").


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: "Employee of the Month" is the 30th episode of the HBO original series "The Sopranos" and the fourth episode of the show's third season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by John Patterson, and originally aired on March 18, 2001.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: Johnny Sack and his wife Ginny have moved to a large house in New Jersey. Tony goes there and asks Johnny insistently why he didn't tell him about it. Johnny says they moved there for family reasons and that he is not going to interfere in Tony's business.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: Two Russian thugs break into Janice's home and demand the return of Svetlana's prosthetic leg. When Janice refuses, one of them hits her hard. The leg is in a bowling alley locker; Janice takes them there and gives it to them. Tony visits her in the hospital, exasperated with her again; he will have to retaliate against the men who assaulted his sister. Janice says she has hit bottom but feels born again in the Lord: "I give myself up utterly and totally to God."


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: Ralphie is now dating Rosalie, and takes Jackie, Jr. with him to collect extortion money. Ralphie has no dispute with the man there but provokes a fight. The man takes out a baseball bat, but Ralphie and Jackie take it from him. Ralphie holds the man and urges Jackie to hit him. Jackie eagerly beats and kicks him. Ralphie empties the man's wallet and gives some of the money to Jackie, who is gloating. Partly because of this incident, Tony makes Gigi a captain instead of Ralphie, to his deep disappointment.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: Dr. Melfi and her ex-husband Richard are now reconciled. Both he and Dr. Elliot Kupferberg are urging her to cease treating her gangster patient, whose name she inadvertently reveals to Kupferberg. She has her own doubts: "I've been charmed by a sociopath," she says. She believes it is now time for him to be treated by a behavior modification therapist, but Tony is reluctant to talk to anyone else.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: In the parking garage one evening after work, Dr. Melfi is attacked and raped. The police quickly find the man. Richard and her son Jason are enraged, especially when they are informed that, because of a loss in the chain of custody, the police had to release the rapist. Melfi later sees a picture of him, named employee of the month at a local sub shop. She feels a crazed desire for revenge and knows that a word to Tony Soprano would obtain it, but, like her ex-husband, she obeys the social compact.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: Dr. Melfi has a dream. She buys a soda from a vending machine with a piece of macaroni; when she reaches into the machine to get it, her hand is trapped inside. A Rottweiler appears and terrifies her. Then the rapist advances toward her. The dog turns and mauls the rapist, who cries in agony. With Kupferberg, she understands the meaning: the dog is Tony Soprano taking revenge on her behalf.


title: Employee of the Month (The Sopranos)

text: She tells Tony and others she has been in a car accident. When he sees her, Tony is shocked and concerned by her injuries. He tells her he is now ready to see a behaviorist, but she says, "No," and starts crying. He goes to her, lays his hands gently on her, and asks what the matter is. She composes herself and asks him to return to his seat. He goes back, but asks, "What? You wanna say something?" After a tense pause, she says, "No."


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Michael Andrew Martin O'Neill (born 5 July 1969) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player, who is currently manager of the Northern Ireland national team, his second spell in charge, having previously managed them between 2011 and 2020.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill started his playing career in his native Northern Ireland with Coleraine, before playing for a number of clubs in England, Scotland and the United States, including Newcastle United, Dundee United, Hibernian, Wigan Athletic and Portland Timbers. He was capped 31 times at international level by Northern Ireland, scoring four goals.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: His first managerial role was with Brechin City from 2006 to 2008. He then joined Shamrock Rovers, where he won two League of Ireland titles and the Setanta Cup. He became Northern Ireland manager in 2011 and, under his management, they qualified for their first ever European Champions finals in 2016. In November 2019, O'Neill was appointed manager at Stoke City. He lasted just under 3 years in the role before he was sacked in August 2022.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill was born in Portadown, County Armagh, to parents Dessie and Patricia O'Neill. His father, Dessie played hurling for All Saints and Ulster whilst his brother Sean, was a track athlete who competed in the Men's 800 metres at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Raised Catholic, he briefly attended Presentation Convent Primary School before the family moved to Ballymena, County Antrim. In Ballymena he attended All Saints Primary School and later St Louis Grammar School, where he won the Northern Ireland Schools FA Cup in 1980 against St Oliver Plunkett whose side included Jim Magilton. He was also a promising Gaelic games player, representing Antrim GAA minors, before concentrating on football. He played youth football for Ballymena team Star United for four years before joining intermediate club Chimney Corner as a 14-year-old. His manager Alec McKee didn't think it was right to try to integrate a 14/15-year-old into his first team and thought he should play for Coleraine's reserve side.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill was brought in to Coleraine by former Northern Ireland internationals Bertie Peacock and Jim Platt, making his debut in the Irish League at the age of 15 and was a regular in the side by the age of 18. After playing against Dundee United in a UEFA Cup tie in 1987 O'Neill came close to joining the Scottish club.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: In October 1987 he was signed by Newcastle United for a £100,000 fee. After scoring 13 goals in 22 appearances during his first season and helping Newcastle finish eighth in the First Division, O'Neill suffered from injuries and loss of form in his second season which saw Newcastle relegated to the Second Division.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill joined Dundee United in August 1989 for a club record fee of £350,000. A difficult relationship with manager Jim McLean came to a head in 1991 when O'Neill refused to extend his contract and was dropped from the first team. He left the club in 1993 joining Hibernian where he had three successful seasons under the management of Alex Miller. O'Neill agreed to join Austrian club Sturm Graz on a Bosman free transfer in 1996 but changed his mind after an offer to return to English football with Coventry City where he spent just over two years.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: After spending time on loan to Aberdeen and Reading during the 1997–98 season O'Neill left Coventry to sign for Wigan Athletic in September 1998. He later played for St Johnstone, Portland Timbers, Clydebank, Glentoran and Ayr United.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill played for the under-21, under-23, B and full international teams of Northern Ireland. He scored four goals for the national team, including two in a 5–3 win against Austria.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill retired from playing football in 2004 and began a career in financial services. A year later he took a part-time role as assistant manager at Cowdenbeath, working with Mixu Paatelainen.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill became manager of Scottish side Brechin City in April 2006. He won the Second Division Manager of the Month award in both December 2007 and October 2008. O'Neill was released by Brechin City to join Shamrock Rovers on 13 December 2008.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: At the press conference when unveiled as Rovers manager, O'Neill cited Gordon Strachan as his main managerial influence. He was awarded the Irish Soccer Writers Manager of the Month award for July 2009 and eventually guided The Hoops to second place in the 2009 League of Ireland. In October 2010, he guided Shamrock Rovers to win the 2010 League of Ireland title, their first league championship since 1994. O'Neill led Rovers to the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup and then made history by being the first manager of a League of Ireland team to reach the group stages of a European competition. Rovers defeated Partizan Belgrade in the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Shamrock Rovers retained their league title in the 2011 season. New contract talks between O'Neill and Shamrock Rovers stalled and he left the club in December 2011. O'Neill won the Soccer Writers Association Personality of the Year award for 2011.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill was appointed manager of Northern Ireland on 28 December 2011, with one report stating he was "the first Catholic in 50 years to manage Northern Ireland". However, this is almost certainly untrue, since previous managers Lawrie Sanchez (2004–07) and Lawrie McMenemy (1998–99) were both educated in Roman Catholic schools. O'Neill's first game in charge ended in defeat with a 3–0 loss to Norway. In his next game an inexperienced Northern Ireland team were beaten 6–0 by the Netherlands in Amsterdam. During their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, Northern Ireland earned some creditable results, including a 1–1 draw away to Portugal and a 1–0 home win against Russia. In November 2013, O'Neill agreed a new two-year deal with Irish Football Association to remain as Northern Ireland manager.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Northern Ireland qualified for their first ever European Championship, Euro 2016 in France after beating Greece 3–1 at Windsor Park on 8 October 2015. It was the first time in 30 years that Northern Ireland had qualified for a major tournament. At the tournament itself he led the side to the second round, losing narrowly to Wales but recorded a surprise victory over Ukraine in the group stages. In January 2018, O'Neill turned down an offer to become manager of Scotland following discussions with the Scottish Football Association.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill initially continued as Northern Ireland manager after his appointment by Stoke City in November 2019. He had intended to stay on for UEFA Euro 2020 playoffs, which had been scheduled for March 2020, but these were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Euro 2020 playoffs delayed at least until the autumn of 2020, O'Neill resigned as Northern Ireland manager on 22 April.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Stoke City on 8 November 2019. He joined Stoke with the side bottom of the 2019–20 EFL Championship table after struggling under the management of Nathan Jones. O'Neill won his first match in charge of Stoke, 4–2 away at Barnsley on 9 November. Stoke began to improve and secured vital victories over Wigan Athletic, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town, helping the team move out of the relegation zone at the turn of the year. In the January transfer window O'Neill cancelled the loans of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark Duffy and Scott Hogan, whilst also letting Peter Etebo, Badou Ndiaye and Ryan Woods leave on loan. Into the team came Northern Irish midfielder Jordan Thompson from Blackpool, center-back James Chester on loan from Aston Villa and young midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe from Tottenham Hotspur. Stoke beat Hull City 5–1 on 7 March 2020 moving the team three points above the drop with nine remaining matches. The Championship was suspended on 13 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Championship squads returned to training on 25 May with the intention to finish the season behind closed doors. Stoke's preparations for the season restart were disrupted after O'Neill tested positive for coronavirus on 9 June which caused a training match against Manchester United to be cancelled. Stoke won four of the remaining nine matches to avoid relegation and finish in 15th position, finishing eight points clear of the relegation zone.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Due to the ongoing pandemic the 2020–21 season began later in September with matches continuing to played behind closed doors. O'Neill brought in a number of free transfers including James Chester, Morgan Fox, Steven Fletcher and Mikel John Obi with Jacob Brown the only arrival to have been bought. Stoke began the season well with Tyrese Campbell in decent form, winning eight of their first 16 matches and were just outside the play-off places at the beginning of December. However a number of injuries to key players most notably to Tyrese Campbell saw goals dry up and the team went nine games without a win at the turn of the year. Stoke were unable to put a sustained run of results together in March and April and ended the season in mid-table.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: Stoke had a busy 2021 summer transfer window with the permanent departure of 13 players. This enabled O'Neill to add to his squad with the arrivals of Jack Bonham, Romaine Sawyers, Sam Surridge, Mario Vrančić and Ben Wilmot. Stoke made a positive start to the season and were just outside the play-off places at the turn of the year. However a poor second half of the season saw Stoke drop down into mid-table and again finish in 14th position. Stoke made a poor start to the 2022–23 season, with one win from five games, O'Neill was sacked by the club on 25 August 2022.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: On 7 December 2022, O'Neill returned for a second spell as Northern Ireland manager on a five-and-a-half year contract.


title: Michael O'Neill (footballer)

text: O'Neill was awarded an MBE for Northern Ireland's performance at UEFA Euro 2016. In April 2022, O'Neill underwent hip replacement surgery.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: Kirsten Marina Costas (July 23, 1968 – June 23, 1984) was an American high school student who was murdered by her classmate Bernadette Protti in June 1984.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: The daughter of affluent parents Arthur and Berit Costas, Kirsten Costas and her brother Peter grew up in the small suburban town of Orinda, California. Costas attended Miramonte High School and was a member of the school's varsity swim team and the cheerleading squad.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: On June 23, 1984, Costas was lured with a phony invitation to a dinner for the Bob-o-Links, a sorority-like group at school. According to Protti's later testimony, she had planned to take Costas to the party to befriend her, but Costas became angry when she was told that there was no dinner for the new "Bobbies." The girls quarreled and Costas fled to the home of Alex and Mary Jane Arnold, telling them that her friend had gone "weird." When Costas could not reach her parents by telephone, Alex Arnold drove her home, noticing that the Protti family's Pinto was following them. At the Costas home, Arnold, sitting in his car, saw Protti attack Costas. He thought that he was witnessing a fistfight, but in fact Protti had stabbed Costas five times with a butcher knife and fled. The Costases' neighbors called an ambulance, but Kirsten was mortally wounded and died at a nearby hospital.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: It took the police almost six months to find Costas' killer. Protti passed a lie-detector test, but her alibi went unverified. After attempting to confirm Protti's alibi, police suspected that she had lied. Following a conversation with an FBI agent who informed her that her arrest was imminent and that they knew that she had killed Kirsten, Protti wrote her mother a letter in which she made a full confession.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: Protti claimed to have found the kitchen knife by chance, and her elder sister, Virginia Varela, testified in court that she kept that knife in her car to cut vegetables. The Costases did not believe Protti's story; they asserted that nobody would use an 18-inch-long (460 mm) butcher knife to slice tomatoes and that Protti, casually dressed that evening, never intended to take Kirsten to a party but had planned to murder her.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: Protti was sentenced to a maximum of nine years, but was released seven years later in 1992 on parole at the age of 23. Costas' parents vehemently opposed Protti's release.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: American filmmaker James Benning covered the aftermath of the murder in his 1987 documentary "Landscape Suicide".


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: In 1994, the story was made into a television movie entitled "A Friend to Die For" (also known as "Death of a Cheerleader"), with Tori Spelling as Stacy Lockwood, a character based on Kirsten Costas and Kellie Martin as Angela Delvecchio, a character based on Bernadette Protti.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: The aforementioned film was remade in 2019 as a Lifetime television movie starring Aubrey Peeples as Bridget Moretti and Sarah Dugdale as Kelli Locke, characters based on Protti and Costas, and Kellie Martin, who played Protti in the first television movie, playing the FBI Agent charged to tracking her.


title: Murder of Kirsten Costas

text: Costas' murder was featured in season 5 of "Deadly Women", season 1, episode 3, of Investigation Discovery's "The 1980's: The Deadliest Decade", and an episode of "Killer Kids" titled "Rumors & The To-Do List".


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The Last Knight, also known as The Last Warrior () is a 2017 Russian fantasy comedy film directed by Dmitriy Dyachenko. The story develops around Baba Yaga and Koschei, both villains in traditional Russian fairy tales (as well as the fairy tales of other Slavic countries). The film was produced by American film companies The Walt Disney Company CIS with Russian film companies Yellow, Black and White and Kinoslovo. The film stars Viktor Khorinyak, Mila Sivatskaya, Elena Yakovleva, Ekaterina Vilkova, Konstantin Lavronenko and Yevgeny Dyatlov.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: It was scheduled to have a wide release on October 26, 2017. As of November 26, 2017, the film became the highest-grossing local-language release of all time in Russia, surpassing "Stalingrad" with 1.68 billion rubles ($28.8 million) and topping out at $30.5 million. In Russia, the film holds the 12th place biggest box-office audiences. This was Disney Russia's second film produced specifically for the Russian market, with the first being "The Book of Masters" (2009).


title: Last Knight (film)

text: In Belogorie, a parallel version of Ancient Russia, Sorceress Varvara hunts down Alyosha Popovich whom she believes to be the last Bogatyr (Hero or Warrior). She petrifies and throws him into the sea, where hundreds of other victims rest.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: In modern Moscow, Ivan Naydenov is a young orphan who makes his way in life by being a con artist. He poses as a "white mage", stars in rigged psychic contest shows, and performs "rites" for clients. He starts having doubts about his life choices, however, when asked to cure a comatose boy.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: One day, during an escape from a client's husband, Ivan miraculously ends up in Belogorie. This magical world is inhabited by Russian fairy tales characters and creatures. A volkhv appears and claims that Ivan is the lost son of Ilya Muromets, hidden on Earth many years ago.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Ivan is then captured by Varvara's warriors and brought to prince Dobrynya Nikitich. Dobrynya is friendly, but princess Varvara imprisons Ivan in her dungeon without her husband's knowledge. There, Ivan meets a disembodied Koschei, who tells him the magical Sword Kladenets is his only way back to Earth. Koschei himself had used Kladenets to become immortal, but is overthrown and imprisoned by Bogatyrs. After the forces of good had won, most of the magical creatures were imprisoned or killed, then the Bogatyrs themselves suffered the same fate. If Ivan truly is Ilya's son, he can uncover the Sword and use it to restore power to the surviving magical creatures, and to return home.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Baba Yaga is captured and thrown into the same dungeon. However, this was premeditated: she brought Vasilisa the Wise in frog form, who easily releases the prisoners. Koschei, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa decide to take Ivan with them to find the Sword. Escaping the dungeon, they enlist Vodyanoy the Merman. Koschei tells Ivan of Vasilisa's backstory: after she caught the eye of Dobrynya, the jealous Varvara turned everyone in her village into frogs. Baba Yaga could alleviate the curse by helping her to occasionally turn back into human form. Despite bonding with Vasilisa, Ivan still wishes to get back to his own world.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Varvara eventually captures the protagonist, petrifies Vodyanoy and forces Ivan to get the Sword for her, holding his companions hostage. Ivan recovers the Sword and overpowers his foes, but Koshei turns out to be in league with Varvara. Moreover, Dobrynya turns out to be the mastermind, planning to use the Sword to become immortal like Koschei. Reasoning that he no longer needs his help, Dobrynya betrays Koschei, and Ivan uses the Sword to escape to Earth.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Back in Moscow, Ivan realizes he cannot abandon his beloved Vasilisa, and decides to get back. He finds the volkhv and returns to Belogorie. After setting free Zmey Gorynych he uses a modern handgun to fight his way to Dobrynya. However, the latter has already become immortal and prepares to execute Vasilisa and Baba Yaga. Using Gorynych as a distraction, Ivan challenges Dobrynya to a duel, hoping to give his companions time to destroy the magical stone and undo the Immortals' invulnerability. During the fight, Dobrynya reveals that it was his envy of Ilya that led to betrayal of Bogatyrs.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Koschei eventually gets his hands on the magical stone. Touched by the selfless heroism of his companion, he decides to shatter it, killing himself and Dobrynya. Varvara flees Belogorie, and her petrified victims come back to life. Among them was Ilya, who reunites with Ivan. Rather than return to the life of a fake "mage", Ivan stays in Belogorie and marries Vasilisa. He briefly comes to Earth to heal the comatose boy.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: A mid-credit scene shows Varvara on Earth, meeting her mother Galina, Ivan's housekeeper. The two had planned to enthrall Dobrynya and rule Belogorye. That plan have failed, they will now have to make a different move.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The film was dubbed into English with the title "The Last Warrior" at the UK studio Pinewood Studio in 2017.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: In May 2016, production began in Moscow and other locations. The premier was set for October 19, 2017, on the eve of school holidays with potential for being released in the IMAX format. The production companies applied to the Cinema Foundation for state support. Filming took place in Moscow and near Sochi. As of November 26, 2017, the film became the highest-grossing local-language release of all time in Russia, surpassing "Stalingrad" with 1.68 billion rubles ($28.8 million)


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The main character of the film, Ivan Naydenov, performed by Viktor Khorinyak, was conceived as a more serious hero, although there was also something left of the character of Kostya Anisimov from the TV series "Kitchen", for example, the ability to quickly find a way out of a difficult situation.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Principal photography took place in Moscow and near Sochi, and basically all the scenes were shot in real scenery, and not on a chroma key. Most of the filming took place in the Republic of Abkhazia. Abkhazian production company Alexandra Basariya (Sandro) Abkhaz-Production LLC hospitably received the film crew and beloved Russian actors. The shooting took place in such cities and areas as: the road to Lake Ritsa, Auadhara Nature Reserve, Alpine Meadows, the village of Otapi cave in Ochamchyrsky District, the town of Pitsunda, Gagra and Gudauta.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The film is scheduled to be released in the Russian Federation on October 29, 2017 by Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (WDSSPR). The television premiere took place on January 1, 2018 on the Russia-1 TV channel.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The exact budget for the movie is unknown but it's estimated to be somewhere between $6 and $8 million. In 2017 production company Yellow, Black and White (YBW) revealed that the overall production and promotion budget was 370 million Russian Rubles (~$8 million), equally distributed between Disney and YBW. The film is partially sponsored by Russian government through Cinema Fund, which gave 100 million Russian Rubles to YBW, although half of that sum was returned to state-owned Cinema Fund thanks to the movie's commercial success.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: "The Last Knight" in less than two weeks of rental broke the bar of 1 billion rubles and became the highest-grossing domestic film of 2017, according to the Unified Automated Information System (UAIS) (this record was broken after a short time by the sports drama "Going Vertical" (2017 film), which earned at the box office 3 billion rubles). In total, "The Last Knight" collected more than 1.7 billion rubles at the box office, having recovered its budget in 11 days.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The reason for success is found both in a positive word of mouth, and in the active support of distributors.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: Critics' opinions about the film were divided, it received conflicting ratings - but mostly average, neutral. According to the "Criticism" aggregator, "The Last Knight" received an average rating of 67/100 in the press (based on 29 reviews). Igromania magazine stated that the film is straightforward and that the reason why the villains of fairy tales, such as Koschey or Baba Yaga, went over to the good side, was not explained in the film. But he praised the film for good humor. Magazine "Mir Fantastiki" gave the film six out of ten stars and stated that the film could not escape the cliche with the main character, which could be ridiculed in "Shrek" fifteen years ago, because of which the film suffers from a lack of originality, and also stated that the reason why the villains save the world of fairy tales was not disclosed in the film. However, the magazine also praised the film for humor.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: According to the results of a survey organized by the Kinopoisk website on the VKontakte social network, users called "The Last Knight" the best Russian film of 2017.


title: Last Knight (film)

text: The Russian Disney office announced a sequel to the film in February 2018 with Yellow, Black and White co-production and Vitaliy Shlyappo leading the writers. The film is called "" and was released on December 24 in 2020. A further sequel is scheduled for 2021.


title: Nasal congestion

text: Nasal congestion is the blockage of nasal breathing usually due to membranes lining the nose becoming swollen from inflamed blood vessels.


title: Nasal congestion

text: In about 85% of cases, nasal congestion leads to mouth breathing rather than nasal breathing. According to Jason Turowski, MD of the Cleveland Clinic, "we are designed to breathe through our noses from birth—it's the way humans have evolved." This is referred to as "obligate nasal breathing."


title: Nasal congestion

text: Nasal congestion can interfere with hearing and speech. Significant congestion may interfere with sleep, cause snoring, and can be associated with sleep apnea or upper airway resistance syndrome. In children, nasal congestion from enlarged adenoids has caused chronic sleep apnea with insufficient oxygen levels and hypoxia. The problem usually resolves after surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils, however the problem often relapses later in life due to craniofacial alterations from chronic nasal congestion.