title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Greek was originally brought to Cyprus by Greek settlers in the 12th–11th century BCE. The earliest known Cypriot Greek inscription dates to c. 1000 BC. The contemporary Cypriot Greek (CG)—the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots—evolved from later Byzantine Koine, under the influence of the languages of the many colonisers of the island. CG differs markedly from Standard Modern Greek (SMG), particularly in its phonology, morphology and vocabulary, and CG may be difficult for speakers of other varieties of Greek to understand or may even be unintelligible to some. CG has a literary tradition that flourished before the Ottoman conquest of 1571.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: SMG has been the language of instruction in Greek Cypriot education since the late 19th century (then Katharevousa) and is the language used in Greek-language media in the country (though in a recognisably Cypriot form). Indeed, Greek Cypriots are diglossic, with SMG the high (taught) and CG the low variety (naturally acquired), itself a dialect continuum that has been long undergoing levelling and koinénisation. SMG exerts a continuing influence on CG, and CG speakers code-mix and code-switch between the two varieties in formal settings. Greek Cypriots' tendency to "downplay the differences between the two varieties" has been thought to help preserve diglossia in circumstances that would have otherwise led to the demise of the low variety (CG).


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Many Turkish Cypriots have traditionally (prior to 1974) been fluent in CG, meaning CG served as the "vernacular lingua franca" of the island. Some Turkish Cypriots were uni-lingual in Greek.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Emanating from Anatolia and evolved for four centuries, Cypriot Turkish is the vernacular spoken by Cypriots with Ottoman ancestry, as well as by Cypriots who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Cypriot Turkish consists of a blend of Ottoman Turkish and the Yörük dialect that is spoken in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey. In addition it has absorbed influences from Greek, Italian and English. Cypriot Turkish is mutually intelligible with Standard Turkish.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Two minority languages are covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Cyprus, Armenian and Cypriot Arabic.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Armenians have inhabited Cyprus since the sixth century AD, but about 9,000 more arrived from Turkey in the early 20th century to escape the Armenian genocide. Of those, most moved on to other countries. Today, Western Armenian is taught in Armenian schools ("Nareg") and is the first language of about 3,000 people of Armenian descent in the Republic. Armenian Cypriots are often bilingual in Greek and Armenian. In 2014, it was reported that there are 668 Armenian first-language speakers in Republic of Cyprus-controlled areas (of a total 1,831 Armenian Cypriots).


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: It is not entirely clear when Arabic first made its way to Cyprus, but Arabic speakers are known to have emigrated from the Levant in the late 12th century AD. Today, Cypriot Arabic (CA) is moribund with efforts being made to revitalise it. It is spoken by an estimated 900 Cypriot Maronites, all over the age of 30. Kormakitis was a long-time stronghold of the language, but most Maronites relocated to the south and spread after 1974, fuelling its—now very likely—death. CA speakers are bilingual in Greek and CA, and CA, having long existed cut off from other varieties of Arabic, has been heavily influenced by Cypriot Greek, with respect to its syntax, vocabulary and, particularly, phonology: it has lost all emphatic consonants and stop voicing opposition. CA has traits in common with some north Syrian and Mesopotamian dialects and sedentary vernaculars spoken on the Levantine coast. Cypriot Arabic has not so far been codified, though there are plans to do so. In 2014, it was reported that, in the 2011 census, of all 3,656 Maronite Cypriots in Republic of Cyprus-controlled areas "none declared [Cypriot Arabic] to be their first language".


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: There is an unknown number of Roma, speakers of "Kurbetcha" (or "Gurbetcha"), a creole with vocabulary that is predominantly Romani and Cypriot Turkish grammar, residing in Northern Cyprus. "Kurbetcha" is not protected by the Charter and has been little studied.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Proficiency in English is high (higher than in many other European countries), and Cypriots that receive education in English might code-switch between their native language and English. English features on road signs, public notices, and in advertisements, etc. English was the sole official language during British colonial rule and lingua franca (until 1960) and continued to be used ("de facto") in courts of law until 1989 and in legislature until 1963. A reported 80.4% of residents of Cyprus perceive to have command of the English language as L2, a 10.8% of French, a 4.6% of German, a 2.8% of Russian, and a 2.0% of Spanish. On average, Cypriots speak 1.2 foreign languages.<ref name="eurostat 49/2010"></ref> According to the Eurobarometer, 76% of people of Cyprus can speak English, 12% can speak French and 5% can speak German.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: It is reckoned written language first made its appearance in Cyprus in the 16th century BCE with the yet-to-be-deciphered Cypro-Minoan syllabary, an offshoot of Linear A "with some additional elements of hieroglyphic affiliation" that was the basis for the later Cypriot syllabary. The Cypro-Minoan syllabary may have been used to write more than one language.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: The ancient Arcadocypriot dialect of Greek was spoken by the Mycenaean Greeks to first settle in Cyprus in the 12th or 11th century BCE. It was eventually succeeded by Koine Greek in the fourth century BCE and later Byzantine Koine evolved into Cypriot Greek.


title: Languages of Cyprus

text: Eteocypriot was a pre-Indo-European language, indigenous to the island, that competed with Greek following the latter's arrival and was ultimately supplanted by it by the third century BCE. It was written in the Cypriot syllabary that was adopted for Arcadocypriot; the same writing system was used to write both (unrelated) languages. For the time that the two languages co-existed, the peoples of Cyprus were bilingual (and bicultural).


title: Ningyo

text: Though often translated as "mermaid", the term is technically not gender-specific and may include the "mermen". The literal translation "human-fish" has also been applied.


title: Ningyo

text: The earliest records of the "ningyo" attested in written Japanese sources are freshwater beings allegedly captured in the 7th century (§Asuka period), documented later in the "Nihon Shoki". But subsequent examples are usually seawater beings.


title: Ningyo

text: In later medieval times (§Kamakura period)), it was held to be a sign of ill omen, and its beaching (§Omens in Michinoku) was blamed for subsequent bloody battles or calamity.


title: Ningyo

text: The notion that eating its flesh imparts longevity is attached to the legend of the ('eight hundred [year old] Buddhist priestess', cf. §Yao Bikuni)


title: Ningyo

text: During the Edo period, the "ningyo" was made the subject of burlesque "gesaku" novels (cf. §Saikaku, 1687 and Santō Kyōden's §"Hakoiri musume", 1791). There were also preserved "ningyo" being manufactured using fish parts (§Mummies or Feejee mermaids), and illustrated by some scholars of the period (e.g. §Baien gyofu); some such mummies are held by certain temples that have ningyo legend attached to them (cf. §Prince Shōtoku).


title: Ningyo

text: The description of the ningyo as having a red cockscomb (§Shokoku rijindan, and Saikaku) or light red hair (§Kasshi yawa) corroborates the hypothesis that oarfish sightings led to ningyo lore.


title: Ningyo

text: One giant "ningyo" was allegedly shot in 1805, even though it was held to be lucky, according to the news circulated in "kawaraban" pamphlet form (#Etchū Province ningyo, aka "kairai"§Etchū Province ningyo, aka "kairai")


title: Ningyo

text: The Japanese has been glossed in a noted dictionary ("Kojien") as a "fabulous creature" which is "half woman, half fish", later revised to "half human (usually woman) and half fish". Hence the term "ningyo" includes not just the mermaid but the merman also.


title: Ningyo

text: Accordingly, the "ningyo" is sometimes referred to by the verbatim translation "human-fish" in English-language scholarship, thus allowing for the gender ambiguity.


title: Ningyo

text: The term "ningyo" was not explicitly used in the earliest accounts (cf. §Asuka period, year 619) recorded in the "Nihon shoki" (720 AD). A later embellished account in


title: Ningyo

text: The term "ningyo" was also absent in medieval sources describing the Kamakura Period strandings in northern Japan §Omens in Michinoku) considered ominous. For example, a "large fish" washed ashore in the Hōji 1 (1247) according to 13th and 14th century texts. But these were called "ningyo" in a 17th-century recompilation.


title: Ningyo

text: The earliest examples (cf. §Asuka period) were caught in fresh waters, and it has been hypothesized they must have actually been giant salamanders.


title: Ningyo

text: Another prominent theory is that the misidentification of the "dugong" led to mermaid lore, but detractors pointed out that the dugong's range reaches only as far north as Okinawa (formerly the Kingdom of Ryūkyū), and so was not likely to have been seen during premodern times in various locations in Japan where mermaid legend (priestess who ate the mermaid) is known to occur. However, this argument is flawed, since there were other sea mammals of the "Sirenia" order, namely Steller's sea cows which were native to the Bering Sea, and could have plausibly wandered into northern Japanese seas. Other sea mammals such as seals and dolphins are also candidates to have been mistaken for human-fish.


title: Ningyo

text: An inscribed wooden slat ("mokkan") containing drawings of ningyo (13th century) suggest the actual animal captured may have been a pinniped, such as a seal (cf. §Ritual offering tablet).


title: Ningyo

text: The ichthyologist's hypothesis that the ningyo legend originated from sightings of the red-crested oarfish is bolstered by the lore or reports that the ningyo has red cockscomb (§Shokoku rijindan) or light red hair (§Kasshi yawa). This cockscomb also is mentioned in the novel by §Saikaku.


title: Ningyo

text: Despite the "ningyo" being defined as half-woman, half-fish in some modern dictionaries, the "ningyo" has been also depicted as having a human female head resting on a fish-like body, as in the well known Japanese woodblock print "kawaraban" pamphlet example (shown right, q.v. §Etchū Province ningyo, aka "kairai").


title: Ningyo

text: The "ningyo" reportedly caught in the 7th century became associated with then Prince Regent Shōtōku, and the creature has been depicted as a gift presented to him in picture scrolls entitled "Shōtōku Taishi eden", the oldest surviving copy of this (1069) being the earliest piece of ningyo art in Japan. There are multiple copies of the scrolls in existence. Also, much later in the 19th century. An example is the ningyo represented as a composite of the goddess Kannon and a fish (cf. §Prince Shōtoku and fig.).


title: Ningyo

text: The ningyo was human-headed in the 11th century anecdote involving the head of the Taira clan (cf. §Presented to Tadamori), The stranded ningyo had "four limbs" like a human or had hands and feet but was scaly and fish-headed. which were reported in Northern Japan in the 12th and 13th centuries and interpreted as omens (cf. §Omens in Michinoku) There has also been unearthed a wooden tablet with an illustration of such an ill-omened ningyo date to this period (c. 1286) (cf. )


title: Ningyo

text: But during the Edo period, illustrations of "ningyo" were varied, and in popular literature for entertainment (such as the "kibyōshi" genre), both human-headed fish type (armless) and half-human type with arms were illustrated (cf. §Two archetypes). One theory is that the two types derive from Classical Chinese literature, in particular the limbed ("hill-fish") and the limbless ("red ru fish") passed down from the ancient "Shan hai jing" ("Classic of Mountains and Seas") (cf. § Chinese "lingyu" and "chiru").


title: Ningyo

text: However, this explanation is compromised by the fact that the Chinese "hill-fish" is considered four-limbed, and illustrated as such, whereas it was actually the Japanese work "Wakan sansai zue" (1712) which transformed the image of the Chinese "hill-fish" to that of a two-armed legless one (cf. fig. right), while equating it with the Japanese "ningyo". And this illustration has struck commentators as closely resembling the Western mermaid. (cf. § Ningyo in "Wakan sansai zue") The "Wakan sansai zue" did also give notice and print the facsimile illustration of the merfolk pronounced Teijin in Japanese ("Diren" or in Chinese) mentioned in the classic "Shan hai jing", which were indeed illustrated as two-armed merfolk in Chinese sources.


title: Ningyo

text: Also, what the yōkai wood-block print illustrator Toriyama Sekien drew (1781, fig. left) was not a Japanese "ningyo" but one dwelling in the far reaches of China west of a World tree ("kenboku"; pinyin: "jianmu" ). The caption adds that such "ningyo" was also known as the people of the Di Nation.


title: Ningyo

text: The Japanese Shogunate had acquired a copy of Johannes Jonston's "Natural History" in Dutch (1660) already by 1663, containing illustrations of the Western siren-mermaid. But it is not clear whether such "Dutch" ("Rangaku", Western learning) images got widely disseminated in Japan before 's , which digested this and other works on the topic of mermaid, with reproduced illustrations.


title: Ningyo

text: By the late Edo Period (mid to late 19th century), the visual iconography of the "ningyo" came gradually to match the half-human half-fish of the European mermaid.


title: Ningyo

text: One of the most famous folk stories involving "ningyo" (or rather the flesh of the human-fish), purports that a girl who ate it acquired everlasting youth and longevity, and became the nun also read Happyaku Bikuni, living to the age of 800 years.


title: Ningyo

text: In the typical version the girl who ate the ningyo was from Obama, Wakasa Province, and as a nun dwelled in a grass hut on the mountain at temple in the region. She traveled all over Japan in her life, but then she resolves to end her life in her home country, and sealed herself in a cave where she dwelled or has herself buried alive on the mountain at the temple, and requests a camellia tree be planted at the site as indicator of whether she still remains alive.


title: Ningyo

text: In a version passed down at Obama, Wakasa, the sixteen-year-old girl eats the ningyo inadvertently, after her father receives the prepared dish as a guest, so that the family is not implicated in knowingly eating the ningyo or butchering it. The Kūin-ji temple history claims the father to have been a rich man named Takahashi, descended from the founder of the province, and when the daughter turned 16, the dragon king appeared in the guise of a white-bearded man and gave her the flesh as a gift. But there are versions known all over Japan, and the father is often identified as a fisherman. A fisherman reeled in the ningyo but discarded it due to its strangeness, but the young daughter had picked it up and eaten it, according to one telling.


title: Ningyo

text: The oldest written sources of the legend date from the 15th century, and one of these sources relate that the appeared in Kyoto in the middle of that century (year 1449) at age 800.


title: Ningyo

text: Assuming age 800 in keeping with her commonly used name, her birth can be back dated to around the mid-7th century, during the Asuka Period.


title: Ningyo

text: Folklorist 's chronology makes her a survivor from an even older age. He dated Yao Bikuni eating ningyo flesh in the year 480 AD during the Kofun Period (Tumulus Period). However, no written source for this could be evinced, according to a recent researcher, and an oral tradition is presumed.


title: Ningyo

text: In the 27th year of Empress Suiko (619, man-like fish were supposedly netted twice: on in Ōmi Province during the 4th month, and in Horie, Settsu Province (, an artificial canal no longer extant), according to the "Nihon shoki".


title: Ningyo

text: They were freshwater creatures, and the description of it being "childlike" suggested its true identity to be the Japanese giant salamander according to Minakata Kumagusu.


title: Ningyo

text: Crown Prince Shōtoku at age 48 was allegedly was presented with a ningyo from Settsu Province, but he abhorred the unlucky gift and ordered it to be discarded immediately. This account occurs in a picture scroll called "Shōtoku Taishi eden". There were some 40 copies of this made, of which the copy held by Hōryū-ji temple, dated to 1069 is the oldesg known pictorial depiction of the Japanese ningyo.


title: Ningyo

text: While "Shoki" never used the term "ningyo" explicitly, Prince Shōtoku had been involved in the Gamō River incident and knew to use the term, according to the prince's abridged history or . Shōtoku also knew the "ningyo" to bring forth disaster according to the "Denryaku", and an annotation provides that it was customary for fishermen at the time to release a "ningyo" if ever caught in the net. When the prince was alarmed by the ill omen of a ningyo appearing in Ōmi Province, he had a statue of the Kannon goddess placed in the vicinity, according to document preserved at temple.


title: Ningyo

text: According to the "engi" or foundation myth of , Prince Shōtoku met a ningyo in a pool near Lake Biwa who confessed to have been reborn in its shape due to poor deeds in past life, and the prince performed service to provide it salvation by building a temple to house a Kannon goddess statue, which was the origins of this temple.


title: Ningyo

text: After the Asuka Period, the two oldest appearances of the ningyo are dated to the mid- to late Nara Period, and these were situated by the sea.


title: Ningyo

text: An "ningyo" beached on Yasui-no-ura in Izumo Province (a bay in present-day Yasugi, Shimane) in the Tenpyō-shōhō 8 or the year 756 AD, and later, another one appeared in in Noto Province (a peninsula in present-day Suzu, Ishikawa) in the year Hōki 9/778. These reports are preserved in a .


title: Ningyo

text: An anecdote of three presumed "ningyo" caught in a net in in Ise Province, is found in the "Kokon Chomonjū" ("Collection of Tales Heard, Present and Past", 1254) from the mid-Kamakura Period.


title: Ningyo

text: according to the (printed 1641), and each sighting is treated as an omen, associated with some armed conflict or ill fortune which struck afterwards:


title: Ningyo

text: Actually all these cases, culminating in the Hōji 1 event, were recorded in much older "Azuma kagami" (chronicle up to year 1266) and the "Hōjō kudai ki" (aka , 1331) except that the creature is not called a "ningyo" but rather a "large fish" (which was human cadaver-like with "four limbs"), or a creature "having hands and feet, covered in overlapping scales, and a head no different than a fish's". And these near-contemporary sources also interpret the ningyo ("big fish") appearances as presaging major warfare occurring within that year.


title: Ningyo

text: In Hōji 1 when "big fish" was beached in the northern parts (Michinoku), the waters there had turned scarlet (possibly a red tide occurrence), and this was later believed to have foreshadowed the battle which took place at the beaches Yuigahama (near Kamakura), turning the water crimson (with blood).


title: Ningyo

text: The Hōji 1 event was discussed in one late source, called the (published Jōkyō1/1684), but this miscopies the day to the "20th of the 3rd month", which makes it the probably direct source of Ihara Saikaku's fictional piece in which a "ningyo" appears.


title: Ningyo

text: There are additional sightings during the Kamakura Period recorded in other literature (e.g. "kagenki" 嘉元記).


title: Ningyo

text: A drawings of a ningyo was found on a piece of wooden tablet excavated in the Suzaki archaeological site at Ikawa, Akita. It was discovered at the remains of a well, The tablet measures 80.6 cm×14.5 cm×0.5 cm), and dated to some time close to 1286.


title: Ningyo

text: The ningyo is human-headed and fish-bodied, except it has two arms and two legs alongside a finned tail. Except for the face its entirety is covered with marks which apparently represent scales. The actual animal was probably a seal, or some sort of pinniped, according to the archaeologists' report.


title: Ningyo

text: The inscriptions have been transcribed as ""Ara, tsutanaya, teuchi ni tote sōrō, sowaka" (Oh, pity, but let it be killed, sowaka)" and similarly "Oh, pity, bound up like that even though a human, sowaka". Since the beast was considered ill omen, the Buddhist priest (also illustrated on the tablet) probably made offering (Buddhism) in the form of prayer, "sowaka" being a Sanskrit word often chanted at the end of the mantra.


title: Ningyo

text: A sighting of a "ningyo" alleged in Wakasa Province in the Hōei (era), probably c. 1705, was recorded by in ("Stories of Common Folk [from the Provinces]", 1740s). It reported had something like red cockscomb-like at the collar, which parallels what Saikaku stating in his novel (1674, cf. below) that that the ningyo possessed a cockscomb on its head.


title: Ningyo

text: An mid-18th century account of a ningyo sighting was recorded by samurai daimyo essayist Matsura Seizan, in his . It occurred early part of the Enkyō era (1744–1748), and his named sources were his own uncle Hongaku-in (, ) and aunt Kōshō-in (). On their journey by sea from Hirado Domain en route to Edo, they encountered a "ningyo" around the Genkai Sea, in an area where no "ama" (female diving fishermen) could be expected to operate. It surfaced more than 10 "ken" (≈20 meters) ahead of the vessel, and at first, its lower half could not be seen, but its "guise was woman-like, with pale bluish hue, and light red hair which was long"; then it smiled and dove down, at which point the fish-like tail-end made its appearance, allowing the witnesses to determine it was a "ningyo".


title: Ningyo

text: The aforementioned woodblock print from Bunka 2 (1805), entitled "" publicized the appearance of a ningyo also called . It happened on the 5th month of the year, in Yokata-ura, in what is now Toyama Bay.


title: Ningyo

text: This "ningyo" was a creature with head of a long-haired young woman's, a pair of golden horns, a red belly, three eyes on each side of its torso, and a carp-like tail end, according the text of the flier. This mermaid purportedly measured 3 jō 5 shaku or .


title: Ningyo

text: While the printed illustration only shows one side of the ningyo, the text itself confirms it had 3 eyes on each side of the body. The feature of eyes on the torso is shared by the prediction beast "kudan", also known to have appeared in Etchū Province, and the "hakutaku" (or "baize", of Chinese origin), as scholars have pointed out.


title: Ningyo

text: The flier reports that the people grew frightened, and destroyed it with 450 rifles. Yet the flier also states that "A person who views this fish once will enjoy great longevity, avoid bad turns of events and disasters, and gain luck and virtue".


title: Ningyo

text: The "ningyo" allegedly was remembered in popular tradition as having "a scarlet cockscomb on its head, and a face of a beautiful woman. Four limbs like they were wrought out of jewels, golden-gleaming scales, the flesh most fragrant, and serene voice like the skylark-whistle" according to Ihara Saikaku's ("Exemplary Tales of the Way of the Warrior", 1674), which features a "ningyo" as noted above.


title: Ningyo

text: The text describes the "ningyo" as being equipped with four limbs but the illustration draws a mermaid without legs, and having a tail-fin instead; she also is drawn without any cockscomb-like appendage on the head. Another discrepancy is that the samurai named Kinnai had shot the "ningyo" with a bow (half-bow) according to the text, but the weapon has been swapped with a firearm in the illustration.


title: Ningyo

text: Santō Kyōden's . is also well known as a work during the Tokugawa era which dealt with the "ningyo" mermaid topic.


title: Ningyo

text: It is an example of work in the genre of "kibyōshi" or "yellow jacket", and a humorous, satirical piece, whose cast of characters include Urashima Tarō, who has an affair with a carp mistress producing a mermaid daughter in the process. The abandoned mermaid is netted by a fisherman named Heiji. To make ends meet she engages in "miuri", i.e., selling herself into prostitution, but her fish-bodied "oiran" repulses customers. After discovering that licking a mermaid imparts longevity, Heiji opens a mermaid-licking shoppe, gains great wealth, and decides to marry her. She grows out of her outer skin, metamorphosing into a full-fledged woman with both arms and legs. Heiji sells the mermaid's skin slough ("nukegara") for profit.


title: Ningyo

text: In the mid-Edo period, illustrations of the "ningyo" consisted of two broad types, as exemplified in illustrated fictional tales.


title: Ningyo

text: She is depicted as human-headed by armless in some works, as in the case of Kyōden's "Hakoiri musume" just described.


title: Ningyo

text: The dual visual representation has been attributed to the Japanese familiarity with Chinese sources that depict both types, specifically, a human-armed type of mermaid called the and an armless (finned) type of mermaid called the .


title: Ningyo

text: However this formulation for explaining Chinese origin does not quite succeed, since, as its proponent points out, the Chinese "lingyu" is actually four-legged, as is the "renyu" (, "human fish") aka "tiyu" (; Japanese:"teigyo") and it was the Japanese "Wakan sansai zue" ("Illustrated Sino-Japanese [Encyclopedia] of the Three Realms", 1712) which for some reason altered the image of the ningyo/renyu (aka ryōgyo/lingyu ) into a two-armed but legless mermaid.


title: Ningyo

text: A different commentator also regards the pictorialization of the "ningyo" in "Wakan sansai zue" to be an "addition.. with an illustration.. much like the Western idea of a mermaid".


title: Ningyo

text: As to the knowledge people held about the "ningyo" during the Edo Period, the influence of Classical Chinese literature is palpable. Even Kyōden's "Hakoiri musume" reveals the writer's literacy, as the work discusses the distinction between the "teigyo" (Chinese: "tiyu") and the "geigyo" (Chinese:"niyu", ).


title: Ningyo

text: Japanese scholars writing on the "ningyo" drew much from Chinese sources, for example, the "Bencao Gangmu" (1596), the compendium of Chinese "materia medica", which was introduced into Japan in 1607, and was frequently quoted on the subject of the mermaid. Thus Kaibara Ekiken (1709) cited it, and distinguishes the "teigyo" ("ningyo" in small print) from the "geigyo" ("salamander").


title: Ningyo

text: The influential "Wakan sansai zue" was modeled after the Three Realms encyclopedia (Sancai Tuhui, 1609) of China, and also drew from such Chinese material on the topic of "ningyo". But as already noted the image of the "ningyo" was not faithful to Chinese sources. The work also equates the "ningyo" with the (, but this synonymy is based on the gloss in the Japanese lexicon "Wamyō Ruijushō", not Chinese sources.


title: Ningyo

text: Since the "Wakan sansai zue" also describes the medical use of "peixe muller" (Japanese transliteration: "heishmure[ru]", "woman fish") according to the Dutch, it was using information derived ultimately from a European. However, its claim that the woman-fish bones works as a detoxicant differs from known accounts, and stymies identification of any possible source.


title: Ningyo

text: A number of other Japanese scholarship on the "ningyo" also discussed the supposed siren-mermaid bones being trafficked by the Europeans as "heishimureru" (Spanish/Portuguese: "peixe mulher"; , 'woman fish') One identifiable source was the Flemish Jesuit Verbiest "aka" Nan Huairen (mid-17c.) who wrote in Chinese, cited Ono Ranzan (1803), and possibly even used earlier by Kaibara Ekiken (1709), to describe the effects of the "peixe muller" medicine.


title: Ningyo

text: In the interim, many other European works referring to the siren-mermaid were introduced to the Japanese literati: Johannes Jonston (Latin 1657, Dutch tr. 1660), Ambrose Paré ("Œuvres", 1575; Dutch tr. 1593), and François Valentyn (1724–26, in Dutch), thanks to the efforts of 's , who gave translated digests from these works, accompanied by reproductions of siren-mermaid illustrations. And this endeavor was instrumental in forging the image/iconography of the "ningyo" during the era that was influenced by the European siren-mermaid.


title: Ningyo

text: Specimens of taxidermically crafted "ningyo" have been observed and illustrated during the Edo Period, including the painting in ""Baien gyofu" (cf. below) and the sketch by natural historian dated Ansei 3/1856.


title: Ningyo

text: Mōri Baien's "Baien gyofu" (, 'Baien's catalog of fishes', Bunsei 8/1825) contains a full-color hand-painted illustrations of a "ningyo" in frontal and side views. This has been determined to represent a so-called "stuffed" ningyo crafted by joining the tail-end of a fish, also called a Feejee mermaid in the West.


title: Gérald Marie

text: In February 2021, 11 women who accused Marie of sexual misconduct and rape were invited to Paris to meet investigators. In July 2021, American model Carré Otis filed a complaint against him for allegedly raping her when she was 17. In August 2021, Otis filed a lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly raped her at his Paris apartment. His ex-wife, Canadian model Linda Evangelista, said she knew nothing about the reported attempted rapes during her relationship with him but believes the women who have come forward are telling the truth, and praised their courage.


title: Gérald Marie

text: He was the president of Elite Model Management European division and was one of the most powerful men in fashion.


"Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive overreaction to a problem: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning against acting out of pique, or against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger.


title: Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face

text: It was not uncommon in the Middle Ages for a person to cut off the nose of another for various reasons, including punishment from the state, or as an act of revenge. In particular, the English Saint Ebbe was said to have severed her own nose to dissuade violation by Viking raiders. Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker notes that the phrase may have originated from this practice, as at this time "cutting off someone's nose was the prototypical act of spite."


text: The expression has since become a blanket term for (often unwise) self-destructive actions motivated purely by anger or desire for revenge. For example, if a man was angered by his wife, he might burn down their house to punish her; however, burning down "her" house would also mean burning down "his", along with all of their possessions.


text: In the 1796 edition of Francis Grose's "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue", "He cut off his nose to be revenged of his face" is said to apply to "one who, to be revenged on his neighbor, has materially injured himself."


title: The Longshots

text: The Longshots is a 2008 American comedy-drama sports film directed by Fred Durst, based on the real life events of Jasmine Plummer, the first girl to participate in the Pop Warner football tournament. The film stars Ice Cube and Keke Palmer, their second film together after "", and was released on August 22, 2008.


title: The Longshots

text: Minden, Illinois, is a former factory town with a failing economy and a pathetic football team that no one believes in. Curtis Plummer, a washed-up former football player, returns home broke and directionless until he meets his niece Jasmine, the daughter of his no-good brother Roy. Jasmine has worn her father's watch ever since he left five years ago in the hopes that he will one day return. Her mother Claire asks Curtis to take care of Jasmine after school as she is too busy with her job at the local diner. Curtis realizes Jasmine has a talent for throwing a football, which he nurtures into a passion for the game. He then persuades her to try out for the town's Pop Warner football team, the Minden Browns, because he thinks it would be good for her. The team, including the coach, are against admitting a female player, but Jasmine's abilities gain her a spot on the team. However, the coach deliberately keeps her on the bench. In the fourth game, after much prodding from Curtis, the coach puts Jasmine in the game, and although the Browns lose, everyone said they could have won if she had played from the beginning. Jasmine is then assigned as the starting quarterback and the Minden Browns quickly become a winning team.


title: The Longshots

text: Everything is going great until Coach Fisher suffers a heart attack, and the assistant coach asks Curtis to step in as a replacement for the last two games. He hesitates at first, still haunted by his past failures, but is eventually talked into it. The Browns win the two games and are able to go to the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Miami Beach. Roy suddenly shows up to meet them, having seen his daughter play on TV. Claire and Curtis are both unhappy and suspicious about his return, but Jasmine is ecstatic, convinced that Roy finally wants to be a part of her life.


title: The Longshots

text: The Browns are nearly forced to skip the Super Bowl due to a lack of money, but are able to raise enough from the town; even Curtis pitches in by donating the last of his life savings. Jasmine plays poorly in the first half when Roy does not show up to watch. Curtis talks her through her feelings and the Browns rally for the second half. They lose the game after a teammate drops the ball on the last play, but everyone is glad nonetheless that for the first time, the Browns made it to the championship. Jasmine finally confronts her deadbeat father and returns his watch, cutting him out of her life for good and accepting Curtis as the father figure she always wanted.


title: The Longshots

text: The film was shot mostly in northwestern Louisiana, with the majority being in the small city of Minden. It was filmed at Minden High School and the Webster Parish Alternative School. The "Super Bowl" was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana at Calvary Baptist Academy.


title: The Longshots

text: "The Longshots" was released on DVD on December 2, 2008. It opened at #18 at the DVD sales chart, selling 143,000 units for revenue of $2,858,950. By January 2009, 471,000 DVD units had been sold, translating to $11 million in revenue.


title: The Longshots

text: "The Longshots" opened on August 22, 2008 and grossed $4,080,687 in its opening week. It flopped at the box office, grossing $11,767,866 worldwide, on a $23 million budget.


title: The Longshots

text: "The Longshots" received mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 41% based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Longshots" means well, but it's a largely formulaic affair, rarely deviating from the inspirational sports movie playbook." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Longshots

text: Ruthe Stein of "San Francisco Chronicle" opined that Keke Palmer's "winning manner and incandescent smile" made her "a perfect fit" for her role in the film.


title: Čachtice Castle

text: Čachtice Castle (; , ) is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Čachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason. The castle was a residence and later the prison of the Countess and alleged serial killer Elizabeth Báthory.


title: Čachtice Castle

text: Čachtice was built in the mid-13th century by Kazimir from the Hont-Pázmány gens as a sentry on the road to Moravia. Later, it belonged to Matthew Csák, the Stibor family, and then to Elizabeth Báthory. Čachtice, its surrounding lands and villages, was a wedding gift from the Nádasdy family upon Elizabeth's marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy in 1575.


title: Čachtice Castle

text: Originally, Čachtice was a Romanesque castle with an interesting horseshoe-shaped residence tower. It was turned into a Gothic castle later and its size was increased in the 15th and 16th centuries. A Renaissance renovation followed in the 17th century. In 1708 the castle was captured by the rebels of Francis II Rákóczi. It was neglected and burned down in 1799. It was left to decay until it was turned into a tourist attraction in 2014.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and the training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: As of 2020, there are 206 National Olympic Committees. These include each of the 193 member states of the United Nations, one UN observer state (Palestine) and two states with limited recognition (Kosovo and Taiwan).


title: National Olympic Committee

text: There are also ten dependent territories with recognized NOCs: four territories of the United States (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands), three British Overseas Territories (Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands), one constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba), one associated state of New Zealand (the Cook Islands) and one special administrative region of China (Hong Kong).


title: National Olympic Committee

text: Prior to 1996, rules for recognising dependent territories or constituent countries as separate countries within the IOC were not as strict as those within the United Nations, which allowed these territories to field teams separately from their sovereign state. Following an amendment to the Olympic Charter in 1996, NOC recognition can only be granted after recognition as an independent country by the international community. Since the rule does not apply retroactively, the dependent territories and constituent countries which were recognised before the rule change are allowed to continue sending separate teams to the Olympics, while the Faroe Islands and Macau send their own Paralympic teams.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: The only state which thus qualifies to participate in the future is the Vatican City, a UN observer state. Niue, another associated state of New Zealand, could also be eligible for participation in the future as it conducts its own foreign relations and participates in several UN specialized agencies like other sovereign states. Currently, all other remaining states are ineligible to join the IOC as they are not recognised by a majority of the United Nations member countries. Constituent countries and dependent territories such as Curaçao, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Macau and New Caledonia can also no longer be recognised, so athletes from these territories can only participate in the Olympics as part of their parent nation's national team. This rule also applies to territories experiencing a change in status – the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee was dissolved at the 123rd IOC session in July 2011 as the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist in 2010.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: For those countries and territories that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, their National Olympic Committees also serve as the members of the Commonwealth Games Association. They are responsible for organising and overseeing their national teams at the Commonwealth Games.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: The ANOC members are eligible to enter the Olympic Games. Some National Olympic Committees who are members of a continental Olympic association but not ANOC members compete in continental-level and subregional-level tournaments. These committees, however, are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: The IOC runs the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games as competitions in which all IOC-recognised NOCs can participate. Each continent also runs its own championships for their members:


title: National Olympic Committee

text: While not continental unions in themselves, the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) and International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM) organise multi-sport events between Arabic-speaking countries and Mediterranean countries respectively. All 22 National Olympic Committees that form the UANOC and the 26 from CIJM are also members of either the ANOCA, EOC or OCA and are eligible to send their athletes to either the African, European or Asian Games. National Olympic Committees from the UANOC and CIJM are noted in the list below.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: The NOCs are all members of the "Association of National Olympic Committees" (ANOC), which is also split among five continental associations:


title: National Olympic Committee

text: The Faroe Islands and Macau both have recognized National Paralympic Committees and compete at the Paralympic Games. However, neither territory's National Olympic Committee is recognized by the IOC, so they cannot participate in the Olympics. Macau remains recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia and takes part in the Asian Games.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: Other existing countries/regions with unrecognized Olympic committees: Catalonia, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, Niue, Somaliland, New Caledonia, Kurdistan, Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia, Native Americans, the Northern Mariana Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, Transnistria and Turks & Caicos Islands.


title: National Olympic Committee

text: South Ossetia intends to establish a National Olympic Committee, and representatives from the Republic of Artsakh take part in Armenia's National Olympic Committee.


title: Lands' End

text: Lands' End is an American clothing and home decor retailer founded in 1963 and based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, that specializes in casual clothing, luggage, and home furnishings. The majority of the company's business is conducted through mail order and Internet sales, but the company also has retail stores, primarily in the Upper Midwest, along with international shops in the UK, Germany, Japan, France and Austria. From 2002 to 2014, Lands' End was a subsidiary of Sears Holdings.


title: Lands' End

text: Lands' End began as a mail-order yachting supply company in 1963 in Chicago. It was founded by Gary Comer, along with his partners, 1963 Pan American Games gold medalist sailors Richard Stearns and Robert Halperin, and two of Stearns' employees. As the business became successful, it expanded into general clothing and home furnishings, and moved to Dodgeville, Wisconsin in 1978. The company is named from its sailboat heritage, after Land's End, but the misplaced apostrophe in the company name was a typographical error that Comer could not afford to change, as promotional materials had already been printed.


title: Lands' End

text: Lands' End's catalog business expanded in the 1980s, as mail-order retail grew nationwide. The company expanded its computer systems and customer service operations. In 1986, it became a publicly traded company. The 1990s saw continued growth, as the company began international expansion and became an early embracer of e-commerce, establishing a website and "live chat" customer service. Lands' End was named among the 100 Best Companies To Work For In America by "FORTUNE" Magazine.


title: Lands' End

text: In the late 1980s, Lands' End was the jersey supplier of the United States national rugby union team.


title: Lands' End

text: In 2002, Sears acquired the company for $2 billion in cash. In addition to operating mail order and online business and Lands' End Inlet stores (a reverse pun used for its outlet stores), Sears offered a Lands' End clothing line in a large number of its retail stores. In 2012, the company formed an "online partnership" with the UK's Debenhams and House of Fraser department stores; in 2016 it began selling on Amazon.


title: Lands' End

text: In November 2009, Lands' End launched a new line called Lands' End Canvas, which offers a more fashion-oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women.


title: Lands' End

text: On December 6, 2013, Sears Holding Corp. announced that it would spin off Lands' End catalog business as a separate company by distributing stock to the retailer's stockholders. Lands' End stock began trading on the NASDAQ on April 7, 2014. Jerome Griffith became CEO in March 2017, succeeding Federica Marchionni.


title: Lands' End

text: In 2016, feminist activist Gloria Steinem was featured in the catalog of Lands' End. After an outcry from anti-abortion customers, the company removed Steinem from their website, stating on their Facebook page: The company then faced further criticism online, this time both from customers who were still unhappy that Steinem had been featured in the first place, and customers who were unhappy that Steinem had been removed.


title: Lands' End

text: In 2019, Lands' End announced the closure of its remaining store-within-a-store branches in Sears stores, after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The last of these closed by the end of 2019. As of the end of 2021, the company operates 30 retail stores.


title: Youssouf Fofana (footballer)

text: Youssouf Fofana (born 10 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Monaco and the France national team.


title: Youssouf Fofana (footballer)

text: Fofana began his career with various youth academies in Paris, before joining the youth academy of Strasbourg on 21 February 2017. He made his professional debut with Strasbourg in a 2–0 Ligue 1 loss to Lyon on 24 August 2018.


title: Youssouf Fofana (footballer)

text: Fofana played his final game for Strasbourg on 25 January 2020, in a 3–1 away win over Monaco. Four days later, he was signed by Monaco for €15 million, and made his debut on 1 February, playing 71 minutes of a 3–1 away defeat to Nice.


title: Youssouf Fofana (footballer)

text: On 15 September 2022, Fofana received his first call-up to the France national team, for two UEFA Nations League matches.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: Jack Johnson (also known as A Tribute to Jack Johnson on reissues) is a studio album and soundtrack by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was released on February 24, 1971, by Columbia Records.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: The album was conceived by Davis for Bill Cayton's documentary of the same name, on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. Its two 25-minute-plus tracks were produced from recordings made on February 18 and April 7, 1970, at 30th Street Studio in New York City. Davis was inspired by the political and racial subtext of Johnson's saga as well as the hard rock and funk sounds of his own era, leading a rock-inspired line-up of musicians in the studio: guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: "Jack Johnson" performed modestly on the record charts and was generally well received by contemporary critics. It has since been regarded as one of the best albums from Davis' career and the jazz-rock genre, as well as his most overt venture into rock music. In 2003, the original album was reissued as part of "The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions", a five-disc box set featuring previously unreleased music from the recording sessions.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: In 1970, Davis was asked by boxing promoter Bill Cayton to record music for a documentary he was producing, on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. Johnson's saga resonated personally with the musician, who wrote in the album's liner notes of Johnson's mastery as a boxer, his affinity for fast cars, jazz, clothes, and beautiful women, his unreconstructed blackness, and his threatening image of large black manhood to white men. The resulting album, "Jack Johnson", was the second film score Davis had composed, after "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud" in 1957.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: The music recorded for "Jack Johnson" reflected Davis' interest in the eclectic jazz fusion of the time while foreshadowing the hard-edged funk that would fascinate him in the next few years. Having wanted to put together what he called "the greatest rock and roll band you have ever heard", Davis played with a line-up featuring guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham. The album's two tracks were mainly drawn from one session on April 7, 1970, which producer Teo Macero edited together with Davis' recordings from a February 18, 1969 "In A Silent Way" session


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: The first track, "Right Off", was constructed from several takes and a solo Davis had recorded in November 1969. It also contains a riff based on Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song", most prominently at 18:44. Much of the track "Yesternow" is built around a slightly modified version of the bassline from the James Brown song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud".


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: "Right Off" comprises a series of improvisations based on a B♭ chord, but changes after about 20 minutes to an E chord. "Yesternow" has a similar B♭ ostinato and shifts to C minor. It concludes with a voiceover by actor Brock Peters: "I'm Jack Johnson, heavyweight champion of the world. I'm black. They never let me forget it. I'm black all right. I'll never let them forget it." Liner notes accompanying a later release of the album provide a description of the music:


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: According to "The Guardian"s Tim Cumming, "Jack Johnson" abandoned jazz and the broad textures of "Bitches Brew" in favor of a concerted take on hard rock and funk, inspired as well by politics, the black power movement, and boxing. "[Davis] had a trainer who travelled with the band", Holland recalled. "He used to go to the gym every day. He was in his 40s, and that's prime time for musicians, when you're strong and all your faculties are there. He was playing incredibly." Ken McLeod, an associate professor of music history and culture at the University of Toronto, later said the bassline featured on "Yesternow" (and adapted from James Brown's “Say It Loud—I'm Black and I'm Proud”) is "potentially a deliberate allusion to the song's black power theme as it relates to the film's subject. That Davis was so influenced by boxing is also overtly manifest in the titles of pieces named after fighters that were recorded at several of the sessions, both before and after those that resulted in "Jack Johnson". Such pieces include 'Johnny Bratton,' 'Archie Moore,' 'Duran,' 'Sugar Ray,' and 'Ali.'"


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: "Jack Johnson" was released on February 24, 1971, by Columbia Records to some commercial success—peaking at number four on "Billboard" magazine's jazz chart and at number 47 on the R&B chart—despite little marketing from the label. According to Davis, the record was originally released with the wrong cover: a depiction of Johnson in his car, illustrated in stylized period fashion. The intended cover—a photo of Davis playing trumpet in a bent-backward stance—was used on subsequent pressings, which were titled "A Tribute to Jack Johnson". In 2003, the album was included on "The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions", a five-disc box set featuring previously unreleased music from the original recording sessions.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: Reviewing the album in June 1971 for "The Village Voice", rock critic Robert Christgau gave "Jack Johnson" an A-plus and said it is his favorite recording from Davis since "Milestones" (1958) and "Kind of Blue" (1959). While finding it lacking in the excitement of the best moments from "Bitches Brew", Christgau believed the album coalesces its predecessor's "flashy ideas" into "one brilliant illumination." Steve Starger of "The Hartford Courant" called the album "magnificent" and "another gem" in Davis' 20-year "string of gems", and wrote that the tracks "really make up one long, churning, steaming, brooding, slashing musical experience that never dips below the highest of art." Starger found the sidemen's performances masterful and said that Peters' voiceover at the end gives "Johnson's words frightening majesty".


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: Less enthusiastic about the record was jazz musician and journalist Leonard Feather, who wrote a review for the "Los Angeles Times" titled "Miles Ahead and Miles Behind". Viewing "Jack Johnson" as a "letdown after the unflawed triumph" of "Bitches Brew", Feather was particularly dismayed by Davis for aligning himself with "the thumping, clinking, whomping battering ram that passes for a rhythm section" on the album.


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: "Jack Johnson" was a turning point in Davis' career and has since been viewed as one of his greatest works. According to "JazzTimes", while his 1970 album "Bitches Brew" had helped spark the fusion of jazz and rock in the music scene, "Jack Johnson" was the trumpeter's most brazen and effective venture into rock, "the one that blew the fusion floodgates wide open, launching a whole new genre in its wake". According to McLaughlin, Davis considered it to be his best jazz-rock album. In "The Penguin Guide to Jazz" (2006), Richard Cook says "Jack Johnson" "stands at the head of what was to be Miles Davis's most difficult decade, artistically and personally", while Tom Hull names it one of the "true highlights" of the trumpeter's electric period and among his best albums. The "Boston Herald" cites it as one of Davis' "last truly great albums" and as "some of the most powerful and influential jazz-rock ever played."


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: Critics in retrospective appraisals also note the uniqueness of Davis' playing and the crucial contributions of his band and producer on the album. AllMusic's Thom Jurek highlights its "funky, dirty rock & roll jazz" and "chilling, overall high-energy rockist stance". He also calls it "the purest electric jazz record ever made because of the feeling of spontaneity and freedom it evokes in the listener, for the stellar and inspiring solos by McLaughlin and Davis that blur all edges between the two musics, and for the tireless perfection of the studio assemblage by Miles and producer Macero". John Fordham from "The Guardian" observes a transition in Davis's playing from a "whispering electric sound to some of the most trenchantly responsive straight-horn improvising he ever put on disc". According to Fordham:


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: "Jack Johnson" and Davis' other electric-period albums influenced rock musician Iggy Pop's early music with the Stooges. Around 1985, he purchased copies of Davis' "Sketches of Spain" (1960) and "Jack Johnson" in a no frills used record shop for less than $5. "They have been my inspiring companions ever since", he told "The Quietus" in 2010. "The one tears me apart and the other puts me back together."


title: Jack Johnson (album)

text: The following lineup, recorded at Columbia Studios, February 18, 1970, was uncredited on the original LP and are only heard on a section of "Yesternow" (from 14:00 to 23:55) playing a composition called "Willie Nelson":


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: The Kir is a French cocktail made with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with white wine.


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: In France it is usually drunk as an apéritif before a meal or snack. It was originally made with Bourgogne Aligoté, a white wine of Burgundy, but today various white wines are used throughout France, according to the region and the barkeeper. Many prefer a white Chardonnay-based Burgundy, such as Chablis.


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: It used to be called blanc-cassis, but it is now named after Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon in Burgundy. Kir was a pioneer of the twinning movement in the aftermath of the Second World War, and popularized the drink by offering it at receptions to visiting delegations. Besides treating his international guests well, he was also promoting two economic products of the region. Kir allowed one of Dijon's producers of crème de cassis to use his name, then extended the right to their competitors as well. According to Rolland (2004), the reinvention of blanc-cassis (post 1945) was necessitated by the German Army's confiscation of all the local red Burgundy during the war. Faced with an excess of white wine, Kir renovated a drink that used to be made primarily with the red.


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: Another explanation that has been offered is that Mayor Kir revived it during a year in which the ordinary white wine of the region was inferior and the crème de cassis helped to disguise the fact.


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: Following the commercial development of crème de cassis in 1841, the cocktail became a popular regional café drink, but has since become inextricably linked internationally with the name of Mayor Kir. When ordering a Kir, waiters in France sometimes ask whether the customer wants it made with crème de cassis (blackcurrant), de mûre (blackberry), de pêche (peach), or framboise (raspberry).


title: Kir (cocktail)

text: The International Bartenders Association gives a recipe using 1/10 crème de cassis, but French sources typically specify more; 19th-century recipes for blanc-cassis recommended 1/3 crème de cassis, which modern tastes find cloyingly sweet, and modern sources typically about 1/5. Replacing the crème de cassis with blackcurrant syrup is discouraged.


title: Violence Jack

text: A set of sagas from the manga were adapted in three independent OVAs released in 1986, 1988 and 1990. These OVAs have been released in the United States, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. In some of these countries, the contents of the OVAs have caused censorship issues, while in Australia the second OVA was banned altogether.


title: Violence Jack

text: This titular antihero is a complete mystery to those who have encountered him. He is often described being 7 to 10 feet tall with the muscles of a gorilla, the fangs of a wolf, and having burning primordial eyes.


title: Violence Jack

text: The man called "Violence Jack" had his name given to him for his unpredictable, violent nature and for his signature weapon, a large foldout jack-knife that he conceals and sometimes brandishes whenever necessary.


title: Violence Jack

text: Having appeared out of nowhere after the Great Kanto Hell Quake, Jack wanders throughout Kanto, often picking street fights with those he sees as a threat to Kanto. He often helps those who are weaker than him who are preyed upon by violent nomads and criminals who scour Kanto.


title: Violence Jack

text: Although Jack is described as human, he is often the focal point of strange phenomena that occurs in Kanto. Often when he is finished helping the weak, he will suddenly vanish without a trace of him ever actually being there.


title: Violence Jack

text: Many of the towns he visits are often subjected to mysterious earthquakes that occur during or after his arrival. His presence alone sometimes incites those he is around to become violent and seek to attack him.


title: Violence Jack

text: He is also shown to utilize hallucinations to those he encounters, having once shown a young woman who was planning to sell a girl into slavery where she and her boyfriend are ruthlessly slaughtered. He is also frequently accompanied by a Golden Bird that is only seen at the end of certain arcs.


title: Violence Jack

text: The main antagonist in the central arc of Violence Jack, Slum King is a sadistic warlord who rules over the majority of the devastated Kanto region.


title: Violence Jack

text: Thirty years before the Hellquake, he was known as Takatora Doma and was the oldest son of the noble Doma family from Shinshu. Born with a rare medical condition that accelerates the growth of muscle tissue which can potentially be fatal. He given a heavy set of Samurai armor and an iron mask to prevent any overgrowth of muscle tissue and is locked away in a shed by his family out of fear. Doma is later given a private tutor who helps him to read and write. During later sessions, the tutor becomes aroused by Doma’s lack of sexual experience and strips naked in front of him. He later escapes his confinement after discovering his brother and tutor having sex and violently murders them and the rest of his family before disappearing.


title: Violence Jack

text: A large giant of a man, Slum King is extremely strong and is a highly skilled swordsman. He is one of very few people who can take on Jack in a direct confrontation and survive. While his armor is meant to help in his medical condition, it also provides him with protection against most attacks.


title: Violence Jack

text: Violent and sadistic in nature, Slum King is widely feared throughout Kanto and is known to make anyone who angers or upsets him by cutting off their arms and legs to the joints and then cutting their tongues out to prevent them from speaking or killing themselves. After his first confrontation with Violence Jack, Slum King and is army scour the wasteland in search of his enemy.


title: Violence Jack

text: A young boy who survived the hell quake and became the leader to a group of children who live on the outskirts of Slum Town.


title: Violence Jack

text: Once a fifth grade student with a good heart and innocent spirit, Ryu's world changed forever after the Great Kanto Hell Quake.


title: Violence Jack

text: He initially views Jack as a savior until witnessing Jack's thirst for violence and putting him and his group at risk.


title: Violence Jack

text: After being forced to fight against Slum King's men, Ryu becomes the leader of over three hundred children who banded together to fight Slum King.


title: Violence Jack

text: A criminal seeking his destiny in wasteland of Kanto. Alongside his friend Mido, Mondo escaped to Kanto but was greeted by Jack, who proceeded to attack the two.


title: Violence Jack

text: He is killed by Jack in a duel to the death with rocket launchers but is later resurrected by Mido via alchemy.


title: Violence Jack

text: The series takes place in the ruins of the Kanto region, after a massive earthquake (which in the OVAs was triggered by a Comet strike) dubbed 'The Great Kanto Hellquake'. Cut off from the rest of the world, the survivors of the disaster are divided between the strong and the weak, and the land becomes a haven for criminals and renegades from around the world. Violence Jack is uncovered among the rubble and demolished granite by the inhabitants of a ruined city, asking him to help the weak people and helping them destroy what, in most cases, are the strong groups commanded by killers and rapists (this is the story line of "Violence Jack: Evil Town"). In the three OVAs, Jack is requested to help different groups, such as the Zone A (later he ends up helping Zone C women) or a small town, as shown in "Hell's Wind". As for the manga, the stories change drastically, the first being the story of Violence Jack helping a group of female models in a tropical forest in Kanto by possessing a boy living in said forest in order to fight off a roving tribe of bandits. Although Jack maintains a ruthless facade, he often helps the weak, and expects nothing in return. However, Jack's unpredictable nature means that bystanders get injured or even killed on occasion as a consequence of his vicious fighting style.


title: Violence Jack

text: When it was originally published there were several hints that pointed out the relationship between "Devilman" and "Violence Jack". The final chapter reveals that the apocalyptic world in "Violence Jack" is in a world re-created by God. Satan (Ryo Asuka) is punished by being constantly humiliated by Slum King, who is the reincarnation of his second-in-command, Zennon. As part of this punishment, Ryo has had all four of his limbs removed, and is forced to walk on the stumps like a dog. Jack is actually Akira Fudo, and is one of three parts that form Devilman, the others being a child Jack and woman Jack, both of which were normally seen as birds around Jack from time to time. Eventually, Ryo regains his memories and identity as Satan, and leads his army of demons into battle alongside Zennon to resume his battle against Devilman. This time, Devilman is victorious.


title: Violence Jack

text: In "Shin Violence Jack", a reboot to the series, the storyline is set out somewhat differently. In this continuity, Jack is an alternate form of Amon, while Akira is now living as an amnesiac warlord known as the Skull King, with the iconic "Devilman" demon Jinmen as his chief subordinate. With the help of his child form, his true form as Amon, a young boy named Ushio, and the reborn Sirene (who merges with the heroic Sara, essentially becoming a Devilman), Jack leads the assault on the Skull King's fortress, succeeding in restoring Akira's memories and igniting a rivalry between the duo.


title: Violence Jack

text: "Violence Jack 20XX" is a condensed remake of the original series, with select events rearranged and recontextualized into a continuous narrative.


title: Violence Jack

text: The first serialization ran from July 22, 1973, to September 29, 1974, in "Weekly Shōnen Magazine", published by Kodansha. The second ran in "Monthly Shōnen Magazine", also published by Kodansha, from July 1977 to December 1978, with a few gaps between months. This two serializations of Kodansha were originally published in 7 volumes.


title: Violence Jack

text: Five years later, the serialization continued this time in the magazine "Weekly Manga Goraku", published by Nihon Bungeisha, and ran from August 5, 1983, to March 23, 1990. This serialization originally produced 31 volumes in total.


title: Violence Jack

text: On November 1, 1993, three years later after the end of the previous serialization, a special tankōbon called was released by Nihon Bungeisha. Seven years later, on December 10, 2001, a special one-shot story, , was published by Shueisha in a special edition of "Weekly Young Jump", "Bessatsu Young Jump" #14. This story has been re-printed in GOGASHA, a two-volume compilation of short stories released in 2017.


title: Violence Jack

text: In May 2005 (cover date May 13, 2005·20) the magazine "Weekly Comic Bunch" published by Shinchosha, the most recent serialization started, with . This serialization was irregularly published, stopping on August 19, 2005, and restarting on November 2, 2007, to end on April 11, 2008, in number 17 of "Weekly Comic Bunch".<ref name="Weekly Comic Bunch #2008/04/11 - zasshi net"></ref> This series was compiled and published by Media Factory in two volumes in 2010.


title: Violence Jack

text: In the February 2021 issue of Kodansha's "Monthly Young Magazine", it was announced that a new manga series written by Yū Kinutani, titled , began serialization on February 19, 2021, and finished on November 21, 2022. As of September 20, 2022, its chapters have been collected in three tankōbon volumes.


title: Violence Jack

text: A few of the story arcs of the manga were adapted into OVA format. The first OVA, called (Also referred to in some translations as "Harlem Bomber") was released in June 1986 (some sources place the release date on June 21, 1986, although others place the release date on June 5, 1986).


title: Violence Jack

text: A comet strikes Earth, severely damaging the Kantō region. Volcanoes erupt and huge earthquakes are unleashed, reducing many cities to rubble and killing thousands of people. In this time of weakness, a ruthless man known as the Slum King took control of the Kantō Plain by brute force and rules it with an iron fist. However, in the middle of a trek across the land with his great forces at his side, he encounters a mighty beast-like man wearing a battered green jacket and a yellow ascot who slaughters his men and then targets the Slum King himself. They clash, but their fight is interrupted by a sudden massive tsunami that separates the two.


title: Violence Jack

text: The Slum King survives the wave and returns to his immense fortress where he tells his men that no one can dare oppose him and be permitted to live. With that said, he promptly orders his men to find and kill Violence Jack, the man whom he confronted before.


title: Violence Jack

text: Shortly afterwards, a young woman named Mari is captured by the Slum King's army and sent to a sex camp. Her boyfriend, Ken'ichi, rescues her with the help of Violence Jack.


title: Violence Jack

text: Before Jack, Ken'ichi and Mari can escape, Harem Bomber arrives and challenges Jack to a fight. With great difficulty, Jack manages to defeat Harem Bomber, but at the price of the life of Ken'ichi, who is killed when he is hurled out a helicopter which Jack used to subdue the Harem Bomber.


title: Violence Jack

text: Mari awakens among the ruins, and looks up to see Jack taking the form of a gigantic golden bird, who flies away with Mari following him on foot.


title: Violence Jack

text: The second OVA, called , was released on December 21, 1988. It was an especially controversial entry for the classifications since some of its themes involved necrophilia and cannibalism.


title: Violence Jack

text: Due to a massive earthquake, an underground portion of Tokyo has been separated from the outside world. Because of the limited supply of food and the constant threat of intergroup warfare, the underground city's survivors have dubbed the area Hell City. When the story begins, Evil Town has been in existence for several months.


title: Violence Jack

text: Evil Town is split into three "sections." Section A consists of businessmen and ordinary citizens, and is the most regulated section due to the presence of police officers. Section B, which consists of criminals and lunatics, is controlled by the huge gang leader Mad Saurus and his second in command, the transsexual Blue. Section C, a former modeling agency, avoids contact with the other groups except when necessary.


title: Violence Jack

text: Section A is attempting to dig their way back to the surface when they uncover Violence Jack, who has apparently been sealed in a rock wall since the earthquake. Section A's leaders invite Jack to stay as their protector, but the other sections have also learned of Jack's existence and call a meeting to see him for themselves.


title: Violence Jack

text: At the meeting, the Section C leader Aila Mu offers to hire Jack as their guardian and tells him a disturbing story: After the earthquake occurred, the men of both A and B ran wild, capturing and raping the women until they learned that there was enough food for long-term survival. Many of the worst offenders are current Section A leaders, who would revert to behaving like animals if another disaster occurred. Convinced by Aila Mu's story, Jack agrees to aid Section C.


title: Violence Jack

text: Riled by the lingering presence of Jack, Section B launches a surprise attack on Section A; as Aila predicted, A's leaders turn on one another in an attempt to survive, resulting in the near total destruction of the group. The survivors flee to Section C just as the women finish their own tunnel out of Hell City. Section B raiders arrive and finish off Section A, then begin assaulting the women. Jack defeats the raiders, killing Blue and severely wounding Mad Saurus.


title: Violence Jack

text: Mad Saurus mourns the loss of Blue, whom he accepted despite Blue's differences. In order to combine their power, Mad Saurus consumes her corpse, transforming into a devilish red creature to battle Jack a second time. Jack is heavily wounded in the fight, but manages to defeat Mad Saurus by stabbing him through the forehead with his jackknife. Saurus stumbles around for a moment before collapsing, dead.


title: Violence Jack

text: The battle between Mad Saurus and Jack gives Section C enough time to make their way to the surface, which is now an open, grassy plain with several ruined buildings scattered around instead of a city. Aila Mu laments that her skills as a model are useless in the ruined world, but the rest of Section C assures her that she is a capable and beloved leader.


title: Violence Jack

text: A short while after the cataclysms which rocked Japan, a peaceful town named 'Hope Town' has been established with the intent of returning peace to the region. The biker gang Hell's Wind show up and ransack it. Violence Jack makes his entrance here. The episode starts as a young woman, Jun, and her boyfriend, Tetsuya, are attacked. Tetsuya is murdered by Hell's Wind, and they assault and rape the terrified Jun soon after.


title: Violence Jack

text: Jack arrives to fight the raiders, and fends off the gang by taking several gunshots which seem to have no effect on him.


title: Violence Jack

text: Hell's Wind captures a young teacher and takes her to their camp at the Yokota Air Base. They take her top off and strap her to a fighter jet. At the behest of a little orphaned boy, Jack goes to rescue her. They try shooting him with a rocket launcher, but Jack tunnels under the ground and bursts out while being set on fire to kill everyone. The bike leader sends a messenger to their "supreme master" and request reinforcements. Jack finally kills the leader of the gang.


title: Violence Jack

text: Jack departs, strangely heartened by speaking with the orphaned boy, who vowed to become stronger than anyone to protect the people around him.


title: Violence Jack

text: The final scene shows another gang of horsemen coming from the distance and showing the messenger strapped to a post. A close-up is made to one of the vehicles to show the Slum King in full armor. The screen turns to black and Jack's eyes appear, as he becomes furious, and the credits begin to roll.


title: Violence Jack

text: "Violence Jack" was originally released in an edited form in the US by Manga Entertainment. As fans wanted to see it uncut, the Right Stuf arranged with Manga Entertainment the release of an unedited version in November 1996. The label Critical Mass was created since it was considered to be too intense for the Right Stuf line. The censored version by Manga Entertainment only had dubbed audio, while the uncensored version by Critical Mass was available in both dubbed and subtitled formats. The censored version was also released in the United Kingdom by Manga Entertainment. In New Zealand, also released by Manga Entertainment, it was promoted as the banned version from Australia.


title: Violence Jack

text: The OVAs were released in their uncut version by Manga Entertainment in France in 1999 and by Fox Pathé Europa in 2003, and in Italy by Shin Vision also in 2003.


title: Violence Jack

text: The first release by Manga Entertainment was cut in most countries where it was released (USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand). In the UK release, the cuts amount to 30 in "Evil Town" of an already cut version for a total of 4:25 mins, 6:43 mins in "Hell's Wind", and 25 in "Slumking" ("Harem Bomber") and are related to sex, violence, bondage and cannibalism. The US version also has similar cuts.


title: Violence Jack

text: The OVA with most censorship problems was "Violence Jack: Evil Town". When Manga Entertainment submitted this OVA to the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification in 1997, the OVA was refused a rating. It is suspected that this version was the already censored version from the UK (the print reviewed ran 55 mins, whereas the original print runs 60 mins.) Since this OVA was banned, the release of the rest was scrapped.


title: Violence Jack

text: The OVAs were released uncut in Italy and France. In the United States it was also released uncut by Right Stuf under the Critical Mass label. Discotek Media released the OVA series uncut in 2015.


title: Violence Jack

text: The third OVA of "CB Chara Nagai Go World" is dedicated to the saga of "Violence Jack", where it is confirmed that Jack is Akira Fudo after his battle with Satan.


title: Violence Jack

text: Two novels were written by Yasutaka Nagai with illustrations by Go Nagai and published by Kadokawa Shoten. The first one, was released in August 1986 while the second one, , was released in April 1987.


title: Violence Jack

text: In July 1995, another novel titled , written by Tatsuhiko Dan with illustration by Go Nagai, was released by Kodansha.


title: Violence Jack

text: "Violence Jack" is credited with creating the post-apocalyptic manga and anime genre. It depicted its post-apocalyptic setting as a desert wasteland with biker gangs, anarchic violence, ruined buildings, innocent civilians, tribal chiefs, and small abandoned villages. This was similar to, and may have influenced, the desert wasteland settings of later post-apocalyptic franchises such as the Australian film series "Mad Max" (1979 debut) and the Japanese manga and anime series "Fist of the North Star" ("Hokuto no Ken", 1983 debut). Goichi Suda (Suda 51), who cited "Violence Jack" as an influence on his video game series "No More Heroes" (2007 debut), stated: “All of the desert-setting titles are actually inspired by "Violence Jack". That came way before "Hokuto no Ken", so that’s the real origin of everything. It’s a great Japanese comic.”


title: Violence Jack

text: Kentaro Miura, creator of the manga and anime series "Berserk" (1989 debut), cited "Violence Jack" as an influence. Other Japanese media influenced by "Violence Jack" include the original video animation "MD Geist" (1986) and the Atlus post-apocalyptic video game series "" (1990 debut). "WhatCulture" listed the "Violence Jack" anime series as having the second most gruesome death in anime history.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored 23 league goals and helped them reach the 1984 FA Cup Final. In 1984 he joined Celtic and scored 72 goals in 128 matches, won the Scottish Cup in 1985 and the Scottish league championship in 1986. Johnston signed for Nantes in 1987. He returned to Glasgow with Rangers in 1989, becoming the second player to cross the Old Firm divide since World War II (Alfie Conn was first) and the first open Catholic to play for Rangers since World War I.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston won two Scottish league titles with Rangers, scoring 46 goals in 100 games. He later played for Everton, Hearts, Falkirk and American Major League Soccer (MLS) side Kansas City Wizards. Johnston received his first international cap for Scotland in 1984, when he was at Watford. He scored 14 goals in 38 appearances for Scotland, including one at the 1990 World Cup.


title: Mo Johnston

text: After retiring as a football player in 2001, Johnston went on to coach in MLS. He was most recently the manager and later Director of Soccer at MLS club Toronto FC before he parted company with them on 14 September 2010.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston started his career in 1981 with Partick Thistle and scored 41 goals in two and a half seasons there.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston then moved on to English club Watford for a fee of £210,000 in November 1983, when they were struggling against relegation from the First Division a season after finishing second. His arrival revived their season as they recovered well to finish mid table, as he scored 20 goals in just 29 league games. He also helped them reach their first ever FA Cup Final, which they lost 2-0 to Everton. He began the 1984–85 season still at Vicarage Road and got three goals in nine First Division games before returning to Scotland.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston scored 14 league goals in 27 games during his first season at the club. In 1985–86 he scored 15 goals from 32 Premier Division games as Celtic won the league title. During the 1986–87 season Johnston scored 23 goals from 40 games.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston moved on to French club Nantes in 1987 and scored 22 goals in two seasons there. After initially claiming he would never return to Scotland, Johnston reconsidered and appeared at a press conference to announce that he would sign for Celtic at the end of his contract with Nantes.


title: Mo Johnston

text: In July 1989, Johnston opted not to return to Celtic (who had recently sold his replacement Frank McAvennie back to West Ham United) and instead joined Graeme Souness's Rangers. From the early 20th century onwards, Catholics had not been knowingly signed by Rangers, nor employed in other prominent roles as an 'unwritten rule'. Johnston was "their first major Roman Catholic signing". He was the highest-profile Catholic to sign for the club since the World War I era, though other Catholics had signed for Rangers before. The move angered both Celtic and Rangers supporters. A handful of Rangers fans burned scarves and threatened to hand in season tickets over the signing but attendances held firm while Celtic fans referred to Johnston as "Judas". Rangers' kitman Jimmy Bell protested by making Johnston arrange his own kit and withholding from him the chocolate bars dispensed to other players until he scored against Celtic. He won over a lot of Rangers fans in November 1989, when he scored a late winning goal in an Old Firm derby match.


title: Mo Johnston

text: On 18 November 1991, Johnston signed to Everton for £1.5m, forming a three-man strikeforce alongside Tony Cottee and Peter Beardsley. He scored seven goals in 21 league games as Everton finished mid table in the 1991–92 campaign of the First Division. Johnston scored three goals in 13 games as Everton finished 13th in the first season of the new Premier League. Despite the departure of Peter Beardsley to Newcastle United in the close season, Johnston remained out of the team during the 1993–94 campaign as manager Howard Kendall reverted to the traditional 4–4–2 formation and partnered Tony Cottee with Paul Rideout in attack.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston returned to Scotland with Edinburgh club Hearts, making 31 appearances in his first season and scoring four goals. He found himself out of the team the following season and was given another free transfer in February 1995 after a long dispute over the settlement of his contract. Joining Falkirk, he scored one goal in the remainder of that season and five in the next season as Falkirk were relegated from the Scottish Premier Division.


title: Mo Johnston

text: In 1996 Johnston moved to the United States and Major League Soccer, signing with the Kansas City Wiz (later renamed the Wizards). He scored 31 goals in 149 games for the club, adding a goal in 15 playoff games. He was part of the Wizards team that won the MLS Cup in 2000.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Mo Johnston made his debut with the Scottish national team in 1984 and played regularly under manager Andy Roxburgh following his appointment in July 1986.


title: Mo Johnston

text: He had been expected to make the squad for Mexico 86 but was dropped by Alex Ferguson (caretaker manager until the end of the World Cup after the death of Jock Stein in September 1985) after a late night incident during Scotland's preparations for their play-off against Australia in November 1985, in which Johnston had disturbed a member of the coaching staff in his hotel room. In Ferguson's autobiography, "Managing My Life", which was published 14 years later, Ferguson stated that he had already warned Johnston about his conduct after he and teammate Frank McAvennie had bought drinks for themselves, fellow Scotland teammates and a group of young women in the hotel bar.


title: Mo Johnston

text: He played a part in getting Scotland to Italia 90 but retired from international competition after their early elimination. He briefly returned to the national side team for several Euro qualifiers in late 1991 but got injured against Switzerland and finally, in 1992 after scoring 14 goals in 38 caps, permanently retired from the national team. He was in the starting lineup for all three of Scotland's matches in the 1990 World Cup, scoring a penalty kick against Sweden.


title: Mo Johnston

text: Johnston retired after the 2001 season, and from 2003 to 2005 was an assistant coach to Bob Bradley for the MetroStars. After Bradley was fired with three games left in the 2005 season, Johnston was named interim head coach. With a record to end the season of two wins and a tie, he led the team to the playoffs and was promoted to the full-time position with re-branded New York Red Bulls after the season. On 27 June 2006, after a 2-3-7 start to the 2006 season, Johnston was fired.


title: Mo Johnston

text: On 22 August 2006, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE); owners of MLS club Toronto FC, announced Johnston as Head Coach beginning their inaugural 2007 season. Before the start of the 2008 season, it was announced that Johnston was moving upstairs to fill the role of Director of Football, though he retained the title of manager, while John Carver took over coaching duties at the time. Johnston earned himself the name "Trader Mo" because in the first half of the first season alone he had traded 9 players. Johnston's tenure as Director of Soccer ended when he was fired, along with head coach Preki, on 14 September 2010. Johnston's regular season record as Director of Soccer Operations was 32-51-31.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: "Cat's in the Bag..." is the second episode of the first season of the American television drama series "Breaking Bad". Written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Adam Bernstein, it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on January 27, 2008.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: Walt and Jesse return the RV to Jesse's house, which was previously owned by Jesse's late aunt. When they open the RV to remove the two bodies inside, they notice that Krazy-8 is still breathing, despite inhaling the toxic phosphine gas. The unconscious Krazy-8 is taken into the basement and secured to a pole with a bicycle lock around his neck. Walt suggests that they should use hydrofluoric acid to dissolve Emilio's corpse so that it leaves no evidence behind. Walt and Jesse must dispose of the corpse and kill Krazy-8, and toss a coin to see who will do which task. Jesse wins and chooses to dispose of the corpse, leaving Walt to kill Krazy-8.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: Walt instructs Jesse to buy a bin made from polyethylene in which the corpse can be properly dissolved, but Jesse cannot find a bin big enough to accommodate it. Walt thinks about suffocating Krazy-8 but is unable to go through with the act. He instead gives Krazy-8 food, water, and toilet paper out of guilt. When Jesse returns home and asks if Krazy-8 is dead, Walt promises to take care of him the next day. Meanwhile, Skyler begins to suspect that Walt is hiding something due to his recent strange behavior. After Jesse makes a call to Walt's home phone, Skyler traces his phone number online and discovers his social media website. When she questions Walt as to who he is, he claims that Jesse sells him marijuana. Skyler finds his address and confronts Jesse while he is trying to dispose of Emilio's body, warning him that her brother-in-law is a DEA agent. Skyler doesn't notice the corpse.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: Jesse does not find the specific plastic bin Walt instructed him to use, so he decides to dissolve the corpse in his upstairs bathtub. However, the hydrofluoric acid dissolves the ceramic and metal bathtub along with the body. This causes the ceiling beneath it to collapse, spilling Emilio's liquified remains onto the hallway below. Walt tells Jesse that hydrofluoric acid will dissolve anything except polyethylene. Meanwhile, two Native American children playing in the desert find Walt's gas mask from the previous meth cook.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, and directed by Adam Bernstein; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on January 27, 2008.


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: The episode title is a part of a line from the 1957 film "Sweet Smell of Success", in which a character reports that he resolved an issue:


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: J.J. Hunsecker: "That means you've got a plan. Can you deliver?"Sidney Falco: "Tonight, before you go to bed. The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river."


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: The episode received critical acclaim. Seth Amitin of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.6 out of 10, commenting: "It's strange, but there's a great chemistry between these three characters, like they're puzzle pieces and their jagged edges aren't even close to matching, but they fit somehow." Donna Bowman of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode an "A−", saying: "At the end of the powerhouse premiere last week, I thought: Well, it's all downhill from here... I found it hard to imagine that such an episode could maintain the premiere's edge-of-psychosis tone."


title: Cat's in the Bag...

text: In 2019, "The Ringer" ranked "Cat's in the Bag..." 31st out of all 62 "Breaking Bad" episodes. Vulture.com ranked it 33rd overall.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: The Well of Loneliness is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as typically suffered by "inverts", with predictably debilitating effects. The novel portrays "inversion" as a natural, God-given state and makes an explicit plea: "Give us also the right to our existence".


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Shortly after the book's publication, it had become the target of a campaign by James Douglas, editor of the "Sunday Express". Douglas wrote that "I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel." A British court judged it obscene because it defended "unnatural practices between women"; In England, it would not be published again for another three decades, in 1959. In the United States, the book survived legal challenges in New York state and in Customs Court.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Publicity over "The Well of Loneliness"s legal battles increased the visibility of lesbians in British and American culture. For decades it was the best-known lesbian novel in English, and often the first source of information about lesbianism that young people could find. Some readers have valued it, while others have criticised it for Stephen's expressions of self-hatred, and viewed it as inspiring shame. Although critics differ as to the value of "The Well of Loneliness" as a work of literature, its treatment of sexuality and gender continues to inspire study and debate.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: In 1926, Radclyffe Hall was at the height of her career. Her novel "Adam's Breed", about the spiritual awakening of an Italian headwaiter, had become a best-seller; it would soon win the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Prize. She had long thought of writing a novel about sexual inversion; now, she believed, her literary reputation would allow such a work to be given a hearing. Since she knew she was risking scandal and "the shipwreck of her whole career", she sought and received the blessing of her partner, Una Troubridge, before she began work. Her goals were social and political; she wanted to end public silence about homosexuality and bring about "a more tolerant understanding" – as well as to "spur all classes of inverts to make good through hard work...and sober and useful living".


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: In April 1928 she told her editor that her new book would require complete commitment from its publisher and that she would not allow even one word to be altered. "I have put my pen at the service of some of the most persecuted and misunderstood people in the world...So far as I know nothing of the kind has ever been attempted before in fiction." One of the reasons Hall cited for making the book, was that she wanted to be the first person to "smash the conspiracy of silence" about sexual inversion.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: In Hall's time, Paris was known for having a relatively large and visible gay and lesbian community – in part because France, unlike England, had no laws against male homosexuality. Marcel Proust's novels continued in their influence upon 1920s Parisian society depicting lesbian and gay subculture. When Stephen first travels to Paris, at the urging of her friend Jonathan Brockett – who may be based on Noël Coward – she has not yet spoken about her inversion to anyone. Brockett, acting as tour guide, hints at a secret history of inversion in the city by referring to Marie Antoinette's rumoured relationship with the Princesse de Lamballe.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Brockett next introduces Stephen to Valérie Seymour, who – like her prototype, Natalie Clifford Barney – is the hostess of a literary salon, many of whose guests are lesbians and gay men. Immediately after this meeting Stephen announces she has decided to settle in Paris at 35 Rue Jacob (purchased at Seymour's recommendation), with its temple in a corner of an overgrown garden. Barney lived and held her salon at 20 Rue Jacob. Stephen is wary of Valérie, and does not visit her salon until after the war, when Brockett persuades her that Mary is becoming too isolated. She finds Valérie to be an "indestructible creature" capable of bestowing a sense of self-respect on others, at least temporarily: "everyone felt very normal and brave when they gathered together at Valérie Seymour's". With Stephen's misgivings "drugged", she and Mary are drawn further into the "desolate country" of Paris gay life. At Alec's Bar – the worst in a series of depressing nightspots – they encounter "the battered remnants of men who...despised of the world, must despise themselves beyond all hope, it seemed, of salvation".


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Many of those familiar with the subculture she described, including her own friends, disagreed with her portrayal of it; Romaine Brooks called her "a digger-up of worms with the pretension of a distinguished archaeologist". Hall's correspondence shows that the negative view of bars like Alec's that she expressed in "The Well" was sincerely meant, but she also knew that such bars did not represent the only homosexual communities in Paris. It is a commonplace of criticism that her own experience of lesbian life was not as miserable as Stephen's. By focusing on misery and describing its cause as "ceaseless persecution" by "the so-called just and righteous", she intensified the urgency of her plea for change.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Although Hall's author's note disclaims any real-world basis for the ambulance unit that Stephen joins, she drew heavily on the wartime experiences of her friend Toupie Lowther, co-commander of the only women's unit to serve on the front in France. Lowther, like Stephen, came from an aristocratic family, adopted a masculine style of dress, and was an accomplished fencer, tennis player, motorist and jujitsu enthusiast. In later years she said the character of Stephen was based on her, which may have been partly true.


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: In "The Well of Loneliness", war work provides a publicly acceptable role for inverted women. The narrative voice asks that their contributions not be forgotten and predicts that they will not go back into hiding: "a battalion was formed in those terrible years that would never again be completely disbanded". This military metaphor continues later in the novel when inverts in postwar Paris are repeatedly referred to as a "miserable army". Hall invokes the image of the shell-shocked soldier to depict inverts as psychologically damaged by their outcast status: "for bombs do not trouble the nerves of the invert, but rather that terrible silent bombardment from the batteries of God's good people".


title: The Well of Loneliness

text: Hall, who had converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1912, was devoutly religious. She was also a believer in communication with the dead who had once hoped to become a medium – a fact that brought her into conflict with the church, which condemned spiritualism. Both these beliefs made their way into "The Well of Loneliness".