title: Josh McEachran

text: McEachran returned fit for the 2017–18 pre-season, but managed just four appearances early in the regular season before suffering a leg injury during a 2–2 draw with Bristol City on 15 August 2017. He returned to match play one month later and alternated between a starting and a substitute role until the end of the season, which he finished with 28 appearances. McEachran began the 2018–19 season as an ever-present starter in league matches and scored the first professional goal of his career with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Birmingham City on 2 October 2018. He reverted to a substitute role after Kamohelo Mokotjo's return from injury in early December after making 28 appearances during the season, he was dropped from the squad entirely in early April 2019. McEachran turned down a new contract and departed Griffin Park in June 2019. He finished his Brentford career with 101 appearances and one goal.


title: Josh McEachran

text: On 27 September 2019, McEachran signed a two-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on a free transfer. After spending several weeks regaining match fitness, he made his debut on 22 October as a second-half substitute in the Championship match against Blackburn Rovers which Birmingham won 1–0. He made nine appearances, including six starts, over the next three months, but 12 minutes into his seventh start, on 4 February 2020, he damaged his cruciate ligament. The knee required complex surgery, and he returned to fitness in November. In January 2021, he was one of three midfielders removed from the oversized first-team squad, and he left the club by mutual consent on 31 January.


title: Josh McEachran

text: After training with the club, initially for fitness, McEachran signed a short-term contract with League One club Milton Keynes Dons on 1 March 2021 until the end of the season. On 29 July 2021, McEachran signed a new deal keeping him at the club for the 2021–22 season, and on 17 June 2022 extended his contract again taking him into his third season with the club.


title: Josh McEachran

text: McEachran made his debut for the England U16 team aged just 14, with a start in a 2–2 Victory Shield draw with Northern Ireland on 11 October 2007. He went on to become captain of the team also appeared in the 2008 event, but he missed the final two games of the tournament through injury. In total, he won five caps for the team, with the last coming in a 3–1 victory over Russia in the opening match of the 2009 Montaigu Tournament.


title: Josh McEachran

text: McEachran received his first call into the U17 squad for the final 2009 European U17 Championship elite qualification match versus Hungary on 30 March 2009 and he started in a 2–0 victory, which saw England qualify for the finals. After failing to make the cut for the tournament finals, McEachran was a regular in qualification for the 2010 European U17 Championship and was included in the squad for the finals in Liechtenstein. He scored in the opening group match against the Czech Republic and helped the team through to the final and won his 12th and final cap in the final showdown with Spain, which England came from behind to win 2–1. McEachran was named in the Technical Team of the Tournament.


title: Josh McEachran

text: Fresh off the back of his success in the 2010 European U17 Championship, McEachran made his debut for the England under-19 team at the age of 17, in a 2–0 friendly victory over Slovakia on 2 September 2010. He scored his first goal for the team in the following match, a 6–1 rout of Albania in their opening 2011 European U19 Championship qualifier. He won a further four caps before his U19 career was cut short by England's failure to qualify for the tournament finals.


title: Josh McEachran

text: McEachran was named in England's under-20 squad for the 2014 Toulon Tournament and made two appearances as England finished the tournament in fourth place.


title: Josh McEachran

text: While still a regular for the U17s, McEachran won his first cap for the England under-21 team in a 2–0 friendly defeat to Germany on 16 November 2010, when he came on as a substitute for Nathan Delfouneso. He made his first competitive appearance for the team in England's opening 2013 European U21 Championship qualifier against Iceland on 6 October 2011, replacing Martyn Waghorn after 63 minutes, who had in turn replaced Delfouneso during the first half. He was a regular in the team through the qualification period and scored his only U21 goal with a penalty in a 4–0 friendly defeat of Austria on 25 March 2013. McEachran was a member of the squad for the 2013 European Under-21 Championship finals, and made two appearances before England were eliminated in the group stage.


title: Josh McEachran

text: In August 2011, it was reported that England manager Fabio Capello was monitoring McEachran's progress. Because his maternal grandfather is Scottish, McEachran is also eligible to represent Scotland. When the Scottish Football Association approached him in February 2012, he did not express any desire to switch his footballing allegiance. He was named in the 80-man shortlist for the Great Britain football team to play in the 2012 Olympic Games, but was not named in the final squad.


title: Josh McEachran

text: A central midfielder, McEachran idolised Zinedine Zidane growing up and commented "it was everything about him, his goals, his touches. He was the complete all-round midfielder". When Zidane retired in 2006, McEachran looked up to Andrés Iniesta. Ray Wilkins and Stuart Pearce have commended on McEachran's incisive passing, while André Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers have lauded his vision on the pitch and technical abilities, comparing him to Luka Modrić, Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri. Peter Bosz commented in 2015 that McEachran "needs to improve his defensive play", but "will certainly be a player at a good level".


title: Josh McEachran

text: McEachran was born in Oxford and raised in Kirtlington, Oxfordshire; he attended Kirtlington Primary School and Marlborough School in Woodstock. His parents, Mark and Julie, have four other children: Danielle, Zac, Will and George. Zac trained with Chelsea's academy up to under-14 level and has since played non-League football for Oxfordshire clubs Oxford City and Banbury United, while George turned professional with Chelsea and was a member of England's 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning squad. Since August 2016, McEachran has been in a relationship with Lillie Lexie Gregg; the couple's first child, a son, was born in 2018.


title: Nozzle

text: A nozzle is a device designed to control the direction or characteristics of a fluid flow (specially to increase velocity) as it exits (or enters) an enclosed chamber or pipe.


title: Nozzle

text: A nozzle is often a pipe or tube of varying cross sectional area, and it can be used to direct or modify the flow of a fluid (liquid or gas). Nozzles are frequently used to control the rate of flow, speed, direction, mass, shape, and/or the pressure of the stream that emerges from them. In a nozzle, the velocity of fluid increases at the expense of its pressure energy.


title: Nozzle

text: A gas jet, fluid jet, or hydro jet is a nozzle intended to eject gas or fluid in a coherent stream into a surrounding medium. Gas jets are commonly found in gas stoves, ovens, or barbecues. Gas jets were commonly used for light before the development of electric light. Other types of fluid jets are found in carburetors, where smooth calibrated orifices are used to regulate the flow of fuel into an engine, and in jacuzzis or spas.


title: Nozzle

text: Another specialized jet is the laminar jet. This is a water jet that contains devices to smooth out the pressure and flow, and gives laminar flow, as its name suggests. This gives better results for fountains.


title: Nozzle

text: Jet nozzles are also used in large rooms where the distribution of air via ceiling diffusers is not possible or not practical. Diffusers that uses jet nozzles are called jet diffuser where it will be arranged in the side wall areas in order to distribute air. When the temperature difference between the supply air and the room air changes, the supply air stream is deflected upwards, to supply warm air, or downwards, to supply cold air.


title: Nozzle

text: Frequently, the goal of a nozzle is to increase the kinetic energy of the flowing medium at the expense of its pressure and internal energy.


title: Nozzle

text: Nozzles can be described as "convergent" (narrowing down from a wide diameter to a smaller diameter in the direction of the flow) or "divergent" (expanding from a smaller diameter to a larger one). A de Laval nozzle has a convergent section followed by a divergent section and is often called a convergent-divergent (CD) nozzle ("con-di nozzle").


title: Nozzle

text: Convergent nozzles accelerate subsonic fluids. If the nozzle pressure ratio is high enough, then the flow will reach sonic velocity at the narrowest point (i.e. the "nozzle throat"). In this situation, the nozzle is said to be "choked".


title: Nozzle

text: Increasing the nozzle pressure ratio further will not increase the throat Mach number above one. Downstream (i.e. external to the nozzle) the flow is free to expand to supersonic velocities; however, Mach 1 can be a very high speed for a hot gas because the speed of sound varies as the square root of absolute temperature. This fact is used extensively in rocketry where hypersonic flows are required and where propellant mixtures are deliberately chosen to further increase the sonic speed.


title: Nozzle

text: Divergent nozzles slow fluids if the flow is subsonic, but they accelerate sonic or supersonic fluids.


title: Nozzle

text: Convergent-divergent nozzles can therefore accelerate fluids that have choked in the convergent section to supersonic speeds. This CD process is more efficient than allowing a convergent nozzle to expand supersonically externally.


title: Nozzle

text: The shape of the divergent section also ensures that the direction of the escaping gases is directly backwards, as any


title: Nozzle

text: A jet exhaust produces thrust from the energy obtained from burning fuel. The hot gas is at a higher pressure than the outside air and escapes from the engine through a "propelling nozzle", which increases the speed of the gas.


title: Nozzle

text: Exhaust speed needs to be faster than the aircraft speed in order to produce thrust but an excessive speed difference wastes fuel (poor propulsive efficiency). Jet engines for subsonic flight use convergent nozzles with a sonic exit velocity. Engines for supersonic flight, such as used for fighters and SST aircraft (e.g. Concorde) achieve the high exhaust speeds necessary for supersonic flight by using a divergent extension to the convergent engine nozzle which accelerates the exhaust to supersonic speeds.


title: Nozzle

text: Rocket motors maximise thrust and exhaust velocity by using convergent-divergent nozzles with very large area ratios and therefore extremely high pressure ratios. Mass flow is at a premium because all the propulsive mass is carried with vehicle, and very high exhaust speeds are desirable.


title: Nozzle

text: Magnetic nozzles have also been proposed for some types of propulsion, such as VASIMR, in which the flow of plasma is directed by magnetic fields instead of walls made of solid matter.


title: Nozzle

text: Some nozzles are shaped to produce a stream that is of a particular shape. For example, extrusion molding is a way of producing lengths of metals or plastics or other materials with a particular cross-section. This nozzle is typically referred to as a die.


title: John Masefield

text: John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels "The Midnight Folk" and "The Box of Delights", and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever".


title: John Masefield

text: Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to George Masefield, a solicitor, and his wife Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon afterwards, following a mental breakdown. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board , both to train for a life at sea and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship, and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the "Conway" that Masefield's love of story-telling grew. While he was on the ship he listened to the stories told about sea lore, continued to read, and decided that he was to become a writer and story-teller himself. Masefield gives an account of life aboard the "Conway" in his book "New Chum".


title: John Masefield

text: In 1894 Masefield boarded the "Gilcruix", destined for Chile. This first voyage brought him the experience of sea sickness, but his record of his experiences while sailing through extreme weather shows his delight in seeing flying fish, porpoises and birds. He was awed by the beauty of nature, including a rare sighting of a nocturnal rainbow, on this voyage. On reaching Chile he suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalised. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steamship.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1895 Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York he jumped ship and travelled throughout the countryside. For several months he lived as a vagrant, drifting between odd jobs, before he returned to New York City and found work as a barkeeper's assistant. Some time around Christmas 1895 he read the December edition of "Truth", a New York periodical, which contained the poem "The Piper of Arll" by Duncan Campbell Scott. Ten years later Masefield wrote to Scott to tell him what reading that poem had meant to him:


title: John Masefield

text: From 1895 to 1897 Masefield was employed at the huge Alexander Smith carpet factory in Yonkers, New York, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse, and his reading included works by George du Maurier, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as Keats and Shelley. In 1897, Masefield returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steamship.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1901, when Masefield was 23 he met his future wife, Constance de la Cherois Crommelin (6 February 186718 February 1960, Rockport, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; a sister to Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin), who was 35 and of Huguenot descent and they married 23 June 1903 St. Mary, Bryanston Square. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a good match for him, despite the difference in their ages. The couple had two children, Judith, born Isabel Judith, 28 April 1904, London died Sussex, 1 March 1988, and Lewis Crommelin, born London in 1910, killed in action, Africa, 29 May 1942.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1902 Masefield was put in charge of the fine art section of the Arts and Industrial Exhibition in Wolverhampton. By then his poems were being published in periodicals and his first collection of verse, "Salt-Water Ballads", was published that year. It included the poem "Sea-Fever". Masefield then wrote two novels, "Captain Margaret" (1908) and "Multitude and Solitude" (1909). In 1911, after a long period of writing no poems, he composed "The Everlasting Mercy", the first of his narrative poems, and within the next year had produced two more, "The Widow in the Bye Street" and "Dauber". As a result, he became widely known to the public and was praised by the critics. In 1912 he was awarded the annual Edmond de Polignac Prize.


title: John Masefield

text: When the First World War began in 1914 Masefield was old enough to be exempted from military service, but he joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, the Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois in Haute-Marne, serving a six-week term during the spring of 1915. He later published an account of his experiences. At about this time Masefield moved his country retreat from Buckinghamshire to Lollingdon Farm in Cholsey. The setting that inspired a number of poems and sonnets under the title "Lollingdon Downs", and which his family used until 1917.


title: John Masefield

text: After returning home Masefield was invited to the United States on a three-month lecture tour. Although his primary purpose was to lecture on English literature, he also intended to collect information on the mood and views of Americans regarding the war in Europe. When he returned to England he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office and suggested that he should be allowed to write a book about the failure of the Allied effort in the Dardanelles that might be used in the United States to counter German propaganda there. The resulting work, "Gallipoli", was a success. Masefield then met the head of British Military Intelligence in France and was asked to write an account of the Battle of the Somme. Although Masefield had grand ideas for his book, he was denied access to official records and what was intended to be the preface was published as "The Old Front Line", a description of the geography of the Somme area.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1918 Masefield returned to America on his second lecture tour, spending much of his time speaking and lecturing to American soldiers waiting to be sent to Europe. These speaking engagements were very successful. On one occasion a battalion of black soldiers danced and sang for him after his lecture. During this tour he matured as a public speaker and realised his ability to touch the emotions of his audience with his style of speaking, learning to speak publicly from his own heart rather than from dry scripted speeches. Towards the end of his visit both Yale and Harvard Universities conferred honorary doctorates of letters on him.


title: John Masefield

text: Masefield entered the 1920s as an accomplished and respected writer. His family was able to settle on Boar's Hill, a somewhat rural setting not far from Oxford, where Masefield took up beekeeping, goat-herding and poultry-keeping. He continued to meet with success: the first edition of his "Collected Poems" (1923) sold about 80,000 copies. A narrative poem, "Reynard The Fox" (1920), has been critically compared with works by Geoffrey Chaucer, not necessarily to Masefield's credit. This was followed by "Right Royal" and "King Cole", poems in which the relationship between humanity and nature is emphasised.


title: John Masefield

text: After "King Cole", Masefield turned away from long poems and back to novels. Between 1924 and 1939 he published 12 novels, which vary from stories of the sea ("The Bird of Dawning", "Victorious Troy") to social novels about modern England ("The Hawbucks", "The Square Peg"), and from tales of an imaginary land in Central America ("Sard Harker", "Odtaa") to fantasies for children ("The Midnight Folk", "The Box of Delights"). In this same period he wrote a large number of dramatic pieces. Most of these were based on Christian themes, and Masefield, to his amazement, encountered a ban on the performance of plays on biblical subjects that went back to the Reformation and had been revived a generation earlier to prevent production of Oscar Wilde's "Salome". However, a compromise was reached and in 1928 his "The Coming of Christ" was the first play to be performed in an English cathedral since the Middle Ages.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1921 Masefield gave the British Academy's Shakespeare Lecture and received an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of Oxford. In 1923 he organised Oxford Recitations, an annual contest whose purpose was "to discover good speakers of verse and to encourage 'the beautiful speaking of poetry'." Given the numbers of contest applicants, the event's promotion of natural speech in poetical recitations, and the number of people learning how to listen to poetry, Oxford Recitations was generally deemed a success. Masefield was similarly a founding member, in 1924, of the Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse. He later came to question whether the Oxford events should continue as a contest, considering that they might better be run as a festival. However, in 1929, after he broke with the competitive element, Oxford Recitations came to an end. The Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse, on the other hand, continued to develop through the influence of associated figures such as Marion Angus and Hugh MacDiarmid and exists today as the Poetry Association of Scotland.


title: John Masefield

text: In 1930, on the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. On the recommendation of the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in the post until his death in 1967. The only person to hold the office for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson. On his appointment "The Times" wrote of him: "his poetry could touch to beauty the plain speech of everyday life". Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of poems for royal occasions, which were sent to "The Times" for publication. Masefield's modesty was shown by his inclusion of a stamped and self-addressed envelope with each submission so that the poem could be returned if it was found unacceptable. Later he was commissioned to write a poem to be set to music by the Master of the King's Musick, Sir Edward Elgar, and performed at the unveiling of the Queen Alexandra Memorial by the King on 8 June 1932. This was the ode "So many true Princesses who have gone".


title: John Masefield

text: After his appointment Masefield was awarded the Order of Merit by King George V and many honorary degrees from British universities. In 1937 he was elected President of the Society of Authors. Masefield encouraged the continued development of English literature and poetry, and began the annual awarding of the Royal Medals for Poetry for a first or second published edition of poems by a poet under the age of 35. Additionally, his speaking engagements called him further away, often on much longer tours, yet he still produced significant amounts of work in a wide variety of genres. To those he had already used he now added autobiography, producing "New Chum", "In the Mill", and "So Long to Learn".


title: John Masefield

text: It was not until he was about 70 that Masefield slowed his pace, mainly due to illness. In 1960 Constance died aged 93, after a long illness. Although her death was heartrending, he had spent a tiring year watching the woman he loved die. He continued his duties as Poet Laureate. "In Glad Thanksgiving", his last book, was published when he was 88 years old.


title: John Masefield

text: In late 1966 Masefield developed gangrene in his ankle. This spread to his leg and he died of the infection on 12 May 1967. In accordance with his stated wishes, he was cremated and his ashes were placed in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. However, the following verse by Masefield was discovered later, addressed to his "Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns":


title: John Masefield

text: The Masefield Centre at Warwick School, which Masefield attended, and John Masefield High School in Ledbury, Herefordshire, have been named in his honour.


title: John Masefield

text: Interest groups such as the John Masefield Society ensure the longevity of Masefield's opus. In 1977 Folkways Records released an album of readings of some of his poems, including some read by Masefield himself. Recordings preserved include .


title: John Masefield

text: In addition to the commission for Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode with music by Elgar, many of Masefield's short poems were set as art songs by British composers of the time. Best known by far is John Ireland's "Sea-Fever". Frederick Keel composed several songs drawn from the "Salt-Water Ballads" and elsewhere. Of these, "Trade Winds" was particularly popular in its day, despite the tongue-twisting challenges the text presents to the singer. Keel's defiant setting of "Tomorrow", written while interned at Ruhleben during World War I, was frequently programmed at the BBC Proms after the war. Another memorable wartime composition is Ivor Gurney's climactic declamation of "By a bierside", a setting quickly set down in 1916 during a brief spell behind the lines.


title: John Masefield

text: E.V. Knox wrote a parody of "The Everlasting Mercy" called "The Everlasting Percy" about various forms of misbehaviour on the railway. It contains such thoughts as:


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Jo (previously known by the working title Le Grand) is an English-language French police procedural television series created by Canadian-American screenwriter René Balcer of "Law & Order" fame with French writing team Franck Ollivier and Malina Detcheva, known for the mini-series "Lost Signs", and variously directed by Charlotte Sieling ("The Killing"), Kristoffer Nyholm ("Taboo", "The Vanishing"), Sheree Folkson ("Another Life"), Stefan Schwartz ("The Americans"). It is co-produced by the French Atlantique Productions and the Belgian Stromboli Pictures companies in association with broadcast partners TF1, RTBF, Sat.1, ORF and RTS.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: The series, shot entirely in Paris, is centered on Jo Saint-Clair, a cop played by French star Jean Reno in his first lead TV role. Along with his team, Jo attempts to solve murders taking place around some of the French capital's most famous locations.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: "Jo" premiered in Italy on Fox Crime on January 17, 2013 where it was a ratings success, garnering twice the number of viewers as "Borgia", and has since been broadcast in several other European countries and across Latin America and southern Africa, with its debut in an English speaking country set for May 19 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Among the partner channels, it premiered in Belgium on La Une on April 18, 2013 and a week later in France on TF1. A second season was initially expected with the first having been a ratings success and Jean Reno having signed for two seasons from the get-go, however it was later announced in early June 2013 that TF1 had cancelled the show.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Commander Jo Saint-Clair, a veteran of Paris' homicide bureau, is experienced in solving the most mysterious murders. As brilliant as he is fearsome, Saint-Clair has the intelligence of serial killers, allowing him to solve a series a crimes plaguing the French capital's most iconic sights: the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Catacombs, the Place Vendôme. In his private life, Saint-Clair also has known his share of problems. With the help of his confidant Karyn, an unorthodox nun working in the city's problem areas, he will try to reconnect with his estranged daughter Adèle.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: "Jo" is one of several ambitious new shows commissioned by French channel TF1, along with "Falco", "No Limit" and the English-language series "Crossing Lines" and "Taxi Brooklyn" that showcase the channel's desire to become a bigger player in the international market and a change in French channels' conception of TV shows. As such, production company Atlantique Productions already has considerable experience with such efforts, having been behind the English-language "Borgia" for Canal+ and "" for M6. The show was announced on March 28, 2012 under the title "Le Grand" (a nickname for Jean Reno's character) and was presented in more detail in the first few days of April at the MIPTV Media Market where it was sold on the strength of star Jean Reno and showrunner René Balcer's names.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Balcer had previously co-created the French cop show "Mission Protection Rapprochée" for TF1 in the late nineties and had participated in the development of "Paris enquêtes criminelles", the French adaptation of his "". He co-produces the show through his The Mattawin Company.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Producer Klaus Zimmermann described the show as a cop show where every episode is a "mini "The Da Vinci Code"". Jo's personal journey has a series-long arc, but each episode is centered on one case, linked to an iconic location of Paris. The city is considered by the creators like its own character, with director Charlotte Sieling stating "the main character is the cop and the second character is Paris". To make the show more appealing to international buyers, the typical episode lasts about 45 minutes, like American network "hour-long" dramas rather than French ones which last about 50 minutes.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: "Jo" represents Jean Reno's first regular role in a TV series and his first role in a series overall since an episode of the anthology series "Série Noire" in 1985. He was attached to the project from the beginning, when his character was known as Joachim Legrand, and the series was sold in part of the strength of his name. While he's been regularly offered parts in TV shows, he accepted this one due to its international scope and the fact it would be shot in English, but also stated that he didn't see himself doing the show many years as it wasn't "[his] thing". While the 63-year-old actor has played many cops throughout his career, he differentiated this one by his softer side and his relationship with his daughter. Reno also provided his voice for the show's French dub, as he usually does.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Canadian actress Jill Hennessy was named the second regular as shooting began, playing a nun who is a close friend of Reno's character, making it her fourth lead role in a TV show. Hennessy appreciated that the show had "aspects of great television police drama but then it adds all these other mystical elements and personal elements as well" and felt that the show was hard to "put in a box".


title: Jo (TV series)

text: British actor Tom Austen first heard of the project through his agent a month before filming, but at the time his part was meant for a 40-year-old actor of Middle-Eastern origin. Attracted by the idea of shooting in Paris with actors he admires, the 24-year-old was however able to get a meeting with director Charlotte Sieling, whose work on "The Bridge" was also among the reasons the project interested him, and along with her he managed to convince the producers that he was right for the part and began his gun training a few days later. "Jo" is Austen's second regular role in a television series after the short-lived "Beaver Falls".


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Apart from Reno, most of the main actors are native English speakers, all playing French characters. Actor David Coburn was brought in as a vocal coach to ensure all the actors spoke with the same General American accent, apart from Jean Reno whose accent was considered part of his charm and appeal.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Production began on the Île de la Cité at 4a.m. on July 16, 2012 and lasted for 88 days in Paris and its suburbs until November 8, making it the first English-language show to be shot entirely in the French capital. Four directors each helmed two of the season's eight episodes. These include Danish filmmakers Charlotte Sieling and Kristoffer Nyholm (both known for their work on "The Killing") as well as Stephan Schwartz and Sheree Folkson. Sieling was responsible for the show's look, having directed the pilot episode, and was particularly enthusiastic about the project stating the show would be something that had not been seen before, a hybrid of Scandinavian, French and English series, comparing it to the ever-changing patterns of a kaleidoscope. She brought in her usual cinematographer Jørgen Johansson for her episodes, while Nyholm and Folkson's episodes were handled by French cinematographer Tommaso Fiorilli, who's worked on several TV shows before, including "Spiral", and Schwartz's by Jean-Max Bernard. The production designer for the season was Ambre Sansonetti, who's had considerable experience on procedurals having held the same position on the TV show "Braquo" as well as the films "36 Quai des Orfèvres" and "MR 73".


title: Jo (TV series)

text: The show was produced to be carbon neutral. Each episode was shot in about ten days, mostly in exteriors and budgeted at 2 million euros (or 16 million for the entire season), with TF1 contributing 900,000 per episode (or 7,200,000 overall). This represents twice the French average but is in line with other similar efforts such as "Borgia" or "". The show required the hiring of 85 technicians and 160 thespians, the construction of 32 sets per episode in Saint-Ouen, the renting of 51 vehicles and the cooking of 10,000 meals.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Editors for the show include Stratos Gabrielidis for the Charlotte Sieling episodes, Joel Jacovella for the Kristoffer Nyholm episodes and Patrick Zouzout for the Stephan Schwartz episodes, all of whom have worked on several episodes of "XIII: The Series". The Sheree Folkson episodes were edited by Diane Logan.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Response to the show in France and Belgium was overwhelmingly negative. In "Télérama", Samuel Douhaire found that the famous locations of Paris showcased in every episode were used very badly, that the cops looked like caricatures from American shows and that the series' worst aspect is its cliché-ridden exploration of Jo's private life. In the Belgian "Le Vif", Guy Verstraeten was also turned off by the clichéd nature of the show, stating that the creators couldn't be bothered to create a single original thing. Writing for "Le Nouvel Observateur", Mathieu Cantorné labeled the show as "unoriginal and conformist" but did concede that the atmosphere "could be somewhat appealing". Negative views also came from the website "Onirik" and the Belgian newspaper "L'Avenir". Many outlets also singled out the poor quality of the French dub.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Positive opinions came from the tabloid "Closer", which found the series to be a good mix between a French and American show; "Le Parisien", which considered the show efficient and praised the actors; and "Télé Loisirs", which was impressed with the directing.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: International reception was equally mixed. In the "Irish Independent", John Boland was baffled by the use of English, felt that the Paris locales brought nothing and wrote that the show "ends up like a diluted hybrid of "Criminal Minds", "Leverage", "NCIS" and any or all of the "CSI" spin-offs". Gabriel Tate called it a "truly scattershot affair" in "Time Out", with Jean Reno its sole saving-grace, and awarded it two out of five stars. Eurodrama called it "A visually arresting series with a tightly controlled central performance from Jean Reno, [that] takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Paris' most sensational locations, and its most depraved, but never shifts its focus from the story of a man who will always be enslaved by anguish.". ZombieHamster said: "There's plenty to enjoy within the eight episodes. Joe is wonderfully engrossing and thrilling with lavish set pieces, and is carried by a marvelous central performance by Reno who is at his surly and cantankerous best." Munya Vomo in the South African "Independent Online" labeled the series as "definitely something to look forward to".


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Atlantique Productions entered in negotiations with the American Ion Television network at the MIPTV Media Market for what would be Ion's first original series. The agreement was finalized on July 19, 2012, the details of which include Ion paying 4 million dollars to license the 8 episodes and having English title, budget and final cut approval, among other things. Ion, however, never paid Atlantique what it was owed, citing their dissatisfaction with Jean Reno's accent and other creative concerns, further claiming in September that they had never entered in an agreement with Atlantique. As such, Atlantique filed a lawsuit against Ion for 4 million dollars in direct damages on October 9, 2012 in a California federal court.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: The German ProSiebenSat.1 Media group and Italian RAI acquired the free-TV rights for the show on September 10 and September 25, 2012 respectively, prior to its presentation at the Mipcom in early October with Sat.1 additionally becoming a broadcast partner.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: "Jo" premiered in Italy on Fox Crime on January 17, 2013 and completed its run in 8 weeks at a pace of one episode per week on Thursdays. It was later shown in Poland on Fox starting January 25, Spanish-speaking Latin American countries on FX from March 4 onwards, in Spain on Fox three days later and Brazil on FX starting March 10. In Belgium La Une started showing the series on April 18, 2013, and RTS Un in Switzerland the next day, where it completed its run in four weeks at a pace of two episodes per night. It began broadcasting a week later in France on TF1 at the same pace, also on Thursdays in prime time. Oddly, TF1 only showed the program dubbed in French, not giving the option to see the episodes in English as they do for their American shows. Following this, the show started airing in Portugal on Fox on May 6, before having its premiere in an English-speaking country, debuting in the United Kingdom and Ireland May 19 on Fox. RTL Klub started programming "Jo" two days later in Hungary and by May 27 it was showing in the African countries covered by Fox. More than a month later, the series had its German-language premiere, airing on its Austrian and German broadcast partners, ORF eins and Sat.1, starting July 3 and 4 respectively, with the first two episodes shown on the same night, but following episodes were shown at a one-per-week pace.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Confusingly, the Fox International Channels in Africa, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom as well as RTL Klub in Hungary on one hand and La Une, RTS Un, TF1, ORF eins and Sat.1 in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany on the other have aired or plan to air the episodes of the series in two different orders, reflected in the following chart. According to Balcer, the Fox International Channels version and air order was the intended "official version", while the other version represented TF1's unilateral decision to re-edit the show as they felt it was too dark – changing the music, color and pacing. For example, according to Balcer, in addition to changing the theme music and the score, TF1 also changed source music – in the official version, the opening of "Notre Dame" featured an organist playing Mozart's "Requiem" on a digital organ, setting up the tone and the theme of the series as it relates to Jo Saint-Clair, but TFI changed this music to a lighter maudlin piano piece.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: In addition, the orders also feature vastly different edits. In addition to the opening credits and music being changed, the Franco-Belgian-Swiss versions have several scenes cut or replaced, music tracks changed and different color grading. According to Balcer, scenes which had been cut from the official version because of poor performances or directing (for example, in "Pigalle", the interview with a witness on the Eiffel tower and a search of the victim's apartment) were put back in by TF1. Again, according to Balcer, the TF1 changes created an imbalance between the procedural and personal scenes and wreaked havoc on the actors' performance. Balcer has disowned the TF1 version, which has not surprisingly been met with largely negative reviews.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: TF1 announced the show's cancellation on June 7, 2013, shortly before filming on the second season was scheduled to begin, citing disappointing ratings and prohibitive costs. A few days later, co-creator René Balcer reacted to the news at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, expressed hope that the series might still continue due to its international success and blamed TF1 and the changes they made to the show for its reception in France and wherever the TF1 version was shown. He pointed out that the official original version had met with greater success wherever it played.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: Part of the show was financed through a deal with US based Ion TV. "Jo" was allegedly going to be Ion's first foray into an original TV series, but things went awry, either because the network got cold feet or there was a terrible misunderstanding. When pressed for payment, Ion TV purportedly cited creative concerns, such as the "intelligibility" of Reno's accent. Atlantique Productions now claims $4 million transatlantic breach-of-contract lawsuit in direct damages, plus alleges it has been further harmed by the "loss of value to the Series in the marketplace," since losing an American network distributor allegedly adversely affects the license fees that the producers can get in other territories. The producers also say that have been scrambling to find funding so it can meet contractual delivery obligations to other licensees. The loss of this American distributor led to the cancellation of the show.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: The first four episodes of the series have so far been presented in two different orders depending on which country it has aired (see above). They are presented here in the official order they first premiered in, on Fox Crime in Italy, and are shown in most countries. Belgium and France airdates are also shown as the two countries co-produced the show.


title: Jo (TV series)

text: TF1 Video released the complete series on DVD on June 5, 2013. The eight episodes are spread over two discs, only available in dubbed French and the release is devoid of any special features. The original English sound track will be legally available on August 5, when UK distributor Arrow Films is set to release the Fox edits on DVD, also spread over two discs. 10 days later, the series will have its Blu-ray debut in Germany through StudioCanal, under the title "The Cop: Crime Scene Paris". Both the original English and the dubbed German will be included in this release, which is spread across two discs, while the DVD version is spread across three.


title: Barrett (album)

text: Barrett is the second and final studio album of new material released by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett. Recording began at Abbey Road Studios on 26 February 1970, and lasted for 15 sessions until 21 July. The album was produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Richard Wright, who also contributed on bass and keyboards respectively, along with previous "Madcap" contributor Jerry Shirley on drums.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Barrett" was released in November 1970 on Harvest in the United Kingdom, but failed to chart; it was re-released in 1974 as part of "Syd Barrett", which was the first US issues of these LPs. No singles were issued from the album. It was remastered and reissued in 1993, along with Barrett's other albums − "The Madcap Laughs" (1970) and "Opel" (1988) − independently and as part of the "Crazy Diamond" box set. A newly remastered version was released in 2010.


title: Barrett (album)

text: Initial sales of and reaction to Barrett's first solo album, "The Madcap Laughs", were deemed sufficient by EMI to sanction a second solo album. On 24 February 1970, a month after releasing "Madcap", Barrett appeared on John Peel's "Top Gear" radio show, where he performed only one song from the newly released album ("Terrapin"), three that would later be recorded for "Barrett" ("Gigolo Aunt", "Baby Lemonade", and "Effervescing Elephant"), and a one-off ("Two of a Kind", possibly written by Richard Wright). The session producers had no verbal contact with Barrett, having communication with him only via Gilmour. For the radio session, Gilmour and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley accompanied Barrett on bass and bongos, respectively. The version of "Gigolo Aunt" recorded for the radio session (and later released on 1988's "The Peel Session") was unfinished, as Barrett had sung the opening verse three times. Barrett played slide guitar on the radio version of "Baby Lemonade", with Gilmour on organ.


title: Barrett (album)

text: Two days later, he began working on his second album in Abbey Road Studios, with Gilmour as producer, and a trio of musicians: Richard Wright, Shirley and Gilmour himself. The main aim for the "Barrett" sessions was to give Barrett the structure and focus many felt was missing during the long and unwieldy sessions for "The Madcap Laughs". Thus, the sessions were more efficiently run and the album was finished in considerably less time than "The Madcap Laughs" (six months, compared to "Madcap"'s one year). On 6 June 1970, Barrett gave his one and only official solo performance, at the Olympia in Kensington, backed once more by Gilmour and Shirley. At the end of "Octopus", the fourth number of the set, Barrett baffled the audience and his backing musicians by abruptly taking off his guitar and walking off stage.


title: Barrett (album)

text: The first session was on 26 February, three of the first songs—fully recorded—attempted during the session were "Baby Lemonade", "Maisie" and "Gigolo Aunt". However, Gilmour thought they were losing the "Barrett-ness". After "Baby Lemonade" was attempted, 2 takes of "Maisie" were recorded before Barrett went into 15 takes of "Gigolo Aunt". The next day, two-track demos of "Wolfpack", "Waving My Arms in the Air", "Living Alone" and "Bob Dylan Blues", were recorded. The former two made it to the album; the latter two didn't. On the recording sheet, it lists Gilmour as having taken home a copy of the latter two, Gilmour later returned and took the master tapes too. Gilmour has since said "Those sessions were done so quickly. We were rushing to gigs every day and had to fit recording sessions in between. I probably took it away to have a listen and simply forgot to take it back. It wasn't intended to be a final mix. Syd knocked it off, I took a tape home." Despite some minor work made to "Gigolo Aunt", Barrett wouldn't return to Abbey Road Studios until 1 April, due to Pink Floyd working on their 1970 album, "Atom Heart Mother". On various occasions, Barrett would "spy" on the band as they recorded the album. Again, Barrett recorded some work to a song, "Wolfpack", on the 3rd, before the sessions were postponed until 5 June, this time due to Gilmour and Wright going on tour in the US with Pink Floyd.


title: Barrett (album)

text: On the session of 5 June, Barrett managed to record an unknown number of two-track demos for three songs: "Rats", "Wined and Dined", and "Birdie Hop". The "Rats" demo recorded here, became the basis for the album master, and would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Two days later, on the 7th, Barrett recorded "Milky Way", "Millionaire", before being rounded off with overdubs for "Rats". "Millionaire" was originally titled "She Was a Millionaire", and was originally recorded by Pink Floyd. Barrett recorded two attempts at a backing track before abandoning it, and adding vocals. Yet another break in recording occurred, until 14 July, where Barrett recorded several takes of "Effervescing Elephant", while numerous overdubs were added to Barrett's "Wined and Dined" demo by Gilmour. Three takes of "Dominoes" ensued, with an unknown number of takes of "Love Song", "Dolly Rocker" and "Let's Split" were recorded. "Love Song" and "Dolly Rocker" were both overdubbed, the former being overdubbed from 17 to 21 July, but overdubs for the latter were wiped. On 21 July, Barrett worked on another Untitled track (later to be titled as "Word Song"), recording only one take, before recording 5 takes of the last new song to be recorded for "Barrett": "It Is Obvious". Barrett worked on remakes of two tracks: "Maisie", and "Waving My Arms in the Air" (the latter now seguing into a new track, "I Never Lied to You").


title: Barrett (album)

text: Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." Barrett's direction to the other musicians were limited to pronouncements like "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy".


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Baby Lemonade" is a blues folk tune. The intro was actually Barrett simply warming-up on guitar, that Gilmour had managed to record and placed it at the start of the album, making it seem like an intro to the song. The lyrics that describe the way for a person to kill time (such as the line ""In the clock they sent / Through a washing machine""). The solo was performed by Barrett, not Gilmour as is often noted. A recurring theme in the album, starting with "Baby Lemonade", is the weather. Barrett performed the song twice, both times for the BBC (previously recorded on 24 February 1970, for John Peel's "Top Gear", and later for Bob Harris' show on 16 February 1971).


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Love Song" tells the story of an ex-girlfriend fondly remembered (""I knew a girl and I like her still""). It is the first of two songs which feature dreamlike-senses in the lyrics (""I'll lay my head down and see what I see""). Barrett performed the song for Bob Harris' show in 1971.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Dominoes" features imagery of regret and recollection in the lyrics. The song features a backwards guitar solo by Barrett, and organ and Wurlitzer by Wright. The song's ""You and I"" lyric refers to the tail end relationship Barrett had with Lindsay. The first of three songs on the album which lyrics point to anguish (""In my tears, my dreams""). Barrett performed the song for Bob Harris' show in 1971.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "It Is Obvious" is the second of two songs which feature dreamlike-senses in the lyrics (""Creep into bed when your head's on the ground""). It is also the second of three songs on the album which lyrics point to anguish (""Remember those times I could call / Through the clear day time / And you would be there""). The theme of weather is referenced again (""The softness, the warmth and the weather in suspense""). The song also references the Cambridge quarry pits, and the landscape.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Rats" started off as a jam, but eventually evolved into a structured song. It contains taunting and maniacal lyrics (""Rats rats lay down flat / We don't need you we act like that"").


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Gigolo Aunt" was performed by Barrett for "Top Gear" in 1970. For Barrett's only solo performance, at the Kensington Olympia in 1970, he played four songs, one of them being "Gigolo Aunt".


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Waving My Arms in the Air" contains an echo of "Octopus" (""Waving my arms in the air / Pressing my feet to the ground""). The lyrics refer to a hard-learned experience. The song features a childlike section (""No care / No no""). The song segues into "I Never Lied to You" with the aid of Wright's organ.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "I Never Lied to You" is the final of three songs on the album which lyrics point to anguish (""It's been so hard to bear with you not there"").


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Wined and Dined" dated from Barrett's Cambridge days, and is about the relationship between Barrett and his then-girlfriend, Gayla Pinion, a model from Cambridge. The song reflects on about Mediterranean evenings (""Musk winds blow""), and hauntings of Barrett's childhood (""Chalk underfoot / Light ash of blue"") evoked during a summer party he didn't want to leave. Dave Gilmour added a sinuous sliding lead over Barrett's vocals.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Wolfpack" had been mentioned by Barrett in an interview, he said the song was one of favourites, out of all his material.


title: Barrett (album)

text: "Effervescing Elephant" was pastiche of the verse form of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children. In contrast to "Dominoes", "It Is Obvious", "Rats", "Waving My Arms in the Air", and "Wolfpack" previously mentioning one or two animals, "Effervescing Elephant" contains references to a whole jungle full of animals. Barrett performed the song for "Top Gear" in 1970. For Barrett's only solo performance, at the Kensington Olympia in 1970, he played four songs, one of them being "Effervescing Elephant".


title: Barrett (album)

text: The cover of the album was designed by Barrett; it was originally one of many drawings Barrett had done in Cambridge, years earlier. "Barrett" was released in November 1970 to less interest than had greeted "The Madcap Laughs" earlier in the year, and as a result, failed to reach the chart. Talks of more singles and a third album were rumoured over the following months. Barrett dismissed the album and "Madcap", saying: "They've got to reach a certain standard and that's probably reached in "Madcap" once or twice and on the other one only a little – just an echo of that. Neither of them are much more than that." Allmusic reviewer Ritchie Unterberger called the album "a bit fuller and smoother than the first album", referring to "Baby Lemonade", "Gigolo Aunt", and "Effervescing Elephant" as "among his peppiest and best-loved tunes"; however, "the tone is darker and more meandering" in the rest of the album. In an overview of Barrett's career, "Rolling Stone" referred to both Barrett's solo albums as "entrancing".


title: Barrett (album)

text: On 16 February 1971, Barrett recorded a short set for BBC Radio 1's "Sound of the Seventies" radio show; in contrast to 1970's radio appearance where Barrett performed new material, this time he played songs from "Barrett": "Baby Lemonade", "Dominoes" and "Love Song". Bored and directionless, Barrett headed back to his hometown of Cambridge and – but for a brief dalliance with a band called Stars in 1972, and some abortive recording sessions in 1974 – left his music career behind for good.


title: Barrett (album)

text: The album was reissued in late 1974 with his first solo album "The Madcap Laughs" as record two of the two-record set "Syd Barrett" in Harvest's series of Harvest Heritage reissues. In 1993, "Barrett" (along with "The Madcap Laughs" and "Opel") was reissued both independently and as part of the "Crazy Diamond" Barrett box set, on 26 April 1993. "Bob Dylan Blues" would later turn up on 2001's "". A newly remastered version was released in 2010. For release on "An Introduction to Syd Barrett" in 2010, Gilmour laid down a new bass track to four songs, only one from "Barrett": "Dominoes".


title: Barrett (album)

text: This reissue splits "Waving My Arms in the Air" and "I Never Lied to You" into tracks 8 and 9 respectively.


title: Joe Cocker discography

text: This Joe Cocker discography lists the recordings plus live appearances of John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014), the English rock/blues musician, composer and actor who came to popularity in the 1960s, and was most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles.


title: Joe Cocker discography

text: He received several awards, including a 1983 Grammy Award for his song "Up Where We Belong", a duet which he performed with Jennifer Warnes. He was ranked No. 97 on "Rolling Stone"s 100 greatest singers list.


title: Meenakshi

text: Meenakshi (Sanskrit: ; Tamil: ; sometimes spelled as Minakshi; also known as ', ' and ), is a Hindu goddess and tutelary deity of Madurai who is considered an avatar of the Goddess Parvati also referred to as Durga. She is the divine consort of Sundareswarar, a form of Shiva. She finds mention in literatures as the princess or queen of the ancient Madurai based Pandya kingdom who elevates to godhood. The goddess is also extolled by Adi Shankara as Shri Vidya.


title: Meenakshi

text: She is mainly worshipped in India where she has a major temple devoted to her known as the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Meenakshi, Kamakshi and Visalakshi are considered the three Shakti forms of the Goddess Parvati and most Indians visit these three temples irrespective of their location in India.


title: Meenakshi

text: is a Sanskrit term meaning 'fish-eyed', derived from the words 'fish' and 'eye'. She was also known by the Tamil name 'fish-eyed one', mentioned in early historical account as a fierce, unmarried goddess sanskritised as Meenakshi. She is also known by the Tamil name or (). According to another theory, the name of the goddess literally means 'rule of the fish', derived from the Tamil words 'fish' and 'rule'.


title: Meenakshi

text: Various meanings of this appellation have been suggested, including that she was originally a goddess of the fisher-folk, that her eyes are "large and brilliant" like that of a fish, or that she has "long and slender" eyes shaped like the body of a fish. Another interpretation is that the name is based on the belief that the fish never close their eyes: the goddess similarly never stops watching over her devotees. Yet another interpretation states that the name is based on the ancient belief that the fish feed their young by merely looking at them; the goddess supposedly supports here devotees by merely glancing at them.


title: Meenakshi

text: There are 4 incarnations of Adi parashakti ( Kamakshi) is worshipped. Vishalakshi in North, Renukakshi (Padmakshi) in West, Meenakshi in South and Bahulakshi in East.


title: Meenakshi

text: Several great hymns on the goddess were composed in the early modern period by many saints and scholars, including the famous Neelakanta Dikshitar. The stotram Meenakshi Pancharatnam (Five Jewels of Meenakshi), composed by Adi Sankaracharya (8th century AD), is an incantation to her. Meenakshi does not directly appear in the stotram Lalita Sahasranama, though there is a reference to her in the line "Vakthra lakshmi parivaha chalan meenabha lochana" (She who has auspiciousness and glory of Lakshmi and has beautiful eyes which look like fish in the pond of her face).


title: Meenakshi

text: One Tamil poem/song (Tamilpillai) portrays Meenakshi as the intersection of domesticity and divinity and as a global icon for all who deal with "impossible" children or husbands:The great Shiva with the metel flower / Wanders through the courtyard of space / Destroying your work again and again / And then he comes before you. // You never get angry. / Every day you just pick up the vessels.


title: Meenakshi

text: The 13th century Tamil text "Tiruvilaiyatarpuranam"- composing stories of Lord Shiva, mentions king Malayadhwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai who performed a yajna seeking a son for succession. Instead a daughter is born who is already 3 year old and has three breasts. Shiva intervenes and says that the parents should treat her like a son, and when she meets her husband, she will lose the third breast. They follow the advice. The girl grows up, the king crowns her as the successor and when she meets Shiva, his words come true, she takes her true form of Meenakshi. According to Harman, this may reflect the matrilineal traditions in South India and the regional belief that "penultimate [spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fate of kingdoms rest with the women. According to Susan Bayly, the reverence for Meenakshi is a part of the Hindu goddess tradition that integrates with the Hindu society where the "woman is the lynchpin of the system" of social relationships. Her eyes are fabled to bring life to the unborn.


title: Meenakshi

text: The temple complex Madurai, Tamil Nadu in India is dedicated to Meenakshi as the primary deity. It is also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareshwara Temple. Meenakshi's shrine is next to that of her consort "Sundareswar", a form of Shiva.


title: Meenakshi

text: Though the temple has historic roots dating back to 2000 BC, most of the present campus structure was rebuilt after the 14th century CE, further repaired, renovated and expanded in the 17th century by Tirumala Nayaka. In early 14th century, the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim Commander Malik Kafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South India. The contemporary temple is the result of rebuilding efforts started by the Vijayanagara Empire rulers who rebuilt the core and reopened the temple. In the 16th century, the temple complex was further expanded and fortified. The restored complex houses 14 "gopurams" (gateway towers), each above in height. The complex has numerous sculpted pillared halls such as Ayirakkal (1,000 pillar hall), Kilikoondu-mandapam, Golu-mandapam and Pudu-mandapam. Its shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities and Shaivism scholars, with the "vimanas" above the "garbhagrihas" (sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundaresvara gilded with gold.


title: Meenakshi

text: The temple is a major pilgrimage destination within the Shaivism tradition, dedicated to Meenakshi Devi and Shiva. However, the temple includes Vishnu in many narratives, sculptures and rituals as he is considered to be Meenakshi's brother. This has made this temple and Madurai as the "southern Mathura", one included in Vaishnava texts. The large temple complex is the most prominent landmark in Madurai and attracts tens of thousands visitors a day. The temple attracts over a million pilgrims and visitors during the annual 10-day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival, celebrated with much festivities and a "ratha" (chariot) procession during the Tamil month of Chittirai (overlaps with April–May in Georgian calendar, Chaitra in North India).


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Since their foundation in 1995, the club has appeared in three grand finals (2005, 2015 and 2017) winning in 2015, and has reached the finals ten times. The team's management headquarters and home ground, North Queensland Stadium, currently known as Queensland Country Bank Stadium due to sponsorship rights, are located in the suburb of South Townsville.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys were admitted to the premiership for the 1995 ARL season. They played in the breakaway Super League competition in 1997 before continuing to compete in the re-unified National Rugby League competition the following year. After running into financial trouble in 2001, the club was taken over by News Limited. In 2007, the team was sold by News Limited to the Cowboys Leagues Club.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2015, the Cowboys played in the first all-Queensland Grand Final, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 17–16 in golden point to win their first premiership.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: With the success of the Broncos in 1988, speculation intensified as to if the NSWRL would admit a new team based in North Queensland. In 1993, the NSWRL announced that North Queensland would enter the competition in 1995, along with three other new sides. One of the major difficulties that faced the club in their early years was attracting followers from the more established Queensland-based Winfield Cup side, the Brisbane Broncos. This was exacerbated by an initial lack of onfield success and stability. In their first two seasons, the Cowboys had eight different captains and finished last in their inaugural season.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: After much court action in 1995 and 1996, a ten team Super League competition was held in 1997. The Cowboys competed in this competition, and their squad was bolstered by a number of new signings including Ian Roberts and Steve Walters. However, they were unable to improve on the club's results in previous years, and for the second time in three seasons they were to finish the season in last place.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: North Queensland's first game of the Super League season, a 24–16 win over new team the Adelaide Rams played on 1 March at Stockland Stadium in front of 17,738 fans was also the first ever game of the Super League's competition.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 1998 the Super League and Australian Rugby League competitions merged to form the National Rugby League (NRL). The Cowboys began their first season in this competition strongly, and after six rounds they were in equal first place. Although they fell away later in the season, they were to record the largest come-back to date in an Australian first grade rugby league match, defeating the Penrith Panthers 36–28 after trailing 26–0 at half-time. 1998 also saw the Cowboys record their largest loss to date, being defeated 62–0 by the North Sydney Bears in the last round of the home and away season.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys signed their eleventh captain in 1999, Noel Goldthorpe. Paul Bowman was also to serve in that role during the season. Although their on-field performances were not spectacular, continuing high attendance figures saw aggregate attendances exceed one million spectators. This season the Cowboys also provided their first State of Origin representative when Paul Green was selected as Queensland's halfback for game 2 of the 1999 State of Origin series.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In the years 2000 through to 2002 the Cowboys continued to struggle with off-field dramas and the struggles of coaches


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: and poor on-field performances. After finishing last in 2000, season 2001 began slowly. Tim Sheens resigned on 25 May and was replaced by his then assistant Murray Hurst. 4 straight losses in the opening rounds of 2002 led to Hurst being replaced early in the 2002 season, by former Illawarra Steelers and Leeds Rhinos coach Graham Murray. Murray stamped his authority and coaching prowess on the club and the NQ Cowboys looked far more competitive towards the end of the 2002 season. The Cowboys spent much of the 2003 season in the top eight with much improved performances from a host of players, including local talents Matt Bowen and Josh Hannay. The 2003 season ended with the Cowboys four points adrift of a top eight play-off position.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: After a slow start to the season that saw them at 13th on the ladder with just one win and five losses, the Cowboys turned it around in the second half of the season to finish with 12 wins and 11 losses and 7th spot, giving the club their first ever top eight appearance.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys fairytale year continued when they upset the 2nd place Canterbury away from home in the first week of the finals, 30–22, thanks largely to hat-trick hero Matt Sing. The following week the Cowboys defeated their state rivals the Brisbane Broncos at home, 10–0, in perhaps the club's most famous victory.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: North Queensland would go one better in 2005, when they reached their first grand final in club history. With the help of new recruits Carl Webb and Johnathan Thurston, the side finished in 5th spot and with back-to-back finals appearances. They would ultimately lose the grand final to the Wests Tigers.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In his first year with the club, Johnathan Thurston won the Dally M Medal and made his State of Origin debut for Queensland.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2006, the Cowboys started the year with a 6-game winning streak and looked destined for another finals appearance, before ending the season with just 5 wins from 19 games and finishing in 9th position.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The 2007 season saw the Cowboys 3rd finals appearance and their first top 4 finish. They faced the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Townsville in week 1 of the finals, scraping home by 2 points. The following week, they defeated the New Zealand Warriors at home by 37 points. They fell one game short of the grand final again, this time losing to Manly, 28–6. 2007 saw the retirement of club legend Paul Bowman, who took up a coaching role with the team in 2008.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Johnathan Thurston finished the year with his second Dally M Medal and Matt Bowen was named Dally M Fullback of the Year.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: At the start of the 2008 season, the club announced head coach Graham Murray's contract would not be renewed. After only winning three of the first ten games, Murray resigned from his job and the club promoted assistant coach Ian Millward to the head coaching role for the rest of the year. During his stint as head coach, the club could only win two more games. Throughout the season the team were decimated by injuries and suspensions as well as off-field issues. In the end, the Cowboys finished 15th on the ladder avoiding the wooden spoon by for and against.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: 2009 saw the appointment of Neil Henry as head coach, who had won the Dally M Coach of the Year with the Canberra Raiders the previous year. The club however experienced another disappointing season, finishing 12th with 11 wins and 13 losses. 2009 also saw Matthew Bowen score his 100th try, becoming the first North Queensland player to score 100 tries for the club and the debut of future Australian and New South Wales representative forward James Tamou.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The beginning out the 2010 season was marred with the speculation of whether Johnathan Thurston would renew his contract with the club. Thurston ended up re-signing for another three seasons, however it brought very little success. The club finished 15th and would have received the wooden spoon if not for the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal. 2010 saw the emergence of Scott Bolton and seeing the test debut of Matthew Scott. Jason Taumalolo became the Cowboys youngest ever debutant, making his debut against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in round 24 aged 17 years and 82 days.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: After missing the finals for the last 3 seasons the Cowboys underwent a major overhaul of personnel for the 2011 season. Club legend Ty Williams retired and they parted ways with club favourites Luke O'Donnell, Carl Webb and Steve Southern. Their biggest signing for the 2011 season was Queensland and Australian representative centre Brent Tate. They also made key recruits in the signings of former Melbourne Storm and Queensland State of Origin representative Dallas Johnson and premiership winner Glenn Hall from the English Super League, re-signing a former Cowboy in Gavin Cooper and picking up younger, experienced first graders such as Antonio Winterstein.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys' new signings had a positive impact on the NRL team, with the Cowboys spending much of the year in the top four before a late slide dropped them to seventh position and giving them their first finals appearance since 2007. That year, they were the most watched NRL club on pay television, and their round four clash with the Parramatta Eels was the fourth most-watched sports event in Fox Sport's history.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: 2012 saw North Queensland return to the finals after finishing in 5th spot. They faced the Brisbane Broncos in the first week of the finals, winning 33–16, with halfback Michael Morgan scoring a hat trick. They lost the following week to Manly, in controversial circumstances. Club legend Aaron Payne retired at the end of the season, after ten years with the team.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: North Queensland again made the finals in 2013, the first time the club had made the finals series three straight years, when they finished in 8th place. After a poor start to the season, the side went on a 6-game winning streak following the sacking of coach Neil Henry. They were eliminated in Week 1 of the finals, after a controversial loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Club legend Matthew Bowen played his last season in the NRL, announcing he would be taking up an offer with Super League side, the Wigan Warriors. Club stalwarts Ashley Graham and Dallas Johnson also announced their retirements.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 1 October 2013, former North Queensland halfback Paul Green was announced as head coach for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, becoming the first former Cowboys player to coach the club.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys started their 2014 season by winning the inaugural NRL Auckland Nines tournament which was held at Eden Park in Auckland. After losing key signing Lachlan Coote early in the tournament to injury, the Cowboys went on to face the Brisbane Broncos in the final, defeating them 16–7 to claim the trophy and a prize money cheque of $370,000.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: After a difficult start to the season and a string of injuries to key players including internationals, the North Queensland club made a late charge to the finals finishing in fifth place and cementing a spot in the finals where they defeated the Brisbane Broncos, 32–20. They then travelled to Sydney to face the 2013 premiers the Sydney Roosters in the second week of the finals where they were defeated 31–30.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2015, North Queensland experienced their best ever regular season. They had a club record 11 game winning streak and finished with a club record 17 wins. In September, Johnathan Thurston won a record fourth Dally M Medal at the Dally M Awards.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 26 September 2015, North Queensland qualified for their second grand final defeating the Melbourne Storm, 32–12. In the Grand Final, they defeated the Brisbane Broncos, 17–16. Thurston, who won the Clive Churchill Medal, kicked the winning field goal in golden point to win North Queensland's their first ever premiership.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 21 February 2016, the club won their first World Club Challenge and were crowned the world's best club, defeating the Leeds Rhinos 38–4 at Headingley Rugby Stadium in Leeds, England. The club could not defend its premiership, finishing the 2016 NRL season in 4th place and falling one game short of the Grand Final, being eliminated by the Cronulla Sharks 32–20 at Allianz Stadium.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2017, despite losing co-captains Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott to season-ending injuries, the club qualified for their third Grand Final. Although they were just the second side to reach the Grand Final from 8th place, they would lose to the Melbourne Storm, who finished the regular season as minor premiers.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Before the 2018 season began, North Queensland were predicted by many to challenge for the premiership with the return of Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston from injury. Instead, they struggled to move away from the bottom of the ladder, going on two separate five-game losing streaks throughout the season. With two rounds to play, the club sat in last place. Two wins from their final two games saw them finish in 13th. The 2018 season would be the last for Thurston, who retired after 14 seasons, 294 games and one premiership for the club. In his final match, the Cowboys defeated the Titans 30–26.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Despite a poor 2018 and the loss of Thurston, many expected the Cowboys to return to the finals in 2019. What followed was another disappointing year in which the club finished 14th. Club legends Matthew Scott and Scott Bolton were farewelled at the end of the season. Both were members of the club's premiership winning side in 2015 and spent their entire NRL careers at the club. The club also played its final game at Willows Sports Complex, defeating the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 15–8.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Following two poor seasons in which they missed the finals, North Queensland looked to rebuild ahead of the 2020 NRL season. Their marquee signing was Australian and Queensland representative Valentine Holmes, who had spent 2019 playing for the New York Jets in the NFL. Holmes, a Townsville junior, signed a six-year deal with the club.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 20 July 2020, after just three wins from their first 10 games, Paul Green announced his resignation from the club, with assistant coach Josh Hannay named as the interim head coach. On 4 September 2020, Todd Payten, a former assistant coach at the club, was announced as North Queensland's head coach on a three-year deal, starting in 2021.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2022, the club returned to the finals series after four seasons, finishing the regular season in third and equalling a club record of 17 regular season wins. They ultimately fell just one game short of the Grand Final, with Todd Payten later named the Dally M Coach of the Year.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Since 1995, the Cowboys have supplied numerous players to state and international representative sides.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2004, the Cowboys conducted a poll asking fans to vote on the best players to have worn Cowboy colours. After polling had finished the club released the overall best team to celebrate the team's 10th anniversary.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2015, the Cowboys celebrated their 20th anniversary and named a 20-year team at their anniversary dinner. The team was selected from a panel consisting of four former Cowboys coaches: Grant Bell, Neil Henry, Murray Hurst and Tim Sheens, and then-current coach Paul Green.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2020, the Cowboys celebrated their 25th anniversary and announced a 25-year team at their anniversary dinner, voted on by fans of the club. A number of players selected five years earlier were again in the side, with Kyle Feldt, Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo the new additions. John Asiata was selected as the club's best utility player.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2015, the Cowboys launched their official Hall of Fame during their 20th anniversary celebrations. The foundation criteria were that any players considered had to have played at least 100 NRL games for the club and that they had to have been retired for at least two years. The inductees were decided by a specially selected panel, including members of the Cowboys' organisation and the wider rugby league community, and are assessed on their skill and ability, leadership, integrity and character, their state and international honours, and awards won at the club.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys' current coach, Todd Payten took over as head coach of the side from 2021, becoming the club's tenth and incumbent coach.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: At the end of each season the North Queensland Cowboys hold their Presentation Ball, in which they present (among other awards) the Paul Bowman Medal for Cowboy of the Year. The player of the year award, which was named after Bowman in 2007, is awarded to Cowboys player voted as the best and fairest over the premiership season. After each match, the coaching staff award three votes to the best Cowboys player on ground, two votes to the second best, and one vote to the third best, similar to the Dally M Medal voting system.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The most recent Paul Bowman Medal winner is Jason Taumalolo, who won the award for the first time in 2016 and is the first player to win the award four consecutive times. Bowman himself is a two-time winner of the award (1999, 2000), as is Luke O'Donnell (2004, 2009), Aaron Payne (2006, 2008) and Matt Scott (2010, 2013), while Johnathan Thurston, was the first player to win the award four times (2005, 2012, 2014, 2015). The first recipient of the medal was Wayne Sing in 1995.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2014, the Cowboys won their first major trophy, the inaugural NRL Auckland Nines tournament which was held at Eden Park in Auckland, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 16–7 in the final. A year later the Cowboys won their first NRL premiership, defeating the Broncos 17–16 in golden point extra time. Johnathan Thurston was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2020, the Cowboys won the NRL Nines for the second time, becoming the first club to do so. They defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons 23–14 in the final with Scott Drinkwater being named the Player of the Tournament.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: After a 10-year finals drought, the Cowboys made their first finals appearance in 2004, finishing one game away from the grand final. The following year the team played in their first grand final, losing to the Wests Tigers. The North Queensland club's second appearance in the grand final would not come for another 10 years, when they met Queensland rivals, Brisbane Broncos, in the 2015 decider. In one of the most entertaining grand finals in living memory, Johnathan Thurston kicked a golden-point field goal to win the Cowboys their maiden premiership.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The club's Under 20s side finished runners-up in the 2011 NYC grand final to the New Zealand Warriors while their feeder teams have won the Queensland Cup four times. In 2005 with the North Queensland Young Guns, 2010 and 2014 with the Northern Pride and 2013 with the Mackay Cutters.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Fullback Matthew Bowen currently holds the record for most first grade games and most tries for club. Bowen also holds the club record for most tries in a season, with 22 in 2007. Paul Bowman became the first Cowboy to play 200 first grade games in 2007. Johnathan Thurston jointly holds the record for most points in a match with Josh Hannay at 24. Hannay's 10 goals against South Sydney in 2003. Johnathan Thurston currently holds the most points in a season in 2014 with 234 points. Winger Ray Mercy was the first, and so far only, Cowboy to score four tries in a match, which he did against Balmain in 1998.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The club's biggest winning margin is 58 points, achieved in 2014 in a 64–6 victory over the Wests Tigers. Their heaviest defeat is a 62–0 loss by the Parramatta Eels in 2001.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: From 1995 to 2019, the Cowboys played their home games at Willows Sports Complex, located in the Townsville suburb of Kirwan. Prior to 1995, the venue hosted trotting paceway nights, and was the main pacing venue for the Townsville District, but due to the admittance of the Cowboys, the venue was turned into a rugby league stadium.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The venue was renamed Stockland Stadium in 1995, due to sponsorship rights, and attracted a crowd of 23,156 to the Cowboys first ever premiership game. In 1998, the name was changed to Malanda Stadium by new sponsors Dairy Farmers, before being renamed again in 1999 to Dairy Farmers Stadium. The stadium underwent major renovations in 2005 and 2006, with the eastern, northern and southern grandstands receiving upgrades, the addition of more corporate boxes and a new replay screen and public address system installed. Dairy Farmers 15-year partnership with the Cowboys ended at the end of 2012 season, as the club looked for a new naming rights sponsor for the stadium.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2013, the stadium was renamed 1300SMILES Stadium, after the Townsville-based dental practice entered into a five-year sponsorship deal with Stadiums Queensland. On 29 August 2019, the club played their final game at the stadium, defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs 15–8.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The club record attendance for a regular season match is 30,302, set against the Brisbane Broncos in the round 8 of the 1999 season. The record attendance for a finals match is 24,989, set against the Brisbane Broncos in week 2 of the 2004 finals series.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: Before becoming the Cowboys, the team names Marlins, Stingrays and the very popular Crocodiles were tossed up as potential team logos for the side, before public consultation resulted in the name 'Cowboys' (the Crocodiles name would eventually go to Townsville's National Basketball League team, who changed their name to the Townsville Crocodiles in 1998 after a dispute with the NBA's Phoenix Suns over their original name, the Townsville Suns). The colours navy blue and yellow were chosen to reflect the colours of the Townsville representative sides. Grey was also added as primary colour with white introduced as a secondary colour.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The club's "steer head" logo has stayed basically the same since 1995. In the early years the logo was on a white rectangular background, before being backed with a yellow oval. In 2003 the font was changed and a yellow star added, which remain to this day. A lighter shade of navy blue and white were also added to the logo. In 2020, the club introduced a new logo to celebrate their 25th season.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys' home jerseys have stayed predominantly navy blue over the years, with white, grey and yellow all being the predominant secondary colour at some stage, with the away jerseys predominantly white. Since 2011, the club has also worn special jerseys for Women in League round, Indigenous round and an Anzac/Defence force-themed jersey for games played on Anzac weekend.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In 2018, the Cowboys recorded their largest ever membership tally, with 23,437, beating the record set the previous year of 22,278. In 2020, the Cowboys membership ambassador is Kyle Feldt.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The Cowboys players who do not make the NRL side train and play with feeder club in the Intrust Super Cup. These teams, based in the northern Queensland cities of Cairns, Mackay and Townsville, are separate entities but are affiliated with the Cowboys.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: North Queensland's main rivals are the Brisbane Broncos. From 1999 to 2006, the two clubs were the only Queensland-based sides in the NRL. A one-side rivalry for nearly 10 years, the Brisbane side had not lost to North Queensland in 16 encounters. In 2004, the teams met in the finals for the first time, with North Queensland defeating Brisbane 10–0, to record their first win in the derby.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: In the final round of the 2020 NRL season, North Queensland condemned Brisbane to their first ever Wooden Spoon. Brisbane needed to win the match to overtake Canterbury-Bankstown but lost the match. As of 2020, the sides have met five more times in the finals, including the 2015 NRL Grand Final, the first all-Queensland Grand Final, which North Queensland won 17–16 in extra time. The rivalry between the two clubs is considered one of the best in modern rugby league.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: The club had a minor competitive rivalry with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The games with Cronulla grew from finals football, with the two clubs meeting five times in the finals since 2013.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 10 September 2019, the club announced the opening of their Women's Academy, providing a pathway to elite rugby league for females in north Queensland, with the aim to eventually get a team in the NRLW. The first four Academy members announced were Romy Teitzel, Riutoto Te Hiko, Shanaye Watson and Jasmine Peters.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 17 December 2019, the Cowboys announced their first women's team, the North Queensland Gold Stars, who competed in the QRL Women's Premiership. In 2022, they won the premiership, defeating the Central Queensland Capras in the Grand Final.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 15 June 2022, the Cowboys were admitted to the NRL Women's Premiership for the 2023 season. Following the announcement of the NRLW side, the Gold Stars were replaced in the QRL Women's Premiership by a Mackay Cutters women's side.


title: North Queensland Cowboys

text: On 24 November 2022, Ben Jeffries was announced as the club's inaugural NRLW head coach, with Anita Creenaune appointed as Head of Women's Elite Programs.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: In mathematics and computing, a root-finding algorithm is an algorithm for finding zeros, also called "roots", of continuous functions. A zero of a function , from the real numbers to real numbers or from the complex numbers to the complex numbers, is a number such that . As, generally, the zeros of a function cannot be computed exactly nor expressed in closed form, root-finding algorithms provide approximations to zeros, expressed either as floating-point numbers or as small isolating intervals, or disks for complex roots (an interval or disk output being equivalent to an approximate output together with an error bound).


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Solving an equation is the same as finding the roots of the function . Thus root-finding algorithms allow solving any equation defined by continuous functions. However, most root-finding algorithms do not guarantee that they will find all the roots; in particular, if such an algorithm does not find any root, that does not mean that no root exists.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Most numerical root-finding methods use iteration, producing a sequence of numbers that hopefully converge towards the root as a limit. They require one or more "initial guesses" of the root as starting values, then each iteration of the algorithm produces a successively more accurate approximation to the root. Since the iteration must be stopped at some point these methods produce an approximation to the root, not an exact solution. Many methods compute subsequent values by evaluating an auxiliary function on the preceding values. The limit is thus a fixed point of the auxiliary function, which is chosen for having the roots of the original equation as fixed points, and for converging rapidly to these fixed points.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: The behaviour of general root-finding algorithms is studied in numerical analysis. However, for polynomials, root-finding study belongs generally to computer algebra, since algebraic properties of polynomials are fundamental for the most efficient algorithms. The efficiency of an algorithm may depend dramatically on the characteristics of the given functions. For example, many algorithms use the derivative of the input function, while others work on every continuous function. In general, numerical algorithms are not guaranteed to find all the roots of a function, so failing to find a root does not prove that there is no root. However, for polynomials, there are specific algorithms that use algebraic properties for certifying that no root is missed, and locating the roots in separate intervals (or disks for complex roots) that are small enough to ensure the convergence of numerical methods (typically Newton's method) to the unique root so located.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Bracketing methods determine successively smaller intervals (brackets) that contain a root. When the interval is small enough, then a root has been found. They generally use the intermediate value theorem, which asserts that if a continuous function has values of opposite signs at the end points of an interval, then the function has at least one root in the interval. Therefore, they require to start with an interval such that the function takes opposite signs at the end points of the interval. However, in the case of polynomials there are other methods (Descartes' rule of signs, Budan's theorem and Sturm's theorem) for getting information on the number of roots in an interval. They lead to efficient algorithms for real-root isolation of polynomials, which ensure finding all real roots with a guaranteed accuracy.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: The simplest root-finding algorithm is the bisection method. Let be a continuous function, for which one knows an interval such that and have opposite signs (a bracket). Let be the middle of the interval (the midpoint or the point that bisects the interval). Then either and , or and have opposite signs, and one has divided by two the size of the interval. Although the bisection method is robust, it gains one and only one bit of accuracy with each iteration. Other methods, under appropriate conditions, can gain accuracy faster.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: The false position method, also called the "regula falsi" method, is similar to the bisection method, but instead of using bisection search's middle of the interval it uses the -intercept of the line that connects the plotted function values at the endpoints of the interval, that is


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: False position is similar to the secant method, except that, instead of retaining the last two points, it makes sure to keep one point on either side of the root. The false position method can be faster than the bisection method and will never diverge like the secant method; however, it may fail to converge in some naive implementations due to roundoff errors that may lead to a wrong sign for ; typically, this may occur if the rate of variation of is large in the neighborhood of the root.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: The ITP method is the only known method to bracket the root with the same worst case guarantees of the bisection method while guaranteeing a superlinear convergence to the root of smooth functions as the secant method. It is also the only known method guaranteed to outperform the bisection method on the average for any continuous distribution on the location of the root (see ITP Method#Analysis). It does so by keeping track of both the bracketing interval as well as the minmax interval in which any point therein converges as fast as the bisection method. The construction of the queried point c follows three steps: interpolation (similar to the regula falsi), truncation (adjusting the regula falsi similar to Regula falsi § Improvements in "regula falsi") and then projection onto the minmax interval. The combination of these steps produces a simultaneously minmax optimal method with guarantees similar to interpolation based methods for smooth functions, and, in practice will outperform both the bisection method and interpolation based methods under both smooth and non-smooth functions.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Many root-finding processes work by interpolation. This consists in using the last computed approximate values of the root for approximating the function by a polynomial of low degree, which takes the same values at these approximate roots. Then the root of the polynomial is computed and used as a new approximate value of the root of the function, and the process is iterated.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Two values allow interpolating a function by a polynomial of degree one (that is approximating the graph of the function by a line). This is the basis of the secant method. Three values define a quadratic function, which approximates the graph of the function by a parabola. This is Muller's method.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: "Regula falsi" is also an interpolation method, which differs from the secant method by using, for interpolating by a line, two points that are not necessarily the last two computed points.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Although all root-finding algorithms proceed by iteration, an iterative root-finding method generally uses a specific type of iteration, consisting of defining an auxiliary function, which is applied to the last computed approximations of a root for getting a new approximation. The iteration stops when a fixed point (up to the desired precision) of the auxiliary function is reached, that is when the new computed value is sufficiently close to the preceding ones.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Newton's method assumes the function "f" to have a continuous derivative. Newton's method may not converge if started too far away from a root. However, when it does converge, it is faster than the bisection method, and is usually quadratic. Newton's method is also important because it readily generalizes to higher-dimensional problems. Newton-like methods with higher orders of convergence are the Householder's methods. The first one after Newton's method is Halley's method with cubic order of convergence.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Replacing the derivative in Newton's method with a finite difference, we get the secant method. This method does not require the computation (nor the existence) of a derivative, but the price is slower convergence (the order is approximately 1.6 (golden ratio)). A generalization of the secant method in higher dimensions is Broyden's method.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: If we use a polynomial fit to remove the quadratic part of the finite difference used in the Secant method, so that it better approximates the derivative, we obtain Steffensen's method, which has quadratic convergence, and whose behavior (both good and bad) is essentially the same as Newton's method but does not require a derivative.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: The appearance of complex values in interpolation methods can be avoided by interpolating the inverse of "f", resulting in the inverse quadratic interpolation method. Again, convergence is asymptotically faster than the secant method, but inverse quadratic interpolation often behaves poorly when the iterates are not close to the root.


title: Root-finding algorithms

text: Brent's method is a combination of the bisection method, the secant method and inverse quadratic interpolation. At every iteration, Brent's method decides which method out of these three is likely to do best, and proceeds by doing a step according to that method. This gives a robust and fast method, which therefore enjoys considerable popularity.