title: Murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa

text: In an interview with "The Malaysian Insider", Abdul Razak Baginda claimed that Altantuyaa Shaariibuu was blackmailing him for amounts in the US$5,000 to US$8,000 range on personal matters, which prompted him to enlist Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri for help, and hire private investigator P. Balasubramaniam for protection. Altantuyaa was later murdered, allegedly under police custody of Sirul Azhar and Azilah Hadri. Both were convicted for the murder from the physical evidence found in Sirul's car, Sirul's house, and an account that they both were present at the hotel Altantuyaa stayed, and outside of Razak's house. Sirul denied Musa Safri's involvement, and Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted of murder due to reasonable doubt raised from the record of 144 telephone calls and SMSes made between him and Musa Safri. Abdul Razak Baginda also denied the murder was related to his submarine deal, and claimed P. Balasubramaniam's statutory declaration, that implicated the Deputy Prime Minister, was based on hearsay.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Bionicle: Mask of Light, stylized as BIONICLE: Mask of Light — The Movie, is a 2003 computer-animated science fantasy action film based on the Bionicle toyline by Lego, and particularly serves as a direct adaptation to the latter half of the toyline's 2003 narrative. Set in a universe filled with bio-mechanical beings allied with classical element-themed tribes, the story follows two friends from the fire-based village of Ta-Koro on a quest to find the owner of the Mask of Light, a mystical artifact that can potentially defeat Makuta, an evil entity threatening the island.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The project was first proposed in 2001, during the original run of the Bionicle toyline. Lego contacted multiple writers for the project, including original Bionicle contributors Bob Thompson and Alastair Swinnerton, and Hollywood writers Henry Gilroy and Greg Weisman. Production began in 2002, taking approximately a year to complete. A major part of the graphical design was adjusting the characters so they could work in human-like ways while still resembling the original toys. The music was composed by Nathan Furst, who used orchestral and tribal elements to create the score. Voice casting was handled by Kris Zimmerman, and the voicework was done with the setting and mythos of Bionicle in mind.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Multiple studios were involved in the development and distribution of "Mask of Light": it was co-produced by Lego and Create TV & Film, developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and CGCG, and post-production was handled by 310 Studios and Hacienda Post. It was released on September 16, 2003 on home video and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Home Entertainment label. Upon release, the film reached high positions in VHS and DVD charts, and received generally positive reviews from journalists. "Mask of Light" was followed by two prequel films, "" in 2004 and "" in 2005, and a stand-alone sequel, "", in 2009.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The film takes place on a tropical island in the Bionicle universe. According to legend, the Great Spirit Mata Nui created the island's masked Matoran inhabitants. Mata Nui was sent into a coma by his envious spirit brother Makuta, who began a reign of terror over the island. His reign ended when six guardians, known as Toa, freed the island from his regime. The Matoran, alongside the Toa and Turaga leaders, live in Element-themed regions of the island. The events of the film take place during the latter half of the 2003 storyline.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The film starts when two Matoran from the fire village of Ta-Koro called Jaller and Takua discover a Great Kanohi, a Toa mask imbued with Elemental power in a cave, and Takua is rescued from a lava wave by the Fire Toa Tahu. The two Matoran later participate in a multi-tribal game of Kohlii, the island's national sport; the match reveals developing tensions between Tahu and the Water Toa Gali. At the end of the match, the Mask is accidentally revealed and the Turaga recognize its powers. They announce that it heralds the arrival of a seventh Toa destined to defeat Makuta and awaken Mata Nui. Jaller and Takua are sent on a quest to find the Seventh Toa, guided by the Mask. In the meantime, Makuta sends three Rahkshi, beings born from pieces of his own essence, to retrieve the Mask. The Rahkshi invade Ta-Koro in search of the Mask, destroying the village. Tahu is poisoned during the assault, causing his behaviour to become increasingly erratic and worsening his already-strained relationship with Gali.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: During their journey together, Jaller and Takua receive aid from the Air Toa Lewa, and the Ice Toa Kopaka, the latter of whom temporarily immobilizes the Rakhshi by trapping them in a frozen lake. During their journey through the mountain tunnels en route to the Earth village of Onu-Koro, Takua wanders away from Jaller and is confronted by Makuta, who threatens to kill Jaller and the rest of the island's inhabitants unless Takua brings him the Mask; Takua then abandons Jaller in an attempt to shield him. Makuta then releases three more Rakhshi, who attack Onu-Koro as Takua arrives. Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa and Gali arrive to help the Earth Toa Onua and the Stone Toa Pohatu. Tahu is further corrupted during the battle and goes insane, forcing the Toa to subdue him and flee. Takua decides to rejoin Jaller, while Gali and the other Toa purge the Rakhshi poison from Tahu, resulting in his reconciliation with Gali.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Arriving at Kini Nui, a great temple at the island's centre, Jaller and Takua are confronted by all six Rahkshi. The six Toa mount a united offensive and defeat five of them, but the surviving Rahkshi attacks Takua. Jaller sacrifices himself to protect his friend, and Jaller's final words prompt Takua to don the Mask of Light; the Mask transforms him into Takanuva, the Toa of Light. Defeating the final Rakhshi, he constructs a craft powered by Kraata, the worm-like creatures inside the Rahkshi to guide him to Makuta. Traveling to his lair beneath Mata Nui, the two hold a Kohlii contest to decide the island's fate. At Takanuva's bidding, the Toa, Turaga and Matoran gather together in the chamber, and witness Takanuva merging with Makuta to form a single powerful being. With Takanuva's willpower dominant, the being raises a gate leading deeper beneath the island, through which the gathered people flee. The being also revives Jaller before the gate collapses on top of it. The Turaga proceed to awaken Mata Nui using the Mask of Light, which in turn revives Takanuva. The film ends with Takanuva discovering , the Matoran's original home.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The concept for a movie based on the Bionicle toyline was proposed as early as 2001, when Bionicle became an unexpected commercial success for Lego: this idea was originally inspired by the fact that Lego advertised Bionicle as if it were a movie, and they had received inquiry emails and licensing requests from multiple film studios. Deciding to make the movie while retaining full creative control, Lego began discussing with potential partners, knowing that the film needed to come out while Bionicle was still looming large in the public consciousness. Lego's eventual partner was production entity Create TV & Film. With the initial partnership set up, Lego created some development assets and went round various animation studios to find one that would develop the film. They narrowed it down to two studios, one of which was Creative Capers Entertainment. Creative Capers convinced Lego to employ them after producing a well-received short animated segment featuring Lewa. Creative Caper's three principles, directors Terry Shakespeare and David Molina, and producer Sue Shakespear, all took up their respective roles for the film's production. The deal was reportedly worth $5 million. In a later interview, Shakespeare referred to the film's aesthetic as "primary colors that were coded to the areas", saying it had a "younger feel" when compared to its prequel. He also referred to the film as "very intimate, very organic".


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The film began full production in 2002. While most projects of its type took 18–24 months to complete, the development team completed the film in 13 months. The project's budget was later estimated as being between $3.5 to $5 million. In addition to Creative Capers, Taiwanese studio CGCG created most of the animation: at the time, overseas outsourcing was a rarity for CGI movies. By the end of production, the film ran to 77 minutes of raw footage. At this stage, 310 Studios was brought in to handle post production, which mostly entailed cutting the film's length down by 7 minutes. According to 310 Studios president Billy Jones, the hardest part of this was deciding which pieces needed to be cut, as they were impressed with everything that had been produced. 310 Studios also created the opening title and ending credit sequences. Lego also partnered with Miramax to distribute the film, along with developing a future full feature-length theatrical film. Miramax's then-parent Disney was also involved with some of the production and release of the film. Terry Shakespeare stated in a later interview that Disney may have recommended Lego to choose Creative Capers as animation partners because of their previous work with the company.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Five different people were involved in the creation of the film's story and script: executive producer Bob Thompson, original Bionicle co-creators and writers Alastair Swinnerton and Martin Riber Andersen, and Hollywood writers Henry Gilroy and Greg Weisman. The script-writing process began in 2002. Gilroy became involved after a meeting with Thompson, and enjoyed working on the script as he greatly admired the Bionicle mythos. Two draft scripts were originally created to see who would write the better script: one by Swinnerton, and one from Gilroy. Due to time constraints, the Gilroy script was accepted with some of Swinnerton's ideas included. Gilroy's most difficult task was creating the dialogue for the Toa: he needed to take into account Thompson's own interpretations, and what the majority of fans thought they should sound like. In the end, he attempted to stay true to original portrayals while giving the voice actors something unique to work with. He also needed to balance their portrayals and screentime, as each of the six needed a chance to shine. The script went through eight different drafts before the final version, although this was far less than Gilroy was used to seeing on other projects. During planning stages, a lot of time was devoted to how characters interacted with each other: cited examples were Lewa's style of speaking, and Kopaka's stoic behaviour. These traits were accentuated for the film to give the characters more distinction and depth. He also needed to avoid putting in out-of-context pop culture references, which would not fit into the setting of Bionicle. As part of the world and character development, expressions and exclamations unique to the world were created: a cited example is Jaller saying "You could have been Lava-Bones" when Takua narrowly escapes being killed by a flood of lava.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The characters of Bionicle had been portrayed in various ways across multiple media, including the official comics, Flash animations used for online videos, and CGI commercials for the sets. The team decided to use the models from the CGI commercials as their working base for the film models. Before commencing with designing the characters, the team went to Lego's Denmark headquarters and received lessons in the Bionicle design process. The team were originally not going to alter the characters that much, but they needed them to be emotive, which necessitated a redesign. The first step in creating the character models was redrawing the skeleton, then adding muscle pods that would interweave with the skeleton: the muscle gave the characters a more textured appearance, and were added to the shoulders, calves, abdomen and chest cavity. Each character was given a "heart light", a pulsating light in their chest which would fluctuate even when the character was stationary in-shot. They also adjusted the eyes, making the sockets shallower than on the sets and giving them a pupil-like glow. While redesigning the Toa, the team consulted with the original Lego staff to determine what materials the characters were made of: the muscles were compared to rubber, the bones described as a mesh of titanium alloy and carbon fibre, while the armour was made of Kevlar. In general, the outer shells remained mostly unchanged from the sets, although the visible gears were removed and armour was fitted to their backs. The Toa were also bulked up a little when compared to their sets so their feats would be believable for viewers.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Several external features were redesigned for the movie, including the introduction of a movable mouth to allow for a more human character, and a four-pronged mechanical tongue to make them look less like dolls. Other characters used lights behind their masks to form mouth movement. Particular emphasis was placed on the eyebrows and lips of characters. The main change from the original models was the inclusion of hands, which was a necessity if the character performances were to be made realistic. Custom texture maps were created for each character so they would appear unique. In addition to reinventing old characters, the team created original character designs with Lego staff. Makuta, who had only been briefly glimpsed in the comics and web animations, was created through a "Frankenstein principle", taking parts and pieces from multiple Bionicle sets to create the ultimate Bionicle villain. Other original creations included Takua's pet crab Pewku, and a Gukko Bird designed to transport two Matoran. The Rahkshi are described by Bob Thompson as "like hounds hunting down the [Mask of Light]". They were created by Swinnerton, and comic writer Alan Grant helped develop their characters. They were designed to appear more machine-like than the rest of the cast, and their design were strongly inspired by the bio-mechanical artworks of H. R. Giger.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Voice casting was managed by Kris Zimmerman, who chose voice actors that seemed to suit certain roles: the Matoran were voiced by young adults, while the Turaga were voiced by older actors. The voice actors and their performances were chosen so they would not sound like they came from a specific area of the world, instead sound like they came from and belonged in the Bionicle universe. A notable event during recording was a behind-the-scenes incident between Michas and Francis: originally cast in the respective roles of Jaller and Takua, Michas came into a recording session in a muddled state and began reading Takua's lines by mistake. When Francis came in, he read Jaller's lines: when the staff heard them and were favourably impressed, the actors permanently switched roles. Voice acting for the project was mostly done in 2002, but dialogue was re-recorded during Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR) into 2003: approximately 30% of the final film's dialogue was done during ADR. Audio and music post-production was handled by Hacienda Post. The company's president Tim Borquez served as sound supervisor. "Mask of Light" was the first time in any media that Bionicle characters spoke in an audio format.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: The music was composed by Nathan Furst, whose preferred composition style of grand orchestra and electronica was what the film's producers were looking for. Initially ignorant of the Bionicle universe, he explored the official website after getting the job as composer to get better context for his music. This and discussions he had with staff helped in the creation of eight or nine specific themes. The overall style is grand orchestral, but includes elements of electronic and tribal music. Furst used elements of African, Polynesian, and Eastern European music to communicate the fact that Mata Nui was an island, and when he could he incorporated his music into the action rather than leaving it as a standalone element within scenes.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: Originally unavailable for purchase as a soundtrack, Furst published the score of "Mask of Light" as a digital album with Rising Phoenix Records in 2017, fourteen years after the film's release. The album, titled "Bionicle: Mask of Light Original Score Soundtrack (14th Anniversary Release)", was published on March 10, 2017. It is fully remastered and contains the complete score as heard in the film, consisting of eighteen tracks which comprise approximately an hour of music.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: "Mask of Light" was first announced in April 2002 for release in September the following year. It was Lego Media's (later becoming Create TV & Film in early 2003) first project based on original characters and storylines, and their first direct-to-video production. It initially released on 16 September 2003 for home video and DVD. It went on to release in 27 different countries over the next eight weeks. It was released under the Miramax Home Entertainment label alongside Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Prior to its release, the film received a world premiere at Legoland in Carlsbad, California on 13 September: the premiere featured a huge mosaic built of Lego and a special effects show, in addition to special guests and costumed characters. The following year, the film received its television premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami program block.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: At release, the film ranked high in multiple sales charts. In the "Top Kid Video" compiled by "Billboard", it came close to the top of the charts upon release. Upon release, the film ranked at #2 on Amazon.com's VHS best seller list, coming in behind the VHS release of "". According to Lego's 2003 financial report, the film was top-selling VHS release in the United States in its first week, and ranked at #4 in a similar list compiled by "The Hollywood Reporter". It was also among the top premiere DVDs of the year. The film's rental sales were also high, being placed at #8 in the animated direct-to-video charts and totalling $4.24 million revenue by October 2004. According to "Animation Magazine", the film is considered to be a commercial success.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a favourable ranking of "B+", calling it a "well-constructed CGI adventure" and saying that those who did not understand the story would enjoy the effects and action sequences. DVDTalk's Don Houston was generally positive about both the film and its additional content: he called the visuals "exceptionally crisp and clear" when compared to other films of its type, and gave high praise to the voice acting and noting darker themes within the film. His main criticism was that it relied heavily on foreknowledge of earlier Bionicle storylines. Sci Film.org praised the film's design and visuals, but felt that the film was too short, echoed Houston's criticism of a need for foreknowledge, and said that it was "too respectful" when compared to other films like "". Jules Faber of Digital Views Daily said the story had been designed with children in mind, and again praised the visuals despite seeing some stilted animations and poorly-done environmental effects. He was generally positive about the DVD's audio and visual quality. Both Houston and Faber noted homages to other well-known films, including "The Lord of the Rings", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and the works of Ray Harryhausen.


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: "Mask of Light" won a Golden Reel Award for Best Visual Effects in a DVD Premiere Movie in December 2003. In addition, it won the Best DVD release award at the 2004 Saturn Awards. In 2014, Vulture.com made mention of the movie in a 2014 retrospective on Lego's history in the movie industry. That same year, "Radio Times" ranked it as among the best movies based on toys, say that the developers "did a better-than-average job of translating the appeal of the toys to screen".


title: Bionicle: Mask of Light

text: "Mask of Light" was promoted by Lego with new toys based on the film's original characters; a video game based on its story that released in 2003; a line of shoes; and a novelisation of the film. Two further "Bionicle" movies were confirmed prior to the release of "Mask of Light", with the second being another direct-to-video feature and a third for theatrical release. The second movie, "", released in 2004. The third movie, "", was released as a direct-to-DVD feature in 2005. Both films were produced by the same creative team behind "Mask of Light". A fourth film by a different studio, "", was released in 2009 through Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. A four-episode television series based on the rebooted Bionicle toyline aired in the first quarter of 2016 on Netflix.


title: Upinder Singh

text: Upinder Singh is an Indian historian who is Professor of History and Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University. She is the former head of the History Department at the University of Delhi. She is also the recipient of the inaugural Infosys Prize in the category of Social Sciences (History).


title: Upinder Singh

text: Singh is an alumna of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and received a PhD from McGill University in Canada. She has a Master of Arts in history and an M.Phil. in history, both from the University of Delhi. She has a Ph.D. from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, with a thesis titled "Kings, Brahmanas, and Temples in Orissa: an epigraphic study (300-1147 CE)". She is a Professor in the Department of History at Ashoka University.


title: Upinder Singh

text: Singh is the daughter of Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister of India, and Gursharan Kaur. She is married to Vijay Tankha, a professor of philosophy and has two sons.


title: Upinder Singh

text: Singh was awarded the Netherlands Government Reciprocal Fellowship in 1985, to pursue research at the Instituut Kern, Leiden. She was awarded the Ancient India and Iran Trust/Wallace India Visiting Fellowship to pursue research in Cambridge and London in 1999. She was also a visiting fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Singh has received the prestigious Daniel Ingalls Fellowship at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University in 2005.


title: Upinder Singh

text: She is the national coordinator for history at the Institute of Life Long Learning at the University of Delhi.


title: Upinder Singh

text: She was visiting professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium, as the recipient of the Erasmus Mundus Fellowship, May–June 2010.


title: Upinder Singh

text: On 25 February 2008, right wing activists demonstrated in the University of Delhi campus, in protest of an essay by A.K. Ramanujan, titled "Three Hundred Ramayanas". The activists felt the essay was offensive, and alleged that Singh was responsible for its inclusion in a list of recommended readings for the BA programme in history. The University denied the allegation and stated that Singh was "… neither the editor nor compiler of the book on "Cultural History of Ancient India"."


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg () or Sonmarg (), known as Sonamarag (; ) in Kashmiri, is a hill station located in the Ganderbal District of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located about 62 Kilometers from Ganderbal Town and northeast of the capital city, Srinagar.


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg had historical significance as a gateway on the ancient Silk Road, connecting Jammu and Kashmir with Tibet. Today, the hill station is a popular tourist destination amongst fishers and hikers, and following the Kargil War with neighbouring Pakistan in 1999, serves as a strategically important point for the Indian Army.


title: Sonamarg

text: The hill station is situated in the Kashmir Valley, at an altitude of and is close to some of the valley's tallest peaks, alongside the Machoi Glacier, Sirbal Peak, Kolahoi Peak, Amarnath Peak and Machoi Peak. Combined with the alpine meadows that bloom in the summer as well as rivers and lakes stocked with fish, Sonamarg is a notable tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir.


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg gives rise to the 'Three Sisters'—a group of rivers (the Lidder, Sind and Neelum) that run parallel to each other and serve as tributaries for the major Jhelum River that runs through the Kashmir Valley and into Pakistan.


title: Sonamarg

text: Given its high altitude and mountainous terrain, Sonamarg experiences the regionally-rare humid continental climate (Köppen: "Dfb") with significant rainfall. The average temperature in Sonamarg is , and nearly of precipitation falls annually (not counting the heavy snowfall that falls occasionally in winter).


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg has no permanent settlement and is inaccessible during winter due to heavy snowfall and avalanches. Per the 2011 Census of India, Sonamarg had a seasonal population of 392 (51% male, 49% female), excluding tourists and those working in the tourism industry.


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg provides trekking routes leading to Vishansar Lake, Krishansar Lake, Gangabal Lake and Gadsar Lake in the Himalayas, which are stocked with snowtrout and brown trout. The Sind River meanders here and abounds with trout and mahseer. Ponies can be hired for the trip up to Thajiwas glacier, a major attraction during the summer months. The Yatra to the nearby Amarnath Temple begins in Sonamarg.


title: Sonamarg

text: Baltal, 15 km east of Sonamarg, is a valley that lies at the foot of the Zoji La pass. Trekkers can also reach the city of Leh—known as "the rooftop of the world"—by crossing over the Zoji La.


title: Sonamarg

text: The Jammu and Kashmir tourism department organizes river rafting tournaments at Sonamarg throughout the year, which has recently seen the participation of teams from abroad.


title: Sonamarg

text: Sonamarg is accessible by bus or car from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, via National Highway 1 (NH 1) and the Zoji La pass. During the winter, heavy snowfall and avalanches block the NH 1, meaning local traffic is only permitted up to Gagangear village, which is the last permanent settlement of this area. The Z-Morh Tunnel is being built to keep the road open year-round, and is due for completion in June 2021.


title: Barbara Trentham

text: Barbara Trentham (born Barbara Lynn Schilling; August 27, 1944August 2, 2013) was an American model and actress. In the early 1970s, her photo appeared on many prominent magazine covers, including the British edition of "Vogue". As an actress, she starred in the 1975 film "Rollerball", and had supporting roles in numerous other 1970s films. Trentham was married to actor-comedian John Cleese.


title: Barbara Trentham

text: Trentham was born Barbara Lynn Schilling in 1944 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, moved with her parents as a child to Connecticut.. She attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, from which she graduated in 1966 and then moved to England to study at the University of Oxford. At Oxford she met fellow student Giles Trentham; they married in 1967 and she retained his name after their divorce in 1970.


title: Barbara Trentham

text: In the early 1970s, Trentham worked as a model in London. Her photo appeared several times on the cover pages of British magazines including "Seventeen" and "Vogue".


title: Barbara Trentham

text: In 1972 she landed a supporting role in the horror thriller "The Possession of Joel Delaney". She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She starred in the science fiction film "Rollerball" in 1975. In 1976 she performed in the action drama "Sky Riders" and had a cameo in the British-German television series "The Girl from Outer Space". In 1978, she appeared in the produced-for-television horror film "Death Moon" and 1979 in an episode of the adventure series "A Man Called Sloane".


title: Barbara Trentham

text: In 1980, while working in Los Angeles as a reporter and producer of "Those Amazing Animals", she met English actor and comedian John Cleese at a Monty Python performance. They married in 1981; their daughter Camilla was born in 1984. In 1987, the couple separated and three years later they divorced.


title: Barbara Trentham

text: During her marriage to Cleese her love for art was reawakened and she began a third career as a painter, her preferred medium being oil paint. In 1993 she moved to Chicago, where she met the lawyer George Covington. The two married in 1998 and lived in Lake Bluff, Illinois. She built up an art studio which became the meeting place and source of inspiration for local artists. She was also co-founder of Artists on the Bluff, a non-profit organization for artists. She was a member of the Art Association of Jackson Hole, and organized events and art fairs there. From watercolor and acrylic to oil painting, Trentham produced pieces featuring both figures and landscapes.


title: Barbara Trentham

text: Barbara Trentham died on August 2, 2013, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, aged 68, from complications from leukemia.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Inconceivable is a 2017 American thriller film directed by Jonathan Baker and written by Chloe King. It stars Gina Gershon, Faye Dunaway, Nicolas Cage, Nicky Whelan and Natalie Eva Marie. The film was released on June 30, 2017, by Lionsgate Premiere.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: While holding a crying baby, a woman fights with and kills a man. Four years later, Angela (Gina Gershon) and Brian (Nicolas Cage), both doctors, have a four-year-old daughter named Cora. Angela's friend Linda (Natalie Eva Marie) introduces Angela to Katie (Nicky Whelan), who has a four-year-old daughter, Maddie. Katie says she left an abusive husband but does not elaborate. Brian's mother, Donna, (Faye Dunaway) dislikes Katie from the start and questions her background.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Devastated after a miscarriage, Angela invites Katie to move into the guest house and be a part-time nanny while she recovers. One night, knowing Brian is watching, Katie steps naked into the pool. Brian becomes uncomfortable and leaves. When Angela returns to work at the hospital, Katie watches Cora.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Katie snoops through Angela and Brian's belongings. Angela comes home after work one day and catches Katie having sex in the guest house with whom she thinks is Brian, but is actually a woman. After the initial embarrassment, Angela relaxes somewhat and trusts Katie more, not believing she would ever have any interest in Brian. Linda excitedly tells Katie that Angela is going to ask Linda to be their surrogate, but Katie can barely hide how much it upsets her.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Angela has one embryo left from the same donor that Cora was conceived from, and she wants to use that so the two can be full siblings. Katie confides to Linda that she is the donor, and that her daughter Maddie was also hers but born from a mother in Maine. Katie abducted Maddie as a baby because "the mother didn't take care of her" and now she worries that Cora is not getting enough attention either and wants to take her. She clubs Linda over the head and drowns her in a lake. A couple later finds her body.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Months later, Angela and Brian tell Katie they are getting a full-time nanny, and Katie accuses them of wanting a complete stranger to raise their child. Angela suspects Katie is planning to keep the baby and disappear, and accuses her of killing Linda because she wanted it for herself. Katie fakes early labor pains. Brian is furious with Angela and is told by Katie that she is taking illegal prescription meds and losing her mind.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: The next morning, while Brian is at work, Angela sneaks into the guest house and discovers Katie's secrets, confirming that she was a previous donor; she then gets a DNA test for the girls. While dropping off the DNA samples, Angela becomes very light headed and woozy, and tries to rush home, but then passes out while driving. Once she wakes, she realizes that Katie has drugged her and rushes home, where she confronts Katie, who admits everything to Angela and stabs herself in the stomach, then screams for Brian while stabbing Angela. Katie says she is going to tell everyone that Angela tried to kill her and Angela tells Katie that the truth will come out.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Katie is taken to the ER and an emergency C-section takes place. A healthy baby boy named Gabriel is born. The DNA test comes back and shows that Maddie and Cora were related to each other and to Katie, meaning Angela had told the truth. Katie is arrested then shown in a padded cell whilst the happy family of Brian, Angela, Maddie, Cora and Gabriel are shown all resting together.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: The project was unveiled during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival by Lindsay Lohan who said she would both produce and star in it. Producer and financier Randall Emmett said during a press conference announcing the project that audiences would be "really shocked when they see Lindsay take this role on". Lohan, who was also looking for a director, expressed interest in working with Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis. In May 2015, "Deadline" reported that the film would mark Jonathan Baker's directorial debut. Baker also signed a deal to co-produce the film through his newly formed production company, Baker's Entertainment Group, with Emmett and his partner George Furla of Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: In October 2015, Baker announced through his Facebook page that Faye Dunaway and Gina Gershon were in talks to join the cast. In September 2016, it was announced Nicolas Cage, Faye Dunaway, Gina Gershon and Nicky Whelan had signed on to star in the film. That same month, Baker confirmed Whelan had replaced Lohan and wrote on his Facebook page, "As for Lindsay Lohan not being a part of Inconceivable... The fans deserve to know, I loved her for the part of Katie. I fought for her to the very end. Sadly the studio has the final say and they just did not want to go in that direction. I think Lindsay is a very good actress." Baker later explained he tried to convince several major actresses to play the part, "Here's what happened, and here's the crazy thing: I go out to every major movie star—I just lost my mind—I went out for six months to major, major stars and they'd say, 'Who's the man?' I said, 'Are you kidding me? I'm offering you millions of dollars!'" Although his inability to convince a major actress left him frustrated, Baker changed his approach and offered a supporting role to Nicolas Cage, asking him to support the women.


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Principal photography began on October 10, 2016 and was supposed to last three-and-a-half weeks but was subsequently reduced to 15 days. Dunaway broke her leg a few days before filming but Baker refused to recast the role, as it had been written specifically for her, and rewrote her part so that she would be able to perform sitting down, "She was in so much pain and she came to the set and she worked did what she needed to do, she's an Oscar winner, a great actress and this is a small come-back role that was written in 12 hours so that it would flow with the script."


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 31% based on 13 reviews and an average rating of 3.7/10. Frank Scheck of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that it was "something that both Nicolas Cage and Faye Dunaway will want to leave off their filmographies, and at this point that's saying something."


title: Inconceivable (2017 film)

text: Noel Murray of the "Los Angeles Times" commented that the actors were "poorly served by the script and direction. First-time feature-director Jonathan Baker keeps the pace too slack and the tone too earnest — and sometimes fails to convey basic visual information about what's happening."


title: IEC 61850

text: IEC 61850 is an international standard defining communication protocols for intelligent electronic devices at electrical substations. It is a part of the International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) Technical Committee 57 reference architecture for electric power systems. The abstract data models defined in IEC 61850 can be mapped to a number of protocols. Current mappings in the standard are to MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification), GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented System Event) [see section 3, Terms and definitions, term 3.65 on page 14], SV (Sampled Values) or SMV (Sampled Measure Values), and soon to Web Services. In the previous version of the standard, GOOSE stood for "Generic Object Oriented Substation Event", but this old definition is still very common in IEC 61850 documentation. These protocols can run over TCP/IP networks or substation LANs using high speed switched Ethernet to obtain the necessary response times below four milliseconds for protective relaying.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The "Arafura" class is a class of offshore patrol vessels being built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Initially proposed in the and marked as procurement project SEA 1180, it was originally planned that 20 Offshore Combatant Vessels (OCV) would replace 26 vessels across four separate ship classes: the s, the s, the s, and the es. Although having a common design (which could be up to 2,000 tonnes in displacement), the ships would use a modular mission payload system to fulfill specific roles; primarily border patrol, mine warfare, and hydrographic survey. The 2013 Defence White Paper committed to the OCV project as a long-term goal, but opted in the short term for an accelerated procurement of an existing design to replace the "Armidale"s, and life-extension refits for the other types. This resulted in the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) project and the amount of vessels reduced to 12. However, this was further increased to 14 when 2 further Mine Counter Measures variants were proposed under "SEA 1905".


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on 18 April 2016 that ship designers Damen, Fassmer and Lürssen had been shortlisted for the project. On 24 November 2017, the government announced that Lürssen had been selected.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: First made public in "", the 2009 Department of Defence white paper, the planned vessels stem from Government instructions for the RAN to rationalise patrol, mine warfare, and hydrographic survey assets into a single class of warship. It was originally planned 20 OCVs would replace 26 vessels across four separate ship classes: the s, the s, the s, and the es


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Instead of being capable of performing all roles simultaneously, the ships will have a modular mission payload system like the Standard Flex system used by the Danish Navy, or the system used by the United States Navy's littoral combat ships: mission-specific equipment will be fitted to containerised modules, which can be exchanged for different modules when the ship needs to change roles. The use of containerised modules means that equipment can be upgraded without taking the ships out of service for refit, and if necessary can be fitted to requisitioned civilian vessels. The cost in developing and implementing the modular system is predicted to be offset by the savings in the areas of maintenance (having to purchase and maintain stocks to repair four different designs), personnel (having to retrain sailors when they transfer to a new ship), and administration.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: It was anticipated that the new ships could have displaced anywhere up to 2,000 tonnes, although defence magazine editor Kym Bergmann predicts that this 'worst case' would require 50,000 tons of steel or aluminium to be fabricated (compared to 36,000 tons for the "Attack-class" submarine program), and unless multiple shipbuilders are involved, the 12- to 18-month construction time per vessel will see the last ship enter service during the late 2020s.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Instead of building all 20 vessels to the same design, the idea of hull variants optimised for different roles is also being explored: the module system will allow a ship designed for one role to be rapidly reconfigured to serve in another role, with a small but acceptable loss in capability compared to a 'native' OPV. The OPVs could be designed to carry a helicopter or an unmanned aerial vehicle to improve each ship's surveillance range, but this avenue is dependent on further study and cost-benefit analysis.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The OPV was originally planned to replace 26 vessels across four warship classes: the s, the s, the s, and the es. The new ships were to be used for offshore and littoral patrol, border protection, anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, mine warfare, and hydrographic survey. It was plausible that the OPVs will operate in support of the ships; amphibious operations would benefit from the survey and mine warfare capabilities of the ships.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The Royal Navy has begun plans for a similar vessel under the Future Surface Combatant program, designated the Future Mine Countermeasures/Hydrographic/Patrol Vessel (FMHPV). At the start of 2010, it was announced that the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom were exploring the potential for idea-sharing and co-operation on the design of the OPV and FMHPV, as well as planned replacements for the , Type 22, and Type 23 frigates. Although the nations will share their analyses, a common design or shared construction program is unlikely, as the two nations have different needs and replacement schedules. The RAN is also observing the development of the United States Navy Littoral Combat Ships, to take advantage of lessons learned during the program.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: While designing the trimarans for the Littoral Combat Ship program, Australian-owned shipbuilder Austal also prepared a scaled-down version that could serve as the basis for the Australian OPV. The Austal Multi Role Vessel (MRV 80) would have an overall length of 80 metres, a top speed of 26 knots, carry an NH-90 or similar helicopter, and have 500 square metres for mission equipment or cargo.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: In 2012, American shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries proposed a variant of the Legend-class National Security Cutter, a ship built for the United States Coast Guard.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Although the 2013 White Paper committed to the OCV as a long-term plan, it announced that an interim patrol boat class based on an existing design would be acquired as a short-term replacement for the "Armidale"s, while the "Paluma"s and "Huon"s would undergo life-extension upgrades. The 20 vessels originally planned to be built was reduced was later reduced to 12 following the change in their planned role. The project received the procurement designation SEA 1180.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on 18 April 2016 that ship designers Damen, Fassmer and Lürssen had been shortlisted for the project. On 24 November 2017, the government announced that Lürssen had been selected.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: In October 2017, the Australian government announced that the vessels would use an Australian-designed SAAB tactical combat management system.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Under "SEA 1905" a further two ships are to be built by Civmec for the mine countermeasures role. A third vessel may be procured under "SEA 2400" to fulfill the survey although this is unlikely. This was expanded in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and 2020 Force Structure Plan released on 30 June 2020 for up to 8 vessels optimised for mine countermeasures and hydrographic survey roles potentially based on the "Arafura" design possibly bringing the total number of vessels back up to the original 20.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The "Arafura"-class is based on the Lürssen-designed "Darussalam"-class, operated by the Royal Brunei Navy. Each vessel has a gross displacement of 1,640 tonnes, and measures 80 metres long, with a beam of 13 metres and a draft of 4 metres. Propulsion power is from two MTU 16V diesel engines rated at 4440kw each, which drive variable pitch propellers and give a top speed of 22 knots, and shipboard electrical power is generated by MAN diesel engines. The ship's range is about , with an endurance of 21 days. The standard crew complement is 40 sailors, though up to 20 more can be berthed if required. The ships will be deployed with empty space available to install container-mounted systems such as aircraft support and sensors; if fully utilized, the gross displacement could increase to 1,800 tonnes.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Shipboard armament was originally intended to be a single 40 mm gun and two 12.7 mm guns. The 40 mm gun was cancelled in 2021 due to a combination of technical problems and a re-assessment of the threats the ships would face. The ships will instead be armed with a Typhoon Weapon Station on an interim basis until a replacement weapon is identified and then acquired.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Each vessel carries two 8.5 metre rigid inflatable boats and a single 10 metre boat, which are intended as the primary means of deploying offensive force in the ships' border patrol role. A single unmanned aerial vehicle is carried and deployed from an open utility deck. Two separate electro-optic targeting systems and three radars are installed and managed by the Saab 9LV system. In order to allow the ships to operate in conjunction with allied international forces, each ship is equipped with a unique electronic identifier transponder that allows for communication via the Link 16 network.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The class of ships will be based on Lürssen's OPV80, similar to the of the Royal Brunei Navy. The first two vessels will be built by ASC Shipbuilding in Adelaide, South Australia before production is transferred to the shipyard of Forgacs Marine & Defence, a subsidiary of Civmec, in Henderson, Western Australia.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: Construction of the first ship began on 15 November 2018. On that day, it was also announced that the vessel would be named HMAS "Arafura", and the class the "Arafura"-class patrol vessels.


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: On 9 April 2020 the second ship in the class, HMAS "Eyre", was laid down at ASC's shipyard. The names of the following four ships were also announced at this time: HMA Ships "Pilbara", "Gippsland", "Illawara" and "Carpentaria."


title: Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel

text: The first three ships amongst the then new names, HMAS "Pilbara", HMAS "Gippsland" and HMAS "Illawarra" were laid down at the shipyard of Civmec in Henderson on 11 September 2020, 30 July 2021 and 27 September 2022, respectively.


title: Vulture bee

text: Vulture bees, also known as carrion bees, are a small group of three closely related South American stingless bee species in the genus "Trigona" which feed on rotting meat. Vulture bees produce a honey-like substance which is not derived from nectar, but rather from protein-rich secretions of the bees' hypopharyngeal glands. These secretions are likely derived from the bees' diet, which consists of carrion eaten outside the nest. This unusual behavior was only discovered in 1982, nearly two centuries after the bees were first classified.


title: Vulture bee

text: Vulture bees are reddish-brown in colour, featuring only a few lighter hairs on their thorax, and range in length from . As with many types of stingless bee, the vulture bee has strong, powerful mandibles, which it uses to tear off flesh. Vulture bees have been recorded as foraging from more than 75 different species of animal.


title: Vulture bee

text: Forager vulture bees enter dead animals through the eye sockets, collecting flesh, which is consumed. Similar to how honeybees process nectar with the aim of eventual regurgitation and storage as honey, the flesh a forager vulture bee eats is, upon return to the hive, regurgitated and passed to a worker bee. The flesh is consumed by the bee and processed by its highly-acidic gut, specialised to help break down the meat, before the bee then regurgitates a honey-like substance from its hypopharyngeal glands, the same gland used by honeybees to produce royal jelly. The substance is rich and high in protein. Unlike honeybees, vulture bees do not produce an excess of honey, instead producing only what is necessary to sustain the hive.


title: Vulture bee

text: Vulture bees, much like maggots, usually enter the carcass through the eyes. They will then root around inside gathering the meat suitable for their needs. The vulture bee salivates on the rotting flesh and then consumes it, storing the flesh in its crop. When it returns to the hive, this meat is regurgitated and processed by a worker bee, which then re-secretes the resulting proteins as a decay-resistant edible glucose product resembling honey. These protein-rich secretions are then placed into pot-like containers within the hive until it is time to feed the immature bees. The secretions replace the role of pollen in the bees' diet, as vulture bees lack adaptations for carrying pollen and pollen stores are absent from their nests, though they do also store honey, which is of unknown origin. Larvae are fed on the carrion-based substance, while the adult bees consume the honey.


title: Vulture bee

text: The flavor of this honey-resembling substance is described as intense, smokey, and salty, or uniquely sweet.


title: History of crossbows

text: It is not clear where and when the crossbow originated, but it is believed to have appeared in China and Europe around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. In China the crossbow was one of the primary military weapons from the Warring States period until the end of the Han dynasty, when armies composed of up to 30 to 50 percent crossbowmen were not unheard of. The crossbow lost much of its popularity after the fall of the Han dynasty, likely due to the rise of the more resilient heavy cavalry during the Six Dynasties. One Tang dynasty source recommends a bow to crossbow ratio of five to one as well as the utilization of the countermarch to make up for the crossbow's lack of speed. The crossbow countermarch technique was further refined in the Song dynasty, but crossbow usage in the military continued to decline after the Mongol conquest of China. Although the crossbow never regained the prominence it once had under the Han, it was never completely phased out either. Even as late as the 17th century, military theorists were still recommending it for wider military adoption, but production had already shifted in favor of firearms and traditional composite bows.


title: History of crossbows

text: In the Western world a crossbow known as the "gastraphetes" was described by the Greco-Roman scientist Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. He believed it was the forerunner of the catapult, which places its appearance sometime prior to the 4th century BC during the Classical period. Other than the gastraphetes, the only other evidence of crossbows in ancient Europe are two stone relief carvings from a Roman grave in Gaul and some vague references by Vegetius. Pictish imagery from medieval Scotland dated between the 6th and 9th centuries AD do show what appear to be crossbows, but only for hunting, and not military usage. It's not clear how widespread crossbows were in Europe prior to the medieval period or if they were even used for warfare. The small body of evidence and the context they provide point to the fact that the ancient European crossbow was primarily a hunting tool or minor siege weapon. An assortment of other ancient European bolt throwers exist such as the ballista, but these were torsion engines and are not considered crossbows. Crossbows are not mentioned in European sources again until 947 as a French weapon during the siege of Senlis. From the 11th century onward, crossbows and crossbowmen occupied a position of high status in medieval European militaries, with the exception of the English and their continued use of the longbow. During the 16th century military crossbows in Europe were superseded by gunpowder weaponry such as cannons and muskets. Hunters continued to carry crossbows for another 150 years due to its silence.


title: History of crossbows

text: There is a theory that medieval European crossbows originate from China but some differences exist between the two trigger mechanisms used in European and Chinese crossbows.


title: History of crossbows

text: The "lath", also called the "prod", is the bow of the crossbow. According to W.F. Peterson, the "prod" came into usage in the 19th century as a result of mistranslating "rodd" in a 16th-century list of crossbow effects.


title: History of crossbows

text: The "stock" is the wooden body on which the bow is mounted, although the medieval "tiller" is also used.


title: History of crossbows

text: In terms of archaeological evidence, crossbow locks made of cast bronze have been found in China dating to around 650 BC. They have also been found in Tombs 3 and 12 at Qufu, Shandong, previously the capital of Lu, and date to 6th century BC. Bronze crossbow bolts dating from the mid-5th century BC have been found at a Chu burial site in Yutaishan, Jiangling County, Hubei Province. Other early finds of crossbows were discovered in Tomb 138 at Saobatang, Hunan Province, and date to mid-4th century BC. It's possible that these early crossbows used spherical pellets for ammunition. A Western-Han mathematician and music theorist, Jing Fang (78-37 BC), compared the moon to the shape of a round crossbow bullet. Zhuangzi also mentions crossbow bullets.


title: History of crossbows

text: The earliest Chinese documents mentioning a crossbow were texts from the 4th to 3rd centuries BC attributed to the followers of Mozi. This source refers to the use of a giant crossbow between the 6th and 5th centuries BC, corresponding to the late Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (first appearance dated between 500 BC to 300 BC) refers to the characteristics and use of crossbows in chapters 5 and 12 respectively, and compares a drawn crossbow to 'might.'


title: History of crossbows

text: The state of Chu favorited elite armoured crossbow units known for their endurance, and were capable of marching 160 km 'without resting.' Wei's elite forces were capable of marching over 40 km in one day while wearing heavy armour, a large crossbow with 50 bolts, a helmet, a side sword, and three days worth of rations. Those who met these standards earned an exemption from corvée labor and taxes for their entire family.


title: History of crossbows

text: The "Huainanzi" advises its readers not to use crossbows in marshland where the surface is soft and it is hard to arm the crossbow with the foot. The "Records of the Grand Historian", completed in 94 BC, mentions that Sun Bin defeated Pang Juan by ambushing him with a body of crossbowmen at the Battle of Maling. The "Book of Han", finished 111 AD, lists two military treatises on crossbows.


title: History of crossbows

text: It's clear from surviving inventory lists in Gansu and Xinjiang that the crossbow was greatly favored by the Han dynasty. For example, in one batch of slips there are only two mentions of bows, but thirty mentions of crossbows. Crossbows were mass-produced in state armories with designs improving as time went on, such as the use of a mulberry wood stock and brass; a crossbow in 1068 could pierce a tree at 140 paces. Crossbows were used in numbers as large as 50,000 starting from the Qin dynasty and upwards of several hundred thousand during the Han. According to one authority, the crossbow had become "nothing less than the standard weapon of the Han armies," by the second century BC. Han era carved stone images and paintings also contain images of horsemen wielding crossbows. Han soldiers were required to pull an "entry level" crossbow with a draw-weight of 76 kg to qualify as a crossbowman.


title: History of crossbows

text: After the Han dynasty, the crossbow lost favor until it experienced a mild resurgence during the Tang dynasty, under which the ideal expeditionary army of 20,000 included 2,200 archers and 2,000 crossbowmen. Li Jing and Li Quan prescribed 20 percent of the infantry to be armed with standard crossbows, which could hit the target half the time at a distance of 345 meters, but had an effective range of 225 meters.


title: History of crossbows

text: During the Song dynasty, the government attempted to restrict the spread of military crossbows and sought ways to keep armour and crossbows out of private homes. Despite the ban on certain types of crossbows, the weapon experienced an upsurge in civilian usage as both a hunting weapon and pastime. The "romantic young people from rich families, and others who had nothing particular to do" formed crossbow shooting clubs as a way to pass time.


title: History of crossbows

text: During the late Ming dynasty, no crossbows were mentioned to have been produced in the three-year period from 1619 to 1622. With 21,188,366 taels, the Ming manufactured 25,134 cannons, 8,252 small guns, 6,425 muskets, 4,090 culverins, 98,547 polearms and swords, 26,214 great "horse decapitator" swords, 42,800 bows, 1,000 great axes, 2,284,000 arrows, 180,000 fire arrows, 64,000 bow strings, and hundreds of transport carts.


title: History of crossbows

text: Military crossbows were armed by treading, or basically placing the feet on the bow stave and drawing it using one's arms and back muscles. During the Song dynasty, stirrups were added for ease of drawing and to mitigate damage to the bow. Alternatively the bow could also be drawn by a belt claw attached to the waist, but this was done lying down, as was the case for all large crossbows. Winch-drawing was used for the large mounted crossbows as seen below, but evidence for its use in Chinese hand-crossbows is scant.


title: History of crossbows

text: The crossbow allowed archers to shoot bows of greater strength and more accurately as well due to its greater stability, but at the cost of speed.


title: History of crossbows

text: The "Wujing Zongyao" states that the crossbow used "en masse" was the most effective weapon against northern nomadic cavalry charges. Even if they failed, the quarrels were too short to be used as regular arrows so they couldn't be used again by nomadic archers after the battle. The crossbow's role as an anti-cavalry weapon was later reaffirmed in Medieval Europe when Thomas the Archdeacon recommended them as the optimal weapon against the Mongols. Elite crossbowmen were used to pick off targets as was the case when the Liao Dynasty general Xiao Talin was picked off by a Song crossbowman at the Battle of Shanzhou in 1004.


title: History of crossbows

text: According to the "Wu-Yue Chunqiu" (history of the Wu-Yue War), written in the Eastern Han dynasty, the repeating crossbow was invented during the Warring States Period by a Mr. Qin from the State of Chu. This is corroborated by the earliest archaeological evidence of repeating crossbows, which was excavated from a Chu burial site at Tomb 47 at Qinjiazui, Hubei Province, and has been dated to the 4th century BC, during the Warring States Period (475 – 220 BC). Unlike repeating crossbows of later eras, the ancient double shot repeating crossbow uses a pistol grip and a rear pulling mechanism for arming. The Ming repeating crossbow uses an arming mechanism which requires its user to push a rear lever upwards and downwards back and forth. Although hand held repeating crossbows were generally weak and required additional poison, probably aconite, for lethality, much larger mounted versions appeared during the Ming dynasty.


title: History of crossbows

text: Although the invention of the repeating crossbow has often been attributed to Zhuge Liang, he in fact had nothing to do with it. This misconception is based on a record attributing improvements to the multiple bolt crossbows to him.


title: History of crossbows

text: Repeating crossbows continued in use until the late Qing dynasty when it became obvious they could not longer compete with firearms.


title: History of crossbows

text: Large mounted crossbows known as "bed crossbows" were used as early as the Warring States period. Mozi described them as defensive weapons placed on top of the battlements. The Mohist siege crossbow was described as humongous device with frameworks taller than a man and shooting arrows with cords attached so that they could be pulled back. By the Han dynasty, crossbows were used as mobile field artillery and known as "Military Strong Carts". Around the 5th century AD, multiple bows were combined to increase draw weight and length, thus creating the double and triple bow crossbows. Tang versions of this weapon are stated to have obtained a range of 1,160 yards, which is supported by Ata-Malik Juvayni on the use of similar weapons by the Mongols in 1256. According Juvayni, Hulagu Khan brought with him 3,000 giant crossbows from China, for the siege of Nishapur, and a team of Chinese technicians to work a great 'ox bow' shooting large bolts a distance of 2,500 paces, which was used at the siege of Maymun Diz. According to the "Wujing Zongyao", these weapons had a range of 450 meters while other Song sources give ranges of more than double or even triple that. Constructing these weapons, especially the casting of the large triggers, and their operation required the highest order of technical expertise available at the time. They were primarily used from the 8th to 11th centuries.


title: History of crossbows

text: However, Juwaini's description of the campaign against the Nizaris contains many exaggerations due to his bias against the Nizari Ismailis, and Maimun-Diz was actually not as impregnable as other nearby castles as Alamut and Lamasar, according to Peter Wiley.


title: History of crossbows

text: The multiple bolt crossbow appeared around the late 4th century BC. A passage dated to 320 BC states that it was mounted on a three-wheeled carriage and stationed on the ramparts. The crossbow was drawn using a treadle and shot 10-foot long arrows. Other drawing mechanisms such as winches and oxen were also used. Later on pedal release triggers were also used. Although this weapon was able to discharge multiple bolts, it was at the cost of reduced accuracy since the further the arrow was from the center of the bow string, the more off center its trajectory would be. It had a maximum range of 500 yards.


title: History of crossbows

text: When Qin Shi Huang's magicians failed to get in touch with "spirits and immortals of the marvellous islands of the Eastern Sea", they excused themselves by saying large monsters blocked their way. Qin Shi Huang personally went out with a multiple bolt crossbow to see these monsters for himself. He found no monsters but killed a big fish.


title: History of crossbows

text: Although Zhuge Liang is often credited with the invention of the repeating crossbow, this is actually due to a mistranslation confusing it with the multiple bolt crossbow. The source actually says Zhuge invented a multiple bolt crossbow that could shoot ten iron bolts simultaneously, each 20 cm long.


title: History of crossbows

text: In 759 AD, Li Quan described a type of multiple bolt crossbow capable of destroying ramparts and city towers:


title: History of crossbows

text: The concept of continuous and concerted rotating fire, the countermarch, may have been implemented using crossbows as early as the Han dynasty, but it was not until the Tang dynasty that illustrations of the countermarch appeared. The 759 CE text, "Tai bai yin jing" (太白陰經) by Tang military official Li Quan (李筌), contains the oldest known depiction and description of the volley fire technique. The illustration shows a rectangular crossbow formation with each circle representing one man. In the front is a line labeled "shooting crossbows" (發弩) and behind that line are rows of crossbowmen, two facing right and two facing left, and they are labeled "loading crossbows" (張弩). The commander (大將軍) is situated in the middle of the formation and to his right and left are vertical rows of drummers (鼓) who coordinate the firing and reloading procedure in procession: who loaded their weapons, stepped forward to the outer ranks, shot, and then retired to reload. According to Li Quan, "the classics say that the crossbow is fury. It is said that its noise is so powerful that it sounds like fury, and that's why they named it this way," and by using the volley fire method there is no end to the sound and fury, and the enemy is unable to approach. Here he is referring to the word for "crossbow" "nu" which is also a homophone for the word for fury, "nu".


title: History of crossbows

text: The encyclopedic text known as the "Tongdian" by Du You from 801 CE also provides a description of the volley fire technique: "[Crossbow units] should be divided into teams that can concentrate their arrow shooting.… Those in the center of the formations should load [their bows] while those on the outside of the formations should shoot. They take turns, revolving and returning, so that once they've loaded they exit [i.e., proceed to the outer ranks] and once they've shot they enter [i.e., go within the formations]. In this way, the sound of the crossbow will not cease and the enemy will not harm us."


title: History of crossbows

text: The "Wujing Zongyao", written during the Song dynasty, notes that during the Tang period, crossbows were not used to their full effectiveness due to the fear of cavalry charges. The author's solution was to drill the soldiers to the point where rather than hide behind shieldbearers upon the approach of enemy soldier, they would "plant the feet like a firm mountain, and, unmoving at the front of the battle arrays, shoot thickly to the middle [of the enemy], and none among them will not fall down dead." The Song volley fire formation was described thus: "Those in the center of the formation should load while those on the outside of the formation should shoot, and when [the enemy gets] close, then they should shelter themselves with small shields [literally side shields, 旁牌], each taking turns and returning, so that those who are loading are within the formation. In this way the crossbows will not cease sounding." In addition to the Tang formation, the Song illustration also added a new label to the middle line of crossbowmen between the firing and reloading lines, known as the "advancing crossbows." Both Tang and Song manuals also made aware to the reader that "the accumulated arrows should be shot in a stream, which means that in front of them there must be no standing troops, and across [from them] no horizontal formations."


title: History of crossbows

text: The volley fire technique was used to great effect by the Song during the Jin-Song Wars. In the fall of 1131 the Jin commander Wuzhu (兀朮) invaded the Shaanxi region but was defeated by general Wu Jie (吳 玠) and his younger brother Wu Lin (吳璘). The "History of Song" elaborates on the battle in detail:


title: History of crossbows

text: After losing half his army Wuzhu escaped back to the north, only to invade again in the following year. Again, he was defeated while trying to breach a strategic pass. The "History of Song" states that during the battle Wu Jie's brother Wu Lin "used the Standing-Firm Arrow Teams, who shot alternately, and the arrows fell like rain, and the dead piled up in layers, but the enemy climbed over them and kept climbing up." This passage is especially noteworthy for its mention of a special technique being utilized as it is one of the very few times that the "History of Song" has elaborated on a specific tactic.


title: History of crossbows

text: The first type of crossbow found in Japan was excavated in Shimane prefecture and dates back to the Yayoi period (probably around the 200-300 A.D). Like anything dealing with Yayoi, not much is known and that is the only example excavated.


title: History of crossbows

text: There are other references for this kind of weapon; the first is inside a report concerning a bandit raid on the Dewa provincial office in 878, in which “100 shudo" were stolen. The second, an inventory from the Kōzuke provincial office compiled around 1030, lists “25 shudo” (apparently its entire stock) as missing.


title: History of crossbows

text: According to design and the manufacture of the only trigger mechanism excavated in Japan, which was made of bronze, these crossbows were imported from China or Korea.


title: History of crossbows

text: It is possible that crossbows saw relative use in between the 9th and 10th century, but the few scattered evidences disappeared completely from Japan after this period, up until the Edo period.


title: History of crossbows

text: Oyumi were ancient Japanese artillery pieces that first appeared in the seventh century (during the Asuka Period). According to Japanese records, the Oyumi was different from the hand held crossbow also in use during the same time period. A quote from a seventh-century source seems to suggest that the Oyumi may have able to fire multiple arrows at once: "the Oyumi were lined up and fired at random, the arrows fell like rain". A ninth century Japanese artisan named Shimaki no Fubito claimed to have improved on a version of the weapon used by the Chinese; his version could rotate and fire projectiles in multiple directions. The last recorded use of the Oyumi was in 1189.


title: History of crossbows

text: There is another theory pointing towards an independent Southeast Asian origin for the crossbow based on linguistic evidence:


title: History of crossbows

text: Around the third century BC, King An Dương of Âu Lạc (modern-day northern Vietnam) and (modern-day southern China) commissioned a man named Cao Lỗ (or Cao Thông) to construct a crossbow and christened it "Saintly Crossbow of the Supernaturally Luminous Golden Claw" "(nỏ thần)", which one shot could killed 300 men. According to historian Keith Taylor, the crossbow, along with the word for it, seems to have been introduced into China from Austroasiatic peoples in the south around the fourth century BC. However, this is contradicted by crossbow locks found in ancient Chinese Zhou Dynasty tombs dating to the 600s BC.


title: History of crossbows

text: In 315 AD, Nu Wen taught the Chams how to build fortifications and use crossbows. The Chams would later give the Chinese crossbows as presents on at least one occasion.


title: History of crossbows

text: Siege crossbows were transmitted to the Chams by Zhi Yangjun, who was shipwrecked on their coast in 1172. He remained there and taught them mounted archery and how to use siege crossbows. In 1177 crossbows were used by the Champa in their invasion and sacking of Angkor, the Khmer Empire's capital. The Khmer also had double bow crossbows mounted on elephants, which Michel JacqHergoualc’h suggest were elements of Cham mercenaries in Jayavarman VII's army.


title: History of crossbows

text: The earliest crossbow-like weapons in Europe probably emerged around the late 5th century BC when the "gastraphetes", an ancient Greek crossbow, appeared. The device was described by the Greco-Roman author Heron of Alexandria of Roman Egypt in his "Belopoeica" ("On Catapult-making"), which draws on an earlier account of Greek engineer Ctesibius (fl. 285–222 BC) of Ptolemaic Egypt. According to Heron, the gastraphetes was the forerunner of the later catapult, which places its invention some unknown time prior to 399 BC during Classical Greece. The gastraphetes was a crossbow mounted on a stock divided into a lower and upper section. The lower was a case fixed to the bow while the upper was a slider which had the same dimensions as the case. Meaning "belly-bow", it was called as such because the concave withdrawal rest at one end of the stock was placed against the stomach of the operator, which he could press to withdraw the slider before attaching a string to the trigger and loading the bolt; this could thus store more energy than regular Greek bows. It was used in the Siege of Motya in 397 BC. This was a key Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily, as described in the 1st century AD by Heron of Alexandria in his book "Belopoeica".


title: History of crossbows

text: Other arrow shooting machines such as the larger ballista and smaller "Scorpio" also existed starting from around 338 BC, but these are torsion catapults and not considered crossbows. Arrow-shooting machines ("katapeltai") are briefly mentioned by Aeneas Tacticus in his treatise on siegecraft written around 350 BC. An Athenian inventory from 330 to 329 BC includes catapults bolts with heads and flights. Arrow-shooting machines in action are reported from Philip II's siege of Perinthos in Thrace in 340 BC. At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, presumably to house anti-personnel arrow shooters, as in Aigosthena.


title: History of crossbows

text: The late 4th century Roman author Vegetius provides the only contemporary account of ancient Roman crossbows. In his "De Re Militaris", he describes "arcubalistarii" (crossbowmen) working together with archers and artillerymen. However it is disputed if arcuballistas were even crossbows or just more torsion powered weapons. The idea that the arcuballista was a crossbow is based on the fact that Vegetius refers to it and the "manuballista", which was torsion powered, separately. Therefore, if the arcuballista was not like the manuballista, it may have been a crossbow. Some suggest it was the other way around and manuballistas were crossbows. The etymology is not clear and their definitions obscure. Some historians believe neither the arcuballista or manuballista were crossbows. According to Vegetius, these were well known devices, and as such didn't make the effort to describe them in depth.


title: History of crossbows

text: Arrian's earlier "Ars Tactica", written around 136 AD, does mention 'missiles shot not from a bow but from a machine' and that this machine was used on horseback while in full gallop. It's presumed that this was a crossbow.


title: History of crossbows

text: The only pictorial evidence of Roman arcuballistas comes from sculptural reliefs in Roman Gaul depicting them in hunting scenes. The draw-length of the crossbow depicted is longer than later medieval crossbows and more similar to Greek and Chinese crossbows, but it's not clear what kind of release mechanism they used. Archaeological evidence suggests they were based on the rolling nut mechanism of medieval Europe.


title: History of crossbows

text: References to the crossbow are basically nonexistent in Europe from the 5th century until the 10th century. It's argued that the term "solenarion", found in the "Strategikon of Maurice", refers to a crossbow. This is disputed by other historians who interpret "the device in question as an arrow guide." There is however a depiction of a crossbow as a hunting weapon on four Pictish stones from early medieval Scotland (6th to 9th centuries): St. Vigeans no. 1, Glenferness, Shandwick, and Meigle.


title: History of crossbows

text: The crossbow reappeared again in 947 as a French weapon during the siege of Senlis and again in 984 at the siege of Verdun. They were used at the battle of Hastings in 1066 and had by the 12th century become a common battlefield weapon. The earliest remains of a European crossbow to date were found at Lake Paladru and has been dated to the 11th century.


title: History of crossbows

text: Crossbows are not mentioned in Byzantine sources until the 11th century. Some believe that the "toxoballistra" found in Middle Byzantine sources refer to a crossbow, but the evidence is inconclusive. According to Anna Komnene (1083–1153), the crossbow was a new weapon associated with barbarians and was not known to the Greeks:


title: History of crossbows

text: The first medieval European crossbows were made of wood, usually yew or olive wood. Composite lath crossbows began to appear around the end of the 12th century and crossbows with steel laths emerged in the 1300s. Crossbows with steel laths were sometimes referred to as arbalests. These had much higher draw weights than composite bows and required mechanical aids such as the cranequin or windlass for spanning. Usually these could only shoot two bolts per minute versus twelve or more with a skilled archer, often necessitating the use of a pavise to protect the operator from enemy fire. Despite the appearance of stronger bows, wooden laths remained popular into the 1400s due to being less sensitive to the water and cold.


title: History of crossbows

text: The crossbow superseded hand bows in many European armies during the 12th century, except in England, where the longbow was more popular. Along with polearm weapons made from farming equipment, the crossbow was also a weapon of choice for insurgent peasants such as the Taborites. Genoese crossbowmen, recruited in Genoa and in different parts of northern Italy, were famous mercenaries hired throughout medieval Europe, while the crossbow also played an important role in anti-personnel defense of ships. Some 4,000 crossbowmen joined the Fifth Crusade and 5,000 under Louis IX of France during the Seventh Crusade.


title: History of crossbows

text: Crossbowmen occupied a high status as professional soldiers and often earned higher pay than other foot soldiers. The rank of the commanding officer of crossbowmen corps was one of the highest positions in many medieval armies, including those of Spain, France, and Italy. Crossbowmen were held in such high regard in Spain that they were granted status on par with the knightly class.


title: History of crossbows

text: The payment for a crossbow mercenary was higher than for a longbow mercenary, but the longbowman did not have to pay a team of assistants and his equipment was cheaper. Thus the crossbow team was twelve percent less efficient than the longbowman since three of the latter could be part of the army in place of one crossbow team. Furthermore, the prod and bow string of a composite crossbow were subject to damage in rain whereas the longbowman could simply unstring his bow to protect the string. French forces employing the composite crossbow were outmatched by English longbowmen at Crécy in 1346, at Poitiers in 1356 and at Agincourt in 1415. As a result, use of the crossbow declined sharply in France, and the French authorities made attempts to train longbowmen of their own. After the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War, however, the French largely abandoned the use of the longbow, and consequently the military crossbow saw a resurgence in popularity. The crossbow continued to see use in French armies by both infantry and mounted troops until as late as 1520 when, as with elsewhere in continental Europe, the crossbow would be largely eclipsed by the handgun. Spanish forces in the New World would make extensive use of the crossbow, even after it had largely fallen out of use in Europe. Crossbowmen participated in Hernán Cortés' conquest of the Aztec Empire and accompanied Francisco Pizarro on his initial expedition to Peru, though by the time of the conquest of Inca Empire in 1532-1523 he would have only a dozen such men remaining in his service.


title: History of crossbows

text: The Chinese crossbow had a longer power stroke, around or so, compared to the early medieval European crossbow, which typically sat around only . This was made possible by the more compact design of the Chinese trigger, which allowed it to sit further back at the rear-end of the tiller. The longer horizontal lever on European crossbows necessitated placing it much further forward. Longer Chinese power strokes were also made possible by the relatively short Chinese composite bow, which could be drawn further back without fear of breaking. Chinese crossbows had draw-weights ranging from .


title: History of crossbows

text: When Europeans began fielding crossbows on battlefields in earnest during the 10th century AD, not only were the triggers more cumbersome, the bows were made of wood. However, by the 13th century European crossbows began transitioning to composite bows as well, increasing their draw weight. While still utilizing the rolling nut mechanism, 13th century European composite crossbows were probably not much worse compared to the Chinese crossbow, if at all, in terms of draw-weight. From the 13th century onward, European crossbows made use of spanning mechanisms not seen in China such as the pulley, gaffle, cranequin, and screw. Furthermore, 14th century European crossbows could be made of steel, increasing their draw weights beyond even the heaviest Chinese infantry crossbow. These were accompanied by the cord pulley spanning device. However, the power stroke of the European crossbows remained much lower than that of Chinese crossbows (typically one third of the powerstroke), which limited their power despite increasing draw weights.


title: History of crossbows

text: For example, a draw crossbow with an powerstroke can shoot a 400 grain arrow at 205 fps, while a 150-pound draw crossbow with a powerstroke can shoot a 400 grain arrow at 235 fps. This translates into a 14.6% increase in power for every 9% increase in powerstroke. Thus, if other factors are equal, a standard Han Dynasty crossbow with a ≈ draw weight and a powerstroke would have comparable levels of power to a medieval European crossbow with a draw weight and a powerstroke.


title: History of crossbows

text: European crossbows were phased out in the 16th century in favor of arquebuses and muskets. In China, the crossbow was not considered a serious military weapon by the end of the late Ming dynasty, but continued to see limited usage into the 19th century.


title: History of crossbows

text: There are no references to crossbows in Islamic texts earlier than the 14th century. Arabs in general were averse to the crossbow and considered it a foreign weapon. They called it "qaus al-rijl" (foot-drawn bow), "qaus al-zanbūrak" (bolt bow) and "qaus al-faranjīyah" (Frankish bow). Although Muslims did have crossbows, there seems to be a split between eastern and western types. Muslims in Spain used the typical European trigger while eastern Muslim crossbows had a more complex trigger mechanism.


title: History of crossbows

text: In Central Africa simple crossbows were used for hunting and as a scout weapon, previously thought to have been first introduced by the Portuguese. Until recently they were especially in use by different tribes of the pygmy-people, usually with poisoned and relatively small arrows. This silent technique of hunting in the tropical forest is quite similar to that of the South American indigenous hunting method with blow pipe and poisoned arrows. It makes sure not to startle up the prey, for example if a first shot goes astray. Since the small arrow is rarely deadly itself, the animal will drop from the trees after some time because of the poisoning.


title: History of crossbows

text: In the American South, the crossbow was used by the conquistadors for hunting and warfare when firearms or gunpowder were unavailable because of economic hardships or isolation.


title: History of crossbows

text: Crossbows today are mostly used for target shooting in modern archery. In some countries they are still used for hunting, such as in most of states within the US, parts of Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa. Crossbows with special projectiles are used in whale research to take blubber biopsy samples without harming the whales or other marine big "game" .


title: History of crossbows

text: Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by gunpowder weapons, although early guns had slower rates of fire and much worse accuracy than contemporary crossbows. The Battle of Cerignola in 1503 was largely won by Spain through the use of matchlock firearms, marking the first time a major battle was won through the use of firearms. Later, similar competing tactics would feature harquebusiers or musketeers in formation with pikemen, pitted against cavalry firing pistols or carbines. While the military crossbow had largely been supplanted by firearms on the battlefield by 1525, the sporting crossbow in various forms remained a popular hunting weapon in Europe until the eighteenth century.


title: History of crossbows

text: A bomb-throwing crossbow called the "Sauterelle" was used by the French and British armies on the Western Front during World War I. It could throw an F1 grenade or Mills bomb .


title: History of crossbows

text: The crossbow is still used in modern times by various militaries, tribal forces and in China even by the police forces. As their worldwide distribution is not restricted by regulations on arms, they are used as silent weapons and for their psychological effect, even reportedly using poisoned projectiles. Crossbows are used for ambush and anti-sniper operations or in conjunction with ropes to establish zip-lines in difficult terrain.


title: Tiago PZK

text: Tiago Uriel Pacheco Lezcano (born August 3, 2001), better known by his stage name Tiago PZK, is an Argentine rapper and singer, mostly related with R&B, rap and reggaeton. His hit-singles are "Sola", "Además de Mí", "Entre Nosotros", "Salimo de Noche", and "Cerca de Ti".


title: Tiago PZK

text: The artist, whose real name is Tiago Uriel Pacheco Lezcano, uses the suffix PZK in honor of his freestyle crew in Argentina. Tiago began gaining notoriety around 2016 with his participation in local rap battles in Argentina and his self-released track, "Andamo en la Cima". In 2019, he signed to indie SyP Recors in Argentina, eventually catching the eye of concert promoter Phil Rodriguez, the CEO of Move Concerts, one of Latin America's biggest indie promoters. Rodriguez signed Tiago to management and to his new Grand Move Records label. In 2022, the artist signed a record deal with Warner Music Latina.


title: Tiago PZK

text: By January 2022, Tiago was the artist with the most number-one singles on the "Billboard" Argentina Hot 100 chart, with four: "Además de Mí (Remix)", "No Me Conocen (Remix)", "Entre Nosotros", and "Salimo de Noche". He is now tied with María Becerra.


title: Tiago PZK

text: The release of Tiago's first album "Portales" met with controversy over lyrics that were characterised as racist; the track "Sabor a Miel" incluces the line "he smokes and his eyes look like BTS." The singer later apologized on Twitter to the "people who were offended."


title: Tiago PZK

text: Tiago's music "defies categorization, often shifting from R&B and even pop to rap. And instead of resorting to the sexually explicit lyrics that define so many reggaetón hits today, Tiago’s themes lean more toward love and loss and his own journey from the housing projects of Buenos Aires to nascent fame." Tiago has listed Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber as music influences. Today, Yankee's street music and Bieber's pop essence reflect in Tiago's diverse sound, which he says is "limitless": "I am not pigeonholed into a single genre. If I have to, I'll do reggaeton, rock, dancehall, and R&B."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie Boulet is a fictional character from the television series "ER". The role was portrayed by Gloria Reuben who debuted as a recurring character in the first season episode, "Long Day's Journey", aired on January 19, 1995. Reuben was promoted to the role of series regular as of the second season episode, "Days Like This", aired on November 2, 1995 and made her last regular appearance in the sixth season episode, "The Peace of Wild Things", aired on November 11, 1999.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: During the series fourteenth season, Reuben would make a guest appearance in the episode "Status Quo", aired on January 3, 2008.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Introduced in season 1, episode 14 "Long Day's Journey", Jeanie Boulet was initially a recurring character involved in the story arc of the regular character Dr. Peter Benton (played by Eriq La Salle). During the first season, Jeanie's storyline centred on her adulterous affair with Benton, which developed after he employed her to care for his senile mother.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie was unhappy in marriage to a philandering husband named Al (played by Wolfgang Bodison and Michael Beach). Benton was depicted as a talented, "self-assured" but "brooding", defensive and serious doctor. Contrastingly, Jeanie was portrayed as emotional, caring and sensitive. Reuben has described Jeanie as "strong-willed, sharp and intelligent, but, [she] has a dry sense of humor. She knows exactly what she's doing professionally, but she has a nurturing side, too."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: The personality differences between the characters lead to several clashes on-screen initially, as both have different ideas about what's best for Benton's ailing and progressively senile mother. In episode 20 "Full Moon, Saturday Night", Jeanie orders for Benton's mother to be held in restraints to prevent injury; Furious, Benton removes the restraints, leading her to fall from her bed. Benton and Jeanie grow closer as he subsequently accepts her guidance on how to care for his mother.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: In his book, "Bedside Manners: George Clooney and ER", author Sam Keenleyside comments on the scenes, saying that the storyline was poignant, but that "it gets lost in all the machinations of the rest of the show." The beginning of a blossoming romance saw a change in Benton's disposition over the following episodes, Keenleyside notes that he "seems to be thawing [...] It's well-worth asking what's brought all this on, and the answer seems to be — if his dinner with Jeanie is any indication — that he's a young doctor in love. Whether he continues his nice-guy routine while he plays second fiddle to Jeanie's husband remains to be seen, but giving Benton a love-interest, no matter how ill-fated, will offer his character some much needed life outside the hospital."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: As the first season drew to a close in episode 25 "Everything Old is New Again", Benton is shown to be keen for their relationship to progress, asking Jeanie to leave her husband; by contrast Jeanie is reticent and pulls away, leaving the future of their relationship unclear. According to Keenleyside, this was a deliberate "loose thread [...] left dangling to pull [viewers] back on to [their] sofas next season." He predicts, "expect to see them together next September; that way the writers can gloss over all the messy in-between stuff and get right to the romance for the new season."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie progressed to regular character status in season 2. As the season came under way, it was revealed that her affair with Benton still continued, unbeknown to her husband, leaving Benton's authoritarian personality "uncomfortably weakened" as the third member of a love triangle. When Jeanie refused to leave her husband, the relationship ended on bad terms, setting up the next chapter in Jeanie's story as she finds employment as a Physician Assistant (PA) at the serial's focal setting of County Hospital's ER. This leads to hostilities from a dishevelled Benton, who proceeds to make her working life a "living hell", until she confronts him. In summary of the plot, Keenleyside noted that "it's nice to see Jeanie being allowed to move beyond the quiet forcefulness that has thus far marked her relationshsip with Peter, and it's even better to see Benton with his tail between his legs for a change."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: As season 2 progressed, Jeanie was given storylines independent of Benton, allowing further character development as she interacts between other characters, staff and patients. This move was praised by Keenleyside, who commented, "this brief look at Jeanie, free from Benton's brooding presence, indicates that "ER" is definitely the place for her character. If she's allowed to continue to develop her own character, instead of being forced into Benton's background, she could become a complement to [Dr] Carter. Like Carter, she cares about her work, but she's not afraid to stand up for herself — especially when Benton is in her way." However, he does note that Jeanie is perhaps "thrust to the forefront too mechanically. She is forced to carry a heavier story load than her character is capable at this point." Episode 21 of season 2, "Take These Broken Wings", marked the beginning of one of Jeanie's notable storylines when her husband Al was admitted to the ER and subsequently diagnosed as HIV positive. As the second season drew to a close, Jeanie's HIV status was left in question, as was Dr Benton's.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: In the opening episode of season 3, "Dr. Carter, I Presume?", "ER" writers dropped the "requisite bombshell" that Jeanie had tested positive for HIV, while Benton had tested negative. Jeanie decides to manage her illness in secrecy, refusing to divulge her status to her employers, a decision Benton disapproves of and he attempts to have her banned from treating patients with open wounds, although he falls short of revealing her secret.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie's decision not to reveal her serostatus to her employers was the result of an encounter with a seropositive patient in the AIDS outpatient ward at County Hospital. The man, realizing Jeanie worked at the hospital, urged her to seek treatment for her HIV elsewhere, due to negative repercussions that may occur in the workplace. As a result of this, Jeanie is forced to pay for her HIV cocktail medication herself.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: In addition to the professional and medical implications of Jeanie's health status, the romantic implications were also explored later on in season 3. Keenleyside comments, "[Jeanie's] quietly reluctant decision not to go out with the friend of a patient hits just the right tone, registering not only her disappointment at having to pass up this opportunity, but also her realization that she may never be able to accept another. The counterpart to this scene, provided by Benton's tantalizing encounter with his former girlfriend, Carla, drives home the pain of [Jeanie's] situation very powerfully, although a deeper look at the romantic challenges facing people with HIV would still be very much welcome."


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie Boulet was first introduced in season 1 as a recurring character. She was the physical therapist hired by Dr. Peter Benton to care for his aging mother. Jeanie, who was married at the time, soon began a romantic relationship with Benton but things fizzled when she could not make a decision about her marriage. She reappeared as a series regular a few episodes later in season 2, as a new physician assistant at the County General ER. Toward the end of the season, her husband Al was admitted to the hospital and it was discovered that he had contracted HIV. Jeanie and Al had been separated since the beginning of the season, but he may have contracted the virus years earlier as he had slept with other women during the time they were married.


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: Jeanie got tested for HIV and urged Benton, her recent lover, to undergo testing as well. In the season 3 premiere it was revealed that Benton did not have the virus; Jeanie, however, was HIV-positive. Benton questioned whether Jeanie should still be working in the ER, but he later accepted that she would be able to take appropriate precautions and supported her decision to remain at County. Later in the series, Jeanie and Peter actually became somewhat close, with Jeanie helping Peter cope with the realization that his son Reese was deaf. Dr. Kerry Weaver figured out quickly that Jeanie was HIV+ but kept this to herself (though she strongly hints to a surprised and then relieved Jeanie that she knows the truth but is happy Jeanie will remain at County) and becomes angry at Dr. Mark Greene when he unethically looks up Jeanie's HIV status after Al is hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia (though Kerry and Mark, with Jeanie's help, eventually figure out how to keep Jeanie from losing her job, and Mark makes it clear later that he will not try to ruin her career either).


title: Jeanie Boulet

text: During season three, Jeanie embarked on her first romantic relationship since her HIV diagnosis, with a doctor from Infectious Diseases named Greg Fischer. However, during this time she also rekindles her closeness with Al and eventually Dr. Fischer breaks up with her upon finding out about the reunion. Jeanie and Al move back in together and renew their relationship. In season four, Al loses his job when an accident at the job site forces him to admit to his coworkers (and friends) that he is HIV positive and he is shunned by them. Al gets another job in Atlanta during the 4th season and plans to move; Jeanie declines to join him, and they part ways once more. Al was never seen on the show again but Jeanie bitterly references him in Season 5 when she learns she has contracted Hepatitis C and is sure Al is responsible; however, when she goes off to confront him over the phone Al faxes her accurate medical records which show he does NOT have that illness (this helps explain in a much later-run return by Jeanie why she has specific and emotional information about what has happened to Al since then).