Advantages.

Compared to a closed-bolt design, open-bolt weapons generally have fewer moving parts. The firing pin is often part of the bolt, saving on manufacturing costs; the inertia of the bolt closing also causes the fixed firing pin to strike a blow on the primer, without need for a separate hammer/striker and spring. In automatic weapons an open bolt helps eliminate the dangerous phenomenon known as "cook-off", wherein the firing chamber becomes so hot that rounds spontaneously fire without trigger input, continuing to fire until the ammunition is exhausted. Open-bolt designs typically operate much cooler than closed-bolt designs due to the airflow allowed into the chamber, action and barrel during pauses between bursts, making them more suitable for constant full-automatic weapons such as machine guns.

Disadvantages.

The weapon is more prone to fire when dropped and some open-bolt designs can suffer from a condition in which bolt retention fails and the weapon discharges even with no trigger input. Open-bolt machine guns could not be synchronized to fire through the arc of a propeller due to the relatively long period between sear disengagement and the ignition of the cartridge, making them harder to use as forward-firing weapons on tractor configuration fighter aircraft. Accuracy can suffer somewhat in an open-bolt design, again due to the longer delay between pulling the trigger and primer ignition, but this is generally less of a concern in automatic weapons, since after the first shot, the operation is indistinguishable from a firearm that fires from a closed bolt. It is only when the trigger is released that the bolt is caught in the rearward position; during automatic fire, both types of bolts are free to operate at full rate, without hindrance. As most open-bolt guns are automatics, generally only weapons such as submachine guns, converted to semi-automatic operation suffer from this.  Since the weapon must be carried with the bolt open in order to fire, this leaves the breech and action internals open to dirt and dust contamination through the open ejection port, unless some sort of cover can be devised. Some versions of the open-bolt M3 submachine gun utilized a hinged sheet metal ejection port cover that doubled as a safety; when closed, it both covered the ejection port and blocked the bolt from closing. When ready to fire, the user simply flipped the cover down, opening the ejection port and unblocking the bolt.  If the gun uses a simple simple blowback action, calibers over 9x19 parabellum become increasingly less practical because of the need for correspondingly heavier bolts.

Other characteristics.

An open-bolt weapon will typically have a higher rate of fire than a comparable closed-bolt weapon; the bolt simply needs to return forwards in order for the weapon to fire again, while a closed-bolt design has the additional step of the hammer striking the firing pin. Having a higher fire rate can be both an advantage and disadvantage depending on the situation. For handheld weapons, typically a lower rate of fire is desirable, as this will conserve ammunition and help keep the level of recoil more manageable. For vehicle-mounted weapons or fixed emplacements, however, a higher rate of fire is often desirable. In these situations, ammunition and recoil are less of a concern and the higher rate of fire will increase the likelihood of a round hitting the target, particularly when employed against fast-moving targets such as aircraft.  Many movies and video games portray open-bolt weapons as needing to be cycled after reloading. This is not generally true, however, as open-bolt weapons send the bolt carrier back into a cocked position via the excess gas after the last round is fired. The exception to this is if the weapon is fully automatic and the trigger is held down after the last round was fired (and the gun does not have a "last round bolt hold open" mechanism) at which point the bolt will fly forward once more and stay there. In this case, the bolt merely needs to be retracted to the rearward position and does not return forward as is sometimes portrayed.  Another feature of open-bolt designs is that the magazine simply needs to be removed to completely unload the weapon. A closed bolt requires the second step of cycling the action to remove the last round in the chamber (unless the weapon features an automatic hold-open device). It is essential to remove a loaded magazine before performing maintenance, or trying to cycle or close the bolt (as is often done to keep the weapon clean when not in use). If one were to close the bolt (say by pulling the trigger and riding the bolt to the closed position), as soon as the bolt closes it will fire if a loaded magazine was left in the gun. This may be true with weapons utilizing a striker, but not with a weapon using a fixed firing pin, which relies on the momentum of the bolt to impart the energy to ignite the primer. This is a common feature in basic submachine guns like the Sten gun or M3 "Grease Gun", and even some machine guns. With a fixed firing pin, when the bolt is closed gently, without the momentum of the bolt closing at normal speed, there is not enough force imparted to the firing pin to ignite the primer. In this circumstance there will be a round in the chamber and a firing pin pressing on it with some force, but not enough to ignite the primer, which requires a sharp, focused impact. However, the weapon would be at risk of firing if dropped, much like the danger of loading spitzer bullets into a weapon with a tube magazine. A related issue is that the safety of an open-bolt weapon must be designed to lock the bolt in the rearward position. Often, safeties only block the movement of the trigger, so if the weapon was dropped or the sear worn, the bolt could slam home, firing the weapon (although this issue is true to a degree in closed-bolt firearms as well).

Uses.

Closed-bolt designs are often used in rifles. The improved accuracy of closed-bolt weapons is more desirable, while the poorer heat dissipation is less of an issue for slower-firing weapons. In contrast, open-bolt designs are more often used in automatic weapons, such as machine guns. For fast-firing automatic weapons, heat will rapidly build up from sustained firing, but accuracy is of less importance. Thus, the improved heat dissipation of open-bolt designs is generally more desirable in automatic weapons. Due to submachine guns having somewhat of an intermediate role between accurate rifles and rapid-fire machine guns, different SMGs have been designed with both closed (H&K MP5 series, B&T MP9, CZ Skorpion) and open bolts (Thompson submachine gun, MAC-10, Uzi).

Legality.

Under United States federal law, fully automatic firearms are restricted under the National Firearms Act and other laws. In 1982, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled that semi-automatic open-bolt firearms manufactured after the date of the ruling are to be treated as fully automatic as they may be "readily converted" to fully automatic fire. However, any prior made semi-automatic open bolt was grandfathered in and is treated like any non-NFA firearm. The open bolt semi auto versions of certain guns are often as costly as their full auto counterparts. This is because prior to the Hughes Amendment in 1986 most semi auto open bolt Mac-10s, Mac-11s and several other models were lawfully converted to full auto making these rare semi automatic open bolts even more rare and desirable as collector items. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/06/20/open-bolt-explained-tale-uzis/

A fully automatic firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds a cartridge from the magazine or belt into the chamber, and fires that cartridge in the same movement. Like any other self-loading design, the action is cycled by the gas expended from the round, hence the necessity of a gas system; this excess of gas sends the bolt back to the rear, ejecting the empty cartridge case and preparing for the next shot (or continuing forward again, if the trigger is held down in turn keeping the catch depressed and the weapon is an automatic). Generally, an open-bolt firing cycle is used for fully automatic weapons and not for semi-automatic weapons (except some semi-automatic conversions of automatic designs). Firearms using advanced primer ignition blowback inherently fire from open bolt only.

Otevřený závěr je konstrukční prvek využívaný u automatických zbraní. Po natažení zbraně je závěr zachycen v zadní pozici a komora je prázdná. Po stisku spouště je závěr uvolněn a tlačen vpřed silou pružiny. Závěr po cestě nabere náboj ze zásobníku, zasune jej do komory a po uzamčení dojde k odpálení. Po výstřelu a odemčení závorníku se závěr opět pohybuje vzad stlačuje přitom pružinu a vyhazuje prázdnou nábojnici. Dnes se otevřený závěr prakticky používá jen u kulometů. V minulosti se také využíval u samopalů s dynamickým (neuzamčeným) závěrem.


History.

Early years.

Founded on 15 January 1921 by Hendrik School students, a middle school in Paramaribo, Suriname, S.V. Transvaal is unusually named after the former province of South Africa, Transvaal Province. It was founded in the same year as two other clubs from Paramaribo, namely Olympia and Ajax. The first three years prior to the foundation of organized football in Suriname, Transvaal played on the Gouvernementsplein in Paramaribo amongst various other clubs, competing in leagues of different associations. 1923 marked the official start of organized football in Suriname, with Transvaal starting in the Tweede Klasse (present day Eerste Klasse), the second flight of football in Suriname. 1923 also marked the inauguration of the Cultuurtuinlaan, the new football facility, built by Dr. E. Snellen, the director of agriculture in Suriname. Transvaal participated in the inaugural ceremony, where they beat Juliana in a 2–0 win. Transvaal remained tenants of the Cultuurtuinlaan for the next 30 years until completion of the National Stadium.  In 1924, Transvaal won their first title, winning the Tweede Klasse undefeated in its maiden season. The club were able to win all six matches played, earning 12 points in the competition, and scoring 16 goals while conceding none. It was the first time a team had gone undefeated or played a season without conceding any goals. Transvaal were subsequently promoted to the SVB Hoofdklasse, the top flight of football in Suriname, after only one season in the second tier.  In 1925, SV Transvaal won their second consecutive title and first national championship, winning the Hoofdklasse in its third season. After a period of dominance by Ajax and Cicerone, Transvaal won the title once more in 1937. That same year the SVB organized their first trip to Brazil, with Transvaal player Waldy Goedhart joining the national team to play exhibition matches against Tuna Luso, Paysandu and Remo.  On 28 March 1947 matches were played at night in Suriname for the first time, with light fixtures assembled at the Cultuurtuinlaan, the matches played on that night were NAKS vs. Robinhood at 19:00 and Transvaal vs. Paramaribo at 20:00. Key players of the forties and fifties include Tjokrosendjojo Kamsoe, Ronald Breinburg and Walther Braithwaite, who would later become manager of the club.

Rise to dominance.

The 1960s marked a decade of success for Transvaal, winning 7 out of 10 titles beginning in 1962, only conceding the 1961 and 1963 titles to Leo Victor and the 1964 edition to Robinhood. The team was managed by André Kamperveen, one of the country's most famous players and Transvaal's most famous managers, who had taken over the position in 1958. In 1967 he was succeeded by Ronald Kolf who helped Transvaal to two national titles before relinquishing the position to Jules Lagadeau. Both Kolf and Lagadeau earned their stripes as players on the pitch prior to taking their respective managerial roles. Transvaal boasted some of the country's best players at the time, with players such as Edwin Schal, Iwan Fränkel, Harald Reumel, Roy Vanenburg and Armand Sahadewsing.

Matches against Brazilian clubs (1960–1967).

Throughout the 1960s the SVB organized friendly tournaments and exhibition matches with the Suriname national team and invited clubs from Brazil to partake. Aside from the national team, clubs from the Hoofdklasse were invited to participate as well, including Transvaal, Robinhood and Leo Victor.  In 1962 Transvaal participated in the first edition of the Paramaribo Cup. They played Fortaleza, losing 2–1 to the visiting team from Brazil. On 10 April 1962 they played Santa Cruz from Brazil, losing 2–1 as well. The 1964 edition of the Paramaribo Cup saw Transvaal losing to visitors Botafogo from Brazil in a 4–1 loss. Apart from a 4–0 win against Olaria, Transvaal were unable to secure any wins in the series.

1968: First trip to Europe.

In 1968, Transvaal travelled to Europe for the first time, scheduling games in the Netherlands and Belgium, against Dutch Eredivisie clubs Sparta, Ajax, Elinkwijk, AZ'67 and NAC, and against Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp. Transvaal were able to secure 4 wins, and 1 draw only losing to Ajax on their tour.

1968 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

In 1968, Transvaal participated in their first Continental tournament, qualifying for the 1968 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The team were able to make it to the final in their first berth in the competition, defeating Scherpenheuvel from the Netherlands Antilles 4–2 on aggregate score and Aurora from Guatemala 3–1 on aggregate score in the process thus qualifying for the finals. The final against Toluca from Mexico however never happened due to a brawl that had ensued after the final match against Aurora when supporters from both clubs had invaded the pitch. Transvaal were disqualified for disorderly conduct.  In 1969, Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil came to Paramaribo to play pre-season friendly matches against Robinhood and Transvaal at the National Stadium. Brazilian International Garrincha was playing for Flamengo at the time. While Robinhood lost the first match 3–1 to the visitors, Transvaal were able to secure a 3–2 win against the visiting team.

1971: Pelé's 1000th match.

On 27 January 1971, O Rei himself Pelé and Santos F.C. from Santos, São Paulo came to Suriname to play Transvaal at the National Stadion. The match on 28 January 1971 was of historic significance as it was the 1000th career match played by Pelé. The Transvaal line-up included Emile Barron, Nortan, Gesser, Sordam, Boschman, Lagadeau, Bundel, Vanenburg, Schal, Brammerloo and Klimsop, while Santos line-up for the match included Cejos. Lima, Ramon Delgodo, Olando, Hildo Leo, Mene, Arken, Pi Colé, Pelé and Edu. Santos won the match 4–1 against Transvaal.  In 1972, Edwin 'Wiene' Schal became the first Transvaal player to be called up for the CONCACAF All-Star team, considered to be one of the top players in the confederation at the time.

1973 Season: Highest accolades.

Showing steady improvement by each season, the 1973 season proved to be Transvaal's most successful to date. Under guidance of Jules Lagadeau, Transvaal went on to win the national title undefeated also winning the country's first ever CONCACAF Champions' Cup following the withdrawal of both Costa Rican clubs Alajuelense and Saprissa.  Accolades of the 1973 season include:  The Transvaal first team players who contributed to the 1973 season were Wiene Schal (captain), Castillion, Theo Klein, Wensley Bundel, Gesser, Pauli Corte, Headly, Roy Vanenburg, Nortan, Del Prado, Lagadeau, Sordam, Monsanto, Grootfaam, Schenkers, Anches and Boschman. The manager of the club in 1973 was Jules Lagadeau. To this date no club in Suriname have been able to match the success of Transvaal in the 1973 season.

1981 Season: The Golden Age.

By 1981, Transvaal had become one of the most successful sides in Surinamese football. They had amassed 14 league titles already and held the only CONCACAF Champions League win for a Surinamese side back in 1971. With this season they would add their most recent international triumph over none other than Atlético Marte of El Salvador.  The 1981 CONCACAF Champions' Cup final took place in the city of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. According to former players, the onset of civil war in El Salvador was the reason CONCACAF decided to hold both games in the Andre Kamperveen Stadion in Suriname.  The first game was played with great difficulty. "The lawn was ugly [for lack of rain] and affected both teams," says Wensley Bundel, a midfielder who played in both games.  "Atlético Marte wanted to play short passes, but could not, so we took advantage of them," he said.  Wensley Bundel scored for Transvaal in the first game, which ended in 1–1 draw. Regarding the shot, he said, "It was a free throw. I remember that was barely hit the mark, but I gave it my all and I think [the] goalie is still looking for where the ball went."  For the second game, Johan Leisberger scored the winner. Transvaal played quick and fast and it paid off with raising the trophy under guidance of coach Humbert Boerleider. Thanks to an excellent performance, striker Theo Klein was hailed as the man of the match and was awarded player of the year in Suriname as well. Wensley Bundel to have won both CONCACAF titles with Transvaal.  There is a rumor amongst supporters of the club, that Transvaal actually defeated Cruz Azul from Mexico in the 1970 edition of the cup. This is not a known fact, but should this be the case then Bundel was the only player to have played in all three cup matches.  The Transvaal Lineup 1981:

1986 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

In 1986, Transvaal made it to the finals of the Continental tournament for the fourth time. By defeating SV Juventus (Netherlands Antilles), UNDEBA (Netherlands Antilles) and rivals Robinhood (Suriname), thus clinching the Caribbean region, Transvaal then defeated Trintoc (Trinidad and Tobago) in the semi-final to face Alajuelense (Costa Rica) in the final. Losing the series 4–2 on aggregate score, it would be the fourth time the two clubs would be drawn together in the history of the tournament.

1990–2000s and the end of an era.

Although Transvaal were unable to proceed past the rounds of the Caribbean region in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup during the nineties, the club did win five national titles in the decade, winning the Hoofdklasse in 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997 and 2000. The closest Transvaal came to advancing in the Continental tournament was a 10–0 aggregate defeat against the Seattle Sounders in the USA/Caribbean playoff round introduced to the tournament that year. The loss against the team from Seattle marked the end of Transvaal's firm presence within the tournament, having suffered an unprecedented loss.  A year later a new format to the tournament was introduced as well as the CFU Club Championship. Transvaal failed to advance past the first group stage of the tournament. They qualified for the 2001 edition but were forced to withdraw due to complications in their domestic league which saw no matches contested that year. Transvaal have not qualified for CFU Club Championship since.

New ownership, new coaches 2015-present.

After witnessing how Transvaal almost relegated to the Eerste Klasse in the 2014–15 season, many people wonder if Transie would rise to dominance again.  Then on 22 December 2015, Rudisa bought the club and in 2016 appointed Dennis Baino as head coach. The new owner and manager brought some changes to the club, one of the changes was that players would now train four times a week. At the end of the 2016 season, Transie ended in second and qualified themselves to the CFU Club Championship, being the first time in 20 years that they have qualified themselves.  On 29 January 2017, the board of Transvaal decided to replace Baino, after eight games played in the new Topklasse league, because he failed to keep the club in mid table. Two days later the board appointed Baino's assistant, Raymond Mannen as the new head coach. The next day Transie played against SNL under the new manager and won the match with two goals to one.  In September 2019 Transvaal signed a 3-year contract with trainer Kenneth Jaliens. Jaliens is considered to be the most educated trainer from Suriname and his objective is to bring back the glory from the old days that this club has seen.

Stadium.

Transvaal play their home matches at the André Kamperveen Stadion ("formerly known as the National Stadion") in Paramaribo to a capacity of 7,100 people. They share the stadium with the Suriname national team. Transvaal have been tenants of the AK Stadium since construction was completed in 1953. Prior to the National Stadium, Transvaal played their home games on the Cultuurtuinlaan, across the street from where the stadium sits today. From 1953 to 2014, Transvaal shared the stadium with rivals S.V. Robinhood, before they suffered relegation in 2014, moving to the Frank Essed Stadion, together with S.V. Walking Boyz Company who had played at the Kamperveen stadium since 1997.

Youth stadium.

Due to the high volume of activity at the clubs' home stadium, a result of the stadium being shared with the Surinamese athletics and cycling associations, a new stadium was erected in 1966 to serve as the training grounds for the youth teams of various clubs around Paramaribo. Transvaal were amongst the first tenants of the George W. Streepy Stadion, which serves as additional training facilities, as well as being the official stadium for the SVB Junior League, the youth league of the Surinamese Football Association.

Crest and colors.

The club colors are green and white and the team is named after the former province of South Africa, Transvaal Province. The badge white and green stripes with 'S.V. Transvaal' written across the shield from the bottom left to the top right. There is also a football in the top left corner of the badge. The club's playing kits are always a combination of green and white. Having had varying patterns over the years, including shirt stripes and patches, the typical outfit warn is white for home and green for away colors, which are two of the national colors of Suriname.

Broadcasting.

Since Transvaal is a club owned by Rudisa Holding Company, they are broadcast live on Rudisa's SCCN station. SCCN is a Surinamese television channel and have the rights to broadcast the matches that are being played by Transie. Also fans who want to watch games of Transie can watch it for free, but only the home league matches.

Players.

As of November 2015.

Current squad 2017.

Updated, as of March 14, 2017.

Performance in CONCACAF competitions.

CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 14 appearances

CFU Club Championship.

CFU Club Championship: 3 appearances

Sport Vereniging Transvaal is a Surinamese association football club, which currently play in the Topklasse, the top flight of football in Suriname. They play their home games in Paramaribo at André Kamperveen Stadion to a capacity of 7,100.

Sport Vereniging Transvaal je fotbalový klub ze surinamského hlavního města Paramaribo. Byl založen v roce 1921 na střední škole Hendrikschool, hraje na André Kamperveen Stadionu, klubové barvy jsou zelená a bílá. Získal devatenáct titulů mistra Surinamu (1925, 1937, 1938, 1950, 1951, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997 a 2000) a je po SV Robinhood druhým nejúspěšnějším klubem v zemi. Vítězem poháru byl v letech 1996, 2002 a 2008. Jako jediný surinamský tým vyhrál v letech 1973 a 1981 Ligu mistrů CONCACAF, finalistou byl v letech 1968, 1974, 1975 a 1986. Podle Mezinárodní federace fotbalových historiků a statistiků byl SV Transvaal ve 20. století pátým nejlepším klubem konfederace CONCACAF.


Plot.

Detroit, Michigan, 1963: Bob Ivanovich, a young son of Ukrainian-American parents, prays one night for a circus in his backyard the next day after school. After school the next day, he runs home eagerly, followed by his friends. To his disappointment, no circus awaits. Angrily, Bob retreats to the closet in his room, his personal retreat space.  Bob has shunned his Ukrainian-born parents for their immigrant ways and decided to move away from his family in Detroit. Thirty years later, Bob Jones (Michael Keaton) now runs a Los Angeles public relations firm. He is happily married to Gail (Nicole Kidman), who is pregnant with their first child. Bob is horrified to learn that he has been diagnosed with a terminal form of kidney cancer and might not live to see their baby born.  Bob begins to make home movies, to immortalize himself, to be shown after his death to his son, so he'll know who his father was, showing him how to cook spaghetti, how to drive, etc. He also begins to visit a Chinese healer named Mr. Ho (Haing S. Ngor), who urges him to listen to his heart, which is calling him to forgive, and that life is always giving him invitations if he would just listen. At his wife's urging, they fly to his hometown of Detroit to attend a traditional Ukrainian wedding of his brother Paul (Bradley Whitford). While in the area, Bob visits his childhood home. Also while there, they attempt to mend fences with his estranged family, which does not go well. Bob criticizes his brother for not moving to California like he did, and his father (Michael Constantine) resents Bob's moving thousands of miles away and changing his name.  Bob returns to California with a heavy heart, sadly saying to his wife, "This is my last trip home." During a visit with Mr. Ho, he advises Bob to go into his heart "soon." Bob teaches his son by camera how to shave, play basketball, and start a car by jumper cable. He also confronts a childhood fear by finally riding a formidable roller coaster. During the ride, a young companion urges him to let go of the railing as the descent begins, but Bob firmly holds on. (A metaphor of his fear of letting go of life.) He is living on borrowed time—beyond the date the doctors gave him, as he says to his wife after getting off the coaster, "Today is D-Day. Death Day. I was supposed to be dead by today."  Gail's contractions increase, and soon she is in the hospital, to give birth to their baby. Bob and Gail have a happy time with their newborn, but soon Bob's condition worsens, now that the cancer has reached his brain. Hospice care is arranged for Bob. Bob makes a final visit to Mr. Ho, and asks him what the light is he keeps seeing. Mr. Ho replies it is "the life of the self" and urges him to get his "house in order (life and personal affairs)."  A hospice nurse, Theresa (Queen Latifah), moves in to help, but Bob's health continues to fail. Bob and Gail finally call his family to inform them of what's going on. Bob's family comes west for the first time to visit. Bob makes peace with his family at last. Bob's childhood wish is finally granted by a circus in the backyard.  As his father shaves him, Bob shows that he has at last made peace by telling his father he loves him. Bob finally comes to terms with his life as he dies peacefully, surrounded by the loving, supportive bosom of his family. Next is shown Bob on a metaphysical roller coaster, this time letting go of the railing, raising his arms freely in the air this time, metaphorically letting go of life, and finally enjoying the ride of life. Bob rides toward a beautiful, shining, ethereal light (presumably heaven). A year later, his son and wife watch him on video, as he reads Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" to him.

Reception.

Box office.

"My Life" opened at #3 behind "The Three Musketeers" and "Carlito's Way".

Critical response.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 42% based on reviews from 24 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.  Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 2.5/4 and wrote: "My Life should be a more rigorous and single-minded film; maybe it started that way, before getting spoonfuls of honey to make the medicine go down."

My Life is a 1993 American drama film starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman and directed by Bruce Joel Rubin. With a PG-13 rating, this film's North American box office gross was $27 million.

Můj život (v anglickém originále My Life) je americký dramatický film z roku 1993. Režisérem filmu je Bruce Joel Rubin. Hlavní role ve filmu ztvárnili Michael Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Bradley Whitford, Rebecca Schull a Michael Constantine.


History.

Rajkot has been under different rulers since it was founded. It has had a long history and had a significant influence in the Indian independence movement. Rajkot was home to many personalities like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Rajkot is in a transition period of growing cultural, industrial and economical activities. Rajkot is the 26th largest city of India and the 22nd fastest growing urban area of the world.  Rajkot was the capital of the then Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956. Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on 1 May 1960. Thakur Saheb Pradyumansinhji died in 1973. His son, Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, who has carved out a political career at the provincial level, succeeded him. He served as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for several years and as the state Minister for Health and Finance. Monoharsinhji's son, Mandattasinh Jadeja has embarked on a business career.  On 26 January 2001 the 7.7 Gujarat earthquake shook Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X ("Extreme"), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.

Geography.

Rajkot is located at. It has an average elevation of 128 metres (420 ft). The city is located on the bank of Aji River and Nyari River which remains dry except the monsoon months of July to September. The city is spread in the area of 170.00 km2.  Rajkot is situated in the region called Saurashtra in the Gujarat state of India. The significance of Rajkot's location is owing to the fact that it is one of the prime industrial centres of Gujarat. Rajkot has a central location in the area called the Kathiawar peninsula. The city is located within the Rajkot district in Gujarat. Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district of Rajkot. The district is surrounded by Botad in the east, and Surendranagar in the north, Junagadh and Amreli in the south, Morbi in the northwest and Jamnagar in the west and Porbandar in the southwest.

Climate.

Rajkot has a semi-arid climate, with hot, dry summers from mid-March to mid-June and the wet monsoon season from mid-June to October, when the city receives 590 mm of rain on average. The months from November to February are mild, the average temperature being around 20 °C, with low humidity.  One of the most important weather phenomena that is associated with the city of Rajkot is the cyclone. The cyclones generally occur in the Arabian Sea during the months after the rainy season. The region experiences a lot of rainfall and high-speed winds during the time of the year after the monsoon season as well as the months of May and June. However, June experiences lesser amount of rainfall and winds than the post-monsoon time. Thunderstorms are another important part of the Rajkot weather in the months of June and July. During summer time, the temperature ranges between 24 °C and 42 °C. In the months of winter, Rajkot temperature varies between 10 °C and 22 °C but on a whole winters are pleasant.

Demographics.

As of the 2011 India census, Rajkot recorded a total population of 1,390,640. Rajkot city has an average literacy rate of 82.20%, higher than the national average. The population is 52.43% male and 47.47% female. Most of the population is Hindu with a Muslim minority.  ♦

Culture.

The people in Rajkot are predominantly vegetarians. The women of Rajkot are fond of jewellery. Large chains, pendants and other heavy gold jewellery are a common sight during marriages, festivals and functions. The attire changes with the season and festivals. The ladies normally wear the Gujarati type of the Sari and men can be seen in flowing Kurtas and formal wear (shirts and trousers).  Rajkot is multicultural. One can find many languages, like Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, English, Sindhi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. However, only Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and English are well understood. Rajkot is the part of Kathiyawad. Because of this people of Rajkot are also known as Kathiyawadi.  Rajkot is frequently referred to as "Rangilu Rajkot" (રંગીલુ રાજકોટ), meaning "colourful Rajkot".Rajkot is also called as "Chitranagri" (City of Paintings).

Literature.

Malcolm Pasley renowned and highly respected scholar and translator of the works of Franz Kafka was born in Rajkot.

Landmarks.

Rajkot has many historical landmarks and places. The Jubilee Garden is a large, open park in the centre of the city featuring many monuments from colonial times. Located prominently in the centre of the garden is the Connaught Hall. Other notable points of interest near the garden include the historic Mohandas Gandhi High School (Now Mahatma Gandhi Museum), Kaba Gandhi No Delo (Mohandas Gandhi's childhood residence), Rashtriya Shala, Watson Museum, Rotary Dolls Museum, Lang Library, Rotary Midtown Library and Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.  The Rotary Dolls Museum has a collection of more than 1,400 dolls from all over the world. This museum is being managed by Rotary Club of Rajkot Midtown along with Rajkot Nagrik Sahakari Bank. The Museum has earned a place in Limca Book of Records for its unique collection of dolls.  The Lang Library and the G.T. Sheth Library collect thousands of documents and books covering every period in Rajkot and Saurashtra (region) history. Rajkot has many other public libraries with many branches throughout the city. It includes Rotary Midtown of Rajkot City Library and many more.  Other points of interest in Rajkot include Darbargarh Haveli, Swaminarayan Gurukul, Masonic Hall, Race Course, Aji Dam, Swaminarayan Temple, Isckon Temple,Vishwakarma Prabhuji Temple.  The Watson Museum, located in the Jubilee Garden, has a collection of human history and culture. It presents objects of the colonial period of India and the history of Rajkot. The Rajkot Memon Boarding is headquarters of Muslim activities before 1947. Saurashtra Muslim league held many Muslim convention at Rajkot Memon boarding ground.  The Gaibanshah Peer Dargah is the center of conviction of people whether they are Muslims or Hindus. At Gaibanshah Peer Dargah there is a religious program called Urss every year. In this program almost every religions head come and took part in this gathering every year and preach about peace and humanity.  The Trimandir, a non-sectarian temple founded by Dada Bhagwan, is located at a short distance from the city.

Awards.

Best LAW and Order city – 2013 Best Housing & Transport City- 2015 Safe City Award for Rajkot Eye-Way Project 2018 Best city for Women Safety- 2013 Best City Cleanliness and Sanitation- 2013 National Winner of WWF's One Planet City Challenge 2018 National Award For Implementation of Food Safety Act-2016

Performing arts.

Rajkot is a major regional centre for the arts, with many venues for the performing arts in the city. Hemu Gadhvi Natyagraha, one of the first non-profit regional theatres, is rich with history and dedicated to the Gujarati Play.

Music.

Rajkot has its own native music genre, called dayro, which is used to convey folk stories and sayings. Rajkot also inherited Kathiyawadi folk music. The city also has various orchestra groups, which perform professionally. They mainly perform the music albums from Bollywood.

Sports.

Cricket is the most famous sport in the city. One-day internationals, domestic tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy and many inter-school and collegiate tournaments are played at the Madhavrao Sindhia Cricket Ground. The newly constructed 2nd International Cricket Stadium situated in Rajkot, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, formerly known as Khandheri Cricket Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Khandheri, about 15 kilometres outside Rajkot, India. The Stadium has a capacity of 28,000 to 32,000 spectators. In this cricket stadium Day/Night matches can now also be played. The stadium hosted its 1st International Cricket Match played on 11 January 2013 between India and England. The stadium will part of a larger sports complex that will include venues for other sports such as badminton, basketball, and volleyball. It will host Saurashtra Cricket Association matches along with Madhavrao Sindhia Cricket Ground. Rajkot has produced cricketers such as Karsan Ghavri and Cheteshwar Pujara who have been members of the Indian cricket team. Rajkot has many other cricket grounds around city, including Railway Cricket Ground and Rajkumar College South Ground. Apart from cricket, other sports such as hockey, association football, volleyball, badminton, tennis, table-tennis, chess, swimming and squash are rapidly growing popular in the city. There has been a significant increase in recent years in the number of private sports clubs, gymkhanas and gymnasiums. Kathiawar gymkhana, indoor stadium and swimming pools of Rajkot Municipal Corporation are major sports clubs in city. Recently, the Gujarat Hockey Team (Under 14) was assembled with all 16 players coming from Rajkot.A new modernised cricket ground is even under construction at the outskirts. There are numerous swimming pools too. Rajkot Municipal Corporation also owns a 9-hole golf course at Ishwaria. It is maintained by Green Meadows Golf Club.  In 2016 and 2017, a franchise from Rajkot played in Indian Premier League. The franchise was owned by Intex Technologies.  Cycling is a fast growing sport in Rajkot. Members of "Rajkot Cycle Club" regularly ride BRMs which are timed events which stretch from 200 km to 1200 km.

Festivals.

Garba is popular among both, men and women and is performed during the festival of Navratri. The dance starts before midnight and continues until dawn. Mata Ambe, who rides a lion, has a special reverential status with any highly religious Gujarati. The 'Janmastami Mela' is organised for five days at the Race Course grounds to celebrate Janmastami. Diwali is one of the most important festival and is usually a week long holiday. Rajkot Municipal Corporation arranges the annual Fireworks Show for the citizens of Rajkot during the Diwali festival. The festival of Eid is also celebrated by the Muslim population. Holi is also celebrated with frolic and is widely enjoyed by most of the city folk. People also celebrate Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti) on 14 January by flying kites from their terraces.

Economy.

The city contributes to the economy of the state with heavy and small scale industries under the patronage of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and Gujarat State Financial Corporation (GSFC). The economy of Rajkot was supported with a 280 million World Bank aid for development of infrastructure of the city. The plans are already in place to beautify and modernise the ancient city, including a Rock Garden, ala Chandigarh. Another 250 million project to rebuild the Kaiser-e-Hind, the only major bridge linking to the city, is already nearing completion.

Real estate.

Real estate has been a key contributor to Rajkot's development in terms of economic and infrastructure development. Since early 2014, several high-rises have been built in Rajkot.

Industry.

Products made in Rajkot include jewellery, silk embroidery and watch parts. Industrial products include bearings, diesel engines, kitchen knives and other cutting appliances, watch parts (cases and bracelets), automotive parts, forging industry, casting industry, machine tools, share market and software development. The city is also home to several CNC machine and auto parts manufacturers.  There are about 500 foundry units in Rajkot. The cluster came up mainly to cater to the casting requirements of the local diesel engine industry. The geographical spread of the cluster includes Aji Vasahat, Gondal Road, Bhavanagar Road areas, Shapar, Veraval and Metoda. The majority of foundry units in Rajkot produce grey iron castings for the domestic market. About 2% of the foundry units export castings such as electric motor castings and automobile castings.  Rajkot also houses Western Region Pipelines Headquarter of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) near Gauridad village. Also natural gas industries like GSPL and GSPC are also present. A petroleum depot of IOCL is also present.  In the near future, the government of Gujarat will allocate large land areas for the development of Special Economic Zone which will be split into three areas and will include industries such as software and automobiles. As per recent market reviews, Rajkot is becoming Asia's biggest automobile zone.  Rajkot was formerly the leading centre in India in the field of diesel engine and submersible pumps. Submersible pumps are still manufactured in the city and marketed throughout India, with some of the larger manufacturers also exporting them.

Law and government.

Rajkot is governed by many government bodies, including Jilla Seva Sadan (Rajkot District Collector Offices), Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Rajkot Urban Development Authority.  The city civic body has started a 24x7 call centre, the first of its kind in Gujarat and the second in the country to take care of all complaints relating to civic management. Citizens can now get all their complaints registered with the Rajkot Municipal Corporation by dialling a single number with an assurance that the problem would be addressed within 72 hours.  The Rajkot City Police are responsible for law enforcement and public safety in Rajkot, India. They are a subdivision of the state police force of Gujarat and are headed by a commissioner. The Rajkot police force is responsible for the protection and safety of Rajkot citizens.

Transport.

Rajkot is connected to major Indian cities by air, railway and road.

Roads and highways.

The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) runs regular buses to and from Rajkot to other cities of Gujarat. More than 81000 people travel daily with GSRTC. Rajkot is very well connected with Gujarat State Highways and Rajkot is allocated the vehicle registration code GJ-3 by RTO. There are a number of private bus operators connecting city with other cities of Gujarat state and other states of India.

Rail and internal transport.

Rajkot has two railway stations. Rajkot Junction railway station (station code: RJT) is the more widely used railway station for passenger trains, and has services to all the major cities of India. Its elevation is 128 m above sea level. The other, smaller, railway station is Bhaktinagar Railway Station (station code: BKNG), served only by trains from Somnath, Veraval, Junagadh and Porbandar.  Rajkot Municipal Corporation has restored city bus services with Public Private Partnership in 2007. RMC and a private company is providing around 80 CNG buses under 15 to 20 routes in city and suburbs. Recently Rajkot BRTS was launched on 1 October 2012. a new Bus rapid transit System (BRTS) with launching of the 10-km long Blue corridor and two AC buses which will be free for the first three months. The corridor is located in the west part of the city through the 150 ft ring road connecting Madhapar chokdi on the Jamangar road to Gondal chokdi on the Gondal road. The corridor will host 11 buses in further stage.  Rajkot BRTS Route  The fully completed project in future will have two more corridors – green and red from Arvind Maniyar Nagar to Saurashtra University and Greenland Chowk to Saurashtra University respectively involving 157 buses in three colours. Rajkot thus becomes the second city in Gujarat to have BRTS after Ahmedabad. The city of Surat too is planning an ambitious BRTS project, construction of which is going on presently.  To make more ease in the public transport, a city bus service 'Rajkot Mass Transport Service (RMTS)' has also been added on 1 April 2015. Currently, it operates on 44 routes with 90 buses.  Rajkot has a large number of auto rickshaws, which operate around the clock within the city. Most of these are converted to CNG from petrol or diesel.

Aviation.

Rajkot Airport is located at a short distance from the city and can be accessed by cab and auto rickshaw services. There are two daily flights to Mumbai, served by Air India. Spicejet started its services from Mumbai to Rajkot on 27 October 2019. Air India started the Rajkot New Delhi flight from 15 February 2015. One more daily flight from and to New Delhi has been started by Air India from 1 August 2019. Now the government had also made the decisions to built international airport in Rajkot namely Rajkot Greenfield Airport which currently under the construction.

Media and communications.

State-owned All India Radio has a local station and has FM channel 102.4 Vividh Bharati in Rajkot which transmits various programs of mass interest.  Private FM stations like Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM (only station that broadcasts for 24 hours), Red FM 93.5, Big 92.7 FM and 94.3 MY FM also serve the people of Rajkot with excellent entertainment and events.

Education.

Rajkot is famous for providing education to Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhiji), at the Alfred High School. A number of schools in the city are run by Rajkot Municipal Corporation. They include 20 schools and learning centres, which consist of 3 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 4 junior high schools, 4 senior high schools, 1 education centre, and 1 special school. There are also some self-financed public schools. TGES (The Galaxy Educational System) is a group of sister schools. The Galaxy School (TGS), a part of TGES, is the only international school in the city which offers the International Baccalaureate Program. Rajkot is home to Rajkumar College, Rajkot, also known as RKC, which is one of the oldest schools of India.Rkc use to be one of the Chief schools of India similar to Mayo College at Ajmer and Daly College at Indore where royals use to study. Rkc was specially established for the princes of Kathiawar.Saint paul is also a renowned school affiliated to ICSE curriculum  Rajkot also has the Union Government HRD Ministry run Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, now shifted to Jamnagar highway premise. Earlier it started at the Juni Khadki school premise of Sir Lakhajiraj High School and later moved to its own building on the Jamnagar Road. It is a CBSE Board affiliated, residential school for girls and boys, providing education to those selected at the Class VI level all India entrance test.  The city is home to Saurashtra University, several colleges, and other institutions of higher education, both public and private. Rajkot has three private universities, RK University (RKU), Atmiya University and Marwadi University. The city has 12 engineering colleges. It has a Performing Arts College (Vocal, Classical dance, Tabla Vadan etc.) opposite Hemu Gadhvi Natya Gruh. The Saurashtra University is the city's public university. It is spread across approximately of green land with 28 post-graduation departments.

Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the state of Gujarat, India, after Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara and is in the center of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of more than 1.8 million as of 2018. Rajkot is the second-cleanest city of India, and is the 22nd-fastest-growing city in the world as of July 2019. The city contains the administrative headquarters of the Rajkot District, 245 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and is located on the banks of the Aji and Nyari rivers. Rajkot was the capital of the Saurashtra State from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956, before its merger with Bombay State on 1 November 1956. Rajkot was reincorporated into Gujarat State on 1 May 1960.

Rádžkot () je město v Indii. Přesněji v Gudžarátu, jednom z indických svazových států. Leží ve vnitrozemí Káthijávárského poloostrova a k roku 2011 měl bezmála 1,3 miliónu obyvatel, čímž byl čtvrtým nejlidnatějším gudžarátským městem po Ahmadábádu, Suratu a Vadodará.


Origins and initial response.

Dylan originally wrote and performed a two-verse version of the song; its first public performance, at Gerde's Folk City on April 16, 1962, was recorded and circulated among Dylan collectors. Shortly after this performance, he added the middle verse to the song. Some published versions of the lyrics reverse the order of the second and third verses, apparently because Dylan simply appended the middle verse to his original manuscript, rather than writing out a new copy with the verses in proper order. The song was published for the first time in May 1962, in the sixth issue of "Broadside", the magazine founded by Pete Seeger and devoted to topical songs. The theme may have been taken from a passage in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, "Bound for Glory", in which Guthrie compared his political sensibility to newspapers blowing in the winds of New York City streets and alleys. Dylan was certainly familiar with Guthrie's work; his reading of it had been a major turning point in his intellectual and political development.  In June 1962, the song was published in "Sing Out!", accompanied by Dylan's comments:  Dylan recorded "Blowin' in the Wind" on July 9, 1962, for inclusion on his second album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", released in May 1963.  In his sleeve notes for "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991", John Bauldie wrote that Pete Seeger first identified the melody of "Blowin' in the Wind" as an adaptation of the old African-American spiritual "No More Auction Block/We Shall Overcome". According to Alan Lomax's "The Folk Songs of North America", the song originated in Canada and was sung by former slaves who fled there after Britain abolished slavery in 1833. In 1978, Dylan acknowledged the source when he told journalist Marc Rowland: "'Blowin' in the Wind' has always been a spiritual. I took it off a song called 'No More Auction Block' – that's a spiritual and 'Blowin' in the Wind' follows the same feeling." Dylan's performance of "No More Auction Block" was recorded at the Gaslight Cafe in October 1962, and appeared on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991".  The critic Michael Gray suggested that the lyric is an example of Dylan's incorporation of Biblical rhetoric into his own style. A particular rhetorical form deployed time and again in the New Testament and based on a text from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (12:1–2) is: "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Oh mortal, you dwell among the rebellious breed. They have eyes to see but see not; ears to hear, but hear not." In "Blowin' in the Wind", Dylan transforms this into "Yes'n' how many ears must one man have...?" and "Yes' n' how many times must a man turn his head / Pretending he just doesn't see?"  "Blowin' in the Wind" has been described as an anthem of the civil rights movement. In Martin Scorsese's documentary on Dylan, "No Direction Home", Mavis Staples expressed her astonishment on first hearing the song and said she could not understand how a young white man could write something that captured the frustration and aspirations of black people so powerfully. Sam Cooke was similarly deeply impressed by the song, incorporating it into his repertoire soon after its release (a version would be included on "Sam Cooke at the Copa"), and being inspired by it to write "A Change Is Gonna Come".  "Blowin' in the Wind" was first covered by the Chad Mitchell Trio, but their record company delayed release of the album containing it because the song included the word "death", so the trio lost out to Peter, Paul and Mary, who were represented by Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman. The single sold a phenomenal 300,000 copies in the first week of release and made the song world-famous. On August 17, 1963, it reached number two on the "Billboard" pop chart, with sales exceeding one million copies. Peter Yarrow recalled that, when he told Dylan he would make more than $5,000 () from the publishing rights, Dylan was speechless. Peter, Paul and Mary's version of the song also spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart.  The critic Andy Gill wrote,  Dylan performed the song for the first time on television in the UK in January 1963, when he appeared in the BBC television play "Madhouse on Castle Street". He also performed the song during his first national US television appearance, filmed in March 1963, a performance made available in 2005 on the DVD release of Martin Scorsese's PBS television documentary on Dylan, "No Direction Home".  An allegation that the song was written by a high-school student named Lorre Wyatt (a member of Millburn High School's "Millburnaires" all-male folk band) and subsequently purchased or plagiarised by Dylan before he gained fame was reported in an article in "Newsweek" magazine in November 1963. The plagiarism claim was eventually shown to be untrue.

Legacy.

The first line of the song ("How many roads must a man walk down?") is proposed as the "Ultimate Question" in the science fiction novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", by Douglas Adams.  In the 1994 film "Forrest Gump", Jenny sings this song for a show in a strip club and is introduced as "Bobbi Dylan". The film's soundtrack album features Joan Baez's 1976 live recording of the song, from her album "From Every Stage".  In 1975, the song was included as poetry in a high-school English textbook in Sri Lanka. The textbook caused controversy because it replaced Shakespeare's work with Dylan's.  During the protests against the Iraq War, commentators noted that protesters were resurrecting songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" rather than creating new ones.  The song has been embraced by many liberal churches, and in the 1960s and 1970s it was sung both in Catholic church "folk masses" and as a hymn in Protestant ones. In 1997, Bob Dylan performed three other songs at a Catholic church congress. Pope John Paul II, who was in attendance, told the crowd of some 300,000 young Italian Catholics that the answer was indeed "in the wind" – not in the wind that blew things away, but rather "in the wind of the spirit" that would lead them to Christ. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI (who had also been in attendance) wrote that he was uncomfortable with music stars such as Dylan performing in a church environment.  In 2009, Dylan licensed the song to be used in an advertisement for the British consumer-owned Co-Operative Group. The Co-Op claimed that Dylan's decision was influenced by "the Co-Op's high ethical guidelines regarding fair trade and the environment." The Co-Op, which is owned by about 3 million consumers, also includes Britain's largest funeral parlour and farming business.

Other versions.

"Blowin' in the Wind" has been recorded by hundreds of artists. The most commercially successful version is by folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, who released the song in June 1963, three weeks after "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" was issued. Albert Grossman, then managing both Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, brought the trio the song which they promptly recorded (on a single take) and released. The trio's version, which was the title track of their third album, peaked at number 2 on the "Billboard" charts behind "Fingertips" by Stevie Wonder. The group's version also went to number one on the Middle-Road charts for five weeks.

"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released as a single and on his album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" in 1963. It has been described as a protest song, and poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".

„Blowin' in the Wind“ je píseň amerického písničkáře Boba Dylana. Je úvodní písní jeho druhé desky "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" (1963). Roku 1994 byla uvedena do Síně slávy ceny Grammy a později byla časopisem "Rolling Stone" zařazena na 14. příčku žebříčku 500 nejlepších písní všech dob. Rovněž byla zařazena do seznamu Skladeb století, který sestavila organizace RIAA.


Early life.

Carano was born in Dallas, Texas to an Italian-American family, daughter of Dana Joy ("née" Cason) and professional football player Glenn Carano. She has two sisters, one older and one younger. She was raised by her mother after her parents divorced.  Carano graduated from Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she led the girls' basketball team to a state title. She also played volleyball and softball. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno for a year and then University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three years, majoring in psychology.

Mixed martial arts career.

Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai. Her then-boyfriend Kevin Ross, a pro Muay Thai fighter, got her involved. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12–1–1, Carano received an offer from Jamie Levine to participate in the first-ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada with World Extreme Fighting to fight Leiticia Pestovа (a bout she won in 38 seconds). She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton. Carano won the fight by knocking out Sexton late in the second round.  Carano faced Elaina Maxwell at on December 8, 2006. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Carano proved critics wrong when she defeated Maxwell for the second time; the first victory coming in a Muay Thai bout. The fight was the first female fight in Strikeforce.  She fought on the February 10, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, defeating Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called the "Fight of the Night." The fight was the first televised female fight on Showtime.  Her scheduled bout against Jan Finney at the EliteXC/K-1 Dynamite!! USA event on June 2, 2007 was canceled due to illness. The Fight Network and other news outlets reported that she was rushed to the hospital via ambulance due to dehydration while attending a World Extreme Cagefighting event as a spectator.  Carano fought on the September 15, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, where she defeated Tonya Evinger via rear-naked choke for her first career win by submission. Carano impressed critics by holding her own on the ground before submitting Evinger late in the first round.  Carano defeated former HOOKnSHOOT Champion Kaitlin Young at on May 31, 2008. A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight after weighing in at 144.5 lb (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 (bantamweight) and 145 (featherweight) pounds (61.2 and 65.8 kg, respectively), EliteXC opted to create a women's weight class at 140 pounds. Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the fight remained on the card.  Leading up to her fight against Kelly Kobold, there was much controversy over whether or not Carano would make weight for the fight, as she had fought only once in the past year and had failed to make weight. Carano assured critics that she would be able to make weight since she had hired a nutritionist to help with her dieting. At the weigh-in for the Kobold fight on October 3, 2008, Carano weighed in at 142.75 pounds on her first attempt. After removing her clothing, a towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at 142.5 pounds due to one of the towels being accidentally draped on her. The offending towel was removed and on her third attempt, without any clothes on, Carano weighed 141 pounds and successfully made weight.  Early on, Kobold was intent on pressing Carano in the clinch, while working for the takedown throughout the fight. Kobold managed a takedown in the second round, but the round ended before she could take meaningful advantage of it. Carano worked her opportunities by hitting Kobold at every turn whenever the fighters separated, while opening a huge gash on the inside of her opponent's eyebrow in the first round. At the end of the third round, Carano looked to finish the fight as she unloaded a head kick that landed flush on Kobold's chin, but Kobold remained on her feet and the bout came to a close. Carano won by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).

Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship bout.

After Strikeforce purchased the assets of ProElite, Carano, along with other fighters within the defunct promotion, became contractually linked with Strikeforce after many months of a stalemate regarding their free agent status.  It was announced at "" that Carano's fight against Cris Cyborg would take place on August 15, 2009, at "." Strikeforce created their first Women's Championship for the bout.  Though the 145-pound division is most commonly referred to as featherweight, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated that the title would be known as the Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship. The title was later renamed the Strikeforce Women's Middleweight Championship.  Carano lost the fight against Cyborg by TKO at 4:59 in the first round, giving her first ever loss in her professional MMA career.  Carano has not fought since August 2009 and has not been scheduled for any upcoming events. Carano is still under contract with the UFC through her old Strikeforce contract and has four fights remaining on that contract.  In November 2010, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated he was hopeful that she would return in 2011. Carano's return was formally announced in February 2011, and Strikeforce announced at its April 9, 2011, event in San Diego that Carano would make her return against Sarah D'Alelio on June 18, during the Overeem vs. Werdum Strikeforce event in Dallas. This bout would have been held by Zuffa, who have been detractors of women's MMA in the past. Critics asserted that the reason for the turnaround was Carano's marketability.  However, the fight did not take place. Initially Strikeforce announced Carano failed her pre-fight medical examination and the fight was pulled from the card. Later, it became public that Carano was medically cleared by the Athletic Commission but was removed from the card for other reasons.  In April 2014, during an appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show" Carano said she was considering a return to MMA. In September 2014 Dana White of the UFC said contract negotiations with Carano had stalled. During her appearance on the "Joe Rogan Experience 690" podcast, Ronda Rousey said a fight between Gina Carano and herself had been planned for December 2014, but never materialized.

Television and film career.

Carano starred in the 2005 cult film "Ring Girls". Based on true events, "Ring Girls" is a fast-paced story about five American women from Las Vegas who take on the ultimate challenge of fighting the best Muay Thai fighters in the world.  Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring fighters in the 2007 Oxygen reality series "Fight Girls". She appeared as "Crush" on the NBC show "American Gladiators", in which she starred in the workout video of the show along with Monica Carlson (Jet), Jennifer Widerstrom (Phoenix), Michael O'Hearn (Titan), Tanoai Reed (Toa) and Don "Hollywood" Yates (Wolf). The DVD was released on December 16, 2008.  She appeared in "" as Natasha, a purchasable hero unit, portraying the Soviet sniper/commando in various cut scenes. She is featured in the Michael Jai White film "Blood and Bone" (2009).  In September 2009, Carano landed the leading role in the spy thriller movie "Haywire" (2011), directed by Steven Soderbergh. Christy Lemire of The Associated Press stated: "[Carano's] dialogue delivery may seem a bit stiff — and she has acknowledged that Soderbergh made some tweaks to her voice in post-production — but she has tremendous presence: an intriguing mix of muscular power and eye-catching femininity". She describes her knockout fight with co-star Michael Fassbender:  In February 2012, Carano was cast in "In the Blood" (2014), an action thriller directed by John Stockwell. The film is set in motion when a husband disappears while vacationing in the Caribbean with his wife, played by Carano. The grieving wife passionately and recklessly pursues the men whom she believes kidnapped and killed him. Stockwell stated, "This role will showcase not only Gina's fighting skills, but also her acting abilities as her character struggles to [rein] in her violent past."  In September 2012, Carano signed on as the lead in an all-female ensemble action film described as the female version of "The Expendables". Producer Adi Shankar said, "I don't know how I'm supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of "The Expendables" without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba."  Carano co-starred in "Fast & Furious 6" (2013) as a member of Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agent Luke Hobbs' (Dwayne Johnson) team. Critics were united in their praise of Carano's performance. Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote, "Gina Carano is BIG fun to watch. [She] is still a bit stilted with her line readings, but her two fight scenes with Michelle Rodriguez are just epic." Matt Goldberg of Collider.com wrote that the scene would "create a lot of new Gina Carano fans."  In July 2013, she and comic book creator Rob Liefeld announced they were working on a big-screen adaptation of Liefied's "Avengelyne" in which Carano would star as a fallen angel, who is sent to Earth with a mission to find and protect 'the one', a person who holds the key to saving mankind from demons and other monsters.  Carano appeared in the 2013–2014 Fox series "Almost Human" episode "Unbound", where she played the part of an XRN combat android named Danica. She co-starred in the 2015 film "Extraction", and she played Angel Dust in the 2016 film "Deadpool".  In December 2018, she was announced as part of the cast of "The Mandalorian", Lucasfilm's first live-action Star Wars series. She portrayed the character Cara Dune with a first appearance in the fourth episode of the first season titled "Chapter 4: Sanctuary." Carano initially believed she would be playing the role of a female Wookiee, and was surprised to "find that [she] was one of the few people that you were actually going to see her face."

Accolades.

She was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN series "". She was voted "Hottest Woman In America" by "Big Biz Magazine" in the Spring 2008 issue On May 13, 2008, "Gina Carano" was the fastest-rising search on Google and third-most-searched person on Yahoo!. She was also ranked as no. 5 on the "Top Ten Influential Women of 2008" list on Yahoo!  In May 2009, it was announced that Carano was ranked no. 16 in "Maxim"s Hot 100 list. She is one of the cover athletes along with Serena Williams for the October 19, 2009 edition of "ESPN The Magazine"s Body Issue.  In April 2012, she became the first recipient of ActionFest's Chuck Norris (Best Female Action Star) Award, given to the female action star of the year.  In addition to being a nominee for the 2013 Critics Choice Awards for best actress in an action movie for "Haywire", Carano was a top 10 most-searched athlete on Yahoo! that year.

Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress, television personality, fitness model and former mixed martial artist.

Gina Joy Carano (* 16. dubna 1982, Dallas, USA) je americká herečka, televizní osobnost, fitness modelka a bývalá bojovnice Muaythai a smíšených bojových umění (MMA).


Early life.

The youngest of five children, Benjamin Clementine grew up in a middle-class family in Edmonton, London, with his strict Roman Catholic grandmother. After she died, he moved in with his parents. Having suffered bullying at school, Clementine was mischievous as a child, but his rebellion was rarely conventional. He found himself particularly drawn to the literature of the Bible as well as poetry, especially the works of William Blake, TS Eliot, and Carol Ann Duffy. He would skip school but spend all day at the library, picking these books at random off the shelves. His older brother Joseph was fond of music philosophy, science, and English literature, and would point out different types of books and dictionaries for him to read.  Clementine sought out rarely used and archaic words, attempting to incorporate them into his vocabulary. Joseph bought a piano when Clementine was 11, and when he had finished his daily practice Benjamin would play it. Eventually his brother's acquired taste for the piano diminished and he moved on to another instrument giving Clementine more time to continue playing. He had discovered such a strong propensity to music that his father, who always intended for him to study law, had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Clementine found means to get a little keyboard privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house where he played when his parents went to work. Clementine could not read music, but in a few months he started imitating the work of fin-de-siècle composer Erik Satie and Claude Debussy, learned from listening to Classic FM after "becoming bored" with pop music, and continued to play discreetly for the next five years until his parents' divorce.

Relocation to Paris.

Clementine left school at 16 after failing most of his GCSEs, passing only English literature, following which he had a dispute with his family and ended up in Camden Town, London, homeless and in psychological and financial difficulties. Although it was not a premeditated plan, he relocated to Paris at age 19, where he spent a number of years busking and playing in bars and hotels in Place de Clichy while sleeping on the streets. Occasionally, he applied for jobs cleaning kitchens but was never successful. He eventually moved to a hostel in Montmartre, where he paid €20 to live in a ten-man bunk-bed room. He preferred to sleep in the lower beds to enable him to hide his belongings underneath. Clementine eventually bought a half-broken guitar and a cheap keyboard. For the next three years he wrote and composed songs. Inspired by the poets and singers he'd come to admire in France, he decided his songs would be pointless if they didn't say something about his particular experiences. Clementine managed to stay out of trouble as he spent his nights performing and his days composing and writing, becoming a cult figure in the Parisian music scene. After four years of living as a vagabond, he was discovered by an agent whilst walking back home from an evening performance and they arranged a meeting for the next day. The agent introduced him to a friend, Matthieu Gazier, later on becoming Clementine's manager for a period of time. In 2012, whilst playing a gig at the Festival de Cannes they met Lionel Bensemoun, a business mogul in France. Through him, they decided to set up the record label 'Behind' so that Clementine could record his music. He eventually came to the attention of the French press, who described him as """" ("the English revelation of the "Francofolies" festival"). He was then invited to the Rencontres Trans Musicales of Rennes in France in December 2012 where he performed for the first time on a large stage and played four nights consecutively. Clementine eventually signed a joint music license contract between Capitol, Virgin EMI and Barclay.

Difficulties.

Before Clementine signed a major deal he closely met and worked with a French tour agent with his independent label in Paris and embarked on a brief European tour playing in high-profile festivals as the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada; and Eurosonic Festival, of which Rob Van Der Zwaan writing for podium.info described him as one of the highlights. As a result, the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2013 booked Clementine to play. He failed to attend. According to Clementine, he was kicked off the train en route to Rotterdam for being unable to show a valid ticket. He didn't have enough money due to not getting paid by his then-tour agent. Clementine later stated that he had attempted to travel by foot to Rotterdam, after assuming the city was close by. However, the journey was in fact 45 km, which was considerably longer than he had estimated. He had tried to stop passers by while walking along the motorway, but nobody would stop and help. It took him about 10 hours to complete the journey and he arrived at his destination with bleeding toes. When he set off walking he was wearing slippers, but at some point decided to carry on walking barefoot. Despite this, two years later he was offered another spot at the same festival. In 2014, during the shooting of his music video for "At Least for Now", Clementine fell on a pile of stones in Ireland, badly injuring his elbow, then later cut a toe whilst walking on stones. In March 2015, whilst performing in the middle of a concert in Paris, he cut a finger open and started to bleed, but kept on playing until an audience member threw tissues on the stage. He later cynically remarked: that's what happens when you fall in love; you get hurt.

Early recordings.

"Cornerstone" EP, "Glorious You" EP.

Clementine's first EP, "Cornerstone", was released in June 2013 with three studio tracks. It was re-issued in October 2013 with three additional acoustic tracks recorded for Deezer, a web-based music streaming service. In the same month, on an episode of the BBC television show Later With Jools Holland that also included performances by Paul McCartney, Earth, Wind and Fire, Gary Clark Jr. and the Arctic Monkeys, he performed the EP's title track. The appearance drew strong critical praise, with Paul McCartney encouraging Clementine to continue his musical career. The "London Evening Standard"s David Smyth, reviewing a gig at the South Bank Centre, said that Clementine's performance reminded him of Nina Simone, particularly as he had covered her hit "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" in a radically different style. Clementine announced further tours, both solo and supporting Cat Power at the Brighton Dome, including an appearance at the O2 Academy in Brixton and at the "Rencontres Trans Musicales" festival in Rennes, France, where he worked on a special show and performed four nights. Andy Gill on the "Independent" album review wrote:

Studio albums.

"At Least for Now".

Clementine initially wanted to record his debut album, "At Least for Now", straight after his first EP, "Cornerstone", but due to contractual dealings with the music industry and his label it was strategically held back for almost two years. During that time he decided to write his own dictionary, as well as a collection of poetry and classical music pieces. "At Least for Now" was mainly released across Europe on 12 January 2015. On 13 February 2015 it reached the iTunes Top 10 in Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg Poland and Greece. In England, it won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize.  "At Least for Now" largely received critical acclaim. The album holds a 75 out of 100 rating based on 19 critical reviews indicating "generally positive reviews" from Metacritic. Clementine's win of the Mercury Prize came as a complete surprise by many and was perfectly written by Geoffery Himes in the Washington Post by saying that It was impressive enough that Benjamin Clementine won 2015's Mercury Prize, It's even more impressive that "At Least for Now" is unlike anything else in pop music at the moment. The best shorthand description is perhaps "Nina Simone singing the Leonard Cohen songbook", for Clementine's unapologetically literary lyrics are delivered in a strong but idiosyncratic tenor. David Simpson from The Guardian gave the album 3 stars out of 5, describing the debut as "fascinating but flawed", explaining that it "benefits from the bravery and adventurousness Clementine honed while tackling audiences aboard Parisian trains." Regarding Clementine's vocals, Simpson said: "Channelling influences such as Erik Satie and Antony Hegarty, Clementine is reminiscent of Kevin Rowland in that he sounds as if he is singing from the gut, and because he has to. If only he had Rowlands' economy: mannered vocal flourishes complicate the melodies when what's needed is simplicity. The addition of syrupy strings and pedestrian drumming further dilutes the impact of his raw talent. However, when he performs unadorned, melodies dripping from his fingertips, and letting fly from the heart, his voice is difficult to forget." Phil Mongredien, also reviewing for The Guardian, gave the album 4 stars out of 5, writing that "for the most part these piano-led songs sound unique, the lonely despair of Cornerstone and the arresting lyricism of Condolence signalling an exciting new talent."

"I Tell a Fly".

Accompanied by a video shot by photographer Craig McDean and filmmaker Masha Vasyukova published earlier than its official release on 30 June 2017, Clementine composed Phantom of Aleppoville after being affected by the writing of pioneering British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. He wrote extensively about children who have experienced bullying in the home and at school, discovering that while the trauma was naturally not comparable in scale to that suffered by children displaced by war, its effects followed similar patterns. Seeing in Winicott's writing a mirror of his own childhood experiences, Clementine chose the title – the "little city of Aleppo" – to symbolise a place where children encounter such bullying. Says Clementine, "Aleppoville is a place where many are bullied if not all, but no one understands nor see why; Phantom". I Tell a Fly finds Clementine exploring new musical territory on the heels of his Mercury Prize-winning debut, At Least for Now (2015). At Least for Now stretched itself across a series of piano ballads with unorthodox structures; I Tell a Fly brings a sense of theatricality and power by using whirling, interwoven instruments throughout the uncompromising release. While at Least for Now looked inward and backward, Clementine's follow-up looks outward and forward-to a changing world, ancient struggles and the individual response. In conversation with David Renshaw, Clementine explains that the origin of I Tell a Fly lies in a disarmingly strange line Clementine found in his American visa: "an alien of extraordinary abilities." He explains, "I was baffled for about ten minutes when I first saw that visa. But then I thought to myself, I am an alien. I'm a wanderer. In most places I've been, I've always been different. And so I began to think about the story of a couple of birds, who are in love: one is afraid to go further, and the other is taking a risk, to see what happens." On I Tell a Fly, Clementine uses his personal history as a prism through which to view the world around him (and attempt to make sense of both), musically exploring unknown territories while maintaining a lifeblood that could not be mistaken for the work of anyone other than him.

Artistry.

Voice.

Clementine is a spinto tenor. His voice has been described as warm and graceful, with a bright, full timbre, that ranges from approximately the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the D one octave above middle C (D5). Writing for The Quietus, Calum Bradbury-Sparvell described Clementine's voice as having the "expressive but exact enunciation of a stage actor, which allows his lyrics to spill and scatter out of sync with his hands in a way which warrants the endless Nina Simone comparisons." He went on to write: "Yet as an atypical singer-songwriter with a strong sense of grandeur, an impressively broad tenor range and more than a dash of dark humour, he also resembles Rufus Wainwright". Interviewing Clementine for The New York Times, David Byrne said,  "It seemed to me that Clementine’s autodidacticism was his way of asking how one should be in a world that doesn’t make sense – the type of inquisitive probing we get in his soulful songs, which draw on the work of French performers such as Léo Ferré, Édith Piaf and Henri Salvador. His stirring, impassioned tenor sounds like it’s from another world, but it’s the singer’s questioning of the one we live in that sets his music apart.

Instruments.

Clementine is a multi instrumentalist and cites a broad range of musical influences: Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Leonard Cohen, Leo Ferré, Nina Simone, Jake Thackray, Jimi Hendrix, Serge Gainsbourg, Aretha Franklin, Lucio Dalla, Giacomo Puccini, Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Callas, Georges Brassens and Frédéric Chopin. In a 2015 interview he listed Simone, Nick Cave and Tom Waits as his heroes. Clementine had little exposure to music whilst growing up and is self-taught. In his teens he had caught avant-garde French composers like Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. These influences inspired him to create his own material. He accompanies on hypnotic piano vamps with mostly minimal instruments ranging from little voice breaths, a brushing of coat for percussion as in his song "Edmonton", to a vicious string stride confrontation in his song "Adios".  He said:

Poetry.

Clementine states he has mainly been influenced by confessional poets like Sylvia Plath as well as writers such as William Blake, Carol Ann Duffy, James Baldwin, the philosopher John Locke and C. S. Lewis. In an interview with the broadsheet newspaper The Times with Ed Potton, Clementine expressed his feelings of hating the works of William Shakespeare as a child as it was all his teachers always taught him so he preferably went to his local library to read the other William, William Blake. Whilst in Paris, he discovered French poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud including poet-singers such as Leo Ferré, Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour with whom he sang and recorded the song 'You've got to learn'. It is Paris where Clementine discovered Nina Simone. He delivers his introspective lyrics about integrity and vulnerability and explores both in everyday experience. One of his frustrations after returning to the UK was how little ambition he thinks there is in British song lyrics compared to his experience of French music. Talking to the "Guardian" journalist Tim Lewis, he said, "it's very important down there (France) because most of the time they [the audience] pay more attention to what the singer says and what they are trying to express."  In his song "Winston Churchill's boy", he rewrites and repurposes the words of Winston Churchill, lamenting "never in the field of human affection had so much been given for so few attention". Writing for The Quietus, Calum Bradbury-Sparvell described the song in the context of Clementine's debut album as "a melodramatic beginning which harks back to the alienation he felt from family and friends on the eve of his emigration to the City of Light," going on to write: "For a Gallic darling, Clementine certainly gazes wistfully across La Manche a lot and one senses that, despite the obvious French influences, there is more of the spurned Londoner in him than the flâneur.

Image.

Mostly playing on stage entirely in black or dark long trench-like woollen coats with no shirt underneath, in barefoot, Clementine's distinctive androgynous appearance, square-cut, angular padded clothing, manner, and height of 193 cm (6'4) is uniquely known at least as much as he is for his art. In March 2015 Clementine was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed by the Financial Times. Clementine collaborated multiple times with Christopher Bailey. On 17 June 2014 Clementine performed three songs live throughout the Burberry Prorsum Menswear Catwalk show - the first musician to perform live throughout a Burberry show. He performed again on the Burberry menswear show in January 2016. In April 2016, his song ""I Won't Complain"" was chosen for the Mr. Burberry ad, directed by Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen.

Performance and appearances.

Clementine's live performances have received praise. David Byrne interviewing Clementine for "The New York Times Magazine" accounted on his performances saying that he was introduced to Clementine's music through a friend who insisted he check him out. He was floored, and immediately asked him to perform at a music festival that he curated in London. He took the stage in a long coat, no shirt or shoes on, and played the piano perched on a high stool, almost standing. He said that It was as if Clementine were singing directly to each person in that room, a far cry from rush hour in a station of the Métro. Mollie Goodfellow of "The Independent" upon reviewing him at the Meltdown festival curated by David Byrne in the Queen Elizabeth Hall August (2015), stated:  Despite repeat comparisons to Nina Simone from critics, it’s hard to pin London-born, Paris-dwelling Benjamin Clementine down. His voice certainly has the richness of Simone, but his style of performing and theatrical flair is entirely his own. His song Adios, from album at Least For Now, for example, would not be out of place on Broadway. He carries himself well, walking on stage confidently and barefoot, and carries his music even better – each song sung so strikingly that you can’t help but get caught up in the emotion of the thing. I’ll admit I found myself affected by his rendition of his popular single Cornerstone, a song reminiscent of the Cinematic Orchestra. Really, he needs no more than himself and a piano, but Clementine’s drummer Alexi joins him on stage for several of his songs at the Meltdown Festival set. The drumming complimented the flatness of the piano perfectly. Every word, every key of his set was performed with an incredible certainty and purpose and the moments of silence found between verses were fraught with a heavy tension, like the audience were waiting for a sudden outburst of emotion – which is something the performance was not exactly lacking in the first place.  However, despite giving Clementine a four star review at his gig at the Barbican, John Lawrence from "The Daily Telegraph" also remarked:  During the evening, Clementine attempted two covers and it was here that his charismatic singularity dwindled. An over-worked Voodoo Chile and a pretty but unremarkable version of Nick Drake's Riverman confirmed that Clementine is at his best when he is mining the depths of his own strange world. Despite vocal swoops and bursts of grand guignol piano playing, Clementine's own songs always felt intimate and confessional. Using someone else's words was deadening somehow. However, anyone attending last night's concert would have realised that Clementine has talent to burn. He is only 26 and yet, already, he has mastered a key theme that is essential to so many great artists – that of life's essential sadness.  On 17 July 2014, Clementine performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.  An album was scheduled to be released in 2014, but Clementine instead released his second EP, "Glorious You", on 25 August 2014.  On 12 October 2014, Clementine performed and spoke at the Observer Ideas at the Barbican Centre, a festival to share ideas to the public, in a line up that included Edward Snowden, David Simon, creator of the HBO series "The Wire", and musician Tinie Tempah.  Benjamin Clementine was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Prize and subsequently won. He dedicated his award to the memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris during the previous week.  On 12 February 2016, Clementine announced a tour of Europe and the United States.

Personal life.

Although heterosexual, Clementine has recalled experiencing homophobic bullying at school from pupils who considered him effeminate.  Clementine is married to British singer-songwriter Flo Morrissey, and the couple had their first child Julian Jupiter Richard Sainte-Clémentine on Christmas Day 2017. A daughter, Helena Clementine, was born on 29 October 2019, in Ojai, California.

Benjamin Sainte-Clémentine (; born 7 December 1988) is a British artist, poet, vocalist, composer, and musician. Clementine's debut album "At Least for Now" won the 2015 Mercury Prize. In February 2019 he was named a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

Benjamin Clementine (* 7. prosince 1988 Londýn) je anglický zpěvák a klavírista. Narodil se v Crystal Palace v jižním Londýně jako nejmladší z pěti dětí. Ve věku devatenácti let se přestěhoval do Paříže, kde se věnoval buskingu a hraní v barech. V červnu 2013 vydal své první EP s názvem "Cornerstone". Později toho roku vystupoval v pořadu "Later... with Jools Holland" po boku například Paula McCartneyho. V březnu 2015 vydal svou první dlouhohrající desku "At Least for Now", za níž získal cenu Mercury Prize.


Plot.

College freshman Tracy Fishko is having trouble adjusting to college life at Barnard. She eventually meets and befriends a fellow student, Tony, and even develops a crush on him, but when he begins dating another girl called Nicolette, she feels alone again. On her mother's advice, she contacts her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke, who also lives in New York.  Tracy is immediately entranced by Brooke and her lifestyle. After spending a whirlwind night with her, she pens a short story and submits it to her college's prestigious literary magazine. Tracy continues to spend time with Brooke, who reveals her plans for a small and eclectic restaurant called Mom's after her dead mother; the restaurant is being financed by her partner. Upon returning home one night, however, Brooke finds herself locked out of her apartment and discovers that her boyfriend has withdrawn financial support. With massive bills for the restaurant coming due, Brooke visits a psychic with Tracy. Tracy interprets the psychic's words as meaning that Brooke should ask for the money from her former friend Mamie-Claire, with whom she had a falling-out after Mamie-Claire stole her idea for a business and married her former fiancé.  Tracy has Tony drive her and Brooke to Mamie-Claire's home in Connecticut, with Nicolette joining them to make sure that Tony and Tracy are not having an affair. At Mamie-Claire's home, Brooke and the others crash Mamie-Claire's book party, and Brooke pitches her restaurant to Mamie-Claire, hoping she will invest. Mamie-Claire, who confides to Tracy that she did steal Brooke's T-shirt idea to become rich, insists that she will have to talk to her husband, Dylan. While waiting for Dylan's arrival, Brooke takes a call from her father, who informs her that his wedding with Tracy's mother has been called off. When Dylan comes home, rather than dismiss Brooke, he asks her to pitch her restaurant. Brooke stumbles, but Tracy, still enthused by the project, helps her to pitch it. Dylan tells Brooke he will give her the money but insists that, rather than invest in it, he will give it to her to cover the debt she will have from dissolving the business. Seeing that Tracy is upset by this, and also the toxic effect the offer is immediately having on Dylan and Mamie-Claire's relationship, Brooke ultimately refuses the money. Meanwhile, Nicolette, who witnessed Tracy kissing Tony, confronts Tracy about her short story. The entire party reads it, and Brooke becomes offended by the brutal way in which Tracy characterized her. She informs her that they are no longer about to become sisters, as their parents no longer want to marry, and tells Tracy that she will sue. Upset, Tracy, sitting outside the house, takes a hit on the bong that Tony had earlier fashioned from an apple with her initial emblazoned on it, smoking weed that he had presumably stolen from Dylan's freezer.  Tracy's story is accepted by the university's prestigious literary society, and for a while she joins the group. Still finding herself unable to fit in, she decides to start her own literary club, inviting both Tony and Nicolette to apply for membership.  Finding herself alone on Thanksgiving, Tracy goes to Brooke's old apartment and finds her packing her things, about to move to Los Angeles. She learns that Brooke was able to cover her debts, as Mamie-Claire gave her what would have been her share of money from the T-shirt business. Brooke also tells her that she has passed the SAT and that she has been accepted into college and is considering going. Tracy invites Brooke to have Thanksgiving dinner with her. The two eat out at a restaurant, as the film concludes with Tracy, as narrator, musing: "Being a beacon of hope for lesser people is a lonely business."

Music.

The film's musical score was composed by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, who had previously collaborated with Baumbach on "The Squid and the Whale". A soundtrack album was released on August 14, 2015, by Milan Records.

Release.

On January 9, 2015, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired worldwide distribution rights for the film. "Mistress America" premiered on January 24, 2015, at the Sundance Film Festival, and was released in the United States on August 14, 2015. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on December 1, 2015.

Critical reception.

The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 81% of 180 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.35/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Mistress America" brings out the best in collaborators Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, distilling its star's charm and director's dark wit into a ferociously funny co-written story." On Metacritic, it holds a 75 out of 100 rating based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". "Variety"s review from Sundance read "Greta Gerwig shines in a tailor-made role in her and Noah Baumbach's spirited screwball follow-up to "Frances Ha"."  The central screwball-comedy section set in the Connecticut mansion divided critics. While conceding that the film's ending "resolves things on a basically satisfying, quasi-poignant note," Todd McCarthy in "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that the "inconsistency of the approach overall, combined with Gerwig's maximum voltage performance, is disconcerting, even off-putting". Amy Nicholson, writing for "LA Weekly", praised the casting of the section, and in particular the performance of Heather Lind, but found that the "clumsy" sequence "stops the movie cold". On the other hand, Peter Bradshaw, writing in "The Guardian", praised the "outrageously farcical and funny extended sequence." For Nigel Andrews in the "Financial Times", the "neo-screwball" sequence exemplified the film's themes of love, art, and betrayal; he called the film "funny, witty, joyous, mischievous and casually profound."

Mistress America is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Noah Baumbach. It was written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, and stars Gerwig and Lola Kirke. The film was released on August 14, 2015, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Mistress America je americký hraný film, který natočil režisér Noah Baumbach podle scénáře, který napsal spolu s Gretou Gerwig. Greta Gerwig ve filmu rovněž hraje, dále se v něm představili například Lola Kirke, Heather Lind a Kathryn Erbe. Ve filmu rovněž hrála kapela Dirty Projectors (v sestavě David Longstreth, Amber Coffman, Steve Marion, Michael Johnson a Nat Baldwin). Film pojednává o osmnáctileté studentce, která právě nastoupila na univerzitu. Autorem originální hudby k filmu je duo Dean & Britta (Dean Wareham a Britta Phillips). Premiéru měl 24. ledna 2015 na festivalu Sundance.


History.

Sherinian and Portnoy played together in progressive metal band Dream Theater, from which Sherinian was asked to leave in 1999, while Portnoy later left in 2010. Sheehan and Portnoy formed rock group The Winery Dogs with Sheehan's former Mr. Big bandmate, Richie Kotzen. Portnoy, Sheehan, and Sherinian also worked together on a short-lived, live instrumental project with Tony MacAlpine called PSMS. Because of this, Portnoy considers MacAlpine to be part of Sons of Apollo's history as well as "part of the extended family". While touring, Sherinian asked Portnoy to join him in a full-time project. When Portnoy's schedule allowed, he agreed and suggested Soto and Bumblefoot to complete the line-up, having previously worked with Bumblefoot on Metal Allegiance and knowing Soto after his solo band opened several The Winery Dogs shows in South America. Members have insisted in multiple interviews that the supergroup is a full-time band, and not just a side project.  The name of the band was proposed by Sherinian after he scrolled through a list of suggestions by Portnoy and saw the word "Apollo" among them. It was picked due to Apollo being the god of music. But because the band suspected there could be another band called Apollo, they thought of possible variations and that's how their name was chosen.  Their debut album, "Psychotic Symphony", was produced by Portnoy and Sherinian (as "The Del Fuvio Brothers") and was released on October 20, 2017 via Inside Out Music/Sony Music. On August 30, 2019, the band released their first live album "Live with the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony", filmed at the Plovdiv Roman theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Their second album "MMXX" was released on January 17, 2020.

Discography.

Studio albums  Live albums  Extended plays  Singles

Sons of Apollo is an American progressive metal supergroup formed in 2017 and composed of drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist Billy Sheehan, keyboardist Derek Sherinian, vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, and guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.

Sons of Apollo je americká progresivní metalová superskupina. Vznikla roku 2016 v sestavě Jeff Scott Soto (zpěv), Ron „Bumblefoot“ Thal (kytara), Billy Sheehan (baskytara), Derek Sherinian (klávesy) a Mike Portnoy (bicí). Členové skupiny v rozhovorech uváděli, že nejde o vedlejší projekt, ale klasickou skupinu na plný úvazek. Své první studiové album s názvem "Psychotic Symphony" kapela vydala v říjnu 2017.