Katedrála svatého Martina z Tours (Utrecht)

History.

The first chapel in Utrecht was founded around 630 by Frankish clergy under the patronage of the Merovingian kings but was destroyed during an attack of the Frisians on Utrecht shortly thereafter. The site of this first chapel within Utrecht is unknown. Saint Willibrord (died 739), the Apostle to the Frisians, established a second chapel devoted to Saint Martin on (or close to) the site of the current building. This church was destroyed by the Normans in the 9th century during one of their many raids on Utrecht, but was reconstructed by Bishop Balderic in the 10th century. During this period St. Martin's came to be the principal church of Utrecht, see of the bishop. The church had its own small territorial close (known as an "immunity") and was led by a cathedral chapter of canons, who generally belonged to the nobility.  The church was repeatedly destroyed by fires and then rebuilt. A Romanesque style church was built by Bishop Adalbold and consecrated in 1023. It is thought to have been the center of a cross-shaped conglomeration of 5 churches, called a ', built to commemorate Conrad II. This building, also known as Adalbold's Dom, was partially destroyed in the fire of 1253 which ravaged much of Utrecht, leading Bishop Henry van Vianen to initiate the construction of the current Gothic structure in 1254. The construction of the Gothic cathedral continued into the 16th century. The first part to be built was the choir. The Dom Tower was started in 1321 and finished in 1382. After 1515, steadily diminishing financing prevented completion of this building project, of which an almost complete series of building accounts exists. In 1566, the'or Iconoclast Fury swept across much of the Low Countries, justified by the Calvinist belief that statues in a house of God were idolatrous images which must be destroyed. As a result, many of the ornaments on both the exterior and interior of the cathedral were destroyed.  In 1580 the Utrecht city government devolved the cathedral from the Diocese of Utrecht to local Calvinists. From then on Protestant services were held in the building with one brief exception, in 1672 and 1673, during the Franco-Dutch War, when Catholic masses were again held in the cathedral. A year after the French retreat, the still unfinished and insufficiently supported nave collapsed on 1 August 1674 during a massive storm that caused a tornado. Over the subsequent centuries, much of the enormous building fell into further neglect. The pitiable state of the cathedral led to some small restoration activities in the nineteenth century, followed by major renovations in the early twentieth century with the aim of returning the Cathedral to its original state. However, the nave was never rebuilt.  The Catholic Church remained strong within Utrecht following the Reformation but was legally obliged to worship discreetly in clandestine churches ("). One of these churches, St. Gertrude's, later became the principal cathedral of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands.  The Catholic Church, during the 1853 reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands, designated the former St. Catherine's Church of the Carmelites as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht.

The church today.

What remains of St. Martin's today are the choir, the transept and the Dom Tower. The central nave of the cathedral which collapsed in the storm of 1674 is now a square with large trees, the ". Stones in various colours indicate in the pavement the original outlines of the church.  In 2004, 750 years after construction began, the collapsed parts were temporarily rebuilt in scaffolding material. The scaffolding was also blown down in a storm, like the original nave.  In 2013 a project has started to expose archaeological artifacts of the St. Martin cathedral. A cloister and a chapter house, which is now the main hall of Utrecht University, are also still standing. The Union of Utrecht, a founding document of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, was signed in the chapter house.

Burials and memorials in the Dom.

Utrecht was an important city in the western Holy Roman Empire and had particularly close links to the imperial Salian dynasty. In the early Middle Ages the Holy Roman Emperor was always an honorary canon of the cathedral. The Emperor Conrad II and the Emperor Henry V both died in Utrecht, in 1039 and 1125 respectively. Their bowels and hearts were interred in the cathedral. The modest "Emperors' stones" ("keizerssteentjes") in the floor of the choir of the cathedral are a reminder of this fact.  The only medieval tomb of importance to remain relatively unscathed in the cathedral is that of the 14th-century Bishop Guy of Avesnes – the brother of John II, Count of Holland, Hainaut, and Zeeland.  There are many other beautifully carved burial slabs and memorials in the cathedral. Of particular note is the monumental cenotaph, which contained the heart of the 16th-century Bishop George van Egmond.

St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church (), is a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, but has been a Protestant church since 1580.

Katedrála sv. Martina v Utrechtu (nizozemsky "Sint-Maarten Domkerk van Utrecht") je historická katedrála utrechtské diecéze (dnes utrechtské provincie v Nizozemí), jeden z největších gotických kostelů v severním Holandsku, hlavní svatostánek biskupů tohoto regionu. Zasvěcen je sv. Martinovi. V roce 1580 ho převzali kalvinisté. Jde o cenný doklad gotické architektury, jediný kostel v Nizozemí ve stylu klasické francouzské gotiky. Dominantou svatyně je západní věž vysoká 112,3 m, objevující se v řadě malířských děl, např. na Gentském oltáři Huberta a Jana van Eyck.


Medalists.

The following Swedish athletes won medals at the games:

Alpine skiing.

2004 and 2005 World Cup overall champion Anja Pärson won bronze medals in the women's combined and downhill, before claiming her first Olympic gold medal in the slalom. Anna Ottosson also earned a medal, winning the second run in the women's giant slalom to claim bronze.  Note: In the men's combined, run 1 is the downhill, and runs 2 and 3 are the slalom. In the women's combined, run 1 and 2 are the slalom, and run 3 the downhill.

Biathlon.

Anna Carin Olofsson, who had switched from cross-country skiing to biathlon just four years earlier, became the first Swedish woman to win a gold medal in biathlon. Olofsson also won a silver in the sprint event. The men's relay team fell short of a medal in a photo finish, having greatly hurt their chances by missing 12 shots.

Cross-country skiing.

A total of fifteen athletes – ten men and five women – were selected, making the cross-country squad the largest excluding the ice hockey teams.  Emelie Öhrstig was the defending World Champion at the women's sprint event, but that was in classical style, and she failed to make the final in Turin. Björn Lind, leader of the men's cross-country World Cup in sprint, was more successful, winning the gold medal and then pairing with bronze medalist Thobias Fredriksson to win the team sprint event as well.  The women's sprint team of Lina Andersson and Anna Dahlberg joined their male counterparts in winning gold, while the men's 4 × 10 km relay claimed the only Swedish medal from a distance event, a bronze.

Curling.

In the men's event, three-time World champion Peja Lindholm had a strong start, opening the tournament 3–0, including a win over eventual gold-medalists Canada, but fell off as the week continued, losing six consecutive games to finish out of the medal round.  On the women's side, Anette Norberg, the 2005 World champion, and a six-time European champion, led her team to the top spot in the round robin. The Swedes then survived a close game with Norway in the semifinal, winning with a single point in the final end. In the gold medal game, Norberg's rink had a comfortable lead, but saw Switzerland storm back to tie and force an extra end. In that extra, Norberg converted a difficult double takeout to win the gold medal.

Men's.

Team: Peja Lindholm (skip), Tomas Nordin, Magnus Swartling, Peter Narup, Anders Kraupp (alternate)  Key: The hammer indicates which team had the last stone in the first end.

Figure skating.

Kristoffer Berntsson, the lone Swedish figure skater in Turin, finished 23rd in the men's event.  Key: CD = Compulsory Dance, FD = Free Dance, FS = Free Skate, OD = Original Dance, SP = Short Program

Freestyle skiing.

Four moguls skiers represented Sweden in the freestyle disciplines, with the best finish coming from Sara Kjellin in the women's event. Kjellin sat in bronze medal position with only a single skier to come, but that skier was eventual winner Jennifer Heil, leaving Kjellin just short of a medal.

Ice hockey.

The Swedish men's team suffered an early setback when it lost 5–0 to Russia, but wins over Kazakhstan, Latvia and the United States meant that the team was guaranteed a quarterfinal spot entering the final round-robin game with Slovakia. This game stirred up controversy, with head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson suggesting that the team might not play for a win, in order to set up a quarterfinal matchup with underdog Switzerland. Ultimately, the Swedes did lose the game, though the IIHF supervisor "didn't see anything special". The team then picked up comfortable wins in the medal round, beating the Swiss 5–2 and the Czech Republic 7–3, setting up a gold medal final with local rivals Finland. The Swedes fell behind after the first period, but a pair of goals in the second left the game tied going into the final 20 minutes. Nicklas Lidström then scored early in the third, giving the Swedes a 3–2 lead that would hold, and giving the country its first Olympic hockey title since 1994. Thousands of fans greeted the victorious team upon their return from Turin, with many of the NHL players stopping in Stockholm before returning to their club teams.  The women's team managed to advance to the medal round in the Olympic tournament, but an 8–1 loss to Canada only seemed to enhance the perception that women's hockey had few competitive teams. In the semifinals, the Swedes faced the United States, and fell behind 2–0 early in the second period. However, the Swedes then rallied, scoring twice to tie the game, and shut down the favoured Americans, forcing a shootout to decide the game. Swedish goaltender Kim Martin stopped four American shooters, while Pernilla Winberg and Maria Rooth scored for Sweden. This was the first game in which any team other than Canada had beaten the United States, and made Sweden the first team outside the top two to advance to a major final. The final was not as close, with Canada pulling out to a 4–0 lead by the halfway mark. Still, earning silver medal was a significant accomplishment for the Swedish women.

Snowboarding.

Thirteen snowboarders represented Sweden across the three events, but only one, Maria Danielsson, earned a top-ten finish, which Danielsson did in the women's snowboard cross.  Note: In the final, the single best score from two runs is used to determine the ranking. A bracketed score indicates a run that wasn't counted.  Key: '+ Time' represents a deficit; the brackets indicate the results of each run.

Speed skating.

In the 1000 metres, Erik Zachrisson blocked Russia's Dmitry Dorofeyev, who was ahead of the pace of gold medalist Shani Davis at the time. Zachrisson ended up being disqualified.

Sweden sent 112 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin trying to win their first gold medal since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer. A total of 99 athletes were selected, and they competed in nine of the fifteen Winter Olympic sports. When the medals were summed up, Sweden had managed seven gold medals, two silver and five bronze, making it Sweden's best result ever in the Winter Olympics in terms of both medals and gold medals earned, and gave Sweden a 6th place in the medal table.

Švédsko na Zimních olympijských hrách 2006 v Turíně reprezentovalo 106 sportovců, z toho 63 mužů a 43 žen. Nejmladším účastníkem byla Emma Eliasson (16 let, 245 dní), nejstarším pak Anette Norberg (39 let, 94 dní). Reprezentanti vybojovali 14 medailí, z toho 7 zlatých 2 stříbrné a 5 bronzových.


Early life and education.

Veljko Kadijević was born on 21 November 1925 in the village of Glavina Donja, near Imotski, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. His father was a Serb and his mother was an ethnic Croat. Kadijević self-declared as a "pro-Yugoslav Serb".  He joined the Yugoslav Partisans in 1941, following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II. In 1943, he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ). He was given the task of performing important duties almost immediately. He remained an active soldier after the war and graduated from the Military Academy in Belgrade and the CGSC in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Career.

Kadijević became the fifth Minister of Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 15 May 1988. Following the collapse of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, he was one of the founders of the party called League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia. In May 1991 he stated that if federal and republic officials "failed to ensure peace, the Yugoslav armed forces could efficiently do so themselves." After resigning from his post at federal secretary of people's defence on 6 January 1992, Kadijević retired to live in Serbia.  The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) tried to contact him in the spring of 2001. He was to be called as witness, he however fled to Moscow the next day. He applied for refugee status in 2005 and received Russian citizenship on 13 August 2008 by decree of president Dmitry Medvedev.

Croatian indictment.

The first indictment for Kadijević was issued in November 1992 in Bjelovar, the second one in 2002 in Vukovar and the third one in May 2006 by Osijek-Baranja County's attorney general. On 21 March 2007, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior issued an arrest warrant for Kadijević for "war crimes against the civilian population". Interpol issued an arrest warrant on 23 March. After Kadijević received Russian citizenship the Croatian Government sent a request to Russia for his extradition.  According to Marko Attila Hoare, a former employee at the ICTY, an investigative team worked on indictments of senior members of the "joint criminal enterprise", including Milošević, Kadijević, Blagoje Adžić, Borisav Jović, Branko Kostić, Momir Bulatović, among others. However, upon Carla del Ponte's intervention, these drafts were rejected, and the indictment limited to Milošević.

November 2007 public appearance.

Public interest in Kadijević and his whereabouts intensified again in 2007. It was speculated at the time that he was living in Florida, United States, which proved to be false.  In March 2007, the Croatian press reported seemingly contradictory information: that Kadijević was working as a special counsel to the U.S. Army in search for bunkers in Iraq in Moscow as a guest of Dmitry Yazov. On 26 March 2007, the Croatian news portal published an interview with Kadijević in which he confirmed that he is a military adviser to the Coalition in Iraq, but stated that it "doesn't mean that he is permanently located there", without further comment or explanation.  In early October 2007 Kadijević surfaced in Moscow where he attended the presentation of his latest book "Kontraudar: Moj pogled na raspad Jugoslavije". After that, the 81-year-old Kadijević gave interviews to both Serbian and Croatian media. On 9 November 2007 he was interviewed by journalist Olivera Jovićević from Serbian public broadcaster RTS and the interview aired 13 November 2007 in prime time as a special edition of her "Upitnik" programme. The very next day, 14 November, Croatian Radiotelevision's journalist Josip Sarić conducted an interview with Kadijević.  In those interviews Kadijević stated that he had lived in Russia since 2000 as a refugee. He said he found out about the Vukovar massacre only after retiring because the head of intelligence, General Aleksandar Vasiljević, did not inform him of this event. Kadijević claimed neither he nor the JNA committed any war crimes in the former Yugoslavia as it was the only legal armed force at the time. He stated that he and the JNA tried to prevent illegal armaments and to defend Yugoslavia from emerging separatist paramilitaries and dismissed the ICTY as a political institution, whose legitimacy he did not recognize.  He added that neither he nor the JNA ever considered orchestrating a military coup to solve the Yugoslav crisis. This contrasted with comments by Yugoslavia's president Borisav Jović who claimed Kadijević and the army suggested a coup as a way out of the crisis but then changed their minds four days later.  Kadijević's response to this was that "Jović is lying". Kadijević proceeded to mention a March 1991 meeting in Jović's office two days after the 9 March 1991 protests organized by Vuk Drašković on the streets of Belgrade to which Kadijević had been invited by Slobodan Milošević where, according to Kadijević, Milošević requested that the army take control of the country through a military coup. Kadijević's apparent response was informing Milošević that he could not make such a decision by himself, and that he would discuss the request with army leaders and later inform Jović's office about their decision. Kadijević said their decision was against the putsch and he informed Jović's office in writing. Jović for his part, claims such a document does not exist.

Veljko Kadijević (; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignation in 1992, which made him "de facto" commander-in-chief of the JNA during the Ten-Day War in Slovenia and the initial stages of the Croatian War of Independence.

Veljko Kadijević (v srbské cyrilici Вељко Кадијевић; 21. listopadu 1925, Glavina Donja poblíž Imotski – 2. listopadu 2014, Moskva) byl bývalým generálem Jugoslávské lidové armády a posledním ministrem obrany (Svazovým sekretářem lidové obrany) Jugoslávie od roku 1988 do své rezignace v roce 1992.


Background.

Although Blur had been associated with the Britpop movement, they had experimented with different musical styles more recently, beginning with "Blur" (1997) which had been influenced by indie rock bands under the suggestion of guitarist Graham Coxon. Since the mid to late 1990s, Blur's members had been working on other projects as well as Blur: Albarn had co-created Gorillaz, a virtual band in 1998 with comic artist, Jamie Hewlett whom Albarn had met through Coxon. Gorillaz' 2001 debut was financially successful and received critical acclaim. Since composing the Blur song, "You're So Great", Coxon had started a solo career and as of 2001 had released three solo albums. The members differing musical interests had alienated some of the band members, with Coxon explaining, "we're all very concerned for each other and we do genuinely like each other an awful lot. Because we're into so much different stuff, it becomes daunting." Nevertheless, Coxon, along with Alex James and Dave Rowntree were keen for a new album, whilst Albarn was more reluctant.  Blur's prior album, "13", had made heavy use of experimental and electronic music with the guidance of producer William Orbit. Despite the success of the album and its associated singles, the overall sound of the album had been deemed as "deliberately uncommercial" compared to their previous efforts. Despite the broader musical landscaping which Blur were engaging in, Albarn said in a January 2001 interview that he wanted to make a more accessible album again, stating "I'm trying to go back to the kind of songwriting aesthetic I had on (hit album) Parklife. They won't be arranged in the same way at all – they'll just be songs that are accessible to the public." He also explained his reasoning for this approach, stating that "it's too complicated being anything other than mainstream with Blur. That's where it belongs. We still feel that the mainstream in Britain is not represented well enough by intelligent musicians."  After the September 11th Attacks, a series of controversial military campaigns were launched, known as the War on Terror. In November 2001, shortly after the Invasion of Afghanistan, the MTV Europe Music Awards were held in Frankfurt, where Gorillaz won an award for Best Dance Act. As Albarn and Hewlett walked onto stage to make a speech, Albarn sported a T-shirt with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo on it. In Albarn's speech, he said "So, fuck the music. Listen. See this symbol here, [pointing to the t-shirt] this the symbol for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Bombing one of the poorest countries in the world is wrong. You've got a voice and you have got to do what you can about it, alright?"  In 2002, Iraq was under threat of invasion from western nations. Opposition from the public led to protests being organised by a number of organisations. Albarn, who has described himself as being anti-war, spoke out against the invasion,<ref name="NME 20/8/02"></ref> citing the lack of democratic process as an issue. Anti-war views had been shared with Albarn's parents and grandparents. His grandfather, Edward Albarn, had died after going on a hunger strike the previous year.  Albarn teamed up with Robert "3D" Del Naja of Massive Attack and various campaigns to raise awareness of the potential dangers of the UK's involvement in the war. Albarn was due to speak in Hyde Park on the rally in March 2003 when a million people took to the streets of London in protest at the imminent war. In the event, he was too emotional to deliver his speech.

Recording.

Recording sessions for "Think Tank" started in November 2001 at Albarn's 13 Studio in London. Albarn, James and Rowntree had come to the studio along with Ben Hillier, who explained that "there was tension to begin with. Alex had made some belittling comment about Gorillaz in the press, but there was a 'fuck you' and a 'fuck you' and it was all mates again but for the fact that Graham was missing". During 2001, Coxon had been battling alcoholism and depression, and failed to turn up to the initial session. Despite Coxon's absence, the rest of the band decided to start recording without him.  By January 2002, the rest of the band were mainly recording demos that Albarn had started on a four-track and subsequently transferred into Logic with 13's in-house engineers Tom Girling, Jason Cox and assistant, James Dring. Coxon rejoined the rest of the band for recording sessions in February and May 2002, with the foreknowledge that it would be "tense in the studio". Coxon spent, what he described as "awkward afternoons", contributing on the tracks "Battery in Your Leg", "The Outsider", "Morricone", and "Some Glad Morning", with only the first of them ending up on the final album. Coxon left the band after these recording sessions. The remaining members of Blur decided to carry on recording, Albarn stating that "the spirit of Blur was more important than the individuals".  In June, the band went back into the studio, doing "tracking, overdubs and reworking what we'd already done, and all the time new songs would be popping up – I think we had 28 of them at one point." Albarn desired to have multiple producers involved in the album, wanting to get a "name producer" involved. Albarn had previously been in talks with Norman Cook, commonly known as Fatboy Slim, to be involved on the record, although he originally wanted to contribute "just feedback and nothing else". Albarn eventually invited him to try and work with the band. Hillier and the band also spent time working with other producers, including The Dust Brothers, whilst The Neptunes were also reported to be involved at one point.  In August, the remaining members of Blur, along with Hillier, travelled to Morocco. James released a statement on the band's website saying "I suppose the idea at the bottom of this is to escape from whatever ghetto we're in and free ourselves by going somewhere new and exciting." The band settled at Marakesh where they equipped an old barn with a studio. Albarn claimed that most of the album's lyrics were written "under a cypress tree in Morocco". The sessions in Marrakesh produced "Crazy Beat", "Gene by Gene", and "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club". The vocal sessions took place at this time. While in Morocco, Albarn wrote a song about Cook and his partner, Zoë Ball, who were having troubles with their relationship. The song started out as a jam session, eventually evolving into "Put It Back Together" which ended up on Fatboy Slim's fourth studio album, Palookaville, which was released in October 2004. After the band came back from Morocco, the remaining sessions took place in a barn on National Trust land in Devon.  William Orbit, who was the main producer on "13" was also involved in the album's production, with Hillier stating that "we sent a couple of tunes to William to work on in his studio, working round the clock in a computer environment the way he does. He's a nutter and works all night. That was quite an interesting juxtaposition, us doing office hours then going to see William after work, just as he was getting up!" Of Orbit's productions, "Sweet Song" ended up on the album. Coxon's absence also bolstered the role of Alex James and Dave Rowntree who provided backing vocals throughout the album. Rowntree also played the electric guitar on "On the Way to the Club" and provided a rap on a demo version of "Sweet Song". A Moroccan orchestra is featured in the lead single, "Out of Time".

Musical style.

Despite Albarn stating that he originally wanted to return to their more commercial sound, "Think Tank" continues the jam-based studio constructions of previous album "13". The album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. Almost entirely written by Albarn, "Think Tank" placed more emphasis on lush backing vocals, simple acoustic guitar, drums, bass guitar, and a variety of other instruments.  "We knew we had to come back with the best thing we'd ever done," observed James. "I think it is. It's next level shit!"  Like many of Blur's previous albums, "Think Tank" is a loose concept album. Albarn has stated that it is an album about "love and politics", stating that "[Unease] forces people to value what they've got. And that, hopefully, will pay dividends and help change the world to a better place. Hopefully. Touch wood." Albarn also stated that the album is about "what are you supposed to do as an artist other than express what is going on around you." Some of the songs are concerned with a sense of paranoia and alienation in British club culture. Damon also cited punk rock music, particularly The Clash, as an inspiration. The album's opening track, "Ambulance", starts off with a complex drum beat. Sam Bloch of "Stylus Magazine" praised the song's intro, describing the beat as "an offbeat rhythmic synapse that nearly collapses into itself [...] Heavy electronic drums. A flash. A kick. At first, it's really hard to believe that this is a song, functioning on its own. The beat needs crutches to stand upright." Devon Powers of Pop Matters wrote that "the first bars [...] are stricken with throbbing beats that sound simultaneously futuristic and primitive." Bloch went on to write: "as a low, thunderous bass enters [the listener's] speakers, the whole thing slowly grows. Distinctive African percussion is leisurely incorporated into the bass overtone—it's the darkness in a thunderstorm, the pure, simple fury that comes before a glorious lightning streak."  At 0:52 Albarn's lead vocals come in, repeating the lyrics "I ain't got nothin' to be scared of" in a "gauzy" falsetto. This is accompanied by a "languid" bass groove and backing vocals described by Bloch as "gospel-twinged", as well as a baritone sax line described by Powers as "[cutting] underneath the back-up singers, at an angle—so quirky it feels like Morphine could have played it." As Albarn delivers the next line (cause I love you"), a synthesizer kicks in, described by stylus as "illustrious", "otherworldly" and "flooding the song's deathly stomp. But within this death there is love. Albarn makes this clear in the structure of this song." In Albarn's next vocal lines, he drops out of falsetto into "his low swinging monotone". Powers stated that he "croons, carelessly, almost as if he's freestyling. Things change again. They keep changing." Powers speculated that the song was about love but said "it's also a fitting introduction to a record that's such an extreme departure from their past work, and so drastically left field from the garage and post-punk and easily accessible poprock currently drenching the airwaves".  In an XFM radio interview, Albarn spoke on the composition of the track, stating, "I try to do a lot of stuff once I've got the melody and the chord structure. I try to just sing it in one go without thinking about it too much. It comes out a sort of partially formed song and sometimes you're lucky and it comes out almost kind of sort of perfect and sometimes it's just a mess." He stated that this was a case of the former. James said that "Ambulance" was "the first song that I thought, right this is Blur again. Like I'm in the right place again. I suppose the lyrics have something to do with that, you know, having nothing to be scared of anymore."  Greenwald claimed that "Out of Time" was "the album's highlight". Describing the song as "failure-soaked" and "heart-stoppingly lovely", Greenwald went on to say that it "perfectly captures the jumble of beauty and dread that defines life under orange alert. "Are we out of time?" Albarn asks, desperate for one last peace march or one last snog." Powers described the song as "a much more straightforward, apace ballad [compared to the previous song]. Dominant in the track are Albarn's unadulterated vocals and steady, simplistic drums, but beyond that are ethereal, hard-to-identify noises. In the middle of the track, an Andalucian string group rears its head, as does a tambourine."  "Crazy Beat" was compared to Song 2 from the band's self-titled album. XFM described the song as "Fatboy Slim meets Middle Eastern Punk rock... energetic, punked-out rocker. But as much as this song might appeal to the neo-DIY set—complete with its jumpy chorus and lively melody—Blur are anything but. If there's one thing Blur are known for, it's lots and lots and lots of production. Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), builds this number with tons of sound, so there's always another active level to uncover." According to Albarn, the song "started off in such a different way. The nearest thing I could compare it to is a really bad version of Daft Punk. So, we got sick of it and then put in that descending guitar line over it to rough it up a bit." He also stated "It had this sort of mad vocoder-ish vocal and the melody was over a real sort of skanky groove and just this almost descending semi tonal guitar. The melody worked over it and it was amazing coz it shouldn't have worked, another little magic moment for us."  Powers claimed that "the best moments of this album are those when vintage Blur styles are evoked with new expertise. The meandering "Good Song" is a beautiful case in point. Acoustic guitar picking is matched with temperate drums and a sweet, steady bass countermelody. Albarn's singing is mostly in his mid-range, falling out as easily as breath. Signature background vocal harmonies are there to brighten up the track, but their muted nature doesn't descend into campiness. What's also new is the expert use of electronic noises and drumbeats to fatten the sound." Albarn said "well, that was originally called 'De La Soul' on our huge list of songs, half finished ideas. It was called 'De La Soul you know, right until the end. And I just always thought it was a good song and just called it 'Good Song'. I love that, I love the sort of intimacy of it and I just think everyone really played gently on it, the melodies. It was a good melody."  "On The Way to the Club" was described by Albarn as "a hangover song which we sort of write from time to time." Albarn also said that "it's definitely got a very individual sound. Someone said that it's a sort of revived "Screamadelica". Yeah, it's kind of the good intentions of which you participate in revelry and then actually the reality of it."  "Brothers and Sisters" was one of the last additions to the album. "It was a kind of track that took quite a different direction for most of its life", said Rowntree. "...And then right at the end we switched about and took it in a different direction, it wasn't quite so dark." "It sounded more like The Velvet Underground when we started", claimed Albarn. "It was too overtly about one thing. It was too druggy, in a way, which is a kind of weird thing, 'cause the song is all about drugs so I think we just pushed ourselves a bit more with it and gave it a lot more space – countered by the list and the list was kind of sort of inspired by the life of JFK and his need to have 28 drugs everyday of his Presidency just to keep him functioning."  Albarn described "Caravan" as "a kind of song that you could play anywhere. And I mean I remember we just finished it and when everyone left to go back to London, I went down to Mali for a couple of days 'cause Honest Jon's [were] still working with musicians and stuff. I was sitting in a mango grove with a wild turkey and had a little CD player and I put it on there. It was just nice seeing everyone sitting around getting stoned to it. It was nice, 'cause the guitar is very, much inspired by Afel; a great Malian tradition of blues guitar." "I think this one's about the sun going down, for me", James claimed. "That was like a perfect studio moment; sitting on top of a strange barn in the Moroccan desert listening to Damon do a vocal and it a was a perfectly still time of day and the sun was perfectly red and there was just an immense sense of calm and this music."  Albarn claimed that "Sweet Song" was inspired by Coxon. Explaining the habit of putting'song' in the title, Albarn stated that it was "another African thing that I've picked up. They do call things like 'Tree Song'. You know what I mean; they give it something quite simple. It's not, it doesn't have an agenda so much, it's offered out as a nice bit of music to everyone and that's something that has changed massively in my life, I don't see the ownership of things quite so strongly anymore."  There is a hidden track, "Me, White Noise" in the pregap before track 1 on some CD copies. The song guest features Phil Daniels, who previously appeared on Parklife, on vocals. Japanese versions of the album feature the song at track 30, after silent tracks at index points 15–29. On the Blur 21 edition, the hidden track is placed after a few minutes of silence at the end of the last track.  The case contains a Parental Advisory logo in some regions, because "Brothers and Sisters" contains many drug references. Also, the hidden track "Me, White Noise" is one of the few Blur songs to contain an expletive.

Artwork and packaging.

The album cover was stenciled by the graffiti artist Banksy. Despite Banksy stating that he normally avoids commercial work, he later defended his decision to do the cover, saying: "I've done a few things to pay the bills, and I did the Blur album. It was a good record and [the commission was] quite a lot of money. I think that's a really important distinction to make. If it's something you actually believe in, doing something commercial doesn't turn it to shit just because it's commercial. Otherwise you've got to be a socialist rejecting capitalism altogether, because the idea that you can marry a quality product with a quality visual and be a part of that even though it's capitalistic is sometimes a contradiction you can't live with. But sometimes it's pretty symbiotic, like the Blur situation.' The album's cover art sold at auction in 2007 for £75,000. The fold out booklet of the album features the text "Celebrity Harvest" which was the working name for a proposed, but ultimately unmade Gorillaz film.  The artwork for Green Day's 2009 album, "21st Century Breakdown", was compared to "Think Tank"'s cover. However, cover artist, Sixten, claimed that the couple on the cover were "just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden" and explained that a mutual friend snapped a picture of the pair kissing.

Release.

Prior to the album's official release, it was leaked onto the internet. Rowntree said "I'd rather it gushed" and "I'm rabidly pro the internet and as many people hearing our albums as possible. If it hadn't been leaked by someone we probably would've leaked it ourselves".<ref name="xfm 2/7/03"></ref> Albarn speculated that the leak helped the reception of their live shows, due to the songs' lyrics being more familiar to the audience.

Commercial performance.

The album debuted in the USA at number 56 with first week-sales of 20,000, becoming then the highest peak of any Blur album in the US. It has sold 94,000 copies in the US as of April 2015.  In the UK, the album debuted at the top spot, becoming their fifth consecutive number one album. The album remained in the top 10 for three weeks and the top 75 for a total of eight weeks, lacking the longevity and sales success of their previous releases.

Critical reception.

"Think Tank" received mostly positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 83, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 26 reviews. Drowned in Sound writer Andrew Future deemed the album as "a genuine pleasure to behold" and whilst stating that previous albums "Blur" and "13" were "full of jump-start arrangements and fractured experimentalism", he described "Think Tank" as being "lush in melody, flowing in windswept electronica with a myriad of bombastic orchestral backing one minute, before retracting into cocoons of melancholic and clustered acoustics the next." Playlouder called the album "an extraordinary record that pushes boundaries and sets new standards." "The beat-driven tracks," observed Steve Lowe in "Q", "veer towards the arty, white-boy-with-beatbox line of Talking Heads and The Clash (actually, the low-slung hip-pop of 'Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club' even recalls Big Audio Dynamite). Only the trudging, tedious six-minute squib 'Jets' really needs taking back to the shops." However, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that the album "is the sound of Albarn run amuck, a (perhaps inevitable) development that even voracious Blur supporters secretly feared could ruin the band — and it has." He also described "Think Tank" as a "lousy album" on which the few strong tracks are "severely hurt by Coxon's absence".  According to "Acclaimed Music", "Think Tank" is the 884th most critically acclaimed album of all time.  Albarn became critical of the record over time. In 2015 he said: "It's... got some real stinkers on it – there's some bollocks on there."

Accolades.

Blur received a number of awards and nominations for "Think Tank". At the 2003 Q Awards, "Think Tank" won the award for Best Album. This was the third time the band had received this award, previously winning in 1994 and 1995 for "Parklife" and "The Great Escape" retrospectively. Blur also received nomination for Best Act in the World Today and, along with Ben Hillier, were nominated in the Best Producer category. The album also won in the Best Album category at the South Bank Show Awards in 2004 and was nominated in a similarly titled category at the Danish Music Awards the same year. "Think Tank" was nominated for Best British Album at the 2004 Brit Awards. The promo videos for Out of Time and Good Song also won several awards.  At the end of the year, "The Observer" listed "Think Tank" as the best album of 2003, Miranda Sawyer writing that, ""Think Tank" is the band's first warm album. They have hopped genres in the past, from baggy to mod to pop to grunge to art-rock, but the sound has always stayed urban, Western, cool. "Think Tank" is none of these things. It's all over the place, and that place is foreign. Odd noises, strange instruments, keening vocals; its tunes wind themselves around your heart like drifting smoke. They waft in from faraway lands; trail and trickle their scent across your life. It is the most peculiar stuff that stays with you; "Ambulance"'s slurred symphony; "Caravan"'s star-speckled wonder."

Tour.

After the album's release, Blur went on a world tour with former The Verve's guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong filling in for Coxon on guitar. However, Albarn later said that he felt the live shows were "rubbish" and bassist, Alex James admitted that touring was not the same without Coxon. Since Blur's reunion with Coxon in 2008, the album has mostly been removed from Blur's setlists, with the exception of "Out of Time" (in a new arrangement with additional guitar parts by Coxon) and occasional performances of "Battery in Your Leg" in 2009 and "Caravan" in 2015.

Track listing.

All lyrics by Damon Albarn. All music by Damon Albarn/Alex James/Dave Rowntree except where noted.

Think Tank is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Blur, released in May 2003. Continuing the jam-based studio constructions of the group's previous album, "13" (1999), the album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. There are also heavy influences from dance music, hip hop, dub, jazz, and African music, an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests.

Think Tank je sedmé album skupiny Blur, které bylo vydáno 5. května 2003. Graham Coxon se před odchodem ze skupiny podílel pouze na písni "Battery in Your Leg". Skupina Blur odcestovala na nahrávání alba až do Maroka.


History.

Southland was a scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Māori, notably whalers and missionaries – Wohlers at Ruapuke. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European settlement. Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church of Scotland, an offshoot of the Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s. Traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable among country people.  In 1856, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. Due to the Otago gold rush, the region's population grew during the 1860s with the settlement of Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port. "Inver" comes from the Scottish Gaelic word "inbhir" meaning "a river's mouth" and "Cargill" is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part. The settlement's chief surveyor was John Turnbull Thomson, a British civil engineer.  Under the influence of James Menzies, Southland Province (a small part of the present Region, centred on Invercargill) seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions. However, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870 and the provincial system, and with it the province of Otago, was abolished entirely in 1876. This debt was caused by a population decline stemming from poor returns from pastoral farming. In 1874, Invercargill's population was less than 2,500 which reflected the drift north to large centres. In the 1880s, the development of an export industry based on butter and cheese encouraged the growth of dairy farming in Southland.  In December 1905, Invercargill voted in local prohibition of alcohol sales. This lasted for 40 years until voted out by returning servicemen in the Second World War. Drinking continued meanwhile, thanks to hotels and liquor merchants in outlying districts, huge volumes of beer, often in kegs, brought to private homes, or sold by the glass by keggers at hiding spots round the City. When prohibition ended, a committee of citizens persuaded the Government to give the monopoly on liquor sales in Invercargill to the specially formed Invercargill Licensing Trust. Based on a scheme in Carlisle, England, it returns profits to city amenities. Even today, alcohol is not sold in supermarkets.  Publicity has been brought to the city by the election of Tim Shadbolt, a colourful and outspoken former student activist and former mayor of Waitemata City, as mayor. He once appeared on a cheese advertisement stating "I don't mind where, as long as I'm Mayor". His supporters like the colour he brings to the city. His opponents refer to his controversial mayoral career in the Auckland suburbs and to his attitude to veterans during his opposition to the Vietnam War. Publicity and students have also come to the city by the Southern Institute of Technology's "Zero Fees" scheme, which allows New Zealand citizens and permanent residents to study while only paying for material costs of their study, and not tuition fees.

Geography and climate.

Invercargill is the southernmost city in the Commonwealth of Nations. Invercargill is situated on the fertile and alluvial Southland Plains, which is amongst some of New Zealand's most fertile farmland. Southern Invercargill lies on the shore of the New River Estuary, while the northern parts lie on the banks of the Waihopai River. 10 kilometres west of the city centre lies Oreti Beach, a long expanse of sand stretching from the Sandy Point area to nearby Riverton.  Invercargill has a temperate oceanic climate. The mean daily temperature ranges from in July to in January. The yearly mean temperature is. Rainfall averages annually, and measurable snowfall is occasionally seen during the winter months of June to September. It is the cloudiest city in New Zealand with only 1,680 hours of sunshine per annum. Despite its cloudiness, and a relatively high frequency of rainy days, Invercargill receives less rain than either Auckland or Wellington. Invercargill is also New Zealand's second windiest city, after Wellington.  The average temperature high ranges from in January to in July, but temperatures do occasionally exceed in summer. Invercargill's hottest temperature on record was, recorded on 2 January 1948. Extended periods of heat are rare, however January 2018 was notable for the city recording three consecutive days above 30 for the first time in its recorded history, peaking with the city's second highest temperature on record of on 14 January 2018. Owing to its relatively high latitude (46° 42′), the city enjoys nearly 16 hours of daylight at the summer solstice in late December, with astronomical night lasting as little as 2.5 hours. Conversely, the city receives only around 8.5 hours of daylight at the winter solstice in late June.  Invercargill is the "City of Water and Light". The "light" refers to the long summer twilights and the aurora australis (southern lights). The "water" reference, humorists suggest, comes from notorious horizontal, driving rain in high wind at the corner of the two main streets, Dee and Tay. A recent sign also states "Invercargill, where dreams can come true" with an image from the 2005 film "The World's Fastest Indian".  In September 2010, Invercargill's heaviest snowfall in living memory heralded a run of unseasonably cold weather. A few buildings were damaged, notably Stadium Southland, the roof of which collapsed under the weight of the snow; and a decorating store. Many other stores were shut, and Invercargill Airport was closed for a day.

Demographics.

Invercargill City had a population of 54,204 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 2,508 people (4.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,879 people (7.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 21,585 households. There were 26,517 males and 27,687 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. Of the total population, 10,560 people (19.5%) were aged up to 15 years, 10,053 (18.5%) were 15 to 29, 24,249 (44.7%) were 30 to 64, and 9,345 (17.2%) were 65 or older. Figures may not add up to the total due to rounding.  Ethnicities were 85.0% European/Pākehā, 17.4% Māori, 3.8% Pacific peoples, 5.7% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.  The percentage of people born overseas was 12.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.  Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.0% had no religion, 37.5% were Christian, and 3.9% had other religions.  Of those at least 15 years old, 6,633 (15.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 11,145 (25.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,900. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 21,885 (50.1%) people were employed full-time, 6,561 (15.0%) were part-time, and 1,650 (3.8%) were unemployed.

Government.

Local.

The Invercargill City Council governs the territorial authority of Invercargill. It is made up of an elected mayor and 12 additional councillors. They are elected under the First Past the Post system in triennial elections, with the last election being held in 2019. The current mayor is Tim Shadbolt who has held the position for eight consecutive mayoral terms.  As of 2019, the current council members are:

Coat of arms.

The city of Invercargill has a Coat of Arms emblazoned; Or, on three Bars Wavy Gules a Ram's Head Horned Affrontee proper, on a Chief Wavy Azure a Lymphad Argent, Flagged Gules between two Garbs Or. Crest: A Mural Crown Argent. Supporters: On either side a Takahe proper. Motto: Pro Communi Utilitate.  Translation of the blazon. Firstly the shield is described. "Or" means gold so the base colour of the shield is gold. "Three Bars Wavy" are three thick bars in the base of the shield and these are shaped like waves. "Gules" means red so these bars are red. On these bars is placed a Ram's Head that has horns and is facing to the front ("affrontee".) The word "proper" means that the head is depicted in its natural colours. A "chief" is a broad stripe at the top of the shield but its base is "wavy" the same way as the bars are. "Azure" means blue so the chief is coloured blue. On the chief is sailing ship ("Lymphad") coloured silver or "argent." The ship has flags ("flagged") on its masts and these are red ("gules".) The ship is placed between two "garbs" or wheat-sheaves and these are coloured "Or" which is gold. The crest is a "Mural Crown" which is a crown made from masonry or bricks and represents city walls or towers. This crown is often found on city coats of arms. The Supporters are the creatures on either side of the shield and in this case are Takahe birds depicted in their natural colours ("proper.") The motto may be given in English as "For the use of the community." The compartment which is what the supporters stand on and to what the motto is attached is not normally part of the blazon but is left to the heraldic artist to decide.

National.

The electorate of Invercargill in the New Zealand Parliament is held by Sarah Dowie, an MP from the opposition National Party. Under the Māori electorates system, Invercargill is part of the large Te Tai Tonga electorate, which covers the entire South Island and the surrounding islands, and is currently held by the Labour Party MP Rino Tirikatene.

Economy.

Invercargill is home to the Southern Institute of Technology, which has introduced a zero-fees scheme. The scheme was partly responsible for rejuvenating the city when it was in a steady state of population decline. However the major factor in Invercargill's regrowth is the dairy industrial boom of the 2000s (decade) due to an increased demand for New Zealand milk, cheese and butter. New dairy factories have opened around the Southland Region, as well as more efficient meat processing works and research and development facilities.  Invercargill is on the Southern Scenic Route (tourist road), allowing day trips to Queenstown, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Dunedin, Te Anau and Fiordland.

Liquor licensing trusts.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust is one of several trusts in the city of Invercargill. The Invercargill Licensing Trust and the ILT Foundation are major funders of community projects in Invercargill. The ILT Foundation provides donations and grants totalling around $10 million a year to over 500 organisations. The trust has also been influential in the development of city facilities such as the ILT Stadium Southland and Invercargill Velodrome. The trust are also big-time backers of local sporting franchises the Southern Steel, Southland Sharks and Southland Stags.  The Community Trust of Southland was established after Westpac bought out the Trust Bank Southland in the late 1990s. It was sold for approximately $150 million, with those funds now being set aside for the people of the Southland regions, including Queenstown, Arrowtown and Tapanui. It is widely recognised as one of New Zealand's leading community trusts, with the benefit of a large capital base for a relatively small population. Consequently, the Trust provides significant funding to a wide range of projects and programmes. Each year, it distributes between $7 and $10 million in the region, not including the large sums given to sports franchises and building projects and since its inception has distributed close to $140 million in grants.

Brewing.

Invercargill is home to Invercargill Brewery, the southernmost manufacturer of beer in New Zealand. Established in 1999, it is an internationally award-winning production brewery which also contract brews for other iconic New Zealand breweries, including Yeastie Boys.

Tourism.

Invercargill has a growing tourism sector. Attractions such as E Hayes, Bill Richardson Transport World, Dig This and Classic Motorcycle Mecca attract people to the area.

Culture.

Murihiku Marae is located in Invercargill. It is a "marae" (meeting ground) of the Waihōpai Rūnanga branch of Ngāi Tahu, and includes Te Rakitauneke "wharenui" (meeting house).  During the late 1880s a small periodical called "Literary Southland" contained stories as well as memoirs of the pioneering days of the region. The publication was distributed from a store in the northern end of Invercargill. While largely forgotten today, it was considered relatively popular at the time, if at times controversial.

Sport.

The Southern Sting (Netball- Now Southern Steel) won seven National titles from 1999–2004, 2007, while the local rugby team the Southland Stags held the Ranfurly Shield from 22 October 2009 to 9 October 2010 and have made the NPC Semi-finals for the past three years. Southland also has one of the highest percentages of sports participants in the country, with codes such as rugby union, netball, basketball, cricket and hockey being popular. Many professional sportsmen too, have come out of Southland as well. Invercargill also has some high quality sporting facilities, including an indoor velodrome (the only one in New Zealand), an Olympic sized swimming centre, a 20,000 capacity rugby stadium and also international playing arenas for both hockey and cricket. The city's 4500 capacity indoor stadium was severely damaged in 2010, its roof collapsing following a heavy snowfall. Southland also has four professional sporting sides that are based in Invercargill:  Invercargill is home to the only indoor cycling velodrome in the South Island. The indoor 250 metres wooden velodrome is home to Track Cycling in Southland. The Invercargill Licensing Trust supports the velodrome which is situated at Stadium Southland, a large indoor sports complex located at Surrey Park.

Music.

The "Invercargill March," an internationally famous tune, was written by Alex Lithgow, who attended Invercargill Grammar School (now Middle School). In his book "Invercargill – 150 Years", Lloyd Esler's opening sentence reads, "Invercargill was done a fine favour by Alex Lithgow who named his famous march after his boyhood home. The Invercargill March is possibly the best advertisement the town has ever had as the work is a brass-band favourite and the word 'Invercargill' is whispered amongst audiences worldwide. There is only one Invercargill in the world – this one".  When Invercargill hosted the national brass band contest in 1909, Alex's brother Tom asked for a test piece for the contest and Alex offered this piece to the city. On the music he wrote,

Education.

High schools.

All high schools in Invercargill are Year 7–13, following a Ministry of Education review in 2004 that made most of Invercargill's primary schools Year 1–6, while also closing the Year 7–8 schools Rosedale Intermediate, Collingwood Intermediate and Tweedsmuir Junior High.

Primary schools.

Most primary schools are Year 1–6.

Transport.

Road.

Invercargill is the southernmost city on New Zealand's state highway network and is linked to Fiordland and the Catlins by the Southern Scenic Route and Dunedin and Gore by SH 1. It is also the southern end of SH6 coming from Queenstown and the West Coast. The main streets of Invercargill: Dee (SH 6) and Tay (SH 1) measure over 40 metres wide. Numerous roads in the city are dual-carriageway but there are no expressways/motorways proposed for the city.

Rail links.

Invercargill is at the southern end of the Main South Line railway, which extends up the east coast to Christchurch and Lyttelton via Dunedin. It was the first town in New Zealand to have a steam locomotive and had the first railway in the country. Though once the centre of a much larger rail network, over the years, this has diminished. Passenger trains no longer call at Invercargill, except for occasional excursions. Until the cancellation of The Southerner in 2002, Invercargill had the southernmost passenger railway station in the world. The Bluff Branch extends south from Invercargill and has been freight-only since 1967. The Wairio Branch extends northwest from Invercargill to the Solid Energy coalfields near Ohai and continues to carry freight even after the closing of the Ohai coal mine.

Airport.

During the mid-1950s, Invercargill Airport was used for fuel top-up and final take off by Operation Deep Freeze. Twin-engine propeller-driven aircraft destined for McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic used the airport, assisted in takeoff by JATO rockets. Larger aircraft flew from Christchurch when a permanent Deep Freeze base was established there.  Air New Zealand operates daily flights to Christchurch and to Wellington plus five weekly flights to Auckland. Stewart Island Flights make regular flights to and from Stewart Island/Rakiura. Mount Cook Airline and Air Nelson, wholly owned subsidiaries of Air New Zealand, also operate out of the airport flying ATR 72s and Bombardier Dash 8s. Mainland Air of Dunedin operates a Piper Navajo and is contracted to fly doctors to Southland Hospital several times per week from Dunedin Hospital.  Southern Wings is the only aeroclub based at the airport and runs charter flights as well as a flight school.  Invercargill Airport has the fourth longest runway in New Zealand at 2210 metres, after Auckland, Christchurch and Ohakea.

Infrastructure and services.

The main hospital in Invercargill is Southland Hospital, located in Kew. It is a public hospital operated by the Southern District Health Board.  The electricity distribution network in the majority of the Invercargill urban area is owned by Electricity Invercargill. The network in the suburbs of Waikiwi, Grasmere, Kew and Kingswell, as well as the surrounding rural area, is owned by The Power Company. Both networks are operated and maintained by Powernet. Electricity is supplied from Transpower's national grid at two substations: Invercargill (Racecourse Road) and North Makarewa.

Suburbs.

Inner Invercargill suburbs:  Outer Invercargill localities: - major settlement

Invercargill (, ) is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.

Invercargill je novozélandské město nacházející se na jihu Jižního ostrova v regionu Southland. Podle odhadu z roku 2011 má město 53 000 obyvatel. Ve městě sídlí instituce terciárního vzdělávání Southern Institute of Technology.


Etymology.

Milford Sound is named after Milford Haven in Wales, while the Cleddau River which flows into the sound is also named for its Welsh namesake. The Māori named the sound "Piopiotahi" after the thrush-like piopio bird, now extinct. "Piopiotahi" means "a single piopio", harking back to the legend of Māui trying to win immortality for mankind—when Maui died in the attempt, a piopio was said to have flown here in mourning.

Geography.

As a fiord, Milford Sound was formed by a process of glaciation over millions of years.  Milford Sound runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point (also named after a location close to Milford Haven in Wales)—the mouth of the fiord—and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at, said to resemble an elephant's head, and The Lion,, in the shape of a crouching lion.  Milford Sound sports two permanent waterfalls, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord. They are fed by rain water drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.

Climate.

With a mean annual rainfall of each year, a high level even for the West Coast, Milford Sound is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach during a span of 24 hours. The rainfall creates dozens of temporary waterfalls (as well as a number of major, more permanent ones) cascading down the cliff faces, some reaching a thousand metres in length. Smaller falls from such heights may never reach the bottom of the sound, drifting away in the wind.  Accumulated rainwater can, at times, cause portions of the rain forest to lose their grip on the sheer cliff faces, resulting in tree avalanches into the fiord. The regrowth of the rain forest after these avalanches can be seen in several locations along the sound.

Wildlife.

Milford Sound is home to a variety of marine mammals, including Seals and the southernmost wild population of bottlenose dolphins. Whales, especially the Humpback and Southern Right Whales, are increasingly observed due to recoveries of each species. Penguins are also common within the sound, which is a breeding site for the Fiordland penguin and has subsequently been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.  As a result of Milford Sound's high rainfall and the density of saltwater, the surface of Milford Sound is a layer of freshwater containing tannins from the surrounding rainforest. This filters much of the sunlight which enters the water, allowing for a variety of Black coral to be found at depths of as shallow as 10 metres, significantly closer to the surface than usual.

History.

Milford Sound was initially overlooked by European explorers, because its narrow entry did not appear to lead into such large interior bays. Sailing ship captains such as James Cook, who bypassed Milford Sound on his journeys for just this reason, also feared venturing too close to the steep mountainsides, afraid that wind conditions would prevent escape.  The fiord was a playground for local Māori who had acquired a large amount of local marine knowledge including tidal patterns and fish feeding patterns over generations prior to European arrival. The fiord remained undiscovered by Europeans until Captain John Grono discovered it c.1812 and named it Milford Haven after his homeland in Wales. Captain John Lort Stokes later renamed Milford Haven as Milford Sound. Following the passage of the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the name of the fiord was officially altered to Milford Sound / Piopiotahi.  While Fiordland as such remained one of the least-explored areas of New Zealand up to the 20th century, Milford Sound's natural beauty soon attracted national and international renown, and led to the discovery of the Mackinnon Pass in 1888, soon to become a part of the new Milford Track, an early walking tourism trail. In the same year, the low watershed saddle between the Hollyford River and the Cleddau River was discovered, where the Homer Tunnel was to be developed about sixty years later to provide road access.  As of the 2006 census, just 120 people lived in Milford Sound, most of them working in tourism or conservation.

Tourism.

Overview.

Milford Sound attracts between 550,000 and 1 million visitors per year. This makes the sound one of New Zealand's most-visited tourist spots even with its remote location and long journey times from the nearest population centres. Many tourists take one of the boat tours which usually last one to two hours. They are offered by several companies, departing from the Milford Sound Visitors' Centre.  Tramping, canoeing, and some other water sports are possible. A small number of companies also provide overnight boat trips. There is otherwise only limited accommodation at the sound, and only a very small percentage of tourists stay more than the day. Tourists usually stay in Te Anau or Queenstown.  The Milford Discovery Centre & Underwater Observatory is located in Harrisons Cove on the north side of the fiord. Situated within the Piopiotahi Marine Reserve, the underwater observatory allows visitors to view the fiord's unique marine environment at a depth of 10 metres. Due to a natural phenomenon called 'deep water emergence,' deep-water animals such as black coral can be viewed in the shallow waters surrounding the observatory. A dark surface layer of fresh water, stained brown by tannins from the surrounding forest, along with cold water temperatures allow the black corals to grow close to the surface throughout Milford Sound and Fiordland.  Milford Sound is also a destination for cruise ships.

Transport.

By road, Milford Sound is from Queenstown and from Invercargill (about four hours' drive), with most of the tour buses to the sound departing from Queenstown. Some tourists also arrive from the smaller tourism centre of Te Anau, away. There are also scenic flights by light aircraft and helicopter tours to and from Milford Sound Airport. The drive to Milford Sound itself passes through unspoiled mountain landscapes before entering the Homer Tunnel which emerges into rain-forest-carpeted canyons that descend to the sound. The winding mountain road, while of high standards, is very prone to avalanches and closures during the winter half of the year.  The long distance to the sound means that tourist operators from Queenstown all depart very early in the day, arriving back only late in the evening. This ensures that most tourists visit Milford Sound within a few hours around midday, leading to some congestion on the roads and at the tourist facilities during the main season. The peak-time demand is also the reason for the large number of tour boats active in the sound at much the same time.  Over the years, various options of shortening the distance to Milford Sound from Queenstown have been mooted, including a gondola route, a new tunnel from Queenstown, or a monorail from near Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau Downs. All would reduce the current round-trip duration (which has to travel via Te Anau), thus allowing tourism to be spread out over more of the day. While a gondola is considered to be out of the running after the DOC declined approval for environmental reasons, the tunnel and the monorail proposals have applied to the Department of Conservation for concessions for land access.  There are a variety of plane charter companies that fly to Milford Sound. Most of the companies fly out of Queenstown International Airport. These companies include: True South Flights, Glenorchy Air, Air Milford, and Milford Sound Scenic Flights.

Diesel spill.

On 8 February 2004 a spill of 13,000 litres of diesel fuel was discovered, resulting in a 2-kilometre spill which closed the fiord for two days while intensive cleanup activities were completed. Apparently a hose was used to displace the fuel from the tanks of one of the tour vessels, and various government officials claimed it appeared to be an act of ecoterrorism motivated by rising numbers of tourists to the park, though more details did not become known. The spill was removed and wildlife impact appears minimal.

Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top travel destination in an international survey (the "2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards" by TripAdvisor) and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling had previously called it the eighth Wonder of the World.

Milford Sound () je fjord nacházející se na jihozápadu novozélandského Jižního ostrova. Fjord je součástí národního parku Fiordland. Tento národní park patří do přírodní rezervace Te Wahipounamu, která je zapsaná na seznamu světového dědictví. Svůj název dostal Milford Sound podle města Milford Haven v britském Walesu.


Construction.

The bridge was designed by Michel Virlogeux, the general studies have been led by Bernard Raspaud from Bouygues, and the works management was shared between G. Barlet and P. Jacquet. The architects were François Doyelle and Charles Lavigne. Construction by Bouygues, Campenon Bernard, Dumez, Monberg & Thorsen, Quillery, Sogea and Spie Batignolles began in 1988 and lasted 7 years. The bridge opened on 20 January 1995.  At that time it was both the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and also had a record distance between piers for a cable-stayed bridge. It was more than longer between piers than the previous record. This record was lost in 1999 to the Tatara Bridge in Japan. Its record for length for a cable-stayed bridge was lost in 2004 to the 2883 meters of the Rio-Antirrio. At the end of construction, the total cost for the bridge, all ancillary structures and finance costs was $465 million and was financed by Natixis. The bridge on its own cost €233 million (US$250 million).  The cable-stayed design was chosen because it was both cheaper and more resistant to high winds than a suspension bridge. Shortly after opening, the longest cables exhibited excessive vibrations, so several damping systems were quickly retrofitted.

Structure.

The span, wide, is divided into four lanes for traffic and two lanes for pedestrians. The pylons, made of concrete, are shaped as upside-down Ys. They weigh more than 20,000 tons and are tall. More than 19,000 tons of steel and 184 Freyssinet cables were used.  <br

The Pont de Normandie () is a cable-stayed road bridge that spans the river Seine linking Le Havre to Honfleur in Normandy, northern France. Its total length is – between the two piers. It is also the last bridge to cross the Seine before it empties into the ocean. Despite being a motorway toll bridge, there is a footpath as well as a narrow cycle lane in each direction allowing pedestrians and cyclists to cross the bridge free of charge.

Normandský most (francouzsky "Pont de Normandie") je na zavěšený dálniční most přes řeku Seinu v severní Francii, mezi normandskými městy Le Havre a Honfleur. Je dlouhý 2143,21 m a má dva pilíře ve tvaru obrácených Y. Most byl navržen Michelem Virlogeuxem, jeho stavba začala v roce 1988 a trvala 7 let. Otevřen byl 20. ledna 1995, náklady na stavbu činily 465 milionů dolarů. V této době byl nejdelším zavěšeným mostem na světě, tento titul ale ztratil v roce 1999, kdy jej překonal most Tatara v Japonsku.


Digits and numbers.

The following hieroglyphs were used to denote powers of ten: Multiples of these values were expressed by repeating the symbol as many times as needed. For instance, a stone carving from Karnak shows the number 4622 as: Egyptian hieroglyphs could be written in both directions (and even vertically). This example is written left-to-right and top-down; on the original stone carving, it is right-to-left, and the signs are thus reversed.

Zero and negative numbers.

By 1740 BCE, the Egyptians had a symbol for zero in accounting texts. The symbol nfr (<unk>), meaning beautiful, was also used to indicate the base level in drawings of tombs and pyramids and distances were measured relative to the base line as being above or below this line.

Fractions.

Rational numbers could also be expressed, but only as sums of unit fractions, "i.e.", sums of reciprocals of positive integers, except for and. The hieroglyph indicating a fraction looked like a mouth, which meant "part":  Fractions were written with this fractional solidus, "i.e.", the numerator 1, and the positive denominator below. Thus, was written as:  There were special symbols for and for two non-unit fractions, (used frequently) and (used less frequently):  If the denominator became too large, the "mouth" was just placed over the beginning of the "denominator":

Addition and subtraction.

For plus and minus signs, the hieroglyphs D54-and-D55 were used: if the feet pointed into the direction of writing, it signified addition, otherwise subtraction.

Written numbers.

As with most modern day languages, the ancient Egyptian language could also write out numerals as words phonetically, just like one can write "thirty" instead of "30" in English. The word ("thirty"), for instance, was written as  while the numeral ("30") was This was, however, uncommon for most numbers other than one and two and the signs were used most of the time.

Hieratic numerals.

As administrative and accounting texts were written on papyrus or ostraca, rather than being carved into hard stone (as were hieroglyphic texts), the vast majority of texts employing the Egyptian numeral system utilize the hieratic script. Instances of numerals written in hieratic can be found as far back as the Early Dynastic Period. The Old Kingdom Abusir Papyri are a particularly important corpus of texts that utilize hieratic numerals.  Boyer proved 50 years ago that hieratic script used a different numeral system, using individual signs for the numbers 1 to 9, multiples of 10 from 10 to 90, the hundreds from 100 to 900, and the thousands from 1000 to 9000. A large number like 9999 could thus be written with only four signs—combining the signs for 9000, 900, 90, and 9—as opposed to 36 hieroglyphs. Boyer saw the new hieratic numerals as ciphered, mapping one number onto one Egyptian letter for the first time in human history. Greeks adopted the new system, mapping their counting numbers onto two of their alphabets, the Doric and Ionian.  In the oldest hieratic texts the individual numerals were clearly written in a ciphered relationship to the Egyptian alphabet. But during the Old Kingdom a series of standardized writings had developed for sign-groups containing more than one numeral, repeated as Roman numerals practiced. However, repetition of the same numeral for each place-value was not allowed in the hieratic script. As the hieratic writing system developed over time, these sign-groups were further simplified for quick writing; this process continued into Demotic as well.  Two famous mathematical papyri using hieratic script are the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus and the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus.

Egyptian words for numbers.

The following table shows the reconstructed Middle Egyptian forms of the numerals (which are indicated by a preceding asterisk), the transliteration of the hieroglyphs used to write them, and finally the Coptic numerals which descended from them and which give Egyptologists clues as to the vocalism of the original Egyptian numbers. A breve ( ̆) in some reconstructed forms indicates a short vowel whose quality remains uncertain; the letter ‘e’ represents a vowel that was originally u or i (exact quality uncertain) but became e by Late Egyptian.

The system of ancient Egyptian numerals was used in Ancient Egypt from around 3000 BC until the early first millennium AD. It was a system of numeration based on multiples of ten, often rounded off to the higher power, written in hieroglyphs. The Egyptians had no concept of a place-valued system such as the decimal system. The hieratic form of numerals stressed an exact finite series notation, ciphered one to one onto the Egyptian alphabet.

Starověké egyptské číslice byly používány ve starověkém Egyptu přibližně od roku 3000 př. n. l. do začátku 1. tisíciletí n. l. Egypťané používali desítkovou soustavu, ne ovšem poziční, ale pro každou mocninu deseti měli jiný znak, který se podle potřeby opakoval.


Biography.

Boukreev was born in Korkino, within the Soviet Union's Russian SFSR. He came from the "narod", the common people, and his parents were both poor. After completing high school in 1975, he attended Chelyabinsk University for Pedagogy, where he majored in physics and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1979. At the same time, he also completed a coaching program for cross-country skiing.  After graduation, the 21-year-old dreamed of mountain climbing. Boukreev moved to Alma-Ata, the capital of the neighbouring Kazakh SSR (present day Kazakhstan) located in the Tian Shan mountain range. From 1985 he was part of a Kazakhstani mountaineering team, and he became a citizen of Kazakhstan in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union.  Boukreev worked as a commercial guide in the 1990s, and was working with Scott Fischer's adventure company Mountain Madness during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. He managed to survive and was also instrumental in saving the lives of others, including New York socialite Sandy Hill Pittman.

Climbing accomplishments.

Highlights.

1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Denali.

In May 1990, Boukreev was invited by an American climber to guide several clients to the summit of Denali in Alaska. Denali, previously known as Mount McKinley, has challenges such as hidden crevasses and unpredictably cold weather due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle and the ocean.  The expedition was a success and the team reached the summit and returned without incident. During the climb there had been somewhat of a language barrier and Boukreev felt the sting of needing to borrow equipment due to his economic circumstances. After the team had returned home, Boukreev decided to attempt a solo speed ascent of Denali before returning to the Soviet Union.  Boukreev's solo speed ascent of Denali in 1990 was completed in 101⁄2 hours from the base to the summit. That season acclimated climbers were normally taking three to four days and five camps to summit — Boukreev's feat was noted by "Climbing" magazine in a 1990 issue, and commented on by Denali Park rangers who described it as "unreal".

K2.

In 1993, Boukreev reached the summit of K2 via the Abruzzi Spur, where he shared the peak with team members Peter Metzger of Germany and Andy Locke of Australia. The other team members were German climbers Reinmar Joswig (the team leader) and Ernst Eberhardt. With a peak elevation of 8,611 metres (28,251 ft), K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth after Mount Everest. As part of the Karakoram range, K2 is located on the border between Pakistan and China. K2 is referred to as the "Savage Mountain" — notable for its steep pyramidal relief, dropping quickly in almost all directions, and the inherent danger in climbing it. The danger facing Boukreev on K2 was that the summit felt like the finish line. Boukreev would later write that he did not feel the emotions of victory in that moment on top of K2's peak because he was physically and emotionally spent. Boukreev found himself in a dangerous position. He had expended too much energy placing fixed lines along a narrow, steep portion earlier that day. But since the team wanted to push on to the summit that same afternoon, rather than return to their tents to sleep and make a summit bid the next morning, Boukreev acquiesced. Boukreev would later write: Boukreev later described feeling like a "squeezed lemon". When Boukreev and the other two climbers began their descent just after sundown they met Reinmar Joswig ascending and near the peak. Relying heavily on intuition and his previous mountaineering experiences, Boukreev slowly made his way down the steep rock and ice of the mountain. A crampon kept coming off of his boot, and at one point he had to use his ice axe to arrest a fall, keeping himself from sliding into the abyss. Eventually he made his way to the tents at the highest elevation camp. However, teammates Peter Metzger and Reinmar Joswig never returned from the summit, each having fallen to their death during the descent.

Everest.

Boukreev became widely known as the lead climbing guide for the Mountain Madness expedition headed by Scott Fischer in May 1996. The expedition was one of several attempting to summit Everest on the same day (May 10). Soon after summiting on May 10 a disastrous blizzard struck, stranding many climbers above the South Col overnight, and by May 11, eight climbers from three different expeditions had perished. Boukreev rescued three climbers stranded in the disaster above 8000 m, and all six of the climbing clients on the Mountain Madness expedition survived the ordeal.  Galen Rowell described Boukreev's rescue efforts in the "Wall Street Journal" as: However, author Jon Krakauer was generally critical of Boukreev in his book, "Into Thin Air." Subsequently, Boukreev was contacted by various media for a response, and also wrote his own account of the events on Everest in "The Climb", a book co-written with Gary Weston DeWalt.  The core of the controversy was Boukreev's decision to attempt the summit without supplementary oxygen and to descend to the camp ahead of his clients in the face of approaching darkness and blizzard. He was one of the first to reach the summit on the day of the disaster and stayed at or near the summit for nearly 1.5 hours helping others with their summit efforts, before returning to his tent by 5 pm on May 10, well ahead of the later summiters on his team.  Boukreev's supporters point to the fact that his return to camp allowed him enough rest that, when the blizzard had subsided around midnight, he was able to mount a rescue attempt and to lead several climbers still stranded on the mountain back to the safety of the camp. Boukreev's detractors say that had he simply stayed with the clients, he would have been in better position to assist them down the mountain, though every one of Boukreev's clients survived, including the three (Pittman, Fox, Madsen) that he rescued on May 11 after he had rested and overcome hypoxia. The only client deaths that day were suffered by the Adventure Consultants expedition, led by guide Rob Hall, who lost his own life when he chose to stay and help a client complete a late summit rather than helping the client descend.  Before returning to the U.S. after the events on Everest in 1996, Boukreev climbed the 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) Lhotse, which is in proximity to Everest. He decided on a solo ascent because he hoped that in the process of climbing it he might find some inner clarity to what had just transpired on Everest.  In 1997 Anatoli Boukreev was awarded the David A. Sowles Memorial Award by the American Alpine Club. The award recognizes people "who have distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains. It is dedicated to the memory of David A. Sowles." It was presented to him by Jim Wickwire, the first American to summit K2. The award is the American Alpine Club's highest award for valor in recognition of his role in rescuing climbers in the 1996 Everest disaster.

Death.

Three weeks after receiving the David A. Sowles Memorial Award, Boukreev began his attempt to climb the south face of Annapurna I () along with Simone Moro, an accomplished Italian mountaineer. They were accompanied by Dimitri Sobolev, a cinematographer from Kazakhstan who was documenting the attempt. On December 25 around noon, Boukreev and Moro were fixing ropes in a couloir at around the level. Suddenly, an enormous cornice broke loose from the heights of Annapurna's Western Wall and rumbled down the long couloir. The avalanche knocked Moro down the mountain where he landed just above their tent at Camp I. Fortuitously, Moro had somehow stayed near the top of the avalanche debris and managed to dig himself out after a few minutes. Unable to see or hear any signs of Boukreev or Sobolev (whom Moro had witnessed disappearing beneath "car-sized blocks of ice"), Moro descended to Annapurna base camp where he was flown by helicopter back to Kathmandu for surgery on his hands, which had been ripped down to the tendons during the fall.  News of the accident reached New Mexico on December 26. Linda Wylie, Boukreev's girlfriend, left for Nepal on December 28. Several attempts were made to reach the avalanche site by helicopter but inclement weather in late December prevented search teams from reaching Camp I. On January 3, 1998, searchers were finally able to reach Camp I and an empty tent. Linda Wylie subsequently issued a somber statement from Kathmandu: This is the end... there are no hopes of finding him alive.  Boukreev had dreamt in detail of dying in an avalanche nine months before his death. The only thing missing was the name of the mountain. When Boukreev's companion tried to convince him to take a different path in life to avoid a fate that Boukreev was convinced of, he responded, "Mountains are my life...my work. It is too late for me to take up another road."

Memorial.

At the site of Annapurna base-camp there is a memorial chorten to Boukreev including a quotation of his: "Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion."

In popular culture.

Icelandic actor Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson portrays Boukreev in the Baltasar Kormákur film, "Everest", about the 1996 Everest disaster.

Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev (; January 16, 1958 – December 25, 1997) was a Russian Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of 10 of the 14 eight-thousander peaks—those above —without supplemental oxygen. From 1989 through 1997, he made 18 successful ascents of peaks above 8000 m.

Anatolij Nikolajevič Bukrejev (16. ledna 1958 Korkino – 25. prosince 1997 Annapurna) byl kazachstánský horolezec. Celkem osmnáctkrát dokázal vylézt na vrchol převyšující 8000 metrů. Proslavil se rok před svou smrtí při největší tragédii na Mount Everestu, když zachránil život několika horolezcům. Zahynul pod lavinou během zimní výpravy na Annapurnu.


Archery.

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Sweden entered three men and two women. Gunnar Jervill won a silver medal in the men's competition.  Men's Individual Competition:  Women's Individual Competition:

Athletics.

Men's 1500 metres  Men's 5000 metres  Men's High Jump

Boxing.

Men's Heavyweight (+ 81 kg)

Cycling.

Five cyclists represented Sweden in 1972.

Diving.

Women's 3m Springboard  Women's 10m Platform

Fencing.

Six fencers, five men and one woman, represented Sweden in 1972.  In a very tight division for the first round, Sweden came out in first place after a tie-breaker with the Soviet Union. Both teams had tied twice (Sweden had tied Poland and the Soviet Union) and won once. Sweden's victory was over Denmark. Both teams advanced to the second round with a 0-0-1 record to start, already behind East Germany which had defeated Czechoslovakia to enter with a 1-0-0 record. Sweden lost its games to those two opponents while the Soviet Union split its pair, dropping the Swedes to fourth place in the division. They played against Hungary for seventh and eighth places, winning 19-18.

Modern pentathlon.

Three male pentathletes represented Sweden in 1972.  Men's Individual Competition:  Men's Team Competition:

Rowing.

Men's Single Sculls

Shooting.

Ten male shooters represented Sweden in 1972. Ragnar Skanåker won gold in the 50 m pistol event.

Swimming.

Men's 100m Freestyle  Men's 200m Freestyle  Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay

Sweden competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 131 competitors, 104 men and 27 women, took part in 90 events in 18 sports.

Švédsko na Letních olympijských hrách 1972 v Mnichově reprezentovalo 131 sportovců, z toho 104 mužů a 27 žen. Nejmladším účastníkem byl Diana Olsson (15 let, 3 dny), nejstarší pak Maud von Rosen (46 let, 258 dní). Reprezentanti vybojovali 16 medailí z toho 4 zlaté, 6 stříbrných a 6 bronzových.


Plot.

Dr. Owen (Jonathan Mellor), an official from the Ministry of Health, and a heavily armed GEO team of four (Fernandez, Martos, Rosso and Larra) equipped with video cameras are sent into a quarantined apartment building to control the situation. During the investigation, Martos is infected while encountering some of the possessed residents. Owen then uses religious mantra and a rosary to hold him off in a room. He reveals that he is actually a priest sent by the Vatican to get a blood sample from a possessed girl named Tristana Medeiros, the root of the infection. The GEO operators search the apartment where Medeiros was held and find the body of Father Albelda, the original priest charged with the case of Medeiros's possession. They then find a sample of Medeiros's blood taken by Albelda, but lose it to Fernandez's improper handling. Owen tells them that the only way to accomplish the mission now is to get a blood sample from Tristana herself. They are attacked by a group of infected, and Larra, separated from the others and cornered into a room, commits suicide.  The father of Jennifer, an infected tenant, persuades a firefighter to help him enter the building through the sewers. They are unknowingly followed by three teenagers, Tito, Mire and Ori, and the police seal their exit. Jennifer's father is infected and killed, while the firefighter is attacked by Martos and killed accidentally by Mire, who kills Martos right after. After Tito is infected, Owen, Fernandez and Rosso find the group. They lock Mire and Ori in a room and encounter reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) shocked but safe. The group questions the possessed Tito and deduce from his cryptic answers that Medeiros is in the penthouse and that certain areas are only accessible in total darkness aside from infrared light.  The group finds a hidden door using the night vision on Ángela's camera. They are attacked by Medeiros, who kills Fernandez before Ángela blows her head off with a shotgun. Owen is enraged because he needed the blood sample, but the unnerved Ángela can only think to leave the building. When Owen refuses to authorize their exit, Ángela attacks him and kills Rosso when he attempts an intervention. It is revealed that the demon possessing Tristana has now possessed Ángela. Ángela kills Owen and imitates his voice to contact the authorities. She tells them that the mission has been accomplished, that Owen must stay inside due to being infected, and that the only survivor allowed to leave is Ángela. A flashback then reveals what happened right before the story's beginning: Ángela was captured by Medeiros and had a vermiform organism orally transmitted into her. As the response team arrived, Ángela went into hiding.

Production.

Following the success of "Rec", Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza signed on for a sequel. Principal photography began on 10 November 2008 and wrapped in December 2008. The film reunites the directors with many of the original cast and crew members of the previous film. It was shot in Barcelona over six weeks.

Release.

The film premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, out of competition. It was also shown at the Midnight Madness portion of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the 2009 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and the 2009 Sitges Film Festival. It went on general release in Spain the first weekend of October, going to No. 1 in the Spanish box office and achieving the best opening weekend of the year for a Spanish film.  "Rec 2" was released in New Zealand theaters by Vendetta Films on 13 November 2009. The marketing budget for the film, NZ$7500, was used to create a website, where the remaining $5000 marketing budget would be given away to the member of the public who was judged responsible for the most good publicity generated for the release of the film. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the film on DVD in October 2010. In March 2010 Magnolia Pictures acquired the rights for the US market and will screen the film in a theatrical release in July 2010. The distributor Magnolia pictures will screen the film on Video on Demand platforms on 4 June 2010 and released the film only on DVD. Magnolia has the film set with a release on 9 July 2010 and released on 30 March 2010 the UK trailer.  The film was released on 28 May 2010 in the UK. It is part of the Terror in the Aisles 4 at the Portage Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

Reception.

"Rec 2" received generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "fresh" 68% rating based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 6.21/10. The site's consensus states: "It lacks the surprising jolt of the first installment, but "[REC] 2" almost maintains the original's chilling momentum – and proves not all horror sequels were made equal".  "Little White Lies" gave the film 4/5 and called it "The greatest zombie sequel since "Dawn of the Dead"". "Empire" also awarded the film 4 stars, saying: "Here’s a horror juddering with such in-your-face malevolent energy, it’s like being caught in a first-person shooter possessed by the devil".  However, the "Daily Mirror" awarded the film 2 stars, and reviewer David Edwards stated it was "a bit of a W[rec]k."

Sequels.

On 3 May 2010, Bloody Disgusting announced that "...Filmax will produce two new "[REC]" films in the next couple of years called "[REC] 3: Genesis" and "[REC] 4" with the same directors as the first two films." "Genesis" was released on 30 March 2012, and centers on an outbreak in a distant location from the original apartment building, also having prequel elements. "[REC] 4" ended the saga with the infection spreading on a ship. The movie was released 31 October 2014.

Rec 2 (stylized as [•REC]2) is a 2009 Spanish found footage zombie horror film sequel to 2007's "Rec" and the second installment of the "Rec" film series. The film was written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, both of whom returned from the previous film. The story takes place immediately after the events of the first film.

Rec 2 nebo také [REC]2 je španělský hororový film z roku 2009, v pořadí 2. díl v úspěšné španělské hororové sérii "REC". Režiséry, stejně jako v předchozím díle, jsou Paco Plaza a Jaume Balagueró.