Career.

They were formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes (the spelling "tremoloes" was soon changed because of a spelling mistake in an East London newspaper) influenced by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.  On New Year's Day, 1962, Decca, looking for a Beat group, auditioned two promising young bands: Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and another combo (also heavily influenced by Buddy Holly) from Liverpool, The Beatles. Decca chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes over the Beatles, reportedly based on location – the Tremeloes were from the London area, making them more accessible than the Liverpool-based Beatles.  The original quintet consisted of lead vocalist Brian Poole, lead guitarist Rick West (born Richard Westwood), rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Alan Blakley, bassist Alan Howard and drummer Dave Munden.  Brian Poole and the Tremeloes first charted in the UK in July 1963 with a cover version of "Twist and Shout", a song previously popularised in America by the Isley Brothers, and already released by the Beatles in the UK in March 1963 on their first British LP, "Please Please Me". They followed "Twist and Shout" with a chart topping cover of the Contours' US million-seller "Do You Love Me" in the same year, in turn followed by "I Can Dance". The group also had success in the UK in 1964 with covers of Roy Orbison's B-side "Candy Man" and a previously obscure Crickets' B-side ballad, "Someone, Someone"; both entered the UK Singles Chart Top Ten, with the latter peaking at no. 2. Other Decca-era chart singles included "Three Bells" and a version of "I Want Candy". With Poole leaving to attempt a solo career (which proved unsuccessful) in 1966, the Tremeloes continued as a four-piece band with a revised line-up (Howard left the band in 1966). Len "Chip" Hawkes, father of 1990s one-hit wonder Chesney Hawkes, replaced Howard.  Their first single as a four piece was released on Decca and a cover of Paul Simon's song "Blessed", which failed to chart. After switching from Decca to CBS Records, with Mike Smith producing, The Tremeloes' first single on CBS was a cover of The Beatles "Revolver" song "Good Day Sunshine". This also failed to chart, but established a new image of a more contemporary group in tune with the times, which set them up for future continued chart singles as they then started a successful hit run from 1967 onwards with Cat Stevens' "Here Comes My Baby"; "Hello World"; three Italian hits translated into English: "Suddenly You Love Me", which is Riccardo Del Turco's "Uno tranquillo" ("One quiet man"), "I'm Gonna Try", which is Riccardo Del Turco's 1968 hit "Luglio" ("July"), and "My Little Lady", based on Orietta Berti's "Non illuderti mai" ("Never deceive yourself"); and their number one recording of a Four Seasons' B-side "Silence Is Golden". Both this last single and "Here Comes My Baby" also entered the Top 20 of the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 on CBS' co-owned Epic Records.  All members shared vocals, though most of the songs featured either Hawkes or drummer Dave Munden as the lead singer. Guitarist Rick Westwood sang falsetto co-lead vocal with Hawkes' lower range vocal and group harmonies also featured on "Silence Is Golden". Their regular hits were accompanied by frequent appearances on BBC's "Top of the Pops" TV programme. Their songs were popular with younger music fans and parents rather than rock music fans, although their albums and 'B' sides included more rock-styled tracks such as band compositions "Try Me" and the instrumental "Instant Whip". Their more commercial songs, such as "Even The Bad Times Are Good" (UK no. 4, 1967), "Helule Helule" (UK no. 14, 1967), "Suddenly You Love Me" and "My Little Lady" (both UK no. 8 in 1968), proved to be more popular than the falsetto-led "Be Mine" sung by Rick Westwood, which stalled in the lower top 40, or a string accompanied cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" (UK no. 29, 1969), but the more ambitious group-composed "(Call Me) Number One" reached no. 2 in the UK in 1969. Altogether, without Poole the group had nine UK Top 20 hits.  Westwood and Blakley were dual lead guitarists with guitar/sitar and banjo, pedal steel guitar and keyboards featured on their songs. Hawkes could play drums in addition to bass guitar. Blakley-Hawkes composed much of their original material, mostly on albums and 'B' sides, then some later singles, while Munden and Westwood also made songwriting contributions.  Their cover version of Jeff Christie's song "Yellow River" (sung by Dave Munden) was shelved at the time, but Christie's lead vocal set to their backing became a UK chart hit for Christie in 1970. The Tremeloes versions sung in both English and Spanish later were released on compact disc compilations. "Me and My Life", written by Blakley-Hawkes, was a no. 4 UK chart hit in 1970, while "By the Way" reached no. 35 that year. Their album "Master", which they released a few weeks later, failed to sell well, and they had no British hits after "Hello Buddy" (no. 32) in 1971. Nevertheless, they recorded several more singles throughout the decade, with further chart singles in Europe, including "Blue Suede Tie" (no. 38 Germany), "Too Late to Be Saved" (no. 33 Germany), "Ride On" (no. 16 Germany), "It's OK (Say Ole If You Love Me)", and "Do I Love You", some of which received heavy airplay, particularly on Radio Luxembourg. "I Like It That Way" even made the Dutch Top 10, reaching no. 9 after the Dutch service of Radio North Sea International promoted it as its weekly "Treiterschijf". They also released another three albums of original material, "Shiner" (1974), "Don't Let the Music Die" (1975), with some copies being credited to a group Space on the record label although the Tremeloes' pictures were on the sleeve (this album was also credited to The Tremeloes on the cover and featured Dave Munden, with Bob Benham, Paul Carman, and Paul Issac making up the group), and "All for One and One for All" (1992).

After the hits.

Their music is still available on CD, and they quite often play concerts and are part of the pop-revival shows that constantly tour the UK. Their line-up changed several times from 1972 onwards, the first new entrants being Bob Benham and a year later Aaron Woolley (replacing Blakley and Hawkes, both of whom later returned to the band), effectively a merger with a Tremeloes-managed group called Jumbo. Munden remained the only constant member. Hawkes pursued a solo career for a while producing two albums for RCA Records in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1979 he returned to England and rejoined the Tremeloes where he remained until 1988. Chip left the Tremeloes to focus on managing his son, Chesney, who had a number one hit record entitled "The One and Only". By 1992 Hawkes was touring once again as a solo artist. Blakley produced records for other acts, including the Rubettes, Bilbo Baggins and Mungo Jerry. In 1983 the original quartet reformed and made the lower reaches of the UK Top 100 with their cover version of the Europop hit "Words", losing out to a reactivation of the original by F. R. David.  As a soloist, Poole failed to chart with subsequent records, but pursued a successful cabaret career. His daughters, Karen and Shelly, hit the charts in 1996 as Alisha's Attic. Blakley died from cancer in June 1996, leaving Munden and West to continue in concert with newer recruits Dave Fryer (bass) and Joe Gillingham (keyboards). Jeff Brown, former bass player and lead vocals for The Sweet, replaced Fryer in 2005. Dave Fryer retired to live in Germany after leaving the band, and continues to write music and play occasionally.  In April 2004, at the request of the Animals, who were about to do their 40th anniversary tour, Hawkes was asked to form a band to tour with the Animals. This he did, bringing together a supergroup including Mick Avory (ex-the Kinks), Eric Haydock (ex-the Hollies), who teamed up to perform as the Class of '64, also featuring guitarists, Telecaster Ted Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The band toured around the world and recorded an album of past band hits and a new single called "She's Not My Child".  Brian Poole, Chip Hawkes and the Tremeloes toured the UK as part of their 40th anniversary reunion in September 2006.  In 2019 two separate incarnations of the band were touring—The Tremeloes with Westwood, Clarke and Hawkes, along with Hawkes' son Jodie and Richard Marsh, and "The Trems" with Gillingham, Brown, Twynham and Phil Wright (of the band Paper Lace). Hawkes stated in an interview that Munden had retired following knee issues resulting from a fall. Brian Poole toured with the band again in 2016, and played with his own band Brian Poole & Electrix. As of 2019 he appeared to no longer be actively performing.

Members.

The Tremeloes  The Trems

Personal lives.

In November 2015 Westwood and Hawkes were both charged with sexual assault relating to a case from 1968. They were acquitted in July 2016.

The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex. They were part of the British Invasion, where they grew to prominence.


Lyrics and style.

"Wild Side" deals with life in the ghetto of Los Angeles, a familiar place for the members of Mötley Crüe. It came about when Nikki Sixx was chatting with a Hispanic school girl and asked her to recite the Lord's Prayer. It inspired him to write the song, twisting the words of the prayer into a testament of the "Wild Side". It describes the criminal activity associated with the neighborhood, such as pimping, organized crime, rape, assault, and armed robbery, and is told from the perspective of a gang member. "Wild Side" changes frequently in style, from a moderately fast intricate pace to a slower, more powerful blues-rock sound in the middle and at the end. The song ends with the repetition of "Wild Side" and various sounds of breaking glass, gunfire, screams, and police sirens.

Composition.

Nikki Sixx described "Wild Side" as more complex compared to some of the simpler songs on the album. It is one of the few Mötley Crüe songs that changes in time signature.  Sixx had written the song during the most dangerous part of his heroin addiction. He mentioned this in "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rockstar".  The song's tempo is 118 beats per minute and the main riff uses a chord progression of A minor 7th, D sus, and D minor, on a guitar using distortion.  The time signature of the song is a basic 4/4 time signature. In the intro it switches from 4/4 to 2/4. In the chorus the time signature changes from 4/4 to 2/4 on the chorus. For the verse the time signature is 4/4 which uses power chords A5, D5, G5, and C5. In the chorus, for the lyric, "Take a ride on the", the time signature changes to 2/4. For the bridge and outro, the time signature changes to 12/8 which uses Power chords C5, A5, and D5.  The song does not have a true guitar solo. There are only some melodic lead guitar lines.  On the guitar tuning, the band tuned down their instruments a whole step; in D standard.

Live performance.

The song has been a staple at live concerts and has not been left off the setlist since its release. It is usually accompanied by a tremendous amount of pyrotechnics, and is always a crowd pleaser. As the song does not have a guitar solo, a "drum solo" is used when Tommy Lee plays in a suspended, rotating drum cage over the crowd. The video for this song was recorded on July 18, 1987 in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Cover versions.

Country singer Gretchen Wilson covered the song for the multi-artist tribute album "."

"Wild Side" is a single by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was released on their 1987 album "Girls, Girls, Girls".


History.

On 11 August 2011, Mutual withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League due to financial problems. The Hong Kong Football Association then decided to form a team for training youngsters for the 2013 East Asian Games, as well as to replace Mutual. The club was named as Hong Kong Sapling, but was dissolved in 2012.  In the run up to the 2016–17 season, Metro Gallery were forced to voluntarily relegate to the First Division due to financial difficulties. Hong Kong Sapling were reformed in order to fill the void left by Metro Gallery and were able to secure funding from two sponsors, Biu Chun and GlorySky Group, competing under the name Biu Chun Glory Sky until the end of the season.  In the summer of 2017, the club was taken over by former Birmingham City board member Ryan Yeung and the club were renamed as Dreams FC.  During the latter part of the 2018–19 season, Dreams ran into financial arrears and it appeared that their future in the HKPL was uncertain. Despite this, CEO Leung Chi Kui issued a statement claiming that the club had retained two thirds of their players and would continue to participate in the 2019–20 season. However, on 11 July 2019, Dreams decided to self-relegate due to lack of funds, citing an inability to fulfill a requirement by the HKFA for each HKPL club to submit a seven figure deposit ahead of the season. However, HKFA disputed the claim entirely the next day via press release.  In the 2019–20 season, the club was renamed as King Fung.

Club Badge.

The Hong Kong Football Association asked a professional designer to design a badge for the team. After the badge was published, because the badge looked like the badge of Wigan Athletic, people laughed at the badge and called the team "Fake Wigan".  The Hong Kong Football Association then published a new badge for the team.

Hong Kong Sapling Football Club (), currently known as King Fung Football Club () due to sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong First Division.


Early career.

Rowan enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877 at the age of twenty and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1881. For the next ten years he was assigned to several frontier posts and in 1887 married Ida M. Symns of Atchison, Kansas. While serving as topographical officer at Fort Pembina, North Dakota, he volunteered for reconnaissance service along the Canadian border. In 1891 he was assigned as barometric hypsometrist and assistant astronomer with the Intercontinental Railway Survey, which was planning a (never-completed) rail line through Guatemala. After his return he was appointed head of the Military Information Division (MID) Map Section in Washington, DC. While serving in this capacity he co-authored a well-received book about Cuba.

Spanish–American War.

Following the explosion of the in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, war between the United States and Spain, which then ruled Cuba, seemed inevitable. Maj. Arthur L. Wagner, head of the Military Information Division, successfully petitioned Adj. Gen. Henry Clark Corbin for permission to send spies to Cuba and Puerto Rico to gather military information. Wagner selected forty-year-old 1st Lt. Andrew S. Rowan to join Gen. Calixto García, commander of the rebel forces in eastern Cuba. Rowan, posing as a civilian, boarded a steamer in New York bound for Kingston, Jamaica. As a cover story, he carried papers designating him as a military attaché bound for Santiago, Chile. (The inclusion of this cover story in official documents has understandably led some to believe, incorrectly, that it was true. In fact, Rowan never set foot in Chile.) With the help of the U.S. consul in Kingston, he connected with the Cuban Revolutionary Junta, some of whose members transported him by open boat during one of their trips to the southeastern coast of Cuba. They went ashore the morning of April 25.  Following an eight-day horseback journey with rebels through the Sierra Maestra Mountains, Rowan met with García in the city of Bayamo on May 1. Rowan's assignment was to keep the War Department informed as to “the strength, efficiency, movements and general military situation.” His orders were to stay in Cuba, to “accompany the Insurgent Forces, and to send back dispatches.” Disregarding his orders, Rowan said he was there to gather information regarding García's needs in order for him to cooperate with the U.S. armed forces; he said also that he was eager to return to the U.S. García, seeing an opportunity, sent him back to the U.S. within hours of his arrival. Traveling with him were members of García's staff to confer with U.S. officials. After a five-day journey to Manatí Bay on Cuba's north coast they “drew a little cockle-shell of a boat from under a mangrove bush” and set sail for Florida. A passing sponging steamer carried them to Nassau, and from there they eventually sailed to Tampa, arriving on May 9.  Rowan had no sooner landed in Cuba on April 25 than details of his secret mission were splashed across the pages of America's newspapers. It was learned that while in Jamaica Rowan had revealed this information to an Associated Press correspondent named Elmer Roberts. This was not what Adj. Gen. Corbin anticipated. Had the news reports not made Rowan a popular hero, however falsely, Corbin might have had him court-martialed. Instead he was deemed as popular as Buffalo Bill, lauded by Maj. Gen Nelson A. Miles, commanding general of the army, and temporarily promoted to lieutenant-colonel in the 6th Regiment Volunteer Infantry.  The United States declared war on Spain on April 25 and invaded Cuba on June 22. Less than two months later, Spain signed a protocol effectively ending the war. It officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. On August 22, under orders from Miles, Rowan and another officer began a horseback inspection tour of Cuba that lasted six weeks and resulted in a highly detailed report.

Philippine War.

By defeating Spain, the U.S. acquired a number of colonies, including the Philippine archipelago. The Filipinos, thinking the U.S. was freeing them from the Spanish, did not care to be ruled by yet another foreign power. They resisted U.S. control, and thus began the Philippine War (1899–1902), in which (now) Captain Andrew S. Rowan was to take part as commander of the First Battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment. He was sent to the island of Cebu, where he was assigned the subdistrict of Bogo. During this period he was involved in various expeditions and engagements with local insurgents, suffering a wound during one action.  In December 1900 a detachment of 21 men led by Rowan was sent to the nearby island of Bohol to repair telephone lines. While traversing a deep cut, they were ambushed by bolo-wielding Boholanos. Three men were killed and five wounded. Rowan later returned to Bohol with 175 men of Company I, this time to occupy the village of Jagna. On April 29 one of his men was murdered by a Filipino in native dress who, it seemed, had intended to assassinate Rowan. The men of Company I responded by killing the man on the spot along with five other unarmed locals, and eventually burning many native homes. This resulted in renewed anti-American activity for which Rowan was held responsible. In the end he was found innocent of any malfeasance, and on May 28, 1902, when the war was all but over, he embarked for the U.S.

Post-Philippine War.

On September 12, 1902, Rowan reported for duty at Kansas State Agricultural College and Applied Sciences (now Kansas State University) in Manhattan, Kansas, to teach Military Science and Tactics. But he had acquired a serious drinking problem, and, as a direct result of a complaint from the local W.C.T.U. to President Theodore Roosevelt, he was relieved of his post. He then served as an umpire during war games at West Point, Kentucky, and Fort Riley, Kansas. His wife died on New Year's Eve, 1903, and Rowan took up duties at the Vancouver Barracks in Washington. In spite of continued incidents of intemperance, he was selected by Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston to assist in the selection of a local site for future maneuvers and to again serve as an umpire. It was during this period that he met and married Josephine Morris de Greayer, a wealthy clubwoman of San Francisco.

Moro Rebellion.

Having reestablished his reputation, Rowan was promoted to major and assigned command of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment at Camp Keithley on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. He was there to participate in the so-called Moro Rebellion (1902–1913), an armed conflict between indigenous ethnic groups and the U.S. His wife accompanied him and remained on Mindanao throughout his entire tour of duty. The two of them returned to the U.S. in June 1907.

Retirement and death.

After various assignments in New York, Utah, and Wyoming, Rowan retired on December 1, 1909, and spent his final years in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California, where his fame lived on. He continued writing and speaking about his Cuban adventure, embellishing it over the years. Andrew Summers Rowan died at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco on January 10, 1943, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Rowan’s fame.

Andrew Rowan would have faded from history had it not been for Elbert Hubbard, publisher of "The Philistine," a monthly periodical. In March, 1899, Hubbard published an essay praising Rowan for having dutifully completed his assignment to carry a message from President McKinley to General García. This was totally inaccurate, as was every other detail Hubbard wrote regarding Rowan's mission. There was, in fact, no message to García from McKinley; furthermore, Rowan had not completed his assignment. Yet, Hubbard's fictional account was almost universally believed. By the time Rowan left for the Philippines he was hailed everywhere as a hero. The people in Atchison, Kansas, birthplace of his wife, held a gigantic celebration to honor his daring deed. Even the Kansas governor was in attendance.  Movies depicting the journey were released by Thomas Edison (1916) and 20th Century Fox (1936). Both films, entitled “A Message to Garcia,” were based on Elbert Hubbard's essay, but bore as little resemblance to the essay as the essay did to Rowan's actual adventure. Through the years, scores of newspaper and magazine articles recounted the famous journey. With rare exceptions, most were merely repetitions of Hubbard's fabrication. The essay, still in print today, has been reprinted in countless editions and translated into many languages.

Honors and memorials.

In 1922 Rowan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for “delivering a message to General Garcia [and securing] secret information... [that] had an important bearing on the quick ending of the struggle and the complete success of the U.S. Army.” He was also awarded a Silver Citation Star for “gallantry in action during the Philippine Insurrection.” Sixteen years later, as further recognition of his meeting with Gen. García, he received Cuba's highest honor, the Order Carlos Manuel de Cespedes.  In his essay, Hubbard wrote, “By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing—'Carry a message to Garcia!' " As it turned out, only one bronze image of Rowan exists in the United States; it is a bas relief showing Rowan meeting Gen. García, and is installed in the dining room of the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. It is a duplicate of another bas relief included with an equestrian statue of García in Havana, Cuba. A bronze bust of Rowan was placed in Havana in the Parque de Maine and a plaque commemorating him was installed on the Acera de Louvre. Both these memorials have disappeared; however, another bronze plaque, still extant, is affixed to the building in Bayamo in which Rowan and García met.  In 1943 a World War II liberty ship was christened the SS "Andrew Rowan", and over the years his name has been attached to other items: a bridge connecting Virginia and West Virginia over the New River; a West Virginia Dept. of Agr. farm; a retirement home in Sweet Springs, West Virginia; a Civilian Conservation Corps camp; and a road in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Andrew Summers Rowan (April 23, 1857 – January 10, 1943) was born in Gap Mills, Virginia (now West Virginia), the son of John M. Rowan and Virginia Summers. He was an American army officer who served in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine War, and the Moro Rebellion, and became famous for reportedly delivering a message to Gen. Calixto Garcia in Cuba.


National Socialist League (United States)

History.

The league was founded in 1974 by Jim Cherry and several other California-based neo-Nazis. Early reports suggest that there were as many as 400 members of the National Socialist League in San Francisco, and organized across city and state lines.  The National Socialist League was unique in restricting its members to gay men. The group distributed membership applications declaring NSL's "determination to seek sexual, social, and political freedom" for Aryans. It argued that gay men had a role in maintaining the "white race" and that they were meant to be a military and cultural vanguard. They summarized this position in their 12 point credo.  The National Socialist League placed advertisements identifying themselves as the "Gay Nazis" that included their phone number in order to recruit new members during 1974 and 1975 in the classified ad section of the San Francisco gay newspaper the "Bay Area Reporter". The NSL also advertised in the leather magazine "Drummer", despite apprehension and personal dislike of Nazism by editor Jack Fritscher.  ""“If Homosexuals can be Capitalists, we can be Communists...then why can’t we be National Socialists? Join the first and only Homophile organization for National Socialists!!”" -NSL Pamphlet  In 1977 NSL applied for a free table at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade and was denied, although Christopher Street West – the organization which runs the event – had at that time a policy of total non-exclusion. This resulted in major debates within the community and coalesced in 1978 when Christopher Street West reversed its stance and said that as a private organization they could act to endorse their community principles.  During its span of operation, the National Socialist League put out a journal called "NS Kampfruf", later renamed "NS Mobilizer". The magazine contained Nazi rhetoric as well as drawings of scantily clad SS soldiers with swastikas covering their genitals to emphasize the "sexual trip" described by the recruiting pitch.  The NSL stirred a controversy in 1983 when it attempted to market the infamous 1930s Nazi anti-Semitic film "Jud Süß" ("Süss the Jew") which had been pirated by the group. An article in the Los Angeles-based "Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press", titled "'Gay Nazis Peddling Vile 'Jud Suss' Film", named Veh and the National Socialist League as responsible for pushing this. "We are most familiar with Mr. Veh (which is an alias, incidentally) and his notorious operations," said legitimate film distributor, David Calbert Smith III.  The National Socialist League disappeared in 1984, after which its periodical the "NS Mobilizer" was renamed to "Race & Nation". Although "Race & Nation" was still edited by Russell Veh and distributed by his "World Service", it stopped discussing the NSL and sexuality altogether.

The National Socialist League (NSL) was a neo-Nazi organization of gay men in the United States that existed from 1974 until 1984. It was originally founded by Jim Cherry, but was quickly taken over by Russell Veh, a neo-Nazi and transplant to Los Angeles, California from Ohio. Veh financed the party using the profits from his printing business. He also financed the league with a film distribution unit that specialized in Nazi propaganda films, including "Triumph of the Will". The "National Socialist League" had chapters in various parts of California, and implied in their mass mailing on July 4, 1978 that they had established an offshoot organization in Manhattan.


Professional career.

2013.

Sanders began her year ranked 674 in the world. Her first tournament was the Apia International Sydney, where she received a wildcard into qualifying. She stunned Eugenie Bouchard in the first round in two tiebreak sets, but lost in the second round against Misaki Doi. Sanders then received a wildcard into qualifying at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round against Yuliya Beygelzimer. In February, after failing to qualify for the McDonald's Burnie International, Sanders celebrated a breakthrough victory, winning the $25,000 Launceston Tennis International tournament. She won through both, the qualifying and main draws, without dropping a set. She also achieved the rare feat of defeating the top seeds in both the qualifying draw (Mari Tanaka) and the main draw (Olivia Rogowska) en route to victory. Sanders reached the top 500 in the WTA rankings for the first time after the tournament win. A month later, she reached the final of the $25,000 event in Ipswich, Queensland, losing to Jelena Pandžić in three sets.  In July, together with her British partner Naomi Broady, Sanders won the $50,000 Gold River Women's Challenger, defeating Robin Anderson and Lauren Embree in straight sets.  In US Open qualifying, Sanders lost in the first round to Uzbekistan's Nigina Abduraimova.

2014.

Sanders began the season at the Brisbane International, after receiving a wild card into qualifying. She opened with a three set win over Irina-Camelia Begu. Although taking the opening set, Sanders lost against third seed Hsieh Su-wei in three sets in the second round.  The following week, Sanders was awarded a wild card to the main draw of the Hobart International. A first-round win over Peng Shuai saw her match up with second seed Kirsten Flipkens in the second round. Pushing the top-20 ranked Belgian to the brink, Sanders lost in a tough three set match, lasting over two and a half hours. Despite the close loss, it was announced that Sanders had been given a wildcard into the singles main draw of the Australian Open, having been given wild cards for the doubles draw the previous two years. She played Camila Giorgi in round one, losing on her Grand Slam singles debut in three sets. She also lost in the first round of women's and mixed doubles.

2015.

Given a wild card for the Hobart International, Sanders lost in round one to Camila Giorgi in three sets. She was then given a wild card for the Australian Open, but lost at the first stage again, this time to world No. 46 Klára Koukalová in straight sets.

2016.

In July, she qualified for the Jiangxi International - the first time Sanders has come through qualifying at a WTA-level event.

Storm Sanders (born 11 August 1994 in Rockingham) is an Australian tennis player. Sanders has won one singles title and twelve doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 10 February 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 202. On 9 October 2017, she peaked at No. 63 in the doubles rankings.


History.

Fieschertal is first mentioned in 1351 as "vallis de Vies".

Geography.

The village of Fieschertal is located in the valley of the Wysswasser, a tributary of the Rhone that drains the Fiescher glacier. In addition to the village, the municipality includes a number of nearby hamlets, including Wichul, Zer Flie and Wirbul. However, most of the municipality's area comprises sparsely inhabited high mountain landscape and is heavily glaciated, including most of the Aletsch glacier and its tributary glaciers, together with the whole of the Fiescher glacier. The mountains of the Jungfrau, Mönch, Fiescherhorn, Agassizhorn, Finsteraarhorn, Oberaarhorn, Wasenhorn, Grunhorn, Wannenhorn, Eggishorn, Aletschhorn, Mittaghorn and Gletscherhorn are all either within or on the boundary of the municipality, as is the Märjelen lake. The Jungfraujoch, with the Top of Europe tourist attraction, lies just inside the northern boundary of the municipality, but access is exclusively from communities to the north.  Fieschertal has an area,, of. Of this area, 3.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 94.7% is unproductive land.

Coat of arms.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Per fess Or a rose Gules slipped and leaved Vert centered of the first and Vert on a pile chevronny Azure and Argent a pallet wavy of the last."

Demographics.

Fieschertal has a population () of., 4.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 7%. It has changed at a rate of 4.1% due to migration and at a rate of -1.5% due to births and deaths.  Most of the population () speaks German (251 or 98.4%) as their first language, Dutch is the second-most common (2 or 0.8%) and French and Italian are the third (1 or 0.4% each). , the gender distribution of the population was 50.3% male and 49.7% female. The population was made up of 134 Swiss men (46.2% of the population) and 12 (4.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 133 Swiss women (45.9%) and 11 (3.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 157 or about 61.6% were born in Fieschertal and lived there in 2000. There were 66 or 25.9% who were born in the same canton, while 15 or 5.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 10 or 3.9% were born outside of Switzerland.  The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.5%. , there were 116 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 115 married individuals, 22 widows or widowers and 2 individuals who are divorced. , there were 94 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 23 households that consist of only one person and 10 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 95 households that answered this question, 24.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 25 married couples without children, 38 married couples with children There were 5 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. , a total of 93 apartments (44.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 91 apartments (43.8%) were seasonally occupied and 24 apartments (11.5%) were empty., the construction rate of new housing units was 3.4 new units per 1000 residents.  The historical population is given in the following chart:

Politics.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 51.42% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (29.67%), the SP (13.31%) and the FDP (3.46%). In the federal election, a total of 149 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 66.2%.  In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 171 votes were cast, of which 9 or about 5.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 75.7%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 148 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 5.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 66.4%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.

Economy.

, Fieschertal had an unemployment rate of 2.8%., there were 27 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 110 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 136 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 11 businesses in this sector. There were 134 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.3% of the workforce. , there were 80 workers who commuted into the municipality and 86 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 15.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 56% used a private car.

Transport.

A single road links Fieschertal village with the village of Fiesch, on the main road up the valley of the Rhone. A PostBus Switzerland service links Fiesch and Fieschertal, providing an interchange with Fiesch station on the Furka-Oberalp line of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB). The bus service runs hourly with some gaps in service.  Some to the north-west of Fieschertal village, the Jungfraujoch terminus of the Jungfrau railway lies just inside the municipal border. The area between the two, and most of the rest of the municipality, is devoid of any roads or other developed transport modes.

Religion.

From the, 240 (or 94.1%) were Roman Catholic, while four (or 1.6%) belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Three (or about 1.18% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 8 individuals (or about 3.14% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather.

Fieschertal has an average of 98.9 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is October during which time Fieschertal receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 7.4 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 10.1, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is July with an average of of precipitation over 8.2 days.

Education.

In Fieschertal about 95 or (37.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 11 or (4.3%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 11 who completed tertiary schooling, 81.8% were Swiss men, 0.0% were Swiss women. , there were 37 students from Fieschertal who attended schools outside the municipality.

Fieschertal is a village and municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Besides the village of Fieschertal, the municipality includes the nearby hamlets of Wichul, Zer Flie and Wirbul.


Acquiring and removing status effects.

A status effect in the abstract is a persistent consequence of a certain in-game event or action, and as such innumerable variants exist across the gaming field. Status effects may result from one character performing a certain type of attack on another. Players may acquire status effects by consuming items, casting spells on themselves or each other, activating devices in the world, interacting with NPCs, or remaining in a particular location. Meeting certain criteria may result in the character acquiring a condition, which can have a status effect associated with it; for example: if their hunger level is high they may acquire a'starving' condition, which produces a status effect that reduces their health regeneration. Some games offer permanent status effects which persist for an entire level and act as modifications to the game's native difficulty.  The process of removing a status effect varies as widely as the effects themselves. Some status effects expire after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Most games contain items capable of healing specific status effects, or rarer items which can heal all of them. Many games also include magic spells that can eliminate status effects. Status effects are often removed at the end of a battle or once the originating enemy is defeated, however some may persist until they are explicitly cured. Games which allow players to rest may remove some status effects when that action is taken. If a game has multiple classes, one will often be a class capable of healing, who will have a greater ability to remove negative status effects than other classes.  In addition, many games have weapons, armor, or other equipment that can mitigate status effects or prevent a character from getting one in the first place. Depending on the game, some increase the chance to escape suffering the effect each time the player may potentially receive it, while others grant complete immunity. However, sometimes the equipment that is resisting an effect, will in exchange, as a penalty, increase vulnerability against a different effect, offering the player the opportunity to make tactical choices.

Buffs and debuffs.

In many MMORPGs, the terms buff and debuff are commonly used to describe status effects. Some spells or powers may debuff an enemy while buffing an ally at the same time.

Buffs.

"Buff" is the term generically used to describe a positive status effect that affects mainly player or enemy statistics (usually cast as a spell). Examples of buffs include:

Debuffs.

"Debuffs" are effects that may negatively impact a player character or a non-player character in some way other than reducing their hit points. Some examples of debuffs are:  There are countless other debuffs, depending on the game played, though all share the same concept: to make a certain target less powerful in one or more aspects. Both buffs and debuffs are generally of a temporary nature, wearing off after a certain period of time.

Auras.

Many modern real-time strategy games have hero units, single units that are powerful, but limited in number (usually only one of a single type allowed). In addition to their normally very high stats, many heroes also have auras which confer beneficial status effects or attribute bonuses to any friendly units that enter within a certain radius of the hero. This makes the hero unit an important factor in an engagement as, in addition to their formidable combat skills and powerful abilities, they also make the units around them more effective.  Some heroes and spellcaster units can also confer or inflict buffs, debuffs, and other status effects to units as spells.

In role-playing games, a status effect is a temporary modification to a game character’s original set of stats that usually comes into play when special powers and abilities (such as spells) are used, often during combat. It appears in numerous computer and video games of many genres, most commonly in role-playing video games. The term "status effect" can be applied both to changes that provide a character an advantage (increased attributes, defensive barriers, regeneration), and those that hinder the character (decreased attributes, incapacitation, degeneration). Especially in MMORPGs, beneficial effects are referred to as buffs, and hindering effects are called debuffs.


In human institutions.

Cognitive bias is inherent in the experiences, loyalties, and relationships of people in their daily lives, and new biases are constantly being discovered and addressed on both an ethical and political level. For example, the goal of affirmative action in the United States is to counter biases concerning gender, race, and ethnicity, by opening up institutional participation to people with a wider range of backgrounds, and hence a wider range of points of view. In India, the system of scheduled castes and tribes intends to address systemic bias caused by the controversial caste system, a system centered on organized discrimination based upon one's ancestry, not unlike the system that affirmative action aims to counter. Both the scheduling system and affirmative action mandate the hiring of citizens from within designated groups. However, without sufficient restrictions based upon the actual socio-economic standing of the recipients of the aid provided, these types of system can allegedly result in the unintentional institutionalization of a reversed form of the same systemic bias, which works against the goal of rendering institutional participation open to people with a wider range of backgrounds.

Major causes.

The study of systemic bias as part of the field titled organizational behavior in industrial organization economics is studied in several principle modalities in both non-profit and for-profit institutions. The issue of concern is that patterns of behavior may develop within large institutions which become harmful to the productivity and viability of the larger institutions from which they develop. The three major categories of study for maladaptive organizational behavior and systemic bias are counterproductive work behavior, human resource mistreatment, and the amelioration of stress-inducing behavior.

Counterproductive work behavior.

Counterproductive work behavior, or CWB, consists of behavior by employees that harms or intends to harm organizations and people in organizations.

Mistreatment of human resources.

There are several types of mistreatment that employees endure in organizations.

Abusive supervision.

Abusive supervision is the extent to which a supervisor engages in a pattern of behavior that harms subordinates.

Bullying.

Although definitions of bullying vary, it involves a repeated pattern of harmful behaviors directed towards an individual.

Incivility.

Incivility consists of low-intensity discourteous and rude behavior with ambiguous intent to harm that violates norms for appropriate behavior in the workplace.

Sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is behavior that denigrates or mistreats an individual due to his or her gender, creates an offensive workplace, and interferes with an individual being able to do their job.

Stress.

Occupational stress concerns the imbalance between the demands (aspects of the job that require mental or physical effort) and resources that help cope with these demands.

Examples.

"Financial Week" reported May 5, 2008 ("emphasis added"):

Versus systematic bias.

The difference between the words "systemic" and "systematic" is somewhat ambiguous.  "Systemic bias" and the older, more common expression "systematic bias" are often used to refer to the same thing; some users seek to draw a distinction between them, suggesting that systemic bias is most frequently associated with human systems, and related to favoritism.  In engineering and computational mechanics, the word "bias" is sometimes used as a synonym of systematic error. In this case, the bias is referred to the result of a measurement or computation, rather than to the measurement instrument or computational method.  Some authors try to draw a distinction between systemic and systematic corresponding to that between unplanned and planned, or to that between arising from the characteristics of a system and from an individual flaw. In a less formal sense, "systemic" biases are sometimes said to arise from the nature of the interworkings of the system, whereas "systematic" biases stem from a concerted effort to favor certain outcomes. Consider the difference between affirmative action (systematic) compared to racism and caste (systemic).

Systemic bias, also called institutional bias, is the inherent tendency of a process to support particular outcomes. The term generally refers to human systems such as institutions; the equivalent bias in non-human systems (such as measurement instruments or mathematical models used to estimate physical quantities) is often called systematic bias, and leads to systematic error in measurements or estimates. The issues of systemic bias are dealt with extensively in the field of industrial organization economics.


Life and career.

Lubomír Beneš grew up in Hloubětín, a suburb of Prague. As a child, he was artistically talented, so his parents paid for private art lessons, in which he studied drawing, painting and writing.  He began working in animation in the late 1950s in the animation studios of "Krátký Film Praha". After winning a competition he was accepted to the animated film studio "Bratři v triku" after his military service, where he became acquainted with various animation techniques.  In 1967, he transferred from "Bratři v triku" to the "Jiří Trnka Studio". There he created and directed his first film, "Homo" (Man) in 1969. Beneš’s first puppet film, "Beg your pardon" (), was made in 1974. He directed over a hundred short films, mostly puppet stop motion animation, and many of them for children. Some of his films also used cutout techniques.  During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneš worked on numerous TV projects for the state channels Československá televize (ČST) Praha and ČST Bratislava. His most popular animated series for ČST were "... a je to!" (... and that's it!) (28 episodes, 1979–1985) and "Jája a Pája" (21 episodes, 1986, 1987, 1995).  From 1990, he worked in the aiF Studio, which he had founded together with his son Marek, Pat & Mat co-creator Vladimír Jiránek and producer Michal Podhradský. There, he produced and directed 14 new "Pat & Mat" episodes in 1992 and 1994, which were highly successful and broadcast internationally. The animated films made by aiF were also broadcast on BBC One. Beneš directed, produced and wrote animated films in his studio until his death in 1995. His studio declared bankruptcy four years later.

Awards and prizes.

His films won several prizes abroad and at home. "The King and the Dwarf" () won several prizes, including The Silver Carnation at the Sitges Film Festival, Silver in the Odessa International Film Festival, and the Silver Mikeldi in Bilbao. "The Record Player" () from "...A je to!" won the Prize for the Best Film for Children at the 6th festival in Espinho, Portugal. "Uneven Fight" () won the Main prize at the Vancouver Film Festival. "With a Smile" () won the main prize, Golden Dancer, in Huesca.  The 38th "Pat & Mat" episode, "The Cyclists" (), animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, participated in the "Annecy '93" (Annecy, France) animation festival competition, and was invited to a number of other international festivals. "The Cyclists" was also included in the selection "The Best of Annecy '93" by Cinémathèque Québécoise (Montreal), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley), Museum of Modern Art (New York City) and presented by these institutions in their autumn 1993 show.  The 44th "Pat & Mat" episode, "The Billiards" (), animated by František Váša, was selected for the "Annecy '95" competition, and invited to many other international film festivals. "The Billiards" won two prizes at the World Animation Celebration in Agoura, California, in March 1997: 1st prize, Best Animation for a Daytime TV Series and 2nd prize, Best Stop Motion Professional Animation.

Personal life.

Beneš lived in Roztoky, near Prague. He was married, and had a son and daughter. His son Marek is the current director of the Pat & Mat series.

Lubomír Beneš (Prague, 7 November 1935 – Roztoky, 12 September 1995) was a Czech animator, director, and author, best known as the co-creator of "Pat & Mat", an animated series about two highly inventive, yet incredibly clumsy handymen neighbours.


History.

In 1943, Mituhisa Takasaki (高崎光久) introduced an algebraic structure which he called a "Kei" (圭), which would later come to be known as an involutive quandle. His motivation was to find a nonassociative algebraic structure to capture the notion of a reflection in the context of finite geometry. The idea was rediscovered and generalized in (unpublished) 1959 correspondence between John Conway and Gavin Wraith, who at the time were undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge. It is here that the modern definitions of quandles and of racks first appear. Wraith had become interested in these structures (which he initially dubbed sequentials) while at school. Conway renamed them wracks, partly as a pun on his colleague's name, and partly because they arise as the remnants (or 'wrack and ruin') of a group when one discards the multiplicative structure and considers only the conjugation structure. The spelling 'rack' has now become prevalent.  These constructs surfaced again in the 1980s: in a 1982 paper by David Joyce (where the term quandle was coined), in a 1982 paper by (under the name distributive groupoids) and in a 1986 conference paper by Egbert Brieskorn (where they were called automorphic sets). A detailed overview of racks and their applications in knot theory may be found in the paper by Colin Rourke and Roger Fenn.

Racks.

A rack may be defined as a set formula_1 with a binary operation formula_2 such that for every formula_3 the self-distributive law holds:  and for every formula_5 there exists a unique formula_6 such that  This definition, while terse and commonly used, is suboptimal for certain purposes because it contains an existential quantifier which is not really necessary. To avoid this, we may write the unique formula_6 such that formula_9 as formula_10 We then have  and thus  and  Using this idea, a rack may be equivalently defined as a set formula_1 with two binary operations formula_15 and formula_16 such that for all formula_17  It is convenient to say that the element formula_22 is acting from the left in the expression formula_23 and acting from the right in the expression formula_10 The third and fourth rack axioms then say that these left and right actions are inverses of each other. Using this, we can eliminate either one of these actions from the definition of rack. If we eliminate the right action and keep the left one, we obtain the terse definition given initially.  Many different conventions are used in the literature on racks and quandles. For example, many authors prefer to work with just the "right" action. Furthermore, the use of the symbols formula_2 and formula_16 is by no means universal: many authors use exponential notation  and  while many others write  Yet another equivalent definition of a rack is that it is a set where each element acts on the left and right as automorphisms of the rack, with the left action being the inverse of the right one. In this definition, the fact that each element acts as automorphisms encodes the left and right self-distributivity laws, and also these laws:  which are consequences of the definition(s) given earlier.

Quandles.

A quandle is defined as a rack, formula_31 such that for all formula_32  or equivalently

Examples and applications.

Every group gives a quandle where the operations come from conjugation:  In fact, every equational law satisfied by conjugation in a group follows from the quandle axioms. So, one can think of a quandle as what is left of a group when we forget multiplication, the identity, and inverses, and only remember the operation of conjugation.  Every tame knot in three-dimensional Euclidean space has a 'fundamental quandle'. To define this, one can note that the fundamental group of the knot complement, or knot group, has a presentation (the Wirtinger presentation) in which the relations only involve conjugation. So, this presentation can also be used as a presentation of a quandle. The fundamental quandle is a very powerful invariant of knots. In particular, if two knots have isomorphic fundamental quandles then there is a homeomorphism of three-dimensional Euclidean space, which may be orientation reversing, taking one knot to the other.  Less powerful but more easily computable invariants of knots may be obtained by counting the homomorphisms from the knot quandle to a fixed quandle formula_36 Since the Wirtinger presentation has one generator for each strand in a knot diagram, these invariants can be computed by counting ways of labelling each strand by an element of formula_31 subject to certain constraints. More sophisticated invariants of this sort can be constructed with the help of quandle cohomology.  The are also important, since they can be used to compute the Alexander polynomial of a knot. Let formula_38 be a module over the ring formula_39 of Laurent polynomials in one variable. Then the Alexander quandle is formula_38 made into a quandle with the left action given by  Racks are a useful generalization of quandles in topology, since while quandles can represent knots on a round linear object (such as rope or a thread), racks can represent ribbons, which may be twisted as well as knotted.  A quandle formula_42 is said to be involutory if for all formula_43  or equivalently,  Any symmetric space gives an involutory quandle, where formula_46 is the result of'reflecting formula_47 through formula_48'.

In mathematics, racks and quandles are sets with binary operations satisfying axioms analogous to the Reidemeister moves used to manipulate knot diagrams.


Television series.

"Ben 10" (2005 TV series).

The series centres on Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy on a summer vacation road trip with his loathsome twin cousin Gwen and their grandfather Max. On their first night camping in their grandfather's RV, Ben finds a mysterious watch-style device named the Omnitrix that attaches itself to his wrist, giving him the ability to transform into various alien life-forms. During their vacation, the Tennysons are attacked by various enemies, ranging from aliens such as Chimera Sui Generis warlord Vilgax, Sotoraggian/Piscciss Premann bounty hunter duo Sixsix and Kraab, Ectonurite high king Zs'skayr, criminals such as energy-absorbing 11-year-old delinquent Kevin Levin, mad scientist Doctor Animo, mysterious paramilitary organization the Forever Knights, and supernatural entities such as inter-dimensional sorcerer Hex and his niece Charmcaster, and clown mastermind Zombozo and his Circus Freak Trio.

"Ben 10: Alien Force".

The series begins five years after the summer vacation when Ben discovered the Omnitrix. Ben removed the Omnitrix because he lost the alien Feedback shown in omniverse, but regained it as a teenager while searching for his grandfather Max, who was abducted by a xenophobic alien species called the Highbreeds, who, along with the DNAliens at their command, are determined to rid the Earth of human beings. Ben's age causes the Omnitrix to reboot, granting him access to new alien forms, along with a few of his previous forms. Ben is joined by Gwen and former enemy Kevin Levin, as they fight the Highbreed's universal extermination plan.

"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien".

After Ben's last battle with Vilgax, which destroyed the Omnitrix, Ben replaces it with the new Ultimatrix that allows him to evolve his alien forms into their ultimate forms. With the recent disclosure of his identity, Ben has become a worldwide celebrity. Meanwhile, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin must stop an Osmosian villain named Aggregor, who hunts aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy and intends to use their powers to achieve the "ultimate prize". Later, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin have to prevent an extradimensional entity called Diagon from taking over the universe.

"Ben 10: Omniverse".

Ben acquires the brand new and improved powerful and perfect Omnitrix that gives him access to a new set of aliens along with all the forms he has assumed prior. After Gwen goes away to college with Kevin accompanying her, Ben pairs up with Rook Blonko, a plumber from the planet Revonnah. He is targeted by an intergalactic huntsman named Khyber, who made a copy of the Omnitrix, the Nemetrix, with the help of mad scientist Dr Psychobos. Both of them are working with an enemy from Ben's past, a Galvanic Mechamorph named Malware. Ben later contends with the Incurseans, Albedo, Zs'Skayr, Dr Psychobos, Charmcaster, the Plumber's Black-Ops Unit (called the "Rooters"), his alternate dimension self Mad Ben, and the Chronosapien Maltruant.

"Ben 10" (2016 TV series).

The official Twitter feed of Cartoon Network PR confirmed a rebooted series that would return to following the adventures of Ben, Gwen, and Max Tennyson and feature new alien forms. In mid-June 2016, Cartoon Network released the first poster for the series, in which ten of the most popular aliens from the franchise were featured. The series would premiere on international Cartoon Networks beginning in October 2016, with Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & African versions, and continuing into 2017 with the North and Latin American versions.<ref name="twitter.com/CartoonNetworkPR">Confirmation of 5th Ben 10 Series by Official Twitter Page of CN PR </ref>  The world premiere was on Cartoon Network (Australia and New Zealand), airing on October 1, 2016. The U.K network premiered the series on October 8, 2016. The German Cartoon Network premiered the first two episodes on October 10, 2016. The series premiered in the United States on April 10, 2017.

Cast and characters.

The main characters include Ben Tennyson, Gwen Tennyson, Kevin Levin, and Grandpa Max Tennyson along with the villains Vilgax, Aggregor, Eon, Doctor Animo, Hex, and Khyber.

Films.

"Secret of the Omnitrix".

The first film is a regular animated feature called "Secret of the Omnitrix". During a fight with Dr Animo, Ben's Omnitrix accidentally sets off its self-destruct mode and Ben has to find the Omnitrix's creator to shut it down and stop the evil Vilgax.

"Race Against Time".

The second is a live-action film titled "Ben 10: Race Against Time", which aired November 21, 2007. It revolves around Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max returning to their hometown of Bellwood and attempting to adjust to being "normal" again. Unfortunately, their lives are once again disrupted by a mysterious alien known as Eon. It premiered on Cartoon Network on November 21, 2007. The film was directed by Alex Winter. The film was nominated for two Visual Effects Society Awards: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or SpecialDina Benadon, Evan Jacobs, Brent Young, Chris Christman; and Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or CommercialBrent Young, Michael Smith.

"Alien Swarm".

The third is a live-action film titled "Ben 10: Alien Swarm" which aired November 25, 2009. In the movie, the group stumbles upon a hive of alien nanobots who are controlled by a single consciousness and are using humans as host bodies to take over the world. Ben and his friends work together to stop them. This movie is also when Ben unlocks Nanomech.

"Destroy All Aliens".

A CGI movie titled "Ben 10: Destroy all Aliens" was announced in mid-2011, and released on March 11, 2012 (Asia/Philippines) and on March 23, 2012 (US). This film had previously been under the working title "Ben 10: Alien Dimensions". The film was based on the original series, and featured the original voice cast. The CGI was animated by Tiny Island Productions in Singapore.

"Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie".

On February 19, 2020, Cartoon Network announced that a film based on the reboot of the show will premiere in Fall about 2020

Feature film adaptation.

On June 14, 2011, producer Joel Silver announced that he, along with Warner Bros. and Dark Castle Entertainment, would be working on a film version of "Ben 10". In January 2012, Albert Torres was announced as screenwriter. In February 2013, Ryan Engle was announced to work on Torres' script. Andrew Rona, Steve Richards, and Joel Silver were producers. Alex Heineman and Sarah Meyer were executive producers. Since Silver left Warner Bros. and Dark Castle joined Universal Pictures, it remains unknown whether Warner Bros. or Universal will release the movie. As of July 2019, the film is most likely cancelled.

Specials.

"Ben 10/Generator Rex" crossover.

During Cartoon Network's panel at 2011's San Diego Comic-Con, Ben 10 and Generator Rex creators "Man of Action" announced a crossover special between the "Ben 10" and "Generator Rex" series titled "Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United". The forty-minute special aired on November 25, 2011, as a "Generator Rex" episode.  A comic book based on the special titled "Hero Times Two" was released on November 30, 2011, as the 65th issue of DC Comics' "Cartoon Network: Action Pack".

Elements of the franchise.

Omnitrix.

The Omnitrix, its replacement, and the "finalized" version that is the are the central elements of the "Ben 10" story. They are all wristwatch-styled devices developed by the Galvan inventor Azmuth that transforms the user into any one of many alien beings (originally 1,000,906, but the number has increased by 9 via scanning additional species not originally in the database). Despite many seeing the Omnitrix as a weapon, its true purpose was to allow the beings of the universe to understand each other and to resurrect intelligent species that may go extinct.  The Omnitrix appears in the first two incarnations of the franchise ("Ben 10" and ""), but Ben had to destroy it and use the Ultimatrix in the "" series. The Ultimatrix had most of the same functionality as the Omnitrix, but would allow the user to transform the alien into its Ultimate Form (how the species and its DNA would evolve in a one-million-year simulation). In the final episode of Ultimate Alien, Azmuth takes the Ultimatrix from Ben and replaces it with the New Omnitrixthe original version has been a prototype.  In "", the, a knock-off of the original Omnitrix, is introduced. Unlike the Omnitrix and its succeeding models, the Nemetrix uses the DNA of the natural predators of sentient alien races which have the sole purpose of hunting Ben. Thus, only an animal can use the Nemetrix, as users of higher intelligence are unable to use it without incurring mental damage. In "Omniverse", Albedo recreates the Ultimatrix by using a Polymorphic Crystal to stabilize his transformations, making it so that he can stay in any form as long as he wants. It also allows him to transform into the Ultimate Forms of his aliens without first turning into their normal forms.  In "the Reboot series", Ben's Omnitrix can augment enhancements onto his aliens. In Season 2, his aliens can become "Omni-Enhanced" with rock-like constructs and energy. However, the enhancements seems to happen at random. This energy is later revealed to be coming from a new alien species in his Omnitrix, which eventually gets its own form, "Shock Rock". In Season 4, Ben unlocks the "Omni-Kix" feature, which allows him to add armor plating onto his aliens. The Reboot series also introduces the Antitrix, which is wielded by Kevin Levin. The Antitrix allows Kevin to transform into 11 aliens, most of which are ones that Ben has used before, but significantly altered from Ben's version.

Plumbers.

The Plumbers is an organization composed of both human and alien members, each of whom possesses a special badge. All badges bear the intergalactic peace symbol, a green hourglass shape, which is on the faceplate of the Omnitrix. Later, in "Omniverse", the Plumbers' symbol becomes a red dot.  In the original series, the Earth's Plumbers were a secret government organization that protected the universe from any threat. Their main base is located inside Mount Rushmore (where the Null Void projector and Sub-Energy were stored), with additional bases located inside Fort Knox, the Space Needle, Devils Tower, the Navajo Monument, the Great Dismal Swamp, and major cities such as Roswell, New York City, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, and Grand Rapids. Their main adversary was Vilgax. Max Tennyson was a Plumber in his youth. Most of the Plumbers on Earth have disbanded; however, a few members remain in a semi-active capacity.

Forever Knights.

The Forever Knights are a secret British society first formed during the Middle Ages that are dedicated to collecting and studying alien technology, usually by illegal means. Any aliens they capture along the way are dissected and studied, and any humans caught with them are deemed worthless and disposed of. They also have a robotic dragon that protects one of their castles. It is revealed in "Ultimate Alien" that the reason for their actions is to combat Diagon, an entity from another dimension that nearly conquered the Earth in the Middle Ages were it not for the Forever Knights' immortal Founder George. When George left them, the Forever Knights began to splinter under various self-titled Forever Kings who transformed their knights' duty into a genocidal policy toward anything alien.

Transports.

Each series has featured some kind of main transportation. The wheeled motor vehicles, appearing like normal cars, are equipped with several pieces of Plumber technology such as a turbo engine, laser guns, and autopilot. They are often destroyed during the series.  The Rustbucket and the Rustbucket II, is an old RV resembling a 1973 GMC motorhome owned by Max Tennyson. Despite being old, and even having been destroyed a few times, Max has great affection for it.  The Resolute is Tetrax Shard's spaceship  The Chimearan Hammer is Vilgax's spaceship  Ship is a Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade's species) that can transform himself into fully operational technology he's once touched. He merged with the Forever Knights spaceship and became the space transportation for Ben's team during the third season of "Alien Force".  The Rustbucket III, a Plumbers' jet that Kevin has upgraded with alien tech, later replaced him.  Kevin's car is a Muscle car resembling a Dodge Challenger armed with Plumber technology as well as other various alien techs, including guns and off-road capabilities. It is the team's main transport in "" and "". It is damaged or destroyed often, mainly during fights or chase scenes, and Kevin is constantly busy repairing it. In Omniverse, after Ben destroyed it while aiming at Upgrade, Kevin gave it a new look. He painted it blue and placed a white circle with the number 11 on it, with only one stripe.  The Proto-TRUK is Rook's spaceship and the team's main transport in "". It can transform into a small truck to camouflage itself among Earth vehicles. It was later destroyed and its parts were used by Ben 10,000 to build the Time Cycles.

Spin-off media.

Merchandise.

Following the success of the "Ben 10" animated TV series and films, various "Ben 10" merchandise has been released for general sale. These items include comic books, card games (such as Top Trumps), toys, video games, Lego construction sets, bedding, coloring books, footwear, and watches (the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix). All four shows have been released on DVD.

Games.

The game franchise has many different formats. The video games franchise started in 2006 with the release of "Ben 10" for the HyperScan, while the franchise's first official video game "Protector of Earth" came out in 2007.  The eighth video game, "Ben 10: Omniverse", has been developed and released for the Nintendo Wii and Wii U, Nintendo DS and 3DS, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3 on November 13, 2012. The player can play as 13 alien heroes, including never-before-seen aliens like Bloxx and Gravattack, as they work for either Ben or Rook to defeat the evil plans of a fierce villain intent on destroying the world. The game is developed by Vicious Style Studios for all platforms except for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS versions, which are developed by 1st Playable Productions. The plot is about Ben's partner Rook going back in time and meeting an 11-year-old Ben. In the past, Malware absorbed Rook's Proto-Tool and intends to destroy the Earth. The player can access both Bens.  Ten games have been released, including "Omniverse:"

Toy line.

Bandai has manufactured a large amount of "Ben 10" toys from the four series.  The series received three McDonald's Happy Meal promotions internationally, as well as one in America in August 2011. The toys are colored translucent figures of some Omnitrix/Ultimatrix aliens and their Ultimate forms, with a small photo of Ben inside. The "Alien Force" toys are four rings, each one is an alien (Goop, Jetray, Alien X, Chromastone) with features linked with their powers.

Comic books.

Developed by Jason Hall, Min G. Kuand and Heroic Age, the "Ben 10" comic revolves around Ben's summer vacation with Gwen and their Grandpa Max, travelling in the Rust Bucket. The Ben 10: Alien Force comic revolves around Ben, with Gwen and a reformed Kevin, battling the Highbreed and the DNAliens.  Cartoon Network Action Pack was a 2006-2012 comic book series made by DC Comics which showcased Ben 10 alongside Samurai Jack, Codename Kids Next Door, The Secret Saturdays, or Generator Rex. Some of the issues were connected with the franchise, while others are non-canon.  In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to produce comics based on Cartoon Network properties. "Ben 10" was one of the titles announced to be published.

"Ben 10" in other media.

"Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge".

"" is a game show developed for television by United Kingdom-based company, Twenty Twenty, which airs on Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Bulgaria, the Nordic region, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Chile, United States and the Middle East. "Ultimate Challenge" is a trivia show that tasks children with answering questions about all three series. "Ultimate Challenge" is produced by Mandy Morris and executive produced by Daniel Marlowe.

Cartoon Network promotion.

"Titanic Kungfubot Offensive".

The game features famous and notable Cartoon Network characters in robot-type form. Big Chill, Swampfire, a DNAlien, Kevin, Vilgax, Rath, Armodrillo, Ultimate Humongousaur, Ultimate Echo Echo, and Ultimate Big Chill appear as playable characters.  To promote the "" special, Cartoon Network updated "Titanic Kungfubot Offensive", adding new bots, such as "Shocksquatch" and "Clockwork"; both of which are aliens accessible to Ben.

"Cartoon Network Universe: Fusion Fall".

The character design for Ben Tennyson was changed when the original Ben 10 series ended and was replaced by Alien Force. In the game, he serves as a "Player Guide" offering guide-based missions and special items.

"Cartoon Network Universe: Project Exonaut".

In another browser-based game entitled "Cartoon Network Universe: Project Exonaut," Ben's aliens, alongside Gwen and Vilgax, appear as "exosuits". The exosuits' purpose is protecting the player and giving them unique abilities and powers. The planet Kylmyys (the home of one of Ben's aliens, Big Chill) and the Perplexhedron are featured as battle arenas. Ultimate Kevin and Alien X are currently the new exosuits for Project Exonaut representing Ben 10. The new exosuits feature Gold versions of Manus, Marceline, Mojo Jojo, and Rath.

"Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion".

Ben appears in the game as a playable character. Swampfire, Humongousaur, Big Chill, and AmpFibian appear as Ben's playable aliens. Vilgax, the archenemy of Ben Tennyson appears as a playable character for the first time. Gwen and the Vreedle Brothers are "summons" in the game. Additionally, Bellwood and the Null Void are included as battle arenas. Kevin also appears as a "summon" in the game, but is featured as a playable character on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii versions called "Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL". Kevin in Ultimate Kevin form appears in the game as a boss. The young version of Ben appears in the console version of the game as a playable character.

Ben 10 is an American franchise and television series created by Man of Action Studios and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The franchise revolves around a boy named Ben Tennyson who acquires a watch-style alien device, the Omnitrix, which contains DNA of different Alien species allows him to transform into ten aliens and more.


History.

In 1998 Central Television and Radio Studio of the Russian Ministry of Defense wins the tender to broadcast the channel in the competition. On July 17, 2000 Zvezda channel is a licensed for broadcasting. On September 2001 broadcasting had yet started, while received a warning from the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media for a two-week period of correction.  On February 20, 2005 Zvezda channel first began broadcasting on 57th UHF channel in Moscow. Feature of the channel is to show programs on patriotic themes: information and analytical programs, as well as Russian movies. On the first day of broadcasting channel aired a documentary about firefighters, to May 16, 2005 broadcast was limited to the evening. On May 16, 2005 the channel goes to broadcast around the clock. In 2006 Zvezda is for the first time broadcasting in all of Russia. 2007 channel audience grew further, as it was included in the package of NTV+. Since 2009 Zvezda is a federal status channel. On 14 December 2012 the channel entered into the second digital television multiplex. In this case, the channel had only one position for the competition.  In March 2015, Zvezda offered a presenting job to Jeremy Clarkson less than 24 hours after he was dismissed by the BBC from motoring programme "Top Gear".

Controversies.

"Zvezda" describes itself as "patriotic" and is considered one of the most sensational and anti-Western news channels in Russia. It has a reputation for publishing biased news stories which favor the Russian government. It has published several controversial news articles in the past, for example:  During the 2008 pre-election debates on the Zvezda TV Vladimir Zhirinovsky insulted Andrei Bogdanov's campaign manager and ordered his bodyguards to "take him away and shoot him".

Zvezda () is a Russian state-owned nationwide TV network run by the Russian Ministry of Defence. As of January 2008, Zvezda's CEO was Grigory Krichevsky, previously known for his work on Vladimir Gusinsky's NTV Channel in the late 1990s.


Geography.

Blagoevgrad municipality is situated in the northwestern part of Blagoevgrad Province with area of 620.12 km.It borders with Kyustendil Province in the north, Razlog Municipality in the east, Simitli Municipality in the south and Republic of Macedonia in the west. The municipality is lying in the western part of the Rila mountain and the northern part of the valley of Struma river, 100 km from Sofia in the north and Kulata in the south on the international road E79.

Climate.

The climate is transitional-continental with strong Mediterranean influence and the weather is mild in the winter and hot in the summer in the valley of Struma river and in the lower parts – 80% of the territory of the municipality. In the higher parts of the municipality the climate is mountainous – the other 20%.

Nature.

The most parts of the municipality are covered with forests. Small subsidiaries of Struma river form the water resources of the region. The snow-melting during the spring and the summer in Rila and Vlahina increases the river debit. The Bistrica river flows through Blagoevgrad and Struma river goes west of the town. There are thirty hot mineral springs in the municipality, even in Blagoevgrad.

Population and settlements.

The population of the municipality is 77,441, according to the last count in 2011 year. Men are 48%, women 52% of the population. The municipality is highly urbanized – 91% of all the people live in Blagoevgrad. The mountainous villages are very sparsely populated.  The following table shows the change of the population during the last four decades.

Ethnic composition.

According to the 2011 census, among those who answered the optional question on ethnic identification, the ethnic composition of the municipality was the following:

Religion.

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

Roads and transportation.

The municipality has a very favorable location. E79 international road passes through Belo Pole and the western parts of Blagoevgrad alongside with Struma river and connects the region with Sofia on the north and Greece in the south. There is a parallel railway, which leads to Greece, but now due to the policy of the Greek rail operator there are no trains between Sofia and Athens. There is also a road connection with Republic of Macedonia via Logodazh. The fourth class municipal roads need improvement. Blagoevgrad has two bus stations and a train station situated in the western part of the town. Buses connect Blagoevgrad with Sofia, Plovdiv, Sandanski, Petrich, Goce Delchev, Kyustendil, Dupnitsa and other destinations in the region as well as most of the villages in the municipality. There are international bus lines to Greece and Republic of Macedonia. Trains connect the municipality with Sofia, Pernik, Dupnitsa and Sandanski and other smaller settlements alongside Struma river. There is a train stop in Belo Pole, train station in Blagoevgrad and another train stop in the southern part of Blagoevgrad.

Economy.

There are few big industrial subjects in the municipality and they are concentrated in Blagoevgrad. Trade and services form significant part of the municipal economy. The presence of two universities and a lot of young people is boosting them and also providing qualified labor force. Agriculture and forestry are important parts of the regional economy too.

Tourism.

There are more than 10 hotels in Blagoevgrad. Visitors can see a neighborhood with old houses "Varosha". The hot mineral water in Blagoevgrad is not widely utilized, but there is communal bath. The mountains in the region offers a lot of places for hiking and picnics. All the cultural institutions are in Blagoevgrad – the theater, museums, art galleries and cultural centers.

Blagoevgrad Municipality (, ) is the most populated municipality in Blagoevgrad Province. It includes Blagoevgrad and 25 villages with population of (2011).


Cast.

Comedians Chris Rock, Dave Attell, Bill Burr, Hannibal Buress, John Mulaney, Whitney Cummings, Esther Ku, Jim Norton, Will Ferrell and political personality Joe Scarborough make guest appearances as fictional versions of themselves, as do TV personality Jimmy Fallon and actors Steve Buscemi, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Alec Baldwin. Macaulay Culkin makes multiple cameo appearances as himself holding different low-income jobs and appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon".

Production.

Development.

NBC first showed interest in the show, but eventually passed. CBS previously tried twice to develop Jim Gaffigan's semi-autobiographical series. While still in talks with NBC, Jeannie would have played herself in the show, however CBS decided to cast someone—a decision she agreed with—and she joined in casting the role. The network ordered a pilot episode in January 2013, at which time Mira Sorvino was attached to play Gaffigan's wife, with Christian Barillas and Tongayi Chirisa in supporting roles. CBS passed on the series in May 2013 and instead planned to redevelop it for the 2014-15 television season. The series was recast with new cast members Williams, Goldberg and Black. CBS passed on the series in May 2014, and Sony Pictures Television began shopping it to other networks. It was announced in July 2014 that TV Land had ordered the series and, unlike previous networks, granted the Gaffigans full creative control. Jim Gaffigan said of the announcement: "I am thrilled that TV Land is giving us this opportunity to do this show that Peter, Jeannie and I have been fine-tuning for three years." TV Land president Larry W. Jones said the series was perfect for its target audience of Generation Xers who are raising families. Jones said: "We love Jim Gaffigan's brand of humor. The second we saw this show we knew we wanted it on TV Land."

Writing.

The series is partially based on the real lives of Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, who have five children and live in a two-bedroom apartment in New York City. The age differences between the children were shortened for the television show, and Jeannie said, "The TV kids are sort of a snapshot of an earlier time in our lives when they were all younger". Episodes are built around actual incidents they've experienced. Other regular topics of Jim Gaffigan's stand-up comedy are part of the series, particularly his love of food. Jeannie said the list of props for the show is "almost 90 percent food... which I thought was pretty funny".  Although Jim will play a comedian, a conscious decision was made not to regularly intersperse the narrative with his stand-up comedy, like in such popular shows as "Seinfeld" and "Louie". He said of this decision: "I want this to be more about what happens off the stage.... 'Stand-up comedian' is an occupation and, like our pilot, we're evolving into a much more mature show." Jim Gaffigan and Peter Tolan wrote the pilot together. The rest of the series is written by Jim and his wife Jeannie.

Crew.

Jeff Lowell was the showrunner for Season 1 "The Jim Gaffigan Show", and served as an executive producer along with Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, Jim's real-life wife, a fictional version of whom will also appear in the show. Jeannie took over the showrunner position for Season 2. Alex Murray and Sandy Wernick will also be executive producers.

Filming.

Production on the single-camera series began in 2015. Filming occurred at such New York City locations as Katz's Delicatessen and the Gotham Comedy Club. The set is an exact replica of their former apartment, set on a soundstage.

Broadcast.

Comedy Central, a cable network owned by TV Land parent company Viacom, aired episodes of the series one week after they debuted. New episodes were simulcast on Nick at Nite. Episodes are available on video on demand on cable outlets and for streaming on Hulu (with a paid subscription) three weeks after airing on TV Land.  In Canada, "The Jim Gaffigan Show" aired on The Comedy Network. The show debuted on the network on December 1, 2015.

Reception.

Early critical reviews were largely positive, with mixed comparisons to the show "Louie". Grading the show with an "A", Diane Werts with "Newsday" called the show "This summer's must-see comedy smash," adding, "I can't remember laughing out loud so consistently at a situation comedy maybe, um, ever." In an overall favorable review, "The New York Times" called the show "quite funny." TV critic Ken Tucker said the show "gets better with each episode." Some critics found the show too sterile. "The Hollywood Reporter" said "Gaffigan's good-naturedness is pleasant, if not particularly interesting." "Entertainment Weekly", giving the show a "B-", said it was mostly "stray one-liners and stilted semi-riffs. Imagine a less nourishing "Louie" or "Curb Your Enthusiasm"." "The Washington Post" remarked that, while "Gaffigan has perfected his shtick...It works as a stage presence, but not so much as a TV character."

Ending.

Despite an overall positive critical reception, Jim and Jeannie decided not to pursue a third season. In a statement released on Jim Gaffigan's Twitter, he announced that "the time commitment to make the quality of show we wanted was taking us away from our most important project, our five children."

Series overview.

<onlyinclude></onlyinclude

The Jim Gaffigan Show is an American sitcom written and executive produced by comedian Jim Gaffigan and his wife Jeannie Gaffigan. Gaffigan stars as a fictionalized version of himself as a stand-up comedian raising five children in a two-bedroom New York City apartment. An 11-episode first season debuted on July 15, 2015, on TV Land. On August 31, 2015, TV Land renewed the series for a 12-episode second season, which premiered on June 19, 2016. On August 22, 2016, Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan announced that the series would not be returning for a third season so they could spend more time with their kids.


Plot.

An armored truck brings money to load an ATM. A woman withdraws $20 but the bill slips away. A homeless woman, Angeline (Linda Hunt), grabs the bill and reads the serial number, proclaiming that it is her destiny to win the lottery with those numbers. As she holds the bill, a boy grabs the bill from her and uses it at a bakery. The baker sells an expensive pair of figurines for a wedding cake to Jack Holiday (George Morfogen) and gives him the bill as change. At the rehearsal dinner for the upcoming wedding of Sam Mastrewski (Brendan Fraser) to Anna Holiday (Sam Jenkins), Jack reminisces about exchanging his foreign money for American currency when he first came to America, and he presents Sam with the $20 bill as a wedding present. Sam is taken aback by the perceived cheapness of his father-in-law-to-be, but is quickly "kidnapped" for his bachelor party, where he uses the bill to pay the stripper (Melora Walters). Anna shows up to explain that the $20 is not the entire present and suggests they frame it to show that they understand its significance. Sam is unable to explain the absence of the bill, when the stripper comes in from the fire escape to offer it back to him. Anna apparently breaks the engagement.  The stripper uses the $20 bill to buy a herbal remedy from Mrs. McCormac (Gladys Knight). Mrs. McCormac mails the bill to her grandson Bobby (Willie Marlett) as a birthday present. Bobby goes to a convenience store where Frank (Steve Buscemi) and Jimmy (Christopher Lloyd) are engaged in a string of robberies. (During their spree, they prevent Angeline from buying a lottery ticket at a liquor store.) Not knowing he's a robber, the underage Bobby gives Jimmy the $20 bill to buy him wine. Jimmy goes into the store to find that Frank has botched the robbery. Jimmy and Frank leave, giving Bobby and his girlfriend Peggy champagne. The police chase the robbers, who hide in a used car lot. After the police pass by, Jimmy and Frank split up the money, but when Frank sees the $20 Jimmy got from the kid, he assumes that Jimmy is holding out on him. Jimmy tries to explain but Frank pulls a shotgun on him. Jimmy shoots Frank and takes all the money they've stolen, but leaves the $20 bill. The bill, now dripped with Frank's blood, winds up in the police evidence locker but falls into the wrong box.  Waitress and aspiring writer Emily Adams (Elisabeth Shue) shows up at the police precinct with boyfriend Neil (David Schwimmer) to claim some items the police recovered. The police officer (William H. Macy) unwittingly includes the $20 bill. After flying out of the box from the back seat of Emily's convertible, the bill floats around town, and is picked up by a homeless man who uses it to buy groceries. (In this scene, Angeline is again unable to buy a lottery ticket.) The bill is given as change to a wealthy woman who uses it to snort cocaine off the back of her stretch limousine, although she leaves it on her car, where it is picked up by the drug dealer (Edward Blatchford).  The drug dealer also runs a day camp for youth, and he puts the bill into a fish where it is caught by a teen who has it converted to quarters and uses them to call a phone sex hotline in a bowling alley. The bowling alley owner (Ned Bellamy) gives the bill to his lover (Matt Frewer) and tells him to go out and have fun. The Frewer character encounters Sam, who is loitering in a daze behind the bowling alley. Sam turns down an offer of the $20 bill, not knowing it is the cause of his downfall. The Frewer character then uses it to play bingo at a church, where the priest is portrayed by Spaulding Gray. Emily's father, Bruce (Alan North) also plays bingo and receives the bill as change before dying of a heart attack.  At the mortuary, the mortician (Melora Walters), gives the family Bruce's personal effects, including his wallet with the $20 bill. Emily eventually looks in the wallet and finds the $20 bill in the wallet together with a copy of her first published short story. Her mother Ruth (Diane Baker) explains that Bruce also wanted to be a writer. Emily decides to go to Europe. At the airport, she explains her decision to her brother Gary (Kevin Kilner), and she melodramatically rips up the bill in front of him. (Gary was a witness to one of Jimmy & Frank's robberies.) Sam is also at the airport, waiting for a flight to Europe and having a drink with Jack, with the two clearing up the misunderstanding over the $20 bill on good terms. Sam uses a piece of the ripped up bill as a bookmark but it falls out without him noticing it as Sam and Emily walk toward their gate, both striking up a conversation. A title reading "The End" is derailed by Angeline collecting pieces of the bill.  Angeline sits down at a coin-operated TV and patches the bill back together. Just then the lottery numbers are read, and to her agony, they match the serial number of the bill. She goes to a bank and inquires if the bill is still any good. The teller explains that if there's more than 51% of the bill left, it is still valid, and hands Angeline a crisp new $20 bill. The homeless woman dramatically reads the serial number of the new bill and leaves the bank.

Production.

The film was based on a screenplay that was nearly 60 years old. It was originally written by Endre Bohem in 1935, but was never filmed; his son, Leslie, discovered it in the 1980s and revised it, modernizing the language and some of the plot. This version of the screenplay was then used for the film. The elder Bohem wrote his spec script soon after the release of "If I Had a Million".  In one of the production featurettes, Rosenfeld says that the bills used in the production were figured into the production costs of the film. The producers obtained several bills with consecutive serial numbers, as well as "every thousandth bill" so that some bills would have the right first few digits of the serial number and others the right last few digits. The bills were then selectively damaged in specific ways as required by the script. When they were done with the bills, Rosenfeld says the bills were dropped into the petty cash fund money.

Filming locations.

Most of the outdoor scenes were filmed in Minneapolis; the rest and nearly all of the indoor scenes were filmed in Los Angeles. The scene where Angeline captures the bill was filmed on North 4th Street in downtown Minneapolis, in front of Fire Station No. 10 (with traffic driving the wrong way for the movie). The scene where Angeline visits McCormac and McCormac mails the bill (and Jimmy and Frank meet) was filmed in the 1000 block of West Broadway in Minneapolis (now demolished). The supermarket scene was filmed at a Holiday Plus supermarket (now part of the Cub Foods chain) in suburban Minneapolis. The bill floats near the Mississippi River just above St. Anthony Falls; over the 3rd Avenue Bridge; and past the E-Z Stop gas station at 1624 Washington Ave. North. The Adams house was filmed on the Near North side of Minneapolis at 1802 Bryant Ave N near the E-Z Stop station. The final scene was filmed in an actual bank, Marquette Bank Minneapolis at 90 S. 6th Street, which is now a restaurant named Bank.

Critical reception.

While many critics saw the film as a series of uneven vignettes, Roger Ebert thought that "the very lightness of the premise gives the film a kind of freedom. We glimpse revealing moments in lives, instead of following them to one of those manufactured movie conclusions that pretends everything has been settled." Ebert was so engrossed by Christopher Lloyd's performance that he almost forgot about the film's title object, and liked the movie as a whole while acknowledging its vignette construction.  Janet Maslin, "The New York Times" dubbed the film, "A charming, offbeat tale shaped whimsically by the hand of fate. Rosenfeld manages to take a premise that is all contrivance and make it seem natural, as if every bit of legal tender had such a colorful life." "Entertainment Weekly" said "Rosenfeld impressively summons up the ghosts of Capra and Sturges while keeping this tale firmly in the here and now."  "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "One beautiful little film about the American experience. Rosenfeld shows a sure hand with both the actors and the vigorous turns of the scenario. His ability to capture the right level of intensity and perfect atmosphere for each of the mostly unrelated stories is remarkable." "The Wall Street Journal" called the film, "A wonderfully light-hearted picture about serendipity. Rosenfeld handles the sprightly script with just the right mix of jauntiness and delicacy. It's a little gem." "The Washington Post" wrote, "Thanks to director Keva Rosenfeld, a documentary filmmaker, its story seems to come about serendipitously. The film's pace, bouncy as Lotto balls in a tank, adds to the lightheartedness of this surprisingly droll look at the cost of living."

Scholarly assessment.

Film scholars have compared this film to other films and television shows which track a single object traded among various persons (such as "Diamond Handcuffs", "Tales of Manhattan", "The Gun" (1974), "Dead Man's Gun" (1997), "The Red Violin", etc.). However, by emphasizing a ubiquitous object rather than a unique object (such as the auction-worthy violin in "The Red Violin"), this film "ushers the genre into heretofore unexplored territory."

Twenty Bucks is a 1993 film directed by Keva Rosenfield and starring Linda Hunt, Brendan Fraser, Gladys Knight, Elisabeth Shue, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd, William H. Macy, David Schwimmer, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Spalding Gray. The film follows the travels of a $20 bill from its delivery via armored car in an unnamed American city through various transactions and incidents from person to person.


History.

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

Discography.

Studio albums  Live albums  Extended plays  Singles

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