History.

1960s.

AMM was initially composed of Keith Rowe on guitar, Lou Gare on saxophone and Eddie Prévost on drums. Rowe and Gare were members of Mike Westbrook's jazz band; Prévost and Gare were also in a hard bop jazz quintet. The three men shared a common interest in exploring music beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz, as part of a larger movement that helped spawn European free jazz and free improvisation.  The seeds of AMM were planted in 1965. They initially had no name, and were not really a group in the conventional sense, simply a weekend experimental workshop session at the Royal College of Art in London, centred on Gare, Rowe, and Prévost. Members of the group have come and gone over the years, but Rowe and Prévost have been present for most recordings and performances; the latter has been the only constant in the nearly four decades of AMM music.  Musicians were free to join in, but such collaborations were often short-lived if the contributions were lacking the proper spirit: notable jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy sat in with the group but was quickly asked to stop playing. Observers were welcome, provided they were silent and didn't disturb the proceedings. American saxophonist Ornette Coleman was asked to leave after he continually talked during one performance; Beatles member Paul McCartney once sat quietly through an early AMM session. When asked how he liked the music he said they went on too long.  Eventually, the group settled on a line-up of Prévost, Rowe, Gare, bassist Lawrence Sheaff and pianist/cellist Cornelius Cardew, and, in early 1966, were calling themselves AMM. However, some early performances were billed as the "Cornelius Cardew Quintet", a mistake which both irked and amused the musicians. After a few paying performances, Cardew bought two amplifiers so the other instruments could compete with the volume of Rowe's guitar. In addition to amplifying their instruments, Cardew and Gare would apply contact microphones to various common objects to amplify the sounds made by, for example, rubbing a glass jar or striking a coffee tin.  No AMM performance is ever planned; each is unique and spontaneous. The musicians tend to avoid any conventional melody, harmony or rhythm, and seek out an ensemble sound that often obscures any individual's role. It is often difficult to discern which musical instrument is making which specific sound on an AMM recording, due in part to liberal use of various extended techniques on their instruments.  AMM released their first recording, "AMMusic 1966", on Elektra Records UK in 1966. It had some initial similarities to free jazz, due in part to Gare's saxophone. One critic has written, however, that the resemblance was rather slight: "the overall sound of the group, even in 1966, was so different, so idiosyncratic, that it's not at all surprising that both new jazz and contemporary classical audiences were baffled, if not horrified." Percussionist Christopher Hobbs (born in 1950 and a student of Cardew) also played with AMM in the late 1960s.  The next AMM material to see release were the important "The Crypt" sessions from 12 June 1968. Though the debut is regarded as a landmark recording, "The Crypt" was arguably even more important in establishing the droning, long-form music that would come to characterise AMM. Further "out" and even less conventional than earlier material, one critic has written of it that "an eerie sensation inevitably accompanies each listen to the raw streams of electric noise channeled on AMM's second album and early masterpiece, "The Crypt". To ears informed by the twenty-first century, it's the uncanny feeling of listening to three-and-a-half decades of experimental music history as delivered in a chillingly prescient sort of reverse premonition... It's a little unnerving that the only records that seem to accurately describe the brave new soundworld harnessed on "The Crypt" came into being well after its creation."  "The Crypt" sessions have been issued many times, twice in the 1980s as a double LP, and it is still available (with extra material, billed as "The Complete Sessions") on a double CD from Matchless Recordings. "The Crypt" continues to inspire adventurous listeners; in the liner notes to the 1992 double CD, Prévost writes, "Despite being (arguably) the most 'difficult' material on Matchless, "The Crypt" has been a mainstay for the label. It obviously pays not to underestimate the audience. Its continued success has enabled us to release other works. So we felt committed, obliged almost, to keep it available... this music has proved itself not to be ephemeral."  Composer Cornelius Cardew joined AMM in 1966, performing on piano and cello. He worked with AMM intermittently until he abandoned his earlier experimental music in the late 1970s (Cardew died in an unsolved auto accident in 1981). Composer Christian Wolff performed with AMM in 1968. Cardew and Rowe became committed to socialism and to Maoism, and thought that AMM's music should reflect their sociopolitical outlook. Prévost accuses the pair of "cultural bullying", and there was tension in the group, resulting in some AMM performances being made by alternating duos: Rowe and Cardew, Prévost and Gare.

1970s.

This personal and political tension culminated with a long period (about 1972 to 1976) when AMM was rarely active, and then usually as a Prévost-Gare duo. This was arguably AMM's most jazz-like era, with Gare's sputtering, squawking saxophone (unique but showing the influence of John Gilmore and Albert Ayler) brought to the fore, although Prévost has stated the music was "decidedly non-jazz." Rowe rejoined in the mid-1970s, and shortly thereafter, Gare departed, leaving a Rowe-Prévost duo for a period.

1980s and 1990s.

Pianist John Tilbury – previously an occasional AMM collaborator – joined in about 1980. His shimmering Feldmanesque playing brought a measure of conventionality to AMM (relatively speaking); unlike Rowe or Prévost, Tilbury's instrument was nearly always recognisable in conventional terms. This version of AMM generally explored quieter, more meditative sounds, perhaps having more in common with minimalism—though they could generate a cacophonous racket when so inclined. Perhaps the most notable shift was in Rowe's approach: his playing grew increasingly subtle, and was often described in painterly terms, as though he were offering a canvas for the other musicians to color.  Later collaborators have included saxophonist Evan Parker, cellist Rohan de Saram, and clarinetist Ian Mitchell. Christian Wolff also returned as a collaborator for a concert at the Conway Hall in London in 2001. Prévost has reported that of all their collaborators, Parker and Wolff best grasped the AMM aesthetic.

2000s.

The Prévost/Rowe/Tilbury line-up remained stable for two decades, only occasionally augmented by guests. In the early 1990s, the trio made their first extensive tours, with a number of well-received appearances in Europe and North America.  But since about 2000, Rowe's increasing involvement with what has become known as "electroacoustic improvisation" ("eai" for short), especially under the aegis of Jon Abbey's Erstwhile Records, meant that more of his musical activities began to take place outside AMM. Rowe has reported that he felt somewhat limited having been almost exclusively a Matchless Records artist, and that he wanted to explore music outside of AMM. Tension between Rowe and Prévost was exacerbated by the appearance of Prévost's second book of essays, "Minute Particulars", which contained some disparaging comments about Rowe, who then left the group. In his review of Prévost's book, Walter Horn notes that while Prévost offers often scathing opinions of many people, Rowe is singled out for multiple barbs, and "one can hardly fail to wonder whether there's something of a personal nature lurking behind the barrage of what are superficially theoretical complaints."  The trio's last performance with Rowe is documented on the 2005 double-CD "Apogee". The set is shared with another of the electronic improvisational ensembles that emerged during the 1960s: Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV). The first CD is a studio recording in a joint session in England on 30 April 2004 featuring MEV's Alvin Curran, Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski with Prévost-Rowe-Tilbury. This is the first occasion that the two ensembles have performed together, but not the first time they have shared a split release: each outfit filled a side of the LP "Live Electronic Music Improvised", released on a US label in 1968 (AMM's side features excerpts from "The Crypt" sessions; MEV's side is an excerpt from their magnum opus "Spacecraft."). The second CD consists of the performances that each group gave at a festival held in London on 1 May 2004.  Prévost and Tilbury continue to record and perform as AMM. They performed in London during December 2004, with Sachiko M joining as a guest, at the 2005 LMC Festival of Experimental Music, with David Jackman as a guest, and at a festival of experimental music in Belgium in February 2006. They also released a duo CD as AMM, "Norwich", during 2005, and in 2009, the CD "Trinity" with guest John Butcher. In 2010 the core duo of Eddie Prévost and John Tilbury along with John Butcher, Christian Wolff and Ute Kangiesser released a CD called "Sounding Music" (the first simply tagged as AMM after 2005's Norwich) containing the concert performed at "Freedom of the City" festival, Conway Hall, London on 3 May 2009.  More recent recordings on Matchless featuring the duo form of AMM include: 'Uncovered Correspondence' recorded in Jasło, Poland (2010) and 'Two London Concerts' (2011).  AMM appeared on SWR2 NOWJazz Session, Donaueschingen 2012.  AMM (Tilbury, Prévost & Rowe) are due to appear on 29 November 2015 as the final performance in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Critical appraisal.

Michael Nyman wrote, "AMM seem to have worked without the benefit or hindrance of any kind of prepared external discipline."

AMM is a British free improvisation group that was founded in London, England, in 1965. The group was initially composed of Keith Rowe on guitar, Lou Gare on saxophone, and Eddie Prévost on drums. The three men shared an interest in exploring music beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz, as in free jazz and free improvisation. AMM has never been popular but has been influential in improvised music. Most of their albums have been released by Matchless Recordings, which was run by Eddie Prévost. In a 2001 interview, Keith Rowe was asked if "AMM" was an abbreviation. He replied, "The letters AMM stand for something, but as you probably know it's a secret!"


Background.

Communications service providers and enterprise customers are interested in deployment of voice and leased line services over efficient Ethernet, IP and MPLS infrastructures. While Voice over IP (VoIP) is maturing, its deployment requires an investment in new network infrastructure and customer premises equipment (CPE). TDMoIP presents a migration path, whereby modern packet switched networks can be used for transport, while the end-user equipment need not be immediately replaced.  TDMoIP was first developed in 1998 by RAD Data Communications (see U.S. patent number 6,731,649) and first deployed in Sweden in 1999 by Utfors (later acquired by Telenor). Utfors employed the first generation TDMoIP product (known as IPmux-4) to provide bundled services including TDM private lines, TDM leased lines and a variety of IP and Ethernet services. In 2001, the IETF set up the PWE3 working group, which was chartered to develop an architecture for edge-to-edge pseudowires, and to produce specifications for various services, including TDM. Other standardization forums, including the ITU and the MPLS - Frame Relay Alliance, are also active in producing standards and implementation agreements for pseudowires.

Handling TDM structure.

Although TDM can be used to carry arbitrary bit streams at the rates defined in G.702, there are standardized methods of carrying bit streams in larger units each containing the same number of bits, called frames. TDM framing locks the frame rate to the sampling frequency of voice traffic, so that there are always 8000 frames per second; a T1 frame consists of 193 bits and an E1 frame of 256 bits.  Unlike unframed TDM for which all bits are available for payload, framed TDM requires dedicating of some number of bits per frame for synchronization and perhaps various other functions (e.g. 1 bit per T1 frame, 8 bits per E1 frame). Framed TDM is often used to multiplex multiple voice channels each consisting of 8000 8-bit samples per second in a sequence of timeslots recurring in each frame. When this is done we have "channelized TDM" and additional structure must be introduced.  In order to efficiently transport slowly varying channel associated signalling bits, second order structures known as multiframes or superframes are defined. For example, for E1 trunks the CAS signaling bits are updated once per multiframe of 16 frames (every 2 milliseconds) while for T1 ESF trunks the superframe is 24 frames (3 milliseconds). Other types of second order structures are also in common use. In GSM cellular networks, the Abis channel that connects the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and Base Station Controller (BSC) is an E1 link with several framing alternatives, all of which have a basic superframe duration of 20 milliseconds.  The term "structured TDM" is used to refer to TDM with any level of structure, including 'framed TDM' and 'channelized TDM'.  TDMoIP transport is denoted "structured-agnostic" when the TDM is unframed, or when it is framed or even channelized, but the framing and channelization structure are completely disregarded by the transport mechanisms. In such cases all structural overhead must be transparently transported along with the payload data, and the encapsulation method employed provides no mechanisms for its location or utilization. Structure-aware TDM transport may explicitly safeguard TDM structure, in three conceptually distinct ways, which we shall call structure-locking, structure-indication, and structure-reassembly.  Structure-locking ensures that packets consist of entire TDM structures or multiples/fractions thereof. Structure-indication allows packets to contain arbitrary fragments of basic structures, but employs pointers to indicate where the following structure commences. In structure-reassembly components of the TDM structures may be extracted and reorganized at ingress, and the original structure reassembled from the received constituents at egress.

TDMoIP format.

TDMoIP operates by segmenting, adapting and encapsulating the TDM traffic at PSN ingress and performing the inverse operations at PSN egress. Adaptation denotes mechanisms that modify the payload to enable its proper restoration at the PSN egress. By using proper adaptation, the TDM signaling and timing can be recovered, and a certain amount of packet loss can be accommodated. Encapsulation signifies placing the adapted payload into packets of the format required by the underlying PSN technology. For the MPLS case, ITU-T Recommendation Y.1413 contains a complete description of the packet format.  In all cases a TDMoIP packet commences with PSN headers. These are the standard headers used by the PSN technology, e.g. the 20-byte header of UDP/IP, or the label-stack of MPLS. After these headers come the "PW label", a four-byte MPLS-like label that serves as to demultiplex different TDM PWs. After the PSN header comes the four-byte TDMoIP "control word". The control word contains a 16-bit packet sequence number (needed to detect packet re-ordering and packet loss), payload length, and flags indicating defect conditions.  After the control word comes the TDMoIP payload. For structure-agnostic transport (SAToP) this is simply a predetermined number of TDM octets, while for the structure-locked format the payload is an integer number of TDM frames. For structure-indication and structure-reassembly TDMoIP draws on proven adaptation mechanisms originally developed for ATM. A side benefit of this choice of payload types is simplified interworking with circuit emulation services carried over ATM networks. For statically allocated, constant bit-rate (CBR) TDM links, TDMoIP employs ATM adaptation layer 1 (AAL1). This mechanism, defined in ITU-T standard I.363.1 and ATM Forum specification atm-vtoa-0078, was developed for carrying CBR services over ATM. AAL1 operates by segmenting the continuous stream of TDM data into small 48-byte cells and inserting sequencing, timing, error recovery, and synchronization information into them. TDMoIP allows concatenation of any number of AAL1 cells into a packet (note that these are AAL1 cells and not ATM cells, i.e. they do not include the five-byte "cell tax"). By allowing multiple cells per packet, TDMoIP facilitates flexible tradeoffs of buffering delay (which decreases with fewer cells per packet) for bandwidth efficiency (which increases with more cells per packet, due to the per packet overhead). For dynamically allocated TDM links, whether the information rate varies due to activation of time slots or due to voice activity detection, TDMoIP employs ATM adaptation layer 2 (AAL2). This mechanism, defined in ITU-T standard I.363.2, was developed for carrying variable bit rate (VBR) services over ATM. AAL2 operates by buffering each TDM time slot into short minicells, inserting the time slot identifier and length indication, sequencing, and then sending this minicell only if it carries valid information. TDMoIP concatenates the minicells from all active time slots into a single packet. For time slots carrying high-level data link control (HDLC) data, such as data for common channel signaling (CCS), TDMoIP has a special adaptation that encapsulates stretches of non-idle data.

Delay.

The telephony network severely constrains end-to-end delays. ITU-T G.114/G.131 states that one-way transmission times of up to 150 ms are universally acceptable, assuming adequate echo control is provided. These constraints are not problematic for TDM networks, where the major component of the end-to-end delay is electrical propagation time ("light speed delay"). By contrast, IP-based systems typically add various forms of delay, one of which is based on the time it takes to form packets (packetization delay), which is proportional to the packet size divided by the data rate. Packet sizes cannot be made too small or the packet header overhead will become overwhelming. The other form of delay introduced by IP systems is the playout delay, which needs to be added at the recipient to buffer packet delay variation and ensure a smooth playout. VoIP systems that try to be very bandwidth efficient may also add tens of milliseconds of algorithmic delay in the voice codec. Historically, bad implementations have added additional, operating-system induced delays, which together with the other delays in practice sometimes approach 100 ms even before taking propagation delays into account.  In contrast, TDMoIP maps TDM octets directly into the payload with no voice compression algorithms and no resultant algorithmic delay. The packetization latency added by TDMoIP depends on the number of cells per packet but is typically in the single millisecond range due to the higher data rate of a complete multiplex as compared to a single VoIP flow. Playout delay considerations do not differ materially between TDMoIP and VoIP, however, so both work best on paths with controlled packet delay variation (strong overprovisioning or "QoS").

Timing recovery.

Native TDM networks rely on hierarchical distribution of timing. Somewhere in the network there is at least one extremely accurate primary reference clock with a long-term accuracy of 1 x 10^-11. This node, which offers Stratum 1 accuracy, provides the reference clock to secondary nodes with Stratum 2 accuracy. The secondary nodes then provide a time reference to Stratum 3 nodes. This hierarchy of time synchronization is essential for the proper functioning of the network as a whole.  Packets in the PSN reach their destination with delay that has a random component, known as packet delay variation (PDV). When emulating TDM transport on such a network, this randomness may be overcome by placing the TDM packets into a jitter buffer from which data can be read out at a constant rate for delivery to TDM end-user equipment. The problem is that the TDM source time reference is no longer available, and the precise rate at which the data are to be "clocked out" of the jitter buffer is unknown.  In certain cases timing may be derived from the TDM equipment at both ends of the PW. Since each of these clocks is highly accurate, they necessarily agree to high order. The problem arises when at most one side of the TDMoIP tunnel has a highly accurate time standard. For ATM networks, which define a physical layer that carries timing, the synchronous residual time stamp (SRTS) method may be used; IP/MPLS networks, however, do not define the physical layer and thus cannot specify the accuracy of its clock.  Hence, in many cases the only alternative is to attempt to recover the clock based exclusively on the TDMoIP traffic, a technology known as "adaptive clock recovery". This is possible since the source TDM device is producing bits at a constant rate determined by its clock, although this rate is hidden by the PDV. The task of clock recovery is thus an "averaging" process that negates the effect of the random PDV and captures the average rate of transmission of the original bit stream.

Packet loss.

While proper application of traffic engineering and quality-of-service (QoS) is expected to minimize packet loss, packets will at times arrive at the egress out of order. They may also have been dropped altogether within the PSN. The TDMoIP control word described above includes a 16-bit sequence number for detecting and handling lost and mis-ordered packets. In the case of lost packets, TDMoIP requires insertion of interpolation packets to maintain TDM timing. Misordered packets may be either reordered or dropped and interpolated.  While the insertion of arbitrary packets may be sufficient to maintain the TDM timing, in voice applications packet loss can cause gaps or errors that result in choppy, annoying, or even unintelligible speech. The precise effect of packet loss on voice quality and the development of packet loss concealment algorithms have been the subject of detailed study in the VoIP community, but their results are not directly applicable to the TDMoIP case. This is because VoIP packets typically contain between 80 samples (10 ms) and 240 samples (30 ms) of the speech signal, while TDMoIP packets may contain only a small number of samples. Since TDMoIP packets are so small, it is acceptable to simply insert a constant value in place of any lost speech samples. Assuming that the input signal is zero-mean (i.e. contains no DC component), minimal distortion is attained when this constant is set to zero. Alternatively, more sophisticated approaches call for optimally predicting the values of missing samples.

In computer networking and telecommunications, TDM over IP (TDMoIP) is the emulation of time-division multiplexing (TDM) over a packet switched network (PSN). TDM refers to a T1, E1, T3 or E3 signal, while the PSN is based either on IP or MPLS or on raw Ethernet. A related technology is circuit emulation, which enables transport of TDM traffic over cell-based (ATM) networks.


History.

1994–1998.

Slovakia had planned on entering the contest at the 1993 contest, but with the introduction of many new countries, a preliminary round was held to trim down the number of new entries. "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet" featured seven countries competing for only three places in the final. Slovakia came fourth in the contest, represented by Elán with "Amnestia na neveru", and therefore had to wait another year before entering again.  Slovakia's Eurovision entries in the 1990s weren't very successful, finishing 19th (1994), 18th (1996) and 21st (1998). After the 1998 contest, STV decided not to enter again for a number of years.

2009.

From 1994 to 1998, STV used an internal selection to select the Slovak entry for the contest. In 2009, Slovakia organised a televised national final for the first time. A number of heats preceded a grand final, held on March 8, 2009 and Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková were chosen with their song "Leť tmou". They finished on 18th place out of 19 in semi-final.

2010.

Slovakia tried again in 2010 contest with "Horehronie" by Kristina with similar result (16th out of 17 places in the Semi Final), despite being a fan and bookmakers favourite.

2011.

Though STV originally stated that Slovakia would not take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011, it eventually did appear in Düsseldorf represented by the new national public broadcaster RTVS, which had been created on 1 January 2011. On 18 February 2011, RTVS revealed their choice for Slovakia's Eurovision 2011 entry. The song was "I'm Still Alive" and was performed by twin sisters Daniela and Veronika Nízlová better known as the pop duo TWiiNS. They already had some experience at Eurovision before as backing singers and dancers for Tereza Kerndlová, the Czech entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 entry was the first Slovak entry performed in English. TWiiNS eventually finished 12th in their Semi Final, which meant they did not qualify for the Grand Final, due to the televote that counterbalanced the good jury rehearsal. They provided the best result for their country in many years.

2012.

RTVS sent an artist once again to the Contest in 2012, with a song that was selected internally by RTVS. At a press conference on 7 March 2012, the Slovak entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was announced: Max Jason Mai with a song called "Don't Close Your Eyes".  He performed in the second semi final, that was held on Thursday, May 24, 2012. The song did not qualify in the finals. It was later revealed that the song finished in last place with 22 points.

2013 onwards.

On 4 December 2012, RTVS announced its withdrawal from Eurovision Song Contest 2013, and on 9 September 2013 it announced that it wouldn't return at Eurovision Song Contest 2014. It had also been announced that Slovakia would not return at Eurovision Song Contest 2015, citing financial constraints and an incompatibility between the contest and the programming goals of RTVS. However RTVS returned to the Eurovision Young Dancers in 2015, with RTVS explaining that the return of Slovakia to EYD supported domestic production and promoted national culture at a European level. RTVS announced on 28 September 2015 that Slovakia would not participate in the 2016 contest.  RTVS' PR manager, Juraj Kadáš, explained on 12 April 2016 that Slovakia's absence from the contest since 2012 was not due to poor results, but rather the cost associated with participation. Before the cancellation of the 2020 contest, RTVS had confirmed that they would not participate in 2020 due to a lack of interest from the Slovak public.

Commentators and spokespersons.

Radio FM, the fourth channel of the Slovak Radio (now RTVS), has provided talk radio coverage of the contest since 2010 with Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and invited guests. It will also broadcast the 2019 final.

Slovakia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in 1994. It had attempted to debut in 1993, but did not pass through the qualifying round. In the first three finals that Slovakia participated in, it placed no better than 18th, which it achieved in 1996. Because of its poor results, it was forced to miss a year after each contest and then the country opted not to return for a number of years. It did eventually return to the Contest eleven years later, in 2009, although they withdrew again within 4 years, having failed to qualify to the final every year since their return.


Gameplay.

"Capcom vs. SNK" utilizes a "ratio" system, in that the "ratio" is a rating of a character's overall strength, ranging from 1 to 4. Teams of up to four can be assembled, but their combined ratios must equal and go no higher than 4. The gameplay uses the SNK-style four-button format. The player also has their choice of "groove", or attack meter. The SNK-Groove is based on Extra mode from "The King of Fighters '94" to "'98", whereas the Capcom-Groove is based on the gameplay system from "Street Fighter Alpha".

Plot.

In 2000, a special martial arts event is planned through a collaboration of the two most powerful world organizations: the Garcia Financial Clique and the Masters Foundation. The gala event – it is hoped by everyone – will ease the political conflicts between the two powers. The competition was named "Millennium Fight 2000".  Many renowned martial artists have registered for the tournament. People around the world focus intensely on the upcoming exhibitions, making the long-awaited opening ceremony a huge success.

Versions.

An updated version of the original "Capcom vs. SNK" titled Capcom vs. SNK Pro was released on the Arcade Sega NAOMI GD-ROM hardware (2000), Dreamcast (2001) and PlayStation (2002), the latter suffering from slight load times between rounds and downgraded graphics and sound due to hardware limitations. New additions included Joe Higashi (from "Fatal Fury") and Dan Hibiki (from "Street Fighter Alpha"), new moves for existing characters, and new modes of play.

Reception.

Chet Barber reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for "Next Generation", rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Although there are many unique ideas here, "Capcom vs. SNK" simply lacks ambition. Capcom and its newly acquired developers from SNK need to sit down and once again revolutionize this genre."  The Dreamcast version received "favorable" reviews, while the PlayStation version's "Pro" edition received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, "Famitsu" gave the former console version and its "Pro" edition each a score of 30 out of 40.

, also known as simply Capcom vs. SNK in international releases, is a 2000 head-to-head fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for Segas NAOMI hardware and later ported to the Dreamcast. It is the second game in the "SNK vs. Capcom" series and the first game in the series to be released for the arcades.


Football career.

Born in Grenoble, Flachez made his professional – and Ligue 1 – debut for Olympique Lyonnais on 29 August 1992 (aged 20), in a 2–2 home draw against Olympique de Marseille. Ironically, after gaining more experience he appeared less for the first team, eventually leaving in the summer of 1995.  After one year in FC Martigues, Flachez joined FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, where he would remain for eight straight seasons always as an undisputed starter (four years apiece in the top flight and Ligue 2), playing more than 300 competitive matches. In 2002–03 he helped the team finish fifth and reach the final of the Coupe de la Ligue; as the latter competition winners AS Monaco FC ranked second in the league and qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Sochaux qualified for the UEFA Cup, where the player took part in his first matches (six).  Flachez spent one more campaign in the second division with En Avant de Guingamp, then switched to another side in that level, Valenciennes FC, which he helped promote immediately as champions. A final promotion to the top tier was achieved in 2007–08, with hometown's Grenoble Foot 38; after their subsequent relegation, he retired from football at nearly 37 and returned to first professional club Lyon, as a TV pundit for the official channel.

Coaching career.

Flachez started working as a manager in 2015, going on to spend four years at Lyon in charge of the under-19 side as well as the reserves.  On 10 January 2018, Flachez was appointed assistant manager of Canadian club Montreal Impact under manager Rémi Garde.  In July 2019 it was confirmed, that Flanchez would be the assistant manager of Philippe Anziani for the B-team of Olympique de Marseille.

Honours.

Sochaux  Valenciennes

Maxence Flachez (born 5 August 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and is a manager.


Plot.

The series is set in the year 200X (20XX in the sixth game), in an alternate version of the original Mega Man universe in which networks, rather than robots, were the subject of the most research. Like the original, there were two main projects and only one was funded, but unlike the original, the work of Dr. Tadashi Hikari (the series' version of Dr. Light) in the field of networking and AI programs had been funded over Dr. Wily's research in robotics. The result of Dr. Hikari's research was the PET ("PE"rsonal "T"erminal), a small computer which is used similarly to a cellular phone or PDA and which contains a customizable artificial intelligence complete with emotions, known as a NetNavi (short for Network Navigator).  A NetNavi is responsible for helping the operator search, use, and surf the internet as well as protect the PET and itself from viruses. Within years the internet evolves to the point where it becomes possible to send an AI into it and physically move around as if it were another world. There is some danger, however; viruses evolve alongside Navis and the internet to become intelligent on some level. Because the internet has evolved to the point of taking on a manifestation, so, too, can virtual weapons be used. If a Navi or a Virus takes too much damage, its programming will lose integrity, disperse, and be deleted shortly afterwards. Each Navi has antiviral weapons that are built directly into its programming that provide basic defense, and can, in addition to this, be sent weapon programs from the PET via the use of BattleChips.  The series focuses on Tadashi's grandson, Lan Hikari, and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE. The pair get involved in foiling the schemes of a net-crime organization called WWW ("World Three"), headed by Wily.  In another tribute to the original series, most of the Navis in the series are named after characters from the original series. As the games progressed, however, certain characters from the X series, such as Zero, Iris, and Colonel have also appeared as NetNavis. Completely original NetNavis have also been made for the series, with some exclusive to the anime series. In every game since the second (with the exception of Battle Network 3), NetNavis used by Mr. Famous were created by fans of the series, being winners of design contests from Capcom of Japan.

Gameplay.

Battle System.

The series uses a hybrid action-RPG/card battle system. Battle screens feature a 6x3 grid, with each character initially controlling half of the playing field, which can be modified by Battle Chips.  Like the original games, the player is in control of MegaMan who has the use of his weapon, the MegaBuster. However, core gameplay revolves around "Battle Chips" which are selected by Lan who is also controlled by the player. The chips are selected at the beginning of a battle and every time the player activates the full "Custom Gauge" which refills over time. Selection takes place during a pause in the battle. Specific selections of Battle Chips lead to "Program Advances" which combine chips to form a more powerful temporary Battle Chip. The player must choose 30 Battle Chips which act as a deck for each battle and is refilled after each battle ends. A secondary objective is the collection of Battle Chips which can range in rarity from common to Mega to Giga. With the success of the collectible genre with series such as Pokémon, "Battle Network" games (beginning with BN3) were released in two similar versions, and had content that were exclusive to one version of the game.

Exploration.

Exploration in the game takes place in two ways. First, the player controls the protagonist Lan Hikari in the real world, where the player can interact with other Non-player characters, and travel around the world map. These real-world areas allow the player to progress the story, and do side-quests as well. The real-world also contains jack-in points in which the player can jack-in to the net world, and explore as Megaman.EXE. The net world is where the player controls and plays as Megaman. While traveling in the Net World, battles can ensue at random, and to progress the story, Megaman must travel through these Net Areas in order to defeat enemies, and fix issues with the machines these areas are located within.

Games.

"Mega Man Battle Network".

A terrorist organization called WWW (World Three) attempted to destroy the world with the use of a super virus known as the Life Virus. Despite interference by Lan and MegaMan, the members stole the four element programs they needed in order to make it and succeeded in its creation. The virus was as strong as predicted, but was destroyed by MegaMan. Its defeat forced WWW to retreat. This game received an averaged score of 80% score on GameRankings and 79% on MetaCritic.  "Mega Man Battle Network" was later re-released for the DS as "Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star", which serves both as an enhanced port of the original, as well as a crossover with the "Star Force" series.  As stated, in an inside-Games Interview, by the game developers, the game was initially conceptualized with the intention of being a horror game.

"Mega Man Network Transmission".

A man known only as the Professor releases a deadly virus that infects Navis. MegaMan and ProtoMan move in to investigate and find the source of the virus, Zero. Once Zero is released of the curse, the Professor announces that Zero was merely a diversion to resurrect the Life Virus. With Zero's help, MegaMan deletes it again. The game takes place in the Battle Network universe, but the gameplay is unlike the hybrid action-RPG/card battle system of the other games. Instead, it is an action Platformer similar to the traditional Megaman series. The game received a 61% score on GameRankings and 65% on MetaCritic.

"Mega Man Battle Network 2".

The following summer after WWW's defeat, a new terrorist group called Gospel emerges. Their tactics differed considerably compared to WWW, as they appeared to have no set goal. Gospel's plan had seemingly consisted of only causing random destruction with their navis. Lan and MegaMan battled every member and prevented the worst possible situations. However, Gospel's hidden plan was to re-create the ultimate net navi, Bass. Using bug fragments, they planned to make a large army of Bass navis to take over the world. Unknown to Gospel, their method of creating Bass was imperfect, and his abilities were vastly below predictions. In an attempt to make copies of Bass to create an army, the leader of Gospel overloaded energy to the bug fragments; but something went wrong and the concoction transformed into a giant wolf-like multi-bug organism. Although the bug beast was stronger than before, Lan and MegaMan managed to eliminate it. This game received an averaged score of 82% score on GameRankings and 81% on MetaCritic.

"Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge".

Lan competes in a new netbattling tournament known as the "Battle Chip GP", but there is a new organization behind the scenes who will delete the winning Navi and steal its data. The gameplay of Battle Chip Challenge is very different from the gameplay of the other Battle Network games. It uses the same chips from Megaman Battle Network 1 and 2, but instead of having a hybrid action-RPG/card battle system, it uses the battlechips instead in a more strategy based style. The game received a 49.9% score on GameRankings and 54% on MetaCritic.

"Rockman EXE WS".

Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE face off against the WWW. The story adapts aspects of both the first Mega Man Battle Network game as well as the anime series, MegaMan NT Warrior. The game play is similar to that of Mega Man Network Transmission.

"Mega Man Battle Network 3 (Blue and White)".

Battle Network 3 takes place not long after BN2. Lan and MegaMan participate in a NetNavi tournament called the N1 Grand Prix get into the competition, but discover the tournament is a set-up by WWW to intimidate the world about their return, and to initiate the revival of the net beast Alpha. This game received an averaged score of 77% on GameRankings and 77% on MetaCritic.

"Mega Man Battle Network 4 (Red Sun and Blue Moon)".

Lan and MegaMan take part in a series of net battle tournaments. Depending on the version of the game, different opponents and scenarios will occur. In between tournaments, a criminal organization called Nebula attack. They spread corruption with the use of Dark Chips, Battle Chips infused with the power of darkness. Meanwhile, an asteroid is traveling through space, heading for Earth. This game received an averaged score of 70% on GameRankings and 68% on MetaCritic (the low scores on this title were due to lack of any real story other than fighting in tournaments).

"Mega Man Battle Network 5 (Team Protoman/Colonel/Double Team DS)".

Nebula attacks again, this time with an all-out invasion. They kidnap Lan's father and use SciLab's computers to take over the internet. In response, either Chaud or Baryl (depending on the version) create a team of elite net navis and operators. Lan and MegaMan are the first members. As the story progresses, more team members are gained, and more areas of the net are liberated. When all of the net is won back, the team locates Nebula's headquarters and attempt to defeat the organization. The GBA versions received an average score of 68% on GameRankings and 67% on MetaCritic, whereas the NDS version received 70% on GameRankings and 68% on MetaCritic.

"Mega Man Battle Network 6 (Cybeast Gregar and Cybeast Falzar)".

Battle Network 6 is the final game in the series. Lan's father gets a new job and the family moves to Cyber City, leaving behind Lan's classmates and friends from ACDC Town. WWW attacks once again, aiming to revive the legendary Cybeasts, Gregar and Falzar. This game received an average score of 64% on GameRankings and 63% on Metacritic (the low scores were due to recycled art, sound, and gameplay).

Other media.

Anime.

The games were adapted into an anime series titled "MegaMan NT Warrior". The series spawned four seasons, "Axess", "Stream", "Beast", and "Beast+".

Manga.

The games were adapted into two manga series by Shogakukan titled "MegaMan NT Warrior" by Ryo Takamisaki that consisted of 13 volumes and "Battle Story Rockman.EXE" by Keijima Jun and Miho Asada that consisted of 4 volumes.

Board game.

In 2004 Capcom released (2004) — ""Rockman. Catan Standard"" — a licensed version of "The Settlers of Catan".

Mega Man Battle Network, known in Japan as, is one of Capcom's "Mega Man" series and debuted in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance. It is an RPG spin-off series based on the original Mega Man series, taking place in a separate continuity where computer and networking technology advanced instead of robotics. There are six main "Mega Man Battle Network" games as well as several side-story games. It was later succeeded by the "Mega Man Star Force" series, which takes place hundreds of years after the "Battle Network" series.


Sound and image.

The group play have been covered by glam media sources, and even had songs released on a couple glam compilations for USA's Delinquent Records. This is most likely because of their image, which incorporates heavy use of make-up.  Undercover Slut's make-up bears a resemblance to that of the geisha, with striking white foundation topped off with bright red lipstick and black eye make-up. Due to darker elements of Glam in their image, the band are sometimes compared to Marilyn Manson by media who are not familiar with the band. However, Undercover Slut have stated strong opposition to that group, dismissing Brian Warner as a "clown" and quipping "That 'god of fat' needs to call it quits".  Frontman 'O' (A.K.A. Letter Number Thief-Teen and Romeo Gestapo), has cited punk rock bands Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls as an influence on Undercover Slut; this is mirrored in their music, which follows anti-establishment themes. The band themselves describe their music as "that perfect sexual intercourse between creepy deathrock, '77 punk rock nostalgia, industrial darkness and a so fuckin' pretty larger-than-life glamour Image."

Animal rights and philanthropy.

'O' is passionate about campaigning for animal rights, and is said to be devout vegetarian, Undercover Slut even has a section dedicated to them on the Animal Liberation Front website, as well as an interview discussing their beliefs. On their album "Communism Is Fascism", Undercover Slut have a track regarding this, a blank 1 minute track titled "Sixty Silent Seconds to Repent for Your Animal Genocide". It is not only animal rights the band covers, they have also played an anti-paedophilia concert in Paris, France in July 2005.

Biography.

The band has existed in various forms since October 1995. Going through several line-up changes with leader 'O' remaining as the only constant member. The musicians of Undercover Slut are only referred to and known by their stage names.  During the 1990s, Undercover Slut self-released various E.P.'s through their own Hateful Society Production label. Their first demo album "Lipstikk Whore No. 666" was released through Scream in Japan exclusively.

"Communism Is Fascism".

2004 saw the band releasing their second demo album "Fuck That Celebrity Trash & Your Ghetto Cunt Drama". Shortly after the release of their second demo album, Undercover Slut signed to Apokalypse Records, opened their MySpace account on September 27, 2004, and released their first full-length album "Communism Is Fascism" on December 24, 2004. leaving Apokalypse Records the following year, for a 2-record deal with Free-Will (Dir En Grey's label) in July 2005.  In interviews 'O' often refers to their hometown as "Psychotic Paris, Fucked-up France". Undercover Slut have toured the United States six times over six years;, tours of the United States are normally promoted as "Amerikkka Tour". Undercover Slut went through several record label changes in 2005 and 2006, first Free-Will, but the band left after becoming unhappy with the European label manager's work ethic.  February 2006 saw Undercover Slut sign to SixSixSix Records, a British label which was set up by former Christian Death manager Tim Fraser and Cradle Of Filth bassist Dave Pybus. During that period, the band performed live at London's Underworld and appeared on U.K. television show Redemption TV. SixSixSix Records being financially unable to produce and release any Undercover Slut recordings, 'O' decided to leave this label to concentrate on his own record label: Offensive Records.

The White Whore era and "Amerikkka Macht Frei".

A full-length record was planned for release in 2006 via Free-Will: "Inside That Cult That Loves to Terror", but this did not see the light of day. Undercover Slut embarked on their fourth tour of the United States which started on August 8 in New York City, it was named the "Genocide, Homicide & Suicide - Amerikkka Tour 2K6".  'O' introduced new members into Undercover Slut, in the form of guitarist Divine, bassist Drag, and drummer Fake; this change was referred to as the band entering "The White Whore" era. With this line-up, the band played their fifth tour of the United States, known as the "White Whore Supremacy - Amerikkka Tour 2K7"; it started again in New York City at Snitch, a club owned by Velvet Revolver members.  In September 2007, Undercover Slut started pre-production at Next Level Studio in Los Angeles with producer Stevo Bruno (Brides of Destruction, Mötley Crüe), then recorded and mixed their brand new album "Amerikkka Macht Frei" at the Chop Shop in Los Angeles. The thirteen track album, set to include a cover version of The Cure's "Killing an Arab", also features some guest musicians. Matthew Roberts (Charles Manson's son) is featured in a spoken word duet with 'O' on the track "Jesus Kills! Coroner Saves!", Eric Griffin (Synical, ex-Murderdolls, Wednesday 13) plays lead guitar on the track "Kastration Kar Krashes" and Teddy Heavens (Rebel Rebel, Los Angeles Death Dolls) plays lead guitar on "Dali Was a Junkie".  "Amerikkka Macht Frei" was produced by Chris Baseford (Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem, John 5, Rob Zombie, Genitorturers), assisted by Will Thompson (Rob Zombie). Undercover Slut's "Amerikkka Macht Frei" record sleeve was done by Dean Karr (whose previous record sleeves include Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar", Slipknot's "Slipknot" and Amen's "Amen" & "We Have Come for Your Parents").  Undercover Slut's "Amerikkka Macht Frei" was released on Monday, December 8, 2008 via Offensive Records (OR 999). CD format includes an uncensored video version of "Shadow Song", filmed by Dean Karr (who directed Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" and Amen's "The Price of Reality").  So far, rave reviews have been published in Kerrang! Magazine, Metal Hammer U.K. quoting Undercover Slut as "the best new band in ages!". Two sold-out shows in Paris: Undercover Slut were offered to open for The Damned at legendary's Gibus Club, then later on performed with Dio - Distraught Overlord at Le Trabendo, which was greatly reviewed in U.K.'s Bizarre Magazine.  In 2009, Undercover Slut headlined La Locomotive in Paris, France where Teddy Heavens (Rebel Rebel, Los Angeles Death Dolls) joined UCS on stage for "Dali Was a Junkie" and Mötley Crüe's "Shout at the Devil", co-headlined the J-Music Fest II in Lyon, France and headlined the GoreNight Fest 2009 in Dunkerque, France as a 5-piece band introducing Drag as a rhythm guitarist.  In Spring 2010, "Amerikkka Macht Frei" has been re-released as a 13-track Digipak CD and as a 12-song white vinyl LP and 12-song black vinyl LP via Deadlight Entertainment (Synical, Sister, Prophets Of Addiction, New Rising Son, Acey Slade & the Dark Party).  On August 30, 2010, 'O' came up on stage and provided backing vocals for Rebel Rebel at the Viper Room in Los Angeles.  On September 11, 2010, Undercover Slut headlined London's Slimelight as a charity show for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.  On December 13, 2010, 'O' performed live as Romeo Gestapo, opening for New York City rapper Necro at La Bellevilloise in Paris, France.

The Jet Black Mafia era and "Haters Gonna HATE".

On January 29, 2011, Undercover Slut opened for the Murderdolls at l'Elysee Montmartre in Paris, France in front of nearly 1,400 people, premiering "The Jet Black Mafia" era.  On February 19, 2011, Undercover Slut headlined the Imbolc Breizh Metal Fest 2011 in the heart of legendary's Broceliande woods. During that fest, 'O' did a cameo appearance on Orties "Plus Putes que Toutes les Putes" live promo-video.  On May 28, 2011, Undercover Slut headlined a deathrock festival at Bateau Concorde Atlantique in Paris, France.  Right in the middle of the Summer 2011 English riots, Undercover Slut headlined Nambucca in London, England on August 7, 2011.  Undercover Slut's "Shadow Song" has been featured on "Kinryu-No-Mai [-Tribute and Support to Japan-]", a charity compilation CD for 2011 Japanese tsunami victims.  On November 15, 2012, Undercover Slut opened for Wednesday 13 at La Boule Noire in Paris, France.  On February 11, 2013, Undercover Slut opened for The 69 Eyes at Le Nouveau Casino in Paris, France, marking the return of Undercover Slut's "White Whore Era" member Drag on bass guitar.  On April 9, 2013, a preview mix of the song "Laughing Like Hyenas" has been featured on the playlist of "The Watt from Pedro Show", the podcast run by Mike Watt (The Stooges, The Minutemen).  On May 23, 2015, "Choroform Nation", the new single has been available via all digital platforms.  On November 13, 2015, "Chloroform Nation" has been released as a Digipak CD.  On April 16, 2016, Offensive Records released a 6-Track Digipak CD named "Inside That Cult That Loves Terror" exclusively for Record Store Day.  On May 20, 2016, Undercover Slut opened for Girugamesh at La Maroquinerie in Paris, France.  The band is currently working on demos at Hell's Kitchen (Paris, France) for its forthcoming album "Haters Gonna HATE" to be released late 2016.

Undercover Slut (also known as UCS and stylised as VNDERCOVER SLVT) is a French/American shock rock and glam punk group, based in Paris, France.


Beginnings.

The Chute Boxe team first made a name for themselves in the MMA world during the late 1990s in the Brazilian vale tudo promotion known as the IVC. With an aggressive and physical style focused around their muay thai skills, Chute Boxe fighters captured three of the four title belts in the promotion (Wanderlei Silva winning the light heavyweight belt, José Landi-Jons winning the middleweight belt, and Rafael Cordeiro winning the lightweight belt). The promotion ended up serving as a spring board for the Chute Boxe team (as well as many other Brazilian MMA stars) into the lucrative Japanese MMA market. For Chute Boxe specifically, it would help to launch their careers in Japan's PRIDE FC.

PRIDE FC dynasty.

The major cog of the Chute Boxe machine in PRIDE was Wanderlei Silva. Known for an exciting, brawling style complete with lethal knees and leaping stomps, he would exemplify Chute Boxe style martial arts in PRIDE's middleweight division and eventually win the 2003 PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix and the PRIDE FC middleweight title which he would hold for 5 1/2 years.  Coming off of a disappointing five-round decision loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25: Ultimate Japan, Silva would return to PRIDE to earn the biggest victory of his career to that point over the Lion's Den's Guy Mezger. It would be 20 fights and over four years before he would lose again in a controversial decision to superheavyweight Mark Hunt. During this span he defeated notable fighters Kazushi Sakuraba (three times), Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (twice), Yuki Kondo, Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Kiyoshi Tamura, Dan Henderson, Alexander Otsuka, Shungo Oyama, Hiromitsu Kanehara, and would draw with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović.  His aura of invincibility wouldn't truly be broken until a decision loss to Ricardo Arona in the 2005 PRIDE FC middle weight Grand Prix. His loss would be avenged later that night by teammate and rising star, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Enter the Rua brothers.

As the older of the Rua brothers, Murilo “Ninja” Rua had a mediocre run during his years with PRIDE FC. Wins over Mario Sperry, Akira Shoji and Alexander Otsuka established him as a contender in the organization. His younger brother Mauricio "Shogun" Rua would also enter the PRIDE fighting championships and would prove the most successful fighter produced by Chute Boxe under Wanderlei Silva's and Ninja's guidance.  Younger than Murilo by about a year and a half, “Shogun” has defeated a who's who list of fighters including Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, Akira Shoji, Akihiro Gono, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Alistair Overeem (twice), Antonio Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, and Lyoto Machida. Shogun was the UFC light heavyweight champion until losing his first title defense against Jon Jones at UFC 128. His exciting, fan-friendly style includes much of the standard Chute Boxe Muay Thai clinch work, knees, stomps, and soccer kicks, as well as polished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Rivalry with Brazilian Top Team.

The opposite number in terms of Brazilian dominance in PRIDE FC was the Brazilian Top Team which was comprised, at the time, of such fighters as Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Murilo Bustamante. Competition between the two teams was hardly limited to the Pride scene however. Matches between fighters of the two organizations had taken place in Brazil, Portugal and other parts of the world before, but perhaps the most interesting chapter of the rivalry took place on August 28, 2005 at the 2005 PRIDE FC middle weight Grand Prix.  The 2005 PRIDE FC middleweight Grand Prix would be the first such competition for newcomers Mauricio Rua and BTT's Ricardo Arona. Both scored impressive victories over highly regarded veterans Alistair Overeem and middleweight champ Wanderlei Silva respectively. It was Arona's victory over the latter that would stoke the flames of the rivalry because until then Silva had been the torch-bearer for Chute Boxe. Later that night, however, “Shogun” would pick up the torch with a thoroughly dominating first-round KO of Arona, ultimately finishing him on the ground which was considered Arona's strength.  Another notable aspect of this period is that it shortly followed the departure of promising prospect Anderson Silva. Silva had noted several disputes with Chute Boxe's management as reasons for leaving the team and shortly began training with some of Brazilian Top Team's best in the Nogueira brothers. He was quoted in an ESPN article as stating that friendships formed with his former rivals helped to save his career upon his departure from Chute Boxe.

Post-Pride era.

With the demise of PRIDE FC in late 2007, coinciding with the departure of its first mass-appeal superstar Wanderlei Silva around the same time, Chute Boxe entered a new era. Moreover, the Rua brothers, Mauricio and Murilo, and Andre "Dida" Amade, also departed Chute Boxe to start their own gym. However, up and coming fighters, such as lightweight Jean Silva, have augmented their talent. In addition, fighter Evangelista Santos has recently competed in Strikeforce as well as his ex-wife, female fighter Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who is currently Chute Boxe's most marketable fighter.

The Chute Boxe Academy (, "Kick-Boxing") opened as a Muay Thai academy in 1978 in Curitiba, Brazil. Head trainer Rudimar Fedrigo later expanded the program in 1991 to include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other aspects of modern mixed martial arts. By 1995, the Chute Boxe team was considered a prime training ground for Vale Tudo fighters. In 2004, an American branch, Chute Boxe USA, was established in Los Angeles, California.


Plot.

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer Simpson believes he will win the Worker of the Week award; it is a union requirement that every employee gets the prize and Homer is the only plant employee who has never won. Instead, Mr. Burns, Homer's boss, gives the award to an inanimate carbon rod. Homer thinks no one respects him, and watches television to lighten his mood. Suddenly, the remote breaks and the TV is stuck on a telecast of a Space Shuttle launch, which Homer finds boring. Later on at Moe's Tavern, he prank calls NASA to complain. NASA subsequently decides to send an average Joe to space to improve their Nielsen ratings and they choose Homer. But when they first approach Homer, he believes he is in trouble and blames the prank call on barfly Barney Gumble. After they invite Barney to participate in a space launch, Homer tells NASA the truth and they agree to train both of them.  At Cape Canaveral, Homer and Barney compete in training exercises. While under NASA's alcohol ban, a sober Barney develops superior skills and is chosen to fly with Buzz Aldrin and Race Banyon. After toasting with a non-alcoholic drink, Barney reverts to alcoholism and leaves via a jetpack. Homer is selected as Barney's replacement, but he grows nervous and runs away during the preparations for takeoff. Marge encourages him to take advantage of the opportunity, and he rejoins the launch; it receives good television ratings.  Homer smuggles a bag of potato chips aboard the shuttle, and opens it upon reaching space. Because of the weightlessness in space, the chips disperse and clog the instruments. While eating them, Homer breaks an ant farm, and the ants destroy the navigation system. During his broadcast of the space mission, newscaster Kent Brockman erroneously believes the ants are giant aliens set to enslave Earth. Musician James Taylor, who was singing over the radio, suggests they blow the ants out the hatch. Homer fails to put on his harness and is nearly blown into space, grabbing on to the hatch handle. The hatch handle bends, preventing it from fully closing. While defending himself from a furious Race, Homer grabs a carbon rod and inadvertently uses it to seal the hatch. The shuttle returns safely to Earth, landing at a press convention. Although Buzz calls Homer a hero, the press only acknowledges the carbon rod; it appears on a "Time" cover and receives a ticker-tape parade. Despite this, Homer's family still celebrates him as a hero.

Production.

"Deep Space Homer" was written by showrunner David Mirkin and directed by Carlos Baeza. He based the episode on NASA's cancellation of the Teacher in Space Project, which sent civilians to space to increase public interest in the Space Shuttle program. The staff worried that sending Homer into space was too large an idea, and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening said it gave them "nowhere to go". Several gags were toned down to make the episode more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer. Instead, Mirkin focused more on Homer's attempts to gain his family's respect.  Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, and musician James Taylor guest-star as themselves. The staff were concerned Aldrin would consider his line "second comes right after first" an insult, and offered the alternative line, "first to take a soil sample", as a backup. Aldrin however preferred the original line, which was retained in the script. Taylor recorded an altered version of his 1970 single "Fire and Rain" and Carole King's 1971 "You've Got a Friend" for the episode. His recording session appears as an extra on the DVD release of the fifth season. David Silverman directed the potato chip sequence instead of Baeza; the chips were partly animated on an Amiga personal computer to smooth their rotation.

Parodies.

"Deep Space Homer" has multiple references to the 1968 film "". The scene of Homer floating and eating potato chips in space includes Johann Strauss II's waltz "The Blue Danube", which was used in the film. Homer watches an "Itchy and Scratchy Show" episode that shows Itchy torturing Scratchy in an EVA pod, a reference to the film's "Discovery" craft. When Bart Simpson throws a marker pen, it rotates in slow motion and a match cut replaces it with a cylindrical satellite as a parody of a similar transition used in the film; both film and cartoon use Richard Strauss' tone poem "Also sprach Zarathustra" as backing music.

Themes.

"Deep Space Homer" deals with Barney's alcoholism as he sobers up to become fit and clear-thinking, then regresses to his usual drunken persona after he has a non-alcoholic drink, an example of "exaggerated incompetence." The episode also explores the relationships between members of the Simpson family, particularly how they evolve after Homer's voyage to space. At the start of the episode, Bart writes "Insert Brain Here" on the back of Homer's head to imply he is not intelligent enough to earn his family's respect. After Homer returns from space, Bart instead writes "Hero" on the back of his head. His trip to space and his heroic act gains him increased respect from his family, something Homer had struggled with for several years.  NASA's main motivation for sending Homer to space is its low ratings. This is evident when Homer and Bart, who are seen as average Joes, are attempting to quickly change the channel when a space launch is shown. By 1994, NASA could no longer present space exploration as part of the Space Race—the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States had by then dissipated. In the episode, NASA attempts to use social class as a means of increasing ratings by sending an "average schmo" such as Homer or Barney to space. Homer's space journey increased ratings for NASA; according to the professor of English Paul Cantor, this illustrates how easily trends in ratings can be affected by societal change.

Broadcast and release.

"Deep Space Homer" aired at 8:00 p.m. EST on February 24, 1994. It finished 32nd in ratings for the week of February 21–27, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 11.1, the equivalent of approximately 10.3 million viewing households. Even though it was the highest-rated show on Fox that week, "Deep Space Homer" did not perform as well as the previous week's episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", which had a Nielsen rating of 11.6, equivalent to 11 million viewing households.  "Deep Space Homer" is a part of the DVD release and Blu-ray of the show's fifth season, which includes commentary by "Simpsons" staff Groening, Silverman, James L. Brooks, Mirkin, Conan O'Brien, and Jim Reardon. The episode is also included in the "Simpsons: Risky Business" box set, and is available to stream at the "Simpsons World" site run by FXX. The "Simpsons" game "Tapped Out" held an event based on the episode; it allowed players to train Springfield citizens for a space mission.

Reception.

In 1994, film magazine "Empire" declared "Deep Space Homer" a "contender for the greatest episode ever", listing it as the third-best "Simpsons" parody of a film. In 1998, "TV Guide" listed it in its list of top twelve "Simpsons" episodes. In his 2004 book "Planet Simpson", Chris Turner cited the episode as one of his five favorites. He described the sequence with Homer eating potato chips in the Space Shuttle and the speech by newscaster Kent Brockman, who believes alien ants have taken over the shuttle, as "simply among the finest comedic moments in the history of television".  In 2011, "The Daily Telegraph" named the episode among their ten favorites for its cameos and jokes. In 2017, MSNBC named "Deep Space Homer" its fourth-favorite "Simpsons" episode, describing Homer's realization that "Planet of the Apes" is set on Earth as "pure genius". Aldrin and Taylor received praise for their performances; "IGN" and "Phoenix.com" ranked Taylor's guest appearance among the show's greatest. In 2019, "Time" ranked the episode sixth in its list of 10 best "Simpsons" episodes picked by "Simpsons" experts.  The episode is a favorite of Silverman, but contains one of Groening's least-favorite jokes: Homer's face morphs into those of Popeye and Richard Nixon while exposed to g-forces, which Groening felt made no sense in context. At the request of astronaut Edward Lu, a copy of the episode was placed on the International Space Station for astronauts to view.

Overlord meme.

Kent Brockman's line, "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", became an Internet meme. It is frequently used to show mock submission or suggest a powerful entity, such as robots, could become capable enough to conquer humanity. In 2007, "New Scientist" used the phrase when reporting the British government's research into aliens, and in 2011, Ken Jennings, a long-standing contestant of the game show "Jeopardy!", used it in reference to the computer Watson.

"Deep Space Homer" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of American animated sitcom "The Simpsons", which was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on February 24, 1994. In the episode, NASA selects Homer Simpson to participate in a spaceflight to spark public interest in space exploration and boost low ratings of the launches. Once in space, his incompetence destroys the navigation system on board the Space Shuttle.


Name.

In a document which uses the courtly language, Church Slavonic, Nicolae describes himself as: ("By the Grace of God "Io" Niecolaie Voivode and Hospodar of the Entire Hungro-Wallachian Country"). Historian Nicolae Iorga highlights the exotic nature of Nicolae's baptismal name, in its temporal context. The last Prince of Wallachia to have been crowned under that name was the 14th-century Nicolae Alexandru, whose memory had faded, and it was only used since by the pretender Nicolaus Bassaraba. The latter, a scion of the Craiovești, had made his most successful bid for the throne in 1563–1564. Iorga proposes that both Bassaraba and Pătrașcu were

Biography.

Origins and early life.

Various scholarly disputes surround the origins of Nicolae's father Michael the Brave, or "Mihai Viteazul", who passed himself off as a son of Pătrașcu the Good, from the Drăculești princely clan, and therefore also as a half-brother of Petru Cercel. Some historians accept that he was Prince Pătrașcu's son, or at least a member of his house. Others simply list Michael's paternal roots as disputed. Nicolae's grandmother was Teodora (Tudora), Pătrașcu's alleged mistress. A native or resident of Orașul de Floci, she was of Greek ethnicity and reportedly worked as a barmaid.  In the 16th century, Wallachia was a tributary state of

Becoming Prince.

Michael eventually defeated the Ottoman intruders at Călugăreni in August 1595. Sources differ as to what Nicolae and Stanca were doing during that interval. Some authors believe that they remained in Gherghița until autumn 1596, when they finally moved to the second capital, Târgoviște. In 1599, Michael's biographer Balthasar Walther wrote that the Prince sent "his woman, his children and all that he held dear" to safety in Hermannstadt. Other reports of the period suggests that Michael began negotiating a truce with the Ottomans, during which he offered to send Nicolae as a hostage to Istanbul. According to this narrative, Nicolae was still in Transylvania. Upon receiving news of Wallachia's rapprochement with the Ottomans, Transylvanian Princess Maria Christina ordered Michael's entire family

In Moldavia.

From his campsite in Transylvania, Michael set his sights on Moldavia, which was governed by a hostile Movilești regime, closely allied with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Initially, Michael pursued matrimonial diplomacy: Nicolae was to marry a daughter of the Moldavian Prince Ieremia Movilă. The latter refused the offer, as he was instead pushing for his brother, Simion Movilă, to take the Wallachian throne. Michael began preparing for war, but could only hope to succeed if he created a rift between Poland and the Movilești. Around December 1599, he was considering a matrimonial alliance with the "Szlachta", through both Nicolae and Florica. Early the following year, he offered

As hostage.

Despite the pledge, Michael was also very unwilling to send his family abroad, and procrastinated to October 1600. Florica only arrived on December 30, and Teodora, also promised as a hostage, never left Wallachia. Nicolae finally presented himself at Lécfalva on October 16, accompanied by Archbishop Dionysus and "Vistier" Stoica Rioșeanu. All three pledged their loyalty to Rudolf and expressed criticism of Michael's policies. On October 17, Nicolae and his mother were honored guests at Corona, on their way to a gilded imprisonment in the castle of Gilău (Gela). In their dialogue with Michael, the Hungarians offered Gilău as a permanent family "demesne".  After Bucov, Simion Movilă took over Nicolae's throne, in what was

In exile.

A Cozia Monastery record details the meeting between Stanca and Teodora, who was by then a nun. According to Gane, this would suggest that Nicolae traveled back to Wallachia to meet his paternal grandmother, while others indicate that he was forced to stay behind in Transylvania until the second half of 1602. In August, Nicolae addressed the Emperor a letter which reaffirmed his loyalty and asked to be received at the court in Prague, while also issuing a claim to Michael's confiscated assets. On September 28, Nicolae was at Șcheii Brașovului, where he donated various assets to St. Nicholas Church, in exchange for regular memorial services honoring his late father. The

Final years.

Nicolae ultimately married Radu Șerban's daughter, known as Ana or Ancuța, on July 10, 1618. The wedding was blessed by a new Emperor, Matthias, who presented the couple with a silver chalice. The scandal over Michael's inheritance peaked the same year, when Matthias ordered an "Hofkriegsrat" investigation into Michael's killing. The news were poorly received by Nicolae, who complained that the inquiry would open the record to "calumnies" against his father and cement Basta's depiction of the Prince as a "traitor".  The issue was put on hold by

Legacy.

Nicolae's remains were finally exhumed by Ana in 1640, and taken to Wallachia together with Radu Șerban's (recovered from St. Stephen's Cathedral). The reigning Prince Matei Basarab welcomed them in Bucharest, then buried them together in the shared necropolis of Comana Monastery. The epitaph, which probably dates from the late 18th century, commemorates both as heroes of the defense against Islam and "the Hungarian heretic". Unusually, Nicolae and his family were regularly commemorated by a Moldavian church at Golia Monastery. Their likeness remains preserved at Căluiu Monastery, in Oboga, which Michael furbished in 1593–1594. His heir is shown alongside his mother on the Căluiu naos, painted by a Master Mina. Mihăilescu, who also writes that Prince Nicolae was a Wallachian version of Napoleon II, laments that his fate was otherwise "nearly entirely forgotten."  The marriage of Nicolae and Ana produced two sons, Gavril and Mihai Pătrașcu, and a daughter, Ilinca (Elena). Gavril died in 1622, an infant or young child. Nicolae's daughter stayed with her mother in Austria until 1640. Both returned to settle in Filipeștii de Târg, alongside the Cantacuzinos, before recovering their family estates. They could resume ownership of Bârca and Mircești-Simileasca, but not of their serfs, who were recognized as manumitted by Prince Matei. Florica had died shortly after her brother, in

Arms.

Like all Wallachian Princes of the period, Nicolae used as his primary symbol the Wallachian bird, which was by then a cross between golden eagle and raven. As noted by heraldist Dan Cernovodeanu, this "hybrid" was represented with "very elegant" form under Nicolae's alleged grandfather, Pătrașcu the Good. A 1616 roll of arms, created by Valentin Franck, puts Nicolae's arms alongside those of his father-in-law, showing them to be nearly identical: they both have oval shields supported by lions "affrontés", and "hybrid" birds "displayed". In Franck's version, Nicolae's arms feature the bird over a cross potent, and holding a ring in its beak, while Radu Șerban's has a closed beak and no cross. Cernovodeanu proposes that this heraldic distinction highlighted the difference of weight in dynastic claims: Nicolae saw himself as descending from the original House of Basarab, whereas his ally was only related to the Craiovești. However, all seals used by Nicolae, Radu Șerban and Mihai Pătrașcu feature the same display, including lions in supporters and the cross (either behind the bird or in its beak), but without a ring.  Michael the Brave and Nicolae are both associated with another seal, first used on July 27, 1600. Its complex field has the Wallachian bird alongside the Moldavian aurochs, two lions "affrontés", and a variant of the "nova plantatio" theme, with both Princes in supporters. An enduring controversy surrounds the two lions, opposing historians who view them as a variant coat of arms of Transylvania to those who read them as Michael's personal arms; secondary debates range over whether they are shown holding up a sword or rather the trunk of a tree. Among the specialists involved, archivist Aurelian Sacerdoțeanu proposed that the seal was designed by Nicolae in a bid to cement his claim as Michael's successor on the Moldavian throne.

Nicolae Pătrașcu, Petrașco, or Petrașcu, also styled Nicolae Vo[i]evod (Church Slavonic and Romanian Cyrillic: or ; ca. 1580 – late 1627), was the titular Prince of Wallachia, an only son of Michael the Brave and Lady Stanca, and a putative grandson of Pătrașcu the Good. His early childhood coincided with Michael's quick rise through the ranks of boyardom, peaking in 1593, when Michael became Prince and Nicolae his heir apparent. As he began a quest to emancipate Wallachia from the Ottoman Empire, Michael used his son as a party to alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and the Principality of Transylvania, proposing him as either a hostage or a matrimonial guarantee. While entering the Long Turkish War on the Christian side, Michael also negotiated a settlement with the Ottomans, again offering Nicolae as a guarantee.


History.

1981–1983: Formation.

CCCP was formed in 1981 when Ferretti met Zamboni (both were from Reggio Emilia) in a discothèque in Kreuzberg (Berlin). Once they returned home they founded a new band called MitropaNK. During the following summer Ferretti, Zamboni and bassist Umberto Negri returned to Berlin: it was during that trip that CCCP Fedeli alla Linea were born. The band members decided to use a drum machine instead of an actual drummer.  The name of the band celebrates the popular sub-culture of Emilia while also praising the Soviet Union, creating a link between Russia and the typical province of Emilia-Romagna.  During this period the band performed several times in Germany, playing some underground clubs in Berlin such as the Kob or the Spectrumin. Their permanence in Berlin influenced the sound of the band through the local industrial scene. East Berlin's culture and the Islamic community of the West side of the town also influenced Ferretti's lyrics.  The band's first concerts in Italy were met with a negative response from the crowd, leading the band to add two new members to the line-up: Annarella Giudici "Benemerita soubrette", and a performer named Danilo Fatur. Annarella, Fatur, and for a little time Silvia Bonvicini (a second "Benemerita soubrette") contributed to characterize their concerts by playing comic-demential sketches during their gigs.

1984–1985: First EPs.

In 1984 the band released "Ortodossia", their first EP on the independent label Attack Punk Records. In the same year the"Ortodossia II" EP was released, which included the same three songs already included in their first EP ("Live in Pankow", "Spara Jurij", and "Punk Islam") plus an additional fourth track ("Mi ami?"). 1985 saw the release of their third EP, "Compagni, Cittadini, Fratelli, Partigiani".  The three EPs were produced and recorded by the band with very little money and few musical instruments in a single room set as a recording studio, near to a city tram line constantly disturbing the recording.

1986: Debut album.

Their first studio album, "1964/1985 Affinità-Divergenze fra il Compagno Togliatti e Noi - Del Conseguimento della Maggiore Età", was recorded during 1985 and published by Attack Punk Records in 1986. It reduced the visceral impact of hardcore while focusing on the eerie contrast between a harsh but spare instrumental background and Ferretti's delirious cut-up lyrics and Brecht-ian delivery. An eclectic stylistic range (from existential psychodrama to dance groove, from erotic cabaret to folk ballad) helped craft an oppressive atmosphere of angst and boredom, particularly in the centerpiece, "Emilia Paranoica".  This album is considered by many music critics one of the masterpieces of contemporary Italian music, and a milestone for the whole European punk movement. The album's sales induced Virgin Dischi, the Italian branch of Virgin to sign the band. Some of the band's fans saw this move as betrayal and nicknamed the band “"CCCP fedeli alla lira"” with "lira" (the old Italian currency before the introduction of Euro) instead of "linea" ('line' in the sense of 'party line', in line with the soviet theme).

1987–1988: Signed for Virgin.

In 1987 the band recorded and released their first single "Oh! Battagliero" and their second album, "Socialismo e Barbarie", which was made with a relatively big budget if compared with the first one. It is a less cohesive work, that ran the gamut from Middle Eastern music to a rock version of the Soviet anthem, from Catholic hymns to feedback workouts.  In 1988 Virgin re-released "Socialismo e Barbarie" on CD, and their first EPs on the compilation "Compagni, cittadini, fratelli, partigiani / Ortodossia II".  In the same year, CCCP released the single "Tomorrow (Voulez vous un rendez vous)", a cover version of a song by the singer and painter Amanda Lear.

1989: Third album.

The third album, "Canzoni, Preghiere, Danze del II Millennio - Sezione Europa" (1989), signs their musical change to electropop. Keyboard, instead of guitar, became the most important instrument. Their sound is now influenced by Middle Eastern music and is softer than in the previous records. It replaces the original sociopolitical emphasis with mystical overtones, and their industrial hardcore with a far less revolutionary synthpop.

1989–1990: Litfiba and demise.

In 1989 CCCP, Litfiba, and Rats went on tour in the Soviet Union (Moscow and Leningrad). In Moscow they played in a palace full of soldiers in uniform. The soldiers stood up when the band played at the end of the concert the Soviet hymn "A Ja Ljublju SSSR". During this year guitarist Giorgio Canali, bassist Gianni Maroccolo, keyboardist Francesco Magnelli, and drummer Ringo De Palma (the last three left the Litfiba because of some artistical difference of opinion with band's manager Alberto Pirelli) joined and transformed the group.  The group, now composed by eight members, recorded their fourth album "Epica Etica Etnica Pathos" in an abandoned 700' villa. This album signes another musical evolution for the band. CCCP reached their zenith with this album, a Frank Zappa-esque stylistic puzzle which also stands as a personal musical encyclopedia, with complex suites such as "MACISTE contro TUTTI", their ""swan song"", and a transition to the new sonorities of the Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti (C.S.I.), the new band born from the ashes of CCCP.  The acronym used for the new band name, C.S.I., reminds to the new situation in the Soviet Union, with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ( (CSI)). With the creation of the CIS, the Soviet Union and at the same time the band ceased to exist.  CCCP effectively disbanded the 3 October 1990, in the same date of the German reunification, and the members went on to other projects.

Post-CCCP.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ferretti and Zamboni decided to shuffle the line-up and adopt a less political stance. The renamed Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti (C.S.I.) debuted with a set of songs from "Ko del Mondo" (Polygram, 1993). They rapidly evolved towards a form of chamber rock music (mostly drum-less) with "Linea Gotica" (Polygram, 1996). Unfortunately, "Tabula Rasa Elettrificata" (Polygram, 1997) simply aped the alternative rock fads of the moment.  When C.S.I. disbanded in 1999, Ferretti debuted solo with Co-dex (2000), then formed Per Grazia Ricevuta (PGR) and released "PGR" (2002) that steered towards world-music.

CCCP Fedeli alla Linea [] were an Italian band formed in 1982 in Berlin by vocalist Giovanni Lindo Ferretti and guitarist Massimo Zamboni. The band's style was self-defined by the members themselves as “Musica Melodica Emiliana—Punk Filosovietico” (“Emilian Melodic Music—pro-Soviet punk”)


United States.

The first Decapods were built for the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the late-1860s. They proved too rough on the track because of their long coupled wheelbase. No more followed for 19 years, until the Northern Pacific Railway bought two for use on the switchbacks over Stampede Pass, while the tunnel was being built. In low-speed service where high tractive effort was critical, these Decapods were successful. Small numbers of other Decapods were built over the next twenty years, mostly for service in steeply graded mountainous areas where power at low speeds was the requirement. The type did not prove as popular as the successful Consolidation (2-8-0) type. Among Decapod users was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The engines were tandem compounds but their ongoing reversing limitations became the genesis of the 2-10-2 wheel arrangement. The first boost in the number of Decapods occurred when Imperial Russia ordered approximately 1,200 Decapods from American builders during World War I. When the Bolshevik revolution occurred in 1917, 857 had already been delivered, but more than 200 were either awaiting shipment or were in the process of construction. These stranded locomotives were adopted by the United States Railroad Administration (USRA), the body created by the Government to oversee and control the railroads during the War, converted to American standards, and put to use on American railroads. Small and light-footed, these Russian decapods proved popular with smaller railroads, and many of them remained in service long after the USRA's control of the railroads ceased. Many indeed lasted until the end of steam on those railroads. Swengel suggested the 2-10-0 arrangement was 'obsolete' by 1916, when the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) commenced an experiment with a 2-10-0 locomotive at its Juniata plant. Most 10 coupled engines constructed for U.S. railroads during World War 1 were of the USRA 2-10-2 arrangement, but the PRR committed to 122 of the 2-10-0s. Swengel argued this commitment to the 2-10-0, nicknamed "Deks", was controversial even in 1916 and was more so in 1922 when the PRR placed additional orders. The PRR was soon the biggest user of Decapods in the United States. The type was ideally suited to the Pennsy's heavily graded Allegheny Mountains routes, which required lugging ability according to tractive effort, not speed according to horse power.  The PRR bought 598 2-10-0s including 123 built at its own shops. In one of the largest locomotive orders ever, the rest came from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The PRR 2-10-0s weighed and developed about of tractive effort with an axle loading of over. The engines steamed at and had a relatively large superheater. The grate area of about was on the small side, but a mechanical stoker partly compensated for this.  The PRR decapod, class I1s, was unlike the Russian decapod; it was huge, taking advantage of the PRR's heavy trackage and high axle loading, with a fat, free-steaming boiler that earned the type the nickname of 'Hippos' on the PRR. Two giant cylinders (301⁄2 x 32 inch) gave the I1s power and their tenders permitted hard and long workings between stops. They were unpopular with the crews, for they were hard riding. The last operations on the PRR were 1957.  A small number of other Decapods were ordered by other railroads; the I-2 Decapods built for the Western Maryland Railway were the largest ever built, at almost weight, and are a notable exception to the rule of thumb for the comfort of the ride on a 2-10-0 wheel arrangement, crews said the engines cruised smoothly up to 50mph without becoming a rough ride. (After the running gear was redesigned by the WM) The WM's I-2 are also noted as the strongest Decapods ever built, at 96,315lbs of tractive effort. (Not to be confused with the 10 Russian Decapods the WM held in their roster, which were standard Russian Decapods aside from heavier steel frames the WM used to replace the original cast iron frames, the new frames also made the WM Russian Decapods 2 inches longer than other Russian Decapods)  Baldwin developed two standard 2-10-0s for railroads with low axle-load requirements.  Thirteen Decapod locomotives survive in the US, including two Baldwin standards, six Russian Decapods and one PRR I1. Two, Great Western 90, a Baldwin Decapod at the Strasburg Rail Road, and Frisco 1630, a Russian Decapod at the Illinois Railway Museum, are operational. One Decapod survives as a static exhibit at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina (Seaboard Air Line 2-10-0 #544).  Preserved Decapods in the Unites States include:

Germany.

The 2-10-0 arrangement was a very popular one in Germany. The first were built by the individual state railways from 1915 to 1918, and these later became the DRG BR58. The DRG then produced a number of standard classes of 2-10-0s: the heavy 3-cylinder BR44 (1753 built), the two-cylinder version BR43 (35 built), and the lightweight BR50 (3164 built). During wartime, the BR44 and BR50 designs were simplified as ÜK ("Übergangs Kriegslokomotiven", or interim war locomotives). By 1941, it was clear that even these were too complicated, expensive, time-consuming to build, and used too much material in short supply, so new "Kriegslokomotive" (war locomotive) designs were developed: the lightweight BR52 (6161 built) and the intermediate weight BR42 (844 built).  Postwar locomotives of these types, particularly the BR 52, were spread all over Europe and were taken into service by the railways of many different countries:

United Kingdom.

Locomotives with ten driving wheels were rare in British railway history. In 1913 an initial design for a four-cylinder 2-10-0 of tractive effort was produced by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, but none were built. This had been inspired by's 2-10-0s working in Belgium and used a similar tapered boiler, with the round-topped firebox almost filling the loading gauge. The first 2-10-0 was built during the Second World War, as a variant of the "Austerity" 2-8-0 for lightly built railways.  The only other 2-10-0 type was the 251-strong Standard class 9F introduced by British Railways in 1954. The class included 92220 "Evening Star", the last steam locomotive built for British Railways, in 1960; and 92203 (named "Black Prince" when preserved), which in 1983 set a record for the heaviest steam locomotive-hauled train in Britain when it started a 2,162-ton train at Foster Yeoman quarry in Somerset.

Finland.

The State Railroads of Finland purchased 20 American Decapods after WWII - these were originally built for the Soviet Union, but never delivered to them. Of the 20 engines, 10 were made by Baldwin, 10 by Alco. Since they were originally built for the USSR, they had the correct gauge for Finland, too ( exactly). One (Alco # 75214, 1947) is preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum in Hyvinkää, Finland.The Finnish designation was Tr2.  The locomotive was nicknamed "Truman" in Finland. It was used for hauling heavy freight trains.

France.

From 1910 to 1951, the French industry built more than 500 decapods for three railway companies (Paris-Orléans, Nord, Est) and for the national railways (SNCF). Moreover, at the end of World War II, SNCF inherited more than 200 units of German decapods built in France, mostly BR 44. The last decapod, a SNCF 150P, was withdrawn in 1968. All 2-10-0s, of French or of German design, proved reliable and powerful in service. One can notice that some engines of the Paris-Orléans company were dedicated to passenger service on difficult mountain lines.

Romania.

After the Second World War, Romania built the 150.000 Class, after DRB Class 50. A total of 282 locomotives were built between 1946-1960, at Malaxa (later "23 August Works") in Bucharest, and in Reşiţa.  Builder details:

Soviet Union.

2-10-0 were fairly common freight locomotives in the former Soviet Union. They came from several sources: US imports (class Ye (), built by ALCO and Baldwin, respectively), German war trophy DRB 52 class locomotives (what became the Soviet TE-series) and locally built. The locally built 2-10-0 locomotives were represented by some TE (built from captured German parts), SO (Sergo Ordjonikidze) and L (Lebedyanski)–series locomotives. The L-series locomotives were one of the more advanced steam locomotives built in the former Soviet Union. They used an automatic stoker to feed coal and had a relatively low axle load (18 tonnes or 40,000 lb) to be compatible with the war-torn railroads of the former Soviet Union. Several examples of these locomotives are still preserved in working order.

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement was often named Decapod, especially in the United States, although this name was sometimes applied to locomotives of 0-10-0 "Ten-Coupled" arrangement, particularly in the United Kingdom. Notable German locomotives of this type include the war locomotives of Class 52.


Mechanics of abrasive machining.

Abrasive machining works by forcing the abrasive particles, or grains, into the surface of the workpiece so that each particle cuts away a small bit of material. Abrasive machining is similar to conventional machining, such as milling or turning, because each of the abrasive particles acts like a miniature cutting tool. However, unlike conventional machining the grains are much smaller than a cutting tool, and the geometry and orientation of individual grains are not well defined. As a result, abrasive machining is less power efficient and generates more heat. The grain size may be different based on the machining. For rough grinding, coarse abrasives are used. For fine grinding, fine grains (abrasives) are used.

Abrasive machining processes.

Abrasive machining processes can be divided into two categories based on how the grains are applied to the workpiece. In bonded abrasive processes, the particles are held together within a matrix, and their combined shape determines the geometry of the finished workpiece. For example, in grinding the particles are bonded together in a wheel. As the grinding wheel is fed into the part, its shape is transferred onto the workpiece. In loose abrasive processes, there is no structure connecting the grains. They may be applied without lubrication as dry powder, or they may be mixed with a lubricant to form a slurry. Since the grains can move independently, they must be forced into the workpiece with another object like a polishing cloth or a lapping plate. Common abrasive processes are listed below.

Abrasives.

The most important property of an abrasive is its hardness. For abrasive grains to effectively cut, they must be significantly harder than the workpiece material. They can be grouped based on their hardness into two categories: conventional abrasives and superabrasives. Conventional abrasive materials have been used since the advent of machining. They are made of materials that exist naturally on Earth, and they are abundant and cheap. Conventional abrasives can suitably machine most materials. Superabrasives are much harder than conventional abrasives. Since they are much more expensive, they are used when conventional abrasives will not suffice. Common abrasives are listed below.

Abrasive machining is a machining process where material is removed from a workpiece using a multitude of small abrasive particles. Common examples include grinding, honing, and polishing. Abrasive processes are usually expensive, but capable of tighter tolerances and better surface finish than other machining processes


Plot.

Frustrated writer Max de Mirecourt (Albert Préjean) goes to Tunisia in search of inspiration for his next novel and meets a local girl named Alwina (Josephine Baker) whose personality intrigues him so greatly that he invents a character based on her for his newest (and'most exciting') novel. His relation with Alwina serves a dual purpose in that it also angers (or at least highly annoys) his wife Lucie (Germaine Aussey) who has been flirting with the Maharaja of Datane (Jean Galland) back in Paris. Max takes Alwina under his wing and teaches her the manners and social graces of a high-society princess. He then whisks her away to Paris and presents her as Princess Tam Tam from faraway Africa.  Lucie is further enraged by all the attention that Alwina receives, and after a friend sees Alwina dance provocatively in the sailors' bar, Lucie calls upon her Maharaja to craft a plan which will destroy her husband's relation with "the princess." The Maharaja throws a grand party, inviting the upper crust of Parisian society. Alwina is unable to resist the exotic music, and promptly joins the large, staged dance number, embarrassing Max – until he realizes that the entire audience is on their feet, applauding Alwina. Lucie is furious.  Lucie and Max forgive each other in the end and fall in love again, Alwina returns to Tunisia after the frustrating realization that, as the Maharaja puts it, "Some windows face to the West, and the others to the East." Ultimately, however, the entire European affair is revealed to be little more than an enactment of Max's novel-in-progress. Alwina never does go to Europe, and the primary events of the film are simply a staging of how Max has imagined them. Alwina is given Max's Tunisian estate, and Max's new novel is a success. The title of his new work is "Civilisation." When asked about Alwina while back in Europe, Max states that she is "better where she is."  The film closes with a scene of Alwina and Dar back in Tunisia with their newborn child, with farm animals strewn about Max's mansion. In the final shot, a donkey eats the title page of "Civilisation" off Max's (now Alwina's) floor.

Cast.

Cast note:

Production.

The African scenes in "Princess Tam Tam" were filmed on location in Tunisia. The Eastman House restored the film in 1989.

Reception.

Although the film had a premiere in New York City, the Hollywood censors of the Hays Office refused to pass the film, which prevented it from being shown in the most theatres in rest of the country, although it did play independent theatres which catered to African-American audiences.

Poster.

On 4 February 2010, Swann Galleries set an auction record for Svend Koppel's poster for the film at $9,000. The image, "Josephine Baker / Prinsesse Tam-Tam", from 1935, was later used by the United States Postal Service on a postage stamp.

Princess Tam Tam is a 1935 French black-and-white film which stars Josephine Baker as a local Tunisian girl who is educated and then introduced to Parisian high society. Baker sings two songs, "Dream Ship" and "Neath the Tropical Blue Skies", in the film, and dances a number of times.