Bohemian Rhapsody

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It is a six-minute suite, consisting of several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. The song is a more accessible take on the 1970s progressive rock genre.

Upon its release as a single, "Bohemian Rhapsody" became a commercial success, topping the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and selling more than a million copies by the end of January 1976. It reached number one again in 1991 for another five weeks when the same version was re-released following Mercury's death, eventually becoming the UK's third-best-selling single of all time. It is also the only song to be the UK Christmas number one twice by the same artist. It topped the charts in several other markets as well, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and The Netherlands, later becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time selling over six million copies worldwide. In the United States, the song originally peaked at number nine in 1976, but returned to the chart in 1992 after being used in the film Wayne's World and reached a new peak of number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The release of the film of the same name in 2018 resulted in renewed popularity and chart success worldwide for the song.

Although critical reaction was initially mixed, "Bohemian Rhapsody" became Queen's most popular song and is considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The single was accompanied by a promotional video, which scholars consider ground-breaking. Rolling Stone stated that its influence "cannot be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air." The Guardian ranked the music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" number 31 on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history, adding it ensured "videos would henceforth be a mandatory tool in the marketing of music".

In 2004, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Appearing in various polls as being one of the greatest songs in popular music, in 2012, the song topped the list on an ITV nationwide poll in the UK to find "The Nation's Favourite Number One" over 60 years of music, while Mercury's vocal performance was chosen as the greatest in rock history by readers of Rolling Stone. In December 2018, "Bohemian Rhapsody" became the most-streamed song from the 20th century, and the most-streamed of all classic rock songs. The number of downloads of the song and original video has exceeded 1.6 billion downloads across global on-demand streaming services.

History and recording
According to Mercury's friend Chris Smith (a keyboard player in Smile), Mercury first started developing "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the late 1960s; Mercury used to play parts of songs he was writing at the time on the piano, and one of his pieces, known simply as "The Cowboy Song", contained lyrics that ended up in the completed version produced years later, in 1975, specifically, "Mama ... just killed a man." Producer Roy Thomas Baker, who began working with Queen in 1972, related how Mercury once played the opening ballad section on the piano for him in Mercury's flat: "He played the beginning on the piano, then stopped and said, 'And this is where the opera section comes in!' Then we went out to eat dinner."  Guitarist Brian May said the band thought that Mercury's blueprint for the song was "intriguing and original, and worthy of work". According to May, much of Queen's material was written in the studio, but this song "was all in Freddie's mind" before they started. In an interview during the band's Australian tour early in 1985, Mercury said, "It was basically three songs that I wanted to put out and I just put the three together."

Queen spent a month rehearsing at Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey in mid-1975, and drummer Roger Taylor recalled that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was one of the songs the band worked on while they were at Ridge Farm. Recording began on 24 August 1975 at Rockfield Studio 1 near Monmouth, South Wales, after a three-week rehearsal at Penrhos Court, near Kington, Herefordshire. During the making of the track, four additional studios (Roundhouse, Sarm East Studios, Scorpio Sound, and Wessex Sound Studios) were used. According to some band members, Mercury mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout. Mercury used a C. Bechstein concert grand piano, which he played in the promotional video and the UK tour. Due to the elaborate nature of the song, it was recorded in various sections. The piano was the same one Paul McCartney had used to record the Beatles' song "Hey Jude".

Baker recalled in 1999:

May, Mercury, and Taylor reportedly sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day. The entire piece took three weeks to record, and in some sections featured 180 separate overdubs. Since the studios of the time only offered 24-track analog tape, it was necessary for the three to overdub themselves many times and "bounce" these down to successive sub-mixes. In the end, eighth-generation tapes were used. The various sections of tape containing the desired sub-mixes had to be spliced (cut and assembled in the correct sequence). May recalled placing a tape in front of the light and being able to see through it, as the tape had been used so many times. A similar story was told in 1977 by Taylor regarding the elaborate overdubs and sub-mixes for "The March of The Black Queen" for the album Queen II. At that time, the band was using 16-track equipment.

Producer Baker recalls that May's solo was done on only one track, rather than recording multiple tracks. May stated that he wanted to compose "a little tune that would be a counterpart to the main melody; I didn't just want to play the melody". The guitarist said that his better material stems from this way of working: in which he thought of the tune before playing it: "the fingers tend to be predictable unless being led by the brain." According to Baker, "the end of the song was much heavier because it was one of the first mixes to be done with automation... If you really listen to it, the ballad starts off clean, and as the opera section gets louder and louder, the vocals get more and more distorted. You can still hear this on the CD. They are clearly distorted."

Composition and analysis

"Bohemian Rhapsody" has been affiliated to the genres of progressive rock (sometimes called symphonic rock), hard rock, and progressive pop. The song is highly unusual for a popular single in featuring no chorus, combining disparate musical styles and containing lyrics which eschew conventional love-based narratives for allusions to murder and nihilism. The Beach Boys' 1966 single "Good Vibrations", which also consisted of disparate music sections recorded separately, was a precursor to "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Music scholar Sheila Whiteley suggests that "the title draws strongly on contemporary rock ideology, the individualism of the bohemian artists' world, with rhapsody affirming the romantic ideals of art rock". Commenting on bohemianism, Judith Peraino said "Mercury intended ... [this song] to be a 'mock opera', something outside the norm of rock songs, and it does follow a certain operatic logic: choruses of multi-tracked voices alternate with aria-like solos, the emotions are excessive, the plot confusing."

"Bohemian Rhapsody" begins with an introduction, then goes into a piano ballad, before a guitar solo leads to an operatic interlude. A hard rock part follows this and it concludes with a coda. The song is in the keys of B major, E major, A major and F major, and is predominantly in  meter. This musical format of writing a song as a suite with changes in style, tone and tempo throughout was uncommon in most mainstream pop and rock music but common in progressive rock. The genre had reached its artistic and commercial zenith between 1970 and 1975 in the music of British bands such as Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator and Curved Air. The music of progressive rock was characterised by dramatic contrasts, frequent shifts in tempo and in rhythmic character from one section of a composition to the next. Bands from the genre had blended rock with classical music, its structural features and compositional practices, as well as using classical music instrumentation. Queen had embraced progressive rock as one of their many diverse influences. "Bohemian Rhapsody" parodies many different elements of opera by using bombastic choruses, sarcastic recitative and distorted Italian operatic phraseology. An embryonic version of this style had already been utilised in Mercury's earlier compositions for the band "My Fairy King" (1973) and "The March of the Black Queen" (1974).

Intro (0:00–0:49)
The song begins with a close five-part harmony a cappella introduction in B major—as evidenced by the presence of a V-I cadence (F7 - B) multi-track recordings of Mercury although the video has all four members lip-syncing this part. The lyrics question whether life is "real" or "just fantasy caught in a landslide" before concluding that there can be "no escape from reality".

After 20 seconds, the grand piano enters, the song modulates briefly to E major and Mercury's voice alternates with the other vocal parts. The narrator introduces himself as "just a poor boy" but declares that he "needs no sympathy" because he is "easy come, easy go" and then "little high, little low" (when heard in stereo, the words "little high" come from the left speaker whereas the "little low" comes from the right); chromatic side-slipping on "easy come, easy go" highlights the dream-like atmosphere. The end of this section is marked by the bass entrance and the cross-handed piano vamp in B.

Ballad (0:49–2:37)

The piano begins in B major along with the entrance of John Deacon's bass guitar, marking the onset of this section. After it plays twice, Mercury's vocals enter. Over the course of the section, the vocals evolve from a softly sung harmony to an impassioned solo performance by Mercury. The narrator explains to his mother that he has "just killed a man," with "a gun against his head" and in doing so, has thrown his life away. This "confessional" section, Whiteley comments, is "affirmative of the nurturant and life-giving force of the feminine and the need for absolution". In the middle of the verse (1:19), Taylor's drums enter, and a descending chromatic run leads to a temporary modulation to E major (up one fourth). The narrator makes the second of several invocations to his "mama" in the new key, continuing the original theme. The narrator explains his regret over "mak[ing] you cry" and urging "mama" to "carry on as if nothing really matters". A brief, descending variation of the piano phrase connects to the second verse.

Then the piano intro plays, marking the start of the second verse. As the ballad proceeds into its second verse, the speaker confesses how ashamed he is by his act of murder (as May enters on guitar and mimics the upper range of the piano at 1:50). May imitates a bell tree during the line "sends shivers down my spine", by playing the strings of his guitar on the other side of the bridge. The narrator bids the world goodbye announcing he has "got to go" and prepares to "face the truth" admitting "I don't want to die / I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all." This is where the guitar solo enters.

Guitar solo (2:37–3:05)
Towards the end of the ballad section, the band builds in intensity, incorporating a guitar solo (in E major) played and originally composed by Mercury, later improvised by May. The intensity continues to build, but once the bass line completes its descent establishing modulation to the new key (A major), the entire band cuts out abruptly at 3:03 except for quiet, staccato A major quaver (eighth-note) chords on the piano, marking the start of the "Opera" section.

Opera (3:05–4:07)

A rapid series of rhythmic and harmonic changes introduces a pseudo-operatic midsection, which contains the bulk of the elaborate vocal multi-tracking, depicting the narrator's descent into hell. While the underlying pulse of the song is maintained, the dynamics vary greatly from bar to bar, from only Mercury's voice accompanied by a piano to a multi-voice choir supported by drums, bass, piano, and timpani. The choir effect was created by having May, Mercury, and Taylor repeatedly sing their vocal parts, resulting in 180 separate overdubs. These overdubs were then combined into successive submixes. According to Roger Taylor, the voices of May, Mercury and himself combined created a wide vocal range: "Brian could get down quite low, Freddie had a powerful voice through the middle, and I was good at the high stuff." The band wanted to create "a wall of sound, that starts down and goes all the way up". The band used the bell effect for lyrics "Magnifico" and "Let me go". Also, on "Let him go", Taylor singing the top section carries his note on further after the rest of the "choir" have stopped singing.

Lyrical references in this passage include Scaramouche, the fandango, Galileo Galilei, Figaro, Beelzebub and Bismillah, as rival factions fight over the narrator's soul, some wishing to "let [him] go" and "spare him his life from this monstrosity", while others sending him "thunderbolts and lightning,/very, very fright'ning [him]". According to Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography by Lesley-Ann Jones' theory: It is also figurative representation of the four members, Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon respectively. The section concludes with a full choral treatment of the lyric "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!", on a block B major chord. Roger Taylor tops the final chord with a falsetto B in the fifth octave (B5).

Using the 24-track technology available at the time, the "opera" section took about three weeks to finish. Producer Roy Thomas Baker said "Every time Freddie came up with another 'Galileo', I would add another piece of tape to the reel." Baker recalls that they kept wearing out the tape, which meant having to do transfers.

Hard rock (4:07–4:54)
The operatic section leads into a rock interlude with a guitar riff written by Mercury. At 4:15, a quadruple-tracked Mercury (in stereo, the four parts are panned two on the left and two on the right) sings angry lyrics addressed to an unspecified "you", accusing them of betrayal and abuse and insisting "can't do this to me, baby", before the final lines conclude that the singer "just gotta get right outta" an unspecified "here". Three ascending guitar runs follow. Mercury then plays a similar B run on the piano, as the song builds up to the finale with a ritardando.

Outro (4:54–5:55)
After Mercury plays ascending octaves of notes from the B mixolydian mode (composed of the notes from the E scale), the song then returns to the tempo and form of the introduction, initially in E major, before quickly modulating to C minor, only to soon go through an abrupt short series of modulations, bringing it back to C minor again in time for the final "nothing really matters" section. A guitar accompanies the chorus "ooh, ooh yeah, ooh yeah." A double-tracked twin guitar melody is played through an amplifier designed by John Deacon, affectionately nicknamed the "Deacy Amp". Mercury's line "Nothing really matters..." appears again, "cradled by light piano arpeggios suggesting both resignation (minor tonalities) and a new sense of freedom in the wide vocal span". After the line "nothing really matters" is repeated multiple times, the song finally concludes in the key of E major, but then changes again to F major just before it ends. The final line, "Any way the wind blows", is followed by the quiet sound of a large tam-tam that finally expels the tension built up throughout the song.

Lyrics
The New York Times commented that "the song's most distinct feature is the fatalistic lyrics". Mercury refused to explain his composition other than to say it was about relationships; the band is still protective of the song's secret. Brian May supports suggestions that the song contained veiled references to Mercury's personal traumas. He recalls "Freddie was a very complex person: flippant and funny on the surface, but he concealed insecurities and problems in squaring up his life with his childhood. He never explained the lyrics, but I think he put a lot of himself into that song." May, though, says the band had agreed that the core of a lyric was a private issue for the composer. In a BBC Three documentary about the making of "Bohemian Rhapsody", Roger Taylor maintains that the true meaning of the song is "fairly self-explanatory with just a bit of nonsense in the middle".

When the band released a Greatest Hits cassette in Iran, a leaflet in Persian was included with translation and explanations (refers to a book published in Iran called The March of the Black Queen by Sarah Sefati and Farhad Arkani, which included the whole biography of the band and complete lyrics with Persian translation (2000)). In the explanation, Queen states that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution, he calls for God saying, "Bismillah" ("In the name of God" in Arabic), and with the help of angels, regains his soul from Shaitan (the devil in Islam).

Despite this, critics, both journalistic and academic, have speculated over the meaning behind the song's lyrics. Some believe the lyrics describe a suicidal murderer haunted by demons or depict events just preceding an execution. The latter explanation points to Albert Camus's novel The Stranger, in which a young man confesses to an impulsive murder and has an epiphany before he is executed, as probable inspiration. Others believe the lyrics were only written to fit with the music, and have no meaning; the DJ, television entertainer and comedian Kenny Everett, who played an influential role in popularising the single on his radio show on Capital Radio, quoted Mercury as claiming the lyrics were simply "random rhyming nonsense".

Still, others interpreted them as Mercury's way of dealing with personal issues. Music scholar Sheila Whiteley observes that Mercury reached a turning point in his personal life in the year he wrote "Bohemian Rhapsody". He had been living with Mary Austin for seven years but had just embarked on his first love affair with a man. She suggests that the song provides an insight into Mercury's emotional state at the time, "living with Mary ('Mamma', as in Mother Mary) and wanting to break away ('Mamma Mia let me go')". Others suggest it as veiled reference to coming out, and dealing with the grave repercussions of the sodomy laws of the time.

Release

When the band wanted to release the single in 1975, various executives suggested to them that, at 5 minutes and 55 seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit. The song was played to other musicians who commented the band had no hope of it ever being played on radio. According to producer Roy Thomas Baker, he and the band bypassed this corporate decision by playing the song for Capital Radio DJ Kenny Everett: "we had a reel-to-reel copy but we told him he could only have it if he promised not to play it. 'I won't play it,' he said, winking ..." Their plan worked—Everett teased his listeners by playing only parts of the song. Audience demand intensified when Everett played the full song on his show 14 times in two days. Hordes of fans attempted to buy the single the following Monday, only to be told by record stores that it had not yet been released. The same weekend, Paul Drew, who ran the RKO General stations in the States, heard the track on Everett's show in London. Drew managed to get a copy of the tape and started to play it in the States, which forced the hand of Queen's US label, Elektra. In an interview with Sound on Sound, Baker reflects that "it was a strange situation where radio on both sides of the Atlantic was breaking a record that the record companies said would never get airplay!" Eventually the unedited single was released, with "I'm in Love with My Car" as the B-side. Following Everett's escapade in October 1975, Eric Hall, a record plugger, gave a copy to David "Diddy" Hamilton to play on his weekday Radio One show. Hall stated "Monster, Monster! This could be a hit!"

The song became the 1975 UK Christmas number one, holding the top position for nine weeks. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the first song ever to get to number one in the UK twice with the same version, and is also the only single to have been Christmas number one twice with the same version. The second was upon its re-release (as a double A-side single with "These Are the Days of Our Lives") in 1991 following Mercury's death, staying at number one for five weeks.

In the United States, the single was also a success, although to a lesser extent than in the UK. The single, released in December 1975, reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of one million copies. In a retrospective article, Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone explained why the song performed less strongly in the US charts by saying that it is "the quintessential example of the kind of thing that doesn't exactly go over well in America". Its chart run of 24 weeks, however, placed it at number 18 on Billboards year-end chart, higher than some number ones of the year. With the Canadian record-buying public, the single fared better, reaching number one in the RPM national singles chart for the week ending 1 May 1976.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a double A-side cassette single with "The Show Must Go On" in January 1992 following the death of Freddie Mercury, with proceeds going to the Magic Johnson Foundation for AIDS research. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart after 16 years, reaching number two and spending 17 weeks on the chart, with a year-end chart position of 39. After the release of the movie inspired by the song, it re-entered the charts for a third time at No. 33, marking 26 years since it last charted. It was certified gold by the RIAA a second time on 8 August 2005 for digital download sales over 100,000, and quadruple platinum on 23 April 2014 for combined digital sales and streams. It has sold 4.4 million digital copies in the US .

Promotional video

Though some artists had made video clips to accompany songs (including Queen themselves; for example, their earlier singles "Keep Yourself Alive", "Liar", "Seven Seas of Rhye" and "Killer Queen" already had "pop promos", as they were known at the time), it was only after the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that it became regular practice for record companies to produce promotional videos for artists' single releases. These videos could then be shown on television shows around the world, such as the BBC's Top of the Pops, without the need for the artist to appear in person. A promo video also allowed the artist to have their music broadcast and accompanied by their own choice of visuals, rather than dancers such as Pan's People. According to May, the video was produced so that the band could avoid miming on Top of the Pops, since they would have looked off miming to such a complex song. He also said that the band knew they would be set to appear at Dundee's Caird Hall on tour and unable to appear on the programme anyway. The video has been hailed as launching the MTV age.

The band used Trillion, a subsidiary of Trident Studios, their former management company and recording studio. They hired one of their trucks and got it to Elstree Studios, where the band were rehearsing for their tour. The video was directed by Bruce Gowers, who had directed a video of the band's 1974 performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London, and was recorded by cameraman Barry Dodd and assistant director/floor manager Jim McCutcheon. The video was recorded in just four hours on 10 November 1975, at a cost of £4,500. Gowers reported that the band was involved in the discussion of the video and the end result, and "was a co-operative to that extent, but there was only one leader."

The video opens with a shot of the four band members in near darkness as they sing the a cappella part. The lights fade up, and the shots cross-fade into close-ups of Freddie. The composition of the shot is the same as Mick Rock's cover photograph for their second album Queen II. The photo, inspired by a photograph of actress Marlene Dietrich, was the band's favourite image of themselves. The video then fades into them playing their instruments. In the opera section of the video, the scene reverts to the Queen II standing positions, after which they perform once again on stage during the hard rock segment. In the closing seconds of the video Roger Taylor is depicted stripped to the waist, striking the tam tam in the manner of the trademark of the Rank Organisation's Gongman, familiar in the UK as the opening of all Rank film productions.

All of the special effects were achieved during the recording, rather than editing. The visual effect of Mercury's face cascading away (during the echoed line "Magnifico") was accomplished by pointing the camera at a monitor, giving visual feedback, a glare analogous to audio feedback. The honeycomb illusion was created using a shaped lens. The video was edited within five hours because it was due to be broadcast the same week in which it was taped. The video was sent to the BBC as soon as it was completed and aired for the first time on Top of the Pops in November 1975. After a few weeks at number one, an edit of the video was created. The most obvious difference is the flames superimposed over the introduction as well as several alternate camera angles.

Critical reception
Although the song has become one of the most revered in popular music history, the initial critical reaction was mixed. The UK music papers reacted with bemusement, recognising that the song was original and technically accomplished, but they mostly remained indifferent. Pete Erskine of NME observed that, "It'll be interesting to see whether it'll be played in its entirety on the radio. It's performed extremely well, but more in terms of production than anything else... Someone somewhere has decided that the boys' next release must sound 'epic'. And it does. They sound extremely self-important."

Allan Jones of Melody Maker was unimpressed, describing the song as "a superficially impressive pastiche of incongruous musical styles" and that Queen "contrived to approximate the demented fury of the Balham Amateur Operatic Society performing The Pirates of Penzance... 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is full of drama, passion and romance and sounds rather like one of those mini-opera affairs that Pete Townsend [sic] used to tack on to the end of Who albums", before concluding, "The significance of the composition eludes me totally, though I must admit to finding it horrifically fascinating. It's likely to be a hit of enormous proportions despite its length." Ray Fox-Cumming of Record Mirror was also left unmoved, saying, "It has no immediate selling point whatsoever: among its many parts. there's scarcely a shred of a tune and certainly no one line to latch onto. There's no denying that it's devilishly clever, encompassing everything from bits of operatic harmonies to snatches that sound like Sparks and David Cassidy, but, in the end the whole adds up to less than the sum of its parts." He did, however, say that it was "unthinkable" that it wouldn't be a hit. The most positive review came from Sounds, which called it "impossibly disjointed and complex, but a dazzlingly clever epic from the fevered mind of Freddie Mercury".

Legacy

Musical impact

In 1976, when asked for his opinion on "Bohemian Rhapsody", the Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson praised the song as "the most competitive thing that's come along in ages" and "a fulfillment and an answer to a teenage prayer—of artistic music". Producer Steve Levine said the track broke "all sonic production barriers" in a fashion similar to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" (1966), Phil Spector's "Be My Baby" (1963), and 10cc's "I'm Not in Love" (1975). Greg Lake, whose song "I Believe in Father Christmas" was kept from number one in the UK by "Bohemian Rhapsody" when it was released in 1975, acknowledged that he was "beaten by one of the greatest records ever made", describing it as "a once-in-a-lifetime recording".

Addressing the song's enduring popularity, author and music lecturer Jochen Eisentraut wrote in 2012: "A year before punk made it unfashionable, progressive rock had an astounding success with the theoretically over-length (nearly 6-minute) single 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which bore many of the hallmarks of the 'prog' genre". He said it was "unique at this point to hear a hit single in this style", it was "more accessible than other music of the genre" and was "able to communicate beyond the usual confines of the style". Author and progressive rock historian Stephen Lambe called it a "remarkable" single and said it "provides a neat but coincidental bridge between prog in its prime and the move to more aggressive songwriting", suggesting the song "feels like a grotesque (although probably unintentional) parody of progressive rock". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide described it as "either a prog-rock benchmark or the most convoluted novelty song ever recorded". Writing for the BBC in 2015, the Chicago Tribunes music critic Greg Kot called it a "prog-rock pocket operetta" and said the song's "reign as a work of wigged-out genius rather than a dated gimmick testifies to its go-for-broke attitude—one that has resonated across generations".

In 2009, The Guardians music critic, Tom Service, examined the song's relationship with the traditions of classical music, describing its popularity as "one of the strangest musical phenomena out there":

Comparison was also made between the song and Led Zeppelin's 1971 epic "Stairway to Heaven" by music writers Pete Prown and HP Newquist. They observed both songs were "a slow, introspective beginning and gradual climb to a raging metal jam and back again", with the notable distinction being "while Zeppelin meshed folk influences with heavy metal, Queen opted for the light grandeur of the operetta as part of its hard rock". They said "for sheer cleverness alone, not to mention May's riveting electric work, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' rightfully became one of the top singles of 1975 and established Queen in the elite of seventies rock bands".

In 2015, The Economist described it as "one of the most innovative pieces of the progressive rock era". It wrote "though Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and the Beatles' Paul McCartney had experimented with symphonic elements, and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and Pete Townshend of the Who had created narrative albums with distinct 'movements', none had had the audacity to import a miniature opera into rock music."

Wayne's World
In 1992, the song enjoyed renewed popularity in the United States after being featured in a scene in the film Wayne's World. The film's director, Penelope Spheeris, was hesitant to use the song, as it did not entirely fit with the lead characters, who were fans of less flamboyant hard rock and heavy metal. Mike Myers insisted that the song fit the scene. According to music scholar Theodore Gracyk, by 1992, when the film was released, even "classic rock" stations had stopped playing the almost six-minute song. Gracyk suggests that beginning the tape in the middle of the song after "the lyrics which provide the song's narrative ... forces the film's audience to respond to its presence in the scene without the 'commentary' of the lyrics". Helped by the song, the soundtrack album of the film was a major hit.

In connection with this, a new video was released, interspersing excerpts from the film with footage from the original Queen video, along with some live footage of the band. Myers was horrified that the record company had mixed clips from Wayne's World with Queen's original video, fearing that this would upset the band. He said, "they've just whizzed on a Picasso." He asked the record company to tell Queen that the video was not his idea, and that he apologised to them. The band, though, sent a reply simply saying, "Thank you for using our song." This astonished Myers, who responded, "Thank you for even letting me touch the hem of your garments!"

The Wayne's World video version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" won Queen its only MTV Video Music Award for "Best Video from a Film". When remaining members Brian May and Roger Taylor took the stage to accept the award, Brian May was overcome with emotion and said that "Freddie would be tickled." In the final scene of the video, a pose of the band from the video from the original "Bohemian Rhapsody" clip morphs into an identically posed 1985 photo, first featured in the "One Vision" video.

In the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Myers has a cameo as a fictional record executive who pans the song and refuses to release it as a single, proclaiming that it is too long for radio and that it is not a song that "teenagers can crank up the volume in their car and bang their heads to", a reference to the iconic scene in Wayne's World.

Achievements and accolades
The song has won numerous awards, and has been covered and parodied by many artists. In 1977 "Bohemian Rhapsody" received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. (The winners were Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now," and Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight," respectively.) In 1977, only two years after its release, the British Phonographic Industry named "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the best British single of the period 1952–77. It is a regular entry in greatest-songs polls, and it was named by the Guinness Book of Records in 2002 as the top British single of all time. The song is also listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. , "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the second most-played song on British radio, in clubs and on jukeboxes collectively, after Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale". On 30 September 2007 for BBC Radio 1's 40th birthday, it was revealed on The Radio 1 Chart Show that "Bohemian Rhapsody" had been the most played song since Radio 1's launch.

In December 2018, "Bohemian Rhapsody" officially became the most-streamed song from the 20th century, surpassing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine". "Bohemian Rhapsody" also became the most-streamed classic rock song of all time. The number of downloads of the song and original video exceeded 1.6 billion downloads across global on-demand streaming services. The video surpassed one billion views on YouTube in July 2019, making it the oldest music video to reach one billion on the platform, and the first pre-1990s song to reach that figure.

Polls
In a 2001 poll of more than 50,000 readers of The Observer newspaper and viewers of British TV's Channel 4 for the 100 best number-one singles of all time, the song came second to John Lennon's "Imagine". In a 2002 poll of more than 31,000 people conducted for Guinness World Records' British Hit Singles, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted Britain's favourite single, beating Lennon's "Imagine" to the top spot.

In 2002, it came in tenth in a BBC World Service poll to find the world's favourite song. It has been in the top 5 of the Dutch annual "Top 100 Aller Tijden" ("All-Time Top 100 [Singles]") since 1977, reaching number one on eight occasions, more than any other artist. In 1999, the annual "Top 2000" poll commenced to find the best songs ever made, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been ranked number one in all but four years (2005, 2010, 2014 and 2015 when it was number two). In a 2012 readers poll conducted by Rolling Stone magazine, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted the best vocal performance in rock history. In 2010, the song ranked at 166 on Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.

In 2012, the song topped an ITV poll in the UK to find "The Nation's Favourite Number One" over 60 years of music, ahead of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" (No. 2), Adele's "Someone like You" (No. 3), Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" (No. 4) and The Beatles' "Hey Jude" (No. 5). The song was also ranked #5 in RadioMafia's list of "Top 500 Songs".

Cover versions

Over two dozen artists have recorded or performed cover versions of "Bohemian Rhapsody", including charted singles releases by The Braids for the soundtrack to the film High School High, and by Panic! at the Disco which was on the soundtrack for the film Suicide Squad. A video cover featuring The Muppets also went viral and was subsequently released as a single.

"Weird Al" Yankovic's 1993 album Alapalooza includes a version of the song entitled "Bohemian Polka", which is a rearrangement of the entire song as a polka.

40th anniversary
To mark the 40th anniversary of "Bohemian Rhapsody", the song was released on a limited edition 12" vinyl with the original B-side "I'm In Love With My Car" on 27 November 2015 for Record Store Day 2015. Queen also released A Night At The Odeon, Live At Hammersmith 75, on CD, DVD-Video and Blu-ray. This includes the first live "professionally" recorded performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody". However, the very first recording and live performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the performance on 14 November 1975 in Liverpool.

Live performances

The a cappella opening was too complex to perform live, so Mercury tried various ways of introducing the song. When the song "Mustapha" became a live favourite, Mercury would often sub in that song's a cappella opening, which was easier to reproduce live as it was only one voice. During the Hot Space Tour, and occasionally at other times, Mercury would do a piano improvisation (generally the introduction to "Death on Two Legs") that ended with the first notes of the song. Often, the preceding song would end, and Mercury would sit at the piano, say a quick word and start playing the ballad section.

Initially following the song's release, the operatic middle section proved a problem for the band. Because of extensive multi-tracking, it could not be performed on stage. The band did not have enough of a break between the Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera tours to find a way to make it work live, so they split the song into three sections that were played throughout the night. The opening and closing ballads were played as part of a medley, with "Killer Queen" and "March of the Black Queen" taking the place of the operatic and hard rock sections. In 1976 concerts where the same medley was played, the operatic section from the album would be played from tape as the introduction to the setlist. During this playback, Mercury would appear briefly to sing live for the line, "I see a little sillhouetto of a man". As the song segued into the hard rock section, the band would emerge on the smoke filled stage—the playback would end at this point, and the hard rock section would be performed live (without the final ballad section, which appeared later in the set).

Starting with the A Day at the Races Tour in 1977, the band adopted their lasting way of playing the song live. The opening ballad would be played on stage, and after Brian May's guitar solo, the lights would go down, the band would leave the stage, and the operatic section would be played from tape, while coloured stage lights provided a light show based around the voices of the opera section. Most playings of the opera section from the tape would often be accompanied by a portion of the song's music video containing the footage used for the operatic portion of the song. Other playings would be played over montages of footage filmed from the band members' other experiences throughout their daily lives. A blast of pyrotechnics after Roger Taylor's high note on the final "for me" would announce the band's return for the hard rock section and closing ballad. Queen played the song in this form all through the Magic Tour of 1986. This style was also used for the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, with Elton John singing the opening ballad and then after the taped operatic section, Axl Rose singing the hard rock section. John and Rose sang the closing ballad part together in a duet.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was performed by Queen + Paul Rodgers throughout their tours, accompanied by a video of Mercury. Footage from the Live at Wembley '86 was used for the 2005-6 tour, and the 1981 Montreal performance used for the Rock the Cosmos Tour. As with the Queen tours, the band went backstage for the operatic section, which was accompanied by a video tribute to Freddie Mercury. When the hard rock section began, the lights came back up to the full band on stage, including Rodgers, who took over lead vocals. Rodgers duetted with the recording of Mercury for the "outro" section, allowing the audience to sing the final "Nothing really matters to me", while the taped Mercury took a bow for the crowd. Rodgers would then repeat the line, and the final line ("Any way the wind blows") was delivered with one last shot of Mercury smiling at the audience. Commenting upon this staging, Brian May says that they "had to rise to the challenge of getting Freddie in there in a way which gave him his rightful place, but without demeaning Paul in any way. It also kept us live and 'present', although conscious and proud of our past, as we logically should be."

Since 2012, May and Taylor have toured with former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert under the name Queen + Adam Lambert (following two one-off performances together in 2009 and 2011), with "Bohemian Rhapsody" regularly included at the end of their set.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

|-
!scope="row"|United States (RIAA) (physical)
|Gold
|1,000,000^
|-
!scope="row"|United States (RIAA) (digital)
|8× Platinum
|4,445,000

Queen comments on the song

Personnel

 Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, piano, operatic vocals (middle register)
 Brian May – electric guitar, operatic vocals (low register)
 Roger Taylor – drums, timpani, gong, operatic vocals (high register)
 John Deacon – bass guitar


Kazemabad, Khomeyn

Kazemabad (, also Romanized as Kāz̧emābād and Khazmābād) is a village in Chahar Cheshmeh Rural District, Kamareh District, Khomeyn County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 166, in 42 families.


Eiken (studio)

is an anime studio in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan. The company was formerly known as Television Corporation of Japan or TCJ before changing its name in 1969 to establish Eiken. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asatsu-DK.

Works

TCJ era

 Sennin Buraku (1963, Fuji TV)
 Tetsujin 28-go ("Gigantor" in North America) (1963, Fuji TV, planning by Dentsu)
 8 Man ("The 8th Man" in North America) (1963, TBS)
 Super Jetter (1965)
 Space Boy Soran (1965, TBS)
 Prince Planet (Yūsei Shōnen Papii) (1965)
 Yūsei Kamen (1966)
 Bōken Gabotenjima (1967)
 Skyers 5 (1967)
 The Cricket on the Hearth (1967)
 Sasuke (1968, TBS)
 Ninpū Kamui Gaiden (1969, Fuji TV, planning by Zuiyo)
 Sazae-san (1969–current, Fuji TV)
 Kamui Gaiden (1969, film)
 Dōbutsu-mura Monogatari (1970, NET)
 Bakuhatsu Gorō (1970, TBS)
 Norakuro (1970, Fuji TV)
 Shin Skyers 5 (1971, TBS)
 Onbu Obake (1972, Yomiuri TV)

Eiken era

 Bōken Korobokkuru (1973, Yomiuri TV)
 Jim Button (1974, MBS)
 Iruka to Shōnen (1975, TBS)
 Hokahoka Kazoku (1976–1982, Fuji TV)
 UFO Senshi Diablon (1976, TBS)
 UFO Senshi Diablon 2 (1976, Tokyo 12ch)
 Captain (1980, NTV; TV special)
 Captain (1981, film)
 Donbē Monogatari (1981, NTV)
 Captain (1983, TV series)
 Glass Mask (1984, NTV)
 Ginga Patrol PJ (1984, Fuji TV)
 Dotanba no Manā (1984–1987, Fuji TV)
 Musashi no Ken (1985–1986, TV Tokyo, "shonen" version)
 Musashi no Ken (1986, "seishun" version)
 Kotowaza House (1987–1994, Fuji TV)
 Hai Akko Desu (1988–1992, Asahi TV)
 Shīton Dōbutsuki (1989–1990, NTV)
 Kobo-chan Special: Filled with Autumn (1990)
 Kobo-chan Special: Filled with Dreams!! (1991)
 Micro Patrol (1991, joint release in France and Japan, OVA series released in Japan as well)
 Kobo-chan (1992–1994, Yomiuri TV)
 Cooking Papa (1992–1995, Asahi TV with Asatsu DK)
 Kobo-chan Special: Filled with Festivals! (1994)
 Oyako Club (1994-2013, Fuji TV)
 Ijiwaru Bā-san (second series, 1996–1997, Fuji TV)
 Kiko-chan Smile (1996–1997, TBS with Magic Bus)
 Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Wasure na Kusa (1998, TBS)
 Kobo-chan Special: The Promised Magic Day (1998)
 Suteki! Sakura Mama! (2000)
 Go! Go! Itsutsugo Land (2001, with Magic Bus)
 Gokiburi-chan (2005)
 Play Ball (2005, with Magic Bus)
 Play Ball 2nd (2006, with Magic Bus)
 Tetsujin 28-go Gao! (2013-2016, Fuji TV)
 Bonobono (2016-current, Fuji TV)
 8-Man Infinity'' (in production)

External links
 Official Eiken website


Delamar Dry Lake

Delamar Dry Lake is a dry lake bed located in the Dry Lake Watershed near Alamo in Lincoln County, Nevada. It is located on federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Delamar Dry Lake Landing Strip
Delamar Lake Landing Strip, established in 1943, was designated as an emergency landing site for the X-15. No structures were built there.  The lake bed remains, but it is no longer maintained as an airport.

Delamar was listed as having one runway:
 Runway 15,000 feet, Surface: unpaved dry lake bed

However, on a dry lake bed an aircraft may land in any direction.

History
Delamar Lake Landing Strip was one of the designated emergency landing sites for the X-15 because it was underneath the Delamar Dry Lake Drop Zone where the X-15s were drop-launched from the B-52 for high altitude and space flights.

On May 21, 1962, X-15 pilot Neil Armstrong, who later became a Gemini and Apollo astronaut, flew a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to Delamar Dry Lake in case it would be needed for an upcoming X-15 flight.  The F-104 was damaged in the landing attempt at Delamar when the landing gear began to retract.  Armstrong got the plane back in the air and diverted to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas.

During Flight 1-63-104 on May 6, 1966, an X-15 experienced an engine failure and landed at Delamar Dry Lake.

The U.S. Air Force now refers to Delamar Dry Lake Bed as "Texas Lake" because of its resemblance to the state of Texas from the air.

An eyewitness report regarding the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster came from a camper who was at Delamar Dry Lake on the morning of February 1, 2003.  The eyewitness saw the space shuttle cross the pre-dawn sky, as well as a bright flash in the contrail.  Minutes later, the camper saw two "twinkles" descend into mountains perceived to be nearby.  NASA considered this report credible enough to analyze radar data and send a ground search crew to the area to look for debris.  None were found.

Message to Space
In January, 2015, a large team from Hyundai Motor Company, driving several of the company's sedans equipped with spike-studded tires, created a "message to space" on the Delamar Dry Lake.  This message, which was visible and photographed from the International Space Station, stated "Steph ♥s you!" — sent to an ISS astronaut by his 13-year-old daughter.  This work was done to promote the release of the second generation of Genesis car model of the Hyundai Motor Company.  This feat was awarded the Guinness World Record for "Largest Tire Track."

Caliente Flight Strip
Caliente Flight Strip, also known as the Delamar Landing Field, was also located on the dry lake bed before it closed in the 1990s.


Alarm at Midnight

Alarm at Midnight or Help! Armed Assault! () is a 1931 German thriller film directed by Johannes Meyer and starring Hans Stüwe, Hans Brausewetter and Otto Wallburg.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Alexander Ferenczy.

Cast
 Hans Stüwe as Kriminalkommissar Bremer
 Hans Brausewetter as Kriminalkommissar Braun
 Otto Wallburg as Karl Matthes
 Gerda Maurus as Irene Matthes, seine Nichte
 Eva Schmid-Kayser as Else Moll
 Hermann Vallentin as Kriminalrat Kipping
 Veit Harlan as Otto Weigandt - genannt der 'Schränker'
 Bruno Lopinski as Kriminalkommissar Hartmann
 Hugo Fischer-Köppe as Matrosen-Emil
 Harry Nestor as Artisten-Fredy
 Ludwig Stössel as Der Varieté-Agent
 Siegfried Berisch as Pensionsgast
 Rudolf van der Noss as Kriminalassistent
 Georg Guertler as Mitglied der drei Bandinis
 Rudolf Hilberg as Mitglied der drei Bandinis
 Otto Reinwald as Mitglied der drei Bandinis
 Fritz Schmuck as Diener bei Matthes


Abdul Momin Talukdar

Abdul Momin Talukdar (1929–1995) was a Bangladeshi Awami League politician, lawyer and former Member of Parliament and the former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative.

Early life
Talukdar was born on 1 September 1929 in Belkuchi, Pabna, East Bengal. He graduated from Pabna Edward College and went to law school in Dhaka University. Starting his career from Pabna district bar.

Career
Talukdar started politics during his student life in the Purba Bangla Chhatra League. he was involved in the language movement of 1952. He was the convener of All Party State Language Movement of Dhaka University. He is a former vice president of Pabna district Awami League. He was elected to Pakistan national Assembly in 1970 from the Awami League.

During the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 he served as the motivation officer in the Mukti bahini training camp. He visited Nepal as a representative of Mujibnagar government to garner support for the Independence of Bangladesh. After the Independence of Bangladesh, he was elected to Parliament of Bangladesh in 1973. He served as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives in the Awami League government.

Death
Talukdar died on 15 August 1995 in Dhaka.


Alaa Mhawi

Alaa Ali Mhawi ( , born 3 June 1996) known as Alaa Mhawi, is a professional footballer who plays for Al-Shorta in Iraqi Premier League and the Iraqi national team as a right back.

Club career

Youth career
Mhawi was graduated from the prestigious Ammo Baba Football School, situated opposite the Al-Shaab Stadium, one of Iraq's biggest stadiums, where he spent the early part of his football education. Many other Iraqi footballers have come out of the school such as Ali Adnan.

Al Kahraba
After leaving the Ammo Baba school, Alaa signed for Al Kahraba. His club was relegated to the Iraq Division One in 2013 but Alaa helped the club to the Division One title the following year where he scored 4 league goals as a defender..

Al Zawraa
In 2015, Mhawi signed a one-year contract for Iraqi giants Al Zawra'a. Ala'a won another league title, this time however it was the Iraqi Premier League. His impressive showing with 6 goals from the fullback position earned him a two-year contract extension.

In the 2016/17 season, Mhawi played in the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier continental tournament. During the AFC Cup, Mhawi scored 2 goals, one coming against Syrian side Al Jaish on 4 April 2017 and the second coming in a match against defending champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya on 22 May 2017 in the zonal Semi-Final, where his team got knocked out. Ala'a left the team shortly before the end of the 2016/17 season, to join Saudi club Al Batin.

Al Batin
On 17 July 2017, Mhawi signed a professional contract for one season with Saudi Club Al-Batin. He made his debut on August 11 in a shock 3-1 victory over Ittihad. His contract was ended by mutual consent on 29 September 2017 after playing only two games.

Al Shorta
Following his release from Al Batin. Ali returned to Iraq, this time with Al-Shorta. He made his debut on November 21 as a second-half substitute against Karbalaa.

International career

Iraq U-17

Mhawi made his debut for Iraq's Under-17s in 2011 at the age of just 15. He played for the Under-17s over the next 3 years. He went on to make 10 more appearances for the youth side scoring 2 goals in his 11 appearances. At the age of 17, Mhawi played in the 2013 Under-17 World Cup and played in all of Iraq's matches against Sweden, Mexico and Nigeria.

Iraq U-19

Mhawi was called up to the Iraqi Under-19 squad for the AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers against Bangladesh and Kuwait in October 2013. He scored 20 minutes into his debut as Iraq beat Bangladesh 6-0 and played in the 0-0 draw against Kuwait which saw Iraq top the group and qualify for the 2014 AFC Under-19 Championship.

Alaa played in all 3 of Iraq's matches at the Under-19 Asian Cup in October 2014 against Oman, Qatar and North Korea. Despite Iraq having a higher goal difference and the same number of points as North Korea, they were knocked out at the group stage due to the head-to-head results. He scored his second and final goal in his fifth and final appearance for the Under-19s, which came against North Korea on 14 October 2014.

Iraq U-23
Alaa was called up to the Iraqi Under-23 squad for the 2016 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers against Oman, Lebanon, Bahrain and the Maldives in March 2015. He made his debut in Iraq's 4-1 win over Lebanon and played in ever qualifier, being instrumental to Iraq's qualification to the Under-23 Asian Cup.

Alaa was part of the squad which went to Qatar for the Under-23 Asian Championship in 2016. He played in all of Iraq's matches, against South Korea, Uzbekistan, Yemen and the U.A.E. as the young side made it to the semi-final, where they were beaten by eventual champions Japan. In the third-place play-off, which Mhawi played in as well, against Qatar, Iraq won, awarding them with a spot at that summer's Olympics.

As a result of his performance at the Under-23 Asian Championship, Mhawi was included in the squad that went to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics. He featured in 2 of Iraq's 3 matches as they were knocked out at the group stage, despite being unbeaten. In Iraq's match against hosts Brazil, Mhawi's direct opponent was Brazil and FC Barcelona superstar Neymar, who was expected to be the star man in a Brazil demolition. Mhawi's excellent defending, and occasional attacking, however, prevented Neymar and Brazil from scoring in a match that saw even Brazilian fans applaud the Iraqi team after the match. Mhawi was also key in Iraq's draw with South Africa in their final match as the got knocked out, despite not losing a match.

Iraq
Alaa was called up to the Iraqi senior team following his impressive performances at the Under-23 Asian Championship and the Rio 2016 Olympics. On 21 August 2016 he made his international debut and won his first cap for Iraq against North Korea in a friendly match. Alaa has gone on to play in multiple World Cup qualifiers and friendlies for Iraq, establishing himself as one of the country's best right backs.

Playing Style
Mhawi is a very good all-rounder. Despite being a right back, he can be seen scoring goals quite often. Although he is relatively quick, he hasn't got the explosive pace that a lot of full backs have, he makes up for that with his dribbling however, as he is very good on the ball going forwards. He is just as good defensively, stopping many wingers from getting into dangerous areas.

statistics

Honors

Club
 Iraq Division One
 Winner 2013–14 With Al-Kahraba FC (shared).
 Iraqi Premier League
 Winner 2015-2016 With Al Zawraa.
 Winner 2018-2019 With Al Shorta.
 Iraq FA Cup
 Runner up 2015/16 with Al Zawraa.
 Iraqi Super Cup
 Winner 2019 with Al Shorta.

Individual
 2015–16 Iraqi Premier League: Team of the Season


John Thomas Foster

John Thomas Foster (1747 – 10 October 1796), of Dunleer, was an Irish politician.

He was the son of Rev Thomas Foster, Rector of Dunleer and Dorothy née Burgh. Foster was elected member to the Irish House of Commons for Dunleer in 1776 and held this seat until 1783. Subsequently he represented Ennis until 1790.

Foster married 1776, Lady Elizabeth Hervey daughter of 4th Earl of Bristol; they separated 1781. Children:
 Frederick Thomas Foster (3 October 1777 – 1853) MP for Bury St Edmunds.
 Elizabeth Foster (17 November 1778 – 25 November 1778).
 Augustus John Foster, later Sir Augustus Foster, 1st Baronet (December 1780 – 1848).


Ashikaga Junior College

is a private junior college in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan, established in 1979. The predecessor of the college, a women’s school, as established in 1925.

External links
 Official website


Zibovnik

Zibovnik () is a small settlement in the hills above Otave in the Municipality of Cerknica in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia. It no longer has any permanent residents.

Name
The name of the settlement was changed from Žibovnik to Zibovnik in 1990.


Adolf Michael Boehm

Adolf Michael Boehm (25 February 1861, Vienna – 20 February 1927, Klosterneuburg) was an Austrian painter and graphic artist.

Life

Boehm studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. He was a founding member of the Vienna Secession, sitting on its working committee in 1898, and publishing work in the magazine Ver Sacrum, but left the group in 1905. He then took part in the founding of the Klosterneuburger Künstlerbund, and provided support to Egon Schiele. From 1910 to 1925 he was the professor of nudes and nature studies at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule. He also performed graphic design, illustrated books and designed furniture and ceramics. His works show a distinctive ornamental style.

Works
 Autumn landscape in the Vienna woods, glass mosaic for Otto Wagner's villa, 1899.


Salzburgring

The Salzburgring is a  motorsport race track located in Koppl, east of Salzburg.

Key Facts
Track Length                     4,255 metres

Bends                                12 (6 right und 6 left bends)

Straights                            4 (the longest being at start/finish which is 750m)

Incline                                maximum 3,8%

Decline                              maximum 1,8%

Altitude difference             ca 25 metres

Altitude                              648,3 bis 670,6 metres

Boxes                                31

History

1968              Groundbreaking ceremony

1969              Opening with a combined car and motorbike race

1970              First Grand Prix of Austria for Motorbikes

1971              First FIM Motorbike World Championship race

2012-2014    Touring Car World Championships

2013              First Electric Love Festival which, in 2018, brought 180,000 attendees to the track

2019              50thanniversary

The race track was first opened in 1969. Lying in a narrow, alpine valley, it has a rather simple layout, with two long straights plus the sweeping and fast "Fahrerlagerkurve" ("paddock turn") at the bottom, and the narrow "Nockstein-Kehre" on the top. In spite of its simple layout, it garnered a fearsome reputation for the high speeds reached on the straights and the "Fahrerlagerkurve". Michael Doohan describes the section between 7 and 10 as his all time favorite piece of racetrack, likening it to "threading a motorcycle through the eye of a needle at 180mph whilst banging fairings with your competitors with armco barriers on each side". He continues "Sure it was fast and dangerous, but also enormous fun. To me it's what motorcycle racing is all about".

The Salzburgring track hosts touring car races like the German ADAC Procar Series, Deutsche Produktionswagen Meisterschaft, Deutsche Tourenwagen Challenge, Super Tourenwagen Cup and the European Touring Car Championship. It was also the home of the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix from 1971 to 1994, except for the 1980 and 1992 seasons. Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto are the all-time leaders in motorcycle Grand Prix victories at the circuit, with six wins apiece. Sidecar motorcycle races were also held at the venue. The track has also hosted the Oldtimer Grand Prix as well as during the last years a "Rupert Hollaus Memorial" organized by Ex-Grand Prix motorcycle and sidecar racer, Wolfgang Stropek. In 2008, the circuit played host to the then one-off European Touring Car Cup, with the event being won by Michel Nykjaer.

Results

Motorcycle Grand Prix
 1971 500cc: Giacomo Agostini - MV Agusta
 1975 500cc: Hideo Kanaya - Yamaha
 1978 500cc: Kenny Roberts - Yamaha
 1983 500cc: Kenny Roberts - Yamaha
 1987 500cc: Wayne Gardner - Honda
 1990 500cc: Kevin Schwantz - Suzuki
 1994 500cc: Michael Doohan - Honda

European Touring Car Championship


AIST

AIST, Aist, or variant, can refer to:

AIST
African Institute of Science and Technology
Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, one of the biggest research institutions in Japan
Association for Iron and Steel Technology, the main group for ferrous metallurgists in the United States

Aist, Upper Austria
Aist (river), in Austria
Wartberg ob der Aist, a town on the river Aist
Aist parish (Gemeinde) in Naarn im Machlande on the river Aist
Dietmar von Aist, 12th century minnesinger from the region of the Aist river

Aist, Russian for "stork"
Aist Bicycles, Belarusian bicycle company
Aist-class LCAC, assault hovercraft operated by the Soviet and Russian Navy
Khrunichev T-411 Aist, Russian light utility monoplane
Aist 1, a small satellite
AIST (missile), a Byelorussian cruise missile


Jayashree Chakravarty

Jayashree Chakravarty is a Kolkata based Indian visual artist.

Early Life and Education
Chakravarty was born in Khoai, Tripura where she grew up amidst hills and forests. She later moved to Kolkata in 1982 to live in the Salt Lake area. She studied at Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan and started to study the paintings of Tagore. Tagore along with other artists like Binode Behari Mukherjee’s and Ramkinkar Baij’s became her prime influence. Jayashree did her MS at University of Baroda. Her father was an army doctor and her sister is a scientist

Exhibitions

If You Will Stay Close to Nature... at  Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi (2014)
A Wired Ecology - a solo exhibition at Akar Prakar exhibition, Delhi (2019)
 Earth as Haven: Under the Canopy of Love - a solo exhibition at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum, Mumbai (2018)
Sightings: out of the wild - a solo exhibition at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida (2019)

Awards and recognition

 First Indian artist to showcase at Paris’ Guimet Museum
 Listed among '10 Best Images from Indian Art in 2016', published at Times of India


Mimudea brevialis

Mimudea brevialis is a moth of the family Crambidae.


Euxoa nostra

Euxoa nostra is a species of cutworm or dart moth in the family Noctuidae. It is found in North America.

The MONA or Hodges number for Euxoa nostra is 10800.


Aleksandr Khvostunov

Aleksandr Khvostunov (born 9 January 1974) is an Uzbekistani football defender currently playing for NBU Osiyo.

Playing career

Club
He played for Bunyodkor in 2007–2010. In July 2011 he joined FK Samarqand-Dinamo before playing in Qizilqum Zarafshon. In 2013, he joined NBU Osiyo, club playing in Uzbekistan First League.

National team
He earned 49 caps scoring 3 goals for the national team between 1997 and 2004.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours
Pakhtakor
Uzbek League (1): 1998

Bunyodkor
Uzbek League (3): 2008, 2009, 2010
Uzbek Cup (1): 2010


Kisho Kagami

is a professional Japanese baseball player.

External links

 NPB.com


Oreosomatidae

The oreos are a family, the Oreosomatidae, of marine fish. Most species are found in the Southern Hemisphere, inhabiting continental slopes down to about  deep.


Bernd Schneider (footballer)

Bernd Schneider (born 17 November 1973) is a retired German footballer. He was mainly a midfielder but could play anywhere on the left and right flanks. After retiring in June 2009, he took up an advisory role at his first club, Carl Zeiss Jena, and a scouting position at Bayer Leverkusen.

Nicknamed Schnix by fans and teammates, Schneider started out at his hometown club Carl Zeiss Jena and made a name for himself during his decade-long stint at Bayer Leverkusen. He earned the nickname "The White Brazilian" for his dribbling and passing skills as well as his accurate free kicks and corners. Although mostly a provider of goals rather than a finisher, he was capable of scoring, especially from long distance.

Club career
Schneider started his professional career at local Carl Zeiss Jena, going on to help the Thuringian outfit to stay five seasons in the second division; his debut came on 13 August 1991, playing close to ten minutes in a 1–3 loss at Darmstadt 98.

Schneider then played one season at Eintracht Frankfurt, subsequently moving to Bayer Leverkusen, and establishing himself as an essential player for both club and country. In 1999–2000 and
2001–02, he was instrumental in Bayer's runner-up league finishes, serving 11 decisive passes in the latter season, as well as netting five goals himself; he also appeared 19 times as the side reached the 2002 Champions League Final.

More a creator than a finisher, Schneider scored a career-best ten league goals in the 2003–04 season, making him the highest-scoring midfielder in that year's competition, alongside Johan Micoud; Leverkusen finished third and, during the following season, Schneider renewed his link for a further four years.

After two more seasons in which he scored ten goals and achieved 18 assists in 60 matches, Schneider began suffering consecutive injuries: first the calf, then the back, being sidelined almost the entire 2008–09 due to the latter. He only managed to return to action on 16 May 2009, playing the last 20 minutes of a 5–0 home win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The following month, he announced his retirement after failing to fully recover from the injury.

On 29 May 2009, Carl Zeiss Jena named him as mentor to club president Peter Schreiber, and he began to work as scout for Bayer Leverkusen in June, immediately after retiring from play.

International career
Schneider made his debut for Germany during the 1999 Confederations Cup, playing in the 2–0 win against New Zealand and the loss to the United States (same result).

Since then, Schneider established himself as a vital squad member due to his work rate and versatility. He was ever-present at the 2002 World Cup, where he scored his first goal in their 8–0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in the group stages, and at the Euro 2004. At the World Cup on home soil, along with Ballack, Torsten Frings and Bastian Schweinsteiger, they formed a formidable midfield and all played their part in the national team's unexpected success. He captained the team in their opening game against Costa Rica as Ballack was out injured. In the final group stage match, he was instrumental in Germany's 3–0 win over Ecuador which guaranteed them maximum points as group winners.

Schneider was ruled out of Germany's Euro 2008 squad, due to surgery to fix a slipped disc. He retired with 81 caps for Germany.

Personal life
Schneider and his wife Carina have one daughter, Emily and a son, Giovani.

Career statistics

Club

1.Includes Champions League and UEFA Cup.
2.Includes 2. Bundesliga playoff and German League Cup.

International
Source:

International goals
Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

Honours

Club
Bayer Leverkusen
 Bundesliga: Runner-up 1999–2000, 2001–02
 DFB-Pokal: Runner-up 2001–02, 2008–09
 UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2001–02

International
Germany
 FIFA World Cup: Runner-up 2002, 3rd Place 2006
 FIFA Confederations Cup: 3rd Place 2005

Individual
 kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2001–02, 2005–06
 UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2001–02


Rudolf Schuster

Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) was President of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sought re-election, Schuster was defeated. He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates (Ivan Gašparovič, Vladimír Mečiar and Eduard Kukan) receiving more than that. He was succeeded by Ivan Gašparovič.

Life and career
Schuster was born in Košice. From 1964 to 1990, he was a member of the Communist Party of Slovakia. Before becoming President, he was Mayor (Slovak: primátor) of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the Slovak National Council (1989–1990), Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada (1990–1992) and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia, 1998–1999).

He speaks Slovak, Czech, German, Russian, English, and Hungarian fluently.

Schuster's father's family is of Carpathian German origin, while his mother's family is of Hungarian origin. Rudolf Schuster was married in 1961 to Irena Trojáková (died 2008) and he has two children (son Peter and daughter Ingrid) and two granddaughters. In his private life, he is a sports fan, a traveller and a writer. He is also a camera fan.

In 1998 he founded the centre-left Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia).

In 1999 he received honorary citizenship from Miskolc, as recognition of the good cooperation between the city and Košice during his mayorship.

In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.

Honours and awards
  : Order of the Redeemer (2000)
  : Order of the Star of Romania (2000)
  : Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic." – Zagreb, 2 October 2001)
  : Order of Merit (2001)
  : Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (28 June 2002)
  : Order of Isabella the Catholic (1 July 2002)
  : Royal Order of the Seraphim (2002)
  : Order of the White Eagle (2002)
  : Order of the Athir (2003)
  : Order of the White Lion (2019)


Mike Allred

Michael Dalton Allred is an American comic book artist and writer most famous for his independent comics creation, Madman. His style is often compared to pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life
Allred was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon his parents' divorce, he was raised with his father in Oregon, while his brothers and mother moved to Utah. He considers himself to be a "Mormon", though a liberal-minded one, and has stated that he still identifies with the beliefs, and considers The Book of Mormon to be a phenomenal and fascinating account.

Career

Mike Allred began his career as a radio host on KYES AM 950 (KY95) in Roseburg, Oregon. He later became a television reporter in Europe, and started drawing comics in 1989 with the 104-page graphic novel Dead Air (Slave Labor Graphics). The story loosely followed his stint in radio as a sidebar to the true focus of the novel, the effects of post-nuclear war over a small Oregon town. He followed this up with his similarly titled works Graphique Musique (1990) and Grafik Muzik (Caliber Comics 1990–1991), in which he set out the style that he was to become known for with his most famous character, Madman.

Madman first appeared as Frank Einstein in Creatures of the Id and Grafik Muzik published in 1990, but it wasn't until March 1992 that the first Madman miniseries debuted from Tundra Publishing in March 1992. The series gained further recognition with its move to Dark Horse Comics in April 1994, where it was relaunched as Madman Comics and went on to be nominated for several Harvey Awards. Madman Comics ran for 20 issues and ended in 2000. From 2007–2009, Image Comics published Madman: Atomic Comics for 17 issues.

Allred drew part of the 1993 "Worlds' End" story arc in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series.

Allred appeared as himself in the 1997 feature film Chasing Amy as part of the opening scene at a comic book convention, signing copies of his comic Madman. He also provides the artwork for the fictional comic book Bluntman and Chronic.

Allred himself gained further mainstream attention with the science-fiction/rock-and-roll comic Red Rocket 7 (Dark Horse, 1997) and his art for writer Peter Milligan's series X-Force, which he began drawing in July 2001, and subsequently became X-Statix. In 2000, AAA Pop published Allred's The Atomics, featuring a group of beatniks with superpowers. Issue #116 of X-Force, the first collaboration between Allred and Milligan, was the first Marvel comic book to not have the Comics Code Authority stamp of approval since 1971.

In 2004 and 2005, Allred wrote and drew The Golden Plates, an adaptation of The Book of Mormon. Allred is a Latter-Day Saint, and did much of the work on this project in collaboration with his wife Laura Allred.

Allred worked again with Neil Gaiman in 2009 on the Metamorpho feature in Wednesday Comics. The Madman All-New Giant-Size Super-Ginchy Special! was published in April 2011. Allred and writer Matt Fraction crafted a Fantastic Four spinoff series, FF, in 2013. The following year, Allred and writer Dan Slott launched a new Silver Surfer series at Marvel. His comic book series iZOMBIE, which ran from 2010 to 2012, was adapted into a 2015 television series of the same name. Allred drew the 1960s variant cover for Action Comics #1000 (June 2018).

His wife, Laura, frequently works as his colorist.

Awards
Allred's retro-styled artwork is a frequent nominee for comics awards such as the Harveys, the Eisners, and the Eagles. In his career, he has received:

 2009 – Inkpot Award
 2011 AML Award in the category of "Special Award in Graphical Narrative" for a lifetime of comic art
 2015 The television adaptation of his Vertigo comic book series iZombie was the recipient of the Best New Fandom award at the 2015 MTV Fandom Awards
 2016 The Eisner Award or Best Single Issue/One Shot (Silver Surfer #11)

Bibliography
 Dead Air (Slave Labor Graphics, 1989)
 Graphique Musique #1–3 (Slave Labor Graphics, 1989–1990)
 Creatures Of The Id #1 (Caliber Press, 1990)
 Grafik Muzik #1–4 (Caliber Press, 1990–1991)
 The Everyman (Epic Comics, 1991)
 Madman #1–3 (Tundra Publishing, 1992)
 Madman Adventures #1–3 (Tundra Publishing, 1992–1993)
 Vertigo Visions: The Geek #1 (DC Comics/Vertigo, 1993)
 Vertigo Jam #1 (DC Comics/Vertigo, 1993)
 Sandman #54 (DC Comics/Vertigo, 1993, with writer Neil Gaiman)
 Madman Comics #1–20 (Dark Horse Comics, 1994–2000)
 Untold Tales of Spider-Man '96 #1 (Marvel Comics, 1996)
 Superman/Madman Hullabaloo #1–3 (DC Comics/Dark Horse Comics, 1997)
 Red Rocket 7 #1–7 (Dark Horse Comics, 1997–1998)
 Feeders #1 (Dark Horse Comics, 1999)
 The Atomics #1–15 (AAA Pop, 2000–2001)
 Superman and Batman: World's Funnest #1 (DC Comics, 2001)
 Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame #1 (DC Comics, 2001)
 X-Force #116–128 (Marvel Comics, 2001–2002, with writer Peter Milligan)
 Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #4–5 (Marvel Comics, 2001)
 Catwoman vol. 3 #1–4 (inker) (DC Comics, 2002)
 Just Imagine Stan Lee with Chris Bachalo Creating Catwoman #1 (inker) (DC Comics, 2002)
 X-Statix #1–4, 6–9, 11–19, 21–26 (Marvel Comics, 2002–2004, with writer Peter Milligan)
 Vertigo X Anniversary Preview #1 (DC Comics, 2003)
 Solo #7 (DC Comics, 2005)
 Madman Atomic Comics #1–17 (Image Comics, 2007–2009)
 Fables #76 (DC Comics, 2008, with writer Bill Willingham)
 Wednesday Comics #1–12 (Metamorpho) (DC Comics, 2009, with writer Neil Gaiman)
 Nation X #1 and 4 (Marvel Comics, 2009–2010)
 iZOMBIE #1–28 (Vertigo, 2010–2012)
 Daredevil vol. 3 #17 (2012)
 Wolverine and the X-Men #17 (2012)
 FF vol. 2 #1–10 (Marvel Comics, 2013)
 Batman Black and White vol. 2 #4 (DC Comics, 2014)
 Silver Surfer vol. 7 #1–15 (Marvel Comics, 2014–2016)
 Silver Surfer vol. 8 #1–14 (Marvel Comics, 2016–2017)
 Bug!: The Adventures of Forager #1–6 (Young Animal, 2017)
 Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (DC Comics, 2017)

Covers only
Cheval Noir #39 (Dark Horse Comics, 1993)
The Comics Journal #164 (Fantagraphics Books, 1993)
Hero Illustrated Special Edition #2 (Warrior Publications, 1994)
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures #1 (Dark Horse Comics, 1994)
Dark Horse Presents #100–0, 100–5 (Dark Horse Comics, 1995)
Heartbreakers #3 (Dark Horse Comics, 1996)
Jay & Silent Bob #2 (Oni Press, 1998)
Vertigo: Winter's Edge #2 (DC Comics/Vertigo, 1999)
Empty Love Stories #2 (Funny Valentine Press, 1999)
Oni Press Summer Vacation Supercolor Fun Special #1 (Oni Press, 2000)
Comicology #2 (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2000)
Oni Press Color Special #1–2 (Oni Press, 2001–2002)
Madman Picture Exhibition #4 (AAA Pop Comics, 2002)
X-Statix #20 (Marvel Comics, 2004)
Spider-Man Unlimited vol. 2 #6 (Marvel Comics, 2005)
Marvel Knights 4 #23–24 (Marvel Comics, 2005–2006)
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1–5 (Marvel Comics, 2006)
Kabuki #9 (Icon Comics, 2007)
Spider-Man Fairy Tales #4 (Marvel Comics, 2007)
Popgun Volume 1 (Image Comics, 2007)
The Perhapanauts Annual #1 (Image Comics, 2008)
Jersey Gods #1, 4, 6–10, 12 (Image Comics, 2009–2010)
Rapture #3 (Dark Horse Comics, 2009)
Fractured Fables gn (Silverline Books, 2010)
Captain Action Season 2 #1 (Moonstone Books, 2010)
Teen Titans #86 (DC Comics, 2010)
glamourpuss #19 (Aardvark-Vanaheim, 2011)
iZombie #12, 18, 21, 24 (DC Comics/Vertigo, 2011–2012)
The Next Issue Project #3 (Image Comics, 2011)
Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #5 (IDW Publishing, 2012)
It Girl! and the Atomics #1–12 (Image Comics, 2012–2013)
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #3 (DC Comics, 2012)
Happy! #1 (Image, 2012)
Mars Attacks The Real Ghostbusters #1 (IDW Publishing, 2012)
Batman '66 #1–3, 5, 7 (DC Comics, 2013–2014)
All New Doop #1 (Marvel Comics, 2014)
Action Comics #1000 variant (DC Comics, 2018)

Other work

As artist
 Mallrats (1995) (Opening sequence)
 Chasing Amy (1997) (Bluntman and Chronic artwork)
 The Faculty (1998) (Logo for The Hornets football team)
 Ingredients the Band – Bears Driving Trains (2006) (album cover)
 Skyscape – Zetacarnosa (2009) (album cover)
 iZombie (TV series) (2014) (Title sequence intro)
Christmas Party (2018) (The Monkees album cover)

As writer
 Astroesque (1996)
 G-Men from Hell (2000)

As musician
 The Gear – Son of Red Rocket Seven (1998)
 The Gear – Left Of Center Of The Universe (2009)


Wilsonton, Queensland

Wilsonton is an urban locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wilsonton had a population of 5,955 people.

Geography
Wilsonton is located  west of the Toowoomba central business district.

History
The suburb, officially named in 1981, is believed to honour James T. Wilson, an 1870s businessman and supporter of the Toowoomba Agricultural Society. The suburb was amended in 2006 after the gazettal of Wilsonton Heights as a separate suburb.

Facilities
The suburb contains Toowoomba City Aerodrome and an industrial area in the south-west corner delimited by Taylor Street and Boundary Street.

Education
The suburb contains two State Primary schools and one Catholic Primary school. The schools are:
 Wilsonton State School (1894)
 Fairview Heights State School (1995)
 Sacred Heart Primary School (1968)


Battle of Rudniki Forest

The Battle of Rudniki Forest was a period of anti-German partisan activity carried out on behalf of Lituaninan Partisans in the vicinity of Vilna during 1944 and 1945.

Activities included acts of sabotage such as destroying electrical and municipal infrastructure as well as armed raids and ambushes against the Germans and revenge attacks against hostile locals.


Man of the Hour

"Man of the Hour" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam. Written by vocalist Eddie Vedder, "Man of the Hour" accompanies the closing credits of the 2003 film Big Fish, and is the first track on the film's soundtrack album. It was released as a single on November 26, 2003. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).

Origin and recording
Director Tim Burton approached Pearl Jam in 2003 to request an original song for the soundtrack of his new film, Big Fish. After screening an early print of the film, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder went home, wrote "Man of the Hour", and had a demo ready by the next day. It was recorded by the band four days later. Guitarist Mike McCready stated, "We were so blown away by the movie... Eddie and I were standing around talking about it afterwards and were teary-eyed. We were so emotionally charged and moved by the imagination and humanity that we felt because of the movie."

Lyrics
The wistful song is a young man saying farewell to his father: "The man of the hour has taken his final bow/Goodbye for now." According to Billboard magazine, the "acoustic-tinged track is accented by wistful slide guitar work, with lyrics reflecting how the father/son bond can be rocked by what seem like insurmountable obstacles."

According to Vedder at a June 1, 2006 concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey at Continental Airlines Arena, "Come Back" from the band's 2006 album, Pearl Jam, is set with the same young man from "Man of the Hour" talking to the departed two months later.

Release and reception
"Man of the Hour" was released as a single on November 26, 2003, just prior to the release of the film. The single of this song features a demo version of Vedder alone on vocals and guitar as a B-side. The single was made available for purchase through the band's official website as well as through Amazon.com. It was Pearl Jam's first release without a label, in partnership with Amazon.com.

"Man of the Hour" was nominated for the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but lost to Annie Lennox's "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was also nominated for a 2003 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and a 2004 World Soundtrack Award.

Heather Phares of Allmusic said, "Though Burton's quirky, eerie aesthetic would normally be at odds with Pearl Jam's earnestness, the two work well together here, with the song touching on the film's warmth and adding a bit of earthiness to its daydreamy nature." Barry Walters of Rolling Stone said that "the star is the film's end-titles' closer, Pearl Jam's "Man of the Hour", which captures the darkness of Big Fish'''s central Oedipal conflict." In the director's commentary for the DVD release of Big Fish, director Tim Burton raves about the song, calling it "beautiful" and "so right" and noting how well it "matched and mirrored" the film.

Live performances
"Man of the Hour" was first performed live at the band's October 22, 2003 concert in Seattle at Benaroya Hall. Since the death of Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone, Vedder has dedicated live performances of the song to him. Live performances of "Man of the Hour" can be found on the live album Live at Benaroya Hall, various official bootlegs, the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set and the Eddie Vedder DVD Water on the Road. On October 27, 2013 at their show in Baltimore, the band dedicated the song to Lou Reed who had died earlier that day.

During a show in Chicago on August 22, 2016, Vedder dedicated the song to his late friend Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains. That day would have been Staley's 49th birthday; "It’s the birthday of a guy called Layne Staley tonight, and we’re thinking of him tonight too. 49 years old", Vedder told the crowd before dedicating the song to his friend.

In other media
"Man of the Hour" was featured in the Cold Case episode "Into the Blue", and in the tribute to late Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata at The Game Awards 2015. Vedder also performed the song during the season finale of Roadies''.

Track listing
All songs written by Eddie Vedder.
"Man of the Hour" – 3:46
"Man of the Hour" (demo) – 3:53


20th U-boat Flotilla

20th U-boat Flotilla ("20. Unterseebootsflottille") was a training flotilla ("Ausbildungsflottille ") of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The flotilla was formed in Pillau, in June 1943 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Ernst Mengersen, and specialised in tactical training (Vortaktische Ausbildung). It was disbanded in February 1945.


John Whitehurst

John Whitehurst FRS (10 April 1713 – 18 February 1788), born in Cheshire, England, was a clockmaker and scientist, and made significant early contributions to geology.  He was an influential member of the Lunar Society.

Life and work

Whitehurst was born in Congleton, Cheshire, to a clockmaker, the elder John Whitehurst. Receiving only a slight formal education, the younger Whitehurst was taught clockmaking by his father, who also encouraged the boy's pursuit of knowledge.  In 1734, at the age of twenty-one, Whitehurst visited Dublin to inspect a clock of curious construction of which he had heard.

Career
About 1736, Whitehurst entered into business for himself at Derby, where he soon obtained great employment, distinguishing himself by constructing several ingenious pieces of mechanism. Besides other works, he made the clock for the town hall, and on 6 September 1737, he was enrolled as a burgess in reward.  He also made thermometers, barometers, and other philosophical instruments, and interested himself in contriving waterworks. He was consulted in almost every undertaking in Derbyshire and in the neighbouring counties in which skill in mechanics, pneumatics, and hydraulics was required.

In 1774, Whitehurst obtained a post at the Royal Mint in London. In 1775, on the passage of the act for the better regulation of the gold coinage, without any solicitation on his part, he was appointed stamper of the money-weights on the recommendation of the Duke of Newcastle. Whitehurst moved to London, where he passed the rest of his life in scientific pursuits. other distinguished scientists visited his house in Colt Court, Fleet Street, formerly the abode of James Ferguson.

In 1772 - aged 59 years- he invented the "pulsation engine" (not to be mixed up with a Pulser pump), a water-raising device which was the precursor of the hydraulic ram.

In 1778, Whitehurst published his theory on geological strata in An Inquiry into the Original State and Formation of the Earth. He had begun this while living at Derby, originally intending to facilitate the discovery of valuable minerals beneath the Earth's surface. He pursued his researches with so much ardour, that "the exposure he incurred" tended to impair his health.

On 13 May 1779, Whitehurst was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1783, he was sent to examine the Giant's Causeway and the volcanic remains in the north of Ireland, embodying his observations in the second edition of his Inquiry.

About 1784 he contrived a system of ventilation for St. Thomas's Hospital.

In 1787, age 74, a year before his death, he published An Attempt towards obtaining invariable Measures of Length, Capacity, and Weight, from the Mensuration of Time (London). Whitehurst wanted to study the shape of the earth by measuring differences in gravitation. For this, he studied heavy pendulums in different locations. He measured the length of the pendulum, the frequency of its oscillation and the length of the path its head was moving. He compared these to theoretical values he calculated assuming the globe is spherical. Starting on the assumption that the length of a second pendulum in the latitude of London was 39.2 inches, he deduced that the length of one oscillating 42 times a minute is 80 inches, while that of one oscillating twice as many times is 20 inches. The difference between these two lengths would therefore be exactly 5 feet. He found upon experiment that the actual difference was only 59.892 inches owing to the real length of the pendulum, oscillating once a second, being 39.125 inches. He obtained rough data, from which the true lengths of pendulums, the spaces through which heavy bodies fall in a given time, and many other particulars relating to the force of gravitation and the true figure of the earth could be deduced.

Personal life
On 9 January 1745, Whitehurst married Elizabeth Gretton, daughter of George Gretton, rector of Trusley and Dalbury in Derbyshire.
In 1788 Whitehurst died, 75 years old, at his house in Bolt Court, Fleet Street, and was buried beside his wife in St. Andrew's burying-ground in Gray's Inn Road. There were no surviving children.

It has been suggested that Whitehurst is the model for Joseph Wright of Derby's picture of A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery in the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

Selected writings

  2nd ed. (1786).