Definition.

Even though originally studied for regular expressions, the definition applies to arbitrary formal languages. Given any formal language "S" over an alphabet "Σ" and any string "u" ∈ Σ, the derivative of "S" with respect to "u" is defined as:  An equivalent way of stating this is, for all "u","v" ∈ Σ:  which provides some intuition for the notation.  From the definition, for all "u","v","w" ∈ Σ:  so "(uw)""S" = "w"("u""S").  The derivative with respect to an arbitrary string reduces to successive derivatives over the symbols of that string because, for "a"∈ Σ, "u"∈ Σ:  A language "L"⊆ Σ is called "nullable" if it contains the empty string, that is, "ε" ∈ "L". Each language "S" is uniquely determined by nullability of its derivatives:  A language can be viewed as a (potentially infinite) boolean-labelled tree (see also tree (set theory) and infinite-tree automaton). Each possible string "w" ∈ Σ denotes a position in the tree, with binary label "true" when "w" ∈ "S" and "false" when "w" ∉ "S". In this interpretation, the derivative with respect to a symbol "a" corresponds to computing the subtree obtained by following the edge "a". Decomposing tree into the root and the subtrees "a""S" corresponds to the following equality, which holds for every formal language "S"⊆ Σ:

Derivatives of generalized regular expressions.

When a language is given by a regular expression, the concept of derivatives leads to an algorithm for deciding whether a given word belongs to the regular expression.  Given a finite alphabet "A" of symbols, a generalized regular expression denotes a possibly infinite set of finite-length strings of symbols from "A". It may be built of: In an ordinary regular expression, neither ∧ nor ¬ is allowed. The string set denoted by a generalized regular expression "R" is called its language, denoted as "L"("R").

Computation.

For any given generalized regular expression "R" and any string "u", the derivative "u""R" is again a generalized regular expression. It may be computed recursively as follows.  Using the previous two rules, the derivative with respect to an arbitrary string is explained by the derivative with respect to a single-symbol string "a". The latter can be computed as follows:  Here, ν("R") is an auxiliary function yielding a generalized regular expression that evaluates to the empty string ε if "R"'s language contains ε, and otherwise evaluates to ∅. This function can be computed by the following rules:

Properties.

A string "u" is a member of the string set denoted by a generalized regular expression "R" if and only if ε is a member of the string set denoted by the derivative "u""R".  Considering all the derivatives of a fixed generalized regular expression "R" results in only finitely many different languages. If their number is denoted by "d", all these languages can be obtained as derivatives of "R" with respect to string of length below "d". Furthermore, there is a complete deterministic finite automaton with "d" states which recognises the regular language given by "R", as laid out by the Myhill–Nerode theorem.

Derivatives of context-free languages.

Derivatives are also effectively computable for recursively defined equations with regular expression operators, which are equivalent to context-free grammars. This insight was used to derive parsing algorithms for context-free languages. Implementation of such algorithms have shown to have cubic complexity, corresponding to the complexity of Earley parser on general context-free grammars.

In theoretical computer science, in particular in formal language theory, the Brzozowski derivative "u""S" of a set "S" of strings and a string "u" is defined as the set of all strings obtainable from a string in "S" by cutting off a prefixing "u", formally: "u""S" = { "v" ∈ Σ: "uv" ∈ "S" }, cf. picture. It was introduced under various different names since the late 1950s. Today it is named after the computer scientist Janusz Brzozowski who investigated their properties and gave an algorithm to compute the derivative of a generalized regular expression.

En Informatique théorique, et en particulier en théorie des automates finis, la dérivée de Brzozowski est un outil qui permet de construire un automate fini à partir d'une expression rationnelle ou régulière.


Plot.

Iris is a teenage girl who likes to sing and help others. However, when she sings, strange events happen. Encouraged by her best friend Nathaniel, Iris auditions for a girl rock band, but ends up destroying the room and is later attacked by two strangers. The judges at the audition, Talia and Auriana, come to help her, and they explain to her that she is actually a princess with magical powers who must save her kingdom of Ephedia from the clutches of Gramorr, who has taken it over. The only way to save it is to master her powers and to find the Oracle Gems of the Royal Crown of Ephedia, which have been scattered across the Earth. Over the course of the series, the three girls try to live as both ordinary teenagers as well as rock stars of the all-female band "LoliRock", while training Iris in secret and gathering the gems. But when Gramorr sends twin siblings Praxina and Mephisto to fight them and summon monsters to cause chaos, the girls must work together as magical girl warrior princesses.  In season 2, the three girls are joined by Ephedian girls Carissa and Lyna, who also transform into warrior princesses, but are not part of the band. The girls continue gathering Oracle Gems while helping those in need, but Gramorr and the evil twins continue to get stronger as well. When the last oracle gem is collected, Iris faces the reality of having to say goodbye to Nathaniel and returning to Ephedia, but when Gramorr claims the final gem and is freed, the girls work together to face him in one last battle.

Production.

Conception.

Jean-Louis Vandestoc drew inspiration for "LoliRock" from watching anime in his childhood that was broadcast on the French channels, including "Sherlock Hound", "Space Adventure Cobra", "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" and "Dragon Ball", but his most influential title he watched was "Magical Princess Minky Momo". He wrote "I loved the very core of it: a child transforming into an adult, helping people and making good deeds, the nice chara design, and finally the tone of the show: it could be funny and light, but also dramatic and tearful at other times. My soul was marked forever." After working on French cartoons "Monster Buster Club" and "Rekkit Rabbit" he wanted to make a magical girl show. He chose "Sailor Moon" and "Pretty Cure" as references for the magical girl part, and "Jem and the Holograms" for the music career part.

Character design.

The producers at Marathon Media asked designers to draw Iris for a magical girl project as a teenage alien princess with ice/crystal powers. Character designer Bertrand Todesco drew inspiration from Betty Autier, a French fashion blogger of "le blog de betty". She had dark hair and straight bangs, but Todesco figured the producers wanted a blonde girl for a lead, so he went with the look of Jenny Humphrey of the TV series "Gossip Girl", portrayed by Taylor Momsen. The producers also wanted the girls' irises to be star-shaped. Autier's appearance as well as her wardrobe was retained for Talia.  Following the initial picture, Todesco needed to design a princess/rockstar outfit, of which he chose a green dress worn by Blake Lively. The colour was changed to pink as green was not suitable for merchandising. Todeco added a magical pet creature in the custom of "Sailor Moon", which would later become Amaru. He designed in the hair streaks for when the girls were rock stars, and dresses that weren't so frilly that they would be complicated to draw.  In designing Talia and the then-named Aurora, Todesco originally started with a black girl and an Asian girl with typical hairstyles, but later changed his mind. He then found inspirations from other "Gossip Girl" characters as well as actresses Amber Stevens West and Ariana Grande, the latter of whom was how she acted in the teen sitcom "Victorious" rather than her current pop singer image. He also referenced Keri Hilson and Alicia Keys. "Victorious" was also the inspiration for some of the key visuals he used in promoting the series to get funding.  Early promotions of the series pictured the antagonist named Gromar to be an evil uncle of Iris who imprisoned the king and queen, and that he sent his two evil twin nephews to Earth to thwart Lolirock and take the gems. Paxson said that they abandoned the idea as it would have made him more of a stereotype. Todesco originally conceived of antagonists Praxina and Mephisto to have guitar playing sound powers that would counter the girls' singing voice powers but the idea was abandoned. After several iterations, Praxina's final design was approved where she would have a butterfly brooch and motif, while Mephisto's was approved later, after director Jean-Louis had suggested he have a snake motif and a half-covered face. Eventually Gramorr would have the covered face,  The design for the crystal magic circles and related animation was first done in 2D based off some reference pictures. Different colours and symbols were assigned to each character. It was later created in CGI. Animation tools used include Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, and Blender.  Lyna and Carissa were created in response to a request from the producers when the writing for season 1 was nearing completion. The request was to add two new princesses to increase the member count to five. However, the LoliRock developers thought they already had too many characters so they made Lyna and Carissa supporting characters that were "outside the main gang but always ready and willing to help when needed". The two girls' transformations resemble Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. The designers considered making one of the two girls look Asian to balance out the overall group's look; they applied the look to both girls, and chose Lyna. There was also a concern that Carissa might be confused with Auriana as the show's redhead, they decided to go with giving her an Irish redhead theme anyway.

Themes and writing.

"LoliRock" head writer Madellaine Paxson, who had worked on children's shows "Making Fiends", "Power Rangers RPM" as well as the horror film "Blood Punch", described the themes of the show as: friendship and love, magic, singing / music, and good vs. evil. She said the hardest part in writing an episode is the beginning and also in integrating the themes along with a story with a person that needs help. Her favourite scenes from the show were where the princesses are together doing ordinary teenage girl things as they had opportunities for comedy. She summarised the show as having something for everybody, very girly, but good action too. In the press release, Zodiak Kids describe the show as having a "cast of characters that are aspirational role models for a generation of children for whom justice has become a core value". Jean-Louis Vandestoc chose a band concept for the series as it was different from his other shows which involved characters that went to school and then saved the world. The school part was replaced by the girls training or rehearsing for the concert. The developers later commented in their production blog FAQ that Iris was still attending school and that the episodes aren't all during summer vacation.  According to posts on the production Tumblr, "LoliRock" is classified as somewhere between a script-driven and storyboard-driven show. They started with a full script and then recorded lines with scratch voices or final voices, as re-recording after storyboarding would be costlier. The storyboard is then worked on, and some of the storyboard artists and supervisor adding and changing things they felt were important such as with the kiss scene in the Shanila episode and the Iris becoming a dark princess. Storyboard stage also included fixes for continuity and plot holes.

Music and voice-over.

The music score was composed and produced by Norbert "Yellowshark" Gilbert, with about 600 tracks over the course of the 52 26-minute episodes. Five recurring songs (including the theme song) were recorded for each season. Due to limited resources in production, the team posted that Iris would be the only one singing on those songs, so they recorded Yasmin Shah in English and then developed the music videos. After realising that it would be unnatural for the other girls to not sing, they designed Iris to have a microphone while the others would just sing along. They considered recording singing for Talia and Auriana but were constrained by budget. Cassandre Berger provided the singing on the French dub. The voices were then mixed. As the dialogue was done later, the voice actors only sang on the incidental bits such as rehearsals.  The episodes were written and dubbed in English first and then adapted into French. For season 1, the English voices were recorded at Vida Spark Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while the French voices were recorded at Lylo studios in Paris, France.

Marketing and promotion.

Zodiak Media announced "LoliRock" in April 2013 at the MIPTV event in Cannes, France. Early promotions included the idea of princesses with magical singing voices. The demographic target audience is girls ages 6 to 12, and the group has partnered with France Televisions and Disney Channel France. Marathon Media CEO Vincent Chalvron-Demersay and general manager David Michel said that "LoliRock is a fresh, contemporary take on what it is to be a girl today, infused with music and magical adventures and the all-important notion of justice in today's teenage world. It's a perfect companion piece to "Totally Spies!", which has been so successful in this same space." In comparing the promotion of the show to that of "Totally Spies!", Zodiak senior vice-president Patricia de Wilde said that Zodiak made sure the premise was made clear for the new show.  The five songs were publicised as music videos on YouTube. Plans were also made to create live-action "LoliRock" bands in various markets, such as Super TV's contest held online and among major cities in Italy. A website was launched with videos, games, and message boards. Promotional toys were also offered at Quick restaurants as well as McDonald's. An app was developed for the music which Zodiak senior vice-president Patricia de Wilde said was a "sort of cross between K-Pop and Katy Perry."

Broadcast.

The show premiered on France 3 on 18 October 2014. running for 13 episodes until March 2015. On 26 January 2016, Zodiak Kids published an article officially announcing that BatteryPOP had acquired AVOD (streaming) rights to LoliRock for one year.  On 1 April, France Televisions announced the release of episodes on France 4, and Disney France. Zodiak also reported that Italy would launch LoliRock on De Agostini Editore's Super! DTT channel. France 4 began broadcasting the 13 episodes on 4 April 2016. On 1 May, the first season of the series was released on Netflix, in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.  The "LoliRock" producers pre-released the four episodes of season 2 on YouTube in December 2016. Netflix released the English dub of the season 2 episodes on 5 January 2017. It was broadcast on France 4 in February with two episodes per weekday.

Reception.

Ella Anders of BSC Kids wrote that "LoliRock" "plays it clear as a magical girl series and even nods other iconic shows in the genera" such as "Pretty Cure" and "Sailor Moon", but that it is "grand in its own right and should be held up as a great magical girl series". She liked the diverse cast, plot, humor and background story, the last of which she had not seen since "", and that it was a type of show she would have loved growing up.  Heather Newman of "Forbes" magazine described the series as "A French animated series about an impossibly thin, stylish, magical girl who sings."  When asked whether "LoliRock" would have a cross-over episode with French superhero show "" from Zagtoon, Thomas Astruc, who was the creator and director on "Miraculous" and a storyboarder on "LoliRock", said it was unlikely given they are from two different production companies, but that the animation community is small and that both companies share the same love of animation. He has posted about the two being cousin shows.

Other media.

A "LoliRock" video game, available on iOS and Android, was released by Bulkypix in 2014. The game lets players sing to the songs featured on the show, record performances, and customise a sound studio and pick the girls' outfits.  Zodiak has also worked a deal with publishing company Hachette Jeunesse to create novels, activity books, stationery, and e-books.

LoliRock is a French animated television series produced by Marathon Media and Zodiak Kids with the participation of France Télévisions and The Walt Disney Company France. It was created by Jean Louis-Vandestoc and written by Madellaine Paxson. It first aired in France on 18 October 2014 on France 3, and has expanded to television channels in Europe. It has also been licensed in United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, with an English dub released to Netflix on 1 May 2016. As of 2020, there is no announcement regarding a third season.

LoliRock est une série télévisée d'animation française en 52 épisodes de, créée par David Michel et Jean-Louis Vandestoc et diffusée entre le et le sur France 3 dans l'émission "Ludo".


Geography.

Elsmere is located in western Kenton County at (39.001475, -84.603116). It is bordered to the north and east by Erlanger, to the south by Independence, and to the west by Florence in Boone County. The Dixie Highway (U.S. Routes 25, 42, and 127) forms the northern border of the city and leads northeast to Covington and southwest to the center of Florence.  According to the United States Census Bureau, Elsmere has a total area of, of which, or 0.73%, are water.

History.

The community was first settled in 1885 as "South Erlanger". Elsmere organized as a city in 1896, renamed after Elsmere Avenue in Norwood, Ohio, the hometown of one of its founders.

Government.

In 1998, Billy Bradford was elected mayor of Elsmere, the first African-American mayor elected in northern Kentucky. He served 12 years (three terms), and now serves as a member of the city council. The current mayor is Marty Lenhof.

Economy.

Regal Beloit (formerly Emerson Power Transmission) and L'Oréal have facilities in an unincorporated pocket of Kenton County surrounded by Elsmere. Portions of Elsmere have a Florence mailing address. Mazak's North American headquarters are in Elsmere.

Education.

The cities of Elsmere and adjacent Erlanger share a public school system. The following schools are shared by the two cities:

Demographics.

According to the 2010 U.S. census, there were 8,451 people, 2,992 households, and 2,131 families residing in the city. The racial makeup was 84.3 percent white, 7.1 percent black, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian American, 0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 4.2% some other race, and 3.4% two or more races. 8.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Elsmere is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 8,451 at the 2010 census.

La ville américaine d’ est située dans le comté de Kenton, dans l’État du Kentucky. Lors du recensement de 2010, sa population s’élevait à.


Biography.

Early life and background.

Darwaza was born to a middle-class Sunni Muslim mercantile family in Nablus. The Darwaza family had long been involved in textiles and had extensive trade relationships with merchants in Beirut and Damascus. In his memoirs, Izzat writes "The import of [textile] goods from the outside was, for the most part, through Beirut and Damascus." Izzat's father, 'Abd al-Hadi Darwaza and his paternal grandfather Darwish Darwaza, owned a store in the Khan al-Tujjar of Nablus. Izzat recalled, "From what I remember from my father and through my grandfather, the title merchant or merchants in Nablus mostly referred to owners of commercial textile and cloth shops. In Nablus, these shops were confined, or mostly confined, to a caravansary called Khan al-Tujjar, in the middle of Nablus."  Izzat received elementary and preparatory education in Ottoman government-run schools in the city. In addition to Arabic, he learned Turkish and English, as well as a basic knowledge of French which he strengthened in by the end of his formal education. Darwaza left school without going to Istanbul or Beirut to finish his education as was the custom of his generation. Instead, he educated himself, and according to Rashid Khalidi, became "a self-taught intellectual."

Loyalty to dissidence toward the Ottoman Empire.

Originally, Darwaza supported the Ottoman Empire based on his feelings of identification with Islam and of belonging to the larger Ottoman Muslim "ummah" ("nation"). In 1906, he served in the local Ottoman administration as a clerk in the Department of Telegraphic and Postal Services (DTPS) in Nablus. His first assignment in that department was for the District of Beisan and northern Palestine (the Galilee and northern Samaria). He was also an Arabist and was enthusiastic about the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, expecting that the new Ottoman government would institute reforms and grant the Arabs autonomy within the framework of the empire.  His loyalty to the Ottomans eroded, however, due to the impact of the new governments's Turkification policies which he viewed as repressive against his ideals. Because of his dissatisfaction with the Young Turks, Darwaza was driven to support Arab independence from the empire. In 1908, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), but withdrew soon after because of its Turkish nationalist political agenda. He played an active role in establishing a branch for the Party of Harmony and Freedom in Nablus in 1911. The party was founded in Istanbul and joined by Arab members to counter the policies of the CUP. In 1913, he joined an anti-Zionist group based in Nablus that sought to prevent the sale of Arab-owned land to Jews by submitting petitions to the Ottoman sultan, or by buying land for sale to preempt its purchase by Jews. In June 1913, he helped to prepare and became secretary of the First Palestinian Congress (also known as the Arab Congress of 1913) in Paris. In congress, he was also the delegate for the Jamma'in subdistrict of the District of Nablus. Meanwhile, Darwaza was still working in the DTPS.  In 1914, he established the Arab Scientific Society whose purpose was to spread Arabic culture in the region through the establishment of Arabic schools. The society did not succeed, however, due to the outbreak of World War I. Within the DTPS, Darwaza was appointed commissioner and deputy for the Nablus Post Office. He was promoted again—this time as director of postal stamp sales in Beirut.

Promoting unity with Syria.

During World War I, Darwaza served as Postal Directorate-General of Beirut and retained this post until 1918. In 1916, while serving with the Ottoman army in the Sinai Peninsula, he joined the underground al-Fatat organization through Ahmad Qadri, a high-ranking member from Damascus. The aim of al-Fatat was to liberate and unite the Arab lands under Ottoman rule. In the wake of the Arab Revolt of 1916, Darwaza left the Ottoman civil service to serve in King Faisal's provisional government in Damascus. Ideologically, Darwaza became an Arab nationalist endorsing the concept of a Greater Syrian Arab state.  Following the World War I Armistice, Darwaza held several political posts including Secretary-General of al-Fatat from May 1919 to March 1920, Secretary of the Muslim-Christian Association's Nablus branch, and Secretary of the First Palestine Arab Congress in Jerusalem in 1919. During the spring and summer of 1919, a vigorous political campaign was waged by the Arab politicians in Palestine who were divided into "Younger Politicians" and "Older Politicians". The campaign was centered on the political future of Palestine, and Darwaza, a Younger Politician, played a central role. The Younger Politicians consisted of Arab nationalists who sought to unite Palestine with King Faisal's Syria while the Older Politicians consisted of Palestinian nationalists who preferred that Palestine be an independent entity.  Darwaza and Hafiz Kanaan—another leading al-Fatat member from Nablus—lobbied Arab groups in Jerusalem to advocate Syro-Palestinian unity before the arrival of the King-Crane Commission on 10 June 1919. They first met with Haj Amin al-Husseini and Kamil al-Husayni of al-Nadi al-Arabi party and they immediately expressed their support. They also suggested that Darwaza meet Raghib al-Nashashibi, Hussam ad-Din Jarallah, and Aref al-Dajani, supporters of independence. Darwaza convinced Nashashibi to gather some of the Older Politicians of Jerusalem to a meeting at his house. When it was made clear that Musa al-Husayni, a leader of the Older Politicians, was now in favor of unity, all of the other Older Politicians followed suit. When the commission arrived in Jaffa, it concluded on 27 June that it was in favor of Syro-Palestinian unity under a British Mandate.  In the first week of July 1919, the General Syrian Congress (GSC) held its first meeting in Damascus and Darwaza was its secretary. The GSC called for the immediate independence of Syria as a sovereign state under a constitutional monarchy and underlined its opposition to the establishment of Zionism in southern Syria (Palestine). Along with Haj Amin al-Husseini and Aref al-Aref, Darwaza founded and became an officer of the Palestinian Society in Damascus. The organization urged all societies and clubs in Palestine to cooperate and condemn the San Remo Conference's decision to grant Great Britain a mandate over Palestine and Transjordan.  The hope of Darwaza and the Younger Politicians for unity with Syria were curtailed when it became known that King Faisal was aligning himself with the leaders of the Zionist movement because "they [the Zionists] were helping us [the Arabs] in the [Paris Peace] conference." Afterward, Darwaza believed King Faisal did not devote to the Palestine issue its deserved attention. Faisal was deposed by the French in July 1920. An event that further deteriorated Darwaza's ambitions of Arab unity was the confirmation of the British Mandate over Palestine at the San Remo Conference on 24 April 1920. His experience in Damascus revealed to him that the universalism of Arab nationalism was not as concrete as its advocates had thought, and the military might of the colonial powers—France and Great Britain—were an overwhelming force to contend with.

Educator in Nablus.

Darwaza continued his political activity, representing Nablus in the Fourth Palestinian Congress in May 1921 and the Seventh Palestinian Congress in June 1928. From 1922 to 1927, he served as the principal of the an-Najah National School (later to become an-Najah National University) where he initiated and nurtured an Arab nationalist political educational process. Darwaza wrote textbooks and was an educator himself. One of his students who later became a nationalist politician, Akram Zu'aiter, wrote that Darwaza "used to give us a weekly lesson on the principles of Nationalism and [modern] society, in a way which sharpened our thought and broadened our horizons." Zuaiter also recalls that Darwaza wrote up nationalist and historical plays that his students would perform in.  In 1927, Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim, the leader of the Young Men's Muslim Association of Haifa, a prominent merchant, and future associate of Darwaza, invited him to his home to speak to a large group of students and notables about nationalist ("qawmiyya") and patriotic ("wataniyya") education. This was recognition that Darwaza's contribution to the spread of Arab nationalist sentiments gained influence not only in an-Najah School, but throughout Palestine.

Fight against the British Mandate.

Darwaza became a member of the Arab Executive Committee and in 1930 was appointed by rival nationalist Haj Amin al-Husseini (now the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) as the General Administrator of the Waqf (Islamic religious trust) under the Supreme Muslim Council. In 1931, he convinced his city's MCA to change its name to the Patriotic Arab Association. Unlike other Arab politicians at the time, Darwaza supported a combination of pan-Arabism, Islamism, and dedication to the Palestinian nationalist ideal.  He began to edit in the "al-Ja'miyya al-Arabiyya" newspaper in the early 1930s and in December 1931-January 1932, he wrote articles encouraging Arabs to fight British policies in the Middle East, to unite in the face of growing dangers, and to renew their drive towards freedom and independence. In August 1932, he along with Awni Abd al-Hadi and others founded the Istiqlal (Independence) party in Palestine, an offshoot of al-Fatat. Originally, the Istiqlal operated in Syria, then Transjordan, but reassembled in Palestine after facing disappointing circumstances in both those territories. The party coaxed Palestinians towards defying British rule by staging demonstrations and political and social boycotts. Darwaza refused to allow the Istiqlal to participate in meetings between local Palestinian political parties and the British high-commissioner. Darwaza wrote an article on 21 June 1933, vehemently attacking Palestinian "vested interests". He argued that the wealthy Arab notables of Palestine were subservient to the British and the Zionists and would willingly leave Palestine for other countries, while the poor and middle-class Arabs had to remain to fight and die in their battle against British oppression. Darwaza helped instigate and organize the 1933 demonstrations in Jaffa which protested British policy in Palestine and continued Jewish immigration.  Darwaza was one of the principal organizers of the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine which first erupted in his hometown of Nablus with the launch of the Palestinian general strike. Along with Abd al-Hadi, Darwaza was arrested by the British authorities in June and imprisoned in the military camp at Sarafand al-Amar. The Mufti sent a delegation consisting of Darwaza, Mu'in al-Madi, and Abd al-Hadi to Baghdad, then to Riyadh to discuss the situation and upon their return on 6 January 1937, they revealed that the advice given to them was to cease hostilities. During the revolt, in 1937, Darwaza was exiled from Palestine by British authorities to Damascus. Later in that year, Darwaza held several meetings with Nuri al-Sa'id of Iraq to explore various solutions to help the Arabs avoid appearing intransigent.  Despite attempts to calm the situation, in Damascus, Darwaza established and headed the Central Committee for National Jihad in Palestine which echoed Izz al-Din al-Qassam's call for a holy war against the British and Zionism. Darwaza had many encounters with al-Qassam, describing him as "a man lacking in arrogance or self-love. He was open and available to all of the people and the people loved him. And he lived the life of a "mujahid"." Darwaza worked closely with the Mufti, who was now under house arrest in Beirut, to garner support and supplies for the revolt and supervise the Arab rebels in Palestine.  In late 1939, he was accused by French military authorities of helping Palestinian rebels in the revolt, tried by a military court, and sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Citadel of Damascus. While his exile by the British abruptly curtailed his political life, his imprisonment marked the beginning of a new life wherein the Quran becomes a major concern for the next several years. He was released in November 1944. After his release, Darwaza was unable to return to Nablus because British authorities had issued an order preventing him from entering Palestine. As a result, he left for Turkey, mostly staying in Bursa until the end of 1945.  The Mufti re-established the Arab Higher Committee (AHC) in late 1946 and Darwaza joined the ten-member council upon a request from the Mufti. Darwaza, along with Emil Ghuri and Mu'in al-Madi, served as the AHC's delegates to the September 1947 convention of the Arab League's Political Committee in Lebanon. With support from the Transjordanian representative, Salih Jaber, the Prime Minister of Iraq, openly criticized the delegates and questioned the AHC's right to even send delegates to the convention. Later that year, Darwaza resigned from the AHC due to the Mufti's unbending attitude towards wider representation.

Later life.

After resigning from the AHC, Darwaza spent the rest of his life in the modern state of Syria where he left politics to concentrate on literature. Although he did much of his writing in the 1930s and 1940s, he did not have any of his works published until the 1960s. As a pan-Arab intellectual, Darwaza aided in establishing the union between Syria and Egypt forming the short-lived United Arab Republic. After Egypt adopted its 1956 constitution declaring that it was an Arab country and its people a part of the Arab nation, Darwaza concluded that Egypt and Syria were in a position to unite. When unity negotiations underwent, he suggested several forms of federation, such as the American, Soviet, and Indian models, but did not recommend any specific model for an Arab state. Darwaza did, however, suggest that the institution of a federation between Egypt and Syria would be the first step towards the realization of a comprehensive union.  In 1983 Darwaza granted Palestinian historian Muhammad Y. Muslih an eight-day interview and allowed him to photo-copy his memoirs in entirety. Muslih noted that Darwaza was failing in health at the time. He died in Damascus in 1984 at the age of 96. Darwaza had three daughters, Najah, Salma, and Rudaina and a son, Zuhair.

Literary works.

One of the first modern histories of the Arab nation in contrast to a history of an individual Arab country was composed by Darwaza in the late 1920s under the title "Lessons of Arab History: From Antiquity to Present Times". In the book, Darwaza begins by describing the origins of the Semitic peoples, the rise of Islam, the end of Arab rule in the Middle East by Turkic groups, and the foreign rule over the Arabs by Western powers. The book was intended to be used as a textbook in primary and secondary schools throughout the British Mandates of Palestine and later Iraq, hence its simplified and direct language. Nonetheless, it played a pioneering role in the development of pan-Arabism.  In 1934, Darwaza published a widely read story, "The Angel and the Land Broker", reflecting popular Arab sentiments against the growing "Zionist threat" and attacking brokers who tempted Palestinian land owners to sell their land to Jews. The story describes methods used by Zionists to entice Arab landowners to sell their land and the main characters in the story are an illiterate farmer and a Jewish girl from Tel Aviv who encourages the former to spend himself deep into debt, forcing him to sell his land at a price far below its value.  Later in his lifetime after leaving politics, Darwaza published memoirs that discussed in detail the city of Nablus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Youssef Choueiri, "he gives a graphic and almost exhaustive description of his hometown... its mosques, residential quarters, orchards, industries, and inhabitants. Moreover, he dwells at length of the social composition of the town endeavoring to reveal the open conflict between 'feudal families' and the new generation of middle traders, functionaries, civil servants, and teachers."

Quranic studies and interpretations.

While he was imprisoned in Damascus, Darwaza was provided with an opportunity to read and reflect upon the Quran. He states "I considered [this opportunity] an act of divine [favor] and started reading whatever books of exegesis and qur'anic studies were accessible to me." During his incarceration, he compiled three books dealing with the Quran and conceived the idea of writing a modern "tafsir" ("interpretation").  His time in Turkey exposed him to the libraries of Bursa and it was there where he wrote the rough draft of his "tafsir" entitled "al-Tafsir al-Hadith". Darwaza states in this exegesis he would "uncover the wisdom of revelation, the fundamental concepts of the Qur'an and the whole range of its subject matter and present it in a new style and new sequential order." "Al-Tafsir al-Hadith" was generally aimed at the Muslim youth who had been alienated by the traditional interpretations of the Quran. Darwaza placed much emphasis on the close relationship between the text of the Quran and the environment in which it was revealed. He rejected the "hadith" which states the Qur'an was originally preserved on a tablet in the seventh heaven, sent down to lowest heaven and from there gradually to Muhammad.  After the completion of the rough draft, he wrote a volume of four chapters, "Qur'an al-Majid", which served as an introduction for the "tafsir". Darwaza stresses a close connection between the Quran and the biography of the Muhammad ("sira") and states that the Quran fully reflects various stages between the Quran and the career of Muhammad. He also emphasizes that both the angels and the "jinn" are spoken in the Quran not for their own sake, but to reinforce Muhammad's missions and goals.  He contends that the presentation of the Quran and its "suras" was dictated by Muhammad and that the task of Abu Bakr was to collect the Quran between its two covers and transcribe it into one copy, while Uthman's task was to fix the transcription and unify it to prevent variant readings. He also expresses doubts that Ali, as it is alleged, had made a chronologically arranged collection. Darwaza was very critical of other modern interpreters who used certain verses of the Quran to deduce and support scientific theories. He argues that those people have done harm to Islam by trivializing the sacred character of the Quran.  Darwaza was convinced that interpretations of the Quran were the only possible basis for any renewal and development of Islamic religious, political and social thought, and that the Quran was the only resource for Muslim reinterpretation of traditional norms in Islam and Islamic thinking. Since it was quite uncommon to follow a chronological order for a whole "tafsir"—which Darwaza did—he had to justify his position by seeking a "fatwa" from the muftis of Aleppo and Damascus.

Legacy.

Throughout his life, Darwaza was an Arab nationalist and supported the unity of Syria and Palestine. His particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam, his belief in Arab unity, and the oneness of Arabic culture. According to his perspective, the ideology's main points were the Arabic language, the Arab homeland, a shared Arab history and common Arab interests. Although Darwaza believed that Arab nationalism pre-dated Islam, he also maintained that Islam expanded Arab territory and "stamped them with the eternal mark of Arab nationalism." According to Muhammad Y. Muslih, this meant that Islam had provided Arabs with "spiritual, cultural, and legal unity and within the framework of that unity the Arab individual formed his moral and social beliefs, irrespective of where he lived and through it the Arabs were able to preserve national identity and maintain their culture in the face of foreign invaders, including the Ottomans". Darwaza contends that Arab nationalism is not a new concept borrowed from the West and asserts the constituents of Arab nationalism are stronger than those which make up the modern forms of nationalism in the world.  His ideas helped the spread the word of secular pan-Arabism against religious nationalists and those who believed in separate Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian destinies. In the mid-1950s, Darwaza asserted that the first stage of Arab union should be based on a merger between Egypt and Syria. In his opinion, a union between the northern Arabs (Syria) and the southern Arabs (Egypt) would facilitate the adherence of other Arab states. He believed that Egypt's capabilities and human resources compelled it to fill the role of an Arab "Prussia". Darwaza remarked on Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian president and founder of the short-lived union, saying "Since the Arab revolt against the Turks, no Arab leader has been up to the level of events except for Jamal 'Abd al-Nasir. He emerged and vanished like a shooting star."  Rashid Khalidi states about Darwaza, "Moved as he was by the civilization of Arabs, he evoked a distant Arab past. For obvious reasons Islam was central to that past. But in the case of Darwaza, Islam was important not as the binding substance of the nation, but as a culture and civilization. In other words, culture, language, and history not religious solidarity were posited as the glue that was to hold the Arab nation together." According to Khalidi, Darwaza contributed to Arab nationalism in the practical and intellectual domains greatly.

Muhammad 'Izzat Darwazeh (; 1888–1984) was a Palestinian politician, historian, and educator from Nablus. Early in his career, he worked as an Ottoman bureaucrat in Palestine and Lebanon. Darwaza had long been a sympathizer of Arab nationalism and became an activist of that cause following the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1916, joining the nationalist al-Fatat society. As such, he campaigned for the union of Greater Syria (modern-day Levant) and vehemently opposed Zionism and foreign mandates in Arab lands. From 1922 to 1927, he served as an educator and as the principal at the an-Najah National School where he implemented a pro-Arab nationalist educational system, promoting the ideas of Arab independence and unity. Darwaza's particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam and his beliefs in Arab unity and the oneness of Arabic culture.

Mohammed Izzat Darwaza, (en arabe: محمد عزت دروزة), né en 1888 à Naplouse et mort en 1984 à Damas, est une personnalité politique, intellectuel, historien, penseur et éducateur palestinien.


Background.

In 2011, Toni Braxton became an independent artist by parting ways with, her then manager, Vincent Herbert and signing a new management deal with Los Angeles-based entertainment/production company The Collective LA. Toni announced at Mercedes-Benz 2012 Fall/Winter Fashion Week in an interview with Rocco Leo Gaglioti as a part of "Fashion News Live" that she would be releasing a new single titled "I Heart You" in March and a yet-untitled album in May. "I Heart You" was released and made available for free digital download through website Pro Motion on March 9, 2012. The track was written and produced by Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis. Toni later spoke about writing sessions for the song, saying: "When I wrote this song I was thinking about the feeling you get when you walk into a club and you hear the melody, you feel the beat and you just know it’s going to be a good night."

Composition.

"I Heart You" is a dance, EDM, and house track that runs over a thumping club beat. The song follows a simple formula, as noted by Becky Bain of Idolator, who continued, "Braxton's thumping ode to love comes in slow and steady, and eventually builds." According to "Rap-Up", "the diva melts the track with her sultry vocals while burning up the dance floor." In an interview with music blog That Grape Juice, Toni spoke about the song, revealing, "you're going to want to dance all night. Let's say it's probably very 'Last Dance'-ish." Lyrically, "I Heart You" alludes to the feeling of longing for a man that loves another woman. As the feeling is not reciprocated, she dances her troubles away on the dance floor.  Although the first thirty seconds of ‘I Heart You’ sound like a ballad, she soon kicks into the chorus and the thumping beat begins to blast. In the verses, she pulls words and notes out in such lines as "I feel your lips / Your tender kiss / Just ooh, ooh, oooooooh" with emotion. Despite the song being called ‘I Heart You’, the lyrics are actually "I love you", but the lines ‘I love you, but you love her’ and ‘Damn, I know it’s wrong / But you turn me on" suddenly suggest that this love song is also about infidelity. By the middle eight, the song breaks down with heavy dance beats as Toni croons slowly "I think I’m gonna dance / Dance all my troubles all away".

Critical reception.

The song received positive reception by music critics. Becky Bain from Idolator gave to the song a positive review, writing that "Braxton’s thumping ode to love comes in slow and steady, and eventually builds – though we think it could have been pushed even further. It’s a pleasant, if not wholly commanding, offering for her first single in two years." John Mitchell from MTV News wrote positively that "is a massive, anthemic banger that we can already hear blasting out of every club everywhere." A review from Rap-Up said that Braxton "melts the track with her sultry vocals while burning up the dance floor." Tan Young, from the British website So So Gay, gave to the song 3.5 out of 5 stars, and praised "her soulful vocals, distinctive and beautiful as ever, and the way she pulls off dance music surprisingly well." However, he dismissed "the lyrics in the chorus and middle eight that could be better" and said that "the end is rather anti-climactic." He ended up the review, stating that:  "I Heart You shows a different, more versatile and fun side to Toni as she takes on an uptempo track and yet manages to keep her vocals as smooth as ever, bar a few Etta James-like growls, whilst still singing at the same pace as if she were doing a power ballad. While dance music may be big right now, can Braxton separate herself from everyone else with this 90s-influenced and Crystal Waters-inspired song and sound? The answer, yes she could, but at the same time, we still miss the ‘Unbreak My Heart’ and ‘He Wasn't Man Enough’ Toni Braxton we know and love."

Music video.

A music video for the song was shot on March 18, 2012. Pictures featuring Toni wearing a pink swimsuit were released. Bille Woodruff directed the video, he also has directed many of her videos, including "Un-Break My Heart", "He Wasn't Man Enough" and her three latest videos from "Pulse". Nick Denbeigh makes a cameo appearance portraying three roles: the sexy dream hunk, the romantic leading man, and the hot club DJ. A review from "Rap-Up" wrote that "Looking gorgeous in a number of sexy outfits, the iconic singer seduces the camera and busts out a few dance moves of her own."

"I Heart You" is a song by American recording artist Toni Braxton. It was written and produced by Toni Braxton & Keri Lewis. The song was released as a non-album single on March 29, 2012 by Atlantic Records and Inot Records. Musically, the song is a dance-pop, EDM and house song and the lyrics speak about being in love with someone and desiring that the person feels the same. The song received positive reviews, most critics commended the track for having a "dance vibe" and an "anthemic chorus".

I Heart You est une chanson de la chanteuse Toni Braxton, sortie le. La chanson n'est pour l'instant pas incluse dans un album. Elle est écrite et composée par Toni Braxton et Keri Lewis.


Motivation.

Traditionally kernel designers have sought to make individual hardware resources invisible to application programs by requiring the programs to interact with the hardware via some abstraction model. These models include file systems for disk storage, virtual address spaces for memory, schedulers for task management, and sockets for network communication. These abstractions of the hardware make it easier to write programs in general, but limit performance and stifle experimentation in new abstractions. A security-oriented application might need a file system that does not leave old data on the disk, while a reliability-oriented application might need a file system that keeps such data for failure recovery.  One option is to remove the kernel completely and program directly to the hardware, but then the entire machine would be dedicated to the application being written (and, conversely, the entire application codebase would be dedicated to that machine). The exokernel concept is a compromise: let the kernel allocate the basic physical resources of the machine (e.g. disk blocks, memory pages, and processor time) to multiple application programs, and let each program decide what to do with these resources. The program can then link to a support library that implements the abstractions it needs (or it can implement its own).

MIT exokernels.

MIT developed two exokernel-based operating systems, using two kernels: Aegis, a proof of concept with limited support for storage, and XOK, which applied the exokernel concept more thoroughly.  An essential idea of the MIT exokernel system is that the operating system should act as an executive for small programs provided by the application software, which are constrained only by the requirement that the exokernel must be able to guarantee that they use the hardware safely.

Design.

The MIT exokernel manages hardware resources as follows:

Applications.

The available library operating systems for Exokernel include the custom ExOS system and an emulator for BSD. In addition to these, the exokernel team created the Cheetah web server, which uses the kernel directly.

History.

The exokernel concept has been around since at least 1994, but exokernels are still a research effort and have not been used in any major commercial operating systems.  A concept operating exokernel system is Nemesis, written by University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, Citrix Systems, and the Swedish Institute of Computer Science. MIT has also built several exokernel-based systems, including ExOS.

Exokernel is an operating system kernel developed by the MIT Parallel and Distributed Operating Systems group, and also a class of similar operating systems.

Un exo-noyau ou "exokernel" est un type de système d’exploitation dont l'architecture logicielle est dite modulaire. En informatique, un noyau ou "kernel" est le premier élément codé venant exploiter les ressources matérielles de l'ordinateur. Il existe différents types de noyaux qui supportent des systèmes d’exploitations et qui fournissent des mécanismes d’abstraction du matériel tel que la mémoire, le (ou les) processeur(s), le réseau informatique ou les différents périphériques matériels. Le noyau facilite également la communication entre les processus grâce à diverses abstractions logicielles.


Biography.

Sophia Elisabet Brenner was born to the builder Niklas Weber, who was a German immigrant, and Kristina Spoor.  She was given an unusually high education for a female in 17th-century Sweden. Being the child of a German immigrant, she could speak both German and Swedish, and she also studied Latin. She was enrolled in the German School for Boys in Stockholm. This was not unique - since 1575, girls were permitted as pupils in the first school classes in Sweden - but nevertheless not common: she was reportedly the only girl in her school. Later, further more, she studied at home, tutored by male academic tutors. One of her tutors was K. A. Zellinius, over whom she wrote a funeral poem in 1676. She learned six languages well enough to compose poetry in all of them.  In 1680, she married the miniaturist painter and official Elias Brenner. She became the mother of 15 children, only four of whom survived her. After her marriage, she became the hostess of a literary and artistic circle: among the elite frequenting the home of her and her spouse were the famous amateur actress Aurora Königsmarck, the painter Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl, the poet Johan Runius and the doctor and writer Urban Hjärne, known for his opposition to witch trials.

Writer.

Sophia Elisabet Brenner was encouraged by her spouse and his artistic friends to continue her studies and her writing during her marriage: she is known to be active as a writer from the year after her marriage until her death: the only older poem known is her funeral poem over her teacher in 1676.  She studied Dutch, French and Italian poetry, and produced poetry in all of these languages except Dutch: her most common language was however German. Her way of writing has been called more personal and concrete than was common in her time.  The majority of her poems treats weddings, funerals, congratulations and celebrations of public or private individuals, particularly women and children. She did not write for money and directed her poems to friends and benefactors. Among her own models of inspirations were the works of the Danish psalm writer Kingo, and the Swedish poets Samuel Columbus and Petrus Lagerlöf.  Sophia Elisabet Brenner represented a form of feminism fashionable in her time: in her poems, she defended women's rights to educate themselves as autodidacts at home and insisted that females were not intellectually inferior to males. She became known as a role model of a female scholar not only in Sweden but also abroad, especially in Germany, and was celebrated as such by the work "Testimoniorum fasciculus", edited by Urban Hjärne. She was called the "Second Sappho" and the "Tenth muse", and was presented as a Swedish answer to other known female scholars in contemporary Europe.  She herself stated that her activity as a writer did not at all interfere with her duties as a spouse and parent, and that it was fully possible for her to do both.  During the Great Northern War, she expressed patriotism but also critically illustrated all the negative effects of wartime hardships.  Brenner has been called the first feminist in Sweden because of her poem "Det Qwinliga Könetz rätmätige Förswar" (The justified defense of the female sex) in 1693, believed to be inspired by her friendship with Aurora Köningsmarck. The work often mentioned as her best was the religions poem "Wårs Herres och Frälsares Jesu Christi alldraheligaste pijons historia" (The Most Holy Martyrdom of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) from 1710. In 1713, she published a collection of all her poems, and thereby became the first woman to a published herself as a poet in the Swedish language.  She had the view that men and women were truly the same mentally and were different only in their physique and other appearance. She expressed this view in her coronation poem to the female monarch Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden in 1719: It is truly indifferent what color the clothes of a master is,
 or what they are called,
 if he but knows how to save a ship,
 and bring it from storms to harbor,
 Our body is nothing but the clothes of our soul
 which makes the only difference between he and she,
 as for the soul concerned, it is just as good,
 yes even better, in many woman's body
 One of her works was a poem of admiration to the painter Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl, which also mentions her own activity as an artist and both of them as female artist pioneers:If I of inborn instinct rimes for my pleasure,
 Your inclination is made clear by your work.
 Though art may sometimes cost us hours,
 There is no better way to be remembered by.
 Let envy grine against us, let death tense his bow,
 For neither scare your pencil, nor my pen.

Legacy.

In the national National Portrait Gallery (Sweden) of Gripsholm, which was opened in the 1822, she was one of the first six women of the Swedish history who was given a portrait in the collection, along with Bridget of Sweden, Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht, Barbro Stigsdotter (Svinhufvud), Sophia Rosenhane and Vendela Skytte.

Sophia Elisabet Brenner, née Weber (29 April 1659 – 14 September 1730), was a Swedish writer, poet, feminist and salon hostess.

Sophia Elisabet Brenner (née Weber le et morte le ) est une auteur suédoise, poète et militante des droits des femmes.


Early life.

While attending Gwangju Jeil High School, Kang's main position was catcher. In, Kang was selected for the South Korean national under-18 team as a third baseman and was part of the team that won bronze at the World Junior Baseball Championship. In, Kang helped Gwangju Jeil High School win the Golden Lion Flag Championship, winning the Outstanding Pitcher Award and the RBI title.

Professional career.

Hyundai Unicorns.

Kang was drafted by the Hyundai Unicorns in the second round of the 2006 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) First-Year Player Draft. Kang struggled to make an impact in his first two seasons. In his rookie season, he played 10 games and batted.150. He struck out eight times in 21 plate appearances. In 2007, he appeared in 20 games and hit.133.

Nexen Heroes.

In 2008, Hyundai sold the Unicorns, who subsequently became defunct and were replaced with a new team, the Woori Heroes (renamed the Nexen Heroes in 2009). Kang became the starting shortstop for the Heroes in 2008, appearing in 116 games, batting.271 with 8 home runs and 47 RBI.  In 2009, Kang had an impressive offensive season. He finished the season with a.286 batting average, 23 home runs, 81 RBI, a.508 slugging percentage, 136 hits, and 71 runs scored. Kang tied Hong Sung-heon of the Lotte Giants for the league lead in doubles (33).  In 2010, Kang had his first season with a plus-.300 batting average. He finished with an average of.301, as well as 12 home runs and 58 RBI. His defensive play earned him his first KBO Gold Glove Award. Kang won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games as a member of the South Korean national baseball team as he hit 3 home runs in 13 at-bats.  In 2011, Kang regressed slightly from his two previous seasons, hitting.282 with 9 home runs and 63 RBI.  In 2012, Kang improved, hitting.314 with 25 home runs (2nd in the league), 82 RBI, 77 runs scored, and a career-high 21 stolen bases. He would also win another Gold Glove Award, the second of his career.  In March 2013, Kang competed in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.  In the 2013 KBO regular season, Kang hit 22 home runs and had an OPS of.876. He also won his second straight Gold Glove Award, his third overall.  In 2014, Kang had his best season statistically, hitting.356 with 40 home runs and 117 RBI. He led the league in slugging percentage (.739) and OPS (1.198). He also finished second in home runs (40) and OBP (.459), third in both RBIs (117) and doubles (36), and fifth in runs scored (103). He also won his third straight Gold Glove Award, his fourth overall and fourth in five seasons, establishing himself as a premier defensive player.

Pittsburgh Pirates.

On December 22, 2014, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the bidding for the exclusive (30-day) opportunity to sign him to a Major League Baseball contract. The Pirates' winning bid was later revealed to be $5,002,015 (₩5,457,150,000). This transfer fee (posting system) was to be paid to the Nexen Heroes for the exclusive rights to negotiate a contract, and as compensation for the loss of Kang. To put this in perspective, at the time of the Kang signing (Dec '15-Jan '16), the then-record high international transfer fee posted was the December 8, 2011 transfer of the RHP Yu Darvish from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the NPB (Japanese Professional Baseball organization) to the Texas Rangers for $51,703,411.

2015 season.

On January 16, 2015, Kang was signed to a four-year, $11 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a club option for a fifth year.  Kang made the decision to train with his former Korean club, the defending (2016) KBO Champion Nexen Heroes, who had arrived in Surprise, Arizona for their Spring Training (hosted at the spring training facility of the Texas Rangers). While there Kang focused on strength training. Although there was plenty of South Korean-based media coverage surrounding Kang, as he was to be the first KBO position player (non-pitcher) to be developed entirely within the Korean system to jump to the Major Leagues.  In spring training, Kang was given the opportunity to compete for the starting shortstop job held by Jordy Mercer. In the first spring training game of 2015, in his second at-bat, Kang connected on a 0-1 fastball, driving an opposite field solo home run in the third inning, helping the Pirates to a 5-0 lead, and eventual 8-7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.  On April 4, 2015, Kang recorded his first Major League hit off Kyle Lohse of the Milwaukee Brewers, a flare just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Jean Segura.  On April 21, Kang recorded his first RBI against the Chicago Cubs with a bases-clearing RBI double that gave the Pirates an 8–5 lead.  On May 3 on the road against the Central leading Cardinals, in St. Louis, down 1-0, Kang came to bat to lead off the top of the 9th inning. Facing St. Louis Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, Kang connected on the first pitch of the inning sending a game-tying solo home run into the left-center seats, knotting the game at 1–1.  On May 9, 2015, during a 7–5 win over the Cardinals, the Pirates became the first MLB team to turn a 4–5–4 triple play. The play occurred when the Cardinals' Yadier Molina lined out to second baseman Neil Walker. Walker threw to Kang at third base to double-off Jhonny Peralta for the second out. Kang then threw the ball back to Walker, who was standing on second base, for the final out after Jason Heyward froze between second and third.  On September 8, 2015, Kang connected on an impressive 472-ft solo shot, his 14th of the season, on the road against the Cincinnati Reds.  On September 17, 2015, during a game against the Chicago Cubs, Kang was covering second base in a double play attempt. Baserunner Chris Coghlan attempted to break up the double play aggressively by sliding into Kang. Coghlan collided with Kang's left knee, fracturing his leg and tearing his MCL. Kang was placed on the 60-day disabled list and would miss the remainder of the season, including the post season NL wild card game, which the Pittsburgh Pirates played host to the Chicago Cubs.  On October 7, during the pre-game introductions of the NL Wild Card game, a wheelchair-bound Kang was wheeled out onto the field, where he received a standing ovation. This was his first public appearance since the incident.  In 126 games played in 2015, Kang hit.287 with 15 HRs and 58 RBIs. Kang placed third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, collecting a 19% share.

2016 season.

On May 6, 2016, Kang played in his first MLB game since his September 17, 2015 injury. He hit two solo home runs in the game, contributing to the Pirates 4–2 road win over their NL Central division rival St. Louis Cardinals. In only 103 games, Kang ended the season batting.255 with a career-high 21 home runs and 62 RBIs.

2016 legal troubles.

In early July 2016, a sexual assault claim was made against Kang by a 23-year-old Chicago woman. No charges were brought against Kang, as the accuser would not cooperate with the police investigation.  On December 1, 2016, Kang was involved in a high-speed DUI-induced hit-and-run in South Korea, which culminated in him fleeing his vehicle on foot. The incident was confirmed by videos from both municipal (traffic) CCTV and Kang's dashcam. Kang was subsequently found guilty of his third DUI, and as a result, his request for a work visa to enter the United States for the 2017 season was denied.

2017 season.

As a result of the DUI incident, the Pirates placed Kang, whose visa was revoked, on the Restricted List on March 11. Kang was not on the Pirates' 40-man roster for the year, as he could not obtain a work visa to travel to the United States. On May 18, Kang's suspended sentence was upheld by a Korean court, meaning that he was disallowed from working or playing any professional sport legally in the United States in 2017.  Kang played in the Dominican Professional Baseball League for the 2017–2018 winter season, with the Águilas Cibaeñas. He batted just.143 with one home run in 24 games, which brought about an early release from the team.

2018 season.

On April 26, 2018, it was revealed that Kang successfully renewed his visa, meaning that he was eligible for activities in the United States once again. He was also cleared by the Pirates organization to return to the team.  In speaking with reporters on June 6, 2018, Kang said through a translator that he was sober and had voluntarily enrolled in the Joint Drug Treatment Program. "I'm just trying to be as careful as possible in everything that I do. Obviously, I'm not touching a drop of alcohol moving forward," he said. On June 15, 2018, the Pirates reinstated Kang to their 40-man roster from the restricted list and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis.  On September 28, 2018, with only 3 games left on the schedule, Kang made his season debut on the road in Cincinnati against the last-place Reds. He was inserted into the game in the top of the seventh inning, as a pinch hitter. This was his first AB in the major leagues since October 2, 2016, a span of four days short of two years. Kang ended the 2018 MLB season batting.333, having gone 2 for 6 with 2 singles and a strikeout in 3 games.  On October 31, the Pirates declined their option to sign Kang for the fifth year of his contract, thus making him eligible as a free agent for the 2019 season. On November 8, 2018, the Pirates re-signed Kang to a one-year/$3M deal with the opportunity to compete for the starting 3B job with Colin Moran, who had been acquired to fill Kang's position during his absence. Kang was a free agent for one week. The deal was financially very similar to the original contract.

2019 season.

On February 24, 2019, in his spring debut, Kang homered in his first two Grapefruit League at bats, against Miami. On March 18, 2019, the Pittsburgh Pirates named Kang to be their starting 3rd baseman for the 2019 season. On April 3, 2019, Kang hit his first MLB home run since the 2016 season, in the 3rd inning against the Cardinals off Miles Mikolas. On August 2, 2019, the Pirates designated Kang for assignment after he hit.169 with 10 home runs in 185 plate appearances. Kang was released on August 4, 2019.

Return to Korea.

In early 2020, Kang worked out for a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate organization, but failed to sign a deal. He decided to return to South Korea, and later filed for reinstatement from the "voluntarily retired" list in order to play in the KBO League.  However, due to three drunk driving incidents in his past, Kang was required to face a penalty that would include a suspension for up to 3 years per the KBO League rule book. The KBO League disciplinary committee had to decide whether the rule, which was instituted in 2018, would be applicable retroactively to Kang's third DUI arrest in 2016 when he was not a KBO player.  On May 25, 2020, Kang received a one-year suspension from the league and was also ordered to undergo 300 hours of community service. The disciplinary committee decided not to apply the DUI rule retroactively to his 2016 arrest, opting instead to give him the maximum punishment for his other 2 arrests which occurred when he was an active KBO player.

Jung-ho Kang (; ; born April 5, 1987) is a South Korean third baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in the KBO League for the Hyundai Unicorns and Nexen Heroes. He also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.

Kang Jung-ho (né le à Gwangju, Corée du Sud) est un joueur d'arrêt-court et de troisième but des Pirates de Pittsburgh de la Ligue majeure de baseball. Il évolue précédemment comme arrêt-court pour les Nexen Heroes de l'Organisation coréenne de baseball de 2006 à 2014.


High school career.

Smith attended Colton High School in his hometown, where he was a three-year letterman in football. He garnered honorable mention all-league accolades on defense as a sophomore starting at safety, when he had 45 tackles and four interceptions on the season-his first year playing football. As a junior, he was named first-team all-league and second-team all-county on defense. He recorded 30 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns on offense, and at his cornerback spot, he tallied 57 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception and eight passes broken up. In his final year, he was first-team All-Southeastern Conference on both offense (wide receiver) and defense (cornerback). He was named first-team all-county and his team's most improved player. On offense, he had 53 receptions for 1,123 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 21.2 yards per catch, while defensively, he totaled 47 tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two interceptions and 15 pass deflections. He also averaged 36 yards on punt returns with one touchdown. Under coach Harold Strauss, his team went a combined 30-6 in his three years playing football: 9-3 as a senior, 10-2 as a junior and 11-1 as a sophomore; Colton advanced to the second round of the playoffs each year. Smith also lettered in basketball and track & field at Colton, earning a combined seven letters between the two.

College career.

Smith was another surprise out of Dan Hawkins's transition class of 2006. Like Nate Solder, Smith was a middle of the pack recruit out of his home state of California (No. 57 Athlete by Rivals and unranked as a corner by ESPN) that grew into a first round prospect on a series of very mediocre Colorado teams. During the 2007 season Smith firmly established himself as a contributor, a special teams star, and as part of the secondary depth. By far the biggest play of his 2007 season came against Nebraska. With Colorado trailing by 11, Smith picked off a Joe Ganz pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. It sparked a 34-0 run, and Colorado would go on to win 65-51 over Nebraska.  Smith built on his redshirt freshman year effort, playing in 10 games for CU and starting the final three at corner, a position he'd hold through the rest of his CU career. Again Smith closed the season with fireworks against Nebraska, sniffing out an ill-advised fake field goal attempt by the Huskers, intercepting the lateral and taking it 58 yards for a touchdown. Things continued to progress well for Smith who took over the starting corner spot full-time at the start of his junior season, holding it through his last game at CU; in that 2 year, 24 game run he gave up an average of 1 completion a game. During that span Smith made quite a name for himself totaling 70 tackles in both seasons defending 15 passes and posing such a threat to offenses he was thrown at a mere 20 times as a senior in man coverage. In that time Smith was honored as a two-time All-Big 12 nominee, the Dave Jones award winner, and was named to the Thorpe Award watch list.

Professional career.

As a top cornerback prospect, Smith was one of 56 collegiate defensive backs to attend the annual NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Smith completed all of the combine drills and finished sixth among defensive backs in the 40-yard dash, tied for third in the bench press, and finished 12th amongst his position group in the broad jump. On March 9, 2011, Smith attended Colorado's pro day, along with Nate Solder, Jalil Brown, and Scotty McKnight among others. He opted to stand on the majority of his combine numbers and only performed the vertical jump (37"), long shuttle (11.42s), and positional drills. His overall performance was perceived as mediocre by scouts, as he had a few dropped passes and appeared to quickly tire during his workout. Smith attended private workouts and meetings with 12 teams that included the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and Philadelphia Eagles.  At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Smith was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and analysts. It was reported multiple teams removed Smith entirely off their draft boards due to his history of arrests, failed drug tests, and suspected maturity issues. Multiple teams stated Smith failed to accept responsibility for his actions during interviews with teams at the NFL combine. He was ranked as the third best cornerback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. and was ranked the fourth best cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

2011.

The Baltimore Ravens selected Smith in the first round (27th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was the third cornerback selected in 2011, behind LSU's Patrick Peterson and Nebraska's Prince Amukamara.  On July 29, 2011, the Baltimore Ravens signed Smith to a four-year, $7.46 million contract that includes $6.06 million and a signing bonus of $3.92 million.  Smith was unable to develop at the expected rate due to the lockout forcing teams to cancel organized team activities and minicamp. Throughout training camp, Smith competed for snaps and began the regular season as the backup behind starting cornerbacks Lardarius Webb and Cary Williams.  He made his professional regular season debut in the Baltimore Ravens' season-opening 35–7 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. During the opening kickoff, Smith suffered an ankle injury. He missed four games (Weeks 2-6) due to the high ankle sprain and was unable to return until Week 7. On November 20, 2011, Smith made three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and recorded his first career interception off an errant pass by Andy Dalton during the 31–24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He returned the ball 16-yards before having it stripped from his grasp by Bengals' wide receiver Jerome Simpson, but it was subsequently recovered by Ravens' linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. On December 4, 2011, Smith earned his first career start and recorded one tackle, a pass break up, and an interception during a 24–10 victory at the Cleveland Browns. He finished his rookie regular season with 20 solo tackles, eight pass deflections, and two interceptions in 12 games and three starts.  The Baltimore Ravens finished atop the AFC North with a 12-4 record. On January 15, 2012, Smith played in his first career playoff game and recorded two combined tackles and recovered a fumble by Texans' wide receiver Jacoby Jones on a punt return during their 20–13 win against the Houston Texans. The following week, he started his first career playoff game and made a tackle, broke up a pass, and intercepted Tom Brady in the end zone after it was tipped by teammate Bernard Pollard in the fourth quarter of the Ravens' 23–20 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship.

2012.

Smith entered training camp under new defensive coordinator Dean Pees, and competed against Cary Williams for the job as the starting cornerback. Smith was again named the third cornerback on the Ravens' depth chart to start the 2012 regular season, behind Lardarius Webb and Williams.  In Week 6, Smith recorded a season-high seven solo tackles and broke up one pass during a 31–29 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The following week, he earned his first start of the season in place of Lardarius Webb, who was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL. Smith went on to make four solo tackles and deflected a pass as the Ravens' were routed 43–13 by the Houston Texans. On November 15, 2012, it was reported Smith had undergone sports hernia surgery and missed the next five games (Weeks 10-14) while recovering. Smith finished the regular season with 34 combined tackles (30 solo) and three pass break ups in 11 games and two starts.  The Baltimore Ravens finished first in their division with a 10-6 record and went on to defeat the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots in the playoffs. On February 3, 2013, Smith recorded a solo tackle and two pass deflections during the Baltimore Ravens' 34–31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Smith showed huge improvement by being one of the key standout performers during that postseason. He made a huge individual effort on the final goal line stand of Super Bowl XLVII, as he was targeted on consecutive plays by Colin Kaepernick during the 49ers' final offensive drive of the game. While covering Michael Crabtree, he prevented the San Francisco 49ers from scoring on fourth down in the final minutes.

2013.

After their Super Bowl victory, Baltimore Ravens elected not to re-sign Cary Williams or safeties Ed Reed and Bernard Pollard. Smith was then promoted to a starting cornerback due to the vacancy left by Williams.  In the Baltimore Ravens' season-opener at the Denver Broncos and recorded six solo tackles, a pass break up, and forced a fumble during their 49–27 loss. Smith recorded his first interception of the season in Week 6 against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he picked him off in the end zone. In Week 15, Smith collected a season-high seven combined tackles as the Ravens' won at the Detroit Lions 18-16. He did an excellent job defending the league’s best receiver, Calvin Johnson, during that game. In a season-ending loss in week 17 versus the Cincinnati Bengals, he recorded his second interception of the year when he picked off an Andy Dalton pass in the end zone. He finished the season with a career-high 58 combined tackles (49 solo), a career-high 15 pass deflections, two interceptions, and a forced fumble in 16 games and 16 starts. Smith had a strong season and got viewed as one of the league’s ascending young cornerbacks.

2014.

On April 17, 2014, the Baltimore Ravens exercised the fifth-year, $6.89 million option on Smith's rookie contract. He entered training camp slated as the starting cornerback after Corey Graham departed for the Buffalo Bills in free agency. Head coach John Harbaugh named Smith the starting cornerback, opposite Lardarius Webb, entering the regular season.  In Week 3, Smith recorded a season-high six solo tackles in the Ravens' 23–21 victory at the Cleveland Browns. On October 12, 2014, he collected five solo tackles, a pass breakup, and made his first and only interception of the season as the Ravens' routed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48–17. On October 26, 2014, Smith injured his left foot on the opening series of a 27–24 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. He attempted to limp off the field, but was eventually carted off by trainers and had it examined. On November 6, 2014, the Baltimore Ravens announced that they would be placing Smith on injured reserve for the rest of the season after it was discovered that his foot injury would require surgery. Prior to his injury, Smith was having his best season yet and one of the best seasons of any cornerback across the league. He allowed only 20 receptions for 163 receiving yards and no touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 51.5. He finished the season with 28 combined tackles (22 solo), six pass deflections, and an interception in eight games and eight starts.

2015.

On April 21, 2015, the Baltimore Ravens signed Smith to a four-year, $41.1 million contract extension that includes $21 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $13 million.  Webb and Smith remained the starting cornerbacks to begin 2015 with Kyle Arrington and Asa Jackson as their backups to start the season. He started the Baltimore Ravens' season-opener at the Denver Broncos and recorded eight solo tackles, a pass break up, and returned a Peyton Manning interception for a 24-yard touchdown in the Ravens' 19–13 loss. It marked his first career touchdown. The next week, he made five solo tackles, broke up a pass, and made his first career sack on Oakland Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr in the Ravens' 37–33 loss. Smith also gave up his first touchdown in two years when Raiders rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper beat him for a 68-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening drive. The next week, Smith had possibly the worst game of his career as he was constantly beaten in coverage by wide receiver A. J. Green in a 28-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. On October 11, 2015, Smith collected a season-high nine combined tackles in a 33-30 loss to the Cleveland Browns. For much of the season, Smith struggled to regain the level of play he had prior to the injury he suffered the previous season. He seemed to get healthier as 2015 went on, however, and started playing better over the second half of the year. He finished the season with 54 combined tackles (48 solo), ten pass deflections, a career-high three interceptions, a sack, and a touchdown in 16 games and 16 starts.

2016.

Smith missed two games (Weeks 11-12) due to a lingering back injury. On December 4, 2016, he recorded a season-high six combined tackles and deflected a pass during a 38–6 victory against the Miami Dolphins. On December 30, 2016, Smith was placed on injured reserve after suffering a high ankle sprain in a Week 14 loss against the New England Patriots. He finished the season with a total of 32 combined tackles (29 solo) and four pass deflections in 11 games and 11 starts. Pro Football Focus ranked Smith 48th in overall grades among cornerbacks in 2016.

2017.

Smith entered the 2017 season as the starting cornerback with newly acquired free agent Brandon Carr.  He started the Baltimore Ravens' season-opener against the Cincinnati Bengals and recorded three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and made an interception off of quarterback Andy Dalton in the fourth quarter. The interception was the fourth on the day for the Ravens' defense in their 20–0 victory. In Week 5, teammate Patrick Onwuasor forced a fumble and it was recovered by Smith and returned 47-yards for his second career touchdown during a 30–17 victory against the Oakland Raiders. On October 26, 2017, Smith collected a season-high four solo tackles, broke up three passes, and returned an interception for a 50-yard touchdown as the Ravens' routed the Miami Dolphins 40-0. On December 3, 2017, Smith recorded three solo tackles during a 44-20 victory against the Detroit Lions before being carted off the field with an Achilles injury. The following day, it was discovered Smith had torn his Achilles tendon and would miss the remainder of season. Smith claimed that the injury bothered him since October 1, but decided to play through it. On December 4, 2017, it was reported that Smith violated the NFL's performance enhancing substances policy and would serve a four game suspension. He would be able to serve his suspension while on injured reserve. He was placed on injured reserve on December 5, 2017. Smith finished the season with 28 combined tackles (26 solo), nine pass deflections, three interceptions, and a touchdown in 12 games and 12 starts. He received an overall grade of 86.2 from Pro Football Focus and ranked 15th in overall grades among cornerbacks in 2017.

2018.

Smith was suspended the first four games of the 2018 season for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. He played in 12 games with 10 starts, recording 45 combined tackles, nine pass deflections, and two interceptions.

2020.

On March 24, 2020, Smith re-signed with the Ravens.

Career statistics.

Key

Personal life.

Born in Fontana, California, Smith grew up in a single-floor home in Colton, California, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The neighborhood Smith lived in was notoriously bad. "It's a rough neighborhood," said Smith. "A lot of gangs. A lot of gang violence. A lot of people get shot and killed all the time." However, Smith was able to shrug this off and excel at football from an early age.  Over the 2014 Memorial Day weekend, three Baltimore Ravens players including Smith were tossed out of an Ocean City, Maryland nightclub. Reports state Smith, Jacoby Jones and Bernard Pierce were all asked to leave for an inability to “maintain their composure”. On July 13, 2014 Smith was arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after an alleged incident at a suburban Baltimore bar. Smith was the fifth Baltimore Raven arrested in the 2014 NFL offseason.  Smith is a cousin of Nat Berhe who plays safety in the NFL. Smith is also half brother to U.S sprinter Marshawn Lacy.

James Michael Smith (born July 26, 1988) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Ravens with the 27th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Colorado.

James Michael Smith, dit Jimmy Smith, né le à Fontana, est un joueur américain de football américain. Depuis 2011, ce cornerback joue pour les Ravens de Baltimore en National Football League (NFL). Avec cette franchise, il a remporté le Super Bowl XLVII.


Early career.

Teeven was born in the province of North Holland. He studied law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and public management at the University of Twente. Working first as a tax collector he became a prosecutor, becoming known as a "crimefighter", since he led many investigations into organised crime. Teeven was involved in the prosecutions of Dési Bouterse, Mink Kok, Johan Verhoek, and Willem Holleeder.

Politics.

In 2002, Teeven succeeded Pim Fortuyn as Front runner (lijsttrekker) of Livable Netherlands (Leefbaar Nederland). From 23 May 2002 to 30 January 2003, he was the parliamentary group leader of Livable Netherlands in the House of Representatives and also a member of the House of Representatives from 23 May 2002 – 30 January 2003. After he found out that he would not be Front runner in the 2003 elections, he quit the party and returned to his former post of public prosecutor.  In 2006, Teeven announced his return to politics, this time for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). For the Dutch general election of 2006, he was 6th on the candidate list for the VVD, and was elected into House of Representatives on 30 November 2006. He was the main spokesperson for justice policy.  For the Dutch general election of 2010 he was 3rd on the candidate list for the VVD. After the cabinet formation of 2010 for the first Rutte cabinet, Teeven became the Undersecretary for Security and Justice taking office on 14 October 2010 and resigned the same day as an MP. On 5 November 2012, he continued as Undersecretary for Security and Justice in the Second Rutte cabinet. Meanwhile, he was an MP again from 20 September 2012 to 5 November 2012. As Undersecretary for Security and Justice he was tasked with dealing with prevention, family law, youth justice, and copyright law.  On 10 March 2015 Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten resigned together with Teeven after the former had informed the House of Representatives wrongly in the early 2000s on a deal made by Teeven as state prosecutor in 1994. The deal concerned money paid to a drug trafficker whose money had been seized and received compensation after the origin of the money could not be proved to be illegal. Opstelten had mentioned to the House of Representatives a lower amount than the one that was actually paid, and that the receipt of the transaction had gone missing, while it later surfaced. In the wake of this scandal, House Chairwoman Anouchka van Miltenburg (who was a member of the same political party) resigned on 12 December 2015 when it became clear she had suppressed two letters of a whistle blower from the justice department who had already mentioned the right details on the 'deal', by putting the letters through the shredder. After resigning as State Secretary Teeven served as member of the House of Representatives between 26 March 2015 and 23 March 2017.  Teeven currently works as a bus driver for public transportation company Connexxion and as a consultant for public relations and cybercrime.

Fredrik "Fred" Teeven (born 5 August 1958) is a retired Dutch politician, bus driver and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

Fredrik Teeven dit Fred Teeven, né le à Haarlem, est un homme politique néerlandais, notamment secrétaire d'État à la Sécurité et la Justice chargé de l'immigration, du au.


Mainstream (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions album)

Recording.

The album took two years to make as finding a producer proved difficult. The band first went with Chris Thomas, when that did not work out they brought in Stewart Copeland. With Copeland they only recorded one track, "Hey Rusty", then finally found Ian Stanley.  Donegan reflected in 2004 that "with the previous LP, "Easy Pieces", we had tried to broaden out and make more of a pop record and it hadn't really worked. It sounded rushed and the songs were not all up to standard. So, a year after "Easy Pieces", we went into the studio to try and make something more powerful. But the LP that we actually made took so long that we lost our initial vision by the time we finished it. The songs that Lloyd was writing were more introspective, so the stadium rock idea gradually went out the window."  "Mainstream" cost £300,000, ten times as much as their debut album "Rattlesnakes", and took five months to record. Keyboardist Blair Cowan had already left the group by the time the album came out (hence his picture is missing from the photographs of the band that feature on the artwork, and only included on a 'dedication' to him on the inner sleeve) and Donegan was also close to calling it a day, having been accepted on a journalism course. As a result the group decided that they had come to a natural end and to split up after the release of the album, but were obliged to promote it and undertake a tour first, which took a year. After the Commotions had broken up, Cole moved to New York to resume his songwriting partnership with Cowan and joined up with Fred Maher and Robert Quine, both formerly with Lou Reed, to begin work on a solo career.

Composition.

The album's opening track and lead single, "My Bag", contains several allusions to cocaine. Cole said, "I wrote [the song] when I was drunk one night. It's basically about a coked up stockbroker. I took most of the scenarios from that song from "Big Lights, Bright City" ["sic"] or things that I'd heard like some executive that we've dealt with getting a phone call from another part of the office saying, 'Come upstairs, it's snowing' which of course meant a whole load of new coke was in. I thought 'a multi-story snowstorm' was quite a nice way to start a song." On the track "From the Hip", which charted in the UK, Cole laments over his helplessness in combating violence and abuse. "Jennifer She Said" has a Mark Knopfler-like guitar break and is about a newlywed who has lost interest and "last forever love that leads to a tattoo".  "Mr. Malcontent" is based on the character played by Daniel Day-Lewis in "My Beautiful Laundrette" and is about someone who would rather waste time than face the world. "Sean Penn Blues" is a "cheeky [and] upbeat" tune and "recover[s] the sly wit" of the band's earlier material. The track was inspired by an incident that Cole had read about in which the actor Sean Penn was invited to a poetry reading which turned out to be set up purely to mock him. The song opens with dialogue featuring the voices of Scottish actors Robbie Coltrane and Katy Murphy, taken from the BBC television comedy-drama series "Tutti Frutti" which had been broadcast seven months before the release of "Mainstream".  "Hey Rusty", the one track produced by Stewart Copeland of The Police, has a "Springsteen-like theme and a U2-like musical track". "These Days" has a bassline copied from a track on "Mister Heartbreak" by Laurie Anderson and has been called "gorgeous [and] melancholic".

Critical reception.

Although "Mainstream" was not universally embraced by the press it was favored by some critics. "Q" said, "Two years and six producers in the making, "Mainstream" could have easily appeared suffering from exhaustion and over-production... "Mainstream" put Lloyd Cole in the enviable position of being on a hat-trick of excellent contemporary pop albums. It is to his credit that he has remained communicative without being verbose and intelligent without being clever-clever." John Williamson of the "Evening Times" called "Mainstream" "the band's most accomplished work to-date" and "a major development for the band". In "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" the album is called Cole's "most well-rounded" and "cleanly produced". Jim Zebora of the "Record-Journal" gave the album a B and said it "hit with a lot of artistry" but admits Cole's "potential hasn't been reached". RS Murthi of "New Straits Times" writes that Cole's "rough-hewn vocals...provide a fine contrast to the smooth and buoyant music" and it "bristles with chiming guitars and dulcet synthesizer textures". "NME" observed that "instead of going mad, these people have overcome mega self-consciousness to make a record they should have made years ago. "Mainstream" beats most contemporary rock for its wit, intelligence and use of stringed instruments, and it thrashes crateloads of pop on the tunes, production and fun level." "Record Mirror" considered that calling the album "Mainstream" was "asking for trouble. It's a statement of intent as well as a nifty way to draw critics' fire before the cries of'sell out' come your way." The reviewer felt that "the only disappointment is that "Mainstream" sounds a little too polite at times. You yearn for just one track that will hit you between the shoulder blades with the bare boned intensity of some of their earlier work..." but concluded that overall it was "a flawed (slightly) masterpiece".  On the other hand, Richard Luck of "The Rough Guide to Rock" writes that "Mainstream" "was by and large a disappointing affair". William Ruhlmann, in Allmusic, laments that there is "little to alleviate the vitriol in the music". He did favor the track "Hey Rusty" but other than that he believes the songs are not "coherent, specific, [or] moving" Lastly, the album is described in "The Great Rock Discography" as "sound[ing] lacklustre in comparison" to their earlier work. "Sounds" was disappointed, saying, "Unfortunately, by developing his laid-back style, Lloyd has sacrificed some of the urgency and excitement so often present in his tales of seedy weekends and perfect lovers... He's given up pampering the "intellectuals" and is facing up to the things that are important in his own life. For these changes he can only be applauded, and yet the net result, at moments, seems somewhat lacklustre."

Track listing.

All tracks written and composed by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, except where noted.

Personnel.

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions:  Additional personnel:  Production

Mainstream is the third and final studio album released by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was produced by Ian Stanley and released by Capitol Records in the US and Polydor in the UK on 26 October 1987. It contained the hits "From the Hip", "My Bag", and "Jennifer She Said". Although the album reached number nine in the UK, it failed to chart in America and was not embraced by all critics: "Mainstream" is the only Lloyd Cole and the Commotions release not to sell at least 100,000 copies in the US.

L'album est un succès commercial, et comme les deux précédents, il est certifié disque d'or au Royaume-Uni. Le groupe se séparera cependant en 1989.


Biography.

Martin was born in Sacramento, California, the daughter of a radio producer. She studied at both California State University, Sacramento and the University of California, Berkeley. She began studying singing in Sacramento with Julia Monroe and later studied in New York with Lili Wexberg and Otto Gruth. She made her operatic debut in 1960 at San Francisco Opera as Theresa in "La sonnambula" and at 21 was the youngest member of the company that season. She continued to sing a number of comprimario mezzo-soprano roles with the company through 1969, including Sister Anne in the 1961 world premiere of Norman Dello Joio's opera "Blood Moon". She returned as a soprano in 1970 in the title role of "Tosca" and appeared there regularly though 1990, when she sang the role of Brünnhilde in "Die Walküre", "Siegfried", and "Götterdämmerung" for the company's complete performance of Wagner's "Ring Cycle".  On March 23, 1962, she won the National Finals of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions singing "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" from "Samson et Dalila". Her New York City Opera debut that same year was as Mrs. Grose in "The Turn of the Screw". Her Metropolitan Opera debut came on December 19, 1962 when she sang Flora Bervoix in "La traviata" with Anna Moffo as Violetta. She went on to sing 147 performances at the Met between 1962 and 1997, first in mezzo-soprano roles, including Singer in the 1964 US premiere of Menotti's "The Last Savage" and from 1973 leading soprano roles including Kundry in "Parsifal", Marie in "Wozzeck", Senta in "Der Fliegende Holländer", and the title role in "Tosca". Her final appearance with the company was in 1997 when she sang Brünnhilde in "Die Walküre" with Plácido Domingo as Siegmund and Deborah Voigt as Sieglinde.  Martin sang with the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1971 to 1988 and at the Bayreuth Festival from 1968 to 1997 as Eva and Magdalena ("Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg"); Fricka, Sieglinde, and Brünnhilde ("Die Walküre"); Gutrune and 2nd Norn ("Götterdämmerung"); Fricka and Freia ("Das Rheingold") and Kundry ("Parsifal"). Her performances in other European opera houses include Venus ("Tannhäuser"), Marie ("Wozzeck") and The Woman ("Erwartung") at La Scala; Marie at the Royal Opera House; Brünnhilde at the Vienna State Opera, Isolde (1981) and Kundry at the Oper Zürich (1981), and "Ariadne" at the Staatsoper Hannover (1982). Martin retired from the stage in 2000 to live in Nevada County, California, where she gave singing lessons and occasional recitals and concerts.  Martin and her former husband, the German conductor and choirmaster Gerhard Hellwig, had a son, Robert. The marriage ended in divorce. Martin died at the age of 75 on December 13, 2014. She is survived by her brother Richard, her son Robert, resident in San Antonio, Texas, and two grandchildren.

Janis Martin (August 16, 1939 – December 13, 2014) was an American opera singer who sang leading roles first as a mezzo-soprano and later as a soprano in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. She was particularly known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and sang at the Bayreuth Festival from 1968 to 1997.

Janis Martin née à Sacramento (Californie) le, et décédée à San Antonio (Texas) le est une chanteuse d'opéra américaine qui chanta des premiers rôles d'abord comme mezzo-soprano, et plus tard comme soprano dans des opéras à travers l'Europe et les États-Unis. Elle a été particulièrement connue pour ses rôles dans les opéras de Richard Wagner, et a chanté au Festival de Bayreuth de 1968 à 1997.