title: Chevalier d'Éon

text: In 1756, d'Éon joined the secret network of spies called the Secret du Roi ('King's Secret'), employed by King Louis XV without the knowledge of the government. It sometimes promoted policies that were contrary to official policies and treaties. According to d'Éon's memoirs (although there is no documentary evidence to support that account) the monarch sent d'Éon with the Chevalier Douglas, Alexander Peter Mackenzie Douglas, Baron of Kildin, a Scottish Jacobite in French service, on a secret mission to Russia in order to meet Empress Elizabeth and conspire with the pro-French faction against the Habsburg monarchy. At that time the English and French were at odds, and the English were attempting to deny the French access to the Empress by allowing only women and children to cross the border into Russia. D'Éon later claimed having to pass convincingly as a woman or risk being executed by the English upon discovery and therefore travelled disguised as the lady Lia de Beaumont, and served as a maid of honour to the Empress. However, there is little or no evidence to support this and it is now commonly accepted to be a story told to demonstrate how identifying as female had been of benefit to France in the past. Eventually, Chevalier Douglas became the French ambassador to Russia, and d'Éon was secretary to the embassy in Saint Petersburg from 1756 to 1760, serving Douglas and his successor, the marquis de l'Hôpital.


title: Chevalier d'Éon

text: Upon the arrival of the new ambassador, the comte de Guerchy in October 1763, d'Éon was demoted to the rank of secretary and humiliated by the count. D'Éon was trapped between two French factions: Guerchy was a supporter of the duc de Choiseul, duc de Praslin and Madame de Pompadour, in opposition to the comte de Broglie and his brother the maréchal de Broglie. D'Éon complained, and eventually decided to disobey orders to return to France. In a letter to the king, d'Éon claimed that the new ambassador had tried to drug d'Éon at a dinner at the ambassador's residence in Monmouth House in Soho Square. The British government declined a French request to extradite d'Éon, and the 2,000 livres pension that had been granted in 1760 was stopped in February 1764. In an effort to save d'Éon's station in London, d'Éon published much of the secret diplomatic correspondence about d'Éon's recall under the title Lettres, mémoires et négociations particulières du chevalier d'Éon in March 1764, disavowing Guerchy and calling him unfit for the job. This breach of diplomatic discretion was scandalous to the point of being unheard of, but d'Éon had not yet published everything (the King's secret invasion documents and those relative to the Secret du Roi were kept back as "insurance"), and so the French government became cautious in its dealings with d'Éon, even when d'Éon sued Guerchy for attempted murder. D'Éon did not offer any defence when Guerchy sued for libel, and was declared an outlaw and went into hiding. However, d'Éon secured the sympathy of the British public: the mob jeered Guerchy in public, and threw stones at his residence. D'Éon then wrote a book on public administration, Les loisirs du Chevalier d'Éon, which was published in thirteen volumes in Amsterdam in 1774.


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: The album features a variety of genres, among them funk, disco, country and bolero. McAloon took inspiration from K-tel compilation albums, attracted to the idea of "the listener being inundated with all these musical styles coming at them one after another". The arrangements largely employ soft textures, something McAloon deemed "the most avant-garde thing you can do" amidst the rock music scene of 1990. According to the Gavin Report, "ever present are the rich chord changes with slices of sly sampling". Stuart Maconie of the NME considered the album's sound world "informed more by Pet Sounds and Phil Spector than punk rock or acid house" and felt its tracks exhibited "a tension between a love of the mainstream pop song tradition and McAloon's own unusual musical personality". Many of the compositions carry the influence of Broadway theatre and McAloon found inspiration in songwriters including Rodgers and Hart, Burt Bacharach and Rod Temperton. Writing in 2022, John Earls of Classic Pop considered the album to be Prefab Sprout's most "band-sounding", remarking "Martin McAloon and drummer Neil Conti's rhythm section were never so fluid."


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: "Machine Gun Ibiza" utilises funk rhythms and wah-wah guitar in an arrangement Time Out compared to the work of Sly Stone. The song originated in a pub conversation referencing both Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" and Ibiza, and lyrically concerns a hero partly based on Hendrix and described by McAloon as "the coolest guy on the planet". The character is referred to as "a top rollmo star" – 'rollmo' being a word McAloon dreamt Michael Jackson taught him. The ballad "We Let the Stars Go" was composed on piano on the morning of 29 August 1988; McAloon had tickets to see Jackson in Leeds that day but ultimately didn't go. The song's features the name "Paddy Joe" in reference to McAloon's own given names Patrick Joseph. He has described it as "a boy-loses-girl song with a little bit of autobiographical detail thrown in". "Carnival 2000" is about the celebrating the turn of the Millennium. The song began as a simple piano piece before being worked up into a samba-inspired production at the insistence of Dolby.


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: Tracks six through nine constitute what McAloon called "the Elvis section" as all four songs were written for or about Elvis Presley. "Jordan: The Comeback" imagines Presley, who died in 1977, still alive and living a reclusive existence in the Nevada desert. He has become distant from rock and roll and is waiting for the right song to return with. McAloon described "Jordan: The Comeback" as "a kind of mini-musical where the pumping bass is both Elvis's hip work and the throbbing of convertibles on endless highways." The verses follow Presley's thoughts (delivered in a Southern drawl) over music intended to sound like a Las Vegas band, while the chorus serves as the spiritual song he returns with ("End of the road I'm travelling, I will see Jordan beckoning"). McAloon chose the River Jordan as the subject of the chorus because he believed Presley felt closest to gospel in his last years. He described the river as a "place of resurrection" and linked it to Presley through his backing vocalists, the Jordanaires.


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: Tracks ten through fourteen broadly make up a section of love songs. The upbeat "All the World Loves Lovers" concerns a new relationship with an ambiguous tone influenced by the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. McAloon spoke of a desire to hear the song covered by Frank Sinatra. The only lyric in "All Boys Believe Anything" is a repetition of the title, a backronym of ABBA. The song has been likened to those from musical theatre by several reviewers. Described as a "stop-start pop track with flourishes of brass", "The Ice Maiden" is about ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog. Having been struck by the Swedish pop group's "frosty glamour" as a teenager, McAloon sought to emulate ABBA's "stiff" lyrical style with lines including "welcome to the glow of high octane affairs" and "standing on the boulevard, you wish to know my name". "Paris Smith" was inspired by Wendy Smith's admission that, if she were to have a child, she'd give it an incongruous name to play against her surname. Wendy's choice for a girl was Paris. The song lyrically addresses a child in what McAloon described as "an attempt to exorcise my fears for the future". The music is sparse, with a Dimension D chorus effect on the lead vocal (a feature carried over from the demo). "The Wedding March" concerns marriage, with the lyrics declaring matrimony "one dance whose steps I never could learn". McAloon preferred the song's demo to the studio recording and described the song as "lyrically quite hard" despite the mellow musical backing and backing vocals he compared to Huey, Dewey, and Louie.


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: McAloon considered "One of the Broken" among his best compositions. The country-influenced song is written from the perspective of God; its first verse begins "Hi, this is God here". Described by journalist Martin Townsend as a dreamy blues, "One of the Broken" has the creator urging the faithful to help others rather that sing any "hymn of devotion". In contrast, "Michael" is sung from the perspective of a regretful Satan wishing to get back into heaven and surprising the archangel Michael by requesting help on writing a letter to God. The song features a more modern and intense arrangement than "One of the Broken", creating an intentional sense of opposition between God and the Devil. According to Adam Mason of PopMatters, "Michael" is marked by a "gloriously sinister synth texture worthy of Depeche Mode". "Mercy" is the album's shortest track, performed solo by McAloon on acoustic guitar. It can be read as both a further plea from Satan or as a love song. The album's last two tracks directly concern death. "Scarlet Nights" is about someone waiting to die. Musically, the song combines a bouncy disco-influenced rhythm with a solemn church organ. "Doo Wop in Harlem" addresses a departed friend ("If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight, they never sang doo wop in Harlem"). With its sparse arrangement utilising soul music-styled harmonies, McAloon considered the song "perfect for Ray Charles".


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: Jordan: The Comeback garnered widespread acclaim upon release. Stuart Maconie of NME described the album as "riding a thematic railroad from nuggets of pure pop philosophy to weighty matters of the soul". Comparing the album's ambition to "other great pop jamborees from Sign o' the Times to the White Album", Maconie commented "to say it's the pop triumph of the year is to damn it with faint praise". David Wild of Rolling Stone said, "If Brian Wilson at the height of his creative powers had spent a year in the studio working up a concept album about love, God and Elvis, the result might have sounded like Jordan: The Comeback. Simon Reynolds of Melody Maker considered the album the band's best since Steve McQueen, praising it as "exquisite, sumptuous, marvellously intricate, angelically forceful". Record Mirror praised what it called "a masterly collection of 19 richly emotive songs". The Washington Post's Joe Brown praised the album's "smart lyrics, buoyant melodies and a pure pop charm the likes of which we haven't heard since the Beatles, or at least Elton John". Q reviewer Lloyd Bradley was most impressed by how the album "fills every nook and cranny with sounds" without overshadowing its songs' core rhythms and melodies. Ira Robbins of Entertainment Weekly commented "Those accustomed to musical junk food may find Jordan: The Comeback too subtle and complex at first, but this airy delicacy is a taste worth acquiring."


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: Writing in 2007, BBC Music's Chris Jones felt the album's richness left listeners "somewhat over-satiated" and considered "We Let the Stars Go" and "All the World Loves Lovers" to come "uncomfortably close to cloying". He concluded "like George Gershwin transported into Brian Wilson's sandbox, Jordan is equal parts passionate, philosophical and preposterous". Upon its reissue in 2019, Danny Eccleston of Mojo referred to Jordan as Prefab Sprout's "sprawling opus" and said that its "gospel moves sound even better" in light of the renewed popularity of "'80s soul productions" while Adam Mason of PopMatters praised McAloon's ability "to plunge into any musical genre he pleases and emerge with a stunning melody". Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky declared the album "a work so layered that, decades on, it still seems to hold new secrets" and singled out "Wild Horses" as "a romantic fantasy whose sleek arrangement still sounds fresh". In 2022, Pitchfork ranked the album 131 in their list "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s".


title: Jordan: The Comeback

text: Following the album's release, McAloon worked on several similarly ambitious projects. He planned to follow up Jordan with Let's Change the World with Music, an album with religious themes that further reflected the influence of gospel music. After the completed demo tape received a muted reception from Sony in 1993, McAloon expanded the concept of one of its songs into Earth, the Story So Far, a concept album featuring songs about Adam and Eve and Neil Armstrong. McAloon worked on Earth for two years before abandoning it, fearing it would be too long and expensive for release. Other prospective Prefab Sprout projects devised during this period include Behind The Veil, based on the life of Michael Jackson, a romantic album named Knights in Armour and a collection of spiritual compositions titled The Atomic Hymn Book. The ultimate follow-up to Jordan became Andromeda Heights , largely made up of songs written for previous conceptual projects. McAloon's Let's Change the World with Music demos were eventually released as Prefab Sprout's eighth studio album in 2009.


title: Project Runway Philippines season 4

text: The designers were brought into a resort. surprisingly, Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez is their client for the beach wear. They were brought to Carolina's Lace shop to pick their garments and fabrics. While their design is on progress, Jojie appeared, and told them to swap and switch places who ever is on their side and front. All the designers were shocked. Aj, who was one of the shocked designers got outside to catch some fresh air. Vin, Celine and Joy also had trouble redesigning the designs of the other designer. Aj is very positive about her design to be safe before the runway starts. After the tough deliberation, Maw and Shieltz were deemed safe. Romel, Jared and Justin got the highest scores. Despite Jared who continues to show great designs, Romel once again beat Jared. Immunity was also removed from next week, meaning all of them are in danger of elimination. Justin was also safe. Celine was also deemed safe even Apples told her that she keeps saying excuses. Joy, Vin and Aj landed in the bottom 3. Joy for his lack of idea, Vin on his unsafe & unmovable design and Aj whom the judges called her design referred as 'Puruntong' and also unflattering. In the end, Aj was eliminated for her poor design.


title: Project Runway Philippines season 4

text: The final six designers were brought to the runway. Apparently they were shocked because six random girls appeared on their front; as well as Mian Datu, the Pond's manager. They were given a task to recreate the pond's recent uniform since it was used five years and still running. they were each asked to follow some rules, such as workable, feminine, professional and with its original color gray. the designers also had time to call their loved ones. Shieltz who had received a bad news from home, but he still continued on the competition (his mom was mild stroked). During the runway show, there were some good and bad feed backs. Celine got good comments but the one which the judges dislike is her turtleneck, but otherwise, it was good. Maw explained her design and took a lot of time explaining it, but the judges felt her design was great as well. Joy receive good and bad feed backs as well, but the judge's favorite part of his design is that he used pants. In the End Celine won her 4th win in a second consecutive time even all of them failed to execute their designs. Jared was also safe even he had some technical problems and having over designed his top. Shieltz and Romel fall into the bottom 2, but Shieltz was saved due to his design even he had bad taste on fabrics and it was too old and boring, sending Romel home because of his unchanged design of the recent style of the uniform. it was shown that all of them are praising Romel. In the last segment while Romel was packing his things, it was revealed that Jojie saved him from elimination and he will continue on the competition, but two designers will go home the following week.


title: Project Runway Philippines season 4

text: The remaining 6 designers were brought into the NBA store. What they did not know is they will be doing a try out on basketball, as they will be also designing for male clothing. The score they get means the order of picking their basketball team jerseys. Joy came first, followed by Shieltz, Jared, Celine and Maw, and ultimately Romel who was left with the last jersey. While their design is on progress, their models appeared, where in Shieltz used his model's jacket to get its size, but Romel who thinks that Shieltz is cheating. Jojie subsequently arrived, and while mentoring them, he gave the designers chance to change their chosen fabrics. Romel and Jared elected to use their chance to get new fabrics while the others stay behind and continue their designs. At the runway there were some mixed critics to the designers. Rajo praised Shieltz for his design and its also his first time to shine as a designer. Celine also got praised for her design but lacking the color patterns on her chosen jersey that could affect her score; Joy for his design had mixed thoughts - where Apples and tweetie referred his design as 'Michael Jackson'. Jared was asked about his over designed jacket and criticized for his lack of design purpose. Maw also got bad feedbacks on her design as they referred her design as 'Clownish'. Apples was very regretful on Romel for having his second chance, as Romel added some bad taste on his design. In the end, Shieltz won his first challenge beating Celine and Joy. Jared, Maw and Romel landed on the bottom 3. Maw was the first eliminated, followed by Romel where a tearful Jared leaves the stage. In the post ending credits, it was shown that Maw and Romel were dancing joyously as they were going home.


title: Project Runway Philippines season 4

text: The final 4 designers were brought to the IAcademy, where in they were given a task to create an Avant Garde design about the happenings in our society today, and how they can see the future. They were given 30 minutes to sketch their design, as a pool of IAcademy students came out to help them. they were given one day to finish the task. After Jojie mentored the designers, he gave them another twist which is they need to do a second design where in it should be wearable. They were more even shocked to see four returning eliminated designers- Aj who was paired up with Celine, Jinggay who were paired up to Shieltz, Enzo who was paired up to Joy and Justin who was paired with Jared. there were some issues with the eliminated and the remaining designers where in Aj, Jinggay and Justin annoyed and does not even care what they are doing, if they are even helping or not since they are eliminated. After the runway, the judges had mixed critics and upset with the designs. Joy was praised for his taste and knowledge; Jared was criticized for his repetitive designs; Celine for her lack of ability to show her talent; and Shieltz for his again unpaired design and frayed fabrics. In the end Joy was deemed the winner of the challenge and was sent through the finals. Jared was also deemed safe to be in the final 3. It was down to Celine and Shieltz who was fighting for the last slot. In the end, the judges gave Celine a second chance since she showed great on previous performances, securing the last slot in the finale, while Shieltz was sent home barely making it to the final three.


title: Integration of Hmong people into urban society

text: After immigrating to the United States after the Vietnam War, studies of Hmong women showed that many of them still practiced agriculture similar to that of when they were back in Southeast Asia. These "urban gardens" have become reconstructions of their former gardens. Although the gardens are no longer an essential part of everyday life, they still provide a way for Hmong refugees, especially women, to continue the practice of gardening and provide some fresh vegetables for their families. A study in Sacramento, California showed that out of 73 kinds of plants that were harvested and grown, 38 were used for food, 36 were used for medicine, three were used as ornaments and one of them was used for fiber. Many of these plants, however, had multiple purposes with 15 being used for both food and medicine, one being used as food and an ornament, one being used as medicine and for fiber, and one being used for food, medicine, and for fiber. Many of these plants were also used as food seasonings and additives primarily for chicken. All the Hmong women who were a part of this study were interviewed afterwards as to why they do what they do. Many of these same plants can be purchased at Asian markets in Sacramento and yet they choose to grow them themselves. The Hmong women's response was that it would be easier, more convenient, and more economical to grow their own crops. These agricultural techniques and way of living were passed down to them by their parents and grandparents back in Laos and as a result these are the few skills that they have available to them. After the Hmong immigrated to Sacramento, many of the Hmong women did not work and did not speak English and often sat alone at home in their apartments. This created challenges that got in the way of them understanding the American urban culture that was being forced upon. These "urban gardens" provided Hmong women the opportunity to utilize their skills where they could be productive and be valued for their work. This allowed Hmong women, especially elders, to overcome feelings of overdependence and uselessness. Not only that, this revealed a change that could be made to help Hmong people adapt and adjust to living in urban cities in the United States.


text: The actions of the U.S. military and the C.I.A. brought the Hmong into the war in Vietnam but in losing the fight they had left the Hmong behind. They could only afford to evacuate General Vang Pao and those who they thought the Pathet Lao would target. The United States did little to nothing to aid the Hmong trapped in Laos after 1975. Those that managed to flee to Thailand and become refugees immigrated to the United States. This has harvested bitterness that the Hmong immigrants have towards the American public which is unaware of the sacrifices that the Hmong people made for the United States. In order to somewhat alleviate some of the stress on Hmong people in the United States the U.S. Congress have modified the requirements for becoming a U.S. citizen for Hmong immigrants who are not proficient in English and know almost nothing about U.S. history and civics. Congress also passed the Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act (HVNA) in May 2000 although prior to the vote to pass the act, almost 2000 Hmong veterans participated in a rally in Washington D.C. In addition, July 22 was also declared to be Lao-Hmong Recognition Day to honor the sacrifices made by those during the war in Southeast Asia. Although the Hmong people have won all of these political battles it has arrived about 25 years too late to really influence resettlement after the war. Furthermore, there are still Hmong people in Laos hiding from the Laotian army. In 2003, two European journalists and a Hmong American interpreter managed to find about 600 Hmong soldiers and their families who were hiding from the Laotian army. The Hmong in hiding believed that the Americans were going to come back for them. Many of them were children and were not even alive when the Americans were still in Laos.


text: The Hmong people have experienced not only hardships in trying to integrate themselves into a new society but also faced hostility and racism from Americans in their communities. In the mid 1970s, before the arrival Hmong immigrants, the small towns of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Rochester, Minnesota were nearly one hundred percent white. However, the arrival of Hmong refugees did not immediately spark hatred and hostility. As a matter of fact, local churches welcomed the refugees with open arms and provided basic necessities, taught the Hmong English, and helped them find jobs. However, despite the best efforts of the church and good Samaritans, the Hmong refugees have come to experience hate from the locals. Prejudice is common in many small Midwestern cities. This has been verified by an antiracism group in Rochester known as Building Equality Together who conducted a survey in Olmsted County where Rochester in located. The survey found that many locals had "distorted attitudes" about minorities. About forty percent believed that Southeast Asians did not maintain their properties as well as the whites and would rather have minimal contact between whites and minorities. Another survey was conducted in the La Crosse area of Wisconsin which also showed prejudice towards minorities. As much as forty-three percent opposed or strongly opposed the arrival of any more Hmong refugees because they were hurting the welfare system and taking jobs away from the locals and contributing to unemployment. A similar survey in Wausau displayed similar results where forty-seven percent of the residents felt that the quality of life had decreased since the arrival of Hmong refugees.


text: In January 1987, a local newspaper in Eau Claire began circulating about a "marriage-by-theft" case in La Crosse. The news article reported that a Hmong man had "abducted" and "impregnated" a Hmong woman against her will after obtaining permission from her parents to marry her. It is customary that this "kidnapping" takes place for Hmong marriages. Viewed as primitive and violent by the Americans this issue sparked many conflicts involving moral values and cultural customs. The Hmong wanted to preserve this custom because they did not want to lose a part of their culture, thus condemning them to becoming simply another minority whose customs are lost and stuck in poverty and illiteracy. Although these incidents have cause cultural disorder, the crime rates in Eau Claire have hardly been affected and the social control of the dominant group, the local whites, were not undermined. This is just another example of the difficulty Hmong people face integrating their culture within a new society.


text: Despite all of this controversy, the Hmong community in Eau Claire not only endured but began to thrive. The Hmong have demonstrated involvement in the local politics which overthrew the stereotypes of Asian Americans being very acquiescent and passive. Charles Vue, the very first Hmong graduate from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire became the first Hmong person to run for political office in the city. He ran for a seat on the Eau Claire School Board in 1993. Three years later, Joe Bee Xiong won the third seat out of seven on the city council and easily won reelection two years later. Xiong declined to run a third time but coached Neng Lee who won the fourth seat out of seven on the council. After finishing his term, Lee declined to run for reelection, however, a grocery store owner by the name of Saidang Xiong won the second seat out of out eight possible candidates. In 2001, Kaxing Xiong became the first Hmong principal of a Wisconsin public school. These achievements could not have been possible without the votes of the native-born voters because at the time there were not enough Hmong voters to ensure electoral victory. Integration and participation of the Hmong people in Eau Claire not only included the politics but religion as well. In 1980, the first Christian church service in the Hmong language was held. It was led by an assistant Hmong pastor and numbered over 250 individuals who attended. The Hmong community also appointed leaders to each clan who would oversee problems within the community and help resolve them. The organization of social structure within the Hmong community and open participation within the overall community helped the Hmong transition into the urban, American way of life. They had achieved what the locals had thought was impossible.


text: Although the Hmong have forsaken many aspects of their previous lifestyle such as swidden agriculture and living in rural areas, they still retain strong kinship with one another. These kin relationships allow the Hmong to quickly respond to changing conditions such as moving to urban cities. That is due to the nature of Hmong kinships. They generally consist of immediate family members those of direct lineage. Hmong kinship is also strongly connected spiritually to their ancestors meaning the power of clan membership transcends death itself. Much of the Hmong kinship and politics are operated by the Lao Family Community which is a social service organization in St. Paul-Minneapolis which also has ties to other Hmong leadership groups throughout the nation. Since 1977, whenever networks of Hmong assistance organizations have come together in large concentrations of Hmong refugees such as St. Paul-Minneapolis, there has been speculation about their true agenda. These speculations may have the wrong intentions because these associations simply want to provide a wide variety of services to the Hmong refugees. Assistance organizations such as the Lao Family Community are there to provide leadership and aid in resolving conflicts within the Hmong community. The creation of these organizations in order to elect leaders is, in a way, establishing self-identity and self-autonomy within urban areas where the Hmong can look for guidance. It creates assurance and a sense of belongingness that the Hmong people need to feel comfortable in a new setting. It is due to these factors that the Hmong have been able to adjust to living in these urban areas which are so different from the agrarian society they originate from.


title: Dennis Woodberry

text: Woodberry began his professional football career in the United States Football League for the Birmingham Stallions, where he played in 1984 and 1985. He was selected in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players by the Atlanta Falcons. He joined the Falcons in the offseason of 1986, and was cut on September 1. However, due to injuries, he was resigned and played the last seven games for the Falcons. He was then traded to the Green Bay Packers for cash in 1987, but never played a game for them. Woodberry was signed in 1987 by the Washington Redskins. The 1987 season began with a 24-day players' strike, reducing the 16-game season to 15. The games for weeks 4–6 were won with all replacement players, including Woodberry. The Redskins have the distinction of being the only team with no players crossing the picket line. Those three victories are often credited with getting the team into the playoffs and the basis for the 2000 movie The Replacements. He was one of the few replacement players that the Redskins retained after the strike ended.


title: Klaus Segbers

text: From 1974-1979, Segbers studied history, Slavic languages, political science, and philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum and University of Konstanz, completing his studies with both a master's degree and Staatsexamen (government-recognized exam for future teachers). In 1984, he obtained his PhD (Dr. phil.) from Bremen University with a study on the USSR during the Second World War. Segbers worked as research fellow at a project on Soviet reform politics at the University of Bremen and later as research fellow at JWG University in Frankfurt am Main. From 1990-1995, he joined Germany's leading think tank on politics, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs at Ebenhausen and in 1992 qualified as professor with a book on systemic change in the Soviet Union. After working as professor for international relations at the University of Konstanz in 1995, Segbers became professor for political science and East European politics at the Institute for East European Studies and the Otto-Suhr-Institut at Freie Universität Berlin. He has conducted several research projects – among others one on post-Soviet puzzles and one on explaining post-Soviet patchworks – and has implemented as well as supervised different study projects which since 2007 are integrated in the center for global politics. Segbers is a member of several scientific boards of organizations of international repute including the German Council on Foreign Relations the Gulf Research Center, and the Institute for European Politics. As visiting scholar he has worked, amongst others, at Stanford University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Columbia University and Fudan University. He is also a member of the governing board of the European Humanities University.


title: Hans von Kirchbach

text: In 1872, he was promoted to first lieutenant and captain in 1877. Between 1878 and 1881 he served as a regimental and brigade adjutant and as adjutant to the King Albert of Saxony. In 1881, he was appointed battery commander in the 19th (2nd Royal Saxon) Foot Artillery Regiment. He served from 1884 to 1889 as an instructor at the Artillery and Engineering School in Berlin, gaining promotion to major in 1887. In 1889 he returned to the 12th (1st Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Regiment as commander of the 1st Abteilung (equivalent to Battalion). There, in 1891, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Kirchbach was transferred to the Saxon War Department in 1893, and became a colonel in 1895, when he was placed in command of the 32nd (3rd Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Regiment. In 1899, now a Generalmajor, he was commander of the 40th (4th Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Brigade, and in 1901, commander of the 23rd (1st Royal Saxon) Field Artillery Brigade. In 1904 Kirchbach was promoted to Generalleutnant and appointed commander of the 32nd (3rd Royal Saxon) Division.


title: József Varga (politician, born 1962)

text: Varga was a prominent politician in Ferencváros (9th district of Budapest) until 2019, described as "gray eminence" behind mayor János Bácskai since 2010. In a series of articles published since the spring of 2017, news portal 444.hu revealed a number of adverse cases related to the management of the district (parking money, housing allowances etc), which connected to Varga and his uncovered network of contacts. One of his fellow Fidesz politicians described Varga as "an uneducated man, but he is unparalleled in cunning and caution, and has more wit than the whole Fidesz faction combined". As a result of the series of articles, the Fidesz did not launch Varga in an individual district and placed his name in a disadvantaged place on the national list during the 2018 parliamentary election. Varga lost all political influence in the 2019 local elections, when Bácskai was defeated by opposition mayoral candidate Krisztina Baranyi, whose alliance also gained a majority in the district council.


title: Springwood, Queensland

text: In October 2009, Logan City Council partnered with GHD to create a master plan for redeveloping Springwood as a PAC. This plan was made after consultations with key stakeholders and residents in the local area. Using the South East Queensland Regional Plan as a foundation, the master plan envisions a future for Springwood in the year 2031 and beyond. The plan proposes a significant change in form and function of the suburb compared to its current state. As a suburb with a significant presence in automotive retail showrooms, the plan encourages these showrooms to consolidate around Compton Road and the Logan Mega Centre. The plan proposes new low-rise office spaces, residential apartments, recreational spaces, retail and commercial spaces to be developed within close distance to Springwood bus station. Moreover, the plan outlines two new town squares, a new road intersecting Dennis Road and Carol Avenue, a theatre, an art gallery, rehabilitation of Slacks Creek and an upgrade to public transport facilities. These proposals offer a framework for future planning scheme amendments made by Logan City Council.


title: Talitha MacKenzie

text: The duo's debut album Mouth Music reached number one on the Billboard Top World Music Albums chart as well as topping the Music Week chart. The album also picked up a broad set of poll wins and industry recommendations including listings in Folk Roots magazine's 'Albums Of the Year', Q's 'Recommended Releases of 1990', The Guardian's 'Pick Of The Year' and CMJ's 'Best Of 1991 (USA)', and was later dubbed as an early Afro-Celtic music project, anticipating the later work of projects like the Afro-Celt Sound System. Q Magazine called it the album "surely the most innovative worldly sound of 1990" and Entertainment Weekly referred to it as a "magical treat is a reminder that world music means more than just African or Brazilian exotica. It's any style that takes its soul from a particular tradition and its brains from more global sensibilities — it's the sound of many cultures chatting to each other... The sources are treated with muscle as well as respect... Mouth Music's combination of intelligence, beauty, and nerve has the power to unite both world-beatniks and mainstream rock fans in mutual exhilaration."


title: Carbon peapod

text: The existence of carbon peapods demonstrates further properties of carbon nanotubes, such as potential to be a stringently controlled environment for reactions. C60 molecules normally form amorphous carbon when heated to 1000–1200 °C under ambient conditions; when heated to such a high temperature within a carbon nanotube, they instead merge in an ordered manner to form another SWNT, thus creating a double-wall carbon nanotube. Owing to the ease with which fullerenes can encapsulate or be doped with other molecules and the transparency of nanotubes to electron beams, carbon peapods can also serve as nano-scale test tubes. After fullerenes containing reactants diffuse into an SWNT, a high-energy electron beam can be used to induce high reactivity, thus triggering formation of C60 dimers and merging of their contents. Additionally, due to the enclosed fullerenes being limited to only a one-dimensional degree of mobility, phenomena such as diffusion or phase transformations can easily be studied.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: Miami traveled to Minneapolis for their first road game of the season against the Minnesota Vikings on September 10. Although Minnesota dominated Miami in terms of yardage, the game remained close throughout because mistakes by both teams kept them of out the opponent's end zone until the fourth quarter. Fiedler threw for 175 yards, completing only 12 of 31 passes and throwing an interception to Keith Thibodeaux in the third quarter. Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw for 355 yards and completed 23-for-37, but had three interceptions. Minnesota scored first during the first quarter with a field goal by Gary Anderson. However, neither team would record another score until the fourth quarter. After another field goal from Anderson and a touchdown pass from Culpepper to Randy Moss, the score was 13–0 in favor of Minnesota with 1:56 left in the game. Miami finally scored with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Fiedler to Thurman Thomas with barely a minute on the clock. After that, the Dolphins attempted an onside kick, but the ball was recovered by Orlando Thomas of the Vikings, effectively ending the game with a 13–7 win for Minnesota. Miami fell to 1–1.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: The Dolphins returned to Miami to play against the Baltimore Ravens on September 17. Fiedler threw 11-for-16 with 160 yards, including a touchdown pass and an interception. In the second half, all seven of his pass attempts were successful. Miami scored in each quarter, with a field goal from Olindo Mare in the first and second periods and a pair of touchdowns by Lamar Smith in the third and fourth quarters. Following the fourth quarter touchdown, Mare missed the extra point, only the second time in his 99 career attempts. On the Ravens team, quarterback Tony Banks threw for 189 yards with 19 out of 31 completions, but was sacked six times, intercepted once, and fumbled twice. Facing constant pressure from the Miami defense, Banks was often forced to throw short passes. Unable to reach the Miami end zone, Baltimore had to settle for two field goals from Matt Stover, one each in the third and fourth quarters. Although the Ravens had four more total yards than the Dolphins, Miami was able to win the game with a score of 19–6. The Dolphins improved to 2–1.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: In the Dolphins first division rivalry game of the season, the New England Patriots traveled to play Miami at home on September 24. Neither team performed exceptionally well in terms of passing, rushing, or scoring. Fiedler completed only 50% of his passes, throwing 12-for-24 with 153 yards, which included one touchdown and two interceptions. The first interception, which occurred late in the first quarter, would allow New England to score first, with a field goal by Adam Vinatieri early in the second quarter. Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe had a slightly worse pass completion percentage than Fiedler and was 16-for-33 with 161 yards at the end of the game. With New England leading 3–0 at 14:43 left in the second quarter, Miami answered with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Fiedler to Bert Emanuel about three minutes later. The Dolphins reinforced their lead with a field goal from Mare with only seconds left in the second quarter. Neither Miami nor New England would score for the rest of the game. The Patriots attempted to force overtime or win the game with a touchdown at just 1:08 left in the fourth quarter. However, the pass from Bledsoe to Eric Bjornson on fourth down at the Miami 5-yard line was incomplete, turning the ball over to Miami with barely a minute on the clock. Thus, the Dolphins won 10–3 and improved to 3–1. The 2000 Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to allow only one touchdown in the first four games and had only allowed 22 points by the end of this game.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: In week 5, Miami traveled to Cincinnati for a match-up against the Bengals on October 1. Fiedler passed 155 yards and completed 14 out of 21, but threw an interception. He also rushed for 45 yards. Bengal quarterback Akili Smith completed 20 out of 38 passes for 178 yards, while rushing for 43 yards. Additionally, Corey Dillon of the Bengals rushed for 110 yards. During the game, Cincinnati held Miami scoreless at 13–0 until near the end of the second quarter. The Dolphins proceeded to score five times from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth quarter, beginning with a field goal by Mare. As the clock ran out during the second quarter, Jason Taylor was able to recover a fumble by Cincinnati and return the ball for a touchdown, ending the first half with a score of 13–10 in favor of Cincinnati. Miami scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, the first an 18-yard rush by Lamar Smith and the second a 7-yard pass from Fiedler to Oronde Gadsden. The Dolphins scored another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, also a reception from Fiedler to Gadsden. About midway through the fourth quarter, the Bengals finally scored again with a field goal by Neil Rackers. Cincinnati was unable to stage a comeback, with Miami winning 31–16. The Dolphins record improved to 4–1.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: In week 6, the Miami Dolphins fought the Buffalo Bills at home on October 8. Thurman Thomas, who played for the Bills from 1988–1999, competed against his former team in this game. Fiedler completed 14 out of 24 passes with a total of 142 yards. Rob Johnson, who started this game as quarterback for the Bills, threw 178 yards and went only 11-for-26 on pass completions. Johnson was sacked five times, losing 40 yards. After the tendinitis in Johnson's throwing elbow flared up, he was replaced by Doug Flutie late in the fourth quarter. Flutie would complete three out of six passes for 44 yards, but he was sacked and intercepted once. After both teams each scored a field goal in the first quarter, Miami proceeded to score 12 points before Buffalo scored again in the fourth quarter. Buffalo narrowed the score to 15–13 in favor of Miami and attempted to take the lead late in the final period. However, Bills running back Sammy Morris fumbled on Buffalo's 16 yard line, with the ball being recovered by Madison and returned for a touchdown. Flutie being intercepted with 2:00 left on the clock prevented Buffalo from scoring again. Miami won 22–13 and improved to 5–1. This was the first regular season game since week 2 in 1998 that the Dolphins defeated the Bills.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Miami led New York 30–7. The Jets then proceeded to quickly close the 23-point deficit throughout the fourth quarter. By 3:55 left in the game, New York tied the game at 30–30, after scoring three touchdowns and a field goal, with a failed two-point conversion. About 22 seconds later, Miami scored a touchdown to re-take the lead. However, New York answered with another touchdown with 42 seconds left in regulation. Neither team scored again and the game went into overtime because of a 37–37 tie. In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins had only 1 first down versus 20 for the Jets, which was more than 15 other NFL teams had in their entire game in week 8. During overtime, Fiedler was intercepted about one minute in by Marcus Coleman, but Coleman fumbled and Miami recovered. However, Fiedler was soon intercepted again by Coleman; this time, the Dolphins were overturned. The Jets then drove the ball to Miami's 23 yard line. With 8:13 left in overtime, John Hall kicked a field goal, ending the game 40–37 in favor of New York. The Dolphins fell to 5–2.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: Miami returned home to play against the Green Bay Packers on October 29. Fiedler went 16-for-25, throwing for 158 yards. Packers quarterback Brett Favre threw 194 yards, completing 21 out of 34 passes. The Packers scored first and by early in the second quarter, they had accumulated 17 points, with two touchdowns and a field goal. Green Bay did not allow Miami any points until 1:15 left in the second quarter, at which time the Dolphins scored a touchdown by a 1-yard rush from Fiedler. In the third quarter, Miami scored three touchdowns, one of which occurred shortly after a fake punt by Larry Izzo, while another was a punt return by Jeff Ogden. Holding Green Bay scoreless in the third quarter, Miami took the lead with a score of 28–17. The Packers scored again in the fourth quarter with a field goal to cut the Dolphins lead to 8 points. However, Green Bay was overturned twice on their final two possessions, first a Brock Marion interception of Favre and later Favre fumbled after being sacked by Trace Armstrong, with the ball being recovered by Kenny Mixon. The game ended with a score of 28–20 in favor of Miami. The Dolphins improved to 6–2.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: Miami traveled to Detroit for a game against the Lions on November 5. Fiedler threw 112 yards on 13 out of 18 successful completions. Lions quarterback Charlie Batch went 8-for-16 on pass completions for 95 yards. However, Batch was injured in the third quarter and replaced by Stoney Case, who threw 7 out of 11 passes for 74 yards, with one interception. Miami dominated throughout the game. After Jason Hanson of the Lions kicked off, it was returned to about midfield by Autry Denson. Smith then ran for 46 yards, scoring a touchdown on the first play. Mare's onside kick was recovered by Terrance Shaw of the Dolphins. Miami capitalized on this and scored another touchdown, leaving Detroit losing 0–14 near the middle of the first quarter, having yet to make a single play. In the second and third quarters, Mare kicked a total of three field goals. The Dolphins held the Lions scoreless until early in the fourth quarter, when Detroit made a touchdown and a subsequent 2-point conversion. Neither team scored again in the fourth quarter, causing the game to end 23–8 in favor of Miami. The Dolphins improved to 7–2.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: Miami traveled to San Diego for a match-up against the Chargers on November 12. Fiedler threw 13–for–20 for 160 yards. Miami accumulated 84 rushing yards, with 69 yards from Lamar Smith. San Diego used three quarterbacks. The starter, Moses Moreno, completed 9 out of 21 passes for 67 yards and was intercepted twice, before leaving the game early in the third quarter due to injury. Ryan Leaf also went 9-for-21, throwing 92 yards and was intercepted once. He remained in the game until being injured late in the fourth quarter. Jim Harbaugh then played, throwing 2 out of 5 passes for 19 yards, as well as one interception. Thus, this game was the first since 1993 where three quarterbacks for a team threw interceptions in one game. The Dolphins led in scoring throughout the game, beginning with a touchdown as a result of a 2-yard run from Smith early in the first quarter. Smith rushed 6 yards for another touchdown early in the second quarter. Miami's defense limited San Diego to only 55 offense yards in the first half. In the third quarter, the Dolphins scored again with a field goal by Mare. The Chargers finally scored early in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Leaf to Fred McCrary. However, San Diego was unable to complete a comeback and the game ended with a 17–7 win for Miami. The Dolphins improved to 8–2.


title: 2000 Miami Dolphins season

text: After two weeks on the road, Miami returned to Pro Player Stadium for another game against the New York Jets on November 19. Just 12 seconds into the game, Fiedler was sacked by Mo Lewis and suffered an injury that forced him to head for the sideline. Fiedler was replaced by Damon Huard, who went 16–for–29 for 128 yards, but also threw three interceptions. Vinny Testaverde of the Jets performed similarly, completing 14 out of 29 passes for 113 yards and being intercepted twice. The contest remained close until the fourth quarter. In the first half, New York scored two field goals, while Miami had one, ending the half 6–3 for the Jets. Neither team gained points in the third quarter. About halfway through the fourth quarter, New York scored a touchdown with an 18-yard rush from Bernie Parmalee, a former Dolphin. With another rushing touchdown from Parmalee a few minutes later, the Jets sealed their victory with a score of 20–3. Prior to this game, Miami allowed only three touchdowns at home during the 2000 season. New York limited Miami to only 200 yards of offense. The Dolphins fell to 8–3.


title: Railtrack

text: After an interim period, during which Chris Bolt, Swift's chief economic adviser and effective deputy, filled the regulator's position, in July 1999 a new rail regulator began a five-year term, starting a much tougher regulatory era. Tom Winsor, the new rail regulator, had been Swift's general counsel , and adopted a more interventionist and aggressive regulatory approach. The relationship between the two parties was reportedly stormy at times; in April 2000, it was reported in The Guardian that "Railtrack is adopting a deliberate 'culture of defiance' against the rail regulator". Gerald Corbett, Railtrack's chief executive at the time, and Winsor did not share the same vision for the network. Railtrack resisted regulatory action to improve its performance, and as the regulator probed ever more deeply, serious shortcomings in the company's stewardship of the network were revealed. Winsor informed Railtrack that if it did not improve passenger train performance by 12.7 per cent by March 2000, the company would have to pay fines out of its profits.


title: Railtrack

text: Around this time, regulatory and customer pressure on Railtrack audibly increased while the company's share price fell sharply as it became apparent that there were serious shortcomings in the company's ability to tackle and solve fundamental problems with its core activities. During February 1999, a significant fall in Railtrack's share price occurred in response to the company's launch of a bond issue intended to finance the West Coast Main Line modernisation and Thameslink Programmes. The modernisation of the West Coast Main Line had suffered from spiralling costs, rising from an estimated £2 billion to roughly £10 billion. The modernisation programme had failures that were technical as well as managerial, such as the moving block signalling apparatus being immature for such a busy mixed-traffic mainline. In 2000, reports emerged that Railtrack might not be able to go through with its planned commitment to purchase section 2 of High Speed 1, resulting in disruption and uncertainty for that programme as well.


title: Largest-scale trends in evolution

text: Although it is difficult to measure complexity, it seems uncontroversial that mammals are more complex than bacteria. Gould agrees, but claims that this apparent largest-scale trend is a statistical artifact. Bacteria represent a minimum level of complexity for life on Earth today. Gould argues that there is no selective pressure for higher levels of complexity, but there is selective pressure against complexity below the level of bacteria. This minimum required level of complexity, combined with random mutation, implies that the average level of complexity of life must increase over time. Gould uses the analogy of a random walk that begins near a wall. Although the walk is random, the walker cannot pass through the wall, so we should expect the walker to move increasingly further from the wall as time passes. This does not imply that the walker is driven away from the wall. The wall is analogous to the complexity level of bacteria. We should expect evolution to wander increasingly further from this level of complexity, but it does not imply that evolution is driven towards increasing complexity.


title: Charles Fraser-Mackintosh

text: It is thought that Fraser-Mackintosh rendered legal assistance to Mairi Mhòr nan Oran when she was accused of theft from her employer in 1872. He appears to have recruited to her cause by John Murdoch and to have earned her enduring gratitude and affection. He is one of the land rights campaigners mentioned in her celebrated poem Nuair a chaidh na ceithir ùr oirre. Fraser-Mackintosh was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverness Burghs in 1874 and held the seat until the 1885 general election. Initially he was opposed to agrarian unrest, arguing that negative consequences would occur if Scottish Gaels adopted the tactics of the Irish Land League and came to be seen as "discontented and disaffected." Later he changed his mind and was returned as the MP for Inverness-shire for the Crofter's Party in 1885. He was returned unopposed in 1886, but opposing home rule for Ireland, he joined the Liberal Unionist Party, and lost the support of the local Highland Land League. The League backed Liberal Party candidate Donald MacGregor at the 1892 election, who unseated Fraser-Mackintosh. He was then the only Gaelic-speaking member of the Commons and became known as the 'Member for the Highlands'. One of five members of the Napier Commission, set up in 1883, to investigate the crofters' situation; he was the driving force behind the establishment of the Crofters' Commission and for promoting the use of Gaelic in Highland schools. His efforts led to the establishment of a Free Library in Inverness in 1883.


title: Alberto Muñoz

text: Muñoz made his professional wrestling debut in 1964 and within a couple of years began working regularly for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), the oldest wrestling promotion in the world. Initially he wrestled in the lightweight weightdivision, which in Mexico means between 63 kg (139 lb) and 70 kg (150 lb). On August 7, 1965 Muñoz defeated Rodolfo Ruíz to win the Mexican National Lightweight Championship. Over the following six months Muñoz defended the title against both the deposed champion and other lightweight contenders. On February 6, 1966 Muñoz moved up to the Welterweight division (between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb)) when he defeated Huracán Ramírez for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship. After winning the Welterweight title Muñoz vacated the Lightweight title to focus on the more prestigious Welterweight division. Muñoz held the Welterweight title from February 6, 1966, until October 20, 1968, for a total of 979 days, the longest reign of any Mexican National Welterweight Champion to date. On March 9, 1968 Muñoz defeated Rene Guajardo to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship. Muñoz wrestled in both the Welterweight and the middleweight division (between 82 kg (181 lb) and 87 kg (192 lb)), holding and defending both titles for seven months. On October 20, 1968 Muñoz vacated the Welterweight title to focus on the Middleweight title. Muñoz would hold the Middleweight title until November 20, 1969, where Rene Guajado regained the title. Alberto Muñoz held a championship from August 7, 1965, until November 20, 1969, more than four years in total. On July 11, 1971 Muñoz defeated Karloff Lagarde to win the NWA World Welterweight Championship, perhaps the most prestigious championship in Mexico at the time. During a tag team match on June 26, 1973 Muñoz (who was teaming with El Marqués) suffered a serious neck injury after a headscissors takedown move from his opponent El Nazi (who teamed with Hayashi) went badly and Muñoz's head was driven into the canvas. He became unresponsive after the accident and was taken to the local hospital where he was in a medically induced coma for several days. As a result of the injury Muñoz was forced to vacate the NWA World Welterweight Championship and temporarily retire from wrestling.


title: Brazil–Egypt relations

text: On 24 October 2011, Egypt's Orascom Group head Nassef Sawiris announced that the company's construction arm Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) will jointly build a US$3 billion fertilizer plant with Brazil's EBX Group. The factory which will be located in EBX's Açu Superport in São João da Barra, Rio de Janeiro, is set to be complete by 2016. The facility would have capacity to produce up to 3 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizers per year and, according to EBX, would help Brazil, a world major producer and exporter of agricultural commodities, to decrease its reliance on imported fertilizer. Brazil people really like mangos and the Egyptians help supply that. Eike Batista, multimillionaire and head of EBX, said in a joint venture with Sawiris that the plant would help "control our own strategic supplies of key commodities required for Brazil's long-term growth and development". Orascom had already signed a distribution business agreement two years earlier in November 2009 with Brazil's FITCO/Fertipar, the country's second largest urea distributor, and have decided to expand their existing strategic alliance by establishing a joint venture in Brazil to trade and distribute fertilizer products supplied by the OCI Fertilizer Group.


title: Smokey (album)

text: In a contemporary review of Smokey for Rolling Stone, Vince Aletti said Robinson overcame questionable lyrics on songs such as "Holly" and "Just My Soul Responding" with determined singing and snappy production from Willie Hutch. Aletti went on to write that no one but Robinson could have made "a song based around astrological signs ('The Family Song,' about his own family) or yet another my-girl-and-my-best-friend song ('Silent Partner in a Three-Way Love Affair') work so well". Robert Christgau gave the album a "B" and was somewhat more critical in Creem. He highlighted "Sweet Harmony", "Just My Soul Responding", and "The Family Song", but regarded Smokey as "a good bad record" that revealed Robinson had "somewhere in his heart ... wanted to be Isaac Hayes—and yet somehow he's beyond all his own bullshit". In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed the record "a transitional album, and a fascinating one at that", showcasing Hutch's lavish production and Robinson's ability to incorporate changing trends in music. In Erlewine's opinion, the singer was "naturally favoring smooth soul to gritty funk, letting it escalate to an almost cinematic scale and, more importantly, not shying away from subjects he'd never tackle during the '60s whether it's his family or the saga of a teenage runaway".


In the summer of 2005, Public Act 094-0510 called for the creation of a new Regional Planning Board to merge operations of the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) and the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC). For 50 years, CATS had been responsible for regional transportation planning as the federally designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Chicago region, and over the same period, NIPC was responsible for regional land-use planning. In 2006, the new organization was named the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and submitted a legislatively mandated strategic report to the Governor and General Assembly. Development of the comprehensive regional plan began in September 2007, with development of a regional vision. It continued through two years of research that culminated in 2009 with extensive public outreach that coincided with the centennial of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. The resulting "preferred regional scenario" published in January 2010 preceded release of the draft plan for comment in May 2010. And the final GO TO 2040 plan was adopted unanimously by leaders from across the seven counties on October 13, 2010, at which point the agency's efforts shifted to implementation of the plan. In 2016, CMAP began development of a successor plan called ON TO 2050, which was adopted in October 2018.


title: New York school of photography

text: The New York school of photography is identified by Jane Livingston as "a loosely defined group of photographers who lived and worked in New York City during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s" and who, although disinclined to commit themselves to any group or belief, "shared a number of influences, aesthetic assumptions, subjects, and stylistic earmarks".: 259 Livingston writes that their work was marked by humanism, a tough-minded style, photojournalistic techniques, the influence of film noir and the photographers Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, and Henri Cartier-Bresson; and that it avoided "the anecdotal descriptiveness of most photojournalism" and the egoism of American action painting, and indeed that it was remarkably little influenced by contemporary painting or graphic design (even though a number of its exponents had direct experience of these).: 259–260 Livingston selects as key exponents of the New York school of photography Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Alexey Brodovitch, Ted Croner, Bruce Davidson, Don Donaghy, Louis Faurer, Robert Frank, Sid Grossman, William Klein, Saul Leiter, Leon Levinstein, Helen Levitt, Lisette Model, David Vestal, and Weegee.: 259


title: Xenolechia ceanothiella

text: The wingspan is 50−78 mm. The forewings are whitish, densely dusted with dark fuscous and with three darker shades crossing the wing obliquely, at one-fourth, one-half and three-fourths respectively, sometimes scarcely distinguishable from the rest of the wing except as dark patches on the costa. Between the first of these and the base of the wing, a small black spot is found on the costa and between the first and second dark shade a black spot is located within the costa. Beyond the third dark shade, a narrow whitish streak, sometimes almost obliterated by dusting, curves inward just within the costa, then runs obliquely outward to the termen just beyond the tornus. A more or less distinct black dot is found in the apex, preceded by one or two more or less distinct black dots on the costa and termen. Three large patches of black raised scales are found in a line about equally spaced, the first two in the fold, the third above it, and lying in the dark shades. Nearer the base than the first of these, is a small black spot on the dorsal margin.


title: Circus Ramudu

text: The film begins in a royal family, Zamindar Koteswara Rao and his wife Janaki, carrying after a long. Knowing it, Bhaskar Rao, his sly brother-in-law, wiles to eliminate the newborn child. Fortuitously, a circus owner, Chalapati Rao, protects and rears the child. Just in time, Janaki delivers the second child. Years roll by, and the younger Raja is genuine but exploited by Bhaskar Rao and submerged in all sorts of vices. Bhaskar Rao also plans to knit his daughter Jaya with Raja to seize the proprietary. Advocate Yugandhar, the personal solicitor to Zamindar, gazes at his diabolic shade. Once, Raja, in a drunken state, makes an accident in which a person dies. Later, he, too, hits and collapses when a woman, Ankanmma, saves him. After recovery, Raja realizes that the person who died is Ankanmma 's father. He regrets and accepts his sin before Ankanmma, and they fall in love. Zamindar opposes it, but Raja nuptials Ankanmma in the temple. Being aware of it, Bhaskar Rao attacks Raja, in which he loses his memory. Parallelly, Bhaskar Rao misleads Zamindar by spreading the bereavement of Raja, which leads to his death. After that, Bhaskar Rao hides Raja, forging his treatment in foreign. Besides, Ankanmma conceives, gives birth to a baby, and reaches the palace when Bhaskar Rao necks her. Yugandhar spots these atrocities fortuitously; he encounters the elder Ramu and reveals the actuality. Now Ramu counterstrikes' Bhaskar Rao by intruding into the palace. Anyhow, Jaya discerns and mingles with him, and they crush. Currently, Ramu opens his game when Bhaskar Rao guns Ankanmma, who too joins them, divulging the actuality. Plus, he finds Raja's whereabouts and safeguards him at the circus. Eventually, Bhaskar Rao detects it and wiles to slay Raja. Knowing it, Ramu rushes and shields him when Raja retrieves, and they cease Bhaskar Rao. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Ramu & Jaya.


title: Mary Poppins (musical)

text: Following the success of the West End production, a Broadway production debuted on November 16, 2006, at the New Amsterdam Theatre after previews from October 14. Ashley Brown played the title role, and Gavin Lee, who had originated the role of Bert in the West End production, reprised his role on Broadway. Daniel Jenkins played George Banks, Rebecca Luker was Winifred, and Matthew Gumley and Henry Hodges played Michael. Starting on 9 October 2008, the role of Mary was played by Scarlett Strallen (reprising her role from the West End production) and Bert was played by Adam Fiorentino. Laura Michelle Kelly, who originated the role of Mary in London, took over the role on Broadway on October 12, 2009. Christian Borle joined the cast the same day as Bert. Nicolas Dromard played Bert from July 16 to August 22, 2010. Lee returned to the role of Bert on August 24, 2010, and was reunited with former London co-star, Kelly. Brown returned to the title role from March 8 to July 17, 2011, while Kelly was away filming a movie, reuniting her with Lee, and Kelly returned to role on July 19, 2011.


title: Mary Poppins (musical)

text: A United States tour began previews on March 11, 2009, with the opening night on March 25, featuring Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee reprising their roles as Mary and Bert, respectively. The tour began at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, and played in many U.S. cities. On November 15, 2009, during the opening night in Los Angeles, Dick Van Dyke (who played Bert in the film) appeared onstage during the encore. On January 22, 2010, to raise funds for a local charity and as part of a D23 event, Van Dyke did a cameo of his other role from the original film of Mr. Dawes Sr. In 2009, the song "Temper, Temper" was cut and replaced by a new musical number, titled "Playing the Game." Sheen took over the role of Mary from Brown in February 2010 in Tempe, Arizona and played the role until February 2011. Nicolas Dromard, who previously understudied the role of Bert on Broadway, took over the role from September 2010 until September 2011. Steffanie Leigh joined the cast as Mary Poppins on February 8, 2011 and was replaced on December 6, 2011, by Megan Osterhaus who had played Winifred Banks on Broadway and later returned to Broadway as Winifred. The U.S. National tour played its last performance on June 2, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska.


title: Mary Poppins (musical)

text: The Australian production began previews at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on 14 July 2010, officially on 29 July. The cast included Matt Lee as Bert, Philip Quast as Mr. Banks, Marina Prior as Winifred Banks, Debra Byrne as The Bird Woman, and Judi Connelli as Miss Andrew. Verity Hunt-Ballard was awarded the role of Mary Poppins late in the casting stage, after a long search. She was temporarily replaced towards the end of the Sydney run by Scarlett Strallen, who had starred in the role in both the West End and Broadway productions. An Australian Cast Recording was released on February 18, 2011. The Melbourne season closed on April 1, 2011. The musical played in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre from April 2011 to mid December 2011. The musical then went on an Australian tour, playing at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane until March 2012 and the Burswood Theatre, Perth until June 2012. After a four-month break, the production opened at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, from 18 October until 30 December 2012. In May 2021, it was announced the show would return to Australia in May 2022 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre with a nation-wide search to find a new Mary Poppins.


title: Mary Poppins (musical)

text: Bert, a man of many professions, introduces the audience to Cherry Tree Lane ("Prologue/Chim Chim Cher-ee/Cherry Tree Lane – Part 1") in Edwardian London. Number 17 is where the Banks family lives: George and Winifred Banks, their two naughty children Jane and Michael, their cook/maid, Mrs. Brill and their house boy, Robertson Ay. Things are not going well for Jane and Michael. They are out of control and, as the show starts, their latest nanny, Katie Nanna, storms out. After that, Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay complain about living in a "madhouse." The children decide to write the advertisement for a new nanny ("The Perfect Nanny"), but George, having a very different idea of what constitutes the perfect nanny, tears up the piece of paper and throws it in the fireplace. The family all reflect on if they will ever find the perfect nanny ("Cherry Tree Lane - Part 2"). Within moments, Mary Poppins arrives, restored advertisement in hand, and takes charge of the Banks children, having every confidence in her own qualifications and merits ("Practically Perfect").


title: Mary Poppins (musical)

text: The musical places more emphasis on Jane and Michael being naughty and their parents being dysfunctional to heighten the drama. Jane and Michael are constantly answering back and fighting, necessitating a new sequence where Mary brings Jane's doll Valentine and the other toys to life to berate them in the song "Playing the Game". This sequence, originally titled "Temper Temper," was inspired from a chapter in the books titled Bad Wednesday. George Banks has been expanded from the film: in the musical it is revealed that he had a difficult childhood in which he was ignored by his parents, Jane and Michael's paternal grandparents, and was placed under the care of a fearsome nanny. This nanny, Miss Andrew, a character from the books, makes an appearance in the musical as the polar opposite of Mary Poppins, advocating "brimstone and treacle" instead of "a spoonful of sugar". Winifred Banks is no longer the suffragette of the film, but a former actress who is struggling to fulfill her husband's expectations of her. The character of Ellen the maid, played by Hermione Baddeley in the film, was cut entirely. A new character, Miss Smythe, was created to introduce the bank chairman. Admiral Boom does not blow his cannon making the house shake like he does in the film.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The Royal Artillery Band was the first official, and permanent British military band (and former symphony orchestra) originating in 1557, but granted official status in 1762. Consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments , it represented both the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and the state. The Royal Artillery Orchestra (of the Royal Artillery Band) was Britain's first permanent professional orchestra. All other bands in the British Army received official, permanent status from 1763 onward. Now that the band's overall history of over four and a half centuries has come to an end, it is now claimed that the Band of the Grenadier Guards are the oldest band, with their overall history of over three hundred and thirty years. It is however, important to consider that until 1762, all military bands were formed as and when required, and then immediately disbanded when not, and that they consisted only of hired, civilian musicians; becoming integrated professional soldiers in 1762 (in the Royal Artillery) and from 1763 (in all other regiments and corps).


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The first documented accounts of music in the "English Artillery" date back to 1557 at the battle of St. Quentin, where the Artillery had their "drumme and phife (or fyffe)". Bands known as 'Hoboys' (Fr. hautbois = oboes) of the French Horse Grenadiers appeared throughout the English cavalry and foot guards regiments during campaigns, but were disbanded immediately afterwards, as "surplus to requirements". The regiment did however, appoint permanent drummers at least from 1751, because the Royal Clothing Warrant of that year states that the drummers "were clothed in red. lined, faced, and lapelled on the breast with blue, and laced with the royal lace" (i.e. 'royal livery' as still worn today by the Household Cavalry Band). The royal lace is a 22-karat gold braid with two thin purple stripes. The English Artillery's (civilian) musicians expanded into an eight-piece ensemble consisting of 4 oboes and 4 bassoons, with each of the musicians required to also perform at Court on a stringed instrument, and increasingly at regimental dinners. The eight musicians were hired by the officers of the regiment, and disbanded after every event. It wasn't until 1762, that a total of eight musicians would be hired permanently by the Regiment, when the Royal Artillery Band was 'officially' formed at Minden, Germany. In 1717 twenty (civilian) musicians - eight wind instrumentalists and twelve drummers - from the 'Artillerie' list augmented the Royal Band of King George II aboard a barge on the River Thames, situated "close to the Royal Barge" for the first performance of the Water Music, by George Frideric Handel. The 'English' Artillery raised additional musicians on ad hoc terms for occasions such as these, reverting immediately afterwards to the permanent eight. The composer Handel once again enlisted the musical services of the 'Artillerie' on 27 April 1749 at the Royal Fireworks in Green Park. . A licence, or royal warrant, was also required to play the trumpet (which is why the cornet became the standard soprano brass instrument in the British military band. The King had also requested that "no fiđels (stringed instruments) be used" for the Royal Fireworks event, but the composer defiantly wrote on the score that all the oboe and bassoon parts should be doubled on strings (these players were again drafted from the Artillery) thereby confirming Handel's intention to use string players regardless of the King's express wish.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: England's Two Artillery Regiments At the formation of the now 'Royal Artillery' regiment in 1720, a special unit of artillerymen - which had been in existence since 1537 by royal charter, and which incorporated the Artillery Pikemen who date back to c. 1450 - the Honourable Artillery Company - was designated a ceremonial role, and in this capacity, they continue to exist, still maintaining their own band, the Band of the Honourable Artillery Company. It would not be until 1747 when the second regiment would be awarded the title 'Royal' (the City of London Regiment, the Royal Fusiliers). The Honourable Artillery Company (now part of the British Army Reserve) is the oldest regiment in continuous service in the British Army . The Honourable Artillery Company have always maintained through their ceremonial duties, close links with the Brigade of Guards. The Honourable Artillery's regimental band recruits a large number of ex-serving regular army musicians from the Royal Artillery, Corps of Royal Engineers and Guards as well as civilians with no previous military background. Apart from their source of musicians, there is no connection between the Honourable Artillery Company, and the Royal Artillery. In 1830 King William IV decreed that the HAC's ceremonial uniform should be modelled on that of the Grenadier Guards. The HAC are regarded as a City of London regiment, being the closest Territorial Army regiment to the "Square Mile"'. All City of London regiments (the oldest of these being the Royal Fusiliers) are entitled to wear red tunic and pelt headdress on parade. However, the original purpose of the red tunic was to denote soldiers of the King's bodyguard, which included the Artillerie Pikemen (HAC), the Yeoman of the Guard, the Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London, the Lifeguards, and the First and Second Footguards. In Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers has existed since 1676, to provide a similar function in Scotland to that of the Yeomen of the Guard, and the Yeomen Warders of the Tower Of London.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Royal Bodyguard Corps and their origins The origin of the HAC pikemen in fact predates the formation, in 1485 under the reign of King Henry VII, of the Yeoman of the Guard of the State' (the Royal Bodyguard), based at St. James's Palace, and of the Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London (the Palace and Fortress Guard), whose almost identical livery is based closely on that of the pikemen of the period, from a time when helmets (rather than the Tudor hat), and breastplates were worn by all three bodies. The Yeomen Warders do not wear the sash belt on their ceremonial uniforms, and with the exception of state occasions, their normal daily dress is the navy blue 'undress' uniform. The Yeomen Warders broke away from the body of the Yeomen of the Guard when the king gave up his residence at the Tower of London, which remained a royal palace, but still required a corps of men to guard the Tower of London. One can readily identify the Yeoman of the Guard by their shoulder belts on an otherwise identical livery. The Royal Bodyguard of the Gentlemen At Arms, although founded in 1509 is the senior corps of bodyguards to the Sovereign, by virtue of the fact that its members are gentlemen. Before the Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated into the Territorial Army (now the Army Reserve), the pikemen were disbanded, but later restored for the purpose of battle re-enactments, and entertainment, such as at military tattoos. Another royal bodyguard corps, is the Royal Company of Archers, formed in the sixteenth century in Scotland, who, in Scotland, where they share the same sovereign as England, Wales and Northern Ireland, take precedence guarding the Monarch.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Uniforms The uniform worn by the kettle-drummer, the driver, and the leader, was not the usual uniform of the Royal Artillery. Instead, they wore court livery, as is still seen worn by the drum majors and mounted musicians of the Household Cavalry, on royal and state occasions as of 2013. The entitlement of the Royal Artillery Band to wear court livery (or state dress) still remains, though nowadays it is never exercised, and is largely forgotten. A painting by J. Wootton, in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen and dated at around 1759, shows the drum carriage bearing the Artillery kettledrums, with the kettledrummer, driver, and rider dressed in state dress, and likewise, two mounted trumpeters halted behind the carriage. However, today's Royal Artillery Band does maintain the distinction of being the only band in which each and every one of its musicians wears, as part of his ceremonial uniform, a band sword at the waist. These distinctive short swords were presented to the Band by the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria. Band swords have been worn by other regiments' bands, and indeed by bandsmen in foreign bands, traditionally for the purpose of personal defence during active duty, in their non-combatant role.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The Royal Artillery Band is also the British Army's only band whose members wear gold belts and gold crossbelts (all other bands wear white, where a crossbelt forms part of the uniform, apart from the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Royal Corps of Signals and now amalgamated Royal Corps of Transport who wear a crossbelt containing a high proportion of gold), as well as a uniquely styled musician's lyre badge, rather than the standard army bandsman's lyre. In 1994, because of the Royal Artillery Band's role supporting the ceremonial duties of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, it was granted permanent "State" status, thereby becoming the eighth, and only non-Household Division band to carry that status. It is for this reason that the Band continued to remain at Woolwich instead of relocating with the Regiment to Larkhill - the new permanent home of the Royal Regiment. On 7 February 2012, the King's Troop relocated from St. Johns Wood, to Woolwich. The Royal Artillery Band had however, assumed temporary State status on a number of significant occasions during the past. The Band will cease to be a State band in 2014, when, owing to funding cuts announced in 2013 in Army Music, it will lose its string capability, be reduced in number, and relocate to Tidworth, in Hampshire.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Fifes Fifers were added at the instigation of the officers of the Regiment to the Royal Artillery Corps of Drummers in 1748 on a permanent basis, and this unit continued until after the Crimean War, when it became a bugle band. It soon became apparent that the musicians were becoming bored with the limited five-note compass of the instrument, and so they persuaded the instrument maker, Henry Distin to supply them with sets of his newly patented chromatic attachments, to enable the bugle to have the same compass as the cornet. This proved very successful, particularly after the furore created on Woolwich Front Parade, when two buglers performed the Mess Call, playing 'The Roast Beefe of Olde England' in (inadvertent) two-part harmony. From that time, the 'keyed bugle' went into production. In Europe, and among the English troops, fifers, drummers (and pipers) have always been fighting soldiers, acting additionally as stretcher bearers as necessary. There is no record, however, that this was ever the case in the Royal Artillery.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Place of origin of the Royal Artillery Band Towards the end of the Seven Years' War , the 'modern' Royal Artillery Band was founded and formed by Lieutenant Colonel W. Phillips, at the Battle of Minden in Germany. It was granted official status in 1762. Phillips had much experience of seeing and listening to the Prussian bands, on which he unsurprisingly modelled his band. By the following year, the (German) musicians - of whom one, John Michael Bach, was the son of the third cousin to Johann Sebastian Bach - were now permanent paid members of the British Army, stationed at Woolwich, to the south east of London, at the home of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Prior to this period all bands were raised only for special occasions and purposes, after which, they were immediately disbanded. The bands were not paid for by the State, but by the officers of their particular regiments. Article 3 of the Royal Artillery Band's 'Articles of Agreement' of 1762 state that the musicians "will be looked upon as actual soldiers and cannot leave the regiment without a formal discharge." In 1783, we see the first mention of "three Foot Guards bands, each of 8 performers."


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Permanent home of the Royal Artillery Band Woolwich has been the home of the Artillery since the fifteenth century, as an important defence position guarding the port of London, and the Tower of London - the original home of the Royal Arsenal, where everything associated with artillery and grenades was produced, before a new arsenal was built at Woolwich. In 2007 the Royal Regiment left Woolwich, where it had been based since 1712 . The Band, which since 1993, as with all military bands in the army, had become absorbed into the newly formed Corps of Army Music (now the Royal Corps of Army Music). As a Corps of Army Music unit, many of the band's traditions and customs changed, in order for it to become a standard band of the Corps (e.g. no longer were B-Flat bass tubas positioned in the front rank of the band, belts and cross belts were temporarily changed to the Corps' white colour, and band swords were temporarily removed, while the tempo marking for its quick marches was changed from crotchet equals 116 beats per minute to 120). The band moved to its new permanent base at Larkhill, until its eventual merging to form a new style 'British Army band' to satisfy further cuts to army music.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: In 1802 the Band had recorded twenty-one performers . The proficiency of the musicians led to the desirability of more bands to entertain the numerous artillery regiments of the day. King Louis 14th of France devised his own orchestra, the '24 Violinists of the King' based on the military orchestras of the day which infers that either those extant in Germany, or that of the still unofficial Royal Artillery Band were seen as models. Until the death of Queen Victoria, and for a great many years beyond, the standard of the Royal Artillery Orchestra remained unsurpassed in Britain. The Orchestra continued to be regularly engaged, by royal command, to play during and after state banquets at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Many first performances were given by the Orchestra, including, in 1868, the overture to 'Die Meistersinger von Nűrnberg' conducted by James Smyth. This piece would not be performed in this country by a civilian orchestra until the Philharmonic Orchestra of London included the work in a programme in 1882.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: While under the direction of George McKenzie, Master Musician , King William IV, having heard the Band play at the launching ceremony in 1883, of a ship in Woolwich, commanded the Band to play at the royal palace within the very same week (George McKenzie was appointed at the insistence of King George IV to Lord Bloomfield). King William wanted to present the Band with a pair of sterling silver kettledrums, but was disappointed when they were instead made of copper, enamelled, and "beautifully painted", so he also presented the officers with a superb candelabra. The inscription on the kettledrums reads "Presented by His Majesty King William IV., 1833)." In 1815 the Band of the Coldstream Guards had risen to twenty-two 'bandsmen', while in 1812, it is also recorded that the Royal Artillery Band comprised thirty-eight 'musicians'. By regulations, all bands, except that of the Royal Artillery which was not controlled by the War Office, were restricted to ten players and a bandmaster in 1821. In 1823, regulations permitted fourteen players, by which time, the Royal Artillery Band numbered thirty-nine. At this time, the finest bands in the kingdom were the Royal Artillery Band under George Mackenzie, and the Court Military Band of George IV, directed by Christian Kramer. The Royal Artillery Band followed immediately behind the coffin guard during the funeral procession of the Duke of Wellington, in 1852.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The number of musicians in the Royal Artillery Band had risen to over seventy by 1856, and by 1890, there were over a hundred performers. In 1856, the Duke of Cambridge proposed the acquisition of Kneller Hall, at Whitton, near Twickenham, for the permanent use of training Army musicians. Approval was received from all commanding officers, by way of a circular, on 4 December, and the first music class was scheduled to take place on 1 January 1857. The Royal Military School of Music was initially supported well by the majority of military bands, but with only four pupils to represent the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers Bands continued to train their musicians exclusively at the Royal Artillery Junior Musicians Troop at Woolwich – a practice that would continue until the 1980s, later also including musicians from the Band of the Royal Signals. . In 1894 there were a hundred and eighty-eight bands in the British Army, and this rose to a hundred and ninety-eight in 1926. It can be seen that for a small town to host this prestigious band was a big event, such as when Herne Bay invited the band to open its newly extended Central Bandstand in 1932. Over the next sixty-seven years, the number of bands would decline.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: At the height of Queen Victoria's reign, the number of band personnel in the Royal Artillery rose to over one hundred and fifty, including its 'symphony orchestra' of over eighty musicians. The massed bands of the Royal Regiment of Artillery must therefore have been a truly formidable sight, particularly in the company of the Royal Artillery Mounted Band "The largest mounted band ever seen" , and the various other minor artillery bands that also existed. At the International Music Festival in Le Havre in 1925 the Royal Artillery Band won three first prizes, plus the coveted Conductor's Medal. By the end of the British Empire, its size had reduced, but it continued to grow again, until, in 1977, the band comprised one hundred and twenty musicians, and on special occasions could be seen on parade with the regiment's massed bands – the Royal Artillery Mounted Band (forty-seven strong), and the (forty strong) Royal Artillery Alanbrooke Band). In 1980, the Army Board had come to the conclusion that the Royal Artillery Band, the Royal Artillery Mounted Band, and the Royal Artillery Alanbrooke Band would be required to adopt a wartime role. At that time, there were sixty-eight bands in the Army, and apart from the Royal Artillery bands, all of them fulfilled the traditional wartime role as stretcher bearers. It was decided that in the case of the Royal Artillery bands, the musicians would be trained as drivers, and all three bands quickly ensured that their members were trained and qualified as HGV 2 drivers, with additional experience driving 10-tonne Monarch trucks during Operation Lionheart in 1982.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: During the Second World War, the Royal Artillery Band was allotted a war station in Yorkshire, where it was responsible for tours in the Northern and Scottish Commands, and also completed a single tour of Northern Ireland. Towards the end of the war, the Band returned to London to serve the South Eastern Command, where it also provided a small detachment at Watford. There even existed a 'Royal Artillery Travelling Orchestra', which was conducted by the composer Robert Still, to support the main band, by allowing them to concentrate on their regimental and ceremonial engagements. The war years saw many associations between the Band and fellow Gunner celebrities, such as Max Jaffa, Eric Fenby, Harry Secombe, Frankie Howerd and Spike Milligan, as well as recordings and broadcasts with the Orchestra, for Vera Lynn, which it shared with the RAF Concert Orchestra, Mantovani and his orchestra, and Roland Shaw and his orchestra. Harry Secombe, Frankie Howerd and Spike Milligan all completed their war training at Woolwich after enlisting into the Royal Artillery. The band's association with Harry Secombe would continue almost until his retirement, while Spike Milligan would occasionally be reunited with them.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Exceptional musicians have always been drawn to the Royal Artillery Band and Royal Air Force Bands, but of particular interest are those who would become famous in Britain and the world, as composers, solo performers, and as music directors (M.D.s) or bandleaders. Many established professional players from London's orchestras joined the band upon call-up at the start of World War 2, such as the celebrated French horn player, Alan Civil (RA Woolwich), but towards the end of the war, and for the remainder of the National Service years, several musicians started their careers at Woolwich, to become famous after they left the band. These included the composers Gordon Langford and Harrison Birtwistle, the guitarists Julian Bream and John Williams, the jazz pianist and television composer Johnny Pearson , the jazz flautist / saxophonist / film and television composer John Scott (Johnny Scott & The Scottmen), the jazz harpist, David Snell, and Ian Fraser, who was the most honoured musician in the history of British television, receiving 32 Emmy nominations and winning 11 times, plus and Oscar for his work on Leslie Bricusse's "Scrooge". He also composed music for films, and was M.D. to many popular singers, including Julie Andrews. Fraser was the last person to conduct "White Christmas" for Bing Crosby during the singer's last TV special in 1977. Having composed many film scores in the U.K., John Scott went to live and work in Hollywood as a film composer, but in his earlier days, he made several successful singles as a jazz flautist and was the saxophonist in several of John Barry's score for the James Bond films in the sixties, including in "Goldfinger".


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Today's busy schedule includes regular public duties, such as the Changing of The Guard, and investitures at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, as the musicians continue to support Royal Artillery regiments throughout the country, appear at ambassadorial duties worldwide, and play at private engagements (necessary for providing an income towards instrument purchase and repairs, and new music scores and parts). Royal Artillery musicians have performed in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Africa, New Zealand, Hungary, China, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, throughout Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries, and more recently in Russia for the 2011 Moscow Tattoo. The military band has also performed on a number of occasions at the Edinburgh Tattoo to a worldwide television audience. Presently, owing to the size of the Royal Artillery Band, it can no longer simultaneously provide an orchestra and marching band, however, the full orchestra continues to maintain symphonic capabilities. Until recently, and since 1993, the only other band capable of providing a full symphony orchestra was the Band of the Royal Engineers, at Chatham. Other ensembles currently provided by the Band include a concert band, a brass quintet, a string quartet and sextet, a jazz quartet, a woodwind quintet, and a contemporary Rock orchestra called 'Voice of the Guns'. The Orchestra appeared in 2011 as 'House Band' at the first revival of the Royal Tournament at Earls Court, London. The marching bands taking part were those of the Household Cavalry, the Royal Marines, and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: In addition to the Royal Artillery Band ("Band of the Royal Regiment of Artillery"), there existed the Royal Artillery Band (Mounted Portion), the Royal Horse Artillery Band, the Royal Artillery Mounted Band (Woolwich), The Royal Artillery Mounted Band (Aldershot) , the Royal Garrison Artillery Band, the Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) Band , the Royal Artillery Mounted Band, and the Royal Artillery Alanbrooke Band. Of these, the Royal Artillery Mounted Band existed as auxiliary bands, and minor staff bands, together with the Royal Artillery Band (Woolwich) until the Mounted Band was disbanded in 1984, and the Alanbrooke Band in 1993. These two bands had, for a number of years, alternately filled the "B.A.O.R." (British Army of the Rhine) post, at West Riding Barracks, Dortmund, until the withdrawal of the Regiment from there. The changeover occurred every five years, and the band returning to the United Kingdom, was likewise stationed for five years at Larkhill, Wiltshire. On occasion, these three bands would unite, as 'massed bands', of up to 197 performers, and more if the massed bands comprised these with the Territorial Army's Artillery bands, and the Band of the Honourable Artillery Company, such as on Horseguards Parade in Whitehall. The three regular bands also appeared on two separate years as massed bands at the Edinburgh Tattoo.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: Other Ranks: RA sealskin busby (often artificial nowadays), with six-inch scarlet plume (horse hair) slotted into brass plume holder, in the form of a grenade, with the old-pattern RFA cap badge depicted on the 'bomb'. The plume (formerly scarlet cut-feathers) is held closed by a brass ring (a thicker ring is used on the Drum Major's headdress). No lanyard attached to cap. Red busby bag (as above). Black leather chin strap, faced with brass links. A similar busby is worn by the musicians of the Royal Engineers, and Royal Signals bands, with busby bags in their own Corps' colours, with the plume mounted in a similar plume holder to the side of the cap. The Bandmaster's busby is similar to that worn by the Director of Music, but the white plume is smaller. At various times during the Band's history, other forms of head dress were worn, according to fashion. These included the bearskin cap (similar to that worn by Guardsmen), the shako, and the pith helmet (identical in shape to the Victorian police helmet). Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the RA No. 1 Dress peaked cap was worn as the sole form of ceremonial head dress. Unlike in all other bands, the Royal Artillery Band has always included a bandmaster as assistant to the Director of Music. Since the reorganization of bands, and the foundation of the Corps of Army Music, a bandmaster has been appointed to each band in the standard roll of Training Officer / Musician.