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Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. Alongside the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction and the Giller Prize, it is considered one of the three main awards for Canadian fiction in English. Its eligibility criteria allow for it to garland collections of short stories as well as novels; works that were originally written and published in French are also eligible for the award when they appear in English translation.

The award was first presented in 1997. It was renamed in January 2021, in order to honour the Canadian writers Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson. Concurrently with the renaming, the prize package was increased from $50,000 to $60,000, matching the amount currently presented by its sibling, the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The prize is sponsored by Jim Balsillie.


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Brown Line (CTA)

The Brown Line of the Chicago "L" system, is an 11.4 mi route with 27 stations between Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is almost entirely grade-separated. It is the third-busiest 'L' route, with an average of 28,315 passengers boarding each weekday in 2022.

Before CTA lines were color-coded in 1993, the Brown Line was known as the Ravenswood Route; specifically, the series of stations from Belmont to Kimball were called the Ravenswood branch. Accordingly, the Kimball-Belmont shuttle service was called the Ravenswood Shuttle.

Route
The Brown Line begins on the northwest side of Chicago, at the Kimball terminal in Albany Park, where there is a storage yard and servicing shop for the trains to the east of the passenger station. From there, trains operate over street level tracks between Leland and Eastwood Avenues to Rockwell, then ramp up to the elevated structure for the rest of the trip.

The trains on the street-level section are powered by third rail rather than overhead catenary (the technology used by most other U.S. electric-powered at-grade rail systems), a decision that exposes wayward pedestrians to the risk of electrocution. A fatal accident in 1977 involving an intoxicated man, who did not speak English and was unable to read the posted warning signage, attempted to urinate on the third rail at the Brown station eventually resulted in an Illinois Supreme Court decision in 1992 affirming a verdict of $1.5 million against CTA.

After the Brown station, the route turns south, about one-half block parallel and west of Metra's Union Pacific North railroad line and Ravenswood Avenue to a point south of the Brown station. Here the route turns east again and runs parallel to Roscoe Street past Sheffield Avenue where it once again turns south at Clark Junction to join the four-track North Side elevated line in Lakeview. From just north of Belmont station south to Armitage, Brown and Red Line trains operate side by side, with Purple Line Express trains sharing the tracks with the Brown Line during weekday rush hours. Brown and Purple Line trains run on the outermost tracks serving five stops, while Red Line trains run on the innermost tracks making only two stops.

South of the Armitage station, Brown and Purple Line trains continue southward towards the Chicago Loop on elevated tracks which zigzags its way through the neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Near North Side stopping at Sedgwick and Brown. Running over Franklin, then Wells Street, a stop is made at the Merchandise Mart before crossing the Chicago River on the upper level of the Wells Street Bridge before joining the Loop Elevated at Lake Street. Operating counter-clockwise, Brown Line trains operate around the Loop on the Outer track via Wells-Van Buren-Wabash-Lake, serving all Loop stations, before the return trip back north to the Kimball terminal.

There are three sections of the Brown Line which includes the Ravenswood Branch that connects from Kimball Avenue station to Belmont Avenue station; merging from the Purple Line Express. Another is the North Side Main Line which connects from Belmont Avenue station to the Merchandise Mart before entering the Loop. The Brown Line enters the loop going counter-clockwise from Washington/Wells to Clark/Lake and then exits the loop, heading towards the Kimball Avenue station.

Operating hours and headways
The Brown Line operates between Kimball and the Loop weekdays and Saturdays from 4 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. and on Sundays from 5 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. The Brown Line Shuttle service runs only between Kimball and Belmont between 1:30 a.m. and 2:25 a.m. At Belmont, southbound riders can transfer to the 24-hour Red Line. On weekdays, service runs between three and eight minutes during rush hour, seven to eight minutes during midday, then six to twelve minutes during nighttime.

On weekends, early morning service operates every fifteen minutes, then increases to seven to eight minutes on Saturdays during the day and ten minutes on Sundays during the day, then at nighttime every ten to twelve minutes. Late night service operates every fifteen minutes until the end of service, although late night trips from Kimball to Belmont stations operate every half hour Monday thru Saturday nights.

During morning rush hour, several Brown Line trains bound for the Loop continue toward the Orange Line after stopping at the Harold Washington Library station; whereas several Orange Line trains bound for Kimball continue as the Brown Line after stopping at Adams/Wabash station.

Rolling stock
The Brown Line is operated with the 2600-series and 3200-series railcars. The Brown Line operates using eight cars during weekday rush hours and four cars at other times. In the meantime, CTA has completed the process of overhauling the 3200-series cars with color LED destination signs (similar to the 5000-series cars), new air conditioning systems, rebuilt propulsion systems, passenger door motors, and wheel/axle assemblies. The 3200-series rehabilitation began in 2015 and was completed in 2018. Later that year, some of the Brown Line's 3200-series cars were transferred to the Blue Line, with some of the Orange Line's 2600-series cars being transferred to the Brown Line.

Beginning in March 2008, the Brown Line began running eight cars during rush hours, since all of the reopened or renovated stations have been rebuilt to accommodate eight cars. Prior to this, although ridership certainly warranted eight cars on the Brown Line during weekday rush hours, most stations on the line couldn't berth longer than six cars. Early morning, midday, late evening, and weekend service is generally provided by four cars, although this may be extended to eight cars due to special events and holidays.

History
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad opened the line, originally known as the Ravenswood line, between the existing main line and Western Avenue in Lincoln Square on May 18, 1907. The route was completed to the Kimball terminal on December 14, 1907.

The Kimball terminal was completely renovated and a new bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River was completed in the 1970s. The Western and Merchandise Mart stations were rebuilt in the 1980s. Prior to the start of the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project, these two stations, along with the Kimball terminal were the only ADA accessible stations on the Brown Line outside of the Loop.

Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project
The Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project which ran from 2004 to 2009 was undertaken to repair aging infrastructure and increase passenger capacity. Work on the project began in late 2004 with signal upgrades, particularity at Clark Junction. In February 2006, station reconstruction began with right-of-way modernization between Kimball and Rockwell Avenue. Traction power equipment and train control systems were upgraded and a new fiber optic communication network installed.

Brown Line stations were rebuilt or modified meet ADA compliance and to accommodate eight-car trains, increasing from the previous maximum of six-cars. Merchandise Mart was the only station not to receive any work as it had previously been reconstructed from 1987 to 1988, and was already ADA compliant and able to accommodate eight-car trains. Two stations, Kimball and Western, received small platform extensions but little other work, and the other 16 stations were completely rebuilt.

The first two stations to be completed, Kedzie and Rockwell, reopened on August 16, 2006, and all of the stations had reopened by July 30, 2009, when the new Wellington station entered service. The project was completed on December 31, 2009.

Red-Purple Bypass
The Red & Purple Modernization Project includes a redesign of a diamond junction north of Belmont Station into a flyover allowing Brown Line trains going north to circumnavigate crossings with Red and Purple Line trains. The project decreased train backups and increased the number of trains that can cross the junction per hour. The project was criticized by 2015 mayoral candidate Chuy García and local residents in the Lakeview neighborhood who organized a referendum to stop it.

The Federal Transit Administration passed the CTA's environmental review on the bypass in January 2016 and received a $1.1 billion federal grant the following year. Sixteen properties affected by the bypass were demolished, while the historic Vautravers Building was relocated 30 feet west to preserve it. Construction on the bypass began on October 2, 2019,  and the bypass was opened to its first train at 4 a.m. on November 19, 2021.

Station listing

 * Note: After stopping at Clark/Lake, Brown Line trains return to Merchandise Mart, then make all stops back to Kimball.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Brown Line (CTA)


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Dazed and Confused (film)

Dazed and Confused is a 1993 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows a variety of teenagers on the last day of school in Austin, Texas, in 1976. The film has no single protagonist or central conflict; rather, it follows interconnected plot threads among different social groups and characters, such as rising ninth graders undergoing hazing rituals, a football star's refusal to sign a clean living pledge for his coach, and various characters hanging out at a pool hall. The film features a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars, including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Nicky Katt, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rory Cochrane.

Linklater originally planned to make a teen film after his breakout feature Slacker. Slacker caught the attention of Universal Pictures producer Jim Jacks, who secured 6 million dollars for Linklater's next feature. Linklater drew heavily on his adolescence in Huntsville, Texas, to write the script, lifting the names of several people from his hometown for the characters. Most actors cast for the film were undiscovered talent, including McConaughey who became the film's breakout star. Linklater shot the film around Austin, with several members of his crew from Slacker. The actors were encouraged to improvise and develop their own characters, with some writing in extra scenes. Linklater gathered several 1970s rock songs for the soundtrack, which made up a significant portion of the film's budget. The picture was marketed by Gramercy Pictures as a stoner film, to Linklater's dismay.

Released on September 24, 1993, Dazed and Confused was a commercial disappointment at the box office, grossing less than $8 million in the United States. The film later found success on the home video market and has since become a cult classic. It ranked third on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. The magazine also ranked it 10th on its "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list. Reviewers have praised the film for its faithful and humanistic depiction of the setting and of high school life.

Plot
On May 28, 1976, the last day of school at Lee High School in Austin, Texas, the next year's group of seniors prepare for the annual hazing of incoming freshmen. Randall "Pink" Floyd, the school's star football player, is asked to sign a pledge promising not to take drugs during the summer or do anything that would "jeopardize the goal of a championship season". When classes end, the incoming freshman boys are hunted down by the seniors and paddled. The incoming freshman girls are rounded up in the school parking lot by senior girls (led by Darla), covered in mustard, ketchup, flour and raw eggs and forced to propose to senior boys.

As day fades to night, freshman Mitch Kramer escapes the initial hazing with his best friend Carl Burnett, but is later cornered after a baseball game and violently paddled. Fred O'Bannion, a senior participating in the hazing tradition for a second year after failing to graduate, delights in punishing Mitch. Pink gives the injured Mitch a ride home and offers to take him cruising with friends that night. Plans for the evening are ruined when Kevin Pickford's parents discover his intention to host a keg party. Elsewhere, the intellectual trio of Cynthia Dunn, Tony Olson, and Mike Newhouse decide to participate in the evening's festivities. Pink and his friend David Wooderson, a man in his early 20s who still socializes with high school students, pick up Mitch and head for the Emporium, a pool hall frequented by teenagers.

As the night progresses, students loiter around the Emporium, listen to rock music, cruise the neighborhood and frequent a local drive-through restaurant. Mitch is introduced to sophomore Julie Simms, with whom he shares a mutual attraction. While cruising again with Pink, Pickford and Don Dawson, Mitch drinks beer and smokes marijuana for the first time. After a game of mailbox baseball, a neighborhood resident brandishing a gun threatens to call the police. They barely escape after the resident fires at their car. After returning to the Emporium, Mitch runs into his middle school friends and hatches a plan with them to exact revenge on O'Bannion. The freshmen dump paint on O'Bannion from a roof, causing him to leave in a fit of rage.

After the Emporium closes, an impromptu keg party is planned in a field under a moonlight tower. Cynthia, Tony, and Mike arrive at their first keg party, where Mike is threatened by tough guy Clint Bruno. Tony runs into freshman Sabrina Davis, whom he met earlier during the hazing, and begins spending time with her. Mike, suffering from the humiliation of his confrontation with Clint, decides to make a stand by punching him; in return, he gets tackled by Clint and receives a beating from him. The fight is broken up by Pink and Wooderson. Football player Benny O'Donnell confronts Pink about his refusal to sign the pledge. Pink, the only player not to have signed, believes it violates his individuality and beliefs. Mitch leaves the keg party with Julie. They drive to a nearby hill overlooking town to make out. Tony gives Sabrina a ride home and they kiss goodnight.

As night turns to dawn, Pink, Wooderson, Don, Ron Slater, and several other friends decide to smoke marijuana on the 50-yard line of the football field, where Wooderson advises Pink to "keep livin without concern for what is expected of him. The police arrive and, upon recognizing Pink and Don, call Coach Conrad, their football coach. Conrad lectures Pink about hanging out with "losers" and insists that he sign the pledge. Pink says that he might play football, but he is not going to sign it, and leaves with Wooderson and Slater to travel to Houston to obtain tickets to an Aerosmith concert. Mitch arrives home after sunrise to find his mother has waited up for him. She decides against punishment, but warns him about coming home late again. Mitch goes to his bedroom, puts on headphones, and listens to "Slow Ride" by Foghat, as Pink, Wooderson, Slater, and Simone Kerr travel down a highway to purchase their tickets.

Development
Director Richard Linklater's previous film, Slacker, caught the attention of Universal Pictures producer Jim Jacks, who saw the film at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. Jacks and his colleague, Sean Daniel, had been searching for a first project for their production company, Alphaville Films, which would have an exclusive production and distribution deal with Universal. Hoping to get Universal to finance the film for $6,000,000, Jacks called Linklater and flew him to Los Angeles to discuss producing a studio film. Linklater agreed, and received a $25,000 check to write the script, which he used to pay off his debts from producing Slacker.

For several years, Linklater had thought about and written notes about a film that would "capture the moment-to-moment reality of being a teenager". When asked in an interview about his next film, Linklater said "I want to make this teenage rock'n'roll spree. I knew I wanted the story to take place on one day in the spring of 1976, but at one point it was much more experimental. The whole movie took place in a car with the characters driving around listening to ZZ Top." Lee Daniel, the director of photography, described the concept: "It would have been two shots—one of a guy putting in an eight-track of ZZ Top's Fandango! and one of two guys driving around talking. The film would be the length of the actual album, and you'd hear each track in the background as a source." Eventually, Linklater decided "to represent different points of view" in his script, the first draft of which took a month to complete. Universal Studios fast tracked production of Linklater's script, jumping ahead of 30 other films which were in development at that time. Linklater based much of the story off his own experiences growing up in Huntsville, Texas. The names and personalities of many characters were lifted from actual classmates and acquaintances of Linklater.

Linklater sought to hire members of his Slacker crew for Dazed and Confused. Many of those who had worked on Slacker were wary of the project's ties to Hollywood, and had assumed Linklater's next feature would be another independent film. However, he succeeded in bringing on many members of his old crew, including Lee Daniel as director of photography. Linklater commented that "I think some of the pros involved saw us as these indie, Slacker amateurs, but we'd all earned it." He stated that bringing back his old crew members "brought our little Slacker punk spirit to everything we did on Dazed." To achieve a 1970s look, Linklater avoided using Steadicam.

Casting
Linklater wanted to use undiscovered talent for Dazed, and enlisted co-producer Anne Walker-McBay, who had helped cast Slacker, to search for talent throughout Texas. Walker-McBay handed out cards to high schoolers and conducted interviews to find extras and cast minor roles. Casting searches were done in Austin, New York, and Los Angeles. Vince Vaughn was almost cast as the bully O'Bannion before Ben Affleck was chosen. As Linklater put it, "Ben was smart and full of life. You don't cast the unappealing person, you cast the appealing person." Other young actors considered for roles include Elizabeth Berkley, Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, Brendan Fraser, Jon Favreau, Ron Livingston and Claire Danes. Casting director Don Phillips said, "We wanted Claire Danes for the girl, but she was too young. She couldn't leave school." Renee Zellweger has a nonspeaking role in the film, but was originally considered for the part of Darla, which went to Parker Posey instead. Linklater said, "Parker was just crazier." Wiley Wiggins was the "big find" in Austin, according to Linklater, who described him as "a 15-year-old with all the bad habits of a grad student: smoking cigarettes, hanging out at coffee shops, my kind of guy." Linklater describes Walker-McBay as "flipping out" over her discovery of Wiley Wiggins due to his name and long hair. In total, the entire supporting cast and eight of the main ensemble actors were found in Texas.

Matthew McConaughey was not originally cast in the film, as the role of Wooderson was originally small and meant to be cast locally for budget purposes. He was a film student at the University of Texas in Austin and went out drinking with his girlfriend one night. They ended up at the Hyatt hotel bar since his friend was a bartender there and could get them a discount. He approached casting director Phillips in the bar. Phillips recalls, "The bartender says to him, 'See that guy down there? That's Don Phillips. He cast Sean Penn in Fast Times.' And Matthew goes, 'I'm gonna go down and talk to this guy. Phillips also recalls that Linklater did not like McConaughey at first because he was "too handsome".

Development of characters
Shooting began in July 1992 with the cast lodged at the Crest Hotel on Congress Avenue. According to Affleck, the "party environment" at the hotel mirrored the film itself, "just letting all these 19-year-olds hang out and get drunk and get stoned and run around the hotel and cause trouble." Linklater worked with the actors throughout the shoot to develop their characters. According to Joey Lauren Adams, Linklater told the cast "if you don't like your character, change it." He allowed the cast to pick out their own costumes, and encouraged the actors to bring their own experiences to their roles. Affleck, for instance, drew on memories of his alcoholic father to portray O'Bannion, while Jason London took inspiration from his childhood in Wanette, Oklahoma, to develop Floyd's dissatisfaction with "small-townishness". Linklater also created mixtapes for each actor of music their characters would listen to.

Some roles which were intended to be larger were reduced. The Kevin Pickford character, played by Shawn Andrews, was meant to be a larger role, but due to his behavior with other cast members, Pickford's screen time was cut in favor of McConaughey's character, Wooderson. Much of the Wooderson role was improvised or written on the spot, giving McConaughey more screen time. Linklater recalled "There was another actor, [Andrews], who was kind of the opposite [of McConaughey]. He wasn't really getting along with everybody. I could tell the actors weren't responding to him." Linklater had to break up a fight between Andrews and London at one point. On screen, the two characters barely speak to each other during the film. Milla Jovovich, who played Michelle, Pickford's girlfriend, had her role reduced because, in Linklater's words, "it didn't really gel."

To faithfully portray the 1970s, Keith and Melanie Fletcher of the costume department shopped for vintage clothes at thrift stores and in small towns. Because most cast members did not have long hair at the time, many, such as Parker Posey and Rory Cochrane wore wigs to replicate hair styles from the era. Special attention was paid to differentiating the cliques of each character by their wardrobe; stoner characters, for instance, were given more layered clothes to appear "not sloppy but comfortable".

Shooting
Linklater's improvisational and experimental style of directing caused concern with studio officials, as did the ability of many members of his Slacker crew. Lee Daniel was almost fired after the rushes of the day, deemed unusable, were shown. Atmosphere on set was characterized by mutual animosity between the Slacker crew and studio crew and executives. Linklater would tell the actors that it was "us against them", which first assistant director John Cameron noted mirrored the plot of the film.

Universal encouraged Linklater to add nudity to the film. According to Jacks, the studio "really wanted more sex. Their point was, if we were gonna get an R rating, why not get it for sex? They weren't saying don't have language and drugs, but it was like, we might as well have sex, too." Linklater recalls Universal chairman Tom Pollock telling Don Phillips to "get me some tits in this movie". To attempt to secure an extra half a million dollars, Linklater wrote in a scene in which Mike, Tony, and Cynthia are flashed by a woman while cruising around, which he later removed. Linklater was initially to have a cameo in which he would have made out with actress Autumn Barr, but he dropped out due to not having time to film it. Bedichek Middle School in Austin was used as the location for the film's fictional Robert E. Lee High School, while Everette L. Williams Elementary in nearby Georgetown stood in for Williams Middle School. The scene in which the freshman girls are hazed was shot in a hot parking lot, with many actors and extras lacking sunscreen. The prop crew could not find an acceptable substitute for the condiments to be poured on the girls, so real mustard and ketchup was used. Posey improvised many of her lines in the scene as Darla. Posey revealed that the line "wipe that face off your head!" came from a mistranslation of the play In the Jungle of Cities. According to actor Jeremy Fox, Affleck and Cole Hauser both hurt Fox when filming his paddling scene, leading to complaints from Fox's mother. The scene in which Mitch throws a bowling ball out of a car was filmed in a residential neighborhood south of Austin. Wiley Wiggins surprised the cast and crew by actually throwing the ball out on the first take, letting it crash into trashcans and lawns as it rolled down a hill. Wiggins lied to Linklater about his baseball abilities, leading to the hiring of a stunt double to pitch in the movie. While filming, Posey and Adams wrote additional scenes, including the entirety of the scene in which the character Shavonne says "she called you a bitch and you a slut", for their characters, as many scenes with female characters had been cut or whittled down. Scenes were also shot at the Top Notch Hamburgers location on Burnet Road in Austin. The Top Notch scene, in which Wooderson invites the nerd characters to the keg party, was the first scene filmed with McConaughey. He recalls saying "Give me 30 minutes, 'cause I need to take a walk and go through 'Who am I?'" He remembered a live record of Jim Morrison repeating "alright" four times. McConaughey considered that Wooderson cares about four things: his car, getting high, rock and roll, and girls. "Right around this time, I hear, 'Action! says McConaughey, "In my mind, I go, 'Well, he's got three out of four of those things, and here's the fourth that I'm pullin' up to go get right now. McConaughey used this line of thought to craft the line "alright, alright, alright", which later became a catchphrase for both McConaughey and his character. McConaughey's father died during filming, and McConaughey briefly left the shoot for his funeral. He returned quickly and immediately filmed Wooderson's scene outside the Emporium.

The keg party scenes were shot at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park, where a 20 to 30 ft replica moontower was built for the movie. Linklater was disappointed with the height of the replica, and used a wide lens and close-ups for the scene in which Slater, Pink, and Mitch scale the tower, never showing its full height. To realistically portray the party and kill time during shots, many of the actors brought and consumed alcohol and actually smoked marijuana. The scene was shot all night, up to 2 or 3 in the morning the next day.

The scene on the football field near the end of the film was among the last to be shot, and was filmed at the Tony Burger Activity Center. Linklater was not entirely sure of how to end the movie, knowing only that he had to wrap up the central dilemma of Pink signing the clean-living pledge. Linklater took suggestions and advice from the actors on how to construct the scene, adding in improvised lines and moments throughout the night. Because the character of Pickford had been replaced with Wooderson, few lines were written for the character, leading McConaughey to suggest adding the "it's just about livin line to the scene. McConaughey later said that the line took inspiration from his father. The final scene shot was the one in which Pink, Slater, Simone, and Wooderson drive to Houston to buy tickets. Production ended on August 27.

Post production
Editing began that September in Austin. Linklater recalled that the editing process was mostly harmonious, with the team following goals set by editor Sandra Adair rather than "daily or weekly deadlines". During the editing process, the film was cut down from 165 minutes to 102. Many darker scenes originally shot for the film were cut, including one in which Benny disparages two Vietnamese refugees, and another in which Kaye and Jodi reflect on a teenager's tombstone during the party. A research screening was held in a Dallas shopping center in November, which produced a score of around 38 (out of 100) in Linklater's recollection. Further screenings improved the score to the high 70s and low 80s. Linklater blamed the low ratings at the Dallas showing on the screening being scheduled at the same time as a Dallas Cowboys game and a lack of clear instructions to viewers.

Song clearance
The process for song clearance began in November with the aid of music supervisor Harry Garfield. Nearly ten percent of the film's budget had been set aside for music rights, with Linklater stating that music is "the major element of the movie." Linklater created mixtapes for each major character and sent them to the actors, helping to decide upon songs for the soundtrack. Some songs chosen had been released some years prior to 1976, reflecting Linklater's view that the characters would have been listening to greatest hits albums and not necessarily new songs. Universal cut the music budget just before production began, assuring Linklater that it was common practice to increase it again during post-production, which ultimately did not happen.

The Led Zeppelin song "Rock and Roll" was originally to have played during the final scene and end credits. According to Linklater, he "bribed" Jimmy Page for the song rights by sending him LaserDiscs and recording an emotional personal plea. Page consented to the song's use, but fellow Led Zeppelin member Robert Plant did not. An angered Linklater wrote in his Dazed by Days journal of the film's making that he resolved to "boycott Plant for life." Allegedly at the request of a Geffen Records hitmaker, Universal employed the band Jackyl to record a cover of "We're an American Band" for the credits without consulting Linklater. After discovering that Jackyl's involvement had been part of the album deal the entire time, Linklater sent the band a letter explaining that the re-recording did not fit with his vision for the film, leading the band to pull out of the deal. The studio also attempted to cut down the soundtrack cost by simply recording 1970s guitar licks.

Marketing and release
Gramercy Pictures distributed and marketed Dazed and Confused. Against Linklater's wishes, Gramercy president Russel Schwartz pushed to market the film as a stoner comedy as a means of profiting off the growing culture war around marijuana. Gramercy's press kit included articles on the resurgence of marijuana, papers to roll joints with, and pot-leaf earrings. Linklater disagreed with this approach, claiming that he "didn't want weed to be the big joke. I just wanted it to be a natural part of their lives." The marketing team quoted negative comments about the alcohol and drug content in the film from the MPAA and film reviewers to further create publicity. One poster designed for the film by Gramercy depicted a large smiley face, which further upset Linklater, who believed the smiley would have been "out of the culture" by 1976, when the film takes place. Several cannabis-based puns were used as taglines, such as "the film everyone will be toking about", and "see it with a bud". Linklater hired rock and roll poster designer Frank Kozik to design a different poster that featured a collage of yearbook pictures of the cast with a superimposed Plymouth Duster. Gramercy rejected the poster, believing the film should use marijuana as a hook to avoid the problems of marketing an unknown cast. Another poster was designed that features Jovovich with a smoky background, as Jovovich was the best-known cast member at the time. Schwartz attempted to set up screenings for Christian, antidrug, and conservative groups to force a protest for publicity.

Although Linklater wanted the film to be in cinemas just before the end of the school year, Gramercy told him that there "was not enough time". The film had its premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival in June before being released in theatres on September 24, 1993, in 183 theaters, grossing $918,127 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $7.9 million in North America. The film was released in less than 200 theatres nationwide, which Schwartz called "death. Too big to be platform and too small to be commercial." Upset by the film's failure, Linklater blamed Universal's lack of interest in the film, and published his diary from the making of Dazed and Confused in The Austin Chronicle.

Home video
MCA/Universal released Dazed and Confused on laserdisc in January 1994, followed by a VHS release two months later. A 2004 release entitled Dazed and Confused: Flashback Party Edition contained The Blunt Truth, a four-minute parody of 1970s anti-cannabis educational films. The film was released on HD DVD in 2006. The Criterion Collection released a two-disc boxed-set edition of the film on June 6, 2006, in the U.S. and Canada. Features included an audio commentary by Richard Linklater, deleted scenes, the original trailer, the 50 minute "Making Dazed" documentary that aired on the American Movie Classics channel on September 18, 2005, on-set interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, cast auditions and footage from the ten-year anniversary celebration. Also included is a 72-page book featuring new essays by Kent Jones, Jim DeRogatis, and Chuck Klosterman as well as memories from the cast and crew, character profiles and a mini reproduction of the original film poster designed by Frank Kozik. Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" rating and stated that it "grants this enduring cult classic the DVD treatment it deserves". Universal Studios released Dazed and Confused on Blu-ray in August 2011, in a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer, with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

On February 21, 2023, The Criterion Collection re-released the film on 4K UHD Blu-ray. In their review, Svet Atanasov at Blu-ray.com states that "The 2022 restoration on the 4K Blu-ray disc was undertaken by the Criterion Collection from the 35mm original camera negative, scanned on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. Based on the 2011 color transfer, this restoration was newly remastered in Dolby Vision HDR and approved by director Richard Linklater. The 2011 SDR restoration on the Blu-ray – supervised by Linklater and director of photography Lee Daniel – was undertaken by the Criterion Collection – from a 35mm interpositive, scanned on a Spirit 4K DataCine. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic audio tracks".

Reception
The film received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 93% approval rating based on 67 reviews, with a weighted average score of 8.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Featuring an excellent ensemble cast, a precise feel for the 1970s, and a killer soundtrack, Dazed and Confused is a funny, affectionate, and clear-eyed look at high school life." Metacritic gives it a score of 82 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics.

Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, praising the film as "art crossed with anthropology" with a "painful underside". Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Dazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure". Desson Howe of The Washington Post, wrote, "Dazed succeeds on its own terms and reflects American culture so well, it becomes part of it". In her review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten gave particular praise to Matthew McConaughey's performance: "He is a character we're all too familiar with in the movies but McConaughey nails this guy without a hint of condescension or whimsy, claiming this character for all time as his own".

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers gave the film four stars out of four, and praised Linklater as a "sly and formidable talent, bringing an anthropologist's eye to this spectacularly funny celebration of the rites of stupidity. His shitfaced American Graffiti is the ultimate party movie – loud, crude, socially irresponsible and totally irresistible". In his review for Time, Richard Corliss wrote, "Linklater is surely no ham-fisted moralist, and his film has lots of attitude to shake a finger at. But it also has enough buoyant '70s music to shake anybody's tail feather, and a kind of easy jubilance of narrative and character". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating, and wrote, "Yet if Linklater captures the comic goofiness of the time, he also evokes its liberating spirit. The film finds its meaning in the subtle clash between the older, sadistic macho-jock ethos and the follow-your-impulse hedonism that was the lingering legacy of the '60s".

Legacy
Quentin Tarantino included it on his list of the 10 greatest films of all time in the 2002 Sight and Sound poll. In 2003, Entertainment Weekly ranked the film No. 17 on its list of "The Top 50 Cult Films", No. 3 on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies, No. 10 on its "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list, and No. 6 on its "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list. Rotten Tomatoes' editorial team credits the film for "putting Austin, Texas, on the map."

In October 2004, three of Linklater's former classmates from Huntsville High School, whose surnames are Wooderson, Slater, and Floyd, filed a defamation lawsuit against Linklater, claiming to be the basis for the similarly named characters on the film. The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico which has a longer statute of limitations than Texas. The suit was subsequently dismissed.

In 2012, McConaughey reprised his role as Wooderson in the Butch Walker and The Black Widows music video "Synthesizers". To celebrate the film's 20th anniversary in 2013, the film received the Star of Texas award from the Texas Film Hall of Fame. Linklater accepted the award after being introduced by Tarantino, who reiterated his appreciation of the film as his favorite of the 1990s. The event featured a reunion of several cast members including Adams, Wiggins, Christin Hinojosa, Nicky Katt, Mona Lee, Catherine Avril Morris, Anthony Rapp, Marissa Ribisi, Michelle Burke Thomas, and Mark Vandermeulen. At the event, Linklater described his intent to create an inverse John Hughes film: "The drama is so low-key in [Dazed & Confused]. I don't remember teenage being that dramatic. I remember just trying to go with the flow, socialize, fit in and be cool. The stakes were really low. To get Aerosmith tickets or not? That's a big thing. It was really rare when the star-crossed lovers from the opposite side of the tracks and the girl gets pregnant and there's a car crash and somebody dies. That didn't really happen much. But riding around and trying to look for something to do with the music cranked up, now that happened a lot!"

After his later feature Boyhood was released in 2014, Linklater announced that his next film, Everybody Wants Some!!, would be a "spiritual sequel" to Dazed and Confused. The newer film takes place at a Texas college in 1980.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film was released on September 28, 1993, by The Medicine Label, the same week as the film. The songs "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan, "Hey Baby" by Ted Nugent, and "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith were included in the film, but not on the commercial soundtracks due to licensing costs. "The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen)" by Milla Jovovich was briefly performed by Jovovich's character Michelle Burroughs, but was not included in the soundtrack.

title: Dazed and Confused (film)


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User:RadicalBender/Articles

The following is a list of articles I've helped write or write large chunks of (mostly for my personal reference because I'm forgetful). Some are just stubs, some are just rehashing information found elsewhere, a few have grown so massive that you would barely recognize my original contributions anymore.

Anime

 * Anime/Manga Titles - Blue Gender | City Hunter | Cowboy Bebop | Crest of the Stars | Detective Conan | Full Metal Alchemist | Gungrave | His and Her Circumstances | Kimi ga Nozomu Eien | Lone Wolf and Cub | Maria-sama ga Miteru | Planetes | Princess Nine | Samurai Champloo | Shingetsutan Tsukihime | Voices of a Distant Star | Yu-Gi-Oh!
 * Companies - ADV Music | AnimeTrax | Bandai | FUNimation | Manga Entertainment
 * People - Yuki Kajiura
 * Misc. - Abh | Adult Swim | Anime Unleashed | Gekiga | Moé | OST | Weekly Shonen Jump

Military

 * Concepts - Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement | List of frigates of the United States Navy | Littoral Combat Ship
 * People - Abrams, Creighton | Patton, George S. | Sanchez, Ricardo | Vinson, Carl
 * US Air Force - A-12 Avenger II | C-7 Caribou | C-123 Provider | O-1 Bird Dog | O-2 Skymaster | T-41 Mescalero | T-42 Cochise
 * US Army - H-19 Chickasaw | Patton tank
 * US Navy Aircraft - CH-53 Super Stallion
 * US Navy Aircraft Carriers - USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) | USS America (CV-66)
 * US Navy Escort Aircraft Carriers - USS Altamaha (CVE-6) | USS Barnes (CVE-7) | USS Block Island (CVE-8) | USS Bogue (CVE-9) | USS Breton (CVE-10) | USS Card (CVE-11) | USS Copahee (CVE-12) | USS Core (CVE-13) | USS Croatan (CVE-14) | USS Hamlin (CVE-15) | USS Nassau (CVE-16) | USS St. George (CVE-17) | USS Altamaha (CVE-18) | USS Prince William (CVE-19) | USS Barnes (CVE-20) | USS Block Island (CVE-21) | USS Breton (CVE-23) | USS Croatan (CVE-25) | USS Sangamon (CVE-26) | USS Suwanee (CVE-27) | USS Chenango (CVE-28) | USS Santee (CVE-29) | USS Charger (CVE-30) | USS Prince William (CVE-31) | USS Chatham (CVE-32) | USS Glacier (CVE-33) | USS Pybus (CVE-34) | USS Baffins (CVE-35) | USS Bolinas (CVE-36) | USS Bastian (CVE-37) | USS Carnegie (CVE-38) | USS Cordova (CVE-39) | USS Delgada (CVE-40) | USS Edisto (CVE-41) | USS Estero (CVE-42) | USS Jamaica (CVE-43) | USS Keweenaw (CVE-44) | USS Prince (CVE-45) | USS Niantic (CVE-46) | USS Perdido (CVE-47) | USS Sunset (CVE-48) | USS St. Andrews (CVE-49) | USS St. Joseph (CVE-50) | USS St. Simon (CVE-51) | USS Vermillion (CVE-52) | USS Willapa (CVE-53) | USS Winjah (CVE-54)
 * Misc. - GAU-8 Avenger | GAU-12 Equalizer | M197 Gatling gun

Sports

 * (Also: Sports Facilities WikiProject)

 * People - Akers, Michelle | Allison, Bobby | Allison, Davey | Alou, Felipe | Arakawa, Shizuka | Baines, Harold | Baylor, Elgin | Belfour, Ed | Bibby, Mike | Bichette, Dante | Biggio, Craig | Blackman, Rolando | Blalock, Hank | Blyleven, Bert | Bondra, Peter | Bonnett, Neil | Boone, Bob | Brown, Hubie | Brown, Kevin | Brown, Rosey | Carlisle, Rick | Couples, Fred | Dallenbach, Sr., Wally | Dallenbach, Jr., Wally | Davis, Brad | Dorsett, Tony | Durrance, Dick | Force, Ashley | Force, John | Franchione, Dennis | García, Sergio | Gibson, Althea | Grace, Mark | Guthrie, Janet | Hill, Grant | Hitchcock, Ken | Holdsclaw, Chamique | Howley, Chuck | Jackson, Bo | Johnson, Jimmie | Johnson, Jimmy | Jones, Jerry | Jordan, Lee Roy | Kolzig, Olaf | Lilly, Bob | Marlin, Coo Coo | Melrose, Barry | Meredith, Don | Mickelson, Phil | Oates, Johnny | Odom, Lamar | O'Neal, Jermaine | Park, Chan Ho | Percival, Troy | Perkins, Don | Pujols, Albert | Renfro, Mel | Richmond, Tim | Roberts, Glenn "Fireball" | Sapp, Warren | Schott, Marge | Showalter, Buck | Singh, Vijay | Smith, Bruce | Soriano, Alfonso | Stackhouse, Jerry | Sutton, Hal | Thome, Jim | Wheldon, Dan | White, Reggie | Wie, Michelle | Young, Michael
 * Places - American Airlines Arena | American Airlines Center | Ameriquest Field in Arlington | Arlington Stadium | Comerica Park | Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium) | Jacobs Field | Kauffman Stadium | Network Associates Coliseum | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | Tiger Stadium
 * Teams - Akron Aeros | Altoona Curve | Binghamton Mets | Birmingham Barons | Canadian national men's hockey team | Carolina Mudcats | Charlotte Knights | Chattanooga Lookouts | Cologne Centurions | Durham Bulls | El Paso Diablos | Erie SeaWolves | Fort Worth Flyers | Frankfurt Galaxy | Fresno Grizzlies | Harrisburg Senators | Midland RockHounds | Mobile BayBears | New Britain Rock Cats | New Hampshire Fisher Cats | New Orleans Zephyrs | Norwich Navigators | Oklahoma RedHawks | Omaha Royals | Reading Phillies | Rochester Red Wings | Sacramento River Cats | San Antonio Missions | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons | Syracuse SkyChiefs | Tennessee Smokies | Tucson Sidewinders | Tulsa Drillers | Wichita Wranglers
 * Things - 2003 NBA Draft | 2004 NBA Draft | 2004 World Cup of Hockey | 2004 World Cup of Hockey rosters | 2005 in IRL | 2005 in NASCAR | 2006 in NASCAR | Atlantic Sun Conference | Baylor University Basketball Scandal | Free agent | Gold Glove (and List of AL Gold Glove Winners at: P | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF and List of NL Gold Glove Winners at: P | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF) | Heisman Trophy | Indy Lights | Inside-the-park home run | Interception | International Motorsports Hall of Fame | List of Daytona 500 Winners | List of major league players with 2,000 hits | List of NASCAR seasons | NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award | No-hitter | Quarterback sack | Skins Game | Statue of Liberty play | Texas Collegiate League | Texas Rangers Hall of Fame | Tip O'Neill Award | Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Entertainment

 * 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story | 13 Going on 30 | Badalucco, Michael | Bellamy, Bill | The Benefactor | Bering Strait (band) | Bernie Mac | The Biggest Loser | Bowling for Soup | Bracco, Lorraine | Bullitt | Burnout Legends | Capshaw, Jessica | Casino Cinema | Castelluccio, Federico | Cedric the Entertainer | Chianese, Dominic | Close to Home | Commander-in-Chief (TV series) | Days of Thunder | de Matteo, Drea | DiScala, Jamie-Lynn | Duncan, Michael Clarke | Entertainment Tonight | Family Plots | Father of the Pride | The Five People You Meet in Heaven | Flight of the Phoenix | Fox, Vivica A. | Friday Night Lights | Gallagher, Peter | Giacchino, Michael | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | Grimaldi, Dan | Hamilton, Lisa Gay | Harris, Steve | Harvey, Steve | Heaton, Patricia | Hemsley, Sherman | Hines, Cheryl | Hughley, D.L. | Hu$tle | Imperioli, Michael | Inconceivable | Joanie Loves Chachi | The Joe Schmo Show | L'Arc~en~Ciel | List of The Sopranos episodes | Lopez, George | Lost (television drama) | Manheim, Camryn | Man on Fire | McConaughey, Matthew | McDermott, Dylan | Molina, Alfred | Morgan, Craig | Mr. 3000 | Murdoch, Alexi | My Kind of Town | My Name Is Earl | NUMB3RS | Oprah's Book Club | The Practice | Quintuplets | Rashad, Phylicia | Reitman, Ivan | The Restaurant | Rooker, Michael | Sanford, Isabel | Schirripa, Steve | Serenity | Shrek 2 | Silver Streak | Sinise, Gary | Sirico, Tony | Smuggler's Run | Soul Plane | Spider-Man 2 | Stern, Daniel | Surface (TV series) | Sutton, Frank | TGIF | Three Wishes | A Time to Kill | Turturro, Aida | War of the Worlds (2005 movie) | Williams, Kelli
 * Albums: Bering Strait (album) | Big Willie Style | Pages (album) | Willennium
 * List of characters from Alias (Along with Sydney Bristow, Michael Vaughn, Lauren Reed, Jack Bristow, Arvin Sloane, Marcus Dixon, Marshall Flinkman, Eric Weiss, Will Tippin, Francie Calfo, Julian Sark, Irina Derevko)
 * List of characters from the Sopranos (Along with Tony Soprano, Carmela Soprano, Meadow Soprano, Anthony Soprano, Jr., Jennifer Melfi, Christopher Moltisanti, Silvio Dante, Paulie Walnuts, Junior Soprano, Tony Blundetto, Adriana La Cerva, Janice Soprano, Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri, Patsy Parisi, Ralph Cifaretto, Furio Giunta, "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, Richie Aprile, Hesh Rabkin, Livia Soprano, Carmine Lupertazzi)
 * MTV Video Music Award (Along with Best Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Female Video, Best Group Video, Best Rap Video, Best R&B Video, Best Hip Hop Video, Best Dance Video, Best Rock Video, Best Pop Video, Best Video from a Film, Best New Artist, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, MTV2 Award, Breakthrough Video, Viewer's Choice, Best Concept Video, Best Stage Performance, Best Overall Performance, Best Post-Modern Video, Best Long Form Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Alternative Video)
 * NAACP Image Award (Along with Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series, Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special, Outstanding News, Talk or Information - Series or Special, Outstanding Variety - Series or Special, Outstanding New Artist, Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Male Artist, Outstanding Duo or Group, Outstanding Jazz Artist, Outstanding Gospel Artist, Outstanding Music Video, Outstanding Song, Outstanding Album, Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction, Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction, Outstanding Literary Work, Children's, Chairman's Award, President's Award, Hall of Fame Award, Entertainer of the Year)
 * Saturn Award (Along with Best Science Fiction Film, Best Fantasy Film, Best Horror Film, Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, Best Actor (Film), Best Actress (Film), Best Supporting Actor (Film), Best Supporting Actress (Film), Best Performance by a Younger Actor, Best Direction, Best Writing, Best Music, Best Make-up, Best Costume, Best Special Effects)

Dallas Area/Texas

 * 12th Man | Adolphus Hotel | Aggie Bonfire | Bachman Lake | Bartlett, Steve | Belo | Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development | Briscoe, Dolph | Brookhaven College | Cabell, Earle | CareFlite | Cedar Valley College | Clements, Bill | Collin County Community College District | Craft, Juanita | Dallas County Community College District | Deep Ellum | Eastfield College | El Centro College | Fannin, James | Fightin' Texas Aggie Band | Freebirds World Burrito | Garland, Texas | Gohmert, Louie | Hagerman, Amber | Hall of State | Hicks, Tom | King Ranch | Kirk, Ron | List of Texas-related topics | Lubbock, Francis | Magnolia Hotel | McCaul, Michael | Mesquite Championship Rodeo | Mesquite, Texas | Midnight Yell Practice | Miller, Laura | Mountain View College | North Lake College | Plano, Texas | Poe, Ted | Richland College | Rodgers, Woodall | Sharpstown scandal | Silver Taps | Strauss, Annette | Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets | Texas State Highway 78 | Texas State Highway 114 | Texas State Highway 183 | Thanks-Giving Square | The T | Thornton, R.L. | Trinity Railway Express | TXU | Wheatley Place | White, Mark | White Rock Lake | Yell Leaders
 * DART:
 * DART Red Line Stations: Parker Road Station, Downtown Plano Station, Bush Turnpike Station, Galatyn Park Station, Arapaho Center Station, Spring Valley Station, LBJ/Central Station, Forest Lane Station, Walnut Hill Station, Park Lane Station, Lovers Lane Station, Mockingbird Station, Cityplace Station, Pearl Station, St. Paul Station, Akard Station, West End Station, Union Station, Convention Center Station, Cedars Station, 8th & Corinth Station, Dallas Zoo Station, Tyler/Vernon Station, Hampton Station, Westmoreland Station
 * DART Blue Line Stations: Downtown Garland Station, Forest/Jupiter Station, LBJ/Skillman Station, White Rock Station, Mockingbird Station, Cityplace Station, Pearl Station, St. Paul Station, Akard Station, West End Station, Union Station, Convention Center Station, Cedars Station, 8th & Corinth Station, Morrell Station, Illinois Station, Kiest Station, VA Medical Center Station, Ledbetter Station
 * TRE Green Line Stations: Union Station, Victory Station, Medical/Market Center Station, South Irving Station, West Irving Station, CentrePort/DFW Airport Station, Hurst/Bell Station, Richland Hills Station, Fort Worth ITC Station, T&P Station
 * Texas Congressional Districts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Other

 * DARPA Grand Challenge | Adam's Mark | Atmos Energy | Auburn University | BLIMPIE | Blue Line | Boost Mobile | Broadcast.com | ColdFusion | Epson | Freescale | Green Line | H&R Block | HP LaserJet 1012 | iCon Steve Jobs | Infinium Labs | Jumblatt, Walid | List of Hewlett-Packard products | Lowe's | MacNeil, Robert | Maglite | McRib | Mighty Kids Meal | Moran, George "Bugs" | National Toy Hall of Fame | Office Depot | Office supplies | Oscar Mayer | Panic (company) | Robot Hall of Fame | Staples | Strong National Museum of Play | Taco Bueno | Taiyaki | Three Kings Day | Tractor Supply Company | University of Alabama | Vermont Teddy Bear Company | Wrigley Company | Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi

Images (my own)

 * Adam's Mark Hotel in Downtown Dallas | Adolphus Hotel | Akard Station | American Airlines Center | Bank of America Plaza | Bank One Center | Cotton Bowl | DART bus | DART Light Rail train | El Centro College | Gypsy Tea Room | Hall of State | Hall of State (Exedra) | Hall of State (Exterior Frieze) | JP Morgan Chase Tower, Dallas | Magnolia Hotel: 1 2 | Pearl Station | Reunion Arena | Texas Star | Thanks-Giving Square: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 * Diagrams and such: Boxer engine | Gadsden Purchase

Misc. Concepts

 * Brat | Rich | Veteran

title: User:RadicalBender/Articles


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Jack R. Lousma

Jack Robert Lousma (born February 29, 1936) is an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former naval aviator, NASA astronaut, and politician. He was a member of the second crew, Skylab-3, on the Skylab space station in 1973. In 1982, he commanded STS-3, the third Space Shuttle mission. Lousma was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. He is the last living crew member of both of his spaceflights.

Lousma later was the Republican Party nominee for a seat in the United States Senate from Michigan in 1984, losing to incumbent Carl Levin, who won his second of six terms.

Early life and education
Lousma was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 29, 1936. He is of Dutch (Frisian) descent. His father's name was spelled Louwsma, but he kept the 'w' off of his son's birth certificate to make the name easier to spell. He graduated from Angell Elementary School, Tappan Middle School, and Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1954. Lousma was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Tenderfoot Scout.

Lousma received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1959. He played on the football team as a backup quarterback until an elbow injury ended his career. He earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1965.

Military service
Lousma became a United States Marine Corps officer in 1959, and he received his aviator wings in 1960 after completing training at the Naval Air Training Command. He was then assigned to VMA-224, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW), as an attack pilot, and he later served with VMA-224, 1st Marine Air Wing, at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. He was a reconnaissance pilot with VMCJ-2, 2nd MAW, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, before being assigned to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas.

He has logged 7,000 hours of flight time; including 700 hours in general aviation aircraft, 1,619 hours in space, 4,500 hours in jet aircraft, and 240 hours in helicopters.

NASA career
Lousma was one of the 19 astronauts selected in NASA Astronaut Group 5 in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 9, 10, and 13 missions. He was the CAPCOM recipient of the "Houston, we've had a problem" message from Apollo 13. He might have also been selected as lunar module pilot for Apollo 20, which was canceled. He was the pilot for Skylab-3 from July 28 to September 25, 1973, and was commander on STS-3, from March 22 until March 30, 1982, logging a total of over 1,619 hours in space.

Lousma also spent 11 hours on two spacewalks outside the Skylab space station. He served as backup docking module pilot of the United States flight crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission, which was completed successfully in July 1975.

Spaceflight experience

The crew on this 59½ day flight included Alan Bean (spacecraft commander), Lousma (pilot), and Owen K. Garriott, who acted as a science-pilot. The crew installed six replacement rate gyroscopes used for attitude control of the spacecraft and a twin-pole sunshade used for thermal control, and they repaired nine major experiment or operational equipment items. Skylab-3 accomplished all its mission goals while completing 858 revolutions of the Earth, and traveling some 39300000 km in orbit. They devoted 305 man-hours to extensive solar observations from above the atmosphere, which included viewing two major solar flares and numerous smaller flares and coronal transients. Also acquired and returned to Earth were 16,000 photographs and 29 km of magnetic tape documenting Earth resources observations. The crew completed 333 medical experiment performances and obtained valuable data on the effects of extended weightlessness on humans. Skylab-3 ended with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and recovery by USS New Orleans (LPH-11).

Lousma was originally selected as the pilot of the two-man crew of STS-2, alongside commander Fred Haise. This was a planned mission scheduled to launch in mid-1979, which was intended to use the Teleoperator Retrieval System to boost the orbit of Skylab, to allow for the space station's potential further use. This mission was eventually scrubbed, owing to the delays in getting the Shuttle system ready for flight. As a result, following Haise's decision to leave NASA, Lousma was named as commander of STS-3.

STS-3, the third orbital test flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on March 22, 1982, into a 290 km circular orbit above the Earth. Lousma was the spacecraft commander and C. Gordon Fullerton was the pilot on this eight-day mission. Major flight test objectives included exposing Columbia to extremes in thermal stress and the first use of the 15 m Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to grapple and maneuver a Payload in space. The crew also operated several scientific experiments in the orbiter's cabin and on the OSS-1 pallet in the payload bay. Columbia responded favorably to the thermal tests and was found to be better than expected as a scientific platform. The crew accomplished almost all the mission objectives assigned, and after a one-day delay due to bad weather, landed on the lake bed at White Sands, New Mexico, on March 30, 1982, the only shuttle flight to land there. Columbia traveled 5500000 km during 129.9 orbits and mission duration was 192 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds. Lousma left NASA on October 1, 1983, and retired from the Marine Corps on November 1, 1983.

Political experience
A Republican, Lousma lost the 1984 United States Senate election in Michigan against incumbent Carl Levin, receiving 47% of the vote. The astronaut-politician survived a bitter primary fight against former Republican congressman Jim Dunn to capture the nomination with 63% of the vote. Ronald Reagan's landslide re-election was a boon to Lousma, but he was hurt late in the campaign when video surfaced of him telling a group of Japanese auto manufacturers that his family owned a Toyota car.

Personal life
Lousma and Gratia Kay were married in 1956. They have four children. A long-time resident of Scio Township, near Ann Arbor, Michigan, he moved with his wife to Texas in September 2013.

Awards and honors
Lousma was awarded the Johnson Space Center Certificate of Commendation (1970); the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1973); presented the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and Navy Astronaut Wings (1974), the City of Chicago Gold Medal (1974), the Marine Corps Aviation Association's Exceptional Achievement Award (1974), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale awarded him the V. M. Komarov Diploma for 1973, the AIAA Octave Chanute Award for 1975, the AAS Flight Achievement Award for 1974; inducted into a second NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1982), the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal (1982), NCAA Silver Anniversary Award (1983).

The three Skylab astronaut crews were awarded the 1973 Robert J. Collier Trophy "For proving beyond question the value of man in future explorations of space and the production of data of benefit to all the people on Earth". Gerald P. Carr accepted the 1975 Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy from President Ford, awarded to the Skylab astronauts.

Lousma was inducted with Fullerton into the International Space Hall of Fame during a ceremony with the governor of New Mexico in 1982 for their involvement in the STS-3 mission. The governor also presented them with the International Space Hall of Fame's Pioneer Award, and were the second group to receive this award. He was inducted the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame in 1989. He was one of 24 Apollo astronauts who were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.

He was presented an honorary doctorate of astronautical science from the University of Michigan in 1973, an honorary D.Sc. from Hope College in 1982, an honorary D.Sc. in business administration from Cleary College in 1986, and an honorary doctorate from Sterling College in 1988.

Lousma has a closed-end street (Lousma Drive) named after him in Wyoming, Michigan (suburb of Grand Rapids) that begins west off of Roger B. Chaffee Memorial Blvd just south of 32nd Street SE, in an industrial park area.

title: Jack R. Lousma


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Fuchū, Hiroshima (town)

Fuchū (府中町) is a town located in Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 52,597 in 23930 households and a population density of 5100 pd/sqkm. The total area of the town is 10.41 sqkm.

Geography
Fuchū is located in south-central Hiroshima, at the eastern end of the Ota River delta, the southern part is flat, but the northern part is hilly. The town is completely surrounded by the city of Hiroshima.

Adjoining municipalities
Hiroshima Prefecture
 * Higashi-ku, Hiroshima
 * Minami-ku, Hiroshima
 * Aki-ku, Hiroshima

Climate
Fuchū has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with very warm summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Fuchū is 14.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1601 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 26.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.8 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Fuchū has been steady for the past 30 years.

History
The area of Fuchū was the center of ancient Aki Province, and the location of the Kofun period Kamiokada Kofun, Nara period Shimookada Kanga ruins and the Heian period provincial capital of the province. In the Edo Period, it was part of the holdings of Hiroshima Domain. Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Fuchū was established within Aki District, Hiroshima with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Fuchū was raised to town status on January 1, 1937.

Government
Fuchū has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 18 members. Fuchū contributes three members to the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Hiroshima 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
The main industry of Fuchū is the automobile industry, as the town has the headquarters of Mazda.

Education
Fuchū has five public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education.

Railway
JR West (JR West) - San'yō Main Line
 * Mukainada

Highways
Fuchū is not on any national highway or expressway.

Notable people from Fuchū

 * Kōji Kikkawa, musician
 * Tite Kubo, manga artist
 * Satoshi Murayama, professional shogi player

title: Fuchū, Hiroshima (town)


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Big two

Big two (also known as deuces, capsa, pusoy dos, dai di and various other names) is a card game of Cantonese origin. It is similar to the games of Zheng Shangyou, daifugō, president, crazy eights, cheat, and other shedding games. The game is very popular in East Asia and in Southeast Asia (due to overseas Chinese influence), especially throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It is played both casually and as a gambling game. It is usually played with two to four players, the entire deck being dealt out in either case (or sometimes with only 13 cards per player, if there are fewer than four players). The objective of the game is to be the first to play off all of one's cards.

Names
This card game has many other names, including big deuce and top dog. In Mandarin Chinese it is 大老二, pinyin: dà lǎo èr; in Cantonese, 鋤大弟, sho tai ti (among other transliterations, including chor dai di, and rendered in jyutping tonal notation as co4 daai6 di2), or simply dai di. It is cap sa in Hokkien, 十三, meaning "thirteen" (coming from the number of cards dealt to each player), a name which is commonly used in Indonesia. In Malta, it is often referred to as ciniza ('Chinese') or giappuniza ('Japanese'), due to its East Asian origin. In English, it is sometimes ambiguously called Chinese poker because of its use of poker hands, but this name more often applies to another game of an entirely different nature.

A variant is called pusoy dos in Filipino, or in other Philippine dialects chikicha (also sikitcha).

Big two is sometimes confused with tien len (a.k.a. thirteen); the two games differ primarily in that big two involves poker hands, while tien len does not.

Valid combinations
Cards may be played as singles or in groups of two, three or five (var. 1 and 8), in combinations which resemble poker hands. The leading card to a trick sets down the number of cards to be played; all the cards of a trick must contain the same number of cards. The highest ranking card is 2 instead of A. The combinations and their rankings are as follows, mostly based on poker hands:

 * Single cards: Any card from the deck, ordered by rank with suit being the tie-breaker. (For instance, Spade A beats Heart A, which beats Heart K.)
 * Pairs: Any two cards of matching rank, ordered as with singular cards by the card of the higher suit. (A pair consisting of the Spade K and Diamond K beats a pair consisting of Hearts K and Clubs K.)
 * Triples: Three equal ranked cards, three twos are highest, then aces, kings, etc. down to three threes, which is the lowest triple. In some variations, a triple can only be played as part of a five-card hand.
 * Five-card hands: There are five (var. 2) different valid five-card hands, ranking from low to high as follows (the same ranking as in poker, where applicable):
 * Straight (also known as a snake in Cantonese or mokke in Malaysia): Any 5 cards in a sequence (but not all of the same suit). Rank is determined by the value of the biggest card, with the suit used only as a tie-breaker. Therefore 3-4-5-6-7 < 2-3-4-5-6, since 2 is considered the largest card in the 2-3-4-5-6 straight. The largest straight is A-2-3-4-5, second 2-3-4-5-6, third 10-J-Q-K-A while the smallest straight is 3-4-5-6-7.
 * Flush (also known as a flower or sama bunga in Malaysia): Any 5 cards of the same suit (but not in a sequence). Rank is determined by Face value of the cards (highest first, then each lower card in order). Suit (Spades,Hearts,Clubs,Diamonds), is used to break ties. In some popular variations, flushes are not permitted as a playable hand, and thus it is the lowest possible combination.
 * Full house (also known as a gourd in Chinese): a composite of a three-of-a-kind combination and a pair. Rank is determined by the value of the triple, regardless of the value of the pair. Also known as a Fullen.
 * Four-of-a-kind + One card (nicknamed King Kong, tiki, or Bomb or ampat batang in Malaysia, or Iron bullet (tieji) in Chinese): Any set of 4 cards of the same rank, plus any 5th card. (A four-of-a-kind cannot be played unless it is played as a five-card hand) Rank is determined by the value of the 4 card set, regardless of the value of the 5th card. It is also known as a poker. (Some play the Four-of-a-kind hand as the beat all, therefore nicknamed the bomb, King Kong, or also tiki.) In some variations, when a bomb was dealt, it immediately makes the 2s to be the lowest cards in the game (with 2 of diamonds becoming the lowest)
 * Straight flush: A composite of the straight and the flush: five cards in sequence in the same suit. Ranked the same as straights, suit being a tie-breaker. (Sometimes also called a "bomb" (or tiki or sunn) in Malaysia, greater than a four-of-a-kind)

The dealer (who may be chosen by cutting the cards, as usual) shuffles the deck to begin with and begins dealing out the cards singly, starting with the person of his right, in a counter-clockwise manner around the table. The cards are dealt out among the players as far as they can go while retaining an equal number of cards for each player. Leftover cards (not possible if there are 4 players) are then given to the player holding the Diamond 3. If this card is in the kitty, then the holder of the next lowest card adds them to his pile (var. 5). The Joker cards are not used under normal rules and are taken out before dealing.

At the beginning of each game, the player with the Diamond 3 (var. 6 and 9) starts by either playing it singly or as part of a combination, leading to the first trick. Play proceeds counter-clockwise, with normal climbing-game rules applying: each player must play a higher card or combination than the one before, with the same number of cards. Players may also pass, thus declaring that they do not want to play (or do not hold the necessary cards to make a play possible). A pass does not hinder any further play in the game, each being independent, referred to as jumping-back. (var. 14).

When all but one of the players have passed in succession the trick is over (some variations have when 1 player has passed the trick is over), and the cards are gathered up and a new trick is started with all players, initiated by the last player to play. When a player plays the Spade 2 either as a single or as part of a pair of 2s, it is often customary for that player to start the next trick immediately by leading a new card or combination, since the Spade 2 cannot be beaten whether as a single or as part of a pair of 2s, and the passes are mere formalities.

It is often courteous for a player to warn others when they are one playing combination away from winning. The goal is, then, for the other players to play (and get rid of) as many cards as possible while avoiding the combination that would allow the calling player to win the game. For example, if said player has one last single card, the other players would play doubles or other combinations to force that player to pass.

The game ends when one player runs out of cards. Refer to scoring section.

In most popular variations, ending with a single or double two is not allowed.

Reshuffling
If a player receives a hand with only 3 points or less, they may declare their cards, and the cards shall be reshuffled and dealt again. Common point counting rules are as follows: J=1, Q=2, K=3, A=4, 2=5, others=0. These point-counting rules may vary from game to game, or may be voided. A variation states that a player holding a hand with no cards with faces on them (namely Jacks "J", Queens "Q", and Kings "K") may request a reshuffle and the cards shall be dealt again. In addition, if a player has four twos, it may be mandatory to have a reshuffle.

Scoring
Scoring varies from region to region. The most common version is that after a game, each player with cards remaining valued at one point each, and doubles if they have 10 or more cards, or triple is all 13 cards are intact and not played at all. The points are then paid to the winner. (Example: North player wins, and East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 11, and 8 cards left, then East would score -3, West would score -22, South would score -8, and North would score +33.)

Any unused 2's, or a Four-of-a-kinds or Straight Flushes also doubles the points paid to the winner. If the winner ends the game by discarding a 2, a four-of-a-kind, or a Straight flush, the base points will also be doubled, but does not stack regardless of an ending hand. (Example: North players wins with a 2 as a last discard, and East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 9, and 8 cards left with the West had an unused Straight Flush and South left with an unused 2, then East would score -6, West would score -36, South would score -32, and North would score +74.)

Likewise for a three-player game, a player with 17 cards remaining is deducted triple points. A player with more than 11 cards and less than 17 cards remaining is deducted double points. An alternative scoring method to deduct one point per remaining card, is to double the count for each unused 2's.

Penalty for assistance
If Player B won a game by playing their last card (the case of more than one card played is excluded) after Player A has played theirs and Player A could have prevented this from happening by playing a higher card, Player A deemed to have assisted Player B.

There are several ways to penalize Player A. The most common way is for Player A to be deducted the total points that the other two losers have lost on top of their own so that the other two may win some points.

This rule can vary between styles of play. If the scoring system is based on ranks (e.g. who finishes first, second, third or last), the rule would not apply.

Variations

 * Smack-Down: Can be played to defeat the "Big 2" only when the Spades 2 is played as a single. A smack-down is either four-of-a-kind or a run of pairs (Example: 4-4-5-5-6-6), and is often executed with a violent smack of the playing surface. The run of pairs may be any length of at least 3. After a smack-down has been played, any player is allowed to "smack-back" with a higher four-of-a-kind or run of pairs of equal length as the smack-down. The “Smack-Down" and the “Smack-Back" originated on the first floor of the Meyerhoff Chemistry Building at UMBC and is often culminated with a violent smack of the playing surface.
 * If a player leads off with three 3s, the following player is required to play three 2s if no other play is possible.
 * Some allow four-of-a-kind without extra card; 2s rank high, as usual.
 * Some variations allowing four-of-a-kind without extra card do not allow for two pairs.
 * Some allow four-card combinations (two pairs or four cards alone, without an odd card). Four-of-a-kind beats two pairs.
 * Some allow a sixth five-card combination called "two pair junk" or "butterfly", consisting of two pairs (of different ranks) and one odd card (the junk); rank is determined by the highest pair. This combination ranks below the straight.
 * Some allow the three-of-a-kind poker hand, consisting of a triple and two junk cards. This combination ranks below the straight.
 * Or it can be more specific, known as "sisters", where two consecutive pairs are played, with any random card. This combo is lower than a straight, making it the weakest five-card combo in the game, if it is played. An example of sisters is double jack, double queen and a single nine. This would be beaten by a double king, double ace and a three (only the "sisters" count, not the random card.)
 * 3-K-K-A-A > 9-J-J-Q-Q (tie-breaker rules vary)
 * Some variations allow for straights longer than five cards, or even as short as three cards.
 * There are many variations on ranking straights, suit of last card is tie-breaker unless otherwise stated.
 * 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 < 2-3-4-5-6 (suit of 2 is tiebreaker; Malaysian variant)
 * 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2 (Indonesian variant)
 * 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) < A-2-3-4-5 (suit of 2 is tiebreaker; Singapore/Hong Kong variant)
 * 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 (suit of A is tiebreaker)
 * 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < A-2-3-4-5 (suit of A is tiebreaker) < 10-J-Q-K-A
 * 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A (Vietnamese variant)
 * A-2-3-4-5 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < 10-J-Q-k-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (suit of 2 is tiebreaker; Taiwan variant)
 * Some rank flushes by highest suit, K-Q-J-10-8 in spades defeating A-K-Q-J-9 of diamonds.
 * Some discard the extra cards. Some play that the lowest cards are consciously removed to avoid having the Spade 2, the highest card, in the kitty. Yet others give the kitty to the holder of the lowest diamond (not necessarily the lowest card).
 * Whereas sometimes in a three-player game, the extra card is not revealed (or is revealed), and the holder of Diamond 3 is given a chance to make a decision to or not to trade his/her Diamond 3 for the extra card. If he/she does, the starting player will be Clubs 3 holder, or the previous winner depending on the rules.
 * Some switch Diamonds and Clubs, to conform to contract bridge tradition, and play begins with the Club 3. Another variation rearranges the suit ranks from (lowest to highest) Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts. Another variation of suit ranks is (lowest to highest) Clubs, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds. Taiwan rule of suit ranks is (lowest to highest) Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades.
 * In some variations, suit rankings are not used, for example, a 3-single cannot be used to beat any other 3-single, and an 8-high straight cannot be used to beat any other 8-high straight.
 * A variant to discourage passing disallows a player from playing any further cards to a trick after he or she passes.
 * A rare variation involves a three-player game, where each is dealt 17 cards. A "Dragon" consists of 13 cards in straight (A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2), is considered a valid combination and may be played once the player has gained control of the game. Suit of 2 is tie-breaker.
 * In Malta, a dragun or "dragon" is not a thirteen-card straight, but it is the initial thirteen cards that the player is dealt, consisting of six pairs and any other single card. A player who is dealt a dragon immediately wins the game. However, if the dragon contains a pair of 3s it is called a dragun bla-bajd and the player immediately loses.
 * In tournaments, starting the game with Diamond 3 is only true for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the winner of the previous round plays first.
 * If only two players are available, deal thirteen cards each and play as normal. When one player passes she or he is forced to pick up one card from the remaining deck and add it to his hand. This variation is taken from the card game Go Fish.
 * If three people are playing, deal four thirteen-card hands as if a fourth players were present. The hand to receive the last card that would normally become the dealer's now becomes the "ghost hand". No one plays the ghost hand and its cards are not shown, play continues as normal.
 * If three people are playing, deal three seventeen-card hands, leaving one left over. The one card is placed in the middle, and whichever player possesses the two of spades or three of diamonds receives that card.
 * In some places, owning 4 Twos is also a condition for Immediate Win. Some play Immediate Win rule in three-player game too. There are more cards involved, the chance of occurring and points transfer is therefore very high. On the contrary, some variations said that it is an automatic draw when a player has all four 2s, as having these cards gives the player such a great amount of power. The chance of getting four 2s is $$\frac{ \tbinom{48}{9} }{ \tbinom{52}{13} } = 0.264106\% = 1:379$$ games.
 * In some rules, four-of-a-kind + one card, and straight flush, can also be played on a pair or a single card, regardless of value.
 * Some players rank all poker hands with traditional poker rules, except for the full house 2, which is higher than full house ace, and a hand must be won exactly, not just by a tiebreaker of suit.
 * In some rules, a single Spade 2 is not allowed to be played as the last card. Others do not allow any combination that includes the 2 of spades to be played as the last hand.
 * A four-of-a-kind can be used to beat all card combinations that lack a four-of-a-kind.
 * Some require the person to call "last card" when he/she only has one card left right after the last play. If the person holding the last card won, but forgot to call "last card" beforehand, he/she will take the penalty of all the other player's remaining cards, while other players will score 0.
 * In some variations, a straight is considered higher than a flush. This can be determined beforehand.
 * In Hawaii, a game variant called penning is played. The main difference is that the ranking of cards is diamonds high, followed by hearts, then spades, and clubs as lowest. When playing with three or four people, the 2nd and 3rd place titles are done by person with the lowest card going first.
 * Joker rules: Jokers are added to the deck, and they can be played as any card with any suit. Also, the jokers are deemed higher than the Two of Spades, but the black joker is considered higher than the red joker. Another variation sets the joker as valueless: it can be played to beat any card, but any card can be played to beat the joker(s). These variations allow for more in-depth and strategic game play.
 * No poker rules (a.k.a. no soccer ball rules): The players are not allowed to play a different type of 5 card hand over the current. For example, a full house can not be played over a straight.
 * In some variations, any five-card combination can be played on top of any other five-card combination with a lower card value, e.g. 4-5-6-7-8 can be played on top of 7-7-7-6-6 even though full house is higher than straight in traditional big two.
 * Some variants do not score; rather, play continues till all but one person have rid all cards, and at the end, players are ranked according to the order they got rid of their cards, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.
 * The direction of play (clockwise or anti-clockwise) can be determined by a race between the two players on either side of the leader (previous round winner, or holder of Diamond 3).
 * Playing with two decks: this enables up to eight players per game (and is required for five-of-a-kind hands to be possible). In this case, five-of-a-kind defeats four-of-a-kind, but may or may not defeat a straight flush. Players may or may not be allowed to play a hand equivalent to the previous hand, such as Diamond 3 followed by the other Diamond 3.
 * Some variations do not allow any of the 2s to be played as the last single card of a player's hand.

Big two president variation
The usual rules of big two apply, with the following features borrowed from the game of president:

 * The first player to clear all his cards becomes the President for the next round. The players next to the new President can follow the President's last play if possible (singleton, pair, three-of-a-kind, 5 cards). If no one can follow the President's last play or choose not to do so even when able (the player immediately next to the President has a strong incentive not to follow), the player next to the President gains control and may start a new sequence of his own. Eventually, this will produce the Vice-President, followed by the Vice-Scum. The last player remaining becomes the Scum for the next round.
 * The first game proceeds without anyone being President, Vice-President, Vice-Scum and The Scum.
 * Subsequent games involve the following:
 * President passes their lowest 2 cards to the Scum. The scum passes their highest 2 cards to president. (A variant to this allows the President to pass any 2 cards, and after receiving cards. This can make a difference as their 2 lowest cards may form a five-card hand.)
 * Vice-president passes their lowest 1 card to vice-scum. Vice-scum passes their highest 1 card to vice-president.

Team play
It is possible to play in teams of two with four total players. Teammates are positioned on the opposite side of each other, making them face each other. Teammates are not allowed to communicate with each other by any means regarding their cards, preferred combinations or the quality of their hands.

The winning team is determined by the total number of cards held by each team when one of the players runs out of cards. This means that even if a player on a team manages to play their last card, the opposing team can still win by card count. (Ex: Mike and Dave are on one team against Lionel and Brendan. Mike has 4 cards, Dave has 5, and Lionel has 10 by the time Brendan plays his last card. Mike and Dave win the game by having a total of 9 cards in their hands against Lionel's 10.) Any player can ask what the card count is for each team at any point.

If the card count is tied at the end of a game, all players proceed to a five-card shootout. Each player receives five cards and the game is played as normal. The lowest card holder starts and play proceeds with the same team grouping. Further ties lead to further five card hands; this determines the final winner of the original game.

title: Big two


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Sex ratio

A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, either periodically or permanently. Examples include parthenogenic species, periodically mating organisms such as aphids, some eusocial wasps, bees, ants, and termites.

The human sex ratio is of particular interest to anthropologists and demographers. In human societies, sex ratios at birth may be considerably skewed by factors such as the age of mother at birth and by sex-selective abortion and infanticide. Exposure to pesticides and other environmental contaminants may be a significant contributing factor as well. As of 2024, the global sex ratio at birth is estimated at 107 boys to 100 girls (1,000 boys per 934 girls). By old age, the sex ratio reverses, with 81 older men for every 100 older women; across all ages, the global population is nearly balanced, with 101 males for every 100 females.

Types
In most species, the sex ratio varies according to the age profile of the population.

It is generally divided into four subdivisions:

 * primary sex ratio — ratio at fertilization
 * secondary sex ratio — ratio at birth
 * tertiary sex ratio — ratio in sexually mature organisms
 * The tertiary sex ratio is equivalent to the adult sex ratio (ASR), which is defined as the ratio of adult males to females in a population.
 * The operational sex ratio (OSR) is the ratio of sexually active males to females in a population, and is therefore derived from a subset of the individuals included when calculating the ASR. Although conceptually distinct, researchers have sometimes equated the ASR with the OSR, particularly in experimental studies of animals where the difference between the two values may not always be readily apparent.

 * quaternary sex ratio — ratio in post-reproductive organisms

These definitions can be somewhat subjective since they lack clear boundaries.

Sex ratio theory
Sex ratio theory is a field of academic study which seeks to understand the sex ratios observed in nature from an evolutionary perspective. It continues to be heavily influenced by the work of Eric Charnov. He defines five major questions, both for his book and the field in general (slightly abbreviated here):
 * 1) For a dioecious species, what is the equilibrium sex ratio maintained by natural selection?
 * 2) For a sequential hermaphrodite, what is the equilibrium sex order and time of sex change?
 * 3) For a simultaneous hermaphrodite, what is the equilibrium allocation of resources to male versus female function in each breeding season?
 * 4) Under what conditions are the various states of hermaphroditism or dioecy evolutionarily stable? When is a mixture of sexual types stable?
 * 5) When does selection favour the ability of an individual to alter its allocation to male versus female function, in response to particular environmental or life history situations?

Biological research mostly concerns itself with sex allocation rather than sex ratio, sex allocation denoting the allocation of energy to either sex. Common research themes are the effects of local mate and resource competition (often abbreviated LMC and LRC, respectively).

Fisher's principle
Fisher's principle (1930) explains why in most species, the sex ratio is approximately 1:1. His argument was summarised by W. D. Hamilton (1967) as follows, assuming that parents invest the same whether raising male or female offspring:

 * Suppose male births are less common than female.
 * A newborn male then has better mating prospects than a newborn female, and therefore can expect to have more offspring.
 * Therefore parents genetically disposed to produce males tend to have more than average numbers of grandchildren born to them.
 * Therefore the genes for male-producing tendencies spread, and male births become more common.
 * As the 1:1 sex ratio is approached, the advantage associated with producing males dies away.
 * The same reasoning holds if females are substituted for males throughout. Therefore 1:1 is the equilibrium ratio.

In modern language, the 1:1 ratio is the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). This ratio has been observed in many species, including the bee Macrotera portalis. A study performed by Danforth observed no significant difference in the number of males and females from the 1:1 sex ratio.

Environmental and individual control
Spending equal amounts of resources to produce offspring of either sex is an evolutionarily stable strategy: if the general population deviates from this equilibrium by favoring one sex, one can obtain higher reproductive success with less effort by producing more of the other. For species where the cost of successfully raising one offspring is roughly the same regardless of its sex, this translates to an approximately equal sex ratio.

Bacteria of the genus Wolbachia cause skewed sex ratios in some arthropod species as they kill males. Sex-ratio of adult populations of pelagic copepods is usually skewed towards dominance of females. However, there are differences in adult sex ratios between families: in families in which females require multiple matings to keep producing eggs, sex ratios are less biased (close to 1); in families in which females can produce eggs continuously after only one mating, sex ratios are strongly skewed towards females.

Several species of reptiles have temperature-dependent sex determination, where incubation temperature of eggs determines the sex of the individual. In the American alligator, for example, females are hatched from eggs incubated between 27.7 to 30 C, whereas males are hatched from eggs 32.2 to 33.8 C. In this method, however, all eggs in a clutch (20–50) will be of the same sex. In fact, the natural sex ratio of this species is five females to one male.

In birds, mothers can influence the sex of their chicks. In peafowl, maternal body condition can influence the proportion of daughters in the range from 25% to 87%.

Dichogamy (sequential hermaphroditism) is normal in several groups of fish, such as wrasses, parrotfish and clownfish. This can cause a discrepancy in the sex ratios as well. In the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, there is only one male for every group of 6-8 females. If the male fish dies, the strongest female changes its sex to become the male for the group. All of these wrasses are born female, and only become male in this situation. Other species, like clownfish, do this in reverse, where all start out as non-reproductive males, and the largest male becomes a female, with the second-largest male maturing to become reproductive.

Domesticated animals
Traditionally, farmers have discovered that the most economically efficient community of animals will have a large number of females and a very small number of males. A herd of cows with a few bulls or a flock of hens with one rooster are the most economical sex ratios for domesticated livestock.

Dioecious plants secondary sex ratio and amount of pollen
It was found that the amount of fertilizing pollen can influence secondary sex ratio in dioecious plants. Increase in pollen amount leads to decrease in number of male plants in the progeny. This relationship was confirmed on four plant species from three families – Rumex acetosa (Polygonaceae), Melandrium album (Caryophyllaceae),  Cannabis sativa and Humulus japonicus (Cannabinaceae).

Polyandrous and cooperatively breeding homeotherms
In charadriiform birds, recent research has shown clearly that polyandry and sex-role reversal (where males care and females compete for mates) as found in phalaropes, jacanas, painted snipe and a few plover species is clearly related to a strongly male-biased adult sex ratio. Those species with male care and polyandry invariably have adult sex ratios with a large surplus of males, which in some cases can reach as high as six males per female.

Male-biased adult sex ratios have also been shown to correlate with cooperative breeding in mammals such as alpine marmots and wild canids. This correlation may also apply to cooperatively breeding birds, though the evidence is less clear. It is known, however, that both male-biased adult sex ratios and cooperative breeding tend to evolve where caring for offspring is extremely difficult due to low secondary productivity, as in Australia and Southern Africa. It is also known that in cooperative breeders where both sexes are philopatric like the varied sittella, adult sex ratios are equally or more male-biased than in those cooperative species, such as fairy-wrens, treecreepers and the noisy miner where females always disperse.

title: Sex ratio