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Luann (comic strip)

Luann is a syndicated newspaper comic strip written and drawn by Greg Evans. It was launched by North America Syndicate on March 17, 1985. The strip is currently syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication. In 2012, Greg Evans' daughter Karen Evans began co-authoring the strip.

Luann takes place in an unnamed suburban setting, and primarily focuses on young adult Luann DeGroot dealing with school, her love interests, family, and friends. Some storylines center on other characters, including her older brother Brad. The strip is particularly notable in that the characters age over time, albeit not in real time.

In 2003, Evans won the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year for his work on ''Luann. ''

Main characters

 * Luann C. DeGroot: The comic strip's protagonist, Luann often struggles with her self-image and is particularly self-conscious about her large feet. She can be shallow, self-centered, and immature. Luann graduated from Pitts Junior–Senior High School in 2014 and has dreams of becoming an entertainer after starring in West Side Story and being a beauty pageant runner-up. She is left-handed, which is a common trait among comic strip characters. Currently, Luann is attending a local junior college and taking introductory art and chemistry classes. She is also working in early education alongside Tiffany during the summer. In a writing class, Luann shows an aptitude for writing comedy and humor, and as such, has started to show more wit in her conversations with others

 * First appearance: March 17, 1985

 * Bernice Halper: Luann and Bernice have been close friends since third grade. Bernice is laid-back and observant, but tends to have a negative outlook on life. In 2007, she discovered she had an older brother, Sgt. Ben York, who was serving in Iraq. Bernice had initially planned to become a veterinarian, but ended up interning as a guidance counselor during her senior year. She started college at Moony University in 2014 and became friends with her roommate Dez. In 2015, she became a dorm R.A., but in 2020 her position was eliminated, forcing her to move in with the DeGroot family.
 * First appearance: March 18, 1985

 * Delta James: Luann's friend Delta started off as a slacker but became more ambitious as she got older. She joined many clubs and activities in school and volunteered. While Bernice is intellectually wise, Delta is politically intelligent and wants a career in politics. In 1998, Delta was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma but went into remission the following year. In 2009, she almost couldn't go on a class trip to Washington, D.C. due to lack of funds, but was able to go with the help of donations raised by Luann, Bernice, Tiffany, and Elwood. During the trip, Delta met President Barack Obama in the White House. Delta is now attending Howard University in Washington and hasn't been mentioned much since 2014.

 * First appearance: April 1, 1985
 * Last appearance: November 11, 2014

 * Nancy and Frank DeGroot: Luann's parents. Nancy is portrayed as the heart of the family, while Frank provides for it, though he's usually portrayed as criminally cheap. Frank often seems clueless about what goes on, while Nancy is more aware. She constantly hounds Luann to clean her room, without success. Using their savings and money from T.J.'s insurance settlement, Frank and Nancy have purchased a rundown warehouse, and turned it into a restaurant and performance space.

 * Frank's first appearance: March 21, 1985 (voice), May 22, 1985 (drawn).

 * Nancy's first appearance: May 3, 1985 (voice), August 12, 1986 (drawn).

 * Brad DeGroot: Luann's older brother, Brad, used to have a snarky relationship with her. He worked at Weenie World but after 9/11, he became a firefighter. Brad had to get in shape for the job and now looks more fit. He and his friend T.J. moved into Brad's parents' rental home, which was damaged by T.J. Brad spends his free time fixing his car. Brad's firefighter storyline gets as much, if not more, attention than Luann's.

 * In June 2011 Brad was laid off but he was rehired in November after another firefighter left. On March 31, 2012, Brad proposed to Toni Daytona, with some persuasion from T.J., but they agreed to postpone the topic. On April 2, 2013, Toni proposed to Brad, and he accepted. Originally, they planned to have their wedding on September 11, but due to controversy, it was postponed to December 11, 2016. After the wedding, Toni moved into the house shared by T.J. and Brad.

 * Brad got a firefighter's tattoo matching Toni's on August 27, 2008 (first seen August 28, 2008).

 * Brad's first appearance: March 25, 1985 (voice), March 26, 1985 (drawn).

Love interests

 * Aaron Hill: Aaron is a boy who is desired by both Luann and Tiffany. He is sometimes vain, which makes him a good match for Tiffany. However, he also shows consideration for others' feelings. Luann finds him cute and lovable, but he has been mixed up in the past, having been in love with an older girl named Diane. He currently lives in Hawaii. Luann won a free trip to Hawaii in August 2005 and visited Aaron, but discovered he had a new girlfriend named Lian. Aaron later contacted Luann through MySpace in October 2006, sharing his experiences in Hawaii and revealing that he had broken up with Lian. This reignited Luann's feelings for Aaron. Although there was speculation about his return, Aaron has not been seen since Luann's trip to Hawaii.

 * First mentioned: March 23, 1985.

 * First appearance March 24, 1985.

 * Last appearance: August 15, 2005, April 1, 2020 (flashback cameo)

 * Gunther Berger: Gunther, a smart student at Pitts High School, lacks fashion sense and gentlemanly qualities. He has feelings for Luann but is jealous of her crushes on other guys. Although Luann is not interested in him, she becomes jealous when Gunther shows interest in other girls. Gunther also has a romantic interest in Bernice, with whom he has more in common. He wears contact lenses despite being allergic to them. Gunther volunteers at the local library and is skilled at sewing. He lives with his mother and has insecurities about his father leaving the family. Luann helps Gunther when his mother breaks her leg. Gunther and Rosa Aragones have mutual feelings for each other, but Gunther is nervous around her. Luann supports Gunther and gives him advice on winning Rosa's heart. Gunther goes to Peru with Rosa but eventually returns home to attend college. He becomes study buddies with Tiffany, which complicates their relationship. Gunther's bully from high school, Leslie Knox, becomes an acquaintance when Leslie's uncle starts dating Gunther's mother. Gunther is upset when Leslie's uncle proposes to his mother. In college, Gunther has a new girlfriend in Bets, a cosplay enthusiast & influencer. Though their personalities clash at times (Bets being more adventurous while Gunther is more cautious), the two try to make their relationship work, such as buying a van to tour the country with. On numerous occasions through the years, Gunther and Luann have had interactions that seemed to imply they share mutual attraction to one another, yet both insist that they're not interested in each other romantically, but are rather just dear, mutual friends.

 * First mentioned: March 23, 1985

 * First appearance: November 29, 1987

 * Quill: A Pitts High School senior from Australia, Quill moved to the US with his family. His arrival caused tension between Luann and Tiffany, as Tiffany was attracted to Quill but he showed more interest in Luann due to their shared interests and her intelligence. They shared their first kiss at a New Year's Eve Party in 2011. Luann and Quill admitted their attraction but decided not to pursue a relationship because Quill would have to return to Australia. However, they couldn't resist and kissed again in Luann's room, but Quill received a call from his father informing him that they were moving back to Australia. They maintained a long-distance relationship until 2014 when Quill returned to the US and graduated with Luann's class. He became roommates with Gunther and prioritized his acting career over Luann, causing her to break up with him in 2016. After a follow-up appearance a few months later, confirming he had moved on with his life, he disappeared from the strip entirely. Like Luann, Quill is left-handed.

 * First appearance: June 22, 2009

 * Last appearance: September 28, 2016, April 1, 2020 (flashback cameo)

 * Toni Louise Daytona: Brad's wife and fellow firefighter, Toni, joined him in all of the Pre-Fire Academy courses. However, when Brad failed the physical exam, Toni continued on her own. Toni's boyfriend, Dirk, became jealous and abusive towards her and physically violent towards Brad. Toni eventually ended the relationship with Dirk. After Dirk was released from jail, Toni and Brad started socializing again, but their friendship was strained when Brad had Dirk arrested for violating a restraining order. They stopped speaking for months, but eventually reconnected when Brad moved into his rental home. Their relationship progressed slowly, including dates, and they shared their first kiss on April 2, 2008. In a mid-2009 incident, Toni fell from a ladder while fighting a fire and Brad caught her, injuring himself in the process. Toni offered to take care of Brad during his recovery and confessed her love for him. On a 2010 holiday strip, Toni and Brad went shopping. Toni had Brad hold her purse while she bought lingerie, showing their relationship was progressing. In June 2010, Toni's parents died in a car crash, and she and her brother were raised by their aunt and uncle. Toni, her brother Jonah, and his daughter Shannon moved to Pitts about 4 years ago. On March 31, 2012, Brad proposed to Toni. On April 2, 2013, Toni proposed to Brad, which seemed to be a serious proposal unlike Brad's previous one. Brad accepted the next day. Their wedding was on December 11, 2016. Toni also has a strong knowledge of automobiles, and uses this to help Gunter and Bets buy a used van for cross-country traveling, buying it at $3,000 lower than what the seller was originally asking for.

 * She has a firefighter tattoo on her right shoulder (FD on crossed axes), first seen August 26, 2008 still healing after she got it.

 * First appearance: January 18, 2002

 * Diane: Brad's first love interest was a source of confusion for him. He constantly tried to impress her but failed. A recurring joke was that she would startle him while he worked on his car, causing him to hit his head. She briefly dated Aaron Hill but they realized they were too different. Brad and Luann were outraged when they saw Diane kiss Aaron. Before leaving town, Diane realized she and Brad had little in common, particularly his love for cars.

 * First mentioned: July 10, 1989

 * First appearance: July 30, 1989

 * Last appearance: February 13, 1999, although she appeared in the background at Brad and Toni's wedding: December 11, 2016

Miguel also saved Tiffany's life by performing CPR when she almost drowned in the pool. Tiffany took advantage of his kindness by using him to steal Gunther's test paper. When Tiffany got caught, she convinced Miguel to take the blame, claiming he did it willingly for her. Instead of betraying Tiffany, Miguel chose to accept the blame and decided to return to Spain.
 * Miguel Vargas: Miguel, a foreign exchange student from Spain, quickly caught the attention of Delta when he saved her from a thief. As Miguel started his first day at school, he found himself being pursued by Luann, Delta, and Tiffany. Although he liked all three girls, he was most drawn to Luann because of her down-to-earth personality. However, when Delta fell ill with cancer, Miguel showed unwavering support, which made Luann jealous. Luann found Miguel attractive but felt he was too aggressive, leading to an on-and-off romantic tension between them. On November 29, 1999, Miguel took Luann on a date to a secluded parking spot, but their plans were interrupted when Luann received a phone call pretending to be a family emergency.

 * First appearance: August 25, 1998

 * Last appearance: March 14, 2001, April 1, 2020 (flashback cameo)

 * Stuart: Lifeguard at Pitts Public Pool. Saved Luann and Tiffany from drowning. Luann developed a crush on Stuart but was heartbroken when he mentioned his wife.

 * First appearance: July 4, 2000

 * Last appearance: June 16, 2001, April 1, 2020 (flashback cameo)

 * Zane: Zane, former boyfriend of Bernice and owner of Monroe, became paralyzed in a car accident that killed his parents. It took him a year to fully recover. He was saved by Brad in a fire at Borderline Books. Bernice was deeply in love with him and jealous of rivals like Crystal and Ann Eiffel. Zane realized he needed to address past issues, including his relationship with his sister. Bernice proposed marriage, but Zane asked her to wait. Crystal was attracted to Zane, but he only saw her as a friend. Bernice dumped Zane when he failed to notice her new glasses, feeling he was disinterested.

 * First appearance: June 27, 2001

 * Last appearance: August 27, 2004

 * Elwood Druit: The "Elvis Jr." of Pitts High School, Elwood is a wealthy video game creator known for his "Eyez of Zeye" franchise. He is arrogant and cancelled a date with Luann for 'someone better'. He briefly dated Tiffany, possibly due to his wealth. In 2009, he offered to pay for Delta's trip in exchange for a date with Luann. They went to a fancy restaurant he claimed to own. Elwood has made advances towards Luann and donated money to the library, causing jealousy from Gunther. Bernice suspects him of being a fraud as she found no evidence of his wealth online. Elwood proposed to Luann with a fake ring, claiming it was worth $15,000. He never appeared again.

 * First appearance: March 25, 2005

 * Last appearance: October 10, 2009

 * Ben York: Bernice's older brother, an army sergeant on leave from the Middle East, was given up for adoption by their parents. He returned briefly after finding them online. The DeGroot and Halper siblings went bowling together. Brad initially felt jealous but felt better after learning Ben tried to become a firefighter. Luann developed a crush on Ben, exchanging emails with him. Bernice demanded their contact cease. Ben broke his leg in Iraq and returned home. Luann made a Valentine's Day dinner for him, unaware he would be out of town. Ben appeared again in 2020 after leaving the service.

 * First appearance: January 22, 2007

 * Claudia: Aaron Hill's Texan girlfriend is deaf but learned lip reading to communicate. Luann initially thought Claudia was made up until Aaron introduced her. Despite remaining friends with Luann, Claudia grew tired of Aaron's flirting with Tiffany and ended their year-long relationship.

 * First appearance: March 24, 2001

 * Last appearance: December 11, 2001

Other friends, relatives and neighbors

 * Knute: The upbeat, skateboarding, class clown and Gunther's best friend. Knute and Gunther often team up to create a working magic show, but often with unsuccessful results. He and Crystal have shared feelings for each other but never showed much more than that, finding they are the exact opposite of each other in every way. However, in early February 2011, they did go on a date to a Laurel and Hardy film festival.

 * First appearance: September 15, 1986.

 * Last appearance: February 25, 2018.

 * T.J. (also called TJ): Brad's best friend, who comes up with outrageous schemes, and when they fail, manages to leave Brad holding the bag. He is, however, a very gifted gourmet chef, and a skilled builder. T.J. has disclosed that his mother is deceased, and that his father had been in prison for three years, but had set up a bank account for T.J. before moving to Argentina. Although he and Brad have moved back into the rental home since it has been repaired, he has formed bonds with the DeGroot family.

 * First mentioned: September 20, 1993

 * First appearance: September 27, 1993

 * Rosa Aragones: A relatively new girl at Pitts High School when she was first shown. She was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Italy, France, and Mexico, and can speak English as well as French, Italian, and Spanish, leading Luann to wonder why she's in school. Later that year, she is assisted with her books by Gunther, sparking jealousy in Luann until she learns that Rosa hurt her arm carrying her sister into her wheelchair. She appears again in the Pageant storyline of March/April 2011. Later, she and Gunther grow closer, and their developing relationship is encouraged by Luann as she tries to decide how to proceed in her relationship with Quill. While Rosa is open about her attraction to him, Gunther tends to be awkward and bumbling around her, wanting to please her. They eventually began dating, and upon graduating from high school, they travel to Peru to assist at her uncle's clinic. However, Gunther becomes disillusioned with Peru, and returns to the U.S. with the encouragement of Rosa, who remains.

 * First appearance: September 5, 2006

 * Last appearance: January 12, 2015

 * Mrs. Horner: An elderly woman whom Luann visits from time to time and who frequently gives her candid advice. In March 2006 she moved out of her old home and into a new retirement center, but needed the help of Luann, who asked Bernice, Brad, and Toni to help her move out. Dirk followed Toni to the home, and to impress and be near Toni, helped the moving job finish faster; however, when he picked up Mrs. Horner's clock, an envelope full of money fell out, which Dirk pocketed, intending to steal it. He was caught by Brad, he claimed it to be his, but when Brad swiped it at the perfect time to return to Mrs. Horner, Dirk turned his story around and claimed to have found the envelope in the clock and intended to return it to her. He would have been kicked out if Mrs. Horner had not believed his lie. She later sold her old home to Nancy and Frank, who began renting to Brad. She has made occasional appearances in the strip since then.

 * First appearance: July 16, 2001

 * Eddie Munter: The new manager of Borderline Books, who replaced Ann Eiffel after she was unwillingly transferred. While Munter is normally very humorous and goodhearted, often ending his comments or jokes with "Kidding!", he knows when to be tough and decisive with his employees, earning the respect of Bernice and Zane shortly after he took over.

 * First appearance: July 9, 2002

 * Shannon Daytona (Lewis?): Toni's bratty, blunt and disrespectful six-year-old niece. Her mother left soon after her birth, leaving her with her father, Jonah Daytona. Possibly due to her father ignoring his responsibilities and leaving her with Toni a great deal of the time, Shannon gets what she wants through demanding, whining or throwing temper tantrums. Toni's continuous babysitting has unfortunately reduced the amount of time Brad and Toni have to see each other. Shannon seems to have a strong liking for Brad, whom she's renamed "Bwad", although the feeling is not exactly mutual. Shannon first appeared in 1996, when Luann was asked to sit for the 3-year old in addition to her cousin, Lindy Lewis, but quit due to Shannon's bad behavior. She later reappeared in the strip as Toni's 5-year old cousin in 2008, but in June 2010 it was established that she was actually Toni's niece. While Greg Evans doesn't explicitly state that the 1996 Shannon and the 2008 Shannon are one and the same character, he notes in his blog that while Shannon Daytona is not Shannon Lewis, Luann did indeed babysit her, and that they both recognized each other. As the earlier Shannon's last name was never disclosed, and since Jonah Daytona was never married to Shannon's mother, this may imply that she was never Shannon Lewis in the first place. Toni once referred to Shannon as "Mini Eiffel" due to her similar appearance and personality.

 * First appearance: January 8, 1996

 * Jonah Daytona: Toni's brother and Shannon's father. He first appeared alongside Toni at a car show where Brad had initially mistaken him for Toni's boyfriend. Seen as flaky and irresponsible by the rest of the characters, his desired acting career causes him to constantly leave Shannon with his sister so he can rush off to auditions. This tends to get in the way of both her job and her relationship with her boyfriend, Brad, but lately they have become a bit more willing to take care of Shannon (partly due to their low opinion of Jonah's parenting).  He had a role in the play "Les Miserables", and hoped this would lead to his becoming rich and famous, but it did not, and he continues to seek work.  Judging from the collective opinion of Brad, Toni, Quill, and Luann, his acting skill left much to be desired.  In the August 16 to 18, 2016 strips, Toni was able to confront Jonah of being irresponsible of taking care of Shannon, but he managed to twist things around and blame Toni, causing her to reluctantly look after Shannon once more.

 * First appearance: June 12, 2003

 * Oxford: Oxford, called Ox for short, is a big student who first appeared when Leslie was about to hurt Gunther. He breaks up the scuffle by telling Leslie that if he beat up Gunther, he would do the same to Leslie, causing him to leave. Gunther later thanks him for standing up for his safety; it is revealed that Ox doesn't like bullying or bullies in general and that some people mistake him for one (due to his height and brawny physique). Ox is very kind and likes to help others in need. It is hinted that Ox has rich parents, as they gave him a platinum credit card to pay for his lunches (which tend to be large). He becomes friends with Gunther and eventually T.J. in the May 9, 2012, strip, when he starts eating at Weenie World. In the May 17, 2012, strip, during which Ann Eiffel plans to sue Toni and her niece, Shannon (the latter having bit her finger in an April 2012 strip), Ox returns and upon learning of the event and Ann's cruel way of forcing him to sign a paper to file lawsuit, he refuses and sees Ann as another bully. In the May 22, 2012, strip, Ox takes her paper to show it to his uncle: a lawyer. Ox later agrees not to tell on her so long as she gives up trying to sue Toni; in the final strip of the week, Ann offers Ox a job, impressed by his integrity, but Ox refuses, as he is convinced that Ann simply isn't nice. Ox now works as a server at the DeGroots' restaurant. Ox is also highly intelligent, as when Gunther and Luann show up for a costume party with a "doll theme", and Tiffany thinks their costumes don't fit, Ox figures out that Gunther is dressed as a book written by Roald Dahl while Luann is dressed as Dolly Parton, making the costumes fit phonetically.

 * First appearance: March 2, 2012

 * Desdemona: Desdemona, always referred to as Dez, is Bernice's roommate at Moony Uni. Dez was unseen for the entirety of Bernice's first semester, always coming and going when Bernice was gone or asleep. Her friends, however, were often imposing on Bernice, dropping stuff off or throwing impromptu parties. She finally introduces herself to Bernice on February 23, 2015. Dez is very spiritual and worldly and decorates the dorm room with souvenirs from her travels.

 * First mentioned: August 18, 2014

 * First appearance: February 23, 2015

 * Prudence: Prudence (aka Pru) is a friend of Quill's. She is from New York, and currently staying with the Degroots. During his time in New York as an intern in a theater program, Quill was partnered with a fellow intern, Prudence. Quill had told the others that Prudence was coming from New York to direct a Holiday Show that she wrote, which they could use for opening night of The Fuse. Initially, Luann was jealous of Quill's and Pru's relationship, despite Quill insisting that they were friends, and Bernice was wary of her, thinking that Pru was interested in stealing Quill from Luann. However, when Bernice and Prudence were comforting Luann, it was revealed that Prudence is, as she puts it, "a lesbian thespian!" Prudence is very energetic and friendly towards everyone. Prudence has some things in common with Luann, as they both love the arts, and they both practiced what they were going to say before meeting each other. Pru worked at the DeGroots' event space/restaurant and living in Brad's old bedroom. In March 2020 she announced she was moving back to New York City and marrying a pilot.

 * First mentioned: July 27, 2015

 * First appearance: November 19, 2015

 * Last appearance: April 6, 2020

 * Jack and Nil: Two male students who attended the same college art class with Luann. Jack is seen as an upbeat, yet not very bright person, whereas Nil shows no emotion and makes sardonic remarks about everything. While the professor and Luann initially referred to them as "Jock" and "Goth", their real names remained unknown until the November 3, 2016, strip. Jack likes dogs and can be seen taking his pet dog, Max, to the dog park, where Luann spends time with Puddles. Bernice became infatuated with Jack after meeting him until she went on to have a relationship with Nil; this continued until she felt that she was uncontrollable with her intimacy for the latter. They subsequently remain as friends and she serves as a "muse" for his artwork. It was implied afterward that Nil might be bisexual, or rather asexual, after he casually mentioned to Bernice about a random person named Fred who had been asking him out for months.

 * First appearance: January 26, 2015

 * Tara Starr: Kicked out of Moony Uni for stealing a dorm TV and breaking into a vending machine on Bernice's floor, Tara showed up the next fall as Luann's chemistry lab partner at the junior college. She's uninhibited, free-wheeling, and a little wild, but she recognizes the mistakes she made at Moony and intends to buckle down at the Junior College. However, she soon begins rebelling again when she signs up for a class where Luann is the TA, thinking Luann will give her special treatment. She later decides to move to Utah in order to escape her criminal cousin, but ultimately changed her mind once the cousin was arrested. She ended up getting Luann into trouble at work by bringing a bow and arrow into an elementary school classroom (Luann was doing an after-school program and allowed Tara to meet her students without clearing it with the school administration). In late February 2023, it was revealed that she and Piro are cousins and that they have family issues.

 * First mentioned (as a "suspect"): April 25, 2017

 * First mentioned by name: August 26, 2017

 * First appearance: August 28, 2017

 * Bets: A cosplay enthusiast and current girlfriend of Gunther, and is also Tiffany's college roommate. While she is eager and creative, she is also very self-centered and focused on her social media following. This leaves her oblivious to how her actions can sometimes affect other people, such as pressuring Gunther into featuring on her social media despite his reluctance, and steamrolling over Tiffany's fancy dinner party business with her own ideas. After she and Gunter buy a van for a cross-country trip, when they return, Bets leaves again on her own to travel more and posting about it on social media. When she returns, she comes back to seeing Gunther and Luann attending a costume party together, leaving everyone, both at the party and on social media, to believe that Gunther and Luann are now a couple. Initially breaking up with him, Gunther convinces Bets that he wants to be with her, and the two agree to work their differences out. As a result, Bets decides to delete her social media profiles to show how much she's changed.

 * First mentioned: February 2, 2019

 * First appearance: April 1, 2019

Antagonists

 * Tiffany Farrell: Tiffany is Luann's nemesis, a physically attractive, but shallow and arrogant cheerleader in school who constantly insults and belittles Luann. Her best friend is Crystal. It is hinted that Luann and Tiffany might have been friends in elementary school, but their relationship changed once they got to Junior High. Luann and Tiffany often battle for the attentions of various boys, with Luann almost always coming out on top. In March 2003, Luann and Tiffany form a brief friendship after winning a volleyball game as a team, but it falls apart due to their ongoing rivalry over Aaron. Tiffany uses her cell phone camera to take a picture of Luann changing in the girls locker room, initially, trying to blackmail Luann. When Luann fails to cooperate, Tiffany posts the photo on the internet, embarrassing Luann. With Gunther's help, Luann causes Tiffany to be suspended. In January 2008, her title of Miss Chamber of Commerce is revoked due to her role in T.J.'s catering scheme to sell meals in fire stations. In January 2009, she helps Luann fund Delta's accompanying them to Washington, DC; Tiffany's help is short-lived, however. In 2011, she stages a school beauty pageant, the proceeds of which help pay for new bathroom mirrors. Despite liking attractive boys, Tiffany tells Crystal that she never had an actual boyfriend. However, in 2015, she develops a physical attraction to Gunther, her "study buddy." By 2017, Tiffany is struggling with weight gain, brought on by depression. Meanwhile, Tiffany and Luann experience something of a truce late in the year, and have since been less hostile to each other. While in college, Tiffany has started to show some signs of maturity, but still occasionally is completely self-absorbed. Tiffany currently works as a waitress in the DeGroots' restaurant, and is roommates with Bets.

 * First mentioned: March 23, 1985.

 * First appearance: November 10, 1985.

 * Crystal: Tiffany's only friend though not exactly an antagonist. Although Crystal wears abundant cosmetics, her Goth clothing does not follow the trendy fashions Tiffany wears. However, there are hints of lingering affection between them. She has a handicapped brother named Josh, who looked up to Zane as a mentor. She and Bernice formed a rivalry for Zane's affection, similar to the rivalry between Luann and Tiffany. When Zane began mentoring her brother Josh, she developed a crush on him. During this time, she attempted to occupy as much of Zane's free time as possible leaving him none to spend with Bernice, which added to Bernice's insecurity at the time. In an August 16, 2003 strip she is shown with a star tattoo on her back. She hangs out with Knute a lot, neither one caring what the world thinks of them together or individually, though any romance between them remains subtextual at best.

 * First appearance: July 12, 2000

 * Last appearance: October 1, 2017, December 31, 2017 (flashback cameo)

 * Dirk: Toni's jealous former boyfriend and Brad's main rival for Toni Daytona's affections. He has been emotionally abusive toward Toni and physically violent to Brad, and displays severe anger problems. A common boast is that he plans to, or will be, attending the police academy, but it has been pointed out that he has a felony conviction which would automatically disqualify him. While he did not originally view Brad as a threat, when Brad offered to give Toni a ride home after class, Dirk chased after them, causing a car crash in which he was injured. Ironically, Brad resuscitated him in time. Since then, Dirk became more possessive of Toni, foreshadowing their eventual break-up. After striking Brad at his Fire Academy Graduation Ceremony, he was arrested, and a restraining order was issued ordering him to stay away from Brad. Following his release from jail, he took a mandatory anger management course, but he has continuously violated the restraining order (since October 2005). Unwilling to accept Toni dumping him, he continuously stalked her and tried to impress her with shallow gimmicks to try to win her back. In the beginning of May 2006, he was sent back to jail because Brad called the police on him for violating his restraining order.

 * Dirk returned to the strip as a garbage collector on September 6, 2010 but claims to be working that job only until he starts at the police academy. Shortly after doing so, when Nancy fell off a ladder while doing housework, he helped pick her up. Later in the strip's run, his transformation was proven when he coincidentally ran into Toni at the local grocery store — with his new wife and child. He explains that his anger-management courses did wonders for him, and he met his now-wife through them, and now lives an honest life with his new family.

 * First appearance: June 19, 2003

 * Last appearance: March 13, 2013

 * Derek: Bernice's first love interest. Derek initially hit on Bernice and asked her to let him store his gym clothes in her locker. Unaware that Derek's interest in her was only to find a safe place to hide his stash of marijuana in her locker, Bernice fell for him instantly. However, when Bernice discovered drugs in Derek's bag while going through her locker, she was about to turn him in until he "seduced" her with a kiss. While giving Bernice a ride home, Derek almost crashed, as he was under the influence. Bernice got out of the car, but not before dumping his stash of drugs into the street. He appeared again for a short time in May 1989 when he declared how much he loved Delta, and he loved Bernice as a 'friend'. Delta was not impressed. Derek has not appeared since.

 * First appearance: September 28, 1987

 * Last appearance: May 19, 1989

 * Ann Eiffel: Former manager of Borderline Books and former manager of Weenie World. On numerous occasions her name shown to be a pun on the phrase, "an eyeful".

 * Eiffel initially hired Bernice as an employee at Borderline. When Bernice began working with Zane, one of the store's supervisors, Eiffel became very jealous of their relationship and even threatened to fire them if they continued seeing each other. Bernice suspected Eiffel wanted to seduce Zane, but she was actually interested in Bernice instead. Eiffel often interrupted Bernice's tasks by making Bernice bring her lattes; this was either to keep her away from Zane or to gratify herself by making Bernice run her personal errands, a maneuver she repeated in later appearances. When she fired Zane, Bernice developed a very rebellious attitude toward her, which led to Eiffel increasing her harassing efforts to intimidate her, until Borderline CEO Jim Hernandez, who knew Zane very well, arranged to transfer Eiffel to the new bookstore in Tokyo, Japan. On July 12, 2011, she resurfaced as the manager of the local Weenie World restaurant, where Brad applied for work after being laid off by the Fire Department. In 2012, T.J. began working at Weenie World to take Ann Eiffel down. She fired him on January 5, 2013 after he made a recording of Eiffel saying she cons people. He made a second recording in the process of being fired that had Eiffel saying that she took credit for all his sales. He saved both recordings despite Eiffel attempting to delete them. Before leaving, Eiffel kissed T.J., who was not impressed. She returned in August 2017 and was revealed as Leslie Knox's mother. Ann also began dating Tiffany's father Tom in January 2018. They were engaged until it was revealed in July 2020 that Ann had tricked Tiffany's father into thinking she was pregnant, at which point Tom broke up with Ann.

 * First appearance: January 24, 2002

 * Last appearance: July 18, 2020

 * Leslie Knox: The sleazy and arrogant bully of Pitts High School, and the nephew of Mr. Gray. Leslie Knox (who always demands to be known as "Les") is a potential stalker of Rosa Aragones. Gunther, who witnessed him harassing Rosa, defended her by swinging his backpack around and twice knocked Les down, supposedly by accident. Les attempted to retaliate but Miss Phelps broke up the confrontation. Les then made an offer to Rosa: if she let him kiss her, he would refrain from taking revenge on Gunther. He has also been seen hitting on Tiffany and extorting money from younger students in the hallways. He reappeared in 2016 when his uncle Mr. Gray sought to get him a job at The Fuse. Since starting he has created a charade of charities to earn extra money on the side. Following the wedding of Brad and Toni, he talked The Fuse employees into doing a gift exchange, as a means of making his move on fellow employee, Prudence, unaware that she is actually a lesbian. When he does learn this fact however, in a surprising show of depth, he accepts it without much fuss, and appears to remain friends with her.

 * While it has not actually been confirmed, comments by high school counselor Mrs. Phelps about him being the "lowest achiever" and his absence from the 2014 high school graduation imply that he failed to graduate from high school, an indication of his uncle's insistence on remaining employed with the Fuse. Also, his uncle has implied he owes court fines/fees. It has been revealed that his mother is Ann Eiffel, and that they have had a falling out in the past. On October 14, 2017 it was revealed that Leslie's court fines/fees stem from his running up his mother's $5,000 credit card and Ann successfully suing for restitution.

 * First appearance: January 28, 2012

 * Stefani Bird: Commonly referred to a Stef, she is Tiffany's roommate at Moony University after having to downsize to a shared dorm, though she ends up moving along with Tiffany to a 4-person dorm with Bets and Dez. She is infamous for demanding her roommates bend over backwards to accommodate her wishes, and even once demanded one of them give her $600 to attend a cheerleading competition. Is dating football player Kip, whom Tiffany is obsessed with seducing away from her. She serves as the strip's replacement "evil cheerleader" archetype since Tiffany's character development, as everyone in the strip except Kip despises her (though they continue living with her each semester.) She is rarely seen in an outfit other than her cheerleading uniform.

 * First appearance: February 1, 2020

School and faculty

 * Mr. Fogarty: The school history teacher. He secretly loves Miss Phelps. Mr. Fogarty's character was created before Luann. His character starred in Fogarty, which was distributed free of charge to several high school newspapers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mr. Fogarty announced that he will retire from teaching at the end of the school year in the May 4, 2014 strip.

 * First mentioned: May 8, 1985.

 * First appearance: September 11, 1985.

 * Last appearance: May 24, 2014.

 * Miss Margo Phelps: The school's incompetent guidance counselor. She had never been married during her tenure at the school, and often compared Luann to her cat while she was having relationship problems. She secretly loves Mr. Fogarty, and marries him sometime after the cast graduates from high school, later going into private practice.

 * First appearance: April 8, 1985.

 * Miss Allison: The school P.E. teacher. She, like all other fitness teachers, is a strict disciplinarian. Out of all the teachers Luann knows well at Pitts High School, Miss Allison seems to be the only one Luann looks up to as a mentor figure.

 * First appearance: April 30, 1986 (voice), May 19, 1992 (drawn).

 * Principal Hightower: The principal of Pitts High School. Usually his face is never seen, only his hands when they are placed on his desk. His face may have been seen in a flashback as Luann's elementary school principal in the October 9, 2002 and October 10, 2002, comics, but it is unknown whether this is the same Principal Hightower, or perhaps a relative or someone with the same last name.

Emergency medical services

 * Captain Newman: The disciplined, strict disciplinarian and straightforward Firefighter Captain of Fire Station No. 3, and Brad's superior officer. Brad first met him when he began the physical exam for Fire Academy. He has assigned Brad and Toni to take Reddy to local schools on more than one occasion, and has assigned Brad to his tasks of his rank as a firefighter. After a firefighters' ball was announced, the Captain was speaking to someone on the phone and saying he planned to take Toni with him. However, he was referring to taking his friend, Tony Gale; which is somewhat ambiguous, as (in the next strip) Brad remarks, "So the captain's..." – "not asking me," Toni interrupts. Whether Tony is a male or female is left to the reader's imagination, apparently.

 * In a recent 2011 storyline, due to budget cuts, the Captain had to let one firefighter go, and because Brad was the most recent hired firefighter, the Captain, very regretfully, had to let him go, until the departure of another firefighter resulted in an opening.

 * First appearance: June 7, 2004

 * EMT Supervisor: Brad's supervisor during his six months of EMT service before taking his Paramedics class. As gracious as he was about Brad fearlessly saving Zane from dying in the fires of the Borderline Bookstore, he had to file a reprimand on Brad's record for violating safety rules, acting outside his training scope, and not wearing proper safety gear. Like the Fire Station Captain, his name is not given.

 * First appearance: August 3, 2002

Animals

 * Puddles: Luann's dog, so named for his tendency to wee in the wrong spots.

 * First appearance: December 26, 1985.

 * Monroe: Zane's dog and special canine companion. He is a Golden Retriever and has grown to be a very faithful companion for Zane.

 * Reddy: The Fire Station Mascot. He is a small, 3-foot, Fire Truck, with a remote controller and a built in speaker connected to a microphone and head set, to appear as though he is speaking with his partner. Brad and Toni have brought him to local elementary schools on more than one occasion to demonstrate the importance of fire safety. Brad provides the voice for Reddy and uses Reddy as a means to flirt with Toni. Brad has also used Reddy as a means to speak more openly with Toni. When Brad turned in Dirk and was arguing with Toni about it, he expressed his frustration through Reddy leading to an embarrassing encounter during a school presentation. Afterward, he told the Captain he no longer wants to perform as Reddy to create space between him and Toni.

 * First appearance: June 6, 2005

 * Cuddles: Luann's cat, an addition to the strip (the storyline has Frank DeGroot being allergic to cats; thus, Luann must keep the two separated). Luann gave Cuddles to Mrs. Horner, to spare her father from his allergies. While Puddles showed some hatred towards Cuddles mainly over territory and attention from Luann matters, he also showed some love as they have cuddled and slept together a few times. Cuddles' original name was Sassy, until Mrs. Horner found a better name as Cuddles.

 * First appearance: November 1, 2005

 * Punk: Les Knox's cat.

Celebrity cameos

 * Clay Aiken, Jay Leno and Ben Affleck, Hugh Hefner, Barack Obama, Luke Perry, Bill Gates and Ricky Martin.

Topics
The strip has attained a degree of notoriety for its mixing of real-life topics with the lightness of being a teen in high school. Evans has sprinkled in such topics as Luann's concerns about her first menstruation, Dirk's jealousy (which has led to emotional abuse of Toni and physical violence toward Brad), birth control, drunk driving, handicaps, and other social/policy issues that are of interest to young people. Evans drew praise and some criticism in 1998 for a series of strips about Delta contracting Hodgkin lymphoma. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the character of Brad was inspired by the actions of the FDNY to become a firefighter, and there have been extended storylines following him. On November 14, 2001, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a story supposedly detailing Evans' struggle to address the events of 9/11 in his strip.

Aging of the characters
While most comic strips use a floating timeline and keep characters the same age for prolonged periods of time, the characters in Luann have aged over time, albeit not in real time.

From 1985 to 1999, Luann was vaguely in the eighth grade. According to Evans' blog, Luann was 13 in 1999. This younger era of Luann focused on topics among children in junior high school and within Luann's family at home. Since 1999 Luann has been slowly aging from 15 to 16 years old at perhaps the rate of one Luann month per one reader year, though this opposes what Evans has said on his blog. In the fall of 2013, it was made clear that Luann and her peers were seniors in high school, suggesting that the characters are around 17 years old and preparing for college. In June, 2014, Greg and Karen Evans ran a story arc in which the high school characters attended their graduation. Luann is attending college as of September 3, 2014. On September 28, 2014, Greg Evans and his daughter Karen made an appearance in the strip, wishing Luann a happy 18th birthday.

Luann Againn
On March 17, 2013, GoComics began republishing old strips under the title Luann Againn, starting with the first strip, dated March 17, 1985.

Musical
In 2006, Evans—with the help of arranger/orchestrator Justin Gray—wrote a musical based on the strip, titled Luann: Scenes in a Teen's Life, produced by Center ARTES and performed at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, California. It was performed by local drama students from Rancho Buena Vista High School. An original cast recording, titled Scenes in a Teen's Life, was made. In March 2008, Palomar College, in San Marcos, California performed this musical. It was the musical's college theater debut. Luann: Scenes In A Teen's Life was next scheduled to be performed by Huntington Beach Playhouse in August 2008. Its South San Diego High School debut was in May 2010.

Books
There are 22 books featuring Luann:

title: Luann (comic strip)


text:
Buck Weaver

George Daniel "Buck" Weaver (August 18, 1890 – January 31, 1956) was an American shortstop and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. Weaver played for the 1917 World Series champion White Sox, then was one of the eight players banned from the Major Leagues for his connection to the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.

Baseball career
Weaver was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, to Daniel Weaver and Susan Snell and began his major league career on April 11, 1912, as a shortstop for the White Sox. Weaver switched to third base in 1917 after Swede Risberg joined the team.

An excellent fielder, Weaver was known as the only third baseman in the league against whom Ty Cobb would not bunt. He led the majors in sacrifice hits in 1915 and 1916.

In the famous 1919 World Series, Weaver batted .324, tallying 11 hits.

After the Series was over, many suspicious reporters made allusions to a possible fix. However some sportswriters praised Weaver for his efforts all along during the World Series. Ross Tenney of the Cincinnati Post wrote: Though they are hopeless and heartless, the White Sox have a hero. He is George Weaver, who plays and fights at third base. Day after day Weaver has done his work and smiled. In spite of the certain fate that closed about the hopes of the Sox, Weaver smiled and scrapped. One by one his mates gave up. Weaver continued to grin and fought harder….Weaver's smile never faded. His spirit never waned….The Reds have beaten the spirit out of the Sox all but Weaver. Buck's spirit is untouched. He was ready to die fighting. Buck is Chicago's one big hero; long may he fight and smile.

Despite this, Weaver was banned by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for having knowledge of the fix and failing to tell team officials.

Reinstatement attempts
Weaver successfully sued White Sox owner Charles Comiskey for his 1921 salary. When Shoeless Joe Jackson did the same, the jury voted 11–1 in favor of Jackson. However, the judge set aside the jury verdict after Comiskey produced Jackson's grand jury testimony about the fix. Despite this success, however, Comiskey made no attempt to offer the confessions as evidence to obtain a similar ruling against Weaver.

Weaver applied six times for reinstatement to baseball before his death from a heart attack on January 31, 1956, at the age of 65. The first time was on January 13, 1922, when Weaver unsuccessfully applied for reinstatement, which was rejected by Landis. One notable attempt to get reinstated came in 1927 in the wake of Tris Speaker/Ty Cobb betting scandal. Once again, Landis rejected it, with Landis telling a group of Weaver supporters that his presence at the meetings with the gamblers was sufficient to bar him.

After this attempt failed, Weaver returned to Chicago and decided to play in the minor leagues again. Later in life, Weaver contacted a New York City attorney who vowed to get him reinstated. Weaver sent his legal papers and correspondence to New York; however, they were never returned. To this day, baseball historians have been unable to find Weaver's legal files.

In 1953, just three years before his death, Buck applied for reinstatement one last time to Commissioner Ford Frick, which was ignored. The letter Weaver wrote to Frick is prominently displayed in Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Legacy
Many parts of the story portrayed in the 1988 movie Eight Men Out are told from Buck Weaver's point of view, with Weaver being played by John Cusack. Harry Stein also used Weaver as a co-narrator in his critically acclaimed Black Sox novel Hoopla (1983), where Stein's Weaver reiterates that his loyalty to his teammates compelled him not to inform baseball authorities about the Series fix.

With the 2005 World Series set to begin and the White Sox about to capture their first championship since 1917, Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey implored Commissioner Bud Selig to rescind Weaver's ban. His column of October 20, 2005, cited catcher Ray Schalk's condemnation of "the seven" Sox in on the fix, not eight. Weaver's niece, Pat Anderson, told Downey: "You can't understand why someone else would be so obtuse. Some of these commissioners, it's like they put a brown paper bag over their heads."

Another niece, Margarie H. (Cook) Follett, came to the 2003 All-Star Game at the White Sox park to personally appeal to the commissioner for her uncle's reinstatement. The Tribune reported a quote from Weaver: "There are murderers who serve a sentence and then get out. I got life."

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

title: Buck Weaver


text:
In My Eyes (band)

In My Eyes was an American, Boston, Massachusetts-based, straight edge band, that spearheaded the 1997 youth crew revival along with Follow Through, Ten Yard Fight, Bane, The Trust, Fastbreak and Floorpunch. The band and its members were a part of the hot bed that was the Boston music scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Members of the band also played in The Explosion, Fastbreak, and Panic. In My Eyes played their last show in October 2000, commemorating the second National Edge Day. The band was named after the Minor Threat song.

Members

 * Sweet Pete - Vocals
 * Damian Genuardi - Bass
 * Luke Garro - Drums
 * Neal St. Clair - Guitar
 * Anthony Pappalardo - Guitar
 * Jeff Neuman - Guitar (for the Nothing to Hide LP only)

Albums

 * Demo - Big Wheel Recreation 1997
 * The Difference Between - Revelation Records 1998
 * Nothing to Hide - Revelation Records 2000

title: In My Eyes (band)


text:
USS Sacramento (AOE-1)

USS Sacramento (AOE-1) was the third ship in the United States Navy to bear the name, for both the river, and the capital city of California. She was the lead ship of her class of fast combat support ship.

She combined the functions of three logistics ships in one hull; fleet oiler (AO), ammunition ship (AE), and refrigerated stores ship (AFS).

Admiral Arleigh Burke originated the concept of a single supply ship system. He saw the design as an answer to logistics problems he encountered during World War II. The limited speed, range, and payload of early underway replenishment (UnRep) groups prevented resupply due to bad weather and tactical demands of the war. To counter these problems, the Fast Combat Support Ship (AOE) was designed.

Construction
The keel for the first of the Navy's fast combat support ships was laid at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on 30 June 1961. The traditional champagne bottle was broken against the bow of AOE-1 on 14 September 1963, by the ship's sponsor, Mrs. Edmund Brown, wife of the Governor of California.

Sacramento was commissioned on 15 March 1964. Undersecretary of the Navy, Paul B. Fay Jr., addressed the crowd, stating, "The greatest pleasure I have in being here today is ... participating in the commissioning of a vessel which will provide the Navy with a unique capability hitherto never contained in one ship." He added the ship would be able to "run in speed with a destroyer escort, thereby giving our fast attack carrier task forces a flexibility of action hitherto unknown."

Service history
Sacramento served in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. She was known as a "floating supermarket" because of all the goods she carried. The FAST (Fast Automated Shuttle Transfer) cargo handling system originally installed was replaced with the STREAM (Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method) underway replenishment system in 1977.

Her original armament consisted of four twin 3"/50 caliber guns. The two forward guns were replaced by Mk.29 NATO Sea Sparrow in 1976, and the two aft mounts were replaced by Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS in 1981.

Sacramento was deployed to the Persian Gulf and supported operations during the First Gulf War including Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

In 1995, MK-23 TAS (Target Acquisition System) was installed to facilitate NSSMS and locate and track air threats.

In 1995 while in the Persian Gulf, the ship assisted in "Operation Southern Watch" and in "Operation Vigilant Sentinel". During an underway replenishment with the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) the Sacramento lost her steering and collided into the starboard side of the Abraham Lincoln, crushing the M-frames, partially crushing a female crew berthing area, and punching a large hole in the TACAN room of the Sacramento. The Lincoln sustained damage to her catwalks, an aircraft elevator was jammed into the up position and an approximately 10 ft2 hole was torn into the island. Both ships had to dock at Jebel Ali, U.A.E. for repair, the latter for several weeks.

In 1996 the Sacramento had one NATO Sea Sparrow launcher on the forecastle, two Phalanx CIWS past mid-ship port and starboard, one 25 mm automatic cannon on the port side, and four .50 caliber machine guns: two port and two starboard. The ship was also fitted with electronic warfare equipment: an AN/SLQ-32 with four MK.36 super-RBOC (Rapid Bloom Offboard Chaff) decoys, and an AN/SLQ-25 towed torpedo decoy (NIXIE) run by an electronics technician.

Sacramento was the first AOE to ever qualify for an electromagnetic interference certificate in 1996.

Sacramento decommissioned in October 2004. On 13 April 2007, a contract for the ship's disposal was awarded to Esco Marine. Sacramento was scrapped by Esco Marine in Brownsville, Texas, early 2008.

Performance
Sacramento is considered a benchmark in West Coast shipbuilding. The ship and two of her sister ships, USS Seattle (AOE-3) and USS Detroit (AOE-4), are the largest ships ever built on the West Coast as of 2005. Only Iowa-class battleships and aircraft carriers have greater displacements than Sacramento.

The ship's main engines came from the never-completed battleship USS Kentucky (BB-66), and delivered in excess of 100,000 shaft horsepower (75 MW) to two 23-foot (7 m) screws weighing 19.25 tons each, the largest on any ship in the Navy.

Sacramento was the fastest AOE (fast combat support ship) ever. The Sacramento routinely went head-to-head in speed runs and won against the west coast's AOE's, including the USS Camden (AOE-2) and the USS Rainier (AOE-7). Sacramento also beat the fastest of the east coast AOE's, including the Detroit (AOE-4) and the USS Arctic (AOE-8) in head-to-head competition.

Awards

 * Joint Meritorious Unit Award
 * Navy Unit Commendation – 2 awards
 * Meritorious Unit Citation – 3 awards
 * Navy E Ribbon – 4 awards
 * Navy Expeditionary Medal – 2 awards
 * National Defense Service Medal – 3 awards
 * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal – 7 awards
 * Vietnam Service Medal with 13 campaign stars
 * Southwest Asia Service Medal with 3 campaign stars
 * Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
 * Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
 * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal

title: USS Sacramento (AOE-1)


text:
Nothing to Hide (album)

Nothing to Hide is the second and final studio album by In My Eyes. It was released in 2000 by Revelation Records. Showing a somewhat more developed style than that on their first album (The Difference Between), this album incorporated more melodic elements, along with some experimentation (e.g. the breakdown on track 8, "On My Side"), a characteristic rare in youth crew hardcore. Track 9, "What's Wrong With Me?", is a cover of the legendary Washington DC hardcore punk band The Faith which originally appeared on the Void/Faith split 12".

Track listing

 * 1) Take the Risk 1:37
 * 2) For the Moment 1:43
 * 3) Nothing to Hide 0:52
 * 4) Can't Live Through Me 2:01
 * 5) Perspective 1:43
 * 6) Making Sense 1:48
 * 7) Welcome to Boston 1:15
 * 8) On My Side 1:49
 * 9) What's Wrong with Me? 0:36
 * 10) The Big Dig 1:28
 * 11) Another Way 2:24
 * 12) The Weight of Words 2:15

title: Nothing to Hide (album)


text:
Crunch

Crunch may refer to:

 * Big Crunch, a hypothetical scenario for the ultimate fate of the universe
 * Credit crunch, a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the requirement conditions
 * Crunch (chocolate bar), a chocolate bar made of milk chocolate and crisped rice
 * Crunch Fitness, a chain of over 300 franchised fitness clubs located in the United States, Canada and Australia
 * Crunch (video games), a period in which video game developers take on significant, often uncompensated overtime
 * Crunchiness, the sensation of muffled grinding of a foodstuff
 * John Draper (born 1943; also "Crunch"), an American computer programmer and legendary former phone phreak

Athletics

 * Le Crunch, the traditional name for the England–France rugby match at the Six Nations Championship
 * Crunch (exercise), one of the most popular abdominal exercises
 * Syracuse Crunch, a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League

Media

 * Crunch, a term used in the context of role-playing games
 * Crunch (book), a book written by Jared Bernstein
 * The Crunch (comics), an A4 British comic
 * Crunch (TV programming block), a former Saturday morning programming block dedicated to animation on the Canadian television channel YTV
 * Crunch Bandicoot, a character from the Crash Bandicoot franchise of video games

Music

 * "The Crunch", a 1977 single by English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist Richard Anthony Hewson
 * The Crunch, a 1984 EP by British post-punk/alternative rock band The Nightingales
 * Crunch, a 2000 album by American heavy metal band Impellitteri
 * The Crunch (band), an English/Swedish power pop group
 * Crunch (Cry Wolf album), the second album released by the glam rock band Cry Wolf

title: Crunch


text:
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing

Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing, or TIGER, or TIGER/Line is a format used by the United States Census Bureau to describe physical and cultural features such as roads, highways, city limits, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as census tracts. TIGER was developed to support and improve the Bureau's process of taking the Decennial Census.

The TIGER files do not contain the census demographic data, but merely the geospatial/map data. GIS can be used to merge census demographics or other data sources with the TIGER files to create maps and conduct analysis. TIGER data is available without cost because U.S. Government publications are required to be released into the public domain.

Coverage
The TIGER/Line shapefile data includes complete coverage of the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Midway Islands.

TIGER includes both land features such as roads, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as counties, census tracts, and census blocks. Some of the geographic areas represented in TIGER are political areas, including state and federally recognized tribal lands, cities, counties, congressional districts, and school districts. Others are statistical areas, including Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), census tracts, census block groups, and census blocks. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) are quasi-statistical areas which attempt to approximate, but do not exactly match, the delivery areas of USPS ZIP codes. ZIP codes are not truly areas, but rather a group of deliverable addresses. Some or all of an existing ZIP code's addresses may be reassigned to a new ZIP if there is sufficient growth within a given postal ZIP Code. As many as 3% of ZIP codes undergo change each quarter. Thus, the 5-digit ZCTAs are of limited value in areas of growth or change.

ZIP codes are based on postal delivery routes and may not correspond to municipalities.

Future
TIGER data published through February 2007 (2006 Second Edition) were in a custom text-based format formally known as TIGER/Line files. In 2008, data in shapefile format was published. Please note that shapefiles are not topological, therefore may create slivers when comparing TIGER/Line boundaries. This mismatch was not possible when the census TIGER files were available in ASCII format that was topological unlike shapefiles. The Census Bureau has made the data available through WMS servers. The data forms a base for OpenStreetMap in the US, and also was used for the initial import of US map data into the Waze navigation system.


text:
Gorilla Biscuits

Gorilla Biscuits are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, New York, United States, formed in 1986. The band currently consists of Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios and Luke Abbey, and is signed to Revelation Records. Gorilla Biscuits are part of the New York hardcore scene.

Gorilla Biscuits was formed by Smilios and Civ after meeting in high school in Long Island, New York. The band released their self-titled debut album as a 7" in 1988. Gorilla Biscuits released their second album Start Today in 1989. Start Today gave Gorilla Biscuits underground popularity. They are considered one of the most seminal youth crew bands.

Early days (1987)
Gorilla Biscuits were formed when Arthur Smilios and Nick Drysdale met Anthony "Civ" Civarelli while they were both attending the same high school in Queens, New York. All three were fans of the band Agnostic Front, and started going to hardcore shows at CBGB on weekends. There they met people like Ray Cappo and John Porcelly of the band Youth of Today.

Smilios sought to form a hardcore band and asked Civ to act as vocalist. However Civ was not interested in singing, and had to face the floor or wall during early gigs due to nerves. Members of the band Token Entry arranged a gig for the still unnamed band (Gorilla Biscuits used Token Entry's drummer, Ernie Parada for that first show), but needed a name to give it to the promoter. A popular drug in the area at that time was quaaludes, which people called "ape shit," or "gorilla biscuits" due to the pill's large size. Eventually the name evolved into Gorilla Biscuits, and though it was initially only meant to be temporary, they have continued to use it.

The band made a number of low-fi demo tapes which were sold at a dollar store. Their first official T-shirts were blue with an image of a gorilla riding a skateboard and were made using black magic markers and an ink blotter.

Gorilla Biscuits and Start Today (1988–1991)
Revelation Records featured the early Gorilla Biscuits song "Better Than You" on one of their compilations, and later released the eponymously titled Gorilla Biscuits 7-inch EP in 1988, which later became a hardcore hit. The band toured the United States and Europe twice. In 1989, the band released their first full-length album, Start Today, which became the biggest selling ever for Revelation Records, and was also the first album that the label issued on CD, alongside its vinyl and cassette versions, as part of the routine production. The band started writing material for a second LP (an unreleased song, "Distance", can be seen played by the band during a performance in the 1991 documentary Live In New York) which they never recorded, and eventually disbanded around the year 1992. Some of the members went on to play in a follow-up band, CIV. Besides singing for CIV, Civ now owns a tattoo studio on Long Island. Walter went on to form the post-hardcore band Quicksand. He then wrote the songs for and helped produce CIV's first album.

Reunions and the future of Gorilla Biscuits (1992–present)
Gorilla Biscuits re-united for one show in October 1997 at CBGB to benefit the family of then recently deceased Warzone singer Raybeez, and played another show at CBGB on August 14, 2005 as a benefit towards the club's legal costs, and again on September 3, 2006.

In 2006, Revelation Records re-issued their seminal recording Start Today. The album is re-mastered and features in-depth liner notes by Walter Schreifels. The band held a month-long re-union tour during the summer of 2006, and featured both exclusive 7-inches and exclusive Paul Frank T-shirts only available on tour stops.

In September 2007, Gorilla Biscuits performed a month-long tour across Europe, including stops in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England. In celebration of the European Tour, Paul Frank collaborated with Gorilla Biscuits again to produce an exclusive run of Gorilla Biscuits wallets. Only one was sold at each Paul Frank store worldwide.

On May 28, 2011, Gorilla Biscuits headlined the Black N Blue Bowl at Webster Hall (formerly the Ritz) in New York City.

On June 8, 9 and 10 2012, Gorilla Biscuits played the Epic Revelation Records 25 Year Anniversary shows at The Glasshouse in Pomona, CA. Also on the bills were Youth of Today, Sick Of It All, Shai Hulud, Bold, No For An Answer, Statue and Underdog.

On August 6, 2016, during Gorilla Biscuits' set at Philadelphia's This Is Hardcore festival, Civarelli took a break to introduce the song "Degradation" that rails against nazis in the 1980s punk scene. He also commented on the Black Lives Matter movement, saying:

"In 2016 people still have to wear shirts that say 'Black Lives Matter'. No shit. Brown, white, yellow, black, we all fucking matter. Everybody here matters. Do not let the media, schools, institutions, influence you. We are one family, one people."

Apparently, the statement did not sit well with some attendees at the festival who understood the speech as an endorsement of the anti-Black Lives Matter movement 'All Lives Matter'. Later, Civarelli said on his Facebook that the controversy had been a gross misunderstanding of his words:

"“…I’m surprised that this was taken in any other way then it was intended. My point was and I thought it was clear that in 2016 we as a people should not need such things to be on a shirt and they should be universal truths. We are all in this together. If you know the band and the lyrics and what we have always stood for this should be clear. Also look at the lyrics to “degradation” and “things we say” especially the line, “some people are so quick to judge let’s get the judgement straight”…”"

Current

 * Anthony Civarelli – vocals (1987 - present). He went on to form punk rock band CIV. Starting out with Lava Records and Revelation Records, they signed a major-label deal with Atlantic Records in 1995. They achieved commercial success with the single "Can't Wait One Minute More", which was also later used in a popular car commercial. Civ is also the owner of a Long Island tattoo studio called Lotus Tattoo.
 * Walter Schreifels – Guitar (1987 - present). He wrote most of the songs for Gorilla Biscuits, went on to be the frontman in Quicksand, one of the most influential post-hardcore bands. Later, Walter was in Rival Schools and Walking Concert. While in Gorilla Biscuits, Walter went on to sing for the band Moondog. His reasoning being he "wanted to sing for a band. Playing guitar and writing songs for Gorilla Biscuits had always been fun but after a while I wanted to be doing something more." Moondog never actually got off the ground and Quicksand became the band he would front. He has also done extensive producing for other bands and lately he does a lot of solo acoustic shows. He has also been a member of Warzone, Youth of Today and Project X. He also did Songs with German Bands Madsen, Egotronic and Donots.
 * Arthur Meow Smilios – bass (1987 - present). Smilios had also played with Token Entry and Underdog for a little while, and after the demise of Gorilla Biscuits joined CIV with Civ.
 * Luke Abbey – drums (1987 - 1989, 1997, 2005 - present) . While in Gorilla Biscuits, Abbey was also a member of Warzone, and had been a part of the first real line-up of Judge. He was later replaced by Sammy Siegler in Gorilla Biscuits who had been in the band in the early days, and would go on to be the drummer in CIV.
 * Charlie Garriga – guitar (2019 - present). Co founder of outface (Cleveland, OH.). Would go on to be the guitarist for CIV. Currently, he is the guitarist for both JUDGE and Gorilla Biscuits. Played for the first time with GB in March 2019, at Dallas, TX.

Former

 * Sammy Siegler – drums (1985, 1990 - 1991) He played drums in an early formation of Gorilla Biscuits in 1985.
 * Eric Fink – bass (1987 - 1988). Eric (guitar and founding member of Side By Side) played bass in the period between the demo tape and the 7". He is pictured on the NYHC LP with the band, but does not actually play on that recording. He went on to play guitar in Uppercut, and briefly played in Bloodline from Minneapolis.
 * Mike Clark- Bass
 * Mark Haworth – bass
 * John Porcelly – guitar
 * Tom Capone – guitar
 * Alex Brown – second guitar (1987 - 2019). He had previously been a member of the straight edge hardcore bands Side By Side and Project X, before joining Gorilla Biscuits. He was also behind the New York City-based fanzine and record label Schism, together with John Porcelly of Youth of Today (who also ended up playing guitar in a later incarnation of Gorilla Biscuits with Walter moving to bass). Brown died due to an intracranial aneurysm in February 2019.

Compilations

 * New York City Hardcore:Together, 7″ (1987, Revelation Records)
 * New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is, CD (1988/1992 (re-issue), Revelation Records)
 * Where the Wild Things Are (1989) Blackout Records
 * Rebuilding (7") (1990) (Temperance Records)
 * Threat: Music That Inspired The Movie, CD (2006, Kings Mob Productions)

title: Gorilla Biscuits


text:
No Spiritual Surrender

No Spiritual Surrender is a 7-inch EP by American hardcore punk band Inside Out, released by Revelation Records in 1990. It was their only release before their breakup in 1991. After the band broke up, it was released on CD with two additional tracks that were from the same recording session, but did not fit on the 7-inch.

The EP features Zack de la Rocha before he went on to form and front Rage Against the Machine. The album also features Vic DiCara, later of 108 playing the guitar, Mark Hayworth from Hardstance and Gorilla Biscuits playing the bass guitar and Chris Bratton from Chain of Strength playing the drums.

Vinyl

 * 1) "Burning Fight"  – 3:26
 * 2) "Undertone"  – 1:41
 * 3) "By a Thread"  – 2:20
 * 4) "No Spiritual Surrender"  – 2:58

Cassette/CD

 * 1) "Burning Fight"  – 3:26
 * 2) "Undertone"  – 1:41
 * 3) "By a Thread"  – 2:20
 * 4) "No Spiritual Surrender"  – 2:58
 * 5) "Sacrifice"  – 2:30
 * 6) "Redemption"  – 2:09

Personnel

 * Zack de la Rocha - vocals
 * Vic DiCara - guitar
 * Mark Hayworth - bass
 * Chris Bratton - drums

title: No Spiritual Surrender


text:
Pigeon Boy

Pigeon Boy is a children's cartoon created by Millimages of France, and is shown on a number of television networks, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia. It is set in the fictional city of Ultrapolis and centres on the lives of three teenagers: Pigeon Boy, and his two friends, Arthur and Chloe.

Plot
The cartoon is about a 14- or 15-year-old named Randolf, or Randy to his friends, whose town's pigeons transform him into a mysterious, comical, and lovable hero named Pigeon Boy. The pigeons spy on the town residents without being noticed very much. When they see something fishy is going on in the city, they summon Pigeon Boy. Only Randy's two best friends, Arthur and Chloe know about this hero side of him, but they don't tell him that they know; if Randy is aware that any one knows, he has vowed to give up the hero within him and never save his town again.

Major characters

 * Pigeon Boy, aka Randolf Dove
 * Arthur, best friends with Randolf and knows about his secret hero side
 * Chloe, best friends with Randolf and knows about his secret hero side
 * Bruno Glibstone, the bully at Randy's school, son of Victor Glibstone
 * Mr. Dove, Randolf's lawyer dad
 * Mrs. Dove, Randolf's doctor mum
 * Lilly, mother of Arthur

Episodes
26 episodes of the show have been made. They include: and
 * Oil Slick
 * The Evergreens
 * Milo's Venus
 * White Christmas

title: Pigeon Boy


text:
Brian McTernan

Brian McTernan is an American musician and record producer from Baltimore, Maryland. McTernan was the lead vocalist in the hardcore punk band Battery, the guitarist in Ashes, and is the singer in Be Well. In 2009, he was named one of "the 50 most influential people in Maryland" by the editors of The Daily Record.

McTernan operates the recording studio Salad Days from his home in Beltsville, Maryland. His studio is named after the Minor Threat song of the same name. In 2003, he formed Salad Days Records, a record label affiliated with Atlantic Records, through which he signed and released music by Moments in Grace.

Early life
McTernan was born in Bethesda, Maryland. He had a troubled youth, which he addressed on Battery's 2017 song "My Last Breath". He dropped out of high-school at the age of 17 to tour with Battery.

Musician
McTernan joined Ken Olden, Matt Squire, Toshi Yano and Zac Eller to form Battery in 1990. Originally called "Fury", the band released its first record in 1991 on Deadlock Records. In 2017, the band reunited releasing a compilation, For The Rejected By The Rejected, and toured Europe.

Producer
In 1994, McTernan moved to Boston to be near his future wife who studied at Harvard University. He started his recording studio "Salad Days", when he was 18 years old, naming it after a song by Minor Threat from their 1985 Salad Days EP, in the basement of the house he shared with six roommates.

title: Brian McTernan


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chocha

Article

Insignificant foreign-language slang dictionary entry. — Chameleon 19:25, 28 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep  Antonio Chocha Hungry Martin
 * Again, you obviously want to keep it because you created it. However, you should have created it in a Spanish wikidictionary, not an English wikipedia.  One comes away from the article knowing only how to say 'pussy' in Spanish.  Should we include every word in the Spanish language (and every other language) on en.wikipedia.org?  — Chameleon 00:52, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Authors of articles have always been allowed, so far, to vote on vfd. No vote yet. Wile E. Heresiarch 19:18, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, but they should state that they are the author of the article, otherwise it *may* suggest dishonesty, and they should explain why they consider it important, unless they are clueless newbies of course. Dunc Harris | Talk 20:39, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: I disagree with this point of view.  No one person "authors" a Wikipedia article.  No one has special rights and no one has special burdens.  That said, we should all try to explain our votes more clearly than just "keep" or "delete". Rossami 03:57, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Though we have articles on the f-word, the c-word and the s-word, all of them have stuff on their cultural relevance. Keep, but only if can find similar cultural history e.g. of censorship, if not possibly merge with pussy or "slang words for vagina" or something. If not, delete. Dunc Harris | Talk 18:28, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Move to the Spanish Wikipedia and delete from the English Wikipedia. RickK 19:20, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * (Independent of the merits of this particluar article) where does this notion come from that articles about specifics of the Spanish language (or any other language) are somehow "encyclopedic" in the Spanish-language (or X-language) Wikipedia, but not in the English-language Wikipedia? -- Jmabel 03:30, 30 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Merge w/ the c-word and redirect. It is informative to give synonyms for this term in different languages; it is like studying "to be" and "to go", I dare say. Wile E. Heresiarch 20:00, 29 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Disagree with Wile: there are too many languages, and too many regional variants within them: the poor c-word would get swamped. Use this as the germ for Taboo words for genitalia in Spanish, but include the other sex and the other 20 Spanish-speaking countries/territories: all your chochas and chochos and coños and cajetas and conchas together in one place!  –Hajor 04:13, 30 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, until there is actually a substantial section in the c-word article on foreign equivalents, I don't see a need to start a new article, and when we do, let's make not make it Spanish-specific, until, of course, there's enough language-specific stuff to split it apart. Wile E. Heresiarch 14:49, 30 May 2004 (UTC)
 * OK, let's go for Taboo words for genitalia in other languages. Wrt to inclusion on the cunt article, note that Chocha says it's the equivalent of English pussy, not cunt. And there is a distinction in degree between the p-word and the c-word. –Hajor 16:14, 30 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete from the English Wikipedia. 1) I can find no evidence that this particular word is used in English.  2) If evidence is presented showing that it is used in English discourse, then I may change my vote to "move to Wiktionary" because the current article is a dictionary definition and unlikely to become more. Rossami 03:57, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chocha


text:
Sisters (disambiguation)

Sisters are female siblings.

Sisters or The Sisters may also refer to:

Places

 * Sisters Islands (disambiguation), several island groups with the name
 * Sisters, Oregon, a city in the United States
 * The Sisters, Victoria, a settlement in Australia
 * Sisters Creek (disambiguation)
 * Sisters Olive Trees of Noah, an olive grove in Lebanon

Art

 * The Sisters (Collinson), a 19th-century painting by James Collinson
 * The Sisters (Thayer), an 1884 painting by Abbott Handerson Thayer

Film

 * The Sisters (1914 film), an American film starring Lillian Gish
 * Sisters (1922 film), an American drama film directed by Albert Capellani
 * Sisters (1930 film), an American drama film directed by James Flood
 * The Sisters (1938 film), featuring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn
 * Sisters (1972 film), an American psychological horror directed by Brian de Palma
 * The Sisters (1957 film), a Soviet film of 1957
 * The Sisters (1969 film), a South Korean film starring Nam Jeong-im
 * Sisters, a 1998 documentary by Fintan Connolly
 * Sisters (2001 film), a Russian crime film
 * The Sisters (2004 film), a Thai film
 * Sisters (2005), also known as Hermanas, a drama film
 * The Sisters (2005 film), an American film based on a play by Richard Alfieri, inspired by Chekhov's play The Three Sisters
 * Sisters (2006 film), a 2006 independent horror film
 * The Sisters (2011 film), a 2011 Serbian film
 * Sisters (2015 film), an American comedy film directed by Jason Moore
 * Sisters (2024 film), an American comedy film directed by Susie Yankou

Literature

 * The Sisters (play), a 1642 comedy by James Shirley
 * "The Sisters" (short story), a 1904 story by James Joyce
 * Sisters (Lynne Cheney novel), a 1981 novel by Lynne Cheney
 * Sisters (Steel novel), a 2007 novel by Danielle Steel
 * Sisters (graphic novel), a 2014 autobiographical graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier
 * Sisters, the 1921–1922 first novel in the trilogy The Road to Calvary by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
 * The Sisters, a play by Richard Alfieri

Groups

 * S!sters, a German vocal duo that represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
 * The Sisters, an Indonesian vocal duo consisting of Shireen Sungkar and Zaskia Sungkar

Albums and EPs

 * Sisters (Sister Sledge album), 1982
 * Sisters (The Bluebells album), 1984
 * Sisters (Sweethearts of the Rodeo album), 1992
 * The Sisters EP, by Pulp, 1994
 * Sisters (A-Mei album), 1996
 * Sisters (Idoling album), 2011

Songs

 * "Sisters" (song), a 1954 Irving Berlin song in the film White Christmas
 * "Sisters", a song by Sparks from Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat
 * "Sisters", a song by Steve Vai from Passion and Warfare
 * "The Sisters", a song by Renaissance from Novella

Series

 * Sisters (American TV series), a TV drama series which ran on NBC from 1991 to 1996
 * Rod Santiago's The Sisters, a 2011 Philippine television drama
 * Sisters (Australian TV series), 2017 Australian drama series
 * Sisters (2023 TV series), 2023 Irish/Canadian comedy drama series

Episodes

 * "Sisters" (Once Upon a Time), 2016
 * "Sisters" (Roseanne), 1995
 * "Sisters" (Teen Titans), 2003
 * "The Sisters" (The Golden Girls), 2016

title: Sisters (disambiguation)


text:
You're Only Young Once...

The You're Only Young Once... EP was the only release from the hardcore punk band Side by Side. It was released as Revelation Records number 5 in 1988. Nine years later, it was rereleased as a 22-song LP. The Revelation 5b LP release was meant to combat a popular bootleg with much of the same material.

The total pressing of the EP was just over six thousand black vinyl copies, in three equal pressings, with 17 extra in the first pressing. The LP had only one pressing of 1109 black vinyl and 100 blue vinyl, although it is still in print on CD.

The silhouettes posing on the cover are a take off of LL Cool J's poses on the back cover of his LP, "Radio."

EP Track listing
(all songs written by Side By Side)
 * 1) "Backfire"
 * 2) "My Life To Live"
 * 3) "Living A Lie"
 * 4) "Look Back"
 * 5) "You're Only Young Once"
 * 6) "Friends"
 * 7) "Side By Side"

LP Track listing
(all songs written by Side By Side, except "Fuck Your Attitude," by Warzone and "Sick Of Things The Way They Are" by Youth Brigade)

Side A.

 * 1) "Back Fire"
 * 2) "My Life To Live"
 * 3) "Living A Lie"
 * 4) "Look Back"
 * 5) "You're Only Young Once"
 * 6) "Friends"
 * 7) "Side By Side"
 * 8) "Dead Serious"
 * 9) "The Time Is Now"
 * 10) "Living A Lie"

Side B.

 * 1) "Side By Side"
 * 2) "Violence To Fade"
 * 3) "You're Only Young Once"
 * 4) "My Life To Live"
 * 5) "Dead Serious"
 * 6) "So Fucking Blind"
 * 7) "Violence To Fade"
 * 8) "So Fucking Blind"
 * 9) "Fuck Your Attitude"
 * 10) "Good Clean Fun"
 * 11) "Sick Of Things The Way They Are"
 * 12) "Side By Side"

Recording details

 * Jules Massey - vocals
 * Eric Fink - Lead guitar
 * Alex Brown - Rhythm guitar
 * Billy Bitter - bass guitar
 * Sammy Siegler - drums
 * Don Fury - producer

title: You're Only Young Once...


text:
John Bidwell

John Bidwell (August 5, 1819 – April 4, 1900), known in Spanish as Don Juan Bidwell, was an American pioneer, politician, and soldier. Bidwell is known as the founder of the city of Chico, California.

Born in New York, he emigrated at the age of 22 to Alta California (then a part of Mexico) as part of the Bartleson–Bidwell Party, one of the first expeditions of American emigrants along the California Trail. In California, he became a Mexican citizen and a prominent landowner, receiving multiple rancho grants from the governors of Alta California. Following the U.S. Conquest of California, Bidwell went on to serve in the California Senate and then in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Biography
Bidwell was born in 1819 in Chautauqua County, New York. His Bidwell ancestors immigrated to North America in the colonial era. His family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1829, and then to Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1831. At age 17, he attended and shortly thereafter became principal of Kingsville Academy.

In 1841, at the age of 22, Bidwell became one of the first emigrants on the California Trail. John Sutter employed Bidwell as his business manager shortly after the younger man reached California. In October 1844, Bidwell went with Sutter to Monterey, where the two learned of an insurrection by leader José Castro and ex-governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. In 1845, Bidwell and Sutter joined Governor Manuel Micheltorena and a group of Americans and Indians to fight the insurrectionists, pursuing them to Cahuenga. Micheltorena, Sutter, and Bidwell were imprisoned, and the latter two were shortly thereafter released.

Upon release, Bidwell headed north through Placerita Canyon, saw the mining operations, and was determined to search for gold on his way to Sutter's Fort, where he met James W. Marshall. Shortly after Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, Bidwell also discovered gold on the Feather River, establishing a productive claim at Bidwell Bar in advance of the California Gold Rush. Bidwell obtained the four square-league Rancho Los Ulpinos land grant after being naturalized as a Mexican citizen in 1844, and the two square-league Rancho Colus grant on the Sacramento River in 1845. He later sold the latter grant and bought Rancho Arroyo Chico on Chico Creek to establish a ranch and farm.

Bidwell attained the rank of major while fighting in the Mexican–American War and fighting at Fort Stockton. He was elected to the California Senate in 1849. He supervised conducting the federal census of California in 1850 and 1860, under national direction by Joseph C. G. Kennedy. Bidwell served as a delegate to the 1860 national convention of the U.S. Democratic Party. He was appointed brigadier general of the California Militia in 1863. After switching parties, he was a delegate to the national convention of the Republican Party in 1864. That year he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as a Republican representative for California from 1865 to 1867.

In 1863-64, Bidwell and other local financiers built the Humboldt Wagon Road connecting Chico to the mining districts of Nevada. Around this time, in 1865, General Bidwell backed a petition from settlers at Red Bluff, California to protect Red Bluff's trail to the Owyhee Mines of Idaho. The United States Army commissioned seven forts for this purpose. One site was near Fandango Pass at the base of the Warner Mountains, in the north end of Surprise Valley. On June 10, 1865, what was named Fort Bidwell was ordered to be built there. The fort was built amid escalating fighting with the Snake Indians of eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. It was a base for US Army operations in the Snake War, that lasted until 1868, and the later Modoc War. Although traffic dwindled on the Red Bluff route once the Central Pacific Railroad extended into Nevada in 1868, the Army staffed Fort Bidwell until 1890 to quell various uprisings and disturbances. A Paiute reservation and small community maintain the name Fort Bidwell. In 1868 Bidwell was about 49 when he married Annie Kennedy, whom he had courted for years. She was 20 years younger and a daughter of Joseph C. G. Kennedy. Her father was socially prominent, a high-ranking Washington official who supervised the U.S. Census Bureau. Bidwell had met him while working on the California census. The senior Kennedy was active in the U.S. Whig party. Annie Kennedy was deeply religious, joining the Presbyterian Church, and committed to a number of moral and social causes. She was very active in the suffrage and prohibition movements.

The couple married April 16, 1868 in Washington, D.C., with President Andrew Johnson and future president Ulysses S. Grant among the guests. After he returned with her to Chico, the Bidwells used their mansion extensively for entertainment of friends and official guests. Among them were President Rutherford B. Hayes, General William T. Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, Frances Willard, Governor Leland Stanford, John Muir, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Asa Gray.

In 1875, Bidwell ran for Governor of California on the Anti-Monopoly Party ticket. As a strong advocate of the temperance movement, he was the Prohibition Party nominee for governor in 1880 and presided over the party's state convention in 1888. In the 1892 presidential election, Bidwell was the nominee of the Prohibition Party. The ticket of Bidwell and James B. Cranfill of Texas finished fourth nationwide, receiving 271,058 votes, or 2.3%. It was the largest total vote and highest percentage of the vote received by any Prohibition Party national ticket.

John Bidwell's autobiography, Echoes of the Past, was published in 1900. The Bidwell Family Papers are held at the Bancroft Library. That same year, Bidwell died of natural causes on April 4, at the age of 80.

The actor Howard Negley (1898–1983) played Bidwell in the 1953 episode, "The Lady with the Blue Silk Umbrella" on the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, Helen Crosby (Kathleen Case) carries official California statehood papers in her umbrella to shield them from ruffians who want to destroy the documents. Rick Vallin played Lieutenant Bob Hastings.

Fraternal allegiance
Bidwell was a Freemason for a time but left the group. He said that allegiance to the fraternity "was pointless" in an October 17, 1867 letter to Annie Kennedy, whom he had been courting. His signature appears in the Book of By-Laws of the Chico-Leland Stanford Lodge No. 111 in Chico, California.

title: John Bidwell


text:
David Catania

David A. Catania (born January 16, 1968) is an American politician and lawyer from Washington, D.C. He was formerly an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia, which he gave up to pursue an unsuccessful run in the 2014 mayoral election.

Early life and education
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Catania is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center.

D.C. Council
He was elected to the council as a Republican in a 1997 special election with 7% voter turnout, but elected to a full term in 1998, and re-elected in 2002 and 2006. Catania lives in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.

Catania was the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council and one of a small number of openly gay Republican office-holders. This led to a conflict within his party when President George W. Bush spoke in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Catania opposed the amendment and became a vocal opponent of Bush's 2004 re-election. In response, the District of Columbia Republican Committee decertified him as a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention. Catania announced his endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, one week prior to the convention. In September 2004, Catania left the party and became an independent, citing his displeasure with its direction on urban and social issues. He was re-elected in 2006 and 2010 as an independent.

Catania was most recently the chairperson of the council's Committee on Education and was a member of the Committee on Government Operations, the Committee on Finance and Revenue, and the Committee on Health. Catania chaired the Committee on Health between 2005 and 2012. As one of two openly gay members then serving on the council, Catania played a major role in the city's recognition of same-sex unions and legalization of same-sex marriage.

Positions
Catania opposed terms limits for elected officials. In 2001, Catania voted in favor of legislation that overturned the results of a popular referendum limiting members of the D.C. Council to two terms.

Post-Council career
In 2014, Catania was unsuccessful in a bid for mayor of Washington, D.C. In 2015, he joined the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, where he focuses his practice on healthcare, government law and strategy, and public policy.

In 2018, he served as the U.S. Head of Public Affairs for Starship Technologies, a robotic delivery company. In February, Catania opened a District-based lobbying firm with Benjamin Young, his former chief of staff and campaign manager.

In 2018, Catania was campaign co-chair for S. Kathryn Allen, a former insurance executive who sought Catania's former seat on the council, held by Elissa Silverman. An investigation determined that more than half of Allen's signatures were fraudulently collected and her name was not included on the ballot.

Personal
Catania married floral designer Bill Enright on August 5, 2017, in a ceremony officiated by his former Council colleague Mary Cheh. Catania and Enright finalized their divorce on July 21, 2021.

title: David Catania


text:
SS Atlantus

SS Atlantus is the most famous of the twelve concrete ships built by the Liberty Ship Building Company in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, during and after World War I.

The steamer was launched on 5 December 1918, and was the second concrete ship constructed in the World War I Emergency Fleet. The war had ended a month earlier, and so work on completing her was put on slow. She completed her sea trials (a 400-500 mile trip) and sailed to Wilmington, Delaware on her maiden voyage on 26 May 1919 for final touches, prior to sailing for New York. The Liberty Ship Building Company had their headquarters in Wilmington. She was built for service between New York and the West Indies.

The Atlantus was used to transport American troops back home from Europe and also to transport coal in New England. After two years of service, the ship was retired in 1920 to a salvage yard in Virginia.

In 1926, Colonel Jesse Rosenfeld purchased the Atlantus for use in the creation of a ferry dock (for a route now served by the Cape May – Lewes Ferry) out of her and two of her sister ships. The plan was to dig a channel to the shore where the Atlantus would be placed, and the other two ships would be placed in a Y formation, creating a slip for a ferry to dock. In March 1926, the groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of the ferry dock. The Atlantus was repaired and towed to Cape May. On June 8 of the same year, a storm hit and the ship broke free of her moorings and ran aground 150 feet off the coast of Sunset Beach. Several attempts were made to free the ship, but none were successful.

At one time there was a billboard painted on the side of the ship advertising boat insurance. Since her sinking, her slowly deteriorating hull has drawn tourists, although little of her is left visible above the water line. The wreckage is currently split in three pieces. The stern is the most visible section, the middle is completely submerged, and the bow can only be viewed at low tide.

title: SS Atlantus


text:
Active Kidz

Active Kidz is a series of exercise television programs to encourage children to be more physically active, which was broadcast on the ABC at 4.30 pm weekdays in Australia, it was presented by Scott Ehler and Amy Wilkins. The show was very popular with children throughout Australia and won several awards including Best Music for Children's Television. Scott and Amy provide children with information about staying fit and healthy and present a dance routine which is taught to the audience in each show. The show was picked up on the Disney Channel in Asia where the team had sold-out tours throughout Asia.

The Active Kidz team toured the UK and the US in 2007 and 2008.

A second series was released onto the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels on Australian pay television provider Foxtel in January 2008/2009. In 2008, following Amy Wilkins moving to a more managerial role due to pregnancy, Dimity Clancey joined the Active Kidz team, featuring in the second television series. Dimi is a journalist, and has toured all over the world with Barney, Hello Kitty and Meow Meow Kapow!

Scott was also Fitness Professional of NSW and Fitness Professional of Australia.

Active Kidz have an extensive range of DVDs, CDs, board games, clothing and other merchandise.

In 2006 Scott (28) and Amy (26) were named on the 30 under 30 List. Money Magazine reported that the 2 were making $15 million each a year through touring and royalties.

Characters

 * Scott Ehler – Host/Celebrity Photographer
 * Amy Wilkins – Host on TV shows
 * Dimity Clancey – Host
 * Oprah: Scott and Amy's new dog
 * Dr Julie on Season 2 shows
 * The dog: AK 9 used in approximately 1–2 episodes

APRA-AGSC Awards
The annual Screen Music Awards are presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) for television and film scores and soundtracks.

 * 2004 || Active Kidz – Scott Ehler, Glenn Heaton, Geoffrey McGarvey, Amy Wilkins || Best Music for Children's Television || Won
 * 2004 || Active Kidz – Scott Ehler, Glenn Heaton, Geoffrey McGarvey, Amy Wilkins || Best Music for Children's Television || Won

title: Active Kidz


text:
Principal area

In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the areas governed by the lowest level of local government above that of Parish or Community council.

England
In England the principal areas are defined by the Local Government Act 1992 as,
 * the non-metropolitan counties
 * the districts
 * the London boroughs

Note that while the local authority bodies of the City of London, Inner Temple, Middle Temple, civil parishes and the Isles of Scilly are not included within this definition, they otherwise remain defined as "local government areas".

While the phrase exists as a specific term in legislation such as the 1992 Act to refer to the geographical area governed by a principal council the usual descriptive title otherwise used for such an area is one of County, Borough, District, City.

Wales
A principal area in Wales is any one of the areas governed by a unit of local government created by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 that amended the Local Government Act 1972. The first-named Act allocated the English-language descriptive titles of,
 * County or County Borough – one of the subdivisions of Wales

Not all councils include their description as a County or Borough within the name used for normal public presentation, an example being Gwynedd which uses the simple Gwynedd Council and/or Cyngor Gwynedd, typically combined in logos and headings as the bilingual Cyngor Gwynedd Council (with Gwynedd emphasised).

The plural Welsh translation as used in legislation such as Reg. 2 The Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (Wales) Regulations 2004 is Prif Ardaloedd.

title: Principal area