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Adventure racing

Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo competitions as well. The principal disciplines in adventure racing include trekking, mountain biking, and paddling although races can incorporate a multitude of other disciplines including climbing, abseiling, horse riding, skiing and white water rafting. Teams generally vary in gender and in size from two to five competitors, however, the main format is considered to be mixed-gender teams of four racers. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real-time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.

Origin
The roots of adventure racing are deep and the origin of the modern adventure race is debatable. Some point to the two-day Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, first held in 1968 as the birth of modern adventure racing. The Karrimor Marathon required two-person teams to traverse mountainous terrain while carrying all the supplies required to support themselves through the double-length marathon run.

In 1980, the Alpine Ironman was held in New Zealand. Individual competitors ran, paddled, and skied toward a distant finish line. Later that year, the Alpine Ironman's creator, Robin Judkins launched the better-known Coast to Coast race, which involved most of the elements of modern adventure racing: trail running, cycling and paddling. Australia's 2-day WildTrek ran from 1981 through 2005.

Independently in 1982, the first expedition-length adventure race, a week-long, North American event called the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic debuted. The Classic involved wilderness travel—no roads, no pack animals, and no support team to carry food and equipment from start to finish—with less than 50 of its 150-mile length on a trail. It continues today, changing courses every 3 years.

Modern adventure racing
In 1989, the modern era of adventure racing arrived with Gerald Fusil's launch of the Raid Gauloises in New Zealand. Inspired by the Paris-Dakar Rally, Fusil envisioned an expanded expedition-style race in which competitors would rely on their own strength and abilities to traverse great and challenging terrain. The race included all the modern elements of adventure racing, including mixed-gender teams competing in a multi-day 400+ mile race. Building on Fusil's concept, the inaugural Southern Traverse was held in 1991.

In the early 1990s, Mark Burnett read a Los Angeles Times article about Raid Gauloises and was inspired to compete and bring the race to the USA and promote the race as a major televised sporting event. After purchasing the rights from Gerald Fusil, Burnett launched the first "Eco-Challenge" race in 1995. Burnett promoted his event with Emmy-award-winning films (tapping the talent of Mike Sears to produce the films for the first two events). This incarnation of Eco-Challenge was last held in 2002 when Burnett shifted his focus to Survivor, the Contender, the Apprentice and other reality-based television shows. With the Eco-Challenge also came the name "adventure race", a phrase coined by journalist and author Martin Dugard, to describe the class of races embodied by the Raid and Eco-Challenge.

The United States Adventure Racing Association "USARA" was formed in 1998. The USARA was the first "national governing body" for the sport of adventure racing and arose from the need for safety standards, insurance and to promote the growth of adventure racing in the United States. USARA has added national rankings, a national championship, and ecological standards to the list of benefits provided for the sport of adventure racing.

In 2000, the inaugural United States Adventure Racing Association Adventure Race National Championship was held in Kernville, California. The USARA National Championship is typically held the first weekend in October and is considered the premier adventure race in the U.S. The USARA Adventure Racing National Championship has continued each year drawing the best US teams for a chance at earning the title of national champion. The National Points Series Champion is also awarded at the National Championship.

In 2001, the inaugural World Championships were held in Switzerland with Team Nokia Adventure crossing the finishing line first. The concept of a world championship lay dormant until it was revived in 2004, with Canada's Raid the North Extreme serving as the AR World Championship event in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Adventure Racing World Series and its ultimate event, the AR World Championships have been held every year since. The 2013 World Championships were in Costa Rica, 2014 in Ecuador, 2015 in Brazil, 2016 in Australia, 2017 in the United States, and 2018 off the coast of Africa on the Reunion Island.

In 2004, professional geologist Stjepan Pavicic organized the first Patagonian Expedition Race at the bottom tip of the American continent, in the Chilean Tierra del Fuego. Truly demanding routes through rough terrain of often more than 600 km soon made it be known as "the last wild race".

In 2010, the German Adventure Race Series was held for the first time in three different locations all over Germany. Since then the popularity of the sport in Germany has grown every year. More races and venues have joined the series and the number of competitors are still growing from year to year. Competitors can start in teams of two (male, female or mixed) within the categories Master (15–20 h), Challenger (8–10 h) or Beginner (4–6 h).

In 2010 in Australia Adventure Junkie company was launched. It formed a grassroots movement to help promote and expand the sport of Adventure Racing in Australia. They have started a series of short sprint races and longer expedition-style events up to 48-hour events.

In 2012, Commander Forer of the Royal Navy organized the first Sea-land navigation discipline race The Solent Amphibious Challenge. The race demanded the competitors split up between sailing, running, and cycling in parts of the race and rendezvous at the end, and sail the yacht to the finish line.

In December 2017, the Adventure Racing Cooperative (ARC) was launched in the United States. It was formed in a grassroots movement to help promote and expand the sport of Adventure Racing in the United States. ARC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit business.

In June 2018 Eco-Challenge announced it would re-launch in 2019 with Bear Grylls and the original production team

In December 2018 launched Warrior Adventure Racing in the US and has become one the largest event groups in the World with adventure races like the famous "Sea to Sea Expedition Race" across Florida, Expedition Alaska and Expedition Colorado.

Lengths

 * 12-Hour: a six- to twelve-hour race, featuring limited navigation and orienteering.
 * 24-Hour: a race lasting between 18-30+ hours, typically involving UTM-based (Universal Transverse Mercator) navigation. Often basic rope work is involved (e.g., traverses or rappels). 24-hour and longer races used to require that competitors employ a support crew to transport gear from place to place.  Most races these days do not permit support crews, with race organizers transporting gear bins to designated checkpoints for racers.
 * Expedition: Three- to 11-day race (or longer), involving all the challenges of a multi-day race, but often with additional disciplines (e.g., horseback riding, unusual paddling events, extensive mountaineering and rope work).
 * Multi-day: a 36–48+ hour race, involving advanced navigation and route choice; sleep deprivation becomes a significant factor.
 * Sprint: typically a two- to six-hour race, featuring minimal navigation and occasionally involving games or special tests of agility or cunning.
 * Staged Multi-day: Multiple 2-5 days of varying length, but every night the race time is stopped and competitors can recover and sleep.

Disciplines
The majority of adventure races include trail running, mountain biking, and a paddling event. Navigation and rope work are also featured in all but the shortest races. Races often feature:

 * Beasts of Burden: Horses and camels;
 * Catching Air: Paragliding, hang-gliding;
 * Covering Terrain: Orienteering, mountaineering, coasteering, caving, swimming, canyoneering, riverboarding;
 * Learning the Ropes: Ascending; rappelling, traversing (including via zip-line).
 * Paddling: kayaks, canoes, out-riggers, rafts and tubing;
 * Traveling on wheels: Mountain Bikes, kick-scooters, in-line skates, roller skates;

title: Adventure racing


text:
Indoctrination

Indoctrination is the process of inculcating (teaching by repeated instruction) a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Broadly speaking, indoctrination can refer to a general process of socialization. In common discourse, the term often has a pejorative valence to refer to forms of brainwashing or for disagreeable forms of socialization. However, it can refer to both positive and negative forms of cultural transmission, and is evidently an integral element of educatory practice.

The precise boundary between education and indoctrination is contested. The concept originally referred to education, but after World War I, the term took on a pejorative meaning akin to brainwashing or propaganda. Some distinguish indoctrination from education on the basis that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned. As such the term may be used pejoratively or as a buzz word, often in the context of political opinions, theology, religious dogma or anti-religious convictions.

Common vectors of indoctrination include the state, educational institutions, the arts, culture, and the media. Understood as a process of socialization into “ideal-type” citizens, indoctrination takes place in both democratic and authoritarian systems of government.

Political context

In the political context, indoctrination is often analyzed as a tool of class warfare, where institutions of the state are identified as "conspiring" to maintain the status quo. Specifically the public educational system, the police, and mental health establishment are a commonly cited modus operandi of public pacification. In the extreme, an entire state can be implicated. George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four famously singled out explicit, state-mandated propaganda initiatives of totalitarian regimes. Opinions differ on whether other forms of government are less doctrinaire, or merely achieve the same ends through less obvious methods.

Religious context
Religious indoctrination, the original sense of indoctrination, refers to a process of imparting doctrine in an authoritative way, as in catechism. Most religious groups among the revealed religions instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is now not usually referred to as indoctrination by the religions themselves, in part because of the negative connotations the word has acquired. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge. (cf. Information security) As a pejorative term, indoctrination implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain ideology. Some secular critics believe that all religions indoctrinate their adherents, as children, and the accusation is made in the case of religious extremism. Sects such as Scientology use personality tests and peer pressures to indoctrinate new members. Some religions have commitment ceremonies for children 13 years and younger, such as Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation, and Shichi-Go-San. In Buddhism, temple boys are encouraged to follow the faith while young. Some critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, maintain that the children of religious parents are often unfairly indoctrinated.

However, indoctrination can occur, and often does occur with great frequency, in non-religious or anti-religious contexts. For example, in the 20th century, the former People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the former USSR instituted programs of government-sponsored atheistic indoctrination in order to promote state atheism, specifically Marxist–Leninist atheism, within their citizenry. Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children [were] indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home." However, after the death of Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha in 1985, his successor, Ramiz Alia, adopted a relatively tolerant stance toward religious practice, referring to it as "a personal and family matter." Émigré clergymen were permitted to reenter the country in 1988 and officiate at religious services. Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian, visited Tirana in 1989, where she was received by the foreign minister and by Hoxha's widow. In December 1990, the ban on religious observance was officially lifted, in time to allow thousands of Christians to attend Christmas services (see Freedom of religion in Albania).

Similarly, in the former Soviet Union, "science education [in] Soviet schools [was] used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers being instructed to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times," in order to comport with state-sanctioned Marxist–Leninist values. However, in 1997, several years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government passed a law recognizing religion as being important to Russian history with Orthodox Christianity (Russian: Православие Pravoslaviye), Russia's traditional and largest religion, declared a part of Russia's "historical heritage."

Military
The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.

Information security
In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information.

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

title: Indoctrination


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Yelwa massacre

The Yelwa massacre was a series of related incidents of religious violence between Muslims and Christians which took place in Yelwa, Nigeria between February and May 2004. These incidents killed over 700 people. The first occurred on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims attacked the Christians of Yelwa, killing more than 78 Christians, including at least 48 who were worshipping inside a church compound. According to some sources, the signal for the attack was a call for Jihad from the local mosque.

The February killings inflamed tensions between the communities which had been growing since the 2001 Jos riots when conflict between Muslims and Christians resulted in 1,000 dead. On 2 May 2004 local Christians responded to the February incident by attacking Muslims in Yelwa, resulting in roughly 630 dead. According to some sources, Muslim girls were forced to eat pork and other foods forbidden to Muslims and some were even raped.

Background
Thousands of people have died in fighting since the passage of Sharia law in the Muslim-dominated northern region after a return to civilian rule in 1999. The origin of the conflict between the Christian Tarok and the Muslim Fulani is rooted in their competing claims over the fertile farmlands of Plateau State in central Nigeria.

title: Yelwa massacre


text: User talk:207.74.123.2

title: User talk:207.74.123.2


text:
Talk:Indoctrination

Untitled
I have removed the link to islam on this page- I'm not islamic myself, but I reckon that this link was a bit POV.

''Caveat: improve this entry. Enlarge it. Disambiguate it. Make it deeper, wiser, better. But suppressed text will soon reappear in red.''

User:Andries posts "Let's make indoctrination a serious article." But he suppresses the following text:
 * "But the aims and techniques of indoctrination can still be assessed."

What reading of that sentence could construe it as insufficiently neutral for Wikipedia? Why shouldn't suppressed text in the article appear in red? Who forbids this text? Who forbids this format? Wetman 21:41, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * Well, how do you know that the above sentence is true? Do you have references for all the techniques of indoctrination? May be somebody uses a novel indoctrination technique that has not been described and that you had not thought of. Andries 06:22, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * The point being that "the aims and techniques of indoctrination may not be assessed." This is not true in an open and neutral discussion. --Wetman 06:47, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Indoctrinating Science?
How can someone be indoctrinated into a system that is founded on critical thinking and that everything we know could be wrong? Quantum Burrito 00:12, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

AFAIK indoctrination is a normal term for a basic introduction to the principles of a scientific field (see wiktionary and others). Remember the term indoctrination is not always perjorative. SociableLiberal 19:21, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

There might be some NPOV in this article. In particular, the links in the Political Indoctrination section link to a page named "Homosexuals brainwashing our children in elementary schools", and are obviously politically loaded. A less controversial subject should be choosen, such as examples stemming from totalitarian regimes.

 * The idea that it is "a system that is founded on critical thinking and that everything we know could be wrong" is in itself, doctrine. There is also the Doctrine of Absolute Materialism. And, beyond science, anti-religious doctrines that refuse to listen to reason or evidence.
 * Ion Zone (talk) 14:17, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
 * No, it is not. It is the exact opposite of doctrine. That is the whole point. Indoctrination is something one must not question. Science is something one must question. And you not only compare, but equate these two absolute opposites? Are you trolling?--StojadinovicP (talk) 08:56, 27 November 2016 (UTC)

Self evident
In regards to: "Instruction in the basic principles of science, in particular, can not properly be called indoctrination[citation needed], in the sense that the fundamental principals of science call for critical self-evaluation and skeptical scrutiny of one's own ideas." - the "[citation needed]" should be removed because this statement is /prima facie/, or self-evident - It is its' own support, it is an axiom. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.15.122.87 (talk) 21:48, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I have removed the following line from the article: "Most religious groups instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is usually not referred to as indoctrination, because of the negative connotations the word has acquired."

Religious 'instruction' is not meant to be critically evaluated and scrutinized, thus it is indoctrination. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.119.126.195 (talk) 08:32, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Tidying up definitions, NPOV, etc.
Text moved here: Religious indoctrination is a subject of academic interest. An upcoming volume, The Costs of Autonomy: Personal Essays on the Morality of Religious Indoctrination is planned to analyze the effects of religious indoctrination on academics. Reason: until the book is actually published this is not encyclopedic. Once it's published let's have a link or reference.

More text moved here: An example of the use of political indoctrination on children is seen in It's Elementary, a teacher training video by Academy Award winner Debra Chasnoff and Helen Cohen. It illustrates children undergoing political indoctrination in schools across the country showing real examples of school activities, faculty meetings, and classroom discussions. Reason: I disagree with User:LegitimateAndEvenCompelling, because to criticise the teaching of particular values as indoctrination (in the perjorative sense) is already POV. Teaching values I approve of is socialisation or parenting; teaching values I disapprove of is indoctrination. Or do you have a source for an objectively measurable definition? As such, if we want to collect examples of indoctrination we have to cite a notable or credible source who said it was indoctrination and make it clear that this is a matter of opinion. massresistance.org is neither notable nor credible; on the other hand, Jerry Falwell would do, as would the New York Times. The video you referenced is a teacher training video; who said it was indoctrination apart from massresistance.org? By contrast, the Jesus Camp documentary was an award-winning (therefore notable) programme presenting the activities of the camp as indoctrination.

I haven't checked out the single external link yet, from the name I suspect it may be very POV. We really have to be careful with the links in this article.

I have also tidied up the definitions and added some clarification of my own.

I am planning to continue working on this article, including hunting for suitable sources to cite. The criticism section still needs work and references. A section on political indoctrination is sorely needed, it should probably be the biggest section of the article. I am working on this. Watch this space! SociableLiberal 19:19, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Jesus Camp=Indoctrination?
As a christian who has been in many congragations I have to dissagree on the putting an equal=sign on Jesus Camp and indoctrination. However any athiest feels that anybody who mentions christianity to their child is indoctrinating them.

I do believe though, that Freemasonary would be a better an example of indoctrination. Here is a group who refuses members to ask any questions whatsoevere, have to prove that they are loyal to all beliefs put forth etc. But we all know what'd happen if anybody tried to edit the page and put an equal=sign on freemasonary and indoctrination as oppose to Jesus Camp, don't we? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.164.92.21 (talk) 12:59, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Freemasonry=Belief in Higher Power. Look it up. /discussion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.72.117.38 (talk) 00:21, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

 * There is an 'atheist camp' now where they train children to reject things arbitrarily and fear religion.
 * Ion Zone (talk) 14:18, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Unbalanced, biased, lacking.
Why is the section on religious indoctrination nearly as large as all other sections combined? This seems very clearly biased against religion. Obviously this article DOES need a religious section, but it shouldn't be the main focus of the article, and it should contain opposing viewpoints instead of just Dawkins-approved material. The section also contains numerous weasel words such as "is seen by some as" or "some religions" or "most religious groups." Furthermore, the whole section only has one citation, the rest appears to be original research.

Meanwhile, there's no section at all on political indoctrination. I've read accounts of people who grew up in Cold War Europe on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain who have described their experiences with indoctrination in great detail. There is loads of material for a political indoctrination section, if not a whole new article.

All-in-all, this article needs major work. Klopek007 (talk) 05:14, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Well, since I added tags for weasel words and missing citations to the religious indoctrination section, it appears that there are no additional citations, but one weasel word tag has been removed due to the second mention of Richard Dawkins in as many sentences, and the phrase "and other critics of religion." So basically it's in the process of becoming another "the Great Dawkins is the final authority on everything, ever" article. Well done. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Klopek007 (talk • contribs) 21:52, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

 * The section on religious indoctrination is nearly as large as all other sections combined simply because indoctrination is the inculcation of doctrina, and because you haven't expanded the other sections. No other reason.--Wetman (talk) 03:54, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Where are all the other sections?!?
 * Ion Zone (talk) 14:19, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

 * Perhaps this is because indoctrination is necessary for the continuation of nearly all religions and religions are very common.137.186.121.1 (talk) 03:08, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

How is indoctrination bad? It's necessary to the continuity of all cultures and their practices, not just religious groups. --Daviddwd (talk) 06:49, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm someone who only occasionally posts minor edits to Wikipedia...but this article seems like a disaster to me. It has basically nothing to do with indoctrination per se. Rather, it seems to be presenting a fringe theory (usually found on the far left, but at least consistent with certain ideas on the far right as well) to the effect that all learning is indoctrination. In the ordinary sense of 'indoctrination', this is simply and straightforwardly false. In the ordinary sense of the term, indoctrination is closer to 'brainwashing' than to 'education', and there are clear and crucial differences between those two things. My suggestion would be: scrap this and write an entry on, y'know, actual indoctrination. Include in one smallish section a description of the view that all education, enculturation, etc. is indoctrination. As it stands, I'd say this entry is disastrously bad. It's worse than nothing in that it is extremely misleading. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.126.47.138 (talk) 15:07, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Chomsky on brainwashing
In the current version of the page, Chomsky is quoted as follows "For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and which all too often we serve as willing or unwitting instruments." But the full article linked to on zpub does not include the word 'brainwashing'. The original passage reads as follows "For those who stubbornly seek freedom around the world, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the propaganda system to which we are subjected and in which all too often we serve as unwilling or unwitting instruments." However, Chomsky does use the phrase 'brainwashing under freedom' elsewhere - for example in his book The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism (p 66). --RichardVeryard (talk) 17:05, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

12-Step Groups
Could someone make a section on how these techniques are used are by 12-step programs, especially AA, please? I don't know how to find sources. Thanks :) jrun (talk) 16:47, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Indoctrination and truth
I am surprised that truth is not mentioned anywhere in the article? If I "force" my child into accepting that 2+2 is 4 and only 4, before she is able to understand that, is that indoctrination? In other words, is indoctrination independent of the content, or is it not? I am honestly asking, because I was under the impressions that it is very much depending on the content and that it is only indoctrination if one is forcing someone to accept something as true, which is either proven to be false or not yet proven to be true.--StojadinovicP (talk) 09:07, 27 November 2016 (UTC)

Merge discussion - Is this article really needed?
Move discussion to one location, see Talk:Socialization. Jonpatterns (talk) 16:52, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Expert on Psychology
I think that as well as an expert on Sociology, this article might need attention from an expert in Psychology. Vorbee (talk) 21:19, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Images and biases
There are two pictures at the start of this article: one depicts a crowd doing the Nazi salute and the other one depicts young children with a book authored by Mao. Such examples fit the political "common sense" in the Western Hemisphere: indoctrination = totalitarian governments. However, this way of framing the concept through pictures is biased towards a political narrative that denies the existence of political indoctrination in so called "democracies". A truly balanced, nuanced article would include examples from the "free world", such as the Pledge of Allegiance in the U.S. or any other form of state propaganda enforced through compulsory education. 181.162.21.108 (talk) 20:32, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Indoctrination


text:
Star Académie

Star Académie is a Canadian reality television series that started in 2003, aimed primarily at the Quebec television audience, featuring an array of young women and men under the age of 30 competing for the title of the next solo singing sensation. It is the French-Canadian adaptation of the French television show Star Academy produced by Dutch company Endemol, based on the Spanish format called Operación Triunfo.

There have been seasons in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2012. In June 2019, TVA stated that a reboot for Star Académie is possible. Two months later, the network announced that the reboot is set for early 2021. On September 22, 2020, it was announced that singer Patrice Michaud would take over Julie Snyder as host for the 2021 season. In June 2021, Michaud stated that he would not return as host for the following season. In August 2021, it was announced that singer-songwriter Marc Dupré would replace Michaud as host in 2022.

Description
It is aired for two months (February to April) on the TVA network. Hosted by Julie Snyder, the show is a competition to find the best young francophone singer, not only in Quebec, but also in French-speaking regions of Canada, having auditions in Ontario (Eastern Ontario) and New Brunswick (l'Acadie). Then fourteen people (seven of each gender) are chosen to compete in front of the cameras.

It is separated in two simultaneous formats: each day during the week, a show presents moments of the life and training in the common house of the Académiciens and each weekend sees one Gala show where the contenders sing. At each of these Galas, some participants are put on the line and one is chosen to stay by the public and by the judging panel.

It proved to be immensely popular, drawing not only viewership, but genuine affection from the public for the young idealistic contenders. Pride also arises for the regions where the participants are from, like pride was felt by many from the Acadian people when Wilfred Le Bouthillier, from Acadia, was chosen for the competition and later crowned winner of the first, 2003 edition.

It has also proved to be an effective springboard for the singing careers of some of its past participants, like 2003 finalists Wilfred Le Bouthillier, who recorded with the help of renowned Cajun singer Zachary Richard, and Marie-Élaine Thibert, who also released an album and sung for the soundtrack of Léa Pool's movie The Blue Butterfly.

The show was on a 4-year hiatus due to the second pregnancy of the hostess and her busy schedule with Le Banquier, the French-Canadian version of Deal or No Deal.

Origins
It is inspired by the French show Star Academy and is similar to the Pop Idol and American Idol phenomena. The name was francized for its Quebec adaptation because of the local importance given to the respect of the French language. However, it does create a grammatically impossible phrase in French. The proper translation would be Académie des stars, although this could be considered less catchy. Francization is typically given even more importance in Quebec French than in France itself (see Office québécois de la langue française).

A relatively small, but notable difference in the show format from its French counterpart is the selection process. Each week, the French version asks the public and judging panel to vote for which one, out of the contenders in danger, should be excluded from the show. The results are announced live, on stage, to the excluded member and the viewers. While this formula was followed in the beginning for Star Académie, it soon was changed because of protests, for the system was seen as cruel treatment to the excluded participant. On one early show, singer Daniel Boucher quit the studio halfway through the show because of this impression. Consequently, the public and judges are now asked to vote for the participant to remain at the Académie. In all seasons, the results are announced live.

Criticism
Star Académie drew criticism for the capitalist and vertical integration strategies of producing megacompany Quebecor to publicize the show and make it profitable. For example, each vote from the public costs one dollar, the website is in large part reserved to paying members and the Quebecor company, massive owner of many Quebec media, heavily promoted the show via TVA (its own television network), all of its magazines and newspapers like 7 Jours and Journal de Montréal. Astral Media's RockDétente also did a lot of heavy promoting themselves during the 2005 edition, as the official stations of Star Académie. Also were criticized the instant celebrity machine and supposed lack of artistic integrity aspects of the whole enterprise.

Theme songs

 * 2003: Et c'est pas fini by Stéphane Venne
 * 2004: Un nouveau jour va se lever by Jacques Michel
 * 2005: L'étoile d'Amérique by Claude Léveillée
 * 2009: 1000 coeurs debout by Cali
 * 2012: Toi + Moi by Grégoire
 * 2021: Maintenant et partout by Hubert Lenoir and Jérôme 50
 * 2022: Changer le monde by Laurence Nerbonne

Champions

 * 2003: Wilfred Le Bouthillier from Tracadie–Sheila, New Brunswick
 * 2004: Stéphanie Lapointe from Brossard, Quebec
 * 2005: Marc-André Fortin from Hébertville, Quebec
 * 2009: Maxime Landry from Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, Quebec
 * 2012: Jean-Marc Couture from Val-d'Amour, New Brunswick
 * 2021: William Cloutier from Victoriaville, Quebec
 * 2022: Krystel Mongeau from Sherbrooke, Quebec

Académie's principal

 * 2003: Josélito Michaud
 * 2004: Denise Filiatrault
 * 2005: Denis Bouchard (René Simard had retired before the show started)
 * 2009: René Angélil
 * 2012: René Angélil
 * 2021: Lara Fabian
 * 2022: Lara Fabian

Notable guests
Here's all the guest performers in Star Académie.

 * Bryan Adams
 * Charles Aznavour
 * Beau Dommage
 * Plastic Bertrand
 * Daniel Boucher
 * Isabelle Boulay
 * Jean Charest
 * Céline Dion
 * The Lost Fingers
 * Éric Lapointe
 * Stromae
 * Patricia Kaas
 * Lady Gaga
 * Lara Fabian
 * Samantha Fox
 * Roger Hodgson
 * Bernard Landry
 * Daniel Lavoie
 * Claude Léveillée
 * Marjo
 * Jason Mraz
 * Paul Piché
 * Michel Rivard
 * Natasha St-Pier
 * Kreesha Turner
 * Gino Vannelli
 * Roch Voisine
 * Dennis DeYoung
 * Les Trois Accords
 * Hedley
 * These Kids Wear Crowns
 * Lionel Richie
 * Mika
 * Charlotte Cardin

Official albums

 * 2003: Star Académie - (5× Platinum)
 * 2004: Star Académie 2004
 * 2004: Star Académie 2004: Meilleurs moments des finalistes aux galas
 * 2005: Star Académie 2005
 * 2009: Star Académie 2009
 * 2012: Star Académie 2012 - (2× Platinum)
 * 2012: Star Académie Noel - (Platinum)

First season (2003)

 * 2003: Wilfred Le Bouthillier by Wilfred Le Bouthillier
 * 2004: Marie-Élaine Thibert by Marie-Élaine Thibert
 * 2004: Comment J'feel by Maritza Bossé-Pelchat
 * 2004: Inoxydable by Marie-Mai Bouchard
 * 2004: Ent'chums by Dave Bourgeois, François Babin, Stéphane Mercier
 * 2004: Légendes Urbaines by Émily Bégin
 * 2005: Quand je ferme les yeux by Annie Villeneuve
 * 2005: Sortilège by Élyse Robinault
 * 2006: Poussières by Wilfred Le Bouthillier
 * 2007: Dangereuse Attraction by Marie-Mai Bouchard
 * 2007: Comme ça by Marie-Élaine Thibert
 * 2007: Voila by Stéphane Mercier
 * 2007: Dave Bourgeois by Dave Bourgeois
 * 2007: Emily by Émily Begin
 * 2008: The Open Book by Élyse Robinault
 * 2008: Suzie Villeneuve by Suzie Villeneuve
 * 2009: Droit devant by Wilfred Le Bouthillier
 * 2009: Version 3.0 by Marie-Mai Bouchard
 * 2009: Annie Villeneuve by Annie Villeneuve
 * 2011: Les nuits d'Émily by Émily Bégin
 * 2012: C.O.B.R.A. by Marie-Mai Bouchard
 * 2012: Telle qu'elle by Annie Villeneuve

Second season (2004)

 * 2004: Corneliu Montano by Corneliu Montano
 * 2005: Sur le fil by Stéphanie Lapointe
 * 2005: Tête première by Meggie Lagacé
 * 2005: Marc-André by Marc-André Niquet
 * 2005: Faut que j'te dise by Martin Giroux
 * 2006: On s'en reparlera by Dave Roussy
 * 2006: Je l'ai jamais dit à personne by Étienne Drapeau
 * 2007: C'est pas de ma faute by Jean-Francois Prud'homme
 * 2007: Le coeur qui chante by Corneliu Montano
 * 2008: En cavale by Martin Giroux
 * 2008: Étienne Drapeau by Étienne Drapeau
 * 2009: Maintenant...Femme by Marie-Ève Côté
 * March 10, 2009: Donne-moi quelque chose qui ne finit pas by Stéphanie Lapointe
 * March 23, 2010: La vie ça s'mérite by Martin Giroux
 * September 2010: Paroles et Musique by Étienne Drapeau
 * November 2011: Influences by Corneliu Montano

Third season (2005)

 * 2007: Marc-André Fortin by Marc-André Fortin
 * 2007: Dans mon espace by Bruno Labrie
 * 2007: Je suis qui je suis by Linda Rocheleau
 * 2007: Sur l'autre rive by Annie Blanchard
 * 2008: L'enfant roi by Marc Angers
 * 2008: Ad vitam by Audrey Gagnon
 * 2009: Juste ici by Marc-André Fortin
 * 2010: Marcher vers le nord by Annie Blanchard

Fourth season (2009)

 * 2009: Vox Pop by Maxime Landry
 * May 18, 2010: Un pied à terre by William Deslauriers
 * May 25, 2010: Chacun son chemin by Pascal Chaumont
 * January 2011: Fruits défendus by Brigitte Boisjoli
 * November 2011: L'avenir entre nous by Maxime Landry
 * April 2012: Le goût du bonheur by Émilie Lévesque
 * 2013 "J'suis la" by François Lachance.

2003

 * François Babin from Rimouski, Bas-Saint-Laurent
 * Jean-François Bastien from Saint-Boniface, Mauricie
 * Émily Bégin from Saint-Jérôme, Laurentides
 * Dave Bourgeois from Baie-Comeau, Côte-Nord
 * Maritza Bossé-Pelchat from Montreal, Montreal Region (born in the Dominican Republic)
 * Marie-Mai Bouchard from Boucherville, Montérégie
 * Wilfred Le Bouthillier from Tracadie–Sheila, New Brunswick
 * Stéphane Mercier from Normétal, Abitibi-Témiscamingue
 * Pascal Nguyen-Deschênes from Charlesbourg, Capitale-Nationale
 * Élyse Robineault from Montréal-Nord, Montreal Region
 * Martin Rouette from Montreal, Montreal Region
 * Marie-Élaine Thibert from LaSalle, Montreal Region
 * Annie Villeneuve from Jonquière, Saguenay
 * Suzie Villeneuve from Jonquière, Saguenay

2004

 * Véronique Claveau from Rimouski, Bas-Saint-Laurent
 * Marie-Ève Côté from Brossard, Montérégie
 * Étienne Drapeau from Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale
 * Stéphanie Lapointe from Brossard, Montérégie
 * Meggie Lagacé from Saint-Hubert, Montérégie
 * Jannie Lemay from Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi
 * Marie-France Lettre from Gatineau, Outaouais
 * Cornéliu Montano from Montreal, Montreal Region (born in Romania)
 * Marc-André Niquet from Pierreville, Centre-du-Québec
 * Dave Roussy from Port-Daniel, Gaspésie
 * Jason Battah from Joliette, Lanaudière
 * Sandy Duperval-Agnant from Montreal, Montreal Region
 * Jean-François Prud'homme from Saint-Donat, Lanaudière
 * Martin Giroux from Gatineau, Outaouais

2005

 * David Tremblay, from Jonquière, Quebec
 * Marc Angers, from Boucherville, Quebec
 * Steve Provost, from Saint-Faustin, Quebec
 * Audrey Gagnon, from Jonquière, Quebec
 * Annie Blanchard, from Maisonnette (Caraquet), New Brunswick
 * Jennifer Silencieux, from Montreal, Quebec
 * Francis Greffard, from Rapide-Danseur, Quebec
 * Jenny Hachey (leaves after the first gala, on September 18), from L'Annonciation, Quebec
 * Kaven Haché, from Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec
 * Linda Rocheleau, from Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues, Quebec
 * Stéphanie Bédard, from Drummondville, Quebec
 * Marc-André Fortin, from Hébertville, Québec
 * Valérie Boivin, from Montreal, Quebec
 * Bruno Labrie, from Châteauguay, Quebec

2009

 * 1) Karine Labelle, Huberdeau, Laurentides
 * 2) Joanie Goyette, Saint-Tite, Mauricie
 * 3) Brigitte Boisjoli, Drummondville, Centre-du-Québec
 * 4) Carolanne D'Astous-Paquet, Sayabec, Bas-Saint-Laurent (finalist)
 * 5) Sophie Vaillancourt, Laval, Laval
 * 6) Vanessa Duchel, Prévost, Laurentides
 * 7) Émilie Lévesque, Saint-Malo, Estrie
 * 8) Rich Ly, Montreal, Montreal
 * 9) Pascal Chaumont, La Conception, Laurentides
 * 10) Jean-Philippe Audet, Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale
 * 11) Olivier Beaulieu, Drummondville, Centre-du-Québec
 * 12) Maxime Landry, Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, Chaudière-Appalaches (winner)
 * 13) William Deslauriers, Plessisville, Centre-du-Québec
 * 14) Maxime Proulx, Plaisance, Outaouais

Through the weeks

 * During the first Gala, Vanessa and William were chosen by the public. Also, Émilie and Maxime P. were chosen by the judges.
 * During weeks 7 and 8, the contestants were automatically in danger.
 * The contestant was in danger and eliminated
 * The contestant was in danger but saved by the judges during the gala
 * The contestant was in danger but saved by the public during the gala
 * The contestant wins the competition

2012

 * Andréanne A. Malette, Granby
 * Bryan Audet, Saint-Élie-de-Caxton
 * Andrée-Anne Leclerc, Saint-Jean-Chrysostome
 * François Lachance, Alma
 * Carole-Anne Gagnon-Lafond, Rimouski
 * Jason Guérette, Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska
 * Joannie Benoit, Tracadie-Sheila
 * Jean-Marc Couture, Val-d'Amour, New Brunswick
 * Mélissa Bédard, Quebec City
 * Mike Lee (Jean-Mickaël Lavernay), Montréal (born in Réunion)
 * Sarah-May Vézeau, Repentigny
 * Olivier Dion, Sherbrooke
 * Sophie Pelletier, Rivière-Ouelle
 * Simon Morin, Le Gardeur

Through the weeks

 * During the first Gala, out of 20 candidates, 14 were selected to go to the Academie, 6 female candidates and 6 male candidates were saved by the Judges without performing. 1 female and 1 male candidates were saved by the public based on a vote on their performance.
 * During Gala 8 and 9, the contestants were automatically in danger. (Gala 8 = Male, Gala 9 = Female)
 * The contestant was in danger and eliminated
 * The contestant was in danger but saved by the judges during the gala
 * The contestant was in danger but saved by the public during the gala
 * The contestant wins the competition

title: Star Académie


text:
Eugène Charles Catalan

Eugène Charles Catalan (30 May 1814 – 14 February 1894) was a French and Belgian mathematician who worked on continued fractions, descriptive geometry, number theory and combinatorics. His notable contributions included discovering a periodic minimal surface in the space $$\mathbb{R}^3$$; stating the famous Catalan's conjecture, which was eventually proved in 2002; and introducing the Catalan numbers to solve a combinatorial problem.

Biography
Catalan was born in Bruges (now in Belgium, then under Dutch rule even though the Kingdom of the Netherlands had not yet been formally instituted), the only child of a French jeweller by the name of Joseph Catalan, in 1814. In 1825, he traveled to Paris and learned mathematics at École Polytechnique, where he met Joseph Liouville (1833). In December 1834 he was expelled along with most of the students in his year for political reasons; he resumed his studies in January 1835, graduated that summer, and went on to teach at Châlons-sur-Marne. Catalan came back to the École Polytechnique, and, with the help of Liouville, obtained his degree in mathematics in 1841. He went on to Charlemagne College to teach descriptive geometry. Though he was politically active and strongly left-wing, leading him to participate in the 1848 Revolution, he had an animated career and also sat in the France's Chamber of Deputies. Later, in 1849, Catalan was visited at his home by the French Police, searching for illicit teaching material; however, none was found.

The University of Liège appointed him chair of analysis in 1865. In 1879, still in Belgium, he became journal editor where he published as a foot note Paul-Jean Busschop's theory after refusing it in 1873 - letting Busschop know that it was too empirical. In 1883, he worked for the Belgian Academy of Science in the field of number theory. He died in Liège, Belgium where he had received a chair.

Work
He worked on continued fractions, descriptive geometry, number theory and combinatorics. He gave his name to a unique surface (periodic minimal surface in the space $$\mathbb{R}^3$$) that he discovered in 1855. Before that, he had stated the famous Catalan's conjecture, which was published in 1844 and was eventually proved in 2002, by the Romanian mathematician Preda Mihăilescu. He introduced the Catalan numbers to solve a combinatorial problem.

Selected publications

 * Théorèmes et Problèmes Géométrie élémentaire, Brussels, 2nd edition 1852, 6th edition 1879
 * Éléments de géométrie, 1843, 2nd printing 1847
 * Traité élémentaire de géométrie descriptive, 2 volumes 1850, 1852, 3rd edition 1867/1868, 5th edition 1881
 * Nouveau manuel des aspirants au baccalauréat ès sciences, 1852 (12 editions published)
 * Solutions des problèmes de mathématique et de physique donnés à la Sorbonne dans les compositions du baccalauréat ès sciences, 1855/56
 * Manuel des candidats à l'École Polytechnique, 2 volumes, 1857–58
 * Notions d'astronomie, 1860 (6 editions published)
 * Traité élémentaire des séries, 1860
 * Histoire d'un concours, 1865, 2nd edition 1867
 * Cours d'analyse de l'université de Liège, 1870, 2nd edition 1880
 * Intégrales eulériennes ou elliptiques, 1892

title: Eugène Charles Catalan


text:
Yinglong

Yinglong is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.

Name
This legendary creature's name combines yìng 應 "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and lóng 龍 "Chinese dragon". Although the former character is also pronounced (with a different tone) yīng 應 "should; ought to; need to; proper; suitable", yinglong 應龍 definitively means "responsive dragon; responding dragon" and not "proper dragon".

Classical usages
The Chinese classics frequently mention yinglong 應龍 "a winged rain-dragon" in myths about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, especially the Yellow Emperor and his alleged descendant King Yu. The examples below, limited to books with English translations, are roughly arranged in chronological order, although some heterogeneous texts have uncertain dates of composition.

Chuci
The (3rd–2nd centuries BCE) Chu Ci "Songs of Chu" mentions Yinglong helping King Yu 禹, the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty, to control the mythic Great Deluge. According to Chinese mythology, Emperor Yao 堯 assigned Yu's father Gun 鯀, who was supposedly a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, to control massive flooding, but he failed. Yao's successor, Emperor Shun 舜, had Gun executed and his body exposed, but when Gun's corpse did not decompose, it was cut open and Yu was born by parthenogenesis. Shun appointed Yu to control the floods, and after succeeding through diligently constructing canals, Yu divided ancient China into the Nine Provinces.

The Heavenly Questions section (3, 天問) asks about Yinglong, in context with Zhulong 燭龍 "Torch Dragon". Tianwen, which Hawkes characterizes as "a shamanistic catechism consisting of questions about cosmological, astronomical, mythological and historical matters", and "is written in an archaic language to be found nowhere else in the Chu anthology" excepting "one or two short passages" in the Li Sao section. "When Lord Gun brought forth Yu from his belly, how was he transformed? Yu inherited the same tradition and carried on the work of his father. If he continued the work already begun, in what way was his plan a different one? How did he fill the flood waters up where they were most deep? How did he set bounds to the Nine Lands? What did the winged dragon trace on the ground? Where did the seas and rivers flow?" The (early second century CE) Chuci commentary of Wang Yi 王逸 answers that Yinglong drew lines on the ground to show Yu where to dig drainage and irrigation canals.

Classic of Mountains and Seas
The (c. 4th century BCE – 1st century CE) Classic of Mountains and Seas 山海經 records variant Yinglong myths in two chapters of "The Classic of the Great Wilderness" section. The "Responding Dragon" is connected with two deities who rebelled against the Yellow Emperor: the war-god and rain-god Chiyou 蚩尤 "Jest Much" and the giant Kua Fu 夸父 "Boast Father".

"The Classic of the Great Wilderness: The East" (14, 大荒東經) mentions Yinglong killing both Chiyou "Jest Much" and Kua Fu "Boast Father", and describes using Yinglong images in sympathetic magic for rainmaking. "At the northeast corner of the Great Wilderness there is a mountain. Its name is [凶犁土丘] Mount Haplessplough-soilmound. Responding Dragon lives at the South Pole. He killed the gods Jest Much and Boast Father. But then Responding Dragon could not go back up to the sky. That is why down on earth there are so many droughts. When there is a drought, people make an image of Responding Dragon, and they receive a heavy rainfall." Guo Pu's (early 4th century CE) commentary mentions tulong 土龍 "earth/clay dragon", "The earthen dragons of the present day find their origin in this."

"The Classic of the Great Wilderness: The North" (17, 大荒北經) mentions Yinglong in two myths about killing Kua Fu "Boast Father". The first version says Yinglong killed him in punishment for drinking rivers and creating droughts while chasing the sun. "In the middle of the Great Wilderness there is a mountain. Its name is [成都載天] Mount Successcity-carriesthesky. There is someone on this mountain. His ear ornaments are two yellow snakes, and he is holding two yellow snakes. His name is Boast Father. Sovereign Earth gave birth to Faith. Faith gave birth to Boast Father. Boast Father's strength knew no bounds. He longed to race against the light of the sun. He caught up with it at Ape Valley. He scooped some water from the great River to drink, but it wasn't enough. He ran towards Big Marsh, but just before he reached it, he died here by this mountain. Responding Dragon had already killed Jest Much, and now he also killed Boast Father. Then Responding Dragon left for the southern region and settled there. That is why there is so much rain in the southern region." The second mythic version says the Yellow Emperor's daughter Ba 魃 "Droughtghoul" killed Chiyou "Jest Much" after Yinglong failed. Ba is a drought-demon analogous with Kua Fu. "Here is [係昆之山] Mount Constantoffspring. This is where the Terrace of Common Work is situated. Bowmen do not dare to face in its direction. There is someone on this mountain wearing green clothes. Her name is Droughtghoul, daughter of the great god Yellow. The god Jest Much invented weapons. He attacked the great god Yellow. The great god Yellow then ordered Responding Dragon to do battle with Jest Much in the Wilderness of Hopeisland. Responding Dragon hoarded up all the water. But the god Jest Much asked the Lord of the Winds and the Leader of the Rains to let loose strong winds and heavy rain. So the great god Yellow sent down his sky daughter called Droughtghoul and the rain stopped. Then she killed Jest Much. Droughtghoul could not get back up to the sky. The place where she lives on earth never has rain." Based on textual history of Yinglong, Chiyou, Kua Fu, and related legends, Bernhard Karlgren concludes that "all these nature myths are purely Han-time lore, and there is no trace of them in pre-Han sources", with two exceptions. Ba, who is "a very old folk-lore figure", already occurs in the c. Spring and Autumn period Classic of Poetry, and Yinglong, "who directed the flow of rivers and seas", occurs in the c. Warring States period Tianwen.

Huainanzi
The (2nd century BCE) Huainanzi uses Yinglong 應龍 in three chapters. Ying also occurs in ganying 感應 (lit. "sensation and response") "resonance; reaction; interaction; influence; induction", which Charles Le Blanc posits as the Huannanzi text's central and pivotal idea.

"Forms of Earth" (4, 墬形訓) explains how animal evolution originated through dragons, with Yinglong as the progenitor of quadrupeds. Carr notes this Responsive Dragon is usually pictured with four wings, perhaps paralleling four legs. "All creatures, winged, hairy, scaly and mailed, find their origin in the dragon. The yu-kia (羽嘉) produced the flying dragon, the flying dragon gave birth to the phoenixes, and after them the luan-niao (鸞鳥) and all birds, in general the winged beings, were born successively. The mao-tuh (毛犢, 'hairy calf') produced the ying-lung (應龍), the ying-lung gave birth to the kien-ma (建馬), and afterwards the k'i-lin (麒麟) and all quadrupeds, in general the hairy beings, were born successively. …" Wolfram Eberhard suggests this "otherwise unknown" maodu "hairy calf" alludes to the "water buffalo".

"Peering into the Obscure" (6, 覽冥訓) describes Fuxi and Nüwa being transported by yinglong 應龍 and qingqiu 青虯 "green qiu-dragons", while accompanied by baichi 白螭 "white chi-dragons" and benshe 奔蛇 "speeding snakes". "They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair. They clasped the magic jade tablets and displayed their charts. Yellow clouds hung inter-woven (to form a coverlet over the chariot) and they (the whole retinue) were preceded by white serpents and followed by speeding snakes." Gao Yu's (2nd century CE) Huainanzi commentary glosses yinglong 應龍 as a "winged dragon" and qiu 虯 as a "hornless dragon".

"The Art of Rulership" (9, 主術訓) parallels the yinglong with the tengshe 騰蛇 "soaring snake" dragon. "The t'eng snake springs up into the mist; the flying ying dragon ascends into the sky mounting the clouds; a monkey is nimble in the trees and a fish is agile in the water." Ames compares the Hanfeizi attribution of this yinglong and tengshe metaphor to the Legalist philosopher Shen Dao. "Shen Tzu said: 'The flying dragon mounts the clouds and the t'eng snake wanders in the mists. But when the clouds dissipate and the mists clear, the dragon and the snake become the same as the earthworm and the large-winged black ant because they have lost that on which they ride."

Other texts
Yinglong occurs in various additional Chinese texts. For instance, the Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han, and Book of the Later Han histories.

The early third century CE Guangya dictionary defines yinglong "winged dragon" as one of the principal dragons. "If a dragon has scales, he is called jiaolong [蛟龍]; if wings, yinglong (應龍); if a horn, qiulung (虯龍); and if he has no horn, he is called qilong (螭龍)".

The early sixth century CE Shuyiji 述異記 "Records of Strange Things" lists yinglong as a 1000-year-old dragon. "A water snake (水虺 shui hui) after five hundred years changes into a jiao (蛟), a jiao after a thousand years changes into a long (龍), a long after five hundred years changes into a jiulong (蛟龍, "horned dragon") and after a thousand years into a yinglong (應龍)".

In the Book of the Later Han, Yinglong was connected as a companion to Nüba in the myth. They fought simultaneously against Chiyou's forces. This relationship led to the mythological romance of Nüba and Yinglong in later centuries.

Comparative mythology
The yinglong mythically relates with other Chinese flying dragons and rain deities such as the tianlong ("heavenly dragon"), feilong ("flying dragon"), hong ("rainbow dragon"), and jiao ("flood dragon").

Flying dragons
Visser mentions that texts like the Daoist Liexian Zhuan often record "flying dragons or ying-lung drawing the cars of gods or holy men". Besides the Huainanzi (above) mentioning a pair of yinglong pulling the chariot of Fuxi and Nüwa, analogous examples include legends of Huangdi ascending to heaven on a dragon (Shiji) and Yu riding a carriage drawn by two flying dragons (Bowuzhi). Carr compares pairs of Yinglong with motifs on Chinese bronzes showing two symmetrical dragons intertwined like Fuxi and Nüwa.

Porter interprets the tail of the terrestrial Yinglong, which "uses its tail to sketch on the land a map of channel-like formations whereby the floodwaters were allowed to drain", as the tail of the celestial dragon Scorpius, which is "situated precisely where the Milky Way splits into two branches". The (4th century CE) Shiyiji 拾遺記 retells the Yu flood-control myth in terms of the Four Symbols, namely, the Yellow Dragon or Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise. "Yü exhausted his energy creating channels, diverting the waters and establishing mountains as the yellow dragon dragged its tail in front and the black turtle carried green-black mud (used to build the channels) in back."

Rain dragons
Eberhard wrote that "All traditions about Ying-lung are vague". Although the legendary Yinglong dragon helped Yu to control floods, "Yü was frequently bothered by dragons", most notably the flood-deity Gonggong's minister Xiangliu 相柳. Eberhard, based on Sun Jiayi's identification of Xiangliu as an eel, concludes that Yinglong was an eel as well: "Sun points out that the eel is an important important animal in the flood tales of Formosan aborigines. Ying-lung, who ... made the beds of rivers by waggling his tail in the muddy soil and thus helped Yü to regulate the flood, was a kind of eel, too: Hsiang-liu [Xiangliu] stopped the water with his body; Ying-lung with his tail made it run freely, just as Yü's father Kun stopped the water, while Yü made it run. Kun who, according to legend, was executed for his inability to stop the flood, turned into a 'dark fish'; and some texts call Kun 'The naked one'. Both names fit quite well the eel."

Eberhard concludes that Yinglong and the mythic elements about Yu "testify to the connection between Yü and the cultures of the south, which differ from Yü myths of the Ba culture". Carr cites Chen Mengjia's hypothesis, based on studies of Shang dynasty oracle bones, that Yinglong was originally associated with the niqiu 泥鰍 "loach".

Yinglong representations were anciently used in rain-magic ceremonies, where Eberhard says "the most important animal is always a dragon made of clay". Besides controlling rain and drought, the Yinglong Responsive Dragon did something else: "With his tail he drew lines in the earth and thus created the rivers … In other words, the dragon made the waterways – the most important thing for all cultivators of rice.

title: Yinglong


text:
Preda Mihăilescu

Preda V. Mihăilescu (born 23 May 1955) is a Romanian mathematician, best known for his proof of the 158-year-old Catalan's conjecture.

Biography
Born in Bucharest, he is the brother of Vintilă Mihăilescu.

After leaving Romania in 1973, he settled in Switzerland. He studied mathematics and computer science in Zürich, receiving a PhD from ETH Zürich in 1997. His PhD thesis, titled Cyclotomy of rings and primality testing, was written under the direction of Erwin Engeler and Hendrik Lenstra.

For several years, he did research at the University of Paderborn, Germany. Since 2005, he has held a professorship at the University of Göttingen.

Major research
In 2002, Mihăilescu proved Catalan's conjecture. This number-theoretical conjecture, formulated by the French and Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan in 1844, had stood unresolved for 158 years. Mihăilescu's proof appeared in Crelle's Journal in 2004.

title: Preda Mihăilescu


text:
BMW 6 Series

The BMW 6 Series is a range of grand tourers produced by BMW since 1976. It is the successor to the E9 Coupé and is currently in its fourth generation.

The first generation BMW E24 6 Series was available solely as a two-door coupé and produced from 1976 to 1989, when it was supplanted by the larger BMW 8 Series (E31). When the 6 Series nameplate was revived in 2004 for the second generation, the BMW E63/E64 6 Series, the coupé was joined by a convertible body style. The third generation F06/F12/F13 6 Series debuted in 2011 as a coupé and convertible, and a sedan variant known as the "Gran Coupé" in 2012. When the F06/F12/F13 6 Series ended production, the "Gran Coupé"/coupé/convertible models have been shifted into the more upmarket BMW 8 Series (G15) nameplate. The fourth generation 6 Series, the G32 6 Series, debuted in mid-2017 and is offered only as a fastback body style to complement the BMW 5 Series (G30) sedan/wagon.

The first generation 6 Series was derived from the BMW E23 7 Series, and was powered by a range of naturally aspirated inline-six gasoline engines. Following generations have been powered by inline-four, V8, and V10 engines with both natural aspiration and turbocharging. Since 2008, diesel engines have been included in the 6 Series range, with four-wheel drive models on offer since 2012.

A BMW M6 high performance model was produced for the first three generations of the 6 Series.

First generation (E24; 1976–1989)

The BMW E24 is the first generation of 6 Series and was produced from 1976 to 1989. It replaced the E9 coupés and was solely produced in the 2-door coupé body style. Aside from the M635CSi/M6 models, the E24 was powered by a range of M30 straight-6 engines.

The E24 M635CSi (called the M6 in North America and Japan) is considered the start of the M6 model line. In most markets, the M635CSi is powered by the M88 straight-6 engine. In North America and Japan, the M6 is powered by the less powerful S38 straight-6 engine.

Second generation (E63/E64; 2003–2010)

The E63/E64 is the second generation of 6 Series and   was sold from 2003 to 2010. The body styles of the range are the coupé (E63 model code) and convertible (E64 model code).

In January 2003, the E63 coupé re-introduced the 6 Series range, 14 years after the E24 6 Series ended production. A few months later, the E64 convertible was released.

The E63/E64 uses a shortened version of the E60 5 Series chassis and shares many features with the 5 Series. The car initially drew criticism, due to its controversial styling and complicated iDrive system.

The M6 model was released in 2005 in coupé and convertible body styles. It is powered by the S85 V10 engine and most cars were sold with a 7-speed automated manual transmission ("SMG III"). Customers who wanted a fast four-door M6 Gran Coupe had to wait until November 2013 to get an M6 Gran Coupé, whereas the F12 convertible and F13 coupé M6 models were unveiled in May 2013 for the F12 M6 convertible, and July 2013 for the F13 M6 Coupé. An Alpina version of the four-door Gran Coupé was unveiled prior to the announcement of the M6 Gran Coupé at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, and has been in production since 2011.

Third generation (F06/F12/F13; 2011–2018)
The BMW F06/F12/F13 is the third generation 6 Series and was sold from 2011 to 2018. The body styles of the range are a 4-door sedan (F06 model code, marketed as "Gran Coupé"), 2-door convertible (F12 model code) and 2-door coupé (F13 model code).

It was introduced at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show and New York Auto Show. A new four-door coupé version of the 6 Series was introduced in 2012, at the Geneva Motor Show; and is based on the 2007 CS Concept. Initial models included a 3.0-litre inline six engine, a 4.4-litre V8, and a 3.0-litre inline six diesel engine, with all-wheel drive variants later added to the lineup.

In 2015, the 6 Series underwent a facelift, featuring design changes and minor performance and fuel economy improvements. In February 2017, it was confirmed that the 6 Series coupé model had ended production. The convertible ended in February 2018, and the Gran Coupé ended in October 2018. Although production ended in the Autumn of 2018, the F06 Gran Coupe are available in the 2019 model year.

The F06/F12/F13 M6 is powered by the S63 twin-turbo V8 engine with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. It is the first M6 to use a turbocharged engine.

Fourth generation (G32; 2017–2023)
The BMW G32 is the fourth generation 6 Series, which went on sale in 2017. The body style of the G32 is a 5-door fastback and it is marketed as "6 Series Gran Turismo" (replacing the previous generation 5 Series Gran Turismo).

The G32 was first introduced online on 14 June 2017 and launched at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show in September. The range of engines consist of turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol, 6-cylinder petrol and 6-cylinder diesel engines. Most models are rear-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive (called "xDrive" by BMW) available as an option for some models.

Production and sales
The following are production figures for the BMW 6 Series since 2004.

title: BMW 6 Series


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Pall Mall, London

Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century, which in turn is derived from the Italian pallamaglio, literally "ball-mallet".

The area was built up during the reign of Charles II with fashionable London residences. It is known for high-class shopping in the 18th century until the present, and gentlemen's clubs in the 19th. The Reform, Athenaeum and Travellers Clubs have survived to the 21st century. The War Office was based on Pall Mall during the second half of the 19th century, and the Royal Automobile Club's headquarters have been on the street since 1908.

Geography
The street is around 0.4 mi long and runs east in the St James's area, from St James's Street across Waterloo Place, to the Haymarket and continues as Pall Mall East towards Trafalgar Square. The street numbers run consecutively from north-side east to west and then continue on the south-side west to east. It is nominally part of the A4, a major road running west from Central London, but is not used as a through road.

Early history and pall-mall field
Pall Mall was constructed in 1661, replacing an earlier highway slightly to the south that ran from the Haymarket (approximately where Warwick House Street is now) to the royal residence, St James's Palace. Historical research suggests a road had been in this location since Saxon times, although the earliest documentary references are from the 12th century in connection with a leper colony at St James's Hospital. When St. James's Park was laid out by order of Henry VIII in the 16th century, the park's boundary wall was built along the south side of the road. In 1620, the Privy Council ordered the High Sheriff of Middlesex to clear a number of temporary buildings next to the wall that were of poor quality.

Pall-mall, a ball game similar to croquet, was introduced to England in the early 17th century by James I. The game, already popular in France and Scotland, was enjoyed by James' sons Henry and Charles. In 1630, St James's Field, London's first pall-mall court, was laid out to the north of the Haymarket – St James road.

After the Restoration and King Charles II's return to London on 29 May 1660, another pall-mall court was constructed in St James's Park just south of the wall, on the site of The Mall. Samuel Pepys's diary entry for 2 April 1661 records: "[I] went into St. James's Park, where I saw the Duke of York playing at Pelemele, the first time that I ever saw the sport". This new court suffered from dust blown over the wall from coaches travelling along the highway. In July 1661 posts and rails were erected, stopping up the old road. The court for pall-mall was very long and narrow, and often known as an alley, so the old court, namely St James's Field, provided a suitable route for relocating the eastern approach to St James's Palace. A grant was made to Dan O'Neale, Groom of the Bedchamber, and John Denham, Surveyor of the King's Works, allocating a 1400 by area of land for this purpose. The grant was endorsed 'Our warrant for the building of the new street to St James's'.

A new road was built on the site of the old pall-mall court, and opened in September 1661. It was named Catherine Street, after Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, but was better known as Pall Mall Street or the Old Pall Mall. The pall-mall field was a popular place for recreation, and Pepys records several other visits. By July 1665 Pepys used "Pell Mell" to refer to the street as well as the game.

17th- and 18th-century buildings
In 1662, Pall Mall was one of several streets "thought fitt immediately to be repaired, new paved or otherwise amended" under the London and Westminster Streets Act 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 2). The paving commissioners appointed to oversee the work included the Earl of St Albans. The terms of the act allowed commissioners to remove any building encroaching on the highway, with compensation for those at least 30 years old. The commissioners determined that the real tennis court and adjoining house at the northeast corner of Pall Mall and St James's Street should be demolished, and in 1664 notified Martha Barker, the owner of the Crown lease, to do so. Although Barker initially rejected £230 compensation, the court was demolished by 1679.

The street was developed extensively during 1662–1667. The Earl of St Albans had a lease from the Crown in 1662 on 45 acre of land previously part of St James's Fields. He laid out the site for the development of St James's Square, Jermyn Street, Charles Street, St Albans Street, King Street and other streets now known as St James's. The location was convenient for the royal palaces of Whitehall and St James and the houses on the east, north and west sides of the square were developed along with those on the north side of Pall Mall, each constructed separately as was usual for the time. Houses were not built along the square's south side at first, or the adjoining part of Pall Mall. The Earl petitioned the King in late 1663 that the class of occupants they hoped to attract to the new district would not take houses without the prospect of eventually acquiring them outright. Despite opposition from the Lord Treasurer, the Earl of Southampton, on 1 April 1665 the King granted the Earl of St Albans the freehold of the St James's Square site, along with all the ground on the north side of Pall Mall between St James's Street and the east side of St James's Square. The freehold of the north side of Pall Mall subsequently passed to other private owners.

The Crown kept the freehold of the land south of the street except for No. 79, which was granted to Nell Gwyn's trustees in 1676 or 1677 by Charles II. The buildings constructed on the south side of Pall Mall in subsequent years were grander than those on the north owing to stricter design and building standards imposed by the crown commissioners. When the main road was relocated further north, some houses suddenly had their backs facing the main road, losing available land for gardening. In 1664, residents filed a petition to turn the old road into gardens, which was successful. The trustees of the Earl of St Albans received a sixty-year lease on most of this from April 1665 so that trustees could issue sub-leases to their tenants.

Several other portions of the old highway were leased for construction. At the east end, land was leased to Sir Philip Warwick who built Warwick House (now the location of Warwick House Street) and to Sir John Denham; this parcel of land became part of the grounds of Marlborough House. Portions leased at the west end included the land between St James's Palace and the tennis court at the corner of St James's Street, and a parcel of land leased to the Duchess of Cleveland that became the site of 8–12 Cleveland Row and Stornoway House. The 18th-century London bookseller Andrew Millar also lived in a townhouse designed by Robert Adam, at 34 Pall Mall.

104 Pall Mall was rebuilt in 1761–2 by John, second Earl of Egmont. Sir John Soane remodelled the house in 1793–4 for Lady Louisa Manners, Countess of Dysart who lived there until 1831. From 1831 to 1836 it was used for the storage and exhibition of the Royal picture collection. In 1836 it was acquired by the Reform Club.

Later history

By the 18th century, Pall Mall was well known for its shops as well as its grand houses. The shops included that of the Vulliamy family who made clocks at No. 68 between 1765 and 1854. Robert Dodsley ran a bookshop at No. 52, where he suggested the idea of a dictionary to Samuel Johnson. Writers and artists began to move to Pall Mall during this century; both Richard Cosway and Thomas Gainsborough lived at Schomberg House at Nos. 80–82.

The street was one of the first in London to be lit by gas after Frederick Albert Winsor set up experimental lighting on 4 June 1807 to celebrate King George III's birthday. Permanent lighting was installed in 1820. The eastern end of Pall Mall was widened between 1814 and 1818; a row of houses on its north side was demolished to make way for the Royal Opera Arcade.

Pall Mall is known for the various gentlemen's clubs built there in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Travellers Club was founded in 1819 and moved to No. 49 Pall Mall in 1822. Its current premises at No. 106 were built in 1823 by Charles Barry. The Athenaeum Club took its name from the Athenaeum in Rome, a university founded by the Emperor Hadrian. The club moved to No. 107 Pall Mall in 1830 from tenements in Somerset House. Its entrance hall was designed by Decimus Burton. The Reform Club at Nos. 104–105 was founded for the British Radicals in 1836. The Army and Navy Club at Nos. 36–39 was founded in 1837. The name was suggested by the Duke of Wellington in order to accommodate Royal Navy members. Other clubs on Pall Mall include the United Service Club (now occupied by the Institute of Directors), the Oxford and Cambridge Club and the Royal Automobile Club.

Pall Mall was once the centre of London's fine art scene; in 1824 the Royal Academy, the National Gallery and Christie's auction house were all based on the street.

The freehold of much of the southern side of the Pall Mall is owned by the Crown Estate. In addition to St James's Palace, Marlborough House, which was once a royal residence, is its neighbour to the east, opening off a courtyard just to the south of the street. It was built for Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough who laid the foundation stone in 1709, with building complete by 1711. The house reverted to Crown ownership in 1817; the future King George V was born here in 1865 and briefly lived in the house as Prince of Wales during the reign of his father, Edward VII. It became government-owned in 1959 and houses now the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation. The Prince Regent's Carlton House was built at the eastern end of Pall Mall in 1732 for Frederick, Prince of Wales and later inhabited by his widow, Princess Augusta. A ball was held at the house on 19 June 1811 to celebrate the start of the Prince's regency, but ultimately he did not decide to stay in the house upon ascending the throne, and it was demolished. John Nash built Carlton House Terrace on its site between 1827 and 1832.

Pall Mall was the location of the War Office from 1855 to 1906, with which it became synonymous (just as Whitehall refers to the administrative centre of the UK government). The War Office was accommodated in a complex of buildings based on the ducal mansion, Cumberland House. The office subsequently moved to Whitehall.

The street contained two other architecturally important residences. Schomberg House, at Nos. 80–82 Pall Mall was built in 1698 for Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg and divided into three parts in 1769. The eastern section of the house was demolished in 1850, but reconstructed in the mid-1950s for office use. Buckingham House was the London residence of the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. It was rebuilt in the 1790s by Sir John Soane and sold by the Buckingham estate in 1847. The house was demolished in 1908 to make way for the Royal Automobile Club.

No 77-78 Pall Mall was the home of the Marquess of Ailesbury from 1840. In 1892, it was inherited by the Marchioness' nephew, Viscount de Vesci who leased the building to the Office of Works. In 1902, it was granted to Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Helena and her husband Prince Christian as a grace and favour residence and retained as a home by their daughters, Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise until 1947. In 1951, the property was divided: No.77 was occupied by the Oxford and Cambridge University Club, and no.78 by the Eagle Star Insurance Company.

The Institute of Directors was founded in 1903 and received a royal charter in 1906. The former branch of the Midland Bank at Nos. 69–70 Pall Mall was designed by Edwin Lutyens and constructed between 1922 and 1927. The original plan to redevelop No. 70 proved impractical so the two premises were demolished to provide a site for the current premises. The cigarette manufacturer Rothmans has its head office at No. 65 Pall Mall, in a building designed by Norman Shaw, while P&O Ferries' main administrative office is at No. 79.

Cultural references
Giacomo Casanova lived in Pall Mall during 1761 as "Chevalier de Seingalt" and documented the stay in his memoirs. When the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray visited Dublin in 1845, he compared Pall Mall to O'Connell Street (then known as Upper Sackville Street). In 1870, Henry Benjamin Wheatley wrote "Round about Piccadilly and Pall Mall", documenting changes in and around the street over the century. A compilation of Oscar Wilde's works, A Critic in Pall Mall : Being Extracts From Reviews And Miscellanies, was published in 1919, comprising essays he wrote for newspapers and journals from the 1870s to the 1890s.

Pall Mall is the location of the fictional Diogenes Club in the Sherlock Holmes stories, written by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Princess Elizabeth mentioned Pall Mall in her diary on celebrations on VE day: "Out in crowd again," she wrote, "Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, Pall Mall, walked simply miles. Saw parents on balcony at 12.30 am – ate, partied, bed 3am!"

Pall Mall is part of a group of three squares on the British Monopoly board game, alongside Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue. All three streets converge at Trafalgar Square. Rising house prices across London mean a small flat on Pall Mall, which is in the lowest-priced third of properties on the board, now sells for over £1 million.

Charles Lamb, in his essay "The Superannuated Man," also mentioned this place. The narrator of the essay confesses that he used to "indent the gayer flags of Pall Mall. As the narrator is a superannuated man, he has ample time to spend. Among the means of spending time and enjoying his life is frequently visiting the club houses in Pall Mall, which gave him immense pleasure.

title: Pall Mall, London


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Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands

Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (born Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst, 25 May 1966) is the wife of Prince Constantijn and sister-in-law of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

Early life
Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 May 1966, the daughter of the former Dutch minister of Economic Affairs, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst and Jantien Brinkhorst-Heringa. She has one brother. She is known by her middle name, Laurentien, a portmanteau of her parents' given names.

Princess Laurentien started primary school in Groningen. Her family then moved to The Hague, where she completed her primary education. She attended her secondary education in The Hague, of which four years at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet and one year at the Eerste Vrijzinnige Christelijk Lyceum, and later in Kita, Tokyo at the Lycée Français International de Tokyo, where she obtained her Baccalauréat diploma in 1984. Her father was working in Japan at the time, being the Ambassador of the European Union to Japan between 1982 and 1987.

Princess Laurentien studied history at the University of Groningen, where she completed her Propaedeutics in 1986. She then studied at Queen Mary College, University of London where she received a BA degree in political science in 1989, and subsequently at the University of California, Berkeley where she obtained an MJ degree in 1991.

Interests and activities
In 2009, she was designated UNESCO Special Envoy on "Literacy for Development" in recognition of her "outstanding commitment to the promotion of education and her profound dedication to the Organization's ideals and objectives". In 2010 she was co-recipient of the Major Bosshardt Prize for her work in combating illiteracy.

She is also the current president of wildlife conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International.

Marriage and children
The engagement of Prince Constantijn and Laurentien Brinkhorst was announced on 16 December 2000. The civil marriage was conducted by Wim Deetman, the mayor of the Hague, in the Oude Raadzaal, Javastraat, the Hague, on 17 May 2001. The church wedding took place two days later on 19 May in the Grote of St Jacobskerk, with Reverend Carel ter Linden officiating.

Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien have three children: Eloise (born 2002), Claus-Casimir (born 2004), and Leonore (born 2006).

In 2015, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, and their children moved from Brussels to The Hague.

Titles and styles
Laurentien's full title and style is: Her Royal Highness Princess Petra Laurentien of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg.

Laurentien was not legally created a princess, but custom allows a wife to use her husband's titles. All children of the marriage hold the titles Count or Countess of Orange-Nassau and Jonkheer or Jonkvrouw van Amsberg.

By Royal Decree of 15 January 2003, nr. 36, Princess Laurentien was granted her own personal standard.

National honours

 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands:
 * NLD Order of the House of Orange - Grand Cross BAR.svg Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange (17 May 2001)
 * Royal Wedding Medal 2002.gif Recipient of the Royal Wedding Medal 2002 (2 February 2002)
 * King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal 2013 - ribbon.svg Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal (30 April 2013)

Foreign honours

 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (28 November 2016)
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour (11 April 2023)
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan: Dame Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance (30 October 2006)

title: Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands


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Alexis Arquette

Alexis Arquette (July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist.

Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), an actress. Coming from a family deeply entrenched in the entertainment industry, Alexis was the sibling of actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette. Her career began in her youth, appearing aged 12 in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes and making her screen debut in Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). Known for her versatility, Arquette often performed as a female impersonator under the name "Eva Destruction", before publicly sharing her transition process towards gender-affirming surgery. Her filmography includes a range of roles, from a trans sex worker in "Last Exit to Brooklyn" to appearances in mainstream hits like Pulp Fiction, Threesome, and The Wedding Singer.

Arquette's personal life was marked by her vocal support for the transgender community and candidness about her own transition journey, which was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother. Despite facing health challenges, including contracting HIV in 1987 and later health complications, Arquette continued to be an active figure in entertainment and advocacy, until her death in 2016 aged 47.

Early life
Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), a Jewish actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist. Lewis's family's surname was originally "Arcouet"; Lewis's father was comedian Cliff Arquette, who went by the stage name of Charley Weaver. Arquette was distantly related to American explorer Meriwether Lewis. Actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette are her siblings.

Career
In 1982, at the age of 12, Arquette's first acting gig was as "this little kid who's on a ride with all these women and whatnot" in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes. In 1986, Arquette made her big screen debut in an uncredited role as Alexis, the androgynous friend and bandmate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

Arquette, in the earlier years of her career, primarily performed as a female impersonator, frequently under the name "Eva Destruction". Later in her career, Arquette made public that she had begun the process leading to sex reassignment surgery. To this end, Arquette had publicly declared that she considered her gender to be female.

At 19, Arquette played trans sex worker Georgette in the screen adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn. The majority of Arquette's film work was in low-budget or independent films. In total, Arquette starred in more than 40 movies, including I Think I Do, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, and Sometimes They Come Back... Again. Arquette also starred as a crack addict opposite Tim Roth in Jumpin' at the Boneyard, as a teenage boy seeking revenge for a horrible childhood in the New Zealand-shot horror fantasy Jack Be Nimble, and as a murderous drag queen in the low budget comedy Killer Drag Queens on Dope.

Arquette also had supporting roles in Pulp Fiction, Threesome and Bride of Chucky, and she played a Boy George fanatic, George Stitzer, in the Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore film The Wedding Singer, singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" over and over. Her role as Georgina, a Boy George impersonator, in another Sandler–Barrymore film, Blended, was a reference to that role. In 2001, Arquette returned to New Zealand to play Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess. That same year, Arquette guest starred in the Friends episode "The One with Chandler's Dad", in which she directly interacted with her sister-in-law, Courteney Cox. Also in the same year, she cameoed in Son of the Beach.

In September 2005, VH1 announced Arquette as one of the celebrity house-guests on the 6th season of The Surreal Life. On January 31, 2007, Arquette was a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the première episode of Bravo's reality show Top Design. Arquette also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".

Personal life and death
In 2004, Arquette expressed an interest in undergoing gender-transitioning medical treatment. She decided against undergoing hormone therapy and kept her choice of whether she underwent gender-affirming surgery private from the media by the time she completed her transition in 2006. Her experience was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.

Arquette contracted HIV in 1987. In later life, Arquette suffered from ill health as a result of being HIV-positive. Amid these increasing complications, Alexis began presenting again as a man in 2013. Brother David Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious" and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.

Arquette was placed in a medically-induced coma and died on September 11, 2016, surrounded by close family, at the age of 47. Arquette was serenaded with David Bowie's "Starman". The official cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis stemming from HIV.

title: Alexis Arquette