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By Divine Right

By Divine Right is a Canadian indie rock band led by guitarist and vocalist José Miguel Contreras.

History
The band was formed in 1989 by high school friends Contreras, drummer Mark Goldstein, bass guitarist Liz Teear and guitarist Steve Berman while members were attending Thornlea Secondary School in Thornhill, Ontario. The band issued a number of independent releases before signing to Squirtgun Records for their 1997 album All Hail Discordia.

Bassist Brendan Canning and guitarist Leslie Feist joined the band in 1998 in the run up to their 1999 release Bless This Mess, which was supported by a Canadian and American national tour opening for The Tragically Hip. Canning and Feist later left the band, and co-founded Broken Social Scene.

In 2001, the band released the album Good Morning Beautiful. In 2003, By Divine Right was one of the only Canadian bands to do a concert tour of China.

From 2001 to 2004, the band's line up consisted of Contreras, Colleen Hixenbaugh, Brian Borcherdt, John Hall and Dylan Hudecki. In 2004, drummer John Hall was replaced by Cam Giroux (who played on Good Morning Beautiful), while Borcherdt and Hudecki both left the band. Hudecki was replaced by Darcy Rego and then Michael Small, both of The Meligrove Band, for tours of the United States, Canada and Britain, supporting Sweet Confusion. Filling in on drums for some dates was Loel Campbell of Wintersleep.

After these tours, the band's line-up changed again, to Contreras, Hixenbaugh and Small with drummer Derek Downham, followed by a September 2006 show at the Drake Hotel (Toronto) that saw the band perform all new songs with Rego, Small and Jason Nunes (The Meligrove Band) under the By Divine Right name.

By Divine Right's next live show was on December 31, 2007, at the Tranzac Club in Toronto, at which the band's new full-time line up of Contreras, Stew Heyduk (of The Golden Dogs) and Mitch Perkins (formerly of Rusty) appeared together for the first time.

In 2007, By Divine Right contributed a cover of Rheostatics' "Shaved Head" to the tribute album The Secret Sessions, with a line-up consisting only of Contreras and Julien Beillard of the band Wooden Stars.

In May 2008, By Divine Right opened a show for The Golden Dogs at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto with yet another new line up, consisting of Contreras, Heyduk and Darcy Rego returning on drums.

In 2009, Mutant Message, the band's first album since 2004's Sweet Confusion, was released in Canada on the Toronto Arts imprint Hand Drawn Dracula. label The album has José Contreras, Stew Heyduk and Darcy Rego with guest vocals by Jason Nunes and Lily Frost, and features "Que Paso", the first song Contreras wrote and sung in Spanish despite his longtime fluency in the language. By Divine Right's first tours since 2005 followed, with a new drummer, David Joseph, and bass guitarist, Michael Milosh. Music videos were released for the songs "I Love a Girl", "Cupid in Oilskins" and "I Will Hook You Up". The band's line up changed again after these tours, with Dylan Hudecki and Darcy Rego each filling in before Geordie Dynes and Alysha Haugen joined in late 2010.

In 2013, By Divine Right released its ninth album, Organized Accidents. In 2016 they released Speak & Spell, a track-for-track cover of Depeche Mode's 1981 album Speak & Spell.

Contreras has also released two solo albums, José Contreras (2014) and At the Slaughterhouse (2019).

In 2022, By Divine Right released the single "St. Leons" as a preview of the album OTTO MOTTO, which was released on September 23, 2022 through Fortune Stellar Records out of Toronto.

Discography

 * Buffet of the Living Dead – 1992 (independent cassette)
 * By Divine Right – 1995 (Kinetic)
 * Some – 1996 (four-song EP cassette)
 * All Hail Discordia – 1997 (Squirtgun)
 * Bless This Mess – 1999 (Nettwerk)
 * Good Morning Beautiful – 2001 (Linus)
 * Hybrid TV Genii – 2004 (Linus/spinART)
 * Sweet Confusion – 2004 (Linus/spinART)
 * Mutant Message – 2009 (Hand Drawn Dracula)
 * Organized Accidents - 2013 (Hand Drawn Dracula)
 * Speak & Spell US - 2016 (Headless Owl Records)
 * OTTO MOTTO - 2022 (Fortune Stellar)

Current members

 * José Miguel Contreras (1989–present)
 * Alysha Haugen (2010–present)
 * Colin White (2023–present)

Former members

 * Mark Goldstein (1989–2000)
 * Steve Berman (1989–1991)
 * Elizabeth Teear (1989–1993)
 * Rob Carson (1992–1994)
 * Scott Maynard (1993–1996)
 * Cam Bull (1996–1997)
 * Brendan Canning (1998–2000)
 * Leslie Feist (1998–2000)
 * Brian Borcherdt (2001–2004)
 * Colleen Hixenbaugh (2001–2006)
 * Dylan Hudecki (2001–2004, 2005, 2010)
 * John Hall (2001–2004)
 * Cam Giroux (2001, 2004–2005)
 * Darcy Rego (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
 * Loel Campbell (2004)
 * Michael Small (2004-2006)
 * Derek Downham (2005–2006)
 * Jason Nunes (2006)
 * Julien Beillard (2007)
 * Mitch Perkins (2007–2008)
 * Stew Heyduk (2007–2008)
 * Michael Milosh (2009–2010)
 * Dave Joseph (2009–2010)
 * Geordie Dynes (2010–2023)

title: By Divine Right


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1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak

On Tuesday, April 10, 1979, a widespread and destructive outbreak of severe weather impacted areas near the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. Thunderstorms developed over West and North Central Texas during the day within highly unstable atmospheric conditions following the northward surge of warm and moist air into the region, producing large hail, strong winds, and multiple tornadoes. At least 22 tornadoes were documented on April 10, of which two were assigned an F4 rating on the Fujita scale; four of the tornadoes caused fatalities.

Hardest hit were the communities of Vernon, Texas; Lawton, Oklahoma; and Wichita Falls, Texas, which were all impacted by strong tornadoes. The F4 Vernon tornado struck southern and eastern parts of the city at approximately 4:45 p.m. CST, destroying several residential blocks and killing 11 people. An F3 tornado spun up in Lawton at 5:05 p.m. CST, destroying 167 buildings and killing 3 people. The most significant tornado of the day was an F4 tornado that began east-northeast of Holliday, Texas, at around 5:50 p.m. CST and moved east-northeast into Wichita Falls, taking a 8 mi course through densely-populated areas of the city and destroying over two thousand homes across several neighborhoods. The tornado spanned as wide as 1.5 mi across during its passage through the city, with the most severe damage occurring within a 0.5 mi wide swath. At least 45 people were killed within the city and nearly 1,800 people were injured, ranking the tornado among the deadliest in Texas history. A majority of the fatalities occurred as the tornado mangled and tossed vehicles. The damage wrought by the Wichita Falls tornado was unprecedented, with the $400 million damage toll making it the costliest tornado on record at the time. The severe weather event was widely observed by scientific instruments due to its serendipitous occurrence during a NASA field campaign. Later studies referred to the tornado outbreak as the Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak, and in the areas affected the day came to be known as Terrible Tuesday.

The same weather system associated with the tornado outbreak produced additional thunderstorms and tornadoes on April 11, particularly in Arkansas. While tornadic activity was more widespread on April 11 compared to April 10 far fewer casualties occurred. The weather system also produced intense rainfall over Mississippi and Alabama that culminated in the 1979 Easter flood, the worst disaster to befall Jackson, Mississippi in over a century.

Preceding the event
On April 9, a strong upper-tropospheric trough was located over the western United States. At roughly 40000 ft above the surface, a powerful jet stream extended from the eastern Pacific to South Texas. Although a cold front moving south during the day brought substantially cooler conditions to Oklahoma, it quickly weakened over Texas. Warm and moist air remained over South Texas ahead of the disturbances. Meteorological computer models using data collected at 6 p.m. CST April 9 suggested that severe weather was possible the next day for parts of Oklahoma and Texas but did not as indicate as clearly the possibility of a tornado outbreak. The upper-tropospheric trough moved slower than modeling projected and by 6:00 a.m. CST April 10 had become oriented north-northeast to south-southwest, a characteristically negative tilt associated with many severe weather outbreaks. An occluded front stretched from a quickly intensifying low-pressure area in Colorado into the Texas Panhandle, representing one area conducive to storm development. A wide expanse of stratus clouds covered much of Central Texas during the morning hours as a result of a stable airmass over the area. However, strong southerly winds closer to the surface brought moisture northward from South Texas, concurrent with a rapid increase in atmospheric instability over North Texas. Due to the presence of directional wind shear, the winds over the Red River Valley brought moist air from the south closer to the surface, and drier air from the west further aloft, enhancing convective instability. The leading edge of the northward surge of moisture was marked by an ill-defined warm front. Dew points across the region increased by around 10 – to near 60 F.

A line of thunderstorms developed over North Texas on the morning of April 10 in response to the surge of warm air, with small hail up to 1 in diameter associated with some of the storms. Within the nearby jet stream, an area of locally intense winds – a jet streak – moved towards the northeast towards the expanding unstable airmass over north-central Texas. The passage of this core of intense winds aloft induced strong southwesterly winds closer to the surface over eastern New Mexico and West Texas, leading to widespread blowing dust. Wind gusts exceeded 60 mph across West Texas and reached as high as 93 mph at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The dew point at Marfa, Texas, was 10 F compared to dew points near 70 F over central Texas. This surge of dry air, moving towards the east-northeast at roughly 30 knot, marked another potential region for storm development. A second area of thunderstorms began to quickly intensify along the leading edge of this dry line and along the occluded front between Amarillo, Texas, and Plainview, Texas. Hail up to 1.5 in in diameter was reported in association with these storms, as well as a tornado east of Plainview at around 1:38 p.m. CST that caused no damage. A third area of thunderstorms, albeit short-lived, developed west of Abilene, Texas, along the western edge of a small region of high pressure. While several of the morning's storms moved towards stable conditions and were poised to eventually weaken, particularly conducive conditions for intense thunderstorm development materialized near Lubbock, Texas, at the intersection of the surging dry line, the warm front, and the western edge of the high pressure region.

By the afternoon of April 10, both the warm front and the region of strong winds associated with the jet stream had reached the Red River area, resulting in stronger wind shear. A low-pressure area had also developed in the vicinity of Childress, Texas at around 1–2 p.m. CST, and would serve as a focusing mechanism for converging moisture over the Red River Valley. The National Severe Storms Forecasting Center (NSSFC) issued a tornado watch at 1:55 p.m. CST on April 10 for a 30000 mi2 area encompassing parts of southwestern Oklahoma and north-central Texas. The watch statement highlighted the potential for tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds within the watch area. Within the risk region, the air pressure fell by 6 – in three hours; such drastic pressure falls can precede tornado outbreaks. Strong convergence of moisture was also observed in the areas where storms eventually formed.

Tornado outbreak
The arrival of the jet streak contributed to the conversion of the atmospheric instability accumulating near the Red River into thunderstorm formation. Just before the onset of the tornado outbreak, a low level jet with winds of 20 m/s materialized over north-central Texas in response to the approach of the jet streak higher aloft, accelerating the transport of heat and moisture northward into the Red River Valley. Thunderstorms developed near Lubbock and moved east-northeastward into a region of high potential instability near the Red River, becoming the strongest thunderstorms of the day. In particular, three isolated supercell thunderstorms caused the majority of the severe weather during the afternoon and evening of April 10; all developed in the localized area of supportive conditions near the frontal intersection. The first thunderstorm formed around 1:00 p.m. CST spawned five tornadoes between 3:05 p.m. CST and 5:15 p.m. CST, including an F4-rated tornado that struck Vernon, Texas, and an F3-rated tornado that struck Lawton, Oklahoma. The second thunderstorm formed around 2:30 p.m. CST, while the third formed around 4:30 p.m. CST. The second supercell produced a tornado that began at 3:55 p.m. and took 64 mi long track – the longest track of any tornado during the event – through primarily rural areas near Harrold, Texas and Grandfield, Oklahoma. The most damaging tornado, associated with the third supercell, began at around 5:55 p.m. CST and struck Wichita Falls, Texas. These storms persisted into nighttime over central and eastern Oklahoma. The breakout of severe weather and tornadoes associated with the thunderstorms near the Red River during the afternoon and evening of April 10 was collectively termed the "Red River Valley outbreak" or the "Red River Valley tornado outbreak" by scientists studying the event. At least 12 tornadoes occurred within 75 km of Wichita Falls in a single two-hour period. The last tornado that occurred in the Red River Valley occurred around 8:00 p.m. CST in connection with the third supercell near Pruitt City, Oklahoma. The thunderstorms that produced the tornadoes in the Red River Valley continued into Arkansas and southern Missouri during the overnight hours but did not produce severe weather.

The arrival of a second and weaker region of strong winds within the nearby jet stream led to the development of severe thunderstorms, including some tornadoes, farther south over west-central and northern Texas during the overnight hours. These tornadoes caused extensive damage in rural areas and some injuries. Like the severe event earlier in the day along the Red River, the development of these storms was aided by a localized area of low pressure that developed near Abilene at around 7:20 p.m. CST. Additional storms also persisted over the Midwestern United States into the morning of April 11. The broader weather system that produced the severe weather on April 10 continued eastward towards the Mississippi River Valley the next day and intensified. April 11 ultimately proved to be a more active day for severe weather, with Arkansas experiencing most of the day's tornadoes; however, fewer casualties resulted from the tornadoes compared to the previous day. The 27 tornadoes that were ultimately documented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Arkansas during April 1979 set a new monthly record high for the state. Heavy rains over Mississippi and Alabama associated with the same weather system on April 11–13 led to extensive flooding along the banks of the Pearl River and Tombigbee River. Rainfall totals reached 10 –, with the flood near Jackson, Mississippi, being representative of a 1 in 500-year or 1 in 100-year flood event.

Confirmed tornadoes
NWS offices in Texas and Oklahoma reported 56 fatalities from the tornadoes on April 10, with 53 in Texas and 3 in Oklahoma across a combined 12 counties. Another 1,916 people were injured, of which 256 were hospitalized. The American Red Cross reported 2,934 homes destroyed with another 3,263 damaged. April 10 featured the most damaging tornado outbreak since the 1974 Super Outbreak. Four tornadoes caused fatalities that day. The NWS characterized the tornado outbreak as "one of the most significant tornado outbreaks that ever occurred in western north Texas and southern Oklahoma." The atmospheric environment surrounding the April 10 severe weather outbreak and the thunderstorms that eventually formed were closely observed as part of the Severe Environmental Storms and Mesoscale Experiment (SESAME), a scientific field campaign aimed at studying severe weather. As part of SESAME, an extensive survey of affected areas was undertaken following the event, including interviews of civil defense directors and ground and aerial surveys of tornado paths. Damage along the paths of 12 of the tornadoes on April 10 were rated with the Fujita scale by Ted Fujita and Roger Wakimoto based on observations from a low-flying Cessna aircraft on April 12–13, with a presumed ±1 margin of error.

Thalia–Vernon, Texas/Davidson, Oklahoma
The first of three intense and tornadic thunderstorms produced a tornado in southern Foard County, Texas, at 2:05 p.m. CST. While this first tornado was still on the ground, the same thunderstorm produced a second tornado in Foard County 2 mi so north of Thalia, at around 3:20 p.m. CST; the two tornadoes were separated by 1.5 mi and moved in parallel for 5 mi. The second tornado continued into Wilbarger County, after the first dissipated. It tracked towards the Lockett, area along US 70, damaging farms and homes. Fujita and Wakimoto assessed up to F2-rated tornado damage between Thalia and Lockett. The tornado crossed the highway 1 mi north of Lockett. One person was killed by the tornado after their vehicle was blown 200 yd off US-70 into a pasture.

The tornado then moved northeast towards the Vernon, area. Its large size made identification of its tornadic nature by storm spotters difficult. Tornado sirens were activated shortly before the tornado struck Vernon. The tornado entered Vernon at around 3:45 p.m. CST and moved over southern and eastern parts of the city. Several residential blocks in southern Vernon were destroyed by the tornado, leading to at least three deaths. The damage was especially severe along Gordon and Atlanta streets. In eastern Vernon, the tornado razed several buildings, including the Wilbarger Exhibit Building and a Texas Highway Department warehouse. The tornado then crossed US 287, blowing vehicles off the highway and killing seven people. A total of ten fatalities occurred in Vernon. Fujita and Wakimoto assessed up to low-end F4-rated tornado damage in the Vernon area. The tornado crossed the Pease River outside of Vernon, killing cows along the riverbank, and crossed into Oklahoma near the confluence of the Pease River and Red River with approximately F1 intensity. The tornado passed east-northeast of Davidson, destroying at least three homes and inflicting major damage on another five. One person was injured in Oklahoma after their car was blown by the tornado. Numerous cattle were also killed or injured by the tornado. Fujita and Wakimoto asssessed up to F2-rated tornado damage in the Davidson area. The tornado lifted at around 4:00 p.m. CST.

The tornado's path spanned 37 –, with about 26 mi in Texas and 11 mi in Oklahoma. The tornado's width averaged about 880 yd. The Institute for Disaster Research conducted aerial surveys of the tornado, rating it an F4 on the Fujita scale based on the resulting damage. The institute estimated that the tornado's maximum winds were 150 – based on the degree to which residences were damaged, the damage to the Texas Highway Department, the destruction of a motel and restaurant along US-287, and the distance over which impacted vehicles were blown by the tornado. The same thunderstorm that produced the Vernon tornado later produced another three tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Holliday–Wichita Falls, Texas/Waurika, Oklahoma
Parts of Wichita Falls, were struck by a violent tornado on the evening of April 10. The tornado was up to 1.5 mi wide as it tore through the city, with the swath of particularly intense damage spanning 0.25 – wide. The tornado swept east-northeastward through a 8 mi stretch of residential areas covering 11 mi2, directly causing 42 fatalities according to the National Weather Service (NWS); another three people later died of heart attacks. A survey by the Center for Disease Control enumerated 44 fatalities and 171 injuries requiring hospitalization, while a later study published in Science in February 1980 enumerated 45 deaths from traumatic injuries inflicted by the tornado, 1 from sepsis, and 1 from tetanus. Of the fatalities, 25 were vehicle-related deaths; 11 people died while attempting to evade the tornado in their vehicles after fleeing their otherwise undamaged homes. Only five deaths occurred indoors. Around 1,700 people sustained injuries in Wichita Falls, including 59 with serious injuries. Numerous residences were destroyed in the city, including 2,095 homes, 1,062 apartment units and 93 mobile homes. Over 3,000 homes left uninhabitable by the tornado. The widespread devastation left approximately 20,000 people from 5,000 families homeless, accounting for about 10–20% of the city's population. Vehicles were thrown as far as 200 yd away by the tornado. The destruction amounted to $400 million in damage, making the tornado the costliest tornado on record at the time. When normalized for wealth and inflation, the tornado caused approximately $1.14 billion in damage in 1997 United States dollars. Advance notice of the approaching tornado and the awareness of prior tornadoes earlier in the day in nearby Rocky Point and Vernon may have contributed to lowering the ultimate death toll.

The thunderstorm that eventually produced the Wichita Falls tornado formed north of Abilene and generally moved towards the northeast. Weather radar observed reflectivity values exceeded 50 dBZ throughout the storm's lifetime, with the radar signal routinely exceeding 50000 ft above the surface; satellite observations suggested cloud top heights reaching as high as 15.6 km. The thunderstorm produced an F2 tornado earlier in the day in Baylor Countyy, and hail up to 3 in in diameter in Archer, Baylor, Wichita, and Wilbarger counties. Another thunderstorm produced a tornado in Wichita County about 12 mi west-southwest of Iowa Park. The Wichita Falls weather service office issued a tornado warning for Wichita County at 5:08 p.m. in response to sightings of this tornado, and tornado sirens were sounded in Wichita Falls at 5:25 p.m. The first thunderstorm eventually approached Wichita County, prompting a severe thunderstorm warning for the county at 5:45 p.m. CST. Two mesoscyclones within the thunderstorm were apparent on radar, including one associated with the earlier tornado in Baylor County.

At around 5:50 p.m. CST, a tornado developed in connection with the second mesocyclone on the southwestern flanks of the thunderstorm 3 mi east-northeast of Holliday, Texas, in Archer County. Witnesses observed smaller vortices embedded in the broader tornadic circulation as it developed, highlighting the multiple-vortex nature of the tornado; the individual vorticies coalesced as the tornado approached Wichita Falls. Evidence of a tornado first became apparent on weather radar at 5:58 p.m. CST, while the tornado was about 10 mi southwest of the center of Wichita Falls. The initial reports of the tornado by amateur storm spotters provided residents of Wichita Falls with about 5–10 minutes of notice before the tornado's eventual arrival. The Wichita Falls weather service office issued a tornado warning for Wichita County at 6:00 p.m. CST, just as the first tornado warning expired, warning of the approach of this new tornado. The tornado moved along the Fort Worth and Denver Railway into Wichita County, blowing away two oil storage tanks and unroofing several homes near FM 2560; the swept oil tanks produced an oil spill. Six high-tension steel electrical transmission towers east of the road were damaged, with three blown prostrate. The tornado darkened and widened to a width of roughly 0.5 mi across as it moved into Wichita Falls at around 6:15 p.m. CST, impacting Memorial Stadium. The stadium field house was heavily damaged and stadium lighting was snapped. As the tornado passed just south of the stadium, it rapidly strengthened to high-end F4 intensity and maintained this strength for the next 11 mi of its path. The tornado then caused the collapse of the western half of McNiel Junior High School; the school was largely unoccupied when the tornado struck. After striking the stadium, the tornado began to move through heavily populated residential areas. The Western Hills neighborhood south of Southwest Parkway was struck next, resulting in the first fatalities caused by the tornado. Numerous homes and several apartment complexes were destroyed in the neighborhood.

The tornado widened to a width of about 1 mi as it crossed Southwest Parkway into the Faith Village neighborhood, levelling several businesses and tossing vehicles about. The Southwest National Bank Building was levelled with the exception of its vault. The tornado destroyed most homes in Faith Village. Small interior rooms in most of the destroyed homes remained intact, resulting in relatively few fatalities despite the severity of destruction. The cafeteria auditorium and exterior classrooms at Ben Milam Elementary School sustained heavy damage. The tornado proceeded to raze businesses along Kemp Boulevard, including a restaurant where three people were killed. The northern periphery of the tornado struck the Sikes Senter shopping mall, causing the partial collapse of a JCPenney store and inflicting light to moderate damage to other stores in the mall. Several of the roughly 1,000 shoppers in the mall suffered major injuries. The tornadic winds heaped cars in the shopping mall's parking lot atop one another or blew them away. Several people were killed or injured in the parking lot, including some who had fled from the mall to their cars. A church 0.5 mi south of the mall was flattened, resulting in one fatalitity. The tornado entered the Colonial Park neighborhood after traversing a greenbelt and clipping the southern side of Midwestern State University, destroying many homes and apartment complexes in Colonial Park. The second stories of apartment buildings saw particularly severe damage. Additional homes and a shopping center were razed in the Southmoor subdivision. The tornado then crossed US 281 and moved into the Sun Valley neighborhood along the southern side of US 287, destroying apartments, houses, and businesses. Cars were wrecked on US 287, resulting in a few fatalities. Among the fatalities were some who sought shelter underneath a highway overpass. The Sunnyside Heights mobile home park north of the highway was destroyed, though no fatalities resulted as residents had evacuated.

Industrial plants were subsequently destroyed, including a Levi Strauss & Co. manufacturing plant, as the tornado moved into Clay County south of SH 79. The Wichita Falls weather service office issued a tornado warning for Clay County at 6:11 p.m. CST shortly before the office lost power. Homes were destroyed by the tornado south of TX-79 along a path from Wichita Falls to Dean, and Petrolia, contributing to the $15 million damage toll wrought by the twister in Clay County. Forty people were injured in the county. Fujita and Wakimoto assessed up to F4-rated tornado damage between Wichita Falls and Dean, with F0-rated damage south of Petrolia. The tornado uprooted 200 trees along the Red River as it crossed into Oklahoma around 4 mi east of Byers at 6:30 p.m. CST. The tornado's path gradually curved towards the left after entering Oklahoma, bringing it to areas southwest of Waurika. The most severe damage inflicted by the tornado in the state occurred alone Noble Wray Road, where 20 homes were destroyed or damaged. The frame of one mobile home was greatly contorted and blown 0.5 mi away. Fujita and Wakimoto assessed up to F2-level damage southwest of Waurika. The tornado dissipated just before 7:00 p.m. CST north-northeast of Waurika. Widespread F0-intensity damage continued for 30 mi past Waurika, though this damage was likely caused by a large downburst rather than a continuation of the tornado.

In total, the tornado was on the ground for approximately 70 minutes, with of path 47 mi long, including 36 mi in Texas and 11 mi in Oklahoma. Based on aerial surveys of the damage, the Institute for Disaster Research assessed the tornado as reaching F4 intensity and estimated that the tornado's maximum wind speeds reached 175 –. The most extreme damage wrought by the tornado occurred at McNiel Junior High School and Southwest National Bank. Later engineering analysis of the higher-end damage suggested winds consistent with that of a strong F4 tornado, though there was ample preceding scientific discussion concerning whether or not the extreme damage could be graded as F5-intensity damage. Unlike most tornadoes, the corridor of strongest winds associated with the Wichita Falls tornado was unusually wide; the swath of F4-severity damage was nearly 0.5 mi across in vicinity of Ben Milam Elementary School and the Faith Village neighborhood. The thunderstorm that produced the Wichita Falls tornado also dropped hail up to 2 in diameter in Wichita Falls north of the tornado path. Survivors of the tornado also observed hail the size of golf balls immediately preceding and following passage of the tornado. The broader winds associated with the mesocyclone that spawned the Wichita Falls tornado caused light damage throughout much of the city.

Aftermath
Within Wichita Falls $63 million in losses were eligible for federal disaster aid. The apparent survivability of small interior rooms despite the widespread destruction of homes and businesses encouraged the development of reinforced safe rooms. The viability of safe rooms and the high number of fatalities among those who fled their homes led to increased emphasis on seeking indoor shelter in tornado preparedness, as opposed to the older idea of opening windows to reduce tornado damage.

April 10, 1979, came to be known as "Terrible Tuesday" in the areas affected by the tornadoes along the Oklahoma–Texas border. In 1984, the NWS produced a documentary covering the Wichita Falls tornado, entitlted Terrible Tuesday, in collaboration with the American Red Cross and FEMA. One Wichita Falls park features a plaque with the names of the 45 people who died during and after the Wichita Falls tornado, with a tree dedicated to each of the victims. Another park near the downtown area bears crape myrtle sculptures symbolizing the city's recovery.

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

title: 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak


text: Category:Rabbis

title: Category:Rabbis


text:
Bucks County Playhouse

The Bucks County Playhouse is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

When the Hope Mills burned in 1790, Benjamin Parry rebuilt the grist mills as the New Hope Mills. The town was renamed for the mills.

The building was saved from demolition in the 1930s. It was purchased and run by a group of people including playwrights Moss Hart and Kenyon Nicholson. Renovations converting the building into a theater began in 1938. The first production at the new Bucks County Playhouse was Springtime for Henry featuring Edward Everett Horton. It opened on July 1, 1939.

The Bucks County Playhouse became a summer theater. It was the starting point for many actors and became a place where plays slated for Broadway were tried out. Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley, had its premiere at the theater in 1963. Other notable actors who performed at the theater over the years include Bela Lugosi, Dick Van Dyke, Tyne Daly, Grace Kelly, Angela Lansbury, and Walter Matthau.

The Bucks County Playhouse Conservancy, a public/private partnership, raised sufficient funds to regain the property following a 2010 foreclosure. Following an extensive renovation, the theater reopened on July 2, 2012.

It is a member company of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Memorable productions
1939:
 * Springtime for Henry, starring Edward Everett Horton.

1941:
 * Clifford Odets’ Golden Boy starring Hume Cronyn.
 * The Man Who Came to Dinner starring George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart and Harpo Marx.

1946:
 * James M. Barrie's Alice Sit-by-the-Fire featuring Helen Hayes and her 16-year-old daughter Mary MacArthur, who made her stage debut as a BCP Apprentice.

1949:
 * BCP Apprentice Grace Kelly makes her stage debut in playwright George Kelly's The Torchbearers, followed by The Heiress.

1951:
 * Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn star together for the first time on stage in the pre-Broadway opening of The Fourposter.

1952:
 * Angela Lansbury graced the BCP stage in Affairs of State.
 * Grace Kelly returned to the BCP, fresh from Broadway, television and Hollywood to star with Jerome Cowen in Accent on Youth.

1955:
 * The Today Show broadcast live, with host Dave Garoway, from the BCP with an NBC radio simulcast which had never been done before in the US. It was national recognition for the Bucks County Playhouse.

1959:
 * Dick Van Dyke's first dramatic stage appearance in BCP's Cradle and All and Robert Redford's first role at BCP in Tiger at the Gates.

1960:
 * Come Blow Your Horn was Neil Simon's first play and made its world premiere at the BCP. Producers Michael Ellis and William Hammerstein, after Simon's rewrites, took Come Blow Your Horn from BCP to Broadway.

1963:
 * Neil Simon's third play, Barefoot in the Park (Nobody Loves Me), had its world premiere there with Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley in the lead roles. In addition to earning him his first Tony Award for Best Director (Dramatic) on Broadway in 1964, it was Mike Nichols' first play that he had ever directed.
 * James Daly and his family, seventeen-year-old Tyne, fifteen-year-old daughter Glynn and seven-year-old son Tim all appeared together in playwright Jean Kerr's first comedy, Jenny Kissed Me, in 1963. James Daly first starred in 1954's Millicent's Castle and later in the 1962 hit The Advocate at the BCP. Tyne Daly started her career by performing in summer stock with her family, earned her Equity Card at age 15, and made her professional debut at the BCP.
 * Alan Alda appeared in Jean Kerr's King of Hearts, directed by James Hammerstein.

1964:
 * Liza Minnelli stars in Time Out For Ginger by Ronald Alexander with Chester Morris.
 * BCP Apprentice Rob Reiner worked on Sunday In New York (starring Alan Alda & Sherry Lewis), Bus Stop (starring Johnnie Ray), The Choice is Murder, Broadway (starring Merv Griffin), and A Perfect Frenzy by John D. Hess (starring Shelley Berman)
 * The entire US and Canada heard all about the little town of New Hope, PA when The Arthur Godfrey Show, on CBS radio, originated from the stage of the BCP for two weeks while Mr. Godfrey starred in a revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

1965:
 * James Daly and Colleen Dewhurst star in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Also co-starring Danial J. Travanti. Rob Reiner was a BCP Apprentice this entire season.
 * Eddie Bracken and Doddie Goodman star in The Thurber Carnival. Timmy Brown, Nancy Nuegent, David Doyle, & Margaret Hamilton co-star.

1966:
 * George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst star in The Lion in Winter.
 * Bernadette Peters appeared in Riverwind, starring Robert Alda, directed by James Hammerstein.

1970:
 * John Lithgow Directed and/or acted in four shows at BCP: Sir in The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, Dr. Talacryn in Hadrian VII and Captain Vale in The Magistrate (which he also directed). Mr. Lithgow even directed a BCP revival of Barefoot in the Park in 1970 right before heading off to the bright lights of Broadway.

1974:
 * Give ‘Em Hell Harry, world premiere starring James Whitmore- went on to Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

1976:
 * Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach's two-week run of The House of Blue Leaves broke the Playhouse's attendance record. Ms. Jackson starred in Dear Ruth, under the direction of Theron Bamberger, which provided the biggest profit in the 1947 season, and S. J. Behrman's witty comedy of the thirties, Biography, during the tenure of producer Walter Perner Jr. in 1966.

1989:
 * Audra McDonald garners rave reviews as Aldonza in BCP's Man of La Mancha.

2012:
 * Actor's Equity shows return to the BCP with Producing Director Jed Bernstein.
 * Rodgers and Hammerstein's A Grand Night for Singing, directed by Lonny Price, starring Courtney Balan, Ron Bohmer, Greg Bosworth, Erin Davie and Kenita R. Miller
 * Barefoot in the Park, directed by Sheryl Kaller, starring Robert John Biedermann, Candy Buckley, Jonathan Hadary, Lee Aaron Rosen and Virginia Veale
 * It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, directed by Gordon Greenberg, starring Justin Guarini, Garth Kravits, Lauren Molina, Jill Paice, Kevin Pariseau, and Mark Price

title: Bucks County Playhouse


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Talk:John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun

Untitled
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun seems so to have confounded historians that not a good word can be found to have been said about him, like the last lord Dudley, but still worthy of note, I hope.Faedra 19:03, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC) (HELP REQUIRED HERE)!..

Anybody interested in Loudoun's activities during the French and Indian War should read Stanley Pargellis, Lord Loudoun in North America (Archon Books, 1968). Pargellis makes it clear that Loudoun was not the incompetent general he is often made out to be. Although no military genius, he did much to improve the logistics and training of the British army. The reasons for his dismissal were essentially political, and he did much to prepare the way for the British victories under his successors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.176.198.239 (talk) 18:39, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

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This article might actually not be critical enough
See article here:. Suggests that Loudoun was a serial blunderer and procrastinator his entire career, and that his abuses of the colonials (especially in forced quartering of troops on a large scale) even had something to do with specific demands in the Declaration of Independence. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:44, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Titles(s)
Our article calls him (for his time in America) "Commander-in-Chief and Governor General of Virginia", and there doesn't seem to be a source for this. "Commander-in-Chief" even sounds like an Americanism to me. J. Telfer Dunbar, History of Highland Dress (1979), p. 177, says he was "Captain General of H.M. Forces in North America". — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:46, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun


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Talk:Painter's algorithm

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 August 2020 and 13 November 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hangandrew, Skkapur1471, HexUser32F.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 06:01, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Polygon Cycles
In adding information on polygon cutting (eliminating cycles of polygons) there does not seem to be a lot of information on this in wikipedia. I am adding an entry on Newell's Algorithm, but there is much more information on the topic. Where should it go?

Farley13 22:40, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Capitalization
Is it "Painter's algorithm", "Painter's Algorithm" or "painter's algorithm"? - Fredrik (talk) 19:06, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * I think "Painter's algorithm" is correct, though not sure about capitalization. -- Tarquin 19:14, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * I believe "painter's algorithm" would be correct (if we could lowercase the first letter) as there isn't a Mr Painter. It's a bit like "jockey's helmet", I suppose. Unless 1.3 "fixes" the capital-first-letter issue, we might as well leave it where it is. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:19, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * Your reasoning for "painter's algorithm" seems right to me. I've edited the article accordingly. Fredrik (talk) 19:37, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Signature
Oops, sorry about the signature. Habitual indeed. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:21, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

What's with the comments on painter's vs z-buffers?
Guys! What does depth-buffer precision have to do with polygon gaps? Also, only crap rasterizers overrender. - i think that should be mentioned somehow. Normally, with z-buffer systems, you'll paint stuff f2b for performance, not b2f as with painter's.

Merge from Priority fill
From the Priority fill article: Priority fill is also known as the Painter's algorithm. The text there is a little dense, and it's better explained here. Why have two pages? - Rainwarrior 20:01, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

 * Since there were no comments in a few weeks, I've done the "merge". (Really, there was no new information at Priority fill.) - Rainwarrior 18:29, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Painter's algorithm


text:
Ramesses IX

Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ramesses III and Ramesses XI. He is now believed to have assumed the throne on I Akhet day 21 based on evidence presented by Jürgen von Beckerath in a 1984 GM article. According to the latest archaeological information, Ramesses IX died in Regnal Year 19 I Peret day 27 of his reign. Therefore, he enjoyed a reign of 18 years, 4 months and 6 days. His throne name, Neferkare Setepenre, means "Beautiful Is The Soul of Re, Chosen of Re." Ramesses IX is believed to be the son of Mentuherkhepeshef, a son of Ramesses III, since Mentuherkhopshef's wife, the lady Takhat bears the prominent title of King's Mother on the walls of tomb KV10, which she usurped and reused in the late 20th Dynasty; no other 20th Dynasty king is known to have had a mother with this name. Ramesses IX was, therefore, probably a grandson of Ramesses III.

Tomb robberies
His reign is best known for the year 16 and year 17 tomb robbery trials, recorded in the Abbott Papyrus, the Papyrus Leopold II, Papyrus BM 10054 and on the recto of both Papyrus BM 10053 and Papyrus BM 10068. It has been suggested that the undated Papyrus Mayer B, dealing with the plundering of the tomb of Ramesses VI, may also stem from his reign.

During these trials it became clear that several royal and noble tombs in the Western Theban Necropolis had been robbed, including that of a 17th Dynasty king, Sobekemsaf II. Paser, Mayor of Eastern Thebes or Karnak, accused his subordinate Paweraa, the Mayor of West Thebes responsible for the safety of the necropolis, of being either culpable in this wave of robberies or negligent in his duties of protecting the Valley of the Kings from incursions by tomb robbers. Paweraa played a leading part in the vizierial commission set up to investigate, and, not surprisingly, it proved impossible for Paweraa to be officially charged with any crime due to the circumstantiality of the evidence. Paser disappeared from sight soon after the report was filed.

Projects
In the sixth year of his reign, he inscribed his titulature in the Lower Nubian town of Amara West. Most of his building works centre on the sun temple centre of Heliopolis in Lower Egypt where the most significant monumental works of his reign are located. However, he also decorated the wall to the north of the Seventh Pylon in the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. Finally, his name has been found at the Dakhla Oasis in Western Egypt and Gezer at Canaan which may suggest a residual Egyptian influence in Asia; the majority of the New Kingdom Empire's possessions in Canaan and Syria had long been lost to the Sea Peoples by his reign. He is also known for having honoured his predecessors Ramesses II, Ramesses III and Ramesses VII. He also paid close attention to Lower Egypt and built a substantial monument at Heliopolis.

Family
Ramesses IX is known to have had two sons: at Heliopolis, "a gateway was reinscribed with texts including the king's names and also those of the prince and High Priest Nebmaatre, who was fairly certainly his son." Ramesses IX's second son, Montuherkhopshef C, perhaps this king's intended heir, who did not live long enough to succeed his father, took over the former KV19 tomb of Sethirkhepsef B in the Valley of the Kings. The throne was instead assumed by Ramesses X whose precise relationship to Ramesses IX is unclear. Ramesses X might have been Ramesses IX's son, but this assumption remains unproven. Tomb KV19, which was one of the most beautifully decorated tombs in the royal valley, had been abandoned by Sethirkhepsef B when the latter assumed the throne as king Ramesses VIII and one of prince Montuherkhopshef's depictions there "bears the prenomen cartouche to Ramesses IX on its belt" thereby establishing the identity of this prince's father. The tomb of Ramesses IX, KV6, has been open since antiquity, as is evidenced by the presence of Roman and Greek graffiti on the tomb walls. It is quite long in the tradition of the 'syringe' tunnels of the later 19th and 20th Dynasties and lies directly opposite the tomb of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings; this fact may have influenced Ramesses IX's choice of location for his final resting place due to its proximity to this great Pharaoh. While Ramesses IX's chief queen is not precisely identified in surviving Egyptian inscriptions, she was most likely Baketwernel.

Burial and rediscovery
In 1881, the mummy of Ramesses IX (nr. 5209) was found in the Deir el-Bahri cache (DB320) within one of the two coffins of Neskhons—wife of the Theban High Priest Pinedjem II. This pharaoh's mummy was not apparently examined by Grafton Elliot Smith and not included in his 1912 catalogue of the Royal Mummies. When the mummy was unwrapped by Maspero, a bandage was found from a year 5, mentioning the lady Neskhons, most probably from the reign of king Siamun. A further strip of linen from a year 7 identified the mummy as "Ra Khaemwaset" which can be taken as a reference to either Ramesses Khaemwaset Meryamun (IX) or Ramesses Khaemwaset Meryamun Neterheqainu (XI). But since an ivory box of Neferkare Ramesses IX was found in the royal cache itself, and Ramesses XI was probably never buried at Thebes but rather in Lower Egypt, "the [royal] mummy is most likely to be that of Ramesses IX himself." It is estimated that the king was about 50 years old when he died (but it is extremely difficult to correctly establish the age of mummies) and his mummy was found to have broken limbs, a broken neck and damage to its nose, which is missing.

In April 2021 his mummy was moved from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization along with those of 17 other kings and 4 queens in an event termed the Pharaohs' Golden Parade.

In modern literature
The novel Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer is told from the perspective of characters living during the reign of Ramesses IX, including Ramesses IX himself. Most but not all of the novel takes place on one long evening in 1123 or 1122 BCE, during which the characters (including Ramesses IX) tell stories of the past. The majority of the book concerns the reign of Ramesses II, approximately 150 years before the night of the narrative; the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE) is in turn the central event of this sub-narrative.

title: Ramesses IX


text:
Fluke (film)

Fluke is a 1995 American fantasy drama film directed by Carlo Carlei from a screenplay by Carlei and James Carrington, based on the 1977 novel of the same name by James Herbert. It stars Matthew Modine as a self-centered businessman who is reincarnated as a dog and attempts to reconnect with his family. Nancy Travis, Eric Stoltz, Jon Polito, Max Pomeranc, and Samuel L. Jackson appear in supporting roles.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 2, 1995, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. It received negative to mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing only $3.9 million. At the 22nd Saturn Awards, it earned two nominations: Best Fantasy Film and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Pomeranc.

Plot
A mutt puppy who has flashing memories and dreams of having lived a human life is taken to a pound and eventually escapes. He is raised by an elderly homeless woman named Bella, who gives him the name Fluke, stating that he is a "fluke by nature, Fluke by name." Fluke supports Bella by helping her earn money from passing strangers, who are impressed with Fluke's ability to beat Bella's shell game.

After Bella dies of an illness, Fluke meets a street-wise dog named Rumbo who takes him to see a man named Bert who feeds them. Fluke matures into an adult dog and eventually realizes that he was once a man named Thomas P. Johnson, who died in a car crash.

Fluke is abducted by a man named Sylvester to be used in makeup experiments at a cosmetics company. During his captivity, Rumbo comes to the rescue, but is shot by Sylvester as he and Fluke escape. A dying Rumbo tells Fluke that the black-and-white snapshot of a man in a sailor suit on Bert's wall was him and Bert was his brother and that he wishes to smell the sea again, suggesting that he died in the line of duty.

After Rumbo's death, Fluke seeks out his surviving wife Carol and son Brian and reunites with them by becoming their new family dog. Though Carol is apprehensive about adopting Fluke, she caves in, seeing how Brian has quickly bonded with Fluke. During his life as a dog, Fluke gets to know his family better and realizes that he had been a distant workaholic.

As more memories return, Fluke suspects that his human death was caused by his former business partner, Jeff Newman. Enraged by this and that Jeff is now dating Carol, Fluke viciously attacks him when he visits the house, and ends up getting put outside. Jeff calls for Animal Control against the protests of Brian, and Fluke is forced to run from the premises.

The next night, Brian goes missing while looking for Fluke and Carol implores Jeff to help, so Jeff drives back to their house. Fluke, hiding in the backseat of Jeff's car, comes close to killing Jeff by causing him to get into a car accident like his own. Fluke then has another flashback and realizes that Jeff wasn't responsible for his death. Instead, Fluke had caused his own death when he recklessly drove on the wrong side of the road just to argue with Jeff one night and swerved off to avoid hitting an oncoming truck. Jeff later tried to save him, but failed. An injured Jeff, implied to have realized Fluke's true identity but bearing no ill will, tells Fluke to go find Brian before the latter catches hypothermia from the falling snow. Regretful over his actions, Fluke barks for a passing driver to help Jeff before running off.

On a hunch, Fluke goes to the graveyard where he had been buried and finds Brian there, who had been locked in by an unaware groundskeeper. Fluke huddles with Brian to keep him warm. Carol, deducing from one of Brian's drawings where he may have gone, uses her car to break open the cemetery gates and picks up Brian. Carol tries to coax Fluke to come home with them. Instead, Fluke digs away at the snow in front of his tombstone to show Carol who he really is by uncovering the word "forever" at the bottom, a phrase he often said to her as a human. Carol is left speechless, and lets Fluke leave without objection. With a heavy heart, Fluke departs and entrusts his family to Jeff for their happiness. He monologues that he finally accepted that he can no longer be the family man he should have been, and that he should just cherish the life he has now.

Sometime later, Fluke is resting under a tree on a farm by himself. To his surprise and happiness, he is reunited with Rumbo, now reincarnated as a squirrel. Rumbo tells Fluke about life as a squirrel and about reincarnation.

Cast

 * Comet as Fluke, a dog that was reincarnated after a business man's death
 * Matthew Modine as Thomas P. Johnson, a workaholic, Jeff's best friend, Carol's husband, and Brian's father. As Fluke the dog, his struggle to return to his former human life ultimately teaches him the importance of moving on
 * Nancy Travis as Carol Johnson, Thomas's wife, Brian's mother. Throughout the movie, she's shown to be not fond of dogs and is even borderline hostile towards Fluke. By the end of the movie, she is implied to have increased empathy for animals after realizing Fluke's true identity
 * Max Pomeranc as Brian Johnson, Thomas and Carol's son. Despite Thomas's workaholic ways, Brian remembers his dad fondly, and is shown to miss him dearly
 * Eric Stoltz as Jeff Newman, Thomas's best friend. In the years since Thomas's death, he has begun to fill the void Thomas left behind
 * Bill Cobbs as Bert
 * Ron Perlman as Sylvester
 * Jon Polito as Boss
 * Collin Wilcox Paxton as Bella, a kindly old homeless lady who cares for Fluke for some time until her death
 * Georgia Allen as Rose, a cleaning lady

Voices

 * Matthew Modine as Fluke
 * Sam Gifaldi as Young Fluke
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Rumbo, Fluke's best friend

Production
Italian filmmaker Carlo Carlei wrote the adaptation of James Herbert's Fluke with co-writer James Carrington with the intention of getting the film greenlit at a major Hollywood studio. Carlei had come close to getting the film greenlit at Paramount Pictures for producer Fred Roos, but the departure of Sid Ganis as the studio's Head of Production derailed development. Then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer co-chairman and chief executive officer Alan Ladd Jr. upon screening Carlei's Flight of the Innocent was impressed enough where Ladd acquired Flight of the Innocent for U.S. distribution and signed Carlei to a one picture deal with Fluke being greenlit.

Home media
Fluke was released on VHS on November 21, 1995 and LaserDisc on November 28, 1995 by MGM/UA Home Video in North America (which was presented in the theatrical version and available exclusively through Warner Home Video). Fluke was also released on VHS on November 5, 1996 by MGM/UA Family Entertainment in North America (which has been edited for family viewing and was also available exclusively through Warner Home Video). In Japan, Fluke was released on VHS on July 5, 1996 by Warner Home Video under the MGM/UA Family Entertainment label (which was presented in the theatrical version).

Box office
The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $3,987,768 in North America.

Critical response
Caryn James of The New York Times described Fluke as "the kind of pompous movie in which Fluke learns some life lessons and Mr. Modine says in a high-serious voice-over" and stated, "Though it is meant to be whimsical and touching, the film's style is leaden, and its story has more danger than excitement. […] Fluke is too serious for children and too ridiculous for adults."

Desson Howe of The Washington Post called the film "one of the weirdest, most depressing family films ever made" and wrote that "it's a bizarre hybrid of wet-nosed tear-jerker and adult psychodrama, with a bummer conclusion, and out-there Buddhist-lite themes about life beyond the grave, guaranteed to send kids sobbing into the night."

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times opined, "Maybe if Fluke, which might have been better as an animated feature, weren't such a lavish, big-deal production and closer to the modest level of the recent — and pleasant little — pig movie Gordy, it wouldn't seem so overwhelmingly, at times even laughably, foolish. The film's human actors acquit themselves admirably under the circumstances, but there's no question that the stars are Comet (as Fluke) and Barney (as Rumpo), bolstered by excellent trainers and special-effects personnel."

Emanuel Levy of Variety stated, "The adventure doesn't pander to kids, though toward the end it gets overly emotional, milking every situation with lengthy reaction shots and cute closeups of Fluke" and "all three adults — Modine, Travis and Stoltz — otherwise accomplished and attractive performers, assume secondary status to the gorgeous dog and his loyal benefactor, Pomeranc."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of "D" and commented, "With the exception of the cheek-pinchable Pomeranc, the cast gives performances as bewildered as the plot is bewildering. There is, though, one other star: The dog is great."

title: Fluke (film)


text:
Online casino

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.

Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.

Types
Online casinos are broadly divided into two categories based on the software they use: web-based and download-only casinos. Traditionally, online casinos would include only one of the two platforms. However, with advanced technological changes, an online casino can now accommodate both.

Web-based
Web-based online casinos (also known as no-download casinos) are websites where users may play casino games without downloading software to their local computer. A stable internet connection is required to have a seamless gaming experience as all graphics, sounds, and animations are loaded through the web. Most online casinos allow gameplay through an HTML interface, previously this was done through browser plugins, such as Flash Player, Shockwave Player, or Java.

Download-based
Download-based online casinos require the download of the software client in order to play and wager on the casino games offered. The online casino software connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. Download-based online casinos generally run faster than web-based online casinos since the graphics and sound programs are cached by the software client, rather than having to be loaded from the Internet. On the other hand, the initial download and installation of the casino's software take time. As with any download from the Internet, the risk of the program containing malware exists, which makes it less popular among skeptical casino players.

App-based
App-based casinos are digital platforms that allow users to engage in gambling activities via applications on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Unlike traditional online casinos that require players to access games through a web browser, app-based casinos offer a more integrated and user-friendly experience through dedicated applications. These casinos provide a wide array of gambling options, including slot machines, table games, and live dealer games, all optimized for mobile play. The rise of app-based casinos reflects the increasing reliance on mobile technology and the demand for accessible, on-the-go entertainment options. They operate under various jurisdictions, requiring adherence to strict regulatory standards to ensure fairness, security, and responsible gambling. App-based casinos have revolutionized the gambling industry by combining the convenience of mobile technology with the excitement of casino gaming, making it easier for users to enjoy their favorite gambling activities anytime and anywhere.

Virtual
Also known as software-based online casino games, the outcome of these games is determined using a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) software. This software ensures that every deal of the card, the outcome of a dice throw, or the results produced by the spinning of a slot machine or roulette wheel is totally random and unpredictable. PRNGs use a set of mathematical instructions known as an algorithm to generate a long stream of numbers that give the impression of true randomness. While this is not the same as true random number generation (computers are incapable of this without an external input source), it provides results that satisfy all but the most stringent requirements for true randomness.

When implemented correctly, a PRNG algorithm such as the Mersenne Twister will ensure that the games are both fair and unpredictable. However, usually, the player has to trust that the software has not been rigged to increase the house edge, as its inner workings are invisible to the user. Properly regulated online casinos are audited externally by independent regulators to ensure that their win percentages are in line with the stated odds, and this can provide a degree of assurance to the player that the games are fair, assuming the player trusts the regulator.

Live dealer
Live dealer casino games are the complete opposite of software-based games. Instead of depending on software to determine the outcome of the roulette spin, dice throw, or deal of a card, these games depend on real-time results. This is possible as the games are streamed in real-time from a land-based casino or a studio recreated to mimic a land-based casino.

To ensure that players have an easy time playing these games and that the land-based environment is fully recreated, software developers include innovative features such as the chat feature. This enables the player to type your message to the dealer and they can respond back verbally. The live chat feature can also be used to communicate with other players seated at the table following a set of rules laid down by the casino.

The results of the physical transactions by the dealer, such as the outcome of the roulette wheel spin or the dealing of cards, are translated into data that can be utilized by the software by means of optical character recognition (OCR) technology. This enables the player to interact with the game in much the same way as they would with a virtual casino game, except for the fact that the results are determined by real-life actions rather than automated processes.

These games are a lot more expensive for websites to host than virtual games, as they involve a heavier investment in technology and staffing. A live casino studio typically employs one or more cameramen, several croupiers running the various games, an information technology manager to ensure that any technical hitches are dealt with swiftly, and a pit boss that acts as an adjudicator in case of disputes between players and croupiers.

In most cases, this requires at least a three-room setup, comprising a live studio, a server/software room, and an analyst’s room. The configuration of these rooms varies from casino to casino, with some having several gaming tables in one room, and some having a single table in each room.

The high running costs involved with operating live dealer games is the reason why online casinos only tend to offer a handful of the most popular games in this format, such as roulette, blackjack, sic bo, and baccarat. In comparison, the running costs associated with virtual games are very low, and it is not uncommon for online casinos to offer hundreds of different virtual casino games to players on their site.

Online casinos vary in their approach to the hosting of live games, with some providing live games via their own television channel, and others offering the games exclusively via their website. In the case of televised games, players can often use their mobile phone or television remote controls to place bets instead of doing so via a computer connected to the internet. The most common live dealer games offered at online casinos are baccarat, blackjack, and roulette.

Examples
A typical selection of gambling games offered at an online casino might include:

 * Baccarat
 * Blackjack
 * Craps
 * Roulette
 * Sic bo
 * Slot machines
 * Poker
 * Keno
 * Bingo

Bonuses
Many online casinos offer sign-up bonuses to new players making their first deposit, and often on subsequent play as well. These bonuses are a form of marketing that may incur a cost (potentially justifiable in order to attract a new player who may return and deposit many more times), since the casino is essentially giving away money in return for a commitment from the player to wager a certain minimum amount before they are allowed to withdraw. Since all casino games have a house edge, the wagering requirements ensure that the player cannot simply walk away with the casino's money immediately after claiming the bonus. These wagering requirements are commonly set to be sufficiently high that the player has a negative expectation, exactly as if they had deposited and not claimed a bonus.

Casinos may choose to restrict certain games from fulfilling the wagering requirements, either to restrict players from playing low-edge games or to restrict 'risk-free' play (betting for instance both red and black on roulette), thereby completing the wagering requirement with a guaranteed profit after the bonus is taken into account.

Welcome
The Welcome bonus is a deposit match bonus on the first deposit ever made in the casino or casino group. Welcome bonuses sometimes come in packages and may be given to match the first two or three deposits (First Deposit Welcome Bonus, Second Deposit Welcome Bonus, etc.). They can also be tied to specific games, such as the Welcome Slots Bonus or the Welcome Table Games Bonus. The casino may also offer Welcome bonuses for high rollers who make an initial deposit above the standard amount limit.

Referral
There are two types of Referral bonuses: one for the Referee and one for the Referrer. The Referee gets a bonus when he or she registers an account at the casino and mentions the Referrer. The Referrer gets a bonus when the Referee completes all the requirements, such as making the deposit and wagering it a certain number of times.

Cashback or insurance
Cashback or Insurance bonuses are offered as a percentage of all losses in the player’s previous gaming activity. Typically, only deposits that were not matched with bonuses count towards this bonus. You can additionally find websites that offer casino cashback payments based on your losses encountered while playing with one or more online casinos. Those types of cashback deals are usually paid back to players by the casino portal that offers those special cashback offers.

No-deposit
The most popular form of bonus is one that can be claimed without the need to deposit any of the player's own money - known as a no deposit bonus. These bonuses are used as acquisition tools by casinos wishing to attract new players. No deposit bonuses don't always take the form of real cash, as exemplified below.

Non-cashable
Non-cashable bonuses may be called "sticky" or "phantom" bonuses. In both cases, the bonus forms a part of the player's balance, but cannot be cashed out. The difference between cash-able and phantom bonuses comes at cashout time. A phantom bonus is deducted from the player's balance at the moment he places his withdrawal request. For example: if you deposited $100, received $100, played, and finished the wagering at $150. If the bonus is sticky, the player will be able to withdraw just $50. If the bonus is cash-able, then the whole balance is available for withdrawal.

Comp points
Comps are commonly available at land-based casinos, but also exist online. Comp points can usually be exchanged for cash, prizes, or other comps. The amount of cash given per wager is usually very small and often varies with game selection. A casino might offer three comp points for each $10 wagered on slots and one comp point for each $10 wagered on blackjack. The casino might give $1 for each 100 comp points. This example is equivalent to returning 0.3% of wagers on slots and 0.1% of wagers on blackjack. In addition, online casinos may offer comps such as free tickets to online tournaments, free slots online, tickets to other special events, extra bonuses, souvenirs, and payback.

Hunting
Bonus hunting (also known as bonus bagging or bonus whoring) is a type of advantage gambling where turning a profit from casino, sportsbook and poker room bonus situations is mathematically possible. For example, the house edge in blackjack is roughly 0.5%. If a player is offered a $100 cashable bonus requiring $5000 in wagering on blackjack with a house edge of 0.5%, the expected loss is $25. Therefore, the player has an expected gain of $75 after claiming the $100 bonus.

Disputes
A large portion of online casino disputes relates to bonuses. Casinos may label players who win using bonuses as "bonus abusers." Both players and casinos may commit fraud. An example of player fraud is creating multiple accounts and using the accounts to claim a sign-up bonus several times. An example of casino fraud is changing terms of a bonus after a player has completed the wagering requirements, then requiring the player to meet the new bonus terms.

Legality
Online gambling legislation often has loopholes that result from the rapid development of the technology underpinning the development of the industry. Some countries, including Belgium, Canada, Finland, and Sweden have state gambling monopolies and do not grant licenses to foreign casino operators. According to their law, operators licensed on the territory of these countries can only be considered legal. At the same time, they can't prosecute foreign casino operators and only block their sites. Players in these countries can't be punished and can gamble at any site they can access.

Australia
The Australian Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) criminalizes the supply of online casino games by an operator anywhere in the world to persons located in Australia. It only targets operators of online gambling sites, resulting in the curious situation that it is not illegal for a player in Australia to access and gamble at an online casino. No operator has even been charged with an offense under the IGA and many online casinos accept Australian customers. In June 2016, the South Australian Government became the first state or territory in the world to introduce a 15% Place Of Consumption Tax (POCT) modeled on the 2014 UK POCT.

Belgium
The Belgian Gaming Act went into effect in January 2011 and allows online gambling, but only under very strict conditions and surveillance. As of 2024, Belgium enforces a strict gambling regulatory framework managed by the Belgian Gaming Commission. This framework covers both land-based and online gambling, with a focus on licensing, consumer protection, and responsible gambling practices. Online operators must collaborate with land-based casinos to operate legally, and Belgium employs a "white list" for approved sites and a "black list" for unauthorized ones to control online gambling. The commission ensures operators comply with laws designed to balance gambling opportunities with the prevention of gambling-related issues.

Canada
The Canadian criminal code states that only provincial governments and charitable organizations licensed by provincial governments may operate a casino in Canada. It also prohibits residents from participating in any lottery scheme, the game of chance, or gambling activity not licensed or operated by a provincial government. In 2010, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation launched Canada’s first legal online casino, PlayNow, which is available to residents of British Columbia, and later expanded to Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The province of Quebec operates the similar Espacejeux via Loto-Québec, while Ontario operates PlayOLG via Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

The Kahnawake First Nation in Quebec has operated its own gaming commission since 1996 under the Kahnawake Gaming Law. It has asserted jurisdiction to enact the law as part of Mohawk or "aboriginal rights" that have existed since time immemorial, most recently recognized and affirmed in subsection 35(1) of Canada's Constitution Act, 1982. As of 2010, it had licensed and hosted nearly 350 gambling websites, and its activities had never been challenged under the laws of Canada or any other jurisdiction.

In 2022 the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario allowed gaming providers to operate online gambling sites under a license with iGaming Ontario.

Germany
A German state contract about gambling (German: Glücksspielstaatsvertrag) between all 16 German states was ratified in 2008 and has been adopted in 2012. It regulates restrictive handling of online-gambling, including a basic state monopoly on public gambling with limited exceptions for a few commercial providers. Online gambling, and other forms of public gambling, against these regulations is illegal in Germany. The state contract, its implementation in contrast to the more lenient EU legislation, and possible further changes have been controversially discussed in the public, politics, and courts.

India
Online gambling is illegal in the state of Maharashtra under the "Bombay Wager Act". The most recent law to address gambling online was the Federal Information Technology Rules where such illegal activities may be blocked by Internet providers within India. Another act is the Public Gaming Act of 1867. However, the Act makes no specific mention of “online casinos.” States tend to operate on their own authority. Online casinos active in India are run by international operators.

Online gambling legal issues in India are complicated in nature as Gambling in India is regulated by different states laws and online gambling is a central subject. To ascertain the position of Indian government, the Supreme Court of India sought the opinion of central government in this regard but the same was declined by the central government. This has made playing of online cards games like rummy, poker, etc. legally risky.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Gambling Act 2005 governs all matters of online gambling, permitting online betting sites to have a Remote Gambling Licence in order to offer online betting to UK citizens. In 2014, the UK government put into law the Gambling Act of 2014 which in addition to the original 2005 law, required offshore online gambling operators catering to UK players to obtain a UK license. The new regulation required operators to pay a 15% Place of Consumption Tax (POCT), something that triggered an exodus of sorts of some operators from the UK Isles. However, this exodus did not last long in most cases as the benefits outweighed the stumbling blocks, due to the UK being a major market for online gambling.

In 2019 the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced a series of new measures that apply to online and mobile casinos to reduce underage gambling with the aim of increasing fairness and transparency. The new measures will require casinos to have users verify their identity and age in order to gamble.

Spain
As of 2024, gambling in Spain is legal and regulated under the Spanish Gambling Act of 2011, which oversees both online and offline gambling activities. This legislation requires operators to obtain a license from the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) to offer services. The law emphasizes responsible gambling, including age verification and self-exclusion programs. While national regulations provide a general framework, some Spanish regions may impose additional rules, reflecting the country's decentralized governance. Gambling winnings are subject to taxation, with conditions varying by the amount and type of game.

Argentina
As of 2024, gambling regulation in Argentina is primarily managed at the provincial level, with each of the 23 provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires setting their own rules. This results in diverse gambling laws across the country. While national oversight exists for taxation and interstate gambling, there's no unified federal regulation for online gambling, leaving it up to each province. Operators must obtain local licenses and follow regional guidelines, including responsible gambling measures. The decentralized system aims to protect consumers, address problem gambling, and support local economies through gambling taxes.

United States
In the United States, the legality of online gambling is debated and can vary from state to state. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) limits the ability of banks and payment processors to transact with internet gambling sites that are unlawful under any federal or state law. However, it does not define the legality or otherwise of an internet-based gambling site. It was commonly assumed that the Federal Wire Act prohibited all forms of online gambling. However, in December 2011, the United States Department of Justice released a statement clarifying that the Wire Act applied only to sports betting sites and not to online casinos, poker, or lottery sites, leaving the definition of legality up to individual states. Certain states such as Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey have started the process of legalizing and regulating online gambling and it is expected that regulation will continue on a state by state basis.

title: Online casino


text:
Suspenders

Suspenders (American English, Canadian English), or braces (British English, New Zealand English, Australian English) are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up skirts or trousers. The straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attachment ends, and most straps are of woven cloth forming an X or Y shape at the back. Suspenders are typically attached to skirts and trousers with clips or buttons using leather tabs at the ends.

In British English, a suspender belt, or suspenders for short, is a garment used to hold up stockings. This is called a garter belt in American English.

History
There have been several precursors to suspenders throughout the past 300 years, but modern suspenders were first popularised as "braces" in 1822 by a London haberdasher Albert Thurston. They were once almost universally worn, due to the high cut of mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century skirts and trousers that made a belt impractical. During the nineteenth century, suspenders were sometimes called galluses. Samuel Clemens, known for his work as the author Mark Twain, patented "Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments" (ADSG), becoming one of the first to receive a United States patent for suspenders in 1871.

After losing popularity during World War I, when men became accustomed to uniform belts, suspenders were still regular attire throughout the 1920s. Because of their image as 'underwear', some men switched to belts during the 1930s as the vests (US/Canada) or waistcoats which had hidden suspenders became worn less often. This also signaled the switch in the position of securing buttons from the outside of the waistband to the inside. Life magazine stated in 1938 that 60% of American men chose belts over suspenders. Though the return of fuller-cut trousers in the 1940s revived suspenders, they did not dominate over belts again to the same extent. However, in the UK they remained the norm to wear with suits and dress trousers.

Fashion
While suspenders have been in and out of fashion over the last century (alternating with belts in general preference), there has been a brief resurgence in interest, possibly due to the styles seen in films like Wall Street. Many business people, newscasters (such as Larry King in the United States) and professionals such as lawyers also still wear suspenders.

Narrow, clip-on style suspenders are also a typical part of skinhead, and to a lesser extent, punk fashion. In skinhead and punk fashion, suspenders are typically between 3/4 and 1 in in width.

Materials used for making suspenders have also changed over time, with newer additions such as rayon, a hard-wearing synthetic fibre, now offered. Generally, a high-quality rayon with elastic webbing is the fabric used to create suspenders, with silks webbing or tubed suiting cloths from mills such as Dugdale Bros of England also used.

Suspenders can be measured in a variety of different ways to ensure proper fitting. To accurately measure suspenders, first, start by measuring from the back pant line, then cross over the opposite shoulder down to the front pant line. Add a few additional inches for adjustments when required.

Usage
Good quality smart suspenders were traditionally considered white collar, or upper or upper-middle class, wear. They were made to be attached to skirts or trousers by buttons sewn onto the waistband. There are relatively few current manufacturers in the UK, but the classic button-on 'reform' end is also quite widely available in the United States.

In traditional or formal settings, it is considered a faux pas to wear both belt and suspenders at the same time, though in the past this has not always been the case. Further, suspenders were traditionally considered an undergarment and, as such, were considered inappropriate to be seen. From the time of their invention until World War II, the waistcoat, or a jumper or cardigan for coolness in the summer, covered suspenders to prevent indecency. Similarly, jumpers and jackets kept the shirtsleeves hidden. In the inter-war period, however, men began removing jackets in public, and so this sensibility became eroded over time. It is perhaps only in Britain that a few 'die-hards' still consider it "gauche" to wear, for example, brightly colored suspenders without a jacket. Generally, it is now considered acceptable fashion, on both sides of the Atlantic, for men's suspenders to be seen.

The trousers for suspenders have buttons in order to attach the leather tabs; these may be either on the outside, traditionally, or inside of trousers that do not have belt loops. With belt loops, buttons would be sewn on the inside of the waistband. Such trousers might also have a high back in the fishtail shape, though this is not as common now; This style may also have an additional adjustable strap at the back, as well as the two side adjusters placed on most belt-less trousers. Buttons should be placed about 3 to 3.5 in apart, an equal distance from the back seam. At the front, the first button should be set over the main pleat or crease, the second button again about 3 to 3.5 in apart. It is important to place the buttons in the correct position, as trousers with suspenders should be slightly loose to hang correctly.

In the 2000s, it became fashionable for some younger women to wear suspenders, a style that emerged from Mod styles in the late 1960s through to punk rock and skinhead styles of the late 1970s into the 1980s. One particular exponent of this fashion was Eurythmics vocalist Annie Lennox, whose fashion styling was akin to cross-dressing as a male character, with her dark suit and red suspenders.

title: Suspenders


text:
Rob Roy (1995 film)

Rob Roy is a 1995 historical biographical drama film directed by Michael Caton-Jones. It stars Liam Neeson as Rob Roy MacGregor, an 18th-century Scottish clan chief who becomes engaged in a dispute with a reprobate nobleman in the Scottish Highlands, played by John Hurt. Tim Roth won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Archibald Cunningham, one of Rob Roy's chief antagonists. Jessica Lange portrays Roy's wife, and Eric Stoltz, Brian Cox, and Jason Flemyng play supporting parts.

The film is dedicated to two Scotsmen: film director Alexander MacKendrick and football player and manager Jock Stein.

Plot
In Scotland, 1713, Robert Roy MacGregor is chief of Clan MacGregor. Although providing the Lowland gentry with protection against cattle rustling, he barely manages to feed his people. Hoping to alleviate their hunger and his poverty, MacGregor borrows £1,000 from James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, to establish himself as a cattle raiser and trader.

Wanting to leave England to flee legal troubles, his anglicized aristocrat relative Archibald Cunningham is sent to stay with Montrose. Cunningham is a supremely skilled swordsman, so Montrose makes money off Cunningham by making wagers on sword contests that Cunningham's haughty manner and effeminate bearing bring upon himself. Cunningham learns about MacGregor's money deal from Montrose's factor Killearn, and murders MacGregor's friend, Alan McDonald, to steal the money. MacGregor requests time from Montrose to find McDonald and the money. Montrose offers to waive the debt if MacGregor will testify falsely that Montrose's rival John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll is a Jacobite. MacGregor refuses and Montrose vows to imprison him in the tolbooth until the debt is repaid. After MacGregor flees, Montrose seizes MacGregor's land to cover the debt, declaring him an outlaw and ordering Cunningham to bring him in "broken, but not dead". Redcoats slaughter MacGregor's cattle, burn his croft, and Cunningham rapes his wife Mary.

Mary understands that Cunningham intends to flush her husband out of hiding and makes his brother, Alasdair, who arrives too late to save her, swear to conceal knowledge of the rape. MacGregor refuses to permit his clan to wage war on Montrose, and instead decrees to harm Montrose financially. Betty, a maidservant at Montrose's estate, has become pregnant with Cunningham's child. When Killearn tells Montrose, Betty is dismissed from service and rejected by Cunningham. Betty seeks refuge with the MacGregors, revealing that she overheard Killearn and Cunningham plot to steal the money. To build a case against Cunningham, MacGregor abducts Killearn and imprisons him. Mary promises Killearn that he will be spared if he testifies against Cunningham, but Killearn taunts her with her rape. Realizing that Mary is pregnant, he threatens to tell MacGregor that Cunningham may be the father if she does not release him, leading Mary and Alasdair to kill him.

Montrose tells Cunningham that he suspects who really stole the money but does not care. Cunningham and the redcoats burn the Clan's crofts. MacGregor refuses to take the bait, but Alasdair attempts to snipe Cunningham and hits a redcoat. The redcoats shoot both Alasdair and another Clan member, Coll. Alasdair finally tells MacGregor about Mary's rape. Taken prisoner, MacGregor accuses Cunningham of murder, robbery and rape. Cunningham confirms the charges, and beats and tortures MacGregor. The following morning, Montrose orders MacGregor hanged from a nearby bridge. MacGregor loops the rope binding his hands around Cunningham's throat and then jumps off the bridge; he escapes when the rope is cut to save Cunningham.

Mary gains an audience with the Duke of Argyll and exposes Montrose's plan to frame him. Moved by MacGregor's integrity, he grants the family asylum at Glen Shira. MacGregor arrives, at first upset by Mary's unwillingness to inform him of her rape or her pregnancy but later willing to raise the child as his own. The Duke arranges a duel between MacGregor and Cunningham, wagering Montrose that if MacGregor lives, his debt will be forgiven and that if he dies, the Duke will pay his debt. Montrose agrees and Cunningham and MacGregor vow that no quarter will be asked or given. Armed with a rapier, Cunningham repeatedly wounds MacGregor, who appears to swiftly exhaust himself swinging a heavy broadsword. MacGregor seems defeated, but when Cunningham showboats to deliver a theatrical killing blow, MacGregor holds on to his enemy's sword-point. As Cunningham struggles to free his blade, MacGregor delivers a fatal strike to Cunningham. Now free of debts and with his honor intact, he returns home to his wife and children.

Cast

 * Liam Neeson as Rob Roy MacGregor
 * Jessica Lange as Mary MacGregor
 * John Hurt as James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose
 * Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham
 * Eric Stoltz as Alan McDonald
 * Andrew Keir as John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
 * Brian Cox as Killearn
 * Brian McCardie as Alasdair MacGregor
 * Gilbert Martin as Guthrie, the Duke of Argyll's fencing champion
 * Jason Flemyng as Gregor, a MacGregor Clan retainer
 * Ewan Stewart as Coll, a MacGregor Clan retainer
 * David Hayman as Tam Sibbalt, a Scottish Traveller who has been rustling from cattle herds under MacGregor's protection
 * Shirley Henderson as Morag
 * Vicki Masson as Betty

Production
According to screenwriter Alan Sharp, Rob Roy was conceived as a Western set in the Scottish Highlands.

The film was shot entirely on location in Scotland, much of it in parts of the Highlands so remote they had to be reached by helicopter. Some of the scenes were filmed in Glen Coe, Glen Nevis, and Glen Tarbert. In the opening scenes, Rob and his men pass by Loch Leven. Loch Morar stood in for Loch Lomond, on the banks of which the real Rob Roy lived. Scenes of the Duke of Argyll's estate were shot at Castle Tioram, the Marquess of Montrose's at Drummond Castle. Shots of "The Factor's Inn" were filmed outside Megginch Castle. Crichton Castle was used in a landscape shot.

Non-stop Highland rain presented a problem for cast and crew when filming outdoor shots, as did the resulting swarms of midges.

William Hobbs choreographed the swordfights, with Robert G. Goodwin consulting.

The main composer is Carter Burwell. Beside the film score, the film features a slightly different version of a traditional Gaelic song called "Ailein duinn", sung in the film by Karen Matheson, lead singer in Capercaillie.

Historical accuracy
MacGregor had business dealings with Montrose for 10 years before the loan of £1000 went missing. The character of Cunningham is fictional,   though certainly based upon Henry Cunningham Esq. of Boquhan, described by Sir Walter Scott as a "daring character with an affectation of delicacy of address and manners amounting to foppery," who nonetheless seized a sword and "rushed on the outlaw with such unexpected fury that he fairly drove him off the field." Details of Rob Roy's life are a mix of fact and legend, and according to one historian, the film portrays Rob Roy "in the most sympathetic light possible". Though called the Marquess of Montrose, James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose had already been elevated to Duke of Montrose at this point in history. He was raised to the dukedom as a reward for his support for the Act of Union, whilst being Lord President of the Scottish Privy Council. Not all of the events shown in the film were real. The narration covers approximately the years 1712 to 1722, nevertheless the uprisings of 1715 and 1719 were not depicted in the film.

Box office
United Artists gave Rob Roy a limited release in the United States and Canada on April 7, 1995, and the film grossed $2,023,272 from 133 theaters for the weekend. Five days later it expanded to 1,521 theaters and grossed $7,190,047 for the weekend, ranking number 2 at the US box office behind Bad Boys. Rob Roy's widest release during its theatrical run was 1,885 theaters, and the film grossed $31,596,911 in the United States and Canada. Internationally it grossed $27.1 million for a worldwide total of $58.7 million.

Critical reception
Rob Roy received a generally positive critical response. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 44 critics, with an average score of 6.4 out of 10. On Metacritic it has an average score of 55 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A+ to F.

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, said, "This is a splendid, rousing historical adventure, an example of what can happen when the best direction, acting, writing and technical credits are brought to bear on what might look like shopworn material." Ebert said the film's outline could have led to "yet another tired" historical epic, but he found that the director was able to produce "intense character studies". The critic applauded Tim Roth's performance, calling it "crucial" to the film's success. Ebert was also impressed by the climactic sword fighting scene, which had been choreographed by fight director William Hobbs, and called it "one of the great action sequences in movie history". His partner Gene Siskel agreed, calling it the "best sword fight in motion picture history."

In contrast, Rita Kempley of The Washington Post compared Rob Roy negatively to the action films Death Wish (1974) and First Blood (1982). Kempley disliked the film's violence and wrote, "Frankly, Rob Roy is about as bright as one of his cows. He doesn't even recognize that his obsession with honor will lead to the destruction of his clan." The critic found the protagonist unheroic in his mission for vengeance. Of his enemy, she said, "The villains, played with glee, manage to perk up the glacial pace, but they too grow tiresome."

In The New York Times, Janet Maslin gave a mixed review of the film. She complained of the film's "long, dry stretches" and that the "plot [was] too ponderous and uninteresting for the film's visual sweep". Maslin said one of the film's saving graces was the "robust" presence of Liam Neeson, taller than those who played his enemies, and his character's charismatic exchange with Jessica Lange's character, writing, "Rob Roy is best watched for local color and for its hearty, hot-blooded stars." Maslin acknowledged that Neeson was "a far cry from the dour-looking Scottish drover who was the real Rob Roy" and said that the film failed to convey the figure's importance to audiences. The critic highlighted the scene of Cunningham raping Mary as one of the film's "strongest scenes" which was appropriately responded to by the "cowboy justice" of Neeson's lonesome and avenging Rob Roy.

Accolades
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
 * 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
 * Archibald Cunningham – Nominated Villain

title: Rob Roy (1995 film)