text:
Syd Mead

Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019) was an American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist. He made designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron. Mead has been described as "the artist who illustrates the future" and "one of the most influential concept artists and industrial designers of our time."

Early life
Mead was born on July 18, 1933, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His father was a Baptist minister, who read him pulp magazines, such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, sparking his interest in science fiction. Mead was skilled in drawing at a young age. According to Mead, "by the time I was in high school I could draw the human figure, I could draw animals, and I had a sense of shading to show shape. I was really quite accomplished at that point with brush technique and so-forth." He described himself as being an "insular child." Mead graduated from high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1951. After serving a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, Mead attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles (now the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena), where he graduated in June 1959.

Career
In 1959, Mead was recruited to Ford Motor Company's Advanced Styling Studio by Elwood Engel. From 1960 to 1961, Mead worked in Ford Motor Company Styling in Detroit, Michigan. Mead left Ford after two years to illustrate books and catalogues for companies including United States Steel, Celanese, Allis-Chalmers and Atlas Cement. In 1970, he launched Syd Mead, Inc. in Detroit with clients including Philips Electronics.

With his own company in the 1970s, Mead spent about a third of his time in Europe, primarily to provide designs and illustrations for Philips, and he continued to work for international clients. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mead and his company provided architectural renderings, both interior and exterior, for clients including Intercontinental Hotels, 3D International, Harwood Taylor & Associates, Don Ghia, Gresham & Smith and Philip Koether Architects.

Beginning in 1983, Mead developed working relationships with Sony, Minolta, Dentsu, Dyflex, Tiger Corporation, Seibu, Mitsukoshi, Bandai, NHK and Honda.

Mead's one-man shows began in 1973 with an exhibit at documenta 6 in Kassel, West Germany. His work was later exhibited in Japan, Italy, California and Spain. In 1983, Mead was invited by Chrysler Corporation to be a guest speaker to its design staff. He created a series of slides to provide visuals to the lecture, and the resulting presentation was a success. It was later expanded and enhanced with computer-generated images specifically created at the requests of several clients, including Disney, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Pratt Institute and the Society of Illustrators. In March 2010, Mead completed a four-city tour of Australia.

In 1993, a digital gallery consisting of 50 examples of his art with interface screens designed by him became one of the first CD-ROMs released in Japan. In 2004, Mead co-operated with Gnomon School of Visual Effects to produce a four-volume "how-to" DVD series titled Techniques of Syd Mead.

In 2018, Mead published his autobiography, titled A Future Remembered. Regarding his work, Mead said, "the idea supersedes technique," and that "I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule.'"

In film
Mead worked with major studios on the feature films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, Timecop, Johnny Mnemonic, Mission: Impossible III, Elysium, Tomorrowland and Blade Runner 2049. George Lucas created the AT-AT for his Star Wars saga based on art by Mead. Mead also contributed to the Japanese film Solar Crisis. In the 1990s, Mead supplied designs for two Japanese anime series, Turn A Gundam and the unfinished Yamato 2520.

In May 2007, he completed work on a documentary of his career with the director Joaquin Montalvan entitled Visual Futurist:The Art & Life of Syd Mead. The short 2008 documentary film 2019: A Future Imagined, also explored his works. Mead also appears in movie documentaries such as Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner and Mark Kermode's On the Edge of Blade Runner, and promotional materials such as the DVD extra for Aliens and a promotional short film about the making of 2010.

Personal life
Mead was in a relationship with Roger Servick; the couple married in 2016. They established a publishing extension, OBLAGON, Inc., in Hollywood and relocated in 1998 to Pasadena, California, where Mead continued to work.

Death
On December 30, 2019, Mead died in his Pasadena home at age 86, after three years of lymphoma.

Interviews

 * Ed Naha, "Blade Runner's Syd Mead: An Artist With Designs on the Future", Starlog (USA)	May 1982, Iss. 58, pg. 36–39,+61
 * The future came true – An Interview with Syd Mead
 * Syd Mead's interview at Jabučnjak, July 2009

title: Syd Mead


text: Talk:Woodbridge, Connecticut

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

title: Talk:Woodbridge, Connecticut


text:
The Macallan distillery

The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie in Moray in the north-east of Scotland. The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edrington, which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999.

The Macallan is generally considered to be the second or third highest-selling single-malt scotch, next to Glenfiddich and, by some accounts, Glenlivet.

Originally, the Macallan was matured only in oak sherry casks brought to the distillery from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Beginning in 2004, the Macallan introduced a new main product, the Fine Oak series, with the whisky mellowed in bourbon oak casks as well as sherry ones. In 2018, the Fine Oak series was renamed as the Triple Cask Matured range.

Bottlings
The distillery produces a number of expressions in its core Sherry Oak series, the most generally available being the 12-year-old, although the 18-year-old is widely distributed, alongside a 10-year-old cask strength expression at 58% ABV. Expensive 25, 30 and 40-year-old versions can also be found.

In 2004, the Maccallan started to offer single malt expressions vatted with whisky matured in used casks other than ex-sherry casks as part of the Fine Oak range. Macallan also markets special scotches in duty-free shops at airports such as the 1824 Collection and the Quest Collection.

Many rare, special releases and other small production run bottlings also exist.

Publicity and marketing
In 2001, Michael Martin selected the Macallan 10 Years Old as the official Scotch of the Speaker of the House of Commons, even though Martin himself had given up drinking alcohol. He did smell whiskies to make his selection. This selection continued the tradition of the Speaker designating an official single malt. In 2003, the Macallan started laboratory tests to determine if some antique whiskies purchased for their collection were forgeries, perhaps generated by a dealer with mafia ties. In 2004, it was revealed that laboratory testing had determined at least 11 bottles in its antique whisky collection were fakes. Although the Macallan had tested the paper of the labels and were satisfied the whiskies were genuine, additional tests on the contents of some bottles revealed whisky believed to be only 10 years old. David Cox, director of fine and rare whiskies for the Macallan, said, "As a result of these tests from now on, no antique bottles from the antique collection held at the distillery will be made available for sale."

In 2007, a bottle of 1926 the Macallan was sold at a Christie's auction for $54,000, making it one of the most expensive bottles of whisky sold.

In 2010, a bottle of the Macallan 64-year-old single malt whisky in a one-of-a-kind "Lalique: Cire Perdue" crystal decanter was sold for $460,000 at an auction at Sotheby's in New York City. All proceeds from the sale were donated to charity: water, an organization that helps provide access to clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. In 2012, the Macallan received the Guinness World Record for the most expensive whisky sold at auction.

In October 2019, a bottle of the Macallan1926 sold at a Sotheby’s auction for £1.5 million, making it the most expensive bottle of whisky sold.

In November 2023, a bottle of the Macallan1926 sold at auction for £2.1 million, making it the most expensive bottle of whisky sold.

New distillery and visitor experience
In July 2019, the £140 million new distillery and visitor experience, on the Easter Elchies estate near Craigellachie, made the shortlist for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture. It was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Also in 2019, the distillery won the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award.

The distillery has 36 stills, comprising 12 wash stills and 24 spirit stills.

Archaeology
In advance of the creation of the new distillery and visitor experience, archaeological excavations were undertaken by AOC Archaeology in 2014. The archaeologists found that people had been working in the area in the Middle Bronze Age (radiocarbon dates of 1681–1503 cal BC); had built a small settlement in the Late Bronze Age (radiocarbon dates of between 1050 and 800 BC); then a single ring-ditch roundhouse in the Middle Iron Age (radiocarbon dates of 171 BC - AD 51); another small settlement between the ninth to twelfth centuries AD with two post-ring roundhouses; and a 19th century quarry. There was also some evidence (two stone tools) of people being in the area during the Mesolithic period. All of which indicates that people have been living and working on the site of the distillery for thousands of years.

Whiskies
Retrieved from the Macallan official website.

Core range

 * Sherry Oak
 * 12 years old (40-43% ABV)
 * 18 years old (43% ABV)
 * 25 years old (43% ABV)
 * 30 years old (43% ABV)
 * 40 years old (44-45% ABV)

 * Double Cask
 * Gold (40% ABV)
 * 12 years old (43% ABV)
 * 15 years old (43% ABV)
 * 18 years old (43% ABV)
 * 30 years old (43% ABV)

 * Triple Cask Matured
 * 12 years old (40-43% ABV)
 * 15 years old (43% ABV)
 * 18 years old (43% ABV)

 * Rare Cask (43% ABV)

 * Estate (43% ABV)

 * The Master Decanter Series (Bottled in Lalique crystal decanters)
 * Reflexion (43% ABV)
 * No. 6 (43% ABV)
 * M (45% ABV)
 * M Black (46.5% ABV)

Travel retail exclusives

 * The Quest Collection
 * Quest (40% ABV)
 * Lumina (41.3% ABV)
 * Terra (43.8% ABV)
 * Enigma (44.9% ABV)

 * The Concept Series
 * Concept Number 1 (40% ABV)
 * Concept Number 2 (40% ABV)
 * Concept Number 3 (40.8% ABV)

 * The Harmony Collection series
 * Rich Cacao (40% ABV)
 * Fine Cacao (44% ABV)

 * The Boutique Collection (52% ABV)

 * Rare Cask Black (48% ABV)

 * Oscuro (46.5% ABV) (Bottled in Lalique crystal decanter)

 * The Golden Age of Travel Series (Bottled in Lalique crystal decanters)
 * The Ocean Liner (34 years old; 41.1% ABV)
 * The Aeroplane (35 years old; 43.4% ABV)
 * The Steam Train (36 years old; 43.4% ABV)
 * The Motor Car (37 years old; 42.8% ABV)
 * The Airship (35 years old; 44.4% ABV)

Limited releases

 * The Red Collection
 * 40 years old (48.1% ABV)
 * 50 years old (45.1% ABV)
 * 60 years old (43.4% ABV)
 * 71 years old (41.6% ABV)
 * 74 years old (42.6% ABV)
 * 78 years old (42.2% ABV)

 * Distil Your World: London (57.5% ABV)

 * Masters of Photography
 * 1 - Rankin (30 years old)
 * 2 - Albert Watson (20 years old; 46.5% ABV)
 * 3 - Annie Leibovitz
 * 4 - Elliott Erwitt
 * 5 - Mario Testino
 * 6 - Steven Klein
 * 7 - Magnum (44% ABV)

 * The Macallan 50 years old (44% ABV)

 * The Macallan 52 years old (48% ABV)

 * The Archival Series
 * Folio 1
 * Folio 2
 * Folio 3
 * Folio 4
 * Folio 5
 * Folio 6
 * Folio 7
 * Classic Cut
 * 2017 Release (58.4% ABV)
 * 2018 Release (51.2% ABV)
 * 2019 Release (52.9% ABV)
 * 2020 Release (55% ABV)
 * 2021 Release (51% ABV)
 * 2022 Release (52.5% ABV)

 * Exceptional Single Cask
 * 2017 Release
 * 2018 Release
 * 2019 Release

 * The Edition Series
 * Edition No. 1 (48.1% ABV)
 * Edition No. 2 (48.2% ABV)
 * Edition No. 3 (48.3% ABV)
 * Edition No. 4 (48.4% ABV)
 * Edition No. 5 (48.5% ABV)
 * Edition No. 6 (48.6% ABV)

 * Gran Reserva 15 years old (43% ABV)

 * The Macallan Genesis Limited Edition (45.5% ABV)

 * Easter Elchies Black
 * 2018 Release (49.2% ABV)
 * 2019 Release (49.7% ABV)
 * 2020 Release (50% ABV)

 * The Six Pillars Collection (Bottled in Lalique crystal decanters)
 * 50 years old (2005 release/470 limited units; 46% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Exceptional Oak Casks
 * 55 years old (2007 release/420 limited units; 40.1% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Natural Colour
 * 57 years old (2009 release/400 limited units; 48.5% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Finest Cut
 * 60 years old (2011 release/400 limited units; 53.2% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Curiously Small Stills
 * 62 years old (2014 release/400 limited units; 53.1% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Spiritual Home
 * 65 years old (2016 release/450 limited units; 46.3% ABV): Celebrating the Macallan's Peerless Spirit

 * The Macallan 72 years old in Lalique (2018 release/600 limited units; 42% ABV) (Bottled in the Lalique Genesis Crystal Decanter)

title: The Macallan distillery


text:
Tang Frères

Tang Frères ("Tang Brothers") is an Asian supermarket chain based in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, one of the quartier chinois (Chinatown) of the capital city of France.

Tang Frères is known as the biggest Asian supermarket chain west of China. The company has in fact diversified to other activities, including import of Asian DVDs and TV broadcasting. Tang Frères has several retail outlets throughout Paris and its immediate suburbs, as well as an outlet in Vientiane, the capital of Laos – the country of origin of the company's founding brothers.

Next to the Ivry's Tang Frères supermarket lies Paristore, another major Asian supermarket from France.

title: Tang Frères


text:
Mustamakkara

Mustamakkara (lit. 'black sausage') is a type of Finnish blood sausage traditionally eaten with lingonberry jam. It is available in many stores across Finland, but is considered a specialty of Tampere. Mustamakkara is at its best when bought and eaten fresh at market stalls, to which it is delivered in styrofoam boxes straight from the factories, still piping hot. A typical practice of reheating the sausage is to fry it in a pan.

Mustamakkara is known to have been eaten as early as the 17th century and was generally cooked over a small fire, in a hot cauldron, or in an oven. Mustamakkara is made by mixing ground pork, pig blood, crushed rye and flour, after which it is stuffed into a casing of intestine. The two major producers of this food are Tapola and Savupojat.

When buying mustamakkara in the Tampere region, it is customary to specify the worth of sausage one wishes to buy, instead of the weight, length or number of the pieces, e.g. "Five euros' worth of black sausage, please". Often people simply point at their preferred piece. The shape and moisture of mustamakkara varies, and by this method, the buyer can get their preferred piece. Also common is to indicate purchase of a complete sausage by requesting a "round trip", menopaluu, which refers to its U-shape. A traditional location for enjoying mustamakkara is Tammelantori square in the district of Tammela.

On his show, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain praised mustamakkara, calling it "Good stuff!" Mustamakkara is generally an acquired taste in Finland.

title: Mustamakkara


text:
Konstantinos Kenteris

Konstantinos "Kostas" Kenteris, also spelled as Konstadinos "Costas" Kederis (Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Κεντέρης ; born July 11, 1973) is a Greek former athlete. He won gold medals in the 200 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics, making him the only European sprinter (along with Linford Christie) to win the gold medal in all three major competitions and the only European World Champion in the 200 metres races. Additionally, he has won two gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the European Cup, as well as three gold medals in the 200 metres at the Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria. He is also a 14-time golden medalist at the Greek Athletics Championships and a five-time golden medalist at the Greek Indoor Athletics Championships. He withdrew from the 2004 Summer Olympics, held in his home country, after a doping violation (failed to attend drug test).

Kenteris was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year three times, for the years 2000, 2001, and 2002. He was named the Best Balkan Athlete of the Year two times, for the years 2000 and 2001.

Career
Born in Mytilene, Kenteris, a student of physical education, started practising athletics at age 10, and started running seriously about ten years later, when he moved to Thessaloniki.

Kenteris specialised in the 200 m and 400 m. His first national titles were the three consecutive 400 m gold medals at the Greek Athletics Championships (1991 (46.90), 1992 (46.85), 1993 (46.27)) in Athens with 200 m (21.57) and 400 m (47.76) gold medals at the 1993 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships in Piraeus, representing his home town team, Arion Mytilene. He also competed at the 1992 World Junior Championships in Seoul where he finished 6th in 200 m (21.10). His first major international title was the gold medal in 400 m (45.70) at the 1993 Mediterranean Games in Narbonne. At the 1994 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships in Piraeus, he defended his 200 m (20.93) and 400 m (46.73) gold medals. He repeated his success in the 400 m (47.11) by winning gold at the 1996 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships. In 1997, Kenteris moved to Athens and Olympiacos CFP, with whom he won the 4 × 100 m relay gold (40.86) at the 1997 Greek Athletics Championships in Athens. Kenteris repeated his success the following year when he won the 400 m (45.87) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:11.95) gold medals at the 1998 Greek Athletics Championships in Athens.

It was not until 1998 that Kenteris took part in his first major international tournaments, when he took 9th place (semi finals) in both 400 m (45.74) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:06.48) at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest. He also took the 7th place at the 1998 IAAF World Cup in Johannesburg, in the 4 × 400 m relay race (3:03.95), representing the European team. In 1999, he continued by winning the 200 m (20.60) and 400 m (45.82) gold medals at the 1999 Greek Athletics Championships in Athens. His first European success was when he won the 400 m bronze medal at the 1999 European Cup in Paris with a time of 45.66. While Kenteris was eliminated in the 400 m heats of the indoor world championships, he returned that summer as a 200 m runner at the Outdoor World Championships in Seville. Kenteris won his heat # 5, defeating then 100 m world record holder Maurice Greene, but did not start the quarter-finals due to injury. The following year, Kenteris won the 4 × 100 m relay gold (40.46) at the 2000 Greek Athletics Championships in Athens, and also the 4 × 100 m relay silver (38.67) and 200 m bronze (20.48) at the 2000 European Cup in Gateshead.

Although Kenteris had established himself as a medal-winning national and European sprinter, few had heard of his name when he surprised by qualifying for the 200 m final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Although defending Olympic champion Michael Johnson and reigning world champion Maurice Greene did not compete, still nobody had included Kenteris in the list of medal favourites despite his being the fastest European at 200 m that summer with 20.25 seconds from June, but Kenteris raced to the gold medal with a time of 20.09, denying Britain's Darren Campbell and Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago. In doing so, Kenteris became the first white male to win a 200 m sprinting medal at the Olympics since Pietro Mennea achieved the feat, winning the 200 m gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He also competed in the 4 × 100 m relay qualifying, but failed to reach the finals and took ninth place in 38.80 seconds.

In 2001, Kenteris won his first gold medal in 100 m (10.21) at the 2001 Greek Athletics Championships in Athens. Success continued, as Kenteris won his first 200 m gold medal (20.31) and the silver medal in 100 m (10.15 PB) at the 2001 European Cup in Bremen, and 200 m gold at the 2001 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria with a performance of 20.10. He also won the 200 m title (20.04) at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton after a season where he mostly stayed out of international competition. The following year, he won the 200 m (20.18) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:14.48) gold medals at the 2002 Greek Athletics Championships in Trikala. Kenteris completed his trilogy by also winning the European title at the 2002 European Athletics Championships in Munich with a time of 19.85, his personal best. This performance still stands as the national record in 200 m. The next year, Kenteris took part in the 2003 European Cup in Florence where he won the 200 m gold (20.37) and 4 × 400 m relay silver (3:02.69). Upon returning in Athens, he won the 200 m gold (20.30) at the 2003 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria.

For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Kenteris was one of the hopes of the home crowd for winning a gold medal in athletics and favourite to light the Olympic flame, as he had won the 100 m (10.18) and 4 × 100 m relay (41.16) gold medals at the 2004 Greek Championship in Athens and the 200 m gold (20.27) at the 2004 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria, just one month before the Summer Olympics. However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou failed to attend a drug test. While they claimed to have been injured in a motorcycle accident – in a frantic attempt to return to the Olympic village for the test upon hearing the news in the media – an official Greek investigation would later find that the alleged accident had been staged. In the ensuing doping scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18, after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC, for what they described to be "in the interests of the country".

Kenteris retired from athletics and disappeared from the public eye following his withdrawal. After his retirement, Kenteris was offered an honorary officer position in the Hellenic Air Force by the Greek state, but he quit in 2011. In May 2011 he was (along with Thanou) given a suspended jail sentence of 31 months, after being charged with staging the crash, but an appeals court overturned this ruling. The World Athletics has banned him from entering the stadiums, as evidence was found that his coach was also involved in the BALCO scandal.

title: Konstantinos Kenteris


text:
Skeiðará

Skeiðará is a relatively short glacier river (about 30 km long). It has its source on the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull in the south of Iceland.

In spite of its short length, this river has a bad reputation. It is especially feared because of the frequent glacier runs that can be fatal.

In front of Skaftafell and Skeiðarárjökull, Skeiðará has formed the Skeiðarársandur, a black plain of lava sand and ashes crossed by a lot of small rivulets which covers the whole area between the park and the sea (about 40 km long and 5 to 10 km wide). In 1996, the latest of these glacier runs took place. It destroyed parts of Route 1 (the Ring Road). The 880 m bridge was damaged by floating ice boulders the size of houses. At the peak of this glacier run, 45,000 m3/s of water were coming down. No one was harmed, scientists having very carefully monitored the volcano Grímsvötn on Vatnajökull which caused the glacier run by its eruption.

title: Skeiðará


text:
Chuquet

Chuquet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include:

 * Arthur Chuquet (1853–1925), French historian and biographer
 * Nicolas Chuquet (15th century), French mathematician

title: Chuquet


text:
McFadden & Whitehead

McFadden and Whitehead were an American R&B duo, best known for their signature tune "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now". They wrote and produced some of the most popular R&B hits of the 1970s, and were primarily associated with the Gamble and Huff record label, Philadelphia International Records.

Early career
As teenagers, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead met at school in 1960s Philadelphia and formed a group called The Epsilons. The personnel included Allen Beatty, James Knight, and future Blue Notes member Lloyd Parks. When Otis Redding came to Philadelphia, The Epsilons were invited to become part of his revue. They toured with him during the late 1960s until Redding's death in a plane crash in 1967. They signed a small record deal with Stax Records on the back of this opportunity and had a moderate success in 1970 with "The Echo".

After the departure of Lloyd Parks to Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Gene and John changed their name to Talk of the Town and worked with Gamble/Huff who groomed their talents on their North Bay label. Discovering their abilities for writing and producing, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff employed McFadden & Whitehead at their Philadelphia International Records (PIR) label through the 1970s, collaborating with them at first on 'I'll Always Love My Mama' for The Intruders. While at the label, their songs and/or productions were utilised by the O'Jays on their hit "Back Stabbers" in 1972 (which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart) and Archie Bell & the Drells for hits "Let's Groove", "The Soul City Walk", "Strategy" and "Don't Let Love Get You Down".

McFadden and Whitehead also wrote songs such as "Bad Luck", "Wake Up Everybody", "Prayin'" (on the Source label) and "Where Are All My Friends" for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, as well as "The More I Get, The More I Want", and "Cold, Cold World" for Teddy Pendergrass as well as "Just Got To Be More Careful" for Carolyn Crawford. A number of these songs were written in collaboration with their associate Victor Carstaphen.

The production team also worked with fellow producer Rahni Song and with artists Melba Moore, Freddie Jackson, Gloria Gaynor, Gladys Knight, The Jackson 5, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls, Willie Collins, Jerry Bell and Beau Williams.

Rise to stardom
McFadden and Whitehead formed together as a group officially under the name "McFadden & Whitehead" in 1977. The pinnacle of their success came in 1979 with dancefloor anthem "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", from their eponymously named album, which went to #1 on the R&B charts, #13 on the pop charts, sold eight million records worldwide and was nominated for a Grammy Award. (Two more versions of the song were released back-to-back in 1981 - The Philadelphia Phillies version and The Philadelphia Eagles version, on the label's T.S.O.P. subsidiary). After leaving PIR, they re-recorded "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" as "Ain't No Stoppin' (Ain't No Way)" for the Sutra label in New York (1984) and worked on some individual projects. The duo was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where they sang their most famous song on an episode in which Oprah featured the top hits of the 1970s.

Hits co-written/produced by McFadden & Whitehead include:
 * "Back Stabbers" (the O'Jays)
 * "Bad Luck" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
 * "Wake Up Everybody" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
 * "Where Are All My Friends" (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
 * "I'll Always Love My Mama" (The Intruders)
 * "Let's Groove" (Archie Bell & the Drells)
 * "The Strength of One Man" (The Jacksons)
 * "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love" (Freddie Jackson)
 * "Standing Right Here" (Melba Moore)
 * "Pick me Up, I'll Dance" (Melba Moore)
 * "Let's Stand Together" (Melba Moore)
 * "Let's Mend What's Been Broken" (Gloria Gaynor)
 * "Determination" (Willie Collins)
 * "I Got the Love" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "You're My Somebody to Love" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "I've Been Pushed Aside" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "Got to Change" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "Do You Want to Dance?" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "Just Wanna Love You Baby" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "Mr. Music" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "This Is My Song" (McFadden & Whitehead)
 * "All the Man You Need" (Jerry Bell)

According to the American Top 40 radio program for the week ended August 4, 1979, Casey Kasem reported that McFadden and Whitehead were in Chicago on May 25, 1979, promoting their music and doing various interviews. Because they agreed to do one more music interview at the last minute, they decided to reschedule their flight to Los Angeles to the next day, May 26. They were originally scheduled to fly on American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25, which crashed shortly after takeoff from O'Hare International Airport, killing all 258 passengers plus the crew.

Deaths
On May 11, 2004, Whitehead was murdered on the street outside of his Philadelphia home studio, while standing aside as a young man made repairs on his SUV. There, he was shot once by one of several unknown gunmen, who then fled. Whitehead was 55 years old. As of 2022, the murder remains unsolved.

On January 27, 2006, McFadden died of liver and lung cancer. He was 56.

Compilation albums

 * Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now: The Best of the PIR Years (2004, Edsel UK)

title: McFadden & Whitehead


text: Template:Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Men


text:
Slovakia national football team

The Slovakia national football team (Slovenská futbalová reprezentácia) represents Slovakia in men's international football competition and it is governed by the Slovak Football Association (SFZ), the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium from 2019 is the reconstructed Tehelné pole in Bratislava. Historically, up to the split in 1993, the team participated mostly as Czechoslovakia,    while it also competed as Slovakia during World War II.

Since 1993, Slovakia has qualified for four major international tournaments, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024. Slovakia qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 after winning their qualifying group. At the World Cup, Slovakia progressed beyond the group stage after a 3–2 win against Italy, before bowing out of the tournament after a 2–1 defeat in the knockout stage against the eventual runners-up Netherlands. It was the first time the newly independent national team had ever played in a major football competition, after playing every FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign since 1998 and every UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign since 1996. The nation did come close to securing a berth at the 2006 finals in Germany, after finishing second in their group ahead of Russia and behind Portugal, before drawing Spain in their qualification play-off, in which the Slovaks lost by a wide margin on aggregate (1–5, 1–1).

Slovak Republic and Czechoslovakia
The first official match of the first Slovak Republic was played in Bratislava against Germany on 27 August 1939, and ended in a 2–0 victory for Slovakia. The Slovak team played a series of friendlies during the Second World War, all against Axis-aligned nations.

After the Second World War, the national football team was subsumed into the team of Czechoslovakia, and for over 50 years Slovakia played no matches as an independent country. During this period, they contributed several key players to the Czechoslovak team, including the majority of the team that won the UEFA Euro 1976 (8 of the 11 players who defeated West Germany in the final were Slovak).

1994–present: Slovakia
Slovakia's first official international after regaining independence was a 1–0 victory in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates on 2 February 1994. Their first home match was a 4–1 victory over Croatia in Bratislava on 20 April 1994. Slovakia suffered their biggest defeat since independence (6–0) on 22 June 1995 in Mendoza against Argentina. Their biggest victories (7–0) have come against Liechtenstein in 2004, as well as San Marino (twice) in 2007 and 2009.

Slovakia attempted qualifying for a major championship as an independent team for the first time in Euro 1996 qualifying, but finished in third place in their qualifying group, behind Romania and France, recording wins against Poland, Israel and Azerbaijan, twice. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Slovakia finished fourth in their six-team group with five wins, one draw and four defeats. Their first four games in this were all wins, one of them against their Czech neighbors, helping the team reach their highest FIFA World Ranking to date, 17th.

2010 FIFA World Cup
Slovakia participated in the FIFA World Cup for the first time as an independent nation after finishing in first in Group 3 of 2010 World Cup qualification ahead of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, and Poland. On 14 October 2009, they clinched qualification with a 1–0 away win against Poland. On 24 June 2010, at the tournament proper, Slovakia finished second in the group stage after defeating reigning champions Italy in a game which ESPN dubbed "epic": the game saw three goals being scored after the 80th minute, two by Italy and one by Slovakia, as well as a disallowed goal by Italy flagged offside by "the tightest of decisions". The result led Slovakia to the knockout stage and eliminated Italy, who finished last in the group. The result of this match meant that for the first time in World Cup history, both finalists from the previous tournament had been eliminated in the first round, champion Italy and runner-up France.

In the round of 16, Slovakia played the Netherlands in the round of 16, falling behind 2–0 only to score a late goal from the penalty spot by striker Róbert Vittek, the last kick of the game in a 2–1 defeat. Despite elimination, the goal returned Vittek to the top of the goalscoring charts joint top with David Villa until Villa himself later scored against Portugal in Spain's 1–0 win in the same stage of the tournament.

UEFA Euro 2012
In the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Slovakia was drawn against Russia, the Republic of Ireland, Armenia, Macedonia and Andorra. The campaign in South Africa boosted team performance ahead of the qualifiers, which started in September with two 1–0 wins against Macedonia at Štadión Pasienky and Russia away. However, in October, they were easily beaten in Armenia (3–1) and drew 1–1 against the Republic of Ireland at home. In February 2011, the team was stunned in a 2–1 friendly defeat against Luxembourg and could only beat group minnows Andorra by one goal. Despite creating better chances, Slovakia earned a goalless draw with Ireland away. Four days later, after creating chances in a goalless first half, Slovakia conceded four goals to Armenia in a match that eliminated the team. In the final two group matches, Slovakia was beaten at home by Russia (1–0) and drew 1–1 in Macedonia, finishing in a mediocre fourth-place position and scoring only seven goals in the entire process. For the first time since the Euro 1996 qualifying process, Slovakia finished a qualifying campaign with a negative goal differential. As a result of this outcome, coach Vladimír Weiss left his job after four full years, being replaced by his assistants Michal Hipp and Stanislav Griga, although both themselves were later replaced due to poor results.

By late June, former Czechoslovakia national team footballer Ján Kozák became the head coach after the unsuccessful qualifying campaign with a victory in Bosnia and Herzegovina followed by two defeats to Bosnia and Greece.

UEFA Euro 2016
In the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Slovakia was drawn against Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg. Slovakia began the qualifying campaign with a 1–0 victory against Ukraine in Kyiv. On 9 October 2014, Slovakia beat Spain 2–1 in a shock victory and claimed the first place. Slovakia's 3–1 victory over Belarus confirmed their status as group leaders. Later on, they won 2–0 against Macedonia in the Philip II Arena, beat Luxembourg with a score of 3–0 in Žilina, and beat Macedonia 2–1 on 14 June 2015, also in Žilina. The next matches were a 2–0 defeat against Spain, a goalless draw against Ukraine, and a shocking 0–1 home defeat against Belarus. Slovakia finished qualification by defeating Luxembourg 4–2 and got the second place, qualifying to their fourth European Championship, first as an independent nation.

Slovakia was drawn in Group B of Euro 2016 alongside England, Russia and Wales. Slovakia began their tournament against Wales where Ondrej Duda scored Slovakia's first goal in the history of the European Championship in an eventual 2–1 defeat. Slovakia then defeated Russia 2–1 with goals from Vladimír Weiss III and Marek Hamšík, then drew 0–0 against England to advance to the round of 16 as one of the tournament's best third-placed teams. They were eliminated at this stage by world champions Germany with a 3–0 defeat.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
During the qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup, Slovakia was drawn in UEFA Group F. They were third in the group after the penultimate match ended in a 1–0 defeat to Scotland, who moved up to second place. Slovakia won their final group match 3–0 against Malta, and overtook Scotland after they failed to beat Slovenia, but they missed out on a play-off place as the other second teams' results went against them, meaning Slovakia finished as the worst group runners-up.

UEFA Euro 2020
Slovakia struggled to qualify for Euro 2020, only reaching the tournament after a difficult away victory over Northern Ireland. Being drawn with Spain, Sweden and Poland in group E, Slovakia beat Poland 2–1. However, Slovakia subsequently lost to Sweden 0–1 before getting thrashed by Spain 5–0, thus finishing third with the worst goal difference due to scoring own goals as a result of their performance. Slovakia was eliminated in the group stage for the first time ever.

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The country finished third in 2022 World Cup qualifying behind Croatia and Russia, the latter of which would be banned from the final tournament due to the country's invasion of Ukraine. Despite the third-place finish in the group, the team dropped points to footballing minnows Cyprus and Malta.

UEFA Euro 2024
After a series of disappointing results, former Napoli coach Francesco Calzona was appointed as the manager.

Slovakia's poor form meant they were placed as low as the fifth pot for the qualifying phase of the tournament, the worst position the country has ever been in. Slovakia was drawn into a group with Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. After a poor 0–0 draw in the first match against Luxembourg, the team went on to win eight and lose two matches in total, both being narrow losses against Portugal (0–1 at home and 3–2 away). As a result, Slovakia qualified automatically for Euro 2024 by finishing second in their qualifying group.

The team was drawn in Group E of Euro 2024, together with Belgium, Ukraine, and Romania. In Frankfurt on 17 June, Slovakia produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament by beating Belgium 1–0.

Slovakia eventually progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament. In the round of 16, they faced eventual Runner-up England and lost 2-1 in extra time. Slovakia's Ivan Schranz became the joint-UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer of Euro 2024.

Stadia
The Slovakia national football team plays its home matches at the Tehelné pole in Bratislava and the Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava. Štadión pod Dubňom in Žilina was used from 2003 to 2015, but cannot be used because of artificial grass installation in 2016. In the past, home games have occasionally been played at other venues including Všešportový areál and Štadión Lokomotívy in Košice, Štadión pod Zoborom in Nitra, Mestský štadión in Dubnica nad Váhom, and Tatran Stadion in Prešov.

Stadia which have hosted Slovakia international football matches:

Nickname
Traditionally in Slovakia the team is typically referred to as the Repre (short for Reprezentácia – translates into national team). However, in 2016, during the buildup to Slovakia's first appearance at the European Championship, SFZ introduced a new nickname for the team. The national team was given the nickname Slovenskí sokoli (Slovak Falcons). The U15 to U21 national teams were given the nickname Slovenskí sokolíci (Slovak Little Falcons). Despite a lack of immediate identification with the nickname by the fans, it went into usage during the tournament and the subsequent qualification for the 2018 World Cup and is now often used, especially in the media, along with Repre, which still remains to be preferred in an informal conversation.

Kit
Slovakia's home kit since 1993 is blue, but Slovakia changed their home kit from blue to white, which lasted for 25 years until 2020, when Slovakia changed its home kit to blue once again. The team wears either a set of white jerseys, shorts and socks or a set of blue jerseys, shorts and socks. A combination of a blue jersey and white shorts has also been used in some matches. Until recently, the official shirt supplier was Puma, which had signed a long-term agreement with the Slovak Association until 2026, but in 2016 the Association announced the contract had been terminated and that the national team would be supplied by Nike, which had previously supplied the team from 1995 to 2005.

Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Coaching history
1939–1944

1993–present

Current squad
The following 26 players were called up for a friendly fixture against Wales (9 June) and the UEFA Euro 2024 final tournament.

Caps and goals updated as of 30 June 2024, after the match against England.

Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Slovakia squad within the last twelve months:

 * Notes
 * INJ Withdrew/Unavailable due to an injury or an illness.
 * RET Retired or resigned from international football

Player records

 * Players in bold are still active with Slovakia.

Head-to-head record
The following table shows Slovakia's all-time international record, correct as of 30 June 2024 after a match against England. Records with defunct teams are marked in italics.

Major tournaments

 * FIFA World Cup
 * Appearances (1): 2010
 * UEFA European Championship
 * Champions (1): 1976
 * Football at the Summer Olympics
 * Appearances (1): 2000

Minor titles

 * King's Cup
 * Winners (2): 2004, 2018
 * Kirin Cup
 * Winners (1): 2000
 * Third-place (2): 2002, 2004
 * Shanghai International Football Tournament
 * Runner-up (1): 1992
 * Copa Ciudad de Valparaíso
 * Runner up (1): 2000
 * Cyprus International Football Tournaments
 * Third place (2): 1998, 2003
 * Friendship Tournament (UAE)
 * Third place (1): 1994

Recognitions

 * FIFA Best Mover of the Year
 * Runner-up (1): 2014
 * Slovak Sportsperson of the Year – Team Award
 * Winners (4): 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015
 * Runner-up (1): 2016

title: Slovakia national football team


text:
Absolute theory

In philosophy, absolute theory (or absolutism) usually refers to a theory based on concepts (such as the concept of space) that exist independently of other concepts and objects. The absolute point of view was advocated in physics by Isaac Newton. It is one of the traditional views of space along with relational theory and the Kantian theory.

Theory
According to the absolute theory of space, it is a homogeneous structure which exists and is independent of other things. The Newtonian arguments of this theory, particularly those concerned with the ontological status of space and time, had been related to the existence of God through the concepts of absolute space and absolute time. It was proposed that the universe was finite in extent and was said to have begun in time. Additionally, space exists prior to the body or matter that occupies it and it was held that the universe – as a finite object – is situated within it.

The theory was also promoted by Newton's followers including Samuel Clarke and Roger Cotes during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Related theories
An absolute theory is the opposite of a relational theory. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the main proponent of relational theory, argued that there is no absolute space and time. He maintained that space is not independent nor a container of the matter that occupies it, explaining that physical objects or forces are ordered spatially and that space is merely a system of relations. According to the relational theory, without objects, there is no space.

Martin Heidegger's theory of space also opposes the absolute theory, with the criticism that it is founded on metaphysical dichotomy of separated subject and object. He maintained that this nature keeps absolute theory from explaining the true nature of space.

title: Absolute theory


text:
Group-velocity dispersion

In optics, group-velocity dispersion (GVD) is a characteristic of a dispersive medium, used most often to determine how the medium affects the duration of an optical pulse traveling through it. Formally, GVD is defined as the derivative of the inverse of group velocity of light in a material with respect to angular frequency,

\text{GVD}(\omega_0) \equiv \frac{\partial}{\partial \omega} \left( \frac{1}{v_g(\omega)} \right)_{\omega=\omega_0}, $$ where $$\omega$$ and $$\omega_0$$ are angular frequencies, and the group velocity $$v_g(\omega)$$ is defined as $$v_g(\omega) \equiv \partial \omega / \partial k$$. The units of group-velocity dispersion are [time]2/[distance], often expressed in fs2/mm.

Equivalently, group-velocity dispersion can be defined in terms of the medium-dependent wave vector $$k(\omega)$$ according to

\text{GVD}(\omega_0) \equiv \left( \frac{\partial^2 k}{\partial \omega^2}\right)_{\omega=\omega_0}, $$ or in terms of the refractive index $$n(\omega)$$ according to

\text{GVD}(\omega_0) \equiv \frac{2}{c} \left(\frac{\partial n}{\partial \omega}\right)_{\omega=\omega_0} + \frac{\omega_0}{c}\left( \frac{\partial^2 n}{\partial \omega^2}\right)_{\omega=\omega_0}. $$

Applications
Group-velocity dispersion is most commonly used to estimate the amount of chirp that will be imposed on a pulse of light after passing through a material of interest:

\text{chirp} = (\text{material thickness}) \times \text{GVD}(\omega_0) \times (\text{bandwidth}). $$

Derivation
A simple illustration of how GVD can be used to determine pulse chirp can be seen by looking at the effect of a transform-limited pulse of duration $$\sigma$$ passing through a planar medium of thickness d. Before passing through the medium, the phase offsets of all frequencies are aligned in time, and the pulse can be described as a function of time,

E(t) = Ae^{-\frac{t^2}{4 \sigma^2}} e^{-i \omega_0 t}, $$ or equivalently, as a function of frequency,

E(\omega) = Be^{-\frac{(w - w_0)^2}{4 (1/2\sigma)^2}} $$ (the parameters A and B are normalization constants). Passing through the medium results in a frequency-dependent phase accumulation $$\Delta \phi(\omega) = k(\omega) d$$, such that the post-medium pulse can be described by

E(\omega) = Be^{-\frac{(w - w_0)^2}{4 (1/2\sigma)^2}} e^{i k(\omega) d}. $$

In general, the refractive index $$n(\omega)$$, and therefore the wave vector $$k(\omega) = n(\omega)\omega/c$$, can be an arbitrary function of $$\omega$$, making it difficult to analytically perform the inverse Fourier transform back into the time domain. However, if the bandwidth of the pulse is narrow relative to the curvature of $$n$$, then good approximations of the impact of the refractive index can be obtained by replacing $$k(\omega)$$ with its Taylor expansion centered about $$\omega_0$$:

\frac{n(\omega)\omega}{c} = \underbrace{\frac{n(\omega_0)\omega_0}{c}}_{k(\omega_0)} + \underbrace{\left[ \frac{n(\omega_0) + n'(\omega_0)\omega_0}{c}\right]}_{k'(\omega_0)}(\omega - \omega_0) + \frac{1}{2} \underbrace{\left[ \frac{2 n'(\omega_0) + n''(\omega_0)\omega_0}{c} \right]}_{\text{GVD}} (\omega - \omega_0)^2 + \dots $$

Truncating this expression and inserting it into the post-medium frequency-domain expression results in a post-medium time-domain expression

E_\text{post}(t) = A_\text{post} \exp\left[-\frac{\left(t - k'(\omega_0) d\right)^2}{4 \left(\sigma^2 - i\, \text{GVD}\, d/2\right)}\right] e^{i[k(\omega_0) d - \omega_0 t]}. $$

On balance, the pulse is lengthened to an intensity standard deviation value of

\sigma_\text{post} = \sqrt{ \sigma^2 + \left[ d\, \textrm{GVD}(\omega_0) \frac{1}{2\sigma}\right]^2 }, $$ thus validating the initial expression. Note that a transform-limited pulse has $$\sigma_\omega \sigma_t = 1/2$$, which makes it appropriate to identify 1/(2σt) as the bandwidth.

Alternate derivation
An alternate derivation of the relationship between pulse chirp and GVD, which more immediately illustrates the reason why GVD can be defined by the derivative of inverse group velocity, can be outlined as follows. Consider two transform-limited pulses of carrier frequencies $$\omega_1$$ and $$\omega_2$$, which are initially overlapping in time. After passing through the medium, these two pulses will exhibit a time delay between their respective pulse-envelope centers, given by

\Delta T = d \left( \frac{1}{v_g(\omega_2)} - \frac{1}{v_g(\omega_1)} \right). $$ The expression can be approximated as a Taylor expansion, giving

\Delta T = d \left( \frac{1}{v_g(\omega_1)} +  \frac{\partial}{\partial \omega}\left( \frac{1}{v_g(\omega')}\right)_{\omega' = \omega_1} (\omega_2 - \omega_1) - \frac{1}{v_g(\omega_1)} \right), $$ or

\Delta T = d \times \textrm{GVD}(\omega_1) \times (\omega_2 - \omega_1). $$ From here it is possible to imagine scaling this expression up two pulses to infinitely many. The frequency difference $$\omega_2 - \omega_1$$ must be replaced by the bandwidth, and the time delay $$\Delta T$$ evolves into the induced chirp.

Group-delay dispersion
A closely related yet independent quantity is the group-delay dispersion (GDD), defined such that group-velocity dispersion is the group-delay dispersion per unit length. GDD is commonly used as a parameter in characterizing layered mirrors, where the group-velocity dispersion is not particularly well-defined, yet the chirp induced after bouncing off the mirror can be well-characterized. The units of group-delay dispersion are [time]2, often expressed in fs2.

The group-delay dispersion (GDD) of an optical element is the derivative of the group delay with respect to angular frequency, and also the second derivative of the optical phase:

D_2(\omega) = -\frac{\partial T_g}{d \omega} = \frac{d^2 \phi}{d\omega^2}. $$ It is a measure of the chromatic dispersion of the element. GDD is related to the total dispersion parameter $$D_\text{tot}$$ as

D_2(\omega) = -\frac{2\pi c}{\lambda^2} D_\text{tot}. $$

title: Group-velocity dispersion


text:
Glenmorangie distillery

Glenmorangie distillery (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable: ; the toponym is believed to derive from either Gaelic Gleann Mòr na Sìth "vale of tranquillity" or Gleann Mór-innse "vale of big meadows") is a distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, that produces single malt Scotch whisky.

The distillery is owned by The Glenmorangie Company Ltd (a subsidiary of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), whose main product is the range of Glenmorangie single malt whisky. Glenmorangie is categorised as a Highland distillery and boasts the tallest stills in Scotland. It is available in Original, 18-, and 25-year-old bottlings, special cask bottlings, cask finishes, extra matured bottlings, and a range of special edition bottlings.

History
Legends tell that alcoholic beverages of one kind or another were produced in and around Tain since the Middle Ages.

According to the Glenmorangie Company, the earliest record of the production of alcohol at Morangie Farm is dated 1703. In the 1730s a brewery was built on the site that shared the farm's water source, the Tarlogie Spring. A former distillery manager, William Matheson, acquired the farm in 1843 and converted the Morangie brewery to a distillery, equipped with two-second hand gin stills. He later renamed the distillery Glenmorangie.

The distillery was purchased by its main customer, the Leith firm Macdonald and Muir, in 1918. The Macdonald family would retain control of the company for almost 90 years.

Glenmorangie, like all distilleries and breweries in Britain, suffered terribly between 1920 and 1950, with Prohibition and then the Great Depression in the United States reducing whisky sales. The distillery was effectively mothballed between 1931 and 1936. The depression ended with World War II, but the war effort left fuel and barley in short supply and the distillery was again mothballed between 1941 and 1944. Exports of whisky were important during the war, but enemy action disrupted and destroyed deliveries to the United States and Canada.

Towards the end of the war and in the immediate post-war period, the distillery increased production and was running at full capacity by 1948. The number of stills was increased from two to four during 1977. Water supply became a concern during the 1980s when development of the land around the Tarlogie Springs seemed likely. Development could have reduced the quality and quantity of water available to the distillery, so the decision was made to purchase around 600 acre of land around and including the Tarlogie Springs. The distillery once again engaged in expansion during 1990 when it added a further four stills, and two additional fermentation vessels (or washbacks) were added during 2002. Four new stills were added in 2009, bringing the total to twelve.

The Macdonald family retained ownership of 52% of the company through a complicated London stock exchange listing which saw the family hold the majority of the voting shares in the company. In 2004, the company was sold to the French drinks company Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton for around £300 million.

Following the change of ownership, the Glenmorangie product line was rebranded to increase its appeal in the overseas luxury goods market. A new, more curvaceous, bottle was introduced and the Wood Finish whiskies were given new names such as The Quinta Ruban, Nectar d'Or and LaSanta. According to Professor Paul Freathy, the director of the Institute of Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, "The French-sounding names are an unusual innovation, because what makes whisky unique is the traditional tie to Scotland. It's a brave strategy."

For some years, The Glenmorangie Company supplied its whisky for the production of "own brand" blended whisky by supermarket groups. The practice ceased in 2009 when it sold off the Glen Moray brand.

Glenmorangie has been the best selling single malt in Scotland almost continuously since 1983, and produces around 10 million bottles per annum, of which 6 to 6.5 million are sold in the UK. Globally, Glenmorangie has a 6% share of the single malt market.

Production
Glenmorangie's water source is the Tarlogie Springs, situated in the Tarlogie Hills above the distillery. Barley grain is supplied by Highland Grain Ltd, a co-operative of farmers in the area. The stills used, the tallest in Scotland at 26 ft tall, with 16 ft necks, are claimed by the company to produce an extremely light taste. The distillation process was for decades undertaken by a staff of 16, known as The Sixteen Men of Tain, who worked year round, with the exceptions of Christmas and periods of maintenance. Expansion of production since 2008 has led to a larger staff of 24, who are now referred to on bottles and in promotional leaflets just as The Men of Tain.

Glenmorangie uses a number of different cask types, with all products being matured in white oak casks which are manufactured from trees growing in Glenmorangie's own forest in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, United States. These new casks are left to air for two years before being leased to distillers Jack Daniel's and Heaven Hill for them to mature bourbon in for four years. Glenmorangie then uses the barrels to mature their spirit. The Original range will mature entirely in ex-bourbon casks, while the Extra Matured range of bottlings are transferred into casks that were previously used to mature other products such as wine, port or sherry in a process called finishing. These form part of the regular range of products Glenmorangie makes. Glenmorangie also obtains small batches of other casks for finishing and release limited edition bottlings from these. Following acquisition by LVMH, Glenmorangie produced a rare limited edition aged in casks previously used to mature Château Margaux; these bottlings are now (2011) extremely hard to find and are priced accordingly.

The warehouses in which the casks are stored are also believed to affect the taste of the whisky. Glenmorangie have released a special edition bottling titled Cellar 13, which is from the warehouse closest to the sea, as the whisky is believed to have a distinctive flavour.

Bottling of the Glenmorangie and Ardbeg brands takes place at The Glenmorangie Company's purpose-built bottling plant in The Alba Campus at Livingston, West Lothian, just outside Edinburgh, Scotland. Glenmorangie previously bottled Drambuie in a joint venture with the Drambuie Company; this arrangement ended in 2010.

Pronunciation
Glen-MOR-angie: the name of the whisky is, with the stress on the "mor" and rhyming with orangey (not   as it is commonly mispronounced).

Bottlings
Core Range: Original, Lasanta, Quinta Ruban, and Nectar (formerly Nectar D'Or).

Prestige Range: 18, 19, 25, Signet, Pride 1981, Pride 1978, Pride 1974, and Grand Vintage Malt 1990.

Private Edition Range: (1st Annual Release) Sonnalta PX; 2010, (2) Finealta; 2011, (3) Artein; 2012, (4) Ealanta; 2013, (5) Companta; 2014, (6) Tùsail; 2015, (7) Milsean; 2016, (8) Bacalta; 2017, (9) Spios; 2018, and (10) Allta; 2019.

Legend Collection: Tarlogan, Tayne, Duthac, Dornoc, and Cadboll.

Limited Edition Range: Astar; 2009 and 2017, A Midwinter Night's Dram; 2015 and 2017, Malaga Cask Finish; 2020 Cadboll Estate; 2020, A Tale Of Cake; 2020, A Tale Of Winter; 2021, A Tale of the Forest; 2022, Dr. Bill Lumsden x Azuma Makoto; 2024.

Cask Masters Selections: Taghta 2014 (Sherry Cask).

"Tale of" Series: A Tale of Cake 2020, A Tale of Winter 2021, A Tale of The Forest 2022, A Tale of Tokyo 2023.

"Barrel Select Release" Series: Malaga Finish (2020), Cognac Finish (2021), Amontillado Finish (2023), Palo Cortado Finish (2023), Calvados Finish (2024)

Accolades
Glenmorangie's products have tended to garner very high scores from international Spirit ratings competitions and from liquor reviewing bodies. Its 12-year Lasanta and 18-year single malt spirits, for example, have never received less than a silver medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competitions. The 12-year Lasanta has been placed in the Top 10 percentile of all whiskies by Proof66.com, which aggregates liquor ratings from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Wine Enthusiast, and others. Over the last five years Glenmorangie has won more "Gold Best in Class" awards than any other single malt Scotch whisky from the International Wine and Spirits Competition. In 2012, the IWSC awarded The Glenmorangie Company the title Distiller of the Year.

Glenmorangie Quarter Century won Best Highland Single Malt at the 2013 World Whisky Awards.

In popular culture
Jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth released an album named The Sixteen Men of Tain in 2000.

In the 1986 film Highlander, Conner MacLeod, played by Christopher Lambert, orders a "double Glenmorangie on the rocks."

title: Glenmorangie distillery


text:
Hlöðskviða

Hlöðskviða (also Hlǫðskviða and Hlǫðsqviða), known in English as The Battle of the Goths and Huns and occasionally known by its German name Hunnenschlachtlied, is an Old Norse heroic poem found in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Many attempts have been made to try to fit it with known history, but it is an epic poem, telescoping and fictionalising history to a large extent; some verifiable historical information from the time are place names, surviving in Old Norse forms from the period 750–850, but it was probably collected later in Västergötland.

Most scholars place the tale sometime in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, with the battle taking place somewhere either in Central Europe near the Carpathian Mountains, or further east in European Russia.

Texts, historicity, and analysis
There are two main sources for the saga, "H", from the Hauksbók (A.M. 544) early 14th century; and "R", a 15th-century parchment (MS 2845). The final parts of the saga including Hlöðskviða are absent in H and truncated in R – the remainder of the text is found in better preserved 17th-century paper copies of these works.

The poem itself is thought to have originally been a stand-alone work, separate from the saga. It has several analogues, containing similar or related content, including the English Widsith, as well as Orvar-Odd's Saga and the Gesta Danorum.

The historicity of the "Battle of the Goths and Huns", including the identification of people, places, and events, has been a matter of scholarly investigation since the 19th century, with no clear answer. Locations proposed for the setting include a number of places around the Carpathian Mountains; the actual battle has been identified as either the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451 AD), between Flavius Aetius and the Visigoths under Theodoric I and the Huns under Attila; or a battle between the Gothic king Ostrogotha and the Gepid king Fastida; or a battle between the Langobards and the Vulgares (Bulgars) in which the Lombard king Agelmundus (Agelmund) was killed; or a post-Attila (d. 453) conflict between the Gepids and Huns, possibly during the reign of the Gepid Ardaric; another interpretation makes the Goths the Crimean Goths. The battle has alternatively been placed as early as 386 AD, a destruction of peoples under Odotheus in a battle on the River Danube. Similarities between the story in the saga and the Battle of Nedao have also been noted. The identification of persons in the poem with historical figures is equally confused. Additionally any historical date of the "Battle of Goths and Huns" (whatever the exact attribution to historical events) is several centuries earlier than the supposedly preceding events recorded in the saga.

Text
The poem is preserved as 29 separate strophes or parts of strophes interspersed among the text in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, of which most are narrative not speech. Much of the saga is now in prose form, though it is thought that the original had been verse, with some textual evidence in the prose for a verse original. Christopher Tolkien supposes that it originally formed a complete narrative in itself, outside of the context it is now found in the saga.

Some damaged verses were recorded differently by different editors, and the text shows signs of different dates of composition or recording in different parts of the text – including rich verses similar to those found in early eddaic poems such as Atlakviða or Hamðismál, whilst other lines are less rich.

Most editions number the stanzas, but the numbering may start from the first poetic stanza in the saga, not the poem.

Extracts
Heiðrekr, king of the Goths, had two sons, Angantýr and Hlöðr. Only Angantýr was legitimate, so he inherited his father's kingdom. Hlöðr, whose mother was the daughter of Humli, king of the Huns, and who was born and raised among the Huns, claimed half the inheritance, Angantýr refused to split evenly and war ensued, claiming first Hervör, their sister, then Hlöðr himself as casualties.

The first verses frame peoples and their rulers. It is noteworthy that the Geats (Gautar) and their king Gizurr have been inserted directly after the Huns, where one logically would expect the Goths and their king Angantyr to appear.

Valdar is also named as a king of the Danes in Guðrúnarkviða II.

After Heiðrekr's death, Hlöðr travels to Árheimar to claim half of the Gothic realm as his inheritance. His demand refers to the forest on the boundary separating the Goths and the Huns and to a "holy grave", apparently an important sanctuary of the Goths, but its background is unknown.

Angantýr offers Hlöðr a third of his realm, and Gizur, Heiðrekr's old foster-father, says that this is more than enough for the son of a slave. On Hlöðr's return to the Hunnic realm, his grandfather Humli is enraged at the insult and gathers the army of the Huns.

The poem ends with Angantýr finding his brother dead:

title: Hlöðskviða


text:
Quasinormal mode

Quasinormal modes (QNM) are the modes of energy dissipation of a perturbed object or field, i.e. they describe perturbations of a field that decay in time.

Example
A familiar example is the perturbation (gentle tap) of a wine glass with a knife: the glass begins to ring, it rings with a set, or superposition, of its natural frequencies — its modes of sonic energy dissipation. One could call these modes normal if the glass went on ringing forever. Here the amplitude of oscillation decays in time, so we call its modes quasi-normal. To a high degree of accuracy, quasinormal ringing can be approximated by

 * $$\psi(t) \approx e^{-\omega^{\prime\prime}t}\cos\omega^{\prime}t$$

where $$\psi\left(t\right)$$ is the amplitude of oscillation, $$\omega^{\prime}$$ is the frequency, and $$\omega^{\prime\prime}$$ is the decay rate. The quasinormal frequency is described by two numbers,

 * $$\omega = \left(\omega^{\prime}, \omega^{\prime\prime}\right)$$

or, more compactly

 * $$\psi\left(t\right) \approx \operatorname{Re}(e^{i\omega t})$$

 * $$\omega =\omega^{\prime} + i\omega^{\prime\prime}$$

Here, $$\mathbf{\omega}$$ is what is commonly referred to as the quasinormal mode frequency. It is a complex number with two pieces of information: real part is the temporal oscillation; imaginary part is the temporal, exponential decay.

In certain cases the amplitude of the wave decays quickly, to follow the decay for a longer time one may plot $$\log\left|\psi(t)\right|$$

Mathematical physics
In theoretical physics, a quasinormal mode is a formal solution of linearized differential equations (such as the linearized equations of general relativity constraining perturbations around a black hole solution) with a complex eigenvalue (frequency).

Black holes have many quasinormal modes (also: ringing modes) that describe the exponential decrease of asymmetry of the black hole in time as it evolves towards the perfect spherical shape.

Recently, the properties of quasinormal modes have been tested in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Also, the asymptotic behavior of quasinormal modes was proposed to be related to the Immirzi parameter in loop quantum gravity, but convincing arguments have not been found yet.

Electromagnetism and photonics
There are essentially two types of resonators in optics. In the first type, a high-Q factor optical microcavity is achieved with lossless dielectric optical materials, with mode volumes of the order of a cubic wavelength, essentially limited by the diffraction limit. Famous examples of high-Q microcavities are micropillar cavities, microtoroid resonators, photonic-crystal cavities. In the second type of resonators, the characteristic size is well below the diffraction limit, routinely by 2-3 orders of magnitude. In such small volumes, energies are stored for a small period of time. A plasmonic nanoantenna supporting a localized surface plasmon quasinormal mode essentially behaves as a poor antenna that radiates energy rather than stores it. Thus, as the optical mode becomes deeply sub-wavelength in all three dimensions, independent of its shape, the Q-factor is limited to about 10 or less.

Formally, the resonances (i.e., the quasinormal mode) of an open (non-Hermitian) electromagnetic micro or nanoresonators are all found by solving the time-harmonic source-free Maxwell’s equations with a complex frequency, the real part being the resonance frequency and the imaginary part the damping rate. The damping is due to energy loses via leakage (the resonator is coupled to the open space surrounding it) and/or material absorption. Quasinormal-mode solvers exist to efficiently compute and normalize all kinds of modes of plasmonic nanoresonators and photonic microcavities. The proper normalisation of the mode leads to the important concept of mode volume of non-Hermitian (open and lossy) systems. The mode volume directly impact the physics of the interaction of light and electrons with optical resonance, e.g. the local density of electromagnetic states, Purcell effect, cavity perturbation theory, strong interaction with quantum emitters, superradiance.

Biophysics
In computational biophysics, quasinormal modes, also called quasiharmonic modes, are derived from diagonalizing the matrix of equal-time correlations of atomic fluctuations.

title: Quasinormal mode


text:
Solihull School

Solihull School is a coeducational private day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

History
In 1560 the revenues of the chantry chapels of St Mary and St Katherine in the parish church of St Alphege, Solihull were diverted for the endowment of a school for boys. The revenue of the chapel of St Alphege was added to the fund six years later, enhancing the capacity of the school. The education remained based in teachings of the Church and the desire to turn out 'respectable, thoughtful, successful young gentlemen'.

In the 17th century it became a boarding school and the number of pupils grew. The school became more notable and well thought of owing to the involvement of several prominent families. Much of this development came under the Headmastership of the Rev. Richard Mashiter who, in 1735, was famously elected ahead of Samuel Johnson, a celebrated author, essayist, and lexicographer. Johnson was passed over because the school's directors thought he was "a very haughty, ill-natured gent., and that he has such a way of distorting his fface [sic] (which though he can't help) the gent[s] think it may affect some lads in the pursuit of learning". The successful applicant Mashiter was, by marriage, related to the aristocratic Holbeche family and his daughter married John Short, a well-respected surgeon in Solihull who would go on to serve the school as a Feoffee for 57 years. Short's six sons were all educated at Solihull School and became professionally and socially successful. One of them, Robert Short, rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army of the East India Company and later became 54th Lord of The Manor of Solihull. Owing to a strong affection for Solihull School he expressly recommended it to his fellow officers and peers, according to the diaries of Caroline Clive.

In around 1879 the feoffees were replaced by a board of Governors who allowed £4,345 to be made available for an architect, J. A. Chatwin, to be commissioned to build a new school on a new site for 80 day boys and 20 boarders. Upon the building's completion in 1882, the school relocated to the new site on the Warwick Road from its previous location on the edge of Brueton Park. 'School House' is now a grade II listed building. Expansion continued on this Warwick Road site into the 20th century. Over the course of the 20th century the school grew steadily from 200 to nearly 1000 pupils.

In 1960 a new chapel was built and was named The Chapel of St Mary and St Katherine to commemorate the origins of the school.

In 1962 the school was visited by Queen Elizabeth II.

In the early 1970s the school admitted girls into the Sixth Form for the first time. Only ten girls joined in the first year, but this grew quickly over the following years, until 2002 when for the first time as many girls entered the Sixth Form as did boys.

In September 2005 the school began a transition to becoming fully co-educational, at first admitting girls into all four years of the Junior School and at 11+ level, beginning a process which was completed in 2009, when the first third form (year 7) girls reached upper fifth (year 11). The 2015-2016 academic year marked the first girls to go through the whole school from J1 to upper sixth.

In 2010 Solihull School celebrated its 450th anniversary. Both the school and the Old Silhillians' Association hosted a range of ceremonial, musical and sporting events to mark the historic occasion.

A sapling taken from the tree that Anne Frank could see from her hiding place in Amsterdam was planted at Solihull School as part of Remembrance Day commemorations 2015. The tree was planted by 86-year-old Auschwitz survivor Mindu Hornick – at an age similar to what Anne Frank would have been. The tree was the idea of Holly Krober (Pole, 2005-2016), who was so moved by her Solihull School trip to Auschwitz concentration camp with 3 other pupils that she was determined to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.

In 2020 Solihull School merged with nearby girls school St Martins School. Today the former St Martins Campus houses the Prep School.

Facilities
The school is based across two campuses. Solihull Senior School on the Warwick Road campus currently occupies a site of approximately 65 acre. This is partly as a result of a former headmaster, Warin Foster Bushell, who in the 1920s bought much of the land himself when the governors refused to finance the purchase out of school funds. On his retirement Bushell sold the fields to the school at no profit. The school's quadrangle and surrounding classrooms, as well as the former hall, known as Big School, were built after this period, and were followed by a chapel and large teaching block and sports hall, amongst other additions. Solihull School has a number of rugby pitches, cricket squares and nets, tennis courts, football pitches and general purpose sports fields. There is a floodlit artificial pitch on the school's main campus, incorporating 2, 8x40 warm-up areas. The pitch is used primarily for hockey in the winter months and in the summer term the pitch affords a further 8 tennis courts and a multi-purpose training/coaching area.

One mile away, at Copt Heath, the school has another 13 acre of fields, comprising 4 rugby pitches, a new floodlit artificial pitch and a cricket square. These 13 acre are a part of the site that is home to the school's former pupils' organisation, the Old Silhillians' Association.

The school possesses a mountain cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales. The cottage was presented to the school in 1958 by the parents of David Fricke, who was a school pupil between 1946-1956, following his death. David was a keen mountain walker and it was felt that the cottage would be a fitting tribute to his memory. Most pupils will visit the cottage as part of Snowdonia School in the shell forms. Those taking part in CCF or the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme may also use this facility on other occasions.

In 1990 a building was constructed to house the junior school. This was followed by the extension of the science laboratories in 1995; the renovation of most classrooms, in 1998; and the conversion of Big School into a library, and the construction of a new hall and theatre building, completed in 2002, named the Bushell Hall after the former headmaster. A new pavilion was constructed in 2003, named the Alan Lee Pavilion after another former headmaster (1983–1996) who died shortly after its completion.

Opened in September 2005, a building provides fifteen new teaching rooms for the classics, history, economics and business studies, religious studies and IT departments. There is also a multi-purpose teaching room and a social area. It has been named the George Hill building after a governor of the school who died shortly before its completion. George Hill's business acumen helped secure the school's financial position throughout the 20th century.

In 2007, the governors of the school commissioned a new music school to be built for the 450th anniversary of the school. Building work started on the music school in 2008 with it scheduled for completion in 2010. It was later named the David Turnbull Music School, after a former director of music.

Building of a new sixth form centre - The Cooper Building - commenced in the summer of 2014 and completed in 2015. In November 2019 Solihull opened its newly refurbished refectory. In September 2019 Solihull announced its merger with Saint Martin's School from September 2020. Solihull Preparatory School (aged 3 – 11) is located on the Saint Martin's campus and Solihull Senior School (11 – 18 years) on the Warwick Road campus.

There are over 1,500 pupils, 440 at Solihull Preparatory School on the Saint Martin's campus and 1,100 in Solihull Senior School on the Warwick Road campus.

School houses

 * Fetherston (Gold) – named after Barnaby Fetherston who was the first usher of the school; a post that today would be called deputy master. Fetherston was instrumental in obtaining donations of land from Henry Hugford, Thomas Dabridgecourt, Thomas Waring and Thomas Greswolde. The later three have their arms incorporated in the school badge.
 * Jago (Maroon) – named after 18th-century poet and Old Silhillian Richard Jago. Jago went to University College, Oxford and then returned to Warwickshire, eventually entering the clergy.
 * Pole (Sky blue) – named after the school's first headmaster.
 * Shenstone (Black) – named after 18th-century poet, Old Silhillian, classmate and lifelong friend of Jago, William Shenstone. Shenstone went to Pembroke College, Oxford and then returned home to manage his family's estate. On sporting occasions they are often referred to as the 'All Blacks', owing to their black shirts.
 * Windsor (Royal blue) – created in 1959 as a mark of respect to the royal family. Shortly afterwards, in 1960 and 1962, the school received two royal visits; from The Duchess of Kent and Queen Elizabeth II respectively.

School structure
The School is divided into sections. These form the basis of the pastoral structure of the school.

Solihull Preparatory School (Saint Martin's campus)

Solihull Senior School (Warwick Road campus)
 * Nursery
 * Reception
 * Infants - I1 and I2
 * Junior School – J1, J2, J3, J4 (academic years 3, 4, 5, 6)
 * Lower School – Thirds, Shells, Fourths (7, 8, 9)
 * Middle School – Lower Fifth, Upper Fifth (10, 11)
 * Upper School – Lower Sixth, Upper Sixth (12, 13)

Prefectorial system
Pupils are selected by members of staff to hold positions of responsibility within the various sections of the school. They are, in the senior school, known as benchers. Details of the different benches are listed below in descending seniority:

 * Heads of school – After a detailed interview process, the staff will select one male and one female member of the upper sixth to be head boy and head girl.
 * The school bench – School benchers are selected by means of a poll of their peers and members of staff at the end of their lower sixth year. They are responsible for the behaviour of pupils in the refectory; general behaviour and standards of other pupils; and giving tours of the school to parents of prospective pupils. Although they cannot, nowadays, directly give detentions, they can refer pupils who may be deserving of punishment to a house master. They are the only pupils in the school who are allowed to walk across the grass in the Great Quadrangle; all others must walk around the paved perimeter. They are denoted by virtue of wearing a small, maroon rosette on the left lapel.
 * Middle school bench – Middle school benchers are members of the upper fifth and are selected by members of staff. They wear a cabbage similar to that of the senior school benchers, but dark green rather than maroon.
 * Lower school – Lower school benchers are selected from the fourth form and wear a blue cabbage.
 * Junior school – Monitors are selected from members of J4 and wear an enamel badge on the left lapel of the blazer. Their responsibilities are limited to the confines of the junior school.

Each section of the school has a head boy and head girl. The head boy and girl of upper school are known as heads of school.

Sport
The campus covers an area of approximately 60 acre and this includes rugby pitches, cricket squares, football pitches, an all-weather pitch, all-weather training areas, tennis courts, squash courts, Athletics facilities (running track and jumps/throws areas), climbing wall, rifle range, an indoor swimming pool and two gymnasiums.

Boys' games
 * Rugby union is the main competitive team sport and is played from the age of 11 onwards. The first XV traditionally play in a dark blue jersey with narrow, horizontal white and maroon stripes, white shorts and dark blue, maroon and white socks. The striped jersey has, in recent years, been swapped for a maroon shirt with blue sleeves. The teams have recently done well nationally, the first XV having won the Daily Mail Vase Cup in 2011 at Twickenham, which is the furthest the school has ever reached. Solihull School regularly produces players who attain representative honours at county level and beyond. The Big Side teams tour biennially to, amongst other countries, Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand. In 2014, the school's senior rugby squad toured South Africa. The U15 age group travel to Italy or France each year to play against several club sides. Solihull School also plays rugby sevens, competing at national tournaments such as The National Schools Sevens at Rosslyn Park, Blackpool Sevens and Fylde Sevens. The Old Boys fixture is always an anticipated and contested event, with many pupils, Old Silhillians and parents turning out to watch the current XV compete against a selection of Old Silhillians. The match, held in early December, is usually preceded by a barbecue and followed by drinks, speeches and presentations in the Alan Lee pavilion.
 * Hockey is also a sport. The first XI have scored victories over Rugby School and Warwick School, both of which are local rivals, advancing through the rounds of the regional and national cup competitions in the process.
 * Football has recently been adopted into the curriculum in the senior school and the 1st XI compete in the ISFA.
 * Cricket has produced players who have represented Warwickshire CCC at first-class level. Both batsmen and bowlers from Solihull School have been cited in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for their performance over the course of a season. The school's recently formed Twenty20 team, who play in an all red kit, compete at various Twenty20 schools' tournaments around the country.
 * Athletics – The school provides representatives for the Solihull Borough athletics team, as well and the West Midlands and Midlands teams. Daniel Caines, former world champion indoor 400 m runner, is an Old Silhillian.

Girls' games
 * Hockey is the main winter sport for girls. The team competes in regional and national competitions. The Solihull School kit consists of maroon or white tops, navy blue skirts and socks.
 * Rounders is played in the summer and the first team play schools from across the country. The team plays in a blue skirt and white polo shirt. A picnic is held for the upper sixth pupils on the afternoon of the last game of the season.
 * Netball has a 1st and 2nd team competing during the summer term. The teams play in identical kits to that of the rounders team.
 * Athletics. The squad travel to, and compete at many of the same competitions as the boys. The girls do not take part in as many invitational meetings as the boys' team.

Sports as such golf, shooting (both clay pigeon and rifle shooting), swimming, cross country, sailing, tennis, squash, and badminton are all played within the school and teams are put forward to compete against other schools. Other sports include basketball, lacrosse, and water polo.

School colours
 * school colours have been bestowed upon Solihull School pupils who have represented the school at a high level in their chosen sport. The reward takes the form of a dark blue blazer with narrow red and white vertical stripes. These may be worn instead of the standard plain blue blazer or suit jacket.

Since 2006 it has been possible for those pupils who have achieved in debating, leadership, drama, music or community service to also be awarded school colours. When a pupil achieves school colours, they get a silver school crest that goes on the breast pocket. Those achieving "double colours" get a gold crest to replace the silver.

Music and drama
The school has a music society. There are three orchestras, a big band and instrumental groups and choirs. These range from traditional wind and string ensembles to African and Samba percussion groups.

Both the music and drama departments are able to use the Bushell Hall for performances. This building is used as an assembly hall and has a retractable stage with under-stage orchestra pit and seats an audience of around 1,000.

School publications

 * The Shenstonian is the school's annual publication and reviews the academic, sporting and other events within the school. It chronicles the achievements of pupils and publishes works of arts, poetry and prose. The editor is a member of staff. It is named, as is one of the houses, after the notable poet and Old Silhillian William Shenstone.
 * The Silhillian is the annual magazine of the Old Silhillians' Association. It includes news of the school, messages from the committee, news of former pupils, reminiscences of School, news of the Old Silhillian sports clubs and obituaries of Old Silhillians and former teachers.
 * The Greyhound is a termly publication, which replaced the headmaster's end of term letter. The magazine, in full colour, includes all the term's news and successes. It is available to view on the School's website in PDF format.
 * Marginal Gains is a termly publication of the history and politics department, in which students produce articles to be published and distributed around the school.

Sport

 * Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League
 * Daniel Caines, athlete
 * John Curry, figure skater
 * Adrian Ellison, Olympic rowing coxswain 1984
 * Frank Foster, England cricketer
 * Will Grigg, Northern Ireland footballer
 * James Hudson, rugby union player
 * Richard Johnson, cricketer
 * Keith Jones, cricketer
 * Matthew Macklin, middleweight boxer
 * Bert Millichip, former chairman of the Football Association
 * Jim Proudfoot, football commentator
 * Bernard Quaife, cricketer
 * Mike Rawson, Olympic middle distance runner
 * Jamie Spires, cricketer
 * James Wallis, Great-Britain hockey player
 * Aoife Mannion, Footballer, Manchester United

Arts and entertainment

 * Adrian Nicholas Godfrey aka Nikki Sudden, singer-songwriter
 * Philip Achille, harmonica player
 * Cecil Aldin, artist and illustrator
 * James Barralet, cellist
 * David Briggs, organist and composer
 * Michael Buerk, broadcaster and journalist
 * Mike Bullen, writer
 * John Butt, conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and academic
 * Stephen Cole, broadcast journalist and news presenter
 * Laurence Cummings, harpsichordist, organist, and conductor
 * Andy Dickens, jazz musician
 * Richard Hammond, journalist and television presenter (Top Gear and The Grand Tour)
 * Richard Jago, poet
 * Stewart Lee, comedian
 * Simon Mayo, BBC radio DJ and author
 * Phil Oakey, singer and songwriter (The Human League)
 * Theo Travis, musical artist
 * Lizo Mzimba, journalist and television presenter
 * Miles Ratledge drummer and co-founder of Napalm Death
 * Ritchie Neville, musician
 * Genesis P-Orridge, musician
 * William Shenstone, poet
 * John Taylor, classicist
 * Johnnie Walker, radio DJ
 * Richard Wolfson, musician of Fischer-Z and Towering Inferno

Other (including academic and military)

 * Malcolm Burley, Antarctic explorer and Royal Navy commander
 * John Butterfield, Baron Butterfield, master of Downing College, Cambridge (1976–83) and vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1983–85)
 * Richard Alan Cross, professor of philosophy at University of Notre Dame
 * Sir Derek Higgs, businessman
 * Stevie Parle, chef
 * Laurence Rees, historian
 * Frank H. T. Rhodes, president, Cornell University
 * Robert Short, East India Company lieutenant-colonel
 * Roger Tayler, astronomer, secretary (1971–79), treasurer (1979–87) and president (1989–90) of the Royal Astronomical Society
 * David Tustin, suffragan Bishop of Grimsby
 * Clive Upton, Professor of Modern English Language at the University of Leeds
 * Robert Vilain, professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Bristol
 * Richard R. Weber, Churchill Professor of Mathematics for Operational Research in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge

Politics and governance

 * Air Vice Marshal Peter John Harding, Defence Services Secretary (1994–98)
 * Christopher Ingham, diplomat, deputy head of mission and chargé d'affaires in Bucharest, ambassador to Uzbekistan, ambassador to Tajikistan
 * Sir Donald Logan, diplomat, ambassador to Guinea (1960–62), information counsellor at the British embassy in Paris, ambassador to Bulgaria (1970–73), deputy UK representative to NATO (1973–75)
 * Andrew MacKay, former Conservative MP for Bracknell and Deputy Chief Whip
 * Sir Oliver Wright, diplomat, ambassador to West Germany (1975–81), ambassador to the United States, 1982–86).

title: Solihull School


text: Template:Footer Olympic Champions 60 m Men