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Descent II

Descent II is a 1996 first-person shooter game developed by Parallax Software and first published for DOS by Interplay Productions. A version for the PlayStation was released under the title Descent Maximum. It is the second installment in the Descent video game series and the sequel to Descent. The player controls a spaceship from the pilot's perspective and must navigate extrasolar underground mines to locate and destroy their reactors and escape being caught in their self-destructions, while engaging and surviving infected robots, which will attempt to destroy the ship. Unlike other first-person shooters, its six-degrees-of-freedom scheme allows the player to move and rotate in any three-dimensional space and direction.

Descent II started as a project intended to expand the original using a compact disc's storage, and later became a standalone product. The game received very positive reviews from video game critics, who widely lauded the multiplayer mode and the inclusion of the Guide-Bot, a scouting robot that guides the player to their objectives. The PlayStation version's reception was rather mixed, with critics often disagreeing in their evaluations of its frame rate. A sequel, Descent 3, was released in 1999.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Descent II is a six-degrees-of-freedom shoot 'em up game in which the player pilots a fighter spaceship from a first-person perspective in zero gravity. It differs from standard first-person shooters in that it allows the player to move freely across three-dimensional planes and rotate on three axes, often termed pitch, yaw, and roll. Besides the keyboard, Descent II features a wide range of supported hardware configurations with which to play it, including the Gravis Gamepad and certain brands of joysticks, some of which support force feedback—making it one of the earliest PC games to support force feedback. Virtual reality and stereoscopic graphics are also officially supported.

In the game's single-player mode, the player must complete four levels in each of six differently themed star systems where different types of robots attempt to hinder the player's progress. In each level, the player must find and destroy the mine's reactor and then escape the mine through an exit door before the mine self-destructs. Every fourth level has a boss robot that takes the place of the reactor. Each level is composed of rooms separated by doors, most of which can be opened by shooting or bumping into them. Some other doors are colored blue, yellow, or red and require a key of the corresponding color to be opened. In addition to brightening passages by shooting flares or turning on a headlight if the latter has been picked up, at least three measures can be used to prevent getting lost in the mines, two of which are using a wireframe automap that documents all explored areas of the mine and dropping markers in certain locations. The markers are displayed on the automap. Along the way, the player may also find and free a Guide-Bot, a commandable scouting assistant that guides the player to a specified objective or powerup. Additionally, many stages have human hostages that award an additional point bonus if they are rescued before completing the level.

Within each level, the player may find and collect power-ups scattered throughout the mine or dropped by dying robots. Many of the power-ups expand the ship's weaponry, which is divided into primary and secondary weapons. Primary weapons range from a variety of pulse lasers and plasma bolts, and all of them consume energy in varying increments, except for two rotary cannons whose ammunition consists of explosive shells instead. Secondary weapons include many types of missiles, and mines which are dropped behind the player's ship to slow pursuing enemies. Ten new weapons have been added for Descent II of which some are upgrades from the original Descent weapons which are all present as well; new weapons include the Phoenix cannon which fires energy orbs that rebound off walls, the Omega cannon which fires electrostatic discharge, and the Guided Missile which can be remote piloted by the player. The player can also collect equipment items which grant special abilities. For example, a converter exists for converting energy in excess of 100 units into shields, whereas the afterburner allows the player to temporarily fly forward twice as fast. Levels may contain energy stations the player can fly through to recharge their ship's energy level while in motion, as well as generators that spawn more robots. Shooting out certain control panels causes a variety of events, such as doors opening, walls being removed, or force fields being deactivated. In a few levels, behind some hidden doors are teleporters that warp the player to the current star system's secret level. These secret levels are not required to complete the game but contain many power-ups, and can be revisited provided that their reactors have not been destroyed and the teleporters are discovered. Players cannot save the game in a secret level, and have to teleport back to a regular level in order to save their game progress.

The player's ship is protected by a shield which decreases when incurring damage from attacks and collisions with force fields, is replenished by picking up shield power-ups, and like energy is limited by a capacity of 200 units. If the shield is fully depleted and the ship takes any additional damage, the ship will explode, costing the player one life and killing any hostages on board, leaving most of its weapons where it was destroyed. A respawning player has to start at the level entrance with a ship having only minimum armaments, so it is often challenging to retrieve their previous ship's weapons. New to Descent II is the ability to drop weapons, so a player can stockpile surplus weaponry in safe locations in the event of a respawn. Failing to escape the mine during the self-destruct sequence will also cost the player a life, as well as their power-ups, and any hostages embarked, although having destroyed the reactor or boss robot the player will still advance to the next level. If the player loses all lives, the game will end, and their high scores are recorded. Points are gained for destroying robots, rescuing the hostages, and end-of-level bonuses based on the player's performance with score multipliers for escaping the mine; scoring enough points results in an extra life.

Descent II also features a multiplayer mode whereby two to eight players can compete against each other in several game types, which include a deathmatch mode called Anarchy and Capture-the-Flag, in which two teams compete against each other to capture opposing flags. Conditions for ending the level such as maximum time limit, how long the reactor will remain invulnerable before it can be destroyed, and the number of kills to reach can be set, as can which power-ups to allow and whether players may drop surveillance cameras. The game also features a co-operative mode that allows up to four players to work together to complete single-player levels. A player can send messages and predefined taunts, handicap their ship's shields they begin with after respawning, and in Capture-the-Flag drop and pass flags to their teammates. Descent II's multiplayer was designed for modems, null-modems, and local area networks, but an alternative then widely used is to use third-party software such as Kali to play the game on the Internet. It is possible to have DOS and Macintosh versions of the game play on the same server, providing a cross-platform experience. The PlayStation version has a two-player mode that requires a link cable used to connect two consoles running the same game. It contains the same game modes as found in the original DOS version, except for Capture-the-Flag.

Plot
The plot is linear and is mostly provided for the introductory and concluding full-motion video cutscenes. After the "Material Defender" (voiced by George DelHoyo) has destroyed all of the Solar System's mines in the original game, he stops in the asteroid belt to dock. He is then contacted by Post-Terran Mining Corporation executive Dravis, who exploits a loophole in a contract to coerce him to accept a new mission or forfeit his reward and face legal action. The Material Defender consents, and as Dravis tries to convince him that he is merely embarking on a reconnaissance mission, his ship is fitted with a prototype warp core. He is then sent to clear out PTMC's deep space mines beyond the Solar System.

The Material Defender teleports to Zeta Aquilae and five other, fictional star systems and destroys their mines. In the sixth system, the last mine seems to run all through a planetoid, which is revealed in the final cutscene to be a large spaceship. After the spaceship breaks apart, the Material Defender alerts Dravis to his return home, but his warp drive malfunctions and he teleports to an unknown location. The camera then fades to that location and the ship appears, heavily damaged and crackling with excess radiation drifting towards the camera, ending with the words "to be continued..." being displayed.

Development
Parallax Software began Descent II's development as an expansion pack for the original Descent game using a CD's storage, but it later evolved into a separate project lasting about one year. Descent II's graphics were upgraded to operate at Super VGA standards, and can also take advantage of 3D acceleration graphics cards. The MIDI soundtrack was composed by Dan Wentz, whereas the included redbook features industrial metal contributed by notable musicians such as Type O Negative and Ogre of Skinny Puppy. It cost US$500000 to produce the game.

Descent II's portal engine remained fundamentally unchanged; it operates on the premise of adjacent cubes or polyhedra whose sides connecting them form portals. The scenes that are drawn are the cube the player ship is in and the areas of other cubes the camera can see through their portals, and the process is repeated as the player enters a different polyhedron. Cubes can be deformed so long as they remain convex. Respectively, these prevent overdraw and accelerate portal rendering, making the engine practical to run on even inexpensive personal computers of that time. The precedeing Descent introduced a dynamic light-sourcing scheme by which the environment could be lit with flares, while newly added in Descent II is the ability to shoot out sources of light which will darken rooms as well as a headlight powerup which can continuously illuminate the space in front of the player.

The game's directors, Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog, explained they upgraded the game's artificial intelligence to contain instructions mimicking the tactics they saw players use in multiplayer mode, such as dodging behind walls and sneaking up from behind. The C-written code composing the AI was expanded to about 4,000 lines, a task the two described as being difficult.

Releases
The Descent II demo was released in December 1995, becoming one of the most downloaded PC games in January 1996. Unlike the preceding Descent whose shareware release could be upgraded to the full version while leaving the existing shareware files intact including player saves, the Descent II demo was a self-contained program that was not upgradable to the full version. Like the original Descent the demo version of Descent II presented the story as still screens with text and also uses the in-game engine for the mine escape sequence; while the full version replaces all of these with full-motion video pre-rendered cutscenes incorporating voice acting. The demo features eight of ten weapons from the first Descent and six of ten weapons from the full Descent II. The Descent II demo featured the first three regular levels of the game (the teleporter to the secret level was disabled), after completing the third level the player moves from Zeta Aquilae to a new star system with the story to be continued. The full release (see below) adds a fourth regular level (with a boss in lieu of the reactor) as well as the secret level to the Zeta Aquilae system, making it in line with the next five star systems (each has four regular levels plus a secret level), for a total of 30 levels.

The full base Descent II game was published for DOS by Interplay in the United States on March 13, 1996, and in the United Kingdom on March 29, 1996. It was co-distributed by LaserSoft Imaging, whom Interplay gave the rights as part of a settlement after the former lost a court battle regarding its product add-on for the first Descent game, which Interplay alleged infringed its trademark—setting a precedent for how companies can sell add-ons for protected games. Interplay's division specified in Macintosh games, MacPlay, published it for Macintosh in August 1996.

Descent II: Destination Quartzon was a truncated version with the first eight regular levels and two secret levels (constituting the first and second star systems, "Zeta Aquilae" and "Quartzon"). Not compatible with the Descent II full release, Destination Quartzon was bundled software with hardware such as the Logitech WingMan Extreme joystick and Diamond Multimedia video cards with the Voodoo Graphics chipset.

In November 1996 came Descent II: The Infinite Abyss, a Windows 95 upgrade that supports 3D accelerated graphics, contains The Vertigo Series add-on, and the original DOS game patched to support accelerated graphics. The Vertigo Series, which could be purchased separately, contains 22 new levels (to be played sequentially), a new multiplayer game mode, new music and enemies. The add-on is also bundled with the Mission Builder, a level and robot editor that can also convert the original Descent's levels for this game.

The PlayStation version of Descent II, known as Descent Maximum, was launched on May 15, 1997 in North America and in mid-1997 in Europe. Instead of a straight port, it had 36 new levels, textures and full-motion video over the PC version of Descent II.

On October 29, 1997, Interplay published Descent I and II: The Definitive Collection, a compilation containing the full versions of Descent, the Levels of the World mission pack, Descent II, and Vertigo mission packs, and a mission editor. Besides a choice of the original Descent II levels (subtitled Counterstrike), or the Vertigo Series levels, the first Descent levels (subtitled The First Strike) can be started in the Descent II game UI where robots adopt the Descent II sounds and improved AI. There is also a preview for the upcoming Descent 3.

In 1998, the Descent II source code, like that of Descent before it, was released to the general public under a copyrighted proprietary license, leading to community source ports. It was later ported to RISC OS by R-Comp Interactive, and the port debuted at the annual Wakefield Acorn RISC OS Show on May 19, 2001.

Descent II entered digital distribution when it appeared on GameTap on September 7, 2006. It subsequently became one of the launch titles of the Good Old Games beta on September 8, 2008, and on February 19, 2014, it was re-released on Valve's Steam digital distribution service. However, the Descent trilogy was withdrawn from Good Old Games in December 2015 after its creators, Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog, alleged that Interplay, who owns the Descent trademark but not the copyright of the trilogy, had not paid the developers royalties on their sale since 2007. As a result, Parallax terminated the 21-year sales agreement, revoking from Interplay the permission to distribute the trilogy. Later, the games were also removed from Steam. The trilogy returned on Good Old Games for sale in November 2017 and later on Steam.

Reception
Upon release, Descent II received very positive reviews from video game critics. Citing its replay value, GameSpot commented: "If you don't like Descent at least a little bit, make no mistake, there is something wrong with you." Next Generation opined that a few sequels "can boast the improvements like those made on Descent II", citing the SVGA graphics, the story sequences in full motion video, and the new items. It forgave the same simple mission formula because of the improvements. Computer Gaming World compared the gameplay and enhancements of the sequel to those of Doom II, but complained about the graininess of the textures, and the two magazines warned that players who did not care for the original might not care for the sequel either.

The addition of the Guide-Bot was well-received. In a very positive review, PC Magazine considered it to be a valuable addition to the game "because the automap is just as confusing as it was in the original game". Conversely, PC Review felt the Guide-Bot ran contrary to the disorienting character of the series and that the Guide-Bot diminished the need to use strategy, but did write that using the robot was optional. Computer Game Review liked the AI of the new cast of robots in general and other measures taken to prevent getting lost, such as plotting map positions with markers. The multiplayer mode was also widely lauded. Computer Games Magazine called the Capture-the-Flag mode "intensely enjoyable", but expressed concerns about the lack of outdoor levels (these were added in the game's sequel, Descent 3, released in 1999). Other critics differed in how they analyzed the level design. PC PowerPlay strongly praised the scenery and the combination of maneuvers, including shooting while strafing and turning, with the "adventurous" style of the levels. While calling the levels innovative, PC Gamer found there to be too many "claustrophobic" and labyrinthine levels. The latter view was disputed by PC Zone, who described the levels as being more "complex and overlapping" compared to the original's, which it described were focused on "winding tunnels, tiny chambers, huge caverns which lead to micro alleyways, long cramped corridors [etc.]". However, the two magazines agreed that the levels were too hard on easier difficulty settings. PC Zone also praised support for virtual reality. Maximum wrote that the levels retained the 3D sensations and "ingenious structural design", but asserted the game's difficulty was made less frustrating because of the abundance of shield orbs, the inclusion of powerful weapons, and the ability to transfer energy to shields. Total Games Network described the music when played on a stereo system as a "veritable sonic maelstrom."

Reviews for the Macintosh version iterated many critical points found in those for the DOS version. Making similar comments about this version as the ones about Descent II for DOS, Next Generation noted it as an unusual case of a Macintosh port releasing shortly after the DOS version. GameRevolution enthusiastically lauded the graphics and the fluidity of the animations, its only criticism being the complexity of controlling the ship using only the keyboard and not a joystick. It thus highly recommended using one, and also suggested that a direction indicator would have helped beginners become adjusted to the controls. Macworld judged the graphics to be "extremely detailed and well rendered", but noted that some smaller robots resembled origami. MacADDICT wrote that the use of animated textures by the levels' new settings brought about a realistic alien world. It also put forth criticisms specifically for the Macintosh version, such as the high system requirements for the Power Mac and freezes that can lead to corrupt player files, which can be prevented by turning off all of the nonessential system extensions. The two aforementioned reviewers cautioned about the game's potential to induce motion sickness, but ultimately recommended it.

The PlayStation version received rather mixed reviews. Most of the critics praised the artificial intelligence. The most negative reviews came from Glenn Rubenstein of GameSpot and Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly, both of whom said they disliked the entire Descent series and its basic concept of 3D navigation in levels which have no clear "up" or "down", as well as GameFan, which lambasted the habitual inferiority of PlayStation ports of good PC games. Smith and his three co-reviewers all criticized the choppy frame rate, though Crispin Boyer noted that the problem is largely eliminated when playing with the cockpit displays on. Both Boyer and Dan Hsu praised the additions over the original Descent, such as the Guide-Bot and the new lighting effects. Both GameFan and Dmitry Reznikov of GameLand lauded all of the PC version's improvements included in the port, but the former reported an average rate of ten frames per second that would drop even lower with the cockpit displays disabled, and the latter believed that the frame rate drops cost an otherwise straight port of the PC version the opportunity to become a PlayStation hit. Rubenstein disputed the criticisms of the frame rate, which he called smooth, and GamePro said the frame rate only drops when the action is at its most intense. He praised the additions to the original Descent such as the FMV cutscenes, the Guide-Bot, and the Thief-Bot. Next Generation was also pleased with these elements, summarizing that the game "features just enough improvements to the aging series to make it a welcome addition to the fold". However, it judged that the Descent series lacked the intensity and mood of competitors such as Doom and Quake. These views were echoed by Roger Burchill of Ultra Game Players, who felt that the Doom-styled gameplay became dated, though he did welcome the link cable-based multiplayer mode.

Descent II was a finalist for CNET Gamecenter's 1996 "Best Action Game" award, which ultimately went to Quake. The editors wrote that "Descent II offered even more insane vertigo action than the original, plus an added bonus that set the tone for computer gaming in 1996--a multiplayer mode". In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Descent II the 123rd-best computer game ever released. It was also ranked No. 46 on PC PowerPlay's list of the 50 games of the century, due to the game's "schizophrenically devised" maps, robots' artificial intelligence, and atmosphere whose intensity the magazine considered to be previously unparalleled. Later in 2000, the same magazine ranked it No. 90 on their list of the top 100 games of all time, calling it the best of the Descent series.

title: Descent II


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D1X

D1X may refer to:

 * Nikon D1X, a digital single-lens reflex camera
 * a source port of the computer game Descent

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

title: D1X


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Schilling test

The Schilling test was a medical investigation used for patients with vitamin B (cobalamin) deficiency. The purpose of the test was to determine how well a patient is able to absorb B12 from their intestinal tract. The test is now considered obsolete and is rarely performed, and is no longer available at many medical centers. It is named for Robert F. Schilling.

Process
The Schilling test has multiple stages. As noted below, it can be done at any time after vitamin B supplementation and body store replacement, and some clinicians recommend that in severe deficiency cases, at least several weeks of vitamin repletion be done before the test (more than one B shot, and also oral folic acid), in order to ensure that impaired absorption of B (with or without intrinsic factor) is not occurring due to damage to the intestinal mucosa from the B and folate deficiency themselves.

Stage 1: oral vitamin B plus intramuscular vitamin B12 (without IF)
In the first part of the test, the patient is given radiolabeled vitamin B to drink or eat. The most commonly used radiolabels are 57Co and 58Co. An intramuscular injection of unlabeled vitamin B is given an hour later. This is not enough to replete or saturate body stores of B. The purpose of the single injection is to temporarily saturate B receptors in the liver with enough normal vitamin B to prevent radioactive vitamin B binding in body tissues (especially in the liver), so that if absorbed from the G.I. tract, it will pass into the urine. The patient's urine is then collected over the next 24 hours to assess the absorption.

Normally, the ingested radiolabeled vitamin B will be absorbed into the body. Since the body already has liver receptors for transcobalamin/vitamin B saturated by the injection, much of the ingested vitamin B will be excreted in the urine.

 * A normal result shows at least 10% of the radiolabeled vitamin B in the urine over the first 24 hours.
 * In patients with pernicious anemia or with deficiency due to impaired absorption, less than 10% of the radiolabeled vitamin B is detected.

The normal test will result in a higher amount of the radiolabeled cobalamin in the urine because it would have been absorbed by the intestinal epithelium, but passed into the urine because all hepatic B12 receptors were occupied. An abnormal result is caused by less of the labeled cobalamin to appear in the urine because it will remain in the intestine and be passed into the feces.

Stage 2: vitamin B and intrinsic factor
If an abnormality is found, i.e. the B12 in the urine is only present in low levels, the test is repeated, this time with additional oral intrinsic factor.

 * If this second urine collection is normal, this shows a lack of intrinsic factor production. This is by definition pernicious anemia.
 * A low result on the second test implies abnormal intestinal absorption (malabsorption), which could be caused by coeliac disease, biliary disease, Whipple's disease, small bowel bacterial overgrowth syndrome, fish tapeworm infestation (Diphyllobothrium latum), or liver disease. Malabsorption of B can be caused by intestinal dysfunction from a low vitamin level in-and-of-itself (see below), causing test result confusion if repletion has not been done for some days previously.

Stage 3: vitamin B and antibiotics
This stage is useful for identifying patients with bacterial overgrowth syndrome. The physician will provide a course of 2 weeks of antibiotics to eliminate any possible bacterial overgrowth and repeat the test to check whether radio-labeled Vitamin B12 would be found in urine or not.

Stage 4: vitamin B and pancreatic enzymes
This stage, in which pancreatic enzymes are administered, can be useful in identifying patients with pancreatic insufficiency. The physician will give 3 days of pancreatic enzymes followed by repeating the test to check if radio-labeled Vitamin B12 would be detected in urine.

Combined stage 1 and stage 2
In some versions of the Schilling test, B can be given both with and without intrinsic factor at the same time, using different cobalt radioisotopes 57Co and 58Co, which have different radiation signatures, in order to differentiate the two forms of B. This is performed with the 'Dicopac' kitset. This allows for only a single radioactive urine collection.

Complications
Note that the B shot which begins the Schilling test is enough to go a considerable way toward treating B deficiency, so the test is also a partial treatment for B deficiency. Also, the classic Schilling test can be performed at any time, even after full B repletion and correction of the anemia, and it will still show if the cause of the B deficiency was intrinsic-factor related. In fact, some clinicians have suggested that folate and B replacement for several weeks be normally performed before a Schilling test is done, since folate and B deficiencies are both known to interfere with intestinal cell function, and thus cause malabsorption of B on their own, even if intrinsic factor is being made. This state would then tend to cause a false-positive test for both simple B and intrinsic factor-related B malabsorption. Several weeks of vitamin replacement are necessary, before epithelial damage to the G.I. tract from B deficiency is corrected.

Many labs have stopped performing the Schilling test, due to lack of production of the cobalt radioisotopes and labeled-B test substances. Also, injection replacement of B has become relatively inexpensive, and can be self-administered by patients, as well as megadose oral B. Since these are the same treatments which would be administered for most causes of B malabsorption even if the exact cause were identified, the diagnostic test may be omitted without damage to the patient (so long as follow-up treatment and occasional serum B testing is not allowed to lapse).

It is possible for use of other radiopharmaceuticals to interfere with interpretation of the test.

title: Schilling test


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Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/Robert the Bruce

The case of Mr Anon
This will fix nothing. He'll just come back under another name. He needs to be banned. -Anon

Only the AC can ban someone, and they wont do that unless we try everything first. He's agreed mediation with me - perhaps that will solve everything ( I don't really think it will, but you've gotta try) Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 22:20, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I would ignore anonymous types if I were you Theresa. Secondly as we are about to enter into mediation to address your attitude problem I would suggest it would be helpful to avoid taking part in the feeding frenzy that is bound to develop. - Robert the Bruce 22:29, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Theresa isn't this the anon who vandalised the project page on two occasions? And here you are chatting away with him like old friends. For the record would mind awfully posting a summary of the action you have taken and are planning against him? Much obliged. Oh yes ... and if you have done nothing ... would you mind ever so much explaining why not? - Robert the Bruce 12:01, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't know - it might be. I blocked the anon for 24 hours for vandalising you talk page. If he does it again I'll block again. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 19:42, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Oh I see. Different rules for different people then? Surely you could be expected to be even handed? I would have thought so. - Robert the Bruce 19:45, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * You want me to block you for 24 hours every time you make a personal attack? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 19:56, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I have just had Thickslab make a personal attack against me. What have you done about that? No sorry Thersa the evidence is that your judgement is lacking and you should not have the power to selectively block people at all, at any time, for any reason. As I stated after witnessing the fiasco your were involved in on the Clitoris page you need to be supervised. - Robert the Bruce 20:14, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * What personal attack? Please provide a link and detail exactly and specifically what I wrote that was a personal attack. - thickslab 23:11, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * That is a personal attack against me. Should i block you? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:46, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Feel free to misuse your sysop powers as you see fit. You should be suspended for threatening to use your admin powers during a personal exchange. Shocking. - Robert the Bruce 16:48, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * The statement above was not intended as a threat. If I was going to block you for personally attacking me I wouldn't have threatened first, I would have just done it. (The reason i didn't is because I don't feel it approriate for me to block you becasue of what you said to me.) I was just pointing out that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If you want thickslab blocked then you should be blocked too. The anon and walabio were different as their statements were very clear vandalism and out and out personal attacks. In those cases it was very clear that it was approprate for me to warn them that they would be blocked (and in the case of the anon actually block). If you want me suspended - you'll have to take it up with the AC Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:55, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yea, yea, yea. The record shows that you have been less than evenhanded in your treatment of different individuals around here. The record further shows that you have been particularily soft on those who are closest to your POV. Sadly it is true that your manner is consistently threatening. Your behaviour falls far short of what can be reasonably expected from a sysop/admin. - Robert the Bruce 03:47, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yeah whatever Robert. I've never blocked a procirc activist. I have blocked anticirc activists so according to you I must be procirc. Where the truth of the matter is - I am neither. I am pro civility, I am pro cooperation and compromise, I am pro wikipedia. Perhaps it's becasue you are not these things that you percieve me as being unfair? Perhaps if you listened to what people are saying to you, and stopped trying to fight everyone and start working with people then you wouldn't see everyone as out to get you, and you wouldn't find all the regular wikipedians, including many admins, critisizing you? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:09, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Theresa I am a big boy so I you won't find me running to teacher with the equivalent of "Teacher, teacher, Robert pulled my hair." You are exhibiting a vindictive streak which should not be tolerated especially from a sysop who revels in confrontation. You are not pro cooperation and compromise ... it would be more accurate to say that you have no obvious personal convictions and just blow in the wind of "popular/public opinion". - Robert the Bruce 11:39, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Exploding Boy & Theresa Knott ... Robert describes them as a "tag team"
There is no need for Theresa to, as you put it, "recuse herself." First, as can be seen from the project page, Theresa has chosen not to comment on this Request. Second, this is a talk page only. And third, it's obvious from her post above that she's hoping that none of this will be necessary, and that successful mediation will solve the problems you clearly have with a large number of users. Exploding Boy 22:33, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

But just to make things absolutely clear - as I hope that mediation will work, then I don't see any need, at the moment, to sign the rfc - which is why I didn't do so already, as EB explained. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 22:48, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Theresa, some honesty please. Have you had any off-site communication with any of your "allies" with regard to this matter? - Robert the Bruce 22:51, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Nope - you pissed EB off enough all by yourself to get him to start the rfc. I haven't spoken to him or anyone else offsite. He's a big boy (I don't know that for a fact mind you) I'm sure he's quite capable of going through your edit history to find the evidence he needs all by himself. He also needs to get someone else to certify the rfc, and I'm sure he can manage to do that by himself too. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 23:29, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * My dear Theresa nobody got up our EB's nose at all he has been spoilling for a fight for some time now, why even tried to involve Dan Blackham (the full-time Intactivist) in setting up a RfC for JakeW . I would suggest that here is yet more evidence of admins who are involved in specific articles misusing their positions. Unforgivable behaviour. Shocking in fact. - Robert the Bruce 19:57, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Anyone can start a rfc. It is not a misuse of admin powers to start a rfc. You should try actually responding to the rfc instead of accusing everyone who finds you behaviour a problem biased. Btw have you looked at the list of mediators yet? I'm keen to get mediation started. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:04, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes anyone can start an RfC but why should an admin single out two particular individual for this attention to the exclusion of others? Why did you not advise him not to embark on such a vindictive course of action? Is this another example of your lack of judgement in such situations? There are a lot of questions which you need to answer. - Robert the Bruce 20:09, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Theresa had nothing to do with my starting this RfC, and I didn't consult her about it. I "singled" you out because of exactly the type of behaviour you're exhibiting here.  And for the record, Dan Blackman's edits are frequently non-neutral as well, but unlike you he's willing to discuss his edits, and others' reversions, and reach a compromise.  Exploding Boy 17:16, Dec 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes it is noted that you first targetted JakeW and then myself. Unless you have evidence that you have attempted to institute RfC's against the anti-circumcison vandals and POV warriors I afraid your bias has been proven. You therefore should not be trusted with the powers of a sysop/admin. - Robert the Bruce 03:51, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * RFCs are oart of our dispute resolution policy. They are intended as a way of getting the community to comment. They are not vindictive. The idea is that you are able to read how people feel about you and use that as a learning experience. The other dispute resolution proceedures are mediation and arbitration. If RFCs and mediation fail then Arbitration is the only avenue left.So please Robert -take on board what people are saying here, learn to cooperate instead of war with people. Wikipedia will be a better place for it. If you cannot do that. Then please leave Wikipedia. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:57, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Spare me the sanctimonious officious "RC policeman" routine Theresa. It is clear you have no means of persuasion other than mere threats. Just now Wikipedia will be turned in an animal farm run by little piggy bureaucrats. Perish the thought. - Robert the Bruce 16:48, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * RC? what do you mean by that? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:57, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Good lord. Aren't we getting a bit paranoid here?  Exploding Boy 22:53, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * Dont try and deny it, you know you're in the cabal ;-) Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 23:29, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * The first rule of the cabal is... Don't talk about the cabal. Exploding Boy 23:36, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

Robert, your continued insistence on suheading this section with a title that falsly implies impropriety on the part of me and Theresa violates Wikipedia policies, is further evidence of your general unwillingness to cooperate with other users, and serves only to strengthen the case against you. Exploding Boy 17:46, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)

 * On the contrary dear boy, Tony has established that it is quite acceptable for "groups" to indulge in tag-team reverting. There is nothing, however, to stop me from expressing my opinion that in this case and in this context given your POV pushing that the behaviour is disgraceful. The fact that having failed to ensure that your POV remains in the article you now resort to (mis)use the processes of Wikipedia to sage your bitterness. In a further bizarre twist Theresa has now accepted that the disputed word "psychiatric" is now appropriate for use in the article. An exmple of NPOV being the victor and you being left out in the cold (and all bitter and twisted)? - Robert the Bruce 18:15, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Your sarcasm is noted, and your argument is fallacious in that Theresa and I do not in any way constitute a "tag team." Furthermore, your (false and misguided) suppositions about our contributions to the Foreskin restoration article have no place here.  Theresa and I have never acted as a "tag team," I have never pushed what you call POV (I assume you mean non-NPOV), and Theresa's views on the word "psychiatric" have nothing to do with me or my views.  Exploding Boy 18:46, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)

Tony's Brainfart
On the project page Tony Sidaway made and post and then hastily withdrew it. Not only did he refuse the reasonable request to edit it out by strikethrough but has aggressively been reverting to effectly achieve a delete. Of course he has not stated who or what caused him to remove the piece. The piece in question (see below) has some merit with regard to this RfC:
 * This was restored some days ago and is now at: Requests for comment/Robert the Bruce

It should stay. If you wish to retract it rather use the strikethrough facility than a delete. - Robert the Bruce 04:20, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I restored it recently with the explanation: I had removed this because I thought it was based on misremembering the charges. On reviewing the edit history I now see that the "three revert rule" accusation was present at the time I made this comment, but was later removed. I apologise to Robert for removing my comment, which I believed to have been made in error. Be careful about your choice for wording, Robert. Your use of the term "who or what" false suggests that I might have bowed to pressure to remove the piece.  Remember civility.  Your use of the term "aggressively" for my own decision on what to do with my own words is also loaded.  I explained in my original removal edit comment that I believed it to be a "brainfart".  It would not have been reasonable in my opinion to keep, even struck through, a comment that amounted to a false accusation. --[[User:Tony Sidaway|Tony Sidaway|Talk]] 01:55, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Tony, take a deep breath. Your so-called "brainfart" stays. I need it as evidence. - Robert the Bruce 16:48, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Note: This is a good point Tony. It should stay. If you wish to retract it rather use the strikethrough facility than a delete. - Robert the Bruce 04:20, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I expect he removed the comment because you did break the three revert rule.  Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 19:54, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Would you like to review this statement of yours and either confirm your allegation or witdraw it with a suitable apology? - Robert the Bruce 03:53, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * ??? I've presented the evidence above. You reverted 5 times on the 8th. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 06:30, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * You can define "revert" precisely or are you using a loose definition here? - Robert the Bruce 00:45, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't know what definition Theresa is using. If in the course of an edit the whole, or substantively the whole, of a previous significant contribution was removed, this could be described as a revert. I haven't looked closely at the alleged reverts so I don't know whether this description applies to them. --[[User:Tony Sidaway|Tony Sidaway|Talk]] 01:45, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * We don't have precise definitions because if we did people like you would try to game the system. You comment in the edit summary, makes it perfectly clear that you were fully aware of what you are doing. You are very lucky that you were not blocked for 24 hours. You are unlikely to be so lucky in the future. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 09:07, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * People like me? You are so kind Theresa. I maintain that you followed your buddy EB with a tag-team style revert so as to ensure your POV won the duel. Yet you have the temerity to lecture me? Sheeez. - Robert the Bruce 16:48, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Maintain what you like Robert. The rule is you don't revert more than three times in 24 hours. You broke the rule. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:59, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I suggest to go to the policy and refresh your yourself. Until such time as the policy is amended Tony's initial comment here and elsewhere remain valid. Now I intend to ensure that you answer as to why this 3RR technicality has warranted this run around while the actions of your buddies Walabio and "anon" have been whitewashed? It is either evidence of clear bias or confirmation targetted vindictiveness. Either way you should not be entrusted with the powers of a sysop/admin. - Robert the Bruce 03:42, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm not the final arbiter on interpretation of policy, Robert. --[[User:Tony Sidaway|Tony Sidaway|Talk]] 11:16, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I know the policy. You reverted more than 3 times in 24 hours, and you knew you were doing it. I blocked the Anon for 24 hours for vandalising your user page. This is exactly what our vandalism policy says i should do. As for Walabio - i don't know what you are referring to. You'd have to be specific. If you think I deserve my admin powers revoking - start a rfc on me or take it to the AC. This rfc against you is because you are a problem user. We deal with problem users through our dispute resolution mechanism. If you don't like having people point out when you break our rules- there is an easy answer to that. Stop breaking them. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:19, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Theresa do you really think the objective observer is blind to your obvious bias and the subsequent (mis)use of your admin powers? Is it not convenient to pass on the indiscretions of those close to your POV while making a massive song and dance about the odd individual? I would like you to go back and review your actions re Walabio and then instead of feining amnesia be honest about how you failed to behave in an evenhanded manner. My opinion is that you should enter into a self imposed suspension of admin status for 30 days while you find someone to assist you to understand the basics of what constitutes "abuse of autority", "abuse of office" etc. You (and a number of your "gang") just don't seem to get it that it is unethical to use your admin powers to press your POV in articles in which you are directly involved. It is disgraceful behaviour and should not be tolerated by the Wikipedia community. - Robert the Bruce 11:33, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * When have I Used my admin powers to press my POV in an article? Has I actually done that it would have been abuse. But i never did any such thing and you are a barefaced liar. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 11:46, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Now I wonder how our Tony (or some other admin) is going to react to that? Lets wait and see. - Robert the Bruce 11:54, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm not an admin, as I've told you before. Theresa was very uncivil to call you a liar. The thing is that you yourself have never, ever been civil, but you expect others to be censured when they stoop to your level.  There is some kind of assymmetry there, Robert.  Now having made an accusation, back it up or withdraw it.  --[[User:Tony Sidaway|Tony Sidaway|Talk]] 17:49, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Not good enough I'm afraid Tony. Like with the case of that Phil person you excuse them for having done what they did. By saying such as "they stoop to your level" it is no less an attack than you claim I make against others. It confirms the worst fears that these gangs of renegade wikipedians are attempting to rewite the policy where it is OK to attack designated targets while setting a higher standard of behaviour for others than they are prepared to maintain themselves. It is quite disgraceful. - Robert the Bruce 04:58, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Which Phil person? Be more specific. In what way is an observation of your propensity to use insult, which is severely deprecated, "an attack"?  I think you should step back once or twice and examine your interactions with others.  Or just look at your various talk pages, littered with complaints from various parties. You are not being attacked, Robert, we're discussing your egregious bad behavior. If you don't like that, you should stop doing it. --[[User:Tony Sidaway|Tony Sidaway|Talk]] 05:15, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I agree it was uncivil to call Robert a liar, and I would like to apologise for doing so.Robert i am sorry I called you a liar. What I should have said was that accusing me of abusing my admin powers to press my POV is a bareface lie. Please back up your accusations with evidence or withdraw them with an apology. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 19:09, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Sorry Theresa but I have difficulty in accepting that that is a genuine from the heart apology. The record shows your pattern of behaviour towards me. You must cease to harassment of me and either begin to display evenhanded behavior or find somebody else to fight with on Wikipedia. Your one eyed/bias approach is not good for wikipedia. - Robert the Bruce 04:58, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why no action against targetting by anti-circumcision activists?
Perhaps one would need to establish why those who have openly (in another forum) issued a call to arms to push their POV in Wikipedia and also to engage in a revert war? Theresa would be the obvious person to explain her lack of activity in this regard as she has pushed herself into the forefront in the debate and seems to be running "protection" for one of the more off the wall members.

Here follows three mails from anti-circumcision actyivist lists:

A call for help (and the identification of the full-time intactivists): ¡Vigilance on Encyclopædia WikiPedia.Org! Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 03:22:55 +0000 Â¡Hello! Â¿How Fare You? Well my fellow Intactivists: The circumcisiophiliacs won this round on EncyclopÃ¦dia WikiPedia.Org. The main problem is that they are more commited than we (they make it impossible for us to correct any of their lies and bias on prÃ¦puce and circumcision). Now, they go after our articles (maybe I should not have tried to expose them by writing about Circumfetishism). Hugh Young wrote complaining about me creating articles about Intactivism and Genital Integrity without consulting anyone. He was right to complain; I did create such articles without consulting. Let me just point out to things though: 1I invited other Intactivists to join me last year to join EncyclopÃ¦dia WikiPedia.Org last year (within a month of that, I gave up on editing PrÃ¦puce and Circumcision because I was so badly outnumbered, that I could not do any good). 2I am the only full-time Intactivist with Michael Glass and Dan Blackham dropping in every now and then. Now that you are all temporarily here, I ask you to stay. If you would just check on our articles weekly and also prÃ¦puce, circumcision, and articles linking to them, it would truly help much. While you are at it, you can edit and start other articles. Â¡Editing and starting articles is fun! Look at this cool article, which I started about Laurentia. Â¡E Pluribus Unum! Â¡Thanks! Å¬alabio Â¡Dubya Shrub is a Saudi-Lover --  Saudi-Mite! Â¡The Bin-Bushes bend over _"*FOR*"_ the Bin-Ladens!

The call to arms for an editwar: ¡Circumcisiophiliacs attack Daivid Peter Reimer! Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:35:45 +0000 Â¡Hello! Â¿How Fare You? The circumcisiosexuals desecrate the article about David Peter Reimer. Some of us share the fate of David Peter Reimer, and the any one of the rest of us could have shared his fate. I do not care what those perverts do among themselves, but I hate the way those pÃ¦dophiles go after children, and I refuse to let them vandalize David Peter Reimer. If it were not for those perverts he and his brother Brian might be alive today and the family Reimer would be much more happy. If the want total editwar, Â¡we will give then total editwar! The article is here: HTTP://WikiPedia.Org/wiki/David_Peter_Reimer This is its history: HTTP://WikiPedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=David_Reimer&action=history This is the page for discussing changes to the article: HTTP://WikiPedia.Org/wiki/Talk:David_Reimer Â¡Hurry! Â¡Create an account, login, and help! Intactivistically, Å¬alabio Â¡Dubya Shrub is a Saudi-Lover --  Saudi-Mite! Â¡The Bin-Bushes bend over _"*FOR*"_ the Bin-Ladens!

DanP's call for help:

Need some help on Wikipedia Subject: Need some help on Wikipedia Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:27:55 -0700 (PDT) Dear group, I have been battling the pro-circumcision folks on Wikipedia again, hoping to list "circumciser" as a valid article entry. I have tried to keep the article as factual as possible and related to world cultures. If you are active on Wikipedia, please go to that article and give me a hand. So far, the pro-MGM side has been voting to delete, and I could use some assistance. Thanks, Dan

Policy statements by professional medical organizations
In my opinion the best sources of unbiased information for anyone who is not familiar with the issue of male circumcision are the official policy statements by professional medical organizations. I welcome anyone who is concerned about POV crusaders to compare my edits with these official policy statements vs. Robert's edits with these official policy statements. -- DanBlackham 07:53, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * American Academy of Pediatrics. Circumcision Policy Statement (RE9850). March 1999.
 * American Medical Association. Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs (I-99), Neonatal Circumcision. Dec 1999.
 * British Medical Association. The Law & Ethics of Male Circumcision - Guidance for Doctors. March 2003.
 * Canadian Paediatric Society. Neonatal Circumcision Revisited. 1996 (reaffirmed March 2002)
 * The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Policy Statement On Circumcision. Sep 2002.

 * Hi Dan, Why are you posting that stuff here? Are you trying to justify you and your buddies on the foreskin admirers list targetting of Wikipedia with yopur POV? BTW ... how do you think our Tony figured you out through your cover of one "Dan Blacker"? Is there something wikipedians should know? - Robert the Bruce 16:48, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * The thundering silence indicates more than words can ever express. - Robert the Bruce 11:32, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I posted the references because I think it is important for people to become familiar with the statements of the professional medical organizations so that they can make an informed decision about who is pushing an extreme POV and who is not. All of these medical organizations say there is no medical indication for neonatal circumcision.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia summarizes the current state of medical opinion as follows:
 * "Infant male circumcision was once considered a preventive health measure and was therefore adopted extensively in Western countries. Current understanding of the benefits, risks and potential harm of this procedure, however, no longer supports this practice for prophylactic health benefit.  Routine infant male circumcision performed on a healthy infant is now considered a non-therapeutic and medically unnecessary intervention."

DanBlackham 07:45, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why are you trying to reason with him? At this point I think it's important to ignore Robert completely since he doesn't respond to reason.

Nathan J. Yoder 08:42, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I didn't post the references to convince Robert of anything. I posted them so that people who are not familiar with the issue of non-therapeutic circumcision could become familiar with the policy statements of professional medical organizations in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  When they are familiar with those policy statements I think most people will recognize that much of Robert's agenda regarding non-therapeutic circumcision is not shared by the international medical community.  For example the professional medical organizations unanimously say that there is no medical indication for neonatal circumcision. -- DanBlackham 09:39, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Notice
This RfC appears to have fizzled, probably due to the holidays. All interested parties are directed to Requests for arbitration/Robert the Bruce. Exploding Boy 21:40, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

Personal attacks continue
Robert posted the following personal attack on DanP's user page:

 * Should the positions of the anti-circumcision activists be given equal time in Wikipedia articles? No, they should be given the same amount of time the Flat Earth Society recieves in articles on geography.

 * While there are no doubt a number of genuine "nice" people who support the cause there are a significant number who are psycho-sexually motivated and these are the ones that are found to be so vocal on the Internet.

 * Anti-circumcision activist Hammond's own survey found that the majority of foreskin restorers were either substance abusers or had mental conditions. (They said it themselves).[]

In my opinion the most disruptive aspect of Robert's behavior is the way he tries to bully or intimidate anyone who does not agree with his personal agenda. -- DanBlackham 09:41, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)


text:
A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack)

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the eighth studio album by the American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (later credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio). Coinciding with the television debut of the Christmas special of the same name, the album was released in the first week of December1965 by Fantasy Records.

Guaraldi was contacted by television producer Lee Mendelson to compose music for a documentary on the comic strip Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Although the special went unaired, these selections were released in 1964 as Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Coca-Cola commissioned a Christmas special based on Peanuts in 1965 and Guaraldi returned to score the special.

Guaraldi composed most of the music, though he included versions of traditional carols such as "O Tannenbaum". He recorded some of the score at Whitney Studio in Glendale, California, then re-recorded some of it at Fantasy Records Studios in San Francisco with a children's choir from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in nearby San Rafael. The sessions ran late into the night, with the children rewarded with ice cream afterward.

Bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli were credited as performing on the album. It was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

In 1988, Fantasy Records re-released a CD of the 11 original tracks plus one bonus cut, "Greensleeves." A 16-track remastered edition, featuring "Greensleeves" and alternate takes of four other songs, was released in 2006, followed by a second remaster in 2012.

In 2022, Craft Recordings embarked on a major reissue campaign in a variety of expanded, deluxe editions. These sets feature a new stereo mix completed by Paul Blakemore, the original 1965 stereo mix, and up to 50 previously unreleased outtakes from five separate recording sessions. The three editions are a single LP vinyl edition, comprising the original 1965 stereo release offered in gold foil sleeved with embossing details (released September 22, 2022); two-disc LP vinyl and CD expanded editions, containing the 2022 stereo mix and 13 outtakes from the original recording sessions (released December 2, 2022); and a five-disc super deluxe edition, which adds three CDs of complete Autumn 1965 recording sessions and a Blu-ray audio disc containing high-resolution audio and Dolby Atmos mixes (released December 2, 2022).

On May 10, 2022, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quintuple platinum for sales of 5 million copies. In November 2014, it was the 10th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era.

Background
By the early 1960s, Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts had become a sensation worldwide. Television producer Lee Mendelson acknowledged the strip's cultural impression and produced a documentary on the subject, titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Mendelson, a fan of jazz, heard Vince Guaraldi's song "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the radio not long after completion of his documentary, and contacted the musician to produce music for the special. Guaraldi composed the music for the project, creating an entire piece, "Linus and Lucy", to serve as the theme. Despite the popularity of the strip and acclaim from advertisers, networks were not interested in the special.

By April 1965, Time featured the Peanuts gang on its magazine cover, and plans for an animated half-hour Peanuts Christmas TV special were commissioned by The Coca-Cola Company. When Coca-Cola commissioned the A Charlie Brown Christmas TV special in spring 1965, Guaraldi returned to write the music, having just recorded the live album At Grace Cathedral at San Francisco's famed cathedral with St. Paul's Church of San Rafael 68-voice choir.

Recording and production
The first instrumentals for the special were recorded by Guaraldi at Glendale, California's Whitney Studio with bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey on March 6, 1965. Recycling "Linus and Lucy" from the earlier special and the album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Guaraldi completed two new originals, "Skating", and "Christmas Time Is Here". In the weeks preceding the premiere, Mendelson encountered trouble finding a lyricist for Guaraldi's instrumental intro and wrote "Christmas Time Is Here" in "about 15 minutes" on the back of an envelope.

The special begins and ends with a children's choir from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael performing "Christmas Time Is Here" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing",. Guaraldi had performed with the choir at his May 1965 "jazz mass" performance at Grace Cathedral (released in September 1965 as At Grace Cathedral). The recording sessions were conducted in late autumn 1965 in three sessions over two weeks. They often ran late into the night, resulting in angry parents, some who forbade their children to return; as a result, numerous new children were present at each session. The children were directed by Barry Mineah, who demanded perfection from the choir. Mendelson and Guaraldi disagreed, wanting "kids to sound like kids"; they used a slightly off-key version of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" in the final cut. Children were paid five dollars for their participation. In addition, the children recorded dialogue for the special's final scene in which the crowd of kids shout "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"

One of the singers, Candace Hackett Shively, became an elementary school teacher and sent a letter of gratitude to Schulz after he announced his retirement in 2000. In the letter, she recalls recording the choir at Fantasy Studios and going out for ice cream afterwards, while noting that she tells the story to her students every holiday season.

Guaraldi brought in bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli and re-recorded tracks such as "The Christmas Song" and "Greensleeves". The album credited Guaraldi solely, neglecting to mention the other musicians; Guaraldi was notorious for never keeping records of his session players. Nearly three decades later, in an effort to correct the matter, Fantasy surmised that the recordings with Budwig and Bailey were employed in the television special while Marshall and Granelli recorded the album. Despite this, other musicians have claimed to have recorded the special's music: bassists Eugene Firth and Al Obidinski and drummers Paul Distel and Benny Barth. Firth and Distil are noted as performers on a studio-session report Guaraldi filed for the American Federation of Musicians.

Not all music featured in the current version of the holiday special was released on the soundtrack. After the inaugural broadcast of the special in December 1965, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez fitted several scenes with the songs "Charlie Brown Theme," "Happiness Theme" and "Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair)", all lifted from Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown. In addition, "Air Music" (aka "Surfin' Snoopy") from the soundtrack of Charlie Brown's All Stars! was inserted in the scene where Snoopy is decorating his doghouse with Christmas ornaments. These four additional songs were not included in the soundtrack release as they were not part of the original show. Additionally, tracks "What Child Is This" and "The Christmas Song" are on this recording, but were not included in the special.

Commercial performance
On May 10, 2022, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quintuple platinum for sales of 5 million copies, making it the second-best-selling jazz album in history, behind Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (1959).

A Charlie Brown Christmas first appeared on a Billboard magazine music sales chart on the week of December 19, 1987, when it debuted and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Christmas Albums sales chart. The album charted on the Billboard Christmas Albums chart every Christmas/holiday season from 1988 through 2003, peaking as high as No. 8 in both 2001 and 2002. The album also charted on the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart during the Christmas/holiday season every year from 1991 through 2003, peaking as high as No. 6 in 2001.

It became the first jazz soundtrack album to reach the Top 10 outside of a specialty album chart (i.e. Christmas Albums, Top Pop Catalog Albums, Kids Albums) when, in January 2021, it reached No. 10 in the Billboard 200 chart. Derrick Bang, Guaraldi historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano, noted the significance of such a "huge" accomplishment, with Guaraldi sharing top spots with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Eminem.

In November 2014, it was the 10th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was also the 10th best-selling holiday album of 2011, a year that marked the sixth time since 2001 that the album had ranked among the year's top 10 Christmas albums. It was also the ninth best-selling album of 2013.

On November 18, 2021, it was ranked as the No. 1 Greatest Holiday 200 album of All Time by Billboard.

Critical reception
Allmusic reviewer Shawn M. Haney called it "joyous and festive meditation for the holiday season" writing, "Guaraldi strings together elegant, enticing arrangements that reflect the spirit and mood of Schulz's work." Dominique Leone at Pitchfork called the songs "small, observant miracles...If there's a muted quality to a lot of this music, it's smiling nonetheless."

The soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas has been considered "one of the most beloved holiday albums recorded." Chris Barton of the Los Angeles Times asserts that the soundtrack introduced jazz to an entirely new generation, having been heard by more individuals than the work of the genre's most influential players, including Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The score influenced dozens of young aspiring musicians, among them David Benoit and George Winston. Haney wrote that the record "introduce[d] contemporary jazz to youngsters with grace, charm, and creativity." In 2019, it was ranked the fourth greatest Christmas album of all time by Rolling Stone.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2012 the album was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Original LP release
Side one
 * 1) "O Tannenbaum" (Ernst Anschütz) – 5:08
 * 2) "What Child Is This" (William Chatterton Dix) – 2:25
 * 3) "My Little Drum" (Vince Guaraldi) – 3:12
 * 4) "Linus and Lucy" (Guaraldi) – 3:06
 * 5) "Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental)" (Guaraldi) – 6:05

Side two
 * 1) "Christmas Time Is Here (vocal)" (Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson) – 2:47
 * 2) "Skating" (Guaraldi) – 2:27
 * 3) "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (Charles Wesley) – 1:55
 * 4) "Christmas Is Coming" (Guaraldi) – 3:25
 * 5) "Für Elise" (Ludwig van Beethoven) – 1:06
 * 6) "The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 3:17

Bonus track – 1988 onwards
 * 1) "Greensleeves" (traditional) – 5:25

Note: "Greensleeves" is actually the original title of the tune used for "What Child is This".

2006 CD reissue
Original album
 * 1) "O Tannenbaum"
 * 2) "What Child Is This"
 * 3) "My Little Drum"
 * 4) "Linus and Lucy"
 * 5) "Christmas Time Is Here" (Instrumental)
 * 6) "Christmas Time Is Here" (Vocal)
 * 7) "Skating"
 * 8) "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing"
 * 9) "Christmas Is Coming"
 * 10) "Für Elise"
 * 11) "The Christmas Song"

Bonus tracks
 * 1) "Greensleeves"
 * 2) "Christmas Is Coming" (Alternate Take 1)
 * 3) "The Christmas Song" (Alternate Take 3)
 * 4) "Greensleeves" (Alternate Take 6)
 * 5) "Christmas Time Is Here" (Alternate Vocal Take)

Personnel
Vince Guaraldi Trio
 * Vince Guaraldi – piano, bandleader, Hammond organ on "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing"
 * Fred Marshall – double bass
 * Monty Budwig – double bass ("Linus and Lucy", "Greensleeves")
 * Jerry Granelli – drums
 * Colin Bailey – drums ("Linus and Lucy", "Greensleeves")

Children's chorus for the songs "Christmas Time Is Here", "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" and when the kids all shout "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" was the Children's choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California. Several months before the making of Charlie Brown Christmas this choir was featured on the recording Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral.

Original production
 * Soul S. Weiss – recording engineer (attributed on the back cover, original album pressing)

Production
 * Ralph J. Gleason – liner notes
 * Derrick Bang – liner notes
 * Joel Selvin – liner notes (2006 reissue)
 * George Horn – mastering (1986, 1988, 2006 reissues)
 * Stephen Hart – mixing (2006 reissue)
 * Adam Munoz – mixing (2012 reissue)
 * Joe Tarantino – mastering (2012 reissue)
 * Nick Phillips – reissue producer
 * Joe Tarantino – remastering
 * Paul Blakemore – mixing (2022 reissue)

title: A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack)


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Bodträskfors

Bodträskfors is a village situated in Boden Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 205 inhabitants in 2005.

It is situated by the river of Luleå, opposite Harads. The village became important because of the river of Bodträskfors, where among other things a mill was built. Today the impressive mansion is the only building left from "the good old days".

The Bodträskån River ends here.

title: Bodträskfors


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Norges Bank

[[File:Norway bonds.webp|thumb|300px|Norway bonds

]] Norges Bank (Norges Bank, Noregs Bank, lit. 'Bank of Norway') is the central bank of Norway. It is responsible for managing the Government Pension Fund of Norway, which is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, as well as the bank's own foreign exchange reserves.

History
The history of the central bank of Norway can be traced back to 1816, when, two years after the separation from Denmark and the union with Sweden, Norges Bank was established by an Act of the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) on 14 June. The bank then decided that the monetary unit was to be the speciedaler (rixdollar), divided into 120 skillings or five ort ("rigsort") of 24 skillings each.

The Money Act of 17 April 1875 discontinued the terms daler and skilling, and it was decided that the monetary unit should be a krone, divided into 100 øre. This was done to prepare for Norway's entry, on 16 October that year, into the Scandinavian Monetary Union. This union had been established between Denmark and Sweden in 1873 on the recommendation of a joint commission (in which Norway participated) to establish a common Scandinavian coin based on gold. It meant that the other countries' coins were to be legal tender on the same basis as those struck at home. The union functioned until 1914; thereafter it lacked all practical significance, but was not formally abolished until 1972.

On 1 January 1897 the seat of Norges Bank was moved to Kristiania (Oslo) from Trondheim, and in 1906 a new headquarters building on Bankplassen was opened - for 80 employees including the workers in the banknote printing plant.

During the Second World War, the seat of Norges Bank was temporarily moved to London in 1940, in that the Norwegian government-in-exile established a new board. The bank's gold reserves were evacuated via Åndalsnes, Molde and Tromsø to London, and from there to New York and Ottawa. This gold and the bank's other currency reserves were under the control of the London board. At the same time, the bank continued its operations in Norway under the direction of the Nazis until the war was over and the London board stepped down. A commission of inquiry after the war concluded that the bank's Oslo management had taken a firm and correct attitude towards the Nazi authorities. In 1962, the Mint Supervisory Authority and the Royal Mint were transferred from the state to Norges Bank.

Norges Bank Investment Management
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) is a separate branch of Norges Bank and is responsible for the management of the Government Pension Fund - Global. NBIM also manages Norges Bank's foreign exchange reserves. NBIM invests the fund's assets and the foreign exchange reserves in international equities and fixed income instruments, money market instruments and derivatives.

List of Central Bank Governors
The following is a list of past and present governors of the Norges Bank. The Act of 1892 gave the board a permanent chairman. In 1985 the term Executive Board was introduced, and the chairman was entitled Governor of the Central Bank, the following people have served as chairmen and governors.

 * Karl Gether Bomhoff (1893–1920)
 * Nicolai Rygg (1920–1946)
 * Arnold C. Ræstad (head of the London branch 1940–1945)
 * Gunnar Jahn (1946–1954)
 * Erik Brofoss (1954–1970)
 * Knut Getz Wold (1970–1985)
 * Hermod Skånland (1985–1993)
 * Torstein Moland (1994–1995)
 * Kjell Storvik (1996–1998)
 * Svein Gjedrem (1999–2010)
 * Øystein Olsen (2011–2022)
 * Ida Wolden Bache (2022–present)

London branch

 * Arnold C. Ræstad (head of the London branch 1940–1945)

title: Norges Bank


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Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali

Ibrahim Qutb Shah Wali (1518 – 5 June 1580), also known by his Telugu names Malki BhaRama and Ibharama Chakravarti, was the fourth monarch of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India. He was the first of the Qutb Shahi dynasty to use the title "Sultan". He ruled from 1550 to 1580. He lived for seven years in exile at the court of Vijayanagara as an honoured guest of Rama Raya. Ibrahim is known for patronizing Telugu extensively because he was moved by a genuine love for the language.

Biography
Ibrahim was born the son of Quli Qutb Mulk, founder of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda. His father, an ethnic Turkmen, had emigrated to India with his family as a young man and taken employment in the court of the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan. He had risen steadily in the army and, when the Bahamani sultanate had splintered and collapsed, he had carved out a sizable principality for himself by force of arms. Ibrahim was one of his younger sons.

In 1543, after achieving so much and living such an extraordinary life, Quli Qutb Mulk was killed by his own younger son, Jamsheed, while he was offering his prayers one day. The assassin, who was Ibrahim's brother, made every effort to capture, kill, or mutilate all his brothers. He managed to capture and blind his eldest brother, crown prince Qutbuddin, but Ibrahim somehow managed to escape. He fled Golconda and took refuge in the court of the powerful Hindu ruler of Vijayanagara. Here he lived in exile as an honored guest of the powerful patriarch of Vijayanagara, Rama Raya. He lived at the Vijayanagara court for seven years (1543–50). When Jamsheed died due to Cancer on 22 January 1550, there was internal chaos within the kingdom. His son Subhan who was only an infant, was placed on the throne by Mustapha Khan. Jagadev Rao, Chief of the Naikwari, tried to place Jamsheed's brother Daulat Quli, who instead wanted Ibrahim to be the king, on the throne. This led to his imprisonment in Bala Hisar, the highest point of the Golkonda fort. Some discontented elements within the kingdom summoned Ibrahim to end his exile and claim the throne for himself.

During his sojourn in Vijayanagara, Ibrahim developed very close and loving ties with the imperial family and with important members of the nobility. He also became deeply influenced by Hindu, Telugu culture. He adopted Hindu/Telugu ways of dress, food, etiquette, and above all, speech. He developed a strong love for the Telugu language, which he patronized and encouraged throughout his reign. Indeed, he even went so far as to adopt a new name for himself, "Malki BhaRama," which is his own name spoken with a strong, rustic Telugu accent. He used this name for himself in various official letters and documents and it therefore gained official recognition. According to a court poet, Ibrahim would sit, "floating on waves of bliss," while listening to the Mahabharata being recited in Telugu rather than Sanskrit. It is said that the court of Ibrahim Qutb Shah had many scholars learned in the Vedas, Sastras, and Puranas.

Such favourable attitudes to Hindus had an effect. Ibrahim during his early reign got support from Telugu noblemen. In 1550 when Ibrahim was returning to Golconda, two envoys were sent to the sultan from the fort of Koilkonda pledging allegiance to him. According to the long inscription at the fort, the Hindus pledged allegiance to him, and anyone who 'dealt with any other person other than Ibrahim' would be considered being of low birth and would incur the sin of having killed cows and Brāhmaṇas at Varanasi

In Vijayanagara, Ibrahim married Bagiradhi (correctly: "Bhagirathi"), a Hindu woman, according to Hindu rites and customs. Bagiradhi was also known as "Kaavya kanyaka" and she came from a family with a legacy in music and dance rooted in Hindu, and south Indian traditions. The son born to Ibrahim and Bhagirathi, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, would succeed his father to become the 5th ruler of the dynasty.

Ibrahim employed Hindus for administrative, diplomatic, and military purposes within his sultanate. A patron of the arts and of Telugu literature, Ibrahim sponsored many court poets, such as Singanacharyudu, Addanki Gangadharudu, Ponnanganti Telenganaraya, and Kandukuru Rudrakavi. There were Telugu poets, in a break from tradition. He also patronized Arabic and Persian poets in his court. He is also known in Telugu literature as Malki Bharama (his adopted Hindu name). Ibrahim repaired and fortified Golconda Fort and developed the Hussain Sagar lake and Ibrahim Bagh. He is described in one of the inscriptions on the "Makki Darwaza" in the fort as "The Greatest of Sovereigns".

In 1565, Ibrahim took advantage of internal conflicts in Vijayanagara, which had given him shelter in exile during 1543–1550. He became part of a cabal of Muslim rulers of small states which banded together to destroy the powerful Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara. He thus personally betrayed Rama Raya of Vijayanagara, who had given him shelter during his exile from 1543 to 1550. In the Battle of Talikota which ensued, Rama Raya was killed and the city where Ibrahim had spent seven happy and safe years was razed to the ground; the remnants of its former glory can be seen in the lfixl of Hampi today. Following the battle of Talikota in 1565, Ibrahim was able to expand his own kingdom by taking the important hill forts of Adoni and Udayagiri, which commanded an extensive territory and which had been prized possessions of his former host.

Death
After a short illness, Ibrahim died in 1580. He was succeeded by his son, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, who was born to his Hindu wife Bhagirathi.

Wives

 * Bhagirathi of Vijayanagar
 * Bibi Jamil; daughter of Sultan Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmadnagar

Issue

 * Abdul Qadir, eldest son, predeceased his father
 * Husain Quli
 * Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
 * Abdul Fattah
 * Khuda Banda
 * Mirza Muhammad Amin (d. 1596); father of Muhammad Qutb Shah
 * Chand Sultan; married Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur

title: Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali


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4-4-4-4

A 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive, in the Whyte notation for describing locomotive wheel arrangements, has a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of four driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. While it would be possible to make an articulated locomotive of this arrangement, the only 4-4-4-4s ever built were duplex locomotives—with two sets of cylinders driving two sets of driven wheels in one rigid frame, essentially a 4-8-4 with divided drive.

20th century
The first locomotive built with this arrangement was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's sole class N-1 #5600 George H. Emerson, constructed at the B&O's own Mount Clare Shops in May 1937. To reduce the fixed wheelbase, this locomotive had the two sets of cylinders at opposite ends, so that the rear pair were beside the firebox. The firebox was an unconventional water tube design which was tested well on other locomotives and needed a large space. The 4-4-4-4 wheel arrangement proved to be a poor design, as it restricted the firebox size and exposed the cylinders to dust and dirt, causing premature wear. The locomotive was not considered successful enough to duplicate. The sole N-1 was retired in 1943 and scrapped in 1950.

The next locomotives to use the 4-4-4-4 arrangement were the Pennsylvania Railroad's 52 class T1 locomotives (although the single class S1 was originally intended to be a 4-4-4-4, it was later changed to 6-4-4-6 due to increased weight). These had the cylinders in front of the wheels they drove, so that the rear pair were between the two sets of drivers. These locomotives were impressive performers but suffered from wheelslip and severe reliability problems, and did not last long in service.

The two prototypes, #6110 and #6111, were constructed at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in April 1942. The mechanical design work had been undertaken by Baldwin's chief engineer Ralph P. Johnson, while the streamlining was the handiwork of industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Both locomotives showed fantastic performance in test trials, leading to the construction of 50 further examples. Numbers 5500 through 5524 would be constructed at the PRR's Altoona Works while 5525 through 5549 would be constructed at Baldwin.

As operation continued, problems arose. The T1 class was known for violent uncontrollable wheel slip as well as performance and maintenance issues caused by the Franklin oscillating-cam Poppet valves. The PRR did show interest in trying to solve these problems such as replacing the original poppets on #5500 with easier to maintain Franklin rotary-cam poppet valves and refitting #5547 with Walschaerts valve gears reclassifying the latter engine as a "T1a".

The PRR decided to stop development of the T1 class, replacing all examples by the mid-1950s with diesel units. All members of the class were scrapped. It is very likely the T1 may have had many of its shortcomings solved had the PRR not retired the short-lived class so soon. During its short service life, the T1 was rumored to have operated at higher speeds than the steam speed record set by the London and North Eastern Railway's Mallard, but the claims could not be officially verified.

Several bush tramway engine types were built with this wheel arrangement. These were known as "16-Wheelers". Two notable New Zealand-based builders were J. Johnson and Sons Ltd. in Invercargill and A & G Price in Thames.

21st century
Only one locomotive of the 4-4-4-4 arrangement is being constructed. When finished, PRR 5550 will be the 53rd and only surviving example of the PRR T1 class rather than a replica. The new build T1 is expected to implement some design improvements to help aid in solving problems encountered by the original 52. The estimated date of project completion is currently set to be around 2030. As of November 2023, the project is 43.3% complete with an estimated total cost of US $7,000,000.

title: 4-4-4-4


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Frederick Fennell

Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 – December 7, 2004) was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."

Early life
Fennell was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He chose piccolo as his primary instrument at the age of seven, as drummer in the fife-and-drum corps at the family's encampment called Camp Zeke. He owned his first drum set at age ten. In the John Adams High School orchestra, Fennell performed as the kettledrummer and served as the band's drum major.

His studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp (then the National Music Camp) included being chosen by famed bandmaster Albert Austin Harding as the bass drummer in the National High School Band in 1931. The band was conducted by John Philip Sousa on July 26, the program including the premiere of Sousa's Northern Pines march. Fennell himself conducted at Interlochen at the age of seventeen.

Fennell formed a compatible and fruitful relationship with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. As a student, he organized the first University of Rochester marching band for the football team and held indoor concerts with the band after the football season for ten years. At Eastman, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees (in 1937 and 1939). Fennell became the first person to whom the Eastman School of Music awarded a degree in percussion performance. He was also awarded a fellowship that allowed him to study at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1938, where he took several courses with Herbert Albert and visited several times with the festival's chief conductor, the renowned Wilhelm Furtwängler. Returning, he sailed on the SS Bremen (1928) from Southampton on September 3, 1938. For the purpose of the passenger manifest, he signed his name as Frederick Putnam Fennell (a rare use of his middle name).

Fennell also studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in 1942 (with classmates Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss and Walter Hendl). He was appointed Koussevitzky's assistant at the Center in 1948. During World War II, Fennell served as the National Musical Advisor for the USO (United Service Organizations).

Eastman Wind Ensemble
While Fennell was recuperating from hepatitis for six weeks in 1952, the idea for a new, smaller type of symphonic band occurred to him: scaling the typical concert band down to the size of the wind section of a symphony orchestra, allowing for greater clarity and better intonation. He recruited nearly 40 players in May 1952 for this, explaining, “I chose the best students in the school, the best solo performers and the best ensemble players." On September 20, 1952, he conducted the first rehearsal for this new Eastman Wind Ensemble, and its first concert at Eastman's Kilbourn Hall on February 8, 1953. Desiring expanded repertoire, he wrote to nearly 400 composers around the world commissioning appropriate compositions for the new group. The first three composers to respond were Percy Grainger, Vincent Persichetti and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Fennell's recordings
Conducting the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and various other groups, Fennell recorded many of the standards of the wind band repertoire. He became one of America's most-recorded conductors. Starting with "American Concert Band Masterpieces" in 1953, Fennell recorded over 300 compositions on 29 albums for Mercury Records with the Eastman-Rochester "Pops", London "Pops" (actually the London Symphony Orchestra in shirt-sleeves), and free-lance groups of New York musicians. However, best known are the 22 of the 29 Mercury releases made with Fennell's own Eastman Wind Ensemble. One of these albums, Lincolnshire Posy, with music by Percy Grainger (recorded in 1958), was selected by Stereo Review magazine as one of the 50 best recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph 1877-1977. The two-volume Civil War-Its Music and Its Sounds, recorded in December 1960, was a notable set also made with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, this time performing on period or original instruments. In 1961, Fennell received a citation and a medal from the Congressional Committee for the Centennial of the Civil War for this album. In 2003, the 1958 Mercury album Winds in Hi-Fi was chosen by the National Recording Preservation Board for the National Recording Registry.

Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc. Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble were also featured in the premiere issuance of Mercury material on compact disc. In 1986, 24 Sousa marches performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble were transferred to compact disc by Philips Records, which now owned the Mercury catalog.

Fennell made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States for Telarc with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds, on April 4–5, 1978. The recording included the two Suites for Military Band by Gustav Holst. With the Dallas Wind Symphony, Fennell recorded five programs of music by Nelhybel, Albeniz, Grainger, Bernstein and more, for Reference Recordings. Fennell also recorded for Brain, Columbia Records, Delos, King, Kosei, Ludwig, Premier Recordings, and Sine Qua Non Superba not to mention the Library of Congress label.

Career After Eastman
Fennell was associate music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the Minnesota Orchestra) from 1962 to 1964. In September 1965 he became conductor-in-residence at the University of Miami, where he conducted its symphony orchestra and also founded a wind ensemble. He also served as the resident conductor of the Miami Philharmonic from 1974 to 1975, and as principal guest conductor of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Dallas Wind Symphony. At the invitation of its players, he was appointed the initial conductor of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra in 1984.

On the podium, he evinced a courtly yet commanding manner despite his diminutive (5'1") stature. He was known to take charge of a room with words alone, and his conducting was extremely animated. His conducting workshops were famous for including calisthenics and baton-technique exercises in swimming pools. He remained highly active in the world of conducting until a few months before his death at the age of ninety at his home in Siesta Key, Florida. At the time, he was conductor laureate of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra; principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony; Frederick Fennell - Principal Guest Conductor, Dallas Wind Symphony and professor emeritus at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

Awards and honors
Fennell received Columbia University's Alice M. Ditson Conductor's Award in 1969, was presented the Star of the Order from the John Philip Sousa Memorial Foundation in 1985, received an honorary doctorate from Eastman in 1988, and was inducted into the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors in 1990. He received the Theodore Thomas Award of the Conductor's Guild in 1994. He was also inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award from Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at its national convention in Washington, DC.

Fennell was said to be most fond of the honorary doctorate he was awarded from Eastman, being inducted as an honorary chief of the Kiowa Nation in the 1960s, and receiving a medal of honor from Interlochen in 1989. He made frequent appearances guest conducting such ensembles as the Boston Pops Orchestra 1949 to 1978, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the United States Marine Band, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 1997, he became the first civilian to conduct an entire concert with the United States Marine Band; and in July 1998 he repeated this at a concert in the Kennedy Center celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marine Band.

Fennell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music (initiated into the Fraternity's Alpha Nu Chapter at the Eastman School of Music in 1934), and Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Honorary Band Fraternity.

Frederick Fennell Hall was dedicated in Kofu, Japan on July 17, 1992. On April 4, 2006, the Interlochen Center for the Arts opened up state of the art music and academic libraries, with the music library named in honor and memory of Fennell and his wife, Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell.

Fennell died in Siesta Key, Florida. His daughter, Catherine Fennell Martensen, stated that on his deathbed Fennell had said, "I cannot die without a drummer." She added that his last words were: "I hear him. I'm O.K. now."

Fennell's writings
Fennell wrote several books: Time and the Winds, a Short History of the Use of Wind Instruments in the Orchestra, Band and the Wind Ensemble, 1954; The Drummer’s Heritage, a Collection of Popular Airs and Official U.S. Army Music for Fifes and Drums, 1956; and The Wind Ensemble, 1988. Fennell was commissioned by Grenadilla Music to write a major article on 20th Century band composers and their music. The article was published in volume one of "Panorama of 20th Century Classical Music" subtitled, "BAND! (Wind Ensembles, Brass & Concert Bands" and is currently available at www.grenadillamusic.com.

He also edited for several music publishers: Boosey & Hawkes, Carl Fischer, Theodore Presser, and Sam Fox. For the Fennell Editions at Ludwig Music he edited over 50 scores for band performance, including many marches. One of these editions published in 1981 was for his favorite march, National Emblem by Edwin Eugene Bagley. He also wrote a series of sixteen articles published in The Instrumentalist under the heading ‘Basic Band Repertory’ beginning in April 1975 and concluding in February 1984. These articles were devoted to what Fennell called "...indestructible masterpieces for band that have survived the ravages of time and many an inept conductor".

Fennell wrote an original march in 1951, "Tally-Ho March," in honor of the Tally-Ho Music Camp and its founders, Fred and Dorotha Bradley.

In 1937, Fred Fennel married Dorothy Codner, a violinist he met at Eastman School of Music. They remained happily married for thirty three years.

Selected discography
Source:

 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. American Concert Band Masterpieces. Mercury Records MG40006/MG50079, 1953.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Marches by Sousa and Other. Mercury Records MG40007/MG50080, 1953.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. La Fiesta Mexicana. Mercury Records MG40011/MG50084, 1954.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Folk Song Suites and Other British Band Classics. Mercury Records MG40015/MG50088, 1955.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Marching Along. Mercury Records MG50105/MWS5-14/SR90105, 1956.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Hindemith/Schoenberg/Stravinsky. Mercury Records MG501434/SR90143, 1957.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. British Band Classic, Vol. 2. Mercury Records MG50197/SR90197, 1958.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Sousa on Review (Marches by John Philip Sousa). Mercury Records MG50284/SR90284, 1961.
 * Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell, conductor. Screamers! (Circus Marches). Mercury Records MG50314/SR90314, 1957.

Interviews

 * Frederick Fennell interview, December 16, 1987

title: Frederick Fennell