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Abjection

In critical theory, abjection is the state of being cast off and separated from norms and rules, especially on the scale of society and morality. The term has been explored in post-structuralism as that which inherently disturbs conventional identity and cultural concepts. Julia Kristeva explored an influential and formative overview of the concept in her 1980 work Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, where she describes subjective horror (abjection) as the feeling when an individual experiences or is confronted by the sheer experience of what Kristeva calls one's typically repressed "corporeal reality", or an intrusion of the Real in the Symbolic Order.

Kristeva's concept of abjection is used commonly to analyze popular cultural narratives of horror, and discriminatory behavior manifesting in misogyny, homophobia and genocide. The concept of abjection builds on the traditional psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, whose studies often narrowed in on the experience of the disintegration of personal distinctions, through neurosis in Freud and psychosis in Lacan.

In literary critical theory
Drawing on the French tradition of interest in the monstrous (e.g., novelist Louis-Ferdinand Céline), and of the subject as grounded in "filth" (e.g., psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan), Julia Kristeva developed the idea of the abject as that which is rejected by or disturbs social reason – the communal consensus that underpins a social order. The "abject" exists accordingly somewhere between the concept of an object and the concept of the subject, representing taboo elements of the self barely separated off in a liminal space. Kristeva claims that within the boundaries of what one defines as subject – a part of oneself – and object – something that exists independently of oneself – there reside pieces that were once categorized as a part of oneself or one's identity that has since been rejected – the abject.

However, Kristeva created a distinction in the true meaning of abjection: "It is thus not the lack of cleanliness or health that causes abjection but what disturbs identity, system, and order. What does not respect borders, positions, rules. The in-between, the ambiguous, the composite." Since the abject is situated outside the symbolic order, being forced to face it is an inherently traumatic experience, as with the repulsion presented by confrontation with filth, waste, or a corpse – an object which is violently cast out of the cultural world, having once been a subject. Thus the sense of the abject complements the existence of the superego – the representative of culture, of the symbolic order: in Kristeva's aphorism, "To each ego its object, to each superego its abject."

From Kristeva's psychoanalytic perspective, abjection is done to the part of ourselves that we exclude: the mother. We must abject the maternal, the object which has created us, in order to construct an identity. Abjection occurs on the micro level of the speaking being, through their subjective dynamics, as well as on the macro level of society, through "language as a common and universal law". We use rituals, specifically those of defilement, to attempt to maintain clear boundaries between nature and society, the semiotic and the symbolic, paradoxically both excluding and renewing contact with the abject in the ritual act.

The concept of abjection is often coupled (and sometimes confused) with the idea of the uncanny, the concept of something being "un-home-like", or foreign, yet familiar. The abject can be uncanny in the sense that we can recognize aspects in it, despite its being "foreign": a corpse, having fallen out of the symbolic order, creates abjection through its uncanniness – creates a cognitive dissonance.

Cases

 * Abjection is a major theme of the 1949 work The Thief's Journal (Journal du Voleur) by French author Jean Genet, a fictionalised account of his wanderings through Europe in the 1930s, wherein he claims as a criminal outcast to actively seek abjections as an existentialist form of "sainthood"
 * The film Alien (1979) has been analysed as an example of how in horror and science fiction monstrous representations of the female resonate with the abject archaic figure of the mother. Bodily dismemberment, forcible impregnation, and the chameleon nature of the alien itself may all be seen as explorations of phantasies of the primal scene, and of the encounter with the boundaryless nature of the original abject mother.
 * The 1990s-era Australian literary genre grunge lit often focuses on young adult characters with "abject" bodies that are deteriorating and characters facing health problems. For example, the male and female lead characters in Andrew McGahan's book Praise, Gordon Buchanan and Cynthia Lamonde, both have diseased bodies, with Cynthia facing skin that breaks out in rashes. Karen Brooks states that Clare Mendes' Drift Street, Edward Berridge's The Lives of the Saints, and Praise "...explor[e] the psychosocial and psychosexual limitations of young sub/urban characters in relation to the imaginary and socially constructed boundaries defining...self and other" and "opening up" new "limnal [boundary] spaces" where the concept of an abject human body can be explored. Brooks states that the marginalized characters (in The Lives of the Saints, Drift Street and Praise) are able to stay in "shit creek" (an undesirable setting or situation) and "diver[t]... flows" of these "creeks", thus claiming their rough settings' "limnality" (being in a border situation or transitional setting) and their own "abjection" (having "abject bodies" with health problems, disease, etc.) as "sites of symbolic empowerment and agency".

In social critical theory
"Abjection" is often used to describe the state of often-marginalized groups, such as women, unwed mothers, people of minority religious faiths, sex workers, convicts, and poor and disabled people. From a deconstruction of sexual discourses and gender history Ian McCormick has outlined the recurring links between pleasurable transgressive desire, deviant categories of behaviour and responses to body fluids in 18th and 19th-century discussions of prostitution, sodomy, and masturbation (self-pollution, impurity, uncleanness). The term space of abjection is also used, referring to a space that abjected things or beings inhabit.

In organizational studies
Organizational theory literature on abjection has attempted to illuminate various ways in which institutions come to silence, exclude or disavow feelings, practices, groups or discourses within the workplace. Studies have examined and demonstrated the manner in which people adopt roles, identities and discourses to avoid the consequences of social and organizational abjection. In such studies the focus is often placed upon a group of people within an organization or institution that fall outside of the norm, thus becoming what Kristeva terms "the one by whom the abject exists," or "the deject" people. Institutions and organizations typically rely on rituals and other structural practices to protect symbolic elements from the semiotic, both in a grander organizational focus that emphasizes the role of policy-making, and in a smaller interpersonal level that emphasizes social rejection. Both the organizational and interpersonal levels produce a series of exclusionary practices that create a "zone of inhabitability" for staff perceived to be in opposition to the organizational norms.

One such method is that of "collective instruction," which refers to a strategy often used to defer, render abject and hide the inconvenient "dark side" of the organization, keeping it away from view through corporate forces. This is the process by which an acceptable, unified meaning is created – for example, a corporation's or organization's mission statement. Through the controlled release of information and belief or reactionary statements, people are gradually exposed to a firm's persuasive interpretation of an event or circumstance, that could have been considered abject. This spun meaning developed by the firm becomes shared throughout a community. That event or circumstance comes to be interpreted and viewed in a singular way by many people, creating a unified, accepted meaning. The purpose such strategies serve is to identify and attempt to control the abject, as the abject ideas become ejected from each individual memory.

Organizations such as hospitals must negotiate the divide between the symbolic and the semiotic in a unique manner. Nurses, for example, are confronted with the abject in a more concrete, physical fashion due to their proximity to the ill, wounded and dying. They are faced with the reality of death and suffering in a way not typically experienced by hospital administrators and leaders. Nurses must learn to separate themselves and their emotional states from the circumstances of death, dying and suffering they are surrounded by. Very strict rituals and power structures are used in hospitals, which suggests that the dynamics of abjection have a role to play in understanding not only how anxiety becomes the work of the health team and the organization, but also how it is enacted at the level of hospital policy.

In sociological studies
The abject is a concept that is often used to describe bodies and things that one finds repulsive or disgusting, and in order to preserve one's identity they are cast out. Imogen Tyler sought to make the concept more social in order to analyze abjection as a social and lived process and to consider both those who abject and those who find themselves abjected, between representation of the powerful and the resistance of the oppressed. Tyler conducted an examination into the way that contemporary Britain had labelled particular groups of people – mostly minority groups – as revolting figures, and how those individuals revolt against their abject identity, also known as marginalization, stigmatizing and/or social exclusion.

Exploration has also been done into the way people look at others whose bodies may look different from the norm due to illness, injury or birth defect. Researchers such as Frances emphasize the importance of the interpersonal consequences that result from this looking. A person with a disability, by being similar to abled people and also different, is the person by whom the abject exists. People who view this individual react to that abjection by either attempting to ignore and reject it, or by attempting to engage and immerse themselves in it. In this particular instance, Frances claims, the former manifests through the refusal to make eye contact or acknowledge the presence of the personal with a disability, while the latter manifests through intrusive staring. The interpersonal consequences that result from this are either that the person with a disability is denied and treated as an 'other' – an object that can be ignored – or that the individual is clearly identified and defined as a deject.

In psychotherapy
By bringing focus onto concepts such as abjection, psychotherapists may allow for the exploration of links between lived experience and cultural formations in the development of particular psychopathologies. Bruan Seu demonstrated the critical importance of bringing together Foucauldian ideas of self-surveillance and positioning in discourse with a psychodynamic theorization in order to grasp the full significance of psychological impactors, such as shame.

Concerning psychopathologies such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), the role of the other – actual, imagined or fantasized – is central, and ambivalence about the body, inflated by shame, is the key to this dynamic. Parker noted that individuals suffering from BDD are sensitive to the power, pleasure and pain of being looked at, as their objective sense of self dominates any subjective sense. The role of the other has become increasingly significant to developmental theories in contemporary psychoanalysis, and is very evident in body image as it is formed through identification, projection and introjection. Those individuals with BDD consider a part of their body unattractive or unwanted, and this belief is exacerbated by shame and the impression that others notice and negatively perceive the supposed physical flaw, which creates a cycle. Over time, the person with BDD begins to view that part of their body as being separate from themselves, a rogue body part – it has been abjected.

There are also those who experience social anxiety, who experience the subjectification of being abject in a similar yet different way to those with BDD. Abject, here, refers to marginally objectionable material that does not quite belong in the greater society as a whole – whether this not-belonging is real or imagined is irrelevant, only that it is perceived. For those with social anxiety, it is their entire social self which is perceived to be the deject, straying away from normal social rituals and capabilities.

Studying abjection has proven to be suggestive and helpful for considering the dynamics of self and body hatred. This carries interesting implications for studying such disorders as separation anxiety, biologically centered phobias, and post traumatic stress disorder.

In art
The roots of abject art go back a long way. The Tate defines abject art as that which "explore themes that transgress and threaten our sense of cleanliness and propriety, particularly referencing the body and bodily functions." Painters expressed a fascination for blood long before the Renaissance but it was not until the Dada movement that the fascination with transgression and taboo made it possible for abject art, as a movement, to exist. It was influenced by Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty. The Whitney Museum in New York City identified abject art in 1993.

It was preceded by the films and performances of the Viennese actionists, in particular, Hermann Nitsch, whose interest in Schwitter's idea of a gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork) led to his setting up the radical theatre group, known as the Orgien-Mysterien-Theater. The group used animal carcasses and bloodshed in a ritualistic way. Nitsch served time in jail for blasphemy before being invited to New York in 1968 by Jonas Mekas. Nitsch organised a series of performances which influenced the radical New York art scene. Other members of the Viennese Actionists, Gunter Brus, who began as a painter, and Otto Muehl collaborated on performances. The performances of Gunter Brus involved publicly urinating, defecating and cutting himself with a razor blade. Rudolf Schwarzkogler is known for his photos dealing with the abject. In the late 1960s, performance art become popular in New York, including by Carolee Schneemann. Mary Kelly, Genesis P. Orridge and GG Allin did this type of art.

In the 1980s and 1990s, fascination with the Powers of Horror, the title of a book by Julia Kristeva, led to a second wave of radical performance artists working with bodily fluids including Ron Athey, Franko B, Lennie Lee and Kira O' Reilly. Kristeva herself associated aesthetic experience of the abject, such as art and literature, with poetic catharsis – an impure process that allows the artist or author to protect themselves from the abject only by immersing themselves within it.

In the late 1990s, the abject became a theme of radical Chinese performance artists Zhu Yu and Yang Zhichao. The abject also began to influence mainstream artists including Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick, Gilbert and George, Robert Gober, Kiki Smith and Jake and Dinos Chapman who were all included in the 1993 Whitney show. Other artists working with abjection include New York photographers, Joel Peter Witkin, whose book Love and Redemption and Andres Serrano whose piece entitled Piss Christ caused a scandal in 1989.

title: Abjection


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User:Mikeb4789

Welcome to my page. As you might notice, I have a strong interest in most things related to the United States Air Force.

How do I pick the articles I am going to write? Some I have a personal interest in, and others start out as an unwritten link from within an article I write.

I new to this, so please feel free to let me know how I'm doing, or leave a comment!

Articles I have created, modified more than a little or increased from stubs

 * Air Education & Training Command - New stub
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license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Mikeb4789


text:
Talk:Odin Computer Graphics

Comment
The Plot certainly was released, since I well remember spending a week trying to complete it! Thanks again for all the good work - Mmartins

 * here is the game in question. Published by Firebird in 1988. Drutt (talk) 03:22, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

This game carries the Odin label but was released the year after the company folded. Crosswize was also released in 1988 but carries no references to Odin. 2fort5r (talk) 19:28, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

The "unreleased" Gunpowder Plot seems to be a different game altogether in spite of the similarity of title. 2fort5r (talk) 19:30, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Comment 2
Reverted to previous edit. The "six figure sum" was quoted by Odin member Steve Weatherall in a Planet Sinclair interview. It's also mentioned on the Bird Sanctuary web site (written by an ex-Rainbird employee). A seven figure sum sounds a bit excessive by 1980s standards, although if you can cite a more definitive source for the "seven figure sum", by all means revert this edit. Also, I can't see why the subsequent two paragraphs were deleted. If you're going to delete substantial blocks of text, please give a reason, either on the edit screen or on this discussion page. --Sonance 09:12, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)

Comment 3
Reduced some of the invective (without changing material facts) and corrected date of Odin closure. :) Steve W. May 04 2005.

title: Talk:Odin Computer Graphics


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Akhandananda

Swami Akhandananda (1864–1937) was a swami and direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, a 19th-century mystic. He was the third president of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Initial Years
Akhandananda was born as Gangadhar Ghatak (Gangopadhyay) on 30 September 1864, in Ahiritola area of western Kolkata, to Srimanta Gangopadhyay and Vamasundari Devi. He came from a respectable Brahmin family. He was orthodox in nature and was dubbed as "oldish" by Ramakrishna. From his very childhood, Gangadhar was so compassionate that he once gave his own shirt to a poor classmate whose shirt was torn. Without telling his parents, he would give food to beggars. He was a strong moralist and always helped his wayward friends. Gangadhar was a vivacious, handsome boy in childhood. Gifted with prodigious memory, Gangadhar mastered the English alphabet in one day. Gangadhar first met Ramakrishna, the famous mystic and saint whom he later adopted as his Master, in 1884, when he was nineteen years old, in the temple of Dakshineswar. He visited Ramakrishna for the first time in the company of his friend Harinath (later Turiyananda). He had first seen Ramakrishna in the house of Dinanath Bose at a very young age. Ramakrishna did not want him to be over orthodox and therefore introduced him to Narendranath Dutta (later Vivekananda). Gangadhar was favourably impressed with Narendranath and became devoted to him, a devotion which lasted throughout his life and which later prompted him to take up service as the primary work over spiritual practices. During his visits to Dakshineswar, Gangadhar received instructions on meditation from Ramakrishna.

Pre monastic days
Gangadhar's father found a job for Gangadhar in a merchant's office. Gangadhar worked there a few days and then gave it up. He then fully engaged himself in spiritual disciplines and service to the master. Gangadhar served Ramakrishna during the illness of the latter. After the death of Ramakrishna, when the Baranagar Math was formed by Narendranath and other brother disciples, Gangadhar renounced his family life and embraced a life of travel with consent from his family and set foot for the Himalayas. Steeped in Vedanta and his own experience, his mind ever pined to be absorbed in the bliss of the Himalayan solitude. In 1887, after visiting Kedarnath and Badrinath, he travelled to Tibet where he lived in Lhasa and elsewhere for three years, returning to India in 1890. Gangadhar's entire travel account is recorded in his book Smriti-Katha (From Holy Wanderings to The Service of God in Man). He travelled hundreds of miles in the mountains of the Himalayas without carrying any money or extra clothing.

Travels
Gangadhar took his monastic vow in 1890, in Baranagar Math and in the presence of SwamiVivekananda, and was given the name of "Akhandananda" (Akhanda - undifferentiated, ananda - bliss, one who finds supreme bliss in the undifferentiated nature of the Truth). After his return, he had frequent correspondence with Vivekananda, then at Ghazipur, who induced him to join him in travelling in some places of the Himalayas because of the latter's experience and familiarity in those terrains. Accordingly, Akhandananda came to Baranagore monastery, and after spending a few happy months with his brother-disciples, sharing his experiences with them, he set out in July 1890, with Vivekananda on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas. Visiting important places on the way they reached Almora, but the illness of one or the other plagued their journey, and they returned via Tehri to Dehra Dun, from where Akhandananda proceeded to Meerut for treatment. Vivekananda also joined him in Meerut, and they met some other brother disciples. After five months of association, Vivekananda left them and Akhandananda followed him surreptitiously, going from one province to another in his search, but everywhere he narrowly missed meeting him. Finally, he met Vivekananda again in Kutch where Swami Vivekananda entreated him to follow a separate course. Accordingly, Akhandananda continued his pilgrimage separately.

Intellectual Pursuits
During his days of wandering in the Himalayas, he studied Avadhuta Gita at Srinagar in Garhwal. In 1891, while resting at Etawah, he spent most of his time reading the Mahabhashya, Patanjali's voluminous commentary on Panini's Sanskrit grammar, as well as Sridhara Swami’s commentary on the Bhagavadgita. In Jamnagar in 1892, he studied the Charaka-Sushruta Samhita with the help of the Sanskrit lexicon Shabdartha Chandrika Kosha and also Shukla Yajur Veda. In Udaipur, he read the Vedantic text of Panchadasi. He also learned Hindi grammar from Bhasha Bhaskara, to correct his Hindi pronunciation. In Indore, he completed a reading of the entire Valmiki Ramayana over a period of eighteen days. Later in Mahula he undertook a critical study of the Yogavasishtha Ramayana.

Relationship with Vivekananda and Sarada Devi
Akhandananda was an ardent follower of Vivekananda, who called him lovingly as Ganges. He was also devoted to Sarada Devi. When hard work in Murshidabad took a toll on his health, she had him brought to Calcutta for treatment and took special care of him.

Final Years
Akhandananda became the vice president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1925 and the third president after the demise of Swami Shivananda in 1934. He initiated a number of people after assuming office. However, he continued to stay at Sargachhi.

Akhandananda also initiated Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the second sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

He participated in the celebration of the Birth Centenary of Ramakrishna in 1936 in Calcutta.

In February 1937 he fell ill and was brought to Calcutta. He died in Belur Math on 7 February 1937.

Service

Akhandananda was the first monk of the Ramakrishna order, who gave shape to the cherished desire of Vivekananda to begin rural development work—even before the Mission was established. The distressing sorrows and suffering of the masses pulled him down to the plains, and to them, he became a harbinger of peace and succour. Sacrificing his Himalayan bliss, he chose to be with poor. Akhandananda practised till the very end of his life his Master's call:  Worship jiva as Shiva. He was one of the pillars of the Ramakrishna Movement's service activities. His experience as a wandering monk, like those of Vivekananda, moved him to take steps to remove the distress and misery of the masses. Vivekananda's encouraging letter from America which was sent as a reply to Akhandananda's request for guidance pushed him further, and in 1894 Akhandananda began his campaign against poverty. The idea of working for the poor was conceived while he stayed in Jamnagar with Jhandu Bhatt, the famous ayurvedic physician, who served his patients with exceptional devotion. While in Khetri, Rajasthan during 1894, he went about from door to door, all alone to bring awareness in the people about the utility of education, and it was because of his efforts that the number of students in the Khetri Rajya English School rose from 80 to 257. Under his inspiration, the Maharaja of Khetri Ajit Singh arranged for the education of the Golas and also set up a permanent Education Department to open schools in the villages. Akhandananda also arranged for the publication of a newspaper on agriculture in order to educate the farmers of that area. He also contacted renowned landlords in the numerous village of Khetri, inspiring them to take some concrete steps towards removing the miseries of their poor labourers. At the instance of the Swami the Sanskrit school in Khetri was converted to Vedic school, and he raised subscriptions to purchase books for the poor students. He fed the Bhils, an aboriginal tribe, in Uadaipur. He left Rajputana in 1895 and returned to the Alambazar Math, the new monastery of the Ramakrishna disciples. He first came in contact with widespread famine during his travel in the Murshidabad district of Bengal. He sought help from his brother disciples in 1897 and Vivekananda, who had returned to India by then, sent two monks with money. On 1 May 1897 Vivekananda inaugurated the Ramakrishna Mission, and Akhandananda opened a relief centre on 15 May in the temple premises of Mrityunjay Bhattacharya of Kedar-Mahula in Murshidabad to save people from an all-devouring famine. Though rice was difficult to procure at that time, he managed to procure some with the help of other people and with much trouble. Then he distributed equally among the poor, weighing the rice himself on a scale. This was the first public service work done by the Ramakrishna Mission.

Akhandananda started an orphanage in Mahula, near Berhampore, on 31 August 1897, and then established the first Rural Branch Centre of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in Mahula. In 1899, he opened an ashrama in Shivnagar near Sargachi which continued for 14 years. In 1899, he opened a free school there to deal with the problem of illiteracy in the locality. A carpentry and a weaving section also were added to revive those perishing village industries and make the boys self-reliant. Cotton cultivation was taught to the rural women to enhance their family income. In 1913 the present ashrama was found on a 13 acres land in March 1913. He also led in relief activities in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar and during the Munger earthquake in Bihar.

Literary works

 * In the Lap of the Himalayas
 * From holy wanderings to the service of God in man
 * The call of the Spirit: Conversations With Swami Akhandananda, Swami Nirmayananda

Honors
There is a dormitory named, in his honour, Akhandananda Dham in Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Deoghar.

Also a boys' hostel in the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur - has been named after him. It is called the 'Akhandananda Bhavana'.

title: Akhandananda


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Puttanna Kanagal

Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma (1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of Indian cinema's most influential filmmakers.

Background and personal life
Puttanna Kanagal was born to Ramaswamaiah and Subbamma in Kanagal, a village in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore into a poor family. As he hailed from a poor brahmin family, he had to endure hardships and struggled to get a decent job. He worked as a teacher, salesman and even as a cleaner. His job as a publicity boy brought him closer to theatre and subsequently to cinema. His association with films began when he started working for B. R. Panthulu as an assistant director and also as his driver. His first film as an assistant director was Rathnagiri Rahasya (1957).

Puttanna married Nagalakshmi at very young age and they had 5 children. However he fell in love with his protege and leading actress in 1970s Aarathi and they got married during 1976–77. They had a daughter Yashaswini, who was born in 1978. However, due to creative differences Puttanna and Aarathi separated in 1981.

In 1981 Puttanna's magnum opus Ranganayaki did not do as well as expected at the box office, even though it gained critical acclaim and later went on to become a cult classic. In addition to this, separation from Aarathi had impacted his health. He had no work in hand for 14 months starting from late 1980 to mid of 1982. Srinath whom Puttanna directed in blockbuster films like Shubhamangala and Dharmasere came to his help, and they made Maanasa Sarovara which became an average hit and helped Puttanna bounce back. Kanagal died on 5 June 1985 in Bengaluru while shooting Masanada Hoovu.

Starting his career as a publicity boy, Kanagal was drawn into independent filmmaking after a stint in theatre and working with film director and producer B. R. Panthulu as his assistant. Kanagal's assistants include Tamil directors S. P. Muthuraman, Bharathiraja, and T. S. Nagabharana.

Although a majority of Kanagal's films were on offbeat or taboo subjects, generally women-centric, he endeared himself to both the critics and ordinary film goers alike making "bridge films" between art and commercial cinema. His film in Kannada, Gejje Pooje, based on a novel of the same name by M. K. Indira is considered a landmark film. He would go on to direct other films such as Kappu Bilupu (1969), Sharapanjara (1971), Naagarahaavu (1972), Edakallu Guddada Mele (1973), Shubhamangala (1975) and Ranganayaki (1981), all of which are seen as milestones in Kannada cinema. He also directed a handful of films in Malayalam, Tamil Telugu and Hindi languages.

As a director
Often credited as a movie-maker much ahead of his times, his first directorial venture was the 1964 Malayalam movie School Master, a remake of his mentor B. R. Panthulu's Kannada classic of the same name. He then directed another Malayalam movie Poochakkanni (Cat eyed/Hazel eyed lady) based on the Kannada novel Bekkina Kannu by Triveni. Puttanna's first Kannada film as a director was Bellimoda (Silver Cloud) in 1967. Starring Kalpana and Kalyan Kumar, this movie was a critical and commercial success. Legend has it that Puttanna scouted for a week to find the perfect location for the mellifluous song "Moodala Maneyaa". Belli Moda is credited as the first Kannada movie to be shot exclusively outdoors. He directed many masterpieces like Gejje Pooje, Sharapanjara, Naagarahaavu etc. '. His last film was Savira Mettilu, which never released during his lifetime.

He also provided a platform for many actors such as Kalpana, Aarathi, Leelavathi, Jayanthi, Padma Vasanthi, Srinath, Rajinikanth, Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Jai Jagadish, Chandra Shekhar, Gangadhar, Shivaram, Vajramuni, Sridhar, Ramakrishna and Aparna to showcase their talents.

In devotion to Puttanna, Dr.Vishnuvardhan said, "Puttanna Kanagal Sir was the God-sent teacher for me!  And I have been made an actor. I am indebted to guru Puttanaji. He used to conceptualize scenes, narrate them to me, inspire me and extract the potential till then unknown to myself. Acting in a single movie under Puttanna's expertise is an experience of a lifetime."

Puttanna introduced most of the actors in the Kannada film industry. Tamil director Bharathiraja worked under him. Each of Kanagal's 24 Kannada movies had strong themes filled with unprecedented direction.

Tamil legendary film maker K. Balachander, winner of the 2010 Dadasaheb Phalke Award had great regard for Puttanna. In many of his interviews to the media, Balachandar has stated that he considered a much younger, Puttanna Kanagal, a director from Kannada(Karnataka) film industry to be his guru in film making. An excerpt from one such interview:

 * Q) You have stated in many interviews that you consider Puttanna Kanagal (Kannada filmmaker), though younger than you, as your guru in filmmaking. What is it that you learnt from him?

 * A) Age has got nothing to do with learning. You can learn from anybody and everybody. I liked and admired Puttanna Kanagal, because, at the time when many of our filmmakers lacked the vision of filmmaking in terms of visuals he was the one who insisted on films being visual than oral. Apart from that his ability to churn out the human emotions from his actors was one of his kind.

In fact Balachander, for most of the remakes of his Tamil films in Kannada (Benkiyalli Aralida Hoo, Mauna Geethe) has gone on to cast many of the talents like Ashwath, Sridhar, Jai Jagadesh, Ramakrishna, Srinath, nurtured in Puttanna's camp. Also, both Puttanna's and Balachander's films dealt with the issues on women – more so in Puttanna's films.

The Visualiser
The Kannada film industry in the 1960s and the 1970s started moving from mythological and historical subjects to socially relevant themes. This metamorphosis was reflected in the rise of bandaaya sahitya or rebellious literature. The New Wave Cinema or Alternate Cinema movement spread across India, particularly in Karnataka, West Bengal and Kerala. Puttanna's movies, however, were seen as a bridge between commercial cinema and alternate cinema. While his plots, based on popular Kannada novels, revolved around strong characters and distinct themes, he added mandatory songs and emotions to distinguish from alternate cinemas. His mastery over symbolism is quite remarkable. He has effectively used effectively in almost all of his movies.

Puttanna was also considered as a pioneer in picturising songs. In general, his movies contained 4–5 songs. Even with respect to song picturisation, Puttanna had a strong sense of colour and imagery. He would go to great lengths to select the locations and costumes for a song. The songs generally reflected the inherent mood of the film. For instance, the song from the movie Manasasarovara, Neene saakida gini, a poignant song, was shot amidst the dust-filled mining areas, thereby reflecting the agony of a man who has lost his true love. Similarly the song sandesha megha sandesha from the movie Sharapanjara was shot in the Madikeri, with innumerable oranges strewn around.

He was well known for his effective use of freeze shots and negative images to heighten the introspective effect of key scenes. Although his films were accused of being too woman-centric, Puttanna personally felt that such notions were wrong.

He was the first director of the Kannada Film Directors Association after its inception in 1984. Poonam Theatre in Jayanagar, Bangalore was renamed in his honor after his last film debuted there. In 2004, the theatre closed until reopening after a 2011 campaign supported by Baraguru Ramachandrappa, V. Manohar and the Democratic Youth Federation of India and was scheduled for demolition in July 2012 but later saved and remodeled. In June 2015, the 30th anniversary of his death was honored with an event organized by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and guests and speakers included Ambareesh, Leelavathi, S. Shivaram, Jai Jagadish, Ashok, K. S. L. Swamy and Rajendra Singh Babu.

Awards and honours
Kanagal received three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and multiple Karnataka State Film Awards. Karnataka state honours film directors and various personalities with Puttanna Kanagal Award in his memory every year during the Karnataka State Awards function.

title: Puttanna Kanagal


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Nissan Tiida

The Nissan Tiida (日産・ティーダ) is a compact car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Nissan from 2004 to 2023 through three generations. Depending on the market, the Tiida was also marketed as a subcompact car, particularly in the Americas for the first-generation model as the Nissan Versa. The first-generation model (C11) was produced up to 2018 in some markets, and was offered as a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback.

The second-generation of Tiida (C12) is marketed since 2011 and only available as a five-door hatchback, while the role of a four-door sedan was passed to the subcompact Almera/Latio/Sunny/Versa (N17) and the compact Sylphy/Sentra/Pulsar (B17). Starting in 2013, the C12 Tiida was released in Thailand, Australia and New Zealand as the Nissan Pulsar. The C12 Tiida represents a departure from the C11, increasing its width to comfortably occupy the compact class, and was no longer marketed in Japan. It is currently produced and marketed in Taiwan.

The third-generation Tiida sold in Russia and China was introduced in 2015 as a rebadged Pulsar (C13) hatchback.

Etymology
The name "Tiida" is Okinawan for "sun", continuing the naming tradition started in 1966 with the Nissan Sunny.

First generation (C11; 2004)
Nissan revealed the C-Note concept car in 2003 to preview the styling of the C11 Tiida. It is a concept hatchback based on the same platform of the Renault Mégane. The vehicle was unveiled at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show.

The Tiida hatchback and the Tiida Latio sedan debuted in Japan in 2004, and in some European countries in 2007. It is based on a stretched-wheelbase variant of the Nissan B platform, and was manufactured as a five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan. It was sold in North America as Nissan Versa, and in Southeast Asia as the Nissan Latio. The C11 sat between the subcompact and compact car classes, acting as an intermediate model between the smaller Micra/March and larger Sylphy and Sentra models within the global Nissan portfolio.

Nissan initially directed every markets to adopt the Tiida nameplate for the vehicle, despite objections from several markets such as Australia, which insisted using the more well-known Pulsar nameplate. The US market ended up choosing a new nameplate, the Versa, which established a precedent for Australia to reuse Pulsar nameplate to the succeeding C12 generation.

In Japan, the Tiida replaced the Nissan Sunny (B15) in Nissan's lineup as the smallest sedan. In North America, it became a new entry-level model below the Sentra; and elsewhere the Tiida tended to occupy the role performed previously by the Nissan Almera/Pulsar/Sentra/Sunny (N16), sold in Japan as the Bluebird Sylphy (G10). The G10/N16's successor, the Bluebird Sylphy G11 was not widely sold outside Japan.

Engines include a 1.5-liter or 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, the larger of which can be coupled to a six-speed manual transmission. There are also two optional dealer packages: the Nismo S-tune Aero Package and Nismo Performance Package.

Facelift
In January 2008, Nissan introduced facelifted versions of both the hatchback and the sedan. They were enhanced with some key changes including new exterior features and interior designs, retuned power steering, powertrain enhancements and a new Plus navi HDD package called CarWings in Japan.

The exterior features a new grille, front bumper, headlights, tail lights, rear bumper and new wheel covers. The interior sports a more modern look as well as better visibility and usability, new instrument cluster design and metallic-finish dash panels.

The C11 started to be phased out in China first, during 2011 when partially replaced by the larger, compact class C12 Tiida/Pulsar hatchback. In 2012, the C11 began to be withdrawn from more markets as its main production bases ceased manufacture. The C11 was also replaced by the subcompact Nissan Note or Versa Note (E12) hatchback, and on the sedan fronts, by the subcompact Almera/Latio/Sunny/Versa (N17) and the compact Nissan Pulsar/Sentra/Sylphy (B17).

Safety
The Tiida Hatch in its most basic Latin American version with one airbag received 3 stars for adult occupants and 1 star for toddlers from Latin NCAP in May 2011.

The Tiida Hatch with two airbags received 4 stars for adult occupants and 1 star for toddlers from Latin NCAP in November 2011.

The Tiida Sedan in its most basic Latin American version with no airbags and no ABS received 0 stars for adult occupants and 2 stars for toddlers from Latin NCAP in April 2015.

The Tiida Sedan with two airbags and no ABS received 4 stars for adult occupants and 2 stars for toddlers from Latin NCAP in September 2015.

Marketing
In mainland China, the Tiida is produced by the Dongfeng Motor Company, a joint venture between Nissan and a local company.
 * Asia

In Malaysia, the first generation Tiida was sold as the Latio and available with in both sedan and hatchback body styles. The sedan was simply known as Latio while the hatchback was known as the Latio Sport. Unveiled in May 2007 and available in June 2007, four variants were initially offered for the sedan body style: 1.6 ST (M), 1.6 ST (A), 1.6 ST-L (A), 1.8 Ti (A). The hatchback was available in a sole 1.6 ST-L (A) variant. In April 2008, a limited 'Tuned By Impul' edition was available for both variants. The 'Tuned By Impul' edition featured a body kit, sports suspension, different exhaust system and different alloy wheels. In September 2011, the facelift version of Latio reduced the variant count to just two. A sole 1.6 variant for the sedan and a sole 1.8 variant for the hatchback.

In Singapore, the Tiida and Tiida Latio were initially sold alongside the older and cheaper Sunny N16 and the bigger and more expensive Sylphy.

In Indonesia, the Tiida 1.8 hatchback was marketed for private use, while the 1.6 sedan was for taxi fleet only.

In Hong Kong, the Tiida was used as a police car by the Hong Kong police. Some were police patrol cars whereas some were airport police cars.

In Taiwan, both Tiida hatchback and Tiida sedan are produced by Yulon. The Tiida sedan was still in production until May 2018.

 * North America

The Versa was introduced in the United States and Canada in July 2006 as a 2007 model. North and Latin American models of the Tiida use a DOHC 1.8-liter gasoline engine and are assembled at Nissan's Aguascalientes, Mexico assembly plant. It is also the only Nissan four-door passenger car in the United States and Canada to be sold worldwide, since the Sentra, Altima and Maxima are exclusive to North America.

According to a Nissan press release in 2008, "versa" is short for "versatile space" meant to imply the spaciousness of the interior and configurable cargo arrangements.

The North American Versa debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in January of the same year. The hatchback model was introduced first, with the sedan arriving later at the end of the year, both as 2007 models. A 1.6-liter sedan replaced the 1.8-liter sedan in Canada for the 2009 model year, that year in the United States the 1.6 sedan was added to the lineup along the 1.8 sedan.

The Versa is powered by a 1.8 L I4 MR series engine producing 122 hp (91 kW) and 127 ft·lbf (170 N·m). Three transmissions are offered: a four-speed automatic, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and a six-speed manual. Two trim levels include the S and SL—the SL offering air conditioning, power accessories and ABS, all of which are options on the S. The Versa SL also has features/options not available on the S such as cruise control (available on some S models), alloy wheels, optional CVT (the four-speed automatic is only available for the Versa S but CVT is available on some S models), optional Bluetooth connectivity for electronic devices, and a sport package which adds a power moonroof, rear spoiler, and underside aero kit.

Introduced for the 2009 model year in sedan form only, is the Versa 1.6-liter which uses the HR16DE inline-four gasoline engine, rated at 107 hp and 111 lbft of torque. The base transmission is a five-speed manual; a four-speed automatic is optional.

The Versa 1.6 features black trim (instead of body-colored) for the exterior mirror housings, license plate trim, and front grille; 14-inch steel wheels; black interior; four radio speakers with pre-wiring for a radio—but no radio itself. Safety features include six airbags, active front head restraints, and a tire pressure monitoring system. Air conditioning, AM/FM/CD audio system, power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, and keyless entry are offered as part of a value package. Anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and brake assist are optional ($250) on top of the value package.

When it was introduced in fall 2008, the Versa's base price of US$9,990 made it the least expensive new car available in the United States, but a price cut to the Hyundai Accent usurped that distinction by $20. The Versa 1.6's $12,498 Canadian base price also undercut its competitors at launch.

2010 models featured a redesigned grille and a new design for the 1.8S model's wheel covers. In North America, the sedan was replaced by its second generation starting the 2012 model year (hence, 2011 being its last). The fate of the hatchback was however extended for one more year, 2012 being its last. Production of both for that market stopped in mid-2011.

The Tiida sedan was discontinued in Mexico, and was replaced by the new Versa in October 2019.

On 11 January 2008, Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. announced an agreement for Nissan to supply Chrysler with a new car based on Nissan Versa sedan for limited distribution in Latin America in 2009. However the plan failed to materialise, as it coincided with the arrival of Fiat in Chrysler capital in early 2009.
 * Latin America

Electric prototype
The EV-11 prototype electric car was based on Tiida and used an 80 kW and 280 Nm electric motor, 24 kWh lithium-ion battery pack rated 160 km distance, navigation system, EV remote control and monitoring.

The prototype vehicle was unveiled at Nissan's Yokohama headquarters on 8 February 2009. Production version was set to begin sale in US and Japan in 2010.

Second generation (C12; 2011)
The second generation, C12 series of the Nissan Tiida was unveiled in April 2011 at the Shanghai Auto Show. Sales in China commenced in June 2011. It is available only as a five-door hatchback, and is notably not sold in Japan. The C11 Tiida sedan was instead replaced by the Nissan Almera/Latio/Sunny/Versa (N17) and Nissan Pulsar/Sentra/Sylphy (B17). The C12 Tiida is in fact heavily related to the Sylphy B17—both base their construction on the Nissan V platform and share substantial mechanicals. The Thai manufactured versions even share the Sylphy B17's interior, while the original Chinese and Taiwanese models feature a distinctive design. Powertrains also remain common between C12 and B17 models.

Instead of being sized and marketed as both a subcompact or a compact car depending on the country, the second-generation Tiida was marketed as a C-segment worldwide as the March/Micra hatchback and the N17 series sedan took the role to serve the B-segment market.

Marketing
In Thailand, the Tiida hatchback is called the Nissan Pulsar, which went on sale by February 2013. The Tiida hatchback comes with MRA8DE 1.8-litre engine, which it shares with the Nissan Sylphy. In Taiwan, the Tiida hatchback is known as the "Big Tiida" in advertisement due to the size upgrade and went on sale in January 2013.
 * Asia

In Australia, the Tiida name was dropped in favour of a return to using Nissan Pulsar, which was a very popular nameplate up to 2005.
 * Australia

The SSS high performance version with a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine arrived in late 2013. It was aimed at the "warm" hatch market which is a category placed between standard and hot hatches. It featured a 140 kilowatt turbocharged MR16DDT engine found in the Nissan Pulsar ST-S variant. It is also found in the Nissan Juke ST-S and TI-S. The engine was connected to either a close ratio 6-speed manual transmission or Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). Premium features included push start ignition, keyless entry, dusk sensing headlights, dual climate control and satellite navigation.

In the Middle East, the Tiida was available with a 1.6 or 1.8-litre engine.
 * Middle East

Facelift (Taiwan)
Instead of updating to the C13 Tiida/Pulsar, the C12 Tiida was facelifted exclusively in the Taiwanese market conducted by Yulon Motors. The facelift was a budget update to keep the appearance of the C12 Tiida in Taiwan in line with the C13 Tiida in other markets. The facelift replaces the front and rear light units with redesigned set up and light strips, front and rear bumpers, and the front grille. The new front grille features the updated Nissan V motion styling and the rear bumper was designed to mimic those on the C13 Tiida.

Tiida J
The Taiwanese market Tiida received another facelift for the 2021 model year called the Tiida J. The Tiida J features redesigned front and rear bumpers.

Third generation (C13; 2015)
Since March 2015, the Nissan Pulsar (C13), as sold in most of Europe, is sold in Russia, China and Africa under the Tiida nameplate.

title: Nissan Tiida


text: File:Murray-catchment-map MJC.png

title: File:Murray-catchment-map MJC.png


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Daymond Langkow

Daymond Randolph Langkow (born September 27, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was the fifth overall selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He played junior hockey with the Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and is their franchise record holder for career goals at 159. He won the Bob Clarke Trophy in 1995 as the WHL scoring leader with 140 points, and competed with the Canadian junior team at the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he won a gold medal.

Langkow made his NHL debut in 1995 with the Lightning, and also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames. He has scored 30 goals twice in his career, both with the Flames, and scored more than 50 points in eight consecutive seasons between 1999 and 2008. He was a nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 1997 and has played over 1,000 games in the NHL. His older brother, Scott, was also a professional hockey player.

Junior
Langkow was selected by the Tri-City Americans in the second round of the 1991 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft. He completed the 1991–92 season with the Edmonton Pats of the Alberta Midget Hockey League, scoring 81 points in 35 games while appearing in one game with the Americans as a 15-year-old. He joined Tri-City full-time in 1992–93, scoring 22 goals and 64 points in 64 games and improved to 40 goals and 83 points in 1993–94. Langkow averaged nearly two points per game in 1994–95, scoring 140 points in 72 games. He was named the recipient of the Bob Clarke Trophy as the top scorer in the WHL, and was named to the WHL West and Canadian Hockey League First All-Star Teams. He finished as the runner-up to Marty Murray for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL's most valuable player.

The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Langkow fifth overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. On the eve of the 1995–96 season, the Lightning signed him to a three-year, $2.4 million contract. He made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut on October 7, 1995, against the Calgary Flames. Langkow appeared in four games with the Lightning before he was returned to Tri-City. He scored 91 points in 48 games with the Americans and was named to the WHL's West Second All-Star Team. , he remains the Americans' franchise record holder for most career goals with 159. Langkow represented Canada at the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he won a gold medal.

Tampa, Philadelphia and Phoenix
Langkow rejoined the Lightning for the 1996–97 NHL season and scored 15 goals and 28 points in his rookie season. He scored his first NHL goal on November 19, 1996, against the Los Angeles Kings, and was named the NHL's rookie of the month for February 1997. He fell to 22 points in 1997–98 and ended the season in a dispute with the Lightning when he refused a demotion to the Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League. The Lightning suspended him indefinitely, but told the media they were not interested in trading him. He missed seven games and lost $63,000 in salary before the Lightning relented and recalled him to finish the season in Tampa. Langkow was assigned to the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League to begin the 1998–99 season amidst trade rumours but was recalled after four games. He was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Mikael Renberg on December 12, 1998, in exchange for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger.

While he was considered a throw-in for the Flyers who made the trade to re-acquire Renberg, Langkow flourished in Philadelphia. He finished the season with 14 goals combined between Tampa and Philadelphia, and his development as a playmaking centre earned him the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial from his teammates as the Flyers' most improved player. They re-signed Langkow to a two-year contract extension following the season. He set new personal highs in goals and assists in 1999–2000, finishing with 50 points and helping the Flyers reach the Eastern Conference Final in the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite missing 11-games with two broken feet, Langkow improved to 54 points in the 2000–01 season.

The acquisition of Jeremy Roenick and Jiri Dopita by the Flyers in the summer of 2001 left Langkow, a restricted free agent, as the odd man out in Philadelphia. He was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft (Dan Sprang) and a first-round pick in 2003 (Jeff Carter). Unable to agree on a contract, Langkow and the Coyotes went to arbitration where he was awarded a two-year contract worth $4.2 million. He made an immediate impact with Phoenix, scoring his first career hat trick in a 5–2 victory over the Washington Capitals in the Coyotes' home opener. He finished the 2001–02 season as the team leader with 62 points. He fell back to 52 points in 2002–03, but scored his 100th career goal in his 500th career game on December 30, 2002, a 4–3 overtime victory against the Edmonton Oilers. He finished second in team scoring with 52 points, and served as an alternate captain for the Coyotes during the 2003–04 season.

Calgary

The Coyotes signed Langkow to a one-year, $2.95 million contract in August 2004, but dealt him to the Calgary Flames less than two weeks later for Oleg Saprykin and Denis Gauthier. The season, and the contract, were wiped out by the 2004–05 NHL lockout; Langkow did not play anywhere during the lost season. The Flames signed Langkow to a new contract prior to the 2005–06 season amidst high expectations as he was placed on the top line with Jarome Iginla. He finished the season second on the Flames in both goals (25) and points (59) and recorded his sixth consecutive season with 50+ points.

Langkow emerged as a top scorer for the Flames in 2006–07, becoming the team's offensive leader while Iginla was sidelined for several weeks by a mid-season knee injury. He reached the 30-goal mark (33) for the first time in his career, finished with a career-high 77 points and was the Flames nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication and sportsmanship. His teammates and coaches also praised his defensive ability, suggesting that he deserved a nomination for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. Langkow remained a top two-way forward for the Flames in 2007–08, recording his second consecutive 30-goal season and finishing third on the team with 65 points. The Flames re-signed him to a four-year, $18-million contract extension though the 2011–12 NHL season.

Langkow scored only 49 points in 2008–09 and missed ten games as result of a hand injury. It was the first time in nine seasons that he failed to reach the 50-point mark. He suffered another hand injury in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, though he still played all six games against the Chicago Blackhawks. He played his 1,000th game, against the Lightning, on February 6, 2010, one night after teammate Jarome Iginla reached the same mark. His offensive numbers continued to decline, as he finished the year with 14 goals and 37 points, his lowest totals in a decade.

He missed the final ten games of the season after he was struck in the back of the neck by a slapshot during a game in Minnesota. The injury resulted in spinal cord damage that kept Langkow out of the lineup for the first 78 games of the 2010–11 NHL season. His efforts to return to the Flames lineup suffered a setback in late October, after which a Flames official stated it was a "50/50 proposition" on whether he would ever play another NHL game.

Following several months of rehabilitation, Langkow was cleared for light skating by a neck specialist, allowing him to begin practicing with his Flames teammates at the end of February 2011, though he was still considered 2–3 months away from being able to continue his career. He joined the Flames for full practices a couple weeks later, and by mid March – nearly one year to the day of his injury – Langkow expressed hope that he would be able to return to action prior to the end of the season. That hope became reality late in the year as he was activated off injured reserve by the Flames, who announced he would return to the lineup for an April 1 game against the St. Louis Blues, 376 days and 88 games after he suffered the injury.

For his efforts at coming back from injury, Langkow was a finalist for the 2011 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy that was ultimately won by Ian Laperriere.

Phoenix
The Phoenix Coyotes re-acquired Langkow on August 29, 2011, in exchange for forward Lee Stempniak During the 2011–12 season, Langkow missed seven games in November after his mother died suddenly at the age of 54. On July 7, 2013, Langkow announced his retirement.

Personal life
Langkow is the second child of Randy and Vivian Langkow and grew up in Vegreville, Alberta. His parents divorced when he was ten years old. His father is a plumber in Edmonton, while his mother managed a restaurant in British Columbia prior to her November 2011 death.

Langkow and his wife Stephanie have four children, and expressed a desire to put down roots in the city of Calgary as a reason for his decision to sign a long-term contract extension with the Flames in 2008 rather than test free agency.

Langkow's son, Colton Langkow, currently plays in the Western Hockey League for the Vancouver Giants.

Langkow's older brother, Scott was a goaltender who played 20 NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes and Atlanta Thrashers.

He also has a younger cousin, Chris Langkow, who is an ECHL All-Star and a Kelly Cup champion with the Alaska Aces, whom he frequently mentors and often gives advice.

title: Daymond Langkow


text:
Grendizer

UFO Robot Grendizer (UFOロボ グレンダイザー), also known as Grandizer, Goldrake and Goldorak, is a Japanese manga and animated television series created by Go Nagai. The series is the third entry in the Mazinger series, later relegated into a spinoff series. The series is produced by Toei Doga and Dynamic Planning, directed by Tomoharu Katsumata, and written by Shozo Uehara. It aired on Fuji TV from October 5, 1975, to February 27, 1977. The mecha's first appearance in the United States was as a part of the Shogun Warriors line of super robot toys imported in the late 1970s by Mattel, then in Jim Terry's Force Five series. A remake of the original anime series, Grendizer U, premiered in July 2024.

Plot
The Vega homeworld has become unstable due to the exploiting of Vegatron, a powerful radioactive ore. Seeking to expand his militaristic empire and find a substitute planet to settle upon, the ruthless King Vega unleashes his armies—composed of flying saucers and giant robotic monsters—and turns first against neighbors such as Fleed, a highly advanced but peaceful world. The once verdant, idyllic Fleed is turned into a radioactive wasteland. Too late, the only known survivor of the royal family, the Crown Prince Duke Fleed, manages to steal the Grendizer, the robotic embodiment of the Fleedian God of War, from the Vegan invaders who plan to use it to spearhead their invasion fleet. Grendizer is a giant monster robot that interfaces with Spacer (Spaizer), a flying saucer that enables the robot to fly.

Fleeing Vegan space by flying at faster than light speed, the Duke enters our solar system and switches course to Earth, making a rough landing in Japan, on the slopes of Mount Fuji. He is befriended by Doctor Umon, a noted scientist who oversees a research laboratory called the Space Science Lab near a small ranch. The kindly Umon takes in the young humanoid alien as his son, under the assumed name of Daisuke, and assists him in hiding Grendizer. Taking the name Daisuke Umon, Duke Fleed works at the ranch run by Danbei Makiba (based on Abashiri Daemon of Go Nagai's manga Abashiri Ikka).

Roughly two years later, Koji Kabuto, after studying abroad, returns to Japan in a flying saucer he personally designed and built, called the TFO. He heads to the Space Science Lab after hearing of multiple sightings of "flying saucers". He plans to contact the aliens if possible and make peace with them. Daisuke, however, scoffs at the notion and fears that these aliens, the Vegans, led by generals Blaki and Gandal, are preparing to attack Earth. Koji ignores his warnings and flies out to meet the incoming saucers, only to discover the horrible truth. In order to save Koji and protect his adoptive homeworld from destruction, Daisuke is forced to return to his true identity as Duke Fleed. He unearths Grendizer from its hiding place under the lab and sets off to fight his enemies.

The Vegans establish a base on the far side of the Moon and start to attack Earth from there. Koji discovers Duke Fleed's true identity and their bitter rivalry soon turns to friendship. The daughter of Danbei Makiba, Hikaru, also discovers Daisuke's secret and becomes a pilot in order to assist him despite his objections. Later on, it is revealed that there were two more survivors from planet Fleed: Duke's younger sister Maria Grace Fleed and a man who had rescued her and fled to Earth, raising her under the guise of her grandfather. Caught in a crossfire between Grendizer and a Vegan beast, he reveals to Maria that she is the last survivor of the royal family of Fleed (under the belief that Duke was killed) before dying from his wounds. Maria swears revenge on Grendizer and its pilot. She tries to ambush Duke, Koji and Hikaru at the Space Science Lab, but the fight is short. Maria's attacks bring Duke's necklace (which is the same as the one she wore) into view and the truth is revealed. The lost siblings are reunited at last and Maria becomes the last addition to the team.

As the conflict nears its end, it is shown that Duke Fleed was engaged to King Vega's daughter, Princess Rubina, prior to the attack on Fleed. When Rubina discovers that planet Fleed is no longer polluted with Vegatron radiation and that her fiancé is alive and well, she rushes to Earth to bring him the good news. Unfortunately, one of King Vega's generals uses this opportunity to ambush Duke Fleed, and Rubina is killed when she takes a shot aimed at Duke. This makes Duke even more determined to wipe out the Vegan menace once and for all.

King Vega decides to gather his remaining forces and make an all-out attack on Earth, destroying the Moon Base to coax his troops into fighting to the end and finally succeed in invading Earth and taking it as their new home planet. Duke and company go out to intercept them in Grendizer and the newly designed space combat Spazers. After a fierce battle, they finally manage to destroy the Vegan mother ship along with King Vega himself. Soon afterwards, Duke and Maria bid a tearful farewell to Earth and their friends and return to help reconstruct planet Fleed.

Production
UFO Robo Grendizer 's origins dates back to Uchu Enban Daisenso (宇宙円盤大戦争, Uchū Enban Daisensō), translated and also known as Battlefield of The Space Saucers and The Great Battle of the Flying Saucers, a 1975 animated short film created by Go Nagai and produced by Toei Doga. It is also known as Space Disk War and was also released in Italy under the name UFO Robot Gattaiger-La grande battaglia dei dischi spaziali. It was originally shown along with the short film Great Mazinger tai Getter Robot G: Kuchu Daigekitotsu, also from Toei and Nagai.

Nagai and Dynamic Productions created Grendizer using some of the elements and characters from Daiseno including Duke, the Makiba family, and even Blaki. Some changes were made to make it more original. The most obvious are the changes in design and the addition of characters such as Koji Kabuto and Maria Fleed.

UFO Robot Grendizer was developed to be a sequel to Great Mazinger after the initial concepts of a sequel were rejected by Toei. With the appearance of Uchu Enban Daisenso at the March 1975 Toei Manga Festival a remake was pitched using elements from Mazinger. To breathe new light into the series, the villains of the series were decided to be aliens, a trend that followed in other Toei mecha series while also making Duke a more Blue Blood character with his suit being based on a knight including more romantic elements with its characters and sense of adventure.

Go Nagai, however, at one point stated in an interview that the anime series was considered a fun side project and does not consider Grendizer to be part of the series timeline. This is mainly because he had many disagreements with Toei and Shingo Araki over the direction the show should take as well has Toei not paying him royalties for the show's overseas airings, which culminated in a 1986 court settlement that lead to Toei paying Nagai his royalty earnings. In the end, UFO Robo Grendizer is more of a stand-alone spin-off in the Mazinger universe.

Anime
The series was first aired on Fuji TV from October 5, 1975, to February 27, 1977, replacing Great Mazinger in its initial timeslot. Isao Sasaki performed both the show's opening and ending themes: "Tobe! Grendizer" (とべ!グレンダイザー) (with Columbia Yurikago-kai and Ko'orogi '73) and "Uchuu no Yuusha Grendizer" (宇宙の勇者グレンダイザー). Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the music for the series.

Grendizer U
A reboot of the original anime series, titled Grendizer U (グレンダイザーU), was announced on August 5, 2023. It will be produced by Gaina and directed by Shun Kudō with Mitsuo Fukuda serving as chief director, Nagai serving as executive producer, Ichirō Ōkouchi overseeing and writing series scripts alongside Tatsuto Higuchi, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto designing the characters, Kō Inaba, AF_KURO and Junichi Akutsu providing mechanical designs and Kohei Tanaka composing the music. It is set to premiere on July 5, 2024 on all TX Network-affiliated stations in Japan. The opening theme song is "Kaishin no Ichigeki" performed by Glay, while the ending theme song is "Protect You" performed by Band-Maid.

Home media
Toei released the entire series in Japan on DVD from May 21 to October 21, 2006. In 2013, following an agreement with Toei, an official "fully remastered and uncensored" DVD release of the complete series is available on French-speaking countries following the controversy regarding the unlicensed DVD releases by Manga Distribution and Déclic Images which resulted to a court ruling to pay €7,200,000 back to Toei. The series has also aired on the French Mangas anime TV channel. The entire Arabic dub is available on Istikana, a paid streaming service that has On-Demand Arab movies and TV shows.

Manga
The manga adaptation was serialized in several magazines in Japan, notably in Akita Shoten's Boken Oh magazine from October 1975 to March 1977. A remake of the series, titled Grendizer Giga (グレンダイザー ギガ) was serialized in Akita Shoten's Champion Red magazine from September 2014 to July 2015. Only 2 Tankobon volumes were released.

Grendizer makes several cameos in other media, one in 2002 in the sixth chapter of Dynamic Superobot Wars and in 2004 in Dynamic Heroes, also known as Nagai Go Manga Gaiden—Dynamic Heroes (永井豪まんが外伝 ダイナミックヒーローズ) and as Go Nagai Manga Heroes Crossover Collection—Dynamic Heroes, a Japanese manga based on several works of Go Nagai, including most of his most famous robots, such as Mazinger Z, Getter Robot and Great Mazinger. It was originally published as a monthly manga magazine e-manga from Kodansha, from June 2004 to July 2007.

Video games
Characters from the series also appeared in several installments of Banpresto's (now Bandai Namco Entertainment) popular crossover video game series Super Robot Wars, making its debut in the second installment of the franchise, 2nd Super Robot Wars. In recent years, however, Grendizer has made far less appearances in the mainline games but has recently been making a comeback starting with Super Robot Wars MX.

An open world action video game adaptation titled UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves (UFOロボ グレンダイザー たとえ我が命つきるとも) was announced by French video game publisher Microids in February 2021. The game is being developed by Endroad and was released worldwide for Steam as well as PlayStation and Xbox consoles on November 14, 2023, while it releases in Japan on April 18, 2024. A Nintendo Switch port is also planned to be released in 2024.

Toys
Japanese Toy company Popy released several toys based on the mechs on the series in the show's initial run in Japan under both the Chogokin and Jumbo Machinder labels, which were later released in the United States in the late 1970s by Mattel as part of the Shogun Warriors line of super robot toys. The titular mecha is also included in Bandai's line of Soul of Chogokin figures, starting with the GX-04 Grendizer.

Cultural impact
Grendizer was the second longest running animated Mazinger series in Japan, having 74 episodes. However, it has been criticized about its connection to the other Mazinger series in the franchise, especially with Koji's status as a mere sidekick and giving him a different romantic interest who wasn't Sayaka, as well as the lack of the other Mazinger mechs.

This created the popular assumption that the anime wasn't a success in Japan, especially since the merchandise based on the anime didn't sell as well as the merchandise for both Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. However, Go Nagai disputes this, saying the anime was actually quite successful in Japan: “It was actually a hit in Japan. Maybe some people thought it was not as popular as Mazinger Z, because Mazinger was super popular.” The average viewership metrics for UFO Robot Grendizer 's original Japanese broadcast was around 20.9% audience share across its 74 episodes with a peak share of 27.6% for Episode 21.

Regardless of its disputed success in Japan, Grendizer was one of the first anime programs to be a major success in both Europe and the Arabic regions of the Middle East, and continues to have a strong following in those parts of the world to this day. It only had limited success in the United States, where it was one of 5 mecha shows included in the 1980 TV anthology Force Five. The series was renamed Grandizer for the American market, and only had 26 episodes, which were run out of order. Despite the low episode count, it enjoys a small but dedicated cult following among East Coast American viewers who saw the show as children, as well as children who grew up with military families because Force Five was frequently aired on the cable TV feed of US military installations in Europe. This was also the version of the show broadcast in the United Kingdom, India, and the Philippines (though an earlier local Filipino English dub of the show existed before it was taken off the air by orders of the Ferdinand Marcos regime).

Europe
In Europe, Grendizer was a major success in France and Italy, known in both countries as Goldorak and Goldrake respectively. In Italy, the Italian dub theme songs were among the best-selling singles of 1978, with the first selling over 700,000 copies and the second selling over 1,000,000 copies. It would also get its own comic series titled Atlas UFO Robot Presenta Goldrake (Atlas UFO Robot Presents Goldrake), whose story diverged even further from the source material. This comic ran for 89 issues and spawned several other similar comic adaptations of anime airing on Italian television at that time.

The French dub was the first anime series to be telecast in France and legend goes that the series was so popular among French viewers that several episodes scored a 100% TV rating. Like the Italian dub, it changed all of the characters’ names and inserted additional songs, although it did translate the series’ original opening and ending themes into French. Some versions of the dub have a completely different theme simply titled "Goldorak", which was sung by Franco-Israeli singer Noam Kaniel. Kaniel's performance earned him unprecedented celebrity status in France; by the time Goldorak  had ended its original run on French TV, its theme song achieved platinum status in France. The Francophone dub was also one of the first anime programs to be a major success in Canada where it was broadcast on Quebec's TVA network. The show continues to have a strong following, garnering widespread news coverage of its DVD release and return to broadcast TV in Canada. In October 2021 a fully licensed French-language Goldorak graphic novel was released by Editions Kana. According to the creative team, Go Nagai himself gave his blessings to the comics story, which serves as a sequel to the original Toei anime set 10 years after the final episode. The comic has received positive reviews from readers for its detailed art and a story that keeps the spirit of the original series. To coincide with the graphic novel's release, the French postal company, La Poste issued stamps inspired by the anime.

UFO Robot Grendizer Raid was released theatrically as Goldorak and became a hit at the French box office, selling 922,964 tickets upon release in 1979.

Arab World
In Arab Countries, the show was extremely popular, first airing in war-torn Lebanon on Télé Liban in 1979 under the title مغامرات الفضاء: يوفو - غرندايزر (Moughamarat Al Fada: UFO - Grendizer, Adventures In Space: UFO - Grendizer) before being distributed to most other Arabic speaking regions. Unlike the Italian and French dubs, the Arabic dub retained the characters’ names and kept songs from the Japanese version. Unlike most other Arabic dubs of anime, the show retained most of its plot details without any alteration or censorship in most Arabic-speaking markets, although some markets—such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE did censor certain scenes.

The Arabic language version of Grendizer was so popular when it first aired that it spawned several long-running Grendizer comics published for the Arabic market. Many of these were translations of the Italian-produced comics, the most well known of these being for the Lebanese comics anthology ما وراء الكون (Ma'Wara El Koun, Beyond The Universe). The magazine founded by Lebanese publisher Bassat Al Reeh (Flying Carpet) and headed by the company's editor Henry Matthews, published Arabic translations of science fiction comics ranging from one-off short stories to licensed Star Trek, Star Wars, and Marvel superhero comics, as well as TV licensed comics adaptations like Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Grendizer didn't make its appearance until the fifth issue, but was so popular that it became the top feature on the title, running for 140 issues. It later spawned its own comic series titled مغامرات غرندايزر (Moghamarat Grendizer, Grendizer Adventures) that ran for over 70 issues. The series' popularity continues on in the region, as Arab News journalist Hala Tashkandi stated; “Grendizer memorabilia still sell like hot cakes in the region, and its popularity has barely declined.” Lebanese pop star Sami Clark, who sang the Arabic version of the opening and ending in the Arabic dub, had frequently sung the theme in his concerts, including an orchestral rendering in 2018 . Clark also performed a duet with the singer of the original Japanese themes, Issao Sasaki, at the 2019 Saudi Anime Expo. There's even a store in Kuwait that started out mainly selling Grendizer merchandise, before expanding to selling other anime merchandise. In 2016, a Kuwaiti volunteer group made a Grendizer mural in Kuwait City during Urban Culture Week. Karim El Mufti, a professor of political science, said in his article about the anime, "UFO Robo Grendizer has surpassed the initial expectations of its producers. Although the conversion works of the original Japanese version into Arabic had kept the Japanese phonetics, sites and cultural references, the cartoon has actually blossomed into a life of its own. As such, the domestication process of this character and of its whole narrative set was intimately connected to the Arab context and politics at the inception moment of the series, thus mirroring the deep preoccupations of the generations of that time. High exposure to violence, aggression, and injustice in the Middle East had established a hospitable environment for the super-powerful resistance figure and pro-justice hero." Go Nagai stated in an interview with Arab News that he believes the geopolitical climate in the Arab world played a big role in Grendizer becoming popular in Arab regions.

title: Grendizer


text: Category:Musical form

title: Category:Musical form


text:
Tonopah, Arizona

Tonopah is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, 52 mi west of downtown Phoenix off Interstate 10. The community is near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest power producer in the country, nuclear or otherwise. As of the 2020 census, the population of Tonopah was 23, down from 60 at the 2010 census.

It is located on the Tonopah Desert. Many wells in Tonopah are warm, in the 70 °F to 95 °F range, and many are hot; 110 °F to 120 °F wells are common. Prior to being called Tonopah, the settlement was known as "Lone Peak".

The area is also known to have been inhabited by groups of people for resource gathering area of the Hohokam, Patayan, and Yavapai cultures.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 60 people living in the CDP. The population density was 1.13 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 87% White, 2% Native American, 3% Asian, and 8% from other races. Twenty-three percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Schools

 * Crossroads Academy
 * Ruth Fisher Middle School
 * Tonopah Valley High School
 * Winters Well Elementary School

Incorporation efforts
In 2009, a political action committee named Tonopah United for Our Future (TUFF) filed paperwork with the county, proposing the incorporation of the area into a town. The proposal ran into difficulties when the neighboring town of Buckeye voted to publicly oppose the measure. State law forbids the incorporation of a new city or town within a specified distance of existing municipalities without their approval, and the proposed boundaries for Tonopah would abut the corporate boundaries of Buckeye, essentially giving Buckeye veto power over any incorporation efforts. In 2003, Buckeye had passed a measure approving of any future incorporation effort by Tonopah, but the town council rescinded the measure, citing concerns that the proposal would extend the new town's boundaries east of the Hassayampa River and into area Buckeye intends to annex. Council members did indicate that they were open to future incorporation efforts using the river as a boundary.

Residents also expressed concern that the proposal was too ambitious and that the new town would be incapable of managing the 100 mi2 of land included in the proposal. Geographically it would be among the largest in the state, while estimates placed the population of the proposed town at approximately 6,000. Additionally, a number of residents opposed the plan because they believed large tax increases would be necessary to fund a new government.

Ultimately the measure was defeated on March 10, 2009, by a vote of 523 against incorporation versus 356 in support.

In 2023, The Tonopah Incorporation Committee started the process of a voter referendum that would allow Tonopah to incorporate by Fall 2024. If Incorporated, as planned, Tonopah will have a population of 4,300

Belmont
In November 2017, media outlets reported that a company associated with billionaire Bill Gates purchased 24800 acre between Buckeye and Tonopah for $80 million. At the time, Gates's company announced plans to create a "smart city" called Belmont on the site. As of 2023, no construction has begun.

In popular culture
The chorus of the song "Willin'" by Lowell George of Little Feat on the albums Little Feat, Sailin' Shoes and Waiting for Columbus refers to either Tonopah, Arizona, or Tonopah, Nevada: "And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah.

I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made;

driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed."

Image gallery
Pictured are the following images related to Tonopah:
 * The ruins of the house of John Beauchamp, a major landowner in the area and Tonopah's first postmaster. The Beauchamp homestead house was built in 1920. The ruins of the house are located near the corner of Indian School and 411th Avenue.
 * The former Saguaro Sanitarium, now the Motel Saguaro Mineral Wells, whose groundbreaking ceremony was officially dedicated on June 17, 1934, and attended by George W. P. Hunt, the first elected governor of Arizona.
 * The ruins related to the Tonopah-Belmont mine workers camp.

title: Tonopah, Arizona


text: User:Indianskeptic

title: User:Indianskeptic


text:
Talk:Stormbringer (role-playing game)

See here for this article's page history prior to the cut-and-paste page move. -Sean Curtin 05:03, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

--

The | Chaosium catalog "offers the Elric[!] Rules Book published by our friends at Hobby Japan in 1993." (HJ12821) - I assume this is based on the English edition of the same name. TowerDragon 15:03, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
 * That it is. MasterGrazzt 00:30, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Stormbringer (role-playing game)


text:
Alfa Romeo Arna

The Alfa Romeo Arna (an acronym for "Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli", meaning "Alfa Romeo[-]Nissan motor vehicles", but also a female Italian name) (Type 920) is a hatchback produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli S.p.A. between 1983 and 1987. The company was founded on 9 October 1980, as a 50:50 joint venture between the Italian Alfa Romeo S.p.A. and the Japanese Nissan Motor Company.

History
On 9 October 1980, Takashi Ishihara of Nissan and Alfa Romeo President Ettore Massacesi signed a memorandum in Tokyo for increased cooperation between their two firms, and revealed their intent to create a joint production venture called AR.N.A. S.p.A. (Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli). Italian Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga endorsed the deal, despite political and auto industry opposition, because he hoped to bolster the fortunes of the state owned manufacturer, which had a cult following but was losing money.

The immediate priority of Alfa management, including Massacesi and managing director Corrado Innocenti was to field a competitor in the increasingly lucrative family hatchback market sector where the compact Volkswagen Golf and Lancia Delta were proving successful, and they hoped an alliance with Nissan would bring a competitive model to market faster and more cheaply.

During that period, European countries were engaging in protectionism to guard their domestic car industries, with France even banning the import of Japanese made vehicles. Working with Alfa Romeo, who controlled a respectable amount of European auto sales at the time was seen as a good hedge for Nissan and a chance to establish a foothold in the European market.

For the joint venture, a new plant was constructed in Pratola Serra, near Naples. The body panels of the car were constructed in Japan by Nissan, then shipped to Italy for final assembly. Nissan and Alfa Romeo also engaged in a commercial cabover truck, called the Romeo and rebadged as the Nissan Trade for a short time.

The product of the relationship was launched at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show; the car's name was an acronym meaning Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli. The Arna was largely based on the N12 series Nissan Pulsar / Nissan Cherry but featured Alfa Romeo engines carried over from the Alfasud, as well as an Alfa transmission, steering, front brakes and front suspension.

It did however use an independent rear suspension and rear brakes from Nissan. The Arna was also briefly marketed as the Nissan Cherry Europe in the United Kingdom and Spain. Italian built cars badged as Nissan Cherry Europe can be readily identified by their rear lighting clusters, which match those of the Arna rather than the Japanese built Cherry. Although no variants of the Italian built Arna were ever sold in Japan, a domestic version of the N12 Nissan Pulsar, labelled the Nissan Pulsar Milano X1, made use of the Alfa Romeo connection in its publicity and was fitted with the same black and green interior as the Arna Ti or Cherry Europe GTi. The model was entirely N12 based, though, and featured the usual transversely mounted the infamous Nissan E engine.

While British Leyland and Honda had a limited partnership in the United Kingdom at that time, the Nissan and Alfa Romeo alliance was the first of its kind between a European and Japanese automaker with joint investment into manufacturing and development. It was feared by the European Economic Community and ironically, Alfa's future parent Fiat, that the success of this partnership would create a Trojan horse, enabling Japanese automakers to compete "unfairly" in Europe, and thereby take sales away from other European auto-makers.

However, such fears were quickly allayed upon the Arna's release when it became obvious that the Arna exhibited the worst qualities of each of its parents. The Arna featured tempestuous mechanicals, rust prone bodywork and indifferent build quality courtesy of Alfa Romeo, married to a Nissan body of questionable build and frumpy, box like styling, with insipid handling common to Japanese cars of the time.

This mismatch of technical strengths served to kill the sales of the Arna very rapidly. As the car gained a reputation for poor build quality and questionable reliability, sales of the Nissan badged Cherry Europe sister car also nosedived, as loyal Nissan customers shunned it in favour of the "genuine" Japanese built Cherry instead.

By 1986, Alfa Romeo's parent company, the Italian government owned Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale was suffering from heavy losses, and IRI president Romano Prodi put Alfa Romeo up for sale, with Fiat ultimately emerging as the new owner of Alfa. Fiat's first decision was to cease Arna production owing to its poor reputation and poor sales, and to terminate the unsuccessful Alfa Romeo Nissan alliance. Production ceased in 1987, with Fiat intending to strengthen the competitiveness of the Alfa Romeo 33 as Alfa's entry in that segment. By this time, Nissan had set up a European operation of its own at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK in Sunderland, which became hugely successful.

Models
The Arna was initially sold as a three-door L and a five-door SL, and was fitted with the Alfasud 1.2 boxer engine (63 PS). In 1984, a three-door TI version, with an 86 PS 1.3-litre boxer four engine, was introduced, which was capable of reaching a top speed of 170 km/h. In November 1984 (model year 1985) came a more powerful 1.2 engine in the same trim configurations with 68 PS, while there were no external differences there were light alterations to the interior.

Later, there were also some TI trim cars built with 1.5-litre engines, sold also as the Nissan Cherry Europe GTI. The more powerful 1.5 TI/Cherry GTI had a top speed of 175 km/h. The TI version was discontinued halfway through 1986.

Engines
Source:

title: Alfa Romeo Arna


text:
1997 Major League Soccer season

The 1997 Major League Soccer season was the second season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 85th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 19th with a national first-division league.

Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the Wizards, following legal action from electronics retailer The Wiz.

The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on September 28. The 1997 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 4, and concluded with MLS Cup 1997 on October 26. D.C. United won their first Supporters' Shield and defended their MLS Cup championship becoming the first team to win back-to-back cups.

Season format
The season began on March 22 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 26. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, for a total of 16 games. The rest of the schedule consisted of three games against each team from the opposite conference, with four games against one designated team.

The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.

The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Bracket

 * The ties were a best-of-three series.

Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference

 * D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals.

 * Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals.

Western Conference

 * Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals.

 * Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals
Western Conference

 * Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup.

Eastern Conference

 * D.C. United advance to MLS Cup.

title: 1997 Major League Soccer season


text:
Bob Wood (Ontario MPP)

Robert "Bob" Wood, (born October 10, 1949) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003 who represented the southern Ontario ridings of London South and London West.

Background
Wood was educated at the University of Western Ontario, receiving a law degree in 1970. He practiced law in London, Ontario after his graduation, and was the proprietor of the firm Walker and Wood. He also served on the Board of Managers for St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and was the Board Chairman for the Western Ontario Therapeutic Community Hostel.

Politics
Wood ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, placing third in London South against incumbent Liberal Joan Smith and the winner, New Democrat David Winninger. He ran in the same riding in the 1995 provincial election, and easily defeated Winninger and Smith to become the riding's MPP. In the provincial election of 1999, he was re-elected over Liberal candidate Darrel Skidmore by only 294 votes in the redistributed riding of London West.

Wood was regarded as a maverick right-winger in the Progressive Conservative caucus. He supported the Reform Party of Canada at the federal level, and holds socially conservative opinions on several issues, including abortion. During his first term in the legislature, he introduced a private-member's bill which would have mandated a 45-day waiting period for couples wishing to marry, unless they agreed to eight hours of counselling. He also criticized a government grant to Anti-Racist Action in 1999, describing the group as a leftist organization given to violence. It was probably for these reasons that Wood was never appointed to cabinet by Mike Harris or Ernie Eves. Wood also criticized his government's plan to reform the provincial system of legal billing.

Wood lost his seat to Liberal Chris Bentley by over 10,000 votes in the 2003 provincial election. He remains politically active in the London region, and in November 2004 criticized the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty for its handling of London's hospital system.

Wood supported Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario PC Party in 2004.

title: Bob Wood (Ontario MPP)


text:
User talk:Bshrode

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:55, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Nomination of Avalon Park, Florida for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Avalon Park, Florida is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Avalon Park, Florida until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Rockstone  talk to me!   23:06, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

Nomination of Intercom Plus for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Intercom Plus is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Intercom Plus until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article until the discussion has finished. Iago Qnsi (User talk:IagoQnsi) 02:58, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bshrode