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Dirk Kuyt

Dirk Kuijt (anglicised to Kuyt, ; born 22 July 1980) is a Dutch former professional footballer and the current manager of Pro League club Beerschot, guiding them to promotion to the Belgian top flight at the first attempt. Originally starting out as a striker, he played much of his career as a winger.

Kuyt began his professional career with Utrecht in 1998 and quickly became part of its first team. He spent five years at the club, and in his final season he won his first senior honour, the KNVB Cup, and was chosen as the season's Dutch Golden Shoe Winner. Following this, he left Utrecht in a €1 million transfer to Feyenoord. He became the club captain in 2005 and was a prolific goalscorer at the Rotterdam club; he was the club's top scorer for three consecutive seasons, the top goalscorer in the 2004–05 Eredivisie season, and the 2005–06 Dutch Footballer of the Year. Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006 and appeared in 179 consecutive matches between 2001 and 2006, striking up a fruitful partnership with fellow Feyenoord teammate Salomon Kalou.

He left Feyenoord after three years, having scored 71 league goals in 101 appearances, and joined Premier League side Liverpool for £10 million. He scored in the UEFA Champions League final which Liverpool lost against Milan. He scored several important goals for Liverpool elsewhere, including seven goals in the 2007–08 Champions League, including a goal in the quarter-final against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and in the semi-final against Chelsea, and two penalty kicks against Everton in the derby the same season. He scored his first hat-trick for Liverpool against Manchester United in March 2011. After coming on as a substitute, his extra time goal at Wembley for Liverpool against Cardiff City in the 2012 League Cup Final helped win the trophy for Liverpool, and was also his only trophy as a Liverpool player.

Kuyt played for the Netherlands from 2004 to 2014. He represented the nation at five major international tournaments, the 2006, 2010, and 2014 FIFA World Cups and the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships.

Kuyt announced his retirement from football in 2017, having scored a hat-trick in the last game of the season to secure Feyenoord their first title since 1999 three days earlier. He briefly came out of retirement the following April, to help out Quick Boys, where he already was the assistant-manager, to fix their shortage on strikers for the remainder of the season.

Early life
Kuyt is the third of four children. His father was a fisherman and he has stated that if he would not have found a career in football he probably would have followed his father into the family business. He grew up in the fishing town of Katwijk aan Zee.

Kuyt's football career began when he joined the local amateur team Quick Boys at age five. He broke into the first team in March 1998, playing the last six games of the season in the Hoofdklasse, and catching the eye of Eredivisie club Utrecht. Kuyt still regularly visits Katwijk and his old club Quick Boys, which benefited from a £300,000 windfall as a result of the player's move to Liverpool.

Utrecht
Kuyt signed professionally for Utrecht that summer, aged 18, and immediately established himself in the first team. Sometimes, he played as striker, however he was more often than not playing as a winger, as the side preferred to play Montenegrin Igor Gluščević up front.

This continued until the 2002–03 season when Foeke Booy was installed as the club's new manager. Booy played Kuyt as a striker / attacking midfielder (behind the striker) for the entire season, and Kuyt repaid him with 20 league goals. Utrecht also reached the KNVB Cup final, where it met Feyenoord. Although the club was an underdog, Utrecht comfortably won the cup 4–1, with Kuyt scoring one and being given the man of the match award. At the end of the season, Kuyt completed a €1 million move to Feyenoord, where he replaced the out-going Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Feyenoord
At Feyenoord, Kuyt immediately became a fans' favourite with his continued goal scoring success. His first season saw him net another 20 league goals. The opening game of the 2004–05 season marked Kuyt's first ever hat-trick against De Graafschap. He later went on to score three in the 6–3 victory against ADO Den Haag and ended the season as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 29 goals, a career high.

In 2005, Kuyt was handed the Feyenoord club captaincy and went on to have a third successful season with the club, scoring 25 goals in all competitions. He formed a strong partnership with Salomon Kalou, with the duo nicknamed "K2".

Over the summer of 2006, Kuyt was again linked with moves to many top English clubs, most notably Liverpool and Newcastle United. Rumours began in May, with Kuyt stating, "I am happy at Feyenoord but I would like to play in the Premier League." Kuyt completed a move to Liverpool on 18 August for an undisclosed fee.

Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006, making 233 appearances. Between March 2001 and April 2006, he played 179 consecutive matches.

2006–07 season
Upon joining Liverpool, Kuyt stated, "I only wanted to leave Feyenoord for a really big club, and that is what Liverpool are. They are a fantastic big club and it will be a real pleasure to play here."

Kuyt made his Liverpool debut as a substitute against West Ham United on 26 August 2006. His first start came against PSV in the UEFA Champions League, immediately receiving praise for the new defensive approach by a striker. In his third start for the club, Kuyt scored his first Liverpool goal in a Premier League fixture against Newcastle United at Anfield, and followed up with another against Tottenham Hotspur in the next game. He scored his third goal for Liverpool – with his father watching the game at Anfield – contributing to Liverpool's 3–1 win over Aston Villa. Two weeks later, he bagged a brace as the only scorer in the Reds' 2–0 victory against Reading.

Kuyt won much praise for his early performances, with the Daily Mirror writing, "The Dutch striker has the look of a cult hero in the making," and The People reporting that he is "propelling himself towards iconic status". One of the reasons for his early popularity was his post-match courtesy to the fans; after each match, he would walk to every corner of the ground and applaud the Liverpool supporters.

On 20 January 2007, Kuyt opened the scoring against Chelsea after only 4 minutes as Liverpool went on to defeat the champions 2–0, marking the first time Rafael Benítez had defeated José Mourinho in the Premier League. It was also the first goal scored by Liverpool against a top four club in the league in the 2006–07 season. Kuyt moved his league-goal tally into double figures by scoring the first goal in the game against West Ham on 30 January 2007, opening the scoring in a 2–1 away win at Upton Park.

Kuyt played a key part in Liverpool's penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea in the semi-finals of the 2006–07 Champions League. In extra-time, he had a goal disallowed for offside from Xabi Alonso's strike. Kuyt also scored the winning kick in the shoot-out, and scored a consolation goal in the club's 2–1 defeat to Milan in the final.

2007–08 season
Kuyt scored his first goals of the 2007–08 season in Liverpool's 4–0 Champions League qualifying victory over Toulouse on 28 August 2007. He scored two penalties against Everton in the Merseyside derby to give Liverpool a 2–1 win. His third and final league goal of the season came in a 3–0 away win over Newcastle in November 2007; Kuyt would not score another league goal until October 2008. In all competitions, he failed to score in 13 matches for Liverpool before netting against Barnsley in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

On 19 February 2008, Kuyt scored the first goal in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League against favourites Internazionale in a 2–0 win.

Starting in early 2008, Kuyt began to be employed as a right winger and set up two of Fernando Torres' goals against West Ham in March. He adapted to this new role and soon regained his overall form, playing himself into the starting XI again after putting on various vital team performances. On 2 April 2008, Kuyt scored an equalising goal against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

On 22 April 2008, in the first leg of the Champions League all-English semi-final against Chelsea at Anfield, Kuyt scored the opening goal just before half time.

2008–09 season
Kuyt scored a late extra time goal against Standard Liège in the 2008–09 Champions League qualifying match to put Liverpool through to the group stages of the competition. In his next game, a 2–1 win in the Premier League against Manchester United, he assisted fellow countryman Ryan Babel's winning goal.

Kuyt's goals at vital moments in important games, such as the last minute strike against Standard Liège, an injury time winner against Manchester City on 5 October 2008 and twice in Liverpool's 3–2 comeback win over Wigan Athletic on 18 October 2008, led to his reputation as a "Big Game Player".

The 2008–09 season saw Kuyt score 15 goals, his best return for the club, as they finished runner-up in the Premier League

2009–10 season
As a result of heavy injuries sustained by the Liverpool squad, Kuyt often found himself playing a central striker role. He scored against Stoke City and Burnley in two home 4–0 triumphs. He also scored the winning goal in Liverpool's opening Champions League group game against Hungarian team Debrecen in a 1–0 win. Kuyt's goal against Debrecen means only Ian Rush, Mohammed Salah and Steven Gerrard have scored more goals for the club in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League. It was his 12th goal in Europe's premier club competition. Kuyt scored his fourth league goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Everton at Goodison Park, in the Merseyside derby. He took his season's goal tally to six, his fifth in the league, by scoring in a 2–1 Premier League loss to Arsenal at Anfield. On 20 January, Kuyt scored both goals at Anfield against Spurs in a 2–0 victory and a week later, scored the opener against Bolton Wanderers.

On 6 February, Kuyt scored his fourth Merseyside derby goal with a header from a corner against Everton in the 55th minute, bringing his tally of goals for Liverpool to 50 in all competitions. He was also awarded man of the match for this game, which Liverpool won 1–0. On 8 April, he scored his 51st goal for Liverpool with a header in the UEFA Europa League against Benfica. The goal, a header direct from a corner, was originally disallowed by the linesmen for offside, but after some heavy protests by the Liverpool players and manager Rafael Benítez that a player cannot be offside directly from a corner, the referee changed his mind and allowed the goal. Kuyt played in his 200th competitive game for Liverpool, against Hull City on the final day of Liverpool's season.

2010–11 season
Kuyt featured in Liverpool's opening game of the season against Arsenal at Anfield, the game finishing 1–1 and both teams finishing with ten men. On 23 August, he played in the team's heavy defeat to Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium and featured in Liverpool's Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor, netting the winning goal in a 2–1 win three days later. On 29 August, he played in Liverpool's 1–0 win against West Bromwich Albion at Anfield. An injury to his shoulder during a Netherlands training session forced Kuyt out for a month, but returned a week earlier than expected, celebrating by scoring his second goal of the season against Sunderland at Anfield on 25 September in a 2–2 draw.

Kuyt scored a penalty in Liverpool's 3–0 win against West Ham. On 16 January 2011, he scored another penalty to draw Liverpool level 2–2 against Everton, after Tim Howard had fouled Maxi Rodríguez. On 24 February, he headed in from a corner against Sparta Prague to put Liverpool through to the last 16 of the Europa League, winning 1–0 on the night at Anfield and 1–0 on aggregate.

On 6 March, Kuyt scored his first Premier League hat-trick for Liverpool in a 3–1 win at Anfield against rivals Manchester United. Kuyt added another goal to his Liverpool tally on 20 March 2011 with a well placed penalty kick against Sunderland, and scored his 11th goal of the season against Manchester City in a 3–0 win. On 15 April, Kuyt signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until the summer of 2013.

On 17 April, Kuyt scored a 102nd-minute penalty kick to seal a late draw against Arsenal after Robin van Persie had scored a penalty in the 98th minute. The match finished 1–1. On 23 April, Kuyt scored a 23-minute goal against Birmingham City after a tussle inside the box, the match ended 5–0 to Liverpool. On 1 May, Kuyt scored a 59-minute penalty kick against Newcastle United for the second goal in a 3–0 win. On 9 May 2011, he became the first Liverpool player since John Aldridge, in over two decades to score in five consecutive games, after his 16th-minute goal against Fulham that led to a 5–2 victory. Kuyt finished the season as Liverpool's top goal scorer scoring 13 league goals, finishing with a total of 15, equalling his best return for the club in a season.

2011–12 season
On 21 September 2011, Kuyt scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the third round of the League Cup. He did not score for the rest of 2011, missing a chance to get his 50th league goal for the club on 1 October 2011 with a saved penalty against Everton, a game Liverpool went on to win 2–0. On 8 October, Kuyt was announced as having taken up an advisory role with his first club in football, Quick Boys. On 28 January 2012, Kuyt scored the winning goal in the 88th minute of a 2–1 victory over Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. He went on to score his 50th league goal for Liverpool the following week in a 3–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, becoming only the fifth player to score 50 or more goals for Liverpool in the Premier League.

After coming on as a substitute, Kuyt scored Liverpool's second goal in the 2012 League Cup final against Cardiff City on 26 February; the game finished 2–2 after extra-time, with Liverpool winning after a penalty shoot-out, Kuyt converting his kick.

Fenerbahçe
On 3 June 2012, Fenerbahçe declared on its official website that Kuyt had signed with the club on a three-year contract. The transfer fee was €1 million, the release clause in his contract. Kuyt initially earned €2.85 million per season in addition to a match bonus of €17,500. He scored his first Fenerbahçe goal in a Champions League qualifier against Romanian side Vaslui in a 4–1 win, netting the second and third goals. Kuyt also scored on his league debut at league newcomers Elazigspor on 18 August 2012, as the game ended in a 1–1 draw. In the match against Gaziantepspor, Kuyt scored his 250th goal in his career, including international goals.

Return to Feyenoord
In April 2015, Kuyt signed a one-year contract to rejoin his former club Feyenoord for the 2015–16 season.

In the 2016–17 season Kuyt led his team to their first Eredivisie title since 1999. On the final day of the season he scored a hat-trick to clinch the title. Three days later, on 17 May, Kuyt announced his retirement from football.

International career
When Marco van Basten took over as coach of the Dutch national team he dropped many established players, including strikers Roy Makaay and Patrick Kluivert. Kuyt benefitted as in September 2004 he made his international debut in Van Basten's first game against Liechtenstein. He became a permanent fixture in the Dutch squad, making the starting line-up for 11 of the Netherlands' 12 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. Kuyt usually wore the number 7 jersey when representing his country, with exception of UEFA Euro 2008, where he wore number 18, the same number he then wore at his club Liverpool.

2006 World Cup
At the 2006 World Cup, Kuyt found himself dropped to the substitutes' bench. Although he made an appearance as a 69th-minute replacement in the first match against Serbia and Montenegro, he sat out the entire second game. With the team having already qualified for the next round, Van Basten decided to rest many of his first-choice players for the final group stage match against Argentina, and Kuyt was handed a start in the right wing position.

For the Netherlands' round of 16 tie against Portugal, Kuyt was selected to start ahead of regular first-choice striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. However, Kuyt did not have a good game and the Netherlands eventually lost 1–0 in a game that was more notable for its record breaking disciplinary record (4 red cards and 16 yellow cards).

Euro 2008
Kuyt was selected for the Dutch squad for Euro 2008. On 9 June, he played in their opening Group C match, a 3–0 victory over world champions Italy, assisting two goals, his most notable contribution being the header that provided the link between Giovanni van Bronckhorst's crossfield pass and Wesley Sneijder's goal to make the score 2–0 on 31 minutes. On 13 June, Kuyt scored his team's second goal in the next game of Group C, a 4–1 victory over 2006 World Cup finalists France, opening the scoring with a ninth-minute header from a corner, taking his tally of international goals to eight. During Euro 2008, Kuyt was utilised as a winger, partnering Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart in the midfield due to the team's change of formation from 4–3–3/4–4–2 to 4–2–3–1.

2010 World Cup
Kuyt scored three goals in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. During a friendly against England, he opened the scoring less than ten minutes after kick-off, pouncing on Rio Ferdinand's poor back pass.

Kuyt was included in the Netherlands' preliminary squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, the Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.

At the finals, Kuyt scored the Netherlands' second goal in the 85th minute of their 2–0 win over Denmark in its opening group match, slotting in the rebound after Eljero Elia's shot hit the post. In the quarter-final match on 2 July against Brazil, Kuyt flicked a corner on to Wesley Sneijder, who headed the ball into the net to give the Dutch a 2–1 win. Kuyt also assisted the goal scored by Arjen Robben against Uruguay in the semi-finals.

Kuyt started all seven matches for the national team, which finished as runners-up to Spain, and finished the tournament with one goal and three assists.

Euro 2012
On 2 September 2010, Kuyt scored a penalty as the Netherlands began its Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 5–0 away win against San Marino. On 12 October 2010, Kuyt injured his ankle in the Netherlands' fourth qualifier against Sweden and was out of action for four weeks with the injury. On 25 March 2011, Kuyt scored the Netherlands' third goal in a 4–0 win against Hungary and, four days later, he scored twice in a 5–3 win against the same opponents. Kuyt scored the fourth goal in the Netherlands' record 11–0 win over San Marino. Kuyt headed in his seventh international goal of 2011 in a 3–2 loss against Sweden. Despite being an undisputed starter in the qualifying campaign, Kuyt lost his spot during Euro 2012, with Arjen Robben preferred on the right wing and Ibrahim Affelay on the left. He made two brief appearances as a substitute for Gregory van der Wiel against Denmark in the 85th minute and for Robben against Germany in the 83rd minute.

2014 World Cup
After Bert van Marwijk resigned as manager of the Netherlands in June 2012, Kuyt was made vice-captain behind Wesley Sneijder by new coach Louis van Gaal. Despite being vice-captain, he did not feature in any games until the match against Andorra on 12 October replacing Jermain Lens as a substitute in the 71st minute. After Kevin Strootman was substituted off four minutes later, Kuyt took the captain's armband. On 14 November, he played the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Germany as a striker, wearing the captain's armband.

Kuyt won his 100th cap in the Netherlands' round of 16 victory over Mexico on 29 June 2014, making him only the seventh Dutch player to play 100 matches. He was selected to start the match in an unfamiliar left wing-back role by Van Gaal, who also positioned the 33-year-old at wingback and centre forward during the course of the match.

In the quarter-final, Kuyt scored the Netherlands' final kick in a 4–3 penalty shootout win over Costa Rica. In the semi-final, Kuyt scored the Netherlands' fourth kick in a penalty shootout against Argentina, but the Oranje went on to lose the shootout 4–2. In the third place play-off, Kuyt made his last international appearance in a 3–0 victory over Brazil, playing the full 90 minutes in the right wing-back position.

Kuyt retired from international football on 3 October 2014. "I want to be important to the Netherlands team, but the coach explained to me that he no longer has the role for me that I would prefer," Kuyt said on the Dutch FA website, knvb.de. "I'm 34 years old, then you should be honest to yourself. I didn't quite fancy investing a lot of energy in the Oranje for another two years without getting to play much. I look back with great pride on 10 wonderful years with the Dutch national team."

Managerial career
On 2 June 2022, ADO Den Haag presented Kuyt as their new head coach, with him signing a one-year contract. He was fired on 24 November 2022, after disappointing results which saw the team sitting in 17th after 16 matches.

On 28 December 2023, Kuyt was appointed as manager of Challenger Pro League (Belgian second division) club Beerschot, signing a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season.

Beerschot clinched promotion to the top division of the Belgian Pro League on 7 April 2024, seeing the Dutch international guide the Antwerp club to the top flight in his first season in charge and champions of Challenger Pro League in 2023–24.

Personal life
Kuyt's then-wife Gertrude found favour in the Dutch media for her down-to-earth attitude. She continued to work as a nurse in an old people's home after marrying Kuyt until their daughter, Noelle, was born. Kuyt and his wife went on to carry out extensive charity work off the pitch. Most notably, he and his wife set up the Dirk Kuyt Foundation to help disadvantaged children in his homeland and the developing world. One of the ways the foundation raises money is by selling DK-branded clothes. The couple divorced in 2020.

Kuyt's father, also named Dirk, died of cancer on 29 June 2007.

International

 * Source:

International goals

Player
Utrecht
 * KNVB Cup: 2002–03

Liverpool
 * Football League Cup: 2011–12
 * FA Cup runner-up: 2011–12
 * UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2006–07

Fenerbahçe
 * Süper Lig: 2013–14
 * Turkish Cup: 2012–13
 * Turkish Super Cup: 2014

Feyenoord
 * Eredivisie: 2016–17
 * KNVB Cup: 2015–16

Netherlands
 * FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2010; third place: 2014

Individual
 * Dutch Golden Shoe: 2003, 2006
 * Eredivisie Top Scorer: 2005
 * Dutch Footballer of the Year: 2006
 * FIFA World Cup top assist provider: 2010

Manager
Beerschot
 * Challenger Pro League: 2023–24

title: Dirk Kuyt


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Talk:Hard rock

aka heavy rock?
Just wondering, is there a reason the opening sentence of the lead doesn't mention the term "heavy rock"? We currently include Hard rock on the disambiguation page for the term "Heavy rock", and this article contains a few mentions of heavy rock – such as when discussing the Jeff Beck Group's contribution to the genre ("In 1967, Jeff Beck brought lead guitar to new heights of technical virtuosity and moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock"), and the Who's 1971 album Who's Next ("which mixed heavy rock with extensive use of synthesizers"). I've always understood the two terms to be interchangeable, although, I appreciate we'd need a source verifying that if the term was introduced here as an alternative to hard rock. JG66 (talk) 12:08, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

I have made perfectly legit corrections, only to have someone repeatedly delete them and threaten me with blocking. I can't help if someone is standing on a soapbox while knowing next to nothing about this subject. I simply corrected the article referring incorrectly to Europe and MSG as being 1970s acts. Tellingly, the lastest time this person deleted my small change, they didn't repeat the errors in the article. So just so everyone knows, this page belongs exclusively to some 27 year old, and only they may alter it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:A000:CB03:8D00:996B:2879:2F15:79AC (talk) 04:37, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Bo Diddley
Why isn't Bo Diddley mentioned as a pioneer of hard rock?

Who Do You Love is pretty close, IMO, to the hard rock concept. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MichaelBauers (talk • contribs) 22:57, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Cream link change?
Forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask, but right now the link to "Cream" leads to the page for the substance, shouldn't it be changed to direct to the band which I assume is what I's supposed to be talking about? Unless milkfat has had a more robust effect on culture than I previously thought in which case carry on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.36.169.215 (talk) 07:01, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Not Heavy Metal
I do not believe the Heavy metal template belongs here. Hard rock is not a Heavy metal genre. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.54.195.214 (talk) 00:03, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

White Stripes, Strokes, Interpol and Black Keys
Why are those four bands mentioned in the introduction? They don't have anything to do with hard rock (and are not even listed as such in the infoboxes on their Wiki pages)? I have been listening to hard rock music for almost two decades and have never heard anyone mentioning any of those four band in the context of hard rock. StjepanHR (talk) 01:34, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Origins of the genre
The page currently says "Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience" and then, in the info section, we have the cultural origins "Mid-1960s, United States and United Kingdom", but the only American here seems to be Jimi Hendrix. So, it seems to me, from the examples, although I am really unfamiliar with the origins of this genre, that hard rock was mainly developed by British bands and musicians, although Americans also played a role. Of course, Jimi Hendrix is one of the greatest (and, by the way, my favourite of all of these), but it seems to me that the info section is a bit biased by putting "Mid-1960s, United States and United Kingdom" rather than "Mid-1960s, United Kingdom and United States". Maybe someone can clarify and provide examples of American hard rock bands that came before those mentioned, like The Kinks or The Who. My point is: why should US come before UK if most bands and musicians (2 of the Jimi Hendrix Experience were also Bristih) that pioneered the genre are from the UK? Note that I am neither British nor American, so I am quite unbiased in this topic.

 * I agree that British bands were much more important for the creation of the genre than the US ones. American artists certainly had an influece on those British artists, but they were mostly electric blues musicians from the 50s and surf rock/rock n' roll guitar players like Dick Dale or Link Wray. None of them would fit even remotely into what was later known as "hard rock". The only really well-known US (proto-)hard rock song I can think of right now from pre-1966 period would be The Kingsmen's version of Louie Louie. This article ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music_before_1970#Songs ) lists several American early songs, but they are more in line with proto-proto-hard rock than anything similar to the late 60s developments in the genre. On the other hand, UK had such famous bands like those you have listed above.StjepanHR (talk) 13:38, 23 August 2021 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Hard rock


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User talk:Fauchemistry

>>This is where notes for CHM 2045 001 can be stored. Useful hints are accepted as well.

>>Starting from Chapter one on through.

title: User talk:Fauchemistry


text:
Talk:Luigi Guido Grandi

from Vfd
On 17 Feb 2005, this article was nominated for deletion. The result was keep. See Votes for deletion/Guido Grandi for a record of the discussion.

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 04:04, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Luigi Guido Grandi


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User talk:Naughty.frog

Welcome!

Please join us for the next Bootcamp every night at midnight EST (2100 PST, 0500 UTC) to learn the ropes, or leave a message on our talk pages around that time for on-wiki help.

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia, ! I hope you like the place and decide to keep contributing. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question at the village pump or feel free to ask me on my Talk page. One more quick tip: to sign your name on a Talk page like I did below, the easiest way is just to type four tildes (~~~~). To customize your signature, look here. And remember:Be Bold!
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title: User talk:Naughty.frog


text:
Unbeliever (disambiguation)

An unbeliever or infidel is one accused of unbelief in the central tenets of a religion.

Unbeliever or unbelievers may also refer to:

Film

 * The Unbeliever, 1918 American silent propaganda film made towards the end of World War I
 * The Unbelievers, a 2013 documentary film about atheists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss

Music

 * "Unbeliever", a song by Skrewdriver from All Skrewed Up 1977
 * "Unbeliever", a song by Australian rock band Hunters & Collectors "Throw Your Arms Around Me" 1984
 * "Unbeliever", a song by Therapy on Troublegum 1994 and Infernal Love 1995
 * "Unbeliever", a song by Greek death metal band Septic Flesh Sumerian Daemons 2003
 * "Unbeliever", a song by American metalcore band Architects Daybreaker 2012
 * "The Unbeliever", a song by German power metal band Edguy Theater of Salvation 1999
 * "Unbelievers" (song), from the 2013 album Modern Vampires of the City
 * "Unbelievers", a song by Starflyer 59 from the album Old 2003

title: Unbeliever (disambiguation)


text:
Talk:G4501 Beijing 6th Ring Expressway

Untitled
Does the phrase "vast distances" seem a little too breathlessly superlative to anyone else? "Vast distances" makes me think of the Trans-Siberian Railroad or something like that. If I read the article right, it's only (roughly) a square 40km on a side, or about twice the distance (a little more allowing for its more rectangular shape) of I270 around Columbus, which I have never heard called a long road, to say nothing of "vast distances". Are most roads in China very short in comparison, or is the article just being overly dramatic? -- jonadab

 * Locally, sure. If compared with the 2nd Ring Road, which has exits every 500-1000 metres, it's huge. It's all relative, however, and if you feel it's too breathlessly superlative, be bold and make it less dramatic. ;-) --DF08 15:23, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Okay, I can see that. I toned the wording down just a little, adding "in comparison to the inner ring roads" for perspective.  This is an interesting point because it highlights a cultural difference:  around here, many people would consider the whole distance around the thing to be a reasonable distance to drive to work each morning, a practice known as commuting.  --jonadab

 * It might be the difference between urban and non urban areas? If you have a square 40km a side around NYC, for example, it is still pretty big. But it is true the a lot of people in the States drive an hour or two to work. (This doesn't really happen in Canada though, even though it's just to the north) Beginner 16:47, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 06:11, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

I have seen better pages on Uncyclopedia.
Sorry, but it is true.

title: Talk:G4501 Beijing 6th Ring Expressway


text:
User talk:Dieter.randolph

Welcome!

Please join us for the next Bootcamp every night at midnight EST (2100 PST, 0500 UTC) to learn the ropes, or leave a message on our talk pages around that time for on-wiki help.

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia, ! I hope you like the place and decide to keep contributing. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question at the village pump or feel free to ask me on my Talk page. One more quick tip: to sign your name on a Talk page like I did below, the easiest way is just to type four tildes (~~~~). To customize your signature, look here. And remember:Be Bold!
 * — Asbestos | Talk  14:43, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dieter.randolph


text:
User talk:Woonie

Welcome!

Please join us for the next Bootcamp every night at midnight EST (2100 PST, 0500 UTC) to learn the ropes, or leave a message on our talk pages around that time for on-wiki help.

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia, ! I hope you like the place and decide to keep contributing. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * How to write a great article
 * What Wikipedia is not

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question at the village pump or feel free to ask me on my Talk page. One more quick tip: to sign your name on a Talk page like I did below, the easiest way is just to type four tildes (~~~~). To customize your signature, look here. And remember:Be Bold!
 * — Asbestos | Talk  14:45, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

woonie needs help formatting his user page to look like this. woonie (talk) 16:43, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

(Points at all the colourful description thingies.) woonie (talk)

helpme

See Userboxes. It describes how to use them and has a lists of them in the "Gallery" section near the bottom. Choose some that apply to you. In the "Grouping userboxes" section of the same page, it tells how to put them on your page. But if I were you, what I would do is go to the page you gave as an example; click "edit this page";  and copy (using your mouse) the part that has the userboxes (the part starting with <table  and ending with  ), carefully not clicking "save page" so you don't change the user's page, then paste that information into your own userpage;  then delete any of the userboxes you don't want, and add some you do want. Feel free to ask at my talk page if you need more help. By the way, I added "tl" to your helpme template to turn it off. If you want to ask for help again, you can delete the "tl". --Coppertwig (talk) 17:00, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

File source problem with File:RIsidegate.JPG
Thank you for uploading File:RIsidegate.JPG. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, please add a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a brief restatement of that website's terms of use of its content. However, if the copyright holder is a party unaffiliated from the website's publisher, that copyright should also be acknowledged.

If you have uploaded other files, consider verifying that you have specified sources for those files as well. You can find a list of files you have created [ in your upload log]. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged per Wikipedia's criteria for speedy deletion, F4. If the image is copyrighted and non-free, the image will be deleted 48 hours after 16:09, 23 December 2010 (UTC) per speedy deletion criterion F7. If you have any questions or are in need of assistance please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Kelly hi! 16:09, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Woonie


text:
Talk:Goodwill Zwelithini

Paramount Chief
Why does the word "King" link to "Paramount Chief"? It is my understanding that these are very distinct roles, and certainly should not apply to the Zulu monarchy? Mattpbarry (talk) 22:25, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Untitled
I removed this comment by 196.41.16.4 (a South African IP)

 * Queen Buhle is King Goodwill Zwelithini's second wife but was suppose to be thae first due to that when the King asked her father to marry Buhle. Buhles father brutally hit the King when he was still prince and told him that she was to young but he was in a hurry to marry.

But if there is any basis in the rumour please substantiate it. Wizzy 14:45, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)

King Goodwill Zwelithini always opens the Kwa-Zulu-Natal Parliament.
Did you know that King Goodwill Zwelithini is always invited to open the Kwa-Zulu-Natal Provincial Parliament? - (Aidan Work 07:09, 20 December 2005 (UTC))

Birthday
http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=278989 says it is his birthday today. This page says the 14th ? Wizzy… ☎   16:13, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Children
Anon 70.173.207.234 has moved

 * Son: HRH Prince Dennis Njeru Mucheke (AKA Charles) born June 1st 1984. He is currently pursuing aviation studies in Florida, U.S.A

from Mswati III of Swaziland to here. Anyone have better information ? Wizzy… ☎ 08:00, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Merger proposal
Since the article Zulu Royal Family is only about Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu and his family and way of life, I see no reason to not incorporate it here. Moreover, the name "Zulu Royal Family" is slightly misleading, because it implies a survey of ancestors, regalia, political intrigues etc.
 * I respectfully disagree. The Zulu Royal Family article can & should be expanded using reliable sources. The Zulu dynasty has played a major role in African history & the present king's chief queen consort is the sister of a reigning foreign monarch, while others have been written about in the media for significant activities or events. Much more can be written about the royal family and its customs than would be appropriate in this bio of a single individual. So I have marked it STUB, which should encourage editorial contributions. PlayCuz (talk) 07:51, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Oppose. The Royal family arguably began with Shaka kaSenzangakhona, who turned a small clan into a large and well-known nation. It's ignorant to claim that the royal family is synonymous with Zwelithini. Tebello TheWHAT!!?? 09:00, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree that some serious work to enlarge Zulu Royal Family would be preferable to a merge, but at the moment it is only about Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. Debresser (talk) 11:56, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

I shortened the content about Goodwill there, to make it more proper in context of expected enlargement about the general Zulu royal family. Debresser (talk) 12:22, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

King
The King is king of the Zulu nation by custom. His role is governed under legislation. The traditional leadership clause of South Africa's constitution does not make him king.119.224.91.84 (talk) 19:57, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

 * He has no role, power or authority "under legislation".203.80.61.102 (talk) 21:18, 21 November 2017 (UTC)

Blame for causing/sparking/inciting March 2015 Xenophobic attack
Although the King Goodwill has obstinately claimed that he was misquoted there is a clear recording which clearly include phrases like "They must pack their bags and go...", "ants into the sun", "lice" which cannot be ignored. I notice that someone keeps editing this page to make look some kind of PR campaign. References to the recent Xenophobic attacks have been completely sanitized as if by someone working for the King himself in an obvious show of bias and with selective links to media reports that somehow support the opinion views of the person or persons who keep editing the article even though a quick search of the internet shows that such views are in minority. I strongly object to this sanitation as I believe Wikipedia is an international source of information and should not show unnecessary deference at the expense of knowledge.

I suggest an edit which might go along these lines: At xx(Date) the King Made a speech to xx in which he is reported to have said foreigners "must pack their bags and go" a statement which many have blamed as the immediate cause of the ongoing xenophobia attacks in South Africa. The King has however refused to apologise for this when called upon to do so saying his speech was misquoted and blown out of proportion by the media. .....

First this is the actual course of events from the objective view of the public and his rebuttal of media reports on his speech must surely not allowed to override the audio transcript of his speech. Although his officials have claimed that there is no Zulu word for "deport" surely a more natural way to say deport would be "the government should sent them away" not "pack and go away" and this can be easily said in Zulu.

At the very least the material on Xenophobia that is currently on the page must be deleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Garikaib (talk • contribs) 13:06, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Constitutional position
The article implies, and even directly states, that the Zulu king has a constitutional role, and refer to him as the "constitutional monarch of the kingdom of KwaZulu-Natal". This is entirely incorrect. There is no legally recognized Zulu kingdom, no constitutional monarchy, and he has no legal or constitutional role at all under SA law or the constitution.203.80.61.102 (talk) 21:17, 21 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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His awards and accolades
It is of paramount importance that all awards and accolades attained by his majesty the king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu are not only recognised but also included in order to inform those who lack the knowledge. His majesty had received 2 honourary doctrates for the university of Zululand. A doctorate in philosophy in 1994 as well as a doctorate in philosophy in 2018. At this point I am unaware in which areas of specialisation under philosophy were these doctrates attributed to however as time progresses I will be able to expand further on the subject matter.

Bayede! Wena woNdlovu!🙌🏾 Ndabezitha Ntandoyenkosi Shamase (talk) 08:36, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Goodwill Zwelithini


text:
Talk:Caroline Caddy

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title: Talk:Caroline Caddy


text:
Archosauromorpha

Archosauromorpha (Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs (such as crocodilians and dinosaurs, including birds) rather than lepidosaurs (such as tuataras, lizards, and snakes). Archosauromorphs first appeared during the late Middle Permian or Late Permian, though they became much more common and diverse during the Triassic period.

Although Archosauromorpha was first named in 1946, its membership did not become well-established until the 1980s. Currently Archosauromorpha encompasses four main groups of reptiles: the stocky, herbivorous allokotosaurs and rhynchosaurs, the hugely diverse Archosauriformes, and a polyphyletic grouping of various long-necked reptiles including Protorosaurus, tanystropheids, and Prolacerta. Other groups including pantestudines (turtles and their extinct relatives) and the semiaquatic choristoderes have also been placed in Archosauromorpha by some authors.

Archosauromorpha is one of the most diverse groups of reptiles, but its members can be united by several shared skeletal characteristics. These include laminae on the vertebrae, a posterodorsal process of the premaxilla, a lack of notochordal canals, and the loss of the entepicondylar foramen of the humerus.

History and definition
The term Archosauromorpha was first used by Friedrich von Huene in 1946 to refer to reptiles more closely related to archosaurs than to lepidosaurs. However, there was little consensus on ancient reptile relationships prior to the late 20th century, so the term Archosauromorpha was seldom used until many years after its creation.

The advent of cladistics helped to sort out at least some of the relationships within Reptilia, and it became clear that there was a split between the archosaur lineage and the lepidosaur lineage somewhere within the Permian, with certain reptiles clearly closer to archosaurs and others allied with lepidosaurs. Jacques Gauthier reused the term Archosauromorpha for the archosaur lineage at the 1982 annual meeting of the American Society of Zoologists, and later used it within his 1984 Ph.D. thesis. Archosauromorpha, as formulated by Gauthier, included four main groups of reptiles: Rhynchosauria, "Prolacertiformes", "Trilophosauria", and Archosauria (now equivalent to the group Archosauriformes). Cladistic analyses created during the 1980s by Gauthier, Michael J. Benton, and Susan E. Evans implemented Gauthier's classification scheme within large studies of reptile relations.

Michel Laurin (1991) defined Archosauromorpha as a node-based clade containing the most recent common ancestor of Prolacerta, Trilophosaurus, Hyperodapedon and all of its descendants. David Dilkes (1998) formulated a more inclusive (and more common) definition of Archosauromorpha, defining it as a branch-based total group clade containing Protorosaurus and all other saurians that are more closely related to Protorosaurus than to Lepidosauria. Gauthier, as an author for Phylonyms (2020), redefined Archosauromorpha as a node-based clade containing Gallus, Alligator, Mesosuchus, Trilophosaurus, Prolacerta, and Protorosaurus. The new name Pan-Archosauria was established for the broader total group of Archosauromorpha, similar to the definition of Dilkes (1998).

In 2016, Martin Ezcurra named a subgroup of Archosauromorpha, Crocopoda ("crocodile feet"). Crocopoda is defined as all archosauromorphs more closely related to allokotosaurs (specifically Azendohsaurus and Trilophosaurus), rhynchosaurs (specifically Rhynchosaurus), or archosauriforms (specifically Proterosuchus) rather than Protorosaurus or tanystropheids (specifically Tanystropheus). This group roughly corresponds to Laurin's definition of Archosauromorpha.

Unambiguous members
Since the seminal studies of the 1980s, Archosauromorpha has consistently been found to contain four specific reptile groups, although the definitions and validity of the groups themselves have been questioned. The least controversial group is Rhynchosauria ("beak reptiles"), a monophyletic clade of stocky herbivores. Many rhynchosaurs had highly modified skulls, with beak-like premaxillary bones and wide heads. Another group of archosauromorphs has traditionally been represented by Trilophosaurus, an unusual iguana-like herbivorous reptile quite different from the rhynchosaurs. Gauthier used the name "Trilophosauria" for this group, but a 2015 study offered an alternative name. This study found that Azendohsauridae, Triassic reptiles previously mistaken for "prosauropod" dinosaurs, were in fact close relatives of Trilophosaurus and the rest of Trilophosauridae. Trilophosaurids and azendohsaurids are now united under the group Allokotosauria ("strange reptiles"). These two groups did not survive the end of the Triassic period, but the most famous group of archosauromorphs not only survived, but have continued to diversify and dominate beyond the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. These were the Archosauriformes, a diverse assortment of animals including the famous dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Two subclades of Archosauriformes survive to the present day: the semiaquatic crocodilians and the last of the feathered dinosaurs: birds. Gauthier used the name Archosauria to refer to what is now called the Archosauriformes; in modern studies, the name Archosauria has a more restricted definition that only includes the ancestors of crocodilians (i.e. Pseudosuchia) and birds (i.e. Avemetatarsalia). The final unambiguous members of Archosauromorpha represent the most controversial group. These were the first archosauromorphs to appear, and can be characterized by their long necks, sprawling posture, and carnivorous habits. One name for the group, Protorosauria, is named after Protorosaurus, the oldest archosauromorph known from good remains. Another name, Prolacertiformes, is in reference to a different member, Prolacerta. Protorosauria/Prolacertiformes has had a complicated history, and many taxa have entered and left the group as paleontologists discover and re-evaluate reptiles of the Triassic. By far the most famous of these are tanystropheids such as Tanystropheus, known for having necks longer than their entire body. Other notable genera include Boreopricea, Pamelaria, and Macrocnemus, as well as strange gliding reptiles such as Sharovipteryx and Mecistotrachelos. A landmark 1998 study by David Dilkes completely deconstructed the concept of Prolacertiformes as a traditional monophyletic group (i.e. one whose members have a single common ancestor). He argued that Prolacerta was much closer to Archosauriformes than to other "prolacertiforms", invalidating the name. Likewise, Pamelaria is now considered an allokotosaur, Macrocnemus is a tanystropheid, and Protorosaurus may be too basal ("primitive") to form a clade with any of its supposed close relatives. As such, this final group of Archosauromorpha is generally considered paraphyletic or polyphyletic, and few modern studies use it.

Disputed members
Apart from these four groups, Archosauromorpha is sometimes considered to encompass several additional groups of reptiles. One of the most common additions is Choristodera, a group of semiaquatic reptiles with mysterious origins. Although choristodere fossils are only known from the Jurassic through the Miocene, it is theorized that they first appeared during the Permian alongside the earliest archosauromorphs. Choristoderes share numerous otherwise unique traits with archosauromorphs, but they share an equal or greater number of unique traits with lepidosauromorphs as well, so there is still some debate over their inclusion within either group. The chameleon- or tamandua-like drepanosaurs are also semi-regularly placed within Archosauromorpha, although some studies have considered them to be part of a much more basal lineage of reptiles. The aquatic thalattosaurs and gliding kuehneosaurids are also irregularly considered archosauromorphs.

Genetic studies have found evidence that modern testudines (turtles and tortoises) are more closely related to crocodilians than to lizards. If this evidence is accurate, then turtles are part of basal Archosauromorpha. Likewise, extinct turtle relatives known as Pantestudines would also fall within Archosauromorpha. Some geneticists have proposed a name to refer to reptiles within the group formed by relatives of turtles and archosaurs. This name is the clade Archelosauria. Since Pantestudines may encompass the entire aquatic reptile order Sauropterygia, this means that Archosauromorpha (as Archelosauria) may be a much wider group than commonly believed. However, anatomical data disagrees with this genetic evidence, instead placing Pantestudines within Lepidosauromorpha but many modern studies have supported Archelosauria. Several recent studies place sauropterygians within Archosauromorpha group, forming a large clade including Ichthyosauromorpha and Thalattosauria as opposed to the Pantestudine relations.

Anatomy
Although the most diverse clade of living archosauromorphs are birds, early members of the group were evidently reptilian, superficially similar to modern lizards. When archosauromorphs first appeared in the fossil record in the Permian, they were represented by long-necked, lightly built sprawling reptiles with moderately long, tapering snouts. This body plan, similar to that of modern monitor lizards, is also shared by Triassic archosauromorphs such as tanystropheids and Prolacerta. Other early groups such as trilohpsaurids, azendohsaurids, and rhynchosaurs deviate from this body plan by evolving into stockier forms with semi-erect postures and higher metabolisms. The archosauriforms went to further extremes of diversity, encompassing giant sauropod dinosaurs, flying pterosaurs and birds, semiaquatic crocodilians, phytosaurs, and proterochampsians, and apex predators such as erythrosuchids, pseudosuchians, and theropod dinosaurs. Despite the staggering diversity of archosauromorphs, they can still be united as a clade thanks to several subtle skeletal features.

Skull
Most archosauromorphs more "advanced" than Protorosaurus possessed an adaptation of the premaxilla (tooth-bearing bone at the tip of the snout) known as a posterodorsal or postnarial process. This was a rear-facing branch of bone that stretched up below and behind the external nares (nostril holes) to contact the nasal bones on the upper edge of the snout. A few advanced archosauriforms reacquired the plesiomorphic ("primitive") state present in other reptiles, that being a short or absent posterodorsal process of the premaxilla, with the rear edge of the nares formed primarily by the maxilla bones instead. As for the nares themselves, they were generally large and oval-shaped, positioned high and close to the midline of the skull.

Many early archosauromorphs, including Protorosaurus, tanystropheids, Trilophosaurus, and derived rhynchosaurs, have a blade-like sagittal crest on the parietal bones at the rear part of the skull roof, between a pair of holes known as the supratemporal (or upper temporal) fenestrae. However, in other allokotosaurs, the basal rhynchosaur Mesosuchus, and more crownward archosauromorphs, the sagittal crest is weakly differentiated, although the inner edge of each supratemporal fenestra still possessed a depressed basin of bone known as a supratemporal fossa. Ezcurra (2016) argued that presence of supratemporal fossae and an absence or poor development of the sagittal crest could be used to characterize Crocopoda. He also noted that in almost all early archosauromorphs (and some choristoderes), the parietal bones have an additional lowered area which extends transversely (from left to right) behind the supratemporal fenestrae and sagittal crest (when applicable).

The lower temporal fenestra is not fully enclosed in early archosauromorphs (and choristoderes) due to alterations to the structure of the quadratojugal bone at the rear lower corner of the skull. This bone is roughly L-shaped in these taxa, with a tall dorsal process (vertical branch), a short anterior process (forward branch), and a tiny or absent posterior process (rear branch). The bones surrounding the quadratojugal also reconfigure to offset the changes to the quadratojugal. For example, the lower branch of the squamosal bone is shortened to offset the tall dorsal process of quadratojugal which connects to it. On the other hand, the rear branch jugal bone lengthens to fill some of the space left by the shortening of the anterior process of the quadratojugal. In archosauriforms, the jugal even re-encloses the lower temporal fenestra. The stapes are long, thin, and solid, without a perforating hole (stapedial foramen) present in the more robust stapes of other reptiles.

Vertebrae
In conjunction with their long, S-shaped necks, early archosauromorphs had several adaptations of the cervical (neck) vertebrae, and usually the first few dorsal (back) vertebrae as well. The centrum (main body) of each vertebra is parallelogram-shaped, with a front surface typically positioned higher than the rear surface. The transverse processes (rib facets) of these vertebrae extend outwards to a greater extent than in other early reptiles. In many long-necked archosauromorphs, the rib facets are slanted, connecting to cervical ribs that are often long, thin, and dichocephalous (two-headed).

Thin, plate-like ridges known as laminae develop to connect the vertebral components, sloping down from the elongated transverse processes to the centra. Laminae are practically unique to archosauromorphs, being present even in the earliest Permian genera such as Aenigmastropheus and Eorasaurus. However, they are also known to occur in the bizarre semiaquatic reptile Helveticosaurus, as well as the biarmosuchian synapsid Hipposaurus. In all adult archosauromorphs with the exception of Aenigmastropheus, the vertebrae lack notochordal canals, holes which perforate the centra. This also sets the archosauromorphs apart from most other Permian and Triassic reptiles.

Forelimbs
The humerus (upper arm bone) is solid in archosauromorphs, completely lacking a hole near the elbow known as the entepicondylar foramen. This hole, present in most other tetrapods, is also absent in choristoderes yet not fully enclosed in some proterosuchids. In many advanced archosauromorphs, the capitulum and trochlea (elbow joints) of the humerus are poorly developed. Early archosauromorphs retain well-developed elbow joints, but all archosauromorphs apart from Aenigmastropheus have a trochlea (ulna joint) which is shifted towards the outer surface of the humerus, rather than the midpoint of the elbow as in other reptiles. In conjunction with this shift, the olecranon process of the ulna is poorly developed in archosauromorphs apart from Aenigmastropheus and Protorosaurus.

Hindlimbs
The ankle bones of archosauromorphs tend to acquire complex structures and interactions with each other, and this is particularly the case with the large proximal tarsal bones: the astragalus and calcaneum. The calcaneum, for example, has a tube-like outer extension known as a calcaneal tuber in certain archosauromorphs. This tuber is particularly prominent in the ancient relatives of crocodylians, but it first appeared earlier at the last common ancestor of allokotosaurs, rhynchosaurs, and archosauriforms. The presence of a calcaneal tuber (sometimes known as a lateral tuber of the calcaneum) is a synapomorphy of the group Crocopoda, and is also responsible for its name.

Relationships
The cladogram shown below follows the most likely result found by an analysis of turtle relationships using both fossil and genetic evidence by M.S. Lee, in 2013.

The following cladogram is based on a large analysis of archosauriforms published by M.D. Ezcurra in 2016.

title: Archosauromorpha


text: User talk:194.66.96.100

title: User talk:194.66.96.100


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Pure Lucy

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was delete. Joyous 16:32, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

Pure Lucy
Spam for an "adult web personality". 567 google hits, which is nothing for a someone in that line of work. Not sure if it's a speedy candidate, but I wouldn't object if that happened. Kappa 14:51, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete as spam, vanity, and/or not-notable. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 15:18, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I'm from Britain and I've never heard of this "British web personality."  (Maybe I should get out less?) Miss Pippa 18:06, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Vanity. Nick04 19:25, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable vanity page. Andrew pmk 01:27, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Donots

The Donots are a German punk rock band from Germany, formed in 1993 in Ibbenbüren.

Early years (1993-1998)
The Donots were founded in 1993 by Ingo Knollmann on lead vocals, his brother Guido Knollmann on guitar, Jan-Dirk Poggemann on bass, Jens "Stone" Grimstein on guitar and Jens Trippner on drums. They celebrated their stage debut on April 16, 1994, at the Scheune in their hometown Ibbenbüren. They began playing as a support band in local venues and released the demo tapes We Do Not Care So Why Should You? and Mellow D's and Harm on E's in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Drummer Jens Trippner was replaced by Eike Herwig in 1995.

In 1996, the band released their debut album Pedigree Punk via independent label Headshock Records and shortly afterwards, Alex Siedenbiedel replaced Stone Grimstein on guitar, finalizing the current line-up. They played support shows in Germany for Green Day, Blink-182, Propagandhi, No Fun At All, Terrorgruppe and No Use for a Name.

The band released their second album Tonight's Karaoke Contest Winners in spring of 1998, followed by their first tour with Samiam and ErrorType:11. That year they also won a band contest at the Bizarre Festival, which furthered their popularity in the German underground scene, leading to them getting signed by major label GUN Records (Sony BMG).

Mainstream breakthrough (1999-2007)
The Donots released their third album and first major label release Better Days Not Included in 1999, produced by Die Ärzte producer Uwe Hoffmann, together with their first single "Outshine the World", which received minor radio and TV airplay. They went on to play their first co-headlining tour called "Ladies First, James Last" across Germany, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands, together with fellow German punk rock peers the Beatsteaks.

In 2001, the band released their fourth album Pocketrock, with which they achieved their breakthrough into the mainstream, mainly through their hit single "Whatever Happened to the 80s", which reached No. 67 on the German charts. The following singles "Room With a View", "Today" and "Superhero" also received video airplay on MTV. They played their first headlining tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland with Midtown as support. The following year, Pocketrock was re-released through Burning Heart Records all over Europe.

The band released their fifth album Amplify the Good Times in May 2002, which achieved similar success with the singles "Saccharine Smile" and "Big Mouth". After the album's release, they played a European tour with Millencolin and Anti-Flag. In September, they released a cover version of "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister on an EP, which turned out to be one of the band's biggest hits, reaching No. 33 on the German charts. This was followed by the "Amplify the Good Tour" with Favez as support through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Spain.

In 2003, Amplify the Good Times became a surprise hit in Japan, with the album reaching No. 10 on the International Album Charts and the singles receiving heavy radio airplay, with "Saccharine Smile" reaching No. 19 on the Oricon Singles Chart. The band and "Saccharine Smile" would receive further international recognition when the song appeared in the acclaimed 2004 racing video game Burnout 3: Takedown. would The band played their first Japan tour in June 2003. That year they also recorded the "Protest Song" with Anti-Flag, which was released as a bonus track on The Terror State.

The Donots released their sixth album Got the Noise in 2004 with the accompanying singles "We Got the Noise" and "Goodbye Routine", the former becoming another big hit, landing on No. 33 in Germany. The band was also featured on the Fat Wreck Chords compilation Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 with their b-side "Time's Up". In 2005, they released their first DVD "Ten Years of Noise".

In 2006, the band left their major label due to creative differences. Guitarist Guido explained: "Over time we fought each other more and more, rather than looking for solutions together. We simply did not understand each other anymore. The last record was actually just damage control. Even during promotional activities, we were absolutely not on the same wavelength. Especially with video clips, selection of singles and the entire image of the band." The band released the greatest hits and b-side compilation album The Story So Far: Ibbtown Chronicles as a send-off to their major label. That year they also founded Solitary Man Records.

Solitary Man Records and further success (2008-2013)
After a short hiatus, they released their seventh album Coma Chameleon through their own label Solitary Man Records in March 2008. The album marked a change of sound for the band, evolving the pop punk sound of their previous albums to a darker, heavier alternative rock and punk rock-influenced sound. The band returned to mainstream success with the alternative rock single "Stop the Clocks", which received major radio airplay and was nominated for the German music award "1LIVE Krone" for Best Single. The band played their first headlining tour in four years with Disco Ensemble in spring and American Steel and Fire in the Attic in autumn. In 2009, they released the "To Hell With Love" EP in the UK. Later that year, they supported Die Toten Hosen on their "Machmalauter Tour" and released their first live DVD "To Hell With Live".

The Donots released their eighth studio album The Long Way Home in 2010, with the successful singles "Calling" and "Forever Ends Today". That year, they supported Green Day on all German dates of their 21st Century Breakdown World Tour, resulting in a major popularity boost for the band. A special international edition of the album was released in September in the UK via Lockjaw Records and in November in the US via OK!Good Records. "The Long Way Home Tour" took place in autumn 2010 with Royal Republic as support, which culminated in their first "Grand Münster Slam" at Halle Münsterland, which was their biggest headlining show of their career at that point, playing in front of 3,000 people.

In 2012, they released their ninth album Wake the Dogs, which was collaboratively released by Solitary Man Records and Vertigo Records (Universal Music). It was the band's first Top 10 album, reaching No. 6 in Germany. In summer 2012, they played the Center Stage of Germany's biggest festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park for the first time. They supported the album with the "Wake the Dogs Tour" in autumn 2012 with Atlas Losing Grip and Nothington. The album resulted in three singles, "Come Away With Me", "You're So Yesterday" and "So Long", which featured a guest appearance by Frank Turner.

In 2013, the band went on their first US tour, playing the East Coast with Flogging Molly and Mariachi El Bronx and the West Coast with Anti-Flag and C.J. Ramone. The tour was filmed and released as the documentary and live album "Wake the States".

German songwriting and recent activity (2014–present)
The band celebrated their 20th anniversary in April 2014 with the single "Das Neue bleibt beim Alten" ("The new stays old") featuring Tim McIlrath from Rise Against, the very first Donots song in German including McIlrath singing his part in German as well. They also participated in the German re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which reached No. 1 in Germany. In December 2014, they played their biggest headlining show of their career yet in front of 6,500 people.

Because of the positive response of the 20th anniversary single, they decided to record an entire album in German. Their tenth studio album Karacho ("noise" or "crash") was released in February 2015 along with its lead single "Ich mach nicht mehr mit" ("I won't take part in this anymore"). The album reached No. 5 at the German album charts, the band's highest-charting position yet. The "Karacho Tour" was originally planned to take place in March, but had to be postponed to November 2015 because of an injury by drummer Eike. The band returned to Japan in May 2015, where they released an English version of the album titled ¡Carajo!.

The Donots participated in the Bundesvision Song Contest 2015, representing their state North Rhine-Westphalia. They reached second place with their song "Dann ohne mich" ("Then without me"), which attacks right-wing organizations such as Pegida and addresses the resurgence of right-wing mindsets in the German public because of the European migrant crisis. They celebrated their 1000th concert in December 2016.

The band released their eleventh studio album and second German-language release in January 2018, Lauter als Bomben ("Louder than bombs"), along with a live DVD of their 1000th concert, followed by an extensive two-year tour.

Shortly after the tour, the Donots celebrated their 25th anniversary with a compilation called Silverhochzeit ("Silver marriage"), released in July 2019. They also did a Anniversary Tour called "25th Birthday Slam", that was released as a CD and called "Birthday Slams" later in 2020. According to the Band, its their first official Live Album

After a Hiatus because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Band played their first public show since 2019 at the Rock Am Ring Festival 2022. Campino from Die Toten Hosen made a Guest appearance there. Also on that show, Donots premiered a new song, that would be included on their new album Heut ist ein guter Tag ("Today is a good day"), releasing on February 10.

Band members
Current members
 * Ingo Knollmann - lead vocals (1993–present)
 * Guido Knollmann - guitar, vocals (1993–present)
 * Jan-Dirk "Purgen" Poggemann - bass, vocals (1993–present)
 * Eike Herwig - drums, percussion (1995–present)
 * Alex Siedenbiedel - guitar, vocals (1996–present)

Touring members
 * Robin Völkert - keyboard, guitar, backing vocals (2011–2017)

Former members
 * Jens "Stone" Grimstein - guitar (1993-1996)
 * Jens Trippner - drums, percussion (1993-1995)

Discography
The official discography consists of ten studio albums, two compilation albums, thirteen singles and nineteen music videos.

title: Donots


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Dutch Waterski Association

The Dutch Waterski & Wakeboard Association (Nederlandse Waterski & Wakeboard Bond, NWWB) is a union of all Dutch water ski, wakeboard, cable skiing and water sports clubs and organisations. The association's goal is to promote the sport of water skiing and wakeboarding. It organises competition, subsidies, training and scouting, and coordinates sending skiers to international sport events.

The Dutch Waterski & Wakeboard Association is a member organization of the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation.

title: Dutch Waterski Association


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User:Sass~enwiki

Blanked this page due to explicit content.

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Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is an action-adventure video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game features an open world environment, with elements of potential stealth gaming and reputation-based social mechanics, and is set during a fictitious multi-national military action in North Korea. The player gains control of one of three mercenary main characters and completes contracts in the war-torn country for profit and to prevent a nuclear war. Critics gave favorable reviews to the game, in particular praising its focus on explosive mayhem.

A sequel, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, was released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Following Pandemic Studios' closure in November 2009, Electronic Arts hired Danger Close Games to develop a second sequel, tentatively titled Mercs Inc. The game was eventually canceled following the closure of Danger Close Games in 2013.

Gameplay
The player is deposited in a vast "sandbox" environment, free to pick up missions, perform side tasks, collect items, hijack vehicles, or employ game mechanics in exhibition. As the world is a sandbox, the player can choose to do any of these activities at any time. In fact, one can level all of the buildings in the game world, including the faction HQs. Buildings are usually restored after an extended time away from the area, the player's death, or re-loading the game. Also, the player can cause wanton destruction in many small outposts and strongholds occupied by and restricted to faction members only. However, excessive rampaging is discouraged by the reduction of the attacked faction's disposition towards the player, and the murders of civilians and Allied Nations personnel result in cash fines as well.

There are five warring factions: the Allied Nations, South Korea (associated with the CIA), the Russian Mafia, China, and Song's North Korean army. Disposition from the first four factions is initially friendly, though through the player's actions it can go from friendly to neutral and eventually hostile. Since the North Korean faction is always hostile towards the player and to all the other factions, the player is free to attack NK forces without fear of penalty. In fact, destroying NK vehicles will result in a small compensation, adding credits to the player's account.

In order to get back in the favor of an offended faction, the mercenary must complete contracts for the faction. If the faction is so hostile that it refuses to give out contracts, the player must bribe the HQ guard first. Other less effective methods include collecting National Treasures and Blueprints of interest to each faction, destroying hidden listening posts, leveling Song's monuments or helping out one faction fight off another one during a skirmish. Upon being witnessed, the player's actions will be favored by the faction receiving the help, but the other faction will dislike the player more.

A mercenary may disguise himself by driving a faction's vehicle, allowing for enemy outpost infiltration, but the disguise is rendered ineffectual should the enemy spot the mercenary entering the vehicle, should the player exit the vehicle or if the player engages in inappropriate behavior (such as attacking enemy troops). The disguise is also lost if the player comes across an enemy officer, who will invariably see through the disguise.

The player can perform various missions for different factions, but it is not required to complete every mission available. A mission involves one or multiple objectives that include stealing, delivery, retrieval, or destruction of certain items or vehicles, assassinating targets, and destruction of an enemy camp or stronghold. Often, a mission provides a bonus goal which may be completed for extra cash. AN missions are usually taxi and escort missions, whereas Mafia-instructed missions are somewhat more stealth-oriented, and SK and Chinese missions usually have the player take orders from one faction to harm the other one. A mission may upset another faction, although this can be prevented to some degree if the player engages the mission with stealth. The completion of a mission rewards the mercenary with cash, increase in the faction's disposition, and tips regarding the Deck of 52; it occasionally unlocks items, vehicles, or airstrikes.

Throughout the game, the player is tasked with hunting down and "verifying" 13 targets of a "suit". "Verification" involves either killing the target and taking a picture of the corpse, or subduing the target and radioing an AN helicopter to transport the prisoner away. After every verification the player is awarded with "Intelligence" and cash, which is usually doubled if the target is captured alive. In a suit, the number cards (from 2 to 10) are located throughout the in-game region, and they can be found by exploration or by receiving tips from friendly factions (usually after the completion of a mission). Each of the three face cards (Jack, Queen, King) is only made available by one of Chinese, South Korean, and Russian factions. A "face card mission" often involves specific objectives for the faction in addition to verifying the target, but it is not necessary to verify all members of a suit to progress through the game. The player must gain only enough Intelligence by verifying targets before the AN gives the player the Ace contract. The Ace, the most important figure in a suit, is located in an isolated, often heavily fortified area, where the player is dropped off. The Ace contract usually consists of a variety of required and optional objectives that can be accessed in multiple routes, before the Ace is available for verification. After the Ace is verified, the player is transported back to the main region to hunt down another suit of targets.

The PS2 version of the game suffers from a glitch, where saving the same campaign playthrough in multiple slots can result in corrupted data on the memory card, but saving in one slot each for different playthroughs with different characters is apparently fine.

If the player attempts to leave the game world (leaving N. Korea), they will effectively enter a restricted area where either the AN Task Force or the North Koreans have supreme air power in those areas, bearing great lethality that serves as an invisible wall to bar the player from going out of bounds. Entering these areas immediately prompts the players with a warning message (either by an unnamed Allied radio operator or by your support operative, respectively) telling them to get out quick. Choosing to ignore this warning prompts another message, informing that enemy planes are inbound. This is followed by three fighters appearing to shoot the player down with a large salvo of explosives that are impossible to completely dodge and tough to survive. These are areas that usually surround the province (with the exception of the Black Gate until after the Ace of Clubs is verified) and are marked in red.

Synopsis
The game world takes place in North Korea, where General Choi Song leads a violent coup against his father President Choi Kim's government. Supposedly killing his own father, as well as several North and South Korean delegates during a peace ceremony, General Song seizes power and closes off North Korea to the world. Some time later, the Royal Australian Navy locates a North Korean freighter in distress but also discovers its cargo of nuclear warheads bound for known terrorist elements, triggering an Allied Nations invasion to topple Song's regime. The Allies are able to secure Song's nuclear missile silos, but they soon learn of another launch site, its whereabouts unknown. Furthermore, the North Koreans launch a counterattack, pushing the Allies back whilst the Chinese, South Korea as well as the Russian Mafia enter into the conflict to assert their own agendas with North Korea whilst also undermining the Allied Nations' position. Desperate to locate the silos, the Allied Nations post bounties related to the "Deck of 52"; including North Korean businessmen, ranking officers, weapon scientists, General Song's personal bodyguard as well as Song himself. The mercenary is given the choice of either apprehending or killing members of the deck, though killing them only rewards the player with half their bounty. The bounty increases according to the importance of that member all the way up to General Song, who is posted at $100,000,000.

Prior to entering the game world, the player is given the choice of playing as one of three available mercenaries. The choice does not affect the plot, and each character has slightly different statistics to each other and can understand a different language used by one of the four factions in game (except for the Allied Nations). The four factions are the Allied Nations, South Korea, China and the Russian Mafia. Each faction concerns itself with one goal influenced by the mercenaries' actions. The Allies for instance, only intend to remove Song from power though they possess the missions for the "Ace" contracts that advance the game. China and South Korea respectively both want to conquer North Korea, bringing the two factions closer to conflict as the game progresses. The Russian Mafia concerns itself only with exploiting the conflict and setting up illegal activities, and dealing arms which the mercenary may buy.

Game
The player is airdropped somewhere over the DMZ, finding the Allied Nations headquarters under artillery attack orchestrated by the "Two of Clubs". The mercenary assists AN forces in repelling the attack, destroying the guns and verifies the Two before venturing on to meet the other three factions in play. In completing assigned missions for each faction, the player is given intel relating to members of the Deck of 52 in the game world. By embarking on these optional missions, the player gathers enough intelligence to unlock the Ace contracts, the theatre of war moving from the Southern Province to the Northern Provinces midway through the game. The player finally arrives on the Ace of Spades contract; General Song himself. After heavy fighting against Song's remaining forces, the mercenary discovers through the still alive President Choi that Song has acquired the launch codes for his country's nuclear armament, and launches them before the mercenary enters battle with him.

Depending on the player's actions, there are numerous endings. If the player does not abort the nuclear missiles in time, a post-ending news report details that Seoul, as well as several other cities worldwide have been destroyed by the nuclear weapons. Furthermore, depending on who the player decided to assist the most, another report indicates that faction assuming control over the North Korean state.

Characters
There are three playable characters in Mercenaries: Christopher Jacobs, Jennifer Mui, and Mattias Nilsson. Each are mercenaries employed by ExOps during the North Korean conflict, but only one character of player's choice is dispatched to the war-zone in the beginning of the game. They follow the same plot and handle similarly in terms of gameplay, but each of them has a different personality, as well as specific strengths that may alter the player's strategy. Also, each mercenary can speak a unique language in addition to English, so the player can understand conversations of a particular faction by reading the subtitles shown.
 * Fiona Taylor (voiced by Amy Lee): a support operative that presents plans and ideas and support to the player throughout the game (also known for being in the online game Rec Room).
 * Chris Jacobs (voiced by Phil LaMarr): a former Delta Force operator from the United States. He appears to be a confident and reliable personality with often humorous remarks. He can endure more damage than others and knows Korean.
 * Jennifer Mui (voiced by Jennifer Hale): a former SAS operative and MI6 agent. She is highly efficient in stealthy maneuvers as she does not alert enemies as easily as other mercenaries. Born to a Chinese-British family in Hong Kong, she can understand conversations in Chinese.
 * Mattias Nilsson (voiced by Peter Stormare): once a Swedish Navy artillery officer who then became a mercenary. Extremely reckless, violent, and obsessed with explosives, Nilsson uses his faster movement on foot to overwhelm his enemies quickly. He is fluent in Russian, and is thus able to understand private Mafia conversations.

Mercenaries contains unlockable skins as rewards for completing certain in-game tasks. For instance, picking up a certain number of National Treasures will allow playing as an NK Elite. Some cheat codes unlock the numerous hidden characters such as the leaders of each faction. This being a LucasArts game, it is also possible to unlock both Indiana Jones and Han Solo as playable characters. However, the differences between skins are only cosmetic and will have no effect on gameplay or the main character's attributes.

Development
The game's orchestral soundtrack was composed by Michael Giacchino with Chris Tilton. It was performed by the Northwest Sinfonia and released on a 21-track CD. The lead sound design was done by Ellen Meijers, who visited Travis Air Force Base to record the sounds of actual C-5 Galaxy cargo airplane hydraulics, landing gears, and generators along with recording gun sounds on a firing range and sounds of their impact on watermelons, street signs, car doors and several more to add realism to the gameplay. The Foley recordings were recorded at the Foley Stage at Skywalker Ranch.

Reception
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction received "generally positive" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Ryan Davis, former editor of GameSpot, said the action is greatly varied and "fundamentally satisfying", the world is immersive, and the game has "gorgeous graphics", calling it the best thing Pandemic Studios had ever made, but gave some minor criticism to overexaggerated explosion physics and a lack of consistency in sound design. Davis said that at first the game looks like a Grand Theft Auto knockoff due to similar elements such as a third-person perspective, and the ability to get in any vehicle the player wants, but praised Mercenaries for forcing its characters to explore its world more than a Grand Theft Auto game would. Davis also wrote: "It's amazing how close the game scrapes to reality without actually breaking through, and its use of a slightly fictionalized North Korea as a setting can be very immersive. But despite the game's commitment to a quasi-realistic scenario, the action is fast and loose". Davis noted the voiceover performances of Peter Stormare and Carl Weathers as particularly well done.

In Japan, where the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by Electronic Arts on April 28, 2005, Famitsu gave it a score of two nines, one eight, and one seven for a total of 33 out of 40. Xbox Nation gave the game a 9/10 and called it "the first game to truly capitalize on GTA's design paradigm, and perhaps even surpass it." GameSpy gave the Xbox version of the game a perfect 5-star rating and gave glowing praise to the game's worldbuilding, writing "I can't remember the last time I played a game in which I wondered whether something could be done, and nine times out of ten it actually could be" and gave specific praise to the variety of missions, the balance between strategy-based gameplay and open-world exploration, and the musical score, which GameSpy called "possibly the best score of any Xbox game ever made." GameSpy gave the PS2 a 4.5/5, saying the game has an inconsistent sound mix, sound design for gunfire that sounds "stock and repetitive", and is overall glitchier and easier to break than the Xbox version, but still considered it an essential PS2 purchase and one of the best games the console had seen at the point in time.

Detroit Free Press gave the Xbox version all four stars and called it "a great diversion from everyday life". The Sydney Morning Herald gave the game four-and-a-half stars out of five and said "while it's not quite as epic as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the combat within Mercenaries is more focused and polished, thanks to tight controls, amazing graphics and clever physics". The Times gave it four stars out of five, saying that "the visuals are first rate. News footage sets the scene of the chaos, while short in-game cut-scenes intertwine seamlessly with the action". The New York Times gave it a similarly favorable review, saying "while most such games overlay this free-form world with rigidly structured missions, Mercenaries allows the player almost as much freedom in action as it does in travel". Maxim similarly gave it eight out of ten and said: "Missions full of vehicles to wrangle and people to off feel like a cross between 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Metal Gear Solid' with a dash of 'Contra' thrown in for spice. Destroy everything and get paid; this is foreign policy at its finest".

In a list of the Top 100 games on the Playstation 2, IGN ranked the game at 49th place, while the game sits as the 84th best Playstation 2 game according to Metacritic. The editing staff at Digital Dream Door voted it 23rd place on their "Top 100 Greatest Xbox Games" list.

Mercenaries shipped 105,000 units for its launch in France alone.

South Korean ban
Mercenaries was banned from shelves in South Korea for depicting war in its still-hostile region, as was Ghost Recon 2. Almost two years later, in 2007, the Game Rating Board of South Korea lifted the ban on these games.

title: Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction


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Burton Richardson

Burton Merrele Richardson (born September 29, 1949, in Portland, Oregon) is an American television announcer.

Career
Richardson has primarily been known as the announcer for The Arsenio Hall Show from 1989 to 1994, where he became best known for his long-drawn-out introduction of the show's host: "ARSENIOOOOOOO... HALL!". Richardson has also announced for various game shows, including Rodeo Drive, Russian Roulette, WinTuition, To Tell the Truth (1990 and 2000),The New Price Is Right (1994–1995) Family Feud (1999-2010) and Celebrity Family Feud (2008, 2015-2023).

Richardson was also immortalised on Prince’s iconic “Love Symbol” (1992) album where he can be heard introducing Prince and his band the New Power Generation on its opening track: “My Name is Prince”.

From 2001, he was one of several announcers who filled in on The Price Is Right for Rod Roddy during his terminal illness period, and also was a guest announcer for an episode of The Price Is Right that aired on December 22, 2006, when Rich Fields missed taping an episode due to laryngitis. He was also the announcer for Family Game Night on The Hub from 2010 to 2012.

title: Burton Richardson


text:
Robert Carrier

Robert Carrier may refer to:
 * Robert Carrier (chef) (1923–2006), restaurateur and cookery writer
 * Robert Carrier (politician) (born 1941), Canadian politician

title: Robert Carrier