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Bionicle: Mask of Light

Bionicle: Mask of Light, stylized as BIONICLE: Mask of Light — The Movie, is a 2003 animated science fantasy action film based on the Bionicle toyline by Lego, and particularly serves as a direct adaptation to the latter half of the toyline's 2003 narrative. Set in a universe filled with bio-mechanical beings allied with classical element-themed tribes, the story follows two friends from the fire-based village of Ta-Koro on a quest to find the owner of the Mask of Light, a mystical artifact that can potentially defeat Makuta, an evil entity threatening the island.

The project was first proposed in 2001, during the original run of the Bionicle toyline. Lego contacted multiple writers for the project, including original Bionicle contributors Bob Thompson and Alastair Swinnerton, and Hollywood writers Henry Gilroy and Greg Weisman. Production began in 2002, taking approximately a year to complete. A major part of the graphical design was adjusting the characters so they could work in human-like ways while still resembling the original toys. The music was composed by Nathan Furst, who used orchestral and tribal elements to create the score. Voice casting was handled by Kris Zimmerman, and the voicework was done with the setting and mythos of Bionicle in mind.

Multiple studios were involved in the development and distribution of Mask of Light: it was co-produced by Lego and Create TV & Film, developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and CGCG, and post-production was handled by 310 Studios and Hacienda Post. It was released on September 16, 2003, on home video and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Home Entertainment label. Upon release, the film reached high positions in VHS and DVD charts, and received generally positive reviews from journalists. Mask of Light was followed by two prequel films, Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui in 2004 and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows in 2005, and a stand-alone sequel, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, in 2009.

Plot
The film takes place on a tropical island in the Bionicle universe. According to legend, the Great Spirit Mata Nui created the island's masked Matoran inhabitants. Mata Nui was sent into a coma by his envious spirit brother Makuta, who began a reign of terror over the island. His reign ended when six guardians, known as Toa, freed the island from his regime. The Matoran, alongside the Toa and Turaga leaders, live in Element-themed regions of the island. The events of the film take place during the latter half of the 2003 storyline.

The film starts when two Matoran from the fire village of Ta-Koro called Jaller and Takua discover a Great Kanohi, a Toa mask imbued with Elemental power in a cave, and Takua is rescued from a lava wave by the Fire Toa Tahu. The two Matoran later participate in a multi-tribal game of Kohlii, the island's national sport; the match reveals developing tensions between Tahu and the Water Toa Gali. At the end of the match, the Mask is accidentally revealed and the Turaga recognize its powers. They announce that it heralds the arrival of a seventh Toa, a Toa of Light, destined to defeat Makuta and awaken Mata Nui. Jaller and Takua are sent on a quest to find the Seventh Toa, guided by the Mask, Jaller being believed by everyone to be the seventh Toa's herald. In the meantime, Makuta sends three Rahkshi, beings born from pieces of his own essence, to retrieve the Mask. The Rahkshi invade Ta-Koro in search of the Mask, destroying the village. Tahu is poisoned during the assault, causing his behaviour to become increasingly erratic and worsening his already-strained relationship with Gali.

During their journey together, Jaller and Takua receive aid from the Air Toa Lewa, and the Ice Toa Kopaka, the latter of whom temporarily immobilizes the Rakhshi by trapping them in a frozen lake. During their journey through the mountain tunnels en route to the Earth village of Onu-Koro, Takua wanders away from Jaller and is confronted by Makuta, who threatens to kill Jaller and the rest of the island's inhabitants unless Takua brings him the Mask; Takua then abandons Jaller in an attempt to shield him. Makuta then releases three more Rakhshi, who attack Onu-Koro as Takua arrives. Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa and Gali arrive to help the Earth Toa Onua and the Stone Toa Pohatu. Tahu is further corrupted during the battle and goes insane, forcing the Toa to subdue him and flee. Realizing he was the one the Rakhshi were after, Takua decides to rejoin Jaller, while Gali and the other Toa purge the Rakhshi poison from Tahu, resulting in his reconciliation with Gali and the Toa renewing their unity.

Arriving at Kini Nui, a great temple at the island's centre, Jaller and Takua are confronted by all six Rahkshi. The six Toa mount a united offensive and defeat five of them, but the surviving Rahkshi attacks Takua. Jaller sacrifices himself to protect his friend, and Jaller's final words prompt Takua to don the Mask of Light; the Mask transforms him into Takanuva, the Toa of Light. Defeating the final Rakhshi, he constructs a craft powered by Kraata, the worm-like creatures inside the Rahkshi to guide him to Makuta. Traveling to his lair beneath Mata Nui, the two hold a Kohlii contest to decide the island's fate. At Takanuva's bidding, the Toa, Turaga and Matoran gather together in the chamber, and witness Takanuva merging with Makuta to form a single powerful being. With Takanuva's willpower dominant, the being raises a gate leading deeper beneath the island, through which the gathered people flee. The being also revives Jaller before the gate collapses on top of it. The Turaga proceed to awaken Mata Nui using the Mask of Light, which in turn revives Takanuva. The film ends with Takanuva discovering the long-dormant city of Metru Nui, the Matoran's original home.

Characters

 * Jason Michas as Takua/Takanuva. Portrayed as an inquisitive Ta-Matoran, he is a disguised Av-Matoran (Matoran of Light) destined to become the Toa of Light.
 * Andrew Francis as Jaller, the Captain of Ta-Koro's Guard, who is designated as the Herald of the Seventh Toa.
 * Scott McNeil as Tahu, Toa of Fire; Onua, Toa of Earth; and Graalok the Ash Bear, a beast from Lewa's domain.
 * Dale Wilson as Lewa, Toa of Air; and Turaga Onewa, leader of the Po-Matoran.
 * Kathleen Barr as Gali, Toa of Water.
 * Lee Tockar as the Makuta, the main antagonist; Takutanuva, a being created from the merging of Takanuva and Makuta; and Pewku, Jaller's pet racing crab.
 * Christopher Gaze as Turaga Vakama, the leader of the Ta-Matoran.
 * Lesley Ewen as Turaga Nokama, the leader of the Ga-Matoran.
 * Michael Dobson as Kopaka, the Toa of Ice; Hewkii, a Po-Matoran Kohlii player.
 * Trevor Devall as Pohatu, Toa of Stone.
 * Chiara Zanni as Hahli, a Ga-Matoran.
 * Doc Harris as Kolhii announcer.
 * Julian B. Wilson as the Ta-Matoran Guard, and the Rahkshi (vocal effects), mechanical "sons" of Makuta driven by fragments of his being.

Production
The concept for a film based on the Bionicle toyline was proposed as early as 2001, when Bionicle became an unexpected commercial success for Lego: this idea was originally inspired by the fact that Lego advertised Bionicle as if it were a movie, and they had received inquiry emails and licensing requests from multiple film studios. Deciding to make the film while retaining full creative control, Lego began discussing with potential partners, knowing that the film needed to come out while Bionicle was still looming large in the public consciousness. Lego's eventual partner was production entity Create TV & Film. With the initial partnership set up, Lego created some development assets and went round various animation studios to find one that would develop the film. They narrowed it down to two studios, one of which was Creative Capers Entertainment. Creative Capers convinced Lego to employ them after producing a well-received short animated segment featuring Lewa. Creative Caper's three principles, directors Terry Shakespeare and David Molina, and producer Sue Shakespear, all took up their respective roles for the film's production. The deal was reportedly worth $5 million. In a later interview, Shakespeare referred to the film's aesthetic as "primary colors that were coded to the areas", saying it had a "younger feel" when compared to its prequel. He also referred to the film as "very intimate, very organic".

The film began full production in 2002. While most projects of its type took 18–24 months to complete, the development team completed the film in 13 months. The project's budget was later estimated as being between $3.5 to $5 million. In addition to Creative Capers, Taiwanese studio CGCG created most of the animation: at the time, overseas outsourcing was a rarity for CGI films. By the end of production, the film ran to 77 minutes of raw footage. At this stage, 310 Studios was brought in to handle post production, which mostly entailed cutting the film's length down by 7 minutes. According to 310 Studios president Billy Jones, the hardest part of this was deciding which pieces needed to be cut, as they were impressed with everything that had been produced. 310 Studios also created the opening title and ending credit sequences. Lego also partnered with Miramax to distribute the film, along with developing a future full feature-length theatrical film. Miramax's then-parent Disney was also involved with some of the production and release of the film. Terry Shakespeare said in a later interview that Disney may have recommended Lego to choose Creative Capers as animation partners because of their previous work with the company.

Five different people were involved in the creation of the film's story and script: executive producer Bob Thompson, original Bionicle co-creators and writers Alastair Swinnerton and Martin Riber Andersen, and Hollywood writers Henry Gilroy and Greg Weisman. The script-writing process began in 2002. Gilroy became involved after a meeting with Thompson, and enjoyed working on the script as he greatly admired the Bionicle mythos. Two draft scripts were originally created to see who would write the better script: one by Swinnerton, and one from Gilroy. Due to time constraints, the Gilroy script was accepted with some of Swinnerton's ideas included. Gilroy's most difficult task was creating the dialogue for the Toa: he needed to take into account Thompson's own interpretations, and what the majority of fans thought they should sound like. In the end, he attempted to stay true to original portrayals while giving the voice actors something unique to work with. He also needed to balance their portrayals and screentime, as each of the six needed a chance to shine. The script went through eight different drafts before the final version, although this was far less than Gilroy was used to seeing on other projects. During planning stages, a lot of time was devoted to how characters interacted with each other: cited examples were Lewa's style of speaking, and Kopaka's stoic behaviour. These traits were accentuated for the film to give the characters more distinction and depth. He also needed to avoid putting in out-of-context pop culture references, which would not fit into the setting of Bionicle. As part of the world and character development, expressions and exclamations unique to the world were created: a cited example is Jaller saying "You could have been Lava-Bones" when Takua narrowly escapes being killed by a flood of lava.

Design
The characters of Bionicle had been portrayed in various ways across multiple media, including the official comics, Flash animations used for online videos, and CGI commercials for the sets. The team decided to use the models from the CGI commercials as their working base for the film models. Before commencing with designing the characters, the team went to Lego's Denmark headquarters and received lessons in the Bionicle design process. The team were originally not going to alter the characters that much, but they needed them to be emotive, which necessitated a redesign. The first step in creating the character models was redrawing the skeleton, then adding muscle pods that would interweave with the skeleton: the muscle gave the characters a more textured appearance, and were added to the shoulders, calves, abdomen and chest cavity. Each character was given a "heart light", a pulsating light in their chest which would fluctuate even when the character was stationary in-shot. They also adjusted the eyes, making the sockets shallower than on the sets and giving them a pupil-like glow. While redesigning the Toa, the team consulted with the original Lego staff to determine what materials the characters were made of: the muscles were compared to rubber, the bones described as a mesh of titanium alloy and carbon fibre, while the armour was made of Kevlar. In general, the outer shells remained mostly unchanged from the sets, although the visible gears were removed and armour was fitted to their backs. The Toa were also bulked up a little when compared to their sets so their feats would be believable for viewers.

Several external features were redesigned for the film, including the introduction of a movable mouth to allow for a more human character, and a four-pronged mechanical tongue to make them look less like dolls. Other characters used lights behind their masks to form mouth movement. Particular emphasis was placed on the eyebrows and lips of characters. The main change from the original models was the inclusion of hands, which was a necessity if the character performances were to be made realistic. Custom texture maps were created for each character so they would appear unique. In addition to reinventing old characters, the team created original character designs with Lego staff. Makuta, who had only been briefly glimpsed in the comics and web animations, was created through a "Frankenstein principle", taking parts and pieces from multiple Bionicle sets to create the ultimate Bionicle villain. Other original creations included Takua's pet crab Pewku, and a Gukko Bird designed to transport two Matoran. The Rahkshi are described by Bob Thompson as "like hounds hunting down the [Mask of Light]". They were created by Swinnerton, and comic writer Alan Grant helped develop their characters. They were designed to appear more machine-like than the rest of the cast, and their design were strongly inspired by the bio-mechanical artworks of H. R. Giger.

Audio
Voice casting was managed by Kris Zimmerman, who chose voice actors that seemed to suit certain roles: the Matoran were voiced by young adults, while the Turaga were voiced by older actors. The voice actors and their performances were chosen so they would not sound like they came from a specific area of the world, instead sound like they came from and belonged in the Bionicle universe. A notable event during recording was a behind-the-scenes incident between Michas and Francis: originally cast in the respective roles of Jaller and Takua, Michas came into a recording session in a muddled state and began reading Takua's lines by mistake. When Francis came in, he read Jaller's lines: when the staff heard them and were favourably impressed, the actors permanently switched roles. Voice acting for the project was mostly done in 2002, but dialogue was re-recorded during Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR) into 2003: approximately 30% of the final film's dialogue was done during ADR. Audio and music post-production was handled by Hacienda Post. The company's president Tim Borquez served as sound supervisor. Mask of Light was the first time in any media that Bionicle characters spoke in an audio format.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Nathan Furst, whose preferred composition style of grand orchestra and electronica was what the film's producers were looking for. Initially ignorant of the Bionicle universe, he explored the official website after getting the job as composer to get better context for his music. This and discussions he had with staff helped in the creation of eight or nine specific themes. The overall style is grand orchestral, but includes elements of electronic and tribal music. Furst used elements of African, Polynesian, and Eastern European music to communicate the fact that Mata Nui was an island, and when he could he incorporated his music into the action rather than leaving it as a standalone element within scenes.

Originally unavailable for purchase as a soundtrack, Furst published the score of Mask of Light as a digital album with Rising Phoenix Records in 2017, fourteen years after the film's release. The album, titled Bionicle: Mask of Light Original Score Soundtrack (14th Anniversary Release), was published on March 10. It is fully remastered and contains the complete score as heard in the film, consisting of eighteen tracks which comprise approximately an hour of music.

 * Original Score Soundtrack (14th Anniversary Release)

Release
Mask of Light was first announced in April 2002 for release in September the following year. It was Lego Media's (later becoming Create TV & Film in early 2003) first project based on original characters and storylines, and their first direct-to-video production. It was initially released on 16 September 2003 for home video and DVD. It went on to release in 27 different countries over the next eight weeks. It was released under the Miramax Home Entertainment label alongside Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Prior to its release, the film received a world premiere at Legoland in Carlsbad, California on 13 September: the premiere featured a huge mosaic built of Lego and a special effects show, in addition to special guests and costumed characters. The following year, the film received its television premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami program block.

At release, the film ranked high in multiple sales charts. In the "Top Kid Video" compiled by Billboard, it came close to the top of the charts upon release. Upon release, the film ranked at #2 on Amazon.com's VHS best seller list, coming in behind the VHS release of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. According to Lego's 2003 financial report, the film was top-selling VHS release in the United States in its first week, and ranked at #4 in a similar list compiled by The Hollywood Reporter. It was also among the top premiere DVDs of the year. The film's rental sales were also high, being placed at #8 in the animated direct-to-video charts and totalling $4.24 million revenue by October 2004. According to Animation Magazine, the film is considered to be a commercial success.

Critical reception
Entertainment Weekly gave the film a favourable ranking of "B+", calling it a "well-constructed CGI adventure" and saying that those who did not understand the story would enjoy the effects and action sequences. DVDTalk's Don Houston was generally positive about both the film and its additional content: he called the visuals "exceptionally crisp and clear" when compared to other films of its type, and gave high praise to the voice acting and noting darker themes within the film. His main criticism was that it relied heavily on foreknowledge of earlier Bionicle storylines. Sci Film.org praised the film's design and visuals, but felt that the film was too short, echoed Houston's criticism of a need for foreknowledge, and said that it was "too respectful" when compared to other films like Transformers: The Movie. Jules Faber of Digital Views Daily said the story had been designed with children in mind, and again praised the visuals despite seeing some stilted animations and poorly-done environmental effects. He was generally positive about the DVD's audio and visual quality. Both Houston and Faber noted homages to other well-known films, including The Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the works of Ray Harryhausen.

Legacy
Mask of Light won a Golden Reel Award for Best Visual Effects in a DVD Premiere Movie in December 2003. In addition, it won the Best DVD release award at the 2004 Saturn Awards. In 2014, Vulture.com made mention of the film in a 2014 retrospective on Lego's history in the movie industry. That same year, Radio Times ranked it as among the best films based on toys, saying that the developers "did a better-than-average job of translating the appeal of the toys to screen".

Mask of Light was promoted by Lego with new toys based on the film's original characters; a video game based on its story released in 2003; a line of shoes; and a novelisation of the film. Two further Bionicle films were confirmed prior to the release of Mask of Light, with the second being another direct-to-video feature and a third for theatrical release. The second film, Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, was released in 2004. The third film, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows, was released as a direct-to-DVD feature in 2005. Both films were produced by the same creative team behind Mask of Light. A fourth film by a different studio, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, was released in 2009 through Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. A four-episode television series based on the rebooted Bionicle toyline aired in the first quarter of 2016 on Netflix.

title: Bionicle: Mask of Light


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WUSL

WUSL (98.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It carries a mainstream urban radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia The studios and offices are on Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd.

WUSL is a Class B station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 27,000 watts. Its transmitter is off Wigard Avenue near the Schuylkill River in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. WUSL broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format. Its HD2 digital subchannel formerly played Spanish-language contemporary hits.

Easy listening and Soft AC
In 1961, the 98.9 frequency signed on as WPBS. The call sign represented Philadelphia Bulletin Station, under common ownership with the city's largest daily newspaper at the time, The Evening Bulletin. (The call letters pre-date the 1969 founding of PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service.) WPBS was cross-promoted with the newspaper and featured an easy listening format, airing quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumental cover versions of popular adult songs, as well as Broadway and Hollywood showtunes. At one point, WPBS was called "Velvet Stereo".

In 1976, the newspaper sold the station to LIN Broadcasting, which at the time also owned WFIL. WPBS's call letters were changed to WUSL, which stood for "U.S. 1", a major north-south route running through Philadelphia. (The "L" represented the number 1.) Program Director Jim Nettleton instituted a Soft Adult Contemporary format mixed with a number of standards which had crossed over to the 1960s/1970s pop charts (e.g. Engelbert Humperdinck, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, etc.). The studios were located at 440 Domino Lane in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, where the station's tower is still located.

1981-82: Country music
On July 3, 1981, the station switched to a "3-in-a-row" country music format as Continuous Country, US-99FM. Two months later, co-owned WFIL switched to a more personality and information-leaning country station, while WUSL stuck with a more-music, limited chatter approach.

But country music's listener base in a northern city such as Philadelphia was not very large, and the station struggled in the ratings. As such, WUSL ended the country format shortly after midnight on October 9, 1982; the final country song was "Get into Reggae Cowboy" by The Bellamy Brothers. The station then went silent for the night before premiering its new format.

1982-Present Urban contemporary
LIN Broadcasting decided to target Philadelphia's growing African-American community with a new radio station, challenging the long-established leader in R&B music, WDAS-FM. WUSL flipped to a CHR/Urban Contemporary hybrid format (also known as "CHUrban", a forerunner to the rhythmic contemporary format) as "Kiss 99FM".

WUSL branded as KISS 99fm for a few weeks until late October 1982, when it rebranded as POWER 99fm. Within months, the station had surpassed WDAS-FM in the ratings and because of WUSL's success stations around the country adopted the Power branding (but not always with an Urban, CHUrban or CHR format). Later in 1982 the station began presenting its annual major concert event known as The POWER 99fm PowerHouse (not to be confused with the PBS educational series of the same name.)

Ownership changes
EZ Communications, owner of Top 40-formatted WIOQ, purchased WUSL in July 1994. In February 1997, EZ Communications was attempting to merge with American Radio Systems of Boston, and exchanged its Philadelphia stations, WIOQ and WUSL, plus $10 million, for Evergreen's four FM and two AM stations in Charlotte, North Carolina: WPEG, WBAV (AM/FM), WNKS, WRFX and WFNZ.

In 1996, Evergreen acquired WUSL's chief rival in the urban radio format, WDAS-FM, as well as WDAS AM. With former rivals WUSL and WDAS-FM now co-owned, WUSL focused its programming on younger black, Latino and white listeners, while WDAS-FM served an older demographic.

Past personalities
One of the most well-known programs to air on WUSL was a morning zoo-style show called "The Carter & Sanborn Morning Show" (or "Carter & Sanborn in the Morning"), which was hosted by Brian Carter and Dave Sanborn. The show featured a cast of off-beat characters, all voiced by Sanborn, including wise-cracking horoscope reader "Horace, the Taurus" and fall down drunk blues singer "Lunchmeat Mumford".

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the show was a main draw in Philadelphia among younger members of all demographics. Bill Simpson, who would later host a nighttime show on both incarnations of WJJZ (first at 106.1 and later at 97.5), used the alias Dave Sanborn on the show, which often created confusion with the well-known jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, especially among those who were not regular listeners. The show was briefly revived in 2005 on WDAS-FM after that station dropped Tom Joyner from its schedule.

From 1991 to 1998, Power 99 aired the groundbreaking hip hop show "Radioactive", hosted by Colby Colb. Also on the show were DJ Ran, DJ Cosmic Kev and Robert "Laid Back" Black. Colby Colb started as an intern at the station and following the success of Radioactive went on to host nights (6–10pm), mornings with Wendy Williams and Dee Lee (The Dream Team). The Dream Team would become one of the biggest urban morning shows in the country competing closely with market leader Howard Stern whose syndicated morning show was on WYSP at the time.

Their success was short lived as Wendy Williams left in August 2001 to go back to New York City to do afternoons on WBLS. Colb left WUSL six months later in March 2002 to help launch sister station WWPR-FM in New York City. From 2002 until 2011, WUSL was the only urban contemporary station in Philadelphia. At that point, Radio One's WPHI-FM switched formats to urban contemporary from rhythmic contemporary under the direction of program director (and former Power 99 host) Colby Colb. WUSL and WPHI competed in the early/mid 2000s in one of the most closely watched radio battles in the U.S.

WUSL was also the home of the controversial Star and Buc Wild Morning Show from late 2005 to May 2006. It was also the home of Miss Jones in the Morning, Shamara – "The Midday Princess" and The Power 99FM's Hot Boyz with Poochman, Mikey Dredd and Uncle O at night.

The 2013 on air line up consisted of "The Rise N Grind Morning Show" with Mina SayWhat (former DJ of Sirius/XM's The Heat), and Mikey Dredd (former member of the Hot Boyz). SayWhat left the station in December 2017.

Public affairs shows
WUSL has won numerous awards for its news and public affairs programming, a hallmark of which was their Sunday morning programming. From its inception as Power 99, Sunday mornings featured two public affairs shows: Sunday Morning Live, hosted by longtime news anchor Loraine Ballard Morrill and later Empower Half Hour with Lehronda Upshur.

Awards and honors
The station was one of 10 awarded the 2007 Crystal Radio Award for public service awarded by the National Association of Broadcasters. Winners were honored at the Radio Luncheon on April 17, 2007, during the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Former personnel

 * Don Juan Banks (deceased)
 * Tony Brown (later at WDAS-FM, deceased)
 * Fred Buggs (later at WQHT-FM in New York City)
 * Brian Carter (co-host of Carter & Sanborn In The Morning, deceased)
 * Wendy "Lady B" Clark
 * Colby Colb (Later VP of Programming for Radio One)
 * JoJo Davis (later became a judge in Orlando, Florida)
 * Mike Jackson
 * B.J. Johnson (later at WDAS-FM, deceased)
 * Mina SayWhat
 * Miss Jones
 * John Monds (later host of a national evening show, "Love and R&B")
 * Monie Love (later at WALR in Atlanta)
 * Lorraine Ballard Morrill (news/public affairs)
 * Gary Shepherd
 * Bill Simpson (on-air as Dave Sanborn) (co-host of Carter & Sanborn In The Morning)
 * Barbara Sommers (previously at WFIL 560, deceased)
 * Stanley T (later at SiriusXM)
 * Wendy Williams (now a national TV talk show host)
 * Jeff Wyatt (later programmed iHeartMedia stations in Baltimore and Washington DC)

Signal note
WUSL is short-spaced to WAWZ in Zarephath, New Jersey. They operate on first adjacent channels (98.9 and 99.1) and their transmitters are only 53 miles apart. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current FCC rules should be 105 miles.

The two stations have operated with the short-spacing for decades. The arrangement is now grandfathered.

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

title: WUSL


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Spectacular Bid

Spectacular Bid (foaled February 17, 1976 – June 9, 2003) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He holds the world record for the fastest 10 furlongs on dirt, and also broke several track records. (A furlong is 1/8 mi.) He won 26 of his 30 races and earned a then-record $2,781,607. He also won Eclipse Awards in each of his three racing seasons.

Spectacular Bid was the leading American two-year-old of 1978, winning the Champagne Stakes and the Laurel Futurity. As a three-year-old, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, giving him twelve consecutive victories. Spectacular Bid then tried to become the third consecutive Triple Crown winner, but he only came third in the Belmont Stakes after hurting his foot before the race. He recovered from the injury to win the Marlboro Cup and confirm his status as the best American colt of his generation. In 1980 as a four-year-old, Spectacular Bid was undefeated in nine races, and was named American Horse of the Year.

Background
Spectacular Bid was bred at Buck Pond Farm near Lexington, Kentucky by Madelyn Jason and her mother, Mrs. William Gilmore. He was a very dark gray (described as "steel-gray" and "battleship-colored" ) during his racing career although, like all grays, his coat lightened as he aged, and he eventually took on a "flea-bitten gray" appearance.

His sire was Bold Bidder, stakes winner of 13 races who also sired the 1974 Kentucky Derby winner, Cannonade. His grandsire was Bold Ruler, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee and an eight-time Leading sire in North America. His dam was the gray mare Spectacular by Promised Land, who, as a descendant of the broodmare Fly By Night, was a member of the same branch of Thoroughbred Family 2-d which also produced the Kentucky Derby winners Northern Dancer and Cannonade. Spectacular Bid was inbred 3x3 to the stallion To Market, meaning that this horse appears twice in the third generation of his pedigree. As of 2012 he remains one of the two most inbred Kentucky Derby winners in the last 50 years (Big Brown was similarly inbred to Northern Dancer).

As a yearling, Spectacular Bid was sold at auction for US$37,000 (equivalent to $ in ) at the 1977 Keeneland September yearling sale to Harry and Teresa Meyerhoff of Hawksworth Farm, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The colt was sent into training with Grover G. "Bud" Delp, who remained his trainer throughout his career.

1978: two-year-old season
Spectacular Bid began his racing career on June 30, 1978, at Pimlico Race Course, where he came within $2/5$ of a second of the track record for $5 1/2$ furlongs. Three weeks later at his next start at Pimlico, an allowance race, he equalled the track record of 1:04.2. He notched stakes victories in the Grade III World's Playground Stakes, the Grade I Champagne Stakes, the Young America Stakes, the Grade I Laurel Futurity (in which he set a track record, a rarity for a two-year-old in a route race, running 1+1/16 mi in 1:41.6), and the Heritage Stakes. He also finished second in the Dover Stakes and had his only out-of-the-money finish in the Tyro Stakes. Spectacular Bid's regular jockey was the teenager Ronnie Franklin.

By the end of his first year of racing, Spectacular Bid had won seven races in nine starts, set one track record and tied another, won US$384,484 and been unanimously voted the Eclipse champion two-year-old colt for the year.

Preparing for the Triple Crown
Spectacular Bid's second year of racing began where his first left off, as he reeled off five wins in rapid succession: the Hutcheson Stakes, the Fountain of Youth, the Florida Derby (all at Gulfstream Park), the Flamingo Stakes (at Hialeah), and the Blue Grass Stakes (at Keeneland Race Course). After the Florida Derby, which Spectacular Bid won by $4 1/2$ lengths despite meeting trouble in running, Delp reprimanded Franklin in public over his ride: "You idiot! You nearly killed that horse!". Franklin defended himself by claiming that the other riders had colluded to stop Spectacular Bid obtaining a clear run.

Triple Crown attempt
Spectacular Bid's attempt at the Triple Crown began with the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in May 1979. The crowd of 125,000 made him the 3/5 favorite, with California champion Flying Paster the bettors' second choice. Spectacular Bid seemed nervous before the start, but Delp was so confident of victory that as the horse paraded in front of the fans, he called, "Go bet! Go bet!" Spectacular Bid was restrained by Franklin in the early stages before moving up on the outside to take the lead on the far turn. He drew clear in the straight and won by $2 3/4$ lengths over General Assembly, with Golden Act in third. After suffering a leg cut during the race, Flying Paster finished fifth. Spectacular Bid was the last two-year-old champion to win the Kentucky Derby until Street Sense in 2007.

Spectacular Bid's next step in the quest for the Triple Crown came at the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Bumped early, he ran wide and by the final stretch was in command. He handily won the race, outpacing his competitors to win by $5 1/2$ lengths from Golden Act, with nine lengths back to Screen King in third. His time of 1:54.2 was faster than that of Seattle Slew or Affirmed, and by official time faster than Secretariat (though Secretariat's time in this race was disputed and in 2012 changed to 1:53.0). When asked about the colt's prospects of winning the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes, Franklin claimed that "we're a cinch."

On the morning of the Belmont Stakes, a freak accident was discovered: Spectacular Bid had stepped on a safety pin. The pin had become embedded in his hoof, later leading to an infection that required the hoof to be drilled to cure the problem. However, after the discovery of the injury, Spectacular Bid did not seem lame and was entered into the race. Three days prior to the race, Franklin was fined after he engaged in a fist fight with Ángel Cordero Jr. in the jockeys' preparation room due to a dispute over an earlier race at Belmont. In the Belmont, Franklin rode Spectacular Bid aggressively early in the mile and a half race and went to the lead before half way. Spectacular Bid held a clear lead entering the stretch but began to struggle and was overtaken by Coastal, who challenged along the inside rail. The favorite faded in the closing stages and lost second place to Golden Act near the finish. Some commentators speculated that Delp and Franklin had been intent on emulating Secretariat's performance in 1973 and that their tactics were intended to maximize the margin of victory. Delp, who had commented dismissively on Coastal's chances before the race, offered few excuses: "[Spectacular Bid] may not be a mile-and-a-half horse. The best horse won. I got beat, that's all. Tomorrow's another day." Franklin, who was replaced by Bill Shoemaker in Spectacular Bid's subsequent races, admitted that he had ridden a poorly judged race, explaining that he had very little experience of race-riding over long distances.

Spectacular Bid's failure to win the Belmont began a record-breaking drought: after Affirmed in 1978, no horse would complete the Triple Crown until American Pharoah achieved the feat in 2015. Spectacular Bid and American Pharoah are also the last two 2-year-old champions to run in the Belmont with Triple Crowns on the line.

Post-triple crown racing
Following the Belmont Stakes, Spectacular Bid took two months off to recover from the injury. He returned to racing with Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, who rode him through most of the remainder of his career. His first race back was in August 1979 in an allowance race at Delaware Park. He won by more than 17 lengths and set a new track record for 1+1/16 mi, 1:41.6. Spectacular Bid followed this performance with a win at the Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park, beating both horses he had lost to in the Belmont Stakes: Coastal and Golden Act. He was scheduled to race in the Marlboro against 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, but Affirmed's owners bowed out of the race in reaction to a 133-pound impost assignment to Affirmed.

Spectacular Bid did meet Affirmed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in October, where he made repeated challenges and finished second to the Triple Crown winner. This was the last race Spectacular Bid lost, and the only time, apart from the Belmont, in which he raced over a mile and a half. He finished the year with one more race, the Meadowlands Cup, again setting a track record at 1+1/4 mi, 2:01.2. At the end of the year, he was unanimously awarded the title of Eclipse champion three-year-old colt for the year and was runner-up to Affirmed in the vote for Horse of the Year. His winnings for this year totalled US$1,279,333.

1980: four-year-old season
As a four-year-old, Spectacular Bid started in nine races, winning them all for earnings of US$1,117,790. He set five track records at distances of 7, 8, and 10 furlongs, and twice at 9 furlong.

His first three races were part of the "Strub Series", all held at the Santa Anita Park course that the late Charles H. Strub owned and built. Spectacular Bid carried 126 pounds in each race and defeated Flying Paster each time. The first race in the series was the Grade II Malibu Stakes at 7 furlong. Spectacular Bid ran the distance in 1:20, which stood as a track record for 27 years until Santa Anita removed its dirt track in favor of an artificial surface. Then he won the Grade II San Fernando Stakes, and finally, he won the Grade I Strub Stakes at 1+1/4 mi, running that distance the fastest ever on a dirt track, 1:57.8, and breaking a 30-year-old record of 1:58.2 set by Hall of Famer Noor carrying under 130 lb in 1950. As of 2020, Spectacular Bid's time still stands as the world record on a dirt track.

Spectacular Bid also won the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap (carrying 130 lbs) on a sloppy track March 2. Then he moved to Hollywood Park Racetrack, where he won the Mervyn Leroy Handicap carrying 132 lbs on May 18 and the Grade I Californian Stakes, carrying 130 lbs in a track record time of 1:45.8. He then shipped to Arlington Park to win the Grade III Washington Park Handicap by ten lengths under 130 lbs. His time of 1:46.2 for 1+1/8 mi broke the track record, which had been jointly held by Damascus. Then it was on to Monmouth Park for the Grade I Monmouth Handicap, which he won under 132 lbs, defeating champion filly Glorious Song. Delp caused some controversy by withdrawing Spectacular Bid from the Marlboro Cup after the horse was assigned a weight of 136 lbs.

Spectacular Bid concluded his career with a walkover in the Woodward Stakes on September 20, 1980, at Belmont, covering the 1+1/4 mi in 2:02.4. A plan to race in the Jockey Club Gold Cup was aborted on the day of the race when an injury to the horse's left front ankle flared up. Delp thereafter announced Spectacular Bid's retirement.

During his final year, Spectacular Bid compiled then-record earnings of US$2,781,607 and was named American Champion Older Male Horse and Horse of the Year. In the voting for the latter award, he received 181 of the 200 votes, beating Genuine Risk (14 votes), Temperence Hill (4) and John Henry (1). His full race record is listed below.

Stud record
Following his last race, Spectacular Bid was syndicated for a then-record US$22 million and put to stud at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, where his initial stud fee was US$150,000. He made a promising start to his breeding career, but his later record was disappointing. The quality of mares he attracted fell, and his stud fees declined over the years. He was eventually sold and moved in 1991 to Milfer Farms in Unadilla, New York, where he lived out the remainder of his years, continuing to attract visits and letters from admirers. He was never pensioned from stud duty, covering ten mares at a fee of $3,500 in the last year of his life.

Spectacular Bid was sent to stud at Claiborne Farm, which is where Secretariat was also sent to stud. Secretariat's paddock at Claiborne Farm bordered three other stallions: Drone, Sir Ivor, and Spectacular Bid. Secretariat did not pay much attention to Drone or Sir Ivor, but he and Spectacular Bid became friendly and occasionally raced each other along the fence line between their paddocks.

Spectacular Bid sired 253 winners, including 47 stakes winners that won more than US$19 million. His most notable progeny include: Bite the Bullet (19 starts 5-4-2 for US$216,809; sire of 19 SW in Australia), Spectacular Love (won G1 Belmont Futurity Stakes), Spectacular Sue, Maison Close, Lay Down, Festivity, Spectacular Joke, Princess Pietrina, Lotus Pool, Esprit d'Etoile, Legal Bid and Sweettuc. At the time of his death, his daughters had produced 69 stakes winners, including the European Champion Sprinter Mozart.

Spectacular Bid died from a heart attack on June 9, 2003, and was buried at Milfer Farms. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Honors
The Blood-Horse magazine ranked Spectacular Bid at #10 in the Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1982. In their book A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris ranked him as the third best North American horse of the 20th century (behind Secretariat and Citation) and the ninth best in their global ranking.

The Los Angeles Times quoted jockey Bill Shoemaker as saying that Spectacular Bid was the best horse he ever rode.

Pedigree

 * Spectacular Bid was inbred 3 × 3 to To Market, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the third generation of his pedigree.

title: Spectacular Bid


text:
User:Advancesmonkey

I AM ELECTRIC DOG AND EEL

title: User:Advancesmonkey


text:
Talk:Levantine Arabic

Subtitled video: Reviewing Levantine text
I made Levantine Arabic subtitles for the video on this page. I barely ever read Levantine Arabic, so I'd love if someone could review the spelling and grammar of the subtitles: 1 00:00:02,826 --> 00:00:09,760 وهل شعب ل كتير بيشبه اللبنانية، يعني، بيشبه لبنان بمحبته للحياة، بالجمال.

2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,120 إنتو ناس حلوين، وهيدا الشي ما من شوفو دايمًا.

3 00:00:14,076 --> 00:00:19,480 المغاربة والمغرب كتير بيشبه لبنان بشكل الحياة إلّي هوّ في،

4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,160 فأنا حسي حالي ببيتي، وهيدا الشي بيفرّحني.

5 00:00:22,438 --> 00:00:28,200 أول شي، نوع الموسيئى المغربيّة هيّ أصلًا بتعجبني، والفَنّانين كلن

6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,240 وسعي الفنانين المغاربي إنون يروحو ع العالامية.

7 00:00:32,899 --> 00:00:34,960 وإنتو ئادرين توصلو للعالمية.

8 00:00:35,958 --> 00:00:41,800 وهيدا التعاون الئريب رح تحبو، إن ٱللَّٰه راد، بين أنا والفنان المغربي.

9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:42,840 إنتِ محتالة.

10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,720 بنتبه ع بشرتي كتير. هيدا الأهم. لأنُ إذا كانِت بشرتك حلوة،

11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,960 [بالإنكليزي] شو ما بطحطي ع بشرتك بلَمِع.

12 00:00:50,041 --> 00:00:51,200 [باللبنان] إذا لأ، ما بِبَيِّن.

13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,480 "شتركو" User:FunLater 22:06, 4 September 2023 (UTC)

 * Hi @FunLater, thanks a lot for taking this initiative! I've just asked a few native speakers I know to review it and I'll let you know. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 07:34, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you so much. FunLater (talk) 12:40, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi @FunLater, I was told:
 * "there are a few spelling choices that, while it’s not possible to say they’re incorrect as there is no standard spelling system, nonetheless I would recommend a different spelling
 * line 2, I’d spell it منشوفو as one word rather than two (من شوفو)
 * line 3 last word I’d spell it as فيه because here it means “in it”
 * line 4 second word I’d spell it حاسة
 * line 5 personally I’d spell it الموسيقى just to be consistent with MSA and other dialects
 * line 6 last word I’d spell it العالمية
 * line 7 I’d spell it قادرين again for the same reason as in line 5
 * there are a few spelling choices that, while it’s not possible to say they’re incorrect as there is no standard spelling system, nonetheless I would recommend a different spelling
 * oh and line 8 I’d spell it القريب
 * a lot of my spelling choices are “classicizing” I do realize, but it also helps facilitate cross-dialect recognition as well"
 * So I assume it's a matter of personal preferences and you can keep your subtitles or choose the above suggestions. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 08:07, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you, both of you. I applied all changes and added the subtitles in the Arabic slot, since there isn't one for Levantine.
 * Make sure to thank them and let them know that they can edit the subtitles here if they want to change anything: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/TimedText:Maya_Diab_interview_in_Morocco_-_Oct_28,_2017.webm.ar.srt FunLater (talk) 13:33, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot! I think the language code should be 'apc' instead of 'ar' if possible. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 14:32, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
 * The usual dropdown for selecting languages doesn't show Levantine. I tried manually putting the code as apc, but it's not showing in the video player, so I asked at Commons' helpdesk. FunLater (talk) 19:20, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
 * @FunLater Thanks! a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 19:43, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
 * A little late, but the issue is fixed now. FunLater (talk) 14:26, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

Levantine Arabic Wikipedia as a section
Hello @A455bcd9!

First of all, thank you for everything you did to help make this article a featured article. I truly appreciate all your efforts, and it is a very well-written piece!

Meanwhile, I need to say that I disagree with your decision to revert my last edits, so would like to have a discussion, if possible. My argument is: Overall, I believe the content has encyclopedic value since the Wikimedia Foundation is a notable entity and the LC is representing the WMF here. I would appreciate it if you could reconsider. @FunLater: Curious about your opinion on this matter as well, if you have time. TheJoyfulTentmaker (talk) 08:37, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Meta can be considered a reliable source for the information that was included in the subsection: The text says that the project is determined to be eligible by the Wikimedia Foundation Language Committee. Even if you consider the dynamic page to be unreliable (since it can be vandalized) I can link to that particular edit or the static page as a reference, which cannot be altered, and is a perfectly reliable source for the statement being made WP:RAP. Also we can add the language committee's mailing list discussions, which would provide an additional reliable sourcing. The mailing list is open to the public.

 * Verifiability is not a problem here, but a Wikipedia edition is rarely if ever significant enough to discuss in the article about a language. Nardog (talk) 09:14, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Nardog Indeed. We can only add content backed by reliable sources. So if for instance a reputable newspaper talks about the efforts around creating a Levantine Wikipedia, then we could mention it and it would be very interesting. But we don't have that. Unfortunately. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 09:57, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Indeed what? I just said verifiability isn't a problem here. We could totally discuss the Wikipedia without a reliable source, as far as is allowed by WP:ABOUTSELF. I just don't find it pertinent to the subject, and that's a matter within editorial discretion. Nardog (talk) 10:08, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Nardog We cannot use Wikimedia projects as a source per WP:CIRCULAR. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 10:34, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * "An exception is allowed when Wikipedia itself is being discussed in the article." Nardog (talk) 11:02, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * You're right, sorry. a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 11:32, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I think verifiability-wise the section is/was okay, but the wiki is unfortunately not (yet) significant enough to warrant its own section. FunLater (talk) 11:04, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Even Scots' article doesn't mention its wiki version, despite The Incident. FunLater (talk) 11:09, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Exactly. Nardog (talk) 11:11, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

"Levantine speakers in Turkey use the Latin-based Turkish alphabet."
Is there a reason to not add the Turkish alphabet to the infobox? FunLater (talk) 23:16, 10 March 2024 (UTC)

 * I don't think it's necessary. We have "Latin script", which encompasses all Latin-based alphabets, including the Turkish alphabet. Similarly, Levantine speakers (esp. in Lebanon) might use the French é or French based-spellings (ch instead of sh for instance) but we don't list "French alphabet" in "Writing system". a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 11:52, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Okay, cool. :) FunLater (talk) 11:55, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Recent reversion of change from "Arabian" to "North Arabian"
While the source only says "Arabian", other sources referencing the same group refer to it as "North Arabian" to avoid ambiguity with Old and Modern South Arabian. Listing it as merely "Arabian" only creates ambiguity. Arctic Circle System (talk) 21:43, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

 * The source says Arabian, so we write Arabian. Unless we have a better reliable source for the whole classification tree? (and not just for "Arabian", we don't do a patchwork of RS). a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 08:26, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

Significance of knowing the Arabic script
I think the below statement in the article is problematic because it implies that if one speaks Levantine Arabic, then it is expected that they would know the Arabic script. This expectation contradicts that this language is mostly a spoken language. E.g., if I found a source that says they don't know the Hebrew script, could we have added it to the article? It doesn't matter if the source says this, the sources, even if reliable, may propagate the existing biases. Also if you click on the link given for "illiterate", you can see that it does not describe the situation of Levantine speakers in Turkey. They use Levantine Arabic as their conversational language, and mostly Turkish as their professional/academic language. Labeling this as a form of illiteracy is misleading. Since this is a featured article, even if this is a small matter, I think it would be helpful to have a discussion. @FunLater, @Nardog, @Buidhe: curious about your thoughts. "In Turkey, article 42.9 of the Constitution prohibits languages other than Turkish from being taught as a mother tongue and almost all indigenous Arabic speakers are illiterate in the Arabic script unless they have learned it for religious purposes." TheJoyfulTentmaker (talk) 16:11, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Levantine Arabic


text:
El Peyote Asesino

El Peyote Asesino is a Uruguayan rock band formed in 1994 in the Villa Española neighborhood (Montevideo). It is made up of Fernando Santullo —credited as "L. Mental"— and Carlos Casacuberta on vocals, Daniel Benia on bass, Juan Campodónico on guitar, Bruno Tortorella on keyboards, Matías Rada on guitar and Pepe Canedo on drums. His style combines heavy metal, funk, and rap, something that was atypical in the Uruguayan rock scene at that time.

They made their debut in 1995, with the release of their self-titled album El Peyote Asesino, produced by Gabriel Casacuberta —Carlos' brother. This album had a good impact in the Montevidean underground movement, where it sold 1,000 copies, being the best-selling Uruguayan rock album during the first months of 1996.

In September 1997 they began recording their second LP at Can Am studios in Los Angeles. Terraja, was released on 31 August 1998 under the Universal Music Group label. Apart from maintaining the rap metal style of his predecessor, Terraja experiments with multiple genres such as electronic music, soul, milonga, candombe and tango. The most popular song on the album is "Mal de la Cabeza." A year after the release of Terraja, the band temporarily broke up.

In 2009 they would meet for a presentation at the Pilsen Rock festival, on 4 and 5 November of that same year at the Teatro de Verano in Montevideo; but no studio work was carried out.

After twenty-three years of inactivity, on 5 November 2021 Serial was released. A year before, a new single called "Vos No Me Llamaste" was published, and in the same year that Serial would be released, they published two new songs: "La Tumba de los Crá" and "Es lo que Hay". The album was produced by Campodónico, the band's guitarist.

First years and El Peyote Asesino (1994-1997)
El Peyote Asesino was formed at late 1994 by Fernando Santullo and Juan Campodónico. The band's original lineup was Santullo (credited as "L. Mental") and Carlos Casacuberta on vocals, Daniel Benia on bass, Juan Campodónico on guitar and Roberto Rodino on drums. They debuted on 28 August of that same year at the now-defunct "El perro azul" pub. Already for their second performance, at Big Bang, the band was complete. Pepe Canedo joined on drums, replacing Rodino, and Casacuberta on voice and guitar. That presence would be followed by others such as the La Movida Young Art Meeting and several in the Montevideo underground movement. In November 1994 they presented a demo in the "Generación 95" contest sponsored by "Rock de Primera" - supplement of the newspaper Últimas Noticias -, "Control Remote" - rock program on Channel 10 - and X FM 100.3, being declared winners by the jury and whose reward was hours to be able to record an album. This opened the possibility of making their first album, which would be recorded between the months of July to October 1995 at the Estudio del Cordón. Their sound engineer at that time was Luis Restuccia. Santullo commented: "Sometimes I would say “I want my voice to sound a little more rotten,” and suddenly I would say “rotten” to Luis and he would imagine something that had a bad smell, but Gabriel, since he had listened to the Beastie Boys, acted as a link."

In December 1995 they released their first studio album under the Orfeo label, El Peyote Asesino. This would make it the best-selling rock album in Uruguay during the first months of 1996. Meanwhile, the group multiplied its live activities, playing with various local bands. In January 1996, they were voted by the readers of Rock de Primera, with a significant margin, "National rock revelation group in 1995." The band made their first video, choosing the song "L. Mental", being broadcast on different open and cable TV channels. In June, the song "El Peyote Asesino" enters the list of the 10 best on X FM, reaching number 1 on 18 June, where it remained for two weeks. In August they perform in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the Rojas Cultural Center, together with the Mexican rap metal band Molotov and Tintoreros. The person who organized this cycle is also Uruguayan, based in Buenos Aires, Fabián Jara. Jara was in charge of organizing it in the Ricardo Rojas room, belonging to the Argentine university circuit and which has previously hosted Buitres After La Una. "This is the first time this has happened to us, since in Montevideo the spectators watch our shows standing up and many of them pogo and dance," said Casacuberta.

Debut album
On December 1995 their first album '’’El Peyote Asesino'’’ was launched (Orfeo). Gabriel Casacuberta (brother of Carlos Casacuberta) and Luis Restuccia were the ones in charge of the production of this album. This album sold over a thousand copies, which made it the highest selling rock album in Uruguay, during the first months of 1996. Meanwhile, the group increased their live performances and started coming out of the Montevideo underground scene. On January of 1996 the band filmed its first video '’’L. Mental'’’ which spread throughout most of the local TV stations. ’'’El Peyote Asesino'’’ the most known track of the album, got a place in the top ten singles of X FM reaching the first spot in only 18 days.

Terraja
During the month of September the band starts recording their second album, Terraja, in the Can Am Recorders studio, city of Los Angeles, California. Once they finished recording it, they went on tour with the Mexican Molotov and Control Machete, playing in many parts of Mexico. Terraja was finally edited in August 1998, in different countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and the United States. The band returned to Argentina, one month after the album was edited, to perform along with Molotov, Cypress Hill, Bersuit Vergarabat and Árbol. Later that month, they played in Uruguay for the last time along with Plátano Macho and Molotov, before they split up for several years.

Reunion and Serial
Ten years after their split up, they performed live at the '’’Pilsen Rock'’’ festival, playinf for 80 thousand people. and shortly after in the '’’Teatro de Verano'’’.

In 2016 they once again performed in the Teatro de Verano on the nights of 12 and 13 May. Although Carlos Casacuberta wasn't able to play due to health problems. Guests Matias Rada filled on Casacuberta's role instead while Bruno Tortorella played the keyboard. Since 2016, Rada and Tortorella are stable members of the group. In November 2021 the band released Serial, their third album. It was composed and recorded between 2019 and 2020 in Montevideo. It contains ten songs, was recorded by Julio Berta and produced by Juan Campodónico. "This work sums up the artistic maturation of the group very well. It shows in everything, in the music, in the lyrics. I think it is the best of the three albums that Peyote has released" Gustavo Santaolalla, producer of Terraja in 1997, said about Serial.

title: El Peyote Asesino


text:
José María de Pereda

José María de Pereda y Sánchez de Porrúa (born 6 February 1833, Polanco, Cantabria – died 1 March 1906, Polanco) was a Spanish novelist, and a Member of the Royal Spanish Academy.

Life
Pereda was educated at the Institute Cántabro of Santander, whence he went in 1852 to Madrid, where he studied with the vague purpose of entering the artillery corps. Abandoning this design after three years' trial, he returned home and began his literary career by contributing articles to a local journal, La Abeja montañesa in 1858. He also wrote much in a weekly paper, El Tío Cayetano, and in 1864 he collected his powerful realistic sketches of local life and manners under the title of Escenas montañesas (Mountain scenes).

Pereda fought against the revolution of 1868 in El Tío Cayetano, writing the newspaper almost single-handed. In 1871 he was elected as the Carlist deputy for Cabuérniga. In this same year he published a second series of Escenas montañesas under the title of Tipos y paisajes; and in 1876 appeared Bocetos al temple, three tales, in one of which the author describes his disenchanting political experiences.

The Tipos trashumantes belongs to the year 1877, as does El Buey suelto, which was intended as a reply to the thesis of Balzac's work, Les Petites misères de la vie conjugale. More and more pessimistic as to the political future of his country, Pereda took occasion in Don Gonzalo González de la Gonzalera (1879) to ridicule the Revolution as he had seen it at work, and to pour scorn upon the nouveaux riches who exploited Liberalism for their personal ends. Two novels by his friend Pérez Galdós, Doña Perfecta and Gloria, drew from Pereda a reply, De Tal palo tal astilla (1880), in which he endeavours to show that tolerance in religious matters is disastrous alike to nations and to individuals. The Esbozos y rasguños (1881) is of lighter material, and is less attractive than El Sabor de la Tierruca (1882), a striking piece of landscape which won immediate appreciation.

New ground was broken in Pedro Sánchez (1883), where Pereda leaves his native province to portray the disillusion of a sincere enthusiast who has plunged into the political life of the capital. Pereda's masterpiece is Sotileza (1884), a vigorous rendering of marine life. In La Puchera (1889) he returned to the marine subjects which he knew and loved best. Again, in Peñas arriba (1895), the love of country life is manifested in the masterly contrast between the healthy fields and the corrupt, squalid cities.

Pereda's fame was now established; the statutes of the Spanish Academy, which require members to reside at Madrid, were suspended in his favor (1896). But his literary career was over. The death of his eldest son, the disastrous campaign in Cuba and the Philippines (during the Spanish–American War), darkened his closing years, and his health failed long before his death.

Pereda belongs to the native realistic school of Spain, which, founded by the unknown author of Lazarillo de Tormes, was continued by Mateo Alemán, Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Quevedo and many others. He saw, knew, understood character; he created not only types, but living personages, such as Andres, Cleto and Muergo in Sotileza, Pedro Juan and Pilara in La Puchera; and he personified the tumult and calm of the sea with more power than Víctor Hugo displayed in Les Travailleurs de la mer.

title: José María de Pereda


text:
Tom Swifty

A Tom Swifty (or Tom Swiftie) is a phrase in which a quoted sentence is linked by a pun to the manner in which it is attributed. Tom Swifties may be considered a type of wellerism. The standard syntax is for the quoted sentence to be first, followed by the description of the act of speaking, such as:

"'If you want me, I shall be in the attic,' said Tom, loftily."

The hypothetical speaker is usually, by convention, called "Tom" (or "he" or "she").

Origins
The name comes from the Tom Swift series of books (1910–present), similar in many ways to the better-known Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, and, like them, produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. In this series, the young scientist hero underwent adventures involving rocket ships, ray-guns and other things he had invented.

A stylistic idiosyncrasy of at least some books in this series was that the author, "Victor Appleton," went to great trouble to avoid repetition of the unadorned word "said", using a different quotative verb, or modifying adverbial words or phrases in a kind of elegant variation. Since many adverbs end in "ly" this kind of pun was originally called a Tom Swiftly, the archetypal example being "'We must hurry,' said Tom Swiftly." At some point, this kind of humor was called a Tom Swifty, and that name is now more prevalent.

This excerpt (with emphasis added) from the 1910 novel Tom Swift and His Airship illustrates the style:

"Oh, I'm not a professor," he said quickly. "I'm a professional balloonist, parachute jumper. Give exhibitions at county fairs. Leap for life, and all that sort of thing. I guess you mean my friend. He's smart enough for a professor. Invented a lot of things. How much is the damage?"

"No professor?" cried Miss Perkman indignantly. "Why I understood from Miss Nestor that she called some one professor."

"I was referring to my friend, Mr. Swift," said Mary. "His father's a professor, anyhow, isn't he, Tom? I mean Mr. Swift!"

"I believe he has a degree, but he never uses it," was the lad's answer.

"Ha! Then I have been deceived! There is no professor present!" and the old maid drew herself up as though desirous of punishing some one. "Young ladies, for the last time, I order you to your rooms," and, with a dramatic gesture she pointed to the scuttle through which the procession had come.

"Say something, Tom—I mean Mr. Swift," appealed Mary Nestor, in a whisper, to our hero. "Can't you give some sort of a lecture? The girls are just crazy to hear about the airship, and this ogress won't let us. Say something!"

"I—I don't know what to say," stammered Tom.

The Tom Swifty, then, is a parody of this style with the incorporation of a pun.

A much earlier example may be found, for example, in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend:

"How Do You Like London?" Mr Podsnap now inquired from his station of host, as if he were administering something in the nature of a powder or potion to the deaf child; "London, Londres, London?"

The foreign gentleman admired it.

"You find it Very Large?" said Mr. Podsnap, spaciously.

Examples

 * "I'm freezing!" Tom remarked icily.
 * "Don't ask me why I was at the mausoleum," Tom said cryptically.
 * "Pass the damn shellfish," said Tom crabbily.
 * "Get to the back of the ship!" Tom said sternly.
 * "I forgot what I needed at the store," Tom said listlessly.
 * "I'd like my money back, and then some," said Tom with interest.
 * "I dropped my toothpaste," Tom said, crestfallen. (a reference to Crest toothpaste)
 * "I love hot dogs," said Tom with relish.
 * "What our team needs is a home run hitter," Tom said ruthlessly. (a reference to baseball player Babe Ruth)
 * "Another martini would be fine," said Tom dryly.
 * "I'm wearing a ribbon around my arm," said Tom with abandon.
 * "Baa," said Tom sheepishly.
 * “There’s no more room in the hay barn,” said Tom balefully.
 * "I have a split personality," said Tom, being frank.
 * "I'm on the beach right now," said Tom, literally. (unfunny pun on littorally)
 * "I'm having an affair with my gamekeeper," said the lady, chattily.
 * "Those are my clams!" Tom asserted shelfishly.

Tom Swifties where the pun is applied to the verb form of speech may be termed a croaker:

 * "We just struck oil!" Tom gushed.
 * "Stay away from that turtle!" Tom snapped.
 * "I used to be a miner," Tom exclaimed.
 * "I decided to come back to the group," Tom rejoined.

History
Tom Swifties first came to prominence in the United States with the 1963 publication of the book Tom Swifties by Paul Pease and Bill McDonough. The spread of Tom Swifties was abetted by an article in the May 31, 1963 edition of Time magazine, which also announced a contest for its readers to submit their own Tom Swifties. Included was a special category, "Time Swifties," which were to contain a reference to Time magazine; however, only a few submissions were made of this nature. Among the submissions that were subsequently printed was "Someone has stolen my movie camera!" Tom bellowed and howled.

The Time contest caused the popularity of Tom Swifties to grow, for a period of some years. Tom Swifties found a large teenage audience on the joke column on the last page of each month's issue of Boys' Life, the magazine for Boy Scouts.

In the late '60s, comedian Stan Freberg created and narrated a series of radio commercials for the Milky Way candy bar with a character named "Tom Sweet," voiced by Walter Tetley, where Tom Swifty puns were frequent, such as, "'Ah, now for some shut-eye,' said Tom, retiringly."

In January 2017 Jack Waley-Cohen appeared on the British BBC Radio 4 program The Museum of Curiosity; his hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A Book of Tom Swifties".

title: Tom Swifty


text:
Juan Campodónico

Juan Campodónico (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1971), sometimes working under his stage name Campo, is an Uruguayan musician, producer, composer, creator and former member of El Peyote Asesino, Bajofondo and Campo. He produced albums by Jorge Drexler (Frontera, Sea, Eco, 12 Segundos de Oscuridad), Luciano Supervielle, Bajofondo (Tango Club, Mar Dulce, Presente), El Cuarteto de Nos (Raro, Bipolar, Porfiado), La Vela Puerca (El impulso), OMAR, Sordromo, No Te Va Gustar, Santullo and Ximena Sariñana among others. He created the Bajofondo project alongside iconic producer and two-time Academy Award winner for Best Original Score Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain and Babel). He has been awarded with various Latin Grammy, Premios Gardel and Graffiti awards for his work as a producer, as well as with many golden records.

Career
Born in Uruguay in 1971, at an early age Campodónico and his family were exiled to Mexico after the 1973 coup. In 1984, back in Montevideo, he began to be part of several rock and pop bands, like Públicas Virtudes, played with different songwriters as a sideman and made music for theatre and advertising. He even was a guitar teacher.

El Peyote Asesino
In the mid 1990s, along with other musicians, he created the band el Peyote Asesino, the first in Uruguay which fused hip-hop, rock and grunge. They also incorporated concepts that became popular in the 90s but still maintained a unique Uruguayan dimension. The band was very popular in Uruguay, influencing other bands and getting adequate circulation. They caught the attention of Gustavo Santaolalla, one of the most important Latin rock professionals, producer of Divididos, Café Tacuba and Molotov, among others. In Los Angeles Santaolalla produced Peyote's second CD entitled Terraja, giving it international exposure.

Bajofondo
Campodónico along with Gustavo Santaolalla created Bajofondo in 2001, with the idea of bringing together a collective of Argentine and Uruguayan artists dedicated to creating “contemporary music of the Rio de la Plata". The project, which appeared under the name Bajofondo Tango Club, initially was an alliance of producers, musicians and singers that took shape in the recording studio, and the release of their first album was the culmination of this process. The album Bajofondo Tango Club, released in November 2002, features a very long list of guest artists. Bajofondo Tango Club won the prestigious Premio Gardel as the "Best Electronica Music Album" in Argentina –where the sales reached Triple Platinum- and a Latin Grammy award as the "Best Instrumental Pop Album". The album has sold more than 300,000 copies all over the world. Bajofondo evolved from a producer's concept into a full touring band of eight members (including Santaolalla and Campodónico) that traveled the world. The Bajofondo team launched the solo effort of pianist and composer Luciano Supervielle in 2005. In 2007 they released their second album called Mar Dulce. Presente, the third Bajofondo album was released in 2013 and won two Latin Grammys.

Campo
Campodónico developed his role as a DJ and remixer, under the name Campo. He has done remixes for Mala Rodríguez and Badfellas, among others. In 2011, he developed a musical project and band under the same name, built upon the instrumental spine of Bajofondo's musicians and a group of composers and performers from different genres and different locations such as songwriter Martin Rivero, Swedish singer Ellen Arkbro, VJ and singer Verónica Loza and electronic musician Pablo Bonilla. CAMPO's debut album was produced by Campodonico himself alongside Gustavo Santaolalla; with Joe Chiccarelli, sound engineer of The Strokes, The Shins and The White Stripes. The independent released album, was nominated for a European MTV Europe award, the Grammys, and Latin Grammys. Entertainment Weekly pick Campo's song "1987" as one of the "25 songs to download before the Grammys".

Music production
When Peyote Asesino split up in 1999, Campodónico found refuge in music production, working with several Uruguayan bands. At that time Jorge Drexler, who was in Madrid and had significant experience there, called him to work and Campodónico along with Carlos Casacuberta (another former member of Peyote) produced his album "Frontera" for Virgin / EMI Spanish which was recorded in Uruguay, entirely on a PC. The album was received by the Spanish press with countless accolades, emphasizing the new sound aesthetics of Drexler. Campodónico also produced Drexler's albums Sea (2001), Eco (2004) and 12 segundos de oscuridad (2006). In 2006 he did the artistic direction and production of the album "Raro" from the group El Cuarteto de Nos which was nominated in 2007 for a Latin Grammy in the category of "Best Rock Song" for "Yendo a la casa de Damián." He was also the producer of Cuarteto's Bipolar (2009) and Porfiado (2012), that won two Latin Grammy Awards. In 2007, along with Gustavo Santaolalla he worked with Calle 13 and produced the song Tango del Pecado included on the album Residente o Vistante. In 2008 he was the co-producer of the album Mediocre from Mexican songwriter Ximena Sariñana. In 2011 he produced the album of Argentinean songstress Deborah del Corral, Nunca o una eternidad. Besides the three Bajofondo albums, Campodónico produced with Gustavo Santaolalla all Bajofondo related projects, like Luciano Supervielle's Bajofondo presenta Supervielle (2005) and Reverie (2010), Santullo (2009) and Campo (2011).

Media
Campodónico's music has been used for many syncs in TV series and commercials. Famous Honda Acura commercial, the Warner Channel serie Nikita and the Introduction of the TV GLOBO soap opera A Favorita (Brazil) used the song "Pa' Bailar", from Bajofondo's Mar Dulce. The song "Los Tangueros", reached number 2 on the Club Playlist on the Dance Chart in Billboard magazine in the United States. The song "Mi Corazón" included in Bajofondo Tango Club, has been played in many parts of the world in both commercials, on television programs and in an HBO series. "Montserrat" has been used by Macy's. He produced a song for the soundtrack of the film Shrek II. In 2013 Campodónico along with Jaime Roos and Pablo Bonilla, composed the original soundtrack for the Uruguayan film Jugadores con Patente.

As performer and composer
With Peyote Asesino:
 * El Peyote Asesino - 1995
 * Terraja - 1998

With Bajofondo:
 * Bajofondo Tango Club - 2002
 * Remixed - 2005
 * Mar Dulce - 2007
 * Presente - 2013

With Campo:
 * Campo - 2011
 * Remixes & Rarezas - 2013

As music producer
Jorge Drexler
 * Frontera (Virgin, 1999)
 * Sea (Virgin, 2001)
 * Eco (Dro, 2004)
 * Eco2 (includes 3 bonus tracks + DVD) (Dro, 2005)
 * 12 Segundos de Oscuridad (2006)

Cuarteto De Nos
 * El Cuarteto de Nos - 2004
 * Raro - 2006
 * Bipolar - 2009
 * Porfiado - 2012

Luciano Supervielle

(with Gustavo Santaolalla)
 * Bajofondo Presenta: Supervielle - 2005
 * Rêverie - 2011

Santullo

(with Gustavo Santaolalla)
 * Bajofondo presenta: Santullo (2009)

Ximena Sariñana
 * Mediocre - 2008

title: Juan Campodónico


text:
Jaswant Singh Kanwal

Jaswant Singh Kanwal (27 June 1919 – 1 February 2020) was an Indian novelist, short story writer and essayist of the Punjabi language. He was born in the village of Dhudike, Moga District, Punjab, India. As a young teenager he left school and went to Malaya. It was there that he first got interested in literature. He returned to Dhudike after a few years and has lived there ever since. He was awarded the Punjabi Sahit Shiromani Award in the year 2007.

Writings
He published several books. His novels usually have a rustic feel and depict the rural life of Punjab very vividly. His writings generally question firmly held social customs and beliefs. He has left leanings and many of his most popular novels champion the cause of socially relevant issues like social and gender equality. He is also known to take tough political stands in his newspaper essays. Later on, he became a supporter of the Khalistan movement.

His most notable novel is Lahoo Di Lo (Dawn of the Blood). This novel is based on the Naxalite movement in Punjab. It was very controversial during the infamous Emergency days of the 1970s and none of the publishers was willing to publish it. Jaswant Singh Kanwal had it published in Singapore and smuggled copies of the novel to India. Only after the emergency was lifted, was the novel published in Punjab. This book has been translated into English.

Awards
Jaswant Singh Kanwal was awarded Sahitya Akademi Fellowship for his 1996 book Pakhi (Hand Fan) (Short stories). He received the Sahitya Academy award for Taushali Di Hanso (Novel) in 1998.

Jaswant Singh Kanwal was conferred upon the degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in 2008 for his contribution to Punjabi literature.

title: Jaswant Singh Kanwal


text:
Terry Pluto

Terry Pluto (born June 12, 1955) is an American sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and author who primarily writes columns for The Plain Dealer, and formerly for the Akron Beacon Journal about Cleveland, Ohio sports and religion.

Pluto is a graduate of Benedictine High School in Cleveland, and received a degree in secondary education from Cleveland State University, with a major in Social Studies and a minor in English.

On August 14, 2007, Pluto announced he was leaving the Beacon Journal to return to The Plain Dealer. He cited the larger circulation and ability to write for his hometown paper as reasons for leaving. Pluto began at The Plain Dealer on September 2, 2007.

Since joining The Plain Dealer, Pluto's stories and columns have contributed to the paper becoming a three-time Ohio Associated Press Award winner for Best Daily Sports Section (2007, 2010, 2011 - Division V)

Sports

 * The Greatest Summer: The Remarkable Story of Jim Bouton's Comeback to MLB, (1979)
 * Earl of Baltimore, (1982) ISBN 0-8329-0125-3
 * A Baseball Winter: The Off-Season Life of the Summer Game, (Jeffrey Neuman, Editor, 1986) ISBN 0-02-597760-1
 * Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the NBA, (Co-Written with Bob Ryan, 1989) ISBN 0-02-597770-9
 * Bull Session: An Up-Close Look at Michael Jordan and Courtside Stories About the Chicago Bulls, (Co-Written with Johnny 'Red' Kerr, 1989) ISBN 0-929387-01-5
 * Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association, (1990) ISBN 0-671-74921-8
 * Tall Tales: Glory Years of the NBA..., (1992) ISBN 0-8032-8766-6
 * The Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a Thirty-Year Slump, (reprint ed., 1995) ISBN 0-684-80415-8
 * Burying the Curse: How the Indians Became the Best Team in Baseball, (1995) ISBN 0-9649902-3-7
 * Falling From Grace, (1995) ISBN 0-684-80766-1
 * Browns Town 1964: The Cleveland Browns and the 1964 Championship(1997)
 * When All the World Was Browns Town, (1997) ISBN 0-684-82246-6
 * Our Tribe : A Baseball Memoir, (1999) ISBN 0-684-84505-9
 * Unguarded : My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA, (Co-Written with Lenny Wilkens, 2001) ISBN 0-684-87374-5
 * The View from Pluto: Collected Sportswriting About Northeast Ohio, (2002) ISBN 1-886228-62-0
 * Weaver on Strategy: Classic Work on Art of Managing a Baseball Team, (Co-Written with Earl Weaver, 2002) ISBN 1-57488-424-7
 * False Start: How The New Browns Were Set Up To Fail, (2004) ISBN 1-886228-88-4
 * Dealing: The Cleveland Indians' New Ballgame: Inside the Front Office and the Process of Rebuilding a Contender 2006) ISBN 1-59851-022-3
 * The Franchise: Lebron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers, (Co-Written with Brian Windhorst, 2007) ISBN 1-59851-028-2
 * LeBron James: The Making of an MVP, (Co-Written with Brian Windhorst, 2009) ISBN 978-1-59851-059-1
 * Things I've Learned From Watching The Browns, 2010 ISBN 978-1-59851-065-2
 * Joe Tait: It's Been a Real Ball, (Co-Written with Joe Tait), 2011 ISBN 978-1-59851-070-6
 * Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994–1997, (Co-written with Tom Hamilton), 2014 ISBN 978-1-938441-35-6

Religion

 * Everyday Faith, (2004) ISBN 1-886228-81-7
 * Faith And You: Making Faith Work in Everyday Life, (2005) ISBN 1-59851-015-0
 * Champions for Life: The Healing Power of a Father's Blessing, (Co-written with Bill Glass, 2005) ISBN 0-7573-0250-5
 * Faith And You Volume II: More Essays on Faith in Everyday Life, (2012) ISBN 978-1-938441-12-7

Edited by Terry Pluto

 * Tark: College Basketball's Winningest Coach, by Jerry Tarkanian, (1988) ISBN 0-07-062802-5
 * Sixty-One: The Team, the Record, the Men, by Tony Kubek, (reprint ed., 1989) ISBN 0-671-67539-7

Awards

 * Eight-time NSSA Ohio Sportswriter of the Year (1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007)
 * 2005 inductee - Cleveland Press Club Journalism Hall of Fame
 * 2008 Chuck Heaton Award winner (inaugural award recipient)
 * 2010 Ohio Associated Press Best Sports Writer

title: Terry Pluto


text:
Enterohepatic circulation

Enterohepatic circulation is the circulation of biliary acids, bilirubin, drugs or other substances from the liver to the bile, followed by entry into the small intestine, absorption by the enterocyte and transport back to the liver. Enterohepatic circulation is an especially important concept in the field of toxicology as many lipophilic xenobiotics undergo this process causing repeated liver damage.

The circuit
Hepatocytes metabolize cholesterol to cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid. These lipid-soluble bile acids are conjugated (reversibly attached) mainly to glycine or taurine molecules to form water soluble primary conjugated bile acids, sometimes called "bile salts". These bile acids travel to the gall bladder during the interdigestive phase for storage and to the descending part of the duodenum via the common bile duct through the major duodenal papilla during digestion. 95% of the bile acids which are delivered to the duodenum will be recycled by the enterohepatic circulation.

Due to the pH of the small intestine, most of the bile acids are ionized and mostly occur as their sodium salts which are then called “primary conjugated bile salts.” In the lower small intestine and colon, bacteria dehydroxylate some of the primary bile salts to form secondary conjugated bile salts (which are still water-soluble). Along the proximal and distal ileum, these conjugated primary bile salts are reabsorbed actively into hepatic portal circulation. Bacteria deconjugate some of the primary and secondary conjugated bile salts back to lipid-soluble bile acids, which are passively absorbed into hepatic portal circulation. Finally, the conjugated bile acids which remained un-ionized conjugated bile acids are passively absorbed.

Venous blood from the ileum goes straight into the portal vein and then into the liver sinusoids. There, hepatocytes extract bile acids very efficiently, and little escapes the healthy liver into systemic circulation.

The net effect of enterohepatic recirculation is that each bile salt molecule is reused about 20 times, often multiple times during a single digestive phase.

Function
The presence of biliary acids in the intestines helps in absorption of fats and other substances.

Bilirubin
Bilirubin is conjugated with glucuronic acid in the liver by the enzyme glucuronyltransferase, making it soluble in water. Much of it goes into the bile and thus out into the small intestine. Although 20% of the secreted bilirubinoid bile is reabsorbed by the small intestine, conjugated bilirubin is not reabsorbed in small intestine. All conjugated bilirubin in the large intestine is metabolised by colonic bacteria to urobilinogen, which is then further oxidized to urobilin and stercobilin. Urobilin, stercobilin and their degradation products give feces its brown color. However, just like bile, some of the urobilinogen reabsorbed is resecreted in the bile which is also part of enterohepatic circulation. The rest of the reabsorbed urobilinogen is excreted in the urine where it is converted to an oxidized form, urobilin, which gives urine its characteristic yellow color.

Drugs
Chloramphenicol, aspirin, paracetamol, diazepam, lorazepam, morphine, metronidazole. Not only drugs but also endogenous substrates like bilirubin, steroidal hormones and thyroxine utilize this pathway.

Enterohepatic circulation of drugs describes the process by which drugs are conjugated to glucuronic acid in the liver, excreted into bile, metabolized back into the free drug by intestinal bacteria, and the drug is then reabsorbed into plasma. For many drugs that undergo this process, lower doses of drugs can be therapeutically effective because elimination is reduced by the 'recycling' of the drug. But for a small number of drugs that are very toxic to the intestine (e.g. irinotecan), these molecules which would not otherwise be very toxic can become so because of this process, and therefore inhibition of this step can be protective. For the majority of drugs which undergo enterohepatic circulation that are not toxic to the intestine, inhibition of this process leads to a reduction of the levels of drug and reduced therapeutic effect. For example, antibiotics that kill gut bacteria often reduce enterohepatic drug circulation and this requires a temporary increase of the drug's dose until the antibiotic use is discontinued and the gut repopulates with bacteria. This effect of antibiotics on enterohepatic circulation of other drugs is one of several types of drug interactions.

Pharmacokinetic Models of enterohepatic circulation
Pharmacokinetic models of the enterohepatic circulation process has been summarized in a recent article.

title: Enterohepatic circulation


text:
Robertsfors IK

Robertsfors IK is a Swedish football club based in Robertsfors. The club, formed 1907, is currently playing in the fourth highest Swedish league, Division 2.

Background
Robertsfors IK was formed in 1907 and bore the name Robertsfors Gymnastik och Idrottsförening for a short time. In its early history the club specialised in gymnastics, athletics and football in the summer and skiing and ski jumping in the winter. In 1925 the club obtained the lease for Stantorsvallen where they still play.

The club currently plays in Division 3 Mellersta Norrland, the fifth tier of Swedish football. In 2005 they gained promotion to Division 1 Norra but their stay at the higher level was short-lived and they were relegated back to Division 2 Norrland at the end of the 2006 season. A match many will remember from that season was when they won 7–2 against Enköpings SK FK, the league leaders. Robertsfors IK were very unfortunate to be relegated from Division 1 Norra because of inferior goal difference.

The club is affiliated to the Västerbottens Fotbollförbund.

Attendances
In recent seasons Robertsfors IK have had the following average attendances:

Staff and board members

 * 🇸🇪 Hans Erik Andersson – Secretary
 * 🇸🇪 Per-Erik Berglund – Treasurer

title: Robertsfors IK


text:
Thief River Falls Regional Airport

Thief River Falls Regional Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Thief River Falls, a city in Pennington County, Minnesota, United States. The airport is owned by the Thief River Falls Regional Airport Authority. It is mostly used for general aviation but is also served by one commercial airline subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023 categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport based on enplanements in 2018 (between 2,500 and 10,000 per year).

Facilities and aircraft
Thief River Falls Regional Airport covers an area of 916 acres (371 ha) at an elevation of 1,119 feet (341 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 13/31 is 6,504 by 150 feet (1,982 x 46 m) and 4/22 is 4,997 by 75 feet (1,523 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2018, the airport had 32,268 aircraft operations, an average of 88 per day: 93% general aviation, 6% air taxi and 1% scheduled commercial. In January 2020, 23 aircraft were based at this airport: 18 single-engine, 2 multi-engine and 3 jet.

In 2023, airport management announced expansions that would take place over the coming years.

Other sources

 * Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-2001-10642) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
 * Order 2005-6-13 (June 15, 2005): selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Northwest Airlink, an affiliate of Northwest Airlines, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) for the two-year period beginning June 1, 2005, at an annual subsidy of $777,709 for Thief River Falls and a combined annual subsidy of $2,160,770 for Fort Dodge and Mason City.
 * Order 2007-6-3 (June 6, 2007): re-selecting Mesaba Aviation Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to continue to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Fort Dodge and Mason City, Iowa, and Thief River Falls, Minnesota, for the two-year period beginning June 1, 2007. Service will consist of 18 round trips per week at Fort Dodge and Mason City, routed Fort Dodge-Mason City-Minneapolis/St. Paul, at the combined annual subsidy rate of $21,113,865. Service at Thief River Falls will consist of 12 one-stop round trips per week to Minneapolis/St. Paul at the annual subsidy rate of $1,065,639. All service will be provided with 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft as Northwest Airlink.
 * Order 2009-4-20 (April 28, 2009): re-selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection, to continue providing subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Fort Dodge and Mason City, IA, and Thief River Falls, MN, for the two-year period beginning June 1, 2009, at the annual subsidy rates of $2,225,213 for Fort Dodge and Mason City, and $1,230,322 for Thief River Falls.
 * Order 2011-11-30 (November 25, 2011): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service (EAS) at six communities at the following annual subsidy rates: Brainerd, Minnesota, $959,865; Fort Dodge, $1,798,693; Iron Mountain, $1,707,841; Mason City, $1,174,468; Thief River Falls, Minnesota, $1,881,815; and Watertown, $1,710,324, for the two-year period beginning when Great Lakes inaugurates full EAS at all six communities
 * Order 2012-6-23 (June 26, 2012): establishing the effective period for the Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts awarded to Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., by Order 2011-11-30. ... The contracts will thus expire at the end of the 24-month period thereafter: May 31, 2014.
 * Order 2014-4-17 (April 18, 2014): reselecting Great Lakes Aviation to provide EAS at Thief River Falls, Minnesota, using 19 (reconfigured to 9) passenger Beech1900D aircraft with non-stop service to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis) for 2 round trips each weekday and weekend (12 total per week), for the two-year term from June 1, 2014 through May 31, 2016, for an annual subsidy of $2,428,750.

title: Thief River Falls Regional Airport


text:
Economy of Illinois

The economy of Illinois is the fifth largest by GDP in the United States and one of the most diversified economies in the world. Fueled by the economy of Chicago, the Chicago metropolitan area is home to many of the United States' largest companies, including Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie Inc., Allstate, Baxter International, Conagra, Crate and Barrel, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, CNH Industrial, GE Healthcare, Aon PLC, Willis Towers Watson, Mondelez International, Motorola, United Airlines, US Foods, Walgreens, and more. The Chicago area is a global financial center and headquarters a wide variety of financial institutions including Citadel LLC, CNA Financial, Discover Financial Services, Morningstar, Inc., Nuveen, and more. Chicago is also home to the largest futures exchange in the world, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Across the state, other Fortune 500 world headquarters based in Illinois include State Farm in Bloomington and John Deere in Moline. As of 2017, Illinois ranked fourth in the nation for the most Fortune 500 based companies with a total of 36. For six consecutive years, Chicagoland was ranked the nation's top metropolitan area for corporate relocations.

The 2022 total gross state product for Illinois was $1.033 trillion, placing it fifth in the nation. The 2021 median household income was $72,205, one of the nation's highest. In 2016, the nine counties of the Chicago metropolitan area accounted for 77.3% of the state's total wages, with the remaining 93 counties at 22.7%. The state's industrial outputs include machinery, food processing, electrical equipment, chemical products, publishing, fabricated metal products and transportation equipment. Corn and soybeans are important agricultural products. Service industries of note are financial trading, higher education, logistics, and medicine.

Agriculture
Most of the state of Illinois lies outside the Chicago metropolitan area and inside the North American Corn Belt. Corn, soybeans, and other large-field crops are grown extensively. These crops and their products account for much of the state's economic output outside Chicago. Much of the field crop is remanufactured into feed for hogs and cattle. Dairy products and wheat are important secondary crops in specific segments of the state. In addition, some Illinois farmers grow specialty crops such as popcorn and pumpkins. The state is the largest producer of pumpkins among the U.S. states. There is a large watermelon growing area centered on Lincoln, Illinois. Illinois wine is a growing industry. In December 2006, the Shawnee Hills were named Illinois's first American Viticultural Area (AVA).

Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Illinois accounts for 14% of the state's total output and generates $101 billion in economic activity. Illinois's manufacturing sector grew out of its agricultural production. A key piece of infrastructure for several generations was the Union Stock Yards of Chicago, which from 1865 until 1971 penned and slaughtered millions of cattle and hogs into standardized cuts of beef and pork.

In 1893 Illinois manufacturers formed the Illinois Manufacturers' Association in opposition to the Sweatshop Law of 1893 that prohibited child labor and mandated an eight-hour workday. Governor Peter Altgeld had made Florence Kelley the Chief Factory Inspector for the state of Illinois. The association sponsored a number of cases which led to the Illinois Supreme Court finding that Section 5 of the Act, which limited women's working weeks to 48 hours and their day to eight hours, unconstitutional in 1895. After Governor Altgeld was not re-elected in 1896 and Kelley was removed from her position, flagrant violations of the child labor provision were reported.

The centralized location of Illinois made it a key manufacturing hub, especially for farm machinery and specialty motor vehicles. Smaller Cities like Aurora, Peoria, Decatur, Rockford and other cities became major manufacturing centers in the 20th century. In downstate Illinois, the John Deere Company became one of the world's largest makers of farm machinery, and Caterpillar achieved similar dominance in its diversified line of off-road vehicles.

The Chicago area, meanwhile, began to produce significant quantities of telecommunications gear, electronics, steel, automobiles, and industrial products.

As of 2004, the leading manufacturing industries in Illinois, based upon value-added, were chemical manufacturing ($16.6 billion), food manufacturing ($14.4 billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.6 billion), fabricated metal products ($10.5 billion), plastics and rubber products ($6.8 billion), transportation equipment ($6.7 billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.4 billion).

Renewable energy
Illinois currently ranks second in the Midwest for total installed renewable power capacity and fifth nationally for installed wind power capacity. The renewable energy economy has created 114,000 jobs in Illinois and will continue to see growth after a $15 billion investment from the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016.

Governor J. B. Pritzker committed Illinois to the U.S. Climate Alliance in 2019 which will further drive economic growth in renewable energy across the state.

Services
By the early 2000s, Illinois's economy had moved toward a dependence on high-value-added services such as financial trading, higher education, logistics, and medicine. In some cases, these services clustered around institutions that hearkened back to Illinois's earlier economies. For example, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a trading exchange for global derivatives, had begun its life as an agricultural futures market.

In the late 2010s, the Chicago Metropolitan Area continued to lead the nation in luring corporate relocations or expanded corporate facilities.

Tourism
In 2018, Illinois set a new tourism record with 117 million tourists which represented a 3 million person increase from the previous year. Visitors spent nearly $42 billion in spending the same year.

Flash index
The Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign publishes a "flash-index" that aims to measure expected economic growth in Illinois. The indicators used are corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income. These indicators are measured through tax receipts, adjusted for inflation. 100 is the base, so a number above 100 represents growth in the Illinois economy, and a number below 100 represents a shrinking economy. Data from the index, from 6/1981 to the present, can be found here.

title: Economy of Illinois