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Indy NXT

Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program of racing series leading up to the IndyCar Series.

A similar series named Indy Lights filled the developmental role for the CART series, and ran from 1986 to 1993 as the American Racing Series and Dayton Indy Lights from 1991 to 2001. The current IndyCar sanctioned series was founded in 2002 as the Infiniti Pro Series as a way to introduce new talent to IndyCar, with the moniker Indy Lights returning in 2008 when CART and IndyCar unified. The Indy Lights champion was awarded a $1M scholarship toward the IndyCar Series, and guaranteed three races including the Indianapolis 500 during this time. For 2023, Penske Entertainment announced a rebranding to the name Indy NXT.

Early origins
In the post-WWII era, through the early 1960s, American open-wheel racing cars were almost exclusively front-engined "roadsters". The primary ladder series included sprints and midgets. By the end of the 1960s, the cars evolved into rear-engine formula-style machines. Likewise, the feeder series began to follow the same mold. When United States Automobile Club (USAC) became the primary sanctioning body for top-level open-wheel racing, the ladder of progression began to change.

USAC Mini Indy Series
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Super Vee and Formula Atlantic series were among the first formula-based ladder series. However, neither had any direct tie to USAC. In 1977, USAC started the "Mini-Indy" series, using Super Vee machines. The series ended after 1980 when USAC stopped sanctioning Indy car races outside of the Indianapolis 500.

Following the end of the "Mini Indy" series, the driver pool in the early 1980s for CART and the Indy 500 was drawn in a somewhat unorganized fashion among Super Vees, Atlantics, former Can-Am drivers, sprint cars, midgets, and even stock cars and off-road racing. In addition, a number of CART series drivers during the 1980s and early 1990s were former Formula 1 competitors, most of whom had climbed the European-based ladder series.

Original series (1986–2001)
The original Indy Lights series was an open-wheeled racing series that acted as a developmental circuit for CART from 1986 to 2001. It was founded in 1986 as the American Racing Series (ARS). CART became the sanctioning body for the series in 1988, and it was renamed as Indy Lights in 1991, with title sponsorship by Firestone. Later, Firestone's subsidiary Dayton Tires took over as tire supplier and title sponsor.

A spec-series, CART Indy Lights used March chassis (essentially a modified 85B Formula 3000 chassis, renamed to Wildcat) from 1986 to 1992. In 1992 Lola became the primary chassis constructor to the series, using a modified F3000 chassis. In 1997, a newly updated and modern-looking chassis was introduced based on an F3000 design. It would remain through 2001. Buick V6 engines were used for its entire existence.

The ARS/Indy Lights series' championship winners included two CART champions, two IndyCar Series champions, seven Champ Car World Series race-winners and two Formula One drivers.

The Indy Lights schedule closely followed that of the CART series, and typically had a gap of up to a month while the primary CART teams raced at the Indy 500. The races were usually held the morning of the CART series races, as an undercard event. In early years, the Indy Lights series skipped superspeedway races such as Michigan, but eventually found its way to race there. In some rare occasions, the Indy Lights ran at non-CART tracks, generally as a support race to a series other than CART. In 2001 Indy Lights ran at Road Atlanta the weekend of the Petit Le Mans, and ran at Kansas with the IRL.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, CART was suffering from financial problems. Meanwhile, in 1996, the rival Indy Racing League was formed. CART canceled the minor league outright after the 2001 season. By this time, the Toyota Atlantic series was equally effective in providing CART with new drivers. In addition, the Atlantics served as a springboard for such drivers as Greg Ray, Sam Hornish Jr. and Richie Hearn to enter the IRL. The Atlantics effectively became CART's primary feeder system, and later became Champ Car World Series' official in-house feeder championship for a time.

Current series (2002–present)
The Infiniti Pro Series was re-founded by the Indy Racing League and began racing in 2002, the year after the CART-sanctioned Indy Lights series' demise. It was a spec series using a TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) developed 3.5L version of the V8 engine used in the Infiniti Q45 combined with Dallara chassis producing 420 hp. The series initially struggled to attract drivers and some races have had fewer than 10 entrants. However, with the introduction of a number of road-course races to the schedule in 2005, many of America's top prospects like Marco Andretti and Phil Giebler were attracted to the series to run part-time schedules on road courses. In 2006, a boost in prize money even further increased car counts to 16 or more, with an even six oval and six road course mix. The selected races being double races, and a stand-alone race (independent of the IndyCar Series) were scheduled on the USGP weekend.

The series was called the Menards Infiniti Pro Series (MIPS) until 2006 when both Menards and Nissan dropped their sponsorship of the series. It was then known as the Indy Pro Series. On March 26, 2008, the series announced a changing of names, when the historical records and proprietary information of Champ Car were acquired by the IRL. The series then became known as Firestone Indy Lights.

The centerpiece of the Indy Lights schedule was the Freedom 100, contested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the Friday prior to the Indianapolis 500. The series also held a support race for the U.S. Grand Prix, the Liberty Challenge, from 2005 to 2007. It was the series' first event that was not a support race to an IndyCar event.

On September 9, 2007, during the Chicagoland 100, Logan Gomez beat Alex Lloyd by 0.0005 seconds (approximately 1.65 in at 188 mph) which reflects what was the closest recognized finish in the over century-long history of organized automobile racing throughout the world, until the 2018 Powershares QQQ 300. In 2008, the margin was established by the Guinness Book of World Records as the closest finish ever in a car race.

On May 24, 2013, Peter Dempsey captured his first Indy Lights win in the Freedom 100 in the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history (0.0026 secs) in a four-wide finish.

In June 2013, it was announced that the series would be promoted by Andersen Promotions beginning in 2014. with IndyCar sanctioning remaining. In August it was announced that Cooper Tire would replace Firestone as the official tire of the series in 2014. This resulted in all three levels of the Road to Indy leading up to the IndyCar Series being promoted by Andersen and feature Cooper tires, beginning in 2014. The Andersen team implemented a number of cost-reducing updates to the chassis and engine package in 2014 and introduced a new chassis and engine combination in 2015. On October 31, 2013, the series announced that Dallara would be the manufacturer of the fourth-generation Indy Lights chassis and it would be named the Dallara IL-15. On November 1, 2013 a new logo was unveiled for the Indy Lights series On November 26 it was announced that the engine for the new package would be a 2.0L turbocharged MZR-R four cylinder engine, tuned to last a full season of competition and producing 450 horsepower, with push-to-pass offering an additional 50 horsepower.

The 2020 season was canceled through a combination of low grid numbers and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 2021, the Dallara IL-15 continues to be the chassis employed by the series, but engines are now provided by AER, Advanced Engines Research, modifying and tuning base 2.0 liter I-4 Mazda power plants turbocharged to provide the same power and push-to-pass capability of the former engines, with the added capability of longevity: the engines are designed and fabricated to run an entire season without a rebuild. A halo was added to the IL-15 for the 2021 season.

Andretti Autosport's Kyle Kirkwood captured the 2021 series championship, while HMD Motorsports' David Malukas finished second and Global Racing Group w/HMD Motorsports' Linus Lundqvist was third. HMD Motorsports/Global Racing Group secured their first Road to Indy team championship.

Firestone returned as the official tire supplier for the 2023 season. That season saw the series name changed to Indy NXT, and IndyCar assume direct operation of the series from Andersen Promotions, which continues to operate the affiliated lower-tier USF Championships under IndyCar sanctioning.

Specifications (2002–2014)

 * Engine displacement: Nissan/Infiniti built by Speedway Motors 3.5 L DOHC V8
 * Gearbox: 6-speed sequential manual transmission
 * Weight: 1490 lb on ovals; 1520 lb on road/street courses
 * Power output: 420 hp
 * Fuel: Sunoco 100 RON unleaded
 * Fuel capacity: 25 usgal
 * Fuel delivery: Fuel injection
 * Aspiration: Naturally aspirated
 * Length: 191.5 in
 * Width: 75 in
 * Wheelbase: 117 in
 * Steering: Manual, rack and pinion

Specifications (2015–present)

 * Chassis manufacturer:Dallara IL-15
 * Engine displacement: Mazda-AER P63 2.0 L DOHC inline-4
 * Gearbox: 6-speed sequential semi-automatic gearbox
 * Weight: 1400 lb excluding driver and fuel
 * Power output: 450 + push-to-pass
 * Fuel: VP Racing Fuels 101 RON unleaded
 * Fuel delivery: Direct fuel injection
 * Aspiration: Single-turbocharged
 * Length: 192 in
 * Width: 76 in
 * Wheelbase: Undisclosed
 * Steering: Manual, rack and pinion

USAC Mini-Indy Series

 * 1977: Bagley and Johnson tied in the points and were declared co-champions.

Indy Lights
1 Chaves and Jack Harvey (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports were tied in points and wins (4 each). Chaves won the title based on more second-place finishes (5 vs 1).

Graduates

 * 🇫🇷 Didier André
 * 🇺🇸 Jeff Andretti
 * 🇺🇸 Marco Andrettia
 * 🇺🇸 Richard Antinucci
 * 🇬🇧 Ian Ashley
 * 🇺🇸 Oliver Askew
 * 🇧🇪 Éric Bachelart
 * 🇮🇹 Fabrizio Barbazza
 * 🇬🇧 Dillon Battistini
 * 🇧🇷 Ana Beatriz
 * 🇺🇸 Jon Beekhuis
 * 🇺🇸 Townsend Bell
 * 🇺🇸 Billy Boata
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Bonner
 * 🇺🇸 Geoff Boss
 * 🇨🇦 Claude Bourbonnais
 * 🇦🇺 Matthew Brabham
 * 🇺🇸 Steve Bren
 * 🇦🇺 Jason Bright
 * 🇺🇸 Robbie Buhla
 * 🇺🇸 Buzz Calkinsa b
 * 🇧🇷 Jaime Camara
 * Juan Carlos Carbonell
 * 🇺🇸 Ed Carpentera
 * 🇨🇦 Patrick Carpentierd
 * 🇧🇷 Hélio Castronevesa c d
 * 🇲🇽 Alfonso Celis Jr.
 * 🇨🇴 Gabby Chaves
 * 🇺🇸 Ross Cheever
 * 🇺🇸 P. J. Chesson
 * 🇬🇧 Max Chilton
 * 🇨🇦 Zachary Claman DeMelo
 * 🇺🇸 Bryan Clauson
 * 🇳🇿 Wade Cunningham
 * 🇮🇹 Guido Daccò
 * 🇺🇸 Wally Dallenbach Jr.
 * 🇺🇸 Conor Daly
 * 🇧🇷 Cristiano da Mattad e
 * 🇺🇸 Paul Dana
 * 🇧🇷 Airton Daréa
 * 🇦🇺 James Davison
 * 🇲🇽 Luis Díaz
 * 🇺🇸 Mark Dismorea
 * 🇳🇿 Scott Dixona b c d
 * 🇲🇽 Mario Domínguezd
 * 🇸🇪 Fredrik Ekblom
 * 🇺🇸 RC Enerson
 * 🇧🇪 Wim Eyckmans
 * 🇦🇷 Juan Manuel Fangio II
 * 🇲🇽 Adrián Fernándeza d
 * 🇺🇸 Stan Fox
 * 🇺🇸 A. J. Foyt IV
 * 🇫🇷 Franck Fréon
 * 🇧🇷 Luiz Garcia Jr.
 * 🇧🇷 Affonso Giaffone
 * 🇧🇷 Felipe Giaffonea
 * 🇺🇸 Phil Giebler
 * 🇲🇽 Jorge Goeters
 * 🇧🇷 Marco Greco
 * 🇺🇸 Michael Greenfield
 * 🇺🇸 Mike Groff
 * 🇺🇸 Robbie Groff
 * 🇺🇸 Dean Hall
 * 🇳🇿 Matt Halliday
 * 🇺🇸 Scott Harrington
 * 🇬🇧 Jack Harvey
 * 🇯🇵 Naoki Hattori
 * 🇯🇵 Shigeaki Hattori
 * 🇬🇧 Jack Hawksworth
 * 🇺🇸 Jon Herb
 * 🇺🇸 Bryan Hertaa d
 * 🇺🇸 Colton Hertaa
 * 🇺🇸 J. R. Hildebrand
 * 🇨🇦 James Hinchcliffea
 * 🇬🇧 Jay Howard
 * 🇺🇸 Ken Johnson
 * 🇺🇸 Davy Jones
 * Ed Jones
 * 🇺🇸 P. J. Jones
 * 🇸🇪 Niclas Jönsson
 * 🇺🇸 Kyle Kaiser
 * 🇧🇷 Tony Kanaana b c d
 * 🇺🇸 Sage Karam
 * 🇨🇦 Dalton Kellett
 * 🇺🇸 Charlie Kimballa
 * 🇺🇸 Kyle Kirkwooda
 * 🇺🇸 David Kudrave
 * 🇲🇽 Rodolfo Lavín
 * 🇺🇸 Eddie Lawson
 * 🇺🇸 Jaques Laziera
 * 🇧🇷 Matheus Leist
 * 🇬🇧 Alex Lloyd
 * 🇸🇪 Linus Lundqvist
 * 🇳🇱 Arie Luyendyk Jr.
 * 🇺🇸 David Malukas
 * 🇬🇧 Pippa Mann
 * 🇧🇷 Raphael Matos
 * 🇯🇵 Hiro Matsushita
 * 🇺🇸 Casey Mears
 * 🇧🇷 Thiago Medeiros
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Menninga
 * 🇺🇸 Dr. Jack Miller
 * 🇨🇦 Greg Moored
 * 🇨🇴 Carlos Muñoza
 * 🇺🇸 Brad Murphey
 * 🇯🇵 Hideki Mutoh
 * 🇺🇸 Josef Newgardena b c
 * 🇯🇵 Hideki Noda
 * 🇺🇸 Ryan Norman
 * 🇺🇸 Johnny O'Connell
 * 🇲🇽 Patricio O'Warda
 * Benjamin Pedersen
 * 🇫🇷 Franck Perera
 * 🇺🇸 Spencer Pigot
 * 🇬🇧 Martin Plowman
 * 🇺🇸 Ted Prappas
 * 🇺🇸 Graham Rahala
 * Christian Rasmussen
 * 🇺🇸 Greg Raya b
 * 🇺🇸 Tony Renna
 * 🇧🇷 André Ribeirod
 * 🇺🇸 Sting Ray Robb
 * 🇺🇸 Billy Roe
 * 🇧🇷 Mario Romancini
 * 🇸🇪 Felix Rosenqvista
 * 🇨🇦 Marty Roth
 * 🇨🇴 Sebastián Saavedra
 * 🇧🇷 Gualter Salles
 * 🇮🇹 Vinicio Salmi
 * 🇮🇹 Franco Scapini
 * 🇪🇸 Oriol Serviàd
 * 🇺🇸 Nolan Siegel
 * 🇺🇸 Jeff Simmons
 * Kyffin Simpson
 * 🇬🇧 Guy Smith
 * 🇺🇸 Mark Smith
 * 🇬🇧 Toby Sowery
 * 🇺🇸 Sammy Swindell
 * 🇬🇧 Mark Taylor
 * 🇧🇪 Didier Theys
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Till
 * 🇨🇦 Paul Tracyd e
 * 🇺🇸 Robby Unser
 * 🇺🇸 Jimmy Vasserd e
 * 🇫🇷 Tristan Vautier
 * 🇺🇸 Zach Veach
 * Rinus Veekaya
 * 🇺🇸 Jeff Warda
 * 🇬🇧 Dan Wheldona b c
 * 🇬🇧 Stefan Wilson
 * 🇺🇸 Cory Witherill

a denotes driver who has won an IndyCar Series event. b denotes driver who has won an IndyCar Series championship. c denotes driver who has won an Indianapolis 500. d denotes driver who has won a CART/Champ Car event. e denotes driver who has won a CART/Champ Car World Series championship.

title: Indy NXT


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Virginia State Route 3

Virginia State Route 3 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia that extends from the town of Culpeper south and eastwardly to Gloucester in Virginia's Middle Peninsula region. For many years, a portion was named "Historyland Highway".

Gloucester to Kilmarnock
SR 3 begins in the community of Gloucester Courthouse, the unincorporated county seat of Gloucester County, on Virginia's Middle Peninsula, at a three-way junction with U.S. Route 17 Business and SR 14. SR 14 continues west from the junction along northbound US 17 Business through the central business district of Gloucester Courthouse. SR 3 follows SR 14 east in a wrong-way concurrency and immediately heads into rural agricultural and residential surroundings as a four-lane divided highway, called the John Clayton Memorial Highway heading northeast. The two state highways run concurrent until they cross into Mathews County, and reach the unincorporated village of James Store, where SR 14 continues east towards the community of Mathews, the unincorporated county seat of Mathews County along an undivided alignment, while westbound SR 3 turns north onto a two-lane undivided highway, known as Windsor Road. Immediately past the split with SR 14, the state highway passes to the west of Fort Nonsense, a state historical park, before it continues north through wooded areas with some farm fields, houses, and churches at the clearings. SR 3 meets SR 198 in the hamlet of Soles, where it turns east onto another wrong-way concurrency and two-lane alignment with eastbound SR 198; SR 198 continues west from SR 3 towards its intersection with US 17. The state highway follows SR 198 east along Buckley Hall Road, passing through another mix of woodland and farmland, to another three-way intersection where the two routes split. SR 198 continues east toward Mathews, while SR 3 turns north onto another undivided alignment that is called Twiggs Ferry Road, at the intersection. The state highway heads north through the unincorporated village of Dixie, before crossing the Piankatank River and leaving Mathews County.

Upon crossing the Piankatank River, SR 3 enters Middlesex County in an area of residences with large lots, as it continues to its first junction with SR 33, which heads east from the junction toward the peninsula community of Deltaville. SR 3 turns left on westbound SR 33 to head through the unincorporated village of Hartfield, along a two-lane undivided highway known as the General Puller Highway. The two state highway continue northwest through forested and agricultural surroundings, before expanding again, to a four-lane divided highway. Immediately after the highways widen, SR 3 and SR 33 split, with SR 33 continuing west along the divided highway toward Saluda, the unincorporated county seat of Middlesex County, and Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, while SR 3 narrows as it turns northeast onto a two-lane undivided highway called Greys Point Road. The state highway continues through agricultural areas in the unincorporated village of Topping, before it passes to the southeast of Hummel Field, a local airport that serves Saluda. SR 3 comes into Lancaster County, on its crossing of the Rappahannock River on the Robert O. Norris Bridge, a truss bridge that has a 14-foot vertical clearance. Past the river, the state highway enters the state's Northern Neck peninsula, where its name changes to Mary Ball Road, and comes into the town of White Stone on Rappahannock Drive, where it meets the southern terminus of SR 200. Past White Stone, SR 3 resumes its Mary Ball Road name, and widens to a four-lane divided highway, before becoming undivided again when it enters the town of Kilmarnock, becoming Main Street. Within Kilmarnock, thru trucks are prohibited and the state highway insects SR 200 again, forming a brief concurrency with that route through town. SR 200 heads south from SR 3 back toward the town of Irvington, while it heads north from SR 3 towards the community of Reedville in neighboring Northumberland County, via a connection with US 360.

Kilmarnock to Fredericksburg
SR 3 heads north through commercial areas, passing northeast of the Rappahannock Community College campus in the Kilmarnock Center strip mall. The state highway leaves Kilmarnock and expands to a four-lane divided highway as Mary Ball Road, that heads back into wooded areas. A short distance later, SR 3 narrows to a two-lane undivided highway surrounded by additional farm fields, as it passes through the hamlets of Brook Vale and Milestone, before passing through a residential strip in the unincorporated village of Lancaster, the county seat of Lancaster County. The state highway west through a forested area, before turning north-northwest into open farm fields, where it reaches the unincorporated village of Lively. Here, SR 3 intersects SR 201, in which southbound SR 201 provides access to Belle Isle State Park. The state highway leaves Lively and runs northwest through more rural areas, before it intersects another outlet to Belle Isle State Park, SR 354. Past SR 354, SR 3 enters Richmond County as the History Land Highway, passes through the residential hamlet of Robley, before it passes to the southwest of the center of the unincorporated village of Farnham, in an agricultural area. From this point, the state highway runs West-Northwest through a residential strip consisting of farmhouses, as well as open farm fields between Farnham and the hamlet of Emmerton. Northwest of Emmerton, SR 3 widens again into a divided highway with four lanes, with a wide, grassy median, that crosses over Totuskey Creek on the Richmond County Veterans Memorial Bridge. From Totuskey Creek, development around the state highway increases again as it curves north into the town of Warsaw, the county seat of Richmond County. Within Warsaw, SR 3 comes to an intersection with US 360 and the southern terminus of SR 3 Business, while it bypasses the center of town to the east; westbound US 360/SR 3 Business provides access to the center of Warsaw as well as Richmond.

The state highway continues from US 360 along four-lane bypass until SR 3 Business loops back to road, north of the center of Warsaw, where it narrows back two lanes and becomes undivided again. SR 3 intersects the western end of SR 203, which leads east toward the unincorporated town of Kinsale, in the village of Lyells, before it leaves Richmond County; SR 203 also provides access to the villages of Hague and Sandy Point, via connections with secondary state highways SR 616 and SR 604, respectively. Past Lyells, the state highway comes into Westmoreland County where its name changes to King's Highway, through areas of rural residences, before it reaches the agricultural hamlet of Nomini Grove. At this point, SR 3 heads through wooded areas, where it becomes a four-lane divided highway again that has an intersection with western terminus of SR 202, which leads east to the village of Mount Holly as well as Hague. A short distance later, the state highway reaches commercial surroundings and narrows to an undivided road that retains four lanes, heading west into the town of Montross, the county seat of Westmoreland County. SR 3 narrows to two lanes as it approaches the center of Montross, where it reverse turns and passes east of the Historic Westmoreland County Courthouse, before it leaves town and regains it shoulder. It continues north-northwest through rural forested areas with nearby farms and residences, where it intersects SR 214, the primary access road to Stratford Hall, in the hamlet of Lerty. East of the hamlet of Baynesville, the route also insects SR 347, which leads into Westmoreland State Park, before it turns northwest again through the hamlet of Potomac Mills, prior to coming to an intersection with SR 204, the primary access road to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in the hamlet of Wakefield Corner. SR 3 turns nearly due west as it reaches the village of Oak Grove, where it intersects the east end of SR 205 that loops away to serve the town of Colonial Beach, as well as providing access to the James Monroe Family Home Site.

Past the eastern junction with SR 205, SR 3 heads back into wooded surroundings and then into open farm fields, where it enters King George County, east of the village of Rollins Fork. From here, the state highway turns northwest and passes through the rural villages of Index and Shiloh, before coming to a four-way intersection with US 301 in the hamlet of Office Hall. From US 301, SR 3 widens to a four-lane divided highway that continues through wooded areas, meeting the western end of SR 205 in the hamlet of Purkins Corner. The state highway curves further westward as it passes through the village of King George, the unincorporated county seat of King George County, where it passes a commercial strip, before narrowing to a two-lane undivided road through the middle of the village. After exiting King George, SR 3 reverts to a four-lane divided highway and reaches an intersection with the western terminus of SR 206, leading northeast to the unincorporated town of Dahlgren, and also provides access to Caledon State Park, in the community of Arnolds Corner. The state highway comes back into rural surroundings in the hamlet of Comorn, and begins to parallel the Rappahannock River, located a short distance to the south of the road. SR 3 continues through the hamlet of Graves Corner, before reaching the village of Sealston, west of which the road enters Stafford County. The state highway continues through a mix of woods and farm fields, passing through the hamlet of Little Falls, prior to heading into residential and commercial areas of suburban development. In this area, SR 3 features a parallel route along a branch of CSX Transportation's RF&P Subdivision rail line on the northeast before drawing away from the tracks at a modified T-intersection. In this intersection, the westbound direction utilizes a flyover ramp to access a four-lane controlled access expressway known as the Blue and Gray Parkway, then immediately crosses the Rappahannock River into the independent city of Fredericksburg; SR 3 Business continues along King's Highway and loops to the north to serve Downtown Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg to Culpeper
Upon entering the city of Fredericksburg, SR 3 continues along the Blue and Gray Parkway as it reaches an interchange with US 17 Business south of downtown, that also provides access to SR 2. The state highway then crosses over the RF&P Subdivision line before the expressway ends, at an at-grade intersection with Bellman Road. SR 3 passes to the southwest of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and the athletic campus of the University of Mary Washington, prior to picking up the western end of SR 3 Business, providing access to the main campus of the university. From here, SR 3 continues west along William Street, taking over that name from SR 3 Business, and continues to full and almost cloverleaf interchanges with US 1, and Interstate 95 and US 17 respectively, in a commercial area. At the I-95/US 17 junction, the highway's name changes to Plank Road and it expands to six lanes, as it heads through more commercial areas and enters Spotsylvania County. SR 3 narrows back to four lanes, as it reverts to rural surroundings with the terrain becoming more hilly, as it crosses the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line from the Tidewater Region to the Piedmont Plateau. Within this area, the state highway passes through the hamlet of Chancellorsville, which is home to Chancellorsville Battlefield site, as well as the rural hamlet of Wilderness Corner, before crossing into Orange County just before intersecting the northern terminus of SR 20, in the village of Wilderness; SR 20 provides access to the town of Orange, the county seat of Orange County, and the city of Charlottesville, as well as being the primary access road to James Madison's Montpelier.

Upon entering Orange County, SR 3 becomes Germanna Highway and turns northwest through forested areas, before becoming a commercial strip road serving the planned communities in the suburban development of Lake of the Woods. The state highway heads through more areas of rolling hills before it comes into Culpeper County, at the crossing of the Rapidan River to the northwest of the Germanna site. SR 3 passes to the northwest of the rural village of Lignum before it curves west through the village of Stevensburg. From here, the state highway passes mainly open farm fields, before reaching the eastern end of its concurrency with US 522 in the hamlet of Winfrey. US 522 heads south from Winfrey toward the town of Mineral while northbound US 522 joins westbound SR 3 to reach an interchange with US 15/US 29, a short distance to the west and close to the location of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Past this interchange US 522/SR 3 reduces to a two-lane undivided road, called Fredericksburg Road and follows it into the town of Culpeper, the county seat of Culpeper County. SR 3 reaches its western terminus at US 522's four way intersection with US 15 Business. US 522 continues west and north from this intersection into Downtown Culpeper, towards the village of Sperryville, in adjacent Rappahannock County, and city of Winchester, as well as providing access to the Culpeper National Cemetery.

History
State Route 7 was defined as part of the original 1918 state highway system from Winchester southeast via Front Royal, and Culpeper to Fredericksburg, and then along the Northern Neck via Warsaw to Reedville. This is now approximated by U.S. Route 522, State Route 3, and U.S. Route 360.

In late 1921, the State Highway Commission looked at possible routes between Winchester and Front Royal, specifically via Middletown to Cedarville and via Boyce, White Post, Stone Bridge, and Rockland to Cedarville, and decided on the direct route via Double Toll Gate.

SR 7 at first ran from Montross via Templeman to Warsaw and then east via Heathsville to Reedville. By late 1922, a branch northwest from Callao via Hague to Templeman was added and assigned the State Route 7-X designation.

In the 1923 renumbering, SR 7 became State Route 37 (and SR 7-X became State Route 371). By the end of that year, SR 37's east end was moved from Reedville to Westland, and the old road between Warsaw and Reedville became part of SR 371.

Fredericksburg Business Route
State Route 3 Business runs through historic Fredericksburg primarily along William Street and the Kings Highway, although a one-way split of the route exists between Washington Avenue and Amelia Street.

Warsaw Business Route
State Route 3 Business in Warsaw includes Main Street and a concurrency with US 360.

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

title: Virginia State Route 3


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KSEG (FM)

KSEG (96.9 MHz "The Eagle") is a commercial FM radio station in Sacramento, California. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The  studios and offices are located on Madison Avenue in North Highlands (with a Sacramento address). KSEG is co-owned with five other Sacramento Audacy radio stations.

KSEG has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts. The transmitter is off North Market Boulevard in Sacramento, near Steelhead Creek. KSEG broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format.

Classical: 1959-1971
On October 2, 1959, after beginning testing the previous month, the station signed on. Its call sign was KSFM. It was owned by local radio personality Fred White and KXTV engineer Bob Stofan, doing business as the Audiolab Company. KSFM played classical music from studios and a transmitter site in Arden Town. In 1961, the station moved its studios and transmitter to a site on Rosebud Lane, increasing power from 6,400 to 64,000 watts.

KSFM went silent for 90 days on October 11, 1963, to permit a financial reorganization of the station. That December, a judge ordered the station to return $16,000 worth of equipment to the Collins Radio Company after not making monthly payments on its purchase. It was announced in August that the Belltone Music Company would assume operations of the silent station, with an affiliated background music service broadcast on its subcarrier.

This prompted a lawsuit from Dale Flewelling, founder of KXRQ (98.5 FM). Flewelling, who had bought KSFM's existing background music business in December 1962, charged that KSFM's reentry into that market violated a non-compete clause and sought an injunction to prevent such activity at KSFM until December 1965. The Flewelling lawsuit was dismissed in January 1965.

Beautiful music: 1971-1975
In 1971, KSFM was acquired by PSA Broadcasting, a division of Pacific Southwest Airlines. While there were no changes in personnel as a result of the purchase, PSA changed the station to a beautiful music format, as its other stations had, and the call letters changed to KPSC. (The KSFM call letters were adopted by 102.5 FM in June 1972.) PSA chose call signs for its four stations in California with designations including the letters "EZ." KPSC thus became KEZS in 1973.

Rock: 1975-1984
In 1975, Atlantic States Industries, owners of popular Top 40 station KROY 1240 AM, acquired KEZS. To echo its new sister station, the call letters were changed to KROI. KROY-KROI was acquired in 1978 by Jonsson Broadcasting Corporation, with the two stations fetching $1.65 million and $1.1 million, respectively. While separately programmed from the AM station as an album-oriented rock station, KROI became KROY-FM on April 23, 1979. Management believed the separate KROI designation confused advertisers used to the more familiar KROY call letters.

The rapid rise of KZAP after its 1978 sale to Western Cities Broadcasting gave KROY-FM a powerful rock competitor.

Adult contemporary: 1984-1985
In 1984, KROY-FM became adult contemporary outlet KSAC, doing what a number of Sacramento radio stations had attempted to do but fail—secure the call letters that had belonged to the radio station of Kansas State University since the early days of radio. That station had been KSAC, since the university was known as Kansas State Agricultural College when it was founded. 1984 was its 60th anniversary, and the station's longtime desire to obtain call letters containing KSU, plus a $25,000 offer from the Sacramento station and FCC deregulation, helped secure the change.

Dick Tracy, radio columnist for the Sacramento Bee, questioned Jonsson's management of its Sacramento stations, noting that "long-range ineptitude" had caused listenership to its local stations to decline considerably. Jonsson moved its stations to new quarters in the American River Commons office park.

Hot adult contemporary: 1985-1990
In 1985, Jonsson sold its two Sacramento radio stations to Commonwealth Broadcasting for $12 million. Commonwealth relaunched 96.9 FM as hot adult contemporary/contemporary hit radio KROY-FM (branded as "97 KROY"), restoring the call letters that Jonsson had moved to a station in Reno, and moved KSAC to 1240 AM. Ratings surged from a 2.2 to a 5.9 in 1987, coming close to beating KSFM (102.5 FM), which had led the market overall prior to the creation of 97 KROY.

In 1988, Great American Broadcasting acquired KROY for $11.8 million.

Classic rock: 1990-present
On November 12, 1990, KROY became KSEG, flipping from CHR to classic rock; the first song under the new format was "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band. The move came as the CHR format was in a decline, and Sacramento had three stations in the format. The flip to classic rock put KZAP on notice and surpassed it in the ratings; ultimately, that station bowed out of the competition and flipped to country in January 1992.

KSEG attracted local attention in its early years for giving away condoms in an AIDS education campaign, while in 1993, Governor Pete Wilson took an air shift on its "Classic Nine at 9" program for his 60th birthday, taking KSEG up on a long-standing offer.

In 1993, Great American Broadcasting acquired rock outlet KRXQ (93.7 FM), which targeted a younger audience. After Jacor Communications acquired Great American, it sold both Sacramento stations to Entercom, which at the same time purchased KXOA-FM 107.9; the two Jacor pickups sold for $45 million. In the wake of the sale, KSEG dismissed its morning show team of Jeff McMurray and Mark Davis, ultimately replacing them with The Mark & Brian Show from Los Angeles. The current morning show is hosted by market veteran Pat Martin, who joined the station on July 6, 2021, after a 33 year run at sister station KRXQ.

KSEG was the Sacramento market affiliate for San Francisco 49ers game broadcasts, directly contracting with San Francisco station KGO for the rights. When the Niners changed flagships to KNBR ahead of the 2005 season, however, KSEG lost the rights alongside KGO and opted not to even pursue a new deal, citing KNBR's strong signal into Sacramento.

title: KSEG (FM)


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User:Jinki~enwiki

Jinki
I have good programming skills in Java and a Phd In Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

My interests include sailing, windsurfing, bushwalking, 4WDing and martial arts.

Pages I have Developed
Australian Sharpie

title: User:Jinki~enwiki


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Talk:KROY (Sacramento, California)

Untitled
Since KSEG-FM redirects here, this article should include info on its current incarnation, Eagle 96.9...Ranma9617 06:53, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:KROY (Sacramento, California)


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Tales DS

Tales DS may refer to the following:

 * Tales of the Tempest, the first game in the Tales series to be released on the Nintendo DS.
 * Tales of Innocence, the second game in the Tales series to be released on the Nintendo DS.
 * Tales of Hearts, the third game in the Tales series to be released on the Nintendo DS.

title: Tales DS


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Category:United States senators from Tennessee

People who have represented Tennessee in the United States Senate.


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Curnonsky

Maurice Edmond Sailland (October 12, 1872, in Angers, France – July 22, 1956, in Paris), better known by his pen-name Curnonsky (nicknamed 'Cur'), and dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was one of the most celebrated writers on gastronomy in France in the 20th century. He wrote or ghost-wrote many books in diverse genres and many newspaper columns. He is often considered the inventor of gastronomic motor-tourism as popularized by Michelin, though he himself could not drive. He was a student of Henri-Paul Pellaprat.

Biography
Maurice Edmond Sailland was born in Angers (Maine-et-Loire) on October 12, 1872 to Edmond-Georges Sailland and his wife Blanche-Alphonsine Mazeran. His mother died within of month of his birth, and his father abandoned him. He was raised by his grandmother in Angers and attended the Collège Saint-Maurille in town. At the age of 18, he moved to Paris to attend the Ecole Normale Supérieure to prepare for a career in journalism.

Curnonsky's friend Paul Reboux wrote in 1933: "For 40 years, Curnonsky did almost all of the jobs in the literary profession. He was a novelist, a columnist, a humorist, a publicists, a music hall critic ... and a 'discreet collaborator,' that is to say, a 'ghost writer.' ... But it would be to speak of Curnonsky in a quite incomplete manner to not insist on his merits as a gastronome." His role in promoting French gastronomy is perhaps what he is best known for today.

Curnonsky took every occasion to promote his theory of the four cuisines of France:

"La Haute Cuisine, celle des Grands chefs, qui, disons-le n'est pas à la portée de toutes les bourses ... La Cuisine Bourgeoise, triomphe des bonnes maîtresses de maison et de nos cordons bleus auteurs d'une cuisine simple et parfaite. La Cuisine Impromptue, celle des campeurs, de ceux qui vont à pied, celle qui se fait à l'INFORTUNE DU POT. Naturellement la conserve y a sa part. Mais la conserverie française est parfaite. Enfin la Cuisine Régionale, celle qui réalise en France la sainte alliance du tourisme et de la gastronomie."

"Haute Cuisine, that of the Great Chefs which, to be clear, is not available to all pocketbooks... Bourgeois Cuisine, the triumph of good middle-class women and our cordon bleus, creators of a simple and perfect cuisine. Impromptu Cuisine, that of campers, of those who go by foot, which uses whatever is available. Naturally canned foods have their place here. But French canning is perfect. Finally, Regional Cuisine, which in France achieves the Holy Alliance of tourism and gastronomy."

Curnonsky's professional activities were truly wide-ranging. He even created a number of advertising slogans for important companies. According to his biographer Arbellot, he coined the name Bibendum for the Michelin Man in 1907—because "Michelin tires drink [i.e. 'soak up' or 'eat up'] everything, even obstacles"—, and wrote Michelin's weekly column "Les Lundis de Michelin" in Le Journal starting on November 25, 1907. It was originally signed "Michelin" but starting on March 2, 1908, it was signed "Bibendum". Michelin had used the phrase "Nunc est bibendum" ("Cheers!" in Latin) on a poster in 1898, showing the Michelin Man swallowing a glass full of nails, but it is unclear when the word "Bibendum" became applied to this character.

In 1921, he began writing a series of regional travel guides with Marcel Rouff, published under the collective title of La France Gastronomique: Guide des merveilles culinaires et des bonnes auberges françaises (Gastronomic France: Guide to the culinary marvels and the good inns of France). This was the early days of automobile tourism, which served to highlight the regional foods of France. Curnonsky and Rouff played an important role in the increasing popularity of discovering regional dishes and restaurants. Between 1921 and 1928, Curnonsky and Rouff wrote 28 volumes, which totaled 3,000 pages and included more than 5,000 recipes. The historian Julia Csergo writes that Curnonsky and Rouff "invented the 'gastronomic guide' with the publication of their Gastronomic Tour of France".

He was named a knight of the Légion d'Honneur in 1928 and was made an officer in 1938.

In 1928, he co-founded the Académie des gastronomes, modelled on the Académie Française, and served as its first president, until 1949. In 1947, he started the magazine Cuisine et Vins de France along with Madeleine Decure. In 1950, he was a co-founder of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs His other associations included honorary member of the Club des Purs Cent, member of the Association des Gastronomes régionalistes, and member of the Académie de l'Humour.

To honor his eightieth birthday, eighty restaurants marked his favorite table with a copper plaque reading: Cette place est celle de Maurice Edmond Sailland-Curnonsky Prince élu des gastronomes Défenseur et illustrateur de la Cuisine française Hôte d'honneur de cette maison This led to the legend that eighty restaurants reserved a table for him every night in case he should show up, though by that point, he rarely went out at all.

Curnonsky died on July 22, 1956, at the age of 89. He fell out of the window of his third floor Paris apartment. He was on a severe diet at the time and was anemic, thus it was speculated that he had fainted while standing on his balcony. A year later a commemorative plaque on nr. 14 of the place Henri-Bergson, Paris 8e was installed and a booklet published on this occasion.

Name
The name "Curnonsky" comes from the Latin cur + non "why not?" plus the Russian suffix -sky, as all things Russian were in vogue in 1895, when he coined it. He once said that this nickname was "my tunic of Nessus, as I am neither Russian, nor Polish, nor Jewish, nor Ukrainian, but just an average Frenchman and wine-guy [sacavin]". Sailland wrote, co-wrote, and ghost wrote over 150 books, some under other pseudonyms, including Perdiccas, Sailland-Curnonsky, and Maurice Curnonsky.

In 1927, the newspaper Paris-Soir organized an election, or referendum, among its readers to choose the "prince of the gastronomes." Curnonsky (who signed his articles as "Cur" at this time) beat out the likes of Maurice des Ombiaux, Léon Daudet, and Ali Bab. For the next several years, into early 1930, he edited a weekly full-page feature in Paris-Soir entitled "Annales of Gastronomy"; on the masthead he was identified as "Cur I, Prince des Gastronomes."

Philosophy
A celebrated aphorism of Curnonsky's was:

 * La cuisine, c'est quand les choses ont le goût de ce qu'elles sont.
 * Good cooking is when things taste of what they are.

He advocated simple food over complicated, rustic over refined, and often repeated the phrase

 * Et surtout, faites simple!
 * And above all, keep it simple!

In a 1937 interview, Curnonsky drew a contrast between his philosophy of French cuisine and that of the great chefs of the day. He noted that he was elected "democratic prince [of gastronomy] ... by the cooks and cordon bleus who, every day, make healthy, simple, good food," and the great chefs, "the grand aristocrats of cuisine, the Prosper Montagnés, the Escoffiers, the Philéas Gilberts, ... who, in Paris or in the provinces, maintain the traditions of elaborate and skilled French cuisine." Curnonsky praised women who he believed cooked by instinct, without formal training. It was a cuisine that was "straightforward, clear in taste and never aimed at effect... A tranquil and well-prepared cuisine, a cuisine of cordon bleu."

Partial bibliography

 * By Curnonsky
 * with Marcel Rouff, La France Gastronomique: Guides des merveilles culinaires et des bonnes auberges françaises Paris, 1921–29, in 28 volumes.
 * with Austin de Croze, Le Trésor gastronomique de la France, 1933.
 * Cuisine et Vins de France. Paris, 1953. A collection of recipes collected by Curnonsky from restaurants.  New edition, with preface and updates by Robert Courtine, Paris: Larousse, 1974 ISBN 2-03-018110-2.
 * Souvenirs Littéraires et Gastronomiques, Paris: Albin Michel, 1958.
 * Curnonsky: Prince des Gastronomes, Simon Arbellot, Paris: Les Productions de Paris, 1965. Biography.
 * Curnonsky et ses amis, Association des amis de Curnonsky, Paris: Librairie Edgar Soete, 1979. A collection of reminiscences.
 * Curnonsky – à la carte... Munich: Edition Curnonska, 2007
 * Curnonsky – en route... Munich: Edition Curnonska, 2007
 * Curnonsky – souvenirs gastronomiques... Munich: Edition Curnonska, 2007

In 2003, German art historian Inge Huber discovered five boxes with letters of Curnonsky, and authored a biography "Curnonsky. Oder das Geheimnis des Maurice-Edmond Sailland" 2010, Rolf Heyne Editor.

title: Curnonsky


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Bomberman Story DS

Bomberman Story DS (ボンバーマンストーリーDS) is a 2007 puzzle action role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS. It was announced at the Nintendo Conference 2005. It was able to connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection service. This game has received translations into several languages including English for releases in Europe and Australia by Rising Star Games.

Story
Bomberman is a special agent, hired by "The Justice Department" to retrieve some stolen scientific data. It was later discovered that Professor Xeal and "The Lords of the Galaxy" were involved in the loss of this data, and so Bomberman begins his latest journey.

Multiplayer
The game allows connecting to other Bomberman games in multiplayer mode. The Japanese version of the game contained the "Battle Pack 1" version of the traditional Battle Mode, which allowed connecting to Bomberman Land Touch!. The European version doubled in ROM size (from 64 to 128MB) and was updated with "Battle Pack 2," which allowed connecting to the newer Bomberman Land Touch! 2 and Bomberman 2. Rising Star's web site still mistakenly states that Bomberman Story DS players can connect with Bomberman Land Touch!.

Rising Star's site also states that Bomberman Story DS can utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for up to 8 players, although in the game WiFi is only for up to 4 players, as with Bomberman Land Touch!.

Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 27 out of 40.

title: Bomberman Story DS


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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a 2006 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami. The game was released on November 16, 2006 in Japan, and in North America on December 5, 2006 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Portrait of Ruin is the first Castlevania to feature a cooperative multiplayer gameplay mode and the first handheld Castlevania to have English voice-overs, outside of its original Japanese release.

Portrait of Ruin is set in 1944 Europe during World War II, and is a continuation of the story from Castlevania: Bloodlines. The game introduces protagonists and antagonists to the Castlevania series as well as expand on the two character gameplay found in the previous Nintendo DS Castlevania title, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Portrait of Ruin has met with an overall positive critical response and has received high ratings from reviews, along with several awards.

Gameplay
Portrait of Ruin features a 2D side-scrolling style of gameplay. One of the main features to the gameplay is that players can switch freely between two characters, Jonathan and Charlotte, similar to the "Julius mode" from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Jonathan and Charlotte can combine their powers to perform a powerful attack together known as "Dual Crush", and their combined abilities are needed in certain parts of the castle for them to solve puzzles and progress through the story. For example, the player must have both characters board two "motorcycles" and alternate between them to dodge obstacles to have both motorcycles intact to crash through a wall.

Aside from Dracula's castle, Jonathan and Charlotte explore other environments such as Egyptian-like deserts and London-like towns via paintings dispersed throughout the castle. During the adventure, the heroes encounter 155 different enemies, which are kept track in a bestiary. Many enemies from previous Castlevania titles make appearances either as standard monsters or bosses for the sections of the castle and paintings. As they progress, the duo learn new skills and acquire equipment and items which allow further exploration in the game.

Like previous Castlevania games, this game features alternate endings. Portrait of Ruin has two different endings. Both involve Jonathan and Charlotte preventing Dracula from being resurrected, but only one involves the defeat of Brauner, another vampire enemy, and the Actual defeat of Dracula. At one point in the game, the player's actions determine which ending will be obtained. The first ending is normally referred to as the "bad" ending because the main objectives of the game's story are not completed; to indicate this, the game will display a "Game over" screen instead of the credits. The second ending completes those objectives and allows the player to explore more of Dracula's castle and gain access to more paintings. This ending is considered the canonical ending to the game.

Alternate modes
Portrait of Ruin features alternate modes of gameplay; four single player modes for the main story and a "Boss Rush" mode that can be played with either one or two players. Aside from Health and Magic Power enhancements, items cannot be obtained nor used in any of the extra modes of the main game. Initially, only one story mode is available and features the main protagonists, Jonathan and Charlotte. After obtaining the better of the two endings with Jonathan and Charlotte, the player will unlock a prologue to the main story, "Sisters Mode", and additional stages in the Boss Rush Mode. Completing the game also gives the player the option to increase the difficulty, add level caps on new games, and start a game with all previously obtained items and skills. If the player meets certain requirements in the game, two other versions of the main story mode are made available; "Richter Mode" and "Old Axe Armor Mode".
 * In "Sisters Mode", the player controls Loretta and Stella Lecarde. This mode serves as a prologue to the storyline in Jonathan's Mode.  They have different controls compared to the normal gameplay in that attacks are controlled completely with the stylus.  Loretta is able to use an ice spell which is aimed with the player's stylus, and Stella is able to damage enemies and objects that the player passes the stylus over. Instead of reaching Dracula, the game ends when Brauner is reached.
 * Richter mode allows the player to control Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, the latter in the first time as a playable character in an American or European release. There are a few minor differences in the control scheme, and they begin with all of their mobility upgrades, which allows the player to explore the castle freely from the beginning. 'Richter' is also misspelled as Richiter within dialogue boxes in the main game.
 * In Old Axe Armor mode, the player controls the Old Axe Armor enemy. Because there is only one character, the player is unable to switch characters as in the other modes. The character also lacks any magic spells and has only two sub-weapons.
 * Boss Rush Mode is separate from the main game; essentially, it is a time attack mode. There are three separate stages to choose from, though initially only one is available. The other two become available after obtaining the true ending of the game.  Each stage is a series of rooms that the player traverses from left to right. Within each room is a boss or collection of monsters from the game. Depending on how quickly a player completes each stage, they will be rewarded with special items which can be added to the inventory of the normal game. This mode also features a wireless, cooperative two player option.

Nintendo Wi-Fi
Portrait of Ruin is the first game in the Castlevania franchise with cooperative multiplayer. However, this is the second multiplayer Castlevania game; Dawn of Sorrow, also for the DS, was the first to have a multiplayer mode. Players can interact through either the Co-op mode or a Shop mode. Both modes can connect by local wireless or Nintendo Wi-Fi. The online cooperative mode allows two players to complete Boss Rushes together. The character used in this mode can be chosen at the beginning and is selected from a list of characters that is unlocked through standard gameplay. The Co-op mode is initially limited to one boss-run challenge, but after a file is beaten, two more challenges become available. The online Shop mode allows players to sell their items to other players. When another player buys the item, the selling player gains the money, but does not lose the item.

Death glitch
In the original Japanese version, along with the North American release of the game, there was an infamous glitch that involved Death. When you beat him, a cutscene will play, but if you skip it, and leave the room, the doors will close which isn't supposed to happen. If you go back into Death's room, you'll be stuck inside there with no way out. So it you save the game just outside of the room after you beat him, the game will be soft-locked, with the only way out of it is resetting the entire game.

Plot and setting
Portrait of Ruin takes place in the fictional universe of the Castlevania series. The series' premise is the conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. The story occurs in Dracula's castle and is set in 1944 Europe during World War II. In addition to the castle, the main characters explore various different paintings that have been constructed by the villain named Brauner. The paintings act as portals to new areas and feature a distinct look that is different from the main castle.

Characters
Portrait of Ruin introduces characters to the Castlevania series: Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin. Jonathan is the wielder of the legendary whip, "Vampire Killer", which was passed down to him by his father, John Morris from Castlevania: Bloodlines. As he is not a direct descendant of the Belmont clan, he is unable to unlock the Vampire Killer's full power without the assistance of a member of the Lecarde family. Charlotte is a mage and distant descendant of the Belnades clan. The game features the same antagonists as previous Castlevania titles and introduces three new ones. The main villain is Dracula who serves as the game's final boss.

The new antagonists are three vampires that have taken control of Dracula's castle. Leading them is Brauner, an elderly vampire based on the real-life artist Victor Brauner from the same time period. Brauner recreated Dracula's castle using the souls of the dead from World War II in order to draw power from the castle and plans to use that power to destroy humanity. He disdains humanity because his two real daughters had been killed 30 years prior during World War I. Brauner is able to construct paintings containing pocket dimensions in order to harness the castle's power for his own purposes. He is joined by twin vampire sisters Stella and Loretta. Although the two are vampires, they are actually Eric Lecarde's daughters who were turned into vampires by Brauner, who they believe is their father. In the bad ending, Brauner gives up and escapes from the castle in order to save the lives of his two adopted daughters.

Assisting the two main characters are a priest named Vincent Dorin who acts as a merchant selling weapons, potions, and magic spells, as well as a ghost who introduces himself as "Wind" and provides Jonathan and Charlotte new skills and equipment that once belonged to him if they perform certain tasks called "quests". Wind's identity is eventually revealed to be Eric Lecarde, Stella and Loretta's true father who once fought alongside Jonathan's father to slay Dracula in Bloodlines.

Story
Prior to the start of the game, the two sisters, Stella and Loretta travel to Dracula's castle in search of their father, Eric Lecarde. After traversing through the castle, the two arrive at Brauner's lair where they find their father defeated. Seeing the two sisters, Brauner grabs them and turns them into vampires. At the beginning of the game, Jonathan and Charlotte encounter Vincent at the gates of the castle, who serves as a merchant. Upon entering the castle, Jonathan and Charlotte encounter an enigmatic blue figure that they first identify as hostile. After the figure transforms into a humanoid male, he explains that he was killed a short time ago and had cast a magical barrier to keep himself conscious while still within the confines of the castle. He introduces himself as "Wind".

Shortly after meeting Wind, Jonathan and Charlotte find one of Brauner's magical portraits. Unable to destroy it from outside, the two travel into the world within. Soon, they find Brauner's channeler, a Dullahan. Shortly after its defeat, one of the vampire sisters appears and disdains their efforts, saying their control is lessened in only a minor degree. Later, when entering the second portrait, they find Brauner and the two twins; Brauner laughs at the notion of reviving Dracula, as he has failed too many times to control humanity, but concedes his power is too great to ignore. Both sisters desire to kill the two humans, but Brauner sees Dracula's servant Death as a greater threat, as he could wrest control from him far more easily than them. While exploring the castle, Charlotte and Jonathan encounter Death, who acts as if Dracula were already revived. When informed Dracula is still dead, and that another vampire is controlling the castle, he scoffs at the idea of a hand other than Dracula's to rule Castlevania. Yet, he is gravely disturbed when he sees the statements are true, and promptly leaves to seek a way to destroy Brauner and revive Dracula.

Jonathan and Charlotte encounter Stella at the base of the Tower of Death, and after being promptly defeated, she loses her locket as she flees with her sister. Opening the locket, Charlotte finds a photo of the twins with Wind, and both decide to question him. Wind confesses his true name, Eric Lecarde, and that the twins are his children. Later, Jonathan and Charlotte confront Death, who wants to disassociate himself from Brauner and has no desire to fight. Nevertheless, he engages them but is defeated and flees. When Jonathan and Charlotte reach the towering spire of the Master's Keep, they find the Dracula's throne room sealed off, and conclude that Brauner is delaying Dracula's revival to siphon his power.

After searching the castle, Jonathan and Charlotte obtain the Sanctuary spell, a magical attack that dispels curses and allows the dead to rest in peace. During the battle with the twins, the sisters are cured of their vampirism by Charlotte's spell. This allows them to regain their sanity, and they subsequently offer to perform a ritual that allows Jonathan to utilize the Vampire Killer whip's full power. After Jonathan passes the test and defeats the Memory of the Whip, an entity bearing the likeness of Richter Belmont, he is warned against overusing it, as the Vampire Killer drains life force of a non-Belmont wielding the full power, eventually killing the user as it did Jonathan's father. After the twins are defeated, they open a passage leading to a massive storeroom that contains a portrait leading to Brauner's studio. The two confront Brauner and defeat him. When confronted about his acts, he admits justice wasn't on his side, but refuses to acknowledge it was on the heroes'. Death suddenly hovers from above, and kills Brauner with one swing of his scythe. This act destroys the painting sealing the Throne Room, and Jonathan and Charlotte then go to battle with Dracula.

Before they can engage Dracula, Death enters the room and sides with his master, and together they attack the heroes. During the course of the battle, Death and Dracula merge into a more powerful form, but they are eventually defeated by Jonathan and Charlotte. When destroyed, everyone flees the castle, and sees from the distance as the walls collapse. Later, the twins, Jonathan and Charlotte are visited in the fields outside the castle by Eric's ghost, who gives some advice to the twins and thanks Charlotte and Jonathan for destroying the curse before his spirit finally fades from existence. As the four of them leave, they end up forgetting about Vincent, who is comically trying to get their attention as he chases after them.

Development
NCL announced a new Castlevania for the DS on October 5, 2005. Details of the game were not released until April 21, 2006, when Konami revealed the game's title and its World War II setting. On May 9, 2006, the official trailer was shown at Konami's official press conference. The trailer showcased the smooth player switching and combinations of Jonathan and Charlotte's abilities. In an interview with producer Koji Igarashi in June 2006, it was revealed the game would try to utilize the touch screen better than Dawn of Sorrow. He also mentioned he was thinking of incorporating cooperative game play in an unlockable stage via WiFi. More information concerning online game play were released a month later at Comic-Con 2006, but details on how it would be implemented were still unconfirmed. At the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Igarashi confirmed details about the WiFi modes and stated Portrait of Ruin would have a cooperative time attack and an online shop mode.

Because of Nintendo's solid infrastructure for the DS, Igarashi wanted to try the online components, and test for possible online game play, in future Castlevania titles. Igarashi commented the two player game play was homage to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, his favorite Castlevania game. The anime style of artwork was retained from Dawn of Sorrow, which Igarashi had switched to in the previous title to appeal more to the younger demographics of the Nintendo handheld systems. Portrait of Ruin's development cycle took roughly the same amount of time as Dawn of Sorrow did. Koji Igarashi stated that the schedule became tight due to Nintendo Wi-Fi difficulties, considering it was their first online enabled game.

Audio
Portrait of Ruin featured English voice-overs for portions of the game. The original Japanese dialog was also included as an easter egg. Michiru Yamane returned to compose the music, with additional songs by Yuzo Koshiro. IGN noted that the style of the music tracks ranged from "hauntingly morose to almost jovially up-tempo". The audio tracks are also accessible via a "Sound Mode" that is unlocked by defeating Dracula. The player can also collect records of certain tracks that can be used to replace the game's default background music. The songs "Sandfall" and "In Search of the Secret Spell" that play in the Forgotten City level are originally from Konami's own King's Valley 2 released on the MSX2 computer, composed by Koshiro.

Merchandise
There were several pieces of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin merchandise released along with the game. Strategy guides were released, both in Japan and North America. In Japan, Konami released an official strategy guide. In North America, the official strategy guide was released by BradyGames and featured a complete walkthrough, maps, and item lists. The most notable merchandise was the "20th Anniversary Pre-order Bundle". In celebration of their 20th anniversary of the series, anyone that pre-ordered Portrait of Ruin at any popular game outlet, received a free bundle, along with the game. The bundle includes a variety of Castlevania products contained in cardboard sleeve with a plastic Seal of the Castlevania logo. The products include: a soundtrack CD containing songs from the Castlevania series, a timeline poster covering many of the significant characters and events of Castlevania history, a 48-page art book containing artwork from the entire series, a clear/white game case designed to hold both Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and an extendable stylus.

Reception
Portrait of Ruin has met with overall positive reviews and received various awards. Game Informer awarded it "Handheld Game of the Month" for January 2007, and listed it as one of the "Top 50 Games of 2006". Portrait of Ruin also won "Best Original Score" and was runner-up for "Best Adventure Game" in IGN's Best of 2006. Dracula was listed as the third top villain of 2006 by Game Informer, citing the final boss fight in Portrait of Ruin as the reason. 1UP.com listed it as the "Best DS Game" in their "Best of E3 2006" feature. The audio was well received. GameSpot called the music "excellent" and rated the sound a 9 out of 10. Yahoo! Games rated the sound a 4.5 out of 5. Game Informer called the audio a high point of the game, though complained about Charlotte always shouting the name of her attack. Game Informer also praised the cooperative element and felt that more games should be designed like it. IGN stated that "the dramatic score is enough to send a chill up your spine", though mentioned that amount of vocals was sparse. GameZone ranked it as the ninth best Castlevania game. Robert Workman (an editor for GameZone) complimented it for its changes to the series that came without a sacrifice to quality.

The gameplay received mixed reviews, though most were overall positive. GamePro complimented the multiplayer components and noted that the game "not only reaffirms the series' greatness, but is easily one of the best handheld games released this year." They also rated the game a 4.5 out of 5 in all categories. Eurogamer commented that the two-character gameplay was complicated and sometimes awkward. They also compared it to its predecessor, stating that Portrait of Ruin deviated away from Dawn of Sorrow in terms of gameplay. Game Informer called it "one of the best experiences in gaming" and complimented the story, setting, and game play. Yahoo! Games called the game play "addictive" and praised the two character game play. They also complimented the online multiplayer, the setting, and the freedom to play the game with or without the DS's special functions, but criticized some of the dialog. IGN stated that the game was not "the mind-blowing revelation that Dawn of Sorrow was", but still complemented the "solid" game play and called it an enjoyable experience. GameSpot called it a great game because it "stays true to the familiar Castlevania design and delivers a fun, lengthy adventure." Game Informer mentioned the two character play was "done before, but Portrait of Ruin's system is particularly smooth in execution."

Shutaro Iida, who worked on the game as a programmer, cites Portrait of Ruin as his favorite Castlevania game out of the ones he worked on.

title: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin


text:
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title: User:DCary


text:
Batavia

Batavia may refer to:

Historical places

 * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
 * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East Indies (1619–1949)
 * Old Batavia, the original downtown area of Jakarta
 * Jakarta, the modern-day city, capital of Indonesia
 * Batavian Republic, the Netherlands from 1795 to 1806 as a French vassal state, Batavia being the Latin name of the Low countries
 * Passau, Germany, called Batavis or Batavia by the Romans

United States

 * Batavia, California, an unincorporated community in Solano County, California
 * Batavia, Illinois, a city in Kane County, Illinois, named for the city in New York
 * Batavia, Iowa, a city in Jefferson County, Iowa
 * Batavia, Michigan, a community in Branch County, Michigan
 * Batavia, New York, a city which is the county seat of Genesee County, New York, named for the region in the Netherlands
 * Batavia (town), New York, in Genesee County, New York
 * Batavia Kill (Schoharie Creek tributary), a river in Greene County, New York
 * Batavia, Ohio, a town and the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio
 * Batavia, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
 * Batavia Township (disambiguation), several communities

Elsewhere

 * Batavia, Suriname, a former leper colony site in Suriname
 * Batavia Road, an anchorage in Western Australia

Transportation

 * Batavia (1628 ship), a ship of the Dutch East India Company shipwrecked on her maiden voyage on the coast of Australia in 1629
 * Batavia (1995 ship), a seaworthy replica of the same ship
 * Batavia (1802 ship), an English ship
 * Batavia Road (boat), one of the first boats used for a commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos
 * Batavia Air, an Indonesian airline

Sport

 * Batavia F.C., an Indonesian football club based in South Jakarta
 * Batavia Union F.C., an Indonesian football club based in North Jakarta

Other uses

 * Batavia, a type of lettuce with broad flat leaves
 * Batavia (cloth), an 18th-century silk fabric, popular for dress in France, made in Batavia now (Jakarta)
 * Batavia (opera), by Richard Mills
 * Batavia Institute, a registered historic place in Batavia, Illinois
 * Batavia, a group of islands in Dougal Dixon's book After Man: A Zoology of the Future
 * Batavia Knoll, a submerged microcontinent part of the Naturaliste Plateau

title: Batavia


text:
Augustine (disambiguation)

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430), was a Church Father.

Augustine may also refer to:

People

 * Augustine (actor) (1955–2013), Malayalam film actor
 * Augustine of Canterbury (died 604), the first Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Saint Augustine (disambiguation)
 * Augustine (given name)
 * List of people with given name Augustine
 * Augustine (surname), includes a list of people with the surname

Film

 * Augustine (film), a 2012 French film by Alice Winocour

Music

 * "Augustine", a song by Patrick Wolf from The Magic Position

Places

 * Augustine Volcano, a volcano on Augustine Island
 * Augustine Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Ipswich, Australia
 * Temple of the Augustinians, Brussels, a former Baroque-style church in Brussels, Belgium
 * Les Augustins, a small group of rocks in the archipelago of Îles des Saintes, Caribbean Sea

Other uses

 * Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians
 * Augustinians, Catholic monastic order
 * Enchiridion of Augustine
 * Luhring Augustine Gallery, an art gallery in Chelsea, New York
 * Musée des Augustins, a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France
 * Ulmus americana 'Augustine', a species of American Elm tree

title: Augustine (disambiguation)


text: Category:Escuela Libre de Derecho alumni


text:
Whitney disk

In mathematics, given two submanifolds A and B of a manifold X intersecting in two points p and q, a Whitney disc is a mapping from the two-dimensional disc D, with two marked points, to X, such that the two marked points go to p and q, one boundary arc of D goes to A and the other to B.

Their existence and embeddedness is crucial in proving the cobordism theorem, where it is used to cancel the intersection points; and its failure in low dimensions corresponds to not being able to embed a Whitney disc. Casson handles are an important technical tool for constructing the embedded Whitney disc relevant to many results on topological four-manifolds.

Pseudoholomorphic Whitney discs are counted by the differential in Lagrangian intersection Floer homology.

title: Whitney disk


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Anbe Sivam

Anbe Sivam is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language slice-of-life drama film directed by Sundar C. and produced by K. Muralitharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal under the banner of Lakshmi Movie Makers. The film was written by Kamal Haasan, and Madhan provided the dialogues. Anbe Sivam stars Haasan, Madhavan and Kiran Rathod, with Nassar, Santhana Bharathi, Seema and Uma Riyaz Khan playing supporting characters. The film tells the story of Nallasivam and Anbarasu, two men of contrasting personalities who undertake an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai.

Produced on a budget of ₹120 million, Anbe Sivam takes on themes such as communism, atheism, and altruism and depicts Haasan's humanist views. The music was composed by Vidyasagar. Arthur A. Wilson served as the cinematographer and M. Prabhaharan served as the art director.

The film was released on 15 January 2003 to positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office. Despite its initial failure, it has gained recognition over the years through re-runs on television channels and is now regarded as a classic of Tamil cinema and a cult film. Anbe Sivam was screened as part of the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India in 2003. At the 51st Filmfare Awards South, it received a Special Jury Award and nominations in the Best Film and Best Actor (Haasan) categories. Madhavan was awarded Best Actor at the 2003 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Plot
Two men waiting at the Biju Patnaik Airport (in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for a flight to Chennai, Tamil Nadu) engage in conversation. One is a commercial director, Anbarasu, who prefers the abbreviated name A.Aras, and the other is a scarred and deformed socialist, Nallasivam, going by Mr. Sivam. When the flight is cancelled due to heavy rain, Aras initially suspects Sivam to be a terrorist and informs the authorities, only to discover that he was mistaken. With the rain flooding the city, the two men are forced to share a room for the night. Both need to return to Chennai: Aras to be present at his wedding, and Sivam has to deliver a ₹32,00,000 cheque, recently awarded to him after he won a court case, to a group of union workers.

After a traumatic night, and no hope for a flight, the two men take a bus to board the Coromandel Express train. Aras's bag gets stolen on the way, leaving him with only his credit card, which no one accepts. Using his presence of mind, Sivam repeatedly bails Aras out of trouble while Aras tries to escape from him at every juncture, only to end up with him again. While waiting for the train at the Ichchapuram railway station (in Andhra Pradesh), Sivam begins to tell Aras his story.

A few years earlier, a healthy Nallasivam, going by Nalla, took part in various street theatre performances protesting against multinational corporation-driven industrialisation, which resulted in the marginalisation of the labour force. He was at odds with Kandasamy Padayatchi, a manipulative factory owner who refused to give his workers a raise. Nalla satirically imitated Padayatchi in many of his shows. In an unexpected turn of events, Nalla and Balasaraswathi (Bala), Padayatchi's daughter, fell in love with each other. To avoid a potential conflict with Padayatchi, the two decided to elope to Kerala.

Nalla boarded a bus bound for Kerala, and on his way to meet Bala, the bus met with an accident on a hillside, leaving him scarred, disfigured, and partially paralysed for life. After recovering from his wounds, he visited Bala, only to be informed by Padayatchi that his daughter was already married and pregnant with her first child, and had settled abroad. Padayatchi had earlier lied to Bala that Nalla died in the accident. It was also at this time that Nalla became a firm believer in kindness and love after experiencing patience and compassion from the nurses at the hospital. Despite suffering from an inferiority complex due to his scarred and deformed body, Nalla performs community service and social work with renewed fervour while continuing to fight for union causes.

Upon their arrival in Chennai, Aras delivers Sivam's cheque to the union workers. He invites Sivam to his wedding, letting him know how much he means to him, to utter astonishment, Sivam sees that Aras's bride is Bala. Padayatchi spots Sivam and asks him why he is at the wedding. He tells Padayatchi that he was invited by Aras, and later persuades him to sign the papers which will help Padayatchi's workers get a raise. To prevent the disruption of Bala's wedding and avoid damaging his own reputation, Padayatchi yields to Sivam's demands. After signing the papers, Padayatchi instructs his assistant to eliminate Sivam. However, his assistant has a change of heart as he is about to kill him, letting Sivam know that he believed that the misdeeds he committed for Padayatchi resulted in the death of his own daughter. Padayatchi's assistant requests Sivam to stay as far away from his boss as possible. Sivam assents and walks away.

Development
In the late 1990s, Kamal Haasan narrated the premise of a film to the director K. S. Ravikumar as they sought to collaborate following Avvai Shanmughi (1996). The initial script followed two men who meet in a train, quarrel, become friends and ultimately, one of them sacrifices everything for the other man. One individual was a Sri Lankan Tamil communist, while the other was a person who followed a right-wing political belief. Haasan had wanted to act in the film alongside Mohanlal, but Ravikumar refused the opportunity, saying it was not his usual film genre of expertise. Haasan and Ravikumar instead moved on to work on a different project titled Thenali (2000) and chose to make the film's title character a Sri Lankan Tamil as discussed in the earlier script.

After completing the draft for the film's script with alterations in early 2002, Haasan approached the Malayalam filmmaker Priyadarshan to direct it. The two men were keen to work together since the late 1990s, and upon reading the script, Priyadarshan believed that it had the potential to be an "emotional love story". The film's title Anbe Sivam was derived from the Shaivite saint Tirumular's poem Tirumantiram. In June 2002, Priyadarshan opted out of the project owing to creative differences. Sundar C. came in as a replacement to work on the film. Anbe Sivam was co-produced and distributed by V. Swaminathan, K.Muralitharan and G.Venugopal under the production banner of Lakshmi Movie Makers.

Cast and crew
In addition to being the film's writer, Haasan also played the central character, Nallasivam. Madhavan was selected to play Anbarasu in January 2002. According to Kiran Rathod, she received a phone call from Haasan's office informing her that she was offered the role of Balasaraswathi, which she accepted. Rathod's voice in the film was dubbed by the singer Anuradha Sriram. Uma Riyaz Khan played the role of Nallasivam's friend and professional colleague, Mehrunissa. In a 2019 interview with The Indian Express, the film's script assistant and costume designer, Sujatha Narayanan, revealed that Nandita Das and Shobana were the original choices for Balasaraswathi and Mehrunissa respectively and that both of them declined due to schedule conflicts.

"He [Kamal] came over to me and said, 'Madhavan, I have seen some of your work and they were good.' [...] Then he continued, 'I have something for you. We should catch up!' [...] that was how Anbe Sivam happened."

The actors Nassar and Santhana Bharathi played the roles of Kandasamy Padaiyatchi and his assistant, respectively, while cartoonist Madhan featured in a cameo appearance as himself in addition to writing the film's dialogues. Screenwriter Crazy Mohan also collaborated with Haasan on writing some dialogues for the film. In an interview with S.R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu in 2006, Bharathi considered both Anbe Sivam and Michael Madana Kama Rajan (1990) to be the favourite roles of his career.

Arthur A. Wilson, M. Prabhaharan and P. Sai Suresh handled the film's cinematography, art direction and editing, respectively. Brinda, Chinni Prakash and Dinesh Kumar were in charge of the choreography while the stunt sequences were co-ordinated by Vikram Dharma. Muthulakshmi Varadhan, Bharathi's sister-in-law, worked as an assistant editor in the film. The make-up for Haasan's scars was designed by Michael Westmore and Anil Pemgirkar. In May 2002, Haasan completed the makeup for his character Nallasivam in Los Angeles after filming the song sequences for Panchatanthiram (2002).

Filming
Principal photography for Anbe Sivam commenced in July 2002. The first scene featuring the lead actors was shot at Pollachi Junction railway station. Haasan and Madhavan interacted closely during the initial stages of the shoot to ensure that the on-screen chemistry between the pair was apparent.

Anbe Sivam was shot on a restricted budget of ₹120 million, with the train and bus disaster sequences involving the use of settings and CGI. Madhavan, who began shooting his portions in September 2002, stated the film was shot in relatively empty locations. The flood scenes set in Odisha were re-created with outdoor sets consisting of city roads submerged under water erected in the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border. Filming also took place in Chennai, Visakhapatnam and on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border. For a brief sequence in the "Naatukkoru Seithi" song, Haasan learnt how to play the thavil, a barrel-shaped percussion instrument, over three weeks. The pre-climax scenes were filmed in what was then known as the Campa Cola compound in Guindy. The climax scenes were filmed in a single take.

Themes and influences
Anbe Sivam follows the events of a journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai undertaken by two men of contrasting personalities: Nallasivam, a physically challenged and witty socialist, and Anbarasu, a commercial director who supports capitalism and globalisation. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the two are forced to undertake the journey together. Throughout the narrative, a series of themes pertaining to communism, compassion, globalisation, atheism, and altruism are addressed; the film also showcases Haasan's views as a humanist. According to Haasan, the characterisation of Nallasivam was inspired by the life of Communist playwright, actor, director, lyricist and theorist Safdar Hashmi, who was chiefly associated with his work on street theatre in India. Hashmi died on 2 January 1989 after being attacked by members of the Indian National Congress while staging a play, Halla Bol. S.Anand of Outlook magazine notes that Haasan's views on humanism in the film also seemed to be inspired by those of Charlie Chaplin. M. Kalyanaraman and Abdullah Nurullah of The Times of India opined that Nallasivam shared similar characteristics with street theatre artist Pralayan. According to Kalyanaraman, Anbe Sivam proposes that man can make morally superior choices when he comes face to face with death. As a result, Haasan indicates that the belief of "Siva is love" is the "final stage of evolution of man into God".

The film critic Baradwaj Rangan, in his review of another Haasan film, Vishwaroopam (2013), found the ethnicity of the characters in the film to be a continuation of Haasan's inclusion of non-Tamil characters in his films. Rangan considered this to be Haasan's acknowledgement of the "interconnectedness of the nation" and "the world beyond India". He noted in his article that Haasan had experimented with the concept before by including the usage of Bengali language and meeting Bengalis in Mahanadhi (1994), a Telugu-speaking love interest in Nammavar (1994), marrying a Bengali woman in Hey Ram (2000), conducting investigations with an American associate in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006), and marriage to a Frenchwoman in Manmadan Ambu (2010). Rangan notes that in Anbe Sivam, the inclusion of and interaction with the Odia people was another example of including non-Tamil characters in his films. Rangan also compared Haasan's fight sequence with the use of an umbrella to the way he used a book and stool in Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey (1983).

The basic plot of Anbe Sivam was reported to have similarities with the 1987 road film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles directed by John Hughes, which starred Steve Martin and John Candy. The critics noted Haasan and Madhavan's character share similar traits to that of the roles played by Candy and Martin in that film, respectively. The portrait painted by Nallasivam on the walls of Padayatchi's house is inspired by the Mexican painter Diego Rivera's fresco, Man at the Crossroads. Srinivasa Ramanujam, writing for The Times of India in 2008, noted that the religious undertone in the film was similar to that of Rajinikanth's Baba (2002).

Music
The soundtrack album and background score for Anbe Sivam were composed by Vidyasagar and the lyrics for the songs were written by Vairamuthu and P. Vijay. After composing the tune for the title song, Vidyasagar explained the situation of the song to Haasan, who wanted the song to be performed in such a way that the protagonist is singing according to the situation he finds himself in. Vidyasagar suggested that Haasan should sing the song himself to achieve the desired result, which the latter accepted. The song "Mouname Paarvayai" was not included in the film. The song "Poovaasam" is based on the Shuddh Sarang raga. The male portions for the reprise of "Poovaasam" were sung by Sriram Parthasarathy, while the original version was sung by Vijay Prakash. Sadhana Sargam sang her portion of both versions of the song.

Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "Vidyasagar is scaling great heights as a composer. The theme song and the melodious "Pon Vaasam" are pointers. Vairamuthu's lyrics deserve special mention here." Singer Charulatha Mani, in her column for The Hindu, "A Raga's Journey", noted, "Poovaasam" possessed "a charm that is born out of classicism incorporated in a populist piece". Arkay of Rediff.com found the songs to be "at best, okay". M. Suganth of The Times of India, in his review for the music album, "Lovers Special – Vol. 2–4", included "Poovaasam" among the "Hot Picks" of the album.

Release
According to S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu, the producers were confident that Anbe Sivam would be a strong competitor at the 50th National Film Awards that they had the film reviewed by the Central Board of Film Certification before the end of 2002 so that they could enter the film into the annual awards list. The film was released on 15 January 2003, which coincided with the Thai Pongal festival. It opened alongside five other films, including Vikram's Dhool, Vijayakanth's Chokka Thangam, and Vaseegara, which featured Vijay.

Anbe Sivam was screened as a part of the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India in 2003. As a tribute to Safdar Hashmi, a special preview of the film was organised by Haasan in association with Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) on 9 January 2003 at Siri Fort Auditorium. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Sathyame Sivam and released on 28 February 2003. It was dubbed into Hindi as Shivam and was released two years later in 2005. After the release of the original Tamil version, the dubbing rights for the Hindi version were sold at a low price, much to the irritation of the lead actors as they were not able to dub for themselves in Hindi.

Critical response
Baradwaj Rangan described the film as "Kamal's latest solo attempt to bend, twist, shape-shift Tamil cinema into forms never-before seen." In his review of the film's DVD, M. Suganth, writing for The Times of India, called it "one of the finest movies of the decade" and praised the story, screenplay and dialogues before terming the film as "a modern classic". Reviewing the Telugu dubbed version, Sathyame Sivam, Jeevi of Idlebrain.com said that "this art-kind-of film does entertain the people who love Kamal Hassan flicks" while concluding that it "would remain as one of the good films made in the recent times".

Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu believed that "well-defined characters, a strong storyline and intelligent screenplay" were the film's "vital ingredients". She further complimented Haasan's treatment of the story, and that his "diligence that has gone into the chiselling of the story and screenplay is only too evident" while calling the film "a laudable effort". P.Devarajan of Business Line appreciated Haasan's performance and facial expressions and concluded his review by stating, "This man has intrigued me and will always." Another critic from The Hindu, Gudipoodi Srihari, appreciated the pair of Haasan and Madhavan, noting that the duo "make a fine combination of pals each with different mental make up, but goodness overflowing." Sujatha Narayanan, in a retrospective review for The New Indian Express commended Haasan's writing and Madhan's dialogue, finding them to be "peppered with sharp wit, trivia and emotional depth." Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "Sensitive and touching, light-hearted and humourous [sic], it's a film to be watched". Anu of Kalki praised the acting of Kamal Haasan and Madhavan, cinematography and dialogues but felt lengthy dialogues about god will bore audience and also found street drama too lengthy and concluded calling the film as eno salt for indigestion after watching films on police-goon and teenage love.

A reviewer from Sify, in comparison, labelled the film as "average", stating that it was "another predictable and corny film which is neither a comedy caper nor a class act." Similarly, Arkay of Rediff.com praised the performances of the lead cast but wrote the film "tries to do too many things, and ends up failing at most, if not all, of them." S.Anand of Outlook felt the film's thematic ideas of communism were presented in a "clichéd" manner, and summarised by saying, "If Rajnikant staked claim to divinity on a right-wing plank with Baba, Kamal does it with pretensions to rationalist-left rhetoric."

Box office
During the first week of its theatrical run, an analysis by Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu showed the film to have grossed ₹13.1 million in Chennai alone. Despite this, the film underperformed at the box office and incurred heavy losses for Lakshmi Movie Makers, effectively stopping them from investing in other ventures for the year 2003. An estimate by D.Govardan of The Economic Times places the losses at ₹65 million, while Arun Ram of India Today states the losses incurred to be ₹50 million. Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Times of India compared the film's failure at the box office to that of Baba. Both K. Muralitharan and Haasan defended the film's failure by blaming video piracy, with the latter stating that "lots of people saw it, but they didn't pay".

Legacy
Following its release, Anbe Sivam has attained cult status in Tamil cinema and receives re-runs on television channels. When the film was in post-production, Haasan revealed to film critic and journalist Subhash K. Jha that he was impressed with Madhavan's enthusiasm and performance during the making of the film, subsequently signing him to appear as the protagonist in his production venture, Nala Damayanthi (2003).

Baradwaj Rangan wrote that Anbe Sivam was "leagues ahead of the average Tamil – why, even Indian – film", though he felt that "the masses were unwilling to accept the experimental nature of the film", while talking about the film's box office failure. During his acceptance speech after winning the Vijay Award for Best Director in 2010 for Naan Kadavul (2009), director Bala revealed that a scene in Anbe Sivam where Haasan says to Madhavan, "when we love others unconditionally without any expectation, we become Gods", inspired him to make his film. Bala also made a reference to Anbe Sivam in his 2003 film, Pithamagan, in a scene where Suriya's character goes for a screening of the film with his friends. A dialogue told by Haasan to Madhavan, "Do you know what a tsunami is? Periya alai illa... malai." (It's not just a big wave... it's a mountain) also attained popularity.

In 2008, S.R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu listed Anbe Sivam among the "top five directorial ventures of SundarC." In a 2008 interview with The Times of India, SundarC. stated that Anbe Sivam "changed [him] personally and professionally", making him a more confident person and altering his outlook towards life. He later contradicted his statement after revealing that the film's failure led him to become almost bankrupt and he remained unpaid for his work. The Income Tax Department froze his bank accounts for a year as he was not able to pay his taxes. He admitted that while he received praises for the film after its theatrical run, he would not make a film similar to Anbe Sivam any more and that he chose to continue making commercial cinema, which he felt better matched his interests. In 2013, Haricharan Pudipeddi of the Indo-Asian News Service agency, included Anbe Sivam in his list of "Kamal's most underrated films". He believed the reason for the film's commercial failure was that audiences misunderstood the "sarcastic undertones associated with atheism". On Haasan's birthday, 7 November 2015, Latha Srinivasan of Daily News and Analysis considered Anbe Sivam to be one of the "films you must watch to grasp the breadth of Kamal Haasan's repertoire". The character of Nallasivam was ranked fourth in The Times of India's list of "Kamal Haasan's top 10 mind-blowing avatars".

In Vasool Raja MBBS (2004), the character Vasool Raja (Haasan), while attending a class asks whether being a doctor is equivalent to being God, and in doing so says "Anbe Venkatachalam", to which one of his classmates gently asks him, "isn't it Anbe Sivam?". Haasan retorts: "Let it be. Let's try something different for a change." The street theatre sequence featuring Nallasivam and his friends performing to make people aware of the atrocities committed by Kandasamy Padayatchi was re-created at Tiruchirappalli in 2008 by Pralayan and his troupe from "Chennai Kalai Kuzhu" under the title Nammal Mudiyum. In contrast, Pralayan's play explored gender inequality and domestic violence instead of unemployment. Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan noted in 2010 that fellow actor Sudeep's film Just Maath Maathalli (2010) bears resemblance to Anbe Sivam. Hari Narayan, writing for The Hindu in 2014, mentions in his article on the Indian rationalist and author Narendra Dabholkar that Umesh Shukla's OMG – Oh My God! (2012) was "a toned down version of Anbe Sivam where rationality propels humans to find God in themselves, with flaws, which extols the virtue of becoming as much as that of being". In 2015 Uthiran of Hindu Tamil Thisai in Tamil, mentions in his review of Orange Mittai (2015) that the film's plot might remind viewers of Anbe Sivam. In 2017, Ashok, who directed the comedy film Peechankai, mentioned he was inspired by Anbe Sivam to become a director.

title: Anbe Sivam


text:
Wajah

Wajah may refer to:

 * Wajah, Helmand, Afghanistan
 * "Wajah", a 2005 song by Jaclyn Victor

title: Wajah