title: North Korea national football team

text: To prepare for the World Cup and get used to the European style of play, the North Korean selection organized a preparation camp in the fall of 2009 in France, 44 years after its last appearance in Europe. On this occasion, they played two friendly matches: against FC Nantes on October 9 at La Roche-sur-Yon (0-0) then against Congo on October 13 at Le Mans (0-0). In early 2010, a few months before the World Cup, North Korea participated in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup with the winner automatically qualifying for the final phase of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The "Chollimas", still led by Kim Jong-hun, had an excellent run in the competition. After finishing top of their first round group, ahead of Turkmenistan, they swept Burma 5–0 in the semi-finals before winning, after the penalty shootout, again facing the Turkmens in the final. This success allowed them to secure a place in the continental finals, ten years after their last participation. It was also the first title obtained by the men's national team. The following month, in February, the North Koreans engaged in the 2010 East Asian Football Championship where they entered in the second round. For the first time, they did not reach the final pool, beaten on goal difference by Hong Kong.


title: North Korea national football team

text: In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during their match with Brazil, North Korea lost 1-2 but managed to score a goal, through Ji Yun-nam at the very end of the match. Their match against Portugal ended in a 7-0 defeat, the heaviest in the history of the selection. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, they conceded six goals in the second half. This match also marked the elimination of the North Koreans from the World Cup. This match was exceptionally broadcast in North Korea, as no foreign program is usually broadcast by state television, but the broadcast was interrupted when the North Korean players were losing 4–0. The last meeting against Côte d'Ivoire also ended in a heavy defeat with the score of 3–0.


title: North Korea national football team

text: Six months after the World Cup, the "Chollimas" entered the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The team managed to draw 0–0 against the United Arab Emirates and two 1–0 defeats against Iran and Iraq. In the fall, the North Koreans entered the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, with the hope of participating in a second consecutive tournament. They did not enter the competition until the third round, finding themselves in the same group as Japan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (which benefited from the disqualification of Syria). The "Chollimas" finished in 3rd place of the group. The round featured the first meeting of the Japanese team and their North Korean counterparts in Pyongyang in 22 years. 150 Japanese supporters were allowed to be present but they received four-hour checks upon their arrival at Pyongyang International Airport, an "icy" reception at Kim Il-sung Stadium, where they were warned not to wave Japanese flags, and had their national anthem booed by the North Korean crowd.


title: North Korea national football team

text: In March 2012, the North Koreans defended the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup with the possibility again to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The "Chollimas" advance to the finals after finishing top of their qualifying group, along with Nepal. In the semi-finals, they beat Palestine and then managed to retain their title, following their success in the final against Turkmenistan. This victory assured them of a second consecutive participation in the AFC Asian Cup, which was a first.


title: North Korea national football team

text: The team enjoyed a two-year unbeaten run, after the home defeat against Uzbekistan in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.The "Chollimas" played in the second round of the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup but failed to advance on goal difference, coming second to Australia. In November 2013, the unbeaten streak ended with a loss to Kuwait (2–1). They managed to finish first in the 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup qualifying pool, getting their ticket to the finals for the first time since 2008.


title: North Korea national football team

text: A few weeks before the start of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, the North Korean federation relieved Yun Jong-su of his duties, following his suspension of one year decided by the AFC. Jong-su was penalized for his unsportsmanlike behaviour towards the referees during the Asian Games soccer tournament final against South Korea. North Korea left the competition at the end of the group stage, after losing their three matches. Following this competition, the team restored its image by winning several friendly matches before finishing on the podium of the 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup, including a prestigious victory over Japan (2–1).


title: North Korea national football team

text: In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, North Korea got off to a flying start by winning their first three games, but failed to qualify for the 3rd round, following a defeat to the Philippines at the very end of the match (2–3, having led 2–1 until the 85th minute) during the final match. North Korea finished in second place in their group with 16 points, but this defeat prevented the "Chollima" from finishing among the four best runners-up and advancing to the next round. This led to the dismissal of Kim Chang-bok, replaced by Jørn Andersen, the second European coach to manage North Korea after the Hungarian Pál Csernai. The early elimination in World Cup qualifying meant that North Korea had to enter the 3rd qualifying round for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. This qualifying campaign gave rise to a triple postponement by the AFC of the home match against Malaysia, at the request of the Malaysian Federation, fearing the poisoning of its players if they went to North Korea following diplomatic tensions between the two countries - linked to the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leader's half-brother, at Kuala Lumpur airport on 13 February 2017. The meetings between the two teams were finally held on neutral ground in Thailand, where North Korea needed two victories to give them a chance to qualify, dominating Malaysia (4–1 and 4–1). At the 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, the "Chollima" failed to win a single match and finished 4th and last in the final round, with two opening losses against Japan and South Korea (0–1 each time) before ending the competition in a draw (1–1) against China.


title: North Korea national football team

text: In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the "Chollima" were swept away by Saudi Arabia (0–4), Qatar (6–0, suffering the second heaviest defeat in its history) and against Lebanon (1–4), leaving the competition with the worst record of the 24 teams involved (three defeats in as many games played, only one goal scored, 14 conceded, and two red cards received). North Korea then participated in the 2nd round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and beat Lebanon (2–0) thanks to a double from Jong Il-gwan. North Korea managed to follow up with a narrow victory in Sri Lanka five days later (1–0) with a goal by Jang Kuk-chol before facing South Korea. For the first time since a friendly match in 1990 and for the first time in a qualifier, the meeting between the two Koreas took place in Pyongyang, however the match was not televised live and no Korean supporters or foreign journalists were allowed to attend the match, which ended in a scoreless goal (0–0), leaving the two teams at the top of Pool H tied. Following the match against their rivals, they lost for the first time in their history against Turkmenistan (1–3) but managed to beat their Lebanese nemesis (2–0). Five days later, they played Lebanon again, drawing 0–0, preserving their chances of qualifying for the next round. However, the AFC announces North Korea's withdrawal from qualifying due to fears related to the COVID-19 pandemic. FIFA and the AFC decided that all results of matches played by North Korea since the start of the 2nd qualifying round are no longer counted for the classification of group. This also led to the non-qualification of the North Koreans for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, who will therefore not play a 4th consecutive final phase.


title: North Korea national football team

text: Since 2014, North Korea's official kit provider is currently produced by the North Korean sports company Choeusu.


title: Persia White

text: Persia Jessica White (born October 25, 1972) is a Bahamas-born American actress, singer and musician. White is known for her role as Denise Williams on the short-lived television series "Breaker High" and as Lynn Searcy on the UPN/CW sitcom "Girlfriends". White is also a member of the band XEO3, and a solo singer who released her debut album "Mecca" in 2009. She is also known for her role as Abby Bennett Wilson in "The Vampire Diaries" (2012-2017).


title: Persia White

text: White was born in Nassau, Bahamas and was one of four children to an Irish-American mother and a Bahamian father, thus making her a Bahamian actress. Her early years were spent in the Bahamas. White's father was paralyzed in a car accident when she was three, and he later moved to Miami to seek better medical care. White's mother moved with her children to South Florida two years later but did not reunite with White's father. White later joined the Miami Coconut Grove Children's Theater. As a teen, she studied dance, acting, singing, and painting. After high school, White signed with the Ford Agency and obtained her Screen Actors Guild card. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.


title: Persia White

text: White has appeared in various independent films, including "Red Letters" (opposite Peter Coyote) and the cult horror "Blood Dolls". She starred in the made-for-TV movies "Operation Sandman", opposite Ron Perlman, and "Suddenly", opposite Kirstie Alley. Her television work includes appearances on "Angel", "NYPD Blue", "The Steve Harvey Show", "Brooklyn South", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", as well as regular roles on "Breaker High" with co-star Ryan Gosling, Sister Sister as Anya and "Girlfriends" as Lynn. In 2008, White appeared in "The Fall of Night" in the role of Dawn. She can also be seen in Chrisette Michele's video for "Be OK".


title: Persia White

text: In addition to acting, White also co-produced the award-winning documentary "Earthlings", narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. In July 2011, White won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in the American Black Film Festival for her work in "Dysfunctional Friends". She also appeared as Bonnie's mother on "The Vampire Diaries" in a semi-recurring role.


title: Persia White

text: In 2019, she reunited with her "Girlfriends" co-stars Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones, and Golden Brooks in an episode of the ABC comedy series "Black-ish".


title: Persia White

text: White is a vegan, a human and animal rights advocate, and environmentalist. She was honored by PETA as a 2005 Humanitarian of the Year.


title: Persia White

text: On February 29, 2008, White became engaged to singer Saul Williams, her boyfriend of five years, and married in 2008. They met in 2003 when he made a guest appearance on the TV show "Girlfriends". On January 17, 2009, White announced via her Myspace blog that she and Williams were no longer together.


title: Persia White

text: After three years of dating, White married fellow "Vampire Diaries" actor Joseph Morgan in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on July 5, 2014, after which, he adopted her daughter and they had her legal name changed to Mecca Morgan White.


title: Persia White

text: Mecca is Persia White's debut album. It was released digitally on October 31, 2009, and on CD on December 8, 2009. The title comes from the name of White's daughter. The final three songs on the album were all featured in several episodes of "Girlfriends".


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series "Leave It to Beaver", originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963; and as private detective Michael Shayne in a series of low-budget crime films in 1946 and 1947.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a traveling salesman whose profession kept the family on the move. After graduating from the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the class of 1930, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a master of theology degree in 1946.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of those roles were bit parts and minor roles and were not credited. He often worked with actor William Bendix; they had prominent roles in the 1946 film noir "The Blue Dahlia", playing the friends of star Alan Ladd's character. In 1946–47, Beaumont starred in five films as private detective Michael Shayne, assuming the role from Lloyd Nolan. In 1950, he also narrated the short film "A Date with Your Family."


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: In the early 1950s, Beaumont secured television work, often with guest roles on series such as "Adventures of Superman", "City Detective", "Crossroads", "Fireside Theatre", "Ford Theatre", "The Lone Ranger", "Medic", "The Millionaire", and "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars". From 1951 to 1953 he narrated the Reed Hadley series "Racket Squad", based on the cases of fictional detective Captain John Braddock in San Francisco. In 1954 and 1955, Beaumont appeared in Hadley's second series, "The Public Defender", appearing in three episodes as Ed McGrath. That year he also guest starred in the "Lassie" episode "The Well", one of the first two episodes filmed as pilots for the new series. He also portrayed a sympathetic characterization of the Western bandit Jesse James on the series "Tales of Wells Fargo".


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: In September 1957, Beaumont was selected to replace Max Showalter, who had appeared as Ward Cleaver in "It's a Small World", the original pilot for the sitcom "Leave It to Beaver", in the role of wise small-town father Ward Cleaver. After initially airing to tepid ratings on CBS, the series moved to ABC for its second season, where it achieved more solid ratings. Beginning with the third season, Beaumont also began directing several episodes; including the series' final episode, "Family Scrapbook", often considered the first traditional series finale. In 2014, "TV Guide" ranked Beaumont's portrayal of Ward Cleaver at number 28 on its list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time".


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: In 1959, just before production on the third season of "Leave It to Beaver" began, Beaumont's wife, son and mother-in-law were driving from Minnesota to Hollywood to visit when a car accident killed his mother-in-law and severely injured his son. Jerry Mathers later stated that the tragedy seriously affected Beaumont's participation in the production, with Beaumont often just "walking through" his part.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: After "Leave It to Beaver" ended production in 1963, Beaumont appeared in many community theater productions and played a few guest roles on such television series as "Marcus Welby, M.D." (starring fellow iconic TV father Robert Young), "Mannix", "Petticoat Junction", "The Virginian", and "Wagon Train". In February 1966, he made another appearance on "Lassie", 11 years after his first. He also continued to have success as a writer, selling several television screenplays and radio scripts, as well as short stories to various magazines. He gradually left the entertainment business, launching a second career as a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He officially retired in 1972 after suffering a stroke from which he never fully recovered.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: On Easter Sunday, April 13, 1941, Beaumont wed actress Kathryn Adams (née Hohn) at the Hollywood Congregational Church. They had sons Hunter and Mark, and daughter Kristy. Their union lasted 33 years, until their divorce in 1974.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: Beaumont was a lay minister in the Methodist Church. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and served as a medic.


title: Hugh Beaumont

text: On May 14, 1982, Beaumont died of a heart attack while visiting his son Hunter, a psychologist, in Munich, West Germany. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered on the then family-owned Balgillo Island (informally known when Beaumont owned it as "Beaumont Island") on Lake Wabana, Minnesota, near Grand Rapids. The 1983 telemovie "Still the Beaver" was dedicated to him.


title: Vein

text: Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart. In contrast to veins, arteries carry blood away from the heart.


title: Vein

text: Veins are less muscular than arteries and are often closer to the skin. There are valves (called "pocket valves") in most veins to prevent backflow.


title: Vein

text: Veins are present throughout the body as tubes that carry blood back to the heart. Veins are classified in a number of ways, including superficial vs. deep, pulmonary vs. systemic, and large vs. small.


title: Vein

text: Most veins are equipped with one-way valves, similar to a Duckbill valve, to prevent blood flowing in the reverse direction.


title: Vein

text: Veins are translucent, so the color a vein appears from an organism's exterior is determined in large part by the color of venous blood, which is usually dark red as a result of its low oxygen content. Veins appear blue because of the low oxygen level in the vein. The color of a vein can be affected by the characteristics of a person's skin, how much oxygen is being carried in the blood, and how big and deep the vessels are. When a vein is drained of blood and removed from an organism, it appears grey-white.


title: Vein

text: The largest veins in the human body are the venae cavae. These are two large veins which enter the right atrium of the heart from above and below. The superior vena cava carries blood from the arms and head to the right atrium of the heart, while the inferior vena cava carries blood from the legs and abdomen to the heart. The inferior vena cava is retroperitoneal and runs to the right and roughly parallel to the abdominal aorta along the spine. Large veins feed into these two veins, and smaller veins into these. Together this forms the venous system.


title: Vein

text: Whilst the main veins hold a relatively constant position, the position of veins person to person can display quite a lot of variation.


title: Vein

text: The pulmonary veins carry relatively oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. The superior and inferior venae cavae carry relatively deoxygenated blood from the upper and lower systemic circulations, respectively.


title: Vein

text: The portal venous system is a series of veins or venules that directly connect two capillary beds. Examples of such systems include the hepatic portal vein and hypophyseal portal system.


title: Vein

text: Microscopically, veins have a thick outer layer made of connective tissue, called the tunica externa or "tunica adventitia". During procedures requiring venous access such as venipuncture, one may notice a subtle "pop" as the needle penetrates this layer. The middle layer of bands of smooth muscle are called tunica media and are, in general, much thinner than those of arteries, as veins do not function primarily in a contractile manner and are not subject to the high pressures of systole, as arteries are. The interior is lined with endothelial cells called tunica intima. The precise location of veins varies much more from person to person than that of arteries.


title: Vein

text: Veins serve to return blood from organs to the heart. Veins are also called "capacitance vessels" because most of the blood volume (60%) is contained within veins. In systemic circulation oxygenated blood is pumped by the left ventricle through the arteries to the muscles and organs of the body, where its nutrients and gases are exchanged at capillaries. After taking up cellular waste and carbon dioxide in capillaries, blood is channeled through vessels that converge with one another to form venules, which continue to converge and form the larger veins. The de-oxygenated blood is taken by veins to the right atrium of the heart, which transfers the blood to the right ventricle, where it is then pumped through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. In pulmonary circulation the pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium, which empties into the left ventricle, completing the cycle of blood circulation.


title: Vein

text: The return of blood to the heart is assisted by the action of the muscle pump, and by the thoracic pump action of breathing during respiration. Standing or sitting for a prolonged period of time can cause low venous return from venous pooling (vascular) shock. Fainting can occur but usually baroreceptors within the aortic sinuses initiate a baroreflex such that angiotensin II and norepinephrine stimulate vasoconstriction and heart rate increases to return blood flow. Neurogenic and hypovolaemic shock can also cause fainting. In these cases, the smooth muscles surrounding the veins become slack and the veins fill with the majority of the blood in the body, keeping blood away from the brain and causing unconsciousness. Jet pilots wear pressurized suits to help maintain their venous return and blood pressure.


title: Vein

text: The arteries are perceived as carrying oxygenated blood to the tissues, while veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart. This is true of the systemic circulation, by far the larger of the two circuits of blood in the body, which transports oxygen from the heart to the tissues of the body. However, in pulmonary circulation, the arteries carry deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs, and veins return blood from the lungs to the heart. The difference between veins and arteries is their direction of flow (out of the heart by arteries, returning to the heart for veins), not their oxygen content. In addition, deoxygenated blood that is carried from the tissues back to the heart for reoxygenation in the systemic circulation still carries some oxygen, though it is considerably less than that carried by the systemic arteries or pulmonary veins.


title: Vein

text: Although most veins take blood back to the heart, there is an exception. Portal veins carry blood between capillary beds. Capillary beds are a network of blood vessels that link the venules to the arterioles and allow for the exchange of materials across the membrane from the blood to tissues, and vice versa. For example, the hepatic portal vein takes blood from the capillary beds in the digestive tract and transports it to the capillary beds in the liver. The blood is then drained in the gastrointestinal tract and spleen, where it is taken up by the hepatic veins, and blood is taken back into the heart. Since this is an important function in mammals, damage to the hepatic portal vein can be dangerous. Blood clotting in the hepatic portal vein can cause portal hypertension, which results in a decrease of blood fluid to the liver.


title: Vein

text: In the coronary circulation the veins that remove the deoxygenated blood from the heart muscle are known as cardiac veins or coronary veins. These include the great cardiac vein, the middle cardiac vein, the small cardiac vein, the smallest cardiac veins, and the anterior cardiac veins. Cardiac veins carry blood with a poor level of oxygen, from the heart muscle to the right atrium. Most of the blood of the cardiac veins returns through the coronary sinus. The anatomy of the veins of the heart is very variable, but generally it is formed by the following veins: heart veins that go into the coronary sinus: the great cardiac vein, the middle cardiac vein, the small cardiac vein, the posterior vein of the left ventricle, and the vein of Marshall. Heart veins that go directly to the right atrium: the anterior cardiac veins, and the smallest cardiac veins (Thebesian veins).


title: Vein

text: Venous insufficiency is the most common disorder of the venous system, and is usually manifested as spider veins or varicose veins. Several treatments are available including endovenous thermal ablation (using radiofrequency or laser energy), vein stripping, ambulatory phlebectomy, foam sclerotherapy, laser, or compression.


title: Vein

text: Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which a blood clot forms in a deep vein. This is usually the veins of the legs, although it can also occur in the veins of the arms. Immobility, active cancer, obesity, traumatic damage and congenital disorders that make clots more likely are all risk factors for deep vein thrombosis. It can cause the affected limb to swell, and cause pain and an overlying skin rash. In the worst case, a deep vein thrombosis can extend, or a part of a clot can break off and land in the lungs, called pulmonary embolism.


title: Vein

text: The decision to treat deep vein thrombosis depends on its size, a person's symptoms, and their risk factors. It generally involves anticoagulation to prevents clots or to reduce the size of the clot.


title: Vein

text: The portal veins are found within the abdomen and carry blood through to the liver. Portal hypertension is associated with cirrhosis or disease of the liver, or other conditions such as an obstructing clot (Budd Chiari syndrome) or compression from tumours or tuberculosis lesions. When the pressure increases in the portal veins, a collateral circulation develops, causing visible veins such as oesophageal varices.


title: Vein

text: The Batson venous plexus, or simply Batson's plexus, runs through the inner vertebral column connecting the thoracic and pelvic veins. These veins are noted for being valveless, which is believed to be the reason for metastasis of certain cancers.


title: Vein

text: The great saphenous vein is the most important superficial vein of the lower limb. First described by the Persian physician Avicenna, this vein derives its name from the word "safina", meaning "hidden". This vein is "hidden" in its own fascial compartment in the thigh and exits the fascia only near the knee. Incompetence of this vein is an important cause of varicose veins of lower limbs.


title: Vein

text: The Thebesian veins within the heart muscle are valveless veins that drain directly into the chambers of the heart. The coronary veins all empty into the coronary sinus which empties into the right atrium.


title: Vein

text: The dural venous sinuses within the dura mater surrounding the brain receive blood from the brain and also are a point of entry of cerebrospinal fluid from arachnoid villi absorption. Blood eventually enters the internal jugular vein.


title: Vein

text: Phlebology is a multidisciplinary specialty of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of venous and lymphatic disorders and related conditions such as vascular anomalies in both adult and paediatric patients. Phlebology derives from the two core disciplines of medicine and surgery and incorporates relevant aspects of vascular and endovascular surgery, interventional radiology, dermatology, vascular medicine and haematology. A medical specialist in phlebology is termed a phlebologist. A related image is called a phlebograph.


title: Vein

text: The Union Internationale de Phlébologie (UIP) is committed to the global expansion of knowledge in the growing field of phlebology and aims to facilitate the advancement of science by encouraging research and education in all aspects of venous and lymphatic disease. The Union is ultimately aiming to facilitate comprehensive training programs in its member countries with the ultimate aim of establishing phlebology as a recognised  multidisciplinary specialty of medicine.


title: Vein

text: The Australasian College of Phlebology (ACP) founded in 1993 has established a comprehensive four year training program in phlebology incorporating an online modular curriculum that complements supervised clinical training.


title: Vein

text: The American Medical Association added phlebology to their list of self-designated practice specialties in 2005. In 2007 the American Board of Phlebology (ABPh), subsequently known as the American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine (ABVLM), was established to improve the standards of phlebologists and the quality of their patient care by establishing a certification examination, as well as requiring maintenance of certification. Although not a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine uses a certification exam based on ABMS standards.


title: Vein

text: The American Vein and Lymphatic Society (AVLS), formerly the American College of Phlebology (ACP) one of the largest medical societies in the world for physicians and allied health professionals working in the field of phlebology, has 2000 members. The AVLS encourages education and training to improve the standards of medical practitioners and the quality of patient care.


title: Vein

text: The American Venous Forum (AVF) is a medical society for physicians and allied health professionals dedicated to improving the care of patients with venous and lymphatic disease. The majority of its members manage the entire spectrum of venous and lymphatic diseases – from varicose veins to congenital abnormalities to deep vein thrombosis to chronic venous diseases. Founded in 1987, the AVF encourages research, clinical innovation, hands-on education, data collection and patient outreach.


title: Vein

text: The earliest known writings on the circulatory system are found in the Ebers Papyrus (16th century BCE), an ancient Egyptian medical papyrus containing over 700 prescriptions and remedies, both physical and spiritual. In the papyrus, it acknowledges the connection of the heart to the arteries. The Egyptians thought air came in through the mouth and into the lungs and heart. From the heart, the air travelled to every member through the arteries. Although this concept of the circulatory system is only partially correct, it represents one of the earliest accounts of scientific thought.


title: Vein

text: In the 6th century BCE, the knowledge of circulation of vital fluids through the body was known to the Ayurvedic physician Sushruta in ancient India. He also seems to have possessed knowledge of the arteries, described as 'channels' by Dwivedi & Dwivedi (2007). The valves of the heart were discovered by a physician of the Hippocratean school around the 4th century BCE. However their function was not properly understood then. Because blood pools in the veins after death, arteries look empty. Ancient anatomists assumed they were filled with air and that they were for transport of air.


title: Vein

text: The Greek physician Herophilus distinguished veins from arteries but thought that the pulse was a property of arteries themselves. Greek anatomist Erasistratus observed that arteries that were cut during life bleed. He ascribed the fact to the phenomenon that air escaping from an artery is replaced with blood that entered by very small vessels between veins and arteries. Thus he apparently postulated capillaries but with reversed flow of blood.


title: Vein

text: In 2nd century AD Rome, the Greek physician Galen knew that blood vessels carried blood and identified venous (dark red) and arterial (brighter and thinner) blood, each with distinct and separate functions. Growth and energy were derived from venous blood created in the liver from chyle, while arterial blood gave vitality by containing pneuma (air) and originated in the heart. Blood flowed from both creating organs to all parts of the body where it was consumed and there was no return of blood to the heart or liver. The heart did not pump blood around, the heart's motion sucked blood in during diastole and the blood moved by the pulsation of the arteries themselves.


title: Vein

text: Galen believed that the arterial blood was created by venous blood passing from the left ventricle to the right by passing through 'pores' in the interventricular septum, air passed from the lungs via the pulmonary artery to the left side of the heart. As the arterial blood was created 'sooty' vapors were created and passed to the lungs also via the pulmonary artery to be exhaled.


title: Vein

text: In 1025, "The Canon of Medicine" by the Persian physician Avicenna "erroneously accepted the Greek notion regarding the existence of a hole in the ventricular septum by which the blood traveled between the ventricles." While also refining Galen's erroneous theory of the pulse, Avicenna provided the first correct explanation of pulsation: "Every beat of the pulse comprises two movements and two pauses. Thus, expansion : pause : contraction : pause. [...] The pulse is a movement in the heart and arteries ... which takes the form of alternate expansion and contraction."


title: Vein

text: In 1242, the Arabian physician Ibn al-Nafis became the first person to accurately describe the process of pulmonary circulation, for which he has been described as the "Arab Father of Circulation". Ibn al-Nafis stated in his "Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon":


title: Vein

text: "...the blood from the right chamber of the heart must arrive at the left chamber but there is no direct pathway between them. The thick septum of the heart is not perforated and does not have visible pores as some people thought or invisible pores as Galen thought. The blood from the right chamber must flow through the vena arteriosa (pulmonary artery) to the lungs, spread through its substances, be mingled there with air, pass through the arteria venosa (pulmonary vein) to reach the left chamber of the heart and there form the vital spirit..."


title: Vein

text: In addition, Ibn al-Nafis had an insight into what would become a larger theory of the capillary circulation. He stated that "there must be small communications or pores ("manafidh" in Arabic) between the pulmonary artery and vein," a prediction that preceded the discovery of the capillary system by more than 400 years. Ibn al-Nafis' theory, however, was confined to blood transit in the lungs and did not extend to the entire body.


title: Vein

text: Michael Servetus was the first European to describe the function of pulmonary circulation, although his achievement was not widely recognized at the time, for a few reasons. He firstly described it in the "Manuscript of Paris" (near 1546), but this work was never published. And later he published this description, but in a theological treatise, "Christianismi Restitutio", not in a book on medicine. Only three copies of the book survived but these remained hidden for decades, the rest were burned shortly after its publication in 1553 because of persecution of Servetus by religious authorities.


title: Vein

text: Better known discovery of pulmonary circulation was by Vesalius's successor at Padua, Realdo Colombo, in 1559.


title: Vein

text: Finally, William Harvey, a pupil of Hieronymus Fabricius (who had earlier described the valves of the veins without recognizing their function), performed a sequence of experiments, and published "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus" in 1628, which "demonstrated that there had to be a direct connection between the venous and arterial systems throughout the body, and not just the lungs. Most importantly, he argued that the beat of the heart produced a continuous circulation of blood through minute connections at the extremities of the body. This is a conceptual leap that was quite different from Ibn al-Nafis' refinement of the anatomy and bloodflow in the heart and lungs." This work, with its essentially correct exposition, slowly convinced the medical world. However, Harvey was not able to identify the capillary system connecting arteries and veins; these were later discovered by Marcello Malpighi in 1661.


title: Vein

text: In 1956, André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann and Dickinson W. Richards were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine "for their discoveries concerning heart catheterization and pathological changes in the circulatory system."


title: Vein

text: In his Nobel lecture, Forssmann credits Harvey as birthing cardiology with the publication of his book in 1628.


title: Vein

text: In the 1970s, Diana McSherry developed computer-based systems to create images of the circulatory system and heart without the need for surgery.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Kevin Prindiville Farley (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer and director.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Farley was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Anne (née Crosby), a homemaker, and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil company, Scotch Oil. He is the younger brother of late comic Chris Farley and older brother of actor John P. Farley. Like Chris, Kevin attended and graduated from Marquette University.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Farley portrayed Doug Linus in the fictional boy band 2ge+her. He has appeared alongside many of his brother Chris' "Saturday Night Live" castmates, such as David Spade and Adam Sandler. He was credited in "Tommy Boy", "Black Sheep", and "Beverly Hills Ninja". He was a regular performer in "Sports Bar", a sketch-comedy show that ran from 1997 to 1998. He appeared in "The Waterboy" and in "Dirty Work". He also appeared as Ketchup Boy in a "Cooking With Randy" sketch on "All That" with his brother, Chris, and Kenan Thompson.


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2004, Farley guest-starred as Bud the Janitor on the Nickelodeon television series "Drake & Josh" in the season 2 episode entitled "Honor Council", and in 2006 as Cop #1 in the season 4 episode entitled "The Wedding", where he gave Drake Parker and Josh Nichols a parking ticket in a 1970s Chevrolet El Camino for parking in a prohibited area.


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2005, Farley appeared in the Lifehouse video for the band's single "Blind". He portrayed a neglectful father who brings different women home, where he lives with his daughter, played by Tina Majorino.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Farley appeared on the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as an exterminator in the episode "The Rat Dog". Farley was also in a Dairy Queen commercial advertising the Kit Kat Blizzard, commercials for Hertz Rent-A-Car, and portrayed Felix the limo driver on Disney's "That's So Raven". He also starred in the political parody movie "An American Carol", with Kelsey Grammer and Jon Voight, in 2008. Farley appeared on "The View" on September 30, 2008 to promote the movie.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Farley appeared at the 2008 Republican National Convention, and during an interview with 97.1 FM Talk's Jamie Allman, he identified his politics as mostly conservative.


title: Kevin Farley

text: Farley appeared as the kidnapped beer truck driver in the 2010 music video for "This Afternoon" by Nickelback.


title: Kevin Farley

text: In May 2010, Farley appeared as a guest on "Tom Green's House Tonight", where he performed a section of his new stand-up routine.


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2013, "Paranormal Movie", a spoof film of "Paranormal Activity", was released. Farley directed and also co-stars in the film, alongside his brother, John, Carly Craig, Nicky Whelan, William Katt, Tom Sizemore, Maria Menounos, Kevin Sorbo, Quinton Aaron, Deep Roy, and Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts. The same year, he also starred in an episode of "Rules of Engagement".


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2015, Farley appeared in the documentary "I Am Chris Farley", about the life of his brother, Chris, alongside his brother, John, and many other Hollywood stars, such as Adam Sandler and Dan Aykroyd. He also filmed the independent film "Crowning Jules" in South Bend, Indiana. In 2015, Farley, along with Jaleel White and Pauly Shore, appeared on the series "Hawaii Five-0" in the Season 5 episode "Ho'amoano (Chasing Yesterday)", which aired on April 24, 2015.


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2016, he made a guest appearance as Turkey in the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" season 11 episode "The Gang Hits the Slopes". He also made a guest appearance as the NRA card-carrying, gun-toting protester, Eric, in the "Superstore" season 2 episode, "Guns, Pills and Birds".


title: Kevin Farley

text: In 2017, Farley appeared as Earl in the music video for the Rascal Flatts' single "Yours If You Want It", alongside Kristy Swanson.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own governments and legislatures.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation was created by the 1994 Washington Agreement, which ended the Croat–Bosniak War within the Bosnian War, and established a constituent assembly that continued its work until October 1996.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation has a capital, government, president, parliament, customs and police departments and two postal systems. It occupies about half of the land of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1996 until 2005 it had its own army, the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, later merged in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The capital and largest city is Sarajevo with 275,524 inhabitants.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The basis for the creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were laid down by the Washington Agreement of March 1994. Under the agreement, the combined territory held by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council forces was to be divided into ten autonomous cantons along the lines of the Vance-Owen plan. The cantonal system was selected to prevent dominance of one ethnic group over another. However, much of the territory Croats and Bosniaks claimed for their Federation was at that point still controlled by the Bosnian Serbs.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Washington Agreement was implemented during the spring of 1994, by convoking a Constitutional Assembly, which on June 24 adopted and proclaimed the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In 1995, Bosnian government forces and Bosnian Croat forces of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated forces of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, and this territory was added to the federation (Una-Sana Canton).


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: By the Dayton Agreement of 1995 that ended the four-year war, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defined as one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, comprising 51% of country's area, alongside Republika Srpska. Cantons and federal structure were built rather slowly after the war. Separatist Croat Herzeg-Bosnia institutions existed and functioned parallel to Federation ones up until 1996–97, when they were phased out. On 8 March 2000, the Brčko District was formed as an autonomous district within Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was created from part of the territory of both Bosnian entities. Brčko District is now a condominium that belongs to both entities.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In 2001–2002, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) imposed amendments to the Federation's Constitution and its electoral law, in compliance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the political equality of the three constituent peoples (U-5/98). This triggered the grievances of Bosnian Croats, who claimed they were deprived of their rights to representation as Bosniaks had come to control the majority in the upper house as well.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Dissatisfied Croat politicians set up a separate Croatian National Assembly, held a referendum parallel to the elections and proclaimed their self-rule in Croat-majority areas in the Federation. Their attempts ended shortly after a crackdown by SFOR and legal proceedings.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Dissatisfied with the representation of Croats in the Federation, Croat political parties insist on creating a Croat-majority federal unit instead of several cantons. SDA and other Bosniak parties strongly oppose this. In September 2010, the International Crisis Group warned that "disputes among and between Bosniak and Croat leaders and a dysfunctional administrative system have paralyzed decision-making, put the entity on the verge of bankruptcy and triggered social unrest". In January 2017, Croatian National Assembly stated that "if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to become self-sustainable, then it is necessary to have an administrative-territorial reorganization, which would include a federal unit with a Croatian majority. It remains the permanent aspiration of the Croatian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina."


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In 2010–14 the Federation's Government was formed by SDP without the consent of major Croat political parties, leading to a political crisis.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In parallel to EU-facilitated talks on the Sejdic-Finci issue at State level, in February 2013 the US embassy supported an expert working group which presented its 188 recommendations to the FBIH House of Representatives in 2013, aiming to address the costly and complex governance structures with overlapping competences between the Federation, the Cantons and the municipalities as currently entailed in the Federation Constitution. The initiative was finally not adopted by the Parliament.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Following an appeal by HDZ BiH Božo Ljubić, in December 2016 the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina abolished the electoral formula for the indirect election of the Federation House of People, stating that it did not guarantee the legitimate representation of constituent peoples. Notably, the ruling did not concur with an "amicus curiae" opinion of the Venice Commission on the same matter. Lacking legislative amendments to revise the Election Law, in Summer 2018 the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina provisionally enacted a new formula for the composition of the House of People, based on the minimal representation formula (one deputy per each constituent people per each canton) and on the 2013 census.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In 2022, the High Representative imposed amendments to the federal Constitution and the Election Law, implementing the Ljubic verdict. The changes also reconstructed the original balance of power between Croats and Bosniaks in the Federation, as envisioned in Washington Agreement.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL) that distinguishes Bosnia and Herzegovina's two entities runs along the frontlines as they existed at the end of the Bosnian War, with adjustments (most importantly in the western part of the country and around Sarajevo), as defined by the Dayton Agreement. The total length of the IEBL is approximately  km. The IEBL is an administrative demarcation and not controlled by the military or police and there is free movement across it.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Five of the cantons (Una-Sana, Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, Bosnian Podrinje and Sarajevo) are Bosniak-majority cantons, three (Posavina, West Herzegovina and Canton 10) are Croat-majority cantons, and two (Central Bosnia and Herzegovina-Neretva) are 'ethnically mixed', meaning there are special legislative procedures for protection of the constituent peoples.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: A significant portion of Brčko District was also part of the Federation; however, when the district was created, it became shared territory of both entities, but it was not placed under control of either of the two, and is hence under direct jurisdiction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has 79 municipalities.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The government and politics of the Federation are dominated by two large parties, the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH).


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Since Bosniaks compose roughly 70.4% of Federation's population, Croats 22.4% and Serbs just around 2%, the Parliament's House of Peoples (with equal representation for all three nationalities) is supposed to ensure that the interests of Croats, Serbs and national minorities are fairly represented during government creation and in the legislative process.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation is also divided into ten highly autonomous cantons. They each have their own governments, assemblies and exclusive and shared competencies. In 2010 the Federation's Constitutional Court ruled that two Federation's ministries – the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Culture and Sports – are unconstitutional since education and culture are an exclusive competence of the cantons.


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprises ten cantons (Bosnian: "kantoni", Croatian: "županije"):


title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprises 51% of the land area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is home to 62.85% of the country's total population.


title: Reality Bites

text: Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and directed by Ben Stiller, in his directorial debut. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The plot follows Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer working on a documentary called "Reality Bites" about the disenchanted lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X.


title: Reality Bites

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $40.9 million worldwide against an $11.5 million budget. Critics highlighted the performances of Ryder, Hawke and Garofalo in particular.


title: Reality Bites

text: In the years since the initial release of the film, it has achieved cult status and has been singled out as one of the films that captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s grunge scene among young adults, while also bringing attention to various issues that plagued young Americans at the time.


title: Reality Bites

text: Four friends, recent college graduates, live together in Houston, Texas. Coffee-house guitarist Troy Dyer and budding filmmaker Lelaina Pierce are attracted to each other, although they have not acted on their feelings except for one brief, drunken encounter years ago.


title: Reality Bites

text: Troy is floundering, having lost several minimum-wage jobs—the last of which he loses for stealing a candy bar from his employer. Lelaina was valedictorian of her university and has aspirations to become a documentarian, although initially has to settle for a position as production assistant to a rude and obnoxious TV host.


title: Reality Bites

text: Lelaina meets Michael Grates when throwing a lit cigarette into his convertible causes him to crash into her car. They soon begin to date. He works as an executive at an MTV-like channel called In Your Face, and after seeing a documentary she has been working on, wants to get it aired on his network.


title: Reality Bites

text: Lelaina's roommate Vickie has a series of one-night stands and short relationships with dozens of men; her promiscuity leads her to face a very real risk of contracting HIV after a former fling tests positive for the virus. Working as a sales associate for The Gap, Vickie is later promoted to manager and is content with her new job. Her friend Sammy Gray is gay; he remains celibate, not due to a fear of AIDS, but because forming a relationship would force him to come out to his conservative parents.


title: Reality Bites

text: After an impulsive act of retribution, Lelaina loses her job, which causes some tension with her roommates. Eventually, Vickie's HIV test comes back negative and Sammy comes out to his parents (and he even starts dating) and the two manage to resume their lives.


title: Reality Bites

text: Meanwhile, Lelaina's relationship with Michael dissolves after he helps her sell the documentary to his network, only to let them edit it into a stylized montage that compromises her artistic vision. Lelaina and Troy have a heart-to-heart which leads to them sleeping together and confessing their feelings. The morning after, he avoids her, and after a messy confrontation, leaves town. When Troy's father dies, it forces him to reevaluate his life, deciding to attempt a relationship with Lelaina.


title: Reality Bites

text: Troy and Lelaina reunite and make amends once he returns from his father's funeral in Chicago. While we do not see what happens to Michael, during the credits there is an abrupt break where two characters, "Elaina" and "Roy", who are obvious parodies of Lelaina and Troy, have an argument about their relationship. As the "show's" credits roll, Michael's name is revealed as the creator, implying that he has turned the relationship between Lelaina and Troy into the subject of a new show on his network.


title: Reality Bites

text: In addition to Garofalo, director Stiller gave cameos to Andy Dick (as a sleazy boss) and John F. O'Donohue (as a convenience store manager), both cast members of "The Ben Stiller Show". Stiller also cast fellow "Saturday Night Live" alumnus David Spade in an uncredited appearance as the manager during Lelaina's job interview at Wienerschnitzel. Stiller's girlfriend Jeanne Tripplehorn also makes an uncredited appearance, parodying Cindy Crawford and MTV's show "House of Style". Renée Zellweger appears as Tami, a one-night stand of Troy's, in her first credited film role. Soul Asylum's lead singer Dave Pirner and The Lemonheads' frontman Evan Dando also made cameos.


title: Reality Bites

text: In 1991, producer Michael Shamberg had an idea to make a film about people in their twenties. He had read a screenplay entitled "Blue Bayou", written by Helen Childress on spec in 1990. He liked it and met with her, and she proceeded to tell him about her life and friends, and their struggle to find work during a recession in the United States at the time. For three years, she wrote and rewrote "Reality Bites", generating 70 different drafts. Childress decided to use her friends, their personalities and experiences as the basis for her film.


title: Reality Bites

text: The film's producers saw the pilot episode for "The Ben Stiller Show" and approached Stiller to direct it, but not act in it. He signed on to direct in 1992 and worked with Childress for nine to ten months developing the script. Initially, Childress, working with producer Stacey Sher, had figured out the characters of Lelaina and Troy, but could not come up with a credible character to complete the love triangle. Stiller suggested that he could play that third person. As a result, the Michael character changed from a 35-year-old advertising executive trying to market Japanese candy bars in America to a television executive in his twenties. They also changed the structure of the film. Originally, Vickie, Sammy and Troy had more fleshed out storylines, but Stiller felt that he could not tell them fully and decided to focus on the relationship between Lelaina and Troy.


title: Reality Bites

text: By December 1992, Childress and Stiller had a script that was ready to be filmed for TriStar Pictures, but the studio put it into turnaround. Sher, Stiller and Childress managed to convince the Film Commission of Texas to fund a location scouting trip to Houston, despite no studio backing, no budget and no cast. The film had been turned down by all Hollywood studios because it tried to capture the Generation X market like "Singles", which was not a box office success. When Sher, Stiller and Childress arrived in Houston, they received a phone call informing them that Winona Ryder had read the script, wanted to do it and that Universal Pictures had agreed to finance the film.


title: Reality Bites

text: After completing several period pieces, Ryder was drawn to "Reality Bites" because she was looking "for something a little more contemporary because I really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change". She read the script in one sitting while making "The House of the Spirits" and "found it very true to life." She further speculated in an interview, "I think my character is very close to what I would probably have ended up as if I hadn't become an actress". Ethan Hawke was at this point unhappy with the direction his career was taking; the actor recalled that his career was in a lull after the buzz from "Dead Poets Society" had faded. Ryder was a fan of his work and stipulated in her contract that her involvement in the film was dependent on Hawke starring opposite her.


title: Reality Bites

text: Janeane Garofalo knew Stiller from working together on "The Ben Stiller Show", and the film's producers felt that her style of comedy was perfect for the character of Vickie. She said that Parker Posey, Anne Heche, and Gwyneth Paltrow were all up for the role. The studio wanted Paltrow, but Ryder supported Garofalo for the role after making a connection with her. Before filming began, Garofalo was fired from the production because Stiller did not like her attitude during rehearsal. Garofalo was rehired after Ryder stepped in on her behalf. Garofalo stated later that she has a really poor work ethic and hates to rehearse. Stiller met Steve Zahn through Hawke, with whom Zahn was starring in a play, and he was impressed by how funny Zahn was. The actor went to Los Angeles, California, and tested for the film. He felt strongly about playing a gay character coming out of the closet.


title: Reality Bites

text: According to Childress, the title of the film isn't meant to be interpreted as "reality sucks." During the run-up to the 1992 United States presidential election, Childress kept hearing references to "sound bites," which made her think of Lelaina's recorded vignettes of her friends as "little bites of reality."


title: Reality Bites

text: Principal photography lasted 42 days, on a budget of $11.5 million. The filmmakers shot many of the exteriors in Houston (including a scene on top of the Two Shell Plaza building), where the film is set, but most of the interiors were shot in Los Angeles, because it was cheaper to do so there. During filming, Stiller encouraged Childress to be on location and talk with the actors about their characters.


title: Reality Bites

text: RCA met with the film's music supervisor Karyn Rachtman, and Stiller, three weeks into filming, to discuss the soundtrack album. They finalized a deal and the label opened its roster to the director, who picked only one band: Me Phi Me. RCA aggressively marketed the album and had five tracks on rotation on radio and MTV. The video for Crowded House's "Locked Out" was updated to include footage from the film. In addition, the video for "Spin the Bottle" by the Juliana Hatfield Three was directed by Stiller and featured clips from the film as well. The soundtrack sold 1.2 million units and reached #13 on the Billboard 200. The album also earned a No. 1 single with Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)". The soundtrack peaked at number 2 in Australia and was certified platinum.


title: Reality Bites

text: The film's soundtrack includes songs by World Party, Squeeze, The Knack (a remixed version of "My Sharona" featured prominently in one scene from the film), Juliana Hatfield, Social Distortion, and two contributions from Crowded House ("Locked Out" and "Something So Strong"), in addition to the runaway hit "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb, which earned Loeb the distinction of being the first artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label. It also includes "Conjunction Junction" from "Schoolhouse Rock!", another song brought into the foreground of a film full of pop culture references.


title: Reality Bites

text: "Reality Bites" went through four test screenings with a fairly decent reaction, before it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1994, and was theatrically released in the United States on February 18, 1994.


title: Reality Bites

text: The film grossed $5.1 million in 1,149 theaters on its opening weekend. Initially, "Reality Bites" did not perform as well at the box office as the studio had hoped. In six weeks, it grossed $18.3 million, more than the film's $11 million production budget. Bruce Feldman, Universal Pictures' Vice President of Marketing, said, "The media labeled it as a Generation X picture, while we thought it was a comedy with broad appeal". The studio placed advertisements during programs chosen for their appeal to 12- to 34-year-olds, and in interviews Stiller was careful not to mention the phrase, "Generation X". The film went on to be a moderate hit for Universal and make $20.9 million in the United States and Canada and $20 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $40.9 million.


title: Reality Bites

text: The film received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 64% of 59 critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.1/10. The site's consensus states: ""Reality Bites" may be too slick to fulfill its promise as a profound statement on Generation X, but an appealing ensemble and romantic sizzle make for an entertaining dive into the ennui of youth." On Metacritic the film has a score of 67 out of 100 based on reviews from 26 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.


title: Reality Bites

text: Caryn James, in her review for "The New York Times" wrote, "Like the generation it presents so appealingly, it doesn't see any point in getting all bent out of shape and overambitious. But it knows how to hang out and have a great time". In his review for "The Washington Post", Desson Howe wrote, "By aiming specifically—and accurately—at characters in their twenties, debuting screenwriter Helen Childress and first-time director Stiller achieve something even greater: they encapsulate an era". "Time" magazine's Richard Schickel wrote, "the movie bobs along on this stream of funny offhandedness, never losing its balance. If it's 10 o'clock, and you want to know where your supposedly grownup children are, this is a good place to look for them".


title: Reality Bites

text: When asked in 2007 how well "Reality Bites" had aged, Janeane Garofalo replied, "I think it means a lot more to people younger than me. I was not the target audience. I was 29 playing a 21-year-old, so I don't think I understand why younger people like it."


title: Reality Bites

text: In 2005, the real Dyer (a film financier) sued writer Childress, producer DeVito, and director Stiller. Dyer claimed that screenwriter Childress stated on audio commentary tracks that she wrote the story based on her actual college friends and roommates, and that he was then forced to deal with past and potential clients' "inquiries as to whether he was the fictional character" as well as the growing popularity of the best budding Internet’s users attributing outlandish, caustic, unprofessional and immature quotations lifted from the film’s dialogue as being ideas and jargon of his own. The defendants attempted to seek shelter under California's anti-SLAPP statutes, but in early 2007 the appeals court denied them SLAPP protection. The suit was quickly settled after Dyer received a written document from Childress stating he was not the person portrayed in the film.


title: Reality Bites

text: In May 2022, it was reported that a television series adaptation of the film is in the works at Peacock with Childress, DeVito, Jenna Bans, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher and Casey Kyber serving as executive producers.


title: Frank Dux

text: Frank William Dux (; born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian-American martial artist and fight choreographer. According to Dux, a ninjutsu expert named Senzo Tanaka trained him as a ninja when he was a teenager. He established his own school of ninjutsu called Dux Ryu Ninjutsu, and has said he won a secret martial arts tournament called the Kumite in 1975. His alleged victory at the Kumite served as the inspiration for the 1988 film "Bloodsport" starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dux's victory at the Kumite has been disputed, as has the existence of both the Kumite he described and Senzo Tanaka.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1975 to 1981, and claims he was sent on covert missions to Southeast Asia and awarded the Medal of Honor. He also asserts he was recruited by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William J. Casey to work as a covert agent. His military records, however, show he was never sent overseas and has not received any awards; Dux states the military sabotaged his records to discredit him. He has been accused of falsifying his military service by authors B. G. Burkett, Ralph Keyes and Nigel West, and his claim to have worked for the CIA has been dismissed by Director of Central Intelligence Robert Gates, General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Major General John K. Singlaub, and "Soldier of Fortune" magazine.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux worked as a fight choreographer for "Bloodsport", "Lionheart" (1990) and "Only the Strong" (1993). He detailed his alleged work for the CIA in the book "The Secret Man" in 1996, and that same year co-wrote the story for the film "The Quest" alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. He sued Van Damme for breach of contract over the film, but lost the suit in 1998. He also lost a lawsuit against "Soldier of Fortune" for libel the following year, over their claims he had falsified his military and CIA service.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux was born on April 6, 1956 in Toronto, Canada. His family relocated from Canada to California when he was seven, and he later attended Grant High School. Dux states that he was introduced to and trained in ninjutsu by Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka, whom he described as a "world-famous" teacher and the descendant of 40 generations of warriors. Dux says that Tanaka brought him to Masuda, Japan, when he was 16, to train him as a ninja.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1975 to 1981, and said he was sent on covert missions in Southeast Asia during this time and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Dux wrote articles for the September and October 1980 issues of "Black Belt" magazine, giving advice on martial arts techniques including knife fighting. He was described as being "decorated for his blade fighting techniques in actual combat in Southeast Asia" and as holding black belts in "Taekwondo and other arts". He also co-authored an article on knife fighting for "Inside Kung Fu" magazine in 1987.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux states that he participated in a 1975 martial arts competition in The Bahamas called the Kumite, describing the event as a 60-round single-elimination tournament held in secret every five years; his story was first covered in the November 1980 issue of "Black Belt". According to Dux, he was the first person to be given permission to speak publicly about the event, and was the first Westerner to win the tournament, achieving several world records there including the most consecutive knock-outs (56) and the fastest knockout punch (0.12 seconds). The 1988 film "Bloodsport" is based on his alleged Kumite victory. At the time of the film's release, he was operating martial arts schools in Woodland Hills and North Hollywood, Los Angeles, teaching his own martial art style, Dux Ryu ninjutsu, which is based on the Koga Ninja root principles of Ko-ryū, "adaptability and consistent change". Dux worked as the fight coordinator for "Bloodsport" and also for the 1990 film "Lionheart" and the 1993 film "Only the Strong".


title: Frank Dux

text: In 1993, Dux attended the 2nd annual Draka Martial Arts Trade Show in Los Angeles, where he had a confrontation with kickboxer Zane Frazier. Dux had previously hired Frazier to teach classes for him, though Frazier alleges that Dux never paid him. A fight ensued, with Frazier proving victorious. Rorion Gracie and Art Davie witnessed the fight and subsequently offered Frazier a position in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Dux states that Frazier sucker punched him while wearing brass knuckles, in contradiction to multiple sources, including mixed martial arts (MMA) referee John McCarthy, who make no mention of this in their accounts of the fight.


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux released the book "The Secret Man: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story" in 1996. In the book, Dux states that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William J. Casey arranged to meet him in a restroom, and recruited him to work on covert missions, including destroying a fuel depot in Nicaragua and a chemical weapons plant in Iraq.


title: Frank Dux

text: Alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dux was a co-author of the 1996 film "The Quest". Dux sued Van Damme after the film's release for breach of contract, on the grounds the finished film was too similar to the manuscript "Enter the New Dragon", which the two had also written. In 1998, Dux lost the case, with the jury foreman stating jurors found Dux's testimony "less than credible", including his assertion that audiotapes of his agreement with Van Damme were destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Dux appealed the verdict, though his appeal was dismissed in 1999.


title: Frank Dux

text: Contrary to his claims, Dux's military records obtained through Freedom of information show that he never served overseas, that he has not been given the Medal of Honor or any other award, and that in January 1978 he was referred for psychiatric evaluation after he expressed "flighty and disconnected ideas". Dux states that the military sabotaged his service record to discredit him. A photograph of Dux in military uniform shows service ribbons being displayed in an incorrect order, and the Medal of Honor he is wearing is the version given to members of the United States Army, rather than the Marine Corps. Questioned about the photograph in 1988, Dux told John Johnson from the "Los Angeles Times" he was not able to get the military to explain why he was awarded a medal from the wrong service, though in later years he changed his story to say the uniform was just a Halloween costume.


title: Frank Dux

text: In his book "Stolen Valor", which won the Colby Award in 2000, B. G. Burkett says that Dux fabricated his military history and awards, and had not served in Vietnam, noting the war had ended before he enlisted. Dux responded to the allegations by saying he never claimed to have served in Vietnam, only in covert missions in Southeast Asia, though, in 1980, he was described in "Black Belt" as having "a distinguished military record during the Vietnam conflict", and an interview with him in a 1987 issue of "Inside Kung Fu" describes him as a Vietnam veteran. Authors Ralph Keyes and Nigel West have also disputed Dux's military service, as has "Soldier of Fortune" magazine. In 2012 Sheldon Lettich, co-writer of "Bloodsport", said that Dux originally showed him a Medal of Honor he claimed to have been awarded, though years later, after people began questioning if he had "won" the medal, Dux then tried to convince him he had never made such a claim.


title: Frank Dux

text: John Stewart, the author of the 1980 "Black Belt" article that first described Dux's alleged Kumite victory, expressed regret for writing the article in 1988, describing himself as "naive" for believing Dux and saying after the story was published he received information that "raised questions about Dux's military career". In 1988 Jim Coleman, then editor of "Black Belt", said that Dux's story was "based on false premises", adding that they could find no evidence of such a competition; he made a similar statement again in 1996. Kenneth Wilson from the Ministry of Sports in The Bahamas disputed the existence of the Kumite, saying that it was impossible that a martial arts tournament of that scale could have been kept a secret. According to John Johnson, an invoice for the organization that allegedly staged the Kumite listed Dux as its only point of contact, and the base of the trophy he claims to have won was bought by him at a local trophy store. Dux told Johnson to speak to a man named Richard Robinson, whom he said he had met at the Kumite. Robinson initially confirmed Dux's story, saying that he was invited to the Kumite as he was an undefeated wrestler at Lower Merion High School. Johnson later uncovered that Robinson had not attended that school, and had actually gone to school with Dux. Confronted with this information, Robinson responded "All right. I don't know what to say ... Frank was a buddy of mine when I was in L.A."


title: Frank Dux

text: Sheldon Lettich said that he got the idea for "Bloodsport" after listening to Dux's "tall tales" regarding the Kumite. Dux introduced him to a man named Richard Bender who claimed to have been at the Kumite and verified the story, though a few years later confessed to Lettich that he had been lying and that Dux had instructed him on what to say. Lettich described Dux as a "delusional day-dreamer". Citing his Kumite claims, MMA website Fightland includes Dux among their list of martial arts frauds. Both John Johnson and Fightland believe Dux faked his story to help promote his martial arts schools.


title: Frank Dux

text: John Johnson reported he could find no evidence of Dux's alleged teacher Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka in history books or from other martial arts experts. Dux told Johnson he did not know the whereabouts of Tanaka or even if he was still alive, though in later years changed his story to say it was Tanaka's dying wish for him to compete in the Kumite. When Johnson pointed out that Dux's teacher has the same name as a ninja commander from Ian Fleming's James Bond novel "You Only Live Twice", Dux responded by saying that Fleming "used to base his characters on real people". In March 2017, Dux wrote an article saying he had found Tanaka's death certificate, which showed he had died in Los Angeles in 1975, though as of 2016 Dux's website said that Tanaka died in Japan.


title: Frank Dux

text: In 1980, Dux told "Black Belt" that his fight record so far was 321 wins, one loss and seven draws, though in 2014 he told AXS TV that he had retired with a fight record of 329 wins, zero losses. Curtis Wong, an editor of "Inside Kung Fu", doubted whether Dux's alleged 56 consecutive knockout record was possible. Others observe the difficulty in proving or disproving Dux's "impossibly impressive" records, as "the only person able to verify any of this information is Dux himself".


title: Frank Dux

text: Several notable figures refuted Dux's claims, in his book "The Secret Man", to have worked for the CIA. Robert Gates, William J. Casey's deputy and successor, said he had never heard of Dux, nor had anyone else he knew in the CIA. Dux named General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. and Major-General John K. Singlaub as other people he had worked for, both of whom denied Dux's assertions. Singlaub called the book, "virtually a complete fabrication." He had his lawyer write to HarperCollins, the company that owned the imprint ReganBooks which published the book, asking for it to be recalled. "Soldier of Fortune" opined there were at least ten plot holes in the book, such as Dux's "preposterous" claim that Casey personally handled his operations and ensured that no one else in the CIA would know of his existence, yet contradicts this by describing receiving documents and support from other personnel on numerous occasions. A CIA spokesman said the book was, "sheer fantasy," adding that it was unusual for the CIA to comment on such matters though Dux's claims were, "so preposterous that we thought it was necessary," also stating that it was convenient for Dux that Casey was dead and unable to refute the book himself. Reviewing the book, "Publishers Weekly" said, "It's hard to tell whether the author is merely posturing or expressing his fantasy life in a memoir that reads as if patterned on the early paperback Avenger series."


title: Frank Dux

text: Dux also alleged in the book that his father Alfred had worked for Mossad before the Second World War and also joined the Jewish Brigade in 1939. Nigel West says that Dux's family history does not "withstand much scrutiny", noting that Mossad was not formed until after the Second World War and that the Jewish Brigade was not formed until several years after Alfred is said to have joined it. Lieutenant Commander Larry Simmons, a novelist who formerly commanded SEAL Team 5 and who had the same literary agent as Dux, posed with Dux for a photograph. Dux featured the photo in the book, with the caption saying he was "talking shop" with the SEAL Team leader. Simmons denied "talking shop" with him, adding that Dux was "not an American warrior. He is a con man."


title: Frank Dux

text: Writing in the book "Actions Speak Louder", Eric Lichtenfield said that, when his exploits are questioned, Dux counters by "actually exploiting his lack of substantiating evidence, and spinning it" into even wilder stories. Dux says that the reason he no longer has a sword he was presented with at the Kumite is that he sold it in a failed attempt to buy the freedom of a boat of orphans whom he later rescued from pirates, that he stopped a plot to assassinate Steven Seagal, and that discrepancies in his martial arts history are the work of fabrications by his rivals including ninjutsu master Stephen K. Hayes.


title: Frank Dux

text: While many sources dismiss Dux's claims entirely, others believe there may be some truth to his stories. Dux sued "Soldier of Fortune" publisher Robert K. Brown for libel following the publication of their articles about him. While he eventually lost the case, during the hearing, John Johnson presented a photocopy of the receipt which he said proved that Dux had purchased his Kumite trophy, though the judge refused to allow it as evidence, noting several discrepancies such as the date on the receipt being after Dux was photographed with his trophy. Dariel Figueroa from "Uproxx" opined that there were several holes in both Dux's claims, as well as those of some of his critics, "leading to a mess of false evidence, lies, and, somewhere in the middle, the truth." Hugh Landman from "Ranker" has stated that while Dux "lies about, or at least greatly exaggerates, many aspects of his career," that does not necessarily mean his story is entirely false, speculating he may have won a Kumite that was significantly different from the one that appears in "Bloodsport".


title: New Year's Day

text: New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whilst most solar calendars (like the Gregorian and Julian) begin the year regularly at or near the northern winter solstice, cultures that observe a lunisolar or lunar calendar celebrate their New Year (such as the Chinese New Year and the Islamic New Year) at less fixed points relative to the solar year.


title: New Year's Day

text: In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. From Roman times until the middle of the 18th century, the new year was celebrated at various stages and in various parts of Christian Europe on 25 December, on 1 March, on 25 March and on the movable feast of Easter.


title: New Year's Day

text: In the present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their civil calendar, 1 January according to that calendar is among the most celebrated public holidays in the world, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight following New Year's Eve as the new year starts in each time zone. Other global New Year's Day traditions include making New Year's resolutions and calling one's friends and family.


title: New Year's Day

text: The ancient Babylonian calendar was lunisolar, and around the year 2000BC began observing a spring festival and the new year during the month of Nisan, around the time of the March equinox. The early Roman calendar designated 1 March as the first day of the year. The calendar had just 10 months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through to December, the ninth through to the twelfth months of the Gregorian calendar, were originally positioned as the seventh through to the tenth months. ("Septem" is Latin for "seven"; "octo", "eight"; "novem", "nine"; and "decem", "ten") Roman mythology usually credits their second king Numa with the establishment of the two new months of Ianuarius and Februarius. These were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead.


title: New Year's Day

text: The January kalend ( Ianuariae), the start of the month of January, came to be celebrated as the new year at some point after it became the day for the inaugurating new consuls in 153BC. Romans had long dated their years by these consulships, rather than sequentially, and making the kalends of January start the new year aligned this dating. Still, private and religious celebrations around the March new year continued for some time and there is no consensus on the question of the timing for 1 January's new status. Once it became the new year, however, it became a time for family gatherings and celebrations. A series of disasters, notably including the failed rebellion of M. Aemilius Lepidus in 78BC, established a superstition against allowing Rome's market days to fall on the kalends of January and the pontiffs employed intercalation to avoid its occurrence.


title: New Year's Day

text: The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. The calendar became the predominant calendar in the Roman Empire and subsequently, most of the Western world for more than 1,600 years. The Roman calendar began the year on 1 January, and this remained the start of the year after the Julian reform. However, even after local calendars were aligned to the Julian calendar, they started the new year on different dates. The Alexandrian calendar in Egypt started on 29 August (30 August after an Alexandrian leap year). Several local provincial calendars were aligned to start on the birthday of the Emperor Augustus, 23 September. The indiction caused the Byzantine year, which used the Julian calendar, to begin on 1 September; this date is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for the beginning of the liturgical year.


title: New Year's Day

text: At various times and in various places throughout mediaeval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on 25 December in honour of the birth of Jesus; 1 March in the old Roman style; 25 March in honour of Lady Day (the Feast of the Annunciation, the date of the conception of Jesus); and on the movable feast of Easter.


title: New Year's Day

text: As a date in the Christian calendar, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church (Julian calendar, see below) and in Traditional Catholicism by those who retain the usage of the General Roman Calendar of 1960. The mainstream Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.


title: New Year's Day

text: Among the 7th-century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts at the winter solstice. This custom was deplored by Saint Eligius (died 659 or 660), who warned the Flemish and Dutch: "(Do not) make visuals, [little figures of the Old Woman], little deer or iotticos or set tables [for the house-elf, compare Puck] at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks [another Yule custom]." However, on the date that European Christians celebrated the Feast of the Circumcision, they exchanged Christmas presents because the feast fell within the 12 days of the Christmas season in the Western Christian liturgical calendar; The custom of exchanging Christmas gifts in a Christian context is traced back to the Biblical Magi who gave gifts to the Christ Child. In Tudor England, 1 January (as the Feast of the Circumcision, not New Year's Day), along with Christmas Day and Twelfth Night, was celebrated as one of three main festivities among the twelve days of Christmastide.


title: New Year's Day

text: Most nations of Europe and their colonies officially adopted 1 January as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. France changed to 1 January from 1564, most of Germany did so from 1544, the Netherlands from 1556 or 1573 according to sect, Italy (not being united) did so on a variety of dates, Spain and Portugal from 1556, Sweden, Norway and Denmark from 1599, Scotland from 1600, and Russia from 1725. England, Wales, Ireland, and Britain's American colonies did so from 1752.


title: New Year's Day

text: Until 1752 (except Scotland), the Kingdom of Great Britain and its Empire at the time had retained 25 March as the official start of the year (though informal use of 1 January had become common.) With the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, Britain and the Empire formally adopted 1 January as New Year's Day and, with the same Act, also discarded the Julian calendar (though the actions are otherwise unrelated). The Act came into effect "following the last said day of December 1751".


title: New Year's Day

text: By 1750, an eleven-day difference between the older Julian and the newer and more accurate Gregorian calendars also needed to be adjusted for. There was some religious dissent regarding feast days being moved, especially Christmas Day (see Old Christmas), and isolated communities continued the old reckoning to a greater or lesser extent. The years 1800 and 1900 were leap years in the Julian calendar but not in the Gregorian, so the difference increased to twelve then thirteen days. The year 2000 was a leap year in both calendars.


title: New Year's Day

text: At various stages during the first half of the twentieth century, all countries in Eastern Christendom adopted the Gregorian calendar as their civil calendar but continued, and have continued into modern times, to use the Julian Calendar for ecclesiastical purposes. As 1 January (Julian) equates to 14 January (Gregorian), a religious celebration of the New Year on this date may seem strange to Western eyes.


title: New Year's Day

text: In cultures that traditionally or currently use calendars other than the Gregorian, New Year's Day is often also an important celebration. Some countries concurrently use Gregorian and another calendar. New Year's Day in the alternative calendar attracts alternative celebrations of that new year:


title: New Year's Day

text: The first of January represents the fresh start of a new year after a period of remembrance of the passing year, including on radio, television, and in newspapers, which starts in early December in countries around the world. Publications have year-end articles that review the changes during the previous year. In some cases, publications may set their entire year's work alight in the hope that the smoke emitted from the flame brings new life to the company. There are also articles on planned or expected changes in the coming year.


title: New Year's Day

text: This day is traditionally a religious feast, but since the 1900s has also become an occasion to celebrate the night of 31 December—New Year's Eve—with parties, public celebrations (often involving fireworks shows) and other traditions focused on the impending arrival of midnight and the new year. Watchnight services are also still observed by many.


title: New Year's Day

text: The celebrations and activities held worldwide on 1 January as part of New Year's Day commonly include the following:


title: New Year's Day

text: Music associated with New Year's Day comes in both classical and popular genres, and there is also Christmas song focus on the arrival of a new year during the Christmas and holiday season.


title: New Year's Day

text: A common image used, often as an editorial cartoon, is that of an incarnation of Father Time (or the "Old Year") wearing a sash across his chest with the previous year printed on it passing on his duties to the Baby New Year (or the "New Year"), an infant wearing a sash with the new year printed on it.


title: New Year's Day

text: Babies born on New Year's Day are commonly called "New Year babies". Hospitals, such as the Dyersburg Regional Medical Center in the US, give out prizes to the first baby born in that hospital in the new year. These prizes are often donated by local businesses. Prizes may include various baby-related items such as baby formula, baby blankets, diapers, and gift certificates to stores which specialise in baby-related merchandise.


title: New Year's Day

text: On New Year's Day in Antarctica, the stake marking the geographic south pole is moved approximately 10 meters to compensate for the movement of the ice. A new marker stake is designed and made each year by staff at the site nearby.


title: New Year's Day

text: The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ on 1 January, based on the belief that if Jesus was born on 25 December, then according to Hebrew tradition, his circumcision would have taken place on the eighth day of his life (1 January). The Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which is also a Holy Day of Obligation.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, 4–3, winning their second consecutive NBA championship. The Lakers were favored to repeat as champions over the Celtics. They defeated the Celtics, four games to three, to win the franchise's 16th NBA championship. The 64th edition of the championship series was played between June 3 and June 17, was broadcast on ABC, and was watched by an average of 18.1 million people.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: The Celtics earned their berth into the playoffs by winning the Atlantic Division. The Lakers won the Pacific Division to earn their berth. The Celtics reached the NBA Finals by defeating the Miami Heat in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference First Round, the Cleveland Cavaliers (who were favored to beat the Celtics) in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals, and the defending Eastern conference champion Orlando Magic (who were favored to beat the Celtics) in the best-of-seven . The Lakers reached the NBA Finals by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the best-of-seven Western Conference First Round, the Utah Jazz in the best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinals, and the Phoenix Suns in the best-of-seven . The NBA Finals were scheduled in the Major League Baseball World Series 2–3–2 seven game format, with the Lakers possessing home-court advantage as a reward for finishing with better regular season record than the Celtics.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: Repeated baskets from starters Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Ron Artest brought the Lakers close to victory in Game 1. A record-breaking performance from Ray Allen (eight three-pointers) ensured the Celtics a Game 2 win. Derek Fisher’s 11 points in the fourth quarter helped the Lakers win Game 3. The Celtics won Game 4; aided by the fact that they netted an excellent performance in baskets by the team’s reserves, while Paul Pierce led the team to a Game 5 win with 27 points on 57% shooting from the floor. The Lakers avoided elimination by winning a decisive Game 6 with 24 points contributed by their bench. Although they trailed the Celtics by 13 points early in the third quarter, the Lakers rallied and won their second consecutive championship by taking over an exciting Game 7 aided by late contributions on offense by Pau Gasol and Artest and rebounding. Bryant was named Most Valuable Player of the Finals for his second consecutive trophy.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: This was the first NBA Finals to go the full seven games since and only the fourth since the NBA Finals returned to a 2–3–2 format in . Los Angeles added its sixteenth title to move a step closer to the Celtics' league-leading seventeen championships and gain revenge for their defeat in 2008.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: The Lakers had won the previous season's NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic for the franchise's 15th championship. The Celtics won their previous NBA Finals appearance against the Lakers in 2008. This was the 12th Finals played between the two rival teams. The Celtics won nine of their previous 11 Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in , , , , , , , , and , while the Lakers won in and .


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: The Celtics finished the regular season as the Atlantic Division champion with a 50–32 record. As the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, they eliminated the No. 5 seeded Miami Heat in five games during the first round in the playoffs. Then in the conference semifinals, Boston defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, the earliest that a top seed has been eliminated since the Dallas Mavericks' first round loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2007. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics went on to eliminate the Orlando Magic in six games. In reaching the Finals the Boston Celtics became the first team in NBA history to do so with a better regular season road record than home. Also, the Boston Celtics became the second team in NBA history to reach the NBA Finals after beating the team with the best record, Cleveland Cavaliers, and team with second-best record in the league, Orlando Magic, after the Houston Rockets did it in their championship season of 1995.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: After the Lakers won the Finals in the preceding year, the team management wasted no time in making changes to the roster. Their most notable offseason player change was when Trevor Ariza departed to the Houston Rockets and was replaced by free agent Ron Artest. Longtime assistant coach and former head coach Kurt Rambis left the organization to pursue a head coaching opportunity with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers finished the regular season as the Pacific Division champion, compiling a 57–25 record. On February 1, Kobe Bryant moved past Jerry West into 14th place on the NBA's career scoring list. He also surpassed West to become the Lakers franchise scoring leader.


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: As the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, they eliminated the No. 8 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in six games during the Western Conference First Round Playoffs, with the final game ending when Kobe Bryant missed a jumper but Pau Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound and made a layup to clinch the win. Then in the Western Conference Semifinals, Los Angeles swept the Utah Jazz in four games, earning their right to play in their third straight Western Conference Final. In the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers won both of their first two games at home, but proceeded to lose the next two in Phoenix both by 9 points. In Game 5, Ron Artest made an off balance layup to beat the buzzer off a Kobe Bryant miss to give the Lakers the victory. The Lakers then proceeded to beat the Suns on their home floor in Game 6 led by Kobe Bryant's 37 points. The Game 6 victory gave the Lakers their 31st NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. The team also earned their third straight appearance in the Finals, the last team to do so being the Los Angeles Lakers themselves (during the three-peat of –).


title: 2010 NBA Finals

text: Both teams started strong, playing a close game for most of the 1st quarter until a 7–2 Los Angeles run inspired by bench players Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown to end the quarter. Boston again started the 2nd quarter strong. However, Los Angeles managed to extend the lead 50–41 at the end of the first half with another run led by Ron Artest and Pau Gasol. More of the same came in the 3rd quarter, as Los Angeles matched nearly all of Boston's attempts to get back in the game. To end the 3rd quarter, Los Angeles went on a 15–4 run to give L. A. a 20-point lead going into the 4th quarter. While the Celtics would try to get back into the game with Nate Robinson and 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce, they never got closer than 11 points. The game was capped off with a three-pointer by Kobe Bryant with 3.6 seconds left, securing his 10th 30-point game in his last 11. Boston was outplayed by Los Angeles in nearly every statistical category, most notably in rebounding (31–42) and second-chance points (0–16). Much of the Celtics' performance came from Kevin Garnett, who finished with 16 points (on 16 shots) and 2 rebounds. Ray Allen, who was hampered by foul trouble, finished with 12 points and 5 personal fouls.