title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: In July 2000, ECW made its West Coast debut, holding its annual summer pay-per-view "ECW Heat Wave" in Los Angeles. At the time Los Angeles was home to Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), and its owner Rob Black purchased six front row tickets for the show. The tickets were given to a cadre of XPW talent, and their mission was to make it clear that ECW was on enemy turf; it was not part of either companies' storylines. At the beginning of the main event, the XPW contingent donned shirts emblazoned with the XPW logo, gaining the attention of security and ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer. Security ejected the XPW group from the building and later, a brawl broke out in the parking lot between members of the XPW ring crew and the ECW locker room. The XPW wrestlers were not involved in the fracas, during which the ECW wrestlers brutalized the XPW ring crew with several of the ring crew members left in pools of their own blood. Initial reports claimed that XPW valet Kristi Myst had somehow touched ECW valet Francine Fournier and that this is what prompted the incident, but Fournier herself has since gone on record as saying that she was never grabbed or in any other way touched by any of the XPW crew, and other eyewitnesses support the story that Fournier never had a hand laid on her. XPW was not acknowledged by ECW announcer Joey Styles during the pay-per-view telecast, however at the November to Remember pay-per-view a few months later, color-commentator Don Callis made a subtle reference to the incident, describing a wild brawl as "looking like a Los Angeles parking lot." The XPW contingent at ringside consisted of wrestlers The Messiah, Kid Kaos, Supreme, Kristi Myst, Homeless Jimmy and XPW announcer Kris Kloss.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN (for what was initially a three-year contract) as "ECW on TNN". Despite very limited advertising, low budget, and disputes with the broadcaster (reflected on The Network stable), ECW became TNN's highest rated show and bolstered the network's Friday night slot, both in ratings and line-up. However, financial problems began rocking the company; by October 2000, "ECW on TNN" was cancelled (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000) in favor of "WWF Raw is War" moving to the network. Paul Heyman stated he believed that the inability to land another national television deal was the cause of ECW's demise.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national television deal. On December 30, 2000, "ECW Hardcore TV" aired for the last time and the January 7, 2001, broadcast of Guilty as Charged was the company's last PPV. The promotion's January 13, 2001, show in Pine Bluff, Arkansas would prove to be its final event of any kind. Living Dangerously was scheduled to air on March 11, 2001, but because of financial trouble it was canceled in February. Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and ECW closed on April 4, 2001. Heyman, who became color commentator for "Raw" that February (replacing Jerry Lawler, who quit WWF in protest after his then-wife, Stacy Carter, had been fired by McMahon), had supposedly never told his wrestlers that the company was on its last legs and was unable to pay them for a while. Heyman also noted in later years that he had made an effort to put ECW on the USA Network (then the former home of "Raw") and that this effort was thwarted after McMahon sent an email which pressured USA Network executives to put WWF on the network.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500. Included in that number was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed the company by In Demand Network (PPV), Acclaim (video games) and Original San Francisco Toy Company (action figures). The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4). The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $2 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars. The highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Shane Douglas ($145,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Rhyno ($50,000), and Francine Fournier ($47,275). On January 28, 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. purchased ECW's assets from HHG Corporation in court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: In ECW, there were virtually no rules. The role of referees only included counting pinfalls, acknowledging submissions, and upholding rope breaks. ECW was known for making popular several types of matches, including the 3-Way Dance, barbed wire match, tables match and Singapore Cane match among others. According to Heyman, ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between "WCW Monday Nitro" and "Monday Night Raw." The WWF had a working relationship with ECW, going so far as to participate in cross-promotional angles, providing talent on loan in exchange for developed young talent and marketable gimmicks (Al Snow's "head" gimmick among them) and even providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time. WCW and ECW (particularly Heyman and the WCW executives) however had a very poor relationship, and WCW refused to even mention ECW by name (with a few notable exceptions; including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997 and Nash and Scott Hall mentioning it as a viable second option in American wrestling in a slight on their main competition, the World Wrestling Federation). It was referred to as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion that wrestled in bingo halls" during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. The former ECW Arena, now known as the 2300 Arena, is host to the Hardcore Hall of Fame, which recognizes its history with hardcore wrestling.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable as part of the World Wrestling Federation Invasion storyline. On the July 9, 2001, edition of "Raw," Heyman, who had been hired by the WWF as "Raw" color commentator while ECW was still in bankruptcy proceedings, joined several former ECW alumni on the WWF roster (including the debuting Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer) and claimed that he was bringing ECW back to participate in the Invasion by themselves (at the time, however, the ownership of ECW, including the use of its name on-air, was disputed despite Heyman still technically owning the company when he jumped ship to the WWF. In addition, WWF faced legal action by Harry Slash & The Slashtones for the use of the song "This Is Extreme!" which was eventually settled). Before "Raw" was over that evening, Heyman and Shane McMahon, who had (kayfabe) purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW), revealed that they were in cahoots with each other and that Heyman had (also kayfabe) sold ECW to Stephanie McMahon, forming The Alliance to try and wrestle power from Vince McMahon. At that time, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift as less focus was placed on WCW and ECW performers—in fact, with rare exceptions such as Van Dam, the ECW alumni in The Alliance were given even less focus than WCW's performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series when Kurt Angle attacked Stone Cold Steve Austin, allowing Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. "The Rock"), who had himself gotten attacked by Chris Jericho during the match (trying to help The Alliance in the process), to get the winning pinfall. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF. The following night after Survivor Series, the WWF began the Ruthless Aggression Era despite the company using its Attitude slogans.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: On January 28, 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. purchased ECW's assets from HHG Corporation in court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD titled "The Rise and Fall of ECW". The set was released in November 2004. The main feature of the DVD was a near three-hour documentary on the company's history, with the other disc featuring 7 matches from the promotion. An unauthorized DVD called "Forever Hardcore" was written, directed and produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash in response to "The Rise and Fall of ECW". The DVD had stories of wrestlers who were not employed by WWE telling their side of ECW's history. During the week of November 10, 2014, WWE had ECW Week on the WWE Network featuring the "ECW Exposed" special hosted by Joey Styles and Paul Heyman.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: By 2005, WWE began reintroducing ECW through content from the ECW video library and a series of books, which included the release of "The Rise and Fall of ECW" documentary. With heightened and rejuvenated interest in the ECW franchise, WWE organized ECW One Night Stand on June 12, a reunion event that featured ECW alumni. Shane McMahon had the idea of an online, low budget show, but they asked television stations and PPV producers and they were interested in ECW.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: Due to the financial and critical success of the production, WWE produced the second ECW One Night Stand on June 11, 2006, which served as the premiere event in the relaunch of the ECW franchise as a WWE brand, complementary to "Raw" and "SmackDown." On June 13, Heyman, the brand's former owner and newly appointed figurehead for the ECW brand, recommissioned the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to be the brand's world title and awarded it to Rob Van Dam as a result of winning the WWE Championship at ECW One Night Stand 2006. The brand would continue to operate until February 16, 2010, where it became defunct and replaced with NXT. Under the WWE banner, ECW was presented following the same format of the other brands, with match rules, such as count outs and disqualifications, being standard. Matches featuring the rule set of the ECW promotion were classified as being contested under "Extreme Rules" and were only fought when specified.


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: On the same weekend as the ECW One Night Stand 2005 event another reunion show was held at the ECW Arena. Booked and promoted by Shane Douglas, Cody Michaels and Jeremy Borash, Hardcore Homecoming was held on June 10, 2005. Because of the success of the initial event a tour was planned, and later the DVD documentary "Forever Hardcore" was released by the same production crew as a counterpart to WWE's "Rise and Fall of ECW."


title: Extreme Championship Wrestling

text: Following Tommy Dreamer's debut in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a new stable was formed called EV2.0 consisting of former ECW alumni. TNA President Dixie Carter agreed to give the stable their own reunion show at TNA's annual Hard Justice pay-per-view. Billed as the last ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice aired on August 8, 2010. EV2.0 remained on the active roster for the remainder of the year. The Extreme Rising promotion featured many ECW alumni as well as younger talent and embraced the hardcore style of the original ECW. Their first show, Extreme Reunion, took place on April 28, 2012. It was result of the team of Douglas, Michaels, Kevin Kleinrock and Steve and Michael O'Neil. In 2012, Dreamer founded House of Hardcore, a wrestling promotion named after the ECW wrestling school and inspired by the hardcore style of wrestling. Since then, HOH has held numerous wrestling events mainly in areas where ECW was held such as the ECW Arena.


title: Harpy

text: In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems.


title: Harpy

text: They were generally depicted as birds with the heads of maidens, faces pale with hunger and long claws on their hands. Roman and Byzantine writers detailed their ugliness. Pottery art depicting the harpies featured beautiful women with wings. Ovid described them as human-vultures.


title: Harpy

text: To Hesiod, they were imagined as fair-locked and winged maidens, who flew as fast as the wind. ...the Harpyiai (Harpies) of the lovely hair, Okypete (Ocypete) and Aello, and these two in the speed of their wings keep pace with the blowing winds, or birds in flight, as they soar and swoop, high aloft.


title: Harpy

text: But even as early as the time of Aeschylus, they are described as ugly creatures with wings, and later writers carry their notions of the harpies so far as to represent them as most disgusting monsters. The Pythian priestess of Apollo recounted the appearance of the harpies in the following lines:Before this man an extraordinary band of women [i.e. harpies] slept, seated on thrones. No! Not women, but rather Gorgons I call them; and yet I cannot compare them to forms of Gorgons either. Once before I saw some creatures in a painting, carrying off the feast of Phineus; but these are wingless in appearance, black, altogether disgusting; they snore with repulsive breaths, they drip from their eyes hateful drops; their attire is not fit to bring either before the statues of the gods or into the homes of men. I have never seen the tribe that produced this company, nor the land that boasts of rearing this brood with impunity and does not grieve for its labor afterwards.


title: Harpy

text: Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they (Harpies) are; abominable their droppings, their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable


title: Harpy

text: They are said to have been feathered, with cocks' heads, wings, and human arms, with great claws; breasts, bellies, and female parts human."


title: Harpy

text: The harpies seem originally to have been wind spirits (personifications of the destructive nature of wind). Their name means "snatchers" or "swift robbers" and they steal food from their victims while they are eating and carry evildoers (especially those who have killed their families) to the Erinyes. When a person suddenly disappeared from the Earth, it was said that he had been carried off by the harpies. Thus, they carried off the daughters of King Pandareus and gave them as servants to the Erinyes. In this form they were agents of punishment who abducted people and tortured them on their way to Tartarus. They were vicious, cruel, and violent.


title: Harpy

text: The harpies were called "the hounds of mighty Zeus" thus "ministers of the Thunderer (Zeus)". Later writers listed the harpies among the guardians of the underworld among other monstrosities including the Centaurs, Scylla, Briareus, Lernaean Hydra, Chimera, Gorgons and Geryon.


title: Harpy

text: Their abode is either the islands called Strofades, a place at the entrance of Orcus, or a cave in Crete.


title: Harpy

text: Hesiod calls them two "lovely-haired" creatures, the daughters of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra and sisters of Iris. Hyginus, however, cited a certain Ozomene as the mother of the harpies but he also recounted that Electra was also the mother of these beings in the same source. This can be explained by the fact that Ozomene was another name for Electra. The harpies possibly were siblings of the river-god Hydaspes and Arke, as they were called sisters of Iris and children of Thaumas. According to Valerius, Typhoeus (Typhon) was said to be the father of these monsters while a different version by Servius told that the harpies were daughters of Pontus and Gaea or of Poseidon.


title: Harpy

text: They are named Aello ("storm swift") and Ocypete ("the swift wing"), and Virgil added Celaeno ("the dark") as a third. Homer knew of a harpy named Podarge ("fleet-foot"). Aello is sometimes also spelled Aellopus or Nicothoe; Ocypete is sometimes also spelled Ocythoe or Ocypode.


title: Harpy

text: Homer called the harpy Podarge as the mother of the two horses (Balius and Xanthus) of Achilles sired by the West Wind Zephyrus while according to Nonnus, Xanthus and Podarkes, horses of the Athenian king Erechtheus, were born to Aello and the North Wind Boreas. Other progeny of Podarge were Phlogeus and Harpagos, horses given by Hermes to the Dioscuri, who competed for the chariot-race in celebration of the funeral games of Pelias. The swift horse Arion was also said to begotten by loud-piping Zephyrus on a harpy (probably Podarge), as attested by Quintus Smyrnaeus.


title: Harpy

text: The most celebrated story in which the harpies play a part is that of King Phineus of Thrace, who was given the gift of prophecy by Zeus. Angry that Phineus gave away the god's secret plan, Zeus punished him by blinding him and putting him on an island with a buffet of food which he could never eat because the harpies always arrived to steal the food out of his hands before he could satisfy his hunger. Later writers add that they either devoured the food themselves, or that they dirtied it by dropping upon it some stinking substance, so as to render it unfit to be eaten.


title: Harpy

text: This continued until the arrival of Jason and the Argonauts. Phineus promised to instruct them respecting the course they had to take, if they would deliver him from the harpies. The Boreads, sons of Boreas, the North Wind, who also could fly, succeeded in driving off the harpies. According to an ancient oracle, the harpies were to perish by the hands of the Boreades, but the Boreades were to die if they could not overtake the harpies. The harpies fled, but one fell into the river Tigris, which was hence called Harpys, and the other reached the Echinades, and as she never returned, the islands were called Strophades. But being worn out with fatigue, she fell down simultaneously with her pursuer; and, as they promised no further to molest Phineus, the two harpies were not deprived of their lives. According to others, the Boreades were on the point of killing the harpies, when Iris or Hermes appeared and commanded the conquerors to set them free, promising that Phineus would not be bothered by the harpies again. "The dogs of great Zeus" then returned to their "cave in Minoan Crete". Other accounts said that both the harpies as well as the Boreades died. Thankful for their help, Phineus told the Argonauts how to pass the Symplegades.


title: Harpy

text: Tzetzes explained the origin of the myth pertaining to Phineus, the harpies, and the Boreades in his account. In this late version of the myth it was said that Phineus, due to his old age, became blind, and he has two daughters named Eraseia and Harpyreia. These maidens lived a very libertine and lazy life, abandoning themselves to poverty and fatal famine. Then Zetes and Calais snatched them away somehow, and they disappeared from those places ever since. From this account all myths about them [i.e., the harpies] started, as was also retold by Apollonius in his own story of the Argonauts.


title: Harpy

text: Aeneas encountered harpies on the Strophades as they repeatedly made off with the feast the Trojans were setting. Celaeno utters a prophecy: the Trojans will be so hungry they will eat their tables before they reach the end of their journey. The Trojans fled in fear.


title: Harpy

text: Harpies remained vivid in the Middle Ages. In Canto XIII of his "Inferno", Dante Alighieri envisages the tortured wood infested with harpies, where the suicides have their punishment in the seventh ring of Hell:


title: Harpy

text:
"Here the repellent harpies make their nests,"
"Who drove the Trojans from the Strophades"
"With dire announcements of the coming woe."
"They have broad wings, with razor sharp talons and a human neck and face,"
"Clawed feet and swollen, feathered bellies; they caw"
"Their lamentations in the eerie trees."


title: Harpy

text: In Canto XXXIII of Orlando Furioso, author Ludovico Ariosto has the Christian Ethiopian Emperor Senapo (Prester John) afflicted with harpies under circumstances nearly identical to those in the myth of Phineus. He has been blinded by the God himself, and the harpies contaminate his every meal. Senapo is delivered from this torment by Astolfo, a paladin from the court of Charlemagne.


title: Harpy

text: William Blake was inspired by Dante's description in his pencil, ink, and watercolour "" (Tate Gallery, London).


title: Harpy

text: Harpies also found a role in Shakespeare's Tempest, where the spirit Ariel tortured the antagonists Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso for their crimes by staging a banquet scene similar to that in the Aeneid.


title: Harpy

text: The term is often used metaphorically to refer to a nasty or annoying woman. In Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing", Benedick spots the sharp-tongued Beatrice approaching and exclaims to the prince, Don Pedro, that he would do an assortment of arduous tasks for him "rather than hold three words conference with this harpy!"


title: Harpy

text: In the Middle Ages, the harpy, often called the "Jungfraunadler" or "maiden eagle" (although it may not have been modeled after the original harpy of Greek mythology), became a popular charge in heraldry, particularly in East Frisia, seen on, among others, the coats-of-arms of Rietberg, Liechtenstein, and the Cirksena.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: Made In Heaven is a 2019 Indian romantic drama web series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 8 March 2019. Produced by Excel Entertainment, the series chronicles the lives of Tara and Karan, two wedding planners in Delhi running an agency named Made in Heaven. The series is Amazon Video’s fourth original fictional Indian series and stars Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Kalki Koechlin and Shivani Raghuvanshi.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti created the show, and they wrote it with Alankrita Shrivastava. Akhtar, Shrivastava, Nitya Mehra, and Prashant Nair served as directors for the nine-episodes of the first season. Work on the second season was to begin in April 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming for the second season of the show was wrapped in April, 2022.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: "Made in Heaven" portrays today’s India as a blend of old and new, where tradition and modern aspirations are at loggerheads. The show and protagonists' narratives play out against the backdrop of lavish and expensive weddings.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: The official trailer of the web series was released on 15 February 2019. The web series released on 8 March 2019 on Prime Video.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: The show has received largely positive reviews with several critics and online reviews praising the series' dark take on the Big Fat Indian Wedding. Soumya Srivastava of Hindustan Times gave "Made In Heaven" four stars out of five, terming it the best desi original by Amazon Prime. Srivastava opines that Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s new show will keep you hooked.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: Sanjukta Sharma of "Scroll.in" praised the performances, writing, "...performances, especially by Mathur and Dhulipala, engagingly and steadfastly chart a convincing trajectory of early struggles, promise, dysfunction, despair and uplifting resignation. The show's costumes received major acclaim as well with fashion critic, Shivani Yadav doing a complete episode-by-episode analysis on her blog Critic Corner."


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: Ektaa Malik from "The Indian Express" stated the series works because all the characters, big and small, have their development curve etched well. The strong performances make each episode stand out.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: Critics have described it as a telling story about human nature and greater social dynamics in Delhi.


title: Made in Heaven (TV series)

text: The music is composed by Sagar Desai, Dub Sharma, Balkrishan Sharma and Sherry Mathews. Songs are rendered by Rituraj, Farad Bhiwandiwala and Viba Saraf. Qawwali ""Aye re sakhi more piya ghar aaye"" is rendered by Nizami Brothers and chorus ""Perfect Love"" by Aadya Jaswal, Avika Diwan and Mehak Sanghera. Lyrics for "Jiya Jaye" and "Musafir" have been written by Amanda Sodhi.


title: She Would Never Know

text: She Would Never Know () is a South Korean television series starring Won Jin-ah, Rowoon, Lee Hyun-wook, Lee Joo-bin, and Lee Kyu-han. Based on the 2017 web novel "Senior, Don't Put on That Lipstick" by Elise (Elize), it premiered on JTBC on January 18, 2021.


title: She Would Never Know

text: The series tells the story of people working on the marketing team of a cosmetics brand, with a focus on the senior/junior relationship of Yoon Song-ah (Won Jin ah) and Chae Hyun-seung (Rowoon). Substories include Chae Hyun-seung's sister, Chae Ji-Seung a dress maker, dating Lee Jae-Woon, a BM at the cosmetics company and his other sister, Chae Yeon-Seung, relationship with her closeted husband, Kang Woo-Hyun and their young daughter, Kang Ha-Eun.


title: She Would Never Know

text: The series is available for worldwide streaming exclusively on iQIYI at the same time as the episodes air on JTBC in South Korea, with subtitles in Chinese, English, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish and Arabic.


title: Susan Buffett

text: Susan Thompson Buffett (June 15, 1932 – July 29, 2004) was an American activist for the causes of civil rights, abortion rights and birth control, and the first wife of investor Warren Buffett. She was a director of Berkshire Hathaway, owning 2.2 percent of the company worth about $3 billion at the time of her death, making her the 153rd richest person in the world. She was president of the Buffett Foundation, which has contributed millions of dollars to educational groups, medical research, family planning groups and other charities.


title: Susan Buffett

text: Susan was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from Omaha Central High School. Her father, William Hertzog Thompson, was a minister, psychologist, dean at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and one-time campaign manager for Howard Buffett.


title: Susan Buffett

text: Though her parents and Warren's knew one another, they met at Northwestern University, via Susan's roommate Roberta Buffett, Warren's sister.


title: Susan Buffett

text: Susan and Warren married in 1952 at the Dundee Presbyterian Church in Omaha. They had three children together: Susan (born July 30, 1953), Howard (born December 16, 1954), and Peter (born May 4, 1958).


title: Susan Buffett

text: She occasionally performed hit classics from the early 1970's cabaret singer and, in 1977, had a one-night performance at an Omaha theater. Encouraged by songwriter/musician Neil Sedaka to pursue a singing career, she left her husband and moved to San Francisco. She started out living in a small apartment in Gramercy Tower on Nob Hill. Later she moved into a large condominium on Broadway near Scott Street in Pacific Heights with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. She remained married and on good terms with her husband, vacationing together with him and spending time assisting charitable groups. She performed in New York and released several CDs. According to Roger Lowenstein's 1995 Random House biography, "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist", while Warren had encouraged Susan to pursue her career in music, he was heartbroken by her move.


title: Susan Buffett

text: In 1978, Susan introduced her husband to Astrid Menks, who moved in with Warren in their Omaha home, and married him after Susan's death.


title: Susan Buffett

text: The Buffetts never divorced and even attended public functions as husband and wife though they hadn't lived together for more than half of their marriage. The Buffetts even signed Christmas cards Warren, Susan, and Astrid and were often seen together as a trio.


title: Susan Buffett

text: In October 2003, Susan was diagnosed with oral cancer; she underwent surgery, radiation therapy and facial reconstruction. Warren flew out from Omaha to be with her every weekend during her recovery and the couple would later contribute $6 million to five California doctors for the study of oral cancer. She had recovered enough to attend the annual shareholders' meeting of Berkshire Hathaway in May 2004, leading a singalong at the Borsheim's reception.


title: Susan Buffett

text: Susan died at the age of 72 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage during the summer of 2004 in Cody, Wyoming. Bono performed "Forever Young" and "All I Want Is You" at her funeral. Warren was so grief-stricken that he did not attend. She left approximately $50 million to her children's charity while each of her children received $10 million and each grandchild received $100,000. She also left a number of friends and employees substantial sums, including $8 million to John McCabe and $1 million to Ron Parks. Nearly all of her Berkshire Hathaway shares, valued at nearly $3 billion at the time, were left to a foundation that would later bear her name.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2007. It is the first game in the "Mass Effect" series, and takes place within the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2183, where civilization is threatened by a highly advanced machine race known as the Reapers. The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, an elite human soldier who must stop a rogue agent from carrying out the Reapers' galactic invasion. The game involves completing multiple quests that generally involve space exploration, squad and vehicular combat, and interaction with non-player characters.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Planned as the first chapter of a trilogy, "Mass Effect" was developed over the course of three and a half years, and uses the Unreal Engine 3 as a groundwork. It was designed so that the player would assume the role of a central character that could make important decisions and impact the story of the game in numerous ways. The combat was designed to offer the tactics and customization of a role-playing game, but through a simpler and real-time third-person shooter interface. In 2008 and 2009, two downloadable content packs that introduced new missions to the base game were released.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" received critical acclaim, and sold over one and a half million copies by January 2008. Critics praised the game's interactive storytelling and cinematic design, but chastised its unbalanced combat mechanics and poor artificial intelligence. The game received several year-end awards, including Best RPG at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards and Roleplaying Game of the Year at the 2008 Interactive Achievement Awards. "Mass Effect" was ported to Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 in 2008 and 2012, respectively. It was followed by the sequels "Mass Effect 2" in 2010 and "Mass Effect 3" in 2012. In 2021, "Mass Effect" was remastered as part of the "Mass Effect Legendary Edition".


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" is a single-player action role-playing game in which the player takes the role of Commander Shepard from a third-person perspective. Shepard's gender, appearance, military background, combat-training and first name are determined by the player before the game begins. There are six different character classes for the player to choose from and each of them have different talents that provide enhanced combat capabilities. For example, the Soldier class is trained in weapon damage and has improved health, while the Sentinel class is trained in protecting and healing allies. At one point in the game, players may evolve their base class talent into one of two specializations, which depend on the class chosen by the player. Although any class can use any weapon type, each class is only effective with the weapons they are trained in.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: The game's overworld is a galaxy map that the player can explore to find and complete quests. Most of the quests that progress the story consist of combat missions, while optional quests generally involve the player gathering items or interacting with non-player characters. As the player progresses throughout the game, six squad members become available, each with their own talents that can be developed. Experience points are gained in multiple ways, such as completing quests, defeating enemies, or finding and collecting items around the environment. Each time a sufficient amount of experience is obtained, the player "levels up" and is awarded a number of Talent Points that can be used to develop talents for both Shepard and the members of the squad. Each talent has 12 ranks that can be unlocked, with each rank costing one Talent Point.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: The player's primary mode of transportation is a starship which serves as Shepard's base of operations. Aboard the ship, the player can interact with the squad members, buy new equipment, and travel to numerous planetary systems. Although the game features a large number of planets for the player to examine, only a few of them can actually be landed on and explored. Some of them can also be surveyed to search for valuable resources and quest-relevant items. Upon landing on a planet, the player can traverse on foot or by using an all-terrain infantry fighting vehicle called the M35 Mako. Most of the game's main quests are geared toward on-foot combat, but some segments may feature combat requiring the use of the M35 Mako. In contrast, secondary quests usually require the player to explore free-roam uncharted worlds with the vehicle. Equipment items, which include armor, weapon, and ammunition upgrades, can be found around the environment or purchased from merchants in settlements.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Combat in "Mass Effect" is squad-based and two squad members accompany the player on the battlefield. The player has direct control of Shepard while the squad members are controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. Battles take place in real-time, but the player can pause the action at any time to calmly target enemies and select different talent abilities for the squad members to use. The game uses an over the shoulder perspective akin to a third-person shooter, and features a cover system which allows players to strategically hide behind objects while fighting enemy forces. The player may also issue orders to the squad members, such as sending them to take cover behind an object, scout ahead, regroup, or focus their fire on a designated target.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Weapons range from pistols to shotguns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. Although all of them have unlimited ammunition, they overheat if fired continuously for prolonged periods. In addition, the player can use grenades which latch onto targets or flat surfaces to be remotely detonated. Shepard and the squad members are protected by a health bar and damage-absorbing shields. The health bar only takes damage once the shields have been destroyed, but environmental hazards like heat or toxic agents may directly affect the health bar if they are not negated entirely by wearing appropriate armor. The health bar can be restored with the use of items called Medi-gels, while shields automatically regenerate when not taking fire for a brief period. Some talents and equipment items can improve the healing rate or shield regeneration. The player can revive fallen squad members with the use of the Unity talent. However, if Shepard dies, the player must start the game again from the last saved point.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: During conversations with characters, "Mass Effect" employs a radial command menu, called Dialogue Wheel, where the player's dialogue options depend on wheel direction. The left side of the wheel is normally reserved for options that will continue the conversation in depth, while options on the right side tend to move the conversation towards completion. Responses at the top are generally more polite and selfless, while those at the bottom are more aggressive and hostile. Dialogue choices impact how others react to Shepard and affect the player's chosen morality. Morality is measured by Paragon (charm) and Renegade (intimidate) points. These points allow the player to develop talents that affect the availability of new special Paragon and Renegade dialogue options with significant impact in the game.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" is set within the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2183 where interstellar travel is possible through the use of mass transit devices called Mass Relays, a technology believed to have been built by an extinct alien race known as the Protheans. The term "Mass Effect" is defined as a form of mass-negating technology, allowing the creation of physics phenomena, like artificial gravity or FTL travel. A conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council controls a large percentage of the galaxy and is responsible for maintaining law and order among races of the galactic community. Races that belong to the Citadel Council include humans, asari, salarians, and turians. Other alien races seen in the game include the reptilian krogan, the environmental suited quarians, and a hostile race of networked artificial intelligences called geth. Humanity is represented by the Systems Alliance, an organized body that joined the galactic community in 2157.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: The protagonist of the game is Commander Shepard (voiced by Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale), a graduate of the Systems Alliance special forces program and a candidate to become the first human member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance (Spectre) force, agents given broad authority by the Citadel Council to protect the galaxy. Shepard's squad members include human Systems Alliance marine Kaidan Alenko (Raphael Sbarge), human Systems Alliance soldier Ashley Williams (Kimberly Brooks), turian Citadel Security officer Garrus Vakarian (Brandon Keener), krogan mercenary Urdnot Wrex (Steven Barr), quarian mechanic Tali'Zorah (Ash Sroka), and asari exoarchaeologist Liara T'Soni (Ali Hillis). Other characters include SSV "Normandy captain David Anderson (Keith David) and "Normandy"s pilot Jeff "Joker" Moreau (Seth Green).


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Shepard and Kaidan are sent to the human colony of Eden Prime to recover an unearthed Prothean beacon. They repel an attack by the geth, rescuing Ashley in the process. Saren Arterius, a rogue turian Spectre, activates the beacon before escaping. Shepard reaches the beacon and receives a vision of war and death. The SSV "Normandy" and its crew are summoned by Ambassador Donnel Udina to the Citadel Station, but Shepard is unable to convince the Citadel Council of Saren's treason without solid evidence. Shepard rescues Tali, who possesses a recording of a conversation between Saren and asari Matriarch Benezia. The two discuss their victory while also mentioning an artifact called the "Conduit" and the return of the Reapers, a highly advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships believed to eradicate organic civilizations every 50,000 years. The Council revokes Saren's Spectre status and makes Shepard the first human Spectre. Shepard is given command of the "Normandy" by Anderson, and begins to follow leads provided by him and Udina in pursuit of Saren.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: On the planet Therum, Shepard rescues Benezia's daughter Liara T'Soni, who joins Shepard's squad; she provides Shepard with better understanding of the vision from the beacon. On the colony of Feros, Shepard acquires the ability to comprehend and interpret the images seen in the vision from a former subordinate of Benezia, and learns that Saren's flagship, Sovereign, possesses unique mind-control capabilities. On the world of Noveria, Shepard tracks down and defeats Benezia, who reveals that she and Saren are being indoctrinated by Sovereign. Meanwhile, the Council informs Shepard that a salarian infiltration unit has uncovered Saren's main base on Virmire. Upon arrival, Shepard learns that Saren has discovered a cure for the krogan genetic disease, the Genophage, and plans to breed an army of krogan warriors. Wrex confronts Shepard over whether to destroy it, which results in him either standing down or being executed. Shepard then assists the salarians in destroying the base by planting a bomb in it. Inside, Shepard is confronted by Sovereign, who reveals itself to be a Reaper.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Sovereign reveals that the Reapers remain outside the galaxy waiting for organic life to develop and discover the Mass Relays, before harvesting them when they reach their peak of advancement. Afterwards, Shepard must choose between saving Ashley or Kaidan, who have both been pinned down. Shepard also encounters Saren, who claims that his allegiance to Sovereign will save organic life forms by demonstrating their usefulness to the Reapers. On the "Normandy", Liara pinpoints the Conduit's location: a Prothean world known as Ilos. There, Shepard learns from a Prothean virtual intelligence (VI) named Vigil that the Citadel is actually an enormous Mass Relay that the Reapers use to invade the galaxy. During the last extinction cycle, a few Protheans survived on Ilos via cryopreservation and then re-entered the Citadel via the Conduit, a reverse-engineered miniature Mass Relay disguised aboard the station as a statue. The Protheans sabotaged the Citadel to prevent the Reapers from remotely activating it, which Saren plans to undo in order to trigger the Reaper invasion.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: After fighting through geth forces at the Conduit, Shepard confronts Saren at the Citadel. Saren is either killed by Shepard or commits suicide depending on Shepard's actions. The Destiny Ascension, the Citadel's flagship with the Council on board, then requests assistance; Shepard must either risk heavy human casualties to save them or sacrifice the Destiny Ascension to allow Alliance reinforcements to concentrate on Sovereign. Sovereign then reanimates Saren's corpse to attack Shepard, while fighting off Citadel forces. Eventually, Saren's corpse is destroyed, incapacitating Sovereign and allowing it to be dispatched by the Alliance. For prevailing, humanity is either invited to join the Council if it was saved, or becomes its new leader if it was left to perish. Regardless, Shepard can nominate either Anderson or Udina to this new leadership position before leaving the proceedings, vowing to end the Reaper threat.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" was developed by BioWare and directed by Casey Hudson, who previously directed BioWare's 2003 title "". Preproduction of the game began in early 2004, shortly after the Microsoft Windows version of "Knights of the Old Republic" was released. As the development team was already experienced with the Xbox console, they decided to develop the game originally for its successor, the Xbox 360, due to its improved processing power and development tools. A total of 130 people were involved in the development of the game and the first six to eight months were spent conceiving how the game would look. "Mass Effect" uses the Unreal Engine 3 as a groundwork, but on top of that the team developed additional components for advanced digital actors, space exploration, and squad combat, resulting in BioWare's largest programming project at the time. During the game's three- to four-year development cycle, most of the time had been devoted to the development of these technologies.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Because BioWare wanted to create a memorable story, "Mass Effect" was envisioned as the first chapter of a trilogy from the very beginning, and having a considerable technological basis would help shorten the development cycle of its future sequels. Instead of designing a role-playing game where the player would control a blank protagonist, the developers wanted players to assume the role of a central character that would have to make important decisions. According to Hudson, this approach would allow them to create a unique "level of intensity and cinematic power", while at the same time give the player the same role-playing customization as previous BioWare games. Choices and consequences were a high priority, as developers did not want players to follow a pre-determined path. Due to the game's numerous dialogue options, the dialogue wheel was created to help players identify which responses belong to certain emotions. The use of digital actors allowed developers to create conversations where characters would speak by using facial expressions and body movement.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Hudson explained that they wanted to evolve the pseudo-turn-based combat of "Knights of the Old Republic" into a real-time third-person shooter interface. The combat was meant to offer the tactics and customization of a role-playing game, but through a simpler and more intuitive user interface. It was also designed so that players would not need to press many buttons to pull off the squad's different attack combinations. The team worked closely with Microsoft on several elements of the interface to make sure the combat was tactical enough, and went through a lot of trial and error to balance the combat between role-playing game and shooter.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Creating a great sense of discovery was a major goal. Developers wanted the game to feature an actual galaxy that could be explored beyond the core story locations. A very large team manually built several parts of the galaxy, and they were able to expand the playable space significantly by using internally developed tools. Classic space exploration games such as "Starflight" and "Star Control" were cited as a major inspiration. These encouraged the team to create the M35 Mako for exploring the game's uncharted worlds and develop game mechanics to survey planets from space. "Star Control II" would also be an inspiration for their writing and character design.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Drew Karpyshyn, who previously served as a senior writer for "Knights of the Old Republic", was the lead writer for "Mass Effect". Despite the fact that each of the game's planets had one primary writer, all of the writers involved in the production had to review each other's work and offer criticism. This process of collaborative feedback and individual effort is common at BioWare, and it behooved Karpyshyn to make sure the style was consistent across all different areas. One of the biggest challenges the writers faced was the amount of volume they were required to write to support the game's multiple dialogue paths and story outcomes. It took them three years to get everything into the game, which featured about 400,000 words and more than 20,000 lines of spoken dialogue. According to Karpyshyn, this is roughly the equivalent of 20 movies or 4-5 full novels.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Films such as "Star Wars", "Alien", "", "Blade Runner", "Starship Troopers", and especially "", were major influences on the atmosphere and artistic qualities of the game. The team chose Jack Wall, who also penned the music for BioWare's 2005 title "Jade Empire", as the main composer of "Mass Effect" due to his ability to produce a wide range of musical styles. Hudson had a clear idea of what kind of music he wanted in the game, but gave Wall certain artistic freedom to express himself. According to Wall, the main vision was to "marry the electronic instrument palatte of the late 70's/early 80's with more organic elements." Wall had never written this style of music before, but composer Sam Hulick helped him develop the electronic sound on a classic orchestral foundation. By the end of the project, composers Richard Jacques and David Kates joined Wall and Hulick to finish the score on time. While a total of 110 minutes of music was written for the game, all in-game and cinematic music was crafted as multiple stems to maximize their use and variety. The game went gold on October 22, 2007.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" was officially announced at the X05 trade show in Amsterdam on October 4, 2005, as an Xbox 360 exclusive. In May 2006, a demo of the game was presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and subsequently won Best Role Playing Game at the Game Critics Awards. IGN editors awarded the game for Best Graphics Technology and Most Innovative Design at their Best of E3 2006 Awards. They also listed it as one of the most anticipated games of 2007. New features of the game were detailed at the X06 trade show in Barcelona in September 2006, while the first hour of gameplay was shown at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March 2007. "Mass Effect" was then presented at E3 in July 2007, where it received Game Critics Awards for Best Console Game and Best Role Playing Game, and at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany in August 2007. The game's release date was announced on August 30, 2007. If the game was pre-ordered at certain retailers in Australia, players could receive a complimentary bonus disc which included a five-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, tracks from the game's soundtrack, and a number of trailers.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" was released for the Xbox 360 on November 20, 2007, in North America. However, the street date was broken in Australia on November 16, 2007, by EB Games, which received copies of the game early and took it as a sign to begin distributing. The game was released in both Standard and Limited Collector's Edition format. The Limited Collector's Edition included a bonus disc of exclusive "Mass Effect" background material, a soundtrack, and design galleries featuring more than 600 pieces of artwork with full audio commentaries. A soundtrack album titled "Mass Effect Original Soundtrack", which features 37 tracks of the game and covers a duration of 1:15:59, was released in conjunction with the game. The album includes the song "M4 (Part II)" by Canadian electronic rock band Faunts, which is featured in the game during the end credits.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: A Microsoft Windows version ported by Demiurge Studios was released on May 28, 2008. This version features optimized controls designed specifically for personal computers, high-resolution graphics, a new user interface, and other minor changes. BioWare initially intended to use SecuROM, a digital rights management software which would require online activation after installation and additional authentication checks every ten days. However, the company ultimately decided not to use it after listening to criticism from fans. In 2012, "Mass Effect" was ported to Sony's PlayStation 3 console by Edge of Reality, featuring lighting and visual effects improvements. It was released digitally on the PlayStation Network and as part of the "Mass Effect Trilogy" compilation. In 2015, "Mass Effect" was added to the list of backward compatible Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. In 2021, "Mass Effect" was remastered as part of the "Mass Effect Legendary Edition".


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" features two downloadable content packs. The first pack, "Bring Down the Sky", was released as a paid download for the Xbox 360 on March 10, 2008, and as a free download for Microsoft Windows on May 28, 2008. The pack is included in the PlayStation 3 version of the game, which was released on December 4, 2012. "Bring Down the Sky" introduces a new mission where the player must explore an asteroid using the Mako and prevent it from striking an Earth-like planet. It also includes a new alien race and additional side-quest content. According to BioWare, the adventure takes 90 minutes to complete. Ryan Geddes of IGN highlighted the pack's included extras and "stunning" visuals, while Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer criticized its lack of narrative weight and reuse of outpost maps that are also available in the base game. "Bring Down the Sky" was remastered as part of "Mass Effect Legendary Edition".


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: The second pack, "", was developed by Demiurge Studios. It was released as a paid download for the Xbox 360 and as a free download for Microsoft Windows on August 25, 2009. The pack introduces a training facility where the player can compete in eight virtual reality combat scenarios, divided into four different game types like Deathmatch and Capture the flag. After beating the combat scenarios, the player needs to complete four more to unlock a special survival mode, which is the same as the previous survival challenges but requires players to last five minutes. "Pinnacle Station" was not included in the "Mass Effect Legendary Edition" of the game due to a loss of its source code.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Upon release, "Mass Effect" received critical acclaim from video game publications. The game's interactive storytelling and cinematic design were highlighted very positively, while the combat and vehicle navigation were generally seen as the game's weakest features. Kevin VanOrd of "GameSpot" described "Mass Effect" as "a great game with moments of brilliance and a number of small but significant obstacles that hold it back from reaching its true potential." Similarly, IGN's Erik Brudvig considered it greater than the sum of its parts, stating that although "Mass Effect" features numerous technical issues, most of the game "is so expertly delivered that it can transcend its weaknesses."


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Writing for "Game Informer", Andrew Reiner said that the game's interactive storytelling encourages replay and that its detailed story "makes the relationships feel real—you care about your crew, and you really feel like you have a voice that resonates throughout the galaxy." Alex Dale of "CVG" stated similar pros, stating that "never before has storytelling been so competently ingrained into a videogame, and never before has a player had so much freedom to dictate the course of a linear storyline." Similar praise was given to the game's detailed character models, facial animations, and voice acting. Jennifer Tsao of 1UP.com felt the digital actors evoked real-life expressions, but admitted that the lip sync had some issues. Although the visuals were credited for their dramatic set pieces and evocative soundtrack, critics noted the game's inconsistent frame rate and long loading times.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Cameron Lewis of "GamePro" praised the game's story, depth, and presentation, while Paul Curthoys of "Official Xbox Magazine" remarked that the game "bothers with emotions and moments that most games don't concern themselves with", describing it as "a great science-fiction novel in video game form." In contrast, "Edge" concluded that the space opera setting failed to provide "the myth and exotica to adequately follow "Star Wars"". The publication also criticized the cast of characters and overall tone, saying that "Mass Effect" "strives so hard to be taken seriously that it winds up feeling relentlessly dour." Kristan Reed of Eurogamer noted the game's slow start and overwhelming setting, observing that it would confuse players before they know what the main game is about.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: The combat was generally criticized for its unbalanced mechanics and poor artificial intelligence of the squad members. "Edge" commented that the game's role-playing elements did not blend well with its action, while IGN criticized the squad mechanics for not having enough weight, stating that the squad members "are quite often no more useful than cannon fodder to draw the enemy away from you." The inventory management was also a subject of criticism, with 1UP.com describing it as painful and tedious. The galaxy exploration was favorably compared to the 1986 adventure game "Starflight" and the number of optional missions was highlighted positively, but the Mako sections were disparaged for their rocky planetary design and clumsy combat mechanics. The Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 versions of the game received similar criticism to the Xbox 360 version.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: In the United States, "Mass Effect" debuted at #6 on The NPD Group's video game sales chart for November 2007, with sales of 473,000 copies. The simExchange had previously forecast 328,000 sales for the period. By the following month, the game was absent from NPD's top 10. "Mass Effect" proceeded to sell over one million units worldwide within fewer than three weeks on shelves, according to Microsoft vice president Jeff Bell. Sales rose to 1.6 million copies after six weeks of availability, and VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi noted in March 2008 that the game was "expected to cross 2 million in sales, generating an estimated $120 million". In November 2008, the game's Xbox 360 version received a "Gold" certification from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, indicating lifetime sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In April 2011, it was reported that both "Mass Effect" and its sequel have combined sold more than seven million units worldwide.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" received several year-end awards, including Best RPG at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards, Roleplaying Game of the Year at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and Best RPG at the IGN Best of 2007 Awards. In addition, "The New York Times" selected "Mass Effect" as its Game of the Year. In 2008, IGN editors ranked the game number 1 on their list of Top 25 Xbox 360 games.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: "Mass Effect" has an optional subplot where the player can develop a romantic relationship with a non-player character. If the relationship becomes more intimate, a cutscene containing partial nudity and sexual activity is shown. The scene first came under scrutiny in an article by neoconservative blogger Kevin McCullough, who employed statements such as ""Mass Effect" can be customized to sodomise whatever, whomever, however, the game player wishes", and "with its over the net capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away." The article was criticized by the gaming community and long-time anti-obscenity campaigner Jack Thompson, who said that "this contrived controversy is absolutely ridiculous." Although McCullough ultimately issued an apology, he still considered the material offensive.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Similarly, a Fox News program by Martha MacCallum discussed the sexual content of the game. MacCallum stated that the game "leaves nothing to the imagination" and features the ability for players to "engage in full graphic sex." Self-proclaimed psychology specialist Cooper Lawrence and video game journalist Geoff Keighley were also interviewed. Lawrence described sexual content in video games as teaching their active users to consider women as objects of desire valued solely for their sexuality. She added that the game's player character is a man who decides how many women he wants to be with. Keighley focused on challenging the accuracy of her statements and asked her if she actually played the game, to which she responded "No". BioWare's parent company Electronic Arts requested a correction from Fox News, but they simply responded that the company had been offered a chance to appear on the channel.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: After watching someone play the game for about two-and-a-half hours, Lawrence eventually retracted her earlier statements. She added that she had been told the game was similar to pornography, and noted that she "has seen episodes of "Lost" that are more sexually explicit." In the interim, largely as a reaction from an offended gaming community, her latest book attracted many customer reviews on Amazon which rated it one star out of five. Many of these reviews satirically noted that they had not read her book, but heard from someone else that the book was bad, and thus voted low. "Mass Effect" was also banned in Singapore for a short time before it was lifted with an M18 rating. Censors in the country said that a scene with an alien and human female caressing was the main reason why the game was not allowed to be sold in video game stores.


title: Mass Effect (video game)

text: Since "Mass Effect" was planned as the first chapter of a trilogy, development of a sequel began shortly before the game was released. The sequel, entitled "Mass Effect 2", was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010, and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011. With the import of a completed saved game of the original "Mass Effect", the player can impact the story of "Mass Effect 2" in numerous ways. The sequel was a critical success and received multiple year-end awards, including Game of the Year at the 2011 D.I.C.E. Awards and Best Game at the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.


title: Amber Room

text: The Amber Room (, , ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg.


title: Amber Room

text: Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and eventually disappeared during World War II. Before its loss, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World". A reconstruction was made, starting in 1979 and completed and installed in the Catherine Palace in 2003.


title: Amber Room

text: The Amber Room was intended in 1701 for the Charlottenburg Palace, in Berlin, Prussia, but was eventually installed at the Berlin City Palace. It was designed by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram. Schlüter and Wolfram worked on the room until 1707, when work was continued by amber masters Gottfried Turau and Ernst Schacht from Danzig (Gdańsk).


title: Amber Room

text: It remained in Berlin until 1716, when it was given by the Prussian King Frederick William I to his ally Tsar Peter the Great of the Russian Empire. In Russia, the room was installed in the Catherine Palace. After expansion and several renovations, it covered more than and contained over of amber.


title: Amber Room

text: The Amber Room was looted during World War II by the Army Group North of Nazi Germany, and taken to Königsberg for reconstruction and display. Some time in early 1944, with Allied forces closing in on Germany, the room was disassembled and crated for storage in the Castle basement. Königsberg was destroyed by allied bombers in August 1944 and documentation of the room location ends there. Its eventual fate and current whereabouts, if it survives, remain a mystery. In 1979 the decision was taken to create a reconstructed Amber Room at the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. After decades of work by Russian craftsmen and donations from Germany, it was completed and inaugurated in 2003.


title: Amber Room

text: The Amber Room is a priceless piece of art, with extraordinary architectural features such as gilding, carvings, 450 kg (990 lb) of amber panels, gold leaf, gemstones, and mirrors, all highlighted with candle light. Additional architectural and design features include statues of angels and children.


title: Amber Room

text: Because of its unique features and singular beauty, the original Amber Room was sometimes dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Modern estimates of the room's value range from $142 million (2007) to over $500 million (2016).


title: Amber Room

text: The Amber Room was begun in 1701 with the purpose of being installed at Charlottenburg Palace, the residence of Frederick, the first King in Prussia, at the urging of his second wife, Sophia Charlotte. The concept and design of the room was drafted by Andreas Schlüter. It was fabricated by Gottfried Wolfram, master craftsman to the Danish court of King Frederick IV of Denmark, with help from the amber masters Ernst Schacht and Gottfried Turau from Danzig, now Gdańsk in Poland.


title: Amber Room

text: Although originally intended for installation at Charlottenburg Palace, the complete panels were eventually installed at Berlin City Palace. The Amber Room did not, however, remain at Berlin City Palace for long. Peter the Great of Russia admired it during a visit and in 1716, King Frederick I's son Frederick William I presented the room to Peter as a gift, which forged a Russo-Prussian alliance against Sweden.


title: Amber Room

text: The original Berlin design of the Amber Room was reworked in Russia in a joint effort by German and Russian craftsmen. It was Peter's daughter Empress Elizabeth who decided the amber treasure should be installed at Catherine Palace, where the Russian Imperial family typically spent their summers. After several other 18th-century renovations, the room covered more than and contained over of amber. The room took over ten years to construct.


title: Amber Room

text: Shortly after the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, the curators responsible for removing the art treasures in Leningrad tried to disassemble and remove the Amber Room. However, over the years the amber had dried out and become brittle, making it impossible to move the room without the amber crumbling. The Amber Room was therefore hidden behind mundane wallpaper, in an attempt to keep German forces from seizing it, but the attempt to hide such a well-known piece of art failed.


title: Amber Room

text: German soldiers of Army Group North disassembled the Amber Room within 36 hours under the supervision of two experts. On 14 October 1941, the priceless room reached Königsberg in East Prussia, for storage and display in the town's castle. On 13 November 1941, a Königsberg newspaper announced an exhibition of the Amber Room at Königsberg Castle.


title: Amber Room

text: Orders given by Hitler on 21 and 24 January 1945 ordered the movement of looted possessions from Königsberg. This allowed Albert Speer, Reichsminister of Armaments, and his administration team to transport cultural goods of priority. However, before the Amber Room could be moved, Erich Koch, who was in charge of civil administration in Königsberg during the final months of the war, abandoned his post and fled from the city, leaving General Otto Lasch in command.


title: Amber Room

text: In August 1944, Königsberg was heavily fire-bombed by the Royal Air Force. It suffered further extensive damage from artillery from the advancing Red Army before the final occupation on 9 April 1945.


title: Amber Room

text: After the war, the Amber Room was never seen in public again, though reports have occasionally surfaced stating that pieces of the Amber Room survived the war. Several eyewitnesses claimed to have spotted the famous room being loaded on board the "Wilhelm Gustloff", which left Gdynia on 30 January 1945, and was then promptly torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine.


title: Amber Room

text: In 1997, an Italian stone mosaic "Feel and Touch" that was part of a set of four stones which had decorated the Amber Room was found in Germany, in the possession of the family of a soldier who claimed to have helped pack up the amber chamber. The mosaic came into the hands of the Russian authorities and was used in the reconstruction.


title: Amber Room

text: In 1998, two separate teams, one German and one Lithuanian, announced they had located the Amber Room. The German team pointed to a silver mine while the Lithuanian team believed the amber treasure was buried in a lagoon; neither of the two locations turned out to hold the Amber Room.


title: Amber Room

text: In 2004, a lengthy investigation by British investigative journalists Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy concluded that the Amber Room was most likely destroyed when Königsberg Castle was damaged, first during the bombing of Königsberg by the Royal Air Force in 1944 and then by the Soviets' burning of the castle followed by shelling of the remaining walls. Official assessments, set out in documents from the Russian National Archives written by Alexander Brusov, head of the Soviet team charged with locating the Amber Room following the war, agreed with this theory. The official report stated: "Summarizing all the facts, we can say that the Amber Room was destroyed between 9 and 11 April 1945."


title: Amber Room

text: These dates correspond with the end of the Battle of Königsberg, which finished on 9 April with the surrender of the German garrison. A few years later, Brusov publicly voiced a contrary opinion; this is believed to have been done due to pressure from Soviet authorities, who did not want to be seen as responsible for the loss of the Amber Room.


title: Amber Room

text: Among other information retrieved from the archives was the revelation that the remaining Italian stone mosaics were found in the burned debris of the castle. Scott-Clark and Levy concluded in their report that the reason the Soviets conducted extensive searches for the Amber Room, even though their own experts had concluded that it was destroyed, was because they wanted to know if any of their own soldiers had been responsible for the destruction. Scott-Clark and Levy also assessed that others in the Soviet government found the theft of the Amber Room a useful Cold War propaganda tool. Russian government officials have since denied these conclusions. Adelaida Yolkina, senior researcher at the Pavlovsk Palace, reportedly stated: "It is impossible to see the Red Army being so careless that they let the Amber Room be destroyed".


title: Amber Room

text: After the report was made public, Leonid Arinshtein, who was a lieutenant in the Red Army in charge of a rifle platoon during the Battle of Königsberg, said: "I probably was one of the last people who saw the Amber Room". At the same time, he explained that the whole city was burning due to artillery bombardments, but also denied allegations that the Red Army burned the city on purpose, saying: "What soldiers would burn the city where they will have to stay?"


title: Amber Room

text: A variation of this theory by some present-day residents of Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg), is that at least parts of the room were found in the Königsberg Castle cellars after World War II by the Red Army. The Amber Room was allegedly still in good condition; this was not admitted at the time so the blame could fall upon the Nazis. To preserve this story, access to the ruins of the castle, which was allowed after World War II, was suddenly restricted to all, including historical and archaeological surveys, but the room is said to be in a storehouse near Königsberg Castle.


title: Amber Room

text: Then in 1968, despite academic protests worldwide, Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev ordered the destruction of Königsberg Castle, thus making any onsite research of the last known resting place of the Amber Room all but impossible. Later the search for the Amber Room continued in different locations, including near Wuppertal, Germany.


title: Amber Room

text: Another hypothesis involves a bunker in Mamerki in northeastern Poland, or that Stalin ordered the Amber Room replaced with a replica prior to its looting, hiding the original. The main problem with finding the Amber Room is that the Nazi regime hid many items in many difficult-to-reach places, usually without documentation, leaving a wide search area. The Germans also moved items to destinations far from Europe in some cases. The search for the Amber Room has also been halted by authorities. In the case of Frýdlant castle it was halted because of the historic value of the castle.


title: Amber Room

text: In October 2020 Polish divers from the Baltictech group found the wreck of the SS "Karlsruhe", a ship which took part in Operation Hannibal, a sea evacuation which allowed more than a million German troops and civilians from East Prussia to escape advancing Soviet forces. The ship was attacked off the coast of Poland by Soviet aircraft after it sailed from Königsberg in 1945. The wreck holds many crates with unknown contents. An online news website, Live Science, reports that this German steamship may hold crates that contain parts of the Amber Room.


title: Amber Room

text: In 1979, the Soviet government decided to construct a replica of the Amber Room at Tsarskoye Selo, a process that was to take 24 years and require 40 Russian and German experts in amber craftsmanship. Using original drawings and old black-and-white photographs, every attempt was made to duplicate the original Amber Room. This included the 350 shades of amber in the original panels and fixtures that adorned the room. A major problem was the lack of skilled workers, since amber carving was a nearly lost art form.


title: Amber Room

text: The financial difficulties that plagued the reconstruction project from the start were solved with the donation of US$3.5 million from the German company E.ON. By 2003, the work of the Russian craftsmen was mostly completed. The new room was dedicated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at the 300th anniversary of the city of Saint Petersburg.


title: Amber Room

text: In Kleinmachnow, near Berlin, there is a miniature Amber Room, fabricated after the original. The Berlin miniature collector Ulla Klingbeil had this copy made of original East Prussian amber.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Methuselah is a -year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine ("Pinus longaeva") tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world. The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who ostensibly lived to 969 years of age, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Methuselah is located between above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest within the Inyo National Forest. The United States Forest Service does not disclose its exact location.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Methuselah was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan, with an estimated germination date of 2833 BC. Since this tree ages back to this date, using tree rings, research shows precipitation patterns that date back to 1983 BC.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Dendrochronologist Matthew Salzer of the University of Arizona has been unable to reproduce Schulman's age estimate, due to a missing core. Salzer's estimate is approximately years old.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Another bristlecone specimen, WPN-114, nicknamed "Prometheus", was more than 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964, with an estimated germination date of 2880 BC. A dendrochronology, based on these trees and other bristlecone pine samples, extends back to about 9000 BC, albeit with a single gap of about 500 years.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: An older bristlecone pine was reportedly discovered by Tom Harlan in 2009, based on a sample core collected in 1957. According to Harlan, the tree was 5,062 years old and still living in 2010. Neither the tree nor the sample core could be located after Harlan's death in 2013.


title: Methuselah (tree)

text: Other, longer-lived organisms are clonal colonies, such as a quaking aspen ("Populus tremuloides") colony named "Pando" in the Fish Lake National Forest in south-central Utah that has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although precise estimates of clonal organisms such as this aspen colony are impossible with current technologies, and other scientific attempts to age Pando have estimated it may be much younger; the 11,700-year-old creosote bush ("Larrea tridentata") colony, named "King Clone", in the Mojave Desert near the Lucerne Valley in California; and the 9,500-year-old Norway spruce ("Picea abies") colony named "Old Tjikko" in Sweden. Methuselah, however, is the oldest known non-clonal organism for which a reliable age has been established, although the Llangernyw Yew in Wales (4,000 – 5,000 years old) and especially the Fortingall Yew in Scotland (3,000 – 9,000 years old) have some age estimates exceeding that of Methuselah.


title: Cody Fern

text: Cody Fern (born 6 July 1988) is an Australian actor and director. Following his feature debut in "The Tribes of Palos Verdes" (2017), he portrayed murder victim David Madson in the FX series "" (2018). Later that year, Fern played in "". He appeared in the final season of the Netflix drama "House of Cards" as Duncan Shepherd. In 2019, he returned to "American Horror Story" for its ninth season "", playing Xavier Plympton. In 2021, he guest-starred in the tenth season, subtitled "", and has appeared in two episodes of the spin-off series "American Horror Stories".


title: Cody Fern

text: Fern was born on 6 July 1988 in Southern Cross in rural Western Australia. He attended boarding school at Merredin Senior High School, and graduated from Curtin University of Technology with an Honours Degree in Commerce in 2009.


title: Cody Fern

text: Fern had initially considered a career in finance before pursuing acting. According to an interview with "Anthem Magazine", he hated his life while working in finance. He said, "This is not what I want my life to be. But I'm here and I'm doing it and I'm trying to fit in." It was the Cate Blanchett-starring film duology "Elizabeth" and "" that made him want to become an actor.


title: Cody Fern

text: Fern has trained with acting coaches, including Ellen Burstyn, Larry Moss, and Susan Batson. Fern played the lead role of Albert in the National Theatre of Great Britain's production "War Horse", which received critical acclaim.


title: Cody Fern

text: In 2011, Fern played Romeo in Shakespeare WA's production of "Romeo and Juliet", Lindsay in the Black Swan Theatre Company's "Jandamarra", and the Earl of Southampton in the world premiere production of "The Enchanters" at the State Theatre of Western Australia. He has appeared in a number of short films, including the Western Australian Screen Award-winning film "Still Take You Home" (2010) and "The Last Time I Saw Richard" (2014).


title: Cody Fern

text: In 2014, Fern was the recipient of the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship by Australians in Film, an award aimed at financially and professionally supporting actors of Australian descent. This includes, besides a cash fund, a two-year scholarship at Los Angeles' Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre and mentorship from the father of actor Heath Ledger.


title: Cody Fern

text: He appeared as Jim Mason in "The Tribes of Palos Verdes" and wrote, directed and starred in the short film "Pisces" opposite Keir Gilchrist in 2017. In a "Los Angeles Times" sit-down interview, Fern had planned to take an 18-month hiatus from acting to focus on "Pisces" when "Versace" came along.


title: Cody Fern

text: In 2018, Fern made his television debut in the acclaimed FX true crime anthology series "" as David Madson which earned him the Gold Derby TV Award for Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor and a nomination for Breakthrough Performer of the Year. He was announced to star in the series regular role of Duncan Shepherd on the final season of "House of Cards". The same year, Fern portrayed the Antichrist in the of FX horror anthology series "American Horror Story", titled "Apocalypse". In 2019, Fern played Xavier Plympton in the ninth season of the show, "".


title: Cody Fern

text: In 2021, Fern portrayed Stan Vogel in "American Horror Stories" episode "Feral," and Valiant Thor in "American Horror Story", "Double Feature: Death Valley". In 2022, he portrayed Thomas Browne in "American Horror Stories" episode "Milkmaids". In 2022 Fern played a priest named Jacob in the film Father Stu.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: Gabrielle Jeannette Hanna (born February 7, 1991) is an American Internet personality and singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence on the video platforms Vine and YouTube before releasing her debut single, "Out Loud", in 2017. Her debut extended play, "2WayMirror", was released on May 31, 2019, and her second EP, "Bad Karma", was released on May 15, 2020. Her debut album, "Trauma Queen", was released on July 22, 2022.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: Hanna has also published two poetry books, "Adultolescence" (2017) and "Dandelion" (2020), both of which are New York Times Best Sellers.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: Hanna was born on February 7, 1991, in New Castle, Pennsylvania. She has six siblings and is of Lebanese, French, and Polish descent. In 2013, Hanna graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in psychology and communications. While at Pitt she was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. After college, she worked for a marketing company that sold products out of a Sam's Club; she became the top salesperson in the US for the company and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to help start a new branch of the company. However, she departed after realizing that they relied on a pyramid scheme.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: Hanna began uploading skits to Vine in late 2013 and later gained recognition for her activity on the Vine app, where she accumulated around five million followers. In 2014, she set up a YouTube channel under the name "The Gabbie Show", which was changed to "Gabbie Hanna" in 2019, but later changed back to "The Gabbie Show" in 2021.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: In 2015, Hanna and partner Matt Steffanina won the fourth season of the dance competition web-series "Dance Showdown". After college, Hanna moved to Los Angeles, California, to work with internet media company BuzzFeed, but eventually left to focus on her YouTube and Vine platforms. In December 2015, a video accusing Gabbie Hanna of stealing jokes went viral on Reddit. In Hanna's response to these claims, she states she "never have and never will consider [herself] a comedian".


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: After Vine shut down in 2016, Hanna focused on YouTube. Meanwhile, she was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards — Choice Web Star: Female and Choice Viner. In late 2016, Hanna joined the lip sync tour "Drop the Mic" alongside other YouTubers.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: In 2017, Hanna released a book of poetry, "Adultolescence" (2017). Around the same time, she premiered her debut single "Out Loud" along with its music video and announced plans to release an album. A few months later, Creative Artists Agency signed Hanna and she joined MTV's social media team. In June 2017, Hanna joined the main cast of web series "Escape the Night" as the vaudevillian and appeared in seven episodes. She co-hosted the revival of "Total Request Live" in October 2017. In November 2017, she released a non-album single "Satellite" with an accompanying lyrics video. However, the song has since been removed from all platforms.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: In January 2018, Hanna was nominated for YouTuber of the Year at the 10th Shorty Awards and for the Social Star Award at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Hanna released her third single "Honestly" and its encore "Honestly (Encore)" in August 2018. At the eighth Annual Streamy Awards, Hanna won an award for Storyteller and was nominated for First Person and Audience Choice: Creator of the Year. On a 2018 interview on Genius' "Verified", she sang her song "Monster" a cappella but due to technical errors, the microphone was unable to record her voice properly. Fans spliced in clips, including vines and voice distortions, at the point of technical error to create a meme. Hanna has since released merchandise showcasing her singing face during the meme.


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: On February 2, 2019, Hanna released "Medicate", the first single from her debut extended play titled "2WayMirror". On May 31, 2019, "2WayMirror" was released. For a period of time after the songs' release, Hanna peaked at number 5 on "Billboard's" Top Emerging Artists chart. Hanna reprised her role in the fourth season of "Escape the Night" and portrayed a Hollywood Star. She was nominated for Choice Comedy Web Star at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards. Hanna headlined at the inaugural Patreon Assembly on November 2, 2019. On November 16, 2019, Hanna released the music video for her song "Broken Girls".


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: The first single from Hanna's second EP, "Bad Karma", "Dandelion", was released on April 17, 2020, and the second single, "Glass House", was released on May 1, 2020. The EP was released on May 15, 2020. On October 13, 2020, Hanna released a new book of poetry, "Dandelion" (2020), named after the lead single of "Bad Karma".


title: Gabbie Hanna

text: After many public controversies, Hanna took an extended break from social media on a few different occasions. To celebrate New Years 2022, Hanna returned to social media and dropped "Rewired", a single from her upcoming album. She later announced that she had entirely deserted "This Time Next Year" and her new upcoming debut album would be released on July 22, 2022 and was called "Trauma Queen", putting the album up for pre-order, as well as restarting and rebranding her podcast. Hanna hosted her first live performance since November 2019 on February 22, 2022. In late August 2022, Hanna sparked global conversation around mental health challenges by publishing hundreds of controversial social media posts in only a few days.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: Eddie Kaye Thomas (born October 31, 1980) is an American actor who rose to prominence as Paul Finch in the "American Pie" film series. His other notable appearances include Andy Rosenberg in the "Harold & Kumar" series, Jeff Woodcock in "'Til Death", genius behaviorist Dr. Tobias "Toby" M. Curtis in CBS show "Scorpion", and as series regular Mike Platt in American sitcom "Off Centre" on The WB.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: Thomas was born on Staten Island, New York, to a Jewish family. He grew up opposite a train station in the neighborhood of New Dorp. He adopted the name Eddie Kaye Thomas as a stage name for his acting career; his legal name is not publicly known.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: Thomas began his acting career as a stage actor at age seven, appearing in "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun" in 1992 and "The Diary of Anne Frank", opposite Natalie Portman in 1997. He graduated from New York's Professional Children's High School already a veteran of the Broadway stage.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: Thomas made his onscreen debut in an episode of the ABC Soap Opera "One Life to Live", and later starred in an episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" about a possessed camera that destroys everything it shoots, entitled "The Tale of the Curious Camera". He also appeared on "Law & Order" twice in 1996, playing different characters each time. On the Thanksgiving 1998 edition of "Late Night with Conan O’Brien" Thomas played Ricky, Conan and Andy’s son home from college for the holidays.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: His screen work includes the independent movie called "Illtown", "", and James Toback's controversial motion picture "Black and White" in which Thomas co-starred with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jared Leto. Thomas also played the title role in Canadian shock-comic Tom Green's "Freddy Got Fingered", and the stereotypical Jewish character Rosenberg in "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (2004) and "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" (2008) opposite David Krumholtz.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: From 2001–2002, Thomas starred in the television series "Off Centre" with John Cho. He returned to the small screen in the sitcom "'Til Death" for the first two seasons (2006 and 2007). His character was removed from the show for budget reasons but still appeared in season 3. Due to the writers' strike a few season 2 episodes were shown starting Wednesday, October 8, 2008. He has also appeared in the "" episode "No More Bets".


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: Thomas appeared in commercials for Blockbuster Video, Snickers and Nike. He also appeared in 311's music video for "Flowing".


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: He has continued to do stage work, appearing off Broadway in 2006 and has voiced Barry Robinson on "American Dad!" since 2005.


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: From 2010-11, he appeared as David Kaplan in HBO comedy-drama television series "How to Make It in America".


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: In 2014, he appeared as Mark in DirecTV’s First Original Comedy "Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight".


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: In the same year, Thomas was a member of the principal cast of the TV series "Scorpion" on CBS as Harvard trained psychiatrist and genius behaviourist, Dr. Tobias M Curtis. The series was cancelled after completing four seasons (93 episodes) in May 2018. In 2018, he joined the cast of thriller film "Shattered Memories", also known by the name "Last Night".


title: Eddie Kaye Thomas

text: In 2020, he reunited with his "American Pie" costars Alyson Hannigan and Jason Biggs in the Fox sitcom "Outmatched".


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the sport, and as one of the most talented sportsmen in human history.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Standing 6 foot 5 inches and weighing 119 kilograms, Lomu was famed for his unprecedented speed, strength and agility. Exceptionally large for a wing player, he is also known as the first winger to be a physical heavyweight. For his fast and effortless style of play, Lomu was once nicknamed the "freight train in ballet shoes", and was celebrated for his ability to shrug off tackles from multiple opponents at once. He became the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days. Playing on the wing, Lomu finished his international career with 63 caps and 37 tries. Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007, and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Born in Pukekohe to Tongan immigrants from Ha'apai, Lomu grew up between rural Tonga and Māngere, Auckland. His childhood in Auckland was marked by local gang violence, and his mother nurtured his interest in sport. Attending Wesley College, he excelled in athletics and both rugby codes before pursuing a professional career. He burst onto the international rugby scene during the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, the same year he made his fifteen-a-side debut. He was acknowledged as the top player at the 1995 World Cup for his acclaimed 4-try performance in the semi-final against England, even though New Zealand lost the final to the host South Africa. In the semi-final he famously bulldozed several players and ran straight over the top of full-back Mike Catt, establishing him as one of the most talented young players of his generation. He shares with South African Bryan Habana the Rugby World Cup all-time try scoring record of 15, which he accumulated in only two tournaments.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: At the height of his fame in the mid-1990s, Lomu became a globally recognised cultural icon of South Auckland and its Pasifika community. His performance at that Rugby World Cup and others that followed established him as "rugby union's biggest drawcard", just as the game turned fully professional, with him swelling attendances at any match where he appeared. Lomu's innovative position as a physically large winger was highly influential; for his impact on the gameplay of rugby union itself, he has been compared with Muhammad Ali, Don Bradman and Tiger Woods in their respective fields. He was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby, in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours. Lomu was known for his humility, gentle nature, and passion. He used his celebrity to support Pasifika community efforts and charities such as UNICEF, and often paid bills for his childhood friends in Māngere.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: In 1995 he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a serious genetic kidney disorder, and the disease had a significant impact on his playing career and wider life. By 2003 he was on dialysis, and in 2004 underwent a kidney transplant that saved his life. He turned his energy to being a Kidney Kids NZ ambassador, encouraging children with similar afflictions to seek treatment. After a period of hiatus, he returned to play domestically rather than internationally. Lomu played for several domestic New Zealand provincial or Super Rugby sides, and late in his career played club rugby in both Wales and France. These included the Auckland Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes, and Counties Manukau, Wellington, and later North Harbour and the Cardiff Blues. His illness forced his retirement from professional rugby in 2007 at the age of 32.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: After returning from abroad, Lomu died unexpectedly on 18 November 2015 at home in Auckland. The cause was a heart attack associated with his kidney condition. His passing saw widespread tributes to him and his family, from Queen Elizabeth II to a haka performed by the pupils of his boyhood primary school. The New Zealand Parliament passed a national motion in honour of his life.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Lomu was born in Pukekohe, Auckland on 12 May 1975 to Tongan parents, who had emigrated from Holopeka, a village on Lifuka in the Ha’apai Islands. Lomu was a Tongan speaker; he spent some of his early childhood in Holopeka with his aunt Longo and uncle Mosese, where he spoke the language to fluency. He then moved back to Auckland suburb of Mangere to be educated, where he spent the rest of his childhood with his parents and siblings. There, he was exposed to nearby gang violence, and lost an uncle and a cousin to attacks. This led his mother to send him to Wesley College in Auckland. At high school, Lomu excelled in athletics, in particular, the 100 metres, shot put, javelin, high jump, hurdles and relay. In his final year, he ran the 100 mts in 11.2 seconds. By 1993, during his last year at Wesley, he started playing rugby more seriously, while still combining it with athletics.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: New Zealand sevens star Eric Rush played a touch game with Lomu when he was 14 years old and was so impressed he invited him to a sevens tournament in Singapore the next day. As a youngster however, Lomu first played rugby league. His introduction to rugby union came through a tournament in Te Kuiti where he stayed with Glyn Meads, son of famous All Black Colin Meads.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Lomu started his rugby union career in the forwards, mostly as an openside flanker (no.7), sometimes to the blindside (no.6), before switching to the left wing in what he described as the "best move he could have made". He represented New Zealand in the national under-19 side in 1993, as well as the under-21 side the following year. He first came to international attention at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament as part of a team including Rush.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: At the age of 19 years and 45 days, Lomu became the youngest All Black test player as he debuted on the wing against France in 1994, breaking a record that had been held by Edgar Wrigley since 1905. The match was played at Lancaster Park in Christchurch, and the All Blacks lost 22–8. The second match was played at Eden Park in Auckland with France winning again, 23–20. Lomu marked Emile N'tamack and admits that his inexperience led to him being exposed by the French team.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Despite having just two All Black caps, Lomu was included in the squad for the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. Lomu scored seven tries in five matches, two in the first match against Ireland in Johannesburg, a try in the quarter final against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld, and four tries in the semi-final against England at Newlands. The first try in the English match occurred after Lomu received a pass behind him, beat two defenders and then, after a stumble, ran straight over the top of Mike Catt. This reduced one New Zealand commentator, Keith Quinn, to gasps.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: After the game, England captain Will Carling said: "He is a freak and the sooner he goes away the better". His first score was voted the try of the tournament. In 2002 the UK public voted Lomu's performance no. 19 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. New Zealand played the World Cup final at Ellis Park against South Africa. Neither side scored a try, with South Africa coming out on top 15–12 after kicking a drop-goal in extra time.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Following the World Cup New Zealand played Australia home and away for the Bledisloe Cup with Lomu scoring tries in both matches. He scored two tries in the All Blacks victory over Italy in Bologna. Lomu played against France in Toulouse, where New Zealand failed to score any tries. He scored a try in the second test in Paris, helping his team to victory. Lomu played for the All Blacks in matches against the touring Samoa and Scotland teams in June 1996, scoring in one of the Scottish matches.


title: Jonah Lomu

text: Just before the World Cup final a deal was struck between South Africa, New Zealand and Australia (SANZAR) to create the Tri-Nations, an annual round robin competition between the three nations launched with the advent of professionalism in rugby. New Zealand won all their games to become the first Tri-Nations winners. Lomu scored a try in a 43–6 victory over Australia in the inaugural match, which has been described by New Zealand Herald journalist David Leggat as "the perfect wet-weather game".


title: Jonah Lomu

text: At the end of 1996, Lomu was diagnosed with a rare and serious kidney disorder, which saw him take time off from the sport. As a result, he did not play in the 1997 Tri Nations Series, but he was included in the All Blacks tour of the northern hemisphere at the end of the year. Lomu played in the two warm up matches, scoring tries against Wales 'A' and Emerging England. He played the first test against England at Old Trafford, as well as the test against Wales at Wembley Stadium, and the second match against England—he did not score in any of the three games.