title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: Jóhann had scored a number of works concurrent with his solo career through the 2000s including the Icelandic comedy "Dis" in 2004, TV series "Svartir englar" in 2007, and "In the Arms of My Enemy" in 2007. However it is his work with Denis Villeneuve for which he is best known. His first collaboration with Villeneuve was "Prisoners" in 2013. He subsequently worked on Villeneuve's films "Sicario" (2015), which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score, and "Arrival" (2016). Jóhann joined Villeneuve once again to work on "Blade Runner 2049," but at some point during production Villeneuve decided that the music needed a change in direction. In describing the artistic process for "Blade Runner 2049", Villeneuve stated that "the movie needed something different, and I needed to go back to something closer to Vangelis. Jóhann and I decided that I will need to go in another direction." Villeneuve brought in Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch to complete the project. Jóhann's work on James Marsh's "The Theory of Everything" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score in 2015. His final works were for the films "Mandy", "The Mercy", and "Mary Magdalene". In an interview following the release of "Arrival", Jóhann commented on his process stating that "it's about putting yourself in a receptive state of mind where you react to inputs, and it can be from anywhere. It doesn't really matter if you're writing for film or if you're doing your own piece; you always have to put yourself into that space." He went on to say, "there are practical parameters, of course, involved in writing film music rather than doing your own album, but I view them very much as the same body of work. And, for me, there are very clear lines for me between "Englabörn" to "Arrival"."


title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: Prior to his death he had been hired to compose the score for Disney's "Christopher Robin", but died before he had begun work on it.


title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: His only feature film directed by himself, "Last and First Men", premiered two years after his death at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it received widespread acclaim.


title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: In March 2015, Jóhann teamed up with ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble) and the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth to perform "Drone Mass". described as a contemporary oratorio, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His list of collaborators included Tim Hecker, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Pan Sonic, CAN drummer Jaki Liebezeit, Marc Almond, Barry Adamson, and Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))). In 1999, Jóhann founded the Apparat Organ Quartet, which has released two albums since 2002 with live performances in Europe, America and Japan.


title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: Jóhann left Reykjavík in the early 2000s, living in Copenhagen before settling in Kreuzberg, Berlin. He had a daughter, Karolina Jóhannsdóttir, who lives in Copenhagen.


title: Jóhann Jóhannsson

text: Jóhann died in Berlin on 9 February 2018 at the age of 48. German toxicology reports indicated that a lethal combination of cocaine and flu medication was the likely cause of his death.


title: American Football Conference

text: The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Cincinnati Bengals, who defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2022 AFC Championship Game for their third conference championship, and their first since 1988.


title: American Football Conference

text: Like the NFC, the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each with four teams: East, North, South and West.


title: American Football Conference

text: Currently, the fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula:


title: American Football Conference

text: Each AFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team's final divisional standing from the previous season, and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2021 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the AFC West plays against every team in the AFC North and NFC East. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the three games assigned based on the team's prior-season divisional standing.


title: American Football Conference

text: At the end of each season, the four division winners and three wild cards (non-division winners with best regular season record) in the AFC qualify for the playoffs. The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC champion then plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl.


title: American Football Conference

text: Both the AFC and the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger. In order to equalize the number of teams in each conference, three NFL teams that predated the AFL's launch (the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the then-Baltimore Colts) joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC. The two AFL divisions AFL East and AFL West were more or less intact, while the NFL's Century Division, in which the Browns and the Steelers had played since 1967, was moved from the NFL to become the new AFC Central. Upon the completion of the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, the newly minted American Football Conference had already agreed upon their divisional setup along mostly geographical lines for the 1970 season; the National Football Conference, however, could not agree upon their setup, and one was chosen from a fishbowl on January 16, 1970.


title: American Football Conference

text: Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment. The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once. In 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had attempted to move to Baltimore; the resulting dispute between Cleveland and the team led to Modell establishing the Baltimore Ravens with the players and personnel from the Browns, while the Browns were placed in suspended operations before they were reinstated by the NFL. The Ravens were treated as an expansion team.


title: American Football Conference

text: In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego.


title: American Football Conference

text: The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers. The team would change its name again, two years later, to the Tennessee Titans.


title: American Football Conference

text: The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC. With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup has remained static ever since.


title: American Football Conference

text: Between 1995 and 2021, the AFC has sent only 9 of its 16 teams to the Super Bowl: New England Patriots (10 times), Denver Broncos (4 times), Pittsburgh Steelers (4 times), Baltimore Ravens (2 times), Indianapolis Colts (2 times), Kansas City Chiefs (2 times), Cincinnati Bengals (1 time), Las Vegas Raiders (1 time), Tennessee Titans (1 time). By contrast, the NFC has sent 13 of the 16 NFC teams during that same time frame with only the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Washington Commanders missing out on an appearance in the Super Bowl. 17 of the 19 AFC champions from 2001 to 2019 have started one of just three quarterbacks - Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger - in the Super Bowl. The AFC has started 7 quarterbacks in the last 20 Super Bowls, while the NFC has started 16.


title: American Football Conference

text: The merged league created a new logo for the AFC that took elements of the old AFL logo, specifically the "A" and the six stars surrounding it. The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 to 2009. The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars (leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC), and moving the stars inside the letter, similar to the NFC logo.


title: American Football Conference

text: NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season. From 1998 to 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder to the AFC; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either NBC or CBS. Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select AFC games (that involve them playing an NFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from CBS to Fox. Since 1990, select AFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN.


title: Kilt

text: A kilt ( ; Irish: "féileadh") is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first recorded in 16th century as the great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak. The small kilt or "modern kilt" emerged in the 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt. Since the 19th century, it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland, and more broadly with Gaelic or Celtic heritage.


title: Kilt

text: Although the kilt is most often worn by men on formal occasions and at Highland games and other sports events, it has also been adapted as an item of informal male clothing, returning to its roots as an everyday garment. Kilts are now made for casual wear in a variety of materials. Alternative fastenings may be used and pockets inserted to avoid the need for a sporran. Kilts have also been adopted as female wear for some sports.


title: Kilt

text: The kilt first appeared as the great kilt, the ' or belted plaid, during the 16th century. The ' or great kilt was a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder, or brought up over the head. A version of the "" (philibeg), or small kilt (also known as the walking kilt), similar to the modern kilt was invented by an English Quaker from Lancashire named Thomas Rawlinson some time in the 1720s. He felt that the belted plaid was "cumbrous and unwieldy", and his solution was to separate the skirt and convert it into a distinct garment with pleats already sewn, which he himself began making. His associate, Iain MacDonnell, chief of the MacDonnells of Inverness, also began making it, and when clansmen employed in logging, charcoal manufacture and iron smelting saw their chief making the new apparel, they soon followed making the kilt. From there its making use spread "in the shortest space" amongst the Highlanders, and even amongst some of the Northern Lowlanders. It has been suggested there is evidence that the philibeg with unsewn pleats was made from the 1690s.


title: Kilt

text: According to the "Dictionary of the Scots Language" and "Oxford English Dictionary", the noun derives from a verb "to kilt", originally meaning "to gird up; to tuck up (the skirts) round the body", which is apparently of Scandinavian origin.


title: Kilt

text: Organisations that sanction and grade the competitions in Highland dancing and piping all have rules governing acceptable attire for the competitors. These rules specify that kilts are to be worn (except that in the national dances, the female competitors will be wearing the Aboyne dress).


title: Kilt

text: The Scottish kilt displays uniqueness of design, construction, and convention which differentiate it from other garments fitting the general description. It is a tailored garment that is wrapped around the wearer's body at the natural waist (between the lowest rib and the hip) starting from one side (usually the wearer's left), around the front and back and across the front again to the opposite side. The fastenings consist of straps and buckles on both ends, the strap on the inside end usually passing through a slit in the waistband to be buckled on the outside; alternatively it may remain inside the waistband and be buckled inside.


title: Kilt

text: A kilt covers the body from the waist down to the centre of the knees. The overlapping layers in front are called "aprons" and are flat; the single layer of fabric around the sides and back is pleated. A kilt pin is fastened to the front apron on the free corner (but is not passed through the layer below, as its function is to add weight). Underwear may or may not be worn, as the wearer prefers, although tradition has it that a "true Scotsman" should wear nothing under his kilt. The Scottish Tartans Authority, however, warns that in some circumstances the practice could be "childish and unhygienic" and flying "in the face of decency".


title: Kilt

text: Scottish regiments used to ban soldiers from wearing underwear under kilts. Every day, a senior officer would use a mirror to look under kilts, and anyone found wearing underpants would be sent back to take them off.


title: Kilt

text: The typical kilt as seen at modern Highland games events is made of twill woven worsted wool. The twill weave used for kilts is a "2–2 type", meaning that each weft thread passes over and under two warp threads at a time. The result is a distinctive diagonal-weave pattern in the fabric which is called the twill line. This kind of twill, when woven according to a given sett or written colour pattern "(see below)" is called tartan. In contrast kilts worn by Irish pipers are made from solid-colour cloth, with saffron or green being the most widely used colours.


title: Kilt

text: Kilting fabric weights are given in ounces per yard and run from the very-heavy, regimental worsted of approximately down to a light worsted of about . The most common weights for kilts are and . The heavier weights are more appropriate for cooler weather, while the lighter weights would tend to be selected for warmer weather or for active use, such as Highland dancing. Some patterns are available in only a few weights.


title: Kilt

text: A modern kilt for a typical adult uses about 6–8 yards of single-width (about 26–30 inches) or about 3–4 yards of double-width (about 54–60 inches) tartan fabric. Double-width fabric is woven so that the pattern exactly matches on the selvage. Kilts are usually made without a hem because a hem would make the garment too bulky and cause it to hang incorrectly. The exact amount of fabric needed depends upon several factors including the size of the sett, the number of pleats put into the garment, and the size of the person. For a full kilt, 8 yards of fabric would be used regardless of size and the number of pleats and depth of pleat would be adjusted according to their size. For a very large waist, it may be necessary to use 9 yards of cloth.


title: Kilt

text: One of the most-distinctive features of the authentic Scots kilt is the tartan pattern, the "sett", it exhibits. The association of particular patterns with individual clans and families can be traced back perhaps one or two centuries. It was only in the 19th-century Victorian era that the system of named tartans known today began to be systematically recorded and formalised, mostly by weaving companies for mercantile purposes. Up until this point, Highland tartans held regional associations rather than being identified with any particular clan.


title: Kilt

text: Today there are also tartans for districts, counties, societies and corporations. There are also setts for states and provinces; schools and universities; sporting activities; individuals; and commemorative and simple generic patterns that anybody can wear (see History of the kilt for the process by which these associations came about).


title: Kilt

text: Setts are always arranged horizontally and vertically, never diagonally (except when adapted for women's skirts). They are specified by their thread counts, the sequence of colours and their units of width. As an example, the Wallace tartan has a thread count given as "K/4 R32 K32 Y/4" (K is black, R is red, and Y is yellow). This means that 4 units of black thread will be succeeded by 32 units of red, etc., in both the warp and the weft. Typically, the units are the actual number of threads, but as long as the proportions are maintained, the resulting pattern will be the same. This thread count also includes a pivot point indicated by the slash between the colour and thread number. The weaver is supposed to reverse the weaving sequence at the pivot point to create a mirror image of the pattern. This is called a symmetrical tartan. Some tartans, like Buchanan, are asymmetrical, which means they do not have a pivot point. The weaver weaves the sequence all the way through and then starts at the beginning again for the next sett.


title: Kilt

text: Setts are further characterised by their size, the number of inches (or centimetres) in one full repeat. The size of a given sett depends on not only the number of threads in the repeat but also the weight of the fabric. This is because the heavier the fabric, the thicker the threads will be, and thus the same number of threads of a heavier-weight fabric will occupy more space. The colours given in the thread count are specified as in heraldry, although tartan patterns are not heraldic. The exact shade which is used is a matter of artistic freedom and will vary from one fabric mill to another as well as in dye lot to another within the same mill.


title: Kilt

text: Tartans are commercially woven in four standard colour variations that describe the overall tone. "Ancient" or "Old" colours may be characterised by a slightly faded look intended to resemble the vegetable dyes that were once used, although in some cases "Old" simply identifies a tartan that was in use before the current one. Ancient greens and blues are lighter while reds appear orange. "Modern" colours are bright and show off modern aniline dyeing methods. The colours are bright red, dark hunter green, and usually navy blue. "Weathered" or "Reproduction" colours simulate the look of older cloth weathered by the elements. Greens turn to light brown, blues become grey, and reds are a deeper wine colour. The last colour variation is "Muted" which tends toward earth tones. The greens are olive, blues are slate blue, and red is an even deeper wine colour. This means that of the approximately 3500 registered tartans available in the Scottish Tartans Authority database as of 2004 there are four possible colour variations for each, resulting in around 14,000 recognised tartan choices.


title: Kilt

text: Setts were registered until 2008, with the "International Tartan Index" ("ITI") of the charitable organisation Scottish Tartans Authority (STA), which maintained a collection of fabric samples characterised by name and thread count, for free, which had its register, combined with others to form the "Scottish Register of Tartans" ("SRT") of the statutory body the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), if the tartan meets SRT's criteria, for GB£70 as of 2010. Although many tartans are added every year, most of the registered patterns available today were created in the 19th century onward by commercial weavers who worked with a large variety of colours. The rise of Highland romanticism and the growing Anglicisation of Scottish culture by the Victorians at the time led to registering tartans with clan names. Before that, most of these patterns were more connected to geographical regions than to any clan. There is therefore nothing symbolic about the colours, and nothing about the patterns is a reflection of the status of the wearer.


title: Kilt

text: Although ready-to-wear kilts can be obtained in standard sizes, a custom kilt is tailored to the individual proportions of the wearer. At least three measurements, the waist, hips, and length of the kilt, are usually required. Sometimes the rise (distance above the waist) or the fell (distance from waistline to the widest part of the hips) is also required.


title: Kilt

text: A properly made kilt, when buckled on the tightest holes of the straps, is not so loose that the wearer can easily twist the kilt around their body, nor so tight that it causes "scalloping" of the fabric where it is buckled. Additionally, the length of the kilt when buckled at the waist reaches a point no lower than halfway across the kneecap and no higher than about an inch above it.


title: Kilt

text: A kilt can be pleated with either box or knife pleats. A knife pleat is a simple fold, while the box pleat is bulkier, consisting of two knife pleats back-to-back. Knife pleats are the most common in modern civilian kilts. Regimental traditions vary. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders use box pleats, while the Black Watch make their kilts of the same tartan with knife pleats. These traditions were also passed on to affiliated regiments in the Commonwealth, and were retained in successor battalions to these regiments in the amalgamated Royal Regiment of Scotland.


title: Kilt

text: Pleats can be arranged relative to the pattern in two ways. In "pleating to the stripe", one of the vertical stripes in the tartan is selected and the fabric is then folded so that this stripe runs down the center of each pleat. The result is that along the pleated section of the kilt (the back and sides) the pattern appears different from the unpleated front, often emphasising the horizontal bands rather than creating a balance between horizontal and vertical. This is often called military pleating because it is the style adopted by many military regiments. It is also widely used by pipe bands.


title: Kilt

text: In "pleating to the sett", the fabric is folded so that the pattern of the sett is maintained and is repeated all around the kilt. This is done by taking up one full sett in each pleat, or two full setts if they are small. This causes the pleated sections to have the same pattern as the unpleated front.


title: Kilt

text: Any pleat is characterised by depth and width. The portion of the pleat that protrudes under the overlying pleat is the size or width. The pleat width is selected based on the size of the sett and the amount of fabric to be used in constructing the kilt, and will generally vary from about 1/2" to about 3/4".


title: Kilt

text: The depth is the part of the pleat which is folded under the overlying pleat. It depends solely on the size of the tartan sett even when pleating to the stripe, since the sett determines the spacing of the stripes.


title: Kilt

text: The number of pleats used in making kilts depends upon how much material is to be used in constructing the garment and upon the size of the sett.


title: Kilt

text: The pleats across the fell are tapered slightly since the wearer's waist is usually narrower than the hips and the pleats are usually stitched down either by machine or by hand.


title: Kilt

text: In Highland dancing, it is easy to see the effect of the stitching on the action of a kilt. The kilt hugs the dancer's body from the waist down to the hipline and, from there, in response to the dancer's movements, it breaks sharply out. The way the kilt moves in response to the dance steps is an important part of the dance. If the pleats were not stitched down in this portion of the kilt, the action, or movement, would be quite different.


title: Kilt

text: The Scottish kilt is usually worn with kilt hose (woollen socks), turned down at the knee, often with garters and flashes, and a (Gaelic for "purse": a type of pouch), which hangs around the waist from a chain or leather strap. This may be plain or embossed leather, or decorated with sealskin, fur, or polished metal plating.


title: Kilt

text: Today most Scottish people regard kilts as formal dress or national dress. Although there are still a few people who wear a kilt daily, it is generally owned or hired to be worn at weddings or other formal occasions and may be worn by anyone regardless of nationality or descent. For semi-formal wear, kilts are usually worn with a Prince Charlie or an Argyll jacket. Irish formal dress is distinguished from Highland Dress by the Brian Boru jacket, a modified Prince Charlie jacket with a shawl collar, chain closure and round buttons. Formal is white tie and requires a Regulation Doublet or higher.


title: Kilt

text: Kilts are also used for parades by groups such as the Boys' Brigade and Scouts, and in many places kilts are seen in force at Highland games and pipe band championships as well as being worn at Scottish country dances and ceilidhs.


title: Kilt

text: Certain regiments/units of the British Army and armies of other Commonwealth nations (including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) with a Scottish lineage or heritage still continue to wear kilts as part of dress or duty uniform, though they have not been used in combat since 1940 Uniforms in which kilts are worn include Ceremonial Dress, Service Dress, and Barracks Dress. Kilts are considered appropriate for ceremonial parades, office duties, less formal parades, walking out, mess dinners, and classroom instruction or band practice. Ceremonial kilts have also been developed for the US Marine Corps, and the pipe and drum bands of the US Military Academy, US Naval Academy and Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont.


title: Kilt

text: It is not uncommon to see kilts worn at Irish pubs in the United States, and it is becoming somewhat less rare to see them in the workplace. Casual use of kilts dressed down with lace-up boots or moccasins, and with T-shirts or golf shirts, is becoming increasingly familiar at Highland Games. The kilt is associated with a sense of Scottish national pride and will often be seen being worn, along with a football top, when members of the Tartan Army are watching a football or rugby match. The small sgian-dubh knife is sometimes replaced by a wooden or plastic alternative or omitted altogether for security concerns: for example, it typically is not allowed to be worn or carried onto a commercial aircraft.


title: Kilt

text: Though the origins of the Irish kilt continue to be a subject of debate, current evidence suggests that kilts originated in the Scottish Highlands and Isles and were worn by Irish nationalists from at least 1850s onwards and then cemented from the early 1900s as a symbol of Gaelic identity.


title: Kilt

text: A garment that has often been mistaken for kilts in early depictions is the Irish "", a long tunic traditionally made from solid colour cloth, with black, saffron and green. Solid coloured kilts were first adopted for use by Irish nationalists and thereafter by Irish regiments serving in the British Army, but they could often be seen in late 19th and early 20th century photos in Ireland especially at political and musical gatherings, as the kilt was re-adopted as a symbol of Gaelic nationalism in Ireland during this period. Tartan was rarer in Irish kilts, as it was more expensive to manufacture. For the most part it was usually only used for sashes, trews and shawls. Wealthy Irish such as the Gaelic Chieftains and high-ranking soldiers could afford tartan kilts.


title: Kilt

text: Within the world of Irish dancing, boys' kilts have been largely abandoned, especially since the worldwide popularity of Riverdance and the revival and interest in Irish dancing generally.


title: Kilt

text: The Irish still wear kilts but they are largely restricted to formal events and weddings. Irish marching bands often dress in kilts as well.


title: Kilt

text: Although not a traditional component of national dress outside Scotland or Ireland, kilts have become recently popular in the other Celtic nations as a sign of Celtic identity. Kilts and tartans can therefore also be seen in Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany and Galicia. Although not considered a Celtic region, Northumbrian kilts in border tartan have also been adopted.


title: Kilt

text: There are currently sixteen Breton tartans officially recorded in the Scottish tartan registries. The Breton tartans are: Brittany National (Breton National), Brittany Walking, Lead it Of, and a further nine county tartans (Kerne, Leon, Tregor, Gwened, Dol, St. Malo, Rennes, Nantes, St. Brieuc). Others have been recently created for smaller areas in Brittany (Ushent, Bro Vigoudenn and Menez Du "Black Mountain").


title: Kilt

text: There are three Galician tartans recorded in the Scottish registries: Galicia, "Gallaecia – Galician National", and Bombeiros Voluntarios De Galicia. There is historical evidence of the use of tartan and kilt in Galicia up to the 18th century.


title: Kilt

text: Kilts are also traditionally worn by some people in Austria, especially in Carinthia and Upper Austria, due to their celtic heritage.


title: Kilt

text: Kilts and other male skirts in general were relaunched as a trend during the 1980s. Stephen Sprouse introduced a black denim mini-skirt over black denim jeans in 1983. Then in 1984, Jean Paul Gaultier made waves in the fashion industry when he reintroduced mini skirts and kilts for men.


title: Kilt

text: Contemporary kilts (also known as modern kilts and, especially in the United States of America, utility kilts) have appeared in the clothing marketplace in Scotland, the US, and Canada in a range of fabrics, including leather, denim, corduroy, and cotton. They may be designed for formal or casual dress, for use in sports or outdoor recreation, or as white or blue collar workwear. Some are closely modelled on traditional Scottish kilts, but others are similar only in being knee-length skirt-like garments for men. They may have box pleats, symmetrical knife pleats and be fastened by studs or velcro instead of buckles. Many are designed to be worn without a sporran, and may have pockets or tool belts attached.


title: Kilt

text: In Canada, kilts are widely common as part of female dress at schools with a uniform policy. As well, due to the rich Scottish heritage of the country, they may frequently be seen at weddings and formal events. In Nova Scotia, they may even be worn as common daily attire.


title: Kilt

text: In 2008, a USPS letter carrier, Dean Peterson, made a formal proposal that the kilt be approved as an acceptable postal uniform—for reasons of comfort. The proposal was defeated at the convention of the 220,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers in 2008 by a large margin.


title: Kilt

text: 5.11 Tactical produced a Tactical Duty Kilt as a result of the corporate April Fools' joke. The contemporary hybrid kilts are made up of tartan-woven fabric material.


title: Kilt

text: Female athletes, especially lacrosse players, often wear kilts during games. They will typically wear compression shorts or spandex underneath. Kilts are popular among many levels of lacrosse, from youth leagues to college leagues, although some teams are replacing kilts with the more streamlined athletic skirt.


title: Kilt

text: Men's kilts are often seen in popular contemporary media. For example, in the Syfy series "Tin Man", side characters are shown wearing kilts as peasant working clothes. Trends in everyday fashion, especially in the Gothic subculture, have led to a popularisation of the kilt as an alternative to more conventional menswear. Some of these are made of PVC or cotton-polyester blends.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to his guitar tones (which, rather than relying on standard instrumental tones, often resemble sound effects or noises made by animals and machines).


title: Adrian Belew

text: Widely recognized as an "incredibly versatile player", Belew is perhaps best known for his long career as singer and guitarist in the progressive rock group King Crimson between 1981 and 2009. He has also released nearly twenty solo albums for Island Records and Atlantic Records in a range of blended or alternated styles including art rock, New Wave, Beatles-inspired pop-rock, progressive rock and experimental noise. In addition, Belew has been a member of the intermittently active pop band the Bears, and fronted GaGa in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has worked extensively as a session, guest and touring musician, including periods with the Frank Zappa and David Bowie bands, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, and Nine Inch Nails, as well as contributing to hit singles by Paul Simon, Tom Tom Club, and others. He released a top-10 single in 1989 with "Oh Daddy", and his 2005 single "Beat Box Guitar" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Belew has also worked in instrument design and multimedia, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his Parker Fly signature guitar, and designing his own iOS mobile apps, "FLUX by belew" and "FLUX:FX, the multi-effect audio processor app."


title: Adrian Belew

text: Robert Steven Belew was born into a middle-class family in Covington, Kentucky, on December 23, 1949. Initially known to friends and classmates as "Steve", he played drums in his teen years, playing with the Ludlow High School marching band and later with the high school cover band The Denems. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, he took up guitar while he was bedridden for several months with mononucleosis. At the age of 17, he was further inspired by a club performance of blues rock guitar soloing pioneer Lonnie Mack, who later became a close friend.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Not inclined to formal music study, Belew was nonetheless a quick developer and rapidly became a high school guitar hero. Mostly teaching himself by listening to records, he was ignorant of the studio trickery and sound manipulation used to create particular guitar lines, and so found ways of replicating them himself manually using unusual playing techniques and a growing interest in effects and treatments. While maturing as a player and mastering various playing styles, Belew became increasingly preoccupied with ways to avoid "sounding like everybody else". He eventually found his own sound and style by learning how to make his guitar mimic sound effects such as car horns, animal noises, or industrial sounds and then applying those sounds to relatively standard songs.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In the mid-1970s, Belew began using the first name "Adrian" and moved to Nashville to pursue a full-time career as a professional musician. By 1977, he was playing with the regionally popular cover band Sweetheart, but wondering whether (at age 27) he had missed his chance to make a living with original music.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 1977, while playing at a Sweetheart gig at Fanny's Bar in Nashville, Belew was discovered by Frank Zappa, who had been tipped off regarding the band's talents by his chauffeur. Zappa approached Belew and discussed auditioning him for an upcoming tour, although Belew did not receive an official invitation to audition for the better part of a year. During this time Sweetheart split up. Once the formal invitation came, Belew flew out to Los Angeles and found himself auditioning alongside more formally trained musicians. Believing that he'd messed up his first audition, Belew persuaded Zappa to give him a second one. Belew's second audition was a more intimate one-on-one experience which took place in Zappa's living room. Zappa was impressed enough to hire Belew on a handshake deal for a year.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew toured with the Zappa band and appeared on Zappa's 1979 album "Sheik Yerbouti", as well as Zappa's 1979 concert film, "Baby Snakes", a document of the October 1977 Halloween week shows at New York City's Palladium. While with Zappa, Belew was mostly credited as a rhythm guitarist although he also played lead, melody, or noise lines, as well as singing lead on two songs ("Jones Crusher" and "City of Tiny Lites"). According to Belew, "Frank either played or sang, never both at the same time, so ultimately my role became covering his parts. When he sang I played his guitar part. When he played I sang his vocal part." He also took on the role of band clown, performing impressions (such as the Bob Dylan impersonation on the song "Flakes"), wearing unusual clothing and performing visual stunts. ("Need someone to wear a flashing helmet and bounce around like a robot? How about Adrian? Need someone to wear a dress onstage? There’s always Adrian.")


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has described his year in Zappa's band as a "crash course" in music theory due to Zappa's rigorous rehearsals and often technically demanding music, and has commented, "I went to the Frank Zappa School of Rock."


title: Adrian Belew

text: On the recommendation of musician/producer Brian Eno, after seeing a Zappa concert in Cologne, Germany, David Bowie offered to hire Belew once the Zappa tour was finished. Belew accepted the offer, as Zappa intended to spend four months editing the film "Baby Snakes". Belew then played on Bowie's Isolar II Tour in 1978; he played on the double-live album "Stage", and also contributed to Bowie's next album, "Lodger". Twelve years later, he returned to working with Bowie, acting as musical director on the 1990 Sound+Vision Tour, while also playing guitar and singing.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 1980, Belew formed a new band, GaGa (based in Urbana, Illinois, where he resided at the time), for which he served as the singer, guitarist and primary songwriter (as well as, via backing tapes, the drummer). By now a frequent visitor to New York City, Belew had also become friends with the up-and-coming new wave/art-rock band Talking Heads. Invited to join the band onstage for performances of their signature song "Psycho Killer," Belew impressed them with his wild and unorthodox guitar soloing and became an occasional guest performer at live concerts. Around this time, Belew also met King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp at a Steve Reich concert. In July of that year, GaGa was invited to open several New York City-area concerts for Fripp's band, the League of Gentlemen.


title: Adrian Belew

text: At the same time, Belew had been tapped by Talking Heads and their producer Brian Eno (with whom he'd worked on "Lodger") to add guitar solos to several tracks on the "Remain in Light" album. He was subsequently added to the expanded nine-piece Talking Heads live band for tours in late 1980 and early 1981. These concerts were documented in the DVD "Live in Roma" and in the second half of the band's 1982 live album, "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads". Belew's involvement with Talking Heads extended to playing on the band's spin-off projects. He played on keyboard player/guitarist Jerry Harrison's debut album, "The Red and the Black", and on several tracks on David Byrne's soundtrack to the Twyla Tharp dance piece, "The Catherine Wheel" (with his guitar noises credited, amongst other things, as "beasts").


title: Adrian Belew

text: At the time, the internal relationships in Talking Heads were particularly strained. The band's married rhythm section, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, allegedly approached Belew with the suggestion that he should replace Byrne as the band's frontman, an offer which Belew immediately but politely turned down. (In his book "Remain in Love", Frantz denied that this offer was ever made.) Belew did, however, go on to work with Weymouth and Frantz on their own spin-off project, Tom Tom Club. Joining them for recordings at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, Belew played rhythm guitar on the sessions for the band's debut album, as well as adding his trademark processed solos (and even performing the entire instrumentation for the track "L'Elephant").


title: Adrian Belew

text: Unfortunately, Belew's experience with Tom Tom Club was less harmonious than his previous work with Talking Heads. Tom Tom Club's recording engineer, Steven Stanley, was vocal about his dislike of distorted guitar and erased the majority of Belew's solos during the mixing sessions. Worse was to follow when Belew queried Weymouth about songwriting credits, having co-written several of the album's songs in addition to his playing. He was apparently "ghosted", with Weymouth no longer returning his phone calls. Belew did not play live with Tom Tom Club or contribute to any further sessions. Recalling the situation when interviewed twenty years later, he claimed that he had opted to pursue other work rather than involve himself in legal or personal struggles with Weymouth and Frantz, and that he had chosen not to let it bother him, as several other, more promising projects were happening for him at the same time.


title: Adrian Belew

text: By now Belew's rising profile had gained him a solo record contract with Island Records. During the recording of the debut Tom Tom Club album, members of GaGa had joined Belew at Compass Point and backed him on a set of parallel sessions which would result in Belew's first solo album, 1982's "Lone Rhino". The album provided a home for various GaGa songs and blended various elements of Belew's work over the past decade, including snappy and noisy Zappa/Byrne-influenced songs, dabblings in world music, opportunities for animal/mechanical sounds on guitar, and sonic experiments reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix or The Beatles. It also included an instrumental duet between Belew and his four-year-old daughter Audie (the latter improvising on acoustic piano, with Belew adding a processed guitar counterpoint).


title: Adrian Belew

text: Adrian Belew was the singer, second guitarist and frontman (as well as occasional drummer) for King Crimson from 1981 to 2009, one of the longest tenures in King Crimson by anyone other than founder Robert Fripp. He maintained this position despite several splits or hiatuses in group activity, and notwithstanding a brief period in the early 1990s when Fripp unsuccessfully invited singer David Sylvian to front a possible new version of the band.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew's involvement with the band began while he was still involved with Talking Heads. Having been impressed by Belew's work with GaGa and David Bowie, Fripp asked Belew to join his new four-piece band (at that time called Discipline) as singer and second guitarist. At the time, Belew was busy not just with Talking Heads but also with the imminent Tom Tom Club sessions and the recording of his debut solo album. However, he realized that Talking Heads' internal politics would eventually either sideline or obstruct him (coupled with the fact that the band looked as if it would be on hiatus for a while). Belew opted to uncouple himself from Talking Heads and join Fripp, with whom he would have more opportunities to develop and express himself. One of his conditions for joining the new band was that he would be allowed time to continue and develop his new solo career, to which Fripp agreed.


title: Adrian Belew

text: The Discipline lineup was completed by the former King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford and the New York session ace Tony Levin on bass guitar and Chapman Stick. During initial touring, the members of the band discussed the possibility of renaming themselves King Crimson. This had not been the original intention for the band, but all members generally agreed that this would be both appropriate and useful. This made Belew the first guitarist to formally play alongside Fripp within King Crimson on an equal footing (although both Ian McDonald and John Wetton had occasionally contributed extra guitar to previous King Crimson recordings). He was also the first King Crimson singer to write all of his own lyrics.


title: Adrian Belew

text: The renamed band released and toured the well-received "Discipline" album later in 1981, bringing Belew further acclaim. The follow-up, 1982's "Beat", proved harder to record. Finding himself responsible for the bulk of the band's songwriting and dealing with the extra pressures of being the frontman in a high-level group, Belew squabbled with Fripp over the group's approach and sound. Disagreements were mostly resolved and the band continued to find success as a live act. However, 1984's "Three of a Perfect Pair" proved tortuous to write, and although King Crimson eventually created another successful album (including some Belew experiments with fretless guitar), Fripp opted to split the band in 1984. The live album "" (originally a radio broadcast, released as an album in 1998) captured the band in full force on their last gig.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Despite the disagreements of the time, the members of the 1981–1984 King Crimson maintained enough camaraderie and mutual respect to reunite in 1994 (adding second drummer Pat Mastellotto and Warr Guitarist Trey Gunn) with Belew continuing as the band's singer, guitarist, and frontman. The six-piece King Crimson toured successfully and were together until 1997, releasing the "THRAK" album and several live recordings. From 1997 onward, Belew participated in several of the ProjeKcts, a series of instrumental and experimental King Crimson side projects active during the band's hiatuses, in which he predominantly played electronic drums.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew was a member of the slimmed-down quartet version of King Crimson (minus Bruford and Levin) which played and recorded between 2000 and 2004, releasing "the construKction of light" and "The Power to Believe" (in addition to several live albums and EPs), as well as touring as an opening act for Tool in 2001. After a further four-year hiatus, the band returned to active work in 2008 as a five-piece (with the addition of Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison, and Levin returning to replace Gunn). From 2000 through 2008, King Crimson used Belew's studio at his home outside Mount Juliet, Tennessee, for rehearsals and recording.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In September 2013, following yet another four-year band hiatus, Fripp announced the formation of a new seven-piece King Crimson which did not include Belew. Belew stated on his Facebook page that Fripp had told him that he "would not be right" for what Fripp had in mind for the new version of the band.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Following the release of his first solo album "Lone Rhino" in 1982, Belew recorded a 1983 follow-up called "Twang Bar King", which once again featured GaGa as backing band (now augmented by former Elvis Presley drummer Larrie Londin).


title: Adrian Belew

text: His next solo album was recorded in 1986, and was an experimental all-instrumental album of processed guitar, guitar synthesizer, and percussion called "Desire Caught By the Tail". Belew has subsequently claimed that the record cost him his contract with Island Records due to its highly uncommercial nature.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Following King Crimson's breakup/entry into hiatus in 1984, Belew formed the pop band The Bears with fellow guitarist and singer Rob Fetters, drummer Chris Arduser, and bass guitarist Bob Nyswonger. All three were close friends of Belew whom he'd met during his Sweetheart days in the mid-1970s, and were also ex-members of The Raisins, a Cincinnati-based band that had some local success in the early 1980s and had an album produced by Belew.


title: Adrian Belew

text: As a band, The Bears was a conscious attempt to create a more unified and collective group, with Belew and Fetters sharing lead vocal duties. Although Belew's guitar skills were still in evidence, they took second place to the band's commitment to songs. Signing to the I.R.S. Records subsidiary Primitive Man Recording Company, The Bears recorded and released two albums, 1987's "The Bears", and 1988's "Rise and Shine". After three years of constant recording, promotion, and touring, the band broke up in 1989 following the collapse of PMRC. The success of Belew's solo hit single "Oh Daddy" led to him touring with David Bowie. The remaining three Bears regrouped as psychodots.


title: Adrian Belew

text: All four musicians remained friends, stayed in contact with each other, and continued to help each other. Arduser drummed on Belew's 1992 solo album, "Inner Revolution" (with Fetters joining the 1992 touring band). On the tour supporting Belew's "Here" album in 1994, psychodots played as both the opening act and as Belew's backing band. Belew would also co-write two songs on Rob Fetters' "Lefty Loose – Righty Tight" album in 1998.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Since 1997, The Bears have regularly reunited in the studio for intermittent recording sessions. This has resulted in two further albums to date, 2001's "Car Caught Fire", and 2007's "Eureka". The band perform short tours to promote the releases and continue to work together around the varied schedules of all four members.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew revived his solo career with 1989's "Mr. Music Head", on which he played virtually all the instruments (with the exception of double bass). The album was split between relatively straightforward pop and more experimental songs, with a strong emphasis on Belew's signature electric tones, plus plenty of percussion and an unusual approach to acoustic production. "Mr. Music Head" also generated a hit single (No. 5 on the US Modern Rock chart) in the shape of "Oh Daddy," on which Belew duetted with his 11-year-old daughter Audie.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 1990, Belew produced a similar follow-up with "Young Lions". This featured a number of cover versions, plus two guest appearances by his past and current employer David Bowie, who'd hired Belew as musical director for his then-current Sound+Vision Tour. The album generated another US Modern rock chart hit (No. 2) with the Belew-and-Bowie duet "Pretty Pink Rose," and a minor hit on the same chart with the subsequent single, "Men In Helicopters" (No. 17).


title: Adrian Belew

text: The following year, Belew released "Desire of the Rhino King", a compilation of digitally remastered material from his first three (now out-of-print) albums.


title: Adrian Belew

text: The next phase in Belew's career saw him pursuing a more traditional singing and songwriting style (albeit with his trademark unusual guitar tones), which owed a lot to his old heroes The Beatles. 1992's "Inner Revolution", and 1994's "Here" (as well as 1993's self-explanatory and back-catalogue-revisiting "The Acoustic Adrian Belew") were all heavily song-oriented and accessible, but sold less than Belew expected. 1996's "Op Zop Too Wah" blended Belew's solid songwriting approach with more avant-garde instrumental coloration.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In parallel to Belew's work with a revived King Crimson, he released the first in a proposed Experimental Guitar Series, "", in 1997. A return to the all-instrumental avant-garde territories of "Desire Caught by the Tail", this was an album of atonal contemporary classical music entirely realized on MIDI guitar using digital models of orchestral instruments. Belew has mentioned plans for releasing more records in the Experimental Guitar series, including one called "The Animal Kingdom", but to date, no more have been released (probably due to the modest sales of the first volume).


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew's subsequent releases were two more acoustic albums, 1998's "", and the 1999 "Salad Days" compilation, as well as the "Coming Attractions" album of works-in-progress. In 2004, he collaborated on a spoken-word-and-instrumentation album with Kevin Max, called "Raven Songs 101". Between 2005 and 2007, Belew released the "Side" series of albums: 2005's "Side One" and "Side Two", 2006's "Side Three", and 2007's "Side Four", with a variety of guest performers, including Tool's Danny Carey and Primus' Les Claypool.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In April and May 2006, Adrian toured Australia with local musicians John Prior from Matt Finish playing drums, and Al Slavik playing bass guitar and Stick (as well as singing backing vocals). In August 2006, he performed in Atlanta, Georgia, on The Acoustic Planet Tour with Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and Umphrey's McGee.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Later in 2006, Belew formed a new long-term trio, which his fans rapidly christened "The Adrian Belew Power Trio", featuring former Paul Green School of Rock students Eric Slick on drums and Julie Slick on bass. This band featured on the 2007 live recording "Side Four" and the 2009 download-only "Live Overseas".


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 2008, Belew played at the Adelaide Guitar Festival. In June 2009, the Adrian Belew Power Trio released an all-new studio record titled simply "e.", featuring a five-part long-form Belew instrumental composition. During the same month, Belew released "A Cup of Coffee and a Slice of Time", an album credited to "Clay & Belew." This was an album of improvised classical-based interpretations of Belew songs (both solo and from King Crimson) mostly performed by pianist Michael Clay, with additional guitar, cello, and music concrete contributions from Belew.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has been a frequent contributor to Nine Inch Nails, guesting on the albums "The Downward Spiral", "The Fragile", "Ghosts I–IV" and "Hesitation Marks". The group's frontman Trent Reznor briefly named Belew as the group's touring guitarist in 2013, but he ultimately left the group before playing any live dates.


title: Adrian Belew

text: On January 16, 2019, Belew announced an expansion of his "Power Trio" to a quartet and 2019 tour. Band members are Jordan Perlson on drums, Saul Zonana on keyboards, guitar, and vocals, and bassist Julie Slick.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 2022, Belew participated in the "Celebrating David Bowie" tour, featuring Angelo Moore, Todd Rundgren, and others.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Most recently, Belew has moved into working with mobile app platforms via his self-designed iOS apps "FLUX:FX – the professional audio multi-effects app" and "FLUX by belew"™, which contain over three hundred audio tracks and pieces of artwork that he describes as "never playing the same twice." "FLUX:FX" is a real-time audio manipulation app for the iPad that he said "lets me make sounds that I can't get with any other gear." Both apps have gathered significant industry recognition, including being honored twice in the 2015 Webby Awards and receiving a 'best of the best' at the 2015 Red Dot Design Awards.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Although he has frequently worked as a lead singer, Belew is best known as a guitar player with a highly unusual but accessible playing style (featuring bizarre electronic tones, unorthodox playing techniques, and a wide variety of sonic effects, including guitar-based impressions of animals, birds, insects, vehicles, and mechanical noise). Among his best-known guitar playing is the riff to Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love," the overdriven solos on Talking Heads' "The Great Curve," the wild whammy-bar melodies on his own Top 10 hit "Oh Daddy," and the careening elephant impressions on King Crimson's "Elephant Talk."


title: Adrian Belew

text: Part of Belew's sound creation involves physical techniques including tapping, pick scrapes, bending the neck, unorthodox use of the guitar slide, and occasional employment of objects (such as files) to attack the strings. In his riffs, he generally includes fret intonation work, and is even known to produce sounds from off the fret board, including the stringed portion of the nut and bridge. He is widely considered to be a master of the tremolo arm (whammy bar), something which he humorously referred to in his song "Twang Bar King" (which itself features a whammy-bar solo).


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew uses a wide variety of heavily synthesized and electronically altered guitar tones. Over the years he has become known for playing various guitars processed through an immense array of electronic effects devices ("I'm surrounded by guitar pedals, though. I can't step out the ring I'm surrounded in without stepping on a pedal," he told "Adelaide.now" in 2008.) He has also stated that he composes specifically for certain amps and effects. Lamenting the demise of one specific amplifier made by now-defunct Johnson Amplification, he said, "I wrote specific sounds and types of looping and things that I just can't seem to make other amps do." While he has used many brands of effects pedals, Electro Harmonix was one of his mainstays.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew is a pioneer of guitar synthesizers, having been one of the first players to bring them to, and consistently use them in, popular music. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a user of the Roland GR300 (alongside Andy Summers, Pat Metheny, and Robert Fripp). In the late 1980s and the 1990s, he used the Roland GR1. He now favors the Line 6 Variax digital modelling system. In the early 1980s, Belew was notable for owning and using a rare Roland GR505 fretless guitar synthesizer.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew's first guitar was a Gibson Firebird that he bought for $170. Belew now has a signature Parker Fly guitar, the company's first.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has also been seen playing an extraordinarily flexible rubber-neck guitar in the Laurie Anderson film "Home of the Brave" and in the video for his 1989 single "Oh Daddy." In 2007, he revealed that the guitar's neck was rubber containing "metal vertebrae" and that it was solely a visual (and unplayable) prop.


title: Adrian Belew

text: As a singer, Belew is noted for the distinct, nasal, sometimes manic feel of his vocals. His singing voice is often compared to that of Talking Heads' David Byrne, with whom Belew worked between 1979 and 1981.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In addition to his singing and guitar playing talents, Belew is an accomplished drummer and percussionist, and also plays bass guitar, upright bass, keyboards, and cello.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has cited Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Igor Stravinsky, and George Gershwin as particular influences. He has also cited Spike Jones as an influence for the goofy and absurdist humor that occasionally appears in his lyrics.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 2010, Guitar Geek interviewed Belew's guitar technician André Cholmondeley, creating a list and diagram of Belew's guitar setup at the time.


title: Adrian Belew

text: An instructional video from 1984 shows he also used an A/DA Flanger, an Electro-Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, an Electro-Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay, an Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, two Foxx Tone Machine Fuzzes, a Boss DM-2 Delay, an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer, an MXR Dyna Comp, a Pitch-Voltage Synthesizer, 3 Boss Volume Pedals, two MXR 10 band graphic equalizers, a Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer, a Boss pedal switcher, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, an Electro-Harmonix Foot Controller, a tape loop machine, and an Electro-Harmonix Stereo Polychorus.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew is always adjusting his live setup, and according to audio engineer Daniel Rowland, he uses an Axe-FX II, Liquid Foot 12+ controller, Roland VG-99, Kemper profiling amp, a Keeley Compressor pedal, Ableton Live (running on an Apple Macbook), Soundblox Multi-wave distortion, DigiTech HarmonyMan, iConnectMidi 4+, MOTU Ultralite 3 hybrid, Keith Mcmillen Instruments Softstep 2, and his own NOIISE FLUX:FX iPad app through the Bose L1 and Atomic monitoring wedges. This was the rig seen by fans on his 2019 tour.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Many artists have expressed their admiration for Belew or have cited him as an influence, including Adam Jones of Tool, Steven Wilson, Henry Rollins, St. Vincent, Anneke van Giersbergen of The Gathering, Garry Roberts of The Boomtown Rats, William Rees of Mystery Jets, Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos, Josh Christian of Toxik, and Sean Worrell of Nero di Marte. In a 1994 interview with "Guitar Player" magazine, Trent Reznor described Adrian Belew as "the most awesome musician in the world."


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew is well regarded for his contributions, particularly on guitar, to various other artists' recordings.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In the 1980s, following his work with Talking Heads, he became an in-demand session player. Among the albums he contributed to during this period were Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Left-handed Dream" in 1981, Joan Armatrading's "The Key" in 1983, Peter Wolf's "Lights Out" and Jean Michel Jarre's "Zoolook" (both in 1984), Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" and Paul Simon's "Graceland" (both in 1986), and Mike Oldfield's "Earth Moving" in 1989. During the mid-1980s, he frequently worked with Laurie Anderson, appearing on 1983's "Mister Heartbreak" album and her subsequent concert film, "Home of the Brave" (in which, among other things, he mimed playing on a specially constructed rubber-neck guitar and wore a paper bag over his head). In his 1984 instructional video "Electronic Guitar", Belew explained and demonstrated the technology and techniques used to create some of his signature music.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 1993, Belew played "synthesized guitar" on the song "God Shuffled His Feet" by Crash Test Dummies and also contributed to Sara Hickman's "Necessary Angels" album. In 1994, he first established himself as Trent Reznor's guest guitarist of choice, contributing to four Nine Inch Nails albums over the next nineteen years ("The Downward Spiral", "The Fragile", "Ghosts I-IV", and "Hesitation Marks"). He worked again with Laurie Anderson on her 1994 album, "Bright Red". During the 2000s, Belew was prominently featured on Tori Amos's 2001 album of cover versions, "Strange Little Girls", and played on William Shatner's second musical album, "Has Been", in 2004. In 2005, he featured as "primary guitarist" on the album "Habitat" by progressive rock band Man on Fire and contributed two solos to Porcupine Tree's album "Deadwing". In 2006 and 2007, Belew contributed to two Pink Floyd tribute albums produced by Billy Sherwood: "Back Against The Wall", and "Return to the Dark Side of the Moon".


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 2016, Belew scored the Pixar short film "Piper", which was shown before "Finding Dory" in theaters. He also featured on the album "The News" by Italian progressive/eclectic rock band N.y.X.


title: Adrian Belew

text: In 1983, Belew produced the eponymous debut album for The Raisins. In 1985, he produced The Elvis Brothers's second album, "Adventure Time".


title: Adrian Belew

text: During the 1990s, he began making more of a name for himself as a producer, most notably producing two tracks on Jars of Clay's debut album in 1995 (including the crossover Christian hit "Flood"), but also producing The Irresponsibles' 1999 album, "When Pigs Fly".


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has also produced and played on albums by three Mexican rock bands: Caifanes's 1992 album, "El silencio"; Santa Sabina's 1994 album, "Símbolos", and Jaguares' 2005 album, "Cronicas de un Laberinto".


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has also worked in instrument design, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his own Parker Fly signature guitar. This guitar is noticeably different from the standard design, containing advanced electronics, such as a sustainer pickup and a Line 6 Variax guitar modelling system. It is also MIDI-capable, allowing it to be used with any synthesizer with MIDI connectivity.


title: Adrian Belew

text: Belew has appeared in a series of Japanese advertisements promoting the chemical and electronics company Daikin in which he emulated animal noises with his guitar and appeared as the conductor, conducting a symphony in which all the members were versions of himself playing guitar.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain is an American animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and the fourth collaboration of Steven Spielberg with his production company, Amblin Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Animation. The characters first appeared in 1993 as a recurring skit on the animated television series "Animaniacs". It was later spun off as a series due to its popularity, with 65 episodes produced. The characters later appeared in the series "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain", and have since returned to their roots as an "Animaniacs" skit in the 2020 revival of that series.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain are genetically enhanced laboratory mice who reside in a cage in the Acme Labs research facility. Brain is highly intelligent, self-centered and scheming, while Pinky is good-natured but feeble-minded. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan to take over the world which ultimately ends in failure, usually due to the impossibility of Brain's plan, Brain's own overconfidence, Pinky's bumbling, an oversight on Brain's part, circumstances beyond their control, or multiples thereof. In common with many other "Animaniacs" shorts, many episodes are in some way a parody of something else, usually a film or novel.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Many of the "Pinky and the Brain" episodes occur in the 1990s at Acme Labs, located in some large American city underneath a suspension bridge. Several episodes take place in historical times, with Pinky and Brain in the laboratory of some scientifically-minded person, including Merlin, H.G. Wells, Ivan Pavlov, and Johannes Gutenberg. There is very little continuity between episodes outside of the common fixtures of the two mice, though some plans for world domination from early episodes are subsequently referred to in later seasons; for example, Brain's mechanical human suit that was first used in "Win Big" reappears when Brain faces his rival Snowball in "Snowball".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The bulk of every episode involves one of Brain's plans for world domination with Pinky's assistance and the ultimate failure of that plan, with some exceptions. One centers on Snowball's plan to take over the world using Microsponge (a parody of Microsoft). Another episode features Brain's single day where he tries to do anything "but" take over the world: in the end, a group of people votes that he "should" take over the world on the one day that he does not "want" to.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Both Pinky and Brain, white lab mice kept as part of Acme Labs' experimentation, have undergone significant genetic alteration, per the show's title lyrics, "their genes have been spliced" which gives the two mice amplified intelligence over that of a typical mouse, the ability to talk to humans, and anthropomorphism. "Project B.R.A.I.N." suggests that the gene splicing occurred on September 9, 1995, which is coincident to the first full episode of "Pinky and the Brain". The episode "Brainwashed" states that the gene splicing was done by Dr. Mordough, along with Snowball the hamster and Precious the cat, using the Acme Gene Splicer, Bagel Warmer, and Hot Dog Steamer.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Although Pinky and Brain plan to conquer the world, they do not show much animosity. In a Christmas special, Pinky even wrote a letter to Santa Claus saying that Brain had the world's best interests at heart.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky (voiced by Rob Paulsen, who also voices Yakko from "Animaniacs") is a genetically modified mouse who shares the same cage as Brain at Acme Labs. Pinky is an extremely unstable and hyperactive mouse. He has several verbal tics, such as "Narf", "Zort", "Poit", and "Troz", the last of which he started saying after noticing it was "Zort" reflected backwards in a mirror. Pinky's appearance contrasts with Brain's — while Brain is short, has a crooked tail and pink sclerae, and speaks in a deeper, more eloquent manner, Pinky has a straight tail, blue sclerae, and a severe overbite, is taller than the Brain and speaks in a high-pitched voice with a Cockney British accent. Pinky's name was inadvertently given to him by Brain himself: when insulting the two scientists responsible for their gene splicing while talking to himself, Brain claimed the scientists had "less knowledge in both their heads than I do in my...pinky!" Pinky then responded with "Yes?", believing that Brain was referring to him.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky is more open-minded, kinder, and generally happier than the Brain. Troubles never ruin his day, possibly because he is too scatter-brained to notice them. He steadfastly helps Brain toward world domination, even though Brain usually berates, belittles and even abuses him. Pinky actually seems to enjoy this, often laughing after he is hit on the head. He is obsessed with trivia, spending a lot of time watching television in the lab and following popular culture fads. Sometimes, Pinky even finds non-rational solutions to problems. An entire episode (entitled "The Pinky P.O.V.") even shows a typical night of attempted world domination from his point of view, showing his thought processes and how he comes to the strange, seemingly nonsensical responses to Brain's famous question, "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" Pinky often points out flaws in the Brain's plans, which the Brain consistently ignores. The issues Pinky brings up can ironically lead to the downfall of the plan in the given night's plot.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: He is also Brain's moral compass and his only true friend. When Pinky sold his soul to the devil to give Brain the world in "A Pinky and the Brain Halloween", Brain saved him because he missed him and the world was not worth ruling without him. Pinky also has shown signs of intelligence, despite his supposed stupidity. In "Welcome to the Jungle", Pinky was able to survive using his instincts and become a leader to Brain, who, despite his intelligence, could not survive in the wild on his own. And in "The Pink Candidate", when Pinky became president, he later began citing various constitutional amendments and legal problems that would bar Brain from his latest plot to take over the world. When Brain attempted to pressure him into helping, Pinky refused, claiming that the plan "goes against everything I've come to stand for."


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The Brain or "Brain" for short (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) looks and sounds like Orson Welles. In "What Ever Happened to Baby Brain", Brain actually crosses paths with Welles, who is working as a busboy in a Hollywood restaurant, and they find themselves inadvertently yelling in unison, "Things will be different when I take over the world!" In "Project B.R.A.I.N.", Brain's name is the backronym for the eponymous project: "Biological Recombinant Algorithmic Intelligence Nexus". His tail is angular and bent — he often uses it to pick the lock of the cage door — and his head is large and wide, housing his abnormally large brain. He is highly intelligent and develops complex plans for global domination using politics, cultural references, and his own inventions toward his goal. He seems coldly unemotional, speaking in a snarky deadpan voice. Nevertheless, Brain has a subtle sense of humor and has even fallen in love, with Trudie in the episode "The Third Mouse" and with Billie in "The World Can Wait". Due to his stature and megalomania, Brain has been compared to Don Quixote and has been called a pop culture depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Brain sees his inevitable rise to power as good for the world and not as mere megalomania. In "Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish", he said to Pinky "We're on our way to fame, fortune and a world that's a better place for all." Many of the Brain's plots had the endgame of winning over the people's hearts and then having them make him their ruler. However, his motives are not pure. In one episode, Brain finds himself hypnotized by a psychologist whom he had planned to manipulate for one of his schemes, who turns out to be none other than Sigmund Freud. There Brain reveals that he originally lived with his parents in a tin can at the base of a tree in a large field. When he was young, ACME researchers captured Brain and took him from his home, and the last he saw of it was a picture of the world on the side of the can. Dr. Freud speculates that Brain's hunger to take over the world is misplaced, and that all he really wants is to go back home to his parents. According to the creators, Brain wants to take over the world not for the sake of being a dictator, like his rival Snowball, but because he believes that he could do a much better job of it than the people currently in charge. Brain has even helped save the world by doing everything in his power to prevent Snowball's evil schemes, knowing that a world under Snowball's rule would be a worst-case scenario. In the 2020 "Animaniacs" reboot, Brain gains a new rival in taking over the world in the form of his wife, Senator Julia Brain, after his attempts to mind-control her into becoming a puppet ruler for him led to her becoming insane.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Other characters that have appeared on the series have included both of Brain's and Pinky's parents and the duo's "son", "Roman Numeral I" (Romy for short) another white mouse who was the result of a cloning mistake. Episodes also include recurring caricatures of celebrities, including both Bill and Hillary Clinton, David Letterman, Dick Clark, Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, Kathy Kinney, J. D. Wilkes, Paul Gilmartin, Annabelle Gurwitch, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Eric and Donny from "Too Something", "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Allman Brothers Band, David Cross, Jack Black, Chris Shiflett, Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, and Christopher Walken, as was common on other "Animaniacs" cartoons.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: "Pinky and the Brain" was inspired by the peculiar personalities of two producers of Tom Ruegger's earlier show "Tiny Toon Adventures", Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, respectively. The two worked in the same office at Warner Bros. Animation and developed interesting personalities that the other staff had picked up on; Ruegger said that Minton seemed to be always scheming to take over the world, while Fitzgerald comedically agreed with him, injecting nonsense words like ""Narf"" and ""Egad"" around the office. The gag credit for the "Tiny Toon Adventures" episode "You Asked For It" credits Eddie Fitzgerald as "Guy Who Says 'Narf'". Series producer Peter Hastings described Eddie by saying, "He always greeted you like you were wearing a funny hat – and he liked it." During the development of "Animaniacs", animator Bruce Timm drew caricatures of Minton and Fitzgerald, and Ruegger then added mouse ears and noses to the drawing, cementing the concept for Pinky and the Brain. The Fitzgerald/Minton connection to Pinky and the Brain is shown in the episode "The Pinky and the Brain Reunion Special". Two characters shown as writers for Pinky and the Brain cartoons within the short are caricatures of Fitzgerald and Minton.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: While Ruegger initially based the Brain after Minton, the Welles connection came from Maurice LaMarche, a big fan of the actor/director, who had supplied the voice for Orson Welles in the 1994 movie "Ed Wood". LaMarche stated that on coming in to audition for the character of the Brain, he saw the resemblance to Welles and went with that for the voice, and he was given the role on the spot. LaMarche describes Brain's voice as "65% Orson Welles, 35% Vincent Price".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Brain's similarity to Orson Welles was made explicit in the "Animaniacs" episode "Yes, Always", which was based upon an outtake from one of Welles' television commercials, colloquially known as "Frozen Peas", in which he ranted about the poor quality of the script. This cartoon was described by writer Peter Hastings as "a $250,000 inside joke": LaMarche used excerpts from it as sound check material before recording episodes, and Hastings took it to its logical conclusion. The writers developed the script in secret playing off these test lines and the "Frozen Peas" outtakes, and arranged to have recording on the same day as Sam Kinison's funeral, whom LaMarche was a close friend of. Prior to LaMarche's arrival, the other voice actors, including Paulsen, recognized the humor of the script after they started reading it. According to Paulsen, when LaMarche arrived, he had originally kept his professionalism after the funeral, but broke down in happiness as he recognized the script for what it was. The series also alluded to Welles with an episode in which Brain took on the mind-clouding powers of a radio character called "The Fog": a parody of "The Shadow", a popular radio character for which Welles once provided the voice. Other Welles allusions included the episode "The Third Mouse", a parody of "The Third Man" in which the Brain played the part of Welles' character Harry Lime (with Pinky as Holly Martins), and "Battle for the Planet", in which Brain, inspired by Welles' infamous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast and the hysteria that it provoked, stages an alien invasion on television. A caricature of Orson Welles appears in a late episode of the series ("What Ever Happened to Baby Brain"), echoing a rant of the Brain's and introducing himself afterwards.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Paulsen had already been selected to voice Pinky as he was already voicing Yakko Warner for "Animaniacs". Paulsen, taking inspiration from British comedies such as "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "The Goon Show", and Peter Sellers, soon gave Pinky "a goofy whack job" of a British accent for the character.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The episode "Win Big" was the very first "Pinky and the Brain" skit. It was developed for "Animaniacs", written by Ruegger with a script by Peter Hastings, and directed by Rusty Mills. According to Ruegger, most of the elements that would become part of "Pinky and the Brain" can be found in Hastings's original script. It held many dialogue bits that became conventions of the entire series, including Brain's "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?", Pinky's "Oh...wait, no." in response to a plan, and Pinky's final question, "Why, Brain? What are we going to do tomorrow night?"


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: As with "Animaniacs", Steven Spielberg was the executive producer during the entire run, Tom Ruegger was the senior producer, Jean MacCurdy was the executive in charge of production, and Andrea Romano was the voice director. Peter Hastings, Rusty Mills and Liz Holzman produced the series when it was spun off from "Animaniacs", as well as the season it ran primetime on the WB. After the first season Hastings left the show and Mills took over as the supervising producer.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The original Pinky and the Brain shorts on "Animaniacs" were written primarily by Peter Hastings. Upon moving into its own series, the writing staff included Gordon Bressack, Charles M. Howell IV, Earl Kress, Wendell Morris, and Tom Sheppard. Comedian Alex Borstein was also a staff writer, years before her fame on "MADTV" and "Family Guy". Classic Warner Bros. cartoon director Norm McCabe also wrote for the series.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain were voiced by Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, respectively. The series also used the work of many of the same voice actors for "Animaniacs", including Tress MacNeille, Jess Harnell, Frank Welker, Nancy Cartwright, Janet Waldo and Jeff Bennett. Celebrities such as Roddy McDowall, Nora Dunn, Townsend Coleman, Ernest Borgnine, Eric Idle, Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, Steve Allen, Joyce Brothers, Gavin MacLeod, John Tesh, Michael McKean, Garry Marshall, Mark Hamill, James Belushi, and Steven Spielberg have all performed guest voice work for the series as well.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Cree Summer has also voiced characters in "Pinky and the Brain" and reprised her role as Elmyra Duff during "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: As with "Animaniacs", "Pinky and the Brain" was scored by a team of composers, led by Emmy-Award-winning composer Richard Stone. This team included Steven Bernstein and Julie Bernstein, who also orchestrated and sometimes conducted the 40-piece orchestra. The recordings were done on Stage A on the Warner Bros lot, the same stage (and with the same piano) where Carl Stalling recorded his "Looney Tunes" music. The theme song for "Pinky and the Brain" was composed by Richard Stone with lyrics by Tom Ruegger.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Two versions of the opening sequence and theme, with slightly different lyrics, were used during the "Animaniacs" skits. In the first version, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (voiced respectively by Paulsen, Harnell, and MacNeille) popped up in the lab and sang the theme while letting the two mice out of their cage. The second, later version had the singers off-camera as the Brain picked the lock on the cage door with a small needle to free himself and Pinky. On the "Pinky and the Brain" series, the theme gained an additional two verses and was sung by Harnell, Dorian Harewood, Jim Cummings, and Paulsen.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The score sometimes includes references to classical music. For example, in the episode where the Brain builds a new papier-mâché Earth, the theme from the 2nd and 4th movements of Dvořák's "New World Symphony" can be heard throughout the episode. The episode "Napoleon Brainaparte" makes frequent reference to the French anthem, "La Marseillaise", while in the episode in which Pinky becomes the artist "Pinkasso", Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" can be heard.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Like "Animaniacs", most of the original "Pinky and the Brain" skits used a variety of animation studios, including Tokyo Movie Shinsha, StarToons, Wang Film Productions, and AKOM. The bulk of the episodes created outside of "Animaniacs" (seasons 2 and beyond) were produced by Rough Draft Studios, Wang Film Productions and AKOM. The only episode that was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha on the spin-off series was "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Like "Animaniacs", much of the humor in "Pinky and the Brain" was aimed at adult audiences. Parodies of pop culture icons were quite common on the series, more so during the original episodes developed for the WB prime time slot. In addition to previously mentioned political and actor caricatures, some episodes included complete parodies like those in "Animaniacs". The episode "The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo" parodies "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (or simply "Winnie the Pooh"). "Cameos" include Jagger instead of Tigger and Algore instead of Eeyore. Algore is "full of hot air", and shown floating like a balloon. Other parodic elements include Christopher Walken in place of Christopher Robin and the "Brainie the Poo" book appears to have been written by "A. A. Meeting." The three-part episode "Brainwashed" included several allusions to the television show "The Prisoner", though everyone in this version of the Village was identified by the hat that they wore, and not by a number.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Three songs resemble the musical skits in "Animaniacs", matching existing music with new lyrics. Pinky sings "Cheese Roll Call" to John Philip Sousa's march "Semper Fidelis" praising his love for all cheeses from around the world. To the music of "Camptown Races", Brain lists the major parts of the human brain, with Pinky jumping in at the chorus to shout "Brainstem! Brainstem!". "A Meticulous Analysis of History" is set to "When I Was a Lad" from Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore", and sung by both Brain and Pinky, with Brain reciting the rise to power of such historical leaders as Napoleon and Cleopatra, while Pinky mentions how they all fell. In addition, "Brainwashed" featured a song called the Schmëerskåhøvên, a parody of the Macarena, which would brainwash people if it was done correctly. The song includes such odd lyrics as "Put your fingers in your ears, then stick them in your belly" and "Bop yourself on the head and cross your eyes."


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Like "Animaniacs", there was a gag credit in the closing credits: each show featured an English word appropriate for the episode with its definition. For example, "Around the World in 80 Narfs", where the mice are foiled by trying to speak "New York cabbie" and end up going in circles in one location, the gag credit word was "anophelosis" defined as "morbid state due to extreme frustration".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Another common element in nearly every episode is the following exchange (often referred to by the acronym "AYPWIP"):


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky's response ends with a non sequitur such as, "we're already naked", "isn't a cucumber that small called a gherkin?" or "if they called them Sad Meals, kids wouldn't buy them." Brain would then become furious, often bashing Pinky on the head. A few times in the series Pinky and Brain indeed pondered the same thing, though in one of these Pinky dismissed his idea as being too stupid. Just one time the answer was "Yes I am!", when Pinky's intelligence is elevated to match Brain's. In another episode, it turns out that what Pinky was pondering was that he and Brain never ponder the same thing, which turned out to be part of what Brain was pondering as well. In a short episode ("Pinky's P.O.V.") the spectator sees everything Pinky sees (including his imaginations) and hears his thoughts. His brain seems to censor a large portion of Brain's dialogue, leaving Pinky to wander into random internal tangents until Brain asks the question. Pinky then responds with whatever was on his mind at the end of the tangent.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain were popular on "Animaniacs", and the popularity continued into their own series. It attracted many of the same fans as "Animaniacs" and Internet outreach attracted more. Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen appeared on voice actor tours around the Warner Bros. Studio Stores.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: In an interview on the third DVD volume, LaMarche and Paulsen noted that Roy Langbord (vice-president of Showtime), Al Franken, and Barenaked Ladies are fans of the shows. Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin was also fond of the series; the character of the Brain served as an influence in the creation of Doctor Neo Cortex, the main antagonist of the "Crash Bandicoot" video game series.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: "Pinky and the Brain" won several Emmy and Annie Awards. In 1996, the series won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for the episode "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas". Paulsen won the Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for "Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Program Production" in 1996 and 1997, while LaMarche won the same in 1998. Paulsen also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as Pinky subsequently in 1999. The series itself won the 1999 Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: The episode "Inherit the Wheeze", in which Brain was subject to the effects of smoking by a tobacco company, won a PRISM Award for its anti-smoking message.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: "Pinky and the Brain" first appeared as a recurring skit on the animated series "Animaniacs", another series produced by Steven Spielberg. On September 3, 1993, "Pinky and the Brain" premiered on television in the episode "Win Big", which aired on the FOX network.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: On September 9, 1995, "Pinky and the Brain" were spun off onto their own half-hour series on Kids' WB!, with each episode consisting of one or more segments, including some of the segments from "Animaniacs". The first season was scheduled in a prime time slot from September 10, 1995 through July 21, 1996, as part of the new WB network lineup, with episodes also being repeated within the Saturday morning cartoon block. It had been envisioned for the series to be the WB network's answer to "The Simpsons", at that point in its 7th season, which was running on the FOX network. The series tended to have more jokes and humor aimed at adults rather than children. Due to poor ratings following the first season, primarily due to running against "60 Minutes", subsequent seasons were moved to Saturday mornings as part of the "Kids' WB!" programming block.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Even though they had their own series, they still had several shorts in "Animaniacs" after they got the series, still appeared in the series' intro and often made cameo appearances.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: In 1998, the overall structure within the WB Network changed, including the placement of Jamie Kellner as head of the Kids WB! programming. Along with this came pressure on the writers of the series to back off on the idea of world domination and to include more characters on the series. The episode "Pinky and the Brain...and Larry" was a response to this pressure, attempting to show the studio heads that the series was fine as it was, that Pinky and the Brain worked together as a comedy "duo" - each balancing each other out with their flaws and personalities - and that a third character (or "any" extra characters at all) would be out of place and thus unnecessary to the plot. At this point, Peter Hastings, a key writer for the series, decided to quit, with his last script being "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again!", directly addressing the issue of network executives trying to retool shows that otherwise already work. Following the production of the episode, the network backed off from forcing new characters into the show.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: With increased pressure from the WB network, the series eventually "was" retooled on September 19, 1998, into "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain", in which Pinky and the Brain were owned by "Tiny Toon Adventures" character Elmyra Duff; the unusual change in format was even sarcastically noted in the altered title song, with lyrics such as "It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?". The decision was not well received by the existing crew. For one, according to Paulsen, Spielberg had stated that the "Tiny Toons" and the "Animaniacs"/"Pinky and the Brain" universes were to be kept separate. Furthermore, the chemistry between the characters were altered; by introducing Elmyra (who tended to be even more dense than Pinky was), it shifted Pinky to become the useless "Larry" of this series, as described by Paulsen. This series lasted for 13 episodes, six of which were shown unedited and seven of which were split up into segments and aired as a part of "The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain, with voice work by Paulsen and LaMarche, were featured as primary recurring characters along with the Warner siblings as part of the 2020 revival of "Animaniacs" produced by Amblin and Warner Bros. for broadcast on Hulu. Two seasons of 13 episodes each were ordered, with the first season first broadcast on November 20, 2020 and the second first broadcast on November 5, 2021.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: "Pinky and the Brain", along with "Animaniacs", aired coincident with the formation of the Warner Bros. Studio Store chain across the United States, and, as a result, numerous T-shirts, coffee mugs, stuffed animals, animation cels, and original artwork from the show were available through these outlets. Other merchandise included comic books, computer games, and videotapes. When Warner Brothers acquired the Hanna-Barbera animation properties in 1998, there was a significant decrease with such merchandise through the store. By the time the series was cancelled, very little merchandise was available.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Four VHS collections of "Pinky and the Brain" episodes were released in 1996 and 1997, each with approximately two to four episodes that included shorts from "Animaniacs". These collections are now out of print.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: Pinky and the Brain were also regulars in the "Animaniacs" comic book series published by DC Comics. From July 1996 to November 1998, they also starred in their own comic book series (also published by DC Comics), which ran first for one "Christmas Special" issue and then 27 regular issues before its cancellation. Following the cancellation of the "Pinky and the Brain" series, the two mice later starred in stories that took up half of the later issues of the "Animaniacs" comic book series which, starting at issue #43, was re-titled "Animaniacs! featuring Pinky and the Brain" and ran for another 16 issues before the aforementioned series' cancellation.


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: There are two video games based on "Pinky and the Brain". The first, a PC game called "Pinky and the Brain: World Conquest", was produced by SouthPeak Games and distributed by Warner Bros. The second was "Pinky and the Brain: The Master Plan" for the Game Boy Advance. The game was produced by Warthog and distributed by SWING! Entertainment in 2002. A third game, titled simply "Pinky and the Brain", was announced for the Sega Saturn in 1996 and was planned to be published by Konami, but was later cancelled. The characters have also appeared in several of the "Animaniacs" video games, such as "".


title: Pinky and the Brain

text: While "Pinky and the Brain" does not feature as many songs as "Animaniacs", some of the music from the show can be found across the three "Animaniacs" CDs. An expanded version of the "Animaniacs" skit "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" presented in a radio drama or audiobook fashion was released as a read-along book and CD in 1997 by Rhino Entertainment.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: On August 2, 2010, at the age of 11, Mizuno joined Sakura Gakuin, an idol group managed by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. She joined at the same time as another future Babymetal member, Moa Kikuchi. Sakura Gakuin had not yet released its debut single. During their audition, Mizuno and Kikuchi performed a duo dance cover of "Over The Future" by Karen Girl's, two former members of which, Ayami Mutō and Suzuka Nakamoto, had also recently joined Sakura Gakuin.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: Besides performing as a whole group, Sakura Gakuin members were also divided into smaller subgroups known as "clubs." Each club had its own musical group that recorded its own songs. Mizuno and Kikuchi first became members of the "Baton Club" and its musical group Twinklestars. As backing singers and dancers, they were later teamed with lead singer Suzuka Nakamoto in a "Heavy Music" club, with the associated music group being named Babymetal. Before the formation of this club, none of the three members knew what heavy metal was.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: Babymetal became an independent recording group in 2012. Mizuno "graduated" from Sakura Gakuin in 2015, and from then on performed with Babymetal exclusively. Mizuno and Kikuchi have a writing credit under the name "Black Babymetal" on the first Babymetal album in 2014, having written "Song 4" together during a bus trip. The second Babymetal album, "Metal Resistance", was released in 2016.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: Following a leave from the show , Mizuno was absent from Babymetal's tour of the United States in May 2018, with no advance warning. Amid fan speculation on Mizuno's status with the group, a representative of 5B Management, the American management company representing Babymetal, replied to an inquiry from "Alternative Press Magazine" by saying that "Yuimetal remains a member of the band, but she is not on this current U.S. tour." However, she was also absent from Babymetal's European tour in June 2018. On October 19, 2018, Babymetal officially announced that Yuimetal would not be joining the band for the next phase of their tour and would no longer be a member of the group due to poor health. Mizuno released a statement shortly after about her decision to leave Babymetal, explaining that she may go on to pursue a solo career in the future.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: In third grade, Mizuno was a fan of Karen Girl's, Suzuka Nakamoto's previous group, and had dreamed of joining the group after their music helped her endure the "life-threatening" illness of a family member. The group disbanded, however, and she attended the group's farewell concert and met all three members. During the concert in 2012, Babymetal performed a cover of the Karen Girl's song "Over the Future". Mizuno says that moment was when her "dreams came true".


title: Yui Mizuno

text: She and her family are also close friends with Karen Girl's member Ayami Muto and her family; Mizuno and Muto were both members of Sakura Gakuin.


title: Yui Mizuno

text: Mizuno is known for being fond of tomatoes and likes to eat them whole. She has stated that she would want to eat tomatoes even when the world is ending. Mizuno has specified in one of her Sakura Gakuin diary entry that she loves to stargaze. She loves to look up to the stars during her commute time from school to home. She has also stated in her diary entry that she loves to read books about constellations as well. Mizuno has two brothers, one older and one two years younger than her.