title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: New England Institute of Religious Research's Executive Director the Rev. Bob Pardon warns in his report that "Messianic Communities, under the leadership of Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism" and a "Galatian heresy." The Tribes have responded with a line-by-line response to the report and they continue to contest its large "errors, distortions, misunderstandings, and misjudgments", while criticizing the heavy use of apostates in his report. In France, the group was listed on the 1995 Governmental Report by the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France under the name "Ordre apostolique – Therapeutic healing environment."


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: Twelve Tribes members Jean Swantko and husband Ed Wiseman have made efforts to combat social stigma and the anti-cult movement by engaging in dialogue with hostile ex-members, the media and government authorities. Swantko has presented at scholarly conferences including CESNUR Communal Studies Association and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion as well as a chapter in James T. Richardson's "Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe".


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: The Twelve Tribes has been cited by Stuart A. Wright as a group suffering from "front-end/back-end disproportionality" in media coverage. According to Wright, the media often focuses on unsubstantiated charges against the group, but as charges are investigated and as cases fall apart, the media covers them significantly less at the end than it does at the beginning. Wright then asserts that this leaves the public with the impression that the group was guilty of the disproven charges.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: On June 22, 1984, Vermont State police arrived at the Twelve Tribes’ Island Pond residences and took custody of hundreds of group members with their children, based on an investigation of accusations of child abuse. All cases were dismissed when a judge found that the search warrant was unconstitutional. The Island Pond raid has remained prominent in Vermont legal history and was the subject of a Vermont Bar Association seminar in 2006. The group held anniversary events in both 1994 and 2000; and produced a 75-minute documentary. The Vermont Chapter of the ACLU also criticized the raid, calling it "frightening" and "the greatest deprivation of civil liberties to have occurred in recent Vermont history." Richard Snelling, the then-Governor of Vermont who had authorized the raid, reportedly drew the "hottest political fire of his career" in the weeks after; while Vermont Attorney General John J. Easton Jr. attributed the raid to assisting his campaign for governorship. In 1992, John Burchard, who had been the State Commissioner of Social and Rehabilitation Services, and Vanessa L. Malcarne, published an article in "Behavioral Sciences and the Law", encouraging changes in the law that would have allowed the raid to succeed.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: The group teaches that the Jews are collectively responsible for the death of Christ, quoting Matthew 27:25. They are often labelled antisemitic, although the group repeatedly denies this accusation. Its members keep the Sabbath and the Jewish festivals of Pesach, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Youth hold Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, and they regularly perform Israeli folk dances.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: In 2001, "The New York Post" ran an article accusing the group of child labor violations; and later attributed itself as having prompted the investigation. The Twelve Tribes responded with a press conference at the ""Commonsense Farm"" where the alleged child labor had taken place. The Twelve Tribes reported that during a random inspection by Estée Lauder Companies, the company discovered that several 14-year-olds had been found assisting their fathers in the factory. This report was later confirmed by Estée Lauder who terminated their contract with Common Sense products. The group's official statement at the press conference stated that they believed that it was a family-owned business, and children ought to be able to help their parents in the business while making "no apology" for it. The New York State Department of Labor stated that they intended to visit all five of the Twelve Tribes' businesses. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer asserted that apprenticeships amounted to indentured servitude and were illegal. Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog, who had contracted with Common Wealth Woodworks (another of the group's industries that made furniture), also terminated their contract as a response to the allegations. The Labor Department found no violations at Common Sense Farm or Commonwealth Woodworks. They did propose a fine on two other industries: $2,000 for allegations of child labor law violations that the group's spokesperson, Jean Swantco Wiseman, was quoted in a news article as saying were for a 15-year-old pushing a wheelbarrow and another 15-year-old changing a lightbulb.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: In June 2018, another New York State investigation into the Common Sense Farm was launched, yielding allegations of child labor, after an Inside Edition article revealed children working in the group's soap factory. Twelve Tribes owned business Greener Formulas had contracted with brands including Acure and Savannah Bee to manufacture its private label bodycare products and was using the facilities of Common Sense Farm (also owned by the group) for production. Both Acure and Savannah Bee have since terminated their contracts with Greener Formulas.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: In Germany and France, the controversies centered on the issues of homeschooling, health, child abuse, and religious freedom. The group has several times been in conflict with authorities in Germany and France over homeschooling their children, with a particularly long and protracted dispute between the community in Klosterzimmern, in the municipality of Deiningen, Bavaria, and Bavarian education authorities. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany, with rare exceptions. When fines and arrests failed to have an effect on the community, authorities granted the group the right to operate a private school on the commune's premises in 2011, under state supervision. The agreement entailed that the school would not teach sex education and evolution. Authorities revoked the school's right to operate in 2013, after it refused to answer to allegations of physical abuse and a lack of certified teaching staff.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: According to a 2018 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Twelve Tribes teach their followers that the Bible holds that Blacks are servants of Whites, and that slavery was "a marvelous opportunity" for Black people.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: On September 5, 2013, German police raided two communities belonging to the Twelve Tribes and removed 40 children to protect them from continued abuse. The reasons for the raid were the film shootings of a TV reporter, Wolfram Kuhnigk, who managed to secretly record how the sect beat their children. The group admits that they use a "reed-like rod" for discipline, but denies abusing their children. Sociologist of religion Susan Palmer pointed out that the doctors found no evidence of mistreatment in September 2013 following the police raids. In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the German move to take away the children from the sect.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: On June 26, 2018, the religious group was showcased on the Vice HD channel in the United States on an episode of their Cults and Extreme Belief series, as former member Samie Brosseau accused the group of abusive practices.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: In July 2019, the FBI released a 40-page summary of the results of a closed preliminary investigation stemming from allegations of child abuse at the group's Hiddenite NC Property. The documents revealed the existence of other investigations over the years to include suspicions of child abuse in other compounds. There were also more bizarre allegations including deaths that were thought to be suspicious, allegations of oddities during spiritual rituals, as well as unsubstantiated allegations involving Founder Yoneq's conduct during his time in the Military. The documents also reveal the existence of a (now closed) Federal investigation into whether the State of Vermont had violated the group's civil rights in the 1984 raid.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: On February 19, 2020, Police in New South Wales Australia executed a search warrant as part of Strike Force Nanegai, on the group's Peppercorn Creek Farm property, seizing documents and other evidence in what has been a prolonged investigation into allegations of child abuse in the group.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: On March 3, 2020, police in New South Wales Australia returned for a more extensive search operation for stillborn babies buried on the property at Peppercorn Creek Farm and another of the groups properties. On March 7, an updated report said the body of at least one infant was found at the farm. In September 2020, NSW police announced in a statement they anticipated a close of the investigation late 2020 or early 2021. No official closure or criminal charges has been announced as of October 2021.


title: Twelve Tribes communities

text: In January 2022, early investigations into the origin of the Boulder County, Colorado Marshall Fire suggested a Twelve Tribes residential property may have been the point of origination for the fire. The fire investigation brought renewed media scrutiny of the Boulder-area group. In February 2022, the Boulder County Sheriff's office said the investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing, and that it was still considering coal mines, power lines, and human activity in the area as possible causes of the fire.


title: Orisha

text: Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The preferred spelling varies depending on the language in question: òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language, orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries.


title: Orisha

text: According to the teachings of these religions, the orishas are spirits sent by the supreme creator, Olodumare, to assist humanity and to teach them to be successful on "Ayé" (Earth). Rooted in the native religion of the Yoruba people, most orishas are said to have previously existed in òrún - the spirit world - and then became Irúnmọlẹ̀ - spirits or divine beings incarnated as human on Earth. Irunmole took upon a human identity and lived as ordinary humans in the physical world, but because they had their origin in the divine, they had great wisdom and power at the moment of their creation.


title: Orisha

text: Some believers and practitioners of the Ifá religion, where the pantheon system of orishas originates, believe that orishas are a different class of divine beings who became deified, divinized or transformed "after" their departure from their human state on Earth. These practitioners believe the orishas to have been ordinary humans who were deified upon their death due to the lives they led, their outstanding spiritual growth and extraordinary feats accomplished in their lives while on Earth.


title: Orisha

text: The orishas found their way to most of the New World as a result of the Atlantic slave trade and are now expressed in practices as varied as Santería, Candomblé, Trinidad Orisha, Umbanda, and Oyotunji, among others. The concept of òrìṣà is similar to those of deities in the traditional religions of the Bini people of Edo State in southern Nigeria, the Ewe people of Benin, Ghana, and Togo, and the Fon people of Benin.


title: Orisha

text: Yoruba tradition often says that there are 400 + 1 orishas, which is associated with a sacred number. Other sources suggest that the number is "as many as you can think of, plus one more – an innumerable number". Different oral traditions refer to 400, 700, or 1,440 orishas.


title: Orisha

text: Practitioners traditionally believe that daily life depends on proper alignment and knowledge of one's "Orí". Ori literally means the head, but in spiritual matters, it is taken to mean a portion of the soul that determines personal destiny.


title: Orisha

text: Some orishas are rooted in ancestor worship; warriors, kings, and founders of cities were celebrated after death and joined the pantheon of Yoruba deities. The ancestors did not die, but were seen to have "disappeared" and become orishas. Some orishas based on historical figures are confined to worship in their families or towns of origin; others are venerated across wider geographic areas.


title: Orisha

text: "Ase" is the life-force that runs through all things, living and inanimate, and is described as the power to make things happen. It is an affirmation that is used in greetings and prayers, as well as a concept of spiritual growth. Orìṣà devotees strive to obtain Ase through "iwa-pele", gentle and good character, and in turn they experience alignment with the ori, what others might call inner peace and satisfaction with life. Ase is divine energy that comes from Olodumare, the creator deity, and is manifested through Olorun, who rules the heavens and is associated with the sun. Without the sun, no life could exist, just as life cannot exist without some degree of ashe. Ase is sometimes associated with Eshu, the messenger orisha. For practitioners, ashe represents a link to the eternal presence of the supreme deity, the orishas, and the ancestors.


title: Orisha

text: The concept is regularly referenced in Brazilian capoeira. Axé in this context is used as a greeting or farewell, in songs and as a form of praise. Saying that someone "has axé" in capoeira is complimenting their energy, fighting spirit, and attitude.


title: Orisha

text: The orisa are grouped as those represented by the color white, who are characterized as "tutu" "cool, calm, gentle, and temperate"; and those represented by the colors red or black, who are characterized as "gbigbona" "bold, strong, assertive, and easily annoyed". Like humans, orishas may have a preferred color, food, or object. The traits of the orishas are documented through oral tradition.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: Daniel Dubois () is a British professional boxer who has held the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title since June 2022. He has previously held multiple regional heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2019 to 2020. As an amateur, he was a five-time national junior titlist and British champion. He is known for his punching power and currently holds a 95% knockout-to-win percentage.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: His father took him to the boxing gym at the age of nine to stay out of trouble in South London. He trains at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town, working under Tony and Martin Bowers. Dubois had around 75 amateur bouts. He won two English schoolboy titles, two junior ABAs plus the CYPs. Won the British Seniors. He spent a year and a half as part of the GB Elite set-up in Sheffield and boxed for England around a dozen times, competing at the European Youth championships twice and winning gold medals at multi-nations in Tammer (Finland) and Brandenburg (Germany). He left the amateurs early with only a handful of senior amateur bouts. He was on the Great Britain Olympic team with the plan to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, however he opted to turn professional instead, signing with boxing promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: Dubois' first fight as a professional was a knockout win in the first 35 seconds of the first round against Marcus Kelly in April 2017. In his fourth fight, he knocked out Mauricio Barragan, a late substitute, in the second round to win the vacant WBC Youth heavyweight title. In October 2017, he knocked out AJ Carter in the first round to claim the Southern Area heavyweight title. He won the English heavyweight title in his eighth fight in June 2018, beating journeyman Tom Little by stoppage in the fifth round. He won the WBO European title in March 2019, beating former WBO heavyweight title challenger, Razvan Cojanu, in two rounds. Dubois was taken the full distance for the first time by veteran Kevin Johnson in October 2018, winning on points after ten rounds, and beat Richard Lartey in the fourth round in April 2019.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: In July 2019, he beat Nathan Gorman by knockout in the fifth round to improve his record to 12 wins, 11 by stoppage, and win the vacant British heavyweight title. Boxing journalist Steve Bunce said he “...fought like an old, seasoned bruiser, his feet flawless, his jab a stiff weapon inherited from relics of the ring". BBC boxing correspondent Mike Costello described him as "...one of the brightest prospects in the sport at the moment."


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: In his next fight, Dubois faced Ebenezer Tetteh. Dubois blasted Tetteh out in the first round, while dropping him twice in the process.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: After that, Dubois faced Japanese heavyweight Kyotaro Fujimoto. Fujimoto was overmatched from the beginning, fighting to survive from the opening bell. In the second round, Dubois connected on a right hand that knocked out Fujimoto.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: On 29 August, 2020, Dubois had another dominant win, this time against Ricardo Snijders. Dubois managed to drop his opponent three times in the first round. The first round would end up being the last that Snijders would survive, as the referee waved the fight off after Dubois dropped his opponent for the fourth time.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: On 28 November 2020, Dubois made the first defence of his British and Commonwealth titles, alongside his WBC Silver and WBO International titles, in a highly anticipated domestic matchup against Joe Joyce at the Church House in London, with the vacant European title also on the line. In a closely contested fight that had implications for future world title hopes, Dubois was landing the harder and cleaner punches while Joyce stayed at range behind powerful jabs. The repeated accurate jabs from Joyce caused swelling to the left eye of Dubois from the second round. In the tenth, after another hard jab landed on his now-swollen-shut eye, Dubois went down on one knee, allowing the referee to count him out to suffer the first loss of his career. Following the fight it was revealed that Dubois had suffered a broken left orbital bone and nerve damage around the eye.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: After a layoff of over six months, Dubois returned to the ring on 5 June 2021 to face Bogdan Dinu in Telford. Dubois won the bout by second-round knockout, winning the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title in the process. The win also made him the mandatory challenger for the WBA (Regular) title held by undefeated Trevor Bryan.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: Dubois made his US debut on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley on 29 August 2021. He faced Joe Cusumano, and prevailed via first-round technical knockout victory. In his post-fight interview, he expressed interest in challenging Trevor Bryan for his WBA (Regular) title.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: On 11 June 2022, Dubois defeated Trevor Bryan by knockout in the fourth round to become the WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion in front of approximately 500 spectators at Casino Miami in Florida on a card promoted by Don King.


title: Daniel Dubois (boxer)

text: Dubois' father is from Grenada. His younger sister Caroline Dubois is also a boxer. She has represented Great Britain and in 2018 became the -60 kg European Junior, World Youth and Youth Olympic champion.


title: Stupa

text: A stupa (, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as "śarīra" – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.


title: Stupa

text: In Buddhism, circumambulation or "pradakhshina" has been an important ritual and devotional practice since the earliest times, and stupas always have a "pradakhshina" path around them. The original South Asian form is a large solid dome above a tholobate or drum with vertical sides, which usually sits on a square base. There is no access to the inside of the structure. In large stupas there may be walkways for circumambulation on top of the base as well as on the ground below it. Large stupas have or had "vedikā" railings outside the path around the base, often highly decorated with sculpture, especially at the torana gateways, of which there are usually four. At the top of the dome was a thin vertical element, with one of more horizontal discs spreading from it. These were "chatra"s, symbolic umbrellas, and tend not to have survived, if not restored. The Great Stupa at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, is the most famous and best-preserved early stupa in India.


title: Stupa

text: Apart from very large stupas, designed to attract pilgrims, there were large numbers of smaller stupas in a whole range of sizes, which typically had much taller drums, relative to the height of the dome. Small votive stupas paid for by pilgrims might be less than a metre high, and laid out in rows by the hundred, as at Ratnagiri, Odisha.


title: Stupa

text: As Buddhism spread, other forms were used for the same purposes, and the chortens of Tibetan Buddhism, and the pagodas of East Asian Buddhism are some of these. In South-East Asia various rather different elongated shapes of dome evolved, leading to high, thin spires. A related architectural term is a "chaitya", which is a prayer hall or temple containing a stupa.


title: Stupa

text: Stupas may have originated as pre-Buddhist tumuli in which śramaṇas were buried in a seated position called chaitya.


title: Stupa

text: In early Buddhist inscriptions in India "stupa" and "caitya" appear to be almost interchangable, though "caitya" has a broader meaning, and unlike "stupa" does not define an architectural form. In pre-Buddhist India "caitya" was a term for a shrine, sanctuary or holy place in the landscape, generally outdoors, inhabited by, or sacred to, a particular deity. In the "Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra", near the end of his life the Buddha remarks to Ananda how beautiful are the various "caitya" round Vaishali. In later times and in other countries Cetiya/caitya implies the presence of important relics. Both words have forms prefixed by "maha" for "great", "large" or "important", but scholars find the difference between a "mahastupa" and a "stupa", or "mahacetiya" and "cetiya" hard to pin down.


title: Stupa

text: Some authors have suggested that stupas were derived from a wider cultural tradition from the Mediterranean to the Ganges Valley, and can be related to the conical mounds on circular bases from the 8th century BCE that can be found in Phrygia (tomb of Midas, 8th c. BCE), Lydia (such as the tomb of Alyattes, 6th c. BCE), or in Phoenicia (tombs of Amrit, 5th c. BCE).


title: Stupa

text: Archaeologists in India have observed that a number of early Buddhist stupas or burials are found in the vicinity of much older, pre-historic burials, including megalithic sites. This includes site associated with the Indus Valley civilization where broken Indus-era pottery was incorporated into later Buddhist burials. Structural features of the stupa- including its general shape and the practice of surrounding stupas with a stone or wooden railing- resemble both pre-Mauryan era cairn burials, as well as pre-historic relic burials found in southern India. Some stupas not believed to have been looted have been found to be empty when excavated, as have some pre-historic cairn sites, and animal bones are suspected to have occasionally been deposited at both types of sites.


title: Stupa

text: Religious buildings in the form of the Buddhist stupa, a dome shaped monument, started to be used in India as commemorative monuments associated with storing sacred relics of the Buddha. After the parinirvana of the Buddha, his remains were cremated and the ashes divided and buried under eight mounds with two further mounds encasing the urn and the embers.


title: Stupa

text: According to some early Buddhist sources, the Buddha himself had suggested this treatment, and when asked what a stupa was, had demonstrated the basic design: he folded his robe on the ground, placed his begging-bowl upside down on it, with his staff above that.


title: Stupa

text: The relics of the Buddha were spread between eight stupas, in Rajagriha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagrama, Pava, Kushinagar, and Vethapida. The Piprahwa stupa also seems to have been one of the first to be built.


title: Stupa

text: Lars Fogelin stated that the Vaisali relic stupa and Nigali Sagar stupa are likely the earliest archaeologically known stupas.


title: Stupa

text: Guard rails —consisting of posts, crossbars, and a coping— became a feature of safety surrounding a stupa. The Buddha had left instructions about how to pay homage to the stupas: "And whoever lays wreaths or puts sweet perfumes and colours there with a devout heart, will reap benefits for a long time". This practice would lead to the decoration of the stupas with stone sculptures of flower garlands in the Classical period.


title: Stupa

text: According to Buddhist tradition, Emperor Ashoka (rule: 273—232 BCE) recovered the relics of the Buddha from the earlier stupas (except from the Ramagrama stupa), and erected 84,000 stupas to distribute the relics across India. In effect, many stupas are thought to date originally from the time of Ashoka, such as Sanchi or Kesariya, where he also erected pillars with his inscriptions, and possibly Bharhut, Amaravati or Dharmarajika in Gandhara. Ashoka also established the Pillars of Ashoka throughout his realm, generally next to Buddhist stupas.


title: Stupa

text: The first known appearance of the word "Stupa" is from by Ashoka on the Nigali Sagar pillar (spelled in Pali in the Brahmi script as 𑀣𑀼𑀩𑁂 ""Thube"" ).


title: Stupa

text: Stupas were soon to be richly decorated with sculptural reliefs, following the first attempts at Sanchi Stupa No.2 (125 BCE). Full-fledged sculptural decorations and scenes of the life of the Buddha would soon follow at Bharhut (115 BCE), Bodh Gaya (60 BCE), Mathura (125-60 BCE), again at Sanchi for the elevation of the toranas (1st century BCE/CE) and then Amaravati (1st-2nd century CE). The decorative embellishment of stupas also had a considerable development in the northwest in the area of Gandhara, with decorated stupas such as the Butkara Stupa ("monumentalized" with Hellenistic decorative elements from the 2nd century BCE) or the Loriyan Tangai stupas (2nd century CE).


title: Stupa

text: The stupa underwent major evolutions in the area of Gandhara. Since Buddhism spread to Central Asia, China and ultimately Korea and Japan through Gandhara, the stylistic evolution of the Gandharan stupa was very influential in the later development of the stupa (and related artistic or architectural forms) in these areas. The Gandhara stupa followed several steps, generally moving towards more and more elevation and addition of decorative element, leading eventually to the development of the pagoda tower. The main stupa type are, in chronological order:


title: Stupa

text: It is thought that the temple in the shape of a truncated pyramid may have derived from the design of the stepped stupas which developed in Gandhara. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is one such example, formed of a succession of steps with niches containing Buddha images, alternating with Greco-Roman pillars. The structure is crowned by the shape of a hemispherical stupa topped by finials, forming a logical elongation of the stepped Gandharan stupas such as those seen in Jaulian.


title: Stupa

text: Although the current structure of the Mahabdhodi Temple dates to the Gupta period (5th century CE), the "Plaque of Mahabhodi Temple", discovered in Kumrahar and dated to 150-200 CE based on its dated Kharoshthi inscriptions and combined finds of Huvishka coins, suggests that the pyramidal structure already existed in the 2nd century CE. This is confirmed by archaeological excavations in Bodh Gaya.


title: Stupa

text: This truncated pyramid design also marked the evolution from the aniconic stupa dedicated to the cult of relics, to the iconic temple with multiple images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This design was very influential in the development of later Hindu temples.


title: Stupa

text: Stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East Asia, where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics. The Indian gateway arches, the "torana", reached East Asia with the spread of Buddhism. Some scholars hold that "torii" derives from the torana gates at the Buddhist historic site of Sanchi (3rd century BCE – 11th century CE). In Tibet, the stupa became the chorten, and the pagoda in East Asia. The pagoda has varied forms that also include bell-shaped and pyramidal styles. In the Western context, there is no clear distinction between a stupa and a pagoda. In general, however, "stupa" is the term used for a Buddhist structure in India or Southeast Asia while "pagoda" refers to a building in East Asia which can be entered and which may be used for secular purposes. However, use of the term varies by region. For example, stupas in Burma tend to be referred to as "pagodas."


title: Stupa

text: Stupas were built in Sri Lanka soon after Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura converted to Buddhism. The first stupa to be built was the Thuparamaya. Later, many more were built over the years, some like the Jetavanaramaya in Anuradhapura, being one of the tallest ancient structures in the world.


title: Stupa

text: The Asian words for pagoda ("tā" in Chinese, "t'ap" in Korean, "tháp" in Vietnamese, "tō" in Japanese) are all thought to derive from the Pali word for stupa, thupa, the Sanskrit pronunciation being "stupa". In particular the type of the tower-like stupa, the last stage of Gandharan stupa development, visible in the second Kanishka stupa (4th century), is thought to be the precussor of the tower stupas in Turkestan and the Chinese pagodas such as Songyue Pagoda (523 CE).


title: Stupa

text: The earliest archaeological evidence for the presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE. Some of the oldest known examples of stupas are found in Vaishali, Kushinagar, Piprahwa, Ramgram, Sanchi, Sarnath, Amaravati and Bharhut.


title: Stupa

text: With the top of its spire reaching 120.45 meters in height, Phra Pathommachedi in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand is the tallest extant stupa in the world. The Swat Valley hosts a well-preserved stupa at Shingardar near Ghalegay; another stupa is located near Barikot and Dharmarajika-Taxila in Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, the ancient city of Anuradhapura includes some of the tallest, most ancient and best preserved stupas in the world, such as Ruwanwelisaya.


title: Stupa

text: The most elaborate stupa is the 8th century Borobudur monument in Java, Indonesia. The upper rounded terrace with rows of bell-shaped stupas contained Buddha images symbolizing Arūpajhāna, the sphere of formlessness. The main stupa itself is empty, symbolizing complete perfection of enlightenment. The main stupa is the crown part of the monument, while the base is a pyramidal structure elaborated with galleries adorned with bas relief scenes derived from Buddhist texts and depicting the life of Gautama Buddha. Borobudur's unique and significant architecture has been acknowledged by UNESCO as the largest Buddhist monument in the world. It is also the world's largest Buddhist temple. as well as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world.


title: Stupa

text: The Benalmádena Stupa is the tallest stupa in Europe. It is high and was inaugurated on 5 October 2003, the final project of Buddhist master Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche. Rinpoche built his first stupa at Karma Guen near Málaga in 1994, a symbol of peace and prosperity for Spain. Rinpoche went on to build 16 more stupas in Europe before his death in 2003.


title: Stupa

text: A stupa was built on the ground of the Kalachakra Kalapa Centre in southwest Styria, Austria, between 2000 and 2002.


title: Stupa

text: A stupa based on the bell shaped stupas at Boropodur, Central Java, is located at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery near Hemel Hempstead in the United Kingdom.


title: Stupa

text: Built for a variety of reasons, Buddhist stupas are classified based on form and function into five types:


title: Stupa

text: "The shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire; his head is the square at the spire's base; his body is the vase shape; his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace; and the base is his throne."


title: Stupa

text: Although not described in any Tibetan text on stupa symbolism, the stupa may represent the five purified elements:


title: Stupa

text: To build a stupa, Dharma transmission and ceremonies known to a Buddhist teacher are necessary. The type of stupa to be constructed in a certain area is decided together with the teacher assisting in the construction. Sometimes the type is chosen directly connected with events that have taken place in the area.


title: Stupa

text: All stupas contain a treasury filled with various objects. Small clay votive offerings called "tsatsa"s in Tibetan fill most of the treasury. Creation of various types of tsatsas is a ceremony itself. Mantras written on paper are rolled into thin rolls and put into small clay stupas. One layer of tsatsas is placed in the treasury, and the empty space between them is filled with dry sand. On the thus created new surface, another layer of tsatsas is made, and so on until the entire space of the treasury is full.


title: Stupa

text: The number of tsatsas required to completely fill the treasury depends on its size and the size of the tsatsa. For example, the Kalachakra stupa in southern Spain contains approximately 14,000 tsatsas.


title: Stupa

text: Jewellery and other "precious" objects are also placed in the treasury. It is not necessary that they be expensive, since it is the symbolic value that is important, not the market price. It is believed that the more objects placed into the stupa, the stronger the energy of the stupa.


title: Stupa

text: An important element in every stupa is the "Tree of Life". This is a wooden pole covered with gems and thousands of mantras; it is placed in the central channel of the stupa. It is positioned during a ceremony or initiation, where the participants hold colorful ribbons connected to the Tree of Life. Together, the participants make their most positive and powerful wishes, which are stored in the Tree of Life. In this way the stupa is charged, and starts to function.


title: Stupa

text: Building a stupa is considered extremely beneficial, leaving very positive karmic imprints in the mind. Future benefits from this action result in fortunate rebirths. Fortunate worldly benefits will be the result, such as being born into a rich family, having a beautiful body, a nice voice, being attractive, bringing joy to others, and having a long and happy life in which one's wishes are quickly fulfilled. On the absolute level, one will also be able quickly to reach enlightenment, the goal of Buddhism.


title: Stupa

text: Destroying a stupa, on the other hand, is considered an extremely negative deed, similar to killing. Such an action is said to create massive negative karmic imprints, leading to serious future problems. It is said this action leaves the mind in a state of paranoia after death has occurred, leading to totally unfortunate rebirths.


title: Stupa

text: Stupas in Tibet and the Tibetan influenced regions of the Himalayas such as Bhutan are usually called chorten in English, reflecting the term in the Tibetan language. There are eight different shapes of chortens in Tibetan Buddhism, each referring to a major event in the Buddha's life. The chortens are often made as a set, placed in a row. The Tibetan set differs slightly (by two events) from the Indian set of Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha.


title: Stupa

text: Also known as "Stupa of Heaped Lotuses" or "Birth of the Sugata Stupa", this stupa refers to the birth of Gautama Buddha. "At birth Buddha took seven steps in each of the four directions" (east, south, west and north). In each direction lotuses sprang up, symbolizing the brahmavihāras: love, compassion, joy and equanimity. The base of this stupa is circular and has four steps, and it is decorated with lotus-petal designs. Occasionally, seven heaped lotus steps are constructed. These refer to the seven first steps of the Buddha.


title: Stupa

text: Also known as the "Stupa of the Conquest of Mara", this stupa symbolizes the 35-year-old Gautama Buddha|Buddha's attainment of enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, where he conquered worldly temptations and attacks, manifesting in the form of Mara.


title: Stupa

text: This stupa is also known as the "Stupa of Many Gates". After reaching enlightenment, the Buddha taught his first students in a deer park near Sarnath. The series of doors on each side of the steps represents the first teachings: the Four Noble Truths, the Six Pāramitās, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Twelve Nidānas.


title: Stupa

text: At 42 years of age, Buddha spent a summer retreat in the Tuṣita Heaven where his mother had taken rebirth. In order to repay her kindness he taught the dharma to her rebirth. Local inhabitants built a stupa in Sankassa in order to commemorate this event. This type of stupa is characterized by having a central projection at each side containing a triple ladder or steps.


title: Stupa

text: Also known as the "Stupa of Conquest of the Tirthikas", this stupa refers to various miracles performed by the Buddha when he was 50 years old. Legend claims that he overpowered "maras" and heretics by engaging them in intellectual arguments and also by performing miracles. This stupa was raised by the Lichavi kingdom to commemorate the event.


title: Stupa

text: This stupa commemorates the Buddha's resolution of a dispute among the "sangha". A stupa in this design was built in the kingdom of Magadha, where the reconciliation occurred. It has four octagonal steps with equal sides.


title: Stupa

text: This stupa commemorates Buddha's successful prolonging of his life by three months. It has only three steps, which are circular and unadorned.


title: Stupa

text: This stupa refers to the "parinirvana" or death of the Buddha when he was 80 years old. It symbolizes his complete absorption into the highest state of mind. It is bell-shaped and usually unornamented.


title: Stupa

text: A ninth kind of stupa exists, the Kalachakra stupa. Its symbolism is not connected to events in the Buddha's life, but instead to the symbolism of the Kalachakra Tantra, created to protect against negative energies.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Steven Brent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac (particularly the "Ace Ventura" franchise), his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his film "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist" (2002), along with his films "", "Santa vs. the Snowman 3D", "Barnyard" and "The Nutty Professor" remake.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Oedekerk was raised in Huntington Beach, California, by his mother Rena Borlandeli and father Martin Oedekerk. He attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California and Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He is of Dutch Frisian, Irish, Hungarian and Italian (Lombard) descent. His mother is an emigrant from Magnago, Italy. His paternal grandfather was an Afrikaner born in South Africa to Dutch parents. On February 15, 2019, Oedekerk's father Martin died.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Throughout his career, Oedekerk has appeared in and created several television specials for NBC, ABC, and UPN. He also contributed his writing talents to FOX during the late 1980s and through the early 1990s. It was during this time that Oedekerk befriended fellow comic/actor Jim Carrey while working on the television series "In Living Color" during its 1990–1994 run; this was the first of numerous collaborations between the two.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Prior to his successful contributions to several unknown episodes in the "Color" TV series, he wrote and starred in his first independent/directorial film, "Smart Alex" (1987). It wasn't until 1991 that Oedekerk was attached not only as a writer, but also as the protagonist, as Thane Furrows in the film "High Strung". Jim Carrey also starred opposite him in the role of Death, although he went uncredited. They eventually developed a strong friendship, which still exists today. Shortly afterward, Oedekerk again worked alongside Carrey as the project consultant for Tom Shadyac's first film "" (1994). The film became a break-out success and he was given the opportunity to both direct and write its sequel, "" (1995). This time Oedekerk directed and wrote the movie after Shadyac left before filming. The sequel proved to be more successful, surpassing the box office gross of the original. Despite this, both Oedekerk and Carrey wanted to pursue other projects, but still remained friends.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Following the "Ace Ventura" franchise, Oedekerk co-wrote "The Nutty Professor" (1996), which was also directed by Shadyac for Universal Pictures; it became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. He soon wrote, directed and also had a cameo appearance in "Nothing to Lose" (1997), starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. Oedekerk took a hiatus from directing major film productions for the rest of the 1990s, but continued to write screenplays, including "Patch Adams" (1998), "" (2000), "" (2001), "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist" (2002) (which he directed, wrote and starred in), "Bruce Almighty" (2003) and "Barnyard" (2006) (which he directed, wrote, produced, and voiced various characters). In 2003, he signed a first look deal with Universal.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: In 2007, Oedekerk produced the screenplay and story for the "Bruce Almighty" sequel, "Evan Almighty;" again, Shadyac directed both films. He has also been commissioned to write the screenplay for the "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" film adaptation; Jim Carrey has since been cast in the title role. No news involving the project has been reported since.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: In February 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Steve Oedekerk would be penning a film adaptation of the Stretch Armstrong superhero doll. As of 2016, the film is left in development hell with an animated series currently in the works.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: In 2015, it was announced that a sequel to "Kung Pow" is currently in the works with him returning to write and direct.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: O Entertainment is a production company founded by Steve Oedekerk in 1990. O Entertainment's productions include the Thumbmation series ("Thumb Wars", "Bat Thumb", "Thumbtanic", etc.), "Santa vs. the Snowman 3D", "Jimmy Neutron: The Boy Genius", "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", "Back at the Barnyard", "Planet Sheen", and the movie "The Super Mouse". The animation division, Omation Animation Studio, was founded by Oedekerk himself and hired animators who previously worked in DNA Productions after the studio closed down in 2006.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: In 1990, Oedekerk founded an entertainment company, O Entertainment. In 1997, he created and starred in a variety special for NBC, featuring computer animation, entitled "The O Show" (also known as "steve.oedekerk.com"). He is also executive producer of the computer animated series "" on Nickelodeon.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Omation Animation Studio (commonly known as Omation) is an animation studio founded by the same founder who founded O Entertainment, Steve Oedekerk. In 2002, he founded the animation division of O Entertainment, Omation Animation Studio (better known as Omation), whose first animation project was the feature film "Barnyard" (which Oedekerk wrote, directed, produced, and voice acted in). Around 2006–2007, the studio began production on a Nicktoon based on the film titled "Back at the Barnyard". The series premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2007. A second season followed, and six additional episodes airing on Nickelodeon's sister channel Nicktoons from September 12, 2011, until November 12, 2011.


title: Steve Oedekerk

text: Oedekerk also gained popularity with his series of "Thumbmation" shorts: "Thumb Wars", "Bat Thumb", "The Godthumb", "Frankenthumb", "The Blair Thumb" and "Thumbtanic".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his feature-film directing debut. It stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol, along with E.G. Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, and Judd Omen. Described as a "parody" or "farce version" of the 1948 Italian classic "Bicycle Thieves", it tells the story of Pee-wee's nationwide search for his stolen bicycle.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: After the success of "The Pee-wee Herman Show", Reubens began writing the script for "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" when he was hired by the Warner Bros. film studio. Impressed with Burton's work on the short films "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie", the producers and Reubens hired him to direct. Filming took place in California and Texas.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: The film was released on August 9, 1985, grossing over $40 million in North America. It became a cult film and continued to accumulate positive feedback. It was nominated for a Young Artist Award and spawned two stand-alone sequels, "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988) and "Pee-wee's Big Holiday" (2016). Its financial success, followed by the equally successful "Beetlejuice" in 1988, prompted Warner Bros. to hire Burton to direct the 1989 film "Batman".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Pee-wee Herman has a heavily accessorized bicycle that he treasures and that his neighbor and enemy, Francis Buxton, covets. Dottie, an employee at a bike shop, has a crush on Pee-wee, but he does not reciprocate.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Pee-wee's bike is stolen while he is shopping at a mall, but the police tell Pee-wee they cannot help him find it. Pee-wee assumes Francis took it, and confronts him, but Francis' father convinces Pee-wee that Francis was at home when the bike was stolen. Pee-wee offers a $10,000 reward for the bike. Francis, who did indeed pay to have someone steal the bike, is disturbed by Pee-wee's relentlessness and pays to have the bike sent away. That evening, Pee-wee holds an unsuccessful evidentiary meeting of friends and neighbors to find the bike, then rejects offers of help. He then visits a psychic who, spying a bargain basement across the street, tells Pee-wee that his bike is in the basement of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Pee-wee hitchhikes to Texas, getting rides from a fugitive convict named Mickey, and from Large Marge, the ghost of a truck driver. At a truck stop, Pee-wee finds his wallet is missing, and pays for his meal by washing dishes. He befriends Simone, a waitress who dreams of visiting Paris. As they watch the sun rise from within a roadside dinosaur statue, he encourages her to follow her dreams, but Simone tells him about her boyfriend, Andy, who disapproves. Andy himself appears and tries to attack Pee-wee, who escapes onto a moving train. Pee-wee arrives at the Alamo, but learns at the end of a guided tour that the building does not have a basement.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: At a bus station, Pee-wee encounters Simone, who tells him she broke up with Andy and is on her way to Paris. She tells Pee-wee not to give up searching for his bike. Pee-wee calls Dottie at the bike shop and apologizes for his behavior. Andy spots Pee-wee and resumes chasing him. Pee-wee evades Andy at a rodeo by disguising himself as a bull rider. Forced to ride a bull, Pee-wee nearly sets a world record but receives a concussion. He visits a biker bar to make a phone call, and a biker gang threatens to kill him after he accidentally knocks over their motorcycles. He wins them over by dancing to the song "Tequila" in a pair of platform shoes, and they give him a motorcycle for his journey, which he crashes immediately.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: He awakens in a hospital and sees a television news report in which his bike is being used as a prop in a film. Pee-wee sneaks into Warner Bros. Studios with Milton Berle in Burbank and grabs the bike. Security guards chase him across the studio lot and through several active sets before he escapes.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Having escaped the lot, Pee-wee discovers a burning pet shop and rescues the animals. The firefighters declare Pee-wee a hero, but the police arrest Pee-wee for his intrusion at the studio. They return Pee-wee to the studio to face Warner Bros. president Terry Hawthorne. After Pee-wee pleads his case that the bike belongs to him, Hawthorne decides to drop the charges and return Pee-wee's bike in exchange for the rights to adapt his story into a film starring James Brolin as "P.W. Herman" and Morgan Fairchild as Dottie. In the film, the characters must retrieve their stolen motorbike – which contains an important microfilm – from the Soviets. Pee-wee has a bit role as a hotel bellhop, though his voice has been dubbed.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Seeing the film at a drive-in theater, Pee-wee gives refreshments to the different people he met along his journey, then joins Dottie at their bikes. He also encounters Francis, who tells reporters he is Pee-wee's best friend and that he taught Pee-wee how to ride. Francis claims to be knowledgeable about Pee-wee's bike, but sets off one of the bicycle's gadgets, catapulting himself into the air.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Pee-wee wants to leave the drive-in, and Dottie asks why he is not staying to watch the rest of the film. Pee-wee answers "I don't have to see it, Dottie. I lived it." He and Dottie then ride off together silhouetted against the screen.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Michael Varhol, who co-wrote the script with Reubens and Hartman, cameos as a photographer. Director Tim Burton has an uncredited cameo as the street thug who confronts Pee-wee in a rainy back alley. Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) portrays the Biker Mama of Satan's Helpers. James Brolin portrays P.W. Herman and Morgan Fairchild is Dottie in the film-within-a-film production about Pee-wee's life. Heavy metal band Twisted Sister and veteran comedy star Milton Berle cameo as themselves with the latter being uncredited.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: The success of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" prompted Warner Bros. to hire Paul Reubens to write a script for a full-length Pee-wee Herman film. His original concept was a remake of "Pollyanna" (1960), Reubens' favorite film, with Pee-wee Herman in the Hayley Mills role. While writing the script, Reubens noticed that many at Warner Bros. rode bicycles around the backlot and requested one of his own. This inspired Reubens to start a new script.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Having left Walt Disney Productions and with "Frankenweenie" receiving positive reviews within film studios, Tim Burton was seeking a full-length film to direct. When Reubens and the producers of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" saw Burton's work on "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie", they decided to hire him. Burton felt that he connected with Reubens' personality and the humor of the "Pee-wee Herman Show". After hiring Burton, Reubens, Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol revised the script. They read Syd Field's classic book "Screenplay" and wrote the script according to the book's advice. "It's a 90-minute film, it's a 90-page script," Reubens explained. "On page 30 I lose my bike, on page 60 I find it. It's literally exactly what they said to do in the book...There should be like a MacGuffin kind of a thing, something you're looking for, and I was like, 'Okay, my bike.'"


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Filming locations included Glendale, Pomona, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Burbank, Cabazon (at the Cabazon Dinosaurs) and Port Hueneme in California as well as San Antonio, Texas. Burton and Reubens clashed with Warner Bros. studio executives over the shooting schedule. Burton hired CalArts classmate Rick Heinrichs for scenes involving stop-motion animation. Large Marge's claymation transformation was created by the Chiodo Brothers.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Burton brought in Danny Elfman, the lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo who had composed the music for "Forbidden Zone", to compose the film's score. Elfman was hesitant at first given his lack of scoring experience, but had written the main title theme by the time that he signed on.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Elfman's original score draws inspiration from film composers Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann; the main title music pays homage to Rota's "Carlotta's Galop" from Fellini's "8½" and the tracks "Stolen Bike" and "Clown Dream" pay homage to Herrmann's scores for "Psycho" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" respectively. "Studio Chase" pays homage to Miss Gulch's theme from "The Wizard of Oz".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: In 1986, record label Varèse Sarabande released an album featuring cues from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and those from another Elfman-scored film, "Back to School" (1986). While the scores for both films were recorded in Hollywood, the album was recorded in London and performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Coleman. In 2010, many of the original tracks were released by Warner Bros. Records as part of "The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Elfman went on to score nearly all of Burton's films, excluding "Ed Wood", "" and "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: "Clown Dream" is also featured in the video game "Grand Theft Auto V" and is often played as the opening music during Primus concerts.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" opened on August 9, 1985 in the United States in 829 theaters, accumulating $4,545,847 over its opening weekend. It went on to gross $40,940,662 domestically.


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" received generally positive reviews on its release before eventually becoming a cult film. As of May 2020, "Rotten Tomatoes" reports that 87% of 46 critics gave it a positive review, with an average rating of 7.85/10. The critical consensus reads: ""Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" brings Paul Reubens' famous character to the big screen intact, along with enough inspired silliness to dazzle children of all ages." By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 47 from 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The film was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Family Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical).


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Christopher Null gave positive feedback, calling it "Burton's strangest film". "Variety" compared Paul Reubens to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, while "Empire" called the film "a one-comic masterpiece" and "a dazzling debut" for Burton. Stephanie Zacharek of "Salon.com" explained: "Everything about "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", from its toy-box colors to its superb, hyper-animated Danny Elfman score to the butch-waxed hairdo and wooden-puppet walk of its star and mastermind is pure pleasure." Burton was offered the opportunity to direct "Big Top Pee-wee", but was not interested and was already working on his own pet project, "Beetlejuice". Positive reviews for "Beetlejuice" and the financial success of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" prompted Warner Bros. to hire Burton to direct "Batman".


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Roger Ebert of "The Chicago Sun-Times" did not review "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" upon its original release. In 1987 the film topped his "Guilty Pleasures" list, saying he was impressed by "how innocent, how playful and how truly eccentric" the film was, and how the film created "a whole fairy-tale universe" comparable to "Alice in Wonderland" or "Lord of the Rings". Ebert also mentioned "Big Adventure" in his review of "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988), explaining how moving away from the "zany weirdness" of the first Pee-wee Herman film led to a sequel that was "not as magical". In a review for the "Los Angeles Times", Michael Wilmington wrote, "The wrong crowd will find these antics infantile and offensive. The right one will have a howling good time." David Ansen of "Newsweek" described the film as "Mattel Surrealism, a toy-store fantasia in primary colors and '50s decor. Whoever proposed teaming up Pee-wee (a.k.a. Paul Reubens) with 26-year-old director Tim Burton knew what they were doing ... Together they've conspired to make a true original—a live-action cartoon brash enough to appeal to little kids and yet so knee-deep in irony that its faux naivete looks as chic as the latest retrofashions."


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: A more negative assessment came Gene Siskel of "The Chicago Tribune", who gave "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" a rare zero-star rating in his print review, writing that he had enjoyed Herman's guest spots on "Late Night with David Letterman" but "[o]bviously, Pee-Wee is tolerable only in Pee-Wee doses ... You have to be a lot funnier on the big screen than on the tube to sustain a feature-length story." Siskel included the film in his unranked year-end list of the worst movies of 1985. Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" was also negative, writing that apart from a couple of scenes it was "the most barren comedy I've seen in years, maybe ever."


title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

text: Warner Home Video released "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" on DVD in May 2000, with audio commentary by Tim Burton, Paul Reubens and Danny Elfman (the latter on a separate track, alongside an isolated score) and some deleted scenes. The film was release on Blu-ray disc in 2011.


title: Kojima Productions

text: Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 2015 by video game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the "Metal Gear" series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside Konami also known as Kojima Productions. The team had around 100 employees, but grew to over 200 for "". After leaving Konami, Kojima founded an independent studio with a slightly altered Japanese name in Shinagawa.


title: Kojima Productions

text: The production team was formed in April 2005, after Konami merged several subsidiaries including Kojima's group at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. Kojima said the merger relieved him of business management and administrative burdens he had as KCEJ's vice president, and that as head of Kojima Productions he could focus on creating games. According to Kojima, while he now held a position on the Konami board, he still had to persuade staff to invest in his game ideas.


title: Kojima Productions

text: The name of the team follows Konami's "<> production(s)" naming style used between 2004 and 2015. Other production teams include , , and alongside others.


title: Kojima Productions

text: On March 16, 2015, Konami announced that it had restructured the game development operations to change the production structure to a headquarters-controlled system, in order to establish a steadfast operating base capable of responding to the rapid market changes that surround our digital entertainment business". A few days later, an anonymous Konami employee stated that Kojima and the studio's senior staff had planned to leave Konami in December 2015 following the conclusion of their contracts and the release of "The Phantom Pain". Konami denied that Kojima was leaving the company and stated that he would still be involved with the company and the "Metal Gear" franchise. Kojima affirmed that he was still "100% involved" in "The Phantom Pain" and was determined to make it the greatest game he could. In December 2015, the production team was nominated for Developer of the Year at The Game Awards 2015, but lost to CD Projekt Red. Kojima was reportedly blocked from attending the event by Konami's lawyers, requiring Big Boss's actor Kiefer Sutherland to accept the awards for "The Phantom Pain" on his behalf.


title: Kojima Productions

text: On December 16, 2015, in a joint announcement with Sony Computer Entertainment, Kojima announced that he would start an independent studio, alongside Yoji Shinkawa and Kenichiro Imaizumi. The studio announced that it would develop a new franchise for PlayStation 4. Kojima stated that he "will be taking on a new challenge by establishing my own independent studio, and I am thrilled to be able to embark on this journey with PlayStation, who I have continued to work with all these past years". At E3 2016, Kojima unveiled a trailer to "Death Stranding" during Sony's pre-E3 conference. It was released by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2019, and a PC version was released by 505 Games on Windows in July 2020. In November 2019, the studio announced their plans to make films.


title: Kojima Productions

text: Kojima modeled the philosophy of Media Molecule when reforming the studio. After visiting the company in 2016, he simultaneously modeled his own, wanting "a small, intimate type of studio". Kojima praised their high number of female employees and relaxed atmosphere, which he compared to that of a family. He set a limit of one hundred employees for the studio, similar to Media Molecule.


title: Kojima Productions

text: Imaizumi left the company in 2019. In April 2020, the office was closed after an employee contracted COVID-19 in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.


title: Kojima Productions

text: In November 2021, it was announced that it would open a new business division for films and television series in Los Angeles.


title: Kojima Productions

text: On June 12, 2022, during Microsoft's digital presentation, Kojima announced that it had partnered with Xbox Game Studios to develop a new game featuring a "never before-seen concept" and leveraging Microsoft's "cutting-edge cloud technology".


title: Kojima Productions

text: In December 2022, it was announced that Kojima Productions will produce a film based on "Death Stranding" with Hammerstone Studios.


title: Kojima Productions

text: Though Kojima had been working on games at Konami, the production team was not officially formed until 2005. However, Konami retroactively referred to his past games as belonging to the studio. His games for Konami were released until 2015.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Median household disposable income in the UK was £29,400 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2019, up 1.4% (£400) compared with growth over recent years; median income grew by an average of 0.7% per year between FYE 2017 and FYE 2019, compared with 2.8% between FYE 2013 and FYE 2017.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The rise in median income has occurred during a period where the employment rate grew by 0.5 percentage points, while real total pay for employees increased by an average of 1.0% across the 12 months in FYE 2019 compared with FYE 2018.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Median income of people living in retired households increased by 1.1% (£300), while the median income of people living in non-retired households grew by 1.3% (£400).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: There are a number of different sources of data on income which results in different estimates of income due to different sample sizes, population types (e.g. whether the population sample includes the self-employed, pensioners, individuals not liable to tax), definitions of income (e.g. gross earnings vs original income vs gross income vs net income vs post tax income).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) is a dataset from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) based on individuals who could be liable to tax. HMRC does not hold information on individuals whose income is below the personal allowance (£8,105 in 2012/13). Furthermore, SPI does not include income from non taxable benefits such as housing benefits or Jobseeker's Allowance.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is a dataset from an annual survey of approximately 50,000 businesses by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and covers annual earnings, public and private sector pay differential and the gender pay gap. ASHE does not cover individuals who are self-employed.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset is based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It includes information on equalised household disposable income and can be used to represent the distribution of household income and income inequality (Gini coefficient).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Other data sources include Average Weekly Earnings, Labour Force Survey, Index of Labour Cost per Hour, Unit Labour Costs, Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income / Living Costs and Food Survey, European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, Pensioners Income Series, Wealth and Assets Survey, National Accounts Estimates of Gross Disposable Household Income, and Small Area Income Estimates.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The most recent SPI report (2012/13) gave annual median income as £21,000 before tax and £18,700 after tax. The 2013/14 HBAI report gave median household income (2 adults) as £23,556. The provisional results from the April 2014 ASHE report gives median gross annual earnings of £22,044 for all employees and £27,195 for full-time employees.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: According to the OECD the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is $27,029 a year (in USD, ranked 14/36 OECD countries), the average household net financial wealth per capita is estimated at $60,778 (in USD, ranked 8/36), and the average net-adjusted disposable income of the top 20% of the population is an estimated $57,010 a year, whereas the bottom 20% live on an estimated $10,195 a year giving a ratio of 5.6 (in USD, ranked 25/36).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The 2013/14 HBAI reported that 15% of people had a relative low income (below 60% of median threshold) before housing costs.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Data from HMRC 2012-13; incomes are before tax for individuals. The personal allowance or income tax threshold was £8,105 (people with incomes below this level did not pay income tax).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Income can vary considerably by location. For example, the locations (local administrative unit) with the highest incomes were the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster with median annual incomes of £58,300, £37,800 and £35,200 respectively. The locations with the lowest incomes were Hyndburn, Torbay, and West Somerset with median annual incomes of £17,000, £16,900 and £16,000 respectively.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: A 2017 report from Trust for London found that London has a poverty rate of 27%, compared to 21% in the rest of England.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The tables below shows the ten highest and ten lowest paid occupations in the UK respectively, as at April 2014.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Data from the "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) report from the Department of Work and Pensions 2013/14:


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: Data from HMRC – Percentile points of the income distribution as estimated from the "Survey of Personal Incomes", note this only includes individuals who pay some income tax:


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The net worth information is based on data from HMRC for 2004-2005 and includes marketable assets including house equity, cash, shares, bonds and investment trusts. These values do not include personal possessions.


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The Institute for Fiscal Studies issued a report on the UK's highest earners in January 2008. There are 42 million adults in the UK of whom 29 million are income tax payers. (The remainder are pensioners, students, homemakers, the unemployed, those earning under the personal allowance, and other unwaged.) A summary of key findings is shown in the table below:


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The top 0.1% are 90% male and 50% of these people are in the 45 to 54 year age group. 31% of these people live in London and 21% in South East England. 33% of these people are company directors (as reported to HMRC). 30% work in finance and 38% in general business (includes law). The very richest rely on earnings (salary and bonuses) for 58% of income. Income from self-employment (such as partnerships in law or accountancy firms) accounts for 23% of income and about 18% from investment income (interest and share dividends).


title: Income in the United Kingdom

text: The "Family Resources Survey" is a document produced by the Department for Work and Pensions. This details income amongst a representative sample of the British population. This report tabulates sources of income as a percentage of total income.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published in 1994 and follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute. Subtitled "A Savannah Story", with an initial printing of 25,000 copies, the book became a "New York Times" Best-Seller for 216 weeks following its debut and remains one of the longest-standing "New York Times" Best-Sellers.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The book was adapted for Clint Eastwood's 1997 film, with several characters' names changed to protect their privacy.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: In tone, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is atmospherically Deep South coastal (Savannah, Georgia, and Beaufort, South Carolina) and Southern Gothic, depicting a wide range of eccentric personalities in and around Savannah.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The central narrative concerns the shooting of Danny Hansford, a local male prostitute (characterized as "a good time not yet had by all" by Prentiss Crowe, a Savannah socialite), by respected antiques dealer Jim Williams, who was also his employer. This resulted in four murder trials, with the fourth ending in acquittal after the judge finally agreed to a change of venue to move the case away from the Savannah jury pool. The book describes Williams' version of the killing, which is that it was in "self-defense"—the result of Hansford, who was prone to fits of rage, shooting at Williams with a gun that was on display, and Williams shooting back to protect himself—and not murder, pre-meditated or otherwise, by Williams. The death occurred in Williams' Mercer House home, which is now a museum.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The book highlights many other notable Savannah residents, including The Lady Chablis, a local transgender woman, club performer, and entertainer. Chablis provides both a Greek chorus of sorts as well as a light-hearted contrast to the more serious action. Chablis was given a dedicated chapter, as was Emma Kelly, the "lady of 6,000 songs.”


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The book's plot is based on real-life events that occurred in the 1980s and is classified as non-fiction. Because it reads like a novel (and rearranges the sequence of true events in time), it is sometimes referred to as a "non-fiction novel."


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: Although the book's timeline is set to coincide with the entire saga of Jim Williams' arrest and four trials for murder, in reality Berendt did not meet Williams for the first time until 1982 — after the millionaire had already been convicted of murder the first time and released pending appeal. Berendt also did not move to Savannah to collect material for his book until 1985 — after Williams' second conviction for the murder. Williams was a free man and living in Mercer House during Berendt's five years in Savannah.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: "The only fictional character in the book is the narrator, me, until I catch up with myself midway through the book," Berendt said in 1995. "I felt that was a legitimate license to take. The book is 99 percent true and 1 percent exaggeration."


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: In the first chapter, Berendt and Williams are interrupted by Hansford's screaming entrance; this happened prior to their meeting. "Jim was having drinks with somebody else," explains Berendt. "Jim told me about it and so did somebody else. So I reconstructed it, put myself in there. The first evening in Mercer House is a combination of a lot of stories he told me. Then afterward, I meet all these people — Joe Odom, Chablis, Lee Adler. I met all these people, obviously, after the murder, but they don't impact the murder at all, so I simply put them right after my meeting with Jim, and it seems as though I met them before the shooting and I didn't, but so what? All of those meetings with people were actual meetings. They took place in '85 or later, and they are pretty much verbatim what happened with those people and me."


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: Nancy Hillis, who appears as Mandy Nichols, later explained that, contrary to Berendt's portrayal of her, she did not meet Joe Odom until he had moved from 16 East Jones Street to 101 East Oglethorpe Avenue, part of the John Hunter duplex. She also clarified that there was no romantic relationship between her and Odom, largely because Odom was gay. Odom died in 1991, over two years before the book was published, but this is not mentioned in its narrative.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The person represented by Serena Dawes (a composite character of Helen Avis Drexel) died in 1974, over twenty years before the book's release.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The title alludes to the hoodoo notion of "midnight," the period between the time for good magic (11:30 P.M. to midnight) and the time for evil magic (midnight to 12:30 A.M.).


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: Although Bonaventure Cemetery is the focus in the book, "the garden of good and evil" refers principally to the cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina, where Dr. Louis Buzzard, the husband of Minerva, the folk-magic practitioner who figures in the story, is buried. It is over his grave that Minerva performed the incantations to ensure a more successful result in the retrial for the case of Jim Williams. (The marriage between Minerva and Dr. Buzzard was the invention of John Berendt. Dr. Buzzard was based on Stephen Robinson, who died in 1947, aged 86.)


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The "Bird Girl" statue, designed both as art and as a birdseed holder, was originally located at Savannah's historic Bonaventure Cemetery. A Savannah photographer, Jack Leigh, was commissioned to take a photograph for the cover of the book. The cover image became immediately iconic, with author John Berendt calling it "one of the strongest covers I've ever seen", and the statue became a popular stop for tourists. Owing to rising concerns about the integrity of the statue and the cemetery's privacy, "Bird Girl" was relocated in 1997 for display in Telfair Museums in Savannah.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: In 1993, the year before the book's publication, Savannah had five million visitors, who spent almost $600 million during their time in the city. Two years after the book's release, Savannah was seeing a 46% increase in tourism. Twenty years later, the number of visitors to the city had jumped to 12.5 million, spending $2.2 billion.


title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

text: The book won the 1995 Boeke Prize and was one of the finalists for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction.


title: Pearl Jam discography

text: The discography of American rock band Pearl Jam, consists of 11 studio albums, 15 live albums, three compilation albums, 36 singles, and numerous official bootlegs.


title: Pearl Jam discography

text: Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by bassist Jeff Ament, guitarist Stone Gossard, and guitarist Mike McCready, who then recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. The band signed to Epic Records in 1991. A few months after the completion of the band's debut studio album, "Ten", drummer Dave Abbruzzese joined the band. "Ten" broke Pearl Jam into the mainstream, and became one of the best-selling alternative albums of the 1990s. Following an intense touring schedule, the band went into the studio to record what would become its second studio album, "Vs." Upon its release, "Vs." set the record for most copies of an album sold in a week, and spent five weeks at the top of the "Billboard" 200. Burdened by the pressures of success, Pearl Jam decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos. In 1994, the band released its third studio album, "Vitalogy", which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status.


title: Pearl Jam discography

text: Following Abbruzzese's exit in 1994, original Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons joined the band. Pearl Jam subsequently released "No Code" in 1996 and "Yield" in 1998. The band once again changed drummers in 1998, with Irons being replaced by Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who had previously worked with the members of Pearl Jam in the Temple of the Dog project and had drummed on the band's first demos. Cameron has remained as Pearl Jam's drummer ever since. In 1998, Pearl Jam released "Last Kiss" on the band's fan club Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" became the band's highest-charting single, peaking at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100. In 2000, Pearl Jam released its sixth studio album, "Binaural", and initiated a series of "official bootlegs" of live albums. The band released 72 such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the "Billboard" 200 at the same time. The band's seventh studio album, 2002's "Riot Act", was their last for Epic. After a one-record deal with J Records in 2006 for the distribution of their eighth studio album, the eponymous "Pearl Jam", the band started releasing through self-owned label Monkeywrench Records, starting with their ninth studio album, "Backspacer", in 2009. Since its inception, Pearl Jam has sold 32 million albums in the US, including all of the band's live official bootlegs, and over 100 million copies worldwide until 2017. Pearl Jam released their eleventh studio album, "Gigaton", on Monkeywrench Records/ Republic Records on March 27, 2020, in the US. Internationally, the album was distributed by Universal Music Group International.


title: Pearl Jam discography

text: In addition to the live albums such as "Live on Two Legs", "Live at Benaroya Hall", "Live at the Gorge 05/06", "Live on Ten Legs, Let's Play Two" and myriad live versions of studio songs spread across singles as B-sides, the band has released an official bootlegs series of live recordings for each show of each tour since its 2000 European tour, with the exception of the 2004 Vote for Change tour and its 2007 European tour. The band has sold more than 3.5 million<nowiki> </nowiki>copies of shows from the launch of this series in 2000 through to their 2008 tour. For its 2000 and 2003 tours, the bootlegs consisted of double-disc (and sometimes triple-disc) albums. The bootleg series switched over to MP3 format for the band's 2005 shows and expanded to include lossless FLAC format for its 2006 tour. Official bootlegs are available for all of the band's tours since 2008 in FLAC, MP3, and CD formats.


title: Pearl Jam discography

text: Every year since 1991 (with the exception of 1994), Pearl Jam has rewarded members of their official fan club (Ten Club) with exclusive, vinyl singles. The singles were initially mailed out during the holiday season. However, actual holiday season delivery of subsequent singles has become somewhat hit or miss throughout the years. Packaged alongside the yearly holiday singles, "Analog" members also receive a copy of the band's magazine, "Deep". The majority of the tracks on the albums are either covers and/or live versions of songs. There are also many notable guest artists featured with Pearl Jam on many of the songs. The band announced on December 27, 2018, that the holiday singles would be discontinued after the 2017 and 2018 singles were released.


title: Urwa Hocane

text: UrwaTul Wusqua Hussain, better known by her stage name Urwa Hocane (born 2 July 1991) is a Pakistani actress, model and media personality. She made her acting debut with "Khushboo Ka Ghar" as Rukhsana in 2012. Hocane is best known for portraying Meera in "Udaari" which earned her Hum Awards for Best On-screen Couple shared with Farhan Saeed and nomination in Hum Awards for Best Actress Popular. She played a role of Guddi in Momina Duraid's "Mushk" which earned her Lux Style Award for Best Actress Critics nomination.


title: Urwa Hocane

text: She made her film debut with Nabeel Qureshi's romantic comedy "Na Maloom Afraad" and later appeared in "Punjab Nahi Jaungi" directed by Nadeem Baig. In 2022, she is all set to make her debut as a producer with romantic drama "Tich Button".


title: Urwa Hocane

text: Hocane was born in Karachi, but she grew up in Islamabad where she completed her education from Bahria College, Islamabad. She is the sister of another television actress Mawra Hocane. As a teenager, she performed as a theatre artist before she started working as a VJ for ARY Musik. As a sign of filial devotion to her younger sibling Mawra, when Urwa started her career she chose to use the name Hocane and over time, it stuck.


title: Urwa Hocane

text: Hocane made her acting debut with leading role in the 2012 romantic drama "Meri Ladli" alongside Ahsan Khan and Sajal Ali. She later appeared in serials such as "Kahi Un Kahi", and "Madiha Maliha". Her portrayal of a girl subjected to family pressures and a forced wedding in "Marasim".


title: Urwa Hocane

text: She made her film debut in the 2014 romantic comedy "Na Maloom Afraad" opposite Fahad Mustafa, Mohsin Abbas Haider and Javed Sheikh. The film received generally positive reviews, and she was praised for her performance. She was offered Ekta Kapoor's Bollywood film "Azhar" alongside Emran Hashmi, which she refused saying, she was not going to do kissing and bold scenes on screen.


title: Urwa Hocane

text: In January 2019, Hocane announced her first project as a producer, a romantic film with husband Farhan Saeed titled "Tich Button". They are producing the film together. In March Hocane posted picture from her shooting spell of "Tich Button" at Nankana Sahib, on her Instagram account.


title: GOG.com

text: GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through its digital platform for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux.


title: GOG.com

text: Poland, where CD Projekt and Good Old Games were founded, had previously been under communist rule but in 1989, the old government had fallen in favor of a more liberal government which spurred economic growth. While under Communism, copyright laws in Poland were virtually non-existent and unenforceable, and copyright infringement, in the form of piracy by stripping out any digital rights management (DRM), was rampant across electronic media. The consumer perception of copyright in Poland remained the same after the change of government, making it difficult for legitimate sales of electronic media; pirated and bootlegged versions were sold in open markets next to boxed copies of the legitimate productions for a fraction of the cost.


title: GOG.com

text: CD Projekt was founded by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński in 1994 for the purposes to trying to bring legitimate sales of foreign game titles into Poland, knowing they would have no easy way to compete against pirated copies. They would obtain import rights from foreign publishers, and where possible, provide in-game localization for text and voice lines, typically through reverse engineering to decompile the game's code. They would then package the game with localized instruction manuals and other physical goodies, hoping that the added features would draw buyers away from pirated copies. Their first major success was with "Baldur's Gate" (1998) with which they had 18,000 units sold on its first day of release in Poland. Due to this success, Interplay, the publisher of "Baldur's Gate", asked CD Projekt if they could do a similar treatment to "", a console title released in 2001. As their past work had been strictly on personal computers, the company accepted to try to port it, but the project fell through before it was completed. However, as a result, CD Projekt realized they had the ability to make their own games, and moved into games development. This eventually proved fruitful, as it ultimately landed the company with rights to "The Witcher" video game series. The company's interest in game distribution has declined since then.


title: GOG.com

text: Digital distribution grew in the 2000s, along with the use of DRM to control access to games, which raised some resentment with players. CD Projekt saw potential to look back at their distribution days to offer DRM-free versions of classic games through digital distribution, using their past experience in reverse engineering to make the games work on modern platforms and provide a wide array of localization options. In this manner, they would have a reason to draw players to buy their product instead of simply downloading it for free from pirate game websites and services. They founded a new subsidiary, Good Old Games, to serve this purpose in early 2008. Their first challenge was to find a publisher that would be willing to work with them; they spoke to several who were generally unaware of CD Projekt; their first big break was from Interplay, who knew of the company's past work, and allowed them to offer their games on the service. After some time, Good Old Games was approached by Ubisoft, who were interested in selling their older titles through the service as well. Once Ubisoft was signed, it became easier for Good Old Games to convince other publishers to allow them to offer older titles on the service.


title: GOG.com

text: During a period of days from 19 to 22 September 2010, the GOG.com website was disabled, leaving behind messages on the web site and their Twitter accounts that the site had been closed. A spokesman for Good Old Games reiterated that the site was not being shut down, and confirmed news would be forthcoming about changes to the service. A clarification posted on the site on 20 September 2010 said they had to shut down the site temporarily "due to business and technical reasons", with industry journalists believing the shutdown may be related to the nature of DRM-free strategy, based on Twitter messages from the company. On 22 September 2010, GOG.com revealed that this shutdown was a marketing hoax as part of the site coming out of beta. The site's management, aware of the reactions to the fake closure, stated: "First of all we'd like to apologize to everyone who felt deceived or harmed in any way by the closedown of GOG.com. As a small company we don't have a huge marketing budget and this is why we could not miss a chance to generate some buzz around an event as big as launching a brand new version of our website and even more important, bringing back "Baldur's Gate" to life!"


title: GOG.com

text: The site returned on 23 September 2010, with an improved storefront and additional benefits, as outlined during a webcast presentation. During the presentation, GOG.com's co-founder Marcin Iwiński and managing director Guillaume Rambourg had dressed as monks to atone for their sins. The relaunch of the site was considered by Rambourg to have been successful, having brought new customers that were previously unaware of GOG.com. As promised after its relaunch, GOG.com was able to offer several Black Isle Studios games such as "Baldur's Gate", "" and "Icewind Dale" which have previously been unreleased through any download service due to legal issues about the ownership of "Dungeons & Dragons"-related games between Atari, Hasbro, and other companies.


title: GOG.com

text: On 27 March 2012, Good Old Games announced that it was branching out to feature "AAA" and independent titles in addition to older games. The site was rebranded to GOG.com.


title: GOG.com

text: In October 2012, GOG.com was announced to be bringing DRM-free games to OS X. This included the previously Steam exclusive (OS X version) "The Witcher" and "The Witcher 2", both made by CD Projekt Red. GOG.com gathered user feedback in a community wishlist, and one of the most demanded feature requests was support for native Linux games, which gathered close to 15,000 votes before it was marked as "in progress". Originally GOG.com representatives said, that there are technical and operational issues which make it harder than it seems, however it's something they would love to do, and they have been looking at. On 18 March 2014, GOG.com officially announced that they would be adding support for Linux, initially targeting Ubuntu and Linux Mint in the fall of 2014. On 25 July 2014, Linux support was released early, and 50 games were released compatible with the operating system. Several of the launch titles included games that were newly compatible with Linux, while most of the games already supported downloads made for the operating system on other distribution platforms.


title: GOG.com

text: On 27 August 2014 GOG.com announced the launch of the new addition to their service – distribution of DRM-free films. GOG.com offers DRM-free downloading in mp4 format and streaming of video in standard and DRM-free HTML fashion which doesn't bind users to any specific platforms or devices. The movies are made available in Full HD 1080p, 720p and 576p for limited bandwidth or download quotas; however, a few titles do not have the Full HD 1080p format available. GOG.com started by adding 21 documentaries about Internet culture and gaming. They also have plans for adding fiction films and series; according to GOG.com's managing director Guillaume Rambourg, they were in talks with many major studios. While studios' representatives liked the idea, they also were reluctant to let go of their current DRM approach until some other major studio would make the first step. Still GOG.com plan to work on overcoming the initial reluctance and moving DRM-free video forward.


title: GOG.com

text: On 9 December 2013, GOG.com introduced a money-back guarantee for the first 30 days if a customer faces unresolvable technical problems with a bought game. On 26 February 2020, GOG extended this policy to offer a full refund up to 30 days after purchasing a product, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played.


title: GOG.com

text: Beginning 2 April 2015, GOG.com began to offer DRM-free downloads to holders of game keys from boxed copies of select games whose DRM validation systems no longer operate; examples are the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." series and the "Master of Orion" series. Over $1,700,000 of retail game purchases had been redeemed through this system by November 2017.


title: GOG.com

text: In August 2018, GOG created an anti-digital rights management program called "FCK DRM". The homepage of the initiative offers links to the websites of Defective by Design, the EFF, Bandcamp, itch.io, Wikisource, Project Gutenberg and other projects that promote free culture.


title: GOG.com

text: In February 2019, GOG announced layoffs and the end of its Fair Price Package program. When a game was purchased in a region with higher prices than most others, this program would provide the purchaser with store credit equal to the difference in price.


title: GOG.com

text: Some insider sources in GOG told Kotaku that GOG was "dangerously close to being in the red" and that the market's move toward higher developer revenue shares would affect the company's profitability.


title: GOG.com

text: On 19 November 2020, Nvidia and GOG announced a collaboration that allows GOG.com users to launch "Cyberpunk 2077" through the cloud gaming service GeForce Now. Both companies announced they also expect to support "" in the future and that they "have more news coming soon".


title: GOG.com

text: GOG.com works to offer older games as well as new releases to users, with the product lacking any type of digital rights management to give consumers the ability to install the game anywhere and as many times as they want.


title: GOG.com

text: Prior to any development work to bring an older game for use on modern computers, legal experts within GOG.com need to track down all ownership rights to games and make sure that all necessary parties agree to their redistribution. This can be difficult for many games of the late 1990s and early 2000s, where very few publishers and developers kept digital records of their legal documentation, and there were large numbers of acquisitions and dissolutions that make tracking down rights difficult and take years to complete. One difficult case was acquiring the rights for the Strategic Simulations "Gold Box" series games, due to the number of acquisitions that Strategic Simulations went through since the 1990s. GOG.com offers users a means to request back-catalog games they would like to see, and the company uses this list to identify games that may require more extensive licensing research. Some of this work has been done in coordination with Nightdive Studios, who were able to find and acquire the rights to "System Shock 2", one of the most requested games at GOG.com for years, and have since found and relicensed other older games thought lost to licensing issues.


title: GOG.com

text: In order to ensure compatibility with newer versions of operating systems and current PC hardware, games are pre-patched and restored by GOG.com. Whenever possible, GOG.com attempts to acquire the game's original source code, which can prove as difficult as determining the legal rights to games. From this, they can work to make the game compatible with modern and future hardware, directly apply compatibility fixes, and sometimes incorporate well-established community-made patches from a game's fan-community. They also will seek external help with some of the code issues, approaching developers that may have previously worked on the title for assistance. They may also need to reverse engineer the game's code if it is not available. In cases where it is impossible to recode the game, they will instead package the game with open-source emulation or compatibility software, such as ScummVM and DOSBox


title: GOG.com

text: For newer titles, particularly for indie games, GOG.com offers the ability to publish their games on the site starting 2013. GOG.com offers indie developers a typical 70/30 split on revenue (meaning GOG.com takes 30% of the sale), as well as an option for an upfront payment to the developer, with GOG.com then taking 40% of the sales until the upfront payment has been covered, reverting the cost back to 30%. Such games are still distributed DRM-free.


title: GOG.com

text: On 26 March 2009, GOG.com announced it had signed a deal with Ubisoft to publish games from their back catalogue; this was the first deal with a major publisher to offer DRM-free downloads. The deal to publish through GOG.com also included games that were not available through any other online distribution channel.


title: GOG.com

text: On 5 September 2014, GOG.com started to sell Amiga games from Cinemaware's catalogue, starting with Defender of the Crown. This was technically made possible through Cinemaware's own written emulator called "Rocklobster".


title: GOG.com

text: On 28 October 2014, GOG.com was able to secure another major publisher as a DRM-free partner, Disney Interactive / LucasArts. With this new partnership, GOG.com began to re-release several often-requested game titles from LucasArts, starting with six titles ("", "", "Sam & Max Hit the Road", "", "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" and ""). On 5 May 2015, GOG.com released "Pacific General" and "Fantasy General" and named itself, GOG Ltd, as the publisher. The company revealed that it had acquired the copyright to these titles and that it intends to acquire more in the future.


title: GOG.com

text: On 26 August 2015, Bethesda Softworks joined GOG.com with classic titles as id Software's "Doom" and "Quake", "Fallout" (which had been sold on GOG by Interplay before the rights changed hands), and also some classic "Elder Scrolls" titles.


title: GOG.com

text: In March 2019, Blizzard Entertainment joined GOG.com with classic titles "Diablo", "" and "", with "" joining later on 5 June 2019.


title: GOG.com

text: On 25 September 2020, GOG.com announced the comeback of three Metal Gear titles (Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid and ) as well as the Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra from KONAMI.


title: GOG.com

text: On 8 September 2021, GOG brought 6 classic Star Trek titles back and updated them to work on modern operating systems.