title: Hispania

text: The Romans improved existing cities, such as Lisbon ("Olissipo") and Tarragona ("Tarraco"), established Zaragoza ("Caesaraugusta"), Mérida ("Augusta Emerita"), and Valencia ("Valentia"), and reduced other native cities to mere villages. The peninsula's economy expanded under Roman tutelage. Hispania served as a granary and a major source of metals for the Roman market, and its harbors exported gold, tin, silver, lead, wool, wheat, olive oil, wine, fish, and garum. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use today. The Romanized Iberian populations and the Iberian-born descendants of Roman soldiers and colonists had all achieved the status of full Roman citizenship by the end of the 1st century. The emperors Trajan (r. 98–117), Hadrian (r. 117–138), and Theodosius (r. 379–395) were of Hispanic origin. The Iberian denarii, also called "argentum oscense" by Roman soldiers, circulated until the 1st century BC, after which it was replaced by Roman coins.


title: Hispania

text: Hispania was separated into two provinces (in 197 BC), each ruled by a praetor: "Hispania Citerior" ("Hither Hispania") and "Hispania Ulterior" ("Farther Hispania"). The long wars of conquest lasted two centuries, and only by the time of Augustus did Rome managed to control Hispania Ulterior. Hispania was divided into three provinces in the 1st century BC.


title: Hispania

text: In the 4th century, Latinius Pacatus Drepanius, a Gallic rhetorician, dedicated part of his work to the depiction of the geography, climate and inhabitants of the peninsula, writing:


title: Hispania

text: This Hispania produces tough soldiers, very skilled captains, prolific speakers, luminous bards. It is a mother of judges and princes; it has given Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius to the Empire.


title: Hispania

text: With time, the name Hispania was used to describe the collective names of the Iberian Peninsula kingdoms of the Middle Ages, which came to designate all of the Iberian Peninsula plus the Balearic Islands.


title: Hispania

text: During the first stages of Romanization, the peninsula was divided in two by the Romans for administrative purposes. The closest one to Rome was called "Citerior" and the more remote one "Ulterior". The frontier between both was a sinuous line which ran from Cartago Nova (now Cartagena) to the Cantabrian Sea.


title: Hispania

text: "Hispania Ulterior" comprised what are now Andalusia, Portugal, Extremadura, León, a great portion of the former Castilla la Vieja, Galicia, Asturias, and the Basque Country.


title: Hispania

text: "Hispania Citerior" comprised the eastern part of former Castilla la Vieja, and what are now Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, and a major part of former Castilla la Nueva.


title: Hispania

text: In 27 BC, the general and politician Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa divided Hispania into three parts, namely dividing Hispania Ulterior into Baetica (basically Andalusia) and Lusitania (including Gallaecia and Asturias) and attaching Cantabria and the Basque Country to Hispania Citerior.


title: Hispania

text: The emperor Augustus in that same year returned to make a new division leaving the provinces as follows:


title: Hispania

text: By the 3rd century the emperor Caracalla made a new division which lasted only a short time. He split Hispania Citerior again into two parts, creating the new provinces "Provincia Hispania Nova Citerior" and "Asturiae-Calleciae". In the year 238 the unified province "Tarraconensis" or "Hispania Citerior" was re-established.


title: Hispania

text: In the 3rd century, under the Soldier Emperors, Hispania Nova (the northwestern corner of Spain) was split off from Tarraconensis, as a small province but the home of the only permanent legion in Hispania, Legio VII Gemina. After Diocletian's Tetrarchy reform in AD 293, the new "Diocese of Hispania" became one of the four dioceses—governed by a "vicarius"—of the praetorian prefecture of Gaul (also comprising the provinces of Gaul, Germania and Britannia), after the abolition of the imperial Tetrarchs under the Western Emperor (in Rome itself, later Ravenna). The diocese, with its capital at Emerita Augusta (modern Mérida), comprised the five peninsular Iberian provinces (Baetica, Gallaecia and Lusitania, each under a governor styled "consularis"; and Carthaginiensis, Tarraconensis, each under a "praeses"), the Insulae Baleares, which were detached from Tarraconensis in the 4th century, and the North African province of Mauretania Tingitana.


title: Hispania

text: Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century and it became popular in the cities in the 2nd century. Little headway was made in the countryside, however, until the late 4th century, by which time Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. Some heretical sects emerged in Hispania, most notably Priscillianism, but overall the local bishops remained subordinate to the Pope. Bishops who had official civil as well as ecclesiastical status in the late empire continued to exercise their authority to maintain order when civil governments broke down there in the 5th century. The Council of Bishops became an important instrument of stability during the ascendancy of the Visigoths. The last vestiges of (Western·classical) Roman rule ended in 472.


title: Hispania

text: The undoing of (Western classical) Roman Spain was the result of four tribes crossing the Rhine on 31 December 406. After three years of depredation and wandering about northern and western Gaul, the Germanic Buri, Suevi and Vandals, together with the Sarmatian Alans moved into Iberia in September or October 409 at the request of Gerontius, a Roman usurper. Thus began the history of the end of (Western classical) Roman Spain, which came in 472. The Suevi established a kingdom in Gallaecia in what is today modern Galicia and northern Portugal. The Alans' allies, the Hasdingi Vandals, also established a kingdom in another part of Gallaecia. The Alans established a kingdom in Lusitania – modern Alentejo and Algarve, in Portugal. The Silingi Vandals briefly occupied parts of South Iberia in the province of Baetica. In an effort to retrieve the region, the Western Roman emperor, Honorius (r. 395–423), promised the Visigoths a home in southwest Gaul if they destroyed the invaders in Spain. They all but wiped out the Silingi and Alans. The remnant joined the Asding Vandals who had settled first in the northwest with the Sueves but south to Baetica. It is a mystery why the Visigoths were recalled by patrician Constantius (who in 418 married Honorius' sister who had been married briefly to the Visigothic king Ataulf). The Visigoths, the remnants of the two tribes who joined them and the Sueves were confined to a small area in the northwest of the peninsula. The diocese may even have been re-established with its capital at Mérida in 418. The Roman attempt under General Castorius to dislodge the Vandals from Cordoba failed in 422.


title: Hispania

text: The Vandals and Alans crossed over to North Africa in 429, an event which is considered to have been decisive in hastening the decline of the Western Roman Empire. However their departure allowed the Romans to recover 90% of the Iberian peninsula until 439. After the departure of the Vandals only the Sueves remained in a northwest corner of the peninsula. Roman rule which had survived in the eastern quadrant was restored over most of Iberia until the Sueves occupied Mérida in 439, a move which coincides to the Vandal occupation of Carthage late the same year. Rome made attempts to restore control in 446 and 458. Success was temporary. After the death of emperor Majorian in 461 Roman authority collapsed except in Tarraconensis the northeastern quadrant of the peninsula. The Visigoths, a Germanic people, whose kingdom was located in southwest Gaul, took the province when they occupied Tarragona in 472. They also confined the Sueves who had ruled most of the region to Galicia and northern Portugal. In 484 the Visigoths established Toledo as the capital of their kingdom. Successive Visigothic kings ruled Hispania as patricians who held imperial commissions to govern in the name of the Roman emperor. In 585 the Visigoths conquered the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia, and thus controlled almost all of Hispania.


title: Hispania

text: A century later, taking advantage of a struggle for the throne between the Visigothic kings Agila and Athanagild, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent an army under the command of Liberius to take back the peninsula from the Visigoths. This short-lived reconquest recovered only a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast roughly corresponding to the ancient province of Baetica, known as Spania.


title: Hispania

text: Under the Visigoths, culture was not as highly developed as it had been under Roman rule, when a goal of higher education had been to prepare gentlemen to take their places in municipal and imperial administration. With the collapse of the imperial administrative super-structure above the provincial level (which was practically moribund) the task of maintaining formal education and government shifted to the Church from the old ruling class of educated aristocrats and gentry. The clergy, for the most part, emerged as the qualified personnel to manage higher administration in concert with local powerful notables who gradually displaced the old town councils. As elsewhere in early medieval Europe, the church in Hispania stood as society's most cohesive institution. The Visigoths are also responsible for the introduction of mainstream Christianity to the Iberian peninsula; the earliest representation of Christ in Spanish religious art can be found in a Visigothic hermitage, Santa Maria de Lara. It also embodied the continuity of Roman order. Native Hispano-Romans continued to run the civil administration and Latin continued to be the language of government and of commerce on behalf of the Visigoths.


title: Hispania

text: Religion was the most persistent source of friction between the Chalcedonian (Catholic) native Hispano-Romans and their Arian Visigothic overlords, whom the former considered heretical. At times this tension invited open rebellion, and restive factions within the Visigothic aristocracy exploited it to weaken the monarchy. In 589, Recared, a Visigothic ruler, renounced his Arianism before the Council of Bishops at Toledo and accepted Chalcedonian Christianity (Catholic Church), thus assuring an alliance between the Visigothic monarchy and the native Hispano-Romans. This alliance would not mark the last time in the history of the peninsula that political unity would be sought through religious unity.


title: Hispania

text: Court ceremonials – from Constantinople – that proclaimed the imperial sovereignty and unity of the Visigothic state were introduced at Toledo. Still, civil war, royal assassinations, and usurpation were commonplace, and warlords and great landholders assumed wide discretionary powers. Bloody family feuds went unchecked. The Visigoths had acquired and cultivated the apparatus of the Roman state but not the ability to make it operate to their advantage. In the absence of a well-defined hereditary system of succession to the throne, rival factions encouraged foreign intervention by the Greeks, the Franks, and finally the Muslims in internal disputes and in royal elections.


title: Hispania

text: According to Isidore of Seville, it is with the Visigothic domination of the zone that the idea of a peninsular unity is sought after, and the phrase "Mother Hispania" is first spoken. Up to that date, "Hispania" designated all of the peninsula's lands. In "Historia Gothorum", the Visigoth Suinthila appears as the first monarch where Hispania is dealt with as a Gothic nation.


title: Hispania

text: The Umayyad governor Tariq ibn Ziyad led a raiding force of approximately 1,700 men from North Africa to southern Hispania in April 711. They defeated the Visigothic army, in a decisive battle at Guadalete in 712. Tariq's forces were then reinforced and within a few years they took control of more than two-thirds of the Iberian Peninsula. The second invasion of the Umayyads comprised 18 thousand mostly Arab troops, who rapidly captured Seville and then defeated Roderick's supporters at Mérida and met up with Tariq's troops at Talavera. The following year the combined forces continued into Galicia and the northeast, capturing Léon, Astorga and Zaragoza.


title: Hispania

text: The Umayyads called the area they controlled 'Al-Andalus' (). Al-Andalus, then at its greatest extent, was divided into five administrative units.


title: Hispania

text: In the chronicles and documents of the High Middle Ages the terms derived from Hispania, "Spania", "España" or "Espanha", continued to be used by the Christians but only in reference to Muslim controlled areas.


title: Hispania

text: From the mid 13th to the late 15th century, the only remaining domain of Al-Andalus was the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula. Then there was a war of Granada which resulted with the defeat of Emirate of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending Islamic rule on the Iberian peninsula.


title: Hispania

text: In the last years of the 12th century the whole Iberian Peninsula, Muslim and Christian, became known as "Spain" ("España", "Espanya" or "Espanha") and the denomination "the Five Kingdoms of Spain" became used to refer to the Muslim Kingdom of Granada and the Christian kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Portugal, and Navarre.


title: Hispania

text: Before the Punic Wars, Hispania was a land with much untapped mineral and agricultural wealth, limited by the primitive subsistence economies of her native peoples outside of a few trading ports along the Mediterranean. Occupations by the Carthaginians and then by the Romans for her abundant silver deposits developed Hispania into a thriving multifaceted economy. Several metals, olives, oil from Baetica, salted fish and garum, and wines were some of the goods produced in Hispania and traded throughout the Empire. Gold mining was the most important activity in the north-west parts of the peninsula. This activity is attested in archaeological sites as Las Médulas (Spain) and Casais (Ponte de Lima, Portugal).


title: Hispania

text: Precipitation levels were unusually high during the so-called Iberian–Roman Humid Period. Roman Spain experienced its three phases: the most humid interval in 550–190 BC, an arid interval in 190 BC–150 AD and another humid period in 150–350. In 134 BC the army of Scipio Aemilianus in Spain had to march at night due to extreme heat, when some of its horses and mules died of thirst (even though earlier, in 181 BC, heavy spring rains prevented the Celtiberians from relieving the Roman siege of Contrebia). Through the 2nd century AD warm temperatures dominated particularly in the mountains along the north coast, punctuated by further cool spells from to 180. After about 200 the temperatures fluctuated, trending toward cool.


title: Benediction (film)

text: Benediction is a 2021 biographical drama film written and directed by Terence Davies. It stars Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi as the war poet Siegfried Sassoon, along with Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Calam Lynch, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones and Ben Daniels. It was released in United Kingdom on May 20, 2022 by Vertigo Releasing and United States on June 3, 2022 by Roadside Attractions.


title: Benediction (film)

text: The story of Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet and decorated WWI combat veteran who was sent to a psychiatric facility for his anti-war stance during WWI, had affairs with several men during the 1920s, married, had a son, and after his conversion to Catholicism continued to be plagued by his memories.


title: Benediction (film)

text: In January 2020, Jack Lowden joined the cast of the film, with Terence Davies directing from a screenplay he wrote. In March 2020, Peter Capaldi joined the cast of the film. In October 2020, Simon Russell Beale, Geraldine James, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones, Anton Lesser, Jeremy Irvine, Ben Daniels, Lia Williams, Jude Akuwudike, Suzanne Bertish, Calam Lynch and Tom Blyth joined the cast of the film.


title: Benediction (film)

text: "Benediction" had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September. That same month, the film's UK and Ireland distribution rights were acquired by Vertigo Films. In October 2021, Roadside Attractions acquired North American distribution rights to the film. It was released in United Kingdom on May 20, 2022 and United States on June 3, 2022.


title: Benediction (film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "Benediction" has an approval rating of 93% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "It isn't an easy watch, but "Benediction" uncovers a profoundly affecting drama in the real-life story of a combat veteran whose poetry warned against the horrors of war." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Benediction (film)

text: In response to the film's portrayal of Sassoon's conversion to Catholicism the poet's niece, Sister Jessica Gatty (who attributes her own conversion to Sassoon's influence), repudiated the filmmakers by revealing that he had been both at peace and joyful in his later years, stating: "The redemption which he sought in many different ways and which he longed for, was found in the last decade of his life when he came home to Christ in the Catholic Church. He was transformed. I can witness to this, so I need to speak out."


title: Michèle Lamy

text: Michèle Lamy (1944) is a French culture and fashion figure. She has been a clothing designer, performer, film producer, and restaurateur, and is the life partner of Rick Owens. She is the co founding partner of Owenscorp and functions as the Executive Manager Art/Furniture.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: Michèle Lamy was born in 1944 in Jura, France. Her grandfather made accessories for one of France's most famous couturiers, Paul Poiret.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: She studied law, and during the 60s and 70s, worked as a defense lawyer, while studying with the postmodern philosopher Gilles Deleuze. She was involved in the May 1968 protests in Paris. She then worked as a cabaret dancer and toured France before moving to the United States in 1979.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In 1979, Lamy moved to New York and then settled in Los Angeles, where she set up a fashion line and ran two cult restaurants/nightclubs – Café des Artistes and Les Deux Cafés in 1996 with her first husband, experimental filmmaker Richard Newton. With her tattooed fingers and gold-plated teeth, she was an emblematic figure of nightlife in Los Angeles in the middle of 90s. Her tattoos were inspired by the Berbers, during her first trip to North Africa when she was around 17 or 18 years old.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In 1990, Lamy created a clothing line called "Lamy". She hired Rick Owens, who later became her business partner and, then, her companion and husband. In 2003, Lamy and Owens left Los Angeles to settle in Paris and got married in 2006. In 2004, the couple established their own fashion company Owenscorp, describing their business partnership as "asking a gypsy to organise a war with a fascist."


title: Michèle Lamy

text: Lamy produces the furniture that bears the Owens brand. She also designs jewelry with Loree Rodkin and has appeared in FKA twigs and Black Asteroid music videos. She formed the band LAVASCAR with the artist Nico Vascellari and her daughter Scarlett Rouge.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In November 2010, Lamy posed for a shoot for "Vogue Paris" with the photographer Steven Klein. In 2013, Lamy was featured in "Forbes" with her daughter from her first marriage, artist Scarlett Rouge. In 2015, she was featured in one of the videos for the EP "M3LL155X" by FKA Twigs. Lamy appeared in the first clip; "Figure 8", wearing a headpiece with a luminous bulb imitating an anglerfish.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: At the 2016 Venice Biennale, Lamy transformed an old container ship into a floating saloon. The same year, she recorded songs with her good friend, rapper A$AP Rocky. Rocky said about Lamy, "Hardly anyone knows how important you have been behind the scenes for my career. You did not just design my album covers, you took me to art fairs and showed me the art world."


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In 2017, Lamy and Rick Owens were featured in Lou Stoppard's book about fashion's most important and iconic duos, titled "Fashion Together: Fashion's Most Extraordinary Duos on the Art of Collaboration". In the book, Owens said that Lamy was more his "mate" than "muse." And, "I don't think anyone would ever think of Michèle as a passive muse. I think that's why she sparks people's interest—because she doesn't fit the typical role of a muse."


title: Michèle Lamy

text: Lamy has practiced boxing for 35 years. In 2018, she set up her own boxing gym "Lamyland" in Selfridges, London. The space previously was home to A$AP Rocky's AWGE Bodega. It is now reinvented every few months. In October 2018, Lamy curated a performance series featuring a tour of "Outsider Art Fair Paris" by British performance artist David Hoyle.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In January 2019, Lamy held an installation art "Genius You" in collaboration with Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker, taking place all around Selfridges, London. From May to November 2019, her boxing installation: "What Are We Fighting For?", had been shown in Venice Biennale.


title: Michèle Lamy

text: Lamy said about her approach to fashion and design, "I like to really be with a lot of people and exchange ideas and the best way to be is to do something together, so I'm easily seduced… And when it's the idea or I want to lead a bunch of people somewhere and do something together, I think that's generous."


title: Michèle Lamy

text: In 2020, Lamy will collaborate with director Katya Bankowsky for "Battle Royale", a series of short films that feature Bankowsky and Lamy preparing for a fight.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. When removed from the ground, it contains a very high amount of moisture which partially explains its low carbon content. Lignite is mined all around the world and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation.


title: Lignite

text: The combustion of lignite produces less heat for the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur released than other ranks of coal. As a result, environmental advocates have characterized lignite as the most harmful coal to human health. Depending on the source, various toxic heavy metals, including naturally occurring radioactive materials may be present in lignite which are left over in the coal fly ash produced from its combustion, further increasing health risks.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite is brownish-black in color and has a carbon content of 60–70 percent on a dry ash-free basis. However, its inherent moisture content is sometimes as high as 75 percent and its ash content ranges from 6–19 percent, compared with 6–12 percent for bituminous coal. As a result, its carbon content on the as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter) is typically just 25-35 percent.


title: Lignite

text: The energy content of lignite ranges from 10 to 20 MJ/kg (9–17 million BTU per short ton) on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. The energy content of lignite consumed in the United States averages (13 million BTU/ton), on the as-received basis. The energy content of lignite consumed in Victoria, Australia, averages (8.2 million BTU/ton) on a net wet basis.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which makes it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum products than higher-ranking coals. Unfortunately, its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage. Processes which remove water from brown coal reduce the risk of spontaneous combustion to the same level as black coal, increase the calorific value of brown coal to a black coal equivalent fuel, and significantly reduce the emissions profile of 'densified' brown coal to a level similar to or better than most black coals. However, removing the moisture increases the cost of the final lignite fuel.


title: Lignite

text: Most lignite is used to generate electricity. However, small amounts are used in agriculture, in industry, and even, as "jet", in jewelry. Its historical use as fuel for home heating has continuously declined and is now of lower importance than its use to generate electricity.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite is often found in thick beds located near the surface, making it inexpensive to mine. However, because of its low energy density, tendency to crumble, and typically high moisture content, brown coal is inefficient to transport and is not traded extensively on the world market compared with higher coal grades. It is often burned in power stations near the mines, such as in Australia's Latrobe Valley and Luminant's Monticello plant in Texas. Primarily because of latent high moisture content and low energy density of brown coal, carbon dioxide emissions from traditional brown-coal-fired plants are generally much higher per megawatt-hour generated than for comparable black-coal plants, with the world's highest-emitting plant being Australia's Hazelwood Power Station until its closure in March 2017. The operation of traditional brown-coal plants, particularly in combination with strip mining, is politically contentious due to environmental concerns.


title: Lignite

text: The German Democratic Republic relied extensively on lignite to become energy self-sufficient, and eventually obtained 70% of its energy requirements from lignite. Lignite was also an important chemical industry feedstock via Bergius process or Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in lieu of petroleum, which had to be imported for hard currency following a change in policy by the Soviet Union in the 1970s, which had previously delivered petroleum at below market rates. East German scientists even converted lignite into coke suitable for metallurgical uses (high temperature lignite coke) and much of the railway network was dependent on lignite either through steam trains or electrified lines mostly fed with lignite derived power. As per the table below, East Germany was the largest producer of lignite for much of its existence as an independent state.


title: Lignite

text: In 2014, about 12 percent of Germany's energy and, specifically, 27 percent of Germany's electricity came from lignite power plants, while in 2014 in Greece, lignite provided about 50 percent of its power needs. Germany has announced plans to phase out lignite by 2038 at the latest. Greece has confirmed that the last coal plant will be shut in 2025 after receiving pressure from the European Union and plans to heavily invest in renewable energy.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite was and is used as a replacement for or in combination with firewood for home heating. It is usually pressed into briquettes for that use. Due to the smell it gives off when burned, lignite was often seen as a fuel for poor people compared to higher value hard coals. In Germany briquettes are still readily available to end consumers in home improvement stores like Obi, Bauhaus, or Hornbach but also at supermarkets like Rewe.


title: Lignite

text: An environmentally beneficial use of lignite is in agriculture. Lignite may have value as an environmentally benign soil amendment, improving cation exchange and phosphorus availability in soils while reducing availability of heavy metals, and may be superior to commercial K humates. Lignite fly ash produced by combustion of lignite in power plants may also be valuable as a soil amendment and fertilizer. However, rigorous studies of the long-term benefits of lignite products in agriculture are lacking.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite may also be used for the cultivation and distribution of biological control microbes that suppress plant pests. The carbon increases the organic matter in the soil while the biological control microbes provide an alternative to chemical pesticides.


title: Lignite

text: "Leonardite" is a soil conditioner rich in humic acids that is formed by natural oxidation of lignite near the surface of the Earth.


title: Lignite

text: Reaction with quaternary amine forms a product called amine-treated lignite (ATL), which is used in drilling mud to reduce fluid loss during drilling.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite may have potential uses as an industrial adsorbent. Experiments show that its adsorption of methylene blue falls within the range of activated carbons currently used by industry.


title: Lignite

text: Jet is a form of lignite that has been used as a gemstone. The earliest jet artifacts date to 10,000 BCE and jet was used extensively in necklaces and other ornamentation in Britain from the Neolithic until the end of Roman Britain. Jet experienced a brief revival in Victorian Britain.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite begins as an accumulation of partially decayed plant material, or peat. Peat accumulates most readily in areas where there is ample moisture, slow subsidence of the land surface, and lack of disturbance by rivers or oceans. Peat swamps are otherwise found in a wide variety of climates and geographical settings. Under these conditions, the area remains saturated with water, which covers dead plant material and protects it from degradation by atmospheric oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria may continue to degrade the peat, but this process is slow, particularly in acid water. Once the peat is buried by other sediments, biological degradation essentially comes to a halt, and further changes are a result of increased temperature and pressure from burial.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite forms from peat that has not experienced deep burial and heating. It forms at temperatures below , primarily by biochemical degradation. This includes humification, in which microorganisms extract hydrocarbons from the peat and humic acids are formed. The humic acids make the environment more acidic, which slows the rate of further bacterial decay. Humification is still incomplete in lignite, coming to completion only when the coal reaches sub-bituminous rank. The most characteristic chemical change in the organic material during formation of lignite is the sharp reduction in the number of C=O and C-O-R functional groups.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite deposits are typically younger than higher-ranked coals, with the majority of them having formed during the Tertiary period.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite is often found in thick beds located near the surface. These are inexpensive to extract using various forms of surface mining, though this can result in serious environmental damage. Regulations in the United States and other countries require that land that is surface mined must be restored to its original productivity once mining is complete.


title: Lignite

text: Strip mining of lignite in the United States begins with drilling to establish the extent of the subsurface beds. Topsoil and subsoil must be properly removed and either used to reclaim previously mined-out areas or stored for future reclamation. Excavator and truck overburden removal prepares the area for dragline overburden removal to expose the lignite beds. These are broken up using specially equipped tractors ("coal ripping") and then loaded into bottom dump trucks using front loaders.


title: Lignite

text: Once the lignite is removed, restoration involves grading the mine spoil to as close an approximation as practical of the original ground surface (Approximate Original Contour or AOC). Subsoil and topsoil are restored and the land reseeded with various grasses. In North Dakota, a performance bond is held against the mining company for at least ten years after the end of mining operations to guarantee that the land has been restored to full productivity. A bond (not necessary in this form) for mine reclamation is required in the US by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.


title: Lignite

text: The Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia, contains estimated reserves of some 65 billion tonnes of brown coal. The deposit is equivalent to 25 percent of known world reserves. The coal seams are up to 98 metres thick, with multiple coal seams often giving virtually continuous brown coal thickness of up to 230 metres. Seams are covered by very little overburden (10 to 20 metres).


title: Lignite

text: A partnership led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and backed by the governments of Japan and Australia has begun extracting hydrogen from brown coal. The liquefied hydrogen will be shipped via the transporter "Suiso Frontier" to Japan.


title: Lignite

text: The largest lignite deposits in North America are the Gulf Coast lignites and the Fort Union lignite field. The Gulf Coast lignites are located in a band running from Texas to Alabama roughly parallel to the Gulf Coast. The Fort Union lignite field stretches from North Dakota to Saskatchewan. Both are important commercial sources of lignite.


title: Lignite

text: Lignite can be separated into two types. The first is xyloid lignite or fossil wood and the second form is the compact lignite or perfect lignite.


title: Lignite

text: Although xyloid lignite may sometimes have the tenacity and the appearance of ordinary wood, it can be seen that the combustible woody tissue has experienced a great modification. It is reducible to a fine powder by trituration, and if submitted to the action of a weak solution of potash, it yields a considerable quantity of humic acid. Leonardite is an oxidized form of lignite, which also contains high levels of humic acid.


title: Lignite

text: Germany is the largest producer of lignite, followed by China, Russia, and United States. Lignite accounted for 8% of all U.S. coal production in 2019.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Ranft's first film was "The Brave Little Toaster" in 1987. He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination as one of the writers of "Toy Story" (1995), and was also the co-director on "Cars" (2006), his final work before his death.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Joseph Henry Ranft was born in Pasadena, California, on March 13, 1960, and raised in Whittier. His parents were James and Melissa Ranft. As a child, Ranft developed a love for magic, storytelling, film and comedy. At age 15, he became a member of the Magic Castle Junior Group. After graduating from Monte Vista High School, Whittier, in 1978, Ranft began studying in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts alongside John Lasseter and Brad Bird. After two years, Ranft's student film "Good Humor" caught the attention of Disney animation executives, who offered him a job.


title: Joe Ranft

text: In 1980, Ranft joined Disney as a writer and storyboard artist. During his first five years with Disney, he worked on a number of television projects that were never produced. Later in his Disney career, he was promoted into the Feature Animation department, where he was mentored by Eric Larson. Ranft later spoke about Larson's training: "He always reminds me of just the fundamental things that I tend to forget. You know, it's like, animation is so complex; 'How many drawings are in there?' and stuff, but Eric always comes back to like; 'What does the audience perceive?'"


title: Joe Ranft

text: Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. Ranft stayed with Disney throughout the 1980s, writing the story on many animated features, including "Oliver & Company", "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast". He also worked on "The Brave Little Toaster" in 1987 for Hyperion Animation and "James and the Giant Peach" in 1996 for Allied Filmmakers.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Ranft reunited with Lasseter when he was hired by Pixar in 1991 as their head of story. There he worked on all of their films produced up to 2006; this included "Toy Story" (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay) and "A Bug's Life", as the co-story writer and others as story supervisor. He also voiced characters in many of the films, including Heimlich the caterpillar in "A Bug's Life", Wheezy the penguin in "Toy Story 2", and Jacques the shrimp in "Finding Nemo".


title: Joe Ranft

text: In the movie "Monsters, Inc.", Ranft had a monster named after him (J.J. Ranft) as most of the scarers in the film were named for Pixar staff. Ranft was also given lead story credit on "The Brave Little Toaster" (1987) and voiced Elmo St. Peters, the appliance salesman.


title: Joe Ranft

text: His favorite writers were Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. His favorite magicians were John Carney, Daryl, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay and Jimmy Grippo.


title: Joe Ranft

text: He was posthumously honored in 2006 as a Disney Legend and in 2016 with the Winsor McCay Award, the lifetime achievement award for animators.


title: Joe Ranft

text: On August 16, 2005, Ranft, 45, and his friend Eric Frierson, 39, were passengers in Ranft's 2004 Honda Element, which was being driven by another friend, Elegba Earl, 32. Earl suddenly lost control and crashed through a guard rail while northbound on Highway 1. The SUV tumbled down a cliff and plunged into the mouth of the Navarro River where it meets the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County, killing both Ranft and Earl instantly. Frierson survived by escaping through the sun roof, though he received moderate injuries.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Ranft died during the production of "Cars", which he co-directed and voice acted in. The film and tie-in game are dedicated to his memory, as is Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride", on which Ranft was executive producer. His remains were cremated.


title: Joe Ranft

text: Ranft has been recognized by colleagues and in various tributes in animated films released after his death. Henry Selick called him "the story giant of our generation." In honor of Ranft, in Selick's animated film production "Coraline", the moving SUV that moves Coraline into her new apartment is emblazoned with a "Ranft Moving, Inc." logo. The movers themselves are modeled after Ranft and his brother Jerome, who voiced one of the movers. Jerome took over most of Ranft's voice roles following his brother’s death. The 2010 Blu-Ray and DVD re-release of "Toy Story 2" includes a special feature that focuses on Ranft and his accomplishments titled "Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft". Ranft did early drawings for the character of Finn McMissile in an unused scene from the film "Cars", and his drawings were later used in creating the character for "Cars 2". John Lasseter has cited Ranft as being one of the main inspirations for the character of Mater from those films, and described his influence as being "all over "Cars 2"". In the film "Inside Out", the character of Jangles the clown is based on a character created by Ranft outside of Pixar named "Buttocks the Clown", according to co-director Ronnie del Carmen and story artist Domee Shi. The end credits of the Pixar film "Coco" showcase a digital ofrenda with pictures of many Pixar employees and their loved ones who had previously died, including Ranft. Additionally, the 2020 film "Soul" includes his name on a wall of previous mentors to the character 22.


title: Russell Means

text: Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician, and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) after joining the organization in 1968 and helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage.


title: Russell Means

text: Means was active in international issues of indigenous peoples, including working with groups in Central and South America and with the United Nations for recognition of their rights. He was active in politics at his native Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and at the state and national level.


title: Russell Means

text: Beginning an acting career in 1992, he appeared on numerous television series and in several films, including "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Pocahontas" and released his own music CD. Means published his autobiography "Where White Men Fear to Tread" in 1995.


title: Russell Means

text: Means was born on November 10, 1939 in Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, to Theodora Louise Feather and Walter "Hank" Means. His mother was a Yankton Dakota from Greenwood, South Dakota and his father, an Oglala Lakota. As well as Russell, the family had two other boys (William "Bill" and Warren) and three girls (Madonna, Mabel Ann and Phyllis).


title: Russell Means

text: He was given the name Wanbli Ohitika by his mother, which means 'Brave Eagle' in the Lakota language.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1942, the Means family resettled in the San Francisco Bay Area, seeking to escape the poverty and problems of the reservation. His father worked at the shipyard in Vallejo. Means grew up in the Bay Area, graduating in 1958 from San Leandro High School in San Leandro, California. He attended four colleges but did not graduate from any of them. In his 1995 autobiography, Means recounted a harsh childhood; his father was alcoholic and he himself fell into years of "truancy, crime and drugs" before finding purpose in the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


title: Russell Means

text: His father died in 1967 and, in his twenties, Means lived in several Indian reservations throughout the United States while searching for work. While at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south-central South Dakota, he developed severe vertigo. Physicians at the reservation clinic believed that he had been brought in inebriated. After they refused to examine him for several days, Means was finally diagnosed with a concussion due to a presumed fight in a saloon. A visiting specialist later discovered that the reservation doctors had overlooked a common ear infection, which cost Means the hearing in one ear.


title: Russell Means

text: After recovering from the infection, Means worked for a year in the Office of Economic Opportunity, where he came to know several legal activists who were managing legal action on behalf of the Lakota people. After a dispute with his supervisor, Means left Rosebud for Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, he worked with Native American community leaders against the backdrop of the American Civil Rights Movement.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1968, Means joined the American Indian Movement (AIM), where he rose to become a prominent leader. In 1970, Means was appointed AIM's first national director, and the organization began a period of increasing protests and activism.


title: Russell Means

text: Means participated in the 1969 Alcatraz occupation. He had been there once before, to occupy it for 24 hours under the lead of his father, Walter "Hank" Means, and a few other Lakota men in March 1964. (Means' father died in January 1967).


title: Russell Means

text: On Thanksgiving Day 1970, Means and other AIM activists staged their first protest in Boston: they seized the "Mayflower II", a replica ship of the Mayflower, to protest the Puritans' and United States' mistreatment of Native Americans. In 1971 Means was one of the leaders of AIM's takeover of Mount Rushmore, a federal monument. Rushmore is within the Black Hills, an area sacred to the Lakota tribe.


title: Russell Means

text: In November 1972, he participated in AIM's occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters in Washington, D.C. to protest abuses. Many records were taken or destroyed, and more than $2 million in damage was done to the building.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1973, Dennis Banks and Carter Camp led AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee, which became the group's best-known action. Means appeared as a spokesman and prominent leader. The armed standoff of more than 300 Lakota and AIM activists with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and state law enforcement lasted for 71 days. A visiting Cherokee from North Carolina and an Oglala Lakota activist from Pine Ridge Reservation were killed in April.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1974, Means resigned from AIM to run for the presidency of his native Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) against the incumbent Richard Wilson. The official vote count showed Wilson winning by more than 200 votes. Residents complained of intimidation by Wilson's private militia. The report of a government investigation confirmed problems in the election, but in a related court challenge to the results of the election, a federal court upheld the results.


title: Russell Means

text: In the late 1970s, Means turned to an international forum on issues of rights for indigenous peoples. He worked with Jimmie Durham, who established the offices of the International Indian Treaty Council to work with the United Nations in 1977. At the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, he assisted in the organization of community institutions, such as the KILI radio station and the Porcupine Health Clinic in Porcupine, South Dakota.


title: Russell Means

text: In the 1980s, AIM divided into several competing factions, in part over differences among members regarding support for the indigenous peoples in Nicaragua. Means supported the Miskito group MISURASATA (later known as YATAMA), which was allied with the Contras. He traveled to Nicaragua in 1985 and 1986 on fact-finding tours. He came to believe that the Miskito as a people were being targeted for elimination. Some AIM members supported the Sandinistas of the national government, although they had forced removal of thousands of Miskito from their traditional territory.


title: Russell Means

text: On January 8, 1988, Means held a press conference to announce his retirement from AIM, saying it had achieved its goals. That January, the "AIM Grand Governing Council", headed by the Bellecourt brothers, released a press release noting this was the sixth resignation by Means since 1974, and asking the press to "never again report either that he is a founder of the American Indian Movement, or [that] he is a leader of the American Indian Movement". The "AIM Grand Governing Council" noted there were many open issues and legislation regarding Native Americans for which they were continuing to work.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1993, the organization divided officially into two main factions: "AIM Grand Governing Council", based in Minnesota, which copyrighted the name "American Indian movement"; and American Indian Movement Confederation of Autonomous Chapters, based in Colorado and allied with Means and Ward Churchill.


title: Russell Means

text: On November 3, 1999, Means and Robert Pictou-Branscombe, a maternal cousin of Aquash from Canada, held a press conference in Denver at the Federal Building to discuss the slow progress of the government's investigation into Aquash's murder. It had been under investigation both by the Denver police, as Aquash had been kidnapped from there, and by the FBI, as she had been taken across state lines and killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Both Branscombe and Means accused Vernon Bellecourt, a high-ranking leader of AIM, of having ordered her execution. Means said that Clyde Bellecourt, a founder of AIM, had ensured that it was carried out at the Pine Ridge Reservation. Means said that an AIM tribunal had banned the Bellecourt brothers but tried to keep the reason for the dissension internal to protect AIM.


title: Russell Means

text: The Associated Press (AP) reporter Robert Weller noted that this was the first time that an AIM leader active at the time of Aquash's death had publicly implicated AIM in her murder. There had long been rumors. Means and Branscombe accused three indigenous people: Arlo Looking Cloud, Theda Nelson Clarke and John Graham, of having been directly involved in the kidnapping and murder of Aquash. The two men were indicted in 2003 and convicted in separate trials in 2004 and 2010, respectively. By then in a nursing home, Clarke was not indicted.


title: Russell Means

text: As of 2004, Means' website stated that he was a board member of the Colorado AIM chapter, which is affiliated with the AIM Confederation of Autonomous Chapters.


title: Russell Means

text: Since the late 1970s, Means often supported libertarian political causes, in contrast with several other AIM leaders. In 1983 he agreed to become running mate to Larry Flynt in his unsuccessful run for U.S. President. In 1987, Means ran for nomination of President of the United States under the Libertarian Party, and attracted considerable support within the party, finishing 2nd (31.4%) at the 1987 Libertarian National Convention. He lost the nomination to Congressman Ron Paul.


title: Russell Means

text: In 2001, Means began an independent candidacy for Governor of New Mexico. His campaign failed to satisfy procedural requirements and he was not selected for the ballot. In the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, Means supported independent Ralph Nader.


title: Russell Means

text: Nearly thirty years after his first candidacy, Means ran for president of the Oglala Sioux in 2004 with the help of Twila Lebeaux, losing to Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first woman elected president of the tribe. She also defeated the incumbent John Yellow Bird Steele.


title: Russell Means

text: Since the late 20th century, there has been a debate in the United States over the appropriate term for the indigenous peoples of North America. Some want to be called Native American; others prefer American Indian. Means said that he preferred "American Indian", arguing that it derives not from explorers' confusion of the people with those of India, but from the Italian expression "in Dio", meaning "in God". In addition, Means noted that since treaties and other legal documents in relation to the United States government use "Indian", continuing use of the term could help today's American Indian people forestall any attempts by others to use legal loopholes in the struggle over land and treaty rights.


title: Russell Means

text: In 2007, Means and 80 other protesters were arrested in Denver during a parade for Columbus Day which they stated was a "celebration of genocide".


title: Russell Means

text: Following the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007, a group of American Indian activists presented a letter to the U.S. State Department, indicating they were withdrawing from all treaties with the U.S. Government on December 20. Means announced the withdrawal by a small group of Lakota people. That same month, they began contacting foreign governments to solicit support for energy projects on the territory. Means and a delegation of activists declared the Republic of Lakotah a sovereign nation, with property rights over thousands of square miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. Means said that his group does not "represent collaborators, the Vichy Indians and those tribal governments set up by the United States of America".


title: Russell Means

text: On January 8, 2008 tribal leaders in the northern Great Plains, Rodney Bordeaux of the 25,000-member Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and Joseph Brings Plenty of the 8,500-member Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said that Means and the group of his fellow activists would not speak for their members or for any elected Lakota tribal government. While acknowledging that Means has accurately portrayed the federal government's broken promises to and treaties with America's indigenous peoples, they opposed his plan to renounce treaties with the United States and proclaim independence. They said the issue instead was to enforce existing treaties.


title: Russell Means

text: In October 2009, Means was critical of Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and has also been critical when Al Gore and Henry Kissinger received theirs as well. He had also criticized the U.S. interventionist foreign policy, the War in Afghanistan, and had referred to Obama's presidency as "Bush's third term."


title: Russell Means

text: From 1992 to 2012, Means appeared as an actor in numerous films and television movies, first as the chief Chingachgook in "The Last of the Mohicans". He appeared as Arrowhead in the made-for-TV movie "The Pathfinder" (1996), his second appearance in a movie adapted from a novel by James Fenimore Cooper. He appeared in "Natural Born Killers" (1994), as Jim Thorpe in "Windrunner" (1994), as Sitting Bull in "Buffalo Girls" (1995), and had a cameo in the miniseries "Into the West" (2005).


title: Russell Means

text: He was a voice actor in Disney's third highest-selling feature film "Pocahontas" (1995) and its sequel "" (1998), playing the title character's father, Chief Powhatan. Means was a guest actor in the 1997 "Duckman" episode "Role With It", in which Duckman takes his family on an educational trip to a "genuine Indian reservation" – which turns out to be a casino. Means appeared as Billy Twofeathers in "Thomas & the Magic Railroad" (2000).


title: Russell Means

text: Means starred in "Pathfinder", a 2007 movie about Vikings battling Native Americans in the New World. Means co-starred in "Rez Bomb" from director Steven Lewis Simpson, the first feature he acted in on his native Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He appeared alongside Tamara Feldman, Trent Ford, and Chris Robinson. Means was also a prominent contributor to Steven Lewis Simpson's feature documentary about Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, "A Thunder-Being Nation".


title: Russell Means

text: In 2004, Means made a guest appearance on the HBO program "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Means played Wandering Bear, an American Indian with skills in landscaping and herbal medicine.


title: Russell Means

text: In 1995, Means published an autobiography, "Where White Men Fear to Tread", written with Marvin J. Wolf. He recounted his own family's problems: his alcoholic father, and his own "fall into truancy, crime and drugs" before he discovered the American Indian Movement. The book drew criticism from a number of reviewers. While Patricia Holt, book editor for the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote of the book, "It's American history – warts, wounds and all." In another review, writer Mari Wadsworth of the "Tucson Weekly" wrote: "Critical readers do well to remain skeptical of any individual, however charismatic, who claims to be the voice of authority and authenticity for any population, let alone one as diverse as the native tribes of the Americas. But whatever conclusions one makes of Means' actions and intentions, his unremitting presence and undaunted outspokenness opened a dialogue that changed the course of American history."


title: Russell Means

text: Russell Means recorded a CD entitled "Electric Warrior" with Sound of America Records, in 1993. Songs include "Une Gente Indio", "Hey You, Hey Indian", "Wounded Knee Set Us Free", and "Indian Cars Go Far". This was followed in 2007 with his "The Radical" album, which included the controversial song "Waco: The White Man's Wounded Knee". In 2013, he was recognized by the Native American Music Awards with a Hall of Fame award.


title: Russell Means

text: The American pop artist Andy Warhol painted 18 individual portraits of Russell Means in his 1976 "American Indian Series". The Dayton Art Institute holds one of the Warhol portraits in its collection.


title: Russell Means

text: Means appeared as a character in the adventure video game "Under a Killing Moon", by Access Software, in 1994.


title: Russell Means

text: In 2016 the artist Magneto Dayo and The Lakota Medicine Men did a tribute song dedicated to Russell Means and Richard Oakes called "The Journey" on the album "Royalty of the UnderWorld".


title: Russell Means

text: Means was married five times; the first four marriages ended in divorce. He was married to his fifth wife, Pearl Means, until his death. He had a total of ten children: seven biological children and three adopted children, who were "adopted in the Lakota way", including Tatanka Means who is also an actor.


title: Russell Means

text: As "a grandfather with twenty-two grandchildren", Russell Means divided his time "between Chinle, Navajo Nation, Arizona, and Porcupine, South Dakota."


title: Russell Means

text: In August 2011, Means was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. His doctors told him his condition was inoperable. He told the Associated Press that he was rejecting "mainstream medical treatments in favor of traditional American Indian remedies and alternative treatments away from his home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation". In late September, Means reported that through tomotherapy, the tumor had diminished greatly. Later, he said that his tumor was "95% gone." On December 5 of that year, Means stated that he "beat cancer", and that he had beat "the death penalty."


title: Russell Means

text: The following year, however, his health continued to decline and he died on October 22, 2012, less than a month before his 73rd birthday. A family statement said, "Our dad and husband now walks among our ancestors."


title: Russell Means

text: ABC News said Means "spent a lifetime as a modern American Indian warrior ... , railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen land and even took up arms against the federal government ... , called national attention to the plight of impoverished tribes and often lamented the waning of Indian culture." Among the tributes was one writer's belief that "his face should have been on Mt. Rushmore." "The New York Times" said Means "became as well-known a Native American as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."


title: Russell Means

text: On December 29, 1997, Means was arrested for assault and battery of his 56-year-old (then) father-in-law Leon Grant, a member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation. AIM Grand Governing Council issued a press release to reiterate its separation from Means.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: True Blue is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986, by Sire Records. She co-wrote and produced the entire album with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard. "True Blue" deals with her visions of love, work, dreams as well as disappointments, and was inspired by her then husband Sean Penn, to whom Madonna dedicated the album. Musically, the songs on the album took a different direction from her previous endeavours, incorporating classical music in order to engage an older audience who had been skeptical of her music.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The album features instrumentation from acoustic guitars, drums, synthesizers and Cuban musical instruments. The topic for the songs range from love, freedom, and in the case of "Papa Don't Preach", social issues like teenage pregnancy. After its release, "True Blue" received critical acclaim, with music critics who complimented the album as the archetype of the late 1980s and early 1990s pop albums. They also praised the fact that Madonna's voice sounded stronger than it did on her previous efforts, while commending Madonna's skills as a singer, songwriter and entertainer.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" was an immediate global success, reaching number one in then record-breaking 28 countries across the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It spent 34 consecutive weeks at the top of the European Top 100 Albums chart, longer than any other album in history. It became the world's top-selling album of 1986, as well as the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist. With estimated sales of over 25 million copies worldwide, "True Blue" remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. Five singles released from the album—"Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue", "Open Your Heart", and "La Isla Bonita"—all reached number one on either the US "Billboard" Hot 100 or the UK Singles Chart, with "Papa Don't Preach" being the track that topped both.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The album was promoted on Madonna's second concert tour, 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour, which visited cities in North America, Europe and Asia. "True Blue" is credited as being the album which established Madonna's position as the biggest female artist of the 1980s, rivaling male musicians like Michael Jackson and Prince. The album's singles and their accompanying music videos have sparked debates among scholars and social groups. She became the first female artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in recognition of her impact on popular culture. The album also gave her first appearance on the "Guinness Book of World Records".


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: On March 6, 1986, at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London, during a press conference for "Shanghai Surprise", Madonna confirmed that she was working on a new album named "Live to Tell", which would be later changed to "True Blue". She collaborated with Stephen Bray, who had worked on the preceding "Like a Virgin", and with The Virgin Tour's musical director Patrick Leonard. "I was down in the basement with these idiot muso friends, working on a tune," Leonard recalled in 1992. "She liked it. And that ended up being one of the tracks on "True Blue"."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Madonna wrote or co-wrote every song, although her involvement on ones such as "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" was limited to adding lyrics. She was also credited with co-producing every track. The album was recorded from December 1985 to April 1986, during the first year of Madonna's marriage to American actor Sean Penn. She dedicated the album to Penn, "The coolest guy in the universe." By experimenting with her image, adopting a more 'traditional' look, and incorporating classical music in her songs, Madonna tried to appeal to an older audience who had been skeptical of her music. Deemed Madonna's most girlish album yet, "True Blue" deals with Madonna's view of love, work and dreams as well as disappointments. According to Madonna, the title was from a favorite expression of her then husband Penn and his very pure vision of love. The album was her "unabashed valentine" for Penn. Most of its songs reflect this idea although each was developed separately. The first track, "Papa Don't Preach", was written by Brian Elliot, who described it as "a love song, maybe framed a little bit differently". The song is based on teenage gossip Elliot heard outside his studio, which had a large front window that doubled as a mirror where schoolgirls from the North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles regularly stopped to fix their hair and chat.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Open Your Heart" was the first cut recorded for the album, as early as December 1985 and ultimately made it to the final released tracklist; it was originally intended for Cyndi Lauper. The third track "White Heat" was dedicated to actor James Cagney and named after the film of the same name from 1949. Two quotes from the original soundtrack were included in the song. The fourth track "Live to Tell" was written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of Paramount's romantic drama film "Fire with Fire" but, after the company declined it, Leonard showed the song to Madonna. She decided to use it for "At Close Range", the new film of her husband Penn. Madonna made a demo of the song; when the film's director, James Foley, heard it, he asked Leonard to write the score for the film, as suggested by Madonna. "True Blue" was the first album where Madonna included Spanish themes as evident in the song "La Isla Bonita". The song was written for Michael Jackson's "Bad" album, but he had turned it down. While working with Leonard, Madonna accepted it in Jackson's place and re-wrote the lyrics, earning herself a co-writing credit. Madonna described it as her tribute to the "beauty and mystery of Latin American people". Originally intended as the first single, "Love Makes the World Go Round" – first performed at Live Aid a year earlier, in July 1985 – closes the album. The song recalled the antiwar music of the sixties.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Musically "True Blue" was a different direction for Madonna. Her previous efforts had her singing in a high pitched voice. With this album, Madonna toned it down for a more bubblegum-pop voice. The songs on the album reflect this and a number of instruments were used in the songs to bring out the different moods which the lyrics emphasized. "Papa Don't Preach" features acoustic, electric, and rhythm guitars, keyboards, and string arrangements. A continuous percussion filled structure was used in "Open Your Heart". "White Heat" sampling of the film's quotation was included with speech and gunshots. It is an uptempo dance song with synth bass and double-tracked vocals supported by male voices in the chorus. "I don't write dance music and I don't see it as contributing to the cultural growth of the world," grumbled Pat Leonard in 1992. "At the time we were doing the groove stuff on the "True Blue" album, it was semi-innovative. There wasn't a precedent that made you gag. God forbid that I might have contributed to the mess we're in now."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: On ballads like "Live to Tell" there is background instrumentation from a keyboard, a synthesizer, a funk guitar and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. "Where's the Party" is a standard dance track with arrangements of bass drums, synthesizer, clattering rhythms and a remixed approach to the whole composition. The title track featured instrumentation from a rhythm guitar, a synthesizer, keyboards, and drums for the bassline, with a backing track that employed a chord progression commonly used in doo-wop Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas and harmonicas are used in "La Isla Bonita". "Jimmy Jimmy" has an early sixties pop influence, its lyrics a tribute to film star James Dean.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Lyrically "True Blue" reflects Madonna's ideas about love. "Where's the Party" tells of a working girl enjoying the dancefloor after work. "Jimmy Jimmy" talks about Madonna's admiration for the neighbourhood bad boy. The Spanish "La Isla Bonita" and "Love Makes the World Go Round" deal with escapism from normal life, with the latter talking about anti-war and anti-poverty and using Latin drums and samba-influenced rhythms. "White Heat" deals with firmness and quotes Clint Eastwood's "Make my day" catchphrase. "Papa Don't Preach"'s lyrics talk about a young woman who tells her father that she is pregnant out of wedlock, but is going to keep her baby.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Live to Tell" portraits the complexity of deceit and mistrust. The song also is about childhood scars and had an extreme emotional pitch, achieving it in a divine sense. The title track had Madonna talking about romance and 1950s inspired girl group pop. The lyrics of "True Blue" are constructed in a verse-chorus form, with the theme being Madonna's feelings for Sean Penn; she even uses the 1929 archaic love word "dear" in the line "Just think back and remember, dear". Madonna expressed her sexual desires in the lyrics of "Open Your Heart" and described the beauty of a Latin paradise in "La Isla Bonita".


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The album cover, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, is one of Madonna's most recognizable pictures. It features a picture of Madonna from the neck up. The main colors in the picture are gray, white and various shades of blue to reinforce the album's title. Madonna positioned herself in an elegant pose while wearing pale make up with red lips, tilting back her neck in a swan like pose. Jeri Heiden, who was working at Warner Bros. art department, was given the task of editing the photos and making them compatible for appearance in an album cover. She had to work with a total of 60 rolls of photos, each of size 35 mm. Heiden ordered about 30 to 40 test prints from Ritts' studio and made recommendations based on it. Several images from the photo shoot were considered for the album cover, some of which later became the single covers for "Papa Don't Preach" and "True Blue". The final photo was selected by Madonna, Heiden and Jeff Ayeroff, creative director of Warner Bros. at that time.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: After the final photo was selected, Heiden commissioned two different versions of the album cover. The original image was taken in black-and-white, and Heiden experimented with a variety of treatments of the photo, to go along with the album's title, and finally arrived at the blue toned, hand tinted version of the image. The LP and CD album cover is a cropped image of a longer picture including torso, more of which is seen in the cover of the cassette tape edition, and was also included as a fold-out poster in the initial pressings of the LP.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: In the US and Canada, the cover did not have any logo, but in the European nations, they were sold with Madonna's name and album title on the cover. Heiden explained in an interview with "Aperture" magazine that they thought it would be "cool" to use a shrink wrap on the US covers, so that when one took it off, there would only be the photo of Madonna. For the European nations, Warner felt that the name was needed on the cover, as they did not want to take chance with Madonna's popularity there. The back sleeve and the booklet inside featured the song titles in Heiden's own handwriting. About cropping the image for the cassette and the vinyl versions, Heiden said: "I think the image became more interesting cropped into a square—and at that time we always started with the album cover configuration. It was like she was floating—her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue—Goddess like. In the vertical cropping you see her leather jacket and the wall, and it becomes more typical, editorial, earthly."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: According to Lucy O'Brien, author of "Madonna: Like an Icon", the album artwork was on-par with Andy Warhol's concept of pop art. She felt that the image was a mixture of innocence and idealism, while incorporating 1950s-style Technicolor and hand tinted color, characteristic of Warhol's silkscreen printed design, prevalent in the 1960s. Jeri Heiden, the album's cover designer, commented, "She was already highly aware of the value of her image and was in control of it." O'Brien felt that the artwork heralded the arrival of a new Madonna, while drawing on the enduring appeal of her celluloid icon Marilyn Monroe. "With this picture, Madonna made explicit the connection between Warhol and herself, the vivid nexus between pop art and commerce. The late 1980s marked a new era of the pop artist as a brand, and Madonna became the first one to exploit this."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Erica Wexler from "Spin" described Madonna on the cover as "like a cobra basking in the hot sun, Madonna on the cover of her new album stretches her profile lasciviously." Author J. Randy Taraborrelli commented in "", that the album cover indicated how "True Blue" was a vehicle of growth for Madonna. He felt that the "washed out color photograph" of her with head tilted back and eyes closed was "understated", especially when compared to the sexier poses she had been associated in the past. The album's inner sleeve did not feature any photographs, and instead was dedicated to album credits and the song lyrics, since Madonna wanted to be represented by her songs on "True Blue", not her image. "Billboard" listed the cover at rank 37 on their article about the "50 Greatest Album Covers", describing it as a striking image of Madonna.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Prior to the album's release, Madonna premiered "Love Makes the World Go Round" at the 1985 Live Aid concert. The rest of the album's tracks were included on the setlist of her 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour except "Jimmy Jimmy" which remains still the only song from the album Madonna did not perform on any live appearance. It was her second concert tour and promoted "True Blue" alongside the film project "Who's That Girl". It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe. Musically and technically superior to her previous Virgin Tour, the Who's That Girl tour incorporated multimedia components to make the show more appealing.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Madonna trained herself physically with aerobics, jogging and weight-lifting, to cope with the choreography and the dance routines. For the costumes, she collaborated with designer Marlene Stewart, expanding on the idea of bringing her popular video characters to life onstage, reworking scenes from "True Blue", "Open Your Heart", "Papa Don't Preach" and "La Isla Bonita". The stage was huge, with four video screens, multimedia projectors and a flight of stairs in the middle. Leonard became the music director and encouraged Madonna to go with the idea of rearranging her older songs and presenting them in a new format. Madonna named the tour 'Who's That Girl', after looking up at a gigantic image of herself projected on a screen on the stage during rehearsals.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The show included song-and-dance routines and theatrics, seven costume changes, and an encore consisting of the title song "Who's That Girl" and "Holiday". The tour also addressed social causes like AIDS, during "Papa Don't Preach". Who's That Girl was critically appreciated, with reviewers commenting on the extravagant nature of the concert and complimenting Madonna for her dancing, costume changes and dynamic pacing. Who's That Girl was a commercial success, grossing a total of U.S. $25 million, with Madonna playing in front of 1.5 million people over the course of the tour. According to Pollstar, it was the second top female concert tour of 1987, behind Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Tour.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Two concerts from the tour were later released on music video, "Who's That Girl: Live in Japan" (1987), which was exclusive to the Japanese market and "" (1988) which was released internationally. Taraborrelli commented that "Many female artists behave like a diva for a period when they reach superstar status, and the 'Who's That Girl?' tour marked the beginning of Madonna's." The tour is also noted for giving rise to the new Madonna persona, a stronger and more intelligent sexual image of her former self which had given rise to the term Madonna wannabe. A statue of Madonna, wearing a conical bra was erected in her name, at the center of the town of Pacentro in Italy, where her ancestors used to live.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Live to Tell" was the first single released from the album in March 1986. The song was the second ballad for Madonna after "Crazy for You", and was used in the film "At Close Range" which starred her then husband Sean Penn. The song was received positively by critics with most of them calling it "her best ballad to date" as well as a "tremendous ballad that rewrites the rules of adult contemporary crossover". "Live to Tell" became Madonna's third number one single on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and her second number-one that is featured in a film after "Crazy for You". It also became a success internationally reaching the top ten in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Papa Don't Preach" was released as the second single in June 1986. It was critically appreciated with most of them declaring it as "the stand-alone song" from the album, also that "with songs like 'Papa Don't Preach', Madonna made the transition from pop tart to consummate artist, joining the ranks of 80s icons like Michael Jackson and Prince." The song became Madonna's fourth number-one single in the U.S. and also reached the top spot in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" was released as the album's third single in September 1986. It is a dance-pop song inspired by the Motown's girl groups from the 1960s. Critics generally received the song as a light-hearted, fun track having a 50's feeling to it, although some critics believed that it was "sassless and neutered" as compared to the other songs on the record, and that it was "merely cute and not really up to being the title track of an album". The song became another top ten hit for Madonna reaching number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and peaked at number one in Ireland and the United Kingdom.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Open Your Heart" was the fourth single from the album released on November 19, 1986. The song was appreciated critically with critics comparing it with sweeter post-Motown valentine songs, and "perfect" for dancefloor strut. The song became Madonna's fifth number-one single on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. Internationally, it became a top ten hit in several European countries including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "La Isla Bonita" was released as the fifth and final single in February 1987. The song describes Madonna as a tourist who prays "that the days would last, they went so fast". The first line refers to an island called San Pedro although this has not been clearly stated by Madonna in any interview. The song received positive response with critics calling it one of Madonna's greatest, most influential songs as well as the best song on the album. "La Isla Bonita" was a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, while reaching a peak of four on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: While not released as a single, "Where's the Party" received airplay on radio stations such as WKSI "Kiss FM", following requests from the public.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" received critical acclaim. Jon Pareles, in a review for "The New York Times", said that "True Blue" reprised the themes of fidelity in its songs and complimented her addition of a tinge of real world storytelling in her songs, making her reach the "fringes of the permissible". Stephen Holden in another review complimented the album and said that "Madonna goes heavy on heart in this record". In a "Rolling Stone" review, Davitt Sigerson stated that Madonna was "singing better than ever". The album's songs were described as "catchy", but Sigerson also commented on the lack of "outstanding tracks". He ultimately stated that "True Blue" is a "sturdy, dependable, lovable new album" which "remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it".


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review for AllMusic, declared it as "one of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna's true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun." He also felt that Madonna's endeavors in "True Blue" made it "[brilliant], using the music to hook in critics." Erlewine found that the songs on the album had a poignant mixture of topics, which further solidied its popularity. Sal Cinquemani from "Slant Magazine" called the album "the supreme archetype for late '80s and early '90s pop music.[...] Time stamped with '80s-era keyboard and drum synths, True Blue, though chockfull of hits, is the most dated of Madonna's albums." He praised the album's songs for being more mature than "Material Girl", and said that the album "includes some of Madonna's greatest, most influential hits (the robust "Open Your Heart" and the timeless "La Isla Bonita"), but it's also home to some of her biggest clunkers." Michael Paoletta from "Billboard" commented in 2001 that nearly 20 years after its debut, the album is still irresistible.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "Entertainment Weekly" reviewer Jim Farber said "Though Madonna's third project finds her adding to her palette with Spanish pop ("La Isla Bonita") and messing with our heads with its seeming anti-abortion song ("Papa Don't Preach"). Also notable for 'Live to Tell,' her best ballad to date". Robert Christgau was less impressed, accusing Madonna of pandering to the "lowest common denominator" of young listeners with ambiguous lyrics and over-promotion. Robert Hilburn from "Los Angeles Times" stated that ""True Blue" isn't revolutionary music, but it is imaginative, highly energized pop that recognizes the limitations and pleasures of Top 40 fare." Erica Wexler from "Spin" commented that ""True Blue" is Madonna's rite of passage between pop adolescence and a harsher adult world. With all her contrivances and the delighted tunes that I can't exorcise from my head, her mystique is still explained by the young beefcake who told me, 'I love to pump iron to Madonna'."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: In the United States, "True Blue" debuted at number 29 on the "Billboard" 200 and reached number one on the issue dated August 16, 1986. It stayed on the top position for five consecutive weeks and on the chart for a total of 82 weeks. The album also reached a peak of number 47 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. "True Blue" was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of over seven million units, making it Madonna's third best-selling album in the United States, behind "Like a Virgin" (1984) and "The Immaculate Collection" (1990). After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 404,000 copies. It sold additional 301,000 units at the BMG Music Club, which are not counted by the Nielsen SoundScan. In Canada, the album debuted at number 73 on the "RPM" albums chart for the issue of July 5, 1986. The album climbed rapidly upwards and reached number one on the issue dated August 9, 1986. It stayed at the top for nine weeks and was present on the chart for 77 weeks. "True Blue" was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipment of one million copies. Madonna became the second female artist to surpass the 1 million mark of an album in Canada.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The album enjoyed success in Latin America, where it peaked at number one in Argentina and was certified four-time platinum by the Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (CAPIF) for shipment of over 240,000 copies. The same peak position was attained in Brazil where the album was certified gold by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD). The album managed to sell 205,000 copies during the first-two weeks, and eventually became in one of the best-selling albums in 1987 with sales of 680,000 units. With over 1 million copies sold, "True Blue" remains as the best-selling album in Brazil by an international female artist.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" was also a commercial success in Asia and Oceania. In Japan, the album peaked at number one on the Oricon CD chart. At the 1987 Japan Gold Disc Awards held by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), "True Blue" received "Album of the Year Pop Solo" and "Grand Prix Album of the Year", which was given for the year's best-selling international album, while Madonna was honored the "Artist of the Year" for the year's best-selling international artist. In Hong Kong, "True Blue" was certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) In Australia, the album topped the Kent Music Report albums chart on the issue date of August 4, 1986, staying there for two weeks. It was certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 280,000 copies. It also reached number one in New Zealand albums chart and was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for shipment of 75,000 copies.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" achieved its biggest commercial reception in European countries, where it topped the European Top 100 Albums chart for 34 consecutive weeks—a record that has yet to be broken—from issue dated July 19, 1986 to March 7, 1987. As of July 1987, it sold 5.5 million units in the continent. In the United Kingdom, "True Blue" opened at the top of the UK Albums Chart on July 12, 1986, making it the first album by an American artist to debut at number one in British chart history. It remained at the summit for six weeks and on the chart for a total of 85 weeks. "True Blue" was the best-selling album of 1986 in the United Kingdom. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it seven times platinum for shipment of 2.1 million copies and as of June 2019, it has sold over two million copies. "True Blue" also topped the albums chart in France and was certified diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of one million copies. Actual sales of the album in the country stand at 1,300,000 copies as of 2012. In Germany, the album peaked at number one for eight weeks and was certified two times platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for shipment of one million copies. Similarly, in Italy the album debuted at number one maintaining that position for 20 weeks, of which 15 were consecutive. "True Blue" became the best-selling album by an international artist with sales of over 1.5 million copies. Across Europe, "True Blue" achieved platinum status in Finland, gold in Sweden, Ireland, Greece and Portugal and silver in Denmark. According to biographer Christopher Anderson, where it failed to reach the top of the charts, the album nevertheless went gold.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that ""True Blue" is the album where Madonna truly became 'Madonna the Superstar'—the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer that knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews—and make good music while she's at it." Mark Savage from BBC stated that "True Blue" is the album which cemented Madonna's reputation as the 'First Lady of Pop'. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine said that with the album "Madonna made the transition from pop tart to consummate artist, joining the ranks of '80s icons like Michael Jackson and Prince." Similarly, Robert C. Sickels, the author of "100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries", wrote that the album "cemented Madonna's place as the most popular female musical star of the 1980s, shining alongside male pop icons like Prince and Michael Jackson." "NME" dubbed the three as a "holy trinity" of pop music of the decade.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Regarding Madonna's influence on the record industry and younger artists, Debbie Gibson's then manager Doug Breitbart commented: "Madonna has brought back a really strong, melodic component to pop music. She has a very youth-oriented, up, bubbly, fun sound." "Slant Magazine" listed the album at number 60 on their list of "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s" and stated that ""True Blue" was the album on which it became readily apparent that Madonna was more than just a flash-in-the-pan pop star." They added, "It's when she began manipulating her image—and her audience—with a real sense of clarity and purpose and made sure she had quality songs to back up her calculation and world-dominating ambition."


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: The global success of "True Blue" marked the first time Madonna entering the "Guinness Book of World Records" in its 1988 edition, where she was dubbed as the most successful singer for 1986. The album also held the record for number one in the most countries, topping the album charts in a total of 28 countries around the world. "True Blue" was later included in the 1992 edition of "Guinness Book of World Records" as the best-selling album by a woman, with copies sold of more than 17 million until October 1990. "True Blue" was also the world's top-selling album of 1986 and the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist. With sales of more than 25 million copies worldwide, "True Blue" remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. "True Blue" also helped popularize marketing singles from an album, Paul Grein of "Billboard" reported: "10 or 20 years ago you would have had two singles from an album at the most. Now we're in an era where Madonna is on her fifth single from the album "True Blue" and Janet Jackson is on her sixth from the LP "Control"." The album would subsequently produce five top-five singles, continuing her streak of ten consecutive top-five singles at the time.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: "True Blue" also made social impact through its music videos, as author John E. Semonche observed in his book "Censoring Sex" that Madonna pushed the envelope of what could be shown on television which resulted in increase of her popularity. The music video for "Open Your Heart" was a subject of analysis among scholars for its concept of the stereo-typical male gaze and voyeurism. She appeared as a stripper in the video, who escapes with a young boy from the strip parlour in the end. MTV had some reservations initially before airing the video, which was later resolved after a meeting with Warner Officials. Feminist writer Susan Bordo reacted negatively to the video, saying that the leering and pathetic men in the cubicles and Madonna's escape with the boy is "cynically and mechanically tacked on [as] a way of claiming trendy status for what is just cheesecake—or, perhaps, pornography". Author Donn Welton pointed out that the usual power relationship between the "voyeuristic male gaze and object" is destabilized by the portrayal of the male patrons of the peep show as leering and pathetic.


title: True Blue (Madonna album)

text: Author Douglas Kellner noted that the multiculturalism in her music videos and her culturally transgressive moves "turned out to be highly successful moves that endeared her to large and varied youth audiences." In the fall of 1986, Sire Records held Madonna's "Make My Video" contest that involved MTV viewers to make their own videos for "True Blue". Thousands of viewers submitted their recorded tapes which were mainly made using home-made video equipment and featured themselves or relatives as the actors. MTV publicist Peter Danielson said that many of the submissions featured teenagers imitating Madonna. Her Spanish look in the music video for "La Isla Bonita" became popular and appeared in the fashion trends at that time in the form of boleros and layered skirts accessorizing with rosary beads and crucifix like the video. In recognition of her impact on popular culture through her music videos, Madonna was honored with the Video Vanguard Award at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, only four years into her career. She became the first female artist to receive such career achievement from MTV. In 2022, "Billboard" ranked the cover as the 37th greatest album cover of all time.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: James Woodward Downey (born ) is an American comedy writer and occasional actor. Downey wrote for over 30 seasons of "Saturday Night Live", making him the longest tenured writer in the show's history. "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels called Downey the "best political humorist alive".


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Downey grew up in Joliet, Illinois. After graduating from Joliet Catholic High School, he entered Harvard University, where he wrote for the "Harvard Lampoon" and later became its president. He graduated from Harvard in 1974 with a degree in Russian.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: In 1976, Downey joined the "Saturday Night Live" writing staff as its youngest member. He was among the first "Harvard Lampoon" writers to write for television; writer Steve O'Donnell said "the proliferation of cable and the proliferation of comedy [led] the sensibilities of the "Lampoon" [to become] a little closer to the sensibilities of the mass media." "Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss called Downey "patient zero" of "Lampoon" comedy writers.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Downey ultimately worked on 27 of the show's first 32 seasons, one of the longest tenures in the show's history. He arrived at "Saturday Night Live the same week" as Bill Murray with whom he ended up sharing an office overlooking 50th Street, but he mostly began writing at "SNL" with Al Franken, Tom Davis, and Dan Aykroyd. His first stretch as writer for the show ran from 1976 to 1980, culminating in a brief stint as a featured cast member. By the 1979–1980 season, Lorne Michaels had lost both Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi to feature film careers, causing him to look to writers like Downey, Tom Schiller, Dan Aykroyd's brother Peter, Al Franken, Alan Zweibel, and Tom Davis to fill spots as cast members (along with SNL "bandleader" Paul Shaffer and newcomer Harry Shearer). Downey left the show in 1980 as part of the mass exodus of writers and actors following Lorne Michaels' departure.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: After leaving "SNL", Downey became head writer of "Late Night with David Letterman" for a little over a year, 1982 to 1983, during its formative stages. He returned to "SNL" in 1984, serving for a while as head writer. When Norm Macdonald began as "Weekend Update" anchor in the mid-1990s, Downey wrote exclusively for that segment of the show. Downey and Macdonald subsequently became a team, working away from the rest of the cast and crew. They were both fired from the show in 1998 at the request of NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer. Downey believes that it was a result of various jokes on "Weekend Update" calling O. J. Simpson a murderer; Ohlmeyer was a good friend of Simpson's.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Downey returned to the show in 2000. He continued to write for the show until 2013, pausing only in 2005 to work on a novel. For an October 2000 skit satirizing a recent presidential debate, Downey coined the word "strategery" for then-presidential candidate George W. Bush to say, based on Bush's reputation for difficulty with public speaking. The word soon began to be used in a tongue-in-cheek fashion by members of Bush's own administration, as well as by political pundits on both sides, to refer to the Bush administration's political strategy.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Former "SNL" "Weekend Update" anchor Dennis Miller has called him the second most important person in the history of "Saturday Night Live", behind only creator Lorne Michaels. In 2013, he retired from "Saturday Night Live" after the end of the 38th season after working part-time, commuting from Upstate New York.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Although he was only a credited actor on "Saturday Night Live" for one season, Downey appeared in over 40 sketches from 1977 to 2005, his most notable being parody commercials such as Craig's Travellers Checks, First CityWide Change Bank, and Grayson Moorhead Securities. In 2007, he appeared in a Digital Short titled "Andy's Dad", where he portrayed the father of cast member Andy Samberg, and had a romantic relationship with guest star Jonah Hill.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: In movies, he is probably best remembered for playing the high school principal who judges the "academic decathlon" in "Billy Madison". His brief role in that film included a famous monologue in which he insults the title character, played by Adam Sandler, concluding with the sentence "I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul." The monologue was based on a response Downey often gave to "SNL" cast member (and fellow "Billy Madison" cast member) Chris Farley in the "SNL" writers' room when Farley presented certain ideas.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: He appeared in the Norm Macdonald movie "Dirty Work" as one of the homeless guys. Downey also had a bit part in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 film "There Will Be Blood", where he plays Al Rose, Little Boston's real estate broker. Anderson's YouTube channel is Al Rose Promotions, a nod to Downey's role.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Given Downey's role in writing much of the political humor featured on "Saturday Night Live" during his tenure there, his own political leanings have been a source of speculation. Downey has said that he began his career as "a standard-issue Harvard graduate commie", but later turned into "a conservative Democrat". He is a registered Democratic Party member. In 2008 he expressed his support for then-presidential-candidate Barack Obama. Nonetheless, his comedic targets have included American politicians across the political spectrum. TV critic Tom Shales, author of the book "Live from New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live", called Downey, and "SNL", an "equal opportunity slasher" in political comedy.


title: Jim Downey (comedian)

text: Some have called Downey more right-wing than his self-description, including Shales, who described him in 2002 as "a Republican" and "pretty conservative". In the "Huffington Post", former "SNL" head writer Adam McKay called Downey "right-wing" and an "Ann Coulter pal". On a 2019 podcast, Al Franken described Downey as a "thoughtful conservative."