title: Incantation (film)

text: A woman named Li Ronan narrates the film, imploring the viewer to memorize an insignia and chant an incantation to send blessings and lift a curse on her six-year-old daughter, Dodo. The insignia and incantation are interspersed frequently throughout the film to encourage the viewer to pray along. The events of the film are shown as a found footage in a non-linear manner.


title: Incantation (film)

text: Six years earlier, Ronan, her boyfriend Dom, and Dom's cousin Yuan, broke a religious taboo while documenting a ritual for their online video channel. They went to a remote clan village inhabited by Dom and Yuan's relatives, who practiced an esoteric Yunnan religion worshipping an ancestral deity called Mother-Buddha. The clan asked the three to submit their names with the incantation to the Mother-Buddha. A clan elder told Ronan that after her daughter was born, she must also submit her daughter's name; Ronan was surprised as she had not realized that she was pregnant.


title: Incantation (film)

text: That night, the group spied on the clan performing the ritual, where a young girl seemed to be willingly prepared for a sacrifice. The unconscious girl, whose body was covered in runes, was left in front of a tunnel, which the group were keen to enter but the clan had said was forbidden. Ronan waited with the girl while Dom and Yuan entered the tunnel after destroying its barricades. Yuan later emerged screaming hysterically, while Dom's lifeless body was later seen being carried by the villagers from the tunnel. The footage from within the tunnel has since become damaged and cannot be played. After Dodo was born, Ronan left her at a foster care home and sought psychiatric help.


title: Incantation (film)

text: In the present, Ronan has recovered and is taking Dodo to live with her. Their house soon becomes infested by unexplained activities and Dodo is disturbed by a shadowy presence. Dodo gradually develops a debilitating illness and Ronan's mental health declines. When social workers arrive to take Dodo away, she and Ronan escape with the help of Ming, the sympathetic manager of the foster care home. They bring Dodo to a shrine, where a priest and his wife agree to risk their lives to exorcize Dodo. They forbid her from eating for the next seven days, but when her condition deteriorates and runes appear all over her body, Ronan feeds her. The priest and his wife are violently killed, and Ronan takes Dodo to a hospital.


title: Incantation (film)

text: Meanwhile, Ming goes to Yunnan to conduct more research into the esoteric religion and restores the damaged tunnel footage. As his health rapidly declines from watching the undamaged portion of the footage, he decides not to send the tunnel footage to Ronan. However, he later becomes possessed and sends copies of the tunnel footage to Ronan before killing himself by smashing his own head repeatedly on camera. In the footage, it is shown that Dom and Yuan had reached the altar of the Mother-Buddha, whose face was covered with a veil. While trying to remove the veil, Dom got possessed and died after smashing his head. The footage also reveals that Yuan became possessed before being violently killed in the village by unseen forces.


title: Incantation (film)

text: Ronan confesses that she has been lying to the viewer all along. It is revealed that a priest in Yunnan had explained to her that the Mother-Buddha is a malevolent entity, and that if you submit your name with the incantation, it means you agree to carry the curse. Instead of conveying blessings, the incantation actually serves to dilute the curse. When more people chant it, the curse gets spread out and the burden on those bearing it becomes lighter. The Mother-Buddha's face has to be covered because it is the source of the curse. Ronan, now covered in runes, returns to the altar inside the tunnel and asks the viewer for their name before revealing the Mother-Buddha's face on camera. She then gets possessed and smashes her own head on the altar. The film ends with footage of Dodo healthy and happy, implying that the burden of her curse has been shared with everyone who watched the film.


title: Incantation (film)

text: The movie is inspired by an incident in Gushan District, Kaohsiung in 2005. A family of six had claimed that they were possessed by various Chinese folk religion deities, and accused each other of being possessed by demons masquerading as deities. They burned each other with incense, hit each other with sticks and spirit tablets, and splashed feces and urine on each other in an attempt to expel the demons. In the end, they singled out the eldest daughter and attacked her until she died of her injuries. The five remaining members of her family were subsequently charged with the offense of "abandoning a helpless person resulting in the person's death". The case was considered one of mass hysteria.


title: Incantation (film)

text: Kevin Ko explained that the Mother-Buddha, hand gestures, chant, symbols and everything associated with the religion in the film are all fictitious. Much of the budget was spent on the design and production of the props, especially the large statue of the Mother-Buddha.


title: Incantation (film)

text: The image of the Mother-Buddha incorporated elements from Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. The multi-armed form of the Mother-Buddha bears striking similarity to wrathful forms of the Hindu goddess Kali or Mahakali. The first two characters of the Mother-Buddha's Chinese name are also the same as those of the Chinese translation of Mahakali's name. Besides, the role of prepubescent girls in the cult of the Mother-Buddha echoes Kumari-worshipping traditions in Nepal. Moreover, the mutilation of children in the cult of the Mother-Buddha, as well as infants being a prominent part of the form of the Mother-Buddha seen in both murals and the statue, reflects the influence of Hārītī imagery in Buddhism.


title: Incantation (film)

text: "Incantation" was showcased at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) project market during the 2019 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival before entering production and going on to become the highest grossing Taiwanese horror film. The film was released in Taiwan on March 18, 2022 and also screened at the Far East Film Festival. In June 2022, Netflix announced that it would distribute the film worldwide on July 8, 2022.


title: Incantation (film)

text: As of June 2022, "Incantation" has grossed (), making it the highest grossing 2022 film in Taiwan. It became the highest grossing Taiwanese horror film of all time.


title: Incantation (film)

text: The film holds an approval rating of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10.


title: The Sand

text: The Sand, also titled Blood Sand, is a 2015 American monster movie directed by Isaac Gabaeff and starring Brooke Butler, Meagan Holder and Mitchel Musso. At least one version of the opening credits reads "Killer Beach," but the closing credits give the movie title as "The Sand."


title: The Sand

text: A group of friends are having a party at the beach. A girl named Heather is recording the party when two of the boys, Vance and Gilbert, find a large ball covered in a strange gooey substance. All the teenagers agree to put their mobile phones in the trunk of a car in an effort to ensure that no one will post compromising pictures or videos online.


title: The Sand

text: The next morning, two of the friends, Kaylee and Mitch, wake up on the lifeguard shack. Kaylee's boyfriend, Jonah, awakens in a nearby convertible next to a girl named Chanda, along with Vance and his girlfriend, Ronnie. Gilbert wakes up, stuck from the waist down in a trash barrel, having been put there as a prank after passing out. A girl named Marsha wakes up, topless, having fallen asleep on top of a picnic table. The rest of the teenagers, including Heather, are nowhere to be found; there are, instead, a bunch of empty sleeping bags in their places.


title: The Sand

text: Marsha accuses Heather of having stolen her top; she leaves the picnic table to find her. Kaylee, witnessing a bird suddenly getting sucked into the sand, tries to warn her, but Marsha doesn't listen and is immediately immobilized by something hidden underneath the beach. Vance attempts to help her, but he falls and has his face eaten off when he touches the sand, and he and Marsha are pulled into the ground. Jonah concludes that the cracked ball from last night must have been an egg, and whatever hatched from it has burrowed under the sand and has wiped out everyone, including Vance, Heather, and Marsha.


title: The Sand

text: The group cannot call for help, as their phones are locked in the car, and the car's battery is dead from their having left the headlights on all night. After some experimenting to determine the creature's reach, Jonah uses two surfboards as a bridge to reach the picnic table. He makes it to the table, but not before the creature has slashed his stomach, leaving a painful wound that starts seeping pus. He notes, though, that the creature won't go near the ashes of the previous night's bonfire, indicating that it hates fire. Ronnie and Chanda attempt to retrieve the phones from the car, but Ronnie gets her fingers crushed under the trunk's lid.


title: The Sand

text: A beach patrolman drives onto the beach. The group warns him, then are shocked to see him walk across the sand unharmed, protected by his boots. The patrolman assumes the group is on drugs and taunts them, but when he drops his keys and tries to retrieve them, the buried creature attacks him. He temporarily fights it off using his pepper spray, but the monster eventually consumes him. Kaylee manages to retrieve his pepper spray, which gives Mitch the idea to reach the truck by putting his flip-flops on and wrapping his feet with towels soaked in pepper spray. Chanda throws him towels from the car, but when Mitch attempts to catch the second towel, the banister breaks and he falls onto the sand, where the creature kills and consumes him.


title: The Sand

text: Taking charge, Kaylee frees Ronnie's fingers from the car trunk, then has Chanda use the broken pieces of the boardwalk as a bridge to get to Jonah on the picnic table. Meanwhile, Gilbert discovers that he has cut his stomach on the edge of the trash barrel, attracting the creature. Kaylee and Ronnie make their way across the makeshift bridge to Chanda and Jonah. At the last step, Ronnie trips and, despite Kaylee's efforts, she is seized and pulled under. In desperation, Chanda follows through with Mitch's plan and runs across the sand to the truck with pepper-sprayed towels wrapping her feet. The group celebrates for a brief moment, but then Gilbert is pulled down through the bottom of the barrel and devoured. The creature, having grown much larger tentacles, bangs against the patrol car, knocking Chanda unconscious.


title: The Sand

text: At nightfall, Chanda wakes up and finds a self-inflatable raft in the back of the truck. She inflates the raft, and Kaylee and Jonah use it to reach the patrolman's car. However, the ground erupts, knocking Kaylee out of the open door and onto the raft. A huge glowing tentacle shoots out from the ground and assaults her. She manages to get on top of the car and, finding two gas cans on the rear rack, uses them to set one of the tentacles on fire. Kaylee, Chanda, and Jonah lock themselves in the car as the creature's tentacles bash it. Eventually, the attacks stop; in the silence, Kaylee and Chanda notice that Jonah has died from his injuries.


title: The Sand

text: The two girls fall asleep huddled together. In the morning, the girls are woken by a man tapping on the car window. Kaylee and Chanda note, incredulously, that the creature is gone, and walk across the sand together, traumatized, as the man calls for an ambulance. In a closing shot, the creature, revealed as an enormous jellyfish, is seen in the water, headed towards Santa Monica Pier.


title: The Sand

text: Mike Wilson from Bloody Disgusting gave the film a negative review, stating that while the film's admittedly cheap special effects added a certain charm, and the film's death scenes were disturbing and well-executed; Wilson criticized the film's performances, dialogue, and the film's runtime. Kim Newman wrote in his review of the film, "Though well-acted, smartly-written and nicely directed by Isaac Gabaeff to ratchet up the tension, "The Sand" suffers from hit-or-miss CGI effects – even the lo-tech practical monster/gore effects of vintage Corman c Attack of the Giant Leeches or Frank Henenlotter in his Basket Case-Brain Damage mode would play better than the glitchy, cartoony pixel-jumble that passes for a monster here". Naila Scargill from "Exquisite Terror" gave the film a negative review, calling it "arduous", and criticized the lack of screen time of the film's monster, as well as the film's unlikable characters, and special effects. Matt Boiselle from Dread Central awarded the film two out of five stars, writing, ""The Sand" could be good for a midnight watch where goofiness is happily embraced and the need for creature fun is welcome; however, once the sun comes up, it's best to find a lot of shade from this solar disaster".


title: The Sand

text: Alternately, Michael Therkelsen from "Horror Society" rated the film a score of eight out of ten, calling it "a campy good time", while also noting the film's cheap special effects didn't fit with the rest of the film. Jennie Kermode of "Eye for Film" gave the film three and a half out of five stars, commending the film's quick pacing, and likable characters, writing, "It takes skill to make a cheesy creature feature well. "The Sand" is much smarter than it looks on the surface. Give it time and it will pull you in." Kat Hughes from "The Hollywood News" offered the film similar praise, writing, ""The Sand" takes a silly idea and somehow makes it work, helped greatly by the fact that it has got buckets of charm".


title: Merry Clayton

text: Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter". Clayton is prominently featured in "20 Feet from Stardom", the Oscar-winning documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana. She was born on Christmas Day, and was given the name "Merry" because of the December 25th birthdate. She is the daughter of Eva B. Clayton and Reverend A.G. Williams, Sr.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton was raised in New Orleans as a Christian, and spent much of her time in her father’s parish, New Zion Baptist Church. After moving to Los Angeles, she met members of The Blossoms, who convinced her to pursue a music career.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Throughout her career as a backup singer, Clayton's singing can be heard on songs by Pearl Bailey, Phil Ochs, Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, and on several tracks from Neil Young's debut album. Clayton is often credited as having recorded with Elvis Presley but her name does not appear in Elvis sessionographies.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton has been sampled in various songs, most notably "Watch for the Hook" by Cool Breeze featuring Goodie Mob, and supergroup Outkast.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton began her recording career in 1962, at the age of 14. She first sang on "Who Can I Count On?" as a duet with Bobby Darin, on his album "You're the Reason I'm Living".


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 1963, she recorded the first-released version of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", the same year that Betty Everett's version reached the Top 10 on the "Billboard Hot 100". Early in her career, Clayton performed with Ray Charles (as one of the Raelettes). At the time, Charles was the only artist her father would allow her to see at a live performance.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton is best known for her 1969 duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter" (though on some releases her name is misspelled as "Mary"). According to Jagger, the collaboration happened partially by chance: Jagger stated that the band thought, "it'd be great to have a woman come do the… chorus." They called Clayton "randomly" in the middle of the night in Los Angeles, and she showed up to the studio "in curlers" and contributed her parts in a few takes, which Jagger remarked was "pretty amazing." Clayton performed her parts while pregnant, soon afterward suffering a miscarriage. Clayton was actually the band's second choice for the part; The Stones had asked Bonnie Bramlett to sing on the song, but Bramlett's husband Delaney refused to let her perform with the Stones.


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 1970, Clayton recorded her own version of "Gimme Shelter", and it became the title track of her debut solo album, released that year. Her solo version peaked at No. 73 on the pop charts. Her version would be the first of five singles under her name to crack the "Billboard" Hot 100. That same year, she performed a live version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" for the soundtrack for the Robert Altman film, "Brewster McCloud", and also contributed vocals to Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's film, "Performance".


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 1973, she featured prominently on Ringo Starr's "Oh My My", which reached Billboard's Top 10 the following year.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Along with her frequent partner Clydie King, Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".


title: Merry Clayton

text: In the mid-1970s Clayton sang on The Blackbyrds' R&B hit "Rock Creek Park", and continued to release solo albums throughout the next decade, notching several minor R&B chart singles.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Her soundtrack work continued into the 1980s, including "You're Always There When I Need You", the title track for the 1980 "Get Smart" film, "The Nude Bomb", and the song "Yes" from "Dirty Dancing", which hit No. 45 on the Hot 100.


title: Merry Clayton

text: In the mid-1980s, Clayton was in the gospel group Brilliance, formed by Della Reese. The other members were O.C. Smith, Vermettya Royster, and Eric Strom. They released an album on Atlanta International Records in 1986.


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 1987, Clayton co-starred with Ally Sheedy in the film "Maid to Order". That same year, Clayton also played the character "Verna Dee Jordan" in the final season of "Cagney & Lacey".


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 1994, Clayton sang on backing vocals and also the "Man with the Golden Gun" bridge for Tori Amos's hit, "Cornflake Girl".


title: Merry Clayton

text: In 2006, Clayton provided background vocals for Sparta's album "Threes", on the songs "Atlas" and "Translations".


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton was featured in the documentary film "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and went on to win the Oscar for best documentary at the 86th Academy Awards. "20 Feet from Stardom" also won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Music Film, with the award being presented to the featured artists, in addition to the production crew for the film.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton was married to jazz artist Curtis Amy from 1970 until his death in 2002. Their son, Kevin Amy, has also pursued a musical career. Her brother is Little Feat percussionist Sam Clayton.


title: Merry Clayton

text: Clayton had a miscarriage upon returning home from recording "Gimme Shelter", according to the "Los Angeles Times".


title: Merry Clayton

text: On June 16, 2014, Clayton was critically injured in a car collision in Los Angeles, California that caused both of her legs to be amputated at the knees due to her suffering "profound trauma to her lower extremities."


title: Sápmi

text: The region stretches over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. On the north it is bounded by the Barents Sea, on the west by the Norwegian Sea, and on the east by the White Sea. The area is historically referred to as Lapland () in English, although the term "Lapp" for its inhabitants is now considered pejorative. Norwegian Sápmi was historically called "Finnmǫrk", a name used for the former county Finnmark, now Troms og Finnmark.


title: Sápmi

text: Sápmi refers to the areas where the Sámi people have traditionally lived but overlaps with other regions and definitions. In practice most of the Sámi population is largely concentrated in a few traditional areas in the northernmost part of Sápmi, such as Kautokeino and Karasjok, with the exception of those who have left for the larger cities. Culturally, Inari is considered one of the centers of Sámi culture, and because of that, it is also widely known as the "capital of Sámi culture".


title: Sápmi

text: The Sámi people are estimated to make up only 2.5% to 5% of the total population in the Sápmi area. No political organization advocates secession, although several groups desire more territorial autonomy or more self-determination for the region's indigenous population.


title: Sápmi

text: Sápmi (and corresponding terms in other Sami languages) refers to both the Sami land and the Sami people. The word "Sámi" is the accusative-genitive form of the noun "Sápmi"—making the name's ("Sámi olbmot") meaning "people of Sápmi". The origin of the word is speculated to be related to the Baltic word "*žēmē", meaning "land". Also "Häme", the Finnish name for Tavastia, a historical province of Finland, is thought to have the same origin, and the same word is at least speculated to be the origin of "", the Finnish name for Finland.


title: Sápmi

text: Sápmi is the name in North Sami, while the Julev Sami name is "Sábme" and the South Sami name is "Saepmie".


title: Sápmi

text: In modern Swedish and Norwegian, Sápmi is known as "Sameland". In older Swedish it was known as "Lappmarken" or "Lappland". Norwegian Sápmi was historically called "Finnmǫrk" (not "Lapland"), a name used for the modern county Finnmark that covers key parts of historical Sápmi. Some English language sources have transferred "Lapland" (or Lappland) to areas in Norway notably in the context of tourism marketing. Originally these names referred to all of Sápmi, but subsequently became applied to areas "exclusively" inhabited by the Sami.


title: Sápmi

text: "Lappland" (Laponia) became the name of Sweden's northernmost province ("landskap") which in 1809 was split into one part that remained Swedish and one part falling under Finland (which became part of the Russian Empire). "Lappland" survives as the name of both Sweden's northernmost province and Finland's, also containing part of the old Ostrobothnian province.


title: Sápmi

text: In the 17th century, Johannes Schefferus assumed the etymology of the term "Lapland" to be related to the Swedish word for "running", ""löpa"" (cognate with English, "to leap"). The terms "Lapp" and "Lappland" are now regarded as offensive by many Sami people, who prefer the area's name in their own language "" , because over time the term "Lapp" has acquired the pejorative connotation of "silly", "uneducated", "backwards", etc. in the major languages of the Scandinavian countries that include Sapmi.


title: Sápmi

text: In older Norwegian, Sápmi was known as "Finnmork" or "Finnmark"; which is now the name of Norway's northernmost county. Northern Norway and Murmansk Oblast are sometimes marketed as "Norwegian Lapland" and "Russian Lapland", respectively.


title: Sápmi

text: The largest part of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle. The western portion is an area of fjords, deep valleys, glaciers and mountains, the highest point being Mount Kebnekaise (), in Swedish Lapland. The Swedish part of Sápmi is characterized by great rivers running from the northwest to the southeast. From the Norwegian province of Troms and Finnmark and eastward, the terrain is that of a low plateau with many marshes and lakes, the largest of which is Lake Inari in Finnish Lapland. The extreme northeastern section lies within the tundra region, but it does not have permafrost.


title: Sápmi

text: The climate is subarctic and vegetation is sparse, except in the densely forested southern portion. The mountainous west coast has significantly milder winters and more precipitation than the large areas east of the mountain chain. North of the Arctic Circle polar night characterize the winter season and midnight sun the summer season—both phenomena are longer the further north you go. Traditionally, the Sami divide the year in "eight" seasons instead of four.


title: Sápmi

text: Reindeer, wolf, bear, and birds are the main forms of animal life, in addition to a myriad of insects in the short summer. Sea and river fisheries abound in the region. Steamers are operated on some of the lakes, and many ports are ice-free throughout the year. All ports along the Norwegian Sea in the west and the Barents Sea in the northeast to Murmansk are ice-free all year. The Gulf of Bothnia usually freezes over in winter. The ocean floor to the north and west of Sápmi has deposits of petroleum and natural gas. Sápmi contains valuable mineral deposits, particularly iron ore in Sweden, copper in Norway, and nickel and apatite in Russia.


title: Sápmi

text: "East Sápmi" consists of the Kola peninsula and the Lake Inari region and is home to the eastern Sami languages. While being the most-heavily populated part of Sápmi, this is also the region where the indigenous population and their culture is weakest. Corresponds to the regions marked 6 through 9 on the map below.


title: Sápmi

text: "Central Sápmi" consists of the western part of Finland's Sami Domicile Area, the parts of Norway north of the Saltfjellet mountains and areas on the Swedish side corresponding to this. Central Sápmi is the region where Sami culture is strongest, and home to North Sami—the most widely used Sami language. In the southernmost part of this subregion, however, Sami culture is rather weak—this is where the moribund "Bithun" Sami language is used. The areas around the Tysfjord fjord in Norway and the river Lule in Sweden are home to the "Julev" Sami language, one of the more widely used Sami languages. These correspond to the regions marked 3 through 5 on the map below.


title: Sápmi

text: "South Sápmi" consists of the areas south of Saltfjellet and corresponding areas in Sweden, and is home to the southern languages. In this area Sami culture is mostly visible inland and on the coast of Baltic Sea, and the languages are spoken by few. Corresponds to the regions marked 1 and 2 on the map below to the south-east of region 1 in Sweden.


title: Sápmi

text: The inner parts of Sápmi are often referred to as Lappi. The name is also found on the Russian side as "Laplandige" (the name of a natural reservation) and the Norwegian landscape of Finnmark is sometimes titled the "Norwegian Lapland", especially by the travel industry. "Lappi-" appears as a common component of place-names throughout central and southern Finland as well; in many cases, it probably refers to earlier Sami presence, though in some cases the underlying meaning may be merely "periphery" or "outlying district".


title: Sápmi

text: Finally, Sápmi may also be sub-divided into cultural regions according to the states' borders, that obviously affects daily life for people no matter their ethnicity. These regions are commonly referred to as "sides" by Sami, for example "the Norwegian side" ("norgga bealli") or "the Finnish side" ("suoma bealli").


title: Sápmi

text: The Saamic languages are the region's main minority languages and also its oldest attested languages. They belong to the Uralic language family, and are most closely related to the Finnic languages. Many Sami languages are mutually unintelligible, but the languages originally formed a dialect continuum stretching southwest–northeast, so that a message could hypothetically be passed between Sami speakers from one end to the other and be understood by all. Today, however, many of the languages are moribund and thus there are "gaps" in the original continuum.


title: Sápmi

text: On the map to the right numbers indicate Sámi Languages (Darkened areas represent municipalities that recognize Sami as an official language.): 1. South (Åarjil) Sámi, 2. Ume (Upme) Sámi, 3. Pite (Bitthun) Sámi, 4. Lule (Julev) Sámi, 5. North (Davvi) Sámi, 6. Skolt Sámi, 7. Inari (Ánár) Sámi, 8. Kildin Sámi, 9. Ter (Kill) Sámi. Of these languages the North one is by far the most vital; whereas Ume and Pite seem to be dying languages. Kemi Sámi and Ter Sami are extinct.


title: Sápmi

text: North Sami is subdivided into three main dialects: West, East, and Coast. The written standard is based on the Western dialect.


title: Sápmi

text: Russian is the dominant language on the Russian side of the border and also spoken by recently immigrated minority groups elsewhere in Sápmi. Earlier, a common pidgin language was spoken on the northern coast of Sápmi that combined elements of Russian and Norwegian. This language was known as Russenorsk. On the Russian side, there are also speakers of the East Slavic Belarusian and Ukrainian languages.


title: Sápmi

text: Norwegian and Swedish dominate the largest part of Sápmi, including the entire Southern region and most of the Central region. There also used to be minorities speaking Norwegian on the Kola Peninsula. The Scandinavian languages are to a very large degree mutually intelligible, much more so than South Sami and North Sami. The Norwegian dialects spoken particularly in North and Central Norway Sami areas differ very much from the written bokmål standard. In Central Sápmi the Sámi dialects have taken the Scandinavian language trait of having a more or less constant emphasis on the first syllable of each spoken word. In the inner and northernmost parts of Sweden and Norway, however, people often speak Norwegian and Swedish close to the written standard, though with a heavy Uralic accent.


title: Sápmi

text: The Finnic (i.e. Baltic Finnic) languages are spoken on the Finnish (Finnish), Swedish (Meänkieli—spoken by the Tornedalians) and Norwegian (Kven) sides of the borders. There also used to be minorities speaking Finnish on the Kola Peninsula. The languages are as mutually intelligible as the Scandinavian languages. Other Finnic languages include Karelian, Estonian, Livonian, Veps, Votic and Izhoran. Many are mutually intelligible.


title: Sápmi

text: The number of people living in Sápmi is about 2 million, though it is difficult to give the precise number of inhabitants since certain counties and provinces only include parts of Sápmi. It is also difficult to account for the distribution of ethnic groups as many people have double or multiple ethnic identities—both seeing themselves as members of the majority population and being part of one or more minority groups.


title: Sápmi

text: Different criteria are set when calculating the number of Sámi, but the number is generally between 80,000 and 100,000. Many live in areas outside Sápmi such as Oulu, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. Some Sámi people have migrated to places outside the Sápmi vernacular region, such as in Canada and the United States. Many Sámi people have settled in the northern parts of Minnesota.


title: Sápmi

text: About 900,000 people inhabit Murmansk province (oblast'), but parts of this area lie outside Sápmi. About 758,600 of Murmansk's population claim to be exclusively Russian. Ethnic Russians also live elsewhere in Sápmi. The Russian side of Sápmi is ethnically diverse, with particularly big Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities. The Sami are one of the minor minorities in this part of Sápmi.


title: Sápmi

text: About 850,000 people inhabit the Norwegian regions of North Norway (fully within Sápmi) and Trøndelag (mostly within Sápmi). However, many of the regions' inhabitants—particularly those of North Norway—are not exclusively Norwegian. Notable minority groups include the Sami, Finns, and Kvens.


title: Sápmi

text: About 700,000 people inhabit the Swedish counties Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland, and Jämtland. Many of the counties' inhabitants are not exclusively Swedish. Notable minority groups in the former three counties include the Sami, Tornedalians, and Finns.


title: Sápmi

text: These two ethnic groups, closely related to each other and also the Finns, mainly live on the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian sides of Nordkalotten, respectively. In Sweden, there are two meanings to the word 'Norrbotten'. One is the older 'landskap' Norrbotten, which is much smaller than the modern county, 'län', Norrbotten, which encompasses all of north Sweden from Jävre. Norrbottens län also encompasses the northern part of the 'landskap' Lappland. The modern county Norrbotten has only a small minority of reindeer-herding Sami. The Tornedalians, who have lived, hunted, fished and farmed, mainly south and east of the line of arable climate and land (that line mostly coincides approximately with the border between the two landscapes Lappland and Norrbotten) for 700–1000 years, is a much larger minority. There are also a lot of Tornedalians in the mining district around Kiruna and Gällivare, and the increasingly restrictions on leisure, movement, fishing, and hunting for all but the reindeer-herding Sami minority are controversial and contested in Norrbotten.


title: Sápmi

text: Norway, Finland and Sweden all have Sámi Parliaments that to varying degrees are involved in governing the region—though mostly they only have authority over the matters of the Sámi citizens of the states in which they are situated.


title: Sápmi

text: Every Norwegian citizen registered as a Sámi has the right to vote in the elections for the Sámi Parliament of Norway. Elections are held every four years by direct vote from seven constituencies covering all of Norway (six of which are in Sápmi), and run parallel to the general Norwegian parliamentary elections. This is the Sámi Parliament with the most influence over any part of Sápmi, as it is involved in the autonomy established by the Finnmark Act. The parliament is in Kárášjohka and its current president is Aili Keskitalo from the Norwegian Sámi Association.


title: Sápmi

text: The Sámi Parliament of Sweden, situated in Kiruna (Northern Sámi: "Giron"), is elected by a general vote where all registered Sámi citizens of Sweden may attend. The current president is Lars-Anders Baer.


title: Sápmi

text: Voting for elections to the Sámi Parliament of Finland is restricted to inhabitants of the Sámi Domicile Area. The Parliament is in Inari (), and its current president is Pekka Aikio.


title: Sápmi

text: In Russia there is no Sámi Parliament. There are two Sámi organizations that are members of the national umbrella organisation of indigenous peoples, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), and represent the Russian Sámi in the Sámi Council. RAIPON is represented in Russia's Public Chamber by Pavel Sulyandziga. On 14 December 2008 the first Congress of the Russian Sámi took place. The Conference decided to demand the formation of a Russian Sámi Parliament, to be elected by the local Sámi. A suggestion to have the Russian Federation pick representatives to the Parliament was voted down with a clear majority. The Congress also chose a Council of Representatives that were to work for the establishment of a parliament and otherwise represent the Russian Sámi. It is headed by Valentina Sovkina.


title: Sápmi

text: On 2 March 2000, the Sámi parliaments of Norway and Finland founded the Sámi Parliamentary Council, and the Sámi Parliament of Sweden joined two years later. Each parliament sends seven representatives, and observers are sent from the Sámi organizations of Russia and the Sámi Council. The Sámi Parliamentary Council discuss cross-border cooperation, hand out the annual "Gollegiella" language development award, and represent the Sámi people abroad.


title: Sápmi

text: In addition to the parliaments and their common council, there is a Saami Council based on Saami organizations. This council also organizes interstate cooperation between the Saami, and also often represents the Saami in international fora such as the Barents Region. This organization is older than the Parliamentary Council, but not connected to the parliaments except that some of the NGOs double as party lists in Sami parliament elections.


title: Sápmi

text: The Russian side of Sápmi is within Murmansk Oblast. "Oblasts" are governed by popularly elected parliaments and formally headed by governors. The governors are nominated by the president of Russia, and accepted or rejected by the local parliaments. However, should the parliament refuse to accept the president's nominee, the president is entitled to dissolve parliament and call local elections.


title: Sápmi

text: Murmansk Oblast covers the Kola Peninsula and is home to Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle and in the Sápmi. It is subdivided into several districts, of which the geographically largest is Lovozersky District. This is also the part of Russia where the Sami population is most numerous and visible.


title: Sápmi

text: The Lapland Nature Reserve (, Laplandskiy zapovednik) is a Russian "zapovednik" (strict nature reserve) in Murmansk Oblast, above the Arctic Circle. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Laplandsky Zapovednik. First established during 1930-1951 and reestablished in 1957, the reserve protects an area of to the northwest of Lake Imandra, including 86 km² of inland water.


title: Sápmi

text: The counties of Norway are governed by popularly elected assemblies, headed by county mayors. Formally, the counties are headed by county governors, but in practice these have limited influence today.


title: Sápmi

text: The largest of Norway's landscapes, Finnmárku (Northern Sami) or Finnmark (Norwegian), is in Sápmi and has a special form of autonomy: 95% (about ) of the area is owned by the Finnmark Estate. The board of the Estate consists of equally many representatives from the Sami Parliament of Norway and Finnmark's county council. The two institutions appoint leaders of the board alternately. The administrative centre of Finnmárku (Finnmark) is Čáhcesuolu or Vadsø, in the far east of the county. The current county governor is Runar Sjåstad from the Norwegian Labour Party.


title: Sápmi

text: Romsa or Troms is southwest of Finnmárku. Its administrative centre is the city after which the county is named, Romsa or Tromsø. Romsa is North Norway's biggest city and Sápmi's biggest city after Murmansk. Current "fylkesordfører" is Terje Olsen from the Conservative Party. A similar solution to the Finnmark Estate, Hålogalandsallmenningen, has been proposed for Romsa county and its southern neighbour Nordlánda.


title: Sápmi

text: Nordland covers a long strip of coast that includes both North Sami, Julev Sami, Bithun Sami, and South Sami areas. Its administrative centre is Bådåddjo or Bodø. The current county governor is Mariette Korsrud from the Norwegian Labour Party.


title: Sápmi

text: The southernmost parts of Norwegian Sapmi lie in Nord-Trøndelag and partially in Sør-Trøndelag, and the administrative centres of which are Steinkjer and Trondheim respectively. The latter city is outside Sápmi but well known for being the site of the first international Sami conference in February 1917. The county governors are Gunnar Viken (the Conservative Party) in Nord-Trøndelag and Tore Sandvik (Norwegian Labour Party) in Sør-Trøndelag.


title: Sápmi

text: Lapland is a large northwestern province of Sweden, wholly within Sápmi. The traditional provinces of Sweden are cultural and historical entities; for administrative and political purposes they were replaced by the counties of Sweden (län) in 1634.


title: Sápmi

text: Five counties are wholly or partially within Sápmi. "Län" are formally governed by the "landshövding", who is an envoy of the government and runs the government-appointed "länsstyrelse" that coordinates administration with national political goals for the county. Much of county politics is run by the county council or "landsting", which is elected by the inhabitants of the county; but the counties' top positions are still determined by those who win the general elections of Sweden.


title: Sápmi

text: Norrbotten is mostly covered by Sápmi, although the lower Tornedalen region is often excluded. The administrative centre is Luleå in the Julev Sami area (Norrbotten includes North, Julev and Bithun areas). Current landshövding is Per-Ola Eriksson of the Centre Party.


title: Sápmi

text: Sápmi covers the interior majority of Västerbotten, which are Ubmeje and South Sami regions. The administrative centre is Umeå, and the current landshövding is Chris Heister from the conservative Moderate Party.


title: Sápmi

text: Västernorrland is an old part of Sapmi and still is. There are a lot of Sami in the coast of Baltic Sea (Gulf of Bothnia).


title: Sápmi

text: Jämtland is sometimes considered a part of the Sápmi cultural region, and is a South Sami county. The administrative centre is Östersund. Current landshövding is Jöran Hägglund from the centre party Centerpartiet.


title: Sápmi

text: Finland is subdivided into nineteen regions ("maakunta"). The regions are governed by regional councils, which are generally forums of cooperation between the municipalities and not elected by direct popular vote. Lapland (Lappi) is the northernmost of the regions, which stretches farther south than Sápmi. North Sami, Skolt Sami, and Aanaar Sami are indigenous to the region.


title: Sápmi

text: Four municipalities in the northern part of Finnish Lapland constitute the Sami Domicile Area, "Sámiid Ruovttoguovlu", a region that is autonomous on issues regarding Sami culture and language.


title: Sápmi

text: The region has its own football team, the Sápmi football team, which is organized by FA Sápmi. It is a member of ConIFA and the host of 2014 ConIFA World Football Cup. Sápmi football team won the 2006 VIVA World Cup and hosted the 2008 event.


title: Sápmi

text: The following towns and villages have a significant Sami population or host Sami institutions. Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, or Russian toponyms are in parentheses.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Tipiṭaka () or Tripiṭaka () or තිපිටක (), meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in Southeast Asia, the Chinese Buddhist Canon maintained by the East Asian Buddhist tradition, and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon maintained by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are some of the most important "Tripiṭaka" in contemporary Buddhist world.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: "Tripiṭaka" has become a term used for many schools' collections, although their general divisions do not match a strict division into three piṭakas.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: "Tripiṭaka" (Sanskrit: त्रिपिटक), or "Tipiṭaka" (Pāli), means "Three Baskets". It is a compound Sanskrit word of "tri" (त्रि) or Pāli word "ti", meaning "three", and "piṭaka" (पिटक) or "piṭa" (पिट), meaning "basket". The "three baskets" were originally the receptacles of the palm-leaf manuscripts on which were preserved the collections of texts of the Suttas, the Vinaya, and the Abhidhamma, the three divisions that constitute the Buddhist Canons. These terms are also spelled without diacritics as "Tripiṭaka" and "Tipiṭaka" in scholarly literature.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The "Tripiṭaka" is composed of three main categories of texts that collectively constitute the Buddhist canon: the "Sutra Piṭaka", the "Vinaya Piṭaka", and the "Abhidhamma Piṭaka".


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Vinaya Piṭaka appears to have grown gradually as a commentary and justification of the monastic code (Prātimokṣa), which presupposes a transition from a community of wandering mendicants (the Sūtra Piṭaka period) to a more sedentary monastic community (the Vinaya Piṭaka period). The Vinaya focuses on the rules and regulations, or the morals and ethics, of monastic life that range from dress code and dietary rules to prohibitions of certain personal conducts.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Sutras were the doctrinal teachings in aphoristic or narrative format. The historical Buddha delivered all of his sermons in Magadhan. These sermons were rehearsed orally during the meeting of the First Buddhist council just after the Parinibbana of the Buddha. The teachings continued to be transmitted orally until eventually being written down in the first century BCE. Even within the Sūtra Piṭaka it is possible to detect older and later texts.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Each of the early Buddhist Schools likely had their own versions of the "Tripiṭaka". According to some sources, there were some Indian schools of Buddhism that had five or seven piṭakas. According to Yijing, an 8th-century Chinese pilgrim to India, the Nikaya Buddhist schools kept different sets of canonical texts with some intentional or unintentional dissimilarities. Yijing notes four main textual collections among the non-Mahayana schools:


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Yijing notes that though there were numerous sub-schools and sects, the sub-sects shared the "Tripiṭaka" of their mother tradition (which he termed the "four principal schools of continuous tradition" or the "arya" traditions). However, this does not mean that the various sub-schools did not possess their own unique "Tripiṭaka". Xuanzang is said to have brought to China the "Tripiṭaka" of seven different schools, including those of the above-mentioned schools as well as the Dharmaguptaka, Kāśyapīya, and Mahīśāsaka.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: According to A. K. Warder, the Tibetan historian "Bu-ston" said that around or before the 1st century CE there were eighteen schools of Buddhism each with their own "Tripiṭaka" transcribed into written form. However, except for one version that has survived in full and others, of which parts have survived, all of these texts are lost to history or yet to be found.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The "Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya" was translated by Buddhabhadra and Faxian in 416 CE, and is preserved in Chinese translation (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425).


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The 6th century CE Indian monk Paramārtha wrote that 200 years after the parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, much of the Mahāsāṃghika school moved north of Rājagṛha, and were divided over whether the Mahāyāna sūtras should be incorporated formally into their "Tripiṭaka". According to this account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of these Mahāyāna texts. Paramārtha states that the Kukkuṭika sect did not accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as "buddhavacana" ("words of the Buddha"), while the Lokottaravāda sect and the Ekavyāvahārika sect did accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as "buddhavacana". Also in the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata writes of the Mahāsāṃghikas using a "Great Āgama Piṭaka," which is then associated with Mahāyāna sūtras such as the "Prajñāparamitā" and the "Daśabhūmika Sūtra".


title: Tripiṭaka

text: According to some sources, abhidharma was not accepted as canonical by the Mahāsāṃghika school. The Theravādin "Dīpavaṃsa", for example, records that the Mahāsāṃghikas had no abhidharma. However, other sources indicate that there were such collections of abhidharma, and the Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang both mention Mahāsāṃghika abhidharma. On the basis of textual evidence as well as inscriptions at Nāgārjunakoṇḍā, Joseph Walser concludes that at least some Mahāsāṃghika sects probably had an abhidharma collection, and that it likely contained five or six books.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Caitikas included a number of sub-sects including the Pūrvaśailas, Aparaśailas, Siddhārthikas, and Rājagirikas. In the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata writes that Mahāyāna sūtras such as the "Prajñāparamitā" and others are chanted by the Aparaśailas and the Pūrvaśailas. Also in the 6th century CE, Bhāvaviveka speaks of the Siddhārthikas using a Vidyādhāra Piṭaka, and the Pūrvaśailas and Aparaśailas both using a Bodhisattva Piṭaka, implying collections of Mahāyāna texts within these Caitika schools.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Bahuśrutīya school is said to have included a Bodhisattva Piṭaka in their canon. The ', also called the ', is an extant abhidharma from the Bahuśrutīya school. This abhidharma was translated into Chinese in sixteen fascicles (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1646). Its authorship is attributed to Harivarman, a third-century monk from central India. Paramārtha cites this Bahuśrutīya abhidharma as containing a combination of Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna doctrines, and Joseph Walser agrees that this assessment is correct.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Prajñaptivādins held that the Buddha's teachings in the various piṭakas were nominal (Skt. "prajñapti"), conventional (Skt. ""), and causal (Skt. "hetuphala"). Therefore, all teachings were viewed by the Prajñaptivādins as being of provisional importance, since they cannot contain the ultimate truth. It has been observed that this view of the Buddha's teachings is very close to the fully developed position of the Mahāyāna sūtras.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Scholars at present have "a nearly complete collection of sūtras from the Sarvāstivāda school" thanks to a recent discovery in Afghanistan of roughly two-thirds of Dīrgha Āgama in Sanskrit. The Madhyama Āgama (Taishō Tripiṭaka 26) was translated by Gautama Saṃghadeva, and is available in Chinese. The Saṃyukta Āgama (Taishō Tripiṭaka 99) was translated by Guṇabhadra, also available in Chinese translation. The Sarvāstivāda is therefore the only early school besides the Theravada for which we have a roughly complete Sūtra Piṭaka. The Sārvāstivāda Vinaya Piṭaka is also extant in Chinese translation, as are the seven books of the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma Piṭaka. There is also the encyclopedic "Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra" (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1545), which was held as canonical by the Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins of northwest India.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Portions of the Mūlasārvāstivāda Tripiṭaka survive in Tibetan translation and Nepalese manuscripts. The relationship of the Mūlasārvāstivāda school to Sarvāstivāda school is indeterminate; their vinayas certainly differed but it is not clear that their Sūtra Piṭaka did. The Gilgit manuscripts may contain Āgamas from the Mūlasārvāstivāda school in Sanskrit. The Mūlasārvāstivāda Vinaya Piṭaka survives in Tibetan translation and also in Chinese translation (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1442). The Gilgit manuscripts also contain vinaya texts from the Mūlasārvāstivāda school in Sanskrit.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: A complete version of the Dīrgha Āgama (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1) of the Dharmaguptaka school was translated into Chinese by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the Later Qin dynasty, dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A. K. Warder also associates the extant "Ekottara Āgama" ("Taishō Tripiṭaka" 125) with the Dharmaguptaka school, due to the number of rules for monastics, which corresponds to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya is also extant in Chinese translation ("Taishō Tripiṭaka" 1428), and Buddhist monastics in East Asia adhere to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Dharmaguptaka Tripiṭaka is said to have contained a total of five piṭakas. These included a Bodhisattva Piṭaka and a Mantra Piṭaka (Ch. 咒藏), also sometimes called a Dhāraṇī Piṭaka. According to the 5th-century Dharmaguptaka monk Buddhayaśas, the translator of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya into Chinese, the Dharmaguptaka school had assimilated the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka (Ch. 大乘三藏).


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya is preserved in Chinese translation (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1421), translated by Buddhajīva and Zhu Daosheng in 424 CE.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Small portions of the of the Kāśyapīya school survive in Chinese translation. An incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama of the Kāśyapīya school by an unknown translator circa the Three Qin (三秦) period (352-431 CE) survives.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Pāli Canon is the complete Tripiṭaka set maintained by the Theravāda tradition as written and preserved in Pali.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The dating of the "Tripiṭaka" is unclear. Max Müller states that the current structure and contents of the Pali Canon took shape in the 3rd century BCE after which it continued to be transmitted orally from generation to generation until finally being put into written form in the 1st century BCE (nearly 500 years after the lifetime of Buddha). The Theravada chronicle called the "Dipavamsa" states that during the reign of Valagamba of Anuradhapura (29–17 BCE) the monks who had previously remembered the Tipiṭaka and its commentary orally now wrote them down in books, because of the threat posed by famine and war. The "Mahavamsa" also refers briefly to the writing down of the canon and the commentaries at this time. According to Sri Lankan sources more than 1000 monks who had attained Arahantship were involved in the task. The place where the project was undertaken was in Aluvihare, Matale, Sri Lanka. The resulting texts were later partly translated into a number of East Asian languages such as Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian by ancient visiting scholars, which though extensive are incomplete.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Each Buddhist sub-tradition had its own Tripiṭaka for its monasteries, written by its sangha, each set consisting of 32 books, in three parts or baskets of teachings: (“Basket of Discipline”), (“Basket of Discourse”), and "Abhidhamma Piṭaka" (“Basket of Special [or Further] Doctrine”). The structure, the code of conduct and moral virtues in the Vinaya basket particularly, have similarities to some of the surviving Dharmasutra texts of Hinduism. Much of the surviving Tripiṭaka literature is in Pali, with some in Sanskrit as well as other local Asian languages. The Pali Canon does not contain the Mahayana Sutras and Tantras as Mahayana schools were not influential in Theravada tradition as in East Asia and Tibet. Hence, there is no major Mahayana (neither Hinayana or Pratyekabuddhayana) schools in Theravada tradition. The Tantric schools of Theravada tradition use Tantric texts independently, and not as the part of the Collection.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Some of the well known preserved Pali Canons are the Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka, Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka, Thai Tipitaka, etc.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Chinese Buddhist Canon is the "Tripiṭaka" set maintained by the East Asian Buddhist tradition is written and preserved in Chinese.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: Wu and Chia state that emerging evidence, though uncertain, suggests that the earliest written Buddhist Tripiṭaka texts may have arrived in China from India by the 1st century BCE. An organised collection of Buddhist texts began to emerge in the 6th century CE, based on the structure of early bibliographies of Buddhist texts. However, it was the 'Kaiyuan Era Catalogue' by Zhisheng in 730 that provided the lasting structure. Zhisheng introduced the basic six-fold division with sutra, vinaya, and abhidharma belonging to Mahāyāna, Pratyekabuddhayana and Sravakayana . It is likely that Zhisheng's catalogue proved decisive because it was used to reconstruct the Canon after the persecutions of 845 CE, however it was also considered a "perfect synthesis of the entire four-hundred-year development of a proper Chinese form of the Canon."


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a collection of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by Buton Rinchen Drub.


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The Chinese form of , "sānzàng" (三藏), was sometimes used as an honorary title for a Buddhist monk who has mastered the teachings of the Tripiṭaka. In Chinese culture, this is notable in the case of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang, whose pilgrimage to India to study and bring Buddhist texts back to China was portrayed in the novel "Journey to the West" as "Tang Sanzang" (Tang Dynasty Tripiṭaka Master). Due to the popularity of the novel, the term "sānzàng" is often erroneously understood as a name of the monk Xuanzang. One such screen version of this is the popular 1979 Monkey (TV series).


title: Tripiṭaka

text: The modern Indian scholar Rahul Sankrityayan is sometimes referred to as "Tripiṭakacharya" in reflection of his familiarity with the .


title: Honky

text: Honky (also spelled honkie or sometimes honkey) is a pejorative term used to refer to White people, predominantly heard in the United States.


title: Honky

text: The first recorded use of "honky" in this context may date back to 1946, although the use of "honky-tonk" occurred in films well before that time.


title: Honky

text: Honky may be a variant of "hunky", which was a derivative of "Bohunk", a slur for various Slavic and Hungarian immigrants who moved to America from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 1900s.


title: Honky

text: Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African language Wolof, literally means "red-eared person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking people brought to the U.S. It has been used by Black Americans as a pejorative for White people.


title: Honky

text: The phrase honky-tonk refers to a particular type of country music, most commonly provided at bars for its patrons, or more commonly, may even refer to the bar itself.


title: Honky

text: Honky may have come from coal miners in Oak Hill, West Virginia. The miners were segregated; Blacks in one section, Anglo-Whites in another. Foreigners who could not speak English, mostly Whites, were separated from both groups into an area known as "Hunk Hill". These male laborers were known as "Hunkies".


title: Honky

text: The term may have begun in the meat packing plants of Chicago. According to Robert Hendrickson, author of the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins", Black workers in Chicago meatpacking plants picked up the term from White workers and began applying it indiscriminately to all Whites.


title: Honky

text: "Honky" was adopted as a pejorative in 1967 by Black Power militants within Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) seeking a rebuttal for the term "nigger". The Department of Defense stated in 1967 that National Chairman of the SNCC, H. Rap Brown, told a Black audience in Cambridge that "You should burn that school down and then go take over the honkie's school" on June 24, 1967. Brown went on to say: "[I]f America don't come 'round, we got to burn it down. You better get some guns, brother. The only thing the honky respects is a gun. You give me a gun and tell me to shoot my enemy, I might shoot Lady Bird."


title: Honky

text: "Honky" has occasionally been used even for White allies of African Americans, as seen in the 1968 trial of Black Panther Party member Huey Newton, when fellow Panther Eldridge Cleaver created pins for Newton's White supporters stating "Honkies for Huey".


title: Honky

text: In the 2012 rap song "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz, "Damn, that's a cold ass honkey!" is used in reference to Macklemore and his secondhand clothes. Eminem, who is also a White American rapper, uses the line "He looked at me and said, 'You gonna die honkey!'" in 1999's "Brain Damage." "Play That Funky Music," a 1976 disco/funk hit by Wild Cherry about a rock band adapting to the rise of disco, substitutes "honky" for "White boy" in the final chorus of the uncensored version. The British band Hot Chocolate used "honky" and "spook" in their controversial 1973 hit single Brother Louie about an interracial relationship as the terms chosen by the respective fathers to slur their child's newfound lover.


title: Honky

text: Other uses of "honky" in music include "Honky" (an album by Melvins), Honky Reduction (an album by Agoraphobic Nosebleed), MC Honky (DJ stage persona), "Honky Château" (an album by Elton John, the first track on which is "Honky Cat"), "Talkin' Honky Blues" (an album by Buck 65), and "Honky" (an album by Keith Emerson). "Honky's Ladder" is a 1996 EP by The Afghan Whigs.


title: Honky

text: The Chicago style of polka music is also known as honky polka. The etymologically unrelated word "honky-tonk" occurs often in country music, referring since the late 19th century to working-class nightclubs where country music is played.


title: Honky

text: In film, there were some movies using "honky" without any derogatory connotation. "Honky Tonk" is a 1929 American musical film starring Sophie Tucker. And "Honky Tonk" is also a 1941 black-and-white Western film starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner.


title: Honky

text: In the 1958 movie "The Defiant Ones", Tony Curtis' character John "Joker" Jackson refers to himself as "a honky".


title: Honky

text: "Honky" is a 1971 movie based on an interracial relationship, starring Brenda Sykes as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine. "Honky Tonk" is also a 1974 Western film starring Richard Crenna and Margot Kidder. Additionally, "Honkytonk Man" is a 1982 drama film set in the Great Depression. Clint Eastwood, who produced and directed the film, stars in the film with his son, Kyle Eastwood.


title: Honky

text: In the 1973 James Bond movie "Live and Let Die", Bond is referred to as "the honky" on three occasions when captured by exclusively Black adversaries.


title: Honky

text: In a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"), Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor used both "nigger" (Chase) and "honky" (Pryor) in reference to one another during a "racist word association interview". During this period, Steve Martin (as musical guest and stand-up regular on "SNL") performed a rendition of "King Tut" which contained the word "honky" in its lyrics.


title: Honky

text: In the movie "National Lampoon's Vacation" when the Griswolds visit East St. Louis, a local gang removes the wheel covers and write "Honky Lips" in black paint on the right side of the vehicle.


title: Honky

text: On the TV series "The Jeffersons", George Jefferson regularly referred to a White person as a honky (or Whitey) as did Redd Foxx on "Sanford and Son". This word would later be popularized in episodes of "Mork & Mindy" by Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters.


title: Honky

text: The neighbor, (Bill Reynolds), on the British sitcom "Love Thy Neighbour", played by Rudolph Walker, would often refer to his bigoted White neighbor (Jack Smethurst), (Eddie Booth), as "Honky". Booth, in reply, regularly retaliated by referring to Reynolds as Sambo (racial term).


title: Honky

text: In the "Family Guy" episode "Brian Sings and Swings", Peter Griffin uses the word to try to get out of jury duty.


title: Honky

text: These and other shows, as exemplified by the controversial "All in the Family", attempted to expose racism and prejudice as an issue in society using the subversive weapon of humor. However, the effect that this theme had on television created both negative and positive criticism and the use of anti-racist messages actually escalates the use of racial slurs. The presence of higher education may countermand this effect.


title: Honky

text: In Season 2, Episode 1 of "Da Ali G Show" ("Law"), Ali G uses the term to refer to a White male while radioing the dispatcher at the Philadelphia Police Academy, while he uses the term "brother" to refer to a Black person, despite being White himself.


title: Honky

text: On the TV series "Barney Miller", Season 5, Episode 8, "Loan Shark", Arthur Dietrich gives an etymology of the word "honky", claiming it was "coined by Blacks in the 1950s in reference to the nasal tone of Caucasians".


title: Honky

text: One of the Harlem Globetrotters refers to the robot Bender as "silver honky" in the episode "Time Keeps On Slippin' of the cartoon series "Futurama".


title: Honky

text: The animated television series "Black Dynamite" extensively uses the word "honky" as a reference to White people, especially the Man. In Episode 4 of Season 1, 10-year-old Black Dynamite is competing in a spelling bee, when he is asked to spell the word "White" he spells it out as "H-O-N-K-Y". In Episode 8 of Season 1, a giant albino ape is referred to as "Honky Kong".


title: Zumba

text: Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a trademark owned by Zumba Fitness, LLC.


title: Zumba

text: Zumba was created in the 1990s by dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez, an aerobics instructor in Cali, Colombia. After forgetting his usual music one day, and using cassette tapes of Latin dance music (salsa and merengue) for class, Pérez began integrating the music and dancing into other classes, calling it "Rumbacize".


title: Zumba

text: In 2001, Pérez partnered with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion to launch Zumba, and the trio released a series of fitness videos sold via infomercial. Pérez decided on the word "Zumba" because of its similarity to the word "rumba", the Cuban musical genre. Pérez and his partner began to replace the first letter of "rumba" until they landed on "sumba", and Pérez ultimately decided to spell it with the letter 'z' because he liked the fictional character Zorro when he was a child.


title: Zumba

text: In 2012, Insight Venture Partners and the Raine Group invested in the venture. The company expanded into class instruction, and by 2015, according to Perlman, there were 14 million Zumba students in 186 countries.


title: Zumba

text: Zumba choreography is composed using all or some of sixteen core steps. There are four basic rhythms: salsa, reggaeton, merengue, and cumbia; each basic rhythm has four core steps.


title: Zumba

text: Zumba classes are taught by instructors licensed by Zumba Fitness, LLC. In one Zumba class, typically around one hour long, a participant can burn up to 600 kcal, depending on the intensity. The music combines the dance styles of cumbia, salsa, merengue, mambo, flamenco, chachacha, reggaeton, soca, samba, hip hop music, axé music, and tango.


title: Zumba

text: Zumba instructors have the option to become members of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN), to receive monthly music and bimonthly training DVDs to assist with the creation of music and choreography for their classes. By 2019, there were more than 100,000 Zumba instructors around the world.


title: Zumba

text: Zumba is intended as a total-body cardio and aerobic workout, which provides a large calorie consumption. One 2012 study found that a participant burns 300 to 900 kcal with an hour-long Zumba exercise.


title: Zumba

text: Because Zumba offers different options, proponents of the Zumba program claim that it is safe for all ages, meaning anyone can participate. Some of the classes are specifically aimed at elderly people.


title: Zumba

text: Besides its high calorie burning benefit, Zumba can help lower the risk of heart disease, reduce blood pressure and LDL cholesterol, and increase HDL cholesterol.


title: Zumba

text: In 2013, the Rabbinical Court of the Ashkenazi Community in the Haredi city of Beitar Illit ruled against Zumba (a type of dance fitness) classes, although they were held with a female instructor and all-female participants. The Court said, in part: "Both in form and manner, the activity [Zumba] is entirely at odds with both the ways of the Torah and the holiness of Israel, as are the songs associated with it."


title: Zumba

text: In June 2017, Zumba was banned in Iran for being un-Islamic. In August 2017, six people were arrested after being accused of "trying to change lifestyles" by teaching Zumba.


title: Zumba

text: The annual ZIN-con for Zumba instructors from around the world takes place in the United States, including master classes, specialty training and a Zumba concert. In addition to the Annual Zumba Convention, Zumba also operates a number of one-day Academies where instructors can attend master classes and rhythm sessions. These events are held in cities globally. In January 2016, the first Zumba Cruise took place.


title: Zumba

text: In 2007, the company launched a clothing line called Zumba Wear; as of 2012, official apparel sales amounted to $10-million per year.


title: Zumba

text: In 2010, Zumba released its first fitness video game—"Zumba Fitness"—on 30 November 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (on Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3), selling 3 million copies by August 2011. It was followed by "Zumba Fitness 2", released in November 2011, with a similar game released on the Xbox 360 as "Zumba Fitness Rush" in February 2012. In October 2012, "Zumba Fitness Core" was released for the Wii and Xbox 360, including new features such as nutrition tips and the ability to set personal goals.


title: Zumba

text: "" was released on 5 November 2013, featuring a new "World Tour" mode that unlocks songs from seven global destinations as a player progresses, as well as authentic customs, local rhythms and native dance styles. The game was followed a couple weeks later by "Zumba Kids" on 19 November 2013.


title: Zumba

text: On 19 November 2019, "Zumba Burn It Up!" was released by 505 Games and Sega in Japan and certain countries (digital only) for the Nintendo Switch, as the first Zumba game in six years.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by N. Krishna from a story by A. C. Durai. It stars Suriya, Jyothika and Bhumika, while Shriya Sharma, Sukanya, Vadivelu and Santhanam play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by the Indian poet Vaali; cinematography for the film was handled by R. D. Rajasekhar and editing was handled by Anthony. The film was released on 8 September 2006, three days before the wedding of Suriya and Jyothika. Bhumika Chawla made her comeback in Tamil cinema after 5 years in this movie. The film was first titled as "Jillunu Oru Kadhal", and it is then changed to "Sillunu Oru Kadhal to have a" pure-Tamil name. This movie is considered to be a best example of arranged marriage ending in unconditional love (love after marriage).


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: In 2015, this film was remade into Marathi as "Tu Hi Re", starring Swapnil Joshi, Sai Tamhankar, Tejaswini Pandit and directed by Sanjay Jadhav.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Kundavi (Jyothika) was brought up in a small village called Ambasamudram. She, along with her two friends, decide to have a love marriage. However she is not so successful. Her father arranges her marriage to Gowtham (Suriya Sivakumar) against her wishes. Both look gloomy during the wedding due to obvious reasons.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Six years later in Mumbai they have a five-year-old daughter Ishwarya (Shriya Sharma) and live as a happily in love married couple. Gowtham works as the chief mechanical engineer at Maruti Suzuki and Kundavi works at a local call center. Gowtham goes to New York City for a short period. During this time, Kundavi comes across Gowtham's old college diary. Gowtham wanted to be an engineer from a young age and forced his father's brother to pay for a seat in Coimbatore for mechanical engineering. From the second year of college he is the don. In college, he is attracted to Ishwarya (Bhumika Chawla), whose father is a Coimbatore MP. Gowtham and Ishwarya fall in love and decide to get married. At the registrar's office after Gowtham ties the knot, Ishwarya's father and his men beat him up, separating the lovers and sending Ishwarya off to Sydney, Australia. At the end of the diary, Gowtham writes a note: "If I have one wish, it would be to live with Ishwarya happily at least for one day." Then, due to his uncle's last wish at death bed, Gowtham agrees to marry Kundavi.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Gowtham returns from New York and finds his wife changed. She works late and avoids him. Once Kundavi finds out he does love her and how much he missed her during New York trip, she finds his lost love who had just returned from Australia. Ishwarya has become a modern girl in contrast to the demure salwar kameez girl she was in college, and completely ignores her father at the airport due to his past behaviour with her. Kundavi asks Ishwarya to visit them and she tells her husband that he should live happily with Ishwarya for a day and that for that one day, she and their daughter do not exist for him, and leaves Gowtham with Ishwarya.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Gowtham spends the day with Ishwarya. They travel to many places and do many things and recollect their memories. Ishwarya and Gowtham share their love for each other and how they missed each other during these 6 years of separation. They eventually fall in love with each other all over again and soon get intimate. It is then revealed that all these things were just Kundavi's dream. Panicked by the dream, Kundavi decides to check up on them. When she gets back home dreading, she finds her husband alone. She asks him where Ishwarya is and finds Ishwarya's letter. In it, Ishwarya says that Kundavi gave them a day, but an hour was sufficient for them. 40 minutes of silence, 10 minutes of formal inquiries and 10 minutes of talking. Even in that 10 minutes talk with him, the words that came out of Gowtham was 'Kundavi' only. Ishwarya realises that they both are immensely in love and leading a very happy life. She wants to love Gowtham in her next birth also. But not as Ishu, but as Kundavi. She wishes the couple a happy life and leaves, never to return.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: In the end, Gowtham confesses that he had hidden the secret of loving someone so that Kundavi doesn't get hurt as any girl would not bear her husband's love being shared. However, unlike others, Kundavi has brought the girl her husband loved in order to make him happy. They then cry in happiness and hug each other while Diwali fireworks blossom. Their daughter Ishu also joins them and the movie ends on a happy note.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: Reports emerged in August 2005 that Suriya and Jyothika would come together for a project titled "Jillendru Oru Kadhal" based on a real life story newcomer N.Krishna would direct it. The team signed up A. R. Rahman to compose the film's music while Asin was selected for another key role in the film after her successful pairing with Suriya in "Ghajini". However, by the time the film was launched in December 2005, Bhumika Chawla had replaced Asin.


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: The film was shot extensively in Rajamahendravaram, Visakhapatnam, with some portions in Mumbai, Coimbatore and Chennai and the college campus where shooting took place is Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. while a song was shot in Switzerland masquerading it as New York. Initially touted as an August 2006 release, the film was delayed to avoid a clash with Jyothika's other film "Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu".


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: The film features a soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman. The music for the film was released on 2 August 2006 by K. M. Musiq and a day later in India by Star Music. Shreya Ghoshal won the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer for the rendition of the song "Munbe Vaa".


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: The satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV. The film was censored on 4 September 2006 and was given with a "U/A" certificate, with some dialogue muting. The film opened across 207 screens worldwide on 8 September 2006, three days before the wedding of the lead pair Suriya and Jyothika. The film received a large opening, and became a superhit at boxoffice


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: . Critics primarily labelled the film as a disappointment as a result of the high levels of publicity it received prior to release. "The Hindu" gave the film a negative review, claiming that "The most talked about movie of the year, Studio Green's "Sillunu Oru Kadhal" featuring Suriya and Jyotika, arrives only to disappoint", further stating, "it lacks a strong cohesive script to bind the elements".


title: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal

text: The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu as "Nuvvu Nennu Prema". In 2017, the film was dubbed into Hindi as "Mohabbat Ke Dushman" by Goldmines Telefilms Pvt. Ltd.


title: Vermilion Bird

text: The Vermilion Bird () is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five elemental system, it represents the Fire element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (Chinese: , ). It is described as a red bird that resembles a pheasant with a five-colored plumage and is perpetually covered in flames. It is known as Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese.


title: Vermilion Bird

text: It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang is a legendary ruler of birds who is associated with the Chinese Empress in the same way the dragon is associated with the Emperor, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.


title: Vermilion Bird

text: As with the other three Symbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Vermilion Bird. The names and determinative stars are:


title: Vermilion Bird

text: The Vermilion Bird is elegant and noble in both appearance and behavior, with feathers in many different hues of vermilion. It is very selective about what it eats and where it perches.


title: Im Yoon-ah filmography

text: Im Yoon-ah (Hangul: ; born May 30, 1990), known mononymously as Yoona, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a member of girl group Girls' Generation, and its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows "Not the Nine O'Clock News" and "Alas Smith and Jones".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: From 2008 to 2016, he presented the television bloopers show "It'll be Alright on the Night" for ITV, having replaced Denis Norden, and being succeeded in 2018 by David Walliams.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Griffith Rhys Jones was born on 16 November 1953 in Cardiff, the son of Gwynneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn Rhys Jones, a medical doctor. His family moved due to his father's occupation to West Sussex when Rhys Jones was six months old. Rhys Jones attended Conifers Primary School in Midhurst, West Sussex, before his family moved to Brentwood, Essex. He attended a junior school in Epping, Essex, and the Brentwood School, also in Essex.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: After a short spell working as a petrol pump attendant, Rhys Jones gained a gap year job on the P&O ship "Uganda", working for a company organising school trips. In his autobiography, "Semi-Detached", he describes how he was charged with helping to look after 600 Canadian schoolgirls, followed by a similar number of younger Scottish schoolchildren, and refers to the experience as being like "St Trinians at sea". He wrote to eight of the Canadians afterwards.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones initially read History, later changing to English, at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating with a .


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: After Cambridge, Rhys Jones then joined BBC Radio Light Entertainment as a trainee producer, with his responsibilities including the satirical show "Week Ending" and "Brain of Britain". He also appeared in 1974 in the Comedy series "Oh no it isn't !" on BBC Radio 4.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones came in as a producer of Rowan Atkinson's show "The Atkinson People" with Frankie Howerd, Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath, for the BBC and appeared twice on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of "Not the Nine O'Clock News", and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham. Rhys Jones says that the reason he got the part was not due to his appearance in the initial shows, or his talent, but because producer John Lloyd was dating his sister at the time. Rhys Jones became a regular from the commissioned second series.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1984 for Best Comedy Performance in "Charley's Aunt" and in 1994 for Best Comedy Performance for his performance in "An Absolute Turkey". He also played Toad in "The Wind in the Willows" at the National Theatre in 1990, as well as a number of other theatre roles. He provided the voices on the series of short cartoons "Funnybones".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones has continued his acting career, being cast in "Casualty" and "Agatha Christie's Marple" as well as starring in Russell T Davies' drama series "Mine All Mine" on ITV. "It'll be Alright on the Night" returned with Rhys Jones as the new presenter, taking over from Denis Norden. The first programme with Rhys Jones as host aired in 2008.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In January 2012, Rhys Jones returned to BBC sketch comedy "The Ones" alongside the likes of Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Larry Lamb, for one of a three episode series in which comedy legends take to the stage for a mix of stand-up and sketches.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: After "Not the Nine O'Clock News", Mel Smith and Rhys Jones teamed up in 1984, and appeared in the comedy sketch series "Alas Smith and Jones". (the show's title being a pun on the American television series "Alias Smith and Jones"). After the first series, the two men appeared on the in Mike Hodges' science fiction comedy movie "Morons from Outer Space". and then in 1989, the London Weekend Television production "Wilt". Dressed as bobbies, in July 1985 Smith and Rhys Jones introduced Queen on stage at Live Aid.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Smith and Rhys Jones were reunited in March 2005, for a Comic Relief sketch. which led to a revival of their previous television series in "The Smith and Jones Sketchbook". Their final television appearance together was a Head To Head routine for the special of 2012 "The One Griff Rhys-Jones".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: With Smith, he co-founded the television production company Talkback Productions, now part of RTL Group and later in 2005, he established the production company Modern Television. When Smith died in the summer of 2013, Rhys Jones wrote a piece about his comedy partner in the "Radio Times", saying it was "sheer bliss" to perform with Smith.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 1981, Rhys Jones along with Mel Smith founded Talkback, a production company which produced many British comedy series, including "Smack the Pony", "Da Ali G Show", "I'm Alan Partridge", "They Think It's All Over", "QI" and "Big Train".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 2005, Rhys Jones created his own production company Modern Television, which has since made a number of productions with Rhys Jones as presenter and executive producer.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In May 2014, Rhys Jones was executive producer on his production company's debut BBC drama "A Poet in New York" starring Tom Hollander as Dylan Thomas.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. He presented "Bookworm" from 1994 to 2000, was the presenter of the BBC's "Restoration" programme and has undertaken fundraising work for the Hackney Empire theatre conservation project.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Since 2006, Rhys Jones has appeared in the BBC's "Three Men in a Boat" series, alongside Dara Ó Briain and Rory McGrath. The series has included the trio rowing the River Thames, as in the 1889 novel, sailing from London to the Isle of Wight for a sailing boat race, borrowing numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth to the Isles of Scilly.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In later adventures, the three men took to the Irish Canals and Rivers on a trip from Dublin to Limerick (Dara's Greyhound Snip Nua also tagged along for the trip), went to Scotland, and sailed along the Balkan coast ending up in Venice for a gondola race. His documentary series "Mountain", for which he climbed 15 British peaks during 2006, was broadcast on BBC One 29 July–26 August 2007. Rhys Jones visited his mother's home town in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taff for an episode of the BBC One series "Who Do You Think You Are?", broadcast on 20 September 2007. In the episode, he detailed early memories and stories of his grandparents' fruit and vegetable shop on the high street and his mother's childhood concert performances at Trerhondda Chapel. He presented a documentary series with 5 episodes "A Pembrokeshire Farm" which was broadcast on BBC4 in July/August 2007. Two years later he presented another 5 episode documentary series "Return to a Pembrokeshire Farm" which was broadcast on BBC4 in September/ October 2009. Both series concerned the renovation of a farm in Pembrokeshire which Rhys Jones had purchased with a view to restoring them.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: He presented a seasonal documentary, "Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas", which was broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC One. Rhys Jones fronted "Greatest Cities of the World", which saw him visiting a different city each week. The first series, featuring London, New York City and Paris, aired on primetime ITV in October 2008. A second series featuring Rome, Sydney and Hong Kong was broadcast in April and May 2010.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones has created and presented programmes about Arthur Ransome, Thomas Hardy, John Betjeman and Rudyard Kipling.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: During July to August 2009, Rhys Jones presented the BBC programme "Rivers with Griff Rhys Jones". which featured on the cover of "Radio Times".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 2010, Rhys Jones presented a programme called "The Prince's Welsh Village" that featured Prince Charles.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 2011, he presented the series "Hidden Treasures of Art", which examined the art of Australia, India and Africa over the course of three episodes. "Britain's Lost Routes with Griff Rhys Jones" was broadcast on BBC One from 30 May to 20 June 2012. The show looked at lesser known routes around Great Britain. On 29 April 2012, Rhys Jones guest presented an episode of "Perspectives" on ITV, his chosen subject being "Wind in the Willows".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 2013, Rhys Jones presented a documentary about his father's service as a medical officer with the Gold Coast Regiment and the war in Burma, "Burma, My Father and the Forgotten Army", was broadcast on BBC Two on 7 July.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In 2014, Rhys Jones fronted an eight-part ITV documentary series entitled "A Great Welsh Adventure with Griff Rhys Jones".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: From 10 April 2015, he introduced a five-part documentary series for ITV, "Slow Train Through Africa", taking in life on and off trains from Morocco to South Africa, by way of Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya and Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In December 2015, it was announced that Rhys Jones would present "Griff's Great Britain", a new eight-part series for ITV.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In August 2022, Rhys Jones presented "Griff's Canadian Adventure" a new 6 part series for Channel 4, where he travelled across Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the programmes he has appeared in, and many spin-off books. In 2002, he began writing a book called "To the Baltic with Bob", describing his adventures on the high seas with his sailing friend Bob, as they make their way to Saint Petersburg, port by port.The book was published in 2003, with Rhys Jones saying of the experience: "As a child you go out and play and you lose all track of time and space. It's harder and harder to attain that blissful state of absorption as you get older. I did a six-month sailing trip to St Petersburg with some mates just to get it back."


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: His early life has been captured in his autobiography, "Semi-Detached", published in 2006 by Penguin Books. His book to accompany the BBC One series "Mountain" was published in July 2007.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: During 1999 to 2001, Rhys Jones featured in television adverts for the Vauxhall range of cars, as a "boffin". In April 2001, he was dismissed by Vauxhall, after an embarrassing advert for the Vauxhall VX220. He officially signed the deal in May 1999.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones provided the voice over for Brentwood School's 450th anniversary DVD, reading a script written by fellow Old Brentwoodian Jonathan Ruffle.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones became President of The Victorian Society in February 2018, in succession to Asa Briggs, following a period as vice president from 2009, and has participated in media campaigns for the society. Since 2007, he has been a Vice-President of the River Stour Trust, a registered charity led by volunteers who are dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the River Stour Navigation for the benefit and enjoyment of the public.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In June 2008, it was announced that Rhys Jones was to become the President of Civic Voice, the nationwide charity that campaigns for better places in the built and green environment.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: In August 2014, Rhys Jones was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones met his wife, Jo, a graphic designer, while working at the BBC. He has described their first meeting by saying: "The day we met, I was semi naked and she was throwing water over me." The couple have two children, and live between homes in London (previously in Islington, now in a Grade I listed house in London's Fitzrovia in the West End) and Holbrook in Suffolk. Rhys Jones owned "Undina", the , fifty-year-old wooden sailing yacht which was used in "Three Men in Another Boat"; he spent £500,000 on her restoration and in 2013 stated she was for sale for £195,000, "probably less".


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Around 2011, he bought a 1948 wooden yacht, "Argyll", which he races at regattas, including the Fastnet Race. He and Jo are keen gardeners, and he discussed their extensive garden in an October 2015 episode of "Gardeners' World", part of which was filmed there.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: A former heavy drinker, Rhys Jones is a teetotaller: "I don't drink so going to a party can become very tedious. By about 11 o'clock, everybody goes to another planet and you're not there with them, so I tend to avoid that sort of thing." He started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties. In 2008, he presented two programmes called "Losing It" which were shown on BBC Two, in which he discussed his own problems with anger management.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: An active conservationist, Rhys Jones is the president of Civic Voice, the national organisation representing Britain's civic societies. He also owns a small pack of alpacas.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: A resident of East Anglia, Rhys Jones was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia in 2002.


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: He was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Glamorgan, the University of Essex and an honorary D.Litt from Anglia Ruskin University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of his "alma mater", Emmanuel College, Cambridge. In 2009 he was honoured by his father's former university, the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University).


title: Griff Rhys Jones

text: Rhys Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to the National Civic Society Movement, charity and entertainment.


title: Fatima Farheen Mirza

text: Fatima Farheen Mirza (born April 10, 1991) is an American novelist best known for her novel "A Place for Us" (2018), which was a New York Times Best Seller. She was also honored by the National Book Award Foundation as a "5 Under 35" Honoree in 2020.


title: Fatima Farheen Mirza

text: Mirza was born and raised in California. Her parents are both of Indian descent: her mother grew up to a British Indian family in Birmingham while her father immigrated to the United States from Hyderabad. She grew up in an observant Muslim family. Mirza attended the University of California, Riverside, where she pursued medical studies at first but made a career shift to creative writing as an undergraduate. She later graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and received the Michener-Copernicus Fellowship. She has taught at the University of Iowa and New York University.


title: Fatima Farheen Mirza

text: Mirza submitted the book manuscript for her debut novel "A Place for Us" for publication in 2017. The 400-page novel was the first book to be published by actor Sarah Jessica Parker's new imprint in collaboration with Crown Publishing Group, called SJP for Hogarth. "A Place for Us" took Mirza eight years to write, and explores the shifting dynamics in a Muslim immigrant family living in the States after having immigrated from Hyderabad, India. The novel was reviewed by the "New York Times," the "Los Angeles Review of Books", and "The Washington Post." The book was a 2018 bestseller, and was named among the best books of 2018 by "The Washington Post", Buzzfeed, and "People" magazine.


title: Fatima Farheen Mirza

text: Mirza was nominated by author Tommy Orange as an honoree for the National Book Award Foundation's 5 under 35.


title: Nicky Hopkins

text: Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably on songs recorded by the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, the Beatles, the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Rod Stewart, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Hollies, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Jerry Garcia, Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker, Art Garfunkel, Badfinger, Graham Parker, Gary Moore, and Donovan. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest studio pianists in the history of popular rock music.


title: Nicky Hopkins

text: Nicholas Christian Hopkins was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England, on 24 February 1944. He began playing the piano at the age of three. He attended Sudbury Primary School in Perrin Road and Wembley County Grammar School, which now forms part of Alperton Community School, and was initially tutored by a local piano teacher; in his teens he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He suffered from Crohn's disease for most of his life.


title: Nicky Hopkins

text: His poor health and repeated surgery later made it difficult for him to tour, and he worked mainly as a session musician for most of his career. Hopkins's studies were interrupted in 1960 when he left school at 16 to become the pianist with Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages until, two years later, he and fellow Savages Bernie Watson, Rick Brown (aka Ricky Fenson) and Carlo Little joined the renowned blues harmonica player Cyril Davies, who had just left Blues Incorporated, and became the Cyril Davies (R&B) All-Stars. Hopkins played piano on their first single, Davies's much-admired theme tune "Country Line Special".


title: Nicky Hopkins

text: However, he was forced to leave the All Stars in May 1963 for a series of operations that almost cost him his life and he was bed-ridden for 19 months in his late teenage years. During Hopkins's convalescence Davies died of leukemia and the All Stars disbanded. Hopkins's frail health led him to concentrate on working as a session musician instead of joining bands, although he left his mark performing with a wide variety of famous bands. He quickly became one of London's most in-demand session pianists and performed on many hit recordings from this period.


title: Nicky Hopkins

text: Hopkins played with the Rolling Stones on all their studio albums from "Between the Buttons" in 1967 through until "Tattoo You" in 1981, except for "Some Girls" (1978). Among his contributions, he supplied the prominent piano parts on "We Love You" and "She's a Rainbow" (both 1967), "Sympathy for the Devil", "No Expectations", and "Salt of the Earth" (1968), "Gimme Shelter" and "Monkey Man" (1969), "Sway" (1971), "Loving Cup" and "Ventilator Blues" (1972), "Coming Down Again", "Angie", and "Winter" (1973), "Time Waits for No One" (1974), "Fool to Cry" (1976), and "Waiting on a Friend" (recorded 1972, released in 1981). When working with the band during their critical and commercial zenith in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hopkins tended to be employed on a wide range of slower ballads, uptempo rockers and acoustic material; conversely, longtime "de facto" Stones keyboardist Ian Stewart only played on traditional major key blues rock numbers of his choice, while Billy Preston often featured on soul- and funk-influenced tunes. Hopkins's work with the Rolling Stones is perhaps most prominent on their 1972 studio album, "Exile on Main St.", where he contributed in a variety of musical styles.