title: Ronald D. Moore

text: On August 30, 2011, it was announced that ABC bought Moore's pitch for "Hangtown", a Western drama series. The series was co-created by Ron D. Moore and former "Caprica" writer Matt Roberts. "Hangtown" is described as "a Western with procedural elements" that takes place in a frontier town in the early 1900s grappling with the development of the railroad. The potential series would revolve around the town's old-fashioned veteran marshal who solves crimes by drawing on instinct and experience, who butt heads with the young new East Coast crime-solving doctor who relies on emerging forensics and rational inquiry. Added to the mix is a young female writer who has come to the west to write pulp stories about stereotyped "Wild West" crime, to send back to big city dime-novel publishers back East. Tall Ship Productions announced on Twitter on October 18, 2011, that Justin Lin had signed on to direct a potential pilot episode of "Hangtown", in the event that ABC officially orders it. NBC chose not to pick up "17th Precinct" for a full series. In an interview with "Wire.com" on September 29, 2012, Moore confirmed that his "The Wild Wild West" reboot for CBS and "Hangtown" had been passed on.


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: Moore had a cameo appearance in a "Battlestar Galactica"-themed sketch of the January 2012 "Portlandia" episode entitled "One Moore Episode," where he plays an unknown actor who has never seen "Battlestar Galactica". The episode also features a character named Ronald D. Moore who is mistaken for the TV producer.


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: On November 11, 2011, sci-fi news website io9.com ran an editorial about Moore, lamenting that "none of his post-BSG projects has really taken off. It's been a couple years since Moore's writing has appeared on our screens."


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: On January 16, 2013, "Deadline" announced that Moore would return to the SyFy Channel as executive producer of a new series "Helix". The project was "written on spec" by Cameron Porsandeh. "Helix" is described as being "about a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak at an Arctic research facility who find themselves trying to protect the world from annihilation." SyFy Channel made a 13-episode direct-to-series order (i.e., without waiting to produce a pilot episode), and it began airing on SyFy on January 10, 2014. While the marketing heavily billed Moore's involvement in the project, he only contributed as a consultant at the opening pitch meetings, and was not the creator or showrunner – thus his actual involvement in the project was very limited. The series was cancelled after two seasons due to record low ratings.


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: In June 2012, io9.com reported that Moore had started developing a TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" book series. On November 6, 2012, "Deadline" reported that the premium subscription channel Starz had closed a deal to produce and air the series. The show began its first run on August 9, 2014 and was renewed for its second season which was based on "Dragonfly in Amber", the second novel in the eight-book series. He was joined on the production by a fellow "Deep Space Nine" contributor, producer Ira Steven Behr.


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: The second season, consisting of 13 episodes, premiered on April 9, 2016. The 13-episode third season, based on "Voyager", aired from September to December 2017. The 13-episode fourth season, based on "Drums of Autumn", aired from November 2018 to January 2019. The fifth season of 12 episodes, based on "The Fiery Cross", aired from February to May 2020. The series is renewed for a 12-episode sixth season to be based on "A Breath of Snow and Ashes".


title: Ronald D. Moore

text: On December 15, 2017, it was announced that Apple had given a straight-to-series order for a space drama entitled "For All Mankind" created and written by Moore. More recently, he signed a deal with Disney via 20th Television.


title: Unagi

text: Unagi is served as part of "unadon" (sometimes spelled "unagidon", especially in menus in Japanese restaurants in Western countries), a "donburi" dish with sliced eel served on a bed of rice. A kind of sweet biscuit called "unagi pie" made with powdered unagi also exists. Unagi is high in protein, vitamin A, and calcium.


title: Unagi

text: Specialist unagi restaurants are common in Japan, and commonly have signs showing the word "unagi" with hiragana う (transliterated "u"), which is the first letter of the word "unagi". Lake Hamana in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka prefecture is considered to be the home of the highest quality unagi; as a result, the lake is surrounded by many small restaurants specializing in various unagi dishes. Unagi is often eaten during the hot summers in Japan. There is even a special day for eating unagi, the midsummer day of the Ox (doyo no ushi no hi).


title: Unagi

text: "Unakyu" is a common expression used for sushi containing eel and cucumber. As eel is poisonous unless cooked, eels are always cooked, and in Japanese food, are often served with tare sauce. Unagi that is roasted without tare and only seasoned with salt is known as "Shirayaki."


title: Unagi

text: Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advisory list, recommends that consumers avoid eating unagi due to significant pressures on worldwide freshwater eel populations. All three eel species used as unagi have seen their population sizes greatly reduced in the past half century. For example, catches of the European eel have declined about 80% since the 1960s. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has officially added Japanese eel to the “endangered” category of the country's Red List of animals ranging from “threatened” to “extinct”.


title: Unagi

text: Although about 90% of freshwater eel consumed in the U.S. are farm-raised, they are not bred in captivity. Instead, young eels are collected from the wild and then raised in various enclosures. In addition to wild eel populations being reduced by this process, eels are often farmed in open net pens which allow parasites, waste products, and diseases to flow directly back into wild eel habitat, further threatening wild populations. Freshwater eels are carnivores and as such are fed other wild-caught fish, adding another element of unsustainability to current eel farming practices.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Merrie Melodies is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, as well as other made productions beginning in 1972. As with its sister series, "Looney Tunes", it featured cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Elmer Fudd. Between 1934 and 1943, the "Merrie Melodies" series were distinguished from the black-and-white, Buddy or Porky Pig–starring "Looney Tunes" shorts by an emphasis on one-shot stories in color featuring Warner Bros.–owned musical selections. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout recurring star of "Merrie Melodies", and "Looney Tunes" went to color in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series more randomly.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: "Merrie Melodies" was originally produced by Harman–Ising Pictures from 1931 to 1933, and then Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, and the newly renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons continued production until 1963. It was outsourced to DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Format Productions from 1964 to 1967, and resumed production for its final two years.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Three of the "Merrie Melodies" films ("Tweetie Pie", "Speedy Gonzales" and "Birds Anonymous") won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and another three ("Duck Amuck", "One Froggy Evening", and "What's Opera, Doc?") have been inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: In 2013, "TV Guide" ranked the Warner Bros. Cartoons (ranked as "Looney Tunes") the third Greatest Cartoon of All Time (out of 60), one of only six film series to make the list (the other five being the "Pink Panther" series, "Popeye the Sailor", "Mighty Mouse", "Woody Woodpecker" and "Tom and Jerry").


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Producer Leon Schlesinger had already produced the music-based "Looney Tunes" series, and its success prompted him to try to sell a sister series to Warner Bros. His selling point was that the new cartoons would feature music from the soundtracks of Warner Bros. films and would thus serve as advertisements for Warner Bros. recordings and sheet music. The studio agreed, and Schlesinger dubbed the series "Merrie Melodies". Walt Disney Productions had already scored with their "Silly Symphonies". Since cartoon production usually began with a soundtrack, animating a piece of music made it easier to devise plot elements and even characters.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: The origins of the "Merrie Melodies" series begin with the failure of a live action series of musical shorts called "Spooney Melodies," which featured popular songs of the day. These shorts included segments with a popular artist singing along with appropriate background sequences. Warner Bros. wanted to promote this music because they had recently acquired (in 1930) the ownership of Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US $28 million. Because of the success of their "Looney Tunes" series, Warner Bros. decided to develop a new series of animated musical shorts called "Merrie Melodies". Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising led the development. It was meant to be a series of musical cartoons that featured hit songs of the day, especially those then owned by Warner Bros. and featured in their musical films. In 1931, many of the shorts featured the orchestra of Abe Lyman, one of the most famous band leaders of his day.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: The first cartoon of the new "Merrie Melodies" series was "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!", released in 1931. Ising attempted to introduce several characters in his "Merrie Melodies" films, such as Piggy, Foxy, and Goopy Geer. Eventually however, the series continued without any recurring characters. The shorts proved to be enormously popular with the public. In 1932, a "Merrie Melodies" cartoon, entitled "It's Got Me Again!", was nominated for the first Academy Award to be given for animation.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros., in 1933, they took with them all rights to the characters they had created. Leon Schlesinger had to negotiate with them to keep the rights to the name "Merrie Melodies," as well as for the right to use the slogan, "So Long Folks," at the end of the cartoons. In 1934, Schlesinger produced his first color "Merrie Melodies" shorts, "Honeymoon Hotel" and "Beauty and the Beast", which were produced in two-strip Cinecolor (Disney then had exclusive animation rights to the richer three-strip Technicolor process). Their success convinced Schlesinger to produce all future "Merrie Melodies" shorts in color, using two-strip Technicolor. "Looney Tunes" continued in black and white until 1943. In 1936, the cartoons began to end with the slogan "That's all Folks!" which had previously only been used on the "Looney Tunes" series. The old slogan "So Long, Folks!" was completely abandoned at this time. The same year, "Merrie Melodies" began using the "bulls-eye" opening and closing title sequences (in 1942, "Looney Tunes" would use the same titles, usually in thicker rings). Also by 1936, Disney's exclusivity on the three-color Technicolor process was lifted, allowing "Merrie Melodies" a full color palette for the first time, hence the use of the blue concentric rings (as a technical test) for the rest of the 1935–36 season and the 1936–37 season. The Warner Bros. shield was later that year changed to cyan before definitely changing back to red in 1938.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Contractually, "Merrie Melodies" cartoons were obligated to include at least one full chorus from a Warner Bros. song. Warner Bros. requested that these songs be performed by name bands whenever possible, but this lasted only through the first few shorts. The policy annoyed the animators of "Merrie Melodies", since the songs often interrupted the cartoons' momentum and pacing (the 1938 Merrie Melodie "A Feud There Was", for example, sarcastically uses the obligatory musical number as a shift in the action, with the lead characters singing the number into a KFWB microphone and ceding the mike to an announcer who reads a commercial). By 1939, the animators had been released from this obligation, and the "Merrie Melodies" shorts came to resemble more closely the black-and-white "Looney Tunes" series. In addition, several new characters were created to (initially) appear exclusively in the "Merrie Melodies" series, such as Egghead, Elmer Fudd, Inki, Sniffles, and even Warner Bros.' most popular cartoon star, Bugs Bunny.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: In 1943, Schlesinger began producing "Looney Tunes" in color as well, and the two series became virtually indistinguishable except by their theme music and opening titles – in addition, characters once exclusive to one series began regularly appearing in the other as well. In 1944, the studio went to an all-color schedule; though for the first year of this, Bugs still appeared mainly in the "Merrie Melodies" series (not appearing in a "Looney Tunes" cartoon until the end of August), whereas Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (who each appeared in a few "Merrie Melodies" prior to mid-1942) appeared mainly in "Looney Tunes" that year. It was not until 1945 that the two series appeared completely indistinguishable, and that Bugs appeared in more "Looney Tunes" than "Merrie Melodies".


title: Merrie Melodies

text: By 1937, the theme music for "Looney Tunes" was "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, and the theme music for "Merrie Melodies" was an adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along" by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor (the original theme was "Get Happy" by Harold Arlen, played at a faster tempo). This continued until 1964, when the WB cartoon logos were modernized, and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" became the theme for the "Merrie Melodies" as well. When the studio went to full color, even the animators themselves did not make any creative distinction between the two series, as evidenced in an interview quote from director Friz Freleng, "I never knew if a film I was making would be "Looney Tunes" or "Merrie Melodies", and what the hell difference would it make, anyway?". The last "Merrie Melodies" cartoon was "Injun Trouble", released in 1969. The "Merrie Melodies" theatrical cartoons didn't start up again until 1987 with only two cartoons made, "The Night of the Living Duck" (1987) and "(Blooper) Bunny" (1991). "The Night of the Living Duck" got a theatrical release through the compilation film "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters" (1988), while "(Blooper) Bunny" was shelved from its intended 1991 release until it premiered on Cartoon Network on June 13, 1997.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Beginning in late 1943, WB, in a cost-conserving effort, began to reissue its backlog of color cartoons under a new program that they called "Merrie Melodies" "Blue Ribbon" classics. For the reissue, the original front-and-end title sequences were altered. The revised main title card began with the "zooming" WB logo, followed by the title logo set against a background featuring a "blue ribbon" (hence the re-release program's title) and a Grand Shorts Award trophy, followed by the name of the cartoon. This revised title sequence eliminated the opening technical credits. The ending title card was also revised, replacing the original versions. Also, sometimes the title of the short was slightly altered for the rerelease; the "Blue Ribbon" version of the Bugs Bunny short "A Wild Hare" was retitled "The Wild Hare" for reissue, for example. Many of these "Blue Ribbon" prints were the versions used for television broadcasts for many years until Warner Bros. began a restoration program in the early 2000s as part of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" DVD releases.


title: Merrie Melodies

text: Only cartoons made in color were eligible for the program. None of the black-and-white cartoons were re-released under this program. Starting after 1964, when the original Warner Bros. studio lot closed, the reissues were untouched, and kept their original titles. In 1968, the reissues ended, a mere year before the last short came out, although the time frame is 46 years counting the soaphrical shorts.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: María Natalia Lafourcade Silva (; born 26 February 1984) is a Mexican pop-rock and folk singer and songwriter who, since her debut in 2002, has been one of the most successful singers in Latin America. Lafourcade's voice has been categorized as a lyric soprano.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: María Natalia Lafourcade Silva was born on 26 February 1984 in Mexico City, Mexico, and grew up in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico, surrounded by music and art. Her father is the Chilean musician , who had French parents, and her mother is the pianist María del Carmen Silva Contreras. Her uncle was Chilean writer Enrique Lafourcade, a representative of the so-called "Generation of the 50s".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: During her childhood, Lafourcade studied music with her mother, being influenced by artists like Shakira, Ely Guerra and Julieta Venegas imitating artists such as Gloria Trevi and Garibaldi. Her mother studied piano with a specialty in musical pedagogy and is the creator of the Macarsi Method for musical training and personal development for children and educators. She adapted and practiced the method with Lafourcade to help her rehabilitate through music, following a head injury from being kicked by a horse.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: She attended Instituto Anglo Español, a Catholic middle school, and studied painting, flute, theater, music, acting, piano, guitar, saxophone, and singing. When she was 10, Lafourcade sang in a Mariachi group.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In 1998, Lafourcade joined a pop music group called "Twist". The members included Lafourcade, Tábatha Vizuet (former member of the group Jeans), and Ana Pamela Garcés (former host of a children's television program on TV Azteca). The group was unsuccessful and they split up the following year. Lafourcade has stated that one of the things she disliked about being in "Twist", and a reason she began to look for alternatives, was having to lip sync (mime) when performing.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: After finishing high school, Lafourcade enrolled at Academia de Música Fermatta, where she met Ximena Sariñana, Juan Manuel Torreblanca, and Alonso Cortés, who would eventually be the drummer for "La Forquetina" years later.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In 2000, producer Loris Ceroni listened to the demos he had received from Lafourcade and, when she was 17, he gave Lafourcade the opportunity to be in a pop/rock group under his guidance. Lafourcade was hesitant, and Ceroni instead encouraged her to become independent. Lafourcade produced her first LP under the label of Sony Music. It was recorded in Italy and was cowritten with . She performed in the city of Dolores Hidalgo, in a concert at the Colegio Lic. Álvaro de Osio y Ocampo, granting her recognition across the country.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In June 2002, Lafourcade released her first album, self-titled "Natalia Lafourcade," a mix of pop, rock, bossa-nova and Latin rhythms. The singles on the album were "Busca un Problema", her biggest hit "En el 2000", "Te Quiero Dar", and "Mírame, Mírate". During this time, she was also the principal contributor to the soundtrack for the Mexican movie "Amar te duele", recording the main theme "Amarte Duele", the acoustic version of the song, as well as adding three songs from her first album to the soundtrack: "Busca un Problema", "En el 2000", and "El Destino". She also recorded a duet with , "Llevarte a Marte", and contributed the song "Un Pato" for the movie "Temporada de patos".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In 2003, she was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best New Artist category for her debut album, and was nominated for Rock New Artist at the 16th Lo Nuestro Awards, losing to fellow Mexican singer Alessandra Rosaldo.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: At the end of the tour for her first album, Natalia Lafourcade stopped performing as a soloist and began to perform with her band—Alonso Cortés, , and Yunuén Viveros—as "Natalia y la Forquetina."


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In 2005, she released "Casa", her second album, but this time as "Natalia y La Forquetina," the name of her band. Produced mostly by Café Tacuba's , "Casa" presents a more mature, rock-oriented sound while retaining pop and bossa-nova influences on a few tracks, such as lead single "Ser Humano" (pop-rock) and its follow-up "Casa" (pop-bossa-nova). Áureo Baqueiro returned to produce the few tracks not produced by del Real.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: On 2 June of 2006, after a tour through Mexico and parts of the U.S., Lafourcade announced she would leave La Forquetina to once again work as a solo artist. Natalia y la Forquetina's final show was played on 18 August 2006 in San Luis Potosí. Following the group's break-up, "Casa" won the Latin Grammy for Best Rock Album by a Duo or Group with Vocal in September.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Also in 2006, a documentary about the band, showing the group on the road and their travels, was aired on MTV Tr3s in the fall of 2007.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Natalia Lafourcade has also appeared on other songs with various other artists. These include "Jardin", Kalimba's "Dia de Suerte", Control Machete's "El Apostador", and Reik's rendition of a Lafourcade song "Amarte Duele". She also reappeared with her former band on various compilation disks with previously unreleased tracks such as "Y Todo Para Que" on "Intocable's X", and on the Tin Tan tribute album, "Viva Tin Tan", with the hit "Piel Canela". In 2011, she made "Quisiera Saber", a music video with Los Daniels.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Natalia Lafourcade moved to Canada where she met the band People Project, with whom she still frequently collaborates.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Lafourcade returned to Mexico and began to work on "Las 4 Estaciones del Amor", her first instrumental album, in collaboration with the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz (OSJEV). The album, under Sony BMG label, also included a DVD where she narrated the whole process of making an instrumental album. She also wrote the Lyrics for "Tú y Yo" from Ximena Sariñana's self-titled album.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In 2008, she performed on Julieta Venegas' MTV Unplugged album and DVD, where she played several instruments including the bass. She was also a participant in the Red Bull Music Academy in its 2008 edition, held in Barcelona, Spain. On the same year, she began to record her fourth album, and held a concert at the Teatro Metropólitan with Juan Son, Porter's ex-vocalist.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: From 2008, Lafourcade had been planning her next album, which she started on at the beginning of 2009. In May 2009, she released the album "HU HU HU", a top 10 album in Mexico. The album was produced by Emmanuel del Real (who produced "Casa" in 2005), Marco Moreno, and Ernesto García. It features internationally-known rock and pop artists, such as Julieta Venegas and Juan Son. The first alternative single that she proposed was the song "Azul", however, the label released the single "Ella es Bonita" simultaneously on the radio and in the press. The album was recommended during the summer of 2009. Lafourcade embarked on various projects. The influence of her stay in Canada and her previous album, "Las 4 Estaciones del Amor," is noticeable in this album. In December 2009, "HU HU HU" had its official presentation at the Teatro Fru Fru, in Mexico City, where it had guests such as Denise Gutiérrez of Hello Seahorse!, Furland, and Carla Morrison. It was nominated for Best female Pop Vocal Album at the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards (won by Laura Pausini) and Best Latin Pop album at the 2010 Grammy Awards (won by La Quinta Estación). Club Fonograma also named the album the second best of 2009, and the seventh best of the decade.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: She joined the non-profit project Un Techo para mi País, which aims to promote community development through the construction of temporary housing for low-income people and other social empowerment projects. She voice-acted for the role of the princess in the Spanish version of the computer-animated film "The True History of Puss 'N Boots", a French production distributed by MK2 Diffusion. There she shared credits with Kalimba and .


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: 2010 was the year of collaborations for Natalia. She recorded the song "Contigo" with the Spanish band El Canto del Loco, and the song "Quisiera Saber" with the Mexican group Los Daniels. Together with Manolo García, she performed the duet "Pájaros de Barro" and "Cursis Melodías" for Lunas del Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. In 2011, Lafourcade won the Best New Producer of the Year award in the Indie-O Music Awards, for her work with Carla Morrison's "Mientras Tú Dormías..." album, and a Telehit Award.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In the same year, she went on tour again, in Japan, and did so on a more instrumental plane, in which her musical and artistic growth was noted. This is how she made the documentary "14 Días en Japón", which was included in the "HU HU HU" reissue.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: "HU HU HU"'s tour spanned South America, Europe, the United States, Mexico, and Japan, and ended with a successful presentation at the Vive Latino 2011 Festival Iberoamericano de Cultura Musical, thus achieving a reconciliation with this audience after her unfortunate reception at the presentation in 2003. In 2012, she performed an ensemble with the , offering a concert in the Plaza de la Danza in Oaxaca City, where she performed traditional Oaxacan songs, boleros, as well as songs from her repertoire.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Her album "Mujer Divina – Homenaje a Agustín Lara" was released 18 September 2012. For this production, Natalia was accompanied by guest musicians, with whom she reinterprets the classic songs of Lara, to be compiled on a double disc containing a DVD, recorded in the forums of her record company.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Among the guests on this album are Miguel Bosé, Leonardo de Lozanne, Gilberto Gil, the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, Café Tacvba's Emmanuel del Real, Lila Downs, the Venezuelan-American musician Devendra Banhart, the group DLD, and Kevin Johansen, the latter who participates in the song "Fugitiva", the production's first single released in digital download. With the song "Azul", featuring Rodrigo Amarante, she contributed to the soundtrack of the Mexican film "Güeros".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: For this album, Lafourcade obtained, in December 2013, a platinum and gold record for having over 94,000 sales.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: Her next album, "Hasta La Raíz", was released in March 2015. "Nunca Es Suficiente", the first single off the album, was released on 10 February. The track "Hasta La Raíz" was No. 5 of the Viral 50 Global Spotify Chart and No. 1 on the Viral 50 México chart. It is with this album that, in the sixteenth version of the Latin Grammys, it won the awards for "Song of the Year", "Best Alternative Song", and "Record of the Year" for "Hasta la Raíz", and "Best Alternative Music Album" and "Best Engineered Album".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: She performed on the NPR Music Tiny Desk series on 27 October 2017. In the first month of its presence on YouTube, it had been viewed more than 1,350,000 times. As of 25 August 2019 that same video had been viewed over 8,671,800 times.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: On 5 May 2017, Natalia Lafourcade presented her new album, "Musas", accompanied by Los Macorinos, old-school musicians who previously worked with artists like Chavela Vargas. The album's first single, "Tú Sí Sabes Quererme", reached 22 million streams on Spotify in the first two months of its release. In this album, Lafourcade takes up the trend that began in "Hasta la Raíz" of paying homage to the authors who have influenced her musical career. The album was certified gold in Mexico for exceeding 30,000 sales.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: From 19 to 30 August, she toured Argentina, called the "Tú Sí Sabes Argentina" tour, with overwhelming success: Córdoba, Rosario, Buenos Aires, La Plata, Mar del Plata, and Mendoza were witness scenes of a walk through the music of Mexico and other regions in the Americas. On this occasion, the stages that received her were strongly attended, including two fully-sold presentations at La Trastienda Club and the famous "Ballena Azul" concert hall at the CCK Centro Cultural Néstor Kirchner, which left a large number of fans outside since tickets were sold out in fifteen minutes.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: At the end of 2017, Lafourcade participated in the original music for Disney-Pixar's film "Coco", playing two versions of the song, "Recuérdame" in Spanish and "Remember Me" in English. For the Mexican and Latin American version, she interpreted a solo version that did not appear in the film, but was included on the album. The final version was that of Carlos Rivera. In the U.S. version, Lafourcade interprets the song together with American musician, Miguel, being the main theme. This version won the Oscar for "Best Original Song".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In February 2018, she released the album "Musas Volumen 2", which includes songs she personally composed, such as "Danza de Gardenias", "Hoy Mi Día Uno", and the rerelease of the protest song "Un Derecho de Nacimiento". Also included are songs by great Latin American composers, such as Álvaro Carrillo, Augusto Polo Campos, and María Grever. After the release of "Musas Volumen 2," she toured Europe, performing at the KOKO Theater in London, at the Bataclan in Paris, at the Sala Apolo in Barcelona, and in the cities of Madrid and Ferrol. After the European tour, Natalia Lafourcade appeared on the stage of the 90th Academy Awards together with Gael García Bernal and Miguel, due to the nomination of "Remember Me". The song was chosen as the winner. In mid-April 2018, she announced that she would continue with the "Musas Tour", with two concerts at the Teatro Gran Rex in Chile, Canada, and the United States, and finish the tour in Mexico. After this, she announced that she would be taking a break from her musical career.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: After concluding the "Musas" tour, she announced that she would dedicate her time away from the stage to the reconstruction efforts of the Son Jarocho Documentation Center that was damaged after the earthquakes in Mexico in 2017. She occasionally left her break to perform at the Grammys and Latin Grammys' ceremonies.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: As the first step for new record material, Lafourcade held press conferences on 30 September – December 5, 2019, and the music video for her single "Una vida" was published on YouTube. On May 8, 2020 , Lafourcade officially launched "Un canto por México", an album with a cause, since the proceeds from it were allocated to the reconstruction of the , located in the city of Jáltipan de Morelos, Veracruz, which was affected by the 2017 Puebla earthquake. Likewise, this album houses a series of collaborations by artists such as Carlos Rivera, Los Auténticos Decadentes, Jorge Drexler, Emmanuel del Real, Panteón Rococó, and , a group from Son Jarocho. "Un canto por México" is inspired by Luis Miguel's studio album, "¡México por siempre!".


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: In Lafourcade's words, the album "tastes like mole" and contains melodies from past albums as new versions, such is the case of "Hasta la raíz" in the style of Son Jarocho in the company of Los Cojolites and Los Auténticos Decadentes, other songs included are "Mexicana hermosa" in a mariachi version with Carlos Rivera, "Un derecho de nacimiento", "Ya no vivo por vivir", "Nunca es suficiente", "Lo que construimos", "Mi tierra veracruzana", "Cucurrucucú paloma", among others. The video clip for the single "Mi religión" was released on May 7, 2020, and was recorded on the streets of Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. The song focuses on Lafourcade's love of music.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: On May 28, 2021, Lafourcade officially released the second part of what turned out to be a two-part series, "Un canto por México, vol. 2". The profits were also donated towards the reconstruction of the cultural center of Veracruz.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: After traveling to Hacienda San Lorenzo in Parras, Coahuila (the oldest winery in Mexico), Lafourcade was inspired to collaborate with poet Citlali Aguilera Lira to produce the single "Tierra querida." The song was released on June 17, 2022.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: On October 28, 2022, Lafourcade released her first album in seven years to be composed entirely of original songs, "De todas las flores". Additionally, she premiered the album at Carnegie Hall on October 27, 2022. The album was produced by Adán Jodorowsky, with musicians including guitarist Marc Ribot, bass player Sebastian Steinberg and drummer Cyril Atef.


title: Natalia Lafourcade

text: The Grammy Award is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement on the music industry.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, released outside Japan as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus. The game is the second installment in the "Devil Summoner" series, itself a part of the larger "Megami Tensei" franchise. Originally published by Atlus for the Sega Saturn in 1997, it was later ported to the PlayStation in 1999, and Nintendo 3DS in 2012.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: "Soul Hackers" takes place in the fictional Amami City, a technologically-advanced Japanese metropolis. The main protagonist, a member of a hacker group called the Spookies, gains access to the closed beta for Paradigm X, an online game designed to connect the citizens of Amami. While in there, the protagonist encounters supernatural forces, then must work with the Spookies to investigate attacks by demons across the city. Aiding him is Nemissa, a demon who possesses the body of his friend Hitomi Tono.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: Development of "Soul Hackers" began in 1996, after the success of the . Original producer Kouji Okada and character designer Kazuma Kaneko returned to their respective roles. The first two versions of "Soul Hackers" were never released overseas, but the Nintendo 3DS version was localized into English. The game has generally garnered a positive reception, although some reviewers criticized the visuals and music. A sequel titled "Soul Hackers 2" was released in August 2022.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: "Soul Hackers" is a role-playing video game. Players navigate dungeons in a first person view, in which they solve puzzles and fight enemy demons in turn-based battles. The player always has one or two human characters in their party, and also has the ability to summon up to four demons who fight on the player's side. Players get access to demons by choosing to speak to enemy demons, and negotiating with them; negotiations can involve answering questions, intimidating the demons, or giving them items they want. Players are able to fuse several of their allied demons into one single demon; the resulting demon inherits abilities from the demons that were used to produce it.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: In battles, players have to manage allied demons differently depending on their personalities, their alignments, and their abilities: for instance, friendly demons prefer to use healing or defensive magic, while sly demons prefer to attack enemies on their own. If players give a demon an order to use an ability it does not want to use, there is a risk that it will refuse and do something else instead, or that it does not do anything at all. Demons with differing alignments can refuse to co-operate with each other. In order to prevent this, players can build up the loyalty of their allied demons; this is done by giving them gifts or letting them choose their actions in battle on their own. By participating in battles, or by trading for it at a special market place, players are able to get magnetite, which is used as fuel for demons; if players run out of magnetite, any currently summoned allied demons start to take damage.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The game takes place in the small fictitious harbour town Amami City in Japan. The company Algon Soft has made Amami its headquarters, which has led to the technology in the city quickly being upgraded; Algon Soft has connected every home and business in the city to its new network in order to demonstrate how a "city of tomorrow" could work. The Japanese government is impressed, and grants Algon Soft permission to expand the network across the rest of Japan in the coming years. It also takes place in the virtual world Paradigm X on Algon Soft's servers, where the citizens of Amami can visit virtual attractions.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The player character is a young man who is a member of the hacking group Spookies, which was founded by a man who calls himself Spooky. The other group members are Six, Lunch, Yu-Ichi, and the player character's friend Hitomi Tono. The group mainly hacks the city's network for fun or to play harmless pranks, but Spooky holds a grudge against Algon Soft. Among other recurring characters are the demon Nemissa, who possesses Hitomi, and Kinap, who teaches the player character to enter the souls of people who have recently died.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers" is the second entry in the "Devil Summoner" series, which forms part of the larger "Megami Tensei" series: as with other entries, its narrative takes the form of a modern-day detective story as opposed to the series' more prevalent post-apocalyptic settings. "Soul Hackers" began development in 1996 after the commercial and critical success of the . Original producer Kouji Okada, and character and demon designer Kazuma Kaneko returned to their respective roles. The initial concept was thought up based on the internet boom fuelled by the recently released Windows 95 operating system: Okada and Kaneko saw the potential dangers of the internet being used as means of control and the crisis that ensued when something went wrong with a widely used system. The initial world view was created by Kaneko, while writer Shogo Isogai was responsible for the detailed story scenes. A lot of work went into properly balancing the gameplay. Future "Persona" character designer Shigenori Soejima was responsible for sub-character designs, item graphics, and designing the main character's dialogue portraits. Instead of restricting the narrative to a single perspective as with earlier "Megami Tensei" games, the team experimented with detailing different protagonists' points of view. For some of his character designs, Kaneko incorporated a "devil" motif into their clothing: he would later use similar design motifs for the character Isamu in "". Kaneko's design for Nemissa was inspired her depiction as a self-centered childlike character.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The main protagonist was not a trained Summoner as opposed to the first "Devil Summoner", but his use of the GUMP symbolised the passing of responsibilities related to the Kuzunoha line. Amani City was not based on any real city: it was born from Okada's wish to create a city on the opposite side of Japan to the main setting of the first "Devil Summoner", and from the concept of a futuristic city. Their initial version of Amani City was much smaller than the version in the final game. The character of Kinap was incorporated due to Kaneko's interpretation of the representation of Native Americans in North American movies, where they seemed both spiritual and upright. His Japanese name, "Redman", was a symbolic representation of his origins. The main antagonist Manitou was drawn from the similarly titled Native American concept, which to Isogai was analogous to major deities from other religions including the Abrahamic God: its human shape represented the extent to which humanity had warped it. Multiple other elements of Native American folklore were also included. The character of Dr. Victor, a helper from "Devil Summoner", was brought back in a redesigned form, along with new assistant Mary. Her gradual "awakening" to consciousness through her questline was compared by Kaneko to the attainment of gnosis. The music was composed by Shoji Meguro, Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko. For his work, Meguro focused on emphasizing the game's cyberpunk setting and haunting atmosphere, creating the effect by hybridizing jazz and techno styles. Meguro composed around fifty pieces for the game, and was given less creative freedom than his work on "Maken X". He also had far less memory space to work with, which he felt cheapened the effect. The project as a whole was exhausting for him.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: "Soul Hackers" released for the Sega Saturn on November 13, 1997. A supplementary disc titled "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers - Akuma Zensho 2" released on December 23 of the same year. The disc release contained a postcard entry for a draw from one of 1000 copies of an extra dungeon. Due to its popularity, a port to the PlayStation was released on April 8, 1999. A version for Sony's budget series release following on July 27, 2000. The PlayStation port contained additional features including new story events, added features such as a Paradigm X casino, and a version of the "Devil Zensho 2" dungeon.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: A port to the Nintendo 3DS was announced in 2012 for release on August 30 of that year. Directed by Kazuyuki Yamai, the port was based on the PlayStation version while featuring further enhancements and adjustments, including full voice acting and gameplay elements unique to the platform. Masayuki Doi designed a new demon for the game, while Eiji Ishida acted as art director. Original writers Masumi Suzuki and Yusuke Gonda returned to write new material. A new opening movie was produced by animation studio Satelight, who had become famous in Japan through their work on "Macross Frontier". The opening's theme song, "#X", was written by Yamai and incorporated the themes and motifs of "Soul Hackers". The song was composed and arranged by Ryota Kozuka, and translated into English by Toshihiro Takeuchi. Singer Wink Wink both sung the song and assisted with the translation. The port released digitally on the Nintendo eShop on December 25, 2014.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The game was announced for a North American release in December 2012 for the following year, adopting the "Shin Megami Tensei" moniker. It was published on April 16, 2013 by Atlus USA. It later released as a digital download on July 2. "Soul Hackers" was one of ten original "Megami Tensei" titles to be rated "M for Mature" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. In Europe, the game was published by NIS America. Originally announced for release on September 13, 2013, it was later pushed back a week to September 20. Its digital release came the following week on September 25. In 2021, Atlus' parent company Sega Sammy Holdings listed "Soul Hackers" as one of several "dormant" intellectual properties that could be considered for getting remastered, remade, or rebooted.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The Saturn and PlayStation versions of "Soul Hackers" have never seen an official release outside Japan. While attempts were made to localize the PlayStation version, it was apparently prevented from coming overseas due to Sony of America's content approval policy. The 3DS version was the first time the game was released outside Japan. The localization was done by Atlus USA: the main staff were made up of project leader Sammy Matsushima, editors Mike Meeker and Clayton Chan, and QA lead Rob Stone. As "Soul Hackers" had never seen a western release, the team decided to treat it like a new game rather than a traditional port, so they could do full justice to the story. The translation took a little over a month, while the entire localization process to release took around eight months. While the story was mainly serious, the team did their best to introduce elements of humor as with the Japanese script. In the process, they sometimes needed to substitute a joke which would have not translated well from Japanese, or add something on their own account such as a bit of fourth-wall breaking by Yu-Ichi that was not in the original script. Despite the game's awkward English title, the team decided that it fitted the title best in the circumstances.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The team, fans of cyberpunk fiction, easily picked up on the game's stylistic influences. There the dialogue became more technical, they were able to use their knowledge about computers to ensure dialogue did not sound "amateurish". There were times during these segments when the staff needed to suppress their natural reactions when seeing "Soul Hacker"s fantastic vision of future technology: they compared the experience to viewing an old filmreel about potential future technical developments. The English version featured slightly less voicework than the Japanese release: according to Atlus staff, the cut voicework was for NPCs on the world map, which were voice by the same two actors and thus sounded "pretty ridiculous". The decision also saved costs from the additional casting and studio recording time that would have been needed to address this issue. When creating both clear and subtle disconnects between Nemissa and Hitomi, the most obvious difference was the use of two different actresses. They also gave Nemissa a more extroverted tone and a ghostly reverberation when compared to the reserved, normal-sounding Hitomi. Nemissa's habit of referring to herself in the third person was carried over from the Japanese script.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The 3DS version of "Soul Hackers" has received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregator Metacritic. Several critics enjoyed the game's battles. Danielle Riendau at "Polygon", Joe Czop at "RPGFan" and Kimberley Wallace at "Game Informer" all liked how challenging the battles are: Riendau said that boss battles require careful experimentation and tactical analysis, and that the finishing battles always feels rewarding due to their difficulty; and Wallace said that larger battles give an adrenaline rush and make her think and study her party each turn. Both Riendau and Chris Charter at "Destructoid" liked the demon negotiation dialogue, and Wallace liked how the negotiations add further depth to the battles.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The dungeons were less appreciated: Riendau said that they consist of "staring at the same bland and blurry wall textures for hours at a time", and that it gets monotonous, especially in the larger late-game dungeons that require backtracking. Wallace said that "Soul Hackers" made it clear that dungeon design was not at its peak in 1997; she called the dungeons bland, and that most locations the player visits are unexciting, with a few exceptions such as the art museum where the player enters paintings. Unlike Riendau, she did not think it was monotonous to backtrack through dungeons, due to the possibility of talking one's way out of a battles. "Famitsu" appreciated how the map and difficulty settings made it easy for new players to get into the dungeon exploration.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: Riendau liked the setting and presentation, calling it reminiscent of science fiction anime from the late 1990s. Wallace said that the concept of exploring a cyberpunk city is not new, but that she liked the game's atmosphere; Jeremy Parish at "IGN" also liked this, and found the mixture of cyberpunk and mysticism fascinating. "Famitsu" thought the visuals felt outdated, but called the story stimulating. Czop liked the story, especially the vision quests, but thought that the Spookies members, while appearing often, do not develop as characters through their dialogue. Charter and Wallace also liked the story, but disagreed about the Spookies: Charter called them timeless characters, praising Hitomi and Nemissa as good enough to carry the whole story; and Wallace called the dialogue between Hitomi and Nemissa well written, and liked the story's focus on the importance of family. Riendau commented on the character Beta, who has a lisp and calls the protagonist attractive; she called him an outdated and uncomfortable caricature of feminine homosexual men, and said that he distracts from the game.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: Czop was disappointed in the game's music: he said that it was fitting in each area it was played in, but also that it was mediocre and "not particularly memorable". Charter said that the music is not the best in the genre, but that it fit the game's mood. Parish was more critical, saying that the music sounded like if it were "performed on a digital chainsaw".


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: Upon its release, "Soul Hackers" sold 160,850 units in its first week. As of 2007, the game had sold 258,679, becoming the 27th best-selling Saturn title in Japan. The PlayStation port sold 137,458 units by the end of 1999, becoming the 114th best-selling game of that year. In its debut week, the 3DS port sold 69,365 units and debuted at #2 behind "" for the PlayStation Vita. This was noted as being a good performance for a port of such an old game, and outdid the opening sales of "" for the Nintendo DS. In the following two weeks in Media Create's top fifteen games chart, the game moved down to #9 and then #17, selling 12,589 and 5,910 units respectively, creating total sales of 87,865. By October of that year, Atlus reported that the game had sold over 90,000 units: this put it ahead of that year's PSP port of "", but behind "". According to a report by the NPD Group in January 2014, "Soul Hackers" had sold 36,000 units during 2013.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The mobile game "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Intruder" was released exclusively in Japan on February 7, 2008 through EZweb. The gameplay tactical role-playing with adventure game elements, carrying over elements of "Soul Hackers" into a mobile format. Another mobile game set in the virtual world, "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers New Generation", was released in August 2008.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: A sequel, "Soul Hackers 2", was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on August 25, 2022 in Japan, and on August 26 outside of Japan. Set in the near future, it follows agents of the supernatural being Aion gathering a party of summoners to defeat an approaching evil force.


title: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

text: The original game received a manga adaptation, written by Fumio Sasahara and illustrated by Kazumi Takasawa. It was released in two volumes in March and August 1999 by Kadokawa Shoten. It also received two novel spin-offs; "Devil Summoner Soul Hackers: Death City Korin" by Osamu Makino in April 1998 from Aspect Books, and "Devil Summoner Soul Hackers: Nightmare of the Butterfly" by Shinya Kasai in May 1999 from Famitsu Bunko.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order. The Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen Knights and Ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights (members of the British Royal Family and foreign monarchs). The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order; they are not advised by the Government, as occurs with most other Orders.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The Order's primary emblem is the thistle, the national flower of Scotland. The motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" (Latin for "No one provokes me with impunity"). The same motto appears on the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland and pound coins minted in 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999 (since withdrawn), and is also the motto of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the Scots Guards, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. The patron saint of the Order is St Andrew.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Most British orders of chivalry cover the whole United Kingdom, but the three most exalted ones each pertain to one constituent country only. The Order of the Thistle, which pertains to Scotland, is the second most senior in precedence. Its equivalent in England, the Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest documented order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, dating to the middle fourteenth century. In 1783 an Irish equivalent, the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded, but it is now dormant.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The claim that James VII was reviving an earlier Order is generally not supported by the evidence. The 1687 warrant states that during a battle in 786 with Angles under Aethelstan, the cross of St Andrew appeared in the sky to Achaius, King of Scots; after his victory, he established the Order of the Thistle and dedicated it to the saint. This seems unlikely on the face of it, since Achaius died a century before Aethelstan of East Anglia (though it is now thought that the opponents in this battle were not the East Anglian king Aethelstan (born around 894) but an earlier Northumbrian of the same name, and not the legendary Scottish King Achaius but the historical Pictish King Óengus II).


title: Order of the Thistle

text: An alternative version is that the Order was founded in 809 to commemorate an alliance between Achaius and Emperor Charlemagne; there is some plausibility to this, insofar as Charlemagne is believed to have employed Scottish bodyguards. Yet another version is that Robert the Bruce instituted the order after his victory at Bannockburn in 1314.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Most historians consider the earliest credible claim to be the founding of the Order by James III, during the fifteenth century. He adopted the thistle as the royal badge, issued coins depicting thistles and allegedly conferred membership of the "Order of the Burr or Thissil" on Francis I of France, although there is no conclusive evidence for this.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Some Scottish order of chivalry may have existed during the sixteenth century, possibly founded by James V and called the Order of St. Andrew, but lapsed by the end of that century, although the evidence is unclear. A Royal thistle collar is depicted in a book of hours, prepared for James IV in about 1503, where he is shown kneeling at an altar bearing the Royal Arms encircled by a collar of thistles and a badge depicting St Andrew. In a painting of 1538, James V is shown wearing a gold collar of linked thistles with a St Andrew badge, although the King's wardrobe inventories of the period make no mention of a thistle collar.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: In 1558, a French commentator described the use of the crowned thistle and St Andrew's cross on Scottish coins and banners but noted there was no Scottish order of knighthood. Writing around 1578, John Lesley refers to the three foreign orders of chivalry carved on the gate of Linlithgow Palace, with James V's "ornaments" of St Andrew, "proper to this nation". In 1610 William Fowler, the Scottish secretary to Anne of Denmark was asked about the Order of the Thistle. Fowler believed that there had been an Order, founded to honour Scots who fought for Charles VII of France, but it had been discontinued in the time of James V, and could say nothing of its ceremonies or regalia.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: James VII issued letters patent "reviving and restoring the Order of the Thistle to its full glory, lustre and magnificency" on 29 May 1687. His intention was to reward Scottish Catholics for their loyalty, but the initiative actually came from John, 1st Earl and 1st Jacobite Duke of Melfort, then Secretary of State for Scotland. Only eight members out of a possible twelve were appointed; these included Catholics, such as Melfort and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, his elder brother James, 4th Earl and 1st Jacobite Duke of Perth, plus Protestant supporters like the Earl of Arran.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: After James was deposed by the 1688 Glorious Revolution no further appointments were made, although the exiled House of Stuart continued to issue a Jacobite version, not recognised by the British Crown. Queen Anne appointed knights to the Order from 1704, and it has remained in existence since then, and is used to recognise Scots 'who have held public office or contributed significantly to national life.'


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The Kings of Scots, later the Kings of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, have served as Sovereigns of the Order. When James VII revived the Order, the statutes stated that the Order would continue the ancient number of Knights, which was described in the preceding warrant as "the Sovereign and twelve Knights-Brethren in allusion to the Blessed Saviour and his Twelve Apostles". In 1827, George IV increased the number to sixteen members. Women (other than Queens regnant) were originally excluded from the Order; George VI created his wife Queen Elizabeth a Lady of the Thistle in 1937 by a special statute, and in 1987 Elizabeth II allowed the regular admission of women to both the Order of the Thistle and the Order of the Garter.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: From time to time, individuals may be admitted to the Order by special statutes. Such members are known as "Extra Knights" and do not count towards the sixteen-member limit. Members of the British Royal Family are normally admitted through this procedure; the first to be so admitted was Prince Albert. King Olav V of Norway, the first foreigner to be admitted to the Order, was also admitted by special statute in 1962.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The Sovereign has historically had the power to choose Knights of the Order. From the eighteenth century onwards, the Sovereign made his or her choices upon the advice of the Government. George VI felt that the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle had been used only for political patronage, rather than to reward actual merit. Therefore, with the agreement of the Prime Minister (Clement Attlee) and the Leader of the Opposition (Winston Churchill) in 1946, both Orders returned to the personal gift of the Sovereign.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies of the Thistle may also be admitted to the Order of the Garter. Formerly, many, but not all, Knights elevated to the senior Order would resign from the Order of the Thistle. The first to resign from the Order of the Thistle was John, Duke of Argyll in 1710; the last to take such an action was Thomas, Earl of Zetland in 1872.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies of the Thistle may also be deprived of their knighthoods. The only individual to have suffered such a fate was John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar who lost both the knighthood and the earldom after participating in the Jacobite rising of 1715.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: The Order has five officers: the Dean, the Chancellor, the Usher, the Lord Lyon King of Arms and the Secretary. The Dean is normally a cleric of the Church of Scotland. This office was not part of the original establishment, but was created in 1763 and joined to the office of Dean of the Chapel Royal. The two offices were separated in 1969. The office of Chancellor is mentioned and given custody of the seal of the Order in the 1687 statutes, but no-one was appointed to the position until 1913. The office has subsequently been held by one of the knights, though not necessarily the most senior. The Usher of the Order is the Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod (unlike his Garter equivalent, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, he does not have another function assisting the House of Lords). The Lord Lyon King of Arms, head of the Scottish heraldic establishment, whose office predates his association with the Order, serves as King of Arms of the Order. The Lord Lyon often—but not invariably—also serves as the Secretary.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: For the Order's great occasions, such as its annual service each June or July, as well for coronations, the Knights and Ladies wear an elaborate costume:


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Aside from these special occasions, however, much simpler insignia are used whenever a member of the Order attends an event at which decorations are worn:


title: Order of the Thistle

text: However, on certain collar days designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform, formal wear, or other costume. They will then substitute the broad riband of another order to which they belong (if any), since the Order of the Thistle is represented by the collar.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Upon the death of a Knight or Lady, the insignia must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. The badge and star are returned personally to the Sovereign by the nearest relative of the deceased.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Officers of the Order also wear green robes. The Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod also bears, as the title suggests, a green rod.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: When James VII created the modern Order in 1687, he directed that the Abbey Church at the Palace of Holyroodhouse be converted to a Chapel for the Order of the Thistle, perhaps copying the idea from the Order of the Garter (whose chapel is located in Windsor Castle). James VII, however, was deposed by 1688; the Chapel, meanwhile, had been destroyed during riots. The Order did not have a Chapel until 1911, when one was added onto St Giles High Kirk in Edinburgh. Each year, the Sovereign resides at the Palace of Holyroodhouse for a week in June or July; during the visit, a service for the Order is held. Any new Knights or Ladies are installed at annual services.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Each member of the Order, including the Sovereign, is allotted a stall in the Chapel, above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed. Perched on the pinnacle of a knight's stall is his helm, decorated with mantling and topped by his crest. If he is a peer, the coronet appropriate to his rank is placed beneath the helm. Under the laws of heraldry, women, other than monarchs, do not normally bear helms or crests; instead, the coronet alone is used (if she is a peeress or princess). Lady Marion Fraser had a helm and crest included when she was granted arms; these are displayed above her stall in the same manner as for knights. Unlike other British Orders, the armorial banners of Knights and Ladies of the Thistle are not hung in the chapel, but instead in an adjacent part of St Giles High Kirk. The Thistle Chapel does, however, bear the arms of members living and deceased on stall plates. These enamelled plates are affixed to the back of the stall and display its occupant's name, arms, and date of admission into the Order.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Upon the death of a Knight, helm, mantling, crest (or coronet or crown) and sword are taken down. The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed to the back of the stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the Order's Knights and Ladies since 1911. The entryway just outside the doors of the chapel has the names of the Order's Knights from before 1911 inscribed into the walls giving a complete record of the members of the order.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies of the Thistle are assigned positions in the order of precedence, ranking above all others of knightly rank except the Order of the Garter, and above baronets. Wives, sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights of the Thistle also feature on the order of precedence; relatives of Ladies of the Thistle, however, are not assigned any special precedence. (Generally, individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives.)


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights of the Thistle prefix "Sir", and Ladies prefix "Lady", to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Ladies. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies use the post-nominal letters "KT" and "LT" respectively. When an individual is entitled to use multiple post-nominal letters, "KT" or "LT" appears before all others, except "Bt" or "Btss" (Baronet or Baronetess), "VC" (Victoria Cross), "GC" (George Cross) and "KG" or "LG" (Knight or Lady of the Garter).


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies may encircle their arms with the circlet (a green circle bearing the Order's motto) and the collar of the Order; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar. The Royal Arms depict the collar and motto of the Order of the Thistle only in Scotland; they show the circlet and motto of the Garter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.


title: Order of the Thistle

text: Knights and Ladies are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters. This high privilege is shared only by members of the Royal Family, peers, Knights and Ladies of the Garter, and Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the junior orders of chivalry and clan chiefs.


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: Philip Davis (born 30 July 1953) is an English actor, writer, director and narrator. He is perhaps best known for his lead roles in the television dramas "Whitechapel" (2009–2013) and "Silk" (2012–2014).


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: Davis was born in Highgate, London, and brought up in Thurrock, Essex. His father worked for Procter & Gamble in a soap factory and his mother was a hospital dining room supervisor. From the age of eight, he was interested in acting. He attended Ockendon Courts County Secondary School in South Ockendon, Essex, where he was distracted in class but enjoyed school plays. He was also a member of both the National Youth Theatre and Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop.


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: In 1977, he was cast in the lead role of the play "Gotcha!" about an under-achieving student who holds two teachers hostage on his last day at school. An early film role was as Chalky, a mod who is knocked off his scooter by a rocker in "Quadrophenia" (1979). He then landed the role of midshipman Edward "Ned" Young in "The Bounty" (1984); co-star Daniel Day-Lewis later rated him as one of his greatest inspirations. He appeared in the TV series "To Have and to Hold" with Amanda Redman. He began a long association with Mike Leigh with roles including Cyril the motorcycle courier in "High Hopes" (1988) and as Stanley, the husband of the abortion care provider in "Vera Drake" (2004).


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: He has also made numerous television appearances. More recent roles have seen him mainly cast as disreputable characters, including the mean money lender Smallweed in the BBC adaptation of "Bleak House" (2005), as Jeff Hope, a cab driver in the first episode of "Sherlock" (2010), as crime family solicitor Micky Joy in "Silk", as Jud, the malevolent servant in "Poldark" (2015) and as DI Tom Piper in crime drama "Black Work".


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: In 2013 he starred as the human incarnation of the devil in the 5th and final series of BBC Three's "Being Human". He also starred alongside Rupert Penry Jones in the TV series "Whitechapel". From November 2017 until February 2018, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in David Edgar's new adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at the Royal Shakespeare Company.


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: Davis married actress Eve Matheson in Hackney, London in 2002. They have a daughter, Amy Elisabeth (born 2002). Davis also has a son, Hugo (born 1996), by a previous partner.


title: Phil Davis (actor)

text: In 1980, Davis recorded "Blown It", which was released on the Elton John-owned label The Rocket Record Company.


title: 1999 NFL Draft

text: The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.


title: 1999 NFL Draft

text: Five quarterbacks were selected in the first round — Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith, Daunte Culpepper, and Cade McNown — the second most (along with the 2018 and 2021 drafts) after the 1983 NFL Draft. The draft also marked the second time after 1971 that the first three selections (Couch, McNabb, and Smith) were quarterbacks. Only McNabb and Culpepper would have successful careers, while Couch, Smith, and McNown are generally regarded as draft busts. McNabb, the most successful of the five, was also the only first round quarterback from the draft to appear in a Super Bowl.


title: 1999 NFL Draft

text: In addition to the quarterback selections, the draft is known for the Ricky Williams trade, which saw the New Orleans Saints trade all six of their draft picks to the Washington Redskins to select running back Ricky Williams fifth overall. New Orleans finished with a 3–13 record following the trade and Williams struggled as a rookie, resulting in the firing of Saints head coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Kuharich.


title: 1999 NFL Draft

text: In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1999 draft.


title: 1999 NFL Draft

text: A supplemental draft was held in the summer of 1999. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. The New England Patriots were the only team to select a player, selecting cornerback J'Juan Cherry from Arizona State in the 4th round.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Buddhist cosmology describes the planes and realms in which beings can be reborn. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a horizontal cosmology, the distribution of these world-systems into an "apparently" infinite sheet of "worlds." The temporal cosmology describes the timespan of the creation and dissolvement of universes in aeons. Buddhist cosmology is also intwined with the belief of karma, and explains that the world around us is the product of past actions. As a result, some ages are filled with prosperity and peace due to common goodness, whereas other eras are filled with suffering, dishonesty and short lifespans.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Buddhist cosmology is not a literal description of the shape of the universe; rather, it is the universe as seen through the (Pāli: dibbacakkhu दिब्बचक्खु), the "divine eye" by which a Buddha or an arhat can perceive all beings arising (being born) and passing away (dying) within various worlds; and can tell from what state they have been reborn, and into which state they will be reborn.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Beings can be reborn as "devas" (gods), humans, animals, "asuras" (titans), "pretas" ("hungry ghosts"), and as inhabitants of the hell realms.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The process by which sentient beings migrate from one state of existence to another is dependent on causes and conditions. The three causes are giving or charity, moral conduct, meditative development, and their opposites. Rebirth in the Kama-loka (desire realm) depends on a person's moral conduct and practice of giving. Rebirth in the Rupa-loka (form realm) and Arupa-loka (formless realm) also requires meditation development. Liberation from all rebirth requires wisdom in addition to moral conduct and meditation.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Buddhist cosmology as presented in commentaries and works of Abhidharma in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions, is the end-product of an analysis and reconciliation of cosmological comments found in the Buddhist sūtra and vinaya traditions. No single sūtra sets out the entire structure of the universe, but in several sūtras the Buddha describes other worlds and states of being, and other sūtras describe the origin and destruction of the universe. The order of the planes are found in various discourses of Gautama Buddha in the Sutta Pitaka. In the Saleyyaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha mentioned the planes above the human plane in ascending order. In several suttas in the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha described the causes of rebirth in these planes in the same order.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The synthesis of these data into a single comprehensive system must have taken place early in the history of Buddhism, as the system described in the Pāli Vibhajyavāda tradition (represented by today's Theravādins) agrees, despite some minor inconsistencies of nomenclature, with the Sarvāstivāda tradition which is preserved by Mahāyāna Buddhists.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The spatial cosmology displays the various worlds in which beings can be reborn. Spatial cosmology can also be divided into two branches. The "vertical" (or ) cosmology describes the arrangement of worlds in a vertical pattern, some being higher and some lower. By contrast, the "horizontal" (sahasra) cosmology describes the grouping of these vertical worlds into sets of thousands, millions or billions.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The vertical cosmology is divided into three realms, or dhātus: the formless realm ("Ārūpyadhātu"), corresponding to the formless jhanas; the form realm ("Rūpadhātu"), corresponding to the "rūpa jhānas"; and the desire realm ("Kamadhātu"). The three realms contain together thirty-one planes of existence, each corresponding to a different type of mentality. These three realms ("tridhātu", "trailokya") are the Formless Realm ("Ārūpyadhātu"), which consists of four planes; the Form Realm ("Rūpadhātu"), which consists of sixteen planes; and the Pleasure Realm ("Kāmadhātu"), which consists of fifteen planes.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: A world is not so much a location as it is the beings which compose it; it is sustained by their karma, and if the beings in a world all die or disappear, the world disappears too. Likewise, a world comes into existence when the first being is born into it. The physical separation is not so important as the difference in mental state; humans and animals, though they partially share the same physical environments, still belong to different worlds because their minds perceive and react to those environments differently.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: In some instances, all of the beings born in the Ārūpyadhātu and the Rūpadhātu are informally classified as "gods" or "deities" (""), along with the gods of the Kāmadhātu, notwithstanding the fact that the deities of the Kāmadhātu differ more from those of the Ārūpyadhātu than they do from humans. It is to be understood that deva is an imprecise term referring to any being living in a longer-lived and generally more blissful state than humans. Most of them are not "gods" in the common sense of the term, having little or no concern with the human world and rarely if ever interacting with it; only the lowest deities of the Kāmadhātu correspond to the gods described in many polytheistic religions.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The term Brahmā is used both as a name and as a generic term for one of the higher devas. In its broadest sense, it can refer to any of the inhabitants of the Ārūpyadhātu and the Rūpadhātu. In more restricted senses, it can refer to an inhabitant of one of the eleven lower worlds of the Rūpadhātu, or in its narrowest sense, to the three lowest worlds of the Rūpadhātu (Plane of Brahma's retinue). A large number of devas use the name "Brahmā", e.g. Brahmā Sahampati (ब्रह्मा सहम्पत्ति), Brahmā Sanatkumāra (ब्रह्मा सनत्कुमारः), Baka Brahmā (बकब्रह्मा), etc. It is not always clear which world they belong to, although it must always be one of the worlds of the Rūpadhātu. According to the Ayacana Sutta, Brahmā Sahampati, who begs the Buddha to teach Dhamma to the world, resides in the Śuddhāvāsa worlds.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Formless Realm ("Ārūpyadhātu" (Sanskrit) or "Arūpaloka" (Pāli)) belongs to those Devas who attained and remained in the Four Formless Absorptions () of the arūpadhyānas in a previous life, and now enjoy the fruits (vipāka) of the good karma of that accomplishment. Bodhisattvas, however, are never born in the Ārūpyadhātu even when they have attained the arūpadhyānas.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Formless Realm would have no place in a purely physical cosmology, as none of the beings inhabiting it has either shape or location; and correspondingly, the realm has no location either. The inhabitants of these realms are possessed entirely of mind. Having no physical form or location, they are unable to hear "Dhamma" teachings.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The "Rūpadhātu" (; ; ; ; ; ; ) or "Form realm" is, as the name implies, the first of the physical realms; its inhabitants all have a location and bodies of a sort, though those bodies are composed of a subtle substance which is of itself invisible to the inhabitants of the Kāmadhātu. According to the Janavasabha Sutta, when a brahma (a being from the Brahma-world of the Rūpadhātu) wishes to visit a deva of the heaven (in the Kāmadhātu), he has to assume a "grosser form" in order to be visible to them. There are 16–22 Rūpadhātu in Buddhism texts, the most common saying is 18.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The beings of the Form realm are not subject to the extremes of pleasure and pain, or governed by desires for things pleasing to the senses, as the beings of the Kāmadhātu are. The bodies of Form realm beings do not have sexual distinctions.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Like the beings of the Ārūpyadhātu, the dwellers in the Rūpadhātu have minds corresponding to the dhyānas (Pāli: jhānas). In their case it is the four lower dhyānas or rūpadhyānas (रुपध्यान). However, although the beings of the Rūpadhātu can be divided into four broad grades corresponding to these four dhyānas, each of them is subdivided into further grades, three for each of the four dhyānas and five for the Śuddhāvāsa devas, for a total of seventeen grades (the Theravāda tradition counts one less grade in the highest dhyāna for a total of sixteen).


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Physically, the Rūpadhātu consists of a series of planes stacked on top of each other, each one in a series of steps half the size of the previous one as one descends. In part, this reflects the fact that the devas are also thought of as physically larger on the higher planes. The highest planes are also broader in extent than the ones lower down, as discussed in the section on "Sahasra cosmology". The height of these planes is expressed in "yojanas", a measurement of very uncertain length, but sometimes taken to be about 4,000 times the height of a man, and so approximately .


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The "Śuddhāvāsa" (; ; ; ; ) worlds, or "Pure Abodes", are distinct from the other worlds of the Rūpadhātu in that they do not house beings who have been born there through ordinary merit or meditative attainments, but only those Anāgāmins ("Non-returners"), the third level on the path of enlightenment, who are already on the path to Arhat-hood and who will attain enlightenment directly from the Śuddhāvāsa worlds without being reborn in a lower plane. These Pure Abodes are accessible only to those who have destroyed the lower five fetters, consisting of self-view, sceptical doubt, clinging to rites and ceremonies, sense desires, and ill-will. They will destroy their remaining fetters of craving for fine material existence, craving for immaterial existence, conceit, restlessness and ignorance during their existence in the Pure Abodes. Those who take rebirth here are called "non-returners" because they do not return from that world, but attain final "nibbana" there without coming back. Every Śuddhāvāsa deva is therefore a protector of Buddhism. They guard and protect Buddhism on earth, and will pass into enlightenment as "Arhats" when they pass away from the "Suddhavasa" worlds. Brahma Sahampati, an inhabitant from these worlds, who appealed to the newly enlightened Buddha to teach, was an Anagami under the previous Buddha. Because a Śuddhāvāsa deva will never be reborn outside the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, no Bodhisattva is ever born in these worlds, as a Bodhisattva must ultimately be reborn as a human being.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Since these devas rise from lower planes only due to the teaching of a Buddha, they can remain empty for very long periods if no Buddha arises. However, unlike the lower worlds, the Śuddhāvāsa worlds are never destroyed by natural catastrophe. The Śuddhāvāsa devas predict the coming of a Buddha and, taking the guise of Brahmins, reveal to human beings the signs by which a Buddha can be recognized. They also ensure that a Bodhisattva in his last life will see the four signs that will lead to his renunciation.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The mental state of the devas of the worlds (Chn: 四禅九天/四禪九天; Jpn: ; Thai: เวหปฺปผลา) corresponds to the fourth dhyāna, and is characterized by equanimity (). The worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by wind at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, they are spared such destruction.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The mental state of the devas of the worlds (Chn/Jpn: 三禅三天; Devanagari: शुभकृत्स्न; Thai: ศุภกฤตฺสนาภูมิ) corresponds to the third dhyāna, and is characterized by a quiet joy (sukha). These devas have bodies that radiate a steady light. The worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by water at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, the flood of water does not rise high enough to reach them.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The mental state of the devas of the Ābhāsvara आभास्वर worlds (Chn/Jpn: 二禅三天; Thai: อาภัสสราภูมิ/อาภาสวราธาตุ) corresponds to the second dhyāna, and is characterized by delight (prīti) as well as joy (sukha); the Ābhāsvara devas are said to shout aloud in their joy, crying "aho sukham!" ("Oh joy!"). These devas have bodies that emit flashing rays of light like lightning. They are said to have similar bodies (to each other) but diverse perceptions.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Ābhāsvara worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by fire at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, the column of fire does not rise high enough to reach them. After the destruction of the world, at the beginning of the vivartakalpa, the worlds are first populated by beings reborn from the Ābhāsvara worlds.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The mental state of the devas of the Brahmā worlds (Chn/Jpn: 初禅三天; Thai: พรหมภูมิ) corresponds to the first dhyāna, and is characterized by observation (vitarka) and reflection (vicāra) as well as delight (prīti) and joy (sukha). The Brahmā worlds, together with the other lower worlds of the universe, are destroyed by fire at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below). One way to rebirth in the brahma world is mastery over the first jhana. Another is through meditations on loving kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. The Buddha teaches the Brahmin Subha, how to be born in the world of Brahma, in the Subha Sutta, when asked by him.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The beings born in the Kāmadhātu कामधातु (Pāli: Kāmaloka कामलोक; ; Chn/Jpn: 欲界 "Yoku-kai"; Thai: กามภูมิ) differ in degree of happiness, but they are all, other than Anagamis, Arhats and Buddhas, under the domination of Māra and are bound by sensual desire, which causes them suffering. Birth into these planes takes place as a result of our Karma. The Sense-Sphere (Desire) Realm is the lowest of the three realms. The driving force within this realm is sensual desire.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The following four worlds are bounded planes, each 80,000 yojanas square, which float in the air above the top of Mount Sumeru. Although all of the worlds inhabited by devas (that is, all the worlds down to the Cāturmahārājikakāyika world and sometimes including the Asuras) are sometimes called "heavens". These devas enjoy aesthetic pleasures, long life, beauty, and certain powers. Anyone who has led a wholesome life can be born in them.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: These devas live in four heavens that float in the air, leaving them free from contact with the strife of the lower world. In the western sense of the word "heaven", the term best applies to the four worlds listed below:


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The world-mountain of Sumeru सुमेरु (Sineru सिनेरु; Thai: เขาพระสุเมรุ, สิเนรุบรรพต) is an immense, strangely shaped peak which arises in the center of the world, and around which the Sun and Moon revolve. Its base rests in a vast ocean, and it is surrounded by several rings of lesser mountain ranges and oceans. The three worlds listed below are all located on, or around, Sumeru: the devas live on its peak, the Cāturmahārājikakāyika devas live on its slopes, and the Asuras live in the ocean at its base. Sumeru and its surrounding oceans and mountains are the home not just of these deities, but also vast assemblies of beings of popular mythology who only rarely intrude on the human world. They are even more passionate than the higher devas, and do not simply enjoy themselves but also engage in strife and fighting.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: All of the structures of the earth, Sumeru and the rest, extend downward to a depth of 80,000 yojanas below sea level – the same as the height of Sumeru above sea level. Below this is a layer of "golden earth", a substance compact and firm enough to support the weight of Sumeru. It is 320,000 yojanas in depth and so extends to 400,000 yojanas below sea level. The layer of golden earth in turn rests upon a layer of water, which is 8,000,000 yojanas in depth, going down to 8,400,000 yojanas below sea level. Below the layer of water is a "circle of wind", which is 16,000,000 yojanas in depth and also much broader in extent, supporting 1,000 different worlds upon it. Yojanas are equivalent to about 13 km (8 mi).


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Naraka नरक or Niraya निरय (; Burmese; ငရဲ; Thai: นรก) is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering, usually translated into English as "hell" or "purgatory". These are realms of extreme sufferings. As with the other realms, a being is born into one of these worlds as a result of his karma, and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result, after which he will be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of an earlier karma that had not yet ripened. The mentality of a being in the hells corresponds to states of extreme fear and helpless anguish in humans.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Physically, Naraka is thought of as a series of layers extending below Jambudvīpa into the earth. There are several schemes for counting these Narakas and enumerating their torments. One of the more common is that of the Eight Cold Narakas and Eight Hot Narakas.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Sahasra means "one thousand". All of the planes, from the plane of neither perception nor non-perception (nevasanna-asanna-ayatana) down to the Avīci – the "without interval" niraya – constitutes the single world-system, cakkavāḷa (intimating something circular, a "wheel", but the etymology is uncertain), described above. In modern parlance it would be called a 'universe', or 'solar system'. A collection of one thousand solar systems are called a "thousandfold minor world-system" (culanika lokadhatu). Or small chiliocosm. A collection of 1,000 times 1,000 world-systems (one thousand squared) is a "thousandfold to the second power middling world-system" (dvisahassi majjhima lokadhatu). Or medium dichiliocosm.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The largest grouping, which consists of one thousand cubed world-systems, is called the "tisahassi mahasassi lokadhatu". Or great trichiliocosm. The Tathagata, if he so wished, could effect his voice throughout a great trichiliocosm. He does so by suffusing the trichiliocosm with his radiance, at which point the inhabitants of those world-system will perceive this light, and then proceeds to extend his voice throughout that realm.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Buddhist temporal cosmology describes how the universe comes into being and is dissolved. Like other Indian cosmologies, it assumes an infinite span of time and is cyclical. This does not mean that the same events occur in identical form with each cycle, but merely that, as with the cycles of day and night or summer and winter, certain natural events occur over and over to give some structure to time.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The basic unit of time measurement is the mahākalpa or "Great Eon" (Chn/Jpn: 大劫 "daigō"; Thai: มหากัปป์ or มหากัลป์; Devanagari: महाकल्प / महाकप्प). The length of this time in human years is never defined exactly, but it is meant to be very long, to be measured in billions of years if not longer.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The word kalpa, means 'moment'. A maha kalpa consists of four moments (kalpa), the first of which is creation. The creation moment consists of the creation of the "receptacle", and the descent of beings from higher realms into more coarse forms of existence. During the rest of the creation moment, the world is populated. Human beings who exist at this point have no limit on their lifespan. The second moment is the duration moment, the start of this moment is signified by the first sentient being to enter hell (niraya), the hells and nirayas not existing or being empty prior to this moment. The duration moment consists of twenty "intermediate" moments (antarakappas), which unfold in a drama of the human lifespan descending from 80,000 years to 10, and then back up to 80,000 again. The interval between 2 of these "intermediate" moments is the "seven day purge", in which a variety of humans will kill each other (not knowing or recognizing each other), some humans will go into hiding. At the end of this purge, they will emerge from hiding and repopulate the world. After this purge, the lifespan will increase to 80,000, reach its peak and descend, at which point the purge will happen again.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Within the duration 'moment', this purge and repeat cycle seems to happen around 18 times, the first "intermediate" moment consisting only of the descent from 80,000 – the second intermediate moment consisting of a rise and descent, and the last consisting only of an ascent.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: After the duration 'moment' is the dissolution moment, the hells will gradually be emptied, as well as all coarser forms of existence. The beings will flock to the form realms (rupa dhatu), a destruction of fire occurs, sparing everything from the realms of the 'radiant' gods and above (abha deva).


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: After 7 of these destructions by 'fire', a destruction by water occurs, and everything from the realms of the 'pleasant' gods and above is spared (subha deva).


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: After 64 of these destructions by fire and water, that is56 destructions by fire, and 7 by watera destruction by wind occurs, this eliminates everything below the realms of the 'fruitful' devas (vehapphala devas, literally of "great fruit"). The pure abodes (suddhavasa, meaning something like pure, unmixed, similar to the connotation of "pure bred German shepherd"), are never destroyed. Although without the appearance of a Buddha, these realms may remain empty for a long time. The inhabitants of these realms have exceedingly long life spans.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The formless realms are never destroyed because they do not consist of form (rupa). The reason the world is destroyed by fire, water and wind, and not earth is because earth is the 'receptacle'.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: After the dissolution moment, this particular world system remains dissolved for a long time, this is called the 'empty' moment, but the more accurate term would be "the state of being dissolved". The beings that inhabited this realm formerly will migrate to other world systems, and perhaps return if their journeys lead here again.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: A mahākalpa is divided into four kalpas or "eons" (Chn/Jpn: 劫 "kō"; Thai: กัป; अन्तरकल्प), each distinguished from the others by the stage of evolution of the universe during that kalpa. The four kalpas are:


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Each one of these kalpas is divided into twenty antarakalpas अन्तरकल्प (Pāli: antarakappa अन्तरकप्प; Chn/Jpn: 中劫, "inside eons"; Thai: อันตรกัป) each of about the same length. For the this division is merely nominal, as nothing changes from one antarakalpa to the next; but for the other three kalpas it marks an interior cycle within the kalpa.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Vivartakalpa begins with the arising of the primordial wind, which begins the process of building up the structures of the universe that had been destroyed at the end of the last mahākalpa. As the extent of the destruction can vary, the nature of this evolution can vary as well, but it always takes the form of beings from a higher world being born into a lower world. The example of a Mahābrahmā being the rebirth of a deceased Ābhāsvara deva is just one instance of this, which continues throughout the Vivartakalpa until all the worlds are filled from the Brahmaloka down to Naraka. During the Vivartakalpa the first humans appear; they are not like present-day humans, but are beings shining in their own light, capable of moving through the air without mechanical aid, living for a very long time, and not requiring sustenance; they are more like a type of lower deity than present-day humans are.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Over time, they acquire a taste for physical nutriment, and as they consume it, their bodies become heavier and more like human bodies; they lose their ability to shine, and begin to acquire differences in their appearance, and their length of life decreases. They differentiate into two sexes and begin to become sexually active. Then greed, theft and violence arise among them, and they establish social distinctions and government and elect a king to rule them, called Mahāsammata। महासम्मत, "the great appointed one". Some of them begin to hunt and eat the flesh of animals, which have by now come into existence.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The Vivartasthāyikalpa begins when the first being is born into Naraka, thus filling the entire universe with beings. During the first antarakalpa of this eon, the duration of human lives declines from a vast but unspecified number of years (but at least several tens of thousands of years) toward the modern lifespan of less than 100 years. At the beginning of the antarakalpa, people are still generally happy. They live under the rule of a universal monarch or "wheel-turning king" (Sanskrit: cakravartin चक्रवर्ति; Jpn: 転輪聖王 "Tenrin Jō-ō"; Thai: พระเจ้าจักรพรรดิ), who conquer. The Mahāsudassana-sutta (DN.17) tells of the life of a cakravartin king, Mahāsudassana (Sanskrit: Mahāsudarśana) who lived for 336,000 years. The Cakkavatti-sīhanāda-sutta (DN.26) tells of a later dynasty of cakravartins, (Sanskrit: ) and five of his descendants, who had a lifespan of over 80,000 years. The seventh of this line of cakravartins broke with the traditions of his forefathers, refusing to abdicate his position at a certain age, pass the throne on to his son, and enter the life of a . As a result of his subsequent misrule, poverty increased; as a result of poverty, theft began; as a result of theft, capital punishment was instituted; and as a result of this contempt for life, murders and other crimes became rampant.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: The human lifespan now quickly decreased from 80,000 to 100 years, apparently decreasing by about half with each generation (this is perhaps not to be taken literally), while with each generation other crimes and evils increased: lying, greed, hatred, sexual misconduct, disrespect for elders. During this period, according to the Mahāpadāna-sutta (DN.14) three of the four Buddhas of this antarakalpa lived: Kakusandha Buddha क्रकुच्छन्दः (Pāli: Kakusandha ककुन्ध), at the time when the lifespan was 40,000 years; Kanakamuni कनकमुनिः Buddha (Pāli: Konāgamana कोनागमन) when the lifespan was 30,000 years; and Kāśyapa काश्यपः Buddha (Pāli: Kassapa कस्सप) when the lifespan was 20,000 years.


title: Buddhist cosmology

text: Our present time is taken to be toward the end of the first antarakalpa of this Vivartasthāyikalpa, when the lifespan is less than 100 years, after the life of Śākyamuni शाक्यमुनिः Buddha (Pāli: Sakyamuni ), who lived to the age of 80.