title: Spike Jones

text: There is a clear line of influence from Harry Reser's 1920s hot-comic "Six Jumping Jacks" band (whose drummer and vocalist was the distinctive Tom Stacks, "The Voice With a Smile"), the Hoosier Hot Shots, Freddie Fisher and his Schnickelfritzers, and the Marx Brothers to Spike Jones — and to Stan Freberg, Gerard Hoffnung, Peter Schickele's P.D.Q. Bach, The Goons, Joe Raposo, Mr. Bungle, Frank Zappa, George Maciunas, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. According to David Wild's review in Rolling Stone Magazine, Elvis Costello's 1989 Album "Spike" was named partly in tribute to Jones.


title: Spike Jones

text: Syndicated radio personality Dr. Demento regularly features Jones' records on his program of comedy and novelty tracks. Jones is mentioned in The Band's song, "Up on Cripple Creek". (The song's protagonist's paramour states of Jones: "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk.") Novelist Thomas Pynchon is an admirer and wrote the liner notes for a 1994 CD reissue, "Spiked!" (BMG Catalyst). A scene in the romantic comedy "I.Q." shows a man demonstrating the sound of his new stereo to Meg Ryan's character by playing a Jones recording.


title: Spike Jones

text: In the 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short "Back Alley Oproar", a caterwauling Sylvester the Cat does a Spike Jones-inspired solo finale cover of "Angel in Disguise" by opening with a brief, serious-sounding introduction before immediately breaking into a jazzy rendition featuring a collection of crazy sound effects produced by firing guns, breaking bottles and exploding firecrackers among other sounds, much to Elmer Fudd's annoyance.


title: Spike Jones

text: Spike Jones is referenced several times in the American TV series "M*A*S*H". In season 2, episode 5 "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde", an exhausted Hawkeye sings a line of "Der Fuehrer's Face" in reference to the great songs that came out of World War II; in the season 8 episode ""Good-Bye, Radar: Part 1," when Radar returns from leave in Tokyo to a generator-less 4077th, he calls up Sparky to unsuccessfully bargain for a new one with a variety of items which included some Spike Jones records and in the season 11 episode "Foreign Affairs," visiting French Red Cross nurse Martine LeClerc (Melinda Mullins), who develops a warm if brief affair with Charles Emerson Winchester III tells him that she's a huge fan of Spike Jones, which inspires him to admit, in a rare confession, secretly loving Tom & Jerry cartoons.


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1974, Tony Levin (future bass player for King Crimson), recording under the name, The Clams, released a Spike Jones tribute of him giving the songs "Close To You" by The Carpenters and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, the Jones treatment.


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1986, the Belgian synthpop group Telex paid homage to Spike Jones in their album "Looney Tunes", with a song named after him. The intro of that song is a part of the intro from "Camptown Races".


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1997, singers Artie Schroeck and Linda November directed a production in Atlantic City titled "The New City Slickers Present a Tribute to Spike Jones", with a band that attempted to re-create the style and humor of Jones's music.


title: Barrage balloon

text: A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barrage balloons were often spherical. The design of the kite balloon, having a shape and cable bridling which stabilises the balloon and reduces drag, meant that it could be operated at higher wind speeds than a spherical balloon. Some examples carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up against the aircraft to ensure its destruction. Barrage balloons are not practical against very high-altitude flying aircraft, due to the weight of the long cable required.


title: Barrage balloon

text: France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom used barrage balloons in the First World War. While the French and German forces had developed kite balloons, early British barrages balloons were spherical.


title: Barrage balloon

text: Sometimes, especially around London, several balloons were used to lift a length of "barrage net", in which a steel cable was strung between the balloons and many more cables hung from it. These nets could be raised to an altitude comparable to the operational ceiling (15,000 ft / 4,500 m) of the bombers of that time period. By 1918 the barrage balloon defences around London stretched for , and captured German pilots expressed great fear of them.


title: Barrage balloon

text: In 1938 the British Balloon Command was established to protect cities and key targets such as industrial areas, ports and harbours. Balloons were intended to defend against dive bombers flying at heights up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m), forcing them to fly higher and into the range of concentrated anti-aircraft fire: anti-aircraft guns could not traverse fast enough to attack aircraft flying at low altitude and high speed. By the middle of 1940 there were 1,400 balloons, a third of them over the London area.


title: Barrage balloon

text: While dive-bombing was a devastatingly effective tactic against undefended targets, such as Guernica and Rotterdam, dive-bombers were very vulnerable to attack by fighter aircraft while performing a dive, and their use in this role by Germany against the UK with its effective Royal Air Force was rapidly discontinued. Balloons proved to be of little use against the German high-level bombers with which the dive-bombers were replaced, but continued to be manufactured nonetheless, until there were almost 3,000 in 1944. They proved to be effective against the V-1 flying bomb, which usually flew at 2,000 feet (600 m) or lower but had wire-cutters on its wings to counter balloons. 231 V-1s are officially claimed to have been destroyed by balloons.


title: Barrage balloon

text: The British added two refinements to their balloons, "Double Parachute Link" (DPL) and "Double Parachute/Ripping" (DP/R). The former was triggered by the shock of an enemy bomber snagging the cable, causing that section of cable to be explosively released complete with parachutes at either end; the combined weight and drag bringing down the aircraft. The latter was intended to render the balloon safe if it broke free accidentally. The heavy mooring cable would separate at the balloon and fall to the ground under a parachute; at the same time a panel would be ripped away from the balloon causing it to deflate and fall independently to the ground.


title: Barrage balloon

text: In January 1945, during Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm raids on the Palembang oil refineries, the British aircrews were surprised by the massive use of barrage balloons in the Japanese defences. These were spherical and smaller than the British type. One Grumman Avenger was destroyed, and its crew killed, from striking a balloon cable.


title: Barrage balloon

text: Barrage balloons were partly filled with highly pure hydrogen. "The top of the balloon was filled with hydrogen, the bottom half was left empty, so when it was put up at a certain height it filled with natural air", according to Dorothy Brannan, barrage balloon volunteer in Portsmouth, England.


title: Barrage balloon

text: In 1942 Canadian and American forces began joint operations to protect the sensitive locks and shipping channel at Sault Ste. Marie along their common border among the Great Lakes against possible air attack. During severe storms in August and October 1942 some barrage balloons broke loose, and the trailing cables short-circuited power lines, causing some localised disruption to mining and manufacturing. In particular, metals production was disrupted. Canadian military historical records indicate that one of the more serious incidents, known as "The October Incident", caused an estimated loss of of steel and of ferro-alloys. The winter weather also, apparently, played a part.


title: Barrage balloon

text: As a result, balloons were stored during the winter months and training was improved. Lessons learned from breakaway balloons led to Operation Outward, the intentional release of balloons trailing conductive cables to disrupt power supplies on the occupied European mainland.


title: Barrage balloon

text: On the road to Aachen in west Germany in 1944, the British 2nd Tactical Air Force floated barrage balloons along the American First Army sector front line (a.k.a. "bomb line") to designate the location of friendly troops during the air assault preceding the advance of ground forces, which took Aachen on October 21, 1944. Conversely, during the First Army advance past Aachen to nearby Düren, barrage balloons were floated eastward to mark the location of enemy troops to be bombed.


title: Barrage balloon

text: After the war, some surplus barrage balloons were used as tethered shot balloons for nuclear weapon tests throughout most of the period when nuclear weapons were tested in the atmosphere. The weapon or "shot" was carried to the required altitude slung underneath the barrage balloon, allowing test shots in controlled conditions at much higher altitudes than test towers. Several of the tests in the Operation Plumbbob series were lifted to altitude using barrage balloons.


title: Q*bert

text: Q*bert (also known as Qbert) is an arcade video game developed and published for the North American market by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a 2D action game with puzzle elements that uses isometric graphics to create a pseudo-3D effect. The objective of each level in the game is to change every cube in a pyramid to a target color by making Q*bert, the on-screen character, hop on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. Players use a joystick to control the character.


title: Q*bert

text: The game was conceived by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. Lee designed the title character and original concept, which was further developed and implemented by Davis. "Q*bert" was developed under the project name "Cubes".


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" was well-received in arcades and among critics. The game was Gottlieb's most successful video game and is among the most recognized brands from the golden age of arcade games. It has been ported to numerous platforms. The game's success resulted in sequels and the use of the character's likeness in merchandising, such as appearances on lunch boxes, toys, and an animated television show. The Q*bert character became known for his "swearing" and "Q*bertese sound" – an incoherent phrase made of synthesized speech generated by the sound chip and a speech balloon of nonsensical characters that appear when he collides with an enemy.


title: Q*bert

text: Because the game was developed during the period when Columbia Pictures owned Gottlieb, the intellectual rights to "Q*bert" remained with Columbia, even after they divested themselves of Gottlieb's assets in 1984. Therefore, the rights have been owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment since its parent, Sony, acquired Columbia in 1989. Q*bert appeared in Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" franchise, under license from Sony, and later appeared in the film "Pixels".


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" is an action game with puzzle elements played from an axonometric third-person perspective to convey a three-dimensional look. The game is played using a single, diagonally mounted four-way joystick. The player controls Q*bert, who starts each game at the top of a pyramid made of 28 cubes, and moves by hopping diagonally from cube to cube. Landing on a cube causes it to change color, and changing every cube to the target color allows the player to progress to the next stage.


title: Q*bert

text: At the beginning, jumping on every cube once is enough to advance. In later stages, each cube must be hit twice to reach the target color. Other times, cubes change color every time Q*bert lands on them, instead of remaining on the target color once they reach it. Both elements are then combined in subsequent stages. Jumping off the pyramid results in the character's death.


title: Q*bert

text: A collision with purple enemies is fatal to the character, whereas the green enemies are removed from the board upon contact. Colored balls occasionally appear at the second row of cubes and bounce downward; contact with a red ball is lethal to Q*bert, while contact with a green one immobilizes the on-screen enemies for a limited time. Multicolored floating discs on either side of the pyramid serve as an escape from danger, particularly Coily. When Q*bert jumps on a disc, it transports him to the top of the pyramid. If Coily is in close pursuit of the character, he will jump after Q*bert and fall to his death, awarding bonus points. This causes all enemies and balls on the screen to disappear, though they start to return after a few seconds.


title: Q*bert

text: Points are awarded for each color change (15 or 25), defeating Coily with a flying disc (500), remaining discs at the end of a stage (at higher stages, 50 or 100) and catching green balls (100) or Slick and Sam (300 each). Bonus points are also awarded for completing a screen, starting at 1,000 for the first screen of Level 1 and increasing by 250 for each subsequent completion, up to 5,000 after Level 4. Extra lives are granted for reaching certain scores, which are set by the machine operator.


title: Q*bert

text: Programmer Warren Davis wrote that he was inspired by a pattern of hexagons implemented by fellow Gottlieb developer and "Mad Planets" designer Kan Yabumoto.


title: Q*bert

text: In a different telling, the initial concept began when artist Jeff Lee drew a pyramid of cubes inspired by M. C. Escher. Lee believed a game could be derived from the artwork, and created an orange, armless main character. The character jumped along the cubes and shot projectiles, called "mucus bombs", from a tubular nose at enemies. Enemies included a blue creature, later changed purple and named Wrong Way, and an orange creature, later changed green and named Sam. Lee had drawn similar characters since childhood, inspired by characters from comics, cartoons, "Mad" magazine and by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Q*bert's design later included a speech balloon with a string of nonsensical characters, "", which Lee originally presented as a joke.


title: Q*bert

text: Warren Davis, who was hired to work on the game "Protector", noticed Lee's ideas and asked if he could use them to practice programming randomness and gravity as game mechanics. Thus, he added balls that bounce from the pyramid's top to bottom. Because Davis was still learning how to program game mechanics, he wanted to keep the design simple. He also believed games with complex control schemes were frustrating and wanted something that could be played with one hand. To accomplish this, Davis removed the shooting and changed the objective of saving the protagonist from danger. As Davis worked on the game one night, Gottlieb's vice president of engineering, Ron Waxman, noticed him and suggested to change the color of the cubes after the game's character has landed on them. Davis implemented a unique control scheme; a four-way joystick was rotated 45° to match the directions of Q*bert's jumping. Staff members at Gottlieb urged for a more conventional orientation, but Davis stuck to his decision. Davis remembered to have started programming in April 1982, but the project was only put on the schedule as an actual product several months later.


title: Q*bert

text: A MOS Technology 6502 chip that operates at 894 kHz generates the sound effects, and a speech synthesizer by Votrax generates Q*bert's incoherent expressions. The audio system uses 128 B of random-access memory and 4 KB of erasable programmable read only memory to store the sound data and code to implement it. Like other Gottlieb games, the sound system was thoroughly tested to ensure it would handle daily usage. In retrospect, audio engineer David Thiel commented that such testing minimized time available for creative designing.


title: Q*bert

text: Thiel was tasked with using the synthesizer to produce English phrases for the game. However, he was unable to create coherent phrases and eventually chose to string together random phonemes instead. Thiel also believed the incoherent speech was a good fit for the "" in Q*bert's speech balloon. Following a suggestion from technician Rick Tighe, a pinball machine component known as a ‘knocker’ was included to make a loud sound when a character falls off the pyramid. This knocker consists of a solenoid with a plunger that strikes the mounting bracket (which in turn is firmly fastened to the cabinet). Foam padding was added to the area of contact on the bracket; the developers decided the softer sound better matched a fall rather than a loud knocking sound. The cost of installing foam, however, was too expensive and the padding was omitted.


title: Q*bert

text: The Gottlieb staff had difficulty naming the game. Aside from the project name ""Cubes"", it was untitled for most of the development process. The staff agreed the game should be named after the main character, but disagreed on the name. Lee's title for the initial concept—"Snots And Boogers"—was rejected, as was a list of suggestions compiled from company employees. According to Davis, vice president of marketing Howie Rubin championed ' as the title. Although staff members argued it was silly and would be impossible to pronounce, a few early test models were produced with ' as the title on the units' artwork. During a meeting, "Hubert" was suggested, and a staff member thought of combining "Cubes" and "Hubert" into "Cubert". Art director Richard Tracy changed the name to "Q-bert", and the hyphen was later changed to an asterisk. In retrospect, Davis expressed regret for the asterisk, because it prevented the name from becoming a common crossword term and it is a wildcard character for search engines.


title: Q*bert

text: As development neared the production stage, "Q*bert" underwent location tests in local arcades under its preliminary title ', before being widely distributed. According to Jeff Lee, his oldest written record attesting to the game being playable as ' in a public location, a Brunswick bowling alley, dates back to September 11, 1982. Gottlieb also conducted focus groups, in which the designers observed players through a one-way mirror. The control scheme received a mixed reaction during playtesting; some players adapted quickly while others found it frustrating. Initially, Davis was worried players would not adjust to the different controls; some players would unintentionally jump off the pyramid several times, reaching a game over in about ten seconds. Players, however, became accustomed to the controls after playing several rounds of the game. The different responses to the controls prompted Davis to reduce the game's level of difficulty, a decision that he would later regret.


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" is Gottlieb's fourth video game. A copyright claim registered with the United States Copyright Office by Gottlieb on February 10, 1983 cites the date of publication of "Q*bert" as October 18, 1982. "Video Games" reported that the game was sold directly to arcade operators at its public showing at the AMOA show held November 18–20, 1982. Gottlieb offered the machines for $2600 per unit.


title: Q*bert

text: "Cash Box" magazine listed the mass-market US release date as December 1982. The game was distributed in Japan by Konami and Sega in March 1983. It was also released in Europe in March 1983.


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" is Gottlieb's only video game that earned considerable critical and commercial success, selling around 25,000 arcade cabinets. In the United States, it was among the thirteen highest-grossing arcade games of 1983. Cabaret and cocktail versions of the game were later produced. The machines have since become collector's items; the rarest of them are the cocktail versions.


title: Q*bert

text: When the game was first introduced to a wider industry audience at the November 1982 AMOA show, it was immediately received favorably by the press. "Video Games" magazine placed "Q*bert" first in its list of Top Ten Hits, describing it as "the most unusual and exciting game of the show" and stating that "no operator dared to walk away without buying at least one". "The Coin Slot" reported "Gottlieb's game, Q*BERT, was one of the stars of the show", and predicted that "The game should do very well".


title: Q*bert

text: Contemporaneous reviews were equally enthusiastic, and focused on the uniqueness of the gameplay and audiovisual presentation. Roger C. Sharpe of "Electronic Games" considered it "a potential Arcade Award winner for coin-op game of the year", praising innovative gameplay and outstanding graphics. William Brohaugh of "Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games" described the game as an "all-round winner" that had many strong points. He praised the variety of sound effects and the graphics, calling the colors vibrant. Brohaugh lauded "Q*bert"s inventiveness and appeal, stating that the objective was interesting and unique. Michael Blanchet of "Electronic Fun" suggested the game might push "Pac-Man" out of the spotlight in 1983. Neil Tesser of "Video Games" also likened "Q*bert" to Japanese games like "Pac-Man" and "Donkey Kong", due to the focus on characters, animation and story lines, as well as the "absence of violence". "Computer and Video Games" magazine praised the game's graphics and colors.


title: Q*bert

text: "Electronic Games" awarded "Q*bert" "Most Innovative Coin-op Game" of the year. "Video Games Player" called it the "Funniest Game of the Year" among arcade games in 1983.


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" continues to be recognized as a significant part of video game history. Author Steven Kent and GameSpy's William Cassidy considered "Q*bert" one of the more memorable games of its time. Author David Ellis echoed similar statements, calling it a "classic favorite". 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish and Kim Wild of "Retro Gamer" magazine described the game as difficult yet addictive. Author John Sellers also called "Q*bert" addictive, and praised the sound effects and three-dimensional appearance of the graphics. Cassidy called the game unique and challenging; he attributed the challenge in part to the control scheme. IGN's Jeremy Dunham believed the controls were poorly designed, describing them as "unresponsive" and "a struggle". He nonetheless considered the game addictive.


title: Q*bert

text: "Edge" magazine attributed the success of the game to the title character. They stated that players could easily relate to Q*bert, particularly because he swore. "Computer and Video Games", however, considered the swearing a negative but the character appealing. Cassidy believed the game's appeal lay in the main character. He described Q*bert as cute and having a personality that made him stand out in comparison to other popular video game characters. The authors of "High Score!" referred to Q*bert as "ultra-endearing alien hopmeister", and the cutest game character of 1982.


title: Q*bert

text: At the 1982 AMOA Show, Parker Brothers secured the license to publish home conversions of the "Q*bert" arcade game. Parker Brothers first published a port to the Atari 2600, and by the end of 1983, the company also advertised versions for Atari 5200, Intellivision, ColecoVision, the Atari 8-bit computer family, VIC-20, TI-99/4A, and Commodore 64. The release of the Commodore 64 version was noted to lag behind the others but appeared in 1984. Parker Brothers also translated the game into a standalone tabletop electronic game. It uses a VFD screen, and has since become a rare collector's item. "Q*bert" was also published by Parker Brothers for the Philips Videopac in Europe, by Tsukuda Original for the Othello Multivision in Japan, and by Ultra Games for the NES in North America.


title: Q*bert

text: The initial home port for the Atari 2600, the most widespread system at the time, was met with mixed reactions. "Video Games" warned that buyers of the Atari 2600 version "may find themselves just a little disappointed." They criticized the lack of music, the removal of the characters Ugg and Wrongway, and the system's troubles handling the character sprites at a steady performance. Later, Mark Brownstein of the same magazine was more in favor of the game, but still cited the presence of fewer cubes in the game's pyramidal layout and "pretty poor control" as negatives. Will Richardson of "Electronic Games" noted a lack in audiovisual qualities and counter-intuitive controls, but commended the gameplay, stating that the game "comes much closer to its source of inspiration than a surface evaluation indicates." Randi Hacker of "Electronic Fun with Computers & Games" called it a "sterling adaption" "Computer and Video Games" scored the Atari VCS version 70% in 1989. In 2008, IGN's Levi Buchanan rated it the fourth-worst arcade port for the Atari 2600, mostly because of a lack of jumping animations for enemies, which instead appear instantly on the adjacent cube, making it impossible to know in which direction they are traveling before they land. "Entertainment Weekly" called "Q*Bert" one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 in 2013, saying the port "lost the cool isometric perspective but none of the addictive gameplay."


title: Q*bert

text: Other home versions were well-received, with some exceptions. Of the ColecoVision version, "Electronic Fun with Computers & Games" noted that ""Q*bert" aficionados will not be disappointed." Brownstein called it one of the best of the authorized versions. Warren Davis also considered the ColecoVision version the most accurate port of the arcade. "Computer and Video Games" gave the ColecoVision version a 72% score. Brownstein judged the Atari 5200 version inferior to that for the ColecoVision because of the imprecision of the Atari 5200 controller, but noted that "it does tend to grow on you." "Video Games" identified the Intellivision version as the worst of the available ports, criticizing the system's controller as inadequate for the game. "Antic" magazine's David Duberman called the Atari 8-bit version "one of the finest translations of an arcade game for the home computer format", and Arthur Leyenberger of "Creative Computing" listed it as a runner-up for Best Arcade Adaptation to the system, praising its faithful graphics, sound, movement and playability. "Softline" was more critical, criticizing the Atari version's controls and lack of swearing. The magazine concluded that "the home computer game doesn't have the sense of style of the one in the arcades ... the execution just isn't there." In 1984, the magazine's readers named the game the fifth-worst Atari program of 1983. "Computer Games" called the C64 version an "absolutely terrific translation" that "almost totally duplicates the arcade game," aside from its lack of synthesized speech. The standalone tabletop was awarded Stand-Alone Game of the Year in "Electronic Games". "Electronic Gaming Monthly" reviewed the NES version in 1989, with four critics scoring it 7, 3, 4 and 4 out of 10.


title: Q*bert

text: In 2003, a version for Java-based mobile phones was announced by Sony Pictures Mobile. Reviewers generally acknowledged it as a faithful port of the arcade original, but criticized the controls. "Modojo"'s Robert Falcon stated that the diagonal controls take time to adapt to on a cell phone with traditional directions. Michael French of "Pocket Gamer" concluded: "You can't escape the fact it doesn't exactly fit on mobile. The graphics certainly do, and the spruced-up sound effects are timeless ... but really, it's a little too perfect a conversion." "Airgamer" criticized the gameplay as monotonous and the difficulty as frustrating. By contrast, "Wireless Gaming Review" called it "one of the best of mobile's retro roundup."


title: Q*bert

text: On February 22, 2007, "Q*bert" was released on the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network. It features upscaled and filtered graphics, an online leaderboard for players to post high scores, and Sixaxis motion controls. The game received a mixed reception. "IGN"'s Jeremy Dunham and "GameSpot"'s Jeff Gerstmann did not enjoy the motion controls and said that the game was a title only for nostalgic players. Eurogamer.net's Richard Leadbetter judged the game's elements "too simplistic and repetitive to make them worthwhile in 2007." In contrast, 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish considered the title worth purchasing, citing its addictive gameplay.


title: Q*bert

text: According to Jeremy Parish, "Q*bert" is "one of the higher-profile titles of the classic era". In describing "Q*bert"s legacy, Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot referred to the game as a "rare arcade success". In 2008, "Guinness World Records" ranked it behind 16 other arcade games in terms of their technical, creative and cultural impact. Though successful, the creators of the game did not receive royalties, as Gottlieb had no such program in place at the time. Davis and Lee nonetheless expressed pride about the game continuing to be remembered fondly.


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert" became one of the most merchandised arcade games behind "Pac-Man", although according to John Sellers it was not nearly as successful as that franchise or "Donkey Kong". The character's likeness appears on various items including coloring books, sleeping bags, frisbees, board games, wind-up toys, and stuffed animals. In a flyer distributed in 1983, Gottlieb claimed over 125 licensed products. However, the video game crash of 1983 depressed the market, and the game's popularity began to decline by 1984.


title: Q*bert

text: In the years following its release, "Q*bert" inspired many other games with similar concepts. The magazines "Video Games" and "Computer Games" both commented on the trend with features about "Q*bert"-like games in 1984. They listed "Mr. Cool" by Sierra On-Line, "Frostbite" by Activision, "Q-Bopper" by Accelerated Software, "Juice" by Tronix, "Quick Step" by Imagic, "Flip & Flop" and "Boing" by First Star Software, "Pharaoh's Pyramid" by Master Control Software, "Pogo Joe" by Screenplay, "Rabbit Transit" by Starpath, as games which had been inspired by "Q*bert". Further titles that have been identified as "Q*bert"-like games include "Cubit" by Micromax, "J-bird" by Orion Software, and in the UK "Bouncer" by Acornsoft, "Hubert" by Blaby Computer Games, "Pogo" by Ocean, "Spellbound" by Beyond and "Vector Hopper" by Kristof Tuts.


title: Q*bert

text: In 1983, "Q*bert" was adapted into an animated cartoon as part of "Saturday Supercade" on CBS, which features segments based on video game characters from the golden age of video arcade games. "Saturday Supercade" was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, the "Q*bert" segments between 1983 and 1984. The show is set in a United States, 1950s era town called "Q-Burg", and stars Q*bert as a high school student, altered to include arms, hands, jacket, and sneakers. He shoots black projectiles from his nose, what he calls "Slippy Dew", to make his enemies slip. Characters frequently say puns that add the letter "Q" to words.


title: Q*bert

text: The 1993 IBM PC role-playing game "" has a segment where the player has to solve a pyramid puzzle as a homage to "Q*bert". In the 2009 action-adventure game "", a "Q*bert" arcade cabinet can be seen in the Ghostbusters headquarters.


title: Q*bert

text: In 2014, Q*bert makes a cameo appearance in the RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "The '80s Called".


title: Q*bert

text: The game has been referenced in several animated television series: "Family Guy", "Futurama", "The Simpsons", "Robot Chicken", "Mad", and "South Park".


title: Q*bert

text: On November 28, 1983, Rob Gerhardt reached a record score of 33,273,520 points in a "Q*bert" marathon. He held it for almost 30 years, until George Leutz from Brooklyn, New York played one game of "Q*bert" for eighty-four hours and forty-eight minutes on February 14–18, 2013 at Richie Knucklez' Arcade in Flemington, New Jersey. He scored 37,163,080 points.


title: Q*bert

text: Doris Self, credited by "Guinness World Records" as the "oldest competitive female gamer", set the tournament record score of 1,112,300 for "Q*bert" in 1984 at the age of 58. Her record was surpassed by Drew Goins on June 27, 1987 with a score of 2,222,220. Self continually attempted to regain the record until her death in 2006.


title: Q*bert

text: On November 18, 2012, George Leutz broke the "Q*Bert" tournament world record live at the Kong Off 2 event at The 1up Arcade and Bar in Denver, Colorado. Leutz scored 3,930,990 points in just under eight hours, earning 1.5 million points on his first life, beating Self's score using a single life. Leutz's score was verified by Twin Galaxies. The video ends at a score of 3.7 Million points, 1,500,000 points over the previous record.


title: Q*bert

text: Believing that the original game was too easy, Davis initiated development of "Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert" in 1983, which increases the difficulty, introduces Q*bertha, and adds a bonus round. The project was canceled. Davis released the ROM image onto the web in December 1996.


title: Q*bert

text: Gottlieb released the pinball game "Q*berts Quest" in 1983. It has two pairs of flippers in an "X" formation and uses audio from the arcade game. Gottlieb produced fewer than 900 units, but in Japan "Game Machine" listed "Q*bert's Quest" in their June 1, 1983 issue as being the second most-successful flipper unit of the year.


title: Q*bert

text: Several video game sequels were released over the years, but did not reach the same level of success as the original. The first, titled "Q*bert's Qubes", shows a copyright for 1983 on its title screen, whereas the instruction manual cites a 1984 copyright. It was manufactured by Mylstar Electronics and uses the same hardware as the original. The game features Q*bert, but introduces new enemies: Meltniks, Shoobops, and Rat-A-Tat-Tat. The player navigates the protagonist around a plane of cubes while avoiding enemies. Jumping on a cube causes it to rotate, changing the color of the visible sides of the cube. The goal is to match a line of cubes to a target sample; later levels require multiple rows to match. Though part of a popular franchise, the game's release was hardly noticed. Parker Brothers showcased home versions of "Q*bert's Qubes" at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1985. "Q*bert's Qubes" was ported to the ColecoVision and Atari 2600. Version for Atari 8-bit computers and the Commodore 64 were referred to in the instructions of the released conversions. The Atari 8-bit version has not yet been found, but Games That Weren't tracked down a preview of the C64 version in 2017.


title: Q*bert

text: Konami, who had distributed the original "Q*bert" to Japanese arcades in 1983, produced a different game, that kept the title "Q*bert", released in Japan and Europe for MSX computers in 1986. The main character is a little dragon, and the mechanics are based on "Q*bert's Qubes". Each of the 50 stages has a different pattern of cubes. The competitive 2-player mode assigns each side a different pattern, and the players score points either by completing their pattern first or by pushing the other off the board.


title: Q*bert

text: Developed by Realtime Associates and published by Jaleco in 1992, this version has 64 boards in different shapes.


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert 3" for the Super NES was developed by Realtime Associates and published by NTVIC in 1992. Jeff Lee worked on the graphics. It has gameplay similar to the original, but like the Game Boy game, has larger levels of varying shapes. In addition to enemies from the first game, it introduces Frogg, Top Hat, and Derby.


title: Q*bert

text: Q*bert is a remake of the 1982 arcade game of the same name with 3D graphics. It was developed by Artech Studios and released by Hasbro Interactive on the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999 and on the Dreamcast in 2000.


title: Q*bert

text: In 2004, Sony Pictures released a sequel for Adobe Flash titled "Q*bert 2004", containing a faithful rendition of the original arcade game, along with 50 levels that use new board layouts and six new visual themes. "Q*Bert Deluxe" for iOS devices was initially released as a rendition of the arcade game, but later received updates with the themes and stages from "Q*Bert 2004".


title: Q*bert

text: In 2005, Sony Pictures released "Q*bert 2005" as a download for Windows and as a Flash browser applet, featuring 50 different levels.


title: Q*bert

text: On July 2, 2014, Gonzo Games and Sideline amusement announced "Q*bert Rebooted" to be released on Steam, iOS and Android. Versions for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita were released on February 17, 2015 in North America and February 18, 2015 in Europe. It was released on February 12, 2016 for the Xbox One. According to Mark Caplan, Vice President, Consumer Products, Worldwide Marketing & Distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, the release was motivated by "renewed interest in "Q*bert", in part due to the cameo in the recent "Wreck-It Ralph" animated feature film".


title: Q*bert

text: "Q*bert Rebooted" contains a port of the classic arcade game alongside a new playing mode that uses hexagonal shapes, increasing the number of possible movement directions to six. Additionally, the 'Rebooted' mode features new enemy types, including a boxing glove that punches Q*bert off the levels and a treasure chest that tries to avoid him. The game has 5 different stage designs spread across 40 levels, which contain three rounds and a bonus round and have to be completed with 5 lives. Gems are collected to unlock different skins for the Q*bert character, and completing levels multiple times while reaching specific time and score goals is awarded with stars that enable access to more levels.


title: Q*bert

text: On October 11, 2019, an updated version of "Q*bert" developed by Lucky-Kat games in association with Sony Pictures was published via the iOS app store.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car (large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in saloon, hatchback and estate body styles, the Vectra was also sold by the Vauxhall marque in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Cavalier from 1988 to 1995 and then as the Vauxhall Vectra from 1995 to 2008, and it was also sold by Holden in Australia as the Holden Vectra, by Chevrolet in Latin America as the Chevrolet Vectra.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra was introduced in October 1988 as a replacement for the Opel Ascona, and was itself replaced in November 2008 by the new Opel Insignia, the nameplate spanning three generations and almost twenty one years.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The first generation Vectra, known as the Vectra A, was introduced in October 1988 for the 1989 model year, as a four door notchback saloon, replacing the Opel Ascona C. A five-door hatchback version arrived in March 1989, and a coupé based on the Vectra, called the Calibra, was introduced in the end of that year. Both cars were designed by the Opel design chief at the time, Wayne Cherry.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Vauxhall Motors, the British GM subsidiary that shared most of its models with Opel, did not use the "Vectra" model name until the introduction of the second generation into the United Kingdom in October 1995 to replace the Cavalier. However, left hand drive Opel Vectras were produced at Vauxhall's Luton plant for export to other European countries.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The 1989 Vectra came in Base, LS, GL, GLS, CD, and GT models, its sister model was the third-generation Cavalier. Engines ranged initially from a 75 PS (55 kW) 1.4 L to a 130 PS (96 kW) 2.0 L Family II. The top-of-the-line Vectra 2000 16V arrived in September 1989. Its sixteen valve version of the 2.0 L engine produces 150 PS (110 kW) and was only available with the sedan bodywork, with available four wheel drive.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The sixteen valve engine also appeared in GT (GSI in some markets) models after the facelift, now mainly as a hatchback. Two four-wheel drive versions were added to the lineup in January 1989, and in September 1992, the car received a limited edition turbocharged version, with 204 PS (150 kW). In , the European Turbo 4x4 version of the Vectra was used in Formula One as its Safety Car.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The 1.4 litre engine was not available in all markets, and even then, it was generally only available in basic trims (Base/L in United Kingdom, LS/GL in Europe). In markets as Italy, where smaller engines were favored by the taxation system, a 1.4 GLS was also offered. With the introduction of Euro I emissions regulations, the 1.4 was replaced by a 1.6 L with the same output for most markets.


title: Opel Vectra

text: A 2.5 L V6 engine appeared towards the later stages of the Vectra's life, developing 170 PS (125 kW), turning the car into a relaxed motorway cruiser rather than giving it sporty pretensions. There were a choice of two diesel engines; one was an Isuzu 1.7 L 4EE1 inline-four unit, in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged form (1686 cc), this one capable of achieving 82 PS (60 kW), and an Opel designed 1.7 "low blow" turbodiesel (1699 cc), and naturally aspirated diesel unit, delivering up to .


title: Opel Vectra

text: The front suspension was fully independent, with MacPherson struts, pressed steel lower control arms, and an anti-roll bar. The front suspension, together with the major mechanicals (engine and transmission) is remotely mounted on a front subframe. On front wheel drive models, the rear suspension is semi independent, consisting of a torsion beam linked to trailing arms, with double conical coil springs and direct acting telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers, with certain models also having an anti roll bar.


title: Opel Vectra

text: On the four wheel drive GSi, 4x4 and Turbo models, the rear suspension is a subframe mounted fully independent design, with semi trailing arms, double conical coil springs, direct acting gas assisted telescopic shock absorbers, and an anti roll bar. Steering gear is a rack and pinion-type (manual or power assisted, depending on model), mounted on the bulkhead (firewall), with a telescopically deformable steering column.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra also received a refresh in September 1992. The range received new front grilles and a black plastic strip above the rear taillamps, along with an upgrade to the structure for improved crashworthiness. Airbags became available onwards from 1993.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In New Zealand, the Vectra A was offered initially as an Opel between 1989 and 1994, but it wore Holden badges between 1994 and 1996 until the introduction of the Vectra B. It was not sold in Australia, where Holden instead offered a rebadged Toyota Camry called Apollo until 1997. In Japan, the Vectra (and Omega) were the first Opels to be distributed by Isuzu Motors Ltd. rather than long standing importer Toho Motors (東邦モーターズ), beginning in July 1989.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In Egypt, the Opel Vectra A was not introduced until 1994 through GM Egypt dealerships, and started production in the end of 1994 by GM Egypt through the beginning of 1996, with a range of 1.6 GL, 2.0 GL trim and 2.0 GLS trim and only Saloon body style boosting strong sales during this short run. This was similar to the Opel Kadett.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In Brazil, the Chevrolet badged Vectra A was not introduced until 1993, when it replaced the Chevrolet Monza, a restyled version of the Ascona C. The first Brazilian model had two engine options: 2.0 8 valve, for the GLS and CD versions and the 2.0 16 valve with 150 hp imported from Germany, the later only available for the GSI version.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The release of the second generation of the Chevrolet Vectra in Brazil happened at the same time that the IndyCar series in Brazil, GM made a deal to use the Vectra as a Medical and Safety car for the race. The second generation (or Vectra B), came with the already available 2.0 8-valve engine on the GL and GLS versions and a national version of the previously 2.0 16 valve for the CD version.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In 1998, GM introduced the new 2.2 8 valve engine for the GL and GLS, and the 2.2 16 valve with 138 hp and 207Nm for the CD version.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The second model, the Vectra B, was introduced in October 1995 for the 1996 model year, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and the model range came to include an estate version for the first time. This model replaced the Vauxhall Cavalier in the United Kingdom. The five-door estate version premiered in September 1996, with the tagline ‘One step ahead of the Mob’.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vauxhall badged Vectra B was the last Vauxhall to be produced at the company's Luton plant, where the end of automobile production was announced in December 2000, taking effect just over a year later. Car production at the site finished in March 2002, although production of commercial vehicles continued.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra B was replaced by the Vectra C in September 2002, which was branded as the Holden Vectra in Australia and New Zealand. Between 1998 and 2001, Holden assembled the Vectra for export to other RHD markets in the region, with a view to exporting 60 per cent of output, although this was adversely affected by the Asian economic crisis.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Engines started from the 75 PS (55 kW) 1.6 L, Family 1 but eventually the 8-valve engines were all replaced by 16-valve powerplants. The 2.0 L Family II engine, with 136 PS (100 kW) was developed as a basis for touring car racing (later in Australia, 2.2 L 108 kW), but the top of the line was a 2.5 L V6 with 170 PS (125 kW).


title: Opel Vectra

text: Diesel power came once again from Isuzu, with 1.7 L 82 PS, also 2.0 L Ecotec with 82 PS or 101 PS and 2.2 L Ecotec with 125 PS. In 2001, the all new 2.2 L petrol engine, as carried over to the Vectra C, was introduced with the 2.5 L petrol in its last incarnation being upgraded to a 2.6 L to accommodate emissions improvements. In April 1999, the Vectra was updated, receiving a mildly modified body (that can be identified by the single piece headlight units and body coloured bumpers) together with somewhat improved handling and better equipment.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Sporting limited edition models included the touring car championship inspired i500, Super Touring and GSi. The first model was developed in Germany by Opel Motorsport, with the V6 engine's power increased to 195 PS (143 kW), and the other two were created in Milton Keynes by Motor Sport Developments.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Only 3,900 2.5 GSi models were ever produced, mostly in saloon and hatchback guise. With only 317 estate versions produced during this time, they became one of the rarest production Vauxhalls ever.


title: Opel Vectra

text: On model years 2001 and 2002, a last of the line 2.6 GSi was made also but these were limited to five hundred cars. These were again mostly saloons and hatchbacks, however 37 estates were made. These models received a host of extra upgrades, including to Xenon headlamps, and larger front brakes.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In October 2013, "Top Gear" magazine placed the 1995 Vectra on its list of "The 13 Worst Cars Of The Last 20 Years", describing the car as "so mediocre that Jeremy Clarkson refused to drive it."


title: Opel Vectra

text: In Egypt, the production of the Opel Vectra B continued during 1996 with two models, initially a 1.6l 8v GLS trim with manual transmission, and a 2.0l 8v CD trim with automatic transmission.


title: Opel Vectra

text: A related model sold in North America was the Saturn L-Series, introduced in 2000, but dropped from the line up in 2005. It was replaced by the 2007 Saturn Aura, which was built around GM's Epsilon architecture, shared with the Vectra C.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Built on the new GM Epsilon platform, the Opel Vectra C, released in March 2002 for the 2003 model year was initially available as a four door notchback saloon and a five door hatchback, known as the GTS. A five door estate was added in October 2003. The Vectra C's official debut was at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Originally, the Vectra C was due to début with the Saab 9-3 in October 2001, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but in July 2001, it was announced that delays had forced General Motors to postpone the introduction. The hatchback version premiered in September 2002. The four door notchback saloon version of the Vectra C almost resembled a two-box four door fastback saloon.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra C was first seen in November 1999, in a copy of "Auto Express". At the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003, the estate version premièred, which had a slightly longer wheelbase than the hatchback and saloon versions. Sharing the wheelbase of the estate, an "executive hatchback" sold under the Opel/Vauxhall Signum nameplate. The Signum, which was based partly on the Vectra C, featured a completely different layout in the rear.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The engine range was substantially modified to account for the increased curb weight of the Vectra C. The 1.8 litre "Family 1 Ecotec" engine was reserved for the base model, with the main petrol engine for the Vectra C, making up the vast bulk of production, being the Ecotec 2.2 litre chain driven unit producing ; along with a new range topping 3.2 litre "54-Degree" V6, with . From June to July 2002, Ed Harris starred in adverts for the Vauxhall Vectra in the United Kingdom. Pierluigi Collina also starred in adverts across Europe for the Vectra, as well as the Signum, in the end of 2005.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In 2003, a 2.0 litre turbocharged "Ecotec" engine with was also notionally offered. Being a main engine for another GM brand, Saab, it was only ever sold in small numbers in the Vectra. The 2.2 litre was upgraded in 2004, with the 'Direct' name added to the model line, indicating the new high pressure direct injection update that increased power output to with improved emissions.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Diesel power, which had become important for commercial success in Europe, was provided by CDTI 1.9, 2.0 and 2.2 engines, with a top of the range Isuzu sourced 3.0 litre "DMAX" V6 outputting .


title: Opel Vectra

text: In October 2004, the four cylinder diesel engine was replaced with a Fiat designed 1.9 litre Ecotec CDTI engine capable of producing in 8v form and in 16v form. Handling was reported to be much better than the previous Vectra.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra C received a facelift in September 2005, with the début at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and it retained a similar line of engines. However, the power of the 3.0 diesel was increased to , and the petrol 3.2 litre V6 engine was replaced by an Australian built turbocharged 2.8 litre "High Feature" V6 unit. This Saab co-developed motor could produce . Opel installed the twin scroll turbo engine in its Signum productline with output.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The version was available for the Vectra later in 2006. Opel also introduced – for the first time – an OPC version of the Vectra, using the VXR name in the United Kingdom. These high performance variants were only available as hatchbacks and estates. In the United Kingdom the power of the "High Feature" V6 engine was increased to , giving a maximum speed approaching 250 km/h (155 mph).


title: Opel Vectra

text: In Australia and New Zealand, the Holden Vectra "ZC" series was only available as a saloon and hatchback, Holden did not offer the Vectra C estate due to the presence of the Astra and later Holden Viva (Daewoo Lacetti) estates. The Vectra was dropped and replaced by the Holden Epica, a badge engineered Daewoo Tosca early in 2007.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Due to stockpiling of Vectras from 2005 for the market in Australasia, there was enough supply of the car for deliveries to last through to 2007. As a result, facelifted Vectra Cs were not sold in those markets. In 2008, the Vectra OPC was available with either six speed manual or six speed automatic transmission (Previous Vectra OPC had manual gearbox only). The 2.8L DOHC V6 turbo engine could generate .


title: Opel Vectra

text: Sales of the Vectra C in the United Kingdom were not as strong as those of its predecessors. For much of its production life, the original Vectra was the fourth best selling car in the country, but the Vectra C never came higher than tenth in the country's car sales charts, though within its own market sector it held on to second place, behind the Ford Mondeo.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In 2007, it finally made the Top 10 of Britain's car sales charts, being the nation's tenth most popular new car with over 50,000 sales, outselling the Ford Mondeo for the first time since 1999. Also, in January 2007, the estate variant was awarded "Estate Car of the Year 2007", by "What Car?" magazine.


title: Opel Vectra

text: While the Vectra C was sold in Mexico and Chile as the Chevrolet Vectra, it was not marketed in Brazil, where Chevrolet opted to sell the Astra H under the Vectra brand from 2006 to 2011. Both local spec cars were powered by the FlexPower SOHC engine originally introduced in 1982 in the Chevrolet Monza.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Production of the Vectra C and Signum ended in July 2008. In Ireland, it was produced until February 2010.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Chevrolet Vectra D is the rebadged Version Opel Insignia in the market of Chile. It is a very rare model of Chevrolet in Chile, with not many found.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In June 2013, the Vectra was renamed the Opel Insignia with a facelift since, it was the last rebadged Opel model from Chevrolet. It was available with the same name in Argentina, which was discontinued at the same time because, in February 2017, Opel was sold to the PSA Group.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In the 1990s, and the beginning of the 2000s, the Vectra B Super Touring took part in the British Touring Car Championship, the Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship, the German Super Tourenwagen Cup, the Australian Super Touring Championship, the Japanese Touring Car Championship, the Italian Superturismo Championship, the French Supertouring Championship and the Swedish Touring Car Championship.


title: Opel Vectra

text: Uwe Alzen was third in Super Tourenwagen Cup in 1997 and 1998, and second in 1999; John Henderson was runner up in the 2000 Australian Super Touring Championship; John Cleland was British Touring Car Champion in 1995 and finished third in 1992 and fourth in 1993 and 1994; Yvan Muller was sixth in the 1999 British Touring Car Championship and fourth in 2000; and Nicklas Karlsson was third in the 2002 Swedish Touring Car Championship.


title: Opel Vectra

text: A prototype Vectra C was built to the BTC Touring specifications in 2003 by Triple Eight Race Engineering, with the view to using it in the 2004 BTCC, but it was never raced, despite being shown publicly at the 2004 Birmingham Motor Show as the 'Vectra Diesel Concept'.


title: Opel Vectra

text: After being replaced by the Astra H in the British Touring Car Championship, the Vauxhall Vectra was introduced in 2007. Fabrizio Giovanardi was champion in 2007 and 2008. VX Racing competed in the season of 2009, with three Vectras, driven by Giovanardi, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan.


title: Opel Vectra

text: The Vectra has been used as a silhouette racing car: in the Stock Car Brasil in 2000 to 2003 (it was the champion for four seasons) and 2009, in the Argentine Top Race V6 since 2005 (Guillermo Ortelli was 2005 champion), and in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2004 and 2005, with little success.


title: Opel Vectra

text: In 1994, a Vectra B was the official Formula 1 safety car during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix driven by Max Angelelli at the time and was in front of Ayrton Senna for 5 laps before he crashed into Tamburello on lap 7.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Absurdist fiction is a genre of novels, plays, poems, films, or other media that focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events that call into question the certainty of existential concepts such as truth or value.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The absurdist genre of literature arose in the 1950s and 1960s, first predominantly in France and Germany, prompted by post-war disillusionment. Absurdist fiction is a reaction against the surge in Romanticism in Paris in the 1830s, the collapse of religious tradition in Germany, and the societal and philosophical revolution led by the expressions of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Common elements in absurdist fiction include satire, dark humor, incongruity, the abasement of reason, and controversy regarding the philosophical condition of being "nothing". Absurdist fiction in play form is known as Absurdist Theatre. Both genres are characterised by a focus on the experience of the characters, centred on the idea that life is incongruous, irreconcilable and meaningless. The integral characteristic of absurdist fiction involves the experience of the struggle to find an intrinsic purpose in life, depicted by characters in their display of meaningless actions in the futile events they take part in.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Absurdism as a philosophical movement is an extension of, or divergence from, Existentialism, which focuses on the pointlessness of mankind and specifically the emotional angst and anxiety present when the existence of purpose is challenged. Existentialist and agnostic perspectives are explored in absurdist novels and theatre in their expression of plot and characters. Major absurdist authors include Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Eugène Ionesco.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: A great deal of absurdist fiction may be humorous or irrational in nature. The absurdist humor is described as a manner of comedy that relies on non-sequiturs, violation of causality, and unpredictable juxtapositions. However, the hallmark of the genre is neither comedy nor nonsense, but rather, the study of human behavior under circumstances (whether realistic or fantastical) that appear to be purposeless and philosophically absurd. Absurdist fiction posits little judgment about characters or their actions; that task is left to the reader. Also, the "moral" of the story is generally not explicit, and the themes or characters' realizations — if any — are often ambiguous in nature.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Additionally, unlike many other forms of fiction, absurdist works will not necessarily have a traditional plot structure (i.e., rising action, climax, falling action, etc.). The conventional elements of fiction such as plot, characterization, and development tend to be absent. Some scholars explain that this fiction entails a "going away from" a norm. There is also the case of the questioning of the validity of human reason, from which perceptions of the natural laws arise.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The absurdist fiction also does not seek to appeal to the so-called collective unconscious as it is fiercely individualistic and almost exclusively focuses on exploring an individual's or a being's subjective feelings of its existence.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The absurdist genre grew out of the modernist literature of the late 19th and early 20th century in direct opposition to the Victorian literature which was prominent just prior to this period. It was largely influenced by the existentialist and nihilist movements in philosophy, and the Dada and surrealist movements in art. Existential and Nihilistic philosophical influences on Absurdist Fiction were resultant of the post-war disillusionment. Absurdist Fiction novelists and composers demanded freedom from the conventions prevalent in the 1940 philosophical movement in France. Other historical events that impacted the literary movement's style and philosophy include the atomic bomb and the Cold War.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Psychologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of British Columbia published a report in 2009 showing that reading absurdist tales improved test subjects' ability to find patterns. Their findings summarized that when people have to work to find consistency and meaning in a fragmented story, it increases “the cognitive mechanisms responsible for implicitly learning statistical regularities.”


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Albert Camus, Saul Bellow, Donald Barthelme and Cormac McCarthy are considered to be the most well-known composers of absurdist fiction. Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist, and a notorious absurdist. Writers that influenced Kafka include Friedrich Nietzsche, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens and more. Kafka’s most popular fictional stories include "The Judgment" published in 1912, "The Metamorphosis," published 1915, "In the Penal Colony", published 1919 and "A Hunger Artist," published 1922. “The Trial”, written between 1914 and 1915, is recognised as Kafka’s most well-known fiction, in its “mythic symbolism of a world gone berserk” Kafka’s use of mythology, comedy, aphorism and surrealism epitomise the distinctive features of absurdist fiction. Franz Kafka’s influence on Absurdism was so great that he is referred to by some as the “King of the Absurd” and a leader of the absurd movement. Others argue that Kafka was predominantly a Surrealist, however Kafka clarifies his unique style as “the blend of absurd, surreal and mundane which gave rise to the adjective ‘Kafkaesque’” Samuel Beckett was also an early absurdist, an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. Beckett’s well-known "Waiting for Godot", premiered in 1953, is classified within absurdist theatre using techniques of tragicomedy. The characteristics introduced by Beckett included bitter humour and despair and a vivid and spontaneous improvisation on the absurdity of theatre (Dickson, Andrew, 2017). Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian French playwright, one of the foremost composers of French avant-garde theatre and a leader of Absurdism. Ionesco’s "The Chairs" (1952), was branded as a ‘tragic farce’ by Ionesco himself in its experimentation of absurdist motifs, existentialism and nonsensical verse, of which elaborates on incommunicability in our human lives.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The term ‘absurd’ has roots in the Latin ‘absurdus’ meaning ‘contrary to reason’ or ‘inharmonious’ The term elaborates on the concept of the modern word corresponding to the identification of the irrational and incongruous nature of everyday life. The ideology and philosophy behind the Absurdist Fiction genre stems from Nihilism and Existentialism extracted from the 20th century world. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), known as the ‘father of existentialism’, was a prolific Danish writer who opposed conventional boundaries of philosophy, psychology, theology, fiction and literary criticism Kierkegaard’s philosophy contends with the plausibility of Christendom, and inherently disputes the sense of purpose it prompts in personal life. The concept of the Absurd was used by Kierkegaard to term the point in which faith becomes indefensible, yet valid for those who employ it, and it alone. Kierkegaard heavily influenced the work of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Existentialism as a philosophical approach or theory emphasises the single individual’s existence and the concept of an individual as a free agent in determining their own meaning or purpose in life. On the other hand, Nihilism is the recognition that life has no intrinsic meaning. Absurdist Fiction in relation to Existentialism expresses what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose, therefore all communication breaks down. Eugène Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” (1950) is an Absurdist Fiction text which emphasises in depth the notion of mankind’s inability to communicate with each other. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a cultural critic, composer, poet, philologist, and a Latin and Greek egg scholar who also yielded profound inspiration in Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. Nietzsche is another primary influencer on the philosophy and ideology behind the absurd. His interest in Nihilism, in particular his views on Christianity and God, alludes to the traditions of the Western world in their reliance on religion as a ‘moral compass’ and source of meaning. Nietzsche claimed that this dependence is now unviable, appearing in his novel "The Gay Science", published 1882, translated in 1974. The writings of Nietzsche influenced Absurdist Fiction in the influence on Sartre, and Albert Camus. Particularly, Camus’ understanding of Nihilism was heavily motivated by the conception that Nietzsche put forth of life and death and the nihilistic perspectives of such.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: French writer Albert Camus is the novelist that most literary critics date the concept of Absurdist fiction to. Camus’ most famous novel "L’Etranger" (The Stranger) (1942), and his philosophical essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1942). The Bohemian, German-speaking, Franz Kafka is another absurdist fiction novelist. Kafka’s novel "The Trial", was published in 1925 after Kafka’s death in 1924. Kafka’s novel encompasses mankind’s inability to engage in communication in a purposeless world.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Albert Camus’ ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ (1942), extracts from the Greek fable of a man forced to continuously roll a rock up a mountain only for it to roll back down the mountain due to its own weight, a dilemma that lasts for eternity. Camus elucidates his own symbolism as a representation of the human condition in a world where we face the universal difficulty of making sense of events; however instead of turning to suicide that we must reconcile with the ‘elusive feeling of absurdity’ and endure it to the best of our abilities. Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ (1925) follows the tale of Josef K., a man who is arrested and prosecuted by an authority that is remote and inaccessible, both him and the reader are not told the nature of his crime or why he was prosecuted. Kafka uses restrained prose throughout the novel to add dramatic irony as well as the illogical and inconsistent line of events of the arrest and court case of Joseph K. Kafka’s novel can be perceived to imply a gap in the rational world as a result of hyper-rationalization consuming society, an example highlighted by Kafka being the judiciary. Kafka employs erroneous alliteration and literary manipulation to compose a nonsensical, existentialist novel that exemplifies the inhumanity, alienation and absurdity persisting in the modern world alongside the impacts of totalitarianism, injustice and bureaucracy as a whole.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The Theatre of the Absurd is termed as a post-World War One designation for Absurdist Fiction plays, specifically those written by primarily European playwrights in the late twentieth century, also as one for the style of theatre which has evolved from their work . Martin Esslin, a literary critic, coined the term ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ in his 1960 essay ‘Theatre of the absurd’. Esslin related these selected plays based on the broad theme of the Absurd, similar to the way Camus used the term in his 1942 essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus.’ The ideology of the Theatre of the Absurd is drawn from Existentialism and expresses the result of human existence becoming deprived of meaning or purpose and the result of all communication thus breaking down. Logical construction and argument within absurdist theatre gave way to characteristics of irrational and illogical speech and the ultimate conclusion of silence. The Theatre of the Absurd involves a fascination with absurdity in a range of forms; the existential, philosophical, emotional and dramaturgical. The Theatre of the Absurd as a dramatic form inherently pushes theatre to the extreme, while posing questions about what both reality and unreality truly look like Martin Esslin named the four defining playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd movement as Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet. In later editions of his essay he included a fifth playwright, Harold Pinter. Other writers that are also associated with this movement by Esslin and other critics are; Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Fernando Arrabal, Edward Albee, Boris Vian, and Jean Tardieu.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: The Theatre of the Absurd subverts conventional theatrical form audiences have come to expect when viewing a play. Movement of the plot is arbitrary; characters of Absurdist Theatre are mostly unfamiliar and strangely motivated, scenery is often unrecognizable and sometimes unchanging or desolate, and dialogue appears to be nonsense. To Absurdist playwrights, chaos and irrationality represent reality better than rationality and order. Plays can be both tragic and comic in nature, characteristic of the tragicomedy genre in theatre.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Eugène Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” (1950) is a memorable Absurdist Theatre play. Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” (1953) is an Absurdist Theatre play with two acts using dramatic techniques. Other examples include Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, “No Exit” (1944), Max Frisch’s play, “The Firebugs” (1953) and Ezio D'Errico’s play “The Anthill and Time of the Locusts” (1954). Thornton Wilder’s “The Long Christmas Dinner” (1931) and Jean Tardieu’s “Underground Lovers” (1934) are earlier examples.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” (1950) is a dominating play central to the Theatre of the Absurd, its “dreamlike symphony of nonsensical speech and disjointed associations expose how hopeless human communication is”. The ‘nonsensical speech’ and ‘disjointed associations’ are key elements of the Theatre of the absurd. Most of the dialogue in Ionesco’s play has little meaning and frequently there is outright gibberish in the actors’ speeches. The satire and nonsensical discourse present throughout Ionesco’s text serves his purpose in presenting how nonsensical mundane life can be. Ionesco’s engagement with Existentialism is also characteristic of Absurdist Theatre is also distinct in the utilisation of the seemingly ridiculous English language and society’s unwillingness to communicate with each other . Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” encompasses mankind’s inability to engage in communication in a purposeless world, reiterating the influence of Existentialism on Absurdist Fiction and how this presents in texts within the Theatre of the Absurd literary genre.


title: Absurdist fiction

text: Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting For Godot’ (1953), an originally French text, is an Absurdist Theatre drama that is described as one of the most important plays of the 20th Century despite its early reception. The play was first performed on January 5th, 1953 at Theatre de babylone in Paris. The reception of the play in the 1950s can be interpreted by critics reviews. Literary critic Vivian Mercer claimed that the play was “a play in which nothing happens, twice.”, alluding to the two acts that take a cyclical form. Alfonso Sastre, another literary critic reviewing Beckett's text, described the play as "a death certificate for hope" he continues, “what is so fascinating about waiting for godot;(is) that nothing happens. it is a lucid testimony of nothingness”. Beckett’s desolate universe in his play is rendered by Absurdist techniques; an unchanging landscape, characters subjected to random and whimsical acts of violence with cyclical discourse. Beckett captures the sense of perpetual anticipation for meaning in humanity in the portrayal of the relationship between ‘Gogo’ and ‘Didi’, a strong interdependence mixed with irritability. The tragicomedy element to Beckett’s Absurdist fiction play adds a comic futility that can be compared to slapstick comedy and cartoon characters such as the characters Tom and Jerry. The relationship between the two characters in 'Waiting For Godot' (Vladimir and Estragon) are interdependent yet irritable. The relationship between the two characters in 'Waiting For Godot' (Vladimir and Estragon) are co-dependent and whimsical. Their nature, dialogue and interactions are reminiscent of familiar comical duos such as Laurel and Hardy and Tom and Jerry.


title: Choi Won-young

text: Choi Won-young made his acting debut in 2002's "Sex Is Zero", and has since appeared in both film and television. But his most notable roles have been in the TV dramas "While You Were Sleeping", "A Hundred Year Legacy", Sky Castle, Doctor Prisoner, , Mad Dog as well as the low-budget crime thriller "Your Time Is Up", which premiered at the 2012 Busan International Film Festival.


title: Choi Won-young

text: Choi married actress Shim Yi-young on February 28, 2014, at the Grand Ballroom of the COEX Walkerhill Hotel in Samseong-dong. Choi and Shim met while filming the 2013 TV series "A Hundred Year Legacy", where they played a married couple. On June 23, 2014, Choi's wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter. The couple's second daughter was born on June 14, 2017.


title: Stalemate

text: Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position to draw the game rather than lose. In more complex positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually taking the form of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems.


title: Stalemate

text: The outcome of a stalemate was standardized as a draw in the 19th century. Before this standardization, its treatment varied widely, including being deemed a win for the stalemating player, a half-win for that player, or a loss for that player; not being permitted; and resulting in the stalemated player missing a turn. Stalemate rules vary in other games of the chess family.


title: Stalemate

text: The first recorded use of stalemate is from 1765. It is a compounding of Middle English stale and mate (meaning checkmate). Stale is probably derived from Anglo-French "estale" meaning "standstill", a cognate of "stand" and "stall", both ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*sta-". The first recorded use in a figurative sense is in 1885.


title: Stalemate

text: Stalemate has become a widely used metaphor for other situations where there is a conflict or contest between two parties, such as war or political negotiations, and neither side is able to achieve victory, resulting in what is also called an impasse, a deadlock, or a Mexican standoff. Chess writers note that this usage is a misnomer because, unlike in chess, the situation is often a temporary one that is ultimately resolved, even if it seems currently intractable.


title: Stalemate

text: The term "stalemate" is sometimes used incorrectly as a generic term for a draw in chess. While draws are common, they are rarely the direct result of stalemate.


title: Stalemate

text: With Black to move, Black is stalemated in diagrams 1 to 4. Stalemate is an important factor in the endgame – the endgame setup in diagram 1, for example, quite frequently is relevant in play (see King and pawn versus king endgame). The position in diagram 1 occurred in an 1898 game between Amos Burn and Harry Pillsbury and also in a 1925 game between Savielly Tartakower and Richard Réti. The same position, except shifted to the e-, occurred in a 2009 game between Gata Kamsky and Vladimir Kramnik.


title: Stalemate

text: The position in diagram 3 is an example of a pawn drawing against a queen. Stalemates of this sort can often save a player from losing an apparently hopeless position (see Queen versus pawn endgame).


title: Stalemate

text: In this position from the game Viswanathan Anand–Vladimir Kramnik from the 2007 World Chess Championship, Black played 65...Kxf5, stalemating White. (Any other move by Black loses.)


title: Stalemate

text: An intentional stalemate occurred on the 124th move of the fifth game of the 1978 World Championship match between Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. The game had been a theoretical draw for many moves. White's bishop is useless; it cannot defend the queening square at a8 nor attack the black pawn on the light a4-square. If the white king heads towards the black pawn, the black king can move towards a8 and set up a fortress.


title: Stalemate

text: The players were not on speaking terms, however, so neither would offer a draw by agreement. On his 124th move, White played 124.Bg7, delivering stalemate. Korchnoi said that it gave him pleasure to stalemate Karpov and that it was slightly humiliating. Until 2021, this was the longest game played in a World Chess Championship final match, as well as the only World Championship game to end in stalemate before 2007.


title: Stalemate

text: Sometimes, a surprise stalemate saves a game. In the game between Ossip Bernstein–Vasily Smyslov (see first diagram), Black can win by sacrificing the f-pawn and using the king to support the b-pawn. However, Smyslov thought it was good to advance the b-pawn because he could win the white rook with a skewer if it captured the pawn. Play went:


title: Stalemate

text: Now 2...Rh2+ 3.Kf3! Rxb2 is stalemate (see analysis diagram). Smyslov played 2...Kg4, and the game was drawn after 3.Kf1 (see Rook and pawn versus rook endgame).


title: Stalemate

text: Whereas the possibility of stalemate arose in the Bernstein–Smyslov game because of a blunder, it can also arise without one, as in the game Milan Matulović–Nikolay Minev (see first diagram). Play continued:


title: Stalemate

text: The only meaningful attempt to make progress. Now all moves by Black (like 3...Ra3+) lose, with one exception.


title: Stalemate

text: Now 4.Rxa6 would be stalemate. White played 4.Rc5+ instead, and the game was drawn several moves later.


title: Stalemate

text: In the game Elijah Williams–Daniel Harrwitz (see first diagram), Black was up a knight and a pawn in an endgame. This would normally be a decisive advantage, but Black could find no way to make progress because of various stalemate resources available to White. The game continued:


title: Stalemate

text: 79...Rd3 80.Rxd3+! leaves Black with either insufficient material to win after 80...Nxd3 81.Kxa2 or a standard fortress in a corner draw after 80...Kxd3.


title: Stalemate

text: Now the players agreed to a draw, since 84...Kxb3 or 84...Rxb3 is stalemate, as is 84...Ra8 85.Rxc3+! Kxc3.


title: Stalemate

text: Black could still have won the game until his critical mistake on move 82. Instead of 82...Nc3, 82...Nb4 wins; for example, after 83.Rc8 Re3 84.Rb8+ Kc5 85.Rc8+ Kd5 86.Rd8+ Kc6 87.Ra8 Re1+ 88.Kb2 Kc5 89.Kc3 a1=Q+, Black wins.


title: Stalemate

text: This 2007 game, Magnus Carlsen–Loek van Wely, ended in stalemate. White used the second-rank defense in a rook and bishop versus rook endgame for 46 moves. The fifty-move rule was about to come into effect, under which White could claim a draw. The game ended:


title: Stalemate

text: Although stalemate usually occurs in the endgame, it can also occur with more pieces on the board. Outside of relatively simple endgame positions, such as those above, stalemate occurs rarely, usually when the side with the superior position has overlooked the possibility of stalemate. This is typically realized by the inferior side's sacrifice of one or more pieces in order to force stalemate. A piece that is offered as a sacrifice to bring about stalemate is sometimes called a desperado.


title: Stalemate

text: One of the best-known examples of the desperado is the game Larry Evans–Samuel Reshevsky that was dubbed "The Swindle of the Century". Evans sacrificed his queen on move 49 and offered his rook on move 50. White's rook has been called the eternal rook. Capturing it results in stalemate, but otherwise it stays on the seventh and checks Black's king "ad infinitum" (i.e. perpetual check). The game would inevitably end in a draw by agreement, by threefold repetition, or by an eventual claim under the fifty-move rule.


title: Stalemate

text: After 48...Qg6! 49.Rf8 Qe6! 50.Rh8+ Kg6, Black remains a piece ahead after 51.Qxe6 Nxe6, or after 51.gxf4 Re1+ and 52...Qa2+.


title: Stalemate

text: The position at right occurred in Boris Gelfand–Vladimir Kramnik, 1994 FIDE Candidates match, game 6, in Sanghi Nagar, India. Kramnik, down two pawns and on the defensive, would be very happy with a draw. Gelfand has just played 67. Re4–e7 (see first diagram), a strong-looking move that threatens 68.Qxf6, winning a third pawn, or 68.Rc7, further constricting Black. Black responded 67... Qc1 If White takes Black's undefended rook with 68.Qxd8, Black's desperado queen forces the draw with 68...Qh1+ 69.Kg3 Qh2+!, compelling 70.Kxh2 stalemate (second diagram). If White avoids the stalemate with 68.Rxg7+ Kxg7 69.Qxd8, Black draws by perpetual check with 69...Qh1+ 70.Kg3 Qg1+ 71.Kf4 Qc1+! 72.Ke4 Qc6+! 73.Kd3 (73.d5 Qc4+; 73.Qd5 Qc2+) Qxf3+! 74.Kd2 Qg2+! 75.Kc3 Qc6+ 76.Kb4 Qb5+ 77.Ka3 Qd3+. Gelfand played 68. d5 instead but still only drew.


title: Stalemate

text: In Troitsky–, 1896, the famous endgame study composer Alexey Troitsky pulled off an elegant swindle in actual play. After Troitsky's 1. Rd1!, Black fell into the trap with the seemingly crushing 1... Bh3?, threatening 2...Qg2#. The game concluded 2. Rxd8+ Kxd8 3. Qd1+! Qxd1 stalemate. White's bishop, knight, and f-pawn are all and unable to move.


title: Stalemate

text: Stalemate is a frequent theme in endgame studies and other chess compositions. An example is the "White to Play and Draw" study at right, composed by the American master Frederick Rhine and published in 2006. White saves a draw with 1. Ne5+! Black wins after 1.Nb4+? Kb5! or 1.Qe8+? Bxe8 2.Ne5+ Kb5! 3.Rxb2+ Nb3. 1... Bxe5 After 1...Kb5? 2.Rxb2+ Nb3 3.Rxc4! Qxe3 (best; 3...Qb8+ 4.Kd7 Qxh8 5.Rxb3+ forces checkmate) 4.Rxb3+! Qxb3 5.Qh1! Bf5+ 6.Kd8!, White is winning. 2. Qe8+! 2.Qxe5? Qb7+ 3.Kd8 Qd7#. 2... Bxe8 3. Rh6+ Bd6 3...Kb5 4.Rxb6+ Kxb6 5.Nxc4+ also leads to a drawn endgame. Not 5.Rxb2+? Bxb2 6.Nc4+ Kb5 7.Nxb2 Bh5! trapping White's knight. 4. Rxd6+! Kxd6 5. Nxc4+! Nxc4 6. Rxb6+ Nxb6+ Moving the king is actually a better try, but the resulting endgame of two knights and a bishop against a rook is a well-established theoretical draw. 7. Kd8! (rightmost diagram) Black is three pieces ahead, but if White is allowed to take the bishop, the two knights are insufficient to force checkmate. The only way to save the bishop is to move it, resulting in stalemate. A similar idea occasionally enables the inferior side to save a draw in the ending of bishop, knight, and king versus lone king.


title: Stalemate

text: At right is a composition by A. J. Roycroft which was published in the "British Chess Magazine" in 1957. White draws with 1. c7! after which there are two main lines:


title: Stalemate

text: Some chess problems require "White to move and stalemate Black in n moves" (rather than the more common "White to move and checkmate Black in n moves"). Problemists have also tried to construct the shortest possible game ending in stalemate. Sam Loyd devised one just ten moves long: 1.e3 a5 2.Qh5 Ra6 3.Qxa5 h5 4.Qxc7 Rah6 5.h4 f6 6.Qxd7+ Kf7 7.Qxb7 Qd3 8.Qxb8 Qh7 9.Qxc8 Kg6 10.Qe6 (diagram at left). A similar stalemate is reached after: 1.d4 c5 2.dxc5 f6 3.Qxd7+ Kf7 4.Qxd8 Bf5 5.Qxb8 h5 6.Qxa8 Rh6 7.Qxb7 a6 8.Qxa6 Bh7 9.h4 Kg6 10.Qe6 (Frederick Rhine).


title: Stalemate

text: Loyd also demonstrated that stalemate can occur with all the pieces on the board: 1.d4 d6 2.Qd2 e5 3.a4 e4 4.Qf4 f5 5.h3 Be7 6.Qh2 Be6 7.Ra3 c5 8.Rg3 Qa5+ 9.Nd2 Bh4 10.f3 Bb3 11.d5 e3 12.c4 f4 (diagram at right). Games such as this are occasionally played in tournaments as a pre-arranged draw.


title: Stalemate

text: There are chess compositions featuring double stalemate. At left and at right are double stalemate positions, in which neither side has a legal move. Double stalemate is theoretically possible in a practical game, though is not known to ever have happened. Consider the following position:


title: Stalemate

text: The game draws after a waiting move like 1.Rg2 (1...b2+ 2.Rxb2; 1...c2 2.Rg4!). However, White has 1.Rb2?, an interesting blunder: if Black errs by 1...cxb2+? then White draws by 2.Kb1, creating a double stalemate position. Black could win by 1...c2! putting White in zugzwang.


title: Stalemate

text: The fastest known game ending in a double stalemate position was discovered by Enzo Minerva and published in the Italian newspaper "l'Unità" on 14 August 2007: 1.c4 d5 2.Qb3 Bh3 3.gxh3 f5 4.Qxb7 Kf7 5.Qxa7 Kg6 6.f3 c5 7.Qxe7 Rxa2 8.Kf2 Rxb2 9.Qxg7+ Kh5 10.Qxg8 Rxb1 11.Rxb1 Kh4 12.Qxh8 h5 13.Qh6 Bxh6 14.Rxb8 Be3+ 15.dxe3 Qxb8 16.Kg2 Qf4 17.exf4 d4 18.Be3 dxe3.


title: Stalemate

text: The stalemate rule has had a convoluted history. Although stalemate is universally recognized as a draw today, that has not been the case for much of the game's history. In the forerunners to modern chess, such as chaturanga, delivering stalemate resulted in a loss. However, this was changed in shatranj, where stalemating was a win. This practice persisted in chess as played in early 15th-century Spain. However, Lucena (c. 1497) treated stalemate as an inferior form of victory; it won only half the stake in games played for money, and this continued to be the case in Spain as late as 1600. From about 1600 to 1800, the rule in England was that stalemate was a loss for the player administering it, a rule that the eminent chess historian H. J. R. Murray believes may have been adopted from Russian chess. That rule disappeared in England before 1820, being replaced by the French and Italian rule that a stalemate was a drawn game.


title: Stalemate

text: Periodically, writers have argued that stalemate should again be made a win for the side causing the stalemate. Grandmaster Larry Kaufman writes, "In my view, calling stalemate a draw is totally illogical, since it represents the ultimate "zugzwang", where any move would get your king taken". The British master T. H. Tylor argued in a 1940 article in the "British Chess Magazine" that the present rule, treating stalemate as a draw, "is without historical foundation and irrational, and primarily responsible for a vast percentage of draws, and hence should be abolished". Years later, Fred Reinfeld wrote, "When Tylor wrote his attack on the stalemate rule, he released about his unhappy head a swarm of peevish maledictions that are still buzzing." Larry Evans calls the proposal to make stalemate a win for the stalemating player a "crude proposal that ... would radically alter centuries of tradition and make chess boring". This rule change would cause a greater emphasis on ; an extra pawn would be a greater advantage than it is today.


title: Stalemate

text: Not all variants of chess consider the stalemate to be a draw. Many regional variants, as well some variants of Western chess, have adopted their own rules on how to treat the stalemated player. In chaturanga, which is widely considered to be the common ancestor of all variants of chess, a stalemate was a win for the stalemated player. Around the 7th century, this game was adopted in the Middle East as shatranj with very similar rules to its predecessor; however, the stalemate rule was changed to its exact opposite: i.e. it was a win for the player delivering the stalemate. This game was in turn introduced to the western world, where it would eventually evolve to modern-day (Western) chess, although the stalemate rule for Western chess was not standardised as a draw until the 19th century (see history of the rule).


title: Stalemate

text: Chaturanga also evolved into several other games in various regions of Asia, all of which have varying rules on stalemating:


title: Stalemate

text: The majority of variants of Western chess do not specify any alterations to the rule of stalemate. There are some variants, however, where the rule is specified to differ from that of standard chess:


title: Troy Gentile

text: Troy Gentile (born Troy Francis Farshi; October 27, 1993) is an American actor best known for his role as Mark in "Hotel for Dogs" and Barry Goldberg on the comedy series "The Goldbergs" (2013–present), and for playing young versions of Jack Black‘s characters in "Nacho Libre" and "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" (both 2006).


title: Troy Gentile

text: Gentile was born in Boca Raton, Florida, to an Italian-American mother, Debra (née Gentile) and an Iranian father, Albert Farshi. When he was four years old, his family moved to Los Angeles, California.


title: Troy Gentile

text: He portrayed a young Craig Ferguson on a segment of "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" in October 2005. He later appeared in films such as "Bad News Bears", "Nacho Libre", "Good Luck Chuck", "Drillbit Taylor", and "Hotel for Dogs". Since September 2013, he has portrayed Barry Goldberg in the ABC comedy series "The Goldbergs".


title: Squat toilet

text: A squat toilet (or squatting toilet) is a toilet used by squatting, rather than sitting. This means that the defecation posture used is to place one foot on each side of the toilet drain or hole and to squat over it. There are several types of squat toilets, but they all consist essentially of a toilet pan or bowl at floor level. Such a toilet pan is also called a "squatting pan". A squat toilet may use a water seal and therefore be a flush toilet, or it can be without a water seal and therefore be a dry toilet. The term "squat" refers only to the expected defecation posture and not any other aspects of toilet technology, such as whether it is water flushed or not. Squat toilets are used all over the world, but are particularly common in some Asian and African nations, as well as in some Muslim countries. In many of those countries, anal cleansing with water is also the cultural norm and easier to perform than with toilets used in a sitting position. They are also occasionally found in some European and South American countries. Squat toilets are regarded as traditional by many, and are being phased out in favour of sitting toilets or even high-tech sitting toilets.


title: Squat toilet

text: In 1976, squatting toilets were said to be used by the majority of the world's population. However, there is a general trend in many countries to move from squatting toilets to sitting toilets (particularly in urban areas) as the latter are often regarded as more modern.


title: Squat toilet

text: Squat toilets are arranged at floor level, which requires the individual to squat with bent knees. In contrast to a pedestal or a sitting toilet, the opening of the drain pipe is located at the ground level.


title: Squat toilet

text: Squatting slabs can be made of porcelain (ceramic), stainless steel, fibreglass, or in the case of low-cost versions in developing countries, with concrete, ferrocement, plastic, or wood covered with linoleum. Slabs can also be made of wood (timber), but need to be treated with preservatives, such as paint or linoleum, to prevent rotting and to enable thorough cleaning of the squatting slab.


title: Squat toilet

text: There are two design variations: one where the toilet is level with the ground, and the other where it is raised on a platform approximately 30 cm (1 ft). The latter is easier to use for people who urinate while standing, but both types can be used for this purpose. There is also no difference for defecation or squatting urination.


title: Squat toilet

text: The user stands over the squat toilet facing the hood and pulls down (up in the case of skirts or dress) their trousers and underwear to the knees. The user then squats over the hole, as close to the front as possible, as excrement tends to fall onto the rear edge of the in-floor receptacle if the user squats too far back; for this reason many public squat toilets have signs reminding the user to "Please take one step closer."


title: Squat toilet

text: Beginners and foreigners (i.e. people not used to squat toilets) often hold onto the piping at the front, which therefore has earned the nickname "grunt bar", from the sounds made while holding onto this pipe.


title: Squat toilet

text: Some studies claim that squat toilets are healthier than sitting toilets due to more natural position of the body and they can potentially reduce the risk of rectal diseases such as hemorrhoids and constipation.


title: Squat toilet

text: The standing surface of the squatting pan should be kept clean and dry in order to prevent disease transmission and to limit odors.


title: Squat toilet

text: Squat toilets are usually easier to clean than sitting toilets (pedestals), except that one has to bend down further if the squatting pan needs manual scrubbing. They can be cleaned by using a mop and hose, together with the rest of the floor space in the toilet room or cubicle.


title: Squat toilet

text: Some people claim that squat toilets are more hygienic, due to the lack of direct contact with the seat. Seat contact is not a real health risk, however, and squat toilets allow splatter on one's own legs and feet.


title: Squat toilet

text: There are two different attitudes towards squat toilets, largely dependent on what users are used to, or whether the toilet is at a public or private place:


title: Squat toilet

text: Some people regard squat toilets as more hygienic compared to sitting toilets. They might be easier to clean and there is no skin contact with the surface of the toilet seat. For that reason, some people perceive them as more hygienic, particularly for public toilets.


title: Squat toilet

text: Some people regard sitting toilets as "more modern" than squat toilets. Sitting toilets have a lower risk of soiling clothing or shoes, as urine is less likely to splash on bottom parts of trousers or shoes. Furthermore, sitting toilets are more convenient for people with disabilities and the elderly.


title: Squat toilet

text: A trend towards more sitting toilets in countries that were traditionally using squat toilets can be observed in some urban and more affluent areas, in areas with new buildings (as well as hotels and airports) or in tourist regions.


title: Squat toilet

text: Squat toilets are used in public toilets, rather than household toilets, because they are perceived by some as easier to clean and more hygienic, therefore potentially more appropriate for general public use. For instance, this is the case in parts of France, Italy, Greece, or the Balkans, where such toilets are somewhat common in public toilets (restrooms).


title: Squat toilet

text: In Southern and Eastern Europe including parts of France, in Greece, Albania, Balkans, and Russia they are common, especially in public toilets. But the trend in Russia is to move away from squat toilets. Squat pit latrine toilets are present in some rural areas of Eastern Europe.


title: Squat toilet

text: Squat toilets are generally non-existent in Northern and Western Europe. France and Italy are an exception and have some squat toilets remaining in old buildings and public toilets because they used to be the norm there in the early 20th century. In BMW Welt in Munich, the public restrooms have some stalls with squat toilets.


title: Squat toilet

text: Many areas in China have traditional squat toilets instead of sitting toilets, especially in public toilets. Nevertheless, sitting toilets have increasingly become the norm in major urban areas and cities. Sitting toilets are on the one hand associated with development and modernization, and on the other hand with reduced hygiene and possible transmission of diseases.


title: Squat toilet

text: Although in Japan it is believed that the squat toilet is traditional, the trend in Japan is to move away from squat toilets: According to Toto, one of Japan's major toilet manufacturers, the production of Western-style toilets increased rapidly since 1976. In 2015, only 1% of all toilets produced by this company were squat toilets.


title: Squat toilet

text: Since the 1960s, the trend has been to replace squat toilets at schools and public places with sitting toilets. This trend was thought to accelerate in the run-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.


title: Squat toilet

text: Since the 1980s, high-tech sitting toilets are emerging that replace traditional squat toilets, especially in urban areas. One of those toilets with the brand name "Washlet" includes a "posterior wash" before wiping, and features heated toilet seats. However, many rural people have no experience with such high-tech toilets and need detailed instructions. High-tech sitting toilets have also become commonplace in South Korea.


title: Diocletian's Palace

text: Diocletian's Palace (, ) is an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split, Croatia. While it is referred to as a "palace" because of its intended use as the retirement residence of Diocletian, the term can be misleading as the structure is massive and more resembles a large fortress: about half of it was for Diocletian's personal use, and the rest housed the military garrison.


title: Diocletian's Palace

text: The complex was built on a peninsula six kilometres southwest from Salona, the former capital of Dalmatia, one of the largest cities of the late empire with 60,000 people and the birthplace of Diocletian. The terrain around Salona slopes gently seaward and is typical karst, consisting of low limestone ridges running east to west with marl in the clefts between them. Today the remains of the palace are part of the historic core of Split, which in 1979 was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.


title: Diocletian's Palace

text: Diocletian had ordered the construction of the heavily fortified compound near his hometown of Spalatum in preparation for his retirement on 1 May 305 AD. The site chosen was near Salona, the provincial administrative centre of Dalmatia, on the southern side of a short peninsula, based on Roman map data (known through the medieval parchment copy of the "Tabula Peutingeriana"), there was already a Spalatum settlement in that bay, the remains and size of which have not yet been established.