title: Topanga, California

text: Topanga Canyon contains lands of Topanga State Park, the largest park in the Santa Monica Mountains and one of the largest open space preserves surrounded by a city in the world, as well as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It primarily represents a California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion, with large areas of the California oak woodland plant community, and a wide variety of native plants.


title: Topanga, California

text: This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Topanga has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.


title: Topanga, California

text: The 2010 United States Census reported that Topanga had a population of 8,289. The population density was . Topanga had a median household income of $120,711, with only 5.9% of the population living below the poverty line. The racial makeup of Topanga was 7,313 (88.2%) White (84.5% Non-Hispanic White), 117 (1.4%) African American, 35 (0.4%) Native American, 353 (4.3%) Asian, 3 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 125 (1.5%) from other races, and 343 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 534 persons (6.4%).


title: Topanga, California

text: The Census reported that 8,289 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.


title: Topanga, California

text: There were 3,442 households, out of which 996 (28.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,772 (51.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 262 (7.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 140 (4.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 239 (6.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 49 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 903 households (26.2%) were made up of individuals, and 256 (7.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41. There were 2,174 families (63.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.87.


title: Topanga, California

text: The population was 1,682 people (20.3%) under the age of 18, 333 people (4.0%) aged 18 to 24, 1,917 people (23.1%) aged 25 to 44, 3,188 people (38.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,169 people (14.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.


title: Topanga, California

text: There were 3,750 housing units at an average density of , of which 2,589 (75.2%) were owner-occupied, and 853 (24.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.8%. 6,597 people (79.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,692 people (20.4%) lived in rental housing units.


title: Topanga, California

text: The bottom of Topanga Canyon, where it meets Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean, was owned for many years by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, a wealthy private club in downtown Los Angeles. The parcel was rented out to a variety of businesses and residents for decades at remarkably low rents, considering that it borders the city of Malibu. Thus Lower Topanga became unique as one of the last outposts of the classic Topanga Canyon bohemian hippie lifestyle.


title: Topanga, California

text: The Chumash people considered Lower Topanga a sacred, economic, and cultural meeting place for tribes all along the coast. One of the main neighborhoods, the "Rodeo Grounds", takes its name from an actual rodeo arena that existed there on a Mexican ranch in the 1800s.


title: Topanga, California

text: In the early 1900s, Lower Topanga was a Japanese fishing village. William Randolph Hearst owned the property for a time and turned it into a weekend getaway spot with beach shacks for his and Marion Davies' guests.


title: Topanga, California

text: In the '60s, a lively community of artists and surfers sprang up in Lower Topanga. They maintained their houses without assistance, sometimes digging them out of the mud after floods or setting backfires to prevent a spreading wildfire from burning down their neighborhood. The roads remained unpaved.


title: Topanga, California

text: In 2001, Lower Topanga was sold to California State Parks. Even though the Lower Topanga community occupied less than 2% of the total purchased land, State Parks had an aggressive policy to relocate everyone and bulldoze all of the houses. (State Parks had already evicted residents who lived directly on Topanga Beach in the late '70s.)


title: Topanga, California

text: A group of 10 Lower Topanga poets calling themselves the "Idlers of the Bamboo Grove" published a book of the same name in 2002, celebrating their community and lamenting the prospect of having to leave. Their publisher, Brass Tacks Press, continued publishing works about Lower Topanga, as well as maintaining an online "Lower Topanga Photo Archive".


title: Topanga, California

text: Even though Lower Topanga residents were given money to leave, some fought bitterly against their relocation in court. However, the last holdouts were forced off the land in March 2006. Currently there are active efforts by TreePeople and Mountains Restoration Trust to restore the area to its pristine condition as it was prior to development.


title: Topanga, California

text: Topanga is known as a bohemian enclave attracting artists, musicians, filmmakers, and others. Numerous music festivals have been organized in the canyon, including the Topanga Days Festival and Topanga Earth Day. The Topanga Film Institute hosts the annual Topanga Film Festival.


title: Topanga, California

text: In the 1950s, blacklisted actor Will Geer had to sell his large Santa Monica home and move his family to a small plot in the canyon where they could grow their own produce. Geer's friend Woody Guthrie had a small shack on the property. They unintentionally founded what became an artists' colony. Since its founding in 1973, the Geer family has continued to operate the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. It has grown into an Equity theater, and occupies a natural outdoor amphitheater. It features Shakespearean plays, modern classics, and original productions, as well as musical concerts. Performers have included Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Della Reese, and Burl Ives. Odetta was part of the early music scene in the 1960s.


title: Topanga, California

text: A famous venue in the canyon was the Elysium Institute, also known as Elysium Fields, a nudist club started by Ed Lange in 1967. After surviving extended battles with county officials the property was sold in 2002 by its founder's heirs.


title: Topanga, California

text: Every Memorial Day weekend on the grounds of the Topanga Community House, Topanga has an annual fair and parade, called Topanga Days. Topanga Days Country Fair features music, belly dancing, over 80 unique craft vendors and a variety of food from Cajun to Mexican to vegan. A parade is held on Memorial Day. The parade is said to have inspired the more famous Doo-Dah Parade in Pasadena, California.


title: Topanga, California

text: Topanga Canyon also hosts an annual reggae festival titled Reggae on the Mountain that has grown to be one of the largest events in the area. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Topanga Community Club in a similar fashion as Topanga Days.


title: Topanga, California

text: The Topanga Film Institute presents the annual Topanga Film Festival each July. The festival endeavors to bridge cultures, create and expand community, provide cultural exchange and networking opportunities.


title: Topanga, California

text: Two outdoor shopping centers featuring local businesses form the hub of local commerce. There are no hotels, motels or gas stations in Topanga, nor are there any chain or big box stores.


title: Topanga, California

text: The location of Topanga in the Santa Monica Mountains also makes the natural surroundings an important part of the culture. Streams, waterfalls, cliffs of exposed bedrock, landmark rock outcroppings, and overlooks with panoramic views of the mountains, Pacific Ocean and Los Angeles are common attractions. There are many trails for short walks, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, birdwatching, and rock climbing, all of which are important parts of the local community.


title: Topanga, California

text: The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Topanga Library located on 122 N Topanga Canyon Blvd.


title: Topanga, California

text: The Los Angeles County Fire Department operates Fire Station No. 69 in Topanga as a part of Battalion 5. During the 1960s and 1970s, "problematic firefighters" were placed here under the supervision of James O. Page.


title: Topanga, California

text: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas, serving Topanga.


title: Topanga, California

text: The United States Postal Service Topanga Post Office is located at 101 South Topanga Canyon Boulevard.


title: Topanga, California

text: The California Highway Patrol, West Valley Area, handles the traffic on the State Route and in the unincorporated areas.


title: Topanga, California

text: The Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (T-CEP) operates an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) near the Topanga Town Center.


title: Topanga, California

text: Some portions are in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). Those portions are zoned to Webster Elementary School and Malibu High School. Some are in the Las Virgenes Unified School District.


title: Utah monolith

text: The Utah monolith is a metal pillar that stood in a red sandstone slot canyon in northern San Juan County, Utah, United States. The pillar is tall and made of metal sheets riveted into a triangular prism. It was unlawfully placed on public land between July and October 2016; it stood unnoticed for over four years until its discovery and removal in late 2020. The identity of its makers is unknown, as are their objectives.


title: Utah monolith

text: Utah state biologists discovered the monolith in November 2020 during a helicopter survey of wild bighorn sheep. Within days of its discovery, members of the public found the pillar using GPS mapping software and made their way to the remote location. Following intense media coverage, it was covertly removed on November 27, 2020, by four residents of Moab, Utah. After nearly a month in their possession, the monolith was given to the Bureau of Land Management and is currently in their custody.


title: Utah monolith

text: Following the discovery of the monolith, over two hundred similar metal columns were erected in other places throughout the world, including elsewhere in North America and countries in Europe and South America. Many were built by local artists as deliberate imitations of the Utah monolith.


title: Utah monolith

text: On November 18, 2020, state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were in southeastern Utah carrying out a survey of bighorn sheep from a helicopter when one of the biologists spotted the pillar and told the pilot, Bret Hutchings, to fly over the location again. Hutchings described the moment:


title: Utah monolith

text: Hutchings noted that the object appeared man-made, and had been planted in the ground instead of being dropped from the sky.


title: Utah monolith

text: On November 20, the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) posted a photo of the pillar on Instagram. On November 23, the DPS released videos and photographs of the object, but not its exact location, on their website saying: "DPS Aero Bureau Encounters Monolith in Red Rock Country".


title: Utah monolith

text: The monolith was installed by unknown individuals on public land in a red sandstone slot canyon in Lockhart Basin, in northern San Juan County. It was located in an area that was removed from the Bears Ears National Monument (a protected area in Utah) in 2017; the area was later added once more to the national monument in 2021. The site had no public services such as parking, restrooms, or cell phone service.


title: Utah monolith

text: The exact location of the monolith was not disclosed by the DPS, to prevent people from endangering themselves while trying to find it. Within hours of the DPS announcement, Reddit user Tim Slane had identified the object on Google Earth. Slane compared the flight path of the state biologists' helicopter against the red-and-white sandstone terrain from their videos. Slane told "The Verge" that "he was aided by clues like the cliffs' height, the canyon's erosion pattern (indicating a more exposed area), and a flat floor suggesting it wasn't frequently flooded (and, by extension, was near the top of a watershed)". Google Earth satellite images showed that the monolith was installed between August 2015 and October 2016, and that surrounding scrub vegetation had been cleared.


title: Utah monolith

text: Dutch journalist Nouska du Saar, who specializes in open-source intelligence, used Maxar satellite images to determine that the monolith appeared between July 7, 2016 and October 21, 2016.


title: Utah monolith

text: Within 48 hours of the DPS announcement, members of the public had reached the site and uploaded photographs and videos of the monolith to social media. Local residents began to fear a surge in foot traffic could damage local Native American sites and artifacts.


title: Utah monolith

text: The metal structure stood tall above the bedrock, with each of the sides being wide. A triangular prism, it had three sides, was not magnetic, and appeared to be made of 1/8th inch stainless steel or aluminum sheets, joined with rivets, with a hollow interior. There was silicone caulk or epoxy along the base, and striking the metal produced a dampened sound indicating some type of insulation inside. The pillar was assembled using blind rivets, indicating human origins but making it difficult to determine its age.


title: Utah monolith

text: Dave Sparks of the TV show "Diesel Brothers" went to the monolith and described it in a video he posted on Instagram. "They got a concrete saw and they cut it into the red rock there," he said. "You can see right here on the bottom where they had a couple of over cuts with the saws." Wendy Wischer of the University of Utah's School of Fine Art said, "One person alone could not have done it so there is a group of people who have some knowledge of it somewhere. Most artists want some recognition for what they are doing but this seems to include a level of humor and mystery as part of the intention".


title: Utah monolith

text: On first discovering the pillar, the DPS described it as a "monolith", a term since repeated by other major media outlets. Although the word "monolith" refers to a single great stone, the word has also become closely associated with the Monolith from the movie "", to which the Utah monolith bears circumstantial resemblance.


title: Utah monolith

text: The object was compared to works by artist John McCracken (1934–2011), who lived in the southwest desert, believed in the existence of extraterrestrials, and expressed an interest in leaving behind a piece of artwork in the desert. The object resembled the metallic monoliths McCracken made, and was described as "nearly identical" to McCracken's "Fair" (2011) by New York gallerist David Zwirner (who displays the work). This statement was subsequently retracted by a Zwirner spokesman, who said that it was more likely created by another artist paying homage to McCracken.


title: Utah monolith

text: It was suggested that the monolith was the work of Petecia Le Fawnhawk, who has installed sculptures in desert locations and lived in Utah, but she has said that it was not her work. A builder of similar monoliths, Derek DeSpain, who "lives in Utah near where the new monolith was found", was also suggested as its creator, based on a screenshot of Instagram images by photographer Eliot Lee Hazel.


title: Utah monolith

text: The Utah Film Commission said that to their knowledge the monolith was not part of any film production. "The New York Times" said its unknown origin "provides a pleasant sensation of uncertainty", and that it might "lose its aura and power if we knew who had created it".


title: Utah monolith

text: The DPS released a statement quoting Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations that it is illegal to install structures (including art), on public lands without permission, "no matter what planet you're from".


title: Utah monolith

text: The Utah Department of Heritage & Arts said in a statement on their Twitter feed that the monolith is vandalism, and are concerned about damage to ancient artwork and archeological artifacts in the region.


title: Utah monolith

text: The Utah division of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said that it received credible reports that the monolith was removed on the evening of November 27, 2020, by a then-unknown party, now known to be the Moab-based recreationists Andy Lewis, Sylvan Christensen, Homer Manson, and an anonymous companion. Several adventure photographers posted details and pictures about the dismantling and removal of the monolith. One witness reported that the four men had pushed the monolith over without tools, while onlookers watched, saying "this is why you don't leave trash in the desert" before breaking it apart and carrying away the pieces in a wheelbarrow. The group referred to the conservation ethic of "Leave No Trace". Photos of the site afterwards posted by visitors showed that all was left was a triangular metal piece (see photo), and witnesses reported seeing a pickup truck driving away from the site, carrying an object, as they approached.


title: Utah monolith

text: The BLM in Utah released the following statement on the agency Facebook page at 5:39 PM on November 28, 2020:


title: Utah monolith

text: Police in Utah clarified that they would not open an investigation into the removal and the local San Juan County Sheriff's Office said they could not devote the resources, although the Sheriff's Office posted a "Most Wanted" poster on their Facebook page. On November 30, 2020, the authorities reversed their initial decision, and planned a joint investigation with the Bureau of Land Management. Alan Freestone, chief deputy in San Juan County, confirmed this to "The New York Times" on December 1, stating: "I know they have some leads, and that's all we are saying right now."


title: Utah monolith

text: Four days after the monolith's removal, Lewis and Christensen posted a video online entitled "We Removed the Utah monolith", showing what they claimed was themselves and two other people hauling away the Utah monolith in a wheelbarrow. Christensen posted the same video to TikTok and Instagram citing "clear precedents for how we share and standardize the use of our public lands, natural wildlife, native plants, fresh water sources, and human impacts upon them", and highlighting the damage done to the area by the large number of sightseers arriving in an area with no parking facilities or restrooms. In several interviews since the video's release, Christensen said he had received hateful comments and threats of death and physical harm as a result of his video.


title: Utah monolith

text: On December 20, 2020, over a month after the monolith's initial discovery, Lewis released a pre-recorded video on Instagram, allegedly in response to the numerous death threats, showing what appeared to be the Utah monolith intact in his backyard, contrary to speculation that it had been destroyed. He claimed that he and his friends had also heard of plans to completely destroy it on the night of its eventual removal, plans that they later found to be true, so his team removed it before it could be destroyed by others. He also revealed that they had since donated it to the Bureau of Land Management to investigate its origin and creation, and eventually find a new home for it.


title: Utah monolith

text: Shortly after the discovery of the monolith in Utah, over two hundred additional monoliths which resembled the Utah monolith began appearing at various locations across the world. In some cases, local artists came forward to claim responsibility for them, citing the Utah monolith as their inspiration. Other monoliths were created and installed by small businesses for promotional purposes.


title: Bektashi Order

text: The Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by Baba Mondi, the eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashism began as a Shia Islamic Sufi order in Anatolia, during the Ottoman Empire. In 1876, a Salih Nijazi was appointed as the ""baba"" or leader by prominent Bektashi members. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk banned religious institutions that weren't part of the Directorate of Religious Affairs. After this, the community's headquarters relocated to Albania. The order became involved in Albanian politics, and some of its members, including Ismail Qemali, were major leaders of the Albanian National Awakening.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashis believe in the Twelve Imams, Fourteen Innocents and the modern-day Dedebabas. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, the Bektashi order was later significantly influenced during its formative period by the Hurufis (in the early 15th century), the Qalandariyya stream of Sufism, and to varying degrees the Shia beliefs circulating in Anatolia during the 14th to 16th centuries. The mystical practices and rituals of the Bektashi order were systematized and structured by Balım Sultan in the 16th century.


title: Bektashi Order

text: According to a 2005 estimate made by Reshat Bardhi, there are over seven million Bektashis worldwide. Albania is the country with the most Bektashis, where they make up 20% of the Muslim population, and 2.5% of the country's population. Bektashis are mainly found throughout Anatolia and the Balkans and among Ottoman-era Greek Muslims communities.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashi Islam is named after Haji Bektash Veli. Collectively, adherents of Bektashi Islam, are called Bektashi Muslims or simply Bektashis.


title: Bektashi Order

text: The Bektashiyya originated in Anatolia as the followers of the 13th-century scholar Bektash (d. 1271). The doctrines and rituals of the Bektashiyya were codified by the mystic Balim Sultan (d. 1517–1519), who is considered the ('the Second Elder') by Bektashis.


title: Bektashi Order

text: It was originally founded as a Sufi movement. The branch became widespread in the Ottoman Empire, their lodges scattered throughout Anatolia as well as in the Balkans. It became the official order of the Janissary corps, the elite infantry corp of the Ottoman Army. Therefore, they also became mainly associated with Anatolian and Balkan Muslims of Eastern Orthodox convert origin, mainly Albanians and northern Greeks (although most leading Bektashi babas were of southern Albanian origin). In 1826, the Bektashi order was banned throughout the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Mahmud II for having close ties with the Janissary corps. Many Bektashi dervishes were exiled, and some were executed. Their tekkes were destroyed and their revenues were confiscated. This decision was supported by the Sunni religious elite as well as the leaders of other, more orthodox, Sufi orders. Bektashis slowly regained freedom with the coming of the Tanzimat era. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk shut down the lodges in 1925. Consequently, the Bektashi leadership moved to Albania and established their headquarters in the city of Tirana. Among the most famous followers of Bektashi in the 19th century Balkans were Ali Pasha and Naim Frashëri.


title: Bektashi Order

text: After lodges in Turkey were shut down, the order's headquarters moved to Albania. On 20 March 1930, Sali Njazi was elected as the First Dedebaba of the Bektashi community. Njazi established the Bektashi World Headquarters in Tirana. Its construction was finished in 1941 during the Italian occupation of Albania. Njazi promoted Bektashi Islam by introducing major ceremonies at popular tekkes. After he was murdered, Ali Riza succeeded him as the Dedebaba.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Despite the negative effect of the ban of lodges on Bektashi culture, most Bektashis in Turkey have been generally supportive of secularism to this day, since these reforms have relatively relaxed the religious intolerance that had historically been shown against them by the official Sunni establishment.


title: Bektashi Order

text: In the Balkans the Bektashi order had a considerable impact on the Islamization of many areas, primarily Albania and Bulgaria, as well as parts of Macedonia, particularly among Ottoman-era Greek Muslims from western Greek Macedonia such as the Vallahades. By the 18th century Bektashism began to gain a considerable hold over the population of southern Albania and northwestern Greece (Epirus and western Greek Macedonia). Following the ban on Sufi orders in the Republic of Turkey, the Bektashi community's headquarters was moved from Hacıbektaş in central Anatolia, to Tirana, Albania. In Albania, the Bektashi community declared its separation from the Sunni community and they were perceived ever after as a distinct Islamic sect rather than a branch of Sunni Islam. Bektashism continued to flourish until the Second World War. After the communists took power in 1945, several babas and dervishes were executed and a gradual constriction of Bektashi influence began. Ultimately, in 1967 all "tekkes" were shut down when Enver Hoxha banned all religious practice. When this ban was rescinded in 1990 the Bektashism reestablished itself, although there were few left with any real knowledge of the spiritual path. Nevertheless, many "tekkes" "(lodges)" operate today in Albania. The most recent head of the order in Albania was "Hajji" Reshat Bardhi "Dedebaba" (1935–2011) and the main "tekke" has been reopened in Tirana. In June 2011 "Baba" Edmond Brahimaj was chosen as the head of the Bektashi order by a council of Albanian babas. Today sympathy for the order is generally widespread in Albania where approximately 20% of Muslims identify themselves as having some connection to Bektashism.


title: Bektashi Order

text: There are also important Bektashi communities among the Albanian communities of Macedonia and Kosovo, the most important being the Harabati Baba Tekke in the city of Tetovo, which was until recently under the guidance of "Baba" Tahir Emini (1941–2006). Following the death of "Baba" Tahir Emini, the "dedelik" of Tirana appointed "Baba" Edmond Brahimaj (Baba Mondi), formerly head of the Turan Tekke of Korçë, to oversee the Harabati baba tekke. A splinter branch of the order has recently sprung up in the town of Kičevo which has ties to the Turkish Bektashi community under Haydar Ercan Dede rather than Tirana. A smaller Bektashi "tekke", the Dikmen Baba Tekkesi, is in operation in the Turkish-speaking town of Kanatlarci, Macedonia that also has stronger ties with Turkey's Bektashis. In Kosovo, the relatively small Bektashi community has a "tekke" in the town of Gjakovë and is under the leadership of "Baba" Mumin Lama and it recognizes the leadership of Tirana.


title: Bektashi Order

text: In Bulgaria, the "türbes" of Kıdlemi Baba, Ak Yazılı Baba, Demir Baba and Otman Baba function as heterodox Islamic pilgrimage sites and before 1842 were the centers of Bektashi "tekkes".


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashis continue to be active in Turkey and their semi-clandestine organizations can be found in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. There are currently two rival claimants to the "dedebaba" in Turkey: Mustafa Eke and Haydar Ercan.


title: Bektashi Order

text: A large functioning Bektashi "tekke" was also established in the United States in 1954 by Baba Rexheb. This "tekke" is found in the Detroit suburb of Taylor and the tomb ("türbe") of Baba Rexheb continues to draw pilgrims of all faiths.


title: Bektashi Order

text: In 2002, a group of armed members of the Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia (ICM), a Sunni group that is the legally recognized organisation which claims to represent all Muslims in North Macedonia, invaded the Shiʻi Bektashi Order's Arabati Baba Teḱe in an attempt to reclaim this tekke as a mosque although the facility has never functioned as such. Subsequently, the Bektashi Order of North Macedonia sued the government for failing to restore the tekke to the Bektashis, pursuant to a law passed in the early 1990s returning properties previously nationalized under the Yugoslav government. The law, however, deals with restitution to private citizens, rather than religious communities.The ICM claim to the tekke is based upon their contention to represent all Muslims in the Republic of Macedonia; and indeed, they are one of two Muslim organizations recognized by the government, both Sunni. The Bektashi community filed for recognition as a separate religious community with the Macedonian government in 1993, but the Macedonian government has refused to recognize them.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashis believe in One God (Allah) and follow all the prophets. Bektashis claim the heritage of Haji Bektash Veli, who was a descended of Ali, Husayn, Zayn and other Imams. Therefore, Bektashis follow the teachings of Haji Bektash, who preached about the Twelve Imams. Bektashis differ from other Muslims by also following the Fourteen Innocents, who either died in infancy or were martyred with Husayn. Abbas ibn Ali is also an important figure in Bektashi Islam, and Bektashi Muslims visit Mount Tomorr to honor him during an annual pilgrimage to the Abbas Ali Türbe on August 20–25.


title: Bektashi Order

text: In addition to the Muslim daily five prayers, Bektashi Muslims have two specific prayers, one at dawn and one at dusk for the welfare of all humanity. Bektashism places much emphasis on the concept of Wahdat-ul-Wujood () that was formulated by Ibn Arabi.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Malakat is an important text of Bektashi written by Haji Bektash. Bektashis also follow the Quran and Hadith. Bektashis hold that the Quran has two levels of meaning: an outer () and an inner ().


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashis follow the modern-day Bektashi Dedebabate, currently headed by Hajji Mondi. Bektashis consider the dedebaba as their leader overseeing the entire branch.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashism is also heavily permeated with Shiite concepts, such as the marked reverence of Ali, The Twelve Imams, and the ritual commemoration of Ashura marking the Battle of Karbala. The old Persian holiday of Nowruz is celebrated by Bektashis as Imam Ali's birthday (see also; Nevruz in Albania).


title: Bektashi Order

text: The Bektashi Order is a Sufi order and shares much in common with other Islamic mystical movements, such as the need for an experienced spiritual guide—called a "baba" in Bektashi parlance — as well as the doctrine of "the four gates that must be traversed": the "Sharia" "(religious law)," "Tariqah" "(the spiritual path)," "Marifa" "(true knowledge)," "Haqiqah" "(truth)."


title: Bektashi Order

text: There are many other practices and ceremonies that share similarities with other faiths, such as a ritual meal ("muhabbet") and yearly confession of sins to a "baba" ("magfirat-i zunub" مغفرة الذنوب). Bektashis base their practices and rituals on their non-orthodox and mystical interpretation and understanding of the Quran and the prophetic practice (Sunnah). They have no written doctrine specific to them, thus rules and rituals may differ depending on under whose influence one has been taught. Bektashis generally revere Sufi mystics outside of their own order, such as Ibn Arabi, Al-Ghazali and Jelalludin Rumi who are close in spirit to them despite many of being from more mainstream Islamic backgrounds.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Bektashis hold that the Quran has two levels of meaning: an outer ("zahir" ظاهر) and an inner ("batin" باطن). They hold the latter to be superior and eternal and this is reflected in their understanding of both the universe and humanity (This view can also be found in Ismailism—see Batiniyya).


title: Bektashi Order

text: Poetry plays an important role in the transmission of Bektashi spirituality. Several important Ottoman-era poets were Bektashis, and Yunus Emre, the most acclaimed poet of the Turkish language, is generally recognized as a subscriber to the Bektashi order.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Like many Sufis, the Bektashis were quite lax in observing daily Muslim laws, and women as well as men took part in ritual wine drinking and dancing during devotional ceremonies. The Bektashis in the Balkans adapted such Christian practices as the ritual sharing of bread and the confession of sins. Bektashi mystical writings made a rich contribution to Sufi poetry.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Like most other Sufi orders, Bektashism is initiatic, and members must traverse various levels or ranks as they progress along the spiritual path to the Reality. The Turkish names are given below, followed by their Arabic and Albanian equivalents.


title: Bektashi Order

text: Traditionally there were twelve of these hierarchical rankings, the most senior being the "dedebaba" (great-grandfather).


title: Bektashi Order

text: In Albania, the World Headquarters of the Bektashi () divides the country into 6 different administrative districts (similar to Christian parishes and patriarchates), each of which is called a "gjyshata".


title: Bektashi Order

text: The World Bektashi Congress, also called the National Congress of the Bektashi, a conference during which members of the Bektashi Community make important decisions, has been held in Albania several times. Since 1945, it has been held exclusively in Tirana. The longest gap between two congresses lasted from 1950 to 1993, when congresses could not be held during Communist rule in Albania. A list of congresses is given below.


title: Bektashi Order

text: List of Bektashi Dedebabas (mostly based in Hacıbektaş, Anatolia), prior to the 1925 exodus of the Bektashi Order from Turkey to Albania:


title: Death of Garry Hoy

text: Garry Hoy (January 28, 1954 – July 9, 1993) was a lawyer for the law firm of Holden Day Wilson in Toronto who died when he autodefenestrated from the 24th floor of his office building in Toronto. In an attempt to prove to a group of prospective articling students that the glass windows of the Toronto-Dominion Centre were unbreakable, he threw himself against the glass. The glass did not break when he hit it, but the window frame gave way and he fell to his death.


title: Death of Garry Hoy

text: Garry Hoy was a corporate and securities law specialist in Toronto. While giving a tour of the Toronto-Dominion Centre to a group of articling students, Hoy attempted to demonstrate the strength of the structure's window glass by slamming himself into a window. He had apparently performed this stunt many times in the past, having previously bounced harmlessly off the glass. After one attempt which saw the glass hold up, Hoy tried once more. In this instance, the force of Hoy slamming into the window removed the window from its frame, causing the entire intact window and Hoy to fall from the building. This occurred in a small conference room adjacent to a boardroom where a reception was being held for new articling students.


title: Death of Garry Hoy

text: Structural engineer Bob Greer was quoted by the "Toronto Star" as saying "I don’t know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160-pound (72.5 kg) man to run up against a glass and withstand it." In another interview, the firm's spokesman mentioned that the glass, in fact, did not break, but popped out of its frame, leading to Hoy's fatal plunge.


title: Death of Garry Hoy

text: Hoy's death contributed to the closing of Holden Day Wilson in 1996, which at the time was the largest law firm closure in Canada.


title: Death of Garry Hoy

text: Hoy's experience was featured in numerous television shows, including "MythBusters" and "1000 Ways to Die" (in the episode "Unforced Errors"). For his unusual death, Hoy was recognized with a Darwin Award in 1996.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a turn-based tactics action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch video game console. The game is a crossover between Nintendo's "Mario" and Ubisoft's "Raving Rabbids" franchise. In "Kingdom Battle", the story follows Mario, his friends, and a group of Rabbids who try to save the Mushroom Kingdom from invading Rabbids that accidentally misused a powerful invention and began to wreak havoc.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" was conceived in 2014 by Ubisoft Milan creative director Davide Soliani and Ubisoft brand producer Xavier Manzanares. The design objectives emphasized the dissonance of both franchises and creating a strategy game that stood out with unique elements. Its visual elements and animation were casual and vibrant, and its music was composed by Grant Kirkhope. Although the game was met with poor reception when it was leaked, primarily due to the use of the "Rabbids"' franchise and weaponry, it was well received when it was officially announced at E3 2017.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: The game's critical reception was overall positive, with acclaim towards its characters and turn-based combat, and mixed responses to its puzzles and level-based combat. In 2018, an expansion pack for the game titled "Donkey Kong Adventure" was released as downloadable content. A sequel, titled "Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope", was released on October 20, 2022.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Gameplay follows Mario and a cast of other "Mario" and "Rabbids" characters of the player's choosing, including Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and four other Rabbids dressed up as a respective "Mario" character with exaggerated personalities. They are guided by a small robot named Beep-0. The campaign story mode is split up into four unique locations, or "worlds", each of which has a linear path to completion. In each world, some puzzles must be completed for progression, or give weapons and collectibles when solved. When a world is completed, Beep-0 learns a new ability to solve puzzles.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: If the team comes across territory inhabited by enemy Rabbids, a battle will commence. While the goal of each battle is usually to defeat every enemy on the field, some levels have a fixed objective, such as escorting a Toad to the end of the stage. The level is completed if all enemies are defeated or the fixed objective is satisfied; the player loses when all characters run out of health or fail to meet their goal. Before a battle, the player can choose to change their current selection of characters and weaponry; three out of eight playable characters can fight in a battle (Mario and at least one Rabbid being required), and each fighter can be equipped with weapons, each one dealing different amounts of damage or causing certain special effects that hinder the opponent. Battles are turn-based, and each character can perform up to three different options: they can move to a new location, with each character having a set distance they can travel; they can use a weapon, and have two choices of attack that vary per player; or they can use a special effect, with each character having different abilities that vary in function. If a player moves to a location where they are obscured to the enemy, the enemy's accuracy changes based on the cover's effectiveness. Characters also have movement abilities, where they can dash into an enemy to deal damage or be boosted by another character to travel a further distance. Some weapons have special effects; for example, the player can shoot a glob of honey at the enemy to restrict them from moving temporarily, or shoot an ignited bullet to burn an opponent and send them running around in a random direction in panic. Special effects also vary, such as a healing effect that restores some health to other characters, or a hypnosis effect that draws enemies towards the character that used it.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Levels are divided into chapters, and each chapter usually contains three levels. When a chapter is completed, characters receive coins and "Skill Orbs", which can also be found by exploring the overworld, with greater rewards earned clearing battles within a certain number of turns with all characters intact. Skill Orbs can be used in each character's skill tree to grant them new abilities or increase stats such as health or movement distance. Coins can be used to purchase new weaponry and items.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: A young inventor and avid fan of the "Mario" franchise invents a device known as the SupaMerge, a headset that can merge any two objects into a single entity, with the help of her virtual robot assistant Beep-0. Upon testing it, it successfully merges two items, but overheats. While the inventor is out of the room, a group of Rabbids arrive in their and begin playing with her belongings, annoying Beep-0. One of them puts on the SupaMerge and starts causing chaos, merging some of the Rabbids with various items in the room. While having fun with the SupaMerge, its beam accidentally hits the Time Washing Machine and causes it to malfunction, sucking everything in the room into an interdimensional vortex along with a "Mario" poster.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: A vortex appears above the Mushroom Kingdom during the unveiling of a large statue of Princess Peach and sucks up everyone, including Mario and his friends. They and the Rabbids are thrown across the Mushroom Kingdom along with the now-gigantic objects from the room. Beep-0, now a physical entity with Rabbid ears and teeth and has gained the ability to speak, discovers that the SupaMerge has fused itself with the Rabbid wearing it, who uncontrollably creates more chaos by accidentally merging some of the Rabbids with more objects. Beep-0 is nearly hit by the now-giant Time Washing Machine, but Mario saves him as it crash-lands near Peach's castle. While the recently merged Rabbids become hostile (due to the SupaMerge's power now being corrupted), Mario and Beep-0 encounter two merged Rabbids who are not: Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Peach. Aided by a mysterious email contact known only as F.B., who provides them with weapons, abilities, and advice, the four join forces to put a stop to the chaos.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: As Mario's team travels across the Mushroom Kingdom, defeating and freeing the corrupted Rabbids while also encountering allies like Princess Peach, Luigi, Rabbid Mario, Yoshi, and Rabbid Yoshi, Bowser Jr. comes across the Rabbid fused to the SupaMerge, which he nicknames Spawny, and uses him to cause even more chaos. Resolving to recover Spawny so they can undo the damage he has caused, the team eventually learns that an entity known as the Megabug is behind the mysterious vortex–presumably created by the SupaMerge–which grows more powerful as they defeat more of the corrupted Rabbids. Mario's group recovers Spawny from Bowser Jr., only for him to get kidnapped by the Megabug, which has now assumed the form of a dragon, and become part of it, making the Megabug gain the abilities of the SupaMerge. The Megabug creates more corrupted Rabbids and merges with Bowser, who had just returned from his vacation, and possess and corrupts him, to create "MegaDragonBowser" and battles the heroes. Mario and his team defeat the Megabug, saving both Bowser and Spawny. As peace returns to the Mushroom Kingdom and all the Rabbids are restored to normal, the group celebrates by replacing the new statue of Princess Peach (which had been destroyed by the vortex) with Rabbid Peach instead. Meanwhile, Beep-0 realizes that F.B. is his future self, Future Beep-0, and uses the Time Washing Machine to help his comrades in the past by sending the same emails, weapons, and abilities that his future self sent to his past self.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: During the events of the main game, Rabbid Kong, one of the merged Rabbids, fiddles with the Time Washing Machine after some Rabbids escort him home, causing him, Rabbid Peach, and Beep-0 to be transported to the Donkey Kong universe after getting close to the machine when Rabbid Peach decides to charge her phone on it. Spawny and Bowser Jr. see this, with Spawny accidentally and unintentionally firing the SupaMerge energy into the Time Washing Machine before it teleports, causing the washing machine's water and the Rabbids who get sucked in it to be merged with some objects and get corrupted. They are marooned on Donkey Kong Island, and the machine is severely damaged. To get back to the Mushroom Kingdom, the two must find the machine's missing parts and reassemble it. After being attacked by the native islanders, they are saved by Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky, who were both transported to the island by the machine during the beginning of the game and agree to help. Rabbid Kong and the corrupted Rabbids crash-land in a temple and Rabbid Kong ends up becoming corrupted by a "Bad Banana", a banana contaminated with the Megabug's energy (created by Spawny's beam) oozing from the Time Washing Machine's water and becomes more powerful, turning him into Mega Rabbid Kong. Seeking revenge against Rabbid Peach for his previous defeat, he starts a banana racketeering operation on the island to create more Bad Bananas to corrupt more Rabbids and takes over the island. The group fights Mega Rabbid Kong's forces of tropical versions of the enemies they fought in the main game, destroy all the Bad Bananas they can find, and defeat a pair of powerful corrupted Rabbids working for Mega Rabbid Kong to obtain the keys to Mega Rabbid Kong's lair. Shortly after arriving, the trio defeat Mega Rabbid Kong in two final battles, the first one in his lair, which is then destroyed by the corrupted water exploding, and then again when they chase him to the coast, draining his powers and undoing the effects of the Megabug and the Bad Bananas on the island, restoring Rabbid Kong and all the Rabbids and bananas on the island. Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Kong make amends and the latter helps them rebuild the Time Washing Machine, sending it, Rabbid Peach, and Beep-0 back to the Mushroom Kingdom. In the post-credits scene, the inventor from the prologue returns and discovers Rabbid Peach's photos of the island, which somehow ended up in her room.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: As a child, the game's Italian creative director Davide Soliani had always enjoyed playing "Mario" games. Soliani had met Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the "Mario" franchise a handful of times in the past; on one occasion, when Soliani first met Miyamoto at E3 2014, he asked him to sign a copy of a Game Boy Advance remake of Disney's "The Jungle Book", which Soliani developed in 2003.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: After a long run of "Rabbids" video games developed by Ubisoft meanwhile, Xavier Manzanares, a Ubisoft brand producer, thought about the future of the "Rabbids" series in 2013. Ubisoft began to talk with Nintendo about ideas for future "Rabbids" video games, but only really brought the concept of party games like the ones they made prior.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Toward the end of the year, Manzanares began to conceptualize games that were not the typical genre they were familiar with. He teamed up with three others to plan a game, including Soliani, who later became the creative director of "Kingdom Battle". Without any clear idea, their main goal was to combine the "Rabbids" and "Mario" franchises. When Soliani presented thirteen ideas to Manzanares, he abandoned the focus on combining the brands and shifted attention towards the game itself. Because the two franchises were very different from each other, they decided on the turn-based strategy genre because neither franchise had done anything in the field. Manzanares's ultimate goal was to design something surprising, even for Nintendo.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: According to Soliani, when presenting the idea to Miyamoto, the team worked hard on a prototype for presentation. They refrained from simply a discussion or visuals and concepts because Soliani "really wanted to show stuff instead of just talking". Miyamoto's major concern was giving "Mario" characters weapons, but he thought that Ubisoft "understands Mario as a character" and put trust in the company when details were fleshed out. The development team was equally apprehensive about featuring firearms in a "Mario" game; to alleviate this, they took inspiration from films with exaggerated weaponry such as "The Fifth Element", which featured plasma-firing arm cannons. Nintendo permitted to let "Mario" characters use the guns. Early development of the game was tricky for Ubisoft, as they had to juggle using a new game engine, Snowdrop, and a genre and concept they had not officially defined. On multiple occasions, Nintendo directly asked Ubisoft to put more emphasis on the weirdness of the Rabbids; Miyamoto found the characters to be a unique source of humor unexplored in the "Mario" franchise. Nintendo's ultimate goal was to be surprised in what ways the Rabbids could bring gameplay elements that were not typical in regular "Mario" games, so they repeatedly asked Ubisoft to surprise them.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Nintendo was always keen on ensuring their games were innovative and stood out. Knowing this, Ubisoft began production by brainstorming unique ideas to set it apart from other strategy games. Considering that many games of the genre were dull in color and slower-paced to emphasize strategy, Ubisoft conceptualized a colorful and fast-paced game, and the company used Nintendo's "Mario Kart" series as its main point of reference. The action was focused on moving around the battlefield instead of hiding for cover often, said Soliani. To make sure they balanced casual gameplay with the strategy genre, Ubisoft extensively playtested. They made sure the game was accessible and taught the player throughout their playtime. When it came to the level of difficulty, Soliani was surprised to see nine-year-old children pulling off stunts he believed would not work with a younger audience.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: An underlying goal of Ubisoft was to combine the two franchises to equally represent both. To emphasize a crossover, the company put effort into contrasting the two. Nintendo wanted a game that was built around the intellectual property (IP) of the "Mario" universe, while also emphasizing the anarchy of the Rabbids, which Nintendo set as a goal from the beginning. For example, Ubisoft wanted Rabbid Peach to not simply be a Rabbid in a Princess Peach costume, but rather to give her a personality that was similar in some ways yet stereotypically contrasting the original character. Rabbid Peach was in the base prototype and Nintendo found it to be a funny concept. While Nintendo gave Ubisoft a lot of open freedom, they made sure that they stayed faithful to the IP. Ubisoft received multiple notes about changes in the animation and looks in the "Mario" characters; in total, there were about 1,500 animations to fit.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: For the game's music, Soliani contracted Grant Kirkhope, a composer who had written the music for numerous critically-acclaimed games such as "Banjo-Kazooie" and "Donkey Kong 64". Like Miyamoto, Soliani was a big fan of his works as he grew up with a Nintendo 64, which contained multiple games with music by him.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Kirkhope received an email from Gian Marco, a producer at Ubisoft, in late 2014. It simply mentioned a game he could be interested in composing music for, so he signed a non-disclosure agreement and met with Soliani in Paris, France. Kirkhope believed he was simply working on a new "Rabbids" video game, as the tentative title at the time was "Rabbids Kingdom Battle". He was confused about why a "Rabbids" game was being kept secret, and when he discovered the game was a crossover with the "Mario" franchise, he was left in shock; Soliani was worried that Kirkhope was disinterested. Eventually, he agreed to work on the game and built a strong connection with Soliani. It was difficult for Soliani to work with Kirkhope at first due to him having to give feedback to someone he admired. One of Kirkhope's biggest challenges was the quantity: he had to compose in total approximately 2.5 hours of music. Additionally, he and Soliani were located in Los Angeles and Milan, respectively; Kirkhope would sometimes accidentally call Soliani in the middle of the night asking for feedback.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Information on a crossover between the "Mario" and "Raving Rabbids" franchises was leaked as early as November 2016, although the title "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" was first leaked in May 2017, before its official announcement during Ubisoft's press conference at E3 2017. The game was released in North America and PAL territories for the Nintendo Switch on 29 August 2017. It was later released in Japan and other East Asian territories on 18 January 2018, where Nintendo published and distributed the title for Ubisoft. A collector's edition was released, which came with a soundtrack CD, cards, and a Rabbid Mario figurine. Ubisoft released post-launch downloadable content (DLC) through a season pass, which includes new weapons, solo challenges, cooperative maps, and story-based content. On 26 June 2018, an expansion known as "Donkey Kong Adventure" was released, which features a new story featuring Rabbid Peach and Beep-0 teaming up with Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky to defeat Rabbid Kong, one of the bosses in the game's main storyline.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: "Kingdom Battle" was intended to be revealed at E3 2017, but some info was accidentally leaked before then. An image of Mario and Rabbid Peach posing with weapons was leaked. When the concept was met with negative reception, the development team became discouraged and lost morale, which caused Soliani to emphasize a unique experience because of it. Soliani was in a constant state of panic before its full reveal and urged his development team to not get their hopes up. When major details about the game were revealed at E3 2017, Miyamoto came and helped Soliani pitch the game to the audience. Upon seeing the game in full, fans showed curiosity and excitement in it. When Soliani saw the praise, he teared up on stage with excitement and relief, and his reaction became an internet meme. After the conference, Soliani received 37 awards for the performance. When he returned to work, the company's morale was greatly boosted.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Ubisoft began to work on the "Donkey Kong Adventure" DLC shortly after the game's reveal at E3 2017. According to Soliani, the initial plan was to release about 1–2 hours of additional content. After the praise of the game after its reveal, Soliani decided to add as much content as possible, with cutscenes, worlds, and gameplay totaling about half of the base game. After the rework, the DLC was 10 hours in length. Kirkhope wrote an additional 45 minutes of music and the programmers completely redid the gameplay as Soliani wanted the new content to be completely offset from the original game.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: To advertise the game, the Ubisoft Instagram account was temporarily changed to appear as if it were Rabbid Peach's personal account, with posts and images being made as if they were coming from her perspective.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game debuted at number two on the UK physical video game sales charts. It was the best-selling physical video game in Australia in the week ending 3 September. It sold 66,692 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, which placed it at number one on the all-format sales chart. By September 2017, "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" became the best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch to have not been wholly published by Nintendo. On June 13, 2021, Davide Soliani announced that the game had been played by 7.5 million players.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Most critical reviews opened by reaffirming the ludicrousness of the game's concept; "Giant Bomb" considered the idea a "bad, late-night message board conversation", and most critics had mixed to negative opinions of the "Rabbids" franchise as a whole, especially in comparison to the "Mario" franchise. When the game was released, reviewers were quick to reconsider how in-depth the game was, despite their preconceived notions that the game would be gimmicky or reliant on "Rabbids"-style humor. Some believed that the game's tone and writing mixed well with the "Mario" franchise; "Wired"s Julie Muncy observed that Mario often acts as a straight man to the Rabbids' childish behavior.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: The cast of new characters introduced in "Kingdom Battle" received a generally positive response. Rabbid Peach in particular emerged as a popular character with critics and players following an initially divisive reception before the game's release. Chris Bratt from "Eurogamer" found that the game's characters are an effective representation of its setting and humor; he singled out Rabbid Peach as having given him an initially crass impression from the game's leak, but grew to enjoy her antics when more of the game was shown, a sentiment fellow "Eurogamer" contributor Jeffrey Matulef shared. Gabe Gurwin of "Digital Trends" regarded her as the standout of "Kingdom Battle"s cast, praising her for her humor and entertaining personality and suggesting that she should appear in the crossover video game series "Super Smash Bros." Paul Tamburro of "Game Revolution" stated that she "steals the show" in "Kingdom Battles", crediting her with giving the Rabbids mascot a personality. Critics were divided over Ubisoft's decision to center the game's promotional efforts on social media around Rabbid Peach; Kotaku's Gita Jackson found the change creepy due to its attempts to personify brands, and felt that the account mocked women on Instagram. Despite this, she still found the character cute. Writer Laura Kate Dale was more positive and commented that Rabbid Peach "stole the show" in "Kingdom Battle", particularly citing her love for taking selfies on her mobile phone as a contributing factor.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: The game's simplified combat system and structure were revered throughout reviews. "Polygon" reviewer Russ Frushstick commented that although the game wasn't too bold in appealing to older audiences, it successfully made the tactical roleplaying genre appealing to unfamiliar audiences with its simplistic approach. "PCMag" considered this to be due to the lack of complex statistics and probability, and rather favored simplistic "coin-flip" chances. "The Verge" also praised its simplicity, and claimed that it blended well with the Nintendo Switch and its portable functionality due to the structured format. Various sites positively compared gameplay to the "XCOM" franchise.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Puzzles in between the level-based combat received mixed opinions in comparison. Writing for "Destructoid", Chris Carter found the space in between levels to be filler rather than a unique exploration feature, only used to hide collectible items. In addition, Jeff Marchiafava of "Game Informer" found certain collectibles, such as music and concept art, to be lackluster and not worth going out of the way to achieve, although the combat phases more than made up for it. Conversely, "GameSpot" enjoyed how it helped interconnect the environment to make it "seamless", and although some puzzles could be tedious it helped give a brief distraction once in a while.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: "Kingdom Battle" received numerous awards, generally in strategy game categories alongside several other nominations. The game won "Best Strategy Game" at the Game Critics Awards, Gamescom, and The Game Awards 2017, as well as the D.I.C.E. Awards the following year. Additionally, the game won "Best Original Game" at the Game Critics Awards, as well as the "Animation" and "Visual Design" categories at the 2018 Develop Awards. It was also nominated for several other miscellaneous categories, such as best casual game, best family game, and best of show; the game was surpassed only by other first-party games developed solely by Nintendo, being under shadowed by "Super Mario Odyssey" and "".


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: "Eurogamer" ranked the game fifth on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017"; "GamesRadar+" ranked it 13th on their list of the 25 best games of 2017; "EGMNow" ranked it 14th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017; "Polygon" ranked it 33rd on their list of the 50 best games of 2017. The game won the award for "Best Strategy Game" in "IGN"s Best of 2017 Awards, whereas its other nominations were for "Best Switch Game" and "Best Original Music".


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: In the 2018 fighting game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", three of the Rabbids appear as collectable Spirits using their artwork from this title: Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Kong. Rabbid Peach appears in "Just Dance 2018" as the alternative playable mascot for Beyoncé's song "Naughty Girl".


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: Connections forged from "Kingdom Battle" extend beyond Rabbids references. In January 2019, Kirkhope was asked by Soliani for his contact information on behalf of Nintendo, saying the company loved what Kirkhope had done for the "Mario + Rabbids" soundtrack and requested his help on an unspecified piece of music. Kirkhope was initially skeptical about the purpose of this offer but accepted it. Upon realizing that he was being asked to arrange music for Banjo and Kazooie's appearance in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", he was excited for the return of the characters.


title: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

text: A sequel, "Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope", was announced at E3 2021 and was released on October 20, 2022 on the Nintendo Switch.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin, sold under the brand name Zocor among others, is a statin, a type of lipid-lowering medication. It is used along with exercise, diet, and weight loss to decrease elevated lipid levels. It is also used to decrease the risk of heart problems in those at high risk. It is taken by mouth.


title: Simvastatin

text: Common side effects include constipation, headaches, and nausea. Serious side effects may include muscle breakdown, liver problems, and increased blood sugar levels. A lower dose may be needed in people with kidney problems. There is evidence of harm to the developing baby when taken during pregnancy and it should not be used by those who are breastfeeding. It is in the statin class of medications and works by decreasing the manufacture of cholesterol by the liver.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin is made from the fungus "Aspergillus terreus". It was patented by Merck in 1980, and came into medical use in 1992. Simvastatin is available as a generic medication, and is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. In 2020, it was the thirteenth most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 36million prescriptions.


title: Simvastatin

text: The primary uses of simvastatin are to treat dyslipidemia and to prevent atherosclerosis-related complications such as stroke and heart attacks in those who are at high risk. It is recommended to be used as an addition to a low-cholesterol diet.


title: Simvastatin

text: In heart protection studies, simvastatin showed the ability to lower LDL cholesterol by about 1·5 mmol/L, which resulted in substantial reductions in mortality rates. Simvastatin also reduced the numbers of other events like heart attacks, strokes, and revascularizations and MI significantly.


title: Simvastatin

text: The Heart Protection Study evaluated the effects of simvastatin in people with risk factors including existing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or stroke, but having relatively low LDL cholesterol. In this trial, which lasted 5.4 years, overall mortality was reduced by 13% and cardiovascular mortality was reduced by 18%. People receiving simvastatin experienced 38% fewer nonfatal heart attacks and 25% fewer strokes.


title: Simvastatin

text: Statins in general have been proposed as beneficial in reducing the progression of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Multiple observational studies have been conducted to analyse the benefits of statin use in delaying the progression of AMD but have resulted in conflicting outcomes. Given the current available information, simvastatin should not be recommended solely for the treatment of AMD.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin is contraindicated with pregnancy, breastfeeding, and liver disease. Pregnancy must be avoided while on simvastatin due to potentially severe birth defects. Patients cannot breastfeed while on simvastatin due to potentially disrupting the infant's lipid metabolism. High doses of simvastatin are also contraindicated with the widely used antihypertensive amlodipine. A lower dose is also recommended in people taking the calcium channel blockers, verapamil and diltiazem, as well as those taking amiodarone.


title: Simvastatin

text: Common side effects (>1% incidence) may include indigestion and eczema. There is evidence to suggest that rare side effects such as joint pain, memory loss, and muscle cramps are more likely to occur in patients who take higher doses of simvastatin. Cholestatic hepatitis, hepatic cirrhosis, rhabdomyolysis (destruction of muscles and blockade of renal system), and myositis have been reported in patients receiving the drug chronically. Serious allergic reactions to simvastatin are rare.


title: Simvastatin

text: A type of DNA variant known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may help predict individuals prone to developing myopathy when taking simvastatin; a study ultimately including 32,000 patients concluded the carriers of one or two risk alleles of a particular SNP, rs4149056, were at a five-fold or 16-fold increased risk, respectively. In 2012, the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium has released guidelines regarding the use of rs4149056 genotype in guiding dosing of simvastatin and updated the guideline in 2014.


title: Simvastatin

text: In March 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its guidance for statin users to address reports of memory loss, liver damage, increased blood sugar, development of type 2 diabetes, and muscle injury. The new guidance indicates:


title: Simvastatin

text: On 19 March 2010, the FDA issued another statement regarding simvastatin, saying it increases the risk of muscle injury (myopathy) when taken at high doses or at lower doses in combination with other drugs. The highest dose rate causes muscle damage in 610 of every 10,000 people in contrast to a lower dose, which causes muscle damage in eight of 10,000 people. The FDA warning, released again on 8 June 2011, suggested that high-dose "simvastatin should be used only in patients who have been taking this dose for 12 months or more without evidence of muscle injury" and that it "should not be started in new patients, including patients already taking lower doses of the drug."


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin has important interactions with grapefruit juice and other drugs, including some that are commonly used for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. These interactions are clinically important because increasing simvastatin serum levels above those normally provided by the maximum recommended dose increases the risk of muscle damage, including the otherwise rare and potentially fatal side effect of rhabdomyolysis.


title: Simvastatin

text: Consuming large amounts of grapefruit juice increases serum levels of simvastatin by up to three-fold, increasing the risk of side effects. The FDA recommends that people taking statins should avoid consuming more than a quart (946 ml) of grapefruit juice per day.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin also interacts with other drugs, including some used to treat cardiovascular problems. It should not be taken by people who are also taking the antifungal drugs fluconazole, itraconazole, or posaconazole; the antibiotics erythromycin, clarithromycin, or telithromycin; HIV protease inhibitors; the antidepressant nefazodone; the cardiovascular drug gemfibrozil; the immunosuppressant ciclosporin, or the endometriosis drug danazol. Reduced maximum doses of simvastatin apply for patients taking certain other drugs, including the cardiovascular drugs verapamil, diltiazem, amiodarone, amlodipine, and ranolazine.<ref name="urlInformation on Simvastatin/Amiodarone"></ref>


title: Simvastatin

text: All statins act by inhibiting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG) coenzyme A reductase. HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme of the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, the metabolic pathway responsible for the endogenous production of cholesterol. Statins are more effective than other lipid-regulating drugs at lowering LDL-cholesterol concentration, but they are less effective than the fibrates in reducing triglyceride concentration. However, statins reduce cardiovascular disease events and total mortality irrespective of the initial cholesterol concentration. This is a major piece of evidence that statins work in another way than the lowering of cholesterol (called pleiotropic effects).


title: Simvastatin

text: The drug is in the form of an inactive lactone that is hydrolyzed after ingestion to produce the active agent. It is a white, nonhygroscopic, crystalline powder that is practically insoluble in water, and freely soluble in chloroform, methanol, and ethanol.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin is an effective serum lipid-lowering drug that can decrease low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels by up to 50%. Simvastatin had been shown to interact with lipid-lowering transcription factor PPAR-alpha and that interaction might control the neurotrophic action of the drug.


title: Simvastatin

text: The development of simvastatin was closely linked with lovastatin. Biochemist Jesse Huff and his colleagues at Merck began researching the biosynthesis of cholesterol in the early 1950s. In 1956, mevalonic acid was isolated from a yeast extract by Karl Folkers, Carl Hoffman, and others at Merck, while Huff and his associates confirmed that mevalonic acid was an intermediate in cholesterol biosynthesis. In 1959, the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme (a major contributor of internal cholesterol production) was discovered by researchers at the Max Planck Institute. This discovery encouraged scientists worldwide to find an effective inhibitor of this enzyme.


title: Simvastatin

text: By 1976, Akira Endo had isolated the first inhibitor, mevastatin, from the fungus "Penicillium citrinium" while working at Daiichi Sankyo in Japan. In 1979, Hoffman and colleagues isolated lovastatin from a strain of the fungus "Aspergillus terreus". While developing and researching lovastatin, Merck scientists synthetically derived a more potent HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor from a fermentation product of "A. terreus", which was designated MK-733 (later to be named simvastatin).


title: Simvastatin

text: In 1994, publication of the results of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) provided the first unequivocal evidence that lowering LDL cholesterol via statin treatment reduces cardiovascular events and overall mortality. A total of 4,444 people with coronary heart disease and blood cholesterol levels from 5.5 to 8.0 mmol/L were randomized to simvastatin treatment or placebo and followed for an average of 5 years. Compared to the placebo group, those treated with simvastatin experienced a 30% decrease in overall mortality, a 42% reduction in coronary death, a 34% reduction in major coronary events, and a 37% reduction in revascularization procedures.


title: Simvastatin

text: Under provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in the United States, health plans may cover the costs of simvastatin 10 mg, 20 mg, and 40 mg for adults aged 40–75 years based on United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations.


title: Simvastatin

text: Zocor had an original patent expiry date of 24 December 2005, but was extended by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to expire on 23 June 2006. The USPTO granted the patent extension after Merck submitted data from studies of the drug's positive effect on children. In the UK, the patent for simvastatin had expired by 2004.


title: Simvastatin

text: Simvastatin was initially marketed by Merck & Co under the brand name Zocor but is available generically in most countries following the patent expiry. A combination of simvastatin along with ezetimibe is sold under the brand name Vytorin and is jointly marketed by Merck and Schering-Plough.


title: Simvastatin

text: Brand names include Zocor, Zocor Heart Pro, marketed by the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Simlup, Simvotin, Simcard [India], Denan (Germany), Liponorm, Sinvacor, Sivastin (Italy), Lipovas (Japan), Lodales (France), Zocord (Austria and Sweden), Zimstat, Simvahexal (Australia), Lipex (Australia and New Zealand), Simvastatin-Teva, Simvacor, Simvaxon, Simovil (Israel), available in Thailand under the brand Bestatin manufactured by Berlin Pharmaceutical Industry Co Ltd and others.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: I'm Thinking of Ending Things is the 2016 debut novel of Canadian writer Iain Reid. It was first published in June 2016 in the United States by Simon & Schuster. The book has been described as a psychological thriller and horror fiction, and is about a young woman who has many doubts about her relationship with her boyfriend but nevertheless takes a road trip with him to meet his parents.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: The novel was selected by National Public Radio as one of the best books of 2016, was a finalist in the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award, and appeared on the 2017 Ottawa Independent Writers Frank Hegyi Award for Emerging Authors longlist. In 2020 Netflix released a film adaptation of the book, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman and starring Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: The story is narrated by Jake's unnamed girlfriend of only a few months. They met in a pub during a college trivia night, and Jake gave her his phone number by writing it on a piece of paper and slipping it into her bag. Several weeks later, he takes her to meet his parents on their remote farm. She has been considering "ending things," but has not told him yet. It is a long drive, and they engage in lengthy philosophical discussions.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: The evening with Jake's parents turns out to be unpleasant and scary. They ask her awkward questions and she sees unsettling things, like a picture of Jake as a child that looks as if it could be her. During the long drive home, Jake decides to stop for "something sweet" at a Dairy Queen. The narrator is exhausted and wants to get home, but reluctantly agrees. She recognizes one of the girls that works at the Dairy Queen, but can't pinpoint why. After getting back on the road, Jake wants to dispose of the cups from their iced drinks at a nearby high school. It is snowing in the middle of the night, and the school is deserted. After disposing of the cups, he starts making out with her in the car in front of the school, but stops when he sees the janitor watching them from one of the windows. Furious, Jake leaves her alone in the car and enters the school building to confront him.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: After a long wait in the cold car, Jake's girlfriend, scared and worried, goes looking for him. She searches the long corridors in the main building, then realizes she is being followed. Believing it to be the janitor, she tries to hide and quickly gets lost. Jake's girlfriend relives traumatic childhood experiences of a neighbor visiting her mother and threatening to take her away. She is terrified and wishes she had ended things with Jake. Then she remembers where the gym is, even though she has never been to this school before. She makes her way there, hoping to find a way out, but becomes confused as to who she is. She starts to physically deteriorate and is unable to see herself separate from Jake. After a while, she discovers that she and Jake are the same person. They make their way to the janitor's room and climb in the closet. Jake becomes the narrator and recalls how he wished he had given her his phone number that trivia night in the pub, but was too shy. He hoped to meet her again, but that never happened. So he wrote about her – he had to make it real. The janitor finds them in his room. He gives her a metal clothes hanger from the closet and says, "I'm thinking of ending things". She agrees, straightens the hanger out, and stabs herself in the neck with the sharp end. As she bleeds out, he says "A single unit, back to one. Me. Only me. Jake. Alone again."


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: Many of the chapters of the book are separated by a conversation between two strangers who discuss a horrific incident that occurred at the school. Near the end of the book, it is revealed they are talking about Jake. Jake was a student who dropped out of college 30 years ago and was employed at the school as a janitor. They talk about how he came from a farm, and that his parents had died long ago. They note how withdrawn and disturbed he became and that he used to spend much of his time on his own writing in notebooks. They discuss the discovery of his body and the notebooks, but it is only when they read them that they understand what happened.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: Reid told interviewers it took him about three years to write the book, although ideas for the story had been with him for far longer. He drew on his experiences growing up on a farm in remote Ontario, and travelling Canadian country roads in total darkness. Reid said that he left the novel's ending open to interpretation, and that while he has his own explanation about what the ending means, other interpretations are all "totally valid". He added that he appreciates books that "put some of the onus onto me to decipher and complete the story".


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: After Reid had finished the novel, he had trouble finding someone who would publish it. He recalled, "Just about everyone in Canada rejected it until Simon and Schuster made a modest offer." The book went on to be listed on "The New York Times" Best Seller list, was translated into over twenty languages, and was made into a film.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: According to the review aggregator Book Marks, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" received positive reviews, based on 5 reviews.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: In a review in the "Chicago Tribune", Lloyd Sachs described "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" as "the boldest and most original literary thriller to appear in some time". He called Reid "a master of tension", and that despite the book's "philosophic weight", he "pulls it off". Sachs recommended re-reading the book, saying that "[w]ith its deep enigmas" and the "dense psychological space [the characters are] traveling through", it "remains as full of dark surprises as your friendly neighborhood black hole".


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: Hannah Pittard wrote in a review in "The New York Times" that she felt the novel's "bait-and-switch tactic"—interspacing the Jake-and-girlfriend narrative with a commentary between two strangers about an unspecified tragedy—too "gimmicky". She also felt that Reid's story was a little too non-diegetic, in that the narrator withholds too much from the reader. Pittard expressed her disappointment at the book's "big reveal" at the end, saying that it "hastily disposes of unexplained and unnecessary red herrings, and the revelation is at once too tidy and too convenient to be satisfying".


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (novel)

text: Writing in "The Australian", author Pip Smith said the novel "reads like a short story with its elastic stretched to snapping point". She said that while it has all the ingredients of a good thriller with mounting tension and a twist at the end, Reid "sells his concept short" by sticking to the thriller format. Smith was critical of Reid's portrayal of Jake's girlfriend as having "inferior intelligence". She acknowledged that by the end of the book it becomes clear that the author was not trying to create "a believable female character, but ... a misanthropic male's fantasy of a female character". However, until the twist, readers "have spent 200 pages with a narrator who is structurally obliged to sound unintelligent". Smith felt that "Reid's novel is about being trapped – by intelligence, social awkwardness, a fantasy of what could have been ... but his novel is also trapped by its own lure: a narrator too flimsy to feel real." She concluded that re-reading the book gives the text new meaning, but added that many people will only read it once, and will miss Reid's "provocations about predetermination and free will".


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: Drugstore Cowboy is a 1989 American crime drama film directed by the American filmmaker Gus Van Sant. Written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost and based on an autobiographical novel by James Fogle, the film stars Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham and William S. Burroughs. It was Van Sant's second film as director.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: At the time the film was made, the source novel by Fogle was unpublished. It was later published in 1990, by which time Fogle had been released from prison. Fogle, like the characters in his story, was a long-time drug user and dealer.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: In 1971, 26-year-old Bob Hughes leads a nomadic group of drug addicts—his wife Dianne, his best friend Rick, and Rick's teenage girlfriend Nadine—who travel across the Pacific Northwest robbing pharmacies and hospitals to support their habits.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: After stealing from a Portland, Oregon, pharmacy, they drive home to get high, and are visited by David, a local low-life seeking hard-to-find Dilaudid. Bob claims they have none but offers to trade him morphine for speed. Initially reluctant, David is persuaded to trade and leaves. Later, police officers led by Detective Gentry, who correctly assumes the group is responsible for the pharmacy robbery, raid and wreck their apartment in an unsuccessful search for the stolen drugs, which Dianne has buried outside.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: After moving to another apartment, Bob realizes that Gentry has the group under surveillance. Bob proceeds to devise an elaborate ruse which results in one of the policemen, Trousinski, being mistaken for a peeper by a neighbor who shoots and injures him. The next day, a furious Gentry assaults Bob. Believing a hex has been brought upon them, the group goes "crossroading" and robs a drugstore via an open transom. They find their haul includes vials of pure powdered Dilaudid worth thousands of dollars each. Declaring that, "when you're hot, you're hot," Bob convinces Dianne that he should rob a hospital.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: During the robbery, Bob is almost captured and the group returns to their motel to find Nadine has fatally overdosed on a stolen bottle of Dilaudid. According to Bob, she has also put "the worst of all hexes" on them by leaving a hat on her bed. After temporarily storing Nadine's body in the motel's attic, they are alerted by the motel manager that their room was previously booked for a sheriffs' convention and they must check out. Bob, suffering tremendous anxiety and stress-induced visions of handcuffs and prison, sneaks the body out of the motel in a garment bag. Before burying Nadine in a forest, Bob tells Dianne that he is going to get clean and begin a 21-day methadone treatment program. Shocked by Bob's decision, Dianne refuses to join him.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: Bob moves into a long-stay motel in Portland and gets a low-level manufacturing job. At the methadone clinic, he encounters an elderly, drug-addicted priest named Tom, whom Bob remembers from his days as an altar boy. Gentry pays a visit to the motel and says that Trousinski has been making threats against Bob, whom Gentry encourages to stay sober. Bob later witnesses David bullying a young man who supposedly owes him money. Bob intervenes and lets the man escape, much to David's frustration.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: One night, Dianne arrives at the motel and reveals that she is now in a relationship with Rick, the group's new leader. Dianne asks Bob what happened on the road to make him change his life, and he answers that Nadine's death, the hex she put on them, and the possibility of serious prison time contributed to his decision. He reveals a deal he made with a higher power: if he could get Nadine's body out of the motel, past the cops, and into the ground, he would straighten out his life. Bob suggests Dianne stay the night with him, but she declines, and gives Bob a package of drugs before leaving. Bob gives the drugs to Tom (who rejects all of them except for a bottle of Dilaudid). Returning to his room, Bob is attacked by two masked figures, one of whom is David, who think he has drugs. Bob tells them that he is clean, but David does not believe this and shoots him. A neighbor phones for help, and Bob is loaded onto a stretcher. Asked who shot him, Bob tells Gentry it was "the hat."


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: While riding in the ambulance, Bob concludes via a voiceover that he has "paid his debt to the hat" and so can resort to his former lifestyle without breaking his commitment. He is amused by the perceived irony of the police driving him to a hospital — "the fattest pharmacy in town."


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: Tom Waits was Van Sant's first choice to play the lead although the finance company would not support Van Sant if he had cast him. Officially the reason given was that Waits was appearing in another movie they were financing although Van Sant has said he suspected the Oscar win of "Kiss of the Spider Woman", a film they had also financed, had made them want a lead who could win an Oscar.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: "Drugstore Cowboy" was filmed mainly around Portland, Oregon, including in an area in the Pearl District that used to be a railyard, with a viaduct going over it. The Lovejoy Columns, which formerly held up the viaduct and feature outsider artwork, are featured in the movie. The initial drugstore scene was filmed at the Nob Hill Pharmacy on NW Glisan Street.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: The soundtrack includes songs that are contemporaneous with the film's setting, along with original music by Elliot Goldenthal. It is one of his earliest works; in it he does not use an orchestra but a whole range of instruments treated in a synthesizer. The score and soundtrack were also the first that Goldenthal worked on with Richard Martinez, a music producer whose "computer expertise and sound production assistance" became the basis for frequent subsequent collaborations. "AllMusic" rated this soundtrack three stars out of five.


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: The film was very well received critically and is listed on the Top Ten lists of both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, for films released in 1989. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of and a consensus: ""Drugstore Cowboy" takes us into a violent, transient world with cool, contemplative style". Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 based on 15 reviews, indicating "Universal Acclaim".


title: Drugstore Cowboy

text: In his print review for "The Chicago Sun-Times", Ebert gave the film 4 stars out of a possible 4. He described Dillon as offering "one of the great recent American movie performances" and highlighted how the film was successful by portraying the characters not as "bad people [but] sick people" who formed an unorthodox family to cope with "the desperation in their lives". Ebert also singled out Burrough's cameo as "a guest appearance by Death."


title: Chase Claypool

text: Chase Claypool (born July 7, 1998) is a Canadian professional American football wide receiver for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Chase Claypool

text: Claypool attended Abbotsford Senior Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada where he played both basketball and AA football in his senior years and graduated in 2016.


title: Chase Claypool

text: During his career, he set numerous school receiving records. After receiving recruitment offers from several top-tier US colleges, Claypool decided to commit to the University of Notre Dame to play college football.


title: Chase Claypool

text: Claypool played in 12 games as a true freshman at Notre Dame in 2016. He finished the season with five receptions for 81 yards and led the team in special teams tackles with 11. As a sophomore in 2017, he started eight of 12 games, recording 29 receptions for 402 yards and two touchdowns. As a junior in 2018, Claypool started 12 of 13 games, finishing second on the team with 50 receptions for 639 yards and four touchdowns. Claypool took over as Notre Dame's number one receiver his senior year in 2019, a season in which he caught 66 passes for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns.


title: Chase Claypool

text: Claypool was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round, 49th overall, in the 2020 NFL Draft as the team's first selection. Although eligible as a Canadian and rated as the No. 2 prospect, Claypool went undrafted in the 2020 CFL Draft.


title: Chase Claypool

text: On July 22, 2020, Claypool signed a rookie contract with the Steelers worth $6.6 million over four years.


title: Chase Claypool

text: On September 20, during Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, Claypool finished with three receptions for 88 receiving yards, including an 84-yard touchdown, as the Steelers won 26–21.


title: Chase Claypool

text: In Week 5, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Claypool finished with 110 receiving yards and four total touchdowns (three receiving & one rushing), both career highs, as the Steelers won 38–29. With his Week 5 effort, Claypool became the first Steelers rookie in franchise history to score four touchdowns in a game, and the first Steeler since Roy Jefferson in 1968 to do so. Claypool also became the only wide receiver in NFL history to accomplish this feat in the same game. His performance helped the team start out with a 4–0 record for the first time since 1979. On October 14, 2020, Claypool was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 5.


title: Chase Claypool

text: In Week 10, against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had four receptions for 56 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in 36–10 victory.


title: Chase Claypool

text: In the Wild Card round of the playoffs against the Cleveland Browns, Claypool recorded 5 catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns during the 48–37 loss.


title: Chase Claypool

text: Claypool was traded to the Chicago Bears on November 1, 2022, in exchange for their own second round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In his Bears debut in Week 9 vs. the Miami Dolphins, Claypool caught 2 passes for 13 yards.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Cherrapunji () or Sohra is a subdivisional town (Proposed District) East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is the traditional capital of ka "hima" Sohra (Khasi tribal kingdom).


title: Cherrapunji

text: Sohra has often been credited as being the wettest place on Earth, but for now nearby Mawsynram currently holds that distinction. It still holds the all-time record for the most rainfall in a calendar month and in a year, however: it received in July 1861 and between 1 August 1860 and 31 July 1861.


title: Cherrapunji

text: The history of the Khasi people – native inhabitants of Sohra– may be traced from the early part of the 16th century. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, these people were ruled by their tribal 'Syiems (rajas or chiefs) of Khyriem' in the Khasi Hills. The Khasi hills came under British authority in 1833 with the submission of the last of the important Syiem, Tirot Sing Syiem.


title: Cherrapunji

text: The original name for this town was Sohra (soh-ra), which was pronounced "Cherra" by the British. This name eventually evolved into a temporary name, Cherrapunji, meaning 'land of oranges', which was first used by tourists from other parts of India. It has again been renamed to its original form, Sohra.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Despite abundant rainfall, Sohra faces an acute water shortage and the inhabitants often have to trek very long distances to obtain potable water. Irrigation is hampered due to excessive rain washing away the topsoil as a result of human encroachment into the forests. Recent developments of rain-water harvesting techniques in the area have greatly helped the town and its neighbouring villages.


title: Cherrapunji

text: There is a monument to David Scott (British Administrator in NE India, 1802–31) in the town's cemetery.


title: Cherrapunji

text: It has an average elevation of and sits on a plateau in the southern part of the Khasi Hills, facing the plains of Bangladesh. The plateau rises 660 meters above the surrounding valleys.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Soils on the plateau are poor owing to deforestation and washout caused by heavy rainfall. Owing to winter droughts, the vegetation in this location is even xerophytic in spite of the town's fame as an extremely wet place. Additional pressure on local ecosystems is created by the rapid increase of the population – from a Sohra-area population of 7,000 in 1960, it grew to over 10,000 by 2000.


title: Cherrapunji

text: The valleys around Sohra, however, are covered with lush and very diverse vegetation, containing numerous endemic species of plants, including Meghalaya subtropical forests.


title: Cherrapunji

text: There are some interesting living root bridges in villages near Sohra like the Umshiang root bridge, Mawsaw root bridge, Ritymmen root bridge and the Double Decker woot bridge at Nongriat village.


title: Cherrapunji

text: The Shillong Plateau is an uplifted horst-like feature, bounded by the E-W Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) to the North, the N–S Jamuna fault in the west, and the NW-SE kopilli fracture zone in the east.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Sohra has a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen "Cwb"), with monsoonal influences typical of India. Although Sohra has very wet, warm summers, it has dry, mild winters. The city's annual rainfall average stands at . This figure places it behind only nearby Mawsynram, Meghalaya, whose average is . Sohra receives both the southwest and northeast monsoonal winds, giving it a single monsoon season. It lies on the windward side of the Khasi Hills, so the resulting orographic lift enhances precipitation. In the winter months it receives the northeast monsoon showers that travel down the Brahmaputra valley. The driest months are November, December, January and February.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Sohra holds two Guinness world records for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year: of rainfall between August 1860 and July 1861 and for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single month: in July 1861.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Sohra receives rains from the Bay of Bengal arm of the Indian summer monsoon. The monsoon clouds fly unhindered over the plains of Bangladesh for about 400 km. Thereafter, they hit the Khasi Hills which rise abruptly from the plains to a height of about 1,370 m above mean sea level within 2 to 5 km. The geography of the hills with many deep valley channels encompassing the low-flying (150–300 m) moisture-laden clouds from a wide area converges over Sohra. The winds push the rain clouds through these gorges and up the steep slopes. The rapid ascent of the clouds into the upper atmosphere hastens the cooling and helps vapours to condense. Most of the rain is the result of air being lifted as a large body of water vapour. The extreme amount of rainfall is perhaps the best-known feature of orographic rain in northeastern India.


title: Cherrapunji

text: Occasionally, cloudbursts can occur in one part of Sohra while other areas may be totally or relatively dry, reflecting the high spatial variability of the rainfall. Atmospheric humidity is extremely high during the peak monsoon period.


title: Cherrapunji

text: The major part of the rainfall at Sohra can be attributed to the orographic features. When the clouds are blown over the hills from the south, they are funneled through the valley. The clouds strike Sohra perpendicularly and the low flying clouds are pushed up the steep slopes. It is not surprising to find that the heaviest rainfalls occur when the winds blow directly on the Khasi Hills.