title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Summer Breeze Concert Series is a series of concerts held from Spring to Fall at various park venues across Norman. The series is sponsored by the Performing Arts Studio.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Midsummer Nights' Fair is a nighttime arts festival held during two evenings in June. The fair features art, music, and food and is held outside the Firehouse Art Center located in Lions Park.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The Norman Mardi Gras parade is a celebration of Mardi Gras occurring on the Saturday closest to Fat Tuesday. The parade is held in downtown Norman and features themed costumes and floats.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The Main Street Christmas Holiday Parade is a celebration of Christmas and the holiday season held every December in downtown Norman. The parade features holiday-themed costumes and floats.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The University of Oklahoma sponsors many collegiate sporting events in Norman. The school is well known for its football program, having won seven NCAA Division I National Football Championships. In addition, it has the best winning percentage of any Division I FBS team since the introduction of the AP Poll in 1936 and has played in four BCS National Championship Games since 1998.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: During football season, the Oklahoma Sooners football program contributes significantly to Norman's economy. During game day weekends, Norman sees an influx out of town traffic from all over the country with over 80,000 people routinely attending football games. Norman's local businesses, especially areas around campus and Campus Corner, benefit greatly from the game day traffic alone. The program ranks in the top 10 of ESPN's top college football money-makers with home games generating revenues at approximately $59 million and game day operating expenses at about $6.1 million.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: In 1951 and 1994 its baseball team won the NCAA national championship, and the women's softball team won the national championship in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2022. The men's and women's gymnastics teams have won ten national championships since 2001.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Other university men's sports include: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, football, Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. The OU Sooners men's hockey team competes in the American College Hockey Association, at the "club" level, but has yet to apply for higher-level play. Due to the lack of a rink in Norman, the team plays at the Blazers Ice Centre in south Oklahoma City. Women's sports include: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, football, Ultimate Frisbee, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), a non-profit professional association of men's collegiate golf coaches, is located in Norman.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman's Parks and Recreation Department facilitates 55 neighborhood and community parks, three recreation centers, a golf course and driving range, three disc golf courses, a complete swim complex with waterslides, a wading pool, 32 tennis courts, and three special services centers (that offer cultural arts and senior citizen activities). Griffin Community Park Sports Complex includes 16 soccer fields, 14 baseball/softball fields, and four football fields.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: A council-manager government has been in place in Norman since the adoption of its city charter on , 1919. A councilor from each of the city's eight council wards is elected to office every two years, each serving a two-year term. Councilors are elected from their own respective wards based on a plurality voting system; a councilor from each ward serves on the Norman City Council. A mayor is elected by the entire voting population of Norman and serves as an at-large councilor; the mayor serves a three-year term. As a whole, the council acts as the legislative body of city government; it aims to pass laws, approve the city budget, and manage efficiency in the government. The City Council appoints a professional City Manager who is responsible for the city's day-to-day administrative activities. The City of Norman has approximately 650 employees working in 11 departments and 31 boards and commissions that help oversee and implement the city's policies and services. The City Council meets biweekly in City Hall, at 201 W. Gray Street; various boards and commissions meet in accordance with their own schedules. The mayor is Larry Heikkila (elected in 2022), and the city manager is Darrel Pyle (appointed in 2019). In accordance with the charter of the city of Norman, all city elected positions are nonpartisan.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Municipal and state laws are enforced by the Norman Police Department. The police department consists of up to 171 commissioned officers and 71 office employees and is Oklahoma's third-largest police department.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The University of Oklahoma is the largest university in the state of Oklahoma, with approximately 30,000 students enrolled. The university was founded in 1890, prior to Oklahoma statehood. The university includes both Norman and Oklahoma City campuses with the main campus located in Norman. In 2007, "The Princeton Review" named the University of Oklahoma one of its "Best Value" colleges. The school is ranked first per capita among public universities in enrollment of National Merit Scholars and has seen 28 Rhodes Scholars graduate since the program's inception in 1902. PC Magazine and the Princeton Review rated it one of the "20 Most Wired Colleges" in both 2006 and 2008, while the Carnegie Foundation classifies it as a research university with "highest research activity."


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The school is well known for its athletic programs, having won many awards including seven NCAA Division I National Football Championships.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The city of Norman is served by the Moore Norman Technology Center. The school was established in 1972 and has been awarded the Oklahoma Association of Technology Center's Gold Star School Award on multiple occasions. The Franklin Road Campus consists of six buildings totaling of classroom, meeting, and office space. The school has a full-time staff of 207.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Public school districts in Oklahoma are independent of other local governments. Several districts overlap the municipal boundaries of the City of Norman.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman Public Schools is the largest district serving Norman; there are 15 elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools in the district. More than 17,000 students are enrolled in the district, making it one of the largest in the state.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Noble Public Schools is a school district that serves southeastern portions of Norman, the adjoining cities of Noble and Slaughterville, and parts of Cleveland County. It consists of two elementary schools, an intermediate school, a middle school, and a high school.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Little Axe Public Schools serves the eastern area of Norman. It consists of an elementary, junior, and high school.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Other school districts with territory within the city are the Robin Hill Public School District and the Moore Public School District.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman is served by three public libraries, Norman Public Library Central, Norman Public Library East, and Norman Public Library West, all of which are part of the 12-branch Pioneer Library System which serves the entirety of Cleveland County, McClain County and Pottawatomie County in Central Oklahoma. The library has a reciprocal agreement with the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma City through which those eligible for a library card in one system are also eligible in the other. Cardholders are also able to borrow books unavailable in the PLS collection through the use of Interlibrary Loan. Books can be reserved and shipped to a local library free of charge. In addition to books, the library maintains a collection of periodicals, DVD videos, audio books, e-books and research materials.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The Bizzell Memorial Library at the University of Oklahoma is the largest library in the state of Oklahoma, containing more than five million volumes. In addition to books, the library maintains over in length of manuscripts and archives, 1.6 million photographs, and more than 1.5 million maps. The library also houses more than 50 books printed before the year 1500.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: "The Norman Transcript" is the most widely circulated Norman-based newspaper in the city. It is a daily newspaper covering events in Cleveland and McClain counties. It is the oldest continuous business in Norman and was founded shortly after the Land Run of April 1889 on , 1889.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: "The Oklahoma Daily" is a student-run newspaper at the University of Oklahoma. It was first published in 1897, several years after the university's founding. The paper has received numerous awards for journalism excellence including the Associated Collegiate Press' Pacemaker Award.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: KGOU is a full-service public radio station licensed to the University of Oklahoma. The station serves Norman and the greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area with a news/talk/jazz format, using programs from National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and others.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman TV is a government-access television station airing on Cox Communications cable television channel 20. It broadcasts programming provided by the City of Norman, including video from city council meetings.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Scheduled air transport, major commercial air transportation is available at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, located approximately northwest of Norman. The airport serves more than 3.78 million passengers per year.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman is served locally by Max Westheimer Airport, a general aviation airport run by the University of Oklahoma. The airport is one of only two airports in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area designated as a reliever airport to Will Rogers World Airport. Max Westheimer Airport is capable of handling aircraft up through and including executive class jet aircraft.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The Cleveland Area Rapid Transit, operated by the University of Oklahoma, provides bus service throughout the Norman area. CART also provides service to the Social Security Administration offices in Moore, as well as to Oklahoma City's EMBARK transit hub downtown. EMBARK maintains a fleet of buses and trolleys serving the greater Oklahoma City area, with a new light-rail system expected to begin operations in 2018. All service to Will Rogers World Airport is not currently available.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: In 2008, CART became the 39th public transportation system in the United States to be featured on Google Transit, a website that allows transportation users to electronically plan their travel routes. In 2010, CART buses were modified to include a GPS tracking system that allows riders to see the location of buses and their predicted arrival times via the CART and Google websites. CART buses transport more than 1.3 million travelers annually.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Inter-city passenger train service is available via Amtrak at Norman Depot. Amtrak's "Heartland Flyer" provides daily round trip service to downtown Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Although Norman currently has no light rail or commuter rail service, there is growing interest in incorporating such services into the city's future transportation plans as part of the Oklahoma City metro area's regional transit system.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The predominant form of transportation in Norman is roads and highways with 80.0% of all residents driving alone to work, 9.0% carpooling, and just 1.3% taking public transportation. As of 2007, Interstate 35 alone was handling over 99,000 vehicles per day. Other major highways include State Highway 9, a portion of which serves 28,000 vehicles per day, and U.S. Highway 77, which serves more than 25,000 vehicles per day.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman is also connected to the planned South Loop Turnpike via the Norman Spur Turnpike, which follows State Highway 9 from a point west of Interstate 35 to the H.E. Bailey Turnpike (Interstate 44) south of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. Plans are going forward to connect the Norman Spur to Airport Road (Oklahoma 152) in Oklahoma City and to the north to the existing John Kilpatrick Turnpike that ends just south of Interstate 40 near Yukon and moving north across the north side of Oklahoma City to the Turner Turnpike to Tulsa. The expansion will allow Norman residents a high-speed, limited-access route to the west without having to enter the heavily trafficked areas of Oklahoma City. Future plans call for an extension east and north of the Turnpike to connect Norman directly to Interstate 40 east and the Turner Turnpike to Tulsa, greatly reducing travel times for residents because they will be able to avoid Oklahoma City's traffic in all directions except for northbound Interstate 35.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Electric utility companies servicing Norman include Oklahoma Gas & Electric, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City, and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (a utility cooperative). Natural gas is provided by Oklahoma Natural Gas. The city's Utility Department offers water, wastewater, and recycling services to parts of the city as well as solid waste pickup citywide.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Telephone networks, broadband internet, and cable television service are available from several companies including Cox Communications and AT&T.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: In a study published in 2007, the National Institutes of Health deemed hexavalent chromium VI (chromium-6) to be a likely carcinogen in lab animals when consumed in large quantities (>62.5ppm) in drinking water.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The EPA does not currently require testing for or set limits on chromium-6 levels in American cities' water supplies (but it does require total chromium-3 and chromium-6 levels not exceed 100 ppb). The official total chromium-3/chromium-6 level present in Norman's drinking water has ranged from 20 to 80 ppb. It has been proposed that the source of the chromium-6 is the Garber-Wellington Aquifer, which is known to have elevated levels of heavy metals.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The issue of chromium-6 levels gained national attention with the 2000 film release of "Erin Brockovich", which detailed a California woman's legal fight against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for allegedly contaminating her hometown with excessive levels of the element.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: In the past the Norman water supply has also been criticized for the presence of excessive levels of arsenic. The city is attempting to combat this problem by building new wells and removing older ones.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman Regional Health System is a multi-campus system that provides medical services in Norman and throughout south central Oklahoma. Its Porter Avenue campus, located north of downtown Norman, is a 337-bed general hospital providing a wide range of services including acute care. In October 2009, the Norman Regional HealthPlex campus opened in west Norman. It provides a 152-bed facility specializing in cardiology, cardiovascular services, as well as women's and children's services.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman has a wide variety of neighborhoods. Downtown Norman is an area of approximately bounded by University Blvd., Symmes St., Porter Ave., and Daws St.; primary streets include Main St. and Gray St. The area consists of restaurants, art galleries, and other businesses; it is home to some of the oldest buildings in Oklahoma.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Hall Park is an area northeast of downtown Norman that was originally an independent township; in 2005 it was annexed into Norman, becoming one of its neighborhoods. The area is home to many middle-class suburban homes and is historically important in that it was advertised as the United States' first "all-electric town." President Ronald Reagan, then an executive with General Electric, attended Hall Park's grand opening ceremonies in 1962 where he was named the town's honorary first mayor.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The University of Oklahoma and the area surrounding it are home to many historically significant neighborhoods. The university itself has a unique Gothic-inspired architecture known as "Cherokee Gothic," so named by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Churches and houses in the surrounding neighborhoods can be described as neo-Gothic or Queen Anne in style. Norman has two city-designated historic preservation districts in the area: the Miller Historic District, bounded by Symmes St., Classen Blvd., and Miller Ave.; and the Chautauqua Historic District, bounded by Symmes St., Brooks St., Chautauqua Ave., and Lahoma Ave. Both of these residential neighborhoods contain houses designed from a mixture of architectural styles dating from 1903 to 1935, with the majority of the Miller neighborhood being of the Bungalow or American Craftsman style homes. Any external changes or repairs to homes in these areas must be approved by the Norman Historic Preservation Commission.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: The area immediately north of the university is known as Campus Corner and contains a mixture of businesses, bars, and restaurants. The neighborhoods to the east of the campus are home to many students, both in residential housing and high-rise condos/apartments.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: Norman enjoys many tree-lined landscapes, participating in the ReLeaf Norman and Tree City USA programs.


title: Norman, Oklahoma

text: In accordance with Sister Cities International, an organization that began under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Norman has been given four international sister cities in an attempt to foster cross-cultural understanding:


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: Murmansk Oblast (, "Murmanskaya oblast"; Kildin Sami: Мурман е̄ммьне, "Murman jemm'ne") is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 795,409.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: Geographically, Murmansk Oblast is located mainly on the Kola Peninsula almost completely north of the Arctic Circle and is a part of the larger Sápmi (Lapland) region that spans over four countries. The oblast borders with the Republic of Karelia in Russia in the south, Lapland Region in Finland in the west, Troms and Finnmark County in Norway in the northwest, and is bounded by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the south and east. Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia lies across the White Sea.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: Much of the oblast's relief is hilly, with the Khibiny and Lovozero ranges rising as high as above sea level and stretching from west to east. The highest point of Murmansk Oblast is Yudychvumchorr, a flat-topped peak of the Khibiny. The north of the oblast is mostly covered by tundra; forest tundra prevails further south, while the southern regions are in the taiga zone. There are over 100,000 lakes and 18,000 rivers in the oblast. The coast contains the Rybachy Peninsula and the Cape Svyatoy Nos peninsulas.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The climate is harsh and unstable, due to the proximity of the Gulf Stream on one side and Arctic cold fronts on the other. Sharp temperature changes, high winds, and abundant precipitation are common throughout the year, with the heating season lasting for ten straight months. However, the waters of the Murman Coast in the south remain warm enough to remain ice-free even in winter.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: There is also a large number of islands belonging to the oblast, the main ones being (west to east) the Aynovy Islands, Bolshoy Oleny Island, Kildin Island Malyy Oleniy Island, Kharlov Island, Vesknyak Island, Litskiye Island, Nokuyev Island, Vitte Island, Lumbovskiy Island, Goryainov Island and Sosnovets Island.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: Most areas of the Kola Peninsula are subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: "Dfc"). The nearby islands usually belong to tundra (Köppen climate classification: "ET").


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The Saami, now a very small minority, are the indigenous people of the region. Russians started exploring the shores of the White Sea as early as in the 12th century, and in 1916 founded the Russian city of Murmansk, now home to or nearly 40% of the oblast's population. Many Finns also immigrated to Murmansk during the Finnish famine, around the year 1860.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The oblast was established on May 28, 1938 from Murmansk Okrug of Leningrad Oblast (comprising the city of Murmansk, Kirovsky, Kolsky, Lovozersky, Polyarny, Saamsky, Teribersky, and Tersky Districts) and Kandalakshsky District of the Karelian ASSR.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The area of Pechengsky District ("Petsamo" in Finnish), which was ceded to Finland by the 1920 Treaty of Tartu and gave Finland access to the Barents Sea, was recaptured by the Soviet Union in 1940. After the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the local Saami population was given the choice either of staying in Soviet Russia or resettling in Finland. Most of them chose the second option. On 30 October 1997, Murmansk, alongside Astrakhan, Kirov, Ulyanovsk, and Yaroslavl signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy. The agreement would be abolished on 31 May 2003.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Murmansk CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The Charter of Murmansk Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Murmansk Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The indigenous people of the area, the Saami, are only a tiny minority today. As of the 2002 Census, 92.2% of the oblast's population live in urban areas. The most populous city is the Oblast's administrative center, Murmansk, with 336,137 inhabitants. Other large cities and towns include Severomorsk, Apatity, Kandalaksha, Monchegorsk, and Kirovsk.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: In 2009, the urban areas were marked by natural population decline (−0.16% per year) and the rural areas were marked by natural population growth (+0.35% per year).


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: According to a 2012 survey 41.7% of the population of Murmansk Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 3% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or are members of other (non-Russian) Orthodox churches, 1% are adherents of Islam, 0.4% are adherents of Rodnovery (Slavic native faith) and other indigenous folk religions, and 1% are members of the Catholic Church. In addition, 28% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 12% is atheist, and 12.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The Murmansk Oblast is very rich in natural resources and has deposits of over 700 minerals. The main industries of the region are in the sphere of raw material extraction and basic processing. The largest industries are metallurgy (36,6%), electric power-production (22,9%) and food-industry, including fishing (13,7%). The icefree port of Murmansk plays an important role in marine transportation in Russia, and the oblast has a 41% share of the total Russian marine transport market. The fishing industry is among the most profitable in the region, supplying 16% of Russia's total fish production. Murmansk is a key base for three fishing fleets, including Russia's largest, the Murmansk Trawl Fleet.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The economy of the region is export-oriented. Main export items are nickel products, apatite concentrate, copper and copper products, aluminium and ferrous metals. The Murmansk Region produces almost 100 percent of Russia's apatite concentrate (3.7 million tons in 1998), 43 percent of nickel, 15 percent of copper, 12 percent of iron ore and iron ore concentrate (17.7 million and 6.4 million tons in 1998), and 40 percent of cobalt.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The largest companies of the region – constituting 90% of the oblast's production – are Pechenganickel, Olcon, the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Sevrybkholodflot, Murmanrybprom, Murmansk Trawl Fleet and Murmansk Shipping Company.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: Large oil and gas resources have been discovered on the shelf of the Barents sea, including the massive Shtokman field – one of the world's largest gas fields with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters. Prospective oil fields could potentially yield up to 40 million tons in the next 10–15 years. However, the development of the oil and gas resources will require considerable investment.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: In 2006, the Murmansk Oblast's gross regional product was 141.9 billion rubles, which amounts to about 0.4% of the Russian GDP. Unemployment in 2006 was 3,4%. GRP pro capita in 2007 was 225 044 rubles. Regional automobile code is 51.


title: Murmansk Oblast

text: The Murmansk Oblast plays an important role for the Russian Navy, the Northern Fleet having its headquarters in Severomorsk, 25 km north of Murmansk. The Navy has several other bases and shipyards in the Murmansk Oblast.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The Night Before is a 2015 American Christmas comedy stoner film directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Levine, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as three childhood friends who annually reunite on Christmas Eve in search of the best party in New York City. Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Mindy Kaling, and Michael Shannon also star.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: Principal photography began on August 11, 2014, in New York City. Good Universe and Point Grey Pictures produced the film, which Columbia Pictures released in North America on November 20, 2015. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $52 million worldwide.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: In December 2001, Ethan Miller loses his parents in a car accident. His best friends Isaac Greenberg and Chris Roberts resolve to spend every Christmas Eve with him so that he will not be alone. The three learn about the exclusive Nutcracker Ball party but are unable to find it.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: They continue their collective holiday tradition for many years until 2015, when they finally decide to end the tradition. Chris, now a famous football player, and Isaac, married with a baby on the way, worry that Ethan, a struggling musician working dead-end jobs, is not ready for the tradition to end.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: At work, Ethan steals tickets to the Nutcracker Ball. Before embarking on their last Christmas Eve together, the friends meet at Isaac's house, where his pregnant wife, Betsy, gives him various illegal drugs, including magic mushrooms and cocaine.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The friends stop first at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, where Ethan reveals the tickets to the ball. In an attempt to impress his teammates, Chris purchases marijuana from their former high school dealer, Mr. Green.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: At a karaoke bar, the friends run into Diana, who recently broke up with Ethan due to his failure to commit, and her friend Sarah, both of whom are also attending the Nutcracker Ball. Isaac, affected by the drugs he took, records a video phone message confessing that he is terrified of having a child. Chris hooks up with a supposed fan who steals his marijuana.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The friends contact Mr. Green again, who meets them at Chris' mother's, where they have dinner. She encourages Ethan to make up with Diana, and Isaac realizes he has accidentally switched phones with Sarah when he begins to receive sexts. While they search for Isaac's phone, the thief steals Chris' marijuana again.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The friends split up, as Chris wants his marijuana back, Isaac wants his phone, and Ethan wants to go to the party. Chris fails to recover his marijuana but through the thief learns the true value of his friends. Isaac, hallucinating from a mixture of drugs, meets his wife and her family and vomits during Midnight Mass. Ethan is beaten by two drunk pub crawling men dressed as Santa after defending the spirit of Christmas.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: Meeting back at a subway station, the tension between the friends explodes as Ethan reveals that he and Isaac know Chris' sudden success is due to steroids, and Chris reveals that he and Isaac think Ethan is lost.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: Despite their revelations, the friends go to the Nutcracker Ball. Chris learns that his teammates did not need the marijuana he struggled to obtain, and mock him for a video shot earlier with his friends. Isaac retrieves his phone, learning Sarah never revealed his video message. Ethan finds Diana and spontaneously proposes to her in front of the entire party with Miley Cyrus. While she accepts publicly, she declines in private, saying that he only proposed out of fear of losing his friends.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: Ashamed, Ethan goes to the roof where he finds Mr. Green, who reveals that he is the creator and host of the Nutcracker Ball. After experiencing a memory of his friends initiating their yearly ritual, Ethan rejoins Chris and Isaac, who have been thrown out after an altercation with Chris' teammates.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: As morning dawns, the friends reconcile just as Isaac receives a message that Betsy is in labor. Rushing to the hospital in Mr. Green's car, they discover it was a false alarm. Mr. Green is revealed to be an angel, helping the friends in order to earn his wings. Isaac shows his wife the video, and she admits she is also scared about raising their daughter.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The trio spend Christmas at Isaac's, after which Chris has dinner with his mother and admits to his steroid use. Ethan goes to Diana's, where he apologizes for his behavior and not being ready to commit. Admitting that she has missed him, Diana accepts his request to finally meet her parents.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: One year later, the friends and their loved ones spend Christmas together. Isaac's baby cannot sleep, so the trio serenade her.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: On February 10, 2014, it was announced that Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt would reunite in the film, following "50/50", in which they co-starred. On May 13, Anthony Mackie joined the cast. Jonathan Levine, director of "50/50", directed "The Night Before" from his own script. Good Universe and Point Grey Pictures produced the film, which Sony's Columbia Pictures distributed.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: On August 7, Jillian Bell was cast to play Betsy, the wife of Rogen's character. On August 8, Lizzy Caplan joined the cast to play Diana, a love interest of Gordon-Levitt's character.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: Principal photography on the film began on August 11, 2014, in New York City. On August 14, filming took place around 112th street and Broadway in NYC. On August 22, Rogen was spotted filming scenes outside a church in Manhattan. On January 5, 2015, filming took place in and around Rockefeller Center, where the crews were taking some shots of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: The film was originally scheduled to be released on December 11, 2015, but Sony moved the release date to November 25, 2015, and later to November 20, 2015.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: "The Night Before" grossed $43 million in North America and $9.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $52.4 million, against a budget of $25 million.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: In the United States, "The Night Before" opened alongside "" and "Secret in Their Eyes" on November 20, 2015. The film made $550,000 from its Thursday preview screenings and $3.6 million on its first day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.9 million, and finished fourth at the box office behind "Mockingjay – Part 2" ($102.7 million), "Spectre" ($15 million) and "The Peanuts Movie" ($13.2 million). During its second week, the film grossed $8.4 million (a drop of 15.2%), finishing 6th at the box office.


title: The Night Before (2015 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Night Before" provokes enough belly laughs to qualify as a worthwhile addition to the list of Christmas comedies worth revisiting, even if it isn't quite as consistent as the classics." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. By 1892, the expression was in use in relation to hypnosis, though there is an ongoing debate as to whether hypnosis is to be identified as an ASC according to its modern definition. The next retrievable instance, by Dr Max Mailhouse from his 1904 presentation to conference, however, is unequivocally identified as such, as it was in relation to epilepsy, and is still used today. In academia, the expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart. It describes induced changes in one's mental state, almost always temporary. A synonymous phrase is "altered state of awareness".


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: There is no general definition of an altered state of consciousness, as any definitional attempt would first have to rely on a definition of a normal state of consciousness. Attempts to define the term can however be found in philosophy, psychology and neuroscience. There is no final consensus on what the most accurate definition is. In the following, the best established and latest definitions are provided:


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: "An altered state is any mental state(s), induced by various physiological, psychological, or pharmacological maneuvers or agents, which can be recognized subjectively by the individual himself (or by an objective observer of the individual) as representing a sufficient deviation in subjective experience of psychological functioning from certain general norms for that individual during alert, waking consciousness."


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Starting from this, Charles Tart focuses his definition on the subjective experience of a state of consciousness and its deviation from a normal waking state.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: "Altered states of consciousness are alternate patterns or configurations of experience, which differ qualitatively from a baseline state."


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Farthing's definition of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) is based on Charles Tart's terminology. Charles Tart described an altered state of consciousness as a profound change in the "overall pattern of subjective experiences". In order to define an ASC, Tart focuses on the importance of subjective experience.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Farthing adds to his definition that an ASC is short-termed or at least reversible and that it might not even be recognized as an ASC at that moment. His definition relies only on subjective experience, leaving aside behavioral changes and physiological response.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: "An altered state of consciousness (ASC) may be defined as a temporary change in the overall pattern of subjective experience, such that the individual believes that his or her mental functioning is distinctly different from certain general norms for his or her normal waking state of consciousness". Farthing (1992, p. 205)


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: He lists fourteen dimensions of changed subjective experience. To account for an ASC, multiple dimensions need to be altered.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: A recent working definition for empirical research is based on these previous definitions and provided by Schmidt.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: As a working definition for neuroscientific research, it might suffice to presume that most people have a strong intuition concerning which variability in their everyday wakeful state feels normal to them. This variability of experience is considered as normal fluctuation, while any state that is experienced to diverge significantly from it can be called an ASC. From an experimental perspective, it is also reasonable to compare ASC conditions to a baseline state – a state subjectively judged as average, or normal. The comparison with a 'normal' baseline requires that the ASC under investigation is of relatively short duration (minutes to hours), which differentiates ASCs from most pathological conditions. Importantly, it has been emphasized that an ASC is not a mere quantitative change in a single cognitive function (e.g. elevated arousal). Instead, it is a multidimensional phenomenon. Thereby, the relative intensity of multiple consciousness aspects constitutes a 'phenomenological pattern' characterizing a particular state. Such 'patterns' have also been referred to as relative changes in the '(basic) dimensions of consciousness'. For empirical research, such patterns correspond to a multivariate combination of independent 'consciousness factors', which can be quantified via questionnaires. The 'phenomenological pattern' results from the factor structure of the applied psychometric assessment, i.e. the individual ratings, or factor scores, of a questionnaire.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Altered states of consciousness might have been employed by humans as early as 30,000 years ago. Mind-altering plants and/or excessive dancing were used to attain an ecstatic or mystic state. Examples of early religious use of altered states of consciousness are the rites of Dionysos and the Eleusinian Mysteries, as well as yoga and meditation. Followers of various shamanic traditions "enter altered states of consciousness in order to serve their community." Terence McKenna has suggested that the use of psychedelic mushrooms in prehistoric times has led to the "evolution of human language and symbol use". Some theorists propose that mind-altering substances, such as Soma, might have pushed the formation of some of the world's main religions.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Meditation in its various forms is being rediscovered by modern psychology because of its therapeutic potential and its ability to "enable the activity of the mind to settle down". In Psychotherapy techniques like hypnosis, meditation, support psychological processes.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Due to the behaviourist paradigm in psychology altered states of consciousness were dismissed as a field of scientific inquiry during the early 20th century. They were pathologized and merely seen as symptoms of intoxication or demonic possession.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Their return into psychology began with Wiliam James' interest into a variety of altered states, such as "mystical experiences and drug-induced states". James' investigations into first-person-subjective-experience contributed to the reconsideration of introspection as a valuable research method in the academic community.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The social change of the turbulent 1960s has decisively led to a change of the scientific perspective to the point that introspection as a scientific method and ASCs as valid realms of experience became more widely accepted. Foundations for the research have been laid out by various scientists such as Abraham Maslow, Walter N. Pahnke, Stanislav Grof and Charles Tart. They focused on seemingly beneficial aspects of ASCs such as their potential to "promote creativity or treat addiction". Rather oppressive states such as dissociation from trauma were neglected.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The findings of the famous Good Friday Experiment by Pahnke suggest that mystical experiences can be triggered by psilocybin. Later investigations by Rick Doblin found that participants valued those experiences as "spiritual high points of their lives".


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: In the midst of the rise of new-age subculture Stanislav Grof and others formed the new field of transpersonal psychology, which emphasized "the importance of individual human experience, validity of mystical and spiritual experience, interconnectedness of self with others and the world and potential of self-transformation".


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Abraham Maslow's research on peak experiences, as moments of "highest happiness and fulfillment", further contributed to the depathologization of altered states.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: A first summary of the existing literature was carried out by Charles T. Tart in his book "Altered the States of Consciousness", which led to a more common use of the term. Tart coined the key terms discrete and baseline states of consciousness and thought about a general classification system for ASCs. He also called for "state specific sciences" in which researchers should do science on ASCs from within such states.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: A classification of Altered States of Consciousness is helpful if one wants to compare or differentiate between induced ASCs and other variations of consciousness. Various researchers have attempted the classification into a broader framework. The attempts of classification discussed in the following focus on slightly different aspects of ASCs. Several authors suggested classification schemata with regard to the genesis of altered states and with regard to the type of experiences:


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: A classification with five categories was suggested by Vaitl to distinguish ASCs according to how they were induced:


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Vaitl further suggests four basic aspects of experiences: (1) activation (2) awareness span (3) self-awareness (4) sensory dynamics. Alternatively Roland Fischer suggests a classification along ergotropic (i.e., ecstasy) or trophotropic (i.e., meditation) properties. The work of Adolph Dittrich aimed to empirically determine common underlying dimensions of consciousness alterations induced by different methods, such as drugs or non-pharmacological methods. He suggested three basic dimensions, which were termed: (1) oceanic boundlessness (2) dread of ego dissolution (3) visionary restructuralization. Further, Ken Wilber proposes a multidimensional system and adds that the individual experience of an ASC is shaped by a person's unique psychological development.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Michael Winkelman identifies four different "modes of consciousness": (1) the waking mode (2) the deep sleep mode (3) the REM sleep / dreaming mode (4) the integrative mode. Within this framework, many ASCs (psychedelics, hypnosis, meditation, etc.) are defined as belonging to the integrative mode.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: An altered state of consciousness may be defined as a short-term change in the general configuration of one's individual experience, such that the rational functioning is clearly altered from one's usual state of consciousness. There are many ways that one's consciousness can be altered, such as by using psychoactive drugs, which are defined as chemical substances that pass through the blood brain barrier and disturb brain function, causing changes in awareness, attitude, consciousness, and behavior.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Cannabis is a psychoactive drug that is known to alter the state of consciousness. Cannabis alters mental activity, memory, and pain perception. One who is under the influence of cannabis may (or may not) experience degrees of paranoia, increased sensitivity, and delayed reactions not normal for their usual conscious state. A 2009 review of anxiety and cannabis studies concluded that "frequent cannabis users appear to have higher levels of anxiety than non-users," and that "a considerable number of subjects developed anxiety disorders before the first symptoms of cannabis dependence." That led researchers to believe that anxiety-prone people tend to use cannabis as a self-prescribed anxiety medicine, opposing the idea that cannabis is what's causing the anxiety.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: MDMA (ecstasy) is a drug that also alters one's state of consciousness. The state of consciousness brought about by MDMA ingestion includes a rise in positive feelings and a reduction in negative feelings (Aldridge, D., & Fachner, J. ö. 2005). Users' emotions are increased and inhibitions lowered, often accompanied by a sensation of intimacy or connection with other people.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Opioids are a class of drugs that alter consciousness. Examples of opioids include heroin, morphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Opioids produce analgesia and often feelings of euphoria in users. Opioid abuse may result in decreased production of endorphins in the brain, natural pain relievers whose effects may be heightened by drugs. If one takes a large dose of opioids to compensate for the lack of natural endorphins, the result may be death.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Cocaine alters one's state of consciousness. Cocaine affects the neurotransmitters that nerves use to communicate with each other. Cocaine inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters in the synapse, resulting in an altered state of consciousness or a "high" (Aldridge, D., & Fachner, J. ö. 2005).


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, activates serotonin receptors (the amine transmitter of nerve urges) in brain matter. LSD acts on certain serotonin receptors, and its effects are most prominent in the cerebral cortex, an area involved in attitude, thought, and insight, which obtains sensory signs from all parts of the body. LSD's main effects are emotional and psychological. The ingester's feelings may alter quickly through a range from fear to ecstasy. (Humphrey, N. 2001) This may cause one to experience many levels of altered consciousness.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Alcohol alters consciousness by shifting levels of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals across a synapse from one neuron (nerve cell) to another "target" cell (often another neuron). Neurotransmitters can cause inhibitory or excitatory effects on the "target" cell they are affecting. Alcohol increases the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) in the brain. GABA causes slow actions and inaudible verbal communication that often occur in alcoholics. Alcohol also decreases the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. Suppressing this stimulant results in a similar type of physiological slowdown. In addition to increasing the GABA and decreasing the glutamate in the brain, alcohol increases the amount of the chemical dopamine in the brain, which is one of the addictive causes of alcoholism.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Emotions influence behavior that alters the state of consciousness. Emotions can be influenced by various stimuli.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Pathological or accidental induction may refer to unforeseen events or illnesses. According to Dr. Jeffrey R. Avner, professor of clinical pediatrics, a crucial element to understanding accidental and pathological causes to altered states of consciousness (ASC) is that it begins with reduced self-awareness followed by reduced awareness in the environment (2006). Those with personal experience of conditions such as Depersonalisation often cite the opposite, that it is an increased awareness of the environment and the self that results in altered states of consciousness. When the reduction of self-awareness and environmental awareness take effect, they produce altered states of consciousness. The specific conditions below provide clarity on the types of conditions compromise accidental and pathological causes.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The first condition, traumatic experience, is defined as a lesion caused by an external force (Trauma. (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster Dictionary online, 2013). Examples include impact to the brain caused by blunt force (i.e., a car accident). The reason a traumatic experience causes altered states of consciousness is that it changes how the brain works. The external impact diverts the blood flow from the front of the brain to other areas. The front of the brain is known as the prefrontal cortex responsible for analytical thought (Kunsman, 2012). When the damage becomes uncontrollable, the patient experiences changes in behavior and impaired self-awareness. This is exactly when an altered state of consciousness is experienced.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Another common cause is epilepsy. According to Medlineplus epilepsy can be described as a brain disorder that causes seizures (2013). During the seizure it is said that the patient will experience hallucinations and loss of mental control causing temporary dissociation from reality.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: A study that was conducted with six epileptic patients and used the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) detected how the patients did indeed experience hallucinations while a seizure is occurring. This not only altered the patient's behavioral pattern but also made them dissociate from reality during that particular time frame.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The next item of interest is oxygen deficiency, questioning how oxygen deficiency impacts the brain is an important part of comprehending why ASC occurs when there is oxygen deprivation in an environment.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: In addition to oxygen deprivation or deficiency, infections are a common pathological cause of ASC. A prime example of an infection includes meningitis. The medical website WEBMD states that meningitis is an infection that causes the coverings of the brain to swell. This particular infection occurs in children and young adults. This infection is primarily viral. Viral meningitis causes ASC and its symptoms include fevers and seizures (2010). The Impairment becomes visible the moment seizures begin to occur, this is when the patient enters the altered state of consciousness.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Sleep deprivation is also associated with ASC, and can provoke seizures due to fatigue. Sleep deprivation can be chronic or short-term depending on the severity of the patient's condition. Many patients report hallucinations because sleep deprivation impacts the brain. An MRI study conducted at Harvard Medical school in 2007, found that a sleep-deprived brain was not capable of being in control of its sensorimotor functions, leading to an impairment to the patient's self-awareness. Patients were also prone to be a lot clumsier than if they had not been experiencing sleep deprivation.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Coupled with deprivation of sleep and oxygen, another form of deprivation includes fasting. Fasting can occur because of religious purposes or from psychological conditions such as anorexia. Fasting refers to the ability to willingly refrain from food and possibly drinks as well. The dissociation caused by fasting is not only life-threatening but it is the reason why extended fasting periods can lead to ASC. Thus, the temporary dissociation from reality allows fasting to fall into the category of an ASC following the definition provided by Dr. Avner (2006).


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Another pathological cause is psychosis, otherwise known as a psychotic episode. In order to comprehend psychosis, it is important to determine what symptoms it implies. Psychotic episodes often include delusions, paranoia, derealization, depersonalization, and hallucinations (Revonsuo et al., 2008). Studies have not been able to clearly identify when a person is reaching a higher level of risk for a psychotic episode (Schimmelmann, B., Walger, P., & Schultze-Lutter, F., 2013), but the earlier people are treated for psychosis the more likely they are to avoid the devastating consequences which could lead to a psychotic disorder (Schimmelmann, B., Walger, P., & Schultze-Lutter, F., 2013). Unfortunately, there are very few studies which have thoroughly investigated psychotic episodes, and the ability to predict this disorder remains unclear. (Schimmelmann, B., Walger, P., & Schultze-Lutter, F., 2013).


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Reviewing the previous conditions for accidental and pathological causes, we can come to understand that all of these accidental or pathological causes share the component of reduced self-awareness. Therefore, ASCs cannot only be caused naturally but they can be induced intentionally with methods including hypnosis meditation, amongst others. There are also ASCs which are caused by less recreational purposes; people who utilize illegal substances, or heavy dosages of medications, as well as large amounts of alcohol, can indeed comply with the definition of an ASC (Revonsuo et al., 2008).


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The entropic brain hypothesis by Robin L. Carhart-Harris (2014) refers to a theory which is informed by neuroimaging research that uses the hallucinogen induced neurological state to make inferences about other states of consciousness.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The expression "entropy" is applied here in the context of states of consciousness and their associated neurodynamics, while high entropy is synonymous with high disorder.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: It is proposed that a general distinction can be made between two fundamentally different modes of cognition: Primary and secondary consciousness.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Primary consciousness is associated with unconstrained cognition and less ordered (higher-entropy) neurodynamics that preceded the development of modern, normal waking consciousness in adults. Examples include the psychedelic state, the rapid eye movement sleep (REM) state or the onset phase of psychosis.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Secondary consciousness is associated with constrained cognition and more ordered neurodynamics. Examples include normal waking consciousness, the anesthetized or the depressed state.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The theory further proposes that via pharmacological induction of psychedelic substances psilocybin, the brain is able to enter into the primary state of consciousness (the psychedelic state) from normal waking consciousness. This "phase transition" between these two fundamentally different poles of consciousness is facilitated by a collapse of the normally highly organized activity within the default mode network (DMN) and a decoupling between the DMN and the medial temporal lobes (MTLs), which are normally significantly coupled.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The DMN is closely associated with higher-order cognitive functions such as supporting the neurological basis for the self (e.g. self-reflection, subjectivity, introspection), thinking about others (e.g. theory of mind), remembering the past and thinking about the future (e.g. episodic memory). Task-positive networks are associated with the inverse of these things e.g., focus on and scrutiny of the external world.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: The entropic brain hypothesis emphasizes the great research potential of the psychedelic state of mind for gaining more insight into general human consciousness.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Extensive scientific investigation on altered states of consciousness and their relationship to drug interactions with receptors in the brain have been performed. Particularly the study of the neurotransmitter serotonin and the effects of psychedelic drugs on the brain has been intensively researched over the past sixty years. It has been hypothesized that hallucinogens act either as an antagonist or an agonist at serotonin-2A receptors and will elicit a state that shares some common phenomenological features with early acute stages of the group of schizophrenia disorders.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Findings implicate that abnormalities of serotonin function and the serotonergic system could be responsible for psychiatric disorders such as the spectrum of schizophrenia (gating) disorders and therefore, that serotonin agonist or antagonists might be useful in the treatment of e.g. schizophrenia. To investigate the underlying causative neurotransmitter mechanisms of this phenomenon, the CSTC (cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical) loop model has been formulated based on empirical neurobiological work.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: It is indicated that the common hypofrontality (underactivation of frontal brain parts) and cortical activation pattern induced by serotonergic and glutamatergic hallucinogens is due to a common disruption of thalamic gating of sensory and cognitive information. The CSTC feedback loop plays a major role in gating or filtering out external and internal information to the cortex. Thereby it influences the regulation of the level of awareness and attention.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Disruption of the CSTC loop system is proposed to significantly influence information processing, e.g. the ability to screen out, inhibit filter or gate extraneous stimuli and to direct selective attention to salient features of the environment.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Failures of these attentional gating mechanisms might overload patients with the excessive processing of both sensory and cognitive stimuli, which could lead to a breakdown of cognitive integrity and difficulty in distinguishing self from non-self and failure to integrate an overwhelming flood of information. Descriptive elaboration of the mentioned effects can be found in the literature on schizophrenia as well as in descriptions of hallucinogenic drug action.


title: Altered state of consciousness

text: Despite strong evidence linking serotonin and psychosis, novel research indicates that some behavioral effects of drugs such as psilocybin appear to be independent of the classical 5-HT2A receptor-agonist actions, implying that the model described here is not the only underlying framework at play. Interdisciplinary research enterprises have set out to study the convergence of serotonergic and glutamatergic models of psychosis and dynamic neurotransmitter interactions, derived from the study of hallucinogenic drugs, in the future.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: Blockbuster is an American workplace comedy television series created by Vanessa Ramos, who also serves as showrunner and is executive producer. Based upon the Blockbuster brand, the series stars Randall Park as Timmy, the manager in a fictionalized version of the last Blockbuster Video store, set in Grandville, Michigan. The series premiered on Netflix on November 3, 2022. In December 2022, the series was canceled after one season.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: Originally, the series was pitched to executives at NBC; however, they were not interested in green-lighting the series. Universal Television began shopping the series to other networks eventually gaining approval from Netflix; Randall Park was then cast in the lead role. Netflix had previously acquired streaming rights to 1091 Pictures' 2020 documentary film "The Last Blockbuster".


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: Netflix officially announced the series on November 17, 2021. The series is created by Vanessa Ramos who previously worked on shows such as "Superstore" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". Along with the series announcement it was confirmed that the series would be produced by Davis Entertainment and Universal Television. It was also announced that David Caspe and Jackie Clarke would be serving as writers on the series, and John Davis would serve as an executive producer under Davis Entertainment. Clarke, Caspe, John Fox and Ramos will serve as executive producers with Bridger Winegar and Robert Petrovic serving as co-executive producers. In February 2022, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that Payman Benz would be directing four episodes of the series including the pilot. Benz will also serve as an executive producer for those four episodes. In addition, Aleysa Young and Katie Locke O'Brien would serve as directors in the first season in addition to Benz. Rick Page serves as cinematographer for the series.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: A first look at the series was released on May 5, 2022 during the "Netflix Is A Joke" festival, the first look included a look at the style of the series as well as a promo featuring Fumero and Park's characters. The series released on November 3, 2022. On December 16, 2022, Netflix canceled the series after one season.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: With the announcement of the series in November 2021, Randall Park joined the cast as a character named Timmy, who is described as a dreamer and a lover of movies, per "Deadline Hollywood". In February 2022, Melissa Fumero was cast as a character named Eliza who is described as a mother whose marriage to her high school sweetheart is on thin ice, per "Hollywood Reporter". In March 2022, Tyler Alvarez, Madeleine Arthur, and Olga Merediz were announced as series regulars playing Carlos, Hannah and Connie, respectively. Additionally, J. B. Smoove was cast as Timmy's best friend Percy and Kamaia Fairburn was cast as Percy's daughter, with both appearing as recurring guest stars. In May 2022, it was reported that Ashley Alexander and Robyn Bradley will appear in guest-starring roles as Mila and Miranda, respectively.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: Production on the first season began on February 28, 2022. Filming began taking place in Vancouver, Canada in April 2022 with filming expected to conclude on May 2. However, Fumero confirmed that the series had "almost" wrapped production on May 2 with an Instagram story. Filming for the first season concluded on May 4, 2022.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: The sole season of "Blockbuster" was released onto Netflix on November 3, 2022, and consisted of 10 episodes. A trailer was released on October 7, 2022.


title: Blockbuster (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 22% approval rating with an average rating of 4.7/10, based on 45 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Blockbuster" tries to leverage nostalgia for the defunct brand, but this contrived workplace comedy is fatally unfunny—be kind, rewind, and chuck it into the return bin." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 45 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 – February 7, 2001) was a German-born United States Navy aviator during the Vietnam War and, following six months of imprisonment and torture, became the second captured U.S. airman to escape enemy captivity during the war. Of seven prisoners of war who escaped together from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos, Dengler was one of two survivors (the other was Thai citizen Phisit Intharathat). Dengler was rescued after 23 days on the run.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dieter Dengler was born and raised in the small town of Wildberg, in the Black Forest region of the German state of Württemberg. He grew up not knowing his father, who had been drafted into the German army in 1939 and was killed during World War II on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1943/44. Dengler became very close to his mother and brothers. Dengler's maternal grandfather, Hermann Schnuerle, claimed he refused to vote for Adolf Hitler in the 1934 elections. Subsequently, he was paraded around town with a placard around his neck, was spat upon, and was then sent to labor in a rock mine for a year. Dengler credited his grandfather's resolve as a major inspiration during his time in Laos. His grandfather's steadfastness despite the great risks was one reason Dengler refused a North Vietnamese demand that he sign a document condemning American aggression in Southeast Asia.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler's first experience with aircraft was during World War II when he witnessed an Allied fighter plane firing its guns as it flew very close past a window young Dieter was peering out of in his hometown. From that moment on, Dengler said he knew that he wanted to be a pilot.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: He grew up in extreme poverty but always found ways to help his family survive. Dieter and his brothers would go into bombed-out buildings, tear off wallpaper, and bring it to their mother to boil for the nutrients in the wheat-based wallpaper paste. When members of the small group of Moroccans who lived in the area would slaughter sheep for their meals, Dieter would sneak over to their lodgings to take the scraps and leftovers they would not eat and his mother would make dinner from them. He also built a bicycle by scavenging from dumps. Dieter was apprenticed to a blacksmith at the age of 14. The blacksmith and the other boys, who worked six days a week building giant clocks and clock faces to repair German cathedrals, regularly beat him. Later in life Dieter thanked his former master "for his disciplined training and for helping Dieter become more capable, self-reliant and yes, 'tough enough to survive'".


title: Dieter Dengler

text: After seeing an advertisement in an American magazine, expressing a need for pilots, he decided to go to the United States. Although a family friend agreed to sponsor him, he lacked money for passage and came up with a plan to independently salvage brass and other metals to sell.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: In 1956, when he turned 18 and upon completion of his apprenticeship, Dengler hitchhiked to Hamburg and spent two weeks surviving on the streets before the ship set sail for New York City. While on the ship he saved fruit and sandwiches for the coming days and when going through customs the agent was astonished when the food tumbled out of his shirt. He lived on the streets of Manhattan for just over a week and eventually found his way to an Air Force recruiter. He was assured that piloting aircraft was what the Air Force was all about so he enlisted in June 1957 and went to basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. After basic training, Dengler spent two years peeling potatoes and then transferred to a motor pool as a mechanic. His qualifications as a machinist led to an assignment as a gunsmith. He passed the test for aviation cadets but was told that only college graduates were selected to be pilots and his enlistment expired before he was selected for pilot training.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: After his discharge Dengler joined his brother working in a bakery shop near San Francisco and enrolled in San Francisco City College, then transferred to the College of San Mateo, where he studied aeronautics. Upon completion of two years of college he applied for the US Navy aviation cadet program and was accepted.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler would do whatever it took to become a pilot. In his inaugural flight at primary flight training, for example, the instructor told Dengler that if he became airsick and vomited in the cockpit that he would receive a "down" on his record. Students were only allowed three downs then they would wash out of flight training. The instructor took the plane through spins and loops causing Dengler to become dizzy and disoriented. Knowing he was about to vomit and not wanting to receive a "down", Dengler took off his boot, threw up into it and put it back on. At the end of the flight the instructor checked the cockpit and could smell the vomit, but couldn't find any evidence of it. He didn't get a "down".


title: Dieter Dengler

text: After his completion of flight training Dengler went to the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas for training as an attack pilot in the Douglas AD Skyraider. He joined VA-145 while the squadron was on shore duty at Naval Air Station Alameda, California. In 1965 the squadron joined the carrier . In December the carrier set sail for the coast of Vietnam. He was stationed initially at Dixie Station, off South Vietnam then moved north to Yankee Station for operations against North Vietnam.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: On February 1, 1966, the day after the carrier began flying missions from Yankee Station, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Dengler launched from the "Ranger" with three other aircraft on an interdiction mission against a truck convoy that had been reported in North Vietnam. Thunderstorms forced the pilots to divert to their secondary target, a road intersection located west of the Mu Gia Pass in Laos. At the time, U.S. air operations in Laos were classified "secret". Visibility was poor due to smoke from burning fields, and upon rolling in on the target, Dengler and the remainder of his flight lost sight of one another. Visibility was poor, and as Dengler rolled his Skyraider in on the target after flying for two-and-a-half hours into enemy territory, he was hit by anti-aircraft fire.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "There was a large explosion on my right side," he remembered when interviewed shortly before his death in 2001.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: It was like lightning striking. The right wing was gone. The airplane seemed to cartwheel through the sky in slow motion. There were more explosions—boom, boom, boom—and I was still able to guide the plane into a clearing in Laos.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: He said: "Many times, people have asked me if I was afraid. Just before dying, there is no more fear. I felt I was floating."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: When his squadron mates realized that he had been downed, they remained confident that he would be rescued.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Immediately after he was shot down, Dengler smashed his survival radio and hid most of his other survival equipment to keep Vietnamese or Lao search parties from finding it. The day after being shot down Dengler was apprehended by Pathet Lao troops, the Laotian equivalent of the Viet Cong.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: He was marched through the jungle, was tied on the ground to four stakes spreadeagled in order to stop him escaping at night. In the morning his face would be swollen from mosquito bites and he was unable to see. After an early escape attempt he was recaptured while drinking from a spring. According to Dengler he was tortured in retaliation:


title: Dieter Dengler

text: He was hung upside down by his ankles with a nest of biting ants over his face until he lost consciousness, suspended in a freezing well at night so that if he fell asleep he might drown. On other occasions he was dragged through villages by a water buffalo, to the amusement of his guards, as they goaded the animal with a whip. He was asked by Pathet Lao officials to sign a document condemning the United States, but he refused and as a result he was tortured as tiny wedges of bamboo were inserted under his fingernails and into incisions on his body which grew and festered.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "They were always thinking of something new to do to me." Dengler recalled. "One guy made a rope tourniquet around my upper arm. He inserted a piece of wood, and twisted and twisted until my nerves cut against the bone. The hand was completely unusable for six months."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: After some weeks Dengler was handed over to the Vietnamese. As they marched him through a village, a man slipped Dengler's engagement ring from his finger. Dengler complained to his guards. They found the culprit, summarily chopped off his finger with a machete and handed the ring back to Dengler.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler had trained in escaping and survival at the Navy SERE survival school, where he had twice escaped from the mock-POW camp run by SERE instructors and Marine guards and was planning a third escape when the training ended. He had also set a record as the only student to gain weight (three pounds) during the SERE course; his childhood experiences had made him unafraid of eating whatever he could find and he had feasted on food the course instructors had thrown in the garbage.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler was eventually brought to a prison camp near the village of Par Kung where he met other POWs. The other six prisoners were:


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Except for Martin, an Air Force helicopter pilot who had been shot down in North Vietnam nearly a year before, the other prisoners were civilians employed by Air America, a civilian airline owned by the Central Intelligence Agency. The civilians had been held by the Pathet Lao for over two and a half years when Dengler joined them.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "I had hoped to see other pilots. What I saw horrified me. The first one who came out was carrying his intestines around in his hands. One had no teeth - plagued by awful infections, he had begged the others to knock them out with a rock and a rusty nail in order to release pus from his gums".


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "They had been there for two and a half years," said Dengler. "I looked at them and it was just awful. I realized that was how I would look in six months. I had to escape."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: The day he arrived in the camp, Dengler advised the other prisoners that he intended to escape and invited them to join him. They advised that he wait until the monsoon season when there would be plenty of water. Shortly after Dengler arrived, the prisoners were moved to a new camp ten miles away at Hoi Het. After the move, a strong debate ensued among the prisoners with Dengler, Martin and Prasit arguing for escape which the other prisoners, particularly Phisit initially opposed.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: As food began to run out, tension between the men grew: they were given just a single handful of rice to share while the guards would stalk deer, pulling the grass out of the animal's stomach for the prisoners to eat while they shared the meat. The prisoners' only "treats" were snakes they occasionally caught from the communal latrine or the rats that lived under their hut which they could spear with sharpened bamboo. At night the men were handcuffed together and shackled to wooden foot blocks. They suffered chronic dysentery and were made to lie in their excrement until morning.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: After several months, one of the Thai prisoners overheard the guards talking about shooting them in the jungle and making it look like an escape attempt. They too, were starving and wanted to return to their villages. With that revelation, everyone agreed and a date to escape was set. Their plan was to take over the camp and signal a C-130 Hercules flare-ship that made nightly visits to the area. Dengler loosened logs under the hut that allowed the prisoners to squeeze through. The plan was for him to go out when the guards were eating and seize their weapons and pass them to Phisit Intharathat and Promsuwan while Martin and DeBruin procured others from other locations.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "I planned to capture the guards at lunchtime, when they put down their rifles to get their food. There were two minutes and twenty seconds in the day when I could strike." In that time Dengler had to release all the men from their handcuffs.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: On June 29, 1966, while the guards were eating, the group slipped out of their hand-cuffs and foot restraints and grabbed the guards' unattended weapons which included M1 rifles, Chinese automatic rifles, an American carbine and at least one sub-machine gun as well as an early version of the AK47 automatic rifle, which Dengler used during the escape from the POW camp. Dengler went out first followed by Martin. He went to the guard hut and seized an M1 for himself and passed the American carbine to Martin. The guards realized the prisoners had escaped and five of them rushed toward Dengler, who shot at least three with the AK47. Phisit killed another guard as he reached for his rifle. Two others ran off, presumably to get help, although at least one had been wounded. The seven prisoners split into three groups. DeBruin was originally supposed to go with Dengler and Martin but decided to go with To, who was recovering from a fever and unable to keep up. They intended to get over the nearest ridge and wait for rescue. Dengler and Martin went off by themselves with the intention of heading for the Mekong River to escape to Thailand, but they never got more than a few miles from the camp from which they had escaped.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: With the exception of Phisit, who was recaptured and later rescued by Laotian troops, none of the other prisoners were ever seen again. DeBruin was reportedly captured and placed in another camp, then disappeared in 1968.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Escape proved to be hazardous. Soon, the two men's feet were white, mangled stumps from trekking through the dense jungle. They found the sole of an old tennis shoe, which they wore alternately, strapping it onto a foot with rattan for a few moments' respite. In this way they were able to make their way to a fast-flowing river.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "It was the highway to freedom," said Dengler, "We knew it would flow into the Mekong River, which would take us over the border into Thailand and to safety."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: The men built a raft and floated downstream on ferocious rapids, tying themselves to trees at night to stop themselves being washed away in the torrential water. By morning they would be covered in mud and hundreds of leeches. When they thought they were on their way to the Mekong, they discovered that they had gone around in a circle. They had spotted several villages but had not been detected. They set up camp in an abandoned village where they found shelter from the nearly incessant rain. They had brought rice with them and found other food, but were still on the verge of starvation. Their intent had been to signal a C-130 but at first lacked the energy to build a fire using primitive methods of rubbing bamboo together. Dengler finally managed to locate carbine cartridges that Martin had thrown away and used their powder to enhance the tinder and got a fire going. That night they lit torches and waved them in the shape of an S and O when a C-130 came over. The airplane circled and dropped a couple of flares and they were overjoyed, believing they had been spotted. They woke up the next morning to find the landscape covered by fog and drizzle, but when it lifted, no rescue force appeared.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Martin, who was weak from starvation and was suffering from malaria, wanted to approach a nearby Akha village to steal some food. Dengler knew it was not a good idea, but refused to let his friend go near the village alone. They saw a little boy playing with a dog and the child ran into the village calling out "American!" Within seconds a villager appeared and they knelt down on the trail in supplication, but the man swung his machete and struck Martin in the leg. With the next swipe, Martin's head came off. Dengler jumped to his feet and rushed toward the villager, who turned and ran into the village to get help.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: I reached for the rubber sole from his foot, grabbed it and ran. From that moment on, all my motions became mechanical. I couldn't care less if I lived or died.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: These were his darkest hours. Little more than a walking skeleton after weeks on the run, he floated in and out of a hallucinatory state.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "I was just crawling along," he said. "Then I had a vision: these enormous doors opened up. Lots of horses came galloping out. They were not driven by death, but by angels. Death didn't want me."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler managed to evade the searchers who went out after him and escaped back into the jungle. He returned to the abandoned village where the two had been spending their time and where he and Martin had signaled the C-130. That night when a C-130 flare-ship came, Dengler set fire to the huts and burned the village down. The C-130 crew spotted the fires and dropped flares, but even though the crew reported their sighting when they returned to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, the fires were not recognized by intelligence as having been a signal from a survivor.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: When a rescue force again failed to materialize, Dengler decided to find one of the parachutes from a flare for use as a possible signal. He found one on a bush and placed it in his rucksack. On July 20, 1966, after 23 days in the jungle, Dengler managed to signal an Air Force pilot with the parachute. A 2-ship flight of Air Force Skyraiders from the 1st Air Commando Squadron happened to fly up the river where Dengler was. Eugene Peyton Deatrick, the pilot of the lead plane and the squadron commander, spotted a flash of white while making a turn at the river's bend and came back and spotted a man waving something white. Deatrick and his wingman contacted rescue forces, but were told to ignore the sighting, as no airmen were known to be down in the area. Deatrick persisted and eventually managed to convince the command and control center to dispatch a rescue force. Fearing that Dengler might be a Viet Cong soldier, the helicopter crew restrained him when he was brought aboard.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: According to the documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" Dengler said one of the flight crew who was holding him down pulled out a half eaten snake from underneath Dengler's clothing and was so surprised he nearly fell out of the helicopter. Dengler was stripped of his clothes to ensure he was not armed or in possession of a hand grenade. When questioned, Dengler told Air Force pararescue specialist Michael Leonard that he was a Navy Lieutenant JG who had escaped from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp two months earlier. Deatrick radioed the rescue helicopter crew to see if they could identify the person they had just hoisted up from the jungle. They reported that they had a man who claimed to be a downed Navy pilot who flew a Douglas A-1H Skyraider.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: It wasn't until after he reached the hospital at Da Nang that Dengler's identity was confirmed. A conflict between the Air Force and the Navy developed over who should control his debriefing and recovery. In an apparent attempt to prevent the Air Force from embarrassing them in some way, the Navy sent a team of SEALs into the hospital to steal Dengler. He was brought out of the hospital in a covered gurney and rushed to the air field, where he was placed aboard a Navy carrier delivery transport Grumman C-2A from VR-21 and flown to the "Ranger" where a welcoming party had been prepared. At night, however, he was tormented by awful terrors, and had to be tied to his bed. In the end, his friends put him to sleep in a cockpit, surrounded by pillows. "It was the only place I felt safe," he said.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler's deprivation from malnutrition and parasites caused the Navy doctors to order that he be airlifted to the United States.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler recovered physically, but never put his ordeal behind him. As Werner Herzog described it in his documentary about Dengler, "Men are often haunted by things that happen to them in life, especially in war [...] Their lives seem to be normal, but they are not."


title: Dieter Dengler

text: He remained in the navy for a year, was promoted to Lieutenant, and was trained to fly jets. When his military obligation was satisfied, he resigned from the Navy and applied for a position as an airline pilot with Trans World Airlines (TWA). He continued flying and survived four subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: In 1977, during a time when he was furloughed from TWA, Dengler returned to Laos and was greeted as a celebrity by the Pathet Lao. He was taken to the camp from which he had escaped and was surprised to discover that at one point he and Martin had been within a mile and a half of it.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: His fascination with airplanes and aviation continued for the remainder of his life. He continued flying almost up until his death. He took an early-retirement as a pilot for TWA sometime prior to 1985, but continued flying his meticulously restored Cessna 195, putting it on static display at numerous California air shows.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: In 2000, Dengler was inducted into the Gathering of Eagles program and told the story of his escape to groups of young military officers. Dengler was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, an incurable neurological disorder; on February 7, 2001, he rolled his wheelchair from his house down to the driveway of a fire station and shot himself. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A Navy honor guard was present at the burial as well as a fly-over by Navy F-14 Tomcats.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler was married three times: to Marina Adamich (1966–1970), to Irene Lam (1980–1984) and to Yukiko Dengler (1998–2001). Dengler was survived by two sons, Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and three grandsons.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler made an appearance as one of the contestants on the January 30, 1967 episode of the television game show "I've Got a Secret". His secret, as told to host Steve Allen, was that he had escaped from a POW camp in Laos. Dengler said that his weight had dropped to 93 pounds by the time he was rescued. During this appearance, both of Dengler's hands were bandaged in large casts. He explained that he had recently cut his tendons by accidentally falling through a sheet of plate glass.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: In early 1968, Dengler was a contestant on the nighttime edition of the comedy game show "Hollywood Squares".


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler appears in the 1988 documentary "We Can Keep You Forever" about the POW/MIA issue generally. The documentary was written and directed by Christopher Olgiati. Gerry DeBruin, brother of Eugene DeBruin, is also interviewed. Information in the documentary appears at greater length in the 1990 book "The Bamboo Cage: The Full Story of the American Servicemen Still Missing in Vietnam" by Nigel Cawthorne.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: Dengler was the subject of Werner Herzog's 1997 documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly". Herzog went on to direct a dramatized version of the story, "Rescue Dawn", which stars Christian Bale as Dengler. It was shown at festivals throughout the end of 2006 and received a limited theatrical release in the USA on July 4, 2007, before the general release later that month. The film was released on DVD in November 2007.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "Rescue Dawn" was subjected to severe criticism by members of the family of Eugene DeBruin and Phisit Intharathat, the other survivor of the group. Herzog later acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained, but claimed to have been unaware of this fact until after the film had been completed. He stated that this narrative aspect probably would have been included if he had learned it earlier. DeBruin family members, however, said that Herzog was uninterested in speaking with them prior to the completion of the movie.


title: Dieter Dengler

text: "New York Times"-bestselling author Bruce Henderson, who was serving on the same aircraft carrier as Dengler at the time he was shot down, tells Dengler's life story in a 2010 nonfiction book, "".


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: The "Trafalgar" class is a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines (SSNs) in service with the Royal Navy, and the successor to the . Like the majority of Royal Navy nuclear submarines, all seven boats were constructed at Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, Cumbria. With only one boat remaining active and in commission (as of 2022) and six retired from the seven originally in service, the class makes up part of the Royal Navy's nuclear-powered ‘hunter-killer’ submarine force. The "Trafalgar" class is being gradually replaced by the larger and more capable , of which five are currently commissioned.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: The name "Trafalgar" refers to the Battle of Trafalgar fought between the Royal Navy and the combined fleets of France and Spain in 1805.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: The "Trafalgar" class were designed in the early 1970s during the Cold War as a refinement of the preceding "Swiftsure" class. Including , the "Trafalgar" class are the fifth class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines to enter service with the Royal Navy. The first of the class, HMS "Trafalgar", was ordered on 7 April 1977 and completed in 1983. The last, HMS "Triumph", was ordered on 3 January 1986 and completed in 1991. All seven boats of the class were built and completed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In 1982, "Jane's Fighting Ships" recorded: "Estimated cost of fourth submarine £175 million including equipment and weapon system when fitted." In 1986, "Jane's Fighting Ships" recorded that the average cost for this class was £200 million at 1984–85 prices.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In 1987, the Canadian White Paper on Defence recommended the purchase of 10 to 12 - or "Trafalgar"-class submarines under technology transfer, with the choice of the type of submarine due to be confirmed before summer 1988. The goal was to build up a three-ocean navy and to assert Canadian sovereignty over Arctic waters. The purchase was finally abandoned in April 1989 due to the financial economy. In 1998 the Canadian government signed an agreement to acquire four of the Royal Navy's diesel-electric "Upholder"-class submarines.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: The submarines of the class have seen service in a wide range of locations, most notably firing Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles in anger at targets during conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Three of the "Trafalgar"-class boats have been involved in such operations. In 2001 "Trafalgar" took part in Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the September 11 attacks in the United States, becoming the first Royal Navy submarine to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan. During April 2003, HMS "Turbulent" returned home flying the Jolly Roger after having launched thirty Tomahawk cruise missiles during the invasion of Iraq. As part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya, HMS "Triumph" fired her Tomahawk cruise missiles on three occasions; first on 19 March, then again on 20 March, and finally on 24 March. Her primary targets were Libyan air-defence installations around the city of Sabha. "Triumph" returned to Devonport on 3 April 2011 flying a Jolly Roger adorned with six small Tomahawk axes to indicate the missiles fired by the submarine in the operation.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In 1993 "Triumph" sailed to Australia, covering a distance of whilst submerged and without any forward support. As of 2011, this still remained the longest solo deployment by any British nuclear submarine.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In 1998, "Trenchant" experienced a steam leak, forcing the crew to shut down the nuclear reactor. In 2000 a leak in the PWR1 reactor primary cooling circuit was discovered on "Tireless", forcing her to proceed to Gibraltar on diesel power. The fault was found to be due to thermal fatigue cracks, requiring the other "Trafalgar"-class boats, and some of the remaining "Swiftsure"-class boats, to be urgently inspected and if necessary modified.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In 2013 the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator reported that the reactor systems were suffering increasing technical problems due to ageing, requiring effective management. An example was that "Tireless" had had a small radioactive coolant leak for eight days in February 2013.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: As a refinement of the preceding "Swiftsure" class, the design of the "Trafalgar" class bears some similarity, including its internal layout and the Rolls-Royce PWR1 Core 3. However some improvements over the "Swiftsure" class include its reduced acoustic signature, which is due to the hull being covered in anechoic tiles which are designed to absorb sound rather than reflect it, making the boats quieter and more difficult to detect with active sonar. A pumpjet propulsion system is also used from boat 2 onward, rather than a conventional propeller. The "Trafalgar" class are long, have a beam of , a draught of and a dived displacement of . Each boat has a complement of 130. Like all Royal Navy submarines, the "Trafalgar" class have strengthened fins and retractable hydroplanes, allowing them to surface through thick ice.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: Four boats of the class — "Torbay", "Trenchant", "Talent" and "Triumph" — have been fitted with the Sonar 2076 system. Beginning in 2014, the last four boats of the class underwent a communications package upgrade.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: The "Trafalgar" class is equipped with five torpedo tubes with accommodation for a mixture of up to 30 weapons:


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: Ostensibly, the submarines use the same steering column as was used in the Wellington bombers of the Second World War.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: Initially, the last five boats of the "Trafalgar" class were to be replaced by the 'Future Fleet Submarine' programme, however this was effectively cancelled in 2001. The are currently in the process of replacing the "Trafalgar" class.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: "Triumph" is the only remaining submarine based at HMNB Devonport. "Talent" and "Trenchant" were decommissioned in a joint ceremony at HMNB Devonport on 20 May 2022.


title: Trafalgar-class submarine

text: In June 2019, ITV commissioned a six-part thriller based on board a fictional "Trafalgar"-class submarine, HMS "Tenacity".


title: Varenicline

text: Varenicline (trade name Chantix and Champix) is a medication used for smoking cessation. Varenicline is also used for the treatment of dry eye disease.


title: Varenicline

text: The most common side-effects include nausea (feeling sick), insomnia (difficulty sleeping), abnormal dreams, headache and nasopharyngitis (inflammation of the nose and throat).


title: Varenicline

text: It is a high-affinity partial agonist for the α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype (nACh) that leads to the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the nucleus accumbens reward center of the brain when activated, and therefore, has the capacity to reduce the feelings of craving and withdrawal caused by smoking cessation. In this respect it is similar to cytisine and different from the nicotinic antagonist bupropion and nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) like nicotine patches and nicotine gum. It is estimated that varenicline successfully helps one of every eleven people who smoke remain abstinent from tobacco at six months.


title: Varenicline

text: It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 275th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 1million prescriptions.


title: Varenicline

text: Varenicline is used to help people stop smoking tobacco (smoking cessation). A meta-analysis found that less than 20% of people treated with varenicline remain abstinent from smoking at one year. In a 2009 meta-analysis varenicline was found to be more effective than bupropion (odds ratio 1.40) and nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) (odds ratio 1.56).