title: Saleen S7

text: In 2004, Ferrari had gathered VIPs and automotive press around the world at Ferrari's Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari race track for the round 8 of the FIA GT Super Racing Weekend Imola to witness the sure victory of their race cars and then new Maserati MC12 GT1 against foreign competition. Vitaphone Racing's S7-R driven by Michael Bartels and Uwe Alzen competed against two Maserati MC12s, three Ferrari 550s, three Ferrari 575s and two Lamborghini Murcielagos in GT Class specification securing the overall win. Ferrari's then CEO Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was in attendance of the race and he admitted the S7-R's victory by saying "We were no match for the Saleen today". It was regarded as one of the biggest upsets in auto racing history by the automotive press as a race car from a low volume manufacturer had beaten Ferrari at their home track.


title: Saleen S7

text: The Saleen S7 has been very successful in international motorsports having amassed many victories in professional racing in a number of different classes competing across the globe in America, Asia and Europe. The first S7-R assembled by RML was completed in late 2000 and made its racing debut in the American Le Mans Series event at Laguna Seca Raceway. Run by Saleen-Allen Speedlab, the car finishes in 26th place. For 2001, the first customer chassis would be completed, and their respective teams would enter various championships: Fordahl Motorsports ran in the Grand American Road Racing Championship, RML ran the European Le Mans Series, and Konrad Motorsport ran both ALMS and ELMS. This car with chassis number 001 was named Christine by Saleen engineers.


title: Saleen S7

text: The S7-R quickly showed its capabilities, when Konrad finished in sixth place at the 12 Hours of Sebring, earning their first class victory. Fordahl won seven Grand American events en route to finishing second in the class championship, while RML won four ELMS events and won that championship by a mere point over the Konrad Saleens. Saleen-Allen Speedlab also earned a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with an 18th-place finish overall.


title: Saleen S7

text: For 2002, Konrad Motorsport concentrated mostly on the American Le Mans Series (the ELMS having been dissolved following 2001), while Park Place Racing took over Fordahl's entry in Grand American. Newcomer Graham Nash Motorsport won both the British GT and Spanish GT Championships. Park Place won four races and earned their first championship title, while Graham Nash won nine British GT and four Spanish GT races, earning them the title in both series. Konrad Motorsport however struggled against the faster, higher-budget Corvette Racing team and could not score any victories, but were able to finish second in the championship.


title: Saleen S7

text: Konrad Motorsport chose to move their Saleen squad to Europe in order to compete in the FIA GT Championship in 2003, leaving North America without a full-season competitor for the S7-R as Park Place abandoned the Grand American championship. Graham Nash joined Konrad in FIA GT, earning a sixth-place finish in the championship. For 2004, Saleen would have a resurgence of teams as RML returned to run FIA GT, Dominique Dupuy's DDO team entered the FFSA GT Championship, Konrad assisted the new Vitaphone Racing, and ACEMCO Motorsports purchased two brand-new S7-Rs, modified to better compete in the American Le Mans Series. Vitaphone earned three victories in FIA GT en route to a fourth place in the championship, while DDO earned two victories in FFSA GT.


title: Saleen S7

text: Fortunes would quickly turn for the S7-Rs in the 2005 season. Konrad and Graham Nash saw their racing efforts downsized as the teams hit economic problems. Vitaphone Racing moved on from the S7-R and raced a Maserati MC12 to the FIA GT championship. This left ACEMCO to take second in the American Le Mans Series, while DDO earned the only Saleen wins that year with three.


title: Saleen S7

text: In an attempt to rebound from 2005, Saleen chose to concentrate on select series and events. ACEMCO dropped out from the American Le Mans Series in order to concentrate solely on entering the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans where they earned an 11th-place finish, the best ever by a Saleen at the time. Oreca was chosen to prepare new S7-R chassis with upgrades under the supervision of Saleen engineers William Tally, Derk Hartland, Randall Speir, Matthew W. Wright and William Kreig to make them more competitive, which led to the team earning two victories in the Le Mans Series and winning the 2006 FFSA GT Championship. In FIA GT, Zakspeed took over as the factory squad with Balfe Racing running as a privateer. Zakspeed managed to earn two victories and earn themselves fourth in the championship.


title: Saleen S7

text: For 2007, Zakspeed was forced to abandon their FIA GT effort as the team went bankrupt during the off-season. ACEMCO also was forced to withdraw and offer their S7-Rs for sale. Oreca finish-assembled two more chassis using subassemblies provided by Saleen, with one going to the Italian Racing Box squad who would compete alongside Oreca in the Le Mans Series. Oreca won four races during the season.


title: Saleen S7

text: In 2010, the Oreca finish-assembled S7-R (chassis number 610) of Larbre Compétition won the final and its only LMGT1 class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Initial fabrication and assembly of this chassis was performed by Saleen's Irvine, CA engineering team in 2006-2007 after normal business hours due to a shortage of funding. Subsequently, Saleen engineers named the car Melissa, after the girlfriend of one of the Saleen race engineers.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by the 2008 Nissan Tenjin Motor Show. The concept vehicle is equipped with a remote control panel for a spider camera, and equipment for organizing and editing photographs and images on the move.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The vehicle was unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, followed by 2010 Beijing International Automobile Exhibition. The vehicle went on sale in Japan before summer 2009, followed by Europe in autumn 2009 and then in China and other markets. Available in combi and passenger car versions, NV200 was built on a modified version of Nissan's B platform, with fully independent strut type front suspension mounted on a separate subframe and a leaf spring rear axle.


title: Nissan NV200

text: Available in Van DX light commercial van and Wagon 16S people carrier, the NV200 Vanette is a version of the Nissan NV200 van replacing the older Nissan Vanette.


title: Nissan NV200

text: Early Japanese models included Van DX (2/5-person), Van DX route van (2-person), Van GX (5-person), Wagon 16S (7-person).


title: Nissan NV200

text: Badge engineered versions of the NV200 was sold in Japan by Mitsubishi Motors as the Mitsubishi Delica D:3 and Delica Van. It is equipped with a 1.6-liter straight-four engine. Both models went on sale in Japan in October 2011. Early Delica D:3 models include the M (5-seater) and G (7-seater). Introductory Delica Van models include DX (2/5-person) (5MT/4AT), GX (2/5-person) (4AT).


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Nissan NV200 began production at Nissan Mexicana's Cuernevaca Assembly plant in 2013 for the North American market. By 2020, Nissan had captured only a small fraction of the commercial van market in America, and announced shortly afterward that NV200 production for North America would end in summer 2021.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The prototype version of the NV200 New York taxi vehicle was unveiled in 2011 Nissan Taxi of Tomorrow Design Expo, followed by 2012 New York International Auto Show, Nissan's Yokohama headquarters, and 2012 Paris Motor Show.


title: Nissan NV200

text: It is equipped with a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine, a low-annoyance horn with exterior lights that indicate when the vehicle is honking, sliding doors with entry step and grab handles, transparent roof panel (with shade), independently controlled rear air conditioning with a grape phenol-coated air filter, breathable, antimicrobial, environmentally friendly and easy-to-clean seat fabric that simulates the look and feel of leather; overhead reading lights for passengers and floor lighting to help locate belongings, a mobile charging station for passengers that includes a 12V electrical outlet and two USB plugs, a six-way adjustable driver's seat that features both recline and lumbar adjustments, even with a partition installed; standard driver's navigation and telematics systems; front and rear-seat occupant curtain airbags, as well as seat-mounted airbags for the front row; standard traction control and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), lights that alert other road users that taxi doors are opening.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The production model was unveiled at the 2013 Matsuya Ginza's 'New York Week' fair, and went on sale as 2014 model year vehicle. The Nissan NV200 New York City taxi was built in North America at Nissan's facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The vehicle entered the New York City's taxi fleet near the end of October 2013. The first buyer of Nissan NV200 New York City taxi was medallion number 7F20 owner Ranjit Singh, with delivery of taxi from Koeppel Nissan in Queens on 2013-10-18, and first 1-passenger fare service performed from JFK International Airport on 2013-10-23 to near 13th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan.


title: Nissan NV200

text: New York Supreme Court Justice Peter Moulton ruled that the deal between NYC and Nissan was "null, void and unenforceable" since the NV200 is not a hybrid vehicle. In addition, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Schlomo Hagler ruled the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission exceeded its authority for mandating the city's taxi fleets be replaced by Nissan NV200. That ruling was overturned by a New York appeals court on June 10, 2014, with Justice David B. Saxe finding that the commission's mandate was in fact legal.


title: Nissan NV200

text: As of December 16, 2013, Nissan was in the process of distributing the first 200 units of NV200 New York City taxi to dealers across New York City. The company is also delivering another couple hundred new taxis to dealers in Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Texas.


title: Nissan NV200

text: A version of NV200 New York City taxi with rear ramp for wheelchair access, integrated restraint system for securing of wheelchairs was unveiled at the 2012 New York International Auto Show as the NV200 Mobility Taxi. The conversion of the NV200 Mobility Taxi was done by Indiana-based BraunAbility.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The NV200 Compact Cargo Van was unveiled at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. US models went on sale at Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers beginning in early 2013 as 2013 model year vehicles. Early models include a 2.0-liter 16-valve 4-cylinder engine and Xtronic CVT. The 2014 model year vehicle went on sale in January 2014. The introductory lineup consisted of the S and SV models.


title: Nissan NV200

text: Sales of European models of NV200 van and combi began from October 2009 in most European markets, followed by Family version in 2010. Early models include 1.6-litre HR16 (108PS) petrol or 1.5 dCi (K9K) 1,461cc (86PS) diesel engines, five-speed manual transmission, optional rear view parking camera. European models of NV200 were produced in Japan, until production started at Nissan's plant in Barcelona in November 2009.


title: Nissan NV200

text: As of February 1, 2019, Nissan has discontinued the diesel NV200 in Europe; replacing the model with the NV250, a rebadged Renault Kangoo. The last batch of diesel NV200 was manufactured in mid 2019 and sale of this model was discontinued by early 2020.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In 2011, Nissan approached both Transport for London (TfL) and the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association to adapt a version of the NV200 to the requirements of the streets of London. With experience from supplying engines to London Taxis International for their Coventry-built TX1, the NV200 London Taxi was developed in London by Nissan Design Europe at their offices in Paddington. The Coventry-based ADV Manufacturing Ltd was responsible for the engineering, development and final assembly of Nissan NV200 London Taxi.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The prototype vehicle, equipped with the standard Renault 1461cc (89/110PS) dCi (K9K) turbodiesel engine, 5-speed manual (89PS) or 6-speed manual (110PS) transmission was unveiled in London, followed by 2012 Paris Motor Show.


title: Nissan NV200

text: After feedback, and to meet new stricter European emissions legislation, Nissan offered production versions from January 2014 based on a 1.6-litre petrol engine and automatic transmission. The new Spanish-built NV200 London Taxi was launched in January 2014, to be followed by a battery-electric London Taxi based on the e-NV200 in 2015.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The entire London Taxi project was shelved later in 2014. A revised proposal was announced in 2017, which would come to fruition if the British Government approved electrification of the London Taxi network.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In China, the NV200 is built by Nissan in partnership with Dongfeng Motor, and was released in June 2010. Chinese model went on sale in June 2010. Early models include HR16 DOHC (83 kW/150 Nm) engine.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Evalia was launched in India in September 2012. It was offered in a total of four variants – the base XE, XE Plus, XL and the top end XV with a 1.5-liter dCi diesel engine paired to a 5-speed manual transmission. In June 2015, Nissan stopped production of the vehicle due to low demand, with 2,412 units sold since its launch.


title: Nissan NV200

text: A badge engineered version of the NV200 went on sale as the Ashok Leyland STiLE since September 2013. Early models included 1.5-litre K9K (86PS) engine, 5-speed manual transmission. It was withdrawn from sale during 2015 due to low sales.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The e-NV200 is the battery-electric version of the NV200 panel van. Nissan introduced the concept version of the e-NV200 at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The e-NV200 has a 24 kWh battery pack that was expected to have a range similar to Nissan Leaf of .


title: Nissan NV200

text: Trials with a prototype were conducted with Japan Post Service beginning in July 2011, followed by trials with FedEx in London starting in December 2011, AEON Retail Co., Ltd., FedEx Express in Yokohama Area, Tochigi prefectural government in prefecture's rural areas from September 3, 2012.


title: Nissan NV200

text: More testing with a more advanced pre-production version, unveiled at the 64th IAA Commercial Vehicle International Motor Show in Hanover, took place in Singapore, the UK, the U.S. and Brazil, Coca-Cola Central Japan Co. starting in mid-November 2012, FedEx Express in Singapore, Saitama City, DHL Japan in Tokyo Metropolitan Area.


title: Nissan NV200

text: A more extensive 6-month trial with 28 units delivered to British Gas began in the UK in November 2013. The pre-production version of e-NV200 was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The production version of the e-NV200 was unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. The production version of the e-NV200 has 30% of new components compared with the internal combustion NV200. Production of Nissan e-NV200 began at Nissan's plant in Barcelona, Spain, by mid-2014.


title: Nissan NV200

text: Launched in June 2013, the car was scheduled to go on sale in Europe in the same month and in Japan in October. Pricing in Germany will start at (~ ). The e-NV200 was the top selling electric commercial van in Europe in 2016 with 4,319 units delivered. A tall-roof variant was launched in 2020 as the e-NV200 XL Voltia, increasing cargo volume by 90%.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Nissan e-NV200 was expected to be available by 2017 for the NYC Taxi of Tomorrow fleet. However, structural changes would be required to bring the e-NV200 into compliance with US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and the van never was released to the US market.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In 2021, Nissan unveiled the Townstar EV, which will replace the e-NV200. The Townstar EV is a rebadged Renault Kangoo E-Tech.


title: Nissan NV200

text: As launched in 2014, the e-NV200 shared the same / AC synchronous traction motor unit with the second-generation Leaf; the traction motor had been integrated as a unit with the battery control module and inverter. Although the lithium-ion battery had the same number of modules (48) and capacity (24 kW-hr) as the Nissan Leaf, it was repackaged physically to fit under the load floor and within the wheelbase, where it forms part of the structural frame, boosting rigidity compared to the conventionally-powered NV200. The 24 kW-hr battery fitted to the e-NV up to the 2017 model year is capable of delivering an all-electric range of under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Cells are manufactured in the UK (at Sunderland) and shipped to Barcelona, where they are assembled. The standard on-board charger has a maximum input capacity of 3.3 kW (AC), doubling to 6.6 kW with an optional charger which also adds a CHAdeMO port that accepts up to 50 kW (DC). Maximum speed is , reduced to when battery charge is low to maximise range.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In 2018, the battery capacity was increased by 67%, to 40 kWh, with a correspondingly extended driving range of under the Japanese (JC08) driving cycle.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The e-NV200 has a cargo capacity of and can carry two Euro pallets; both sides are equipped with sliding doors and the rear is equipped with swinging doors for cargo access. Interior cargo length is long to the front bulkhead and wide between the wheel arches, with a lift-in height of from the ground and a maximum capacity of .


title: Nissan NV200

text: Compared to the conventional NV200, the e-NV200 is approximately longer with revised styling that incorporates a charging port door in the center of the front end. Overall width increases by to as the wheel arches were flared to accommodate the Leaf's front subframe. The front suspension is identical to the Leaf, using MacPherson struts, and the rear suspension is taken from the conventional NV200, using leaf springs and a beam axle.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In 2019, a few months after the plug-in hybrid LEVC TX went on sale, the e-NV200 based Dynamo Taxi was launched by a firm also based in Coventry, UK. The Dynamo Taxi became the first 'black cab' on the streets of London to be fully electric since the Bersey Taxi in 1897 and is based on the Evalia version of the van.


title: Nissan NV200

text: In 2022, the Dynamo Motor Company had to phase out the Dynamo Taxi, after Nissan replaced the Nissan e-NV200 Evalia with the Renault Kangoo E-Tech-based Townstar EV, leaving the LEVC TX as the only electric taxi available to London cabbies.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Chevrolet City Express is a badge engineered Nissan NV200 for the American and Canadian markets marketed by Chevrolet. Chevrolet targeted the vehicle toward urban business owners as a cheaper and more compact option next to the full-sized Express van. The City Express came in two level trims (LS and LT), a fold-down passenger seat, 40/60-split rear cargo doors that open to 90- and 180-degree angles, left- and right-side sliding doors, twenty integrated cargo-mounting points throughout the interior, six floor-mounted D-rings and a center storage console. The LT trim included a 5.8-inch diagonal touch screen, navigation, Sirius XM Radio, and Bluetooth connectivity as part of their technology package. The latter was also available as an option for the LS trim.


title: Nissan NV200

text: Chevrolet discontinued sales on the City Express in 2018, and informed dealers to immediately stop taking orders, citing disappointing sales and non-compatibility with GM parts.


title: Nissan NV200

text: The NV200 Combi received a three-star Euro NCAP score in May 2013. Euro NCAP commented of the adult occupant: "When the car was inspected after the frontal impact test, it was found that the floor panel had torn away from the base of the A pillar and numerous spot welds had released between the floor and sill...the main body of the sill was found to be bent inwards. The passenger compartment was judged to be unstable and the car was penalised. Similarly, the driver's footwell was found to have ruptured and was unstable and a further penalty was applied."


title: Nissan NV200

text: The Nissan was announced as the winner of New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow, beating finalists Karsan V-1 and Ford Transit Connect. Nissan was awarded a 10-year contract to provide the city exclusively with some 13,000 yellow cabs, starting in 2013. The European version with the 1.5L Diesel four-cylinder gets 54.4 averaged mpg (44 miles per US gallon); however, the American version will obtain fewer miles per gallon.


title: Sarath Babu

text: Sathyam Babu Dixithulu (born 31 July 1951), known by his stage name Sarath Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He has worked in more than 200 films. He has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and a few in Malayalam and Hindi. He entered the film industry in 1973 through a Telugu film and later became popular through the Tamil film "Nizhal Nijamagiradhu" (1978), directed by K. Balachander. He has received eight state Nandi Awards.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: The Yakovlev Yak-40 (; NATO reporting name: Codling) is a regional jet designed by Yakovlev. The trijet's maiden flight was in 1966, and it was in production from 1967 to 1981. Introduced in September 1968, the Yak-40 has been exported since 1970.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: By the early 1960s, Soviet international and internal trunk routes were served by Aeroflot, the state airline, using jet or turboprop powered airliners, but their local services, many of which operated from grass airfields, were served by obsolete piston-engine aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il-12, Il-14 and Lisunov Li-2. Aeroflot wanted to replace these elderly airliners with a turbine-powered aircraft, with the Yakovlev design bureau being assigned to design it. High speed was not required, but it would have to be able to operate safely and reliably out of poorly equipped airports with short (less than 700 m or 2,300 ft) unpaved runways in poor weather.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: Yakovlev studied both turboprop and jet-powered designs to meet the requirement, including Vertical Take-Off and Landing designs with lift jets in the fuselage or in wing-mounted pods, but eventually they settled on a straight-winged tri-jet carrying 20 to 25 passengers. The engines were to be the new AI-25 turbofan being developed by Ivchenko at Zaporozhye in Ukraine.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: The Yak-40 is a low-winged cantilever monoplane with unswept wings, a large T-tail and a retractable tricycle landing gear. The passenger cabin is ahead of the wing, with the short rear fuselage carrying the three turbofan engines, with two engines mounted on short pylons on the side of the fuselage and a third engine in the rear fuselage, with air fed from a dorsal air-intake by an "S-duct", as is an auxiliary power unit, fitted to allow engine start-up without ground support on primitive airfields. The three AI-25 engines are two-shaft engines rated at 14.7 kN (3,300 lbf). The engines have no jetpipes, and initially no thrust reversers.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: The pressurized fuselage has a diameter of 2.4 metres (94 in). Pilot and co-pilot sit side by side in the aircraft's flight deck, while the passenger cabin has a standard layout seating 24 to 27 passengers three-abreast, although 32 passengers can be carried by switching to four-abreast seating. Passengers enter the aircraft via a set of ventral airstairs in the rear fuselage.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: The wing is fitted with large trailing-edge slotted flaps, but has no other high-lift devices, relying on the aircraft's low wing loading to give the required short-field take-off and landing performance. The wings join at the aircraft centerline, with the main spar running from wingtip to wingtip. The wings house integral fuel tanks with a capacity of 3,800 litres (1,000 US gal; 840 imp gal). The aircraft has a large fin, which is swept back at an angle of 50 degrees to move the tailplane rearwards to compensate for the short rear fuselage. The horizontal tailplane itself is unswept.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: The first of five prototypes made its maiden flight on 21 October 1966, with production being launched at the Saratov Aviation Plant in 1967 and Soviet type certification granted in 1968. The type carried out its first passenger service for Aeroflot on 30 September 1968. In the 1972 version, a tailspin was removed. In 1974, new version was introduced, with non-stop flight distance increased. Also, the forward door on the right side of the fuselage changed its place – it was located together with the sixth window.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: In 1975, the last upgrade of Yak-40 took place – the number of cabin windows on the right side changed from nine to eight.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: By the time production ended in November 1981, the factory at Saratov had produced 1,011 or 1,013 aircraft. By 1993 Yak-40s operated by Aeroflot had carried 354 million passengers. As well as being the backbone of Aeroflot's local operations, flying to 276 domestic destinations in 1980, the Yak-40 was also an export success. In addition to this, Yak-40 became the first Russian/Soviet aircraft to get flying certificates from Italy and West Germany. It was demonstrated in 75 countries of the world, including the US, where orders for the Yak-40 were made.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: A total of 130 were exported to Afghanistan, Angola, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Laos, Madagascar, Philippines, Poland, Syria, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Zambia.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: As of July 2021, a Yak-40 has begun testing with an electric propeller engine in the nose of the aircraft.


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: As of July 2019, a total of 22 out of 1011 Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft remained in service with civil operators. The airworthiness of several Yak-40 of smaller Russian and Central Asian charter airlines is uncertain, as is the whereabouts of one Air Libya Tibesti aircraft after the civil war. Most aircraft in service today have been reconfigured for VIP-charter services, with fewer than ten remaining in scheduled passenger service. Known operators are:


title: Yakovlev Yak-40

text: As of November 2012 no more than 17 Yak-40 remain in military service (possibly fewer, with the unclear situation in Syria). Known operators are:


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Tyumen Oblast (, "Tyumenskaya oblast") is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Western Siberia region of Siberia, and is administratively part of the Urals Federal District. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous okrugs: Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Tyumen Oblast including its autonomous okrugs is the third-largest federal subject by area, and has a population of 3,395,755 (2010).


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Tyumen is the largest city and capital of Tyumen Oblast, and the first Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Tyumen Oblast is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the country, and has experienced an oil boom since the early 2000s. The rapid growth of the fuel industry has made the oblast by far the richest federal subject of Russia, with an average GDP per capita several times the national average since 2006.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The territory covers 160,100 km. The Tyumen Oblast was founded on August 14, 1944. It includes two autonomous okrugs of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (which is the okrug that border the region) and the Yugra and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The territory is located in the basin of the river. The biggest rivers are the Tura, Tobol, Pyshma, Iset, Tavda, Ishim, Agan, Irtysh, Tanama, and Noska. The hydro-geographical system is characterized with the prevalence of small rivers as well as the significant bogginess of their catchment areas and numerous lakes. It borders Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in the north, Omsk Oblast and Tomsk Oblast in the East, Kazakhstan (North Kazakhstan Region), Kurgan Oblast and Sverdlovsk Oblast in the west.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The area has the extreme climatic conditions in most parts of the territory - the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Beloyarsky and Berezovsky areas of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra refer to the Far North and other areas and urban districts of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Uvat area equated to them.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The climate is arctic, sub-arctic and temperate in the north, center and south, respectively. The average January temperature ranges from -17 °C in Tyumen Oblast to -27 °C in the north. The duration of the frost period is 130 in Tyumen to 210 days a year or more in the tundra region.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The region contains more than 70,000 watercourses with a length of more than 10 km for a total length of 584,400 km. The largest navigable rivers are the Ob (185 cu km / yr) and Irtysh (36.5 cu km / yr). In the region there are about 70 thousand lakes. In the north and central parts are widespread thermokarst lakes and predominately marsh in the south.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The Red Book of Tyumen Oblast listed 711 rare and endangered species. In the list of specially protected areas of the south region there are 99 sites, including one international and three federal.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Tyumen Oblast is in the Ekaterinburg time zone. Displacement concerning UTC makes +5:00. Concerning Moscow time the time zone has a constant displacement of +2 hours and is designated in Russia correspondingly as MSK + 2. Ekaterinburg time for most of the Tyumen region is different from the lap time by one hour, to a lesser (western) part, including the city of Tyumen, - for two hours.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: There are variety of fauna and flora in this oblast. In the northern part can be found ptarmigan, walrus and Arctic fox. Polar bears also occur in the extreme north; the genetic make-up of this Polar bear sub-population is genetically distinct from other circumpolar regions.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Tyumen 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: Tyumen Oblast

text: The politics in the oblast is governed by the Charter of Tyumen Oblast. The laws within the authority of the oblast are passed by the Legislative Assembly of Tymen Oblast which is the legislative (representative) body. The highest executive body is the Tyumen Oblast Administration. It also includes the executive bodies of the subdivisions such as districts, and is responsible for the daily administration. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the head of the oblast and acts as guarantor of the observance of the Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The autonomous regions are concentrated the bulk of the country's oil and gas. The total volume of exploration drilling has exceeded 45 million meters. Oil production is concentrated in the Middle Ob. Gas is produced mainly in the northern areas. Large oil fields are located in the Khanty-Ugra: Samotlor Field, Ob, Fyodorovskoye Field, Mamontovskoye, Krasnoleninskoye; gas - in the Yamalo-Nenets District: Urengoy Field, Bear, Yamburg Field. The depth from 700 m to 4 km. Produced peat, sapropel, quartz sand, limestone. Explored about 400 deposits of raw materials for the production of building materials [source not specified 252 days].


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Ore minerals and precious stones discovered on the eastern slope of the Subpolar and Polar Urals (in particular, the deposits of Lead, copper, chromite).


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The area is rich in fresh water resources, which are represented by large rivers - the Ob, Irtysh, Tobol, lakes (650 ths.) - Black (224 km), Big Uvat (179 km), etc., groundwater, that contain more than half of Russian stocks. iodine (30 mlg / l) and bromine (40-50 mlg / l)


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Over 44% of the land reserves in the south of the region are covered with forests. 43 million hectares are covered by forests. The forest resources area is the third largest in the Russian Federation after the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region. The main forest forming species are pine, birch, spruce, fir, aspen and larch. The total timber reserves are estimated at 5.4 billion cubic meters.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: In the south of the Tyumen region are about ten hot (37-50 °C) geothermal sources, having balneological properties. Sources are popular not only among residents of Tyumen, but in neighboring regions as well: the Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, and Chelyabinsk regions.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The region has large peat reserves. Large deposits of vivianite (ferric phosphate) (approximately 20% of world reserves) have been discovered in particular peat deposits, the usage of which may meet the phosphate fertilizers demand of the agriculture.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: There are deposits of quartz sands, brick and expanded clays, sapropels and limestone. The region has large fresh and mineral water reserves. There are great prospects for oil field development.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: , the Nominal GDP in Tyumen Oblast(including Khanty–Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous regions) reached ₽5,9 trillion$104 billion ($28,000 per capita).


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Tyumen is a service center for gas and oil industries: the Oblast has the highest level of oil and gas production of any region in Russia.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Gazprom, LUKoil and Gazpromneft, TNK-BP, Shell, Salym Petroleum Development N.V. have representative offices in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: It has been suggested that the importance of these industries has caused the high levels of economic inequality observed in the region.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: The largest companies in the region include Sibur (revenues of $ billion in 2017), Antipinsky Refinery ($ billion), the local branch of Schlumberger ($ million).


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Transport is presented by the motor, railway, aviation and river communication system. The railway takes the leading position in freight traffic .


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: Roshchino International Airport is undergoing construction as of 2017, with development of a new terminal .


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: There were thirty-six recognized ethnic groups of more than two thousand persons each in Tyumen Oblast, making this one of the most multicultural oblasts in Russia. The national composition at the time of the 2010 Census was:


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: According to a 2012 official survey 28.9% of the population of Tyumen Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 9% is an Orthodox Christian believer without belonging to any church or is a member of other (non-Russian) Eastern Orthodox Churches, 4% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are members of Protestant churches. 6% of the population is composed of Muslims, 2% are adherents of the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery), and 0.4% to forms of Hinduism (Vedism, Krishnaism or Tantrism). In addition, 34% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 11% is atheist, and 3.7% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.


title: Tyumen Oblast

text: A minor planet 2120 Tyumenia discovered in 1967 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova is named after the Tyumen Oblast.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Andrew David Scott (born 30 June 1949) is a Welsh musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and a backing vocalist in the band Sweet. Following bassist Steve Priest's death in June 2020, Scott is the last surviving member of the band's classic lineup.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott started out playing bass guitar. His first gig was at St Peters Hall in Wrexham with The Rasjaks in November 1963 and then with other bands in Wales such as Guitars Incorporated and 3Ds.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: He then progressed to guitar and played with other bands including The Saints, The ForeWinds, and The Missing Links. In 1966 he joined The Silverstone Set (later shortened to The Silverstones), who won the TV show "Opportunity Knocks" five weeks running, and appeared in the all-winners show for Christmas 1966, losing to Freddie Starr. One of their further highlights was to support Jimi Hendrix in Manchester in January 1967.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: When The Silverstones split, Scott went on to form The Elastic Band, who recorded an album called "Expansions of Life". Lead singer Ted Yeadon left to join Love Affair, however, before the album's release and the band folded. During this time they also recorded the album "Pop Sounds", under the name The Cool.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott then played in the backing band for The Scaffold, which also included Mike McGear on bass and saxophone. He went on to join Mayfield's Mule, who recorded three singles, "Drinking My Moonshine", "I See a River" and "We Go Rollin'". An album was also released in Uruguay called "Mayfields Mule" with the song titles translated on the sleeve into Spanish.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: In the late summer of 1970, Scott replaced Mick Stewart in The Sweet after an audition in front of Brian Connolly, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, as well as group managers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. He was one of the last guitarists to audition. According to Steve Priest's autobiography "Are You Ready Steve?", Scott turned up looking pretty untidy, with very long hair and scruffy clothes. He plugged his guitar in and immediately the amplifier to feedback. He eventually performed his piece and the members of the band thought he should join The Sweet.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott's first single release in 1975 was a reworked version of the "Desolation Boulevard" track "Lady Starlight" backed by "Where D'Ya Go?". Both songs, recorded during the "Give Us A Wink" sessions, were written and produced by Scott and Mick Tucker and featured Scott playing all instruments except the drums (Tucker). Scott made a promotional video for the track and also appeared on Mike Mansfield's British TV Show "Supersonic".


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott released his second solo single, "Gotta See Jane", in 1983 under the name Ladders. It was a cover of the R. Dean Taylor Motown hit and was produced by himself and Louis Austin, who had worked with Sweet as their engineer on past ventures. The B-side "Krugerrands", co-written with Chris Bradford,


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: was subsequently released as the follow-up single (as Andy Scott this time), but like its predecessor failed to chart, except in Australia, where it peaked at number 89 and South Africa where it was a top 10 hit. In 1984, Scott released two more solo singles, "Let Her Dance" and "Invisible". A compilation of all his solo projects, including demos, was released by Repertoire Records in 1993, under the title "30 Years".


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: He produced a couple of demos for Weapon, which was then fronted by Danny Hynes who went on to form Paddy Goes to Holyhead and Scott played with them now and again. Scott then produced, played on and appeared in the video for their single "Green Green Grass of Home" and then joined the band on a regular basis until reforming Sweet.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: In 1985 Scott and Tucker re-formed Sweet with new members Paul Day (ex-Iron Maiden) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix now with Uriah Heep) on keyboards, and Mal McNulty (ex-Weapon) on bass. This band became "Andy Scott's Sweet" following Tucker's departure in 1991.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: In July 2010, Scott appeared in UK television adverts for the insurance company VanCompare.com. Three adverts were in circulation featuring "Fox on the Run", "Love Is Like Oxygen", and "Action".


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott was a main organiser of the first charity Rock Against Cancer concert in All Cannings, Wiltshire, in May 2012, which was headlined by Brian May, The Boomtown Rats, and Midge Ure. Concerts are still ongoing, in which Scott still plays an active role.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: Scott lives in a converted barn at All Cannings, in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire. His wife Maddy left him in 2004 after his absence on a long tour of Australia.


title: Andy Scott (guitarist)

text: In September 2009 Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer; following treatment, he was in remission.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: The Adderall Diaries is a 2015 American crime drama film written and directed by Pamela Romanowsky, based on a "true-crime memoir" book of the same name by Stephen Elliott. The film stars James Franco, Ed Harris, Amber Heard and Christian Slater.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: "The Adderall Diaries" had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 16, 2015. The film was released on DirecTV Cinema on March 10, 2016, prior to opening in a limited release on April 15, 2016, by A24.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Stephen Elliott is a successful author with a troubled childhood. His mother died when he was a child and his father Neil was physically and psychologically abusive. During his adolescence, Stephen has lived most of his life behaving very destructively and abusing drugs (of which Adderall is an example) and committing petty vandalism.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Now in his 30s, Stephen accepts a deal to write his next book about Hans Reiser, a software guru who developed the Reiser filesystem. Hans had a volatile marriage and his wife has recently gone missing. Despite Hans' claims that his wife has simply gone into hiding to hurt him, the police arrested him on suspicion of murder, where he awaits trial. In attendance to the trial is Stephen who is hoping to make Hans' memoir a best seller.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Stephen's previous book is an autobiography about his childhood that is about to get released. At a press release, Stephen reads a part from the book talking about how his estranged father hurt and abused him only for Neil to stand out and brand him a liar. This causes Stephen to question his childhood memories. In despair, Stephen hooks up on recreational drugs, goes to a club, and sleeps with a random person. The next morning, a hungover Stephen checks his voicemails, which include his publisher dropping him for missing an important meeting, and Lana Edmond, a woman he was starting a relationship with, dumping him. To make matters worse, Stephen realizes that he also slept through the jury announcing their verdict on Hans, finding him guilty of murder.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Stephen reconnects with Neil where he finds out about his cancer diagnosis. While talking, Stephen figures out that while Neil made some parenting mistakes, Stephen is falsely remembering his father being downright abusive. A recurring memory of Neil handcuffing him until he bled was because Stephen was trying to commit suicide and Neil was desperately trying to restrain him.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: In the end, Stephen writes over the course of two days about making amends with his father. Stephen's agent approves of the newly written manuscript and agrees to have it published. Meanwhile, it is revealed in the news that Hans has finally admitted to killing his wife because she was going to leave him and take his children. He has shown the cops where her body is buried in exchange for a lesser sentence.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Director Pamela Romanowsky met James Franco at New York University while attending the MFA Film Program. After collaborating on a short film, he hired her to direct "The Adderall Diaries" as he had previously purchased the rights. In June 2014, Christian Slater had been cast in the film.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Principal photography began on May 16, 2014 in Brooklyn. On May 23, filming was underway in New York City.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 16, 2015. Shortly after the premiere, its distributed rights were acquired by A24 and DirecTV Cinema, the film would premiere on DirecTV before a theatrical and video on demand release.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: The film was released on March 10, 2016, on DirecTV Cinema prior to a limited theatrical release on April 15, 2016.


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: The film received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 25% score based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Stylistically overwrought and tedious, "The Adderall Diaries" aspires for profundity but instead feels like a shambolic class project thrown together right before it was due." Metacritic reports a 42 out of 100 rating based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Adderall Diaries (film)

text: Stephen Elliott reviewed the film negatively, stating that the final result had little in common with his memoir and wondering "why calling the character Stephen Elliott was necessary."


title: Beyond the Lights

text: Beyond the Lights is a 2014 American romantic drama film directed and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Machine Gun Kelly, and Danny Glover. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 14, 2014. In 2015, the song "Grateful" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: In 1998 in London, a young Noni Jean is taken by her mother Macy to a salon to get her hair done before her performance at a talent contest. Noni is happy to win second place for her performance of Nina Simone's "Blackbird", but her mother refuses to accept anything but first place and forces Noni to smash her trophy on the ground.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: In the present, Noni Jean is a hot new artist who has just won a Billboard Music Award for her collaboration with her boyfriend Kid Culprit and is primed for superstardom. However, the pressures of success cause her to nearly end her life by falling off a hotel balcony. She is saved by a young police officer, Kaz Nicol. Noni's team, including her mother, tells the media in a press conference that she fell by accident. Kaz, who has political ambitions, is not happy to be forced to lie to the media, and is initially cold to Noni. However, he later apologizes to her. Gradually, they connect and begin to fall in love, despite her mother's disapproval. Noni tells Kaz about the songs she has secretly written, and he is supportive of her creative ambitions. Noni decides to end the romantic relationship with Kid Culprit that her team has encouraged.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: In spite of her team's attempt to cover it up, rumors persist that Noni attempted suicide, and her label tells Macy (who is also Noni's manager) that her record contract is conditional on a successful upcoming performance. However, during the performance, Kid Culprit suddenly humiliates her and lies about their relationship, and Kaz punches him on stage in defense of Noni. Following this, Noni loses her record contract and is at a low point emotionally, so Kaz takes her on a trip to Mexico away from the spotlight where they enjoy each other's company. Noni gets rid of her old hairstyle in favor of her natural hair, and a trip to a local karaoke bar leads to Noni giving an emotional performance of "Blackbird." The performance is uploaded to the internet and goes viral, causing Noni's mother and the paparazzi to find her. Macy tells Noni that the viral success of her performance has caused her record label to reconsider, and Noni agrees to return home. Kaz tells Noni he is not convinced that anything will be different than it was before, and their relationship is put on pause.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: Noni wants to add a song she has written to her upcoming album, but Macy refuses. The two fight about their relationship and Noni tells her mother that even after her suicide attempt, Macy continued to focus only on her career to the detriment of her happiness and mental health. Noni fires Macy as her manager. Meanwhile, Kaz has begun a political campaign and reflects on whether his career should take precedence over his personal happiness. Inspired by Kaz's honesty, Noni gives a television interview where she admits to having attempted suicide and says she is getting help. Noni prepares for her first live performance in London, and shortly before going onstage suddenly encounters Kaz, who has taken a flight there and expresses his love for her. Noni performs a song she has written to an enthusiastic audience. She brings Kaz onstage, tells him that she loves him too, and they embrace.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: On August 15, 2013, Relativity Media bought the worldwide rights to the film, originally titled "Blackbird". Relativity Media also financed and distributed the film. Ryan Kavanaugh produced along with Stephanie Allain. On December 6, 2013, Relativity set the film for a November 14, 2014 release date.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: Three stars—Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, and Danny Glover—were already in the ensemble cast on August 15; Raw played Noni Jean, a new singer. Parker played Kaz Nicol and Glover played Captain David Nicol. On September 25, 2013, Minnie Driver and Machine Gun Kelly also joined the cast; Driver played Noni's mother Macy Jean while Machine Gun Kelly played Kid Culprit, a rapper.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: Relativity Music Group released a soundtrack album for the film on November 10, 2014, which features the original song "Grateful", written by Diane Warren and performed by Rita Ora. Three songs featured in the film but absent from the soundtrack are Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love," India.Arie's "I Am Light" and Amel Larrieux's "Don't Let Me Down" as they already appear on each artist's respective albums.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Thanks to smart direction and a powerhouse performance from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Beyond the Lights" transcends its formulaic storyline to deliver thoroughly entertaining drama." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Beyond the Lights

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" praised Mbatha-Raw's performance as "incandescent" and Prince-Bythewood's script for its "surprising integrity." Hitfix said the film's excellence showed that writer/director "Gina Prince-Bythewood isn't working enough," while "Variety" called it "messy but undeniably entertaining."


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written and composed as a collaboration among all the members of the band for their second album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head". The song is built around a piano riff, and features cryptic lyrics concerning themes of contrast and urgency. Several remixes of the track exist, and its riff has been widely sampled.


title: Clocks (song)

text: The record was initially released in the United States as the album's second single on 11 November 2002, reaching number 29 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number nine on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was then released in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2003 as the third single from "A Rush of Blood to the Head", reaching number nine on the UK Singles Chart. Music critics praised the song's piano melody, and it went on to win Record of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards.


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" is considered to be one of Coldplay's signature songs, and is often ranked among the greatest songs of the 2000s and of all time. In 2010, the single was placed at 490th on "Rolling Stone"'s "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In 2011, "NME" placed it amongst the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" was written and composed during the late stages of production of Coldplay's second album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head". A riff popped into Chris Martin's mind late one night in Liverpool when he came into the studio, where he then developed it on piano. According to singer Chris Martin, "Clocks" was inspired by the English rock band Muse. Martin presented the riff to the band's guitarist, Jonny Buckland, who then added a layer of guitar chords to the basic track: "He picked up his guitar [a sure sign that he likes a song] and played these brilliant chords ... It was like a chemical reaction process."


title: Clocks (song)

text: Before writing and composing "Clocks", the band had already written ten songs for the album. However, because "A Rush of Blood to the Head" was nearing completion, they thought it was too late to include the new song on it. Hence, they recorded a demo and saved it with other unfinished tracks, labelling it "Songs for #3"; the band intended these tracks for what would be their third album.


title: Clocks (song)

text: By June 2002, Coldplay were ready to present the new album to their record label Parlophone. However, Martin felt it was "rubbish"; they were so far from being completely satisfied with the album that both the band and Parlophone delayed the release. After a headlining tour, Coldplay went on working on "Songs for #3." Phil Harvey, the band's manager and a friend of Martin, heard it and pressed him to rework "Clocks" immediately. Harvey pointed out that, with its lyrics that speak of urgency, its meaning contradicted Martin's idea of stashing the track. Thus persuaded by Harvey, Martin then further developed "Clocks", while other band members supplemented his work with their ideas based on the main piano track, adding bass and drums. Coldplay recorded the song very quickly because the schedule of "A Rush of Blood to the Head" had already been delayed; the album was released two months later.


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" is an alternative rock and psychedelic rock song. It features a repeating piano melody and a minimalist, atmospheric soundscape of synthesizer pads, drums, electric guitar, and bass guitar. Martin applied an ostinato, as well as a descending scale on the piano chord progression, which switches from major to minor chords.


title: Clocks (song)

text: The themes of the lyrics include contrast, contradictions and urgency. According to Jon Wiederhon of MTV News, "Martin seems to address the helplessness of being in a dysfunctional relationship he doesn't necessarily want to escape." The lyrics are cryptic; the ending lines of the second verse emphasise contradicting emotion: "Come out upon my seas/Cursed missed opportunities/Am I a part of the cure/Or am I part of the disease?" The song's title also "metaphorically alludes" to its lyrics, "pushing one to wonder about the world's obsession with time while connecting it to the theory: make the best of it when we’re here, present and alive."


title: Clocks (song)

text: The song is written in the key of E mixolydian and a main chord progression of E-Bm-Fm. Emixolydian is the fifth mode of Amajor leading to some transcriptions using this key.


title: Clocks (song)

text: Coldplay released "Clocks" in the United Kingdom on 24 March 2003 as the album's third single. The single was issued with two B-sides: "Animals", which was one of the band's favourite songs performed on tour but was not included in the album, and "Crests of Waves". The single's cover, created by Sølve Sundsbø—as with the album and its other singles—is a portrayal of Chris Martin. In the United States, while preparing "The Scientist" as the album's second release, Coldplay's US label felt the song failed to "provide enough of a blood rush for American listeners"; instead, they released "Clocks" as the second single in the US on 11 November 2002, the same day that "The Scientist" was issued in the UK.


title: Clocks (song)

text: A music video was filmed in support of the song. It was directed by British film-maker Dominic Leung, and shot at Docklands' ExCeL Building in London. It features the band performing the song, with a laser show, in front of a staged audience, mostly local college students. Stage effects and blue-red light transitions give the video a surreal feel, while a stoic crowd make up the audience. Martin has maketradefair.com scrawled on his left hand for the video to promote fair trade between countries and corporations, which can be seen at various moments throughout the video, especially when paused while he is playing piano at the 3-minute, 22-second mark. The website became defunct in 2004.


title: Clocks (song)

text: The song received widespread acclaim from music critics. Rob Sheffield from the "Rolling Stone" magazine praised it as one of the album's highlights by saying that "[guitarist] Buckland shines in excellent psychedelic rockers such as 'Clocks'". David Cheal of "The Daily Telegraph" commented how the song features a "hypnotic piano riff, a pounding, almost frantic rhythm, and a contagious tune, all building to a gorgeously serene climax with Martin's floaty voice singing." Scott Floman, music critic for "Goldmine" magazine, described the track as "a stunningly pretty piano rocker, absolutely perfect and is simply one of the best songs of the decade".


title: Clocks (song)

text: The single was successful in radio throughout 2003 and appeared on several singles charts worldwide. It peaked at number nine in the United Kingdom and rose to number 29 in the United States. The song also reached number seven in Canada and number 28 in Australia. "Clocks" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and was ranked at number 155 on "Pitchfork"'s "Greatest Songs of the 2000s" list as well. In October 2011, "NME" placed it amongst the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In 2013, the song was voted by listeners of BBC Radio 6 Music as the greatest release during the ten years the station had been broadcasting.


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" has been regarded as one of Coldplay's finest achievements, with the track's piano progression being their signature creation. According to "The New York Times", the opening piano arpeggios of the song have been widely sampled too. Many cuts from "X&Y" feature influences from "Clocks", with Brian Cohen of "Billboard" magazine noting how it served as a "launching pad" for them in the band's third album: "several of which echo that song either in structure or feel". "Speed of Sound", the first single from "X&Y", is similar to "Clocks", in that the two songs have a similar descending chord progression, with Clocks having a I v ii7 progression while Speed of Sound has a I v7 IV progression.


title: Clocks (song)

text: According to "The New York Times", American singer Jordin Sparks's 2008 single "No Air" "breathes life into the overfamiliar piano line" from "Clocks". The song "Should I Go" by American singer Brandy, from her album "Afrodisiac", samples the piano riff of "Clocks", as does Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández's 2007 single "Te Voy A Perder". In 2009, French DJ David Guetta in collaboration with Kelly Rowland released the song "When Love Takes Over", which has a piano introduction like that of "Clocks". A riff similar to "Clocks" was also used for the 2009 song "Shining Down" by Chicagoan hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco and featuring Matthew Santos. An analogous riff can also be heard in the DJ Cahill Remix of the Agnes song "I Need You Now." In 2010, "Rolling Stone" placed "Clocks" at 490 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In 2020, Bono of U2 named Clocks as one of 60 songs that saved his life. In 2021, Billboard featured "Clocks" in a list of the "100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century" as number 67.


title: Clocks (song)

text: "Clocks" was remixed several times. Norwegian duo Röyksopp made a remixed version of the song, pressed on the 1000 limited-edition 12" vinyl records; 100 of which were made available through the band's official website. The release features a remixed version of "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face'" by Def Inc featuring Mr Thing. The version placed at number five in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2003 (the original version of the song placed at number 69 the previous year). In addition, there have been several other dance remixes of "Clocks", including those by Clokx and Deep Dish plus a mashup from Gabriel and Dresden's 2003 Essential Mix which appeared on various P2P networks. A remixed version of the song is included on the soundtrack of the video game "" for the Wii console.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of "Dungeons & Dragons" ("D&D"). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for "D&D", a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. "Dungeons & Dragons" is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular "D&D" as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his other son Kevin, making the two Blume brothers the largest shareholders in TSR Hobbies.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR Hobbies ran into financial difficulties in the spring of 1983, prompting the company to split into four independent businesses, with game publishing and development continuing as TSR, Inc. (TSR). After losing their executive positions, the Blume brothers subsequently sold their shares to TSR Vice President Lorraine Williams, who in turn engineered Gygax's ouster from the company in October 1985. TSR saw prosperity under Williams, but encountered financial trouble in the mid-1990s. While their overall sales and revenue were healthy, TSR's high costs meant the company nevertheless became unprofitable and saddled by debt. TSR was left unable to cover its publishing costs due to a variety of factors. Facing insolvency, TSR was purchased in 1997 by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). WotC initially retained use of the TSR name for "D&D" products, but by 2000, the TSR moniker was dropped, coinciding with the release of the 3rd edition of "Dungeons & Dragons".


title: TSR, Inc.

text: WotC allowed the TSR trademark to expire in the early 2000s. Two new companies have since utilized the TSR trademark commercially.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) was formed in 1973 as a partnership between Gary Gygax and Don Kaye, who collected together $2,400 for startup costs, to formally publish and sell the rules of "Dungeons & Dragons", the creation of Gygax and Dave Arneson and the first modern role-playing game (RPG). The first TSR release, however, was "Cavaliers and Roundheads", a miniature game, to start generating income for TSR. The partnership was subsequently joined by Brian Blume in December 1973. Blume was admitted to the partnership to fund further publishing of "D&D", as "Cavaliers and Roundheads" was not a commercial success. In the original configuration of the partnership, Kaye served as president, Blume as vice-president, and Gygax as editor.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In January 1974, TSR—with Gygax's basement as a headquarters—produced 1,000 copies of "D&D", selling them for $10 each (and the extra dice needed for another $3.50). This first print sold out in 10 months. In January 1975, TSR printed a second 1,000 copies of "D&D", which took only another five or six months to sell out. Also in 1974, TSR published "Warriors of Mars", a miniatures rules book set in the fantasy world of Barsoom, originally imagined by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his series of novels about John Carter of Mars, to which Gygax paid homage in the preface of the first edition of "D&D". However, Gygax and TSR published the "Mars" book without permission from (or payment to) the Burroughs estate, and soon after, a cease and desist order was issued, and "Warriors" was pulled from distribution.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: When Don Kaye died of a heart attack on January 31, 1975, his role was taken over by his wife Donna Kaye, who remained responsible for accounting, shipping, and the records of the partnership through the summer. By the summer of 1975, those duties became complex enough that Gygax himself became a full-time employee of the partnership in order to take them over from Donna Kaye. Arneson also entered the partnership in order to coordinate research and design with his circle in the Twin Cities.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Brian Blume and Gary Gygax reorganized the business from a partnership to a corporation called TSR Hobbies, Inc. At first, it was a separate company to market miniatures and games from other companies, an enterprise which was also connected to the opening of the Dungeon hobby shop in Lake Geneva. TSR Hobbies then moved to buy out the old TSR partnership's assets. Brian's father, Melvin Blume, invested $20,000 in the nascent company which enabled it to buy out Donna Kaye's share of the original TSR partnership. On September 26, 1975, the assets of the former partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies. Brian Blume became the largest shareholder, Melvin Blume the second-largest, and Gary Gygax the third-largest. Gygax served as president of TSR Hobbies, and Blume as vice president and secretary. The Dungeon hobby shop would become the effective headquarters of the company, including the offices of Blume and Gygax. TSR Hobbies subcontracted the printing and assembly work in October 1975, and the third printing of 2,000 copies of "D&D" sold out in five months. Tim Kask was hired in the autumn of 1975 as Periodicals Editor, and the company's first full-time employee.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: "Empire of the Petal Throne" became the first game product published by TSR Hobbies, followed by two supplements to "D&D", "Greyhawk" and "Blackmoor". Also released in 1975 were the board game "Dungeon!" and the Wild West RPG "Boot Hill". The company took $300,000 in revenues for the fiscal year of 1976. TSR began hosting the Gen Con Game Fair in 1976, and featured the first ever "D&D" open tournament that year. "D&D" supplements "Eldritch Wizardry" and "Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes" were released in 1976.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR also began to branch the "Dungeons & Dragons" product into two: "Dungeons & Dragons" as a general audience product intended for novices, and "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" ("AD&D") for a more complicated product aimed at hardcore fans. In 1977, the "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set" was released for "D&D", and the "Monster Manual" was released as the initial product for "AD&D", the first hardbound book ever published by a game company. The next year, the "AD&D" "Players Handbook" was published, followed by a series of six adventure modules. Due to the inclusion of the word "Advanced" in the title, TSR did not pay Dave Arneson any royalties on "AD&D" products, saying his co-creation rights extended to the base "D&D" name only. Also in 1978, TSR Hobbies moved out of Gygax's home and into downtown Lake Geneva, above the Dungeon Hobby Shop. In 1979, the "AD&D" "Dungeon Masters Guide" was published, and radio ads featuring "Morley the Wizard" were broadcast. All of these core books would go on to be major hits; the "D&D Basic Set" sold well in 1977 and 1978, would sell over 100,000 copies in 1979, and would continue to be updated and re-released for years.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: During this era, there were a number of competitors and unofficial supplements to "D&D" published, arguably in violation of TSR's copyright, which many "D&D" players used alongside the TSR books. Among these were the "Arduin Grimoire", the "Manual of Aurenia", and variants such as "Warlock" and "Tunnels & Trolls". TSR regarded these very warily, and in cases where they felt their trademarks were being misused, they issued cease-and-desist letters. More often than not, this legal posturing resulted in only slight changes to competitors' works, but caused significant animosity in the community.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1979, TSR signed a contract with Random House with unusual terms. In most deals between publishers and distributors, publishers are paid directly based on books sold downstream by the distributor to bookstores. In TSR's contract, however, Random House would loan money to TSR as an advance upon shipment of product from TSR to Random House, a loan equivalent to 27.3% of the suggested retail price. The arrangement was mutually beneficial at first: TSR could acquire money up front to fund their work, and not have to worry about immediate sales. Many of TSR's products had consistent sales over time, and the loans allowed the company to recoup the investment immediately and use the funds to make more books. Returns were generally low, leading to Random House's confidence in TSR. The arrangement would cause trouble later in the 1990s, however.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Gygax granted exclusive rights to Games Workshop to distribute TSR products in the United Kingdom, after meeting with Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. Games Workshop printed some original material and also printed their own versions of various "D&D" and "AD&D" titles in order to avoid high import costs. When TSR could not reach an agreement with Games Workshop regarding a possible merger, TSR created a subsidiary operation in the UK, TSR Hobbies UK Ltd, in 1980. Gygax hired Don Turnbull to head up the operation, which would expand into continental Europe during the 1980s. TSR UK published a series of modules and the original "Fiend Folio". TSR UK also produced "Imagine" magazine for 31 issues.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: The first published campaign setting for "AD&D", the World of Greyhawk, was introduced in 1980. The espionage role-playing game "Top Secret" came out in 1980; reportedly, a note written on TSR stationery about a fictitious assassination plot, part of the playtesting of the new game, brought the FBI to TSR's offices. That same year, the Role Playing Game Association was formed to promote quality roleplaying and unite gamers around the country. In 1981, "Inc." magazine listed TSR Hobbies as one of the hundred fastest-growing privately held companies in the US. That same year, TSR Hobbies moved its offices again, this time to a former medical supply building with an attached warehouse. In 1982, TSR Hobbies broke the 20 million mark in sales.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1982, TSR Hobbies decided to terminate Grenadier Miniatures's license and started producing its own "AD&D" miniatures line, followed by a line of toys. Part of the licensing of the "AD&D" toy line went to LJN. Also that year, TSR introduced two new roleplaying games, "Gangbusters" and "Star Frontiers". Exclusive distribution of the "D&D" game was established in 22 countries, with the game being translated first into French, followed by many other languages. In 1982, an educational department was established to develop curriculum programs for reading, math, history, and problem solving, with the most successful program being the "Endless Quest" book series.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Melvin Blume's shares were later transferred to his son Kevin Blume. After this, the leadership of TSR consisted of Kevin Blume, Brian Blume, and Gary Gygax. In contemporary articles from the early 1980s, Gygax said that the three worked as a team, and only proceeded with unanimous consent and buy-in. In interviews years later, Gygax downplayed his role, and described his position as primarily a powerless figurehead CEO, with Brian Blume as president of creative affairs and Kevin Blume as president of operations. In 1981, TSR Hobbies had revenues of $12.9 million and a payroll of 130.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR Hobbies sought diversification, acquiring or starting several new business ventures. These included miniatures manufacturing, toy and gift ventures, and an entertainment division to pursue motion picture and television opportunities. Many parts of this expansion were later criticized as bad investments and over-extension. Greenfield Needlewomen, a needle craft business, was one particularly criticized acquisition; it was owned by a cousin of the Blumes. Sales of D&D-themed needlecraft were abysmal, and the acquisition was criticized as nepotism. The company was similarly accused of favoring friends and relatives of the Blumes and Gygax in hiring. The management also used company funds to raise a shipwreck from Geneva Lake for no clear financial benefit. The company acquired the trademarks and copyrights of SPI and "Amazing Stories" magazine, despite "Amazing Stories" having only ten thousand subscribers.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1983, the company was split into four companies: TSR, Inc. (the primary successor), TSR International, TSR Ventures, and TSR Entertainment, Inc.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Gygax left for Hollywood to found TSR Entertainment, Inc., later Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment Corp., which attempted to license "D&D" products to movie and television executives. His work would eventually lead to only a single license for what later became the "Dungeons & Dragons" cartoon. The series led its time slot for two years.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR, Inc. released the "Dragonlance" saga in 1984 after two years of development, an entirely new game world. The series was both a set of modules and supplements designed for running campaigns, starting with "Dragons of Despair", as well as a novel series. The novel series was written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The "Dragonlance" trilogy of novels was a colossal hit; "Dragons of Autumn Twilight", the first novel in the series, reached the top of "The New York Times" Best Seller list, encouraging TSR to a launch a long series of paperback novels. TSR's Books Department would go on to launch novels on its other "D&D" settings as well, and be one of TSR's most profitable divisions.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1984, TSR signed a license to publish the "Marvel Super Heroes", "Indiana Jones", and "Conan" role-playing games. In 1985, the Gen Con game convention moved out of Lake Geneva which had given it its name, and relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin due to a need for additional space. The "Oriental Adventures" hardback for "AD&D" was released that same year, becoming the biggest seller for 1985. TSR introduced the "All My Children" game, based on the ABC daytime drama, with more than 150,000 copies sold. In 1986, TSR introduced the "Dungeon Adventures" magazine, a bi-monthly magazine featuring only adventure scenarios for "D&D".


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Sales of the core rule books and boxed sets crested in 1983 and fell in 1984 and 1985, largely due to market saturation; customers who wanted rulebooks largely already had them. There were bright spots in 1983–1985 such as "Dragonlance" novel sales, "Unearthed Arcana", and "Oriental Adventures", but TSR's finances were in bad shape due to high expenses and costs that had assumed rule book sales would remain strong. The result was a cycle of layoffs and contractions in 1983–1985, as well as the Blumes negotiating a $4 million loan from American National Bank.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: The struggle for financing led to board room shake-ups at the top level. TSR's line of credit was stopped by its bank, and the company was in debt to over . Gygax would later say that he was in the dark as to the extent of the financial difficulties due to being in Hollywood; Ben Riggs, an author who studied TSR's history, is skeptical Gygax was truly unaware, however. Gygax returned to Wisconsin from Hollywood. In the spring of 1985, Gygax exercised an option to buy seven hundred shares of TSR stock, which combined with shares given to his son Ernie gave him 51.1% of all stock, up from around 30% before. Gygax also says he had a confrontation with the board of directors, and had the Blumes removed. Gygax now controlled TSR. Financial difficulties continued, however. Within a year of the departure of the Blumes, the company posted a net loss of US$1.5 million, resulting in layoffs of approximately 75% of the staff. Some of these staff members went on to form other prominent game companies, such as Pacesetter Ltd and Mayfair Games, or to work with Coleco's video game division.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Gygax searched for financing. Flint Dille, one of his contacts he made in his time in Hollywood, suggested his sister Lorraine Williams might be interested in investing money into TSR. Williams was given a position of general manager at TSR and attempted to fix TSR's precarious financial situation. This led to clashes between Williams and Gygax, who resisted some of Williams' suggestions. Meanwhile, the Blumes, out of power at the company and worried about its financial strength in the long-term, sought to cash-out their shares. They offered to sell their shares to Gygax, but he refused. They exercised their own options to buy seven hundred more shares, then sold their entire holdings to Lorraine Williams instead. Williams herself bought fifty shares. With these purchases, Williams became the majority shareholder of TSR, and used her voting power to depose Gygax as CEO and president on October 22, 1985. Gygax unsuccessfully challenged the sale in court; Gygax's supporters considered the Blumes' sale an act of retaliation. Gygax eventually sold his remaining stock to Williams and used the capital to form New Infinities Productions. On TSR's side, they would pepper Gygax with legal threats long after he left in an attempt to deter him from competing with his old company in the area of role-playing games.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Williams was a financial planner who saved TSR from financial disaster, and by extension saved "Dungeons & Dragons". She saw potential for rebuilding the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she also acquired a reputation as a non-gamer who played the "villain" in retrospectives of TSR. Gary Gygax grew particularly disdainful of her; Williams' habit of threatening lawsuits and legal action against perceived foes was criticized as unwise and turning potential allies into enemies. However, her tenure has also been defended. John D. Rateliff said that "Every single person I talked to who worked under Gary [Gygax] and the Blumes and then worked under Lorraine preferred working under Lorraine... I never met a single person who was under both who didn't prefer being under her." Jeff Grubb said that she "pretty much saved the company," as the company was weeks away from total collapse when she took over.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR released the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting in 1987, which would go on to become one of the most popular settings for "D&D". TSR's settings would generally include a boxed set with multiple paperbacks and a map as their core product, and would produce tie-in supplements such as pre-made adventures (usually called "modules"), guides to regions within the world, and novels. Also in 1987, a small team of designers began work on the second edition of the "AD&D" game. In 1988, TSR released a "Bullwinkle & Rocky" RPG, complete with a spinner and hand puppets. That same year, TSR released the wargame "The Hunt for Red October" based on Tom Clancy's novel "The Hunt for Red October", which became one of the biggest selling wargames of all time. In 1989, "AD&D" 2nd edition was released. The release saw a new "Dungeon Master's Guide", "Player's Handbook", and the first three volumes of the new "Monstrous Compendium". A new campaign setting, "Spelljammer", was also released in 1989, which allowed characters from one "D&D" world to travel to other worlds via space galleons in an Age of Sail themed setting. TSR would go on to produce many expansions for 2nd edition, such as a series of class handbooks that began with "The Complete Fighter's Handbook".


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1990, the "Ravenloft" setting was released, a horror-themed setting for "AD&D". "Ravenloft" had been introduced in an acclaimed 1983 adventure module, and was now expanded into an entire setting. In 1991, TSR released the "Dark Sun" campaign setting, which was more dark fantasy in genre, and set on a post-apocalyptic desert world threatened by evil life-draining wizards and psionicists. In 1992, TSR released the "Al-Qadim" setting with a Middle Eastern flavor similar to a fantasy version of the "Arabian Nights", although its world was also connected to the Forgotten Realms. In 1993, a revised version of the "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting" for 2nd edition was released; TSR had published a sourcebook on upgrading the 1st edition material to 2nd edition in 1990 earlier. In 1993, "DragonStrike" was released as an introductory product aimed to recruit new players, including a 30-minute video which explained the concepts of role-playing; a similar introductory product, "First Quest", was released in 1994. Also in 1994, the "Planescape" campaign setting was released, featuring the city of Sigil as the "City of Doors" that connected to the various planes of existence in "AD&D". "Spelljammer" had not been considered a success by TSR as players perceived it as mainly a way to move characters from one world to another rather than its own setting; "Planescape" attempted to remedy this by focusing on Sigil as a place to set an entire campaign, rather than a place to pass through. TSR also released "" in 1994, which detailed one of the kingdoms in the setting of Mystara. As an innovation, it included an audio CD with tracks of dialogue and sound effects. In 1995, TSR released "Birthright", a campaign setting that mixed "D&D" with strategy games. The intent was for players to play noble characters empowered by divine blood which gave them the power to rule domains; players could expand their domains and divine powers with a mixture of war and diplomacy. In 1996, "" was released, a "diceless" role-playing game that departed from the roots of "Dragonlance" in "AD&D".


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Under Williams' direction, TSR solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, comic books, and collectible games.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR's book division was a traditional powerhouse for the company, especially due to the comparatively low costs in producing novels compared to role-playing supplements which required commissioning art and play-testing. The most notably successful novel series of the era was R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, set in the Forgotten Realms. Starting with "The Crystal Shard" in 1988, many of Salvatore's books would go on to reach the paperback bestseller lists. TSR eventually moved into publishing hardcover novels as well with Salvatore's "The Legacy", published in 1992. It made the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list within weeks.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: The Dille Family Trust, of which Lorraine Williams was a part, held the rights to the Buck Rogers license. Williams personally encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers tie-in material. TSR would end up publishing a Buck Rogers board games, novels, a comic book, and a role-playing game based on the "AD&D" 2nd Edition rules. TSR's Buck Rogers projects were commercial failures.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In the late 1980s, TSR opened a new West Coast division in Southern California to develop various entertainment projects, similar to how Gygax had sought deals in Hollywood in the early 1980s. However, the efforts of the division would come to "less than nothing" according to TSR historian Ben Riggs, despite initial promise. TSR had an arrangement with DC Comics to produce the comics "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" and "Forgotten Realms", which sold well and were profitable for both DC and TSR. Sensing an opportunity, TSR decided to produce comics themselves as a stepping stool to television and film, as comics were cheaper to produce and start with. However, they had already sold the rights to their own A-list product in "AD&D". TSR attempted to not enrage DC Comics by calling their new product "comics modules" and including game-related material at the end of each issue; additionally, TSR largely sold the comics modules through bookshops rather than comic shops. The compromise failed in both directions: DC, feeling betrayed that their partner was moving to become a competitor, immediately stopped production of both the "AD&D" and "Forgotten Realms" comics, and canceled an in-production "Ravenloft" work. However, the changes to present the product as not a comic book caused the potential audience to either not know of its existence at all, or to be confused as to its nature. TSR West eventually published four comics modules: a Buck Rogers comic, a sci-fi comic "Intruder", a time travel comic "Warhawks", and a horror comic called "R.I.P." They were not commercially successful. TSR West closed around 1991, although TSR would continue to work with Flint Dille on film-adjacent products made in California such as the introductory video for "Dragonstrike" and a 1995 interactive video game series called "Terror T.R.A.X."


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR continued to own and operate the Gen Con role-playing game convention. Gen Con grew beyond its initial focus on "D&D" and wargames to role-playing fans in general. Gen Con was a growing and successful convention; in 1992, it broke all previous attendance records for any U.S gaming convention, with more than 18,000 people.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1993, Wizards of the Coast released the game "" at Gen Con, which was an immediate smash hit that established the collectible card game (CCG) genre. TSR's Jim Ward led a development effort to create a "Dungeons & Dragons"-themed CCG competitor that would be a response to "Magic". The result would be "Spellfire", released in April 1994. "Spellfire" was produced on a shoestring budget, and re-used art that TSR had already commissioned for other projects; Lorraine Williams was not a fan of the project. Its financial results are contested; some TSR insiders say that "Spellfire" sold well considering the constraints on it, while others indicate it sold poorly. "Spellfire" was discontinued in 1996, although one final release occurred in late 1997. Another collectible competitor to Wizards of the Coast that TSR produced was "Dragon Dice", which was released in 1995. "Dragon Dice" was a collectible dice game where each player started with a random assortment of basic dice, and could improve their assortment by purchasing booster packs of more powerful dice. Sales of "Dragon Dice" through the games trade started strongly, so TSR quickly produced several expansion packs. In addition, TSR tried to aggressively market "Dragon Dice" in mass-market book stores through Random House. However, the game did not catch on through the book trade, and sales of the expansion sets through traditional games stores were poor.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1994, TSR signed an agreement with Sweetpea Entertainment for rights to make a "D&D" movie. This would eventually result in the 2000 "Dungeons & Dragons" movie.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR's book division ran into troubles in the mid-1990s. TSR engaged in disputes with some of its most successful authors over terms and remuneration. Weis & Hickman had been driven off in the mid-80s; a new dispute with R. A. Salvatore happened in 1994–1995. TSR ramped up the number of novels published, but the expanded roster saw disappointing sales. TSR decided to publish twelve hardcover novels in 1996, despite a previous history of publishing only one or two hardcover novels each year, but they did not sell as well as expected.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: By 1996, TSR was experiencing numerous problems, as outlined by various historians of the company. Shannon Appelcline wrote: "Distributors were going out of business. TSR had unbalanced their "AD&D" game through a series of lucrative supplements that ultimately hurt the long-time viability of the game. Meanwhile, they had developed so many settings—many of them popular and well-received—that they were both cannibalizing their only sales and discouraging players from picking up settings that might be gone in a few years. They may have been cannibalizing their own sales through excessive production of books or supplements too." Ben Riggs agreed that TSR was factionalizing the AD&D audience by continually releasing competing new settings (Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim, Dragonlance, Planescape, Dark Sun, Birthright, Karameikos, etc.), a strategy intended to lure in new customers, but that actually divided its own core customers. TSR's products essentially competed with themselves, requiring more development effort to reach the same number of total customers. Ryan Dancey and Lisa Stevens, who examined TSR's finances for Wizards of the Coast, found that many of the AD&D settings products were never profitable, and more worryingly never "could" have been profitable—the cost of production was simply too high compared to the price they sold for. David M. Ewalt writes that "Spellfire" and "Dragon Dice" "were both expensive to produce, and neither sold very well".


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Another factor that hobbled TSR in the long-term was a financial arrangement known as "factoring." Factoring worked like this: TSR first arranged contracts with retailers in the hobby trade (gaming stores, comics stores, and so on) to preorder their products and offered a discounted rate for contracts signed in January. TSR then took these contracts to investment banks, and was advanced money immediately by the banks, with the banks to be paid off from the eventual sales of the product. This financial innovation allowed TSR to be essentially "paid in advance", less fees from the banks and from discounts given to suppliers, which worked out to keeping about 82% of the revenue. Getting all of the money in January allowed TSR to budget with more certainty and potentially fund projects with a long lead time immediately, rather than waiting on sales. Other than the direct cost of losing 18 pennies on every dollar of revenue, factoring had the other downside of not being flexible to changing market conditions, however, as TSR was essentially locked into its budgeting from January. It was partially why "Spellfire" was made on a tiny budget, as TSR was attempting to take on a new initiative in the middle of the year, and led to a fiasco with its "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CD-ROM Core Rules" product where a preorder arrangement with Babbage's was continued despite Babbage's becoming financially insolvent.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: TSR's old deal with Random House, which had been mutually beneficial in the 1980s, began to be used by TSR in ways that would paper over short-term financial problems. Since TSR was paid up front on the assumption that shipped goods would ultimately sell, TSR began shipping overstock to Random House to generate loans on demand. This caused people in the know at TSR to call it the "Banco de Random House". It also dulled TSR's internal sense of which products were selling, leading to overprinting of niche products. Ben Riggs cites the introductory product "DragonStrike" as an example, which sold well but was vastly overprinted. The extra copies were still sent to Random House to generate loans, however. The result was a steadily expanding "debt bubble" with Random House as returns of product soared. Random House eventually noticed something was amiss, and began demanding TSR shrink its debt load with them—around $11.8 million in June 1995. Random House sued TSR in April 1996 for repayment.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Despite total sales of around $40 million in 1995, TSR ended 1996 with little in cash reserves, and the company was deep in debt. Random House returned an unexpectedly high percentage of unsold stock, including the year's inventory of unsold novels and sets of "Dragon Dice", and charged a fee of several million dollars. Random House returned around $14 million of product between 1995–1997. TSR found itself in a cash crunch. With no cash, TSR was unable to pay their printing and shipping bills. J. B. Kenehan, the logistics company that handled TSR's pre-press, printing, warehousing, and shipping, refused to do any more work. Since the logistics company had the production plates for key products such as core "D&D" books, there was no means of printing or shipping core products to generate income or secure short-term financing. Thirty staff members were laid off in December 1996, and other staff left over disagreements about how the crisis was handled, including James M. Ward. In large part due to the need to refund Random House, TSR entered 1997 over $30 million in debt. TSR was threatened by lawsuits due to unpaid freelancers and missing royalties, but TSR made enough money from products already on the shelves to pay remaining staff through the first half of 1997. With no viable financial plan for TSR's survival, Lorraine Williams sold the company to Wizards of the Coast in 1997 in a deal brokered by Five Rings Publishing Group (FRPG).


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Wizards of the Coast settled TSR's debts as part of the acquisition. This included unwinding TSR's deal with its printer, enabling the products TSR had worked on in the first half of 1997 to be printed and distributed, such as the space opera game "Alternity". More generally, Wizards was cash-rich, which solved some of the problems TSR had faced that had caused it to resort to the rolling loans and financial trickery that had cut into TSR's profits, such as factoring. Wizards also moved to mend relations with some of TSR's former employees and contractors who had been alienated. Notably, this included allowing artists to take back personal ownership of the original versions of art they had made for TSR.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: Wizards eventually closed the TSR corporate offices in Lake Geneva. Some TSR employees accepted the offer of transferring to Wizards of the Coast's offices in Washington, and a few others continued to work remotely from Wisconsin. Wizards of the Coast continued to use the TSR name for "D&D" products for three years. Wizards also set about the creation of the third edition of "Dungeons & Dragons". It was released in 2000 under the Wizards of the Coast brand only. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast was itself purchased by Hasbro, Inc. In 2002, the Gen Con convention was sold to Peter Adkison.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: After its initial success faded, the company turned to legal defenses of what it regarded as its intellectual property. In addition, there were several legal cases brought regarding who had invented what within the company and the division of royalties, including several lawsuits against Gygax. This included the company threatening to sue individuals supplying game material on websites.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 1984, there was an incident involving Lucasfilm that led to a legend that TSR had trademarked the term "Nazi". TSR published a supplement for the "Indiana Jones" RPG, "Raiders of the Lost Ark Adventure Pack", in which some figures were marked with "Nazi™". This trademark notation was because of a list of trademarked character names supplied by Lucasfilm's legal department; they had indiscriminately marked all figures with a trademark symbol, and the Nazi figures were likewise marked accidentally.


title: TSR, Inc.

text: In 2011, a new company taking the name TSR was founded by Jayson Elliot, who co-founded the Roll for Initiative podcast. Elliot found that the TSR trademark had expired around 2004 so he registered it himself. He then decided to launch the new company with assistance from early TSR/D&D contributors including Luke and Ernie Gygax, sons of the deceased D&D co-creator Gary Gygax, and Tim Kask, former editor of "Dragon" magazine. Their first product was "Gygax Magazine", announced along with the TSR company revival in December 2012. "Wired" reported that "Elliot stressed that his 'TSR is a new company'." Both Gygax brothers left the company in 2016 when the magazine ended. The company operated as TSR Games, producing the "" role-playing game.