text: Apichatpong Weerasethakul says that a man named Boonmee approached Phra Sripariyattiweti, the abbot of a Buddhist temple in his home town, claiming he could clearly remember his own previous lives while meditating. The abbot was so impressed with Boonmee's ability that he published a book called "A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives" in 1983. By the time Apichatpong read the book, Boonmee had died. The original idea was to adapt the book into a biographical film about Boonmee. However, that was soon abandoned to make room for a more personal film, while still using the book's structure and content as inspiration. The stories and production designs were inspired by old television shows and Thai comic books, which often used simple plots and were filled with supernatural elements.


title: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

text: The film was an international co-production between Weerasethakul's company Kick the Machine, Britain's Illuminations Films, France's Anna Sanders Films, Germany's The Match Factory and Geissendörfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion and Spain's Eddie Saeta. It received 3.5 million baht in support from the Royal Thai Ministry of Culture.


text: Filming took place between October 2009 and February 2010, as the weather conditions allowed, both in Bangkok and the northeast of Thailand, Isan. The movie was shot with 16 mm film instead of digital video both for budgetary reasons and to give the film a look similar to that of classic Thai cinema.


text: The film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2010. Theatrical distribution in Thailand was at first uncertain. "Every time I release a movie, I lose money because of the advertising and promotion, so I'm not sure if it's worth it, even though I would love to show it at home", Apichatpong said in an interview. On 25 June, however, Kick the Machine released it in a month-long run, limited to one theater in Bangkok, similar with the release of Weerasethakul's previous films. It passed uncut by the Thai censorship board, despite featuring scenes similar to those cut from the director's past two feature films. Distribution rights for the United States were acquired by Strand Releasing and the film received a U.S. release on 2 March 2011. Cartoonist Chris Ware created the poster for the U.S. release.


text: "Uncle Boonmee" has received near universal acclaim from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 89% approval rating based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 7.92/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Languorous and deeply enigmatic, Palme d'Or winner "Uncle Boonmee" represents an original take on the ghosts that haunt us." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


text: Sukhdev Sandhu of "The Daily Telegraph" gave the film a score of five out of five stars in an early festival review. Sandhu wrote: "It's barely a film; more a floating world. To watch it is to feel many things – balmed, seduced, amused, mystified," and continued: "There are many elements of this film that remain elusive and secretive. But that's a large part of its appeal: Weerasethakul, without ever trading in stock images of Oriental inscrutability, successfully conveys the subtle but important other-worldliness of this part of Thailand". In "Screen International", Mark Adams called the film "a beautifully assembled affair, with certain scenes staged with painterly composure, and also increasingly moving as the subtle story develops. Plus Apichatpong Weerasethakul is not afraid of adding in moments of surreal humour – often laugh-out-loud moments for that – which helps the pacing of the film." Willis Wong of "Intermedias Review" called the film "a slow, meditative and often baffling journey visually gorgeous and worth taking."


text: "Cahiers du Cinéma" featured "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" on the cover of the June 2010 issue and listed it first on their annual Top Ten of 2010.


text: The film received a score of 2.4/4 at Screen International's annual Cannes Jury Grid, which polls international film critics from publications such as "Sight & Sound", "The Australian", "Positif", "L'Unita", "Der Tagesspiegel" among others. It was listed second on Film Comment magazine's Best Films of 2011 list. In the 2012 "Sight & Sound" critics' poll, eight critics voted for it as one of their 10 greatest films ever made; this ranked it at #202 in the finished list. Five directors also voted, making the film ranked at #132 in the directors' poll. In a 2016 BBC poll, critics voted the film the 37th greatest since 2000.


text: The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It became the first Asian film to win the award since 1997. Apichatpong Weerasethakul became the first Thai director to receive the award. The film was selected as the Thai entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards but it did not make the final shortlist.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Richa Gangopadhyay Langella ( Gangopadhyay ; born 20 March 1986) is an Indian-born American former actress and model who predominantly appeared in Telugu language films. She resides at Portland, Oregon.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: She was cast along with the prominent actors like Venkatesh Daggubati, Ravi Teja, Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Dhanush and Silambarasan.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Her notable films include "Leader" (2010) and later worked on several commercially successful Telugu films such as "Nagavalli" (2010), "Mirapakaay" (2011), "Sarocharu" (2012) and "Mirchi" (2013).


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Richa Gangopadhyay on 20 March 1986 in New Delhi. Her family moved to the United States at the age of three.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Her father works as the Vice President of Netshape Technologies, while her mother works as the deputy director of the prestigious Institute of Museums and Library Services, after having been nominated by President Obama to serve as a member of the IMLS Board. Her parents settled in the U.S. in 1989 after spending her first year in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, with Gangopadhyay being brought up in Pennsylvania and Michigan.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: While attending Okemos High School, as a Junior, she was featured in the local media for founding a youth-tutoring program for at-risk children in Lansing, which she ran for four years. She went on to major in Dietetics and Health Administration at Michigan State University but graduated with a Bachelor of Science in communications with a minor in Theatre Arts. After completing her undergraduate studies, she completed her master's degree in Business Administration.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: In August 2007, Gangopadhyay won the Miss India Michigan pageant and in December of that year, was crowned Miss India USA 2007 at the 26th annual Miss India USA pageant, held at Royal Albert's Palace in New Jersey. Gangopadhyay also secured the title of Miss Photogenic. She represented the U.S. in the 17th Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant held in Johannesburg, and secured a place in the Top 10.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Gangopadhyay left the U.S. in 2008 for Mumbai, India to embark on a career in films. She subsequently graduated with a diploma in acting from Anupam Kher's acting school, Actor Prepares, and completed her portfolio, earning offers for work in fashion shows and for modeling. In early 2009, Gangopadhyay featured in a commercial for Dabur Vatika Almond Hair Oil alongside Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, while also appearing in several print ads and TV commercials for Peter England People, Pepe Jeans, Malabar Gold and Kalaniketan.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Gangopadhyay debuted with Rana Daggubati and Priya Anand in 2010 Telugu film "Leader", produced by AVM Productions and directed by Sekhar Kammula. She was recommended to an assistant director of "Leader", who in turn recommended her to Sekhar Kammula. Gangopadhyay went to Hyderabad to audition for the film on her birthday. She was selected instantly and The shooting started 2 days later. In the film, she played the role of Archana, a news reporter, daughter of a politician and love interest of the title character, played by debutant Rana Daggubati. The film opened in theatres worldwide to positive reviews and did well commercially, with Gangopadhyay's performance described as "pretty and charming" and "good in a performance oriented role" by critics. After the success of the film, director P. Vasu signed her up to appear in "Nagavalli", a sequel to his 2005 film "Chandramukhi". The film featured an ensemble cast of Venkatesh, Anushka Shetty, Shraddha Das and Poonam Kaur. The film opened to mixed reviews, with Gangopadhyay's portrayal of a girl psychologically possessed by the ghost of Nagavalli, leading to critics dubbing her as "impressive" and "convincing".


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Her first release in 2011 was the action film "Mirapakaay", starring opposite Ravi Teja for the first time. She was signed after the director of the film, Harish Shankar, who had noticed her at the success party of her previous film "Leader". He initially offered her the role played by Deeksha as she was an NRI, but when they met to review the script, he was convinced that Gangopadhyay would do justice to the character of Vinamra, a traditional Telugu Brahmin girl. The film opened to good reviews with Gangopadhyay's performance being described as "good and just about hold her own in the dance sequences" by critics. Gangopadhyay was next seen in two Tamil films; the first being "Mayakkam Enna", a drama film featuring Dhanush and directed by Selvaraghavan, which earned her tremendous positive reviews and appreciation from all over. She then appeared alongside Silambarasan in Dharani's "Osthe", the Tamil remake of the 2010 Hindi film "Dabangg", winning critical acclaim for her role as Neduvaali. In 2012, she made her debut in Bengali, her mother tongue, through the film "", opposite the prolific Prosenjit Chatterjee, a remake of the Telugu film "Vikramarkudu". She also featured in the Telugu films "Sarocharu", "Mirchi" and "Bhai" opposite actors Ravi Teja, Prabhas and Nagarjuna, which were released in 2012 and 2013.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: In October 2013, she announced that she would leave the film industry and move back to the United States to pursue her MBA and focus on her long-term career ambitions. She completed an MBA degree from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2017.


title: Richa Gangopadhyay

text: Gangopadhyay is married to her business school classmate Joe Langella. The couple have a son who was born in May 2021.


title: France women's national football team

text: The France women's national football team () represents France in international women's football. The team is directed by the French Football Federation (FFF). France competes as a member of UEFA in various international football tournaments such as the FIFA Women's World Cup, UEFA Women's Euro, the Summer Olympics, and the Algarve Cup.


title: France women's national football team

text: The France women's national team initially struggled on the international stage failing to qualify for three of the first FIFA Women's World Cups and the six straight UEFA European Championships before reaching the quarter-finals in the 1997 edition of the competition. However, since the beginning of the new millennium, France have become one of the most consistent teams in Europe, having qualified for their first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and reaching the quarter-finals in two of the three European Championships held since 2000. In 2011, France recorded a fourth-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup; its best finish overall at the competition. In the following year, the team captured the 2012 Cyprus Cup and the fourth place at Women's Olympic Football Tournament.


title: France women's national football team

text: Corinne Diacre has been the manager of the national team since 30 August 2017. The current captain of the national team is defender Wendie Renard.


title: France women's national football team

text: In 1919, a women's football championship was established in France by the "Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France" (FSFSF). On 29 April 1920, a team led by French women's football pioneer Alice Milliat traveled to England and played its first international match against English team Dick, Kerr's Ladies. The match, held in Preston, attracted more than 25,000 spectators. France won the match 2–0 and ended its tour with two wins, one draw, and one defeat. The following year, a return match in France at the Stade Pershing in Vincennes, a suburb of Paris, took place in front of over 12,000 spectators. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. In May 1921, France returned to England for friendlies. The team won its first match 5–1, then suffered three consecutive defeats. In October 1921, the English team returned to France contesting matches in Paris and Le Havre with both matches ending in stalemates. Despite women's football in England being prohibited by The Football Association in December 1921, France continued to go there on tour for matches. A victory for the French in Plymouth was followed by 0–0 draws in Exeter and Falmouth. By 1932, the female game had been called to an end and the women's league formed in 1919 by the FSFSF was discontinued. The last match by the FSFSF international team was another scoreless draw against Belgium on 3 April 1932.


title: France women's national football team

text: Throughout the late 1960s in France, particularly in Reims, local players worked hard to promote awareness and the acceptance of women's football. A year before getting officially sanctioned, France took part in a makeshift European Cup against England, Denmark, and Italy. The tournament was won by the Italians. The Federal Council of the French Football Federation officially reinstated women's football in 1970 and France played its first official international match on 17 April 1971 against the Netherlands in Hazebrouck with Jocelyne Ratignier and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring. That same year, France took part in the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup, held in Mexico. The ladies continued the pirate games, which just made it into the margins of FIFA's records, until FIFA began overseeing the competition in 1991. Since 1982, UEFA has governed the European games.


title: France women's national football team

text: In 1975, the women's football league was officially reinstated, this time with backing from the French Football Federation, the governing body of football in France. Stade Reims was the best team in the country throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituted much of the French national squad. For the non-official World Cup in 1978 in Taiwan, the team included the entire Reims squad. The team shared the title with Finland, who never actually played the final. Due to receiving minimal support from the French Football Federation, who ultimately looked at women's football as not being highly regarded, France struggled in international competition failing to advance past the first round of qualification in both the 1984 and 1987 UEFA Women's Championship. Francis Coché, who managed the team during these failures, was later replaced by Aimé Mignot. Mignot helped the team finally get past the first round, however, in the quarterfinals, they lost to Italy, which meant they wouldn't appear at the 1989 UEFA Women's Championship. Despite the initial positives, Mignot failed to continue his success with France failing to qualify for both the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and losing in the first round of qualification in three straight UEFA Women's Championships. After almost a decade in charge, Mignot was replaced by former women's international Élisabeth Loisel.


title: France women's national football team

text: With Loisel in charge, the FFF, along with then France national football team manager Aimé Jacquet, moved the women's national team to Clairefontaine, which had quickly become a high-level training facility for male football players. As a result of the move, younger women were afforded the same benefits from the facilities offered by Clairefontaine as the men. The success of female training led to the formation of the "Centre National de Formation et d'Entraînement de Clairefontaine", which is now referred to as the female section of the Clairefontaine academy. Under the tutelage of Loisel, the first results appeared encouraging. They reached their first-ever Women's World Cup qualifying for the 2003 edition after defeating England over two legs in a play-off game in London and again at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The match in Saint-Étienne attracted more than 23,000 spectators and was broadcast by the popular French broadcasting company Canal Plus. Loisel's squad later qualified for the 2005 European Championship, where they were knocked out in the group stage. She was eventually sacked after failing to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.


title: France women's national football team

text: Loisel was replaced by former football player and now coach Bruno Bini. Bini had been in charge of several France female international youth sides before accepting the role and was tasked with the job of qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009. Due to the success of the Clairefontaine project and the surprising emergence of the French women's first division, Division 1 Féminine, Bini inherited a team full of emerging, young, and influential talent, which included the likes of Camille Abily, Sonia Bompastor, Louisa Necib, Élise Bussaglia, Laura Georges, and Corine Franco. Bini was also provided with leadership from captain Sandrine Soubeyrand. Early results under Bini were extremely positive with France finishing first in their Euro qualifying group only conceded two goals. France also performed well in friendly tournaments, such as the Nordic Cup and Cyprus Cup. At UEFA Women's Euro 2009, France were inserted into the group of death, which consisted of themselves, world powerhouse Germany, no. 7 ranked Norway, and an underrated Iceland. France finished the group with 4 points, alongside Norway, with Germany leading the group. As a result of the competition's rules, all three nations qualified for the quarterfinals. In the knockout rounds, France suffered defeat to the Netherlands losing 5–4 on penalties after no goals were scored in regular time and extra time.


title: France women's national football team

text: Corinne Diacre is the current manager of France's women's national team and was appointed in August 2017. She has led the French national team to success as champions in the SheBelieves Cup in 2017 and runner-ups in 2018.


title: France women's national football team

text: Bini's next task was to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup after the disappointment of four years earlier. In the team's qualifying group, France finished the campaign scoring 50 goals and conceded none over the course of ten matches (all wins). On 16 September 2010, France qualified for the World Cup following the team's 3–2 aggregate victory over Italy.


title: France women's national football team

text: At the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, France qualified to the knockout stage by finishing in second place in its group after wins over Nigeria and Canada, and a loss to the host team. The team went on to beat England on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, but lost to the United States in the semi-finals. France finished the competition in fourth place and earned qualification to the Olympic football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; it was the nation's first appearance in the competition. Striker Marie-Laure Delie was the only multiple goal scorer for France in the tournament, while defenders Sonia Bompastor and Laura Georges as well as midfielder Louisa Necib were selected to the All-Star Team.


title: France women's national football team

text: France has entered one of the most successful eras in the country's women's football history. In the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 held in Sweden, France stood top of the group, beating Spain, England and Russia to earn its ticket to the quarter-finals. However, Bergeroo's side lost to Denmark in a penalty shootout, thus failing to advance to the semi-finals.


title: France women's national football team

text: In the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Canada, France was listed to Pot 1, and was a favorite to become champions. France was named to Group F, alongside England, Mexico and Colombia. In the opening match against England, a goal from Eugénie Le Sommer gave France a 1–0 victory. However, France was shocked by Colombia in a 2–0 loss, making Colombia only the second Latin American team to win a Women's World Cup match. Therefore, France's third and final group stage match against Mexico was a must-win. France went on to beat Mexico 5–0 to qualify to the knockout round as top of the group.


title: France women's national football team

text: In the knockout round, France eased past South Korea in a 3–0 win in Montreal to remain at the same location awaiting the quarter-final match against Germany. In the quarter-final match against Germany, despite dominating the majority of the match, France were unable to capitalize on their chances, which ultimately cost them the game. France were finally able to score in the 64th minute through Louisa Nécib, but failed to keep the lead as Célia Šašić scored on an 83rd-minute penalty kick. The score was 1–1 after 120 minutes, resulting in the match to be decided in a penalty shootout, where France's 5th penalty taken by Claire Lavogez was denied by Nadine Angerer, in which France were eliminated from the tournament losing 4–5 on penalty kicks.


title: France women's national football team

text: France won all matches at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 3. The home matches had sizable crowds, with 7,761 spectators attending the Romania match at the MMArena in Le Mans, 15,028 spectators at the Ukraine match at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, 24,835 spectators at the Greece match at Roazhon Park in Rennes, and 7,521 spectators at the Albania at Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris. The team scored a win and two draws at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 Group C, and was defeated by England in quarter-finals.


title: France women's national football team

text: In March 2015, France was selected to host the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup of the tournament. Having automatically qualified as hosts, France was considered a favorite to win the tournament, along with the United States. The team opened with three victories against Norway, Nigeria, and South Korea, winning its group with a total of 9 points. In the round of 16, France defeated Brazil by a score of 2–1, but lost to the United States in the quarterfinal with the same score of 2–1. This Women's World Cup was particularly notable, as it was used as a platform by many women's teams to campaign for equal pay between men and women.


title: France women's national football team

text: The France women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the ""Les Bleues" (The Blues)".


title: France women's national football team

text: The following players were named in the squad for a friendly match against Norway on 11 November 2022.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by thrash metal, melodic death metal, grindcore, industrial metal, power metal and black metal bands, as well as tribute albums. It also distributes and promotes two post-hardcore/metalcore labels: SharpTone Records, focused on the American scene, and Arising Empire, focused more on European bands.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: In October 2018, French independent label Believe Digital acquired a majority stake in Nuclear Blast.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: Nuclear Blast was formed in 1987 after founder Markus Staiger traveled throughout the United States for four weeks and saw a gig of his favorite band BL'AST!. The label's first release was a vinyl compilation called "Senseless Death" (NB 001) featuring US hardcore bands like Attitude, Sacred Denial, Impulse Manslaughter and others.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: Swedish band Meshuggah became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the "Billboard" 200, landing at number 165 with their 2002 album, "Nothing". Meshuggah also became the first Nuclear Blast band to be reviewed in "Rolling Stone" magazine.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: In 2004, Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish released "Once" on Nuclear Blast, which rocketed to the top of the charts in multiple countries, including Finland, Germany, Norway, Greece, Sweden, Austria, and more. It became the first release in the company's history to reach number 1 on the German charts. Slayer released the album "Repentless" in 2015 which went to number 4 on the Billboard 200 making it the highest charting Nuclear Blast release in the United States.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: During the 2000s and 2010s, Nuclear Blast signed many veteran thrash metal bands including Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Anthrax, Kreator, Overkill, Sepultura, Destruction, Tankard, Death Angel, and Heathen.


title: Nuclear Blast

text: Blood Blast Distribution is a subsidiary of Nuclear Blast that focuses solely on the distribution of extreme music. The company was founded in 2020 by Bryce Lucien, Jerome Riera, Denis Ladegaillerie and Myriam Silberstein.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: Islamorada (also sometimes Islas Morada) is an incorporated village in Monroe County, Florida. It is located directly between Miami and Key West on five islands—Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plantation Key—in the Florida Keys.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: Islamorada was hit almost directly by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, causing 423 deaths. A memorial, including the ashes of over 300 victims, exists today at Overseas Highway mile marker 82.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams began visiting Islamorada in 1943 and for the next 45 years was the island's most well-known resident. After his retirement from baseball he became the national spokesman for Sears sporting goods, and became renowned for his abilities as a fisherman. Over the decades, he hosted numerous celebrities at his Islamorada house and took them on local fishing trips.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: The village was incorporated on December 31, 1997. Prior to this date, "Islamorada" referred to the evolving community island of Upper Matecumbe Key.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and (1.93%) is water.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: Islamorada is located approximately 1.5 hours driving time south of Miami and approximately 2 hours driving time northeast of Key West.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: With its position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, Islamorada is on migration routes for many large fish species. Therefore, Islamorada is informally known as the "Sportfishing Capital of the World".


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,107 people, 2,792 households, and 1,731 families residing in the village.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 6,119 people, 2,882 households, and 1,673 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,692 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.54% White, 0.72% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.63% of the population.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: There were 2,882 households, out of which 17.04% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.13% were married couples living together, 5.76% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.95% were non-families. 31.78% of all households were made up of individuals, and 33.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.57.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: In the village, the population was spread out, with 13.86% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 35.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.2 males.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: The median income for a household in the village was $41,522, and the median income for a family was $56,118. Males had a median income of $31,339 versus $25,670 for females. The per capita income for the village was $29,519. 6.9% of the population and 3.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 7.0% are under the age of 18 and 4.5% are 65 or older.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: Islamorada Public Library-Helen Wadley Branch is part of the Monroe County Public Library (Florida Keys). The first public library in the Keys opened in Key West in 1853, and today there are five locations throughout the Keys that serve over 350,000 young people and adults. The current Islamorada library is housed in a Works Progress Administration (WPA) building, built originally as the Matecumbe School in the late 1930s. It was designed to be hurricane proof. As the number of children attending the school increased, they were moved to a larger school and the building housed several other entities before opening as the Islamorada Branch of the Monroe County Library in 1966.It was not considered the “usual” library as it offered couches, tea and coffee. Today the building is a little bigger than it was when it first opened its doors in 1938. Two additions were made, one in 1983 and another in 1999. (Bertelli, 2015) The library was rededicated in 1983, in honor of Mrs. Helen Wadley, a true friend of the library. This branch is home to six WPA commissioned bas relief sculptures by Joan van Breeman.


title: Islamorada, Florida

text: The History of Diving Museum opened in 2005. It has featured exhibits about Diving With a Purpose and the USS Spiegel Grove, now an artificial reef. Another popular tourist attraction is Robbie's Marina, which is well known for allowing guests to feed tarpon live fish.


title: Ghosts of Mississippi

text: Ghosts of Mississippi is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers.


title: Ghosts of Mississippi

text: James Woods was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Byron De La Beckwith, but lost to Cuba Gooding Jr. The original music score was composed by Marc Shaiman and the cinematography is by John Seale.


title: Ghosts of Mississippi

text: Medgar Evers was an African-American civil rights activist in Mississippi murdered on June 12, 1963. It was suspected that Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist, was the murderer. He had been tried twice in the 1960s and both trials ended in hung juries. Evers' widow Myrlie Evers had been trying to bring De La Beckwith to justice for over 25 years. In 1989, emboldened by a newspaper article by Jerry Mitchell exposing jury tampering by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission in the first two trials, Myrlie Evers believed she had what it takes to bring him to trial again. Although most of the evidence from the old trial had disappeared, Bobby DeLaughter, an assistant District Attorney, decided to help her despite being warned that it might hurt his political aspirations and despite the strain that it caused in his marriage. DeLaughter forms a team of investigators from his office, however investigation suffers many setbacks. After learning that several of the key witnesses have died, and the court transcript of their testimony from the 1960s trials is lost, the team is convinced this is a futile effort. This is re-inforced when DeLaughter fails at a desperate strategy of convincing two police officers who provided De La Beckwith with an alibi in the 1960s trials to admit they lied under oath. However, their pessimism fades with two discoveries. The rifle used in the murder, thought to have been lost, was hiding in plain sight. Later, one of the investigators learns of the existence of a witness unknown to the prosecution in the 1960s trials, Delmar Dennis. Dennis was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan who agreed to be an undercover informant for the FBI. Dennis testified against the Klan in the Mississippi Burning case, and once mentioned having met De La Beckwith. The investigation turns to finding Dennis, who was living in hiding since turning state's evidence on the KKK, to see what he knows of the case. Once confirming Dennis indeed had met De La Beckwith, the team is optimistic they have enough to secure a new indictment. As knowledge becomes public that the district attorney's office has re-opened the case, white supremacist elements threaten DeLaughter and his children, having by this time separated from his wife. After committing to Myrlie that he will try De La Beckwith again, Myrlie, initially skeptical of DeLaughter, reveals she has a court certified transcript of one of the 1960s trails in her possession. DeLaughter had long sought such a transcript to be able to read testimony from deceased witnesses to the jury for the new trial. DeLaughter mostly presents the same case as was presented in the 1960s trial, except using Dennis and two other witnesses to testify as substitutes for deceased witnesses, and having Detective Lloyd Bennett read the testimony of his father, Detective LC Bennett, the officer who found the murder weapon while searching the crime scene, to the jury. In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The film ends with Myrlie tearfully rejoicing to the assembled crowd at the courthouse that she never gave up in the fight for justice for Medger.


title: Ghosts of Mississippi

text: The soundtrack of the film, with a score by Marc Shaiman, featured two versions of the Billy Taylor composition "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" – one sung by Dionne Farris and the other by Nina Simone – as well as numbers by Muddy Waters, Tony Bennett, Robert Johnson and B.B. King.


title: Ghosts of Mississippi

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praises going to Goldberg and Woods. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 43% approval rating based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's consensus states: "James Woods is convincing as a white supremacist, but everything else rings false in this courtroom drama, which examines a weighty subject from the least interesting perspective." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film two thumbs down.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his work in Hindi and Malayalam films.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1997, he started his career by assisting in the Malayalam film, "Pranayavarnangal" (1998) shot by Santosh Thundiyil. He debuted as a cinematographer with the film "Chandni Bar" (2001), when he was launched by producer R. Mohan (GoodKnight Mohan) when the original cinematographer Venu had date clashes. The film was directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: Ravi is known for his collaboration with director Anurag Kashyap. They have collaborated in several commercial and art films in Hindi cinema. In 2012, he co-produced the Hindi feature film "ID". The film premiered in the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Ravi won the 2010 Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography for Anurag Kashyap's "Dev.D". In 2013, he received the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for "Liar's Dice" directed by his wife Geetu Mohandas.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: Rajeev made his debut as a director with the Malayalam film "Annayum Rasoolum" (2013). Rajeev Ravi's second feature film, "Njan Steve Lopez" was released in 2014. In March 2016, Ravi completed filming of "Kammatipaadam", starring Dulquer Salman, which was released on 20 May 2016.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: He married Malayalam film actress and director Geetu Mohandas. The couple has a daughter named Aradhana. He holds a diploma in cinematography from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.


title: Rajeev Ravi

text: Rajeev has vitiligo, an autoimmune disease which causes white patches on the skin through pigmentation loss.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing video game that was developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. It is the first game in the "Baldur's Gate" series and takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using a modified version of the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" ("AD&D") 2nd edition rules. It was the first game to use the Infinity Engine for its graphics, with Interplay using the engine for other Forgotten Realms-licensed games, including the "Icewind Dale" series, and "". The game's story focuses on a player-made character who finds themselves travelling across the Sword Coast alongside a party of companions.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The game received critical acclaim following its release and was credited for revitalizing computer role-playing games. An expansion pack entitled "" was released, as was a sequel entitled "", which later received its own expansion called "". An enhanced version of the Infinity Engine was later created as part of Beamdog's remake, entitled "", the first new release in the franchise in nearly nine years.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Players conduct the game from a top-down isometric third-person perspective, creating a character who then travels across pre-rendered locations, taking on quests, recruiting companions to aid them, and combating enemies, while working towards completing the game's main story. Control is done through a user interface that allows a player to move characters and give them actions to undertake, review information on on-going quests and the statistics of characters in their party, manage their inventories, and organize the formation of the party, though the screen does not need to be centered on the characters being controlled and can be moved around with the mouse and keyboard, the latter also capable of accessing various player options through keyboard shortcuts. All of the game play mechanics were coded to conform to the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" 2nd edition role-playing rules, with the game automatically computing rule intricacies, including tracking statistics and dice rolling. Although the game is conducted in real-time, some elements of the rule set were modified to allow it to feature a pausable real-time mode. This allowed players to pause the game at any time and prepare what actions a character would do, including the ability to set the game to automatically pause at preset points in combat.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Each new playthrough requires the player to either create a new character, or import one they exported from a previous playthrough. Every new character requires the player to determine what their name, gender, race, class, and alignment are, and what ability scores and weapon proficiencies they have. New characters can also be multi-class, but must adhere to the restrictions that come from this, in accordance to the 2nd edition rules; for example, a character who is both a cleric and a fighter, may only use weapons of the former class.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The game's main story is divided up into eight parts, featuring a prologue and seven chapters. Each section requires the player to complete a specific task in order to continue. Some areas of the map are not accessible until the player has advanced to a specific chapter. A player may have up to five companions travelling with them in their party, with the player free to decide whom to recruit or dismiss from the party.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The main UI consists of three action bars surrounding the main screen. The first bar consists of a map, journal, character records, their inventories, spellbooks and a clock. The second bar consists of a portrait of each character in the party, their HP, order, and any effects they are experiencing. The third bar provides specific actions per the number of characters being controlled: if a single character is selected, the player has the ability to switch between the weapons the character is wielding, use spells or items, or utilize a character's or piece of equipment's special abilities. If more than one character is selected, the bar displays options for conversing with or attacking NPCs, stop what is being done, or change their formation.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The inventory system allows each character to equip items categorized as: weapons, ammunition, armor, helmets, necklaces, rings, belts, cloaks, feet, or usable. The number of items a character can both equip and carry is affected by their weight limit, which is determined by their Strength ability score; going over this limit will encumber the character causing them to move slowly or prevent them moving altogether until they remove items from their inventory. The system also indicates what equipment a character may not use as defined by their class. This mechanic also determines how many weapon slots they have available; by default, all character have two weapon slots, with an off-hand slot for shields. Some classes allow characters additional weapon slots. Characters may equip three stacks of ammo for ranged weapons (bows, crossbows and slings), and use three different types of usable items (potions, scrolls and wands).


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Conversation can be initiated by players selecting a member of the party and clicking on a friendly or neutral NPC. Some conversations are initiated automatically when characters come close to them. Certain NPCs offer services the player can utilize, including buying and selling items and identifying enchanted items. Other useful places include inns where the party can rest in safety to recover lost hit points and memorize spells, as well as temples where characters can pay for healing services, such as resurrecting a dead party member.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" takes place in the fictional world of Ed Greenwood's "Forgotten Realms" setting, during the year of 1368DR in the midst of an apparent iron shortage, where items made with iron inexplicably rot and break. Focusing upon the western shoreline of Faerûn, the game is set within a stretch of the region known as the Sword Coast, which contains a multitude of ecologies and terrains, including mountains, forests, plains, cities, and ruins, with the story encompassing both the city of Baldur's Gate, the largest and most affluent city in the region, and the lands south of it, including the Cloud Peaks, the Wood of Sharp Teeth, the Cloakwood forest, the town of Beregost and the village of Nashkel, and the fortress citadel of Candlekeep. In addition to the region, a variety of organisations from the "Forgotten Realms" setting also feature as part of the game's main story, including the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards of Thay, The Iron Throne, the Flaming Fist, The Chill, The Black Talons, and the Harpers.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" includes around 25 player companions that can join with the PC. A number of the characters who appear include several who are canon to the official "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting, including Drizzt Do'Urden and Elminster.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The player character is the young and orphaned ward of the mage Gorion. The two live in the ancient library fortress of Candlekeep. Abruptly, the Ward is instructed by Gorion to prepare to leave the citadel during the night with no explanation. That night, a mysterious armoured figure and his cohorts ambush the pair and order Gorion to hand over the Ward. Gorion refuses, and dies in the ensuing battle, while urging his Ward to escape. The next morning, the Ward encounters Imoen, a childhood friend and fellow orphan from Candlekeep, who had followed them in secret. With Candlekeep no longer accessible to them without Gorion's influence to circumvent its admission fee, and the city of Baldur's Gate currently closed off to outsiders due to bandit raids, the Ward resolves to investigate the cause of the region's Iron Crisis.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Travelling to the mines of Nashkel, the main source of the region's iron, the Ward's party discovers that the mine's ore is being contaminated by a group of kobolds led by a half-orc, and that they and the bandits plaguing the region are being controlled by an organization known as the Iron Throne, a merchant outfit operating out of Baldur's Gate. After sabotaging a mine operated by the Iron Throne in the Cloakwood that would presumably give them total control over the region's iron, the Ward's party travels to the newly reopened Baldur's Gate. Invading the Throne's headquarters, the group learns that proof of the organization's involvement with the Iron Crisis was taken by one of the regional leaders when they and the rest of the leadership headed to Candlekeep for an important meeting. Revealing their findings to Duke Eltan, the leader of the Flaming Fist, the group receive a rare and valuable book, which would allow them access into Candlekeep, in order to spy on the meeting. During their investigations in the citadel's library, the Ward discovers a prophecy written by the ancient seer Alaundo, foretelling how the offspring created during the Time of Troubles by the dead god Bhaal, the Lord of Murder, will sow chaos until only one remains to become the new Lord of Murder. The Ward then finds a letter from Gorion revealing that the Ward is among the offspring of Bhaal, known as Bhaalspawn. During their stay at Candlekeep, the Ward's party is imprisoned for the murders of the Iron Throne leaders, regardless of whether or not they did so, until they can be transported to Baldur's Gate to be executed. Tethoril, a prominent keeper in Candlekeep, visits the party and reveals that a suspicious character the party met earlier, Koveras, is really the foster son of one of the now dead Iron Throne leaders. His name is Sarevok, the one responsible for Gorion's murder, and who also wishes to kill the Ward.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Believing the Ward to be innocent, Tethoril transports the party into the catacombs beneath the fortress, where the party battle their way through doppelgängers taking on the forms of people the Ward knew in Candlekeep. Returning to Baldur's Gate, the Ward's party find themselves accused of causing the Iron Crisis on the orders of the Kingdom of Amn, assassinating one of the city's Grand Dukes, and poisoning Duke Eltan. Forced to stay hidden from the Flaming Fist, the party discovers that the Iron Throne orchestrated the Iron Crisis to gain control of iron through their mine in the Cloakwood, while using doppelgängers to weaken other merchant outfits, ensuring that they would have a monopoly on iron. With tensions rising between Baldur's Gate and Amn, the organization hoped to sell the stockpiled iron to the city at exorbitant prices. Afterward, they aimed to de-escalate tensions between Baldur's Gate and Amn.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The party also discovers that Sarevok, having discovered that he was a Bhaalspawn, hoped to fuel distrust between Baldur's Gate and Amn by making each think the other was responsible for creating the crisis, and cause them to go to war. Sarevok believed that the resulting carnage would be enough to allow him to become the new Lord of Murder. Due to the Ward's similar background, he hired assassins to kill them. Sarevok remained loyal to his father until the Iron Throne's meeting in Candlekeep threatened his plans, which led Sarevok to eliminate him and the other regional leaders of the Iron Throne before taking over the outfit and transferring their stores of iron to the city in order to be seen as a savior. He was also responsible for the poisoning of Duke Eltan and the assassination of one of the four Grand Dukes.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: The Ward's party gain entry to the Ducal Palace, where the coronation of Sarevok as a Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate would be held, and present evidence of his schemes. Exposed, Sarevok flees into an ancient underground ruin beneath Baldur's Gate, with the Ward and the party following after. The Ward confronts Sarevok within an ancient temple to Bhaal, and defeats him, saving the Sword Coast and ending their brother's schemes. In the final ending cinematic, Sarevok's tainted soul departs his body and travels deep underground to a large circular chamber of alcoves, and destroys a statue of himself contained in one of the alcoves, whereupon it is revealed that the other alcoves each contain a statue of a Bhaalspawn that exists in Faerûn.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" began development in 1995 by Canadian game developer BioWare, a company founded by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, Trent Oster, his brother Brent, Zeschuk's cousin Marcel, and Augustine Yip. The game was initially titled "Forgotten Realms". According to Muzyka, "our head programmer has actually read every one of the [Forgotten Realms] books - everything, every single one of the short stories and the paperbacks. He made a point of it. He really wanted to immerse himself". The game required 90 man-years of development, which was spent simultaneously creating the game's content and the BioWare Infinity Engine. The primary script engine for the game (used mainly as a debugging tool) was Lua. DirectDraw was used for the graphics. "Wasteland" was a major influence on "Baldur's Gate", particularly its design philosophy of having more than one possible method to achieve each goal.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Unusually for the time, the graphics were not built from tiles; each background was individually rendered, which greatly extended the amount of time needed to create the game. At the time that the game was shipped, none of the sixty-member team had previously participated in the release of a video game. The time pressure to complete the game led to the use of simple areas and game design. Ray Muzyka said that the team held a "passion and a love of the art" and they developed a "collaborative design spirit". He believes that the game was successful because of the collaboration with Interplay.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: According to writer Luke Kristjanson, the character of Imoen was a late addition to fill a "non-psychotic-thief gap in the early levels". Kristjanson assembled Imoen's lines by editing voice-over for a guard character named Pique from an unused demo, and explained that her lack of voiced dialogue or standalone interactions with other party members throughout the game was due to budgetary constraints. The wife of Dean Anderson, a team member who later served as the art director of the 2009 role-playing game "", was the basis for Imoen's facial features as depicted in her character portrait.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" was released on December 21, 1998, and was published by Black Isle Studios, an internal division of Interplay.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: According to Feargus Urquhart, Interplay's commercial forecasts for "Baldur's Gate" were "very low". He noted that the publisher's headquarters in Britain predicted zero sales in that region. Lifetime projections for the German market were "no more than 50,000" copies, reported Udo Hoffman of "PC Player". Internally, BioWare's worldwide sales goal was 200,000 units, a number that "PC Zone"s Dave Woods said would "justify work on the sequel". However, the game became an unexpected commercial hit. Ray Muzyka attributed this success in part to the "Dungeons & Dragons" license, and to the team's decision to use fan feedback during development, which he felt had increased the game's mass-market appeal.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Following its shipment to retailers on December 21, "Baldur's Gate" began to sell at a "phenomenal rate", according to Mark Asher of CNET Gamecenter. He wrote at the time that its "first run of 50,000 copies sold out immediately and Interplay's elves are working hard to get more games to the stores". The title debuted in the United States at #3 on PC Data's computer game sales rankings for the week ending January 2, 1999. It sold-through 55,071 copies in the country by the end of 1998, for revenues of $2.56 million. In its second week, "Baldur's Gate" rose to #2 in the United States. Internationally, it debuted at #1 on 's computer game charts for the German market in the first half of January 1999, and reached first place on Chart-Track's equivalent for the United Kingdom by its second week. According to Interplay, "Baldur's Gate" also took #1 on the charts in Canada and France. Its global sales reached 175,000 units by mid-January 1999, a sales rate that the "Los Angeles Times" reported as Interplay's fastest ever. This performance led to a stock-price increase for the company.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: In the United States, "Baldur's Gate" remained in PC Data's weekly top 3 from January 10 through February 6. It claimed #1 for January, with sales of 80,500 copies and revenues of $3.6 million in the country that month. Supply shortages continued throughout much of January. The game likewise secured Media Control's #1 position for the entirety of that month, and held at #1 for the United Kingdom in its third week. "Baldur's Gate" subsequently took #4 for February in the German market and #3 in the United States, after holding in the latter country's weekly top 10 from February 7 – March 6. By mid-February, Gamecenter reported sales of 450,000 units for "Baldur's Gate", which Asher called "the biggest hit Interplay has had since "Descent"" and a rebuttal to the common belief that role-playing games were commercially moribund. Worldwide sales totaled more than 500,000 copies by the end of that month. Despite these figures, Interplay posted a loss of $16 million for the fourth quarter of 1998, and of $28 million for the year. Brian Fargo attributed the losses in part to "Baldur's Gate": he wrote that it "did not ship until the last days of 1998, which reduced shipments in the quarter to about half the projected volume".


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" maintained its unbroken streak in PC Data's weekly top 10 through the week ending March 27, after which it was absent. It then took seventh for March, and was absent from the United States' monthly top 20 by April. However, it held in Chart-Track's British top 20 during April, after 13 weeks; and in Media Control's top 10 and top 20 during the second halves of March, April and May. "Baldur's Gate"s sales in the German market during its initial months reached 90,000 units, a success for the region. By the end of May 1999, it received a "Gold" award from the (VUD), for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Coinciding with the release of the "" expansion pack in the United States, "Baldur's Gate" returned to PC Data's top 10 for a week in May. Thereafter, it became a staple of the firm's monthly top 20 from May through August.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Interplay reported worldwide sales of nearly 700,000 copies for "Baldur's Gate" by June, and it was the United States' second-best-selling computer game during the first half of 1999, behind "SimCity 3000". As of September, it had sold above 300,000 units and earned roughly $15 million in revenues in the country during 1999 alone. A writer for "PC Accelerator" remarked that this success "created an almost audible sigh of relief from publisher Interplay". By November 1999, "Baldur's Gate" had sold roughly 1 million units worldwide. It claimed ninth place for 1999 in the United States, with a total of 356,448 sales that year. At $15.7 million in revenue, it was the country's seventh-highest-grossing computer game of 1999.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Sales of "Baldur's Gate" continued in 2000: by March, it had surpassed 500,000 copies sold in the United States, which led Desslock of GameSpot to describe the title as an "undisputed commercial blockbuster". U.S. sales had risen to 600,000 units by April 2001, while global sales totaled 1.5 million copies that May. The game proceeded to sell 83,208 units in the United States from February 2001 through the first week of November alone. Worldwide, "Baldur's Gate" ultimately surpassed 2.2 million sales by early 2003. By 2015 the game sold about 2.8 million copies.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" received positive reviews from virtually every major computer gaming publication that reviewed it. At the time of the game's release, "PC Gamer US" said that "Baldur's Gate" "reigns supreme over every RPG currently available, and sets new standards for those to come". "Computer Shopper" called it "clearly the best "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" (AD&D) game ever to grace a PC screen". "Maximum PC" magazine compared the gameplay to "Diablo", but noted its more extensive selection of features and options. The pixel-based characters were panned, but the reviewer stated that "the gloriously rendered backgrounds make up for that shortcoming". The main criticism was of the problems with the path finding algorithm for non-player characters. Despite this, the game was deemed an "instant classic" because of the amount of customization allowed, the "fluid story lines", and the replayability. The reviewer from "Pyramid" felt that the "basic buzz was positive" surrounding the development of the game. The "actual results are a mixed bag, but there's real promise for the future" thanks to the inclusion of the Infinity Engine.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" was named the best computer role-playing game of 1998 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design, "Computer Gaming World", the Game Developers Conference, "Computer Games Strategy Plus", IGN, CNET Gamecenter, "The Electric Playground", RPG Vault, "PC Gamer US" and GameSpot. IGN, "Computer Games" and RPG Vault also presented it with their overall "Game of the Year" awards. The editors of "Computer Games" wrote that "Baldur's Gate" "delivers everything you could ask for in a computer game."


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" was #3 on "CBR"'s 2020 "10 Of The Best DnD Stories To Start Off With" list — the article states that "beyond giving some insight on the Sword Coast, the game also provides a diverse cast of characters that your character can recruit into their party. This cast of character serves as a great source of inspiration to make interesting player characters".


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: According to IGN, "Baldur's Gate" did much to revive the role-playing video game genre. John Harris of Gamasutra wrote that it "rescued computer D&D from the wastebasket". According to GameSpy, ""Baldur's Gate" was a triumph [that] single-handedly revived the [computer role-playing game] and almost made gamers forgive Interplay for "Descent to Undermountain"". IGN ranked "Baldur's Gate" No. 5 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. In his article "Our favourite cities in PC gaming", Phil Savage of "PC Gamer" praised Bioware's level design for the titular city in "Baldur's Gate", stating that "Baldur's Gate feels vast, exciting and dangerous—just like a proper city".


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" was the first game in the "Baldur's Gate" series. It was followed by the expansion pack "" (1999), then the sequel "" (2000) and its expansion pack "" (2001). As of 2006, total sales for all releases in the series was almost five million copies. The series set the standard for other games using AD&D rules, especially those developed by BioWare and Black Isle Studios: "" (1999), "Icewind Dale" (2000), and "Icewind Dale II" (2002). The novel "Baldur's Gate" (1999) by Philip Athans was based on the game.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" was re-released along with its expansion in 2000 as "Baldur's Gate Double Pack", and again in 2002 as a three CD collection entitled "Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga". In 2002, the game and its expansion were released along with "Icewind Dale", "" and "" as the "Black Isle Compilation". In 2004, it was re-released, this time along with "Icewind Dale II", in "Part Two" of the compilation. Atari published the "Baldur's Gate 4 in 1 Boxset" including all four games on a combination of DVDs and CDs.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: "Baldur's Gate" and its expansion were released digitally on Good Old Games (later GOG.com) on September 23, 2010. It has also been made available via GameStop App as part of the D&D Anthology: The Master Collection, which also includes the expansion "", "", "", "Icewind Dale", "", "", "Icewind Dale II", "", and "The Temple of Elemental Evil".


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: On March 15, 2012, a remake was announced entitled "", originally slated for release in Summer 2012. Five days later, Overhaul Games announced that the Enhanced Edition would also be released for the Apple iPad. On September 14, Trent Oster, president of Overhaul Games, announced that the game's release would be delayed until November, citing an overwhelming response and a desire to "make the best "Baldur's Gate" possible". The game was launched for Microsoft Windows on November 28, 2012, for iPad running iOS 6 or greater on December 7, 2012, for Mac OS X on February 22, 2013, and for Android on April 17, 2014. Baldur's Gate III is currently in development by Larian Studios.


title: Baldur's Gate (video game)

text: Skybound Games, a division of Skybound Entertainment, brought "" to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on October 15, 2019.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Christopher George Kennedy (born July 4, 1963) is an American businessman, politician, and Chair of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, Inc. He is a son of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy family. Kennedy served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois from 2009 to 2015. Until April 2012, he was also president of Merchandise Mart Properties, a commercial property management firm based in Chicago.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy was born on July 4, 1963 in St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts to Robert Francis Kennedy Sr. and Ethel Kennedy, née Skakel, the eighth of their eleven children. He is one of four grandchildren of George Skakel, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy born during the administration of his uncle U.S. President John F. Kennedy. His siblings are:


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: He grew up at his family home, Hickory Hill, in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and attended the Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in McLean through the eighth grade. He transferred to Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland, also a suburb of Washington, and graduated in 1982. While in high school, he volunteered at a home for runaway youth.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy graduated from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1986.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: In 1994, he graduated with a master of business administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy is chairman of the Kennedy family investment firm Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, Inc. He is treasurer of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, he was on the Executive Committee for the Chicago Community Trust, and he has been a board member of the Catholic Theological Union, Interface, Inc. and Knoll Inc. He is a member of the mutual fund board of trustees for Ariel Investments.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy moved from Boston to Decatur to work for Archer Daniels Midland in the 1980s, and has spent his life working around issues of hunger, whether as the chairman of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, or now helping to run the non-profit he and his wife founded, Top Box Foods.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy was the president of Merchandise Mart Properties in Chicago, Illinois, from 2000 until 2012. The property was originally owned by the Kennedy family until it was sold to Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust. The Merchandise Mart, one of the properties of Merchandise Mart Properties, is the largest commercial building in the world, serving as both a luxury wholesale design center and one of the leading international business locations in Chicago. The Mart spans two city blocks and rises twenty-five stories for a total of 4.2 million square feet (390,000 square metres) Three million people come through the Mart each year to visit its retail shops, permanent showrooms, and office space as well as attend the numerous trade, consumer and community events hosted there.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois. In November 2014, he resigned from the Board following his involvement in the controversial un-hiring of Steven Salaita and the election of Republican governor Bruce Rauner. In 2015, Kennedy won the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Spirit of Courage award for his involvement in the controversy.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy has partnered with CIP (the International Potato Center) and 2Blades in the fight against "Phytophthora infestans" in Africa, the same blight which brought some of his ancestors to the United States. He is chairing the 2Blades African Potato Initiative which is developing and producing the seed potatoes to be sold in Uganda and Kenya.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: In May 2012, Kennedy started the Chicago-based non-profit Top Box Foods. The organization was created as a way to get discounted groceries to families who live in areas that either lack grocery stores or have an abundance of fast food. Kennedy initially invested $150,000 to get Top Box started, and subsequently designed the organization to be self-sustaining.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Top Box as an organization purchases food, boxes it in various combinations and delivers it monthly to churches and organizations in mostly low-income neighborhoods. The food items in the box change from month to month and include a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, and frozen meals, with box prices ranging from $19 to $39. The boxes can be ordered online or through the organizations where the boxes are delivered. These organizations, otherwise known as Top Box "host sites," range from small neighborhood churches with a few dozen families to some of the Chicago's largest, including Trinity United Church of Christ and Salem Baptist Church.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy met Sheila Sinclair-Berner (born December 4, 1962), an Illinois native, while attending Boston College. After graduating from college in 1986, Kennedy moved to Decatur, Illinois, and married Sheila in 1987. The couple had four children, Katherine Berner Kennedy (born 1990), Christopher George Kennedy, Jr. (born 1992), Sarah Louise Kennedy (born 1994), and Clare Elizabeth Kennedy (born 1998), whom they raised in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth. His wife earned a J.D. degree from Northwestern University and practiced at Sidley & Austin in Chicago before taking time off to take care of their children.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy's political activism began at an early age, and in 1979 and 1980 he worked on his uncle U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy's bid for the 1980 Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. President. He was also treasurer of the campaign committee for his brother Joe's reelection to the U.S. House in 1988. Over the years he has organized numerous fundraising events in Chicago for his uncle Ted, his sister Kathleen, his brother Joe and his cousin Mark Kennedy Shriver.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: The "National Journal" once quoted Kennedy as saying, "I have a lot to keep up with: a brother who might run for Congress, a sister and a brother considering races for governor, a cousin who might run for Congress, another in Congress, an uncle in the Senate and a cousin-in-law, Arnold "[Schwarzenegger]", who is thinking of running for governor."


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Beyond his family, Kennedy has served in a variety of capacities for numerous political campaigns, including hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama in his bid for U.S. Senate.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: In August 2009, after considering a run for the U.S. Senate, as did many others, Kennedy decided not to run. Also in August 2009, on the day after his uncle Ted's death on August 25, 2009, Kennedy was appointed to the University of Illinois board of trustees by Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. On September 10, 2009, Kennedy was elected by the trustees as their chairman.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Prior to February 8, 2017, when Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Democratic Nomination for Illinois Governor in 2018, he had never ran for any elective office.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy during his campaign for governor advocated for "a property tax system that can't be abused by the wealthy and insiders" in a fundraising email. Kennedy criticized one of his fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidates, J.B. Pritzker, for getting a large property tax reduction on a Gold Coast mansion. "It's an inherently corruptible system and we ought to reject it," Kennedy said to reporters in reference to Pritzker's property taxes. "The Cook County property tax appeals business is notorious for pricing political connections at a premium," wrote the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative website. Kennedy has further gone on to state that what Mike Madigan is doing, referring to his conflict of interest from serving as the house speaker while working as a property tax attorney, should be illegal.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy called for an open primary in the 2018 gubernatorial race, urging the Cook County Democratic party not to throw their weight behind any other candidate, instead allowing for voters to vet all the candidates in the race.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: On March 20, 2018, Kennedy lost the Democratic primary, finishing in third place behind Pritzker and state senator Daniel Biss. He carried only two counties, Ford and Hardin.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: He is on the board of trustees of the mutual funds managed by Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based investment-management firm.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: From 1997 to 1999, Kennedy served as chairman of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, a sales-and-marketing organization promoting Chicago to the tourism and convention industries. Under Kennedy's chairmanship, the bureau retained and expanded Chicago's event-and-convention industry.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Since 2000, Kennedy has been a member of the City Club of Chicago, a group that brings together civic and cultural leaders to discuss and debate issues affecting the Chicago area.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Since 2005, he has been a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a group that brings together the city's business, educational, and cultural leaders on projects to improve central industries and create new economic opportunities.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: As Chairman of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, Inc., Kennedy is responsible for the development of the Kennedy family real estate holdings in Chicago known as Wolf Point, Chicago. The Wolf Point development site represents a billion-dollar commitment to the downtown core, and the site is zoned for construction of a residential apartment building, a self-park garage, and two additional high-rise buildings.


title: Christopher G. Kennedy

text: Kennedy also is a partner in Sudbury Station LLC, a development entity proposing a 250-unit luxury rental housing development with a state mandated minimum affordable housing set aside in Sudbury, Massachusetts, designed to meet local housing needs for seniors and the working class community. Proposed on a 39-acre parcel zoned residential near the Historic District of Sudbury, the Village at Sudbury Station would satisfy the for Sudbury, would be located close to schools, parks, churches and public safety facilities, and would contribute significant additional tax revenue to the town. The project has received criticism from town officials and residents. Residents voted unamiously to hire a special counsel to stop the development, which they allege violates over thirty local zoning ordinances.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Close is a 2019 British action thriller film directed by Vicky Jewson and starring Noomi Rapace. Rapace's character is based on that of Jacquie Davis, one of the world's leading female bodyguards, whose clients have included J. K. Rowling, Nicole Kidman and members of the British royal family. The film was released on 18 January 2019 by Netflix.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: While in South Sudan on a routine mission, close protection officer Sam Carlson saves two journalists she is protecting when their vehicle is attacked by local insurgents.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Zoe Tanner, the troubled child and heir of recently deceased business tycoon Eric Tanner, discovers she has been left all of her father's shares in his company, Hassine Mining. This shocks and angers her stepmother, Rima Hassine, whose family founded the company and who has taken over Eric's position as CEO. Having succeeded in negotiating a billion dollar deal for phosphate mining in Zambia, Rima demands that Zoe accompany her to the family house in Morocco while she completes the deal.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Rima hires Sam to act as Zoe's bodyguard for the trip, as her previous male bodyguard was fired for having sex with Zoe. Upon arriving at the family's fortified kasbah, Zoe demands that Sam remain for the full time she has been paid, and stay the night. Later that evening the safehouse's security system is breached, locking the property down and trapping its inhabitants. Heavily armed intruders kill multiple members of the security team. The intruders make their way to Zoe's room, killing en route the head of security, Alik.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Zoe escapes with Sam, and they are picked up by responding police officers. Although the officers assure them they are being taken to a police station, Zoe (who speaks Arabic) overhears them discussing a private address and money. Sam fights and disarms the officers, but Zoe ends up shooting one of them with Sam's sidearm. The two escape on foot into Casablanca and take refuge in a hotel. News of the incident causes share prices in Hassine Mining to drop considerably, potentially enabling their competitor Sikong to steal the deal.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Sam promises to get Zoe out of the country and is later joined by her boss and former lover, Conall. Their escape plan is for the three of them to travel as a family to Tangier and take the ferry to Spain. They are ambushed at the hotel by men who kill Conall. Sam saves Zoe from being taken by brutally fighting and killing two of the men.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Unable to leave the country without passports, Sam and Zoe travel to Hassine Mining headquarters to meet Rima. There they witness her in the car park with one of the suspicious men from the hotel. They follow him to a local marina, but Sam is noticed and the two fight; Sam impales him with a large fishing hook. Looking through his wallet, Sam and Zoe discover he is a police officer and had Rima's login details for the house security system.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: While meeting with the selling company, Rima is confronted by a member of the competitor Sikong, who makes further threats on Zoe. Sam and Zoe return to the abandoned safehouse, where Zoe discovers that Sam previously had a child whom she put up for adoption at 16. During a meeting to finalize the mining deal, Rima receives a notification that her phone has been accessed by the house security system, and she leaves without signing the mining deal. The house is surrounded by corrupt members of the police, who refuse to allow a detective from Casablanca working with Rima to enter.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Rima arrives by helicopter. She reveals to Zoe that she is being blackmailed and that she is not responsible for the attempts on her life. She is attacked by the mercenaries and corrupt officers, although Zoe and Sam intervene and eventually save her. Sam is wounded in the wrist. With Zoe and Rima safe, and the threat over, Sam leaves to head home but promises Zoe she will call her daughter.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: Principal photography began in August 2017 and filming took place at Pinewood and on location in London, Casablanca and Marrakesh. The film was pre-sold by Westend Films to 11 territories at script stage in 2017. In 2018, Netflix acquired the distribution rights for the film.


title: Close (2019 film)

text: The review aggregator website "Rotten Tomatoes" reported an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The critical consensus reads, ""Close" puts a welcome female-fronted spin on the prototypical action thriller; unfortunately, the rest of the movie's ingredients are tediously predictable." Metacritic rated it 51/100 based on eight reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Saga (band)

text: Saga is a Canadian rock band from Oakville, Ontario. Bassist and keyboardist Jim Crichton and Welsh-born vocalist and keyboardist Michael Sadler were the principal songwriters.


title: Saga (band)

text: Saga had numerous line-up changes over the years. Ian and Jim Crichton were the only two original members who appeared on every album. Sadler appeared on every release, apart from the 2009 album "The Human Condition". Keyboardist Jim Gilmour was with the band from 1979, making his debut on the album "Silent Knight". Drummer Steve Negus performed with Saga until 1986. The lineup was supplemented by many session musicians and live performers from the late 1980s to the late 2000s.


title: Saga (band)

text: Saga has been awarded gold and platinum albums worldwide and have sold more than eight million albums.


title: Saga (band)

text: Originally known as Pockets, Saga formed in 1977 from the nucleus of Canadian rock band Fludd. In April 1978, they released their self-titled debut album "Saga". A modest success in Canada, it would eventually sell over 30,000 copies in Germany as an import.


title: Saga (band)

text: Their 1979 follow-up album "Images at Twilight" gave them their first charting single in Canada, with the song "It's Time" peaking at No. 84 in the Canadian Charts. From the album, the songs "See Them Smile" and "Slow Motion" became strong radio favourites elsewhere. Saga's third album, "Silent Knight," was released in 1980, and included the singles "Don't Be Late" and "Careful Where You Step," which continued and furthered the band's international success.


title: Saga (band)

text: In 1981, the band's fourth album "Worlds Apart" was released. The lead single, "On the Loose", finally broke them into the Top 40, peaking at No. 22 on the Canadian Charts in January 1982, and in December 1982, proved to be their breakthrough in America where it peaked at No. 26 on the "Billboard" chart in February 1983. A second single, "Wind Him Up", also fared well, with the help of its music video receiving heavy rotation on MTV, and became their next charting single in America, peaking at No. 64 on Billboard in May 1983. Eventually, "Worlds Apart" was certified Gold in the US in 1983. The band opened for Jethro Tull on their North American tour in 1982.


title: Saga (band)

text: Following on the success of "Worlds Apart", the band won the 1982 Juno Award for "Most Promising Group of the Year."


title: Saga (band)

text: A fifth album "Heads or Tales" was released in late 1983 and became another success. The lead single, "The Flyer", fared well in Canada and also became their final U.S. charting single, peaking at No. 79 on Billboard in December 1983. The follow-up single entitled "Scratching the Surface" became popular in Canada, peaking at No. 45 in April 1984.


title: Saga (band)

text: Their sixth album, "Behaviour", was released in 1985 and included the singles, "Listen to Your Heart" and "What Do I Know?" (charted No. 57 in Canada).


title: Saga (band)

text: In 1986 Steve Negus and Jim Gilmour left the band over management concerns, soon deciding to form a new band project under the name "Gilmour-Negus Project" (GNP). In 1988, they released their one and only album, "Safety Zone" (featuring Robert Bevan on lead vocals). Meanwhile, Saga continued to record and tour, with Michael Sadler and the Crichton brothers augmented by session musicians.


title: Saga (band)

text: Their 1987 release "Wildest Dreams" enjoyed better distribution under new label, Atlantic Records, but it failed to match expectations in America. The lead single "Only Time Will Tell" became a popular chart favourite in Canada (No. 93), with a memorable video rotated on MTV for a brief period. However, the remainder of the album suffered from over-reliance on technology, with armies of sequencers and drum machines replacing much of the band's earlier trademark sound with Gilmour and Negus.


title: Saga (band)

text: For 1989's "The Beginner's Guide to Throwing Shapes", Saga refocused on their earlier European popularity which marked a return to their earlier progressive style with a few sci-fi orientated pop elements to it. In 1992, Steve Negus and Jim Gilmour returned to Saga. The band's next album, "The Security of Illusion", released in 1993, was well received by Saga fans in Canada and Europe. The 1994 followup, "Steel Umbrellas", was considered uneven when compared to their previous release, perhaps due to the material originally being produced for the short-lived television series "Cobra". However, despite lackluster album sales, Saga's 1993 and 1994 tours helped maintain some of the band's early popularity; their reputation as live performers was not lost among the band's long time fans.


title: Saga (band)

text: In 1995 Jim Crichton composed and produced the majority of Saga's next album, the conceptual "Generation 13". Inspired by a popular political treatise by the same name, the story follows main character Jeremy's troubled search for his real father. The concept is somewhat reminiscent of the storyline in The Who's "Quadrophenia". The album's heavier compositions have a sound similar to fellow Canadians, progressive rock band Rush, and even early Kansas.


title: Saga (band)

text: Saga's next release, "Pleasure and the Pain" was released on the eve of their 20th anniversary tour in 1997. The album failed to maintain the interest created by the previous release. On the same anniversary tour, the album "Phase 1" was released. "Phase One" was an album containing demo songs from the 1979 album "Images at Twilight" — some of them were songs found not good enough for the album, some of them were different versions of songs released on "Images". The album quickly sold out and a second issue was printed. The album was hard to get and it soon became a most wanted item for Saga collectors and fans.


title: Saga (band)

text: Their 1998 tour was captured on the next album, "Detours", a double-live album released worldwide. Saga's next three albums, 1999's "Full Circle", 2001's "House of Cards", and 2003's "Marathon" have all been popular with the band's longtime and loyal fanbase. "House of Cards", in particular enjoyed renewed interest. Its acoustic-flavoured single, "Money Talks", received Top 5 video airplay in Canada. All three albums included new "chapters", representing a return to the progressive rock of the band's early days. Saga released a new studio album, "Network", in the fall of 2004. Their next album, "Trust", was released in 2006, featuring Brian Doerner as their new drummer. Doerner made his debut on a live Canadian television broadcast in late 2005.


title: Saga (band)

text: Even though Jim Crichton and Michael Sadler both live in Los Angeles, they have not committed Saga to any full-length American tours since 1986. However, in late 2005, Michael Sadler announced a limited tour on the West Coast to promote his solo album, "Clear". The trek featured Ian Crichton as touring guitarist. Saga also played one show in New York City during their summer 2006 tour in support of "Trust".


title: Saga (band)

text: "The Chapters" is the name given to a series of songs that the band revealed over a 28-year period in a mixed-up order, creating a conceptual puzzle. Each song in the sequence was subtitled "Chapter One", "Chapter Two", etc. In its final form, "The Chapters" tells a cohesive science fiction story concerning the preservation of Albert Einstein's brain, aliens who are concerned with humanity's self-destruction, and the resurrection of the dead through technology.


title: Saga (band)

text: The first eight "Chapters" were issued, out of order, across the band's first four albums, issued between 1978 and 1981. After a long layoff, Chapters 9 through 16 were issued, again out of order, across three album releases between 1999 and 2003. Songs from the cycle have been performed in concert throughout their career. The Chapters were finally released all together in a 2 CD live recording called "The Chapters Live" in 2005.


title: Saga (band)

text: Despite the band's fluctuating musical styles and limited commercial success in the United States, their fans have remained extremely loyal over the decades. Their musical style was defined by Ian Crichton's staccato guitar riffs, often in harmony with a synthesizer, and complex keyboard arrangements, frequently featuring three players.


title: Saga (band)

text: The band has been constantly successful in Germany since its inception. It is also very popular in Puerto Rico; Saga has visited the island twelve times. Saga's second concert in Puerto Rico (1981) caused riots from fans trying to crash into a sold-out concert that sold over 10,000 tickets. Most of the inner cover photographs from the original vinyl release of "In Transit" (1982) were taken in Puerto Rico, including a live photograph from the 1981 concert. For a few years, a keyboard riff from their song ""No Regrets"" became the background music for station breaks at WCAD-FM in San Juan. The band received formal recognition as distinguished visitors from the Puerto Rican legislature in February 2005. Their concert on December 9, 2007 (at the Pier 10 Arena club in Old San Juan) was the last concert that Michael Sadler did with Saga until his announcement of returning to the band in January 2011.


title: Saga (band)

text: On January 16, 2007 it was announced by InsideOut, the band's current record label, that lead singer Michael Sadler would be leaving Saga for personal reasons at the end of 2007. Later that year on Michael's personal site, michaelsadler.com, a note was posted by the singer revealing that his departure was due to a desire to focus on his family life and retire from the stress of being in an active travelling band. A farewell tour of sorts is in the works which will also commemorate Saga's 36th anniversary as a band. Saga announced on July 15, 2007 that they were recording a new album in Los Angeles. Titled "10,000 Days" the album was released on November 6, 2007 in conjunction with their planned European tour. ("10,000 days" equates to 27 years, 4.54 months, approximately the amount of time Sadler spent with the band). Sadler also recorded a forthcoming DVD commemorating his last European tour with Saga. Just prior to the release of "10,000 Days", in October 2007 drummer Brian Doerner suffered a heart attack. He has since made a full recovery, but a stand-in drummer (Chris Sutherland) of the Kim Mitchell Band was required to fulfill touring commitments.


title: Saga (band)

text: Saga announced they were auditioning lead vocalists to continue the band's career. The musicians recorded instrumental versions of "On the Loose" and "Wind Him Up" for prospective singers to perform on YouTube, with the winning candidate to be announced at a later date. During the search, Ian Crichton remarked that hopeful candidates "should have a set of pipes" as well as personality. The guitarist also remarked that a Canadian would be preferable, presumably because of travel considerations and the band's nationality. Over 20 candidates (including one woman) submitted demos from across the Atlantic and Caribbean.


title: Saga (band)

text: On April 15, 2008 Saga announced that Rob Moratti of Toronto, former singer of Final Frontier, had joined the band as the new lead vocalist. Moratti's background included more than a decade of experience in the Canadian rock music industry, recently working with the respected guitarist-producer Mladen Zaron. Throughout his tenure with the band, Moratti concentrated on lead vocals, leaving the band's instrumental dynamics somewhat changed from the Sadler era, where the lead vocalist often doubled on bass guitar and keyboards. Saga's first gig with Moratti took place in the summer of 2008. Also, 2008 saw the release of a book about the band's history, 'Saga: The Biography', by renowned rock journalist (and long-time friend of Saga), Edwin Ammerlaan.


title: Saga (band)

text: In 2009 Saga released their first CD with Rob Moratti. This CD was titled "The Human Condition" and was released in the spring 2009. The band toured in Europe and Canada.


title: Saga (band)

text: On January 28, 2011 an official statement was made announcing Michael Sadler's return as the lead singer of Saga.


title: Saga (band)

text: On February 1, 2012 Saga announced that after 6 years of touring and recording together, Brian Doerner and Saga have parted ways. Following YouTube auditions, Mike Thorne (a native of Toronto ) was announced as the new drummer of Saga. On July 6, 2012, Saga's twentieth studio album, "20/20", was released. It marked the return of original vocalist Michael Sadler.


title: Saga (band)

text: On June 27, 2014 Saga released their 21st album entitled "Sagacity", which received mostly positive feedback from fans. The album quickly topped the iTunes rock lists around Europe (most notably in Germany).


title: Saga (band)

text: A reissue campaign covering the later years (from 1989 to 2007) was announced in 2015, spanning twelve albums in twelve months. However, after five remastered albums the campaign was seemingly aborted without any official statement from the record company, the live recordings intended for the series instead appearing as a live album "Live in Hamburg 2015", which is strictly limited to 5000 copies worldwide.


title: Saga (band)

text: In January 2017 Michael Sadler announced Saga's retirement following the completion of their farewell tour dubbed The Final Chapter Tour, which also marked their 40th anniversary. He also said that a "very special one-off performance" would take place on the 2018 edition of "Cruise to the Edge" in February 2018.


title: Saga (band)

text: On August 5, 2018 bassist and co-founder Jim Crichton departed the band before the final two shows, and was replaced by new member Dusty Chesterfield. The tour spawned the live release "So Good So Far – Live at Rock of Ages", which was released on September 28, 2018.


title: Saga (band)

text: After reconsideration from the request by the fans, Saga opted to continue with their live performances.


title: Saga (band)

text: In early 2020, the band performed in Germany and Scandinavia as part of their Out of the Shadows World Tour.


title: Saga (band)

text: Following the completion of the tour, the band members entered their respective home studios during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns to record an acoustic album titled "Symmetry", which was released on March 12, 2021. The first single "Tired World" was made available for streaming, followed by "Wind Him Up" and "Always There". For the latter, the fans were asked to send in video material, which was then assembled into a video clip. Although Jim Crichton had quit touring with the band, he was strongly involved with "Symmetry", playing bass and supervising the new arrangements. The Band return for concert "A night to remember" tour in San Juan, PR on May 13 2022.


title: Types of road

text: A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been surfaced or otherwise improved to allow travel by foot or some form of conveyance, including a motor vehicle, cart, bicycle, or horse. Roads have been adapted to a large range of structures and types in order to achieve a common goal of transportation under a large and wide range of conditions. The specific purpose, mode of transport, material and location of a road determine the characteristics it must have in order to maximize its usefulness. Following is one classification scheme.


title: Types of road

text: Roads also may be classified based on their pavement material types. For instance, the Long-Term Pavement Performance database includes more than 30 types of pavement types for roads in the US and Canada. However, a more generic classification of roads based on material type is as follows.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Ron Raphael Braunstein (born June 7, 1976), better known by his stage name Necro, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York City.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: He is the owner of Psycho+Logical-Records founded November 1999. He is the younger brother of rapper Ill Bill.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Necro was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the Glenwood Houses, where he lived for eight years from about six years old to age 14, when he moved to Canarsie, Brooklyn. Born into a Jewish family, he is the son of Israeli immigrants, with ancestry from Israel and Romania. Necro's father was a Romanian-born Israeli soldier and his mother an Orthodox baalat teshuva. When he was in high school he was popular among the hip hop fans that went to his school until he got kicked out for fighting in the 10th grade and sold drugs to make money. He constantly read books.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: He began his musical career at 11, playing in a death metal band named Injustice. He made a transition from heavy metal to hip hop. In 1988, he started rapping after being influenced by his older brother, rapper Ill Bill. Necro derived his stage-name from the Slayer song "Necrophiliac". Before that he called himself "Mad Mooney", which was a character from a Clive Barker book. He made his first demo in about 1990 and won a demo battle contest on the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito show on WKCR-FM. In about 1993, Necro started rapping full-time and made a demo called "Do The Charles Manson". In 1995, he proceeded to rap on the Wildman Steve and DJ Riz show WBAU 90.3FM.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Necro lists Kool G Rap as one of his biggest influences in terms of multi-syllabic rhyme structure and content, as well as LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Rakim and the Geto Boys. Necro is also influenced by heavy metal/death metal lyrics, as well as gangster/horror movies, musicals and popular culture.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Necro refers to his music as "death rap" to describe his style of ultraviolent hip hop and to distinguish himself from other genre labels created by the media. His music combines death metal beats with explicit raps about violence, death, the occult, drugs and sex.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Necro is a self-taught musician and has been playing instruments since the age of ten. He started producing hip hop beats in 1989 by looping up records and bought an Ensoniq EPS in 1991. In the following years he produced beats for artists like Non Phixion, Cage, Krist and Missing Linx, who all released independent singles. The first record he produced that received airplay was "No Tomorrow" by Non Phixion in 1996, put out on Searchlight Music/FatBeats Distribution.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: The first wave of albums released on Necro's label were produced by Necro himself. This includes the debut solo albums of Non-Phixion members Ill Bill, Sabac Red and Goretex after he already produced 7 songs for Non Phixion's debut album "The Future Is Now" in 2002 and Non Phixion's "The Green CD' in 2004, and two albums for label member Mr Hyde. In 2009, a beat Necro produced in 1997 was used by Raekwon on his album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II" for the song "Gihad", which also featured Ghostface Killah.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Since the inception of his rap career Necro has been influenced by the genre of heavy metal, and more specifically death metal, which has altered his path into hip hop. He has been quoted in interviews citing death metal as a key influence for his rhymes, Chuck Schuldiner's Death in particular.


title: Necro (rapper)

text: Necro has said that he is heavily influenced by the thrash metal albums "Kill 'Em All", "Reign in Blood", "Slowly We Rot", "Leprosy", and "Master of Puppets", and he has remarked that those albums take him back to "the '80s when shit was pure".