title: Bon Jovi (album)

text: The song began to get airplay around New York. Jon signed to Mercury Records, part of the PolyGram company. He wanted a band name and the A&R staff at PolyGram came up with Bon Jovi.


title: Bon Jovi (album)

text: In March 1983, Bon Jovi called David Bryan (then known as Rashbaum), who in turn called bass guitarist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres. At that time Bon Jovi's lead guitarist was Dave Sabo, who later formed the band Skid Row. Sabo was soon replaced by Richie Sambora.


title: Bon Jovi (album)

text: "We weren't a good band", Bon Jovi said in 2007. "We didn't become a good band until the third record, but we had a drummer who could keep time, which you should never take for granted. But I did okay for a 22-year-old. I'd only been in a studio for three years total prior to that record and I didn't know anything about comping a vocal – where you take a word or a line from one track and piece it together. I was thinking, My God, I'm so bad that they have to put my vocals together for me. The engineer was saying, Don't fret, Jon: even Freddie Mercury and the greats have to comp a vocal."


title: Bon Jovi (album)

text: AllMusic has retrospectively rated "Bon Jovi" three-and-a-half out of five stars. Leslie Mathew, who reviewed the album, said: "The songs may be simple and the writing prone to all clichés of the form, but the album boasts a pretty consistent hard rock attack, passionate playing, and a keen sense of melody", and called the album "an often-overlooked minor gem from the early days of hair metal".


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: Rebus is a British television detective drama series based on the "Inspector Rebus" novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin. The series was produced by STV Studios for the ITV network, and four series were broadcast between 26 April 2000 and 7 December 2007. The first series starred John Hannah as DI John Rebus; and was co-produced by Hannah's own production company, Clerkenwell Films. After Hannah quit the series, the role of Rebus was re-cast, with Ken Stott appearing as Rebus in three subsequent series, which were produced in-house by STV.


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: The first series is very different in both format and style. Hannah's portrayal of Rankin's world-weary detective was questioned by many who knew the books, as he did not physically match their image of John Rebus; Hannah himself has said he felt forced into the role, having been executive producer, when his own choice for the role, Peter Mullan, was rejected by STV. However, his interpretation of the inspector has been viewed as deeper than the later productions, using narration to expand the viewers insight into the character's thoughts, or to reveal background information, which never occurs during Stott's tenure. The earlier stories also retained the darkness of the novels and were more faithful to the original storylines, while longer running times meant that each story could be less ruthless with Rankin's many asides and sub-plots.


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: In February 2008, ITV announced that "Rebus" had been axed, amid reports that Stott had told producers he did not want to continue in the role. ITV indicated that "one-off specials are a possibility for the future." In April 2011, it was reported that the series could make a return to television, and a spokeswoman for STV confirmed a comeback was on the cards: "We fully intend to bring "Rebus" back in the future. There are no firm plans yet, but it will return." However, Rankin has since announced that he has purchased the rights to the TV series back, and that he does not intend to bring Rebus back in the present format, having criticised the shorter format of the final series.


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: All three Stott series were released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2007. In Region 1, Koch Vision released the first series on DVD on 10 January 2006. Series two through four were later released by Acorn Media between 2006 and 2008. In 2008, Delta released the Hannah series in a four-disc box set.


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: The fourth and final episode was originally due for broadcast on 20 September 2001 but was indefinitely postponed following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 and didn't air until four years later during a re-run of the series on ITV3 and the subsequent repeats on Alibi, Drama, and STV2 (formerly STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh) having never been broadcast on ITV.


title: Rebus (TV series)

text: "The First Stone" is the first and only story to be featured throughout the series which is not based upon a full "Rebus" novel, rather a novella from a collection of short stories. "Knots and Crosses" was due to be broadcast on 19 October 2007, but was postponed for reasons unknown. It was eventually broadcast on 7 December 2007. It bears the name of a Rankin book, but does not share the plot.


title: DeepDream

text: DeepDream is a computer vision program created by Google engineer Alexander Mordvintsev that uses a convolutional neural network to find and enhance patterns in images via algorithmic pareidolia, thus creating a dream-like appearance reminiscent of a psychedelic experience in the deliberately overprocessed images.


title: DeepDream

text: Google's program popularized the term (deep) "dreaming" to refer to the generation of images that produce desired activations in a trained deep network, and the term now refers to a collection of related approaches.


title: DeepDream

text: The DeepDream software, originated in a deep convolutional network codenamed "Inception" after the film of the same name, was developed for the ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (ILSVRC) in 2014 and released in July 2015.


title: DeepDream

text: The dreaming idea and name became popular on the internet in 2015 thanks to Google's DeepDream program. The idea dates from early in the history of neural networks, and similar methods have been used to synthesize visual textures.


title: DeepDream

text: After Google published their techniques and made their code open-source, a number of tools in the form of web services, mobile applications, and desktop software appeared on the market to enable users to transform their own photos.


title: DeepDream

text: The software is designed to detect faces and other patterns in images, with the aim of automatically classifying images. However, once trained, the network can also be run in reverse, being asked to adjust the original image slightly so that a given output neuron (e.g. the one for faces or certain animals) yields a higher confidence score. This can be used for visualizations to understand the emergent structure of the neural network better, and is the basis for the DeepDream concept. This reversal procedure is never perfectly clear and unambiguous because it utilizes a one-to-many mapping process. However, after enough reiterations, even imagery initially devoid of the sought features will be adjusted enough that a form of pareidolia results, by which psychedelic and surreal images are generated algorithmically. The optimization resembles backpropagation, however instead of adjusting the network weights, the weights are held fixed and the input is adjusted.


title: DeepDream

text: For example, an existing image can be altered so that it is "more cat-like", and the resulting enhanced image can be again input to the procedure. This usage resembles the activity of looking for animals or other patterns in clouds.


title: DeepDream

text: that have natural image statistics (without a preference for any particular image), or are simply smooth.


title: DeepDream

text: For example, Mahendran et al. used the total variation regularizer that prefers images that are piecewise constant. Various regularizers are discussed further in. An in-depth, visual exploration of feature visualization and regularization techniques was published more recently.


title: DeepDream

text: The cited resemblance of the imagery to LSD- and psilocybin-induced hallucinations is suggestive of a functional resemblance between artificial neural networks and particular layers of the visual cortex.


title: DeepDream

text: Neural networks such as DeepDream have biological analogies providing insight into brain processing and the formation of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as DMT alter the function of the serotonergic system which is present within the layers of the visual cortex. Neural networks are trained on input vectors and are altered by internal variations during the training process. The input and internal modifications represent the processing of exogenous and endogenous signals respectively in the visual cortex. As internal variations are modified in deep neural networks the output image reflect these changes. This specific manipulation demonstrates how inner brain mechanisms are analogous to internal layers of neural networks. Internal noise level modifications represent how hallucinogens omit external sensory information leading internal preconceived conceptions to strongly influence visual perception.


title: DeepDream

text: It is also possible to optimize the input to satisfy either a single neuron (this usage is sometimes called Activity Maximization) or an entire layer of neurons.


title: DeepDream

text: While dreaming is most often used for visualizing networks or producing computer art, it has recently been proposed that adding "dreamed" inputs to the training set can improve training times for abstractions in Computer Science.


title: DeepDream

text: In 2017, a research group out of the University of Sussex created a "Hallucination Machine", applying the DeepDream algorithm to a pre-recorded panoramic video, allowing users to explore virtual reality environments to mimic the experience of psychoactive substances and/or psychopathological conditions. They were able to demonstrate that the subjective experiences induced by the Hallucination Machine differed significantly from control (non-‘hallucinogenic’) videos, while bearing phenomenological similarities to the psychedelic state (following administration of psilocybin).


title: DeepDream

text: In 2021, a study published in the journal "Entropy" demonstrated the similarity between DeepDream and actual psychedelic experience with neuroscientific evidence. The authors recorded Electroencephalography (EEG) of human participants during passive vision of a movie clip and its DeepDream-generated counterpart. They found that DeepDream video triggered a higher entropy in the EEG signal and a higher level of functional connectivity between brain areas, both well-known biomarkers of actual psychedelic experience.


title: DeepDream

text: In 2022, a research group coordinated by the University of Trento "measure[d] participants’ cognitive flexibility and creativity after the exposure to virtual reality panoramic videos and their hallucinatory-like counterparts generated by the DeepDream algorithm ... following the simulated psychedelic exposure, individuals exhibited ... an attenuated contribution of the automatic process and chaotic dynamics underlying their decision processes, presumably due to a reorganization in the cognitive dynamics that facilitates the exploration of uncommon decision strategies and inhibits automated choices."


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Hasan Salihamidžić (; born 1 January 1977), nicknamed Brazzo (, , "Little Bro"), is a Bosnian former professional footballer and current sporting director of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. After starting his club career with German side Hamburger SV, he made a name for himself while playing for Bayern Munich for nine seasons with whom he won the Bundesliga title six times, DFB-Pokal title four times, the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup. He also played for Italian club Juventus for four seasons.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: During his career, Salihamidžić usually played as a right midfielder or full back. He was a quick and energetic player with an extremely high work rate. He was also gifted with good crossing and passing abilities, which allowed him to create chances for his teammates.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: He earned 42 caps and scored six goals for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is regarded by many as one of the most successful Bosnian football players.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Following the end of his one-year contract with VfL Wolfsburg in 2012, Salihamidžić retired from professional football. He then worked for Sky Deutschland, RTL and ZDF, before re-joining Bayern Munich as sporting director in 2017.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić's father Ahmed and mother Šefika gave him the nickname "Braco", meaning "little brother" in Bosnian, since Hasan has an older sister, hence his current nickname "Brazzo". He finished elementary school and played in the local club. Then, Salihamidžić moved to Velež Mostar where he stayed until 1992. That year, Salihamidžić was called up to the Yugoslavia under-16 team, for a match against the CIS under-16 team in Belgrade. Days after the match, the Army of Republika Srpska began a siege on the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, forcing his father to look for opportunities in Western Europe for his son.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: In November 1992, Salihamidžić moved to Hamburg, Germany, with the assistance of Ahmed Halilhodžić (cousin of football coach Vahid Halilhodžić), who was also a Jablanica native and had emigrated to Germany. Through Ahmed Halilhodžić's help, Salihamidžić joined the youth team of Bundesliga side Hamburger SV. He remained within the club's youth system for three seasons before being promoted to the senior squad. In his first season with the seniors, Salihamidžić made nine appearances, scoring two league goals. The following season, Salihamidžić became an integral part of the squad as he would make 37 appearances and score an impressive seven goals between Europe and the league. He would go on to make 31 league appearances, scoring ten goals during the 1997–98 season, which would be his last for the club before his high-profile transfer to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić's transfer to Bayern Munich was completed during the 1998 summer transfer window, for an undisclosed fee. In his first season with his new club, 1998–99, Salihamidžić was instantly inserted into the club's starting line-up and made an impressive 43 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals. During his first season, he came on as a substitute in the 89th minute of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić would make an additional 46 appearances with three more goals in his second season for the Munich giants, in 1999–2000. His third season proved very successful as well, as he would score six goals in 46 appearances. Between 2001 and 2003, however, Salihamidžić lacked in appearances, mostly due to injury; he made just 50 appearances between both seasons in all competitions.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: For the 2003–04 season, the Bosnian international worked his way back into the starting line-up for the entire season, making 47 appearances and scoring five goals, also tallying 43 appearances and five goals the following season.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić was limited to just 29 appearances for the 2005–06 season, but made 42 seasonal appearances in his final season with the club, in which he also scored five goals. One of Salihamidžić's most memorable plays in 2006–07 was in the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid, where he dispossessed Roberto Carlos and fed the pass to Roy Makaay, who beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas and set the record for the fastest goal in tournament history, at 11 seconds after kickoff. This helped Bayern overcome a 3–2 loss from the first leg to level the tie at 2–1 and advance on the away goals rule.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: As he spent many years being so loved in Munich and his children are from the city, Salihamidžić settled there when his playing career was over.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: On 15 January 2007, Salihamidžić signed a four-year pre-deal with Juventus. He joined them the following June after his contract with Bayern had expired. In his first season, under coach Claudio Ranieri, Salihamidžić was a regular starter, albeit with injury lay-offs, and made 30 official appearances for his new club, scoring an impressive five goals which included two in a 3–2 victory against Milan on 12 April 2008. His second and third season with the club, however, proved to be less successful as he suffered from several injury lay-offs.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: In the 2010–11 season, new coach Luigi Delneri excluded Salihamidžić from the team's plans. Along with Fabio Grosso, Salihamidžić was the only healthy first-team player that was excluded from the 25-men 2010–11 UEFA Europa League squad. Salihamidžić was released from Juventus when his contract expired in June 2011.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: On 4 July 2011, Salihamidžić moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a one-year contract. On 9 July 2011, in a friendly game against local team Bismark, Salihamidžić's left arm was broken in a challenge with another player.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić made his international debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8 October 1996 against Croatia. On 6 November 1996, he scored the team's first goal in a friendly 2–1 win over Italy. During his 11 years with the national team, the closest they came was falling one goal short in a match against Denmark that would have enabled them to qualify for UEFA Euro 2004. He has earned a total of 42 caps, scoring 6 goals and his final international was an August 2006 friendly match against France.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: After retiring from professional football in 2012, Salihamidžić started to work as a regular pundit for Sky Deutschland. From summer 2013 to spring 2014, he worked as a football expert for RTL and was a color commentator for during the 2013 Audi Cup. He was also an expert for ZDF from February 2014 until the UEFA Champions League Final and during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: On 31 July 2017, Salihamidžić was appointed sporting director of Bayern Munich, his predecessor Matthias Sammer had retired for health and family reasons a season ago in 2016. Salihamidžić signed a three-year contract until 30 June 2020. Bayern's Chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, "In Hasan, we have brought a man to FC Bayern who knows the club very well. He is a very hard-working, serious, loyal and very alert person with great integrity and he speaks five languages. His time in Italy means he has a great network that will definitely be very helpful in his job. We have complete confidence that he will be able to do the job as he should do." Salihamidžić officially assumed his position on Bayern's executive board on 1 July 2020 as the "board director of sport".


title: Hasan Salihamidžić

text: Salihamidžić has three children: Selina, Nick and Lara June, all born in Munich, with his wife, Esther Copado. Footballer Francisco Copado is his brother-in-law, whose son Lucas (Salihamidžić's nephew) is a footballer for Bayern Munich, alongside Salihamidžić's own son, Nick.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following "I'm Your Baby Tonight" (1990) although she had participated on three movie soundtracks during that period. "My Love Is Your Love" is composed of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop soul, pop, reggae, and torch songs, produced by musicians such as Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, Lauryn Hill and Babyface. It is notable for introducing elements of hip hop into Houston's work, only sparingly used in her previous material.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Although the album sold less than Houston's previous albums in the US, it was globally successful selling over 10 million copies worldwide. It was certified four times platinum in the United States. Particularly, the album was a hit in Europe, peaking #1 for 6 weeks on European Top 100 Albums, selling over 4.3 million copies. It generated several hit singles: "When You Believe", a duet with Mariah Carey, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for at the 71st Annual Academy Awards ceremony; "Heartbreak Hotel", which features Kelly Price and Faith Evans; "It's Not Right but It's Okay"; the title track "My Love Is Your Love", was certified platinum and became Houston's third-best-selling single ever; and "I Learned from the Best". It was followed by a successful world tour.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: "My Love Is Your Love" received positive reviews and is often regarded by critics as one of her best releases. At the 42nd Grammy Awards of 2000, the album received seven nominations, including Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song, twice. Houston won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "It's Not Right But It's Okay", giving her sixth and final Grammy Award.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Upon the album's debut, the album received positive responses from music critics. Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" magazine commented that "It's easily her most consistent album ever—in fact, it's her first consistent album", and praised her mature voice as follows:


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Jon Pareles, in his review for the "New York Times", praised her fully developed voice, too. He stated that her sound was "supple and devout", comparing Carey's fidgetting sound with every phrase in "When You Believe", and commented "Ms. Houston used to be similarly showy and disjointed, but now her improvisations bring emotional coherence to technical feats." With expressing his interest about any connections between her troubled marriage and her new materials, commented "Lest anyone draw other conclusions from the songs, the album carries a disclaimer." Also, he was almost positive about songs such as "It's Not Right But It's Okay", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "My Love Is Your Love".


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: In "Billboard" magazine's review, the issue dated November 28, 1999, the magazine called the album "A tour de force that showcases her strengths in a wide array of musical genres from pop to R&B to gospel to dance." The publication also opined: "On an album with writing and production input from a diverse roster of players, Houston keeps it all together with her spectacular voice and singular artistic persona", declaring the album had "immense crossover potential"


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Mark Bautz of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the album B+, calling "My Love Is Your Love" "A schizophrenic album" and "A primer on today's hip-hop/R&B scene: the good, the bad." by reason of the unevenness of the album. He commented "Wyclef Jean's gorgeous reggae-tinged title song and three funky cuts by Rodney Jerkins showcase the 35-year-old Whitney Houston in all her creative, soulful maturity. In contrast, a trio of schmaltzy Babyface-produced tunes expose her as merely a gifted interpreter of bland radio-ready fare.". Similarly, "TIME" praised some new songs, calling the title song "superb" and Houston's remake of Stevie Wonder's classic "fabulous", but criticized the old-fashioned songs of the album sharply, commenting "The problem is with the Old Guard: producer David Foster's work is dull, and Dianne Warren and Babyface, who both wrote tracks, have better work on their respective resumes."


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Writing for "USA Today" in November 1998, Steve Jones made a favorable comment on almost every song whether it is a ballad with her formula for success or a new styled song produced by hot, young producers who've updated and diversified her sound, stating "There's something here for just about everybody, whether you favor R&B, pop or adult contemporary radio." But he chose the remake "I Was Made To Love Him" as the best track of the album, complimenting the song highly, "The rollicking, gender-flipping remake". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic, who gave the album four out of five stars, called it "easily ranks among her best" and complimented the musical diversity "Houston has never been quite so subtle before, nor has she ever shown this desire to branch out musically." But he also wasn't positive for adult contemporary ballads of the album, stating "In fact, the songs that feel the stiffest are the big production numbers; tellingly, they're the songs that are the most reminiscent of old-school Houston." "Los Angeles Times" gave it three out of four stars, writing "[It] reflect her growth as an artist and as an individual."


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: In the United States, "My Love Is Your Love" was released on November 17, 1998, when major records were released simultaneously for the holidays by high-profile musicians like Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Jewel, Method Man, The Offspring and Seal besides her. "Time" magazine wrote, "Music-industry folks have dubbed it Super Tuesday because more than ten major pop acts issued new CDs on the single day, making it the heaviest release date ever." The week of December 5, 1998 the album entered the US "Billboard" 200 chart at number thirteen, which was the peak position of the album, and her lowest chart position at that point in time, with sales of 123,000 copies in its first week. That result was disappointing because the release was Houston's first non-soundtrack album in eight years and was highly anticipated. But eventually, the album became a commercial success, thanks to a series of hit singles, her energetic promotions and a successful world tour. "My Love Is Your Love" was present on the "Billboard" 200 chart for over a year, at 75 weeks, and on "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 79 weeks, peaking at number seven. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album four-times platinum on November 1, 1999, for shipments of four million copies. According to the Nielson SoundScan, the album has sold 2,753,000 copies.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Across Europe, it was more successful than in United States. In early times of its release, the commercial response for the album was short of expectations, but its sales rose sharply during the European leg of the "My Love Is Your Love World Tour", which was the highest grossing arena concert tour of 1999 on the continent, and consequently "My Love Is Your Love" became the second best-selling album of 1999 in Europe, behind Cher's "Believe", spending more than one year on the charts in many countries. In the United Kingdom, it reached number four on the albums chart and was certified 3× Platinum for shipments of 900,000 copies of the album by the British Phonographic Industry(BPI). In France, the album peaked at number two on the albums chart, and was certified 2× platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP). In Germany, it climbed to the number two on the albums chart on its 35th week and has sold more than 670,000 copies. The album reached number one on the albums charts in Austria, Switzerland and Netherlands, and the top five in Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Finland. "My Love Is Your Love" was certified 4× platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of four million copies of the album in Europe.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: All five singles released from "My Love Is Your Love" were successful worldwide. In the United States, they were all top forty "Billboard" Hot 100 hits, with three reaching the top five on the chart, selling a total of 3.9 million copies. The album generated two Platinum and two Gold singles, awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1999. In later years, four of the five singles would be re-certified platinum. In the United Kingdom, Houston also had five top forty singles including three top five hits from the album, with a total of 1.09 million copies sold, becoming the eighth best-selling singles artist of 1999. The singles also achieved success in other countries such as Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: "When You Believe", duet with Mariah Carey, was released as the lead single of the album on November 2, 1998. The song debuted at number fifty-one without retail single on the new "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, which had changed to allow airplay-only tracks to enter the chart, the issue date of December 5, 1998. Before release, it led to expectations that the song would be a smash hit due to the star power of two music rivals. However, after the single had released, it managed to peak at number fifteen on the chart, the issue dated January 30, 1999. It reached number thirty-three on the "Billboard" Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart. "Billboard" was unfavorable towards the single, commenting "Given the potential of these two [Houston and Carey] powerhouse voices, however, the song falls flat with a surprisingly understated and downright disappointing bridge: You wait and wait for the duel of the divas, and it simply never materializes," but positive of Houston's performance; "The genuine story in this track is the return of Houston, who sounds fantasticㅡas clear and confident as ever." The RIAA certified it Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies on March 24, 1999. Unlike in the United States, the single was a success on the world charts. It reached the top five in the U.K. with 260,000 copies sold, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand. Thanks to popularity for the song across Europe, it eventually peaked at number two on the Eurochart Hot 100.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: The album's second single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released on December 15, 1998, and features Faith Evans and Kelly Price. The song entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart at number eighty-four on the issue date of December 26, 1998. In its first week when the song was commercially available, it leaped to number twenty-nine, and after six weeks peaked at number two on the Hot 100, making it the first Houston single to peak in the runner-up spot. The song entered the revamped "Billboard" Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart at number twenty-three with the mark of its seventh week on the chart, the issue date of January 9, 1999. In Its first week of retail release, it reached the number six and the following week topped the chart, becoming her eighth No.1 single on the Hot R&B chart. The single stayed on the summit for seven consecutive weeks from February 13 to March 27, 1999, which was her third longest stay atop this chart behind "I Will Always Love You" for eleven weeks and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" for eight weeks, and was on the chart for a total of thirty-one weeks. The single sold over 1,400,000 copies in the U.S. alone, becoming the third-best-selling single of 1999, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on March 2, 1999.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: "It's Not Right, But It's Okay" was released as the third single from the album on February 22, 1999. Before May, it was featured as the B-side of maxi-singles with "Heartbreak Hotel", and charted on the Hot 100 and Hot R&B with its only airplay and sales of maxi-singles. The song appeared firstly at number sixty-four on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart, the issue date of January 9, 1999. It rose higher position of the chart steadily, and eventually reached its peak position, number seven, in its twenty-fourth week on the chart. On the Hot 100 chart, the single debuted at number eighty-seven, the issue date of May 8, 1999, and after the regular-length cassette & CD configurations had hit stores, peaked at number four, selling 522,000 copies in the United States. The RIAA certified it Gold on June 29, 1999. It was also successful in the United Kingdom. The single reached the number three on the singles chart, making it her twelfth top ten hits, and sold over 510,000 units, ranked at number twenty-five in the list of UK's best-selling singles in 1999. In Canada, it made rare chart performances, peaking at number three for the regular single and number five for its import single simultaneously on the Canadian SoundScan Singles chart in August 1999. After her European promotion during February in 1999, it was popular in many countries of Europe, reaching the number one in Spain, top twenty in Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. Finally it peaked at number nine on the Eurochart Hot 100.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: The title track, "My Love Is Your Love" was the fourth single from the album on June 26, 1999. It was a massive hit worldwide, becoming another signature song for Whitney. Firstly, the single was released in each country of Europe from June 1999, prior to the United States. Upon release, the song was popular immediately across Europe, and became a bigger hit during her "My Love Is Your Love European Tour." In the U.K., it went straight to its peak position, number two, on the singles chart, the issue date of July 3, 1999. The single sold 525,000 copies, becoming the twenty-second best-selling single of 1999. In Germany, it peaked at number two and was certified Platinum for shipments of 500,000 copies by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI). It also reached the number two in countries such as Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. It went to top ten in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Norway. Eventually the single topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for a week, becoming her fourth number one single, and was positioned at number six in the Europe's Top Singles list of 1999. In New Zealand, it peaked at number one for a week, which was Houston's third number-one single after 1987's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and 1992's "I Will Always Love You". Likewise, it was a hit in the United States. The song debuted at number eighty-one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in September 1999 and peaked at number four in January 2000, becoming her 22nd top ten hit. In addition, it reached the number two position on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart, spending a total of twenty-nine weeks on the chart. The single sold 1,100,000 copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 14, 1999. Worldwide it sold over 3 million copies and became her third-best-selling single ever, behind "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", with 12 million and 4.2 million copies sold, respectively.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: "I Learned from the Best" became the fifth and final single to be released from the album on November 29, 1999, in the UK, and on February 22, 2000, in the United States. The song debuted at number eighty-three on the Hot 100 and peaked at number twenty-seven. It reached the number thirteen on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks. According to the Nielsen SoundScan, the single sold 352,000 units in the United States alone. Outside the U.S., it wasn't successful as big as the previous singles from the album. The single reached the number six in Finland, the number eight in Spain, and the number nineteen in the United Kingdom with 95,000 copies sold. Besides, it went to the top forty in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: The songs with various remix versions, released from "My Love Is Your Love", were very popular in dance clubs and smash hits on the "Billboard" Dance Music chart. Four consecutive singles reached the number one on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Music/Club Play chartㅡ"It's Not Right But It's Okay" for three weeks, "Heartbreak Hotel" for a week, "My Love Is Your Love" for two weeks, and "I Learned from the Best" for three weeks. Moreover, the maxi-singles, released as vinyl, cassette and CD formats, were successful on the "Billboard" Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. "My Love Is Your Love" topped the chart for two weeks, and "I Learned from the Best" for one week. "Heartbreak Hotel/It's Not Right But It's Okay" and "It's Not Right But It's Okay/I Will Always Love You" peaked at number two on the chart, respectively.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Houston performed three sold-out concerts, two shows a few days before the album's release, on November 13 and 14 at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Both concerts showcased new songs from the album as well as hit songs from previous releases. Several media critics as well as a host of celebrities attended, including Luther Vandross, Brandy, and Wyclef Jean. The third show on November 19, Houston performed an expensive invitation-only charity concert at Cipriani's Wall Street's Grand Ballroom, audience attendees included Clive Davis, Kevin Costner, P. Diddy, Babyface, Mary J. Blige, and wealthy business socialites.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: During Houston's career, she was nominated a total of seven times for "Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist" and "Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist" category, which of them won four and three respectively. Also, "My Love Is Your Love" was her fourth nomination for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album" category.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Houston was honored with "Pop International" award for her 20 years outstanding career as a musical artist.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: All winners are determined by the number of feature broadcast performances on American radio and TV during the eligibility year.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Houston won her first "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" award through her career. She had been nominated six times for this category but not won. This was her sixth and final Grammy Award.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Houston was nominated for "Best R&B Video" for "Heartbreak Hotel" music video directed by Kevin Bray, which was her first nomination in thirteen years at VMAs since she has won the "Best Female Video" for "How Will I Know" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: My Love Is Your Love

text: Houston was honored "the Artist of the Decade, female" award in recognition of extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s.


title: Patricia Allison

text: Patricia Allison (born 7 December 1994) is an English actress. Following a string of guest appearances on television, she landed her first major role as Ola Nyman on the Netflix comedy-drama series "Sex Education" (2019–2021).


title: Patricia Allison

text: After leaving school, she studied musical theatre for two years at the Colchester Institute, followed by a four-year course at the East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting.


title: Patricia Allison

text: In 2018, Allison played a minor role as Marguerite in the BBC miniseries "Les Misérables", before being introduced as Ola Nyman in the Netflix comedy-drama series "Sex Education" in 2019. In 2020, her role was promoted to a main character.


title: Hoklo people

text: The Hoklo people or Hokkien people () are a Han Chinese (also Han Taiwanese) subgroup who speak Hokkien, a Southern Min language, or trace their ancestry to southeastern Fujian, China and known by various endonyms or other related terms such as Banlam (Minnan) people () or Hokkien people (). There are significant overseas populations in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and the Americas.


title: Hoklo people

text: In Taiwan, there are three common ways to write "Hoklo" in Chinese characters, although none have been established as etymologically correct:


title: Hoklo people

text: Despite the many ways to write "Hoklo" in Chinese, the term "Holo" () is used in Taiwan to refer to the language (Taiwanese Hokkien), and those people who speak it.


title: Hoklo people

text: Hoklo architecture is, for the most part, similar to any other traditional Chinese architectural styles. Hoklo shrines and temples have tilted sharp eaves just like the architecture of Han Chinese due to traditional beliefs. However, Hoklo shrines and temples do have special differences from the styles in other regions of China: the top roofs are high and slanted with exaggerated, finely-detailed decorative inlays of wood and porcelain.


title: Hoklo people

text: The main halls of Hoklo temples are also a little different in that they are usually decorated with two dragons on the rooftop at the furthest left and right corners and with a miniature figure of a pagoda at the center of the rooftop. One such example of this is the Kaiyuan Temple in Fujian, China.


title: Hoklo people

text: The Hoklo people speak the mainstream Hokkien (Minnan) dialect which is mutually intelligible to the Teochew dialect but to a small degree. Hokkien can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty, and it also has roots from earlier periods such as the Northern and Southern Dynasties and also a little influence from other dialects as well.


title: Hoklo people

text: Hokkien has one of the most diverse phoneme inventories among Chinese varieties, with more consonants than Standard Mandarin or Cantonese. Vowels are more-or-less similar to that of Standard Mandarin. Hokkien varieties retain many pronunciations that are no longer found in other Chinese varieties. These include the retention of the initial, which is now (Pinyin 'zh') in Mandarin (e.g. 'bamboo' 竹 is "tik", but "zhú" in Mandarin), having disappeared before the 6th century in other Chinese varieties. Hokkien has 5 to 7 tones, or 7 to 9 tones according to traditional sense, depending on the variety. The Amoy dialect for example, has 7-8 tones.


title: Hoklo people

text: About 70% of the Taiwanese people descend from Hoklo immigrants who arrived to the island prior to the start of Japanese rule in 1895. They could be categorized as originating from Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou based on their dialects and districts of origin. People from the former two areas (Quanzhou-speaking) were dominant in the north of the island and along the west coast, whereas people from the latter two areas (Zhangzhou-speaking) were dominant in the south and perhaps the central plains as well.


title: Hoklo people

text: The Hoklo or Hokkien-lang (as they are known in Southeast Asia) are the largest dialect group among the Chinese diaspora communities in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and the southern part of Thailand. These communities contain the highest concentrations of Hoklo or Hokkien-lang in the region. The various Hokkien/Minnan dialects are still widely spoken in these countries, but the daily use of them is slowly decreasing in favor of Mandarin Chinese, English, and local languages.


title: Hoklo people

text: In the Philippines, the Hoklo or Hokkien-lang form the majority of the Chinese people in the country. The native Hokkien/Minnan dialect is still spoken there.


title: Hoklo people

text: The Minnan speaking people in Haifeng and Lufeng are known as Hailufeng Hokkiens or Hailufeng Minnan, in a narrow scope, but are often mistaken by outsiders as Teochews in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.


title: Hoklo people

text: Chen Jiongming is a famous Hailufeng Hokkien who served as the governor of the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces previously.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Pope Gregory XIII (; ; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this day.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Ugo Boncompagni was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni (10 July 1470 – 1546) and of his wife Angela Marescalchi in Bologna, where he studied law and graduated in 1530. He later taught jurisprudence for some years, and his students included notable figures such as Cardinals Alexander Farnese, Reginald Pole and Charles Borromeo. He had an illegitimate son after an affair with Maddalena Fulchini, Giacomo Boncompagni, but before he took holy orders, making him the last Pope to have left issue.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: At the age of 36 he was summoned to Rome by Pope Paul III (1534–1549), under whom he held successive appointments as first judge of the capital, abbreviator, and vice-chancellor of the Campagna e Marittima.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Pope Paul IV (1555–1559) attached him as "datarius" to the suite of Cardinal Carlo Carafa. Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) made him Cardinal-Priest of "San Sisto Vecchio" and sent him to the Council of Trent.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In the year 1552 Ugo Boncompagni confirmed the paternity of son Giacomo (or Jacopo). As stated in the online Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi: "One of the most valuable items to emerge from the new archival finds from the Villa Aurora is an autograph declaration in Latin and Italian dated 22 December 1552 by Ugo Boncompagni (1502-1585, from 1572 Pope Gregory XIII). Here Ugo confirms his paternity of Giacomo (or Jacopo) Boncompagni (1548-1612) by Maddalena de’ Fucchinis, a servant in the employ of his sister-in-law Laura Ferro. The future Pope explains in detail the circumstances of the boy’s conception, which took place in 1547 in Bologna, after the Council of Trent had moved to that city; his motive was to assure his inheritance rights following the death (in 1546) of his father Cristoforo Boncompagni.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: He also served as a legate to Philip II of Spain (1556–1598), being sent by the Pope to investigate the Cardinal of Toledo. He formed a lasting and close relationship with the Spanish King, which aided his foreign policy aims as Pope.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Upon the death of Pope Pius V (1566–1572), the conclave chose Cardinal Boncompagni, who assumed the name of Gregory XIII in homage to Gregory the Great, a 6th-century reforming pope. It was a very brief conclave, lasting less than 24 hours. Many historians have attributed this to the influence and backing of the Spanish king. Cardinal Borromeo and the cardinals wishing reform accepted Boncompagni's candidature and so supported him in the conclave while the Spanish faction also deemed him acceptable due to his success as a nuncio in Spain.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory XIII's character seemed to be perfect for the needs of the church at the time. Additionally, his legal brilliance and management abilities meant that he was able to respond and deal with major problems quickly and decisively, although not always successfully.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Once in the chair of Saint Peter, Gregory XIII dedicated himself to reform of the Catholic Church. He implemented the recommendations of the Council of Trent. He mandated that cardinals reside in their sees without exception, and designated a committee to update the Index of Forbidden Books. Gregory XIII was also the patron of a new and greatly improved edition of the "Corpus juris canonici". In a time of considerable centralisation of power, Gregory XIII abolished the Cardinals Consistories, replacing them with Colleges, and appointing specific tasks for these colleges to work on. He was renowned for fierce independence; some confidants noted that he neither welcomed interventions nor sought advice. The power of the papacy increased under him, whereas the influence and power of the cardinals substantially decreased.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory XIII also established the Discalced Carmelites, an offshoot of the Carmelite Order, as a distinct unit or "province" within the former by the decree "Pia consideratione" dated 22 June 1580, ending a period of great difficulty between them and enabling the former to become a significant religious order in the Catholic Church.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory XIII was a generous patron of the Jesuit colleges in Rome. The Roman College of the Jesuits grew substantially under his patronage, and became the most important centre of learning in Europe for a time. It is now named the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pope Gregory XIII also founded numerous seminaries for training priests, beginning with the German College at Rome, and put them in the charge of the Jesuits.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In 1575 he gave official status to the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of priests without vows, dedicated to prayer and preaching (founded by Saint Philip Neri). In 1580 he commissioned artists, including Ignazio Danti, to complete works to decorate the Vatican and commissioned The Gallery of Maps.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory also transformed the Dominican studium founded in the 13th century at Rome into the College of St. Thomas in 1580, as recommended by the Council of Trent. This college was the precursor of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum".


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Pope Gregory XIII is best known for commissioning the Gregorian calendar, initially authored by the doctor/astronomer Aloysius Lilius and aided by Jesuit priest/astronomer Christopher Clavius, who made the final modifications. This calendar is more accurate than the Julian calendar, which treats each year as 365 days and 6 hours in length, even though the actual length of a year is slightly less (365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes). As a result, the date of the vernal equinox had slowly, over the course of 13 centuries, slipped to 10 March, while the computus (calculation) of the date of Easter still followed the traditional date of 21 March. Clavius verified this phenomenon.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory subsequently decreed, by the papal bull "Inter gravissimas" of 24 February 1582, that the day after Thursday, 4 October 1582 would be the fifteenth, not the fifth, of October. The new calendar replaced the Julian calendar, which had been used since 45 BCE. Because of Gregory's involvement, the new calendar came to be known as the Gregorian calendar, and has been almost universally adopted.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Much of the populace bitterly opposed this reform; they feared it was an attempt by landlords to cheat them out of a week and a half's rent. However, the Catholic countries of Spain, Portugal, Poland-Lithuania, and the Italian states complied. France, some states of the Dutch Republic and various Catholic states in Germany and Switzerland (both countries were religiously split) followed suit within a year or two. Austria and Hungary followed in 1587.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: However, more than a century passed before Protestant Europe accepted the new calendar. Denmark-Norway, the remaining states of the Dutch Republic, and the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland adopted the Gregorian reform in 1700–01. By that time, the calendar trailed the seasons by 11 days. Great Britain and its American colonies adopted the reformed calendar in 1752, where Wednesday 2 September 1752 was immediately followed by Thursday 14 September 1752; they were joined by the last Protestant holdout, Sweden, on 1 March 1753.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: The Gregorian calendar was not accepted in eastern Christendom for several hundred years, and then only as the civil calendar.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Though he feared invasion of Europe by the Turks, Gregory XIII's attentions were more consistently directed to the dangers from the Protestants. He encouraged the plans of Philip II to dethrone Elizabeth I of England (reigned from 1558 to 1603), resulting in English Protestants suspecting Catholics as potential traitors and subversives.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In 1578, to further the plans of exiled English and Irish Catholics such as Nicholas Sanders, William Allen, and James Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, Gregory outfitted adventurer Thomas Stukeley with a ship and an army of 800 men to land in Ireland to aid the Catholics against the Protestant plantations. To his dismay, Stukeley joined his forces with those of King Sebastian of Portugal against Emperor Abdul Malik of Morocco instead.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Another papal expedition sailed to Ireland in 1579 with a mere 50 soldiers under the command of Fitzmaurice, accompanied by Sanders as papal legate. They took part in the Second Desmond Rebellion. All of the soldiers and sailors on board, as well as the women and children who accompanied them, were beheaded or hanged on landing in Kerry, in the Smerwick Massacre.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In 1580, he was persuaded by English Jesuits to moderate or suspend the Bull "Regnans in Excelsis" (1570) which had excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England. Catholics were advised to obey the queen outwardly in all civil matters, until such time as a suitable opportunity presented itself for her overthrow.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: After the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres of Huguenots in France in 1572, Pope Gregory signaled his approval and celebrated a "Te Deum" mass. Three frescoes in the Sala Regia hall of the Vatican depicting the events were commissioned and painted by Giorgio Vasari. A commemorative medal was issued with Gregory's portrait and on the obverse a chastising angel, sword in hand and the legend ("Overthrow of the Huguenots").


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: Gregory XIII was visited by the Tenshō embassy of Japan, becoming the first Pope to have received such an embassy.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In Rome Gregory XIII built the Gregorian chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter, and extended the Quirinal Palace in 1580. He also turned the Baths of Diocletian into a granary in 1575.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: He appointed his illegitimate son Giacomo, born to his mistress at Bologna before his papacy, castellan of Sant'Angelo and Gonfalonier of the Church; Venice, anxious to please the Pope, enrolled his son among its nobles, and Philip II of Spain appointed him general in his army. Gregory also helped his son to become a powerful feudatary through the acquisition of the Duchy of Sora, on the border between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: In order to raise funds for his endeavors, Gregory confiscated a large proportion of the houses and properties throughout the states of the Church. This measure enriched his treasury for a time, but alienated a great body of the nobility and gentry, revived old factions, and created new ones, and caused economic and social chaos in the Papal States.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: The pope canonized four saints during his pontificate and in 1584 beatified his predecessor Pope Gregory VII.


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: During his pontificate, the pope created 34 cardinals in eight consistories; this included naming his nephew Filippo Boncompagni to the cardinalate in the pope's first consistory in 1572. Gregory XIII also named four of his successors as cardinals all in 1583: Giovanni Battista Castagna (Urban VII), Niccolò Sfondrati (Gregory XIV), Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti (Innocent IX), and Alessandro de' Medici (Leo XI).


title: Pope Gregory XIII

text: The pope suffered from a fever on 5 April 1585 and on 7 April said his usual private Mass, still in ill health. He seemed to recover enough that he was able to conduct meetings throughout 8 and 9 April, although it was observed he did not feel well. But a sudden change on 10 April saw him confined in his bed and it was observed that he had cold sweat and a weak pulse; he received the Extreme Unction moments before he died.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Cannonball Run II is a 1984 action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest. Like the original "Cannonball Run", it is set around an illegal cross-country race.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: This was the last of the "formula" comedies for Reynolds. It also marked the final feature film appearances of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Their appearances, coupled with those of Sammy Davis Jr. and Shirley MacLaine, marked the final on-screen appearance of the Rat Pack team. The film also marked the final film appearance of Jim Nabors before his death in November 2017. The film also featured Jackie Chan in his third Hollywood role.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Having lost the first Cannonball Run race, Sheik Abdul ben Falafel is ordered by his father, the King, to go back to America and win another Cannonball Run in order to "emblazon the Falafel name as the fastest in the world". When Sheik Abdul points out that there is no Cannonball Run that year, his father simply tells him to "buy one".


title: Cannonball Run II

text: To make sure his "Royal Ulcer" does not prevent him from winning, the Sheik hires Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing, who teamed with J.J. McClure and Victor Prinzi in the first race as his in-car physician. Most of the participants from the first race are lured back, including J.J. and Victor, who have taken jobs working with a flying stunt crew.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: In a subplot, Blake and Fenderbaum are in financial trouble with Don Don Canneloni, who in turn is in similar financial trouble with mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan. After the Sheik manages to bail out Blake and Fenderbaum by handing one of Don Don's thugs a stack of cash, Don Don hatches a plot to kidnap the Sheik in an attempt to extort money from him.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: The race begins with J.J. and Victor dressed as a US Army general and his driver, a private. They catch the attention of Betty and Veronica, who are dressed as nuns for a musical, but remain in character and hitch a ride with J.J. and Victor when they think the guys could become overnight millionaires. They do not lose their habits until later.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Other racers include Mitsubishi engineer Jackie Chan, teamed with a giant behind the wheel in a car—a Mitsubishi Starion—able to go under water. In a red Lamborghini (white at first) with "two great-looking chicks in it" (as the cops chasing them continually say) is the duo of Jill Rivers and Marcie Thatcher. Another team in a Cadillac Fleetwood is accompanied by an orangutan, who appears to be the vehicle's chauffeur. They are pulled over at one point by two California Highway Patrol officers.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: J.J. and Victor stop along the way to help a stranded soldier, Homer Lyle. They also get much better acquainted with their passengers, Betty and Veronica, who change into something a little more comfortable.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: After Don Don's gang capture the Sheik, the racers band together to invade Don Don's "Pinto Ranch". J.J., Victor, and Fenderbaum infiltrate it in drag, dressed as belly dancers. Others barrel in by car and rescue the Sheik, who is reluctant to leave, since he has his pick of women there. The three "dancers" and Blake go to their Leader to seek help, only to have him jump into the race himself.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: In the end, the Sheik bankrolls Don Don's Ranch and then declares that he is upping the stakes to $2 million for the winner. All jump into their automobiles and make a dash for the finish line, avoiding traffic patrollers on the way.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: The Sheik, as it turns out, loses yet again, this time blaming the doctor who rode with him for injecting him with an unknown substance. He convinces his father that he will win the return-trip race, having hired the winner of this one. It turns out to be the orangutan with a penchant for destructive behavior and giving elderly ladies the middle finger.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Jaclyn Smith was originally meant to be the female lead but dropped out. Needham said that Smith was worried about his improvisational style: "I think she was scared to death to be up there against Burt and Dom. I don't want someone on the set that's gonna be that scared. So we went somewhere else". She was replaced by Shirley Maclaine.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Frank Sinatra agreed to do a cameo at the suggestion of Davis and Martin. Needham wrote three versions of the script for him: one where he would work a week, two days, or a day. He picked the latter. He was paid $30,000 which he donated to charity. It was the first film he had made in three years and the first time he had reunited with Rat Pack members professionally or personally in three years. Needham says he turned up half an hour early and did his scene with minimal fuss.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: Part of the film was shot near Tucson, Arizona. To show the momentum of the race, the producers commissioned Ralph Bakshi to animate a cartoon sequence for the finale.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: In North America, after the tenth-highest 1984 opening weekend of , "Cannonball Run II" slowed down, becoming the 32nd-most popular 1984 film at the American and Canada box office with a total lifetime gross of , less than half that of the first" Cannonball Run". According to one review of the film, "Cannonball Run II" still turned a healthy profit, and the reviewer attributed the film's financial success to preselling.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: The film enjoyed more success overseas. In Japan, it was the second-highest-grossing foreign film of 1984 (along with Jackie Chan's "Project A" at number three), grossing . In Germany (where it was the year's seventh highest-grossing film) and France, the film drew 3,748,167 box-office admissions. The film had a total worldwide gross of .


title: Cannonball Run II

text: "Cannonball Run II" was met with harsher reviews than was its predecessor, with a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 16 critics. Roger Ebert awarded the film one half star out of four, calling it "one of the laziest insults to the intelligence of moviegoers that I can remember. Sheer arrogance made this picture." Ebert's "At the Movies" cohost Gene Siskel was even harsher, awarding it zero stars out of four, referring to it as "worthless" and referring to it as "a total ripoff, a deceptive film that gives movies a bad name" in his "At the Movies" review. Siskel named it his least-favorite film that he had seen during his time doing "At the Movies" with Ebert. Both critics expressed bewilderment by Burt Reynolds' career choices, declaring that he was wasting his considerable talent and noting that Reynolds' huge fan base did not like the film (nor the recent "Stroker Ace") and would stop going to see his movies if he continued to make such terrible films.


title: Cannonball Run II

text: The film received eight Golden Raspberry Award nominations at the 1984 Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Actress.


title: Ramona Singer

text: Ramona Singer (née Mazur; born November 18, 1956) is an American television personality, businesswoman, and author. She is best known as a main cast member on the reality television series "The Real Housewives of New York City", in which she has starred in the first 13 seasons from 2008 to 2021.


title: Ramona Singer

text: Singer studied marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she was the first female graduate of the four-year honor program. After graduating college, Singer took part in a traineeship program at Macy's and later became a buyer for the department store chain. She also worked in sales management for the fashion companies Calvin Klein and French Connection. In 1986, Singer started her own wholesale clothing business "RMS Fashions, Inc." Together with her former husband Mario Singer, she founded a jewelry company named "True Faith Jewelry" in 2005.


title: Ramona Singer

text: Singer joined as a cast member on the first season of Bravo's television show "The Real Housewives of New York City." As of 2021, she continues to be one of the series' main cast members after 13 seasons. Also as of 2021, the series is on hiatus.


title: Ramona Singer

text: Between 2009 and 2010, Singer sold two jewelry collections on the HSN. In 2010, she also launched the skincare line "Tru Renewal", which she relaunched as "Ageless by Ramona" in 2018. In 2011, Singer brought a pinot grigio brand on the market ("Ramona Pinot Grigio").


title: Ramona Singer

text: Singer's memoir "Life on the Ramona Coaster" was published in 2015 by Post Hill Press. The title of her book was a quote from past RHONY cast-mate, Bethenny Frankel.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The Outsiders are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As their name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who do not fit the norms of the "mainstream" superhero community, i.e. the Justice League.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The Outsiders have had a number of different incarnations. They were founded by Batman, whose ties to the League had become strained at the time, and introduced the now-classic line-up of Batman, Black Lightning, Metamorpho, Geo-Force, Katana, Halo and Looker. A later incarnation of the Outsiders from the early 2000s comics was led by Nightwing and Arsenal following the dissolution of the Teen Titans superhero group, and depicted the team as a pro-active group hunting for supercriminals. For the team's third incarnation, Batman reforms the team as a special strike team featuring classic members Katana and Metamorpho alongside new recruits such as Catwoman and Black Lightning's daughter Thunder. After the "Batman R.I.P." storyline, Alfred Pennyworth acts on Batman's instructions to reassemble the team once more, recruiting new members and more of the team's original lineup.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Another version of the team with a familiar line-up briefly featured in "Batman Incorporated" in 2011 as the black ops section of Batman's organization. Following DC's 2011 reboot, a new version of the Outsiders is introduced in the pages of "Green Arrow" as a secret society represented by seven weapon-themed clans. Members in this incarnation include Katana, Onyx, and several new characters. The original Outsiders are returned to continuity in 2017, following "DC Rebirth", once again as a secret team founded by Batman; Batman revives the team with a new line-up in 2018. Black Lightning leads another incarnation in 2022.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: A version of the team appears in the live action series "Black Lightning", fully formed starting in the third season led by Black Lightning.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The Outsiders first appeared in a special insert in the final issue (#200) of "The Brave and the Bold" in 1983. The team was given its own comic, "Batman and the Outsiders", which debuted in August 1983. It was created and originally written by Mike W. Barr and illustrated by Jim Aparo (later illustrated by Alan Davis).


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: After Batman left the group in issue #32, the title was changed to "The Adventures of the Outsiders", continuing until its cancellation with issue #46. Issue #38 featured the last original story in the series, as issues #39-46 were reprints of stories from the companion series "The Outsiders" (1985).


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The cast of the Outsiders was notable for having mostly new characters (Geo-Force, Katana, Halo and Looker). The other members were two characters who refused membership in the Justice League (Black Lightning and Metamorpho) and former Leaguer Batman.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The Outsiders formed in the fictional East European country of Markovia, which was ravaged by war at the time. Batman had attempted to enlist the Justice League of America's aid, but was told they had been ordered to stay out of the conflict. Because he disagreed with the order, Batman resigned to strike out on his own. He and Black Lightning traveled to Markovia to free captive Lucius Fox from Baron Bedlam (who killed the country's ruler, King Viktor). One of the king's sons became Geo-Force after gaining powers from Markovia's top scientist (Dr. Helga Jace) to stop Bedlam. Metamorpho was searching for Dr. Jace for the doctor to help him with his powers. Katana arrived in Markovia to kill General Karnz (Bedlam's military commander) as vengeance for her family's death. Batman found a young, amnesiac girl in the woods exhibiting light-based powers whom he names Halo who was an Aurakle that possessed the body of Violet Harper after she was killed by Syonide. These heroes banded together to defeat Baron Bedlam and decided to stay together as a team, later fighting such villains as Agent Orange, the Fearsome Five and the Cryonic Man.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Recurring foes include the Masters of Disaster (New Wave, Shakedown, Windfall, Heatstroke, and Coldsnap), who at one point were almost able to kill Black Lightning. Windfall eventually became disenchanted with her team and joined the Outsiders. Another recurring opponent was the Force of July, a group of patriotic metahumans who also regularly came into contact with the Suicide Squad. During this time, Geo-Force's half-sister Terra died as a traitor against the Teen Titans. Batman revealed his real identity as Bruce Wayne to the team (although they already knew it). Eventually, Halo's origins were revealed. Emily Briggs (who later became the superheroine Looker and joined the team) was introduced. Denise Howard (the love interest of Geo-Force) appeared for the second time.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Baron Bedlam later returned to life. With the assistance of the Bad Samaritan, the Masters of Disaster and Soviet forces, he again tried to seize control of Markovia. Batman withheld this information, angering the rest of the team. This eventually led to Batman disbanding the team and returning to the Justice League of America. Nevertheless, the team traveled to Markovia, discovering many Markovian military casualties. They were defeated by the Masters and learn that Bedlam cloned Adolf Hitler; however, the Hitler clone committed suicide in horror of the atrocities perpetrated by the original. The Outsiders became unofficial agents of Markovia to receive Markovian funding. They moved to Los Angeles; Geo-Force left his girlfriend Denise behind and Looker separated from her husband.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: This series again featured the original group, and was printed in the Baxter paper format used on such titles as "The New Teen Titans" (vol. 2) and the "Legion of Super-Heroes" (vol. 3). It lasted for 28 issues, in addition to "Annual"s and special issues. The series originally ran alongside the title "The Adventures of the Outsiders", chronicling events a year after that series. In the end, the first few issues of this series were reprinted in "The Adventures of the Outsiders" before that title was cancelled.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The team moves into a new headquarters in Los Angeles and once again becomes involved in an adventure with the Force of July (ending in Moscow). Villains such as the Duke of Oil and the Soviet super-team the People's Heroes are introduced during this time. The team's adventures take them all over the globe, most notably when the Outsiders' plane is shot down and the team is marooned on a deserted island for three weeks. Tensions rise as Geo-Force tries to resign his leadership and he and Looker succumb to temptation. Eventually, the team is rescued.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: More trouble arises when a detective is hired to look into Looker (now working as a model known as Lia Briggs) and her private life, and learns of her actual identity as Emily. The detective tries to blackmail her, but she hypnotizes him and forces him to leave. However, he is killed shortly afterward and Looker is arrested as a suspect. The Outsiders, fortunately, clear her name.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The Outsiders are reunited with Batman when they band together to fight Eclipso. After the adventure, Batman gives them access to a batcave in Los Angeles. The team is also infiltrated by a clone of Windfall. Meanwhile, Looker and Geo-Force feel guilty about their affair and eventually end it. Metamorpho faces his own personal problems with his wife, Sapphire Stagg-Mason. The clone of Windfall is ultimately killed; the Masters of Disaster are defeated, as the real Windfall joins the Outsiders. The team also meets the other Los Angeles-based team, Infinity, Inc.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The team is next involved with the crossover event "Millennium", wherein it is revealed that Dr. Jace is an operative of the villainous Manhunters and kidnaps the team. The team (now joined by the Atomic Knight) free themselves, but Dr. Jace blows up herself and Metamorpho. Looker is called to return to Abyssia (the origin of her powers), where she must also face the Manhunters. During the adventure, she is drained of much of her power and returns to her normal form. Halo is hit in the crossfire when saving Katana's life, and slips into a coma as Katana vows to look after her. The team is disbanded by Geo-Force as Looker returns to her husband, and Batman rejoins the Justice League.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: This revival of the title in 1993 lasted 25 issues and was written by Mike W. Barr, with most issues penciled by Paul Pelletier.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Declared a traitor in his native Markovia, Geo-Force is forced to seek the help of old (and new) Outsiders to battle the vampire-lord who controls his country. This is later coupled with the framing of the Outsiders for the slaughter of a Markovian village, forcing them into hiding. This fugitive status motivates the Atomic Knight to go after them, hoping to bring in his former allies without too much trouble. He is eventually convinced of their innocence and joins them.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The new members who join the team in Markovia are the magician Sebastian Faust, the warsuit-wearing engineer and industrialist the Technocrat and Wylde (Charlie Wylde), a friend of the Technocrat who has been turned into a mountain bear by Faust's uncontrollable magic.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: During the initial confrontation with the vampires, Looker is (apparently) killed. Hiding out in Gotham City, the Outsiders experience another loss as the Technocrat's wife Marissa and Halo are killed during a fight with Batman (actually the man standing in for Bruce Wayne, Jean-Paul Valley). However, Halo's spirit survives in the reanimated body of Marissa. For some time afterward, the Technocrat has trouble accepting that his wife (whose body is still walking around) is dead. Eventually it is discovered that Looker is not dead, but undead. The Outsiders find her, and free her from the vampire's control.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: After the defeat of the vampires, two teams (one composed of Geo-Force, Katana, and the Technocrat; the other composed of the Eradicator, Looker, Wylde, Halo and Sebastian Faust) claim the name of the Outsiders; both teams are considered fugitives for some time, thanks to questionable tactics by their new members. During this time, the teams learn that Halo's (original) body has been brought back to life by the terrorist organization Kobra. In control of her body is Violet Harper, the evil woman whose body Halo originally inhabited. She now has abilities similar to Halo's, calls herself Spectra and joins Strike Force Kobra with Dervish and Windfall. Both Kobra and Violet Harper are defeated, and Windfall rejoins the Outsiders.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The two teams unite to confront Felix Faust, the father of Outsiders member Sebastian Faust. During the confrontation, the bear-like Wylde betrays the team when Felix promises to restore his humanity. The team defeats Felix Faust and Wylde, who eventually becomes an actual bear (without the ability to speak) and is kept in a zoo. The title ends with the clearing of the Outsiders' names and the marriage of Geo-Force and Denise Howard.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the interim, the Halo entity is restored to Violet Harper's body, returning her to normal off-panel and a new team of Outsiders is formed and seen as active during the "Day of Judgement" crossover event. Members of this new team include Geo-Force, Halo, Katana, and Terra II, who in the 1999 "Titans Secret Files" series, left the team after a round of genetic tests performed by scientists failed to decipher Terra II's genetically altered DNA in order to tell who she was prior to being turned into a genetic doppelgänger of the original Terra.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: "Outsiders" (vol. 3) is almost completely unrelated to the previous series. It was launched in 2003 with new members, some of whom had been part of the Titans. The series was cancelled with issue #50 and relaunched as "Batman and the Outsiders" (vol. 2), featuring a mix of current and new members.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The new team is put together in the wake of the "" crossover, which dissolves both groups. Arsenal accepts a sponsorship offer from the Optitron Corporation and uses the money to buy an enormous bomb shelter which had belonged to a multimillionaire, renovating it as group headquarters. He recruits a group of young heroes, the last of whom is his friend Nightwing (who joins reluctantly). Nightwing decides that, instead of functioning in a reactive capacity like most other superhero teams, this group should act as hunters, tracking down supervillains before they can cause problems.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Former Outsiders the Technocrat and Looker are near the Breach when he explodes in the Battle of Metropolis. The fate of the Technocrat remains unclear, while Looker soon appears in an issue of the "World War III" limited series. Roy Harper is saved by Superman from Doomsday, and Captain Marvel Jr. was sent to Earth-S when it was reformed. When New Earth came into existence, he went with other heroes who could fly to fight Superboy-Prime. In the "Infinite Crisis" hardcover, Freddy joined alongside the other Titans to take down the members of the Secret Society of Super Villains who tried to kill Robin.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: After "Infinite Crisis", the Outsiders are "officially" no more. Because of the Freedom of Power Treaty, the Outsiders have been operating covertly outside of the United States. Most of the members were presumed dead until a botched mission forced them to reveal their presence. Following the revelation of their existence, they are recruited by Checkmate to pursue missions which Checkmate cannot support publicly. Checkmate's assignment as part of the "CheckOut" crossover story arc involves dispatching the Outsiders to Oolong Island in China, the scene of World War III the previous year. The mission goes disastrously wrong when Chang Tzu captures Owen Mercer and Checkmate's Black Queen, until both sides are bailed out by Batman. In the aftermath, Nightwing decides to give Batman control of the team once more.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In November 2007, writer Chuck Dixon and artist Julian Lopez relaunched "Outsiders" (vol. 3) as "Batman and the Outsiders" (vol. 2), with the Dark Knight taking control of the team in the aftermath of the "CheckOut" crossover with Checkmate.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the weeks leading up to the new series' debut, Batman holds tryouts to determine who will be on the team in a series of one-shots called "Five of a Kind". Each issue featured a different creative team (including Outsiders creator Mike W. Barr) and an epilogue written by Tony Bedard.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Batman angers several members, who feel he has no right to remove people already on the team. Captain Boomerang leaves the team for Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, and Nightwing decides to take no part in the Outsiders' questionable activities. Katana is chosen as the team's first official member, joined later by the Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho and Grace. Thunder is kicked off the team; the second Aquaman is rejected because Batman feels he does not match up to his predecessor, Orin. Batman then tells the other members: "Whether you like it or not, you're here to save the world. And you're going to be "hated" for it". After the team's first official mission (in "Outsiders" #50), Catwoman overheard the other recruits talking about the team being "down by law" and said: "Batman can't possibly start up his own crew of super-crooks without "me" in it!"


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The team from "Outsiders" #50 was featured in the first two issues of "Batman and the Outsiders" (vol. 2). Afterward, Catwoman and the Martian Manhunter left the team and Batgirl, Geo-Force and the Green Arrow joined; Thunder consistently appeared in the series as well. In issue #5, Ralph "the Elongated Man" and Sue Dibny make a guest appearance. They are now "ghost detectives", and seem able to possess people in a method similar to that of Deadman. Dr. Francine Langstrom (wife of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a.k.a. the Man-Bat) serves as the team's technical advisor, and her assistant Salah Miandad operates the "blank" OMAC drone known as ReMAC. In issue #9, Batman calls on former team member Looker to assist in an interrogation.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The first main storyline of the title involves Batman sending the team to investigate the mysterious Mr. Jardine, who is organizing a convoluted plot to populate a subterranean lake on the Moon with alien lifeforms. While trying to stop Jardine's unauthorized space-shot in South America, Metamorpho is blasted into space and is forced to escape from the International Space Station (where seemingly-brainwashed astronauts from around the world are building a giant weapon). Seeking a shuttle to hijack, the rest of the team infiltrates a Chinese space facility (only to be captured by members of the Great Ten). The timely intervention of Batgirl and ReMAC saves the team from execution. Metamorpho steals a shuttle back to Earth, escapes from the European Space Agency and rejoins the team.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: During the "Batman R.I.P." events, an assembly of the Outsiders (including Thunder) receives a message from the missing Batman. It asks them to feed a secret code into the cybernetic mind of ReMAC, allowing it to track the Caped Crusader and the Black Glove organization and help him in his fight. As they comply (against Batgirl's advice), the code reveals itself as a cybernetic booby-trap coming from Simon Hurt (the mastermind behind Batman's downfall) and ReMAC explodes. Several Outsiders are wounded, and Thunder suffers brain injuries severe enough to knock her into a seemingly-irreversible coma. However, her in-costume appearance in the "Final Crisis: Submit" story contradicts this; the events of that "Final Crisis" storyline occur after the events in "Batman R.I.P.", suggesting a continuity error. When Black Lightning rejoins the team after the events of "Batman R.I.P." and "Final Crisis", he is shown visiting Thunder (who is still hospitalized in a coma).


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: As a result of "Batman R.I.P." and "Final Crisis" (where Batman apparently died), the series was renamed "Outsiders" (vol. 4) and featured a new team roster. The change occurred when a new creative team took over, with Peter Tomasi writing and Lee Garbett on art duty. Tomasi began with "Batman and the Outsiders Special" (vol. 2) #1 and the retitled series began with issue #15.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: One night, after going to visit the graves of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Alfred awakens in Wayne Manor to a giant door opening in his room. He walks through it, where he sees a pod with a chair inside. He takes a seat, as a hologram of Batman activates. Batman explains that, because he has not entered a special code into the Bat-Computer (or any of its subsidiaries) for a certain length of time, this recording is playing (meaning he is probably dead). He tells Alfred of a very important mission the latter must undertake on his behalf (since Batman is unable to do so), but gives him a choice to accept or decline. Alfred promptly accepts; Batman explains what Alfred has meant to him throughout his life, saying to him what he did not have a chance to say at his death: "Goodbye, Dad."


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: With this, Batman charges Alfred to assemble a new team of Outsiders. Alfred travels around the planet, recruiting Roy Raymond Jr., Black Lightning, Geo-Force (leader), Halo, Katana, the Creeper and Metamorpho. As a member of the team, each must become a true "outsider," living away from their families and the public eye for months at a time. Each member fills a role once filled by Batman, making this team a composite. This story arc ended with issue #25, and the series ended after 40 issues.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Dan DiDio and Phillip Tan began a new run of "Outsiders" in January 2010, in which Geo-Force appears to be acting more irrationally since his battle with Deathstroke. Without consulting the rest of the team (or Alfred), Geo-Force enters into a non-aggression pact with New Krypton (offering Markovia as a haven for all Kryptonians). The Eradicator is New Krypton's representative.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the 2011 "Batman Inc." series by Grant Morrison, Batman assembles a new team of Outsiders which acts as a black-ops wing of Batman Incorporated. The team consists of Metamorpho, Katana, Looker, Halo and Freight Train, and is led by the Red Robin. This incarnation of the team proved short-lived, as all of its members (except the Red Robin) were caught in an explosion caused by Lord Death Man in the 2011 "Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes" one-shot issue. The survivors were revealed in issue #1 of (vol. two) (2012). Metamorpho had kept everyone alive via his powers.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Beginning with Jeff Lemire's run of "Green Arrow" (vol. 5) in DC's "The New 52" continuity, a new version of the 'Outsiders' was introduced. This is explained as being an ancient secret society dedicated to the elimination of corruption, but which itself has grown corrupt. Its membership is formed from the leaders of various clans centred around totemic weapons: the Mask, the Fist, the Arrow, the Axe, the Spear, the Shield, the Sword. A literal Green Arrow was the totemic weapon of the 'Arrow Clan', but this was destroyed by the Green Arrow as part of his symbolic rejection of the group. The Soultaker sword owned by Katana is the Sword Totem, making her the leader of the Sword Clan. The weapon totems supposedly grant immortality and enlightenment on the wielder, but the Green Arrow doubts such claims.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The leader of the Arrow Clan was once Robert Queen, the Green Arrow's father. With his apparent death, it passed to Komodo (Simon Lacroix), an evil archer. It would later be passed to Shado, Robert Queen's former lover and another master archer. Katana heads the Sword Clan. An unkillable shapeshifter named Magus heads the Mask Clan. A physically intimidating man known as the Butcher leads the Axe Clan. Golgotha, leader of the Spear Clan, for a time led the Outsiders overall. Onyx leads the Fist Clan. The Shield Clan is led by Kodiak, who in addition to his mastery of the shield, wears a terrifying skull mask.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The original Outsiders are reintroduced in "Dark Days: The Forge" #1 (2017), a prelude to DC's "" crossover, in an expository scene which explains that Batman formed the Outsiders (Black Lightning, Metamorpho, Geo-Force, Katana, and Halo) to investigate a mystery concerning the DC Universe which connects the strangeness of the Multiverse to the amazing properties of metals—like Nth metal, the Court of Owls' resurrection metal, Aquaman's trident, and Doctor Fate's helmet— to metahumans and to mystical lands like Nanda Parbat, Skartaris, Atlantis, and Themiscyra, and much more. He assembled the team to operate outside the knowledge of the government, the Justice League, or the Batman family.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Geo-Force took advantage of the metahuman arms race in light of "the Superman Theory" and assembled Markovia's version of the Outsiders. The group consists of Baroness Bedlam, the Eradicator, Knightfall, Terra, and Wylde.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: The "Detective Comics" story arc "On the Outside" (July 2018) had Batman and Black Lightning come together to defeat a villain known as Karma. In the aftermath of the battle, Batman told Black Lightning that he wanted him to lead a new team of Outsiders consisting of himself, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, and Katana, who had fought as their allies in the fight against Karma. An ongoing comic book featuring this team, titled "Batman and the Outsiders" (vol. 3), was set to release in December 2018. The series was abruptly cancelled before finally releasing in May the following year.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: Later, Black Lightning assembles a new "modular" iteration of the team with himself, Duke, Katana, and Metamorpho, plus a "rotating fifth chair" for other superheroes like Robin, Green Arrow, or Mister Miracle. In the set-up to the new series in "", Batman formally asks to join the team as the fifth chair to help Duke track down the location of his mother."


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the "" miniseries, the Outsiders were formed by Black Canary to help Oliver Queen have his own team to focus on after becoming paralyzed and losing an arm after a disastrous battle with Amazo, but who quickly dismissed them feeling like a "sidekick." The team consists of Black Canary, Black Lightning, Geo-Force, Katana, Metamorpho, and Shade, the Changing Man.


title: Outsiders (comics)

text: In the "" series of graphic novels, the Outsiders appear in volume 3 as an alliance of Gotham crimefighters brought together by Batman. The team consists of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, the Cat, Killer Croc, and Ragman, with Alfred Pennyworth and Lucas Fox supporting them in a subway version of the Batcave.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The Jaguar XJ (X308) is a full-size luxury saloon manufactured and marketed by Jaguar Cars for years 1997—2003 across two generations and featuring Jaguar's "AJ-V8" and Jaguar's independent rear suspension. It was the third and final evolution of the XJ40 platform which had been in production since 1986.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The X308 kept much of the same exterior styling as its predecessor, carrying its rounded four-headlamp bonnet, low roofline, sloping tail, and wrap-around rear light clusters. From the front, the two generations can be differentiated by the shape of the indicator lenses (rectangular on the X300, oval on the X308), and also by the shape of the fog lamps and lower valance air intake (both of which are more rounded on the X308). The front and rear bumpers were both changed along with the taillights which had red/clear lenses rather than red/grey lenses. The grill surround and badging was slightly changed. The headlight fixtures also included forward parking lights housed with the brights, new to X308.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The biggest change to the interior on the X308 was to the dashboard, which had remained essentially the same since the original XJ40 with only detail changes over the years. The rectangular instrument binnacle gave way to three deeply recessed dials similar in style to the recently introduced Jaguar XK8. The new fascia also allowed for the restoration of a proper glove compartment, which had been lost when the original XJ40 dash had been retrofitted with a passenger side airbag. Door trim and the design of the center console were also slightly revised.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Having discontinued production of both the AJ16 inline-six and V12 engines, Jaguar offered only its newly designed V8 engine (named the "AJ-V8".) It was available in either 3.2 L or 4.0 L form, although certain markets (such as the United States) only received cars powered by the 4.0 L version. The 4.0 L version was also supercharged in certain models.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: No manual gearbox or limited slip differential option were available for any models. Computer-controlled active suspension was available as a feature named "Computer Active Technology Suspension" (CATS).


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Instead of the Daimler marque being used in certain markets, the equivalent "Vanden Plas" models were sold under the Jaguar name.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The base XJ8 came standard with more equipment than had been fitted to entry-level XJs in the past, including leather upholstery, alloy wheels, and air conditioning. The door mirrors and door handles are body-coloured. The radiator grille, windscreen and rear window surrounds, boot lid plinth, and rain gutters were chromed, while the window frames remained matte black. Interior wood trim is walnut. Rear badging reads "XJ8".


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: For the home market in September 2000, Jaguar began badging the XJ8 model as "XJ Executive", and fitted as standard rain-sensing wipers, a CD player, cruise control, and rear parking sensors.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The Sport model was equipped only with the 3.2 L normally aspirated engine, except Australia and the US that had the 4.0 L normally aspirated V8. It offered stiffer suspension, sportier seating and interior colour combinations, and wider/larger wheels than the XJ8. The windscreen and rear window surrounds were painted matt black, as were the rain gutters and window frames for European markets (the US retains chrome surrounds). The radiator grille has metallic grey vertical slats. Rather than a chrome radiator grille surround, the Sport uses a body-coloured surround. Rear badging reads "XJ Sport".


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The Sovereign represented the highest luxury specification for Jaguar models, sitting next to the XJR, which provides the ultimate performance. Sovereigns featured more elaborate/expensive wood veneer, commonly highly figured burr walnut; with window control/ashtray trim panels also done in wood veneer as opposed to plastic in other models. The Leather is also of a higher quality and often features contrasting piping, with seats being of the traditional fluted style. The suspension setup was biased towards touring and the wheels were normally 16" or 17" to provide high profile tyres for additional ride quality. Computer Active Technology System adaptive suspension was also offered as a rare option.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Externally a Sovereign can be distinguished by the complete use of highly polished steel/chrome work around windows and rear light clusters; as well as polished radiator grill and boot garnish. The cars are simply badged as "Sovereign" with no mention "XJ".


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Jaguar also released a long wheelbase version of the Sovereign in 1998. The difference being that the car is around 4 inches longer, with the rear doors being noticeably longer than the front; there is also correspondingly taller rear roof profile to provide additional headroom.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The XJR is powered by the supercharged version of the 4.0 L V8. It is also equipped with sport suspension, wider wheels and tyres, and matte-black exterior window trim (except in the US market, where the XJR was given chrome window frames and rain gutters.) Like the Sport model, the XJR has a body-coloured radiator grille surround, but with a stainless-steel mesh insert rather than the normal vanes. Other exterior touches include the "XJR" rear badging and larger exhaust outlets.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Available on late XJR models was an "R1" performance option. This included 18" BBS wheels, larger Brembo brakes with cross-drilled rotors, and re-tuned suspension.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The XJR was capable of reaching from a standstill in 5.6 seconds, with an electronically limited top speed of .


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: In 2001, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sir William Lyons' birth, Jaguar produced five hundred examples of a special-edition model named the "XJR 100". Only available in the Anthracite exterior colour with charcoal leather upholstery, the interior is trimmed with contrasting red stitching and birdseye maple. It is fitted with a leather-covered sports steering wheel and MOMO shift knob. The XJR 100 uses the Brembo brakes otherwise found on the R1-equipped XJR and 19-inch "Montreal"-style wheels manufactured by BBS.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Produced only in 2002, the SE (Special Equipment) model was fitted with more equipment than the original base model, and was offered at a competitive price. The rear badging read "SE", and the cars were fitted with reverse parking sensors as standard.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The top-of-the-range Daimler marque (sold as the Vanden Plas model in certain markets like the United States) features softer suspension and all available luxury features. They are cosmetically differentiated by the traditional Daimler fluted radiator grille surround and fluted boot-lid plinth.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: The Daimler and Vanden Plas cars were also available with the supercharged engine otherwise found only in the XJR. This model was named the Daimler Super V8. In the US market, this combination was available only as a special order though 2001 (with these cars identifiable by their "Vanden Plas Supercharged" rear badging). For US model years 2002 and 2003, the equivalent Super V8 model was then offered. These supercharged long-wheelbase variants were also fitted with Jaguar's proprietary "Computer Active Technology System" (CATS) adaptive suspension. The "Sports" setup from the XJR application, however, is replaced by a "touring" set-up, exclusive to supercharged Daimler and Vanden Plas variants. It is softer and more compliant than the XJR's Computer Adaptive Technology Suspension system.


title: Jaguar XJ (X308)

text: Motor Trend described the X308 as, "a masterful blend of British luxury and American muscle," continuing, "this car makes you feel elegant and gets sweeter by the mile," calling it a "musclecar in a tuxedo." Brian Cooley, an editor of "Roadshow" by CBS, called the X308 his "favorite modern car." In 2018, Motorious claimed the X308 provides the most luxurious ride of any car ever produced due to its status as the "last steel-bodied XJ and the first to feature a modern V8 drivetrain, the perfect concoction of classic and contemporary Jaguars," continuing that, "this is a car that fits anywhere it goes, be that the supermarket car park, a country hotel or even outside the Casino de Monte-Carlo." Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" remarked that the X308 is "faster, in the real world, than a Ferrari F355... fastest saloon I've ever seen," the epitome of luxury, beauty, and performance.