title: Royal African Company

text: In the 17th century the settlements on the west coast of Africa, though they had an important trade of their own in gold and ivory, existed chiefly for the supply of slaves to the West Indies and America. On the west coast the Europeans lived in fortified factories (trading posts) but had no sovereignty over the land or its natives. The coastal tribes acted as intermediaries between them and the slave-hunters of the interior. There was little incentive for European men to explore up the rivers, and few of them did so. The atmosphere might have been one of quiet routine had there not been acute rivalries between the European powers; especially the Dutch, who made use of native allies against their rivals. Before the Restoration the Dutch had been the main suppliers of slaves to the English West Indian plantations, but it was part of the policy of the English Navigation Acts to oust them from this lucrative trade.


title: Royal African Company

text: Originally known as the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa, by its charter issued in 1660 it was granted a monopoly over English trade along the west coast of Africa, with the principal objective being the search for gold. In 1663 a new charter was obtained which also mentioned the trade in slaves. This was the third English African Company, but it made a fresh start in the slave trade and there was only one factory of importance for it to take over from the East India Company, which had leased it as a calling-place on the sea-route round the Cape. This was Cormantin, a few miles east of the Dutch station of Cape Coast Castle, now in Ghana. The 1663 charter prohibits others to trade in "redwood, elephants' teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries". In 1663, as a prelude to the Dutch war, Captain Holmes's expedition captured or destroyed all the Dutch settlements on the coast, and in 1664 Fort James was founded on an island about twenty miles up the Gambia river, as a new centre for English trade and power. This, however, was only the beginning of a series of captures and recaptures. In the same year de Ruyter won back all the Dutch forts except Cape Coast Castle and also took Cormantin. In 1667 the Treaty of Breda confirmed Cape Coast Castle to the English.


title: Royal African Company

text: Forts served as staging and trading stations, and the company was responsible for seizing any English ships that attempted to operate in violation of its monopoly (known as interlopers). In the "prize court", the King received half of the proceeds and the Company half from the seizure of these interlopers.


title: Royal African Company

text: The Company fell heavily into debt in 1667, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. For several years after that, the Company maintained some desultory trade, including licensing single-trip private traders, but its biggest effort was the creation in 1668 of the Gambia Adventurers. This new company was separately subscribed and granted a ten-year licence for African trade north of the Bight of Benin with effect from 1 January 1669. At the end of 1678, the licence to the Gambia Adventurers expired and its Gambian trade was merged into the company.


title: Royal African Company

text: The African Company was ruined by its losses and surrendered its charter in 1672, to be followed by the still more ambitious Royal African Company of England. Its new charter was broader than the old one and included the right to set up forts and factories, maintain troops, and exercise martial law in West Africa, in pursuit of trade in gold, silver and African slaves. Until 1687 the company was very prosperous. It set up six forts on the Gold Coast, and another post at Ouidah, farther east on the Slave Coast, which became its principal centre for trade. Cape Coast Castle was strengthened and rose to be second in importance only to the Dutch factory at Elmina. Anglo-Dutch rivalry was, however, henceforward unimportant in the region and the Dutch were not strong enough to take aggressive measures here in the Third Anglo-Dutch War.


title: Royal African Company

text: In the 1680s the company was transporting about 5,000 enslaved people a year to markets primarily in the Caribbean across the Atlantic. Many were branded with the letters "DoY", for its Governor, the Duke of York, who succeeded his brother on the throne in 1685, becoming King James II. Other slaves were branded with the company's initials, RAC, on their chests. Historian William Pettigrew has stated that this company "shipped more enslaved African women, men and children to the Americas than any other single institution during the entire period of the transatlantic slave trade", and that investors in the company were fully aware of its activities and intended to profit from this exploitation.


title: Royal African Company

text: Between 1672 and 1731, the Royal African Company transported 187,697 enslaved people on company-owned ships (653 voyages) to English colonies in the Americas. Of those transported, 38,497 enslaved people died en route. The predecessor "Company of Royal Adventurers" (1662 - 1672) transported 26,925 enslaved people on company-owned ships (104 voyages), of whom 6,620 died during the passage.


title: Royal African Company

text: From 1694 to 1700, the company was a major participant in the Komenda Wars in the port city Komenda in the Eguafo Kingdom in modern-day Ghana. The Company allied with a merchant prince named John Cabess and various neighbouring African kingdoms to depose the king of Eguafo and establish a permanent fort and factory in Komenda. The English took two French forts and lost them again, after which the French destroyed Fort James. The place appears to have been soon regained and in the War of Spanish Succession to have been twice retaken by the French. In the treaty of Utrecht it remained English. The French wars caused considerable losses to the company.


title: Royal African Company

text: In 1689, the company acknowledged that it had lost its monopoly with the end of royal power in the Glorious Revolution, and it ceased issuing letters of marque. Edward Colston transferred a large segment of his original shareholding to William III at the beginning of 1689, securing the new regime's favour. To maintain the company and its infrastructure and end its monopoly, parliament passed the Trade with Africa Act 1697 (9 Will. 3 c. 26). Among other provisions, the Act opened the African trade to all English merchants who paid a ten per cent levy to the company on all goods exported from Africa.


title: Royal African Company

text: The company was unable to withstand competition on the terms imposed by the Act and in 1708 became insolvent, surviving until 1750 in a state of much reduced activity. In 1709 Charles Davenant published "Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa", in which he "reverted to his normal attitude of suspicion and outright hostility towards the Dutch." This pamphlet advocated renewing the Royal African Company's monopoly on slave trade on the basis that the Dutch competition "necessitated the maintenance of forts, which only a joint-stock company could afford."


title: Royal African Company

text: The company continued purchasing and transporting slaves until 1731, when it abandoned slaving in favour of ivory and gold dust.


title: Royal African Company

text: From 1668 to 1722, the Royal African Company provided gold to the English Mint. Coins made with such gold are designed with an elephant below the bust of the king and/or queen. This gold also gave the coinage its name, the guinea.


title: Royal African Company

text: At its incorporation, the constitution of the company specified a Governor, Sub Governor, Deputy Governor and 24 Assistants. The Assistants (also called Members of the Court of Assistants) can be considered equivalent to a modern-day board of directors.


title: Royal African Company

text: The Royal African Company was dissolved by the African Company Act 1750, with its assets being transferred to the African Company of Merchants. These principally consisted of nine trading posts on the Gold Coast known as factories: Fort Anomabo, Fort James, Fort Sekondi, Fort Winneba, Fort Apollonia, Fort Tantumquery, Fort Metal Cross, Fort Komenda and Cape Coast Castle, the last of which was the administrative centre.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Raise the Titanic is a 1980 adventure film produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment and directed by Jerry Jameson. The film, written by Eric Hughes (adaptation) and Adam Kennedy (screenplay), is based on the 1976 book of the same name by Clive Cussler. The storyline concerns a plan to recover the RMS "Titanic" due to the fact that it was carrying cargo valuable to Cold War hegemony.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: The film stars Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, and Sir Alec Guinness. It received mixed reviews by critics and audiences and proved to be a box-office bomb, grossing about $7 million against an estimated $40 million budget. Producer Lew Grade later remarked "it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: In the wilds of Northern Siberia, an American geologist/spy breaks into an old, snow-covered mine, where he discovers the frozen body of a US Army sergeant. Next to the corpse is a wooden marker dated 1912. Using his Geiger counter, the geologist/spy discovers that the mineral he seeks was there. He is then chased away by a Soviet soldier, who shoots him while in pursuit.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: US intelligence soon find out that the wooden shipping boxes containing the raw mineral were loaded onto the RMS "Titanic" in April 1912 by an American. A search is conducted in the North Atlantic to locate the sunken ocean liner. It is aided by one of the "Titanic" last survivors who explains he was also the last person to see the American alive. Just before the "Titanic" foundered, the sailor said he locked the man inside the ship's vault containing the boxes of mineral, his last words being, "Thank God for Southby!"


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Salvage experts begin the dangerous job of raising the "Titanic" from the seabed, during which one of the submersibles, "Starfish", experiences a cabin flood and implodes. Another submersible, the "Deep Quest", experiences a battery shortage, which causes its manipulator arm to become locked onto the "Titanic"s wreckage.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Eventually, the rusting "Titanic" is brought to the surface using multiple compressed air tanks and buoyancy aids. The passenger liner is then towed to a dry dock in New York, its original destination. It turns out no expense is being spared because the rare mineral will be used as the power source in a proposed weapons system that could take down any missile entering US airspace. In response, the USSR challenges the United States over the salvage of "Titanic" because they claim the mineral was taken illegally from the Soviet Union. On entering the watertight vault, the salvage team discover the mummified remains of the American, but no mineral. The boxes are just full of gravel. It soon becomes evident that a clue was left in the dead American's final words. He had arranged a fake burial in a graveyard in "Southby", England prior to sailing back to the United States on the ill-fated ocean liner. It is decided to leave the mineral buried in the grave because knowledge of its existence would destabilize the "status quo" that maintains the peace between the West and the Soviet Union.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: The novel was published in 1976. In August of that year producer Robert Shaftel reportedly had the film rights, but in the following month it was clarified that the film rights had not yet been offered.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Lew Grade said he read the novel by Clive Cussler and became interested, thinking there was potential for a series along the lines of the James Bond films. He discovered that Stanley Kramer was interested in directing, and Grade said he would buy the rights to the book and let Kramer direct and produce. Kramer was making "The Domino Principle" for Grade. In October 1976 Grade had the film rights for a reported $450,000.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: The book came out in late 1976 and was a best seller. In the summer of 1976 Kramer filmed footage from a Bicentennial Ball which he hoped to use in the movie.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: In January 1977 Kramer signed contracts to direct the film and produced by Marvin Starger. In March Grade said he had optioned the rights for two other Dirk Pitt novels, "Iceberg" and "The Sea Dweller".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: At the Cannes Film Festival in May 1977, Lew Grade revealed the film as part of a slate of projects which included "The Boys from Brazil", "The Golden Gate" (from a novel by Alistair MacLean directed by Jerry Jameson), and "$1.97" about the early years of Charles Bronson.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Pre-production began and models of the ship were built; Grade said that the models were at least two or three times larger than they should be. The model was based on blue prints of the actual Titanic and were built at CBS Studio Center in Studio City at a cost of $5–6 million.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Eventually in December 1977 Lew Grade said that Kramer had left the project due to creative differences. Kramer explained "the factors were casting and the number of miniatures we planned to use. You might say one of the possibilities as to why I left was that I felt things might have cost more. It's aways a little sad to see it happen this way. "Raise the Titanic" was a big challenge – all the excitement of special effects, underwater filming". Kramer said the producers wanted the movie made for $9 million but he felt it would cost $14 million. Kramer was paid off with a fee of $500,000.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: In May 1978, Jerry Jameson was picked up as a director, who had been attached to "The Golden Gate", which had not been made. Grade said the movie would be his most expensive yet, costing $20 million, but would not feature any major stars, as he commented that "the ship is the star. Anyway the money that would normally go to actors has been spent on our models. They're magnificent". The models cost $5 million. William Frye, who produced Jameson's "Airport 77", was hired to produce.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Production costs spiralled to as work was undertaken to find a ship that could be converted to look like the sunken "Titanic".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: It was felt that the real "Titanic", if raised from the bottom of the ocean, would come up rather gradually at a gentle angle, before levelling off on the surface. The tank in North Hollywood was too shallow and would launch the model like a rocket ship. It was decided to film in a bigger tank.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: In December 1978 construction began on a water tank in Malta to film the underwater scenes. Grade said that "Malta was the only place we could find an existing tank with the right location and the right surroundings".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: The screenplay also underwent numerous rewrites. The first writer to work on it was Adam Kennedy, who wrote the script for Stanley Kramer's film for Lew Grade, "The Domino Principle". He was followed by Eric Hughes, Millard Kaufman and Arnold Schulman. Kennedy was brought back to do further revisions on the script and he gets sole credit.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Novelist Larry McMurtry – who disliked Cussler's novel, considering it "less a novel than a manual on how to raise a very large boat from deep beneath the sea" – claims that he was one of approximately 17 writers who worked on the screenplay and the only one not to petition for a credit on the finished film.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Admiral David Cooney, Chief of Information for the Navy, demanded the script be rewritten so as the Russians did not come off smarter than the Americans.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Cussler was furious with the final result, because most of the original plot had been rejected leaving a hollow shell of his story; additionally he felt that the casting was wrong. Elements of the novel which did survive into the film were the discovery of the cornet that leads the search party to the wreck, and the eventual discovery of the mineral not in the "Titanic" cargo hold, but in the Southby graveyard, although in the novel's story it is exhumed and the Sicilian Project is tested.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Elliott Gould was offered a lead role, but turned it down: "I don't want to raise the Titanic. Let the Titanic stay where it is".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Jason Robards said he did the film for "money, m'dear, money... We're all incidental to the hardware and the special effects on this one".


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Filming started in October 1979 at CBS Studio Center. By this stage $15 million had already been spent on the tank and models.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: An old Greek ocean liner, "SS Athinai" (which was scrapped in 1989), was converted into a replica of the "Titanic". A scale model was used for close-up underwater scenes. At the time of filming there were conflicting views as to whether the "Titanic" had broken up as she foundered based on the original eyewitness testimony of the survivors, and – in line with the novel's assumption against the break-up narrative – the ship was portrayed as intact in the film. In 1985 the wreck of the real "Titanic" was located, confirming that she had broken up during the disaster, and lay in two pieces on the bottom of the North Atlantic in a state of advanced corrosion.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: A 10-tonne scale model was also built for the scene where the "Titanic" is raised to the surface. Costing $7 million, the model initially proved too large for any existing water tank. This problem led to one of the world's first horizon tanks being constructed at the Mediterranean Film Studios near Kalkara, Malta. The 10 million-gallon tank could create the illusion a ship was at sea. The "Titanic" model was raised more than 50 times until a satisfactory shot was acquired.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Following the completion of filming, the scale model was left to rust for 30 years at the side of the horizon tank (at ). In January 2003 a storm caused damage to the model. By 2012 the remains of the metal structure had been moved to a new location closer to the sea (at ).


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: The final scene involved Alec Guinness at St. Ives in Cornwall over two days. The day before the shoot St Ives had its worst storm in one hundred years, destroying the church where the scene was to be shot so it had to be relocated.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: John Barry created the film's musical score, which became the most acclaimed aspect of the production and is considered by many to be one of the very best of Barry's career – closely following the style of his soundtrack for the James Bond film "Moonraker" the preceding year, with militaristic passages reflecting the Cold War aspects of the plot to the dark, cold, brooding compositions reflected in the underwater scenes.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Though the original recordings of the music have been lost, Silva Screen Records, along with Nic Raine, one of Barry's orchestrators, commissioned a re-recording in 1999 of the complete score with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: In August 2014 Network On Air were to release "Raise The Titanic" on Blu-ray in the UK, with the only known available original Barry score. There are tapes from M&E which contain the score plus sound effects. There is no known source for the original, complete score.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Cussler was so disgusted with the film that he refused to give any permission for further film adaptations of his books. In 2006, Cussler sued the filmmakers of "Sahara", a film adaption of his 1992 book, for failing to consult him on the script when it also made huge financial losses.


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: Lew Grade later wrote that he "thought the movie was quite good", particularly the actual raising of the "Titanic" and the scene where Dirk Pitt walks into the wrecked ballroom. He blamed the failure of the film in part on the release of a TV movie on the topic, "S.O.S. Titanic" (released theatrically through EMI Films, of which Grade's brother, Lord Delfont, was then chairman). Grade was quoted years later as saying "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."


title: Raise the Titanic (film)

text: "Raise the Titanic", along with other contemporary flops, has been credited with prompting Grade's withdrawal from continued involvement with the film industry.


title: The Divine Fury

text: The Divine Fury () is a 2019 South Korean action horror film written and directed by Kim Joo-hwan. It stars Park Seo-joon, Ahn Sung-ki and Woo Do-hwan. The film was released on July 31, 2019.


title: The Divine Fury

text: The film tells the story of Yong-hoo (Park Seo-joon), a martial arts champion who gains divine powers to fight against a powerful evil force. After a tragic childhood, which involved the deaths of his parents, Yong-hoo has harbored deep resentment towards the Almighty. He uses this anger to become a successful MMA fighter. After a bout in the United States, he develops a stigmata, which forces him to seek the help of a Father Ahn (Ahn Sung-ki). The priest, who is an exorcist, sees potential in Yong-hoo after his wound defeated a demon. The two partner to battle demonic activity in Korea.


title: The Divine Fury

text: The film began production on August 14, 2018. It reunites director Jason Kim and actor Park Seo-joon, after "Midnight Runners".


title: The Divine Fury

text: The film was released in cinemas in Australia and New Zealand on August 8, 2019, licensed by Purple Plan and distributed by Magnum Films, and in the United States and Canada on August 16, 2019, distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment.


title: Sexual Healing

text: "Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, "Midnight Love" (1982). It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the "In Our Lifetime" (1981) album the previous year. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Gaye's final top 10 hit) and is listed at number 198 on "Rolling Stone's" list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "Sexual Healing" is written and composed in the key of E-flat major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 94 beats per minute.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In the winter of 1981, Marvin Gaye had relocated to Ostend, Belgium, following the end of a European tour amid problems with the Internal Revenue Service and the end of his second marriage. Struggling with depression and cocaine addiction, Gaye had agreed to move to Ostend on the advice of longtime resident Freddy Cousaert. While in Ostend, Gaye began to curb his drug use and recover from his depression, partaking in Ostend's beaches. Gaye also began cutting ties with his longtime recording label, Motown, following the release of "In Our Lifetime", an album he did not consider finished. He said that he would never record with Motown again, and accused it of betraying his creativity.


title: Sexual Healing

text: While still with Motown, Gaye had received offers from labels including I.R.S. Records, Arista Records and Elektra Records; afterward, he sought to make a deal with CBS Records after they offered him a contract. CBS agreed to sign him and help clear his financial debt, and spent a year negotiating. In the meantime, Gaye needed spending money, so Cousaert set him up with a month-long England tour between June 13 and July 1, 1981. The tour was called "A Heavy Love Affair Tour 1981", named after his song "Heavy Love Affair", from "In Our Lifetime". After returning to Belgium that July, Gaye performed two shows at Ostend's Casino Kursaal on July 3 and 4, 1981. The tour's commercial and critical success further renewed Gaye's musical confidence.


title: Sexual Healing

text: At the end of the tour, two of Gaye's musicians, Gordon Banks and Odell Brown, had decided to stay in Ostend as Gaye had been planning on new musical material after being exposed to reggae music while in England. With Brown and Banks, Gaye created and composed an instrumental track that featured reggae overtones, recorded in October 1981. Gaye used a Roland TR-808 drum machine to create the percussion; he was drawn to the instrument because he could use it to create music without other musicians or producers.


title: Sexual Healing

text: Gaye was still working on the track when David Ritz, then a reviewer for "Rolling Stone", arrived at Ostend to locate Gaye, despite Gaye's and Couseart's rules that no music critic would be allowed to talk to the singer. The story has been disputed on how the lyrics to "Sexual Healing" were devised. Ritz claims that Gaye had been viewing sadomasochism comic books and advised Gaye he needed "sexual healing". When Ritz explained to Gaye what that meant, Gaye told him to "write a poem" while Gaye came up with the melody. However, Gaye's closest friends dispute this.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In an interview with "HUMO" in 1994, Cousaert claimed the only songwriters were Gaye and Brown and stated Ritz's contribution was the title. In Frankie Gaye's memoirs, "My Brother, Marvin", the singer's brother claimed Ritz had told him, "not only are you sexy, your music is healing," inspiring Gaye to write the lyrics himself. Gordon Banks told "The Atlantic" in 2012 that the conversation between Gaye and Ritz had nothing to do with Marvin's S&M collection but because Gaye had been intrigued by Amsterdam's red light district, to which Ritz replied that Gaye needed sexual healing but said he had nothing to do with the creation of the song. Odell Brown stated he never met Ritz and assumed Ritz was just there for an interview for "Rolling Stone". Though Gaye himself acknowledged Ritz for coming up with the song title, Ritz sued Gaye for $15 million for partial credit. Though Ritz was eventually credited after settling with Gaye's estate following his death, his case was dropped due to insufficient evidence in 1983.


title: Sexual Healing

text: "Sexual Healing" has been described as a post-disco, soul and funk song. It begins with a deep bass drum followed by "tinny" handclaps, "ticky" snare, and "tishy" hi-hats generated by a Roland TR-808 drum machine. The first vocal sounds are of whispers, recorded by singer Harvey Fuqua, an early mentor of Gaye who assisted him in production of the song and its parent album, "Midnight Love". Fuqua whispers, "Get up" and "Wake up" four times respectively before the sounds of a rhythmic keyboard. Afterwards, Gaye sings an ad-lib before the first verse.


title: Sexual Healing

text: As Gaye sings the verses, background vocals (provided by Gaye and Gordon Banks) are heard singing, "heal me, my darlin'," while Gaye sings the lyrics. During the chorus, sounds of a harmonious synthesizer are heard before Gaye reaches a vocal bridge, that is led by Gaye and Gordon Banks providing a rhythm guitar solo. In the album version of the song, Fuqua's whispers are repeated in the middle of the song, in the single version, however, Gaye takes Fuqua's place, singing in part of Fuqua's words adding more lyrics before returning to the verse. Another bridge follows after the second repeat of the chorus. In different versions of the song, Gaye had added extra lyrics to the second bridge as showcased on the song's demo tape and on an alternate version of the song. Gaye eventually cut part of the lyrics off.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In the album version, Gaye and Banks' background vocals immediately come after the second bridge ends, but in the single version, Gaye repeats the vamp he had sung at the ending of the first bridge, this time with Fuqua's whispers added. The song ends with Gaye repeating the chorus line. As it fades out, Gaye can be heard singing, "please don't procrastinate, it's not good to masturbate."


title: Sexual Healing

text: In his review of "Midnight Love" for "Rolling Stone", Dave Marsh described "Sexual Healing" as a track that was "sort of a polemic for the power of rampant humping." "Blender" described it as "the plaintively blue-balled model for basically every slow jam" since its release. An AllMusic reviewer stated Gaye had "concocted a pioneering percussive sound that was balladic in taste but stimulating in feel." In its end-year lists of 1982, "Rolling Stone", "NME", and "The Village Voice" listed it as one of the "songs of the year" with the latter two ranking it at number two. "People" described it as "America's hottest pop-culture turn-on" since Olivia Newton-John's single "Physical".


title: Sexual Healing

text: "Sexual Healing" won several music industry awards. At the 1983 Grammy Awards, the song won Gaye two Grammys, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Gaye's performance of the song later made it into the compilation album, "Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I", in 1994. The American Music Awards recognized the track for Favorite Soul/R&B Single. "Sexual Healing" sold over two million units in its standard 45 RPM single format and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The digital sales of "Sexual Healing" reached 500,000 downloads and was certified as a gold single in 2005. Also issued as a mastertone, this format was certified platinum in 2007.


title: Sexual Healing

text: "Sexual Healing" reached number one on "Billboard"s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying at the top spot for ten weeks. The success was similar on the Hot 100 where it peaked at number three, becoming his 18th and last top 10 hit. This peak at three made Gaye the second artist in the history of the Hot 100 chart (after Aretha Franklin) to have hit songs peak at each position from one to ten on the chart. The song also was a success on "Billboard"s other component charts, reaching number 12 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and number 34 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. The song reached number one on Canada's "RPM" chart.


title: Sexual Healing

text: It also peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and Australia's Kent Music Report. On Belgium's Ultratop 50 chart, the song reached number two. It also reached number one on New Zealand's RIANZ chart, where it stayed at the top spot for six weeks. It reached number three on the Dutch Top 40 in the Netherlands and also reached number seven on the Irish Singles Chart in Ireland. In other countries, success was more modest: West Germany's Media Control Charts, Switzerland's Swedish Singles Chart, and Italy's Italian Singles Chart, where it reached numbers 23, 17, and 37. It ultimately sold over four million worldwide.


title: Sexual Healing

text: "Sexual Healing" was covered in 1993 by Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum for the charity compilation "No Alternative". Despite not being promoted as a single, the song managed to peak at number ten on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks. It was included in the compilation "".


title: Sexual Healing

text: In 1995, American musical group Max-A-Million covered "Sexual Healing". Their version peaked at number 60 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, number five in Australia, number four in New Zealand and number one on the Canadian "RPM" Dance chart.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In 2007, the song was covered by German singer Sarah Connor for her studio album of covers, "Soulicious" (2007). A re-recorded version featuring American singer Ne-Yo was released as the album's second single in 2007. On the same album, Connor performed a posthumous duet with Gaye entitled "Your Precious Love".


title: Sexual Healing

text: The song's music video is placed in the story of the 1986 erotic drama film "9½ Weeks", featuring representative scenes from the film, e.g. the well-known ice scene, Connor being fed by a Ne-Yo doppelgänger and her homemade striptease. Apart from the original film, this video is one of the few visual works that repeat the proem to the sex scene on the stairs in the rain. Ne-Yo was not available the day the music video was shot, so a doppelgänger was used. Connor stated that she was slightly drunk during the shoot of the video.


title: Sexual Healing

text: Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo released a remix of "Sexual Healing" on SoundCloud on 21 November 2013. It was watched millions of times on YouTube.


title: Sexual Healing

text: The track was released as a single on April 27, 2015 by Ultra Music. The remix would later appear on the special-edition 12-inch single issued on Record Store Day 2018.


title: Sexual Healing

text: Singer Michael Bolton covered the song for his 1999 album, "". His version peaked at number 28 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and at number 48 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In 2005, "Sexual Healing" was sampled by Japanese singer-songwriter Miliyah Kato in her song "Dear Lonely Girl". The song charted at number 15 on the Oricon Singles Chart.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In 2007, this song was remixed by Alibi vs. Rockefeller with a music video featuring three female dancers dressed as nurses (Lauren Ridealgh, Bayley Darling, and Stephanie Fitzpatrick). It charted at number 16 on the Finnish Singles Chart and at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Sexual Healing

text: In 2003, "Rolling Stone" listed "Sexual Healing" at number 231 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the follow-up 2011 list, it dropped two places to number 233. In the 2021 list, it was ranked at number 198. Frequently included in best-of lists, the song ranked number 45 on "Blender"'s list of their "Top 500 Songs Since You Were Born". It also ranked in several rock lists in Norway, Spain, the UK and the United States. It was also inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine ( '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Constantine the Great. It was the capital of the French department of Constantine until 1962. Located somewhat inland, Constantine is about from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of the Rhumel River.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine is regarded as the capital of eastern Algeria and the commercial center of its region, and it has a population of about 450,000 (938,475 with the agglomeration), making it the third largest city in the country after Algiers and Oran. There are several museums and historical sites located around the city. Constantine is often referred to as the "City of Bridges" due to the numerous picturesque bridges connecting the various hills, valleys, and ravines that the city is built on and around.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: The city was originally founded by the Phoenicians, who called it Sewa (royal city). Later it was renamed Cirta by the Numidian king Syphax, who turned it into his capital. The city was taken over by Numidia, the country of the Berber people, after the Carthaginians were defeated by Rome in the Third Punic War. In 112 B.C., the city was occupied by the Numidian king Jugurtha, who defeated his half-brother Adherbal. The city later served as the base for Roman generals Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus and Gaius Marius in their war against Jugurtha. Later, with the removal of King Juba I and the remaining supporters of Pompey in Africa (c. 46), Julius Caesar gave special rights to the citizens of Cirta, now known as Colonia Sittlanorum.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: In 311 AD, during the civil war between emperor Maxentius and usurper Domitius Alexander (a former governor of Africa), the city was destroyed. Rebuilt in 313 AD, it was subsequently named in Latin as "Colonia Constantiniana" or "Constantina", after emperor Constantine the Great, who had defeated Maxentius. Captured by the Vandals in 432, Constantine returned to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa from 534 to 697. It was conquered by the Arabs in the 8th century, receiving the name of "Qacentina", It was part of the region known to the Islamic world as Ifriqiya.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: The city recovered in the 12th century and under Almohad and Hafsid rule it was again a prosperous market, with links to Pisa, Genoa and Venice. After taking it from the Hafsids in 1529 it was intermittently part of Ottoman Empire, ruled by a Turkish bey (governor) subordinate to the dey of Algiers. Salah Bey, who ruled the city in 1770–1792, greatly embellished it and built much of the Muslim architecture still visible today.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: In 1826 the last bey, Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Chérif, became the new head of state. He led a fierce resistance against French forces, which had invaded Algeria four years later. By 13 October 1837, the territory was captured by France, and from 1848 on until 1962 it was the centre of the Constantine Département. In 1880, while working in the military hospital in Constantine, Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran discovered that the cause of malaria is a protozoan. He observed the parasites in a blood smear taken from a soldier who had just died of malaria. For this, he received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. This was the first time that protozoa were shown to be a cause of disease. His work helped inspire researchers and veterinarians today to try to find a cure for malaria in animals.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: During World War II, during the campaign in North Africa (1942–43), Allied forces used Constantine and the nearby cities of Sétif and Bone as operational bases.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine is situated on a plateau at an elevation above sea level. The city is framed by a deep ravine and has a dramatic appearance. The city is very picturesque with a number of bridges over Rhumel River and a viaduct crossing the ravine. The ravine is crossed by seven bridges, including Sidi M'Cid bridge. Constantine is the railhead of a prosperous and diverse agricultural area. It is also a centre of the grain trade and has flour mills, a tractor factory, and industries producing textiles, wool, linen and leather goods. Algeria and Tunisia serve as its markets.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"), with hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters.


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: The city is framed by a deep ravine and has a dramatic appearance. In 1911, Baedeker described it as "resembling the Kasba of Algiers, the picturesque charm of which has so far been marred by the construction of but a few new streets."


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: The topography of the city is unique and it determines the need for bridges. At the end of the 19th century, Guy de Maupassant wrote: "Eight bridges used to cross this ravine. Six of these bridges are in ruins today." Today the most important bridges are:


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine has in general four universities: two of them are downtown Constantine Mentouri Public University, designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, and Algerian architect Rashid Hassaine, including Zerzara technical engineering pole, Zouaghi Slimane Geography and Earth Sciences Pole, and in the City of El-Khroub is the Institute of Veterinary Sciences. Emir Abdelkader University is one of the biggest Islamic universities with many faculties covering religious studies, foreign languages, literature. Constantine's new town "nouvelle ville ali mendjeli" has two big universities: Université Constantine 2 known as "lella nsoumer" offering maths, computer and economy majors, and the new university is actually a university pole with more than 20,000 students, 17 faculties and more than 40,000 residents. It is now the largest African university under the name of "Université Salah Boubnider" known as "Université Constantine 3".


title: Constantine, Algeria

text: Constantine also owns its 14.7 km-long tram network serving the city centre at the airport but also in the main neighbourhoods of the metropolis Constantine tramway.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: Budapest Honvéd Football Club (), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. "Honvéd" means the Homeland Defence. Originally formed as "Kispest AC", they became "Kispest FC" in 1926 before reverting to their original name in 1944.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed "Budapesti Honvéd SE" and became the Hungarian Army team. The club's top players from this era, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor, and Gyula Grosics helped the club win the Hungarian League four times during the 1950s and also formed the nucleus of the legendary Hungarian national team popularly known as the "Mighty Magyars."


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: During the 1980s and early 1990s, the club enjoyed another successful period, winning a further eight Hungarian League titles. They also won league and cup doubles in 1985 and 1989. In 1991, the club was renamed "Kispest Honvéd FC" and adopted its current name in 2003.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: When the club was originally formed in 1909, it also organised teams that competed in fencing, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, athletics, boxing, and tennis. Later, the Honvéd family was extended to include a water polo team, now known as "Groupama Honvéd", a 33-times basketball-champion team and a handball team that were European Champions in 1982.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: Budapest Honvéd FC were founded in 1909 as Kispesti AC. At domestic level they first entered the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in the 1916–17 season. Their first success came in the 1926 Magyar Kupa season when they beat Budapesti EAC in the final.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: Budapest Honvéd's first stadium was opened in 1913. On 5 August 2018, the last match was played at the stadium. The match was won by Honvéd against Paksi FC on the 3rd match day of the 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The only goal was scored by Danilo in the 48th minute. The referee was Viktor Kassai. The stadium was demolished in 2019.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: The new stadium of the club was opened in 2021. The first match was played between Budapest Honvéd FC II and Szekszárdi UFC in the 2020–21 Nemzeti Bajnokság III season. The stadium was selected to host the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.


title: Budapest Honvéd FC

text: Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Budapest Honvéd FC.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: The 1979 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1978–79 season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics played the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets, with the Bullets holding home-court advantage, due to a better regular season record. The SuperSonics defeated the Bullets 4 games to 1. The series was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals, which the Washington Bullets had won 4–3.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Dennis Johnson of the SuperSonics was named as the NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams of the SuperSonics was the top scorer, averaging 28.6 points per game.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: This was Seattle's second men's professional sports championship, following the Seattle Metropolitans' victory in the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals. The city’s next title wouldn’t be until 2014 when the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Both the 1978 and 1979 NBA Finals were informally dubbed the "George Washington series", because both teams were playing in places named after the first President of the United States (the SuperSonics represented Seattle, Washington while the Bullets represented Washington, D.C., albeit playing in nearby Landover, Maryland).


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: This is the most recent time that a Western Conference team not based in Texas or California has won an NBA title, and the last of only two occasions alongside the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers when a team from the present-day Northwest Division has won the league title, which is by 27 years the longest league championship drought for any division of the four major North American sports leagues. Since then, the following Western teams have gone on to win an NBA title: the Los Angeles Lakers (eleven times), the San Antonio Spurs (five times), the Golden State Warriors (four times), the Houston Rockets (twice), and the Dallas Mavericks (once). The remaining twenty-one titles since 1980 have been won by Eastern Conference teams.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: This was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals, which the Bullets won 4–3. Seattle made a key offseason trade sending Marvin Webster to the New York Knicks for Lonnie Shelton. Other than that, both teams' rosters stayed virtually intact. Unlike the previous year, both teams finished 1-2 in the NBA, with the Bullets topping the league at 54 wins; the Sonics with 52 wins. In the playoffs, Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 and the Phoenix Suns 4–3, while Washington had a much tougher road, eliminating the Atlanta Hawks in an unexpectedly tough seven-game series and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the San Antonio Spurs in seven. Both earned a first-round bye.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: The Finals were carried by CBS television (the network's NBA on CBS aired league games from 1973-90), with Brent Musburger as the lead announcer. The 1979 Finals has been preserved in full, unlike the previous year's, in which Games 2, 3 and 4 are missing. (Except for 1978, all NBA Finals since 1975 have been completely preserved.)


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: The Bullets controlled the game and led by 18 in the fourth, but Seattle mounted a furious comeback to tie it at 97. Larry Wright, who had 26 points off the bench, drove to the basket as time ran down and had his shot blocked by Dennis Johnson, but the referees called a foul on Johnson. Wright went to the line with one second left and hit two of three foul shots (NBA rules at the time awarded an extra free throw attempt when a team was in the penalty foul situation) to win the game.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Elvin Hayes had 11 points in the first quarter, but only nine the rest of the way as Seattle turned its defense up a notch, holding the Bullets to 30 points in the second half.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Outside of the two metropolitan areas of the competing teams, as well as Baltimore and Portland, the game was shown on tape delay beginning at 11:35 Eastern and Pacific/10:35 p.m. Central and Mountain. This was the first of six championship series games shown by CBS on tape delay over a three-season span. Four of the six games in the championship series two years later were shown on tape delay outside of the markets of the competing clubs.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Seattle dominated this game, which wasn't as close as the final margin indicated. Gus Williams scored 31 points, Jack Sikma had 21 and 17 rebounds, and Dennis Johnson had a fine all-around game with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and two blocked shots.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: The Sonics won a close one in OT 114–112, staving off a late Bullets comeback behind 36 points by Gus Williams and 32 by Dennis Johnson. Williams and Johnson dominated the Bullets' guards all series, as they were plagued by poor shooting. Johnson also had four blocks in the game, the last on Kevin Grevey with 4 seconds left to ensure the Seattle victory.


title: 1979 NBA Finals

text: Back home, Elvin Hayes had a hot first half, scoring 20, but injuries to starting guards Tom Henderson, Kevin Grevey and prolonged poor shooting by their replacements took their toll. Hayes had only nine points in the second half as Seattle closed out the series.


title: Yi Yi

text: Yi Yi () is a 2000 Taiwanese drama film written and directed by Edward Yang centering around the struggles of an engineer named NJ (played by Wu Nien-jen) and three generations of his middle-class Taiwanese family in Taipei.


title: Yi Yi

text: The title in Chinese means "one by one" (meaning "one after another"). When written in vertical alignment, the two strokes resemble the character for "two": ().


title: Yi Yi

text: "Yi Yi" premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where Yang won the Best Director Award. It is now regarded as one of the major films of the 21st century.


title: Yi Yi

text: The Jian family – father NJ, mother Min-Min, daughter Ting-Ting, son Yang-Yang – is a middle-class family in Taipei. At the wedding of Min-Min's brother A-Di, NJ runs into ex-girlfriend Sherry, who gives him her number before leaving. Sherry is married to an American and lives in Chicago. After the reception, Min-Min's mother, who lives with the family, suffers a stroke that leaves her comatose. She is put on life support and the doctor urges the Jians to talk to her daily.


title: Yi Yi

text: NJ is dissatisfied with his job and his company is struggling financially. To secure client Mr. Ota, NJ's colleagues ask him to take Ota out for dinner, which he reluctantly agrees. They get along well and NJ takes Ota to a bar, where he sings and plays the piano. That night, NJ phones and leaves a message for Sherry, apologizing for leaving her abruptly 30 years ago. Meanwhile, Min-Min becomes depressed by her mother's condition and leaves for a remote Buddhist retreat.


title: Yi Yi

text: After a failed investment, A-Di is kicked out of the house and asks his ex-girlfriend Yun-Yun for help. A-Di is allowed to return upon the birth of his child but a fight breaks out at the baby shower when Yun-Yun shows up uninvited. A-Di and his wife reconcile after she discovers him passed out due to a gas leak at their house.


title: Yi Yi

text: Ting-Ting feels guilty as her grandmother collapsed when she was taking out the trash Ting-Ting was supposed to take out. She befriends her new neighbor, Lili. After Lili breaks up with her boyfriend Fatty, he begins to relay letters for Lili to Ting-Ting. Fatty soon becomes attracted to Ting-Ting and asks her out. After their second date, the two check into a hotel room but they hesitate and leave. Later, Ting-Ting sees Lili back together with Fatty and is later berated by Fatty himself. Ting-Ting becomes depressed and talks to her grandmother, asking her to wake up. She learns the next day that Fatty has been arrested for killing Lili's teacher, who was in a sexual relationship with both Lili and her mother. At home, Ting-Ting dreams of being comforted by her grandmother.


title: Yi Yi

text: Unwilling to speak to his grandmother because he feels like she can't hear him, Yang Yang starts taking photographs. To punish him for leaving school to buy film, Yang-Yang is forced to face a wall while his teacher circulates his photographs among the other students. Later, after seeing the girl who torments him because she likes him swimming, Yang-Yang teaches himself how to swim to learn more about his tormenter.


title: Yi Yi

text: NJ is sent by his company to Tokyo to continue talks with Ota; Sherry also flies to Japan. The two reunite and recount their past; Sherry remains affected by NJ's abrupt departure and NJ attempts to resolve their tensions. They travel to another city and check into a hotel, but when NJ insists on separate rooms, Sherry berates him and breaks down. They return to Tokyo and check back into their respective rooms; before leaving, NJ tells Sherry that he has never loved anyone else. The next day, NJ is informed by his colleague that they have secured a deal with another client and he is to return to Taipei immediately. In response, NJ berates his colleague for abandoning Ota. Later, NJ goes to check on Sherry's room, learning that she has already checked out.


title: Yi Yi

text: Upon her mother's death, Min-Min returns home and is reunited with her family. At the funeral, NJ's colleague urges him to come back to work but he refuses. Yang-Yang recites a poem in front of her shrine. He recounts their time together, his hope of finding where she went, and a desire to "tell people what they don't know, show them what they can't see." He concludes his poem by saying how his newborn cousin reminds him of her, always saying she's old, as he always wanted to say along with her, "I am old too."


title: Yi Yi

text: "Yi Yi"s filming began on April 8, 1999, and lasted until August 21, 1999. Before this, Yang's script had required the children to be ages ten and fifteen, but Yang later found Jonathan Chang and Kelly Lee (who had never acted before). When filming began, they were eight and thirteen years old. Yang made amendments to the script accordingly.


title: Yi Yi

text: Following its debut at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, "Yi Yi" has collected a host of awards from prestigious international festivals. "Yi Yi" garnered director Edward Yang the Best Director at Cannes in 2000 and was nominated for the Palme d'Or in the same year. "Yi Yi" also won the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival's Netpac Award ("For the perceptive and sensitive portrayal of a generation and cultural gap in Taiwan and the painful choices to be made in these difficult times."), the Vancouver International Film Festival's Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award and tied with "Topsy-Turvy" to win the 2000 Sarajevo Film Festival's Panorama Jury Award.


title: Yi Yi

text: It won Best Foreign Film from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics in 2001, the Grand Prix at the Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland in 2001, The Best Foreign Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards in 2000, Best Film from the National Society of Film Critics in 2001 (where Yang also won 2nd place for a Best Director Award), and Best Foreign Language Film from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 2000. The film was nominated for the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. The film also won a "Best Film – China/Taiwan" award and "Best Director" award from the 2002 Chinese Film Media Awards, a "Best Film" award at the 2001 Chinese Film Media Awards. It was named one of the best movies of 2001 by many prominent publications and critics, including "The New York Times", "Newsweek", "USA Today", the "Village Voice", "Film Comment", the "Chicago Reader", and the author Susan Sontag, among others. Specifically, "Yi Yi" was named "Best Film of the Year" (2000) by the following film critics and writers: A. O. Scott of "The New York Times", Susan Sontag writing for "Artforum", Michael Atkinson of the "Village Voice", Steven Rosen of "The Denver Post", John Anderson, Jan Stuart and Gene Seymour writing for "Newsday", and Stephen Garrett as well as Nicole Keeter of "Time Out New York".


title: Yi Yi

text: The film also won 2nd place for Best Director, Best Film and Best Foreign Language Film in the 2000 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, and was also nominated for: a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Awards Circuit Community Awards, a Best Non-American Film award from the 2003 Bodil Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, the Best Cast, a Best Foreign Film award from the 2001 Cesar Awards, a Screen International Award from the 2000 European Film Awards, a Best Asian Film award from the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Online Film & Television Association, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2001 Online Film Critics Society Awards, and a Golden Spike award from the 2000 Valladolid International Film Festival.


title: Yi Yi

text: In 2002, "Yi Yi" was selected by the British film magazine "Sight & Sound" as one of the ten greatest films of the past 25 years.


title: Yi Yi

text: "Yi Yi" also placed third in a 2009 Village Voice Film Poll ranking "The Best Film of the Decade", tying with "La Commune (Paris, 1871)" (2000) and "Zodiac" (2007), and also placed third in a 2009 IndieWire Critics' Poll of the "Best Film of the Decade". The film was summarized by film critic Nigel Andrews, who stated in the "Financial Times" that "[t]o describe ["Yi Yi"] as a three-hour Taiwanese family drama is like calling "Citizen Kane" a film about a newspaper."


title: Yi Yi

text: Aggregation site "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They" has named it as the third most acclaimed film of the 21st century among critics. It also received 20 total votes in the 2012 "Sight & Sound" polls, and was ranked the eighth greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC poll. In 2019, "The Guardian" ranked "Yi Yi" 26th in its 100 Best Films of the 21st Century list.


title: Yi Yi

text: The film is available on The Criterion Collection and features a newly restored digital transfer along with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (on the Blu-ray), audio commentary from Yang and Asian film critic Tony Rayns.


title: Yi Yi

text: The piano pieces in "Yi Yi"s soundtrack are mostly performed by Kaili Peng, Yang's wife. They include well-known pieces like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and J. S. Bach's Toccata in E minor (BWV 914). Peng has a small cameo in the film as a concert cellist, playing Beethoven's Cello sonata No. 1 with her husband posing as a pianist.


title: Itsy Bitsy Spider

text: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (also known as "Incy Wincy Spider" in Australia and Great Britain, and several other similar-sounding names) is a popular nursery rhyme and fingerplay that describes the adventures of a spider as it ascends, descends, and reascends the downspout or "waterspout" of a gutter system (or, alternatively, the spout of a teapot or open-air reservoir). It is usually accompanied by a sequence of gestures that mimic the words of the song. Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 11586.


title: Itsy Bitsy Spider

text: The song can be found in publications including an alternative version in the book, "Camp and Camino in Lower California" (1910), where it was referred to as [the classic] "Spider Song." It appears to be a different version of this song using “blooming, bloody” instead of "itsy bitsy". It was later published in one of its several modern versions in "Western Folklore", by the California Folklore Society (1948), Mike and Peggy Seeger's, "American Folk Songs for Children" (1948).


title: Itsy Bitsy Spider

text: The song is sung by and for children in countless languages and cultures. It is similar to the melodies of the children's songs "Sweetly Sings the Donkey" in the United States, and "", "Ich bin ein kleiner Esel" (the German-language version of "Sweetly Sings the Donkey") and "" in German-speaking countries.


title: Meralco

text: The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 municipalities, including the whole of the National Capital Region and the exurbs that form Mega Manila.


title: Meralco

text: The name "Meralco" is an acronym for Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company, which was the company's official name until 1919.


title: Meralco

text: Organized in 1891 and beginning operations in late 2000, La Electricista was the first electric company to provide electricity to Manila towards the close of the Spanish era. La Electricista had built a central power plant on Calle San Sebastian (now Hidalgo Street ) in Quiapo, Manila. On January 17, 1895, its streetlights were turned on for the first time and by 1903, it had about 3,000 electric light customers.


title: Meralco

text: On October 20, 1902, during the American Colonial Period, the Second Philippine Commission began accepting bids to operate Manila's electric tramway, and by extension, providing electricity to the city and its suburbs. Detroit entrepreneur Charles M. Swift was the sole bidder and on March 24, 1903, was granted the original basic franchise of the Manila Electric Company. March 24 thus is marked annually as the company's anniversary.


title: Meralco

text: The Manila Electric Company acquired both La Electricista and the Compañía de los Tranvías de Filipinas, a firm that ran Manila's horse-drawn tramways which was founded in 1882. Construction on the electric tramway began that same year. In addition to acquiring La Electricista's Calle San Sebastian power plant, the company built its own steam generating plant on Isla Provisora (later becoming the Manila Thermal Power Plant), which powered the tram system and eventually also the electric service. By 1906, the Manila Electric Company's annual power output capacity was around eight million kWh.


title: Meralco

text: Swift was awarded another franchise in 1906 to operate a extension line from Paco to Fort McKinley and Pasig and founded the Manila Suburban Railway to operate this franchise. In 1919 this company merged with the Manila Electric Company. This extension was one of the most profitable of MERALCO's lines.


title: Meralco

text: By the 1920, MERALCO had a 170-strong fleet of streetcars, before switching over to buses later in that decade.


title: Meralco

text: The company operated 52-miles of trams until World War II. The equipment and tracks of the system was severely damaged during the war and had to be removed.


title: Meralco

text: By 1915, electricity generation and distribution became the main MERALCO's main income generator, overtaking its public transportation operations in terms of revenue. In 1919, it changed its official name to Manila Electric Company. By 1920, the company's power capacity had grown to 45 million kWh.


title: Meralco

text: In 1925, MERALCO was acquired by the utility holding company Associated Gas and Electric, which had begun a massive expansion throughout the United States and Canada. With AGECO's financial backing, MERALCO began acquiring a number of existing utility companies in the Philippines, enabling the company to expand beyond Manila.


title: Meralco

text: By 1930, MERALCO had completed construction of the Philippine's first hydroelectric power plant, the 23MW Botocan Hydro Station. At the time, this plant was one of the largest engineering projects in Asia and constituted the largest single private capital investment in the Philippines. The additional capacity allowed the company to begin hooking up customers throughout the metropolitan area.


title: Meralco

text: To drive demand for more power, MERALCO also opened a retail store in order to sell electric home appliances.


title: Meralco

text: During the Second World War, the Japanese occupying forces forcibly transferred all of MERALCO's assets and holdings to the Japanese-controlled Taiwan Power Company.


title: Meralco

text: By war's end, most of the former Meralco facilities had been destroyed. AGECO was reorganized as General Public Utilities Corporation or GPU in 1946. MERALCO's autobus franchise was sold to Halili Transport.


title: Meralco

text: In 1962, Eugenio López, Sr. of the influential López family of Iloilo put together Meralco Securities Corporation (MSC), which acquired MERALCO, making it wholly Filipino-owned. During 1962-72, he increased MERALCO's power generating capacity by five times with the building of additional power stations in the Manila area with two more planned in Rizal Province.


title: Meralco

text: The Meralco Building, designed by National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture José María Zaragoza, was built during this period. The Meralco Theater within it was inaugurated shortly thereafter, in March 1969.


title: Meralco

text: In September 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos, who had begun feuding with the Lopezes, declared Martial Law, acquiring and consolidating power and effectively extending his beyond the constitutional term limit which would have forced him to step down in 1973. A few weeks later in November 1972, he issued Presidential Decree № 40, which nationalized the country's electric generation and transmission. A few more weeks after that, Marcos had Lopez' son and namesake, Eugenio "Geny" Lopez, Jr. arrested without formal charges, claiming that the younger Lopez had been involved in an alleged assassination attempt against him.


title: Meralco

text: Geny's arrest became a bargaining chip which eventually compelled the Lopezes to sell their controlling share of Meralco Securities Corporation to Marcos' associates late in 1973. Ownership of Meralco Securities Corporation was placed under a newly created shell company called the Meralco Foundation, Inc., controlled by Marcos' brother-in-law Benjamin Romualdez, which made a downpayment of about $1,500 for a "very minimal" total sale price of about $28 million (200 million pesos at the prevailing rate). Installment payments were supposed to be due starting two years later.


title: Meralco

text: The Meralco Foundation takeover was immediately followed by a 100% increase in electric rates, with continuous increases throughout Romualdez' management. A rate adjustment clause, which allowed MERALCO to adjust its rates depending on crude oil increase or higher dollar exchange rates, was also introduced.


title: Meralco

text: By 1978, all of the Philippines' major power plants were owned and operated by Napocor, including the Metro Manila plants that MERALCO had built beforehand in the 1960s. By the end of the Martial Law period in 1981, MERALCO expanded even further into Cavite and western parts of Laguna, Rizal and Quezon provinces, as well as parts of southern Bulacan.


title: Meralco

text: Meralco Foundation's control of MERALCO lasted until the People Power Revolution in 1985 when it defaulted on its payments under the terms of the original turnover of shares in 1973, although it took a five year period before the shares were eventually reverted to the Lopezes in 1991.


title: Meralco

text: President Corazon Aquino reverted company ownership to the López Group. She also enacted an executive order that allowed the company to directly compete with Napocor.


title: Meralco

text: Between 2009 and 2012, the López Group would reduce its 33.4% holdings in MERALCO by selling most of its shares to the First Pacific Group. By 2012, the López Group's holdings in MERALCO would be reduced to 3.95%.


title: Meralco

text: The First Pacific Group, through Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investment Corporation, currently holds 45.46% share in MERALCO, followed by the JG Summit Group with 29.56%, for a combined 75.02% control of MERALCO.


title: Meralco

text: In 2014 and 2015, MERALCO requested the 16th Congress to tackle the extension of its franchise early, although its renewal was not due until six years later, in 2020.


title: Meralco

text: Meralco is facing a Philippine legislative inquiry/investigation for alleged excessive pricing. The government has considered a plan to take over Meralco, to reduce electricity bills. Meralco and National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) blamed each other for the high power rates. Meralco also blames high power generation costs, high transmission costs and government taxes imposed on the electricity sector from power generation to distribution. Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President Winston García, however, blamed Meralco's inefficiency, its "bloated bureaucracy" and its sourcing of power from independent power producers (IPPs) also owned by the López Family, and the need to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001. Oscar López said that if the GSIS would buy the Meralco shares, they must buy in whole cash, while many businessmen also said that taking over Meralco is not the way to reduce electrical price, which depends on the national government and the President. The issue was also seen as a purposeful diversion from the then-ongoing ZTE NBN scandal and other government issues. A perceived lack of general understanding regarding the issue of system loss, inherent in the business of utilities prompted Meralco's former holding company, First Philippine Holdings, to issue advertisements explaining systems loss.


title: Meralco

text: The Department of Justice (Philippines) filed syndicated (fraud) charges against Meralco in its August 22, 2008 31-page resolution, filed with the Pasig Regional Trial Court. The May 29 National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reform (Nasecore) complaint accused Meralco of "illegally declaring as income ₱889 million in consumers’ money, which represents interest from meter and bill deposits consumers had been paying since 1995." No bail was recommended for all the accused, 2006 officers of Meralco, to wit: Meralco chairman and CEO Manuel Lopez, executive vice president and chief financial officer Daniel Tagaza, first Vice-resident and treasurer Rafael Andrada, vice president and corporate auditor and compliance officer Helen De Guzman, vice president and assistant comptroller Antonio Valera, and senior assistant vice president and assistant treasurer Manolo Fernando; 2006 Meralco directors Arthur Defensor Jr., Gregory Domingo, Octavio Victor Espiritu, Christian Monsod, Federico Puno, Washington Sycip, Emilio Vicens, Francisco Viray and former Prime Minister Cesar Virata.


title: Meralco

text: Nasecore's complaint accusing Meralco of "illegally declaring as income 889 million pesos in consumers’ money, which represents interest from meter and bill deposits consumers had been paying since 1995," was immediately refuted by the accused company as the alleged ₱889 million only stemmed from a generally accepted accounting principle of reversing Meralco's earlier provision for meter deposit interests which, earlier set at 10% per annum was deemed too high and was set to the recommended 6%. Meralco also questioned how a syndicated estafa case can arise when it has already announced and committed that it will be refunding to customers who paid meter deposit principals plus interest months ahead of the ERC prescribed schedule and has allocated enough funds for the said refund.


title: Meralco

text: On October 6, 2008, the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 71 dismissed the syndicated "estafa" case filed against the Meralco board of directors, for the prosecution failed to establish all the elements of syndicated "estafa".


title: Meralco

text: Presiding Judge Franco Falcon, pointed out in the ruling that the board is not the kind described by the law as being formed to perpetrate an illegal act for the board of directors were elected by stockholders. The court explained, "Therefore, the accused can never be charged of taking part in the commission of syndicated "estafa" not only because they are not part of a syndicate as contemplated by law in PD 1689, but more so, because there was absolutely no "estafa" committed."


title: Meralco

text: According to Philippine law, to constitute syndicated "estafa", the subject money or property must be received by the offenders. The money represents the accrued interests on the bill and meter deposits, which were paid by Meralco customers, not directly to the board, but to the various Meralco business centers where the customers transacted. Meralco expressed elation over the dismissal.


title: Meralco

text: Meralco serves Metro Manila, where it is the sole electricity distributor, as well as some nearby provinces, like Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon. Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal are solely served by Meralco, but on some provinces, it only serves some parts, like in Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon, where most or some areas are served by electric cooperatives. In Laguna and Quezon, most part of those provinces are served by the company, but other areas, mostly rural municipalities, are served by electric cooperatives. In Batangas, only Santo Tomas, the First Philippine Industrial Park and First Industrial Township SEZ both in Tanauan, Batangas City, San Pascual and parts of Laurel (Barangays of Niyugan and Dayap Itaas) and Calaca (parts of Barangay Cahil) which facing Tagaytay–Nasugbu Highway are served by Meralco, and the rest of the province are franchise areas of electric cooperatives. In Pampanga, some barangays in Candaba are served by the company.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. "The Thousand-Year Door" is the second game in the "Paper Mario" series following "Paper Mario", and is part of the larger "Mario" franchise. In the game, when Mario and Princess Peach get involved in the search for a mystic treasure that holds great fortune, Peach is kidnapped by an alien group called the X-Nauts; Mario sets out to find the treasure and save the princess.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "The Thousand-Year Door" borrows many gameplay elements from its predecessor, such as a drawing-based art style, and a turn-based battle system with an emphasis on timing moves correctly. For the majority of the game the player controls Mario, although Bowser and Princess Peach are playable at certain points. The game was announced at a 2003 Game Developers Conference and was released late-July 2004 in Japan and late 2004 for the rest of the world.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: The game was praised by critics, generally lauded for its engaging plot and gameplay. "The Thousand-Year Door" won the "Role Playing Game of the Year" award at the 2005 Interactive Achievement Awards, and is commonly called the best game in the series. The game was followed by "Super Paper Mario", which released for the Wii in 2007.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "The Thousand-Year Door" is a role-playing video game (RPG) with other nontraditional RPG elements. The player controls a two-dimensional version of Mario and explores a variety of worlds designed to look like paper. In these locales, he is tasked with retrieving seven Crystal Stars which involves Mario completing puzzles and defeating enemies to proceed.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: In the overworld, the player can find items that can be used in and outside of combat. The effects of these items range from healing Mario or his partner to damaging the opponent. Mario can also purchase "badges" from non-player characters (NPCs), find them hidden in the environment, or occasionally obtain them from defeated enemies; each badge requires a certain amount of Mario's badge points (BP) in order to be equipped. When equipped, these badges can permanently enhance a particular skill or aspect, or, in some cases, give Mario new abilities. Throughout the game, up to seven characters are permanently added to the player's party; one character is present alongside Mario at any given time and can be switched out at any point. Each character has a specialized skill, some of which are required to solve puzzles. These skills include activating switches and removing physical barriers. Mario is also "cursed" with abilities that allow him to fold into a boat or a paper airplane; these are performed when he stands on a special "activation panel". During the interlude between the game's chapters, the player controls Peach in the X-Naut Fortress and Bowser in multiple side-scrolling levels based on the original "Super Mario Bros."


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Similar to its predecessor, combat in "The Thousand-Year Door" follows a turn-based battle system. When Mario comes into contact with an enemy in the overworld, the game transitions to a battle screen, taking place on a stage. Jumping or hammering an enemy before entering combat mode will cause "First Strike." This allows Mario to damage the enemy before the regular combat starts. Likewise, some enemies can strike first and damage Mario before the regular combat starts. The player controls both Mario and his currently selected partner, and chooses actions for each of them, which include attacking an enemy, using an item, or swapping the partner with another. Attacking and defending can be enhanced by executing timed button presses. For example, pressing the button when Mario jumps on an enemy causes him to jump on it a second time. Enemies have advantages based on their position on the stage or on their qualities. Some player attacks, such as Mario's hammer, can only target enemies on the ground, and spiky enemies will instead damage Mario if he jumps on them.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Each character has its own heart points (HP) that decreases each time it is attacked by an enemy. When a partner's HP is reduced to 0, the partner becomes inactive and cannot be used until revived. If Mario's HP is reduced to 0, however, the game ends and the player must start again from the last saved point. Stronger attacks require Flower Points (FP) to execute and are shared among Mario and his partners. Special attacks, which are unlocked each time the player acquires a Crystal Star, are more powerful and require varying amounts of Star Power to execute. If the player wins the battle, the player is awarded Star Points; for every 100 Star Points, the player levels up and chooses to increase Mario's maximum HP, FP, or BP.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Also during battle, a spectating audience will react to how well the player performs. If the player performs well, the audience's cheers will replenish Star Power. If the player performs spectacularly, they may throw items to the player, such as a mushroom. Conversely, the audience may throw damage-causing items at the player or leave if the player performs poorly in a battle, such as rocks. The audience starts with a maximum size of 50 and can grow up to 200 as the player levels up during the game.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "The Thousand-Year Door" is set in the Mushroom Kingdom. The town of Rogueport serves as the hub world, connecting to all other locations in the game. The story is divided into eight chapters and a prologue, each of which primarily takes place in one of the unique areas. Each of the major locations are designed around a specific theme; Glitzville, for example, is a floating city known for its fighting arena. The enemies and town inhabitants in the game range from recurring "Mario" characters, like Boo, to characters exclusive to the game, such as the X-Nauts.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "The Thousand-Year Door" contains several characters, the majority of whom are not playable. Progression in the game is sometimes dependent on interaction with non-player characters, although many are used in the game's various minor sidequests. In particular, the Goomba Professor Frankly, who knows the most about the mysteries relating to Rogueport, must be visited every time Mario retrieves a Crystal Star. The game continues the tradition of "Paper Mario", in which Mario can be accompanied by one assistant character at a set time. There are seven party members in total: Goombella the Goomba, Koops the Koopa, Madame Flurrie the wind spirit, a Yoshi who is named by the player, a shadow being named Vivian, Admiral Bobbery the Bob-omb, and the optional Ms. Mowz the Squeek.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Mario is the main character of "The Thousand-Year Door", although the story also rotates between portions where the player plays briefly as Princess Peach and Bowser. Most of Peach's story is spent on her interaction with the X-Nauts' computer AI TEC, who falls in love with Princess Peach despite not fully understanding the concept of love. Princess Peach agrees to teach TEC about love in exchange for the ability to contact Mario via e-mail. The series antagonist Bowser, tries to collect the Crystal Stars before Mario does instead of directly opposing Mario, though his attempts mostly become comedic relief.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: The game opens with an introduction about a seaside town that was destroyed by a cataclysm and consequently sunk into the depths of the earth. Rogueport was later built at this site, with the fortunes of the lost kingdom fabled to exist behind the eponymous Thousand-Year Door, located in the ruins of the old town. Peach mails Mario a magical treasure map she had purchased in Rogueport, beckoning him to come. Before Mario arrives, she is captured by the X-Nauts, led by Grodus, who had intended to obtain the map. With the help of Goombella and Professor Frankly, Mario learns that the map can potentially reveal the location of the seven legendary Crystal Stars, which are required to unlock the Thousand-Year Door. Mario then sets out and collects all the Crystal Stars, acquiring new partners on the way.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Meanwhile, Peach is held captive at the X-Nauts' base on the Moon. She gradually learns about the X-Nauts' plan, and e-mails her findings to Mario. Meanwhile, Bowser attempts to steal the Crystal Stars for himself to attempt to take over the world. The "treasure" is the dormant Shadow Queen, the demon responsible for the ancient cataclysm. Grodus intends to resurrect the Shadow Queen by using Peach's body as its new vessel, believing that he could control it and conquer the world. Peach is removed from their base before Mario arrives. Mario unlocks the Thousand-Year Door with the Crystal Stars but is unable to prevent the Shadow Queen's possession of Peach. With the help of the Crystal Stars, Mario defeats and exorcises the Shadow Queen. The game ends with Mario and Peach returning home together.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: Nintendo revealed "The Thousand-Year Door" at the Game Developers Conference of 2003. Before its release, the game was confirmed to be a direct sequel to the Nintendo 64 game "Paper Mario" and was known tentatively as "Mario Story 2" in Japan and "Paper Mario 2" in North America. A preview of the game was available at E3 2004; it included Hooktail Castle and a Bowser bonus level as playable stages. The game was released on October 11, 2004, in North America.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: In 2008, Morgan Creek Productions filed a lawsuit against Nintendo alleging that they illegally used the song "You're So Cool" from the film "True Romance" in an advertisement for the game. Morgan Creek dropped the case six days later, after Nintendo revealed that the advertising agency, Leo Burnett USA, Inc., had licensing for the song.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door" received critical acclaim, with review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings giving the game an 87/100 and 88/100 respectively. Critics particularly praised the plot: GameSpot's Greg Kasavin stated that "each [chapter] provides a thrill of discovery.", while Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell welcomed the whimsical storyline in comparison to traditional role-playing games, commenting that "[it is] something closer to "Finding Nemo" than "Final Fantasy", which is very much a compliment." The game's characters were also well received, with reviewers complimenting the use of NPCs and text. Despite this, some commentators complained that the story developed slowly in the game's beginning stages. Eurogamer rated the large amount of text as "the only major stumbling block" of the game.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: One of "The Thousand-Year Door"'s main features, the use of a paper-based gameplay mechanic, was welcomed by reviewers. When referring to the paper theme, 1UP commented that "It's a cohesive, clever approach that turns the game's visual style into more than just a look." Critics also commented extensively on the game's battle system, which deviated from traditional RPGs. GameSpy praised the use of timing in the battle system, stating that "these twitch elements were designed to be fun and engaging, and they succeed wonderfully at this." Reviewers also praised the concept of having an audience to reward or berate Mario during battle.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: The game's visuals received a mixed response from critics. GameSpot enjoyed the game's presentation, writing that "it exhibits a level of visual artistry and technical prowess matched or exceeded by few other GameCube games." Conversely, other reviewers complained that the graphics were not much of a visual upgrade from its predecessor, "Paper Mario". For the game's use of audio, IGN declared it "game music at its purest", but proceeded to question the absence of voice acting in the text based game. RPGamer commented that the music "for the most part is done very well", but that the perceived repetitive battle music was "one of the biggest flaws" of the game. The game won "Role Playing Game of the Year" at the 2005 Interactive Achievement Awards, and was nominated for GameSpot's 2004 "Best Story", "Best Graphics, Artistic" and "Funniest Game" awards. The game was ranked 56th in Official Nintendo Magazine's "100 Greatest Nintendo Games" feature. Edge Magazine placed the game 93rd on their 100 best video games in 2007.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: In its first week of release in Japan, "The Thousand-Year Door" was the best-selling game, selling about 159,000 units. It proceeded to sell 409,000 units in the country and 1.23 million copies in North America. The game has since been included in the Player's Choice line.


title: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

text: "The Thousand-Year Door" is considered by many to be the best game in the "Paper Mario" series. Later games to appear in the series, starting in 2007 with "Super Paper Mario", began to change the format and genre after each release to fit the scope of an action-adventure series, by removing certain role-playing game elements and other features, such as combat. The new approach was often critiqued by critics, and most reviewers compare the game to "The Thousand-Year Door" to highlight what the games were lacking. "" returned some minor elements that were ultimately removed from the games that it followed, such as "", but most critics still derided the game of having a lack thereof.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: Alan Hale Sr. (born Rufus Edward Mackahan; February 10, 1892 – January 22, 1950) was an American actor and director. He is best remembered for his many character roles, in particular as a frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn, as well as films supporting Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Douglas Fairbanks, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and Ronald Reagan. Hale was usually billed as Alan Hale and his career in film lasted 40 years. His son, Alan Hale Jr., also became an actor and remains most famous for playing "the Skipper" on the television series "Gilligan's Island".


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: His first film role was in the 1911 silent movie "The Cowboy and the Lady". He became a leading man while working in 1913–1915 for the Biograph Company in their special feature film productions sponsored and controlled by Marc Klaw and Abraham Erlanger. Later, he became more of a character actor; he played "Little John" in the film "Robin Hood" (1922), with Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery, reprised the role 16 years later in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone, then played him once more in "Rogues of Sherwood Forest" (1950) with John Derek as Robin Hood's son, a unique 28-year string of portrayals of the same character in theatrical films. Hale played Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939), featuring a pivotal confrontation with the Earl of Essex, portrayed by Flynn.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: His other films include the epic "The Trap" (1922) with Lon Chaney, "Skyscraper" (1928); as well as "Fog Over Frisco" with Bette Davis; "Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen" with Baby LeRoy and William Frawley; "The Little Minister" with Katharine Hepburn; and "It Happened One Night" with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert; (all released in 1934); "Stella Dallas" with Barbara Stanwyck; "High, Wide, and Handsome" (both 1937) with Irene Dunne and Dorothy Lamour; "The Fighting 69th" with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien; "They Drive By Night" with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart; "Virginia City" (all 1940) with Errol Flynn, Randolph Scott, and Humphrey Bogart; "Manpower" (1941) with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft; and as the cantankerous Sgt. McGee in the "This Is the Army" (1943) with Irving Berlin. He also co-starred with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in the successful western film "Dodge City" (1939) where he played the slightly dimwitted but likeable and comical Rusty Hart, sidekick to Flynn's character, Sheriff Wade Hatton. Hale co-starred with Errol Flynn in 13 movies.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: Hale also had success as an inventor. Among his innovations were a sliding theater chair (to allow spectators to slide back to admit newcomers rather than standing), the hand fire extinguisher, and greaseless potato chips.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: Hale's wife of over 30 years was Gretchen Hartman (1897–1979), a former child actress, silent film player, and mother of the couple's three children.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: He was the father of actor Alan Hale Jr., best known as "the Skipper" in the "Gilligan's Island" television series. Father and son closely resembled one another, leading to occasional confusion after Hale Sr.'s death when Hale Jr. dropped the Jr. from his name. Hale Sr. and Hale Jr. both played the same character, Porthos the musketeer, in movies 40 years apart. Alan Hale Sr. played the character in the 1939 film "Man in the Iron Mask", while Alan Hale Jr. played him in "The Fifth Musketeer" in 1979.


title: Alan Hale Sr.

text: Alan Hale Sr. died at age 57 in Hollywood, California, on January 22, 1950, following a liver ailment and viral infection. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, next to his wife.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Mitsubishi Xpander is a car manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors since 2017. It is a compact MPV with standard three-row seating and has also been prominently marketed as a "crossover MPV". The vehicle was introduced in July 2017 in Indonesia, where the vehicle is manufactured and sold as a high-volume model. Introductions in other markets started since 2018, and the vehicle is mainly sold in emerging countries in Southeast Asia along with several Latin American, African and Middle Eastern markets. It was the fourth best-selling Mitsubishi Motors model globally in 2018 and 2019, and became its third best-selling model in 2021.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: In late 2019, a more rugged-looking variant was introduced as the Xpander Cross. A rebadged and redesigned variant of the Xpander, with mainly different front and rear fascias, is sold by Nissan as the second-generation Livina since February 2019.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The vehicle design was previewed by the "XM Concept" that was first displayed at the 24th Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show in August 2016. The official teaser images of the car were revealed on the Mitsubishi Motors website on 17 July 2017. The car was unveiled in Jakarta on 24 July 2017 and debuted on 10 August 2017 at the 25th Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show. The car went on sale in Indonesia on 3 October 2017.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: Classified as a "Small Crossover MPV" by the carmaker, the design of the Xpander is claimed to be inspired by crossover SUVs and adopted the then-recent Dynamic Shield design philosophy.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The vehicle has been exported throughout Southeast Asia, Nepal, Bolivia, Peru, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Mexico. A sub-model called the Xpander Cross has been available as a more rugged-looking variant of the vehicle since November 2019.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander is manufactured in Indonesia at the Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Indonesia (MMKI) plant, and also assembled by kits by Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam since July 2020, and by DRB-HICOM in Malaysia since September 2020. To meet the unexpected high demand, the MMKI plant increased the production output from 5,000 to 10,000 units per month by early 2018. 104,000 units were sold globally in 2018, followed by 114,000 units sold in 2019, higher than initial annual target of 80,000 units.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: In Indonesia, the Xpander was initially available in five trim levels: GLX, GLS, Exceed, Sport and Ultimate. The manual transmission was initially offered in GLX, GLS and Exceed trims, while the automatic unit was initially offered in Exceed, Sport and Ultimate trims. The GLS trim with automatic transmission and Sport trim with manual unit were added later in August 2018. The Limited Edition variant based on the Ultimate trim with aerokits was made available in April 2019 to commemorate the sale of the Xpander which had reached 100,000 units. Only 1,000 units were made.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander received a minor update on 21 February 2020 with a redesigned grille and LED headlights. The Exceed, Sport and Ultimate trims received redesigned 16-inch two-tone alloy wheels and some equipments were changed, while the GLX trim was discontinued.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: On 20 October 2020, the Black Edition variant based on the Exceed trim was made available limited to 1,000 units.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Rockford Fosgate Black Edition variant based on the Sport trim was made available on 10 June 2021, which added the Rockford Fosgate subwoofer.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander received its facelift on 8 November 2021 with redesigned front and rear fascias, headlights, tail lights, dashboard, and steering wheel design. The latter two were only applied to Sport and Ultimate trims. The 4-speed automatic transmission is replaced by a CVT unit and the electronic parking brake is also adopted on Sport (CVT only) and Ultimate trims. Some other updates include increased wheel size (up to 17 inches), digital air conditioning system on Sport and Ultimate trims, adoption of idling start-stop system, the installation of an external exhaust gas recirculation system for the "4A91" engine, improved chassis rigidity, and retuned suspension systems.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander made its debut in the Philippines on 1 March 2018 and went on sale in May 2018 as the replacement to the Adventure. An imported model, it was initially available in four trim levels: GLX, GLX Plus, GLS and GLS Sport.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The updated Xpander was launched in March 2020 alongside the Xpander Cross, which replaced the GLS Sport trim, making the regular Xpander available in three trim levels.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander Black Series was unveiled on 4 November 2021, replacing chrome trim in favour of matte black trim on the front and rear fascias, body panels, and door panels.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The facelifted Xpander was unveiled on 5 March 2022 and officially launched on 19 May 2022. For the Philippine market, the facelifted Xpander retained the 4-speed automatic transmission. The GLX Plus variant was removed from the lineup and was replaced by the automatic variant of the GLX.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: In Thailand, the Xpander was introduced in August 2018 and is available in two trim levels: GLS Limited and GT.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The facelifted Xpander was released on 22 March 2022. For the Thai market, the facelifted Xpander replaced the 4-speed automatic transmission with the CVT.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander was launched in Vietnam on 8 August 2018, initially available in two trim levels: Standard (paired with a 5-speed manual transmission) and Eco (paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission). It became the country's best-selling MPV in the same year, surpassing the Toyota Innova.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The updated Xpander was launched in Vietnam on 3 June 2020, it retains the pre-update lineup alongside the Xpander Cross. Due to the high demand of Xpander in the country, Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam started production of the Xpander locally in its assembly plant in Bình Dương province on 20 July 2020.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The facelifted Xpander was launched on 13 June 2022, which added the flagship Premium trim. It retained the 4-speed automatic transmission from the previous models.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: In Brunei, the Xpander was launched in Brunei on 17 May 2019. The trim levels offered are GLX and GLS with manual or automatic transmissions. The updated Xpander for the Bruneian market was launched in November 2020.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander was launched in Malaysia on 20 November 2020. It is locally assembled at the DRB-HICOM facility in Pekan, Pahang and is only offered in one trim.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander was introduced in the Mexican market on 19 July 2021. It is offered in one trim level alongside the Xpander Cross.


title: Mitsubishi Xpander

text: The Xpander was launched in South Africa on 17 June 2021. It is only offered in one trim with 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmission options.