title: Shaquill Griffin

text: He made his professional regular season debut in the Seattle Seahawks' season-opener at the Green Bay Packers and made a season-high ten combined tackles and deflected one pass during their 17–9 loss. Griffin played the majority of the game after Jeremy Lane was ejected in the first quarter after allegedly throwing a punch at Packers wide receiver Davante Adams. On October 8, 2017, Griffin made his first career start after Jeremy Lane was inactive after suffering a groin injury during their Week 4 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He finished the Seahawks' 16–10 win against the Los Angeles Rams with six solo tackles and one pass deflection. The following week, Griffin earned his second consecutive start with Lane still inactive and recorded three solo tackles and a season-high three pass deflections in Seattle's 24–7 victory at the New York Giants. After Lane returned from injury, head coach Pete Carroll stated Griffin would remain the starting cornerback entering Week 8.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: On November 20, 2017, Griffin recorded one solo tackle before leaving the Seahawks' 34–31 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the first quarter after suffering a concussion. He remained in concussion protocol and was inactive for the Seahawks' 24–13 victory at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12. During a Week 16 matchup at the Dallas Cowboys, Griffin collected five combined tackles and made his first career sack on Dak Prescott as the Seahawks defeated them 21–12. On December 31, 2017, Griffin recorded six solo tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career interception during their 26–24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. His first career interception came in the third quarter off a pass attempt by Drew Stanton intended for Jaron Brown. He finished the season with 59 combined tackles (50 solo), 15 pass deflections, one interception, and one sack in 15 games and 11 starts. Pro Football Focus gave Griffin an overall grade of 77.2, ranking as the 58th-highest grade among all qualified cornerbacks in 2017.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: Shaquill was reunited with his twin brother Shaquem Griffin in the 2018 season, as Shaquem was drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth round (141st overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft on April 28, 2018.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: On September 17, 2018, Griffin notched two interceptions and three pass deflections against Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in a 17-24 road loss at Soldier Field.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: In Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, Griffin recorded his first interception of the season (and since 2018) off a pass thrown by Dak Prescott during the 38–31 win.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: In Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, Griffin recorded another interception, this time thrown by Ryan Fitzpatrick, during the 31–23 win. Griffin’s second interception of the season tied a single season career high.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: In Week 15 against the Washington Football Team, Griffin intercepted a pass thrown by Dwayne Haskins during the 20–15 win. This was his third interception of the season which set a new single season career high.


title: Shaquill Griffin

text: On March 17, 2021, Griffin signed a three-year, $44.5 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: Subramaniapuram is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language period action film produced, written, and directed by Sasikumar. The low-budget film received critical acclaim for its original script, expert direction, screenplay, editing, fresh music, accurate sets and costumes to resurrect Madurai from the 1980s.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: Sasikumar cast then relatively new actors Jai, Swathi, Ganja Karuppu and himself in pivotal roles. Shot in 85 days, it became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year. The movie was dubbed into Malayalam under the same name, into Telugu as "Ananthapuram 1980", and remade in Kannada in 2012 as "Prem Adda". Director Anurag Kashyap had revealed twice that this film was the inspiration for his "Gangs of Wasseypur" series - once in 2010 and once on the 10th anniversary of this film. It also marked Swati Reddy’s Tamil film debut.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The story takes place in the Subramaniapuram area of Madurai city. A convict is released from prison in 2008 after serving 28 years and is stabbed right outside the prison gates. The police are baffled at this as the convict had never spoken to anyone in the prison and refused to meet anyone coming to visit him from the outside during his time in prison. They are shocked about the fact that someone had a grudge against him for 28 years to stab him when he stepped outside prison.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The film then moves to 1980 where Azhagar (Jai), Paraman (M. Sasikumar), Kaasi (Ganja Karuppu), Dopa and Dumka, a polio-stricken physically challenged person, are part of a set of close friends, who are unemployed. They pass their time drinking liquor and fooling around on the streets opposite the house of an ex-councilor Somu and his brother Kanugu (Samuthirakani). Apart from them, the family consists of Somu's wife, their three children including Thulasi (Swathi) and Thulasi's other uncle.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The five friends, particularly Paraman and Azhagu, often end up in jail due to frequent fighting. Cops get a call from someone complaining about the friends each time they do something wrong. Every time they are arrested, Kanugu and Somu bail them out immediately. In the meantime, Azhagu and Thulasi develop mutual feelings for each other. Paraman is against his friend developing feelings for a girl and Azhagu, not heeding to his friends' thoughts, throws up quite a few funny scenes.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: There are signs of things to come when Somu is not selected in a local temple's committee for a function. Things take a sudden turn just before intermission when Somu is not elected for his party's (Tamil Nadu's ruling party at the time) district chief post and is ridiculed by his wife for being jobless. This leads Kanugu to lock himself up in a lodge and drink all day. He makes sure the friends hear about him and come to visit. He requests them to murder the person who was chosen for district chief of party post ahead of his brother. Azhagu, Paraman and Kaasi hatch a plan and execute the person almost perfectly. The first half ends here with them running away after the murder leaving a cycle behind.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The second half begins with the cops finding out that Paraman and Azhagu have committed the murder with the help of the cycle they left behind. They surrender themselves before the court hoping that Kanagu will bail them out soon. But they come in for a rude shock when they learn through Kaasi that Somu has been selected for the district chief of party post and is avoiding their contact. They come to terms with reality and stay helpless in jail where they befriend a fellow inmate. He learns their situation and bails them out.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The same friend who aided these guys expects a favor from them — kill his brother-in-law for murdering his sister. Accomplishing this task, these guys now look out for killing Kanugu who cheated them. In the meantime, Thulasi and Azhagu continue to meet up. This leads to Azhagar almost getting killed by Kanugu's men. The friends strike back killing those men later in the day. A few days later they end up hurting Thulasi's uncle in their bid to kill Kanugu. To save his life from the clutches of these buddies, Kanugu sets a trap for Azhagar using Thulasi as bait and kills him using his henchmen. Paraman takes revenge for his friend's death by decapitating Kanugu and laying his head at his friend's murder site. Paraman then calls to Kasi and reveals how he killed Kanugu, during which he sees Somu's henchmen rushing behind Kasi. Kasi betrays Paraman and leaves him at the mercy of the henchmen who kill him.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: The story shifts back to the present day where it is revealed the person who was stabbed outside the prison walls is Kasi. He lies in the hospital in critical condition and is being interrogated by a policeman. The doctor intervenes and asks him to leave, after which Dumka comes in and reveals that it is Dopa who stabbed him and then proceeds to remove his air supply and kills him after reminding him of his betrayal.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: It was during the initial phases of Ameer's "Paruthiveeran" (2007) that Sasikumar began his groundwork for Subramaniapuram and left the production to focus on his film. Sasikumar started collecting old photos, banners and boards of shops to imitate the style of writing from that period and also searched the Internet extensively for photographs of the 80s. He especially researched photographs of wedding processions along the streets for a clear picture of how the roads looked and the kind of vehicles in use. The team relied on this visual information to construct the sets for the film.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: Shanthanu Bhagyaraj was approached to play the leading role in the film and Sasikumar began discussions with his father K. Bhagyaraj over Shanthanu's availability. Bhagyaraj had been keen to ensure that "Sakkarakatti" (2008) was his son's first release, as the team had brought in a prominent producer S. Thanu and musician A. R. Rahman. Sasikumar stated that he was unable to wait for "Sakkarakatti"'s release as he had loans to pay and moved ahead without the actor.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: Jai, who earlier appeared in "Chennai 600028" (2007) was then selected to play a leading role after Sasikumar had seen him at Deva's residence and Jai signed up for the film without hearing the script under the basis that it was to be produced by director Ameer.


title: Subramaniapuram

text: "Subramaniapuram" has five songs composed by James Vasanthan. This is the first time a Tamil movie featured a promotional song. (The song does not feature in the movie but has been released to media). Sasikumar spoke of his apprehension to approach an established music director as he was a debut director himself. 'I was not sure whether they would listen to me and give me what I wanted' he said in an interview. Vasanthan had been Sasikumar's music teacher at St. Peter's boarding school in Kodaikkanal. Sasikumar approached James with the project and the music became a remarkable success. The film brought Vasanthan into prominence with the film's songs and background score gaining fame and being praised and the song "Kangal Irandal" topping the charts and being cited as the "anthem of the year among the youth".


title: Subramaniapuram

text: "Subramaniapuram" was released "two weeks after Kamal Hassan's "Dasavatharam"". The film was released only in Mini Udhayam but after the film's overwhelming response it later got released in theatres like Shanti and Sathyam Cinemas who were initially wary of releasing this film. The film ran successfully for 100 days. The film's satellite rights was initially sold to Zee Tamil who later resold it to Sun TV. The film had its television premiere on both the channels on the same day. The satellite rights to the Malayalam dubbed version was given to Amrita TV. The film received highly positive response from critics. "Sify" wrote "Sasikumar should be appreciated for making a bold and daring film, whose success will augur well for the industry. Subramaniapuram may be a bit brooding and dark, but still it's worth taking a look". "Rediff" wrote "Subramaniyapuram ends as it begins -- naturally, at its own pace. This one is for lovers of realistic cinema."


title: Subramaniapuram

text: On its 10th anniversary, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap tweeted that this film inspired him to make "Gangs of Wasseypur". The film's screenplay was released as a book in 2014.


title: Invicta Watch Group

text: Invicta is an American watch designer and manufacturer headquartered in Hollywood, Florida. Invicta began as a Swiss watch company in 1837 founded by Raphael Picard in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.


title: Invicta Watch Group

text: In the early 1980s, Invicta went bankrupt and was sold in 1983 to Ondix S.A, which continued producing Invicta watches in Switzerland. Ondix folded due to disappointing sales, and Invicta was re-established in 1991 when acquired by American owners. In April 2016, Invicta acquired Swiss watch manufacturer Glycine, with Invicta CEO promising to respect Glycine's independence as it supports the Swiss watchmaker financially.


title: Invicta Watch Group

text: Invicta produces some of its lineup in Switzerland—those models are signed "Swiss Made" on the watch face and specified in the website description for the models.


title: Invicta Watch Group

text: In November 2012, Invicta announced a line of watches endorsed and designed by hall of Fame NFL player Jason Taylor.


title: Invicta Watch Group

text: In February 2020, Invicta announced a partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for Shaquille O'Neal.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Merritt R. Butrick (September 3, 1959 – March 17, 1989) was an American actor, known for his roles on the teen sitcom "Square Pegs" (1982), in two "Star Trek" feature films, and a variety of other acting roles in the 1980s.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Butrick was born in Gainesville, Florida, and was an only child. He graduated in 1977 from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California. He attended the California Institute of the Arts for acting, but did not complete his degree.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: He was cast as John "Johnny Slash" Ulasewicz, a major supporting character in the teen sitcom "Square Pegs" (1982), which received critical praise but was cancelled after 19 episodes (one season). The character was described by one critic as an "apparent (but never declared) gay student."


title: Merritt Butrick

text: While "Square Pegs" was in pre-broadcast production, Butrick was cast to play David Marcus, the son of James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his former lover Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), in "" (1982). He continued the role in the follow-up film "" (1984), in which the character was killed. He later appeared as T'Jon, the captain of a cargo vessel rescued by the crew of the "Enterprise" in "" (1988), an episode of "".


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Meanwhile, he appeared in the comedy film "Zapped!" (1982), the horror film "Fright Night Part 2" (1988), and as Barbara Hershey's hillbilly son in the drama film "Shy People" (1987). He had a variety of guest roles on television series and television movies.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: He received critical praise from "Time" magazine for his performance at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in the play "Kingfish", in which he played a ditzy, petulant muscle-boy prostitute. It was his last acting role.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Butrick died of toxoplasmosis, complicated by AIDS, on March 17, 1989, at the age of 29. He has at least two panels dedicated to him as part of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, both referencing his role as David Marcus.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: The 2008 release of "Square Pegs" on DVD included a featurette dedicated to Butrick in which his co-stars Jami Gertz and Sarah Jessica Parker, and series creator Anne Beatts, paid tributes to and recounted anecdotes about Butrick.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Butrick's "Star Trek III" co-star Robin Curtis offered similar praise on the DVD commentary for that film. Director Nicholas Meyer, who had directed him in "Star Trek II", included a scene in "" (filmed after Butrick's death), in which Captain Kirk puts a photograph of his murdered son on his desk.


title: Merritt Butrick

text: Some sources state that Butrick was gay. Kirstie Alley, his co-star in "Star Trek II", identified Butrick as being bisexual.


title: Freedman

text: A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self-purchase. A fugitive slave is a person who escaped enslavement by fleeing.


title: Freedman

text: Rome differed from Greek city-states in allowing freed slaves to become plebeian citizens. The act of freeing a slave was called "manumissio", from "manus", "hand" (in the sense of holding or possessing something), and "missio", the act of releasing. After manumission, a slave who had belonged to a Roman citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom "(libertas)", including the right to vote. A slave who had acquired "libertas" was known as a "libertus" ("freed person", feminine "liberta") in relation to his former master, who was called his or her patron "(patronus)".


title: Freedman

text: As a social class, freed slaves were "liberti", though later Latin texts used the terms "libertus" and "libertini" interchangeably. "Libertini" were not entitled to hold public office or state priesthoods, nor could they achieve legitimate senatorial rank. During the early Empire, however, freedmen held key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that Hadrian limited their participation by law. Any future children of a freedman would be born free, with full rights of citizenship.


title: Freedman

text: The Claudian Civil Service set a precedent whereby freedmen could be used as civil servants in the Roman bureaucracy. In addition, Claudius passed legislation concerning slaves, including a law stating that sick slaves abandoned by their owners became freedmen if they recovered. The emperor was criticized for using freedmen in the Imperial Courts.


title: Freedman

text: Some freedmen enjoyed enormous success and became quite wealthy. The brothers who owned House of the Vettii, one of the biggest and most magnificent houses in Pompeii, are thought to have been freedmen. A freedman who became rich and influential might still be looked down on by the traditional aristocracy as a vulgar "nouveau riche". Trimalchio, a character in the "Satyricon" of Petronius, is a caricature of such a freedman.


title: Freedman

text: For centuries, Arab slave traders took and transported an estimated 10 to 15 million sub-Saharan Africans to slavery in North Africa and the Middle East. They also enslaved Europeans (known as "Saqaliba") from coastal areas and the Balkans. The slaves were predominantly women. Many Arabs took women slaves as concubines in their harems. In the patrilineal Arab societies, the mixed-race children of concubines and Arab men were considered free. They were given inheritance rights related to their fathers' property. No studies have been done of the influence of African-Arab descendants in the societies.


title: Freedman

text: In the United States, the terms "freedmen" and "freedwomen" refer chiefly to former slaves emancipated during and after the American Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. Slaves freed before the war (usually by individual manumissions, often in wills) were generally referred to as "Free Negroes" or free blacks. In addition, there was a population of black Americans born free.


title: Freedman

text: The great majority of families of free people of color recorded in the US census in the Upper South in the first two decades after the Revolutionary War have been found to have descended from unions between white women (indentured servants or free) and black men (whether indentured servants, slave or free) in colonial Virginia. According to the legal principle of partus sequitur ventrem, in the slave colonies (later states) children were born into the social status of their mothers; thus, mixed-race children of white women were born free. Such free families of color tended to migrate to the frontier of Virginia and other Upper South colonies, and then west into Kentucky, the future West Virginia, and Tennessee. In addition, during the first two decades after the Revolution, slaveholders freed thousands of slaves in the Upper South, inspired by revolutionary ideals. Most Northern states abolished slavery, some on a gradual basis.


title: Freedman

text: In Louisiana and other areas of the former New France, free people of color were classified in French as "gens de couleur libres". They were generally born to black or mixed-race mothers and white fathers of ethnic French or other European ancestry. The fathers sometimes freed their children and sexual partners, leading to the growth of the community of Creoles of color, or free people of color. New Orleans had the largest community of free people of color, well-established before the US acquired Louisiana. The French and Spanish colonial rulers had given the free people of color more rights than most free blacks had in the American South.


title: Freedman

text: In addition, there were sizable communities of free people of color in French Caribbean colonies, such as Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and Guadeloupe. Due to the violence of the Haitian Revolution, many free people of color, who were originally part of the revolution, fled the island as refugees after being attacked by slave rebels, particularly in the north of the island. Some went first to Cuba, from where they immigrated to New Orleans in 1808 and 1809 after being expelled when Napoleon invaded Spanish territory in Europe. Many brought slaves with them. Their numbers strengthened the French-speaking community of enslaved black peoples, as well as the free people of color. Other refugees from Saint-Domingue settled in Charleston, Savannah, and New York.


title: Freedman

text: The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared all enslaved persons in the Confederacy—states in rebellion and not under the control of the Union—to be permanently free. It did not end slavery in the five border states that had stayed in the Union. Slavery elsewhere was abolished by state action, or with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December of 1865. The Civil Rights Act of 1866, passed over the veto of President Andrew Johnson, gave the formerly enslaved full citizenship (except for voting) in the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment was passed to make clear that Congress had the legal authority to do so. The Fifteenth Amendment gave voting rights to all adult males; only adult males had the franchise among whites. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are known as the "civil rights amendments", the "post-Civil War amendments", and the "Reconstruction Amendments".


title: Freedman

text: To help freedmen transition from slavery to freedom, including a free labor market, President Abraham Lincoln created the Freedmen's Bureau, which assigned agents throughout the former Confederate states. The Bureau also founded schools to educate freedmen, both adults and children; helped freedmen negotiate labor contracts; and tried to minimize violence against freedmen. The era of Reconstruction was an attempt to establish new governments in the former Confederacy and to bring freedmen into society as voting citizens. Northern church bodies, such as the American Missionary Association and the Freewill Baptists, sent teachers to the South to assist in educating freedmen and their children, and eventually established several colleges for higher education. U.S. Army occupation soldiers were stationed throughout the South via military districts enacted by the Reconstruction Acts; they protected freedmen in voting polls and public facilities from violence and intimidation by white Southerners, which were common throughout the region.


title: Freedman

text: The Cherokee, Choctaw and Creek nations were among those Native American tribes that held enslaved blacks before and during the American Civil War. They supported the Confederacy during the war, supplying some warriors in the West, as they were promised their own state if the Confederacy won. After the end of the war, the U.S. required these tribes to make new peace treaties, and to emancipate their slaves. They were required to offer full citizenship in their tribes to those freedmen who wanted to stay with the tribes. Numerous families had intermarried by that time or had other personal ties. If freedmen left the tribes, they would become US citizens.


title: Freedman

text: In the late 20th century, the Cherokee Nation voted for restrictions on membership to only those descendants of people listed as "Cherokee by blood" on the Dawes Rolls of the early 20th century, a decision that excluded most Cherokee Freedmen (by that time this term referred to descendants of the original group). In addition to arguing that the post-Civil War treaties gave them citizenship, the Freedmen have argued that the Dawes Rolls were often inaccurate, recording as freedmen even those individuals who had partial Cherokee ancestry and were considered Cherokee by blood. The Choctaw Freedmen and Creek Freedmen have similarly struggled with their respective tribes over the terms of citizenship in contemporary times. (The tribes have wanted to limit those who can benefit from tribal citizenship, in an era in which gaming casinos are yielding considerable revenues for members.) The majority of members of the tribes have voted to limit membership. Descendants of freedmen, however, maintain that their rights to citizenship granted under the post-Civil War treaties should be restored. In 2017 the Cherokee Freedmen were granted citizenship again in the tribe.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as "The Comedians" and "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club". His act became controversial as attitudes changed, with the result that Manning was rarely seen on television in the last few decades of his career. However, he continued to perform at live venues until his death.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Manning was born in Harpurhey, Lancashire, and raised in Ancoats, both poor districts of Manchester, the second of three brothers and two sisters. He had Russian Jewish ancestry on his father's side, as well as roots in Ireland, and was brought up a "strict Catholic". He claimed, in an interview with "The Daily Telegraph"s Allison Pearson, that his paternal grandfather came from Sebastopol, and changed the family name from Blomberg.


title: Bernard Manning

text: He left school aged 14, worked in a tobacco factory and joined his father's greengrocery business, before joining the British Army to do his National Service.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Manning had little thought of entertainment as a career, until posted to Germany where, in his self-written obituary (in which he claimed to have guarded Nazi war criminals Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer in Spandau Prison, Berlin, just after the Second World War), he began to sing popular songs to entertain his fellow soldiers and pass the time. This ability led him to put on free shows at the weekends; when he began to charge admission and audiences did not decrease, he realised that there was a possibility of making money from show business.


title: Bernard Manning

text: On returning to England, Manning continued to sing professionally, and also worked as a compère. He was an effective singer of popular ballads and fronted big bands in the 1950s, such as the Oscar Rabin Band, which included appearances at the Ritz Hotel. Over the years he began to introduce humour into his compering. This went down well, and Manning slowly moved from being a singer and compère to a comedian. In 1959, Manning borrowed £30,000 from his father and bought a dilapidated billiard hall on the A664 Rochdale Road, and turned it into the Embassy Club. Rather quickly Manning's income substantially increased. The club played host to many other acts, and Manning claimed that the Beatles performed there early in their career.


title: Bernard Manning

text: After much work in comedy clubs and northern working men's clubs in the 1950s and 1960s, he made his television debut in 1971 on the Granada comedy show "The Comedians". He compèred "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club", which began in 1974. In this period, Manning's material was often accepted as being "harmless banter".


title: Bernard Manning

text: He had a starring role in a comedy quiz show "Under Manning", produced by Southern Television in 1981. The series was poorly received and short-lived, and by the 1980s Manning had fallen out of favour with television companies, either because of changing tastes or his failure to compromise with television companies. However his appearances on the northern Working Men's Club circuit continued, playing to packed audiences which he claimed sometimes included people from ethnic minorities.


title: Bernard Manning

text: In 1994, two black waitresses at a charity dinner at a hotel in Derbyshire took exception to Manning's act and appealed to an industrial tribunal against the management of the hotel for racial discrimination, claiming that the word "wog" had been used. Manning said in response that "wog" was "a horrible, insulting word I've never used in my life" but defended use of the words "nigger" and "coon" as historical terms with legitimate roots. The complainants initially lost, but the decision was overturned on appeal and they were awarded an undisclosed sum. On an appearance on "The Mrs. Merton Show" on 19 March 1998, Manning admitted that he was a racist, which surprised host Caroline Aherne and went down badly with the audience.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Manning never toned down his act, but he had a minor television career revival towards the end of his life, including Channel 4 taking him to Mumbai to perform. In October 2002, he participated in a "Great Lives" programme for Radio 4. He chose to honour the Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa. In 2003, Manning was initially reported to have been booked to play a BNP rally. He denied this, telling the "Daily Mirror": "It's a lot of bollocks. I don't know where I'm working. Speak to my agent. I don't know about any BNP nonsense. I would not do it anyway. Do you think I'm fucking barmy?" In 2006, he appeared at the 45th birthday party of chef Marco Pierre White.


title: Bernard Manning

text: From 1999 his son, Bernard Manning Jr, managed the Embassy Club, shortly after his father had a mini stroke and became deaf in one ear. He considered his father's act inappropriate for bookings and sought to turn the club into an alternative comedy venue.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Race, sex, and religion were all part of the material for many of Manning's jokes. Manning's detractors criticised his style of humour, with television presenter Esther Rantzen commenting that "for me, he's always been the villain of comedy". Manning's family and friends said that his controversial ways were all an act. He lived next door to an Indian physician's family, who have appeared in many newspaper articles over the years to defend Manning. Satya Rudravajhala, the widow of Visveswara Rao Rudravajhala, wrote a eulogy that was published in the local paper, the "Middleton Guardian", conveying the family's sentiments.


title: Bernard Manning

text: In interviews with journalists, Manning would remind them of his appearance with Dean Martin in Las Vegas and meeting the Queen. He said he was a great believer in family values who never swore in front of his mother, stating: "I dragged myself up by my bootlaces. I don't drink or smoke, I don't take drugs. I have never been a womaniser. I was brought up right with good parents and I have never been in trouble or harmed no-one. And I love my family."


title: Bernard Manning

text: In March 2007, he was ranked 29th on the list of the 100 Greatest Stand Up comedians in a poll conducted by Channel 4. The writer and performer Barry Cryer said when Manning died: "The thing about Bernard was that he looked funny, he sounded funny and he had excellent timing. It was just what he actually said that could be worrying."


title: Bernard Manning

text: Manning was a lifelong Manchester City supporter. He was the subject of "This Is Your Life" on 27 November 1991. For many of his later years, he was a teetotaler and a diabetic.


title: Bernard Manning

text: Having been admitted two weeks earlier for a kidney complaint, Manning died in North Manchester General Hospital at 3:10 pm on 18 June 2007. He was 76. He had written his own eulogy, which appeared as an obituary in the "Daily Mail" two days later.


title: Bernard Manning

text: In 2010, BBC Four commissioned Alice Nutter to write a biographical drama based on Manning's life. The screenplay was completed but cuts to the channel's budget led to the piece never being filmed.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645 during the First English Civil War, near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, destroyed the main Royalist army under Charles I and Prince Rupert. Defeat ended any real hope of Royalist victory, although Charles did not finally surrender until May 1646.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The 1645 campaign began in April when the newly formed New Model Army marched west to relieve Taunton, before being ordered back to lay siege to Oxford, the Royalist wartime capital. On 31 May, the Royalists stormed Leicester and Fairfax was instructed to abandon the siege and engage them. Although heavily outnumbered, Charles decided to stand and fight and after several hours of combat, his force was effectively destroyed. The Royalists suffered over 1,000 casualties, with over 4,500 of their infantry captured and paraded through the streets of London; they would never again field an army of comparable quality.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: They also lost all their artillery and stores, along with Charles' personal baggage and private papers, which revealed his attempts to bring the Irish Catholic Confederation and foreign mercenaries into the war. These were published in a pamphlet titled "The King's Cabinet Opened", whose appearance was a great boost to the cause of Parliament.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: In July 1644, a Parliamentarian force under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell secured control of Northern England by victory at Marston Moor. However, this was offset first by defeat at Lostwithiel in September, then lack of decisiveness at the Second Battle of Newbury in October. The two commanders involved, Essex and Manchester, were accused by many in Parliament of lacking commitment, a group that included moderates like Sir William Waller as well as radicals like Cromwell.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: In December, Sir Henry Vane introduced the Self-denying Ordinance, requiring any military officers to resign from Parliament. As members of the House of Lords, Manchester and Essex were automatically removed since unlike MPs they could not resign their titles, although they could be re-appointed, 'if Parliament approved.' It also led to the creation of the New Model Army, a centralised, professional force. Moderates Fairfax and Philip Skippon were appointed Commander-in-Chief and head of the infantry respectively; Cromwell remained an MP but was given command of the cavalry on a 'temporary' three-month commission, constantly renewed.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: At the outset of 1645, the Royalist high command was divided on strategy. Prince Rupert of the Rhine, recently appointed senior commander, wanted to link up with his brother Prince Maurice at Chester and retake the north, a key source of recruits and supplies. A faction headed by Lord Digby considered the New Model a threat to their capital at Oxford, while a third group preferred to consolidate control of the West Country. On 30 April, Fairfax marched west to relieve the Parliamentarian stronghold of Taunton; Lord Goring was despatched with 3,000 cavalry to support the Siege of Taunton, while the main Royalist field army of 8,600 men under Charles I and Prince Rupert moved north.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Concerned by this threat, Parliament's Committee of Both Kingdoms ordered Fairfax to change his plans and besiege Oxford. Although he made little progress, by the end of May the town was running short of provisions and to relieve the pressure, the Royalists stormed the Parliamentarian-held town of Leicester on 31 May, allegedly killing over 700 soldiers and civilians. Alarmed by this, Parliament instructed Fairfax to abandon the siege and on 5 June he marched north to engage the Royalist army. Unlike Prince Rupert who had been beaten by Fairfax and Cromwell the previous summer, Digby and Charles dismissed the fighting capabilities of the New Model. Despite being seriously outnumbered, they were eager for battle; messages were sent ordering Goring to rejoin them, but he refused to leave the West Country.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: On 12 June, the Royalists were alerted to the presence of the New Model when Parliamentarian patrols clashed with their outposts near Daventry. The next day, Fairfax was reinforced by Cromwell's cavalry and troops from the Eastern Association under Edward Rossiter, bringing his numbers up to 14,000. Although Prince Rupert favoured withdrawing, Digby convinced Charles that retreat would be bad for morale and they decided to stand and fight.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The morning of 14 June was foggy, preventing the opposing armies from sighting each other at first. The Royalists occupied a strong position on a ridge between the villages of Little Oxendon and East Farndon about south of Market Harborough. The Royalist scoutmaster, Sir Francis Ruce, was sent out to find the Parliamentarian army and rode south for but saw no sign of it, perhaps through negligence. Rupert himself moved forward and saw some Parliamentarian cavalry, apparently retiring. He was determined to secure the commanding Naseby ridge and ordered the Royalist army to advance.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Fairfax initially considered occupying the northern slopes of Naseby ridge. Cromwell believed that this position was too strong, and that the Royalists would refuse battle rather than attack it. He is said to have sent a message to Fairfax, saying, "I beseech you, withdraw to yonder hill, which may provoke the enemy to charge us". Fairfax agreed, and moved his army back slightly.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Royalists did not see Fairfax's position until they reached the village of Clipston, just over a mile north of Naseby ridge. It was clearly impossible for the Royalists to withdraw to their original position without being attacked by the Parliamentarian cavalry while on the line of march and therefore at a disadvantage. Rupert deployed the army to its right, where the ground appeared to be more favourable for his own cavalry and prepared for battle.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Royalists occupied a front of about a mile and a half, between the Clipston-Naseby track on the left and the Sulby Hedges on the right. Their right wing consisted of between 2,000 and 3,000 cavalry under Prince Rupert and his brother Prince Maurice. The centre was commanded by Lord Astley and organised as three infantry brigades or "tertias" under Sir George Lisle, Henry Bard and Astley's son, Sir Bernard Astley, with a regiment of horse under Colonel Howard in support. On the left under Sir Marmaduke Langdale were 1,500 "Northern Horse", the remnants of cavalry regiments which had escaped from Marston Moor. Charles commanded a small reserve, consisting of his own and Rupert's regiments of foot (800 in total) and his lifeguard of horse.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Fairfax had drawn up his army on the ridge a mile north of Naseby, although some of it was behind the crest on the reverse slope. Ireton's wing of five and a half regiments of cavalry was on the left. The infantry under Sergeant-Major General Sir Philip Skippon was in the centre with five regiments on the front line and three in support. A forlorn hope of 300 musketeers was deployed to the front, with a reserve provided by two companies of Colonel Edward Harley's regiment, commanded by its Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pride. A Parliamentarian engraving of the battle shows 11 pieces of artillery, in the intervals between the infantry regiments. They played little part in the battle; their first salvoes went high, and the Royalist and Parliamentarian infantry were subsequently too closely engaged for the guns to be used. Cromwell's wing, with six and a half regiments of cavalry, was on the right.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Parliamentarian army occupied a front about long. They outflanked the Royalist left, but their own left flank rested, like the Royalists' right flank, on the Sulby Hedges. At the last minute, as the Royalists began to advance, Cromwell sent a regiment of dragoons under Colonel John Okey into the Sulby Hedges, where they could fire into the flank of Rupert's cavalry. The number of dragoons has generally been reported as their official strength of 1,000 but an analysis of pay warrants shows it was no more than 676 in total.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Royalist centre attacked first, with Rupert keeping his own wing of cavalry in hand so that the horse and foot could hit the enemy simultaneously. Skippon's infantry moved forward over the crest of the ridge to meet the Royalist foot. There was time for only one volley of musketry before both sides were fighting hand-to-hand, the veteran Royalist infantry using their swords and the butt ends of their muskets. Sir Edward Walker, Charles's secretary of war, stated "The Foot on either side hardly saw each other until they were within Carabine Shot, and so made only one Volley; our falling in with Sword and butt end of the Musquet did notable Execution, so much as I saw their Colours fall and their Foot in great Disorder." Skippon was wounded by a bullet which splintered his armour and struck him under the ribs, although he stayed on the field to prevent panic from spreading. Even so, the Parliamentarians were hard-pressed and forced back.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: On the Parliamentarian left, the opposing wings of horse paused briefly to dress ranks before charging into each other. Ireton's own regiment repulsed their Royalist opposite numbers, but Ireton then led at least part of them to the aid of the beleaguered Parliamentarian infantry. His troopers were driven off by Royalist pikemen, and Ireton himself was unhorsed, wounded in the leg and face and taken prisoner. At the same time, the second line of Royalist cavalry broke most of the Parliamentarian horsemen. Some of Ireton's regiments, on the far left, were saved from destruction by the fire from Okey's dragoons, but the others broke and fled, some of them not stopping until they reached Northampton, away. The entire Royalist right wing had been committed to defeating Ireton, and none were left in reserve. Rupert either neglected or was unable to rally the cavalier horsemen, who galloped off the battlefield in pursuit of the fleeing Parliamentarians.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Meanwhile, the Parliamentarian right wing of horse under Cromwell and the Royalist Northern Horse faced each other, neither willing to charge to the aid of their infantry while the other could threaten their flank. Eventually, after half an hour, the Royalist cavalry began to charge and Cromwell's troops moved to meet them. Langdale's men were not only outflanked and outnumbered two to one, but forced to charge up a slope broken up by bushes and a rabbit warren. After a brief contest, they were routed.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Unlike Rupert, Cromwell had roughly half of his wing uncommitted, as only the front line of Cromwell's wing had taken part in the defeat of Langdale. He sent only four divisions (roughly two regiments) after Langdale, and turned his reserves against the left flank and rear of the Royalist centre. At about the same time, Okey's dragoons mounted their horses and charged from the Sulby Hedges against the right wing of the Royalist infantry, as did some of Ireton's regiments which had partly rallied.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Some of the trapped Royalist infantry began to throw down their arms and call for quarter; others tried to conduct a fighting retreat. One regiment, apparently Rupert's "Bluecoats", stood their ground and repulsed all attacks. One eyewitness said "The Blue regiment of the Kings stood to it very stoutly, and stirred not, like a wall of brasse...". Eventually, Fairfax led his own regiment of foot and horse against them, breaking their resistance, with Fairfax reportedly capturing their standard himself. Archaeological evidence, chiefly recovered musket balls, suggests this episode took place in the vicinity of Long Hold Spinney, about behind the original Royalist positions.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: At some stage, the King attempted to lead his lifeguard of horse to the rescue of his centre or in a counter-attack against Cromwell's troopers, but was prevented from doing so by a Scottish nobleman, the Earl of Carnwath, who seized his bridle and said, "Would you go upon your death, Sire?" Seeing the King swerve away from the enemy, his lifeguard also retreated in disorder for several hundred yards. Meanwhile, Rupert's cavalry had reached Naseby and the Parliamentarian baggage, whose escort refused to surrender and drove them off. Although Rupert rallied his men and returned to the battlefield, it was now too late to save the remnants of their infantry, and he could not induce his cavalry to make another charge. Fairfax halted and reorganised his lines, and when he resumed his advance, the Royalist cavalry withdrew.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Fairfax's forces pursued survivors fleeing north towards Leicester. Archaeological evidence suggests fugitives and Royalist baggage guards tried to rally on the slopes of Castle Yard (also known as Wadborough Hill), a wooded hill with the ruins of a motte and bailey castle, about behind the original battle line. Many Royalists were slaughtered when they mistakenly followed what they thought was the main road to Leicester into the churchyard in the village of Marston Trussell, and were unable to escape their pursuers. In the aftermath of the battle, Parliamentarian troops reportedly killed at least 100 female camp-followers and mutilated many others. This was supposedly done in the belief they were Irish, though the women were probably Welsh whose language was mistaken for Irish.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: Fairfax recovered Leicester on 18 June. He immediately led his army southwest to relieve Taunton and capture the Royalist-held West Country. The Royalist forces surrendered at Truro in Cornwall, while leading Royalist commanders, including Lord Hopton, the Prince of Wales, Sir Edward Hyde, and Lord Capell, fled to Jersey from Falmouth.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The main Royalist military force had been shattered at Naseby. The King had lost his veteran infantry (including 500 officers), all his artillery, and many arms. He lacked the resources to create an army of such quality again, and after Naseby, it simply remained for the Parliamentarian armies to wipe out the last pockets of Royalist resistance. Charles hoped to rebuild his army with new recruits from Wales and the border counties and headed in that direction. He also had expectations that reinforcements might arrive from Ireland. The Committee of Both Kingdoms responded on 28 June by ordering Leven's Scottish Covenanters to move to strike at the Royalist stronghold of Hereford. The ensuing Siege of Hereford by Covenanter forces ended in failure, but in December of the same year, Hereford was seized by John Birch in a surprise attack.


title: Battle of Naseby

text: The Parliamentarians had also captured the King's personal baggage, with correspondence which showed he intended to seek support from the Irish Catholic Confederation through the Cessation Treaty, and Catholic nations in Europe. By publishing this correspondence, entitled "The King's Cabinet Opened", Parliament gained much support in favour of fighting the war to a finish. Within a year, the first civil war ended in a Parliamentarian military victory.


title: Curcuma

text: Curcuma () is a genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae that contains such species as turmeric and Siam tulip. They are native to Southeast Asia, southern China, the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea and northern Australia. Some species are reportedly naturalized in other warm parts of the world such as tropical Africa, Central America, Florida, and various islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Generally, most curcuma grows well in loose and sandy soil in shaded areas.


title: Curcuma

text: Curcuma is a perennial, herbaceous plant that can reach a height of 1 meter. It emits numerous, edible rhizomes whose interiors are yellow or orange. These rhizomes are reduced to a powder, which is the spice called curcuma. Its lanceolate leaves are oblong or elliptical and are of a uniform green, and about 50cm long and 7 to 25 cm wide.


title: Curcuma

text: The name is derived from the Sanskrit "kuṅkuma", referring to turmeric. Turmeric is used to flavour or colour curry powders, mustards, butters, and cheeses; it may also be used as a substitute for saffron or other yellowish pigments.


title: Good Mourning (film)

text: Good Mourning is a 2022 American stoner comedy film directed, produced, written and starring Colson Baker and Mod Sun. It also stars Zach Villa and GaTa, with Becky G, Megan Fox and Dove Cameron. It was released on May 20, 2022.


title: Good Mourning (film)

text: London gets a text from his actress girlfriend Apple, one reads "good mourning". Not knowing what it means, London calls Apple but she doesn't answer. He mopes around the house hoping it doesn't mean she's breaking up with him. In come his friends Leo, Dylan, Angel and Fat Joe. To make him feel better, they try to figure out what the texts mean after they get high. London's day consists of finding out what's going with Apple and meeting with his agent Maxine. When he meets with Maxine, she tells him all the sexual things she had to do to land London an opportunity to star in the next Batman movie. London's torn - he's convinced Apple is breaking up with him and feels like he should pursue her, but that might mean losing the biggest career opportunity of his life.


title: Good Mourning (film)

text: Jeffrey Anderson of Common Sense Media gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote: "without help from outside substances, this showbiz/stoner comedy doesn't really offer anything we haven't seen before and never achieves more than a mild chuckle."


title: Good Mourning (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, the film earned $16,010 from 28 theaters in its opening weekend. In total the film has grossed $21,348.


title: Floatplane

text: A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, making the vehicle an amphibious aircraft. British usage is to call "floatplanes" "seaplanes" rather than use the term "seaplane" to refer to both floatplanes and flying boats.


title: Floatplane

text: Since World War II and the advent of helicopters, advanced aircraft carriers and land-based aircraft, military seaplanes have stopped being used. This, coupled with the increased availability of civilian airstrips, have greatly reduced the number of flying boats being built. However, numerous modern civilian aircraft have floatplane variants, most of these are offered as third-party modifications under a supplemental type certificate (STC), although there are several aircraft manufacturers that build floatplanes from scratch. These floatplanes have found their niche as one type of bush plane, for light duty transportation to lakes and other remote areas, as well as to small/hilly islands without proper airstrips. They may operate on a charter basis (including pleasure flights), provide scheduled service, or be operated by residents of the area for private, personal use.


title: Floatplane

text: Float planes have often been derived from land-based aircraft, with fixed floats mounted under the fuselage instead of retractable undercarriage (featuring wheels).


title: Floatplane

text: Float planes offer several advantages since the fuselage is not in contact with water, which simplifies production by not having to incorporate the compromises necessary for water tightness, general impact strength and the hydroplaning characteristics needed for the aircraft to leave the water. Attaching floats to a landplane also allows for much larger production volumes to pay for the development and production of the small number of aircraft operated from the water. Additionally, on all but the largest seaplanes, floatplane wings usually offer more clearance over obstacles, such as docks, reducing the difficulty in loading while on the water. A typical single engine flying boat is unable to bring the hull alongside a dock for loading while most floatplanes are able to do so.


title: Floatplane

text: Floats inevitably impose extra drag and weight, rendering floatplanes slower and less manoeuvrable during flight, with a slower rate of climb, relative to aircraft equipped with wheeled landing gear. Nevertheless, air races devoted to floatplanes attracted much attention during the 1920s and 1930s, most notably in the form of the Schneider Trophy, not least because water takeoffs permitted longer takeoff runs which allowed greater optimization for high speed compared to contemporary airfields.


title: Floatplane

text: The main advantage of the single float design is its capability for landings in rough water: a long central float is directly attached to the fuselage, this being the strongest part of the aircraft structure, while the smaller floats under the outer wings provide the aircraft with lateral stability. By comparison, dual floats restrict handling, often to waves as little as one foot (0.3 metres) in height. However, twin float designs facilitate mooring and boarding, and – in the case of torpedo bombers – leave the belly free to carry a torpedo.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: Born in Osaka, Tsukasa Aoi debuted as a uniform gravure model in the October 2008 issue of the magazine "Bejean". In June 2009 she was cast as a regular in the Sun Television variety show "", which was cancelled shortly later.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: The same year, she made regular appearances on San-TV talk show "Onagokoro" and featured the segment "Tsukasa Aoi's Aim for the Top" in the Television Osaka variety show "Idol Sniper 2". In December 2009, she starred in "Aoi Shōjo", her first gravure video, and a second gradure video was released in August 2010.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: On 26 September 2015, she was announced as a second generation member of the Ebisu Muscats. She graduated from the group on June, 2018.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: Since her debut in 2010, Aoi has starred in over 700 adult videos in Japan, making her one of the most famous AV actresses of all time.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In August 2010, Aoi appeared nude for the first time in a photo set published by the magazine "Bejean"; in September it was formally announced her debut into the adult industry. Her AV debut film, "Absolute Girl Aoi Tsukasa", was released on 8 October 2010. She became an exclusive actress for the noted AV studio Alice Japan between 2010 and 2015.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In February 2011, she appeared on the cover of the magazine "Saizo", being the first active AV actress to be chosen as cover girl.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In February 2012, she won the FLASH Award at the Adult Broadcasting Awards. The same year, she debuted in a leading role in a mainstream film, starring in the Ken'ichi Fujiwara's prison drama "Female Prisoner No. 701 – Sasori", a remake of Shunya Itō's "" (1972).


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In 2013, she guest starred an episode of the TVBS comedy series "True Love 365", being the first adult actress to appear in a Taiwanese dorama.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In 2015 she transferred from Alice Japan to S1 No. 1 Style. Her last film with Alice Japan "Final Continuous Climatic Cumming Tsukasa Aoi", directed by Yuji Sakamoto was released on May 22, 2015.


title: Tsukasa Aoi

text: In 2019 she was nominated for the Best Actress Award at the 2019 Fanza Adult Awards. In the same year, there were rumours that Aoi was romantically involved with Arashi's popular boyband singer, Matsumoto Jun.


title: City block

text: A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design.


title: City block

text: A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within the area of a building or comparable structure. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, and form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric. City blocks may be subdivided into any number of smaller land lots usually in private ownership, though in some cases, it may be other forms of tenure. City blocks are usually built-up to varying degrees and thus form the physical containers or "streetwalls" of public space. Most cities are composed of a greater or lesser variety of sizes and shapes of urban block. For example, many pre-industrial cores of cities in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East tend to have irregularly shaped street patterns and urban blocks, while cities based on grids have much more regular arrangements.


title: City block

text: By extension, the word "block" is an important informal unit of length equal to the distance between two streets of a street grid.


title: City block

text: In most cities of the new world that were planned, rather than developing gradually over a long period of time, streets are typically laid out on a grid plan, so that city blocks are square or rectangular. Using the perimeter block development principle, city blocks are developed so that buildings are located along the perimeter of the block, with entrances facing the street, and semi-private courtyards in the rear of the buildings. This arrangement is intended to provide good social interaction among people.


title: City block

text: Since the spacing of streets in grid plans varies so widely among cities, or even within cities, it is difficult to generalize about the size of a city block. Oblong blocks range considerably in width and length. The standard block in Manhattan is about . In Chicago, a typical city block is , meaning that 16 east-west blocks or 8 north-south blocks measure one mile, which has been adopted by other US cities. In much of the United States and Canada, the addresses follow a block and lot number system, in which each block of a street is allotted 100 building numbers. The blocks in central Melbourne, Australia, are also , formed by splitting the square blocks in an original grid with a narrow street down the middle.


title: City block

text: Many old world cities have grown by accretion over time rather than being planned from the outset. For this reason, a regular pattern of even, square or rectangular city blocks is not so common among European cities, for example. An exception is represented by those cities that were founded as Roman military settlements, and that often preserve the original grid layout around two main orthogonal axes. One notable example is Turin, Italy. Following the example of Philadelphia, New York City adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 for a more extensive grid plan. By the middle of the 20th century, the adoption of the uniform, rectilinear block subsided almost completely, and different layouts prevailed, with random sized and either curvilinear or non-orthogonal blocks and corresponding street patterns.


title: City block

text: A superblock, or super-block, is an area of urban land that is bounded by arterial roads and the size of multiple typically sized city blocks. Within the superblock, the local road network, if any, is designed to serve only local needs.


title: City block

text: Within the broad concept of a superblock, various typologies emerge based primarily on the internal road networks within the superblock, their historical context, and whether they are auto-centric or pedestrian-centric. The context in which superblocks are being studied or conceived gives rise to varying definitions.


title: City block

text: An internal road network characterised by culs-de-sac is typical of auto-centric suburban development primarily in Western countries throughout the 20th century. The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture's definition is rooted within this typically suburban conception:“Area containing residential accommodation, shops, schools, offices, etc., with public open space (e.g. a green), surrounded by roads and penetrated by cul-de-sac service-roads. It is linked to other super-blocks and a town centre by means of paths over or under the roads (e.g. in Radburn planning).”Though the aim of such superblocks is generally to minimise traffic within the superblock by directing it to arterial roads, the effect in many cases has been to entrench automobile dependence by limiting pedestrian and cyclist permeability.


title: City block

text: Superblocks can also contain an orthogonal internal road network, including those based on a grid plan or quasi-grid plan. That typology is prevalent in Japan and China, for example. Chen defines the supergrid and superblock urban morphology in that context as follows:“The Supergrid is a large-scale net of wide roads that defines a series of cells or Superblocks, each containing a network of narrower streets.”Superblocks can also be retroactively superimposed on pre-existing grid plan by changing the traffic rules and streetscape of internal streets within the superblock, as in the case of Barcelona's "superilles" (Catalan for superblocks). Each "superilla" has nine city blocks, with speed limits on the internal roads slowed to 10–20 km/h, through traffic disallowed, and through travel possible only on the perimeter roads.


title: City block

text: In Soviet Union and post-Soviet states, a technical term out of construction industry is "residential massíve" (, Zhyloi massiv). According to the definition, a residential massíve consists of several of residential quarters (city blocks) that are associated by one architectural design (concept). In a number of cities in post-Soviet countries, several city neighborhoods have names like "massiv" or "masyv" and appeared in the second half of the 20th century with the rapid expansion of cities. In Central Europe, which was once in the Warsaw Pact, several cities have residential areas filled with inexpensive housing of multi-story buildings known as panelák (panel buildings). Panel buildings of similar architectural type may be erected as one residential city quarter or bigger residential area as massíve.


title: City block

text: Superblocks were popular during the early and mid-20th century auto-centric suburban development. They arose from modernist ideas in architecture and urban planning. Planning was then based upon the distance and speed scales for the automobile and discounted the pedestrian and cyclist modes, as obsolete transportation vehicles. A superblock is much larger than a traditional city block, with a greater setback for buildings, and is typically bounded by widely spaced, high-speed, arterial or circulating routes, rather than by local streets. Superblocks are often found in suburbs or planned cities or are the result of urban renewal of the mid-20th century in which a street hierarchy has replaced the traditional grid. In a residential area of a suburb, the interior of the superblock is typically served by dead-end or looped streets. The discontinuous streets served the automobile, as longer distances and the extra fuel required to go between destinations were not concerns, but at the pedestrian scale, the discontinuity of the roads added to the distance that must be traveled. The discontinuity inside the superblock forced automobile dependency, discouraged errand walking, and forced more traffic onto the fewer continuous streets. That increased demand for through streets, which led ultimately to the streets having more travel lanes added for cars and made it more difficult for any pedestrian to cross such streets. In that way, superblocks cut up the city into isolated units, expanded automobile dominance, and made it impossible for pedestrians and cyclists to get anywhere outside of the superblock. Superblocks can also be found in central city areas, where they are more often associated with institutional, educational, recreational and corporate rather than residential uses.


title: City block

text: The urban planner Clarence Perry argued for use of superblocks and related ideas in his "neighborhood unit" plan, which aimed to organize space in a way that was more "pedestrian-friendly" and provided open plazas and other space for residents to socialize. Planners, today, now know that the street discontinuity and the multi-lane roads associated with superblocks have caused the decline of pedestrian and bicycle use everywhere with the "sprawl" pattern. The traditional urban block diffused automobile traffic onto several narrower roads at slower speeds. That more finely connected network of narrower roads better allowed the pedestrian and cyclist realms to flourish. The superblock, at the scale suitable only for automobiles, and not pedestrians, was the means for ultimate automobile dominance by the end of the 20th century. The same intention to facilitate pedestrian movement and socializing is captured by an influential 1989 conceptual design of a Pedestrian Pocket (see diagram). It is, similarly, a superblock composed of nine normal city blocks clustered around a light rail station and a central open space. Its circulation pattern consists primarily of a dense pedestrian network which is complementary to but independent from the car network. Access by car is provided by means of three loops. This superblock differs from Perry's concept in that it makes it impossible for cars to traverse it rather than very difficult; it is car-impermeable.


title: City block

text: In the 1930s, superblocks were often used in urban renewal public housing projects in American cities. In using superblocks, housing projects aimed to eliminate back alleys, which were often associated with slum conditions.


title: City block

text: Superblocks are also used when functional units such as rail yards or shipyards, inherited from the 19th and early 20th centuries, are too big to fit in an average city block. A contemporary function which reflects ancient practices that also requires larger than typical blocks is the sports stadium or arena. Just as the Colosseum in ancient Rome, sports complexes require superblocks. The Providence Park stadium in Portland, for example, takes up four normal city blocks as does the equally large Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. Other contemporary institutions, establishments or functions that use superblocks are: city halls like Government Center, Boston and Toronto City Hall; regional general hospitals or specialized medical centres; convention and exhibition centers, such as Exhibition Place in Toronto and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center; and downtown enclosed Shopping Malls such as Eaton Centre in Toronto, echoing the large gallerias of the 19th century. Cultural complexes, such as the Lincoln Center in New York City, often occupy a superblock achieved through the consolidation of regular city blocks. A recent superblock user is the merchandise distribution centre, which can range in area from one to ten city blocks.


title: City block

text: Most notably, however, the largest superblocks in contemporary cities are used by university and college campuses such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the City College of New York, and the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The "campus" impact on the city block structure is quite prominent particularly in small university towns such as Waterloo, Ontario or Ithaca, New York where the university superblock counts for a sizeable portion of the total city area. Campuses, in general, are fully walkable and sociable environments within the superblock structure. On some university campuses the extensive and exclusive pedestrian path network at grade is supplemented with below grade paths. New Urbanists would argue that separating circulation modes effectively kills the social interaction that bolsters urban areas.


title: City block

text: Additional users of the superblock concept are large national or multinational corporations who constructed campuses in the late 1900s and 2000s. Examples of superblock campuses include Google in Mountain View, California; and Apple and Hewlett-Packard in San Jose, California. Another well-known commercial superblock is the World Trade Center site in New York City, where several streets of Manhattan's downtown grid were removed and de-mapped to make room for the center.


title: City block

text: Social and housing agencies in the U.S., Canada and the UK used the superblock model for large housing projects such as Regent Park in Toronto and Benny Farm in Montreal, Canada. In New York City, the Stuyvesant Town private market, residential development superblock takes up about 18 normal city blocks and provides a large green amenity for its residents and neighbours. It uses crescent (loop) rather than dead-ended streets inside the superblock and an extensive network of paths that provide excellent connectivity within the block and to the neighbouring areas (see drawing).


title: City block

text: Where the superblock is used for housing projects like Stuyvesant Town, the advantages sought are an improved separation of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, enhanced tranquility and reduced accident risk within the neighbourhood. In 2003, Vauban (a rail suburb of Freiburg, Germany) was constructed with similar goals. Its layout consists mainly of a superblock with a central pedestrian spine and a few narrow looped and dead-ended streets. The British new town of Milton Keynes is built around a grid of one-kilometre square superblocks (see drawing).


title: City block

text: Superblocks have been proposed as a potential solution to road space prioritisation and increased pedestrian flows in the CBD of Melbourne, Australia. The City of Melbourne's 2018 "Transport Discussion Paper: City Space" suggests, based on the example of Barcelona's "superilles", that “‘Superblocks’ could be applied in Melbourne to make streets in the central city safer, greener, more inclusive and more vibrant.”


title: City block

text: The superblock concept has been applied retroactively in Barcelona's La Ribera and Gràcia districts, which both have a medieval street network with narrow and irregular streets, since 1993. In these two cases it resulted in an increase of journeys on foot (over 10%) and by bicycle (>15%) and in a higher level of commercial and service activity.


title: City block

text: Superblocks, or "super·illes" in the native Catalan, are being superimposed in the Eixample District's famous Ildefons Cerdà-designed late 19th century grid plan. Each "superilla" comprises nine city blocks, or "illes", in which the internal traffic flows have been altered to disallow through traffic, and speed limits on internal roads reduced. After entering a "superilla" from a perimeter road, vehicles are only able to circumnavigate one city block and return out to the same perimeter road again, meaning that local access to garages and businesses is maintained, but making it impossible to cut through to the other side. Speed limits have also been reduced to 20 km/h initially. It was estimated that this could be implemented city-wide for less than €20 million, simply by changing traffic signals.


title: City block

text: It is planned to further reduce speeds to 10 km/h and remove on-street parking by building more off-street car parks. This is intended to make the internal streets safer for pedestrians and create more space for playing games, sports, and cultural activities such as outdoor cinemas.


title: City block

text: The concept was initially spurred by a redesign of the city's bus network that consolidated bus routes into a simpler orthogonal network, with more frequent services. With many streets freed from buses as a result, and the idea was formulated to create the "superilles" in order to reduce traffic, cut the high levels of air and noise pollution in the city, and reallocate space to pedestrians and cyclists. The "superilles" have been met with criticism and resistance from some residents, who have complained about the dramatically increased distance for some previously short car trips, and the increased traffic on the arterial perimeter roads. The adaptation of the Barcelona superblock concept has been explored for other cities.


title: City block

text: Superblocks have been the prevalent mode of urban land use planning in Japan, even being described as the ""sine qua non" of Japanese urban design", present in all medium to large Japanese cities to a greater or lesser degree. Cities are typically arranged around a system of wide arterial roads, often approximating a grid and flanked by generous sidewalks, and an orthogonal network of narrow internal streets, normally operating as shared zones with no sidewalks. The grid plan layout of Japanese cities such as Kyoto and Nara dates back to the eighth century, which were in turn derived from Chinese grid models. The system of superblocks were created mostly in the early to mid 20th century by physically widening arterial roads, superimposing the supergrid and superblock structure in a physical sense. This contrasts with the Barcelona model wherein the superblock model was imposed through changed traffic signalling rather than physical street widening. They further contrast to Western auto-centric models described above as they are typically characterised by highly walkable and cycle-able street networks, featuring high-density mixed use development and supported by highly effective and efficient public transport systems.


title: City block

text: Resulting largely from planning controls which link building height with street width, Japanese superblocks are typically characterised by a ‘hard shell’ of tall buildings with commercial uses along the perimeter arterial roads, with a ‘soft yolk’ of low-rise residential use in the centre.


title: City block

text: The spatial structure of superblocks can also be analysed, per a taxonomy detailed by Barrie Shelton, through the classification of roads as ‘global’, being the arterial roads which provide for cross-city travel, ‘local’ roads, which provide local access to buildings within the superblock, and ‘glocal’ roads, which may cross the entire superblock, allowing through travel, and in many instances into neighbouring superblocks. Glocal roads differ from global roads however, in that they are narrow, have lower speed limits, and do not form part of the ‘supergrid’ structure. Shelton also describes the sidewalks of the global arterial roads as functioning as streets in themselves, or ‘sidewalk streets’, operating in a similar manner to the local streets.


title: City block

text: Always a "block without sidewalks" is within a "block with sidewalks". The geometric subtraction of a "block without sidewalks" from "block with sidewalks", contains the sidewalk, the alley, and any other non-lot sub-structure.


title: City block

text: A perimeter block is a type of city block which is built up on all sides surrounding a central space that is semi-private. They may contain a mixture of uses, with commercial or retail functions on the ground floor. Perimeter blocks are a key component of many European cities and are an urban form that allows very high urban densities to be achieved without high-rise buildings.


title: City block

text: In North American English and Australian English, the word "block" is used as an informal unit of distance. For example, someone giving directions might say, "It's three blocks from here".


title: City block

text: There have been online innovations and websites such as msnbc.com-owned EveryBlock, which uses geo-specific feeds from neighborhood blogs, Flickr, Yelp, Craigslist, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other aggregated data to give readers a picture of what is going on in their town or neighborhood down to the block.


title: Blacula

text: Blacula is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) by Count Dracula in the Count's castle in Transylvania in the year 1780 after Dracula refuses to help Mamuwalde suppress the slave trade.


title: Blacula

text: "Blacula" was released to mixed reviews in the United States, but was one of the top-grossing films of the year. It was the first film to receive an award for Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards. "Blacula" was followed by the sequel "Scream Blacula Scream" in 1973 and inspired a wave of blaxploitation-themed horror films.


title: Blacula

text: In 1780, African prince Mamuwalde goes to Transylvania to seek the help of Count Dracula in suppressing the slave trade. Dracula refuses, however, and insults Mamuwalde by making a pass at his wife, Luva. After a scuffle with Dracula's minions, Mamuwalde is bitten by Dracula and transformed into a vampire. Dracula then curses him with the name "Blacula" and imprisons him in a sealed coffin in a crypt hidden beneath the castle while leaving Luva to die in the chamber with Blacula.


title: Blacula

text: In 1972, two interior decorators, Bobby McCoy and Billy Schaffer, purchase the coffin and ship it to Los Angeles. Bobby and Billy open the coffin, only to become Blacula's first victims. At the funeral home where McCoy's body is laid, Blacula spies on mourning friends Tina Williams, her sister Michelle, and Michelle's boyfriend, Dr. Gordon Thomas, a pathologist for the Los Angeles Police Department. Blacula becomes obsessed with Tina, believing her to be the reincarnation of Luva due to her having an identical resemblance to the latter. Thomas notices oddities with McCoy's death that he later concludes to be consistent with vampire folklore. Blacula follows Tina after leaving the funeral home but unintentionally frightens her. Tina runs away from him, and Blacula loses her when he is hit by a cab. He then kills the cabbie, Juanita Jones, turning her into a vampire.


title: Blacula

text: Thomas, Michelle, and Tina celebrate Michelle's birthday at a nightclub, and Blacula shows up to return Tina's purse she dropped the night before. Thomas answers a phone call from the funeral director, who informs him that McCoy's body has gone missing. Blacula asks Tina to see him again the following evening, but they are interrupted by Nancy, a photographer who takes a photograph of them together. Soon after, Blacula kills Nancy and destroys the photo she just developed, which shows Blacula conspicuously absent. The next evening, Blacula visits Tina at her apartment and shares how Dracula enslaved him and Luva and how he was cursed with vampirism. He and Tina then spend the night together.


title: Blacula

text: Thomas, Lt. Jack Peters, and Michelle are meanwhile following the trail of murder victims, as Thomas begins to suspect a vampire of being the perpetrator. After Thomas digs up Schaffer's coffin, the corpse rises as a vampire and attacks Thomas, who fends him off and drives a stake through his heart. Thomas calls the morgue and alerts Sam, the attendant, to take Jones' body out of deep freeze and leave. Sam rolls her body out but neglects to lock the door. Jones rises and immediately attacks and kills him. Thomas and Peters arrive at the morgue to find blood smeared on the corridor wall near the payphone where Sam answered the call, but no sign of Sam himself. They walk into the exam room by the freezer, where Peters sees a sheet-covered body lying on a gurney and pulls the sheet back to reveal Jones rising to attack him. Thomas keeps her at bay with a crucifix long enough to open the window blinds and expose her to sunlight, destroying her.


title: Blacula

text: That evening, Thomas, Michelle, and Tina are enjoying drinks at the club when Blacula arrives to pick Tina up. Thomas questions Blacula about vampires and makes it known that the police are planning a search for the vampire's coffin, provoking an uncomfortable Blacula and Tina to leave. Soon after, Thomas searches Nancy's house and finds a photo negative of Tina standing in front of the invisible Blacula. He correctly deduces that Blacula is the vampire they seek and that Blacula and Tina are still together. Thomas rushes to Tina's apartment, finding them embracing. Thomas and Blacula briefly struggle, but Blacula knocks Thomas unconscious and flees, killing a police officer in a nearby alley as he escapes. After McCoy is seen walking the streets of Los Angeles, Thomas, Peters, and several police officers track Blacula to his hideout. They locate a nest of several vampires there, including McCoy, and destroy them, but Blacula escapes.


title: Blacula

text: Blacula hypnotizes Tina into going to his new hideout at a nearby underground chemical plant while Thomas and the police pursue him. Blacula dispatches several of the officers, but one of them accidentally shoots and mortally wounds Tina. To save her life, Blacula transforms her into a vampire. Blacula fights the police, one of whom locates the coffin and alerts Thomas and Peters. However, Peters kills Tina with a stake, believing that Blacula would be in the coffin instead. Devastated and feeling he has no purpose to live after losing Luva again, Blacula commits suicide by climbing the stairs to the roof where the morning sun destroys him.


title: Blacula

text: Many members of the cast and crew of "Blacula" had worked in television. Director William Crain had directed episodes of "The Mod Squad". William H. Marshall's Mamuwalde was the first black vampire to appear in film. Marshall had previously worked in stage productions and in episodes of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "The Nurses", "Bonanza", "" and "Mannix". Thalmus Rasulala, who plays Dr. Gordon Thomas, is best known for roles in episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "Perry Mason" and "Rawhide".


title: Blacula

text: "Blacula" was in production between late January and late March 1972. While "Blacula" was in its production stages, William Marshall worked with the film producers to make sure his character had some dignity. His character name was changed from Andrew Brown to Mamuwalde and his character received a background story about being an African prince who had succumbed to vampirism. "Blacula" was shot on location in Los Angeles, with some scenes shot in Watts and the final scenes taken at the Hyperion Outfall Treatment Plant in Playa del Rey.


title: Blacula

text: The music for "Blacula" is unlike that of most horror films as it features a funk soundtrack, as opposed to haunting classical music. The film's soundtrack features a score by Gene Page and contributions by the Hues Corporation and 21st Century Ltd.


title: Blacula

text: "Blacula" opened in Washington, Dallas, Seattle and Oklahoma City on August 25, 1972, and in Chicago two days later. Prior to its release, American International Pictures' marketing department wanted to ensure that black audiences would be interested in "Blacula"; some posters for the film included references to slavery. American International Pictures also held special promotional showings at two New York theaters; anyone wearing a flowing cape would receive free admission. "Blacula" was popular in America, debuting at #24 on "Variety"'s list of top films. It eventually grossed over a million dollars, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1972.


title: Blacula

text: Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray as a double feature with "Scream Blacula Scream" on March 2, 2015.


title: Blacula

text: "Blacula" received mixed reviews on its initial release. "Variety" gave the film a positive review praising the screenplay, music and acting by William Marshall. The "Chicago Reader" praised the film, writing that it would leave its audience more satisfied than many other "post-Lugosi efforts". Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" awarded three stars out of four, calling it "well-made and quite frightening." A review from Roger Greenspun in "The New York Times" was negative, stating that anyone who "goes to a vampire movie expecting sense is in serious trouble, and "Blacula" offers less sense than most." In "Films & Filming", a reviewer referred to the film as "totally unconvincing on every level". The "Monthly Film Bulletin" described the film as "a disappointing model for what promised to be an exciting new genre, the black horror film." and that apart from the introductory scene, "the film conspicuously fails to pick up on any of its theme's more interesting possibilities–cinematic or philosophical." The film was awarded the Best Horror Film title at the first Saturn Awards.


title: Blacula

text: Among more recent reviews, Kim Newman of "Empire" gave the film two stars out of five, finding the film to be "formulaic and full of holes". "Time Out" gave the film a negative review, stating that it "remains a lifeless reworking of heroes versus vampires with soul music and a couple of good gags." Film4 awarded the film three and a half stars out of five, calling it "essential blaxploitation viewing." Allmovie gave the film two and a half stars out of five, noting that "Blacula" is "better than its campy title might lead one to believe...the film suffers from the occasional bit of awkward humor (the bits with the two homosexual interior decorators are the most squirm-inducing), but Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig's script keeps things moving at a fast clip and generates some genuine chills." "The Dissolve" gave the film two and a half stars, stating that "The placement of an old-fashioned, Bela Lugosi-type Dracula—albeit much, much sweatier—in a modern black neighborhood is a great idea, but the amateurish production leaves Marshall as stranded in the film as his Mamuwalde is stranded in the times."


title: Blacula

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on , with a weighted average rating of 5.3/10.


title: Blacula

text: The box office success of "Blacula" sparked a wave of other Black-themed horror films. A sequel to the film titled "Scream Blacula Scream" was released in 1973 by American International. The film also stars William Marshall in the title role along with actress Pam Grier. American International was also planning a follow-up titled "Blackenstein", but chose to focus on "Scream Blacula Scream" instead. "Blackenstein" was eventually produced by Exclusive International Pictures.


title: Blacula

text: On June 17, 2021, it was announced that a reboot was in development. The film will be a co-production between MGM, Bron Studios and Hidden Empire Film Group with Roxanne Avent producing and Deon Taylor and Micah Ranum co-writing. Taylor will also direct the film.


title: Jake Long

text: Jake Edward Long (born May 9, 1985) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Michigan, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins first overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He also played for the St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.


title: Jake Long

text: In high school, Long was the first player in his high school's history to earn all-state "Dream Team" (all-class state team) honors in football from the "Detroit News". He was a two-time first-team All-Metro League player in both basketball and football, where he was honored both on offense and defense. In baseball, he was a two-time second-team All-Metro League selection. In both basketball and football, he led his team to regular and post season success that had not been seen in many years.


title: Jake Long

text: At the University of Michigan, he redshirted for a year and then became a starter at offensive tackle for the football team in the third game of his redshirt freshman season. He earned second-team All-Big Ten Conference recognition and Rivals.com Freshman All-American recognition. In 2006 and 2007, he earned Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten recognition. In 2006, he was an Outland and Lombardi Award watch lists selection and in 2007 he was a finalist for both awards. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 2006 and 2007.


title: Jake Long

text: After being drafted by Miami, he became an immediate starter and started every game that the team played. At the conclusion of his rookie season, he was selected to numerous All-Rookie teams and was a substitute Pro Bowl selection. Long followed up on a successful rookie season by earning Pro Bowl roster spots in 2009, 2010 and 2011.


title: Jake Long

text: Long was born in Lapeer, Michigan, the son of John and Denise Long. He attended Lapeer East High School, where he was the first player in his high school's history to earn all-state "Dream Team" (all-class state team) honors in football. In baseball, he played first base.


title: Jake Long

text: He played basketball, baseball and football in high school. Long was a 2001 Flint, Michigan All-Metro League lineman on both sides of the ball as a defensive end and offensive lineman. And in Lapeer East's final game of the 2001 season, Long rushed for three touchdowns. As a junior that football season, he was listed at , . In Long's first start as a varsity basketball player on December 4, 2001, he led all scorers although he only scored one first half point. That season, he helped lead Lapeer East to an unbeaten 14–0 Metro League record (17–3) overall as they prepared for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) tournament. It was the first unbeaten Metro League season by any team since 1989 and Lapeer East's first unbeaten season since 1980. Long was an All-Metro league first team selection, but his team lost in the 2002 Class A district semifinal on the road. By the end of the basketball season, he was listed at , . As a junior, he was a second-team All-Metro League baseball selection as an infielder. By the end of his junior year, he had already set the school home run record in baseball and was the fifth-ranked high school football prospect in the state of Michigan (future Michigan teammate and co-captain LaMarr Woodley was number one).


title: Jake Long

text: After his junior year of high school, he attended the University of Michigan football camp, which ran from June 16–21. At the conclusion of the camp, Michigan Wolverines football head coach Lloyd Carr offered him a scholarship as an offensive tackle. Long, who was a lifelong Michigan Wolverines fan, responded with a verbal commitment. At the time, Long weighed and Michigan hoped he would bulk up to by the time he arrived. Long had made official visits to Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Purdue.


title: Jake Long

text: In his 2002 senior season, Long helped lead Lapeer East to their first season opener win since 1995 and their first state playoff appearance since 1993. That season, the football team set a school record by posting a nine-game winning streak, which started after an October 6, 2001 loss the prior year. The team achieved its first state playoff win in its 27-year history that season. The team's 9–2 record was the best in school history, and Long was again chosen as an All-Metro League selection on both offense and defense. That season, he became the first Lapeer East player selected to the All-state Dream Team in 2002. Although he was All-State as a lineman, Long often lined up at fullback and accumulated four career touchdowns. He finished the season as the number two football prospect in the state behind Woodley according to the "Detroit News". Long led the basketball team to a second consecutive undefeated Metro League championship season, which was the first repeat league champion since 1996 and Lapeer East's first repeat championship since 1982. Long was again first-team All-Metro League, and he was selected as an honorable mention 2003 Associated Press Class A All-State basketball player. Long was again a second-team All-Metro League selection as a first baseman. Following his senior season, Long was selected to play in the 23rd annual Michigan High School All-Star Football Game on July 26 at Michigan State University.


title: Jake Long

text: Long accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, where he played for head coach Lloyd Carr's Michigan Wolverines football team from 2003 to 2007. As a freshman, Long was on the 2003 Michigan Wolverines football team roster, but Tony Pape and Adam Stenavich were the starting offensive tackles. He was redshirted for the year as he bulked up to . Long traveled with the team to the 2004 Rose Bowl, but did not play in the game.


title: Jake Long

text: On June 16, 2004, following his freshman year, he was hospitalized in an intensive-care unit for smoke inhalation injuries when a house rented by nine Michigan Wolverine players caught fire. Long, sleeping in his bedroom on the second floor of the house, awoke to the sound of fire alarms. He attempted to exit his room through the door, but was forced back by smoke. Long then knocked out the screen of a window and jumped out of the building. Covered in soot, Long had escaped the fire, landing two stories below on a roommate's parked car. Later at the hospital, Long underwent procedures that required tubes be put down his throat to suction black phlegm from his lungs. The tubes also performed Long's breathing while he lay unconscious for the first few days. He was released from the University of Michigan Medical Center and was able to spend Father's Day (June 20) back in Lapeer.


title: Jake Long

text: As a sophomore member of the 2004 Michigan Wolverines football team, Long competed with senior Dave Schoonover and juniors Mike Kolodzieg, Rueben Riley, and Mike Barishaj for the starting position vacated by the graduated Pape. Long impressed the coaches by playing through a turf toe injury. The battle came down to him and Kolodzieg. Long made his Michigan debut on September 4, 2004, in a 43–10 victory over Miami University. He made the travel squad, but he did not play against Notre Dame in the Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry game the following week at Notre Dame Stadium. Kolodzieg started the first two games, but Michigan averaged only 85.5 yards rushing, which ranked 94th nationally among 117 Division I teams. Long became a starter in the third game on September 18 against the San Diego State Aztecs football team. Over the course of the season, he started eight games and Kolodzieg started 4 at right offensive tackle. Kolodzieg also started one game at left tackle. A week after Long was moved into the starting lineup, David Baas was moved from left offensive guard—where he had been a 2003 second team All-American—to center so that Leo Henige, Jr. could enter the starting lineup. After the move, Baas was the co-Rimington Trophy winner that season. The team finished the season as the 2004 Big Ten Conference co-champions and were awarded the Big Ten Conference's Bowl Championship Series Bowl game bid. By the time Michigan was preparing for the 2005 Rose Bowl, the team was averaging 156.18 rushing yards per game, which ranked 56th in the nation. Long earned a second team All-Big Ten Conference recognition from the coaches, while linemates guard Matt Lentz, tackle Adam Stenavich and tight end Tim Massaquoi were first-team selections. Baas was Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Long also received honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition from the media. Long and teammates Chad Henne and Mike Hart were named to Rivals.com's 2004 Freshman All-America first team. Long had post-season shoulder surgery and missed 2005 spring practice. In fact, because of the large number of injured players, the team canceled the culminating spring practice intrasquad scrimmage game and instead held an open practice in which players participated in drills.


title: Jake Long

text: In August 2005, Long suffered an ankle injury and was sidelined as the 2005 Michigan Wolverines football team's season began. The injury had been caused in training camp when he was zone blocking alongside center Mark Bihl, who got tangled up with nose tackle Gabe Watson. The two fell against the outside of Long's leg and rolled over it. The injury required surgery. Long did not return to the lineup until October 22 on the third possession against the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was the lead blocker on the game-winning overtime touchdown. He started the game the subsequent week against the Northwestern Wildcats. Two weeks later, following a bye week, Long got injured during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers, and his foot was put in a protective boot. The second foot injury was expected to end his season. He appeared in the subsequent rivalry game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, and during the first play, he opposed Bobby Carpenter and Carpenter got a broken leg. After the game, Long appeared to need immediate surgery, which would have caused him to miss the 2005 Alamo Bowl. By the time of the game on December 28, though, he was ready to play. As the team prepared for 2006 spring practice, the left-handed Long was moved from right tackle to left tackle where he would be protecting the blindside of right-handed quarterbacks.