title: Mother Angelica

text: On November 12, 1997, Angelica, on her "Mother Angelica Live" show, called on the faithful under Cardinal Roger Mahony to disobey the cardinal's "Guide for Sunday Mass", saying "I'm afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero, and I hope everybody else's in that diocese is zero." On November 18, Angelica apologized.


title: Mother Angelica

text: In the late 1990s, her EWTN show was so popular that she occasionally was the victim of live, call-in pranks by Captain Janks which were aired on "The Howard Stern Show". Most of these calls were of a vulgar, sexual nature, but she handled them with her usual stern, but forgiving candor.


title: Mother Angelica

text: Angelica stepped down from control of EWTN in 2000 and handed control to a board of lay people. In 2001 she had one of several strokes.


title: Mother Angelica

text: Angelica returned to taping her show twice a week on September 25, 2001. On Christmas Eve, she suffered another stroke and underwent a thrombectomy to remove a blood clot, a procedure that resulted in improvement of her vision. The stroke caused partial paralysis of the right side of her body and affected her speech. She began speech therapy and stopped hosting television programs. As her health declined, fellow sisters of her order in Hanceville began providing her with constant care.


title: Mother Angelica

text: On October 4, 2009, Angelica and Deacon Bill Steltemeier, then chairman of EWTN's board of governors, received the papal medal ("Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice") from Pope Benedict XVI for their distinguished service to the Catholic Church. Because of her ill health, Angelica received the award in her room. Bishop Robert J. Baker of the Diocese of Birmingham said: "Mother Angelica's effort has been at the vanguard of the new evangelization and has had a great impact on our world."


title: Mother Angelica

text: In early December 2015, Angelica was placed on a feeding tube. A representative for her order explained, "It's not that she's completely unable to eat. It's assisting her to get the nutrients she needs." He added that she had experienced "some up and downs the last few months. She's a fighter." Although Angelica was confined to her bed, a representative said that she was "able to communicate with a squeeze of a hand, make gestures with her eyes. She acknowledges people when they're there. The nuns say she does sleep a lot." The use of a feeding tube was in accord with the wishes she made before her stroke in 2001 – a reporter recalled her saying: "We don't understand the awesomeness of living even one more day... I told my sisters the other day, 'When I get really bad give me all the medicine I can take, all the tubes you can stuff down me. ... I want to live. ... Because I will have suffered one more day for the love of God... I will exercise you in virtue. But most of all I will know God better. You cannot measure the value of one new thought about God in your own life.'"


title: Mother Angelica

text: In early February 2016 Pope Francis, while en route to Cuba, recorded a message for Angelica, saying: "To Mother Angelica with my blessing and I ask you to pray for me; I need it. God bless you Mother Angelica." Near the end of that month, her fellow nuns at Our Lady of Angels Monastery called for prayers on her behalf saying that "Mother's condition remains delicate and she receives devoted care day and night by her sisters and nurses. In God's Providence, she was able to receive the special Jubilee grace of passing through the Holy Door shortly after its opening. Although she is most often sleeping, from time to time Mother will give a radiant smile. ... Please continue to keep her in your prayers; each day is a gift!"


title: Mother Angelica

text: Angelica remained living at the monastery until her death on March 27, 2016 (Easter Sunday), at the age of 92 from complications due to the stroke she had 14 years prior. At the time, she "also suffered from Bell's palsy, heart disease and asthma."


title: Mother Angelica

text: Angelica held the Catholic belief in redemptive suffering, the belief human suffering can become meritorious if offered to Jesus Christ and mystically united with his suffering. Because of this belief, in her period of declining health Angelica "instructed her nuns to do everything to keep her alive, no matter how much she suffered, because every day she suffered, she suffered for God." EWTN chaplain Joseph Mary Wolfe told reporters that Angelica's desire to unite with Jesus in suffering was fulfilled when she "went into her death throes on Good Friday".


title: Mother Angelica

text: Wolfe recalled that "Mother began to cry out early in the morning from the pain that she was having. She had a fracture in her bones because of the length of time she had been bedridden. They said you could hear it down the hallways, that she was crying out on Good Friday from what she was going through. These two people [a caregiver and one of the sisters of her order] said to me she has excruciating pain." Wolfe said that "After the 3 o'clock hour arrived on Good Friday she was more calm, she was more peaceful." By 5:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, Wolfe was contacted by Mother Delores who told him that Angelica "was really struggling, she wasn't doing very well." Wolfe went to her bedside to administer the Catholic last rites with the sisters of her order in attendance. The sisters prayed their morning prayers, the Divine Office, around her bed. As it was Easter, the prayer was liturgically required to contain Alleluias, which are usually not contained in the office for the dead – a fact that Wolfe felt had significance. Around 10:30 a.m., Father Paschal offered Mass in her room and she received her last communion (Viaticum). She died shortly before 5:00 p.m.


title: Mother Angelica

text: Sean O. Sheridan, president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville where Angelica received an honorary doctorate of sacred theology, described her as "a true media giant. She proved that the Church belonged in the popular media alongside the news, sports, and talk shows". Mark Evans of "Deadline" wrote, "Though her stances were decidedly old-school – she was critical of religious and political progressives – her lectures were lightened with an often self-deprecating humor. She famously said the nuns she remembered from her youth were 'the meanest people on God's earth.'"


title: Mother Angelica

text: On March 30, 2016, at a general audience in St. Peter's Square, Rome, an employee of EWTN held up a portrait of Angelica and Pope Francis responded to the display by saying "she's in Heaven".


title: Mother Angelica

text: In a ceremony on March 29, 2016, Angelica's body was brought to the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery for private visitation by the Poor Clare nuns. Public visitation occurred at the upper church of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament on March 30–31. The Mass of Christian Burial at the shrine's upper church took place on April 1 with the Archbishop of Philadelphia and EWTN board member Charles J. Chaput serving as principal celebrant and the EWTN chaplain Joseph Mary Wolfe as the homilist. Robert J. Baker and David E. Foley, the current and emeritus Bishops of Birmingham (where both EWTN and Our Lady of the Angels Monastery are located), respectively, concelebrated the Mass, along with Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile (whose ecclesiastical province includes the Diocese of Birmingham), Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, who delivered a message from Pope Francis. In addition, many priests, deacons, religious, and seminarians were in attendance. This was followed by the rite of committal at the shrine's crypt chapel. All the funeral rites were televised on EWTN.


title: Mother Angelica

text: After Angelica's death in 2016, there were calls from many for her to be canonized. Catholic Church rules dictate that a person's cause for sainthood cannot begin until five years after the person has died. As of September 2022, there has been no announcement from the Diocese of Birmingham whether a petition will be sent to Rome to begin a cause for her canonization.


title: Yakovlev Yak-28

text: The Yakovlev Yak-28 () is a swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union. Produced initially as a tactical bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor, and trainer versions, known by the NATO reporting names Brewer, Brewer-E, Firebar, and Maestro respectively. Based on the Yak-129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958, it began to enter service in 1960.


title: Yakovlev Yak-28

text: The Yak-28 was first seen by the West at the Tushino air show in 1961. Western analysts initially believed it to be a fighter rather than an attack aircraft—and a continuation of the Yak-25M—and it was designated "Flashlight". After its actual role was realized, the Yak-28 bomber series was redesignated "Brewer".


title: Yakovlev Yak-28

text: The Yak-28 had a large mid-mounted wing, swept at 45 degrees. The tailplane set halfway up the vertical fin (with cutouts to allow rudder movement). Slats were fitted on the leading edges and slotted flaps were mounted on the trailing edges of the wings. The two Tumansky R-11 turbojet engines, initially with 57 kN (12,795 lbf) thrust each, were mounted in pods, similar to the previous Yak-25. The wing-mounted engines and bicycle-type main landing gear (supplemented by outrigger wheels in fairings near the wingtips) were widely spaced, allowing most of the fuselage to be used for fuel and equipment. It was primarily subsonic, although Mach 1 could be exceeded at high altitude.


title: Yakovlev Yak-28

text: The aircraft is perhaps best known for the heroic actions of Captain Boris Kapustin and Lieutenant Yuri Yanov after the Yak-28 they were piloting suffered a catastrophic engine malfunction on 6 April 1966. They were ordered to divert to attempt a landing in Soviet zone of Germany, but lost control of the aircraft and strayed into the airspace of West Berlin. The crew managed to avoid a housing estate but crashed into Lake Stößensee without ejecting. Their bodies, along with the wreckage, were raised from the lake by Royal Navy divers (flown in from Portsmouth) and salvage specialists, who also retrieved important top secret material from the plane. This included the engines, which were taken to RAF Gatow to be inspected by RAF and American engineers. The bodies of the two pilots were returned to the USSR with full military honors from both Soviet and British armed service members, and they were both posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The first engine was recovered on 18 April 1966 and the second a week later; both engines were returned to the Soviets on 2 May 1966.


title: Yakovlev Yak-28

text: The Yak-28P was withdrawn in the early 1980s, but trainer and other versions remained in service until after the fall of the Soviet Union, flying until at least 1992. The reconnaissance and ECM aircraft were eventually replaced by variants of the Sukhoi Su-24.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: A licence to kill is a licence granted by a government or government agency to a particular operative or employee to initiate the use of lethal force in the delivery of their objectives. The initiation of lethal force is in contrast to the use of lethal force in self-defence or the protection of life. It is well known as a literary device used in espionage fiction.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: The legitimacy of deadly force usage from country to country is generally controlled by statute, particular and direct executive orders, the common law, or rules of engagement.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service MI6, testified in court as part of the 2007–2008 Diana, Princess of Wales Inquest in agreement with a statement that the SIS (MI6) could only use force "likely to cause injury" if specially authorized to do so by the UK Foreign Secretary.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: Dearlove also testified in the same inquest that he was unaware of anyone ever having been assassinated by MI6 during his time as head from 1999 to 2004.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: Former MI6 agent Matthew Dunn stated that MI6 agents do not need a licence to kill as a spy's primary job is to violate the law in other countries, and if an agent is compromised, they are at the mercy of the authorities of that country.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: The idea of a licence to kill is popularly known from the "James Bond" novels and films, where it is signified by the "00" (Double O) designation given to the agents in the series who are licensed to kill; Bond himself is famously agent 007.


title: Licence to kill (concept)

text: In literary portrayals, the licence is presumed to be a discretionary one, distributed rarely and requiring extensive training to obtain, granted only to a handful of covert agents of a state in the interest of national security. The agent is not necessarily expected to kill enemies as part of a mission, but may receive legal immunity from prosecution (in their own country) if in the agent's opinion, it became necessary to complete it.


title: Constitutional crisis

text: In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this definition. For instance, one describes it as the crisis that arises out of the failure, or at least a strong risk of failure, of a constitution to perform its central functions. The crisis may arise from a variety of possible causes. For example, a government may want to pass a law contrary to its constitution; the constitution may fail to provide a clear answer for a specific situation; the constitution may be clear but it may be politically infeasible to follow it; the government institutions themselves may falter or fail to live up to what the law prescribes them to be; or officials in the government may justify avoiding dealing with a serious problem based on narrow interpretations of the law. Specific examples include the South African Coloured vote constitutional crisis in the 1950s, the secession of the southern U.S. states in 1860 and 1861, the controversial dismissal of the Australian federal government in 1975 and the 2007 Ukrainian crisis. While the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a written constitution, it is deemed to have an unwritten one, and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises.


title: Constitutional crisis

text: Constitutional crises may arise from conflicts between different branches of government, conflicts between central and local governments, or simply conflicts among various factions within society. In the course of government, the crisis results when one or more of the parties to a political dispute willfully chooses to violate a law of the constitution; or to flout an unwritten constitutional convention; or to dispute the correct, legal interpretation of the violated constitutional law or of the flouted political custom. This was demonstrated by the so-called XYZ Affair, which involved the bribery of French officials by a contingent of American commissioners who were sent to preserve peace between France and the United States. The incident was published in the American press and created a foreign policy crisis, which precipitated the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Opposition to these acts in the form of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions cited that they violated freedom of speech and exhorted states to refuse their enforcement since they violated the Constitution.


title: Constitutional crisis

text: When the crisis arises because the constitution is legally ambiguous, the ultimate resolution usually establishes the legal precedent to resolve future crises of constitutional administration. Such was the case in the United States presidential succession of John Tyler, which established that a successor to the presidency assumes the office without any limitation. Politically, a constitutional crisis can lead to administrative paralysis and eventual collapse of the government, the loss of political legitimacy, or to civil war. A constitutional crisis is distinct from a rebellion, which occurs when political factions "outside" a government challenge the government's sovereignty, as in a "coup d'état" or a revolution led by the military or by civilians.


title: Constitutional crisis

text: This covers the Kingdom of Scotland, which became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain after 1707. For constitutional crises since then, see United Kingdom below.


title: Constitutional crisis

text: While the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a written constitution, it is deemed to have an unwritten one, and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises.


title: Unibrow

text: A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose. The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.


title: Unibrow

text: The word "monobrow" first appeared in print in 1968, and the adjectival form "monobrowed" followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel "The Rachel Papers". The first known use of the word "unibrow" was in 1981.


title: Unibrow

text: A unibrow is considered as a sign of beauty by Baluchi Omanis. Its popularity causes women to draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population.


title: Unibrow

text: In Tajikistan, a unibrow is viewed as an attractive quality in both men and women. For women, it is associated with virginity and purity and, in men, virility. If there is no unibrow present, or if it is weak, it is commonplace for women to use a kohl liner or a modern kajal pen to simulate a unibrow.


title: Unibrow

text: The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked, shaved, or waxed away.


title: Unibrow

text: The artist Frida Kahlo was famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits. Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli is also known for her unibrow.


title: Unibrow

text: It is also the trademark of NBA player Anthony Davis, football player Marouane Fellaini and YouTuber ElectroBOOM. Famous boxer Roberto Elizondo also famously sported a unibrow during his professional boxing fighting days.


title: Unibrow

text: Bert, Herry Monster, and Oscar the Grouch from "Sesame Street", "Muppets" Sam Eagle, Statler and Animal, Tim Lockwood from "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", Spanky Ham from "Drawn Together", Squilliam Fancyson from "SpongeBob SquarePants", Helga Pataki from "Hey Arnold!", and Baby Gerald from "The Simpsons" are fictional characters with a unibrow.


title: Unibrow

text: A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).


title: Agatha Raisin

text: Agatha Raisin is a fictional detective in a series of humorous mystery novels by Marion Chesney using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton. They are published in the U.K. by Constable & Robinson and in the U.S.A. by St. Martin's Press.


title: Agatha Raisin

text: Raisin has been played by Penelope Keith on BBC Radio 4, and by Ashley Jensen in the television series "Agatha Raisin". The pilot aired on Sky 1 in December 2014. A full 8-part series, filmed during 2015, began airing on Sky 1 in June 2016. For series 2, the format was changed from 45-minute episodes to two 90-minute TV movies. Series 3 premiered on 28 October 2019 and the four stories retained the 90-minute format.


title: Agatha Raisin

text: Agatha Raisin is a frustrated, yet endearing, middle-aged public-relations agent who moved from London to Carsely in the Cotswolds when she sold her public-relations firm in Mayfair and took early retirement. She solves murders in each of the earlier books, but in the fifteenth book "Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance" (2004) Agatha sets up her own detective agency. The police, and even some of her acquaintances, insist that she solves crimes through accident and luck.


title: Agatha Raisin

text: In the first book, "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death" (1992), Agatha is 53. She was born Agatha Styles in a tower block slum in Birmingham to Joseph and Margaret Styles, both unemployed drunks living on benefits and occasional bouts of shoplifting. She went for one glorious week on a rare family vacation to the Cotswolds (her parents preferred going to a casino/holiday camp) and she never forgot that golden holiday or the beauty of the countryside. Agatha went to the local comprehensive, then saved enough from her biscuit factory wages to run off to London. After an evening secretarial course she worked as a secretary in a public relations firm, moved into public relations work and saved enough to start her own firm.


title: Agatha Raisin

text: She lives in the village of Carsely, but her detective agency "Raisin Investigations" and the police headquarters where Bill Wong is based are in the nearby town of Mircester. Even though Carsely and Mircester are fictional, they are based on true places; she does, however frequent Evesham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden and other nearby villages quite often. Agatha's first case came when she first moved to Carsely and heard about a quiche competition. She promptly bought a spinach quiche in London from a famous quiche shop and entered it as her own. She was outraged she did not win but later the judge, Reg Cummings-Browne, took another slice and died from cowbane poisoning. Frustrated, Agatha set out to find the poisoner and clear her own name.


title: Agatha Raisin

text: Agatha's character in the TV series, as played by Ashley Jensen, is notably different to her depiction in the novels: she is less bitter and more vulnerable than the version in the books. Other characters from the novels and some of the relationships between them are also notably different in the TV series, making the cast more of an ensemble.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is the second largest river in Nigeria. The state borders Nasarawa State to the North; Taraba State to the East; Kogi State to the West; Enugu State to the South-West; Ebonyi and Cross-Rivers States to the South; and has an international border with Cameroon to the South-East. It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma and Igede. Minority ethnic groups in Benue are Etulo, Igbo, Jukunpeoples etc. Its capital is Makurdi. Benue is a rich agricultural region; popularly grown crops include: oranges, mangoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, yams, sesame, rice, groundnuts, and Palm Tree.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State as it exists today is a surviving legacy of an administrative entity that was carved out of the protectorate of northern Nigeria at the beginning of the twentieth century. The territory was initially known as Munshi Province until 1918 when the name of its dominant geographical feature, the 'Benue River' was adopted.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State is named after the Benue River and was formed from the former Benue-Plateau State in 1976, along with Igala and some part of Kwara State. In 1991, some areas of Benue state (mostly the Igala speaking area), along with areas in Kwara State, were carved out to become part of the new Kogi State. Igbo people are found in the boundary areas like the Obi, Oju etc., Local Government Areas. It is renowned as the "Heartbeat of the Middle Belt" and the "Entertainment Capital of the Middle Belt" north of the Niger River. Otukpo, the Idoma people's traditional and administrative capital, is also known as the Lion's Heart and the Land of the Brave.


title: Benue State

text: Samuel Ortom is the governor and Benson Abounu is the deputy governor. Both were elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) but defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State, which is located in the North Central region of Nigeria, has a total population of 4,253,641 in 2006 census, with an average population density of 99 persons per km. This makes Benue the 9th most populous state in Nigeria. However, the distribution of the population according to Local government areas shows marked duality.


title: Benue State

text: There are areas of low population density, such as Guma, Gwer East, Ohimini, Katsina-Ala, Apa, Logo and Agatu, each with less than seventy persons per km, while Vandeikya, Okpokwu, Ogbadibo, Obi and Gboko have densities ranging from 160 persons to 200 persons per km . Makurdi LGA has over 380 person per km2. The males are 49.8 percent of the total population while females constitute 50.2 per cent.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State region was depleted of its human population during the slave trade. It is largely rural, with scattered settlements mainly in tiny compounds or homesteads, whose population range from 630 people, most of whom are farmers.


title: Benue State

text: Urbanization in Benue State did not predate the colonial era. The few towns established during colonial rule remained very small (less than 30,000 people) up to the creation of Benue State in 1976.


title: Benue State

text: Benue towns can be categorised into three groups. The first group consists of those with a population of 80,000 to 500,000 people. These include Makurdi, the State Capital, Gboko and Otukpo the "headquarters" of the two dominant ethnic groups (125,944 and 88,958 people respectively). The second group comprises towns with a population of between 20,000 and 50,000 people and includes Katsina-Ala, Zaki-Biam, Ukum, and Adikpo, Kwande. These are all local government headquarters. The third category comprises towns with a population of 10,000 to 19,000 people and includes Vandeikya, Lessel, Ihugh, Naka, Adoka, Aliade, Okpoga, Igumale, Oju, Utonkon, Ugbokolo, Wannune, Ugbokpo, Otukpa, Ugba and Korinya. Most of these towns are headquarters of recently created Local Government Areas and/or district headquarters or major market areas. Some of the headquarters of the newly created LGAs have populations of less than 10,000 people. Such places include Tse-Agberaba, Gbajimba, Buruku, Idekpa, Obagaji and Obarikeito. Apart from earth roads, schools, periodic markets and chemists (local drug stores), the rural areas are largely used for farming, relying on the urban centres for most of their urban needs.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State has no problem of capital city primacy. Rather, three towns stand out very clearly as important urban centres which together account for more than 70 per cent of the social amenities provided in the state and almost all the industrial establishments. These centres are Makurdi, Gboko and Otukpo. They are amongst the oldest towns in the state and are growing at a much faster rate than the smaller younger towns.


title: Benue State

text: Makurdi doubles as the capital of the state and the headquarters of Makurdi LGA, while Gboko, Otukpo and Oju double as the local government and ethnic headquarters (i.e. for Tiv, Idoma, and Igede). All the roads in the state radiate from these three centres. As an administrative unit, Benue State was first created on 3 February 1976. It was one of the seven states created by the military administration headed by General Murtala Mohammed, which increased the number of states in the country from 13 to 19. In 1991, its boundaries were re-adjusted with the creation of Kogi State. The new Benue State of today has twenty-three (23) local government areas, which are administered by local government councils.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State lies within the lower river Benue trough in the middle belt region of Nigeria. Its geographic coordinates are longitude 7° 47' and 10° 0' East. Latitude 6° 25' and 8° 8' North; and shares boundaries with five other states namely: Nasarawa State to the north, Taraba State to the east, Cross-River State to the south, Enugu State to the south-west and Kogi State to the west. The state also shares a common boundary with the Nord-Ouest Province, claimed by both Ambazonia and the Republic of Cameroon on the south-east. Benue occupies a landmass of 34,059 square kilometres.


title: Benue State

text: Based on Köppen climate classification, Benue State lies within the AW climate and experiences two distinct seasons, the Wet season and the Dry season. The rainy season lasts from April to October with annual rainfall in the range of 100-200mm. The dry season begins in November and ends in March. Temperatures fluctuate between 21 – 37 degrees Celsius in the year. The south-eastern part of the state adjoining the Obudu-Cameroun mountain range, however, has a cooler climate similar to that of Plateau State.


title: Benue State

text: Much of Benue State falls within the Benue Valley/trough which is believed to be structurally developed. During the Tertiary and possibly the Interglacial periods of the Quaternary glaciation, the Benue and Niger Valleys, otherwise known as the Niger/Benue trough, were transgressed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, marine sediments form the dominant surface geology of much of Benue State.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State is blessed with abundant mineral resources. These resources are distributed in the Local Government Areas of the state. Of these mineral resources, only Limestone at Tse-Kucha near Gboko and Kaolinite at Otukpo are being commercially exploited. Other mineral deposits include Baryte, Gypsum, Feldspar, Wolframite, Kaolinite, mineral salts and Gemstone etc.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State is the nation's acclaimed food basket because of its rich agricultural produce which include Yam, Rice, Beans, Cassava, Sweet-potato, Maize, Soybean, Sorghum, Millet, Sesame, cocoyam etc. The state accounts for over 70% of Nigeria's Soybean production.


title: Benue State

text: Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, engaging over 75% of the state farming population. The State also boasts of one of the longest stretches of river systems in the country with great potential for a viable fishing industry, dry season farming through irrigation and for an inland water highway.


title: Benue State

text: The vegetation of the southern parts of the state is characterised by forests, which yield trees for timber and provide a suitable habitat for rare animals types and species. The state thus possesses potential for the development of viable forest and wildlife reserves.


title: Benue State

text: The land is generally low lying (averaging 100m-250m) and gently undulating with occasional inselbergs, Knoll, Laterite etc. It is only at the boundary area with Cameroon, also Kwande and Oju Local Government Areas that hilly terrain with appreciable local relief is encountered. Here, the terrain is characterised by steep slopes, deep incised valleys and generally rugged relief. Elsewhere, gradients average less than 4°. River Benue is the dominant geographical feature in the state. It is one of the few large rivers in Nigeria. The Katsina-Ala is the largest tributary, while the smaller rivers include Mkomon, Amile, Duru, Loko Konshisha, Kpa, Okpokwu, Mu, Be, Aya, Apa Ogede and Ombi. The flood plains which are characterised by extensive swamps and ponds are good for dry season irrigated farming.


title: Benue State

text: Though Benue State has high drainage density many of the streams are seasonal. Hence, there is an acute water shortage in the dry season in Local Government Areas such as Guma, Okpokwu, Ogbadibo, Gwer West (Naka, Nigeria) and Oju.


title: Benue State

text: The state is populated by several ethnic groups: Tiv, Idoma, Igede, Etulo, Abakpa, Jukun, Hausa, Igbo, Akweya and Nyifon. The Tiv are occupying 14 local government areas with the Etulo and Jukun, with the Idoma, Igede, Igbo, Akweya and Nyifon occupying nine.


title: Benue State

text: Most of the Tiv people are farmers while the inhabitants of the river areas engage in fishing as their primary or important secondary occupation. The people of the state are famous for their cheerful and hospitable disposition as well as rich cultural heritage.


title: Benue State

text: The Benue State Government accords high respect to traditional rulers in recognition of their role as custodians of culture and as agents of development. Also, their roles in enhancing peace and order at the grassroots level are also recognised. To enhance their contribution to the affairs of the state, government has established a three-tier traditional council system made up of Local Government Area Traditional Councils, Area Traditional Councils and the State Council of Chiefs with the Tor Tiv (Tiv King) as chairman.


title: Benue State

text: The two Area Councils are the Tiv Traditional Council and the Idoma Traditional Council. The former has the Tor Tiv (Tiv King) as chairman of all the traditional rulers from the Tiv dominant Local Government Areas, while the latter has the Och' Idoma (Idoma king) as the chairman of all the traditional rulers from the Idoma dominant Local Government Areas.


title: Benue State

text: The State Council of Chiefs has the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse (Tor Tiv V) (), with Och'Idoma and all second class Chiefs/Chairmen of the Local Government Traditional Council as members.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State possesses a rich and diverse cultural heritage which finds expression in colourful cloths, exotic masquerades, supplicated music and dances. Traditional dances from Benue State have won acclaim at national and international cultural festivals. The most popular of these dances include Ingyough, Ange, Anchanakupa, Swange and Ogirinya among others.


title: Benue State

text: The socio-religious festivals of the people, colourful dances, dresses and songs are also of tourist value. The Alekwu ancestral festival of the Idoma people, for instance, is an occasion when the local people believe their ancestors re-established contact with the living in the form of masquerades.


title: Benue State

text: The Igede-Agba is a Yam Festival, marked every year in September by the Igede people of Oju and Obi local government areas. Among the Tiv, the Tiv Day, marriage ceremonies and dance competitions (e.g. Swange dance) are often very colourful. Kwagh-Hir is a very entertaining Tiv puppet show.


title: Benue State

text: Social life in Benue State is also enriched by the availability of diverse recreational facilities. Apart from parks, beaches, dancing and masquerades mentioned above, the big hotels in Makurdi, Gboko and Otukpo are equipped with several indoor sporting facilities. There are golf clubs, the Makurdi Club, Railway Club, Police Club and Air Force Club, where, apart from the sale of drinks and snacks, various types of games are played.


title: Benue State

text: There is a standard Arts Theatre, a modern Sports Complex which includes the Aper Aku Stadium, which has provisions for such games as tennis, basketball, volleyball and handball, an indoor sports hall and Olympic size swimming pool in Makurdi. Smaller stadia exist in Gboko (J. S. Tarka Stadium), Katsina-Ala, Adikpo, Vandeikya and Otukpo. The BCC Lawn Tennis tournament attracts players from all over the country. Benue State has three teams in the professional soccer ranks, Lobi Stars F.C. in Division One, BCC Lions FC in Division Two, Mark mentors as the basketball premier league team.


title: Benue State

text: Makurdi, the state capital was established in the early twenties and gained prominence in 1927 when it became the headquarters of the then Benue Province. Being a river port, it attracted the establishment of trading depots by companies such as United Africa Company of Nigeria and John Holt plc. Its commercial status was further enhanced when the Railway Bridge was completed and opened in 1932. In 1976, the town became the capital of Benue State and today, doubles as the headquarters of Makurdi Local Government Area.


title: Benue State

text: The town is divided by the River Benue into the north and south banks, which are connected by two bridges: the railway bridge, which was built in 1932, and the new dual carriage bridge commissioned in 1978.


title: Benue State

text: The southern part of the town is made up of several wards, including Central Ward, Old GRA, Ankpa Ward, Wadata Ward, High Level, Wurukum (Low Level), New GRA etc. Important establishments and offices located here include the Government House, The State Secretariat, The Federal Secretariat, The Central Bank of Nigeria Regional headquarters, Commercial Banks, Telecommunication companies, Police Headquarters, Nigeria Prisons Service, Aper Aku Stadium, Nigeria Air force Base, Makurdi, The Makurdi Modern Market, the Federal Medical Centre, Nigeria Railway Station, Benue Printing and Publishing Company Limited, Radio Benue, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Nigerian Postal service, Benue Hotels Makurdi, Benue Plaza hotel, Benue State University, Benue State Breweries.


title: Benue State

text: The North bank area of the town houses among other establishments, the Federal University of Agriculture, the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, the headquarters of the 72 Airborne Battalion, Akawe Torkula Polytechnic (ATP) and the State Headquarters of the Department of Customs and Excise.


title: Benue State

text: Owing to its location in the valley of River Benue, Makurdi experiences warm temperatures most of the year. The period from November to January, when the harmattan weather is experienced is, however, relatively cool.


title: Benue State

text: Makurdi can be reached by air, rail, road and water as the airport is presently not functioning. The major northern route is the Makurdi – Lafia – Jos road. The southern routes are Makurdi – Otukpo – Enugu and Makurdi – Yandev – Adikpo – Calabar roads. Traffic from the west comes through Makurdi – (3) Naka – Adoka Ankpa (3) – Okene (1) roads and from the east through Makurdi – Yandev – Katsina Ala – Wukari roads. The Makurdi Rail Bridge provides the only rail link between the northern and eastern parts of Nigeria.


title: Benue State

text: The beaches of River Benue can be exploited to provide good sites for relaxation. The river itself provides tourist opportunities for boating, angling and swimming. The Makurdi Moratorium that houses a variety of animals including some rare species also serves as another feature of tourist attraction.


title: Benue State

text: Just like other Nigerian states are governed by their Governors, Benue State is no exception. The state is under the current administration of Samuel Ortom.


title: Benue State

text: Other languages spoken in the State include Etulo, Nyifon, Basa, Jukun (including Wannu), and Utugwang Irungene Afrike.


title: Benue State

text: Agriculture forms the backbone of the Benue State economy, engaging more than 70 per cent of the working population. This has made Benue the major source of food production in the Nation. It can still be developed because most of the modern techniques are not yet popular to 98% of Nigeria. Mechanization and plantation agriculture/agro-forestry are still at its infancy. Farm inputs such as fertilizers, improved seed, insecticides and other foreign methods are being increasingly used. However, cost and availability is still a challenge. Important cash crops include soybeans, rice, peanuts, mango varieties, citrus, etc.


title: Benue State

text: Other cash crops include palm oil, melon, African pear, chili pepper, tomatoes etc. Food crops include Yam, Cassava, Sweet potato, Beans, Maize, Millet, Guinea corn, Vegetables etc. There is very little irrigation agriculture and techniques.


title: Benue State

text: Banking services are available as all the banks in Nigeria have branches in the state with the Central Bank of Nigeria having its regional headquarters in Makurdi. Dangote Cement Company is a private company that operates within the state and provides a little employment to the people.


title: Benue State

text: This is a rough estimated employment percentage in the state: 75% are farmers, 10% traders, 6% civil servants, 9% private.


title: Benue State

text: Benue State has the capacity to support a wide range of industries using local agricultural and mineral resources although potentials are yet to be exploited. Private initiatives in commerce and industry, particularly by indigenes, is as also on a small scale and is limited to carpentry, shoe repairs and manufacturing, small scale rice mills, leather and plastic industries, weaving, printing, catering, block making, food processing, etc. Industry and commerce have been greatly retarded by the absence of capital funds, basic infrastructure and the frequent political changes.


title: Benue State

text: The location of Benue State in the centre of the country plus the presence of bridges on two large rivers, the Benue River and Katsina-Ala River, make the state a major cross-roads centre. Two major highways connect the Eastern States to the North and Northeast. The present government has shown commitment to the construction of roads within the state capital Makurdi and other major roads leading in and out of the state. The roads are in an excellent condition.


title: Benue State

text: The Federal government is also remodelling and expanding the Makurdi Airport to become the largest agricultural cargo airport in the country.


title: Benue State

text: The rivers Benue and Katsina-Ala only need to be dredged and a modern river port built at Makurdi, Turan, Buruku and Katsina-Ala to transport goods all over the nation since the state is at the middle of the country. Ships are sighted very occasionally offloading cargo for Benue company at the Abinsi jetty.


title: Benue State

text: The eastern rail line connects Makurdi, Otukpo, Taraku, Utonkon and Igumale with the rest of the country. Altogether, about 180 km of rail line traverses the state.


title: Benue State

text: Electricity challenge in Benue is not different from every other regions in Nigeria, places like markurdi, Otukpo and Gboko to mention but few enjoys at least 60% of power supply. However, private industries have other sources of power supply as plan (b).


title: Benue State

text: Benue State possesses immense tourism potentials which are yet to be exploited. Since some of the tourist attractions are best selected by the tourist, Benue State in her bid to develop tourism embarked on infrastructural development necessary for the overall well-being of the tourist. The options are still opened to foreign investors.


title: Benue State

text: The programme of road development, hotels, postal, telephone and Email services, electricity, potable water, recreational facilities and the general hospitality of the people will eventually open up the state to tourists. An amusement park and Zoo have been developed at Makurdi. There is a wild life park at lkwe where a conference hall and chalets have been built to serve tourists. Tourist attractions in the state may be grouped into natural scenic, historical monuments and festivals.


title: Benue State

text: Natural Attractions in Benue State include hills and ranges such as Ikyogen, Abande, Ngokur, Mkar, Ushongo and Harga. There is a heavily wooded natural trench at Tse-Mker which is believed to be inhabited by dangerous creatures including Pythons. Gurgul is a waterfall on Katsina Ala River. The border stretch adjoining the Obudu/South Cameroon Plateau ranges features forests, dissected hills, Dykes, dozens of fast flowing streams and incised valleys. In the Dry season, the water level in both the Benue River and Katsina-Ala River falls, giving rise to sandy river beaches and clean shallow waters. The waters are used for recreational boating and swimming. At Orokam in Ogbadibo Local government areas, occurs the Enumabia Warm Spring. At Epwa-Ibilla, Andi-Ibilla, Uchenyum-Ibilla, Okochi-Uwokwu, Irachi-Uwokwu, Ette-Uda-Uwokwu, Odepa-Uwokwu, Igbegi-Ipinu-Uwokwu, Edde-Ibilla-Uwokwu, and Ohuma-Uwokwu of Oju, are springs of clean water. There are masses of unusually tall trees in the deep valleys and on the pretty steep highlands, which are all however inhabited.


title: Benue State

text: Historical monuments in the state include the Royal Niger Company Trading Stores at Makurdi and Gbileve near Katsina-Ala; the tombs of the first Dutch missionaries at Harga and Sai in Katsina-Ala Local Government Areas; the tombs of the legendary politician, Mr. J. S. Tarka and past three Tor Tiv in Gboko town; and the trench fortifications in Turan district of Kwande local government areas which were dug by the Tiv to ward off Chamba invasions in the 19th century.


title: Benue State

text: At Utonkon, is a thick forest with tall giant trees, the centre of which used to serve as a slave trade market, but is now the site of shrines and a periodic market. Swem is a shrine site at the foot of the Cameroon range in Kwande local government area from where the Tivs were said to have originated.


title: English Setter

text: The English Setter is a medium-size breed of dog. It is part of the setter group, which includes the red Irish Setters, Irish Red and White Setters, and black-and-tan Gordon Setters. The mainly white body coat is of medium length with long silky fringes on the back of the legs, under the belly and on the tail. The coat features flecks of colour, and the different colour varieties are referred to as belton.


title: English Setter

text: A gentle but at times strong-willed, mischievous gun dog, bred for a mix of endurance and athleticism, it is used to hunt for game such as quail, pheasant and grouse. When working, the dog will hunt methodically seeking the airborne scent of its prey. It is sometimes referred to as the Laverack or Llewellin Setter as these were famous strains of the breed during the major development period in the 19th century. Those from hunting stock are generally of a finer build and with less coat than those bred for show exhibition.


title: English Setter

text: Generally reasonably healthy, they have an average life span of 11 to 12 years. The Kennel Club advises UK breeders to screen for hip dysplasia.


title: English Setter

text: The English Setter is a medium-sized dog which should have an elegant overall appearance. Its size can range from for females up to for males. The field or hunting type can be finer in build and construction than those from bench or show lines. The breed was designed to hunt game such as quail, pheasant, and grouse so should be able to cover a lot of ground when seeking the airborne scent of the birds, carrying its head high. The head should be slightly domed with a muzzle of good depth and show chiselling under the eyes, which should be dark in colour with a kind, gentle expression. The top of the ears (sometimes the ears are referred to as "leathers") are positioned in line with the eyes and lie in an elegant fold. It has a long muscular neck, well angled shoulders and a brisket of good depth. The body is of a moderate length proportionate to its height and it has strong powerful hindquarters. It carries its tail in line with its back and the tail should be long enough to reach the hock.


title: English Setter

text: The main body coat is short to medium length, lies flat and has a silky texture. Long silky coat – usually called "feathering", forms fringes on the outside of the ears, neck, chest, down the back of the front legs, under the belly and on the back legs. The tail is also feathered with long coat.


title: English Setter

text: The body coat and feathering should be straight and flat but not profuse and never curly although a slight wave can be seen.


title: English Setter

text: The bench or show type has a long, flowing coat that requires regular grooming. The field or hunting type has a shorter coat that requires less grooming.


title: English Setter

text: The base colour of the coat is white with differing coloured ticking also called flecks or speckling. The various speckled coat colours when occurring in English Setters are referred to as "belton"; valid combinations are white with black flecks ("blue belton"), white with orange flecks ("orange belton"), white with orange flecks and lighter nose ("lemon belton"), white with liver flecks ("liver belton"), or "tricolour", which is blue or liver belton with tan markings on the face, chest, and legs. The flecking should not form large patches on the body and the flecks should be distributed all over the body. The use of the word "belton" was first coined by Laverack, who developed the breed in the 19th century, to describe his ideal for flecking and is also the name of a village in the extreme north of England. Puppies' coats may not have all the markings that they have as adults.


title: English Setter

text: This breed's standard temperament is best described as a "Gentleman by Nature". However, it can also be strong-willed and mischievous, especially if coming from working/field breeding lines. English Setters are energetic, people-oriented dogs, that are well suited to families who can give them attention and activity, or to working with a hunter, where they have a job to do. They are active dogs that need plenty of exercise and up to two hours a day of exercise is recommended. Inside they tend to be lower energy and love to be couch potatoes and lap dogs; the breed is described as "intensely friendly," "good natured," and "adores visitors and is particularly happy with children."


title: English Setter

text: They rank 37th in Stanley Coren's "The Intelligence of Dogs", being of above average working/obedience intelligence. English Setters are very intelligent and can be trained to perform about any task another breed can do, with the exception of herding. However, they are not always easy to train, as their natural bird instinct tends to distract them in outdoor environments. Their temperament is considered to be gentle and as English Setters can be very sensitive to criticism, positive reinforcement training methods using treats and praise work best when undertaking basic training.


title: English Setter

text: Dogs, both pedigree and cross breeds, can be affected with genetic problems. Those known to sometimes occur in English Setters can include congenital deafness, which was reported as affecting 12.4 percent of the 701 English Setters tested by the Louisiana State University in 2010. As at 2013, there has not been any detailed research on this condition undertaken in the UK; autoimmune thyroiditis, which was shown to affect 26.2 percent of 747 English Setters examined between January 1974 until December 2012 in an Orthopedic Foundation for Animals listing; canine hypothyroidism; elbow dysplasia; and allergies, which can include some sensitivity to certain food ingredients and also skin conditions, are known to occur.


title: English Setter

text: In 2004, the U.K. Kennel Club established the Accredited Breeders Scheme, which was later called the Assured Breeders Scheme (ABS). The scheme received UKAS accreditation in April 2013. ABS members are required to adhere to additional criteria than those necessary for basic KC registration. Among the extra requirements is "Ensuring that the parents of each litter are readily identifiable by either Microchip, Tattoo or DNA profile." As at March 2013, breeders of English Setters who are members of the ABS must screen for hip dysplasia.


title: English Setter

text: Some members of the breed may be affected by cancer and this was identified as the most common cause of death of English Setters in a survey undertaken by the Kennel Club; the age of death from this disease was mainly after reaching ten years of age. However, the survey had only received a small response rate. Life expectancy is between 11 and 12 years, though 13 to 15 years is not uncommon.


title: English Setter

text: Setters hunt by ranging over large distances in a systematic, methodical manner, silently seeking game by scent. When prey is found by scenting the air, the dog will freeze rather than give chase. The dog will stop in a sort of crouch or "set" by freezing in a standing position upon finding their quarry and this distinctive stance is how the term “setter” evolved. Once the dog has indicated where the birds are by freezing on point, on command it would then slowly creep forward to disturb the birds into flight. Once the birds were in flight the hunter who had been following the dog would release hawks to capture the birds in the air. When netting superseded the use of hawks, setting dogs would still be used to indicate the whereabouts of the birds, but the hunter would come up behind the dog and throw a net over the birds. In the mid-1600s, guns became more readily available and shooting game birds became a popular pastime of the landed gentry. The basic work of setters was still to find and point to the location of game birds but it also had to be steady to shot.


title: English Setter

text: The scent of game birds is airborne so to pick up this scent the setter carries its head well up and should never follow foot scent. Most setters are born with a natural proclivity to hunting. Dogs that show excitement and interest in birds are described as being "birdy", and trainers look for puppies that show this particular trait. Training is usually done with quail as a first choice or domesticated pigeons.


title: English Setter

text: Writing in 1876, Arnold Burges described the "pure-blooded English Setter" as "the best animal for American upland shooting" in his book "The American Kennel and Sporting Field".


title: English Setter

text: "Setting dogges" is an old term used for setters and the original purpose of the English Setter was to set or point upland game birds. From the best available information, it appears that the English Setter was a trained bird dog in England more than 400 years ago and there are works of art created in the early 15th century showing dogs that are discernible as being of a “setter type”. There is evidence that the English Setter originated in crosses of the Spanish Pointer, large Water Spaniel, and English Springer Spaniel, which combined to produce an excellent bird dog with a high degree of proficiency in finding and pointing game in open country.


title: English Setter

text: Writing in 1576, Dr Johannes Caius states: "There is also at this date among us a new kind of dogge brought out of Fraunce, and they bee speckled all over with white and black, which mingled colours incline to a marble blewe". Argue speculates this may be a description of the blue belton colour found in English Setters.


title: English Setter

text: By the 17th century setters, or "setting dogges", had become established and were widespread on British estates, although the evolution into the more specific individual breeds of setters occurred at a later date. The interbreeding of the different colours was still taking place during this period but it gradually changed and sportsman/breeders began to segregate matings to dogs adapted to the terrain it was required to work on.


title: English Setter

text: The modern English Setter owes its appearance to Edward Laverack (1800–1877), who developed his own strain of the breed by careful breeding during the 19th century in England and to another Englishman, Richard Purcell Llewellin (1840–1925), who founded his strain using Laverack's best dogs and outcrossed them with the Duke, Rhoebe and later Duke's littermate Kate bloodlines with the best results.


title: English Setter

text: Historically, many dogs descending from the same bloodline were referred to by the name of their breeder or owner and the nomenclatures "Laverack Setter" and "Llewellin Setter" describe English Setters bred by Laverack and Llewellin. Horace Lytle, one time gundog editor of "Field & Stream", author and a well-known gundog trainer, clarified this in the book "How to train your bird dog", which he wrote in 1928:


title: English Setter

text: Around 1826, Reverend A Harrison of Carlisle in Cumbria sold a male dog called "Ponto" and a female named "Old Moll" to Laverack and this pair formed the foundation of his English Setters. Laverack did not know the exact pedigree of these dogs but maintained the strain had been pure-bred for the previous thirty-five years. Laverack closely inbred to these two dogs for generations and his bloodline was successful in dog shows and as a working dog in field trials.


title: English Setter

text: In 1874, C. H. Raymond from Morris Plains, New Jersey imported the first English Setter from the Laverack bloodline to America. The working setter Count Noble descended from these early imports and is commemorated in the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.


title: English Setter

text: Llewellin's strain was based on Laverack's best dogs, which were then outcrossed with the bloodlines of his dogs Duke, Rhoebe and later Duke's littermate, Kate. It was Kate bred with Laverack's best hunting males that produced Llewellin's ideals Fd.Ch.Ch. Armstrong's Dash II and later Fd.Ch.Ch Dashing Bondhu. They were the foundation of Llewellin's personal strain known as "Dashing Bondhu". William Humphrey (1882–1963) inherited them from Llewellin in 1925 and continued them pure until his death in 1963.


title: English Setter

text: Jim the Wonder Dog, described as a Llewellin setter, was said to have "possessed an occult power" and there is a bronze statue of him in a memorial garden on the square in Marshall, Missouri, built to commemorate him.


title: English Setter

text: The field type and show type English Setter look very different, even though they are the same breed. Field type setters are often smaller and are seen with less feathering and usually more distinctive spotting than show type setters. Both traits are beneficial in the field: less feathering makes getting burs out of their coat easier and the spotting makes them easier to see in the field.


title: English Setter

text: English Setters are classified within the gundog group in the UK and the Sporting group in America and Canada. The FCI place them in section 2, British and Irish Pointers and Setters, of Group 7.


title: English Setter

text: In the English Setter breed, compared to other breeds, there are very few Dual Champions. The Kennel Club have four champion titles available to be achieved by setters competing in the UK. These are Show Champion (Sh Ch) which is awarded to dogs who have won three Challenge Certificates (CCs) under three different judges with at least one CC won after 12 months of age; Champion (Ch) is the title gained by dogs who have won a Sh Ch title plus a field trial award, Diploma of Merit or a Show Gundog Working Certificate; Field Trial Champion (Ft Ch) means the dog has won a pointer or setter open stake or two first prizes at two different stakes under two different A Panel judges. There must be no less than 16 runners entered; and a Dual Champion – the highest award available to setters – is a dog who has achieved the titles of Show Champion and Field Trial Champion.


title: English Setter

text: An English Setter called "Countess" was the first gun dog to ever attain a Dual Champion title. She was sired by Dash 2nd and her dam was Moll 3rd. Her breeder was Laverack, who sold her to Sam Lang; he in turn passed her on to Llewellin in whose name she was entered in field trials.


title: English Setter

text: In the U.K., the breed has been successful at Crufts and secured the award of Best in Show in 1964, 1977 and 1988. At the Westminster show in America an English Setter won the Best in Show title in 1938. He was only 11 months old and at his very first show. This was before entry to the show was restricted to Champions in 1992. As of 2013, he is the only setter to achieve Best in Show at Westminster since the award of Best in Show started to be made in 1907.


title: English Setter

text: When the American Kennel Club was established in 1878, English Setters, together with eight other sporting breeds, were accepted as the first pure-bred registrations by the Club. The very first dog registered with the AKC and the holder of registration number one was an English Setter named "Adonis". He was born in 1875 and is recorded as sired by "Leicester" out of a bitch named "Dart". His colours were given as black, white and tan. He was owned by his breeder George E. Delano of New Bedford, MA.


title: English Setter

text: English Setters were especially popular in the UK during the 1960s, 70s and 80s and registrations of puppies reached 1344 during 1974. In 2012, the Kennel Club listed the English Setter amongst the Vulnerable Native Breeds as only 234 puppies were registered. A decade earlier, in 2002, there were 568 English Setter puppies registered. However, during 2012 the number of English Setter puppies registered increased to 314, so the breed was moved to the Kennel Club's "At Watch" list, which is for breeds with registrations from 300–450. In 2015 registrations fell to 289 resulting in a return to the Vulnerable Native Breeds list for 2016. The breed is still fairly well represented in Italy, where it is popular as a working gun-dog. Even in Italy, however the breed is in sharp decline, going from 20,999 registrations in 2002, to 14510 registrations in 2011. In contrast, the American Kennel Club stated that 2011 was the "year of the setters, with all four making big jumps over the past year". English Setters had previously ranked at 101 in 2010 but moved up to 87 in 2011, a position the breed maintained in 2012.


title: The Maxx

text: The Maxx is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The first appearance of the character was in "Darker Image" #1 by Image Comics in March 1993. The comic book, starring an eponymous purple-skinned hero, spawned a 13-episode animated series on MTV that originally aired April–June 1995. Starting in November 2013 and ending in September 2016, the original series has been republished by IDW as "The Maxx: Maxximized" with new colors and improved scans of the original artwork by Sam Kieth and Jim Sinclair. In 2018, the Maxx featured in a five-issue crossover series with Batman, published by IDW.


title: The Maxx

text: The series follows the adventures of the titular hero in two worlds: the real world and an alternate reality referred to as the Outback (presumably named metaphorically after the real Australian outback). In the real world, Maxx is a vagrant, a "homeless man living in a box", while in the Outback, he is the powerful protector of the Jungle Queen, who exists in the real world as Julie Winters, a freelance social worker who often bails Maxx out of jail. While Maxx is aware of the Outback, Julie is not, though it is integral to both of their stories.


title: The Maxx

text: Mr. Gone, a serial rapist with a telepathic link to Julie, has extensive knowledge of and access to other people's Outbacks. He starts phoning Julie, but she thinks he is merely an obscene phone caller and ignores him. Eventually, the Maxx gets in Gone's way by "protecting" Julie. Gone tries to kill him with assistance from the Outback's main predators, the Isz. The Maxx fights him in both the Outback and the real world.


title: The Maxx

text: Eventually, Mr. Gone makes Julie see the truth about her past and reveals to her how the Maxx came to be. Gone first met Julie when she was a child as "Uncle Artie", a friend of her father; his tall tales about a visit to Australia helped shape Julie's Outback. As Julie begins healing herself and the Outback, the series starts following Sara, a depressed teenager whose mother sends her to Julie for counseling. Sara is often in conflict with her mother, who disciplines her so she will not grow up to be like her father - Mr. Gone.


title: The Maxx

text: The backstories of several characters are revealed midway through the series. While in college, Julie picks up a hitch-hiker who beats and rapes her before leaving her to die. To cope, she hides in what is referred to as her "Outback" (a primeval landscape situated entirely in her subconscious, where she has control). In the Outback, she becomes "The Jungle Queen", an all-powerful goddess. She spends so much time dwelling in her Outback that the real world and the Outback gradually become unstable.


title: The Maxx

text: One night, she accidentally hits a homeless man with her car. Remembering what happened the last time she stopped to help someone, she covers the unconscious body with trash, but in doing so she unintentionally opens a link to the Outback. After Julie leaves, a lampshade in the trash (which had brushed the Outback) expands over the man's body, becoming a mask that consumes him and links him to Julie.


title: The Maxx

text: After the conclusion of the first storyline, the action leaps forward from 1995 (the then-present) to the year 2005. Julie and Dave (the former Maxx) having vanished, the action focuses on Sara (as she now spells her name) and Iago, a giant, murderous banana slug from her Outback. Iago has a list of people to kill, and it turns out that Julie and Sara are both on it. Sara is hounded by a homeless man named Norbert whom she soon realizes is her Maxx. Sara has constant confrontations with Mr. Gone, who is repentant of his past crimes. He is visited by three special agents intent on arresting him, but he turns them into insects. Later, after reading a diary he leaves for her that reveals his tragic origin story, Sara eventually feels sympathy for and a connection to her father. She also begins developing a strange power that she may be inheriting from Mr. Gone.


title: The Maxx

text: Julie and Dave return to the story after Julie is attacked by Iago and loses a few fingers. It turns out that Julie abandoned her son, Mark, to keep him safe from Iago. She tries to have Dave tell Mark that she is dead so he will stop seeking her out, but Mark does not believe him. Sara, Dave, Mark, Mr. Gone and Norbert band together to rescue Julie from Iago, who kidnaps her and takes her into Sara's outback. Norbert cuts Iago open, apparently defeating him, but Julie has already escaped.


title: The Maxx

text: Mr. Gone soon reveals that time is unraveling for the group, which now includes Glorie, one of Mr. Gone's past victims who now has a friendly relationship with him. Gone returns Dave's Maxx power to him. Sara returns as a being whom different people perceive as a giant Isz, pink fairy, or football. Mark has an odd dream about eccentric kidnappers. Each member of the group begins to disappear from reality to be reborn in another. Before Mr. Gone can disappear, the three agents who previously tried to arrest him and now appear as humanoid beings with insect bug heads, return and kill him, as he expected. Mark is the last to disappear.


title: The Maxx

text: In Julie's outback, Mr. Gone is reunited with Sara, who is now a child again. The Maxx considers attacking him, but the Jungle Queen says to leave him be, because even evil deserves a place to rest.


title: The Maxx

text: In the new reality, Mr. Gone is a professor and Dave is a janitor at his school. Julie and Mark are still mother and son, but seem to live in better conditions. All the principal characters now lead completely distinct lives, yet retain a small part of their connection to the Outback and to each other.


title: The Maxx

text: One of the dominant concepts of "The Maxx" is that every human being has a spirit animal, which is linked to the person during a pivotal moment in their life. Julie's spirit animal is a rabbit. When she was very young, Julie rescued a dying rabbit that lay in the road in front of her house (as seen in "The Maxx" #12). Julie later witnessed her mother bludgeoning the rabbit to death with a shovel to put it out of its misery. This traumatic event linked the rabbit to Julie's subconscious. Julie projects the rabbit onto Dave as she tries to take care of him like the rabbit she was unable to save. Maxx, who is linked to Julie and her spirit animal, worries that, if he removes his mask, he will find the head of a rabbit beneath it.


title: The Maxx

text: Sarah's spirit animal is a horse. In the latter half of the series, this spirit animal manifests itself as Norbert, a homeless man she takes pity on.


title: The Maxx

text: The main inhabitants of The Outback, the Isz are small, eyeless beings with egg-shaped bodies, arms and legs, about as large as housecats. The omnivorous white Isz of the Outback become cannibalistic black Isz when brought into the real world. They are stronger, faster, and have sharper teeth than white Isz. However, in one instance, a single White Isz was able to cross over into the real world unchanged when there was a small punctured hole in an alley wall that directly connected both realities. The Black Isz proceeded to torture their less aggressive kin after its initial mission had been completed, showing the completely opposite degrees of aggression the two types exhibit. The Black Isz can assume different appearances depending on the clothes they wear, and their intent. If an Isz is dressed as an elderly woman, it appears as such to anyone who does not know already that it is an Isz. In the latter part of the series, Sara's Isz appear as pink, flying, eyeless fairies that explode if not kept in water.


title: The Maxx

text: Besides an appearance of the Maxx in "Primer" #5 (1983), other Maxx issues include an 8-page spread in the first and only issue of "Darker Image" (March 1993), an incomplete anthology series from Image Comics, as well as "The Maxx" #½ (June 1993) and a "Gen¹³/The Maxx" crossover (December 1995). Recently, IDW published another crossover series of five issues, "Batman/The Maxx" (October 2018–February 2019).


title: The Maxx

text: The Maxx has made cameo appearances in the graphic novel "Popbot" Book 2 (which Kieth co-wrote), issue #1 of the independent comic "Armature", the Sonic the Hedgehog comic "Sonic Super Special "#7 Sonic/Image Crossover, the four issue limited series "Altered Image", " Bloodwulf" #2, "The Savage Dragon" #28 (collected in "Savage Dragon Vol. 7: A Talk With God"), and "Troll Halloween Special" #1. He also briefly appears in the series "Mars Attacks Image". He appears on a TV screen on the Frostbite version of the cover to "DV8 #1". Maxx stories have also appeared in "Gay Comics" #24 and IDW Publishing's "Hero Comics 2014". In 2018, Maxx made a long-awaited comeback with Batman in the "Arkham Dreams" series.


title: The Maxx

text: The comic book series was adapted into an animated series as part of the MTV program "Oddities". The show covered "Darker Image" #1, "The Maxx" #1/2, and issues #1–11 of the regular series and depicted the introduction of Julie, the original Maxx, Mr. Gone, and, later on in the series, Sarah. Therefore, the TV show did not go into the same depth (e.g. revealing the origins of all the characters) as the comic series.


title: The Maxx

text: The animation frequently changes style: in one scene, characters may be rendered in detail, but in the next, they may be simplified cartoons. Often, this is done to show a change in perspective. CGI and even live-action film are sometimes integrated or interspersed with the hand-drawn animation. Critics such as Richard Matthes have noted how much of the animation is based directly on panels from the comic.


title: The Maxx

text: In 1996, the complete series was released on VHS with a runtime of approximately 2 hours. In 2009, it became available to stream on MTV.com, though only to U.S. audiences. On December 17, 2009, "The Maxx" became available on DVD exclusively through Amazon's CreateSpace "Manufacture-on-Demand" program; it contains every episode of the TV show and also includes audio commentary on each episode, plus interviews with creator Sam Kieth and director Gregg Vanzo.


title: The Maxx

text: An adventure for the "Heroes & Heroines" role-playing game was released using "The Maxx" characters and setting.


title: The Maxx

text: An audio drama comic adaptation, "MAXXimum Sound: A Comic Book Soundtrack", was made from the first three issues of the comic book and released on audio cassette in 1993. It was created by Stephen Romano and managed by Smiles Lewis.


title: The Maxx

text: In 2008, Chris Vick made an Atari Jaguar (1993 console) video game demo based on the Maxx for the "JagCode II" contest. Being the winner of the contest, it is available on the "JagCode II" website.


title: The Maxx

text: On November 22, 2019, Channing Tatum and Roy Lee announced their intent to produce a film based on "The Maxx".


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and contemporary instruments, primarily the electric guitar, the piano, synthesisers and the violin, but also instruments such as the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, harpsichord, piano accordion or even typewriter.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen is often mistaken for a soundtrack composer; as he is quoted about himself: "I'm not a composer and I really don't have a classical background," but his real focus is on touring and recording studio albums, which are often used for film soundtracks. Tracks taken from his first three studio albums were used for the soundtrack of the 2001 French film "Amélie".


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen was born in 1970 in Brest, in the department of Finistère, part of Brittany in northwestern France, into a French family of Belgian and Norwegian origins. He started learning to play the piano at the age of four, the violin at the age of six, and received classical training at several musical academies, including those in Rennes, Nantes, and Boulogne-sur-Mer. In the early 1980s, he was influenced as a teenager by the punk subculture, and bands like The Stooges and Joy Division. When he was 13, he broke his violin, bought an electric guitar, and formed a rock band. Tiersen was living in Rennes back then, home to the three-day music festival Rencontres Trans Musicales, which is held annually in December. That gave him the opportunity to see acts like Nirvana, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Television, and Suicide. A few years later, when his band parted, Tiersen bought a cheap mixing desk, an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder, and started recording music on his own with a synthesiser, a sampler, and a drum machine.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Before releasing film scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films. During the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment with an electric guitar, a violin and a piano accordion, recording music on his own; he was guided by what he calls "a musical anarchic vision". By the end of the summer, Tiersen had recorded over forty tracks, which would most be used later on for his first two albums. Tiersen's debut album, "La Valse des monstres", limited to 1,000 copies, was first released in June 1995 by independent record label Sine Terra Firma, and then reissued by Nancy-based record label Ici d'ailleurs in 1998 as the second album of its catalogue. The 17-track-album was inspired by and written for the theatrical adaptations of Tod Browning's 1932 cult classic "Freaks", and Yukio Mishima's 1955 version of Noh play "The Damask Drum". In April 1996, one year later, he released "Rue des cascades", a collection of short pieces recorded with a toy piano, a harpsichord, a violin, a piano accordion, and a mandolin. The title track, sung by French solo singer Claire Pichet, was used the following year for the Palme d'Or nominated French drama film "The Dreamlife of Angels", and several tracks received greater exposure when they were featured on the Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film "Amélie", five years later. Tiersen usually plays most of the music instruments himself during both studio recording sessions and his live sets; he has won theatrical appeal as a one-man show and was invited to play, among others, at the 1996 edition of the Avignon Festival, the oldest live arts festival in France.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen rose to domestic fame upon the release of his third studio album, "Le Phare" ("The Lighthouse") in 1998. The album was recorded in self-imposed seclusion on the isle of Ushant (, ) at the end of the English Channel which marks the most north-western point of territorial France. Tiersen spent two months there, living in a rented house. At night-time, he would watch the Phare du Creach, one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world, and was fascinated by the stunning scenery repeated every night. "Le Phare", which featured Claire Pichet, French singer and songwriter Dominique A, and Belgian drummer and percussionist Sacha Toorop, sold over 160,000 copies, confirming Tiersen's status as one of the most innovative artists of his generation and commencing a run of successful albums. Three songs from this album, "La Dispute", "La Noyée" and "Sur le fil" were later featured on the 2001 soundtrack "Amélie", while "L'Homme aux bras ballants", written and composed by Dominique A, was also featured on Laurent Gorgiard's 1997 short animation soundtrack of the same name. Its single "Monochrome", sung by Dominique A, was a radio hit and propelled the album into the charts. "Le Phare" was his first album to climb to number 50 in the French Albums Chart.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: During that period, Tiersen provided a new arrangement and played strings, vibraphone, bell, the mandolin, the electric guitar and bass guitar for the song "À ton étoile" by French rock band Noir Désir which was featured on their 1998 remix album "One Trip/One Noise". He recorded songs for the soundtrack of several films, including the award-winning and multi-nominated film "The Dreamlife of Angels" () (1998), André Téchiné's "Alice et Martin" (1998) and Christine Carrière's "Qui plume la lune?" (1999). Tiersen also recorded "Bästard ~ Yann Tiersen", a three-track-extended-play released in 1998 in collaboration with French electronic rock band Bästard, and his first live album, "". The live album was recorded on 2 December 1998 as he played the opening act of the Rencontres Trans Musicales in the Salle Serreau at the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes, for the "C'est Lenoir" French broadcast show on the public radio station France Inter. The album features the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy fronted by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Neil Hannon, the French rock band Noir Désir with singer and songwriter Bertrand Cantat, singer and illustrator Françoiz Breut, French rock band The Married Monk (Christian Quermalet, Philippe Lebruman, Etienne Jaumet, Nicolas Courret), French folk rock group Les Têtes Raides (Christian Olivier, Grègoire Simon, Pascal Olivier, Anne-Gaëlle Bisquay, Serge Bégout, Jean-Luc Millot, and Edith Bégou), the string quartet Quatuor à cordes, guitarist and composer Olivier Mellano, and author Mathieu Boogaerts, as well as his usual collaborators and friends, Claire Pichet and Dominique A. The album was recorded by France International, mastered by Radio France, and released in CD format one year later on 2 November 1999.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: In 1999, Tiersen together with The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano released his first collaboration album, "Tout est calme". The 26 minutes, 10 tracks mini album peaked at number 45 on the French Albums Chart. The album produced one single, "Les Grandes marées", and Tiersen also featured on The Divine Comedy's single "Gin Soaked Boy" released on that same year, on three tracks for Françoiz Breut's second studio album "Vingt à Trente Mille Jours" (English: Twenty to Thirty Thousand Days), and on Têtes Raides' "Gratte-poil", both released in 2000.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen remained relatively unknown outside France until the release of his score for the acclaimed film "Amélie" (Original French title: "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain", English: "The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain") in 2001. French film director Jean-Pierre Jeunet had something else in mind for the film score, but one day one of his production assistants put on a CD of Tiersen, and the director found it absolutely superb. Jeunet bought all of Tiersen's albums, and then contacted him to see if the Breton composer was interested in writing the film score for "Amélie". In two weeks, Tiersen composed nineteen pieces for the film and also allowed the production to take anything they wanted from his other records. "Amélie" received great critical acclaim and was a box-office success. The film went on to win the Best Film award at the European Film Awards, four César Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, two BAFTA Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for five Academy Awards. The soundtrack was a mixture of both new and previously released material, and Tiersen was also the recipient of the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film, and of the World Soundtrack Academy award. The soundtrack album charted in many countries, including the number one position on the French Albums Chart.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: While he was writing the film score for "Amélie", Tiersen was also preparing his fifth studio album "L'Absente". The album was characterized by several contributions including 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne, viola player Bertrand Lambert, violinists Yann Bisquay and Sophie Naboulay, Natacha Régnier, and saxophonist Grégoire Simon, and long-time collaborators Dominique A, Christine Ott, Lisa Germano, Neil Hannon, Têtes Raides, Christian Quermalet, Marc Sens, and Sacha Toorop. The album, which was released on 5 June 2001 through EMI France, was preceded by two promotional singles for "A quai" and "Bagatelle" respectively. Tiersen provided strings and vibraphone to two tracks, "Roma Amor" and "Holidays", featured on "R/O/C/K/Y", the third studio album by The Married Monk.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: At this time he was married to Belgian actress Natacha Régnier, co-star of "The Dreamlife of Angels". Régnier became a singer and Tiersen wrote three songs for her including his arrangement of Georges Brassens' "Le Parapluie", a song featured on the tribute album "Les Oiseaux de passage", released in 2001. That same year they toured in France and abroad. They have a daughter, Lise, born in 2002, but Tiersen and Régnier have since divorced. In this period, Tiersen also took his music out around the world, playing shows with a full orchestra and an amplified string quartet. From 15 to 17 February 2002, Tiersen with many of the collaborators who participated in the recording sessions for "L'Absente" plus Claire Pichet, violinists Nicolas Stevens and Renaud Lhoest, bassist Jean-François Assy, viola player Olivier Tilkin, and uilleann pipes, bagpipes, and low whistle player Ronan Le Bars, performed live at the Cité de la Musique ("City of Music") in Paris. Part of these three concerts went on to form Tiersen's second live album "C'était ici" ("It Was Here"), which was released through EMI France on 30 September 2002.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and the soundtrack for "Amélie" was soon followed by the film score for "Good Bye, Lenin!", a 2003 German Tragicomedy film directed by Wolfgang Becker. The film was both a commercial and a critical success and won several awards including the César Award for Best Film from the European Union, Best Film at the European Film Awards, the German Film Awards for Outstanding Film, Best European Film at the Goya Awards, Best Foreign Language Film for the London Film Critics' Circle, and it was also listed in the "Empire" magazine 2010's list of "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema". Tiersen was the recipient of the German Film Awards for Outstanding Music. On 15 November 2003, Tiersen with Stuart A. Staples, the lead singer of indie band Tindersticks, actress and singer Jane Birkin, singer and songwriter Christophe Miossec, and Dominique A released "3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH" ("3 New Tracks for the Benefit of FIDH"), a three-track CD that was part of the "On Aime, On Aide" benefit collection for raising funds for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen's list of collaborators continued to grow album after album and in October 2004 he released "Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright", a collaboration album with American singer-songwriter Shannon Wright, and, in the same year, he is featured on The Divine Comedy's album "Absent Friends". In 2005, Tiersen released his fifth studio album "Les Retrouvailles". The album features several collaborators including the Orchestre National de Paris, singers Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, Stuart A. Staples, Dominique A, and Miossec, strings players Jean-François Assy, Frederic Dessus, Guillaume Fontanarosa, Bertrand Causse, Anne Causse Biragnet, Armelle Legoff, Frédéric Haffner, flute player Elliott, drummer Ludovic Morillon, and ondes Martenot player Christine Ott. "Les Retrouvailles" also includes a DVD short film entitled "La Traversée", directed by Aurélie du Boys, which documents the making of the album in Ushant, and incorporates an animated video for the non-album track "Le Train" and live versions of a handful of songs. The album produced a single, "Kala", sung by Elizabeth Fraser, and Tiersen also played piano on Staples' solo debut album, "Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04". The subsequent world tour of 2006 replaced the multi-instrumental ensemble with electric guitars and an ondes Martenot, and produced his third live album, "On Tour", which was released together with a DVD, directed by Aurélie du Boys, about the tour, in November 2006. In 2006, he also released two singles, "La Mancha" and "La Rade", and he was featured on "The Endless Rise of the Sun", the third studio album by electronic group Smooth, "Raides à la ville" extended play by Katel, and "13m²" by David Delabrosse.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: After a five-year absence as a composer of film scores, Tiersen provided the background music for "Tabarly", a 2008 documentary film by Pierre Marcel about the French sailor, two-time champion of the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, and father of French yachting Éric Tabarly. The documentary was released in June 2008, exactly ten years after Tabarly's death. Éric Tabarly was lost on the night of 12–13 June 1998 in the Irish Sea when he was struck by a gaff of his Pen Duick during heavy swell and knocked overboard from his yacht near Wales while on his way to the Fife Regatta in Scotland. His body was recovered five weeks later off the coast of Ireland by a French fishing trawler. The documentary, narrated by Tabarly himself, traces his sporting career until his last meal in Ushant. Before the end of the decade, Tiersen also contributed to Christine Ott's debut solo album "Solitude Nomade", and to Miossec's seventh studio album "Finistériens".


title: Yann Tiersen

text: October 2010 saw the release of Tiersen's sixth studio album titled "Dust Lane". The album was two years in the making and was largely recorded in Ushant, France. Further parts were recorded in the Philippines. The album is preoccupied with mortality; during the recording sessions Tiersen lost his mother and a close friend. The recordings started out as simple song based tracks with Tiersen playing acoustic guitar, mandolin and bouzouki. New layers were added to the recordings creating a more complex sound. Then an array of vintage synthesisers and electric guitars were added to create further textures. The album was released by Mute Records in Europe and ANTI- Records in the US. The record was promoted in a tour beginning in October 2010, starting in New York City. "Dust Lane" was preceded by the release of the vinyl EP "PALESTINE" and by the single for "Ashes". In 2010, Tiersen also contributed to the tribute album to cross-genre, experimental music group Coil "The Dark Age of Love" by This Immortal Coil, a one-off tribute formation, and to "Li(f)e", the fourth solo studio album by hip-hop artist Sage Francis.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: October 2011 saw the European release of his seventh studio album, "Skyline". The nine-track album, a follow on from his "Dust Lane", was once again recorded at Tiersen's home on the island of Ushant in the south-western end of the English Channel, with further parts recorded in Paris, San Francisco, Berlin, and Nashville. It was subsequently mixed by producer Ken Thomas in Leeds, and mastered by Ray Staff in London. The album produced the singles for "Monuments" and "I'm Gonna Live Anyhow". On 18 February 2012, Tiersen with Lionel Laquerriere, and Thomas Poli, presented his side project, Elektronische Staubband, at La Route du Rock music festival in Saint-Malo. It was about an hour of krautrock, electronic, and experimental music involving a dozen of synthesizers and analog keyboards with the first three pieces of the set list taken from "Dust Lane" and the remaining five from "Skyline". Tiersen was also chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in March 2012 in Minehead, England. "Skyline" was released in North America via ANTI- Records on 17 April 2012, and it was followed by the "Skyline Tour" with dates in the United States, Canada, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, France, Slovak Republic, Austria, Finland and the United Kingdom.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: On 3 August 2016, it was announced that Tiersen married Emilie Quinquis in Ushant, Brittany. Quinquis stated that she and Tiersen were married on 31 July 2016. Since 6 April 2017 they have a son.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen's music is influenced by the classical training he received as a child, by American and British punk subculture, and by the music he used to listen to as a teenager. His musical style is deceptively easy to recognize but difficult to define. It varies greatly from one album to another and with time. His melancholic music and composing techniques mix classical and folk music elements with pop and rock ones. His delicate but deeply emotional style has been linked to Frédéric Chopin and the other great masters of Romantic music, and also to Erik Satie, the colourful figure of the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde whose work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd. Tiersen is also compared to one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century, the American minimalism, classical–contemporary classical, and ambient music composer Philip Glass, and to British minimalist music composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist Michael Nyman, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy career and who is the reason for Tiersen to be often called the Gallic Michael Nyman.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen started playing the piano and the violin at a young age. In 1983, at the age of thirteen, he broke his violin and bought an electric guitar. Tiersen only returned to his beginnings instrument years later, after searching for string sounds to sample. For his music albums, Tiersen composes and makes arrangements incorporating many instruments, including keyboards such as the piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes, organs, harpsichord, Bontempi and toy pianos, Korg and Moog synthesizers, Mellotron, piano accordions and melodica, strings as the violin, viola, violone and the cello, different types of electric, acoustic or bass guitars, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, bouzouki and oud, brasses, like horns, and woodwind instruments such as the saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, pipe, oboe and the flute, percussions like drums, vibraphone, marimba, tubular bells, tom, cymbal, glockenspiel and tam-tam, or the sounds produced by Leslie speaker, music box, carillons, typewriters, cooking vessels, chairs, a car or a bicycle wheel. Tiersen plays all of these instruments himself either in the studio or on a live set.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen's ability to compose music that can be easily used for film scores was evident from the beginning. All tracks from his debut album, "La Valse des monstres", were conceived for stage adaptations and plays. The title track of his second album, "Rue des cascades", was used for "The Dreamlife of Angels" by Erick Zonca, and several tracks from both albums plus three songs from "Le Phare" are featured on the soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film "Amélie". Another track form "Le Phare", "L'Homme aux bras ballants", is the soundtrack to a short animation film by Laurent Gorgiard. Tiersen's pieces are also featured on "Alice et Martin" by André Téchiné, and "Qui plume la lune?" by Christine Carrière.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Following the box-office success of "Amélie", Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and this led him to compose the music for "Good Bye, Lenin!" by Wolfgang Becker. Although the soundtrack for "Amélie" consisted mainly of pieces that Tiersen had previously released on his first two albums, the soundtrack for "Good Bye, Lenin!" was conceived from scratch, except for "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi", which is also featured on "Amélie"'s soundtrack.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen returned to making film soundtracks in 2008 after a years-long break, creating the score for a documentary about the sailor Éric Tabarly.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen has always composed his music in solitude, starting from simple melodies to which he added subsequent layers. His first album, "La Valse des monstres", is almost entirely performed by him alone playing all the instruments, with the exception of "Quimper 94" and "Le Banquet" with drums and charleston provided by Laurent Heudes. His second album, "Rue des cascades", saw the participation of French soloist singer Claire Pichet, who provided vocals on two tracks on the album, "Rue des cascades" and "Naomi", and François-Xavier Schweyer, who played cello on "C'était ici" and "La Fenêtre". "Le Phare" saw his first collaboration with French singer and songwriter Dominique A. Claire Pichet and drummer Sacha Toorop are also featured on this album, but both albums can be considered as a one-man works.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: It is at this point in his career, around the end of the nineties, that his collaborations begin to grow. In 1997, he collaborated with French rock band Noir Désir, the following year Tiersen and Dominique A released the single for "Monochrome", and, in collaboration with French electronic rock band Bästard, the EP "Bästard ~ Yann Tiersen", while 1999 saw the releases of "Tout est calme", a collaboration mini album by Yann Tiersen, The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano, and of his first live album, "". The live album, recorded in December 1998, features Tiersen with Claire Pichet, Dominique A, The Divine Comedy's singer and songwriter Neil Hannon, Noir Désir's singer and songwriter Bertrand Cantat, singer and illustrator Françoiz Breut, anglophone French rock band The Married Monk, French folk rock group Têtes Raides, the string quartet Quatuor à cordes, guitarist and composer Olivier Mellano, and author Mathieu Boogaerts. The soundtrack for "Amélie" saw for the first time the introduction of a full orchestra, the 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis, and of an ondes Martenot played by Christine Ott. Both will participate in the recording sessions for his next album, "L'Absente", which also includes American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Belgian actress and singer Natacha Régnier, Neil Hannon, and Têtes Raides, among others.


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen's list of collaborators continues to grow. His second live album, "C'était ici", recorded during three concerts performed in February 2002 at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, features more than 50 musicians. "Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright", a collaboration album with American singer and songwriter Shannon Wright, was released in October 2004, and his 2005 album, "Les Retrouvailles", features vocals from Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, English actress and singer Jane Birkin, Breton singer and songwriter Miossec, Elizabeth Fraser, the vocalist for the pioneer alternative rock group Cocteau Twins, and the Orchestre National de Paris. The subsequent world tour produced his third live album "On Tour", which replaced the multi-instrumental ensemble of "Les Retrouvailles" with a more rock-oriented sound. The soundtrack to "Tabarly" saw Tiersen return to minimalism, in fact most of the compositions featured on the album are for solo piano. But his two subsequent albums return to have a rock-oriented sound, with the only difference that "Skyline" has a higher number of contributors than "Dust Lane".


title: Yann Tiersen

text: Tiersen has contributed, either in part or in full, to the realization of several records among which stand out "Gin Soaked Boy" and "Absent Friends" by The Divine Comedy, "Vingt à Trente Mille Jours" by Françoiz Breut, "Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04" by Stuart A. Staples, and "Li(f)e" by Sage Francis, as well as records by Noir Désir, Têtes Raides, The Married Monk, French electronic trio Smooth, Katel, David Delabrosse, Christine Ott, or Miossec. In 2011, Tiersen, with Lionel Laquerriere and Thomas Poli, has also started Elektronische Staubband, a side project on electronic music. This new project is expected to lead to the release of a new album in 2013.