title: Original antigenic sin

text: Several groups have attempted to design vaccines for HIV and hepatitis C based on induction of CTL response. The finding that the CTL response may be biased by original antigenic sin may help to explain the limited effectiveness of these vaccines. Viruses like HIV are highly variable and undergo mutation frequently; due to original antigenic sin, HIV infection induced by viruses that express slightly different epitopes (than those in a viral vaccine) might fail to be controlled by the vaccine. It has been hypothesized that: if original antigenic sin is a common phenomenon, a naively designed single-component vaccine could conceivably make an infection even worse than if no vaccination at all had occurred. The hypothesized mechanism is that the immune response would be "trapped" in a less effective response. Therefore a recommendation was made for vaccines with multiple components or that target conserved epitopes.


title: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

text: The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (unofficially Cambridge English Dictionary or Cambridge Dictionary, abbreviated CALD) was first published in 1995 under the name Cambridge International Dictionary of English, by the Cambridge University Press. The dictionary has over 140,000 words, phrases, and meanings. It is suitable for learners at CEF levels B2-C2. To get results for a specific area, include a location in your search


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate (ACR, ASAP, or PAAS), also known as waterlock, is a sodium salt of polyacrylic acid with the chemical formula [−CH−CH(CONa)−] and has broad applications in consumer products. This super-absorbent polymer (SAP) has the ability to absorb 100 to 1000 times its mass in water. Sodium polyacrylate is an anionic polyelectrolyte with negatively charged carboxylic groups in the main chain. Sodium polyacrylate is a chemical polymer made up of chains of acrylate compounds. It contains sodium, which gives it the ability to absorb large amounts of water. When dissolved in water, it forms a thick and transparent solution due to the ionic interactions of the molecules. Sodium polyacrylate has many favorable mechanical properties. Some of these advantages include good mechanical stability, high heat resistance, and strong hydration. It has been used as an additive for food products including bread, juice, and ice cream.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: While sodium neutralized polyacrylic acids are the most common form used in industry, there are also other salts available including potassium, lithium and ammonium. The origins of super-absorbent polymer chemistry trace back to the early 1960s when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed the first super-absorbent polymer materials.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Super-absorbent polymers (SAP) similar to sodium polyacrylate were developed in the 1960s by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before the development of these substances, the best water absorbing materials were cellulosic or fiber-based like tissue paper, sponge, cotton, or fluff pulp. These materials can only retain 20 times their weight in water, whereas sodium polyacrylate can retain hundreds of times its own weight in water. The USDA was interested in developing this technology because they wanted to find materials that could improve water conservation in soil. Through extensive research, they found that the gels they created did not expel water as fiber-based materials would. Early adopters of this technology were Dow Chemical, Hercules, General Mills Chemical, and DuPont. Ultra-thin baby diapers were some of the first hygiene products to be developed which uses only a fraction of the material compared to fluff pulp diapers. Super-absorbent technology is in high demand in the disposable hygiene industry for products like diapers and sanitary napkins. SAPs used in hygiene products are typically sodium neutralized whereas SAPs used in agricultural applications are potassium neutralized.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Methods to fabricate sodium polyacrylate, like solution polymerization in water, inverse emulsion polymerization, inverse suspension polymerization, plasma polymerization, and pressure-induced polymerization have been employed to synthesize various polyacrylates. However, the process to obtain a solid-state product using these methods requires a lot of equipment and is very expensive. The products obtained from these methods also have defects like poor solubility and broad molecular weight distribution. Despite having drawbacks, the polymerization methods aforementioned are often used to form sodium polyacrylate and other SAPs.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: During solution polymerization, monomers are dissolved in a solvent that contains a catalyst to induce polymerization. Solution polymerization in water utilizes water as the solvent which means that the end product formed from the reaction is soluble in water. Inverse emulsion polymerization requires water, monomers, and a surfactant. Also, inverse emulsion polymerization is used to polymerize hydrophilic monomers. Hydrophobic monomers are emulsified through an aqueous phase. Free radicals are created in order to produce the polymer with either water or oil soluble initiators. Inverse suspension polymerization is carried out by using an aqueous solution of the monomer, cross-linking agent, and initiator which is then added to an organic phase which is stabilized by a surfactant. Plasma polymerization utilizes a range of technologies such as electron beams, ultraviolet radiation, or glow discharge in order to form polymers from a vapor made out of monomers. Gas discharge provided through this process initiates the polymerization of a group of monomers. Finally, pressure-induced polymerization applies pressure or compressive forces to solutions of monomers in order to create units which undergo polymerization and produce polymers.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Another method tested in a study to produce sodium polyacrylate as an alternative to current methods began with Butyl acrylate-acrylic acid copolymer and poly (butyl acrylate). They were synthesized via suspension polymerization by using butyl acrylate as the main monomer and acrylic acid as a secondary monomer. Suspension polymerization uses physical and mechanical movement and agitation in order to mix monomers to form polymers. This process requires dispersing medium, monomers, stabilizing agents, and initiators. Next, the polymers were swollen in ethanol and hydrolyzed in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. Finally, water-soluble sodium polyacrylates were obtained by washing and drying the hydrolyzed resultant. This is a different method compared to the manufacturing processes that have been previously utilized, but could be a potential method to specifically manufacture sodium polyacrylate. Overall, the various production methods of sodium polyacrylate will influence its swelling capability, absorbency, and other mechanical properties. It is also important to consider cost and feasibility when manufacturing polymers like sodium polyacrylate.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Super-absorbent polymers are an innovative class of hydrogel products that can be used in many applications including hygiene products, drug delivery systems, agriculture, biomedicine, and wastewater treatment. A method called electrospinning is used to fabricate super-absorbent nanofibers (SANs) because of their advantageous properties like high surface area and porous structure. Electrospinning is a simple method that uses an electric field that collects filaments by forcing polymer melts or solutions. SANs have been successfully created by using sodium polyacrylate and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a polymer matrix, which is a water-soluble polymer that is highly hydrophilic. As a result of this method of fabrication, SANs created in a study displayed high rates of absorption due to the capillary phenomenon shown by their highly porous structures. Also, the cross-linking structure improved the water absorption ability of the SANs. Adding PVA in this case gave structural stability to the SAN and prevented it from being dissolved in water. Overall, sodium polyacrylate can be combined with PVA in a nanofiber to produce a strong and effective structure.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: This technology could have many applications in various industrial fields because of the fast and high absorbency as well as the sustainable structure of the SANs which was produced through relatively easy and simple processing methods. The SANs were very effective when absorbing water since there was an increase in the absorption area. The swelling ratio also increased because of the cross-links and highly porous nature of the nanowebs.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Studies have been conducted which observe the effect of the mechanical properties of hydrogels based on the amount of clay combined with the polymer. When combining polymers with clay, the results are promising, showing an increase in the elastic modulus and the tensile strength of clay-polymer hydrogels. In general, combining inorganic substances with polymers can improve the electrical, mechanical, thermal, and gas barrier properties of materials like hydrogels. In order to obtain these results, ultra-high molecular mass polymers higher than a few millions are recommended to be used so that the mechanical properties can improve regardless of the type of polymer used.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: The mechanical properties for clay-polymer hydrogels have been studied including clay and polyethylene oxide (PEO) as well as clay and sodium polyacrylate (PAAS). A study compared laponite/PEO and laponite/PAAS blend hydrogels. Laponite is a synthetic clay that has the ability to swell when placed in water. The results showed that both hydrogels have a similar elastic modulus. However, the tensile strength of laponite/PAAS is much stronger than laponite/PEO blend hydrogels. The reason for this difference is based on the clay-polymer interaction strength in each hydrogel blend. In laponite/PAAS, the interaction is much stronger compared to the laponite/PEO blend.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Experiments and studies have shown that the incorporation of 0.3 wt% sodium polyacrylate in collagen (Co) fibers can improve the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composite films. Sodium polyacrylate can form films and composites with different cationic polymers, proteins, and other substances which can benefit the properties of the film. Furthermore, sodium polyacrylate has the potential to combine with metal ions because of its characteristic polyanionic property which would allow for more reinforcing of the material. When collagen and sodium polyacrylate (Co-PAAS) blend films were combined with Ca, Fe, and Ag ranging from 0.001 to 0.004 mol/g, the surface of the composites became coarser and the internal structure became more stratified as more metal ions were added. When the ions were added, tensile strength increased. The optimal amounts for each ion are as follows: Ca (0.003 mol/g), Fe (0.002 mol/g), and Ag (0.001 mol/g). The composite films also had better thermal stability.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Overall, the study showed that metal ions added to Co-PAAS blend composite films can be used as an alternative to reinforce collagenous composite materials. These three ions were combined with the Co-PAAS film because of their relevant biological applications. Ca is one of the major elements in animal tissues including bone and teeth and has a strong interaction with collagen. Next, Fe is an important trace element in the human body and participates in protein chelation. Finally, Ag has antibacterial properties and can improve the stability and transparency of the Co-PAAS film.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate is a commonly used electronegative polyelectrolyte which could be used to construct self-healing hydrogels and super-absorbents. Novel chitosan/sodium polyacrylate polyelectrolyte complex hydrogels (CPG) have been fabricated successfully in a study by cross-linking chitosan and sodium polyacrylate with epichlorohydrin (ECH) through the inhibiting protonation effect of chitosan in an alkali/urea aqueous solution. The CPG had a high swelling ratio because of sodium polyacrylate and acted differently in various pH solutions, physiological solutions, and salt solutions with different concentrations. As a result, CPG had smart responsive properties to different situations and exhibited high compressive strength, good biocompatibility and "in-vitro" biodegradability. This fabrication process has shown success and has potential applications in the fields of agriculture, foods, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Water-soluble polymers are used in many industries, especially polyacrylates. Some applications include thickeners, flocculants, dispersants, and drag reducing agents. Polyacrylates are also used as environmentally friendly adhesives or coatings.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: In addition, sodium polyacrylate is used in paper diapers and Maximum Absorbency Garments as the absorbent material. It is also used in ice packs to convert the water used as the cooling agent into a gel, in order to reduce spillage in case the ice pack leaks. Sodium polyacrylate has also been studied for utilization in many applications such as nanofiltration of water to absorb water and concentrate the liquid with microbes. Also, it is used for eco-engineering as a water-retaining agent in rocky slopes for increasing moisture availability in the soil.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: This can improve the water retention availability of the soil and infiltration capacity in sandy soil. Below is a table containing categories and lists of some products and applications that utilize sodium polyacrylate:


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Some of the items listed above will be discussed in further detail in the next application sections. However, it is important to note that the table provided above is not comprehensive and does not contain all of the possible or potential applications for using sodium polyacrylate.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate is commonly used in detergents as a chelating agent. A chelating agent is used in detergents because it has the ability to neutralize heavy metals that can be found in dirt, water, and other substances that could be in clothes. The addition of sodium polyacrylate makes detergent more effective when cleaning clothes.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Since sodium polyacrylate can absorb and retain water molecules, it is used often in diapers, hair gels, and soaps. Sodium polyacrylate is considered a thickening agent because it increases the viscosity of water-based compounds. In diapers, sodium polyacrylate absorbs water found in urine in order to increase the capacity to store liquid and to reduce rashes.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate can also be utilized as a coating for electrical wires in order to reduce the amount of moisture around wires. Water and moisture near wires can cause issues with transmitting electrical signals. This could cause potential fire hazards. Due to the effective absorption and swelling capacity of sodium polyacrylate, it can absorb water and prevent it from surrounding or infiltrating wires.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: In the agricultural industry, sodium polyacrylate is used to help plants retain moisture in the soil. It can act as a water reservoir for plants and is commonly used by florists to keep flowers fresh. Furthermore, the use of sodium polyacrylate for growing domestic fruit and vegetables has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: It's reportedly used as organic polymer quenching agent, along with polyalkylene glycol (PAG), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethyl oxazoline (PEO).


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate is used in the fabric of spacesuits designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to prevent rashes from developing during flight by absorbing various liquids. These garments are called Maximum Absorbency Garments or MAGs and sodium polyacrylate is used in the innermost layers of these spacesuits to aid in the absorption of liquid from the surface of the skin. Specifically, MAGs absorb liquid from urine and feces and can hold approximately of liquid.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Although sodium polyacrylate has beneficial environmental applications, in one study, sodium polyacrylate was found to have inhibitory effects on the bioH2 fermentation of cellulosic wastes. Sodium polyacrylate is commonly used in diapers to absorb liquids from urine and feces, but it has been found that waste disposable diapers (WDD) accumulate in landfills since sodium polyacrylate prevents and negatively affects H2 production from the dark fermentation of WDD. To be specific, WDD represents 7% of urban solid refuse and the current option is landfilling, which is degradable only during biological conditions. Such conditions include anaerobic degradation and composting. Considering the high amounts of cellulosic waste in WDD, in order to be more sustainable it has been recommended that sodium polyacrylate be replaced with special starches that can absorb significant amounts of water yet are still degradable by dark fermentation (DF). Overall, despite having many beneficial environmental applications, the usage of sodium polyacrylate in diapers can prevent waste from degrading properly over time.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: In the leather industry, salt-based preservation is typically used because it is versatile, cost-effective, and readily available. However, the salt removed from the soaking process can cause pollution including elevated total dissolved solids (TDS). A study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of instead using a low-salt skin preservation method with sodium polyacrylate which has a reduced amount of NaCl. The main goal was to retain the properties of commercial leather while reducing pollution. The results showed that sodium polyacrylate with low salt levels had an adequate curing efficiency with a significant reduction (>65%) of TDS. Around 40% NaCl is used in conventional curing processes but the process conducted with sodium polyacrylate used 15% NaCl and 5% sodium polyacrylate.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Studies have shown that sodium polyacrylate and other super-absorbent polymers or SAPs can be used to absorb and recover metal ions. Heavy metals are very harmful pollutants and can have detrimental effects on aquatic environments and human beings because of high toxicity, bioaccumulation, and non-degradability. Activities like mining and petroleum refining can produce these heavy metals which necessitates a simple and environmentally sustainable process to absorb these harmful metals to prevent disastrous results. Sodium polyacrylate can absorb solutions quickly by swelling porous structure networks to reduce mass-transfer resistance. Also, sodium polyacrylate is a low-cost, non-toxic, and biocompatible option for water purification to recover metal ions.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: A study demonstrated that a sodium polyacrylate composite had high adsorption and desorption efficiency, implying that sodium polyacrylate can be recycled and reused as an effective absorbent for Cu(II) recovery. Sodium polyacrylate is able to do this because of its function group (-COO-) in its matrix which contributes to its effective adsorption capacity. Sodium polyacrylate has a very high adsorption capacity and one of the highest adsorption capacities for sodium polyacrylate was found with Cu(II) ions. Using a mild concentration of 0.01 M nitric acid, almost all of the copper could be recovered from the sodium polyacrylate matrix. The results of the study indicate the effectiveness of using sodium polyacrylate to rid the environment of toxic metals like copper. It is also a sustainable solution since sodium polyacrylate can be recycled and reused, therefore, reducing waste.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate can be used for microencapsulation to deliver substances like probiotics. The delivery of probiotics to the digestive system can be difficult because the viability of probiotics decreases sharply throughout the gastrointestinal tract due to strong acid conditions. Although Alginate (Alg) is the most extensively used native microcapsule matrix, combining Alg with sodium polyacrylate yields better results based on research comparing different encapsulation methods. Sodium polyacrylate is an oral safe food additive approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has repeated carboxylate groups along its molecular chain. As a result, the acid buffering effect of sodium polyacrylate could be better than small molecular acid. Also, the binding capacity of sodium polyacrylate with calcium ions could be higher than Alg because of the high concentration of carboxylate groups and the increased flexible nature of the polymer chain.


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate has been found useful in drug delivery applications. When combined with Alg, sodium polyacrylate was able to successfully encapsulate "Lactobacillus plantarum" MA2 and allowed better probiotic delivery compared to an Alg microcapsule. This result is true for both the small and large intestine. This research has shown that Alg-PAAS(1:2) could be a potentially effective microcapsule matrix in probiotic drug delivery. This capsule enhanced the survival of the probiotic when traveling both "in-vitro" and "in-vivo."


title: Sodium polyacrylate

text: Sodium polyacrylate itself does not irritate the skin. It is made up of large polymers that do not have the ability to infiltrate the skin. However, sometimes sodium polyacrylate is mixed with acrylic acid which is leftover from the manufacturing process. As a leftover of producing sodium polyacrylate, acrylic acid can cause a rash in contact with skin. It should be less than 300 PPM as the absorbent material in paper diapers. Also, if sodium polyacrylate is being used in a powder form it should not be inhaled. If spilled in an area with water, sodium polyacrylate could cause the ground to be very slippery. Finally, sodium polyacrylate can cause severe clogging if it enters sewers or drainage systems in large quantities. Otherwise, sodium polyacrylate is non-toxic and safe from any major risks. The data on its safety on environment is not adequate, however it is considered non-biodegradable and may cause salinization of soil when added in large quantities.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third song on their debut album, "Bleach", released in June 1989.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: A live, acoustic version, recorded during Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged " appearance in November 1993, was released as a single in October 1994, to promote the album, "MTV Unplugged in New York". It was the first single released since Cobain's death in April 1994, reaching number one on "Billboard's" Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 22 on "Billboard's" Hot 100 Airplay chart.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" was written in 1988, reportedly after Cobain spent an afternoon repeatedly listening to "Meet the Beatles!", the 1964 second American release by English rock band the Beatles. The earliest known recording is a solo electric home demo that was posthumously released on the band's rarities box set, "With the Lights Out", in November 2004. Featuring alternate lyrics, it was recorded at Cobain's home in Olympia, Washington in 1988.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: The song was debuted live at a dorm party at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in February 1989.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" was first recorded in the studio in December 1988 by Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington. This version appeared on the band's debut album, "Bleach", in June 1989.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: According to Cobain, he had been attempting to conceal his pop songwriting at this time, and was apprehensive about including the song on "Bleach", knowing that it risked alienating the band's then-largely grunge fan base. In a 1993 "Rolling Stone" interview with David Fricke, he explained:


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: However, Endino was excited about the song, and even saw it as a potential single. In a 1997 interview with Gillian G. Gaar for "Goldmine", he recalled Cobain's initial trepidation about including the song on "Bleach".


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "I think Kurt felt nervous about putting 'About a Girl' on there, but he was very insistent on it. He said, 'I've got a song that's totally different from the others, Jack, you've gotta just humour me here, because we're gonna do this real pop tune.' The question was raised at some point, gee, I wonder if Sub Pop's going to like this, and we decided, 'Who cares?' Sub Pop said nothing. In fact, I think they liked it a lot."


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: In 2004, Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough album "Nevermind", cited "About a Girl" as the first hint that there was more to Nirvana than grunge. "Everyone talks about Kurt's love affair with... the whole punk scene, but he was also a huge Beatles fan, and the more time we spent together the more obvious their influence on his songwriting became," Vig told the "NME".


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: On October 26, 1989, a version of the song was recorded by Ted de Bono at Maida Vale Studios in London, England, during Nirvana's first BBC "Peel Session". The full session was first broadcast on November 22, 1989. Another version was recorded on November 1, 1989 at Villa 65 in Hilversum, Netherlands for the VPRO radio show, "Nozems-a-Gogo".


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: A live version of the song, recorded at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon on February 9, 1990, appeared on the British 12-inch and CD versions of the "Sliver" single in 1991.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: On November 18, 1993, "About a Girl" was performed as the opening song on the band's "MTV Unplugged" appearance at Sony Music Studios in New York City. This version of the song featured Pat Smear on second guitar.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" was performed for the final time live at Nirvana's last concert, at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany on March 1, 1994.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: The studio version of "About a Girl" was re-released on the band's first "best of" compilation, "Nirvana", in October 2002. The "MTV Unplugged" version was re-released on a second hits compilation, "Icon", in August 2010.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" is an alternative rock song that runs for a duration of two minutes and forty-eight seconds. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by BMG Rights Management, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderately fast rock tempo of 130 beats per minute. "About a Girl" is composed in the key of E minor, while Kurt Cobain's vocal range spans one octave and six notes, from the low-note of B to the high-note of A. The song primarily alternates between the open chords of Em and G in the verses and follows a chord progression of C–G–F–C–G–F–E–A–C during the refrain. During the verses, Cobain repeats the same two chords as Krist Novoselic's bass line continuously ascends while a vocal harmony and tambourines appear in the background. The song's chorus features slight key modulation, where chords land slightly away from the place expected. "About a Girl" has an aching, wistful melody which Cobain sings over simple chord progressions. His electric guitar playing grows rawer and noisier over the course of the track.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: According to Chad Channing, Nirvana's "Bleach"-era drummer, Cobain didn't have a title for the song when he first brought it into the studio. When asked what it was about, Cobain replied, "It's about a girl."


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: The "girl" was Tracy Marander, Cobain's then-girlfriend, with whom he lived at the time. The lyrics address the couple's fractured relationship, caused by Cobain's refusal to get a job, or to share cleaning duties at their apartment, which housed many of his pets. During arguments on the subject, Cobain would occasionally threaten to move into his car, at which point Marander would usually relent. Cobain never told Marander that he had written "About a Girl" for her. In the 1998 Nick Broomfield documentary "Kurt and Courtney", Marander revealed that she only found out after reading Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography, "".


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: "About a Girl" has frequently been cited as early evidence of Cobain's talent as a pop songwriter. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of "Allmusic" wrote that the song "illustrated signs of [Cobain's] considerable songcraft." Evan Rytlewskia of "Pitchfork" called it "a glimpse at the melodic impulses that would make [Cobain] one of the defining rock musicians of the ’90s." According to Will Bryant of "Pitchfork", it was "curious, based on the clean guitars and tinny cymbals that dominate ["About a Girl"], how Nirvana ever came to be identified with grunge, the genuinely dirty and moody sound more readily associated with contemporaries Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Tad than the punk-metal hybrid Nirvana favored." The "NME" described it as "Kurt's first true masterpiece," which "showed Nirvana's soft underbelly could be just as arresting as their ear-splitting thrashes."


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: In 2004, the "NME" ranked "About a Girl" second on their list of the "20 Greatest Nirvana Songs Ever." The same year, "Q" ranked it second on their list of the "10 Greatest Nirvana Songs Ever." In 2015, it was placed at number eight on "Rolling Stone's" ranking of 102 Nirvana songs. It was ranked at number 112 on "Pitchfork's" 2015 list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s," with Raymond Cummings calling it a "sharp, perceptive, well-constructed, and almost Beatles-esque" song "that demonstrated a potential beyond grunge's ghetto." In 2019, it was ranked eighth on "The Guardian's" list of "Nirvana's 20 greatest songs".


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: On April 24, 2020, the song was performed by American musician Post Malone as part of his 15-song Nirvana tribute concert livestreamed on YouTube, which raised more than $4 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: The "MTV Unplugged" version of "About a Girl" was released as a single in October 1994, to promote the album "MTV Unplugged in New York", released the following month. It was the only commercial single released from the album, and featured the "Unplugged" version of "Something in the Way" as the b-side. Cobain opened the song by saying, "This is off our first record. Most people don't own it."


title: About a Girl (Nirvana song)

text: Reviewing "MTV Unplugged in New York" for the "NME", John Harris wrote that the song's "musical backdrop suggests The Beatles in 1964, at their lovelorn best: minor-key introspection gives way to regular traces of lightened-up calm, only to regain the upper hand within bars. ... For that reason, encapsulated in the fact that it rides on a divinely simple verse/ chorus/ verse undertow, it may be the most beautiful song here."


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Joe Flanigan (born January 5, 1967) is an American writer and actor best known for his portrayal of the character Major/Lt. Colonel John Sheppard in "Stargate Atlantis".


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan was born Joseph Dunnigan III in Los Angeles. He has said that his mother, Nancy, left his father soon after he was born and that his surname was changed to Flanigan after he was adopted by his stepfather, business executive John Flanigan. When he was six years old, his family moved to a small ranch near Reno, Nevada.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: From the age of 14, Flanigan attended a boarding school in Ojai, California, where he appeared in the school production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". He later earned a history degree at the University of Colorado where he appeared in the play "Coriolanus". On the advice of a friend, he took acting classes to overcome his shyness but did not plan to pursue a career in acting. As part of the Junior Year Abroad program, Flanigan spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he learned French.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: After graduation, he pursued a writing career. He worked on Capitol Hill on President George H. W. Bush's advance team. and then briefly for several New York City publications, including "Town & Country" and "Interview" magazine. On the advice of some of his friends, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse, was coached by Gerald Gordon, and then moved back to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue an acting career.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan had guest roles in numerous television series including "Profiler", "First Monday", and "Sisters", until he got his breakthrough with his role on "Stargate Atlantis" as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. He lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where the series was filmed during the week, and flew to Los Angeles during the weekends where his wife and children resided. He additionally wrote for the series and created the stories for the "Stargate Atlantis" second season episode "Epiphany" and the fourth season episode "Outcast".


title: Joe Flanigan

text: In September 2007, scifi.com's SciFi Wire service reported that, "Talent agency UTA filed suit on Sept. 24 against Stargate Atlantis star Joe Flanigan in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that the actor owes $99,225 in commissions, according to The Hollywood Reporter; Flanigan's manager, John Carrabino, told the trade paper about the lawsuit: 'I had no idea they did this. This is the first time I'm hearing about this.'" UTA filed a similar lawsuit against actor Wesley Snipes, who was equally surprised. This suit was settled in December 2008.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan appears in Brooks Institute photographer John A. Russo's upcoming book "About Face". Part of the proceeds are to be donated to Smile Train.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan features in the contemporary public artwork, Metascifi (2015) by artist Martin Firrell. Metascifi presents social comment, and philosophical truths about living well, derived from observation of popular American television science fiction. The project features performers and characters from Stargate, Star Trek, Farscape, Firefly and Warehouse 13.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: As the 'meta' element of the title suggests, the artwork invites Flanigan to comment on the wider social and narrative significance of his Stargate Atlantis character John Sheppard. Most notably, he speaks about the sexual attraction of the archetypal action hero, suggesting it is the impression of the hero's agency in the world that underpins people's attraction to characters of John Sheppard's nature.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan married Katherine Kousi, an actress and painter, in 1996. They have three sons. In early 2014, it was announced they had separated.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: Flanigan took two prizes in the Waterkeepers' Alliance downhill skiing competition at Lake Louise in January 2006, an event fellow Stargate lead Richard Dean Anderson has attended as well. He currently resides in Malibu, California.


title: Joe Flanigan

text: On November 10, 2018, the Malibu home he was renting from a local family was lost in the Woolsey Fire.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the "Dragonriders of Pern" science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, "Weyr Search", 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, "Dragonrider", 1969). Her 1978 novel "The White Dragon" became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the "New York Times" Best Seller list.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of three children of Anne Dorothy (née McElroy) and Col. George Herbert McCaffrey. She had two brothers: Hugh ("Mac", died 1988) and Kevin Richard McCaffrey ("Kevie"). Her father had Irish and English ancestry, and her mother was of Irish descent. She attended Stuart Hall (a girls' boarding school in Staunton, Virginia), and graduated from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey. In 1947 she graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College with a degree in Slavonic languages and Literature.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: In 1950 she married Horace Wright Johnson (died 2009), who shared her interests in music, opera and ballet. They had three children: Alec Anthony, born 1952; Todd, born 1956; and Georgeanne ("Gigi", Georgeanne Kennedy), born 1959.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Except for a short time in Düsseldorf, the family lived for most of a decade in Wilmington, Delaware. They moved to Sea Cliff, Long Island in 1965, and McCaffrey became a full-time writer.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey served a term as secretary-treasurer of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1968 to 1970. In addition to handcrafting the Nebula Award trophies, her responsibilities included production of two monthly newsletters and their distribution by mail to the membership.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey immigrated to Ireland with her two younger children in 1970, weeks after filing for divorce. Ireland had recently exempted resident artists from income taxes, an opportunity that fellow science-fiction author Harry Harrison had promptly taken and helped to promote. McCaffrey's mother soon joined the family in Dublin. The following spring, McCaffrey was guest of honour at her first British science-fiction convention (Eastercon 22, 1971). There she met British reproductive biologist Jack Cohen, who would be a consultant on the science of Pern.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey had had two short stories published during the 1950s. The first ("Freedom of the Race", about women impregnated by aliens) was written in 1952 when she was pregnant with her son Alec. It earned a $100 prize in "Science-Fiction Plus". Her second story, "The Lady in the Tower", was published in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" by editor Robert P. Mills and published again by editor Judith Merril for "The Year's Greatest Science Fiction". McCaffrey said "she thought of the story when wishing herself alone, like a lady in an ivory tower".


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Judith Merril matched McCaffrey with her long-time literary agent Virginia Kidd and invited her to the Milford Writer's Workshop (to which she returned many times), where participants each brought a story to be critiqued. After her first Milford workshop in 1959 she worked on "The Ship Who Sang", the story which began the Brain & Brawn Ship series. At the story's end, the spaceship Helva sings "Taps" for her human partner. Decades later, McCaffrey's son Todd called it "almost an elegy to her father". In interviews between 1994 and 2004, she considered it her best story and her favourite. "I put much of myself into it: myself and the troubles I had in accepting my father's death [1954] and a troubled marriage."


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey then wrote two more "Ship" stories and began her first novel. Regarding her motivation for "Restoree" (1967), her son recalled her saying, "I was so "tired" of all the weak women screaming in the corner while their boyfriends were beating off the aliens. I wouldn't have been—I'd've been in there swinging with something or kicking them as hard as I could". McCaffrey explained that it did not require a sequel; it "served its purpose of an intelligent, survivor-type woman as the protagonist of an s-f story".


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Regarding her 1969 "Decision at Doona" (which she dedicated "To Todd Johnson—of course!"), her son recalled that he was directed to lower his voice in his fourth-grade school play when his mother was in the auditorium. That inspired the Doona story, which opens on "an overcrowded planet where just talking too loud made you a social outcast". As a settler on Doona, the boy talker has a priceless talent.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey made a fast start in Ireland, completing for 1971 publication "Dragonquest" and two Gothic novels for Dell, "The Mark of Merlin" and "The Ring of Fear". With a contract for "The White Dragon" (which would complete the "original trilogy" with Ballantine), her writing stalled. During the next few years the family moved several times in the Dublin area and struggled to make ends meet, supported largely by child-care payments and meager royalties.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The young-adult book market provided a crucial opportunity. Editor Roger Elwood sought short contributions for anthologies, and McCaffrey started the Pern story of Menolly. She delivered "The Smallest Dragonboy" for $154, and four stories which later became "The Crystal Singer". Futura Publications in London signed her to write books about dinosaurs for children. Editor Jean E. Karl at Atheneum Books sought to attract more female readers to science fiction and solicited "a story for young women in a different part of Pern". McCaffrey completed Menolly's story as "Dragonsong" and contracted for a sequel before its publication in 1976.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The tales of Menolly are continued in "Dragonsinger: Harper of Pern", and "Dragondrums" as the "Harper Hall Trilogy". With a contract with Atheneum she was able to buy a home (named "Dragonhold" for the dragons who bought it). Her son wrote, 20 years later, that she "first set dragons free on Pern and then was herself freed by her dragons."


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The first Pern story, "Weyr Search", was published in 1967 by John W. Campbell in "Analog Science Fiction and Fact". It won the 1968 Hugo Award for best novella, voted by participants in the annual World Science Fiction Convention. The second Pern story, "Dragonrider", won the 1969 Nebula Award for best novella, voted annually by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Thus she was the first woman to win a Hugo for fiction and the first to win a Nebula.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: "Weyr Search" covers the recruitment of a young woman, Lessa, to establish a telepathic bond with a queen dragon at its hatching, thus becoming a dragonrider and the leader of a Weyr community. "Dragonrider" explores the growth of the queen dragon Ramoth, and the training of Lessa and Ramoth. Editor Campbell requested "to see dragons fighting thread [the menace from space]", and also suggested time travel; McCaffrey incorporated both suggestions. The third story, "Crack Dust, Black Dust", was not separately published, but the first Pern novel ("Dragonflight", published by Ballantine Books in 1968) was a fix-up of all three.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Agent Virginia Kidd and editor Betty Ballantine provided advice and assistance for its sequel "Dragonquest". It was almost complete (and the contract for another sequel signed) before the 1970 move to Ireland. Both Ballantine and fellow writer Andre Norton made suggestions for the mutant white dragon.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Readers waited a long time for the completion of the original trilogy. Progress was not made until 1974–1975, when the New England Science Fiction Association invited McCaffrey to its annual convention (Boskone) as guest of honour (which included publication of a novella for sale on-site). She wrote "A Time When", which would become the first part of "The White Dragon".


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: "The White Dragon" was released with new editions of the first two Pern books, with cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan. It was the first science-fiction book by a woman on the "New York Times" best-seller list, and the cover painting is still in print from Whelan. The artists share credit for their career breakthroughs.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey said of her collaborations with son Todd McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, "While I would dearly love to have the energy to tell a tale all on my own, I really cannot say that I am not ably represented with my collaborations". In the Pern collaboration with Todd, she was mainly "making suggestions or being a sounding board". McCaffrey also gave Todd and his sister Gigi permission to write their own stories set in the Pern universe.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey also collaborated with author Mercedes Lackey to write "The Ship Who Searched", the third of seven books in The Ship Who Sang series by McCaffrey and four other authors, and the only one by Lackey.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: In August 1987, "Locus: The magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field" ranked two of the eight extant Pern novels among the "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers; "Dragonflight" was 9th and "The White Dragon" 23rd. Commenting on the "Locus" list, David Pringle called them "arguably science fiction rather than fantasy proper" and named McCaffrey a "leading practitioner" of the planetary romance subgenre of science fiction.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey considered most of her work science fiction and enjoyed "cutting them short when they call me a 'fantasy' writer". All the Pern books may be considered science fiction, since the dragons were genetically engineered by the Pern colonists. Regarding science, she said "I don't keep up with developments, but I do find an expert in any field in which I must explain myself and the science involved". Astronomer Steven Beard often helped with science questions, and McCaffrey acknowledged reproductive biologist Jack Cohen several times.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame citation of Anne McCaffrey summarises her genre as "science fiction, though tinged with the tone and instruments of fantasy", and her reputation as "a writer of romantic, heightened tales of adventure explicitly designed to appeal—and to make good sense to—a predominantly female adolescent audience."


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey said in 2000, "There are no demographics on my books which indicate the readers are predominantly of an age or sex group. Dragons have a universal appeal"! Formerly, it was another matter:


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: I started writing s-f in the late 50s/early 60s, when readership was predominantly male. And their attitudes unreconstructed. [... Women] began reading s-f and fantasy—and, by preference, women writers. My stories had themes and heroines they could, and did, relate to. I never had any trouble with editors and publishers. I had trouble getting male readers to believe I was serious, and a good enough writer to interest them.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: In 1999, the American Library Association gave McCaffrey the 11th Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for teens. The librarians credited her with "over 50 novels for young adults and adults" and cited seven published from 1968 to 1979 for the "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature" that the award features: "The Ship Who Sang" (1969) and the first six Pern books (those sometimes called the "original trilogy" and the "Harper Hall trilogy"). The panel chair observed that "McCaffrey's focus on the personal and emotional need of human beings mirrors the quest of today's teens to find their own place in society."


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey's first novel was "Restoree", published by Ballantine Books in 1967. Unlike most science fiction books of the era, "Restoree"'s heroine is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who is willing and able to think for herself and act on her own initiative. McCaffrey was widely quoted as saying that "Restoree" was intended as a "jab" at how women were usually portrayed in science fiction.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Several of McCaffrey's series (and more than half her books) are set in a universe governed by the "Federated Sentient Planets" ("Federation" or "FSP"). Although Pern's history is connected to the Federation, McCaffrey only used it as a backdrop for storytelling and did not consider her different "worlds" to be part of the same universe.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: McCaffrey's best-known works are the "Dragonriders of Pern" series. When colonists from Earth and other planets make a decades-long space journey to Pern (an acronym designating "Parallels Earth, Resources Negligible" stamped on the original exploration team report) to escape interstellar wars, their fledgling society is threatened by "Thread", a mindless organism that falls like a "hungry rain" to consume all organic material. The survivors of the original expedition create genetically-engineered 'dragons' from a native species of small fire-breathing, winged reptiles as self-propagating weapons to destroy the encroaching organism in the sky. The majority of the Dragonriders of Pern books take place approximately 2500 years after the planet's colonization, when new challenges face the now low-tech, agrarian society that depends on the telepathically-linked dragons and riders for protection from their ancient menace, and their long-forgotten origins are ultimately re-discovered.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Brain & Brawn Ship series comprises seven novels, only the first of which (a fix-up of five previously published stories) was written by McCaffrey alone. The stories in this series deal with the adventures of "shell-people" or "Brains", who as infants (due to illness or birth defects) have had to be hard-wired into a life-support system. With sensory input and motor nerves tied into a computer they serve as starship pilots (or colony administrators), seeing and feeling the colony or ship as an extension of their own body. They perform this job to pay off their debt for education and hardware, and continue as free agents once the debt is paid. To compensate for the Brains' inability to move within human habitats they are paired with partners known as "Brawns", who are trained in a wide array of skills (including the protection of their Brain counterparts). It was considered impossible for a person to adjust to being a shell after the age of two or three. An exception, in "The Ship Who Searched", was a shell-person who was seven when she became quadriplegic.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Ship books are set in the same universe as the Crystal Singer books; Brainship-Brawn pairings were also characters in the second and third volumes of that series.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The first book (and first of the trilogy), "The Crystal Singer" (1982) is a fix-up of four stories published in 1974–1975.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Crystal Singer series revolves around the planet Ballybran. Under a permanent biohazard travel restriction due to a potentially-fatal symbiotic organism on the planet's surface, Ballybran is the source of valuable crystals that are vital to a number of industries, and home to one of the FSP's wealthiest (and most reclusive) organisations: the Heptite Guild. The Heptite Guild is known to require absolute, perfect pitch in hearing and voice for all applicants (especially those seeking to mine crystal by song). Because Ballybran's weather is unpredictable and dangerous (Ballybran's windstorms will cause exposed crystal to 'scream' in a discordant, deafening cacophony), the Heptite Guild is prohibited from actively recruiting members.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: 'The Coelura' explores the theme of environmental abuse, as a precious animal is hunted to near extinction for the thread it spins for its net. The Lady Caissa must choose between protecting the Coelura or meeting her obligations to her father and mother.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: 'Nimisha's Ship' takes place in the same universe, as a woman in the First Families becomes a ship designer and on a test run her ship is captured by a wormhole. On exploring a nearby planet, she finds and befriends the remaining crew of a stranded ship who suffered the same fate years before, plus a new sapient species.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Ireta series (as catalogued by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database) comprises five novels published 1978 to 1991, the first two by McCaffrey as subseries "Dinosaur Planet" and three as "Planet Pirates" by McCaffrey and co-writers.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: They share a fictional premise, and some characters and events overlap. "Dinosaur Planet" and its sequel follow the Exploration and Evaluation Corps team on the planet Ireta, which did not expect to find dinosaurs. In "Planet Pirates", all is not well in the FSP: pirates attack the spacelanes. Survivors on Ireta join forces with the survivors of space pirate attacks.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: "The Talents Universe" (as catalogued by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database) comprises two series: "Talent" and "The Tower and Hive" and share a fictional premise. Eight books (all by McCaffrey alone) tell the story of telepathic, telekinetic individuals that become increasingly important to the proper function of interstellar society.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: Two civilisations in near-identical circumstances – an overlarge, lethargic population and a tragic history with sentient aliens – end up attempting to colonise the same planet by accident. What the humans do not know is that the people they have misidentified as nomadic natives are more technically advanced than themselves (and under no such illusions regarding the humans). The books are set prior to the formation of the Federation of Sentient Planets; in this series, the ruling body is the 'Amalgamated Planets'.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Petaybee universe comprises two trilogies ("Powers" and "The Twins of Petaybee") by McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: This series introduces a new universe with space faring Barque Cats and their special telepathically linked humans.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The Freedom series (or the "Catteni Sequence") comprises one 1970 short story and four "Freedom" novels written between 1995 and 2002.


title: Anne McCaffrey

text: The "Acorna Universe series" comprises ten novels published between 1997 and 2007: seven sometimes known as "Acorna" and three sometimes known as "Acorna's Children". The series involve a group of intergalactic miners who adopt a mysterious alien foundling with unicorn-like physiognomy and apparent magical abilities. The first two were written by McCaffrey and Margaret Ball, and the rest by McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. Born in Havana, Mendieta left for the United States in 1961.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta was born on November 18, 1948, in Havana, Cuba, to a wealthy family prominent in the country's politics and society. Her father, Ignacio Alberto Mendieta de Lizáur, was an attorney and the nephew of Carlos Mendieta, who was installed as president by Fulgencio Batista for just under two years. Her mother, Raquel Oti de Rojas, was a chemist, a researcher, and the granddaughter of Carlos Maria de Rojas, a sugar mill owner celebrated for his role in the war against Spain for Cuban independence. Ana, aged 12, and her 15-year-old sister Raquelin were sent to the United States by their parents to live in Dubuque, Iowa through Operation Peter Pan, a collaborative program, run by the US government and the Catholic Charities, for Cuban children to flee Fidel Castro's dictatorship. Ana and Raquelin were among 14,000 children who migrated to the United States through this program in 1961. Mendieta's first two years in the United States consisted of constant alternation between foster homes and orphanages. The sisters were able to stay together during this time due to a power of attorney signed by their parents, which mandated that they not be separated. The two sisters spent their first weeks in refugee camps, and then moved between several institutions and foster homes throughout Iowa. In 1966, Mendieta was reunited with her mother and younger brother. Her father joined them in 1979, having spent 18 years in a political prison in Cuba for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In Cuba, Mendieta grew up as a sheltered, upper-class child. She attended an all-girls Catholic private school. When she and her sister were sent to Iowa, they were enrolled in a reform school because the court wanted to avoid sending them to a state institution. When Mendieta studied English in school, her vocabulary was very limited. In junior high school, she discovered a love for art. Mendieta was first a French major and art minor, but when she transferred to the University of Iowa, she was inspired by the avant-garde community and the hills of Iowa's landscape. She earned a BA (enrolled 1969–1972) and MA in painting, and an MFA (enrolled 1972–1977) in Intermedia under the instruction of acclaimed artist Hans Breder. In college, Mendieta's work focused on blood and violence toward women. Her interest in spiritualism, religion, and primitive rituals developed during this time. She said that she faced a great deal of discrimination in art school. After graduate school, she moved to New York City.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In the course of her career, Mendieta created work in Cuba, Mexico, Italy, and the United States. Her work was somewhat autobiographical, drawing from her history of being displaced from her native Cuba, and focused on themes including feminism, violence, life, death, identity, place and belonging. Her work was relevant to today's society, and as stated by Arnold "Her exile from Cuba and longing for her homeland is the base of much of her work...she embodies the conflicts of identity suffered by misplaced individuals...and she was concerned with feminism and violence against women". Many of her works included ephemeral outdoor performances and photographs, sculptures and drawings. Her works are generally associated with the four basic elements of nature. Mendieta often focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the Earth. She felt that by uniting her body with the earth she could become whole again: "Through my earth/body sculptures, I become one with the earth ... I become an extension of nature and nature becomes an extension of my body. This obsessive act of reasserting my ties with the earth is really the reactivation of primeval beliefs ... [in] an omnipresent female force, the after image of being encompassing within the womb, is a manifestation of my thirst for being." During her lifetime, Mendieta produced over 200 works of art using earth as a sculptural medium. Her techniques were mainly influenced by Afro-Cuban traditions.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 1973, Mendieta performed "Rape Scene" which commented on the rape and murder of a fellow student that had occurred on the Iowa University campus by another student.  In the performance Mendieta invited friends and other students to visit her in her Moffit Street apartment.  Upon arriving at her apartment, viewers were confronted with the image of Mendieta, naked from the waist down, smeared with blood, bent over, and bound to a table. The interaction between the people who stayed to observe and talk about her work (rape scene) and the artist herself (Ana Mendieta) became to be a sort of physiological relief for the tragic crime that occurred at the University of lowa She mentions how although she stood in the position for an hour, it was a really an eye-opening experience (Tate, 2010).


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 1978, Ana Mendieta joined the Artists In Residence Inc (A.I.R. Gallery) in New York, which was the first gallery for women to be established in the United States. The venture gave her the opportunity to network with other women artists at the forefront of the era's feminist movement. During that time, Mendieta was also actively involved in the administration and maintenance of the A.I.R. In an unpublished statement, she noted, "It is crucial for me to be a part of all my art works. As a result of my participation, my vision becomes a reality and part of my experiences." At the same time, after two years of involvement with A.I.R. she concluded that "American Feminism as it stands is basically a white middle class movement," and she sought to challenge the limits of this perspective through her art. She met her future husband Carl Andre at the gallery, when he served on a panel titled "How has women's art practices affected male artist social attitudes?" Her resignation in 1982 is attributed, in part, to a dispute instigated by Andre over a collaborative art piece the couple had submitted. In a 2001 journal article, Kat Griefen, director of A.I.R from 2006 to 2011, wrote, The letter of resignation did not cite any reasons for her departure, but a number of fellow A.I.R. artists remember the related events. For a recent benefit Mendieta and Carl Andre had donated a collaborative piece. As was the policy, all works needed to be delivered by the artist. Edelson recalls that Andre took offense, instigating a disagreement, which, in part, led to Mendieta's resignation. Even without this incident, according to another member, Pat Lasch, Mendieta's association with the now legendary Andre surely played some role in her decision.In 1983, Mendieta was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy in Rome. While in residence in Rome, Mendieta began creating art "objects," including drawings and sculptures. She continued to use natural elements in her work.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: The "Silueta Series" (1973–1985) involved Mendieta creating female silhouettes in nature—in mud, sand, and grass—with natural materials ranging from leaves and twigs to blood, and making body prints or painting her outline or silhouette onto a wall. She did this to express herself becoming part of the earth and embody a process of rituals (Abby, 2015).


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In a 1981 artist statement, Mendieta said: I have been carrying out a dialogue between the landscape and the female body (based on my own silhouette). I believe this has been a direct result of my having been torn from my homeland (Cuba) during my adolescence. I am overwhelmed by the feeling of having been cast from the womb (nature). My art is the way I re-establish the bonds that unite me to the universe. It is a return to the maternal source.When she began her "Silueta Series" in the 1970s, Mendieta was one of many artists experimenting with the emerging genres of land art, body art, and performance art. The films and photographs of Siluetas are in connection with the figures surrounding her body. Mendieta was possibly the first to combine these genres in what she called "earth-body" sculptures. She often used her naked body to explore and connect with the Earth, as seen in her piece "Imagen de Yagul", from the series "Silueta Works in Mexico 1973–1977". Mendieta's first use of blood to make art dates from 1972, when she performed "Untitled (Death of a Chicken)", for which she stood naked in front of a white wall holding a freshly decapitated chicken by its feet as its blood spattered her naked body. Appalled by the brutal rape and murder of nursing student Sarah Ann Ottens at the University of Iowa, Mendieta smeared herself with blood and had herself tied to a table in 1973, inviting an audience in to bear witness in "Untitled (Rape Scene)". Professor and art historian Kaira Cabañas writes about "Untitled (Rape Scene)":


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Her body was the subject and object of the work. She used it to emphasize the societal conditions by which the female body is colonized as the object of male desire and ravaged under masculine aggression. Mendieta's corporeal presence demanded the recognition of a female subject. The previously invisible, unnamed victim of rape gained an identity. The audience was forced to reflect on its responsibility; its empathy was elicited and translated to the space of awareness in which sexual violence could be addressed.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In a slide series, "People Looking at Blood Moffitt" (1973), she pours blood and rags on a sidewalk and photographs a seemingly endless stream of people walking by without stopping, until the man next door (the storefront window bears the name H.F. Moffitt) comes out to clean it up.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta also created the female silhouette using nature as both her canvas and her medium. She used her body to create silhouettes in the grass; she created silhouettes in sand and dirt; she created silhouettes of fire and filmed them burning. "Untitled (Ochún)" (1981), named for the Santería goddess of waters, once pointed southward from the shore at Key Biscayne, Florida. "Ñañigo Burial" (1976), with a title taken from the popular name for an Afro-Cuban religious brotherhood, is a floor installation of black candles dripping wax in the outline of the artist's body. Through these works, which cross the boundaries of performance, film, and photography, Mendieta explored her relationship with a place as well as a larger relationship with mother Earth or the "Great Goddess" figure.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mary Jane Jacob suggests in her exhibition catalog "Ana Mendieta: The "Silueta" Series (1973–1980)" that much of Mendieta's work was influenced by her interest in the religion Santería, as well as a connection to Cuba. Jacob attributes Mendieta's "ritualistic use of blood," and the use of gunpowder, earth, and rock, to Santería's ritualistic traditions.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Jacob also points out the significance of the mother figure, referring to the Mayan deity Ix Chel, the mother of the gods. Many have interpreted Mendieta's recurring use of this mother figure, and her own female silhouette, as feminist art. However, because Mendieta's work explores many ideas including life, death, identity, and place all at once, it cannot be categorized as part of one idea or movement. Claire Raymond argues that the "Silueta Series," as a photographic archive, should be read for its photographicity rather than merely as documentation of earthworks.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In "Corazon de Roca con Sangre (Rock Heart with Blood)" (1975) Mendieta kneels next to an impression of her body that has been cut into the soft muddy riverbank.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: As documented in the book "Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works", edited by Bonnie Clearwater, before her death, Mendieta was working on a series of photo-etchings of cave sculptures she had created at Escaleras de Jaruco, Jaruco State Park in Havana, Cuba. She had returned to the island as a part of a cultural exchange group and was eager to begin exploring her birthplace after having spent 19 years in exile. The soft limestone and undulating landscapes provided a new scope for Mendieta's art as she began to explore the cultural identity that she had ling been forsaken. Her sculptures were entitled "Rupestrian Sculptures" (1981)—the title refers to living among rocks—and the book of photographic etchings that Mendieta created to preserve these sculptures is a testament to the intertextuality of her work. Clearwater explains that the photographs of Mendieta's sculptures were often as important as the piece they were documenting because the nature of Mendieta's work was so impermanent. She spent as much time and thought on the creation of the photographs as she did on the sculptures themselves.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta returned to Havana, the place of her birth, for this project, but she was still exploring her sense of displacement and loss, according to Clearwater. The "Rupestrian Sculptures" that Mendieta created were also influenced by the Taíno people, "native inhabitants of the pre-Hispanic Antilles," whom Mendieta became fascinated by and studied.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta had completed five photo-etchings of the "Rupestrian Sculptures" before she died in 1985. The book "Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works", published in 1993, contains both photographs of the sculptures and Mendieta's notes on the project.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: "Body Tracks" ("Rastros Corporales") debuted on April 8, 1982, in Franklin Furnace in New York City. The tracks are long, blurry marks made by Mendieta on a large piece of white paper attached to a wall. While recordings of the sacred music of Afro-Cuban Santeria were heard, Mendieta dipped her hands and forearms into a mixture of tempera paint and animal blood, pressed her hands and arms firmly to the paper's surface, and slid down towards the floor.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: The performance was documented in the 1987 film "Ana Mendieta: Fuego de Tierra", and described by scholar Alexandra Gonzenbach: In the short piece, the artist enters the studio space, while Cuban music plays in the background. She dips her hands and forearms into animal blood, places her back to the camera, lifts her arms and places them on a large sheet of white paper attached to a wall, and then proceeds to slowly drag her arms down the page, until almost reaching the bottom. She then walks off screen and out of the performance space. The camera, documentation, and performance stops.The resultant pieces of paper were preserved by the artist after the event, and appear now as works of art in their own right in the collection of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. A still photo from the exhibit was the cover art of the Third Woman Press edition of the feminist anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (2002, )


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 2016 a traveling exhibition of her film work was mounted by the Katherine E. Nash Gallery of the University of Minnesota with the title "Covered in Time and History: The Films of Ana Mendieta".


title: Ana Mendieta

text: The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC, and family members found several films after her death while looking for work to be included in a retrospective at the New Museum in 1987. In 2016, more films were uncovered and digitized in anticipation of a documentary directed by the artist's niece, Raquel Cecilia Mendieta.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta presented a solo exhibition of her photographs at A.I.R. Gallery in New York in 1979. She also curated and wrote the introductory catalog essay for an exhibition at A.I.R. in 1981 entitled "Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists of the United States", which featured the work of artists such as Judy Baca, Senga Nengudi, Howardena Pindell, and Zarina. The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York hosted Mendieta's first survey exhibition in 1987. Since her death, Mendieta has been recognized with international solo museum retrospectives such as "Ana Mendieta", Art Institute of Chicago (2011); and "Ana Mendieta in Context: Public and Private Work", De La Cruz Collection, Miami (2012). In 2004 the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., organized "Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance", a major retrospective that traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, and Miami Art Museum, Florida (2004).


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 2017 her work was presented in the retrospective solo show "Ana Mendieta / Covered in Time and History" at Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 2019, her work was displayed in the exhibition "La Tierra Habla (The Earth Speaks)" at Galerie Lelong, NYC, New York.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Mendieta's work features in many major public collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva; Tate Collection, London; and the Nasher Sculpture Center.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: Ana Mendieta died on September 8, 1985, in New York City, after falling from her 34th-floor apartment in Greenwich Village at 300 Mercer Street. She lived there with her husband of eight months, minimalist sculptor Carl Andre, who may have pushed her out the window. She fell 33 stories onto the roof of a deli. Just prior to her death, neighbors heard the couple arguing violently. The neighbors heard Mendieta scream out "no" right before her death and Andre had scratches all over his face. There were no eyewitnesses to the events that led up to Mendieta's death. A recording of Andre's 911 call showed him saying: "My wife is an artist, and I'm an artist, and we had a quarrel about the fact that I was more, eh, exposed to the public than she was. And she went to the bedroom, and I went after her, and she went out the window." During three years of legal proceedings, Andre's lawyer described Mendieta's death as a possible accident or a suicide. After a nonjury trial, Andre was acquitted of second-degree murder in February 1988.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: The acquittal caused an uproar among feminists in the art world, and remains controversial to this day. In 2010, a symposium called "Where Is Ana Mendieta?" was held at New York University to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her death. In May 2014, the feminist protest group No Wave Performance Task Force staged a protest in front of the Dia Art Foundation's retrospective on Carl Andre. The group deposited piles of animal blood and guts in front of the establishment, with protesters donning transparent tracksuits with "I Wish Ana Mendieta Was Still Alive" written on them. In March 2015, the "No Wave Performance Task Force" and a group of feminist poets from New York City traveled to Beacon, New York, to protest the Andre retrospective at , where they cried loudly in the main gallery, made "siluetas" in the snow on museum grounds, and stained the snow with paprika, sprinkles, and fake blood. In April 2017, protesters at an Andre retrospective handed out cards at the Geffen Contemporary museum with the statement: "Carl Andre is at MOCA Geffen. "¿Dónde está Ana Mendieta?"" (Where is Ana Mendieta?). This was followed by an open letter to Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Director Philippe Vergne protesting the exhibit, from the group the Association of Hysteric Curators.


title: Ana Mendieta

text: In 2009, Mendieta was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cintas Foundation. In 2018, "The New York Times" published a belated obituary for her that began, "Mendieta's art, sometimes violent, often unapologetically feminist and usually raw, left an indelible mark before her life was cut short." In 2010 she was the subject of Richard Move's controversial "Where is Ana Mendieta? 25 Years Later - An Exhibition and Symposium," which included his film, "BloodWork - The Ana Mendieta Story."


title: Graceland (TV series)

text: Graceland is an American drama television series created by Jeff Eastin that premiered on the USA Network on June 6, 2013.


title: Graceland (TV series)

text: A group of undercover agents from various United States law-enforcement agencies, including the DEA, the FBI, and ICE, live together in a confiscated Southern California beach house known as "Graceland". Rookie FBI agent Mike Warren is assigned to the house fresh out of Quantico training.


title: Graceland (TV series)

text: Although set in Southern California, "Graceland" was primarily filmed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and other parts of South Florida. The producers of the show said this was because of tax incentives provided by the State of Florida.


title: Graceland (TV series)

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 71% approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 31 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Graceland is a formulaic cop show, but its tight pacing and intriguing plot twists make for light, escapist fare." On Metacritic, the series holds a 58 score out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.


title: David Palmer (vocalist)

text: David Palmer is an American vocalist, songwriter, and photographer, best known as a former member of Steely Dan and as the lyricist of the Carole King number two hit, "Jazzman".


title: David Palmer (vocalist)

text: Palmer grew up in the New Jersey communities of Warren Township and Watchung and attended Watchung Hills Regional High School. His first band was the Myddle Class, formed in 1964 under the initial name The King Bees while members were still in high school. As the Myddle Class, the band performed at such clubs as the Night Owl in Greenwich Village, and released several 45s on the Tomorrow record label before disbanding in 1969. Palmer next formed the Quinaimes Band with several Myddle Class members, which recorded an album for Elektra Records before disbanding shortly thereafter.


title: David Palmer (vocalist)

text: At the insistence of ABC Records executives, Palmer joined Steely Dan in an early incarnation in 1972. He sang lead on two tracks on their debut album, "Can't Buy A Thrill" – "Dirty Work" and "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)" – as well as doubling parts of Donald Fagen's vocals on "Reelin' in the Years", "Only a Fool Would Say That", and "Change of the Guard" to reach the high notes. He also sang lead on most of Steely Dan's songs when performed live in their early concerts as a result of Fagen's early career stage fright in front of audiences.. Fagen eventually took over as lead vocalist and Palmer left the band, although he did contribute backing vocals on the band's subsequent release, "Countdown to Ecstasy".


title: David Palmer (vocalist)

text: In 2014, Palmer sued Steely Dan for unpaid digital royalties, and received a settlement. Palmer has said in interviews he was not being paid his royalties properly for streaming audio online.


title: David Palmer (vocalist)

text: After Steely Dan, Palmer worked with a number of songwriters, including Carole King in the composition of "Jazzman". He later formed the band Wha-Koo with Danny Douma. Wha-Koo released three albums, "The Big Wha-Koo" in 1977, "Berkshire" in 1978 and "Fragile Line" in 1979. He also contributed the song "Silhouette" to the 1985 film "Teen Wolf".


title: Nikita Parris

text: Nikita Josephine Parris (born 10 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester United and the England national team. She previously played for Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais, Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal.


title: Nikita Parris

text: From 2018 to 2020, Parris held the record as all-time leading scorer in the Women's Super League. With Olympique Lyonnais, Parris has won the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 2020 Coupe de France Féminine (Women's French Cup), the 2019 Trophée des Championnes, and the 2019 Women's International Champions Cup. With Manchester City, she won the 2016 league title, the 2016 and 2018–19 Women's Super League Cup as well as the 2016–17 and 2018–19 Women's FA Cup.


title: Nikita Parris

text: For England, Parris helped the national team reach the semi-finals of the Euro 2017 and a fourth place finish at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Her six goals during World Cup qualification ranked first within UEFA nations and secured England's place at the top tournament. She helped England win its first-ever SheBelieves Cup in 2019.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris was named the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year in 2019. She was included in "The Guardian" list of "The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World" in 2018 and 2019.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Born in Toxteth, an inner city area of Liverpool, Parris was raised with her twin sister and two brothers by her mother, Jo, who worked three jobs to support the family.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris attended St. Patrick’s Primary School in Liverpool where she trained with the athletic team and dreamed of playing like Arsenal and Scottish international player Julie Fleeting. At age six, she began playing football with boys on a grass border near her home and continued playing with boys until she was sixteen. Every time her mother looked out, she would see Parris slide tackling the boys or them slide tackling her.


title: Nikita Parris

text: As a youth, Parris started her own football team: "I started a football team myself at the age of eleven because I wanted to have a women’s team in the local community. So, I gathered all my friends and family and everyone I knew... and we were successful. We won the league." Parris' sister and two cousins also played in the team, which was called Kingsley United.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris was a girlhood Liverpool FC supporter. Her mother often bought her the latest kit, and she would emulate her favourite players Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Luis Suárez. At age ten, Parris was recruited by Mo Marley, head coach of Everton. At the time, Parris did not want to leave, but later joined Everton's Centre of Excellence at age 14.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris attended Bellerive FCJ Catholic College, but in September 2010 switched to Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School for her sixth form education, because it was a specialist sports college.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris made her senior-team debut for Everton in May 2010 at the age of 16 in an away game against Arsenal, coming on as a second-half substitute. In August 2010 she played her second match during the qualifying tournament for the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League. During a match against Borec on 7 August 2010 she scored a brace, helping Everton to a 10–0 win. Parris played in five matches for Everton during the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League. The following year, she was named to Everton's squad for the inaugural season of the Women's Super League (FA WSL). She made three appearances during the 2011 FA WSL season.


title: Nikita Parris

text: During the 2012 FA WSL season, Parris played in 10 matches, starting five. The 2013 season marked the start of Parris' goalscoring prowess for Everton. She scored six goals in 11 games. She scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 win over Notts County on 15 September. Her two goals against Liverpool on 12 September were Everton's only goals in the 4–2 loss. Everton finished in third place during the regular season with a record.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris scored 11 goals in 19 games during the 2014 season, but Everton went winless in the league and were relegated to FA WSL 2. Following her 2014 performance, she was placed on the shortlist for the 2015 PFA Women's Young Player of the Year and was selected for the WSL Team of the Year.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris joined Manchester City on a season-long loan in January 2015, reuniting with former teammates Toni Duggan and Jill Scott, who had left Everton two seasons prior, as she thought she needed to play in WSL 1 to contend for a place on the senior England national team. Parris scored four goals in 13 matches. She scored her first goal — a game-winner — during a match against Sunderland when she headed in from a corner kick in the 17th minute. During a match against Liverpool, she scored an equaliser in the 54th minute, another header, this time off of Izzy Christiansen's free-kick. Manchester City finished in second place during the regular season with a record.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris signed with Manchester City on a two-year contract in January 2016. During the 2016 FA WSL season, she scored one goal in 16 games. On 29 April, her game-winning goal in the 40th minute cemented the team's 2–0 win against Sunderland. City finished in first place during the regular season with a record. She played in all three games of the final stages of the League Cup helping Manchester City clinch the 2016 title.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut for Manchester City on 6 October 2016 during the team's 2–0 win over Zvezda-2005 Perm in the Round of 32 of the 2016–17 tournament. She competed in seven matches, helping Manchester City advance to the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais.


title: Nikita Parris

text: During the FA WSL Spring Series in early 2017, she scored three goals in the six games that she played. Manchester City finished in fifth place with a record. She helped the club clinch the 2016–17 FA Women's Cup the same year. During the 2017–18 FA WSL season, she was a starting forward in 17 of the 18 games she played and scored 11 goals, ranking second in the league behind Ellen White of Birmingham City. During the team's 3–0 win against Sunderland on 28 January 2018, she scored twice in the first half securing Manchester City's win and top position in the league. She scored her second brace of the season against Liverpool on 11 February to lift Manchester City back into first place. In May, she scored a hat-trick against Yeovil Town. Manchester City finished in second place during the regular season with a record and secured a berth to the 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League (their third consecutive qualification).


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris competed with Manchester City in eight matches of the 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League. She scored four goals throughout the tournament, including two game-winners against Lillestrøm, and Linköpings FC. Parris helped Manchester City reach the semi-finals where they were narrowly defeated 0–1 (aggregate) by eventual champions, Olympique Lyonnais.


title: Nikita Parris

text: In November 2017, Parris signed a new contract with Manchester City through the end of the 2018–19 FA WSL season. During the 2018–19 season, Parris scored 19 goals in 19 games. She was the second-highest scorer in the league for the season, the highest all-time WSL goalscorer, and second in the all-time assists. Parris began her season goal scoring with a brace in Manchester City's 4–0 win against Everton on 20 September. She scored another brace during the team's 7–1 win against West Ham United. At age 24, she became the Women's Super League's all-time top goalscorer on 4 November 2018 after scoring a brace in the team's 3–0 win against Liverpool. Her 37 goals inched ahead of former Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko. Of the notable record Parris said, "it's an amazing feeling. For me to be so young and be top goalscorer with plenty of years left in me – it bodes well for the future and hopefully it will continue." She scored her fourth brace of the season during a 3–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on 27 January 2019, including a penalty kick in the third minute of the match. Parris notched a hat-trick in the first half of the team's 4–3 win against Reading. Manchester City finished in second place behind Arsenal with a record. Parris' brace against Chelsea in the semi-final earned City a berth to the 2018–19 FA Women's League Cup Final where they defeated Arsenal in penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw and extra time. The same year, she helped Manchester City win the 2018–19 FA Women's Cup in front of 43,264 fans at Wembley Stadium.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris competed with Manchester City in the team's two 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League Round of 32 matches where they were defeated 1–3 (aggregate) by Atlético Madrid.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 11 May 2019, Parris announced she would leave City at the end of the 2018–19 season. During her time at Manchester City, Parris made 127 appearances for the club, and scored 62 goals. Her 25 assists ranked second all-time in the league after Karen Carney with 35. In 2019, Parris was voted the Football Writers’ Association Women's Player of the Year. The striker helped Manchester City win two FA Cups in 2017 and 2019, two Continental Cups, a league title and two Champions League semi-finals.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 19 June 2019, Division 1 Féminine side Olympique Lyonnais confirmed they had signed Parris on a three-year contract. Parris scored her first league goal for the club, on her debut, in a 6–0 win against Marseille on 24 August. Parris' two goals in a 5–0 home win over Montpellier on 23 February were her last of the season as the 2019–20 Division 1 Féminine season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in France. In 15 league appearances and 10 starts, Parris scored eight goals. Olympique Lyonnais finished first in the league and secured a berth to the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League. Parris added four goals in six 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League appearances, but missed the final through suspension after she was sent off in a fractious semi-final win over rivals Paris Saint-Germain. Olympique Lyonnais won the Champions League title for the fifth consecutive time after defeating VfL Wolfsburg 3–1 in the 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. This marked Olympique Lyonnais' seventh Champions League title.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris scored her first goal of the 2020–21 Division 1 Féminine season in a 3–0 win against Reims on 11 September 2020. During a match against Soyaux on 13 November, she scored a double to lift Olympique Lyonnais to a 5–1 win. She scored 4 goals in 26 minutes against lifting Olympique Lyonnais to a 9–0 win in December. Parris scored a double against Paris FC on 22 January 2021 increasing her goal tally of the season to eleven.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Following two seasons with Olympique Lyonnais, Parris returned to the Super League, signing with Arsenal for a club-record fee on 2 July 2021. She scored her first goal for the club on her 18 August debut versus Okzhetpes in the Champions League. She scored her 50th goal in the WSL in the match against Aston Villa on 1 May 2022.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 4 June 2016, Parris made her senior international debut for England as a substitute in England's Euro 2017 qualifying victory over Serbia. She registered one assist as England won 7–0. Three days later, Parris once again came off the bench in the reverse fixture, this time scoring twice as England repeated the 7–0 scoreline.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 27 June 2017, Parris scored her first goal in a major tournament, netting the winner in England's 2–1 final group stage win against Portugal at Euro 2017. Parris and her England teammates pointedly ran to celebrate with coach Mark Sampson after her goal in their next match against Russia. At the time Sampson was facing various allegations of unfair treatment and discrimination towards teammate Eniola Aluko. Aluko stated, "For the most together team in the world tonight's "message" only shows a level of disrespect that represents division and selfish action" and later spotlighted the lack of diversity in English women's football. Sampson was fired the day after the Russia game but later won a "significant" settlement when he brought an unfair dismissal case against The FA. In June 2020, against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, Parris changed her mind about the situation and apologised to Aluko in an open letter. She called the celebration with coach Sampson a "thoughtless action" that showed ignorance as well as a lack of empathy and understanding.


title: Nikita Parris

text: England finished at the top of Group D after being undefeated in all three matches. After England defeated France 1–0 in the quarter-final, the team was defeated 3–0 in the semi-final by eventual champion the Netherlands.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 2 March 2019, Parris scored against the United States in a 2–2 draw at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, a tournament England won for the first time. Her six goals ranked first in 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA) and helped secure a spot at the tournament later that year.


title: Nikita Parris

text: In 2019, Parris' spot on the England roster at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was announced by David Beckham. Parris scored her first World Cup goal and England's first in the 2019 World Cup during their opening group game, a penalty in a 2–1 win over Scotland. She was named FIFA's Player of the Match. Parris also took a penalty in England's next game, the fourth consecutive World Cup match England had won a penalty in, but had it saved by Argentina goalkeeper Vanina Correa. England won 1–0. After Parris missed her second penalty in a 3–0 win over Norway in the quarter-final, England manager Phil Neville added: "She's missed two penalties and they have both been really good saves. She'll take the next one. She is our best penalty taker." However, when England were awarded yet another penalty in their 2–1 semi-final defeat by the United States, Neville demoted Parris from penalty-taking duties in favour of the captain Steph Houghton. Houghton's poorly-struck penalty was saved and England went on to finish the tournament in fourth place. On 29 August, Parris revived her penalty form by rescuing a 3–3 draw against Belgium in an international friendly. This was followed, five days later, by an assist for Georgia Stanway's opener in a 2–1 defeat to Norway.


title: Nikita Parris

text: On 27 May 2021, Parris was called up for her first Olympic Games, being selected for the Great Britain team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Parris scored in a pre-tournament friendly against New Zealand, with the match ending 3–0. She appeared in all four of Great Britain's tournament games.


title: Nikita Parris

text: As a youth, Parris looked up to Arsenal and Scotland international, Julie Fleeting, who was known for scoring goals. Described by teammates as "down to earth" with "exceptional gifts framed by a fierce determination and a maturity", Parris is known for her wit, ability to learn quickly, and fast-moving feet.


title: Nikita Parris

text: Former England manager Phil Neville noted in 2019 that Parris is "world class". "The Telegraph" described her as "an exhilarating footballer, a pain to face on the pitch" and her style of play as "fast and clinical".


title: Nikita Parris

text: "Gaffer" described her greatest attribute as foresight and credited her for her "grounded, thoughtful and hungry" leadership qualities. Her sister, boxer Natasha Jonas, noted, "She will always try her best and give 100 percent. She will always come off that pitch with nothing left to give, so whatever happens you've just got to be proud of that."


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris is a younger sister of boxer Natasha Jonas. Her first name is sometimes shortened to "Keets". She is a practising Catholic and a former altar girl.


title: Nikita Parris

text: In 2020, Parris founded the NP17 Football Academy, which offers sports qualifications to students in Liverpool. She noted, "That community gave me life and gave me an opportunity – that's what I want to do for these girls. I want to give them an opportunity to be successful in whatever they choose. Within inner city areas, there's always good and bad. You've got to be in and around the right people." The academy, based at the City of Liverpool College, is supported by international sportswear company Puma, which donates sports equipment. Other partners include the Liverpool City Council and the City of Liverpool College.


title: Nikita Parris

text: The same year, Parris worked with England's The Football Association (FA) and seven fellow high-profile footballers, including Harry Kane and Tyrone Mings, to form a panel focused on increasing the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people at senior levels within football. The expert panel "will be consulted over the development of the FA’s Leadership Diversity Code".


title: Nikita Parris

text: Parris is sponsored by multi-national finance company Visa and Puma. In June 2019, she was featured in a promotional video for Visa and the 2019 World Cup. Parris has been featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series since "FIFA 17", a year after women players were included in the game for the first time.


title: Nikita Parris

text: In June 2019, a large mural of Parris was unveiled on Liverpool's London Road. The same year, a Parris mural by Honduran artist Javier Espinal and local youth was unveiled at the Metropolitan Methodist Centre in Toxteth.


title: Prince Gabriel of Belgium

text: Prince Gabriel of Belgium (, ; born 20 August 2003) is the elder son and second child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. He is currently second in line to the throne of Belgium after his elder sister, Elisabeth.


title: Prince Gabriel of Belgium

text: Prince Gabriel was born on 20 August 2003 in the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht, Brussels. He was christened at Ciergnon Castle, one of the royal family’s summer residences, on 25 October 2003. His godparents are his maternal uncle Count Charles-Henri d'Udekem d'Acoz; and his paternal second cousin, Baroness Maria Christina von . He was named after his great-uncle King Baudouin of Belgium, his maternal uncle and godfather Count Charles-Henri d'Udekem d'Acoz and Virgin Mary (traditional name in Catholic royalty).


title: Prince Gabriel of Belgium

text: Gabriel’s older sister, Elisabeth, precedes him in the line of succession following the 1991 adoption of absolute primogeniture. He also has a younger brother, Prince Emmanuel, and a younger sister, Princess Eléonore. He lives with his parents and siblings at the Royal Palace of Laeken.