title: 2017 New Zealand general election

text: On 2 October 2017, the Electoral Commission referred four alleged electoral offences to Police. These all involved social media posts of electoral statements during the election silence period of midnight to 7:00pm on election day – a breach of section 197(1)(g)(i) of the Electoral Act. Two of these incidents concerned Sean Plunket, the communications director of The Opportunities Party. On 18 October 2017, the Electoral Commission referred a subsequent offence to Police about TVNZ re-broadcasting a bulletin of "Te Karere" during the silence period.


title: 2017 New Zealand general election

text: On 13 May 2021, the Serious Fraud Office charged six people in relation to election donations made to the Labour Party during the 2017 general election. The six individuals are all charged with obtaining at least NZ$34,840 by deception or without claim of right, with the donation being paid to the Labour Party via an intermediary bank account.


title: 2017 New Zealand general election

text: In late July 2022, the NZ$34,840 Labour Party donation court case was combined with a second case involving two donations worth NZ$100,000 each that were made to the National Party between 2017 and 2018. Seven defendants were charged in the two combined political donations cases. Four of the defendants were named as former National MP and Advance New Zealand founder Jami-Lee Ross, and businessmen Yikun Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng, Hengjia (Joe) Zheng. All defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of assisting Zhang in concealing his political donations. Under the Electoral Act 1993, all donations worth more than NZ$15,000 must be reported to the Electoral Commission. The trial is scheduled to last ten weeks. The Crown has summoned 51 witnesses including former National MP Simon Bridges, Labour MPs Andrew Little and Michael Wood , former Labour President Nigel Haworth, the National Party's general manager Greg Hamilton, Lee-Ross's wife Lucy Schwaner and his assistant Katja Kershaw.


title: 2017 New Zealand general election

text: In early September 2022, lawyers for the defendants delivered closing arguments. Closing arguments ranged from asserting that the defendants had not broken electoral law, were unaware of Electoral Act requirements, or that defendants were unaware of the alleged scheme to conceal large donations. Ross's lawyer Ron Mansfield KC also argued that Ross had lied to the Serious Fraud Office in an attempt to implicate former National leader Bridges.


title: 2017 New Zealand general election

text: In early October 2022, High Court Justice Ian Gault delivered his verdict. While Ross was acquitted of the fraud charges relating to the National and Labour parties' donations, Yikun Zhang was convicted of a 2018 donation made to the National Party. Colin Zheng was also convicted over the 2017 and 2018 donations to the National Party while his brother Joe Zheng was convicted over the 2018 donation to the National Party and obstructing a Serious Fraud Office investigation. In addition Zhang, the Zheng brothers and three people with name suppression were acquitted in relations to donations made to the Labour Party in 2017.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: "Cruel Summer" is a song by English girl group Bananarama. It was written by Bananarama and Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, and produced by Jolley and Swain. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film "The Karate Kid", it reached number nine on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Bananarama singer Sara Dallin said the song "played on the darker side (of summer songs): it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We've all been there!" It was ranked number 44 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. "Billboard" named the song #13 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: "Cruel Summer" was an immediate success when it was released in the UK, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart, and the group performed the song live on the BBC's "Top of the Pops" in July 1983. Its international popularity soared after its inclusion in the 1984 feature film "The Karate Kid"; this was a year after the song's original release (the song was released in 1984 in the US). The group did not allow the song to be included on the film's soundtrack album, but it still reached No. 9 in the US, their first top ten hit there. When Bananarama were still struggling to make money in their early years, they even performed the song at a beauty contest in Hawaii. The song's biggest chart success was in South Africa, where it peaked at No. 3.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: The song has since been revived in various forms. It has appeared in several television commercials, and was covered by other acts, such as Ace of Base, who scored an international hit with it (their version reached Gold in the US). Blestenation sampled and remixed the song to make their own, also named "Cruel Summer" but with interspersed rap lyrics and altered structure; there are two edits of this song, one of which appeared on the 2002 "Blue Crush" soundtrack.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Since the original release of the song, Bananarama recorded another three versions. "Cruel Summer '89" was released in 1989, and given a new jack swing makeover, featuring Dallin and Woodward's vocals as a duo for the first time. It reached number 19 on the UK singles chart in June. This version was not included on any Bananarama album until 2005's "". Another version of the song was recorded and featured on their 2001 album "Exotica". This version featured Latin instrumentation and additional lyrics, but it was not released as a single. They released another updated version in 2009, as a B-side of their single "Love Comes".


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: The song was also featured as the theme tune of the first series of Trouble's reality show of the same name, where a group of young adults was sent off to a holiday camp, only to be tortured and humiliated in an attempt to win a large sum of money.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: The music video was directed by Brian Simmons, and shot primarily in the Dumbo section of New York City's Brooklyn borough in the summer of 1983. It opens with a shot of Manhattan in the background including the World Trade Center.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: "[It] was just an excuse to get us to the fabled city of New York for the first time," Siobhan Fahey has said. She recalled the shoot, conducted during a heatwave, as a difficult experience. "It was August, over one hundred degrees. Our HQ was a tavern under the Brooklyn Bridge, which had a ladies' room with a chipped mirror where we had to do our makeup."


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: After an exhausting morning shooting in the city in brutal August heat, the band returned to the tavern for lunch. They made the acquaintance of some local dockworkers, who, upon learning of their situation, shared vials of cocaine with them. "That was our lunch," said Fahey, who had never tried the drug before. "When you watch that video, we look really tired and miserable in the scenes we shot before lunch, and then the after-lunch shots are all euphoric and manic."


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: The music video for the 1989 remix was a compilation of different shots from Bananarama's earlier videoclips. Notably missing are clips from the original 1983 video. Fahey is only featured in a pair of frames. Bananarama were unable to record a proper video for the song, because they were in the middle of a world tour at the time of its release.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: In 1998, Swedish pop group Ace of Base recorded the song at the request of their German and American record labels PolyGram and Arista Records. It was released as the second single from their third album, "Flowers" (1998), and as the lead single from the American version of the album titled "Cruel Summer". A different "dancier" version of the song (known as the Big Bonus mix on the album), produced by Stephen Hague, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and Johnny Jam & Delgado, was released on mainland Europe. The original album version, produced by Cutfather & Joe, was released in North America and UK.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: "Cruel Summer" reached number 10 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and was certified gold. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart, matching the peak of the original Bananarama version. It also became Ace of Base's final Top 10 single in the US and UK.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Quentin Harrison of Albumism described the song as an "engaging cover" in his retrospective review of "Flowers", and added that "one variant is closer to the originating take, albeit with a spike of hip-hop flavor for a bit of modish spunk", while "the second rendition is a surprisingly danceable, Spanish flecked trip." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it is "the melodic high point" of the "Cruel Summer" album. Larry Flick from "Billboard" wrote that "the act that gave the such ABBA-esque ditties as "All That She Wants" and "The Sign" turns its attention toward Bananarama, faithfully covering one of that group's bigger '80s-era hits. Producers Cutfather & Joe bring a few new rhythm ideas to the table dropping the tempo to a jeep-inspired funk beat and injecting an ear-tickling keyboard twist or two. However, the vocals hold few surprises, which is exactly what fans of both Ace Of Base and the original recording will want. In all, a potential smash that could keep this Swedish quartet on the front burner of top 40 radio for much of the summer." Kelly Pickerel from "Daily Kent Stater" said she liked this remake better than Bananarama's original, noting that "it’s also one of those songs you can never get out of your head as soon as you hear it".


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Chuck Campbell from "The Daily News" noted it as a "slick-but-faithful remake". A reviewer from "Entertainment Weekly" commented that "it's clear what Ace of Base Svengali Jonas Berggren is aiming for — the iridescent sonic symmetry of Swedish forebears ABBA. A pretty lofty ambition. But he and his seraphic singing sisters, Linn and Jenny, actually attain ABBA's perfect pop-Euro-disco balance on this third outing. There isn't a note out of concordant place, no potential hook overlooked. Excepting the pointless title track, Berggren has done his homework. Just don't hate him because they sound so pretty." "Evening Herald" said it is a gem, adding "more of the same can often be a good thing". Swedish newspaper "Expressen" stated that the song "shows why Ace of Base once ruled the pop world". Gary Shipes from "The Stuart News" wrote in his review, that "the bubble-gum juvenilia of the original is replaced with updated hardware and a contemporary dance arrangement that launches the arc the rest of the CD will follow. At once melancoholic and jovial, the band's driving rhythmic force leaves no option but to fill dance floors on a dime."


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: "Cruel Summer" was successful on the charts in Europe, Canada and the US. In Europe, it made it to the top 10 in Hungary, on MTV's European Top 20 and in the United Kingdom. In the latter, the single peaked at number eight in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on 4 October 1998. Additionally, it climbed into the top 20 in Scotland, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where "Cruel Summer" reached its highest position as number 16. It was a top 30 hit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Iceland and Switzerland. Outside Europe, it peaked at number two on the "RPM" Dance/Urban chart and number six on the "RPM" Top Singles chart in Canada, number ten on both the "Billboard" Hot 100 and the "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States. It earned a gold record in the US, with a sale of 500,000 singles.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: A music video was filmed and directed by English director Nigel Dick. It was shot in Rome, Italy between 27 and 29 June 1998.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: The original video and the video using the Big Bonus Mix contain identical and similar footage, whereas the Frenglish version contains completely new footage. The Big Bonus Mix video was uploaded to YouTube in January 2015. As of August 2022, it had more than 17 million views on Youtube .


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Ace of Base united with the French boy band Alliage and re-recorded as a duet in a release designed specifically for the French markets. It is bilingual in English and French with added lyrics to the original.


title: Cruel Summer (Bananarama song)

text: Rico Bernasconi released a remix EP with 8 remix versions of Ace of Base version of "Cruel Summer" which peaked at #69 in Germany.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver is a .44 caliber revolver designed by Samuel Colt for the U.S. Army's Regiment of Mounted Rifles. The revolver was also issued to the Army's "Dragoon" Regiments. This revolver was designed as a solution to numerous problems encountered with the Colt Walker. Although it was introduced after the Mexican–American War, it became popular among civilians during the 1850s and 1860s, and was also used during the American Civil War.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The Colt Dragoon Revolver was produced with several variations between 1847 and 1860, when the Colt Model 1860 revolver replaced it. All the improvements in design of Colt revolvers were applied to the Dragoons as well to the smaller models of Colt revolvers. Total production of Colt Dragoons including the 1,100 Walkers, from 1847 to 1860: 19,800; plus 750 Dragoons in a separate number range for the British market. For collectors, there are three different types with one "transition" model.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: Between the Walker and the First model Dragoon, around 240 improved models were produced, barrel length 7 1/2 inch, cylinder 2 3/16 inch. Their general appearance was similar to that of the production Dragoon models. These were produced between late in 1847 and 1848, serial number range approximately 1100 (the last civilian Walker) through about 1340 (the first Dragoon First Model). These are sometimes called "Transition Walker" revolvers, and were made in two frame variations. The earlier pattern was a Walker carry-over with a cut-out in the back to accommodate the round contour of the grips and the second was straight-backed. Another distinctive detail were the very slender "Slim Jim" grips. Note: Due to serial number gaps between the "Transition" model and the First Dragoon, of which Colt later "backfilled", as well as the details of the production and delivery of the Second Government Contract, The "fluck Dragoon" was erroneously derived.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The First Model Colt Dragoon Revolver production began in 1848, stemming from Colt's Second Government Contract. It has oval cylinder stops, a V-type mainspring, no wheel on the rear of the hammer, and a square back trigger guard. Colt produced about 7,000 first models between 1848 and 1850.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The Second Model has rectangular cylinder notches. Until the no. 10,000 the V-shaped mainspring was standard and then replaced with a flat leaf mainspring and a wheel on the hammer at its bearing on the mainspring. All the Second Model Dragoons have the square back trigger guard. The company made about 2,550 Second Models in 1850 and '51.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The Third Model Dragoon numbers stand at ten-thousand from 1851 through 1860. This design had more variations as compared to its earlier counterparts. Some of the third model Colt Dragoon Revolvers had frame cuts for detachable shoulder stocks, horizontal loading lever latches and folding leaf sights. Third Colt Dragoon Revolvers had a round trigger guard. Government records showed an order for 8,390 Dragoons.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: Other variants included the Colt "1848 Pocket Pistol" now known as the Baby Dragoon, marketed in California with success during the Gold rush days. With the addition of a loading lever this evolved into the 1849 pocket revolver (see Colt Pocket Percussion Revolvers).


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: The Dragoon was produced because of the problems seen with the fielded Colt Walker revolvers, namely, the Walker's heavy weight, four and a half pounds, making it suitable only for use as a saddle-mounted revolver, the Walker's propensity for cylinders exploding on occasion when fired (due to the chambers being loaded with too much powder often in combination with the Pickett bullets being loaded backwards), and the Walker's habit of dropping the loading lever upon discharge, locking up the revolver action in the middle of combat. The Colt Dragoon Revolver had a comparatively shorter cylinder (thus preventing overloading the cylinder) and held up to 50 grains of powder, whereas the Walker had used up to 60 grains of powder. The Dragoon Revolver had a shorter barrel at 7.5 inches (some later revolvers 8 inches) as compared to the barrel on the Walker. A loading lever latch in front of the lever replaced the spring to keep the lever from dropping during recoil, thereby preventing jamming of the revolver. These variations made the Colt Dragoon Revolver 4 pounds two ounces. These changes also reduced the risks of the Colt Dragoon Revolver from exploding when fired, unlike the risk that had been demonstrated with the Walker revolvers.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: In the troublesome events that led to the Civil War, Colt Dragoons became extremely popular. In the beginning Colt Dragoon Revolvers were issued for the U.S. Army's Mounted Rifles. They were carried in pommel holsters on the saddle. The Colt Dragoon Revolver gained popularity among civilians in the Southwest where many had served in the Mexican–American War. The Dragoon became a master weapon for civilians who hailed it as a powerful weapon of the time.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: Famous users included Joaquin Murietta, the California bandit, Charley Parkhurst, California teamster and stagecoach driver, James Douglas Byrd, Town Marshal, Watsonville, California, 1868, Tiburcio Vasquez, Union general George B McClellan, and fictional Augustus McCrae, in the novel "Lonesome Dove", Mattie Ross in the novel "True Grit" and in the 2010 film version (the 1969 film of that name had Mattie Ross using a Colt Walker revolver, though John Wayne's character Rooster referred to it as a Colt's Dragoon). Charley Parkhurst, while driving freight, was confronted by two bandits whom he dispatched with the Colt Holster Pistol. According to "Harper's Weekly", James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok arrived in Springfield, Missouri carrying a Dragoon though it is generally accepted that he used a Navy in his street duel with Davis Tutt.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: Non-firing replicas of the Colt 1848 Dragoon were manufactured at Denix in Spain. In 2005, a fire burned down the factory and destroyed the mold for the gun, which has since gone out of production. Denix has since reintroduced the non-firing model of the Colt 1848 Dragoon in Nickel.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: Quality Replica Dragoons are currently produced by the Aldo Uberti Company of Brescia, Italy and distributed in the United States by Taylors, Inc.; Cimarron Firearms, and others. They are quite accurate and potentially more powerful than the belt sized revolvers of the same bore diameter. Velocities with .451–457-inch round balls of approximately 141 grains over the full 50 grains of powder frequently show chronographed readings in the 1,000 to 1,100 foot per second range depending upon the powder used.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: A cartridge-converted Colt Walker instead of the Colt Dragoon in the book was used in the 1969 film "True Grit", as the weapon carried by 14-year-old Mattie, possibly due to the Walker's larger size. The Dragoon was used in the 2010 Coen Bros. movie as in the original book.


title: Colt Dragoon Revolver

text: In Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry, Captain Gus McCrae is armed with a Colt's Dragoon revolver. In the television adaptation, Gus is armed with a cartridge-converted Colt's Walker revolver.


title: Rec. 2020

text: ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020, more commonly known by the abbreviations Rec. 2020 or BT.2020, defines various aspects of ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) with standard dynamic range (SDR) and wide color gamut (WCG), including picture resolutions, frame rates with progressive scan, bit depths, color primaries, RGB and luma-chroma color representations, chroma subsamplings, and an opto-electronic transfer function. The first version of Rec. 2020 was posted on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) website on August 23, 2012, and two further editions have been published since then.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2020 is extended for high-dynamic-range (HDR) by Rec. 2100, which uses the same color primaries as Rec. 2020.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2020 defines two standard image formats of 3840 × 2160 ("4K") and 7680 × 4320 ("8K"). These both have an aspect ratio of and use square pixels.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2020 specifies the following frame rates: 120p, 119.88p, 100p, 60p, 59.94p, 50p, 30p, 29.97p, 25p, 24p, 23.976p. Only progressive scan frame rates are allowed.


title: Rec. 2020

text: 10 bits per sample Rec. 2020 uses video levels where the black level is defined as code 64 and the nominal peak is defined as code 940. Codes 0–3 and 1,020–1,023 are used for the timing reference. Codes 4 through 63 provide video data below the black level while codes 941 through 1,019 provide video data above the nominal peak.


title: Rec. 2020

text: 12 bits per sample Rec. 2020 uses video levels where the black level is defined as code 256 and the nominal peak is defined as code 3760. Codes 0–15 and 4,080–4,095 are used for the timing reference. Codes 16 through 255 provide video data below the black level while codes 3,761 through 4,079 provide video data above the nominal peak.


title: Rec. 2020

text: The Rec. 2020 (UHDTV/UHD-1/UHD-2) color space can reproduce colors that cannot be shown with the Rec. 709 (HDTV) color space. The RGB primaries used by Rec. 2020 are equivalent to monochromatic light sources on the CIE 1931 spectral locus. The wavelength of the Rec. 2020 primary colors is 630 nm for the red primary color, 532 nm for the green primary color, and 467 nm for the blue primary color. In coverage of the CIE 1931 color space, the Rec. 2020 color space covers 75.8%, the DCI-P3 digital cinema color space covers 53.6%, the Adobe RGB color space covers 52.1%, and the Rec. 709 color space covers 35.9%.


title: Rec. 2020

text: During the development of the Rec. 2020 color space it was decided that it would use real colors, instead of imaginary colors, so that it would be possible to show the Rec. 2020 color space on a display without the need for conversion circuitry. Since a larger color space increases the difference between colors, an increase of 1 bit per sample is needed for Rec. 2020 to equal or exceed the color precision of Rec. 709.


title: Rec. 2020

text: The NHK measured contrast sensitivity for the Rec. 2020 color space using Barten's equation which had previously been used to determine the bit depth for digital cinema. 11 bits per sample for the Rec. 2020 color space is below the visual modulation threshold, the ability to discern a one-value difference in luminance, for the entire luminance range. The NHK is planning for their UHDTV system, Super Hi-Vision, to use 12 bits per sample RGB.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2020 defines a nonlinear transfer function for gamma correction that is the same nonlinear transfer function that is used by Rec. 709, except that its parameters are (for 12 bit only) given with higher precision:


title: Rec. 2020

text: While the Rec. 2020 transfer function can be used for encoding, it is expected that most productions will use a reference monitor that has an appearance of using equivalent of gamma 2.4 transfer function as defined in ITU-R BT.1886 and that the reference monitor will be evaluated under viewing conditions as defined in Rec. ITU-R BT.2035.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2020 allows for RGB and luma-chroma signal formats with 4:4:4 full-resolution sampling and luma-chroma signal formats with 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. It supports two types of luma-chroma signals, called YCbCr and YcCbcCrc.


title: Rec. 2020

text: YCbCr may be used when the top priority is compatibility with existing SDTV and HDTV operating practices. The luma (Y′) signal for YCbCr is calculated as the weighted average Y′ = K⋅R′ + K⋅G′ + K⋅B′, using the gamma-corrected RGB values (denoted R′G′B′) and the weighting coefficients K = 0.2627, K = 1−K−K = 0.678 and K = 0.0593. As in similar schemes, the chroma components in YCbCr are calculated as C′ = 0.5⋅(B′−Y′)/(1−K) = (B'−Y′)/1.8814 and C′ = 0.5⋅(R′−Y′)/(1−K) = (R′−Y′)/1.4746, and for digital representation the Y′, C′, and C′ signals are scaled, offset by constants, and rounded to integers.


title: Rec. 2020

text: The YcCbcCrc scheme is a "constant luminance" luma-chroma representation. YcCbcCrc may be used when the top priority is the most accurate retention of luminance information. The luma component in YcCbcCrc is calculated using the same coefficient values as for YCbCr, but it is calculated from linear RGB and then gamma corrected, rather than being calculated from gamma-corrected R′G′B′ and is done as follows: Y′ = (K⋅R + K⋅G + K⋅B)′. The chroma components in YcCbcCrc are calculated from the Y′, B′, and R′ signals with equations that depend on the range of values of B′−Y′ and R′−Y′.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Just like standard definition content, that uses SMPTE C or NTSC 1953, BT.2020 primaries should be color managed to primaries of display. That is different from changing YCbCr matrix. HD content is color managed to BT.709 primaries on linear values. BT.2020 and BT.2100 are usually color managed to P3-D65. The reference color bars for BT.2020 are ARIB STD-B66.


title: Rec. 2020

text: HDMI 2.0 supports the Rec. 2020 color space. HDMI 2.0 can transmit 12 bits per sample RGB at a resolution of 2160p and a frame rate of 24/25/30 fps or it can transmit 12 bits per sample 4:2:2/4:2:0 YCbCr at a resolution of 2160p and a frame rate of 50/60 fps.


title: Rec. 2020

text: The Rec. 2020 color space is supported by H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The Main 10 profile in HEVC was added based on proposal JCTVC-K0109 which proposed that a 10-bit profile be added to HEVC for consumer applications. The proposal stated that this was to allow for improved video quality and to support the Rec. 2020 color space that will be used by UHDTV.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On September 11, 2013, ViXS Systems announced the XCode 6400 SoC which supports 4K resolution at 60 fps, the Main 10 profile of HEVC, and the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On May 22, 2014, Nanosys announced that using a quantum dot enhancement film (QDEF) a current LCD TV was modified so that it could cover 91% of the Rec. 2020 color space. Nanosys engineers believe that with improved LCD color filters it is possible to make a LCD that covers 97% of the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On September 4, 2014, Canon Inc. released a firmware upgrade, that added support for the Rec. 2020 color space, to their EOS C500 and EOS C500 PL camera models and their DP-V3010 4K display.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On September 5, 2014, the Blu-ray Disc Association revealed that the future 4K Blu-ray Disc format will support 4K UHD (3840x2160 resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 frames per second. The standard will encode videos under the High Efficiency Video Coding standard. 4K Blu-ray Discs support both a higher color precision by increasing the color depth to 10 bits per color, and a greater color gamut by using the Rec. 2020 color space. The 4K-Blu-ray specification allows for three disc sizes, each with their own data rate: 50 GB with 82 Mbit/s, 66 GB with 108 Mbit/s, and 100 GB with 128 Mbit/s. The first Ultra HD Blu-ray titles were officially released from four studios on March 1, 2016.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On November 7, 2014, DivX developers announced that DivX265 version 1.4.21 has added support for the Main 10 profile of HEVC and the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On December 22, 2014, Avid Technology released an update for Media Composer that added support for 4K resolution, the Rec. 2020 color space, and a bit rate of up to 3,730 Mbit/s with the DNxHD codec.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On January 6, 2015, the MHL Consortium announced the release of the superMHL specification which will support 8K resolution at 120 fps, 48-bit video, the Rec. 2020 color space, high dynamic range support, a 32-pin reversible superMHL connector, and power charging of up to 40 watts.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On January 7, 2015, Ateme added support for the Rec. 2020 color space to their TITAN File video platform.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On March 18, 2015, Arri announced the SXT line of Arri Alexa cameras which will support Apple ProRes recording at 4K resolution and the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On April 8, 2015, Canon Inc. announced the DP-V2410 4K display and EOS C300 Mark II camera with support for the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On May 26, 2015, the NHK announced a 4K LCD with a laser diode backlight that covers 98% of the Rec. 2020 color space. Using a laser allows for generating almost monochromatic light. The NHK stated that at the time it was announced this 4K LCD has the widest color gamut of any display in the world.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On June 17, 2015, Digital Projection International presented a 4K LED projector with support for the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On January 4, 2016, the UHD Alliance announced their specifications for Ultra HD Premium which includes support for the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On January 27, 2016, VESA announced that DisplayPort version 1.4 will support the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: On April 18, 2016, the Ultra HD Forum announced industry guidelines for UHD Phase A which includes support for the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: At SID display week 2017, AUO displayed a 5" foldable 720p HD AMOLED display able to display 95% of the Rec. 2020 colorspace. Although 720p is not specified by Rec. 2020, the color space coverage is of note.


title: Rec. 2020

text: The Ultra HD Forum guidelines for UHD Phase A include support for SDR formats with 10 bits of color bit depth based on both Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 color gamuts and also both the HDR10 and HLG formats of Rec. 2100, which are supposed to start by 2017.


title: Rec. 2020

text: At SID display week 2018, various companies showcased displays that are able to cover over 90% of the Rec.2020 color space. JDI showcased an improvement of their 17.3" LCD 8k broadcast monitor that is powered by an RGB laser backlight system. This allows the display to reproduce 97% of the Rec. 2020 color space.


title: Rec. 2020

text: Rec. 2100 is an ITU-R Recommendation released in July 2016 that defines high dynamic range (HDR) formats for both HDTV 1080p and 4K/8K UHDTV resolutions. These formats use the same color primaries as Rec. 2020, but with different transfer functions for HDR use.


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on "The Equalizer", Daniel Holtz on "Angel", Gerard Stephens in "The Dark Knight" and Adam Engell in "Argo". In video games, he has voiced Dr. Terrence Kyne in "Dead Space", Harbinger in "Mass Effect 2", Gilgamesh in "Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy", Herschel Biggs in "L.A. Noire" and the Didact in "Halo 4".


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: Szarabajka was born in Oak Park, Illinois on December 2, 1952, the son of Anne, a school teacher, and Edward Szarabajka, a savings and loan officer. His father was a much decorated veteran of WWII. He fought in North Africa and Italy until the end of the war. He received the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart.


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: He attended Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and the University of Chicago, as well as Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He studied acting further at the Organic Theater in Chicago from 1972 to 1978. During this time, he co-wrote "Bleacher Bums" along with, among others, Joe Mantegna and Stuart Gordon. In 1982 he had a supporting role in the Costa-Gavras film "Missing".


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: His acting resume is extensive, appearing in numerous television programs including "The Equalizer", "Profit", "The X-Files", "Becker", "", "", "Charmed", "Roswell", "24", "Max Steel", "The Inside", and "Law & Order". In 1994 he portrayed Matthew Stoner in "Babylon 5" episode "Soul Mates". He is known for his role as Mickey Kostmayer in the 1980s show "The Equalizer", as well as for his recurring role as vampire hunter Daniel Holtz in the cult series "Angel", the spin-off from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". He played the lead role in Stephen King's "Golden Years". In 2016, he began the recurring guest role of Donatello Redfield in "Supernatural", appearing in nine episodes before the show's conclusion in 2020.


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: Szarabajka has contributed his voice to several audio books, notably "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" by Tom Robbins, for which he won the 2001 Audie Award for Best Fiction, Unabridged; "Fear Nothing" and "Seize the Night" by Dean Koontz; several roles in a Grammy nominated audio dramatization of "The Maltese Falcon", "Rising Sun" by Michael Crichton; Nelson Algren's "Walk on the Wild Side"; and "The Mark of Zorro" opposite Val Kilmer. Szarabajka is the voice of Russman in "".


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: Additionally, he provided the voice for antagonist Dmitri Yuriev in the "Xenosaga" series and for The Master of Whispers in the game "Guild Wars: Nightfall" and for Emile Dufraisne in "". He played the role of Detective Gerard Stephens in the "Batman Begins" sequel "The Dark Knight" and voiced Dr. Terrence Kyne for the animated sci-fi horror movie "" based on the "Dead Space" video game. He also voiced a minor character in "Condemned 2: Bloodshot" named Inferi.


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: He is the Archangel Azrael in "Darksiders: Wrath of War" and played a very small role in "Dragon Age: Origins" as a nameless dwarf collecting nugs, a voiceset for male dwarf characters, and several minor characters. He plays the Reaper Harbinger, the main villain of the video game "Mass Effect 2", as well as a few minor characters. In 2008, he voiced Venom in "". In 2010, he voiced the Autobot Ironhide in "" as well as its 2012 sequel "", and Mr. Freeze in "Young Justice". He provides the voice for Gilgamesh in the video game, "Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy". He also provided the voice for Joshua Graham in "Honest Hearts", downloadable content for "".


title: Keith Szarabajka

text: His most recent roles include the narrator Detective Herschel Biggs in the video game "LA Noire", the Chaos Advisor and Captain Apollo Diomedes in Relic Entertainment's "", "", Laserbeak in "", Bastion in "X-Men Destiny", several voices in "", Ronan the Accuser in "", the Living Laser in "Ultimate Spider-Man", Azrael The Narrator in Darksiders, the Crowfather in "Darksiders II", the Witch-king of Angmar in "Guardians of Middle-earth", Russman in "", the Ur-Didact in "Halo 4", General Spencer Mahad in "Dead Space 3", and Cornelius Slate in "BioShock Infinite".


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, "Meiji Kenpō"), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in force between November 29, 1890 and May 2, 1947. Enacted after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it provided for a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy, based jointly on the German and British models. In theory, the Emperor of Japan was the supreme leader, and the Cabinet, whose Prime Minister would be elected by a Privy Council, were his followers; in practice, the Emperor was head of state but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government. Under the Meiji Constitution, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were not necessarily chosen from the elected members of parliament.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: During the American Occupation of Japan the Meiji Constitution was replaced with the "Postwar Constitution" on November 3, 1946; the latter document has been in force since May 3, 1947. In order to maintain legal continuity, the Postwar Constitution was enacted as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Meiji Restoration in 1868 provided Japan a form of constitutional monarchy based on the Prusso-German model, in which the Emperor of Japan was an active ruler and wielded considerable political power over foreign policy and diplomacy which was shared with an elected Imperial Diet. The Diet primarily dictated domestic policy matters.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: After the Meiji Restoration, which restored direct political power to the emperor for the first time in over a millennium, Japan underwent a period of sweeping political and social reform and westernization aimed at strengthening Japan to the level of the nations of the Western world. The immediate consequence of the Constitution was the opening of the first Parliamentary government in Asia.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Meiji Constitution established clear limits on the power of the executive branch and the Emperor. It also created an independent judiciary. Civil rights and civil liberties were allowed, though they were freely subject to limitation by law. Free speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion were all limited by laws. The leaders of the government and the political parties were left with the task of interpretation as to whether the Meiji Constitution could be used to justify authoritarian or liberal-democratic rule. It was the struggle between these tendencies that dominated the government of the Empire of Japan. Franchise was limited, with only 1.1% of the population eligible to vote for the Diet. Universal manhood suffrage was not established (under law) until the General Election Law, which gave every male aged 25 and over a voting right, was enacted in 1925.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Meiji Constitution was used as a model for the 1931 Constitution of Ethiopia by the Ethiopian intellectual Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam. This was one of the reasons why the progressive Ethiopian intelligentsia associated with Tekle Hawariat were known as "Japanizers".


title: Meiji Constitution

text: By the surrender in the World War II on 2 September 1945, the Empire of Japan was deprived of sovereignty by the Allies, and the Meiji Constitution was suspended. During the Occupation of Japan, the Meiji Constitution was replaced by a new document, the postwar Constitution of Japan. This document replaced imperial rule with a form of Western-style liberal democracy. To preserve legal continuity, these changes were enacted as a constitutional amendment per Article 73 of the Meiji Constitution. After garnering the required two-thirds majority in both chambers, it received imperial assent on 3 November 1946 and took effect on 3 May 1947.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Prior to the adoption of the Meiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no written constitution. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system and constitution known as "ritsuryō" was enacted in the 6th century (in the late Asuka period and early Nara period); it described a government based on an elaborate and theoretically rational meritocratic bureaucracy, serving under the ultimate authority of the emperor and organised following Chinese models. In theory the last "ritsuryō" code, the Yōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the Meiji Restoration.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: However, in practice the "ritsuryō" system of government had become largely an empty formality as early as in the middle of the Heian period in the 10th and 11th centuries, a development which was completed by the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1185. The high positions in the "ritsuryō" system remained as sinecures, and the emperor was de-powered and set aside as a symbolic figure who "reigned, but did not rule" (on the theory that the living god should not have to defile himself with matters of earthly government).


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Charter Oath was promulgated on 6 April 1868, which outlined the fundamental policies of the government and demanded the establishment of deliberative assemblies, but it did not determine the details. The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and without the government since the beginnings of the Meiji government. The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling democracy or republicanism with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The Freedom and People's Rights Movement demanded the immediate establishment of an elected national assembly, and the promulgation of a constitution.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: On October 21, 1881, Itō Hirobumi was appointed to chair a government bureau to research various forms of constitutional government, and in 1882, Itō led an overseas mission to observe and study various systems first-hand. The United States Constitution was rejected as too liberal. The French and Spanish models were rejected as tending toward despotism. The Reichstag and legal structures of the German Empire, particularly that of Prussia, proved to be of the most interest to the Constitutional Study Mission. Influence was also drawn from the British Westminster system, although it was considered as being unwieldy and granting too much power to Parliament.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: He also rejected some notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity. He therefore added references to the kokutai or "national polity" as the justification of the emperor's authority through his divine descent and the unbroken line of emperors, and the unique relationship between subject and sovereign.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Council of State was replaced in 1885 with a cabinet headed by Itō as Prime Minister. The positions of Chancellor, Minister of the Left, and Minister of the Right, which had existed since the seventh century, were abolished. In their place, the Privy Council was established in 1888 to evaluate the forthcoming constitution, and to advise Emperor Meiji.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The draft committee included Inoue Kowashi, Kaneko Kentarō, Itō Miyoji and Iwakura Tomomi, along with a number of foreign advisors, in particular the German legal scholars Rudolf von Gneist and Lorenz von Stein. The central issue was the balance between sovereignty vested in the person of the Emperor, and an elected representative legislature with powers that would limit or restrict the power of the sovereign. After numerous drafts from 1886–1888, the final version was submitted to Emperor Meiji in April 1888. The Meiji Constitution was drafted in secret by the committee, without public debate.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The new constitution was promulgated by Emperor Meiji on of the Meiji State : Outline|website=National Diet Library. Japan.|url=https://www.ndl.te=September 4, 2020}}</ref> The first National Diet of Japan, a new representative assembly, convened on the day the Meiji Constitution came into force. The organizational structure of the Diet reflected both Prussian and British influences, most notably in the inclusion of the House of Representatives as the lower house (existing currently, under the Article 42 of the post-war Japanese Constitution based on bicameralism) and the House of Peers as the upper house, (which resembled the Prussian "Herrenhaus" and the British House of Lords, now the House of Councillors of Japan under the Article 42 of the post-war Japanese Constitution based on bicameralism), and in the formal Speech from the Throne delivered by the Emperor on Opening Day (existing currently, under the Article 7 of the post-war Japanese Constitution). The second chapter of the constitution, detailing the rights of citizens, bore a resemblance to similar articles in both European and North American constitutions of the day.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Meiji Constitution consists of 76 articles in seven chapters, together amounting to around 2,500 words. It is also usually reproduced with its Preamble, the Imperial Oath Sworn in the Sanctuary in the Imperial Palace, and the Imperial Rescript on the Promulgation of the Constitution, which together come to nearly another 1,000 words. The seven chapters are:


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Unlike its modern successor, the Meiji Constitution was founded on the principle that sovereignty resided in person of the Emperor, by virtue of his divine ancestry "unbroken for ages eternal", rather than in the people. Article 4 states that the "Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty". The Emperor, nominally at least, united within himself all three branches (executive, legislative and judiciary) of government, although legislation (article 5) and the budget (article 64) were subject to the "consent of the Imperial Diet". Laws were issued and justice administered by the courts "in the name of the Emperor".


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Rules on the succession of the imperial throne and on the Imperial household were left outside the Constitution; instead, a separate Act on the Imperial household ("koshitu tenpan") was adopted. This Act was not publicly promulgated, because it was seen as a private Act of the Imperial household rather than a public law.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Separate provisions of the Constitution are contradictory as to whether the Constitution or the Emperor is supreme.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: The Emperor of Japan had the right to exercise executive authority, and to appoint and dismiss all government officials. The Emperor also had the sole rights to declare war, make peace, conclude treaties, dissolve the lower house of Diet, and issue Imperial ordinances in place of laws when the Diet was not in session. Most importantly, command over the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy was directly held by the Emperor, and not the Diet. The Meiji Constitution provided for a cabinet consisting of Ministers of State who answered to the Emperor rather than the Diet, and to the establishment of the Privy Council. Not mentioned in the Constitution were the "genrō", an inner circle of advisors to the Emperor, who wielded considerable influence.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Under the Meiji Constitution, a legislature, the Diet, was established with two houses. The Upper House, or House of Peers consisted of members of the Imperial Family, hereditary peerage and members appointed by the Emperor. The Lower House, or House of Representatives was directly elected by all males who paid at least 15 yen in property taxes, effectively limiting the suffrage to 1.1 percent of the population. These qualifications were loosened in 1900 and 1919 with universal adult male suffrage introduced in 1925. The Emperor shared legislative authority with the Diet, and no measure could become law without the agreement of the Emperor and the Diet. On the other hand, the Diet was given the authority to initiate legislation, approve all laws, and approve the budget.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: Amendments to the constitution were provided for by Article 73. This stipulated that, to become law, a proposed amendment had to be submitted first to the Diet by the Emperor through an imperial order or rescript. To be approved by the Diet, an amendment had to be adopted in both chambers by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of each (rather than merely two-thirds of the total number of votes cast). Once it had been approved by the Diet, an amendment was then promulgated into law by the Emperor, who had an absolute right of veto. No amendment to the constitution was permitted during the time of a regency. Despite these provisions, no amendments were made to the imperial constitution from the time it was adopted until its demise in 1947. The present constitution is legally reckoned as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution; this was done to preserve legal continuity even though it is a completely new document.


title: Meiji Constitution

text: However, according to Article 73 of the Meiji Constitution, the amendment should be authorized by the Emperor. Indeed, the 1947 Constitution was authorized by the Emperor (as was declared in the letter of promulgation), which is in apparent conflict of the 1947 Constitution, according to which that constitution was made and authorized by the nation ("the principle of popular sovereignty"). To dissipate such inconsistencies, some peculiar doctrine of "August Revolution" was proposed by Toshiyoshi Miyazawa of the University of Tokyo, but without much persuasiveness.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The Concierto de Aranjuez (, "Aranjuez Concerto") is a classical guitar concerto by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is by far Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the 20th century.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The "Concierto de Aranjuez" was inspired by the gardens at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the spring resort palace and gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI. The work attempts to transport the listener to another place and time through the evocation of the sounds of nature.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: According to the composer, the first movement is "animated by a rhythmic spirit and vigour without either of the two themes... interrupting its relentless pace"; the second movement "represents a dialogue between classical guitar and solo instruments (cor anglais, bassoon, oboe, horn etc.)"; and the last movement "recalls a courtly dance in which the combination of double and triple time maintains a taut tempo right to the closing bar." He described the concerto itself as capturing "the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains" in the gardens of Aranjuez.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: Rodrigo and his wife Victoria stayed silent for many years about the inspiration for the second movement, and thus the popular belief grew that it was inspired by the bombing of Guernica in 1937. In her autobiography, Victoria eventually declared that it was both an evocation of the happy days of their honeymoon and a response to Rodrigo's devastation at the miscarriage of their first pregnancy. It was composed in 1939 in Paris.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: Rodrigo, nearly blind since age three, was a pianist. He did not play the classical guitar, yet he still managed to capture and project the role of the guitar in Spanish music.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: In 1939, the Spanish Civil War had just ended, beginning (or continuing, depending on the part of Spain) the Spanish State of dictator Francisco Franco. A work premiered in Spain in this highly charged environment had to celebrate, or pretend to celebrate, or permit the interpretation that it was celebrating, the current political situation. The celebration of a palace and gardens of a sixteenth-century Habsburg king offered no ideological threat to the Francoist State, and was in harmony with its emerging policy of celebrating Spanish history, conservatively interpreted.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: Composed in early 1939, in Paris, amid the tensions of the impending war, it was the first work Rodrigo wrote for classical guitar and orchestra. The instrumentation is unusual: rarely does the classical guitar face the forces of a full orchestra. Thus, the classical guitar is never overwhelmed.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The premiere of the "Concierto de Aranjuez" was held on 9 November 1940 at the Palau de la Música Catalana, in Barcelona. It was performed by guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Barcelona conducted by César Mendoza Lasalle.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: On 11 December 1940, the concerto received its first performance in Madrid, at the Teatro Español de Madrid conducted by Jesús Arámbarri, with the same soloist. The United States premiere was given by Rey de la Torre on 19 November 1959, with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: This concerto is in three movements, "Allegro con spirito", "Adagio" and "Allegro gentile". The first and last movements are in D major, while the famous middle movement is in B minor. Along with the solo guitar, it is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes (one doubling on piccolo), two oboes (one doubling on cor anglais), two clarinets in B, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in C, and strings.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The first movement's 40-measure introduction begins with the solo guitar strumming a three-measure theme in 6/8. The theme is made of tonic, supertonic, and dominant chords and features a flamenco-like hemiola rhythm. As it repeats several times, the tonic chord's uppermost note gets higher, starting with the third, then using the fifth, the tonic, and the fifth again.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The second movement in B minor, the best-known of the three, is marked by its slow pace and quiet melody, introduced by the cor anglais, with a soft accompaniment by the classical guitar and strings. A feeling of quiet regret permeates the piece. Ornamentation is added gradually to the melody in the beginning. An off-tonic trill in the classical guitar creates the first seeds of tension in the piece; they grow and take hold, but relax back to the melody periodically. Eventually, a climactic build-up starts. This breaks back into the main melody, molto appassionato, voiced by the strings with accompaniment from the woodwinds. The piece finally resolves to a calm arpeggio from the classical guitar, though it is the strings in the background rather than the guitar's final note that resolve the piece.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The third movement is in mixed metre, alternating between 2/4 and 3/4. At the beginning of the movement, four-measure phrases containing 9 beats in total are formed from one 3/4 measure followed by three 2/4 measures. As the movement progresses, the metre becomes more irregular. It begins with the classical guitar starting the theme in the "wrong" key of B major, but the orchestra restates it in the home key of D major.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: The concerto was recorded for the first time in either 1947 or 1948 by guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Ataúlfo Argenta, on 78 rpm records. This recording was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. Narciso Yepes then made two early recordings of the Aranjuez, both also with Argenta – one in mono with the Madrid Chamber Orchestra (released between 1953 and 1955), and the second in stereo with the Orquesta Nacional de España (recorded in 1957 and released in 1959). Although Ida Presti gave the French premiere of the "Concierto de Aranjuez" in 1948, the first female classical guitarist to record the concerto was Renata Tarragó (1958 or 1959) – who played with fingertips rather than fingernails – accompanied by the Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid, conducted by Odón Alonso. William Yeoman provides a discographical survey of recordings of the concerto in "Gramophone" magazine. Due to his extremely lengthy recording career, Julian Bream had ample room to record Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" five times. Four of those recordings appeared on record albums and one was recorded on film for the final segment of the film series "¡Guitarra! A Musical Journey Through Spain". Each time Julian Bream used a different combination of orchestra and conductor. Charo has played the Concerto in concert and in an album.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: Until asked to perform and interpret "Concierto de Aranjuez" in 1991, the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation, and José María Gallardo Del Rey advised and directed him musically. De Lucía claimed in "Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait" that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Composer Joaquín Rodrigo later declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: At the request of Nicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo transcribed the Concierto for harp and orchestra in 1974.


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: Jazz musician Miles Davis reinterpreted the second movement of the work on his album "Sketches of Spain" (1960), in the company of arranger Gil Evans. Davis stated: "That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets." Columbia, the label that released Sketches of Spain, had not asked the composer for permission to record or adapt his music, and Rodrigo did not learn of the recording until after its release in 1960, when the blind jazz pianist Tete Montoliu, who claimed to have been the first person in Spain to own a copy of the album, played it for the maestro and his family. Rodrigo was irate that the American record label had used his music without permission. Aside from the fact that he, as the composer, had not been asked for permission, “which he considered a violation of moral rights," Rodrigo also tried to block the jazz and pop recordings from being released, before realizing, "In the end, the composer resigned himself to accept the fact that the pop versions reached a far greater public than that of classical music concertgoers, and led to much wider recognition of the original classical concerto for guitar and orchestra, "Concierto de Aranjuez"." In fact, "Rodrigo changed his mind and came to accept the subsequent jazz recordings of his music in part because the legal terms of use were resolved (Ediciones Joaquín Rodrigo now owns the Gil Evans arrangement), but also in part because these versions, far from obliterating the original guitar concerto, have helped disseminate it." The composer's wife, Victoria Kamhi, was very harsh in her memoir, however, referring to the Miles Davis recording as "an act of piracy." She described how Rodrigo attempted to sue the SGAE in February 1967 in the Palace of Justice for authorizing the transcription of the Concierto for trumpet and jazz, which Davis recorded, but, "we lost the case, for the judge's opinion was that, since Miles Davis' record had granted authors' rights to Joaquín, he had no redress against the SGAE."


title: Concierto de Aranjuez

text: On 30 December 1991, Rodrigo was raised to the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the title of "Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez" ().


title: Trader Vic's

text: Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic". He was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai. The other was his amicable competitor for many years, Donn Beach of the "Don the Beachcomber" restaurants.


title: Trader Vic's

text: Bergeron attended Heald College in San Francisco. On November 17, 1934, using $500 in borrowed money, Bergeron opened a small bar/restaurant across from his parents' grocery store at San Pablo Avenue and 65th Street in the Golden Gate District of Oakland. He named it Hinky Dink's. As its popularity spread, the menu and decor developed an increasingly tropical flair, and Hinky Dink's soon became Trader Vic's.


title: Trader Vic's

text: In 1949, Western Hotels executive Edward Carlson convinced Bergeron to open his first franchised location in the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Seattle. Originally a small bar named "The Outrigger", it was expanded into a full restaurant in 1954 and renamed "Trader Vic's" in 1960. Due to the restaurant's success, Bergeron worked with Western Hotels to open Trader Vic's locations in a number of their hotels. In 1950, Bergeron opened a Trader Vic's location in Hawaii and in 1951 at 20 Cosmo Place in San Francisco.


title: Trader Vic's

text: Because Bergeron lacked the capital to expand, he partnered with Hilton Hotels. Conrad Hilton opened his first Trader Vic's in The Beverly Hilton in 1955. Two years later, Hilton opened another Trader Vic's in The Palmer House in Chicago, and then licensed the Trader Vic's brand for use throughout his chain for $2,000,000, retaining Bergeron to oversee the decoration, staffing and operation of the restaurants for an annual salary of $65,000. Hilton soon estimated the popular Trader Vic's establishments were earning his hotel chain $5 million a year. Sheraton Hotels quickly opened competing chains of tiki restaurants in their hotels, known as Ports O' Call and Kon-Tiki.


title: Trader Vic's

text: During the Tiki culture fad of the 1950s and 1960s, as many as 25 Trader Vic's restaurants were in operation worldwide. They all featured the popular mix of Polynesian artifacts, unique cocktails, and exotic cuisine. The chain of restaurants grew and is credited as one of the first successful themed chains, a marketing model that many other restaurants followed.


title: Trader Vic's

text: In 1972 the original location in Oakland was closed and replaced by a bayfront restaurant in nearby Emeryville, now considered the chain's flagship restaurant. In the 1980s and 1990s, the chain began to shrink as a younger generation had little connection to the chain's tiki theme. Poor locations or less trendy addresses took a toll on the chain's popularity. While many of the original locations have closed, Trader Vic's once again has grown to 18 locations around the globe due to a revival in popularity of tiki culture.


title: Trader Vic's

text: As of 2022, there are three Trader Vic's restaurants in the United States, two in Europe, ten in the Middle East, two in East Asia, and one in Seychelles.


title: Trader Vic's

text: The Trader Vic's Corporation has also franchised restaurants and bars under the names the Mai Tai Lounge (all locations defunct), Trader Vic's Island Bar & Grill (opened 2010 in Sarasota, Florida, shuttered in 2013 - where the company experimented with a Hooters-like concept but not a true Hooters knockoff), and Señor Pico. There is one remaining Señor Pico location at The Palm Dubai.


title: Trader Vic's

text: Beyond the Mai Tai, Bergeron's other more famous drinks included the Fog Cutter and the Scorpion Bowl. Both drinks were served in a specific and highly decorated mug or bowl. His take on a Hot buttered rum was also an early example calling for a specific ceramic mug, in this case a skull. The Scorpion Bowl in particular and its many variations proliferated onto the cocktail menus of virtually all subsequent Tiki bars. The menus from his restaurants could list dozens of different tropical drinks. As was the case with Don the Beachcomber, rum was the hallmark ingredient in most of his cocktails, but Vic is also credited with creating the "Eastern Sour", which employed less common (for Tiki drinks) rye whiskey, and another drink using even more rarely used tequila (the "Mexican El Diablo").


title: Trader Vic's

text: At times the company had its headquarters in several locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Corte Madera and San Rafael.


title: Trader Vic's

text: According to the Trader Vic's website, the Mai-Tai was invented by "Trader Vic" Bergeron in 1944 in Oakland, CA.


title: Trader Vic's

text: The song "Werewolves of London," a Top 40 hit co-written by Warren Zevon and appearing on his 1978 album "Excitable Boy", contains the line "I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's." The Trader Vic's in London opened in 1963.


title: Trader Vic's

text: The restaurant is also referenced by Bill Murray's character, Frank Cross, to John Forsythe's character, Lew Hayward, in the 1988 movie "Scrooged".


title: Trader Vic's

text: In the film "Frost/Nixon" the character of David Frost orders takeout from Trader Vic's while staying in The Beverly Hilton, which formerly had a Trader Vic's location inside the hotel. The character orders a cheeseburger.


title: Trader Vic's

text: In the New York Times bestseller and 2012 100 Notable Books, "Beautiful Ruins", by Jess Walter, Trader Vic's in Seattle Washington is the setting of a scene between two characters in September 1967. In Chapter 16, "After the Fall" a couple meet at Trader Vic's and one walks "into a burst of warm air and bamboo, tiki and totem, dugout canoe hung from the ceiling."


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: "Thirty Days Hath September", or "Thirty Days Has September", is a traditional verse mnemonic used to remember the number of days in the months of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It arose as an oral tradition and exists in many variants. It is currently earliest attested in English, but was and remains common throughout Europe as well.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: The irregularity of the lengths of the months descends from the Roman calendar, which came to be adopted throughout Europe and then worldwide. The months of Rome's original lunar calendar would have varied between 29 and 30 days, depending on observations of the phases of the moon. Reforms credited to Romulus and Numa established a set year of twelve fixed months. Possibly under the influence of the Pythagoreans in southern Italy, Rome considered odd numbers more lucky and set the lengths of the new months to 29 and 31 days, apart from the last month February and the intercalary month Mercedonius. Its imperfect system and political manipulation of intercalation caused it to slip greatly out of alignment with the solar year, which was known to consist of ¼ of 1461 days (rather than 1460 days) by the time of Meton in the 5thcenturyBC. Rather than adopt a new system like the Egyptian calendar, which had 12 months of 30 days each and a set, annual intercalary month of 5 days, Caesar aimed for his 46BC reform to maintain as much continuity as possible with the old calendar. Ultimately, Mercedonius was removed, the four existing 31-day months were maintained, February was left unchanged apart from leap years, and the needed additional ten days of the year were added to the 29-day months to make them either 30 or 31 days long.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: By the Renaissance, the irregularity of the resulting system had inspired Latin verses to remember the order of long and short months. The first known published form appeared in a 1488 edition of the Latin verses of Anianus:


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: In 2011, the Welsh author Roger Bryan discovered an older English form of the poem written at the bottom of a page of saints' days for February within a Latin manuscript in the British Library's Harleian manuscripts. He dated the entry to 1425 ±20 years.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: The first published English version appeared in Richard Grafton's "Abridgment of the Chronicles of England" in 1562 as "A Rule to Know How Many Dayes Euery Moneth in the Yere Hath":


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: "September" and "November" have identical rhythm and rhyme and are thus poetically interchangeable. The early versions tended to favour November and as late as 1891 it was being given as the more common form of the rhyme in some parts of the United States. It is less common now and September variants have a long history as well. A manuscript copy of the verse from runs:


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: Another English version from before 1574 is found in a manuscript among the Mostyn Papers held at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: The various forms of the poem are usually considered a doggerel nursery rhyme. In the academic drama "Return from Parnassus", Sir Raderic's overenthusiastic appreciation of its poetry is of a piece with his own low level of culture and education.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: It has, however, also earned praise. It's been called "one of the most popular and oft-repeated verses in the English language" and "probably the only sixteenth-century poem most ordinary citizens know by heart". Groucho Marx claimed "My favorite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty Days Hath September...', because it actually means something." On the other hand, the unhelpfulness of such an involved mnemonic has been mocked, as in the early-20th-century parody "Thirty days hath September/ But all the rest I can't remember." It continues to be taught in schools as children learn the calendar, although others employ the knuckle mnemonic instead.


title: Thirty Days Hath September

text: "Thirty Days Hath September" is also occasionally parodied or referenced in wider culture, such as the 1960 Burma-Shave jingle "Thirty days/ Hath September/ April/ June and the/ Speed offender".


title: International Talk Like a Pirate Day

text: International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.


title: International Talk Like a Pirate Day

text: The holiday resulted from a sports injury. During a racquetball game between Summers and Baur, one of them, in pain, said, "Aaarrr!" and the idea was born. The game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of the Normandy landings, they chose Summers' ex-wife's birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember.


title: International Talk Like a Pirate Day

text: At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002. Barry liked the idea and promoted the day, and later appeared in a cameo in their ""Drunken Sailor" Sing Along A-Go-Go" video. Michigan filk musician Tom Smith wrote the original "Talk Like a Pirate Day" song in 2003.


title: International Talk Like a Pirate Day

text: Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated with hidden easter egg features in many games and websites, with Facebook introducing a pirate-translated version of its website on Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008 and publisher O'Reilly discounting books on the R programming language. In September 2014, Reddit added a pirate theme to their website.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Soon after his accession, Artaxerxes II faced opposition from his younger brother Cyrus the Younger, who assembled an army composing of troops from his Lydian and Ionian satrapies as well as Greek mercenaries in his bid for the throne. The forces of the brothers clashed at Cunaxa in 401 BC, which resulted in the defeat and death of Cyrus. Following this, Artaxerxes II had to contend with several other revolts; a revolt by Evagoras I () in Cyprus between 391–380 BC, by the Phoenicians in , and most importantly, the revolts by the western satraps (known as the Great Satraps' Revolt) in the 360s and 350s BC, led by distinguished figures such as Datames, Ariobarzanes, and Autophradates.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The given name of Artaxerxes II was, as rendered in Greek, Arses (; Babylonian: "Aršu"), derived from the Old Persian "*Ṛšā-" ("man", "hero"). He was also widely known by the hypocorism , which is attested in several Greek forms including (Plutarch), and ("Persica"). From "Arsaces" also derives the name of the Arsacid dynasty, which ruled the Parthian Empire and claimed descent from Artaxerxes II himself.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Greek authors gave Artaxerxes II the epithet "Mnemon" (; ), meaning "remembering" or "having a good memory."


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The life and reign of Artaxerxes II is mostly attested in classical Greek sources, which generally focuses on the history of the western front. However, due to Artaxerxes II's younger brother Cyrus the Younger recruiting many Greeks during his rebellion against his brother, the reign of Artaxerxes II is well documented until Cyrus' death at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC. Following that, detailed information on the rest of Artaxerxes II's reign become much more sparse.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Plutarch, when writing his "Life of Artaxerxes II", used Ctesias, Dinon, Xenophon and a few others as references. The work is the only biography of a Achaemenid king. According to the modern historian Carsten Binder, Plutarch's work is "eloquent but hardly reliable source of information" and that it "should be treated with the greatest caution".


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Arses was the eldest son of Darius II, who ruled the Persian Achaemenid Empire from 424 to 405/4 BC. His mother was Parysatis, a half-sister of Darius II. His age at death is variously given as 86 (Lucian) and 94 (Dinon) years, which would place his birth around 453 or 445 BC. Briant simply notes that Arses was born before the his father's accession in 424, while another author states that he was "at least in his late seventies in the early 360s". Darius II and Parysatis had thirteen children, most of whom died prematurely. Thus the only known full siblings of Arsaces were his younger brothers Cyrus, Ostanes, Oxathres, and an older sister, Amestris.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: With the exception of Arsaces and Cyrus, not much is known about the children of Darius II and Parysatis. Cyrus was most likely born in 424/423 BC, just after the accession of Darius II. In 408 BC, at the age of 15 or 16, Cyrus was appointed the satrap of Lydia, Greater Phrygia, and Cappadocia. He also succeeded Tissaphernes as the commander-in-chief of the Persian force stationed at Castolus, east of the city of Sardis. Cyrus was given the title of "karanos" (Old Iranian: "*Karana"), which greatly expanded his authority both politically and militarily, and allowed him to become largely autonomous.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Before his accession, Arsaces married Stateira, the daughter of the Persian nobleman Hydarnes, who was descended from Hydarnes, one of the seven Persian conspirators who overthrew the Pseudo-Smerdis. The marriage was part of a political alliance which Darius had sought during his early reign, due facing opposition against his rule. Amestris was also married to Hydarnes' son Teritoukhmes, while Hydarnes was appointed the satrap of Hyrcania.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: When Darius II was on his deathbed, Arsaces was by his side. According to Xenophon, Darius II summoned Cyrus, who arrived with Tissaphernes and 300 Greek hoplites. Plutarch, however, reports that it was Parysatis who summoned Cyrus, as she favoured him over Arsaces. He further adds that she attempted to convince Darius II to choose Cyrus as his heir, as the position was still vacant. Modern historians question Plutarch's account, and state that Arsaces must have already been chosen as heir previously, probably several years earlier.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: During the coronation of Arsaces at the southern capital of Pasargadae, Cyrus allegedly attempted to have his brother assassinated. The plan was exposed by Tissaphernes, but Cyrus was spared following the intervention of Parysatis and sent back to Asia Minor. The authenticity of this event is deemed uncertain by modern historians. According to Binder, the transition of power between Darius II and Arsaces was seemingly peaceful. During his investiture, Arsaces adopted the throne name of Artaxerxes.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Tissaphernes noted that Cyrus the Younger's claims to be on a military expedition to attack the Pisidians had many flaws that led him to believe that Cyrus was planning to revolt. These claims became realized when Cyrus began to seek political support for his campaign. Cyrus found support with Sparta, who sent soldiers to aid the campaign against Artaxerxes II. Notably, Cyrus found support with a Persian kingdom of Cilicia, who contributed to the effort through funds. During this time, due to Tissaphernes' reports, Artaxerxes II began to build up a force to contend with his younger brother's revolt.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: By the time of Darius II's death, Cyrus had already been successful in defeating the Syrians and Cilicians and was commanding a large army made up of his initial supporters plus those who had joined him in Phrygia and beyond. Upon hearing of his father's death, Cyrus the Younger declared his claim to the throne, based on the argument that he was born to Darius and Parysatis after Darius had ascended to the throne, while Artaxerxes was born prior to Darius II's gaining the throne.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Artaxerxes II initially wanted to resolve the conflict peacefully, but the negotiations fell through. Cyrus also ran into issues with the locals, who were loyal to Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes defended his position against his brother Cyrus the Younger, who with the aid of a large army of Greek mercenaries called the "Ten Thousand", attempted to usurp the throne. Though Cyrus' mixed army fought to a tactical victory at the Battle of Cunaxa in Babylon (401 BC), Cyrus himself was killed in the exchange by Mithridates, rendering his victory irrelevant. Greek historian Xenophon, himself one of the leaders of the Greek troops, would later recount this battle in the "Anabasis", focusing on the struggle of the now-stranded Greek mercenaries to return home.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Artaxerxes became involved in a war with Persia's erstwhile allies, the Spartans, during the Corinthian War (395-387 BC). The Spartans under their king Agesilaus II had started by invading Asia Minor in 396–395 BC. To redirect the Spartans' attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes subsidized their enemies through his envoy Timocrates of Rhodes; in particular, the Athenians, Thebans, and Corinthians received massives subsidies. Tens of thousands of darics, the main currency in Achaemenid coinage, were used to bribe the Greek states to start a war against Sparta. These subsidies helped to engage the Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War. According to Plutarch, Agesilaus said upon leaving Asia Minor, "I have been driven out by 10,000 Persian archers", a reference to "Archers" ("Toxotai") the Greek nickname for the darics from their obverse design, because that much money had been paid to politicians in Athens and Thebes to start a war against Sparta.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Achaemenids, allied with Athens, managed to utterly destroy the Spartan fleet at the Battle of Cnidus (394 BC). After that, the Achaemenid satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, Pharnabazus II, together with former Athenian admiral Conon, raided the coasts of Peloponnesia, putting increased pressure on the Spartans. This encouraged the resurgence of Athens, which started to bring back under her control the Greek cities of Asia Minor, thus worrying Artaxerxes II that his Athenian allies were becoming too powerful.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: In 386 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the Treaty of Antalcidas, he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians, while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland. In 385 BC, he campaigned against the Cadusians.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes had more trouble with the Egyptians, who had successfully revolted against him at the beginning of his reign. An attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC under the command of Pharnabazus, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years, the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer Phoenicia.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: In 377 BC, Pharnabazus was reassigned by Artaxerxes II to help command a military expedition into rebellious Egypt, having proven his ability against the Spartans.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: After four years of preparations in the Levant, Pharnabazus gathered an expeditionary force of 200,000 Persian troops, 300 triremes, 200 galleys, and 12,000 Greeks under Iphicrates. The Achaemenid Empire had also been applying pressure on Athens to recall the Greek general Chabrias, who was in the service of the Egyptians, but in vain. The Egyptian ruler Nectanebo I was thus supported by Athenian General Chabrias and his mercenaries.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Achaemenid force landed in Egypt with the Athenian general Iphicrates near Mendes in 373 BC. The expedition force was too slow, giving time to the Egyptians to strengthen defenses. Pharnabazus and Iphicrates appeared before Pelusium, but retired without attacking it, Nectanebo I, king of Egypt, having added to its former defences by laying the neighboring lands under water, and blocking up the navigable channels of the Nile by embankments. (Diodorus Siculus xv. 42; Cornelius Nepos, "Iphicrates" c. 5.) Fortifications on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile ordered by Nectanebo forced the enemy fleet to seek another way to sail up the Nile. Eventually the fleet managed to find its way up the less-defended Mendesian branch. At this point, the mutual distrust that had arisen between Iphicrates and Pharnabazus prevented the enemy from reaching Memphis. Then, the annual Nile flood and the Egyptian defenders' resolve to defend their territory turned what had initially appeared as certain defeat for Nectanebo I and his troops into a complete victory.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: After several weeks, the Persians and their Greek mercenaries under Iphicrates had to re-embark. The expedition against Egypt had failed. It was the end of the career of Pharnabazus, who was now over 70 years old. Pharnabazus was replaced by Datames to lead a second expedition to Egypt, but he failed and then started the "Satraps' Revolt" against the Great King.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Achaemenid defeat in Egypt led to unrest among the Achaemenid nobility. From 372 BC, many western satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire started to rebel against Artaxerxes II, in the Great Satraps' Revolt, starting with the powerful satrap Datames. Following the failure of Pharnabazus II in Egypt, Datames had been entrusted by the Persian king with the chief command of a force designed for the recovery of Egypt, but the machinations of his enemies at the Persian court, and the risks to which he was in consequence exposed, induced him to change his plan, and throw off his allegiance to the king. He withdrew with the troops under his command into Cappadocia, and made common cause with the other satraps who were revolting from Persia.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Pharaoh Nectanebo provided financial support to the rebelling satraps and re-established ties with both Sparta and Athens. Artaxerxes II finally quashed the revolt of the satraps by 362 BC.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Artaxerxes again attempted to mediate in conflicts between the Greek city-states at the time of the Theban hegemony, especially the Theban–Spartan War. He sent Philiscus of Abydos, a hyparch (vice-regent) and military commander of the Achaemenid satrap Ariobarzanes, to Delphi in order to help the Greek negotiate peace. The objective of Philicus of Abydos was such to help broker a Common Peace between the Greek belligerents reunited at Delphi. The negotiation collapsed when Thebes refused to return Messenia to the Spartans.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Before returning to Abydos, Philicus used Achaemenid funds to finance an army for the Spartans, suggesting that he was acting in support of the Spartans from the beginning. With the Achaemenid financing of a new army, Sparta was able to continue the war. Among the mercenaries whom he had recruited, Philiscus gave 2,000 to the Spartans. He also probably provided funds to the Athenians and promised them, on behalf of the King, to help them recover the Chersonese militarily. Both Philiscus and Ariobarzanes were made citizens of Athens, a remarkable honor suggesting important services rendered to the city-state.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: During autumn of 367 BCE, first the Spartans, soon followed by the Athenians, the Arcadians, the Argives, the Eleans, the Thebans, and other Greek city-states, sent envoys to Susa in attempts to obtain the support of Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II in the Greek conflict. The Achaemenid king proposed a new peace treaty, this time highly tilted in favour of Thebes, which required Messenia to remain independent and that the Athenian fleet to be dismantled. This Peace proposal was rejected by most Greek parties except Thebes.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Sparta and Athens, dissatisfied with the Persian king's support of Thebes, decided to provide careful military support to the opponents of the Achaemenid king. Athens and Sparta provided support for the revolted satraps, in particular Ariobarzanes. Sparta sent a force to Ariobarzanes under an aging Agesilaus II, while Athens sent a force under Timotheus, which was however diverted when it became obvious that Ariobarzanes had entered frontal conflict with the Achaemenid king. An Athenian mercenary force under Chabrias was also sent to the Egyptian Pharao Tachos, who was also fighting against the Achaemenid king.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Much of Artaxerxes' wealth was spent on building projects. He restored the Palace of Darius I at Susa, and also the fortifications; including a strong redoubt at the south-east corner of the enclosure and gave Ecbatana a new apadana and sculptures.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The tomb of Artaxerxes II is located at Persepolis, and was built on the model of his predecessors at Naqsh-e Rustam. On the upper register of the tomb appear reliefs of the Emperor, supported by the soldiers of all ethnicities of the Empire. On the lintel over each figure appears a trilingual inscription describing each ethnicity. These are known collectively as "Inscription A2Pa".


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Since the reign of Darius the Great (), Achaemenid inscriptions make mention of unnamed gods alongside Ahura Mazda, who was considered the supreme god of the Zoroastrian pantheon by the royal family. It was first under Artaxerxes II that the identities of these gods were uncovered. In a trilingual inscription at Susa, he invokes the deities Anahita and Mithra alongside Ahura Mazda.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Artaxerxes II was thus the first known Achaemenid king to recognize Anahita, who was the divinity of "the Waters" and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. He promoted the worship of Anahita, erecting temples and statues of the goddess across the empire. This included the cities of Ecbatana, Susa, and Babylon.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The temple of Anahita in Istakhr was also most likely founded by Artaxerxes II. At the start of the 3rd century AD, the temple was repaired and adorned by the Persian Sasanian family, who acted as the hereditary caretakers of the temple.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Persian Empire under Artaxerxes II was viewed as a political power that had many unfortunate complications, such as the many wars with Greece. One aspect of his legacy which would have great influence upon his successors was his conflict with Cyrus the Younger. This conflict was remembered due to the power vacuum that followed, allowing the Satrap Revolt and the rebellion of Egypt. Artaxerxes II was also remembered for his works to restore monuments of his predecessors. His largest restoration was that of the Palace of Darius in Susa. He would also be remembered for his tomb in Persepolis.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The image of Artaxerxes from contemporary foreign sources depicts him in a similar light to his image among those in the Achaemenid Empire. The Greek portrayal highlights his long rule with many conflicts and shortcomings of Artaxerxes II in his ability to control his empire. Greek sources also focus on his problems in his court with his harem and eunuchs. Greek sources portray Artaxerxes II as sad in his reign.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: The Jewish high priest Johanan is mentioned in the Elephantine papyri dated to 407 BC, i.e., during Darius II's reign, and is also mentioned in Ezra 10:6 after the reign of Darius (Ezra 6:1) and during the rule of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:1), thereby supporting the chronological sequence.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Amongst others, it has been suggested that Artaxerxes II was the Ahasuerus mentioned in the Book of Esther. Plutarch in his "Lives" (AD 75) records alternative names "Oarses" and "Arsicas" for Artaxerxes II Mnemon given by Deinon (c. 360–340 BC) and Ctesias (Artexerxes II's physician) respectively. These derive from the Persian name "Khshayarsha" as do "Ahasuerus" ("(Arta)Xerxes") and the hypocoristicon "Arshu" for Artaxerxes II found on a contemporary inscription ("LBAT" 162). These sources thus arguably identify Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II in light of the names used in the Hebrew and Greek sources and accords with the contextual information from Pseudo-Hecataeus and Berossus as well as agreeing with Al-Tabari and Masudi's placement of events. The 13th century Syriac historian Bar-Hebraeus in his "Chronography", also identifies Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II citing the sixth century AD historian John of Ephesus.


title: Artaxerxes II

text: Artaxerxes II is reported to have had a number of wives. His main wife was Stateira, until she was poisoned by Artaxerxes' mother Parysatis in about 400 BC. Another chief wife was a Greek woman of Phocaea named Aspasia. Artaxerxes II is said to have more than 115 sons from 350 wives.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: Linda Frances Elide Lusardi (born 18 September 1958) is an English actress, television presenter and former glamour model.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: Lusardi was born in Wood Green, London to Lilian (née Glassman, b. 1933) and Nello Lusardi (1930–2017). Her mother was born in Edmonton, Middlesex and her father in Hackney, East London to Italian parents. Lusardi grew up in Palmers Green. In 1976, at the age of 18, she began appearing as a Page 3 girl in "The Sun" and continued to appear until 1988. She also appeared nude in the men's magazines "Mayfair" in February 1977 and "Fiesta" in November 1977.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: As an actress, Lusardi has appeared in the drama series "The Bill" playing the girlfriend of corrupt officer DS Don Beech and also in "Hollyoaks" and "Brookside". On 12 February 2007, she joined the cast of "Emmerdale" as Carrie Nicholls, an ex-girlfriend of Tom King and mother of his secret child, Scarlett. She left the programme after a year.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: Lusardi has appeared in movies including "Snappers", "The Zero Imperative", "Oh Minnie", "Consuming Passions" and "".


title: Linda Lusardi

text: Lusardi has starred as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion" at the Malvern Festival and toured in "Happy as a Sandbag", "Funny Peculiar", "Bedside Manners", "Not Now, Darling", "Rock with Laughter", "No Sex Please, We're British", and "Doctor on the Boil". Lusardi took her own show to the British Forces in Belize, the Falklands and Northern Ireland.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: She is a supporter of UK pantomime and often stars with her husband Sam Kane each Christmas at major theatres in the UK. Recent venues have been Woking, Southend-on-Sea, Plymouth, and Llandudno. Lusardi has starred in over 25 pantomimes.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: Lusardi appeared in two series of "A Kind of Magic", as assistant to Wayne Dobson on ITV, and a season of "Loose Women "in 2002. She later returned in 2014 to 2015 and made a few guest panellist appearances. She regularly presented "Wish You Were Here...?", Miss Northern Ireland, chat show "It's Bizarre", Film Review and No Smoking on ITV. Lusardi took part in the reality show "The Games" in 2004, ITV daytime programme "Have I Been Here Before?" and BBC One's "Hole in the Wall" in 2009. She also sells "Lusardi My Miracle", a range of skin-care products, on shopping television channel Ideal World.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: In 1992, she appeared in the "Dead Ringer" observation round of "The Krypton Factor" and appeared in a special edition of "Bullseye" presented by Jim Bowen. Lusardi appeared on "Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway" on ITV and in the Royal Variety Performance, as well as "Celebrity Eggheads" and "Pointless Celebrities" on the BBC. She also appeared briefly as herself in the BBC sitcom "Detectorists".


title: Linda Lusardi

text: In January 2008, Lusardi joined ITV's "Dancing on Ice", finishing in sixth place. Her professional skating partner was Daniel Whiston, who temporarily moved into her family home to make training more convenient. Lusardi had to catch up with her fellow skaters after falling and breaking a bone in her foot during her first hour on the ice. She also won the Channel 4 show "Celebrity Come Dine With Me" in 2008. In the show, she was voted the best dinner host by her fellow contestants Abi Titmuss, Rodney Marsh, Lesley Joseph and Paul Ross. Lusardi participated in the 2011 series of "Celebrity Masterchef", where she reached the final five. In December 2020, she took part in The Real Full Monty on Ice for charity.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: During the 1980s, Lusardi married a builder named Terry Bailey and they were often featured in the "News of the World"'s Sunday supplement magazine, "Sunday". They divorced in 1996. In 1998, Lusardi married actor Samuel Kane and they have two children, son Jack and daughter Lucy. She is patron of two charities, the Willow Foundation and the Rhys Daniels Trust.


title: Linda Lusardi

text: In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Lusardi was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was admitted to hospital. She tweeted that she had "never felt this ill" but later made a full recovery.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: Ava Lowle Willing (September 15, 1868 – June 9, 1958) was an American socialite. She was the first wife of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV and later married Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: Ava Lowle Willing was born on September 15, 1868, in Newport, Rhode Island, to Edward Shippen Willing (1822–1906) and Alice Caroline Barton (1833–1903). She had one older sister and two older brothers: (1) Susan Ridgway Willing (1862–1940) who married on November 3, 1899, Francis Cooper Lawrence Jr. (1858–1904), they had one daughter; (2) John Rhea Barton Willing (1864–1913) he died from pneumonia unmarried with no issue; and (3) Edward Shippen Willing Jr. (1867–1873) he died at age six.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: On February 17, 1891, she married Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912), son of William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908), at her parents' mansion at 510 South Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They went on a 5-week honeymoon in Europe. The newlywed couple was given, among many lavish gifts, a furnished townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Though the marriage was tumultuous, the Astors had two children:


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: The family lived in their New York townhouse at 840 Fifth Avenue, their 2,000 acre country estate, Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York, and Beechwood, their Newport, Rhode Island, mansion. By 1896, Mrs. Ava Astor had become socially active in England. She had a country estate near the capital, Regent Lodge, Regent's Park, and a townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: In 1909, after returning from England, Ava sued Jack for divorce on November 19, and four months later on March 5, 1910, the State of New York decreed in her favor. She received a $10 million () settlement. Their son lived with his father before leaving to attend Harvard University, while Ava got custody of their seven-year-old daughter. While Vincent was in his second year at Harvard, Jack was on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, and became one of the casualties while returning from his honeymoon with his new bride, Madeleine Talmage Force. This event left young Vincent as one of the wealthiest men in the United States.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: In September 1911, Ava and her daughter moved to England. They lived in her townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London (from October–April) and her country estate, Sutton Place in Guildford, Surrey (from May–September).


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: When World War I broke out, Ava became involved with the American Women's War Relief Fund and she served as the group's vice-president.


title: Ava Lowle Willing

text: On June 3, 1919, Ava married Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale at St Mary's, Bryanston Square in London and she was known as Lady Ribblesdale. Lister died six years later on October 21, 1925, at their townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London. They had no children together and after Baron Ribblesdale's death, she did not remarry. He was buried in the Lister vault at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard in Gisburn, Lancashire.