title: Basella alba

text: Basella alba is an edible perennial vine in the family Basellaceae. It is found in tropical Asia and Africa where it is widely used as a leaf vegetable. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and New Guinea. It is naturalized in China, tropical Africa, Brazil, Belize, Colombia, Philippines, the West Indies, Fiji and French Polynesia.


title: Basella alba

text: "Basella alba" is known by common names including Malabar spinach, vine spinach, Ceylon spinach and Indian spinach.


title: Basella alba

text: "Basella alba" is a fast-growing, soft-stemmed vine, reaching in length. Its thick, semi-succulent, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavour and mucilaginous texture. There are two varieties - green and red. The stem of the "Basella alba" is green with green leaves and the stem of the cultivar "Basella alba" 'Rubra' is reddish-purple; the leaves form green and as the plant reaches maturity, older leaves will develop a purple pigment starting at the base of the leaf and work towards the end. The stem when crushed usually emits a strong scent. Malabar spinach can be found at many Asian supermarkets, as well as farmers' markets.


title: Basella alba

text: "Basella alba" grows well under full sunlight in hot, humid climates, and in areas lower than above sea level. If grown in acceptable conditions, its peak-season growth can accelerate remarkably. Growth is slower in cooler temperatures; its growth will not be vigorous if daytime temperatures fall at or below 10-15°C (approx. 50-60°F), resulting in low yields. Given its natural ancestry of the Indian subcontinent, Malabar spinach is a true tropical plant, and has a natural preference for daytime temperatures between 21°-32°C (approx. 70°-90°F). It will even display remarkable growth around 37°C (approx. 100°F), though care must be taken to avoid sunburn with higher temperatures, by providing shade cloth, screening, or umbrella cover in summer. Flowering is induced during the short-day months of the year. It grows best in well-drained and loamy soils, that are rich in organic matter, with pH ranging from 5.5 to 7.0, but can tolerate slightly lower or higher if adjustments cannot be made.


title: Basella alba

text: The edible leaves are 93% water, 3% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and contain negligible fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, the leaves supply 19 calories of food energy, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value) of vitamins A and C, folate, and manganese, with moderate levels of B vitamins and several dietary minerals (table).


title: Basella alba

text: In Sri Lanka, it is used to make different kinds of curries specially with dal. In the Philippines, the leaves of this vegetable are one of the main ingredients in an all vegetable dish called utan served over rice. It is usually cooked with sardines, onions, garlic, and parsley. In Mangalorean Tuluva cuisine, a coconut based gravy called gassi is paired with the Basella plant, making a delicacy called Basale gassi to be eaten with rice dumplings called pundi soaked overnight in the gravy, or with red rice. Some variations have tiny prawns, clams, horsegram or dried fish in the gravy.


title: Basella alba

text: In Bengali cuisine, it is widely used both in a vegetable dish, cooked with red pumpkin, and in non-vegetarian dishes, cooked with the bones of the Ilish fish and may also be cooked with shrimp. In Odia cuisine, it is cooked with mustard paste to make ' poi saaga rai'. In Andhra Pradesh, a southern state in India, a curry of Basella and yam is made. In Gujarat, fresh big and tender leaves are washed, dipped in besan mix and deep-fried to make crispy pakodas called "poi na bhajia".


title: Basella alba

text: The vegetable is used in Chinese cuisine. It has many names including flowing water vegetable. It is often used in stir-frys and soups. In Vietnam, where it is called "mồng tơi", it is cooked with shrimp, crab meat, luffa and jute to make soup. In Africa, the mucilaginous cooked shoots are most commonly used.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Sergi Samper Montaña (born 20 January 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Japanese club Vissel Kobe as a defensive midfielder.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Formed at Barcelona from the age of six, he played mainly in the reserve team and made 13 first-team appearances, of which only one in La Liga, where he played 22 further games for Granada and Las Palmas. In 2019 he moved to Vissel Kobe, playing over 100 games and winning the Emperor's Cup in his first year.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Samper joined FC Barcelona's youth setup in 2001 at age 6, after a successful trial. On 9 May 2013, he signed a four-year professional contract.


title: Sergi Samper

text: On 10 June 2013, Samper was promoted to the reserves who competed in Segunda División. He made his professional debut on 17 August in a 2–1 away defeat against CD Mirandés, appearing in a further 39 matches during the season to help to a third-place finish.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Samper made his first-team debut on 17 September 2014, starting in a 1–0 home victory over APOEL FC in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League; this made him the first player to rise through all of the ranks from the age of six. His first match in La Liga took place the following 12 March, when he came on as a 59th-minute substitute for Andrés Iniesta in the 6–0 home rout of Getafe CF.


title: Sergi Samper

text: In July 2016, Samper extended his contract until 2019 with a one-year further option and a buyout clause of €50 million, and in the following month he joined Granada CF on a season-long loan. After the Andalusians relegation, he was not issued a squad number in August 2017 by Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde and was sent to UD Las Palmas on another temporary deal. The spell was cut short in January 2019 after a fibula fracture and left-ankle internal ligament break.


title: Sergi Samper

text: On 4 March 2019, Samper terminated his contract with Barcelona and left the Camp Nou after 18 years. Three days later, he joined J1 League club Vissel Kobe on a four-year contract.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Playing alongside former Barcelona players Iniesta and David Villa, Samper won the Emperor's Cup in his first year in Japan, but was absent from the final victory over Kashima Antlers. The following 8 February he started in the Super Cup, a penalty shootout win over Yokohama F. Marinos after a 3–3 draw.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Samper won his first cap for the Spain under-21 team on 12 November 2014 at the age of 19, playing the entire 1–4 friendly home loss to Belgium.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Samper's older brother Jordi, is a professional tennis player. He played the game himself, until choosing football at six.


title: Sergi Samper

text: Samper has type 1 diabetes, and befriended Borja Mayoral, who shares his condition, in the Spanish youth teams.


title: Ninnindale

text: Ninnindale () is an 2014 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee, a popular Telugu cinema film director making his debut in Kannada cinema. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Erica Fernandes.


title: Ninnindale

text: The film is produced by Vijay Kirgandur under the banner of Hombale Films. The soundtrack and original score is composed by Mani Sharma and the cinematography is by P.G.Vindha. The film's title is inspired by the track called "Ninnindale" from Puneeth Rajkumar's earlier venture, "Milana".


title: Ninnindale

text: Vicky Venkatesh is from a rich Indian family based in New York. He is an adventurous person and is having fun with his friends like a perfect youth would do. Pramila is new to New York. She gets humiliated at an interview being an Indian. She gets cheered up by Vicky and his friends. She also becomes their squad member and each of them motivates the other.Pramila and Vicky goes trecking and sky diving together. When their adventure ended, Vicky embraced Pramila and the photos were published in local magazines. Pramila felt a strange bond towards Vicky.


title: Ninnindale

text: One night when Vicky and Pramila were attacked by some goons, she confesses her love to Vicky. But Vicky refuses her proposal and promises to find her a suitable groom. There starts a roller coaster ride of meeting and refusing grooms. One of them embarrasses Pramila by their photograph on magazines. Pramila becomes sure that Vicky would eventually accept her. Akash, Pramila's collague arrives in NY where he starts to woo Pramila. It is revealed that Vicky had learnt about Akash and called him to NY to woo Pramila. Pramila learns about this, which breaks all her hope. She feels devastated and starts to ignore Vicky.


title: Ninnindale

text: Vicky feels the void left by Pramila and feels lonely. His friend Nandu tells him that she understood the love of Pramila and wants him to accept her proposal. Vicky meets Pramila, but she gets hit by a car when she crossed the road. At the hospital, Vicky and Pramila confess their love. After their marriage Vicky comments that he would never kiss her again as his first kiss punished him with marriage. Vicky started to work in his family business now.


title: Ninnindale

text: Telugu film director, Jayanth C. Paranjee who was brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka, expressed his intent in making a Kannada film with a script that he had for a long time and held very close to heart. The film script being a fun romantic story of new generation, is set for an extensive shooting at the USA thus making Puneeth's first long time schedule shot at a foreign locale. The launch of the film was held on 12 August 2013.


title: Ninnindale

text: Initially actress Kriti Kharbanda was set to play the female lead, however it was later reported that the former Miss India finalist, Erica Fernandes was confirmed for the role. Television actress Nandini Vittal has given voice over for Erica Fernandes in this movie. Telugu actors Brahmanandam and Sonia Deepti played key roles. Thilak Shekar played a cop from the New York Police Department (NYPD).


title: Ninnindale

text: Audio was launched on 31 December 2013 in presence of his brother Shivrajkumar. Initially it was learnt that Mahesh Babu is going to launching the audio of Ninnindale. Later he didn't attend the function due to unknown reasons. But Mahesh Babu wished the Ninnindale team and spoke about his relation with Rajkumar's family through. The film marks the debut of Telugu director Jayanth C. Paranjee into Kannada. Producer Vijay Kumar is happy with the first rush of the film and wants the audio release to make a grand statement.


title: Ninnindale

text: Shyam Prasad S of "Bangalore Mirror" scored the film at 2.5 out of 5 stars and says "The audience will also miss Harikrishna and Arjun Janya. Except for the lead actors, the rest of them are wasted. Sadhu Kokila does not evoke a single laughter while Brahmanandam’s debut in Kannada is forgettable. If it was not for the presence of Puneeth and his huge fan base, Ninnindale would’ve been a disaster." Shyam Prasad S of "The Times of India" scored the film at 3 out of 5 stars and says "Puneeth Rajkumar’s fans may not want to miss him in an adventurous avatar. Erica Fernandes is impressive as the girl next door. But PG Vinda’s outstanding cinematography is the high point of the film. Mani Sharma’s music will leave you humming."Sify wrote "Camera work by P.G.Vindha is brilliant and shows the beauty of New York in a very standard mode. Sky diving and breathtaking aerial stunts form the highlight of the movie. The expected movie has lived up to its expectations and has been welcomed grandly by the audience."


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset County is a county located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 345,361, an increase of 21,917 (6.8%) from the 323,444 counted at the 2010 U.S Census, making it the 13th most populous of the state's 21 counties. Somerset County constitutes part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville. The most populous place in the county was Franklin Township, with 62,300 residents at the time of the 2010 Census, while Hillsborough Township, with , covered the largest total area of any municipality.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In 2015, Somerset County had a per capita personal income of $86,468, the second highest in New Jersey and ranked 25th of 3,113 counties in the United States. Somerset County, as of the 2000 Census, was the seventh wealthiest county in the United States by median household income at $76,933 (third in New Jersey behind Hunterdon County at $79,888 and Morris County at $77,340), fourth in median family income at $90,655 (second in New Jersey behind Hunterdon County at $91,050) and ranked seventh by per capita income at $37,970 (highest in New Jersey). The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 11th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States (and the highest in New Jersey) as of 2009.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In 2012, 49.8 percent of Somerset County residents were college graduates, the highest percentage in the state. Somerset County was recently ranked number 3 of 21 NJ counties as one of the healthiest counties in New Jersey, according to an annual report by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. Somerset County was created on May 14, 1688, from portions of Middlesex County. The county is located in the Central Jersey region and encompasses much of the Raritan Valley.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset County is one of America's oldest counties, and is named after the English county of Somerset.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The area was first settled in 1681, in the vicinity of Bound Brook, and the county was established by charter on May 22, 1688. Most of the early residents were Dutch. General George Washington and his troops marched through the county on several occasions and slept in many of the homes located throughout the area. Somerset County also played an important part during both World War I and World War II with weapons depots and the manufacturing of the army's woolen blankets. For much of its history, Somerset County was primarily an agricultural county. In the late 19th century, the Somerset Hills area of Somerset County became a popular country home for wealthy industrialists. Into the 21st century, the area is still the home of wealthy businessmen.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In 1917, Somerset County, in cooperation with Rutgers University, hired its first agricultural agent to connect local farmers with expert advice. The Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Somerset County, located in Bridgewater, serves residents in the areas of agriculture and natural resources, 4-H youth development and family and community health sciences.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In the 1960s, townships that were once exclusively agricultural were quickly transformed into suburban communities. Examples include Bridgewater Township and the Watchung Hills communities of Watchung, Green Brook and Warren Township. This growth was aided by the development of the county's very strong pharmaceutical and technology presence. Warren Township used to be considered "the greenest place in New Jersey." More recently, there has been an influx of New York City commuters who use NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line and Gladstone Branch or use Interstate 78.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In 1996, Nicholas L. Bissell Jr., then county prosecutor, was charged with embezzlement, tax fraud, and abuse of power. He fled to Laughlin, Nevada, near Las Vegas, and took his own life when the federal authorities attempted to arrest him.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: According to the 2010 Census, the county had a total area of , including of land (99.0%) and of water (1.0%).


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The high point is on Mine Mountain in Bernardsville, at approximately above sea level. The lowest point is just above sea level on the Raritan River at the Middlesex County line.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Somerville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1984 and a record high of was recorded in August 1955. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July. The county has a humid continental climate which is hot-summer ("Dfa") except on Mine Mountain west of Bernardsville where it is warm-summer ("Dfb").


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: As of the Census of 2020, the county's had 345,361 people, 122,606 households, and 88,540 families. The population density was . There were 131,822 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 61.0% White, 10.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 18.5% Asian, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.2% of the population.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Of the 122,606 households, of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present and 27.8% were non-families, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.16.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: About 21.5% of the population was under age 18, 8.4% was from age 18 to 24, 36.3% was from age 15 to 44, and 16.2% was age 65 or older. The median age was 42.2 years. The gender makeup was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The median household income was $111,587, and the median family income was $135,129. About 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset County parks are under the administration of the Somerset County Parks Commission. General parks are Natirar, Duke Island Park, Lord Stirling Park (part of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge), Colonial Park, North Branch Park, Skillman Park, East County Park and a park in development called Raritan River Greenway. Leonard J. Buck Garden is a botanical garden of the county. In addition, the Commission manages natural parks such as the Washington Valley Park (with biking and hiking trails) and the Sourland Mountain Preserve (hiking and mountain biking trails).


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The southeastern portion of Somerset County in Franklin Township also includes the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, which provides hiking, biking and boating.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The Parks Commission operates five public golf courses. Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, an exclusive golf club owned by Donald Trump, that he used as a Summer White House during his presidency.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The Somerset Patriots are a professional baseball team that plays at the 6,100-seat TD Bank Ballpark, located on the border of Bridgewater and Bound Brook. They played in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball until they became the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in 2021.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of County Commissioners, whose members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting held on the first Friday of January, the board selects a Director and Deputy Director from among its members. In 2016, commissioners (then known as freeholders) were paid $21,902 and the commissioner director was paid an annual salary of $22,902. The Commissioners employ a full-time County Administrator who manages the day-to-day operations of the county government. The County Administrator is Colleen Mahr. The Clerk of the County Commissioners oversees the work of their offices. Department heads are appointed in accordance with statute and by resolution of the board. Somerset County currently has approximately 1,100 full-time and 130 part-time employees in 52 divisions (including the Library System).


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: , Somerset County's County Commissioners are (with terms for director and deputy director ending every December 31st):


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Constitutional officers, elected on a countywide basis are:


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The Somerset County Prosecutor is Michael H. Robertson of the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, who was nominated by the Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie in September 2016. Somerset County is a part of Vicinage 13 of the New Jersey Superior Court (along with Hunterdon County and Warren County), which is seated at the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville; the Assignment Judge for Vicinage 15 is Thomas C. Miller.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: As of October 1, 2021, there were a total of 262,410 registered voters in Somerset County, of whom 92,921 (35.4%) were registered as Democrats, 66,455 (25.3%) were registered as Republicans and 100,367 (38.2%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 2,667 voters (1.0%) registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 67.1% were registered to vote, including 75.% of those ages 18 and over.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In the 2008, Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry the county since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and only the second since 1936. Obama won Somerset by a 6.1% margin over John McCain, with Obama carrying the state by 15.5% over McCain. Somerset's growing Democratic trend at the presidential level has largely been spurred by the rapid growth of the overwhelmingly Democratic Franklin Township in the county's southeast corner. In the 2012 presidential election, the county was carried by Barack Obama, winning 52.8% of the vote to Mitt Romney's 47.2%, a 5.6% gap that represented a 0.3% drop off for Obama from his 2008 margin of victory in the county. In 2016, the county voted as Democratic as the state, and in 2020, Joe Biden won the largest share of the vote in the county for a Democrat since 1964, as the county voted more Democratic than the state as a whole for the first time since 1912.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 56% of the vote, defeating Democrat Jon Corzine, who received around 34%. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Governor Chris Christie received 67.6% (58,981 votes) to Democrat Barbara Buono's 30.8% (26,913 votes). In the 2017 gubernatorial election, Republican Kim Guadagno received 47.9% of the vote (44,231 ballots cast) to Democrat Phil Murphy with 49.8% (45,935 votes), marking the first Democratic win in the county since 1989. In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Republican Jack Ciattarelli received 47.7% of the vote (54,264 ballots cast) to Democrat Phil Murphy's 51.5% (58,585 votes), this made Somerset, along with neighboring Hunterdon, the only county to shift to the left in this election, despite Ciattarelli representing the county in the state Senate.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Alma White College (which operated from 1921 to 1978) was a private college located in Zarephath. Beginning in 1931 the college operated WAWZ 1380 on the AM radio dial. The station continued to 1984 after the school closed. The building is now occupied by Somerset Christian College.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset Hills Learning Institute, founded in 1998 and now located in Bedminster Township, is a state-of-the-art program dedicated to educating children on the autism spectrum by utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Based on IRS data for the 2004 tax year, Somerset County taxpayers had the ninth-highest average federal income tax liability per return in the country. Average tax liability was $16,502, representing 16.8% of adjusted gross income.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The 21 municipalities in Somerset County (with 2010 Census data for population, housing units, and area) are listed below. Other unincorporated communities in the county are listed alongside their parent municipality (or municipalities, as the case may be). These areas include census-designated places (CDPs), which the United States Census Bureau created for enumeration purposes within a Township. Other communities, historical areas, unincorporated areas, and enclaves that exist within a municipality are also listed.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Somerset County is served by a number of different routes. , the county had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the local municipality, by Somerset County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Major county roads that pass through include County Route 512, County Route 514, County Route 518, County Route 523, County Route 525, County Route 527, County Route 529, County Route 531 and County Route 533.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: The only two state routes that traverse through the county are Route 27 (only in Franklin) and Route 28.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: Interstate 95 was planned to run along the "Somerset Freeway" from its proposed southern end in Hopewell Township, Mercer County to Franklin Township at I-287 in the 1960s. However, this plan was cancelled in 1983.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: NJ Transit provides train service on the Gladstone Branch and the Raritan Valley Line. Public bus transportation is provided by several transit agencies.


title: Somerset County, New Jersey

text: NJ Transit provides bus service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, as well as service to major cities in New Jersey and within Somerset County. Ridewise provides three SCOOT shuttles as well as DASH buses and CAT buses.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series and a parody of several other personifications of death. Like most Grim Reapers, he is a black-robed skeleton who usually carries a scythe. His jurisdiction is specifically the Discworld itself; he is only a part, or minion, of Azrael: the universal Death. He has been generally used by Pratchett to explore the problems of human existence, and has become more sympathetic throughout the series.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death has appeared in every Discworld novel, with the exception of "The Wee Free Men" and "Snuff", and had a possible cameo at the end of "Johnny and the Dead" (the character was not identified, but spoke in unquoted small caps as Death does in the rest of the series). The Discworld books in which Death is a leading character, starting with "Mort" in 1987, are:


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death's hollow, peculiar voice is represented in the books by unquoted ; since he is a skeleton, he has no vocal cords to speak with, and therefore his words enter a person's head with no involvement from the ears. His "voice" is often described using a morbid metaphor, such as two slabs of granite being rubbed together, or the slamming of coffin lids; these descriptions have become less frequent in later novels. In the first Discworld novel, "The Colour of Magic", as well as in "Eric", all pronouns referring to Death are capitalized; thus, for example, "he" is written as "He". This is usually reserved for the Discworld gods and is not featured in any of the other novels.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death is not invisible, however most people's brains refuse to acknowledge him for who he is, unless he insists. Under normal circumstances, only those of a magical disposition (e.g. witches and wizards), children, and cats can see him, or allow themselves to see him. Due to his eternal nature, Death can ignore such things as walls and magic spells; he exists throughout all time, so things lasting merely centuries are not as real as he is. He can adjust time with regard to himself and others near him, completing tasks very rapidly from a normal perspective. He can only go where people believe in death and can only see people who can die. In this sense, he is similar to the gods of the Discworld, in that he is powered by mortals' collective belief in him.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Wizards, witches, and significant figures such as kings have the prerogative of being collected by Death himself, rather than one of the lesser entities. Most other souls are collected by another functionary, such as the anthropomorphic personification of scrofula. Death himself must collect some minimum number of souls, worked out by a system called the "nodes", in order to keep the momentum of dying going. His selection of ordinary deaths may be based on the showiness of the death, such as a common thief being incinerated by a dragon. In addition to wizards and kings, he has shown up for numerous ordinary people, at least two dogs, at least two kittens, a swan, and a red, flower-like sea creature. These events are usually of importance within the story, so Death's appearance may simply be considered a plot device. He has also appeared in situations where characters are in mortal peril; for example, Death has appeared before Rincewind on numerous nearly-fatal occasions. Similarly, in "Thud!" Samuel Vimes has a near-death experience, which means that Death has a corresponding "near-Vimes experience", in which he appears before the stricken Vimes sitting in a deckchair reading a mystery novel.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: He is fond of cats, who can see him at all times (he seems particularly furious when he once attends to a sack of drowned kittens), and curry, the consumption of which he describes as like biting a red-hot ice cube. Being a skeleton with no digestive organs, it is not revealed how he is able to partake of food and drink. Anyone who dines with him tends to become extremely focused upon their own meal, and merely notices Death's plate being full one moment and empty the next. He occasionally smokes a pipe, with the smoke drifting out of his eye sockets. He pays for goods and services with an assortment of copper coins, many turned blue or green with age, which he says he acquired .


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death is fascinated by humanity. His interest is coupled with bafflement: it's a favorite point of Pratchett's that the habits and beliefs that are grown into instead of being rationally acquired are an essential part of being human. As Death is an outside observer, his imitations of humanity are intricate but marked by a fundamental lack of comprehension. When acting as a stand-in for the Hogfather (a figure similar to Santa Claus) he starts by greeting the children with from force of habit until reminded not to do so. He is especially intrigued by humanity's ability to complicate their own existence, and their ability to actually get up in the morning without going insane from the sheer prospect of what life entails (from his perspective).


title: Death (Discworld)

text: This fascination with humanity extends to the point of sympathy towards them, and he will often side with humans against greater threats, notably the Auditors of Reality. He has on a number of occasions bent the rules to allow a character extra life (e.g., the little girl rescued from the fire in "Reaper Man", or the Little Match Girl in "Hogfather"). Death has also indicated that he will oblige dying humans by playing a game with them for their lives, much like the personification of Death in "The Seventh Seal"; the games he offers include chess, though he consistently has trouble remembering how the knights move, and another game (referred to by Death as "Exclusive Possession" in the book, presumably based on Monopoly), which the challenger lost despite having "three streets and all the utilities". Granny Weatherwax was able to play cards against Death in a successful bid to save a child's life, Granny's hand having four queens while Death's had only four "ones". (A hand of four aces would generally beat a hand of queens in poker, but Death chose to consider them low, giving the old witch a "wink" in the process.)


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the same way that his granddaughter, Susan, has been described as ""Helpfulness Personified"" in terms of her personality, Death, by his own admission, could very well be described as 'Duty Personified' in terms of personality; in "Hogfather", in a discussion with Albert, Death comments He does not cause people to die, nor does he concern himself with their goodness or badness in life; it is simply his job to collect their souls at the appointed time.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In many ways, he epitomizes the bleakness of human existence. In "Reaper Man", in which he is rendered temporarily mortal (or at least the imagination of being mortal, since his state of being "it/death" is, as mentioned in "Discworld Noir", constant), he becomes frustrated and infuriated with the unfair inevitability of death, a theme that continues through later books. In "Soul Music" he expresses misery at the fact that he is capable of preventing deaths but is forbidden to do so; during his time as the Hogfather, he uses his new dual role to save a little match girl from dying of the cold by employing a loophole through giving her the 'gift' of a future, thus allowing him to avoid the usual complications that arise from him "breaking the rules". Despite his general lack of emotion, the Auditors of Reality are one of the few things actually capable of angering him. He also gets angry upon hearing of Rincewind: In "Eric", for example, his eyes turn red at the mention of Rincewind. Pratchett even says in "The Art of Discworld" that he has received a number of letters from terminally ill fans in which they hope that Death will resemble the Discworld incarnation (he also says that those particular letters usually cause him to spend some time staring at the wall).


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death has developed considerably since his first appearance in "The Colour of Magic". In this, he was quite a malicious character and followed Rincewind around wanting him to die after circumstances resulted in Rincewind missing his scheduled 'appointment'. At one point he even deliberately stops a character's heart, though later in the book it was shown to have been the actions of Death's "stand-in", Scrofula. By the time of "Mort" he had gained the sympathetic and humorous personality he has in later books. In later novels he has been used to examine developments in theoretical physics as, being supernatural, he is able to witness such events firsthand although, being a cat lover, he is not fond of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, believing it cruel to the cats involved.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death resides in an extra-dimensional realm called Death's Domain. His home within the domain looks like a Victorian house with a garden that is well-tended, but is predominantly in shades of black and decorated with a skull and crossbones motif. It is called "Mon Repos", (Quirmian for "my place of rest"), and is much larger on the inside, because Death has not quite mastered the art of scale. Similarly, because he does not quite understand real distance compared to perspective, the surrounding terrain is actually relatively close, but blurred to appear farther away. Death adds a large golden wheat field to the grounds after the events of "Reaper Man". There is also a tree swing, created by Death for his granddaughter Susan, which swings through the trunk of the tree.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In addition to the inside of the house being larger than the outside, there are doors that reach a height of several yards and at the same time are only a few feet tall. He has a bathroom which he never uses, with a bar of bone-white, rock-hard soap and a towel rack with hard towels attached to it. The only usable items in the bathroom are a small bar of regular soap and one normal towel, both brought there by his manservant Albert.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The plumbing of his house has greatly confused him, and in "Death's Domain" it is explained that the pipes are completely solid, as is the u-bend for the floral-decorated toilet. The towels he originally constructed are also useless; he did not realize that they had to bend, fold and be soft. In his 'bedroom' (which he never actually sleeps in), he has a violin, which he attempts to play. As with everything in his domain, he cannot create, only mimic, so he creates a racket, instead of music. He does note in "Soul Music" that the only piece he can play that could be remotely considered music is "an empty chord," and is the sound made at the end of everything to signify that no more sound will be made. This is said to greatly frustrate him.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Furthermore, Death's house is full of cats, roaming around. Moreover, he is also responsible for sending cats to Heaven as mentioned in "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" where Maurice encounters Death himself.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The initial books did not pronounce themselves about the sex of Death, although Ysabell called him 'Daddy', using the pronoun "it". In "Mort" Death's pronoun is given as "he" and "his" without the special capital as in the earlier books. In "Reaper Man", Death is unambiguously identified as a male, and in "Soul Music" and "Hogfather" Susan calls him her grandfather or "Granddad". When asked to describe Death, in the , the protagonist Rincewind hazards a guess, "Well, I suppose he's a man. You have to look at the pelvis, don't you?" In the comic strip adaptation of "Mort", Death is seen in mirrors as a black-bearded human wearing a black cloak, a look he takes when he needs to be seen by the living.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Many languages must provide a grammatical gender to each object, and 'death' is often a feminine noun. As such, translations of early novels sometimes refer to Death as a woman. This is generally changed, by the time of "Reaper Man". Also, the personification of Death varies from country to country leading to further confusion, for example the Russian personification is that of an old woman, the Czech version uses for his name a normally nonexistent masculine variant of the feminine word for death. Explanations are given in footnotes, often with a pun.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death is both the servant and a part of The Old High One known as Azrael, the Death of Universes and ruler of all deaths.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the earlier books and in "Thief of Time" Death works with War, Pestilence, and Famine, three other Horsemen of the Apocralypse. Like him they have become more human than their roles require. Death himself explains this in "Thief of Time" by saying that "form defines function." In "Thief of Time" they are reunited with Kaos, the Fifth Horseman, who had previously left before the group became famous and now works as a milkman under the name Ronnie Soak. With the exception of "Thief of Time", the other Horsemen do not generally appear in the books focused on Death.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: ""Mort"", short for Mortimer but also meaning 'death' in Quirmian (and also in French), is the title character in "Mort". He is first seen as the overly-thoughtful son of a farmer in the Octarine Grass Country near the Ramtops. Having proved himself unworthy as a scarecrow he is chosen by Death to be his apprentice. Mort's father gave his consent, mistaking Death for an undertaker. Mort is described as being very tall and skinny, with muscles like knots in string. He has a shock of bright red hair, and walks as if he is made entirely of knees.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Mort starts off at the bottom, learning to accept his position while mucking out the stables, and trying to ignore Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter. When Death feels in need of a break, Mort takes over "The Duty". Unfortunately for Mort, his feelings for a teenage princess of Sto Lat get in the way of his job and he starts off a chain reaction of events by impulsively preventing her assassination. Reluctant to tell his master about his gaffe, Mort tries various unsuccessful methods to fix the situation. After fighting and losing to Death, Mort is given an extra lease on life when the Grim Reaper chooses to turn over his Lifetimer, allowing Mort to stay in the world of the living.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: After the events of "Mort", Mort leaves Death's service and marries Ysabell. The couple are given the title of Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, and they later become the parents of Susan Sto Helit. They subsequently meet their end after a freak accident sends their carriage plunging into a ravine, as revealed in "Soul Music". They had discussed this with Death and had turned down his offer to extend the duration of their existence by letting them stay in his domain, on the grounds that it would not be the same as actually lengthening their lives.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In "The Light Fantastic", Rincewind overhears Twoflower teaching the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, (Death, Famine, Pestilence and War) how to play bridge. At one point, War calls out Death with ""Mort"" but we later learn that the only people in the room (other than Twoflower) were Death, Famine, Pestilence and War. The name might be a possible reason as to why Death chose Mort as his apprentice especially as, when Mort first introduces himself to Death by name, Death's reply is .


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the Cosgrove Hall Films animation of "Soul Music", Mort is voiced by Neil Morrissey. In 2004 BBC Radio 4 adapted "Mort", with the title character voiced by Carl Prekopp and Ysabell being voiced by Clare Corbett. Mort is included in Wayne Barlowe's "Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy".


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Ysabell is the adopted daughter of Death, who saved her as a baby when her parents were killed in the Great Nef desert (no explanation has been given as to why he did this; Ysabell said that "He didn't feel sorry for me, he never feels anything. ... He probably "thought" sorry for me."). When first encountered she is a sixteen-year-old girl with silver hair and silver eyes who, it transpires, has been sixteen for thirty-five Discworld 'years' due to the fact that no time passes in Death's Domain. During her encounter with Rincewind (see below), her behaviour is sufficiently flamboyant as to cause him to believe she is "bonkers". When Mort first encountered Ysabell, he was given the impression of "too many chocolates" (though Pratchett notes that he would have described her as "Pre-Raphaelite" if he had ever heard the word). She also has a fixation for the colour pink.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Ysabell first appeared in "The Light Fantastic", where she met Rincewind, and was surprised to learn that he was not actually dead. This state of affairs might not have continued long if the Luggage had not intervened. During the events of "Mort" it became clear that Ysabell was competent in carrying out the work of her father including The Duty and 'doing the nodes'. This mainly involves figuring out which deaths needed to be attended to personally, an important aspect of all reality. Before Mort arrived she shared her home with Albert, Death's manservant.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Susan Sto Helit is Mort and Ysabell's daughter and only child. When she first appears as a schoolgirl in "Soul Music", Susan has just inherited the duchy on the death of her parents. From the time she was a small child until the start of the book, when she is sixteen, her parents have hidden her background from her and brought her up to be logical, and it comes as a shock when the Death of Rats and Quoth the Raven come looking for her. She has to act as a stand-in for Death when he disappears, but subsequently returns to her education. Despite the fact that she has inherited all of her grandfather's abilities, she longs to be normal, and gets human jobs, first as a governess (in "Hogfather"), and then as a schoolteacher (in "Thief of Time"). Death is constantly dragging her back into the world of the occult. At the end of "Thief of Time", she begins a relationship with Lobsang Ludd, the anthropomorphic personification of Time.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Albert (originally known as Alberto Malich) is Death's manservant, butler, and cook. Once a wizard and founder of the Unseen University, he attempted to gain immortality by reciting the Rite of AshkEnte (a ritual to summon Death) backwards, believing this would force Death to stay away from him. Instead it brought him directly to Death's Domain. Since time in Death's Domain does not flow in the same way as it does on the Discworld, Albert succeeded, in a way, in gaining immortality. Before returning to the world during "Mort", "Albert" had 91 days, three hours and five minutes of time left on the Disc, most of which he spent shopping and using the soap and baths at the ""Young Men's Reformed Cultist of the Ichor-God-Bel-Shamharoth's Association"" (Death is not very good at plumbing). After "Soul Music", he has only a few seconds left, and can no longer leave Death's Domain. Albert is a highly idiosyncratic cook, believing everything needs to be fried to get rid of the germs, including porridge.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Albert's childhood was touched upon lightly in "Hogfather", revealing that he comes from a very poor family (even by Ankh-Morpork standards). This novel also suggests that he is fond of pork pies with mustard and drinking sherry.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: There was a statue of Alberto in the hallway of Unseen University, inscribed (apart from the usual student scribbles) with ""We Shall Not See His Like Again"." This, of course, turns out to be entirely wrong. After the destruction of the statue in "Mort", and the wizards' belief that the returned Albert was the statue, it is suggested that a new one be built in a very secure place—such as the dungeon (allegedly to prevent it being defiled by students). Alberto Malich was a powerful wizard, perhaps the most powerful a wizard can be (though not likely a Sourcerer). This is reflected in how easily Albert devised a spell to slow the passage of time (a near-impossible feat with Discworld magic) indefinitely around a small area.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: When Death goes missing in "Soul Music", Albert tries to find him on the Disc, but gets robbed and his life-timer (hourglass of life) is broken. After this incident, Albert has approximately 34 seconds left, and thus cannot return to the world of the living any more, as Death cannot make his life longer. The remaining sand is now kept in a bottle in Albert's bedroom. Albert is able to temporarily return to the Discworld during the events of "Hogfather", although in this instance he merely inhabits the pseudo-reality created for the Hogfather to allow him to travel around the entire world in a single night, and hence is not actually "in" the world, strictly speaking.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: While Death and Albert seem to get on rather well, it is a fragile relationship. In "Mort", Albert returns to the world to help Death, but seems ready to attack him when it looks like he has his former job as Archchancellor back. He also seems not to trust Death with his life-timer, which is why he takes it with him in "Soul Music", despite Death later reflecting that such an action was pointless as he would never have done anything to it. Frequently, Albert finds himself trying to keep Death ""on course"" when his master becomes too human. He and Susan do not get on very well.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Binky is Death's steed, named so by Death because it is "a nice name". He is a living horse; Death tried a skeletal steed, but kept having to "stop and wire bits back on". Death also tried a fiery steed, but it repeatedly set his barn and his robe on fire.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Binky is rather more intelligent than most horses and is pure, milky and white (it is noted in some novels that Binky is an exception to the biological rule of "grey" equines). He can fly by just creating his own ground-level, as well as travel through time and across dimensions, sometimes leaving glowing hoofprints in his wake, but is in all other respects a perfectly ordinary horse. He is well-treated, and loyal to his master and Susan. His shoeing is done by Jason Ogg, the Lancrastian blacksmith of mythical skill. Binky is not immortal, but while in Death's service does not age. Binky gains part of his powers by sharing one of Death's qualities: he's so much "realer" than ordinary things such as walls, great distances, or time that he can simply ignore them.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death gave Susan a "My Little Binky" gift set for her third birthday. It was returned by her parents, fearing that it would make her a less "normal" child.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Death of Rats, also known as the Grim Squeaker, is not, strictly speaking, a personification in his own right but rather an aspect of Death allowed an independent existence. His purpose is to usher on the souls of dead rodents, as well as assisting Death in other ways. His jurisdiction also seems to cover certain kinds of "ratty" humans, such as Mr. Clete in "Soul Music", Mr. Pin in "The Truth", and Mr. Pounder in "Maskerade".


title: Death (Discworld)

text: He was one of a disparate multitude of death-personifications created during Death's absence in "Reaper Man". The Death of Rats refused to be reabsorbed into Death himself upon the latter's resumption of his duties; therefore Death kept him around for company. The Death of Fleas also escaped resorption, but has not been seen since "Reaper Man". The Death of Rats resembles a rodentine skeleton walking on its hind legs, wearing a black robe, and carrying a tiny scythe, his form having taken shape from the latent form of Death himself in "Reaper Man", as he came into existence in the vicinity of Bill Door.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Death of Rats more easily finds ways around the rules than Death does, and has assisted Susan in "Soul Music", "Hogfather", and "Thief of Time". He sometimes travels with a talking raven named Quoth who also acts as his translator.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Death of Rats, like Death, speaks in , but has a vocabulary consisting of words such as ' and ', the last used when it laughs, although its speech can be interpreted from context much like the Librarian's.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the mythology of the Changeling Clan in "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" the Death of Rats is known as the Bone Rat.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Quoth is a talking raven who accompanies the Death of Rats. He was named Quoth by his previous owner, a wizard with no sense of humour who was attempting to make a joke by referencing the famous line in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. Quoth refuses to give in to this stereotype by saying "the N word" ("Nevermore"). At times he acts as steed and interpreter for the Death of Rats. He has a constant craving for eyeballs (a reference to ravens pecking the eyes out of corpses) and frequently mistakes various other objects for eyeballs, such as olives and walnuts. He was originally one of the ravens from the Tower of Art, the magical properties of which gave him his ability to speak.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: He was first seen in "Soul Music", and since then has made appearances in all novels involving Susan Sto Helit. Neil Pearson voices him in the Sky One adaptation of "Hogfather".


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The New Death appears in "Reaper Man" when he comes to collect the old Death, then known as "Bill Door". The New Death is the old Death's replacement as a result of the plot by the Auditors to rid the world of sloppy thinking.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The New Death comes from human belief, but is quite different from the original, having been formed from modern Discworlders who think of death as being a malevolent force rather than the simple cessation of life. Though he has the usual black robe, he is larger and has only smoke underneath his robe, rather than bones, and wears a crown, to the disgust of the original Death. He rides the classic skeletal steed, in contrast to the special, but nevertheless very real, Binky. Instead of a scythe he wields a weapon "which may, at some point in its evolution, have incorporated aspects of a scythe, in the same way a scalpel incorporated aspects of a stick". In place of a face or skull, the new Death just has a crown and is prideful, dramatic, cold, and cruel; the literal embodiment of humanity's fear of death. He chooses to arrive exactly at midnight and appears in a flash of lightning purely for the dramatic effect, something the old Death finds demeaning and rather excessive. When he corners Bill Door, he mocks him and beats him instead of finishing the job.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The new Death is destroyed by Bill Door, using the scythe he used on the farm; a humble garden tool, not the infinitely sharp implement of Death, but sharpened by his rage and the harvest. Bill Door was disgusted and horrified by the New Death's callous attitude toward humanity, and his victory is the triumph of the compassionate "reaper man" over the tyrant who has no care for the harvest.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Rite of AshkEnte (also Ashk'Ente or Ash'Kente) is the ancient magic ritual that summons and binds Death into a circle and prevents him from leaving until invited to do so by the summoning wizard. This may be wishful thinking on the part of the wizards as, in "Eric", Death appears outside the circle, behind the wizards, and in "Reaper Man" a wizard comments that he believes Death only stays in the circle for the look of the thing. The Rite is not tuned to Death himself, but rather whoever happened to be doing the job; Mort (then Death's apprentice) was almost forced to respond to the summons, and Susan Sto Helit (his granddaughter) was summoned and subsequently bound. The rite does not appear to apply to Death himself, although he may just appear out of politeness.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Since Death is professionally involved in almost everything that is going on everywhere, the Rite is usually performed so that he can be questioned on otherwise inexplicable phenomena. This is usually done only when all other avenues have been exhausted as most powerful wizards are quite old and therefore unwilling to attract the attention of Death. Death hates being summoned because he is always summoned at the "worst possible time", such as when he is at a party.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Rite is also the reason for Albert's affiliation with Death; while he was still Archchancellor of Unseen University, Albert attempted to become immortal by performing the Rite backwards, reasoning that this would banish Death away from him, but instead it transferred Albert to Death's realm, where he decided to remain on the grounds that time did not pass in Death's realm and he is thus essentially immortal.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: There are twelve ways of performing the Rite, but eight of them cause instant death, and so might just be considered to summon Death in the "usual" manner, and the ninth is very hard to remember. This leaves three ways to safely summon death: Although the Rite can be performed by a couple of people with three small sticks and 4 cc of mouse blood or even with a fresh egg and only two small sticks, the wizards (Ridcully excepted) prefer to do it the old fashioned way, with heavy equipment consisting of numerous drippy candles, octograms written on the floor, thuribles, and similar paraphernalia. They feel it's not "proper" wizardry if it's not showy enough.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the 1997 animated adaptations of "Soul Music" and "Wyrd Sisters", Death was voiced by Christopher Lee.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the 2006 Sky One adaptation of "Hogfather" he was voiced by Ian Richardson. The actor who played the physical Death in Hogfather was Marnix van den Broeke, a 6-foot 7 inch tall Dutchman.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In the 2008 adaptation of "The Colour of Magic", van den Broeke reprises the physical role, with Lee returning to the voice after the death of Richardson.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death has been voiced in all five BBC Radio adaptations of Discworld novels. Geoffrey Whitehead played the part in the adaptation of "Mort", and also in Episode 1 of "Eric". John Rowe played him in "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents", and Michael Kilgarriff voiced Death in Episode 4 of "Small Gods". In both "Guards! Guards!" and "Wyrd Sisters," Death is credited as being played by himself (In "Guards! Guards!" he is actually voiced by Stephen Thorne who also played Sergeant Colon).


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death has appeared in various other media: in the Discworld Game Series he is voiced firstly by Rob Brydon and later by Nigel Planer.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Death has also been played by numerous actors in amateur stage productions of "Wyrd Sisters", "Mort", "Soul Music", and "Hogfather", as well as various other plays based on the novels.


title: Death (Discworld)

text: After his death in March 2015, Pratchett's daughter Rhianna wrote in three tweets from her father's Twitter account:


title: Death (Discworld)

text: Fans launched a tongue-in-cheek petition on Change.org, requesting for Death to return Pratchett to life because, "Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death. You owe him!"


title: Death (Discworld)

text: The Death of Rats has appeared in the animated "Soul Music" and in the radio play of "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents", but has not been given a voice credit for either. In the "Hogfather" TV series the voice was credited to Dorckey Hellmice (an anagram of Michelle Dockery who played Susan Sto Helit in the same TV series), while in the "" game, the voice is credited as Katherine the Crocodile. The Death of Rats also appears in "Discworld Noir".


title: Death (Discworld)

text: In Cosgrove Hall's 1996 animated "Soul Music", Albert was voiced by Bryan Pringle. In BBC Radio 4's 2004 adaptation of "Mort", he was voiced by Philip Jackson.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. Among clothing construction professionals, a collar is differentiated from other necklines such as revers and lapels, by being made from a separate piece of fabric, rather than a folded or cut part of the same piece of fabric used for the main body of the garment.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: A collar may be permanently attached to the main body of the garment (e.g. by stitching) or detachable.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: The Oxford English Dictionary traces "collar" in its modern meaning to c. 1300, when collars served as neck-protecting armour.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: Today's shirt collars descend from the rectangular band of linen around the neck of 16th century shirts. Separate ruffs exist alongside attached ruffled collars from the mid-16th century, usually to allow starching and other fine finishing, or to make collar-laundering easier.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: During the medieval period and sporadically thereafter, people wore ornamental collars as a form of jewelry.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: Collars may also be "stiffened", traditionally with starch; modern wash-and-wear shirt collars may be stiffened with interfacing or may include metal or plastic collar stays. Shirt collars which are not starched are described as "soft collars". The shape of collars is also controlled by the shape of the neckline to which they are attached. Most collars are fitted to a jewel neck, a neckline sitting at the base of the neck all around; if the garment opens down the front, the top edges may be folded back to form lapels and a V-shaped opening, and the cut of the collar will be adjusted accordingly.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: Names for specific styles of collars vary with the vagaries of fashion. In the 1930s and 1940s, especially, historical styles were adapted by fashion designers; thus, the Victorian bertha collar — a cape-like collar fitted to a low scooping neckline — was adapted in the 1940s but generally attached to a V-neckline.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: Conventions on fastening the buttons on a collar differ globally. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the top button is virtually always left unbuttoned, unless one is wearing a necktie, but unbuttoning two or more buttons is seen as overly casual. By contrast, in Slavic countries, including at least Poland, and Ukraine, the top button is buttoned even in the absence of a tie.


title: Collar (clothing)

text: From the contrast between the starched white shirt collars worn by businessmen in the early 20th century and the blue chambray workshirts worn by laborers comes the use of collar colors in job designation, the "workforce colorwheel". Examples are "blue-collar", "pink-collar" and "white-collar".


title: Taramasalata

text: Taramasalata or taramosalata (; from 'fish roe' < + Greek: 'salad' < ) is a meze made from "tarama", the salted and cured roe (colloquially referred to as caviar) of the cod, carp, or grey mullet (bottarga) mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of bread or potatoes, or sometimes almonds. Variants may include garlic, spring onions, or peppers, or vinegar instead of lemon juice. While not traditionally Greek, smoked rather than cured cod's roe is more widely available in some places, and often used. Bottarga is usually much more expensive than cod's roe.


title: Taramasalata

text: Traditionally the dish is made with a pestle and mortar, giving a slightly grainy texture, but commercial taramasalata is commonly blended to a very smooth paste.


title: Taramasalata

text: Taramasalata is usually served as a "meze", often with ouzo, as a spread on bread. The colour can vary from creamy beige to pink, depending on the type of roe and colourings used. Most taramasalata sold commercially is dyed pink, but high quality taramasalata is always beige in colour.


title: Taramasalata

text: In Greece, taramasalata is often served on Clean Monday (, ), the first day of Great Lent, with onions and lemon.


title: Taramasalata

text: Borrowed from Greek word "ταραμάς" (roe), itself a borrowing from Turkish "tarama". Normally, "tarama" is the salted roe itself, but sometimes the prepared dish is also called "tarama".


title: Taramasalata

text: A similar dip or spread, ('roe salad' in Romanian) is also common in Romania and Bulgaria (known as , or ), and Israel (where it is known as "ikra)". It is made with pike or carp roe, but generally with sunflower or vegetable oil instead of olive oil, sometimes with a thickener like white bread. It is mass-produced and is widely available in grocery shops and supermarkets, as well as being made at home, in which case chopped onions are commonly added. It has a consistency and taste similar to mayonnaise, with the roe taking the place of the egg as protein. The traditional production method of "salată de icre" is standardized under the Romanian departmental standard N.I.D. 927-70 N 23 and registered as an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed under the name "Salată tradițională cu icre de crap". The roe of this product is for over 50% carp based.


title: Taramasalata

text: A dip, or (mashed beans), prepared with mashed beans, sunflower oil, garlic and chopped onions, is sometimes called (beans roe).


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The Cheetah Girls 2 (also known as The Cheetah Girls: When In Spain in the working title) is a 2006 American film and the sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), "The Cheetah Girls." Directed by Kenny Ortega, the sequel is about the talented teen quartet who take a whirlwind tour of Spain to pursue their dreams of pop superstardom. Unlike its predecessor, which incorporated karaoke-like musical numbers, "The Cheetah Girls 2" turned into more of a musical.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: Its premiere received the highest ratings of all Disney Channel Movies at its time, a total of over 8.1 million viewers, beating the premiere ratings of "High School Musical" (7.7 million), and beating previous highest-rated DCOM record holder, "Cadet Kelly" (7.8 million), as well as becoming the highest-rated "Cheetah Girls" film in the trilogy. The film is the eighth-highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie of all time and was the highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie of 2006. This is the last film in the series to star Raven-Symoné.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The movie begins in Manhattan, three years after the first movie, where the Cheetah Girls have just completed their junior year and are performing at a Graduation Party for the Manhattan Magnet's Class of 2006 ("The Party's Just Begun").


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: Later while having a sleep-over/Chinese food night at Galleria's (Raven-Symoné), Chanel (Adrienne Bailon) tells the girls that her mother, Juanita (Lori Anne Alter), is planning a trip to Barcelona, Spain, where they will be visiting Luc (Abel Folk), Juanita's boyfriend. Chanel is bummed and does not want to see Luc, while the other girls are upset about being separated for the summer. Aqua (Kiely Williams) sees a shooting star and the girls make a wish together—to go to Spain with Chanel. At that very moment, a gust of wind flips one of the girl's magazines pages until it comes across an ad for a Barcelona music festival. Galleria enters the Cheetah Girls and the next day, her mother Dorothea (Lynn Whitfield), Juanita, and the Cheetah Girls all decide to travel to Spain together.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: When the girls arrive in Barcelona, they do some shopping before resting in a Cafe. Soon they hear a guitar playing and meet Angel (Peter Vives), a mysterious guitar player who accompanies them around Barcelona as they sing to the entire city, and he becomes Galleria's love interest ("Strut").


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: At breakfast the following day, they meet Joaquin (Golan Yosef), a count, Luc's godson, a handsome dancer who becomes a love interest for Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan). After Dorinda finds out Joaquin is a dancer, she goes to his studio, where he teaches her tango ("Dance With Me").


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: That night Joaquin takes the Cheetahs to The Dancing Cat, a local Spanish night club where all of the new artists perform their songs ("Why Wait")("A La Nanita Nana").


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: There they meet and befriend Marisol (Belinda), a Spanish pop star, beloved by all of Barcelona, and who will also compete in the Music Festival, and her manager/mother, Lola (Kim Manning). Lola appears nice and wins the Cheetah Girls' affection, but secretly plans a scheme to break up the Cheetah Girls, as they pose a threat to her daughter's chances in the competition. She starts making Marisol take Chanel away from The Cheetah Girls. Meanwhile, Aqua and Dorothea have been designing clothes with Dorothea's old friends, Juanita is trying to get a proposal out of Luc, Dorinda is teaching hip hop to Joaquin's class, and Galleria is the only one focused on the competition, as she is writing a song called, ""Amigas Cheetahs"", which they will sing at the competition ("Do Your Own Thing").


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: Galleria notices that everyone is getting involved in other activities except for her ("It's Over"), and eventually decided to take a train to Paris, where she can meet up with her father, Francobollo, and he will take her back home to Manhattan. While at a train station, the other three girls find Galleria and sing the starting sequence of ""Amigas Cheetahs"", and Galleria says she will only come back if they stay focused. While Chanel walked around the house, she overhears Juanita talking to Dorothea about how she believes that Luc doesn't want to marry her because Chanel doesn't like him. Luc later proposes to Juanita, after Chanel gives him permission, and she gladly accepts. Luc tells Chanel that she can stay in New York with her friends for her upcoming senior year. However, the Cheetah Girls' dreams are in serious trouble. After the Cheetah Girls finish performing at The Dancing Cat ("Step Up"), Lola convinces The Dancing Cat's manager to pay the Cheetah Girls money. The competition will only allow amateur performs to compete. Accepting payment from The Dancing Cat makes the Cheetah Girls professional performers. However, they gave the money back and Angel, who was present during the entire exchange, investigates.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: Lola suggests that since the Cheetah Girls cannot perform as a group, Chanel should perform with Marisol instead since they can both sing in Spanish. Right before Chanel is going to get changed to perform with Marisol, the Festival Director informs that the Cheetah Girls are able to perform after getting a tip. Everyone is surprised when they see that the informer was his nephew, Angel. He informed that Lola tried to sabotage the Cheetahs, and his uncle reinstates the girls as the Cheetah Girls. Lola tries to dispute, but the Director will not hear it. Marisol finally tells off her mother, saying she is quitting the competition because she loves to sing and not to be famous, and her mother is just desperate to make her a star. The Cheetah Girls then perform "Amigas Cheetahs", and as a surprise, bring Marisol onto the stage (where Lola sees how happy her daughter finally is), along with Joaquin's dancing crew, Angel on the guitar and the Director on the trumpet. Their song is a hit with the crowd. An alternate ending concludes after this, where Juanita and Luc are having their wedding, and with everybody enjoying themselves ("Cherish the Moment"). (This scene is not shown in both TV or sing-along versions.)


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The entire film, including the scenes that took place in New York City, was shot on location in Barcelona, Spain during the spring of 2006.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The soundtrack was released on August 15, 2006. It debuted at #5 on the "Billboard" 200 and sold over 1.4 million copies to date.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The premiere of the movie became Disney Channel's highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie with a total of 8.1 million viewers, beating the previous record holder "Cadet Kelly", which had a total of 7.8 million viewers. This was then beat by "Jump In!", which closely beat it with 8.2 million viewers. Currently, the highest-rated DCOM is "High School Musical 2" with 17.2 million viewers. A repeat during the weekend gathered a massive 7.82 million viewers, tallying the total number of viewers to 15.9 million viewers. "The Cheetah Girls 2" is currently the sixth-highest-viewed DCOM as of September 2010. It was the highest-viewed DCOM of 2006, following the footsteps of the first film, which was the highest-viewed of 2003. Feedback to the movie has been generally positive for the target audience.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: Ultimate Disney said "this film lays off on some of the annoyances found in the first film. The Cheetah Girls have grown up and thus grown out of the annoying tweenage girl characterizations that are now seen in the snobby minor characters of "Hannah Montana"." The review went on to say "the nicest thing about this sequel is that on screen, the Cheetah Girls still seem to exemplify a deep friendship among a group of young women. The chemistry between the central actresses is strong, making them a believable group of friends who appear to be having a lot of fun making this movie."


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: About.com was also favourable, commenting ""The Cheetah Girls 2" contains the expected cheesiness, drama, and unrealistic plot, but I have to admit that I was totally taken in." Common Sense Media stated "The characters have aged, and their flair for drama has taken a backseat to introspective decision making and goal setting, making them more realistic (and positive) role models."


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: In the United Kingdom, 282,000 viewers tuned in on its premiere night, becoming #1 of the week on Disney Channel UK.


title: The Cheetah Girls 2

text: The DVD debuted at #10 on "Billboard"s "Top DVD sales" chart in the U.S., where it has sold nearly one million copies since its release and has grossed over $17 million in revenue.The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006) - Financial Information


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: George Constantine Nichopoulos (October 29, 1927 – February 24, 2016), also known as Dr. Nick, was an American physician of Greek descent. He was best known as Elvis Presley's personal physician and was controversial due to the singer's longstanding abuse of prescription drugs. Although Nichopoulos retained his medical license after Presley’s death, the Tennessee Medical Board eventually permanently revoked Nichopoulos’s license in light of his practice of overprescribing to many patients over multiple years.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: Born in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, Nichopoulos moved to Anniston, Alabama, during his infancy where his father, a Greek immigrant, opened a restaurant called Gus' Sanitary Cafe.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: From 1946 until 1948, he served in the Army Medical Corps in Germany before studying at the , where he received his B.S. in 1951. Nichopoulos subsequently earned his M.D. at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1959.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: Nichopoulos began treating Presley in 1967 for saddle pain, and took it on as a full-time job in 1970 until Presley's death in 1977. His son Dean Nichopoulos sometimes served as an assistant for Presley, taking care of his wardrobe. George Nichopoulos was not present at Graceland the day Elvis died. In fact, he was so hard to contact that he only had the time to jump into the departing ambulance, which had not been called immediately after finding Elvis' lifeless body. Saying that he "attempted to save his life" might be exaggerated, since it was obvious to even non-medical staff that Elvis had been dead for several hours when his entourage found him in his bathroom (his face was rigid (to the point that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was impossible, said Joe Esposito) and had already turned blue (cook Nancy Rooks' testimony + she heard a "loud noise upstairs" around 9:30 - 10:00 a.m., about 4 hours before Elvis' body was finally discovered); nurse Marion Cocke: "It was so evident he had been gone a long time"). There were some revival attempts at the hospital, just in case, during which Nichopoulos was present, but it was clear after 15–20 minutes that it did not make any sense. Nichopoulos was also present at the autopsy, but the contents of Elvis' stomach had been pumped out and thrown away shortly after his arrival at the hospital. Nichopoulos served as a pallbearer at the funeral.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: In 1979, the doctor was shot in the chest while watching a football game; he was not seriously injured. No suspect was ever arrested. In a 1993 interview with Dutch radio host Jorrit van der Kooi, Nichopoulos claimed it must have been an angry Elvis fan.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: After he was stripped of his credentials in 1995, Nichopoulos worked for a short time as Jerry Lee Lewis's road manager. He later took a job evaluating medical insurance claims by FedEx employees. No longer a doctor and in need of money, Nichopoulos sold many of the items he received from Elvis at auctions, and at one point had a travelling exhibit, showing off his doctor's bag with some of the medications he prescribed for Elvis.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: In 1980, Nichopoulos was indicted on 14 counts of overprescribing drugs to Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and twelve other patients. The district attorney ruled out murder charges because of the conflicting medical opinions about the cause of Presley's death. In the first eight months of 1977 alone, Nichopoulos had prescribed over 10,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones for Presley. Nichopoulos claimed he had tried in vain to reduce Elvis's dependency, even going so far as to manufacture one thousand placebos for Elvis, but to no avail. The jury concluded that he had tried to act in the best interests of his patients. He was acquitted on all counts.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: Also in 1980, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found him guilty of overprescription, but decided that he was not unethical. They imposed three months' suspension of his licence and three years' probation.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: In 1993, Nichopoulos had his license permanently revoked by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, and was branded a Doctor Feelgood in the press, after it was revealed that he had been overprescribing to numerous patients for years. Nichopoulos claimed it was for patients that suffered from inoperable chronic pain, but he was unsuccessful in his defense. During his many appeals, Nichopoulos admitted to the board that he had overprescribed. "I cared too much", he told them. During his court cases many friends supported him, raising money and holding benefits to pay for court costs.


title: George C. Nichopoulos

text: George Nichopoulos died in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 24, 2016, after an extended illness, aged 88. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.


title: Nellie massacre

text: The Nellie massacre took place in central Assam during a six-hour period in the morning of 18 February 1983. The massacre claimed the lives of 1,600–2,000 people from 14 villages—Alisingha, Khulapathar, Basundhari, Bugduba Beel, Bugduba Habi, Borjola, Butuni, Dongabori, Indurmari, Mati Parbat, Muladhari, Mati Parbat no. 8, Silbheta, Borburi and Nellie—of Nagaon district. The victims were Muslim peasants of East Bengal origin. Three media personnel—Hemendra Narayan of Indian Express, Bedabrata Lahkar of Assam Tribune and Sharma of ABC—were witnesses to the massacre.


title: Nellie massacre

text: The violence that took place in Nellie by natives — mostly rural peasants — was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial state elections in 1983 in the midst of the Assam Agitation, after Indira Gandhi's decision to give 4 million immigrants from Bangladesh the right to vote. It has been described as one of the worst pogroms since World War II.


title: Nellie massacre

text: In 1978, Lok Sabha member Hiralal Patwari died, necessitating a by-election in the Mangaldoi Lok Sabha Constituency. During the process of the election it was noticed that the electorate had grown phenomenally. Investigation revealed that there had been mass inclusion of alleged illegal migrants. The All Assam Students Union (AASU) demanded that the elections be postponed until the names of "foreign nationals" were deleted from the electoral rolls. The AASU subsequently launched an agitation to compel the government to identify and expel allegedly illegal immigrants.


title: Nellie massacre

text: The ethnic clash that took place in Nellie was seen as a fallout of the decision to hold the controversial Assembly elections in 1983 (boycotted by the AASU) despite stiff opposition from several elements in the state. Police officials had suggested to hold the polls in phases in order to avoid violence. According to then Assam Inspector General of Police, KPS Gill, there were 63 constituencies, where elections could have been held without any trouble. Among the rest, the Assam police had declared there were 23 constituencies where it was "impossible to hold any election." Nellie was cited as one of the "troubled" spots before the elections.


title: Nellie massacre

text: 400 companies of Central paramilitary force and 11 brigades of the Indian Army were deployed to guard Assam while the polls were scheduled to take place in phases.


title: Nellie massacre

text: The official Tiwari Commission report on the Nellie massacre is still a closely guarded secret (only three copies exist). The 600-page report was submitted to the Assam Government in 1984 and the Congress Government (headed by Hiteswar Saikia) decided not to make it public, and subsequent Governments followed suit. Assam United Democratic Front and others are making legal efforts to make Tiwari Commission report public, so that reasonable justice is delivered to victims, at least after 25 years after the incident.


title: Nellie massacre

text: Police filed 688 criminal cases, of which 378 cases were closed due to "lack of evidence" and 310 cases were slated to be charged. However, all these cases were dropped by the Government of India as a part of the 1985 Assam Accord; and, as a result, not a single person received punishment.


title: Nellie massacre

text: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Assam Accord with the leaders of the AASU to formally end the Assam Agitation in 1985.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Antennae ( antenna), sometimes referred to as "feelers", are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one or more jointed segments. While they are typically sensory organs, the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all groups. Functions may variously include sensing touch, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and especially smell or taste. Antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a substrate. Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult. Many crustaceans, for example, have free-swimming larvae that use their antennae for swimming. Antennae can also locate other group members if the insect lives in a group, like the ant.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: The common ancestor of all arthropods likely had one pair of uniramous (unbranched) antenna-like structures, followed by one or more pairs of biramous (having two major branches) leg-like structures, as seen in some modern crustaceans and fossil trilobites. Except for the chelicerates and proturans, which have none, all non-crustacean arthropods have a single pair of antennae.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Crustaceans bear two pairs of antennae. The pair attached to the first segment of the head are called primary antennae or antennules. This pair is generally uniramous, but is biramous in crabs and lobsters and remipedes. The pair attached to the second segment are called secondary antennae or simply antennae. The second antennae are plesiomorphically biramous, but many species later evolved uniramous pairs. The second antennae may be significantly reduced (e.g. remipedes) or apparently absent (e.g. barnacles).


title: Antenna (biology)

text: The subdivisions of crustacean antennae have many names, including flagellomeres (a shared term with insects), annuli, articles, and segments. The terminal ends of crustacean antennae have two major categorizations: segmented and flagellate. An antenna is considered segmented if each of the annuli is separate from those around it and has individual muscle attachments. Flagellate antennae, on the other hand, have muscle attachments only around the base, acting as a hinge for the flagellum—a flexible string of annuli with no muscle attachment.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: There are several notable non-sensory uses of antennae in crustaceans. Many crustaceans have a mobile larval stage called a nauplius, which is characterized by its use of antennae for swimming. Barnacles, a highly modified crustacean, use their antennae to attach to rocks and other surfaces.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Insects evolved from prehistoric crustaceans, and they have secondary antennae like crustaceans, but not primary antennae. Antennae are the primary olfactory sensors of insects and are accordingly well-equipped with a wide variety of sensilla (singular: "sensillum"). Paired, mobile, and segmented, they are located between the eyes on the forehead. Embryologically, they represent the appendages of the second head segment.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: All insects have antennae, however they may be greatly reduced in the larval forms. Amongst the non-insect classes of the Hexapoda, both Collembola and Diplura have antenna, but Protura do not.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Antennal fibrillae play an important role in "Culex pipiens" mating practices. The erection of these fibrillae is considered to be the first stage in reproduction. These fibrillae serve different functions across the sexes. As antennal fibrillae are used by female "C. pipiens" to locate hosts to feed on, male "C. pipiens" utilize them to locate female mates.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: The three basic segments of the typical insect antenna are the scape or "scapus" (base), the pedicel or "pedicellus" (stem), and finally the flagellum, which often comprises many units known as flagellomeres. The pedicel (the second segment) contains the Johnston's organ which is a collection of sensory cells.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: The scape is mounted in a socket in a more or less ring-shaped sclerotised region called the torulus, often a raised portion of the insect's head capsule. The socket is closed off by the membrane into which the base of the scape is set. However, the antenna does not hang free on the membrane, but pivots on a rigidly sprung projection from the rim of the torulus. That projection on which the antenna pivots is called the antennifer. The whole structure enables the insect to move the antenna as a whole by applying internal muscles connected to the scape. The pedicel is flexibly connected to the distal end of the scape and its movements in turn can be controlled by muscular connections between the scape and pedicel. The number of flagellomeres can vary greatly between insect species, and often is of diagnostic importance.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: True flagellomeres are connected by membranous linkage that permits movement, though the flagellum of "true" insects does not have any intrinsic muscles. Some other Arthropoda do however have intrinsic muscles throughout the flagellum. Such groups include the Symphyla, Collembola and Diplura. In many true insects, especially the more primitive groups such as Thysanura and Blattodea, the flagellum partly or entirely consists of a flexibly connected string of small ring-shaped annuli. The annuli are not true flagellomeres, and in a given insect species the number of annuli generally is not as consistent as the number of flagellomeres in most species.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In many beetles and in the chalcidoid wasps, the apical flagellomeres form a club shape, and the collective term for the segments between the club and the antennal base is the funicle; traditionally in describing beetle anatomy, the term "funicle" refers to the segments between the club and the scape. However, traditionally in working on wasps the funicle is taken to comprise the segments between the club and the pedicel.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Quite commonly the funicle beyond the pedicel is quite complex in Endopterygota such as beetles, moths and Hymenoptera, and one common adaptation is the ability to fold the antenna in the middle, at the joint between the pedicel and the flagellum. This gives an effect like a "knee bend", and such an antenna is said to be geniculate. Geniculate antennae are common in the Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. They are important for insects like ants that follow scent trails, for bees and wasps that need to "sniff" the flowers that they visit, and for beetles such as Scarabaeidae and Curculionidae that need to fold their antennae away when they self-protectively fold up all their limbs in defensive attitudes.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Because the funicle is without intrinsic muscles, it generally must move as a unit, in spite of being articulated. However, some funicles are complex and very mobile. For example, the Scarabaeidae have lamellate antennae that can be folded tightly for safety or spread openly for detecting odours or pheromones. The insect manages such actions by changes in blood pressure, by which it exploits elasticity in walls and membranes in the funicles, which are in effect erectile.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In the groups with more uniform antennae (for example: millipedes), all segments are called "antennomeres". Some groups have a simple or variously modified apical or subapical bristle called an arista (this may be especially well-developed in various Diptera).


title: Antenna (biology)

text: Olfactory receptors on the antennae bind to free-floating molecules, such as water vapour, and odours including pheromones. The neurons that possess these receptors signal this binding by sending action potentials down their axons to the antennal lobe in the brain. From there, neurons in the antennal lobes connect to mushroom bodies that identify the odour. The sum of the electrical potentials of the antennae to a given odour can be measured using an electroantennogram.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In the monarch butterfly, antennae are necessary for proper time-compensated solar compass orientation during migration. Antennal clocks exist in monarchs, and they are likely to provide the primary timing mechanism for sun compass orientation.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In the African cotton leafworm, antennae have an important function in signaling courtship. Specifically, antennae are required for males to answer the female mating call. Although females do not require antennae for mating, a mating that resulted from a female without antennae was abnormal.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In the diamondback moth, antennae serve to gather information about a host plant's taste and odor. After the desired taste and odor has been identified, the female moth will deposit her eggs onto the plant. Giant swallowtail butterflies also rely on antenna sensitivity to volatile compounds to identify host plants. It was found that females are actually more responsive with their antenna sensing, most likely because they are responsible for oviposition on the correct plant.


title: Antenna (biology)

text: In the crepuscular hawk moth ("Manduca sexta"), antennae aid in flight stabilization. Similar to halteres in Dipteran insects, the antennae transmit coriolis forces through the Johnston's organ that can then be used for corrective behavior. A series of low-light, flight stability studies in which moths with flagellae amputated near the pedicel showed significantly decreased flight stability over those with intact antennae. To determine whether there may be other antennal sensory inputs, a second group of moths had their antennae amputated and then re-attached, before being tested in the same stability study. These moths showed slightly decreased performance from intact moths, indicating there are possibly other sensory inputs used in flight stabilization. Re-amputation of the antennae caused a drastic decrease in flight stability to match that of the first amputated group.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Jakob Ammann (also Jacob Amman, Amann; 12 February 1644 – between 1712 and 1730) was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish religious movement.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: The full facts about the personal life of Jacob Ammann are incomplete and have been mostly speculative up until recent decades. Since the late 1990s more research has filled in some of the gaps and a basic outline of his life is now conceivable.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Jakob Ammann was born on 12 February 1644 in Erlenbach im Simmental, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, to Michael and Anna (née Rupp) Ammann. Erlenbach church records note the baptism of a Jacob Ammann on 12 February 1644, who was probably the Jakob Ammann from whom the Amish received their name. His grandfather has been identified as Ulrich Ammann. All three Ammanns were tailors. Jakob was third in a family of six children. He probably received limited formal education. On 37 official documents signed by Jakob, only his initials appear, with most of them having a nearby note that Jakob was not able to write, so he only "made his mark". However, on three documents, his signed name does appear, although twice it was probably written for him by someone else; once, with the same style of writing as his initials, appear the poorly formed letters "J. AMME", which is assumed to be his own writing. Because he asked for letters to be read in one meeting, it is assumed he was not able to read, or possibly only poorly. He did better financially than the average person of his time.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Jakob was married to Verena Stüdler, but very little is known of her beyond her name. They had at least one daughter and one son, Baltz.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Jakob’s father and one of his sisters also joined the Anabaptist movement. His brother Ulli, 18 years his junior, was also an Anabaptist and is known for his moderating tone in the attempts at reconciliation between the Amish and Reist sides.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: On 12 March 1671 he is noted as the sponsor for a baptism in the state church. In June 1680, government correspondence from Oberhofen asked counsel from authorities in Bern on how to deal with a Jakob Ammann who had "become infected with the Anabaptist sect". This is the first known reference to Ammann as an Anabaptist. This indicates a conversion to Anabaptism sometime between 1671 and 1680. Sometime between his conversion and 1693 he was ordained to the ministry, possibly by Hans Reist, who would later become one of his greatest opponents.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: By 1693, Ammann had moved from Switzerland to Heidolsheim, Alsace, where his father died and was buried in the neighboring village of Baldenheim. Apparently shortly after the death of his father, he moved to the head of the valley at La Petite Lièpvre (Klein Leberau), near Markirch (today Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines), Alsace, remaining there until October 1712 when all the Anabaptists in the area were expelled by an edict of Louis XIV. After this date, no more records concerning Jakob Ammann have been found. He probably went to live with friends or relatives somewhere in Lower Alsace.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: The date and place of Ammann's death are unknown, but in 1730 his daughter requested baptism in the Reformed Church in Erlenbach and stated that her father had died. It is not recorded when or where the death had occurred. Ammann's involvement in church matters had dropped off considerably before his disappearance from the records in 1712, possibly from old age, since he would have been approaching 70 years of age when he moved away from the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines area.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Because of scarcity of materials, very little is known of Jakob Ammann’s teaching and day-to-day life. Three letters comprise the whole of his first-hand accounts of his thoughts. Other letters accuse Jakob of teaching or holding various viewpoints, but since many of these letters were written by his opponents it is not clear how much bias the accusations contain.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: From Jakob’s letters, it can be learned that he was a firm disciplinarian, uncompromising in what he believed, and expected others to "conform to the teachings of Christ and His apostles". His rejection of the "good-hearted" stemmed from his belief that whoever accepted the "true saving faith" would be baptized upon that faith, cost what it may. They would "forsake the world" and practice a very practical separation in their everyday life. Jakob was willing to disregard longstanding customs and practices if they were not founded on God’s Word. He denied that he was trying to start a "new faith". He believed in a new birth experience that would radically change a person. He wrote:


title: Jakob Ammann

text: In practical matters, he stood opposed to long hair on men, shaved beards, and clothing that manifested pride. Liars were to be excommunicated. Ammann, unlike most Amish married men of today, however, had a mustache, which is largely forbidden today in the faith.


title: Jakob Ammann

text: Jakob Ammann is known because of his prominent involvement in a schism among the Swiss Brethren that began in 1693. Until recent decades, he was often heavily blamed for the division, being portrayed as an angry, harsh, and demanding leader who imposed his views on others. With the publication of some of the correspondence from the period (beginning in 1950, with Mast’s "Amish Letters") and the uncovering of new evidence, Ammann’s reputation has received a more positive appraisal among some researchers. Because of their prominent roles, Jakob Ammann and Hans Reist have been used to characterize the two sides of the schism, but the issues were broader than the two most prominent men involved.