title: Pohang

text: Pohang's road arteries and shipping port made it a place of strategic significance during the Korean War. An unopposed landing of UN forces at Pohang on July 18, 1950 was the first large-scale amphibious operation since World War II, and the region around Pohang saw fierce clashes between South Korea's 3rd Infantry Division and North Korea's 5th Infantry Division during August–September 1950.


title: Pohang

text: By the 1960s, Pohang was a small coastal city with a population of 50,000. The next major development in Pohang's growth came in 1968 with the inauguration of the steel maker POSCO, and the local plant's commencement of production in 1972. The introduction of heavy industry to the city brought the local economy to a blend of iron, steel, shipbuilding and fisheries through the end of the 20th century.


title: Pohang

text: The early 21st century and the age of globalization has brought new economic challenges to companies such as POSCO, giving rise to beliefs that Pohang would be wise to not be overly reliant on heavy industry to maintain its prosperity. In response, the Pohang of today presents itself as having an eye to the future, striving to become a diversified city of environmentalism and advanced learning, as well as a centre of arts and culture.


title: Pohang

text: During the Silla Dynasty the area was made up of four "hyeon", Toehwa-hyeon (), Jidap-hyeon (), Geunoji-hyeon (), Haea-hyeon (). Then during the Goryeo Dynasty these four were renamed to Heunghae-gun (흥해군/), Janggi-hyeon (), Yeongil-hyeon (), Cheongha-hyeon () respectively.


title: Pohang

text: On 4 August 1896, the three remaining "hyeon", which at that time were Janggi, Yeonil (; originally Yeongil) and Cheongha were reassigned as counties or "gun" as part of the change to the 13-province division of the Korean Empire.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 March 1914, the four counties were unified as one Yeongil-gun (), which was subdivided into 18 "myeons".


title: Pohang

text: On 1 April 1931, Pohang-myeon () was designated as an "eup", thus giving Yeongil-gun 1 eup and 17 myeon.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 April 1934, Jukbuk-myeon () and Juknam-myeon () were united to make Jukjang-myeon (), while Janggi-myeon () and Bongsan-myeon () united to make Jihaeng-myeon (), so that there were 1 eup and 15 myeon.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 October 1938, Hyeongsan-myeon () was incorporated into Pohang-eup, leaving Yeongil-gun with 1 eup and 14 myeon.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 October 1942 Changju-myeon () was renamed and reclassified as Guryongpo-eup (구룡포읍/九龍浦邑), leaving 2 eup and 13 myeon.


title: Pohang

text: On 15 August 1949, Pohang-eup was designated as Pohang-"si" (), leaving Yeongil with 1 si, 1 eup, 13 myeon and 1 local office.


title: Pohang

text: On 8 July 1956, Heunghae-myeon () and Gokgang-myeon () are incorporated into Uichang-myeon () leaving 1 si, 1 eup and 12 myeon.


title: Pohang

text: On 29 October 1957, Daljeon-myeon () is abolished and incorporated into Heunghae-myeon and Yeonil-myeon () leaving 1 si, 1 eup and 11 myeons.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 July 1973, Uichang-myeon is designated as Uichang-eup () leaving 1 si, 2 eup, 10 myeon and 3 local offices.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 December 1980, Yeonil-myeon and Ocheon-myeon () are both designated as eup leaving 1 si, 4 eup, 8 myeon and 3 local offices.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 September 1982, Haedo-dong () and Sangdae-dong () are separated into Haedo 1 and 2-dong and Sangdae 1 and 2-dong respectively.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 April 1986, Daebo Local Office () and Gibuk Local Office are designated as myeon leaving 1 si, 4 eup, 10 myeon and 1 local office.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 January 1995, a united Pohang-si absorbs all of Yeongil-gun, composed of 1 si, 2 gu, 4 eup, 10 myeon, 25 dong and 1 local office.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 September 1998, the unification of Small-dong left Pohang with 1 si, 2 gu, 4 eup, 10 myeon, 19 dong and 1 local office.


title: Pohang

text: On 1 January 2009, the unification of Small-dong left Pohang with 1 si, 2 gu, 4 eup, 10 myeon, 15 dong and 1 local office.


title: Pohang

text: The mean temperature in the coldest month, January, is relatively mild at 1.8 °C. The warmest month is August, when the mean temperature is 25.7 °C. On average, Pohang receives 1,152 mm of precipitation per year. The driest month is December, when the city receives a scant 25.7 mm of precipitation on average. However, the mean amount of precipitation for the wettest month, August, is 227.4 mm.


title: Pohang

text: The city is served by several trains a day from Seoul and Daegu. Pohang is the terminus for a number of ferry routes serving the adjacent Sea of Japan, including the main tourist route for Ulleung Island and Liancourt Rocks.


title: Pohang

text: Pohang is the home of POSCO (the Pohang Steel Company), one of the largest steel producers in the world, and a host of related industries. As a result, the port shipped a total of 54.8 million tons in 2006.


title: Pohang

text: Several flights per day to Seoul Gimpo Airport and Jeju Airport are available at Pohang Gyeongju Airport.


title: Pohang

text: Local transportation is served by only city buses. They run about 20 different ways of the city and some of them reach to the mountain folk. Also, the buses are classified into 2 kinds – one is Ilban-bus (normal bus) and the other is Jwaseok-bus (full of seats and a little more expensive than Ilban-bus). They run 15~25 minutes intervals along their own way. The bus routes are listed in both Korean and English but the Korean version is interactive, and thus more helpful.


title: Pohang

text: There are two main bus terminals - Shiwae (시외) and Gosok (고속) which roughly translate into intercity/city and express. The Shiwae bus terminal (시외버스터미널) also acts as the cross-country bus terminal from which access to nearby metropolitan cities such as Daegu and Busan (~1.5 hrs each depending on traffic) is available. Their website is only in Korean and only accessible in Internet Explorer. The Gosok bus terminal (고속버스터미널) website is in both English and Korean. From Gosok bus terminal one can travel to Seoul, Gwangju, and Daejeon.


title: Pohang

text: Pohang is also serviced by two train stations - Pohang station (포항역) and Wolpo station (월포역). Times and destinations are available on the Korail website which is in English and Korean.


title: Pohang

text: Passengers using the KTX had to go to Singyeongju Station (신경주역) until 2015. However, since 2015, the KTX travels directly to Pohang Station (포항역).


title: Pohang

text: There are some hospitals to treat people; two types of hospitals exist: public, and private. Public hospitals are run by the government, and supported by the government. Conversely, private hospitals are managed by the individuals. For example, S Pohang hospital is sponsored by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security which means it is supported by the government ("Introduction of the hospital" 1). They provide the treatments of brain disease, and spine disease. For private hospital, Pohang Sunlin Hospital is run by Hyunsu Shin ("Introduction of the head of the hospital" 1).


title: Pohang

text: Thousands flock to see the fireworks festival at Yeongildae Beach each summer. People travel from all over the country to watch the show.


title: Pohang

text: The Culture & Arts Center, opened in 1995, holds performances and exhibitions in its various galleries and theaters. Pohang is known for gwamegi and holds an annual Gwamegi Festival. Gwamegi Festival is available on November annually. In 2015, the festival invited individuals from different ages. Numerous people can enjoy the festival, and the festival is sponsored by banks such as Suhyeop, Nonghyeop, Shinhan, and POSCO. During the festival, it is available to experience the old traditional Korean culture such as competing with person who sell Yeot. Furthermore, many singers from various places including Philippines are invited to demonstrate their talent to people ("Schedule" 1). In this place, Guryongpo, it is possible to try Gwamegi, Pidegi which is dried squid, and big crabs ("Information about the products in Guryongpo" 1).


title: Pohang

text: Also, there is the Pohang Baseball Stadium, which Samsung Lions belonging to KBO League is using as the second stadium.


title: Pohang

text: The Jukdo Market is a large, bustling traditional market near the centre of the city, close to the port. It is well known throughout Korea as an important seafood market. There are many raw-fish restaurants in the market. The fish is cheaper here than in Seoul or Daegu.


title: Pohang

text: Bukbu Beach is located in Duho-dong in the northern part of the city's built-up area. The beach front has been the focus of commercial developments such as bars, restaurants, and budget accommodations called "Yeogwan". A number of beaches on the Sea of Japan can be found just north of the built-up area, including Chilpo and Wolpo.


title: Pohang

text: Homigot, a point of land jutting out into the Sea of Japan, is located to the east of urban Pohang in Daebo-myeon. Homigot is one of the easternmost points on the Korean peninsula and as such serves every year as a gathering place for thousands to greet Korea's first sunrise of the New Year. The beach is also home to the 'Hands of Harmony' sculpture.


title: Pohang

text: Bogyeongsa is a major Buddhist temple nestled in a steep green valley at the foot of Mount Naeyeon (710 m) in Songna-myeon, an area in the extreme northern part of Pohang. Yeonsan Waterfall is located nearby in the same mountain valley. There are hiking trails leading from the temple up into the mountains. Bogyeongsa also has a number of mountain hermitages in the vicinity.


title: Pohang

text: Oeosa is a temple located in the extreme southern part of Pohang, just inside the mountains south of the coastal plain formed by the Naengcheon River. It is located at the foot of Mt. Unjae (481 m) in a steep valley in Daesong-myeon. Signs placed in and around Oeosa claim that the temple was founded by Wonhyo, the well-travelled Silla monk.


title: Pohang

text: The main downtown shopping area is between Yukgeori (육거리) and Ogeori (오거리) which translate to 6-way intersection and 5-way intersection. The streamlet boardwalk shopping area opens and ends with Pohang Station and Yukgeori, respectively. This shopping area has several stores, restaurants, and a few bars including Converse, Shoemarker, Skin Food, ABC Mart, Redface, The North Face, a cinema, Starbucks, Mr. Pizza, Whistler Bar, Beethoven Bar, Mindy's Bar, etc.


title: Pohang

text: Pohang has a few major grocer stores including two Home Plus locations, two GS Supermarkets, and two E-marts. One Home Plus is by the Shiwae bus terminal and the other is closer to Jukdo Market. Jukdo market is an open market where you can purchase clothes, fish, produce, and a plethora of items. The one GS supermarket is in Jukdo-dong whereas the other is in Duho-dong. E-marts are located in I-dong and in Indeok-dong.


title: Pohang

text: Pohang is divided into 2 non-autonomous districts, which in turn is divided into 4 eup, 10 myeon and 15 dong.


title: Pohang

text: "Announcement about the Pause of Pohang Airport." Pohang Airport. Governor of Pohang, 17 Feb. 2016. Web.


title: Pohang

text: "포항야구장(Pohang Baseball Stadium)." 시설소개. 시설관리공단(Organization That Manages Facility), n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.


title: Pohang

text: Kim, Minje. "전체기사(Whole Articles)." 전체기사(Whole Articles). Jakeun News, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.


title: Pohang

text: Kim, Jumdol. "구룡포 과메기 축제(Guryongpo Gwamegi Festival)." 구룡포 과메기 축제(Guryongpo Gwamegi Festival). Jumdol Kim, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.


title: Pohang

text: "보건복지부 인증 전문병원-에스포항병원(뇌센터, 척추센터)!! :: 병원소개(S Pohang Hospital Introduction of the Hospital)." 보건복지부 인증 전문병원-에스포항병원(뇌센터, 척추센터)!! :: 병원소개(S Pohang Hospital Introduction of the Hospital). Executives and Staff Members, Dec. 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.


title: Pohang

text: Shin, Hyunsu. "병원장 인사말(Introduction by the Head of the Hospital)." Sunlin Hospital. Hyunsu Shin, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Matěj Vydra (, born 1 May 1992) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Viktoria Plzeň and the Czech Republic national team.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Vydra previously played for FC Chotěboř, Vysočina Jihlava, Baník Ostrava, Club Brugge, Udinese, Watford, Derby County and Burnley. He spent two loan spells at Watford.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Vydra joined Baník Ostrava from Vysočina Jihlava in January 2010 at the age of 17 for 20 million CZK (€765,000). He spent six months at Baník Ostrava, where he scored four goals in 14 matches.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: In June 2010, Vydra moved to Serie A side Udinese and was also voted by sports journalists the Czech Revelation of the Year for his performances at Baník Ostrava in the 2009–10 season. He joined Club Brugge on loan in August 2011 but returned to Udinese having played just two games due to an injury.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: In July 2012, it was confirmed he had been loaned to Watford for the 2012–13 season. Vydra scored his first goal for Watford when he netted the winner against Crystal Palace on 18 August 2012, in a game which finished 3–2.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: He scored a goal against Leeds United on 10 November. Vydra then scored goals in successive matches in a 2–0 win against Nottingham Forest on 22 December 2012 and in a 3–1 away win over Brighton & Hove Albion on 29 December 2012. He scored another brace on 12 January 2013 against Middlesbrough. Vydra carried on his rich vein of form by netting another goal the week after, on 19 January 2013 against Huddersfield and then netted his third goal in as many games a week later, scoring twice on 26 January 2013 in a 3–0 win away to Nottingham Forest. He was in fine form, and netted another goal in his next start against Bolton on 2 February 2013. The match eventually finished 2–1 to Watford, with Vydra assisting Almen Abdi's winning goal. After three matches without a goal, Vydra netted his 20th goal of the campaign in a 2–1 win over Derby County on 23 February 2013.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 25 March 2013 it was announced that he had won the 2012–13 Championship Player of the Season award in his first season in English football. Vydra won the award ahead of Glenn Murray of Crystal Palace and Blackpool's Thomas Ince. Despite going on a run in which he didn't score in 13 games, he went on to score twice in the semi-final of the end-of-season play-offs in a 3–2 aggregate win over Leicester. Vydra's season at Watford finished in disappointment as his club lost the chance to be promoted to the English top-flight after losing the play-off final against Crystal Palace and he injured his ankle during the match, having to be substituted at half time.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Vydra joined Premier League club West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal on 13 August 2013. He scored his first goal for the club on 21 December 2013, equalising for West Brom in a 1–1 Premier League draw against Hull City. On 22 February 2014, Vydra scored his second goal for West Brom, equalising in a 1–1 draw against Fulham. His third goal for the club came in a 3–3 draw against Tottenham, with Vydra scoring the game's first goal after 28 seconds.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 26 June 2014, Watford announced they had re-signed Vydra on a season-long loan from Udinese, with a view to a permanent move. Vydra made a scoring return as he netted in Watford's 3–0 opening day win over Bolton Wanderers on 9 August 2014. On 25 April, he came on as a substitute to score as Watford beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2–0 at the Falmer Stadium thus securing Watford's promotion back to the Premier League, thanks to other results going their way, with Vydra scoring 16 goals in the Championship to help earn promotion.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Watford signed Vydra permanently in July 2015 with the player signing a five-year contract. He started the 2015–16 season behind Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney in the pecking order, on 25 August 2015, he played for Watford in a 1-0 loss against Preston in the League Cup.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 1 September 2015, Reading signed Vydra on a season-long loan for a fee of £2.5 million with an option to sign him permanently for £10 million if promoted to the Premier League in the 2016–17 season. He made his Reading debut on 11 September 2015 in a 5-1 win against Ipswich Town. He scored his first goal for the club on 31 October in a 1-1 draw against Brighton.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 19 January 2016 in a FA Cup Third Round Replay, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–2 comeback victory over Huddersfield Town. In total he scored 9 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club, finishing the club's 2nd top scorer (behind Nick Blackman) for the 2015–16 season.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 27 August 2016, Derby County announced that they had signed Watford striker Vydra on a four-year deal, for a fee reported at £8,000,000. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to Blackburn Rovers on 24 September 2016. In his first Derby season he scored 5 goals, making 33 appearances in the EFL Championship with 13 of those coming as a substitute, with Vydra playing in different positions with the likes of Tom Ince, Darren Bent, Johnny Russell and David Nugent all competing for attacking position roles.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Vydra scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 3–0 away win over Middlesbrough on 25 November 2017. After the sale of previous season top scorer Tom Ince and the acquisitions of Strikers Sam Winnall and Cameron Jerome, Vydra found himself playing in his favoured second striker position behind a central striker of either Winnall, Jerome, David Nugent or Chris Martin His goals during the 2017–18 season helped Derby reach the playoff semi finals, where they were knocked out over two legs by Fulham.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: In April 2018, he was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year and also in the EFL Championship Team Of The Year. He scored 22 goals in all competitions and received the Sky Bet Championship Golden Boot after scoring 21 goals in the Championship during the 2017–18 season. On 1 May, Vydra won 3 awards at the club's end of season awards ceremony winning the Player Of The Year, Players Player Of The Year and the Jack Stamps Player Of The year awards.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: In July 2018, Vydra held talks with fellow EFL Championship side Leeds United over a potential move. However, after weeks of negotiations, the move broke down over personal terms.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Burnley signed Vydra for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal from Derby on 7 August 2018. On 30 August 2018, he scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw against Olympiakos in the play-off round of the Europa League. on 22 September, he scored his first goal in the Premier League in a 4–0 victory over AFC Bournemouth.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: On 15 February 2020, Vydra netted his first league goal since September 2018 in a 2–1 win against Southampton, that goal was later voted as Premier League Goal of the Month for February.


title: Matěj Vydra

text: Vydra played for five Czech youth national teams between under-16 and under-21 levels. In August 2012 he was called up to the Czech senior team for the first time, for a World Cup qualifying match away to Denmark and a friendly match against Finland. Vydra played the first 73 minutes against Denmark, in a game that finished as a goalless draw. He scored his first goal, a header, for the national team on 26 March 2013 in a World Cup qualifier against Armenia, to open the scoring in a 3–0 victory. Vydra also scored the second goal of the game, robbing an Armenian defender of the ball before slotting past the keeper.


title: Miles per hour

text: Miles per hour (mph, m.p.h., MPH, or mi/h) is a British imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of miles travelled in one hour. It is used in the United Kingdom, the United States, and a number of smaller countries, most of which are UK or US territories, or have close historical ties with the UK or US.


title: Miles per hour

text: Miles per hour is the unit used on the US, Canadian and Irish rail systems. Miles per hour is also used on British rail systems, excluding trams, some light metro systems, the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1.


title: Miles per hour

text: Nautical and aeronautical applications favour the knot as a common unit of speed. (One knot is one nautical mile per hour, with a nautical mile being exactly 1,852 metres or about 6,076 feet.)


title: Miles per hour

text: In some countries mph may be used to express the speed of delivery of a ball in sporting events such as cricket, tennis and baseball.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" is a song by Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by lead singer Bart Millard, it was originally recorded for the band's 1999 independent album "The Worship Project" before being included on their 2001 major-label debut album "Almost There". The song was the last to be written for "The Worship Project"; in writing it, Millard drew upon his thoughts about his father's death. Lyrically, it imagines what it would be like to be in front of God in heaven; it opens with just a piano before building to include guitar and drums.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: After being released on October 12, 2001, as the second single from "Almost There", "I Can Only Imagine" became a major success on Christian radio; it spent two weeks at No. 1 on the "Radio & Records" Christian AC chart and became the most-played Christian single of 2002. It became an unexpected mainstream hit in 2003, peaking at No. 71 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and No. 5 on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart while also hitting top 40, adult top 40, and country radio charts. The song returned to the charts after its story was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, peaking at No. 1 on the "Billboard" Christian Songs chart and No. 10 on the "Billboard" Digital Songs chart.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" received positive reviews from critics. Particular praise was given to its lyrics, and some critics called it the best song on "Almost There". It received the Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year at the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, also garnering Millard the award for Songwriter of the Year; he also won the Songwriter of the Year award at the 25th American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Christian Music Awards. In 2004, "CCM Magazine" ranked it as the fourth-best song in Christian music, and it has since become the most-played song in the history of Christian radio as well as the best-selling Christian song of all time; it has been certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and as of April 2018, it has sold over 2.5 million copies.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: MercyMe was formed in 1994 by vocalist Bart Millard, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, and keyboardist Jim Bryson. The band later brought on drummer Robby Shaffer and bassist Nathan Cochran. In their early years, they independently released four Christian alternative rock albums, drawing influence from the grunge style of rock music popular at the time. However, they realized that their original songs from these albums failed to connect with their audiences while their covers of popular worship songs were much more popular. Because of this, the band decided to write and produce an album of original worship songs. This album, "The Worship Project", utilized a simple verse–chorus format designed to easily fit on a PowerPoint screen.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: In the last phases of production, MercyMe needed one more song to include on the album. Late at night on the band's bus, Millard found an old notebook with the phrase "I can only imagine" written in it. He began to write a song, basing it on his personal feelings about his father Arthur's death. Early in Bart's life, Arthur had been physically and emotionally abusive towards his family, with Bart being beaten severely at points; Arthur and his wife Adele eventually divorced, and Bart was sent to live with his mother after an especially extreme whipping. Bart kept in contact with his father, however, who was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when Bart was 15. His father began to make amends for his actions and started becoming more religiously observant, reading the Bible and going to church regularly. As Arthur progressively became more ill, his relationship with his son improved dramatically; by the time Arthur died in 1991, when Bart was 18, the two were very close. Millard said that "I got a front row seat to see this guy go from being a monster to falling desperately in love with Jesus. By the time he passed away when I was a freshman in college, not only was he my best friend, he was like the Godliest man I’d ever known". After Arthur's death, Bart became obsessed with the phrase "I can only imagine" after hearing his grandmother say that she could only imagine what Arthur was seeing in heaven. Millard found comfort in the thought and began to write it on anything he could find.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: Once Millard started writing the song, he estimated that it took him only about ten minutes to write the lyrics. Millard said that it was one of the few songs he had ever written where there were not any mistakes in the writing process; "it was just written the way it is and left at that". MercyMe initially attempted to record "I Can Only Imagine" as a fast song, but after several failed attempts, Millard talked with Bryson about arranging it into a slower version. As the band was tearing down the equipment in their recording studio, Bryson began playing a piano intro. Millard immediately decided to use the intro, and the rest of the song was completed in around five minutes. Although the rest of the band did not see how it would fit on the record, as it didn't meet the basic verse-chorus format the rest of the album had, they felt it needed to be included on it because it meant so much to Millard.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "The Worship Project" was released on October 14, 1999. Sales for the album far exceeded the band's previous efforts; Millard estimated the album's overall sales at 100,000, which other sources peg the album's sales as of 2006 at 60,000 or 65,000 copies. The difficulty of meeting sales demands when selling the album directly, in addition to having to book and manage for themselves, led the band to pursue a contract with a record label; MercyMe would sign with INO Records in 2000. "I Can Only Imagine" was one of several songs from the band's independent records that were selected to be included on their debut album with INO, "Almost There" (2001).


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" is set in the key of E major and has a tempo of 80 beats per minute. Bart Millard's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of B to the high note of G. Millard is credited with writing and composing the song. A contemporary Christian and pop song, "I Can Only Imagine" has been considered both a ballad and a power ballad. The song opens up with only a piano, building up to include guitar and drums.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: The song has a directly Christian message; its religious lyrics weren't edited for mainstream radio. In the song, the narrator wonders what it would be like to stand before God in heaven. In the refrain, the singer ponders "Will I dance for You Jesus/or in awe of you be still/Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall/Will I sing hallelujah/will I be able to speak at all/I can only imagine/I can only imagine". Regarding the lyrical theme of "I Can Only Imagine", Millard explained to Fox News that "I was always told that if [my father] could choose, he would rather be in Heaven than here with me. As a Christian I believed that, but as an 18-year-old it was a little hard to swallow. So the questions in the song came from me asking God what was so great about Him that my dad would rather be there."


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: Critical reception for "I Can Only Imagine" was positive. Steve Losey of AllMusic praised it as being "passionate" and "emotionally compelling". Kevin Chamberlin of Jesus Freak Hideout said the song's lyrics were "amazing". It was called the "definite highlight" of "Almost There" by New Release Tuesday's Kevin McNeese, who also praised its piano intro, saying it "instantly invokes chills", as well as the song's lyrical content. "Charisma" writer Margaret Feinburg lauded the song's "heart-gripping" lyrics, and it was cited as the centerpiece of the album by Megumi Nakamura of "Cross Rhythms", who called it "beautiful and touching". Writing for "CCM Magazine", Adam Woodroof described the song as "heavenly" and said it was the highlight of "Almost There". Although Russ Breimeier of "Christianity Today" called it "beautiful and inspiring", he questioned if "I Can Only Imagine" was actually a worship song.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: At the 33rd GMA Dove Awards in 2002, I Can Only Imagine" earned the GMA Dove Awards for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Song of the Year. Millard won the award for Songwriter of the Year at the same ceremony as well as at the 25th American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Christian Music Awards, held on June 2, 2003. In 2004, "CCM Magazine" ranked "I Can Only Imagine" as the fourth-greatest song in Christian music.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" has been regarded as MercyMe's "breakthrough hit" as well as their signature song. It is the most-played song in the history of Christian radio and one of the most-played songs in the history of contemporary music. As of April 2018, it is the best-selling Christian song of all-time. It has consistently ranked among the best-selling Christian digital songs each year in the "Billboard" year-end charts, ranging from number 19 in 2016 to number three in 2018. It is often requested to be played at funerals. "I Can Only Imagine" was named the official inspirational song for the state of Oklahoma in 2018; the measure was passed by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed by Governor Mary Fallin.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: The story behind "I Can Only Imagine" was adapted into a film. Directed by the Erwin Brothers and starring J. Michael Finley as Bart Millard and Dennis Quaid as Arthur Millard, the movie was released to theaters on March 16, 2018. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and exceeded initial expectations at the box office, grossing $17.1 million in its opening week. This was the fourth best-ever opening for a faith-based film, behind only "The Passion of the Christ", "Son of God", and "Heaven Is for Real". The film finished its theatrical run having grossed $83.4 million in the United States and Canada and $1.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $85.2 million. As of August 2019, it ranks as the fifth-highest grossing music biopic of all-time in the United States (behind "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Straight Outta Compton", "Walk the Line", and "Rocketman") and was the highest-grossing independent film of 2018.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: Originally, "I Can Only Imagine" was set to be released by fellow Christian artist Amy Grant. Millard had initially declined a request from Grant's record label to allow her to record the song; some segments of the Christian community had reacted negatively to her divorce, and Millard wasn't sure if he wanted to be involved. After consulting with his pastor, who felt Millard should accept the opportunity, he began to reconsider, and finally agreed to let her cover it after talking with Grant over the phone. Grant had planned to release her version of the song as the lead single from her upcoming album and MercyMe would release a different song as their first single, hoping to capitalize on having written what would presumably become a major hit for Grant. The band released their first single from "Almost There", "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)", which performed poorly at Christian radio, leading to poor sales of the album. Plans were made to release another single from the record, but the band's manager, Scott Brickell, decided to reach out to Grant to see if she still planned to release her version as a single. Grant gave MercyMe her blessing to release the song as a single and signed the rights back to the band; "I Can Only Imagine" was released on October 12, 2001, as the album's second single.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: The song debuted on the Christian AC chart on November 2, 2001, reached the No. 1 position on February 22, 2002, and spent two weeks at the top spot. It also peaked at No. 15 on the "Radio & Records" Christian CHR chart. The song became the most-played song on Christian radio in 2002. As a result of its success on radio, "Almost There" experienced a "surge" in sales, debuting on the "Billboard" 200 in December 2001 and entering the top ten on the Christian Albums chart in January 2002. The song stayed on Christian radio for so long that plans to release a third single from "Almost There" were cancelled, with the band instead beginning work on a new album.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: In 2003, a Dallas mainstream radio station, 100.3 Wild-FM, played the song on its morning show, "The Fitz Radio Program". They had responded to a caller's repeated requests and the urgings of the program's producer, Todd Sheppard, a former seminary student. Although it had been played almost as joke, it soon became the most requested and most played song on the station. After hearing the song played on the station, Millard called-in and spoke with the crew, and MercyMe then came in and played the song live. Big Gay Steven, one of the show's hosts, described their audience's response to the song as "overwhelming". As other mainstream stations around the country began to play the song, MercyMe's label, INO Records, partnered with Curb Records to market the single to mainstream radio. Its initial success was seen as surprising due to its overtly religious themes, although several other Christian artists had begun achieving mainstream success at the same time, including Stacie Orrico, whose singles "Stuck" and "(There's Gotta Be) More to Life" had both hit the "Billboard" Hot 100. Curb began to promote the song to adult contemporary and Top 40 radio, and INO and Curb released a double A-side physical single, "I Can Only Imagine/Word of God Speak", in September 2003.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" debuted on the Adult Contemporary chart on May 23, 2003, eventually peaking at No. 5 for the chart week of September 8, 2003. "I Can Only Imagine" spent 30 weeks on the chart. The song debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for the chart week of October 11, 2003 at No. 76. The song peaked at No. 71 and spent 16 non-consecutive weeks on the chart. "I Can Only Imagine" also peaked at No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, a component chart of the "Billboard" Hot 100 that ranks the best-selling physical single releases, for 10 weeks. During the week of November 22, 2003, it became the first No. 1 physical single to be outsold by the highest-selling digital single of the week; for that week, "I Can Only Imagine" sold 7,500 physical copies in the United States while Outkast's "Hey Ya!" sold 8,500 digital downloads. The song also charted on the Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Country Songs charts.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: In 2012, "I Can Only Imagine" appeared on France's Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) chart, spending two weeks and peaking at No. 65. In March 2018, following the release of the film "I Can Only Imagine", which was based on the song's story, it appeared on the "Billboard" Christian Songs chart; because the chart had been created after the song's original run on Christian radio, it was eligible to chart for the first time. It debuted at No. 2 on the "Billboard" Christian Songs chart and also spent a third week at No. 1 on the "Billboard" Christian Digital Songs chart; the song had spent 425 weeks on the chart at that point, the longest run of any song in the chart's history. "I Can Only Imagine" peaked at No. 1 on the Christian Songs chart on March 31, 2018, and spent three weeks at the top spot. It also peaked at No. 10 on the "Billboard" Digital Songs chart and ranked at No. 8 on the 2018 year-end Christian Songs chart.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: In April 2010, "I Can Only Imagine" was certified platinum by the RIAA, signifying sales of over 1 million digital downloads. It was the first single by any artist in the Christian music genre to go platinum. The song was certified double platinum in September 2014, triple platinum in June 2018, and quadruple platinum in September 2019. As of March 2018, it has sold 2.5 million copies, making it the best-selling Christian single of all time.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: A music video was released for "I Can Only Imagine". According to Millard, the video's inspiration came from seeing people holding empty picture frames at their concerts, symbolizing their deceased loved ones. Millard said that the "I've had so many people after a show pull out a picture of someone they've lost. These people embrace these photos and I just thought how can we tap into that". The video features everyday people as well as several music artists including Michael Tait, Tammy Trent, Bob Herdman, and Jesse Katina, each holding an empty picture frame to signify their loss of a loved one; as the video progresses, they are holding pictures of their loved ones including Millard with his father's photograph.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: Despite including "I Can Only Imagine" on "The Worship Project", MercyMe initially did not perform the song in concerts because they felt it did not fit with the rest of the record. The band's first performance of the song did not come until the summer after the release of "The Worship Project" at a summer camp at the request of a camp counselor. The band has played the song at every show since as of February 2009 MercyMe's 2004 concert tour (the Imagine Tour) and 201819 tour (the Imagine Nation Tour) both took their name from the song.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: MercyMe performed "I Can Only Imagine" at the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, with an accompanying "inspiring video that underscored the emotional and inspirational power of song". The band also performed the song at the 40th GMA Dove Awards, held on April 23, 2009, in a medley with "Finally Home". At the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast, MercyMe performed the song with President Donald Trump in attendance. In March 2018, MercyMe performed "I Can Only Imagine" live on "Fox & Friends" to promote the film.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: Both an acoustic and live version of "I Can Only Imagine" were included in the Platinum edition of "Almost There", which was released in August 2006. MercyMe released a new recording of the song on their "iTunes Originals" album, which was released in March 2008. On their compilation album "10", MercyMe released a new recording of the song featuring the London Session Orchestra as well as a live version. For their 2018 compilation album "I Can Only Imagine: The Very Best of MercyMe", released to commemorate the release of the movie, the band recorded an updated recording titled "I Can Only Imagine (The Movie Session)", which peaked at No. 19 on the "Billboard" Christian Songs chart.


title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)

text: "I Can Only Imagine" has been covered by several artists. In 2002, Amy Grant released her reworked version of the song, titled "Imagine" and paired with "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus", on her album "Legacy... Hymns and Faith". Country singer Jeff Carson's 2003 cover peaked at No. 50 on the Country Songs chart, and in 2014, gospel singer Tamela Mann's cover of the song spent 13 weeks atop the "Billboard" Gospel Songs chart. In May 2017, Aliyah Moulden, the third-place finisher on the 12th season of the reality competition show "The Voice", performed the song on the show; her version debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the "Billboard" Christian Songs chart, selling 15,000 copies in its first week and spending two weeks on the chart in total.


title: Vaazhl

text: Vaazhl () is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Arun Prabu Purushothaman and produced by Sivakarthikeyan under his banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions. The film features a predominantly new cast and crew, which includes Pradeep Anthony, TJ Bhanu, Diva Dhawan, Aahrav and SN Bhatt in prominent roles. The film's music is composed by Pradeep Kumar, with cinematography handled by Shelly Calist and editing done by Raymond Derrick Crasta.


title: Vaazhl

text: The project was originally produced by R. D. Raja of 24AM Studios and subsequently launched in May 2018. But Arun Prabhu went on a recce for location scouting, which delayed the principal photography process. Further Raja stepped out of producing the venture citing financial constraints, and the rights for the film production were acquired by Sivakarthikeyan in June 2019. Filming began in mid-January 2019 and completed within that July, within a duration of 75 days. The film was shot across 100 unexplored locations across India and at islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.


title: Vaazhl

text: "Vaazhl" released through the streaming service SonyLIV on 16 July 2021, as a theatrical release planned earlier was failed to happen due to COVID-19 related cinema closures. The film opened to positive reviews from critics, praising the performances of the cast members, storyline, direction, music and cinematography, but criticised the lack of depth and the slow-paced narration in the second half.


title: Vaazhl

text: Prakash is an IT programmer living with his parents and younger sister. His day-to-day life is dull and monotonous, his professional life is a mess and his love life is not exciting. Prakash's other sister who lives abroad is pregnant and his parents visit her to help with her delivery.


title: Vaazhl

text: Prakash meets Yathramma (she is only known as Yathra’s mother throughout the movie) at a relative's funeral and is smitten by her beauty at first sight. To his disappointment, he finds that she is older than him, is married and has a son, Yathra. Yathra has ADHD disorder and is extremely hyperactive and destructive, but Yathramma is very protective of him, even to her husband. One night, when Yathra throws a tantrum, his father loses his patience and threatens him to sleep in his own room. Yathramma tries to stop him but he is angry at her as well. The argument leads to a violent confrontation when Yathramma hits her husband with a piece of wood and kills him by accident. She panics, hides his dead body in the fridge, takes some money and leaves with Yathra in her car. She lands on Prakash's doorstep under the guise of borrowing money and asks Prakash to take care of Yathra for a few hours. She finds that Prakash has been patient in spite of Yathra's destructive behavior. Yathramma requests Prakash to accompany them to Nagercoil to return the borrowed money to her friend. Prakash is unable to resist her innocent charm and agrees. During their travel, Yathramma insists that Prakash take longer routes and they go from city to city. Prakash eventually becomes suspicious of Yathramma's intentions and asks her the real reason. But she uses her vile charm to shut his questions down yet again. They become close after this and make love. However, Yathramma attempts suicide the next day, but the locals of a town save her. When Prakash questions her this time around, Yathramma comes clean about murdering her husband and tells that since they have become so close, she feels that she can now leave Yathra under Prakash's care and die. Prakash is shocked at this and wants out, but she indirectly threatens him using a phrase she taught Yathra to tell everyone. When asked, Yathra shouts that Prakash and Yathramma had sex. Prakash is scared out of his wits and stops the car to get water. Yathra goes with him leaving Yathramma behind, when a truck hits the car and kills Yathramma instantly.


title: Vaazhl

text: Prakash is horrified at the terrible turn of events and is left with no choice but to take Yathra with him. When questioned by the police, Yathra relays the entire story, that Prakash had sex with his mom and his real father is dead. Prakash is arrested and the police also arrest a Bolivian woman Tanya, with fake passports and take them both to the police station. Tanya fights the cops and forces Prakash to escape along with Yathra. They reach a resort where Tanya helps Prakash calm down. In a bid to escape the police, she uses fake passports and takes Prakash and Yathra to Papua New Guinea. She encourages Prakash to travel, live his life and explore nature to achieve fulfillment in life. Their adventures take them across land, water, mountains and rivers to explore.


title: Vaazhl

text: Meanwhile in India, the police find a video confession from Yathramma proving Prakash's innocence. His parents try to reach him desperately, but Tanya, Yathra and Prakash travel to a remote village and spend time with the aborigines. Tanya receives a call to travel elsewhere, so she leaves Prakash and Yathra, knowing fully well that Prakash is now confident enough take care of himself. Prakash and Yathra then travel to another remote island and continue their adventure. On one such river rafting trips, their raft capsizes and Prakash is thrown off the river and goes down a waterfall. Yathra is stuck in the shallow water and moves to land by himself and wanders alone in the forest. Prakash gets his leg stuck under a rock and faints, but he regains consciousness and manages to get himself out of the water. He searches for Yathra and finally finds him, realizing that he has grown to love Yathra as his own child. They travel back to India, where Prakash's family accepts Yathra. Prakash returns to work a transformed person and is able to achieve success. He fondly reminisces his experience with Yathramma and his adventures with Tanya, her words resounding in his mind, reminding him to take time off for himself no matter how important his work and family are.


title: Vaazhl

text: Post the release of "Aruvi", director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman worked on the pre-production and writing of his second project which is eventually stated it as his first script but eventually not materialized. He added that the script is quite complicated and was not an easy process to transform it completely on screen, which took him more time for the writing. He narrated the script first to actor Sivakarthikeyan years ago before its writing. Sivakarthikeyan, who was impressed by Arun's narration eventually gave his nod to the script, but it did not happen as planned.


title: Vaazhl

text: On 29 May 2018, film producer R. D. Raja of 24AM Studios announced their next venture in collaboration with Arun Prabhu, which is touted to be a mixed-genre film similar to "Aruvi". Prabhu retained the same technical crew from his first film, which includes Shelley Calist, Raymond Derrick Crasta and Shreeraman as the cinematographer, editor and production designer respectively, but the film's cast and crew were not deciphered by the producers. During the time of production, in June 2019, the film's producer Raja stepped out due to the financial constraints surrounding his production house, 24AM Studios, which also affected the company's other projects. Subsequently, Sivakarthikeyan, speaking at the audio launch of his second production venture "Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja", announced Arun Prabhu's project officially as his third venture for Sivakarthikeyan Productions. The first look of the film officially released on 27 June 2019 revealing the title of the film as "Vaazhl".


title: Vaazhl

text: A formal pooja ceremony for the film was officially held on 30 May at Theni. Work on the film's shooting progressed silently in January 2019, despite the film's launch in mid-2018, as Arun Prabhu and his team went on a recce for the locations which took them nine months. An article from "The News Minute" stated that a 90-year old nonagenarian actor will play the lead, although the film's team did not disclose the cast, but it was reported that the film will have newcomers in the lead roles who had no experience in acting.


title: Vaazhl

text: In an interview with an online portal, Prabhu stated that the film has been shot in 100 unexplored locations across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, and also at several islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It was touted to be a surprise factor in the film. A part of the film was shot in film camera, as according to Prabhu, the team used different cameras for different portions of the film's screenplay. For a small portion set in the 1930s, the makers used the film camera touting that it was the best way to authentically show that time period. The film's shooting which took place on 75 days was wrapped in July 2019, and post-production of the film commenced soon after the film's shooting being completed, although dubbing works of the film began in October 2019.


title: Vaazhl

text: The film's music is composed by playback singer-turned-composer Pradeep Kumar who also wrote the lyrics for the songs along with the director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman and lyricists Muthamil and Kutti Revathi, who worked with the director in "Aruvi". In July 2018, Arun Prabhu posted on Twitter about the music sessions of the film with a music team in Cincinnati in the United States. In an interview with "The Times of India", Prabhu stated that "The film is a mixed genre, but the narrative of the film is musical; there are several songs in it as well and they have come out so beautifully." One of the tracks titled "Seemaan Magalai is based on poet Arunagirinathar's works from Kandar Anuboothi, and also features a dual version performed by Gina Mirenda.


title: Vaazhl

text: On 7 September 2020, Sony Music South released the lyrical video of the first song "Aahaa", which was released in all digital platforms as the first single. "Zoom TV", stated the film's song as an "emotional number with holds a certain amount of breeziness that is beautiful and it also sets the right kind of mood for the film." On 27 January 2021, the makers unveiled the second track of the film titled "Feel Song", which was sung by veteran film composer Deva. The album in its entirety was released on 9 July 2021, at a special audio launch event which was streamed live through YouTube. The event also featured the presence of the few cast and crew members, with a musical performance hosted by Pradeep Kumar performing all the songs for the album.


title: Vaazhl

text: The album opened to positive reviews from music critics. "Behindwoods" gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that the album has "mesmerizing bunch of tracks that flows like one unending symphonious waterfall". Vipin Nair of "Music Aloud" rated the album 3.5 out of 5 and summarised "Pradeep Kumar creates an immersive musical experience for Vaazh and the texture of the soundtrack works brilliantly backed by the orchestral sounds throughout the soundtrack."


title: Vaazhl

text: "Vaazhl" was initially scheduled for theatrical release, but due to COVID-19 related cinema closures, the makers discussed with popular digital streaming service SonyLIV which was set to debut in the South Indian market after the success of their Hindi originals distributed. The film had a direct-to-digital release through SonyLIV on 16 July 2021.


title: Vaazhl

text: Thinkal Menon of "The Times of India" gave the film 3 out of 5 and stated that the film "emphasises the need to explore life and live for today" and "might appeal to those who love motivational and travel flicks". "Behindwoods" gave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote "Vaazhl has a lot of takeaways for the viewers, coupled with strong technical work. If the engagement was better and screenplay issues were sorted, Vaazhl could have given us the experience of a lifetime. Nevertheless, this film cannot be dismissed easily, and credits must be given where it is due." Ramya Palisetty of "India Today" gave the film 3 out of 5 and said "Vaazhl has a good story at its heart but it somehow fails in execution. Nevertheless, it has its moments when you are lost in nature and its beauty."


title: Vaazhl

text: Manoj Kumar R. of "The Indian Express" gave 3.5 out of 5 stars with a review: "Vaazhl is a product of personal filmmaking. It is smart, funny and even hallucinatory. The philosophical theme and the existential questions that the film tackles are not unheard of. But, the way Arun navigates this familiar territory of spiritual quest with a burst of colourful and soothing images with composer Pradeep Kumar’s meditative score keeps us invested in the narration." "Sify" gave the film 3 out of 5 stars saying ""Vaazhl" is a well made feel-good film that will motivate us to travel more and most importantly encourages us to live only for today and not to worry about tomorrow."


title: Vaazhl

text: Sudhir Srinivasan of "The New Indian Express" wrote "Even if this film isn’t as satisfying as the director’s debut, "Aruvi", director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman shows that he isn’t here to make easy films. And that single realisation gives you more happiness than the film did."


title: Vaazhl

text: In contrast, Ranjani Krishnakumar of "Firstpost" gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars saying ""Vaazhl" lacks self-awareness, only engaging with the romanticised idea of nature". Haricharan Pudipeddi of "Hindustan Times" wrote "Vaazhl feels stretched towards the end when it tries hard to pack in too much. It sometimes feels superficial but nevertheless manages to make an impact with its intended message. It makes interesting observations about an abusive relationship and how most women are unable to free themselves. The pleasant visuals and good music make up for most of the film’s dull moments." Srivatsan S of "The Hindu" called the film lacks the spine that knits its rather non-linearity in a cohesive manner" and further added that "Arun Prabu tries to defy the framework of a screenplay. In doing so, it ends up looking like a science experiment gone wrong".


title: Dori Sakurada

text: , born in December 7, 1991, is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Ryoma Echizen as part of the third generation Seigaku cast in "The Prince of Tennis" musicals, Tenimyu.


title: Dori Sakurada

text: Dori Sakurada was born in December 7, 1991 in Tokyo, Japan. At age 11, while walking home with his Mother, he was scouted and soon joined his current company, Amuse. He took singing, dancing and acting lessons while attending middle and high school. In 2005, he was chosen to play the lead protagonist "Ryoma Echizen" in a musical adapted from the popular anime "The Prince of Tennis", . The desicion generated a buzz, as at the age of 14, he was the youngest member to be cast. In the same year, he made his acting debut when he appeared in one episode of the TV drama, "Ruri's Island." After his two year run as Ryoma Echizen, he got his big break in 2008 when he starred as Kotaro Nogami in "," the third film adaptation of the popular "Kamen Rider Series." The film was a success, ranking second on its opening week and earning a total of ¥720 million in the Japanese box office.


title: Dori Sakurada

text: In 2013, went on hiatus to study in London, England. In a 2019 interview, he revealed that the decision came from the want to explore other career options, as he was slowly losing the passion and motivation, the path of acting not being his choice in the first place. However, he returned to Japan in just 6 months. He admitted his time away immediately changed his attitude towards work, renewed his hunger to succeed in the entertainment industry and that this time, it was his choice to be an actor. Since then, he has appeared in films such as "Orange" (2015) and "Let Me Eat Your Panceas" (2017), and in TV shows such as "Scum's Wish" (2017), "Coffee & Vanilla" (2019) and "Alice in Borderland" (2020).


title: Dori Sakurada

text: Apart from acting, he writes and produces his own music, releasing his first EP, "Sakura da Festa BEST", in 2019. He performs live in his yearly fan event, "Sakura da Festa", the first one held in 2016.


title: Dori Sakurada

text: In 2022, he completed his first Zepp tour. Named "Dori Sakurada" "ZEPP TOUR 2022: Anniversary to the next level", he performed in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama.


title: Dori Sakurada

text: Named after in Tokyo, Dori has an older brother, older sister, and a younger sister. He attended Meguro Nihon University High School, where he often played tennis and basketball. In 2002, the same year he was scouted, he got a Dachshund which he named "Fanta". After his pet's death in 2019, he centered his fanclub website theme and design around "Fanta", along with his interest in outer space.


title: Dori Sakurada

text: His favorite musician is the Japanese rock band, UVERworld. After meeting the band's lead vocalist TAKUYA∞ in one of his singing lessons, he became a fan, immediately buying all of their CDs on his way home. Since then, they've become close friends, with Dori often seen wearing a gold ring that was gifted to him by TAKUYA∞ for his 18th birthday, and UVERworld providing the theme song for Dori's 2014 movie, "Marching: Ashita e."


title: Dori Sakurada

text: He is close friends with Kento Yamazaki. The duo met on the set of "Baseball Brainiacs" (2014), and have worked in multiple movies and shows since. In the variety program "The World's Ashtonishing News!", Kento revealed that him, Dori and both their mothers celebrated New year's day 2020 by going on a trip to Hakone, Japan. He is also close friends with former Amuse artists Takeru Satoh and Ryunosuke Kamiki.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Lonnie Ray Frisbee (June 6, 1949 – March 12, 1993) was an American Charismatic evangelist and self-described "seeing prophet" in the late 1960s and 1970s. He maintained a hippie appearance and struggled with homosexuality (according to his own report). He was notable as a minister and evangelist in the signs and wonders movement of the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee was a key figure in the Jesus movement. Eyewitness accounts of his ministry, documented in the 2007 documentary, "", explain how Frisbee became the charismatic spark igniting the rise of Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard Movement, two worldwide denominations and among the largest evangelical denominations to emerge from the period. It was said that he was not one of the hippie preachers, "there was one." The term 'power evangelism' comes from Frisbee's ministry. Later, he would be harshly criticized for his intense focus and heavy concentration on the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, often by individuals in the same churches he co-founded. He also influenced many prophetic evangelists including Jonathan Land, Marc Dupont, Jill Austin and others. Frisbee co-founded the House of Miracles commune and was its main architect, converting many. The House of Miracles grew into a series of nineteen communal houses that later migrated to Oregon to form Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, the largest and one of the longest-lasting of the Jesus People communal groups.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee functioned as an evangelical preacher while also privately socializing as a gay man, before and during his evangelism career. This is in conflict with the fact that he stated in interviews that he never believed homosexuality was anything other than a sin in the eyes of God and both denominations prohibited homosexual behavior. Both churches later excommunicated him because of his active sexual life, first removing him from leadership positions, then ultimately, firing him. He was shunned and "written out of the official histories." As part of his ostracism from his former churches, his work was diminished, ignored and maligned.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee was raised in a single-parent home and was exposed to "sketchy, dangerous characters" as a child. Frisbee's brother claimed Lonnie was raped at the age of eight and documentarian David di Sabatino postulated that an incident of that nature "fragments your identity." His father ran off with another woman and his mother tracked down and married the jilted husband.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee showed great interest in the arts and cooking. He won awards for his paintings and even appeared as a featured dancer on Casey Kasem's mid-60s TV show "Shebang". He exhibited a "bohemian" streak and regularly ran away from home. As a teen he became part of the drug culture, as part of a spiritual quest, and at fifteen he entered Laguna Beach's gay underground scene with a friend. His "spotty" high school education left him barely able to read and write. At 18 he joined thousands of other flower children and hippies for the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967. He described himself as a "nudist-vegetarian-hippie".


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee's unofficial evangelism career began as a part of a soul-searching LSD acid-trip as part of a regular "turn on, tune in, drop out" session of getting high. He would often read the Bible while tripping. On one pilgrimage with friends to Tahquitz Canyon outside Palm Springs, instead of looking for meaning again in mysticism and the occult, Frisbee started reading the Gospel of John to the group, eventually leading the group to Tahquitz Falls and baptizing them. A later acid-trip in the same area produced "a vision of a vast sea of people crying out to the Lord for salvation, with Frisbee in front preaching the gospel." His "grand vision of spreading Christianity to the masses" alienated his family and friends. Frisbee left for San Francisco where he had won a fellowship to the San Francisco Art Academy. He soon met members of Haight-Ashbury's Living Room mission. At the time, he talked about UFOs, practiced hypnotism, and talked about dabbling in occultism and mysticism. When Christian missionaries first met him, they said he was talking about "Jesus and flying saucers". Frisbee converted to Christianity, and joined the first street Christian community, The Living Room, a storefront coffeehouse commune of four couples in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco started in 1967. He quit the art academy and moved to Novato, California, to set up a commune and later reconnected with his former girlfriend Connie Bremer, whom he then married. The community was soon dubbed The House of Acts after the community of early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. Frisbee designed a sign to put outside the house, but was informed that if he gave it an official name, it would no longer be considered a mere guest house and would be subject to renovations. The community took the sign down to avoid the financial obligation. Frisbee continued painting detailed oils including several of missions.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Chuck Smith, meanwhile, had been making plans to build a chapel out of a surplus school building in the city of Santa Ana, near Costa Mesa, when he met Frisbee. Smith's daughter's boyfriend John was a former addict who had turned to Christianity. When Smith said he wanted to meet a hippie, John brought home Frisbee (who was hitch-hiking), so he could meet people to talk about Jesus and salvation. Frisbee and his wife Connie joined the fledgling Calvary Chapel congregation and Smith was struck by Frisbee's charisma. Smith said, "I was not at all prepared for the love that this young man would radiate." Frisbee became one of the most important ministers in the church when on May 17, 1968, Smith put the young couple in charge of the Costa Mesa rehab house called "The House of Miracles" with John Higgins and his wife Jackie. Within a week it had 35 new converts. Bunk beds were built in the garage to house all the new converts. Frisbee led the Wednesday night Bible study, which soon became the central night for the church attracting thousands. Frisbee's attachment to the charismatic Pentecostal style caused some disagreement within the church, since he seemed focused more on gaining converts and experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit than on teaching newer converts Biblical doctrine. Chuck Smith, however, took up that job and welcomed Frisbee into his church. Frisbee's appearance helped appeal to hippies and those interested in youth culture, and Frisbee believed that the youth culture would play a prominent role in the Christian movement in the United States. He cited Joel the prophet and remained upbeat despite what the young couple saw as unbalanced treatment as Frisbee was never paid for his work yet another person was hired full-time as Smith's assistant.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: The country was being swept with a youth movement with California as one of the epicenters. The counterculture of hippies and surfers hung around the beaches and music and the resulting dancing was the main form of communication. Frisbee would walk the beaches during the day and convert the young people and bring them back to the church for the nightly services.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: The House of Miracles grew into a series of nineteen communal houses that later migrated to Oregon to form Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, the largest and one of the longest lasting of the Jesus People communal groups which had 100,000 members and 175 communal houses spread across North America. This may have been the largest Christian communal group in US history.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: From 1968 to 1971, Frisbee was a leader in the Jesus movement, bringing in thousands of new converts and influencing Calvary Chapel leaders including Mike MacIntosh and Greg Laurie, whom he mentored.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: "Jesus Freaks", or "Jesus People" as they were often called, were documented in media including the Kathryn Kuhlman "I Believe In Miracles" show where Frisbee was a featured guest talking about Jesus, prophets and quoting scripture. By 1971, the Jesus Movement had broken in the media with major media outlets such as "Life", "Newsweek" and "Rolling Stone" covering it. Frisbee, due to his prominence in the movement, was frequently photographed and interviewed. It was also in 1971 that Frisbee and Smith parted ways because their theological differences had become too great. Smith discounted Pentecostalism, maintaining that love was the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit, while Frisbee was strongly involved in theology centering on spiritual gifts and New Testament occurrences. Frisbee announced that he would leave California altogether and go to a movement in Florida led by Derek Prince and Bob Mumford which taught a pyramid shepherding style of leadership and was later coined as the Shepherding Movement.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: In 1973, the Frisbees divorced because Frisbee's pastor had an affair with his wife. Frisbee mentions this in a sermon he gave at the Vineyard Church in Denver, Colorado, a few years before he died. Connie later remarried. Lonnie left the organization.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Meanwhile, in May 1977, John Wimber was laying the groundwork for what would become the Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement. He had witnessed the explosive growth of Calvary Chapel and sought to build a church that embraced the healings and miracles that he had previously been taught were no longer a part of Christian life. He began teaching and preaching about spiritual gifts and healings, but Wimber held that it wasn't until May 1979, when Frisbee gave his testimony during an evening service at what was then the Yorba Linda branch of the Calvary Chapel movement (later, the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship) that the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit took hold of the church.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Since his early days at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Frisbee had made a shift in his emphasis from evangelism to the dramatic and demonstrative manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit. After speaking Frisbee invited all the young people 25 and under to come forward and invited the Holy Spirit to bring God's power into their lives. Witnesses say it looked like a battlefield as young people fell and began to shake and speak in tongues. The young kids, many in Junior High and High School, were so "filled with the Spirit" that they soon started baptizing friends in hot tubs and swimming pools around town. The church catapulted in growth over the next few months and the event is credited with launching the Vineyard Movement. After this time, Frisbee and Wimber began traveling the world, visiting South Africa and Europe. Frisbee was a much sought-after preacher with his "Jesus-like" look getting him instant recognition from South Africa to Denmark. While there, they performed many healings and miracles for people. As reported by many who were there, Frisbee was integral to the development of what would later become Wimber's "Signs and Wonders theology".


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Although Frisbee's homosexuality was documented as a "bit of an open secret in the church community" and that he would "party" on Saturday night then preach Sunday morning, many in the church were unaware of his "other life". Eventually some church officials felt that Frisbee's inability to overcome what the church considered to be sexual immorality became a hindrance to his ministry. An article in "The Orange County Weekly", headlined "The First Jesus Freak", chronicles Frisbee's life, in which Matt Coker writes, "Chuck Smith Jr. says he was having lunch with Wimber one day when he asked how the pastor reconciled working with a known homosexual like Frisbee. Wimber asked how the younger Smith knew this. Smith said he'd received a call from a pastor who'd just heard a young man confess to having been in a six-month relationship with Frisbee. Wimber called Smith the next day to say he'd confronted Frisbee, who openly admitted to the affair and agreed to leave."


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: In 2005, film critic Peter Chattaway interviewed David Di Sabatino (director of the documentary "Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher") for "Christianity Today"; the two spoke about addressing Frisbee's homosexuality with his family. Said Di Sabatino, "I brought to light some things that not a lot of people knew. I've been in rooms with his family where I've had to tell them that he defined himself as gay, way back. Nobody knew that. There's a lot of hubris in that, to come to people who loved him and prayed for him, and to stand there and say, 'You didn't really know this, but...'" In the same interview Di Sabatino also stated, "His early testimony at Calvary Chapel was that he had come out of the homosexual lifestyle, but he felt like a leper because a lot of people turned away from him after that, so he took it out of his testimony—and I think that's an indictment of the church." Di Sabatino commented on Frisbee's homosexuality as a flaw and stated that Frisbee's brother claimed Frisbee was raped at the age of eight and postulated that an incident of that nature "fragments your identity, and now I can't say that I'm surprised at all." In other research Di Sabatino revealed that Frisbee had come from a broken home and entered into Laguna Beach's gay underground scene with a friend when he was 15.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Frisbee contracted AIDS and died from complications associated with the condition in 1993. At his funeral at the Crystal Cathedral, Calvary Chapel's Chuck Smith eulogized Frisbee as a spiritual son and said he was a Samson-like figure; that being a man through whom God did many great works, but was the victim of his own struggles and temptations. Some saw this as further maligning Frisbee's work and an inappropriate characterization at a funeral service. Others, such as Frisbee's friend John Ruttkay, saw the Samson analogy as spot on, and said so at his funeral. Frisbee was interred in the Crystal Cathedral Memorial Gardens.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: David Di Sabatino produced and directed the video documentary: "". Narrated by Jim Palosaari, it received an Emmy Award nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (San Francisco/NorCal chapter).


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: Finished in March 2005, "Frisbee" was first accepted to the Newport Beach Film Festival where it sold out the Lido Theater not far from where in the late 1960s the Frisbees ran the Blue Top commune, a Christian community of young hippie believers. The documentary was also accepted to the Mill Valley (2005), Reel Heart (2005), Ragamuffin (2005), San Francisco International Independent (2006), New York Underground (2006) and Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian (2006) film festivals. The edited movie showed on San Francisco's KQED in November 2006, and was released in DVD form in January 2007.


title: Lonnie Frisbee

text: A soundtrack featuring the music of The All Saved Freak Band, Agape, Joy and Gentle Faith was released in May 2007. A pre-release version of the DVD was produced that featured 21 recordings of songs by Larry Norman alone, as well as others by Randy Stonehill, Love Song, Fred Caban, Mark Heard, and Stonewood Cross. However, due to licensing issues most of the music was changed for the final release.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Joseph Charles Wilson IV (November 6, 1949 – September 27, 2019) was an American diplomat who was best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his "New York Times" op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent leaking by the Bush/Cheney administration of information pertaining to the identity of his wife Valerie Plame as a CIA officer. He also served as the CEO of a consulting firm he founded, JC Wilson International Ventures, and as the vice chairman of Jarch Capital, LLC.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Joseph C. Wilson, IV, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in November 6, 1949, to Joseph Charles Wilson, III, and Phyllis (Finnell) Wilson; he grew up in California and Europe. He was raised in a "proud Republican family" in which "there [was] a long tradition of politics and service to the farm" and for which "[p]olitics was a staple around the table". Wilson's father Joe was a Marine pilot in World War II and narrowly escaped death by taking off immediately before the bombing of the aircraft carrier USS "Franklin", in which 700 other American servicemen died.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In 1968, Wilson entered the University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring, he said, in "history, volleyball, and surfing" and maintaining a "C" average. He worked as a carpenter for five years after his 1972 graduation. Later, he received a graduate fellowship, studying public administration. Wilson was influenced by the Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Having become fluent in French as a teenager, Wilson entered the US Foreign Service in 1976, where he would be employed until 1998.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: From January 1976 through 1998, he was posted in five African nations; as a general services officer in Niamey, Niger, (his first assignment) he was "responsible for keeping the power on and the cars running, among other duties". From 1988 to 1991, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission (to US Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie) at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. In the wake of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he became the last American diplomat to meet with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, sternly telling him in very clear terms to leave Kuwait. When Hussein sent a note to Wilson (along with other embassy heads in Baghdad) threatening to execute anyone sheltering foreigners in Iraq as a deterrent, Wilson publicly repudiated the President by appearing at a press conference wearing a homemade noose around his neck and declaring, "If the choice is to allow American citizens to be taken hostage or to be executed, I will bring my own fucking rope."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Despite Hussein's warnings, Wilson sheltered more than 100 Americans at the embassy and successfully evacuated several thousand people (Americans and other nationals) from Iraq. For his actions, he was called "a true American hero" by President George H. W. Bush. From 1992 to 1995, he served as US ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: From 1995 to 1997, Wilson served as Political Advisor (POLAD) to the Commander in Chief of US Armed Forces, Europe (EUCOM), in Stuttgart, Germany. From 1997 until 1998, when he retired, he helped direct Africa policy as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and as National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: After retiring from government service in 1998, Wilson managed JC Wilson International Ventures Corp., an international business development and management company. Early in 2007, Wilson became vice chairman of Jarch Capital, LLC., to advise the firm on expansion in areas of Africa considered "politically sensitive."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson also served as a guest speaker and panelist in conferences and other programs devoted to African business policies and political affairs, as well as on the matters pertaining to the CIA leak scandal.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: At the midpoint of his career as a diplomat, Wilson served for a year (1985–1986) as a Congressional Fellow in the offices of Senator Al Gore and Representative Tom Foley; he would later attribute his working for the Democratic Party to "happenstance." That experience helped him gain his position as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council, in 1997–1998.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Over the years, Wilson made contributions to the campaigns of Democratic candidates, such as Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York, and to Republican Congressman Ed Royce of California. In 2000, he donated funds both to Gore's and Bush's presidential campaigns.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In 2003, Wilson endorsed John Kerry for president and donated to his campaign; in 2003 and 2004, he served as an advisor to and speechwriter for the campaign (410–12). Wilson endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 US presidential election. He made speeches on her behalf and attended fundraisers for the campaign. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Wilson supported activist groups like Win Without War, a nonpartisan coalition of groups united in opposition to the Iraq War After the invasion and the publication of his memoir, "The Politics of Truth", he spoke frequently in the public media and at colleges and universities.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In late February 2002, Wilson traveled to Niger at the CIA's request to investigate the possibility that Saddam Hussein had purchased enriched yellowcake uranium. Wilson met with the current US Ambassador to Niger, Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick (1999–2002) at the embassy and then interviewed dozens of officials who had been in the Niger government at the time of the supposed deal. He ultimately concluded: "it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson learned that the Iraqis had in fact requested a meeting to discuss "expanding commercial relations" but that Niger's Prime Minister Mayaki had declined, due to concern about U.N. sanctions against Iraq.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address included these 16 words: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In response, in the July 6, 2003, issue of "The New York Times", Wilson contributed an "op-ed" entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa", in which he states that on the basis of his "experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war", he has "little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson described the basis for his mission to Niger as follows: "The vice president's office asked a serious question [about the truth of allegations that Iraq was seeking to purchase uranium yellowcake from Niger]. I was asked to help formulate the answer".


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In the last two paragraphs of his op-ed, Wilson related his perspective to the Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War:


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: At a press conference on Monday, July 7, 2003, the day after the publication of the op-ed, Colin Powell said: "There was sufficient evidence floating around at that time that such a statement was not totally outrageous or not to be believed or not to be appropriately used. It's that once we used the statement, and after further analysis, and looking at other estimates we had, and other information that was coming in, it turned out that the basis upon which that statement was made didn't hold up, and we said so, and we've acknowledged it, and we've moved on." He also said: "the case I put down on the 5th of February [2003], for an hour and 20 minutes, roughly, on terrorism, on weapons of mass destruction, and on the human rights case ... we stand behind"


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In a July 11, 2003, statement, CIA director George Tenet, stated that the President, Vice President and other senior administration officials were not briefed on Wilson's report (otherwise widely distributed in the intelligence community) because it "did not resolve whether Iraq was or was not seeking uranium from abroad". In his 2007 memoir, Tenet wrote that Wilson's report "produced no solid answers" and "was never delivered to Cheney. In fact, I have no recollection myself of hearing about Wilson's trip at the time."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In the July 11 statement, Tenet also noted that, according to Wilson's report, a former Niger official interpreted an Iraqi approach as an "overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales." Asked about this the following October, Wilson said that the official in question had declined the meeting, due to U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq, but speculated "maybe they might have wanted to talk about uranium".


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: There was substantial disagreement about whether Wilson implied in the op-ed that he was sent to Niger at the request of the vice president, or his office. The implication that Cheney or his office sent Wilson to Niger, whether made by Wilson or the media, was apparently a cause of consternation to vice-presidential aide I. Lewis Libby, who called NBC's Tim Russert to complain.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: On July 6, 2003, in a "Meet the Press" interview with Andrea Mitchell, Wilson stated: "The question was asked of the CIA by the office of the vice president. The office of the vice president, I am absolutely convinced, received a very specific response to the question it asked and that response was based upon my trip out there."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: The week after the publication of Wilson's "New York Times" op-ed, Robert Novak, in his syndicated "Washington Post" column, disclosed that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA as an agency operative in an article entitled "Mission to Niger." Subsequently, former Ambassador Wilson and others alleged that the disclosure was part of the Bush administration's attempts to discredit his report about his investigations in Africa and the op-ed describing his findings because they did not support the government's rationale for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wilson's allegations led to a federal investigation of the leak by the United States Department of Justice, to the appointment of a Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, and to the Plame affair grand jury investigation.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In 2005, retired US Army Major General Paul E. Vallely claimed that former Ambassador Wilson "mentioned Plame's status as a CIA employee" in 2002 [one year before she was allegedly "outed"] in the Fox News Channel's "green room" in Washington, D.C., as they waited to appear on air as analysts.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Although no one was "indicted for actually leaking Plame's identity," the investigation resulted in the federal criminal trial "United States v. Libby" in which Lewis Libby, the former Chief of Staff to Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, was tried on five federal felony counts. He was convicted on four of the counts, involving false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice, none of which related directly to the Plame revelation but rather to his failure to cooperate with the subsequent investigation into the revelation. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a fine of $250,000.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Libby's prison sentence was commuted by President Bush, who let the conviction and fine stand. Libby was later granted a full pardon by President Trump.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In 2004, Wilson published a political and personal memoir entitled "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir". The book describes his diplomatic career, his personal life and family, and his experiences during the Valerie Plame affair. Wilson's autobiographical account of over two decades of his life in foreign service includes detailed descriptions of his extensive diplomatic-career experiences, his first marriage and family, briefer references to his second marriage, his meeting of Valerie Plame, their courtship and marriage, and a detailed narrative of the events leading to his decision to go public with his criticisms of the George W. Bush administration and its aftermath.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: An editorial in "The Wall Street Journal" published in mid-July 2004, finds some justification for his perspective presented in "What I Didn't Find in Africa", but highlights some evidence of Iraq's "attempts" at acquiring uranium yellowcake from African nations such as Niger, on which Iraq did not follow through.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: But another editorial published July 13, 2005, in "The Wall Street Journal" asserts that Wilson had lied in his "What I Didn't Find in Africa" about "what he'd discovered in Africa, how he'd discovered it, what he'd told the CIA about it, or even why he was sent on the mission."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: An editorial headlined "A Good Leak" published April 9, 2006, in "The Washington Post" claims that "Mr. Wilson was the one guilty of twisting the truth and that, in fact, his report [to the CIA] supported the conclusion that Iraq had sought uranium."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Some commentators and newspaper readers believed that this "Washington Post" editorial contradicted a news article in the paper's same issue, which reported that the administration had misrepresented its actual confidence level in the intelligence reports that Hussein was seeking uranium.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Complaints to "The Washington Post" ombudsman Deborah Howell about the apparent contradiction between the article and editorial, resulted in her acknowledging "the high wall between editorial and news" and also that "it would have been helpful if the editorial had put statements about Wilson in more context".


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In their 2006 book "Hubris", Michael Isikoff and David Corn assert that it was Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, who first revealed that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA to Robert Novak sometime before July 8, 2003. In late August 2006, along with advance publicity for the book, news accounts and editorials began focusing on that public revelation: "Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, has acknowledged that he was the person whose conversation with a columnist in 2003 prompted a long, politically laden criminal investigation in what became known as the C.I.A. leak case, a lawyer involved in the case said on Tuesday [August 29, 2006]."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson and his wife then amended their civil lawsuit (see below) to add Armitage as a defendant along with Vice President Dick Cheney and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. According to their complaint, Richard Armitage was being sued individually (independently of his White House colleagues) for having nevertheless also violated Plame's right to privacy and property (ability to make a living), while not reducing the culpability of the others as claimed.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In a column posted in TownHall.com on September 14, 2006, however, Novak disputes details of Armitage's contemporaneous media accounts of their conversations. According to Novak, "Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he 'thought' might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked, and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband, former Amb. Joseph Wilson. Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear he considered it especially suited for my column." He noted that critics would not be able to "fit Armitage into the left-wing fantasy of a well-crafted White House conspiracy to destroy Joe and Valerie Wilson. The news that he and not Karl Rove was the leaker was devastating news for the Left."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In the "American Journalism Review", editor Rem Rieder noted that the disclosure that Armitage was Novak's "primary source" was insufficiently covered in the media.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: In response to the verdict on March 6, 2007, finding Lewis Libby guilty of four of the five charges in the Fitzgerald grand jury indictment against him, the Wilsons issued a statement in a press release posted on the website of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. They stated that they respected the jury's verdict and believed justice was done, as well as affirming their commitment to pursuing their civil suit.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson criticized President George W. Bush's July 2, 2007, commutation of Lewis Libby's prison sentence, calling it "a cover-up of the Vice President's role in this matter and quite possibly the role of the President and/or some of his senior White House advisers." Wilson also complained that the President's action and others' actions leading to President Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence could seriously damage United States national security by harming its intelligence capability.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: On the evening of the verdict in the Libby trial, Joseph C. Wilson appeared on "Larry King Live", during which he announced that he and his wife had "signed a deal with Warner Bros of Hollywood to offer their consulting services—or maybe more—in the making of the forthcoming movie about the Libby trial", their lives and the CIA leak scandal. According to an article by Michael Fleming published in "Variety" earlier in the week, the feature film, a co-production between Weed Road's Akiva Goldsman and Jerry and Janet Zucker of Zucker Productions, with a screenplay by Jez and John Butterworth, is based in part on Valerie Wilson's then-forthcoming book "Fair Game", whose publication, in October 2007, after a delay of two months, was contingent on CIA clearances.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: The film, "Fair Game", was released November 5, 2010, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It is based on two books, one written by Wilson, and the other by his wife.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: On July 13, 2006, Joseph and Valerie Wilson filed a civil suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, his former Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, top Presidential advisor Karl Rove, and other unnamed senior White House officials (among whom they later added Richard Armitage), for their alleged role in the public disclosure of Valerie Wilson's classified CIA status.


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: On September 13, 2006, Joseph and Valerie Wilson amended their original lawsuit, adding Richard Armitage as a fourth defendant. Unlike their charges against Rove, Cheney, and Libby, "claiming that they had violated her constitutional rights and discredited her by disclosing that she was an undercover CIA operative", the Wilsons sued Armitage "for violating the 'Wilsons' constitutional right to privacy, Mrs. Wilson's constitutional right to property, and for committing the tort of publication of private facts.'"


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge John D. Bates dismissed the Wilsons' lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds on July 19, 2007, stating that the Wilsons had not shown that the case belonged in federal court. Bates also ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over the claim because the couple had not yet exhausted their administrative remedies. Bates stated that the lawsuit raised "important questions relating to the propriety of actions undertaken by our highest government officials" but also noted that "there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public criticism, such as that levied by Mr. Wilson against the Bush administration's handling of prewar foreign intelligence, by speaking with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials", even if "the alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr. Wilson's comments and attack his credibility" were perhaps "highly unsavory."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: On July 20, 2007, Ms. Sloan and the Wilsons announced publicly that they had filed an appeal of the US District Court's decision to dismiss their lawsuit. On August 12, 2008, in a 2–1 decision, the three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the dismissal. Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which represents the Wilsons, "said the group will request the full D.C. Circuit to review the case and appeal to the US Supreme Court." Agreeing with the Bush administration, the Obama Justice Department argues the Wilsons have no legitimate grounds to sue. On the current justice department position, Sloan stated: "We are deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has failed to recognize the grievous harm top Bush White House officials inflicted on Joe and Valerie Wilson. The government's position cannot be reconciled with President Obama's oft-stated commitment to once again make government officials accountable for their actions."


title: Joseph C. Wilson

text: Wilson's first marriage was to college friend Susan Otchis in 1974. In 1979, the couple had a set of twins, Sabrina Cecile and Joseph Charles V. The marriage ended in divorce in 1986, toward the end of his service in Burundi. Wilson married his second wife Jacqueline, a French diplomat, raised in Africa, in 1986. Though Wilson and Jacqueline began to live separate lives in the 1990s, they did not divorce until 1998. Wilson had met Valerie Plame in 1997, while working for President Bill Clinton; they married in 1998, after Wilson's divorce from Jacqueline. They had two children, twins Trevor Rolph and Samantha Finnell Diana, born in 2000; the family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2006. Wilson and Plame divorced in 2017.


title: A Passion Play

text: A Passion Play is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 in both the UK and US. Following in the same style as the band's previous album "Thick as a Brick" (1972), "A Passion Play" is a concept album comprising individual songs arranged into a single continuous piece of music (which was split into two parts across the original vinyl release's two sides). The album's concept follows the spiritual journey of a recently deceased man (Ronnie Pilgrim) in the afterlife, exploring themes of morality, religion and good and evil. The album's accompanying tour was considered the high water mark of Jethro Tull's elaborate stage productions, involving a full performance of the album accompanied by physical props, sketches and projected video.


title: A Passion Play

text: "A Passion Play" was negatively received by critics upon its initial release. However, the album was a commercial success, becoming Jethro Tull's second number one album in the United States.


title: A Passion Play

text: Following the release of the critically and commercially successful "Thick as a Brick" in 1972, Jethro Tull made the decision to record their next album at the Château d'Hérouville studios in Hérouville, France, known in the 1970s for being frequented by artists such as Pink Floyd, Elton John and T. Rex. The band were persuaded by their management and accountants to record their next album in tax exile outside of the UK in order to avoid what Anderson described as "a pretty scary tax regime" of the time. The band planned to make a double album, with concepts as varied as the meaning of life, music criticism and the comparison between the man and animal world.


title: A Passion Play

text: Upon arrival at the Château, however, the band faced a variety of challenges which made the recording sessions difficult, ranging from technical issues with the studio equipment to bug-infested beds and food poisoning epidemics, causing Anderson to give the Château the nickname "Château d'Isaster" Although the band had recorded enough material to fill three sides of the intended double album, the issues living in the studio convinced the band to abandon the sessions and leave the Château. The band considered moving the album's production to Switzerland, for they had just recently been granted Swiss citizenship; however, the decision was ultimately made to return to the UK and completely restart writing and recording of the album (although two tracks from the Château d'Hérouville sessions were later included on the band's 1974 album "War Child").