title: Talking drum

text: The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitch of the drum by scraping the cords between their arm and body.


title: Talking drum

text: In the 18th century, talking drum players used tones to disseminate messages, such as news of ceremonies and commands, over 4-5 mile distances.


title: Talking drum

text: A skilled player is able to play whole phrases. Most talking drums sound like a human humming depending on the way they are played.


title: Talking drum

text: Similar hourglass-shaped drums are found in Asia, but they are not used to mimic conversation, although the idakka is used to mimic vocal music.


title: Talking drum

text: Five varieties of "dùndún" pressure drums of the Yoruba and the "atumpan" and "fontomfrom" of the Asante (Ashanti) are especially notable. They send messages up to 20 miles (32 km), where other drummers relay them, quickly spreading news.


title: Talking drum

text: Hourglass-shaped talking drums are some of the oldest instruments used by West African griots and their history can be traced back to the Bono people, Yoruba people, the Ghana Empire and the Hausa people. The Yoruba people of south western Nigeria and Benin and the Dagomba of northern Ghana have both developed a highly sophisticated genre of griot music centering on the talking drum . Many variants of the talking drums evolved, with most of them having the same construction mentioned above. Soon, many non-hourglass shapes showed up and were given special names, such as the Dunan, Sangban, Kenkeni, Fontomfrom and Ngoma drums. This construction is limited to within the contemporary borders of West Africa, with exceptions to this rule being northern Cameroon and western Chad; areas which have shared populations belonging to groups predominant in their bordering West African countries, such as the Kanuri, Djerma, Fulani and Hausa.


title: Talking drum

text: In Senegalese and Gambian history, the tama (Serer) was one of the music instruments used in the Serer people's ""Woong"" tradition (the "dance performed by Serer boys yet to be circumcised" or the future circumcised, also known as the ""Xaat"" in the Serer language). The tama drum, has Serer religious connotations (which predates the Ghana Empire). In the "Xaat" tradition, the tama makes up the fourth musical drum ensemble. The Serer drums played include : Perngel, Lamb, Qiin and Tama.


title: Talking drum

text: From a historical perspective, the tama (just like the Serer junjung), was beaten by the griots of Senegambian kings on special occasions, such as during wars (a call for arms), when the kings wanted to address their subjects, and on special circumstances in Serer country – a call for martyrdom, such as the mayhem at Tahompa (a 19th-century surprise attack) and the Battle of Naoudourou, where the defeated Serers (by the Muslim-marabouts of Senegambia), committed suicide rather than be conquered by the Muslim forces or forced to submit to Islam. Suicide is permitted in Serer religion only if it satisfies the Serer principle of Jom (see Serer religion). The word ""Jom"" means "honour" in the Serer language.


title: Talking drum

text: Ayangalu is believed to have been the first Yoruba drummer. Upon his death he was deified, and so now he is counted among the ranks of the Orishas. It is believed by followers of the Yoruba religion that he is the patron spirit of all drummers, and that in the guise of a muse he inspires the drummers to play well. The word ""Ayan"" means drummer in the Yoruba language. This is why some Yoruba family names contain the prefix "Ayan", such as Ayanbisi, Ayangbade, Ayantunde, Ayanwande etc. This prefix marks its bearers out as hereditary custodians of the mysteries of Ayangalu.


title: Talking drum

text: In the 20th century the talking drum became a part of popular music in West Africa. It is used in playing Mbalax music of Senegal and in Fuji and Jùjú music of Nigeria (where it is known as a dùndún, not to be confused with the dundun bass drum of the Mandé peoples). The talking drum is also used in ceremonial functions and events like weddings, burial ceremonies, private functions and most importantly it is commonly used by African bands as part of their musical instruments.


title: Talking drum

text: The pitch of the drum is varied to mimic the tone patterns of speech. This is done by varying the tension placed on the drumhead: the opposing drum heads are connected by a common tension cord. The waist of the drum is held between the player's arm and ribs, so that when squeezed the drumhead is tightened, producing a higher note than when it's in its relaxed state; the pitch can be changed during a single beat, producing a warbling note. The drum can thus capture the pitch, volume, and rhythm of human speech, though not the qualities of vowels or consonants.


title: Talking drum

text: The use of talking drums as a form of communication was noticed by Europeans in the first half of the 18th century. Detailed messages could be sent from one village to the next faster than could be carried by a person riding a horse. In the 19th century Roger T. Clarke, a missionary, realised that "the signals represent the tones of the syllables of conventional phrases of a traditional and highly poetic character." Many African languages are tonal; that is, the pitch is important in determining the meaning of a particular word. The Yoruba language, for instance, is mostly defined by the tri-tonic scale, consisting only of the tonic sol-fa notes, do, re, mi, different inflections of which are then used to convey different messages, the same principle also applies to how the drum talks in all of the Yoruba's music and culture. However, the Serer language and its relative Senegambian languages are not tonal, unlike almost all other Niger-Congo languages.


title: Talking drum

text: The problem was how to communicate complex messages without the use of vowels or consonants but simply using tone. An English emigrant to Africa, [[John F. Carrington]], in his 1949 book "The Talking Drums of Africa", explained how African drummers were able to communicate complex messages over vast distances. Using low tones referred to as male and higher female tones, the drummer communicates through the phrases and pauses, which can travel upwards of 4–5 miles. The process may take eight times longer than communicating a normal sentence but was effective for telling neighboring villages of possible attacks or ceremonies. He found that to each short word that was beaten on the drums, an extra phrase was added, which would be redundant in speech but provided context to the core drum signal.


title: Talking drum

text: The message "Come back home" might be translated by the drummers as: "Make your feet come back the way they went, make your legs come back the way they went, plant your feet and your legs below, in the village which belongs to us".


title: Talking drum

text: Single words would be translated into phrases. For example, "moon" would be played as "the Moon looks towards earth", and "war" as "war which causes attention to ambushes".


title: Talking drum

text: The extra phrases provide a context in which to make sense of the basic message or drum beats. These phrases could not be randomized, when learning to play the drum students were taught the particular phrase that coincided with each word. This reason alone made learning to talk in drum language very difficult and not many were willing to take the time to do so. The extra drum beats reduce the ambiguity of the meaning. Ironically, when the West understood the mechanism of the drums, they had already begun to be used less often in Africa. Also, words often lost their meaning. In an interview with Carrington, he explained that when words that are not used often, the phrases that correspond to them are forgotten. When given the beat for young girl, the drummers thought the phrase played was in fact the one for fishing nets.


title: Talking drum

text: As emphasized by Finnegan, the messages sent via drums were not confined to utilitarian messages. Drum languages could also be used for specifically literary forms, for proverbs, panegyrics, historical poems, dirges, and in some cultures practically any kind of poetry. The ritualized forms and drum names constituted a type of oral literature. Among some peoples such as the [[Ashanti people|Ashanti]] or the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], drum language and literature were very highly developed. In these cultures, drumming tended to be a specialized and often hereditary activity, and expert drummers with a mastery of the accepted vocabulary of drum language and literature were often attached to a king's court.


title: Talking drum

text: Various sizes of hourglass talking drum exist, with the dimensions of the drum differing between ethnic groups, but all following the same template.


title: Talking drum

text: The "Tama" of the Serer, Wolof and Mandinka peoples is typified by its smaller dimensions, having a total drum length typical of 13 centimeters (5 inches) with a 7 centimeter (2.75 inch) drum head [[diameter]]. This produces a much higher pitched tone than other talking drums of the same construction.


title: Talking drum

text: The Yoruba and Dagomba peoples on the other hand have some of the largest dimensions for drums in their "Lunna" and "Dùndún" ensembles, with a length typical of 23–38 centimeters (9–15 inches) and a drum head diameter of between 10 and 18 centimeters (4–7 inches). In Yoruba talking-drum ensembles, this is used alongside smaller talking drums similar to the "Tama", called "Gangan" in [[Yoruba language]].


title: Talking drum

text: [[Image:tama front.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Senegalese Tama player [[Yamar Thiam]] of the Finnish group Galaxy, performing at the Imatra Big band Festival at Imatra, July 2005]]


title: Talking drum

text: Playing styles are closely linked with the drum's construction and the tonal qualities of each language. There is a clear difference in playing styles between areas with predominantly [[Fulani]] and [[Mande languages|Mande]]-speaking populations and traditionally non-Mande areas further east.


title: Talking drum

text: The predominant style of playing in areas further west such as [[Senegal]], [[Gambia]], western [[Mali]] and [[Guinea]] is characterized by rapid rolls and short bursts of sound between the stick holding hand and accompanying free hand, and correlates with the various [[pitch accent]] and non-tonal languages heard in this area. This is a style typically heard in the popular [[Mbalax]] genre of Senegal.


title: Talking drum

text: From eastern [[Mali]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Ghana]], towards [[Niger]], western-[[Chad]] and [[Nigeria]], (with the exceptions of areas with [[Fulani]] and [[Mande languages|Mande]]-speaking majorities) the playing style of the talking drum is centered on producing long and sustained notes by hitting the drum head with the stick-holding hand and the accompanying free hand used to dampen and change tones immediately after being hit. This produces a rubbery sounding texture to its playing, which mimics the heavy and complex tones used in languages from this area (see [[Niger–Congo languages#Tone|Niger–Congo tonal language chart]]). This characteristic style can be clearly heard in the popular music of this area, particularly in those where the talking drum is the lead instrument, such as [[Fuji music]] of the Yoruba of [[Nigeria]].


title: Talking drum

text: [[King Crimson]] used the talking drum on its album "[[Larks' Tongues in Aspic]]", for the track "The Talking Drum".


title: Talking drum

text: [[Tom Waits]] used the talking drum on his song "Trouble's Braids," a track from the album "[[Swordfishtrombones]]".


title: Talking drum

text: [[Erykah Badu]] used the talking drum on her song "My People", from the album "[[New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)]]".


title: Talking drum

text: [[Sikiru Adepoju]] is a master of the talking drum from Nigeria who has collaborated with artists from the [[Grateful Dead]] to [[Stevie Wonder]] and [[Carlos Santana]].


title: Talking drum

text: [[Naná Vasconcelos]], master of percussion, started playing the talking drum in the early 1980s and has used it ever since.


title: Talking drum

text: [[Mick Fleetwood]] of [[Fleetwood Mac]] has used the talking drum on the track "World Turning" on the band's 1975 [[Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)|eponymous]] album and in concert performances of the song.


title: Talking drum

text: [[David Byrne|David Byrne's]] [[American Utopia (film)|American Utopia]] Broadway musical and HBO concert film features a tama player on multiple songs during the show.


title: Talking drum

text: In the game series [[Patapon]], the player is a god who communicates with his or her followers using four Talking Drums. Each has its own unique sound: 'Pata,' 'Pon,' 'Don' and 'Chaka.'


title: Talking drum

text: In the television series [[Dead Like Me]], the talking drum is discussed as a means of celebrating the lives of the dead.


title: Talking drum

text: They can also be heard in the 1959 movie "[[The Nun's Story (film)|The Nun's Story]]", starring [[Audrey Hepburn]], when she arrives in what was at that time the Belgian Congo.


title: Talking drum

text: [[Bill Kreutzmann]], a drummer for the [[Grateful Dead]], occasionally played a talking drum at the band's live shows during the "drums" segment of their shows in the second set.


title: Talking drum

text: The talking drum features prominently in the [[Wakanda (song)|score]] of the 2018 film "[[Black Panther (film)|Black Panther]]". The score, composed by [[Ludwig Göransson]], uses talking drums at the core of a [[leitmotif]] associated with the film's protagonist, T'Challa (played by [[Chadwick Boseman]]).


title: Talking drum

text: In some ethnic groups, each individual was given a "drum name". Examples from among the [[Beti-Pahuin|Bulu]] of [[Cameroon]] are "Even if you dress up finely, love is the only thing" or "The giant wood rat has no child, the house rat has no child". Talking drum players sent messages by drumming the recipient's name, followed by the sender's name and the message.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: David Myers (born 8 September 1957) and Si King (born 20 October 1966) collectively known as the Hairy Bikers, are British television chefs. They have presented a range of television shows that combine cooking with the travelogue format, mostly for the BBC but also for the now-defunct Good Food channel. They have also produced a range of cookery books published to accompany their various television series.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: Myers and King have known each other since the 1990s, with both having backgrounds in television production. Their first appearance on UK television was as presenters of "The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook", which began on the BBC in 2004 and continued for four series.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: They followed this with "The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain", "The Hairy Bikers' Mums Know Best", "Hairy Bikers' Meals on Wheels", "Hairy Bikers' Best of British", "The Hairy Bikers' Bakeation", "Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight", "The Hairy Bikers' Asian Adventure", "The Hairy Bikers' Northern Exposure" and "The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain" for BBC Two, and "The Hairy Bikers' Mississippi Adventure" for Good Food.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: Both Myers and King have a background in TV and film production. Myers is a professional make-up artist, specialising in prosthetics, while King served as locations manager on numerous productions including the "Harry Potter" films and "Byker Grove".


title: Hairy Bikers

text: They met in 1992 on the set of a TV drama entitled "The Gambling Man" which was based on a Catherine Cookson novel. King was the second assistant director and Myers was head of prosthetics, hair and make-up on the production. Both got tattoos of Che Guevara on their right arm, in 2006 while filming in Argentina. Simon King is a supporter of Newcastle United.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: The duo appeared on the BBC's "The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook". Their TV shows are a mixture of cookery and travelogue, using a similar format and style to that previously associated with Keith Floyd, including the habit of frequently referring to the cameraman and other crew. Most shows feature the pair riding motorbikes, including the BMW R1200GS, F650GS and Triumph Rocket III. The show also features elements of the Two Fat Ladies format, including regular banter between the two stars, use of various unusual cooking locations and the use of motorbikes.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: The pair have appeared on several episodes of "Saturday Kitchen" on the BBC, as well as on "Richard & Judy" on Channel 4. They both appeared on a celebrity chefs special of "The Weakest Link" and in the première episode of "James Martin's Brittany" with "Saturday Kitchen" presenter James Martin.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In summer 2009 they filmed a 30-part daytime series for BBC Two, "The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain", which aired weekdays starting on 24 August 2009. The series saw them visit a different county each day and cook what they considered to be that county's signature dish.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In October 2009, filming of a BBC Christmas show featuring the Hairy Bikers was halted after King was injured in an accident on Tyneside. King came off his bike when a car pulled out in front of him, while he was riding through Gosforth during rush hour. His TV partner Dave Myers was riding some distance behind him. King was taken to Newcastle General Hospital for treatment to bruising to his right leg and ribs. The hour long "Hairy Bikers' Twelve Days of Christmas" was shown on BBC2, 16 December 2009.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: A new six part series titled "The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best" commenced broadcast in early January 2010 on BBC2.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: On 25 October 2010, a new 40-episode series, "The Hairy Bikers' Cook Off", was launched on BBC2. The programme includes a cook off between two families and celebrity guests.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: From January to May 2010, the Hairy Bikers performed their "Big Night Out" show in theatres throughout the UK. Directed by Bob Mortimer, the show was a fun mixture of cooking and chat with a little song and dance thrown in. It explored their youth, how they met and their love of food.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In October 2010, the Hairy Bikers were guests on the BBC TV series "Genius" hosted by comedian Dave Gorman.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In June 2011, the Bikers appeared in the second series of "Mum Knows Best". The series, made up of eight episodes, featured three 'Star Mums' whose recipes were tested and shared with the public. In addition, one of the episodes featured the world-famous 'pie village' of Denby Dale, where the Denby Dale Pie Company are based.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: October 2011 saw a new series, "Meals on Wheels", air on BBC2. The series fronted a campaign to save local 'meals on wheels' services around the UK.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: From November to December 2011, the Bikers appeared in a 30-part BBC series called "Hairy Bikers: Best of British", airing at 3:45pm on BBC2 (apart from the show's final week, in which it aired on BBC1). The series celebrated British recipes and championed local produce. In January 2012, continuing into February, BBC2 showed hour long re-versions including recipes from various episodes of the series.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: After they had signed new contracts with the BBC in 2011, a new series was commissioned. "The Hairy Bikers' Bakeation" saw them on a gastronomic road trip, looking at baking across Europe, from Norway, the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), Germany, Eastern Europe (Slovakia, Hungary and Romania), Austria, Italy and France to Spain.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In March 2012, Good Food commissioned "The Hairy Bikers' Mississippi Adventure", the duo's first series for the channel. UKTV gave a description of the series: "In this ultimate food and music pilgrimage, the perennially popular Hairy Bikers are getting back in the saddle as they explore the length of the iconic Mississippi River in America in pursuit of the delicious roots of soul food and Southern music." The series will be produced by Mentorn Media and the Bikers' first interactive iOS app, also produced by Mentorn, will be released to accompany the series.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In August 2012, "Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight" showed how the Hairy Bikers' radically changed lifestyles, but stayed true to their love of great food, as they embarked on a campaign to lose two-and-a-half stone () in three months, and comfortably passed their target weights.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In August 2012, Myers appeared on Channel 4's "Countdown" in dictionary corner, and again in January 2013.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: Their new six-part series "The Hairy Bikers' Asian Adventure" premiered on BBC2 13 February 2014. The Bikers visit Hong Kong, Bangkok, Thailand, Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto, Kobe & South Korea.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: Myers took part in the eleventh series of "Strictly Come Dancing", partnering Karen Hauer. On 10 November 2013 he was the sixth celebrity to be eliminated from the contest.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In September 2016 the pair premiered "The Hairy Bikers – Chicken & Egg" on BBC 2. The show featured the pair biking across Europe, America, and the Middle East in search of the best chicken and egg recipes. The six episodes feature the UK, France, Morocco, USA and Israel.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: In 2018 Hairy Bikers appeared in Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure on BBC2 This was followed in 2019 by , where the duo visited restaurants and producers situated along the iconic American road.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: During February – March 2020, The Hairy Bikers presented the C5 five-part series "The Chocolate Challenge with The Hairy Bikers", where seven chocolatiers battled it out to create, brand, and name their very own chocolate bar.


title: Hairy Bikers

text: History Channel released an American version of the show starring Paul Patranella and Bill Allen. The show aired for 10 episodes and was spoofed in an episode of "South Park" entitled "A History Channel Thanksgiving".


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is a neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan in New York City. Murray Hill is generally bordered to the east by the East River or Kips Bay and to the west by Midtown Manhattan, though the exact boundaries are disputed. Murray Hill is situated on a steep glacial hill that peaked between Lexington Avenue and Broadway. It was named after Robert Murray, the head of the Murray family, a mercantile family that settled in the area in the 18th century.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The Murray farm was formed before 1762 and existed until at least the early 19th century. Through the 19th century, Murray Hill was relatively isolated from the rest of New York City, which at the time was centered in Lower Manhattan. Murray Hill became an upscale neighborhood during the 20th century. Today, it contains several cultural institutions such as the Morgan Library & Museum, as well as missions and consulates to the nearby United Nations headquarters. The neighborhood also contains architectural landmarks, some of which are in the Murray Hill Historic District, a city and national historic district.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is part of Manhattan Community District 6, and its primary ZIP Codes are 10016 and 10017. It is patrolled by the 17th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill derives its name from Robert Murray (1721–1786), an Irish-born merchant, whose family had a large estate in what is now the modern-day neighborhood. The modern neighborhood was once an abrupt, steep-sided mound of glacial till typical of Manhattan Island's still-unmodified post-glacial terrain. It was described by one author as a "hill of the rudest and most heterogeneous mixture of stone and gravel and boulders, cemented together into a matrix of almost impenetrable density existed, crowning the underlying schist... It had a natural rise from 34th Street, sinking towards 42nd Street and reaching from Lexington Avenue to Broadway." The hill still exists, with an incline from 31st to 35th Streets, as well as a decline north of 37th Street.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: During the 19th century, modern-day Murray Hill was "uptown" with the city ending with the reservoir at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street covering what today is the New York Public Library Main Branch and Bryant Park. To the north was for the most part farmland. A stream called "t'Oude Wrack" (Dutch for "Old Wreck") ran across the area, emptying into Sunfish Pond, located at the present-day Park Avenue South and 31st Street in Kips Bay. The stream originated at what is now Broadway and 44th Street in the middle of Times Square. A glue factory polluted Sunfish Pond heavily during the 1820s; it was infilled in 1839 after most of its water was used to extinguish a fire at the New York House of Refuge.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: According to the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association (formerly the Murray Hill Committee), the neighborhood encompasses the 10016 zip code—bounded by 27th Street to the south, 40th Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East River to the east. By this definition, Murray Hill overlaps with Rose Hill, which is also known as Curry Hill and Little India. This section of Murray Hill was formerly also known as Little Armenia.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has described Murray Hill's boundaries as roughly 34th Street on the south, 40th Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west, and Third Avenue on the east. The city's Planning Department has described the boundaries as roughly 34th Street on the south, 40th Street on the north, Madison Avenue on the west, and Second Avenue on the east. Manhattan Community Board 6—of which Murray Hill is part—has defined the boundaries as 34th Street to the south, 40th Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and the East River to the east.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: For its entry on Murray Hill, the American Institute of Architects' "AIA Guide to New York City" uses the area bounded by 32nd Street to the south, 40th Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and Third Avenue to the east. In "AIA Guide", Murray Hill abuts Midtown to the north and west, Kips Bay to the east, and Rose Hill to the south. Robert A. M. Stern's book "New York 1960" defined the area as being bounded precisely by 34th Street to the south, 42nd Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the west, and Third Avenue to the east.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: "The New York Times" states that commonly used boundaries of Murray Hill are 34th Street to the south, 42nd Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the west, and the East River to the east. Additionally, "the younger, more bar-centric area south of the neighborhood in the upper 20s and lower 30s" is also sometimes held to be part of Murray Hill. "Times" architectural critic Herbert Muschamp, writing in 1997, said the "Zagat Survey" defined all of the area bounded by East 30th and 40th Streets between the East River and Fifth Avenue as part of Murray Hill. Summarizing the conflicting boundaries, Muschamp said that a then-recent survey of residents found many were unable to distinguish Murray Hill by its name.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: What is now Midtown Manhattan was first settled by the Munsee Native Americans. With European colonization in the 17th century, the site was called Belmont and was part of the common lands of New York City.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Robert Murray (1721–1786) moved from Philadelphia to New York City in 1753. During that decade, he became a prosperous merchant, purchasing three vessels and obtaining an ownership stake in another. Murray had a townhouse on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan, which was close to his wharf on the East River at Wall Street, as well as to his retail store.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: By the late 1750s, Murray was relatively successful and wished to build his own mansion. Before 1762, Murray had leased some land in a sparsely populated portion of Manhattan island for use as for his large house and farm. Murray's house was built on a since-leveled hill at what is today Park Avenue and 36th Street. The hill was named "Inclenberg", or "fire beacon hill" in Dutch, referencing the fact that settlers of New Amsterdam used fire beacons to give notice of armed Native American groups. The Murray farm's total area was just under . The farm began a few feet south of modern-day 33rd Street and extended north to the middle of the block between 38th and 39th Streets. At the southern end, the plot was narrow, but at the northern end it extended from approximately Lexington Avenue to a spot between Madison and Fifth Avenues.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The great square house, west of the Eastern Post Road, was approached by an avenue of mixed trees leading from the road. It was flanked on three sides by verandas and contained apartments on either side of a large hall. The mansion was at approximately the present location of Park Avenue and 37th Street. Near the house were a barn, kitchen, and stable. The Murray farm was bounded to the north by Thomas Bridgen Atwood's farm, which was on the western side of the Eastern Post Road between modern-day 38th and 41st Streets, and to the east by Jacobus Kip's farm, along the eastern side of the same road from 28th to 39th Street extending to the East River.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The site overlooked the East River and Kips Bay. Like the other grand projects created by distinguished residents upon Manhattan's prominent rises of ground, the Murray house was used for purposes other than farming. According to historians Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, while some of these farms were for-profit enterprises, "their primary purpose—besides providing refuge from epidemics—was to serve as theaters of refinement". One descendant wrote that Robert Murray "entertained at various times almost every foreigner of distinction who came to the American shores". Early in 1773, and again in 1774, advertisements for the Inclenberg estate were circulated, positioning the house and farm as a summer mansion.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: During the American Revolutionary War, Mary Lindley Murray is credited with delaying William Howe and his army during General Washington's retreat from New York following the British landing at Kip's Bay, September 15, 1776. The most common version of the story is that Mrs. Murray invited the officers to tea and succeeded in delaying the British troops for a period sufficient to allow a successful American retreat. The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage said she saved American independence by detaining Lord Howe long enough to permit Israel Putnam to pass up the Greenwich road from the city and join the forces of George Washington in the north end of the island, before Howe was able to overtake him. The 3,500 men led by Washington were able to escape safely. James Thacher, a surgeon with the Continental Army, wrote in his journal: "It is a common saying among our officers that Mrs. Murray saved this part of the American army."


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: According to later scholarship, the Murrays did not have such a large influence on the landing at Kip's Bay than was portrayed in contemporary sources. One contemporary rumor posited that Mrs. Murray and her two daughters had used "feminine wiles" to convince the officers to stop by for tea. However, later scholarship stated that Howe had ordered his troops to stand down until all the British Army troops had landed at Kips Bay. According to these writers, it was unlikely that Mrs. Murray would have known that Putnam was escaping on Manhattan's west side, given that the farm was on the island's east side. Furthermore, Robert Murray traded with both Continental and British Army soldiers. Nevertheless, the Murrays' actions during the war inspired at least two Broadway shows. The Daughters of the American Revolution placed a plaque in 1926 near the site of the Murray mansion, commemorating the family's wartime actions.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: From 1776 to 1783, when the British Army occupied New York, British soldiers often visited Inclenberg. After the end of British occupation, the Murray family was associated with unpatriotic acts during the war, and one son, Lindley Murray, moved to England. Robert Murray died in 1786 and bequeathed different portions of his estate to his five children. His daughter Susannah was bequeathed the farm, along with some lots in Gold Street in Lower Manhattan. Her husband Gilbert Colden Willett, once a Loyalist general in the Revolutionary War, jointly ran Willett & Murray with Susannah's uncle John Murray. Willett bought the farm from the New York City government in 1799 for 907 pounds. His business shuttered the next year and, as part of the bankruptcy settlement, John Murray bought the farm from the Willetts.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: John Murray and his wife Hannah Lindley had four kids. After John Murray's death in 1808, Hannah Lindley and their kids moved into Inclenberg. Two of their children, Mary and Hannah, did not marry and instead lived in apartments that were specifically created for them at the estate. In the winter of 1808 during the embargo that closed New York Harbor, a work relief program kept out-of-work dock workers busy reducing the height of Murray Hill. Between twenty and forty feet were sliced off its summit and used for fill. Around that time, the area was subdivided into a regular street grid with the enactment of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. Under the plan, what is now Third Avenue was opened between 1815 and 1821.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: John Murray's children confirmed title to the land in 1816, and Mary and Hannah Murray were given the responsibility of renting out the Murray farm. In 1818, they ran advertisements for the farm, which was only from the developed portions of Manhattan. A fire destroyed Inclenberg in 1835 and the lots were split up. The route of the Eastern Post Road from 23rd to 31st Street was closed in April 1844, and the section of the road from 31st to 42nd Street was closed in June 1848.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: In 1833 the railroad cut was begun, to carry the New York and Harlem Rail Road through Murray Hill; the route under the most prominent obstacle in its right-of-way was opened on May 1, 1834. The locomotives, which had met the horse-cars that ran through the city's streets at the station at 27th Street, could pass the reduced hill. By an act of 1850 the city permitted to roof over the cut for the passage of steam locomotives. This Park Avenue Tunnel, enlarged and relined, has been devoted to automobile traffic since 1937.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: In mid-century, the rich temporarily, and the upper middle class more permanently, filled the brownstone row houses that filled Murray Hill's streets. The Brick Presbyterian Church followed its congregation; after selling its site facing City Hall Park, it rebuilt in 1857 closer to its congregation, on the smoothed brow of Murray Hill, at Fifth Avenue and 37th Street. However, when J. P. Morgan built his conservative brownstone free-standing mansion in 1882 on Madison Avenue at 36th Street (later part of The Morgan Library & Museum), it was considered a fashionable but slightly old-fashioned address, as the rich were filling Fifth Avenue with palaces as far as Central Park. Instead stylish merchandising was changing the neighborhood; Madison Square Park, at this time considered a part of Murray Hill, was bordered by the fashionable ladies' shops of the day on Fifth Avenue.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: For much of the 20th century, Murray Hill was a quiet and rather formal place, with many wealthy older residents. In 1905, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived close by Franklin's mother Sara Roosevelt in the Murray Hill neighborhood.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Since the late 1990s, many young people in their twenties have moved to the area from the suburbs of New York. As reported in "The New York Times" in 2011, "...recent college graduates can find themselves among fellow alumni, meet up for familiar drinking rituals and flock to the frozen-yogurt shops and sushi bars that help them stay fit and find a mate for the next stage of life". On weekends, the raucous restaurant-and-bar scene along Third Avenue, beyond the traditional eastern limits of Murray Hill, particularly reflects this change. In the late 1990s, Murray Hill began to attract an influx of young college graduates, leading to a "work-hard, play-hard" atmosphere, which has since been referenced in several media sources such as "The New York Times" and "New York Post". Though housing in the neighborhood is slightly cheaper than in fashionable nearby parts of Manhattan, prices for apartments here rose greatly during the boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s—as much as 500 percent in a decade.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The eastern part of Murray Hill, between FDR Drive and First Avenue from 35th-36th and 38th-41st Streets, formerly contained Consolidated Edison's Waterside power plant until 1999, when the lots were placed for sale. The billionaire developer Sheldon Solow purchased these plots in 2000 and demolished the plant in anticipation of the construction of a multi-building complex on the site. However, these plans stalled with the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and the land lay unused. Solow later sold the 35th-36th Streets plot, and the American Copper Buildings were built on that site, opening in 2017–2018. , the 38th-41st Streets plot was still unused, but Solow intended to construct a four-building condo and office complex on that site.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Murray Hill as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Murray Hill-Kips Bay. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Murray Hill-Kips Bay was 50,742, a change of 2,323 (4.6%) from the 48,419 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of . The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 66.6% (33,818) White, 4.8% (2,423) African American, 0.1% (55) Native American, 16.2% (8,233) Asian, 0% (16) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (181) from other races, and 2% (1,008) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.9% (5,008) of the population.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The entirety of Community District 6, which comprises Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, had 53,120 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.8 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are adults: a plurality (45%) are between the ages of 25–44, while 22% are between 45 and 64, and 13% are 65 or older. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 7% and 12% respectively.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: In 2017, the median household income in Community District 6 was $112,383, though the median income in Murray Hill individually was $117,677. In 2018, an estimated 10% of Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twenty-five residents (4%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 42% in Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The neighborhood is home to St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University, the Morgan Library & Museum, Scandinavia House–The Nordic Center in America, The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York, and a historically notable private institution, the Union League Club of New York. Just west of Murray Hill is 10 East 40th Street, an example of art deco architecture. , The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated several buildings in Murray Hill as landmarks, including 2 Park Avenue, 275 Madison Avenue, the Daily News Building, the Madison Belmont Building, and the Socony–Mobil Building.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: On January 29, 2008, the Whitney Museum of American Art branch gallery at what had been the Philip Morris headquarters opposite Grand Central Terminal closed after a 25-year run. For around fifty years the neighborhood had been home to "National Review", the conservative journal of opinion founded by William F. Buckley, Jr., most of that time at 150 East 35th Street and 215 Lexington Avenue at 33rd Street. 150 East 35th Street was purchased by Yeshiva University.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: In 2002, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission created the Murray Hill Historic District. The original district consists of 71 rowhouses, three apartments, a church, and an office within two non-contiguous areas. The district was extended in 2004 to encompass 12 additional buildings in two areas, one of which directly abuts both of the original historic district areas. The expanded city historic district includes properties on both sides of 35th through 38th Streets between Park and Lexington Avenues.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The National Park Service also added the Murray Hill Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, with 88 contributing and 12 non-contributing properties. The NRHP district was extended in 2013 with another 150 contributing and 21 non-contributing buildings. The NRHP district's expansion includes several structures built in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as rowhouse with facade modifications. The expanded NRHP district includes about 16 blocks bounded by Madison Avenue, 34th Street, Third Avenue, and 40th Street.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The defense contractor L3 Technologies has its headquarters in Murray Hill. Sumitomo Corporation operates its New York Office, the headquarters of the corporation's United States operations, in the same building as the headquarters of L-3. Industries supported by the office include Aerospace and Defense, Agricultural Commodities, Agrochemicals, Business Investment, Chemicals, Fertilizer, Information Technology, Latin American Operations, Living Related Products, Media and IT Venture Group, Meat Products, Presidio Venture Partners, Ship, Real Estate, Transportation Systems and Equipment, and Tubular Products. China Airlines operates its New York branch office on Third Avenue.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: American Airlines opened its headquarters at 633 Third Avenue in 1975. Three years later, American announced that it would move its headquarters to a site at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport the following year, in an act that New York City mayor Ed Koch called a "betrayal" of New York City.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Due to the proximity of the headquarters of the United Nations and the availability of old mansions, many countries operate diplomatic missions and consulates in Murray Hill, including:


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill and Turtle Bay are patrolled by the 17th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 167 East 51st Street. The 17th Precinct and neighboring 13th Precinct ranked 57th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The high per-capita crime rate is attributed to the precincts' high number of property crimes. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 35 per 100,000 people, Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 180 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The 17th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 80.7% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 0 murders, 13 rapes, 63 robberies, 91 felony assaults, 80 burglaries, 748 grand larcenies, and 26 grand larcenies auto in 2018.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 21 fire station, located at 238 East 40th Street.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: , preterm births and births to teenage mothers in Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town are lower than the city average. In Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, there were 78 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 1.5 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide), though the teenage birth rate was based on a small sample size. Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town have a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 3%, less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town is , more than the city average. Twelve percent of Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town residents are smokers, which is less than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, 10% of residents are obese, 5% are diabetic, and 18% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 7% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Ninety-one percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 90% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," more than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, there are 7 bodegas.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The nearest hospitals are the Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Medical Center, located in Kips Bay. In addition, In addition, Beth Israel Medical Center is located in Stuyvesant Town.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is located in two primary ZIP Codes. The area south of 40th Street is located in 10016, while the area north of 40th Street is in 10017. There are also three smaller ZIP Codes for individual buildings: 10158 (605 Third Avenue), 10165 (One Grand Central Place), and 10168 (Chanin Building). The United States Postal Service operates three post offices in Murray Hill:


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town generally have a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . A majority of residents age 25 and older (82%) have a college education or higher, while 3% have less than a high school education and 15% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town students excelling in math rose from 61% in 2000 to 80% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 66% to 68% during the same time period.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town, 8% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, less than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 91% of high school students in Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The New York City Department of Education operates local public schools. P.S. 116, Mary Lindley Murray School, is the neighborhood elementary school. The entrances to P.S. 116 on 33rd Street are divided into "Boys'" and "Girls'" doors. Each entrance features decorative carvings of male and female students, respectively, engaged in reading and scientific activities.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill residents are also zoned to I.S. 104, the Simon Baruch School, located in the Gramercy Park neighborhood.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Kips Bay branch is located at 446 Third Avenue. The one-story branch opened in 1972 as a replacement for the St. Gabriel's and Nathan Straus branches.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: The community is also home to the CUNY Graduate Center, which shares the former B. Altman & Company Building with Oxford University Press.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is served by the New York City Subway's at 33rd Street. It is also served by MTA Regional Bus Operations' routes. Metro-North Railroad service is available at nearby Grand Central Terminal.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: Murray Hill is served by various NYC Ferry and SeaStreak ferry services at the East 34th Street Ferry Landing. The ferry landing is adjacent to the East 34th Street Heliport.


title: Murray Hill, Manhattan

text: For the most part of the 20th century the name "Murray Hill" was used by New York Telephone as a telephone exchange for residents living on the East Side of Manhattan, served from the East 37th Street exchange building. Though the entire city was covered by area code 212 until the 1980s, most neighborhoods at the time would be grouped together by a particular exchange name. Other municipalities in the United States would also use MUrray or MUrray Hill as an exchange name. The first two letters in MUrray (capitalized to indicate that they should be dialed) would be followed by five digits to make up a telephone number, such as MUrray Hill 5-9975 (the Ricardos' number on "I Love Lucy"). This was the way most telephone numbers were given until AT&T switched to All-Number Calling by the late 1970s to early 1980s. Nevertheless, the name MUrray Hill is still applicable, as many East Side phone numbers in area code 212 still begin with 68, which corresponds to MU on the telephone keypad.


title: Soccer AM

text: First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the football season. As of 2010, it airs on a short broadcast delay in order to edit bad language and/or inappropriate content from guests.


title: Soccer AM

text: Its best-known presenters were Helen Chamberlain, who presented the show for 22 years, and Tim Lovejoy, who hosted from 1996 to 2007. As of 2019, its current presenters are John Fendley and ex-footballer Jimmy Bullard.


title: Soccer AM

text: The "Fans of the Week" feature is a mainstay of the show - eight fans of a British football club feature as studio guests every week, seated in a section of the set known as the "Luther Blissett Stand", introduced in December 1997. They were featured in various aspects of the show, culminating in a team footballing challenge at the end of the programme. The feature was dropped for the 2015–16 season when the programme's running time was cut to 90 minutes.


title: Soccer AM

text: The challenge involves the fans attempting to kick a football through a number of holes within the sixty second time limit. The challenge has been renamed almost every season, along with the props and background music for the feature. The other studio guests all have the opportunity to attempt to score as well. Its various guises through the years include:


title: Soccer AM

text: The "Soccer AM" "Soccerette" was a feature of the show for several years. A young female modelling a "Soccer AM" T-shirt, which was redesigned each season acted as a competition prize. Viewers can win the T-shirt by guessing the number of goals scored by the "Fans of the Week" in their team challenge later in the show. The Soccerette was introduced by the male presenter and was asked a series of questions that almost inevitably led into premeditated gags and innuendo.


title: Soccer AM

text: The Soccerette was asked about her marital status, which results in rampant cheers if "single", and boos if the Soccerette "has a boyfriend" or "married" (although the latter was fairly rare), and a crew member would run on without a shirt and react. Former host Tim Lovejoy used to declare that the Soccerette's relationship will "never last", regardless of how long they had been together.


title: Soccer AM

text: Famous Soccerettes have included Natalie Sawyer, Jennifer Metcalfe, Lucy Pinder, Tamsin Greenway, Gemma Atkinson and Louise Cliffe. This segment was dropped in 2015 due to its outdated attitudes.


title: Soccer AM

text: Shocker Saturday is a segment parodying Sky Sports News' "Soccer Saturday", featuring Fendley playing the part of Jeff Stelling. The studio guests, standing in front of a green-screen in the studio, pretend to be match reporters. During his time co-presenting the show, Lloyd Griffith played a character named "Glen Stefani", an obvious reference to American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani. Fendley and the "reporters" all typically link into humorous clips of various footballing antics, in addition to some non-football clips.


title: Soccer AM

text: Sky Spoof News was a segment featuring Lloyd Griffith playing a Sky Sports News presenter named "Glen Stefani", typically alongside one of the actual presenters from the channel. The segment typically features blunders from presenters and journalists, as well as entertaining football clips. On occasion, Griffith also presented from other events such as the PDC World Darts Championship.


title: Soccer AM

text: Unbelievable Tekkers is a segment featuring a clip of football action from the past week, usually the best goal or piece of skill of the week. The phrase was apparently first used by Andy Ansah on Wayne Rooney's Street Striker, with the word "tekkers" meaning "technique". The introduction goes "Some tekkers are good..." (with clip of a great Wayne Rooney overhead kick), "Some tekkers are bad..." (with clip of David Dunn miskicking and falling over) "but some tekkers..." (Andy Ansah clip) "Unbelievable Tekkers!" The 2010–11 season Soccer AM T-shirt also featured this phrase.


title: Soccer AM

text: The segment is, as of 2019, called Obscene Skill, featuring a clip of football action, ending with a clip of Jamie Carragher saying "That's obscene that is!".


title: Soccer AM

text: A nutmeg is the term applied when a player plays the ball between his opponent's legs and regains control of the ball after going round him. Another ever-present feature of the show, the weekly edition of "The Nutmeg Files" shows a clip from the previous week's football matches of a player being nutmegged, while the "nutmegger" is superimposed shouting "NUTS!", "¡Caňo!" (Brazil/Portugal), "Tunnel" (Italy) and "Petit Pont" (France), depending on which country the "nutmegger" is from. This feature is (very loosely) based on "The Rockford Files".


title: Soccer AM

text: Third Eye has been a feature of the show from its outset, and involves viewers sending in often-comical mishaps from the television (generally football matches) that may well have been missed by the majority of the viewing audience. These typically involve people falling over or being caught doing something stupid.


title: Soccer AM

text: The feature Taxi!, accompanied by the theme tune of the US sitcom, consists of yet more clips from the previous week's live football. The clips chosen are typically embarrassing displays of showboating gone wrong. The embarrassed player's name is then suffixed to the voice-over phrase "TAXI FOR...". Concluding with the quote ""Taxi is filmed in front of a live stadium audience.""


title: Soccer AM

text: The presenters highlight several embarrassing moments from the previous week's football, the worst comes last and is usually introduced with:


title: Soccer AM

text: Team Mates is the section at the end of the show where a player from a football team is interviewed about their teammates, being asked questions such as which teammate is the best trainer or has the worst dress sense.


title: Soccer AM

text: ""The Crossbar Challenge"" is a feature that involves a weekly trip to the training ground of a British league football team. The entire squad, including willing coaching staff and managers, are filmed, one-by-one, introducing themselves and attempting to hit the crossbar of the goal from the halfway line. The feat is rarely accomplished - the majority of squads fail to hit the bar once. However, a successful strike generally provokes manic celebrations by the kicker and his teammates. The original background music is the instrumental "Seventeen Years" by Ratatat but this was changed to "Smiling" by The Beta Band.


title: Soccer AM

text: The current record is held by Wolverhampton Wanderers who hit the crossbar four times on 25 April 2009. The current player record is held by Graham Stack who has hit the bar three times for three different clubs (Wolves, Plymouth and Millwall).


title: Soccer AM

text: In 2007, the Ice Patrol Ship HMS Endurance's 1XI team carried out The Crossbar Challenge in Antarctica, with the goalposts semi buried in fresh snow. This was shown on the show and is acknowledged as the most southerly Crossbar Challenge, to date.


title: Soccer AM

text: A pre-recorded section where two members of a football team – usually a youth/academy side – pits their wits against each in showing off their best individual skills with the football. It involves a different side each week. Rocket presents this part with the two opponents, surrounded by their teammates, and with the appropriate drum and bass backing tune of "Don't Wanna Know" by Shy FX and T-Power. He begins by saying to the footballers (named Joe and Bob for example):


title: Soccer AM

text: "Joe, Bob, Welcome to Skill Skool. You know the rules, three rounds, best skill wins. Let's get the lesson on!"


title: Soccer AM

text: Sublime individual skills are shown by each competitor while being egged on by their teammates. After each have completed 3 rounds, Rocket says:


title: Soccer AM

text: Rocket proceeds to thrust the ball into the mid-rift of the winner, while the teammates usually mob and even sometimes perform some prank.


title: Soccer AM

text: A famous footballer is asked to name his three favourite goals throughout his career so far, and the choices are played (in reverse order) at various stages throughout the show. Notable appearances have included Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, and Ryan Giggs. Ruud van Nistelrooy in this section was only asked to pick his top three favourite goals for Manchester United. The song used during the older version of 'My Favourite Goal' is "Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You)" by Aqualung.


title: Soccer AM

text: This sketch involves crew member Trev, dressing up in a builders outfit, sitting in a café and reading the newspaper (presumably tabloid) and giving us his account of recent events in football and footballers all over the world, in a parody of James Richardson from Football Italia. This is a skit on the typical lazy English builder, having lunch in a café. Our Man In A Caff ends with Trev signing out with 'Over an Out' plus an added sign off from somebody or from somewhere.


title: Soccer AM

text: This weekly sketch involves two crew members playing the part of Ant and Dec in Australia as if presenting the ITV show "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here", who introduce football clips from Australia's A-League, typically featuring former Premier League star Robbie Fowler, accompanied by a parody Australian commentary. While the football clip is playing, a guest attempts a "bushtucker trial" trying to find a star in "Georgie Thompson's box", a cardboard box with a picture of said Sky Sports News presenter on the front and shown to contain some form of unpleasant creature, a task at which the guest always fails. The end of the sketch generally sees "Ant" hit in the eyes by some kind of object or substance and shouting "I'm blind, Dec!", a reference to a scene from the teenage drama "Byker Grove" in which the real-life Ant and Dec first found fame.


title: Soccer AM

text: Current, and former performing crew members include "Fenners" (John Fendley), "Sheephead" (Joe Worsley), "Tubes" (Peter Dale), "Rocket" (James Long), Neil (Smythe), Robbie Knox (TRAMP! is sung every time he is mentioned to the tune of "The Champ" by The Mohawks), Jon Dyson, Chris Nutbeam and newest member Steve Sutcliffe.


title: Soccer AM

text: Crew member "Tubes" (Peter Dale) has had a regular feature on the show, where he has ""one question and one question only"" to one of the studio guests. Max asks ""Who is your question for this week"", and the answer results in a dimming of the studio lights and a spotlight on the questionee. After the question has been asked Tubes goes to shake the questionees hand thanking them as he does. Tubes' popularity has grown significantly - a public vote saw him being voted more popular than (crew member) Rocket - in part due to his woeful (but comic) rapping ability which he demonstrates every week before actually posing a question, his ability to keep a "straight" face is also one of his main attributes. Due to his weekly binge drinking exploits, Tim Lovejoy called for pub landlords across the country to ban Tubes from their establishments for his own good. Tubes' rapping has also been used in a parody of iTunes, where at the end instead of saying "iTunes", it says "iTubes". Some Of Tubes' Catchphrases include "Sickening" "Sick" and "Sickness".


title: Soccer AM

text: Each year, the "Soccer AM" Dance-Off is held which is a dancing competition usually involving all crew members. The crew have 15 seconds each to dance before the next contestant goes on, and each dance usually receives good natured laughing and booing from the audience.


title: Soccer AM

text: Following Tim Lovejoy's departure, several of the crew members including "Fenners" (John Fendley), "Sheephead" and Robbie Knox also departed, which meant the end of some of the features of the show.


title: Soccer AM

text: From 2004 to 2007 the previous weekends highlights from Boston United's games featured in their own segment called "Boston Goals". Presented by "Mike Schweinberger" and "Randy Wakeman III", Boston were coined as "the League's only American side" alluding to the City of Boston, Massachusetts and making a play on United's nickname "The Pilgrims" which was named after the settlers of the same name. The commentary would be exaggerated and 'Americanized' with various phrases featured in American sports like Baseball, Basketball and American football featuring heavily. Phrases featured were "PK" for a penalty, "Corner Restart" for a corner, "Ejected" for a red card, "Rejected" for a save by the goalkeeper, "Top body strike" for a header. Shots or goals hit into the top corner would be described as hit towards the "upper 90" or "lower 90" with phrases such as "Touchdown" occasionally used to describe a goal and "fumble" when a player would lose a ball to the other team, a goalkeeper was occasionally referred to as a "Point Guard" The feature ended when Boston United were relegated from the Football League at the end of the 2006–07 season.


title: Soccer AM

text: In Small Talk, Rocket and Arrogant Baby Elvis go around the streets of a chosen British town and ask a question related to a current event in the Football world e.g. in the episode from 13 September 2008, Baby Elvis asked people in Doncaster how they keep fit, following reports of Dimitar Berbatov being on an intensive fitness programme after his recent move to Manchester United.


title: Soccer AM

text: This is a sketch which was a parody of the new American manager of Swansea City, Bob Bradley. The sketch is a light hearted take on the way Americans take "Soccer" and expressions used, phrases were coined in a similar way to the previous Boston Goals sketch as Fenners who had played "Mike Schweinberger" also played Bobley. The theme was the "Brad Bobley Soccer Camp" and each week he would show participants how to execute a variety of different football skills such as Penalties, Free Kicks and challenges. The segment would often feature Bobley lambasting and swearing at Rocket and hitting him over the head with his clipboard. He coined the phrase "Megnuts, so sweet" in reference to a "Nutmeg". The real Bradley was dismissed after only a few months in the Swansea job, but Soccer AM continued with the Brad Bobley character for the rest of the 2016–17 season. This led to a new feature called "Megnuts of the Week". When asked about Bradley's sacking AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe accidentally referred to him by naming him "Brad", this was picked up on by the show who played it the following week.


title: Soccer AM

text: The Soccer AM Webcam was introduced in the start of the 10th season. Refreshing every 5 seconds, it gave viewers the opportunity to view a live feed from the "Soccer AM" Office. Due to popular demand, it was later upgraded to refreshing every "3 seconds". The webcam soon gained its own feature on the show - a soap picking out the best behind-the-scenes moments from the office, and concluding with a cliffhanger of a will he-won't he. The webcam broke in between seasons in the summer of 2006, but at the start of the following season the team announced that a new webcam had been installed with improved pictures as well as the ability for the team to zoom in on certain aspects of the office.


title: Soccer AM

text: Borne out of the link between professional footballers and golf, ""The Ten-Yard Bucket Challenge"" sees a professional footballer attempting to chip a golf ball into a bucket from a distance of ten yards. The football-golf link exists due mainly to the amount of free time footballers are allowed in the daytime after training sessions, and "Soccer AM"'s homage to golf involves a single personality from the world of football who attempts the challenge. One notable attempt was from Ryan Taylor, then of Tranmere Rovers, who was not featuring in the challenge that week, but was accompanying teammate Jason McAteer. While cameras happened to be rolling, he had a go and accomplished the feat in a single attempt. Many overconfident amateurs have been known to run tallies of well over a hundred attempts. The background music to the challenge is "Ladyflash" by The Go! Team.


title: Soccer AM

text: A part of the show where two players from a club compete to see who can hit the bullseye of a dart board first. The current holder with only two throws is Emmanuel Eboue whilst he was playing for Arsenal.


title: Soccer AM

text: As its audience share grew, its influence grew in turn. Some of the show's notable influences have included:


title: Soccer AM

text: For some seasons, "Soccer AM" had the privilege of being able to draw fixtures for each round of the Football League Trophy.


title: Soccer AM

text: This was normally done - in the style of British gameshow "Play Your Cards Right" - by the presenters cutting oversized cards onto large holders, and turning them over one at a time to generate football matches. This process was overseen by an independent adjudicator from the Football League Stuart Trigwell, known to Soccer AM as 'face', ridiculing a column in the Daily Mail referring to him as the 'Face of The Football League'.


title: Soccer AM

text: Four "Soccer AM" DVDs were released - "The Top Ten Goals of All Time" in November 2004, "The Ten Greatest Players of the Last Ten Years" the following year, "The Greatest Matches of All Time" in 2006, and "Dream Team - The Greatest Team in the World" in 2009.


title: Soccer AM

text: A soundtrack of indie and rock music featured in the show's goal compilations was released in June 2006.


title: Soccer AM

text: In July 2014, "Soccer AM" announced a partnership with non-league Basingstoke Town F.C. The club's Camrose Stadium was renamed 'The Soccer AM Stadium' as part of the partnership – with the club featuring regularly on the show. "Soccer AM" producer, Rob Wakeling said "We’re really pleased to be supporting Basingstoke Town FC from now on – and we’ve got some very exciting things planned over the coming season".


title: SEAL Team (season 3)

text: The third season of the American military drama television series "SEAL Team" premiered on October 2, 2019, and ended on May 6, 2020. Only 20 episodes were produced due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The season is produced by CBS Television Studios.


title: SEAL Team (season 3)

text: On July 10, 2019, it was reported that Jamie McShane and Rudy Dobrev were cast in recurring roles for the third season. On August 7, 2019, Emily Swallow was cast in a recurring capacity for the third season.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: The Kunan Poshspora incident was an alleged mass rape that occurred on 23 February 1991 when unit(s) of the Indian security forces, after being fired upon by militants, launched a search operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora, located in Kashmir's remote Kupwara District. The residents of the neighbourhood stated that militants had fired on soldiers nearby, which prompted the operation. Some of the villagers claimed that many women were raped by soldiers that night. The first information report filed in the police station after a visit by the local magistrate reported the number of women alleging rape as 23. However, Human Rights Watch asserts that this number could be between 23 and 100. These allegations were denied by the army. The government determined that the evidence was not sufficient and issued a statement condemning the allegations as terrorist propaganda.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: While the Government's investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as 'baseless', international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted, Human Rights Watch stated that the government had launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: The "New York Times" had quoted the residents of the Kunan Poshpora neighbourhood stating that militants had fired on security forces nearby, which prompted the search operation by the forces. On 23 February 1991 the paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force cordoned off the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora to conduct a search operation for the militants. The men in the village were assembled outside and interrogated about the militant activity while the village was searched. After the search operation was over, some of the villagers claimed that many women were allegedly raped by soldiers that night.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: Later on the local Islamic militant the leader of the Hizbi Islami organization named Mushtaq ul-Islam gave an interview to the "New York Times". His Islamic fundamentalist organization supported Kashmir to join Pakistan. The militant leader denied the claim that the group had shot first, but added that his commandos were armed to fight the forces off.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: On 5 March, villagers complained about the incident to local magistrate S. M. Yasin. After visiting the village on 7 March, he filed his report that included statements from 23 women alleging they have been raped. The increased publicity about the incident in the national media led to strong denials from military officials. On 8 March, an FIR was registered at Trehgam police station, that mentioned 23 women were allegedly gangraped in Kunan and Poshpora.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: On 17 March, Mufti Baha-ud-Din Farooqi, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, led a fact-finding delegation to Kunan Poshpora. Over the course of his investigation, he interviewed 53 women who alleged to have been raped by the soldiers, and tried to determine why a police investigation into the incident had never taken place. According to his report, villagers claimed that a police investigation into the event had never commenced because the officer assigned to the case, Assistant Superintendent Dilbaugh Singh, was on leave. Farooqi later stated that in this case "normal investigative procedures were ignored". Just a few months later, in July, 1991, Dilbaugh Singh was transferred to another station without ever having started the investigation.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: On 18 March, Wajahat Habibullah, the divisional commissioner, after a visit to the village filed a report. Habibullah had found the complaint to be exaggerated but not unfounded. A certificate of good behaviour was given to the troops before departing from Kunan Poshpura, by the village headman known as lumbardar. The lumbardar had told Habibullah his unawareness of the alleged crimes against the women. Habibullah's report concluded that the veracity of the complaint was highly doubtful, but the reason for such a complaint should be investigated. The report recommended for further investigation by "a gazetted police officer".


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: The government's investigation was criticized; subsequently the Press Council of India, a statutory and quasi-judicial body of the print media, appointed a committee for the investigation of the incident. The investigative committee visited Kunan Poshpora in June. Upon interviewing a number of the alleged victims, the team claimed that contradictions in their testimony rendered their allegations of rape "baseless". A pediatrician who was a member of a citizen's group named as the Jammu and Kashmir People's Basic Rights Committee and had made the allegation that one of the women who had been pregnant at the time of the incident had given birth to a child with a fractured arm just four days later. The investigative committee interviewed the hospital officials and concluded that injuries like this may happen due to the efforts of doctors, who are trying to position the unborn fetus for a delivery.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: On 15 and 21 March, Medical examinations were conducted on 32 of the women, confirmed presence of abrasions on their chests and abdomens, and three of the unmarried women had torn hymens. The team concluded that "such a delayed medical examination proves nothing" and that such abrasions are commonly found among villagers in Kashmir. The hymen can be torn due to natural factors, injury, or premarital sex.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: In stark contrast of the purported allegations of abuses, these investigations concluded the allegations themselves are "grossly exaggerated or invented". The team concluded that the charges against the army were "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathizers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad as a part of sustained and cleverly contrived strategy of psychological warfare and as an entry point for reinscribing Kashmir on the international agenda as a human rights issue. The loose-ends and the contradictions in the story expose a tissue of lies by many persons at many levels".


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: Following the release of the Press Council's report, government authorities dismissed all of the allegations of mass rape as groundless. In September, the case was declared "un-fit for launching criminal prosecution" and was closed after a month.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: The Press Council's dismissal of allegation was criticized by Human Rights Watch. It stated that although the results of the examinations failed to prove the charges of rape, they still raised questions on activity of the army in Kunan Poshpora. According to HRW, the committee had dismissed any evidence that may contradict the government version of events. The HRW report accused the committee of being more concerned about countering the criticism than uncovering truth.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: The United States Department of State, in its 1992 report on international human rights, stated that there was "credible evidence" that supports the mass rape charges against the army unit at Kunan Poshpora.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: In 2004, one of the alleged victims approached the J&K State Human Rights Commission seeking a reinvestigation of the case. In 2007, more women approached the SHRC for reopening of the case. The villagers from the two villages formed Kunan-Poshpora Coordination Committee (KCC) headed by 70-year-old man Ghulam Ahmad Dar to seek justice for the victims.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: In October 2011, the Jammu & Kashmir Human Rights Commission asked the J&K government to reinvestigate the alleged mass rape case and compensate the victims.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: A writ petition filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2013 alleged that more than 30 women had been raped. The charges had not been proved and there had been no progress in trial. The High Court observed that it hoped the committee appointed by the J&K government would examine and quickly implement the recommendations of the SHRC.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: In December 2017, the J&K government approached the Supreme Court of India against orders of the High Court. The top court directed that the appeals should be heard expeditiously.


title: Kunan Poshpora incident

text: "The Indian Express" reported on 21 July 2013 that the victims and their families are being socially ostracised by other villagers in the locality. The only government school in the two affected villages teaches up to standard eight. The students going for higher education in the nearby Trehgam and Kupwara were taunted due to the incident and most of them choose to drop out after class eight. Families not involved in the incident at the same villages have disassociated socially with the victims' families. Villagers claimed that it was difficult to find grooms for their children.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is an action role-playing video game developed by Cyanide and published by Nacon. It is based on White Wolf Publishing's tabletop role-playing game "", and is part of the larger "World of Darkness" series. The game was released on February 4, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The story follows Cahal, an eco-terrorist werewolf who has been banished from his werewolf tribe, and who fights against the Pentex corporation and the pollution it causes. The player, as Cahal, traverses areas in the American Northwest, and can shapeshift into a wolf, human or werewolf form to perform various tasks, such as exploration, conversation and combat.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: "Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood" is a third-person, single-player action role-playing game in which the player takes the role of an eco-terrorist werewolf. The player explores various areas in the American Northwest, in the form of large hub worlds. Within these areas, the player plays through missions, which may have effects on the game world, including leading to secondary missions getting unlocked. The player also goes to Penumbra, a place between the physical world and the spirit world, where they can receive sidequests or challenges from the Great Spirit of the Waterfall, who gives the player rewards for completing them, such as opening shortcuts between areas.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The werewolf is a shapeshifter, and can take on the forms of a wolf and a human in addition to his werewolf form. Each form has its own gameplay mechanics tied to it: the wolf form is used for exploration, tracking, spying, and stealth, as well as being able to pass through narrow passages; the human form is used for interactions, such as using machines and conversing with people; and the werewolf form is used for combat. When in the human form, other characters are not aware that the player character really is a werewolf, allowing the player to go undercover. The player develops the werewolf through a skill tree, where they can choose between different archetypes connected to different weaknesses and strengths. The player also has access to various supernatural power-ups, which are drawn from nature.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The gameplay involves management of the player character's rage: the werewolf's rage rises as he learns about problems humans have caused, such as pollution and greed. If the player lets the werewolf's rage overflow, the werewolf will enter a frenzy state and turn into a violent, monstrous beast. When in the frenzy state, the werewolf is more powerful, but also finds it more difficult to parse information, such as whether a character is an enemy or an innocent, and will draw the attention of enemies. Once in the frenzy state, the only way to break out of it is to kill all who are present, regardless of if they are enemies or not.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: "Earthblood" takes place in the American Northwest, and is set in the World of Darkness, where supernatural beings, such as vampires and werewolves, secretly struggle for power. The world is ruled by three entities: the Wyld, a chaotic, creative force that creates life and oversees nature; the Weaver, which is tasked to give form to the Wyld's creativity, organizing Earth; and the Wyrm, which originally existed as a balancing force between the Wyld and the Weaver, originally a force of breakdown and renewal, but which has become like a black hole trying to destroy everything due to how powerful the Weaver has gotten, and which corrupts humans easily.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The game focuses on werewolves, known as Garou, whose nation consists of thirteen tribes called the Garou Nation. Whereas vampires integrate into human societies, werewolves are recluses, and are portrayed as the "immune system of the planet", working to protect nature. Different tribes have different views on how to achieve this and how to deal with humanity: for example, the Glass Walkers think that humanity can get out of environmental problems with the use of technology; the Black Furies fight for feminism, women's rights and gender equality; the Bone Gnawers care about social class and fight for economically oppressed people; and the Red Talons would like to wage war against humanity to see who will survive. Due to their varying perspectives, there is a lot of in-fighting between the tribes.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The game follows the werewolf Cahal, a member of  the familial Fianna tribe of Irish werewolves, and works alongside his pack with the eco-terrorist group, Lambda Mankind, fighting against an oil subsidiary called Endron, whose president, Richard Wadkins, willingly serves the Wyrm to disrupt the balance of Gaia. In one of their missions, Cahal, along with his packmates, Cahal's brother-in-law Rodko, Ava and his wife Ludmilla, infiltrate an Endron facility. Their plan tampers with the data of their oil extraction and forces them to pull out of the region. During the raid, Ludmilla is killed by a werewolf in Wadkins' security, and Cahal soon accidentally kills another packmate, Rafiq, and blinds Rodko. In shame for what he has done, Cahal leaves the pack.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Five years later, Cahal works freelance. After a raid on an energy corp in Washington State, Cahal returns to his homeland in Tarker's Mill, along with his partner, Dusk. Cahal intends to atone for what he's done, and upon returning home, finds his former tribe is at war with Endron militia's, led by Major Graner. After fighting off an attack that injures Rodko, Cahal is sent to dismantle an Endron training center, before he reunites with his daughter Aedana, and Ava, who are operating to dismantle Endron from within. It is discovered that Endron has created a new substance called Earthblood, which is used to enhance and mutate their soldiers to the Wyrm's twisted image.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Later on, while a new raid is planned to expose Endron, Aedana is kidnapped by Watkins, and Rodko gives into his rage. Cahal is forced to kill Rodko when the two transform and fight. Watkins reveals he knew about the packs plans and plans to run experiments on Aedana. Cahal manages to kill Graner, driving Wyrm from his homeland in retaliation. Cahal plans to rescue Aedana by getting himself arrested, and infiltrating a prison in Nevada, where Erdron is conducting experiments on prisoners.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: In Nevada, Cahal gathers information from a werewolf named Onawa, who was a test subject in Endron's experiments. He learns that Aedana was taken to Endron headquarters, and escapes prison with Onawa to regroup the latter's pack, which has also been warring with Endron. When Cahal infiltrates their facility, Watkins sets up a trap where he sets loose Earthblood gas across the area, causing environmental damage, killing and infecting people in the area. Onawa reveals she is working for Endron, in exchange for her pack's safety. Their guardian spirit has also been infected by Wyrm, but they are freed from its influence when Cahal bests them in battle.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Tracking Aedana down to an Endron oil rig, Cahal regroups with Ava and learns of Endron's plans to spread the Wyrm by releasing Earthblood as an alternative to oil. In the final siege, Cahal finds Aedana in a glass container, where she is heavily mutated by Watkin's experiments. Cahal is forced to fight and mercy kill his daughter, who dies in his arms. Cahal is presented with a choice to take revenge on Watkins' or save Ava and the activists from Endron's militia.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: If Cahal chooses to confront Watkins, he corners the CEO, who mutates himself with Earthblood. Cahal manages to kill Watkins after a fight, but discovers that Ava and her team have been slaughtered. Cahal manages to destroy the facility with explosives, with Earthblood's release being postponed, and the activist group Cahal and Ava work for being denounced as terrorists by the media. If Cahal saves Ava, Wadkins' flees the rig, while Cahal and Ava bring down the facility. The media has a much better reception of the group, and Endron abandons its plans after discovering Wadkin's actions, forcing him into hiding. Regardless of the ending, Endron's leadership, Pentex, plans to look into Wadkins' research, implying their work will continue.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: "Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood" was developed by Cyanide in the game engine Unreal Engine 4, with cooperation from White Wolf Publishing to help make the game stay true to White Wolf's "" tabletop role-playing game that "Earthblood" is based on. The game is directed by Julien Desourteaux, with Martin Ericsson serving as lead writer. The entire level design team from Cyanide's earlier game "" also worked on "Earthblood", and there were according to Desourteaux a lot of things carrying over from "Shards of Darkness" into "Earthblood", although they had to develop combat from scratch.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Prior to the start of development of the game, the developers considered various genres for an adaptation of "Werewolf: The Apocalypse", such as a brawler or an isometric role-playing game, before deciding on an action role-playing game. Early questions they asked, that would form the game, included "When will you rage?", "When will you use violence?", "When will you have had enough?", and "What is the price of changing the world through violence?"; they wanted to avoid giving out answers considered correct, and wanted to let the player think about it for themselves and come up with answers.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: According to Desourteaux, this question of rage management is the main theme of the game; a branching narrative was considered to facilitate the exploration of these questions, but eventually the developers decided on a largely linear story with minor branches. Ericsson described the game as being strongly focused on its narrative, and therefore having a defined protagonist, and a fixed story with themes such as family, estrangement, cynicism, and idealism.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: Pre-production of the game began around late 2016, following Paradox Interactive's purchase of White Wolf in 2015, and the game was announced in January 2017. It was originally set to be published by Focus Home Interactive, but switched publishers to Nacon in 2018 following Nacon's purchase of Cyanide. It was presented for the first time at E3 2019 in Los Angeles in June 2019, and was exhibited at PDXCON 2019 in October. The game was eventually released on February 4, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: The game received positive previews at E3 2019, with "Paste" calling it one of their favorites of the show. However, upon launch it received "mixed or average reviews" for the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X versions, and "generally unfavorable reviews" for the PlayStation 4 version, according to the review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

text: "IGN" gave the game a negative review saying, ""Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood" has decent stealth going for it, but its weak story forces you into painfully mediocre combat too often to be worthwhile." "Destructoid" liked the game's combat, but felt the mission design and stealth was repetitive, with the reviewer stating that the game felt like "around 10 to 12 hours of the exact same stealth mission". "Eurogamer" wrote that the game itself was fine, but heavily criticized the plot of the game, writing that "Earthblood" had "A lacklustre story and characters that are so superficial, it's hard to forge any emotional connections with any of them". "PC Gamer" enjoyed the werewolf form, liking the intensity it brought to fights, writing "Combat is rather simple—AI isn't exactly Deep Blue level, and it's a bit button-bashy—but dammit it's fun". "PCGamesN" felt that low-quality character models and environments brought the game down, while the music looped "endlessly until you clear out each section of a level".


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walking Horse or Tennessee Walker is a breed of gaited horse known for its unique four-beat running-walk and flashy movement. It was originally developed as a riding horse on farms and plantations in the American South. It is a popular riding horse due to its calm disposition, smooth gaits and sure-footedness. The Tennessee Walking Horse is often seen in the show ring, but is also popular as a pleasure and trail riding horse using both English and Western equipment. Tennessee Walkers are also seen in movies, television, and other entertainment.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The breed was developed beginning in the late 18th century when Narragansett Pacers and Canadian Pacers from the eastern United States were crossed with gaited Spanish Mustangs from Texas. Other breeds were later added, and in 1886 a foal named Black Allan was born. He is now considered the foundation sire of the breed. In 1935 the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association was formed, and it closed the studbook in 1947.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: In 1939, the first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was held. In the early 21st century, this annual event attracted considerable attention and controversy because of issues linked to abuse of horses that was practiced to enhance their performance in the show ring.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The two basic categories of Tennessee Walking Horse show competition are called "flat-shod" and "performance", distinguished by desired leg action. Flat-shod horses, wearing regular horseshoes, exhibit less exaggerated movement. Performance horses are shod with built-up pads or "stacks", along with other weighted action devices, creating the so-called "Big Lick" style. The United States Equestrian Federation and some breed organizations now prohibit the use of stacks and action devices at shows they sanction.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: In addition, the Tennessee Walking Horse is the breed most affected by the Horse Protection Act of 1970. It prohibits the practice of soring, abusive practices which can be used to enhance the Big Lick movement prized in the show ring. Despite the law, some horses are still being abused. The controversy over continuing soring practices has led to a split within the breed community, criminal charges against a number of individuals, and the creation of separate breed organizations. Congressional legislation to strengthen the Act has been introduced with broad support, but has yet to be enacted.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The modern Tennessee Walking Horse is described as "refined and elegant, yet solidly built". It is a tall horse with a long neck. The head is well-defined, with small, well-placed ears. The breed averages high and . The shoulders and hip are long and sloping, with a short back and strong coupling. The hindquarters are of "moderate thickness and depth", well-muscled, and it is acceptable for the hind legs to be slightly over-angulated, cow-hocked or sickle-hocked.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: They are found in all solid colors, and several pinto patterns. Common colors such as bay, black and chestnut are found, as are colors caused by dilution genes such as the dun, champagne, cream and silver dapple genes. Pinto patterns include overo, sabino and tobiano.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walking Horse has a reputation for having a calm disposition and a naturally smooth riding gait. While the horses are famous for flashy movement, they are popular for trail and pleasure riding as well as show.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walking Horse is best known for its running-walk. This is a four-beat gait with the same footfall pattern as a regular, or flat, walk, but significantly faster. While a horse performing a flat walk moves at , the running walk allows the same horse to travel at . In the running walk, the horse's rear feet overstep the prints of its front feet by , with a longer overstep being more prized in the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. While performing the running walk, the horse nods its head in rhythm with its gait. Besides the flat and running walks, the third main gait performed by Tennessee Walking Horses is the canter. Some members of the breed perform other variations of lateral ambling gaits, including the rack, stepping pace, fox trot and single-foot, which are allowable for pleasure riding but penalized in the show ring. A few Tennessee Walking Horses can trot, and have a long, reaching stride.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walker originated from the cross of Narragansett Pacer and Canadian Pacer horses brought from Kentucky to Tennessee starting in 1790, with gaited Spanish Mustangs imported from Texas. These horses were bred on the limestone pastures of Middle Tennessee, and became known as "Tennessee Pacers". Originally used as all-purpose horses on plantations and farms, they were used for riding, pulling and racing. They were known for their smooth gaits and sure-footedness on the rocky Tennessee terrain. Over the years, Morgan, Standardbred, Thoroughbred and American Saddlebred blood was also added to the breed.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: In 1886, Black Allan (later known as Allan F-1) was born. By the stallion Allendorf (from the Hambletonian family of Standardbreds) and out of a Morgan mare named Maggie Marshall, he became the foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. A failure as a trotting horse, due to his insistence on pacing, Black Allan was instead used for breeding. From his line, a foal named Roan Allen was born in 1904. Able to perform several ambling gaits, Roan Allen became a successful show horse, and in turn sired several famous Tennessee Walking Horses.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association was formed in 1935. To reflect interest in showing horses, the name was changed in 1974 to the current Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association (TWHBEA). The stud book was closed in 1947, meaning that since that date every Tennessee Walker must have both its dam and stud registered in order to be eligible for registration. In 1950, the United States Department of Agriculture recognized the Tennessee Walking Horse as a distinct breed.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: In 2000, the Tennessee Walking Horse was named the official state horse of the US state of Tennessee. It is the third most-common breed in Kentucky, behind the Thoroughbred and the American Quarter Horse. As of 2005, 450,000 horses have been registered over the life of the TWHBEA, with annual registrations of 13,000–15,000 new foals. While the Tennessee Walking Horse is most common in the southern and southeastern US, it is found throughout the country.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: The Tennessee Walker is noted for its appearance in horse show events, particularly performances in saddle seat-style English riding equipment, but is also a very popular trail riding horse. Some are used for endurance riding. To promote this use, the TWHBEA maintains an awards program in conjunction with the American Endurance Ride Conference.


title: Tennessee Walking Horse

text: In the 20th century, the Tennessee Walking Horse was crossed with Welsh ponies to create the American Walking Pony, a gaited pony breed.