title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is contraindicated in people with kidney problems (e.g. anuria, acute or chronic kidney disease, or diabetic nephropathy), elevated blood potassium (≥5.5 mEq/L), or people that are hypersensitive to amiloride or any ingredients within the specific formulation. Use is also contraindicated in people that are already taking potassium-sparing drugs (e.g. spironolactone and triamterene) or whom are taking potassium supplements (e.g. potassium chloride) in most circumstances.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is generally well tolerated. Common adverse effects to the use of amiloride include elevated blood potassium, mild skin rashes, headaches, and gastrointestinal side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite, flatulence, and abdominal pain). Mild symptoms of high blood potassium concentrations include unusual skin sensations, muscle weakness, or fatigue, but more severe symptoms such as flaccid paralysis of the limbs, slow heart rate, and even shock can occur.


title: Amiloride

text: There exists no overdose data on amiloride in humans, though it is expected than an overdose would produce effects consistent with its therapeutic effects; e.g. dehydration due to over-diuresis, and electrolyte disturbances related to hyperkalemia. It is unknown if amiloride can be dialyzed off, and no specific antidote against it exists. Treatment is generally supportive, though hyperkalemia can be treated.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride may have important drug-drug interactions when combined with other medications that also increase potassium levels in the blood, leading to hyperkalemia. For example, the combination of amiloride with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors like lisinopril, or angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT) antagonists like losartan, may lead to high levels of potassium in the blood, requiring frequent monitoring.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride works by directly blocking the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) with an IC around 0.1 μM, indicating potent blockade. Antagonism of ENaC thereby inhibits sodium reabsorption in the late distal convoluted tubules, connecting tubules, and collecting ducts in the nephron. This promotes the loss of sodium and water from the body, and reduces potassium excretion. The drug is often used in conjunction with a thiazide diuretic to counteract with a potassium-losing effect. Due to its potassium-sparing capacities, hyperkalemia (elevated potassium concentration in the blood) can occur. The risk of developing hyperkalemia is increased in patients who are also taking ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, other potassium-sparing diuretics, or any potassium-containing supplements.


title: Amiloride

text: A fraction of the effects of amiloride is inhibition of cyclic GMP-gated cation channels in the inner medullary collecting duct.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride has a second action on the heart, blocking Na/H exchangers sodium–hydrogen antiporter 1 or NHE-1.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride also blocks the Na/H antiporter on the apical surface of the proximal tubule cells in the nephron, abolishing more than 80% of the action of angiotensin II on the secretion of hydrogen ions in proximal tubule cells. Note that amiloride is not an angiotensin II receptor blocker (like losartan, for example). The Na-H transporter is also found in the Jejunum of the small intestine, as a result, amiloride also blocks the reabsorption of Na, and thereby water in the intestines.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is considered to be a reversible, pan-acid-sensing ion channel (ASIC) inhibitor that prevents the transient flow of ions but not the sustained flow of ions. ASICs are members of the ENaC family of protein channels, and are found in the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the gastrointestinal system, and the skin. Broadly, ASICs are involved in harm detection, (pH changes specifically), and touch.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride has an oral bioavailability of 50%, meaning that about 50% of an oral dose is absorbed into the blood stream. Coadministration with food reduces the amount of amiloride that is absorbed by the body by about 30%, though it does not affect the rate of absorption. However, taking amiloride with food helps to reduce the incidence of its gastrointestinal side effects. After being taken, amiloride's diuretic effect occurs within 2 hours, with peak diuresis within 6–10 hours. The diuretic effects of amiloride persist for about 24 hours after administration.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is not metabolized by the liver. In comparison, the ENaC inhibitor triamterene is metabolized by the liver.


title: Amiloride

text: About 50% of amiloride is excreted unchanged by the kidneys, while around 40% is excreted in the feces (likely drug that wasn't absorbed). The half-life of amiloride in humans is between 6 and 9 hours, which may be prolonged in people with poor kidney function.


title: Amiloride

text: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the protein NEDD4L may impact how amiloride affects a person's blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is a pyrazinoylguanidine, composed of a substituted pyrazine ring structure with a carbonylguanidinium substituent. Amiloride's pKa is 8.67, which is due to the guanidinium group. In high pH (alkaline, low hydrogen concentration) environments, the guanidinium group is deprotonated and the compound is rendered neutral, depleting its activity on sodium channels. Amiloride, as a pure substance, is highly fluorescent, with excitation wavelengths at 215, 288, and 360 nm, emitting light at 420 nm.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride was first synthesized and discovered by the Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories in the late 1960s. The drug was discovered as part of a screening process of chemicals that reversed the effects of mineralocorticoids "in vivo". Amiloride was the only drug in the screen that was capable of causing the excretion of sodium (natriuresis) without a concomitant urinary excretion of potassium (kaliuresis). Thousands of amiloride analogues have been studied since its initial discovery, which have been used to study the effects of sodium transporters.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances, as it is considered a masking agent. Diuretics like amiloride act as masking agents by reducing the concentration of other doping agents due to promoting diuresis, increasing the total volume of the urine. The list includes other potassium-sparing diuretics, such as triamterene and spironolactone. In 2008, amiloride and the potassium-sparing diuretic triamterene were found in 3% of positive diuretic doping samples.


title: Amiloride

text: Amiloride is an inhibitor of NHE-1, which helps to maintain normal pH within cells. Cancer cells in leukemia, a type of blood cancer, have higher pH compared to normal cells. Amiloride affects the splicing and regulation of multiple genes involved in cancer, though they do not appear to be directly related to its effects on pH. Amiloride has been tested "in vitro" as an adjunct to the anticancer drug imatinib, which appeared to show a synergistic effect. Modified versions of amiloride, known as 5'-(N,N-dimethyl)-amiloride (DMA), 5-N-ethyl-N-isopropyl amiloride (EIPA), and 5-(N,N-hexamethylene)-amiloride (HMA), are being studied for the treatment of leukemia.


title: Amiloride

text: Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder due to a mutation in the "CFTR" gene, which encodes for the CFTR chloride channel. There is evidence that suggests that the molecular target of amiloride, ENaC, is also implicated in cystic fibrosis due to its effects on mucus in the lungs. Aerosolized formulations of amiloride have been tested in clinical trials, though long-term clinical trials have failed to show much utility. Due to its short duration of action, it was thought that longer-acting ENaC inhibitors may prove more effective. However, longer-acting ENaC inhibitors (i.e. benzamil) have also failed clinical trials, despite an improvement in both the solubility and potency of the drugs. A third generation amiloride analogue (N-(3,5-diamino-6-chloropyrazine-2-carbonyl)-N'-4-[4-(2,3-dihydroxypropoxy)phenyl]butyl-guanidine methanesulfonate, research name "552-02"), with better pharmacokinetic properties, is being studied.


title: Amiloride

text: Pain induced by exposure to acid is attenuated by amiloride in human trials, which may indicate a role for amiloride in the treatment of pain in the future.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: The Budweiser Clydesdales are a group of Clydesdale horses used for promotions and commercials by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. There are several "hitches" or teams of horses, that travel around the United States and other countries that remain in their official homes at the company headquarters at the Anheuser-Busch brewery complex in St. Louis, Missouri, or at Merrimack, New Hampshire. At St. Louis, they are housed in a historic brick and stained-glass stable built in 1885. There are eight horses driven at any one time, but ten horses are on each team to provide alternates for the hitch when needed. Assorted Clydesdales are also used as animal actors in television commercials for Budweiser beer, particularly in Super Bowl ads.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: Many of the Clydesdales owned by Anheuser-Busch are raised at Grant's Farm near St. Louis. The Budweiser Clydesdale Stables at Grant's Farm house approximately 35 mares, stallions and foals, with an average of 15 foals produced each year. Anheuser-Busch owns a total of about 250 Clydesdales, kept at various locations throughout the United States, one of the largest herds of Clydesdale horses in the world.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: The largest breeding facility is at Warm Springs Ranch near Boonville, Missouri which is about 150 miles west of St. Louis. InBev consolidated operations there in 2008. More than half of the company's herd is kept there. The Ranch offers tours of its facilities. Another breeding ranch was near Romoland, California, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, but it was closed.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: The three Clydesdale teams that tour internationally are based near the company's brewing facilities in St. Louis, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Merrimack, New Hampshire. The company also buys high-quality Clydesdales from other sources on occasion.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: The Clydesdales were fixtures at Busch Gardens. However, after InBev sold the amusement parks, the link to the Budweiser Clydesdales ended in 2009. The new owners have brought back Clydesdales but they are not the "Budweiser Clydesdales."


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: The original Budweiser Clydesdales were purchased from Patrick Shea, owner of Shea's Brewery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada who had also used them for promoting his brewery. Rebranded for Budweiser, the horses were first introduced to the American public on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. August A. Busch, Jr. presented the hitch as a gift to his father, August Anheuser Busch, Sr., who was guided outside the brewery by the ruse of being told his son had purchased him a new car, but instead was greeted by the horses, pulling a red, white and gold beer wagon. The hitch proceeded to carry the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery in a special journey down Pestalozzi Street in St. Louis.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: Recognizing the advertising and promotional potential of a horse-drawn beer wagon, Busch, Sr. had the team sent by rail to New York City, where it picked up two cases of Budweiser beer at New Jersey's Newark Airport, and presented it to Al Smith, former governor of New York and an instrumental force in the repeal of Prohibition. From there, the Clydesdales continued on a tour of New England and the Mid-Atlantic States, a journey that included the delivery of a case of beer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: To qualify for one of the hitches, a Budweiser Clydesdale must be a gelding with an even temperament and strong, draft horse appearance, be at least four years old, stand at least at the withers when fully mature, and weigh between . In addition, each horse must be bay in color (a reddish-brown coat with a black mane and tail), have four white stocking feet, and a blaze of white on the face.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: Originally the Clydesdales were transported by train. Cross-country truck transport was introduced in 1940. Today, the traveling hitches are on the road at least 10 months every year, based in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrimack, New Hampshire and Fort Collins, Colorado. At St. Louis, there are several tours that provide a visit to the Budweiser Clydesdale Paddock and Stables. The first Clydesdale hitch was based in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Horses no longer reside there, but the stables are open for viewing. Fort Collins is the home to the Clydesdales West Coast Team. When the horses are not touring, they can be seen as part of a tour and visitors can have a picture taken with them. There are ten horses that travel on each team. Eight are in harness when performing at any one time and the other two horses provide alternates for the hitch as needed. Several professional handlers accompany each team. Often, one handler has night duty to provide round-the-clock care for the horses. Transportation for each hitch requires three 50-foot semis. Two carry the horses, the third transports a red, white and gold beer wagon and other equipment. The horses' comfort is enhanced with "air-cushioned suspension and thick rubber flooring", and cameras in the trailers enable the drivers to watch the horses during transport. The team stops each night at local stables.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: An obedience-trained Dalmatian dog also travels with each hitch, a Budweiser tradition since the 1950s. Historically, the role of the dogs was to guard the wagon and protect the team while the driver went inside buildings to make deliveries. When the team performs today, the Dalmatians sit on the wagon, seated next to the driver. The wagons are Studebaker wagons modified to carry water, originally manufactured circa 1900.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: Television advertising featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales had been a longstanding Super Bowl tradition, beginning with an ad during Super Bowl XX in 1986. In 2010, the new parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced that there would not be a Clydesdales ad aired during the 2010 Super Bowl. However, the company reversed its position after asking fans to vote on Facebook whether to include the horses in an ad, compared against two other potential spots. As a result, the company aired a Clydesdale-focused ad during the fourth quarter, one of nine ads aired by the company during the game.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: A hitch of Clydesdales pulled the City of St. Louis' float, co-sponsored by Budweiser, in the Tournament of Roses Parade from 1954 to 2011.


title: Budweiser Clydesdales

text: In 2014 the Clydesdales returned to the Rose Parade, this time pulling their beer wagon. The President of the Tournament of Roses rode on the beer wagon instead of the usual classic car.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British, with the allied Nizam Ali Khan, 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas, achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seringapatam and storming the citadel. The leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird, among the lesser known allies were the Portuguese in Goa and Damaon. Tipu Sultan, the de-facto ruler after the death of his father, who had usurped the throne of Mysore, was killed in the action. The British restored the Wodeyar dynasty back to power after the victory through a treaty of subsidiary alliance, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was crowned the King of Mysore. However, they retained indirect control (British paramountcy) of the kingdom's external affairs.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The battle consisted of a series of encounters around Seringapatam (the anglicised version of Srirangapatnam) in the months of April and May 1799, between the combined forces of the British East India Company and their allies, numbering over 50,000 soldiers in all, and the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mysore, ruled by Tipu Sultan, numbering up to 30,000. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War came to an end with the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan in the battle.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: When the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War broke out, the British assembled two large columns under General George Harris. The first consisted of over 26,000 British East India Company troops, 4,000 of whom were European while the rest were local Indian sepoys. The second column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad, and consisted of ten battalions and over 16,000 cavalry. Together, the allied force numbered over 50,000 soldiers. Tipu's forces had been depleted by the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the consequent loss of half his kingdom, but he still probably had up to 30,000 soldiers.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: Seringapatam was besieged by the British forces on 5 April 1799. The River Cauvery, which flowed around the city of Seringapatam, was at its lowest level of the year and could be forded by infantry – if an assault commenced before the monsoon. When letters were exchanged with Tipu, it seemed that he was playing for time. He requested two persons to be sent to him for discussions and also stated that he was preoccupied with hunting expeditions. Tipu Sultan's Chief Minister, Mir Sadiq, is alleged to have been bought over by the British. The British had sought the assistance of Mir Sadiq who, like Purnaiya and Qamar-ud-din Khan, had been for sometime past carrying on correspondence with the English against his master( p. 313).


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The Governor-General of India, Richard Wellesley, planned the opening of a breach in the walls of Seringapatam. The location of the breach, as noted by Beatson, the author of an account of the Fourth Mysore War, was 'in the west curtain, a little to the right of the flank of the north-west bastion. This being the old rampart appeared weaker than the new.' The Mysorean defence succeeded in preventing the establishment of a battery on the north side of the River Cauvery on 22 April 1799. However, by 1 May, working at night, the British had completed their southern batteries and brought them up to the wall. At sunrise on 2 May, the batteries of the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall. In addition, the mines that were laid under the breach were hit by artillery and blew up prematurely.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird, an implacable enemy of Tipu Sultan: twenty years earlier, he had been held captive for 44 months. The storming troops, including men of the 73rd and 74th regiments, clambered up the breach and fought their way along the ramparts.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: On the night of 3 May some officers crossed over to the glacis, examined the breach and the manner of attacking the fort (Lushington, "Life of Harris", p. 325). It was probably on this occasion that it was arranged between the English officers and Mir Sadiq that the assault should take place at midday( p. 313).


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The assault was to begin at 1:00 p.m. to coincide with the hottest part of the day when the defenders would be taking refreshment. Led by two forlorn hopes, two columns would advance upon the defences around the breach, then wheel right and left to take over the fortifications. A third reserve column, commanded by Arthur Wellesley, would deploy as required to provide support where needed.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: At 11:00 a.m., on 4 May 1799, the British troops were briefed and whiskey and a biscuit issued to the European soldiers, before the signal to attack was given. The forlorn-hopes, numbering seventy-six men, led the charge. The columns quickly formed, were ordered to fix bayonets, and began to move forward.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: As the hour approached, Mir Sadiq withdrew the troops stationed at the breach under the pretext of distributing their pay. There was no one to protest against such a measure. Sayyid Abdul Ghaffar, who was very loyal to the Sultan, was killed by a cannon ball. Immediately after the Sayyid was killed, the traitors made a signal from the fort holding out a white handkerchief to the English troops who were assembled in the trenches, waiting for such a signal p. 313-314).


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The storming party dashed across the River Cauvery in water four feet deep, with covering fire from British batteries, and within 16 minutes had scaled the ramparts and swept aside the defenders quickly. The British follow-up columns turned right and left, sweeping along the inside of the walls until they met on the far side of the city.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: The column that rounded the northwest corner of the outer wall was immediately involved in a serious fight with a group of Mysorean warriors under a fat officer, which defended every traverse. The officer was observed to be discharging hunting weapons loaded and passed to him by servants. After the fall of the city, in the gathering dusk, some of the British officers went to look for the body of Tipu Sultan. He was identified as the fat officer who had fired hunting weapons at the attackers, and his body was found in a choked tunnel-like passage near the Water Gate.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: All members of the British-led forces who took part in the siege were awarded a medal by the Governor-General of India.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: Two cannon captured by the British during the battle are displayed at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, now standing in front of the officers' mess.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: Much of the site of the battle is still intact including the ramparts, the Water Gate where the Tipu Sultan's body was found, the area where the British prisoners were held, and the site of the destroyed palace.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: Around 80 men of the Swiss ‘de Meuron Regiment’, who fell during the siege, and their family members are buried in the Garrison Cemetery, Seringapatam.


title: Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

text: Wilkie Collins's novel "The Moonstone" begins with the looting of the jewels removed from Seringapatam in 1799 from Tipu's treasury. The siege was also depicted in H.M Milner's play ""Tippo Saib, Or The Storming of Seringatam" in 1823 at the Royal Colburg Theatre on the South Bank, London. The siege and Tipu's death also received considerable attention in France, as Tipu had been viewed as an ally of the French, with the most prominent being Étienne de Jouy's "Tippo-Saëb,tragédie" which premiered at the Comédie-Française in 1813 with Talma in the lead role.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Smashed is a 2012 American drama film directed by James Ponsoldt, written by Ponsoldt and Susan Burke, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul. Winstead and Paul play a married couple, Kate and Charlie Hannah, both alcoholics. After a series of embarrassing incidents caused by her drinking habit, Kate decides to get sober with the help of a coworker and a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous.


title: Smashed (film)

text: The script was partly based on Burke's own experience of giving up alcohol at a young age, since she felt that her narrative had not yet been told on film. She and Ponsoldt wrote the script over six months, and the main roles were cast in September 2011. The film's US$500,000 budget was financed by independent investors including Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. It was shot in Los Angeles in October 2011. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2012 and was released by Sony Pictures Classics on October 12, 2012. The film received positive reviews, with Winstead's performance receiving unanimous praise, and was nominated for several awards for her acting.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Kate Hannah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an elementary school teacher, arrives at work hungover and vomits in front of her class. Asked by a student if she is pregnant, she pretends she is, then continues the lie to the school principal, Mrs. Barnes (Megan Mullally). Her co-worker Dave (Nick Offerman) reveals that he knows she has been drinking and she makes him swear not to tell anyone.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Attending a party with her husband Charlie (Aaron Paul) and his brother Owen (Kyle Gallner), Kate drinks heavily. While leaving, she meets a woman who asks Kate for a ride. Kate is offered crack and the two get high together. The next morning, Kate wakes alone on the street. She finds her car and drives home, where Charlie acknowledges they both are alcoholics. They get intoxicated and have sex before Charlie passes out. Kate heads out alone to buy wine but is turned down by the cashier. She urinates on the floor because the bathroom door is locked, then steals a bottle of wine.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Waking up, Kate realizes she has passed out again. At work, Dave, a recovering alcoholic, invites her to an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. There, she befriends Jenny (Octavia Spencer), who has chosen a passion for food and cooking over alcohol. Kate decides to become sober and change her life. Dave drives Kate home, but bluntly makes an offensive comment which upsets her. When Kate and Charlie visit her estranged alcoholic mother, Rochelle (Mary Kay Place), Kate mentions the AA meetings but Rochelle is skeptical; Kate's father left them after getting sober and now lives in another state with his "shiny new family".


title: Smashed (film)

text: Kate is surprised the next day when she is thrown a baby shower by her colleagues. She reconciles with Dave, putting his comments behind them. At home, Kate is angry when it becomes clear Charlie told Owen and his friend about Kate smoking crack. That night, she rebuffs Charlie's sexual advances. At school, Kate is questioned by a curious student as to why she is not gaining weight. She subsequently feigns a miscarriage and her students accuse her of killing her baby, for which she reprimands them.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Kate tells Charlie she feels she must confess to Mrs. Barnes the truth about her faked pregnancy. Charlie discourages her, warning that she will lose her job, and they begin to fight over financial issues. Kate lashes back that she would never depend on Charlie's parents' money and that she has struggled her whole life. Kate decides to tell Mrs. Barnes the truth and is fired. In a bar, she relapses. Jenny and Dave drive her home, where she starts an altercation with Charlie.


title: Smashed (film)

text: After some time, Kate speaks at an AA meeting, celebrating one year of sobriety, while Charlie gets in trouble for riding a bicycle while drunk. Kate visits Charlie and they play croquet. Charlie asks if she would move back in with him if he begins going to AA meetings. Kate says he must get sober for himself, not for her. Charlie then asks Kate to play another round, to give him a chance to redeem himself. The film ends before Kate gives her answer.


title: Smashed (film)

text: "Smashed" was conceived by James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke after they had a conversation about things they had done while drunk. Some of the story's details were based on Burke's own experience; she was an alcoholic until she was 24 years old, when she started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Burke felt that her experiences with alcoholism had not been represented on film before, and so she decided to write about a young woman deciding to become sober. Burke and Ponsoldt discussed the story, characters and tone in detail before they began to write the script. Since they lived on opposite sides of the United States, they communicated by email, dividing the script into 15-page installments which they wrote alternately. The entire writing process took six months.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Casting negotiations for the film's main roles—played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer and Nick Offerman—took place in September 2011. To prepare for her role, Winstead talked with Burke about her recovery and attended a variety of AA meetings, where she spoke with other young women who had gotten sober. To act drunk, she used Ivana Chubbuck's method as described in her book "The Power of the Actor". Paul said that in preparation for the film he recorded himself "getting severely intoxicated" and studied the footage. In order to build a rapport together, Winstead and Paul got drunk together the night before filming began, which Winstead described as being "very messy".


title: Smashed (film)

text: "Smashed" was filmed in Los Angeles over 19 days in October 2011. It was shot on a $500,000 budget, which was sourced by producers Jonathan Schwartz and Andrea Sperling of Super Crispy Entertainment from independent financiers, including Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf.


title: Smashed (film)

text: "Smashed" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2012. It was also screened at the Deauville American Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Athens Film Festival, Jameson CineFest, the Stockholm International Film Festival, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Sony Pictures Classics bought the film's distribution rights after its premiere at Sundance and gave it a limited release on October 12, 2012. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $26,943 from four theaters, averaging $6,736 per theater and ranking number 53 at the box office. The film earned $376,597 domestically from 13 weeks in release, with a widest release of 50 theaters. It earned $123,128 internationally for a total gross of $499,725.


title: Smashed (film)

text: The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a rating of 83% based on 107 reviews with an average score of 6.8 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Smashed" resists the temptation to play up its serious subject matter for high theatrics, opting instead to let its gentle tone and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's marvelous performance carry the day." Metacritic gave the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.


title: Smashed (film)

text: "Variety" critic Justin Chang commended "Smashed" for its "sheer emotional generosity" and Ponsoldt and Burke for their optimistic and sympathetic approach to the story. Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" praised the film's neutral and unsentimental tone and its "refus[al] to indulge a voyeuristic taste for ... sordid details". Similarly, "Empire" magazine's James White commended the film for avoiding clichés and condescension "by combining a light, frank, comic touch with real emotion and weighty, human performances by all those involved", and gave it 4 out of 5 stars. In a review for "The Hollywood Reporter", Todd McCarthy praised "Smashed" for its emotional intimacy and realism.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Michael O'Sullivan, writing for "The Washington Post" gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, likening it to "a dramatic public service announcement" rather than an insightful narrative. "Slant Magazine" Chris Cabin also opined that the story was underdeveloped and that the film "offers a cheap and easy sort of inspiration in lieu of genuine inquiry" into the recovery process of alcoholics. Marjorie Baumgarten of "The Austin Chronicle" did not find the film to be insightful, writing that the filmmakers were "preaching to the choir" with their portrayal of alcoholism and recovery.


title: Smashed (film)

text: Winstead received critical acclaim for her role. Film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, wrote that she "is sort of wonderful in this movie, worn and warm" and commended her decision not to portray the character as a victim. "Rolling Stone" Peter Travers described Winstead's performance as "unmissable and unforgettable", praising the comedy and intellect she simultaneously brought to the role. Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" felt that Winstead was striking as Kate and speculated that "Smashed" would prove to be "the doorway to great things" in her career. Joe Williams from "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and stated "There will never be another Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor, but Hollywood may have found a new Lee Remick in Mary Elizabeth Winstead."


title: Smashed (film)

text: When "Smashed" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Ponsoldt was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category, while producers Andrea Sperling and Jonathan Schwartz received a nomination for the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing. Winstead was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Octavia Spencer received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the Black Reel Awards. For their work on the film, casting directors Avy Kaufman and Kim Coleman were nominated for a Casting Society of America Artios Award for a Low Budget Feature in the Comedy or Drama category.


title: Smashed (film)

text: A soundtrack to accompany the film was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on October 9, 2012. It features a mix of the film's original score, composed by Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson, as well as music from other artists heard throughout various portions of the film.


title: Money market account

text: A money market account (MMA) or money market deposit account (MMDA) is a deposit account that pays interest based on current interest rates in the money markets. The interest rates paid are generally higher than those of savings accounts and transaction accounts; however, some banks will require higher minimum balances in money market accounts to avoid monthly fees and to earn interest.


title: Money market account

text: Money market accounts should not be confused with money market funds, which are mutual funds that invest in money market securities.


title: Money market account

text: Money market accounts are regulated under terms similar to ordinary savings accounts. They are insured by the FDIC (unlike money market funds), and although they may provide checking services, the restrictions of Federal Reserve Regulation D have discouraged their use for day-to-day payment purposes. In practice, money market accounts are distinguished from ordinary savings accounts by their higher balance requirements and their more complex interest rate structure.


title: Money market account

text: The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 set in motion a series of steps, designed to phase in the deregulation of bank deposits, permitting a wider variety of account types, and eventually eliminating interest ceilings on deposits. By the subsequent Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, on December 14, 1982, money market accounts were authorized with a minimum balance of no less than $2,500, no interest ceiling, and no minimum maturity, allowing up to six transfers out of the account per month (no more than three by check) and unlimited withdrawals by mail, messenger, or in person. Minimum denominations were eliminated on January 1, 1986, and the limitation that no more than three of the maximum six monthly outward transfers could be by check was eliminated on May 3, 1988.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in "" #17 (Feb. 1993) and was created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert. The character is most commonly associated with the X-Men, specifically the character of Betsy Braddock, with whom Kwannon was body-swapped for 29 years of publication history; in stories published during this period, the character used the moniker Revanche. After returning to her original body, she became the second Psylocke, while Braddock (who had previously used the codename while her mind was in Kwannon's body) became the new Captain Britain.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: In her initial appearances, the character was depicted as a former assassin for the Hand with low-level empathic telepathy abilities and the power to generate a psionic sword. Since the franchise-wide relaunch Dawn of X, Kwannon has been featured as Psylocke in "Fallen Angels", "Hellions", and "Marauders".


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon first appeared in "" #17 (Feb. 1993), created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert. She appeared in "X-Men" comics of this era until her death in "X-Men" #31. Much of the early narrative surrounding the character of Kwannon was confused by continuity errors created by Fabian Nicieza, who had failed to read "Uncanny X-Men" #255, which depicts the character of Psylocke being discovered on the shores of an island by ninjas of The Hand. Kwannon's origin described in "X-Men" #22 directly contradicted this scene, so subsequent comics introduced a convoluted series of events to explain away this and other inconsistencies. Her body - or rather the original body of Betsy Braddock, which she had come to possess - is later briefly resurrected by The Sisterhood in "Uncanny X-Men" #509, but Kwannon herself does not appear.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon is later resurrected permanently and returned to her original body in the final pages of the limited series "Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery In Madripoor" #4, and she resurfaces in the 2019 series "The Uncanny X-Men" vol. 5 #16.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon took on the mantle of Psylocke, as part of the new Fallen Angels team alongside Cable and X-23. The relaunch was written by Bryan Edward Hill and penciled by Szymon Kudranski. After the conclusion of the Fallen Angels mini series, Kwannon was featured as the field leader of Mister Sinister's Hellions in the series of the same name written by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia. Kwannon was later featured as a member of the Marauders as the team was refocused on their mission of mutant rescue in the series relaunch by writer Steve Orlando.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: The Japanese woman known as Kwannon was first seen as the prime assassin of the Japanese crimelord Nyoirin and lover of The Hand assassin Matsu'o Tsurayaba. With the criminal interests of Nyoirin and The Hand quickly coming into conflict, Kwannon elicits a promise from Matsu'o that they will fight to the death rather than betray their respective lords. During a duel at the estate of Nyoirin, Kwannon eventually falls from a cliff; with her physical injuries and lack of oxygen while underwater causing her to become brain-damaged and comatose. Nyoirin, who possesses an unrequited love for Kwannon, bids that Matsu'o take her to The Hand to be healed, with the promise that he will not cross their organisation again. The Hand is able to use their scientific and mystical resources to keep Kwannon's body alive, but is unable to resuscitate her mind.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Around this time The Hand discovers the telepathic Betsy Braddock washed ashore on one of their bases in the South China Sea, suffering complete amnesia after having passed through the Siege Perilous. The Hand presents her to Matsu'o who notes that she (and the X-Men) are assumed to be dead, and that he knows how The Hand may use her. Meeting with the supervillain and crime lord The Mandarin he offers him both the services of The Hand, and the opportunity to create a unique assassin - one with psionic gifts, who can mentally acquire the secrets of his enemies and kill with a thought - if he will use his skills at "conditioning" and sensory deprivation, in conjunction with the "spiritual resources" of The Hand to brain-wash Betsy. The two men are subsequently shown doing so, with a mind-controlled Psylocke, who is now East Asian in appearance, emerging from a sensory deprivation tank at the end of "The Uncanny X-Men" #256.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: In a flashback scene from the same time period, Matsu'o and Nyoirin discuss placing Kwannon's mind in Betsy's body, adding that the transfer will require the use of the Mandarin's rings. It is revealed that Kwannon's "intuitive empathy" and "low-level telepathic abilities" made her mind capable of withstanding direct contact with the mind of a powerful psychic such as Betsy.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: At the same time Matsu'o strikes a deal with the extra-dimensional sorceress Spiral, a begrudging servant of Mojo, to ensure Kwannon's physical body is healed enough to survive the stresses of the procedure. As Mojo and Spiral have a marked interest in Betsy - and the continued transmission of the feed from the bionic eyes they implanted in her body some time ago - Spiral also uses her magic and the alien technology of her Body Shoppe to intermingle the DNA of the two women. The two bodies now share genetic traits and mutations such as purple hair and eyes, both possessing true telepathic abilities, and have a physical resemblance to each other despite their different races. This resemblance is strong enough that Wolverine is able to recognise Betsy's face upon seeing her for the first time in Kwannon's body, and later notes that both bodies share a similar smell. Both women are also now able to create psychic weapons - Psylocke a blade of focused telepathic energy from the back of her right hand, and Kwannon a psychic katana construct.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Due to the extreme damage to Kwannon's mind - and possible further intervention from Spiral, who at one point claims responsibility - the switching of minds between the two women is only partially successful. Betsy in Kwannon's body retains all of her memories, but gains the martial arts and other expertise of Kwannon, as well as some of her preferences and personality traits (she shows a liking for East Asian themed clothing and decorations, is generally more aggressive and pursues a flirtation with Cyclops). While Kwannon awakens an amnesiac invalid - essentially a blank slate - but now speaks with a British accent, even while speaking Japanese, and can also read in this language.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Betsy briefly operates as The Mandarin's assassin before breaking free and rejoining the X-Men. Meanwhile, Spiral meets with Nyoirin, heavily implying that Betsy's former body now contains the remnants of Kwannon's mind. Seizing this opportunity, Nyoirin takes this body back to his estate, nursing Kwannon back to physical health, while at the same time retraining her and feeding her lies regarding her history and identity. To prove her readiness to confront the X-Men and her 'other self', Kwannon, in a partial duplicate of Betsy's former armor, defeats a gang of street thugs on the streets of Tokyo and then later slaughters ninja at Nyoirin's estate. During this time Nyoirin specifically refers to her as Kwannon, while Kwannon states her goal is to "regain her rightful place as (Nyoirin's) elite assassin" - making it clear both are aware of her true identity.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: At Nyoirin's behest Kwannon travels to America, infiltrating the X-Mansion and showing enough skill with her telepathy to mask her mind from Jean Grey, Charles Xavier and Betsy. She confronts Betsy in the Danger Room while wearing a facsimile of her former armor, and is shown manifesting her psychic katana on panel for the first time; using the weapon to incapacitate her. Confronted by Charles Xavier and multiple X-Men, Kwannon states that she is the real Betsy Braddock, and that the Psylocke they are harboring is an imposter sent by Nyoirin to assassinate them all. As Kwannon is in Betsy's former body, their scents are the same and even the mansion computer registers their energy signatures as duplicates, there is considerable doubt as to the veracity of Betsy's identity. Even Charles Xavier and Jean Grey are unable to immediately telepathically discern the truth, with both women sharing surface psi-signatures. This is exacerbated when Betsy refuses a deeper telepathic scan as she does not want her mind violated, while Kwannon willingly offers to submit - something Betsy notes is "masterfully played". Kwannon also displays intimate knowledge of the X-Men, recognising those present, and correctly identifying that she has never previously met Professor Xavier (whether this is due to careful research on Kwannon and Nyoirin's behalf, or memories she gained from Betsy is never made clear).


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Betsy and Kwannon preferred to settle the question of their identities through combat. However Charles Xavier and Wolverine note anomalies in Kwannon's story - her scent is different from Betsy's from before she went through the Siege, and she is now proficient in Ninjitsu - it's therefore decided that Kwannon, now calling herself Revanche, along with Betsy as Psylocke, and the X-Men Gambit and Beast will travel to Japan to search for answers. A rationale for Revanche's choice of new codename is never stated on panel, though it presumably refers to her stated intent of reclaiming her life from Betsy. Revanche also debuts a new costume, which incorporates colours and elements from Betsy's former Psylocke armor.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Infiltrating Nyoirin's estate, Kwannon demonstrates intimate knowledge of the buildings and defenses, claiming this is due to being held prisoner there for months. She leads the X-Men to Nyoirin's study, which contains a large portrait of Betsy in Kwannon's body, titled "Kwannon In Repose" - Revanche states this is proof of Betsy's treachery, however the portrait features purple hair, which Kwannon's body only gained after the mind swap, so it is clearly part of a larger deception by Revanche and Nyoirin. The quartet are ambushed by Silver Samurai, who is easily dispatched by Psylocke and Revanche, with the two demonstrating mirrored fighting styles and instinctively coordinated attacks, as they did while fighting ninja earlier.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: The battle with Silver Samurai reveals a hidden scroll written by Nyoirin, which Revanche is able to read despite it being written in Japanese. She then stabs Psylocke with her psychic katana, preventing her from leaving while she reads a story from the scroll (and seems to project the images from this story into Psylocke's mind) that seems to explain what happened to the two: while on assignment, Kwannon found Betsy who had just emerged from the Siege Perilous, her body and mind fractured. When the two touched their minds fused, with a confused Psylocke running off and becoming brain-washed by Matsu'o and The Mandarin, while Revanche ended up in a sanitarium, and was eventually found by Nyoirin. A key factor demonstrating the falseness of this story is that Psylocke is showing emerging from the Siege fully clothed in her armor, while anyone truly emerging from the Siege Perilous does so naked. The four are then confronted by Nyoirin. After a standoff, he insists that the two women have merged minds and identities, and sends them after Matsu'o. Of note the narration in issue #22 states that Revanche is seeking answers about her identity, which contradicts previous issues where she is clearly a willing participant in Nyoirin's deception.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Psylocke and Revanche then confront Matsu'o in his home, grievously wounding him and further demonstrating their coordinated fighting style. Matsu'o also insists that the two women have combined identities, with he and Nyoirin each having deliberately moulded them into assassins.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Upon returning from Japan Psylocke and Revanche spar, trying to come to an understanding about their current state of being. It's stated that even though they move and function in concert, they are unable to read each other's minds. A conversation at the end of the issue further implies that Revanche is not who she says she is. Revanche is accepted by the X-Men, and is present during a meeting regarding Magneto's attack on the Earth, Thanksgiving celebrations, and accompanies a team of X-Men to Genosha while Psylocke is left behind.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Seeking answers, Psylocke finally agrees to let Jean Grey probe her mind, with Jean finding that the two women have been fused on a fundamental level. While on a mission with the X-Men's Blue team Revanche reveals she is suffering from the Legacy Virus, a lethal infection that is fatal to mutants. Her reaction to her illness and subsequent behaviour further call the truth of her claims into question, while Psylocke alternately displays concern and antagonism toward her.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: With her death approaching Revanche departs the X-Mansion in the middle of the night, leaving behind the bionic eyes that had been implanted in her body and a note confessing her duplicity in attempting to assume Psylocke's identity. At the same time Spiral visits Matsu'o, confessing her part in merging the two women. Journeying to Japan Revanche confronts Matsu'o for his part in her ordeal, stating that the Legacy Virus is increasing her telepathic powers as it builds to her death; allowing her to cut through the fog of her memory, and the lies told by Nyoirin, to the truth. Even as she painfully probes Matsu'o's mind he still refuses to see Revanche as she currently is, picturing her as Psylocke instead. He also continues to insist that he had no knowledge of the two women switching bodies until after the fact, suggesting an extreme level of denial as to his part in the body swap. However, he does confess that once he did realise he tried to mould Psylocke into a facsimile of Revanche, hoping that having her body would be enough; while Revanche confesses that what she believed to be her previous memories were actually based on lies and a fictitious diary created by Nyoirin specifically to keep her away from Matsu'o. This explains why she failed to recognise Matsu'o during their previous encounter, while Matsu'o states he pretended not to know her as part of some penance for the wrongs he had visited upon her.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: With the moment of her death imminent Revanche begs Matsu'o to kill her, which he does. Her death is felt telepathically by Psylocke and Archangel, while the final truth and some of the telepathic energy she wielded is imprinted onto Matsu'o.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Psylocke is visited by Spiral, who confesses her part in proceedings and hints she should use the bionic eyes to show her the truth. Psylocke watches a playback from the time of her transformation, recorded by the eyes, which answers many questions regarding Matsu'o, Nyoirin, The Mandarin and Spiral's involvement. She also realises that Revanche was unconsciously using her telepathic powers to create anger and confusion in the minds around her, explaining the aggressive reactions of some of the X-Men; and likely explaining away plot holes like why Psylocke or Revanche didn't simply read Nyoirin or Matsu'o's minds when they confronted them.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: This information leads her back to Japan, where she finds Matsu'o, who has killed Nyoirin for his part in things. Matsu'o presents her with the final truth regarding the body swap, confirming that Revanche was never comfortable with the telepathic abilities she gained and projected that anger and discomfort into the minds around her; and that ultimately she came to respect Psylocke and the X-Men. He is then able to use the final burst of Revanche's telepathic energy to take away all of Kwannon's memories from Psylocke (thought she retains her martial arts skills and abilities).


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Much later the Sisterhood of Mutants stole this body from a grave in Tokyo (it seems Kwannon's final body was moved by Matsu'o, as this is not the original location of her grave) and performed a ritual using a captured Psylocke, which forcibly restored Betsy to her original body and under the control of the Red Queen. In a final confrontation, Betsy faced off against Dazzler, attacking her with her psionic blade. Alison defended herself, channeling the ambient noise of San Francisco into an intense laser beam, burning off half of Betsy's face and allowing her to regain control. Betsy drove her blade into her own head and confronted the darker counterpart controlling her body on the astral plane. Betsy eventually won, and her psyche returned to Kwannon's body, leaving her original body a corpse yet again. In the aftermath, Psylocke identifies the body as genuine and travels to Japan, intending to re-inter Kwannon, but during an attack by agents of the Hand her original body is destroyed, at the behest of Matsu'o. Psylocke eventually realises this is an attempt by Matsu'o to goad her into performing a mercy killing on him. Psylocke eventually agrees, and projects an illusion of herself as Kwannon to comfort him in his final moments.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: During the "Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Psylocke's soul is absorbed by Sapphire Styx, leaving her body dead. As Psylocke's soul escapes, Styx's body explodes and she instinctively reforms a new body, identical to her original British body, from Styx's soul power. Later, Kwannon is revealed to be returned to life in her original body. She ambushes a henchman in Viper's penthouse, stating in Japanese that she has some questions and manifesting one of Psylocke's psychic knives.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon reappeared in East Transia when the X-Men took on a new version Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Finding out that this Magneto was actually the clone Joseph, Kwannon killed him with her sword, then told the X-Men while speaking in Japanese that she was trying to remember them and that she was nothing as translated by Wolverine. She said she killed Joseph because he was a weapon to be used to erase mutants from the world if not stopped.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: In the new status quo for mutants post "House of X and Powers of X", Kwannon is amongst the gathered mutants of Krakoa to celebrate their new lives. She is seen by Elizabeth Braddock, but both avoid a direct contact with each other. Still trying to find her place in this new era, she becomes part of a loose group of mutants that include Kid Cable and X-23, as the "Fallen Angels" of this new paradise.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Soon after, she assumes a leadership role in another team of outcast mutants: the Hellions, alongside Havok, John Greycrow (formerly Scalphunter), Empath, Wild Child, Mister Sinister, Nanny and Orphan-Maker. When Betsy arrives on Krakoa, she actively avoids Kwannon due to having taken over her body for many years and corrects several people who attempt to refer to her as Psylocke. During Excalibur, Betsy is accidentally transported into the body of Queen Elizabeth III, an alternate reality version of herself. In this reality, Kwannon is the ex-wife of Angel, the Queen's lover and she reluctantly helps Betsy find her way to Otherworld so that she can return to her original universe. Betsy attempts to find out more about the life of this Kwannon but, after Kwannon reads her mind and finds out about their history, she becomes angry and sends Betsy away. When Betsy returns to her original reality, her teammates suspect that the woman presenting as Betsy is not the real one. As Rogue and Rictor search Apocalypse's lab for answers, they are attacked by Betsy but are saved by Kwannon, who states that it is not the real Betsy Braddock. Kwannon joins a magic ritual that aims to reunite Betsy's consciousness with a clone body but, when this fails, she releases Betsy's consciousness, much to the anger of Excalibur. Kwannon states that only she will be able to find Betsy and heads into Otherworld, where she locates Betsy's consciousness attacking a village. The two battle psychically, with Betsy stating that she is in too much pain over her failures and over what she did to Kwannon that she feels as though she can't go on and demands Kwannon leave her spirit to rest, but Kwannon states that her spirit is hurting others and tells her that she is worthy to be Captain Britain. Kwannon explains that neither of them were at fault for Betsy taking over her body and that there was no way to "fix" what had happened, rather they both just have to accept that there will always be a connection between them. Kwannon then takes Betsy's soul back to their original reality and returns it to her body, bringing her back to life and finally ending their previous animosity.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Previous to the exchanging bodies with Psylocke, Kwannon was said to be an "intuitive empath" with "low-level telepathic abilities". The extent and origin of these abilities is unknown. Upon inhabiting Psylocke's body she gained telepathic abilities and the power to generate a katana and other bladed weapon constructs composed of psionic energy. These blades were capable of disrupting a person's neural functions on contact, generally rendering them unconscious. The appearance of the katana varied; on at least one occasion Kwannon was shown to generate a small psychic dagger instead of a full blade. Using her psi-blade, Kwannon could force her way into another telepath's mind.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Though her new body had originally possessed a wide range of telepathic abilities, Kwannon very rarely utilized them. In combat she relied almost solely on her martial arts skill and psychic katana. However, she was shown to possess enough skill and power to successfully shield her mind from Jean Grey's telepathic scans and sneak into the X-Mansion undetected. It was later explained that because of the discomfort of using her newfound telepathy, Kwannon unconsciously projected her frustration and confusion onto the X-Men whenever she was around them, causing them to be more agitated and aggressive in return, and to believe the same lies she herself had been told by Nyoirin. This manipulation was so subtle that none of the X-Men's other telepaths were able to detect it.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Once infected with the Legacy Virus, Kwannon's telepathic powers increased to the point where she was able to cut through the fog of her own clouded memories and recall the truth of her origins. She was also shown to read minds and project her own thoughts, even across continents, and to psionically mask her mind from Professor Xavier's own telepathic abilities, even while standing right beside him. Shortly before her death, Kwannon displayed a butterfly-like psychic energy aura whenever using her powers, as Psylocke did in both her original and Japanese bodies. Kwannon was also somehow able to temporarily imprint Matsu'o Tsurayaba with telepathic energy that freed Psylocke of the portions of Kwannon's mind she had absorbed.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: After resurrection in her original body, Kwannon has displayed a wider range of telepathic abilities: the capacity to generate the same 'blades' of disruptive psionic energy that Betsy Braddock manifested while in possession of Kwannon's body, the ability to read and project thoughts, project her astral form into the astral plane or into the minds of others, and to identify and track mental signatures over long distances. She often uses her telepathy to read and counter the movements of opponents in physical combat. On various occasions, she also has demonstrated mid-level telekinesis, enabling her to levitate, move and manipulate objects and matter with her mind. She floats in the air when meditating and once created a pair of psionic butterfly wings to fly a longer distance.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: The "Ultimate Marvel" version of Kwannon appears in "Ultimate X-Men", in which she and that universe's Elisabeth Braddock are body-swapped as are their Earth-616 counterparts. In this continuity, Braddock is a member of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi-Division who is killed by Colossus in order to destroy Proteus, who has taken her as his host. She later appears at the gala celebration held at the X-Mansion, explaining that, after she died, her consciousness migrated to the body of a comatose Japanese girl named Kwannon. Due to the age difference between these versions of the characters, upon inhabiting Kwannon's body, Braddock was too young to be a S.T.R.I.K.E. agent, instead working undercover for Professor Xavier and joining the X-Men.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Kwannon, in Psylocke's original body post bodyswap, was seen in the House of M altered reality as a member of Magneto's elite guards.


title: Kwannon (character)

text: The iteration of Psylocke with Betsy Braddock's mind in Kwannon's body has been featured in media other than comic books, including a non-speaking cameo in the 1992 "" animated television series, a variety of video games, as well as film portrayals by Meiling Melançon in the 2006 film "" and by Olivia Munn in the 2016 film "".


title: Kwannon (character)

text: Since Kwannon's in-story return to her original body and adoption of the Psylocke moniker, the character has been featured as a purchasable outfit in "Fortnite Battle Royale".


title: Sports entertainment

text: Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience. Unlike typical sports and games, which are conducted for competition, sportsmanship, physical exercise or personal recreation, the primary product of sports entertainment is performance for an audience's benefit. Commonly, but not in all cases, the outcomes are predetermined; as this is an open secret, it is not considered to be match fixing.


title: Sports entertainment

text: The term "sports entertainment" was coined by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) chairman Vince McMahon during the 1980s as a marketing term to describe the industry of professional wrestling, primarily to potential advertisers, although precursors date back to February 1935, when "Toronto Star" sports editor Lou Marsh described professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment". In 1989, the WWF used the phrase in a case it made to the New Jersey Senate for classifying professional wrestling as "sports entertainment" and thus not subject to regulation like a directly competitive sport.


title: Sports entertainment

text: Some sports entertainment events represent variants of actual sports, such as exhibition basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters. Others modify sport for entertainment purposes: many types of professional wrestling (which derived from traditional wrestling), and more recently many of the various mascot races held at numerous Major League Baseball games in-between innings. Roller derby was presented as a popular form of sports entertainment in the 1970s, though modern versions are legitimate competition.


title: Sports entertainment

text: Sports entertainment has a stigma of being mindless, low-level pop culture, in some cases glorifying violence for the sake of entertainment, and has been criticized as such in popular media, often through lampooning.


title: Area code 216

text: Area code 216 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the city of Cleveland and most of its inner-ring suburbs in Cuyahoga County of the U.S. state of Ohio. The area code is one of the original North American area codes established in 1947.


title: Area code 216

text: The first nationwide telephone numbering plan of 1947 divided Ohio into four numbering plan areas (NPAs), roughly forming a quadrant layout for telecommunication services in the state. Area code 216 was assigned to the northeastern part, comprising the area from Lorain to Youngstown.


title: Area code 216

text: In 1996, the southern portion, including Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, received area code 330, while the eastern and western portions were assigned area code 440 in 1997. The boundary between 216 and 440 was drawn in such a way that 440 is barely contiguous; the two portions of 440 are only joined by a small section in the south.


title: Area code 216

text: Despite covering a major urban area, a second area code should not be needed until around 2038 based on projections made in 2022.


title: Form of the Good

text: "Form of the Good", or more literally "the idea of the good" () is a concept in the philosophy of Plato. The definition of the Good is a perfect, eternal, and changeless Form, existing outside space and time. It is a Platonic ideal.


title: Form of the Good

text: The first references that are seen in "The Republic" to the Form of the Good are within the conversation between Glaucon and Socrates (454 c–d). When he is trying to answer such difficult questions pertaining to the definition of justice, Plato identifies that we should not "introduce every form of difference and sameness in nature" instead we must focus on "the one form of sameness and difference that was relevant to the particular ways of life themselves" which is the form of the Good. This form is the basis for understanding all other forms, it is what allows us to understand everything else. Through the conversation between Socrates and Glaucon (508 a–c), Plato analogizes the form of the Good with the sun as it is what allows us to see things. Here, Plato describes how the sun allows for sight. But he makes a very important distinction, "sun is not sight" but it is "the cause of sight itself." As the sun is in the visible realm, the form of Good is in the intelligible realm. It is "what gives truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower". It is not only the "cause of knowledge and truth, it is also an object of knowledge".


title: Form of the Good

text: Plato identifies how the form of the Good allows for the cognizance to understand such difficult concepts as justice. He identifies knowledge and truth as important, but through Socrates (508d–e) says, "good is yet more prized". He then proceeds to explain "although the good is not being" it is "superior to it in rank and power", it is what "provides for knowledge and truth" (508e).


title: Form of the Good

text: Plato writes that the Form (or Idea) of the Good is the origin of knowledge although it is not knowledge itself, and from the Good, things that are just and true, gain their usefulness and value. Humans are compelled to pursue the good, but no one can hope to do this successfully without philosophical reasoning. According to Plato, true knowledge is conversant, not about those material objects and imperfect intelligences which we meet within our daily interactions with all mankind, but rather it investigates the nature of those purer and more perfect patterns which are the models after which all created beings are formed. Plato supposes these perfect types to exist from all eternity and calls them the "Forms" or "Ideas". As these Forms cannot be perceived by human senses, whatever knowledge we attain of the Forms must be seen through the mind's eye (cf. "Parmenides" 132a), while ideas derived from the concrete world of flux are ultimately unsatisfactory and uncertain (see the "Theaetetus"). He maintains that degree of skepticism which denies all permanent authority to the evidence of sense. In essence, Plato suggests that justice, truth, equality, beauty, and many others ultimately derive from the Form of the Good.


title: Form of the Good

text: Aristotle discusses the Forms of Good in critical terms several times in both of his major surviving ethical works, the "Eudemian" and "Nicomachean Ethics". Aristotle argues that Plato's Form of the Good does not apply to the physical world, for Plato does not assign "goodness" to anything in the existing world. Because Plato's Form of the Good does not explain events in the physical world, humans have no reason to believe that the Form of the Good exists and the Form of the Good is thereby irrelevant to human ethics.


title: Form of the Good

text: Plato's Form of the Good is often criticized as too general. Plato's Form of the Good does not define things in the physical world that are good, and therefore lacks connectedness to reality. Because Plato's Form of the Good lacks instruction, or ways for the individual to be good, Plato's Form of the Good is not applicable to human ethics since there is no defined method for which goodness can be pursued. Through Socrates in "The Republic", Plato acknowledges the Form of the Good as an elusive concept and proposes that the Form of the Good be accepted as a hypothesis, rather than criticized for its weaknesses. According to Socrates in "The Republic", the only alternative to accepting a hypothesis is to refute all the objections against it, which is counterproductive in the process of contemplation.


title: Form of the Good

text: Aristotle along with other scholars sees the Form of the Good as synonymous with the idea of One. Plato claims that Good is the highest Form, and that all objects aspire to be good. Since Plato does not define good things, interpreting Plato's Form of the Good through the idea of One allows scholars to explain how Plato's Form of the Good relates to the physical world. According to this philosophy, in order for an object to belong to the Form of the Good, it must be One and have the proper harmony, uniformity, and order to be in its proper form.


title: Form of the Good

text: Philosopher Rafael Ferber dismissed Aristotle's view that the 'Good' is 'One' and wrote that the Form of the Good is self-contradictory. Ferber claimed that Plato's Form of the Good could be simultaneously defined and unknown, and be in a state of both "being" and "not being".


title: Form of the Good

text: Plato's Forms are also critiqued for being treated as the reason for all things, as opposed to being an essence in itself. Some scholars also believe that Plato intended the Form to be the essence of which things come into existence. These different interpretations of Plato's intention for the Form may be attributed to the idea that Plato did not have a systematic definition of the Form itself.


title: Form of the Good

text: Plato's writings on the meaning of virtue and justice permeate through the Western philosophical tradition. Plotinus, the founder of neoplatonism, had principles that were heavily influenced by the Good. His concept of 'the One' is equivalent to 'the Good' because it describes an ultimate ontological truth. 'The One' is both 'uncaused' and the cause of being for everything else in the universe. Plotinus compared his principle of 'the One' to an illuminating light, as Plato did with the Form of the Good. As a result of Plotinus' school of neoplatonism, the bulk of understanding of Platonic philosophy until the 19th Century came through Plotinus' interpretation of it. Many theologians and philosophers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam looked to the ideas of Platonism through the lens of Plotinus.


title: Form of the Good

text: Amphis, a comic playwright of Athens, has one of his characters say: "And as for the good that you are likely to get on her account, I know no more about it, master, than I do of the good of Plato." There is an ancient anecdotal tradition that Plato gave a public lecture entitled "On the Good" which so confused the audience that most walked out. At the end of the lecture Plato said to those hearers who remained: 'The Good is the One".


title: War correspondent

text: War correspondents' jobs bring them to the most conflict-ridden parts of the world. Once there, they attempt to get close enough to the action to provide written accounts, photos, or film footage. Thus, this is often considered the most dangerous form of journalism.


title: War correspondent

text: Only some conflicts receive extensive worldwide coverage, however. Among recent wars, the Kosovo War, the Persian Gulf War and the Russo-Ukrainian war received a great deal of coverage. In contrast, the largest war in the last half of the 20th century, the Iran–Iraq War, received far less substantial coverage. This is typical for wars among less-developed countries, as audiences are less interested and the reports do little to increase sales and ratings. The lack of infrastructure makes reporting more difficult and expensive, and the conflicts are also far more dangerous for war correspondents.


title: War correspondent

text: People have written about wars for thousands of years. Herodotus's account of the Persian Wars is similar to journalism, though he did not himself participate in the events. Thucydides, who some years later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War was a commander and an observer to the events he described. Memoirs of soldiers became an important source of military history when that specialty developed. War correspondents, as specialized journalists, began working after the printing of news for publication became commonplace.


title: War correspondent

text: In the eighteenth century the Baroness Frederika Charlotte Riedesel's "Letters and Journals Relating to the War of the American Revolution and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga" is regarded as the first account of war by a woman. Her description of the events that took place in the Marshall House are particularly poignant because she was in the midst of battle.


title: War correspondent

text: The first modern war correspondent is said to be Dutch painter Willem van de Velde, who in 1653 took to sea in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English, of which he made many sketches on the spot, which he later developed into one big drawing that he added to a report he wrote to the States General. A further modernization came with the development of newspapers and magazines. One of the earliest war correspondents was Henry Crabb Robinson, who covered Napoleon's campaigns in Spain and Germany for "The Times" of London. Another early correspondent was William Hicks whose letters describing the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) were also published in The Times. Winston Churchill in 1899, working as a correspondent, became notorious as an escaped prisoner of war.


title: War correspondent

text: Early film newsreels and television news rarely had war correspondents. Rather, they would simply collect footage provided by other sources, often the government, and the news anchor would then add narration. This footage was often staged as cameras were large and bulky until the introduction of small, portable motion picture cameras during World War II. The situation changed dramatically with the Vietnam War when networks from around the world sent cameramen with portable cameras and correspondents. This proved damaging to the United States as the full brutality of war became a daily feature on the nightly news.


title: War correspondent

text: News coverage gives combatants an opportunity to forward information and arguments to the media. By this means, conflict parties attempt to use the media to gain support from their constituencies and dissuade their opponents. The continued progress of technology has allowed live coverage of events via satellite up-links and the rise of twenty-four hour news channels has led to a heightened demand for material to fill the hours.


title: War correspondent

text: William Howard Russell, who covered the Crimean War, also for "The Times", is often described as the first modern war correspondent. The stories from this era, which were almost as lengthy and analytical as early books on war, took numerous weeks from being written to being published.


title: War correspondent

text: Another renowned journalist, Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina, Italian correspondent of European newspapers such as "La Presse", "Journal des débats", "Indépendance Belge" and "The Daily News", was known for his extremely gory style in his articles but involving at the same time. Jules Claretie, critic of "Le Figaro", was amazed about his correspondence of the Battle of Custoza, during the Third Italian War of Independence. Claretie wrote, "Nothing could be more fantastic and cruelly true than this tableau of agony. Reportage has never given a superior artwork."


title: War correspondent

text: When the telegraph was developed, reports could be sent on a daily basis and events could be reported as they occurred. That is when short, mainly descriptive stories as used today became common. Press coverage of the Russo-Japanese War was affected by restrictions on the movement of reporters and strict censorship. In all military conflicts which followed this 1904–1905 war, close attention to more managed reporting was considered essential.


title: War correspondent

text: The First Balkan War (1912–1913) between the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria) and the Ottoman Empire, and the Second Balkan War (1913) between Bulgaria and its former allies Serbia and Greece, was actively covered by a large number of foreign newspapers, news agencies, and movie companies. An estimated 200–300 war correspondents, war photographers, war artists, and war cinematographers were active during these two nearly sequential conflicts.


title: War correspondent

text: The First World War was characterized by rigid censorship. British Lord Kitchener hated reporters, and they were banned from the Front at the start of the war. But reporters such as Basil Clarke and Philip Gibbs lived as fugitives near the Front, sending back their reports. The Government eventually allowed some accredited reporters in April 1915, and this continued until the end of the war. This allowed the Government to control what they saw.


title: War correspondent

text: French authorities were equally opposed to war journalism, but less competent (criticisms of the French high command were leaked to the press during the Battle of Verdun in 1916). was imposed by the United States, though General John J. Pershing allowed embedded reporters (Floyd Gibbons had been severely wounded at the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918).


title: War correspondent

text: The US conflict in Vietnam saw the tools and access available to war correspondents expanded significantly. Innovations such as cheap and reliable hand-held color video cameras, and the proliferation of television sets in Western homes give Vietnam-era correspondents the ability to portray conditions on the ground more vividly and accurately than ever before. Additionally, the US Military allowed unprecedented access for journalists, with almost no restrictions on the press, unlike in previous conflicts. These factors produced military coverage the likes of which had never been seen or anticipated, with explicit coverage of the human suffering produced by the war available right in the livingrooms of everyday people.


title: War correspondent

text: Vietnam-era war correspondence was markedly different from that of WWI and WWII, with more focus on investigative journalism and discussion of the ethics surrounding the war and America's role in it. Reporters from dozens of media outlets were dispatched to Vietnam, with the number of correspondents surpassing 400 at the peak of the war. Vietnam was a dangerous war for these journalists, and 68 would be killed before the conflict came to a close.


title: War correspondent

text: Many within the US Government and elsewhere would blame the media for the American failure in Vietnam, claiming that media focus on atrocities, the horrors of combat and the impact on soldiers damaged morale and eliminated support for the war at home. Unlike in older conflicts, where Allied journalism was almost universally supportive of the war effort, journalists in the Vietnam theater were often harshly critical of the US military, and painted a very bleak picture of the war. In an era where the media was already playing a significant role in domestic events such as the Civil Rights Movement, war correspondence in Vietnam would have a major impact on the American political scene. Some have argued that the conduct of war correspondents in Vietnam is to blame for the tightening of restrictions on journalists by the US in wars that followed, including the Persian Gulf war and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.


title: War correspondent

text: The role of war correspondents in the Gulf War would prove to be quite different from their role in Vietnam. The Pentagon blamed the media for the loss of the Vietnam war, and prominent military leaders did not believe the United States could sustain a prolonged and heavily televised war. As a result, numerous restrictions were placed on the activities of correspondents covering the war in the Gulf. Journalists allowed to accompany the troops were organized into "pools", where small groups were escorted into combat zones by US troops and allowed to share their findings later. Those who attempted to strike out on their own and operate outside the pool system claim to have found themselves obstructed directly or indirectly by the military, with passport visas revoked and photographs and notes taken by force from journalists while US forces observed.


title: War correspondent

text: Beyond military efforts to control the press, observers noted that press reaction to the Gulf War was markedly different from that of Vietnam. Critics claim that coverage of the war was "jingoistic" and overly favorable towards American forces, in harsh contrast to the criticism and muckraking that had characterized coverage of Vietnam. Journalists like CNN's Peter Arnett were lambasted for reporting anything that could be construed as contrary to the war effort, and commentators observed that coverage of the war in general was "saccharine" and heavily biased towards the American account.


title: War correspondent

text: These trends would continue into the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, where the pool model was replaced by a new system of embedded journalism.


title: War correspondent

text: War correspondents are protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols. In general, journalists are considered civilians so they have all rights related to the civilians in a conflict.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: The Aston Martin DB6 is a grand tourer made by British car manufacturer Aston Martin and was produced from September 1965 to January 1971.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: The DB6 succeeded the Aston Martin DB5 and featured improved aerodynamics and specification over its predecessor.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: After Aston Martin rejected proposals for a replacement for its DB5 from the original DB4 Touring of Milan, the decision was made to focus on their own development car, registered 4 YMC. Wind tunnel testing, begun in February 1965, showed development was necessary to counteract a tendency toward aerodynamic lift [a result of the fastback styling] causing reduced rear-wheel traction at high speed. Final development phases relied upon DB5 chassis, suitably lengthened and titled "MP 219", with rear lip-spoiler and abbreviated Kammback tail Aston Martin previously incorporated in sports-racing prototypes. The decision was made to produce "MP 219" as the Aston Martin DB6 although the prototype de Dion rear axle was rejected, Aston's soldiering on with its live-axle configuration reducing time to market, cost and complexity.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: Introduced at the 1965 London Motor Show, the DB6 was already a dated design notable as the first model engineered following a factory relocation from Feltham to Newport Pagnell. The DB6 has a resemblance to its predecessor, the DB5; with the most noticeable differences being its wheelbase, side profile, split front and rear bumpers and rear panels incorporating the Kammback tail rear end. The tail, combined with the relocated rear-axle and the lengthened wheelbase, provide more stability at high speed. Though fashionable – the rear-end Kamm-styled design was similar to the Ferrari 250 – it did not prove popular with conservative, tradition oriented Aston clientele when the DB6 was introduced. Performance was satisfactory: road-tests of the day observed top speed of the Vantage model between to , with John Bolster aboard a Vantage spec DB6 reaching a two-way average of .


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: The DB6 continued with then high-tech Armstrong Selectaride cockpit-adjustable rear shock absorbers as available on the DB5. Other highlights include adopting front-door quarter windows, an oil-cooler air scoop low on the front valance, quarter-bumpers at each corner, revised tail-lamp clusters; additionally the spoiler affected the overall proportions of the DB6, with an increase in length by approximately two inches.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: Another major change from the DB5 to DB6 was abandonment of the full "superleggera" construction technique patented by coachbuilders/stylist Touring of Milan. For later DB6's construction, the more common body-on-platform technique was used; this was primarily due to the extended rear requiring a stronger and more rigid design utilizing a folded sheet metal supporting structure. Surprisingly the modifications combined to add only seventeen pounds weight compared to the DB5.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: The DB6 is powered by the twin-overhead camshaft (DOHC), in-line six-cylinder Aston Martin engine designed by Tadek Marek. The engine, continued with its triple SU carb setup producing at 5,500 rpm; the Vantage engine option is quoted at against the of the DB5. Although the DB6 was approximately heavier than its predecessor, the stability at high speed, added luggage capacity and comforts for passengers in this grand tourer more than offset any imperceptible loss in performance caused by additional weight. The rear suspension used helical coil springs with ride control that was adjustable from inside the car.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: The DB6 Mark II was announced on 21 August 1969, identified by distinct flares on front and rear wheel arches and wider tyres on 1/2" wider wheels. Available as an optional extra for the Mark II was AE Brico electronic fuel-injection combined with the higher compression ratio cylinder head. The Mark II edition shared many parts with the then-new DBS.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: As with previous Aston Martin models, a high-power DB6 Vantage was offered. It was equipped with three Weber carburetors and higher compression ratio cylinder head.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: A convertible body style was also offered, named the Volante. This was introduced at the 1966 London Motor Show. The DB6-based Volante succeeded the earlier (1965–1966) Volantes which were built on the last of the DB5 chassis' and were known as "short chassis" Volantes. Of the later DB6-based Volantes just 140 were built, including 29 high-output Vantage Volante versions, highly prized by collectors.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: Charles III, owns a DB6-based Volante MkII that has been converted to run on bioethanol. The car was given to him by his mother on his 21st birthday.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: A total of six or seven DB6 Shooting-brakes were produced by British coachbuilder Harold Radford, with three more by FLM Panelcraft The engine options (282 and 325 hp) were the same as for the DB6 Saloon.


title: Aston Martin DB6

text: One of the Radford-built DB6 Shooting Brakes was the 1967 New York Auto Show car. The car was Roman Purple over Natural hide, LHD with factory AC, Borg-Warner automatic gearbox, LSD, Blaupunkt Köln radio with power antenna. It was purchased directly off the show stand by a Mr. S. Tananbaum for $22,500 (nearly 3x the price of a standard DB6), whose family maintained ownership until 2017. It was displayed at the 2018 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.


title: Romeo Void

text: Romeo Void was an American new wave/post punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. The band went through four drummers, starting with Jay Derrah and ending with Aaron Smith. The band released three albums, "It's a Condition", "Benefactor" and "Instincts", along with one EP. They are best known for the songs "Never Say Never" and "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)"; the latter became a Top 40 pop single.


title: Romeo Void

text: The band was started at the San Francisco Art Institute by Iyall and Zincavage. They released a single on the recently formed 415 Records before recording their debut album, which has been deemed a "masterpiece of American post-punk". The success of their second release, a four-song EP, "Never Say Never" resulted in a distribution deal with Columbia Records. The band continued to release music and tour until they broke up in 1985. The members have reunited briefly over the years. Iyall has continued to pursue music as a side project. Iyall garnered acclaim as a skilled lyricist who explored themes like sexuality and alienation from a female perspective with "searing imagery".


title: Romeo Void

text: Romeo Void formed at the San Francisco Art Institute in February 1979. Vocalist Debora Iyall occasionally visited the Bay Area to see Patti Smith perform. She decided to pursue an art education after reading a fortune cookie. "It was in the late '70s at the Indochina Friendship Booth at the annual Fourth of July streetfair in Eureka, California," she said. "I got a fortune cookie that said 'Art is your fate, don't debate.' That next January, I was enrolled in an art school in San Francisco." She began frequenting the Mabuhay Gardens, a popular nightclub, to see local alternative rock groups like The Nuns, the Mutants, Crime, and the Avengers. She also formed the Mummers and Poppers, a punk parody band that covered 1960s tunes with guitarist Peter Woods, Charles Hagan and drummer Jay Derrah, . Iyall was originally hesitant to perform because she was overweight: "After seeing Patti Smith, I still had it in my mind that you had to be skinny to be up there [on stage], but after going to the Mabuhay [...] you just do whatever you want, be whoever you want, just make it happen."


title: Romeo Void

text: Bassist Frank Zincavage met Iyall at the SF Art Institute; the two hit it off and discussed putting a band together. They formed one with Woods and Derrah a few weeks later, drawing inspiration from the "burgeoning local punk and post-punk scenes". Iyall recruited Woods because she enjoyed playing with him in the Mommers and Poppers. "[It] seemed only natural that we invite Peter Woods to join us [... He] played clean and was a natural on rhythm guitar." Romeo Void officially formed on Valentine's Day in 1979. According to Iyall, the name Romeo Void referred to "a lack of romance" and came to mind after they saw a local magazine with the headline "Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco." The name "means there are not romantic notions here — and there shouldn't be," Iyall told an interviewer: "We are about reality, not the myths created by other artists."


title: Romeo Void

text: The band practiced in Iyall's flat in Mission District. It was decided that the group would embrace punk ideals despite the possibility that they become associated with the new wave movement. "Even though I was going to the [Mabuhay Gardens] so much, I also had criticisms: Everyone was leaning against the wall wearing black," Iyall said. "I guess we were considered new wave, but for me Romeo Void was a reaction against the regimentation of everyone having to be bleached blond and everything being about despair and no future, when I thought the do-it-yourself thing should encompass all the different kinds of emotions, and all the different colors. [...] I was proud of being American Indian, so I purposely never bleached my hair blond."


title: Romeo Void

text: The band became busy playing shows at clubs and warehouses around San Francisco, and quickly became popular. Saxophonist Benjamin Bossi was added to the lineup as an "accident" when Iyall met him while he worked in the New York City Deli on Market Street in San Francisco. The group released their first single, "White Sweater", which consisted of the title track and a cover of Jerry Lordan's popular instrumental composition "Apache", in February 1981 on a recently founded local label called 415 Records. They worked on the recording of their debut album, "It's a Condition", with producer David Kahne. Before recording began, Derrah left the band and was replaced by John "Stench" Haines, who had previously played with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. Romeo Void's debut was critically acclaimed upon its release through 415 in July 1981, and introduced Romeo Void's "unique blend of jazz, funk, rock and confrontational poetry". AllMusic writer Stewart Mason later heralded it as one of the "masterpieces of American post-punk". Indie labels were enthusiastic with promotions and the band embarked on several nationwide tours. Eventually Haines left the band, leaving Larry Carter to fill the drummer position.


title: Romeo Void

text: The sudden surge in popularity was disorienting to Iyall. "It was frightening: we played a college in Santa Barbara, and there were all these blond people crowding the stage, and I thought 'These are the people who hated me in high school!' When you grow up being 'outside' – because I wasn't white, and I was fat, and always a bit of a free thinker – it was strange. It was like, 'uh-oh, I must be doing something wrong – they like me!'" Highly successful mainstream artists like Ann Wilson and Ric Ocasek were eager to meet the band. Ocasek extended an invitation to collaborate at his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The recording sessions in Boston resulted in the "Never Say Never" EP in January 1982. The title track became (arguably) their best-known song and has remained synonymous with the band ever since. The song was also featured in the 1984 romantic teen drama "Reckless". Additionally, the success of the single directly led to 415 Records signing a deal with Columbia Records, which elevated the indie label's roster to major-label status. Romeo Void released their second album, entitled "Benefactor", in November 1982. The album appeared at No. 119 on the "Billboard" 200. "Benefactor" was noticeably more commercial sounding than previous endeavors; the music was made more danceable and swearing was removed on the song "Never Say Never". The different approach in the sound resulted in comparisons to Blondie, which AllMusic writer William Ruhlmann suggested was a deliberate attempt by Columbia. Iyall stated that there was more pressure to write sexually laced lyrics for "Benefactor": "I do like to be provocative, and I definitely have access to my sexuality, and as a topic I find it ripe, but I wasn't ever going to be a sex-pot diva, so that was kind of odd." She also said there was pressure to produce more singles.


title: Romeo Void

text: A third and final album was again helmed by David Kahne, which AllMusic writer Stewart Mason speculated was a "reaction against the more commercial sound of "Benefactor". By this time, Carter had been replaced by veteran session drummer Aaron Smith. "Instincts" was released in October 1984, debuted at No. 68 on the Billboard 200, and proved to be the band's best-selling album. It also launched their most successful single, "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)," which broke the Billboard Top 40 and peaked at No. 35. Critical reactions were positive. Despite being the band's most successful effort to date, Columbia pulled the band's promotional support while on a nationwide tour. "The very next town we got to after they made that decision, there wasn't an A&R person there," said Iyall. "[There] was no local person there, there were no interviews and in-stores arranged as they had been. All that just ground to a halt." The band returned to San Francisco and soon broke up. Constant touring has been cited by Iyall as the primary reason for the break-up. "You get tired of each other, and you get intolerant of being uncomfortable and away from your family and your friends." According to a VH1 reunion episode, the issue of Iyall's weight was the reason for the label dropping them. In 2003, Iyall agreed with this claim: "Howie sold us from 415 to Columbia Records, and they were like 'Who's this fat chick?' They decided that was as far as it was going to get, and pulled their support." "Crawdaddy!" writer Denise Sullivan stated that the label spoke to Iyall about losing weight, but she subsequently refused. In 2010, Iyall declined to discuss the issue, but added that she may not be taking full responsibility in the matter.


title: Romeo Void

text: Iyall released a solo album entitled "Strange Language" with former band members Bossi and Smith in 1986. Afterward she pursued a career as an art teacher. The band reunited briefly for a live performance in 1993. In 2004, Romeo Void was featured on an episode of VH1's "Bands Reunited". Bossi had sustained too much hearing damage over the years and was unable to perform, although he did meet up with the band again and watched the reunion performance from an adjacent room. Iyall has continued to dabble in music related projects and events. "I still like to sing and I still like to perform," she said. In 2003 she was involved in a musical project called Knife in Water. She began collaborating with Peter Dunne, who was known as Peter when he played guitar for Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. Iyall and Dunne performed at a support benefit for "Crawdaddy!" founder Paul Williams in June 2009, and performed at a concert honoring 415 Records later that September. They released an album entitled "Stay Strong" in 2010.


title: Romeo Void

text: Drummer Larry Carter died in August of 2021, from what is thought to be heart complications. Saxophonist Benjamin Bossi died of complications from Alzheimer's disease on December 13, 2022, at the age of 69.