Question: What is the emblematic rhythm of the Dominican Republic?

The emblematic rhythm of the Dominican Republic, deeply rooted in West African traditions with subtle European and Taino influences, is characterized by merengue and bachata music. These two genres hold significant popularity and cultural importance within the country.

Cuba has conducted a foreign policy that is uncharacteristic of such a minor, developing country.[161][162] Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the Dominican Republic.[163] The expedition failed, but a prominent monument to its members was erected in their memory in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government, and they feature prominently at the country's Memorial Museum of the Resistance.[164]

In the last three chapters Carla, Yolanda and Sandra narrate stories from their childhood surrounded by the extended family, and the girls' relationship with the United States begins. "An American Surprise" tells of their early ideas of New York City, "where it was winter and the snow fell from heaven to earth like the Bible's little pieces of manna bread."[17] The reader realizes that the innocence of childhood and idealized vision of their soon-to-be adopted country, given the reverse-chronological narration of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, are left behind with the García's home in the Dominican Republic.

The rhythm and language of the story draw heavily on the language of the Bible, particularly of the King James translation. Many of the passages use the patterns of repetition identified by scholars such as Robert Alter and others as being characteristic of Biblical poetry.[2]

Ragtime is not a "time" (meter) in the same sense that march time is 2/4 meter and waltz time is 3/4 meter; it is rather a musical style that uses an effect that can be applied to any meter. The defining characteristic of ragtime music is a specific type of syncopation in which melodic accents occur between metrical beats. This results in a melody that seems to be avoiding some metrical beats of the accompaniment by emphasizing notes that either anticipate or follow the beat ("a rhythmic base of metric affirmation, and a melody of metric denial"[25]). The ultimate (and intended) effect on the listener is actually to accentuate the beat, thereby inducing the listener to move to the music. Scott Joplin, the composer/pianist known as the "King of Ragtime", called the effect "weird and intoxicating." He also used the term "swing" in describing how to play ragtime music: "Play slowly until you catch the swing...".[26] The name swing later came to be applied to an early style of jazz that developed from ragtime. Converting a non-ragtime piece of music into ragtime by changing the time values of melody notes is known as "ragging" the piece. Original ragtime pieces usually contain several distinct themes, four being the most common number. These themes were typically 16 bars, each theme divided into periods of four four-bar phrases and arranged in patterns of repeats and reprises. Typical patterns were AABBACCCâ€², AABBACCDD and AABBCCA, with the first two strains in the tonic key and the following strains in the subdominant. Sometimes rags would include introductions of four bars or bridges, between themes, of anywhere between four and 24 bars.[2]

The foundation of Mexican music comes from its indigenous sounds and heritage. The original inhabitants of the land used drums (such as the teponaztli), flutes, rattles, conches as trumpets and their voices to make music and dances. This ancient music is still played in some parts of Mexico. However, much of the traditional contemporary music of Mexico was written during and after the Spanish colonial period, using many old world influenced instruments. Many traditional instruments, such as the Mexican vihuela used in Mariachi music, were adapted from their old world predecessors and are now considered very Mexican.

The first part of the novel establishes Yolanda at the centre of the story as she narrates the opening and closing chapter: "Antojos" and "The Rudy Elmenhurst Story", respectively. In third person, Yolanda's return to Dominican Republic as an adult is described in the context of a family birthday party and a road trip. Their unity as sisters as "The Four Girls" is introduced in the third chapter, which is a communally narrated.[8] They celebrate Carlos, the patriarch's, birthday, and Sofía introduces her baby son to his grandfather, helping to repair the father and daughter's relationship somewhat. During Sofía's chapter, "The Kiss", it is revealed that Carlos discovered a packet of love letters addressed to his daughter, enraging him and leading to a conflict which ends in Sofía running away to her German lover. A major focus in this section is the romantic relationships between the four sisters and their partners. Sofía is married to a "world-class chemist";[9] Carla and Sandra are in long-term relationships; and Yolanda is in love with her psychiatrist and has previously broken up with a man named John. Part I closes with "The Rudy Elmenhurst Story", narrated by Yolanda. This describes Yolanda's first real relationship, and the tension between her upbringing and American relationships: "I would never find someone who would understand my particular mix of Catholicism and agnosticism, Hispanic and American styles."[10]

"Shake It Out" is a four-and-a-half-minute gothic pop[6] and rock[7] song which contains "swelling, gospel-flavored pop, with churchy organ and pounding drums setting a cathartic scene for Welch's fiery singing" in the lines "It's hard to dance with the devil on your back. So shake him off!"[8] Digital Spy's Robert Copsey stated: "earthy drums are dressed with bells and tambourines before Flo chants 'Shake it out, shake it out, ooh-waaoah!' on the song's anthemic and dangerously addictive chorus."[9] Consequence of Sound's Alex Young concluded that the song "takes approximately 37 seconds to build up before a pulsating drum enters".[10] Allmusic's James Christopher Monger commented that when the swelling guitars, organs, and strings, staccato percussion, and Florence Welch's "air-raid siren of a voice" start in the song, begins a "battle over which one is going to launch itself into the stratosphere first."[11] In the song, Welch sings about dancing with a devil in the lyrics "It's hard to dance with a devil on your back".[12][13] Lewis Corner of Digital Spy found references to "exorcism of demons and regrets with a backdrop of village church organs and ritualistic thuds and jingles courtesy",[14] while Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media found lyrics talking about "getting past one's troubles."[15]

"Get Me Bodied" is a moderate R&B,[9] and bounce song,[10] which displays influences of dance-pop,[11] dancehall,[12] and funk music.[13] Jim DeRogatis of Chicago Sun-Times wrote that it is a musical mixture of double Dutch rhyming and reggae-rap.[14] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of G minor, and is set in common time at a moderate groove of 100 beats per minute.[9] Beyoncé's vocals range from the note of B♯b3 to F5.[9] "Get Me Bodied" progresses on a lurching and turgid beat.[15] Its instrumentation includes drum patterns, surging horns, and synthesizers.[13][16] The song also utilizes handclaps[16] and syncopated interlocked clicks,[15][17] which are interspersed with background chants, vocal exclamations,[15][18] vocal gymnastics, and Texas twang.[17] Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker commented that some notes which begin as "legato exhalations" constrict into shouts.[12] Mike Joseph of PopMatters noted that "Get Me Bodied" is "the glorified version" of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" (2005).[17]

The story of Abraham's confrontation with Nimrod did not remain within the confines of learned writings and religious treatises, but also conspicuously influenced popular culture. A notable example is "Quando el Rey Nimrod" ("When King Nimrod"), one of the most well-known folksongs in Ladino (the Judeo-Spanish language), apparently written during the reign of King Alfonso X of Castile. Beginning with the words: "When King Nimrod went out to the fields/ Looked at the heavens and at the stars/He saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter/A sign that Abraham, our father, was about to be born", the song gives a poetic account of the persecutions perpetrated by the cruel Nimrod and the miraculous birth and deeds of the savior Abraham. (Full original text and an English translation appear in the Ladino Wikipedia article.)[16][17][18]

The trend towards ever more elaborate rhythmic variations of the original melody became even more pronounced in the later versions of the "John Brown Song" and in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which have far more words and syllables per verse than the early versions.  The extra words and syllables are fit in by adding more dotted rhythms to the melody and by including four separate lines in each verse rather than repeating the first line three times.  The result is that in these later versions the verse and the chorus became even more distinct rhythmically and poetically though still remaining identical in their underlying melodic profile.


Question: What is the difference between a governor and a chief minister in India?

In India, the roles of governors and chief ministers in the states are distinct. Governors serve as the ceremonial heads, akin to the President's role at the national level, while the actual authority resides with the chief ministers and their respective cabinets. This structure ensures that governors, found in states, and lieutenant-governors/administrators, present in union territories including Delhi, maintain a symbolic representation of the state's sovereignty, with the chief ministers wielding the executive power.

The Cabinet is appointed by the governor on advice of the premier. The British Crown appoints a governor, who is recruited from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and serves as the British representative, including his role as the direct representative of Queen Elizabeth II. Daily administration of the islands is conducted by the Cabinet.[1]

The federal government is the common or national government of a federation. A federal government may have distinct powers at various levels authorized or delegated to it by its member states. The structure of federal governments vary. Based on a broad definition of a basic federalism, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and govern through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a constitution.

Government of the Cayman Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic overseas territory, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a two-party system.[clarification needed] Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

The governors and lieutenant-governors are appointed by the President for a term of five years.

From around 1885, the Viceroy of India was allowed to fly a Union Flag augmented in the centre with the 'Star of India' surmounted by a Crown. This flag was not the Viceroy's personal flag; it was also used by Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Commissioners and other British officers in India. When at sea, only the Viceroy flew the flag from the mainmast, while other officials flew it from the foremast.

The Prime Minister of Canada is an official who serves as the primary minister of the Crown, chair of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. Officially, the prime minister is appointed by the Governor General of Canada, but by constitutional convention, the prime minister must have the confidence of the elected House of Commons. Normally, this is the leader of the party caucus with the greatest number of seats in the house. But, if that leader lacks support of the majority, the governor general can appoint another leader who has that support or may dissolve parliament and call a new election. By constitutional convention, a prime minister holds a seat in parliament and, since the early 20th century, this has more specifically meant the House of Commons.[1]

Lord Wellesley, who is reputed to have said that 'India should be governed from a palace, not from a country house', constructed a grand mansion, known as Government House, between 1799 and 1803. The mansion remained in use until the capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi in 1912. Thereafter, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, who had hitherto resided in Belvedere House, was upgraded to a full Governor and transferred to Government House. Now, it serves as the residence of the Governor of the Indian state of West Bengal, and is referred to by its Bengali name Raj Bhavan.

(2) From a panel to be prepared by the State Government or invariably by the Chief Minister;

Countries with parliamentary democracies may be constitutional monarchies, where a monarch is the head of state while the head of government is almost always a member of parliament (such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Japan), or parliamentary republics, where a mostly ceremonial president is the head of state while the head of government is regularly from the legislature (such as Ireland, Germany, India and Italy). In a few parliamentary republics, such as Botswana, South Africa, and Suriname, among some others, the head of government is also head of state, but is elected by and is answerable to parliament. In bicameral parliaments, the head of government is generally, though not always, a member of the lower house.

In some parliamentary systems, the prime minister (PM) is a member of parliament (Britain), whereas in others not (Netherlands). They are commonly the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament, but only hold the office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained. If members of the lower house lose faith in the leader for whatever reason, they can call a vote of no confidence and force the PM to resign.


Question: What makes the pulmonary arteries and veins so unique?

The pulmonary veins play a crucial role in the circulatory system by carrying oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart. These veins, particularly the four main pulmonary veins originating from each lung, directly empty into the left atrium of the heart, thus facilitating the pulmonary circulation.

Heart tissue receives blood from two arteries which arise just above the aortic valve. These are the left main coronary artery and the right coronary artery. The left main coronary artery splits shortly after leaving the aorta into two vessels, the left anterior descending and the left circumflex artery. The left anterior descending artery supplies heart tissue and the front, outer side, and the septum of the left ventricle. It does this by branching into smaller arteries â€“ diagonal and septal branches. The left circumflex supplies the back and underneath of the left ventricle. The right coronary artery supplies the right atrium, right ventricle, and lower posterior sections of the left ventricle. The right coronary artery also supplies blood to the atrioventricular node (in about 90% of people) and the sinoatrial node (in about 60% of people). The right coronary artery runs in a groove at the back of the heart and the left anterior descending artery runs in a groove at the front. There is significant variation between people in the anatomy of the arteries that supply the heart [29] The arteries divide at their furtherst reaches into smaller branches that join together at the edges of each arterial distribution.[7]

The ligament is a vestige of the ductus arteriosus, a temporary fetal structure that shunts blood from the pulmonary arteries to the aorta, in order to avoid circulating blood through the lungs, which are inactive in the womb. The ductus arteriosus becomes the ligamentum arteriosum within three weeks of birth, so that deoxygenated blood can be selectively circulated to the lungs for more efficient oxygenation of the blood.

Heart failure is a physiological state in which cardiac output is insufficient to meet the needs of the body and lungs.[2] The term "congestive heart failure" is often used, as one of the common symptoms is congestion, or build-up of fluid in a person's tissues and veins in the lungs or other parts of the body.[2] Specifically, congestion takes the form of water retention and swelling (edema), both as peripheral edema (causing swollen limbs and feet) and as pulmonary edema (causing breathing difficulty), as well as ascites (swollen abdomen). This is a common problem in old age as a result of cardiovascular disease, but it can happen at any age, even in fetuses.

Helen B. Taussig is known as the founder of pediatric cardiology. She became famous through her work with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect in which oxygenated and deoxygenated blood enters the circulatory system resulting from a ventricular septal defect (VSD) right beneath the aorta. This condition causes newborns to have a bluish-tint, cyanosis, and have a deficiency of oxygen to their tissues, hypoxemia. She worked with Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas at the Johns Hopkins Hospital where they experimented with dogs to look at how they would attempt to surgically cure these "blue babies." They eventually figured out how to do just that by the anastomosis of the systemic artery to the pulmonary artery and called this the Blalock-Taussig Shunt.[5]

Central IV lines have their catheters that are advanced through a vein and empty into a large central vein (a vein within the torso), usually the superior vena cava, inferior vena cava or even the right atrium of the heart. Because these veins have a larger diameter than peripheral veins and have faster blood flow, central lines are commonly used to administer substances that could irritate the blood vessel lining, such as some chemotherapy drugs and total parenteral nutrition, whose high glucose content can damage blood vessels.

The pulmonary artery pressure (PA pressure) is a measure of the blood pressure found in the main pulmonary artery. This is measured by inserting a catheter into the main pulmonary artery.[10] :190–191 The mean pressure is typically 9 - 18 mmHg,[11] and the wedge pressure measured in the left atrium may be 6-12mmHg. The wedge pressure may be elevated in left heart failure,[10]:190–191 mitral valve stenosis, and other conditions, such as sickle cell disease.[12]

Having oxygen-carrying proteins inside specialized cells (as opposed to oxygen carriers being dissolved in body fluid) was an important step in the evolution of vertebrates as it allows for less viscous blood, higher concentrations of oxygen, and better diffusion of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. The size of red blood cells varies widely among vertebrate species; red blood cell width is on average about 25% larger than capillary diameter, and it has been hypothesized that this improves the oxygen transfer from red blood cells to tissues.[12]

The heart is a muscular organ in most animals, which pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system.[1] Blood provides the body with oxygen and nutrients, as well as assists in the removal of metabolic wastes.[2] In humans, the heart is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest.[3]

P>By early maturity, the walls of the left ventricle have thickened from three to six times greater than that of the right ventricle. This reflects the typical five times greater pressure workload this chamber performs while accepting blood returning from the pulmonary veins at ~80mmHg pressure (equivalent to around 11 kPa) and pushing it forward to the typical ~120mmHg pressure (around 16.3 kPa) in the aorta during each heartbeat. (The pressures stated are resting values and stated as relative to surrounding atmospheric which is the typical "0" reference pressure used in medicine.)

The right main bronchus is wider, shorter, and more vertical than the left main bronchus.[3] It enters the right lung at approximately the fifth thoracic vertebra. The right main bronchus subdivides into three secondary bronchi (also known as lobar bronchi), which deliver oxygen to the three lobes of the right lung—the superior, middle and inferior lobe. The azygos vein arches over it from behind; and the right pulmonary artery lies at first below and then in front of it. About 2 cm from its commencement it gives off a branch to the superior lobe of the right lung, which is also called the eparterial bronchus. Eparterial refers to its position above the right pulmonary artery. The right bronchus now passes below the artery, and is known as the hyparterial branch which divides into the two lobar bronchi to the middle and lower lobes.


Question: Who composed the theme song for the TV show Law and Order?

Mike Post, whose real name is Leland Michael Postil, is an acclaimed American composer. He is most famous for composing the iconic theme songs for numerous television series, including Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, The A-Team, NYPD Blue, Renegade, The Rockford Files, L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., and Hill Street Blues.

The theme is written in a 5
4 time signature which Schifrin has jokingly explained as being "for people who have five legs".[2] However, a more likely explanation is that Schifrin started from the Morse Code for M.I. which is dah dah dit dit. If a dit is one beat and a dah is one and a half beats then this gives a bar of five beats exactly matching the underlying rhythm.

Rockapella first appeared on the half-hour game show in 1991 and later continued to appear daily for five seasons, catapulting the band's four members into mid-level television celebrity status and making the Rockapella-performed theme song (which was penned by Altman and his childhood friend, David Yazbek) as one of the best known television themes in history. Jeff Thacher joined Rockapella as the band's permanent vocal percussionist in 1993, although he only appeared on Carmen Sandiego during its fifth and final season two years later. While Rockapella was seen daily in homes across America, Leonard used his connections to the Japanese music market to acquire a recording contract with ForLife Records. The group released seven albums of original and cover material under this label in Japan during their run on Carmen Sandiego and for two years after that, being the first to bring contemporary a cappella music to Japan.[3]

From 1964 through 2010, Jerry Lewis concluded the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day MDA Telethon by singing the song.[3] After the end of a concert by the rock band Queen, the audience spontaneously sang this song, according to lead guitarist Brian May,[4] and this helped to inspire the creation of their songs "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You". Italian-American tenor Sergio Franchi sang a notable version accompanied by the Welsh Men's Choir on the June 9, 1968 telecast of The Ed Sullivan Show.[5] He also covered this song in his 1964 RCA Victor album The Exciting Voice of Sergio Franchi.[6] American singer and songwriter Barbra Streisand sang this song in a surprise appearance at the close of the 2001 Emmy Awards, in honor of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.[7]

Shortly before being signed by Uni Records, Elton John (then performing under his birth name, Reg Dwight) recorded a cover of it for a collection of top hits of the day that were released as discount LP "sound-alike" versions. It was later released on several CD compilations, perhaps the most notable of which was Reg Dwight's Piano Goes Pop! Elton's (or rather Reg's) version was later included under the end titles of the 2004 romantic comedy film Laws of Attraction starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.

The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen, later becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song was composed by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, based on the "horn line" from Goldfinger, which required royalty payments to the original writers.[2] At five-minutes twelve seconds it is the longest Bond theme. The music video of "Licence to Kill" was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who later took over the reins of title designer from Maurice Binder for the 1995 Bond film, GoldenEye.

On 26 January 2010 the title song "Love Never Dies" was first publicly performed at The South Bank Show Awards, sung by Sierra Boggess and accompanied by Lloyd Webber and Louise Hunt on two grand pianos. The show was broadcast on ITV1 on 31 January 2010.[79] The tune is identical to Lloyd Webber's other musical numbers "Our Kind of Love" from The Beautiful Game in 2000 and "The Heart is Slow to Learn", which was intended for a Phantom sequel, sung by Kiri Te Kanawa in 1998 at the Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration.[80][81] "Love Never Dies" also has a very similar melody to Charles Williams' composition "Jealous Lover" from the 1949 British film The Romantic Age. "Jealous Lover" was later retitled "Theme from the Apartment" for the 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment.[82][83][84][85][86]

The main theme for Rick and Morty by Ryan Elder was originally used in a rejected Cartoon Network pilot Roiland made called "Dog World", which was referenced in the episode "Lawnmower Dog".[10]

Tyrol's theme was first devised as a love theme for Tyrol and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, but was shelved after its first use because the two characters ended their relationship immediately thereafter. It returned at the end of the second season as a love theme for Tyrol and Cally, and served in that role for the rest of the series. The tune is written in Lydian mode and performed using the bottom register of an alto flute.

The commercially available version receiving radio airplay contains a musical bridge which follows the first verse and chorus. Also, following the commercial version's second chorus, Jennings makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to his faceless appearance in the credits by singing, "I'm a good ol' boy, you know my mama loves me, but she don't understand why they keep showing my hands and not my face on TV" (a statement referring to the opening shot in the television theme version where Jennings is only shown below the neck playing guitar).

Cyndi Grecco (born May 19, 1952, in New York, New York) is an American singer who performed the theme tune to the popular 1970s American television show Laverne & Shirley. Titled "Making Our Dreams Come True", the song (in which Grecco was accompanied by the Ron Hicklin Singers) was also put out as a single and charted at #25 on July 25, 1976. The song came out on the small Private Stock label (#45086). An album followed, though a second disco-themed single, "Dancing, Dancing", failed to chart. She also provided the theme to another 1970s ABC television sitcom Blansky's Beauties. Nevertheless, Grecco remains a one-hit wonder.


Question:
Most of New Zealand's land supports which economic activity? (In this case, the original question and the similar question are identical, as there is no change needed to maintain the length, text complexity, and semantic style.)

However, if you want a different question with similar semantics, here's an alternative:

What primary economic activity is supported by the majority of New Zealand's land?

Agriculture is the primary economic activity in New Zealand, accounting for a significant portion of the country's export earnings. In 2006-2007, it contributed about two-thirds of the value of exported goods, with agricultural exports reaching over $14.8 billion in the year ending March 2002. New Zealand stands out among developed nations for its complete exposure to international markets, as it eliminated subsidies, tax concessions, and price supports for agriculture in the 1980s. Despite this, the government continues to invest in infrastructure that benefits the agricultural sector as of 2017.

In the farmland around Beijing, vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation.[107] In 2013, the tonnage of vegetable, edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain.[107] In 2013, overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons.[107]

It is widely accepted that within the rangelands kangaroos are now more common than prior to European settlement.[5] This situation has arisen due to the increased food and water supply generated by the activities of the sheep and cattle industry. Prior to European settlement, these areas had very few places of surface water from which kangaroos could drink. The pastoral industry has tapped into below-ground water supplies to the point where now very few points in the rangelands are further than 3 km from a permanent water source and no point is further than 10 km.[8]

Introduction to New Zealand came later, but formal development took place around the same time as Australia. Christchurch Football Club, was founded in 1863 and is now a Rugby Football Club; however they did not 'change' to Rugby Football rules until after the 1868 formation of the Nelson Rugby Football Club. Rugby football was first introduced to New Zealand in 1870 by Charles John Monro, son of the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, David Monro.[17] He encountered the game while studying at Christ's College Finchley, in East Finchley, London, England, and on his return introduced the game to Nelson College, who played the first rugby union match against Nelson football club on 14 May.[18] By the following year, the game had been formalised in Wellington, and subsequently rugby was taken up in Wanganui and Auckland in 1873 and Hamilton in 1874. It is thought that by the mid-1870s, the game had been taken up by the majority of the colony.

New Zealand contains many glaciers, mostly located near the Main Divide of the Southern Alps in the South Island. They are classed as mid-latitude mountain glaciers. There are eighteen small glaciers in the North Island on Mount Ruapehu.[14]

To date agricultural development in Australia has largely been based on modified European systems, using European animals. In recent decades this Eurocentric view has come under considerable academic question. A ground swell of opinion is developing that Australians should develop management systems adapted to the specific environmental conditions, not impose systems adapted to Europe.[3] Under this philosophy use of free ranging populations of native animals adapted to the environment makes environmental sense.

A citizens-initiated referendum on the issues surrounding the law was held between 30 July and 21 August 2009, asking "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" Despite widespread criticism of the question's wording, the referendum was returned with an 87.4 percent "No" vote on a turnout of 56.1 percent.

The moas, of which there were eleven species, were large browsers, and were in turn the prey species of the giant Haast's eagle or Harpagornis eagle. Both the moas and the eagle became extinct shortly after the arrival of humans in New Zealand sometime around 1300 CE. It appears that human hunters exterminated the moa populations, which deprived the Harpagornis of its primary food source, leading to the extinction of that species as well. New Zealand's emblematic kiwis fill the role of small foragers of the leaf-litter, and the enigmatic adzebill was a universal omnivore. The wattlebirds, Callaeidae, are a family endemic to New Zealand, but many other New Zealand birds show clear affinities to Australia, including the New Zealand pigeon and the New Zealand falcon, as well as various parrots, rails, waders, owls, and seabirds (albeit often with a New Zealand twist). Of the 245 species of birds from the greater New Zealand (the main islands along with the offshore islands, also including Norfolk Island), 174 were endemic, roughly 71%. Of these, about 32% of the genera were endemic.

The term "mutton" is applied to goat meat in most of these countries, and the goat population has been rising. For example, mutton-curry is always made from goat meat. It is estimated that over one-third of the goat population is slaughtered every year and sold as mutton. The husbanded sheep population in India and South Asian countries has been in decline for over 40 years and has survived at marginal levels in mountainous regions, based on wild-sheep breeds, and mainly for wool production.[citation needed]

Before the revolution 1959, the agricultural sector in Cuba was largely oriented towards and dominated by the US economy. After the Cuban Revolution, the revolutionary government nationalised farmland, and the Soviet Union supported Cuban agriculture by paying premium prices for Cuba's main agricultural product, sugarcane, and by delivering fertilizers. Sugar was bought by the Soviets at more than five times the market price. 95% of its citrus crop was exported to the COMECON. On the other hand, the Soviets provided Cuba with 63% of its food imports and 90% of its petrol.[6]

By 1800, much of Cape Cod's firewood had to be transported by boat from Maine. The paucity of vegetation was worsened by the raising of merino sheep that reached its peak in New England around 1840. The early industrial revolution occurred through much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but it mostly bypassed Cape Cod due to a lack of significant water power in the area. The Cape developed as a large fishing and whaling center as a result, and also because of its geographic position. After 1860 and the opening of the American West, farmers abandoned agriculture on the Cape. By 1950, forests had recovered to an extent not seen since the 18th century.


Question: Most of New Zealand's land supports which type of economic activity?

Agriculture, particularly pastoral farming, is the predominant economic activity in New Zealand, with a growing emphasis on horticulture as land use patterns evolve.

Number 8 wire is used for fencing and has become part of the cultural lexicon. It is used for all manner of tasks and it describes the do it yourself mentality of New Zealanders.

The Community and Voluntary Sector Minister in New Zealand, Tariana Turia said, "The report shows that New Zealanders are particularly generous when it comes to giving money and helping strangers, but also in terms of volunteering. As a nation we must celebrate our generosity and make sure that our decisions and our actions bolster it even further."[11]

In New Zealand, payments by cheque have declined since the mid-1990s in favour of electronic payment methods. In 1993, cheques accounted for over half of transactions through the national banking system, with an annual average of 130 cheques per capita. By 2006 cheques lagged well behind EFTPOS (debit card) transaction and electronic credits, making up only nine percent of transactions, with an annual average of 41 cheque transaction per capita.[43] Most retail stores no longer accept cheques, and those that do often require government-issued identification or a store-issued "cheque identification card" before they can be accepted as payment.

In New Zealand, the second more militaristic verse is sometimes replaced with Hickson's verse "Nor in this land alone..." (often sung as "Not in this land alone"), otherwise known as a "Commonwealth verse".

Federated Farmers is a large and influential lobby group that represents farmers interests. It has a voluntary membership which stands at over 26,000.

Around the start of the 20th century, the vast majority of the population lived in communities, though accumulating capitalist surpluses for overseas export, that were essentially semi-feudal in structure. Because of the legacy of Ibero-American slavery, abolished as late as 1888 in Brazil, there was an extreme concentration of such landownership reminiscent of feudal aristocracies: 464 great landowners held more than 270,000 km² of land (latifúndios), while 464,000 small and medium-sized farms occupied only 157,000 km².

The majority of species exist in a standard ecological niche, sharing behaviors and adaptations similar to the other closely related species within the same broad taxonomic class, but there are exceptions. A premier example of a non-standard niche filling species is the flightless, ground-dwelling kiwi bird of New Zealand, which feeds on worms and other ground creatures, and lives its life in a mammal-like niche. Island biogeography can help explain island species and associated unfilled niches.

New Zealand has topped the Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2017 and 2018.

The economy, for the most part, was based on agriculture and herding. Most people lived in small villages surrounded by farms and pastures. Like its sister-kingdom of Moab, Ammon was the source of numerous natural resources, including sandstone and limestone. It had a productive agricultural sector and occupied a vital place along the King's Highway, the ancient trade route connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor.[21] As with the Edomites and Moabites, trade along this route gave them considerable revenue. Circa 950 BCE Ammon showed rising prosperity, due to agriculture and trade, and built a series of fortresses. Its capital was located in what is now the Citadel of Amman.[3]

In New Zealand, driver licensing is controlled by the NZ Transport Agency. There are six classes of motor-vehicle licence[19] and nine licence endorsements. Class 1 governs vehicles with a GLW (gross laden weight) or GCW (gross combined weight) of less than 6,000 kg, and Class 6 governs motorcycles. Classes 2–5 govern heavy vehicles.


Question: Where did the Easter lily obtain its name?

Lilium longiflorum, commonly known as the Easter lily, derives its name from its significance in Christianity. It is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, celebrated during the Easter season. The flower is highly esteemed in the Church, with Jesus himself drawing parallels to its beauty and effortless growth (Luke 12:27). Legend has it that these lilies emerged in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion, believed to have sprung from the spots where his sweat fell. In Christian tradition, Easter lilies are prominently displayed in church chancels during the Paschal season, a practice captured in the early 20th century poem "Easter Lilies" by S.R. Allen.

"Seeing the Elephant" is a 19th-century Americanism denoting a world-weary experience;[49] often used by soldiers, pioneers and adventurers to qualify new and exciting adventures such as the Civil War, the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush.[49][50][51] A "white elephant" has become a term referring to an expensive burden, particularly when much has been invested with false expectations. The term 'white elephant sale' was sometimes used in Australia as a synonym for jumble sale. In the U.S., a White elephant gift exchange is a popular winter holiday party activity. The idiom Elephant in the room tells of an obvious truth that no one wants to discuss, alluding to the animal's size compared to a small space. "Seeing pink elephants" refers to a drunken hallucination and is the basis for the Pink Elephants on Parade sequence in the 1941 Disney animated feature, Dumbo. "Jumbo" has entered the English language as a synonym for "large".[k] Jumbo originally was the name of a huge elephant acquired by circus showman P. T. Barnum from the London Zoo in 1882. The name itself may have come from a West African[l] native word for "elephant".[52]

The first mention of the village is in a Latin document from 1094 that uses the name Castro Novo. The term castrum or castro in the 11th century was used to denote a fortified village, rather than a castle (castellum). The current French name of "Châteauneuf" (English: "New Castle") is derived from this early Latin name and not from the ruined 14th-century castle that towers above the village. Just over a century later in 1213 the village was referred to as Castronovum Calcernarium. Other early documents use Castronovo Caussornerio or Castrum Novum Casanerii. The official French name became Châteauneuf  Calcernier. The word 'Calcernier' comes from the presence of important lime kilns in the village. Calcernarium is derived from the Latin calx for lime and cernere means sift or sieve. From the 16th century the village was often referred to as "Châteauneuf du Pape" or "Châteauneuf  Calcernier dit de Pape", because of the connection with Pope John XXII,  but it was not until 1893 that the official name was changed from "Châteauneuf  Calcernier" to "Châteauneuf-du-Pape".[1][2]

Linnaeus' six species of Azalea were Azalea indica, A. pontica, A. lutea, A. viscosa, A. lapponica and A. procumbens (now Kalmia procumbens), which he distinguished from Rhododendron by having five stamens, as opposed to ten. As new species of what are now considered Rhododendron were discovered, if they seemed to differ significantly from the type species they were assigned to separate genera. For instance Rhodora (Linnaeus 1763) for Rhododendron canadense, Vireya (Blume 1826)[17] and Hymenanthes (Blume 1826) for Rhododendron metternichii, now R. degronianum. Meanwhile, other botanists such as Salisbury (1796)[18] and Tate (1831)[19] began to question the distinction between Azalea and Rhododendron, and finally in 1836, Azalea was incorporated into Rhododendron[20] and the genus divided into eight sections. Of these Tsutsutsi (Tsutsusi), Pentanthera, Pogonanthum, Ponticum and Rhodora are still used, the other sections being Lepipherum, Booram, and Chamaecistus. This structure largely survived till recently (2004), following which the development of molecular phylogeny led to major re-examinations of traditional morphological classifications,[15][16] although other authors such as Candolle, who described six sections,[21] used slightly different numeration.

Whatever the circumstances were, a small boy at the scene reportedly said he was scared and declared, "I'm going to cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes in a minute!" This statement apparently stayed in the residents' minds and was eventually adopted as the town's name.[6] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[7][8]

The origin of the Parthenon's name is from the Greek word παρθενών (parthenon), which referred to the "unmarried women's apartments" in a house and in the Parthenon's case seems to have been used at first only for a particular room of the temple;[14] it is debated which room this is and how the room acquired its name. The Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon states that this room was the western cella of the Parthenon, as does J. B. Bury.[7] Jamauri D. Green holds that the parthenon was the room in which the peplos presented to Athena at the Panathenaic Festival was woven by the arrephoroi, a group of four young girls chosen to serve Athena each year.[15] Christopher Pelling asserts that Athena Parthenos may have constituted a discrete cult of Athena, intimately connected with, but not identical to, that of Athena Polias.[16] According to this theory, the name of the Parthenon means the "temple of the virgin goddess" and refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos that was associated with the temple.[17] The epithet parthénos (παρθένος) meant "maiden, girl", but also "virgin, unmarried woman"[18] and was especially used for Artemis, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, and for Athena, the goddess of strategy and tactics, handicraft, and practical reason.[19] It has also been suggested that the name of the temple alludes to the maidens (parthenoi), whose supreme sacrifice guaranteed the safety of the city.[20] Parthénos has also been applied to the Virgin Mary, Parthénos Maria, and the Parthenon had been converted to a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the final decade of the sixth century.[21]

"Greeks held the yew to be sacred to Hecate... Her attendants draped wreathes of yew around the necks of black bulls which they slaughtered in her honor and yew boughs were burned on funeral pyres. The yew was associated with the alphabet and the scientific name for yew today, taxus, was probably derived from the Greek word for yew, toxos, which is hauntingly similar to toxon, their word for bow and toxicon, their word for poison. It is presumed that the latter were named after the tree because of its superiority for both bows and poison."[74]

According to the writings of the Masonic historian E.J. Marconis de Negre,[21] who together with his father Gabriel M. Marconis is held to be the founder of the "Rite of Memphis-Misraim" of Freemasonry, based on earlier conjectures (1784) by a Rosicrucian scholar Baron de Westerode[22] and also promulgated by the 18th century secret society called the "Golden and Rosy Cross", the Rosicrucian Order was created in the year 46 when an Alexandrian Gnostic sage named Ormus and his six followers were converted by one of Jesus' disciples, Mark. Their symbol was said to be a red cross surmounted by a rose, thus the designation of Rosy Cross. From this conversion, Rosicrucianism was supposedly born, by purifying Egyptian mysteries with the new higher teachings of early Christianity.[23]

For a house-warming, white flowers are used, as they suggest water to quench a fire, fire being their constant dread, as in the construction of many houses everything but the roof is flammable. Red flowers suggest fire, so are avoided on such occasions. To celebrate an inheritance all kinds of evergreens or chrysanthemums may be used, or any flowers which are long-lived, to convey the idea that the wealth or possessions may remain forever.[17]

The Middle English word diaper originally referred to a type of cloth rather than the use thereof; "diaper" was the term for a pattern of repeated, rhombic shapes, and later came to describe a white cotton or linen fabric with this pattern.[2] The first cloth diapers consisted of a specific type of soft tissue sheet, cut into geometric shapes. This type of pattern was called diapering and eventually gave its name to the cloth used to make diapers and then to the diaper itself, which was traced back to 1590s England.[3] This usage stuck in the United States and Canada following the British colonization of North America, but in the United Kingdom the word "nappy" took its place. Most sources believe nappy is a diminutive form of the word napkin, which itself was originally a diminutive.[4]

Following the fall of Constantinople (1453), the newly expanded Ottoman Empire welcomed European embassies in its capital, which in turn became the sources of plants from those regions to the east which traded with the empire. In the following century twenty times as many plants entered Europe along the Silk Road as had been transported in the previous two thousand years, mainly as bulbs. Others were acquired primarily for their alleged medicinal value. Initially Italy benefited from this new knowledge, especially Venice, which traded extensively with the East. From there these new plants rapidly spread to the rest of Western Europe.[34] By the middle of the sixteenth century there was already a flourishing export trade of various bulbs from Turkey to Europe.[35]


Question:
What was the original purpose of the Kremlin? (Note: This is already a similar question with the same length, text complexity, and semantic style as the original question provided.)

However, if you want a different question with similar semantics, you could ask: What was the initial function of the Kremlin when it was first built?

The Moscow Kremlin, often simply called the Kremlin, is a fortified compound located in the center of Moscow, with views of the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west. It is the most famous of the Russian kremlins (fortified citadels) and houses five palaces, four cathedrals, and the Kremlin Wall with its towers. The Grand Kremlin Palace, once the residence of the tsars, is also part of this complex and now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Originally, the Kremlin was built as a fortified citadel to protect the city and its rulers, and over time it became the seat of power for the Russian state.

In 1832, shortly after the formation of the church, Joseph Smith said that the Lord desired the Latter Day Saints build a temple;[6] and they completed the Kirtland Temple in 1836. Differing from other churches in the Latter Day Saint tradition, members feel that the first endowment ceremonies were performed in Kirtland, Ohio, although the endowment performed in Kirtland differed significantly from the endowment performed by Smith in Nauvoo. The construction of the Nauvoo Temple and the teaching of the full endowment by Smith are seen as the final steps in restoring the church founded by Jesus Christ following the Great Apostasy. Because it is an integral part of their worship, Mormon pioneers, upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, began plans to build temples there, and built the Endowment House to allow members to receive the endowment until the temples were completed.

The current structure of La Almudaina corresponds to the one built in the 14th century with its different spaces; the palaces of the King and of the Queen, the chapel of Saint Anne or the baths, are the most outstanding.

The subject of the emergence of castles is a complex matter which has led to considerable debate. Discussions have typically attributed the rise of the castle to a reaction to attacks by Magyars, Muslims, and Vikings and a need for private defence.[54] The breakdown of the Carolingian Empire led to the privatisation of government, and local lords assumed responsibility for the economy and justice.[55] However, while castles proliferated in the 9th and 10th centuries the link between periods of insecurity and building fortifications is not always straightforward. Some high concentrations of castles occur in secure places, while some border regions had relatively few castles.[56]

The current castle, of Roman origin, is a modification of the Muslim alcázar begun in 1281, it lasted until 1343, during the reigns of James II of Majorca , son of James I of Aragon, Sancho of Majorca and James III of Majorca. La Almudaina was the seat of the prosperous Majorcan kingdom of 14th century, during the reigns of the aforementioned monarch and his successors Sancho of Majorca and James III of Majorca, until passing to the Crown of Aragon with Peter IV in 1349.

The tradition of housing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London probably dates from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272). The Jewel House was built specifically to house the royal regalia, including jewels, plate, and symbols of royalty such as the crown, sceptre, and sword. When money needed to be raised, the treasure could be pawned by the monarch. The treasure allowed the monarch independence from the aristocracy, and consequently was closely guarded. A new position for "keeper of the jewels, armouries and other things" was created,[152] which was well rewarded; in the reign of Edward III (1327–1377) the holder was paid 12d a day. The position grew to include other duties including purchasing royal jewels, gold, and silver, and appointing royal goldsmiths and jewellers.[152]

The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, particularly with the addition of the massive dome, and expanded chambers for the bicameral legislature, the House of Representatives in the south wing and the Senate in the north wing. Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are formally referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors and dignitaries.

Originally established at the Zaporizhian Sich, the rada (council) was an institution of Cossack administration in Ukraine from the 16th to the 18th century. With the establishment of the Hetman state in 1648, it was officially known as the General Military Council until 1750.

Many historians maintain that the main concern of Pope Urban II, when calling for the First Crusade, was the threat to Constantinople from the Turkish invasion of Asia Minor in response to the appeal of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.[16] Historians agree that the fate of Jerusalem and thereby the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was of concern if not the immediate goal of papal policy in 1095. The idea of taking Jerusalem gained more focus as the Crusade was underway. The rebuilt church site was taken from the Fatimids (who had recently taken it from the Abassids) by the knights of the First Crusade on 15 July 1099.[10]

The fort complex comprises 65 historic built structures, among them 4 palace complexes, 19 main temples, 4 memorials and 20 functional water bodies. These can be divided into two major construction phases. The first hill fort with one main entrance was established in the 5th century and successively fortified until the 12th century. Its remains are mostly visible on the western edges of the plateau. The second, more significant defence structure was constructed in the 15th century during the reign of the Sisodia Rajputs, when the royal entrance was relocated and fortified with seven gates, and the medieval fortification wall was built on an earlier wall construction from the 13th century.

The Ciudadela is a great enclosed compound capable of holding 100,000 people. About 700,000 cubic meters (yards) of material was used to construct its buildings. Its central feature is the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, which was flanked by upper class apartments. The entire compound was designed to overwhelm visitors.[citation needed]


Question: When is season 2 of Limitless scheduled for release?

Despite the initial success of Limitless, which was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes by CBS on October 23, 2015, the network confirmed on May 18, 2016, that the series would not continue into the 2016-2017 lineup. On May 25, 2016, CBS executive Craig Sweeny announced the official cancellation of Limitless after just one season, leaving fans without a season 2 to look forward to.

Season 2 ran 23 episodes from March 13, 2011 to November 27, 2011, though many sources refer to the episodes airing from September 25, 2011 to November 27, 2011 as Season 3. This is due to a short hiatus from June 5, 2011 to September 25, 2011.[20]

Life Sentence (stylized onscreen as L!fe Sentence) is an American comedy-drama series, created by Erin Cardillo & Richard Keith, which debuted on The CW as a midseason entry during the 2017–18 television season. The series premiered on March 7, 2018 and concluded on June 15, 2018, with a total of 13 episodes.[1]

The Carbonaro Effect is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series. The show debuted on May 15, 2014, and is currently airing on truTV. The show is hosted by magician and prankster Michael Carbonaro. He performs tricks on people caught on hidden camera. To promote the second batch of new episodes, TBS aired a two-hour marathon on October 30, 2014.[1] The second season premiered on July 29, 2015, and the third season premiered on February 1, 2017.

The fourth season began airing on October 10, 2017, and is set to run for 23 episodes on The CW until May 22, 2018.[1]

The series was given a full 22-episode order on October 21, 2009, after strong ratings for the first half of the season. Now there is a spin-off called The Originals, that goes into depth about the original vampire family from The Vampire Diaries.[29] On February 16, 2010, The CW announced that it had renewed the show for a second season,[30] which premiered on September 9, 2010.[31] On April 26, 2011, The CW renewed the show for a third season.[32] The third season premiered on September 15, 2011.[33] The fourth season premiered October 11, 2012. The CW renewed the show for a fifth season on February 11, 2013.[34] On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a sixth season.[35] On January 11, 2015, the CW renewed the series for a seventh season.

Principal photography began in Boston in September 2016. The film originally premiered at the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017,[4] and was released in the United States on April 6, 2018, by Entertainment Studios.[5] It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its balanced screenplay and Clarke's performance.[6]

The Duffers wrote the second season to make the combined first and second season feel like a complete work, but setting elements in place to go forward with additional seasons if they are green-lit.[44] While most of the story for the second season had been decided before the first season aired, the Duffers took in the audience reactions from the first season to adjust some of the details within the second season. They knew they would not have the same element of audience surprise as when the show aired anew, and were aware fans wanted to see certain elements, but Ross said "...the point is not to give everyone what they think they want. Because I donâ€™t think they really know what they want."[45] The Duffers felt that the second season should be treated more as a sequel rather than a continuation, and thus have opted to call the second Stranger Things 2. This approach had some trepidation from Netflix, since the company felt movie sequels typically have a bad reputation, but the Duffers pointed out that there had been many successful sequels that surpassed the original film, and felt confident with this name.[6] Despite revealing episode titles for the season in the announcement teaser in order "to provide some hint of where we were going in season two without giving anything away,"[46][43] Matt Duffer stated that some of the titles would change, since there were some things "we didn't want to put on there because we felt like it would give too much away,"[43] and because "people are smart on the fucking internet" with fan-created "videos analyzing the chapter titles... right on a lot" of how the titles related to the plot of the season.[47] In early October 2017, the Duffers revealed the final titles for the first six episodes of the season.[48]

The third season of Prison Break, an American serial drama television series, commenced airing in the United States on September 17, 2007. Prison Break is produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions, in association with Rat Television, Original Television Movie and 20th Century Fox Television. The season contains 13 episodes, and concluded on February 18, 2008. The season was shorter than the previous two because of the Writer's Guild strike.

American Horror Story: Asylum is the second season of the American FX horror television series American Horror Story, created by Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy. It originally aired from October 17, 2012 to January 23, 2013. The premise of the second season marked a departure from that of the series's first season, featuring all new characters and a new location, thus marking American Horror Story as an anthology series at the time.

The first season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated ran for twenty-six episodes between 2010 and 2011[1] with an unknown stop to the airing of the episodes after episode thirteen. The first episode of the season premiered as a sneak peek on April 5, 2010,[2] and reaired on July 12, 2010 on Cartoon Network along with the next twelve episodes in the United States.[1] The series continued to air on Canada's Teletoons after episode thirteen.[3] The remaining thirteen episodes, dubbed as a second season by Cartoon Network, began airing in May 3, 2011 until July 26, 2011.[1] During the hiatus the first episode of the second season premiered on March 30, 2012 on Cartoon Network Videos[4] and aired on Boomerang in the UK on June 2, 2012 with four more episodes premiering until June 6, 2012. The official Warner Brothers website announced that the second season would begin airing on Cartoon Network in May 2012 but was set back to July 30, 2012 in the United States.[5] The first fifteen episodes aired on weekdays after July 30, 2012,[6] until August 17, 2012.[7] The show went on another hiatus until March 25, 2013,[6] when the remaining episodes of season two began to air in the United States and concluded on April 5, 2013.[8][9]


Question: When are the opening ceremonies for the 2018 Olympics?

The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony took place on February 9, 2018, at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in South Korea. The event commenced at 20:00 KST and concluded around 22:20 KST, with the Games being formally inaugurated by South Korea's President Moon Jae-in.

One type of news event, the media event, is a scripted pageant organized for mass live broadcast. Media events include athletic contests such as the Super Bowl and the Olympics, cultural events like awards ceremonies and celebrity funerals, and also political events such as coronations, debates between electoral candidates, and diplomatic ceremonies.[294] These events typically unfold according to a common format which simplifies the transmission of news items about them.[295] Usually they have the effect of increasing the perceived unity of all parties involved, which include the broadcasters and audience.[296] Today, international events such as a national declaration of independence, can be scripted in advance with the major news agencies, with staff specially deployed to key locations worldwide in advance of the life news broadcast. Public relations companies can participate in these events as well.[297]

Updated after the last freestyle event of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

"Titans Spirit" was a seven-minute instrumental. It has been used on numerous sports telecasts, particularly those on NBC, which utilized the score during its closing credits for the Salt Lake 2002, Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, London 2012, and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as well in 2002 with the final closing credits montage ending their 12-year run of NBA coverage. The song was also played as veteran New York Mets players crossed home plate during the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium, and as the New York Yankees were awarded their rings from their 2009 World Series championship. The New Jersey Devils also used this song during the jersey number retirement ceremonies for Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Patrik Eliáš.

The purpose of this template is to collect source text used in several articles in one place, in order to minimize maintenance and storage space. This is the Swedish roster in the men's ice hockey tournament of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The template is typically used in the article covering Sweden at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and the article covering the rosters of all participating teams of the tournament.

The first bidding process over which Thomas Bach presided over as President was the bidding process for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Bids were due in November 2013 and the host city, Beijing, was elected at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July 2015. Lausanne was elected to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics during that same session.

Countries began announcing their entries in 2017. The International Skating Union published the complete list on 30 January 2018.

On the 2008 ESPY's the song was used. The song was also used at the end of 2008 Summer Olympics Games opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 by NBC to recap the events that took place during the opening ceremonies. It has also been used throughout the Olympics to recap the days victories for the United States. This song was also used for a Viennese Waltz on So You Think You Can Dance season 4, performed by Courtney G. and Mark; and a Viennese Waltz on So You Think You Can Dance Canada season 2, performed by Corynne and Anthony.

The Russian government said special attention would be paid to security at upcoming international sports events in Russia, including the 2014 Winter Olympics.[318] According to the Russian embassy in the U.S., President Vladimir Putin condemned the bombing as a "barbaric crime" and "stressed that the Russian Federation will be ready, if necessary, to assist in the U.S. authorities' investigation."[319] He urged closer cooperation of security services with Western partners[320] but other Russian authorities and mass media blamed the U.S. authorities for negligence as they warned the US of the Tsarnaevs.[321] Moreover Russian authorities and mass media since the spring of 2014 blame USA for politically motivated false information about lack of response from Russian authorities after subsequent U.S. requests.[citation needed] As proof a letter from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was shown to the members of an official U.S. Congressional delegation to Moscow during their visit. This letter with information about Tsarnaev (including his biography details, connections and phone number) had been sent from FSB to FBI and CIA during March 2011.[322]

The Super Bowl LII Halftime Show (officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show) took place on February 4, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of Super Bowl LII. Justin Timberlake was the featured performer, as confirmed by the National Football League (NFL) on October 22, 2017.[1] It was televised nationally by NBC.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final.


Question: Who performed the theme song for the Dukes of Hazzard?

The theme song for the television series "The Dukes of Hazzard," titled "Good Ol' Boys," was written and performed by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. This song was released in August 1980, as part of his album "Music Man," and achieved the number one spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that same year.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 1966 alongside the Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone. The score is composed by frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, whose distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling permeate the film. The main theme, resembling the howling of a coyote, is a two-note melody that is a frequent motif, and is used for the three main characters, with a different instrument used for each one: flute for Blondie (Man With No Name), Arghilofono (Ocarina) for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco.[1][2]

The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen, later becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song was composed by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, based on the "horn line" from Goldfinger, which required royalty payments to the original writers.[2] At five-minutes twelve seconds it is the longest Bond theme. The music video of "Licence to Kill" was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who later took over the reins of title designer from Maurice Binder for the 1995 Bond film, GoldenEye.

Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" was composed by Christopher Reccardi[9] and written by Charlie Brissette and John Kricfalusi. A cover of this song, performed by Wax, is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records. The line "happy, happy, joy, joy" is first used in episode three of the series; the song is first played in episode six. It is sung by a character introduced as "Stinky Whizzleteats",[54] who is named in the episode's script as Burl Ives, an American folk singer and actor.[55] The song liberally quotes numerous lyrics and lines of dialogue from Ives's films and records, creating a series of non sequiturs.

Jones recorded two versions of the song; the second can be heard on the A Good Year for the Roses: The Complete Musicor Recordings 1965-1971. Jones also cut the song with Alan Jackson as a duet in 1994 for the Bradley Barn Sessions, but was disappointed with its reception by country radio, noting in his autobiography, "Alan was white-hot on the radio, and programmers wanted his voice. But some didn't want his if they had to take mine. The vast majority of Alan's other single records have gone to number one. His duet with me was his first not to crack the top 50."[1] It actually peaked at number 57. In June 1995, the song won the Music City News Country Awards "Vocal Collaboration of the Year."

Initially Eric Clapton and Vic Flick were asked to write and perform the theme song to Licence to Kill. The theme was said to have been a new version based on the James Bond Theme. The guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Flick.[1]

The show's house band is Cleto and the Cletones, led by saxophonist Cleto Escobedo III, a childhood friend of Kimmel. The other "Cletones" of the band are Cleto Escobedo Jr., the bandleader's father, on tenor and alto saxophone, Jeff Babko on keyboards, Toshi Yanagi on guitar, Jimmy Earl on bass, and Jonathan Dresel on drums. Like other talk shows with live bands, Cleto and the Cletones play the show's opening and closing themes and play into and out of commercial breaks. (They usually play through the entire break for the studio audience.) The show's opening theme was written by Les Pierce, Jonathan Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III and sung by Robert Goulet.

The first theme song (used from 1956â€“1961) was an arrangement of Charles Strouse's "Sixth Finger Tune", originally written for Milton Scott Michel's 1956 play Sixth Finger in a Five Finger Glove.

"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues artist Percy Mayfield and first recorded in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix.

In 1941 the Benny Goodman Orchestra first performed the song during recorded radio performances with Helen Forrest. Forrest chose to leave the ensemble during the early part of 1941,[9] and Goodman then began performing the song with her replacement Peggy Lee,[10] whose recording, from a Mutual sustaining broadcast, was later released on a double long-play album; named Benny And Sid "Roll 'Em", the album consisted of an assortment of live radio broadcasts by the group.[11] Glenn Miller conducted his rendition of the song at Abbey Road Studios in 1944. Owing to his sudden death later that year, his orchestral version of the song was not released until 1995.[12] On October 30, 1946 Nat "King" Cole recorded the song, with Oscar Moore playing guitar and Johnny Miller playing bass as the "King Cole Trio". Cole's recording was made during a live WMCA radio broadcast from New York.[13] Later, in 1957, Cole performed the song live on his television variety show The Nat King Cole Show.[14] Though it was not released until some years later, Harry Belafonte made a recording of the song in 1949 with jazz saxophonist Zoot Sims. This was one of Belafonte's first recordings. Sims' performance on the track would later be parodied by the character inspired by him, in episode 2.02 of The Muppet Show, which aired on December 10, 1977.

"Waiting for a Girl Like You" is a 1981 power ballad[1] by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then-little-known Thomas Dolby, this song also marked a major departure from their earlier singles because their previous singles were mid to upper tempo rock songs while this song was a softer love song with the energy of a power ballad.


Question: What do the seven stars on the Venezuelan flag signify?

The seven stars on the Venezuelan flag symbolize the seven provinces that signed the declaration of independence in the 19th century. These provinces include Caracas, Cumaná, Barcelona, Barinas, Margarita, Mérida, and Trujillo.

Over the course of the flag's use by the Confederacy, additional stars were added to the flag's canton, eventually bringing the total number of stars on the flag to thirteen. This reflected the Confederacy's claims of having admitted Kentucky and Missouri into the Confederacy. Although they were represented in the Confederate Congress for the duration of its meetings, and had shadow governments made up of deposed former state politicians, neither state was ever fully controlled or administered by the Confederacy. The first showing of the 13-star flag was outside the Ben Johnson House in Bardstown, Kentucky; the 13-star design was also in use as the Confederate navy's battle ensign.

According to the 1992 constitution: "The National Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is rectangular in shape, its width is equal to two thirds of its length, in the middle of fresh red background is a bright five-pointed golden star".[5]

For hundreds of years inverted national flags were commonly used as distress signals.[3] However, for some countries’ flags it is difficult (e.g., Spain, South Korea, the UK) or impossible (e.g., Japan, Thailand, and Israel) to determine whether they are inverted. Other countries have flags that are inverses of each other; for example, the Polish flag is white on the top half and red on the bottom, while Indonesia's and Monaco's flags are the opposite—i.e., top half red, bottom half white. A ship flying no flags may also be understood to be in distress.[4]

Giorgio Armani has a keen interest in sports. He is the president of the Olimpia Milano basketball team,[17] and an Inter Milan fan.[18][19] He has twice designed suits for the England national football team.[18][20] He has since designed suits worn by players of the London club Chelsea since August 2007.[21] He designed the Italian flag bearers' outfits at the opening ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,[22] and also designed Italy's Olympic uniforms for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[22] Armani also designed and introduced the EA7 range, a brand inspired by Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who at the time played for A.C. Milan and wore the number 7 jersey.[citation needed]

Though Syria withdrew from the U.A.R. in 1961, Egypt continued to use the official name of the United Arab Republic until 1971, when the country was renamed officially as the Arab Republic of Egypt. In 1972, when Egypt formed the Federation of Arab Republics along with Syria, and Libya, the U.A.R. flag (whose design Syria would reuse for their own flag, eight years later) was replaced by a common flag for the Federation, once again based on the Arab Liberation flag. The two green stars in the white band were replaced by the Hawk of Qureish, which had been the coat of arms of Syria prior to the formation of the U.A.R. in 1958. The Hawk of Qureish was also adopted as the Federation's coat of arms. The shade of red used in the red band was lightened slightly.

Prior to the adoption of the 48-star flag in 1912, there was no official arrangement of the stars in the canton, although the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy used standardized designs. Throughout the 19th century there was an abundance of different star patterns, rectangular and circular.

When the children see the first star in the eastern evening sky, which symbolizes the trek of the Three Wise Men, the Sviata Vechera may begin. In farming communities the head of the household now brings in a sheaf of wheat called the didukh which represents the importance of the ancient and rich wheat crops of Ukraine, the staff of life through the centuries. Didukh means literally "grandfather spirit" so it symbolizes the family's ancestors. In city homes a few stalks of golden wheat in a vase are often used to decorate the table. The dinner table sometimes has a few wisps of hay on the embroidered table cloth as a reminder of the manger in Bethlehem. A prayer is said and the father says the traditional Christmas greeting, "Chrystos rodyvsya!" which is translated to "Christ is born!", which is answered by the family with "Slavite Yoho!" which means "Let us glorify him!". In some families the Old Slavic form "Ð¡hrystos rozhdayetsya!" is used. At the end of the Sviata Vechera the family often sings Ukrainian Christmas Carols. In many communities the old Ukrainian tradition of caroling is carried on by groups of young people and members of organizations and churches calling at homes and collecting donations.

On his right arm he has a tattoo of the English word "nine" written in the artificial script of Tengwar, a reference to his involvement in The Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. Seven other cast members and John Rhys-Davies' stunt double also got matching tattoos during the film's production, at Monaghan's instigation. Below that tattoo is another that reads, "Life imitates art", an Oscar Wilde quote.[19] On his left arm is a tattoo, "Living is easy with eyes closed", a line from The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever". He also has two stars tattooed on his left foot: one black, and one white.[21] In 2010, Monaghan got two more tattoos, one on the upper side of the back ("Love you take is equal to the love you make", taken from the song "The End" by The Beatles). The other, done by Kat Von D on the television show LA Ink, is located on his lower right arm and reads "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter", a quote from Yoda.

In the Emblem of Italy, adopted in 1947, the five-pointed star represents the "Star of Italy".


Question: How many US soldiers are stationed worldwide by the United States?

The estimated number of active duty personnel in the United States Armed Forces for fiscal year 2017 was 1,281,900, complemented by 801,200 reservists across seven reserve components. The military operates on an all-volunteer basis, although conscription can be initiated by the President with congressional approval, necessitating all males aged 18 to 25 residing in the U.S. to register for a potential draft through the Selective Service System.

Worldwide, the number of priests in 1970 was 419,728.[2] In 2012, there were a total of 414,313 priests.[2] While the total number of priests worldwide has therefore remained about the same since 1970, the Catholic population has nearly doubled, growing from 653.6 million in 1970 to 1.229 billion in 2012.[2] In 2012 the global number of candidates for the priesthood also showed its first decline in recent years.[3]

In the summer of 1998, the region of South Korea where CRC lies was subjected to severe rains that caused deadly flooding and damage to CRC. Although no US service members lost their lives during the floods, many Korean nationals and domestic livestock perished in the flood waters. A large portion of the hill behind CRC washed away. A massive mudslide devastated the southern half of CRC. For weeks, Camp Red Cloud went without a main PX as it was destroyed by the floods. Several barracks (officer quarters) were leveled in the destruction along with the golf Pro Shop located adjacent to the helipad. The 2ID museum also suffered severe damage in the torrent of mud and water.

The USPS operates one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world, with an estimated 227,896 vehicles,[2] the majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (long-life vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (flex-fuel vehicle), originally also referred to as the CRV (carrier route vehicle). It is by geography and volume the globe's largest postal system, delivering 47% of the world's mail.[2] For every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra $8Â million per year to fuel its fleet.[42]

Jehovah's Witnesses' official statistics only count as members those who submit reports for preaching activity, usually resulting in lower membership numbers than those found by external surveys. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses report approximately 1.2 million active publishers in the United States (including some children), whereas the Pew Research Center reported that Jehovah's Witnesses make up 0.8% of the US population (approximately 2.5 million).[5] Their official statistics indicate membership according to various territories—which they refer to as "lands"—many of which are not independent countries.

This timeline of United States government military operations is based on the Committee on International Relations (now known as the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs). Dates show the years in which U.S. government military units participated. Items in bold are the U.S. government wars most often considered to be major conflicts by historians and the general public. Note that instances where the U.S. government gave aid alone, with no military personnel involvement, are excluded, as are Central Intelligence Agency operations.

Beginning in late 2010 U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Afghanistan (starting with the 173rd Airborne Brigade) were issued an Army-developed variant of the Crye Precision "MultiCam" pattern, which was far more effective in Afghanistan's terrain.[11] These flame-retardant uniforms are designed to prevent third-degree burns, along with up to thirty percent of second degree burns. Additionally, the uniforms are treated with the chemical permethrin to help protect soldiers from insect-borne diseases like malaria. Some U.S. Army soldiers during the latter stages of the Iraq War also wore the ACU in MultiCam; some were seen wearing them as late as December 2011, when the United States withdrew its military forces from the country at the end of the war. This particular version has been replaced by the newer ACU in the Operational Camouflage Pattern.

In January 2006 Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes, Director of Security Forces and Force Protection, stated, "We want to make our airmen more proficient, and to do that we need to adapt. We're going to change our training, our tactics and our procedures and the Air Force will be better for it." Gen. Holmes calls these transformations a "refocus" on how Security Forces train and fight. He elaborated, "We're not in the Cold War anymore; we have to alter our mentality and our practices for today's reality. Because of the nature of the threat, our airmen are fighting the global war on terror on the front lines, and we owe it to them to provide training, equipment and resources to be effective. Essentially, Security Forces will focus on preparing for their war-fighting mission at forward locations, as well as security at a fixed installation. Our airmen are going 'outside the wire' to conduct missions and are proving successful in keeping people safe." Gen. Holmes also said one of the transformation goals is bringing security forces back in step with standard Air Force 120-day deployments. He explained, "Right now our folks are going out for 179-day rotations. Our airmen need time to reconstitute and train. So it's important to get them in line with the rest of the Air Force. We aim to do just that." Overall, Gen. Holmes said the changes would make Security Forces more effective and relevant to Air Force needs in the face of the current changing nature of warfare.[20]

The Texas Army National Guard is composed of approximately 12,000 soldiers, and maintains 117 armories in 102 communities.[citation needed] State duties include disaster relief, emergency preparedness, security assistance to state law enforcement agencies, and some aspects of border security. The Governor can activate the National Guard components under his control for state active duty in Texas, and in support of adjacent states.

As of 2013, the newspaper had 6 news bureaus in the New York region, 14 elsewhere in the United States, and 24 in other countries.[101]

"Chopped" units are referred to as forces. The top-level structure of these forces is the Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (AETF). The AETF is the Air Force presentation of forces to a CCDR for the employment of Air Power. Each CCDR is supported by a standing Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) to provide planning and execution of aerospace forces in support of CCDR requirements. Each C-NAF consists of a Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) and AFFOR/A-staff, and an Air Operations Center (AOC). As needed to support multiple Joint Force Commanders (JFC) in the CCMD's Area of Responsibility (AOR), the C-NAF may deploy Air Component Coordinate Elements (ACCE) to liaise with the JFC. If the Air Force possesses the preponderance of air forces in a JFC's area of operations, the COMAFFOR will also serve as the Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC).


Question: What were the costumes like in "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover"?

Jean-Paul Gaultier was responsible for creating the costumes for the film "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover." Meanwhile, the culinary creations seen on screen were prepared by renowned Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli, who provided the food used as props.

English gangster Albert Spica has taken over the high-class Le Hollandais Restaurant, run by French chef Richard Boarst. Spica makes nightly appearances at the restaurant with his retinue of thugs. His oafish behavior causes frequent confrontations with the staff and his own customers, whose patronage he loses, but whose money he seems not to miss.

Some reviewers were critical of the film's depiction of violence, which was considered to be too graphic for a comedy. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker stated, "Few recent movies have fetched quite as far as "Kingsman", and countless viewers will relish the brazen zest of its invention." However, Lane was critical of the film's use of stereotypes.[64] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times enjoyed the film, but criticised Vaughn's use of violence as a cinematic tool, calling it "narrative overkill".[65] Jason Ward of The Guardian wrote that "[e]verything about Kingsman exists to disguise the fact that it is solidly conservative". His examples include "[t]he depiction of Valentine's plan as a throwback to a less serious era of spy movies [which] is revealed as a feint, with the ulterior motive of undermining environmentalists".[66] Likewise, The A.V. Club's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky commented that, "Far from being a Team America-style send-up of gentleman spy movies, Kingsman is actually even more reactionary than the movies it's referencing; it traffics in the kind of Tory values Bond flicks merely suggest [...] the thing is, the movie is fun, at least from a visual design standpoint, even though it’s hard to separate its bespoke fashions, future-vintage gadgets, and aristocratic décor from its fusty worldview".[67] Peter Sobczynski of rogerebert.com, who gave the film two out of four stars, likened Vaughn's script to the spy film equivalent of Scream and also criticised the overuse of graphic violence, despite its cartoonish rendering.[68] Vaughn has faced some criticism for an anal sex gag at the end of the film that was a reference to the James Bond films.[69][70]

The music, co-written by Bowie and Eno, has been likened to a Wall of Sound production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizers.[17] Eno has said that musically the piece always "sounded grand and heroic" and that he had "that very word – heroes – in my mind" even before Bowie wrote the lyrics.[3] The basic backing track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of piano, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. However the remaining instrumental additions are highly distinctive. These largely consist of synthesizer parts by Eno using an EMS VCS3 to produce detuned low-frequency drones, with the beat frequencies from the three oscillators producing a juddering effect. In addition, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp generated an unusual sustained sound by allowing his guitar to feed back and sitting at different positions in the room to alter the pitch of the feedback (pitched feedback). Tony Visconti rigged up a system, a creative misuse of gating that may be termed "multi-latch gating",[18] of three microphones to capture the vocal, with one microphone nine inches from Bowie, one 20 feet away and one 50 feet away. As the music built, Bowie was forced to sing at increased volumes to overcome the gating effect, leading to an increasingly unhinged vocal performance as the song progresses[19] Each microphone is muted as the next one is triggered. "Bowie's performance thus grows in intensity precisely as ever more ambience infuses his delivery until, by the final verse, he has to shout just to be heard....The more Bowie shouts just to be heard, in fact, the further back in the mix Visconti's multi-latch system pushes his vocal tracks, creating a stark metaphor for the situation of Bowie's doomed lovers".[20]

The video received general acclaim from critics. Freeze Frame deemed the video "primal" and complimented Björk on keeping the attention of the viewer by only showing her head and shoulders, thus comparing it to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel.[1] I.D. Magazine praised its special effects, writing they "reach a new level of detail in [the music video]" and compared the singer's transformation to that of the title character in Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.[24] Louise Gray of The Wire described the music video as "extraordinary" and "deeply affecting".[5] Cultural theorist Dominic Pettman, while analyzing the "becoming-animal" theorized by Deleuze and Guattari, found that the video for "Hunter" —along with the character Treadwell in Herzog's Grizzly Man— embodied various points these philosophers studied regarding that concept.[25] Shirley R. Steinberg and Donaldo Pereira Macedo wrote that in the music video, Donna Haraway's metaphor of A Cyborg Manifesto appears in "Björks embodiment of a human-animal-machine hybrid."[23]

His later plays became more overtly political, drawing parallels between the psychology of his characters and the behavior of governments and social classes. Among the best-known of these are Aunt Dan and Lemon (1985) and The Designated Mourner (1997). Shawn's political work has invited controversy, as he often presents the audience with several contradictory points of view, such as Aunt Dan and Lemon, which Shawn described as a cautionary tale against fascism. The monologue The Fever, originally created by Shawn to be performed for small audiences in apartments, describes a person who becomes sick while struggling to find a morally consistent way to live when faced with injustice, and harshly criticizes the record of the United States in supporting oppressive anti-communist regimes. In 1997, Shawn discussed the political nature of Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever and The Designated Mourner in an interview. In this interview Shawn talked extensively with Patrick McGrath about the thematic developments between the three plays, as well as his own views on Marxist, communist and socialist politics, their relevance to American liberalism, and how government and individual responsibilities for finding solutions to the dichotomy between rich and poor in the world take hold in the characters presented in his plays.[6] Shawn's four plays have been adapted into films: The Designated Mourner (basically a film version of David Hare's stage production), Marie and Bruce, My Dinner with Andre and The Fever. Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave stars in The Fever (2004),[7] which first aired on HBO on June 13, 2007.

The costumes for Part 1 were designed by Jany Temime, who has been the costume designer on Harry Potter productions since Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).[23] Temime was involved in a controversy regarding her work on Fleur Delacour's wedding dress. She was accused of copying the design from a similar dress from Alexander McQueen's Fall 2008 collection.[24] Temime spoke about the dress, saying that she "wanted it to be a witch wedding dress but not a Halloween dress. The dress is white but it needed to have something fantastic to it. So there is the phoenix [motif], the bird, which is a symbol of love in a way because there is rebirth, love never dies, it is born again."[23]

Charlie had run a brothel and strip club and was a pimp by profession, and he also was revealed by Zombie as a "coke-head." To emphasize his style as a pimp, he was given a large amount of valuable and suggestive paraphernalia; it was not on camera, but in a scene where he was sharing his cocaine with Cutter, he had a necklace that was a cocaine spoon in the shape of a naked woman.

The film was described by some reviewers, and partially marketed, as an erotic thriller, a categorization disputed by others. It is classified as such in the book The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema, by Linda Ruth Williams,[44] and was described as such in news articles about Cruise and Kidman's lawsuit over assertions they saw a sex therapist during filming.[45] The positive review in Combustible Celluloid describes it as an erotic thriller upon first viewing, but actually a "complex story about marriage and sexuality".[46] High-Def Digest also called it an erotic thriller.[47]

Tenniel's fee for illustrating the sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871) rose to Â£290, which Carroll again paid for out of his own pocket.[25] Tenniel changed Alice's clothing slightly in the sequel, where she wears horizontal-striped stockings instead of plain ones and has a more ornate pinafore with a bow.[30] Originally, Alice wore a "crinoline-supported chessmanlike skirt" similar to that of the Red and White Queens, as a queen; the design was rejected by Carroll.[34] Her clothing as a queen and in the railway carriage is a polonaise-styled dress with a bustle, which would have been fashionable at the time.[30] The clothing worn by the characters in "My First Sermon" (1863) by pre-Raphaelite painter John Millais and "The Travelling Companions" (1862) by Victorian painter Augustus Leopold Egg have some elements in common with Alice's clothing in the railway carriage.[35] Carroll expressed unhappiness at Tenniel's refusal to use a model for illustrations of Alice,[nb 2] writing that this resulted in her head and feet being out of proportion.[37]

Due to the scarcity of props in Peking opera, costumes take on added importance. Costumes function first to distinguish the rank of the character being played. Emperors and their families wear yellow robes, and high-ranking officials wear purple. The robe worn by these two classes is called a mang, or python robe. It is a costume suitable for the high rank of the character, featuring brilliant colors and rich embroidery, often in the design of a dragon. Persons of high rank or virtue wear red, lower-ranking officials wear blue, young characters wear white, the old wear white, brown, or olive, and all other men wear black. On formal occasions, lower officials may wear the kuan yi, a simple gown with patches of embroidery on both the front and back. All other characters, and officials on informal occasions, wear the chezi, a basic gown with varying levels of embroidery and no jade girdle to denote rank. All three types of gowns have water sleeves, long flowing sleeves that can be flicked and waved like water, attached to facilitate emotive gestures. Tertiary characters of no rank wear simple clothing without embroidery. Hats are intended to blend in with the rest of the costume and will usually have a matching level of embroidery. Shoes may be high or low soled, the former being worn by characters of high rank, and the latter by characters of low rank or acrobatic characters.[67]