Shen Yun Performing Arts () is a United States-based non-profit performing arts and entertainment company that tours internationally, producing dance performances and symphony concerts. It is operated by the Falun Gong new religious movement. Shen Yun is composed of eight equally large performing arts companies, with a total of approximately 480 performers. Shen Yun has performed in front of millions and has toured more than 200 cities across Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia.

Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by Chinese expatriate adherents of Falun Gong, and is based at the Dragon Springs compound in Deerpark, New York, near where the group's leader Li Hongzhi and his followers reside. Falun Gong adherents pay to rent the performance venue, promote the show, and sell tickets. After expenses are covered through ticket sales, proceeds go to Shen Yun. The finances of Shen Yun and Falun Gong appear to be linked, with technically separate corporations sharing funds, executives and the same mission. Li Hongzhi describes the Shen Yun performance as a means of "saving" audiences.

Shen Yun's performances have been described as promoting sectarian doctrines and negative views of evolution and atheism. Some descriptions have noted Falun Gong's opposition to homosexuality and feminism. The group is promoted by The Epoch Times, a far-right media outlet affiliated with Falun Gong. In 2019, an NBC News assessment concluded that the Epoch Media Group and Shen Yun "make up the outreach effort of Falun Gong". The Chinese government bars Shen Yun from performing in China as it considers Falun Gong to be an "anti-society cult" and has attempted to cancel its performances abroad by pressuring theaters and governments.

History and ties to Falun Gong

In 2006, a group of expatriate Chinese Falun Gong practitioners living in North America founded Shen Yun in New York. The stated purpose of the company was to revive Chinese culture and traditions from the time before the Chinese Revolution.

In 2007, the company conducted its first tour with 90 dancers, musicians, soloists, and production staff. Early shows were titled "Chinese Spectacular", "Holiday Wonders", "Chinese New Year Splendor", and "Divine Performing Arts", but now the company performs exclusively under the name "Shen Yun". By 2009, Shen Yun had developed three full companies and orchestras that toured the world simultaneously. By the end of the 2010 season, approximately one million people had seen the troupes perform.

Shen Yun, the media organization The Epoch Times, and a variety of other organizations operate as extensions of the new religious movement Falun Gong. Los Angeles–based investigative reporter Samuel Braslow described Shen Yun's background in March 2020: "Both Shen Yun and Epoch Times are funded and operated by members of Falun Gong, a controversial spiritual group that was banned by China's government in 1999[...] Falun Gong melds traditional Taoist principles with occasionally bizarre pronouncements from its Chinese-born founder and leader, Li Hongzhi. Among other pronouncements, Li has claimed that aliens started invading human minds in the beginning of the 20th century, leading to mass corruption and the invention of computers. He has also denounced feminism and homosexuality and claimed he can walk through walls and levitate. But the central tenet of the group's wide-ranging belief system is its fierce opposition to communism. In 2000, Li founded Epoch Times to disseminate Falun Gong talking points to American readers. Six years later he launched Shen Yun as another vehicle to promote his teachings to mainstream Western audiences. Over the years Shen Yun and Epoch Times, while nominally separate organizations, have operated in tandem in Falun Gong's ongoing PR campaign against the Chinese government, taking directions from Li." Editor Chris Jennewein of MyNewsLA wrote that Los Angeles Magazine was sued for defamation in May 2020 by the Epoch Times, referring to Braslow's news report. Los Angeles Magazine pulled the piece from their website in July, as ordered by federal judge George H. Wu, and published a retraction notice in the September 2020 issue of the magazine.

Shen Yun operates out of Falun Gong's headquarters in the  Dragon Springs compound in Deerpark, New York, where it has large rehearsal spaces. Dragon Springs is registered as a religious property under the church name Dragon Springs Buddhist. The exact financial and structural connections between Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times remain unclear. According to NBC News: "The Epoch Media Group, along with Shen Yun, a dance troupe known for its ubiquitous advertising and unsettling performances, make up the outreach effort of Falun Gong, a relatively new spiritual practice that combines ancient Chinese meditative exercises, mysticism and often ultraconservative cultural worldviews. Falun Gong's founder has referred to Epoch Media Group as "our media", and the group's practice heavily informs The Epoch Times coverage, according to former employees who spoke with NBC News. The Epoch Times, digital production company NTD and the heavily advertised dance troupe Shen Yun make up the nonprofit network that Li calls "our media". Financial documents paint a complicated picture of more than a dozen technically separate organizations that appear to share missions, money and executives."

Billing and promotion
Shen Yun promotes itself as "a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and virtues distilled from five millennia of Chinese civilization". The company is described in promotions as reviving Chinese culture following a period of assault and destruction under the Chinese Communist Party. Shen Yun is heavily promoted in major cities with commercials, billboards, and brochures displayed in the streets and in businesses, as well as in television and radio profiles. According to Jia Tolentino of The New Yorker, "The ads have to be both ubiquitous and devoid of content so that they can convince more than a million people to pay good money to watch what is, essentially, religious-political propaganda—or, more generously, an extremely elaborate commercial for Falun Dafa’s spiritual teachings and its plight vis-à-vis the Chinese Communist regime."

Shen Yun performances are often produced or sponsored by regional Falun Dafa associations, members of Falun Gong, which in China is considered to be a cult and is banned by the government. Some audience members have objected to the show's promotion strategy, which does not note the religious- and political-themed content of the performance.

In 2021, the troupe began billing its shows as "China Before Communism".

Content

Dance
Large-scale group dance is at the center of Shen Yun productions. Each touring company consists of about 40 male and female dancers, who mainly perform classical Chinese dances, making extensive use of acrobatic and tumbling techniques, forms and postures.

Shen Yun's repertoire draws on stories from Chinese history and legends, such as the legend of Mulan, Journey to the West and Outlaws of the Marsh. It also depicts "the story of Falun Gong today". During the 2010 production, at least two of the 16 scenes depicted "persecution and murder of Falun Gong practitioners" in contemporary China, including the beating of a young mother to death, and the jailing of a Falun Gong protester. In addition to classical Han Chinese dance, Shen Yun also includes elements of Yi, Miao, Tibetan and Mongolian dance.

Shen Yun performs three core elements of classical Chinese dance: bearing (emotion, cultural and ethnic flavor), form (expressive movements and postures), and technical skill (physical techniques of jumping, flipping, and leaping). Shen Yun choreographer Vina Lee has stated that some of the distinct Chinese bearing () has been "lost in the process" since the cultural changes of the Communist revolution.

Music
Shen Yun dances are accompanied by Chinese instruments: the , and a variety of Chinese percussion instruments. A full Western orchestra leads the melodies. There are solo performances featuring Chinese instruments such as the  in between dances. Interspersed between dance sequences, other than the  performances, are operatic singers performing songs which sometimes invoke spiritual or religious themes, including references to the Falun Gong faith. A performance in 2007, for instance, included a reference to the Chakravartin, a figure in Buddhism who turns the wheel of Dharma.

The music for Shen Yun was composed by Jing Xian and Junyi Tan. Three of Shen Yun's performers—flutist Ningfang Chen, erhuist Mei Xuan and tenor Guan Guimin—were recipients of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's "National First Class Performer" awards. Prior to joining Shen Yun, Guan Guimin was well known in China for his work on soundtracks for more than 50 movies and television shows. Other notable performers include  soloist Xiaochun Qi.

Costume and backdrops

Shen Yun's dancers perform wearing intricate costumes, often accompanied by a variety of props. Some costumes are intended to imitate the dress of various ethnicities, while others depict ancient Chinese court dancers, soldiers, or characters from classic stories. Props include colorful handkerchiefs, drums, fans, chopsticks, or silk scarves.

Each Shen Yun piece is set against a digitally projected backdrop, usually depicting landscapes such as Mongolian grasslands, imperial courts, ancient villages, temples, or mountains. Some backdrops contain moving elements, such as digital versions of the dancers, that integrate with the performance.

Tours
Shen Yun's eight companies tour for six months each year, performing in over 130 cities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America. Notable venues include the David H. Koch Theater at New York's Lincoln Center in Manhattan; the London Coliseum in London, England; the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy; and the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. By the conclusion of Shen Yun's 2010 performance, an estimated one million people had seen the performance worldwide.

Shen Yun does not perform in China and the Chinese government has attempted to cancel Shen Yun performances elsewhere through political pressure exerted by its foreign embassies and consulates. Chinese diplomats have also sent letters to elected officials in the West exhorting them not to attend or otherwise support the performance, which they describe as "propaganda" intended to "smear China's image." Members of the Communist Party's top political consultative body have also expressed concern that China's state-funded arts troupes have been less popular internationally than Shen Yun. Shen Yun representatives say the Chinese government's opposition to the show stems from its depictions of modern-day political oppression in China, and that it includes expressions of traditional Chinese cultural history that the Communist government has tried to suppress.

Shen Yun was scheduled to perform in Hong Kong in January 2010, but the event was cancelled after the government refused entry visas to Shen Yun's production crew. Attempts to shut down the show have also been reported by theatres and local governments in various countries including Ecuador, Ireland, Germany and Sweden.

Symphony orchestra

In October 2012, Shen Yun's symphony orchestra made its debut performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. The performance featured conductors Milen Nachev, Keng-Wei Kuo, and Antonia Joy Wilson, and the program included both classical works such as Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major, as well as original compositions that fuse Chinese and Western instruments.

In 2013, the symphony orchestra toured seven American cities. In addition to Carnegie Hall, it performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2023, the orchestra made its debut at David Geffen Hall in New York, with classical works and original compositions.

Reception
Sid Smith of Chicago Tribune wrote that a 2008 Shen Yun performance was "more uneven" than other cultural performances he had seen, but that the women dancers were "a beautiful and haunting ensemble" with "a nimble mastery of traditional talents." Sarah Crompton of The Daily Telegraph wrote of a 2008 Shen Yun performance: "This show is advertised as a Chinese spectacular – a kind of Eastern version of Cirque du Soleil. It is nothing of the kind. Acrobatics, singing and dancing skills are used in the service of a propaganda exercise on the part of Falun Gong... But what I really object to is that such a politically motivated performance is being smuggled on to stages around Europe in the name of family entertainment."

Regina Weinreich wrote in a HuffPost blog that Shen Yun's debut at Lincoln Center in 2011 "enacts the rich cultural heritage of China" and noted some descriptions of oppression in the performance. Fashion designer Donna Karan and her Urban Zen foundation hosted celebrities at an opening night and said, "I love when it gets into the soul". Laura Falcoff, writing in the Argentinian newspaper Clarín, described Shen Yun in 2012 as a "spectacular production that beautifully combines China's ancient traditions with cutting-edge technological advancements" and called it an "ideal performance for audiences of all ages, especially children." Carmen Del Val of the Spanish newspaper El País wrote that a 2014 performance was "an explosion of color and energy". Rachel Molenda of Charleston Gazette-Mail wrote of a 2015 Shen Yun performance, "The pairing of projected backgrounds and animation with real-time performance (dance and orchestral) was surreal. Sometimes I questioned whether the musicians, whose compositions were lovely, were really there."

The 2018 and 2019 performances included lyrics and digital displays disparaging atheism and belief in evolution as "deadly ideas" and "born of the Red Spectre", leading to complaints by some attenders that the shows were "anti-evolution", resembled a "religious sermon", or were "cult propaganda." An article in the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis said the political message of Shen Yun "feels more like propaganda than straightforwardly presented cultural heritage." Jia Tolentino wrote in The New Yorker that a scene in the show contained homophobia. Alix Martichoux from the Houston Chronicle wrote, "For many disgruntled Shen Yun attendees, it's not necessarily that the show itself is bad – though to be fair, some complain it is. Most of the negative reviews were people upset they were blindsided by the political content." Tolentino described a scene: "Chairman Mao appeared, and the sky turned black; the city in the digital backdrop was obliterated by an earthquake, then finished off by a Communist tsunami. A red hammer and sickle glowed in the center of the wave[...] a huge, bearded face [disappeared] in the water[...] a tsunami with the face of Karl Marx." David Robertson, then minister of St. Peter's Free Church in Dundee, wrote in 2019 that he enjoyed the show despite it being "filled with cult messages."

Pablo M. Díez of the Spanish newspaper ABC wrote in 2023, "Shen Yun's shows are a dazzling combination of dance and music with synchronized choreography in majestic settings."

Chinese government interference
The Chinese government has attempted to stop the group from performing abroad by pressuring theatre managers or sending letters or e-mails to theaters in multiple countries, including Ecuador, Ireland, Germany, and Sweden. According to Shen Yun, the Chinese government also attempted to cancel Shen Yun's performance in Hong Kong by rejecting the entry visas of six members.

See also

 Dance in the United States

References

Further reading

 The traditional Chinese dance troupe China doesn't want you to see, Nicholas Hune-Brown, theguardian.com, 12 December 2017

External links

2006 establishments in New York City
Anti-communism in the United States
Chinese-American organizations
Falun Gong propaganda
Companies based in New York (state)
Entertainment companies established in 2006
Dance in the United States
Entertainment companies of the United States
Propaganda art
Propaganda in the United States

Orchestras based in New York (state)


SG Aumund-Vegesack is a German football club from the northern district of Vegesack in the city of Bremen in the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The club was established sometime in 1892 as Spiel- und Sport Blumenthal and on 11 May 1912 was renamed Fußballverein Blumenthal. Part of the membership left to form Blumenthaler Sportverein on 6 June 1919 while later that year those that remained partnered with Sportverein Vegesack to create Spielvereinigung Aumund-Vegesack. SpVgg was in turn joined by SuS Vegesack in 1929. Today the multi-sport club has a membership of 2,000 which includes 400 footballers.

History
After World War II, occupying Allied authorities dissolved most organizations in the country, including sports and football clubs. Many were soon reformed and in 1946 SpVgg Aumund-Vegesack resumed play in the Amateurliga Bremen (II) where they earned a string of mid-table finishes over the course of the next handful of seasons. In 1953 they adopted their current name and following a 15th-place result in 1955–56 slipped to local lower-level competition. SG currently play in the tier five Bremen-Liga.

Honours
The club's honours:
 Bremer Pokal
 Winners: 2013

References

External links

Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables

Football clubs in Germany
Association football clubs established in 1892
Football clubs in Bremen (state)
1892 establishments in Germany


Thomas Paterson (1882–1952) was an Australian farmer and politician.

Thomas Paterson may also refer to:

Thomas Macdonald-Paterson (1844–1906), Australian politician
Thomas J. Paterson (1805–1885), United States politician
Thomas Wilson Paterson (1851–1921), Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
Tom Paterson, Scottish comic artist
Thomas Paterson (footballer) (1874–?), Scottish association footballer
Tom Paterson (footballer) (1874–1945), Australian rules footballer for Collingwood
Tommy Paterson (born 1954), English former footballer
T. T. Paterson (Thomas Thomson Paterson, 1909–1994), curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

See also
Thomas Patterson (disambiguation)


Trevor John Perrett (2 August 194110 July 2022) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1988 to 1998, representing the electorate of Barambah. Perrett was elected at the 1988 Barambah state by-election as the Citizens Electoral Council candidate. In December 1988 he switched to the Nationals. He represented the seat until his defeat by One Nation candidate Dorothy Pratt at the 1998 state election.

Perrett was Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry in the government of Rob Borbidge from 1996 to 1998, but was caught out having a sexual relationship lasting several years with a prostitute, Colleen Jefferies, who was found dead in her Brisbane home in 1996 in suspicious circumstances.

Post politics
In 2021, the Townsville Child Protection Investigation Unit Historical Team charged Parrett with 25 counts of historical child sexual abuse, including one count of rape. All incidents involved a single girl under the age of 14 over a two-year period the 1970s. In 2022, the case quietly disappeared from the Queensland legal system when the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions determined it did not have a strong enough chance for success.

Perrett passed away in 2022.

References

1941 births
2021 deaths
Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland
People from Kingaroy
Australian Citizens Party politicians


Caryocolum fischerella is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is found in central and northern Europe.

The wingspan is 11–13 mm. The forewings are mid-brown.  The moths are on wing from June to July depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Saponaria officinalis and Saponaria ocymoides. They are gregarious and feed within spun terminal shoots of their host plant. The larvae can be found in May. Pupation takes place in a web between the leaves of the host plant.

References

External links
Lepforum.de

Moths described in 1833
fischerella
Moths of Europe


Brandvlei is a small town in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape, South Africa. This is where a 19th-century trekboer called Ou Brand settled. Brand camped at this spot at the Sakrivier, a dry river bed, which only occasionally had water after good rains – and which typically result in flash floods. The settlement was cut in two by such a flood in 1961. After it was recovered, a municipality was formed in 1962.

This Brandvlei is located in the Bushmanland, also known as the Thirst Land, Dorsland in Afrikaans and should not be confused with the Brandvlei south of Worcester in the Western Cape. From 1974 until 2005 it was the location of an entire Long Range Artillery Battalion of the SADF, co-located with a Helicopter Transport Squadron and a Ground Attack Jet Squadron of the SAAF

This area was once sub-tropical, such as during the Miocene period. Many fossils have that been found in the area attest to this fact. From 1910 the farmers used an irrigation method comparable to one used for thousands of years by the Egyptians. The surface is very flat, and water does not run away easily. This way the rainwater is spread over a larger area and are allowed to sink into the soil. The moisture in the area is enough to farm with crops on a very small scale. Farmers live on these crops once the rains have gone. On the long run this method is not feasible, as evaporating water leaves behind salt and other minerals. Today this method is no longer used.

This region contains very little vegetation, primarily very low shrubs and yellow grass among a rocky desert kind of landscape. If you travel north from Brandvlei towards Kenhardt, you will pass through a huge landscape of nothingness for the next 200 km and more. During the seasons many birds flock to the pans, when they contain water, after some rainfall. Temperature above 40 °C is not uncommon.

Activities
Birdlife
The salt pans are renovated into bird sanctuaries after the summer rains.

Dutch Reformed Church
Visit the old Dutch Reformed Church, in Neo-Gothic style.

Lekkerlê and Kans
Two farms exhibiting splendid displays of San rock engravings.

Verneukpan
In 1929, Sir Malcolm Campbell unsuccessfully attempted to break the world land-speed record here by travelling over 300 mph in his Napier-Campbell Blue Bird.

Paragliding
In 1993 the record set for greatest gain in height was set in Brandvlei (4526m). The Karoo area is very thermic and has claimed multiple paragliding world records over the years.

See also

 Kenhardt, Northern Cape
 List of cities and towns in the Northern Cape
 Northern Cape
 Verneukpan

References

Populated places in the Hantam Local Municipality
Populated places established in 1862
Karoo
1862 establishments in the Cape Colony


Fabio Meraldi (born 5 August 1965) is an Italian ski mountaineer, mountain guide and mountain runner.

Meraldi was born in Valtellina. He passed the mountain guide training at the age of 20, and participated in various mountain tours, sky running and ski mountaineering events. He collected four European titles and nine Italian titles amongst other cups and medals, won the Pierra Menta ten times (s. below) and the Sellaronda Skimarathon six times. He also holds some important world records of speed ascending to high mountains respectively ascending and descending.

Selected results

Ski mountaineering
 1995:
 1st, Trofeo Kima
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Dolomiti Cup team (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1996:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Dolomiti Cup team (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1997:
 1st, Dolomiti Cup team (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Tour du Rutor (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 2nd, Trofeo Kima
 1998:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Dolomiti Cup team (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 2nd, Trofeo Kima
 1999:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Tour du Rutor (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 2000:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Enrico Pedrini)
 1st, Mountain Attack
 1st, Trofeo Kima
 2001:
 2nd, Trofeo Kima
 2002:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon (together with Carlo Battel)
 9th, World Championship single race

Trofeo Mezzalama

 1997: 1st, together with Enrico Pedrini and Omar Oprandi
 1999: 2nd, together with Enrico Pedrini and Pierre Gignoux
 2001: 2nd together with Jean Pellissier and Stéphane Brosse

Pierra Menta

 1989: 1st, together with Adriano Greco
 1990: 1st, together with Adriano Greco
 1991: 1st, together with Adriano Greco
 1992: 2nd, together with Adriano Greco
 1993: 1st, together with Adriano Greco
 1994: 1st, together with Adriano Greco
 1995: 1st, together with Thierry Bochet
 1996: 1st, together with Enrico Pedrini
 1997: 1st, together with Enrico Pedrini
 1998: 3rd, together with Enrico Pedrini
 1999: 1st, together with Enrico Pedrini
 2000: 1st, together with Enrico Pedrini

Skyrunning
 1994: 1st, Monte Rosa SkyMarathon
 1995: 1st, Sentiero 4 Luglio SkyMarathon
 2000: 1st, Sentiero 4 Luglio SkyMarathon

References

External links
 Personal website

1965 births
Living people
Italian male ski mountaineers
Italian male mountain runners
Italian sky runners
Sportspeople from the Province of Sondrio
Skiers from Lombardy


Creepshow is a graphic novella published by Penguin imprint Plume in July 1982, based on the film Creepshow (also from 1982). The film, directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, consists of five short films, two of which are based on earlier prose stories by King, while the remaining three were written specifically for the film.

The book's interior art is by Bernie Wrightson with Michele Wrightson, with a cover by Jack Kamen.

Stories
The comic book, like the film, consists of five short stories. These are:
 "Father's Day"
 "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" (based on the short story "Weeds", first published in 1976)
 "The Crate" (based on the short story "The Crate", first published in 1979)
 "Something to Tide You Over"
 "They're Creeping Up on You"

There is no introduction or afterword of any kind, although on the back cover it states "Stephen King conjures up five jolting tales of horror." The short stories "Weeds" and "The Crate" have never been collected in a King book and both remain uncollected.

See also

 List of comics based on films
 Short fiction by Stephen King

References

Creepshow
1982 graphic novels
American graphic novels
Comics by Stephen King
Comics based on works by Stephen King
Comics based on films


St. Michel–Mavic–Auber93 () is a UCI Continental cycling team based in France. The team is managed by Stephane Javalet with the help of Stéphan Gaudry.

The team was founded in 1994 as Aubervilliers 93–Peugeot, a name they had until 1997 when they turned into BigMat–Auber 93. The team has participated in the Tour de France in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. In 2004 the name changed to Auber 93, reverting to the current name in 2010. In 2015, BigMat once again stopped sponsoring the team.

Team roster

Major wins

1996
Stage 6 Grand Prix du Midi Libre, Gilles Talmant
Stage 4 Tour de France, Cyril Saugrain
1997
Stage 4 Circuito Montañés, Anthony Morin
1998
Stage 5 Volta ao Algarve, Guillaume Auger
Stage 4 Tour de Normandie, Thierry Gouvenou
Paris–Camembert, Pascal Lino
Stages 3 & 8 Prudential Tour, Jay Sweet
Stage 4 Tour du Limousin, Philippe Bordenave
Stage 3 Tour de l'Avenir, Jay Sweet
Commonwealth Games, Road Race, Jay Sweet
1999
Stage 3a Tour Méditerranéen, Guillaume Auger
Stage 3 Tour de Normandie, Jay Sweet
Stage 2a Tour de l'Oise, Jay Sweet
Stage 6 Tour de l'Avenir, Alexandre Chouffe
2000
, Road Race Championships, Christophe Capelle
Stage 3 Tour Down Under, Stéphane Bergès
Stage 2a Tour Méditerranéen, Jeremy Hunt
Stage 1 Sea Otter Classic, Jeremy Hunt
Overall Tour de Normandie, Ludovic Auger
Stage 2, Jay Sweet
Stage 1 Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, Carlos Da Cruz
GP Stad Vilvoorde, Guillaume Auger
Stage 4 Tour de l'Ain, Denis Leproux
Stage 2b Circuit Franco-Belge, Jay Sweet
Stage 9 Herald Sun Tour, Jeremy Hunt
2001
 Great Britain, Road Race Championships, Jeremy Hunt
Stage 1 & 2 International Tour of Rhodes, Jay Sweet
Stage 7 Circuito Montañés, Jay Sweet
Mi-Août 4, Alexei Sivakov
Stage 2b Tour de l'Ain, Jay Sweet
Prix de la Ville de Soissons, Benjamin Levecot
Overall Ster Elektrotoer, Xavier Jan
Stage 4 Circuit Franco-Belge, Jeremy Hunt
2002
Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, Xavier Jan
Stage 1 Circuit de la Sarthe, Christophe Capelle
Mi-Août 1, Nicolas Liboreau
GP Ouest–France, Jeremy Hunt
2003
Circuit des Mines, Guillaume Auger
Stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Plamen Stoyanov
Mi-Août 4, Yannick Talabardon
Stage 2a Tour de la Somme, Guillaume Auger
2004
Stage 1 Tour de Normandie, Yannick Talabardon
Tour du Jura, Yannick Talabardon
Mi-Août 2, Yannick Talabardon
2005
Bordeaux–Saintes, John Nilsson
Grand Prix de la ville de Nogent-sur-Oise, Tristan Valentin
Tro-Bro Léon, Tristan Valentin
Paris–Mantes-en-Yvelines, Maxime Méderel
Stage 4 Tour de Gironde, Saïd Haddou
Stage 1 Paris–Corrèze, William Bonnet
2006
Les Monts Luberon, Rene Mandri
Stage 7 Tour de Normandie, Maxime Méderel
Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts, Émilien-Benoît Bergès
Stage 1 Tour du Poitou-Charentes, Saïd Haddou
2007
Tour du Finistère, Niels Brouzes
Paris–Mantes-en-Yvelines, Niels Brouzes
Tour du Jura, Guillaume Levarlet
Grand Prix Cristal Energie, Florian Morizot
2008
Paris–Mantes-en-Yvelines, Florian Morizot
Overall, Circuit de Lorraine, Steve Chainel
Stage 4, Steve Chainel
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Niels Brouzes
Stage 4 Tour du Poitou-Charentes, Florian Morizot
Paris–Tours Espoirs, Tony Gallopin
2009
Stage 1 Tour de Normandie, Morgan Chedhomme
Stage 4 Tour de Normandie, Fabien Bacquet
Stage 4 Route du Sud, Johan Mombaerts
2010
Stage 2 Ronde de l'Oise, Nadir Haddou
2011
Stages 4 & 6 Tour de Normandie, Fabien Bacquet
Stage 5 Tour de Bretagne, Maxime Méderel
Overall Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour, Sylvain Georges
Stages 1 & 3, Sylvain Georges
Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan, Sylvain Georges
2012
Stage 8 Tour de Normandie, Benoit Drujon
Stage 7 Tour de Bretagne, Dimitri Le Boulch
Stage 5 Circuit de Lorraine, Steven Tronet
2013
Les Boucles du Sud Ardèche, Mathieu Drujon
Stage 4 Tour du Limousin, Stéphane Rossetto
2014
 Road Race Championships, Alo Jakin
Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers, Steven Tronet
Paris–Troyes, Steven Tronet
Overall Boucles de la Mayenne, Stéphane Rossetto
2015
Paris–Troyes, David Menut
Stage 2 Circuit des Ardennes, Steven Tronet
Boucles de l'Aulne, Alo Jakin
Stage 2 Ronde de l'Oise, Steven Tronet
Stage 1 Route du Sud, Steven Tronet
 Road Race Championships, Steven Tronet
2016
Stage 4 Circuit des Ardennes, Alo Jakin
2017
La Roue Tourangelle, Flavien Dassonville
Overall Tour de Bretagne, Flavien Dassonville
Stage 2, Flavien Dassonville
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Flavien Dassonville
Stage 1, Flavien Dassonville
2018
Overall Circuit des Ardennes International, Anthony Maldonado
Boucles de l'Aulne, Kévin Le Cunff
Stage 2 Ronde de l'Oise, Damien Touzé
Overall Kreiz Breizh Elites, Damien Touzé
Stage 1, Damien Touzé
2019
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Anthony Maldonado
Stage 2, Anthony Maldonado
2021
Paris–Troyes, Romain Cardis
Stage 2 Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Jason Tesson
Overall À travers les Hauts-de-France, Jason Tesson
Stage 1, Jason Tesson

National champions

2000
 French Road Race Championships, Christophe Capelle
2001
 British Road Race Championships, Jeremy Hunt
2014
 Estonian Road Race Championships, Alo Jakin
2015
 French Road Race Championships, Steven Tronet

Achievements in Tour de France
Team classification
 1996:
 1997: 13th
 1998: 9th
 1999: 16th
 2001: 21st

Former riders
Ludovic Auger
Stéphane Barthe
William Bonnet
Christophe Capelle
Steve Chainel
Carlos Da Cruz
Mathieu Drujon
Said Haddou
Stéphane Heulot
Arnold Jeannesson
Arnaud Labbe
Pascal Lance
Guillaume Levarlet
Pascal Lino
Rene Mandri
Julien Mazet
Anthony Morin
John Nilsson
Cyril Saugrain
Tony Gallopin
Mathieu Drujon

See also
List of UCI professional continental and continental teams
1996 Tour de France
1997 Tour de France
1998 Tour de France
1999 Tour de France
2001 Tour de France

References

External links

UCI Continental Teams (Europe)
Cycling teams based in France
Cycling teams established in 1994


San Nicola di Trullas ( or Sanctu Nichola de Trullas) is a countryside church between the communes of Semestene and Pozzomaggiore, in the province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy

History and description
The church was built by the Athen family of Pozzomaggiore, belonging to the Giudicale aristocracy,
who donated it to the Camaldolese monks. The deed of donation was signed by Pietro de Athen on 29 October of 1113, with the consent of Constantine I of Torres and bishop Albert of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sorres entrusted the church with all the peretinences to San Salvatore a Camaldoli., on a parchment which is currently kept in the State Archives of Florence.

The church, of very small dimensions (6 m. X 12 m.), is nevertheless of excellent workmanship. The building is generated by the juxtaposition of two cubes with cross vaults and an apse with a semicatino vault. According to Raffaello Delogu, the construction scheme is based on the duplication of a Lombard span, as already happened in the palatine chapel of Santa Maria del Regno in Ardara and in the church of San Nicola di Silanis in Sedini.

The interior has cross vaults and several frescoes. Near the church there was also a convent, of which only ruins remain,where the homonymous condaghe was compiled. That condaghe is a valuable source for medieval Sardinian history.

Notes

External links

File on Sardegna Cultura (in Italian)

Nicola di Trullas
Romanesque architecture in Sardinia
12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy


Anarsia lineatella, the peach twig borer,  is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is commonly found in Europe, but was introduced to California in the 1880s.

The wingspan is 11–14 mm. The moths are on wing from June to August depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Prunus species, including Prunus avium, Prunus spinosa, Prunus domestica and Prunus insititia. In California, A. lineatella is a significant pest of local almond plantations.

References

External links
 Ukmoths

lineatella
Moths described in 1839
Moths of Europe


Namakkal is a Lok Sabha Constituency in Tamil Nadu, India. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 16 of 39. It was a part of Rasipuram (Lok Sabha constituency) in previous parliament Election. Namakkal Lok Sabha Constituency consists of Sankagiri, Rasipuram, Senthamangalam, Namakkal, Paramathi-Velur and Tiruchengodu assembly segments. Out of these 6 assembly segments Rasipuram is Reserved for SC candidates and Senthamangalam assembly segment is reserved for ST Candidates.

History
Tiruchengode (Lok Sabha constituency) and Rasipuram (Lok Sabha constituency) were delimited in 2008 and the area became a part of the Namakkal (Lok Sabha constituency).

Assembly segments
Namakkal Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments:

Members of Parliament

Election results

General Elections 2019

General Elections 2014

General Elections 2009

Note: After 1967 Delimitation Order Namakkal Lok Sabha Constituency is abolished Upto 2008 Delimitation ,2009 Is the first election After Delimitation.

General Elections 1962

General Elections 1957

References

External links
Namakkal lok sabha  constituency election 2019 date and schedule

Namakkal district
Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu


The discography for electronic rock music group Julien-K.

Albums

Studio albums

Remix albums

Extended plays

Compilation albums

Singles

Released demos
"Look at U (2004 Demo)" (released on Initium Eyewear International Opticult compilation CD in 2004)
"Kick the Bass (2005 Demo)" (released as a pre-order bonus MP3 for Death to Analog from Metropolis Records)
"Everyone Knows (Demo)" (announced as exclusive free download release for members of the official Julien-K street team, Systeme De Street)

Other songs
 "Fail with Grace" (Sam Vandal featuring Ryan Shuck)
 "Superdiscount (Jagz Kooner Remix)" (Virgin Tears vs. Julien-K)
 "Crash" (Grey Saints vs. Julien-K)

Street Team exclusives
"Kick the Bass" (Virgin Tears & Fu Kick the Freebase Remix)
"Systeme de Sexe" (Live in Moline, Illinois) DVD

Other remixes
"Flashback" (iPunk Remix)  - free download
"Killing Fields" (Brandon Belsky Remix) - free download
"Someday Soon" (Motor Remix V1) - free download

Remixes for others
 "Flashback" by Motor (Julien-K Acid Test Remix) - iTunes bonus track on Motor's Unhuman album
 "Sleep When I'm Dead" by The Cure (Gerard Way & Julien-K Remix) – Released on Hypnagogic States EP
 "Neighborhood" by (Dirty Heads vs. Julien-K)- Clip on their official website
 "Strength of the World" by Avenged Sevenfold (Julien-K Remix) - Clip on their official website
 "What Do They Know?" (Mindless Self Indulgence vs. Julien-K & Chester Bennington) - Hot Topic exclusive CD, re-released via Metropolis Records
 "What Do They Know?" (Mindless Self Indulgence Vs. Julien-K & Chester Bennington - Instrumental DJ Dub) - free download from Julien-K.com

Soundtracks

Video games
Triple Threat: Sonic Heroes Vocal Trax – "This Machine"
Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax – "Waking Up"
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Complete video game score)
True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2 –  "Waking Up" and "This Machine"

Film
Underworld: Evolution – "Morning After" (Chester Bennington ft. Julien-K)
Transformers – "Technical Difficulties"
Matt's Chance (Complete original motion picture soundtrack)

Video albums

Music videos

References

Pop music group discographies
Discographies of American artists


The Gauls (; , Galátai) were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (Gallia). They spoke Gaulish, a continental Celtic language.

The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as bearers of La Tène culture north and west of the Alps. By the 4th century BC, they were spread over much of what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, by virtue of controlling the trade routes along the river systems of the Rhône, Seine, Rhine, and Danube. They reached the peak of their power in the 3rd century BC. During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the Gauls expanded into Northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul), leading to the Roman–Gallic wars, and into the Balkans, leading to war with the Greeks. These latter Gauls eventually settled in Anatolia (contemporary Turkey), becoming known as Galatians.

After the end of the First Punic War, the rising Roman Republic increasingly put pressure on the Gallic sphere of influence. The Battle of Telamon (225 BC) heralded a gradual decline of Gallic power during the 2nd century BC. The Romans eventually conquered Gaul in the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), making it a Roman province, which brought about the hybrid Gallo-Roman culture.

The Gauls were made up of many tribes (toutās), many of whom built large fortified settlements called oppida (such as Bibracte), and minted their own coins. Gaul was never united under a single ruler or government, but the Gallic tribes were capable of uniting their armies in large-scale military operations, such as those led by Brennus and Vercingetorix. They followed an ancient Celtic religion overseen by druids. The Gauls produced the Coligny calendar.

Name
The ethnonym Galli is generally derived from a Celtic root *gal- 'power, ability' (cf. Old Breton gal 'power, ability', Irish gal 'bravery, courage'). Brittonic reflexes give evidence of an n-stem *gal-n-, with the regular development *galn- > gall- (cf. Middle Welsh gallu, Middle Breton gallout 'to be able', Cornish gallos 'power'). The ethnic names Galátai and Gallitae, as well as Gaulish personal names such as Gallus or Gallius, are also related. The modern French gaillard ('brave, vigorous, healthy') stems from the Gallo-Latin noun *galia- or *gallia- ('power, strength'). Linguist Václav Blažek has argued that Irish gall ('foreigner') and Welsh gâl ('enemy, hostile') may be later adaptations of the ethnic name Galli that were introduced to the British Isles during the 1st millennium AD.

According to Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), the Gauls of the province of Gallia Celtica called themselves Celtae in their own language, and were called Galli in Latin. Romans indeed used the ethnic name Galli as a synonym for Celtae.

The English Gaul does not come from Latin Galli but from Germanic *Walhaz, a term stemming from the Gallic ethnonym Volcae that came to designate more generally Celtic and Romance speakers in medieval Germanic languages (e.g. Welsh, Waals, Vlachs).

History

Origins and early history

Gaulish culture developed over the first millennium BC. The Urnfield culture (–750 BC) represents the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European-speaking people. The spread of iron working led to the Hallstatt culture in the 8th century BC; the Proto-Celtic language is often thought to have been spoken around this time. The Hallstatt culture evolved into La Tène culture in around the 5th century BC. The Greek and Etruscan civilizations and colonies began to influence the Gauls, especially in the Mediterranean area. Gauls under Brennus invaded Rome circa 390 BC.

By the 5th century BC, the tribes later called Gauls had migrated from Central France to the Mediterranean coast. Gallic invaders settled the Po Valley in the 4th century BC, defeated Roman forces in a battle under Brennus in 390 BC, and raided Italy as far south as Sicily.

In the early 3rd century BC, the Gauls attempted an eastward expansion, toward the Balkan peninsula. At that time it was a Greek province, and the Gauls' intent was to reach and loot the rich Greek city-states of the Greek mainland. But the Greeks exterminated the majority of the Gallic army, and the few survivors were forced to flee.

Many Gauls were recorded as serving in the armies of Carthage during the Punic Wars. One of the leading rebel leaders of the Mercenary War, Autaritus, was of Gallic origin.

Balkan wars

During the Balkan expedition, led by Cerethrios, Brennos and Bolgios, the Gauls raided the Greek mainland twice.

At the end of the second expedition the Gallic raiders had been repelled by the coalition armies of the various Greek city-states and were forced to retreat to Illyria and Thrace, but the Greeks were forced to grant safe passage to the Gauls who then made their way to Asia Minor and settled in Central Anatolia. The Gallic area of settlement in Asia Minor was called Galatia; there they created widespread havoc. They were checked through the use of war elephants and skirmishers by the Greek Seleucid king Antiochus I in 275 BC, after which they served as mercenaries across the whole Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, including Ptolemaic Egypt, where they, under Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), attempted to seize control of the kingdom.

In the first Gallic invasion of Greece (279 BC), they defeated the Macedonians and killed the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos. They then focused on looting the rich Macedonian countryside, but avoided the heavily fortified cities. The Macedonian general Sosthenes assembled an army, defeated Bolgius and repelled the invading Gauls.

In the second Gaulish invasion of Greece (278 BC), the Gauls, led by Brennos, suffered heavy losses while facing the Greek coalition army at Thermopylae, but helped by the Heracleans they followed the mountain path around Thermopylae to encircle the Greek army in the same way that the Persian army had done at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, but this time defeating the whole of the Greek army. After passing Thermopylae the Gauls headed for the rich treasury at Delphi, where they were defeated by the re-assembled Greek army. This led to a series of retreats of the Gauls, with devastating losses, all the way up to Macedonia and then out of the Greek mainland. The major part of the Gaul army was defeated in the process, and those Gauls survived were forced to flee from Greece. The Gallic leader Brennos was seriously injured at Delphi and committed suicide there. (He is not to be confused with another Gaulish leader bearing the same name who had sacked Rome a century earlier (390 BC).

Galatian war

In 278 BC Gaulish settlers in the Balkans were invited by Nicomedes I of Bithynia to help him in a dynastic struggle against his brother. They numbered about 10,000 fighting men and about the same number of women and children, divided into three tribes, Trocmi, Tolistobogii and Tectosages. They were eventually defeated by the Seleucid king Antiochus I (275 BC), in a battle in which the Seleucid war elephants shocked the Galatians. Although the momentum of the invasion was broken, the Galatians were by no means exterminated, and continued to demand tribute from the Hellenistic states of Anatolia to avoid war. 4,000 Galatians were hired as mercenaries by the Ptolemaic Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus in 270 BC. According to Pausanias, soon after arrival the Celts plotted “to seize Egypt”, and so Ptolemy marooned them on a deserted island in the Nile River.

Galatians also participated at the victory at Raphia in 217 BC under Ptolemy IV Philopator, and continued to serve as mercenaries for the Ptolemaic dynasty until its demise in 30 BC. They sided with the renegade Seleucid prince Antiochus Hierax, who reigned in Asia Minor. Hierax tried to defeat king Attalus I of Pergamum (241–197 BC), but instead, the Hellenized cities united under Attalus's banner, and his armies inflicted a severe defeat upon the Galatians at the Battle of the Caecus River in 241 BC. After this defeat, the Galatians continued to be a serious threat to the states of Asia Minor. In fact, they continued to be a threat even after their defeat by Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the Galatian War (189 BC). Galatia declined and at times fell under Pontic ascendancy. They were finally freed by the Mithridatic Wars, in which they supported Rome. In the settlement of 64 BC, Galatia became a client state of the Roman empire, the old constitution disappeared, and three chiefs (wrongly styled "tetrarchs") were appointed, one for each tribe. But this arrangement soon gave way before the ambition of one of these tetrarchs, Deiotarus, a contemporary of Cicero and Julius Caesar, who made himself master of the other two tetrarchies and was finally recognized by the Romans as 'king' of Galatia. The Galatian language continued to be spoken in central Anatolia until the 6th century.

Roman wars

In the Second Punic War the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal used Gallic mercenaries in his invasion of Italy. They played a part in some of his most spectacular victories, including the battle of Cannae. The Gauls were so prosperous by the 2nd century that the powerful Greek colony of Massilia had to appeal to the Roman Republic for defense against them. The Romans intervened in southern Gaul in 125 BC, and conquered the area eventually known as Gallia Narbonensis by 121 BC.

In 58 BC Julius Caesar launched the Gallic Wars and had conquered the whole of Gaul by 51 BC. He noted that the Gauls (Celtae) were one of the three primary peoples in the area, along with the Aquitanians and the Belgae. Caesar's motivation for the invasion seems to have been his need for gold to pay off his debts and for a successful military expedition to boost his political career. The people of Gaul could provide him with both. So much gold was looted from Gaul that after the war the price of gold fell by as much as 20%. While they were militarily just as brave as the Romans, the internal division between the Gallic tribes guaranteed an easy victory for Caesar, and Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late. After the annexation of Gaul a mixed Gallo-Roman culture began to emerge.

Roman Gaul

After more than a century of warfare, the Cisalpine Gauls were subdued by the Romans in the early 2nd century BC. The Transalpine Gauls continued to thrive for another century, and joined the Germanic Cimbri and Teutones in the Cimbrian War, where they defeated and killed a Roman consul at Burdigala in 107 BC, and later became prominent among the rebelling gladiators in the Third Servile War. The Gauls were finally conquered by Julius Caesar in the 50s BC despite a rebellion by the Arvernian chieftain Vercingetorix. During the Roman period the Gauls became assimilated into Gallo-Roman culture and by expanding Germanic tribes. During the crisis of the third century, there was briefly a breakaway Gallic Empire founded by the Batavian general Postumus.

Physical appearance

4th-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the Gauls were tall, light-skinned, light-haired, and light-eyed:
Almost all Gauls are tall and fair-skinned, with reddish hair. Their savage eyes make them fearful objects; they are eager to quarrel and excessively truculent.
When, in the course of a dispute, any of them calls in his wife, a creature with gleaming eyes much stronger than her husband, they are more than a match for a whole group of foreigners; especially when the woman, with swollen neck and gnashing teeth, swings her great white arms and begins to deliver a rain of punches mixed with kicks, like missiles launched by the twisted strings of a catapult.
1st-century BC Greek historian Diodorus Siculus described them as tall, generally heavily built, very light-skinned, and light-haired, with long hair and mustaches:
The Gauls are tall of body, with rippling muscles, and white of skin, and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so, but they make it their practice to increase the distinguishing color by which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in limewater, and they pull it back from their forehead to the top of the head and back to the nape of the neck... Some of them shave their beards, but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks, but they let the mustache grow until it covers the mouth.

Jordanes, in his Origins and Deeds of the Goths, indirectly describes the Gauls as light-haired and large-bodied by comparing them to Caledonians, as a contrast to the Spaniards, whom he compared to the Silures. He speculates based on this comparison that the Britons originated from different peoples, including Gauls and Spaniards.
The Silures have swarthy features and are usually born with curly black hair, but the inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. They [the Britons] are like the Gauls and the Spaniards, according as they are opposite either nation. Hence some have supposed that from these lands the island received its inhabitants.

In the novel Satyricon by Roman courtier Gaius Petronius, a Roman character sarcastically suggests that he and his partner "chalk our faces so that Gaul may claim us as her own" in the midst of a rant outlining the problems with his partner's plan of using blackface to impersonate Aethiopians. This suggests that Gauls were thought of on average to be much paler than Romans.

Culture
All over Gaul, archeology has uncovered many pre-Roman gold mines (at least 200 in the Pyrenees), suggesting they were very rich, also evidenced by large finds of gold coins and artefacts. Also there existed highly developed population centers, called oppida by Caesar, such as Bibracte, Gergovia, Avaricum, Alesia, Bibrax, Manching and others. Modern archeology strongly suggests that the countries of Gaul were quite civilized and very wealthy. Most had contact with Roman merchants and some, particularly those that were governed by Republics such as the Aedui, Helvetii and others, had enjoyed stable political alliances with Rome. They imported Mediterranean wine on an industrial scale, evidenced by large finds of wine vessels in digs all over Gaul, the largest and most famous of which being the one discovered in Vix Grave, which stands 1.63 m (5′ 4″) high.

Art
Gallic art corresponds to two archaeological material cultures: the Hallstatt culture (c. 1200–450 BC) and the La Tène culture (c. 450–1 BC). Each of these eras has a characteristic style, and while there is much overlap between them, the two styles recognizably differ. From the late Hallstatt onwards and certainly through the entirety of La Tène, Gaulish art is reckoned to be the beginning of what is called Celtic art today. After the end of the La Tène and from the beginning of Roman rule, Gaulish art evolved into Gallo-Roman art.

Hallstatt decoration is mostly geometric and linear, and is best seen on fine metalwork finds from graves. Animals, with waterfowl a particular favorite, are often included as part of ornamentation, more often than humans. Commonly found objects include weapons, in latter periods often with hilts terminating in curving forks ("antenna hilts"), and jewelry, which include fibulae, often with a row of disks hanging down on chains, armlets, and some torcs. Though these are most often found in bronze, some examples, likely belonging to chieftains or other preeminent figures, are made of gold. Decorated situlae and bronze belt plates show influence from Greek and Etruscan figurative traditions. Many of these characteristics were continued into the succeeding La Tène style.

La Tène metalwork in bronze, iron and gold, developing technologically out of the Hallstatt culture, is stylistically characterized by "classical vegetable and foliage motifs such as leafy palmette forms, vines, tendrils and lotus flowers together with spirals, S-scrolls, lyre and trumpet shapes". Such decoration may be found on fine bronze vessels, helmets and shields, horse trappings, and elite jewelry, especially torcs and fibulae. Early on, La Tène style adapted ornamental motifs from foreign cultures into something distinctly new; the complicated brew of influences include Scythian art as well as that of the Greeks and Etruscans, among others. The Achaemenid occupation of Thrace and Macedonia around 500 BC is a factor of uncertain importance.

Social structure
Gaulish society was dominated by the druid priestly class. The druids were not the only political force, however, and the early political system was complex. The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the tribe, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called "pagi". Each tribe had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui tribe the executive held the title of "Vergobret", a position much like a king, but its powers were held in check by rules laid down by the council.

The tribal groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus; the French word pays, "country", comes from this term) were organized into larger super-tribal groups that the Romans called civitates. These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and these civitates would also be the basis of France's eventual division into ecclesiastical bishoprics and dioceses, which would remain in place—with slight changes—until the French Revolution imposed the modern departmental system.

Though the tribes were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically divided, there being virtually no unity among the various tribes. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could the Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. Even then, however, the faction lines were clear.

The Romans divided Gaul broadly into Provincia (the conquered area around the Mediterranean), and the northern Gallia Comata ("free Gaul" or "wooded Gaul"). Caesar divided the people of Gaulia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae); and Belgae. In the modern sense, Gallic tribes are defined linguistically, as speakers of Gaulish. While the Aquitani were probably Vascons, the Belgae would thus probably be counted among the Gauls tribes, perhaps with Germanic elements.

Julius Caesar, in his book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, comments:

Language

Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language spoken in Gaul before Latin took over. According to Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, it was one of three languages in Gaul, the others being Aquitanian and Belgic. In Gallia Transalpina, a Roman province by the time of Caesar, Latin was the language spoken since at least the previous century. Gaulish is paraphyletically grouped with Celtiberian, Lepontic, and Galatian as Continental Celtic. Lepontic and Galatian are sometimes considered dialects of Gaulish.

The exact time of the final extinction of Gaulish is unknown, but it is estimated to be around or shortly after the middle of the 1st millennium. Gaulish may have survived in some regions as the mid to late 6th century in France. Despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture, the Gaulish language is held to have survived and had coexisted with spoken Latin during the centuries of Roman rule of Gaul. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish played a role in shaping the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques, sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, as well as in conjugation and word order. Recent work in computational simulation suggests that Gaulish played a role in gender shifts of words in Early French, whereby the gender would shift to match the gender of the corresponding Gaulish word with the same meaning.

Religion

Like other Celtic peoples, the Gauls had a polytheistic religion. Evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology and Greco-Roman accounts.

Some deities were venerated only in one region, but others were more widely known. The Gauls seem to have had a father god, who was often a god of the tribe and of the dead (Toutatis probably being one name for him); and a mother goddess who was associated with the land, earth and fertility (Matrona probably being one name for her). The mother goddess could also take the form of a war goddess as protectress of her tribe and its land. There also seems to have been a male celestial god—identified with Taranis—associated with thunder, the wheel, and the bull. There were gods of skill and craft, such as the pan-regional god Lugus, and the smith god Gobannos. Gallic healing deities were often associated with sacred springs, such as Sirona and Borvo. Other pan-regional deities include the horned god Cernunnos, the horse and fertility goddess Epona, Ogmios, Sucellos and his companion Nantosuelta. Caesar says the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld, whom he likened to Dīs Pater. Some deities were seen as threefold, like the Three Mothers. According to Miranda Aldhouse-Green, the Celts were also animists, believing that every part of the natural world had a spirit.

Greco-Roman writers say the Gauls believed in reincarnation. Diodorus says they believed souls were reincarnated after a certain number of years, probably after spending time in an afterlife, and noted they buried grave goods with the dead.

Gallic religious ceremonies were overseen by priests known as druids, who also served as judges, teachers, and lore-keepers. There is evidence that the Gauls sacrificed animals, almost always livestock. An example is the sanctuary at Gournay-sur-Aronde. It appears some were offered wholly to the gods (by burying or burning), while some were shared between gods and humans (part eaten and part offered). There is also some evidence that the Gauls sacrificed humans, and some Greco-Roman sources claim the Gauls sacrificed criminals by burning them in a wicker man.

The Romans said the Gauls held ceremonies in sacred groves and other natural shrines, called nemetons. Celtic peoples often made votive offerings: treasured items deposited in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells, often in the same place over generations.

Among the Romans and Greeks, the Gauls had a reputation as head hunters. There is archaeological evidence of a "head cult" among the Gallic Salyes, who embalmed and displayed severed heads, for example at Entremont.

The Roman conquest gave rise to a syncretic Gallo-Roman religion, with deities such as Lenus Mars, Apollo Grannus, and the pairing of Rosmerta with Mercury.

List of Gaulish tribes

The Gauls were made up of many tribes who controlled a particular territory and often built large fortified settlements called oppida. After completing the conquest of Gaul, the Roman Empire made most of these tribes civitates. The geographical subdivisions of the early church in Gaul were then based on these, and continued as French dioceses until the French Revolution.

The following is a list of recorded Gaulish tribes, in both Latin and the reconstructed Gaulish language (*), as well as their capitals during the Roman period.

Modern reception

The Gauls played a certain role in the national historiography and national identity of modern France. Attention given to the Gauls as the founding population of the French nation was traditionally second to that enjoyed by the Franks, out of whose kingdom the historical kingdom of France arose under the Capetian dynasty; for example, Charles de Gaulle is on record as stating, "For me, the history of France begins with Clovis, elected as king of France by the tribe of the Franks, who gave their name to France. Before Clovis, we have Gallo-Roman and Gaulish prehistory. The decisive element, for me, is that Clovis was the first king to have been baptized a Christian. My country is a Christian country and I reckon the history of France beginning with the accession of a Christian king who bore the name of the Franks."

However, the dismissal of "Gaulish prehistory" as irrelevant for French national identity has been far from universal. Pre-Roman Gaul has been evoked as a template for French independence especially during the Third French Republic (1870–1940). An iconic phrase summarizing this view is that of "our ancestors the Gauls" (nos ancêtres les Gaulois), associated with the history textbook for schools by Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922), who taught that "the Romans established themselves in small numbers; the Franks were not numerous either, Clovis having but a few thousand men with him. The basis of our population has thus remained Gaulish. The Gauls are our ancestors."

Astérix, the popular series of French comic books following the exploits of a village of "indomitable Gauls", satirizes this view by combining scenes set in classical antiquity with modern ethnic clichés of the French and other nations.

Similarly, in Swiss national historiography of the 19th century, the Gaulish Helvetii were chosen as representing the ancestral Swiss population (compare Helvetia as national allegory), as the Helvetii had settled in both the French and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and their Gaulish language set them apart from Latin- and German-speaking populations in equal measure.

Genetics

A genetic study published in PLOS One in December 2018 examined 45 individuals buried at a La Téne necropolis in Urville-Nacqueville, France. The people buried there were identified as Gauls. The mtDNA of the examined individuals belonged primarily to haplotypes of H and U. They were found to be carrying a large amount of steppe ancestry (originating near what is now Ukraine and southwestern Russia), and to have been closely related to peoples of the preceding Bell Beaker culture, suggesting genetic continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age France. Significant gene flow with Great Britain and Iberia was detected. The results of the study partially supported the belief that French people are largely descended from the Gauls.

A genetic study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in October 2019 examined 43 maternal and 17 paternal lineages for the La Téne necropolis in Urville-Nacqueville, France, and 27 maternal and 19 paternal lineages for La Téne tumulus of Gurgy ‘Les Noisats’ near modern Paris, France. The examined individuals displayed strong genetic resemblance to peoples of the earlier Yamnaya culture, Corded Ware culture and Bell Beaker culture. They carried a diverse set of maternal lineages associated with steppe ancestry. The paternal lineages were on the other hand belonged entirely to haplogroup R and R1b, both of whom are associated with steppe ancestry. The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Téne culture were patrilineal and patrilocal, which is in agreement with archaeological and literary evidence.

A genetic study published in iScience in April 2022 examined 49 genomes from 27 sites in Bronze Age and Iron Age France. The study found evidence of strong genetic continuity between the two periods, particularly in southern France. The samples from northern and southern France were highly homogenous, with northern samples displaying links to contemporary samples form Great Britain and Sweden, and southern samples displaying links to Celtiberians. The northern French samples were distinguished from the southern ones by elevated levels of steppe-related ancestry. R1b was by far the most dominant paternal lineage, while H was the most common maternal lineage. The Iron Age samples resembled those of modern-day populations of France, Great Britain and Spain. The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Téne culture largely evolved from local Bronze Age populations.

See also
 List of Celtic tribes

Notes

Bibliography

Laing, Lloyd and Jenifer. Art of the Celts, Thames and Hudson, London 1992

Megaw, Ruth and Vincent, Celtic Art, 2001, Thames and Hudson,

Sandars, Nancy K., Prehistoric Art in Europe, Penguin (Pelican, now Yale, History of Art), 1968 (nb 1st edn.)

Wallace, Patrick F., O'Floinn, Raghnall eds. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities

Further reading

External links

 Acy-Romance, the Gauls of Ardennes
 Lattes, Languedoc and the Southern Gauls
 The Gauls in Provence: the Oppidum of Entremont

Celtic ethnolinguistic groups
Historical Celtic peoples


The 1999–2000 Pro Tour season was the fifth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 3 September 1999 with Pro Tour Boston and ended on 6 August 2000 with the conclusion of 2000 World Championship in Brussels. The season consisted of twenty Grand Prixs, and six Pro Tours, located in Washington D.C., London, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Brussels. At the end of the season Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.

Mode

Six Pro Tours and 20 Grand Prix were held in the 1999–2000 season. Based on final standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:

Pro Tour – Washington D.C. (3–5 September 1999)

Washington D.C. was the first team Pro Tour. In a high-profile Top 8 featuring six players who were later inducted into the Hall of Fame, team Your Move Games (YMG) came out on top. YMG consisted of Dave Humpherys, Rob Dougherty, and Darwin Kastle, all eventual members of the Hall of Fame.

Tournament data

Players: 243 (81 teams)
Prize Pool: $100,230
Format: Urza's Saga Team Sealed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Destiny) – first day, Urza's Saga Team Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny) – final two days
Head Judge: Mike Guptil

Top 8

Final standings

Grand Prixs – Tohoku, Memphis, Lisbon

GP Tohoku (11–12 September)
 Higashino Masayuki
 Kazuyuki Momose
 Satoshi Nakamura
 Itaru Ishida
 Toshiki Tsukamoto
 Ayumi Hidaka
 Hiroshi Harada
 Yuichi Taguchi

GP Memphis (18–19 September)
 Michael Pustilnik
 Mike Heffern
 Kyle Kloeckner
 Matthew Norton
 Adrian Sullivan
 David Jafari
 Ric Watts
 Matt Rauseo

GP Lisbon (25–26 September)
 Helder Coelho
 Paolo Cruz
 Stephane Gentric
 Rui Mariani
 Pedro Marcos
 Alex Shvartsman
 Kuniyoshi Ishii
 Hector Fuentes

Pro Tour – London (15–17 October 1999)

Kyle Rose won Pro Tour London, defeating Austrian Thomas Preyer in the finals. Darwin Kastle's back to back Top 8 appearances in Washington and London brought him to five final day appearance in his career.

Tournament data

Players: 310
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Urza's Saga Booster Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny)
Head Judge: Carl Crook

Top 8

Final standings

Grand Prixs – Kyushu, Sao Paulo, Milan, San Diego, Tours

GP Kyushu (30–31 October)
 Tadayoshi Komiya
 Eisaku Itadani
 Katsuhiro Mori
 Fumihiko Sano
 Masashiro Kuroda
 Masayuki Higashino
 Takuichi Harino
 Toshiki Tsukamoto

GP San Diego (20–21 November)
 William Jensen
 Gary Krakower
 David Williams
 Charles Kornblith
 Darwin Kastle
 John Yoo
 Trevor Blackwell
 Eric James

GP São Paulo (6–7 November)
 Rafael Assafi Alvarengi
 Douglas Maioli
 Carlos Mao
 Alex Shvartsman
 Carlos Romão
 Eduardo Simao Teixeira
 F. Moreira Bandeira
 Rodrigo Jose Constanza

GP Tours (27–28 November)
 Alex Shvartsman
 Nicolas Labarre
 Eric Vinh
 Franck Canu
 Christer Ljones
 Camille Gleizes
 Thomas F. Gundersen
 Svend Geertsen

GP Milan (6–7 November)
 Ziga Fritz
 Raphael Gennari
 William Cavaglieri
 Mario Delucis
 Ivan Solaja
 Micha Schulte-Middelich
 Ivan Curina
 Sasa Zorc

Pro Tour – Chicago (3–5 December 1999)

Bob Maher, Jr. won Pro Tour Chicago playing a blue-green-white control deck. He defeated Brian Davis in the finals 3–2. First time Pro Tour attendant Davis reportedly played so horribly, that around spectators the joke went, that Davis was the first to have played 5–0 in the finals and lost, referring to their perception that he could and should have won every single game.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 344
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks

Top 8

Final standings

Grand Prixs – Manila, Seattle, Madrid

GP Manila (4–5 December)
 Christopher Parreñas
 Frederick Salazar
 Francis Robert Profeta
 Lawrence Lagman
 Au Yeung Hon Ming
 Andrew Buchanan
 Dino Eric Yu
 Ramon Allan Oca, Jr.

GP Seattle (15–16 January)
 Bob Maher, Jr.
 Jeremy Brower
 Tim Kariel
 David Price
 Alex Shvartsman
 Jasar Elarar
 Mike Hron
 David Weitz

GP Madrid (29–30 January)
 Carlos Barrado
 Xavi Gonzales
 Alex Shvartsman
 Tony Dobson
 Olivier Ruel
 Alex Dominguez Ramos
 Rui Mariani
 Patrick Mello

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (4–6 February 2000)

Trevor Blackwell defeated Chris Benafel in the finals to become Pro Tour Los Angeles champion.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 337
Format: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques)
Head Judge: Dan Gray

Top 8

Final standings

Grand Prix – Taipei, Philadelphia, Cannes, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt

GP Taipei (12–13 February)
 Tadayoshi Komiya
 Tsuyoshi Fujita
 Alex Shvartsman
 Jim Len
 Lucifar Sun
 Chi Jin Guo (Tzu-Ching Kuo)
 Satoshi Nakamura
 Tobey Tamber

GP Philadelphia (19–20 February)
 Trey Van Cleave
 Britt Fitch
 Scott McCord
 John Marks
 William Jensen
 David Roderer
 Brad Swan
 Michael Bernat

GP Cannes (26–27 February)
1. Black Ops
 Florent Jeudon
 Antoine Ruel
 Olivier Ruel
2. New Wave
 Alex Shvartsman
 Bram Snepvangers
 Thomas Preyer
3. Legion of Rabbits
 Nicolas Labarre
 Manuel Bevand
 Marie Laure Saulnier
4. The Tightans
 Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
 William Jensen
 David Williams

GP Kuala Lumpur (4–5 March)
 Ryan Soh
 Tishen Tham
 Wai Kin Au Yong
 Tsuyoshi Ikeda
 Jun Nobushita
 Tsutomu Yamada
 Albertus Law
 Wei Ren Khoo

GP Frankfurt (8–9 April)
1. III Heroes
 Jim Herold
 Sebastian Moises
 Gunnar Refsdal
2. Hammer of Brno
 Martin Laznovsky
 Ivan Stanoev
 Libor Marek
3. Trash A
 Jakub Slemr
 Ondrej Baurys
 Tomas Kosicka
4. Absolute Samuels
 Daniel Steinsdorfer
 Demir Sejdiu
 Patrick Jansen

Pro Tour – New York (14–16 April 2000)

Sigurd Eskeland won Pro Tour New York, defeating Warren Marsh in the finals. Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being . His opponent played the deck most present at this tournament, Rebels. PT New York is considered to be the first time where there was a dominant deck at a Pro Tour, the deck did not win the tournament.

43% of the players entering the tournament had chosen rebel decks. On the second day of the tournament rebels were even more present, comprising and unprecedented 57% of the field. These numbers were again topped by the final eight where six of eight decks were rebel decks. In contrast the winning Rising Waters deck comprised only 8.4% of the field on day one and 14.5% on day two. In the top eight the two non-rebel decks were both Rising Waters decks. Rising Waters on both days had the highest winning percentage of all decks played with 60% on day one and 53.8% on day two.

Tournament data

Players: 310
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis)
Location: New York State Armory
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon

Top 8

Final standings

Winner's deck

Sigurd Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being .

Team Challenge

The Team Challenge was a predecessor to the Masters Series events that were held from 2000 to 2003. These events were open only to the most accomplished players and awarded cash prizes even for entering the tournament. The Team Challenge at Pro Tour New York 2000 awarded $3,000 for entering the tournament, $9,000 to the runners-up team, and $15,000 to the winners. Four teams were invited to enter the tournament. In a field composed of otherwise American teams the French team Black Ops defeated Game Empire and Antarctica to win the tournament.

Grand Prixs – Nagoya, St. Louis, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh

GP Nagoya (22–23 April)
1. New Wave
 Alex Shvartsman
 Trevor Blackwell
 Nick Wong
2. Masato Club
 Goro Matsuo
 Jun Nobushita
 Tadayoshi Komiya
3. Godzilla
 Bob Maher, Jr.
 David Williams
 Mike Long
4. Unluckys
 Osamu Fujita
 Ayumi Hidaka
 Takayuki Nagaoka

GP Copenhagen (17–18 June)
 Niels Sanders Jensen
 Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
 Franck Canu
 Noah Boeken
 Gottlieb Yeh
 Gunnar Refsdal
 Tom van de Logt
 Peter Gysemans

GP St. Louis (13–14 May)
1. Antarctica
 Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
 Jon Finkel
 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz
2. Dogma
 Rob Liszka
 Mike Heffern
 Aaron Estrin
3. Your Move Games
 Darwin Kastle
 Rob Dougherty
 Dave Humpherys
4. Hubbo
 Ryan Carpenter
 Bryan Hubble
 Jason Opalka

GP Pittsburgh (24–25 June)
1. Huey, Ben, and Casey
 William Jensen
 Ben Rubin
 Casey McCarrel
2. Dark Side of the Moon
 Ray Tautic
 Brian Lynch
 Ben Halpren
3. Antarctica
 Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz
 Jon Finkel
4. Your Move Games
 Darwin Kastle
 Rob Dougherty
 Dave Humpherys

2000 World Championships – Brussels (2–6 August 2000)

Jon Finkel won the 2000 World Championship, defeating teammate Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals. The second place allowed Maher to take the Pro Player of the year title, surpassing Darwin Kastle in the final standings. Finkel became the second player to win two Pro Tours and the first with seven Top 8 appearances. The US team won the national team competition, also with Finkel as reigning national champion at its head.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $201,620 (individual) + $50,000 (national teams)
Players: 273
Individual formats: Formats: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy), Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy), Standard
Team Format: Standard
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon

Top 8

Final standings

National team competition

 United States (Jon Finkel, Chris Benafel, Frank Hernandez, Aaron Forsythe)
 Canada (Ryan Fuller, Murray Evans, Gabriel Tsang, Sam Lau)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.

References

Magic: The Gathering professional events


Naif Ahmad Hazazi (; born 27 July 1988), also nicknamed Al Saqr which means The Falcon, is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer, who plays as a striker former the Saudi Arabia national team.

Personal life
Hazazi lives in Jeddah. He used to be engaged to Yemeni singer Balqees Ahmed Fathi. However, they are no longer engaged.

Career

Al-Ittihad
Naif began his career at the Al-Ittihad he was playing for the Al-Ittihad Under-17, but because his forward talent, the Belgian coach Dimitri Davidovic included him to the first team, He Received an offer from Club Sevilla when he was at International travels, about admiration for his performance, But the deal failed to reject the coach Manuel Jose to keep him with the team.

2006–08
Hazazi was promoted to the first team in 2006. On 25 January 2007, he made his debut with the first team against Al Nassr in the Prince Faisal Cup.

On 1 December 2007, Hazazi made his league debut as a late-match substitute against Al-Hilal. Against Syrian Ittihad-Aleppo, he scored the second goal by head in the 42nd minute. The match ended 3–0 in favor of Al-Ittihad.

2008–09 season
Upon Hamzah's departure from the club, Hazazi inherited his number 9 jersey. During the 2008-09 season, Hazazi established himself as a regular first team player. Hazazi usually entered as a reserve player, On 12 October, First match for Hazazi as a key player. He scored the first goal in the match against Al-Shabab en route to a 2–1 victory. Hazazi caused of first goal in the game by assist to Hicham Aboucherouane to score against Al-Ahli. Emerged his skills, especially, when he scored 2 goals against Al-Watani in a 7–2 victory.  Hazazi also scored the second goal in the 43rd minute against Al-Shabab in a 4–0 win.

On 12 April, the final match for Al-Ittihad on the season versus Al-Hilal, Hazazi opened match with one goal in the 18th minute and finished 2–1. He won his first title league with Al-Ittihad. On 11 May in an away Champions Cup-match, he scored one goal against Al-Hazm as the only goal in the match to make the difference 1–0. On 15 May, he played against Al-Shabab without help to make the victory. He lost 0–4 from Al-Shabab. Hazazi Replaced Renato on AFC Champions League match against Esteghlal. He also played against Al-Jazira, He played against Umm-Salal SC full match and he scored a hat-trick of 7–0. Round of 16, he played against Al-Shabab, He making the ball to teammate Hicham Aboucherouane to Ssore the second goal in the game.

2009–10 season

He played twice games without any goal. On 26 August, he played against Al-Qadasiya and scored hat-trick on 7–1 won, to become the second hat-trick in his history. Hazazi has been injured in this season by cruciate ligament. On 28 April, was the comeback match against Zob Ahan, and entered as a substitute in the second half after its improved. On 3 May, Hazazi entered as a reserve on the late minutes, he scored a goal to converted to beat Al-Shabab on last 10 minutes. He played also on the final as a reserve against Al-Hilal he won his first title Champions Cup by penalties finished 5–4.

2010–11 season
In the 2010–11 season, Hazazi scored 12 in 22 matches in the league, In all completions scoring 18 in 39 matches, including 6 matches without any goal in Champions League. On 14 August 2010, Hazazi scored his first goal for the season against Al-Ettifaq, with a strange shot passed through the goalkeeper hands. He scored against Najran SC on Round 4. On 29 August, Hazazi make the third hat-trick in his history against Al-Hazm in a 4–0 won, He assist the 4th goal. He assists the first goal against Al-Ahli, Hazazi replaced in the second half and entered Mohammed Noor because of injury influence. Hazazi played against Al-Raed, He scored the first goal after a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. ended 2-1. Hazazi scored the only goal of his team against Al-Qadasiya and scored another goal correctly ruled out for offside. He scored 2 goals on a match against Al-Shabab but the match ended 2–2. He played against Al Nassr and received the red card before match end, His response was a smile on referee. Hazazi played as a reserve against Al-Faisaly, This is the first time on the season plays as a reserve. He played against Al-Raed, he scored the first goal and caused a penalty kick will be the third goal, that Mabrouk Zaid scored it. Played against Al-Wahda, he scored the second goal to make it 2–1. On 15 May, he played the last match of the season against Al-Shabab, Hazazi assist to Mohammed Noor to score the first goal, match is ended 1–1. On Champions Cup. He assist the tie-goal, by passing to Mohammed Al-Rashid against Al Nassr on away. On Home-match, he scored the tie-goal and qualifying goal. He scored against Al-Hilal a tie-goal, ended 1–1. Hazazi played on the final as a reserve against Al-Ahli, he lost the final by penalties 2–4.

2011–12 season
Hazazi began his season with 2 goals against Al-Ansar, scored two goals, and hat-trick goal was canceled. In an ACL home match against Jeonbuk Motors FC, he scored two goals in the first 20 minutes. He lost 3–2. In Away, Hazazi received a red card by the referee in the first minutes. He lost 5–3 in aggregate to Jeonbuk Motors FC. against Al-Shabab, He score the second goal from a penalty. He plays against Al Fateh with a loss 1–2. in Jeddah derby, he lost 3–1 from Al Ahli. Hazazi score the second goal against Al Nasser to win 3–1 in Riyadh, in Away against Al Hilal, score goal from header in last minutes in the second half, to change the match to tie. After landing for the first time this season to sixth place, Hazazi called Ittihad Jeddah to sign his brother Ibrahim to club, who plays for Al Ahli. the supporters of the club criticized Hazazi career by problem called Fasting of the scoring, After he moved away from score in the league and competitions. the goal against Al-Faisaly was the comeback goal, Hazazi celebrated after Went bad luck with him. Hazazi scored his first historical goal against Al Ahli, and was the only goal in the game and the winning goal, which caused move Al Ahli away from top of the league. On 20 March 2012, He score two goals against Al-Arabi and received a yellow card for Get out from the stadium and celebrate with club supporters. On 2 May 2012, Hazazi broke Hamza Idris record in Asian Tournaments when he scored his 10th goal against Pakhtakor. Hazazi confirmed the difficulty of the game and said:

On 23 May 2012, He played against Persepolis with a 3–0 won, he scored the first goal from penalty kick, which caused by teammate Faouzi. and also was injured during the match which he continued the match to the 60th minute till he has been substituted, the tests results proved that injury is a broke of his nose that keep him away for two months.

International career
Naif made his international debut at the age of 19, in a friendly against Thailand and score the first goal in his international career in 65th minute. Hazazi also scored two goals in a 4–0 friendly win over Bahrain. On 30 August 2009, he played a friendly match against Malaysia and injured his cruciate ligament, which kept him out of action for a period of time.

2010 World Cup qualification
He was part of the 2010 Saudi Qualification squad. He appeared in the fourth round in the tournament with Malek Mouath and Yasser Al-Qahtani. Hazazi was able to be in the starting line-up after coach Jose Peseiro decided to rule out Al Qahtani for the qualifiers against Iran and the United Arab Emirates for disciplinary reasons. Al Qahtani's loss was Hazazi's gain, However, the youngster able to make his second qualifying appearance in Tehran against Iran. With only 11 minutes remaining, Hazazi calmly converted the equaliser that ignited one of his country's most famous comebacks in a 2–1 victory. On 1 April 2009 against United Arab Emirates in Riyadh, Saudis were again trailing in the second half and, despite gaining a fortuitous equaliser through an own goal, Hazazi was a symbol of luck to qualify before the end of the match five minutes with the Winning Golden Header.

2011 AFC Asian Cup
On 9 January 2011, Hazazi in first official match in Asian competition in 1–2 loss against Syria, he entered in 56th minute as substitute in bad experience. He tried to help the attack to score but couldn't against Jordan with a 0–1 loss. in the third match, Motaz Al Mosa came on as a substitute for Naif in the 46th minute, Hazazi apologized for ignoring the sports channels after the end of the game with Japan which ended 0–5 loss.

2015 AFC Asian Cup
Hazazi was included in Cosmin Olăroiu's final squad for 2015 AFC Asian Cup, ruling as central forward after the injury of 2014 Asian Footballer of the Year Nasser Al-Shamrani. He started Saudi Arabia's opening match against China, missing from a penalty kick in the 62nd minute as the Saudis lost 1–0. In the team's second match, Hazazi scored the equalising goal in an eventual 4–1 victory over North Korea.

Style of play

Hazazi's skills emerged at a young age and agree with major players skills. Hazazi has been compared to Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, has also been referred to as a classic centre forward, owing to his excellent heading ability, and his spirit. He is the symbol of the header throws, Dangerous in the air as his head more dangerous than his leg. He is very spirited footballer and also have a determination, have a good character. He always looking for the yellow card for the excite the fans after the goal. He has a special celebration is performed after the goal. He received a red card from the most famous accidents as he oppressed. It was one of the most famous ten cases the expulsion of the football history in Saudi Arabia.

Outside football
Hazazi was awarded Al-Riyadia's the most popular footballer. He signed a four-year deal with Nike in Dubai to appear in the first advertisement for Nike in the Middle East. Nike selected Hazazi based on his achievements with club and his country despite his young age. He has also signed other sponsorships with Soccertown and Red Bull on 31 May 2012.

He is known for his charitable work and became Arab Childhood Ambassador. He and the club owners visited the Abdulateef Jamil Hospital, making a tour of various hospital alongside Osama Al-Muwallad.

He also participated in a documentary film at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, about the dangers of smoking.

In October 2012, he got engaged to Yemeni-Emarati singer Balqees Ahmed Fathi.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Under–23

Senior team
Scores and results list Saudi Arabia's goal tally first.

Career totals

Honours

Al-Ittihad
Saudi Professional League: 2006–07, 2008–09
King Cup of Champions: 2010, 2013

Al-Shabab
King Cup of Champions: 2014
Saudi Super Cup: 2014

Individual
 Saudi Forward of the Season: 2009
 Saudi Promising Player of the Year: 2009
 Most Popular Player in ME: 2010

References

External links

1988 births
Living people
Footballers from Jeddah
Saudi Arabian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Saudi Arabia men's international footballers
2011 AFC Asian Cup players
2015 AFC Asian Cup players
Saudi Pro League players
Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players
Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players
Al Nassr FC players
Al Taawoun FC players
Ohod Club players
Al-Adalah FC players
Liga I players
FC Botoșani players
Saudi Arabian expatriate men's footballers
Saudi Arabian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania


Michael Parsons may refer to:

Michael Parsons (composer) (born 1938), British composer
Michael Parsons (cricketer) (born 1984), English cricketer
Michael Parsons (engineer) (1928–2021), designer of major suspension bridges
Michael Parsons (Australian footballer) (1960–2009), Australian rules player
Michael Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse (1906–1979), Irish peer
Mike Parsons (surfer) (born 1965), American surfer
Michael Parsons (Bermudian footballer) (born 1979), Bermudian soccer player
Mike Parsons (Barchester Healthcare) (born 1950), British entrepreneur, founder of Barchester Healthcare
Michael Parsons (figure skater) (born 1995), American ice dancer
Michael Parsons (singer) (born 1994), British singer from District3
Mike Parsons (born 1942), British former CEO of outdoor equipment company Karrimor

See also
Mike Parson (born 1955), Governor of Missouri since 2018


The Goombas (), known in Japan as  are a fictional mushroom-like species from Nintendo's Mario franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside video games, including in film, television, internet pictures. They are usually brownish with long black eyebrows and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle, in video games. They were included late in the development of Super Mario Bros. as a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy.

The species is considered one of the most iconic elements of the Super Mario series, appearing in nearly every game in the series, and is often ranked amongst the most famous enemies in video games. In 2009, CraveOnline described it as the series' "everyman". The video game incarnation has been made into several plush toys.

Concept and creation

Goombas were introduced in the video game Super Mario Bros., and were the last enemy added to the game after play testers stated that the Koopa Troopa was too tricky as an enemy. As a result, the designers decided to introduce the Goomba as a basic enemy. However, they had very little space left in the game. They used a single image twice to convey the notion that the Goombas are walking, flipping it back and forth, causing it to look lopsided as it walks, and giving the appearance of a trot. The Goomba's resemblance to the Super Mushroom forced designers to change the mechanics and appearance of the Super Mushroom. They used the Goomba's ability to be jumped on and defeated to teach players how to deal with enemies and to not fear the Super Mushroom.

Goombas resemble shiitake, with bushy eyebrows and a pair of tusk-like teeth sprouting from their lower jaw (similar to a bulldog). They also appear to have shoe-like feet coming from their stalks.

Early concept art for the live-action Super Mario Bros. film showed that the design of the Goombas were originally intended to be for Koopa Troopas, another kind of Mario enemy. A separate company from the primary makeup departments designed the Goombas in the film.

Name
The name Goomba is derived from "Goombah" (from Sicilian cumpà which translates to "mate" or "fellow") which refers to an Italian American man. Also, in Hungarian gomba means "mushroom". In Japan, Goombas are called "Kuribō", which loosely translates as "chestnut person".

Appearances

Goombas debuted in Super Mario Bros., described in the manual as Little Goomba, and have reappeared in nearly all later games in the series. In the 2D games, they walk aimlessly in a straight line, turning only at walls. They can be defeated by jumping on them, which flattens them. In Super Mario 64, and all their 3D Mario appearances, they will pursue Mario when he is near (instead of just walking aimlessly). In Super Mario Sunshine, Goombas are not present, but an enemy called the  is described in The Perfect Guide of Super Mario Sunshine as the "Isle Delfino versions of Goombas".

Several variations of the Goomba have appeared throughout the series. There are larger versions called , (also called Giant Goombas,  or Mega Goombas), and smaller versions called  (or ). In one level of Super Mario Bros. 3, Goombas can be seen wearing a shoe called "Goomba's Shoe". Super Mario World replaces the normal Goomba with a more round variation, later named . Super Mario Land features a type of Goomba called the Goombo (also called ), and its sequel has an undead variation known as , as well as a variation wearing a diving helmet known as . Other variations include  (first seen in Super Mario Galaxy),  (first seen in New Super Mario Bros. 2),  (first seen in Super Mario 3D Land),  (first seen in New Super Mario Bros. U),  (first seen in Super Mario 3D World), and  (first seen in Super Mario Maker 2). Some games also feature stacks of Goombas called . A giant goomba called Mega Goomba appears as a boss in New Super Mario Bros. In Super Mario Odyssey, Goombas wear hats that depend on what kingdom they are in. They can be captured, which allows them to form Goomba Towers. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, some Goombas sleep and will not attack the player if he wakes up the Goomba. Plus, there is a Wonder flower who turns mario and his friends in a Goomba.

Goombas appear in each of the Mario role-playing games. Super Mario RPG introduces the first non-hostile Goombas, while the follow-up game Paper Mario introduces a Goomba village, and a playable  character called Goombario. The series has also seen its fair share of Goomba variations, such as , , and . A second playable Paper Goomba is introduced in The Thousand-Year Door called Goombella. Goombas also appear in the six Mario & Luigi titles: Superstar Saga, Partners in Time, Bowser's Inside Story, and Dream Team. The Goombas meet their paper counterparts, Paper Goombas, in a Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi crossover game, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. Bowser's Inside Story features Goomba-form cells who think Mario and company are viruses, and outside Bowser's body, they are used in one of Bowser's special attacks. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, a Goomba takes the role of a captain to lead his troops and battle to save Bowser from Fawful. Goombas have appeared in several other spin-off titles in and out of the Mario series, including the second, third, fourth, and fifth titles of the Super Smash Bros. series, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They have a playable appearance in Mario baseball video games such as Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, as well as in the recent game in the Mario Party series, Super Mario Party. Goombas are also obstacles in various Mario Kart courses.

In other media

In the 1989 television cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Goombas are loyal soldiers in King Koopa's army. The general appearance of the Goomba resembles the ones found in the Mario video games. In several of the episodes, the Goombas appear as zombies, pirates, or other themed variations in accordance with the plot. When the show spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, they continued their job as soldiers in the Koopa army in some episodes. However, the Super Mario World cartoon only featured them twice. Goombas were included in an Ice Capades show featuring characters from the Mario series.

In the Super Mario Bros. live-action film, Goombas were originally inhabitants of Dinohattan who opposed the tyrannical President Koopa's rule, and were devolved as punishment for this disloyalty. In the film, upon being de-evolved, these people became Goombas, who were large, reptilian monsters (as opposed to the usual mushroom appearance seen in the games) with hulking bodies and disproportionately small, circular heads, who wore trenchcoats.

Goombas appear as enemies in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and its remake in the underground side-scrolling passages throughout the game, and also in the seventh dungeon, Eagle's Tower.

A Goomba can also be spotted as an easter egg on "Basic Run" in Wii Fit Plus.

Multiple variations appear in all the games of the Super Smash Bros. series, appearing either as background elements or regular enemies.

Goombas reappear as Bowser's minions in the 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Reception and promotion
The Goomba has become an icon of the Mario series, both in its appearance and the concept of "stomping on them", often referenced as one of the key elements of the original Super Mario Bros. The Goomba has appeared in multiple pieces of merchandise, including a Happy Meal toy as part of a Super Mario Bros. 3 promotion by Nintendo and McDonald's. A plush Goomba that plays the Goomba "defeat" noise as well as the Game Over tune at certain points was also released. IGN editor Craig Harris described the Goomba as a "household name" along with Koopa Paratroopas and King Koopa. Video game musician and reviewer Tommy Tallarico commented that many new converts to gaming have "never even made Super Mario smoosh a Goomba". In a criticism of video game storytelling, Gamasutra editor Daniel Cook referenced Goombas being mushrooms, but also that it was a less important fact than them being squat, to-scale with the world, and able to be squashed. In an article discussing happiness in video games, Gamasutra editor Lorenzo Wang listed the sound the Goomba makes when it's squished as one of his pleasures. IGN editor Mark Birnhaum praised the sound effects of Super Mario Bros., giving similar praise to the sound of the Goomba being stomped on. It was compared to the Met enemy from the Mega Man series, calling them the "Goomba of the Mega Man series". In 2009, CraveOnline editor Joey Davidson described the Goomba as the series' "everyman", describing it as both defenseless and of little threat, listing such exceptions as the giant Goomba seen in Super Mario Galaxy. A common enemy in Braid has been compared to the Goomba, Gaming Age editor Dustin Chadwell calling it a "slightly skewed version of the Goomba". GameDaily listed Goomba as the fourth best Mario enemy, stating that every gamer has run into one as Mario before. Destructoid listed the deaths of Goombas as one of the six sinister things about Super Mario; saying that "whether or not the Goombas are actually working for Bowser, they certainly don't seem like killers, or even soldiers. They walk around aimlessly, and if you touch them, you get hurt. Is that worth killing over?" Nintendo Power listed them as one of their favorite punching bags, stating that while it's hard not to feel bad for them, it is still satisfying.

The live-action Super Mario Bros. film version of the Goomba has received negative reception. IGN editor Jesse Schedeen called Bowser and his Goombas the most screwed up part of the film, commenting that it would be difficult to create a live action version of the Goomba that deviates from the original version more than this. An Entertainment Weekly article called the design creepy, stating that its "foam-latex skin had to be baked for five hours at 200 degrees to achieve that lovely reptilian effect". The facial design of the character Venom in Spider-Man 3 was compared to the film versions of the Goomba by CraveOnline, describing Venom's face as stupid, short, and rounded. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called the Goombas "big dumb goons with shrunken little dino heads", yet also calling them the "best movie heavies since the flying monkeys in 'The Wizard of Oz.

Notes

References

Anthropomorphic video game characters
Fictional fungi
Fictional henchmen in video games
Fictional monsters
Mario (franchise) enemies
Video game characters introduced in 1985
Video game species and races