title: Pam Beesly

text: In the Season 5 premiere, "Weight Loss", Pam begins her three-month course at the Pratt Institute. In this episode, Jim proposes in the pouring rain at a rest stop. In "Business Trip", Pam learns that she is failing one of her classes and will have to remain in New York another three months to retake it. Although Jim is supportive and tells her he will wait for her, Pam ultimately makes the decision to return home, realizing she hates graphic design and misses Scranton. In "Two Weeks", Pam agrees to become Michael's first saleswoman in his not-yet-established company, The Michael Scott Paper Company. When CFO David Wallace makes an offer to buy the company, Michael negotiates in order to get their jobs at Dunder Mifflin back instead, including adding Pam to the sales team. In "Company Picnic", Pam, after dominating the company volleyball tournament, injures her ankle during a game and is taken to the hospital. At the hospital, the camera crew is stationed outside an exam room while a doctor updates Jim and Pam on her condition. There is no audio as the camera displays Jim and Pam embrace, looking shocked and ecstatic, implying that Pam is pregnant.


title: Pam Beesly

text: Pam's pregnancy is confirmed in the Season 6 premiere, in which Jim announces the pregnancy to the office staff. Jim and Pam have their wedding early in the season; the day of the wedding ceremony, Jim and Pam secretly get married at Niagara Falls before having the official ceremony at a church with their co-workers, friends and family. Following the wedding, a multi-episode story arc revolves around Michael hooking up with Pam's mother the night of the wedding. In response, Pam slaps Michael, and Michael and Pam's mother ultimately break up.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In "Counseling", Pam feels inadequate about her poor performance in sales and tricks Gabe into promoting her to a phony new salaried position called office administrator. Pam tries to use her new authority to force building manager Dwight to stop his annoying cost-cutting measures. Pam threatens to move the office to a new building, which Dwight discovers doesn't exist. Pam saves face, however, when Dwight secretly has his assistant provide her with a book on building regulations that proves Dwight's measures were not allowed. Pam also uses her position to buy Erin Hannon an expensive desktop computer to replace the original computer at the front desk, discreetly giving Andy a new computer, and giving Darryl three sick days.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In "Goodbye, Michael", Michael plans to leave for Colorado; Pam almost misses saying goodbye to Michael, spending most of the day out of the office trying to price shredders. Jim figures out Michael's plan to leave early and tells her by text. Pam reaches the airport in time and is the last person to see Michael before he departs.


title: Pam Beesly

text: At the beginning of Season 8, Pam is revealed to be pregnant with her and Jim's second child, Phillip Halpert. She begins her maternity leave after "Gettysburg", and eventually returns when she and Jim bring Cece and Phillip into the office. In both "Tallahassee" and "Test the Store", Pam is shown helping, and developing her friendship with Andy.


title: Pam Beesly

text: Early in season 9, Jim is restless about his life in Scranton and helps a friend start a Sports Marketing business, Athlead, in Philadelphia. However, he initially keeps this a secret from Pam. Upon discovering Jim's decision, Pam is concerned about the fact that Jim had kept it a secret from her, and is later disturbed to hear just how much of their money he had invested. Jim begins spending part of each work week in Philadelphia; in "Customer Loyalty", the strain of this on Pam is evident when she breaks down in tears. She is comforted by Brian, the boom mic operator of the film crew.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In "Moving On", Pam interviews for a job in Philadelphia to be closer to Jim, but she is turned off by the idea when her prospective new boss bears a striking resemblance in behavior to Michael Scott. Over dinner, Pam reveals to Jim that she doesn't really want to move to Philadelphia after all. However, in "Livin' the Dream", when Athlead is bought out and Jim is offered a large sum of money for three months to pitch the company across the country, Pam overhears Jim refuse the opportunity because of her and appears to have mixed feelings about this decision. In "A.A.R.M.", Pam tells Jim that she's afraid that he will resent her for making him stay, and that she might not be enough for him. Jim asks the camera crew to compile documentary footage of the two of them to show her. When she finishes the montage, which shows Jim taking back a letter he intended to give her with his teapot gift during Christmas; Jim finally gives her that letter, and she reads it, visibly moved. In the series finale, which takes place a year later, she reveals to Jim that she secretly put the house on the market, so that they can move to Austin, Texas, and take his job back at Athlead (now Athleap). Pam also says that she did not watch much of the documentary because she cannot stand how long it took her to "reach" Jim.


title: Pam Beesly

text: From her years working the front desk, Pam has become well-acquainted with the Dunder-Mifflin staff and is consistently shown to have a thorough understanding of her coworkers' personalities, including the more eccentric individuals Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott. She uses this familiarity to manipulate them, often for their and the company's best interests (such as her giving the staff elaborate instructions on how to handle a heartbroken Michael in "The Chump") but also occasionally for her own. This familiarity plays a large part in her efficiency as office administrator and was crucial to her being promoted to the previously non-existent position.


title: Pam Beesly

text: The "will they or won't they" tension between Jim and Pam is a strong story line in the early episodes of "The Office", encompassing much of Seasons 1 to 3. In the finale of Season 2, "Casino Night", Jim confesses his love for Pam but she denies him. They later on kiss in the episode but Pam rejects him yet again. In the opener of Season 4, the two characters are revealed to be dating. In Season 6, Jim and Pam get married in the beginning of the season, a feat considered noteworthy by many television critics, as bringing together the two lead love interests in a television series is often thought to be a risky venture. Their child is born in the second half of the season, during another hour long episode, "The Delivery". Pam and Jim's second child is born during season 8. In season 9, their marriage becomes strained when Jim takes up a second job in Philadelphia. They ultimately decide to leave Dunder Mifflin together so Jim can pursue his dream job.


title: Pam Beesly

text: When the series begins, Pam is engaged to her high school sweetheart Roy Anderson; this engagement is revealed to be three years old and running. Roy is overbearing, neglectful, and dismissive of Pam's desire to be an artist; Jim tells the camera crew that the only two problems in Pam's life seemed to be Roy and her job at Dunder Mifflin.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In the early seasons, there is a great deal of tension between Jim and Roy, with Roy often acting threateningly towards Jim. In "Basketball", when Jim starts to impress Pam with his basketball skills, Roy elbows Jim in the nose. In Season 2, when Jim encourages Pam to pursue a graphic arts internship offered by Dunder Mifflin, Roy objects to the opportunity and eventually convinces her that the idea is foolish. Pam ultimately calls off her wedding to Roy, but they remain friendly and he is determined to win her back by being less of a jerk. She reconciles with Roy at Phyllis's wedding as a response to watching Jim date Karen. In an attempt at a fresh start with Roy, Pam comes clean about Jim kissing her during "Casino Night". Roy flies into a violent rage and Pam ends the relationship on the spot. The next day, Roy attempts to attack Jim in the office and is summarily fired. Following the incident, Roy meets Pam for coffee and encourages her to pursue her feelings for Jim.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In the series pilot, Michael is overtly rude to Pam and at one point fakes her firing, leaving her in tears. He often makes suggestive if harmless remarks about her beauty and general appearance, and at one point lies to the camera that they used to date. However, his impulsive attempt to kiss her during Diwali is shot down and marked the end of any romantic dreams for Michael with Pam. Over time, however, Pam begins to soften her stance towards Michael, who expresses support for her artistic goals, even attending her art show when none of the Dunder Mifflin staff attend. The experience at the Michael Scott Paper Company further bonds Michael and Pam's relationship. In Season 6, Pam becomes furious at Michael for dating her mom Helene; however, after Michael breaks up with Helene, they are civil towards one another. In Michael's finale, "Goodbye, Michael", Pam spends the whole day looking for a shredder, believing that Michael was leaving the next day. As Michael takes off his microphone and heads down the airport concourse, Pam runs to him with no shoes and hugs him as he kisses her cheek. In an interview, Pam tells the camera that he was happy to be going home to see Holly.


title: Pam Beesly

text: Toby, the Human Resources Representative for Dunder Mifflin in the Scranton branch, has a secret crush on Pam. In "A Benihana Christmas" she gives him her Dunder Mifflin bathrobe, a display of friendly affection, after he spent the day feeling bad that Dwight took his. In "Cocktails", while walking into Poor Richards, Pam indicates a liking to one of the toys in a claw machine, and Toby tries to win the toy for her for the rest of the night. In "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", Toby witnesses Pam kissing Jim Halpert in the break room, which prompts him to issue a memo about public displays of affection in the workplace. Later, when Jim and Pam admit they are dating and ask to fill out a disclosure form, he hesitates to give them a form, saying they should wait and see. In "Night Out", Toby awkwardly rubs her knee while they share a laugh, and the rest of the office watches in horror. In his mortification, Toby immediately announces that he is moving to Costa Rica before jumping over the locked gate and fleeing. In "Goodbye, Toby", Toby purchases a DSLR camera just to get a picture with Pam. On the eve of his departure, Pam confesses to the cameras that she always thought Toby was "kind of cute". In "Niagara", Pam and Jim are late for their wedding and he is visibly excited at the prospect that the wedding might not happen. In "Finale", Pam and Toby dance with each other at Dwight's wedding, with Toby beginning to cry as Pam comforts him. When she asks, "Is it me?", he replies that "It's everything!".


title: Pam Beesly

text: Pam and Angela have a frenemy-type relationship, with Angela’s mean attitude often serving as a foil to Pam’s soft-spoken demeanor. In the beginning of the series, the two generally dislike each other. In “The Alliance,” Pam tells the documentary crew that Angela rejected flipping a coin in the party planning committee because she is morally against gambling, which Pam found ironic because by saying that Angela “was gambling” that Pam wouldn’t smack her. In “Conflict Resolution,” Angela remarks that she had not received an invitation to Pam’s wedding. Pam reveals in a talking head that she didn’t invite Angela because she didn’t want anyone at her wedding who has called her a “hussy.” Pam changes her mind and personally hands Angela her save-the-date, explaining that she didn’t have Angela’s zip code. Angela smiled and seemed genuinely happy to be invited, though she told the documentary crew that the invitation wasn’t her taste. When Pam learns that someone had complained about her to Toby, she immediately assumes that it was Angela and prepares to uninvite her from the wedding, only to be stopped when Jim admits that he had registered (and subsequently retracted) the complaint.


title: Pam Beesly

text: Much of the tension between Pam and Angela originates from their involvement in the Party Planning Committee, with the latter earning a reputation as the harsh leader of the committee. In "Halloween,” Angela expresses disappointment at Pam because she made brownies rather than chips and dip and states that she’s trying to figure out why Pam is “sabotaging things.” When Angela kicks Karen Filippelli out of a meeting in “A Benihana Christmas,” Pam teams up with Karen to throw a “margarita-karaoke-Christmas” at the same time as Angela’s party. After most of the office skips Angela’s party, Pam notices that Angela is upset and offers to merge the parties. Angela reveals that the cord for the karaoke machine, which had previously been missing, was hidden in the potted plant right outside the conference room, heavily implying that she stole it to sabotage their party. In “Costume Contest,” Angela tells the documentary crew that Pam did a good job picking the prize for the office’s Halloween costume contest, though she added that she didn’t want to give Pam a compliment because she’s so “bleh.”


title: Pam Beesly

text: Although she is known for her judgmental attitude, Angela is particularly hostile toward Pam for her office relationships. In “Office Olympics,” when Pam asks Angela what games she plays during work, Angela responds that she plays “Pam pong,” wherein she counts the number of times Jim goes to the reception desk to talk to Pam, which makes Pam visibly uncomfortable. Angela calls Pam “the office mattress” when she learns that Pam is dating Jim in “Dunder Mifflin Infinity.” In “Niagara,” Pam asks the office to keep her pregnancy a secret, explaining that her grandmother doesn’t know, and her old-fashioned beliefs would cause her to be offended. Angela states that decent people everywhere would be offended by Pam’s pregnancy and that she’s lucky to have a grandmother. Pam tells Angela that she doesn’t have to come to the wedding. In “Christening,” Angela admonishes Pam and Jim for not getting a caterer for Cece’s christening and tells them that they don’t think. Once Angela is out of earshot, Pam tells Cece that Angela is just jealous because she doesn’t get to come home to a baby as cute as her. In “Search Committee,” Pam makes fun of Senator Lipton’s use of third-person language when proposing to Angela. Angela replies that not everyone is as informal as Pam and Jim and imitates Jim calling Pam “dude” in his proposal. Later, Angela asks Pam for the plans for her “dream wedding” that she couldn’t afford, remarking that instead Pam had an “ironic” wedding. Pam, visibly offended, states that she hopes Angela has a beautiful wedding.


title: Pam Beesly

text: In season 8, it is revealed that Pam and Angela are both pregnant. During their pregnancies, Angela repeatedly insults Pam. In “The List,” Angela tells the documentary crew that Pam is “big pregs” and calls herself “little pregs.” At first, Pam and Angela were walking buddies and were able to strike up a friendship, but that ended in “The Incentive” when Angela revealed that she had reported Pam to social services for drinking herbal tea from coffee mugs while pregnant. In “Garden Party,” it is revealed that both Angela and Pam want to use the name Phillip for their babies, with Pam choosing the name of her grandfather and Angela choosing the name of her cat. However, Pam and Angela later bond when Oscar compares being a parent to owning a dog in “After Hours.”


title: Pam Beesly

text: Despite the hostility between the two, they sometimes see each other as friends and talk over the file cabinet between their desks. For example, in “The Return,” Angela tells Pam the real reason Dwight left for New York before telling anyone else. In “Fun Run,” Angela asks for Pam’s advice when she suspects that Dwight killed her cat, Sprinkles. Pam is among the women at Angela’s bachelorette party and attends Angela's wedding to Dwight in “Finale.”


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Jonathan Roumie (born July 1) is an American actor best known for his role as Jesus in "The Chosen", a crowd-funded television series about the birth of Christianity. He is also a voice artist.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Roumie was born and raised in New York City. His father is an Egyptian, his paternal grandfather was born in Syria, and his mother is Irish. Roumie is a practicing Roman Catholic; while he was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, Roumie converted to Catholicism after moving from New York to its suburbs. He holds a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Roumie has appeared in television shows such as "The Good Wife", "As the World Turns", and "Castle". He is known for his portrayal of Jesus in "The Chosen". He played the character of Christ for the first time in a touring multi-media project about the life of St. Faustina called Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy and subsequently in 'Once we were Slaves/The Two Thieves'. Roumie is also the co-producer, co-director and lead actor of "The Last Days: The Passion and Death of Jesus", a live performance about the passion of Christ.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: His voice-over work includes the video games "Evolve", "Mafia II & III", and "The Darkness II". Roumie has voiced several characters in the MTV series "Celebrity Deathmatch".


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Roumie started as a production assistant and was the location scout for "Spider Man", "National Treasure" and "I Am Legend." His first original song, "Outta Time" was released in Europe for the album, "Unbreakable" which he co-produced.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Roumie has been a ministry leader and has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion within the Catholic Church. He serves as vice president on the boards of two non-profit media companies: Catholics in Media Associates and G.K. Chesterton Theatre Company.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: He is based in Los Angeles since 2009. In 2020, he was nominated for a Papal knighthood, the Order of St. Gregory the Great.


title: Jonathan Roumie

text: Roumie's portrayal of Jesus Christ in "The Chosen" has been reviewed in the "National Catholic Register", "America Magazine","The Atlantic", and "The Irish Times".


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: Mehreen Pirzada (born 5 November 1994) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Telugu films. Pirzada made her acting debut in 2016 with the Telugu film "Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha". She made her Hindi debut with "Phillauri" and Tamil debut with "Nenjil Thunivirundhal" both in 2017.


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: Pirzada has appeared in successful Telugu films including "Mahanubhavudu" (2017), "Raja the Great" (2017) and "" (2019).She made her Punjabi film debut with "DSP Dev" in 2019.


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: Mehreen Pirzada was born on 5 November 1994 in Bathinda, Punjab, in a Sikh family to an agriculturist and realtor father Gurlal Pirzada and a housewife mother Paramjit Kaur Pirzada. Her only sibling is a brother named Gurfateh Pirzada who is also a model and actor.


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: Pirzada did her first ramp walk at the age of ten and won the title of Kasauli Princess at a beauty pageant. She was later crowned Miss Personality South Asia Canada 2013 in Toronto. She modelled for popular designers through Jemini Face Modeling company and acted in many a commercial ads in Canada and India. She is also the Face of Dove India and endorses Nikon, Pears and Thums Up on TVC and print media.


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: Pirzada made her debut with the Telugu movie "Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha" in which she played the character of Mahalakshmi. The movie was successful in Telugu states and at the US box office. In March 2017, she debuted in Hindi cinema with the movie Phillauri alongside Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh and Suraj Sharma. She appeared in 2019 in the film "". She also had a role in Ardab Mutiyaran as Shruti opposite Ninja and Sonam Bajwa.


title: Mehreen Pirzada

text: In March 2021, Pirzada got engaged to Bhavya Bishnoi, son of Adampur, Hisar MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, and grandson of former Haryana state Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Their wedding was planned for late 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The pair called off their engagement in early July 2021.


title: Sally Nugent

text: Sally Nugent (born 5 August 1971) is an English journalist, newsreader and television presenter. Since October 2021, she has presented "BBC Breakfast" along with Dan Walker, Naga Munchetty, Charlie Stayt and Jon Kay


title: Sally Nugent

text: Nugent was born on 5 August 1971 on the Wirral Peninsula and was educated at Upton Hall School FCJ. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts and French from the University of Huddersfield.


title: Sally Nugent

text: Her first media role was at BBC Radio Merseyside before moving on to report on and read the sports news on "BBC North West Tonight". In 2003 she became a sports reporter for BBC News, appearing on national bulletins, before becoming a sports news presenter on the BBC News Channel (known at the time as BBC News 24). There she travelled to Germany for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, anchoring "Sportsday" from there. Nugent then spent a period as a news correspondent on TV and radio, and as a relief presenter on the BBC News Channel.


title: Sally Nugent

text: In November 2011, Nugent began co-presenting "BBC Breakfast" on a freelance basis, filling in when regular hosts were unavailable. From April 2012 she presented sports bulletins alongside Mike Bushell on "Breakfast" following the programme's move to its new location at Media City in Salford. She established herself as one of the regular co-presenters of the "Breakfast" team after appearing on the Christmas Eve 2012 edition with Bill Turnbull, through to September 2021 reporting on Emma Raducanu's historic victory in the US Open tennis championship.


title: Sally Nugent

text: On 27 October 2021, it was announced that Nugent would become a permanent presenter of "BBC Breakfast" alongside Dan Walker, Charlie Stayt, and Naga Munchetty; she replaced Louise Minchin following Minchin's departure after 20 years on the programme.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Jake Toranzo Austin Szymanski (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Jake T. Austin, is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor at the age of seven, Austin is best known for his role as Max Russo on the Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place", and as the voice of Diego on the Nickelodeon animated series "Go, Diego, Go!". Austin was also the original actor who portrayed Jesus Foster on the ABC Family family/teen drama series "The Fosters". His feature film credits include co-starring roles in "Hotel for Dogs", "New Year's Eve"," Rio " and "The Emoji Movie".


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin was born in New York City, the son of Giny Rodriquez Toranzo and Joe Szymanski. His middle initial, "T", is taken from his mother's maiden name. His mother is of Puerto Rican, Argentine, and Spanish descent, and his father is of Polish, Irish, and English ancestry. Austin embraces his Puerto Rican heritage, though he has said that he is not fluent in Spanish. He has a younger sister, Ava.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin's career began in 2002 when he appeared in commercials. A year later, he appeared in his first credited acting role as Kid 1698 in a comedy sketch on "The Late Show With David Letterman". In 2005, he landed his first major role – voicing Diego, the cousin of Dora, on the hit Nickelodeon animated series "Dora the Explorer". He continued to voice Diego on the spin-off series, "Go, Diego, Go!", for three seasons. Along with voicing Diego, Austin was cast in multiple voice roles for the feature films "The Ant Bully" and "Everyone's Hero" – he was also cast in the Comedy Central special "Merry F#%$in's Christmas". In 2006, Austin landed the lead role of Angel Macias in his first live-action feature film, "The Perfect Game", which was based on a true story about the first non-U.S. team to win the 1957 Little League World Series. The film wouldn't be released in the United States until more than three years later due to post-production financing difficulties.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin appeared in his first Walt Disney Company production in 2007 when he portrayed the role of Chris in the Disney Channel original film "". Later that same year, he was cast as Max Russo in the Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place". He played the youngest sibling of a wizarding family, co-starring with Selena Gomez and David Henrie. Until the end of "Wizards of Waverly Place" in 2011, Austin appeared in multiple Disney productions. In the summer of 2009, he played the role of Max Russo in the "Wizards on Deck" crossover episode which included two other popular Disney shows, "The Suite Life on Deck" and "Hannah Montana".


title: Jake T. Austin

text: During the same summer, he starred in the made-for-television film "".<ref name="TVGuide.com 09/08/27 1"></ref> The film was a ratings hit, becoming the second most-viewed Disney Channel film at that time, behind "High School Musical 2". It was also the #1 scripted telecast of 2009. Austin made his live action feature film debut in 2009 with the role of Bruce, an orphan who hides numerous dogs in an abandoned hotel, in the DreamWorks film "Hotel for Dogs". In the fall of 2010, Austin was named as one of the "25 Brightest Latino Stars Under 25" by "Latina" magazine. He wrote and sold his first screenplay, "Kings of Suburbia", which he described as being written in the same vein as his favorite film "Stand By Me".


title: Jake T. Austin

text: In 2011, Austin voiced the role of Fernando, an orphaned Brazilian boy who is forced to capture exotic birds, in the 20th Century Fox animated musical film "Rio". He reprised the role in the sequel, "Rio 2". He was also in the romantic-comedy film "New Year's Eve", released in December 2011. The following year, he had guest roles on the Lifetime comedy-drama "Drop Dead Diva" as Samuel Forman, a 16-year-old multimillionaire, and on the NBC legal drama series "" as Rob Fisher, the boyfriend of a girl whose family is murdered.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin landed his next major role in 2013, when he was cast as Jesus Foster in the ABC Family family/teen drama series "The Fosters". The series tells the story of two moms raising both biological and foster children in a "multi-ethnic" household in San Diego, California. He played Jesus for two seasons until he left the show in the second-season finale in 2015. In a statement on his departure, Austin said: "I'm honored to have been a part of such a groundbreaking series ... Thank you for letting me be a part of your family, it's been a pleasure." His role was recast for the third season, with Noah Centineo.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: In 2016, he provided the voice for Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle in the DC Comics animated direct-to-video film "Justice League vs. Teen Titans". On August 30, 2016, Austin was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 23 of "Dancing with the Stars". He was partnered with professional dancer, Jenna Johnson. On September 20, 2016, Austin and Johnson were announced as the first couple to be eliminated from the competition. In October 2018, it was announced that Austin joined the cast of "Adverse", a neo-noir thriller starring Mickey Rourke. "Adverse" had its premiere at the opening of the Fantasporto Festival on February 28, 2020, in Portugal.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin divides his time between living in Los Angeles and New York. He has two dogs, Bogey and Beju. His family owns a historic restaurant called The Clarksville Inn. The restaurant, located in West Nyack, New York, originally opened in 1840 as a hotel.


title: Jake T. Austin

text: Austin devotes time to various charitable causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions; the Starlight Children's Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening medical conditions; and "Variety" Power of Youth initiative, which partners with young stars to help raise money for their chosen causes. He has also supported the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, stating "I know how important it is to have a supportive environment and feel good about yourself, especially as an adolescent."


title: Jake T. Austin

text: In October 2020, Austin discussed his bi-racial familial heritage and the importance of voting in the upcoming US elections, "... whether it’s via mail-in voting or at the polling place, becoming active in the electoral process is so important. Whether the person on the ticket is running for local, state or national positions, our role as their constituents starts with voting."


title: Recursion

text: Recursion (adjective: "recursive") occurs when a thing is defined in terms of itself or of its type. Recursion is used in a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics to logic. The most common application of recursion is in mathematics and computer science, where a function being defined is applied within its own definition. While this apparently defines an infinite number of instances (function values), it is often done in such a way that no infinite loop or infinite chain of references ("crock recursion") can occur.


title: Recursion

text: In mathematics and computer science, a class of objects or methods exhibits recursive behavior when it can be defined by two properties:


title: Recursion

text: For example, the following is a recursive definition of a person's "ancestor". One's ancestor is either:


title: Recursion

text: Many mathematical axioms are based upon recursive rules. For example, the formal definition of the natural numbers by the Peano axioms can be described as: "Zero is a natural number, and each natural number has a successor, which is also a natural number." By this base case and recursive rule, one can generate the set of all natural numbers.


title: Recursion

text: Other recursively defined mathematical objects include factorials, functions (e.g., recurrence relations), sets (e.g., Cantor ternary set), and fractals.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion is the process a procedure goes through when one of the steps of the procedure involves invoking the procedure itself. A procedure that goes through recursion is said to be 'recursive'.


title: Recursion

text: To understand recursion, one must recognize the distinction between a procedure and the running of a procedure. A procedure is a set of steps based on a set of rules, while the running of a procedure involves actually following the rules and performing the steps.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion is related to, but not the same as, a reference within the specification of a procedure to the execution of some other procedure.


title: Recursion

text: When a procedure is defined as such, this immediately creates the possibility of an endless loop; recursion can only be properly used in a definition if the step in question is skipped in certain cases so that the procedure can complete. Recursion comes in three forms: "direct", "indirect", and "circular". Direct recursion is when a function (A) invokes itself (A references A); indirect recursion occurs when one function (A) invokes (B), function (B) invokes function (C), function (C) invokes (D), etc., until one of the functions in the chain invokes an earlier one. Circular recursion occurs when function (A) and function (B) invoke each other. If an infinite loop occurs in direct, indirect, or circular recursion, it is said to be the condition of "crock recursion." There are basically two ways to prevent crock recursion, either limit the number of times a function may reference itself, or place an absolute limit on the depth of function calls, e.g. if there is a depth limit of 50, any time a procedure calls another, a counter is increased; when it exits, that counter is decreased. Once the counter reaches the limit (in this case, 50) no further procedure calls are allowed; if any attempt to call a 51st function is made, the operation is terminated. Using a recursion limit prevents only crock recursion; placing a call limit, in addition to halting crock recursion, may have the side effect of preventing the execution of legitimate complex procedures which are deeply nested, but not recursive.


title: Recursion

text: But even if it is properly defined, a recursive procedure is not easy for humans to perform, as it requires distinguishing the new from the old, partially executed invocation of the procedure; this requires some administration as to how far various simultaneous instances of the procedures have progressed. For this reason, recursive definitions are very rare in everyday situations.


title: Recursion

text: Linguist Noam Chomsky, among many others, has argued that the lack of an upper bound on the number of grammatical sentences in a language, and the lack of an upper bound on grammatical sentence length (beyond practical constraints such as the time available to utter one), can be explained as the consequence of recursion in natural language.


title: Recursion

text: This can be understood in terms of a recursive definition of a syntactic category, such as a sentence. A sentence can have a structure in which what follows the verb is another sentence: "Dorothy thinks witches are dangerous", in which the sentence "witches are dangerous" occurs in the larger one. So a sentence can be defined recursively (very roughly) as something with a structure that includes a noun phrase, a verb, and optionally another sentence. This is really just a special case of the mathematical definition of recursion.


title: Recursion

text: This provides a way of understanding the creativity of language—the unbounded number of grammatical sentences—because it immediately predicts that sentences can be of arbitrary length: "Dorothy thinks that Toto suspects that Tin Man said that...". There are many structures apart from sentences that can be defined recursively, and therefore many ways in which a sentence can embed instances of one category inside another. Over the years, languages in general have proved amenable to this kind of analysis.


title: Recursion

text: The generally accepted idea that recursion is an essential property of human language has been challenged by Daniel Everett on the basis of his claims about the Pirahã language. Andrew Nevins, David Pesetsky and Cilene Rodrigues are among many who have refuted this challenge. Literary self-reference can in any case be argued to be different in kind from mathematical or logical recursion.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion plays a crucial role not only in syntax, but also in natural language semantics. The word "and", for example, can be construed as a function that can apply to sentence meanings to create new sentences, and likewise for noun phrase meanings, verb phrase meanings, and others. It can also apply to intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, or ditransitive verbs. In order to provide a single denotation for it that is suitably flexible, "and" is typically defined so that it can take any of these different types of meanings as arguments. This can be done by defining it for a simple case in which it combines sentences, and then defining the other cases recursively in terms of the simple one.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion is sometimes used humorously in computer science, programming, philosophy, or mathematics textbooks, generally by giving a circular definition or self-reference, in which the putative recursive step does not get closer to a base case, but instead leads to an infinite regress. It is not unusual for such books to include a joke entry in their glossary along the lines of:


title: Recursion

text: A variation is found on page 269 in the index of some editions of Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie's book "The C Programming Language"; the index entry recursively references itself ("recursion 86, 139, 141, 182, 202, 269"). Early versions of this joke can be found in "Let's talk Lisp" by Laurent Siklóssy (published by Prentice Hall PTR on December 1, 1975, with a copyright date of 1976) and in "Software Tools" by Kernighan and Plauger (published by Addison-Wesley Professional on January 11, 1976). The joke also appears in "The UNIX Programming Environment" by Kernighan and Pike. It did not appear in the first edition of "The C Programming Language". The joke is part of the Functional programming folklore and was already widespread in the functional programming community before the publication of the aforementioned books.


title: Recursion

text: Another joke is that "To understand recursion, you must understand recursion." In the English-language version of the Google web search engine, when a search for "recursion" is made, the site suggests "Did you mean: "recursion"." An alternative form is the following, from Andrew Plotkin: ""If you already know what recursion is, just remember the answer. Otherwise, find someone who is standing closer to Douglas Hofstadter than you are; then ask him or her what recursion is.""


title: Recursion

text: Recursive acronyms are other examples of recursive humor. PHP, for example, stands for "PHP Hypertext Preprocessor", WINE stands for "WINE Is Not an Emulator" GNU stands for "GNU's not Unix", and SPARQL denotes the "SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language".


title: Recursion

text: In mathematical logic, the Peano axioms (or Peano postulates or Dedekind–Peano axioms), are axioms for the natural numbers presented in the 19th century by the German mathematician Richard Dedekind and by the Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano. The Peano Axioms define the natural numbers referring to a recursive successor function and addition and multiplication as recursive functions.


title: Recursion

text: Another interesting example is the set of all "provable" propositions in an axiomatic system that are defined in terms of a proof procedure which is inductively (or recursively) defined as follows:


title: Recursion

text: Finite subdivision rules are a geometric form of recursion, which can be used to create fractal-like images. A subdivision rule starts with a collection of polygons labelled by finitely many labels, and then each polygon is subdivided into smaller labelled polygons in a way that depends only on the labels of the original polygon. This process can be iterated. The standard `middle thirds' technique for creating the Cantor set is a subdivision rule, as is barycentric subdivision.


title: Recursion

text: A function may be recursively defined in terms of itself. A familiar example is the Fibonacci number sequence: "F"("n") = "F"("n" − 1) + "F"("n" − 2). For such a definition to be useful, it must be reducible to non-recursively defined values: in this case "F"(0) = 0 and "F"(1) = 1.


title: Recursion

text: A famous recursive function is the Ackermann function, which, unlike the Fibonacci sequence, cannot be expressed without recursion.


title: Recursion

text: Applying the standard technique of proof by cases to recursively defined sets or functions, as in the preceding sections, yields structural induction — a powerful generalization of mathematical induction widely used to derive proofs in mathematical logic and computer science.


title: Recursion

text: Dynamic programming is an approach to optimization that restates a multiperiod or multistep optimization problem in recursive form. The key result in dynamic programming is the Bellman equation, which writes the value of the optimization problem at an earlier time (or earlier step) in terms of its value at a later time (or later step).


title: Recursion

text: In set theory, this is a theorem guaranteeing that recursively defined functions exist. Given a set , an element of and a function , the theorem states that there is a unique function formula_4 (where formula_5 denotes the set of natural numbers including zero) such that


title: Recursion

text: A common method of simplification is to divide a problem into subproblems of the same type. As a computer programming technique, this is called divide and conquer and is key to the design of many important algorithms. Divide and conquer serves as a top-down approach to problem solving, where problems are solved by solving smaller and smaller instances. A contrary approach is dynamic programming. This approach serves as a bottom-up approach, where problems are solved by solving larger and larger instances, until the desired size is reached.


title: Recursion

text: The function calls itself recursively on a smaller version of the input and multiplies the result of the recursive call by , until reaching the base case, analogously to the mathematical definition of factorial.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion in computer programming is exemplified when a function is defined in terms of simpler, often smaller versions of itself. The solution to the problem is then devised by combining the solutions obtained from the simpler versions of the problem. One example application of recursion is in parsers for programming languages. The great advantage of recursion is that an infinite set of possible sentences, designs or other data can be defined, parsed or produced by a finite computer program.


title: Recursion

text: Recurrence relations are equations which define one or more sequences recursively. Some specific kinds of recurrence relation can be "solved" to obtain a non-recursive definition (e.g., a closed-form expression).


title: Recursion

text: Use of recursion in an algorithm has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is usually the simplicity of instructions. The main disadvantage is that the memory usage of recursive algorithms may grow very quickly, rendering them impractical for larger instances.


title: Recursion

text: Shapes that seem to have been created by recursive processes sometimes appear in plants and animals, such as in branching structures in which one large part branches out into two or more similar smaller parts. One example is Romanesco broccoli.


title: Recursion

text: Recursion has been used in paintings since Giotto's "Stefaneschi Triptych", made in 1320. Its central panel contains the kneeling figure of Cardinal Stefaneschi, holding up the triptych itself as an offering. This practice is more generally known as the Droste effect, an example of the Mise en abyme technique.


title: Recursion

text: M. C. Escher's "Print Gallery" (1956) is a print which depicts a distorted city containing a gallery which recursively contains the picture, and so "ad infinitum".


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: During his playing career, Laudrup won league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, playing mainly as an attacking midfielder, although he was also capable of playing in other attacking positions. He was a member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" at Barcelona, where he won nine trophies, including four successive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994 and the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 1994, with whom he won his fifth La Liga title in a row.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup made his debut for the Denmark national team on his 18th birthday in 1982, and scored 37 goals in 104 appearances. He starred in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and from November 1994, he captained Denmark for a total of 28 matches, including the victorious 1995 Confederations Cup tournament. He played alongside his brother Brian in the Denmark team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, and retired as an active player after the tournament.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In 1999, Laudrup was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football over the preceding 25-year period and in April 2000 he was knighted, receiving the Order of the Dannebrog. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Denmark by the Danish Football Union, their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He was officially named the best Danish footballer of all time by the Danish Football Union (DBU) in November 2006. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players at a FIFA awards ceremony in 2004. In April 2013, he was named by "Marca" readers in the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history".


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 16 October 2021, at a show celebrating the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark's 125th anniversary, 125 candidates for the title of the greatest ever Danish sports star had been reduced to eight, and Laudrup was named the winner.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: After retiring as a player, Laudrup took up coaching, and became assistant manager of the Denmark national team. He got his first manager job at former club Brøndby in 2002, whom he guided to the 2005 Danish Superliga championship. He chose not to extend his contract with Brøndby in May 2006. He took over as coach of Getafe and had notable success there. He brought the club comparative success in the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup, and the team's attacking style received plaudits. On 15 June 2012, Laudrup was appointed the manager of Premier League club Swansea City on a two-year contract. In his first season in south Wales, he won the League Cup, the first major English trophy in Swansea's 100-year history. On 4 February 2014, he was sacked by Swansea after a "significant" slump in the Premier League, leaving them two points above the relegation zone. Laudrup then managed Qatari clubs Lekhwiya and Al Rayyan between 2014 and 2018.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Michael Laudrup began playing football in father Finn Laudrup's childhood club Vanløse. When Finn Laudrup became player/coach of Brøndby IF in 1973, the family moved to Brøndby and both Michael and his brother Brian Laudrup started playing for the club as well. Michael followed his father to the top-flight Danish 1st Division club Københavns Boldklub in 1976, while Brian remained at Brøndby.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup made his senior debut playing for KB (Kjøbenhavns Boldklub) in 1981, and made his debut for the Danish under-19 national team in February 1981. In all, he scored a combined total of 14 goals in 25 games at various youth levels. He went back to play for Brøndby in 1982, where his father had ended his career in 1981, contributing to the promotion of Brøndby to the 1st Division.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: At Brøndby, Laudrup scored two goals in the club's 1st Division debut game, as fellow promoted team Boldklubben 1909 were beaten 7–1. He scored 15 league goals in 1982, and ended the season as the third top goal scorer of the 1st Division. His accomplishments earned him the 1982 Danish Player of the Year award. He played part of the 1983 season for Brøndby, and scored nine goals, before he was sold to defending Serie A champions Juventus from Italy in June 1983. It was the biggest transfer deal in Danish football at the time, worth around $1 million. He was due to sign for Liverpool the same year on a three-year contract, but at the last minute, Liverpool proposed a four-year contract and Laudrup opted not to sign.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Under restriction of a maximum of two foreign players in the team, of which the club had Polish midfielder Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini, Juventus initially lent Laudrup to newly promoted Rome club Lazio for a single season, something he had not been informed about before signing for Juventus. With Lazio, he scored two goals in his Serie A debut, a 2–4 loss to Hellas Verona. In his first year at Lazio, Lazio narrowly avoided relegation, but as Juventus wanted to keep Boniek and Platini, he stayed for another year. Lazio started the 1984–85 season poorly, eventually finishing in last place to become relegated to Serie B. Laudrup scored just one goal that season.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup returned to Juventus in summer 1985 to replace Zbigniew Boniek, playing alongside Michel Platini. In his first year at the club, he won the 1985–86 Serie A as well as the Intercontinental Cup trophy, scoring the equalising goal in the final of the latter tournament, although he later missed a penalty in the resulting shoot-out; he was once again named Danish Player of the Year in 1985. However, the following season was not a success for Laudrup, who suffered multiple injuries. When Platini retired in 1987, Laudrup was expected to lead the team in his place, playing alongside newly bought Welsh forward Ian Rush. But Laudrup failed to live up to Platini's standards and did not score any goals, despite playing all 30 matches of the 1987–88 season.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: After an unsuccessful season with Juventus, Laudrup decided it was time to leave, looking for a new experience after six years in Italy. In 1989, he joined Spanish club Barcelona on the premise that Netherlands coach Johan Cruyff, his childhood role model, had been assembling a team that was striving for success. Immediately, Laudrup enjoyed major success under Cruyff's leadership, citing the Dutchman's philosophy and perception of the game as one of the main assets that helped foster his talent. He was one of the restricted three foreign players allowed in the team, alongside Dutch defender Ronald Koeman and Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov, who were the pillars of the "Barça" "Dream Team", along with rising stars Pep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, and Txiki Begiristain.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: The Dream Team played attractive football that was comparable to the 1970s Ajax team, and won four consecutive La Liga championships from 1991 to 1994, as well as the 1991–92 European Cup, along with the 1992 UEFA Super Cup, 1989–90 Copa del Rey and 1991 and 1992 Supercopa de España titles. Laudrup was twice named the best player of the year in Spain during his Barcelona years. When "Barça" hired a fourth foreign star player, Brazilian striker Romário in 1993, it meant the four foreigners would rotate as the three foreign players allowed in each match, and when he was not selected for the 1994 European Cup final 0–4 loss to Milan (amid conflicts with Cruyff), his time at Barcelona was effectively over. After the match, Milan's manager Fabio Capello remarked: "Laudrup was the guy I feared but Cruyff left him out, and that was his mistake."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup's departure from Barcelona was a huge blow for the fans and his teammates alike. Pep Guardiola was reportedly so upset by the news that he cried and begged Laudrup to change his mind. Reflecting on his time at Barcelona, Laudrup commented, "I think we played some very good football, and I think most of all we demonstrated that even without getting the ten best players in the world, you can have the best team. Because everybody talked about Begiristain, Bakero, Guardiola, Stoichkov, and Koeman, but when we started none of us was a best player, then we became maybe the best team in the world, together with AC Milan in that period."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In 1994, Laudrup completed a controversial move from "Barça" to Real Madrid after he fell out with Johan Cruyff. On this, Laudrup stated he did not have a hidden agenda. It was the year after the 1994 FIFA World Cup and according to him, because players usually suffer a drop in performance after such a major international tournament, he correctly predicted that Barcelona would not win major trophies the following season.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Despite widespread belief Laudrup joined arch-rivals Real Madrid in an attempt to "get back" at Cruyff, the decision was based on the fact Real Madrid had been struggling for a long period and were eager to return to supremacy, like Barcelona when he decided to join them. Laudrup said, "People say I wanted to go to Real Madrid just to get revenge. I say revenge from what? I've had a perfect time; five fantastic years here [at Barcelona]. I went to Madrid because they were so hungry to win, and they had four or five players who went to the World Cup. I said this would be perfect; new coach, new players, and hungry to win." On 5 November 1994, he assisted Raúl's first professional goal in a 4–2 win over Atlético Madrid


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup went on to guide Real Madrid in a championship-winning season that would end the "Barça" stranglehold, making him the only player ever to win the Spanish league five times in a row playing for two different clubs. After the initial success at Real, a lacklustre season would be in store for the club. Despite only playing two seasons at Real Madrid, he was voted the 12th-best player in Real Madrid history in an internet survey by Spanish newspaper "Marca" when the club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2002. While playing with Barcelona, he participated in the 5–0 victory over rivals Real Madrid in the 1993–94 season. The following season while playing for Real Madrid, he aided in the revenge beating Madrid gave "Barça", the final score also ending 5–0. Daniel Storey wrote of Laudrup, "no other player is loved on both sides of the clásico divide quite like Laudrup" as he remains held in high regard by both Barça and Madrid fans. Following the match, Laudrup's former Barcelona manager Cruyff commented: "When Michael plays like a dream, a magic illusion, determined to show his new team his extreme abilities, no one in the world comes anywhere near his level."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In 1996, Laudrup left Real Madrid to play for Vissel Kobe in Japan. On 18 August 1996, he played his first match for Vissel Kobe and scored two goals in a 4–2 win against Brummell Sendai. He helped Vissel to promotion from the second-tier Japan Football League to the J1 League. He was registered as a player in Bosnian Premier League club Čelik Zenica in a controversial signing in which he did not play any games for Čelik, but was signed as a player. After the details were resolved, he ended his playing career in a championship winning season at Dutch side Ajax in 1998.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Following his retirement, Laudrup sometimes turned out to play for Lyngby's Old Boys team in his spare time.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup was called up for the Denmark national team during Brøndby's debut season in the top-flight. On his 18th birthday on 15 June 1982, he became the then-second-youngest Danish national team player ever, following Harald Nielsen. Despite playing for relegation battlers Lazio, Laudrup starred for the Denmark national team at UEFA Euro 1984, playing all four of Denmark's matches.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup participated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, a performance which is best remembered for his exceptional solo dribble and goal in the 6–1 defeat of Uruguay. He was also a part of the disappointing Denmark squad at Euro 1988, though Laudrup experienced personal success, scoring one of Denmark's two goals.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Following three matches in the qualification campaign for Euro 1992, Laudrup opted to quit the national team in November 1990 (alongside his brother Brian Laudrup and Jan Mølby) following differences with coach Richard Møller Nielsen. The Danes originally failed to qualify but were later given Yugoslavia's place as Yugoslavia were disqualified due to war in their country. Notwithstanding their qualification, Laudrup rated Denmark's chances of success so low he stayed on holiday. However, Denmark caused one of the biggest upsets in football history by going on to win the tournament, beating holders the Netherlands in the semi-final and, in the final beating reigning world champions and favourites Germany, with a 2–0 win thanks to goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup returned to Nielsen's Danish squad in August 1993, but saw Spain and the Republic of Ireland qualify for the 1994 World Cup ahead of Denmark. He scored a goal in the 2–0 victory against Argentina, as Denmark won the 1995 Intercontinental Cup. He also scored four goals in ten matches as Denmark qualified for Euro 1996.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup's last matches for Denmark came at the 1998 World Cup, when he captained the nation to the quarter-final. Laudrup made his 100th appearance for Denmark in the team's opening game of the tournament, a 1–0 defeat of Saudi Arabia in Lens. Denmark was defeated 2–3 by Brazil in the quarter-finals, and both Michael and Brian Laudrup announced their international retirement following the elimination. Both brothers ended their international careers on a high note as both Michael and Brian were named in FIFA's All-Star Team.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: A quick, intelligent and talented midfielder, known for his pace on the ball, Laudrup is regarded as one of the most effective and versatile attacking midfielders, as well as one of the most skilful and elegant players in the history of the game. Although primarily an offensive playmaker, he was capable of playing in several positions in or behind the front-line, and was even deployed as a winger, as a central midfielder or deep-lying playmaker, or as a second striker on occasion, in particular in his youth, or even as a forward or striker on rarer instances; he was also used as a centre-forward on occasion under his Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff, a role which was similar to that of the modern false 9 role. Laudrup is considered by many in the sport as one of the best passers of all time, and as one of the most technically accomplished players ever.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Regarding Laudrup's vision and passing ability, his brother Brian stated in 2008: "My brother started as an attacker but became an elegant attacking midfielder, perhaps the most complete there has ever been. His vision, speed of thought and passing were on a different level; he always knew what was going to happen before anybody else did. If anyone had a 'football brain', it was him." Despite being primarily a creative team player, he also possessed an accurate shot, and was capable of scoring goals as well as creating them.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Nicknamed "The Prince of Denmark," throughout his career, Laudrup was acclaimed for his technique, balance, elegance, ball control, and dribbling ability, as well as his vision, ability to read the game, and range of passing, including deep passes, through balls, and crosses, which made him an excellent assist provider. In regard to his vision, Jorge Valdano, the Argentinian coach of Laudrup in Real Madrid, said, "[H]e has eyes everywhere." His trademark move – looking one way and passing the other – fooled countless opponents during his career.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: The Laudrup dribble, a signature feint also known as the "croqueta", was perhaps the best-known part of his game, and involved him quickly moving the ball from one foot to the other away from the defender, a move which was later also popularised by later Barcelona midfielder Andrés Iniesta. Laudrup's ball skills and feints were combined with creativity, which he used to get past defenders in one on one situations. This led to the expression "Made in Laudrup" being coined in the Spanish football media, which was widely used in Spain to describe his trademark assists, in particular his lobbed passes, as well as his unique play. According to a 2018 article by Josh Butler of "The Athletic" and "These Football Times", several of Laudrup's teammates said of his creative style of play: "Just run, he will always find a way of passing you the ball."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Throughout his career, Laudrup was often ranked among the best players in the world, with the French three-time European footballer of the year award winner Michel Platini describing him as one of the most talented players ever, only lamenting his lack of selfishness causing him to score too few goals. In a 2006 interview, Laudrup's Real Madrid teammate Raúl called him the best player he had ever played with, a view echoed by his Barcelona teammate Romário, who opined that he was able to create and score goals almost at will, and ranked him the fourth-best player in the history of the game (behind Pelé, Diego Maradona and himself). Luís Figo instead labelled Laudrup as arguably the best opponent he had ever faced. Ronald Koeman rated Laudrup as "possibly the most skillful and elegant player [he] ever played with," adding: "Few could dribble like he could. He could sense when a game was ready to be seized and transformed by a moment of individual brilliance." Roberto Galia stated in 2008: "I have played against Maradona, Platini and Baggio. But the player I saw do the most indescribable things was Michael Laudrup." Former teammate Guillermo Amor said: "I have never seen a better player in one-on-ones. He was our special player."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Thierry Henry named Laudrup as the best player he had never played with, saying he did not know any better passer than him and "the world of football did not give him the credit that guy [Laudrup] deserved." John Toshack ranked Laudrup as "the best player of his generation," likening him to Cruyff both as a player and a manager, a view shared by Franz Beckenbauer, who dubbed Laudrup the best player of the 90s. Javier Clemente once stated: "To me, Michael Laudrup is the most genius player the world has ever seen. He will always be my numero uno. Always." José Mari Bakero instead remarked: "No one has given the club [Barcelona] as much inspiration as Michael. We all look up to him. It is a privilege to have your day enriched by a genius." In 2012, Ian Rush described him as "an incredible player," who "probably had the most individual skill" he had ever seen. Daniel Storey of "Planet Football" stated in 2020 that he believed that Laudrup was one of the most underrated players of the previous 30 years, a view shared by Albert Ferrer, who stated in 2009: "Few people made me enjoy the game as much as Michael. Maybe he didn't get the media recognition he deserved, but he was so classy and a real thinker. A master of the blind pass and impossible through-balls and I will never forget his 'spoon' pass in a game against Osasuna. He lifted the ball right over the defence and Romario touched it in first time."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: At Barcelona, Laudrup played alongside Hristo Stoichkov, who scored many goals from Laudrup's passes. Regarding Laudrup's ability to create chances for his teammates, he commented in his 2008 autobiography: "From more than hundred goals that I scored I'm sure that over 50 were assisted by Michael. To play with him was extremely easy. We found each other by intuition on the field and found common football language. Look at Ivan Zamorano. Laudrup went there (Real) and Zamorano is a goalscorer. Sometimes I envy Ivan for the passes he receives. Passes on foot after you accelerated. Few people understand football like the Danish player. He can only be compared with Maradona, Schuster or Roberto Baggio. They make things easy and find the right solutions. For them [it] is simple, for the opponent – unthinkable. Phenomenal! His only problem is his character. He is emotional and terribly reserved. This affects him a lot, because he takes everything personally – no matter if someone tells him something or decision that he does not agree. His relations with Cruyff were delicate because he couldn't take the critics. I listen to him but I don't care that much. For Michael this was fatal. He couldn't take it anymore so he left without a word." That same year, in an interview with "FourFourTwo" magazine, Stoichkov included Laudrup in his "Perfect XI," and labelled him as: "One of the best European players I've ever seen," and as a player who was "up there with the greats." He went on to describe him as: "An elegant, old-fashioned playmaker," who "did things few other footballers could do." In 2010, he instead said that "Laudrup was the greatest."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Another striker who benefitted from Laudrup's playmaking abilities was Real Madrid teammate Iván Zamorano, who called Laudrup ""El Genio"" ("The Genius," in Spanish) during Laudrup's time in the Spanish capital. Zamorano was going through a hard spell in Madrid, but when Laudrup arrived to assist his goals, Zamorano immediately became the top goalscorer of La Liga, winning the "pichichi" trophy; Zamorano himself credited Laudrup for his role in his increased goalscoring output, describing him as a "genius," while also commenting: "...The reason why I make so many goals is Laudrup." He also stated: "Michael was a magician and one of the greatest players ever. He was amazing in one-on-ones too. I always say that Laudrup had three eyes, not two like everyone else. As a forward, I had to be aware all the time, because he could make you a chance out of nothing and you had to be prepared for that moment." Andrés Iniesta, who became known for using Laudrup's signature dribbling move – the "croqueta" – rated Laudrup as the greatest player of all time.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Throughout his career, his number of assists were almost always the highest of his team. However, despite his talent and reputation as one of the most technically gifted and creative players of his generation, certain players, pundits and managers have questioned Laudrup's work rate, mentality, determination, and consistency throughout his career at times, in particular in his early career. His former Juventus teammate and admirer Michel Platini, for example, once said, "[Laudrup]'s the greatest player in the world, in training," also describing him as "one of the biggest talents ever," while also lamenting that he "never used his talent to its fullest during matches." His former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff described him as "One of the most difficult players [he had] worked with," adding: "When he gives 80–90% he is still by far the best, but I want 100%, and he rarely does that." In 1998, he stated: "Had Michael been born in a poor ghetto in Brazil or Argentina with the ball being his only way out of poverty he would today be recognised as the biggest genius of the game ever. He had all the abilities to reach it but lacked this ghetto-instinct, which could have driven him there." At Swansea in 2012, Alan Tate commented: "He is still the best player in training at [age] 48 years." This was echoed by Swansea player Danny Graham: "Laudrup was the best player in training by a mile. It was unreal." In addition to his playing ability, Laudrup was known for his good conduct on the pitch and he never received a red card in his career.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: After his playing career ended with Ajax, Laudrup became a coach at age 36 when he started serving as an assistant coach for the Denmark national team head coach Morten Olsen in 2000. The national team would play a 4–2–3–1 formation, depending on two fast wingers and with the aim to dominate games with a short-passing possession game. Together, they led Denmark to the knock-out stage of the 2002 World Cup.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: After his success as Denmark assistant manager, Laudrup signed on as manager for Danish Superliga club Brøndby. As his assistant coach, he paired up with former Danish championship winning manager John Jensen, who had played alongside him in the Denmark national team. At the start of his reign, he proclaimed a tactical scheme close to that which Olsen and he had coached at the national team. He renovated the Brøndby team by letting a large contingent of older and experienced players leave, in favour of several new offensive players, and he also gave the chance to young talents from the club's youth scheme.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: To ensure the defensive strength of the team, Laudrup signed proven national team player Morten Wieghorst. He began his reign as Brøndby manager by winning his first trophy in his managerial career, the 2002 Danish Supercup. In his first season as head coach, he guided the team to win the Danish Cup, after Brøndby beat Midtjylland 3–0 in the final and runners-up in the Danish Superliga. Laudrup's success led him to being voted and awarded the Danish Manager of the Year.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In the following season, he again finished the season runners-up to first place Copenhagen by just one point. However, he would not be denied in the 2004–05 season, where he finally led the team to the Danish Superliga title. In the same season, he also completed The Double after he won his second Danish Cup in four seasons. This saw him being given his second Danish Manager of the Year award. After finishing runners-up in the 2005–06 Danish Superliga, Laudrup announced that he, along with assistant Faxe Jensen, could not come to an agreement for a one-year contract extension that was offered by the club. The pair, after winning four trophies in four seasons, subsequently left Brøndby in June 2006.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup was associated with several new jobs, including becoming manager of former club Real Madrid and that he would replace Lars Lagerbäck as head coach of the Sweden national team.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In 2007, Brøndby decided to name a new lounge at the stadium "The Michael Laudrup Lounge", with Laudrup's approval. His success led him to being voted and awarded the Danish Manager of the Year.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 21 June 2007, Laudrup was linked to a move to Madrid-based La Liga club Getafe by sports newspaper "Marca". This was confirmed on 9 July 2007. During his stay in Getafe, the club reached the final of the Copa del Rey, losing to Valencia, and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing in extra time to Bayern Munich. During his tenure as successor to Bernd Schuster, he brought in a new brand of exciting and free-flowing attacking football to the club, bringing back memories of Laudrup as a player. His team, which was not one of the established powers in Spanish football, enjoyed comparative success. However, he performed only one season as manager, resigning in May 2008.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: After Laudrup announced his departure from Getafe, he was linked with jobs at Barcelona, Valencia, Benfica, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow and West Ham United. He almost got the job at Panathinaikos, but according to Danish media, he wanted an option to allow him to leave if he received an offer from a Spanish club. This request was not accepted by the Greeks, who chose to hire Henk ten Cate instead.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 12 September 2008, it was officially announced that Laudrup had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract to manage Spartak Moscow, replacing Stanislav Cherchesov following his dismissal after a string of poor results. However, Laudrup started on a poor note, winning just one of his first four league matches. He was subsequently sacked on 15 April 2009, just seven months on the job, in the wake of Spartak's quarter-final 3–0 loss to Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Cup. The official statement from Spartak read, "From this point onwards, head coach Michael Laudrup has been relieved of his responsibilities because of unsatisfactory results."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 22 October 2009, Spanish media announced Laudrup would be appointed as new manager of Spanish side Atlético Madrid, replacing the short and unsuccessful run of Abel Resino, following Atlético's 4–0 UEFA Champions League group stage defeat to Chelsea. However, Laudrup and Atlético were not able to agree on terms and the deal fell apart. The day after, on 23 October, Resino was sacked and Quique Sánchez Flores was appointed as coach as the side's second-choice.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In July 2010, Laudrup was appointed manager of Mallorca on a contract lasting until the end of June 2012. In his first season, he kept the struggling Mallorca side from relegation, which was suffering from losing many first team players and who was ejected from the UEFA Europa League due to its poor financial situation. At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, on 27 September 2011, Laudrup resigned as manager following the firing of his assistant, Erik Larsen. Laudrup cited great frustration with Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, the club's director of football, leading to a bad work climate as the main reason for his resignation.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 15 June 2012, Laudrup was appointed manager of Swansea City on a two-year contract, becoming the first Dane to manage in the Premier League. He made several new signings after arriving at Liberty Stadium, including Michu, Chico Flores, Pablo Hernández, Jonathan de Guzmán and Ki Sung-yueng. His first competitive match as Swansea manager came as an impressive 0–5 away win at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: At Swansea, Alan Tate said that Laudrup was considered to be the best player in training, despite being 48 years old. He has been commended for his choice of signings, most notably with Michu, who scored 22 goals in 2012 for Swansea after he signed him for a bargain €2.5 million from Rayo Vallecano. On 23 January 2013, he led Swansea into their first ever major cup final after defeating reigning European champions Chelsea 2–0 on aggregate over two legs in the League Cup semi-finals.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 7 February 2013, Laudrup appointed former Danish international midfielder Morten Wieghorst as his assistant after previously signing him as a player when Laudrup was managing Brøndby. Laudrup would later say he "certainly" believes Wieghorst "can be manager" of Swansea, as "he has experience from Scottish football and is familiar with English football". On 24 February, Laudrup said he had no "ambition to become the manager" of a big club, because he could not "have done everything for 10 years" in management and then be fired "after nine months" for not winning any trophies. He also said it gave him "much more pleasure to see how well" he could do where he did not "have to win all the time".


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 24 February 2013, Laudrup won his first trophy with Swansea after his side beat Bradford City 5–0 to win the Football League Cup at Wembley. This was also Swansea's first major trophy in English football in the club's history.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Following Swansea's 1–0 win over Newcastle United on 2 March 2013 the club moved into eighth position in the top-half of the Premier League table, seemingly safe from relegation with 40 points and ten games left; Laudrup said he wanted Swansea to finish eighth, stating that "coming eighth [will be] like winning the league" for the club because he felt "the first seven spots" were already taken by Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton. On 3 March, though he had said that his "intention" was "to stay" in south Wales for the next year, Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said that the club were in the "process of looking for the next manager" of the club in case Laudrup did choose to leave the club.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 8 March 2013, Laudrup signed a new contract with Swansea, keeping him at the club until 2015. Reports indicated that he agreed to a contract with a release clause in the region of £5 million, much like the release clause Brendan Rodgers agreed to when he signed a contract extension at the Liberty Stadium four months prior to joining Liverpool. On 10 May, however, he confirmed that his "intention" was to stay at Swansea "next season," saying that reports he wanted to leave Wales was "pure speculation."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 4 February 2014, Laudrup was sacked by Swansea following a poor run of form which left the club two points clear of relegation. At the time of the decision, the team had lost six out of their last eight league games.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 30 June 2014, Laudrup became the new manager of Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya after signing a one-year deal. He guided the Lekhwiya to a club-record Qatar Stars League and a Crown Prince Cup double in his first season. The club also qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2015 AFC Champions League during his reign. On 17 June 2015, Laudrup announced that he would not extend his contract, departing the club.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: On 3 October 2016, Laudrup was unveiled as the new manager of Al Rayyan on a two-year contract, replacing Jorge Fossati. His first match in charge was on 15 October 2016, when Al Rayyan faced Al Sailiya in an away match in the league, with the match ending in a 1–1 draw.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: As assistant manager to Morten Olsen, the Denmark national team employed a 4–2–3–1 system with pacey wingers playing the pivotal role in attack. Laudrup learnt from Olsen and used the same tactical style with Brøndby, with the team becoming more attacking and focused on a short passing style. He continued to employ a similar tactical style when he joined Getafe, ushering a new brand of exciting and free-flowing attacking football to help the club to the Copa del Rey final. However, at Spartak Moscow, he could not adapt his formation and tactics to the Russian game, with the club unable to score enough goals "per" match.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: As Mallorca manager, Laudrup inspired a team that lost a number of key players from relegation by playing an offensive game. In 2012, he joined Swansea City as manager, replacing Brendan Rodgers. Under Rodgers, Swansea were known to play a 4–3–3 approach with a lot of focus on passing, where the full-backs pushed up when in possession and the outfield players played a high tempo pressing game. Under Laudrup, the team began employing a 4–2–3–1 formation, becoming more attacking while retaining the passing and pressing game. He also signed a number of new players, primarily from La Liga, trying to bring the attacking style from Spain to Wales, which saw more goals scored. He said, "You can get a lot of quality for a reasonable amount in Spain right now."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Laudrup earned plaudits for maintaining their flowing, attacking brand of football and attractive, passing style of play throughout the season, which saw his side win the League Cup, after beating Bradford City a record 5–0 in the final. "You can't ask players to do things that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are doing, but you can ask the easy things," he said. "Sometimes the easiest things in football, a simple pass five or eight yards, can be the most effective. That, everybody can learn."


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Michael Laudrup is part of a family with three generations of footballers. His uncle was former Brøndby and Aberdeen manager Ebbe Skovdahl. He is the son of former Danish national team player Finn Laudrup. From his marriage with his first wife, Tina Thunø, Laudrup has a son, Mads. Mads has been the team captain of various Danish youth national teams since January 2005. Today, he is married with Siw Retz Laudrup, with whom he has two children, Andreas and Rebecca. Andreas was selected a part of the under-16 national team in March 2006.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Michael Laudrup has a younger brother, Brian Laudrup, who was also a footballer. Brian Laudrup is the record holder of Danish player of the year awards with four, and was rated by FIFA as the fifth-best player in the world in 1992. Brian Laudrup was in the Euro 92 Team of the Tournament and World Cup 98 Team of the Tournament. Brian was also known for his part in the Rangers squad which won nine consecutive titles in the 1990s. Brian was a part of the trophy-winning Danish national team at UEFA Euro 1992, but Michael did not play in that championship due to differences with the national team coach Richard Møller Nielsen and because he thought that the barring of Yugoslavia for political, rather than football, reasons was not just. In 2004, both the Laudrup brothers were named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé as part of the celebration of FIFA's 100th anniversary.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: Alongside his professional football career, Laudrup began importing Spanish wine to Denmark starting in 1993. Initially, the wine import was sort of a hobby, but business grew rapidly and today his company Laudrup Vin og Gastronomi has over ten employees, runs a Wine Academy and imports wines from all over the world.


title: Michael Laudrup

text: In 2004, Michael Laudrup was one of the founders of CEPOS, a Danish classical liberal/free-market conservative think-tank.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the "hypnagogic" state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental phenomena that may occur during this "threshold consciousness" phase include hypnagogic hallucinations, lucid thought, exploding head syndrome, lucid dreaming, and sleep paralysis. The latter two phenomena are themselves separate sleep conditions that are sometimes experienced during the hypnagogic state.


title: Hypnagogia

text: The word "hypnagogia" is sometimes used in a restricted sense to refer to the onset of sleep, and contrasted with "hypnopompia", Frederic Myers's term for waking up. However, "hypnagogia" is also regularly employed in a more general sense that covers both falling asleep and waking up. Indeed, it is not always possible in practice to assign a particular episode of any given phenomenon to one or the other, given that the same kinds of experience occur in both, and that people may drift in and out of sleep. In this article "hypnagogia" will be used in the broader sense, unless otherwise stated or implied.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Other terms for hypnagogia, in one or both senses, that have been proposed include "presomnal" or "anthypnic sensations", "visions of half-sleep", "oneirogogic images" and "phantasmata", "the borderland of sleep", "praedormitium", "borderland state", "half-dream state", "pre-dream condition", "sleep onset dreams", "dreamlets", and "wakefulness-sleep transition" (WST).


title: Hypnagogia

text: Threshold consciousness (commonly called "half-asleep" or "half-awake", or "mind awake body asleep") describes the same mental state of someone who is moving towards sleep or wakefulness but has not yet completed the transition. Such transitions are usually brief but can be extended by sleep disturbance or deliberate induction, for example during meditation.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Transition to and from sleep may be attended by a wide variety of sensory experiences. These can occur in any modality, individually or combined, and range from the vague and barely perceptible to vivid hallucinations.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Among the more commonly reported, and more thoroughly researched, sensory features of hypnagogia are phosphenes which can manifest as seemingly random speckles, lines or geometrical patterns, including form constants, or as figurative (representational) images. They may be monochromatic or richly coloured, still or moving, flat or three-dimensional (offering an impression of perspective). Imagery representing movement through tunnels of light is also reported. Individual images are typically fleeting and given to very rapid changes. They are said to differ from dreams proper in that hypnagogic imagery is usually static and lacking in narrative content, although others understand the state rather as a gradual transition from hypnagogia to fragmentary dreams, i.e., from simple "Eigenlicht" to whole imagined scenes. Descriptions of exceptionally vivid and elaborate hypnagogic visuals can be found in the work of Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys.


title: Hypnagogia

text: People who have spent a long time at some repetitive activity before sleep, in particular one that is new to them, may find that it dominates their imagery as they grow drowsy, a tendency dubbed the " Tetris" effect. This effect has even been observed in amnesiacs who otherwise have no memory of the original activity. When the activity involves moving objects, as in the video game "Tetris", the corresponding hypnagogic images tend to be perceived as moving. The "Tetris" effect is not confined to visual imagery but can manifest in other modalities. For example, Robert Stickgold recounts having experienced the touch of rocks while falling asleep after mountain climbing. This can also occur to people who have travelled on a small boat in rough seas or have been swimming through waves, shortly before going to bed, and they feel the waves as they drift to sleep, or people who have spent the day skiing who continue to "feel snow" under their feet. People who have spent considerable time jumping on a trampoline will find that they can feel the up-and-down motion before they go to sleep. Many chess players report the phenomenon of seeing the chessboard and pieces during this state. New employees working stressful and demanding jobs often report feeling the experience of performing work-related tasks in this period before sleep.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Hypnagogic hallucinations are often auditory or have an auditory component. Like the visuals, hypnagogic sounds vary in intensity from faint impressions to loud noises, like knocking and crashes and bangs (exploding head syndrome). People may imagine their own name called, crumpling bags, white noise, or a doorbell ringing. Snatches of imagined speech are common. While typically nonsensical and fragmented, these speech events can occasionally strike the individual as apt comments on—or summations of—their thoughts at the time. They often contain word play, neologisms and made-up names. Hypnagogic speech may manifest as the subject's own "inner voice", or as the voices of others: familiar people or strangers. More rarely, poetry or music is heard.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Gustatory, olfactory and thermal sensations in hypnagogia have all been reported, as well as tactile sensations (including those kinds classed as paresthesia or formication). Sometimes there is synesthesia; many people report seeing a flash of light or some other visual image in response to a real sound. Proprioceptive effects may be noticed, with numbness and changes in perceived body size and proportions, feelings of floating or bobbing as if their bed were a boat, and out-of-body experiences. Perhaps the most common experience of this kind is the falling sensation, and associated hypnic jerk, encountered by many people, at least occasionally, while drifting off to sleep.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Thought processes on the edge of sleep tend to differ radically from those of ordinary wakefulness. For example, something that you agreed with within a state of hypnagogia may seem completely ridiculous to you in an awake state. Hypnagogia may involve a "loosening of ego boundaries ... openness, sensitivity, internalization-subjectification of the physical and mental environment (empathy) and diffuse-absorbed attention." Hypnagogic cognition, in comparison with that of normal, alert wakefulness, is characterized by heightened suggestibility, illogic and a fluid association of ideas. Subjects are more receptive in the hypnagogic state to suggestion from an experimenter than at other times, and readily incorporate external stimuli into hypnagogic trains of thought and subsequent dreams. This receptivity has a physiological parallel; EEG readings show elevated responsiveness to sound around the onset of sleep.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Herbert Silberer described a process he called "autosymbolism", whereby hypnagogic hallucinations seem to represent, without repression or censorship, whatever one is thinking at the time, turning abstract ideas into a concrete image, which may be perceived as an apt and succinct representation thereof.


title: Hypnagogia

text: The hypnagogic state can provide insight into a problem, the best-known example being August Kekulé’s realization that the structure of benzene was a closed ring while half-asleep in front of a fire and seeing molecules forming into snakes, one of which grabbed its tail in its mouth. Many other artists, writers, scientists and inventors – including Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Walter Scott, Salvador Dalí, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Isaac Newton – have credited hypnagogia and related states with enhancing their creativity. A 2001 study by Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett found that, while problems can also be solved in full-blown dreams from later stages of sleep, hypnagogia was especially likely to solve problems which benefit from hallucinatory images being critically examined while still before the eyes.


title: Hypnagogia

text: A feature that hypnagogia shares with other stages of sleep is amnesia. But this is a selective forgetfulness, affecting the hippocampal memory system, which is responsible for episodic or autobiographical memory, rather than the neocortical memory system, responsible for semantic memory. It has been suggested that hypnagogia and REM sleep help in the consolidation of semantic memory, but the evidence for this has been disputed. For example, suppression of REM sleep due to antidepressants and lesions to the brainstem has not been found to produce detrimental effects on cognition.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Hypnagogic phenomena may be interpreted as visions, prophecies, premonitions, apparitions and inspiration (artistic or divine), depending on the experiencers' beliefs and those of their culture.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Physiological studies have tended to concentrate on hypnagogia in the strict sense of spontaneous sleep onset experiences. Such experiences are associated especially with stage 1 of NREM sleep, but may also occur with pre-sleep alpha waves. Davis et al. found short flashes of dreamlike imagery at the onset of sleep to correlate with drop-offs in alpha EEG activity. Hori et al. regard sleep onset hypnagogia as a state distinct from both wakefulness and sleep with unique electrophysiological, behavioral and subjective characteristics, while Germaine et al. have demonstrated a resemblance between the EEG power spectra of spontaneously occurring hypnagogic images, on the one hand, and those of both REM sleep and relaxed wakefulness, on the other.


title: Hypnagogia

text: To identify more precisely the nature of the EEG state which accompanies imagery in the transition from wakefulness to sleep, Hori et al. proposed a scheme of 9 EEG stages defined by varying proportions of alpha (stages 1–3), suppressed waves of less than 20μV (stage 4), theta ripples (stage 5), proportions of sawtooth waves (stages 6–7), and presence of spindles (stages 8–9). Germaine and Nielsen found spontaneous hypnagogic imagery to occur mainly during Hori sleep onset stages 4 (EEG flattening) and 5 (theta ripples).


title: Hypnagogia

text: The "covert-rapid-eye-movement" hypothesis proposes that hidden elements of REM sleep emerge during the wakefulness-sleep transition stage.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Support for this comes from Bódicz et al., who notes a greater similarity between WST (wakefulness-sleep transition) EEG and REM sleep EEG than between the former and stage 2 sleep.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Respiratory pattern changes have also been noted in the hypnagogic state, in addition to a lowered rate of frontalis muscle activity.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Microsleep (short episodes of immediate sleep onset) may intrude into wakefulness at any time in the wakefulness-sleep cycle, due to sleep deprivation and other conditions, resulting in impaired cognition and even amnesia.


title: Hypnagogia

text: In his book, "Zen and the Brain", James H. Austin cites speculation that regular meditation develops a specialized skill of "freezing the hypnagogic process at later and later stages" of the onset of sleep, initially in the alpha wave stage and later in theta.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Early references to hypnagogia are to be found in the writings of Aristotle, Iamblichus, Cardano, Simon Forman, and Swedenborg. Romanticism brought a renewed interest in the subjective experience of the edges of sleep. In more recent centuries, many authors have referred to the state; Edgar Allan Poe, for example, wrote of the "fancies" he experienced "only when I am on the brink of sleep, with the consciousness that I am so."


title: Hypnagogia

text: The serious scientific inquiry began in the 19th century with Johannes Peter Müller, Jules Baillarger, and Alfred Maury, and continued into the 20th century with Leroy.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" contains an elaborate description of the hypnagogic state in Chapter XXXIV.


title: Hypnagogia

text: The advent of electroencephalography (EEG) has supplemented the introspective methods of these early researchers with physiological data. The search for neural correlates for hypnagogic imagery began with Davis "et al." in the 1930s, and continues with increasing sophistication. While the dominance of the behaviorist paradigm led to a decline in research, especially in the English speaking world, the later twentieth century has seen a revival, with investigations of hypnagogia and related altered states of consciousness playing an important role in the emerging multidisciplinary study of consciousness.


title: Hypnagogia

text: The word "hypnagogia" entered the popular psychology literature through Dr. Andreas Mavromatis in his 1983 thesis, while "hypnagogic" and "hypnopompic" were coined by others in the 1800s and noted by Havelock Ellis. The term "hypnagogic" was originally coined by Alfred Maury to name the state of consciousness during the onset of sleep. "Hypnopompic" was coined by Frederic Myers soon afterwards to denote the onset of wakefulness. The term "hypnagogia" is used by Dr. Mavromatis to identify the study of the sleep-transitional consciousness states in general, and he employs "hypnagogic" (toward sleep) or "hypnopompic" (from sleep) to identify the specific experiences under study.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Important reviews of the scientific literature have been made by Leaning, Schacter, Richardson and Mavromatis.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Self-observation (spontaneous or systematic) was the primary tool of the early researchers. Since the late 20th century, this has been joined by questionnaire surveys and experimental studies. All three methods have their disadvantages as well as points to recommend them.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Naturally, amnesia contributes to the difficulty of studying hypnagogia, as does the typically fleeting nature of hypnagogic experiences. These problems have been tackled by experimenters in several ways, including voluntary or induced interruptions, sleep manipulation, the use of techniques to "hover on the edge of sleep" thereby extending the duration of the hypnagogic state, and training in the art of introspection to heighten the subject's powers of observation and attention.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Techniques for extending hypnagogia range from informal (e.g. the subject holds up one of their arms as they go to sleep, to be awakened when it falls), to the use of biofeedback devices to induce a "theta" state – produced naturally the most when we are dreaming – characterized by relaxation and theta EEG activity.


title: Hypnagogia

text: Another method is to induce a state said to be subjectively similar to sleep onset in a Ganzfeld setting, a form of sensory deprivation. But the assumption of identity between the two states may be unfounded. The average EEG spectrum in Ganzfeld is more similar to that of the relaxed waking state than to that of sleep onset. Wackerman et al. conclude that "the Ganzfeld imagery, although subjectively very similar to that at sleep onset, should not be labelled as 'hypnagogic'. Perhaps a broader category of 'hypnagogic experience' should be considered, covering true hypnagogic imagery as well as subjectively similar imagery produced in other states."


title: Lou Costello

text: Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine "Who's on First?".


title: Lou Costello

text: Abbott and Costello, who teamed in burlesque in 1936, were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. During a national tour in 1942, they sold $85 million in war bonds in 35 days. By 1955, their popularity waned from , and their film and television contracts lapsed. Their partnership ended in 1957.


title: Lou Costello

text: Louis Francis Cristillo was born on March 6, 1906, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Helen Rege and Sebastiano Cristillo, a silk weaver and insurance sales agent. His father was Italian, from Caserta in Campania, Italy, and his mother was an American of Italian, French and Irish ancestry (her grandfather was Francesco Rege from Piedmont, Italy). Costello attended Public School 15 in Paterson and was considered a gifted athlete. He excelled in basketball and reportedly was twice Paterson's free-throw champion. His basketball prowess can be seen in "Here Come the Co-Eds" (1945), in which he performs his own trick basketball shots. He also fought as a boxer under the name of Lou King.


title: Lou Costello

text: Costello was a great admirer of silent-film comedian Charlie Chaplin. In 1927, Costello hitchhiked to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Hal Roach Studios. His athletic skill brought him occasional work as a stunt man, notably in "The Trail of '98" (1928). He can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film "The Battle of the Century" (1927). He said that he took his professional name from actress Helene Costello, although by this time his brother Anthony (Pat) had used the name in his career as a professional musician.