Through lanes indicated by arrows on Montague Expressway in Silicon Valley.

A lane is a part of the roadway (British: carriageway) within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings. Major highways often have two roadways separated by a median, each with multiple lanes. A single-track road carries traffic in both directions within a single lane with passing places to allow vehicles to pass. In North America and Australia, the term also may refer to rear access roads which act as a secondary vehicular network in cities and towns. A minor rural road may be referred to as a country lane; some urban streets which began as country lanes are still called lanes, such as Drury Lane in London.

Types of traffic lane[link]

The Ontario Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto area, with 18 lanes in 6 separate carriageways visible in the foreground.

Turning lane on the Rodovia BR-101 (Brazil)

Changing lanes, Gothenburg, Sweden

• A traffic lane or travel lane is a lane for the movement of vehicles traveling from one destination to another, not including shoulders and auxiliary lanes.
• A through lane or thru lane is a traffic lane for through traffic. At intersections, these may be indicated by arrows on the pavement pointing straight ahead.
• A carriageway (Great Britain), roadway (United States) is a group of two or more lanes on a single paved surface. A rural 2-lane highway is usually built on a single surface with traffic in both directions, while large highways can be built with two (sometimes more) of these separated by buffers such as medians and barriers. On such highways, the lanes in each group usually travel in the same direction.
• A deceleration lane is a paved or semi-paved lane adjacent to the primary road or street. It is used to improve traffic safety by allowing drivers to pull off the main road and decelerate safely in order to turn (e.g. right in the United States or left in Great Britain), so that the traffic behind the turning vehicle is not slowed or halted. Deceleration lanes are primarily found in suburban settings.
• A fire lane is the area next to a curb, which is reserved for firefighting equipment, ambulances, or other emergency vehicles. Parking in these areas, often marked by red lines, usually warrants a parking ticket.
• A loading lane (loading zone in the United States) is an area next to a curb, which is reserved for loading and unloading passengers and/or freight. It may be marked by a sign ("LOADING ONLY" or "LOADING ZONE") or by a yellow or white-painted curb.
• A passing lane is often provided on steep mountain grades, in order to allow smaller vehicles to pass larger, slower ones. This is sometimes called a climbing lane if on the uphill side. (See truck lane below). Passing lanes may also be provided on long stretches of other roadway. On two-lane roads, using the lane of oncoming traffic as a passing lane is sometimes allowed given a long enough straightaway. In many countries permission is indicated by a broken line on the same side of the centerline as the vehicle intending to pass.
• A collector lane of a road is used for slower moving traffic and has more access to exits/off ramps.
• An express lane of a road is used for faster moving traffic and has less access to exits/off ramps. In other areas, an express lane may refer to a HOV lane (see below).
• A transfer lane of a road is used to move from express lanes to collector lanes, or vice-versa; it is somewhat similar to an auxiliary lane.
• A merge lane is a lane or onramp used to merge two flows of traffic into one, with the merge lane being the lane that disappears at the end of the merging area. Merge lane lengths depend mainly on the speed differential of the two merging flows, as the slower flow has to use the lane to accelerate.
• An auxiliary lane along a highway or motorway connects slip roads, with the entrance ramp or acceleration lane from one interchange leading to the exit ramp or deceleration lane of the next.
• The emergency lane of a road (also known as the breakdown lane, shoulder or hard shoulder) is reserved for breakdowns, and for emergency vehicles. The inner boundary of the lane often features rumble strips in order to physically warn drowsy or inattentive drivers that they are drifting off the roadway. This feature is seen especially often on highways and motorways, where the minimally-stimulating and monotonous nature of high-speed driving at night increases the chances for driver disorientation and serious injury or death if an accident does take place.
• An HOV lane or carpool lane is reserved for carpooling. In the US, they may be marked with a diamond icon every few hundred feet (hence the nickname "diamond lane"), or separated from other lanes by double broken white lines, a continuous pair of double yellow lines, or just a single broken white line.
• A High-occupancy toll lane is a combination of an HOV lane and toll collection technology that allows drivers without passengers to use the HOV lane by paying a premium price for the privilege
• A turn lane is set aside for slowing down and making a turn, so as not to disrupt traffic. At a full intersection with a traffic light, turn lanes are used more to hold traffic until the light changes.
• A designated bicycle lane is a portion of the roadway or shoulder designated for the exclusive or preferential use of bicyclists. This designation is indicated by special word and/or symbol markings on the pavement and "BIKE LANE" signs.
• A motorcycle lane is provided at certain roads and highways such as the Federal Highway in Malaysia to segregate the motorcycle traffic from the main roadways to reduce motorcycle-related accidents. The motorcycle lane may form a part of the hard shoulder, or may be built as completely separated lanes.
• A bus lane is reserved for buses providing public transportation on a fixed route, sometimes with overhead catenary for trolleybuses. In some countries, bus lanes may also be used by some other traffic, such as taxis, bicycles and motorbikes.
• A reversible lane (contraflow lane in Hawaii) uses overhead lane light markers, signs, poles or barriers to indicate the current direction of travel. They are used to accommodate periods of high traffic flow, especially rush hour where the flow is predominantly in one direction, on roads that cannot be easily widened. One or more lanes are removed from the opposing flow and added to the peak flow. Outside peak hours, the lanes revert to their normal configuration, perhaps with a center turn lane. To reduce the chance of head-on accidents, a resting period of an hour is often employed when reversing a lane; no traffic is allowed in the lane during this time. Some roads use portable barriers or plastic poles that are manually rearranged by work crews before and after the peak period, others use both lights and on-street markings (broken double-yellow line) or overhead lights. In some areas, the term suicide lane became a common slang description for this design because many people ignore the traffic control devices. Because of their history of numerous accidents and collisions, reversible lanes are rarely used.
• A tram lane is a lane reserved for the use of buses, trams and taxicabs. It is usually encountered in cities with curbside tram network, such as Zagreb.
• A truck lane (United States) or crawler lane (Great Britain) is a lane provided on long and steep uphill stretches of high-speed roads to enhance the ability of vehicles which can maintain speed up the incline to pass those vehicles (usually heavy trucks) which cannot. In addition, these lanes are intended to optimize pavement performance and minimize pavement fatigue. The lane is marked only on the uphill stretch and usually a short distance afterward (for regaining speed). A truckway often allows longer box length; for instance, the Florida Turnpike allows 29.3 meter double trailer combinations, in contrast to normal Florida highways' 16.2 meter limit. Since the major cost of trucking is the fixed cost of the same trailer with its driver the cost per ton of operating with truckway size and weight allowances is 35 to 40 percent below the cost of operations on the non-truckways.^[1]
• An operational lane or auxiliary lane is an extra lane on the entire length of highway between interchanges, giving drivers more time to merge in or out. The lane is created when an entrance ramp meets the highway, and drops out (with an "exit only" sign) to become the ramp at the next exit.^[2]
• An overtaking lane is the lane furthest from the shoulder of a multi-lane carriageway/roadway (sometimes called the fast lane, although this is deprecated by the authorities).
• The slow lane is the lane nearest to the shoulder of a multi-lane carriageway/roadway. This usage leads to the phrase Life in the Slow Lane, used as the title of various books and songs.
• A driving lane is an area in a parking lot/car park in between parking spaces so that vehicles can drive into and out of the spaces.
• A farm lane, which typically is the private property of one or more landowners, provides access to rural dwellings and agricultural buildings. It may be paved with concrete, asphalt, tar macadam, water bound macadam, gravel, or nothing more than earth, compressed with use.
• The term country lane, by contrast, typically denotes a public rural road. Farm lanes connect properties to country lanes (or to main roads).

Lane width and capacity[link]

The U.S. Interstate Highway System uses a 12-foot (3.7 m) standard for lane width. 11-foot (3.4 m) lanes are found to be acceptable by the Federal Highway Administration for automobile traffic, but as lane width decreases (9-foot (2.7 m) lanes are found in some areas) traffic capacity decreases.^[3] A full-width freeway lane typically has a capacity of 2,000 cars per hour.^[4]

In the United Kingdom, many lanes are found in the countryside, and most of these lanes are wide enough for one car at a time and often have a lay by for cars to pass. In general, European laws and road width vary per country, with the minimum widths of lanes being anywhere between 2.5 m to 3.25 m (thus comparable to US lanes).^[5]

Lane markings[link]

A typical rural American freeway (Interstate 5 in the Central Valley of California). Notice the yellow line on the left, the dashed white line in the middle, and the solid white line on the right. There is also a "rumble strip" on the shoulder, not easily seen in this view.

Painted lane markings vary widely from country to country. In the United States, Canada and Norway, yellow lines separate traffic going opposite directions and white separates lanes of traffic traveling the same direction, but this is not the case in many European countries.

Medians or central reservations[link]

Besides a painted line, lanes of traffic moving in opposing directions can also be separated by any of the following:

• Grass strip or ditch
• A central turning lane that allows vehicles to turn into driveways or streets on the opposite side of the road without stopping traffic
• A wide paved area with special paint markings indicating that it should never be crossed
• Metal guard rail (or guide rail) affixed to metal or wooden posts
• Cable barriers
• Concrete barriers such as Jersey barriers

Such separations between opposing traffic are referred to as a median in American English and as a central reservation in British English.

Numbering of freeway lanes in California[link]

Traffic reports in California often refer to accidents being "in the number X lane." The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) assigns the numbers from left to right.^[6] The far left passing lane is the number 1 lane. The number of the slow lane (closest to freeway onramps/offramps) depends on the total number of lanes, and could be anywhere from 2 to 6.

History[link]

For much of human history, roads did not need lane markings because most people walked or rode horses at relatively slow speeds. Another reason for not using lane markings is that they are expensive to maintain.

When automobiles, trucks, and buses came into widespread use during the first two decades of the 20th century, head-on collisions became more common.

Without the guidance provided by lane markings, drivers in the early days often erred in favor of keeping closer to the middle of the road, rather than risk going off-road into ditches or trees^{[citation needed]}. This practice often left inadequate room for opposing traffic.

There are two people who have been credited with the invention of lane markings. In 1911, Edward N. Hines, the chairman of the Road Commission of Wayne County, Michigan was trying to make roads safer. He supposedly came up with the idea of painting stripes to separate lanes of traffic after riding behind a milk truck that leaked milk onto the center of the road, leaving a stripe.

June McCarroll, a physician in Indio California started experimenting with painting lines on roads in 1917 after she was run off of a highway by a truck driver. In November 1924, after years of lobbying by Dr. McCarroll and her allies, California officially adopted a policy of painting lines on its highways. A portion of Interstate 10 near Indio has been named the Dr. June McCarroll Memorial Freeway in her honor.

By 1939, lane markings had become so popular that they were officially standardized throughout the United States, and they were soon copied worldwide.

See also[link]

References[link]

Željko Joksimović Жељко Јоксимовић
Željko Joksimović (2008)
Background information
Born	(1972-04-20) 20 April 1972 (age 40) Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Origin	Valjevo
Genres	Pop, rock
Occupations	Singer, composer, musician
Labels	Minacord
Website	www.zeljkojoksimovic.com
Notable instruments
plays 11 different musical instruments

Željko Joksimović or often credited Zeljko Joksimovic (Serbian: Жељко Јоксимовић, pronounced [ʒěːʎko jôksimoʋitɕ]; born 20 April 1972 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian singer, composer and producer. He is also well known in all European countries. He represented Serbia and Montenegro in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lane moje", placing 2nd behind Ukrainian singer Ruslana.^[1] He represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan and finished 3rd.

Career[link]

Early beginnings[link]

Željko Joksimović was born on 20 April 1972 in Belgrade and grew up in the city of Valjevo.^[2] Željko’s first international success came at the age of 12, when he won the title of First Accordion of Europe at the prestigious music festival in Paris. He graduated from the Music University in Belgrade and launched his professional music career in 1997. In 1998 he won a contest at the Pjesma Mediterana festival with the song "Pesma Sirena", which led to opportunities to perform at more prestigious festivals in Belarus. The Serbian musician won the "Grand-Prix" award at two festivals in that country.^[3] Joksimović can play 11 different musical instruments including accordion, piano, guitar, drums.

Željko is multi-lingual, being fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish and French as well as his native Serbian.^[4]

[edit] 1999-2004: Amajlija, Vreteno and 111

In 1999, Joksimović signed with City Records, a music label owned by a private Serbian television station RTV Pink. The young singer was promoted then as a folk and pop artist. His first studio album, titled Amajlija, included "Pesma Sirena" along with seven other tracks. His first big success was with the single "Telo Vreteno", written by himself and Dragan Brajić - Braja. The song went to #1 on the Serbian pop music charts, and became very popular in other former Yugoslav countries.

In 2000 Joksimović released his second studio album Vreteno named after a song on the album. Other tracks on the album included "Rintam", "Gadura" and "Petak na subotu". Two music videos were produced for songs on this album.

111 was released in 2002, soaring to #1 on the pop charts of Serbia and other countries of the region.

In 2003, Joksimović wrote the song "Čija Si" for Macedonian music legend Toše Proeski which led him to win Beovizija - The Serbian festival for choosing a representative for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Proeski did not go to the contest that year, instead representing his home country Republic of Macedonia with "Life".

2004: Eurovision Song Contest 2004[link]

Joksimović performing "Lane Moje" for Serbia and Montenegro in ESC 2004. Istanbul, Turkey.

Serbia and Montenegro, sending an entrant for the first time to 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, decided on their representative through Evropesma 2004, a music festival and contest in Serbia and Montenegro. Joksimović won the contest with "Lane Moje", composed by Željko himself, along with lyricist Leontina Vukomanović.

In the semi-final, Joksimović placed first. However, in the final he placed second behind Ukrainian singer Ruslana, but did win "The Marcel Bezencon Press award" (Best Composer Award). "Lane Moje" was the best selling single in Serbia and Montenegro and other parts of Europe for many months.

[edit] 2004-2007: After Eurovison, IV and Platinum Collection

Željko Joksimović performing in a night club.

After the success in the Contest, the same year, Joksimović founded MINACORD PRODUCTION. Since then, he works and composes in his own studio. In middle time he composed and released the single "Ledja o Ledja" which gained a large popularity over the countries where Željko usually performs. In 2005, he once again composed a song for Serbia and Montenegro's national pre-selection for Eurovision called Beovizija. Željko composed the ballad "Jutro" (Morning) which was performed by Jelena Tomašević. The song seemed well-placed to make it to the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 contest in Kiev, after it emerged as the highest-scoring qualifier from the Serbian pre-selection, but ultimately missed out to win. In October 2005, he composed and performed a duet with Austrian singer Tamee Harrison. The song was titled I Live my Life For You" which was a success throughout Europe. Around this time, Željko wrote his first film score. In cooperation with Cobra production he composed music for the movie Ivkova slava (Ivko's fame). The same year he released his fourth studio album "IV" or "Ima nešto u tom što me nećes". In this album he changed the music style that was typical about him. The songs in the album are pop ballads with some ethnic Serbian folk elements. The CD sold over 800,000 copies over former Yugoslavia. In 2006, he composed the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 song Lejla for Bosnia and Herzegovina, performed by Hari Mata Hari. The song finished in third place, making it Bosnia's best performance in the contest. He also won the prestigious Best Composer Award (COMPOSERAWARD 2006), assigned to Željko by all composers who participated in that festival. In 2007 he released his second greatest hits compilation called Platinum Collection. The same year, in front of 18,000 people Joksimović made a concert where he sang all of his hits in the Belgrade Arena.

[edit] 2008-2011: Eurovision hosting and Ljubavi

Željko Joksimović together with Jovana Janković during the first semi-final ESC Belgade 2008..

In early 2008, Željko Joksimović composed a song that was performed by Jelena Tomašević in the Serbian national final for the Eurovision song selection, Beovizija 2008, called "Oro". The song is a folk ballad with traditional folk Serbian elements. Because the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 has been won by Serbia, the contest that year came in the country. On 24 March 2008 it was announced by the 2008 Eurovision organisers RTS that together with Jovana Janković he would host the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, giving him two roles in the contest.^[5] Tomašević's song finished on the 6th place over 25 countries in the final.

After a year of a music pause he released his fifth studio album named Ljubavi (2009) by the production of Minacord and City Records. "Ljubavi" is the name from the pilot single from the album too. The single has a large success in Serbia and the neighboring countries. In early 2010 he released the second single from the album called "Žena Za Sva Vremena".

On June 12, 2010 he performed his biggest concert yet. It was held on the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which can seat 37,500, though attendance for concerts can be expanded to reach about 80,000, in front of over 40,000 persons.

2012: Eurovision return[link]

On 18 November 2011, it was announced that Joksimović will represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.^[6] His song, "Nije Ljubav Stvar", was presented to the public on March 10, 2012. He finished third place and was runner-up.

The Serbian entry at the 57th "Eurovision Song Contest" in Azerbaijan is called "Nije ljubav stvar" a song composed and performed by Željko Joksimović. The lyrics are by Marina Tucaković and Miloš Roganović.

Along with the version in Serbian written by Marina Tucaković and Miloš Roganović, the English version of the song called "Synonym" by Ljilja Jorgovanović has also been presented. The arrangements of both versions were done by Željko Joksimović and Alek Alekov.

Along with Željko Joksimović, the Serbian team on the Eurovision stage in Baku will include members of the "Ad Hoc Orchestra": Ksenija Milošević - violin and backing vocals, Olga Vulović - violin and backing vocals, Miloš Nikolić - kaval and backing vocals, Dušan Alagić - backing vocals and instrumentalist, and Dragan Krstić - percussions and backing vocals.

The postproduction and mastering of "Nije ljubav stvar" in Serbian, and of the "Synonym" version in English was done James Cruz, an award-winning audio-mastering engineer in his New York studio.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1999 Amajlija [City Records]
• 2001 Vreteno [City Records]
• 2002 111 [City Records]
• 2005 IV [City Records]
• 2009 Ljubavi [Minacord]

Live albums[link]

• 2008 Željko Joksimović - Beogradska Arena Live [Minacord Records

Compilations[link]

• 2003 The Best Of Željko Joksimović
• 2007 Platinum Collection

Singles[link]

• 2004 Željko Joksimović - Leđa o leđa [City Records]
• 2004 Željko Joksimović - Lane moje CD+DVD [PGP RTS]
• 2004 Željko Joksimović - Lane moje/Goodbye (maxi-single) [Warner Music Group]
• 2005 Željko Joksimović & Tamee Harrison - I live my life for you [Warner Music]
• 2007 Željko Joksimović - Devojka [Minacord]
• 2007 Željko Joksimović - Nije do mene [Minacord]
• 2008 Željko Joksimović - Ono nase sto nekad bejase [Minacord]

Duets[link]

• 2002 Haris Džinović - Šta će meni više od toga
• 2005 Dino Merlin - Supermen
• 2005 Tamee Harrison - I Live My Life For You

Soundtracks[link]

• 2005 "Ivkova slava", (Željko Joksimović, Jelena Tomašević & Nikola Kojo) [Minacord - City Records]
• 2009 "Ranjeni Orao" [Minacord - City Records]

Other works[link]

• 2003 Toše Proeski - Song Cija Si - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Den Za Nas/Dan Za Nas
• 2005 Nava Medina - Song: Malah Shomer - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic
• 2005 Jelena Tomasevic - Song: Jutro - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Oro [PGP -RTS]
• 2006 Hari Mata Hari - Song: Lejla - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Lejla [BiH]
• 2007 Tose Proeski - Song: Nesanica - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Igra Bez Granica
• 2009 Halid Bešlić - Song: "Miljacka" - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Halid08 Bešlić
• 2008 Jelena Tomasevic - Song: Oro - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Oro [PGP -RTS]
• 2008 Eleftheria Arvanitaki - Song: To Telos mas Des - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Mirame Universal Music
• 2008 Melina Aslanidou - Song: Poso - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: Best of - Sto dromo Sony BMG
• 2008 Song: Nikola Tesla (Instrumental)[1] - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic feat. Jelena Tomasevic Album: balkan Routes vol.1:Nikola Tesla[Protasis]
• 2011 Lepa Brena - Song: Biber - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic
• 2011 Lepa Brena - Song: Ne bih bila ja - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic

References[link]

External links[link]

• Željko Joksimović's Official website
• Zeljko Joksimovic Official YouTube
• Željko Joksimović's Official Myspace
• Željko Joksimović's Official facebook
• Radio Lane (Zeljko Joksimovic's radio station)
• [RTS http://www.rts.rs/page/rts/sr/pesma+evrovizije/Pesma-Evrovizije-2012.html ]
• Zeljko Joksimovic's profile on Story Online
• Željko Joksimović lyrics
• RTS ESC Facebook http://www.facebook.com/rts.zeljkojoksimovic?ref=tn_tnmn

See also[link]

• Evropesma
• Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Extra Nena with Ljubim te pesmama	Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004	Succeeded by No Name with Zauvijek moja
Preceded by Mikko Leppilampi & Jaana Pelkonen	Eurovision Song Contest presenter (with Jovana Janković) 2008	Succeeded by Semi-Finals: Natalia Vodianova & Andrey Malahov Final: Alsou & Ivan Urgant
Preceded by Fitst title	Performer of The Best Song in Balkans 2009	Succeeded by Aurela Gaçe with Origjinale
Preceded by Fitst title	Best Male Performer in the Balkans 2009	Succeeded by Serdar Ortaç
Preceded by Nina with Čaroban	Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012	Succeeded by [to be determined]

v t e Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest1   Participation 2004 2005   Artists 2000s Željko Joksimović No Name   Songs 2000s "Lane moje" "Zauvijek moja" 1Competed separately as Serbia and Montenegro from 2007 (Note: Entries scored out are when Serbia and Montenegro did not compete)

v t e Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest1   Participation 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012   Artists 2000s Željko Joksimović No Name Marija Šerifović Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić Marko Kon & Milaan 2010s Milan Stanković Nina Željko Joksimović   Songs 2000s "Lane moje" "Zauvijek moja" "Molitva" "Oro" "Cipela" 2010s "Ovo je Balkan" "Čaroban" "Nije Ljubav Stvar" 1Competed as Serbia and Montenegro in 2004 to 2005 (Note: Entries scored out are when Serbia did not compete)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Željko Joksimović

The Neistat Brothers, Casey Neistat (born in New London, Connecticut, on March 25, 1981) and Van Neistat (born Van Paul Moody in Augusta, Maine, on March 22, 1975), are filmmakers based in New York City. Their self-titled television show, The Neistat Brothers, debuted on HBO in 2010. The pair have created over two hundred films, according to their website,^[1] most notably iPod's Dirty Secret, focusing on Apple's policy on replacing iPod batteries, and Bike Thief, chronicling the ease with which they steal their own bicycle. Their films have been shown in film festivals, art museums and various institutions around the world.

HBO[link]

In July 2008 Home Box Office HBO purchased a television series entitled The Neistat Brothers. The eight episode series was created by Casey Neistat, Van Neistat and Tom Scott. Written and directed by Casey and Van the show is autobiographical and told from the first person. Each of the eight episodes is made up of short stories about the brothers lives. The show premiered June 4, 2010 at midnight on HBO.

iPod's Dirty Secret[link]

They gained international fame in late 2003 for a three minute film titled iPod's Dirty Secret, criticising Apple's lack of a battery replacement program for the iPod. Their film received national media exposure and brought broad attention on Apple's policy towards iPod battery replacements.^[2]

The video clip begins with a phone call to the Apple Support 800 number, and a conversation between Casey Neistat and an operator named Ryan. Casey explains that after 18 months of use his iPod battery is dead. Ryan suggests that for the cost of labor and shipping to replace the battery Casey is better off buying a new iPod. To the music of NWA's rap song "Express Yourself" the brothers begin a "public service announcement" campaign to inform consumers about the batteries. Using a stenciled sign reading "iPod's Unreplaceable Battery Lasts Only 18 Months", they spray paint the warning over iPod advertisement posters on the streets of Manhattan.

Reaction[link]

The film was posted to the Internet on November 20, 2003 and within six weeks was viewed over a million times. The film quickly attracted media attention and the controversy was covered worldwide by over 130 sources including The Washington Post, Rolling Stone Magazine, Fox News, CBS News, and BBC News. The film was praised as "wonderfully renegade" by the Washington Post.^[3]

Apple officially announced a battery replacement policy on November 14, 2003^[4] and also announced an extended iPod warranty program on November 21.^[5] The Washington Post incorrectly stated that both programs were announced "days after" the movie became public.^[3] Fox News set the date of the policy change at "two weeks" after the posting of the clip and Neil Cavuto called it a "David and Goliath story" on Fox News Your World. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Sequeira denied any connection between the film and the new policy, stating the policy revision had been in the works for months before the film was released.^[3]

Bike Thief[link]

The Neistat Brothers created Bike Thief,^[6] a film documenting their repeated success in stealing their own bike even when making their intentions obvious, free of intervention from passersby. The video got coverage on a local Fox morning show in which they were supposed to demonstrate how easy it was to steal a bike but instead played a prank on the host by pretending to accidentally amputate a finger. Her reaction gained coverage in press and on the Internet.

References[link]

1. ^ website
2. ^ New York Magazine review
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Battery and Assault", The Washington Post, Hank Steuver, 20 December 2003.
4. ^ Kim, Arnold (November 14, 2003). "iPod Battery Replacement Details from Apple". MacRumors.com. http://www.macrumors.com/2003/11/14/ipod-battery-replacement-details-from-apple/. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
5. ^ Kim, Arnold (November 21, 2003). "AppleCare for iPod". MacRumors.com. http://www.macrumors.com/2003/11/21/applecare-for-ipod/. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
6. ^ Bike Thief on YouTube

External links[link]

• Neistat Brothers on Facebook
• Casey Neistat on Dailymotion
• YouTube Channel Page
• Casey Neistat on Vimeo
• Neistat Brothers Official Website

Diane Lane
Lane at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
Born	(1965-01-22) January 22, 1965 (age 47) New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Christopher Lambert (1988–1994; divorced; 1 child) Josh Brolin (2004–present)
Website
http://www.dianelane.com/ (offline)

Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American film actress.

Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine. She has since appeared in several notable films, including the 2002 film Unfaithful, which earned her Academy Award, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Lane has been married to actor Josh Brolin since 2004. She was previously married to actor Christopher Lambert from 1988 to 1994.

Early life[link]

Lane was born in New York City. Her mother, Colleen Farrington, was a nightclub singer and Playboy centerfold (Miss October 1957), who was also known as "Colleen Price". Her father, Burton Eugene Lane, was a Manhattan drama coach who ran an acting workshop with John Cassavetes, worked as a cab driver, and later taught humanities at City College.^[1] When Lane was 13 months old, her parents split up. Her mother went to Mexico and obtained a divorce while retaining custody of her daughter until the child was six.^[1] Her father got custody of her after Farrington moved to Georgia. Lane and her father lived in a number of residential hotels in New York City and she would ride with him in his taxi.^[2]

When Lane was fifteen years old, she declared her independence from her father and ran away to Los Angeles for a week with actor and friend Christopher Atkins. Lane later remarked, "It was reckless behavior that comes from having too much independence too young."^[2] She returned to New York and moved in with a friend's family, paying them rent. In 1981, she enrolled in high school after taking correspondence courses. However, Lane's mother kidnapped her and took the teenager back to Georgia. Lane and her father challenged her mother in court and six weeks later she was back in New York. Lane did not speak to her mother for the subsequent three years, but they have since reconciled.^[2]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Lane's maternal grandmother, Eleanor Scott, was a thrice-married Pentecostal preacher of the Apostolic denomination, and Lane was influenced by the theatrical quality of her grandmother's sermons.^[3][4] Lane began acting professionally at the age of six at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York, where she appeared in a production of Medea. At 12 she had a role in Joseph Papp's production of The Cherry Orchard with Meryl Streep.^[1] Also at this time, Lane was enrolled in an accelerated program at Hunter College High School and was put on notice when her grades suffered from her busy schedule.^[1] At 13 years old, she turned down a role in Runaways on Broadway to make her feature film debut opposite Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance.^[2] Lane won high praise from Olivier who declared her 'The New Grace Kelly'.^[5] At the same time Lane was featured on the cover of Time, which declared her one of Hollywood's "Whiz Kids."^[6][7]

In the early 1980s, Lane made a successful transition from child actor to adult roles. Her breakout performances came with back-to-back adaptations of young adult novels by S. E. Hinton, adapted and directed by Francis Ford Coppola: The Outsiders in 1982 and Rumble Fish in 1983. Both films also featured memorable performances from a number of young male actors who would go on to become leading men in the next decade (as well as members of the so-called "Brat Pack"), including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, the late Patrick Swayze, Mickey Rourke, Nicolas Cage, and Matt Dillon.^[1] Lane's distinction among these heavily male casts advanced her career while affiliating her with this young generation of male actors. Andy Warhol proclaimed her, "the undisputed female lead of Hollywood's new rat pack."^[8]

However, the two films that could have catapulted her to star status, Streets of Fire (she turned down Splash and Risky Business for this film)^[5][9] and The Cotton Club, were both commercial and critical failures, and her career languished as a result.^[1] After The Cotton Club, Lane dropped out of the movie business and lived with her mother in Georgia.^[10] According to the actress, "I hadn't been close to my mom for a long time, so we had a lot of homework to do. We had to repair our relationship because I wanted my mother back".^[11]

Lane at the 41st Emmy Awards on September 17, 1989.

Lane returned to acting to appear in The Big Town and Lady Beware, but it was not until 1989's popular and critically acclaimed TV miniseries Lonesome Dove that Lane made another big impression on a sizable audience,^[10] and was nominated for an Emmy Award^[12] for her role. She was given positive reviews for her performance in the independent film My New Gun, which was well received at the Cannes Film Festival. She went on to appear as actress Paulette Goddard in Sir Richard Attenborough's big-budget biopic of Charles Chaplin, 1992's Chaplin.^[8] Lane won further praise for her role in 1999's A Walk on the Moon, opposite Viggo Mortensen. One reviewer wrote, "Lane, after years in post-teenaged-career limbo, is meltingly effective."^[13] The film's director, Tony Goldwyn, described Lane as having "...this potentially volcanic sexuality that is in no way self-conscious or opportunistic."^[14] Lane earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. At this time, she was interested in making a film about actress Jean Seberg in which she would play Seberg.^[15]

Recent work[link]

In 2000, Lane had a supporting role as Mark Wahlberg's love interest in The Perfect Storm. In 2002, she starred in Unfaithful, a drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and adapted from the French film The Unfaithful Wife. Lane played a housewife who indulges in an adulterous fling with a mysterious book dealer. The film featured several sex scenes. Lyne's repeated takes for these scenes were very demanding for the actors involved, especially for Lane, who had to be emotionally and physically fit for the duration.^[16] Unfaithful received mostly mixed to negative reviews, though Lane earned widespread praise for her performance. Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman stated that "Lane, in the most urgent performance of her career, is a revelation. The play of lust, romance, degradation, and guilt on her face is the movie's real story."^[17] She followed that film up with Under the Tuscan Sun, based on the best-selling book by Frances Mayes.

In 2008, Lane reunited with Richard Gere for the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe. It is the third film Gere and Lane filmed together. The film was based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Sparks. Lane also co-starred in Jumper, and Untraceable in the same year. She then appeared in Killshot with Mickey Rourke, which was given a limited theatrical release before being released on DVD in 2009. While promoting Nights in Rodanthe, she expressed frustration with being typecast and stated that she was "gunning for something that's not so sympathetic. I need to be a bitch, and I need to be in a comedy. I've decided. No more Miss Nice Guy."^[18] The actress has even contemplated quitting acting and spending more time with her family if she is unable to get these kinds of roles. She said in an interview, "I can't do anything official. My agents won't let me. Between you and me, I don't have anything else coming out."^[18]

In 2010, Lane starred in Secretariat, a Disney film about the relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and his owner, Penny Chenery, whom Lane portrayed.^[19] In 2011, it was announced that Lane would play Martha Kent in Zack Snyder's Superman film, " Man of Steel," that will be released in theaters on June 14th, 2013. Snyder said of her casting, "We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."^[20]

Awards[link]

Four days before the New York Film Critics Circle's vote in 2002, Lane was given a career tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. A day before that, Lyne held a dinner for the actress at the Four Seasons Hotel. Critics and award voters were invited to both.^[21] She went on to win the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2003, she was named ShoWest's 2003 Female Star of the Year, ^[22] and was also a co-recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award honoring outstanding women in entertainment.^[23]

Lane ranked at #79 on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars. She was ranked #45 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women in 2005,^[24] #85 in 2006^[25] and #98 in 2007.^[26]

Personal life[link]

Marriages and family[link]

Lane with husband Josh Brolin in December 2009.

Lane met actor Christopher Lambert in Paris while promoting The Cotton Club in 1984.^[2] They had a brief affair and split up. They met again two years later in Rome to make a film together, entitled After the Rain, and in two weeks they were a couple again. Lane and Lambert married in October 1988 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[2] They had a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine Lambert (born September 5, 1993), and were divorced following a prolonged separation in 1994.^[27]

Lane became engaged to actor Josh Brolin in July 2003^[28] and they were married on August 15, 2004.^[29] On December 20 of that year, she called police after an altercation with him, and he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Lane declined to press charges, however, and the couple's spokesperson described the incident as a "misunderstanding."^[30]

Charity work[link]

Lane is also involved in several charities, including Heifer International, which focuses on world hunger, and Artists for Peace and Justice, a Hollywood organization that supports Haiti relief. However, she tries not to draw attention to her humanitarian efforts: "Sometimes I give with my heart. Sometimes I give financially, but there's something about [helping others] that I think ought to be anonymous. I don't want it to be a boastful thing."^[31]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. Confidence: The Ultimate Seducer. Men's Health. Accessed March 25, 2010.
• Radziwill, Carole. Gorgeous At Any Age: Diane Lane. Glamour magazine. September 1, 2008. Accessed March 25, 2010.
• Saroyan, Strawberry. Diane Lane: a fortysomething sex symbol. Daily Telegraph. October 5, 2008. Accessed March 25, 2010.
• Robinson, Tasha. Interview: Diane Lane. The Onion A.V. Club. October 7, 2010. Accessed October 8, 2010.
• Diane Lane: Her Best Roles - Empire magazine
• Kaplan, Michael. Diane Lane: A Career with a View . Movieline. April 1, 1996. Accessed June 30, 2011.
• Rebello, Stephen. Diane Lane: Sudden Lane Changes. Movieline. October 1, 2003. Accessed June 30, 2011.
• Hensley, Dennis. Diane Lane: Lane Changes. Movieline. June 1, 2000. Accessed June 30, 2011.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diane Lane

• Diane Lane at the Internet Movie Database
• Diane Lane at AllRovi
• Diane Lane at Yahoo! Movies
• Diane Lane at Film Reference
• Diane Lane at Emmys.com

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy^[1][2] appears as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965).

A blonde college student, Gwen was originally the first love of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) before the introduction of Mary Jane Watson. The Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) killed Gwen in The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973). Both the decision to kill Gwen and the method in which Marvel implemented it remain controversial among fans, but the death became a pivotal point in both Spider-Man’s history and in American comic books in general. Many point to Gwen's death as the end of the so-called Silver Age of comics.^[3] Spider-Man writers and fans disagree about who is the character’s "one true love;" Gwen or his subsequent love-interest Mary Jane. The character was ranked 89th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.^[4]

In the 2007 feature film Spider-Man 3, Gwen is portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard. In the upcoming reboot The Amazing Spider-Man she will be played by Emma Stone.

Fictional character biography[link]

Background[link]

Gwen first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965). Peter Parker meets Gwen while both study as undergraduates at Empire State University.^[5] Initially, with Aunt May in the hospital, Peter feels troubled and ignores her advances; insulted, she dates both Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn. Gradually, however, a romance develops; Gwen, a science major, seems to appreciate Peter's intellectual personality. In the comic books, their relationship begins almost immediately after a relationship between Peter and Betty Brant ends.

Their relationship almost ends before it begins. A mind-controlled (police) Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, gets into a fight with Peter, which Gwen observes. Thinking Peter attacked her father, she halts the relationship. Gwen eventually learns the truth and she and Peter reconcile. Their romance becomes more complicated when Gwen's father is killed by falling debris during a battle involving Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (The Amazing Spider-Man #90). Gwen blames Spider-Man for his death, which sets their relationship back for a while. Gwen leaves for Europe to cope with her loss. She wants Peter to ask her to marry him and convince her to stay, but his guilt stops him from proposing.

Peter goes to London to see Gwen, but is forced into action as Spider-Man and leaves without seeing Gwen. Gwen eventually realizes her error in trying to pressure Peter into marriage, so she returns to New York and they get back together.

Death[link]

In The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973), by writer Gerry Conway and penciller Gil Kane, the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, who has identified Peter Parker as Spider-Man) holds Gwen Stacy captive on a tower of the George Washington Bridge. Spider-Man arrives to fight the Green Goblin, and when the Goblin throws Gwen Stacy off the bridge, Spider-Man catches her by her leg with a string of web. He initially thinks he has saved her, but when he pulls her back onto the bridge, he realizes she has already died. In shock and anger, Spider-Man nearly kills the Green Goblin in retaliation, but in the end chooses not to do so. The Goblin still seemingly dies when he is impaled by his own goblin glider in an attempt to kill Spider-Man, and Norman Osborn would not return for nearly three hundred issues.

The death of Gwen Stacy had an enormous impact in the world of comic-book fandom.^[6] Before her, except possibly as part of an origin story, superheroes did not fail so catastrophically; nor did a loved-one of the superhero die so suddenly without warning. Because of this, some fans and historians take the death of Gwen Stacy as one marker of the end of the period they refer to as the Silver Age of Comic Books.

In the real world, physicist James Kakalios shows in his book The Physics of Superheroes that, consistent with Newton's laws of motion, the sudden stop would have killed Gwen Stacy.^[7] The comic book Civil War: Casualties of War: Captain America/Iron Man (2007) concurred that the proximate cause of death was the sudden stop during a high-speed fall. An issue of Peter Parker/Spider-Man revisits the issue, and further confirms that Gwen died of a broken neck due to the use of the webbing.

During a battle with the Sinister Twelve, the Green Goblin captures Mary Jane and takes her to another bridge, throwing her over the side just as he had Gwen; however, this time Peter succeeds in saving MJ by using multiple web-strands, providing her with enough support to avoid any fatal injuries.^[8]

After death[link]

Gwen Stacy's death has enormous repercussions. Mary Jane Watson feels the loss of Gwen deeply and becomes a more serious person. Gwen's death also draws Peter and Mary Jane into a closer friendship, and eventually to romance.

The Green Goblin's murder of Gwen Stacy greatly elevates his status in Spider-Man's rogues' gallery. Before her death, Doctor Octopus had seemed Spider-Man's primary nemesis, but Gwen's death pushed the Green Goblin into that role.

The Jackal, Miles Warren in disguise, a former professor of Gwen's, was secretly in love with her. Following her death, Warren had grown increasingly insane and adopted the persona of the Jackal.

In the fourth and final issue of the miniseries Marvels (April 1994), photographer Phil Sheldon befriends Gwen Stacy, who has absolved Spider-Man of any blame for her father's death. Gwen's simple faith in heroes convinces Sheldon of the purpose of the "Marvels" (superheroes) - to protect innocents such as Gwen. He resolves to write a book to praise the heroes and what they should mean to humanity. But the Green Goblin kidnaps Gwen and holds her hostage to ensure that Spider-Man will challenge him. Sheldon, frantically following the resulting chase in a taxi, arrives at the George Washington Bridge in time to see Spider-Man fight the Goblin and to see Gwen accidentally knocked off the bridge and killed, despite (and tragically because of) Spider-Man's desperate attempt to save her. Sheldon's faith in the Marvels is shattered and he retires, but not before passing on the body of his work to his assistant Marcie.

Clones[link]

Approximately two years after her death,^[9] Gwen Stacy reappears in Amazing Spider-Man 144 (May 1975), perfectly healthy but with no memory of the time since her death. The Jackal has managed to create a clone of Gwen, and uses her as part of a plot against Spider-Man in the original Clone Saga. At the end of that story, Gwen’s clone leaves to find a new life for herself.

In the 1988 crossover "The Evolutionary War", the High Evolutionary, who had once been Miles Warren's teacher, captures Gwen's clone. In the process, he discovers that Warren had not in fact cloned her, but had instead created a genetic virus (the "carrion virus") that transforms already living beings. Spider-Man investigates Warren's old laboratory and identifies Carrion as a genetic weapon developed by Warren. Another former student of Warren's, Malcolm McBride, is infected with the virus and becomes the second Carrion. The High Evolutionary identifies this Gwen Stacy to Spider-Man as in fact not a clone but a woman named Joyce Delaney whom Warren had altered.

During the second Clone Saga, Gwen Stacy's clone, now married to a clone of Professor Warren named Warren Miles, sees a copy of Peter Parker's book of Spider-Man photos, Webs, and remembers (to an extent) her real history, and returns to New York City. During this storyline, she again disappears from Spider-Man's life. It was recently revealed that the Gwen Stacy clone introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #144 was in fact the second Gwen clone that Miles Warren created and has been living in London under the name Joyce Delaney. This clone was murdered by the Gwen Stacy clone known as Abby-L.^[10]

Another Gwen clone appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #399 (March 1995). This clone believes she is the real Gwen. She dies from clone degeneration in Spider-Man vol. 1, #56 (March 1995), the next issue of the story arc.

Deadpool vol.3, #0 (December 1998) reveals that the evil geneticist Arnim Zola obtained samples of the DNA of various superhumans for cloning purposes. These experiments, discovered by the mercenary Deadpool, also involve four clones of Gwen Stacy. Zola allows Deadpool to take the four Gwens to his San Francisco base of operations, where they serve and entertain him. They later die in a plane crash.^[11]

Spider-Man: Blue[link]

Gwen and (to a lesser extent) Mary Jane become the focus of the critically acclaimed^{[citation needed]} Spider-Man: Blue, a 2002 limited series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale that retells the beginning of Peter's relationship with the two women.

The frame narrative has Peter, several years after her death, on Valentine's Day recording a voice "letter" to his dead love.

Dead Girl[link]

In the 2006 limited series X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl, Gwen, along with Moira MacTaggert and Mockingbird, appear in Heaven as members of the Dead Sisters' Book Club. They assist Doctor Strange, Dead Girl, and a small group of dead heroes on a mission to the lower depths of Hell.^[12]

[edit] Sins Past and Sins Remembered

The story arc "Sins Past" by J. Michael Straczynski in The Amazing Spider-Man #509-514 (August 2004 - January 2005) reveals that Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin's alter ego, fathered twins, a boy and a girl, with Gwen Stacy, to whom she gave birth while in France shortly before her death. She vowed she would raise them with Peter and refused to allow Norman access to them. Seeing her as a threat to his potential heirs, the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy. Norman Osborn then raised Gwen's two children, a boy and a girl named Gabriel and Sarah. Due to Norman's enhanced blood, the twins aged about 2 to 3 times faster than normal and became adults within the span of a few years. Osborn told them that Peter was really their father and was responsible for their mother's death.

The twins then attack Spider-Man, and he subsequently deduces their true identities. However, in seeking to confirm it, Peter goes to Gwen's grave and digs up a sample of her DNA to compare to the twins' DNA. Spider-Man tells Mary Jane about his initial encounter with Gabriel and Sarah, whereupon Mary Jane reveals that she knew about Norman's involvement with Gwen. By the story's end, Peter has told the twins the truth. Sarah believes Peter and concludes that he would never have dug up Gwen's grave to acquire a DNA sample if he thought there was even a chance that he was their father — but Gabriel does not. Gabriel takes the Green Goblin formula and briefly becomes the Grey Goblin. His glider explodes when it is shot by Sarah and he washes up on a beach with no memory of what happened.

"Sins Remembered," a follow-up story to "Sins Past" (published in The Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 2) issues #23-26, December 2004-March 2005 and written by Samm Barnes with art by Scot Eaton) spins directly out of the events of Amazing Spider-Man #509-514. Spider-Man locates Sarah in Paris, where Sarah has her brother (suffering from amnesia) restrained in her home. With the help of Spider-Man and Interpol, Sarah helps build a case against a criminal called Dupres in exchange for the government's help with her rapid-aging disease. However, during this time Gabriel escapes and has yet to be seen again. This story arc was later collected as a trade paperback in 2005 as The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 5: Sins Remembered (ISBN 0-7851-1628-1).

Straczynski later stated that he originally wanted to make Peter Parker the father of Gwen's kids but the editors vetoed the idea. They felt that it would age Peter Parker too much if he had two adult children. The whole creative and editorial team then decided that Norman Osborn would be the father.^[13] In an e-mail to popular comic book website Newsarama, Straczynski claimed that he regretted the version of Sins Past that went to press, and that he had hoped to "retcon" it out of continuity during the events of the recent One More Day storyline: "I wanted to retcon the Gwen twins out of continuity, which was something I always assumed I could do at the end of my run. I wasn't allowed to do this, and yes, it pissed me off."^[14] In the original plans for One More Day, the story would have ended with Gwen Stacy being resurrected by Mephisto's reality-warping spell along with Harry Osborn, but it was eventually decided to let her remain dead.

Other versions[link]

In the two-issue mini-series X-Universe which detailed what happened to the rest of the Marvel Universe during the Age of Apocalypse, the Green Goblin never killed Gwen Stacy; instead she became the bodyguard of Donald Blake, who, in this reality, had never become the Mighty Thor. Sometime later in the mainstream universe in X-Man #37, the Age of Apocalypse version of Gwen is pulled from her reality to the mainstream Earth's George Washington Bridge, much to Spider-Man's shock.

In the House of M storyline, in which the Scarlet Witch alters reality to make mutants the ruling class over humans, Gwen was never killed. Instead, she married Peter Parker, and the couple had a young son. She had become a scientist, a savvy businesswoman, and a peace activist – and had a decidedly hostile relationship with chemical weapon developer Norman Osborn. Mary Jane Watson, a popular actress in this reality, played Gwen Stacy in the film adaptation of Spider-Man's life story. Gwen and her father read textual accounts of their deaths in the main universe, though they believe this simply to be the morbid imaginings of Peter Parker, who is suffering from mental health issues.^[15]

Gwen Stacy first appeared in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53 as a new student of Midtown High. She had transferred from her previous school after the Torino Gang, a powerful New York mob, began harassing her in an attempt to keep her father, police captain George Stacy, from arresting members of their gang. However, the Torinos continued to harass Gwen at Midtown, prompting Spider-Man to help the police take down the gang.^[16] Like her father, Gwen believes Spider-Man is a hero. She subsequently began participating in a "Spider-Man Appreciation Society" designed to foster better public opinion of Spider-Man.^[17] Gwen is also attracted to Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker; although she openly flirted with him, Peter began dating a different girl, Sophia "Chat" Sanduval, which made Gwen very unhappy.^[18] Later, Gwen was brainwashed by Emma Frost into believing she was dating Peter. Gwen's brainwashing wore off (or was undone by Emma), but Gwen now believes her relationship with Peter ended when he chose Chat over her,^[19] causing her to treat Chat very coldly. She has since warmed to Chat, however.^[20] Recently, Gwen began a close friendship with Carter Torino who is the grandson of the head of the Torino Gang.^[17] Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Gwen's father is still trying to take down Carter's criminal family.^[21]

In the limited series, Marvel Zombies Return, Gwen of 'Earth Z' is still a college student out with her friends Mary Jane and Harry Osborn. The zombiefied Spider-Man travels to this earth and, despite his best intentions, turns the Sinister Six. They then slay and partly consume Gwen and her friends. To stop the spread of the virus, zombified Spider-Man obliterates the bodies.^[22]

Issue #1 of Spider-Man: Fairy Tales follows the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Gwen Stacy has been previously killed by the wolf. Issue #4 is an adaption of Cinderella with Gwen as Princess Gwendolyn. She falls in love with the masked "Prince of Arachne," who is revealed to be Peter Parker, servant to Sir Osborn, but is killed during a fight between Osborn and Parker.

Gwen Stacy first appears at the end of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #5.She is the new girl at school and quickly becomes close friends with Peter Parker. In Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #9, Peter and Gwen take their relationship to the next level by sharing a tender kiss, much to the dismay of Mary Jane. They date for a time, though Gwen breaks up with Peter when she learns that Mary Jane is the girl he truly loves. MJ, attempting to fix this, breaks up with Peter and reunites with Harry, but Peter cannot commit to Gwen and she is unwilling to accept him as a friend and not a boyfriend.

In the fourth issue of the comic book based on the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series, Spidey encounters a Counter-Earth version of Gwen Stacy. She helps him escape a hidden paradise known as "The Haven".

In this mini-series, Gwen Stacy again appears as the girlfriend of Peter Parker. Norman Osborn again kidnaps and attempts to kill her as a part of a plan to intimidate Peter. In a twist, the powerless Peter (with a limb crippled from a spider bite) manages to save Gwen from falling to her death.

Ultimate Gwen Stacy[link]

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Gwen Stacy first appears in Ultimate Spider-Man #14 (December 2001) as a teenage girl at Peter's high school. In this continuity, she has amber eyes, wears punk-style clothing, and is rebellious.^[23] In her first appearance she gives a rousing speech on 'super powers'; in the next issue she pulls a knife on Kong, a classmate who was bullying Peter. She is suspended from school temporarily. Gwen becomes friends with Peter, which leads Mary Jane Watson to believe that Gwen is vying for his affections.

Gwen is later taken in by Aunt May after her father, police captain John Stacy, is killed by a burglar wearing a Spider-Man costume. Her estranged mother does not want to take her in. Her living in the Parker house creates more tension between Peter and Mary Jane, and leads to their temporary break-up. Peter's relationship with Gwen is further complicated by her hatred of Spider-Man, whom she blames for her father's death. When Peter finds his friend Eddie Brock, Gwen confides in him about her feelings of isolation. Eddie then tries to kiss her and Gwen is shocked.

When she eventually learns that Peter is Spider-Man, the angry Gwen pulls her father's gun on him. Fortunately, he manages to convince her that he is not to blame for her father's death. Gwen runs off but returns, explaining that she is just really mad at everything at the moment and that she wouldn't have really shot him, a fact Peter already knew because his spider sense didn't go off despite Gwen's wrath. Gwen then agrees to keep his secret.

Gwen Stacy dies in Ultimate Spider-Man #62. Before her death, she made peace with Mary Jane and assured her that she never had romantic feelings for Peter, and that she considered him just as a friend. She is killed by Carnage, a vampiric monster made by the splicing of genetic material from Peter Parker, his father, and Dr. Curt Connors. Although Peter is not in the area when she dies, he still feels some responsibility for her death, as he allowed Dr. Connors to use his genetic material for experimentation. His guilt makes him decide to retire as Spider-Man for a while, but eventually he takes up his hero identity when his responsibility for the innocent becomes too great to overlook.

At the end of the arc, there was an issue that dealt with Gwen's death. Flash makes an off-color remark about Gwen's passing, and it infuriates MJ to the point where she physically attacks Flash. It is revealed that Flash had a crush on Gwen all along.

A girl seeming to be Gwen Stacy appears in Ultimate Spider-Man #98. Says Ultimate artist Mark Bagley, "Gwen’s return is integral to the Clone storyline and is basically a way to rock Peter's world...again."^[24] In this issue "Gwen" appears to have no memory of her "death" and believes she was in a hospital, from which she has escaped. In issue #100, after a raft of revelations, the stress of the situation enrages "Gwen" and she transforms into what appears to be Ultimate Carnage before leaping out the window.

In the next issue, "Richard Parker" claims that "Gwen" should not have met Peter at all, and was merely an experiment in stem cell research. This Gwen/Carnage fights with the Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, and the Spider-Slayer drones, until she is knocked unconscious by a beam of light, and taken into custody. In issue #113, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin causes a massive prison break from the Triskelion. An inmate appearing to be 'Gwen' walks out amidst the chaos, disappearing in the shadows. It has been revealed that the creature posing as Gwen Stacy is still the original Ultimate Carnage that Spider-man faced earlier in its run. After "devouring" Gwen, this incarnation of Carnage has gone on to mimic her "essence" and now believes itself to be Gwen Stacy.^[25]

During "War of the Symbiotes", Gwen/Carnage's back story in the Triskelion is revealed. It is shown that Gwen has been taking some form of therapy with Tony Stark. However, when the Green Goblin broke out of the Triskelion, Gwen escaped and went to Peter Parker's house in a confused and terrified state, with Carnage's face on her body. During an exchange between Peter and Gwen, Eddie Brock attempts to attack Aunt May and retake his symbiote. In a rage, Spider-Man engages Venom on a nearby rooftop. During the fight, Gwen is shown to be able to use her symbiote to fight off Eddie but Eddie reabsorbs his symbiote along with the Carnage symbiote rendering Gwen Stacy an average girl. After SHIELD intervenes, SHIELD Director Danvers states that Gwen will remain in SHIELD custody. Peter and May argue for her to come back to live with them, with Tony Stark supporting the Parkers. In Ultimate Spider-Man #129, the Parkers are now helping to rebuild Gwen's life. Six months after "Ultimatum", in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1, Gwen is living with the Parkers again and seems to be dating Peter. However, circumstances involving the Chameleon made Gwen realize she made a mistake dating Peter and she breaks up with him.

Early in the series, Ultimate Spider-Man #25 (October 2002) paid homage to Gwen Stacy's death in the Earth-616 continuity, although Gwen herself was not involved. The Green Goblin tossed Mary Jane off the Queensboro Bridge, and Spider-Man caught her leg with his webbing, just as with Gwen. The issue ended with a cliffhanger: when Spider-Man pulled Mary Jane up, she appeared to be either unconscious or dead. The cliffhanger was resolved in the next issue when Mary Jane awoke in #26, uninjured.

[edit] What If...?

In "What If" Volume 1 number 24, Peter manages to save Gwen by jumping after her rather than catching her with a web-line. In doing this, he was able to cushion her from the impact as they hit the water and subsequently give her CPR. In the aftermath of this rescue, Gwen sees him without his mask and after explaining himself to her, Peter proposes to Gwen. She accepts. In a subsequent confrontation with the Green Goblin in his apartment, Norman Osborn finally fights off his evil side for good upon seeing his son Harry move to protect him; realizing that he cannot kill his own son, Norman returns to normal.
During a battle in the warehouse, an escaping Goblin mails to "Spider-Man's second greatest enemy" (J. Jonah Jameson) proof of Spider-Man's real identity. On the day of Peter's wedding to Gwen, Jonah has published the expose and uses it to acquire a warrant for Peter's arrest, thus forcing Peter to escape from the police mere moments after his wedding to Gwen. The shock of her nephew "being that awful Spider-Man" causes Aunt May to have a heart attack as well. As the issue ends, Gwen departs with Joe 'Robbie' Robertson, who promises Gwen that they will do whatever they can to help Peter and quits the Bugle.

In "What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Six Arms?," Spider-Man (whose six-arms mutation was permanent here) was able to prevent Gwen Stacy's death.

At the very end of Peter David's "What If: The Other" one-shot, Peter Parker, now calling himself "Poison," uses part of the Venom symbiote attached to him in a resurrection of Gwen Stacy. She takes the appearance of Carnage.

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• Gwen was deliberately excluded from the 1990s animated series, as the creators felt they could neither allow her to live nor deliberately include a character who was going to die. As a result, a variant of the bridge scene occurs with Gwen replaced by Mary Jane. Both Mary Jane and Green Goblin are cast into a dimensional void in the forty-first episode of the series. Gwen Stacy did appear in the episode "Farewell Spider-Man" voiced by Mary Kay Bergman. She appears as the fiancée of the high-tech armored Spider-Man (resembling Iron Man) from another universe.

• Gwen Stacy appears in the animated television series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Lacey Chabert. Gwen is portrayed as Peter's best friend, though she would like to be his girlfriend. Her appearance and personality appears to be partially influenced by Debra Whitman, though Debra also appears in a minor role. She gains an internship at Dr. Curt Connors's laboratory at Empire State University with Peter and Eddie Brock. After Peter seemingly runs out of the Connors's Lab, where Gwen, Eddie and Martha Connors are attempting a serum which will restore Curt's human side after he transformed into the lizard, Gwen becomes angry with him; she forgives Peter in the episode "Competition". In the episode "Reaction," Peter (as Spider-Man) ends up saving both MJ and Gwen. She then decides to talk to Peter about Harry's condition, as he is taking the Globulin Green formula. In the episode "Intervention," after a symbiote-controlled Peter blows her off, Mary Jane gets Gwen to admit to her true feelings for Peter. In "Nature vs. Nurture," the finale of the first season, Eddie Brock becomes Venom, ties up and gags Gwen, and then suspends her from a large balloon during the Thanksgiving Day parade, hoping that she will fall to her death. While Spider-Man battles Venom, the webs holding Gwen to the float eventually snap and she is sent hurtling to the street, but she is saved when her classmates use the now-deflated balloon to catch her. In the final moments of the episode, Gwen kisses Peter for the first time, making Peter realize his unknown deep feelings for her. In season 2 however, Liz Allan's own growing affections for Peter leads him to start going out with her instead, much to Gwen's dismay. Gwen is later kidnapped by Electro and Vulture and used as a hostage by the Master Planner, who forces her father to do as he says before she is saved by Spider-Man. She soon finds herself the center of the returned Harry Osborn's attention, and winds up his girlfriend. When Venom outs Peter's identity, she finds the entire concept hilarious. Peter and Gwen are soon mobbed by a gang of reporters, several of whom believe her to be "Spider-Man's Girl." When the Green Goblin takes control of New York, Peter and Gwen finally talk, and agree to end their respective relationships so they could be together. However, the series ended before the relationship began.

Film[link]

• Gwen Stacy is portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3. She is a potential new love interest for Peter Parker, serving as an unintended rival to Mary Jane Watson. Gwen is a classmate and lab partner of Peter, who (as Spider-Man) rescues her early in the film from a construction crane accident. She kisses an upside-down Spider-Man which causes MJ to become angry and hurt. As Peter is at the top of Dr. Connors's quantum mechanics class, he tutors her. She considers Peter a genius and is very fond of him. She is also friends with Eddie Brock, who took pictures of her so Gwen could be a model. his relationship is short-lived, as Peter Parker, under the influence of the symbiote, steals her from Eddie; he dances with her at the same jazz club where MJ works, but Gwen realizes that Peter is doing this to make MJ jealous, so she apologizes to Mary Jane, and leaves. Peter makes amends with Gwen since she is later present at Harry Osborn's funeral.

• Emma Stone will portray Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man. Her character will be Peter Parker's main love interest in the film. She is first seen in the trailer working at Oscorp, where Peter gets bitten by the spider. She subsequently develops a crush on him. It is suggested in a trailer that Gwen might know that Peter is Spider-Man as she is seen to be appearing to patch up a wound.

Video games[link]

• Gwen Stacy, along with her dad is briefly mentioned in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. When the futuristic Peter Parker reveals his plans to Spider-Man 2099, he mentions he can save the lives of Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, George Stacy, and countless others.
• Gwen Stacy will appear in The Amazing Spider-Man based on the film.

See also[link]

• The Night Gwen Stacy Died
• Spider-Man supporting characters
• Portrayal of women in comics
• Women in Refrigerators

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Grand Comics Database
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Physics of Superheroes 1 - Death of Gwen Stacy