Arctica was an ancient continent which formed approximately 2.5 billion years ago in the Neoarchean era.

Arctica consisted of the Canadian and Siberian shields, and is now roughly situated in the Arctic around the current North Pole.

History[link]

Arctica joined with the continents Atlantica and Nena about one billion years ago to form the supercontinent, Rodinia.

With the breakup of the supercontinent, Arctica's fragments have mostly stayed at higher latitudes.

Nomenclature[link]

Arctica was chosen as a name because since its formation the continent and the cratons that broke away from it have spent most of their time in northerly latitudes.

See also[link]

• List of supercontinents

External links[link]

This palaeogeography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Amberian Dawn
Amberian Dawn on stage at Metal Female Voices Fest 2009
Background information
Origin	Finland
Genres	Power metal, symphonic metal, neo-classical metal
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Spinefarm Records
Associated acts	Virtuocity
Website	amberiandawn.com
Members
Heidi Parviainen Tuomas Seppälä Jukka Koskinen Kimmo Korhonen Heikki Saari Kasperi Heikkinen
Past members
Sampo Seppälä Tom Sagar Emil Pohjalainen Tommi Kuri Joonas Pykälä-Aho

Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. Their fourth album Circus Black was released on Spinefarm Records in February 2012.^[1]

Biography[link]

Atheme One (2006–2008)[link]

Several of the members that would later form Amberian Dawn previously played in the group Virtuocity, and after Virtuocity's breakup they formed a new band, based on keyboardist and guitarist Tuomas Seppälä's songwriting. The band was named Atheme One^[2] and had Peter James Goodman as their lead singer and lyricist. The band released a demo in 2006 featuring four songs, "Dreamchaser", "Velvet Roses", "Burning Touch" and "World of Insanity", three of which would later be remade into Amberian Dawn songs: an instrumental version of "Dreamchaser" appears as a bonus track on River of Tuoni, "Velvet Roses" appears with lyrics by Heidi Parviainen as "Sons of Seven Stars" on The Clouds of Northland Thunder and "World of Insanity" appears with new lyrics as "Ghostly Echoes" on End of Eden.^[3]

During the summer of 2006, shortly after the release of the first demo, Seppälä and Kuri began searching for a female vocalist with high technical skills to replace Goodman, feeling he wasn't right for the music. Around the time they placed an ad, they found another for soprano vocalist Heidi Parviainen, who had grown tired of her keyboard duties of Iconofear. After listening to her samples, they decided to set up a demo with her and the band. It turned out that she was exactly what they were looking for, due to her ability to both sing and contribute lyrics, after writing the lyrics to Passing Bells. This completed the band's lineup, now under the name of Amberian Dawn, the result of a day of brainstorming. In spite of having Goodman leave his position as singer, there were no hard feelings between him and the band, and he has made minor appearances on all three Amberian Dawn albums since.

Their first studio session was in fall 2006, where they recorded two songs at the Rockstar Productions studio in Hyvinkää, Finland.^[2][4] The promotional demo, Amberian Dawn had the two songs "River of Tuoni" and "Evil Inside Me", both of which would reappear on their debut full-length.

[edit] River of Tuoni (2008)

Amberian Dawn signed a record deal with Finnish label KHY Suomen Musiikki in 2007,^[5] and finally recorded their debut album River of Tuoni which was released in Finland on January 30, 2008, hitting the charts right after release in Finland.^[6] To support the album, the band was the main supporter for Dutch symphonic metal band Epica during their summer/autumn European tour, and released a music video for their hit song "River of Tuoni" in May 2008.^[7]

[edit] The Clouds of Northland Thunder (2008–2009)

Amberian Dawn performing at the Metal Female Voices Fest in their 2009 The Clouds of Northland Thunder tour.

In late 2008, when the band withdrew from their River of Tuoni tour, band leader Tuomas Seppälä had already finished most songs for a new album,^[8] and the recording began almost immediately, but with a few changes in line-up - Emil Pohjalainen of Thaurorod joined on second guitar, and Seppälä moved permanently to keyboards on the live shows, but has continued to record guitars in the studio.

In January 2009, the band released their second music video through YouTube, namely the River of Tuoni track "My Only Star" alongside footage from the 2008 tour. In May, the band released their second studio album, The Clouds of Northland Thunder,^[9] alongside their new single "He Sleeps in a Grove" and its music video, and June introduced the band to their first festival, when they played at the Gibson stage on Sweden Rock festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.^[10] In the summer and fall of 2009, they toured with several heavy metal bands, including Kamelot, Epica, Sons of Seasons and Dream Evil, and played on festivals such as the Metal Female Voices Fest.

[edit] End of Eden (2009–present)

In November 2009, Amberian Dawn settled back in Finland after their tour with Epica and Sons of Seasons, and main composer Tuomas Seppälä already had many new songs finished for a third album. The band soon announced that a demo was finished and that Heidi Parviainen had started working on lyrics for an album to be released in mid to late 2010.^[11]

On July 12, 2010, Amberian Dawn announced that the next album would be called End of Eden, and released in October. They also reported having signed with Spinefarm Records, making End of Eden their first album not produced by KHY Suomen Musiikki.^[1][12] The new album was early on reported to be "more diverse, faster and darker than [...] previous albums" and to have "a bigger, more polymorphic sound",^[1] to have some of the fastest AD songs yet, and even an entirely classical piece (later revealed to be "Virvatulen Laulu").^[13]

On August 23, the band announced the cover art and tracklist of the new album, and at the same time they released an online single, Arctica, for free download on MySpace.^[14]

The album was released on October 20, alongside the music video to Arctica, but at the same time they announced a line-up change. Because of time issues, founding member and bassist Tommi Kuri, drummer Joonas Pykälä-Aho and guitarist Emil Pohjalainen would no longer be part of Amberian Dawn. They were instead replaced with Jukka Koskinen (Norther, Wintersun), Heikki Saari (Norther, Naildown) and Kimmo Korhonen (Waltari, Helion), respectively. The new drummer, Heikki Saari, also used to play with Amberian Dawn in their earliest days, and contributed with drums on two tracks on their River of Tuoni album.^[15]

[edit] Circus Black (2011–2012)

Circus Black is the forth studio Album by Amberian Dawn, and is often considered one of their best. It featured Timo Kotipelto as lead vocals on the song Cold Kiss, the song with the music video off of the album and was also released before Circus Black as a single.

The Album was released late February 2012, and in stores the very next day. The lyrics to all of the songs were based on a story and much more interesting then the rest, the song Crimson Flower, have references to the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.

Musical style[link]

Amberian Dawn classify themselves as "melodic, dramatic and powerful metal with female classical vocals,"^[2] and lead singer Heidi Parviainen has called their music "fast tempo, guitar driven metal with purely classical female vocals",^[8] while several other sources classify them as symphonic power metal, which the band has agreed sums it up, but also points out that there are many different styles that vary from song to song.^[16] In a September 2010 interview, Seppälä defines their music: "Amberian Dawn's music is melodic metal, and the roots lie in the Metal and Rock music of the 70s and 80s and maybe a little bit of the '90s. There are a lot of technical skills within the band, so everyone who's not scared of serious guitar and keyboard shredding should listen to our music."^[17]

Influences[link]

Ritchie Blackmore is one of the prime influences to Amberian Dawn's music.

Many critics have compared Amberian Dawn to other female fronted metal acts such as Nightwish, but Seppälä has denied any real connection, but also said that any connections are up to the listener seeing as everyone listens to music their own way, and he has pointed out that it's "very funny that no one has yet figured out the real influences behind our music".^[17]

Tuomas Seppälä has called his two big musical heroes Ritchie Blackmore and the late Ronnie James Dio,^[18] and listed Yngwie Malmsteen and ABBA as some of his influences.^[19]

The Kalevala, a national poem of Finland, often referenced in Amberian Dawn's lyrics.

Lyrical themes[link]

All Amberian Dawn songs are composed by Tuomas Seppälä, who then sends them to Heidi Parviainen who comes up with their stories and writes the lyrics depending on her mood and inspiration. The lyrics are often influenced by Finnish and Norse mythology, and many songs reference the Finnish national poem Kalevala, most obviously songs such as "Kokko - Eagle of Fire" of The Clouds of Northland Thunder, and "Sampo" from End of Eden.^[13] The title of their second album The Clouds of Northland Thunder, as well as a bonus track on End of Eden with the same title, is a direct quote from the English translation of the Kalevala.^[16]

Many other songs have lyrics with their own stories, either retellings of ancient legends, such as "Sons of Seven Stars" which is inspired by the book Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi,^[8] or brand new stories of Parviainen's imagination, such as "Virvatulen Laulu".^[18]

Current lineup[link]

• Heidi Parviainen – vocals (2006-present)
• Tuomas Seppälä – keyboards (2008-present), guitar (2006-2008), songwriting
• Kasperi Heikkinen – guitar (2007-present)
• Kimmo Korhonen – guitar (2010-present)
• Jukka Koskinen – bass (2010-present)
• Heikki Saari – drums (2006-2008 session, 2010-present)

Former members[link]

• Sampo Seppälä – guitar (2006-2007)
• Emil Pohjalainen – guitar (2008-2010)
• Tommi Kuri - bass (2006-2010)
• Tom Sagar – keyboards (2006-2008)
• Joonas Pykälä-Aho – drums (2006-2010)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• River of Tuoni (2008)
• The Clouds of Northland Thunder (2009)
• End of Eden (2010)
• Circus Black (2012)

Singles and demos[link]

• Amberian Dawn (demo) (2006)
• He Sleeps in a Grove (2009)
• Arctica (2010)
• Cold Kiss (2012)

Music videos[link]

• River of Tuoni (2008)^[7]
• My Only Star (2009)^[20]
• He Sleeps in a Grove (2009)^[21]
• Arctica (2010)^[15]
• Cold Kiss (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Amberian Dawn on Myspace
• Official Band Website
• Metal from Finland
• International Forum

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica performing live at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California 2007
Background information
Also known as	Tricky Beans, Tricky Means,
Origin	Kemi, Finland
Genres	Power Metal, Symphonic Power Metal Heavy metal
Years active	1996−present
Labels	Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast
Website	www.sonataarctica.info
Members
Tony Kakko Tommy Portimo Marko Paasikoski Henrik Klingenberg Elias Viljanen
Past members
Jani Liimatainen Pentti Peura Janne Kivilahti Mikko Härkin

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works (most notably The Days of Grays, Unia and a few tracks on Reckoning Night and Winterheart's Guild) contain several elements typical of progressive metal.^[1]

Biography[link]

Formation and early years (1996–1999)[link]

The band was founded by Marko Paasikoski, Jani Liimatainen and Tommy Portimo in Kemi at the end of 1995 (Tony Kakko and Pentti Peura joined in early 1996). Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — Friend 'till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker.

In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.^[2]

In 1999 (after they changed their name to Sonata Arctica), the band recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed.

[edit] Ecliptica and Silence (1999–2002)

Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled "UnOpened" was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon after, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut Ecliptica arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave reviews from the specialized press.^{[citation needed]}

Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began seeking a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.

In the beginning of 2000, Sonata Arctica was chosen to support the well known power metal band Stratovarius throughout their European tour. Marko Paasikoski returned to the band to play bass in the wake of Janne Kivilahti's departure after the tour.

From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album — Silence — which was released in June 2001. An extensive tour followed, which included concerts throughout Europe (together with Gamma Ray) and Japan. In 2002 Sonata Arctica made its first incursion to America, putting on shows in Brazil and Chile. According to some of the musicians from the band, it was one of their best tours to date — the other being the Japanese tour from 2003. A live album entitled Songs of Silence was also released that year, consisting of gigs from their tour in Japan. By the end of 2002, Mikko Härkin left the band due to personal reasons.

[edit] Winterheart's Guild (2003)

Their third album — Winterheart's Guild — was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player Jens Johansson from Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos, while Kakko took care of the basics. The album was released in 2003.

In the search for another keyboardist, the band received many applications and two of them were invited for auditions. Since they were well aware of the candidates' ability, the band decided to pick the new member based on personality. To this end they spent a night drinking with each of the potentials in order to find out which one would fit best into the band's personality and mentality. Henrik Klingenberg was eventually chosen and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of Winterheart's Guild. Most of the concerts on the tour were sold out.

With the end of their contract with Spinefarm Records, the band received invitations from most European recording labels, and eventually opted for Nuclear Blast.

[edit] Reckoning Night (2004–2005)

In early 2004, the band was chosen as the opener for Iron Maiden's Japanese tour. Additionally, Tommy Portimo became a father; his wife gave birth to a baby girl in March. Reckoning Night was recorded in three months and released in October. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. A promotional tour was to follow, but Sonata Arctica was invited by the popular Nightwish to join their European tour, and thus made a change of plans. The concerts that followed were played for audiences of over ten thousand people. Fans took notice that Reckoning Night was more progressive than previous Sonata Arctica albums. At that time in interviews, Tony Kakko and Henrik Klingenberg began to claim that they saw themselves as more so just a rock band than Power Metal. Another notable feature about this album was that Henrik Klingenberg introduced use of the organ to the band.

In early 2005, Nightwish invited the band to open the concerts of their North American tour. This tour eventually got cancelled, but the members of Sonata Arctica opted to still make a short tour, playing concerts in Canada and the USA. On October 21, 2005, Sonata Arctica opened for Nightwish at the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki.

[edit] For the Sake of Revenge and Winterheart's Guild video game (2006)

In 2006, the band released a live CD and DVD entitled For the Sake of Revenge, which was recorded in Tokyo in February 2005. Then, Spinefarm Records released a compilation album in order to get the most out of their contract with the band, since Sonata Arctica changed their recording label. The compilation is entitled The End of This Chapter and was released in Japan in August 2005 and in Europe in May 2006.

A computer video game was also planned, based on Sonata Arctica characters and music. The name of the game was going to be Winterheart's Guild, like their album. The game was to be developed by Zelian Games, and was to be an Action-RPG in a style between Fallout and Diablo. The game was cancelled for unannounced reasons but a demo was shown at the Leipzig video game conference in 2006, featuring Henrik Klingenberg as the playable character. In December 2006, the band began recording their fifth studio album.

[edit] Unia (2007–2008)

On May 25, 2007, Unia was released. The album's first single, "Paid In Full", was released on April 27, 2007. Interestingly, the cover for Unia features a barely perceptible image of a person's hair and eyes looking out through a crack in the background in the lower right-hand corner. It is likely an allusion to the person in the song "Caleb".

On August 6, 2007, the band announced on their website that guitarist Jani Liimatainen had been asked to leave the band due to problems related to his conscription. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen who had already filled in for him in the band's Finnish and Japanese shows during the spring and summer.

In October 2007 Sonata Arctica headlined the ProgPower USA VIII. Later the band supported Nightwish across their 2008 tour of United States and Canada and headlined at the shows that Nightwish cancelled due to Anette Olzon's sudden severe sickness.^[3]

In 2008 Tony Kakko collaborated with English singer/songwriter and arranger Mark Deeks to perform choral arrangements of some of the band's works at a special one off concert at The Sage Centre in Gateshead.

It was announced on September 4, 2008 that the band's first two albums would be re-released with bonus tracks by Spinefarm UK on October 6.^[4]

[edit] The Days of Grays (2009-2011)

Sonata Arctica during the The Days of Grays Tour 2011.

Sonata Arctica's latest album was released on September 16, 2009 in Finland and September 22 in the USA.^[5] Henrik stated that the new album would be in the same vein as Unia, but not as complex and darker.^[5] Singles from this album include "Flag in the Ground" and "The Last Amazing Grays". On August 28, 2009, the music video of "Flag In The Ground" was released to the web. The limited 2CD European edition of the album featured many of the album tracks with all instruments performed by a symphony orchestra.^[6]

The band also recently toured with DragonForce for the third U.S. leg of the Ultra Beatdown tour, and will be touring the US "two or three times," as well as doing a European tour and Asian tour covering Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. In early 2010 they engaged on an Australian tour with Ensiferum and Melbourne band Vanishing Point.

In April 2010, Sonata Arctica embarked on their USA and Canada Headlining tour for The Days of Grays. In October they headlined in Chile in support of the same album.^[7]

[edit] Stones Grow Her Name (since 2011)

In January 2011, the band hinted in an online interview for Metaleater magazine that they are currently writing songs for a new album while on their current tour. Elias is quoted as saying, "I've been working on some new riffs, quite dark. Tony's been stuck in his bed scratching notes about some girl and her 'Luna Lust'." Tommy states later, "We've just got back from Cozumel, we had a good time, had lots of beers, loads more sun and thought about putting a bit more Queen stuff back into the music again."

While playing in Wolverhampton, Tony stated to the audience that they were in fact hoping to start recording the new album this autumn and have it available for purchase before summer 2012.

In April, the band recorded a live DVD in Oulu, Finland, entitled "Live in Finland", which was released on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11).

It was announced on February 20, 2012 through the official Sonata Arctica website that the new album entitled Stones Grow Her Name would be released on May 18 in Europe and May 22 in North America .^[8][9]

Influences[link]

In a 2007 interview with C.B.Liddell, Tony Kakko cited the English rock band Queen as his biggest musical influence. "A lot of people seem to mention a Queen influence in our music," he said. "Queen have always been the biggest band for me."^[10]

Members[link]

Tony Kakko.

Elias Viljanen and Marko Paasikoski.

Tommy Portimo.

Henrik Klingenberg.

Current[link]

• Tony Kakko
  • Vocals (1996−present)
  • Keyboards (1996–2001, 2003, 2007–present)
• Elias Viljanen
  • Guitars (2007−present)
  • Backing vocals (2007−present)
• Marko Paasikoski
  • Bass guitar (2000−present)
  • Backing vocals (2000−present)
  • Guitars (1996–1997)
• Tommy Portimo
  • Drums (1996−present)
• Henrik Klingenberg
  • Keyboards/keytar (2002−present)
  • Backing vocals (2002−present)

Former[link]

• Pentti Peura
  • Bass guitar (1996−1998)
  • Backing vocals (1996−1998)
• Janne Kivilahti
  • Bass guitar (1998−2000)
  • Backing vocals (1998−2000)
• Mikko Härkin
  • Keyboards (2000−2002)
  • Backing vocals (2000−2002)
• Jani Liimatainen
  • Guitars (1996−2007)
  • Backing vocals (1996−2007)

Guest musicians[link]

• Raisa Aine − flute (on "Letter to Dana")
• Nik Van-Eckmann − spoken passages (on "...of Silence", "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "The Power of One" from Silence and "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." and "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night)
• Timo Kotipelto − vocals (on "False News Travel Fast" from Silence^[11] and "Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)", "Shitload Of Money", "I Have A Right", and "Alone In Heaven")
• Renay Gonzalez − spoken female passage (on "The End of This Chapter")
• Jens Johansson − keyboard solos (on "The Cage", "Silver Tongue", "Victoria's Secret" and "Champagne Bath")
• Peter Engberg − acoustic guitars, bouzouki, viola caipira, banjo, chromaharp, cavaquinho and Q-chord (on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan" from Unia and "Cinderblox", "I Have A Right", "The Day","Don't Be Mean", and "Alone In Heaven" from Stones Grow Her Name
• Johanna Kurkela − female vocals (on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart")
• Pekka Kuusisto - violin (on "Don't Be Mean", "Cinderblox", "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain", and "Wilfire III, Wildfire Town, Population: 0")
• Lauri Valkonen - double bass (on "Cinderblox", and "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain")
• Mika Myllari - trumpet (on "Shitload Of Money")
• Mikko P. Mustonen - orchestrations (on "Wildfire III, Wilfire Town, Population: 0")
• Anna Lavender - spoken passage (on "I Have A Right")
• Mediocre Media Ogre Choir - hey's (on "Shitload of Money")

Discography[link]

Studio albums:

• Ecliptica (1999)
• Silence (2001)
• Winterheart's Guild (2003)
• Reckoning Night (2004)
• Unia (2007)
• The Days of Grays (2009)
• Stones Grow Her Name (2012)

Cover songs[link]

• "Black Diamond" − Stratovarius (live, short clip in Stratovarius - Infinite Visions VHS/DVD)
• "Speed of Light" − Stratovarius (at the end of "False News Travel Fast" in Songs of Silence)
• "Fade to Black" − Metallica (Victoria's Secret, Takatalvi, A Tribute to the Four Horsemen)
• "Wind Beneath My Wings" − Bette Midler (Orientation)
• "Die With Your Boots On" − Iron Maiden (Last Drop Falls, Orientation)
• "World in My Eyes" − Depeche Mode (Don't Say a Word)
• "Two Minds, One Soul" − Vanishing Point (Don't Say a Word)
• "Still Loving You" − Scorpions (Takatalvi)
• "I Want Out" − Helloween (Takatalvi)
• "Out in the Fields" − Gary Moore (Paid in Full, Unia)
• "Silent Jealousy" − X Japan (live)
• "Crash & Burn" − Yngwie Malmsteen (live)
• "Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" − Sentenced (live)
• "I Was Made for Lovin' You" − KISS (live)
• "Smoke on the Water" − Deep Purple (live)
• "Child in Time" - Deep Purple (live)
• "Gaston y'a l'téléfon qui son" − Nino Ferrer (live)
• "One" − Metallica (live)
• "We Will Rock You" − Queen (live)
• "No More Tears" − Ozzy Osbourne (live)
• "Hava Nagila" ("The Cage"/"Vodka", "For the Sake of Revenge")
• "Master of Puppets" − Metallica (live)
• "The Trooper" − Iron Maiden (live)
• "Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera (live, Jani Liimatainen's Young Guitar DVD and Into The Storm bootleg DVD)
• "Metropolis" - Dream Theater" (live)
• "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler" (live)
• "Runaway" - Del Shannon (live)
• "Hell Is Living Without You" - Alice Cooper (One For All, All For One)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonata Arctica

• Sonata Arctica's official website
• Sonata Arctica on Myspace
• Sonata Arctica's official fanclub
• Winterheart's Guild video game

The word asshole, a variant of arsehole, which is still prevalent in British and Australian English, is a vulgar to describe the anus, often pejoratively used to refer to people.

History[link]

The word arse in English derives from the Germanic root *arsaz, which originated from the Proto-Indo-European root *ors — meaning buttocks or backside.^[1] The combined form arsehole is first attested from 1500 in its literal use to refer to the anus. The metaphorical use of the word to refer to the worst place in a region, e.g., "the arsehole of the world") is first attested in print in 1865; the use to refer to a contemptible person is first attested in 1933.^[2] In the ninth chapter of his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Richard Wright quotes a snippet of verse that uses the term: "All these white folks dressed so fine / Their ass-holes smell just like mine ...". Its first appearance as an insult term in a newspaper indexed by Google News is in 1965.^[3] As with other vulgarities, these uses of the word may have been common in oral speech for some time before their first print appearances. By the 1970s, Hustler magazine featured people they did not like as "Asshole of the Month."^[4] In 1972, Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers recorded his song "Pablo Picasso," which includes the line "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole."

Until the early 1990s, the word was considered one of a number of words that could not be uttered on commercial television in the United States. Comedian Andrew Dice Clay caused a major shock when he uttered the word during a televised MTV awards show in 1989.^[5] However, there were PG-13 and R rated films in the 1980s that featured use of the word, such as the R-rated The Terminator (1984), the PG-13-rated National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), and the PG-rated Back to the Future (1985). By 1994, however, vulgarity had become more acceptable, and the word was featured in dialog on the long-running television series NYPD Blue, though it has yet to become anything close to commonplace on network TV. In some broadcast edits (such as the syndication airings of South Park), the word is partially bleeped out — ironically, as "assh—", with the profane half of the word intact.

Semantics[link]

The word is mainly used as a vulgarity, generally to describe people who are viewed as stupid or incompetent or detestable.^[6]

This word or its literal translation is found in colloquial speech in a number of cultures (in both English and other languages).^[7] This is because it describes an organ of elimination that is considered a taboo region (since it belongs to the intimate parts) of the body in many societies.^[8]

The English word ass (meaning donkey, a cognate of its zoological name Equus asinus) may also be used as a term of contempt, referring to a silly or stupid person. In the United States, and, to a lesser degree, in Canada, the words arse and ass have become synonymous; however, in the rest of the English-speaking world, ass still only refers to the donkey, rather than the arse (buttocks). It is worth noting that speakers of some varieties of English "drop their Rs" before consonants, leading to a pronunciation of arse that is quite similar to ass.^[9]

Political usage[link]

In 2000, during a Labor Day event, then candidate George W. Bush made an off-hand remark to his running mate, Dick Cheney, that New York Times reporter Adam Clymer was a "major league asshole." The gaffe was caught on microphone and led to a political advertisement chiding Bush for "using expletives ... in front of a crowd of families," produced for Democratic opponent Al Gore.^[10]

In February 2004, American media reported that during a rally of supporters, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Bush "an asshole" for believing his aides in supporting a coup against Chavez in 2002.^[11] The word in the original Spanish was "pendejo", and in news coverage the word was widely, though incorrectly, translated as "asshole"; the meaning of the word varies substantially in Latin America, and in Venezuela its meaning is closer to "fool".^[12] The following year, in September, Nightline host Ted Koppel said to Chavez on national television, "I'm going to perhaps shock you a little, but these are your words. You called President Bush an asshole," to which Chavez replied, "I've said various things about him. I don't know if I actually used that word."^[13]

See also[link]

• Arse
• The No Asshole Rule
• Sexual Slang
• Profanity

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Mary Lou (born March 15, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for playing Mary Ferry on the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous.

Career[link]

At age 8, she chose to pursue a career in television and film.

Mary Lou’s show business career started at age six when she entertained as a member of Singing Solo (a children's singing group located in La Mesa, CA) at a local street fair with a rendition of The Good Ship Lollipop. After this performance, she chose acting as her career. Over the next few years, Lou went on to sing at over two dozen venues throughout Southern California, Texas and Tennessee, winning multiple local, state, regional, national and world championship titles.

Mary Lou also filmed a guest-starring role on Phil of the Future, as a math-nerd named Alex, in Good Phil Hunting. Mary also appeared on Future Girls: Adventures in Marine Biology and Bad Mother's Handbook and guest starred on What should you do?. More recently Mary was on Glee. She continues to audition daily for feature films, television and voiceover.

Personal life[link]

She is the cousin of actress Danneel Harris. Mary Lou was born in California.

Today, Mary Lou is a featured artist at charity events with her live country-western show^{[citation needed]}.

Filmography[link]

External links[link]

• Mary Lou at the Internet Movie Database
• Unfabulous Official Site

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