John II was Elector of Brandenburg from 1486 until his death, the fourth of the House of Hohenzollern. After his death he received the posthumous cognomen Cicero, after the Roman orator of the same name, but the elector's eloquence and interest in the arts is debatable. John Cicero was the eldest son of Elector Albert III Achilles of Brandenburg with his first wife Margaret of Baden; as his father ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, he was born at the Hohenzollern residence of Ansbach in Franconia, where he spent his childhood years until in 1466 he received the call to Brandenburg as presumed heir by his uncle Elector Frederick II. He joined him in the War of the Succession of Stettin with the Pomeranian dukes, until Frederick resigned in 1470 and was succeeded by John's father, who in 1473 appointed him regent of the Brandenburg lands. After the Pomeranian struggle he had to deal with the inheritance conflict upon the 1476 death of the Piast duke Henry XI of Głogów, husband of his half-sister Barbara.

On 25 August 1476 in Berlin John married Margaret of Wettin, a daughter of Landgrave William III of Thuringia with Anne, Duchess of Luxembourg. Their children were: Wolfgang and died 1482. Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, Elector of Brandenburg. Elisabeth and died 1486. Anna of Brandenburg, married 10 April 1502 to King Frederick I of Denmark. Ursula of Brandenburg, married 16 February 1507 to Duke of Mecklenburg. Albert of Mainz, Cardinal since 1518, Archbishop of Magdeburg in 1513–45, Archbishop of Mainz in 1514–45. John succeeded his father as elector in 1486, while the Franconian possessions of the Hohenzollern dynasty passed to his younger brothers Frederick I and Siegmund, he decreed that the Stadtschloss in Berlin, erected at the behest of his uncle Frederick II, should serve as the permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors, the beginning of the city's history as a state capital. He implemented an excise tax on beer in 1488, which sparked several disturbances in the towns of the Altmark region.

In 1490 John was able to purchase the former Lusatian territory around Zossen, acknowledged by the Bohemian king Vladislaus II, maintained the succession claims of the Hohenzollern dynasty to the Pomeranian lands held by the House of Griffins. He died in 1499 from pleural effusion at Arneburg Castle and was succeeded by his eldest son Joachim I. John was the first of the Hohenzollern electors to be buried in Brandenburg, first at Lehnin Abbey transferred to Berlin Cathedral by order of his grandson Joachim II

The red weed is a fictional plant native to Mars in the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, it is this plant that gives Mars its dull red colour. It is one of the several types of plants brought to Earth accidentally by the invading Martians, but the only one, able to adapt and grow widespread on Earth; when it is exposed to water, it grows and reproduces explosively, flooding the neighboring countryside as it clogs streams and rivers. The narrator mentions near the end of "The Man on Putney Hill", he tries eating some. Though it engulfed the native plant life of Earth, it succumbed to the effects of Earth bacteria. Wells' earlier short story, "The Crystal Egg", features a "dense, red weed" seen on Mars that grows on water, in this case a Martian canal; as the book has been interpreted as criticism of imperialism, the red weed could symbolize the non-native fauna colonizers introduced to the Americas, New Zealand and other countries. In many cases, these introduced species overwhelmed the native fauna in remote islands.

Wells may have been influenced by the theories of Camille Flammarion, who in 1873 claimed that Mars was red due to red vegetation growing on it. The red weed is not mentioned in the radio adaptation, is absent from the 1953 film. Therefore, their means of transforming the planet was to conserve and promote Earth's own vegetation. In Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, the red weed is given a two-part song, with eerie music to signify its slow and threatening growth over the Earth. In the live tour, CGI footage of the red weed portrayed it as a mossy creeper that grew much faster than Wells' original account. In Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds film, the presence of the red weed on Earth is intentional. Once they have a strong hold of the planet, the invaders take captured humans and drain their blood, which act as a fertiliser for the red weed, helping it grow and cover the planet. Spielberg did state that these invaders did not come from Mars, the script indicates the weed is abundantly present on their world as well, suggesting the two share a superficial resemblance.

However, what makes up their red weed, whether it is a natural vegetation or what gives it its colour on their world, is unknown. In one scene, the Tripods used their tentacles to dig fiercely at the ground, which could have been when and how they planted the red weed, it grows so that it can be seen growing, it can grow on just about anything. It is stated in the script that the weed is fierce enough to flourish in spite of the conditions that had forced the aliens to find refuge on a new world, but despite its tenacity to survive such a harsh environment, much like in the novel, Earth's pathogens kill the red weed. Crows eat some of the remains and the rest become an ash-like dust, blown away in the wind; the red weed is depicted in the Timothy Hines film H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, a direct adaptation of the novel. However, it is not featured in any detail, its presence is nothing more than as a part of the background. In fact, the term "red weed" is said only once throughout the film.

The weed does not appear in the modernised, 2005 The Asylum film H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, but scenes in the film show a reddish-orange colour scheme used to adapt the red weed into a more realistic aspect and to resemble the colour of Mars to symbolise the aliens' control over mankind, it is confirmed that no such weed exists by Mars Rover recordings during the opening title sequence, the surface of the planet seen on the sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave. In Stephen Baxter's sequel, The Massacre of Mankind, areas infested with the red weed and sprayed with the black smoke are still barren thirteen years after the 1907 invasion, due to the lingering toxicity, it is present in the PC game of The War of the Worlds, where it replaces the trees if more Martian buildings and defenses are built in that sector, as well as the mobile game of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds: Minigame Adventure. In 2012, it received its own Android game called Red Weed, where players try to stop the slimy Red Weed from spreading over the land as it changes every patch of green grass it touches into red tendrils.

In Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, which deals with the effects of the Martian invasion within a wider fictional context, the red weed is deliberately employed by the Martians as an anti-shipping weapon, in order to prevent Captain Nemo's submarine, the Nautilus, from providing effective resistance to the Martian invasion, after the Invisible Man warns them of the Nautilus' capabilities. In the comic sequel to the story, Scarlet Traces, the red weed has been farmed because its oil is the only thing that can lubricate the adapted Martian technology; as one character points out, this suggests that the Martians brought it to Earth on purpose

Loews Royal Pacific Resort is a resort hotel located at Universal Orlando Resort. The resort was the third hotel in the expansion, opening in 2002, following Loews Portofino Bay Hotel and the Hard Rock Hotel; the resort is based around the Isles of the South Seas, with three towers to accommodate guests in with a total of 1,000 rooms. Loews Hotels is the owner and operator of this hotel, along with the other Universal Orlando resorts. Loews Royal Pacific Resort offers 3 full service restaurants, a casual quick restaurant which includes a breakfast buffet. A 24-hour room service is available with a breakfast and dinner menu. Wantilan Luau is a popular show scheduled 6:00 every Saturday, is popular for its festive food and cultural dancing; the resort has a shop that sells Universal park souvenirs. Fitness Center - Situated near the pool Lagoon Swimming Pool - Includes volleyball courts, two hot tubs, private cabanas Game Over - A large set of arcade games Resort Kids Camp - A supervised play room and activity center for children Wantilan Luau - A festive show with food and entertainment Official website Universal Website