Condor

Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.

They are:

Taxonomy

Condors are part of the family Cathartidae, whereas the 15 species of Old World vultures are in the family Accipitridae, that also includes ospreys, hawks, and eagles. The New World and Old World vultures evolved from different ancestors. However, they both are carrion-eaters and have distinctive bare heads.

See Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy for an alternative classification.

Description

Both condors are very large broad-winged soaring birds, the Andean condor being 5 cm shorter (beak to tail) on average than the northern species, but larger in wingspan. California condors are the largest flying land birds in North America. The Andean condor is second only to the wandering albatross (up to 3.5 m) in terms of wingspan among all living flying birds.

Condor (ride)

The Condor is the trade name of an amusement ride sold by HUSS of Bremen, Germany. It was debuted at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, under the name "Cyclo Tower".

The Condor has 28 steel-framed gondolas, each equipped with a painted fiberglass shell - frequently to resemble the seats to be an actual bird. The seats hold one or two people seated in each, one sitting behind the other if they decide to ride double. It can accommodate approximately 1,700 riders per hour. The automatic doors on the ride are operated by pneumatic air pressure, and are manually opened and closed during necessary points at the beginning/end of the ride cycle. The ride uses a cable and counterweight system within the tower to assist with the raising and lowering of the rotating assembly.

There is a DC induction motor located at the end of each arm responsible for rotating the gondolas, as well as three more on the middle lifting structure used for rotation of the entire assembly and travelling the tower. To start the ride, most Condors use a three-button start system - with three buttons required to be hit at the same time to start the cycle. (The operator in the booth uses his or her thumbs on the two buttons located on the panel, while an attendant in a location around the perimeter must be holding that one as well.)

Condor (comics)

Condor is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The Condor first appeared in Nova #2-3 (October–November 1976), and was created by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema.

The character subsequently appears in Nova #6-8 (February–April 1977), #10 (June 1977), Nova #2-5 (February–May 1994), #13 (January 1995), Nova #3-4 (July–August 1999), #7 (November 1999), and Amazing Spider-Man #562-563 (August 2008).

Fictional character biography

Condor is a winged criminal scientist, and is a member of the same race of avians as Red Raven. He was a member of the Terrible Trio, along with Diamondhead and Powerhouse, and an enemy of Nova and the Champions of Xandar. During a battle with the Sphinx, he was transformed into an actual condor.

Condor spent several years in the form of an animal, until he landed on the island of Bird-Brain and the Ani-Mates. Bird-Brain recognized that the Condor was not a real animal and transformed him into a semi-humanoid. He confronted Nova again angrily, and ultimately left feeling their conflict had been useless.

Mother (Danzig song)

"Mother" is a song by American heavy metal band Danzig. It was originally released in August 1988 as the lead single from their debut album, Danzig.

In 1993–1994, almost six years after its original release, a remixed version of the song titled "Mother '93" became a hit on radio and earned Buzz Bin rotation on MTV after a music video incorporating live footage was created to promote the band's new EP, Thrall: Demonsweatlive. During this time the single was reissued by American Recordings, with the remix title updated to "Mother '94" on later versions.

"Mother" remains Danzig's highest charting single. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, the song peaked at number 62 on the singles chart.

Writing and recording

Following the success of "Mother", Glenn Danzig recalled writing the song: “I remember calling Rick Rubin in the middle of the night and telling him that I wrote an incredible song—probably the best song I'd ever written. It was the song I always wanted to write. The first time we played it, people went crazy. But I never wrote that song to make it a hit—I never wrote that way, and I still don't. I write songs so that they say something and do something, and if people like them, great—and if they don't, they don't.”

Mother (Luna Sea song)

"Mother" is the fifth single by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released on February 22, 1995. The song reached number 5 on the Oricon singles chart. This version of "Mother" is slightly different from the album's. The B-side is a live version of "Déjàvu" recorded on December 27, 1994 at the Nippon Budokan.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Luna Sea.

References

Mother (Kubb album)

Mother is the debut album of British band Kubb. It was released on 14 November 2005 in the UK on the Mercury Records label. It reached a peak of #26 the week of 13 February 2006. The album was never released in the US, although some versions have surfaced stateside (these versions removed the track "Bitch," bringing the album down to 11 tracks).

Track listing

Singles

B-sides (in order by single release)