Ariel

Ariel may refer to:

Animals

Places

People

Characters

Ariel (Russian band)

Ariel (Ариэль) are a "VIA" (pop/rock) band based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They were formed in 1970 and headed by Valery Yarushin. From 1989 to the present day, they have been headed by Rostislav Gepp. The group emerged from a fusion of two earlier (1960s) ensembles, called Ariel and Allegro. Yarushin, who had been in charge of Allegro, became the manager of the new group. The band was popular during the Soviet era and won several awards. Their performances often made use of material of Russian folk music.

External links

Ariel (poem)

"Ariel" is a poem written by the American poet Sylvia Plath. It was written on October 27, 1962, shortly before her death, and published posthumously in the collection Ariel in 1965, of which it is the namesake. Despite its ambiguity, it is literally understood to describe an early morning horse-ride towards the rising sun. Scholars and literary critics have applied various methods of interpretation to "Ariel".

Style and structure

"Ariel" is composed of ten three-line stanzas with an additional single line at the end, and follows an unusual slanted rhyme scheme. Literary commentator William V. Davis notes a change in tone and break of the slanted rhyme scheme in the sixth stanza which marks a shift in the theme of the poem, from being literally about a horse ride, to more of a metaphoric experience of oneness with the horse and the act of riding itself.

Context

It has been speculated that, being written on her birthday as well as using the general theme of rebirth, "Ariel" acted as a sort of psychic rebirth for the poet. The poem, written just five months before her eventual suicide, thus, not surprisingly given its name as well, is one of her Ariel poems. "Ariel" was the name of the horse Plath rode at a riding school on Dartmoor in Devon. Ted Hughes, Plath's husband, comments:

Braid (video game)

Braid is a platform and puzzle video game developed by Number None, Inc. The game was originally released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. Ports were developed and released for Microsoft Windows in April 2009, OS X in May 2009, PlayStation 3 in November 2009, and Linux in December 2010.

The basic story elements unfold as the protagonist, Tim, attempts to rescue a princess from a monster. Text passages laid throughout the game reveal a multifaceted narrative, giving clues about Tim's contemplations and motivations. The game features traditional aspects of the platform genre while integrating various powers of time-manipulation. Using these abilities, the player progresses by finding and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Jonathan Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in game development. He funded the three-year project with his own money. Webcomic artist David Hellman drew the artwork, which underwent several iterations until it satisfied Blow's vision. A preliminary version of Braid without the final artwork won the "Innovation in Game Design" award at the 2006 Independent Games Festival; the final version received additional accolades. The game received highly positive reviews from critics, eventually becoming the highest critically rated title on Xbox Live. Some reviewers, however, criticized the game's price relative to its length.

The Herring-Bone (solitaire)

The Herring-Bone is a free cell solitaire card game that is played with 104 playing cards. It is also known as "Braid" or under its original German name "Der Zopf". The game needs little planning but plays well as medium hard solitaire rule. The English name was mentioned by Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience in 1914.

Setup

Build the herring-bone with 21 cards (24 for the Long Braid) in the middle of the tableau. Then allocate 6 free cells to the left and to the right of the bone and place the 8 foundations (four on each side) farther out to the left and the right.

Rules

The goal is to build in either direction (but all the same direction) on the 8 wrap-around foundations to the left and the right of the tableau. Only the lowest card of the herring-bone is available for play. One cannot build on the herring-bone. Four free cells are linked to “the herring-bone” in the center. You are allowed to fill them with the last card from the herring-bone if it does not fit to the foundations. When playing Long Braid one can drop to all free cells from the braid/bone. All free cells can be used to hold cards from the waste that may be useful soon. The biggest decision for the success of the game is whether to start building the families up or down.