Aska may refer to:
Aska came to prominence when they were chosen to represent Yugoslavia at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, where their song "Halo, halo" only managed to achieve a lustreless 14th place out of 18 participants with 21 points, although having received the top mark of 12 points from the Swedish jury.
The members of the group were Snežana Mišković, Izolda Barudžija and Snežana Stamenković, who retired shortly upon the return from Harrogate, and was replaced by Suzana Perović.
The girls went on to record several albums before disbanding in order to pursue solo careers. Snežana Mišković remained in pop and went on to have an established career with her band Viktorija. Izolda Barudžija's career faded away after two additional attempts at the Eurovision Song Contest (in 1983 and 1984).
Suzana Perović switched to more commercial folk music and released a few semi-successful albums before she vanished from the music scene. The albums featured hits "Pobediće ljubav", "Dežurna pesma" and "Istanbul". However, her most remembered songs were "Princ iz bajke" and "Zašto ljubomoran nisi", recorded in 1987 for the follow-up to the ground-breaking Serbian comedy "Tesna koža" (which helped launch the career of the folk icon of the 80s, Lepa Brena), and in which Perović appeared as a singer named Suzi.
Aska, Ryo Aska or Ryō Asuka (飛鳥 涼, Asuka Ryō) (born Shigeaki Miyazaki (宮﨑 重明, Miyazaki Shigeaki) on February 24, 1958, Ono, now part of Onojō, Fukuoka) is a Japanese singer-songwriter.
Aska is best known for work as part of the music duo Chage and Aska. As a composer, he wrote most of the principal hit songs for the duo, such as "Morning Moon", "Love Song", "Say Yes", and "Meguriai". Over half of their released singles were written by him. He has also written for many singers and groups in addition to Chage and Aska. In particular, his songwriting for Hikaru Genji in the late 1980s produced some of his most notable works. He began a solo career in 1987, and was highly successful in the first half of the 1990s. His most well-known song as a solo singer is "Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame" (The Start Is Always Rain), which was a single from his second solo album. The song reached #2 on oricon and sold over 1,160,000 copies. Success of this song lead him to widespread popularity across East Asia. He was arrested on 17 May 2014 for possession of the illegal stimulant MDMA. On 12 September 2014 he was given a three-year jail sentence which was suspended for four years.
Birth, also known as parturition, is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe. In some species the offspring is precocial and can move around almost immediately after birth but in others it is altricial and completely dependent on parenting. In marsupials, the fetus is born at a very immature stage after a short gestational period and develops further in its mother's pouch.
It is not only mammals that give birth. Some reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates carry their developing young inside them. Some of these are ovoviviparous, with the eggs being hatched inside the mother's body, and others are viviparous, with the embryo developing inside her body, as in mammals.
Large mammals, such as primates, cattle, horses, some antelopes, giraffes, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, elephants, seals, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, generally are pregnant with one offspring at a time; although, they may have twin or multiple births on occasion. In these large animals, the birth process is similar to that of a human though in most, the offspring is precocial. This means that it is born in a more advanced state than a human baby and is able to stand, walk and run (or swim in the case of an aquatic mammal) shortly after birth. In the case of whales, dolphins and porpoises, the single calf is normally born tail first which minimises the risk of drowning. The mother encourages the newborn calf to rise to the surface of the water to breathe.
Birth is the process in animals by which an offspring is expelled from the body of its mother.
Birth may also refer to:
Wonder Showzen was an American sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by John Lee and Vernon Chatman of PFFR. The show is rated TV-MA.
The show's format is that of educational PBS children's television shows such as Sesame Street and The Electric Company (e.g. use of stock footage, puppetry, and clips of children being interviewed), parodying the format with adult-oriented content. In addition to general controversial comedy, it satirizes politics, religion, war, sex, and culture with black comedy.
Every episode begins with a disclaimer, which reads:
"Wonder Showzen contains offensive, despicable content that is too controversial and too awesome for actual children. The stark, ugly and profound truths Wonder Showzen exposes may be soul-crushing to the weak of spirit. If you allow a child to watch this show, you are a bad parent or guardian."
Wonder Showzen was created by John Lee and Vernon Chatman and pitched to the USA Network in 2000, but after a few minutes of viewing, executives there quickly concluded it did not fit the network's programming style. However, Viacom was re-branding MTV2 and made Wonder Showzen part of its new programming lineup. It aired as part of Sic 'Em Fridays, along with Dirty Sanchez and Wildboyz. The pilot was named simply "Kids Show". The Wonder Showzen theme song is still 'Kids Show'. Reruns of the show also air on MTV and Comedy Central.