Blue is the colour between violet and green on the optical spectrum of visible light. Human eyes perceive blue when observing light with a wavelength between 450 and 495 nanometres. Blues with a higher frequency and thus a shorter wavelength gradually look more violet, while those with a lower frequency and a longer wavelength gradually appear more green. Pure blue, in the middle, has a wavelength of 470 nanometres. In painting and traditional colour theory, blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments, along with red and yellow, which can be mixed to form a wide gamut of colours. Red and blue mixed together form violet, blue and yellow together form green. Blue is also a primary colour in the RGB colour model, used to create all the colours on the screen of a television or computer monitor.
The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao. The clear sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths are scattered more widely by the oxygen and nitrogen molecules, and more blue comes to our eyes. Rayleigh scattering also explains blue eyes; there is no blue pigment in blue eyes. Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called atmospheric perspective.
Blue was an adventure travel magazine, founded in 1997 by Amy Schrier, with David Carson as the original design consultant. Its focus was on global adventure travel. It was published in New York and is now out of print; its last issue was February–March 2000.
The cover of its first issue was included in a list of the Top 40 magazine covers of the last 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors. In 1999 Life magazine listed it in the Best Magazine Photos of the Year. The New York Times characterized it as "not your father's National Geographic."
Blue Gender (Japanese: ブルージェンダー, Hepburn: Burū Jendā) is a 26-episode anime created, co-directed and co-written by Ryōsuke Takahashi (of Armored Trooper Votoms and Gasaraki fame) broadcast in Japan from 1999-2000. Blue Gender was created by the Japanese animation studio, AIC and is distributed in the United States by Funimation Entertainment. In 2003, Blue Gender was released on American television as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, though it had originally been planned for Toonami, and was thus edited to remove its graphic violence, nudity, and sex scenes (however, its airing on Colours TV and Funimation Channel in the United States). There is also a compilation movie (Blue Gender: The Warrior) available on DVD with an alternative ending. The series was also shown on the Sci Fi Channel in the UK in 2002-2003. The Blue Gender series is set in the 2030s, in which Earth has been overrun by the Blue, which are mutated insect-like creatures containing a newly evolved B-cell that recently appeared in several humans, including the main protagonist, Yuji Kaido, that kill and harvest humans for food. Most of the surviving human race has moved to Second Earth, a huge space station that orbits the planet. The series mostly focuses on Yuji and Marlene's relationship as they work together to reach Second Earth and their participation in military combat operations against the Blue.
Kong (sometimes KONG) is a popular line of dog toys and cat toys introduced in 1976. The classic Kong resembles a snowman-like structure of three balls pushed together. Kongs also come in several variations for dogs of different ages and sizes. Made of rubber, they are hollow in the middle, and can be stuffed with treats or frozen to provide long-lasting distraction for anxious or high-energy dogs.
They come in four rubber types; red for average chewers, pink or blue for puppies, purple for seniors, and black for tough chewers. In addition to the typical snowman-like Kongs, Kong has also made a very successful line of dental chews, balls, pull toys (such as the Kong Wubba and the Kong Tugger Knots), Frisbees, a dog binky, floating toys, squeakers, and various interactive toys and accessories. For cats, Kong also has a line of toys including a cat version of their "Wubba", as well as scratching boards, catnip, and other chew toys.
The toys are produced by the Kong Company of Colorado. The company founder, Joe Markham, invented the Kong in the 1970s, when he noticed his German shepherd Fritz damaging his teeth by chewing rocks. He found that Fritz enjoyed chewing on a hard rubber Volkswagen Bus suspension device, and spent about six years experimenting with different compounds to produce a chew toy of similar size and shape that he could sell to pet owners. A friend commented that the toy looked like "an earplug for King Kong"--hence its name. Originally, Markham sold most of his products to Israel, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom, but the Kong began a rise in sales in the United States in the mid-1980s, and have remained popular there subsequently. The book Planet Dog (2005) describes the Kong as "possibly the best-known dog toy in the world".
Richard Dorian "Dickie" Goodman (April 19, 1934 – November 6, 1989) was an American music and record producer born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for inventing and using the technique of the "break-in", an early precursor to sampling, that used brief clips of popular records and songs to "answer" comedic questions posed by voice actors on his novelty records. He also wrote and produced some original material, most often heard on the B-side of his break-in records.
In June 1956, Goodman created his first record, "The Flying Saucer Parts 1 & II", which he co-wrote with his partner Bill Buchanan, and featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio show. This recording was the subject of a copyright infringement case against Goodman. The court eventually ruled his sampled mix was considered a parody, and was an entirely new work. "The Flying Saucer" was officially released under the artist name "Buchanan and Goodman" and was Goodman's highest-charting single on Billboard, peaking at #3. Buchanan and Goodman followed up with four other records: "Buchanan and Goodman on Trial" (#80 in 1956), "Flying Saucer The 2nd" (#18 in 1957), "The Creature (From A Science Fiction Movie)" (as by Buchanan and Ancell) (#85 in 1957), and "Santa and the Satellite (Parts I & II)" (#32 in 1957).
Kong is a steel Suspended Looping Coaster, made by Vekoma, located at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California.
Kong was previously located at the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee where it was known as The Hangman. Opened in May 1995, the ride was notably the last major attraction to be added to Opryland before the park closed at the end of the 1997 season.
The Hangman was located in the American West area of the park, in an area formerly occupied by the Tin Lizzies antique car ride. Upon Opryland's closure, The Hangman was disassembled and sold to Premier Parks. Soon afterwards it was relocated and rebuilt at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom as Kong after Premier Parks acquired the Six Flags chain.
Kong debuted at The New Marine World Theme Park, later Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, on Memorial Day Weekend of 1998. At that time Kong became the tallest and longest inverted roller coaster in Northern California, missing the speed record by .3 miles per hour (0.48 km/h) and achieving the length record by only 6 inches (15 cm). Today, V2: Vertical Velocity and Medusa, hold the height and speed records in Discovery Kingdom and Northern California.