Canvas

Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame. It is also used in such fashion objects as handbags, electronic device cases and shoes.

Etymology

The word "canvas" is derived from the 13th century Anglo-French canevaz and the Old French canevas. Both may be derivatives of the Vulgar Latin cannapaceus for "made of hemp," originating from the Greek κάνναβις (cannabis).

Physical characteristics

Modern canvas is usually made of cotton or linen, although historically it was made from hemp. It differs from other heavy cotton fabrics, such as denim, in being plain weave rather than twill weave. Canvas comes in two basic types: plain and duck. The threads in duck canvas are more tightly woven. The term duck comes from the Dutch word for cloth, doek. In the United States, canvas is classified in two ways: by weight (ounces per square yard) and by a graded number system. The numbers run in reverse of the weight so a number 10 canvas is lighter than number 4.

Canvas (band)

Canvas is a rock band from Austin, Texas whose active period was from 1996 to 2005. For most of their history the lineup has been Joseph King (guitar, lead vocals), Julian Mandrake (lead guitar), Ben Rada (rhythm guitar), Brad Byram (bass, backing vocals), and Scott Thomas (drums). The band was extremely popular and influential on the Texas music scene, and the members of the band have all gone on join or form other successful bands.

History

The roots of Canvas begin in San Francisco in the mid 1990s with singer-songwriter Joseph King and guitarist Ben Rada while they were students at Stanford. The two met at a coffee shop, became fast friends, started jamming, and decided to put a band together. The band soon also included bassist Geoff Piper and drummer Jean-Paul Labrosse. The band was originally named Labrosse King, but by the time they released their first EP in 1998 had renamed themselves Canvas. In 1999, Canvas played the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and became so enamored with the city that they decided to move there. They added established Austin musicians Julian Mandrake (formerly of Oynxx and Brother Love) on lead guitar and Scott Thomas (formerly of Dexter Freebish) on drums. Brad Byram (formerly of Ugly Tribe and Zen Merchants) eventually replaced Geoff Piper on bass, rounding out the band with King on vocals and Rada on rhythm guitar. Immediately after recruiting the new members, the band began work on their first full-length album Invocation, which they recorded and produced in their garage. While in California, the band had a light rock sound which drew comparisons to Matchbox Twenty. When the band moved to Texas, they quickly made friends with bands such as Johnny Goudie, Spoonfed Tribe and Blue October and found a new harder-edged sound influenced by their musical peers.

YouView

YouView is a smart TV set-top box platform in the United Kingdom, developed by a partnership of three telecommunications operators and four broadcasters. It was formed from a project originally titled "Project Canvas", which was rebranded as YouView in September 2010. The service was due to launch by the end of that year, but was delayed until 4 July 2012. At its launch, YouView's then-Chairman Alan Sugar stated his ambition for the service to replace Freeview devices.

YouView provides access to free-to-air Digital Terrestrial Television channels (both DTT and DVB-T2 channels in common with the Freeview television platform) and to TV on demand (catch-up TV) services via a 'hybrid' set-top box purchased by users, connected with both a broadband Internet connection and a normal television aerial. No contract is required, and there is no subscription charge. Catch-up and on-demand content is delivered over the Internet, which may be chargeable by the Internet service provider (ISP) or subject to limits and fair usage clauses.

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the terms are sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.

Starting in the 1950s up to 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. With the suborbital flight of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut.

Definition

The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are awarded astronaut wings.

Astronaut (song)

"Astronaut" is the third single that was taken from Simple Plan's fourth studio album, Get Your Heart On!. In December 2012, the song was played in orbit in space by astronaut Chris Hadfield.

Music video

The music video was directed by Mark Staubach and premiered on 19 September 2011. It was filmed in the desert of California. The clip opens with a message that read, "Being human is the most terrible loneliness in the universe" and continues to show a lone man exploring an empty space. He keeps looking around and around for something, or rather someone, to fill a void in his heart. The female lead for the clip is Caitlin O'Connor, a model/actress, who has previously played in music videos for Michael Bublé and New Found Glory.

The song was nominated in the category Best International Video by a Canadian band to 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards.

In the video, the man is seen with a name tag that says P. Cunningham. The same name was used for the drunk driver in the music video for "Untitled."

Astronaut (Duran Duran album)

Astronaut is the 11th studio album by English pop rock band Duran Duran, first released on 11 October 2004 (see 2004 in music).

This was Duran Duran's first studio album since Pop Trash (2000), and the first (and, to date, last) full album since Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) to be recorded by the most famous five member lineup of the band (the stand-alone 1985 single "A View to a Kill" was their last studio recording together.)

The making of the album

Duran Duran originally announced a reunion of the most famous five members in 2001, and began writing new music together in the south of France. They continued to write and record intermittently, working hard for a few months at a time, throughout 2002 and 2003. The band's friend Nile Rodgers did preliminary production work on several tracks.

Meanwhile, the search for a record label went on, complicated by the band's desire for independence, control, strong promotional support, and a commitment for more than one album, at the same time that the cash-strapped and risk-averse recording industry was unwilling to gamble on the "leftover fame" of a band best known for a series of 20-year-old hits.