Fiends (album)

Fiends is the third album from the post-hardcore band Chasing Victory, released only months before the band officially broke up. This album is a change of style for the band. While their debut and EP had a solid post-hardcore sound similar to that of Glassjaw and Thursday, the sound for this album was changed. The band experimented with Southern rock, post-grunge, and even rock and roll, while still retaining their post-hardcore roots.

Track listing

Demon (novel)

Demon is a Locus nominated 1984 science fiction novel by John Varley. It is the third and final book in his Gaea Trilogy.

Plot summary

Demon takes place in the years 2113 through 2121, thirteen to twenty-one years after the events of Wizard. Cirocco Jones has become a combination fugitive and resistance leader, staying alive in spite of the forces of Gaea by virtue of her unusual abilities, and with the help of friends and allies. These include the race of Titanides, who remain loyal to the Captain, as they call Jones, rather than to Gaea; and the race of Angels, who call her the Wing Commander. The militant creations of Gaea, once limited to the buzz-bombs, have expanded to include horrifying beings called Priests, each one made by Gaea from parts of her human victims. The Priests, named after significant religious figures from the past, carry out her dirty work as a class of undead field commanders, supported by bands of zombies. These are made from the corpses of humans who die in the wheel and — unless cremated — become infested with creatures called deathsnakes and arise to walk again as zombies.

Screamin' Demon

The Screamin' Demon was a shuttle loop roller coaster at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Designed by Arrow Development, it opened in 1977 as one of the first looping roller coasters in the United States to run both forward and backward. After ten years of operation, the ride was moved to Camden Park.

History

Anton Schwarzkopf and Intamin AG co-developed the first shuttle loop design, which opened as King Kobra at Kings Dominion in 1977. A total of six shuttle loop roller coasters opened that same year throughout the United States. Screamin' Demon had the distinction of being the first from Arrow Development to open to the public. Unlike the vertical tracks used as reverse points at both ends on the King Kobra, Arrow used loading platforms instead.

At the end of the 1987 season, the ride was sold and relocated to Camden Park in West Virginia where it was renamed to Thunderbolt Express. It was closed in 2000 and never reopened. It was eventually scrapped in 2004.

Ride experience

Poker dealer

A poker dealer distributes cards to players and manages the action at a poker table.

Professional dealers

Any casino with a poker room must hire a staff of dealers. Casinos generally pay dealers minimum wage. However, a dealer's primary source of income is not salary, but tips from players. Tip income may be substantial for dealers who can deal hands quickly and efficiently, and are selected by the casino to deal in higher limit games. (In some countries e.g. in Sweden, where all the casinos are owned by the state, Dealers and other casino personnel may not accept tips from players. This rule is complied with strictly.)

To become employable by a casino, applicants without prior experience are typically required to complete a 4-6 week training program at a dealing school. Dealing in a casino may require working late hours and remaining seated for long periods of time. Dealers also commonly work holidays, since these are especially busy days for casinos. Having to deal with difficult individuals may be another drawback to dealing at a casino—some players are abusive to dealers.

Croupier

A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.

Origin of the word

Originally a 'croupier' meant one who stood behind a gambler, with extra reserves of cash to back him up during a gambling session. The word derived from 'croup' (the rump of a horse) and was by way of analogy to one who rode behind on horseback. It later came to refer to one who was employed to collect the money from a gaming-table.

Training

Training methods to become a casino croupier vary from country to country. In North America, blackjack is almost always the game that dealers learn first, as it is simple and popular, and when the dealer makes errors, they tend not to cost the casino much money. In Europe, croupiers tend to learn roulette first. Complex, busy games such as craps, with complicated payout systems, etc., are usually reserved for the most competent and/or ambitious dealers.