Dirge (Transformers)

Dirge is the name of several different fictional characters from the Transformers series. He was first introduced in 1985 as a villain in the Transformers series, appearing in the comic book by Marvel Comics and voiced by Bud Davis in the animated television series. Since then the name Dirge was also used by several other Transformers characters. In 2007 a limited edition Dirge toy was sold at the Transformers convention Botcon.

Transformers: Generation 1

Dirge was first introduced in 1985. Thrust, Ramjet and Dirge are part of a team dubbed by Transformers fans as the "Coneheads" for the way their character models were drawn to make them visually distinct from the original Decepticon jets Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker despite their toys being modifications of the same mold used to create that original trio. The toys themselves use the nosecone of the jet to become the head of the robot, but on the original jets the nosecone points back, forming a seemingly normal head. To make the three newer jets distinctive, the character model creators illustrated them with the nosecones pointing up in robot mode - despite the fact that this is not how their toy instructions or box art depict them. (Ironically, when the hinge holding the toy's fuselage/torso and head/nosecone in robot mode wears down, pointing the nosecone upward is the only way to keep the cockpit/midsection from leaning backward, away from the die-cast metal portion of the Seekers' chests.)

Dirge (band)

Dirge is a French band formed in 1994. From the industrial metal genre that exploded in the first part of the 90s, the band slowly evolved toward a more atmospheric and progressive form of metal, related to post-metal bands such as Neurosis, Isis, and Cult of Luna.

History

Dirge was formed near Paris in 1994. The original band members were Marc T. (guitar / programming) and Laurent P. (vocals / programming). In the industrial genre of bands like Godflesh or Pitchshifter, the duet's music was a hybrid of corrosive guitars, robotic hammerings, and scratching samples. Three demo tapes were recorded during this first period.

After the departure of Laurent, bass player David K. and guitarist Franck T. joined the band. This first change in the line-up coincided with a noisier and less electronic curve: dark, tortured, and dissonant, the first album Down, Last Level was released in 1998.

In 1999, Alain B. (drums) and Christophe "Zomb" D. (machines) joined the band. Re-humanized with the use of a real drum, the music of Dirge became much more massive and stifling, as the guitars became the center of gravity with the release of the second album Blight And Vision Below A Faded Sun (released in 2000 on the own band’s label, Blight Records). With this record, the band took "a further step toward a much heavier music with more progressive and dark compositions", as written by C. Lorentz in the book "Carnets Noirs, Acte II."

Dirge (novel)

Dirge (2000) is a science fiction novel written by Alan Dean Foster. The full title is sometimes shown as Dirge: Book Two of The Founding of the Commonwealth.

Plot summary

It has been twenty years since the chance meeting of street thug Cheelo Montoya and thranx poet Desvendapur revealed the insectoid alien colony hidden deep within the Amazon Basin, and not much has changed.

Humanity has recently discovered the planet Argus V, better known as Treetrunk, with the intention of colonizing the planet when their survey team is visited by a new alien race, the Pitar. At first the humans worry that the Pitar will want to lay claim to the planet, but the instead of wanting to claim territory, the aliens instead simply want to observe the humans.

The Pitar are a close human analog to humans, appearing to be perfectly human except for a wider variety of hair and eye colors (including blue and violet among them) along with nearly god-like physiques. Most humans almost immediately view the Pitar as perfect. This complicated matters for the insectoid Thranx who wish to form a closer alliance with the humans. Some xenophobic humans go so far as to invade the small Thranx colony in the Amazon, killing many of the insect colonists. While this causes a political nightmare for both humans and Thranx, it also brings together the human chaplain and Thranx spiritual advisor who form the United Church.

Uptown (film)

Uptown is a 2009 independent drama film written and directed by Brian Ackley as his debut feature film, and the second film in the One Way or Another Productions' "Naked Series".

Production

Uptown was shot in an 8 day period with 2 cameras, using only available light and "stolen" Manhattan locations, including scenes that take place in Central Park. After a 2-week production hiatus, it was discovered that one of the cameras had been damaged, rendering everything that was shot on it as unusable. Only a few of those "lost" scenes were reshot.

Actor Chris Riquinha states that he previously worked with producer Princeton Holt on Holt's earlier film Cookies & Cream and that it was Holt who recommended him to writer/director Brian Ackley.

According to the production company, after Uptown won several festival awards, and while the film was still in the festival circuit, the film was picked up for distribution.

Plot

Ben (Chris Riquinha), an aspiring filmmaker, is an unmarried man living in New York. He enjoys the single life but feels his life is missing something. He meets Isabel (Meissa Hampton), a woman unhappy in her marriage who is seeking intimacy. The bond between the two grows as they have repeated liaisons "uptown".

Uptown (Billy Taylor album)

Uptown is a live album by American jazz pianist Billy Taylor featuring tracks recorded in 1960 and released on the Riverside label.

Reception

Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars stating "Although Taylor's activities as a highly articulate spokesman for jazz have sometimes overshadowed his playing, he shows throughout this fine CD reissue that he has long ranked among the best".

Track listing

All compositions by Billy Taylor except as indicated

Personnel

References

Uptown (André Previn album)

Uptown is a 1990 jazz album by André Previn, Mundell Lowe and Ray Brown.

Track listing

Personnel

John Lennon

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John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the band the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. With fellow member Paul McCartney, he formed a celebrated songwriting partnership.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager; his first band, the Quarrymen, evolved into the Beatles in 1960. When the group disbanded in 1970, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance", "Working Class Hero", and "Imagine". After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.