Xenosaga

Xenosaga (ゼノサーガ, Zenosāga) is a series of science fiction video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Bandai Namco. Xenosaga's main story is in the form of a trilogy of PlayStation 2 video games. There have been three spin-off games and an anime adaptation. The Xenosaga series serves as a spiritual successor to the game Xenogears, which was released in 1998 for the PlayStation by Square. The creator of both Xenogears and Xenosaga is Tetsuya Takahashi, who left Square in 1998 along with Hirohide Sugiura. Using funds from Namco, they started MonolithSoft and the Xenosaga project.

The first game in the trilogy, Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht was released in February 2002 in Japan, and in February 2003 in North America. Xenosaga Freaks, a lighthearted game with a playable demo for Episode II, was released in April 2004 in Japan, but was not released elsewhere. Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse was released in June 2004 in Japan and February 2005 in North America. Xenosaga: The Animation, an anime based on Episode I, premiered on TV Asahi in Japan on January 5, 2005. Xenosaga Pied Piper, a three chapter-long cellphone-based game depicting the history of cyborg "Ziggurat 8" 100 years before the start of Episode I, was released in Japan in July 2004. Released on July 6, 2006, Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra is the final title in the Xenosaga series; six episodes were originally projected, but by the time Episode III was released, Namco had already established that it would be the last entry, effectively halving the series. A retelling of the first two episodes titled Xenosaga I & II was released on the Nintendo DS in March 2006 in Japan.

List of Home and Away characters (2011)

Home and Away is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2011, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the shows series producer Cameron Welsh. The 24th season of Home and Away began airing on 24 January 2011. The following month, the Braxton brothers; Darryl, Heath and Casey were introduced. Miranda Jacobs and Kieran Monroe made their debuts in April. Marty Jones made his debut in June and Tegan Callahan arrived the following month. Fletcher Humphrys joined the cast in July as Gang Member Jake Pirovic. August saw the introductions of Harvey Ryan, Hammer, Stu Henderson and Sasha Bezmel. Shane Emmett made his debut as Mark Gilmour in September and lawyer Hayley O'Connor began appearing from October.

Darryl Braxton

Darryl "Brax" Braxton, played by Steve Peacocke, made his first screen appearance on 16 February 2011. The character and casting was announced on 9 January 2011. Peacocke heard about the role from his agent and he called the audition process "a lot of fun". Brax is the oldest of three brothers known as the The River Boys, a "bad-boy surf gang with dodgy reputations." A writer for Channel Seven's Home and Away website stated that Brax has a "dodgy reputation and a chip on his shoulder." He is a surfing legend and commands a respect from his fellow surfies, which he finds useful. Peacocke commented that Brax just wants to escape his upbringing and have a successful family life. Brax tries to keep his younger brothers Heath (Dan Ewing) and Casey (Lincoln Younes) out of trouble. Shortly after his arrival, Darryl began a relationship with Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson). For his portrayal of Darryl, Peacocke won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Male Talent in 2012.

Transformers (toy line)

The Transformers (トランスフォーマー, Toransufomā) is a line of toys produced by the Japanese company Takara (now known as Takara Tomy) and American toy company Hasbro. The Transformers toyline was created from toy molds mostly produced by Japanese company Takara in the toylines Diaclone and Microman. Other toy molds from other companies such as Bandai were used as well. In 1984, Hasbro bought the distribution rights to the molds and rebranded them as the Transformers for distribution in North America. Hasbro would go on to buy the entire toy line from Takara, giving them sole ownership of the Transformers toy-line, branding rights, and copyrights, while in exchange, Takara was given the rights to produce the toys and the rights to distribute them in the Japanese market. The premise behind the Transformers toyline is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The taglines "More Than Meets The Eye" and "Robots In Disguise" reflect this ability.

Dirty Epic

"Dirty Epic" is a 1994 single by Underworld. The track was originally released in an instrumental form as "Dirty" in 1992, credited to the group's short-lived alias, Lemon Interupt. It was reworked with lyrics for their 1994 album, dubnobasswithmyheadman, and was released as a single in the USA on 18 July 1994.

The original Lemon Interupt mixes "Dirty" and "Dirty Guitar" were included on the "Dirty Epic" single, now credited to Underworld.

Track listing

All tracks written, mixed and produced by Rick Smith, Karl Hyde and Darren Emerson unless otherwise noted.

12": Junior Boys' Own / JBO 7-12 (UK, 1992)

Released under the name Lemon Interupt.

CD: Wax Trax! / TVT 8725-2V (US, 1994)

12": DMD / DMD INT 001 (Germany, 1994)

12": Intercord Tonträger GmbH / INT 193.019 (Germany, 1994)

Underworld (band)

Underworld are a British electronic group formed in 1980 in Cardiff and the principal name under which musicians Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have recorded together. Darren Price has toured with the band since 2005, after the departure of Darren Emerson in 2000. Known for visual style and dynamic live performances, Underworld have influenced a wide range of artists and been featured in soundtracks and scores for films, television, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Their fifth studio album, Barking, was released on 13 September 2010.

History

Pre-Underworld years (1980–1986)

Hyde and Smith began their musical partnership with the Kraftwerk and reggae-inspired sounds of The Screen Gemz while working together in a diner in the city of Cardiff, where both had been studying. They were joined by The Screen Gemz' bass player Alfie Thomas, drummer Bryn Burrows, and keyboardist John Warwicker in forming a proto-electroclash/new wave band whose name was a graphic squiggle, which was subsequently given the pronunciation Freur. The band signed to CBS Records, and went on to release the albums Doot-Doot in 1983, and Get Us out of Here in 1986. Freur disbanded in 1986.

Dirty (Sonic Youth album)

Dirty is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released on July 21, 1992 by record label DGC. The band recorded and produced the album with Butch Vig in early 1992 at The Magic Shop studios. The sound on Dirty was inspired by the grunge scene of the time, and was described as avant-rock. Some songs on the album mark the first appearance of three guitars in Sonic Youth songs. The album was remastered and released on quadruple vinyl and double CD in 2003.

The album spawned four singles. The first single was "100%", but it was not the crossover hit the label anticipated. Geffen Record executive Mark Kates admitted the single "was not a great radio song", however, the single did chart well. The next was "Youth Against Fascism", which did not chart well. The last two were "Sugar Kane" and "Drunken Butterfly", released in 1993. "Sugar Kane" did better commercially than "Youth Against Fascism". The album sold exceptionally well, reaching No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart (their highest charting album in the UK) and No. 83 in the US.