Firebird (band)

Firebird was a British blues-rock power trio founded by Bill Steer in 1999. The music style, reminiscent of 60s rock bands such as Cream, is a radical departure from Steer's previous work with grindcore pioneers Napalm Death and death metal band Carcass.

History

Firebird came together in 1999, when Steer teamed up with Cathedral bassist Leo Smee and Spiritual Beggars drummer Ludwig Witt. This line-up recorded both Firebird (2000) and Deluxe (2001). Both bassist and drummer departed due to commitments with their primary bands before a 2001 European tour, that saw Steer teaming up with Blind Dog bassist Tobias Nilsson and Quill drummer George Atlagic. In 2002 Steer announced yet another line-up consisting of drummer Atlagic and Quill and Spiritual Beggars bassist Roger Nilsson. This line-up recorded 2003's No. 3. Since then many line-up changes occurred but significantly Steer reunited with Witt on 2006's Hot Wings and have remained the core of the line up ever since recording two more albums, 2009's Grand Union and 2010's Double Diamond.

Firebird (Pirotta picture book)

Firebird is a 2010 award winning picture book written by Saviour Pirotta illustrated by Catherine Hyde. It was published by Templar Publishing in the United Kingdom and by Candlewick Press in the United States. Firebird won an Aesop Accolade from the American Folklore Society and a Best Book Award from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio.

History

Hyde, an artist based in Cornwall, had already illustrated a first book for Templar Publishing called The Princess' Blankets and written by poet Carol Ann Duffy. 2010 was the centenary of Stravinsky's Firebird Ballet and the publishers wanted to celebrate with a picture book retelling of the story. Hyde was asked to produce some sketches which served as the inspiration for Pirotta's version. The story is based on Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf, a famous Russian folktale that was one of the inspirations for the ballet. Pirotta's version is shortened and has a different ending from the original. Pirotta sets the firebird free, in tribute to activists in his country of origin who were canvassing the government to stop recreational hunting and bird trapping.

Pontiac Firebird

The Pontiac Firebird is an automobile that was built by Pontiac from the 1967 to the 2002 model years. The Firebird was introduced the same year as the automaker's platform-sharing model, the Chevrolet Camaro. This coincided with the release of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, which shared its platform with another pony car, the Ford Mustang.

The name "Firebird" was also previously used by Pontiac's parent company General Motors for the General Motors Firebird 1950s and early-1960s concept cars.

First generation (1967–1969)

The first generation Firebirds had a characteristic Coke bottle styling. Unlike its cousin the Chevrolet Camaro, the Firebird's bumpers were integrated into the design of the front end. The Firebird's rear "slit" taillights were inspired by the Pontiac GTO. Both a two-door hardtop and a convertible were offered through the 1969 model year. Originally, the car was a "consolation prize" for Pontiac, who had wished to produce a two-seat sports car of its own design, based on the original Banshee concept car. However, GM feared such a vehicle would directly compete with Chevrolet's Corvette, and the decision was made to give Pontiac a piece of the pony car market by having them share the F-body platform with Chevrolet.

Fiction

Fiction is a term used to classify any story created by the imagination, rather than based strictly on history or fact. Fiction can be expressed in a variety of formats, including writings, live performances, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games, though the term originally and most commonly refers to the major narrative forms of literature (see literary fiction), including the novel, novella, short story, and play. Fiction constitutes an act of creative invention, so that faithfulness to reality is not typically assumed; in other words, fiction is not expected to present only characters who are actual people or descriptions that are factually true. The context of fiction is generally open to interpretation, due to fiction's freedom from any necessary embedding in reality; however, some fictional works are claimed to be, or marketed as, historically or factually accurate, complicating the traditional distinction between fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is a classification or category, rather than a specific mode or genre, unless used in a narrower sense as a synonym for a particular literary fiction form.

Fiction (magazine)

Fiction is a literary magazine founded in 1972 by Mark Jay Mirsky, Donald Barthelme, and Max Frisch. It is published by the City College of New York. This is not the same as the French science fiction magazine Fiction, published from 1953-1990.

In its early years, Fiction was published in tabloid format and featured experimental work by such writers as John Barth, Jerome Charyn, Italo Calvino, Ronald Sukenick, Steve Katz, Russell Banks, Samuel Beckett, and J.G. Ballard. It later took the form of a more traditional paperback literary magazine, publishing short works by Reinaldo Arenas, Isaac Babel, Donald Barthelme, Mei Chin, Julio Cortázar, Marguerite Duras, Natalia Ginzburg, Clarice Lispector, Robie Macauley, Robert Musil, Joyce Carol Oates, Manuel Puig, and John Yau..

Though the magazine ostensibly focuses on publishing fiction, as its name implies, it has recently also featured excerpts from Robert Musil's diaries and letters, as well as various writings with an autobiographical slant.

Fiction (Yoga Lin album)

Fiction, often stylized as fiction (Chinese: 大/小說家) is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Yoga Lin's fourth Mandarin studio album. It was released on 22 June 2012 by HIM International Music. It was ranked no. 1 in Taipei Times's list of top five Mandarin albums of 2012. Yoga Lin co-produced most songs on the album, and participated in the writing of the lyrics and mixing of the songs.

Background

The concept of the album was to use music to tell a story, and each song on the album functions as a short story. The whole album becomes a ten song collection of short stories in a multitude of genres as science fiction, romance, horror, allegory, and so on. Songs like "说谎 (Fairytale)", "心酸 (Heartbreak)" and "早开的晚霞 (Early Sunset Clouds)" from earlier albums made him famous, which all conveys Yoga Lin's characteristic melancholic sound. Yoga Lin and his producers agreed that for the fourth album they wanted to try something different to record a more powerful performance, as well as showcase his talents in various styles of music.