Gambler (comics)

Gambler is the name of two fictional supervillains in the DC Universe. The original version first appeared in 1944 in Green Lantern #12 in a story titled "The Gambler" by writer Henry Kuttner and artist Martin Nodell, as a foe of the original Green Lantern. He was also one of the founding members of the original Injustice Society, which often combatted the Justice Society of America.

Fictional character biographies

Steven Sharpe III

Steven Sharpe III came from a long line of compulsive gamblers, drinkers, and hardcore narcotics users. When he proposed to his girlfriend, Helen, the day after his high school graduation, she refused unless he could prove he was not a compulsive gambler like his grandfather. She then ran off with a "Pool Hall" Charlie, another gambler, who had just won a fortune on the lottery. After a day of hard drinking and ecstasy, Sharpe vowed to become a new person. As luck would have it, an armored truck crashed a few feet away from him, crushing two puppies and a nun. Seeing this as a sign, Sharpe helped himself to all of the money he could get and vowed to take whatever he could from life from that day on. He adopted the name the Gambler in remembrance of his grandfather. For the next few years, the Gambler joined a traveling carnival, where he gained his skills with disguises, pistols, throwing knives, heroine, and even opium.

Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence—a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within a clause, although it is also possible for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.

Common and technical use

There is a difference between the common use of the term phrase and its technical use in linguistics. In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as "all rights reserved", "economical with the truth", "kick the bucket", and the like. It may be a euphemism, a saying or proverb, a fixed expression, a figure of speech, etc.

In grammatical analysis, particularly in theories of syntax, a phrase is any group of words, or sometimes a single word, which plays a particular role within the grammatical structure of a sentence. It does not have to have any special meaning or significance, or even exist anywhere outside of the sentence being analyzed, but it must function there as a complete grammatical unit. For example, in the sentence Yesterday I saw an orange bird with a white neck, the words an orange bird with a white neck form what is called a noun phrase, or a determiner phrase in some theories, which functions as the object of the sentence.

Gambler (Madonna song)

"Gambler" is a song by American singer Madonna from the soundtrack album to the 1985 film Vision Quest. The song was written solely by Madonna, while the production was handled by John "Jellybean" Benitez at her request. It was released as the second single from the film's soundtrack album on October 3, 1985, by Geffen Records. "Gambler" was never released in the United States, at the request of Madonna's own Sire Records. The music video of the song is an excerpt from the film.

Musically, "Gambler" is an upbeat synthpop and disco song, featuring instrumentation from drums, electronic handclaps and percussion, which is accompanied by a bass synth and keyboards. The lyrics talk about Madonna asserting her self-independence. Critics gave a mixed review of the song, but it was commercially successful, reaching the top-ten in the charts of Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. Madonna has performed the song only once, on her 1985 The Virgin Tour, which was documented on the live video release Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour.

Gambler (album)

Gambler is a musical written by Eric Woolfson. It features several of his most popular songs from his earlier writing with The Alan Parsons Project.

Plot

The plot, inspired by Dostoyevsky's novel The Gambler, involves a young man entering the Peking Palace Casino and becoming a serious gambler in order to win the affection of a showgirl there, both of whom are being manipulated by the casino boss.

Production

Gambler the musical had world premier and was created in October 1996 at stadttheater in Monchengladbach, Germany, and it ran October 1996 till June 1998 ; it was staged in 1999 in Seoul, South Korea.

Album release

The recording of the German cast was released as a CD in 1997 (with the subtitle "Das Geheimnis Der Karten", lit. "the secret of the cards"). It is currently out of print, but is available as a digital download from Woolfson's official website.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Eric Woolfson.