Gus

Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustavo).

As a stand alone masculine name, it derives from the Old Irish word gusmhar or gusair for "strength" or "force" or the root gustu- for "choice"/"chose", with most naming books combining both derivations as "strong choice".

Gus may refer to:

People

Given name

Gus (polar bear)

Gus (1985–2013) was a 700-pound (320 kg)polar bear and icon of the Central Park Zoo in New York City. His exhibit was visited by over 20 million people during his lifetime. He came to public notice in the 1990s, when he began swimming obsessively in his pool for up to 12 hours a day. Reporters dubbed him "neurotic", "depressed", "flaky", and "bipolar", turning him into a "symbol of the stress of living in New York City". As part of his therapy and treatment, Gus was the first zoo animal in history to be treated with Prozac.

Birth and early life

Gus was born in the Toledo Zoo in 1985. His father, Nanook, was sent to the Toledo Zoo from his home in the Bronx Zoo for the purposes of breeding. Gus' mother was named Snowball. In 1988, Gus was moved to the Central Park Zoo.

Fame

In the 1990s, Gus became the "face" of the Central Park Zoo for several media promotions and publications. Gus was seen by an estimated 20 million visitors in his lifetime.

In 1994 zoo officials began noting Gus' unusual behavior in his habitat. He was seen swimming back and forth in a figure eight pattern, again and again, for up to 12 hours a day. Such behavior in captive animals usually points to boredom and stress. The zoo hired an animal behavioral therapist at a cost of $25,000 to determine the reason for Gus' obsessive swimming. According to the therapist, "Gus is just bored and mildly crazy in the way that a lot of people are in New York". He ordered an "enrichment program" for the polar bear that included a redesigned habitat, "challenges" at mealtime, new toys and "positive-reinforcement training sessions". In 2002 the BBC reported that zookeepers had installed a jacuzzi to "cheer up" Gus. Gus was also the first zoo animal in history to be treated with Prozac. After a few months, Gus' obsessive swimming tapered off, but never disappeared entirely. He and his two partners, Lily and Ida, were featured at the 2005 International Conference on Environmental Enrichment.

Gus (1976 film)

Gus is a 1976 American film by Walt Disney Productions. Its center character is Gus, a football-playing mule.

Plot

Gus is a film about a football-kicking mule ("Gus") and his trainer "Andy" (Gary Grimes).

The film opens with a soccer game, and the Petrovic family watching their son Stepjan win the soccer game. Their other son Andy Petrovic works on his farm in Yugoslavia, and can't play soccer at all. A soccer ball is behind his mule, Gus. After saying that he never wants to see a soccer ball again, Gus kicks the soccer ball a long distance. Andy tries it with him and he says, "Oyage!" and Gus kicks the ball. [Note: there is fierce debate in the Gus fan community re the spelling of "Oyage." Some spell it "Oyatch!," while others give it a more Yugoslavian-sounding "Ojigdz!"]

Meanwhile, the California Atoms are a professional football team in Los Angeles, owned by Hank Cooper (Ed Asner) and coached by the inept Coach Venner (Don Knotts). They are by far the worst team in the league and have not won a single game in years. Their cheerleaders are fat and ugly, and even the marching band is awful. Desperate to draw fans in somehow, Cooper wants a great half time show. His secretary, Debbie (Louise 'Liberty' Williams), sees a story in her parents Yugoslavian newspaper about Gus, a mule that can kick a soccer ball through the goal from anywhere on the field.

Hateful

Hateful may refer to:

London Calling

London Calling is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records.London Calling is a post-punk album that incorporates a range of styles, including punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock.

The album's subject matter included social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood. The album received widespread acclaim and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.London Calling was a top ten album in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top 20 single. It has sold over five million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the United States.

Recording and production

After recording their second studio album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), the band separated from their manager Bernard Rhodes. This separation meant that the group had to leave their rehearsal studio in Camden Town and find another location to compose their music. Drawing inspiration from rockabilly, ska, reggae and jazz, the band began work on the album during the summer of 1979. Tour manager Johnny Green had found the group a new place to rehearse called Vanilla Studios, which was located in the back of a garage in Pimlico. The Clash quickly wrote and recorded demos, with Mick Jones composing and arranging much of the music and Joe Strummer writing the lyrics.

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight is a 2015 American Western mystery film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern as eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.

Tarantino announced the film in November 2013, stating it had originally started as a novel and sequel to Django Unchained. After the script leaked in January 2014, he cancelled the film, but announced that he had changed his mind after directing a live reading of the script at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles. Filming began on December 8, 2014, near Telluride, Colorado. The score, composed by Ennio Morricone, was his first complete Western score in 35 years.

Distributed by Weinstein Company, The Hateful Eight was released on December 25, 2015, in a roadshow release in 70 mm film and had a wide digital release on December 30, 2015. Critics were generally positive, praising the cast's performances, Morricone's score, Tarantino's direction and writing, and the cinematography. Morricone won a Golden Globe and the film has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh), Best Original Score (Morricone), and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson) at the upcoming ceremony.