Holiday (America album)

Holiday is the fourth original studio album by American folk rock band America, released by Warner Bros. Records in June 1974 (see 1974 in music). The album was produced in London by noted Beatles producer George Martin.

The album was a big hit in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album chart and being certified gold by the RIAA. It produced two hit singles: "Tin Man" reached number 4 on the Billboard singles chart and went to number 1 on both the adult contemporary chart as well as the Radio & Records chart; and "Lonely People" which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard singles chart and also hit number 1 on the adult contemporary chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Baby It's Up To You" and "Another Try".

History

Bandmember Dewey Bunnell was thrilled at the prospect of working with Martin as producer. He was quoted as saying that it "was great working with George. It was like we knew each other. We were familiar with the Beatles, of course, and we had that British sense of humor." In a separate interview, Dan Peek recalled to Circus magazine: "Gerry (Beckley) had been in England, and we'd talked about using George Martin as our producer. He's such a hot arranger, thinking about all the stuff he's done. There were several other people we wanted to use, but that idea sort of flashed and George was available."

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season.

History

Early music

Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest examples are hymnographic works (chants and litanies) intended for liturgical use in observance of both the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany, many of which are still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The 13th century saw the rise of the carol written in the vernacular, under the influence of Francis of Assisi.

In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (season 3)

The third season of Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in Canada on 17 September 2003, concluded on 5 April 2004 and contains twenty-two episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian serial teen drama television series. This season depicts the lives of a group of high school freshman and sophomores as they deal with some of the challenges and issues teenagers face such as dysfunctional families, sex, homosexuality, homophobia, theft, self-harm, domestic violence, abortion, emancipation and relationships.

Every episode is named after a song from the 1980s. Filming began on 26 May 2003, and ended in November 2003.

The third season aired Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on CTV, a Canadian terrestrial television network, and premiered with a sixty-minute special, "Father Figure", which form the first two episodes of the season. When the season returned to the schedules in January 2004 following a break over the Christmas period, it aired on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. In the United States, it was broadcast on The N, a digital cable network aimed at teenagers and young adults. The season was released on DVD as a three disc boxed set on 28 March 2006 by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada, and by FUNimation Entertainment in the US. Registered users of the Canadian and US iTunes Stores are also able purchase and download the season for playback on home computers and certain iPods.

Jack (1996 film)

Jack is a 1996 American comedy-drama film starring Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Fran Drescher, Bill Cosby, and Brian Kerwin. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Williams plays the role of Jack Powell, a boy who ages four times faster than normal as a result of a disease, Werner syndrome, a form of progeria.

Plot

The movie begins with Karen Powell (Diane Lane) going into labor during a costume party and being rushed to the hospital by her husband Brian (Brian Kerwin) and their friends. Although the delivery is successful, the baby is premature, born after only ten weeks of pregnancy, and is diagnosed with an exaggerated form of Werner syndrome (an aging disease) as stated by Dr. Benfante (Allan Rich) and Dr. Lin (Keone Young). According to them, as this very rare autosomal recessive disorder progresses, Jack Powell will age at a rate four times as fast as normal children due to his internal clock that seems to be developing faster.

Ten years later, Jack (Robin Williams) is next seen as a 10-year-old boy in the body of a 40-year-old man, with a group of four boys telling possible stories of a "monstrosity" of a boy their age that cannot go to school. He scares them away by dipping a fake eye into slime and throwing it at them from his window. He is extremely childish as a consequence of his secluded life. He has only had contact with his parents and tutor, Lawrence Woodruff (Bill Cosby), who introduces the idea that he should go to public school. His parents initially balk at the idea of their son going there because he could be emotionally hurt.

Jack Shephard

Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series Lost, played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader island history they are a part of. The character was originally conceived by creator J. J. Abrams, though the direction of storylines owes more to co-creator Damon Lindelof and fellow showrunner Carlton Cuse. J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost, once told Entertainment Weekly, "Jack Shephard may be the greatest leader in any television series." Actor Matthew Fox would have some influence on the character during the course of the series' production. For example, Fox's own tattoos were incorporated into the character's backstory. Although at an early stage in the show's development, the character was originally intended to die in the pilot, the writers soon changed this plan, and Jack became the show's main character from its pilot episode onwards.

Phone connector (audio)

In electronics, a phone connector, also known as phone jack, audio jack or jack plug, is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals, primarily audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with two, three or four contacts. Three-contact versions are known as TRS connectors, where T stands for "tip", R stands for "ring" and S stands for "sleeve". Similarly, two- and four-contact versions are called TS and TRRS connectors respectively.

The phone connector was invented for use in telephone switchboards in the 19th century and is still widely used. In its original configuration, the outside diameter of the "sleeve" conductor is ¹⁄₄ inch (exactly 6.35 mm). The "mini" connector has a diameter of 3.5 mm (approx. ¹⁄₈ inch) and the "sub-mini" connector has a diameter of 2.5 mm (approx. ³⁄₃₂ inch).

Other terms

Specific models are termed stereo plug, mini-stereo, mini jack, headphone jack and microphone jack. or are referred to by size, i.e. 3.5mm or 6.35mm.