Luna (killer whale)

Luna (September 19, 1999 – March 10, 2006) also known as L98 or Tsu'xiit, was a killer whale (orca) born in Puget Sound. After being separated from his mother while still young, Luna spent five years in Nootka Sound, off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Although Luna was healthy and his presence in the area delighted tourists and drew a large number of paparazzi, there were concerns that his behavior was endangering people. After years of debate, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) authorized an effort in June 2004 to capture Luna and place him in captivity. However, the plan was ultimately thwarted by the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations, who believed Luna was a reincarnation of a former chief. The orca was killed by a tugboat in 2006. His story is told in the 2011 documentary The Whale.

Early life

Luna was born into a population known as the Southern Resident Killer Whale community. This population, which consisted of approximately 80 killer whales at the time of Luna's birth, has been extensively studied since the 1970s. Scientists have learned to recognize each individual in the population by photo-identification, and can thus track individual movements and social relationships year after year. Thus it is known that Luna was born into a group known as the L2 matriline, which consisted of the matriarch, Grace (L2), Luna's uncle, Orcan (L39), Gaia (L78), Wavewalker (L88), and Luna's mother, Splash (L67). The L2 matriline belongs to a larger group called L-Pod. Southern Resident killer whales of both sexes form extremely stable family bonds and remain with their mothers throughout their lives.

Armadillo Enterprises

Armadillo Enterprises, Inc., is a company established in 1995 as a distributor of musical instruments. They own the following:

Luna Guitars is a manufacturer and seller of stringed instruments (guitars, basses, ukuleles, mandolins, and banjos). The company was founded in 2005 by stained-glass artist Yvonne de Villiers under the umbrella of Armadillo Enterprises and headquartered in Tampa Florida. Luna guitars are notable for their unique ornamentation that is heavily influenced by Yvonne's glass work.

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Verdena

Verdena are an Italian alternative rock band originating from Albino, Bergamo. As of February 2015, they have released six full-length albums on Universal Music Group.

History

Alberto (guitarist) and Luca Ferrari (drummer) are brothers and have been playing together for 10 years. With the addition of Roberta Sammarelli (bassist), they formed the band Verdena. In 1999 they broke onto the scene with their eponymous debut, and began to perform concerts all across Italy. Their first single, "Valvonauta", received significant airtime on MTV and other music stations. Their style can be described as a mixture of rock, grunge and psychedelia.

Their second album, Solo un grande sasso, exhibited longer songs with more frequent guitar solos. The most important tracks of this album are "Spaceman", "Nova", "Starless" and "Centrifuga".

In 2004, Fidel Fogaroli joined the band as a keyboardist, appearing on the album Il suicidio del samurai. In 2006, Fidel left Verdena and the band returned to its original three-piece setup. The single "Luna", originally released on Il suicidio dei Samurai, was one of the band's most notable successes.

Moon

The Moon (in Greek: σελήνη Selene, in Latin: Luna) is Earth's only natural satellite. It is one of the largest natural satellites in the Solar System, and, among planetary satellites, the largest relative to the size of the planet it orbits (its primary). It is the second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known (after Jupiter's satellite Io).

The Moon is thought to have formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, not long after Earth. There are several hypotheses for its origin; the most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia.

The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth's sky after the Sun, as measured by illuminance on Earth's surface. Although it can appear a very bright white, its surface is actually dark, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have, since ancient times, made the Moon an important cultural influence on language, calendars, art, and mythology.

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a fictional New England summer resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. The film stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as oceanographer Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Murray Hamilton as Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity Island, and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The screenplay is credited to both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.

Shot mostly on location on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the film had a troubled production, going over budget and past schedule. As the art department's mechanical sharks suffered many malfunctions, Spielberg decided to mostly suggest the animal's presence, employing an ominous, minimalistic theme created by composer John Williams to indicate the shark's impending appearances. Spielberg and others have compared this suggestive approach to that of classic thriller director Alfred Hitchcock. Universal Pictures gave the film what was then an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture, over 450 screens, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with a heavy emphasis on television spots and tie-in merchandise.

Orca Symphony No. 1

Orca Symphony No. 1 is the fourth studio album by Armenian-American singer Serj Tankian. The album takes the form of a classical symphony. A professionally sampled studio version was released on November 30, 2012, while the live recorded version was released on June 25, 2013 through Serjical Strike Records.

A sample of the first act of the album was released on Tankian's SoundCloud page on May 2012.

Background

Tankian achieved fame as part of the American rock band System of a Down. Although the band experimented with various sounds, it wasn't until the band went on hiatus in 2006 that Tankian was free to launch his solo career and experiment further.

Tankian's experimentation with classical composition began with Elect the Dead Symphony. The live album featured the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra performing reworked versions of songs from Tankian's debut album Elect the Dead. His second album, Imperfect Harmonies, blended classical with traditional rock elements. Tankian described the album as "music that has sat in the vat and matured", referring to the album's influences from several genres.