Ninja (playground game)

Ninja is a common playground game, where the objective is to take turns swiping at the opponent's hands to eliminate them. The name originates from the feudal Japanese assassin. It is commonly played at meet-ups and conventions.

Rules and gameplay

The rules of ninja are simple, and have only a few pivotal rules for play. In a game, players will stand in a circle, and place their hands together, the player leading the game will say "Bow to your sensei". There, the countdown begins, and each player must strike a pose. Players take turns attacking their opponents by swiping at their hands , and must freeze in place once their attack is finished. Defending players may dodge if they think they will be hit, and must also freeze once the attack is finished. If a player is hit, the hand that is hit is out but the other hand is still in. If a player misses, they must stop moving immediately. When both hands have been hit, the player is out and must stand back until there is one player left. The only player left is the winner. However, there have been variations to how children play the game, some exercise optional rules such as, the area that is hit, timed attacks or however the players want to change the game.

Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden (NINJA 外伝) is a series of video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden (忍者龍剣伝, Ninja Ryūkenden, lit. "Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword") in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side-story" in Japanese, even though the Ninja Gaiden series is not a spinoff of a previous series. The original arcade version, first two NES games and Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions.

The series gained popularity on the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for its tight action-platform gameplay, catchy music and, according to G4's X-Play, for being the first console game to have the story presented in cinematic cutscenes. The 8-bit trilogy was enhanced for the 16-bit Super NES in 1995. Sega also released two Ninja Gaiden games for the Game Gear and Master System, the latter only for PAL regions. A new game, titled Ninja Gaiden, was released in 2004 as a 3D action game on the Xbox, developed by Team Ninja, the makers of Dead or Alive. The Ninja Gaiden franchise is well known for its high degree of difficulty, particularly the original NES version and the Xbox revival.

Kawasaki Ninja 500R

The Kawasaki Ninja 500R (which was originally named, and is still referred to as the EX500 and is known as the GPZ500S in some markets) is a sport bike with a 498 cc (30.4 cu in) parallel-twin engine manufactured by Kawasaki from 1987 to 2009, with a partial redesign in 1994. Although the motorcycle has a sporty appearance, it offers a more standard, upright riding position with greater comfort and versatility. It provides a combination of performance and low operating costs, which has made it a favorite as a first motorcycle with new riders and popular with experienced riders on a budget. 2009 was the last model year for the Ninja 500. For touring the EX500 has an 18 L (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal) fuel tank, reserve included.

Given that it was Kawasaki's best-selling sporty bike for a number of years, the EX500 is a popular mount for road racing, offering low price and availability of spare parts. It also offers a wide but forgiving performance envelope suitable for new riders or even veteran club racers, eschewing the significantly higher expense of campaigning 600 cc or larger supersport machines. In its latter years, the long-running (now-defunct) Production Twins class of the LRRS racing organization in New Hampshire was composed primarily of essentially stock EX500's. The United States Classic Racing Association retains a similar class, and in 2014 CCS Racing created the 500 SuperSport class, which has a competitive class for relatively stock EX500's to race against similar machinery.

World (Bee Gees song)

"World" is a song from the Bee Gees' fourth album Horizontal, released in 1967 in the United Kingdom. Though it was a big hit in Europe, Atco Records did not issue it as a single in the United States, having just issued a third single from Bee Gees' 1st, "Holiday".

Composition

The song's lyrics question the singer's purpose in life.

Recording

The song's first recording session was on 3 October 1967 along with "With the Sun in My Eyes" and "Words". The song's last recording session was on 28 October 1967. "World" was originally planned as having no orchestra, so all four tracks were filled with the band, including some mellotron or organ played by Robin. When it was decided to add an orchestra, the four tracks containing the band were mixed to one track and the orchestra was added to the other track. The stereo mix suffered since the second tape had to play as mono until the end when the orchestra comes in on one side. Barry adds: "'World' is one of those things we came up with in the studio, Everyone just having fun and saying, 'Let's just do something!' you know". Vince Melouney recalls: "I had this idea to play the melody right up in the top register of the guitar behind the chorus".

World (James Brown song)

"World" is a song by James Brown. It was released as a two-part single and charted #8 R&B and #37 Pop. Critic Douglas Wolk described the song as "overwrought".

References

World (Five for Fighting song)

"World" is a song written and recorded by American recording artist Five for Fighting. It was released in November 2006 as the second single from the album Two Lights. It reached number 14 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.

Content

"World" is an upbeat, piano-driven melody that, like his other singles, paints vivid pictures of human life driven with deep emotion. The song's lyrics are notably more cryptic than in previous singles, but are driven by the chorus hooks, "What kind of world do you want?" and "Be careful what you wish for, history starts now."

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling the song "admittedly more abstract" but the average listener will pick out certain lines and find a relatable message. He goes on to say that "alongside, the piano-driven, orchestrated melody is his most captivating yet lush and instantly memorable."

Music video

The music video for "World" features aspects of the bright side of life including children, marriage and fireworks. There are also references that go with the lyrics including a brief image of a mushroom cloud in a cup of coffee, with a newspaper's headline featuring North Korea's nuclear program. It was directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson.