Persona

A persona (plural personae or personas), in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον (prosōpon). Its meaning in the latter Roman period changed to indicate a "character" of a theatrical performance or court of law, when it became apparent that different individuals could assume the same role, and legal attributes such as rights, powers, and duties followed the role. The same individuals as actors could play different roles, each with its own legal attributes, sometimes even in the same court appearance. According to other sources, which also admit that the origin of the term is not completely clear, persona could possibly be related to the Latin verb per-sonare, literally: sounding through, with an obvious link to the above-mentioned theatrical mask.

Persona (psychology)

The persona, for Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, was the social face the individual presented to the world—"a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual".

Jung’s persona

Identification

The development of a viable social persona is a vital part of adapting to, and preparing for, adult life in the external social world. “A strong ego relates to the outside world through a flexible persona; identification with a specific persona (doctor, scholar, artist, etc.) inhibits psychological development. Thus for Jung “the danger is that [people] become identical with their personas—the professor with his textbook, the tenor with his voice.” The result could be “the shallow, brittle, conformist kind of personality which is 'all persona', with its excessive concern for 'what people think'”—an unreflecting state of mind 'in which people are utterly unconscious of any distinction between themselves and the world in which they live. They have little or no concept of themselves as beings distinct from what society expects of them'. The stage was set thereby for what Jung termed enantiodromia—the emergence of the repressed individuality from beneath the persona later in life: 'the individual will either be completely smothered under an empty persona or an enantiodromia into the buried opposites will occur'.

Revelations: Persona

Revelations: Persona, released in Japan as Megami Ibunroku Persona (Japanese: 女神異聞録ペルソナ, lit. "Goddess' Odyssey: Persona"), is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. It is the first entry in the Persona series, itself a subseries of the Megami Tensei franchise, and the first role-playing entry in the series to be released in the west. Originally released for the PlayStation in 1996 in Japan and North America, the title was ported to Microsoft Windows in 1999. A port to the PlayStation Portable retitled Shin Megami Tensei: Persona was released in 2009 in North America and Japan, and 2010 in Europe. This port featured new cutscenes and a redone localization.

The story focuses on a group of high school students as they are confronted by a series of supernatural incidents. After playing a fortune-telling game, the group each gain the ability to summon Personas, the multiple selves within them. Using this power under the guidance of Philemon, a benevolent being representing humanity's subconscious, the group face off against multiple forces that threaten the world. Gameplay revolves around the characters navigating environments around their town and fighting enemies using their Personas. During the course of the game, the player can create new Personae for battle using spell cards gained in battle or by talking with enemies.

Once (The Tyde album)

Once is the debut album by American indie rock band The Tyde, released in 2001.

Neal Casal, of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, lists Once as one of his favourite albums of all time.

Track listing

All songs written by Darren Rademaker.

References

Once (Nightwish album)

Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 7 June 2004 by Spinefarm Records and Nuclear Blast. It is the last album to feature Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. The album cost nearly €250,000 to make, (1,000,000 including the videos) which made it Finland's most expensive recording ever until the release of Nightwish's next album, Dark Passion Play, which cost over €500,000 to produce.

Background

In 2008 Kerrang! interview Tuomas Holopainen remembered: "Doing this kind of really orchestral, symphonic stuff for four albums, you have to be prepared to take the next step and go 10 steps beyond, and that's how we ended up with the London Session Orchestra. At that time we also had the financial resources to do it. This was like our second breakthrough in a way; Oceanborn (1998) broke us, took us to the big league. Musically it was pretty laid-back from our side because everyone involved in the orchestra really knew their stuff, so we basically spent two days lying on the couch hearing all these people playing our songs, enjoying every moment. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. The first song they started to play was "Ghost Love Score", we had no idea what to expect, and I just thought: This can't be happening!"

Once (Diana Vickers song)

"Once" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Diana Vickers. It was written by Cathy Dennis and Eg White for Vickers' debut studio album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree (2010). "Once" was produced and mixed by Mike Spencer and released as the album's lead single and Vickers' debut single in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2010. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it Vickers' most successful single release to date.

Release

"Once" was given its first play on the Big Top 40 as part of the New Year's Eve special. It later premiered on BBC Radio 1's Switch show on 31 January 2010. The song was A-listed on MTV and Radio 1's playlist. The song "Sunlight", which Vickers performed during her stint in the West End as Little Voice featured on the single as a B-side.

Critical reception

The song was met with mostly positive reviews.

Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review stating: If her pop career doesn't take off, Diana Vickers can always write a book called How Not To Do Things The Simon Cowell Way. Instead of taking the Syco lucre after finishing fourth on The X Factor back in '08, she signed to RCA - yes, we know it's part of the same label group - lined up a genuinely intriguing cast of collaborators for her debut album (Ellie Goulding, Lightspeed Champion, Guy Sigsworth), and even took time out to star in the West End revival of Little Voice. Leon Jackson, watch and weep. Said album promises all manner of offbeat pop treats, but this debut single is a straight up brain-invader - well, what else would you expect from an Eg White/Cathy Dennis co-write? To be a little more precise, 'Once' is an electro-pop-rock monster whose key lyrical idea - "I'm only gonna let you kill me once" - could probably send Eoghan Quigg cross-eyed. Vickers's hiccupy yelp still won't be to all tastes, but there's no denying that the huge, guitar-powered chorus is as hard to ignore as... well... her trademark hand gesture. .