Condor

Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.

They are:

Taxonomy

Condors are part of the family Cathartidae, whereas the 15 species of Old World vultures are in the family Accipitridae, that also includes ospreys, hawks, and eagles. The New World and Old World vultures evolved from different ancestors. However, they both are carrion-eaters and have distinctive bare heads.

See Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy for an alternative classification.

Description

Both condors are very large broad-winged soaring birds, the Andean condor being 5 cm shorter (beak to tail) on average than the northern species, but larger in wingspan. California condors are the largest flying land birds in North America. The Andean condor is second only to the wandering albatross (up to 3.5 m) in terms of wingspan among all living flying birds.

Par (score)

In golf, par is the pre-determined number of strokes that a scratch (or 0 handicap) golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the pars of each round). Pars are the central component of stroke play, the most common kind of play in professional golf tournaments. The term is also used in golf-like sports such as disc golf with the same meaning.

The length of each hole from the tee placement to the pin determines par values for each hole primarily but not exclusively. Almost invariably, holes are assigned par values between three and five strokes. For a casual player from the middle tees, a par-three hole will be 100–250 yards (90–230 m) from the tee to the pin. Par-four holes are 250–470 yards (230–430 m), although tournament players will often encounter par-four holes 500 yards (460 m) or more, as it is not uncommon for short par-five holes for normal play to be turned into par-four holes in championship play. Par-five holes are typically 470–600 yards (430–550 m), but in the modern game holes of over 600 yards are becoming more common in championship play. Other relevant factors in setting the par for the hole include the terrain and obstacles (such as trees, water hazards, hills, or buildings) that may require a golfer to take more (or fewer) shots. Some golf courses feature par-sixes and, very rarely, par-sevens, although the latter are not recognised by the United States Golf Association.

Condor (yacht)

Condor is a maxi sailing yacht designed for racing and built in 1981 at Penryn Ship Yard, UK. She was registered in Hamilton, Bermuda during her 7-year ocean racing campaign and her sail number is KB-80. She is not to be confused with her predecessor Condor of Bermuda (KB-78) (aka. Heath's Condor-K-707), also owned and campaigned by Bob Bell.

Construction and materials

Condor was revolutionary both for having the largest (tallest) single spar mast in the world (at the time of her launch) and for being the largest of all the IOR Maxi fleet at that time. (Ongoing IOR rule changes allowed each new yacht to be slightly bigger than ones built under previous versions of the rating rules).

She was built from Kevlar and composite structures, with an aluminium space frame inside. She was the second yacht of this type to be built where the hull itself could support the enormous loads generated by the huge mast and rig.

Unlike her predecessor, Condor of Bermuda, which was built of wood yet had (the world's first) carbon fibre rig, Condor's mast was aluminium. It was about 18% taller than her 'sistership's' mast (due to the additional loading permitted by the space frame) despite her hull being only 3 feet longer overall.

Implode (album)

Implode is an album by industrial group Front Line Assembly. The album was released through Metropolis on April 26, 1999.

Release

Implode was released on digipak CD and via Zoth Ommog on gatefold cover sleeve double vinyl with limited circulation of 2,000. The track "Torched" is featured in the 2002 horror film Resident Evil but not on the accompanying soundtrack.

Singles

Implode was followed by the release of two singles. The single Prophecy includes the original version, a radio edit and a remix of the title track. "Unknown Dreams" is also featured as radio edit. "Paralysis" is a non-album track. The second single, Fatalist, was released in different versions in Europe and North America. German label Zoth Ommog issued a four-track single that contains remixes of "Fatalist" (Rhys Fulber), "Retribution" (Front 242) and "Prophecy" (Haujobb) as well as non-album track "Deception". The six track version was released for the Scandinavian countries through Energy and in the United States through Metropolis. Additional tracks on this version are two remixes of "Fatalist" by Aqualite and Tribal Techno.

Hogwarts staff

The following fictional characters are staff members and denizens of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books written by J. K. Rowling.

The staff and their positions

Notable teachers and staff members

The following are notable teachers and staff members who do not have their own articles or who are not listed in other articles.

Argus Filch

Argus Filch is the caretaker of Hogwarts. While he is not an evil character, he is ill-tempered, which makes him unpopular with the student body, and occasionally with other staff. His knowledge of the secrets and short-cuts of the castle is almost unparalleled, except perhaps by the Weasley twins, Voldemort himself, Harry, Ron and Hermione, and other users of the Marauder's Map. He tends to favour almost sadistically harsh punishments, leading to his alliance with Dolores Umbridge. He has an obsessive dislike of mud, animate toys, and all other things that might interfere with his creation of an immaculately clean and orderly Hogwarts. He is also portrayed as having a constant antagonism towards Peeves the poltergeist and often tells Dumbledore that Peeves should be thrown out of Hogwarts. He also likes to wander Hogwarts corridors at night, presumably in the hope of catching a student out of bed.

Prophecy (Albert Ayler album)

Prophecy is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City in 1964 and first released in 1975 on the ESP-Disk label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "Ayler alternated the simple march-like themes with wild and very free improvisations which owe little if anything to the bop tradition, or even his contemporaries in the avant-garde. Ayler always had his own individual message, and his ESP sessions find him in consistently explorative form".

All About Jazz noted "Though the trio had honed a group sound and method comprising slow and loping or extremely fast themes; Murray's constant percussive chatter and vocal wailing providing an alternate pure-sound springboard; Peacock's constant harmonic filigree creating yet another aural web, these are presented in Prophecy as a much looser framework".

Track listing

All compositions by Albert Ayler