Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 mod Team Fortress for Quake and its 1999 remake. It was released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows and the Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 version followed on December 11, 2007. On April 8, 2008, it was released as a standalone title for Windows. The game was updated to support OS X on June 10, 2010, and Linux on February 14, 2013. It is distributed online through Valve's download retailer Steam; retail distribution was handled by Electronic Arts.

In Team Fortress 2, players join one of two teams comprising nine character classes, battling in a variety of game modes including capture the flag and king of the hill. The development is led by John Cook and Robin Walker, creators of the original Team Fortress. Announced in 1998, the game once had more realistic, militaristic visuals and gameplay, but this changed over the protracted nine-year development. After Valve released no information for six years, Team Fortress 2 regularly featured in Wired News' annual vaporware list among other ignominies. The finished Team Fortress 2 has cartoon-like visuals influenced by the art of J. C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell and Norman Rockwell and is powered by Valve's Source engine.

Pyro (Transformers)

Pyro is the name of two fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.

Transformers: Generation 1

Pyro (also called Spark) is the name of an Autobot leader who turns into a fire truck. Pyro/Spark was a European exclusive in 1993.

Pyro/Spark is described as a colossal hero with legendary feats of courage. Equipped with a multimissile firing system. Rear section converts into a defense launch pad. He has the ability to see into the immediate future.

IDW Publishing

Under the name Pyro, this character first appears in Last Stand of the Wreckers' #1 by IDW Publishing where he joins the Wreckers along with Ironfist, Guzzle and Rotorstorm. In issue #2 he tries to come up with a new motto before his first mission. Pyro was killed by a mob of Decepticons in issue #5.

Fun Publications

Under the name Spark, this character appears in the Botcon 2010 story. He leads the Autobots on Earth against Clench's Decepticons forces. Among his forces were the Autobots High Beam, Rapido, Streetwise and Scorch. After exposure to Forestonite, he gains the ability to see the immediate future, which he uses to beat Clench in battle.

Pyro (song)

"Pyro" is a song by American rock band Kings of Leon, and is the second single that was released from their 2010 album Come Around Sundown. It is the third track on the album.

The song, along with its accompanying music video, premiered on December 9 on the Kings' website and on their YouTube channel.

Inspiration

According to songfacts.com, Caleb Followill explained about the original inspiration for this song: "I had actually written some verses because I was watching this piece on these radical Christians that live up in the mountains and somehow the FBI got involved and pretty much went and killed them [presumably a reference to Ruby Ridge]. And so I started writing kind of about that and about a guy that was kind of fed up with it all and he thought that the world that he was living in wasn't the perfect world to him so he kind of goes and burns it down. It's just one of those songs where it's like it starts out with someone thinking they know how it's supposed to be and at the end it's like, 'I can't even be that way.'"

Respect (The Bill)

"Respect" is the two-part series finale of the United Kingdom's longest running police procedural television drama series, The Bill. The episodes were written by David Harsent and directed by Reza Moradi, and aired on ITV1 on 24 and 31 August 2010. The series finale, and the final scene, were specially written to include all 17 current cast members.

Background

The Bill was a long-running police drama set in and around the fictional Sun Hill police station in south London. The show's focus was on the work and lives of the officers, led by Superintendent Jack Meadows (Simon Rouse) and Inspector Dale "Smithy" Smith (Alex Walkinshaw). Much of the officers' time is spent on the fictional Jasmine Allen estate, the setting for much of "Respect".

Plot

Respect: Part I

Smithy is called to the Jasmine Allen Estate where he discovers a dying teenager, identified as Liam Martin, who has been stabbed by gang members. Investigations into his murder lead the team to Jasmine Harris (Faye Daveney), a previous informant of DC Mickey Webb (Chris Simmons). Investigations reveal that she lured Liam to where he was killed and she is arrested. In interview, Jasmine leads officers to Carlos Miller (Lewis Chase), who is arrested and claims that he killed Liam in self-defence. Jasmine is released on bail, against the advice of DC Webb, who believes that she is in danger from other gang members. Upon her return to the estate, a gang of boys forces Jasmine into a warehouse, where she is beaten and gang raped. A gunshot is heard, and the episode concludes with police arriving at the scene.

Respect (Robyn Hitchcock album)

Respect is the eleventh album by Robyn Hitchcock and his seventh with backing band, The Egyptians, released on A&M in 1993.

Background

"Respect" was the group's fourth and final studio album under contract to A&M, and Hitchcock's last record with the Egyptians. The album contains ten Hitchcock originals.

The album has a Hitchcock oil painting on its front cover entitled "Red Lemon Days", which was the original title for the album. The release includes a Hitchcock written short story, "Moose Mark and the Prince of Cones", in its inlay.

The album was written and recorded in the period following the death of Hitchcock's father, and several songs reflect this explicitly, particularly the opening track.

Recording

The album was recorded on a mobile recording unit at Hitchcock's then home in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. Hitchcock explained the decision by saying, "I've never really cared much for going in and recording in the studio, so it seemed like the easiest solution was to have the studio come to record with us." The band rehearsed at the house over the summer and then when it came time to record, the group and their respective wives, family and friends all stayed at the house while production took place. Most of the recording was done in the living room, where the furniture had been removed and carpets pulled up. The kitchen was chosen for the vocals because of its good acoustics.

Respect (song)

"Respect" is a song written and originally released by American recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. The song became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told by the songs have a different flavor. Redding's version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants. He won't care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect, when he comes home ("respect" being a euphemism). However, Franklin's version is a declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his "respect". Franklin's version adds the "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" chorus and the backup singers' refrain of "Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me..."

Franklin's cover was a landmark for the feminist movement, and is often considered as one of the best songs of the R&B era, earning her two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It is number five on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Franklin included a live recording on the album Aretha in Paris (1968).