Rubbernecking

Rubbernecking is the act of gawking or staring at something of interest. A common example of rubbernecking is drivers trying to view the aftermath of a traffic accident. The term rubbernecking refers to the physical act of craning one's neck, performed in order to get a better view.

Rubbernecking has been described as a human trait that is associated with morbid curiosity. It can be the cause of traffic jams (sometimes referred to as "Gapers' blocks"), as drivers slow down to see what happened in a crash. It is also a cause of further accidents in the vicinity of the original accident, as drivers become distracted and unexpectedly change their rate of travel, while other drivers are also distracted, and so forth. The word rubbernecking has also come to be used more generally to describe a voyeuristic interest in someone else's business or affairs. Fires in buildings tend to attract rubberneckers, as there is little danger for them in observing the spectacle from a distance.

Rubberneck (album)

Rubberneck is the most successful album by American rock band The Toadies. It was released in August 1994 on Interscope Records and attained RIAA gold and platinum status in December 1995 and December 1996 respectively. The album produced the band's most popular single, "Possum Kingdom". The song's master track is featured in the Xbox 360 version of the video game Guitar Hero II. It was also released for the video game Rock Band 3 in a pack that contained "Away" and "Tyler" as well.

In 2014, in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, Kirtland Records re-released the album on CD and vinyl on April 1. The album was remastered and also includes five bonus tracks Three of the bonus tracks are previously unreleased songs from the original album's sessions, including "Run in with Dad" and a cover of Pylon's "Stop It", both of which were previously recorded for Velvet, and "Rockfish", an early version of "Waterfall", a song later recorded for Feeler, the intended follow-up to Rubberneck. The other two bonus tracks are early live versions of "Possum Kingdom" and "Tyler", recorded at Trees Dallas on December 5, 1991 The vinyl only features the original 11 album tracks, and includes a download of the five bonus tracks.

Grimace

Grimace may refer to:

McDonaldland

McDonaldland was a fantasy world used in the marketing for McDonald's restaurants. According to a lawsuit, it was based on the "total concept and feel" of Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf television program. McDonaldland was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and other characters. In addition to being used in advertising, the characters were used as the basis for equipment in the playgrounds attached to some McDonald's. McDonaldland and the supporting characters were dropped from McDonald's marketing in 2003, but Ronald McDonald is still seen in commercials and in Happy Meal toys.

History

1971–1974: Early years

The first phase of the McDonaldland concept began in January 1971, when McDonald's was replacing its drive-ins with mansard roofed restaurants. The early commercials were built on an upbeat, bubble-gum style tune, and featured a narrator; many had plots that involved various villains trying to steal a corresponding food item, foiled by Ronald.

McDonaldland itself, as it was depicted in the commercials, was a magical place where plants, foods, and inanimate objects were living, speaking characters. In addition to being the home to Ronald and the other core characters, McDonaldland boasted a theme park of "Thick Shake Volcanoes", anthropomorphized "Apple Pie Trees," "French Fry Bushes" (where McDonald's French Fries grew from bushes), "The Hamburger Patch" (where McDonald's hamburgers grew out of the ground like plants), "Filet-O-Fish Lake", and many other fanciful features based around various McDonald's menu items. In the commercials, the various beings are played by puppets or costumed performers, very similar to those used in the popular H.R. Pufnstuf TV show.

Grimace (composer)

Grimace (also Grymace or Grimache) was a French composer active in the mid-to-late 14th century.

Grimace was active in the period of music history known as the ars nova and was probably a contemporary of Guillaume de Machaut, since his compositions lack the complicated rhythms of the Ars subtilior (Günther 2007). Grimace's birth and death dates are not known; little is known about him outside of attributions in medieval music manuscripts. Five works are attributed to him securely; two doubtful attributions have been proposed based on stylistic similarities. His virelai, A l'arme, A l'arme, is his most often performed work in modern times.

The works attributed to Grimace are:

Doubtful works:

References