Cormorant

Phalacrocoracidae is a family of some 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed. There is no consistent distinction between "cormorants" and "shags", and these appellations have been assigned to different species randomly.

Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of 0.35–5 kilograms (0.77–11.02 lb) and wing span of 45–100 centimetres (18–39 in). The majority of species have dark feathers. The bill is long, thin and hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters, catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings; some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 metres. They have relatively short wings due to their need for economical movement underwater, and consequently have the highest flight costs of any bird.

Shag

Shag, Shags, Shagged or Shagging may refer to:

Music

Shag (hairstyle)

A shag cut is a hairstyle that has been layered to various lengths. It was created by the barber Paul McGregor. The layers are often feathered at the top and sides. The layers make the hair full around the crown, and the hair thins to fringes around the edges. This unisex style became popular after being worn by various celebrities, including Joan Jett, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, David Cassidy, Jane Fonda and Florence Henderson in the 1970s. During the 1990s Jennifer Aniston popularized "The Rachel" hairstyle, and Meg Ryan wore a shag in the early 2000s.

References

Shag (artist)

Josh Agle (born August 31, 1962) is an American artist, better known by the nickname Shag.

Life

Agle's nickname is derived from the last two letters of his first name, and the first two letters of his last name. He had his first solo gallery exhibition in 1997, and his first New York gallery show in 2002.

On December 31, 2010, the Shagmart Newsletter announced that Shag had suffered a near-fatal accident, and although he would recover, he would be taking it easy for the next year.

Selected books

Museum exhibitions and collections

Bird

Birds (class Aves) are a group of endothermic vertebrates, characterised by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a lightweight but strong skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at approximately ten thousand, with more than half of these being passerines, sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds.

The fossil record indicates that birds are the last surviving dinosaurs, having evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, and the last common ancestor is estimated to have lived about 95 million years ago. DNA-based evidence finds that birds radiated extensively around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that killed off the non-avian dinosaurs. Birds in South America survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world via multiple land bridges while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like "stem-birds" that lie outside class Aves proper, in the group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period. Many of these early stem-birds, such as Archaeopteryx, were not yet capable of fully powered flight, and many retained primitive characteristics like toothy jaws in place of beaks and long bony tails.

The finger

In Western culture, the finger or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger or the bird or flipping someone off,) is an obscene hand gesture. It communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent in meaning to "fuck off", "fuck you", "shove it up your ass", "up yours" or "go fuck yourself". It is performed by showing the back of a closed fist that has only the middle finger extended upwards, though in some locales the thumb is extended. Extending the finger is considered a symbol of contempt in several cultures, especially Western ones. Many cultures use similar gestures to display their disrespect, although others use it to express pointing without intentional disrespect toward other cultures.

The gesture dates back to Ancient Greece and it was also used in Ancient Rome. Historically, it represented the phallus. In some modern cultures, it has gained increasing recognition as a sign of disrespect, and has been used by music artists (notably more common among hardcore punk bands and rappers), actors, celebrities, athletes, and politicians. Most still view the gesture as obscene. The index finger and ring finger besides the middle finger in more contemporary periods has been likened to represent the testicles.

Birds (Marius Neset album)

Birds (released March 25, 2013 in Oslo, Norway by the label Edition Records – EDN1040) is the 4'th album of the Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset.

Critical reception

The review by Neil Spencer of the British newspaper The Guardian awarded the album 5 stars, the review by Terje Mosnes of the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet awarded the album dice 6, the review by Carl Petter Opsahk of the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang awarded the album dice 5, and the reviewer Ian Mann of the Jazz Mann awarded the album 4.5 stars

According to Mosnes, with this album, Neset takes further steps on his way to the Jazz sky. The brilliant compositions and the musical skills of this band are extraordinary. It is only to look forward to the next move of this great jazz musician and composer.

NRK Jazz critique Erling Wicklund, in his review of Neset's album Birds states:

BBC Music critique Peter Marsh, in his review of Neset's album Birds states:

Track listing

Personnel