Stars (Simply Red album)

Stars is the fourth album by British-based pop/soul/jazz band Simply Red, released in September 1991. Five singles were released from the album, including the UK top ten hits "Stars" and "For Your Babies". The album was a worldwide success, particularly in the band's home country where it has been certified twelve times platinum and was the best-selling album of the year in the UK for both 1991 and 1992, the first album to be the best-seller in two consecutive years since Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970–71. As of February 2014 it is the 14th best-selling album of all time in the UK.

Stars was also the last album to feature member Tim Kellett, who started his own band Olive after touring. It is the only Simply Red album to feature Fritz McIntyre singing lead vocals, on the tracks "Something Got Me Started" and "Wonderland".

It was on the shortlist of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. In 2000 Q placed Stars at number 80 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever".

Stars (M. C. Escher)

Stars is a wood engraving print created by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher in 1948, depicting two chameleons in a polyhedral cage floating through space.

Although the compound of three octahedra used for the central cage in Stars had been studied before in mathematics, it was most likely invented independently for this image by Escher without reference to those studies. Escher used similar compound polyhedral forms in several other works, including Crystal (1947), Study for Stars (1948), Double Planetoid (1949), and Waterfall (1961).

The design for Stars was likely influenced by Escher's own interest in both geometry and astronomy, by a long history of using geometric forms to model the heavens, and by a drawing style used by Leonardo da Vinci. Commentators have interpreted the cage's compound shape as a reference to double and triple stars in astronomy, or to twinned crystals in crystallography. The image contrasts the celestial order of its polyhedral shapes with the more chaotic forms of biology.

Stars (Canadian band)

Stars is a Canadian indie pop and rock band.

History

All members of Stars grew up in Toronto. Torquil Campbell and Christopher Seligman started the first record Nightsongs in New York in 1999. When starting to play live shows they called in Evan Cranley, a childhood friend, to play bass. Cranley then recruited Amy Millan. The four of them then all moved to Montreal and began to work on the second full-length album Heart. In Montreal they met Patrick Mcgee, who became their drummer. Heart was released on the new label Arts&Crafts along with their friends Broken Social Scene. While on their first North American tour together, Stars and Broken Social Scene shared and swapped members on a nightly basis.

After critical acclaim for their album Heart, Stars rented a house in the Eastern Townships in the middle of winter. For a month and a half the five of them lived together and wrote Set Yourself on Fire. It was recorded at Studio Plateau in Montréal and was produced by the band and Tom McFall. The record received good reviews. Set Yourself on Fire and their highly acclaimed live performances established them as one of the most successful bands in Canada.

Marc (TV series)

Marc is a British television series presented by T. Rex lead singer Marc Bolan. It was produced in Manchester by Granada Television for the ITV network. A second series was planned had Bolan not died before it could be produced.

Produced by Muriel Young and directed by Nicholas Ferguson, it ran for six weekly episodes in the autumn of 1977, before its host died in a car crash on 16 September that year. A pop music show, it gave Bolan a chance to showcase punk bands such as Generation X, the Jam, Radio Stars and Eddie and the Hot Rods. T. Rex performed at least three songs each week, a mixture of new versions of their old hits, and fresh tracks, while the guests were slotted in between. Not all were as notable as those listed above, though they also included Roger Taylor, drummer with the rock band Queen, in a rare solo TV appearance. They were also joined by a dance troupe called Heart Throb.

The last episode featured Bolan duetting with his friend David Bowie. Before the song had reached its end, Bolan tripped over a microphone cable and fell off the stage. Bowie is said to have called out "Could we have a wooden box for Marc [to stand on]?". Following the show Bolan and Bowie co-wrote and recorded a rough outline of a new song, 'Madman'. The new wave band Cuddly Toys found a bootleg tape and recorded it, which became a UK Indie Chart single and featured on their 'Guillotine Theatre' album.

Pomace brandy

Pomace brandy, also called marc in both English and French, is a liquor distilled from pomace that is left over from winemaking after the grapes are pressed. Alcohol derived from pomace is also used as the traditional base spirit of other liquors, such as some anise-flavored spirits. Unlike wine brandy, most pomace brandies are neither aged nor coloured.

Production

Pomace may be either fermented, semi-fermented, or unfermented. During red wine vinification, the pomace is left to soak in the must for the entire fermentation period and is thus fermented. Fermented pomace is particularly suitable for the production of pomace brandy, as it is soft, dry, and has a high alcohol content. Semi-fermented pomace is produced during rosé wine vinification, where the pomace is removed before fermentation is complete. Virgin pomace, which is produced during white wine vinification, is not fermented at all.

Both semi-fermented and unfermented pomace must be kept in a silo until fermentation is complete. After fermentation is complete, the pomace is distilled.

List of Coronation Street characters (2011)

Coronation Street is a British soap opera, produced by ITV Studios. Created by writer Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. It has been produced by Phil Collinson since 2010. The following is a list of characters introduced by Collinson in the show's fifty-first year, by order of first appearance. January saw three introductions; DC Moore (Pooja Shah), Marc Selby (Andrew Hall) and Frank Foster, played by former The Bill actor Andrew Lancel. Faye Butler (Ellie Leach), Jeff Cullen (Steven Houghton) and the soap's first Chinese character, Xin Chiang (Elizabeth Tan) arrived in February. Veteran actress Stephanie Cole joined as Sylvia Goodwin, the mother of established character Roy Cropper, in April.

June saw a new family take over the running of the Rovers Return for the first time as former EastEnders actress Michelle Collins and Taggart actor John Michie took on the roles of Stella Price and Karl Munro respectively. The couple were also joined by Stella's daughter Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley). Beth Tinker (Lisa George) and Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) arrived in August and Frank's parents, Anne (Gwen Taylor) and Sam Foster (Paul Clayton) made their first appearances in September, along with Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede). Lesley Kershaw (Judy Holt) followed in October and Jeremy Sheffield began appearing as Danny Stratton in December. That same month saw the birth of Joseph Brown, the only child to be born that year.