Oracle (workhouse)

The Oracle was a workhouse that produced cloth in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The Oracle shopping mall, which occupies a small part of the site, takes its name from the Oracle workhouse.

History

In the 17th century, clothiers in Reading were facing competition from the north of England, where taxes were lower. On 30 December 1624, John Kendrick a clothier died leaving £7,500 to the Reading and £4,000 to Newbury to help their cloth industries. John Kendrick's father and brother had a textile factory in Minster Street. The factory was sold to the Council for £2,000, and alterations were carried out to make it suitable for use as a workhouse. The new facility opened in 1628. It stretched from the top of Minster Street 30 m down along the Holy Brook. William Kendrick chose the name "Oracle" to honour his brother John, whose idea launched the facility.

The Oracle remained in use until the 19th century, and the building was demolished in 1850.

References

The Oracle (The Matrix)

The Oracle is a fictional character in The Matrix franchise. She was created by The Wachowskis, and portrayed by Gloria Foster in the first and second film and Mary Alice in the third film. The character also appears in the video game Enter the Matrix and the MMORPG The Matrix Online.

Overview

In the first film, she is a mysterious but powerful figure, incongruously depicted as a cheerful old lady who smokes cigarettes and bakes cookies. She possesses the power of foresight, which she uses to advise and guide the humans attempting to fight the Matrix. Later, she is revealed to be a sapient program who is integral to the very nature of the Matrix itself. Whether her power of prediction is deterministic or not is a concept given much treatment in all three films. She herself claims that she lacks the ability to see past her own choice, explaining that no one, including herself, can see past a choice they do not understand. It becomes clear in the films that her power cannot be used to predict the ultimate consequences of Neo, who possesses free will when he defies the Architect.

Spider Riders

Spider Riders (スパイダーライダーズ ~オラクルの勇者たち~, Supaidāraidāzu ~Orakuru no Yūsha-tachi~, Spider Riders ~the Heroes of Oracle~) is a series of science fiction novels first published in December 2004, published by Newmarket Press written by Tedd Anasti, Patsy Cameron-Anasti and Stephen D. Sullivan (books 2–3). The stories became the basis of the anime series produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment of Canada and Bee Train of Japan. The three novels are titled Spider Riders: Shards of the Oracle, Spider Riders: Reign of the Soul Eater, and Spider Riders: Quest of the Earthen. Spider Riders broadcasts on Teletoon, This TV, and used to broadcast on Kids' WB!. Koichi Mashimo co-directed the staff at Bee Train with Takaaki Ishiyama. Writer Yosuke Kuroda adapted the novels. Robert Pincombe and Shelly Hoffman wrote the English version.

Plot

Eleven-year-old Hunter Steel searches for the legendary inner world by following the instructions in his grandfather's journal. He enters a cave where he finds a mysterious manacle that attaches itself to him. A spider startles Hunter, who falls into a hole to the center of the Earth and into the subterranean world of Arachna. There, he discovers a small group of elite warriors struggling to survive and to save Arachna from the attack of giant insect mutants. The warriors are children, each fighting with the help of their own 10 ft (3.0 m) battle spiders. They call themselves "Spider Riders". In the English TV series, the ages of the characters were reduced.

Waiting

Waiting or The Waiting may refer to:

Occupation

Music

Albums

Songs

Waiting (Thursday album)

Waiting is the debut album by the emo quintet Thursday. The album was produced by Sal Villanueva and released on Eyeball Records in 1999. The photography throughout the album's artwork, with the exception of live shots, was done by Tom Keeley's uncle, Dennis Keeley.

Songs

The song "Porcelain" is a tribute and call to action regarding suicide. Kevin, best friend to Geoff Rickly, had committed suicide soon after moving to San Francisco while suffering from Schizophrenia. At the time of his suicide, there wasn't a toll-free suicide hotline available in San Francisco that Kevin was aware of and he was unable to seek counseling at the time of his death. The song "Ian Curtis" was named after late lead singer of the UK group Joy Division. Another victim of suicide, Curtis hanged himself in his Macclesfield home in 1980. The song contains many Joy Division song references, most notably "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

The song "Dying in New Brunswick" was written by Geoff Rickly about his girlfriend who moved to New Brunswick and was raped while she was there. The lyrics are about how he hated the city for what happened and how he felt like he was dying whenever he was there.

Waiting (Fun Boy Three album)

Waiting is the second and final studio album by the Fun Boy Three. It was released in 1983 and featured the hit single "Our Lips Are Sealed," co-written by Terry Hall and previously performed by The Go-Go's.

Writer Robert Palmer called it one of the "summer's worthier record releases...that shouldn't be overlooked":

According to music critic Robert Christgau, "David Byrne's production suits songwriting that has advanced beyond the undernourishment of their breakaway debut."

Track listing

All songs written by Fun Boy Three unless noted.

The version available from many download services, including iTunes, substitutes the 2:52 single mix of "Our Lips Are Sealed".