Alan Grant (writer)

Alan Grant (born 1949) is a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles during the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He is also the creator of the characters Anarky and the Ventriloquist.

Career

Early career

Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines.

After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.

2000AD

Wagner asked Grant to write a strip for Starlord, a 2000AD spin off, which eventually got Grant noticed within IPC. On a trip to London, Grant was introduced to Kelvin Gosnell, then editor of 2000AD, who offered Grant an editorial position on the comic. One of Grant's first jobs was to oversee the merger of 2000AD and Tornado, an unsuccessful boys adventure comic. Grant featured as a character in the comic in the form of ALN-1, Tharg's Scottish Robot assistant. Grant found himself in conflict with IPC and resigned to become a freelance writer, writing the occasional issue of Future Shock and Blackhawk.

And One

And One is a German new wave, synthpop and EBM band founded by Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz in 1989.

History

The band formed after Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz met in 1989 at a Berlin club. Being fans of early EBM music, Naghavi and Ruiz decided to follow in the footsteps of new wave/synthpop band Depeche Mode by using two keyboards and a beatbox. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic called their 1990 single, "Metal Hammer", a "significant club hit". The duo became a trio with the addition of Alex Two, prior to the release of their debut album, Anguish in 1991. That same year, they were honored as the Best New Artist in Germany.

Going into the release of Anguish, they had already garnered a decent following through touring and appearances at various parties. With their debut release, they took home the Best New Artist award in Germany in 1991. Chris Ruiz left in 1992 (he would later return in 2001) while Steve Naghavi remained with the band. And One released three more albums with Machinery Records, Flop! (1992), Spot (1993) and I.S.T. (1994). The band left Machinery around 1996–1997 and signed to Virgin Schallplatten. And One would release four albums on this label between 1997 and 2003: Nordhausen (1997), 9.9.99 9 Uhr (1998), Virgin Superstar (2000) and Aggressor (2003).

Wasted (novel)

Wasted is Mark Johnson's memoir. As a child, he was severely mentally and physically abused by his father. When Mark escaped from where he lived, he turned to drugs and crime. His autobiography provides an account of his journey from self-destruction to self-fulfillment.

Born in the West Midlands in 1970, Mark became a prolific offender and embraced a lifestyle of consuming drugs and alcohol. When he escaped from his chaotic lifestyle, he set up a tree surgery business, which employed several ex-offenders and recovering addicts. Mark earned The Prince's Trust Young Achiever of the Year Award.

Plot

At one point during Mark's therapy he asks: "Can someone like me ever get clean?" after he has lost most of his body weight and has been living on the streets of London. His experiences demonstrate that someone who has been in the depths of addiction can certainly get clean.

The story commences when Mark is a child. He lives with his parents as well as his brother, Shane, and sister, Kelly in Kidderminster. Shane is two years older than Mark. Mark's parents also adopt a boy named Paul. Mark's father is an aggressive alcoholic who regularly subjects Mark as well as his wife to mental and physical abuse. According to Mark, his dad never lays a hand upon or raises his voice towards Kelly. This causes Mark to resent her. Mark describes how he grows up in a house filled with anger and tension. Despite his father's horrific treatment of his son, young Mark loves his dad and sees his father as his hero. Mark sees his dad as being scary when he loses his temper. When his dad beats him with a belt, Mark describes how he becomes detached from the situation and feels as if part of him is somewhere else. Furthermore, when Mark endeavours to become close to his mother, Lorraine, she often rebuffs his attempts. Lorraine is a Jehovah's Witness. Throughout his childhood, Mark craves nourishing attention from his parents, which he seldom receives.

Life (Diamonds in the Dark)

"'Life (Diamonds in the Dark)" is a song by Swedish DJ and producer John Dahlbäck featuring Swedish recording artist Agnes. Dahlbäck originally released the instrumental version of the song called "Life" in February 2012, but later got Swedish singer Agnes to sing the vocals on the re-release. In an interview with American magazine "Billboard" Dahlbäck commented on the co-operation with Agnes; "“She’s one of the biggest pop stars in Sweden, so for me it was a big honor to have her on the track. This may not be what she’d do normally, but she’s very happy with the result.”

The song is released together with three remixes that will accompany the February 25 release. Dahlback selected remixes from Australian upstarts Feenixpawl, fellow Swedish DJs Lunde Bros., and Canadian electro-house artist Lazy Rich.

Track listings

(Released: February 25, 2013)

Life (Sly and the Family Stone album)

Life is the third studio album by funk/soul band Sly and the Family Stone, released in September 1968 on Epic/CBS Records.

Music

Unlike its predecessor, Dance to the Music, Life was not a commercial success, although it has received mostly positive reviews from music critics over the years. Many of its songs, including "M'Lady", "Fun", "Love City", as well as the title track, became popular staples in the Family Stone's live show. A middle ground between the fiery A Whole New Thing and the more commercial Dance to the Music, Life features very little use of studio effects, and is instead more driven by frontman Sly Stone's compositions. Topics for the album's songs include the dating scene ("Dynamite!", "Chicken", "M'Lady"), groupies ("Jane is a Groupee"), and "plastic" (or "fake") people (the Beatlesque "Plastic Jim"). Of particular note is that the Family Stone's main themes of unity and integration are explored here in several songs ("Fun", "Harmony", "Life", and "Love City"). The next Family Stone LP, Stand!, would focus almost exclusively on these topics.

Life (Our Lady Peace song)

"Life" is a song by Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace. It was the second single released from their fourth studio album, Spiritual Machines and the most successful from that album. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 2002 Juno Awards, losing to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me".

Song information

This song like the rest on the album, was partially inspired by Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines. While directly following the track "In Repair" on the studio album, on the band's 2006 compilation album, A Decade, the track is immediately preceded by a spoken excerpt by Ray Kurzweil titled "R.K. Jack" that was recorded during the Spiritual Machines sessions and previously unreleased.

Kurzweil narration (R.K. Jack)

The band has performed "Life" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. The song can also be briefly heard in Trailer Park Boys: Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys in which J-Roc remixes the "do do do" part with his own rap.

Arise (Sepultura song)

"Arise" is Sepultura's first official single, as well as the first of three to be released from the album of the same name.

History

The song is one of Sepultura's best known songs and is sometimes called a thrash metal masterpiece.

A controversial music video for the song was produced and can be found on the VHS release Third World Chaos, which was later released on DVD as part of Chaos DVD.

The video was filmed in Death Valley and features footage of the band playing during daylight, mixed with images of a Christ-like figure in a gas mask, hung on a cross. The video was banned by MTV America due to its apocalyptic religious imagery.

At this stage in their career the band had recorded little material to be used as B-sides, which is why the Arise singles are so similar. B-sides on this single were taken from the Under Siege (Live in Barcelona) VHS.

Cover versions