Bomb disposal

Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the military fields of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD), and the public safety roles of Public Safety Bomb Disposal (PSBD) and the Bomb Squad.

"Bomb disposal" does not encompass the remediation of soils polluted with explosive materials.

History

The first professional civilian bomb squad was established by Sir Vivian Dering Majendie. As a Major in the Royal Artillery, Majendie investigated an explosion on 2 October 1874 in the Regent's Canal, when the barge 'Tilbury', carrying six barrels of petroleum and five tons of gunpowder, blew up, killing the crew and destroying Macclesfield Bridge and cages at nearby London Zoo.

In 1875, he framed The Explosives Act, the first modern legislation for explosives control. He also pioneered many bomb disposal techniques, including remote methods for the handling and dismantling of explosives. His advice during the Fenian dynamite campaign of 1881-85 was officially recognised as having contributed to the saving of lives. After Victoria Station was bombed on 26 February 1884 he defused a bomb with a clockwork mechanism which might have gone off at any moment.

Suburban Legends

Suburban Legends are an American third wave ska band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998 and later based themselves in Santa Ana, California. The band started out as a third wave ska band, but later moved to a pop and disco sound after a number of lineup changes in 2005. Since 2009 the band has returned to its ska roots, also incorporating Disney covers in their repertoire. Currently trombonist Brian Robertson is the only member that has been in the band since its inception. Vince Walker is also a founding member, but left the band in 2004, only to return in 2005, and guitarist Brian Klemm has been with the band since 1999.

History

Formation and first EP (1998-2002)

Influenced by artists such as Reel Big Fish, Michael Jackson and Oingo Boingo, the band was formed in 1998 as The No Tones, consisting of vocalist Tim Maurer, guitarist Josh Landers, bassist Justin Meacham, drummer Fred Johnson, trumpet players Vince Walker and Aaron Bertram, and trombonists Ryan Dallas Cook and Brian Robertson. A few months after forming, Landers was replaced by Brent Feige and Johnson by Jimmy Sullivan and the band changed their name to Bomb Squad, under which name they released an EP, now known as the Bomb Squad EP.
In 1999 the band changed their name to Suburban Legends. Guitarist Brent Feige left the band shortly before the release of the first demo album, Origin Edition, for which they recruited guitarist Brian Klemm. The album was self-pressed and even though Brian Klemm was already in the band, Vince Walker recorded the guitar parts for the demo album.

Bomb Squad (video game)

Bomb Squad was a single-player game released by Mattel for their Intellivision console in 1982. The game was one of five released for the console that required the Intellivoice module. (The other four were B-17 Bomber, Space Spartans, Tron: Solar Sailer, and World Series Major League Baseball.)

Gameplay

The object of the game is to defuse a bomb within a set period of time. The player first chooses the number of digits in the code needed to defuse the bomb (1, 2, or 3), and the difficulty level (affecting the number of steps needed to defuse the bomb and the time given to do so). The player can use four different tools: wire cutters, pliers, a soldering iron, and a fire extinguisher (for putting out any flames that ignite among the components). Proper manipulations of bomb circuitry reveal portions of the code, while mistakes speed up the bomb's timer and can burn out portions of the code display if not corrected quickly. Instructions from a demolition expert are given verbally (via the voice module) to the player detailing which parts of the bomb to manipulate and in which order. The player must then either replace the parts with wire (cut them out) or replace them with either corresponding shapes or corresponding colors. Once each part of the bomb circuitry is defused, an indication to the numeric code to defuse the bomb is revealed in green. The player may try to guess a digit in the code after successfully defusing at least two complete circuits in its display.

Character design of Final Fantasy

Although each installment of the Final Fantasy series is generally set in a different fictional world with separate storylines, there are several commonalities when it comes to character design, as certain design themes repeat themselves, as well as specific character names and classes. Within the main series, Yoshitaka Amano was the character designer for Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIII, Yoshitaka Amano created and did the concept art for the characters while Toshiyuki Itahana was the final character designer for Final Fantasy IX, and Akihiko Yoshida was the character designer for Final Fantasy XII.

Visual character design

The series has often featured male characters with slightly effeminate characteristics, as well as female characters with slightly tomboyish, but still feminine, characteristics. This trend has generally increased as the series evolved. These characters are usually teenagers, which some critics have interpreted as an effort on the part of the designers to ensure the players identify with them. At the same time, some female characters have been increasingly designed to wear very revealing outfits. Square Enix has stated that a more rugged looking hero had been considered for Final Fantasy XII but had ultimately been scrapped in favor of Vaan, another effeminate protagonist. The developers cited scenaristic reasons and target demographic considerations to explain their choice. For Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix settled on a female main character, described as a "female version of Cloud from FFVII." This aspect of Final Fantasy can also be seen in Sora, the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts, a crossover series featuring Final Fantasy and Disney characters.

F.A.M.E. (album)

F.A.M.E. is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Chris Brown. It was first released on March 18, 2011, by Jive Records. The album serves as the follow-up to his third album Graffiti (2009). The album also marks as his last album with Jive Records. On this album, Brown worked with several record producers and songwriters; including Kevin McCall, Jean-Baptiste, Brian Kennedy, DJ Frank E, The Underdogs and The Messengers, among others. The album features guest appearances, from Wiz Khalifa, Game, Timbaland and Big Sean, among others.

Musically, F.A.M.E. combines the musical genres of R&B, pop, hip hop and Europop. Upon its release, the album received mixed reviews from most music critics, who were ambivalent towards its songwriting and material. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 270,000, Brown's first number-one album in the United States. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for selling more than 500,000 copies. The album garnered three Grammy Award nominations at the 54th annual ceremony, eventually winning Best R&B Album. F.A.M.E. also won the Album of the Year at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards.

Box office bomb

In the motion picture industry, a "box office bomb" or "box office flop" is a film that is viewed as highly unsuccessful or unprofitable during its theatrical run, sometimes preceding hype regarding its cost, production, or marketing efforts. Generally, any film for which the production and marketing costs exceed the combined revenue recovered after release is considered to have "bombed".

Gauging the financial success of a film is difficult, and because there is no reliable definition, what makes a "box-office bomb" can be very subjective. Not all films that fail to earn back their estimated costs during their theatrical runs are "bombs," and the label is generally applied to films that miss earnings projections by a wide margin, particularly when they are very expensive to produce, and sometimes in conjunction with middling or poor reviews (though critical reception has an imperfect connection to box office performance).

Causes of a film's failure

Negative word of mouth

Beginning in the 1980s, cinemas started to drop movies that suffered a poor opening weekend. This made the performance of a film on its opening weekend much more crucial to its perception. With the growth of the Internet during the 1990s, chat rooms and websites enabled negative word of mouth to spread rapidly.

Ballycolman

Ballycolman(Irish: Baile Uí Colmain ) is a townland of 588 acres in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, now part of Strabane. It is situated in the historic barony of Strabane Lower and the civil parish of Urney.

The name derives from the Irish: Baile Uí Colmain (Colman's town).

The population of the townland declined during the 19th century:

It was then subsumed into Strabane. It is best known for Ballycolman housing estate in Strabane, and also has a community centre, nursery school and industrial estate.

See also

References