Singles (The Long Blondes album)

"Singles" is a compilation album released by the Sheffield band The Long Blondes on October 8, 2008 via Angular Records. The 12-track album collates all of the songs from the band's singles prior to their signing to Rough Trade Records in April 2006, released by various independent record labels. The compilation was released on the same day that the band broke up, with the album's inlay breaking the news of their decision to split.

"Singles" was named the 25th best album of 2008 by Artrocker magazine.

Background

The compilation features the previously unreleased song "Peterborough" and an alternate version of "Separated By Motorways". This version of "Separated By Motorways" differs from the single release, with the group opting to include Alan Smyth's demo version instead. The compilation also features rare information, pictures and early interviews with the band.

"New Idols" and "Long Blonde" were originally released by Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation on bubblegum pink vinyl as a double A-side. The latter was also featured on a split 7" with The Boyfriends on Filthy Little Angels (which also featured "Autonomy Boy"). These were followed by two singles on Angular Records; "Giddy Stratospheres" (backed by "Polly" and "Darts") and "Appropriation (By Any Other Name)" (backed by "My Heart Is Out of Bounds" and "Lust in the Movies"). "Giddy Stratospheres" was also released in the US on 12" by What's Your Rupture?, featuring the three tracks included on the UK version, plus '"Autonomy Boy". The band's final release before signing to Rough Trade was "Separated By Motorways", which came out on Paul Epworth's Good & Evil Records backed by "Big Infatuation".

Singles: Flirt Up Your Life

Singles: Flirt Up Your Life is a video game developed by Rotobee and published by German company Deep Silver in 2003.

It is very similar to The Sims in that the player is responsible for characters who have to be taken care of, such as by ordering them to eat, sleep, go to work, etc.

The game is available for sale via download from the company's website, with payment required to continue playing after the one-hour time limit expires.

The CD-ROM version sold in the USA censors any nudity throughout the game.

Comparison to earlier games

Singles was largely panned by critics for being a rip-off of The Sims and the way it offered little challenge, with the player required to simply follow a routine of making the characters progress from making small talk through to professing love then running off to bed together via the simple interaction menus. The 'needs' are also considered fairly inconsequential, with the characters never starving to death even when their 'hunger' need has dropped to zero.

Singles (Travis album)

Singles is the first and only compilation album from Scottish alternative rock band Travis. The album was released on 1 November 2004. The album consists of all of the band's singles from 1997–2004, as well as including two new tracks, "Walking In The Sun" and "The Distance". The album charted at #4 on the UK Albums Chart, performing considerably better than 12 Memories, actually selling the required 300,000+ copies that were shipped to make it a platinum album.

Track listing

Smithers-Oasis

Smithers-Oasis is a company specializing in floristry products headquartered in Kent, Ohio, United States. The company created water-absorbing foam in 1954 and leads manufacturing and marketing of various products in the global florist industry.

History

The company was founded in 1954 by V.L. Smithers in Kent, Ohio after he developed a water absorbent foam to use in floral arrangements. Since then, other products have been developed including floral accessories, cellular growing media, and post-harvest plant products. The company is headquartered in Kent and operates a manufacturing plant there. Corporate offices were returned to Kent in late 2013 from Cuyahoga Falls, where they had been located since 1992.

Products

Wet floral foam

Oasis is a trademarked name for wet floral foam, the spongy phenolic foam used for real flower arranging. It soaks up water like a sponge and acts both as a preservative to prolong the life of the flowers and a support to hold them in place. The foam's structure is similar to that of plants and has capillary action to move water to the surface and up the stem. It is often green, but is also available in many other colours, such as purple, red, yellow, and brown. It usually is supplied in a brick shape, but can be bought in spherical shapes. Oasis can be bought wholesale or in arts and craft and gardening stores, particularly ones that feature large faux flower collections for creating artificial arrangements.

Oasis (2002 film)

Oasis (Hangul: 오아시스) is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Lee Chang-dong. This is Lee's third feature film, and the last one he directed before his stint as South Korea's Minister of Culture. The film's plot tells about the difficult romance between a mildly mentally disabled man who was just released from jail after a two and a half year sentence for involuntary manslaughter and a woman with severe cerebral palsy. Starring in these roles are the couple from Lee Chang-dong's previous film Peppermint Candy: Sol Kyung-gu and Moon So-ri. The movie also shows how the two main characters are treated by their families and perceived by the people around them.

The film was a critical success, earning prizes in numerous film festivals. Among the most important were the special director's prize given to Lee Chang-dong at the 2002 Venice Film Festival and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actor or Actress given to Moon So-ri at the same event.

Plot

Upon his release from prison, Hong Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu) goes looking for his relatives in Seoul. His brothers have moved and neither they and nor their mother are aware Jong-du is back on the streets after serving a three-year prison term for a hit-and-run accident. He quickly discovers that during his absence his family has moved without telling him. Oblivious to society's rules, Jong-du again ends up in police custody for non-payment of a restaurant bill. He is bailed out by his younger brother Jong-sae (Ryoo Seung-wan) and reunited with his estranged family who reluctantly take him back in. Slightly mentally disabled and an incurable social misfit, Jong-du is hired as a delivery boy for a neighborhood Chinese restaurant on the recommendation of his older brother Jong-il (Ahn Nae-sang).

Kitarō discography

Kitaro's discography consists of 24 studio albums, 8 live albums, 14 soundtrack albums, and 42 compilation albums. Kitaro's latest project, Symphony Live In Istanbul was nominated for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and is Kitaro's 16th Grammy nomination to date.

He also appears in five full-length concert videos and has composed scores for numerous films including Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth, Impressions of the West Lake, and The Soong Sisters. He won Golden Globe Award Best Original Score for Heaven & Earth and won Golden Horse Award and Hong Kong Film Award for The Soong Sisters (1997).

He has collaborated with various artists including Megadeth's Marty Friedman, Mickey Hart, Philip Glass, Dennis Banks, and Jane Zhang, as well as appearing on four Far East Family Band albums.

Studio albums

15 of these studio albums were nominated for a Grammy Award. Thinking of You won a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 2000.

Soundtracks

Impression of the West Lake is one of the Grammy nominated albums.

McVitie's

McVitie's is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company moved to various sites in the city before completing the St. Andrews Biscuit Works factory on Robertson Avenue in the Gorgie district in 1888. The company also operates two large manufacturing plants south of the border in Levenshulme, Manchester / Heaton Chapel, Stockport and Harlesden, London.

History

Though the original 1830 Edinburgh factory burned down in 1894, it was rebuilt the same year and remained operative until 1969, when production ceased and operations were transferred to English sites. McVitie & Price expanded to a new factory in Harlesden in 1910 and to Manchester in 1917. The firm acquired Edinburgh bakery Simon Henderson & Sons in 1922. McVitie & Price merged with another Scottish family bakery, Macfarlane, Lang & Co., Ltd, in 1948 to become United Biscuits Group.