Cobra is a double album featuring a live and studio performance of John Zorn's improvisational game piece, Cobra recorded in 1985 and 1986 and released on the Hathut label in 1987. Subsequent recordings of the piece were released on Knitting Factory (John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory (1992)), Avant (John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94 (1994)) and Zorn's own label Tzadik Records, (Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2)) in 2002.
The Allmusic site contains two disparate reviews of the album, the first by Brian Olewnick awarded the album 3 stars stating "one is left with the nagging (and correct) sense of something crucial being missed. As a document in Zorn's career, Cobra is essential. As a purely musical experience, it is, quite unfortunately, less so".
The second review of the 2002 CD reissue by Steve Loewy rated the album 4½ stars calling it "A masterpiece of eclecticism... all presented in Zorn's wickedly demented style, which tends toward pastiche but fascinates with its energy and variety. For Zorn enthusiasts, this is a must-have release".
Cobra (Japanese: コブラ, Hepburn: Kobura) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa. Set in the far future, the series tells the story of Cobra, who lives an adventurous life until his enemies begin to hunt him down. Cobra surgically alters his face and erases his own memory to hide from his foes and have a normal life. Eventually, he regains his memories and reunites with his former partner Lady Armaroid. Terasawa devised it as a mix of spaghetti western and samurai stories, and aspects of films, varying from James Bond to Disney.
The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from November 1978 to November 1984. Later, Shueisha collected the chapters and published them in 18 tankōbon volumes. The Cobra manga spawned various sequel manga series, one-shots, a feature-length anime film, two anime series—a 31-episode series in 1982, and a 13-episode series in 2010—, two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise. In 2010, Alexandre Aja announced that a live-action film was in production.
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (or COBRA) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress on a reconciliation basis and signed by President Ronald Reagan that, among other things, mandates an insurance program which gives some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment. COBRA includes amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The law deals with a great variety of subjects, such as tobacco price supports, railroads, private pension plans, emergency room treatment, disability insurance, and the postal service, but it is perhaps best known for Title X, which amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Service Act to deny income tax deductions to employers (generally those with 20 or more full-time equivalent employees) for contributions to a group health plan unless such plan meets certain continuing coverage requirements. The violation for failing to meet those criteria was subsequently changed to an excise tax.
Version may refer to:
Version 2.0 is the second studio album by American rock band Garbage, released on May 4, 1998 by Mushroom Records. The album was recorded primarily at Smart Studios from March 1997 to February 1998. Despite a slow start, Version 2.0 went on to equal its predecessor, becoming platinum-certified in many territories. By 2008, it had sold 1.7 million copies in the United States. Garbage embarked on an 18-month-long world tour, and released a string of hit singles backed with innovative music videos.
With the album, Garbage aimed to improve and expand on the style of their 1995 self-titled debut rather than reinvent their sound. Lead singer Shirley Manson wrote dark, introspective lyrics, which she felt complemented the songs' melodies. Version 2.0 received generally positive reviews from music critics, and was included by several publications in their year-end lists of 1998's best albums. In 1999, Version 2.0 was nominated for Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. The album's third single "Special" was further nominated the following year for Best Rock Song and for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.
Team is a contemporary Slovak rock music band. They are most famous for a single from their third album which was called "Držím ti miesto", which was included in the soundtrack of the 2005 American film Hostel.
Germany B (or Germany A2) is a secondary team for the national football team of Germany, used to try out and develop players for potential inclusion in the first team. The team - which has not been active since 2006 - can play against other nations' B-teams, or against full national teams, but its matches are not considered full internationals. In its last incarnation the team was named Team 2006, as a development team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was to be hosted in Germany.
In 2000, when Germany was selected to host the World Cup, the national team was in decline - the squad was ageing, with little in the way of emerging talent. After the team was knocked out in the first round of Euro 2000, the German Football Association decided to form 'Team 2006' - a development team for young players, with the hope of producing a squad that could perform at the 2006 World Cup. The team played ten fixtures between 2002 and 2005, with four wins, four draws and two defeats.