Flex (magazine)

Flex is an American bodybuilding magazine, published by American Media, Inc.

History

Founded in 1983 by Joe Weider, local versions (essentially the US content with local advertisements) are now published throughout the world, in countries such as the UK and Australia.

The premier issue was dated April 1983, and featured Chris Dickerson on the cover. Flex is a companion publication to Muscle & Fitness, with more focus on hardcore and professional bodybuilding.

See also

References

External links

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.

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon is a 2012 adolescent non-fiction book by author Steve Sheinkin. The book won the 2013 Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal from the American Library Association. This book follows the process of building the nuclear bomb by the discovery of nuclear fission by German scientist Otto Hahn in December 17, 1938.

Introduction

The book traces the origin and development of the first atomic bomb. It follows the development of the atomic bomb from the discovery of nuclear fission through the Nazi heavy water manufacture to the Manhattan Project and the attempts of the Soviet Union to steal the bomb design, finishing at the dropping of the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Reception

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) in 2013 called it the best nonfiction book and stated that it was a '... most distinguished informational ...' book, while Kirkus Review said 'the book is a true spy thriller...It takes a lot of work to make a complicated subject clear and exciting, and from his prodigious research and storytelling skill, Sheinkin has created a nonfiction story young people will want to read.' Lisa Taylor, from School Library Journal Reviews suggested that 'this award-winning, meticulously sourced book deserves a spot in every library' and Brian Odom noted the inclusion of historical information and hard facts and concluded that Bomb was a 'well-documented account. It reads like an international spy thriller, and that's the beauty of it.'

Bomb (magazine)

Bomb is a quarterly magazine edited by artists and writers. It is composed, primarily, of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplines — visual art, literature, music, film, theater and architecture. In addition to interviews, the Bomb issues section features new fiction and poems, several 500-word "Artist on Artist" essays, and a reviews section. Bomb is published by New Art Publications, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

History

Bomb was launched in 1981 by a group of New York City-based artists, including Betsy Sussler, Sarah Charlesworth, Glenn O'Brien, Michael McClard, and Liza Bear, who sought to record and promote public conversations between artists without mediation by critics or journalists.

The name Bomb is a reference to both Wyndham Lewis's Blast and the fact that the magazine's original editors expected the publication to "bomb" after one or two issues. Shortly after its founding, Bomb formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, New Art Publications, Inc., which publishes the journal.

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing, mixing, or re-recording is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production in which additional or supplementary recordings are "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.

The process usually takes place on a dub stage. After sound editors edit and prepare all necessary tracks (dialogue, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), effects, Foley, and music), the dubbing mixer or mixers proceed to balance all of the elements and record the finished soundtrack. Dubbing is sometimes confused with ADR, also known as "additional dialogue replacement", "additional dialogue recording", and "looping", in which the original actors re-record and synchronize audio segments.

Outside the film industry, the term "dubbing" most commonly refers to the replacement of the voices of the actors shown on the screen with those of different performers speaking another language, which is called "revoicing" in the film industry.

Origins

In the past, dubbing was practiced primarily in musicals when the actor had an unsatisfactory singing voice. Today, dubbing enables the screening of audiovisual material to a mass audience in countries where viewers do not speak the same language as the performers in the original production.

This Is My Time (Raven-Symoné album)

This Is My Time is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Raven-Symoné, released in the United States on September 21, 2004 by Hollywood Records. The album is her debut with the Disney-owned label and debuted at number fifty-one on the U.S. Billboard 200, with 19,000 copies sold in its first week. It nevertheless became Raven-Symoné's best-selling solo album, selling 235,000 copies up to February 2, 2007 in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Release and promotion

Symoné released a five-track EP with Hollywood Records on January 1, 2004 prior to the release of This Is My Time, containing "Backflip", "Bump", "Overloved", "What Is Love?", and "Mystify". Released to promote the full-length album, the EP was only available in select stores and is now very rare.

Four songs from the album were incorporated into soundtracks from Disney films: The Lion King 1½ with "Grazing in the Grass"; The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement with "This Is My Time"; Ice Princess with "Bump"; and Go Figure with "Life Is Beautiful".

Bump the Show

Bump The Show (BUMP+) is an interactive web series launched in January 2010 from Yellow Line Studios. The show uses a 'reality' format and follows the stories of three women facing unintended pregnancies.

The show aims to address and influence the debate surrounding abortion; the premiere date was specifically chosen to coincide with the thirty-seventh anniversary of historic U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which granted American women a right to abortion. The show's format is unusual in that it requests viewers comment and participate on its website in message boards with personal stories and feedback that will affect the outcome of the series.

Production

Creation

The series was inspired by U.S. President Barack Obama's May 2009 commencement speech to graduates at the University of Notre Dame "to find ways to communicate about a workable solution to the problem of unintended pregnancies." Bump+ aims to be a "neutral platform for that discussion," with the hope that this will foster discussion with "authentic stories, honest communication, and – hopefully – a continuing dialog," rather than "political argument and rhetoric." Its "primary goal...is to enable a real conversation about the issue of abortion beyond the political and religious drama that dominates the national debate."