Man (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the terms Man and Men refer to humankind – in contrast to Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and other humanoid races – and does not denote gender.

The Elves call the race of Men Atani in Quenya, literally meaning "Second People" (the Elves being the First), but also Hildor (Followers), Apanónar (After-born), and Fírimar or Firyar (Mortals). Less charitably they were called Engwar (The Sickly), owing to their susceptibility to disease and old age, and their generally unlovely appearance in the Elves' eyes. The name Atani becomes Edain in Sindarin, but this term is later applied only to those tribes of Men who are friendly to the Elves. Other names appear in Sindarin as Aphadrim, Eboennin, and Firebrim or Firiath.

Origins

The race of Men is the second race of beings created by the One God, Ilúvatar. Because they awoke at the start of the Years of the Sun, while the Elves awoke at the start of the First Age during the Years of the Trees, they are called the Afterborn by the Elves.

Manú (footballer)

Emanuel Jesus Bonfim Evaristo (born 28 August 1982), known as Manú, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays mainly as a right winger.

Club career

Born in Setúbal, Manú started his professional career in the 2001–02 season playing for F.C. Alverca, before signing for S.L. Benfica in 2004 on a four-year contract. He was immediately loaned after arriving, serving stints in Italian sides Modena F.C. and A.C. Carpenedolo to gain experience, and returned to Portugal in the 2005–06 campaign for another temporary spell with C.F. Estrela da Amadora, where he played in 31 league games and scored seven goals, contributing to the preservation of the side's first division status.

In June 2006 Manú was given a new four-year deal and made his official debut for the Eagles by playing in both legs of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round win against FK Austria Wien, also making a substitute appearance for Benfica in the group stages against F.C. Copenhagen, on 13 September 2006 (0–0 away draw).

Mandø

Mandø is one of the Danish Wadden Sea islands off the southwest coast of Jutland, Denmark in the Wadden Sea, part of the North Sea. The island covers an area of 7.63 km² and has 62 inhabitants. The island is situated approximately 12 kilometers southwest of the ancient town of Ribe.

Mandø is barely accessible at high tide over an unpaved surface level causeway of about four kilometers in length that connects the island to the mainland. Extensive mudflats and tidal marshes encircle the island and provide breeding areas to multitudes of birds and other organisms. In the past centuries a large earthen dike has been constructed around the perimeter of the island, although substantially set back from the shoreline. This artifice has allowed conventional farming in the form of grain growing and sheep grazing. Mandø is technically a hallig, although it is far from the ten German islands commonly described by that term. The name was formerly often spelled Manø.

Logistics of access

Conventional motor vehicles can access Mandø Island via a causeway unpaved roadway, although this route is compromised in storms at high tide. The nearest village on the mainland which is the gateway to Mandø Island is Vester Vedsted. This simple causeway road is no more than copious gravel laid down on an immense mudflat, with required frequent periodic maintenance of added gravels. Alternatively many visitors reach the island by way of a specially designed tractor pulled bus with greatly oversized tires. This vehicle is capable of traversing some of the firmer mudflats, but only at the lowest tides. In any case private vehicles or the "Mandø bus" leave the mainland at the point of the Wadden Sea Centre, which offers nature information and boasts a small museum devoted to the natural history of Mandø. Mandø is located midway between the two larger islands Fanø and Rømø which are connected to the mainland by a ferry and a road running across a causeway, respectively.

Victory (Puff Daddy song)

"Victory" is a song recorded by American hip hop recording artist Puff Daddy. The song was originally written by Christopher Wallace, Trevor Smith, Jason Phillips and Steven Jordan for his debut studio album No Way Out (1997). It features heavy use of mafioso-style lyrics, as was popular at the time. It features The Notorious B.I.G., who raps two verses, and Busta Rhymes, who raps the song's chorus. The song also heavily sampled the Bill Conti song "Going the Distance", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Rocky making it a darker start to a rap album that featured many (at the time) club-standard singles. The song was released as a single in 1998, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song featured the very last verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. before his 1997 death.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Nispel on March 31, 1998 (although he was supposed to remain anonymous at the time of premiere) and is an homage to The Running Man. The almost eight-minute-long video featured cameos from Dennis Hopper as a New World Order dictator ("President Victor Castiglione") and Danny DeVito as a live action reporter. Tamara Beckwith was also in the video. Hopper and Devito reportedly appeared in the video pro bono as a favor to Combs.

Youthanasia

Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994 through Capitol Records. The album is not a large stylistic departure from the band's earlier recordings; however it marked the continuing evolution of Megadeth, following the footsteps of the previous album Countdown to Extinction (1992). The album's title is a play on words, implying that society is euthanizing its youth. The cover art features an elderly woman hanging babies by their feet on a seemingly endless clothesline; the artwork concept was directly inspired from a line of the title track.

Youthanasia received positive reviews upon its release. It was commercially successful, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum for shipping one million copies in the United States—a distinction achieved in 1995. A remixed and remastered edition featuring several bonus tracks and detailed liner notes was reissued on July 27, 2004.

Background and recording

Victory (instrumental)

"Victory" is the debut single by the string quartet Bond, from the band's debut album, Born. This single was removed from the UK Classical Charts because it was considered too "pop" to qualify as a classical song.

Origin

The main violin is inspired by The Barber of Seville's opening written by Gioachino Rossini.

In popular culture

Track listing