Cocoon (film)

Cocoon is a 1985 American science fiction fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens. The movie stars Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by David Saperstein.

The film was shot in and around St. Petersburg, Florida: locations included the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, Sunny Shores Rest Home, The Coliseum, and Snell Arcade buildings. The film earned two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Don Ameche) and for Best Visual Effects.

A sequel, Cocoon: The Return, was released in 1988 in which almost all of the original cast reprised their roles.

Plot

About 10,000 years ago, peaceful aliens from the planet Antarea set up an outpost on the planet Earth, on an island later known to mankind as Atlantis. When Atlantis sank, twenty aliens were left behind, kept alive in large rock-like cocoons at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Now a group of Antareans have returned to Earth to collect them. Disguising themselves as humans, they rent a house with a swimming pool, and charge the water with "life force" to give the cocooned Antareans energy to survive the trip home. They charter a boat from a local captain named Jack (Steve Guttenberg) who helps them retrieve the cocoons. Jack likes Kitty (Tahnee Welch), a beautiful woman from the team who chartered his boat. When he spies on her while she undresses in her cabin, Jack is shocked when he discovers she is an alien. After the aliens reveal themselves to him and explain what's going on, he decides to help them.

Pupa

A pupa (Latin pupa for doll, pl: pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages: embryo, larva, pupa and imago. (For a list of such insects see Holometabolism).

The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as chrysalis for the pupae of butterflies and tumbler for those of the mosquito family. Pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests or shells.

Position in life cycle

In the life of an insect the pupal stage follows the larval stage and precedes adulthood (imago). It is during the time of pupation that the adult structures of the insect are formed while the larval structures are broken down. Pupae are inactive, and usually sessile (not able to move about). However, the pupae may be exarate (have movable legs, wings, antennae, etc.) or obtect (covered in a hard case with the legs and wings attached immovably against the body). They have a hard protective coating and often use camouflage to evade potential predators.

Cocoon (Björk song)

"Cocoon" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fifth studio album Vespertine. It was written and produced by Björk and Thomas Knak, and released as the album's third single on 11 March 2002, by One Little Indian Records. Inspired by her relationship with artist Matthew Barney, Björk set to make a record with a domestic mood. Working with Knak, she wrote "Cocoon", a glitch song which is lyrically a song about a woman who describes making love with her lover during their post-coital hibernation, and includes frank sexual narrative related both explicitly and through over-sharing and metaphor.

The single peaked at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

In 2000, Björk starred on her acting debut Dancer in the Dark. While she worked on the film, she also began producing her next album, writing new music and teaming with new collaborators; she has said "Selmasongs was the day job and Vespertine was the hobby". Her new relationship with artist Matthew Barney and the tension while filming Dancer in the Dark have been referred to as the two major forces that shaped what would become Vespertine. Björk set to make a record with a domestic mood featuring "everyday moods and everyday noises translating into melodies and beats". She commented about when she first heard about the producer she would work on the album, produced by Thomas Knak: "I had to go to Denmark for a year. There was nothing going on. I was literally lying on the beach, looking at the ocean, with a ghetto blaster listening to Thomas Knak/Opiate's album. I realised he was from Copenhagen. I just called him up."

Charlie (parrot)

Charlie (allegedly hatched (1899-01-01) January 1, 1899), also known as Charlie the Curser, is a female blue-and-yellow macaw living in a pet sanctuary in Reigate, Surrey, United Kingdom. Charlie became famous when The Daily Mirror published an article about her in January 2004.

The bird's owner claims Charlie is over 100 years old.

Claimed association with Churchill

The owner also claims that Charlie was the property of Sir Winston Churchill while he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II. He claims that his father-in-law sold the parrot to Churchill in 1937 and then reclaimed the bird shortly after Churchill's death in 1965. According to his stories, the vocal bird was taught by Churchill to shout curses at Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, to the chagrin of officials within the British government.

His claims have been solidly rejected by the administrators of the Chartwell property, Churchill's former country home, who have no record of any parrot. Further, Churchill's daughter, Lady Soames, has denied her father ever owned a macaw. According to Soames, Churchill did own an African grey parrot named Polly, but sold the bird before assuming the role of Prime Minister.

List of Street Fighter characters

Characters

This list of characters from the Street Fighter fighting game series covers the original Street Fighter game, the Street Fighter II series, the Street Fighter Alpha series, the Street Fighter III series, the Street Fighter IV series, and other related games.

Main series

This table summarises every single combatant into the series. A green yes indicates that character is present into that version of the game as a playable character. A red no indicates that character has either not yet been introduced to the series, or is not present as a compatible character in any shape or form to that edition. A yellow message means that character is a NPC in that version. A gray question mark or other message means that this is an upcoming project and it is unknown to which information should be noted about that character.

EX series

The characters below are not canonical to the Street Fighter storyline. Arika, not Capcom, owns the characters and the copyright to them, and Capcom has acknowledged a difficulty in having them appear in future games. Producer Yoshinori Ono originally said that the possibility of them appearing in future titles had not been ruled out, stating that Capcom still has a good relationship with Arika, however he has since amended his stance stating that the chances of the characters coming back are very small.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (Japanese: 機動戦士ガンダム0080 ポケットの中の戦争, Hepburn: Kidō Senshi Gandamu 0080 Poketto no Naka no Sensō) is a six episode 1989 Japanese science fiction original video animation series. It is the first OVA series in the Gundam franchise. Directed by Fumihiko Takayama, it was also the first time anyone other than creator Yoshiyuki Tomino was given a chance to direct a Gundam story. Written by Hiroyuki Yamaga with character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto.

As suggested by its subtitle, "War in the Pocket," it is a small, personal story; a side story focusing on the experiences of a ten-year-old boy during the One Year War and his learning of the real meaning of war.

Plot

In Universal Century 0079, Zeon intelligence has identified a prototype Federation Gundam under development in a Federation base in the Arctic. Elite Zeon MS commandos are dispatched to destroy the prototype, but before they can accomplish their mission the Gundam is launched into space. When the Gundam turns up in a Federation R&D base inside the neutral space colony Side 6, the Principality launches a covert operation to destroy the Gundam utilizing the commando team originally dispatched to assault the Arctic base, including young rookie Bernard "Bernie" Wiseman. However, the raid fails and the entire team is killed except for Bernie.