Ampersand

The ampersand is the logogram "&", representing the conjunction word "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters et, Latin for "and".

Etymology

The word ampersand is a corruption of the phrase "and per se & (and)", meaning "and intrinsically the word and (represented by the symbol &)".

Traditionally, when reciting the alphabet in English-speaking schools, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("A", "I", and, at one point, "O") was repeated with the Latin expression per se ("by itself"). This habit was useful in spelling where a word or syllable was repeated after spelling; e.g. "d, o, g—dog" would be clear but simply saying "a—a" would be confusing without the clarifying "per se" added. It was also common practice to add the "&" sign at the end of the alphabet as if it were the 27th letter, pronounced as the Latin et or later in English as and. As a result, the recitation of the alphabet would end in "X, Y, Z, and per se and". This last phrase was routinely slurred to "ampersand" and the term had entered common English usage by 1837. However, in contrast to the 26 letters, the ampersand does not represent a speech sound—although other characters that were dropped from the English alphabet did, such as the Old English thorn, wynn, and eth.

Sign (album)

Sign is the seventh album by Clock DVA, released on August 3, 1993 through Contempo Records.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Robert Baker and Adi Newton. 

Personnel

References

External links

Sign (band)

Sign is an Icelandic rock band that was formed in 2000, as Halim, to compete in the Icelandic version of the Battle of the bands called Musiktilraunir. The band 's frontman and founding member Ragnar Zolberg is also a solo artist and a guitar player in the Swedish band Pain of Salvation. Sign has toured with bands such as Wednesday 13, The Wildhearts, Aiden, The Answer, Skid Row and played a show with Alice Cooper in Iceland. In August 2007 Sign played their first headline tour of the UK.

On 10 June 2008, Sign opened for Whitesnake in Reykjavik, Iceland. On 14 June 2008, Sign were the first band to play on the mainstage at Download Festival, Donington Park.

Sign recorded a cover of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" on the tribute album Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang! magazine.

Recently Sign has released their fifth album called "Hermd", the album is currently only available in Iceland and on their website. The album was co-produced by Sign, Daniel Bergstrand and The Resetti Brothers.

Diesel (musician)

Mark Denis Lizotte, (born 31 May 1966,Fall River, Massachusetts, United States) is an American-born Australian musician, who has released material as leader of Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, under his birth name, or by the pseudonym Diesel. Two of his albums reached No. 1 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Charts, Hepfidelity in 1992 and The Lobbyist in 1993.

Since 1987, Diesel has played on several albums by well-known Australian rock singer and brother-in-law, Jimmy Barnes. Although better known as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, Diesel is also competent on bass guitar, drums, percussion and keyboards; and has also produced an album by Richard Clapton and one by Vika and Linda Bull. He has won five ARIA Music Awards with three for 'Best Male Artist' in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Early years

Diesel was born in 1966 in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States, and emigrated to Australia with his family, in November 1971. His father, Henry Bertram Lizotte (born 19 June 1929), and his mother, Theresa Rita (née Morin, born 18 January 1930) were parents of Jeannine, Bruce, Michael, Laura, Donna, Brian and Mark. They settled in Perth, Western Australia, where he later had a job pouring petrol—an experience that provided inspiration for his music. Henry was a professional saxophonist performing in the US and Australia, Diesel and his siblings were surrounded by music from an early age. While his siblings became teachers, Diesel eventually settled on electric guitar as his main instrument. He later recalled a time in Year 8 (c. 1979) at Scarborough Senior High School when he decided on a musical career: "I was trying to get my head around algebra [...] and suddenly I thought: 'Hang on, I don't have to do this. I can play music as a job!'".

Robots (2005 film)

Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. Originally developing a film version of Joyce's book Santa Calls, Joyce and Wedge then decided to develop an original story about a world of robots. Joyce served as producer and production designer for the film. It features the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Amanda Bynes, Drew Carey and Robin Williams. The film received mixed or positive reviews from critics with critics praising the animation and visuals, but criticizing the story and it earned $260.7 million on a $75 million budget.

Plot

In Rivet Town, Herb Copperbottom, a dishwasher at Gunk's Greasy Spoon diner, races through the streets, elated that he is going to be a father. He and his wife, Lydia, after 12 hours of "labor", construct the baby. He is named Rodney, and he becomes a young inventor who dreams of making the world a better place. Rodney idolizes Bigweld, a master inventor and owner of Bigweld Industries. During Rodney's adolescence, he invents a gadget, "Wonderbot", intended to help his father clean the dishes at the restaurant. When Herb's supervisor unexpectedly confronts them, Wonderbot breaks dishes, causing Herb to be put in debt and Rodney to be dismissed. Rodney takes his invention to Robot City to see Bigweld and get a job as an inventor at Bigweld Industries, so that he can help his father pay back his supervisor. His father encourages him and confides that he has always regretted not pursuing his dream of becoming a musician. Rodney arrives in Robot City and meets Fender, a ramshackle robot who takes souvenir photos and sells maps to the stars' homes. After a spectacular but harrowing ride on the crosstown express, Rodney arrives at the gate of Bigweld Industries.

Diesel (dog)

Diesel was a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois RAID assault dog employed by the French police.

Working career

Diesel had worked for the Raid unit for five of his seven years, and was the first Raid dog killed on duty. He was due to retire the next spring. On 18 November 2015, Diesel was killed in a shootout with suspected terrorists in the Saint-Denis area of Paris, while searching for suspects involved in the November 2015 Paris attacks. During the raid, which was in response to the November 2015 Paris attacks, the dog had been sent in to clear rooms following a cessation of gunfire from the suspects. The first room was empty, but after he entered a second room, the gunfire started once more. He died of multiple gunshot wounds. Following the raid, some media reports claimed that Diesel had been killed by a female suicide bomber. This was later shown to have been incorrect as there was no female bomber. Diesel, "was saluted for his bravery by the Paris police chiefs who told Le Parisien[...] that dog almost certainly saved his handler’s life during the raid."