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The League Against Tedium
Simon Munnery, also known as his characters "Alan Parker: Urban Warrior" and "The League Against Tedium", is an English comedian. He performs mainly to an alternative audience but has pierced the mainstream both with his BBC Radio 1 show in 1997 and his BBC2 television series ''Attention Scum!'' in 2001. His stand-up is often satirical and political and almost always surreal. Munnery's experimental style is reflected in his makeshift, often elaborate props. As "The League" he often wore a hat crafted from a kettle, epaulets that contained working model tanks, and shoes covered in roses. In ''Buckethead'' he played a character who performed the entire show with a metal bucket over his head. Early life Born in Middlesex, Munnery grew up in Bedmond and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys, where he earned four A Levels. He read natural sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge but soon lost interest in science and joined the Footlights. In 1987, he became vice-president ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971. Description Chapter hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There are also over 60 work spaces, used for an eclectic range of purposes including Chapter's own training courses. Twenty percent of the centre's income comes from the film theatres. It shows mainstream Hollywood films as well as a considerable array of foreign and independent films on a regular basis. The centre receives a major annual grant from the Arts Council for Wales. Spaces *Gallery spaces *Two film theatres (capacities: 188 and 57) *Two theatres (capacities: 96 and 60 seated, also standing) *Two bars (ground floor has normal opening hours; upstairs is open for specific events) *Café *Shop *Several spaces for hire (varying sizes) *Many spaces for ongoing art production, resident artists, etc. History Chapter was founded by Wel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name "Footlights" was chosen, the group had performed to local audiences in the Cambridge area (once, with a cricket match included, at the "pauper lunatic asylum"). They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC), founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College, and its theatre seating only 100. They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the club's appeal to the "general public, the many different classes of which life in Cambridge is made up". The club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scramble (video Game)
is a side-scrolling shooter game released for arcades in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and manufactured and distributed by Leijac in Japan and Stern in North America. It was the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels,Game Genres: Shmups Professor Jim Whitehead, January 29, 2007, Accessed June 17, 2008 serving as a foundation for later side-scrolling shooters. It was Konami's first major worldwide hit. In the United States, it sold 15,136 arcade cabinets within five months and became Stern's second best-selling game. ''Scramble'' was not ported to any major contemporary consoles or computers, but there were releases for the |
Bug-Byte
Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of 8-bit computer games during the early 1980s, for Sinclair, Commodore and other home computer brands, particularly for the Spectrum. Among the better known titles are ''Manic Miner'' and '' Twin Kingdom Valley''. The company was based in Mulberry House, Canning Place, Liverpool, England, and helped found a number of software houses in that region. In 1983, programmer Eugene Evans and two of the senior staff left to form Imagine Software. Later in the year Matthew Smith, a freelance developer who wrote ''Manic Miner'', left to join Software Projects. In June 1985, after a difficult trading season and a shake-out in the industry, the company went into voluntary liquidation, and the rights to their name and logo were purchased by Argus Press PLC. Argus continued to release both new games and budget versions of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour'' and ''ZX82'', it was launched as the ''ZX Spectrum'' to highlight the machine's colour display, which differed from the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as six different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 Kilobyte, KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; altogether they sold over 5 million units worldwide (not counting List of ZX Spectrum clones, unofficial clones). The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, and it thus had similar significance to the Commodore 64 in the US and the Thomson MO5 in France. The introduction of the ZX Spect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set the template for the shoot 'em up genre. The goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser to earn as many points as possible. Designer Nishikado drew inspiration from North American target shooting games like '' Breakout'' (1976) and ''Gun Fight'' (1975), as well as science fiction narratives such as the novel ''The War of the Worlds'' (1897), the anime ''Space Battleship Yamato'' (1974), and the movie ''Star Wars'' (1977). To complete development of the game, he had to design custom hardware and development tools. Upon release, ''Space Invaders'' was an immediate commercial success; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion (equivalent to over adjusted for inflation ), with a net profit of $ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breakout (video Game)
''Breakout'' is an arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and released on May 13, 1976. It was designed by Steve Wozniak, based on conceptualization from Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow who were influenced by the seminal 1972 in video games, 1972 Atari arcade game ''Pong''. In ''Breakout'', a layer of bricks lines the top third of the screen and the goal is to destroy them all by repeatedly bouncing a ball off a paddle into them. The arcade game was released in Japan by Namco. ''Breakout'' was a worldwide commercial success, among the top five highest-grossing 1976 in video games, arcade video games of 1976 in both the United States and Japan and then among the top three highest-grossing 1977 in video games, arcade video games of 1977 in the US and Japan. The 1978 Atari 2600, Atari VCS port uses color graphics instead of a monochrome screen with colored overlay. While the concept was predated by Ramtek (company), Ramtek's ''Clean Sweep'' (1974), ''Breakout'' sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX81
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold. In the United States it was initially sold as the ZX-81 under licence by Timex. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized ZX81 clones were produced in several countries. The ZX81 was designed to be small, simple, and above all, inexpensive, with as few components as possible. Video output is to a television set rather than a dedicated monitor. Programs and data are loaded and saved onto compact audio cassettes. It uses only four silicon chips and a mere 1 KB of memory. It has no power switch or moving parts, with the exception of a VHF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Minter
Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an independent English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 1981 with games for the Sinclair ZX80. Minter's games are often arcade style shoot 'em ups which contain titular or in-game references demonstrating his fondness of ruminants (llamas, sheep, camels, etc.). Many of his programs also feature something of a psychedelic element, as in some of the earliest "light synthesizer" programs including '' Trip-a-Tron''. Minter's works include the music visualisation program '' Neon'' (2004) which is built into the Xbox 360 console, and the video games ''Gridrunner'', '' Attack of the Mutant Camels'', ''Tempest 2000'', and '' Polybius''. Game development career Pre-commercial career (early years) Minter had expressed an interest in programming computers from a young age. He wrote the game ''Deflex'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units. It was described as "one of the first anti-spectatorial, non-esoteric computers by design...no longer relegated to hobbyist/enthusiasts or those with money, the computer Commodore developed was the computer of the future." The VIC-20 was called ''VC-20'' in Germany because the pronunciation of ''VIC'' with a German accent sounds like the German expletives "fick" or "wichsen". The term ''VC'' was marketed as though it were an abbreviation of ''VolksComputer'' ("people's computer," similar to Volkswagen and Volksempfänger). History Origin and marketing The VIC-20 was intended to be more economical than the PET computer. It was equipped with 5 KB of st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore International
Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home personal computer industry in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The company developed and marketed the world's best-selling computer, the Commodore 64 (1982), and released its Amiga computer line in July 1985. With quarterly sales ending 1983 of $ (equivalent to $ in ), Commodore was one of the world's largest personal computer manufacturers. History Founding and early years Commodore co-founders Jack Tramiel and Manfred Kapp met in the early 1950s while both employed by the Ace Typewriter Repair Company in New York City. In 1954, they formed a partnership to sell used and reconditioned typewriters and used their profits to purchase the Singer Typewriter Company. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asteroids (video Game)
''Asteroids'' is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases. ''Asteroids'' was conceived during a meeting between Logg and Rains, who decided to use hardware developed by Howard Delman previously used for '' Lunar Lander''. Asteroids was based on an unfinished game titled ''Cosmos''; its physics model, control scheme, and gameplay elements were derived from '' Spacewar!'', '' Computer Space'', and ''Space Invaders'' and refined through trial and error. The game is rendered on a vector display in a two-dimensional view that wraps around both screen axes. ''Asteroids'' was one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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