America³

America³ (pronounced "America Cubed") is the name of both a syndicate that vied for the America's Cup in 1992 and 1995 and its boats.

1992 Cup victory

The program was operated by Bill Koch and Harry "Buddy" Melges in the 1992 America's Cup. After winning the Defender Series, America³ defeated the Italian challenger Il Moro di Venezia to successfully defend the Cup.

The yacht was built by Goetz Custom Sailboats Inc. in Rhode Island and the carbon fiber mast package was built by the Offshore Spars Co. in Michigan.

1995 Cup defense

In 1995, Bill Koch revamped the program to begin the first all-female, America's Cup boat. America³'s successor, Mighty Mary, was on her way to the 1995 America's Cup, in the lead of the last race of the Defender Series over Stars & Stripes. But with a commanding lead of nearly 5 minutes, Dave Dellenbaugh (the only man on the otherwise all-female crew) committed a crucial tactical error and Stars & Stripes skipper Dennis Conner made a series of moves to beat Mighty Mary to the finish line by scant seconds. After winning the Defender Series, Conner opted to use the third syndicate that year, Young America, to defend the cup, losing to Team New Zealand, 5-0.

America (Dan Deacon album)

America is a studio album by American electronic musician Dan Deacon, released August 27, 2012 on Domino Records. The album cover is a photo of Lake Placid.

Recording

Production

America was recorded using both electronic sounds and live recordings. An anechoic chamber was built in Baltimore to record the orchestral track "Rail." The reason Deacon decided to incorporate live instruments onto the album was that Deacon felt that electronic beats were limited by its lack of flaws and that he wanted the "slight imperfection in timing" human musicians have. Because he wanted the album to sound "more like a rock record" than an electronic one, Deacon enlisted King Crimson engineer Simon Heyworth to master the album.

Themes

In an interview with NPR, Deacon said that the album was inspired by the politics and geography of the United States, saying:

Deacon described the album as "political," saying that the lyrics were "[..] inspired by my frustration, fear and anger towards the country and world I live in and am a part of." However, Deacon also said that he did not want the political nature to be overt, arguing that people do not respond to overt political messages.

America (Frank novel)

America is a young adult novel written by E.R. Frank. It tells the story of America, a fifteen-year-old biracial boy who had gotten lost in the system.

The author of the book, E.R. Frank, is herself a social worker. In an author's note at the end of the book, she says she has worked with many Americas over the years.

The book was made into a 2009 TV movie on the Lifetime Television network, starring Philip Johnson as America and Rosie O'Donnell as his therapist. Although Dr. B is a female in the movie, Dr. B is portrayed as a male in the novel.

Plot

Born to a crack addict, America was given to a rich white family. They decided they didn't want him any more after his skin started to darken at the age of five years. The family's nanny, Sylvia Harper, adopts/fosters America. She had a "man-friend" named Clark Poignant, and a half-brother named Browning. Clark Poignant befriended America. After a year, America gets sent back to his biological mother by the state. Browning tells America to be as bad as he possibly can, so he will get sent back to them. America's mother lived in a shoddy house in New York City with America's two older brothers, named Brooklyn and Lyle.

Avatar (Angel novel)

Avatar is a novel by John Passarella set in the fictional universe of the U.S. television series Angel.

Plot summary

Cordelia suggests beginning a Web site for their detective agency, but Angel is hesitant—as Doyle points out, "people in trouble want to interface with a face." Meanwhile the police discover a trail of corpses across the city. The only connection between these victims (apart from the cause of death) is their hobby of online chatting. It seems a techno-savvy demon must be on the prowl, hoping to complete a ritual going even beyond a World Wide Web.

Continuity

Canonical issues

Angel books such as this one are not usually considered by fans as canonical. Some fans consider them stories from the imaginations of authors and artists, while other fans consider them as taking place in an alternative fictional reality. However unlike fan fiction, overviews summarising their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially Buffy/Angel merchandise.

(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar

"(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar" is a 2009 song created and performed by the cast of the web series The Guild, with lead vocals by singer-actress Felicia Day. The lyrics were written by Day and the music was written by musical composer Jed Whedon, who also directed the music video.

Background

When interviewed at San Diego Comic-Con, Day attributed her inspiration for the song to 1980s and 1990s-style dance music. She conveyed an obsession with Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts" in particular, which is apparent with Day including a familiar "come on, come on" in the lyrics. The song includes a rap portion performed by Guild co-stars Jeff Lewis and Sandeep Parikh.

While Day composed the lyrics herself, whilst listening to "really bad 1990s dance songs", she turned to screenwriter Jed Whedon (with whom she had worked on internet musical Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and TV series Dollhouse) to compose the music. Whedon and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen are credited as backup singers on the video, and Tancharoen also contributes her talent as a back-up dancer; this was the first time Whedon (who also directed the video) had seen her dance.

James Cameron's Avatar: The Game

James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is a 2009 third-person action video game prequel to James Cameron's Avatar. The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii and Nintendo DS on December 1, 2009, with a PSP version released later on December 7, 2009. It uses the same technology as the film to be displayed in stereoscopic 3D. As of May 19, 2010, the game has sold nearly 2.7 million copies.

Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Giovanni Ribisi reprise their roles from the film. The casting and voice production for Avatar: The Game was handled by Blindlight.

Story

Set in 2152, two years before the events of the film, Avatar: The Game starts out with a new signals specialist, named Able Ryder, arriving at Pandora, assigned to an area called Blue Lagoon, a large piece of jungle, fenced in to make sure no larger predators get inside. Their first mission is to save five marines from Viperwolves, with their CO, Kendra Midori, suggesting they use a turret to help fend off the wolves. After saving the marines, Ryder must go help another Sig Spec, Dalton, who is afraid of the Viperwolves and trapped outside the fence.