Musician Josh Helgason (Joshua Andrew Abel Helgason), born in Dec of 1985, is the frontman of a new project called Stars of Boulevard, and the former lead singer, synthesizer and rhythm guitar player of .
He started piano lessons at age 6 and finished lessons in grade 9 (Royal Conservatory of Music). At school (Boundary Elementary & Argyle Secondary - grad '03) Josh did the best in Music, Math and English classes but was a very unenthusiastic student and was commonly absent. He picked up the alto saxophone for school band in grade 4, playing it through to grade 12 and was a member of the jazz band for grades 8-9 and 11-12. He was also a member of the school concert & jazz choirs for part of grade 11 and most of grade 12. He would commonly skip classes and spend that time in either the choir room or the band room, which ever was vacant, and play the piano in either room. At 15 he and some friends formed the rock band Father Tritan which recorded a 3 song EP and performed one show. From 16-17 he was the lead singer and main song writer of a punk-rock band called Anita Hoare. He was the youngest member of the band with the other members being 23 and 25. At their jam room in the back of a custom furniture builders warehouse was a custom built stage complete with a lighting rig and PA sound system. The side walls were covered in posters of bands they all idolized, from The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix to Metallica, and the wall in the proximity of an audience was covered in posters of pin up girls from Playboy and Hustler magazines. They had a working fridge that was always packed with beers and when the beers would run out they'd hang out at pubs. His girlfriend during that time, Tracy, came to the jam room to hear Anita Hoare rehearse a few times and mostly found them to be "loud". The band would only ever play one show together, at Vancouver's pub The Cobalt. After nearly a year following Anita Hoare Josh helped form a reggae band called Hello Dolly in which he played the bass guitar. That band would eventually morph into The Sessions when they changed their style to new wave-indie-rock and Helgason moved to lead vocals, rhythm guitar and synthesizer. He thought of the name The Sessions in July of 2004 while smoking marijuana on the patio of a friends house with an acoustic guitar in his lap. The name stemmed from his awareness that he enjoyed several types of sessions, including jamming sessions, blazing sessions and sexual sessions. The Sessions would go on to win a massive battle of the bands involving bands from 16 countries (7,631 total) and the final judgement was at the world finals in Rothenburg, Germany. They recorded with producer Bob Rock (producer of Metallica, Motley Crue, ..) and that album was made available on iTunes, as well as other recordings Bob was involved in, in the summer of 2008. After playing partys for The Killers, Hot Hot Heat and The Bravery, making several appearances on national television on Canada's talk show Urban Rush and receiving steady newspaper coverage things were looking bright for The Sessions and they were expected to go far but they were crumbling from the inside. Creative differences, different visions and personality conflicts were growing and dividing the band. Following a tour of California and Nevada in March of 2008, Josh made the tough decision to leave the band and was determined to quickly put together a new project and not give up on his dreams. The first players he thought of were the guys from a local band called UTS that he'd met when The Sessions and them had played several shows together. He sent a message to them asking if they needed another member and the response was that their drummer was thinking of leaving. Soon Josh had bought a drum set and guaranteed Ken Abbey (guitar), Johnny Kaye (vocals, synthesizer) and "British" (bass) that he'd be a good enough drummer shortly and a wicked drummer in time. Soon, due to personal demanding circumstances British was forced to leave the band and that opened up the position of bass guitar, which Josh was happy to fill. For the next several months the new band was unnamed and the three members (Kaye, Abbey, Helgason) auditioned several drummers to complete their lineup. They'd written many songs, of which they'd kept 7, and had just chosen the name Stars of Boulevard, props to Ken Abbey, when they came across Mike Reed in July '08. He'd just returned from the Music Institute of Los Angeles studying drumming and was looking for a serious band to devote his talent to. Stars of Boulevard is currently recording. Josh Helgason is the frontman, Ken Abbey on lead guitar, Johnny Kaye on bass and Mike Reed on drums.
Josh was born of Lisa Helgason and Andrew Abel in 1985 in Victoria, adopted by Janice and Douglas Jones of Vancouver shortly after and reunited with his birth parents in 2005 and 2006 respectively. He now has a close relationship with Lisa (now Lisa Thomas), his step dad Troy, half sisters Kaylee and Brianna and brother Bryce, Andy and grandparents Michael and Karen Abel.
He started piano lessons at age 6 and finished lessons in grade 9 (Royal Conservatory of Music). At school (Boundary Elementary & Argyle Secondary - grad '03) Josh did the best in Music, Math and English classes but was a very unenthusiastic student and was commonly absent. He picked up the alto saxophone for school band in grade 4, playing it through to grade 12 and was a member of the jazz band for grades 8-9 and 11-12. He was also a member of the school concert & jazz choirs for part of grade 11 and most of grade 12. He would commonly skip classes and spend that time in either the choir room or the band room, which ever was vacant, and play the piano in either room. At 15 he and some friends formed the rock band Father Tritan which recorded a 3 song EP and performed one show. From 16-17 he was the lead singer and main song writer of a punk-rock band called Anita Hoare. He was the youngest member of the band with the other members being 23 and 25. At their jam room in the back of a custom furniture builders warehouse was a custom built stage complete with a lighting rig and PA sound system. The side walls were covered in posters of bands they all idolized, from The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix to Metallica, and the wall in the proximity of an audience was covered in posters of pin up girls from Playboy and Hustler magazines. They had a working fridge that was always packed with beers and when the beers would run out they'd hang out at pubs. His girlfriend during that time, Tracy, came to the jam room to hear Anita Hoare rehearse a few times and mostly found them to be "loud". The band would only ever play one show together, at Vancouver's pub The Cobalt. After nearly a year following Anita Hoare Josh helped form a reggae band called Hello Dolly in which he played the bass guitar. That band would eventually morph into The Sessions when they changed their style to new wave-indie-rock and Helgason moved to lead vocals, rhythm guitar and synthesizer. He thought of the name The Sessions in July of 2004 while smoking marijuana on the patio of a friends house with an acoustic guitar in his lap. The name stemmed from his awareness that he enjoyed several types of sessions, including jamming sessions, blazing sessions and sexual sessions. The Sessions would go on to win a massive battle of the bands involving bands from 16 countries (7,631 total) and the final judgement was at the world finals in Rothenburg, Germany. They recorded with producer Bob Rock (producer of Metallica, Motley Crue, ..) and that album was made available on iTunes, as well as other recordings Bob was involved in, in the summer of 2008. After playing partys for The Killers, Hot Hot Heat and The Bravery, making several appearances on national television on Canada's talk show Urban Rush and receiving steady newspaper coverage things were looking bright for The Sessions and they were expected to go far but they were crumbling from the inside. Creative differences, different visions and personality conflicts were growing and dividing the band. Following a tour of California and Nevada in March of 2008, Josh made the tough decision to leave the band and was determined to quickly put together a new project and not give up on his dreams. The first players he thought of were the guys from a local band called UTS that he'd met when The Sessions and them had played several shows together. He sent a message to them asking if they needed another member and the response was that their drummer was thinking of leaving. Soon Josh had bought a drum set and guaranteed Ken Abbey (guitar), Johnny Kaye (vocals, synthesizer) and "British" (bass) that he'd be a good enough drummer shortly and a wicked drummer in time. Soon, due to personal demanding circumstances British was forced to leave the band and that opened up the position of bass guitar, which Josh was happy to fill. For the next several months the new band was unnamed and the three members (Kaye, Abbey, Helgason) auditioned several drummers to complete their lineup. They'd written many songs, of which they'd kept 7, and had just chosen the name Stars of Boulevard, props to Ken Abbey, when they came across Mike Reed in July '08. He'd just returned from the Music Institute of Los Angeles studying drumming and was looking for a serious band to devote his talent to. Stars of Boulevard is currently recording. Josh Helgason is the frontman, Ken Abbey on lead guitar, Johnny Kaye on bass and Mike Reed on drums.
Josh was born of Lisa Helgason and Andrew Abel in 1985 in Victoria, adopted by Janice and Douglas Jones of Vancouver shortly after and reunited with his birth parents in 2005 and 2006 respectively. He now has a close relationship with Lisa (now Lisa Thomas), his step dad Troy, half sisters Kaylee and Brianna and brother Bryce, Andy and grandparents Michael and Karen Abel.
TechMare, a vertical search engine focused on tech jobs, was founded in October 2008. It is similar to other job oriented search engines like Indeed, but focuses on engineering jobs in Information Technology, or IT.
Functionality
Techmare's interface provides customized search options that allow users to refine their search query. For example, after conducting a basic search for "Network Engineer", users may further refine their search results by clicking a link for "CCIE", "Start up" or "security". This results in the user being shown just networking jobs that match the additionally selected criteria.
Comparison to Job Boards and Search Engines
TechMare is not a job board and does not actually contain any job listings of it's own. Instead, it simply aggregates jobs from other sources including job boards and career sections of various IT firms such as IBM, Cisco and Nokia on it's search engine results page or SERP.
While general search engines typically index as much of the internet as possible, Techmare only indexes sites that contain IT related job listings. Obviously this system reduces the amount of actual results found by any particular query.
For example, searching for Cisco's "CCIE" certification on Google or Yahoo would produce a number of results containing that key word including schools, books, and courses. While the same search conducted on TechMare produces primarily job search related results.
Name and Logo
The meaning for the first part of TechMare's name is obviously derived from the word Technology. The second part, Mare, is derived from Latin and means sea. The company's logo is comprised of the word "TechMare" with the trident of Neptune located on the stem of the letter "h" .
Languages and Countries
Currently TechMare provides search services only for Japan based job search.
References and notes
Other Sources
Bonnect-Hikokaidaikirai, article
Functionality
Techmare's interface provides customized search options that allow users to refine their search query. For example, after conducting a basic search for "Network Engineer", users may further refine their search results by clicking a link for "CCIE", "Start up" or "security". This results in the user being shown just networking jobs that match the additionally selected criteria.
Comparison to Job Boards and Search Engines
TechMare is not a job board and does not actually contain any job listings of it's own. Instead, it simply aggregates jobs from other sources including job boards and career sections of various IT firms such as IBM, Cisco and Nokia on it's search engine results page or SERP.
While general search engines typically index as much of the internet as possible, Techmare only indexes sites that contain IT related job listings. Obviously this system reduces the amount of actual results found by any particular query.
For example, searching for Cisco's "CCIE" certification on Google or Yahoo would produce a number of results containing that key word including schools, books, and courses. While the same search conducted on TechMare produces primarily job search related results.
Name and Logo
The meaning for the first part of TechMare's name is obviously derived from the word Technology. The second part, Mare, is derived from Latin and means sea. The company's logo is comprised of the word "TechMare" with the trident of Neptune located on the stem of the letter "h" .
Languages and Countries
Currently TechMare provides search services only for Japan based job search.
References and notes
Other Sources
Bonnect-Hikokaidaikirai, article
Created in 2003 at Queen Mary University of London, the Mile End Group is a unique and lively discussion forum which deals with issues concerning Whitehall, Westminister and contemporary British history. The MEG was created by Professor Peter Hennessy's research students and the MEG invites contributions from a variety of figures. Notable speakers have included Sir John Major, Sir Gus O'Donnell and Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller. The involvement of such noted speakers has served to widen the appeal of MEG events, and attendees regularly include individuals from academia, business, government and journalism. In 2005, the Mile End Institute was created, for the study of Intelligence and Government. In 2007 the MEI jointly-published two books, The New Protective State and Cabinets and the Bomb.
Blair Government Undergraduate Course
The Blair Government Undergraduate Course was started in september 2008. Taught by Dr Jon Davis and John Rentoul of the Independent on Sunday . The course analyses the years of the Blair premiership with Historical rigour.
Notes and references
Blair Government Undergraduate Course
The Blair Government Undergraduate Course was started in september 2008. Taught by Dr Jon Davis and John Rentoul of the Independent on Sunday . The course analyses the years of the Blair premiership with Historical rigour.
Notes and references
The XXXG-01W Wing Gundam (also referred to as Gundam Zero-One) is one of the fictional Gundam mobile suits appearing in the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing anime series. The original Wing Gundam was designed in 1995 by Kunio Okawara, along with many of the other mobile suits in the anime. The five 'second-stage' Gundams were later redesigned by Hajime Katoki for the 1997 OVA Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. As the new designs became canonical, Katoki also created retcon designs for the original five Gundams, which were published in Newtype magazine.
Design
Wing Gundam is one of the five Gundam mobile suits that were based on the design from the Wing Gundam Zero, with both suits created by Doctor J. Out of the five original Gundams of the series, Wing Gundam bears the closest resemblance to Wing Zero and its weapons and capabilities are also very similar to its ancestor's. It's main armaments include a buster rifle capable of firing very powerful blasts of energy that can destroy multiple targets in a single shot, including mobile suits. The drawback is that the ammunition of this weapon is limited to three shots. Next is its shield, which can withstand a great deal of damage. Though not a weapon the shield's sharp, pointy front has been shown to be able to cut through an Aries mobile suit's armor plating. It also has small vulcan guns on its head, machine guns on its shoulders and a beam saber stored inside its shield. Wing Gundam is also capable of flight; transforming into a fighter aircraft (called "Bird Mode"), though it's flight abilities are only useable as long as it's within Earth's atmosphere, meaning it can't travel in space on its own.
Role in plot
Wing Gundam is one of the five mobile suits sent to Earth as part of Operation Meteor; a plan whereby rebels would be able to weaken the controlling influence the United Earth Sphere Alliance and the Organization of the Zodiac (OZ) held over the orbital colonies. Wing Gundam is launched from the cluster of orbital colonies located at the , and is piloted by the series' main character Heero Yuy.
In the first episode, Heero is intercepted by Zechs Merquise during his descent to Earth. Despite Wing Gundam's incredible abilites, Zechs manages to grapple with it in his Leo mobile suit and causes Wing Gundam crash land into the Pacific Ocean, forcing Heero to abandon it. When Zechs later sends a search party to acquire the sunken Wing Gundam, it is saved by Duo Maxwell and is given back to its pilot. Heero later repairs his Gundam with parts from Duo's Gundam Deathscythe, much to Duo's chargin. Heero then uses Wing Gundam in many successful missions, destroying OZ bases and mobile suit factories, though one of their more infamous victories is when they destroy the shuttle transporting Alliance peace ambassadors at the New Edwards base, which was because Heero was tricked into believing they were top OZ leaders. Later on, when Heero arrives at OZ's Siberian base to prevent the transfer of new Taurus mobile dolls, he is confronted by Zechs and his new Tallgeese mobile suit. During their duel, Lady Une allerts the Gundam pilots that unless they surrender, the colonies will be destroyed. Then Heero, under orders from Doctor J, activates his suit's self destruct device, destroying Wing Gundam and nearly killing himself Zechs however, has the suit repaired and returned to Heero so they can have a rematch, though Heero uses Trowa Barton's Gundam Heavyarms for the duel instead. Later, when the Gundam pilots return to space, Heero leaves Wing Gundam behind on Earth, due to its inability for space combat. Sally Po later locates Wing Gundam and has it sent to the Sanc Kingdom, where Heero eventually arrves at and retrieves his Gundam. Heero then starts using Wing Gundam for defending the Sanc Kingdom from OZ, but some time later, when Heero uses it to defend the Luxembourg base from OZ's new Virgo mobile dolls, Wing Gundam is disabled, following a heavy battle. Heero then abandons his Gundam for the final time and he eventually acquires the more powerful Wing Zero. OZ later recovers the abandoned suit, has it repaired and also equips it with boosters, enabling it for space travel. Wing Gundam's final appearance is when Lady Une uses it to save Treize Khushrenada in where it is destroyed for the second and final time by Battleship Libra's main cannon fire.
Wing Gundam's role is slightly different in the Gundam Wing manga; for example Heero actually pilots it during his duel with Zechs in Antarctica, instead of Heavyarms and Heero doesn't abandon it at Luxembourg as the battle there doesn't take place in the manga, though after the Sanc Kingdom is invaded, Heero does leave without Wing Gundam. It is then recovered by OZ, just like in the series, but when Lady Une uses it to save Treize, Wing Gundam only loses its legs to the Libra's main cannon, thus it is not completely destroyed, though it isn't seen again in the manga afterwards.
Appearances outside Gundam Wing
Wing Gundam and its pilot, Heero, along with five other notable mecha and pilots from the various Gundam series, were recognized in the second set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps, released in Japan in 2005. Gundam was the second of only four franchises to be given the honor; the others were Pocket Monsters, Galaxy Express 999, and Detective Conan.
Wing Gundam was first seen on-screen not in its titular show, but in G-Gundam, being one of many mobile suits that appeared as cameo appearances in the final battle against the Devil Gundam Colony.
Design
Wing Gundam is one of the five Gundam mobile suits that were based on the design from the Wing Gundam Zero, with both suits created by Doctor J. Out of the five original Gundams of the series, Wing Gundam bears the closest resemblance to Wing Zero and its weapons and capabilities are also very similar to its ancestor's. It's main armaments include a buster rifle capable of firing very powerful blasts of energy that can destroy multiple targets in a single shot, including mobile suits. The drawback is that the ammunition of this weapon is limited to three shots. Next is its shield, which can withstand a great deal of damage. Though not a weapon the shield's sharp, pointy front has been shown to be able to cut through an Aries mobile suit's armor plating. It also has small vulcan guns on its head, machine guns on its shoulders and a beam saber stored inside its shield. Wing Gundam is also capable of flight; transforming into a fighter aircraft (called "Bird Mode"), though it's flight abilities are only useable as long as it's within Earth's atmosphere, meaning it can't travel in space on its own.
Role in plot
Wing Gundam is one of the five mobile suits sent to Earth as part of Operation Meteor; a plan whereby rebels would be able to weaken the controlling influence the United Earth Sphere Alliance and the Organization of the Zodiac (OZ) held over the orbital colonies. Wing Gundam is launched from the cluster of orbital colonies located at the , and is piloted by the series' main character Heero Yuy.
In the first episode, Heero is intercepted by Zechs Merquise during his descent to Earth. Despite Wing Gundam's incredible abilites, Zechs manages to grapple with it in his Leo mobile suit and causes Wing Gundam crash land into the Pacific Ocean, forcing Heero to abandon it. When Zechs later sends a search party to acquire the sunken Wing Gundam, it is saved by Duo Maxwell and is given back to its pilot. Heero later repairs his Gundam with parts from Duo's Gundam Deathscythe, much to Duo's chargin. Heero then uses Wing Gundam in many successful missions, destroying OZ bases and mobile suit factories, though one of their more infamous victories is when they destroy the shuttle transporting Alliance peace ambassadors at the New Edwards base, which was because Heero was tricked into believing they were top OZ leaders. Later on, when Heero arrives at OZ's Siberian base to prevent the transfer of new Taurus mobile dolls, he is confronted by Zechs and his new Tallgeese mobile suit. During their duel, Lady Une allerts the Gundam pilots that unless they surrender, the colonies will be destroyed. Then Heero, under orders from Doctor J, activates his suit's self destruct device, destroying Wing Gundam and nearly killing himself Zechs however, has the suit repaired and returned to Heero so they can have a rematch, though Heero uses Trowa Barton's Gundam Heavyarms for the duel instead. Later, when the Gundam pilots return to space, Heero leaves Wing Gundam behind on Earth, due to its inability for space combat. Sally Po later locates Wing Gundam and has it sent to the Sanc Kingdom, where Heero eventually arrves at and retrieves his Gundam. Heero then starts using Wing Gundam for defending the Sanc Kingdom from OZ, but some time later, when Heero uses it to defend the Luxembourg base from OZ's new Virgo mobile dolls, Wing Gundam is disabled, following a heavy battle. Heero then abandons his Gundam for the final time and he eventually acquires the more powerful Wing Zero. OZ later recovers the abandoned suit, has it repaired and also equips it with boosters, enabling it for space travel. Wing Gundam's final appearance is when Lady Une uses it to save Treize Khushrenada in where it is destroyed for the second and final time by Battleship Libra's main cannon fire.
Wing Gundam's role is slightly different in the Gundam Wing manga; for example Heero actually pilots it during his duel with Zechs in Antarctica, instead of Heavyarms and Heero doesn't abandon it at Luxembourg as the battle there doesn't take place in the manga, though after the Sanc Kingdom is invaded, Heero does leave without Wing Gundam. It is then recovered by OZ, just like in the series, but when Lady Une uses it to save Treize, Wing Gundam only loses its legs to the Libra's main cannon, thus it is not completely destroyed, though it isn't seen again in the manga afterwards.
Appearances outside Gundam Wing
Wing Gundam and its pilot, Heero, along with five other notable mecha and pilots from the various Gundam series, were recognized in the second set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps, released in Japan in 2005. Gundam was the second of only four franchises to be given the honor; the others were Pocket Monsters, Galaxy Express 999, and Detective Conan.
Wing Gundam was first seen on-screen not in its titular show, but in G-Gundam, being one of many mobile suits that appeared as cameo appearances in the final battle against the Devil Gundam Colony.