Pseudoryzomys

Pseudoryzomys.
Pseudoryzomys is a rodent from south-central South America in the family Cricetidae. Found in lowland palm savanna and thorn scrub habitats, it is a medium-sized rat, weighing about 50 grams (1.8 oz). It has gray-brown fur, long and narrow hindfeet with small membranes between the toes, and a tail that is about as long as the head and body. Its conservation status has been assessed as least concern, although almost nothing is known of its diet or reproduction. Its closest living relatives are the large semiaquatic rats Holochilus and Lundomys. These three genera form an assemblage within the oryzomyine tribe, a diverse group including over one hundred species, mainly in South America. This tribe is part of the subfamily Sigmodontinae and family Cricetidae, which include many more species, mainly from Eurasia and the Americas. The species Pseudoryzomys simplex was first described in 1888 on the basis of subfossil cave specimens from Brazil (as Hesperomys simplex).

No Way Out (2004)

No Way Out (2004).
No Way Out (2004) was an American professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), held on February 15 at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Sponsored by THQ, it was the sixth event produced under the No Way Out name and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand. In the main event, Eddie Guerrero (pictured) defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win the title, his sole world championship before his death in 2005. In the undercard, Kurt Angle defeated Big Show and John Cena in a Triple Threat match to earn a title match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XX. In a separate storyline, Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Rey Mysterio. No Way Out grossed more than $450,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 11,000 and received 350,000 pay-per-view buys, contributing to WWE's increased pay-per-view revenue for the year. The event and its DVD received favorable reviews.

Chains of Love (TV series)

Chains of Love (TV series).
Chains of Love is an American dating game show that aired for six episodes in April and May 2001 on the United Paramount Network (UPN). Adapted from a Dutch television series, it presents a man or woman who is chained to four members of the opposite sex over four days and nights. This person, identified as the Picker, is given $10,000 and can remove three contestants one at a time. The Picker can give a portion of the money to each eliminated participant. When left with a single partner, the Picker can choose to either split the money or keep it. Madison Michele (pictured) hosted each episode. Originally ordered by NBC, UPN produced it as part of its campaign to run more unscripted programming to boost the network's ratings. Media outlets have identified Chains of Love as part of a renaissance in reality television. The show's premise divided television critics, who compared it in structure and tone to Blind Date and The Dating Game.

Hawaii Sesquicentennial half dollar

Hawaii Sesquicentennial half dollar.
The Hawaii Sesquicentennial half dollar was struck in 1928 by the United States Mint in honor of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Europeans. It depicts Captain James Cook on the obverse and a Hawaiian chieftain on the reverse. Only 10,000 coins were struck for the public, making them rare and valuable. In 1927, the legislature of the Territory of Hawaii passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government to produce a commemorative coin for the anniversary. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon thought the occasion important enough that, unusually for him, he was not opposed to the new coin. Sculptor Chester Beach made the plaster models for the coins from sketches by Juliette May Fraser. Approval for his designs was delayed by concerns raised by the Mint and by Victor S. K. Houston, Hawaii Territory's delegate to Congress. Although the issue price, at $2, was the highest for a commemorative half dollar to that point, the coins sold out quickly and have risen in value to over $1000.

Goldcrest

Goldcrest.
The goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a very small bird in the kinglet family. Named for its colourful golden crest feathers, it is called the "king of the birds" in European folklore. Several subspecies are recognised across a very large distribution range that includes much of Eurasia and the islands of Macaronesia. This kinglet has greenish upper-parts and whitish under-parts, with two white wingbars. It has a bright head crest, orange and yellow in the male and yellow in the female, which is displayed during breeding. The song is a repetition of high thin notes. It breeds in coniferous woodland and gardens, building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Ten to twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone, and the chicks are fed by both parents; second broods are common. The bird is constantly on the move as it searches for insects to eat. Because of its large range and population, it presents no significant conservation concerns.

Characters of Final Fantasy VIII

Characters of Final Fantasy VIII.
The characters of Final Fantasy VIII include an elite group of mercenaries called SeeD, as well as soldiers, rebels, and political leaders of various nations and cities. Thirteen weeks after the 1999 North American release of Final Fantasy VIII, a role-playing video game by Square, it had earned more than $50 million in sales, making it the fastest selling Final Fantasy title at the time. The game's characters, created by Tetsuya Nomura under the direction of Yoshinori Kitase (pictured), are the first in the series to be realistically proportioned in all aspects of the game. This graphical shift, as well as the cast itself, have received generally positive reviews from gaming magazines and websites. The six main playable characters are the loner Squall Leonhart, the passionate Rinoa Heartilly, the instructor Quistis Trepe, the martial artist Zell Dincht, the cheerful pilot Selphie Tilmitt, and the marksman Irvine Kinneas.

Damageplan

Damageplan.
Damageplan was an American heavy metal supergroup from Dallas, Texas, formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul started a new band with bassist Bob Kakaha and vocalist Patrick Lachman, a guitarist formerly with Diesel Machine and Halford. They released their only studio album, New Found Power, in the United States on February 10, 2004; it debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200. Later that year Damageplan was promoting the album at a concert at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, when a man climbed on stage, killed Darrell and three others, and wounded another seven before being fatally shot by a police officer. Some witnesses said that the assailant blamed the brothers for Pantera's breakup and believed that they had stolen his lyrics. Paul and Kakaha later joined the band Hellyeah (pictured). Damageplan has been inactive since the incident.