Suzuki said in an interview that he greatly enjoys creating games. However, he has doesn't care much about playing them. he would rather spend his free time watching movies and visiting theme parks.
Isra and Mi'raj
The Isra and Mi'raj are two parts of a story that Muslims tell about Muhammad. They say that in the year 621, while he was resting in the Kaaba in Mecca, an angel came to him, with an animal called a Buraq. The Buraq carried Muhammad to a mosque that was far away, and then the Buraq took Muhammad up into heaven. While in Heaven, Muhammad met Adam and Moses and Allah (God), and then came back down to Earth.
Every year, Muslims hold a festival for the Isra and Mi'raj. They bring their children to the mosques, where the children can hear the story, and then pray with the grownups. Afterwards there is a feast and everyone can eat.
Fustat
Fustat was the first Arab capital in Egypt. It was founded in 641 AD, after the Arabs conquered Alexandria. The Arabs did not want their capital to be so far away as Alexandria, which is why they made Fustat, which was far from the sea and closer to Arabia, and was on their side of the Nile river.
Fustat became a beautiful and powerful city for over 500 years, but then it was destroyed in 1168, when its vizier Shawar told his army to burn the city. Shawar did not want the crusaders to capture the city, so he burned it instead.
Today there is not much left of Fustat, but some buildings can be seen in Old Cairo.
Vizier
A vizier is an Arabic word for a kind of government official. A vizier would usually work for a Muslim monarch like a Caliph or a Sultan.
Hank Williams Jr.
Randall Hank Williams (born in 1949 in Louisiana) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the son of country music legend Hank Williams. His nickname is "Bocephus", given to him by his father. He has a half-sister, named Jett Williams.
From his boyhood, Hank Jr., performed his father's music publicly, because many people were still interested in it, and Hank Sr.'s career was cut short by alcohol and drug abuse. Young Williams wanted to perform music of his own, and to have his own musical career apart from his father's, but it was hard to "get out from his father's shadow", and be recognized for his own talents.
In time, Williams met musicians who liked him for his own ideas, and helped him to develop his own kind of music. He was able to become an original writer and performer, while still being proud to be Hank Sr.'s son. Some of his father's fans were sad that he wanted to do this, but others understood. He also gained new fans, performing his new music.
Some of Williams's songs are "Eleven Roses", "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", "All My Rowdy Friends", and "A Country Boy Can Survive". Even though he had hit records and many fans, it took years for people in country music to accept him and his chosen style. Williams lost out on many awards he could have earned. Finally in the 1980s, he began to win awards as a country performer.
In the 1990s, Williams recorded a with his father, by using an old recording, and the two appeared together in a music video through electronic editing.
In 2005, Williams donated $125,000 to relief efforts in Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina. He continues to record and to perform.
Utagawa Kunisada
, also called or Kunisada, was a Japanese artist. He was a master of the ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
, also called or Yoshitoshi, was a Japanese artist. He was a master of the ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.
His adopted son was Tsukoka Kōgyō (1869-1927), who was also an artist.
Odawara Castle
Odawara Castle was destroyed by the Meiji government. However, present Odawara Castle was rebuilt in 1960. It serves as a museum and is designated as an important historical monument. Odawara Castel premise is a park, and there are zoo and small amusement park in addition to historical site such as Castel tower. It was voted the 100 best historic parks in Japan in October, 2006.
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is a way to measure time.
The phrase is Latin. It literally means "from when the city was founded". The city talked about is the city of Rome. This way of measuring time was not used in Classical antiquity. The first to have used it was the historian Orosius, about 400 AD.
Marcus Terentius Varro found out that the city of Rome was founded 440 years after the fall of Troy. Romulus and Remus founded it. Varro thought that was in the spring of 753 BC.
Marcus Porcius Cato Censorius thought that Rome was founded one year after the 7th Olympic Games. That would have been in 752 BC.
Ab urbe condita is also the main work of Titus Livius, a Roman historian.
Mesosphere
The mesosphere is a part of the atmosphere. It is between the stratosphere and the thermosphere. On Earth, the mesosphere starts at 50 kilometers above the planet to about 90 km above the planet.
The mesosphere is the most poorly understood part of the atmosphere. The mesosphere lies above the highest point for flying a plane, but below the lowest point for flying a spaceship. It also has a layer of electrically charged particles called the ionosphere.
Magnetosphere
A magnetosphere is a region around an astronomical object, such as a planet. It is the region where charged particles are affected by the object's magnetic field. The magnetosphere of the Sun is called the heliosphere. Ions and electrons of the solar wind are deflected by the heliosphere.
Since a magnetosphere is magnetic, it is invisible. However, the Earth's magnetosphere makes the Aurora Borealis. This is what causes the "Northern Lights" that shimmer in the night sky near the North Pole.
The border between magnetospheres is called a magnetopause.
Dorus Rijkers
Theodorus "Dorus" Rijkers (January 27, 1847 in Den Helder – April 19, 1928 in Den Helder) was a famous Dutch lifeboat captain and folk hero, he is most famous for his sea rescues of 487 shipwrecked victims over a total of 38 rescue operations and at least 25 before joining the lifeboat-service.
Dorus received his nickname "Grandpa" (Dutch:"Opa") while still a young man. He had married Neeltje Huisman, a fisherman's widow who already had 6 children. Shortly after the marriage, the oldest of Neeltje's daughters had a child of her own, and so at only 23 years old Dorus became known as "Opa" in Den Helder where he lived. Although the nickname began as a joke, Dorus soon started acting and looking like a grandpa, and from that time on he became primarily known by his nickname.
Dorus gained most of his fame as a result of his service to the Noord- en zuid-Hollandsche Redding Maatschappij (NZHRM), one of the two main Dutch lifeboat-societies at the time. The NZHRM would later become the Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM).
However his life-saving career began in 1872 before he joined the NZHRM, while acting as captain of his own boat. While at sea, he saved all 25 crew members of the barque "Australia" from drowning at sea. Because of this incident, Dorus gained a reputation as a rescuer, which preceded his joining the NZHRM as a volunteer. On the basis of his reputation, he was granted the position of coxswain upon joining the NZHRM without having to prove his qualifications. His rank of coxswain entitled him to immediately command his own boat and crew.
Although Dorus joined the NZHRM as a volunteer, he worked so many hours that it precluded him from taking on other paid work. Dorus and all of his crew members received a sum for each trial and each service.
During his nearly 30 years service with the NZHRM, Dorus saved hundreds of people from drowning at sea, becoming legendary long before his retirement. In the waters where he served, he saved such large number of people with such effectiveness that the survival statistics increased dramatically. At the end of his career, although he remained active, his role became more symbolic in nature.