Cicada

The cicadas (/sɪˈkɑːdə/ or /sɪˈkeɪdə/), are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. It is divided into the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and Cicadidae, with more than 1,300 species described from around the world; many undescribed species remain.

Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced not by stridulation but by vibrating drumlike tymbals rapidly. The earliest fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on sap, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic, singing at night to avoid predators. The periodic cicadas spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, only emerging after 13 or 17 years, most likely to reduce losses by satiating their predators.

Cicada (horse)

Cicada (May 9, 1959 – 1981) was an American Thoroughbred champion racehorse bred by Christopher Chenery's Meadow Stud. A bay filly by Bryan G., she was out of Satsuma; Satsuma's dam was Hildene, a "blue hen" mare (a prolific producer of quality offspring) and the first horse owned by Chenery (who later bred and owned Secretariat). Sired by the 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over, Hildene cost $600.

Cicada was trained by Casey Hayes, who also trained Hill Prince, First Landing, and Sir Gaylord. Hayes believed in starting his horses young, so Cicada first raced in February 1961 at Hialeah Park Race Track and won easily by 4½ lengths. She won one allowance race and lost one before being entered in her first stakes race. She lost the Fashion Stakes, but then won her third allowance easily. She won the Blue Hen Stakes wire-to-wire, winning by 5½ lengths. Cicada was never out of the money in her sixteen starts as a two-year-old. She won eleven of those races (six in a row) and set a new record for earnings by a filly.

Cicada (mythology)

Cicada lore and mythology is rich and varied as there are c 2500 species of cicada throughout the world, many of which are undescribed and remain a mystery to science. Cicada has been prized as a delicacy, and are famed throughout the world for their song.

The cicada is an ancient polyvalent symbol: resounding themes are resurrection, immortality, spiritual realization and spiritual ecstasy. For the ancient Greeks and Romans they sang in intoxicated ecstasy and were sacred to Apollo and cognate with the dionysiac bacchae and maenad.

Eunomos and his cithara

Egan (1994) affirms that there are several independent Greek sources that tell the story of Eunomos and the cicada. Eunomos, an accomplished cithara player and singer, was performing in a competition when one of the cithara strings snaps. A cicada as offering, alights on his cithara, sustaining the note of the broken string. Eunomos, thereby attributed accolade, wins the competition.

Aristotle

Aristotle, fond of eating cicada, described them with decisive brevity in his investigatory Historia Animalium. From this, we know that he was aware of their periodic lifecycle, their emergent resurrection from the earth, their progression to their winged form and song. Aristotle is attributed with seeding Grecian culture with cicada symbolism of resurrection and immortality; though it may be asserted that their liminal quality and propensity to incite awe pre-date Aristotle.

Steam

Steam is water in the gas phase, which is formed when water boils. Steam is invisible; however, "steam" often refers to wet steam, the visible mist or aerosol of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses. At lower pressures, such as in the upper atmosphere or at the top of high mountains, water boils at a lower temperature than the nominal 100 °C (212 °F) at standard temperature and pressure. If heated further it becomes superheated steam.

The enthalpy of vaporization is the energy required to turn water into the gaseous form when it increases in volume by 1,700 times at standard temperature and pressure; this change in volume can be converted into mechanical work by steam engines such as reciprocating piston type engines and steam turbines, which are a sub-group of steam engines. Piston type steam engines played a central role to the Industrial Revolution and modern steam turbines are used to generate more than 80% of the world's electricity. If liquid water comes in contact with a very hot surface or depressurizes quickly below its vapor pressure, it can create a steam explosion. Steam explosions have been responsible for many foundry accidents, and may also have been responsible for much of the damage to the plant in the Chernobyl disaster.

Montreal hot dog

The Montreal hot dog is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec.

In Montreal (and elsewhere in the province of Quebec), the hot dog buns generally used in restaurants are top loading (New England style) hot dog buns, rather than the side loading hot dog buns generally used in other parts of Canada. Montreal hot dogs are considered to be rather small and are generally sold for between $0.50 and $1.00 depending on the area of purchase and dressing. Popular brands include Lesters, Lafleur's, and Glatt's kosher.

The city of Montreal did not permit street food carts from 1947 until 2011, leading to a proliferation of small "greasy spoon" restaurants which are variations on the classic Québécois casse-croute (snack-type) restaurants. These restaurants serve hot dogs with fresh-cut fries (patates frites, often served “very brown and greasy”), poutine, hamburgers, pogos (corn dogs), hamburger steaks, in addition to Greek dishes (typically souvlaki and gyro), pizza, and smoked meat. Restaurant chains known for their hot dogs include La Belle Province, Valentine, and Lafleur Restaurants. One longstanding Montreal independent restaurant that offers hot dogs is the Montreal Pool Room.

Glossary of poker terms

The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.

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