In physical terms, speed is distance per time. Usually measured im m/s, km/h or miles/hour. Also this way speed can be pretty addictive (and maybe even as dangerous).

An action movie in which a bomb squad retiree becomes a terrorist himself, and it's up to Keanu Reeves to stop him.

The main features include:

  • A Santa Monica city bus which must remain above 50 mph to prevent the bomb onboard from blowing up.
  • and thus.... A high-speed trip through the freeways of Los Angeles, which are remarkably clear when compared to real life.
  • Said bus making a leap across an unfinished section of freeway.
  • A bus to bus transfer at LAX, which send the bus with an active bomb careening into a cargo plane (huge explosion).
  • Not 1, but 2 exploding buses
  • The derailing of a Red Line MTA subway train in Downtown, which skids down several streets (and more civic property damage).
  • Decapitation

I don't know about lame... it's not exactly high-brow, but what action movie is? It's a good film to watch when you have nothing else to do. If you can suspend disbelief, it's even better.

Speed


Name: Imai Eriko
Nickname: Mikan sei-jin
Birthday: September 22, 1983
Position: Lead Vocals

Name: Arakaki Hitoe
Nickname: Koshifuri-man
Birthday: April 7, 1981
Position: Background Vocals, Dancer

Name: Shimabukoro Hiroko
Nickname: Uchuu-jin
Birthday: April 7, 1984
Position: Lead Vocals

Name: Uehara Takako
Nickname: Obaachan
Birthday: January 14, 1983
Position: Background Vocals, Dancer


Speed is an all-girl J-Pop group, similar in style to a mixture of the American pop, dance, and hip-hop genres. They usually sang fast-paced, dance-able music generally centered around love; the group was primarily marketed towards a teen audience. In 1995, the four girls were discovered in the Okinawan Talent School, a popular location where parents sent their children in hopes of their pursuing acting/singing careers in the future; the school is well-known for producing such stars as Amuro Namie, MAX, and DA PUMP, among others. In October of that year, Speed was chosen by RISING Productions to debut on the Japanese variety show, "The Yoru no Hippare." Shortly before taking stage, the group found themselves in need of a name. The name Speed was invented by Eriko and Takako -- inspired by the film Maximum Speed (according to Babelfish's translation). Their actual performance, however, proved to be a rather mild entrance for the group, unfortelling of their future.

In April of 1996, Speed recorded their first song, "Body & Soul", which would be released August 5 of that same year. The single became an immediate hit in Japan; though debuting on the Oricon charts (the Japanese equivalent of Billboard) at 18th, the song would rise and peak at 4th. Their next single, "Steady", came out on November 18th and rose to #2 on the Oricon within a week of its release -- shattering the record in Japan. This single would sell over 1 million copies and fully brought Speed into prominence in the J-Pop scene. After their short year in existance, the group was nominated for several awards -- including the "Best New Artist" & "Pop Group of the Year" equivalents.

1997 proved a large year for Speed, only topped in terms of success by one other. After their release of "Go! Go! Heaven!", which debuted at #1 on Oricon -- breaking their previous record, the group went on to release their first full-length album, "Starting Over," which also debuted at #1 and would go on to sell over 2.4 million copies. From this point on, virtually all of Speed's singles, videos, and albums would reach #1 on Oricon, including "Wake Me Up" and "White Love" (which sold over 2 million copies), which were both released in August and October, respectively.

Speed reached the peak of its success in 1998, a year in which they released three singles -- "my graduation", "ALIVE", and "ALL MY TRUE LOVE" -- and three new albums -- "Andromedia", the appropriately titled "Rise", and "MOMENT." While "Rise" was an album in the true sense of the word, "Andromedia" was a soundtrack to go along with the identically-titled fantasy/sci-fi movie in which they acted in that year. Though the movie was in and out of theaters, it managed to have an audience of approximately 800,000 -- not too bad for a movie which was only made to star a band. Unfortunately, this year also marked the first signs of internal conflict within the group. "ALL MY TRUE LOVE" (released in October) featured Hitoe and Takako in more prominence than in previous songs, as per their request.

The group furthered its downfall in 1999, a year in which the individual members began to worry about their own personal careers more than the future of the group, itself. Following Speed's release of "Precious Time" in February, Takako released her first single, entitled "My First Love," in March of that year -- which (surprise!) would reach #1 on the Oricon charts; likewise, Hitoe released "Inori" in June (after Speed's release of "Breakin' out to the morning" in May), which also reached a respectible #2. Both managed to reach these heights despite public controversy surrounding their singing ability. Hiroko would also release a single, "As Time Goes By," in August of 1999, which was the most popular out of the singles the group members would release. With this influx of personal careers, Speed would announce their imminent break-up in August, the month in which the group agreed that they could not reach their personal dreams together. The group's songs from this point had a sense of closing and finality to them, shown throuh the titles. Their final single and third-to-last album, released in November and December, respectively, were "Long Way Home" and "Carry on my way."

2000 marked the end of Speed's short but influential career. The group released their final two albums, "Dear Friends 1" and "Dear Friends 2," on March 29 and officially split up on March 31, in pursuit of personal careers, studies, boyfriends, travel, and individual time. Speed's 4 year period opened the door to future pop bands in Japan. The group's starting of fashion trends and varying style changed the role of music in the country, but also left the culture searching for a new band to follow -- a position Morning Musume quickly capitalized on.

Currently (March 2001), the members of Speed are still working on their solo careers. Most notable of the four, Imai Eriko has had great success with her hit, "identity." I wish the best of luck to all of them, and hopefully there will be a Speed reunion in the future, ^^.


singles

96.8.5 - Body & Soul
96.11.8 - STEADY
97.3.26 - Go! Go! Heaven
97.8.6 - Wake Me Up!
97.10.15 - White Love
98.2.18 - my graduation
98.7.1 - ALIVE
98.10.28 - ALL MY TRUE LOVE
99.2.16 - Precious Time
99.5.19 - Breakin' out to the morning
99.11.3 - Long Way Home

albums

97.5.21 - Starting Over
98.4.29 - RISE
98.8.5 - Andromedia
98.12.16 - MOMENT
99.12.22 - Carry On my way
00.3.29 - Dear Friends 1
00.3.29 - Dear Friends 2


A card game for two players and one deck of cards.

Players sit on opposite sides of a playing area (it's most comfortable to play at a table). Both players must be able to reach to a point midway between them without difficulty. Players take turns each game being dealer. The dealer shuffles the deck thoroughly and deals 15 cards face-down to each player. The deck is placed face-down midway between the players. Both players arrange their 15 cards as follows:

+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
|    | |down| |down| |down| |down|
| up | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
|    | |    | |down| |down| |down|
+----+ | up | +----+ +----+ +----+
       |    | |    | |down| |down|
       +----+ | up | +----+ +----+
              |    | |    | |down|
              +----+ | up | +----+
                     |    | |    |
                     +----+ | up |
                            |    |
                            +----+
where the cards are face-up or face-down as shown.

Each player must sit on one hand. Normally this is the non-dominant hand, but if a more experienced player is playing against a novice, a handicap may be awarded so the more experienced player must sit on his/her dominant hand. The dealer makes the first draw, and players alternate draws until one player has no cards left - that player is the winner.

A player draws by taking the top card from the deck and placing it face-up next to the deck, on the 'pile'. (The player drawing is not allowed to look at the card before putting it on the pile, it should be moved as quickly as possible.) A player may place a face-up card from the 'triangle' in front of them onto the pile if the rank of that card is one different from the rank of the card at the top of the pile (e.g., 5 can go on 4, Jack can go on Queen). (There is wraparound from the King to the Ace.) If two people try to play at once, the player who gets the card down first has the valid play, the other player must return the card to the triangle. For example, if a 7 is on top of the pile and one player plays a 6 and the other plays an 8, the card which ends up on top is of course not one rank different than the one below and must be retracted. The speediest player has the advantage. If one of the five columns of the triangle is empty, any face-up card from the triangle may be moved to that column. Once a player has played (or moved) a face-up card, if a face-down card is exposed the player has the option of turning it face-up. The player is not compelled to do so, one is allowed to play (or move) another card even when there are exposed face-down cards in front of one, but of course it's a good idea to do it as quickly as possible to maximise the chances of playing cards quickly. When both players agree that they no longer wish to play on that draw, another draw is made. If the deck runs out, the pile is shuffled and placed face-down to serve as the deck again. (At this stage only is it permitted to use both hands in the middle of the game. Unless, of course, you just have to show off how you can shuffle a deck with just one hand.)

It is a fast game. But there is also some strategy. For example, if an Ace is on the top of pile, and you have only an Ace and a 2 left and your opponent has only a 3… you have the option of trying to play the 2 and then the Ace, but your opponent will most likely be able to slap down the 3 before you have time to reach back for the second card. In this case, it is better not to play, and hope that the next card drawn is a King. If you get a King, you can play the Ace then the 2 and win before your opponent gets to play the 3. (Or, you can hope it's a 2 and hope you're faster with the Ace than your opponent is with the 3. If you draw a 4 you'll lose for sure, but you've a better chance of winning by drawing than by playing.)


Ah, I see that yerricde has already noded speed card game. There's a variation on the rules over at that node.

Speed (?), n. [AS. spd success, swiftness, from spwan to succeed; akin to D. spoedd, OHG. spuot success, spuot to succees, Skr. spha to increase, grow fat. &root;170b.]

1.

Prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; success.

"For common speed."

Chaucer.

O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. Gen. xxiv. 12.

2.

The act or state of moving swiftly; swiftness; velocity; rapidly; rate of motion; dispatch; as, the speed a horse or a vessel.

Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails. Milton.

⇒ In kinematics, speedis sometimes used to denote the amount of velocity without regard to direction of motion, while velocity is not regarded as known unless both the direction and the amount are known.

3.

One who, or that which, causes or promotes speed or success.

[Obs.] "Hercules be thy speed!"

Shak.

God speed, Good speed; prosperity. See Godspeed. -- Speed gauge, Speed indicator, ∧ Speed recorder Mach., devices for indicating or recording the rate of a body's motion, as the number of revolutions of a shaft in a given time. -- Speed lathe Mach., a power lathe with a rapidly revolving spindle, for turning small objects, for polishing, etc.; a hand lathe. -- Speed pulley, a cone pulley with steps.

Syn. -- Haste; swiftness; celerity; quickness; dispatch; expedition; hurry; acceleration. See Haste.

 

© Webster 1913.


Speed (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sped (?), Speeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Speeding.] [AS. spdan, fr. spd, n.; akin to D. spoeden, G. sich sputen. See Speed, n.]

1.

To go; to fare.

[Obs.]

To warn him now he is too farre sped. Remedy of Love.

2.

To experience in going; to have any condition, good or ill; to fare.

Shak.

Ships heretofore in seas lke fishes sped; The mightiest still upon the smallest fed. Waller.

3.

To fare well; to have success; to prosper.

Save London, and send true lawyers their meed! For whoso wants money with them shall not speed! Lydgate.

I told ye then he should prevail, and speed On his bad errand. Milton.

4.

To make haste; to move with celerity.

I have speeded hither with the very extremest inch of possibility. Shak.

5.

To be expedient.

[Obs.]

Wyclif (2 Cor. xii. 1.)

 

© Webster 1913.


Speed, v. t.

1.

To cause to be successful, or to prosper; hence, to aid; to favor.

"Fortune speed us!"

Shak.

With rising gales that speed their happy flight. Dryden.

2.

To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.

He sped him thence home to his habitation. Fairfax.

3.

To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.

Judicial acts . . . are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties. Ayliffe.

4.

To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin; to undo.

"Sped with spavins."

Shak.

A dire dilemma! either way I 'm sped. If foes, they write, if friends, they read, me dead. Pope.

5.

To wish success or god fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.

Welkome the coming, speed the parting guest. Pope.

God speed you, them, etc., may God speed you; or, may you have good speed.

Syn. -- To depatch; hasten; expedite; accelerate; hurry.

 

© Webster 1913.

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