Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is 1,070 km east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Though it is referred to in the singular, Bermuda consists of 181 islands; the capital city of Bermuda is Hamilton. Bermuda is self-governing, with its own constitution and government and a Parliament which makes local laws; the United Kingdom retains responsibility for defence and foreign relations. As of July 2018, it has a population of 71,176, making it the most populous of the British overseas territories. Bermuda's largest economic sectors are offshore insurance and tourism. Bermuda had one of the world's highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century, it has a subtropical climate and lies in the hurricane belt and thus is prone to related severe weather. Bermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the islands in 1505. One of the earliest appearances of the name in English literature is In Shakespeare The Tempest, a play, inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture, though not set on the islands: John Donne's poem The Storm uses the same idea: Compar’d to these stormes, death is but a qualme, Hell somewhat lightsome, the’Bermuda calme.

Bermuda was discovered in 1505 by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez. Bermuda had no indigenous population at the time of its discovery, nor at the time of the initial British settlement a century later, it was mentioned in Legatio Babylonica, published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, was included on Spanish charts of that year. Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water. Legends arose of spirits and devils, now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds and the loud noise heard at night from wild hogs. Combined with the frequent storm-wracked conditions and the dangerous reefs, the archipelago became known as the'Isle of Devils'. Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle it. For the next century, the island is believed to have been visited but not settled; the English had by this time started to take an interest in the'New' World attempting to settle in Virginia in what is now the eastern United States.

After the failure of the first two English colonies here, a more determined effort was initiated by King James I of England, who granted a Royal Charter to the Virginia Company which established a colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Two years a flotilla of seven ships left England under the company's admiral, Sir George Somers, the new governor of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates, with several hundred settlers and supplies to relieve the colony of Jamestown; however the flotilla was broken up by a storm. They stayed 10 months, starting a new settlement and building two small ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, to sail on to Jamestown. Bermuda was claimed for the English Crown, the charter of the Virginia Company was extended to include them. On 10 May 1610, all but two of the remaining survivors of Sea Venture sailed on to Jamestown. Among them was John Rolfe, whose wife and child died and were buried in Bermuda. Somers returned to Bermuda with the Plough to obtain food for the starving settlers of Jamestown but died in Bermuda.

In 1612, the English began the intentional settlement of the archipelago named Virgineola, with the arrival of the ship the Plough. New London was designated as the colony's first capital, it is the oldest continually inhabited English town in the New World. In 1615, the colony, renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers, was passed to a new company, the Somers Isles Company; as Bermudians settled Carolina Colony and contributed to the establishment of other English colonies in the Americas, many other locations were named after the archipelago. During this period the first slaves were brought to the islands; these were a mixture of African and Native American slaves, shipwreck victims from enemy nations, political prisoners from Scotland and Ireland. The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the New World. In 1616 and 1620 acts were passed banning the hunting of young tortoises. In 1649, the English Civil War was in its seventh year and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London.

The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where the majority of the colonists developed a strong

XO is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was released on August 25, 1998 by record label DreamWorks. Two singles, "Waltz #2" and "Baby Britain", were released. Early sessions for the album began at Larry Crane's Jackpot Recording Studio after the release of Either/Or in 1997; these sessions would yield early demos of several album tracks, as well as outtakes released posthumously on New Moon. Work began in earnest on the album in early 1998, after Smith traveled to Los Angeles to work with producers Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock. An early working title for the album was Grand Mal; the title of the first track, "Sweet Adeline", was inspired by Smith’s recollections of his grandmother singing in her glee club, Sweet Adelines International. "Amity" is believed to be named after a friend who can be seen in photographs from Smith's 1997 tour. "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" is based on a true story of an intervention that saw Smith check into a rehab facility in Arizona.

Smith's original lyrics bear this out further, with references to'the desert', a'dream-killing doctor', a'twelve-stepping cop'. XO was released by DreamWorks Records on August 25, 1998, it was Smith's first solo record on a major record label, though he had released music on a major label with his band Heatmiser's final album, Mic City Sons. Singles released from the album were "Waltz #2" in the same year and "Baby Britain" the following year. XO was well received by critics upon its release. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork wrote, "Smith's songwriting continues to improve, as each of fourteen tracks displays his inarguable mastery of the pop song structure more than ever." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a one-star honorable mention rating, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like". His review described the album's music as "high tune, low affect," citing "Waltz #2" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" as highlights.

XO placed at number five on The Village Voice's 1998 end-of-year Jop poll. In its retrospective review, BBC Music wrote, "the budget might have gone up, but Smith's masterful way with an understated melody and melancholic lyric remained intact", calling XO "perhaps the greatest long-player Smith released. Repeat listens don't dull it in the slightest, every barbed one-liner and exhalation of despair preserved". Trouser Press called the record "a tastefully commercialized production that respects Smith's privacy and, in fact, does him a solid service. If the songs are not the most profound or developed of Smith's catalogue, it's still a great record that proves how durable integrity can be." In 2010, Spin magazine placed XO at number 90 on its list of the 125 best albums in the magazine's lifetime. Pitchfork Media placed the album at number 68 in their list of the greatest albums of the 1990s. Matthew LeMay has written a book about XO as part of the 33⅓ series of books on albums, released on April 6, 2009 by the Continuum International Publishing Group.

RJD2 sampled "I Didn't Understand" on the song "Ghostwriter" on his album Deadringer. Indie rock band Grandaddy performed "Oh Well, Okay" live in 2012 as a tribute to Smith. All tracks are written by Elliott Smith. Elliott Smith – guitar, piano, bass guitar, organ, electric piano, percussion and horn arrangements, recording Additional personnel Technical LeMay, Matthew. Elliott Smith's XO. 33⅓. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 0826429009. XO at Discogs

"Ghost" is the twenty-ninth single by Japanese musical artist Gackt, released on January 28, 2009. "Ghost" continues the concept from the Requiem et Reminiscence II 2008-2009 tour and the Asakura Report, began by the release of single "Jesus". The song is used as the theme to the Japanese broadcast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. A limited edition version with a PV was released on January 21, 2009 for members of Gackt's official fanclub and the regular edition was released on January 28, 2009. There are two versions of the music video that exist, one of which features clips from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; the video starts off in a darkened locker room where shards of metal lie on the floor. A male Caucasian janitor starts cleaning up the debris. Afterward, he moves on to the next room, a laboratory in a mess, switches on a light and continues cleaning, unaware that there are five shadowy figures standing in the background, each with glowing red eyes; the janitor gets his iPod Touch out to select some music to listen to while cleaning up the mess and whilst mopping, he accidentally hits a button that causes the ceiling light to send out blasts of electricity, which hits and shatters some glasses and zaps the figures, revealing them to be Gackt and his backup dancers, who are androids.

As a result of the electricity's impact, they come to life and the janitor stops what he is doing and looks on in shock. Close-up shots of Gackt singing the lyrics are shown and he has metallic scars on his face, giving him the appearance of a damaged android. All lyrics are written by Gackt. C. C