by Casey Chan on Sploid, shared by Cheryl Eddy to Gizmodo
If we canceled history classes in high schools across the world and replaced them with YouTube videos about history, kids would learn so much more. I just sat through this wonderful 10-minute video on the history of Japan by Bill Wurtz without even skipping ahead because it was so riveting and funny and fast paced. In fact, the video (as silly as it was) was so well done that it actually makes you want to learn more about the history of Japan (which you would do through Wikipedia and not textbooks, of course).
"Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty- five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things."
Още една възможност да преоткрия любимата ми Стара Планина, е като подходя до някое вече познато място по различен маршрут.
В случая избрах да стигна до хижа Ехо от село Розино, вместо през Рибарица или Беклемето.
Почти цяла зима в балкана липсваше снежна покривка и ето, че едва през март понатрупа малко сняг, колкото да побелее тук-там.
Мръкна се, а гъстата облачност не предвещава ясно време за следващия ден.
Но да планираш времето в планината, е като да играеш на зарове - никога не знаеш какво ще се падне.
Ето че на зазоряване няма пукнат облак.
Светлината променя облика на околността и по изгрев каменният параклис се озарява в златисто.
Негостоприемната довчера планина, днес разкри за кратко своята неописуема красота, в зимното мартенско утро.
Frontiers Music Srl will release ROYAL HUNT's new live album, titled "Cargo", on March 18.
A performance clip of the song "Half Past Loneliness", taken from "Cargo", can be seen below.
Following the release of their latest studio album, "Devil's Dozen", ROYAL HUNT participated in three widely known festivals around the globe in the fall of 2015: ProgPower USA, Loud Park (Japan) and Rockingham (U.K.). They performed their energetic brand of symphonic/progressive yet highly melodic and instantly accessible "royal rock" for thousands of appreciative fans.
While ROYAL HUNT's next tour — set to the spring of 2016 — is being announced, the band found the time to gather in the studio and pick out the best performances recorded during their festival trek: an hour and a half of ROYAL HUNT's trademark sonic assault, skillfully captured on tape.
Why live album and why now? "Well, mostly because we haven't released any live recordings for roughly ten years or so," says keyboard maestro and principal songwriter André Andersen. "'2006' was great and many fans consider it to be our best (some will pick '1996' or 'Closing The Chapter' as their favorite) but anyway — it's been awhile, so we assumed that it might be interesting for you to check out our 'new swing' at this live set. Just think about it: last time we recorded 'Paradox' live was almost 20 years ago! Add a few new songs, the excitement of the festival performance, a couple of new faces to the lineup and — all of a sudden — things are sounding quite a bit different. We'd say it sounds fresh but let's see what your opinion on this matter will be."
"Cargo" includes a complete rendition of ROYAL HUNT's signature concept album "Paradox".
ROYAL HUNT has released 13 studio albums and the band's name stands for quality symphonic/progressive metal.
"Cargo" track listing:
CD1
01. The Mission
02. Half Past Loneliness
03. River Of Pain
04. Tearing Down The World
05. Message To G-D
06. Long Way Home
CD2
01. Time Will Tell
02. Silent Scream
03. It's Over
04. May You Never
05. A Life To Die ForROYAL HUNT is:
André Andersen - keyboards
DC Cooper - vocals
Andreas Passmark - bass
Jonas Larsen - guitar
Andreas Johansson - drums
With origins that date back as far as the Tang Dynasty (around the year ~700), the Chinese craft of Dongyang wood carving is regarded by many to be one of the most elegant forms of relief carving in the world. The craft is still practiced in a few workshops in the region of Dongyang, China, and most commonly appears as ornate decoration on ‘everyday’ objects such as cases, cabinets, stools, desks and tables.
Perhaps the most ambitious manifestation of Dongyang wood carving is seen on enormous mural-like panels intended to be hung as artwork as seen here. You can see a few more examples via Lustik, Orientally Yours, Michael Lai, and XDYMD.COM
Всяка година, по едно и също време, Стара Планина е неотменна част от есенните ми обиколки, и по-специално централната и част, в която за да излезеш на голото било, минаваш през вековни гори.
По пътеката за хижа Амбарица, след като надморската височина надхвърли хиляда метра, гората става все по-пъстра и живописна.
Неусетно сред обширна поляна се появява самата хижа.
Това не е крайната цел, тя тепърва предстои.
Освен, че бе огромно удоволствие да бродя сам по пътеките из необятния гръбнак на Балкана в този слънчев есенен ден, беше още по-голямо удоволствие да забележа един малко известен скален феномен, носещ името Кралимарковата дупка.
Чувствам се като последния глупак, като се сетя що път бях извървял до него и как замръкнах там.
Гледайки го оттук, ми се струва доста по-близо.
Винаги е интересно в Стара Планина.
Времето така бързо се мени, че както напича, след малко налазват черни облаци и започва да гърми и трещи.
За разлика от последното ми посещение до Пеещите скали, този път не се притеснявах, че ще стане така.
Освен, че връх Марагидик приличаше на вулкан с този облак над него, засега нямаше нищо тревожно.
След като преодолях някой друг метър денивелация се откри гледка на запад, към връх Вежен, който стърчеше като висок бряг насред бял океан.
На седлото, между върховете Купена и Малка Амбарица вече нямаше какво да спре вятърът, тук беше в свои владения.
На височина над 2000 метра духаше с такова настървение, че ми трябваше сериозна екипировка, за която въобще не бях помислил.
Единственото, с което разполагах беше тънка ветровка, от която нямаше особен ефект.
За радост, след като взех да наближавам връх Амбарица, се появи нещо наподобяващо заслон.
В началото ми се струваше голям, даже ми се привидя, че от комина излиза дим.
Представях си как ме посрещат с чай и топло одеялце...
Илюзията се изпари мигом щом наближих.
С размерите на палатка, само че от ламарина, без врата, без дървен нар, ме очакваше подслонът-фризер на върха.
Като за добре дошъл, слънцето мигом се скри, от север дотърча облак, който стръвно залази по земята и след малко всичко беше само мъгла и вятър.
Крих се известно време в тенекиения заслон, докато зъбите ми не започнаха да тракат от студ.
За да се сгрея, излизах да подскачам и тичам навън, и така докато наглият облак се премести от върха.
Едва сега можех да видя какво се случва наоколо.
От южната страна, до към 1400 метра височина, всичко беше потънало в море от облаци.
Билото задържаше тази ниска облачност и от север беше слънчево.
От връх Ботев се виждаше само антената.
Изглежда, че същият този облак допреди малко беше на моя връх.
С наближаването на залеза вятърът утихна, а гледките наоколо доказаха, че си струваха мръзненето и чакането.
Между върховете Амбарица и Ботев се намира най-изразената част от старопланинското било.
С нетипично заострена форма са върховете Купена и Кръстец.
Имах усещането, че не съм в планина, а на остров сред море от облаци.
В посока на залеза, като малка светла точка, някъде в далечината, блести хижа Дерменка.
Неочакван спектакъл със светлина, вятър и облаци в главните роли, бе това кратко есенно приключение в Стара Планина.
When European settlers arrived throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and rapidly expanded their territory across North America, the prevalent belief was that of Manifest Destiny. Specifically, that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent by any means necessary regardless of cost, environmental impact, or the devastating harm to Native American populations. The artwork of the period, primarily sweeping landscapes influenced by the European pastoral tradition, did well to capture the pristine beauty of the previously undocumented continent, but completely glossed over the reality of what was really happening.
In her log paintings, artist Alison Moritsugu faces that strange juxtaposition head-on by choosing a literal meataphor—the remains of downed trees—as a canvas for her bucolic oil paintings of the countryside where that very tree may have once originated. A fantastic collision of art history and environmental awareness. The rough edges of the cut branches and trunks appear like windows into the past, telling a story that the tree’s rings alone cannot. She shares via her artist statement:
Painters throughout art history from the Northern Song, Baroque, Rococo and Hudson River School tailored their depictions of nature to serve an artistic narrative. Today, photoshopped images of verdant forests and unspoiled beaches invite us to vacation and sightsee, providing a false sense of assurance that the wilderness will always exist. By exploring idealized views of nature, my work acknowledges our more complex and precarious relationship with the environment.
It should be noted that Moritsugu uses salvaged log segments from naturally fallen trees, or trees that would otherwise be turned into mulch. You can see a collection of new work starting November 12th at Littlejohn Contemporary in New York. (via My Modern Met)
Courtesy of the artist and Littlejohn Contemporary, NY
The underwear seller thought there was nothing wrong when they posted this picture to their Facebook page. Obviously, their overeager graphic designers took more than their fair share away from this model.
Her left leg just keeps on going.
What makes the post even funnier is that Victoria's Secret shared it with the sub heading, "Truly. Madly. Cheeky."
The commenters weren't having it.
This is definitely not the first time that Victoria's Secret has let one of these beauties out into the wild.
Fan-filmed video footage of ZAKK SABBATH, the BLACK SABBATH cover band featuring guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE), bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson (OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE) and drummer Joey Castillo (DANZIG, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), performing on October 8 at The Slidebar in Fullerton, California can be seen below.
ZAKK SABBATH, with John Tempesta (THE CULT, EXODUS, TESTAMENT) sitting behind the kit instead of Castillo, opened for ROYAL MACHINES on December 20, 2014 at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's 2011 release, "The Song Remains Not the Same", featured acoustic reworkings of songs from the band's "Order Of The Black" album as well as covers of tunes by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG, TRAFFIC and BLACK SABBATH.
Wylde spoke to Music Radar about the decision to cover SABBATH's "Junior's Eyes".
"With me and covers, you know, I'm always going to go for the classic stuff," he said. "Of course, we all love SABBATH — I mean, who doesn't? — so I was just jammin' on the piano, and before you knew it, I was singing and playing 'Junior's Eyes'. I got a piano vamp thing going, and I started singing Ozzy's melody."
Asked if he had played his version for his former boss, Wylde said: "Yeah, I sent it to him [on] Father's Day. He was like [imitates Osbourne], 'Oh, Zakk, it sounds killer, man. It reminds me of a gospel tune.' No, Ozzy totally loved the SABBATH cover."
In a 2014 interview with Songfacts, Wylde said that he didn't think the Ronnie James Dio-fronted version of BLACK SABBATH stayed true to the band's classic sound. He said: "You listen to BLACK SABBATH with Ronnie James Dio in it, and it's not BLACK SABBATH. They should have just called it HEAVEN & HELL right from the beginning. Because you listen to that 'Heaven And Hell' album, that doesn't sound anything close to BLACK SABBATH. I mean, that sounds about as much like BLACK SABBATH as 'Blizzard Of Ozz' sounds like BLACK SABBATH. If you were to play BLACK SABBATH for me — and I'm a huge SABBATH freako — and then with Father Dio over there, I'd be going, 'Oh, cool, what band is this? This is good stuff.' I mean, the songs don't even sound BLACK SABBATH-y. I mean, 'Neon Knights', could you picture Ozzy singing over that song? I can't either. It's weird. It's a whole different band."
FAITH NO MORE's new music video for the song "Sunny Side Up" can be seen below. The clip, which was directed by filmmaker Joe Lynch ("The Movie Crypt" podcast, and films "Everly" and "Knights Of Badassdom"), arrives as the band wraps up a whirlwind year.
"Sol Invictus" (Reclamation Recordings/Ipecac Recordings), FAITH NO MORE's first new album since 1997's "Album Of The Year", arrived in May, debuting at No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart and landing at similar spots worldwide (including No. 2 in Australia, No. 4 in Germany and No. 6 in the U.K.). The months surrounding release found the band headlining a number of festivals, including Sonisphere, Download, Riot Fest, Bumbershoot and Rock In Rio. Returning to late night television for the first time since the mid-'90s, FAITH NO MORE took the stage on "The Tonight Show", "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "Last Call With Carson Daly".
Regarding FAITH NO MORE's musical approach on "Sol Invictus", bassist Billy Gould said: "What I can say is that I think through our experience as musicians over the years, I think what we're doing reflects where we've gone since we made our last record as FAITH NO MORE. I think this kicks things up a notch. And I think there's parts that are very powerful and there's parts that have a lot of 'space.' Everything we do, with our chemistry, the way we play; it's always going to sound like us. It's just what we do, that makes us feel good."
Gould added: "When we split up, we explored what we could do on our own. During that time, we each developed what was a natural part of ourselves. Now, coming back, we have a wider perspective so we can do things we didn't even think of back in the day. If we were to decide to do country-western music, it would still sound like a FAITH NO MORE album. Together we have a strong collective identity, and when we work together it makes its own animal."
Asked if FAITH NO MORE wanted to retain creative control by deciding not to align itself with a major label for the release of the band's comeback album, "Sol Invictus", Gould said: "Well, yes, kind of. We were free. We didn't have to go to a major, and we could kind of call our own shots and do it how we wanted to. And I think it just took all the edge off these other things and these details that we had to do that, when you add other people into the mix, you're getting pressured, you're getting asked to do things you don't wanna do. Also, one of the things it took us so long to think about making a new record is because it's not just making a record; it means you're gonna have to tour, it means you're gonna have to start doing press, it means you've gotta start doing all this. There's a lot of shit that comes with that. And when you do it with a major, there's nobody that you can talk to about accountability as far as... I don't know… something simple, like, 'You want us to do a video? Who wants us to do a video?' 'Well, the guy down in that office down there.' I never met him before. In this kind of situation we have here, we know everybody, we can talk to everybody. And it's, like, 'We need this video. We need it for this.' 'Okay. Let's make it happen.' And we know that the content that comes out of is our content, how we want it, and not some guy in an office who thinks they know who we are who's giving this in front of all these people and embarrassing us, for example. Which happened a lot, actually. Even though we had a great label back in the day, but it's an office of people who are not in our band, who [don't] know us as well as we know ourselves."
"Ämmänhauta" (The Witches Tomb), the new video from Finnish folk metallers KORPIKLAANI, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, "Noita", which was released on May 5 in North America via Nuclear Blast. Recorded at Petrax Studio with Aksu Hanttu producing, recording and mixing again, it is the band's first CD to feature new accordion player Sami Perttula, who played a very active role in the folk arrangements along with fiddler Tuomas Rounakari.
Comments KORPIKLAANI vocalist Jonne Järvelä on the new video: "When I was young, I lived quite near of the witches tomb and I used to play there in the forest, where I always threw branch on the tomb like every other when I passed it. It was just a 'normal' thing to do, so the legend lives well still there. The reason for that is because it was her last wish that she wanted to be buried secretly to the church graveyard, which wasn't okay for witches at the 11th century. She also made a wish if she dies before the cemetery on the way, they must bury her at the place and everyone who pass the tomb need to throw branch on her or will face the power of her curse."
He continues: "I remember when I was seven or eight years old and we skied with my school class next the place and the whole area was clean of the branches. We couldn't find any, so we needed to ski further to the forest to find some and ski back to throw them, including our teacher.
"In this video, I play the part of the man that was one of those that made this treaty with the witch, for her to buried as she wished. As I sit there remembering, the crow flies past and I dream of the old memory, but then the witch sees me sitting there watching the old memory as the sun rises. As the old memory goes away, I go and put the branch on the tomb and then the witch walks away."
The video clip was produced by Anniina Sinisalo (Time Films) under the direction of Joona Sarisalmi and Tapani Hiedanniemi, who also produced the video of "Metsään On Läksi Mieli" from JONNE, the solo album of the KORPIKLAANI singer Jonne Järvelä.
The cover artwork for "Noita" was created by Jan Yrlund from Darkgrove Design, who has created all the KORPIKLAANI covers in recent years.
