German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of the foremost figures in the Romantic music scene in 19th century Vienna, where he spent much of his professional life.
During his lifetime, Brahms’ fame and influence were so extensive that he is at times grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs. Although Brahms was a rather conservative and academic composer, his music was of superb quality and intense emotional depth.
Here are three of my favorite heavy metal rock bands and some killer tunes! You Tube music and lyrics for Metallica’s One, Kiss’ Lick It Up and Guns N’ Roses Paradise City are included in this article.
I love all types of music, but I am a heavy metal rock music lover by heart. I love late 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990s heavy metal rock and roll. Here are 3 of my favorite heavy metal...
by the stickman
Actor David Carradine has been found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. Although at this writing it is unconfirmed, reports have stated that the actor committed suicide by hanging himself.
Eldest son of veteran actor John Carradine, David Carradine is probably best know for his role in the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu.” One of five sons, four of which including himself had became actors. The four sons that pursued acting were David, Robert, Keith and Bruce Carradine...
A Game of Thrones, the first novel of a projected series of seven(A Song of Ice and Fire) by George RR Martin was first published in 1996. There are many "spin-off" items that have taken their names from this novel, including several games and HBO has contracted for a pilot episode based on the novels.
In resemblance to England during the "War of the Roses" is the seven kingdoms of Westeros. The story begins in the year 298 AL (After Landing). As its inhabitants await and prepare for the coming four decade winter that will shortly encompass their world, a civil war arises for power between several families. Leaders include Eddard Stark & Tyrion Lannister as well as many others. Unbeknownst to them the young Daenerys Targearyen(exiled daughter of the murdered and rightful king) is headed their way. Daenerys' plan is to travel to Westeros and then(as rightful heir) claim the throne.
Martin's style here is masterful. His prose flows beautifully and rings with clarity to the intelligent reader. With each chapter written in the third person limited point of view, there is no sense of "good" or "evil", but a sense of what "is". His characters are realistic and believable and their thought process can be analyzed "through their own eyes".
In 1979, in Perth, Western Australia, Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born. A drama student through high school, by the age of 20, Heath was roughing it in Sydney(where dreams are made), arriving there with(as the story goes) 69 cents in his pocket.
In 1996, he played a short part as a gay cyclist in the short-lived TV Show "Sweat". Then in '97 a low budget movie "Blackrock" and a small role in "Paws" for which he received little recognition.
With half of my heritage being Native American and the other half being Celtic and having a great interest in early American History, I am fascinated by all things spiritual and ancient. In 1997, enter Heath Ledger and Roar: a young and talented actor with the most amazing smile that I have ever seen and a great Celtic themed show, a feast of my favorite fantasy/celtic genre with an amazing actor at the helm. When Heath smiled, it lit up his entire face. One thing I haven't heard much about in recent news is my first encountering of Heath: In the 1997 TV Show "Roar" with Heath playing the role of Conor, the fearless leader.
Although Heath immediately gained scrutiny as just another "pretty boy" actor, he went on to prove his incredible skill and talent over the course of the next few years.
In 1999, Heath was unable to find any work in the US and accepted a role in the film "Two Hands" which helped him to gain his role in "10 Things I Hate About You" with Julia Stiles.
At this point it was clear to Heath that he was being typecast. Heath's last desire was to be typecast as a teen idol, so in 2000, he accepted his first serious role in "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson.
In "The Patriot" Heath portrays Gabriel Martin the son of Benjamin Martin(Mel Gibson) a peaceful farmer who is drawn into leading the Colonial Militia when his son is murdered by an angry and vengeful British officer during the American Revolutionary War. Set to the music of Sarah McLachlan, here is a clip of Heath's scenes from the movie:
By this time I was already quite hooked on Heath and his amazing abilities as an actor and all around beautiful person. After "The Patriot" he came right back on the scene with another blockbuster film. "A Knight's Tale" is probably my favorite of his films and I have watched it more times than I care to count.
2001 also saw Heath through playing tough guy prison guard Sonny Grotowski in "Monster's Ball", and in 2002 Harry Feversham in "The Four Feathers" opposite Ethne Eustace(Kate Hudson).
In 2003, Heath brought us back to Australia in "Ned Kelly" a film I have yet to see and will be watching upon completion of this article. I do know that this film is based on a novel entitled "Our Sunshine" by Robert Drew portraying the life of a well known Australian bushranger.
2003 also brought us "The Order" another favorite of mine. Heath portrays Alex Bernier, a young priest who is sent to Rome by the Church to investigate the death of the head of his order. His leading lady in this role is Shannyn Sossamon who also plays opposite him in "A Knight's Tale".
2005 is packed with films, bringing us Heath as Skip in "Lords of Dogtown" where the Z-Boys of Dogtown in Santa Monica perfect their skating skills in the empty swimming pools of unknowing homeowners. This year also brings us Jacob Grimm of "The Brothers Grimm" with Matt Damon as his brother Wilhelm Grimm, the controversial "Brokeback Mountain" and the clever comedy "Casanova".
Heath starred in the 2006 film "Candy", where he and his love are heroine addicts and in 2007's "I'm Not There" he participated in a bio-drama about the life of Bob Dylan.
In 2008, during the filming of "Dark Knight" and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"(due for release this year), at the age of 28, we tragically lost a lifetime achiever, incredibly moving actor, an all around amazing man, and a beautiful smile.
Heath, will be sorely missed, but his gift and his smile will live on in the hearts of those who adore and love him. One year later, our hearts still go out to his lovely little girl Matilda and to all of Heath's loved ones.
And now I leave you with an excellent tribute to Heath and his films:
A couple of years ago I was puttering around YouTube, when I stumbled across a phenomenal video of a strange and spectacular instrument that produced beautiful and captivating music.
At first, I thought that it was merely a cool animation that had a digitally produced song playing along; However, as I watched in amazement, I was stunned to find that every moving component of the peculiar machine made a distinct sound, rising in crescendo to the bridge and climaxing in a most delightful manner.
Not only are the animations captivating and wonderfully rendered, but the music itself is quite enjoyable - if you're into electronic music. Even if it's not your thing, I encourage you to check out their videos as there is a menagerie of styles to select from, ranging from Spanish guitar to intriguing alien techno.
The videos are all very clean and kid friendly, as well, and I guarantee that the little ones will be amazed.
That said, I'd like to first give credit to the producers of Animusic and direct you to their website. All of the videos you can watch can also be purchased on DVD for an amplified and much higher quality experience. They would make wonderful gifts. These guys have provided a very cool and unique form of entertainment, and deserve our support.
Finally, I'd like to share a few of my favorite Animusic videos as found on YouTube.
Aqua Harp
While this is perhaps one the most simplistic of their animations, it still stands among my favorites because of the beautiful song. With this peculiar instrument they combine the gentle sound of a large harp with small pipes, a cello string, and hammered plates, producing a very soothing melody.
Pipe Dream
This is a must-see video, in which a very complex machine produces a fun, jazzy little tune by firing small metal balls from a pipe, in a very precise fashion, and striking various strings and percussion plates.
The story telling of the invasion of aliens on the planet earth, captures the reader from the very first page. The determination of those willing to fight and survive is deeply moving, the descriptive paragraphs create images in the mind, the invasion of London, the author uses one voice to tell the story, it is captivating as you follow the storyline. This passage, taken from the book describes the first time the aliens are seen.
Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous. There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty. Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread.
With modern television we are offered images such as these in sci -fi movies, but the year this book was published the writer had to really work hard at getting the imagery across.
Several variety of films were produced and in 1978, Jeff Wayne released a musical version of the book, the music and light show was a hit. The musicians are alive on the stage, they are having fun, the music is intense and the excitement, tension and pleasure of the audience and performers alike, can be felt with every beat of the music and every flash of light ray.
Digital Scrapbooking is a growing Internet hobby, but it can be valuable to the writer too.
Digital Scrapbooking is very popular on the internet. Community groups all share their creations, they have competitions,swap tips and give away layouts. Graphics cover every topic and it is popular with the male species as much as the ladies.
The software varies, there are programs just for scrapbooking such as ScrapBook Flair their free download is here or there are photographic software programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, there is a free trial download that can be used to try for 30 days here.
An image saved using a low resolution can be improved or changed using photographic adjusting programs.
There is no glue or glitter involved and you can email your end result within minutes of finishing, sharing with family and friends all over the world.
The two types of scrapbooking compliment each other, for example you can prepare and print out a digital scrap page and then add embellishments afterwards or you can do a stick and glue style page, scan it into your software and add digital graphics to the uploaded scan.
