♫ Highway to Hell ♫'s definitions

Salsa

A popular form of Latin-American dance music, characterized by Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies, and elements of jazz and rock. It represents the ongoing evolution and assimilation of a variety of styles which have traveled from Cuba and Puerto Rico to New York, Miami, and elsewhere. The big bands which blazed forth in city dance halls and on New York's famous Fania label in the mid-1960s used rhythm sections and a compositional structure based in the son music style. But they ultimately added fiery horn sections and jazz harmonies, landing squarely in the samba tradition. South and Central America developed their own appetites for Salsa, contributing to its growth through the trailblazing work of artists like Panama's Ruben Blades and Cuba's Celia Cruz.

Salsa: Jaun Luis Guerra, Pedro Conga, Tito Rojas, Maelo Ruiz, Rey Ruiz, Frankie Ruiz, Johnny Rivera, Ismael Rivera, Puerto Rican Power, Dark Latin Groove Aka DLG, Legacia De La Salsa, Yuri Buenaventura, La India, Pedro Jesus, El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, Tito Nieves, Roberto Roena, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Cheo Feliciano, Willie Colón, Willie Rosario, Jerry Rivera, Sonora Carruseles, Joe Arroyo, Conjunto Chaney, Luis Enrique, Oscar D'Leon, Danny Rojo, Ruben Blades, Guayacan Orquesta, Tony Vega, Victor Manuelle, Edgar Joel, David Cedeño, Eddie Santiago, Edwin Bonilla, Adolescent's Orquesta, Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, Willie Gonzalez, Hector Lavoe, and César Pedroso.

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ March 6, 2010

MPB

Brazilian Pop is known in its native land as MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) which literally stands for Popular Music of Brazil in Portuguese. Arising at the same time as the eclectic, innovative Tropicalia sound, MPB is a rich, poetic style that incorporates the sounds of both the Samba and the Bossa Nova. American rock, pop and jazz have also contributed to the sound; but at its heart, MPB has a distinct Brazilian sensibility, with themes reflecting the tensions, struggles and triumphs of the Brazilian people.

MPB: Caetano Veloso, Bebel Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim Aka Tom Jobim, Elis Regina, Ivete Sangalo, Marisa Monte, Tribalistas, Daniela Mercury, CéU, Trio Mocoto, Milton Nascimento, Ana Paula Lopes, Pedro Mariano, Gilberto Gil, Dorival Caymmi, Chico Buarque, Celia Mara, Elizete Cardoso, Guilherme Arantes, Tim Maia, Djavan, Toquinho, Sandra De Sá, Marcos Valle, Baby Consuelo, Rita Lee, Banda Eva, João Bosco, Ara Ketu, Nara Leão, Zélia Duncan, Gonzaguinha, Os Mutantes, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethânia.

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ March 19, 2010

Seppuku

Ritual suicide by disembowelment carried out by samurai. Literally means "stomach cutting." The samurai committing seppuku would shove a dagger such as a tanto into their stomach while another samurai acted as their second by lopping off their head.

Seppuku is also reffered to as Harakiri

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 8, 2011

Sunnis

(SOO-nees) The majority group in Islam that believes that any good Muslim man may be Caliph (Islamic leader on Earth, much like the Pope, who is voted in).

There is a split between Shi'ites and Sunnis due to political/religious disagreements over Islamic leadership, or the Caliph.

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ October 7, 2009

Fumi-e

Japanese flat image of a Christian symbol, usually the crucifixion, designed to be stepped on. Suspected Christians were required to step on the representation of Jesus or the Virgin Mary to prove that they were not believers. At one point in Japan, Christians were persecuted by the Shogunate, because the Japanese feared that the influence of Christianity would make Japan too westernized. To be a Shintoist was to be loyal to Japan.

(fumi 'stepping-on' + e 'picture')

Fumi-e is pronounced "foo-mee-EH."

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 25, 2011

Rurouni Kenshin

Kenshin Himura, formerly known as "Hitokiri Battousai" the man slayer, is a wanderer with a dark past and sunny disposition. Not a ronin but a rurouni, he was never a samurai, but a well known assassin of utmost skill in the Meiji restoration, who in the turning point of the war simply walked away, and took an oath to never kill again as an act of retribution for the many men he murdered during the revolution. He then begins to carry a reversed-blade sword (Sakabatou) and protect the innocent/oppressed people of Japan. His travels lead him to Tokyo in the 11th year of the Meiji era, where he befriends a female Kendo master (Kaoru Kamiya), a former thief from a family of Samurai (Yahiko Myojin), a brawler/former Sekihotai member (Sanosuke Sagara) and a doctor (Megumi Takani) all with their own secrets. Together they fight off the enemies surfacing from the dark past that Kenshin cannot escape.

Rurouni Kenshin started airing in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami on March 17, 2003. There are a total of 95 episodes along with a four part OVA series called Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal which serves as a prequel to Rurouni Kenshin.

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 14, 2010

Sunni

The branch of Islam that accepts the first four caliphs as rightful successors of Muhammad.

Anyone who is a Sunni believes that any good Muslim man may be elected as the caliph. However, anyone who says there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah, is a Muslim.

by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ May 25, 2010