255 definitions by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫
Osiris was king of the gods. His wife Isis was goddess of fertility and magic and their son Horus was the falcon-headed god of the sky. Osiris was sacrificed by his brother Set in a bid to usurp him. Set cut him into pieces and scattered them across Egypt. Isis and Horus found the pieces and restored Osiris to life. Horus remained to rule the Land of the Living and Osiris went to the Underworld to rule the Land of the Dead. The Pharaoh was an incarnation of Horus.
In his original form, a green-skinned man dressed in the raiment of a pharaoh. Following the Legend of Osiris, he appears as a green-skinned man in the form of a mummified pharaoh. He is often depicted wearing the atef crown with a pair of ram horns at its base.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 4, 2010
R&B/Soul is a broad category that encompasses much of non-sacred African American music. Its reach spans from the early vocal hits by Sam & Dave such as "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man" to Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" to the mid-1970s radio-ready soul/pop of the Delfonics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," and all the way to the modern R&B of Beyonce and Usher. The category is united by emotive vocals, hints of funk and, of course, ample doses of pure, impassioned soul.
R&B/Soul: Earth Wind and Fire, The Five Stairsteps, Marvin Gaye, Lenny Williams, Donny Hathaway, The Isley Brothers, Dwele, Chuckii Booker, Kem, Floetry, Silk, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Hudson, Jean Knight, Will Downing, Brian McKnight, Sly & The Family Stone, Avant, Ray Charles, Akon, R. Kelly, Nate Dogg, Usher, Carl Thomas, Dru Hill, Bobby Valentino, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, Jagged Edge, TLC, Ciara, Beyonce, Aaliyah, Alfonzo Hunter, After 7, Atlantic Starr, Barry White, Curtis Mayfield, Whitney Houston, Omarion, J. Holiday, Raheem DeVaughn, The Dream, Keri Hilson, Tyrese, Joe, Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole, Lloyd, Musiq Soulchild, Montell Jordan, I-15, Lyfe Jennings, Mario, Ray J, and Gnarls Barkley.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ October 6, 2009
The dualistic religious system founded by the Persian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek) and set forth in the Avesta in the late 7th or early 6th centuries BCE, teaching the worship of Ahura Mazda in the context of a universal struggle between the forces of light and of darkness. It is one of the most ancient of living religions and once the faith of the Persian Empire. It is also rooted in ancient Aryan traditions. Today there are less than 200,000 Zoroastrians, mostly in Iran, India, and the West. At the age of 30, Zarathustra was returning with river water for haoma for spring festival when he had a vision and was taken before Ahura Mazda, The Wise Lord, the supreme creator & his 7 created helpers, the Holy Immortals (Amesha Spentas) by the Vohu Manah. Zoroastrianism teaches that Ahura Mazda is the supreme god and all others are subordinate to him. It also teaches that the evil spirit, Angra Mainyu (Ahriman in Pahlavi) and his demons (daevas) upholds the Lie (druj) instead of Truth (asha). As a result, this creates conflict between humans who follow the Lie (dregvant) and those who uphold the Truth (ashavan).
The religion also teaches that each person has free will to choose, with consequences of happiness and misery. Zoroastrians believe that when someone dies, the body must be kept in home for 3 days while the soul hangs about it. On the 4th day, the corpse-bearer raise a massive Tower of Silence (dakhma) with a circular stone platform on the top inclined to a central wall. The body is stripped and then placed on this, exposed to vultures and elements. When the flesh is gone, the bones are swept into the well to disintegrate. This is done to minimize effects of decay on the air, fire, earth, and water. Many Parsis still use Towers of Silence, but those in Iran have shifted to earth burial and those in the West use burial or cremation. After this life, each person is judged at the Chinvat Bridge, shaped as a sword. It turns on its edge for the evil and they fall into an abyss of torment and the righteous pass over it as a broad and flat path to rewards in heaven. The traditional temple of Zoroastrianism is the Fire Temple. It has a central chamber with a stone platform on which fire is always burning in a metal urn on a bed of sand or ash. The priest (magi) keep the fire, perform rituals, prayer, and wear masks so they do not pollute the fire. The fire at Udvada north of Bombay is held to have burned for over 1,000 years.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ June 1, 2010
Black Wall Street Records is a Hip-Hop recording company founded by Westcoast Compton rapper The Game in 2004. The name Black Wall Street is adopted from what was the racially segregated Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Though the company hasn't released an official retail album, it has released several mixtapes including the "Black Wall Street Journal" and "BWS Radio" series.
Some of the artists from Black Wall Street Records include: The Game, Juice, Clyde Carson, X.O., Shyne, Elijah, Nu Jerzey Devil, Southsider, and The Menace. Former artists include: Eastwood, Glasses Malone, Techniec, Cyssero, Vita, Charli Baltimore and Young Life.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ November 9, 2009
The chugging rhythms of Samba traveled from the predominantly black state of Bahia in northern Brazil, down to Rio de Janeiro in the 19th century. There it spawned several offshoots, among them the loud, chanted Samba Enredo which powers annual Carnaval parades and competitions to this day, and Samba-Cancao, which features more complex harmonies and lyrics. Instrumentation (including the size of the percussion section) varies with style and place, but Samba roots are strong in its offspring: Bossa Nova, Tropicalia, and MPB (Brazilian pop). Samba itself is meanwhile alive, vibrant, and well at each year's Carnaval.
Paulinho Da Viola, Bebel Gilberto, João Gilberto, Agepê, Jorge Ben Jor, Zeca Pagodinho, Chico Da Silva, Curumin, Bezerra Da Silva, Samba Squad, Clara Nunes, Elza Soares, Rosalia De Souza, Almir Guineto, Martinho Da Vila, Arlindo Cruz, Beth Carvalho, Carmen Miranda, Nelson Sargento, Sergio Mendes, Seu Jorge, Clementina De Jesus, Alcione, Ary Barroso, Noel Rosa, Chico Buarque, and Wilson Moreira.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ March 8, 2010
Jomini was a major general in the Napoleonic’s army and later in the Russian army of Alexander I, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war. He also organized the militia of the Helvetic Republic. He published a total of 27 books on modern warfare. His most significant of works was his 1838 Précis de l'art de la guerre (Summary of the Art of War). According to the historian John Shy, Jomini "deserves the dubious title of founder of modern strategy.” He suggested 4 fundamental rules for when in battle: one, move one’s forces to bear upon the enemy’s most important points and disrupt communications without placing one’s own force in a vulnerable position; two, instead of bringing one’s own forces to bear all the enemy’s force, concentrate on just one part of the enemy’s force; three, determine the decisive point of the battlefield and the enemy’s force to maneuver one’s forces against it; and four, when concentrating mass upon decisive points, do so quickly and in a well timed and coordinated maneuver. One of the key principles to Jominian thought was the idea of maintaining the initiative. If a general had control of his forces, he could force his opponent to react to his wishes achieving a strategic initiative.
"Logistics comprises the means and arrangements which work out the plans of strategy and tactics. Strategy decides where to act; logistics brings the troops to this point." - Antoine Henri Jomini
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ December 1, 2009
Isis, the Egyptian goddess of rebirth remains one of the most familiar images of empowered and utter femininity. The goddess Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky. Isis was born on the first day between the first years of creation, and was adored by her human followers.
Unlike the other Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis spent time among her people, teaching women how to grind corn and make bread, spin flax and weave cloth, and how to tame men enough to live with them.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 4, 2010