Goran Bregovic (born March 22, 1950) is a musician from Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most recognizable modern composers of the Balkans. He declares himself as a Yugoslav.
Composer and guitarist Goran Bregović has been a household name in the Balkans for over three decades. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia), Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora. He earned his fame wielding a guitar with his rock band Bijelo Dugme, a group that rose to stardom and set the groundwork for the Yugoslav rock scene. Known internationally for his scores for Emir Kusturica’s films (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Underground), Bregović commands an ensemble that matches his larger-than-life persona. A rowdy brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a tuxedo-clad all-male choir from Belgrade, and traditional Bulgarian and Roma singers make up his dynamic 40-piece band and orchestra. Bregović’s compositions, extending Balkan musical inspirations to innovative extremes, draw upon European classicism and Balkan rhythms, evoking rock’s searing power as well as the repose of sacred sounds–all fueled by the insistent drive of brass.
Easter Egg Decorating Ideas - Eggcup Candles
Break an egg to create this eggshell candle -- perfect for giving off a sweet illumination for an Easter dinner table.
CRAFT MATERIALS:
-Eggs
-Egg dye
-Paper towels
-Frying pan
-Tea light candles
-Empty tuna can
-Cotton twine
-Toothpicks
-Pushpin
-Tempera paint and brush
Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Crack an egg in half and gently break off pieces to get a bowl shape. Dye and set aside to dry on a paper towel.
2. Heat 1 inch of water in the frying pan. Place a tea light in the tuna can and set in the simmering water so the wax melts. Place the eggshell in an empty egg carton.
3. Tie a 2-inch section of twine around a toothpick. Coat the twine in the melted wax. Place one end of the twine in the center of the eggshell and rest the toothpick on the top edge of the eggshell so the wick stands upright. Using pasta tongs, pick up the tea light and pour the melted wax into the shell. Set aside.
VeruschkaVeruschka was the world's first supermodel, a playmate of Hollywood stars and a pioneer in the art of body painting. Then she dropped out. George Gurley tracks her down in New York.
Veruschka (nee Countess Vera von Lehndorff) grew up in East Prussia in a 100-room house on an enormous estate that had been in her family for centuries. Her father, Count Heinrich von Lehndorff, was a wealthy landowner and German army reserve officer who became a key member of the German resistance after witnessing Jewish children being beaten and killed. Hitler's headquarters at Wolf's Lair was a few kilometres from the von Lehndorff estate, and his diplomat Joachim von Ribbentrop, ignorant of Vera's father's sympathies, took over half of the Lehndorff castle and lived alongside the family; little Vera was filmed playing with von Ribbentrop for propaganda purposes.
After a plot to blow up Hitler, hatched by disillusioned German officers, including von Lehndorff, failed in July 1944, the authorities showed up to arrest Veruschka's father. He escaped, only to give himself up after seeing a machinegun pointed at his wife's head. On the way to Berlin in an armoured car, he escaped again to the forest for four days; again worried about the safety of his family, he turned himself in.
Veruschka's mother and her three sisters spent the next five months in camps. That September, Count Heinrich wrote a last letter to his family before he was hanged by piano wire from a meat hook.
By the end of the war her family was homeless. Vera, who attended 13 schools, tells me she spent a lot of time alone in the woods hiding among the trees and wishing to become one. "I was living a totally underwater life after the war. We were under shock about what had happened to us."
At 14 she was a gawky 185 centimetres. Children called her Stork and she thought she was ugly, and her body badly proportioned and "horrible". She escaped into art, studying in Hamburg, then Florence. By that time she was no ugly duckling. At 20, photographer Ugo Mulas discovered her on the street and soon she was modelling full-time.
This guy has a unique point of view about... your point of view. Good read. Take a look at his website SpikeVision
"SpikeVision is the ability to see with penetrating insight through the veil of mundanities that drag life down to the lowest common denominator. It pierces the fog of hysterical mob-based belief systems. It drills through the patina of a new, improved world promised by the mass media. It penetrates all chicanery and obfuscation. It's not cynicism, it's the willingness to accept the idea that this world is fucked up beyond belief, and that most people seem not to notice or care.
Snatch back your brain, zombie! Snatch it back and hold it!
- J-Bone, Johnny Mnemonic
The intent of this website is to provide a starting point for those interested in developing their own system for understanding and manipulating the consensus reality that we live in by various means.
It seems that increasingly, modern society is becoming polarized. The vast majority of people are turning more and more into a disinterested herd, intent only on maintaining the status quo at any cost. They do not question authority. They do not make waves. They simply consume and conform as they are told to do. Like lobsters boiling slowly in a pot, they do not feel the heat rising as both their personal freedom and their cognitive ability to explore their mental environment are slowly stripped away. Conversely, some people are being driven to greater lengths of exploration of technology, consciousness, reality, and social structure. They question everything, and trust in their own abilities and observations. These people are the true heroes of this age.
One problem that much of society is now facing is overload. An overwhelming amount of information bombards us every day, much of it specifically constructed to influence our thoughts and actions. The human psyche is not equipped to cope with this. Our evolution as a species is far slower then the rate of technological and cultural change around us. New systems of thought must be created as old ones fail. New methods must be created to help us filter and assimilate this vast onslaught of data. Only by understanding the forces that are invading and manipulating our mental environment can we defend and reclaim the most valuable resource we hold, the control and ownership of our own minds.
In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits.
- John C. Lilly
I have found this great list of celebrityes and their beliefs. I will post here only a few of them that i found to be more interesting. For the rest of them check the link(it's a big list).
The Atheist and the Materialist
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) was a science-fiction writer and science popularizer who wrote an enormous number of books about a wide variety of subjects, including history, Shakespeare, and the Bible.
[I]f I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul. -- Isaac Asimov, I. Asimov: A Memoir
