WORLD PASSENGER 2.0

SAM CADE COUNTY´S - WHO REMEMBER GLENN FORD ?

2012-01-01T20:00:00.006Z

Hi Passengers !

I was a teenager of ten years old when the serie Sam Cade County´s go on air in the years 1975-77 in France. Glenn Ford was the hero of this serie where he was a sheriff maintainning the law of United States of America in a little county located in the middle of the desert.

I remember those wonderful landscapes where he rides it Jeep through to catch all sort of bandits and put them in the hands of the judges...

Tonight, it´s a memorium of this American actor that i want to remind with this electronic message. The picture of a cow-boy and a sheriff absolutely not corrupted by it function and always ready to protect the interests of it people from the bad and ugly faces...

Text - John Gregorio

Discover now some informations about Glenn Ford with the following numeric report made by Autobiografium on WEB 2.0

http://www.glennfordbio.com/

GLENN FORD

(May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades. Despite his versatility, Ford was best known for playing ordinary men in unusual circumstances.

Born as Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford at Jeffrey Hale Hospital in Quebec City, Ford was the son of Anglo-Quebecers Hannah Wood Mitchell and Newton Ford, a railway conductor. Through his father, Glenn Ford was a great-nephew of Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald. Ford moved to Santa Monica, California with his family at the age of eight, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939.

After Ford graduated from Santa Monica High School, he began working in small theatre groups. Ford later commented that his railroad executive father had no objection to his growing interest in acting, but told him, "It's all right for you to try to act, if you learn something else first. Be able to take a car apart and put it together. Be able to build a house, every bit of it. Then you'll always have something." Ford heeded the advice and during the 1950s, when he was one of Hollywood's most popular actors, he regularly worked on plumbing, wiring and air conditioning at home. At times, he worked as a roofer and installer of plate-glass windows.

He acted in West Coast stage companies, before joining Columbia Pictures in 1939. His stage name came from his father's hometown of Glenford, Canada. His first major movie part was in the 1939 film, Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence.

Military service

Ford interrupted his film career to volunteer for duty in World War II with the United States Marine Corps Reserve on December 13, 1942. He was assigned in March 1943 to active duty at the Marine Corps Base in San Diego. He was sent to Marine Corps Schools Detachment in Quantico, Virginia three months later, with orders as a motion-picture production technician. Promoted to sergeant, Ford returned to the San Diego base in February 1944 and was next assigned to the radio section of the Public Relations Office, Headquarters Company, Base Headquarters Battalion. There he staged and broadcast the radio program Halls of Montezuma. Ford was honorably discharged from the Marines on December 7, 1944.

In 1958, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and was commissioned as a lieutenant commander and made a public affairs officer. During his annual training tours, he promoted the Navy through radio and television broadcasts, personal appearances, and documentary films. He was promoted to commander in 1963 and captain in 1968.

Ford went to Vietnam in 1967 for a month's tour of duty as a location scout for combat scenes in a training film entitled Global Marine. He traveled with a combat camera crew from the demilitarized zone south to the Mekong Delta. For his service in Vietnam, the Navy awarded him a Navy Commendation Medal. His World War II decorations are as follows: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Marksman Badge, and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He retired from the Naval Reserve in the 1970s at the rank of captain.

Read more on http://Glenn_Ford

Picture courtesy - 3.bp.blogspot.com

ECONOMY - CHINA PUSHES AHEAD ON E-CARS, AUSTRALIA READY TO TRADES THEM

2011-11-14T20:00:00.086Z

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China is pushing ahead with efforts to encourage the development of electric vehicles in the world's largest auto market, boosting shares of Chinese green car maker BYD Co Ltd, which is backed by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, to their best daily gain in 3 years.

But whether China's green initiatives, including allowing potential buyers in Beijing and Shanghai to get electric cars without going through license plate auctions or lotteries, will boost sales of BYD's e6 electric car remains a big question, industry observers say.

"There is a big gap between stock market reaction or expectation and demand in the real world," said Yale Zhang, president of consultancy Automotive Foresight (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

"In the stock market, they can push up shares on perception, but you won't see a lot of electric cars on the road unless they are reliable, safe, convenient to use and not too expensive."

Regulators in Beijing, including the National Development and Reform Commission, issued a joint statement late last week, calling for its 25 pilot cities to draw up plans to push EV sales which also include installing charging facilities and charging spots at individual users' neighborhoods, among others.

Strong demand for cars would be released if potential buyers who did not receive a license to buy a car were able to purchase electric cars, said Daiwa Securities analyst Jeff Chung.

SLUGGISH SALES

Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD rose more than 26 percent on Monday.

A tiny green car and auto parts maker Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd, controlled by exiled Chinese tycoon Yang Rong, also saw it shares jump 29 percent, despite skepticism on the industry's largely untested technology, especially on car batteries.

Still, BYD shares are down about 50 percent from the end of 2010 because of the company's poor auto sales and earnings.

Shares of Hybrid Kinetic, which planned to produce low-cost clean-technology auto parts in China to allow local car makers to sell green vehicles at conventional car prices, has also lost about half of their value this year compared with a 15 percent fall on the broader market.

"The upside for BYD should be limited," said Daiwa's Chung, adding that BYD's e-6 electric car would account for about 2 percent of the company's production capacity next year.

Government policy would favor the development of electric cars, but the real pick-up in sales would not start until late 2012 or 2013, he added.

Beijing has declared the electric vehicle industry a top priority, earmarking $1.5 billion a year for the next 10 years to transform the country into one of the leading producers of clean vehicles.

It also handpicked 25 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, to lead the migration to green vehicles.

But, so far, customers remain unimpressed by the high cost and limited journey range of the vehicles and a lack of charging infrastructure.

In Shanghai, a huge metropolis with more than 20 million people, there are only 10 registered electric cars, while the number in Hangzhou is only slightly higher at 25, according to China Business News.

Read more on www.reuters.com

Discover now some informations about electric cars as a future trading with the following numeric report made by AAA Press on WEB 2.O

Mitsubishi's electric car future in Australia

Real research regarding the marketing and sales of electric powered vehicles supports Mitsubishi's display of its stylish I MiEV electric hatchback at this month's Melbourne International Motor Show.

Mitsubishi plans to launch the I MiEV onto the market in Japan later this year and as well as the vehicle being displayed in Melbourne, a second one will arrive here at the same time but it will be taken on the road as part of an extensive feasibility study for Australian sales. Along the way, the road-going I MiEV will tour Victoria, the ACT, NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

The company says the I MiEV will become the world's first truly viable, fully featured, zero drive-time-emissions city commuter vehicle to go into volume production and available for sale.

Government's and energy providers are key partners :
But for that to become a reality in Australia, key partnerships must be forged with the likes of energy providers and Federal, State and local government authorities. That is one aim of the road trip and its related feasibility study.

Mitsubishi has already implemented similar programs in Japan, North America, New Zealand and Europe. In some countries, progress has been swift - Mitsubishi and the government of Iceland plan to start testing a fleet of I MiEV vehicles during this year.

For Australia, the questions include:
Is our nation ready to leverage the environmental benefits of the I MiEV and other vehicles like it?
Do we have sufficient sources of renewable energy to re-charge growing numbers of these cars?
Do we have the infrastructure in place to enable full utilisation of electric vehicles?
Are the incentives in place to encourage the early adoption of this cutting edge technology by major fleet buyers including Government departments, city authorities and corporations?
In other words, Mitsubishi is challenging key decision makers to go beyond the green/environment-saving rhetoric and put in place infrastructure and incentives to make it easy for commercial and private buyers to operate Electric Vehicles (EVs).

Californian experience not good
Probably in the back of the minds of Mitsubishi's team is the failure of the electric/zero emissions cars in California more than a decade ago. There lawmakers mandated automotive companies to produce and bring to market electric and zero emissions vehicles but neglected to mandate consumers to buy them and the result was manufacturers/dealers holding stocks of these vehicles while customers just kept buying conventional petrol vehicles.

"Given the current climate of concern regarding our environment, along with unstable petrol prices, alternative fuel vehicles - and more specifically, electric vehicles - are a very hot topic at the moment," explained Mitsubishi Australia's CEO, Robert McEniry. "And instead of just talking about our technical prowess, Mitsubishi Motors will lead the way and make the I MiEV available to a wide range of audiences with the Australian feasibility study. The aim of the study is to allow the participants to gauge the I MiEV's suitability for the Australian market themselves in hands-on, real-world drive experiences."

Audiences will include the Mitsubishi dealer network, authorities within all levels of government, significant fleet buyers, the media and the general public. Events will be held in most major cities.

One advantage the I MiEV has over many previous EVs is that it looks more conventional and offers day-to-day practicality for urban drivers.

Read more on www.tradingpost.com.au

Picture courtesy - www.tradingpost.com.au

WHY BATTERIES ARE PRIMITIVE - BIGTHINK BY MICHIO KAKU

2011-07-25T20:00:00.023+01:00

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Michio Kaku is a futurist, popularizer of science, and theoretical physicist, as well as a bestselling author and the host of two radio programs. He is the co-founder of string field theory (a branch of string theory), and continues Einstein’s search to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory.

He holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics and a joint appointment at City College of New York and the Graduate Center of C.U.N.Y. He is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Kaku launched his Big Think blog, "Dr. Kaku's Universe," in March 2010.

Courtesy - bigthink.com/michiokaku

Discover now some informations about Energy of Future with the following numeric report made by Dream Manifesto on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Energy development

Energy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and secondary energy forms for supply, cost, impact on air pollution and water pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy.

Technologically advanced societies have become increasingly dependent on external energy sources for transportation, the production of many manufactured goods, and the delivery of energy services. This energy allows people who can afford the cost to live under otherwise unfavorable climatic conditions through the use of heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning.

Level of use of external energy sources differs across societies, as do the climate, convenience, levels of traffic congestion, pollution and availability of domestic energy sources.

Future

Extrapolations from current knowledge to the future offer a choice of energy futures. Some predictions parallel the Malthusian catastrophe hypothesis. Numerous are complex models based scenarios as pioneered by Limits to Growth. Modeling approaches offer ways to analyze diverse strategies, and hopefully find a road to rapid and sustainable development of humanity.

Short term energy crises are also a concern of energy development. Some extrapolations lack plausibility, particularly when they predict a continual increase in oil consumption.

Energy production usually requires an energy investment. Drilling for oil or building a wind power plant requires energy. The fossil fuel resources (see above) that are left are often increasingly difficult to extract and convert. They may thus require increasingly higher energy investments. If the investment is greater than the energy produced, then the fossil resource is no longer an energy source.

This means that a large part of the fossil fuel resources and especially the non-conventional ones cannot be used for energy production today. Such resources may still be exploited economically in order to produce raw materials for plastics, fertilizers or even transportation fuel but now more energy is consumed than produced. (They then become similar to ordinary mining reserves, economically recoverable but not net positive energy sources.)

New technology may ameliorate this problem if it can lower the energy investment required to extract and convert the resources, although ultimately basic physics sets limits that cannot be exceeded.

Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. The peaking of world hydrocarbon production (peak oil) may lead to significant changes, and require sustainable methods of production.

Read more on http://Energy_development

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

OSLO ATTACKS - WAS VERDENS GANG NEWSPAPER, ALSO A TARGET ?

2011-07-22T21:00:00.001+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Verdens Gang (lit.: The way of the world or The course of the world), generally known as VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. The editor in chief is Torry Pedersen.

VG is Norway’s second largest print newspapers, measured in circulation, but has the largest number of readers, with a daily circulation of 233,295 copies (2010). It was for many years the largest newspaper in Norway, but was surpassed by Aftenposten in 2010.

It is often referred to as a red top newspaper. VG is also one of the most award-winning newspapers in Norway for its journalism. In 2010 the newspaper had 10 different revealing news-stories competing for the prestigious Skup-prisen.

VG was established by members of the resistance movement shortly after the country was liberated from German occupation in 1945. Christian A. R. Christensen served as its first editor in chief and the first issue was published on June 23, 1945.

VG is owned by the media conglomerate Schibsted, which also owns Norway’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, as well as newspapers in Sweden and Estonia and shares in some of Norway’s larger regional newspapers. Verdens Gang is not affiliated with any political party.

Read the last news on http://www.vg.no

July 22, 2011, a bomb explodes nearby the Prime Minister headquarter in Oslo :

The Verdens Gang building is also damaged during the attack. Later it's an Youth Political meeting from AUF which is the target of a weapon assault increasing the number of victims to (91). Police has caught the murderer who is a native Norvegian of 32 years old.

March 2, 1995, the newspaper Verdens Gang revealed :

that AUF's Oslo branch had artificially inflated their membership numbers from 1992 to 1994, and as a result received NOK 600,000 more than they were entitled to in government grants. For each new member recruited, AUF received nearly NOK 300 from the Oslo City Council. The yearly membership fee was at the time NOK 30.

The scam was accomplished by transferring money from AUF's main bank account into AUF-treasurer Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen's private bank account, from which he then transferred money back into AUF’s account to pay for new members. By doing this, AUF's membership was inflated by 2,300 between 1992 and 1994, AUF obtained more than NOK 600.000 from government funds.

Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org

Discover now more information about the four convicted after the publishing of the scandal in Verdens Gang newspaper with the following numeric report made by AAA Press on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Workers' Youth League membership scandal

The scandal was processed by the Oslo District Court between January and March, 1998. The court was led by Judge Torjus Gard, while the head prosecutor was Atle Roaldsøy. Defendant for Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen was Tor Erling Staff, while Anders Hornslien was defended by Sigurd Klomsæt, Mathisen's defender was Erik Nadheim,

The treasurer and leader of AUF Oslo between 1992 to 1994 were charged with fraud. In 1992, AUF received NOK 283,000 too much in grants, the following year NOK 210,000 too much, and in 1994, NOK 120,000. Larsen and Elgsaas were both charged for all three incidents, while Hornslien was only charged for the first, while Mathisen was charged for the two last. Larsen was also charged with embezzlement of NOK 78,000. All four pleaded not guilty.

Ragnar Bøe Elgsaas

(born 1972) is a former Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was leader of the Oslo chapter of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) from 1993 until 1995, when he withdrew after the publishing of the Workers' Youth League membership scandal in Verdens Gang. In 1998, he was convicted of fraud.

Anders Hornslien

(born 6 December 1970 in Oslo) is a Norwegian media personality and politician for the Labour Party. He was the leader of the local chapter of the Workers' Youth League from 1991 to 1993, and served as a member of Oslo city council in the same period. During this time he became a controversial figure following the AUF membership scandal, for which he was sentenced to five months in jail.

He served in the position of deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo during the terms 1993–1997 and 1997–2001. During these terms he filled in for Bjørn Tore Godal and Jens Stoltenberg while they were appointed to cabinet positions.

No longer active in political positions, he worked as a television and radio presenter in Metropol TV and Kanal 24 respectively. Hornslien is openly gay, being the world's first member of parliament to enter a partnership union (in 1996), with former state secretary and political party fellow Vidar Ovesen. Hornslien has experienced harassment for his orientation.

Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen

(born 1974) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. In 1998, he was convicted of fraud, following the Workers' Youth League membership scandal.

Between 1992 and 1994, Røberg Larsen was treasurer and youth secretary of the Oslo chapter of the Workers' Youth League (AUF). While the organization in reality had about 500 members, Røberg Larsen had informed the municipal authorities that they had 1201 members, resulting in fraud of NOK 283,000 in 1992. He was convicted of fraud of NOK 210,000 in 1993 and NOK 120,000 in 1994. On 12 December 1996, he was excluded from AUF. He is now chairman in the Elverum branch of the Labour Party.

Anders Greif Mathisen

(born 1975) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was treasurer of the Oslo chapter of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) from 1994 until 1995, when he withdrew after the publishing of the Workers' Youth League membership scandal in Verdens Gang. In 1998, he was convicted of fraud, receiving a suspended sentence of 90 days.

In 2011, Mathisen gave a newspaper interview where he denied the Holocaust, stating that “There is no evidence the gas chambers or mass graves existed. Even reputable Holocaust historians have admitted it cannot be established.

Verdict

All four charged were convicted of fraud on 21 March 1998. In all major matters, the prosecutors submission of evidence was supported by the judge. The court felt that the fraud was the result of a planned work, and had been ongoing for several years.

The court did not believe that the organisation did not have financial motives for the fraud. The court also stated that an organisation culture was not mitigating circumstances. It also stated that the leaders and treasurers had a personal responsibility. The court also felt that not following a requirement from the city issued in 1992, requiring AUF to clean up its membership register system, was in the disfavour of the indicted.

All four indicted were found guilty and had to serve prison sentences. Both Mathisen and Hornslien chose to appeal to case to Borgarting Court of Appeal, but this was dismissed by the appellate court, ruling that the appeal did not have a chance to be met.

Read more on http://YouthLeagueMembershipScandal

Picture courtesy - static03.vg.no

NORWAY - ATTACKS ON GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS AND YOUTH POLITICAL MEETING

2011-07-22T20:00:00.051+01:00

Hi Passengers !

The hallmark of a "mass casualty – no warning" attack with multiple targets is a classic tactic of the terrorist group and those who seek to emulate it.

The attack also has echoes of the bomb and gun attacks in Mumbai in 2008, albeit on a much smaller scale, which were carried out by the group Lashkar e-Taiba

A report earlier this year by Norwegian intelligence noted the risk created by Norwegian citizens who had received training in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan.

Norway's Police Security Service (PST), the equivalent of MI5, has established links between extremists in Norway and al-Qaeda and rounded up an alleged terrorist cell with links to Britain almost exactly a year ago.

The group had a mixed set of members with diverse possible motives. It included Mikael Davud, a 39-year-old Chinese Uighur who has Norwegian citizenship; David Jakobsen, 31, an Uzbek living in the Ulleval University Hospital area of Oslo; and Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, 37, an Iraqi Kurd living in Grefsen, Oslo.

Norway attack: who was behind the attack?

Investigators were trying to establish if the captured suspect in the Oslo terrorist attacks had operated alone.

Courtesy - www.telegraph.co.uk

Discover now more information about the government of Norway with the following numeric report made by AAA Press on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY

Constitutionally, legislative power is vested with both the government and the Parliament of Norway, but the latter is the supreme legislature and a unicameral body. A proposition can become a law or an act by simple majority amongst the 150 representatives, who are elected on the basis of proportional representation from 19 constituencies for four-year terms. An additional 19 seats ("levelling seats") are allocated on a nationwide basis to make the representation in parliament correspond better with the popular vote.

As a result, there are currently 169 Members of Parliament altogether. There is also a 4% election threshold to gain levelling seats in Parliament. As such, Norway is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy. Effectively called the Storting, meaning Grand Assembly, members of Parliament ratify treaties and can impeach members of the government if their acts are declared unconstitutional, and as such have the power to remove them from office in case of an impeachment trial.

The position of Prime Minister, Norway's head of government, is allocated to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in Parliament, usually the current leader of the largest political party or more effectively through a coalition of parties, as a single party normally does not have the support to form a government on its own. However, Norway has often been ruled by minority governments.

The Prime Minister nominates the Cabinet, traditionally drawn from members of the same political party in the Storting, to which they are responsible, and as such forms the executive government and exercises power vested to them by the Constitution.

In order to form a government, however, more than half the membership of the Cabinet is required to belong to the Church of Norway. Currently, this means at least ten out of the 19 ministries. This has sparked controversy regarding an ongoing debate of separation of church and state in Norway. The current Prime Minister is Jens Stoltenberg, the leader of the Norwegian Labour Party (AP).

Through the Council of State, a privy council presided over by the Monarch, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet meet at the Royal Palace and formally consult the Monarch. Besides enacting parliamentary bills, all government bills need the formal approval by the Monarch before and after introduction to Parliament. Approval is also given by the Council to all of the Monarch's actions as head of state. Although all government and parliamentary acts are decided beforehand, the privy council is an example of another symbolic gesture the King obtains.

Members of the Storting are directly elected from party-lists proportional representation in nineteen plural-member constituencies in a national multi-party system. Historically, both the Norwegian Labour Party and Conservative Party have played leading political roles, while the former has remained in power since the 2005 election, in a Red-Green Coalition with the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party.

Since then, both the Conservative Party and the Progress Party have won great amount of seats in the Parliament, however, as of the 2009 general election, not sufficient enough to overthrow the coalition. This has been the result of poor cooperation between the opposition parties, including the Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Party. As such, Jens Stoltenberg, the leader of the Labour Party, remains Prime Minister of Norway with the necessary majority attributed to the alliance with the Socialist Left and Centre parties.

Read more on http://PoliticsNorway

Picture courtesy - i.telegraph.co.uk

JENS STOLTENBERG - POLITICIAN (NORWAY) / WORKERS' YOUTH LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP SCANDAL

2011-07-22T19:00:00.067+01:00

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Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001.

Having first been elected to Parliament in 1993 for the Oslo constituency, Stoltenberg served as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment from 1990 to 1991 and as Minister of Industry from 1993 to 1996 in the Third Cabinet Brundtland, respectively.

Following the resignation of Brundtland in 1996, Thorbjørn Jagland was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime Minister, while Stoltenberg was appointed Minister of Finance, an office he held until 17 October 1997 when Jagland and the entire government resigned.

While in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served in the standing committees on energy affairs. Following a motion of confidence against the First Cabinet Bondevik, Stoltenberg was appointed Prime Minister on 3 March 2000, despite being deputy leader of the Labour Party, and not the party leader.

After poor results in the 2001 parliamentary election, and the subsequent fall of his government on 19 October of that same year, Stoltenberg successfully challenged Thorbjørn Jagland for the Labour Party leadership in 2002, and led the party to victory in the 2005 election by forming a Red-Green coalition government with the Centre Party (Sp) and the Socialist Left Party (SV). He was re-elected in 2009 for another term as Prime Minister of Norway.

Courtesy - http://JensStoltenberg

Discover now some information about 1995 Workers' Youth League membership scandal with the following numeric report made by MonsieurdeLuxembourg on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

The Workers' Youth League membership scandal

was a political scandal, where leaders of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) was charged of deliberately inflating membership numbers to receive increased government funding. Two former treasurers and two former leaders of the Oslo chapter were found guilty of fraud, and given prison sentences, for having unlawfully received NOK 648,000 in grants from the City of Oslo between 1992 and 1994. The convicted were Ragnar Bøe Elgsaas, Anders Hornslien, Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen and Anders Greif Mathisen. Anders Mathisen's sentence was suspended.

The unlawful practice of submitting inflated membership numbers to the city council offices had been accepted as a common norm for various political youth organisations, and it is believed that the leadership of the parties involved were aware of this practice. Only four members were prosecuted and jailed. Several former members of the AUF, many leading politicians of that time, were not charged. Among them was then Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland, and current Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg.

Background

On 2 March 1995, the newspaper Verdens Gang revealed that AUF's Oslo branch had artificially inflated their membership numbers from 1992 to 1994, and as a result received NOK 600,000 more than they were entitled to in government grants. For each new member recruited, AUF received nearly NOK 300 from the Oslo City Council. The yearly membership fee was at the time NOK 30. The City of Oslo was the subject of the fraud

The scam was accomplished by transferring money from AUF's main bank account into AUF-treasurer Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen's private bank account, from which he then transferred money back into AUF’s account to pay for new members. By doing this, AUF's membership was inflated by 2,300 between 1992 and 1994, AUF obtained more than NOK 600.000 from government funds.

Stoltenberg's involvement

On 14 March 1995, twelve days after Verdens Gang published the story, Jens Stoltenberg and former leader of AUF, Turid Birkeland, admitted that 'advancing' money to pay for membership fees was a common and accepted practice at the time they were involved with the organisation.

However, on 17 March 1998, Stoltenberg was called to give testimony in the case. He told the Oslo District Court, under oath, that he was unfamiliar with the artificial inflating of membership figures which took place in the AUF. He also told the court that he was unaware of any form of fraud taking place in the organisation under his leadership, and stated that he had never heard of 'advancing' money to pay for memberships until Verdens Gang broke the story on 2 March 1995. He also stated that in his opinion, it was not necessarily wrong to 'advance' money for members, provided that the members in question reimbursed this fee later on.

Stoltenberg was also cross-examined by defence lawyer Tor Erling Staff, who pointed out that membership numbers for AUF during Stoltenbergs tenure, 11,000, were too high. According to Staff's calculations, such a huge membership numbers would mean that AUF had to recruit several thousand members each year. The following day, Jens Stoltenberg told the court that the government had accepted non-paying members in youth organisations as normal members for many years, provided that the membership was confirmed by word of mouth by the member in question.

Read more on http://WorkersYouthLeaguemembershipscandal

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

PLANTING A TREE IN GEORGIA - STATES PARKS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2011-07-18T20:00:00.082+01:00

Hi Passengers !

2011 had a devastating impact on parks around the nation. Protecting our public lands often means restoring them. Help make a difference in Georgia by planting a tree.

Get Outdoors Georgia (GO Georgia)

shows families how easy and fun it is to get outdoors and get fit. Helping to spread the word is our fun loving gopher, who challenges everyone to head to a state park and take advantage of all the opportunities to: Get Out. Get Dirty. Get Fit. And see how many calories you can burn!

Nature Viewing at Georgia State Parks

Getting back to nature isn't hard at a Georgia State Park. Wherever you happen to be in Georgia, wonderful views are just around the corner. All Georgia parks offer a great way to soak in a little fresh air, but if you want to experience a guided nature hike, click on an individual park that interests you. Many parks offer guided hikes, so to find more information or make a reservation, click an individual park.

Courtesy - www.getoutdoorsgeorgia.org

Discover now more information about states parks of the USA with the following numeric report made by Planet Earth on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

States parks of the United States

Courtesy - www.stateparks.com/usa.

The United States has 58 protected areas known as national parks, which are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress.

The first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

National parks usually have a variety of natural resources over large areas. Many of them had been previously protected as National Monuments by the President under the Antiquities Act before being upgraded by Congress. Seven national parks are paired with a National Preserve, six of which are in Alaska. While administered together, they are considered as separate units and their areas are not included in the figures below. The newest national park is Great Sand Dunes, established in 2004.

Twenty-seven states have national parks, as do the insular areas of American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands. Alaska and California have the most, each with eight, followed by Utah with five and Colorado with four.

The largest national park is Wrangell–St. Elias, at over 8,000,000 acres (32,000 km2), followed by three more in Alaska; the smallest is Hot Springs, at less than 6,000 acres (24 km2). The total area protected by national parks is approximately 51,900,000 acres (210,000 km2), for an average of 895,000 acres (3,620 km2) but a median of only 317,000 acres (1,280 km2).

The most-visited national park is Great Smoky Mountains, with over nine million visitors in 2008, followed by the Grand Canyon, with over four million. Fourteen national parks are designated World Heritage Sites.

A few national parks are no longer designated as such, having been redesignated or disbanded. Other designations of National Park Service areas are sometimes also called national parks; they are listed here.

Read more on http://NationalParksoftheUnited_States

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INDEPENDENCE DAY : DIRECTED BY ROLAND EMMERICH (1996)

2011-07-14T20:00:00.061+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer who works mostly in the disaster and action genres. His films have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director.

His films have grossed just over $1 billion in the United States, making him the country's 14th-highest grossing director of all time. He began his work in the film industry by directing the film The Noah's Ark Principle as part of his university thesis and also co-founded Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 with his sister.

He is a collector of art and an active campaigner for the lesbian and gay community, himself being openly gay. He is also a campaigner for an awareness of global warming and equal rights.

Courtesy - http://Roland_Emmerich

Discover now more information about Independence Day with the following numeric report made by Movie Maker on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Independence Day (film)

Independence Day (also known by its promotional abbreviation ID4) is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same date as the Independence Day holiday in the United States. It was directed by Roland Emmerich, who co-wrote the script with producer Dean Devlin.

While promoting Stargate in Europe, Emmerich came up with the idea for the film when fielding a question about his own belief in the existence of alien life. He and Devlin decided to incorporate a large-scale attack when noticing that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in outer space only to remain hidden when reaching Earth. Principal photography for the film began in July 1995 in New York City, and the film was officially completed on June 20, 1996.

The film was scheduled for release on July 3, 1996, but due to the high level of anticipation for the movie, many theaters began showing it on the evening of July 2, 1996, the same day the film begins. The film's combined domestic and international box office gross is $816,969,268, which at one point was the second-highest worldwide gross of all-time. It holds the 27th highest worldwide gross of a movie all-time, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and science fiction resurgences of the mid-to-late-1990s. It also won the Academy Award for Visual Effects.

Cast
Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller, an assured United States Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot. Devlin and Emmerich had always envisioned an African-American for the role, and specifically wanted Smith after seeing his performance in Six Degrees of Separation.
Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson: An MIT-educated computer expert, chess enthusiast and environmentalist, working as a satellite technician in New York City.
Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore: A former Persian Gulf War fighter pilot and current President of the United States.
Margaret Colin as Constance Spano: The White House Communications Director and David's ex-wife.
Robert Loggia as General William Grey: A United States Marine Corps general who is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and one of President Whitmore's most trusted advisors.
Randy Quaid as Russell Casse: A widowed, alcoholic crop duster and veteran Vietnam War pilot who claims to have been an alien abductee ten years prior to the events of the film.
James Duval as Miguel Casse, Russell's eldest son.
Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson: David Levinson's father. The character was based on one of Devlin's uncles.
Mary McDonnell as Marilyn Whitmore: President Whitmore's wife - the First Lady.
Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow: A single mother, Hiller's girlfriend and exotic dancer.
James Rebhorn as Albert Nimzicki: The Secretary of Defense and former director of the CIA.
Harvey Fierstein as Marty Gilbert: David's boss, who is killed when the aliens destroy New York.
Adam Baldwin as Major Mitchell: A United States Air Force officer and the commanding officer at Area 51.
Brent Spiner as Dr. Brackish Okun: The unkempt and highly excitable scientist in charge of research at Area 51.
Harry Connick, Jr. as Captain Jimmy Wilder: Steve's best friend and fellow pilot.
Kiersten Warren as Tiffany: Jasmine's exotic dancer friend.
Mae Whitman as Patricia, the President's daughter. She is called 'Munchkin' by her parents.

Plot

On July 2, an enormous alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys 36 saucer-shaped destroyers, each of which is at least 15 miles wide, over major cities around the globe. In New York City, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) discovers transmissions that he believes the aliens are using as a countdown to coordinate an attack.

David and his father Julius (Judd Hirsch) travel to the White House and warn U.S. President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) of the attack. The President, portions of his Cabinet and the Levinsons narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the aliens destroy Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, and other major cities around the world with energy-based weapons.

Meanwhile, USMC Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) is called to take part in a counterattack against the aliens. His girlfriend Jasmine, her son, and dog survive the attack by hiding in a workmen's shed in a Los Angeles freeway tunnel. The next day, on July 3, Jasmine finds the injured First Lady (Mary McDonnell), who had been in Los Angeles and whose helicopter was brought down by the alien attack.

On the same day, as part of a U.S. counterattack, Captain Hiller leads a squadron of F/A-18 Hornets on a mission to engage with a destroyer near the remains of Los Angeles. The destroyers are revealed to be guarded by force fields, which repel projectiles and nuclear detonations, and it releases scores of smaller "attacker" ships armed with similar shields and weaponry.

After a one-sided dogfight ensues, Hiller survives by luring an attacker to the Grand Canyon, where he causes it to crash and then subdues the alien pilot. Hiller is picked up in the desert by a refugee group that includes Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), an alcoholic crop-duster who has claimed for years that he was abducted by aliens in his youth. They take the captured alien to Area 51, where Air Force One has already landed. Area 51 conceals a top secret facility housing a repaired attacker and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947.

Read more on http://IndependenceDayfilm

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

1776 - THE DAY OF INDEPENDENCE (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

2011-07-04T20:00:00.061+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

U.S. Independence Day a Civic and Social Event U.S. State Department, June 22, 2010
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass
Fourth of July Orations Collection at the Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books, Ellis Library, University of Missouri
The Fourth of July, Back in the Day — slideshow by Life magazine

Discover now some information about Independence day with the following numeric report made by Historium Observatorium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Background

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4, 1872, and thus was the only President to be born on Independence Day.

Unique or historical celebrations

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.
Since 1868, Seward, Nebraska has held a celebration on the same town square. In 1979 Seward was designated “America’s Official Fourth of July City-Small Town USA” by resolution of Congress. Seward has also been proclaimed Nebraska’s Official Fourth of July City” by Governor James Exon in proclamation. Seward is a town of 6,000 but swells to 40,000+ during the 4th of July celebrations.
Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4th weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.
Since 1916, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.
Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.
Numerous major and minor league baseball games are played on Independence Day.
The famous Macy's fireworks display usually held over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976. In 2009, the fireworks display was returned to the Hudson River for the first time since 2000 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's exploration of that river.
Since 1970, the annual 10 kilometer Peachtree Road Race is held in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Boston Pops Orchestra has hosted a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade called the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular" annually since 1973. The event was broadcast nationally from 1987 until 2002 on the A&E Network, and has aired since 2003 on CBS.
On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., “A Capitol Fourth,” a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Originally entitled Yankee Doodle, this is one of several versions of a scene painted by A. M. Willard that came to be known as The Spirit of '76. Often imitated or parodied, it is a familiar symbol of American patriotism

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

1941 - OPERATION BARBAROSSA OVER SOVIET UNION

2011-06-22T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 in the largest German military operation of World War II.

The destruction of the Soviet Union by military force, the permanent elimination of the perceived Communist threat to Germany, and the seizure of prime land within Soviet borders for long-term German settlement had been a core policy of the Nazi movement since the 1920s. Adolf Hitler had always regarded the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, signed on August 23, 1939, as a temporary tactical maneuver. In July 1940, just weeks after the German conquest of France and the Low Countries, Hitler decided to attack the Soviet Union within the following year. On December 18, 1940, he signed Directive 21 (code-named Operation "Barbarossa"), the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Courtesy - www.ushmm.org

Discover now some information about the German operation Barbarossa over Soviet Union with the following numeric report made by HISTORIUM Observatorium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Operation Barbarossa Original reports and pictures from The Times
Relationship between the campaigns in the Balkans and the invasion of Russia and associated timeline in The German Campaigns in the Balkans a publication of the United States Army Center of Military History
Multimedia map—Covers the invasion of Russia including Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa—Detailed analysis of the operation by author Bevin Alexander.
Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Current Intelligence. The Soviet History of World War II, 28 October 1959.
Huge very detailed online map on 22 June 1941. Dislocation of Soviet and German airforce and ground units in one hour before invasion.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA

Phase 1: The Frontier Battles (22 June 1941–3 July 1941)

At 03:15 on Sunday, 22 June 1941, the Axis bombed major cities in Soviet-occupied Poland. It is hard to pinpoint the opposing sides' strength in this initial phase, as most German figures include reserves allocated to the East but not yet committed, as well as several other comparability issues between the German and USSR's figures. Roughly three million Wehrmacht troops went into action on 22 June, and they faced slightly fewer Soviet troops in the border Military Districts.

The contribution of the German allies would generally not make itself felt until later. The surprise was complete: though the Stavka, alarmed by reports that Wehrmacht units were approaching the border, had at 00:30 ordered that the border troops be warned that war was imminent, only a small number of units were alerted in time.

Aside from the roughly 3.2 million German ground troops engaged in, or earmarked for the Eastern Campaign, about 500,000 Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Croatian, and Italian troops accompanied the German forces, while the Army of Finland made a major contribution in the north. The 250th Spanish "Blue" Infantry Division was a formation of volunteered Spanish Falangists and Nazi sympathisers.

Luftwaffe reconnaissance units worked frantically to plot troop concentration, supply dumps, and airfields, and mark them for destruction. The Luftwaffe's task was to neutralize the Soviet Air Force. This was not achieved in the first days of operations, despite the Soviets having concentrated aircraft in huge groups on the permanent airfields rather than dispersing them on field landing strips, making them ideal targets. The Luftwaffe claimed to have destroyed 1,489 aircraft on the first day of operations.

Hermann Göring — Chief of the Luftwaffe — distrusted the reports and ordered the figure checked. Picking through the wreckages of Soviet airfields, the Luftwaffe's figures proved conservative, as over 2,000 destroyed Soviet aircraft were found. The Luftwaffe lost 35 aircraft on the first day of combat. The Germans claimed to have destroyed only 3,100 Soviet aircraft in the first three days. In fact Soviet losses were far higher: some 3,922 Soviet machines had been lost (according to Russian Historian Viktor Kulikov). The Luftwaffe had achieved air superiority over all three sectors of the front, and would maintain it until the close of the year. The Luftwaffe could now devote large numbers of its Geschwader (see Luftwaffe Organization) to support the ground forces.

Invasion musical theme

Each Nazi invasion of a foreign country had an official musical theme that was frequently played for the purposes of Nazi propaganda over the totally government controlled radio stations after the invasion was officially announced to whip up enthusiasm for the military operation among the populace of Nazi Germany. The theme song for Operation Barbarossa was Les preludes by Franz Liszt.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

German infantry during the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

THE VENUS PROJECT - FUTURE DESIGN BY JACQUE FRESCO

2011-06-20T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Passengers!

The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems.

As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions. Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org

Discover now some information about Jacque Fresco and the Venus project with the following numeric report made by Dream Manifesto on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

Jacque Fresco

is an industrial designer, author, lecturer, futurist, inventor, and a pioneer in the field of human factors engineering, based in Venus, Florida, USA. Fresco has worked as both designer and inventor in a wide range of fields spanning from biomedical innovations to totally integrated social systems. His optimistic view and desire to create solutions that maximally benefit the greatest number of people stem from his formative years during the Great Depression.

In the mid-1970s, he started The Venus Project and the non-profit organization Future by Design together with Roxanne Meadows, that reflects the culmination of Fresco’s life work. To this day he writes and lectures extensively on subjects ranging from the holistic design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management and advanced automation, focusing on the benefits it will bring to society.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org

The Venus Project

operates out of a 21.5-acre Research Center located in Venus, Florida. When one considers the enormity of the challenges facing society today, we can safely conclude that the time is long overdue for us to reexamine our values, and to reflect upon and evaluate some of the underlying issues and assumptions we have as a society. This self-analysis calls into question the very nature of what it means to be human, what it means to be a member of a "civilization," and what choices we can make today to ensure a prosperous future for all the world's people.

At present we are left with very few alternatives. The answers of yesterday are no longer relevant. Either we continue as we have been with our outmoded social customs and habits of thought, in which case our future will be threatened, or we can apply a more appropriate set of values that are relevant to an emergent society.

Experience tells us that human behavior can be modified, either toward constructive or destructive activity. This is what The Venus Project is all about - directing our technology and resources toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of people and planet and seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit.

We have the tools at hand to design - and build - a future that is worthy of the human potential. The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. What follows is not an attempt to predict what will be done - only what could be done. The responsibility for our future is in our hands, and depends on the decisions that we make today. The greatest resource that is available today is our own ingenuity.

While social reformers and think tanks formulate strategies that treat only superficial symptoms, without touching the basic social operation, The Venus Project approaches these problems somewhat differently. We feel we cannot eliminate these problems within the framework of the present political and monetary establishment. It would take too many years to accomplish any significant change. Most likely they would be watered down and thinned out to such an extent that the changes would be indistinguishable

The Venus Project advocates an alternative vision for a sustainable new world civilization unlike any social system that has gone before. Although this description is highly condensed, it is based upon years of study and experimental research by many, many people from many scientific disciplines.

The Venus Project proposes a fresh approach--one that is dedicated to human and environmental concerns. It is an attainable vision of a bright and better future, one that is appropriate to the times in which we live, and both practical and feasible for a positive future for all the world's people.

The Venus Project calls for a straightforward approach to the redesign of a culture, in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt, environmental degradation and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable.
Read more on www.thevenusproject.com

Picture courtesy - static2.dmcdn.net

1974 - DISCOVERY OF CHINA'S TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

2011-05-18T20:00:00.108+01:00

Hi Passengers !

I received yesterday an email who has taught me about clay warriors discovered in 1974 in a province of China.

On this video document you will heard archeologists and time explorers reporting their history which can be seen on world wide web with an report made by an old school friend from southern France : Tamura Nobumichi - Special thanks to him.

Text : Jean Gregorio

The explore team visits the tomb of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses — one of the most important archaeological findings of the 20th century. A ceramic army of 8,099 life-sized, intricately carved statues modeled after Emperor Qin's infantry men, officers, and archers stand at attention, ready to protect their leader in his afterlife.

Watch video on www.explore.org

Discover now some information about those Chinese Terracotta warriors with the following numeric report made by Historium Observatorium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

CHINA'S TERRACOTTA ARMY

The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.

The figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

The figures vary in height, according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

Construction

The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and by local craftsmen. The head, arms, legs and torsos were created separately and then assembled. Studies show that eight face moulds were most likely used, and then clay was added to provide individual facial features.

Once assembled, intricate features such as facial expressions were added. It is believed that their legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would make it an assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece and subsequently firing it.

In those times of tight imperial control, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying that workshops that once made tiles and other mundane items were commandeered to work on the terracotta army. Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform and hairstyle in accordance with rank. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and actual weapons and armor from battle used in manufacturing these figures created a realistic appearance. The original weapons were stolen by robbers shortly after the creation of the army and the colouring has faded greatly. However, their existence serves as a testament to the amount of labor and skill involved in their construction. It also reveals the power the First Emperor possessed, enabling him to command such a monumental undertaking.

Exhibitions

A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 20 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from September 13, 2007 to April 2008. This Terracotta Army exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year ever, and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007-08.

The exhibition also brought in the most visitors to the British Museum since the King Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the initial batch of pre-bookable tickets to the Terracotta Army exhibition sold out so fast that the museum extended the exhibition until midnight on Thursdays to Sundays.

According to The Times, many people had to be turned away from the exhibition, despite viewings until midnight. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of ruins of the RMS Titanic) which can draw a crowd simply on the back of the name alone.

After the United Kingdom, the exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

Subsequently the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor - China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artefacts from the First Emperor's burial site, was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011.

An exhibition entitled "L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the First Emperor's mausoleum, is being hosted by the Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

EFFICIENT RED DEVIL'S SAFELY THROUGH TO WEMBLEY IN MAY 28, 2011

2011-05-04T23:30:00.147+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Like millions of fans upon our blue globe, i was watching tonight the Champions League half-final between Manchester United (England) and Schalke 04 (Germany).

It was a nice competition in Old Trafford stadium with so many players from different countries, colours, believes and languages doing the same job in the same place and above all in peace...

Some player profiles

Anderson Man. United
Darron Gibson Man. United
Antonio Valencia Man. United
José Manuel Jurado Schalke 04

I saw those players doing their art during 90 mn watching the game on a Dutch media (www.nos.nl) from where i've shoted some pictures to mix them with texts and a musical release to create these 5 mn podcast. Enjoy it as a poetic point of view and please not as a sport event result...

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now the story of this second leg match between Manchester United and Schalke 04 with the following numeric report made by Sports online on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Clinical United safely through to Wembley

Manchester United FC secured a Wembley date with FC Barcelona on 28 May, their fifth appearance in European football's showpiece game, with a comprehensive victory against FC Schalke 04.

Antonio Valencia and Darren Gibson scored inside the opening third to turn Schalke's already herculean task into a mission impossible. Although José Manuel Jurado replied before half-time, Anderson's second-half double sealed a 6-1 aggregate triumph and Sir Alex Ferguson can now start devising a plan to avenge United's 2009 UEFA Champions League final loss to Barcelona.

United will be going back to the future in their quest for a fourth European crown. It was at the old Wembley in 1968 that they first held aloft the European Champion Clubs' Cup. The presence of Barcelona also provides a rematch of not just Rome 2009 but also the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam that brought Sir Alex his first European trophy as United manager.

Whatever Wembley brings, one certainty is the watching Josep Guardiola will face a very different United lineup. Sir Alex, mindful of Sunday's potentially Premier League title-deciding meeting with Chelsea FC, included just two of the players who had started the first leg – Edwin van der Sar and Valencia – and it was the latter who took them a step closer to the final after 26 minutes.

By contrast with the first leg, where United created umpteen chances before breaking through, they got the better of Manuel Neuer at virtually the first attempt. Although Jefferson Farfán dragged an early shot wide for the visitors, it was at the other end where the key first goal came. When a Schalke move broke down inside their half, Anderson slipped the ball inside to Darron Gibson and his defence-splitting pass sent Valencia clear of Sergio Escudero to beat Neuer with a low finish.

Schalke put five past FC Internazionale Milano at San Siro but repeating the feat here always appeared unlikely – United, after all, had never lost a European home tie by two goals. Ralf Rangnick's men now needed three and their plight worsened five minutes later when an error by Neuer, so good in the first leg, brought United their second. Gibson's 15-metre shot had power but flew straight at the goalkeeper; however, Neuer was unable to adjust his feet to get fully behind the ball and instead it struck his arms and deflected in off the post.

Schalke's noisy supporters had a goal to celebrate in the 35th minute when Jurado swept a first-time shot past Van der Sar after some uncertain United defending. Even then, though, it took Benedikt Höwedes to stop United restoring a two-goal advantage as he cleared off the line from Valencia.

Schalke did their best to apply some pressure after the restart, Farfán's shot deflecting behind, but United came again. Although Neuer denied Anderson with a flying save, the Brazilian gilded the lily with two late goals, doubling his United tally in the process. After 72 minutes Valencia surged down the right and the Brazilian, after an initial block by Kyriakos Papadopoulos, finished at the second attempt before making it four with a tap-in after good work by Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov. United were through with a flourish.

©UEFA.com 1998-2011. All rights reserved.

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Next match: Man. United v Chelsea 08/05/2011 17:10CET
Next match: Schalke v Mainz 07/05/2011 15:30CET

Picture courtesy - www.nos.nl

BOURBON ISLAND (LA RÉUNION)

2011-04-21T20:00:00.006+01:00

Hi Passengers !

La Réunion is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 km (130 miles) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.

Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas départements of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.

Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone. Due to its location in a time zone to the east of Europe, Réunion was the first region in the world where the euro became legal tender.

Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org

Discover now some information about Bourbon island with the following numeric report made by World Passenger on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Government
General Council web site
Régional council web site
General information
Reunion entry at The World Factbook
Réunion at the Open Directory Project
History of Reunion
Wikimedia Atlas of Réunion
Fauna and flora
Scientific research application on the nature reserve of Mare-Longue (THERESIEN project)
Flora - Botanic garden - Rain forest (Photogallery)
Travel
Réunion travel guide from Wikitravel
Your Travel Guide: Reunion Island
Map of Reunion island
Web Site

View Larger Map

La Réunion (Île Bourbon)

Arab sailors formerly called the island Adna Al Maghribain (“The closest of the two western islands”). The Portuguese are thought to have been the first European visitors, finding it uninhabited in 1635, and naming it Santa Apollonia, after Saint Apollonia.

The island was then occupied by France and administered from Port Louis, Mauritius. Although the French flag was hoisted by François Cauche in 1638, Santa Apollonia was officially claimed by Jacques Pronis of France in 1642, when he deported a dozen French mutineers to the island from Madagascar. The convicts were returned to France several years later, and in 1649, the island was named Île Bourbon after the royal house.

“Réunion” was the name given to the island in 1793 by a decree of the Convention with the fall of the House of Bourbon in France, and the name commemorates the union of revolutionaries from Marseille with the National Guard in Paris, which took place on August 10, 1792. In 1801, the island was renamed "Île Bonaparte," after Napoleon Bonaparte. The island was taken by a Royal Navy squadron led by Commodore Josias Rowley in 1810, who used the old name of “Bourbon”. When it was restored to France by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the island retained the name of "Bourbon" until the fall of the restored Bourbons during the French Revolution of 1848, when the island was once again given the name “Réunion”.

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.

During the Second World War, Réunion was under the authority of the Vichy Regime until 30 November 1942, when the destroyer Léopard liberated the island.

Réunion became a département d'outre-mer (overseas department) of France on March 19, 1946. Its département code is 974.

Between 15 and 16 March 1952, Cilaos at the centre of Réunion received 1,869.9 mm (73.6 in) of rainfall. This is the greatest 24-hour precipitation total ever recorded on earth. The island also holds the record for most rainfall in 72 hours, 3,929 mm (154.7 in) at Commerson's Crater in March, 2007.

In 2005 and 2006 Réunion was hit by a crippling epidemic of chikungunya, a disease spread by mosquitoes. According to the BBC News, 255,000 people on Réunion had contracted the disease as of 26 April 2006. The disease also spread to Madagascar and to mainland France through airline travel. The disease led to more than 200 deaths on Réunion. The French government under Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin sent an emergency aid package worth 36 million euros ($57.6M U.S. dollars) and deployed approximately five hundred French troops in an effort to eradicate mosquitoes.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - rlv.zcache.com

MAGYAR WINS NORTH POLE MARATHON

2011-04-09T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Update from North Pole, April 9th: The marathon commenced at 22:00 on April 8th and ran throughout the 'night' (there are 24 hours of daylight at the North Pole).

The temperature was -32C and conditions underfoot became more difficult as the race progressed. However, all runners successfully completed the event and have now stood at the precise Geographic North Pole. Istvan Toth (HUN) won the men's division in a time of 4:54:03 while Richelle Turner (AUS) won the women's race in 6:03:06.

Results below - a full news release will follow soon after their return from the Pole.

MEN
1. Istvan Toth (HUN) - 4:54:03 (Bib 23)
2. John Braun (LUX) - 5:05:50 (Bib 9)
3. Dmitry Mamadaliev (RUS) - 5:05:53 (Bib 27)
4. Fernando Gonzalez (ESP) - 5:09:40 (Bib 14)
5. Peter Van Den Berg (GBR) - 5:23:55 (Bib 26)
6. David Brogan (GBR) - 5:34:35(Bib 2)
6. Ben Walmsley (GBR) - 5:34:35 (Bib 5)
8. Nigel Clark (GBR) - 5:41:42 (Bib 4)
9. James Love (GBR) - 6:01:05 (Bib 18)
10. Andre Cronje (RSA) - 6:08:08 (Bib 1)
11. Glenn Harkness (CAN) - 6:18:22 (Bib 15)
12. Chris Clark (GBR) - 6:20:45 (Bib 3)
12. Mark Duncan (RSA) - 6:20:45 (Bib 12)
14. Bernt Arne Tvedt (NOR) - 6:53:44 (Bib 7)
15. Christophe Lebrun (FRA) - 7:07:48 (Bib 17)
16. Nicholas Swan (AUS) - 7:12:18 (Bib 22)
17. Ronan Scully (IRL) - 7:58:02 (Bib 20)
18. Ajay Khandelwal (GBR) - 8:11:10 (Bib 16)
19. Jon Smith (GBR) - 8:34:44 (Bib 21)
20. George Nichols (USA) - 8:40:42 (Bib 19)
21. Krishna Prasad Chigurupati (IND) - 9:11:20 (Bib 10)
22. Anand Anantharaman (IND) - 9:20:50 (Bib 6)

WOMEN

1. Richelle Turner (AUS) - 6:03:06 (Bib 24)
2. Sharyn Fitzgerald (AUS) - 6:28:16 (Bib 8)
3. Sue Bradford (GBR) - 7:14:24 (Bib 13)
4. Aly Van Den Berg (GBR) - 8:52:04 (Bib 11)
5. Uma Devi Chigurupati (IND) - 9:11:20 (Bib 25)

Courtesy - www.npmarathon.com

Discover now some information about the North Pole Marathon organization with the following numeric report made by Sports online on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

NORTH POLE MARATHON 2011

North Pole, April 8th (pm): The AN-74 plane safely landed at the Pole with 15 marathoners and picked up Prince Harry in the process. The course is currently being marked and the race is expected to begin at 22:00 GMT after the remaining marathoners arrive on a second flight. The scenery and light is amazing with temperatures of -25C approximately. Spectacular hillicks of ice dot the horizon. A Russian special forces soldier at the Russian base will also join the marathon to bring the total to 27 competitors.

Spitsbergen, April 8th (am): The UVU North Pole Marathon runners have received the green light to fly to the Pole today. With 24 hours of daylight at the Pole, the Marathon could begin at midnight GMT.

Spitsbergen, April 7th (pm): Updated News - There is no flight to the North Pole tonight while the runway is fixed. There will be an update at approximately 10:00 GMT tomorrow when we hope to learn the North Pole Marathon competitors will be able to depart for the Pole.

Spitsbergen, April 7th (am): The North Pole Marathon is currently delayed while logistics attempts to repair the landing runway at the Pole. The marathon takes place on the Arctic Ocean and a crevasse of 1 metre wide opened up on the runway yesterday. A flight containing several North Pole Marathon competitors was en route to the Pole at the time and was ordered to return to Spitsbergen in midair.

While the North Pole Marathon competitors are now waiting in Spitsbergen to fly to the Pole, the UK's Prince Harry is on the other side waiting for the North Pole Marathon flight to arrive and take him back to Spitsbergen. The Prince had embarked on a charity trek with wounded soldiers but is due home now.

Weather also deteriorated at the Pole yesterday evening with high winds and a blizzard developing. It seems the earliest possible opportunity to fly to the Pole will be tomorrow afternoon, assuming the runway is repaired or a suitable site for a new runway is located and prepared. In this case, the marathon will likely take place on April 9th.

The UVU North Pole Marathon is dedicated to the memory of Mari-Simon Cronje, whose father Andre is running in the event with a team who are raising funds for Great Ormond Street Children's Kidney Centre. Please see www.arcticchallengers.com for details. Profiles of all of the 2011 North Pole Marathon competitors can be viewed at www.npmarathon.com/html/200427/.

Read more on www.npmarathon.com

Picture courtesy - www.npmarathon.com

SHELTER (TIGA REMIX) PERFORMED BY THE XX

2011-03-03T20:00:00.002Z

Hi Passengers !

I find shelter, in this way
Under cover, hide away
Can you hear, when I say?
I have never felt this way

Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on
Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on

Could I be, was I there?
It felt so crystal in the air
I still want to drown, whenever you leave
Please teach me gently, how to breathe

And I'll cross oceans, like never before
So you can feel the way I feel it too
And I'll mirror images back at you
So you can see the way I feel it too

Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on
Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on

Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on

Lyrics courtesy - comixLINAS

Discover now some information about the XX with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66
Official website
The xx discography at Discogs
The xx at the Internet Movie Database
The xx at Last.fm
The xx on Myspace

THE XX

The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005. The band's members met while studying at Elliott School, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.

They became a trio when their second guitarist and keyboardist, Baria Qureshi, departed in late 2009. In September 2010 they won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize. They are currently working on their second album, which is to be released in 2012.

History

The group's debut album, xx, was met with critical acclaim, achieving a rating of "Universal acclaim" on Metacritic. The album also ranked well on "best of the year" lists, placing ninth on the Rolling Stone list and second for NME. In the 2009 NME The Future 50 list, The xx were positioned at number six, and in October 2009, they were named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009).

Their debut album, xx, was released on Young Turks on 17 August 2009. Though the band had previously worked with producers including Diplo and Kwes, they produced xx themselves, while Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald mixed it. The xx recorded their album in a small garage that was part of the XL studios, often at night, which contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album. In August 2009, the band headlined their own concert tour. The xx have toured with artists including The Big Pink and Micachu. Their single "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009.

The xx's song "Intro" was extensively used on television: most recently in the first episode of HBO/NHL series 24/7, "Road To The 2011 Winter Classic", as well as in an AT&T commercial featuring Apolo Anton Ohno; often during NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; during the series Cold Case; for the Newsnight coverage of the 2010 general election; on Mercy ("The Last Thing I Said Was" episode) and also in Law & Order on the Dutch television network Net 5.

It was also used as the opening theme in the Greek version of Next Top Model. "VCR" was featured in a Lie to Me episode. In episode 7 of the online BBC EastEnders spin-off E20 their cover of "Teardrops" was used. "Heart Skipped a Beat" was featured in a 2009 episode of 90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210. "Islands" was used in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and an episode of The Vampire Diaries.

"Crystalised" was featured in an episode of Gossip Girl, and "Stars" was used in E4's youth drama Misfits in December 2009. In January 2010, the xx performed in a 11-date sold-out tour in Scandinavia and Germany. A track mix of "VCR", "Shelter", "Intro", and "Crystalised" was also used in the Karl Lagerfeld Fall/Winter 2011 fashion show. Their music is currently being frequently used on the school drama Waterloo Road. Also, their song "Shelter" appears in the film I Am Number Four.

Second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group in 2009. Initial reports stated that this was due to exhaustion, but the band later said they made this decision due to "personal differences". The band claimed Baria was invited to join them at the Mercury Music Prize awards, but Baria stated on her Twitter account she had not been asked at all. According to Oliver Sim he invited Baria to join the band on stage at the awards but this did not occur, a situation that has been ignored by the wider press.

The band were chosen by Matt Groening to headline two nights of the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he curated in Minehead, England. In addition, the band played in five of North America's most popular music festivals, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

In September 2010, the band were announced as the winners of the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their debut album xx, by judges Lewis Martins and Eliza Cowen, who commented on how fantastic they thought the band's music was. Also in September, the band presented a 3-D audio-visual sculpture and played at the Big Top during Bestival 2010 on the Isle of Wight. The band were nominated for 'Best British Album', 'Best British Breakthrough' and 'Best British Band' at the 2011 BRIT Awards held on 15 February 2011 at the O2 Arena in London; however, they did not win in any of the categories.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

SURVIVAL SYSTEM OF THE SPECIES (ORGANISMS)

2011-02-10T20:00:00.083Z

Hi Passengers !

During a lapse of time listening ''Boards Of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy'' and watching this movie made over our blue dot i was wondering that all those animals, plants and humans will find a place in a outer space and will survive at the evolution of life on our planet...

...In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system (such as animal, plant, fungus, or micro-organism). In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.

An organism may either be unicellular (single-celled) or be composed of, as in humans, many trillions of cells grouped into specialized tissues and organs. The term multicellular (many-celled) describes any organism made up of more than one cell.

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now some information about organisms function with the following numeric report made by Planet Earth on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

SURVIVAL SYSTEM OF THE SPECIES

Organism

The term "organism" - organon "organ, instrument, tool" - first appeared in the English language in 1701 and took on its current definition by 1834 (Oxford English Dictionary).

Scientific classification in biology considers organisms synonymous with "life on Earth". Based on cell type, organisms may be divided into the prokaryotic and eukaryotic groups. The prokaryotes represent two separate domains, the Bacteria and Archaea. Eukaryotic organisms, with a membrane-bounded cell nucleus, also contain organelles, namely mitochondria and (in plants) plastids, generally considered to be derived from endosymbiotic bacteria. Fungi, animals and plants are examples of species that are eukaryotes.

More recently a clade, Neomura, has been proposed, which groups together the Archaea and Eukarya. Neomura is thought to have evolved from Bacteria, more specifically from Actinobacteria.

History of life - Main article: Timeline of evolution

The chemical evolution from self-catalytic chemical reactions to life (see Origin of life) is not a part of biological evolution, but it is unclear at which point such increasingly complex sets of reactions became what we would consider, today, to be living organisms.

Not much is known about the earliest developments in life. However, all existing organisms share certain traits, including cellular structure and genetic code. Most scientists interpret this to mean all existing organisms share a common ancestor, which had already developed the most fundamental cellular processes, but there is no scientific consensus on the relationship of the three domains of life (Archaea, Bacteria, Eukaryota) or the origin of life. Attempts to shed light on the earliest history of life generally focus on the behavior of macromolecules, particularly RNA, and the behavior of complex systems.

The emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis (around 3 billion years ago) and the subsequent emergence of an oxygen-rich, non-reducing atmosphere can be traced through the formation of banded iron deposits, and later red beds of iron oxides. This was a necessary prerequisite for the development of aerobic cellular respiration, believed to have emerged around 2 billion years ago.

In the last billion years, simple multicellular plants and animals began to appear in the oceans. Soon after the emergence of the first animals, the Cambrian explosion (a period of unrivaled and remarkable, but brief, organismal diversity documented in the fossils found at the Burgess Shale) saw the creation of all the major body plans, or phyla, of modern animals. This event is now believed to have been triggered by the development of the Hox genes. About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonized the land, and were soon followed by arthropods and other animals, leading to the development of today's land ecosystems.

The evolutionary process may be exceedingly slow. Fossil evidence indicates that the diversity and complexity of modern life has developed over much of the history of the earth. Geological evidence indicates that the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Studies on guppies by David Reznick at the University of California, Riverside, however, have shown that the rate of evolution through natural selection can proceed 10 thousand to 10 million times faster than what is indicated in the fossil record.[10] Such comparative studies however are invariably biased by disparities in the time scales over which evolutionary change is measured in the laboratory, field experiments, and the fossil record.

Future of life (cloning and synthetic organisms)

In modern terms, the category of organism cloning refers to the procedure of creating a new multicellular organism, genetically identical to another. However, cloning also has the potential of creating entirely new species of organisms. Organism cloning is the subject of much ethical debate. (see Bioethics, Ethics of cloning, and Designer baby articles)

The J. Craig Venter Institute has recently assembled a synthetic bacterial genome, Mycoplasma genitalium, by using recombination in yeast of 25 overlapping DNA fragments in a single step. "The use of yeast recombination greatly simplifies the assembly of large DNA molecules from both synthetic and natural fragments." Other companies, such as Synthetic Genomics, have already been formed to take advantage of the many commercial uses of custom designed genomes.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - www.acorndesigns.org

MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS PERFORMED BY MANIC STREET PREACHERS

2010-11-09T20:00:00.019Z

Hi Passengers!

Culture sucks down words
Itemise loathing and feed yourself smiles
Organise your safe tribal war
Hurt maim kill and enslave the ghetto

Each day living out a lie
Life sold cheaply forever, ever, ever

Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness

Life lies a slow suicide
Orthodox dreams and symbolic myths
From feudal serf to spender
This wonderful world of purchase power

Just like lungs sucking on air
Survivals natural as sorrow, sorrow, sorrow

Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness

All we want from you are the kicks you've given us
All we want from you are the kicks you've given us
All we want from you are the kicks you've given us
All we want from you are the kicks you've given us

Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness

Drive away and it's the same
Everywhere death row, everyone's a victim
Your joys are counterfeit
This happiness corrupt political shit

Living life like a comatose
Ego loaded and swallow, swallow, swallow

Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness motorcycle emptiness
Under neon loneliness everlasting nothingness

Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

Discover now some information about Manic Street Preachers with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Official website
Manic Street Preachers on Myspace
Manic Street Preachers biography from BBC Wales
MspPedia, a comprehensive Manic Street Preachers wiki and archive
Live Review in Japan by C.B.Liddell of Metropolis magazine

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

Manic Street Preachers are an alternative rock band from Blackwood, Wales, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitars), Nicky Wire (bass, occasional vocals) and Sean Moore (drums, backing vocals, occasional trumpet). The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and was at its most prominent during the 1990s. They are colloquially known as 'The Manics' or 'Manics'.

The band were originally a quartet: lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on 1 February 1995. In November 2008, thirteen years after his disappearance, he was officially declared presumed deceased.

The Manics released their debut album, Generation Terrorists in 1992. Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery, outspoken invective and songs about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. The band's later albums retained a leftist politicisation and intellectual lyrical style, while adopting a broader alternative rock sound. Enigmatic lyricist Richey Edwards gained early notoriety by carving the words "4REAL" into his arm with a razor blade (narrowly missing an artery and requiring seventeen stitches) in response to the suggestion that the band were less than authentic. The dark nature of 1994's The Holy Bible reflected the culmination of Edwards' instability.

Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with the Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. They have had eight top ten albums and fifteen top ten singles. They have reached number one three times, with their 1998 album, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and the singles "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) and "The Masses Against the Classes" (2000).

They have also won the Best British Album and Best British Group accolades at the BRIT Awards in 1997 and 1999, and were lauded by the NME for their lifetime achievements in 2008. Their ninth studio album, Journal for Plague Lovers, was released on 18 May 2009 and features lyrics Edwards had left behind to the band weeks before his disappearance.

Manic Street Preachers released their tenth studio album, Postcards from a Young Man, on 20 September 2010. It was preceded by the single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love".

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

ALEXANDER ALEKHINE - CHESS MASTER (1892 - 1946)

2010-10-31T20:00:00.017Z

Hi Passengers !

Alexander Alekhine was one of the most glorious and tragic of the world's great Chess Champions. This segment covers his birth in Moscow, 1892 until the eve of his World Championship match with the legendary Jose Raul Capablanca in Buenos Aires, 1927.

Courtesy - jessicafischerqueen

Discover now more informations about Alexander Alekhine with the following numeric report made by MonsieurdeLuxembourg on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

Alekhine at www.chessgames.com
Alekhine rare interview (sound clip)
Hans Kmoch talks about Alekhine
Alekhine's death. An unresolved mystery
Edward Winter, List of Books About Capablanca and Alekhine

ALEXANDER ALEKHINE (1892 - 1946)

4th World Champion, 1927 - 1935, 1937 - 1946

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was born in Moscow, Russia in October 31, 1892. He was the son of aristocratic parents. His mother taught him to play chess and he soon developed a great passion for the game. He gained the title of master at St Petersburg in 1909.

In 1914 he came third in the St Petersburg tournament behind Lasker and Capablanca and it was around this time he began to think seriously about challenging the world champion, Capablanca. However, the outbreak of the war occurred while he was playing in the Mannheim tournament in 1914 and interrupted his chess plans.

During Alekhine's time there were more chess players than ever before. The term "grandmaster" has only been a formal title since 1950 but it had been applied to players of world championship standard since the 19th Century. Formerly there had never been more than three or four players of this standard around at the same time. Now there were at least twenty. Consequently, when Alekhine refused to play Capablanca because of a personal feud there were plenty of other players willing to take his place.

In 1929 and 1934 he played Russian, Bogolyubov for the world champion beating him easily. However in 1935, the Dutchman, Euwe challenged him. Alekhine, who had a liking for alcohol was frequently drunk during his games with Euwe and consequently lost his title. However in a rematch, after giving up alcohol, he defeated Euwe by 10 wins to 4 with 11 draws making him the first man to ever regain the world champion.

In 1938 a tournament sponsored by AVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep), a wireless company, was held in the Netherlands to determined the next world champion challenger. The eight strongest players in the world were invited to play. Estonian, Paul Keres and American, Ruben Fine were the joint winners. Mikhail Botvinnik came third. In fourth place were Alekhine and Euwe and Capablanca who had suffered a minor stroke during the tournament came seventh. However, Botvinnik had the backing of Russia and as a result he could offer greater financial rewards to Alekhine. Hence Alekhine accepted Botvinnik's challenge for the world champion.

The outbreak of the war interrupted the world championship preparations but when the war ended negotiations resume. The match preparations were near completion when Alekhine had a heart attack and died in Estoril, Portugal in March 24, 1946.

Read more on www.chesscorner.com
Picture courtesy - www.chessville.com

NDB - Thanks again to Jessica for this new musical-photo-biography about the Russian Chess Master who holds the same forname as some of our great emperors and have a cat called also ''Chess''...
Watch now all the new podcasts about the biography of another chess players on this youtube channel here : LINK NOW !
Text : John Gregorio

WIM WENDERS (1991) - UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

2010-08-14T20:00:00.023+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Until the End of the World (German: Bis ans Ende der Welt) is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin.

An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda. Wenders, whose career had been distinguished by his mastery of the road movie, had intended this as the Ultimate Road Movie.

Courtesy - www.wim-wenders.com

Discover now some information about Wim Wenders with this following numeric report made by Movie Maker on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

WIM WENDERS

Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (born 14 August 1945) is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.

Career and awards
Wenders began his career with the rise of the New German Cinema at the end of the 1960s, making his feature directorial debut with Summer in the City (1970). Awards that he has received include the Golden Lion for The State of Things at the Venice Film Festival (1982), the Palme d'Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for his movie Paris, Texas, and Best Direction for Wings of Desire in the 1987 Bavarian Film Awards and the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Wenders was awarded honorary doctorates at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1989 and at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium in 2005. In 1993 he again won the Bavarian Film Awards for Best Director. He was awarded the Leopard of Honour at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2005.

Much of the distinctive cinematography in his movies is the result of a highly productive long-term collaboration with Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller. Some of his more successful and critically acclaimed movies (Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, for example) have been the result of fruitful collaborations with avant-garde authors Peter Handke and Sam Shepard. Handke's novel, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick was adapted for his second feature film, The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty and Handke co-wrote the script for Wings of Desire and Until the End of the World both featuring Solveig Dommartin.
Wenders has directed several highly acclaimed documentaries, most notably Buena Vista Social Club (1999) about Cuban musicians, and The Soul of a Man (2003) on American blues.

Wenders has directed many music videos for U2, including "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" and a number of television commercials including a UK advertisement for Carling Premier Canadian beer. His book, Emotion Pictures - a collection of diary essays written while a film student - was broadcast as a series of plays on BBC Radio 3, featuring Peter Capaldi as Wenders, with Gina McKee, Saskia Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton and Ricky Tomlinson, dramatised by Neil Cargill.

Wenders is also a member of the advisory board of World Cinema Foundation. The project was founded by Martin Scorsese and aimed at finding and reconstructing world cinema films that have been long neglected.

Wenders is also a Jury Member for the digital studio Filmaka, a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry professionals.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org
Picture courtesy - en.wikipedia.org

(ELECTRON) - LUNZ PERFORMED BY ULRICH SCHNAUSS

2010-08-13T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Passengers!

Lunz - According to theory, most electrons in the universe were created in the big bang, but they may also be created through beta decay of radioactive isotopes and in high-energy collisions, for instance when cosmic rays enter the atmosphere. Electrons may be destroyed through annihilation with positrons, and may be absorbed during nucleosynthesis in stars.

Laboratory instruments are capable of containing and observing individual electrons as well as electron plasma, whereas dedicated telescopes can detect electron plasma in outer space. Electrons have many applications, including welding, cathode ray tubes, electron microscopes, radiation therapy, lasers and particle accelerators.

Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org

Discover now some information about music composer Ulrich Schnauss with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - Geo 66

Official sites
Official website
Official website for A Shoreline Dream

ULRICH SCHNAUSS

Ulrich Schnauss was born in northern Germany fishing port Kiel in 1977, during his formative years he grew a love for a broad spectrum of music ranging from my bloody valentine to tangerine dream, chapterhouse to early bleep & breakbeat tracks. There was not much opportunity to see some of his musical heroes in Kiel, so the inevitable pull of the big city meant a move to Berlin in 1996.

By which time Ulrich's musical output had already become prolific with a variety of pseudonyms (most notably View to the Future and Ethereal 77) veering from ambient to drum and bass via electronica. These earlier works were soon, catching the eye of Berlin electronica label CCO who took up the story.

It came a bit of a regular thing, those anonymous packages sent to us from Berlin with a single CDR, a biro scrawl revealing at closer inspection the simple stamp 'Ethereal 77'. Ulrich had been making music for years, producing, touring, piecing together that BIG sound. And yet each of these CDR instalments revealed something a little more personal.

Soon these submissions to CCO developed into Ulrichs first album under his own name entitled Far away Trains Passing By which as it slowly seeped into peoples consciousness became an electronic classic. Listeners were taken with the lush instrumentation and the emotion of the elegant, simple and beautiful music.

Yet nothing was to prepare his growing army of supporters for this next record A Strangely Isolated Place which slowly came together during 2001 into a record that really showed some of Ulrichs youthful indie influences. His debut album under his real name established his pedigree as an outstanding electronic composer, but somehow he managed to take it further by developing his interest in songwriting for electronic music, born of his love for such giants of the independent world as My Bloody Valentines Kevin Shields and Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie. From this humble conception, comes forth a record of surprisingly rare emotional power.

A Strangely Isolated Place has become one of those extraordinary and rare occurrences; a genuinely word-of-mouth record slowly growing in stature by virtue of its over-riding ability to deliver more than the usual arid and academic treatises on the state of the synthesizer, or solipsistic bedsit meanderings.

When youve worked with computers and keyboards for a number of years, they become not so fascinating of themselves anymore. I gained in confidence after people began to discover Faraway Trains and it hasnt really stopped since then. This time I decided not to compromise on what I wanted to do, with what I thought people might want me to do.

Ulrich's third album, Goodbye, is his first for Independiente. It is also the end of a chapter in his sound. "I see these three albums as moving closer to something I wanted to do right from the beginning but didn't quite manage," he says. "Merging songwriting and indie elements with electronic music. I've tried to take all the ideas to the maximum."

So the ambient tracks are more spacious, the songs more memorable, the multi-layered, guitar-heavy tracks more ragingly psychedelic. Just listen to the obliterating rush of Medusa, or the cloudbusting dream-pop of Stars (performed by long-time collaborator Judith Beck). At times, there are over 100 different audio tracks playing simultaneously: a tower of song. No wonder Goodbye has taken three solid years of in the studio.

If Ulrich hailed from somewhere less boring, things might have been different. Fortunately, he was born in 1977 in Kiel, an unprepossessing city on Germany's Baltic coast best known for its naval base. It seemed to the young Ulrich as if everything important was happening elsewhere.

Like its predecessors, Goodbye constructs its own world, vast and vivid. When he's making music, Ulrich sees colours: one song might be red, another blue. Next time, he wants to "record an album based on more traditional electronic music structures - which could enable me to merge all these different influences beyond recognition". Meanwhile, this is the album he's been moving towards for over a decade: a sonic tour de force, an alternative reality, a life-changer.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

IRAN / TURKEY / BRAZIL - A NEW PATH FOR A NUCLEAR DEAL...

2010-05-18T20:00:00.001+01:00

Hi Passengers !

I publish tonight this video document and the following article written about the recent nuclear agreement between Turkey, Brazil and Iran by an Jewish journalist.

This is i think a first step to peace instead of war around this Islamic country, and all we hope a quick resolution in the next weeks with the help of Israël and the USA of course ?

Iran nuclear swap deal seems unlikely to stop bid for UN sanctions

Iran vows to continue high-grade nuclear fuel enrichment despite swap deal; White House: Iran must prove its nuclear program is peaceful.
By News Agencies and Shlomo Shamir

Iran made an apparent concession over its nuclear program, but big powers expressed skepticism and seemed unlikely to halt their efforts for harsher United Nations sanctions.

Tehran agreed with Brazil and Turkey on Monday to send some of its uranium abroad, reviving a fuel swap plan drafted by the UN with the aim of keeping its nuclear work in check.

But Iran made clear it had no intention of suspending domestic enrichment the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

"There is no relation between the swap deal and our enrichment activities," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told Reuters.

He told Iranian television the deal was a move towards nuclear cooperation and "stopping sanctions".

Iran launched work to enrich uranium to a 20 percent level in February. Further enrichment would be needed to make weapons.

The White House said Iran must take steps to prove its nuclear program was for exclusively peaceful purposes.

"Given Iran's repeated failure to live up to its own commitments ... the United States and international community continue to have serious concerns," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "I think we are making steady progress on a sanctions resolution."

A State Department spokesman said the United States would "engage Iran anywhere, anytime, provided Iran is prepared to address the international community's concerns about its nuclear program", but would continue to pursue new sanctions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the fuel swap deal a "historic turning point".

Read more on www.haaretz.com

Picture courtesy - www.bendib.com

VOYAGER I & II ARE STILL RETURNING DATA AFTER 33 YEARS IN SPACE...

2010-05-17T20:00:00.002+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Engineers have shifted NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft into a mode that transmits only spacecraft health and status data while they diagnose an unexpected change in the pattern of returning data. Preliminary engineering data received on May 1 show the spacecraft is basically healthy, and that the source of the issue is the flight data system, which is responsible for formatting the data to send back to Earth. The change in the data return pattern has prevented mission managers from decoding science data.

The first changes in the return of data packets from Voyager 2, which is near the edge of our solar system, appeared on April 22. Mission team members have been working to troubleshoot and resume the regular flow of science data. Because of a planned roll maneuver and moratorium on sending commands, engineers got their first chance to send commands to the spacecraft on April 30. It takes nearly 13 hours for signals to reach the spacecraft and nearly 13 hours for signals to come down to NASA's Deep Space Network on Earth. Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, about two weeks before its twin spacecraft, Voyager 1.

The two spacecraft are the most distant human-made objects, out at the edge of the heliosphere, the bubble the sun creates around the solar system. Mission managers expect Voyager 1 to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space in the next five years or so, with Voyager 2 on track to enter interstellar space shortly afterward. Voyager 1 is in good health and performing normally.

STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Monday, May 17, 2010
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Engineers Diagnosing Voyager 2 Data System

"Voyager 2's initial mission was a four-year journey to Saturn, but it is still returning data 33 years later," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "It has already given us remarkable views of Uranus and Neptune, planets we had never seen close-up before. We will know soon what it will take for it to continue its epic journey of discovery."

The original goals for the two Voyager spacecraft were to explore Jupiter and Saturn. As part of a mission extension, Voyager 2 also flew by Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989, taking advantage of a once-in-176-year alignment to take a grand tour of the outer planets. Among its many findings, Voyager 2 discovered Neptune's Great Dark Spot and 450-meter-per-second (1,000-mph) winds. It also detected geysers erupting from the pinkish-hued nitrogen ice that forms the polar cap of Neptune's moon Triton. Working in concert with Voyager 1, it also helped discover actively erupting volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, and waves and kinks in Saturn's icy rings from the tugs of nearby moons.

Voyager 2 is about 13.8 billion kilometers, or 8.6 billion miles, from Earth. Voyager 1 is about 16.9 billion kilometers (10.5 billion miles) away from Earth.

The Voyagers were built by JPL, which continues to operate both spacecraft. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about the Voyagers, visit: voyager.jpl.nasa.gov

Picture courtesy - www.jpl.nasa.gov

JAMES REDFIELD / ARMAND MASTROIANNI (2006) - THE CELESTINE PROPHECY

2010-03-19T20:00:00.000Z

Hi Passengers !

A set of ancient scrolls, known as the Celestine Prophecy, has been discovered in the rain forests of Peru. These scrolls, containing nine key insights, predict a new awakening that redefines human life and provides a glimpse into a completely spiritual culture on earth.

Matthew Settle, Thomas Kretschmann, Sarah Wayne Callies, Annabeth Gish, Hector Elizondo, Joaquim de Almeida and Jurgen Prochnow head an international ensemble cast in this spiritual adventure based on James Redfield's worldwide best-selling novel, The Celestine Prophecy.

The Celestine Prophecy movie is produced by Barnet Bain, Terry Collis, James Redfield and Beverly Camhe. Directed by Armand Mastroianni from a screenplay by James Redfield and Barnet Bain, Shot entirely on location in St. Augustine and Ocala, Florida, and Costa Rica, the film is a production of Celestine Films, LLC and Barnet Bain Films.

Courtesy www.celestinevision.com
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James Redfield

(born March 19, 1950) is an American novelist. James Redfield was born near Birmingham, Alabama, and studied psychology at Auburn University.

Redfield earned a master's degree in counseling in 1974 and, for the next fifteen years, worked as a therapist for troubled children in Auburn, Alabama, and later in Birmingham. Then in 1989, he quit his job to publish his first novel, The Celestine Prophecy, which was self-published in 1992.

As of May 2005, The Celestine Prophecy had sold over 20 million copies worldwide and had been translated into thirty-four languages. A film version of the book opened in limited release on April 21, 2006.

Bibliography
The Celestine Prophecy (1993) ISBN 0-446-51862-X
The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision (1996) ISBN 0-446-51908-1
The Celestine Vision (1997) ISBN 0-446-52274-0
The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight (1999) ISBN 0-446-52308-9
God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (2002) co-written with Michael Murphy ISBN 1-58542-137-5

Awards

In October 1997, James Redfield was awarded the prestigious Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Senate at the XXIII Pio Manzu International Conference in Rimini, Italy.

In the spring of 2000, James joined Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat For Humanity, as the only two recipients of Humanitarian of the Year honors from their alma mater, Auburn University.

Two months later, he was honored by the International New Thought Alliance with another Humanitarian of the Year award.

In March 2004, James Redfield was honored by the Wisdom Media Group with the World View Award for engaging the discussion on the nature of human existence and for his ongoing efforts and contributions to the bettering of humanity.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

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ETERNITY PERFORMED BY TEN MADISON

2010-03-03T20:00:00.003Z

Hi Passengers !

While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existing for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside of time. There are a number of arguments for eternity, by which proponents of the concept, principally Aristotle, purported to prove that matter, motion, and time must have existed eternally.

Eternity as a timeless existence

Augustine of Hippo wrote that time exists only within the created universe, so that God exists outside of time; for God there is no past or future, but only an eternal present. One need not believe in God in order to hold this concept of eternity: for example, an atheist mathematician can maintain the philosophical tenet that numbers and the relationships among them exist outside of time, and so are in that sense eternal.

Symbolism and eternity

Eternity is often symbolized by the image of a snake swallowing its own tail, known as Ouroboros (or Uroboros), though the symbol can also carry a number of other connotations.
The circle is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity. The related concept, infinity, is symbolized by .
Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org
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TEN MADISON is PETER JUERGENS

Peter Juergens alias Ten Madison has quite made an impact since his debut release 'Avenue' and second release 'From Lust To Dust'.

His infectious style of musical chill out, full of melodies, clever arrangements and clean production has been proven to be very popular and his third CD, 'Milk' will not disappoint.

Again, 'Milk' delivers the finest relaxing tunes, colourful and rich in texture, this time TEN Madison also plays with down tempo Chill-House Numbers as well as groovy 70's Disco Vibe, without losing touch to it's previous releases.

'Milk' is full of surprises without a single gap filler in sight, classy and simple very good quality chill-out from one of Germanys latest newcomer producers.

Music Style: Ambient
Read more on www.psyshop.com
Official website on www.petergun.de

Picture courtesy - 1.bp.blogspot.com

EFIM GELLER - THE SOVIET CHESS SCHOOL

2010-02-06T20:00:00.050Z

Hi Passengers !

Efim Geller, a top level representative of the fabled "Soviet School of Chess", never became World Champion. But he did earn an even or plus score against SIX World Chess Champions- including a most notable +2 against Bobby Fischer, the man who "toppled" Soviet Chess hegemony in 1972.

Text courtesy jessicafischerqueen

About Efim Geller

Number of games in database: 2,263
Years covered: 1946 to 1996

Overall record: +803 -353 =1102 (60.0%)*    * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      5 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

Courtesy www.chessgames.com

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The Soviet Chess School

was founded by Lenin in 1920. While the majority of the Bolsheviks thought chess a game of the upper class, with its knights, bishops, king and queen, Lenin thought it improved the mind.

The school's methods proved very successful and it produced world champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.

Although the USSR is now history, the chess school survives and continues to produce strong players such as Vladimir Kramnik who also became world chess champion.

Alexander Kotov formalized the concept in his 1958 book. The Soviet Chess school was supposed to represent a concrete, tactical approach to chess, as opposed to the "lazy" positional heuristics of Capablanca.

The strongest players in Ireland, Switzerland and Spain are from the Soviet Chess School: Alexander Baburin, Victor Korchnoi, and Alexei Shirov respectively.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org
Picture courtesy - lh5.ggpht.com

AVATAR : DIRECTED BY JAMES CAMERON (2009)

2010-01-02T20:00:00.068Z

Hi Passengers !

Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang.

The epic is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a fictional Earth-like moon in a distant planetary system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora's reserves of a precious mineral, while the Na'vi—the sapient and sentient race of humanoids indigenous to the moon—resist the colonists' expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi and the Pandoran ecosystem.

The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the natives.

Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org

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Official website
Official AVTR program website
Pandorapedia an official wiki
Avatar at the Internet Movie Database
Avatar at Allmovie
Avatar at Rotten Tomatoes
Avatar at Metacritic
Avatar at Box Office Mojo
James Cameron's Avatar at Wikia
Multimedia
Official Trailer + Related Clips
Official Featurette: Planet Pandora
B-Roll: Behind the Scenes Footage
AVATAR (2009) by JAMES CAMERON

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film. In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora. He has stated that if Avatar is successful, two sequels to the film are planned.

The film was released in traditional 2-D and 3-D, as well as IMAX 3D formats. Avatar is officially budgeted at $237 million; other estimates put the cost at $280–310 million to produce and an estimated $150 million for marketing. The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production.

Opening to critical acclaim and commercial success, it grossed an estimated $27 million on its opening day and made $77,025,481 in the United States and Canada on its opening weekend. Worldwide, Avatar grossed an estimated $232,180,000 on its opening weekend, the ninth-largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film.

After 17 days, it became the fastest film to reach $1 billion in box office receipts, making the film the fourth highest-grossing of all time, unadjusted for inflation, and the fifth to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org
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KRISTEN DALTON - MISS USA 2009

2009-12-13T20:00:00.000Z

Hi Passengers !

Kristen Jeannine Dalton born December 13, 1986 from Wilmington, North Carolina is Miss USA 2009.

Dalton is the daughter of Jeannie Boger who was Miss North Carolina USA 1982. Her younger sister Julia Dalton was Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2008 and placed 2nd runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2008;the third Dalton sister Kenzie Dalton is engaged to Chad Michael Murray and also competed in the Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant and placed 1st runner-up.

Dalton graduated from Hoggard High School and has an Honors College Psychology and Spanish major at East Carolina University.

Dalton won the Miss North Carolina USA 2009 title in a state pageant held in High Point, North Carolina in November 2008. She had previously placed first runner-up to Nikkie Groat in the Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2005 pageant.

Dalton represented North Carolina in the Miss USA 2009 pageant broadcast live from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada where she became the 2nd Miss North Carolina USA to win the Miss USA title; the state's only prior winner was Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005. Dalton won both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions during the final pageant competition, and was crowned by former titleholder Crystle Stewart of Texas.

Dalton will go on to represent the United States in the Miss Universe 2009 pageant which will be held at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
Courtesy en.wikipedia.org
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Pictures courtesy - stevensittichai

Miss North Carolina USA official website
Miss USA official website
Miss North Carolina USA, Kristen Dalton
Check our news section to read the press release!
Remember your experience!
Buy photos and a scrapbook of the 2009 Miss USA experience.
Green Is Universal!
We're going 'green'...so should you. Click here for eco-friendly tips from the contestants!

Picture courtesy - www.missuniverse.com

SARAH CHANG - MUSICIAN (KOREA / USA)

2009-12-10T20:00:00.007Z

Hi Passengers !

Sarah Chang was born december 10, 1980 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Korean parents. Min-Soo Chang, her father, is a violinist, and Myoung Jun Chang, her mother, is a composer.

Her parents had moved to the United States in 1979 so that Sarah's father could study for an advanced music degree at Temple University. Her mother was taking composition classes at the University of Pennsylvania. She has a younger brother named Michael.

Courtesy - http://sarahchang.com

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SARAH CHANG

Sarah liked to play one-finger melodies on the piano at the age of 3 but, possibly taking a cue from her father, asked her parents for a violin. She began practicing with a rented 1/16-sized violin at age 4 and auditioned for the Juilliard School at age 6 by playing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.

She was admitted into the studio of the late Dorothy DeLay, violin teacher to some of the world's great violinists including Itzhak Perlman, Midori Goto, Anne Akiko Meyers, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz and many others, including Chang's father Min-Soo Chang. She was also taught by Hyo Kang, a former student and assistant of DeLay. She continued attending grade school in the Philadelphia area while studying music on Saturdays at Juilliard.

Chang was recognized as a child prodigy early on and when she was 8 was given the opportunity to audition with such names as Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti, who were working, respectively, with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Both gave her immediate engagements.

She recorded her first album, Debut, in 1991 at age 10; it was released by EMI Classics August 18, 1992. It quickly reached the Billboard chart of classical best-sellers. Her teacher in an interview claimed that no one had ever seen "anything like her".
Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - sarahchang.com

SMART LADIES BORN IN THE 60'S & 70'S

2009-11-18T20:00:00.010Z

Hi Passengers !

It’s annoying but the older we get, the harder it is to stay in shape. But, we don’t give up and we know that exercise is the key to a toned body. The muscles in your face can be exercised too, and you can keep a youthful appearance. Normal aging, the sun, genetics and that powerful force called gravity are always exerting a downward pull to the face.

At about the wonderful age of 40 is when we usually begin to notice slight sagging, little crow’s feet and/or lines in the forehead. All is not lost. There is a remedy! It’s not surprising when we learn that there are 22 muscles of each side of the face. Many of those 44 muscles are small and attached to the skin rather than bone.

Actually, this is fortunate as it makes the facial muscles more readily available to exercise. Your face tone relies on plump muscles to stay vibrant and uplifted. Slack, untoned muscles pull the face down and inwards creating wrinkles and sagging. Not the look we are going for! Take a look the face of older people and you will see that this is true.

The most efficient way to stimulate muscles is to cause them to contract forcing blood into the muscles, just the way your bicep muscle contracts when you lift a weight. And, we don’t need to lift facial weights to get the same effect! Muscle stimulation of the face is accomplished with a micro-current, powered only with only a 9-volt battery.

Gentle muscle contraction and relaxation is sufficient to restore the muscles to give the look of a non-surgical facelift, without cutting, anesthesia or recovery time. The delicate facial skin will be tighter, smoother and uplifted. You will look the way you feel – Great! Some dermatologists offer this type of facial rejuvenation. It is also available at upscale spas.

One manufacturer had even miniaturized the concept for home use. That is what I use! And I love having the “power” to keep my face muscles toned and not just give in to gravity. A toned body and facial muscles contribute to a sleek, healthy and younger appearance. Keep that in mind while you exercise your whole body, and smile! Are you eager to be rid of sagging skin and wrinkles and ready for a facial spa system at home? Are you ready to take charge of your appearance?

Do you have 20 minutes for yourself 2-3 times a week?
Courtesy - www.smartladiesover40.com
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The Brett Favre All-Stars: 10 Sexy Ladies Over 40 Who Still Got It

by Mike McD Analyst

You know, a lot has been made about Brett Favre coming back to play in the NFL. A big issue is his age: Favre will turn 40 years old this year.

Come on, 40's not so bad. There are lots of people who can hang with the young kids who are considered "in their prime" and come out on top. Just ask Tom Watson. Actually, he's a scary-looking old man.

Why don't we ask a group that's near and dear to my heart? You may call them cougars—I call them the Brett Favre All-Stars.

Here are 10 Sexy Ladies Over 40 Who Still Got It.
Read more on bleacherreport.com
Picture courtesy - bleacherreport.com

KARMA PEDESTRIAN - BROKEN TONIGHT (MUSIC : ARMIN VAN BUUREN)

2009-10-27T20:00:00.003Z

Hi Passengers !

The summer season has officially closed down and so the end of another great year is in sight. Time to end 2009 with a blast, Armin van Buuren must have thought. The Dutch DJ/Producer is able to look back upon an eventful but more than successful year.

The number one DJ won the award for Best International DJ at the DJ Awards, received 4 International Dance Music Awards and received more than 33 million views for his ‘In & Out Of Love’ music video on YouTube.

But despite all awards, accolades and admiration, it’s still the music that gives him the perseverance and inspiration to carry on in these times of pressure.
Courtesy - www.astateoftrance.com

Broken Tonight out now!

a songtitle and a sound which made me dreaming about old fights in my soul. Maybe a way to reach the edge of another possibilities, of another new horizons...

Out Now: Karma pedestrian ? (Read the article down under to know what i'm talking about?

Text : John Gregorio

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Karma Pedestrian

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY...

1. Sun or moon? Moon
2. Winter or Fall? Fall!
3. Left or Right? Left, always take the left road.
4. Sunny or rainy? Rainy
5. Where do you live? somewhere in this suburban hell hole we like to call Colorado Springs, CO
6. Are there 1 or 2 people who you can always trust and rely on? At the moment, yes, very much so.
7. Do you want to get married? I think so
8. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? I'm a twirler
9. What time is it? 9:59 am
10. Are you afraid of commitment? possibly? I was, and still am a little bit, but someone is lessening that every day :)
11. What is your greatest hope/wish? To 1. be happy. 2. Do something that afffects people, or something that is enough to inspire someone to write a biography of me. Vain? Yes. Lie? No.
12. Do you cook? Of course! My other dream is to open up a bakery :)
13. Current mood? happy, content, kind of still in shock, anxious

IN THE LAST 48 HOURS HAVE YOU...

1. Kissed someone? Yes
2. Sang? yes!
3. Listened to music? Of course! Music has kind of defined these past 48 hours
4. Danced Crazy? no...
5. Cried? yes, quite a bit actually
6. Liked someone you can't have? well, that's still debatable whether I can have him or not.
Read more on anarchyonmonday.livejournal.com

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NEW TITANIC EXPEDITION LAUNCH IN 2010

2009-10-26T20:00:00.032Z

Hi Passengers !

The company that has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic is planning a possible expedition to the world's most famous shipwreck in 2010. The first expedition to the North Atlantic wreck site since 2004 is revealed in a filing by RMS Titanic Inc. in U.S. District Court, where four days of hearings are scheduled to begin Monday on the company's claim for a salvage award.

Lawyers for RMS Titanic Inc. confirmed the expedition plans but declined to discuss them in detail. "That is something that is being looked at right now but it's not in any way a done deal," attorney Robert W. McFarland said in an interview. He said the company would have more to say at this week's hearing.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the wreck an "international treasure," will preside over the hearings. They are intended to determine a salvage award and establish legal guarantees that thousands of Titanic artifacts remain intact as a collection and forever accessible to the public. Some pieces have ended up in London auction houses.

The 5,900 pieces of china, ship fittings and personal belongings are valued in excess of $110 million and are displayed around the world by Premier Exhibitions Inc., an Atlanta company. RMS Titanic is a subsidiary of Premier. The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in international waters on April 15, 1912, and has been subject to competing legal claims since an international team led by oceanographer Robert Ballard found it in 1985. Since then, RMS Titanic has retrieved artifacts during six dives.

Courts have declared it salvor-in-possession -- meaning it has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic -- but have explicitly stated it does not own the 5,900 artifacts or the wreck itself. At the hearings this week in Norfolk, lawyers for RMS Titanic will essentially seek title to the artifacts and a monetary award for its salvage costs. More than a dozen experts will be called to support the company's claim, according to a court filing.

In seeking a salvage award, RMS Titanic will have to document the labor it devoted to its previous expeditions, the risks incurred during the 2 1/2-mile trips beneath the Atlantic to the Titanic wreck site, and the preservation efforts and archaeological value of the wreck and its contents, among other factors.

Smith, the judge, has drawn upon the government to help craft covenants to keep the artifacts preserved, intact as a collection and available to the public. She is mindful of the Titanic's place in history and the 1,522 people who died when it went down after it struck ice nearly a century ago, based on her previous statements from the bench.

"I am concerned that the Titanic is not only a national treasure, but in its own way an international treasure, and it needs protection and it needs to be monitored," the judge told lawyers in the case nearly one year ago. If the court agrees to RMS Titanic's request, the company could sell the entire collection to a museum with court approval. The company has said it has no plans to do so. The judge will also consider a competing claim.

Douglas Faulkner Woolley, a British citizen, challenges RMS Titanic's legal claim to the wreck site and plans his own salvage operation. Lawyers for RMS Titanic declined to discuss the competing challenge. International protections have been sought for the Titanic almost since the wreck was discovered.

Source : Steve Szkotak, Associated Press
Courtesy - dsc.discovery.com
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RMS TiTANIC DIVE

Fully Supported Submersible dives to the wreck of RMS Titanic
Please note there is no expedition scheduled to the RMS Titanic wreck site in 2007. For further information on future expeditions please contact

info@deepoceanexpeditions.com
The Titanic Story

The RMS Titanic was the brainchild of the famous White Star Line, which specialized in luxury passenger vessels, and Harland & Wolff, the Irish shipyard which designed and built her.
One-sixth of a mile long, Titanic was not only the largest moving object ever built by man, she was also the most opulent.

More than 14,000 laborers and craftsmen poured their hearts and souls into her design, construction and appointment, toiling on her for four long years. So mighty was Titanic, with her sheer size and cutting-edge watertight features, she was promptly touted as "unsinkable."

That epithet proved particularly ironic the night of April 14, 1912, when Titanic, just days into her maiden transatlantic crossing, struck an iceberg and immediately began to take on water. Within a few short hours, the greatest ship in the world had come to rest on the bottom of the ocean, taking with her the lives of more than 1,500 people.

The mystique surrounding the Titanic disaster has diminished little over time. Each generation has held the memory close, preserving it in books, music and movies.

Today, the story stands as modern myth: a luxurious dream ship brimming with the Gilded Age's celebrities and its steerage class; a technological wonder so sophisticated, so sound, as to be deemed invulnerable.

Add to that the tragic elements of human error and the inexorable power of Nature and the tale of Titanic, with its myriad stories of heartbreak and heroism, becomes a poignant chapter in humanity's collective history.
Read more on www.deepoceanexpeditions.com
Picture courtesy - dsc.discovery.com

THE ORANGES OF LIONARDO, A FRIEND FROM SICILY

2009-05-19T20:00:00.011+01:00

Hi Passengers !

I present tonight this podcast with texts sounds & pictures of Sicily to remember Lionardo, a friend who leave our blue dot in May 19, 2009

NDB : When i was sixteen i used to work with Lionardo during my holiday 1982, he was the one who teached me some knowledge about the building of an house... «he told me that he learned all this knowledge in Sicily (Italy). » I also remember that he always offered me during the midday lunch some oranges from his garden to get some extra energy on my work.

Today, i will never forget his words with the creation of this podcast as a virtual travel across the most beautiful landscapes of Syracusa, Palermo, and many more made to celebrate his birth land, Sicily...

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now more informations about Sicily with the following report made by Autobiografium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

View Larger Map

Sicily

(Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km² and currently has just over five million inhabitants. It is also the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, several much smaller islands surrounding it are also considered to be part of Sicily. Along with Sardinia, the island is officially classified as a region of Insular Italy.

Throughout much of its history, Sicily has been considered a crucial strategic location due in large part to its importance for Mediterranean trade routes.The area was highly regarded as part of Magna Graecia, with Cicero describing Siracusa as the greatest and most beautiful city of all Ancient Greece.

Although today Sicily is a region of Italy, the island was once a city-state in its own right, and as the Kingdom of Sicily ruled from Palermo over southern Italy, Sicily, and Malta. It later became a part of the Two Sicilies under the Bourbons, a kingdom governed from Naples that comprised both the island itself and most of Southern Italy. The Italian unification of 1860 led to the dissolution of this kingdom, and Sicily became an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Italy.

Sicily has its own unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, cuisine, architecture and language. The Sicilian economy is largely based on agriculture (mainly orange and lemon orchards); this same rural countryside has attracted significant tourism in the modern age as its natural beauty is highly regarded. Sicily also holds importance for archeological and ancient sites such as the Necropolis of Pantalica and the Valley of the Temples.
Sicilian lifestyle and folklore
The family is at the heart of Sicilian culture as it has always been for generations. Family members often live close together, sometimes in the same housing complex, and sons and daughters usually remain at home with their parents until they marry, which tends to occur later than in previous decades. Couples today have fewer children than before, yet babies and children are much revered in Sicilian culture and almost always accompany their parents to social events.

Sicilian weddings are lavish, expensive, and traditional. They are normally held in church. The Catholic church is an important feature in Sicilian life. Almost all public places are adorned with crucifixes upon their walls, and most Sicilian homes contain pictures of saints, statues, and other relics. Each town and city has its own patron saint, and the feast days are marked by gaudy processions through the streets with marching bands and displays of fireworks.
Sicilian religious festivals also include the presepe vivente (animated crib), which takes place at Christmas time. Deftly combining religion and folklore, it is a constructed mock 19th century Sicilian village, complete with a nativity scene, and has people of all ages dressed in the costumes of the period, some impersonating the Holy Family, and others working as artisans of their particular assigned trade. It is normally concluded on Ephiphany, often highlighted by the arrival of the magi on horseback.

Sicilians also enjoy outdoor festivals, held in the local square or piazza where live music and dancing are performed on stage, and food fairs or sagras are set up in booths lining the square. These offer various local specialties, as well as typical Sicilian food. Normally these events are concluded with fireworks. The most important laic event in Sicily is the carnival. Famous carnivals are in Misterbianco, Regalbuto, Paternò, Sciacca, Acireale, Termini Imerese.
Read more on en.wikipedia.org
Sicilian oranges

JOSEPHINE PERFORMED BY CHRIS REA

2009-03-03T20:00:00.029Z

Hi Passengers!

There's rain on my window
But I'm thinking of you
Tears on my pillow
But I will come through
Josephine, I'll send you all my love
And every single step that I'll take
I'll take for you
My,Josephine

There's a storm on my radar
But I can still fly
Oh,and you are the reason
The blue in my sky
Josephine

A life without meaning
I was walking away
In the coldest of winters
Night becomes a day
Josephine, I'll send you all my love,
And every single step that I'll take
I'll take for you
My,Josephine, I'll send you all my love, babe

Josephine, I'll send you all my love, babe
---and when I'm far away (oh, so far away)
I'll send you all my love
(bridge)
(chorus):
---- ...... I'll send you all my love
(Rea):
......Josephine...
---- ......I'll send you all my love
(Chorus):
---- ......I'll send you all my love

Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

Discover now some information about Chris Rea with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Official site
Fan site
Fan site
Official site of Rea's record label, JazzeeBlue
IMDb Parting Shots
Interview on the Britsound Radio Show, November 2005

CHRIS REA

(born Christopher Anton Rea, 4 March 1951, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England) is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with his 18th chart entry; "The Road to Hell (Part 2)". By 2009, Rea had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

He is best known for his 1978 hit song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" that charted #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart.

Although Rea had limited success in the United States, two of his albums, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. The book Guinness Rockopedia described him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".

Early life-career

Chris was born on 4 March, 1951, as the son of a Middlesbrough ice-cream dairy manager. After leaving school Rea worked in casual labouring jobs, including working in his father's ice cream business. It was at the comparatively late age of 22 that Rea bought his first guitar and began his musical career, inspired by the music of Joe Walsh and Ry Cooder. A natural left-hander, Rea nevertheless learned to play the guitar right-handed. In 1973, he joined the Middlesbrough band Magdalene, replacing David Coverdale who later created Whitesnake.

Rea then went on to form the band Beautiful Losers, which he left when he secured a solo recording deal with Magnet Records and released his first single, entitled "So Much Love", in 1974. In 1977 he performed on Hank Marvin's album The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate and also guested on Catherine Howe's EP, The Truth of the Matter.

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was Rea's debut album. It was released in June 1978 and produced by Elton John's music producer, Gus Dudgeon. The title of the album was a reference to "Benjamin Santini," the stage name that Rea's record label suggested he should adopt. The first single taken from the album, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," was Rea's biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Like most of Rea's early singles, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart on its first release, and only reached #30 when re-released in late 1978 to capitalise on its US achievement.

The UK singer Elkie Brooks enjoyed greater success with the song in 1982, when she charted her cover version at #17. It was also the first record played by Radio Caroline, after a long period off the air. Another cover of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Kenny Craddock was used as the theme tune for BBC sitcom, Joking Apart.

Dudgeon went on to produce Rea's next album, entitled Deltics. Rea has since spoken about the difficult working relationship that he had with Dudgeon at the time, who he felt 'smoothed out' the blues influenced elements of his music in order to make it sound more like that of Elton John or Billy Joel.

Rea's second and third albums failed to provide any further hit singles. By the time his fourth album was released, Rea's relationship with his record company had deteriorated to the extent that it was not even given a title but was simply called "Chris Rea".

European breakthrough

By 1983 Rea's record company had become so uninterested in him that they released the raw demo tapes as his fifth studio album. The album, entitled "Water Sign", became a surprise hit in Ireland and mainland Europe, selling over half a million in just a few months and the single "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" taken from it entered the top 20 across Europe.

With the success of "Water Sign" Rea began to focus his attention on touring continental Europe and built up a significant fan base there. It was not until 1985's Shamrock Diaries and the songs "Stainsby Girls" and "Josephine" that UK audiences began to take notice of him. His following albums were On The Beach (1986) and Dancing with Strangers (1987). The Dancing with Strangers tour in 1987, saw Rea sell out stadium size venues for the first time across the world, and Rea played Wembley Arena twice. His following album was the New Light Through Old Windows compilation album, which saw studio reworkings of his earlier work.

His next full album was to be his major breakthrough. The Road to Hell (1989) enjoyed massive success and became his first #1 album in the UK. This accomplishment could not be mirrored in the US, where it only reached #107, in spite of the single track "Texas" achieving extensive radio airplay. The title track was released as a single and reached the UK Top 10. Rea appeared on the Band Aid II project's single in December 1989. His next album, Auberge, was also a European hit, reaching the top spot in the UK.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

DTV USA - NETHERLANDS TELEVISION IS DIGITAL SINCE 2006

2009-02-17T20:00:00.003Z

Hi Passengers !

The first country to make a wholesale switch to Digital Over-the-Air (terrestrial) broadcasting was the Netherlands, in 2006. This was followed by Brazil, Finland and Sweden in 2007.

After February 17, 2009 all televisions signals in the USA will be also digital and all analog transmissions will be discontinued. However, how does this really affect consumers and their televisions ?

By June 12, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format. Your local broadcasters may make the the transition before that date, and some already have, so be ready.

Text : John Gregorio

"DTV" IS COMING (AND SOONER THAN YOU THINK!)
Read more on www.fcc.gov

Discover now more information about Digital Television with the following numeric report made by Blogger Mail on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

ATSC Standards
ATSC tuner
Broadcast television systems
Digital radio including digital television broadcasting
Digital television transition
Digital terrestrial television in Australia
Digital terrestrial television in Ireland
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
DMB-T/H, China's digital television standard
Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial (DVB-T)
DTV transition in the United States
Gigaset
High-definition television
Interactive television
ISDB, Japan's digital television standard
LinuxTV
List of digital television deployments by country
Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) and Zapper
North American broadcast television frequencies
SBTVD, Brazil's digital television standard
Set-top box (STB)
System-on-a-chip
Redesign project

Digital television (DTV)

is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete (digital) signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV.

In the United States, full-power television stations are scheduled to change over to digital on June 12, 2009. By special dispensation, some analog TV signals will cease, as previously scheduled, on February 17, 2009. This has to do with station resistence to a sudden change in schedule, that will cost broadcasters money and cause logistical nightmares.

In Canada, the switch to digital is scheduled to happen August 31, 2011. China is scheduled to switch in 2015. In the United Kingdom, the digital switchover has different times for each part of the country; however, the whole of the UK will be digital by 2012. Brazil switched to digital in December 2, 2007 in major cities and it is estimated 7 years for complete signal expansion over all of the Brazilian territory.

While the majority of the viewers of over-the-air broadcasting in the USA watch full-power stations (which number about 1800), there are three other categories of TV stations in the USA: low-power stations, Class A stations, and TV translator stations. There is presently no deadline for these stations, about 7100 in number, to convert to digital broadcasting.

Advantages to conversion

DTV has several advantages over analog TV, the most significant being that digital channels take up less bandwidth (and the bandwidth needs are continuously variable, at a corresponding cost in image quality depending on the level of compression). This means that digital broadcasters can provide more digital channels in the same space, provide high-definition television service, or provide other non-television services such as multimedia or interactivity. DTV also permits special services such as multiplexing (more than one program on the same channel), electronic program guides and additional languages, spoken or subtitled. The sale of non-television services may provide an additional revenue source.

Digital signals react less fiercely to interference than analog signals. For example, common problems with analog television include ghosting of images, noise from weak signals, and many other potential problems. Digitized signals don't suffer from ghosting or noise because DTV Tuners and converter boxes receive numeric information by the antenna. The decoder only needs enough information to put the picture together. The only way it fails is when the decoder does not receive enough information from the antenna - there is too much interference in the signal for the decoder to read the number and produce the picture.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - static.howstuffworks.com

RUGBY SIX NATIONS 2009 : ENGLAND 36 - ITALY 11

2009-02-08T20:00:00.006Z

Hi Passengers !

England cruised to an opening 36-11 victory over Italy but the jury remains out on their championship ambitions after a dismal day at Twickenham. Italy offered nothing in opposition and their experiment at playing flanker Mauro Bergamasco at scrum-half backfired spectacularly.

Bergamasco lasted just 40 minutes and by then he had directly gifted Riki Flutey his first Test try and England were 22-6 ahead.

England finished the half down to 14 men after Haskell was sin-binned for a trip on Canale as the centre tried to chase his own chip.

The second half was dire. Goode pulled a drop-goal effort wide from 30 metres after England simply ran out of attacking options.

Italy finally crossed the England try-line through Mirco Bergamasco after McLean, probably the Azzuri’s brightest player, had launched a counter-attack from Goode’s kick before Cueto’s try rounded off the afternoon.

FIXTURES OF THE WEEKEND
ENGLAND / ITALY 36-11
IRELAND / FRANCE 30-21
SCOTLAND / WALES 13/26

STANDING RBS SIX NATIONS 2009
ENGLAND 36-11
IRELAND 30-21
WALES 26-13
FRANCE 21-30
SCOTLAND 13-26
ITALY 11-36

Matchcenter information on www.rbs6nations.com

Discover now information about history of the Six Nations Rugby Championship with the following numeric report made by Sports online on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

HISTORY OF THE SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

In 1871, England and Scotland played the first rugby union international. After 12 years of occasional friendly matches between the teams, the inaugural Home International Championship, comprising England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was played in 1883. England won the first series, along with a Triple Crown. Up until 1893, England and Scotland were the only champions, with Wales winning their first title that season. Ireland won their first title the following season. The 1908 and 1909 championships won by Wales, although won during the Home Nations era, could be regarded as Grand Slams, as they also defeated France both seasons.

In 1910 the French, who had played in four of the tournaments up to that point, officially joined the competition and coined the phrase "Five Nations". England won the first championship of the new era, with the Welsh achieving the first Grand Slam the following year. The competition was suspended during World War I (1914-18). In 1931, France were ejected from the tournament, which reverted to being the "Home Nations" from 1932 through to 1939. The competition was suspended again during World War II (1939-1945). With France back in the competition, the Five Nations resumed in 1947, with a shared victory for England and Wales. France won their first shared title in 1954, and their first outright title in 1959.

By the 1970s the Five Nations Championship had become the pre-eminent series in Northern hemisphere rugby union with matches becoming all-ticket affairs, gaining huge popularity and a large television audience. The 1972 tournament was not finished after Scotland and Wales refused to play in Dublin. The season after was unique for a five-way tie, with every nation having won and lost two games. The 1970s marked the golden age for Welsh rugby; winning three Grand Slams and one Triple Crown during the decade. Until 1993, there was no tangible reward for winning the Five Nations championship. The Trophy was presented for the first time in 1993 to France.

France were the first winners of the new trophy, followed by Wales and then England. Scotland's first success came in season 1998-99; Ireland have yet to win it. Scotland was the last nation to win the Five Nations Trophy as such because Italy joined the competition in 2000 and the tournament became known as the "Six Nations Championship". England were the first nation to win the trophy under the new format, winning the 2000 competition.

Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple: each team plays every other team once, with home field advantage alternating from one year to the next. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. Unlike most other rugby union competitions the bonus point system is not used.

Victory in every game results in a 'Grand Slam'. Back to back Grand Slams have been achieved on five occasions, by Wales in 1908/1909, by England in 1913/1914, 1923/1924 and 1991/1992 and by France in 1997/1998. England holds the record for the number of Grand Slams won with 12, followed by Wales with 9, France with 8, Scotland with 3 and Ireland with 1.

Victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a 'Triple Crown'. The Triple Crown has twice been won on four consecutive occasions, once by Wales in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979 and once by England in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. England hold the record for the number of Triple Crowns won with 23, followed by Wales with 18, Scotland with 10 and Ireland with 9. Although this achievement has long been a feature of the tournament, it was not until 2006 that a physical trophy, commissioned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was awarded.

The last-placed nation at the end of the tournament is said to have won the (purely figurative) Wooden Spoon.

Several individual competitions take place under the umbrella of the tournament. The oldest such regular competition is for the Calcutta Cup, contested annually between England and Scotland since 1879. Since 1988, the Millennium Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the game between England and Ireland. Since 2007, France and Italy also have their own trophy: the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy; it was created for the 200th anniversary of the Italian hero who helped unify Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was born in Nizza in 1807; the city became subsequently French with the current name of Nice in 1859.

Prior to 1994, teams equal on points shared the championship. After that date, ties were broken by considering the points difference of the teams. In 2005 Wales won the Grand Slam, becoming the first team ever to win a Grand Slam playing more games away than at home. This was the last Grand Slam to date.

In 2006, France won the competition on points difference over Ireland. Ireland received the consolation prize of the Triple Crown Trophy, presented for the first time that year. Italy once more collected the Wooden Spoon, but showed considerable improvement over past years, earning a first-ever competition point away from home in a draw against Wales.

In 2007, France again won on points difference, after four teams had at least a mathematical chance of topping the table going into the final week. The Italians had their first away win of the tournament beating Scotland in Edinburgh. It was also the first time they won two of their matches as they went on to beat Wales in Rome. Scotland won the wooden spoon and Ireland won the Triple Crown for the second straight year and third time in four years.
Courtesy - www.rbs6nations.com
Picture courtesy - www.rbs6nations.com

WATCH, ACT & LEARN WITH PANGEA DAY (MAY 10, 2008)

2008-05-10T20:00:00.028+01:00

Hi Passengers!

A Media Revolution has started in 1968 all over the world when US Army was in Vietnam fighting against Russian and Chineese interests in the region, TV Radio and later in 1969 Internet start to show and speak about human rights in it globality and for every being living on Earth.

The power of images which was in the hands of few become all along these last 40 years property of everybody spreading all around the world a new reality and destroying one by one all the lies of the old Media

PANGEA DAY is the evolution of the MEDIA POWER in the hands of common people to serve the human kind in increasing it knowledge and freedom through millions of pictures uploaded on the internet.

Texte : John Gregorio

Discover now what can PANGEA DAY do for you with the following numeric report made by Blogger Mail on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66
Latest News From Pangea Day
Watch our live webcast on MSN International!

Starting at 18:00 GMT, MSN will stream the live 4-hour program in 23 of its markets: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Arabia, Australia, Canada, UK, Indonesia, Ireland, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Latin America, Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Brazil. MSN is a world leader in delivering web services to consumers and Pangea Day is thrilled to have MSN International come on board as our exclusive online live streaming partner. The live webcast will also be streamed on PangeaDay.org.

Pangea Day steps into the world news media spotlight
Newsweek, the Times Online, and the Montreal Gazette are all running stories on Pangea Day as the final countdown to the event begins. Meanwhile, reporting from Mumbai, Pangea Day staff member Tom writes,

What a day! The Indian press have suddenly exploded in their enthusiasm for Pangea Day. Today we fielded TV and print interviews with CNBC TV, Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror, DNA, UNI and Midday -- all major outlets here. Press interest in the live event is high and we're making new plans to deal with the number of reporters, photographers and TV crews that we're expecting on Saturday.

Coverage to match a truly historic event!

UNHCR & Pangea Day to share refugees' stories with global audience
At the beginning of the year, Pangea Day, with support from Nokia, distributed video-enabled mobile devices to refugees in Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eritrea, India, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Sudan and the United States. Watch Pangea Day live on May 10 to hear these personal accounts of what makes them laugh, cry, and more importantly, what gives them hope. To watch these stories, click here. To learn more about UNHCR, click here.

African Broadcaster Signs on -- Will Cover 49 Countries!
Magic World, a sister channel of Multichoice, will broadcast Pangea Day at 20:00 on May 10th.

The broadcast will cover 49 African countries, including: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Evrde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comores, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spanish Sahara, St Helena, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe.

On set at Sony Pictures Studios
The set at Sony Pictures Studios, Los Angeles is nearing completion, and the crew there has sent a batch of photos to show the work at hand. Check them out at Ovi.com/pangeaday.

Meanwhile, Cristina Mussinelli writes from Milano, Italy on preparations for Pangea Day events there:
We are organizing a very big event (we hope 1,000 people will attend) in a beautiful theater, Teatro Franco Parenti. It is one of the most important and beautiful theaters in Milano, mixing traditional and contemporary styles and decorated with "old-style" frescoes. We will broadcast the program on 3 big screens inside the theatre and also in the foyer where there will be 4 other big screens. This will give the people attending the event a very inclusive, immersive and surrounding experience. Before broadcasting we will have many Italian artists and speakers on stage. Live music and a DJ will be set up in the foyer.

It's shaping up to be amazing day!

Bloggers touch down in Mumbai, Rio...
Pangea Day bloggers are on the ground at broadcast locations around the world, and reports are starting to come in. Reporting from Rio de Janeiro, Saralena and Claire write,
We just touched down after an overnight journey from New York City -- and are completely struck by the beauty of the city. A meeting with the Pangea Day team in Rio proved that we are more than ready to have a fantastic celebration on Saturday.

The event will be at the top of Morro da Urca. The only way to get there is by a cable car that can carry no more than 100 people at a time. During the hours it will take the cable car to carry the 1500+ attendees to the top, some amazing pre-show entertainment is planned -- including screenings by the Nos do Morro Film School (a Favela Cinema organization), dance performances, and musicians.

Meanwhile, Tom in Mumbai writes,

After the 15 hour flight, Virginia and I have arrived in Mumbai. It's the perfect Indian city for Pangea Day -- huge, diverse, and rapidly-changing. Over the week we'll be promoting the event, encouraging the press to participate, and capturing many of the Friends of Pangea Day events.

Our friends the KaosPilots are organising an event in Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia. This is a real example of how Pangea Day is including an audience that wouldn't otherwise get to participate. (See more details of the Dharavi initiative here.)

And from Virginia, also in Mumbai:

We arrived last night, exhausted and exhilarated by our wild taxi ride through Mumbai. It felt like I'd fallen right into a Rushdie novel. I can't wait to learn more about this amazing city that is so completely new.

This morning we're looking out onto the Arabian Sea talking with Katie, "Decibel" Dave, and Yeshish about spreading the word about Pangea Day over the next three days. We're excited to reach out to local organizations and filmmakers to fill up the seats and make Mumbai '08 a lively event.

Check back often for more exciting updates from Cairo, L.A., Kigali, and London.
Read more on www.pangeaday.org

Picture courtesy - www.pangeaday.org

PROGRAM ESA / AURORA - EXOMARS WILL LAUNCH IN 2013

2008-04-15T20:00:00.002+01:00

Hi Passengers !

This is an Artist's impression showing the ExoMars rover landing on the surface of the Red Planet. The rover will carry a payload, dubbed Pasteur, and will be equipped with a drilling system that will reach up to two metres below the Martian surface.

ExoMars is one of the components of ESA's Aurora Space Exploration Program which will be launch in 2013 with great projects for life research on the red planet.

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now some information about Aurora Program & Exomars mission with the following numeric report made by Universum Observatorium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Origins of Aurora Program

Aurora is part of Europe's strategy for space, endorsed by the European Union Council of Research and the ESA Council in 2001. This strategy calls for Europe to:
explore the solar system and the Universe
stimulate new technology
inspire the young people of Europe to take a greater interest in science and technology
As a result of this challenge, in 2001 ESA set up the Aurora Programme. The primary objective of Aurora is to create, and then implement, a European long-term plan for the robotic and human exploration of the solar system, with Mars, the Moon and the asteroids as the most likely targets.

A second objective is to search for life beyond the Earth. Future missions under the programme will carry sophisticated exobiology payloads to investigate the possibility of life forms existing on other worlds within the solar system.
It is clear from these objectives that the interdependence of exploration and technology is the basis of the Aurora Programme. On the one hand the desire to explore provides the stimulus to develop new technology while on the other, it is the introduction of innovative technology that will make exploration possible.

Moon workers

Exploring space

Curiosity about our world, and the Universe that surrounds us, has been the driving force behind human progress since prehistoric times. Today, the exploration of space remains one of the most stimulating and exciting areas of scientific research.
Many exciting and innovative ideas for future exploration have been proposed by industry and academia since the Aurora Programme began. In 2001 ESA received more than 300 replies when it asked the space community to put forward suggestions for future exploratory missions. This was followed in 2002 by another 'call for ideas' for the technology needed to make these missions possible. All proposals were accompanied by a preliminary time schedule and an assessment of feasibility and cost.
Suggestions received included an investigation of Pluto, the smallest and outermost planet in the solar system; establishing a launch site on the Moon; and the human exploration of Mars.
The Aurora Programme carefully assesses the feasibility - both technical and financial - of all the ideas received. European industry is then encouraged to develop the technology needed to bring these ideas to fruition.

Instruments on the Mars Express orbiter can observe selected areas of the Martian surface

Advanced technology

Each phase of exploration on the way to the human exploration of Mars will require increasingly complex technology. In some cases existing technology can be further developed or adapted, but in many cases European industry will be asked to come up with new innovative technology to make future exploration missions possible.
The technological studies to be carried out under the Aurora Programme will enable Europe to select which of the many technologies on offer should be given priority for development within Europe, as well as the value of the technologies offered by possible partners. Among the technology needed to make a human mission to Mars possible are: aerobraking, precision navigation and landing, propulsion systems that offer cheaper, faster travel; and life-support systems to enable humans to live in hostile space environments.

ESA astronaut Frank de Winne on the International Space Station

International cooperation

Close cooperation within ESA, as well as collaboration with European and Canadian industry and academia, is a key aspect of Aurora.
Although Aurora is an ESA programme and will promote European industry, many missions will involve international cooperation. For instance Canada, which has a cooperation agreement with ESA, is already participating in the Aurora Progamme.
International cooperation is important because it reduces costs and allows the countries involved to gain from one another's expertise. The Aurora programme will ensure that ESA achieves the maximum benefits from joint enterprises with international partners.

Step-by-step approach

Aurora's step-by-step approach means that missions will increase in complexity over time, culminating - if all goes well - in a human expedition to Mars by the year 2030. Steps on the way to Mars will probably include exploration of the Moon as well as:
remote sensing of the Martian environment
robotic exploration and surface analysis
Mars sample return missions
a robotic outpost
Not all these steps towards the ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars will necessarily be part of the Aurora Programme. As the result of international cooperation, various collaborating agencies will make a contribution to those missions that best meet their particular requirements and areas of expertise.

Exploration Programme Advisory Committee

All ideas received are examined to assess their feasibility and to ensure that they are in line with Europe’s space strategy. They are then sent to Aurora’s Exploration Programme Advisory Committee (EPAC) for further discussion. This body includes European experts from technology and science as well as an ESA astronaut.

Aurora Board of Participants

The Aurora Board of Participants (ABP) has the final decision on the choice of missions and technology. This Board is made up of representatives of all the ESA Member States that have joined the Aurora Programme, as well as Canada. At present it has 10 members.

Artist's drawing of the mobile pressurized laboratory

Industry

Once an exploration mission and the associated technology have been approved, European and Canadian industry will be invited to tender for the work needed to bring the project to fruition. The Aurora Programme office will carefully follow each project at all stages to ensure that everything is proceeding to plan.

The ultimate challenge

ESA's Aurora Programme is one of the most exciting enterprises ever undertaken in Europe, an endeavour that will involve the best of European minds and industry.

ExoMars

Artist's impression of the ExoMars rover drilling into the Martian surface

ExoMars is the first Aurora Flagship mission to be assessed. Its aim is to further characterise the biological environment on Mars in preparation for robotic missions and then human exploration. Data from the mission will also provide invaluable input for broader studies of exobiology - the search for life on other planets.

This mission calls for the development of a Mars orbiter, a descent module and a Mars rover. The Mars orbiter will have to be capable of reaching Mars and putting itself into orbit around the planet. On board will be a Mars rover within a descent module.

After their release and landing on the surface of Mars, the orbiter will transfer itself into a more suitable orbit where it will be able to operate as a data relay satellite. Initially it will act as a data relay for the ExoMars rover but its life may be extended to serve future missions.
The Mars descent module will deliver the rover to a specific location by using an inflatable braking device or parachute system. Both systems are sufficiently robust to survive the stresses of atmospheric entry and their landing accuracy will be sufficient for this mission.
Using conventional solar arrays to generate electricity, the Rover will be able to travel a few kilometres over the rocky orange-red surface of Mars. The vehicle will be capable of operating autonomously by using onboard software and will navigate by using optical sensors. Included in its approximately 40 kg exobiology payload will be a lightweight drilling system, a sampling and handling device, and a set of scientific instruments to search for signs of past or present life.
In order to be successful ExoMars will require advanced technology in the following areas:
rover systems
landing systems
an inflatable braking device
power supply
autonomy and navigation
Although this presents a considerable technological challenge for European and Canadian industry, it will bring to fruition many years of technological development both at ESA and national level.

Read more on www.esa.int

Picture courtesy - www.esa.int/images

SOMALIA - HOSTAGE RELEASED FROM PIRATES ON LUXURY YACHT ''LE PONANT''

2008-04-11T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Passengers !

AP has reported from Paris that Pirates seized control of a French luxury yacht carrying 30 crew members Friday off the coast of Somalia. Attackers stormed the 288-foot sailing ship Le Ponant as it made passage without passengers between the Seychelles and the Med.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon told reporters that "The Defense and Foreign ministries are mobilized to act as quickly as possible, I hope in the coming minutes or hours to try to win the freedom of these hostages." A military spokesman said later that a French warship, the frigate Le Commandant Bouan, had been ordered to track the yacht Le Ponant. A helicopter from the Canadian warship Charlottetown also was dispatched, Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck said.

He declined to say if any military operation might be planned, and said he did not know the exact location of the yacht.

Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off the Somali coast last year. The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region. Last year, the guided missile destroyer USS Porter opened fire to destroy pirate skiffs tied to a Japanese tanker.

The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, said in its annual report earlier this year that global pirate attacks rose 10 percent in 2007, marking the first increase in three years.

Courtesy - yachtpals.com
Discover now more information about this hostage rescue with the following report made by AAA Press on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

LE PONANT

* 30 Crew members
* French Flag
* Length Overall: 88m
* Draft : 4m
* Beam : 12m
* Sail Area: 1500 m²
* Speed under sail : 14 / 6 Knots
* Horse Power of Engine : 2,200 hp
* Tonnage : 850 tons
* Le Ponant complies with all the required International maritime certification.
* Classification : Lloyd's register of shipping
* Restaurant seats 67 grand salon, salon terrace.
* Show area, night club, library, video salon
* 400 m² of Sun Deck
* 32 staterooms, safe, radio hifi.
* Satellite Telephone, Fax, Telex.

On April 11th, 2008 Sailor (anonymous) says:

THE HOSTAGES HAVE BEEN FREED

PARIS (AFP) — The French military on Friday detained six pirates after they freed the 30 crew members of a French luxury sailing boat that had been seized a week ago off the coast of Somalia, officials said. President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier announced that the hostages including 22 French crew members of Le Ponant had been freed in an operation that took place "without incident."

Armed forces chief of staff General Jean-Louis Georgelin said that half of the hostage takers were arrested about one hour after they had released the crew and had returned on land. The six pirates were taken aboard a French navy ship where they were being held on Friday, said a statement from the French presidency.

"We were able to track the pirates which enabled a helicopter-borne action to intercept half of them," Georgelin told a news conference. Owned by French charter company CMA-CGM, Le Ponant was en route to the Mediterranean from the Seychelles when pirates boarded the vessel last Friday.

The 32-cabin three-masted vessel used for luxury cruises later anchored off Puntland, a breakaway northern region of Somalia, with a French navy ship in attendance, while negotiations with the pirates took place. Asked whether France had paid a ransom to secure the release of the crew, Georgelin said no "public funds" were paid to the hostage-takers.

The release of the hostages resulted from a "negotiation between the ship owner and the pirates by radio" and "it's up to the ship owner to reveal if he so desires the nature of these negotiations," said Georgelin. The 30 crew members -- including six Filipinos, one Ukrainian and a Cameroonian as well as the French sailors -- were headed to Djibouti where France has a large military base, a source there said.

In a statement, Sarkozy expressed "his deep gratitude to the French army forces and all the state services who helped bring about a quick end, without incident, to this hostage taking." "Not a shot was fired. It all took place calmly," said a French official, who asked not to be named.

Valerie Garrec, whose 20-year-old son Thibaut was among the hostages, praised Sarkozy's handling of the crisis after receiving a call from the president's office announcing the good news around midday. "They said they were free and safe and we don't know anything more. Now I am waiting to speak to my son by phone," Garrec told AFP from her home in Brittany, northern France.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said preparations were being made to return the freed hostages to France as soon as possible. Experts said the hostages were being held by the "Somali Marines," which they described as the most powerful gang of pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.

France sent a helicopter and navy vessels to the area, but Prime Minister Francois Fillon said authorities would not resort to force. A French naval warship maintained close surveillance with troops from the French gendarmerie's elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit stationed in nearby Djibouti.

Kouchner on Friday urged the international community to take action to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast and said talks were underway at the United Nations on the issue.
The foreign minister asked the UN Security Council to set up a surveillance system for navigation off the coast of Somalia, saying that some 230 to 300 boats were attacked in that area last year.

Read more on yachtpals.com

Picture courtesy - i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia

SING, SING PERFORMED BY ULTRAORANGE & EMMANUELLE SEIGNER

2008-03-03T20:00:00.032Z

Hi Passengers !

Someone talkin' to my soul
Someone shakin' my knee bone
Someone ringing at my door
And I'm crawling on the floor
I got shivers on my own
I got quivers to the bone
It's contagious
Don't know why
Someone drink
My blood like a glass of wine

Got nowhere to hide
Inside your dirty mind
I wanna say no
But my heart keep sayin'
I want more

So I sing sing sing
I'm so prisoner
I'm your thing
I just sing sing sing
I got a ball and chain
And I learn how to swim

I wake up in the morning
My body's achin
I still have no memories
Of what we were doin'
You said the world is filled with crocodiles
You said we're surrounded by sharks
With your white horse
My prince of the darkness
I'm gonna fly away
I'm gonna fly away

Got nowhere to hide
Inside your dirty mind
I wanna say no
But my heart keep sayin'
I want more

So I sing sing sing
I'm so prisoner
I'm your thing
I just sing sing sing
I got a ball and chain
And I learn how to swim
Sing sing

Lyrics courtesy - www.tourte.org

Discover now some information about Ultraorange & Emmanuelle with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

ULTRAORANGE & Emmanuelle

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle was a collaboration between French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and band Ultra Orange.

Background

The Ultra Orange of this merger is duo Pierre Emery and Gil Lesage, who released two previous albums in France before teaming up with Seigner. Their self titled album released on 26th of March 2007 they have been likened to such artists as Mazzy Star, Sonic Youth and even Brigitte Bardot.

Album

"Sing Sing" - 3:31
"Simple Words" - 4:42
"Rosemary's Lullaby" - 4:57
"Bunny" - 3:06
"Lines of My Hand" - 2:31
"Touch My Shadow" - 3:31
"Don't Kiss Me Goodbye" - 4:15
"Won't Lovers Revolt Now" - 3:30
"Nobody Knows" - 4:30
"The Good from the Bad" - 3:19
"One Day" - 2:34

The lead single from the album was "Sing Sing", the music video was shot in black and white. It had a limited run on ABCs Rage Music Program.

The song "Don't Kiss Me Goodbye" is featured in the movie Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).

The song "Rosemary's Lullaby" samples the basic tune of the theme from the Roman Polanski film Rosemary's Baby. Emmanuelle Seigner is married to Polanski.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - img.youtube.com

ON THE TURNING AWAY PERFORMED BY PINK FLOYD

2008-01-14T20:00:00.000Z

Hi Passengers !

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"

It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone

In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?

Lyrics courtesy - www.lyricsfreak.com

Discover now some information about ''On the turning away'' performed by Pink Floyd with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Pink Floyd's official website
Pink Floyd companies grouped at OpenCorporates
Pink Floyd on Progarchives

Personnel
David Gilmour — Guitars, vocals and sequencers
Nick Mason — Percussion
Richard Wright — synthesizers and backing vocals
Tony Levin — Bass guitar
Jim Keltner — Drums
Jon Carin — Synthesizer

"On the Turning Away" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Released as the second single from the album, it reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in early 1988. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 55 on the UK Singles Chart.

A live performance of the song was featured on both the video and double CD releases of Delicate Sound of Thunder. The song, a power ballad, references issues of poverty and oppression, lamenting on the tendency of people to turn away from those afflicted with such conditions. It ends on a hopeful note, with the last stanza beginning, "no more turning away …". It is also a song that recovers the mysticism of songs like "Wish You Were Here" or "Us and Them", but this time treating topics like the suffering of people; the phrase "weak and the weary" portrays the suffering of people as a big problem in today's world.

The song was the fifth track from the album performed when A Momentary Lapse of Reason was played live from 1987 to 1989. The track was also performed sometimes during the band's 1994 Division Bell tour, as the song was a U.S. rock radio hit. Although a live version didn't make it to the live album and video Pulse, which docummented the tour, a version combined of bootleg footage appears among the bonus features of the DVD release of the film.

The music video for the track was composed of a live recording and concert footage filmed during the band's three night run at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia in November 1987 directed by Lawrence Jordan (who has directed concert films for Rush, Mariah Carey and Billy Joel). Videos for "The Dogs of War" and "One Slip" were also filmed from this concert. The video went to number nine on MTV's Video Countdown in January 1988.

The five-disc deluxe edition of David Gilmour's Live in Gdańsk, as well as the vinyl edition also contain a recording of Gilmour singing "On the Turning Away" in Venice on August 12, 2006. Halfway through the song, Gilmour forgets the lyrics; however, he laughs it off, and with a little support from the crowd makes a recovery.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Pink Floyd in January 1968
Left to right: Mason, Barrett, Gilmour (seated), Waters and Wright.

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

BEACH SEQUENCE PERFORMED BY PASSENGERS

2007-11-17T20:00:00.050Z

Hi Passengers !

Time shoots on by...

Lyrics courtesy - www.songs-lyrics.net

All music composed by Passengers (Brian Eno, Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen, Jr.).
1. "United Colours" - United Colours of Plutonium (Japan) 5:31
2. "Slug" - Slug (Germany) 4:41
3. "Your Blue Room" - Par-delà les nuages / Beyond the Clouds (Italy) 5:28
4. "Always Forever Now" - Always Forever Now (Hong Kong) 6:24
5. "A Different Kind of Blue" - An Ordinary Day (USA) 2:02
6. "Beach Sequence" - Par-delà les nuages / Beyond the Clouds (Italy) 3:25
7. "Miss Sarajevo" (featuring Luciano Pavarotti) - Miss Sarajevo (USA) 5:41
8. "Ito Okashi" (featuring Holi) - Ito Okashi / Something Beautiful (Japan) 3:25
9. "One Minute Warning" - Ghost in the Shell (Japan) 4:40
10. "Corpse (These Chains are Way too Long)" - Gibigiane / Reflections (Italy) 3:35
11. "Elvis Ate America" (featuring Howie B) - Elvis Ate America (USA) 2:59
12. "Plot 180" - Hypnotize (Love Me 'til Dawn) (UK) 3:41
13. "Theme from The Swan" - The Swan (Hungary) 3:24
14. "Theme from Let's Go Native" - Let's Go Native (South Africa) 3:07
Total length : 58:03

Bonus track (UK promo and Japan only)

15. "Bottoms (Watashitachi No Ookina Yume) (Zoo Station Remix)"
Recording studio scene from Bottoms (Australia) 4:11

Total length : 62:14

Data courtesy - Brian Eno

Discover now some information about this unique Passengers album with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Original Soundtracks 1

Original Soundtracks) is a 1995 album recorded by U2 and Brian Eno, as a side project, under the pseudonym Passengers. It is a collection of songs written for mostly imaginary movies (the exclusions being songs for Heat, Ghost in the Shell, Miss Sarajevo, and Beyond the Clouds).

Background

U2 and producer Brian Eno formed Passengers as a side-project during the preliminary recording sessions for U2's 1997 album, Pop. Their intention was to record a soundtrack for Peter Greenaway's 1996 film The Pillow Book as a warm up before the main Pop sessions. Though the plan did not come to fruition, Eno suggested they continue recording for imaginary films. U2 were unsure of the idea at first, but agreed after Eno told them that producing radio hits was not the goal of the collaboration.

U2 had frequently improvised in the past, and in the Original Soundtracks 1 sessions they engaged in free-form jamming to video clips from various films. Eno stated, "Listening to the original improvisations as they came off the floor, you feel the excitement of the process ... You have to be careful not to disturb the organic flow of the thing." The group brought in producer Howie B to cut down and mix some of the tracks after several hours of jam sessions had been recorded.

Part of the group's intent in creating Original Soundtracks 1 had been to make a "night-time" record. Lead vocalist Bono said, "It feels like it's been set on the bullet train in Tokyo. Every record has a location, a place where you enjoy listening to it, whether that be a bedroom or a club, well this record location is a fast train. It's slo-mo music though. But it has an odd sense of speed in the background." He also noted that when creating works for soundtracks the visual suggestion from the music is more important than the story told by the lyrics. With this in mind the band had tried to create "visual music" when recording, continuing a trend that began with their 1993 song "Zooropa".

Writing, recording, and composition

The genesis, recording and subsequent release of the album is detailed in Eno's diaries A Year with Swollen Appendices.

About half of the album is instrumental, and the vocal tracks generally stray from the clear hooks and melodies that usually define U2's work. Of these, the delicate "Miss Sarajevo", featuring Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti on vocals, is considered the most memorable.

One of the tracks, "Your Blue Room", features Adam Clayton reciting the final verse. This marks only his second recorded vocal on a U2 project, the first being on "Endless Deep", the B-side to 1983's "Two Hearts Beat as One".

Brian Eno alluded to some extra tracks that were recorded with the Japanese singer Holi at the time and that they may be released at some point in the future: "...in fact we did several things together in four hours. Some of the other pieces are really lovely too, and I'm sure will see the light of day. But she was absolutely fantastic."

Music for films

The album alleges to be a collection of songs written for movies, hence the title Original Soundtracks. The album's booklet contains detailed descriptions of the film for which each song was written. Most of the films are non-existent; however, three of the 13 films listed on the album are real: Beyond the Clouds, Miss Sarajevo, and Ghost in the Shell.

This concept can be seen as something of a successor to Eno's Music for Films album and is also the base of the Dutch electronic duo Arling & Cameron's album "Music for Imaginary Films".

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - assets.mog.com

AROUND GLIESE 581 - A PLANET COULD HARBOR WATER AND LIFE

2007-04-25T20:00:00.003+01:00

Hi Passengers!

Discovery at 120 trillion miles away from earth of Gliese 581c, a planet outside our solar system opening the ways to exploration over extraterrestrial life in the coming futur.

"Exploration of space has allowed for a greater understanding of our planet earth and it place in the universe. Astronomers recently discovered an Earth-like planet revolving a Red Dwarf Star in another galaxy where there is a great potential for life.

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now some information about this exoplanet which can harbor life with the following numeric report made by Universum Observatorium on WEB 2.0 - Carpe Diem Passengers - GEO 66

Video: A World Like Our Own
Planet Hunters Edge Closer to Their Holy Grail
Habitable Planets: Disaster Zones and Safe Havens
10 Years of Planet Hunting: Amazing Variety Out There
Planets Found in Potentially Habitable Setup
Video: Planet Hunter

An Earth-like planet spotted outside our solar system

Major Discovery

This exoplanet is the first found that could support liquid water and harbor life, scientists announced today.

Liquid water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. The newfound planet is located at the "Goldilocks" distance-not too close and not too far from its star to keep water on its surface from freezing or vaporizing away.

And while astronomers are not yet able to look for signs of biology on the planet, the discovery is a milestone in planet detection and the search for extraterrestrial life, one with the potential to profoundly change our outlook on the universe.

"The goal is to find life on a planet like the Earth around a star like the Sun. This is a step in that direction," said study leader Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland. "Each time you go one step forward you are very happy."

The new planet is about 50 percent bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. The new "super-Earth" is called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a diminutive red dwarf star located 20.5 light-years away that is about one-third as massive as the Sun.

Smallest to date

Gliese 581 C is the smallest extrasolar planet, or "exoplanet," discovered to date. It is located about 15 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun; one year on the planet is equal to 13 Earth days. Because red dwarfs, also known as M dwarfs, are about 50 times dimmer than the Sun and much cooler, their planets can orbit much closer to them while still remaining within their habitable zones, the spherical region around a star within which a planet's temperature can sustain liquid water on its surface.

Because it lies within its star's habitable zone and is relatively close to Earth, Gliese 581 C could be a very important target for future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, said study team member Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University in France.

"On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X," Delfosse said.

Two other planets are known to inhabit the red dwarf system. One is a 15 Earth-mass "hot-Jupiter" gas planet discovered by the same team two years ago, which orbits even closer to its star than does Gliese 581 C. Another is an 8 Earth-mass planet discovered at the same time as Gliese 581 C, but which lies outside its star's habitable zone.

Possible waterworld

Computer models predict Gliese 581 C is either a rocky planet like Earth or a waterworld covered entirely by oceans.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid," Udry said.

The scientists discovered the new world using the HARP instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 meter telescope in La Sille, Chile. They employed the so-called radial velocity, or "wobble," technique, in which the size and mass of a planet are determined based on small perturbations it induces in its parent star's orbit via gravity.

Udry said there was a fair amount of time between the calculation of Gliese 581 C's size and the realization it was within its star's habitable zone. "That came at the end," Udry said.

When it did hit him, Udry knew he would be spending time fielding phone calls from the media. "You right away think about the journalists who will like it very much," he told SPACE.com.

More to come

David Charbonneau, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) who was not involved in the study, said the new finding is an "absolutely fantastic discovery."

"It means there probably are many more such planets out there," Charbonneau said in a telephone interview. Whether Gliese 581 C harbors life is still unknown, but "it satisfies for the first time a key requirement."

Charbonneau also praised the team's technical skills. "The wobble induced on the star by each of these planets is really tiny-it's just a few meters a second. That means their measurement precision is exquisite," he said.

David Latham, another astronomer at Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, echoed other scientists' praise of the discovery but said the next step is to find a similar world where the orbit of the habitable planet carries it between Earth and its parent star. This will allow scientists to observe it using the transit technique, whereby the small dimming starlight caused by the planet's passage across the face of its sun can be used to calculate its size.

Only then can scientists determine for certain whether the world is rocky or covered by water, Latham said.

Alan Boss, a planetary theorist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said the new planet's potential for liquid water made it "fascinating." Gliese 581 C "is the closest planet to another Earth that has been found to date. I hope the SETI folks are listening," Boss said.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI institute, said the Gliese 581 system has in fact been looked at twice before for signs of intelligent life. The first time was in 1995 using the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia; the second time occured in 1997 using the 140-foot telescope in Greenbank,West Virgina. Both times revealed nothing.

"It has been looked at twice, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at it again," Shostak said. "And indeed we should because this is the best candidate the extrasolar planet guys have come up with yet."

Shostak said he was "jazzed" by the discovery. "This is pointing to something that in the past has only been an assumption, namely that Earth-sized worlds are not rare," he said. "We know of only two [planets in the habitable zone]. We know this one and we know our own. But two is better than one."

Shostak said the Gliese 581 system will likely be looked at again over much wider range of the radio spectrum when the new Allen Telescope Array begins operations this summer.

"You could say it's going to the head of the class," he said.

Read more on www.space.com

Picture courtesy - www.floridabooks.net

OTHERWISE PERFORMED BY MORCHEEBA

2007-03-03T20:00:00.001Z

Hi Passengers !

They wanted me here
Just to show you my face
But when it comes to the crunch
I just hide in disgrace
You're calling me mad
But i know you're the same
Cause you got to be seen to be playing the game
Yes we got to be seen to be playing, the game

It ain't gonna hurt now
If you open up your eyes
You're making it worse now
Everytime you criticise
I'm under your curse now
But I call it compromise
I thought that you were wise
But you were otherwise

A specimen like you
I would love to obtain
I asked a tedious guy if he'd tell me your name
I'd love to impress you
With a back summersault
I wanna take up your love
But it's locked in a vault
I wanna take up your love
But it's locked in a vault

It ain't gonna hurt now
If you open up your eyes
You're making it worse now
Everytime you criticise
I'm under your curse now
But I call it compromise
I thought that you were wise
But you were otherwise

When i open my mouth
thoughts are brutally honest
And i can't expect that kind of love from you
When you open your mouth
Your teeth are beautifully polished
And i can't extract the pain you're going through
No i can't explain
The pain you're going through

It ain't gonna hurt now
If you open up your eyes
You're making it worse now
Everytime you womanise
I'm under your curse now
But I call it compromise
I'm under your curse

It ain't gonna hurt now
If you open up your eyes
You're making it worse now
Everytime you criticise
I'm under your curse now
But I call it compromise
I thought that you were wise
But you were otherwise

Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

Discover now some information about Morcheeba with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Official website
Interview with Morcheeba on kevchino.com

MORCHEEBA

Morcheeba are a British band mixing influences from trip hop, rock, R&B, and pop.

Sometime in the mid-1990s, the Godfrey brothers (DJ Paul Godfrey and multi-instrumentalist Ross Godfrey) recruited Skye Edwards as vocalist, during a chance meeting at a party in which both brothers were introduced to Edwards. This led to the formation of Morcheeba.

The band's debut album, Who Can You Trust? was released on China Records in April 1996. and fitted smoothly into the then-modish trip hop genre, with instrumentation based predominantly around Rhodes piano, electric guitar and DJ scratching, with the songs carried by Edwards' relaxed soul-styled vocals.

The follow-up, 1998's Big Calm, moved slightly away from trip-hop towards a more pop-oriented, song-based sound. This was exemplified by the band's remaking of "Moog Island" (a song from the previous album) in a more summery, upbeat style, with the new title of "The Music That We Hear". One of the album's singles, "The Sea", became a hit and a radio favourite. The album proved to be a big seller and ensured Morcheeba's success as a breakthrough act. In 1998, Morcheeba collaborated with Hubert Laws to record for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody, a tribute to George Gershwin, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

In 2000, Morcheeba released their third album, Fragments of Freedom. This repeated the sales success of Big Calm but received a less positive critical response. The band's fourth album, Charango, was released in 2002, and spawned several singles including "Otherwise," "Way Beyond," and "Undress Me Now" (the release of the latter was cancelled, despite the creation and release of an expensive, erotic Balinese-inspired CGI video). In an indication of what would follow, several tracks on the album did not feature Edwards, and were instead written with and sung by Lambchop's Kurt Wagner or by emcees Pace Won and Slick Rick.

In 2003, the Godfrey brothers dismissed Edwards from Morcheeba, citing musical (and some personal) differences. A greatest hits compilation, Parts of the Process, helped to sustain momentum and featured two new tracks - "What's Your Name" (featuring a rhyming cameo from Big Daddy Kane) and "I Can't Stand It." At around the same time, Morcheeba released the live DVD Morcheeba: From Brixton to Beijing.

In 2005 Morcheeba released their fifth studio (and first post-Skye Edwards) album, The Antidote. Daisy Martey (formerly of the band Noonday Underground) was recruited to replace Edwards as the album vocalist. However, Martey's period with the band was brief and she was sacked in the middle of the promotional tour, to be replaced by Jody Sternberg. Sternberg's own tenure with the band was similarly brief, and she only appears to have been part of the band to fulfil tour dates.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - i193.photobucket.com

MY FRIENDS PERFORMED BY RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

2007-01-30T20:00:00.036Z

Hi Passengers!

My friends are so depressed
I feel the question of your loneliness
Confide...'cause I'll be on your side
You know I will, you know I will

Ex-girlfriend called me up
Alone and desperate on the prison phone
They want to give her seven years
For being sad

I love all of you
Hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know yourself

My friends are so distressed
And standing on the brink of emptiness
No words I know of to express
This emptiness

I love all of you
Hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know yourself

Imagine me, taught by tragedy
Release is peace

I heard a little girl
And what she said was something beautiful
To give your love no matter what
Is what she said

I love all of you
Hurt by the cold
So hard and lonely too
When you don't know yourself

Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

Discover now some information about Red Hot Chilli Peppers with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Official website
Chili Peppers Book: Part Scrapbook, Part Love Letter

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers (sometimes referred to as RHCP) is an American rock band. They formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983.

The band's current line-up consists of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), Chad Smith (drums) and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar). The group's musical style has fused traditional funk with elements of other genres, including punk and psychedelic rock.

The group's original line-up featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988, resulting in Irons's departure. Former Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro briefly replaced Irons before the band found a permanent replacement in Smith. Guitarist John Frusciante replaced Slovak. This line-up recorded the band's fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth albums, Mother's Milk (1989), Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), Californication (1999), By the Way (2002), and Stadium Arcadium (2006).

Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the group's first commercial success, has sold over seventeen million copies. Frusciante grew uncomfortable with the success of the band and left abruptly in 1992, in the middle of the album tour. His use of heroin increased. After recruiting guitarist Arik Marshall to complete the tour, Kiedis, Flea, and Smith employed Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction for their subsequent album, One Hot Minute (1995).

Although commercially successful, the album failed to match the critical or popular acclaim of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, selling less than half as well as its predecessor. Navarro left the band shortly after the album's release. Frusciante, fresh out of drug rehabilitation, rejoined the band in 1998 at Flea's request. The reunited quartet returned to the studio to record Californication (1999), which sold fifteen million copies – the band's most commercially successful album. That album was followed three years later by By the Way (2003), which was also successful.

In 2006, the group released the double album Stadium Arcadium, their first number one album in America. After a world tour, the group went on an extended hiatus. Frusciante announced he was amicably leaving the band to focus on his solo career. Josh Klinghoffer, who had worked both as a sideman for the band on their Stadium Arcadium tour and on Frusciante's solo projects, joined as lead guitarist.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have won 7 Grammy Awards. The band has sold over 65 million albums worldwide, charting eight singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 (including three in the Top 10), five number one singles on the Mainstream Rock charts, and a record of eleven number one singles on the Modern Rock charts.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

NOTHING GONNA STOP ME NOW PERFORMED BY SAMANTHA FOX

2007-01-14T20:00:00.028Z

Hi passengers !

Nothing's gonna stop me now
Nothing's gonna stop me now

There was a time I couldn't get you out of my mind
And since the day you came you tried to take control of me
Then came the day, I thought about running away
And now my bags are packed, don't even think of holding me back

Nothing's gonna stop me now
And I don't wanna talk it over
I said nothing's gonna stop me now
Gonna break it up
Gonna take my love away, yeah, yeah

Day after day, I started slippin' away
You took my self respect and you made a fool of me
Time after time, I turned it 'round in my mind
And now my mind's made up to leave the past behind me

Time after time, I turned it 'round in my mind
And now my mind's made up to leave the past behind me

Nothing's gonna stop me now
Nothing's gonna stop me now

There was a time I couldn't get you out of my mind
And since the day you came you tried to take control of me
Then came the day, I thought about running away
And now my bags are packed, don't even think of holding me back

Nothing's gonna stop me now
And I don't wanna talk it over
I said nothing's gonna stop me now
Gonna break it up
Gonna take my love away, yeah, yeah

Day after day, I started slippin' away
You took my self respect and you made a fool of me
Time after time, I turned it 'round in my mind
And now my mind's made up to leave the past behind me

Time after time, I turned it 'round in my mind
And now my mind's made up to leave the past behind me

Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

Discover now some information about song ''Nothing gonna stop me now'' with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now (song)

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" is a pop song performed by British singer Samantha Fox and written and produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. It was released as the first single from Samantha’s second album, Samantha Fox, in the second quarter of 1987.

The single peaked at number twenty-two in Australia and became Samantha's third and final top ten single in the United Kingdom, peaking at eight. However, in the United States, it reached only number eighty. It was a Top 10 hit in Continental Europe.

Music video

The music video was filmed in Marbella, Spain. Samantha Fox is shown using several forms of locomotion including a Sunseeker XPS 34 motorboat, a horse, an Alfa Romeo Spider, a Cessna Skymaster, and a BMX bike.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

NEW YEAR' S DAY PERFORMED BY U2 - (MEMENTO 1983)

2006-12-31T20:00:00.046Z

Hi Passengers!

Yeah...
All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true it's true...
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

I...I will begin again
I...I will begin again

Oh...
Maybe the time is right
Oh...maybe tonight...

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we're told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes
On New Year's Day
Lyrics courtesy - www.sing365.com

MEMENTO 1983

It was in December 31, 1983 during the party with all my school friends in a garage nearby of Saint Victoret (Southern France).

It was midnight when Veronique have the genious idea to listen this soundtrack on the stereo, a song never heard before : "New year's day" performed by Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton from U2.

I just want to remember 23 years later this was one of the most deep and lovely moment of my life with her and the beggining of my interest for the music made by this Irish band.

Text : John Gregorio

Discover now some information about new year's day performed by U2 with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

New Year's Day (song)

"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at #10 on the singles chart, #11 on the Dutch Top 40 and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their career. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed the single at #427 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". This song was also included in the Pitchfork 500.

Writing and composition

The lyric had its origins in a love song from Bono to his wife, but was subsequently reshaped and inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement. The bass part stemmed from bassist Adam Clayton trying to figure out what the chords to the Visage song "Fade to Grey" were.

In 1983, Bono said of the song, "It would be stupid to start drawing up battle lines, but I think the fact that 'New Year's Day' made the Top Ten indicated a disillusionment among record buyers. I don't think 'New Year's Day' was a pop single, certainly not in the way that Mickie Most might define a pop single as something that lasts three minutes and three weeks in the chart. I don't think we could have written that kind of song.

Music video

The music video features the band performing in the snow. The video was one of their first to see heavy rotation on MTV. It was filmed in Sälen, Sweden in December 1982 and directed by Meiert Avis. The band only appeared in the performance scenes of the video as it was filmed in the dead of the Swedish winter.

U2 guitarist Edge revealed in the official U2 biography that the four people riding on horseback in the video that appeared to be the four U2 members were in fact four Swedish teenage girls disguised as the members of U2 riding on horseback with masks over their faces. This was done as the band were frozen from shooting the video in sub-freezing temperatures the day before. Their biography states that Bono refused to wear any headgear despite the cold weather and had a lot of trouble mouthing the lyrics. The video also features footage of Soviet troops advancing in winter during World War II.

The video made its debut UK television broadcast on Friday 31 December 1982, on the Channel 4 music programme, 'The Tube'.

U2 allowed free-of-charge use of this song in a spot prepared by the European Commission. This clip published on YouTube shows a transformation of Poland in last 20 years mixed with short scenes from today’s Warsaw seen from a perspective of a 20-year-old woman.

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - upload.wikimedia.org

AN EAGLE IN YOUR MIND PERFORMED BY BOARDS OF CANADA

2006-08-08T20:00:00.089+01:00

Hi Passengers !

Tonight start the launch of Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - This label will teach you about sounds & songs from all over the world remembering the dates of birth of some friends that i still don't forget and from who i 've learn a lot about music too...

For this first message at the date of August 8, 2006 was selected a song performed by Boards of Canada - An eagle in your mind - I believe that you will enjoy it soon if you reach today 40 years old. Happy birthday anyway !

Text : John Gregorio

"Holts are nearly always close to the sea,
fallen boulders, old ruins, and cliffs,
all at the top of a [sand crevice?],
high above the sea:
a safe place for cubs.
We wait ... tense. We're disappointed.
She leaves her [sprint?] loaded by others of us
The holts are evenly [spent?], about 500 meters apart,
[some warped speech] who passes by, or they (advertise?)"

Lyrics courtesy - www.lyricsreg.com

Discover now some information about Boards of Canada with the following numeric report made by Night Barman on WEB 2.0 - Carpe diem passengers - GEO 66

Official sites
Boards of Canada official website
Boards of Canada at MySpace
Music70
Hexagon Sun
Boards of Canada official YouTube channel

BOARDS OF CANADA

(commonly abbreviated BoC) are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison (born June 1, 1970) and Marcus Eoin (born July 21, 1971). They are signed with Warp Records and have released several works on that label with little advertising and few interviews, while also having an elusive and obscure back-catalogue of releases on their self-run Music70 label. They have also recorded four tracks under the alias Hell Interface.

Musical style

Boards of Canada's music is reminiscent of the warm, analogue sounds of 1970s media and contains themes of childhood, nostalgia and the natural world. Mike and Marcus have mentioned the documentary films of the National Film Board of Canada, from which the group's name is derived, as a source of inspiration.

Sound and methods

BoC's sound is a product of their use of analog equipment, mix of electronic and conventional instrumentation, use of distorted samples as well as live and recorded lyrics, and their layering and blending of these elements. Because they avoid a purely synthetic sound, their music is often described as having a warm, emotive quality often meant to inspire nostalgia. This is helped by the use of samples from 1970s television shows and other media prevalent in the era of the brothers' shared childhood, especially the nature-inspired documentaries produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Brief interludes or vignettes feature prominently in BoC's music. Such songs are often weaving melodies or speech accompanied by atmospherics to capture a specific moment or mood. They often last less than two minutes, but, as BoC state, "we write far more of [these] than the so-called 'full-on' tracks, and, in a way, they are our own favorites".

BoC have written an enormous number of such fragments as well as full-length tracks, most of which have been held back from release. It does not appear that their music is made exclusively for commercial release; rather, albums seem to be the result of selecting complementary songs from current work. For instance, Geogaddi's development allegedly involved the creation of 400 song fragments and 64 complete songs, of which 22 were selected (possibly 23, if the final track of complete silence is included). Says Marcus: "The idea of the perfect album is this amorphous thing that we're always aiming at […] the whole point of making music is at least to aim at your own idea of perfection."

Interviews with the Sandison brothers provide some insight into their creative inspiration. They have cited several acts that have influenced their work, including Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band ("we have all the String Band records […] our rural sensibilities are similar"), The Beatles ("[they] really became enthralling to us through their psychedelism") and My Bloody Valentine ("even if we don't sound like them, there's a connection in terms of the approach to music").

They have also expressed a strong interest in the power of subliminal messaging and their work is full of cryptic messages, including references to numerology and cult figures such as David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, amongst other vague hints. When questioned about their aims in making such references, BoC express themselves in neutral terms ("We're not religious at all [...] and if we're spiritual at all it's purely in the sense of caring about art and inspiring people with ideas.") while remaining fascinated with the ability of music to influence the minds of others ("[We] do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural. I think you actually manipulate people with music...").

Read more on en.wikipedia.org

Picture courtesy - 26.media.tumblr.com


Instruments on the Mars Express orbiter can observe selected areas of the Martian surface


ESA astronaut Frank de Winne on the International Space Station


Artist's impression of the ExoMars rover drilling into the Martian surface