Miyavi : TOMARE TOMARE TOKEI YO TOMARE

credits tomyv382tokyo

LM.C: punky heart (Maple story ver)

So cute ^ ^

Credit: Klaziki

Daizystripper- The beauty single tracklist

Tracklist:
01. 色彩ヴィヴィッド (Shikisai vivid)
02. MR.UNCHAIN
03. #13
04. 雪恋華 (Setsurenka)
05. リリカルナイト (Lyrical night)
06. Little Ballerina

Credit: Danger Mind

KAREN: Enemy [PV]

Credits to UKPROJECTofficial

Their newest release ^.^

nil delete heads : -barbaric mind-

-barbaric mind-
2009.08.19
01.00
02.barbaric
03.gorou
04.自我logic (jiga logic)
05.霞むヒカリ (kasumu hikari)
06.Dumping↓DropShow
320 kBits
Credits to kagerou @ TW
DOWNLOAD HERE

12012 : Free Live @ Shibuya C.C.Lemon Hall

Source : Music Japan+

At the beginning of the year, 12012 had declared that their activities for 2009 will be a ‘full-scale attack'. Staying true to their pledge the band released their second major album ‘mar maroon', performed a solo concert at Shibuya AX, and completed a 12 day concert during the summer. Having successfully pulled off those feats, 12012 will now release a new single titled ‘薄紅と雨 / Usubeni to Ame [lit. Light Red and Rain]' on Wednesday October 7th. After that, they announced that they will hold a large scale free concert.

Deriving from their band name ‘12012', every year the band had held a live event on December (12) 12th. For this year they will perform a free concert at Shibuya C.C.Lemon Hall. Fans will have a total of free chances to acquire a ticket to the live performance. The details will be revealed on their official website.

Immediately after releasing their single, from Sunday October 11th, 12012 will embark on a concert tour titled ‘TOUR -薄紅と雨- / TOUR -Usubeni to Ame-‘. They will perform in 8 cities nationwide. Their full-scale attack is set to become even fiercer.

VAMPS: So-Net Music Comment

Credits to Blu3S3a

Off topic: Cat talk..

*coughs* prepares for a scolding from Edoh D:

Credits to LiquidGenerationTube

Rxchaxl: All this talk about cats lately has got me thinking about a video I found through Rumdrunkmonkey the other day 8D

Maybe it's just me who finds it humourous, I'm just that simple minded >.<

Also, possibly the creepest video ever. D's Asagi and Hide visiting a cat cafe? :O

Credits to NyaliceInNekoland

Off topic : G-Dragon : Breathe MV

At first I thought it was funny that he had a yellow glove with a smiley face on... then I was shocked after 2mins 43secs

Stylist fail.

credits to YGEntertainment

edoh & new template design~

And so~ its that time of the year again (no, not christmas yet. ho ho ho)

What do you think about the layout? do you like it?
I spent the whole of yesterday coding and remaking! but its still not finished...
For those who dont know, thats tora from alice nine and his cat chikin [lolololol. mmm chicken]!

I made a poll yesterday, and it seems the most of you like it! hurray!

but theres several who dont, so I'd like you to tell me how I can improve!

or is it just because you guys dont like cats?!

VAMPS: SWEET DREAMS

Release date: 2009.09.30

Tracklist:

01. SWEET DREAMS

02. SWEET DREAMS - acoustic

Download: Mediafire

Credits to Arya92 @Nigihana

LAST ALLIANCE : WEDGE [PV]

credits to JPNster2009

Miyavi : Video @ Berlin

credits to myv382tokyo

BERLIN IN THE RAIN

BERLIN NIGHT

[its loud] YOU SO SEXY (in Japanese)

WHY DONT U JOIN US ?

Kagrra, : Shiki PV preview

credits to TheGazettE3

High Windows

I’m really just discovering Philip Larkin as a poet, though I memorised This be the Verse a few years ago just for the pleasure of shocking the other girls at my boarding school. But he is a super poet, he truly is, with a uniquely English perspective on things. At the moment my favourite amongst his poems is the wonderful High Windows with all of its sad ambiguity. And here it is.

England and Saint George

Traces of the cult of Saint George can be dated right back to Anglo-Saxon times. He appears as early as the ninth century in rituals at Durham, and in a tenth century martyrology. There is evidence, moreover, of pre-Conquest foundations dedicated to St. George: at Fordingham in Dorset, at Thetford, Southwark and Doncaster. So he was already familiar to the English well before the Crusades, though it is not until the reign of Edward III that emerges as the most important national saint, replacing Edward the Confessor. It is probably more accurate to say that the cult was identified specifically with the monarchy, rather than England as a whole. Edward I was the first king to display St. George's banner alongside those of Edmund the Martyr and St. Edward.

By the reign of Edward III he had definitely emerged as a 'god of battles', in much the same fashion as Saintiago Matamoros in Spain. In 1351 it was written "The English nation...call upon Saint George, as being their special patron, especially in war."

In this regard he was certainly more appealing than the unwarlike Confessor or St. Edmund, who had been defeated and subsequently killed by the Danes. But with the succession of Richard II George once again slipped down the ranks. Richard had little of his grandfather's warlike ambitions, and returned to the veneration of the two native saints.

George was called back to national prominence during the Wars of the Roses, when his name was invoked by both sides in the contest. It was also at this time that his cult spread across the nation at large. Almost a hundred wall paintings featuring the saint date from the fifteenth century, almost always showing him in combat with the dragon. He also survives in pilgrim badges. His secular importance was finally confirmed by the English Reformation; for he alone survived the suppression of the cult of saints, which not even the Virgin herself had been able to do.

STA☆MEN: 太陽がくれた季節/聖スタア☆メン学園高校 校歌 single

Tracklist:
01. 太陽がくれた季節
02. 聖スタア☆メン学園高校 校歌
03. 太陽がくれた季節 (カラオケ)
04. 聖スタア☆メン学園高校 校歌 (カラオケ)

Download

Credit: BlackAnne@taintedworld

Downer: JAPANESQUE HIGH VISIONALISM

Tracklist:
01.Onibitou
02.Angel Blue Christmas

Mediafire

Credit: CrM

Sacrlett: Gokusai Ouka

Took 3 months to get uploaded! (Not that i was waiting for it, just thought id point it out).

Release Date: 06/17/09

Tracklist:
1. 摩天楼
2. アゲハ少女
3. 朱色未遂　
4. 曇り眼と嫉妬の狂う　
5. 螢絵 　
6. Hysteric Japanese　

Download: Mediafire

Credits to Champ213 @ Tainted World

Megamasso: Chimes [PV]

Credits to Aysohmay and thanks to kiMi67

Miyavi : From Berlin

credits to myv382tokyo

SCREW : Yuuto Leaves

Source : ST credits to shanti

"To all the fans who have been supporting SCREW,

We truly thank you for always supporting SCREW. The members have an important announcement for everyone.
Even though he’s been our bassist since the beginning of our activities, Yuuto will be leaving the band on December 31st, 2009.

We had countless discussions regarding his decision, and in the end this was the result that was reached. We deeply apologize to all of our fans.

However, after his departure both SCREW and Yuuto will be walking down fresh paths, and with that conclusion, we won’t be looking back. The five of us feel that this is a positive solution, so we hope that you can understand.

There are only a few lives remaining with Yuuto as part of the band, but we hope that you can cheer the five of us on until the very end."

PS COMPANY Co,.Ltd. / Indie PSC.

abingdon boys school : Teaching Materials

Source JaME:
Coinciding with their upcoming European tour, abingdon boys school have announced the release of a special European album, titled Teaching Materials, for October 30th.

The album will be released through German label GAN-SHIN and will contain all of the band's previously released singles, INNOCENT SORROW, HOWLING, Nephilim, BLADE CHORD, JAP and Kimi no uta, as well as their respective B-sides.

Kra: Bird [PV] Preview

Credits to xLiptonxsamax

Megamasso: Chimes [PV] Preview

Credits to PrinnyXchan

Latest single, titled Chimes, due to be released 2009.10.07

Alice Nine: A9 on Nico Nico Douga

Source: MusicJAPANplus

On the online TV website Nico Nico Douga (ββ) a new Nico Nico Live [live broadcast] program featuring Alice Nine will start. The monthly program ‘Alice9ちゃんねる / Alice9Channel' will air its first broadcast on September 29th from 23:00. The members will talk about anything and everything exclusively for Nico Nico Douga users!

In the program Alice Nine will talk about recent developments, the latest trends among members, and details about their songs. They will also discuss private matters as if they were writing personal blogs. Needless to say this will become a must-see program for fans. During the program viewers can submit comments and emails. From the back and forth between the members and fans, the band aims to make a program that can be enjoyed by everybody involved.‘

Alice9ちゃんねる / Alice9Channel'

Date：September 29th (Tuesday) 23:00-24:00 (Studio opens at 22:50)

Hosts：Alice Nine

Email：alice@niwango.co.jp

Nico Nico Douga：http://www.nicovideo.jp/

※Please email questions, impressions about the program, and requests to members.

XOVER: Aureola Previews and New Look

XOVER are due to release their first full album, titled Aureola, on 2009.10.21!

As well as this release XOVER have already updated both their Myspace and OHP, with a new look and samples of songs Utakata no Yuukyuu and Never Ending Garden, which will be featured on the album.

Click here to listen.

D: Zy Vol.48 Comment

Credits to KanashikiYume

D'espairsRay: Zy Vol.48 Comments

Credits to KanashikiYume

Aicle: Tsukicon 2009 Comment

Credits to JrockSuomitube

VISTLIP: Tsukicon 2009 Comment

Credits to JrockSuomitube thanks to Sairen

Any finnish readers out there? :]

Cocklobin: Black Previews and New Look

As mentioned and introduced back here, Cocklobin is due to release their first maxi-single, titled Black, in November!

They've updated their myspace with previews of two tracks, Black and Reborn, which will both be featured on the single and have also been updated with a new look!

Click here to listen.

October 2009 Release Schedule.

A few days early :]

01/10 Dlocy - himitsu no ochakai to alice no omochabako [maxi-single]

01/10 youta - zanzai [maxi single]

03/10 DOGinThe Parallel World Orchestra - CALL NUMBER[119] [live-distributed single]

04/10 utsusemi - KAIBUTU/isho to love letter [maxi-single]

04/10 DressCode - Dress up in the MIRROR [mini album]

07/10 Lycaon - A Box In Beautiful [single]

07/10 THE KIDDIE - soar [maxi-single]

07/10 chariots - hikari [maxi-single]

07/10 ALSDEAD - PARADOX [maxi-single]

07/10 Mr.unknown - The Other Side Of hope [maxi-single]

07/10 the GazettE - Before I Decay [single]

07/10 Girugamesh - Crying rain [single]

07/10 12012 - usubeni to ame [maxi-single]

07/10 MoNoLith - innocent PLAYer》》Fast:Forward [maxi-single]

07/10 megamasso - chimes [maxi-single]

07/10 LAST ALLIANCE - KAWASAKI RELAX [mini-album]

08/10 MoNoLith - innocent PLAYer《《Re:Wind [live-limited single]

09/10 ikd-sj - WoяLd’s Εnd Fяuiτ ВasкeT [album]

14/10 SuG - Life2Die [single]

14/10 meth. - at WILL [maxi-single]

14/10 TRIBAL CHAIR - TRIBAL CHAIR [album]

14/10 dhalis - REACH [mini-album]

15/10 Hora - domiNATE [album]

16/10 toon factory - dessert [maxi-single]

17/10 laevatain - Remnant [maxi single]

17/10 amber gris - joukuu 8000ft -shounen wa tengoku e todoku noka- [maxi-single]

21/10 obscure - nervous decay [maxi-single]

21/10 GOLDEN BOMBER - memeshikute [maxi-single]

21/10 the studs - the studs 20090807 LIQUIDROOM [live DVD]

21/10 M - Kono Yoru o Koete [maxi-single]

21/10 Kagrra, - Shiki [single]

21/10 kiryuu - tsuki no hime [maxi-single]

21/10 baddies - BOOK [maxi-single]

21/10 ViViD - THE ViViD COLOR [mini-album]

21/10 exist†trace - Ambivalent Symphony [mini-album]

21/10 XOVER - Aureola [album]

23/10 GallowS - Fly to [live-limited single]

25/10 DIS★Marionette - Title Unknown [live-distributed single]

27/10 DIR EN GREY - AVERAGE BLASPHEMY [PV-DVD]

28/10 Amaranth - Eternal Promise [live-distributed single]

28/10 Kichiku Ikka - Usagi Ouji to Gelato Hime no Kansetsu Waltz [Maxi-Single]

28/10 Minus Jin-Say Orchestra - Subete no Kyojin wa Tengoku e Mukau [album]

28/10 sendaikamotsu - deko [album]

28/10 sendaikamotsu - LIVE 2008 zekkoumon [live DVD]

28/10 SADIE - MASTER OF ROMANCE [live DVD]

28/10 SCAPEGOAT - kousai endroll [maxi single]

28/10 NightingeiL - kotou no kanojo [maxi-single]

28/10 THE COLD MILK - goku [mini-album]

28/10 matenrou opera - COUPLING COLLECTION 08-09 [album]

28/10 kra - bird [maxi-single]

28/10 Ap(r)il - JUMPER [single]

28/10 Arc - Lady & Gentleman [maxi-single]

28/10 Plastic Tree - sanatorium [maxi-single]

MIYAVI: NETHERLANDS!!

Credits to myv382tokyo

Construction

WEAR A HAT D:

Christmas Died at Naseby Fight

The Battle of Naseby was, of course, the penultimate Puritan victory in the First English Civil War, a victory of the 'new' England over the 'old'; and Christmas, and all that was associated with it, was very much part of the old. The festival was hated, in the first place, because it was 'popish', and in the second, because it was 'pagan'; it had no authority in scripture and it was the occasion for unseemly and drunken revels, presided over by the Lord of Misrule.

In the 1580s Philip Stubbes had written in The Anatomie of Abuses that;

The more mischief is that time committed than in all the year besides, what masking and mumming, whereby robbery, whoredom, murder and what not is committed? What dicing and carding, what eating and drinking, what banqueting and feasting is then used, more than in all the year besides, to the great dishonour of God and impoverising of the realm.

Ah, yes: robbery, whoredom, murder, dicing and carding. Just a typical family Christmas, then!

The festival had also become something of a political battleground between the stricter Protestant sects and Catholic recusants in England; for while it was condemned by the one it was growing in popularity with the other. Catholics, moreover, were quite happy to combine religious devotion with an attachment to the more profane aspects of Christmas celebration. Dorothy Lawson, a Catholic gentlewomam, was noted for celebrating "in both kinds...corporally and spiritually." Christmas thus became a prime target during the period of Puritan ascendency, both before and after Naseby.

The attack began with attempts to divorce the religious from the secular elements of the holiday, with Parliamentary ordinances from 1642 onwards calling for a more 'seemly' observation. The campaign was stepped up in early 1645 with the publication of the Directory of Public Worship, which plainly stated that "Festival days, vulgarly called Holy days, having no Warrent in the Word of God, are not to be continued."

The final victory over the King also saw the victory over Christmas. In June 1647 it was abolished outright. Neverthless, the festival remained popular with ordinary people, and fresh ordinances had to be issued throughout the period of both the Commonwealth and the Protectorate; even people attending church on 25 December were liable for arrest and interrogation by the army. The World is Turned Upside Down was part of a much wider popular and literary response to the whole Puritan campaign, including the wonderful satire The Arraignment, Conviction and Imprisioning of Christmas, printed by 'Simon Minced Pie' for 'Cicely Plum Pottage.'

Alas, England, ruled by Cromwell, in much the same fashion as Narnia was by the White Witch, was a land 'where it was always winter and never Christmas.' Old Father Christmas only returned with Summer and the King!

The Vindication of Brutus

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is as much political allegory as it is history. It is both a celebration and a warning; a celebration of the Imperial achievment and a warning over the sources of decay. For the man who walked through the ruined Forum, reflecting on the vanished glory of Rome, as his ears were filled with the chants of barefooted friars, was as much Marcus Brutus as he was Edward Gibbon. For Gibbon, in the guise of Brutus, the root cause of Roman decline was neither Christianity nor was it Barbarians: it was the willful the abdication of the old republican virtues of freedom and public service.

I consider this passage

If a man were called to fix a period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom.

It is an age of tolerance, of domestic peace and of social harmony. But yet something is missing; and that something is what Gibbon refers to as the 'inestimable gift of freedom.' I am not talking here about 'democracy', which for Gibbon was a dangerous thing, but the concept of the 'balanced constitution'; of law, social responsibility, civic duty and good governance all working in harmony; the kind of constitution that emerged in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution in England.

It is, if you like, also the constitution of the old Roman Republic at its zenith, before it was destroyed by mob violence, class conflict and civil war. For Gibbon civilized life has to be based on an ideal combination of order and 'rational freedom', created by the Republic but lost by the Empire. The Empire, even the Empire of the Antonines, was based on despotism, and as such was "destitute of constitutional freedom." The Antonine state was, as he puts it, "an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of the commonwealth." In other words, if the rule of the Antonines was benevolent it was benevolent by chance alone. It gave rise to Marcus Aurelius; but it could just as easily give way to Commodus.

The contrast Gibbon draws between Aurelius, the father, and Commodus, the son, was intended to highlight the fragility of the whole Antonine age. Benevolence had been created by chance, not by design, the fundamental truth that lies at the root of all despotism. The image of liberty, to put this another way, was not the same as true liberty. Gibbon admired Marcus Aurelius-just as he admired Frederick the Great-for his personal qualities; but imperial rule was still "absolute and without control." For Gibbon it is a mark of a truly good society that no single individual should be entrusted with absolute power-"Unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians the authority of so formidable a magistrate will degenerate into despotism." After all, virtue and wisdom are not hereditary. Would not Brutus nod his head in agreement?

The other point connected to this-and herein lies the real explanation for the subsequent and relentless decline of the Roman world-is that benevolent despotism is demoralising and enervating. Under the Antonines the days of Cicero and the free nobility are long gone; private comfort has replaced civic responsibility: the Empire is set to decline because the 'will to freedom' has been lost-"as long as they [the nobility] were indulged in the enjoyment of their baths, their theatres and their villas, they cheerfully resigned the more dangerous cares of empire." More than this, in public felicity lay the latent causes of corruption-"The Roman monarchy, having attained its full strength and maturity, began to verge towards its decline." The causes are internal, and the Empire could never have fallen to Barbarians, or been undermined by the Christians, if it had not already been corrupted from within. The Romans may have retained personal valour, but they no longer "possessed that public courage, which is nourished by the love of independence."

Ultimately, Gibbon's view of the whole Roman world, no matter his residual sympathy, is one condescension and superiority; of celebration of his own time, of the age of virtue and progress. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is Brutus' final vindication.

Class in Hate

I saw Our Class on Friday, a new play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek, presently being performed at the National Theatre here in London and running until January.

Set in Poland and following the passage through time of a group of school chums, Catholic and Jewish, Our Class is a ‘Holocaust play’ but not in the form that one might imagine. For it tells a story that many Poles would rather forget, did forget for many years: that Nazi anti-Semitism harmonised with an older tradition of hatred, one with deep roots in their country. By ever tightening circles of fear and hate the story moves through war and occupation to the Jedwabne Pogrom of July 1941, in which Jews were massacred not by Germans but by their fellow Poles.

Paradoxically this is a story that could only really be told after the demise of Communism and the emergence of the new Poland. Previously it raised all sorts of complicated issues: that of Polish people towards the Jewish community in their midst, and that of the post-war Communist authorities towards the political significance of the Holocaust.

The official investigation into the Holocaust in Poland began with the setting up of a commission to gather evidence of war crimes just after the conclusion of the war, which included the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI), a body of independent historians. This was a time when Poland was not yet fully controlled by the Communists, so some degree of openness and objectivity was still possible.

Things changed from 1948 onwards. In 1950 the JHI was placed under the control of the Ministry of Education, with all inquiry not approved of by the Party coming to an end. The new line was to stress the passive response of the Jews to the Nazis, while minimising Polish anti-Semitism and collaboration. It was said that the western emphasis on the persecution of the Jews had only obscured the persecution of the Poles. The official attitude towards the Jews was further modified by the emergence of the state of Israel. Now anti-Semitism was replaced by anti-Zionism; but both still drew on the traditional stereotype of the greedy, manipulative and exploitative Jew.

After Wladyslaw Gomulka came to power, following the 'Polish October' of 1956, old forms of Polish nationalism received at least a partial rehabilitation. This was accompanied by old anti-Semitism wearing new clothes. Jewish people were removed from their positions in both the army and the civil service, while at the same time an active press campaign was launched against all of those associated with the former Stalinist regime. The particular Jewish suffering associated with the Holocaust slipped even further into the background.

The political struggles of the 1960s saw the emergence of even more strident forms of anti-Jewish nationalism, most associated with the group around Mieczyslaw Moczar, notorious both for his xenophobia and his anti-Semitism. After the victory of Israel in the Six Day War of 1967 the position for Poland's dwindling Jewish minority became steadily worse, with all sorts of people being attacked for 'Zionist sympathies', whether they had them or not. The whole programme embraced Holocaust history. Any and every attempt to define this as a uniquely Jewish event was denounced as 'part of a chauvinist Zionist propaganda plot to justify the existence of Israel and turn the world against Communism.' It was, so it was said, a new 'Jewish world conspiracy.' In 1968 all the records of the JHI were taken over by the government. Subsequent to this a conference was held to 'rebut the slanderous campaign of lies in the West...especially with reference to the accusations about the alleged participation of Poles in the annihilation of the Jewish population.' By now the JHI had all but ceased to exist.

The fall of Communism has been accompanied by a new openness; a willingness, at least by some, to confront uncomfortable truths, including the truth of Jedwabne and other matters touching on the relations between the Jewish and Catholic communities during the Holocaust.

The play itself is a remarkable if not entirely comfortable experience. It’s long, three hours long, so it requires stamina on more level than one. The ensemble, only ten strong, are utterly convincing as they move through the childhood and dreams of the 1920s to the adulthood and nightmares of the 1940s. All the performances are memorable but for me the outstanding one was that of Sinead Matthews as Dora, who dreamt of being a film star only to end by being burned alive with her baby and some 1600 other people in a barn. It’s stark; there are no visual distractions; much of the horror is conveyed by mime. More than anything the play is effective as a kind of accusation, delivered from the past to the present.

There aspects of the past that I think we would all wish to forget, not just the Poles. But remembrance is, after all, a human duty.

Alice Nine : Bear replacement for Nao =O

I want that bear xD

Off topic : Washing or Multiple copies?

credits to burn1ngcha0s @ LJ

Checked out some magazine scans for the new banner seeing how Alice nine are basically winning hands down.

Instead, I found scans of SCREW in various venues backstage and wearing the same, if
not similar costumes which sparks a question. Do Jrockers wear the same costumes over and over again? I'm sure they "perspirate" as much as we do during a concert/gig, but what if they have two shows in a row? Its not like they can ask their moms to stick it into a washing machine afterwards and hope it dries in time for the next show.

So does this mean they do indeed have sets of the same clothes?! thats kinda cartoon like...

D'espairsRay: Brilliant (Live) Part Change

Credits to eriNAtsuki1

I'm still abit dazed with this info. It's from their 10th Anniversary DVD, but is just dated 2008?

Yet again, BRILLIANT is my favourite song of there's so why do I give a monkey :]

ClearVeil: AWAKE Comment

Credits to Alessa666

Off topic : G-DRAGON English cover

credits to ashilia4life and RxC for news

Original : G-DRAGON - Heartbreaker (OFFICIAL MV) HQ credits to YGEntertainment

credits to TheGazettE3
Download @ MF

Miyavi : WAT A WONDERFUL CITY

credits to myv382tokyo

MJ+ : Chance to win tickets to V Rock festival

Click here to check out the contest to win
musicjapanplus.jp

Come to see the V-ROCK FESTIVAL'09 held on October 24th and 25th in Japan!

You can win a writer opportunity with a pass☆
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity includes not only watching the whole show, but also your report appearing in musicJAPANplus!


NOTES: Hotel fee and airfare are not included in the prize.
More detail information will be announced to winners via e-mail after a sortition.


Also you can win a surprise present from the V-ROCK FEST artists!!
Don't miss out!
→ View contests+

Source : musicjapanplus.jp

Lilith-Mother of Witches

If Lucifer was the first male rebel in creation then Lilith has to be the first female. And what a rebel she was: the first feminist; the first witch; the first sexually assertive woman; the first divorcee! As a figure she is an inspiration, a mentor and a guide; a woman who deliberately exiled herself from paradise in search of nothing more substantive than freedom, nothing more important than freedom. For there is nothing more important.

In tradition she takes many shapes, drawing to herself the creatures of the dark and the night, not just witches but Jinn, vampires and demons of all sorts. In Hebrew her name means ‘screech owl’ and she is sometimes depicted in the form of a bird-woman. ‘Lilith’ is also related to the Semitic root word for ‘night.’

She is depicted in Jewish lore sometimes as a beautiful young woman, at other times a hag. She is also depicted as a woman from head to waist, with fire down below, which, I suppose, might very well be a comment on her sexual appetite. :-)) In other depictions the lower parts take the form of a snake.

She also takes on a complete animal form, most usually a large black cat, an owl or a snake. It’s possible that she may have emerged in some ancient traditions as a tree spirit. In one Sumerian myth ‘Dark Maid Lilith’ lives as in a sacred tree with a snake and a sacred bird as companions.

In her most familiar form she appears in Jewish legend as the first wife of Adam, created not from his rib, like Eve, but from the Earth itself at the same time as her partner. Because of this she demanded equal status, which included refusing always to take the ‘missionary position’ when they had sex, seeing that as an admission of submissiveness. And that was not her style; oh, no. When Adam attempted to force her she gave voice to the secret name of the Creator, which allowed her to leave Paradise on wings. All attempts to bring her back failed; for if the angels threatened Lilith threatened even more.

In some accounts Lilith is unfertile; in others she is mother to a host of demons, the Lilin or Daughters of Lilith. The father of these girls is uncertain, with suggestions ranging from Samael, the fallen angel, or even Asmodeus. Lilith is also the original succubus.

She continues to have a strong presence in Jewish fairy-tales and folklore. In the Sephardic tradition she is La Broosha, which simply means ‘the witch.’ Here she often appears as a large black cat.

There seems to me to be some Greek influences in the general make up of Lilith, in that the owl is her sacred bird, as it is for Pallas Athena, and she derives strength from the Moon, associating her with Artemis.

In whatever manner she is a potent symbol, the great mother, an inspiration to all witches, an example to all women.

Thoughts on Hannibal

No, not that Hannibal; the real one!

I must say that I have never entirely understood Hannibal. I would have said, like so many soldiers, that he was a brilliant tactician but a poor politician, except his talents as a politician, though not as high as his talents as a soldier, were still of a comendable order. How otherwise is one to explain his appeal to Rome's Italian allies, his announcment that his quarrel was not with them, but with the power to which they had all been subject.

I also do not think it quite true, as Maharbal is alleged to have said after the Battle of Cannae, that Hannibal knew how to gain a victory but not how to use it. The real issue is that Hannibal the soldier and Hannibal the politician were at variance with one another; he had the power and the means to destroy Rome by a rapid follow-up to Cannae, but his war was still one of limited aims: Rome was to be humbled and weakened, not eliminated. The city, in other words, was to be left with a role but without a confederacy. It might have worked if he had been able to detach the Greek cities of the south from their Roman alliance; but for them his 'barbarian' army was perceived as the greater threat. The moment passed, and by 214BC the Roman fleet was able to prevent supplies and reinforcements reaching Italy. In effect, Hannibal the politican had robbed Hannibal the soldier of the full rewards of victory.

Victorian Female Murderers

Female murderers generally excited extra interest among the nineteenth centuty public, especially as one goes deeper into the reign of Queen Victoria, which introduced all sorts of new notions about the ideal women, her outlook, her attitudes and her place in society. As today the popular press took a prurient interest in these matters, tending to 'demonise' the perpetrators of murder, because only monsters could act in a way that was 'contrary to nature'. Readers were able to lap up in detail the story of Constance Kent, who is alleged to have slit her stepbrother's throat before disposing of his body in an outhouse; or Madeleine Smith, a Glasgow socialite who is alleged to have poisioned her French lover.

There was a definite set of double-standards in operation that made cases like this all the more sensational; for while deviant behaviour in men was deplorable, deviant behaviour by women was unacceptable, especially when it was directed against men, when it tended to be viewed as a hideous perversion. In a sense these women, mediated through the popular press, ceased to have all the qualities that made them women, or human at all. They were most often depicted as 'ugly', 'masculine', 'sub-human' with almost no attempts made to uncover motives. In many ways the press reports seem to hark back to an earlier age, with a murderess presented as a witch-like figure, who had outraged the orthodoxy of Victorian family values. After all, gentle, submissive, passive, self-sacrificing creatures do not strangle babies, no matter how desperate they are, nor do they poison friends and husbands to obtain a little extra income

I'm so Proud to be a Saxon

What was the most important story of last week? Was it the antics of Ahmadinejad or Gaddafi in New York? Was it the meeting of the Security Council? Was it the photo opportunity for the G20 in Pittsburgh? For some, perhaps, but not for me. For me there is only one answer: the discovery of the Anglo-Saxon artefacts in Staffordshire, right in the heart of Mercia, one of the most important-and elusive-of the seven kingdoms that once made up the Heptarchy.

This may very well turn out to be one of the most significant archaeological finds ever made in England, at least the equal to the discoveries made at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk seventy years ago, which cast some light into the English 'Dark Age'. It was made by one Terry Herbert using a second-hand metal detector he bought for £2.50 from a car boot sale, a discovery that would have made even Indiana Jones envy!

These wonderful artefacts, some six hundred and fifty items so far, many in gold and in silver, decorated with the most beautiful Saxon filigree, dates to the period between the late seventh to the early eighth centuries AD, a period of change and transition, a period when the old paganism was giving way to the advance of Christianity. Without exaggeration it has been likened to the discovery of a new Book of Kells or a Lindisfarne Gospel. Dr Kevin Lehy, an advisor to the Portable Antiquities scheme, said that the items represent the pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship;

Gold was more valuable at that time than it is now. So gold went to the best craftsmen. This was the best they could do. Cutting these garnets is incredibly difficult. They can't be cleaved. They have to be sawn, then polished. They even set them on gold foil so that they sparkle when the foil catches the light.

The hoard itself seems to be a collection of war trophies, buried for unknown reasons and never recovered. They're a great many sword hilts, confirming a passage in Beowulf that these were taken from dead enemies as tokens of victory in battle.

I would say that possibly the most important thing is the location of the find, right in the midst of what once was the Kingdom of Mercia. This is bound to reveal as much about this place once ruled over by Penda, the last of England's pagan kings, as Sutton Hoo did about the Kingdom of East Anglia. More than that it might tell us some more about the way in which Christianity was received and perceived by what were essentially warrior states.

The question that puzzles me is why and in what manner did an essentially pacifist cult make progress among such blood-thirsty peoples, not just in England but across the rest of pagan Europe. The answer surely has to be in the mode of presentation, in the way the early missionaries depicted Christ; less a New Testament Prince of Peace; more an Old Testament God of Battles. The clue here is one gold strip, possibly a cross fragment, inscribed in Latin by a passage from the Book of Numbers or Psalm 67, taken from the Vulgate, the Bible used by the Saxons;

Rise up O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face

So it would seem from this that the Saxon kings adopted Christianity for the political advantages it offered in much the same way that it was adopted earlier by the Roman Emperor Constantine. More precise dating is likely to reveal even deeper levels of interpretation.

The richness of the material, the weight of gold discovered, also says much more about the Anglo-Saxon states, about their wealth and their sophistication. The notion of a 'Dark Age' was always a myth; never more so in the light of the Staffordshire finds. It makes me proud to be a Saxon. :-)

the GazettE: Sexy back

This song really fit them

Credit: xXChibiKumiXx

Miyavi: MusicJAPANplus Special Corner!

Source: MusicJAPANplus

This is the ‘雅-miyavi- NEO TOKYO SAMURAI BLACK WORLD TOUR 2009' Special Corner!

An MJP writer will accompany雅-miyavi- on his tour and provide around-the-clock coverage. We'll report on anything and everything that goes on behind the scenes, and post an assortment of exclusive articles you won't see anywhere else!

During the world tour reports will be uploaded each Monday!

From each country we will show you the newest and fastest information about雅-miyavi-!

Click here for all the info!

MYV's special corner includes an Official Tour Diary, which sad enough, i'll probably be keeping up with :O

MixSpeaker's,Inc. : BIG BANG MUSIC!

Release Date: 23/09/09
Tracklist:
o1. BIG BANG MUSIC!~seishun walker~
o2. Yuuwakusei Rhythm
o3. CRAZY TRAIN A GO! GO!
o4. Romeo no Melody
o5. Boku. Mikazuki
o6. Tsuzuku sekai
o7. MUSIC STAR
o8. PINKY ADVENTURE
o9. Kannou Game
1o. YOU♪Ai♪Message
11. White feel

Bit-Rate 320 Kbps
Download: MegaUpload
Credit: aziraphale_666
Source : taintedworld.net

Ayabie : Aoi and Adidas

Source : Music japan +

Aoi “At night here in Kyoto you can hear the bell crickets ringing!! It’s a good time of the year to visit. I wish I could have stayed longer in Kyoto. I looked at the presents and read the letters sent to me by my fans. By the time I finished, it was in the middle of the night!
The heartfelt messages written in the letters gave me strength, and I was also uplifted by the gifts too. Thanks everyone!
I was just thumbing through the newest catalogue of adidas original [adidas Originals]. There were lots of cute items. I’ve decided to go to an adidas store after I get back to Tokyo.”

On August 25th Ayabie performed live in Kyoto. Did anyone become interested about the words ‘adidas original’ in the entry? The ‘adidas Originals’ is a set of casual clothing offered by the sports apparel manufacturer Adidas. It seems to be Aoi’s favorite brand. It has an extensive lineup of clothing that is easy to move around in and very practical. It includes jackets, athletic shoes and more. So these were the type of clothes Aoi likes to wear in private! Why not try them out too?

SID: Cover Art and New Look Released!

As mentioned back here, SID are due to release their latest single, titled One Way, on 2009.11.11 and each types cover art, as well as a new look for SID themselves and individual member shots have been released.

(In order: Types A,B&C)