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 Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:01 am
Gaian Record International, September 2006, Editor-in-Chief: Gear-Richie, Est. November 2004
Welcome to the Gaian Record International's Halloween Edition. In response to the upcoming holiday, the staff will be, on top of the usual articles, providing you with facts and fiction for the holiday spirit. Be careful...some of what you may see might have you sleeping with one eye open for the rest of the month! BWA HA HA HA HA! *insert spooky thunder and lightning effects*
Who is Ron Bruise?
Gaia's newest NPC randomly posts in the forums
Established on September 11th of this year, NPC Ron Bruise has done what no other NPC has done with his avatar, let alone any of Gaia's millions of members. He has a nose.
 But that's beside the main point. Why was this NPC established, and what is his purpose. He was pointed out by rival reporter [NPC] Cindy Donovinh in a recent newsletter release. Looking at his profile serves only to confuse further. His "About" section states, "YEAH! Hey guys! AWESOME site! This is great! Yeah! WHOOOO! I'm just so happy right now, you know? I'm excited about the FUTURE. And I do mean the FUTURE. The future of HUMANITY. The future of everything. I love my wife! Yeah! I just want to JUMP AROUND! Yes! This is just an amazing time in my life. Can I just pick you up and SHAKE you? YEAH!" The NPC has also been known to post in random threads around Gaia.
In the GD, he posted, "Some people comment on the fact that I have a nose whereas many people don't. YEAH! I feel so fortunate to have this nose." In GCD, he denies a caffeine addiction. He claims not to know who Tom Cruise is in the Chatterbox, and also repetedly states that he loves his wife.
Though no one truly knows who that might be.
Bruise, on October 11th, attempted to put down rumors that he might be an alien himself.
NPC Ron Bruise Hey! You guys keep talking about ALIENS! That's GREAT! But what's all this nonsense about me being an alien? That's just crazy! I may be rich and famous, but I'm as human as the next guy! I defended my family from aliens! Aliens disrupted my quiet life of divorce and irresponsibility, and re-forged my relationship with my son in the flames of a dying Earth! But those were bad aliens. Not all aliens are bad aliens! I'm no alien, but I certainly believe that there are good aliens out there who just want to help us, and maybe we should listen to what they have to say. Hey! Let's hear it for ALIENS! The good kind, I mean! WHOOOOO! Why do you think they're here? I think they're here to help us! Who knows, they might turn out to be the bad kind, but something tells me we should give them a chance!
When asked about his aformentioned son, his response was as follows:
NPC Ron Bruise What? A son? Did I say I had a son? Oh! That was a movie I was in! I'm an actor! Sometimes I forget what was a movie and what really happened to me. Hey! Quiet on the set! We're trying to shoot the "posting in forum" scene, so keep it down! Oh wait, are we filming? Oh, I guess not...
...leaving the populace to wonder about his mental stability.
Bruise also claims to have run a bar, have multiple friends who have already met their end, and loves cows. Whether or not his staunch love for cows is at all connected with the cows that have appeared on the Gaian map is unknown at this point.
The Gaian Record International Staff will continue to monitor this odd new NPC and give you updates as they become available.
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:22 am
Scientists invent a cloaking device
Could this lead to total invisibility?
Five months after a team of scientists published a theory stating that invisibility was a possibility, that team, led by the cloak's designer, David Schurig, managed to cloak a copper cylinder from light, rendering it invisible.
"We have built an artificial mirage that can hide something from would-be observers in any direction," Schurig said in an interview with the Associated Press. In a separate phone interview, he stated that conceptually, rendering something invisible to light would be possible, but "from an engineering point of view, it is very challenging."
This working model worked in 2-D, casting a small shadow; getting rid of that shadow is the team's next objective.
The basic prinicple is this: In order to see an object, light must strike the object. Then certain wavelengths of light are reflected (specifically color) and the light hits the eyes. That is what is seen. David R. Smith, from Duke University, and co-author of Science journal said, "The cloak reduces both an object's reflection and its shadow, either of which would enable its detection."
Natalia M. Litchinitser, a researcher at the University of Michigan department of electrical engineering and computer science stated that the research and development on the cloaking device "represent a first step toward the development of functional materials for a wide spectrum of civil and military applications."
Gaian user Azurada contributed to this report.
Suspicious Spinach
The Threat of E. coli
On the 14th of September this year, the FDA warned the public against eating fresh spinach and fresh spinach-containing products in response to a series of infections caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli. This much is mostly public knowledge. However, the FDA has since called off the warning, after isolating the source of the bad spinach. The warning now only applies to fresh spinach from processing plants and farms in 3 California counties: San Benito, Santa Clara, and Monterey.
The spinach from those three counties is sold under multiple brand names, including the following:
Natural Selection Foods Sysco
Compliments
Pride of San Juan
O Organic
Trader Joe's
Earthbound Farm
Fresh Point
Ready Pac
Bellissima
River Ranch
Jansal Valley
Dole
Superior
Cheney Brothers
Rave Spinach
Nature's Basket D'Arrigo Brothers Co. of New York
Emeril
Pro-Mark
Green Harvest
Mann
Mills Family Farm
Premium Fresh
Snoboy
The Farmer's Market
Tanimura & Antle
President's Choice
Cross Valley
Riverside Farms
(... Who knew there were so many brands of spinach?) Spinach under these brand names should be avoided, no matter how well it may be washed. Frozen or canned spinach should still be fine. Contrary to the beliefs of many children, spinach is not evil. You just need to be a little careful about where you get it from.
Hawaii suffers powerful quake
Im sure that everyone has heard of the earthquake that shook three Hawaiian Islands --The big island (The island of Hawaii), Maui, and Oahu-- at 7:08 in the morning. The earthquake awakened me, and many of the other people living in the Hawaiian Islands. Lucky for you, you get to hear the story of the earthquakes from a first-hand account.
It was a Sunday morning, after a long and hard night working at the homecoming football game. Myself, and many of my other friends who were at homecoming were looking forward to a slow moving Sunday morning. But apparently, the earth thought otherwise, and awoke us at 7:08 am with a 6.8 earthquake. No one was hurt, but many people were shaken up with thoughts of hurricanes, and the many volcanos erupting. The earthquake had left the islands without power for a countless amount of hours.
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Living in Hawaii, you won't experience many earthquakes. I have lived here on Maui and I have only lived though three in my whole life, and the first time, I didnt even feel it. So it was so surreal to actually feel one, with after shocks and all here in the Hawaiian Islands.
What caused it you ask? In a recent news report, a professor from the Univeristy of Hawaii says that "it couldnt be from the tectonic plates below us moving around because that would have cause a tsunami to hit. So it must have been becuase the islands that we know and love are sinking." But no need to fear, the islands only sink about one inch (25.4 mm) every year. So we wont have to worry about it for a long while.
So, if you ask anyone from any of the three hawaiian islands that were hit from this earthquake, they would probably respond with this, "Ho brah! That was one mean shake!", which in the local slang would mean, "Woah that hurricane was huge!". So yeah, we were all pretty scared, but now, we look back and laugh at all our reactions.
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:09 pm
Halloween To Me
Leaves change from luscious greens to imaginative browns, oranges, and yellows. It’s coming. The temperature grows cooler than usual. People start to buy long sleeves and woollier clothes. Nipping and tugging at our skin, the wind comes out to play. Scattering the leaves all over the place causing people to get out their rakes. This change in weather brings the weirdness out of people. They tend to pick one particular day to dress up as someone or something else. The coming of this change begets candy, food, sometimes money. The hope of an on coming party brings hope to those that have learned to forget. The sound of laughter, kids having fun, brings a smile to a face. The screams of longing, being scared, echo from the walls of a long since forgotten house. Many passing by stare with wonder, but merely move on.
Round, large, and/or small, orange circles begin to appear on the steps of every household. Little flickers of light peek out of the holes cut into the orange circles. The eerie smiles cast shadows on the walls. Looking up into the sky, you notice the full moon. A howl far away sounds as a large hairy thing walks around stalking its prey. Bats fly around the night sky, as if birds in the morning searching for food. Those brave enough to try, walk through cemeteries, proving they aren’t scared.
Making their way home, the children begin to swap the treats they got, or tell of the tricks they saw. All in all, they change back into themselves and grab their goodies, heading for bed. Good night said, they go off to bed as everything else goes back to normal. A new day has come, leaving only memories of the night before. This is what it’s like to celebrate Halloween to me.
* * *
Heed Their Words
Her spirit calls out to you. Can't you hear it? Why won't you listen? Do you believe she's trying to mislead you? What of the other five people? WIll you try to understand. Is there a need for one more?
His body lies still, getting colder and colder. Can you see it? Why won't you try and help him? Do you think he's trying to trick you? What of the other three people? Why didn't you try to understand? Another goes to join.
They coexist together, one spirit trying to reach out to you, trying to warn you. A body lies there as if an example. Why did you not listen or see? You were too busy wanting to find out for yourself. YOu made the mistake. Now you will be left to try and be an example to others. Next time, you should heed their words.
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:05 am
Video Game Review
Star Fox Command
Q-Games, Nintendo; Platform: Nintendo DS, Release Date (US): 28 August 2006
Features: Single Player, Multiplayer, Wi Fi Gaming; Genres: Strategy, Action, Adventure
GRI Warning: The following article may contain "spoilers": information regarding the plot of an already released video game. Additionally, the article may be confusing to those without prior knowledge of the StarFox game series. Proceed with caution.
 StarFox Command may possibly have been released as a response to the general complaint that the "ground action" put into StarFox Adventures and StarFox Assault has ruined the game's entire premise and gameplay. Released for the Nintendo DS, StarFox Command takes place entirely in the cockpit of the player's ships, and takes a more strategic approach than its predecessors.
At the beginning of StarFox Command, it's made clear that the events take place after the events of Star Fox Assault. Team StarFox has completely broken up. Falco has (once again) flown off on his own in search of adventure. Slippy has settled down with his new Fiancee, Amanda. Peppy has retired from Star Fox, and is now the replacement for General Pepper as head of the Cornerian Army, as Pepper lies in his sickbed. Fox had sent Crystal away, fearing for her safety knowing that as long as she stayed by his side, his life as a mercenary would put her in danger.
Now that Team StarFox had split up, a danger was discovered to lurk on the planet Venom. From the acidic oceans where none thought life could be supported comes the Anglars, a fish-like race with decent piloting skills. (What in the StarFox world doesn't fly a plane?) Now Fox McCloud has to defeat the Anglar Race, unsure of how to do it all on his own.
Plotwise, I think the game is somewhat lacking. Once again, another race threatens the Lylat System. It seems too repetetive. I'm not saying I personally could do better, but can't they pay someone to come up with something more original? The game has mulitple paths you can take. The first path manditory, but when you beat it, the other options open up, each with it's own special ending. Also, oddly enough, if you branch off from Fox and end up playing as Falco or Krystal separated from Fox, that group somehow gains control of the Great Fox. So if you start playing as Star Wolf, you suddenly have to defend the Great Fox and get assistance from Rob64.
Warning: Major Spoiler Alert (The following contains ending information. Highlight to read.)
The biggest problem I have with the storyline is the fact that they will not let the dead stay dead. Why did they bring back Andross? James McCloud? Pigma Dengar? They're dead. Let them stay dead, please. Granted, Andross is just a ghost, and is not the main villian of the series. And the development of Andross' character (posthumously) is done relatively well, but the fact that not only does James come back, but he also has an upgraded Arwing, and only Fox (and apparently Rob64) can see him, really grinds on me, but maybe I'm overly sensitive.
To make things worse, there are suddenly unexplained relatives in the game. What about Dash? He's Andross' grandson! When did Andross have a son or daughter who had a son later? You'd think they'd explain this, but of course, it's left as a gaping plot hole.
Spoilers end here.
The gameplay could go either way, depending on your view. If I were to compare it to StarFox 64, I'd be bound to give this one a bad grade. But if I just judge the gameplay on it's own, it would probably get a higher mark. The game uses both screens, the top showing your ship and the action around it, the touch screen showing a radar. In each mission, your goal is to destroy a certain ship or ships that contain special power cores vital to defeating the enemies. Controlling the ship consists of holding the sylus to the touch screen, and moving it up to ascend, down to descend (or inverted if you so desire) and left and right to move it along the x axis. The control pad and "R" button can be used to fire the main weapon. (Each ship has a different weapon.) Double-tap the top half of the radar to boost. Double-tap the bottom half to brake. There are special buttons on the radar for somersaults and U-turns, and bombs are drag-and-drop operated.
The Barrel Roll is accomplished by either rubbing back and forth on the radar, or drawing a circle on it. The Barrel Roll is more versitile than ever; you can not only deflect attacks, you can, on occasion, attack with it, and it creates a magnetic field that attracts powerups and other items.
The majority of the levels are played in the "All-Range Mode" (360 degree flight) introduced in StarFox 64, although some are played in the classic "Track Mode" where you only fly straight forward, specifically the missile-chasing missions. The game is turn-based, in which you move your characters out by plotting their flight patterns. Then, if they come in contact with an enemy unit, it switches to action control, where you control their ship. You may at any time, be playing as one of your many allies. (Fox, Falco, Slippy, Amanda, etc.) If an enemy unit attacks the Great Fox Mothership, you automatically lose the game. Great Fox, however, has the ability to carry up to three missiles, which can be fired at enemies, both close and distant, destroying them instantly. This does not work on enemy bases or missiles aimed at the Great Fox itself.
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The sound quality is comparable to that of the original StarFox game on the Super Nintendo. The speech is the garbled kind, and you have the option of programming your own voice into it, so all the characters speak with a garbled, edited version of your voice. The music, however, is on par with most modern handheld titles.
The timed nature of the levels can be annoying, as you barely finish a mission with Slippy with five seconds remaining, then you have five seconds left to do Fox's mission, obviously an impossibility, and you're doomed to lose an Arwing. Also, the majority of the bosses in the game can be defeated by simply Barrel Rolling into them, which is considerably too easy. I beat the final boss (of the first go-through) on the first try, in under two minutes: in my book, that's way too easy, though future bosses require much more work. But for a Nintendo DS game completely controlled by the stylus, practically, it actually does pretty well. At least, better than I had expected.
Final Grade Breakdown:
Storyline: *
Gameplay ****
Sound: ***
Graphics: ****
Final Grade: 3/5
Movie Review
Darkness Falls
Seen: 10/16/06
Starred: Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie, Grant Piro, Sullivan Stapleton, Steve Mouzakis, Peter Curtin, Kestie Morassi, Jenny Lovell, John Stanton, Angus Sampson, Charlotte Rees, Joshua Anderson, Emily Browning, and Rebecca McCauley.
Summary: The movie was basically about a spirit that took the form of the tooth fairy, in order to seek revenge towards those that killed her 150 years ago. Far from the tooth fairy we all grew up to love, the one that left money under our pillows while we slept. The legend in the town was that you had to be asleep when, if, the tooth fairy came to visit, and if you saw her, you were dead the next morning. In the movie, you learn that one boy, now an adult, Kyle Walsh, played by Chaney Kley, had made the mistake of seeing the tooth fairy and all his life he had to avoid being killed by staying in the light. The tooth fairy doesn’t like the light. Going from doctor to specialist, they could do nothing but prescribe that he was just having night terrors when he was a boy. Now that he’s grown up, and another boy is in danger, he’s sought out by an old friend to see if he can help. It basically seems that going back to his old town was a mistake, as other of his school mates remember him as the guy that killed his mother as a child, when it was the tooth fairy. Kyle spends his time through out the movie trying to help the child as well as looking out for himself. Oh course the tooth fairy didn’t just forget about him, so he must also try and save the other people that have now made the mistake of looking at the tooth fairy.
Review: I liked it. It was interesting and I didn’t want to leave the room for nothing, so I could watch the whole thing, with fear that someone would take the television and change the channel.
Rating: Two thumbs up, two stars.
Video Game Review
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
Chunsoft, Nintendo; Platform: Nintendo DS, Release Date (US): 18 September 2006
Features: Nintendo DS one-unit link between versions; Genres: Strategy, Turn-based, Adventure
GRI Warning: The following article may contain "spoilers": information regarding the plot of an already released video game. Furthermore, this review may not make sense to those without any prior knowledge of the Pokemon franchise. Proceed with caution.
 What would you do if you woke up one day and you were a Pokemon? That's the question this game asks. In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, you, the player, wake up one day and find yourself a Pokemon. Based on a mini-personality quiz at the beginning of the game, you could end up a Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Chikorita, Totodile, Cyndaquil, Treeko, Torchic, or a Mudkip. Then you choose a partner. That partner finds you unconscious in a Pokemon body, and finds it odd that you believe yourself to be a human trapped in a Pokemon body. Before he can figure it out, however, a Butterfree flies up, screaming that her poor baby Caterpie has fallen into a hole in the forest, and you and your partner set out to save it.
The plot itself is okay. I'm not saying it's great, I'm not saying it's terrible, but it's okay. So one day you wake up and you're a Pokemon. Whoopedy-doo, good for you. But the dialogue is terrible. I myself am a Torchic (ugh) and each time my character levels up, he states, "it makes me feel chirpy." I don't know if this is just a bad case of Engrish, or if the writers were trying to play down to kids unnecessarily, but the dialogue is consistently awful.
The gameplay is not what I expected it to be, either. Instead of the standard turn-based game style that most of the other Pokemon adventure titles have had, you and your character are constantly seen from an overhead view walking around. You push the "A" button to attack with a standard, low-powered attack, and you have to open the menu to choose a stronger attack. Leveling up seems to be the same, however, with each battle gaining you experience points. If you lose a fight, you wake up in your home, your mission failed, and you have to try again. When walking, you can hold down the "B" button to run, but how far you run is unpredicatble, your character sometimes stopping for no reason at all. You can also move your character with the stylus, but this, too, is unpredicatble.
The sound quality is fine. It's all music, and some low-quality sound effects, but it wasn't anything you wouldn't expect from a regular Pokemon adventure title.
Final Grade Breakdown:
Storyline: **
Gameplay: *
Sound: **
Graphics: **
Final Grade: 1.75/5
Internet Game ReviewSlaveHack.com
An online hacking simulator; compete with other players, uploading virii to their hard drives and utilize their computers to send spam, upload warez, and even launch the ultimate attack – the DDoS. But at the same time, you need to watch your back for other hackers trying to steal your IP, or even your bank account number!
Slave Hack is an intriguing online, browser-based game, requiring no downloads or installs – just register an account and you're good to go. Well, sort of. The learning curve can be a bit steep, and in the beginning you may not understand much, but there are official forums that can be accessed easily with help guides as well as people willing to answer your questions – also, for the first hour you play, you have protection from other players getting into your account.
It does require patience to play; every action takes time, from 5 seconds to hours. But most things will not take more than 5 minutes, at the most, unless you try to download a huge file.
I'm sounding a bit too much like an advertisement now, so here are some tips to help you out – in case you feel like trying a new game. You may understand them a bit more if you try the game out a little first, maybe read some of the manuals on the website, though.
First of all, you want to hide your IP from other hackers – always take your IP out of logs when doing any action. (Even logging in reveals your IP in the log.) Second, you want to hide your bank account number. Whenever you collect money – euros in the game – from your 'slaves' (computers you have access to) with virii on them, clear your log, and whenever you purchase new hardware, (more on that later) delete your bank account and get a new one. Lastly, (hey, I can't tell you everything!) use your external hard drive to store programs you want to keep – nobody can access it but you, and in case someone decides to be irritating and deletes all your stuff, you've got backups!
There, I'm finished – overall, Slave Hack is an excellent game. Try it out, you'll probably like it! Now, I'm off to try and hack this list of bank account numbers...
Great Halloween movies
Probably one of my favorite things to do on halloween is watch scary movies with my friends. Night or day, they are always scary. I'm a big fan of thrillers, but I couldnt really find a favorite halloween movie (or even scary movie!), so I asked some of my friends. I had a variety of answers, from old movies, new movies, disney movies, or even little kids movies.
The most common answer I got was "Jeepers Creepers". Man, that movie scared the living bejeebers out of me and a few of my friends the first time we saw it. The movie is about two siblings who are coming home from a college break, and on their way back to the house, they find a shocking discovery in a church's basment. When I first saw this movie, I was about 8 and oh my god, I couldn't even sit through the whole thing! But the part that I had seen,gave me the greatest adrenaline rush from a movie.
Another really good choice would be pretty much any asian horror flick. I've seen so many of those movies, and all of them were great. If you dont like to read subtitles, suck it up and pick up one of these movies. One of my favorites was The Tale of Two Sisters. It was originally a korean folk tale, that they had turned into a horror movie. The movie, which is kind of complicated, is about two sisters whos dad remarries to an evil woman. Though it is bloody and gory, this movie is probably my favorite asian horror flick.
There are so many halloween movies out there that I am missing, that are absoloutley great, but hey, I got some pretty good ones here. So, have a good and safe halloween...and dont eat too much candy!
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:21 pm
Editorial Column Debate
Why I like MySpace (in a healthy way)
MySpace is awesome.
 Of course I have to back up that claim. But that's where I'd like to start. MySpace is awesome. Lots of people think it is, but I have my own reasons.
For starters, the overall premise behind MySpace is basically that anyone can have their own webpage with built-in e-mail and a ton of other features, without having to deal with HTML, CSS, DHTML, Javascript, and all those other confusing languages. (You ever try to teach yourself HTML with Windows Notepad and an old HTML text book that was at least three years outdated? Not fun.) You get to post up pictures of yourself, your friends, your artwork, and just about anything else. Your page can have music on it with various players. You can embed videos from YouTube or other locations into it for people to watch with little to no knowledge of web design.
Let's face it. MySpace makes complicated CSS codes and HTML tags a thing of the past.
But there's more than that. I recently returned from active duty in El Paso, TX and I wanted to set up a get-together with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. So what did I do? I went up to the "Events" link and posted up all the information, and sent invites. The next time someone opened up their MySpace account, they received a lovely red link saying they had a new invitation. It then permitted them to mark themselves as coming, not coming, or as a "maybe." It let them tell me how many guests they were bringing. I had no trouble planning my party, because everyone just clicked a few times and I knew who could come and who they were bringing with them.
On top of that, there are forums, mass messaging, and a search feature that allows you to see if someone you once knew is on MySpace, and lets you get in touch with them. You can set your friendlist to only accept requests from people who know your last name, and even regulate who can look at your profile at all. And best of all, it tells you when someone's birthday is coming who's on your friendlist. No more forgotten birthdays, and no more, "I can't believe you forgot my birthday!" screams.
I'm not a MySpace addict. On average, I spend about four to five minutes in one sitting at MySpace before logging off. I check to see if I have messages, birthdays, etc. and log back off, unless I'm doing a complete profile overhaul, which only happens once in a great while. I spend exceedingly more time on Gaia than I do on MySpace. MySpace is a convenience; Though I can live without it, I'd rather not.
Counter-Column
Why I Hate MySpace (Vehemently)
To put it simply: MySpace eats souls. Not only does MySpace devour the souls of thousands (probably even millions) of teenagers and young adults, it does it for no good reason.
Most of the people I know have MySpace. It's a good way to keep in touch with friends. In fact, at my high school, one of the first questions you hear when meeting someone for the first time is, "Do you have MySpace?" Not only that, but it lets you listen to your favorite music, post pictures, and blog to your heart's content.
But MySpace has a dark side. Almost all of my friends have MySpace, and they are addicted. I have friends who constantly are thinking about going home and checking their profiles to see if they recieved any new comments. Furthermore, everyone I know who has MySpace ends up spending hours surfing through peoples profiles, just because. MySpace sucks up your time.
It becomes a social symbol. Do you have a MySpace? Oh, you don't? Well then, obviously I'm too cool for you. Furthermore, MySpace at-a-glance profiles prevent you from deciding, at-a-glance, whether you like someone or not. Maybe they play a Madonna song and you hate Madonna. In that case, you could decide right away that this anonymous person is someone you don't care about.
Finally, MySpace is scary. One of my dearest friends first got a MySpace sophomore year, and she forgot to use it for months. When she got back on it, someone had typed in her profile a message offering money to anyone who could find information on her. The person had known her account password, and her full name. She was scared, and deleted the account.
MySpace is shady, MySpace is pointless, MySpace is scary and it sucks away your life. I hate it.
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:42 pm
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:42 pm
Halloween
Halloween is here,and yea that means trick or treating,dressing up,and parties. Yes we know all of that but i would like to share some more info with you.People trace the history of halloween from its rather serious beginnings 2000 years ago to today's celebration of tricks and treats.He custom of Halloween came over to America in 1840 with the Irish who had immigrated there to escape the potato famine.
But how did we get the name Halloween?
In the 8th Century, the Catholic Church declared November 1 to be All Saints' Day. The church calendar had a number of days honoring saints already. November 1 was picked to be the day to honor all saints who didn't already have a day named in their honor.
And the mass that the Catholic Church celebrated on November 1 was called Allhallowmas. This meant "mass of all the hallowed [saintly people.]" It was commonly called "All Hallows' Day."
And somewhere along the line, the night before became known as Allhallowe'en, which was short for "evening before All Hallows' Day." It was then shortened to what we now call it, Halloween,And its been called Halloween ever since
The most common tradition in today's Halloween, trick-or-treating, is a reenactment of Irish beggars going to the homes of the rich on All Hallows Eve to ask for food or money. If the rich refused, evil spirits -- so the beggars said -- would destroy their homes.
This is supposly an evil night when spirits roamed the streets and villages. Lord Samhain, the lord of Darkness, would arrive in search of the spirits to take them to the underworld.
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The Jack O'Lantern
The Irish carved Turnips and put coals or small candles inside. They were placed outside their homes on All Hallow's Eve to ward off evil spirits. They were also known to use potatoes and Rutabagas.
When Irish Immigrants came to America, they quickly discovered that Jack O'Lanterns were much easier to carve out and began using them. This truly neat tradition quickly spread to the general population in America and elsewhere. .
the Grim Reaper
In modern-day European-based folklore, Death is known as the Grim Reaper depicted in the as wearing a dark hooded cloak and wielding a scythe.
The garb of Death or the black mourning robe, which the first references are found in the early fifteenth century, is very close to the robe of the priest or monk who officiated at the death bed. It is interesting to note that the dead body itself was never garbed in black -- the colour of the winding sheet or shroud seems always to have been white.
The scythe is an image that reminds us that Death reaps the souls of sinners like the peasant harvest corn in his field. Each movement of the scythe brings thousands of souls.
Why do people dress up as ghosts, goblins, vampires, and other creatures like that?
Well the people who started Halloween many years ago believed that if they appeared scary, they would scare away the spirits of the dead, who were roaming the earth on All Hallows' Eve. Those people also carried food to the edge of town and left it there, hoping the spirits would eat that food and not come raid the village.
Creepy Soundtrack Composers
Halloween Music Goes Past The Monster Mash
Are you a music-lover? Trying to get into the Halloween spirit? Tired of hearing "The Monster Mash" over and over again? There is another way to add that seasonal touch to your music collection without going down the path of the 'screaming death metal'. Have you ever wondered what gives creepy movies their kick? It's more than the lighting and the lightning. It's creepy orchestral music, and soundtracks are a great place to find music that'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, so let's take a look at five of the great composers in this genre.
5. Thomas Newman. Film music geeks are thinking, "The Finding Nemo guy?" Well, yes. If you really take a look at some of the music from that movie, you'll see that there is some room for fright. Check out these tracks: "The Divers", "Lost", "Why Trust a Shark?", "Friends Not Food", "Jellyfish Forest"
4. Andrew Lloyd-Webber. That's right, you knew it had to be in here somewhere - The Phantom of the Opera. I'm not even going to list tracks. Listen to the whole thing. But also take a look at thee tracks from Cats: "Memory", "Macavity", "Growltiger's Last Stand", "Grizabella the Glamour Cat"
3. Klaus Bedelt. Pirates of the Caribbean - the first one, that is. He also did some tracks for Hannibal, which are definitely worth looking at.
2. Hans Zimmer. This guy is amazing. He did Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest. He also did The Ring, The DaVinci Code, and Batman Begins. He's very versatile, so if you're into orchestral music that's not creepy, he's still a great source, with works like Madagascar, The Lion King, and The Prince of Egypt.
1. Danny Elfman. He is very well-known and widely respected as a composer, in addition to being absolutely my favorite. He often collaborates with Tim Burton (in fact, Elfman scored all of Burton's films) for a truly creepy effect, with such films as Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman, and of course The Nightmare Before Christmas (Elfman even did the singing voice for Jack Skellington!), with more recent works including Sleepy Hollow and The Corpse Bride. If you hadn't noticed, Johnny Depp also stars in a lot of Burton/Elfman films, playing Edward Scissorhands and voicing Victor VanDort, and Elfman actually scored Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also.
If this music interests you but you don't have a lot of money to throw around on soundtracks (I'm a collector - I know the prices can add up) you might try an online mp3 site, such as All of mp3, where you can find the tracks for around 15 cents apiece or even less, and the collection is quite extensive. Happy Halloween, and happy listening!
(Some filmographical information from www.wikipedia.org)
Internet Travel
The Wonderful World of Art
Halloween is getting closer, and is it looms ever larger on the horizon, the creepy and supernatural begins to find its way into every aspect of our lives. This is quite evident in art. One of the best sites for creepy art is sampaints.com. This fabulous site features the artwork of Sam Weber, a painter who excels in the slightly-scary, definitely beautiful kind of artwork the Halloween season calls for. From majestic vampires, to living dolls, all his work seems strangely alive. It is this life, along with the strange, eery lighting of his art, that makes his work so brilliant. If you're an art fan, and what to see something truly good, visit sampaints.com!
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:38 am
Thank you for reading the Halloween Special Editon Gaian Record International. Special thanks to Droqen for the Halloween special headers.
If you have questions or comments about this month's issue, please leave them in the thread designated for such topics. If you wish to advertise, or to enter the "Thread of the Month" or "Art Shop of the Month" contests, PM Gear-Richie for more details. Once again, thanks for visiting the Gaian Record International Guild.
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