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Archive for October, 2011

Samhain aka Halloween: A Celt Celebration

Samhain (pronounced differently Samain, Samuin or Samfuin) is an ancient old tradition dating back thousands of years. Samhain was celebrated by the Celts (in Ireland, Wales and Scotland) as the Feast Of The Dead and for the final harvest of the year. It has been adopted into Catholic religion as All Saints Day. The Celts divided the year into two parts on their calendar. The dark half known as Samhain fell on the eve of October 31st and the other half began with Beltane May 1st. The Gaulish calendar used by the Celts marked the dates of these festivities.
Samhain was a three-day festival gathering Celtic clans at the Royal Court of Tara. A bonfire was lit on the hill of Tara marking the three day event and to signal the rest of the Celts to light fires if they did not attend. The sacred colors of the rituals were orange and black, associated with human death and the Crone Deity. According to belief, the veil between the living and the dead was raised resulting in the dead walking amongst the living. Believing the dead could return home the Celts would leave food and wine in the window and keep the all door open. Oracles and…

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Top 5 Scariest Europop Halloween Videos

  Sure, Halloween is a bigger holiday in the U.S. than it is in Europe, but that doesn’t mean slightly scary pop videos are the exclusive domain of American artists. Since hardly anything exists on Google regarding europop and Halloween (or scary European music videos in general by artists from across the Atlantic), why not a Top 5 list for Halloween all in one place. Estonia’s Kerli released one of the creepiest yet most adorable clips in recent memory when she dropped her “Walking On Air,” which looks ripped from the darkest reaches of Tim Burton’s mind.  A simply smashing and slightly scary video (directed by Alex Topaller and Dan Shapiro). There’s a killer dressed in black on the loose, everyone! His name is Dan Balan, he’s from Moldova, and he has sex on the brain (while women try to escape him in a scary forest). Last year he terrified everyone is this creepy video for a catchy song (“Justify Sex”). Similarly, Italy’s Immanuel Casto also seems fascinated with murder (and sex) and he explores both in his 2011 video for “Killer Star.” The Italian singer plays the role of a serial killer in this clip and U.S. celebrity killer…

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Top 5 DIY Halloween Costumes of 2011

The following pictures are some creative ideas for you to be the best Halloween costume ever. Do you wanna know why? Because they are produced and created by recycled or no longer needed materials, 100% avant-guarde and remarkably, truly, extremely simple!!… like this creepy but amazing toy suit made with cast-off baby-doll. I wonder how many other things this artist could have had in his attic but dolls!? Too sinister?? Alright.. nevermind there is still something else for you. It’s much funnier, simpler and above all made out of just cardboard boxes and some butcher paper. Isn’t this crocodile costume enough hilarious and/or scary for your ideal concept of Halloween? Don’t panic, we got more ideas! Extremely easy to make, colourful, even organic (if you choose the right vegetables) and very very sexy! Be honest! You love it, don’t you? Besides, you can also make some variations (like shaving your underarms for example) if you are not totally convinced about it. Or for those of you who thinks this costume…

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Halloween’s Spooky Green Watch Dog

The green dog across from Monk’s Cafe on 16th Street.

Spoooky Candy Apple Halloween Treats

These sinfully delicious seasonal apple treats are from a sweet shop in a ferry terminal in British Columbia, Canada.

Flora in Asia

A Side of the Tall Kalmar Nyckel Ship

The side of Kalmar Nyckel – The Tall Ship of Delaware, docked at Penn’s Landing.

Recycled and Re-conceptualized Music Tracks Releases A New Life of Music

(Image: Melissaandpaulmakemusic) We’ve heard about recycling plastic bottles and even coffee, but what about recycling music? Stolen Voices by White Label is an album made up of recycled and reconceptualized music tracks. The albums takes old tracks and recycles them by revamping them and breathing a new lease of life into them. Old tracks from classics such as David Bowie, Dennis Wilson and The Supremes can be heard. Many samples used in the album are taken from rare and unreleased tracks and from B sides. Stolen Voices separates the voices from these tracks and puts them with a new full-band arrangement to create a mish-mash of the old and the new. Newer is not always better and this album really showcases that Sticking With What You Got works for music too. Our favourite track is called ‘Jean 1′ featuring vocals from The Supremes’ song ‘Plane’, allowing you to listen to the original track in a whole new way. You can hear it here. A fan of the sounds of recycled music? Then you must check out Rubbish Music. (Spotted on Obscure Sound)

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