Samuel L. Jackson narrates the classic bestseller. NSFW.
…two and three and four and one BAM:
Via DRUM! Magazine:
Eddie Van Halen is notorious for making drummers’ lives hell with his wacky intros. From a guitarist’s perspective, I’m told his parts make sense. But to a drummer, well — you can almost see the darkened light bulb hovering above our collective heads. I’d struggled with Van Halen’s “Unchained” several months earlier, rarely coming out in the same place twice, before the bulb flickered and then suddenly went on. Of course, Alex Van Halen offers us an equally odd drum part to master. This one’s pretty much impossible not to butcher if you don’t count. Frankly, it’s pretty easy to butcher even if you do count. The trick is knowing that the guitar part enters on the & of 1 and then not getting lost.
RELATED: How To Survive A Train Wreck: Analysis Of The Trickiest Drum Intros on Record
Excellent. From The Inspiration Room via Suse:
Volkswagen South Africa appears to have more than its share of “A-type” personalities on staff if this print advertising campaign is anything to go by. Their corporate recruitment campaign, “Free Thinkers Wanted”, discourages applicants who are likely to spout the usual “go getter” jardon of job interviews.
PS: Let’s not forget to utilize strategic touch points, leverage the 800-pound gorilla, and knock it out of the ballpark. SLAM DUNK!!!
Major FitzRoy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan (10 June 1885–1964) was a British soldier, beekeeper, farmer, and independent scholar. He is best known for his book The Hero, where he systematises hero myths with a 22-point checklist:
Raglan’s best-known work, The Hero, A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama, was published in 1936. The book’s central thesis is that hero figures of mythology had their origin in ritual drama, not historical fact. In the book’s most influential chapter, he outlined 22 common traits of god-heroes. They are:
- The hero’s mother is a royal virgin;
- His father is a king, and
- Often a near relative of his mother, but
- The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
- He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
- At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
- He is spirited away, and
- Reared by foster parents in a far country.
- We are told nothing of his childhood, but
- On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future kingdom.
- After a victory over the king, and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
- He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
- Becomes king.
- For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
- Prescribes laws, but
- Later loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
- Is driven from the throne and city, after which
- He meets a mysterious death,
- Often at the top of a hill.
- His children, if any, do not succeed him.
- His body is not buried, but nevertheless
- He has one or more holy sepulchers.
Raglan then encapsulates the lives of several heroes and awards points (marks) for thematic elements for a possible score of 22. He dissects Oedipus, Theseus, Romulus, Heracles, Perseus, Jason, Bellerophon, Pelops, Asclepios, Dionysos, Apollo, Zeus, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Watu Gunung, Nyikang, Sigurd or Siegfried, Llew Llawgyffes, Arthur, and Robin Hood. Oedipus earns the highest score with 21 marks.
Thus Raglan calculated the likelihood that these protagonists were actual historical figures. Unlike Joseph Campbell, who published The Hero with a Thousand Faces in 1943, Raglan was not interested in the psychological or personal aspects of hero myths, only their factual basis.
The Hero established Raglan as a leading proponent of the “myth-ritual” theory of the origin of religion, whose antecedents included Sir James Frazer and the Cambridge Ritualists. The myth-ritual theory had a profound influence on literature and subsequently on literary criticism, reaching its height in the 1960s. Because of its succinct presentation of the theory, Raglan’s scale is still frequently used as a teaching tool in cultural anthropology and comparative literature.
And, yeah, I know. You’re not the only one; I was thinking the same thing. Here’s the answer:
Significantly, Raglan excludes Jesus from the study, even though he “is reputed to be the son of a god”, returned to his future kingdom, and met a mysterious death on the top of a hill, and was not buried. Raglan later claimed to omit Jesus to avoid conflict with his original publisher. The idea of Jesus as a god-hero is sometimes used by both sides in the debate over the historicity of Jesus.
(via M)
