Love: Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale

Rediscovering a wonderful old psychedelic rock band is one of my favorite things!

The Monday's Music theme today is Freebie, which is great for me. I'm all about being free!

~DJ Emrald~

Review of Naruto #629

This young man does an excellent job with his review of this episode in the Naruto series.

Naruto is a Japanese manga, which was first published in 1997. It was later made into an anime, which ran from October 3, 2002 to February 8, 2007.

The folks from Monday's Music Moves Me reminded me that it's Labor Day in the U.S. I'm going to do something a little different and dedicate this Sad Songs collection from Naruto to my kindred spirits who labor on in a life with mental illness. 
Every member of the KHEL 666 Krew lives with mental illness. I have type 2 bipolar disorder, and I know that what comes easily to normal people is often a struggle for those of us who are mentally ill. For us, staying alive can be a struggle, and not everyone wins the battle.

We've all heard the well-meaning advice. "Just cheer up. Just stop that stinkin' thinkin'. I know just how you feel." 

The problem with the last one in particular is that if the person saying those words doesn't have a mood disorder, then they really don't know how it feels.Think about how you felt the last time something really bad happened to you. Sometimes we feel that way for what would seem to be no reason at all. It can become impossible to perform optimally when just getting out of bed is a struggle.

We've also heard things which are far less well-meaning. Lazy. Crazy. Stupid. Words like this certainly don't help. In fact, this kind of stigma causes people living with mental illness to remain ostracized and to be ashamed to seek help. In some cases, these words even kill.

It seems like many creative people struggle with mental illness. In fact, the same areas of the brain responsible for creativity are also heavily involved in conditions such as bipolar disorder, so there is a strong correlation. However, not all creative people are mentally ill, and not all mentally ill people are creative.

Creative pursuits can help people with mental illness cope with the difficulties they face. I wish I could say I was artistic, but I'm hard pressed even to draw stick figures. I like to write because it gives me an outlet for my emotions, and, for a time, takes me away from a life which has been very difficult in many ways.

Whatever your Labor in this life--whether you have a mental illness, a physical handicap, or are simply trying to keep on keeping on in this sometimes harsh world, I wish you well today and every day.

Peace,

DJ Helena

Cross-Posted to:

Crazy Town in Looney Land

KHEL 666

Monday's Music: Thalia's Soundtracks

The haunting soundtrack from the 2007 British sci-fi film Sunshine.

This piece is from the 2010 US/UK produced sci-fi thriller Inception.

There are nearly two hours of soundtrack music created by Hans Zimmer in this collection. 

 Track list:

Intro: Lone Harvest - Kevin MacLeod

1. 0:00:15 Hoist the Colours - Pirates of the Caribbean At Worlds End
2. 0:01:13 End Credits - Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides
3. 0:02:58 The Gladiator Who Defied an Emperor - Gladiator
4. 0:04:04 Green Smoke - The Rock
5. 0:05:12 I Must Go Away - The Last Samurai
6. 0:07:44 Fighting 17th - Backdraft
7. 0:11:43 King of Pride Rock - The Lion King
8. 0:16:28 The Kraken - Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest
9. 0:22:53 Prophets Journey - Crysis 2
10. 0:24:59 Prologue - King Arthur
11. 0:29:28 Election By Adoration - Angels and Demons
12. 0:31:24 Kyrie For the Magdalene - The Da Vinci Code
13: 0:35:10 Mutiny - Crimson Tide
14: 0:43:46 Mine - Broken Arrow
15: 0:49:22 Main Title - Days of Thunder
16: 0:51:38 The Journey / Kopano III - Tears of the Sun
17. 0:58:49 Main Theme (Honor) - The Pacific
18. 1:01:16 Molossus - Batman Begins
19. 1:05:38 Like A Dog Chasing Cars - The Dark Knight
20. 1:09:53 Barbossa is Hungry - Pirates of the Caribbean the Curse of the Black Pearl
21. 1:13:54 Once Upon A Time in Africa - Madagascar 2: Escape From Africa
22. 1:17:30 Rango Suite - Rango
23. 1:23:22 Injection - Mission Impossible 2
24. 1:28:05 Opening Titles - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
25. 1:31:21 Leave No Man Behind - Black Hawk Down
26. 1:37:26 Hospital Chaos - Pearl Harbor
27. 1:42:18 Time - Inception

I find that this kind of music is wonderful for writing or studying by.

~DJ Thalia~

Monday's Music: Top 40 Hits From 1963

Hi, I'm DJ Rose. The cool tattoo shown above is on someone else's arm. I actually don't have any tattoos, but if I did, I'd like one similar to this one.

The theme for this week appears to be top 40 hits from the rock and roll era. I was born February 14, 1963, which makes me an old Rose. I've chosen the top five songs from February 1963. I hope you enjoy them!

~DJ Rose~

Frank is 76 years old and is still performing.

Jet Harris died 18 March 2011 at the age of 71. Tony Meehan died 8 November 2005 at the age of 62.

Ah, the Beatles! Ringo is 74 years old and still performing. Paul is 72 years old and still performing. John Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 at the age of 40. George Harrison died on 29 November 2001 at the age of 58 from lung cancer.

Cliff is 73 years old and still performing.

Del died on 8 February 1990 at the age of 55

.

Monday's Music: The Master of Viking Metal

Tomas "Ace" Börje Forsberg AKA Quorthon: 17 February 1966 – c. 7 June 2004

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since Quorthon was found dead at only 38 years old. 

He didn't die from a drug overdose or "misadventure," as has been the sad case with many musicians. He had heart problems, likely cardiomyopathy. His heart simply stopped working. He was found dead in his apartment after no-one had heard from him for a week.

Quorthon is considered one of the creators of the Scandinavian black metal genre as well as being the father of the Viking metal genre. He initially utilized horror/dark/occult themes in his music but switched to writing songs about Scandinavian history, legend, and mythology.

Quorthon cautioned people not to allow themselves to become too wrapped up in the theatrical imagery of the metal genre. He expressed his feeling that it was necessary to remember that it was theatre, and that he personally kept in mind that he was just a regular person who enjoyed creating theatre. 

Quorthon was distressed to receive letters written in blood and on occasion containing dead, mutilated animals or photographs of women engaging in obscene acts using crucifixes. He wanted to escape the image as "the baby-eating, blood-drinking God of the bat-cave". He expressed the feeling that it was sick and wrong to harm small animals in such a fashion, and that he really didn't care to see unsolicited photographs of people engaged in obscene acts.

Offstage, Quorthon was polite, soft-spoken, evidently very intelligent, and refreshingly lacking in stereotype "rock star" attitudes and behaviors.

I believe the older fellow in the video is his father, Börje "Boss" Forsberg. While Boss was owner of the Tyfon Grammafon label and produced Quorthon's early work with Bathory, Quorthon received no particular special favors. He worked under a very tight budget. In one case, he recalled creating a particular echoing effect by playing his guitar in the bathroom at the studio.

Following Quorthon's death, his sister, Jennie Tebler, wanted to remix certain of her brother's songs to create a duet between herself and him. However, she stated in one interview that she couldn't stop herself from crying when she heard his voice, so she ended up using only the guitar tracks. The person who created this video has envisioned what the remix might have sounded like had she been able to go through with the project.

The talented siblings created this song together not long before Quorthon's death. He played all of the instruments and mixed the track. It's a shame they couldn't have done more work together.

The world is a poorer place for the loss of Quorthon, a fine musician and a fine human being. But it is a richer place for the fact that he was here. May he rock Valhalla!

~DJ Adam~

For the KHEL 666 Krew

Monday's Music Moves Me: Faycin's Favorite Men Behind the Mic

A lot of Nu Metal sounds the same to me, but Cristian Machado's clear, powerful vocals rise to the top. I may be in my fifties, but I keep an open mind (and open ears) when it comes to music. I really like Ill Niño's style.

Finnish melodic metal band H.I.M. is fortunate to have Ville Valo as their front man. Ville's voice is perfect for the band's Gothic/romantic lyrics and style.

Power pop kings Def Leppard remain one of my favorite bands after many years. Joe Elliott has great vocal range. The band has suffered a lot of tragedy, but they're still putting it out there! This video was obviously made prior to Rick Allen's accident. I've seen them live. Rick is still one of the best drummers out there. The loss of his arm didn't change that.

I've seen Whitesnake in concert several times. David Coverdale is a great vocalist. He's also refreshingly lacking in "rock star" attitude. He enjoys joking around and having fun with the band and the audience. He also has enviable genes. He's now 62 years old, still has the same glorious mane of hair, and his face is still youthful. I need to find out his secret! ;-)

Great White's Jack Russell has a great voice for blues and power ballads. This is another band that has had more than its share of trouble. The Station fire was a tragedy that can never be forgotten. Guitarist Ty Longley was one of the people who lost their lives during that awful incident.

Geoff Tate is a great vocalist but apparently quite a volatile personality. He was fired from Queensrÿche in 2012 after a violent backstage altercation with other band members. I used to blast this song back when I was working as a courier. Kept the monotony of driving from putting me to sleep at the wheel! 

There's so many more, but I'll keep it to six. Hope you enjoyed the set!

~DJ Faycin~

Music Monday/Monday's Music Moves Me: Celebration and Truth

The theme for today's Monday's Music Moves Me and Music Monday is a song of celebration and a song that describes ourselves. The first is a song celebrating the summer solstice.

Here is a lesser known song by Elton John which describes how misunderstood I tended to feel in my youth. Depressive with an interest in the "supernatural" and the "occult," sure didn't fit in with the local church youth group. Believe me, the rumors flew. 
Like Lady Samantha, I was "harmless and empty of anything bad." I guess the rumors about me being a blood sucking fiend from beyond the grave were more interesting than the reality that I was just a shy, lonely young woman with a vivid imagination who happened to like wearing black.

I still like wearing black, and while it's nice to be understood, if people don't want to make the effort, I'm not going to do bend over backwards trying to make them like me. I've got better things to do with my time.

~DJ Helena~