Freddie Mercury of Queen was born to Parsi Indian parents in Stone Town, Zanzibar. He lived there until age 17, when he fled with his family due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution; they moved to England.
Zoroaster (also Zarathustra) was an ancient Iranian prophet whose teachings developed into Zoroastrianism. Freddie Mercury (what a fantastic voice!) grew up practicing Zoroastrianism as his childhood religion.
In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to “be among those who renew the world…to make the world progress towards perfection”. Zoroastrianism is not completely monotheistic because it recognizes more than one god, and it attempts to consolidate the worship of people under one most powerful god.
The basic maxims of Zoroastrianism include:
► Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.
► There is only one path and that is the path of Truth.
► Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you also.
Zoroastrians use the Avesta as their sacred text. The Avesta contains hymns, rituals and spells against demons. The oldest surviving manuscript of an Avestan language text dates from 1323 CE.
In Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Jewish/Christian/Muslim traditions, a demon is considered an unclean spirit, a fallen angel, or a spirit of unknown type which may cause demonic possession, calling for an exorcism.
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is a fast car. Dodge claims
The highest horsepower of any production car: 840 HP
The highest G-Force of any production car: 1.8g
The first wheelie by any production car
World’s fastest 0-60 for any production car: 2.3 seconds
World’s fastest ¼-mile of any production car: 9.65 seconds, 140.09 MPH
In the philosophy of thermal and statistical physics, Maxwell’s Demon is a thought experiment created by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell in which he suggested how the Second Law of Thermodynamics might hypothetically be violated. In the thought experiment, a demon controls a small door between two chambers of gas. As individual gas molecules approach the door, the demon quickly opens and shuts the door so that fast molecules pass into the other chamber, while slow molecules remain in the first chamber. Because faster molecules are hotter, the demon’s behavior causes one chamber to warm up as the other cools, thus decreasing entropy and violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The Beatles song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was released on the Abbey Road album, although it had initially been intended for the The Beatles album, but was left off due to time constraints. John Lennon does not participate in the song. George Martin plays organ. There was a cover by singer Frankie Laine for the Beatles cover album All This and World War II.
Abbey Road, while best known for the Beatles album by that name, is a thoroughfare in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster in London, running roughly northwest to southeast through St. John’s Wood, near Lord’s Cricket Ground. It is only about a mile in length.
The Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between Geneva and the Simplon Pass (to northern Italy). This abbey is part of a territorial abbacy. It is not a part of any diocese.
With a total of 69 nominations and 12 wins, Downton Abbey is the most nominated non-U.S. series in Emmy history. It is filmed at Highclere Castle where the Carnarvon family has lived since 1679. The current Earl of Carnarvon is the great-grandson of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the financial backer of the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings and first victim of the supposed “Mummy’s curse”, dying 4 months after the tomb was opened.
The Emmy Award statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife Dorothy as the model. McManus worked primarily as an editor and edited many films and shorts, including those featuring Laurel and Hardy and the Our Gang characters. He was awarded an Emmy statue (in the Special Award category) in 1948, the first year awards were presented, for his work in designing the Emmy.
Doctor Manhattan, a near-omnipotent character in the graphic novel and movie Watchmen, inscribes the symbol of a hydrogen atom on his own forehead soon after taking on his blue superpowered form.
At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, nonmetallic, highly combustible di-atomic gas with the molecular formula of H2. However, most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water or organic compounds.
A Solitary Blue, the Newbery Honor book by Cynthia Voigt, is a sequel to her Newbery Medal winner Dicey’s Song. It is set in Crisfield, MD, on the rural eastern shore, and the title refers to a great blue heron.
Christopher McCandless, who went by the alias of Alexander Supertramp, was the subject of Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild. One quote attributed to McCandless is, “Happiness only real when shared.” McCandless wrote that in his notebook about 3 weeks before he died along the Stampede Trail near Healy AK.
The “Wowowee Stampede” occurred on February 4, 2006. 73 people were killed and about 400 were injured during a stampede outside the PhilSports Stadium in Pasig City, Philippines. About 30,000 people had been gathered outside the stadium waiting to participate in the first anniversary episode of the former television variety show “Wowowee”.
I must be missing the link.
In play:
Country music star Brad Paisley’s grandfather fought in the Philippines during World War II. Paisley refers to it in his 2009 hit song “Welcome to the Future.” In July of that year, Paisley performed it for the President and Mrs. Obama at the White House.
Song begins at 3:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUnp48su6EQ
Looks like a ninja. After posting, gkster didn’t check their post?
In play:
The English word ‘boondocks’ is actually a Filipino loanword: the Tagalog word for ‘mountain’ is ‘bundok.’ The word entered American vernacular in the 1940s, just as the Philippines became involved in the Second World War.
The low cut work boots issued and worn by U.S. Navy personnel were called “boondockers”. Or at least they were when I served.
The first US air aces of the Vietnam War, US Naval aviators Randy “Duke” Cunningham and Willie Driscoll, were not trained at TOPGUN at the time. They had, though, during their training with the F-4 training, flown against TOPGUN instructors.
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier Duke in the peerage of England and, as Earl of Arundel, the premier Earl. The Duke of Norfolk is also the hereditary Earl Marshal of England.