Stairway to Heaven – Heart’s Led Zeppline Tribute

Posted on April 14, 2013 by aka_lol

The song remains almost the same

PSY – GENTLEMAN

Posted on April 13, 2013 by aka_lol

This is the new one from PSY, ‘GENTELEMAN’

The point is not if it’s good but if it’s good enough to plaster PSY into the South Korean and World Hall of Musical Fame. I think ‘GENTLEMAN’ is nearly as deep a song lyrically as ‘GANGAM STYLE’ and I hope the world will also find the new PSY song as moving. For those who do not remember of tried to forget ‘GANGAM STYLE’ was the song that caused nearly everybody, especially North Koreans, to admit that the world is not as serious as it looks.

PSY Releases New Song: “Gentleman”

Olympics 2012 vs West Indies Cricket

Posted on July 16, 2012 by aka_lol

The video is blocked from this website by the IOC and the song is called Survival and sung by British rock band Muse. I hear this song nearly every day and probably even on our local Star 94.7 and still can’t picture it as a theme song for the Olympics.

On the other hand, the song below is a West Indies Cricket song which has enough energy to power the 2012 Olympics in London for all its days. The song is called We Are The West Indies and its performed by Tian Wynter & Keida.

Muse – “Survival” (London 2012 Olympic Games Official Song) (stereogum.com)
Muse’s official Olympics song ‘Survival’ now has a video: Watch it here! (music-mix.ew.com)
Muse Premieres “Survival” – Official Theme Song For London Olympics (kroq.radio.com)

Somebody That I Used to Know – Walk off the Earth (Gotye – Cover)

Posted on March 17, 2012 by aka_lol

The video and song is extremely addictive and is being performed by Walk off the Earth which is a Canadian indie band formed in 2006 in Burlington, Ontario. Five people (including one bearded guy), three main voices, one steel-string guitar and tonnes of talent gave rise to this viral video.

The name of the song is Somebody That I Used to Know which was originally sung by Gotye – Wouter “Wally” De Backer (born 21 May 1980), also known professionally by his stage name Gotye (pronounced /ˈɡɒti.eɪ/ GOT-tee-ay) is a Belgian-Australianmulti-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter. The name “Gotye” is derived from “Gaultier” (or “Gautier” or “Gauthier”,) the French equivalent of “Wouter” (“Walter” in English.) Gotye’s voice has been compared to Sting and Peter Gabriel, some fans even going to the extent of mixing Gotye’s vocals with tracks by The Police – Wikipedia

As amazing as the Walk Off The Earth video is, Gotye steals the show every time. The song is made nearly perfect with the help of Kimbra - Kimbra Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer/songwriter from Hamilton, New Zealand. She is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

“Somebody That I Used To Know”
(feat. Kimbra)

[Gotye:]
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it’s an ache I still remember

You can be addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I’ll admit that I was glad that it was over

But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make it like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I’d done
But I don’t wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

[Gotye:]
But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make it like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
And you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

[x2]
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you’re just somebody that I used to know)

(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody

Belgium/ Austria: Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (jobblog2011.wordpress.com)
Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) Video (wekureburns.wordpress.com)
Coffee Shop New Brew: Gotye – “Somebody That I Used To Know” (q104.radio.com)
Gotye: ‘I didn’t expect chart success’ (digitalspy.co.uk)
Somebody That I Used to Know – Walk off the Earth (Gotye – Cover) (sperik.wordpress.com)
Gotye (claudiaojeda87.wordpress.com)
Gotye making breakups seem artsy (nosowildchild.wordpress.com)
Gotye Getting Back To Fundamentals For Musical March Madness (mtv.com)
[Video] Fans Cover Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” (buzz103.radio.com)
Easy Way Out – Gotye (sacredcalf.wordpress.com)
C&L’s Late Night Music Club With Gotye (crooksandliars.com)

Introducing Miloš Karadaglić and the Classical Guitar

Posted on October 30, 2011 by aka_lol

Milos Karadaglic

The intense buzz around the guitar world lately is that Montenegro-born Milos Karadaglic is the new guitar hero of the classical guitar world, replacing the late Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream, John Williams, and Christopher Parkening to name just a few. Milos has bolted to prominence only months ago with his first album, Mediterráneo. With his youth, plus good and trendy looks, Milos has the potential to make the Classical Guitar a more popular instrument among young people, just as the violin is once again. Already the non-classical guitar groupies are somewhere between deep awe and envy of Milos. Milos is only 28 years old, has First Class Honours and a Masters degree from the Royal Academy and now a Meaker Junior Fellow – whatever that is. In theory, Milos should be a stuffed-shirt and a nerd but he comes across as anything but.

Vanessa Mae

Young people have always strived for cool in their music and cool was, and still mainly is with pop. It is very rare that a performer of classical music has even approached cool but Milos, just by the luck of looks and amazing talent due to passion and dedication, is coming across as a hip and super-talented character – Vanessa Mae was mildly popular with her renditions of popped-up pop and classical music on violin assisted by her short skirts and pretty legs.

The pop world is too crowded with transient and superficial talent and with the young mind being distracted easily, it is doubtful that something as intense and intellectual as the classical guitar will gain much of their attention for very long, Milos or not. I think if Milos ever releases an album of classic rock standards such as Stairway to Heaven, Bohemian Rhapsody and Hotel California, he will be even more popular in the real world but this will no doubt offend the classical one.

Miloš won two prestigious Gramophone awards on October 6th in London and he is being taken seriously by the classical music world.

http://www.milosguitar.com

Classical music news: Gramophone magazine announces its Records of the Year and Artist of the Year. (welltempered.wordpress.com)
George Carlin….One of the Greatest Progressive Minds Of Our Time, watch; it will be an hour of time well spent (truthnreality.wordpress.com)
Greatest True Love Ballads (soulfulelementsforyou.com)

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World”

Posted on April 9, 2011 by aka_lol

I haven’t had the time to blog recently being occupied with everything my brain can lay its neurons on, from downloading movies, books and music to learning the ins and outs of Lightroom 3x. From planning a vacation to liking my Pentax K-7 even more but unhappy with my Tamrac camera bag. With my mind all over the place, and some good places at that, I stumbled on Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (aka Iz),whose medley of “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” I remembered from the movie Meet Joe Black, one of my favorites. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was born in 1959 in Honolulu and became a famous musician and singer. Sadly, he died at a young age in 1997. The official Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole’s “What A Wonderful World” video on YouTube has so far received over 7.5 million plays but this blog is not allowed to embed that version. The popularity of this video is an indication of how good music can be timeless. This is one of my favorite songs and I am constantly on the lookout for songs which I feel and hope will live forever. Recently I discovered R.E.M‘s new Everyday is Yours to Win but only time will tell how long it will live.

What are some great songs on ukulele (wiki.answers.com)
Searching for Hawaii’s Next Big Star (online.wsj.com)
What is the movie ‘Meet Joe Black’ about (wiki.answers.com)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (gabrielconstans.wordpress.com)

Eminem – Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna

Posted on November 28, 2010 by aka_lol

Rihanna can be described, according to Wikipedia, as a Barbadian R&B recording artist and songwriter. She can also be described as talented, sexy, infinitely better than Chris Brown, and able to sell more than 15 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide so far. This latest song with Eminem is strangely addictive despite, or is it because of, Eminem’s foul mouth. For this festive season of good will to all men and especially pretty women, Eminem – Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna is stuck in my head like bun-bun at the bottom of a pelau pot. I can be heard humming this song all day even in the bank, while in the shower, or driving through floods of unknown height. The lyrics suggest that Eminem is still a bitter man either because he is bitter or bitterness sells. Based on the lyrics from Love The Way You Lie, Eminem’s world is still not a happy world. Eminem, for those who don’t know him, is a modern-day, depressed poet with lyrical talent that will only be too apparent scores of years from now. Here is a sample of why he will be considered great in the future:

Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that’s alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that’s alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

I can’t tell you what it really is
I can only tell you what it feels like
And right now there’s a steel knife
In my windpipe
I can’t breathe
But I still fight
While I can fight
As long as the wrong feels right
It’s like I’m in flight
High of a love
Drunk from the hate
It’s like I’m huffing paint
And I love it the more that I suffer
I sufficate
And right before im about to drown
She resuscitates me
She f&*%%$#ing hates me
And I love it
Wait
Where you going
I’m leaving you
No you ain’t
Come back
We’re running right back
Here we go again
It’s so insane…..

Rihanna - Nice Ears

Eminem – Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna (akalol.wordpress.com)

FIFA World CUP 2010 – Waving Flag – K’naan ft. Nancy Ajram

Posted on May 30, 2010 by aka_lol

This is an addictive song and video for FIFA World Cup 2010 and you would expect nothing less for the World Cup and from Coca-Cola. The World Cup 2010 is being held in South Africa and starts in a few days. It will be available on TV in Trinidad and Tobago in HD and hopefully in English only on Directv. Standard definition will be available on one of the local stations.

This version of the song was sung by K’naan featuring Nancy Ajram. K’naan is from Somalia and Namcy Ajram is from Lebanon. The name of the song is Waving Flag which was written by Keinan Abdi Warsam (K’naan), Peter Hernandez, Philip Lawrence, and Jean Daval. Waving Flag or waving anything in the air is something the people of Trinidad and Tobago can identify with easily.

Waving Flag Lyrics (Original Song)

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But Violent prone, poor people zone
But it’s my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Except no defeat, surrender retreat

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day
It’s not far away, so for now we say

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

So many wars, settling scores
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I heard them say, love is the way
Love is the answer, that’s what they say,
But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers

But we struggling, fighting to eat
And we wondering, when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day
It’s not far away, but for now we say

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag.

FIFA 2010 – World Cup Teams (teabreak.pk)
K’naan Wins “Artist of the Year” at 2010 Juno Awards (jambase.com)
K’naan’s Wavin’ Flag gets We are the World treatment (thestar.com)
FIFA World Cup 2010 Groups (geniusgeeks.com)
Live at TONY: K’naan unfurls his “Wavin’ Flag” (timeoutny.com)
Somali rapper bucks hip-hop code of violence (cnn.com)
David Guetta Was ‘Moved’ By K’Naan’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’ (mtv.com)
World Cup 2010 anthem: K’Naan interview (telegraph.co.uk)
2010 FIFA World Cup Demo Out This Week (1up.com)

Snakecharmer Binaural by Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra

Posted on December 26, 2009 by aka_lol

There is no better way to listen to music – binaural or regular, Ottmar Liebert or other – than on a good headphone like a Bose Triport (around-ear) headphones though there is a risk of getting deaf after prolonged loud listening. Though the Bose Triport is a very efficient headphone, the deafness is due to the user, ignorant of how to get deaf while seeking joy through music, pumping high decibel sound levels through the headphones to the user’s ears everyday for many days. However, there is hardly that deaf-risk if the listener is using a Dell Desktop’s headphone jack since Dell is skimpy on headphone output levels, possibly to save us from ourselves rather than a design blunder.

“Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses a special microphone arrangement and is intended for replay using headphones. Dummy head recording is a specific method of capturing the audio, generally using a bust that includes pinnae (outer ears). Because each person’s pinnae are unique, and because the filtering they impose on sound directionality is learned by each person from early childhood, the use of pinnae during recording that are not the same as the ultimate listener may lead to perceptual confusion.” ~ Wikipedia

“Ottmar Liebert (born 1959)^[1] is a German-born composer and guitarist, born to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother. As a child, he spent most of his time traveling Europe and Asia with his family. Ottmar leads an ensemble called Luna Negra (“Black Moon”), which has gained popularity performing as a touring band and recording music albums in a “Nouveau Flamenco” style.” ~ Wikipedia

EU to set volume limits on MP3 players (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Klipsch headquarters walkthrough: behind the scenes and between the ears (engadget.com)
HA-FX700: JVC’s wooden (and pricey) earphones (crunchgear.com)
Griffin Technology MyPhones headphone (ubergizmo.com)

Ricky Nelson – Garden Party 1985

Posted on November 7, 2009 by aka_lol

This is one from 1972:-

According to Wikipedia “In 1972, Ricky Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with “Garden Party“, a song he wrote in disgust after a Madison Square Garden audience booed him when he tried playing new songs instead of just his old hits. “Garden Party” reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and was certified as a gold single.”

‘n’ it’s all right now, learned my lesson well
You see, ya can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself

Not exactly an original thought but it’s stuck in my head with this song.

Stacey Soloman – What a Wonderful Audition

Posted on September 6, 2009 by aka_lol

It doesn’t matter who sings What a Wonderful World, Louie Armstrong’s version will always be the best. According to Wikipedia “What a Wonderful World is a song written by Bob Thiele (as George Douglas) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968.” I am sure it is one of the most recorded and talent-show-performed songs in the history of talent shows. What a Wonderful World is also popular among armature photographers who try to make nature photos look better in slide shows using sound.

In the audition for the X-Factor , The pretty and shy Stacey Soloman does a great performance of What a Wonderful World impressing The X-Factor judges, humans and even Simon.

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

The Shadows – Ghost Riders in The Sky

Posted on August 2, 2009 by aka_lol

I posted this from YouTube. I just clicked the button called Share and there it was, on my blog. So, what significance is this song to this blog? None really and I discovered Ghost Riders In The Sky while looking for another song called Good Vibrations from the movie Deer Hunter. I like Ghost Riders for the same reason I like cactus flowers and bachac bait. I hope you enjoy this guitar instrumental as mush as I enjoy hoping you do.

Trinidad Chutney in Japan!

Posted on July 13, 2009 by aka_lol

Thanks to Tunks, I found out about this video a few minutes ago. Looks like we did export wine to Japan and have this YouTube to show for it. Isn’t Japanese Barbie a Doll.

Stealing Michael Jackson’s Music

Posted on July 5, 2009 by aka_lol

I should have something better to write about than Michael Jackson, considering Government arrogance and indifference is at an all-time high, but I take comfort in knowing this unbearable arrogance is a surest sign of a falling Government and it would only be a matter of time before this current bunch of Ministers are replaced, just to show them who is really boss.

I wonder how many Michael Jackson’s fans who are now mourning his loss and signing condolence books actually bought his albums or legal downloads. True, he sold 750 million albums in his short lifetime but he would have sold much more if people didn’t think it was right to steal music. Part of Michael Jackson’s problems was his lack of will to manage his financial life as well as his image but with the success of peer to peer file sharing services, and accusations of being a pedophile, his income dwindled to the point where he had to vacate his Neverland Ranch and rent a $US110,000 per month mansion in LA.

Despite a halfhearted attempt by the Trinidad and Tobago Government to educate the public about intellectual property and why we should not steal it, there is a lack of will to shut down illegal DVD stores. The alternative to an illegal $10 DVD in Trinidad and Tobago would be a legal $200 one. That would be politically unpopular and there are very few countries in the world where the population can tolerate, constant flooding, a high crime rate, interference in democratic institutions plus expensive DVDs. In Trinidad and Tobago, DVD stores are selling nicely packaged, pirated Michael Jackson DVDs and CDs and there will be no police action, either by car or bicycle on these smooth criminals.

People argue that legal DVDs and CDs are too expensive and legal MP3 downloads of foreign music is not available so that is why they must be stolen. People in the developed world have no idea what it means to be third world until they try to buy an MP3 from iTunes or Amazon using a Trinidad IP address. Our region is not supported, they say. “We have the money so what is the problem,” some would scream but as Naipaul is fond of saying, we are just a dot.

So we steal because they won’t sell. Didn’t the cable company in Trinidad pirate HBO and Showtime for years without suffering any Government interference? Apparently, once you steal the Government doesn’t interfere – the government only meddles to stay in power. Nevertheless, there are websites such as MP3VA that sell MP3s to the Third World but their legal standing is questionable and not just because they are Russian. But you can get legal, high quality, downloads to buy from selected labels and artiste from HDtracks.

While people mourn Michael Jackson’s death they illegally download his music. We in the dotty Third World crave to be First World and use any means possible to appear to be by playing the same music and mourning in the same fashion, even if it means acting unethically, if not illegally.

Safri Duo – The Best

Posted on May 24, 2009 by aka_lol

Safri Duo

Safri Duo is a popular percussion duo from Denmark whose most popular songs include Played-a-live (The Bongo Song), Falling High and Samb-Adagio. The two members of Safri Duo are Uffe Savery and Morten Friis. Their music and be described as Techno, European Dance, Jogging Music, or Trinidad and Tobago Zen. To best appreciate the Music of Safri Duo one needs to have a good sound system such as a real iPod with Bose TriPort headphones or good night club.

Falling High is one of my favorite Safri Duo songs and this music video is one of favorites. I think it was recorded in Brazil so the girl should be Brazilian:

Samb Adagio is stunning:

And here is Nike vs Safri Dou with the Bongo Song appearing to a creshendo:

Michael Jackson – “This Is It!”

Posted on March 14, 2009 by aka_lol

Michael Jackson - 1958 to 2009

Michael Jackson died today, he was 50 years old. Michael Jackson was the greatest performer who ever lived and has left the world a better palace. 25th June 2009

TRIBUTE

Michael Jackson has fallen on hard times and has stooped to touring to make ends meet. He will be performing in London in July, August, September this year and January and February next year. All the tickets for the shows announced have been sold and the price of tickets were between £50 and £75 (TT$450 toTT$680). 48 shows have been announced so far with 20,000 people each show. The London tour is called “This Is It!”

Michael Jackson is 50 years old but doesn’t look a day over 80. He has been described as weird and abnormal by some and as Bad and Dangerous by those who know his music. He will never hit a celebrity girlfriend and has sold over 750 million records so far. His album Thriller is the largest selling album of all time and the 25^th Anniversary of Thriller was released last year. Michael Jackson is by far the most successful recording artist in the history of recording artist. People are curious about Michael Jackson’s health and wondering if he is up to touring since it was reported he had health issues recently. Hopefully he has been practicing his trademark Moon Walk and keeping away from drugs and plastic.

Michael Jackson started off as a child and was born Michael Joseph Jackson. He is famous for being called “The King of Pop,” dethroning Cocoa-Cola many years ago. His life has been full of controversy and all the public wants from MickJack is a few more songs and dances while he still can. Hopefully the days of controversy are over and a new Michael Jackson will be released in London.

Without condoms and common sense we don’t stand a chance ~ aka_lol

It can be said that sexiness is what celebrities start with and a book deal is what they end up as ~aka_lol

The Queen is Coming, No More Flooding!! ~aka_lol

We are more entertained by Commissions of Enquiries than troubled by them ~aka_lol

...stupid people need to be restrained before the country slips into that septic tank of no return ~ aka_lol

We are a population that wants to stop fighting with our elected Government and selected President and start worrying about how much of the Heritage Fund will be used for conferences and bribes ~aka_lol

A sex tape is now like a cell phone, everybody has one and some even have one with each service provider ~ aka_lol

Small minds victimize a lot ~ aka_lol

There is only one thing which a man can stick his finger in that feels better than sticking it in election ink on Election Day ~ aka_lol

What ever the truth is, a Kindle price should always be lower than the hardcover price because that is what Kindle buyers have come to expect and enjoy ~aka_lol

"We ordering pork for those who don’t eat beef." I said. That was when the screaming started ~aka_lol~

Governments like to claim they are transparent but like some underwear, never transparent enough to please the man in the street ~aka_lol~

Governments govern people therefore people must govern governments ~aka_lol~

...the Bandits Association have nothing against people making an honest dollar since it was the honest dollar from the man in the street that keeps their members happy and well fed ~aka_lol

"He who believes in freedom of the will has never loved and never hated."

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Each religion, so dear to those whose life it sanctifies, and fulfilling so necessary a function in the society that has adopted it, necessarily contradicts every other religion, and probably contradicts itself.

~George Santayana

“If you can't see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, smell it, measure it, observe it, understand it or verify it… Worship it!”

~???~

"You can't disprove the theory of God. The power of science is uncertainty. Everything is uncertain, but science can define that uncertainty. That's why science makes progress and religion doesn't."

~Lawrence Krauss~

"O Lord, I want to thank you that I was born in the West and not some other God-forsaken place, and that I was able to become a Christian by default. I'm thankful that I don't have to think hard about what I believe. I can accept without a second thought everything that's fed to me, and that I can support the status quo with a clear conscience without interrupting my comfortable way of life. You've made me what I am today without any effort on my part. I haven't had to think, question or change a thing, and for that I'm truly grateful."

~David Hayward~

As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers

~Robert G. Ingersoll~

Whenever we teach our children that groundless faith is a virtue, we pave the way for groundless violence

~Carrie Poppy~

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

~Epicurus~

Nearly every American will know of more atheists at the end of 2011 than they do today, as coming out as an atheist becomes cool. Yes. Cool

~David Silverman~

I am proud to have been in a business that gives pleasure, creates beauty, and awakens our conscience, arouses compassion, and perhaps most importantly, gives millions a respite from our so violent world.

~Audrey Hepburn~

There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit us to give any of it away to imaginary beings.

~Friedrich Nietzsch~

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Mae West

One way to stop a runaway horse is to bet on him

~Jeffrey Bernard~

When you think about it, our politicians do play god, in the sense that they're not believed in by the vast majority of the public any more, they haven't done anything demonstrably useful for absolutely ages, and they keep employing members of their own family in influential positions. I'm not saying Jesus wasn't the best man for the job, I'm just saying it would have been nice if there had been a little more transparency in the recruitment process.

~Andy Zaltzman~

Organised religion is most concerned with self-preservation

~Adam Rutherford~

It's not God I worry about. It's the self-important, pompous, power-seeking old fossils who claim to speak for him

~Anonymous~

Grief is the price we pay for love.

~Queen Elizabeth II~

The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation

~Sam Harris

What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance . . . Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.

~Sam Harris~

My creed is this: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so.

~Charles J. Ingersoll~

There is no need for us to gather every day, or every seven days, or on any high and auspicious day, to proclaim our rectitude or to grovel and wallow in our unworthiness. We atheists do not require any priests, or any hierarchy above them, to police our doctrine.

~Christopher Hitchens~

Babies die in ditches every day, yet God helps Hollywood stars win trophies ~ Catherine Deveny

No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office

~ Covert Bailey~

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that.

~Richard Dawkins~

Religion is ultimately dependent on belief in invisible beings, inaudible voices, intangible entities, undetectable forces, and events and judgements that happen after we die. It therefore has no reality check and it is therefore uniquely armored against criticism, questioning, and self-correction ~Greta Christina

I believe in the religion of reason - the gospel of this world; in the development of the mind, in the accumulation of intellectual wealth, to the end that man may free himself from superstitious fear, to the end that he may take advantage of the forces of nature to feed and clothe the world.

~Robert G. Ingersoll

Religion has nothing to do with morality, and is all about power fueled by superstition ~ Anonymous

The pleasure of hating, like a poisonous mineral, eats into the heart of religion, and turns it to rankling spleen and bigotry; it makes patriotism an excuse for carrying fire, pestilence, and famine into other lands: it leaves to virtue nothing but the spirit of censoriousness, and a narrow, jealous, inquisitorial watchfulness over the actions and motives of others. What have the different sects, creeds, doctrines in religion been but so many pretexts set up for men to wrangle, to quarrel, to tear one another in pieces about, like a target as a mark to shoot at?

~ William Hazlit – On the Pleasure of Hating

We have tried for over a thousand years, as a species, teaching people that killing people and holding others below yourself, and being indifferent to the suffering of others was wrong because God said so. I think we can firmly conclude that that strategy was a dismal failure. Instead, the zeal created by religious conviction has led people to hurt others in the name of God.

~ M. LeBlanc

If proselytisers had genuine faith they would at least tone down the proselytism. Surely the God they believe in has the power, hypothetically speaking, to move the hearts of unbelievers without their having to be argued, bribed, or bludgeoned into doctrinal submission first.

~ Barbara O'Brien

Inspired by the Pope's recent call to remember our country's Christian roots I was wondering which particular roots we should return to. Burning Protestants or hanging Roman Catholic priests? Requiring Dissenters to live 10 miles from the City of London, or Roman Catholics 5 miles? And if we decide to execute the Archbishop of Canterbury should we burn him like Cranmer or behead him like Laud?

~ Mark Francis

Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that’s just in the US. I’m not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)

~ Greta Christina

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning

~ Bill Gates

Morality is not the monopoly of any faith: an atheist can be more ethical than a religious person. At the end of the day, what matters is that humans behave with consideration and decency, and avoid imposing their beliefs on others

~ Irfan Husain

The greatest intellectual framework that the human intellect has ever generated is the scientific method. On so many levels, it has freed us from the shackles of barbaric, divisive, and infantile superstition. Yet, all presidential candidates parade their faiths as though it were a virtue to believe in virgin births, burning bushes, and flying horses.

~Gad Saad

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

~Susan B. Anthony~

No opinion should be protected from criticism simply by virtue of being religiously held.

~Richard Dawkins~

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

~Bertrand Russell~

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

~Douglas Adams~

The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it.

~Mark Twain~

One can appreciate and treasure the symmetry and grandeur of the ancient Greek Parthenon without needing any share in the cults of Athena or Eleusis, or the imperatives of Athenian imperialism, just as one may listen to Mozart or admire Chartres and Durham without any nostalgia for feudalism, monarchism, and the sale of indulgences.

~Christopher Hitchens~

The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive.

~Sam Harris~

We live, after all, in a world where illusions are sacred and truth profane.

~Tariq Ali

In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.

~Sam Harris~

It is taboo in our society to criticize a persons religious faith... these taboos are offensive, deeply unreasonable, but worse than that, they are getting people killed. This is really my concern. My concern is that our religions, the diversity of our religious doctrines, is going to get us killed. I'm worried that our religious discourse- our religious beliefs are ultimately incompatible with civilization.

~Sam Harris~

The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is O.K. as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be measured or give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily isn’t very important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t easily be measured doesn’t really exist. This is suicide.

~Daniel Yankelovich

The universe is 13.7 billion years old, the Earth 4.6 billion. A mere 2,000 years ago, at a time of great ignorance and superstition, some Middle Eastern men wrote some books. With respect, does it never strike you as absurd to use them as proof of a benevolent and watchful God?

~Anon~

A truly liberal society guarantees the freedom of all religions, but it accepts the tyranny of none. People must be free to live without threat or fear. To say the things, write the words and live the lives they choose. Does that offend some people? Yes, of course. But the price of freedom is the risk of offence. And, for me, that price is always worth paying.

~Ming Campbell~

Religions are, by definition, metaphors after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you - even, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers and triumphs over all opposition.

~Neil Gaiman~

When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!

~George Carlin~

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company

~Mark Twain~

O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it...

~Mark Twain~

Militant Christians bomb abortion clinics. Militant Muslims fly planes into skyscrapers. Militant Atheists write strongly worded comment pieces? So let's stop this 'militant' nonsense shall we?

~Anon~

Seeing a murder on television... can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.

~Alfred Hitchcock~

Since we are often told that god is ineffable and that it is impossible to know his mind it is quite astonishing the number of people that then proceed to tell you exactly what he thinks.

~Anon~

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.

~Bertrand Russell~

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.

~Dan Rather~

There's an infinite number of things that some people at one time or another have believed in, and an infinite number of things that nobody has believed in. If there's not the slightest reason to believe in any of those things, why bother? The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it.

~Richard Dawkins~

Religion attacks us in our deepest integrity by saying we wouldn't be able to make a moral decision without it, and that a supernatural dictatorship is our only hope. That makes us all into serfs.

~Christopher Hitchens~

Thinkers of the Enlightenment, a set of new intellectual attitudes that remade Western culture in the 17th and 18th centuries, set out to understand the world and themselves through reason rather than religion. Their ideas led to massive advances in science, economics and commerce, the arts and human liberty, which underpin our present prosperity and social freedoms.

~Ayaan Hirsi Ali~

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.

~Bill Vaughan~

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.

~Charles Bukowski~

The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.

~Herbert Agar~

When evidence conflicts with cherished beliefs, most people are happier to explain away even the most compelling data rather than abandon their beliefs.

~Richard Wiseman~

If morality comes from religion, why is it normal for chimpanzees, all tribal peoples and non-believers to feel empathy for others, to practice fairness, and to remain loyal to relatives and friends?

~Anthony Layng~

A strongly held belief does not automatically deserve respect ~ConversationalAtheist.com~

A reluctance to accept the importance of reason is easy to explain. To ignore reason is to avoid a sense of personal responsibility, which makes it easy to explain everything that you see in terms of the tenets of your 'faith', be it religious, political or economic in origin.

~Robert Hall~

Religious fundamentalisms are not only found in every region and religion, but they are also becoming increasingly visible at the international level in, for example, the international human rights system.

~Cassandra Balchin~

I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue.

~Bertrand Russell~

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

~John Maynard Keynes~

My creed is this: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so.

~Charles J. Ingersoll~

History: An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.

~Ambrose Bierce~

Blasphemy is an epithet bestowed by superstition upon common sense.

~Robert G. Ingersoll!

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This Beach Called Life – aka_lol's blog

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