The Beauty of Bajau - Proud of My Culture

The Bajau, (also written as Badjao, Badjaw or Badjau) are an indigenous ethnic group the Philippines and in parts of Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak. Although the majority of the Bajau live in the Philippines, due to unrest in their native Sulu Archipelago, in the southern part of the country, many Bajau had migrated to neighbouring Malaysia over the course of 40 years, where currently they are the second largest ethnic group in the state of Sabah, making up 13.4%[1] of the total population. They were sometimes referred to as the Sea Gypsies, although the term has been used to encompass a number of non-related ethnic groups with similar traditional lifestyles, such as the Samadilaut and Jama Mapun peoples of the Southern Philippines. The Bajau of Indonesia live primarily on the islands and in the coastal districts of Sulawesi. The modern outward spread of the Bajau from older inhabited areas seems to have been associated with the development of sea trade in trepang.

Just another day in Riyadh

Check out the break dance and the DJ at the back :)

Demetri Martin

I like jokes!

Cheer me up!

Life is ssssoooooo boring now! So I surfed youtube to cheer myself.

Alizee - Oh La La!

Alizee is one of my favorite singer. Known by her nickname Lili, Alizée started dancing early in her life. By the age of four, she became quite proficient in it. A year later, she enrolled herself in Corsica's renowned dance school, Ecole du Spectacle de Monique Mufraggi, and received her training there till she was 15.

In 1995, at the age of eleven, she won a coloring competition organised by Air Outre Mer, a former French airline now partly acquired by Swissair. Her design won first prize and ended up being reproduced on the cabin of one of the airline's aircraft. The aircraft was subsequently named after her and for her efforts, Alizée won a trip to the Maldives.

In 1999, she appeared on the TV talent show "Graines de Star", broadcast on Métropole. She initially intended to sign up for the programme's dance contest. However, the dance category was reserved for groups only. Alizée therefore participated in the singing category instead, performing the song Ma Prière. She went on to win the "Meilleure Graine" award for most promising young singing star of tomorrow.

Her winning performance was seen by veteran French pop diva Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, who were looking for a young, fresh voice to partake in their new project.

Here is one of my favorite video of Alizee live in concert.

Legolas Son of King Thranduil

Legolas [LEEG-oh-lahs] is the son of King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm of Northern
Mirkwood, who appears as "the Elvenking" in The Hobbit; his father rules over the Silvan Elves who dwell there. Although he lived among them, was exposed to their customs, and it is inferred that he considered himself one of them, Legolas was strictly not one of the Silvan Elves (Wood-elves). His father Thranduil had originally come from Doriath; he and his son were actually Sindar ("Grey Elves", singular Sinda - "Sindarin" is their language). A small minority of Sindar ruled the predominantly Silvan Woodland Realm, a minority which Thranduil headed. The Sindarin minority in that realm, who should have been more noble and wise than the Silvan Elves, can be seen as having "gone native" at the end of the First Age: after Melkor was defeated and all of the grand Elf-kingdoms of Beleriand were destroyed, they can be seen as going back to "a simpler time" in their culture. The realm of Lothlórien is similar to the Woodland Realm in that a community of Silvan Elves is ruled by non-Silvan ones, i.e. Galadriel and Celeborn.

Though his father and his kingdom appear in The Hobbit, Legolas does not appear himself. Of course, his character had not been made yet (though his name had; see below). However, some have theorized that he may well have fought in the Battle of the Five Armies at Erebor. The events in The Hobbit take place less than a century before the Quest of Mount Doom. Unlike Men, the Eldar (which included the Sindar) reached adulthood on or before they reached a century of age.

Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar attain the stature and shape in which their lives would afterwards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before they were full-grown. — from the essay Laws and Customs Among the Eldar, found in Morgoth's Ring, part of The History of Middle-earth.

Legolas is older than Aragorn and Gimli, who are, according to their birth-dates in the Appendices, eighty-seven and one hundred thirty-nine respectively at the time of the War of the Ring; he even calls them "children" (see Age discussion below). Thus, he must have been alive during the events of The Hobbit. Logically, as a retcon he could quite conceivably have been present in his father's halls at the time, and thus may have even fought at Erebor.

He is introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring, at the council of Elrond of Rivendell, where he comes as a messenger from his father to discuss the escape of Gollum from their guard. Tolkien describes him as "a strange Elf, clad in green and brown". Legolas is chosen or volunteers to be one of the members of the Fellowship that sets out to destroy the One Ring. He accompanies the others in their travels from Rivendell to Amon Hen.

When the Fellowship is snowed down while crossing Caradhras, he scouts ahead to find the Sun, while Aragorn and Boromir drive a path through the snow. Unlike them, he is little affected by the blowing winds and snow; he does not even wear boots, only light shoes, and his feet scarcely make imprints on the snow.

After their attempt to cross Caradhras is foiled, their leader Gandalf takes them on an underground journey through Moria, an ancient Dwarf-kingdom, though some (including Legolas) do not wish to go there. Before they reach Moria, however, Legolas helps fend off an attack of Sauron's wolves in Hollin. Once in Moria, he helps fight off the Orcs whom they encounter there, and recognizes Durin's Bane as a Balrog of Morgoth.

After Gandalf is lost while facing the Balrog, Aragorn takes charge of the Fellowship and leads them to the Elven realm of Lothlórien, the Golden Wood. Legolas serves as the initial spokesperson for the company, speaking with the inhabitants, the Galadhrim, whom he considers close kin.

In Lothlórien, Legolas got his elven bow. He used this bow in many great battles.

Within the Fellowship, there is friction between Legolas and the Dwarf Gimli, because of the ancient quarrel between Elves and Dwarves after the destruction of Doriath in the First Age, and also because his father, Thranduil, once threw Gimli's father, Glóin, in prison (as described in The Hobbit). Legolas and Gimli become friends, however, when Gimli greets the Elven queen Galadriel with gentle words.

They take leave of Lothlórien, but not before receiving several gifts. There, he receives a new longbow from the Galadhrim, along with the other gifts that Galadriel and Celeborn give him and the rest of the Fellowship, such as special cloaks and lembas. Legolas later receives a warning from Galadriel (through Gandalf, who returns from death), which he interprets as a sign of his impending death:

"Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall rest in the forest no more."

While the Fellowship is travelling over the River Anduin, he shoots down a nearby fell beast with one shot.

After Boromir is killed and Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took are captured by Orcs in The Two Towers, he, Aragorn and Gimli set forth in pursuit of the two (Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, and his friend Samwise Gamgee had gone ahead on the road to Mordor). They meet the revived Gandalf and the Rohirrim, fight in the Battle of the Hornburg, and witness Saruman's downfall at Isengard, where they are reunited with the two abducted hobbits. In the Battle of the Hornburg, he and Gimli engage in an Orc-slaying contest (Gimli wins by one, killing forty-two to Legolas's forty-one, but the real result is stronger mutual respect).

In The Return of the King, he and Gimli accompany Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead, along with the Grey Company. After Aragorn summons the Dead Men of Dunharrow to fight for him, he watches them scare away the Corsairs of Umbar from their ships at Pelargir. Galadriel's prophecy comes true; as Legolas hears the cries of seagulls, he begins to experience the Sea-longing — the desire to sail west to Valinor, the Blessed Realm, which was latent among the Eldar. He fights in the Battles of the Pelennor Fields and the Morannon, and watches as Sauron is defeated and Barad-dûr collapses.

After the destruction of the One Ring, he stays in Minas Tirith for some time, as Aragorn is crowned King of the Reunited Kingdom as King Elessar and marries his love Arwen. Later, Legolas and Gimli go off travelling together through Fangorn Forest. Eventually, Legolas comes to Ithilien with some of his people, with his father's leave, to spend his remaining time in Middle-earth helping to restore the devastated forests of that war-ravaged land. He founds an Elf-colony in the fair forest of Ithilien in Gondor and becomes its lord.

It is told in the Red Book of Westmarch (first written by Bilbo Baggins, continued by Frodo Baggins and supposedly finished by Samwise Gamgee) that after Aragorn's death in Fourth Age one hundred and twenty, Legolas builds a grey ship in Ithilien, and leaves Middle-earth to go over the Sea to Valinor and Gimli the Dwarf goes with him.

The Beauty Of Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots, used in a wide variety of musical styles, and it is also a solo classical instrument. It is most recognized as the primary instrument in blues, country, flamenco, rock music and many forms of pop. The guitar usually has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. Guitars may be played acoustically or they may rely on an amplifier that usually allows for electronic manipulation of tone. The electric guitar was introduced in the 20th century, and had a profound influence on popular culture.

The guitar appears to be derived from earlier instruments known in ancient central Asia as the Sitara. Instruments very similar to the guitar appear in ancient carvings and statues recovered from the old Iranian capitol of Susa. The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from Spanish guitarra, derived from earlier Greek word kithara. Prospective sources for various names of musical instruments that guitar could be derived from appear to be a combination of two Indo-European roots: guit-, similar to Sanskrit sangeet meaning "music", and -tar a widely attested root meaning "chord" or "string". Illustration from a Carolingian Psalter from the 9th century, showing a Guitar-like plucked instrument. Illustration from a Carolingian Psalter from the 9th century, showing a Guitar-like plucked instrument.

The word guitar is a Persian loanword to Iberian Arabic. The word qitara is an Arabic name for various members of the lute family that preceded the Western guitar. The name guitarra was introduced into Spanish when such instruments were brought into Iberia by the Moors after the 10th century. (See related article). According to merriam-webster (www.m-w.com), the English word derives from French guitare, which in turn coems from Spanish guitarra. The Spanish word was borrowed directly from Arabic qītār which was in turn adapted from Greek kithara. The Greek word may have, according to etymonline.com, its roots in the Persian word sitar.

Okay, that is enough!!! I hope you enjoy this amazing guitar video.