Top 10 Strangest Rock and Roll Cover

Rock ‘n’ roll has had shock value from the start. While few people still find Elvis’ shaking hips offensive, rock retains its reputation for breaking the rules of decency and acceptability again and again. Sometimes, rock has even parodied itself. As such, here are the top 10 strangest rock ‘n’ roll covers of all time.

10. Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U [Wikipedia]

In the age of shaved pop stars/negligent mothers, how many people still find Sinead O’Connor to have much of an edge anymore? Her music wasn’t all too particularly angry despite how it seemed back when it was released, and her hair, or lack thereof, has taken on completely new meaning. But no matter how desensitized we become, there is little quite as gut-punishing as seeing a pop star cover a Prince standard and follow it by ripping up a picture of the Pope.

9. Mick Jagger & David Bowie – Dancing In The Street [Wikipedia]

The subject of considerable criticism since it was released in 1985, the Jagger-Bowie version of “Dancing In The Street” was at least well intentioned. The duo wanted to perform the song for the Live Aid charity concert, however, since both men were not performing at the same location, this was determined to be impossible. So a studio version of the song was recorded and a video produced before the concerts. The video is more responsible for the criticism than the song itself, as both men completely shed their ‘cool’ image in favor of Zuba Pants.

8. Chris Cornell – Billie Jean [Wikipedia]

When you take a singer who’s most famous exploits are fronting metallic grunge band Soundgarden and teaming with the power trio from Rage Against The Machine, you’d expect nothing but heavy. However, the singer who wrote “Big Dumb Sex” also covered Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” The song is stripped down from it’s original form, and is actually quite good. Cornell strips the song of much of it’s camp, and creates an aura of desperation with the vocal. How this could happen is a head scratcher for sure.

7. The Sex Pistols – Substitute [Wikipedia]

The Who was one of the Pistols chief influences, however, to hear Johnny Rotten tear through one of Pete Townshend’s songs is something of both amazement and terror. Perhaps nobody taught Rotten how to be subtle, but then again, that was Rotten’s main appeal. The rest of the band just thrashes away at the chords in a manner that truly defines the word ‘punk.’

6. Johnny Cash – Hurt [Wikipedia]

It’s rare that you see a country star that started his career in the fifties cover a track by an industrial rock band in the 2000s, but that was just the case with the venerable Johnny Cash. Cash kept the arrangement of the song the same, only replacing a curse word with thorns. However, the song is strange because no one saw it coming. Stranger still, Cash’s version is now more popular than the Nine Inch Nails original, much to the displeasure of Nine Inch Nail’s leader Trent Reznor.

5. Mike Flowers Pops – Wonderwall [Wikipedia]

Few things are as reprehensible as the Mike Flowers Pops cover of Oasis’ super hit, “Wonderwall.” Everything that gave the original song it’s charm, it’s cozy chord progression, it’s subdued vocal, has been completely removed in favor of Mike Flowers signature kitsch lounge-pop. What’s really astonishing about the cover is not just the ridiculousness of the sound, but the fact it performed just as well as the original on the charts.

4. Pearl Jam – Last Kiss [Wikipedia]

The grunge revolution had long subsided by 1998, when Pearl Jam released their most famous cover as nothing more than a Christmas fan club single. The song blew up, and soon was made available to the general public. It seems ridiculous when you think about it that a band made famous by classic songs “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Jeremy,” “Spin The Black Circle,” and “World Wide Suicide” have had a #2 hit on the Billboard charts with a sung as mellow as “Last Kiss.” Eddie Vedder tries his best to make the song hard with his wailing near the end of the song, but the song is still more mellow than anything else the band has ever released.

3. Guns N’ Roses – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door [Wikipedia]

Guns N’ Roses are hated for many reasons, but many critics won’t forgive them for their rendition of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” The band delivers it without any of the subtlety of Dylan’s original (or any of the other famous covers) and actually turns it into a borderline threat. “Knockin’” was one of the covers on the Use Your Illusion albums after “Live And Let Live.” All of this is likely lost on Axl who took this idea to the extreme, a Guns N’ Roses trademark, by releasing an album full of covers of classic songs just a few years later.

2. The White Stripes – Jolene [Wikipedia]

White Stripes’ frontman Jack White is a unique breed. He loves his early blues just as much as he loves neo-pop and country. His band famously incorporates all of these influences and more into their sound, with absolutely mesmerizing results. None have been more mesmerizing than their cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” a b-side on the “Hello Operator” single. Like the Raincoats cover of “Lola,” Jack White doesn’t change the lyrics to reflect the gender difference between him and the original singer. There’s few things as funny as Jack White singing, “I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man!” with a straight face. Another version of this cover is available on Under Blackpool Lights DVD, which features White doing his best Robert Plant impression.

1. The Raincoats – Lola [Wikipedia]

“Lola,” already one of the strangest songs in rock’s musical cannon (the song is about a man picking up another man who is dressed as a girl) was made even stranger when covered in 1979 by seminal grunge influencers the Raincoats’ debut album. The song’s arrangement is giving a new personality with the minimalist approach of the band. While the original song was sung by a man (Ray Davies), Raincoats singer Ana da Silva decides not to change the words to reflect her gender. A great and certainly weird choice.

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Top 10 Awesome War Movies

There is virtually no guy that doesn’t like war movies. They show camaraderie, fighting, generally have a lot of explosions, and teach us a bit of history. In the last 100 years some outstanding directors have made their name with war films. This is a list of the ten best war films. Rated from good to best:

10. Platoon [Director: Oliver Stone, 1986]

A gritty and emotional look at the lives of a platoon of American soldiers as they patrol, fight and die in the jungles of Vietnam as seen through the perspective of a young recruit. Two veteran sergeants clash when one of them precipitates a massacre of villagers.

9. Full Metal Jacket [Director: Stanley Kubrick, 1987]

A two-segment story that follows young men from the start of recruit training in the Marine Corps to the lethal cauldron known as Vietnam. The first segment follows Joker, Pyle and others as they progress through the hell of USMC boot-camp at the hands of the colorful, foul-mouthed Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second begins in Vietnam, near Hue, at the time of the Tet Offensive. Joker, along with Animal Mother, Rafterman and others, face threats such as ambush, booby traps, and Viet Cong snipers as they move through the city.

8. Das Boot [Director: Wolfgang Petersen, 1981]

It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called “Battle of the Atlantic” to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. “Das Boot” is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served

7. L’Armée des Ombres [Director: Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969]

France, 1942, during the occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance’s chiefs. Given away by a traitor, he is interned in a camp. He manages to escape, and joins his network at Marseilles, where he makes the traitor be executed… This non-spectacular movie (do not expect any Rambo or Robin Hood) shows us rigorously and austerely the everyday of the French Resistants : their solitude, their fears, their relationships, the arrests, the forwarding of orders and their carrying out… Both writer Joseph Kessel and co-writer and director Jean-Pierre Melville belonged to this “Army in the Shadows”.

6. The Pianist [Director: Roman Polanski, 2002]

The true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who, in the 1930s, was known as the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland, if not Europe. At the outbreak of the Second World War, however, Szpilman becomes subject to the anti-Jewish laws imposed by the conquering Germans. By the start of the 1940s, Szpilman has seen his world go from piano concert halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw and then must suffer the tragedy of his family deported to a German concentration camps, while Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. At last deciding to escape, Szpilman goes into hiding as a Jewish refugee where he is witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

5. The Bridge on the River Kwai [Director: David Lean, 1957]

The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy.

4. Apocalypse Now [Director: Francis Ford Coppola, 1979]

Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descends into the jungle, he is slowly over taken by the jungle’s mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill.

3. Paths of Glory [Director: Stanley Kubrick, 1957]

In Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” war is viewed in terms of power. This mesmerizing, urgent film about a true episode in World War I combines the idea that class differences are more important than national differences with the cannon-fodder theory of war, the theory that soldiers are merely pawns in the hands of generals who play at war is if it were a game of chess. The result of this amazing film has been the emergence of one of the great talents in contemporary cinema, the master whose greatest work was yet to come.

2. Lawrence of Arabia [Director: David Lean, 1962]

An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert, then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name. The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in London at the age of 47, then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916, he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I. In the desert, he organizes a guerrilla army and–for two years–leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids, train-wrecking and camel attacks. Eventually, he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire.

1. Casablanca [Director: Michael Curtiz, 1942]

In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick’s surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick’s one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit.

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Top 10 Horror Movies

Horror films have been criticized for their graphic violence and are often dismissed as low budget B-movies and exploitation films. Nonetheless, some major studios and respected directors have made forays into the genre. This is a list of the ten greatest horror films of all time.

10. Ringu

After the death of her cousin Tomoko, reporter Reiko hears stories of a videotape that kills everyone who sees it exactly one week after viewing. At first she discounts the rumors, but when she learns that Tomoko’s friend (who watched the video with her) died at exactly the same time, she begins to investigate. After viewing the tape herself, strange things start happening, and so she teams up with her ex-husband to try to stop the death clock that has once again begun ticking.

9. Jaws

A Great White Shark decides to make the small beach resort town of Amity his private feeding grounds. This greatly frustrates the town police chief who wants to close the beaches to chase the shark away. He is thwarted in his efforts by the town’s mayor who finally relents when nothing else seems to work and the chief, a scientist, and an old fisherman with revenge on his mind take to the sea to kill the beast.

8. Poltergeist

While living an an average family house in a pleasant neighborhood, the youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the televison. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house’s walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and amuse the family, but they take a nasty turn- they horrify the family to death with angry trees and murderous dolls, and finally abduct Carol Anne into her bedroom closet, which seems like the entrance to the other side

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

En route to visit their grandfather’s grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home… where they’re plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills.

6. Carrie

Carrie White is a shy young girl who doesn’t make friends easily. After her class mates taunt her about her horrified reaction to her totally unexpected first period one of them takes pity on her and gets Tommy Ross, her boyfriend and class hunk to invite Carrie to the senior prom. Meanwhile another girl who has been banned from the prom for her continued aggressive behaviour is not as forgiving and plans a trick to embarrass Carrie in front of the whole school. What she doesn’t realise is that Carrie is … gifted, and you really don’t want to get her angry.

5. Les Diaboliques

The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school’s filthy swimming pool… but when the pool is drained, the body has disappeared – and subsequent reported sightings of the headmaster slowly drive his ‘killers’ (and the audience) up the wall with almost unbearable suspense…

4. Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a building with a bad reputation. They discover that their neighbours are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with them. Strange things start to happen: a woman Rosemary meets in the washroom dies a mysterious death, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbours have special plans for her child.

3. Psycho

Marion Crane is a Phoenix, Arizona working girl fed up with having to sneak away during lunch breaks to meet her lover, Sam Loomis, who cannot get married because most of his money goes towards alimony. One Friday, Marion’s employer asks her to take $40,000 in cash to a local bank for deposit. Desperate to make a change in her life, she impulsively leaves town with the money, determined to start a new life with Sam in California. As night falls and a torrential rain obscures the road ahead of her, Marion turns off the main highway. Exhausted from the long drive and the stress of her criminal act, she decides to spend the night at the desolate Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates, a peculiar young man dominated by his invalid mother. After Norman fixes her a light dinner, Marion goes back to her room for a shower…

2. The Exorcist

Blatty’s novelization of a real case of possession that happened in a Washington Suburb (Mt. Ranier, MD) puts Regan, an adolescent girl, Living with her mother in Georgetown in Washington, into a more and more difficult situation. She exhibits strange symptoms, including levitation and great strength. When all medical possibilities are exhausted, her mother is sent to a priest who is also a psychiatrist. He becomes convinced that Regan is possessed and he and a second priest experienced in exorcism try to drive the spirit from Regan before she dies. Very graphic for its time.

1. The Shining

Jack Torrance becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel up in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Jack, being a family man, takes his wife and son to the hotel to keep him company throughout the long and isolated nights. During their stay strange things occur when Jack’s son Danny sees gruesome images powered by a force called “The Shining” and Jack is heavily affected by this. Along with writer’s block and the demons of the hotel haunting him Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse.

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Top 10 Errors of the Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code, a popular suspense novel by Dan Brown, generated a great deal of criticism and controversy after its publication in 2003. Additional criticisms were directed towards the book’s inaccurate descriptions of European art, history, architecture, and geography. The Author, in the opening pages of the book, claims that, aside from the modern characters, the book is completely factual. This is a list of the biggest errors in the book.

1. Da Vinci’s The Last Supper

The contention that Mary Magdalene is depicted sitting next to Jesus in Leonardo’s famous The Last Supper is disputed by virtually all art historians. Since there are twelve disciples (including Judas), one would have to be missing for Mary to be present. The figure to the right of Christ, also wearing blue and red, is usually identified as John the Apostle, who was customarily depicted in the Renaissance period as a beardless, often “effeminate” youth with very long hair. The “femininity” of the figure can be attributed to Leonardo’s artistic training in a workshop of the Florentine School, which had a long tradition of often depicting young males as sweet, pretty, rather “effeminate” persons.

2. Priory of Sion

The portrayal of the Priory of Sion as an ancient organization connected to goddess-worship is incorrect: The actual “Priory of Sion” was founded in 1956 by Pierre Plantard, Andre Bonhomme and others, not in 1099 as claimed in the book, and it was named after a mountain in France, not the biblical Mount Zion. Les Dossiers Secrets was a forgery created by Philippe de Cherisey for Plantard. Plantard, under oath, eventually admitted that the whole thing was fabricated.

3. Opus Dei

The depiction of Opus Dei as a monastic order which is the Pope’s “personal prelature” is inaccurate. In fact, there are no monks in Opus Dei, which has primarily lay membership and whose celibate lay members are called numeraries. Moreover, Opus Dei encourages its lay members to avoid practices that are perceived as fundamentalist to the outside world. Silas, the murderous “Opus Dei monk”, uses a cilice and flagellates himself. Some members of Opus Dei do practice voluntary mortification of the flesh, as has been a Christian tradition since at least St. Anthony in the 3rd century and has also been practised by Mother Teresa, Padre Pio and slain archbishop Óscar Romero. Critics charge Brown of greatly sensationalizing the practice of such mortifications and exaggerating the extent of their practice. It is impossible to gain the kind of wounds Silas is described as having from a normal cilice.

4. Rosslyn Chapel

The Chapel is a major feature in the last part of the novel, though many incorrect assertions were made about the structure. For example, Brown’s book states that the Chapel was built by the Knights Templar, and contains a six-pointed Star of David worn into the stone floor although such star has ever been seen in the floor. Many sources say that Dan Brown never visited the Chapel till after the publication of his Da Vinci Code book, and most of his material came from previously published material. Another claim is that the name “Rosslyn” is a form of the phrase “Rose line”, and that a line starting in France also runs through the Chapel. In fact, the name “Rosslyn” comes from two Celtic words: “ros,” meaning promontory or point, and “lyn”, meaning waterfall. As far as the “secret code” that Brown claims exists in the chapel, most recently father and son team, Thomas and Stuart Mitchell, have shown that it is most likely a piece of music. They have decoded the music and you can hear it here. I wonder if Dan Brown plans to give them the reward he offered for its decoding.

5. Problems with Paris

Several claims about the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris are disputed. While there is a brass line running north-south through the church, it is not a part of the Paris Meridian, which passes about 100 meters east of it. The line is instead more of a gnomon or sundial/calendar, meant to mark the solstice and equinoxes. Further, there is no evidence that there was ever a temple of Isis on the site. The reference to Paris having been founded by the Merovingians (Chapter 55) is false; in fact, the city was settled by Gauls by the 3rd Century BC. The Romans, who knew it as Lutetia, captured it in 52 BC under Julius Caesar, and left substantial ruins in the city, including an amphitheater and public baths. The Merovingians did not rule in France until the 6th century AD, by which time Paris was at least 800 years old. The novel claims that the top of the Centre Pompidou can be seen from the Arc du Carrousel (chapter 3). This is incorrect. The book erroneously places Versailles to the north-west of Paris, when actually it is approximately 25 kilometers west-south-west of Paris city centre.

6. The Vatican

In the story, it is repeatedly said that the Vatican was the center of power in the early Catholic Church, including reference to “the Vatican” suppressing Gnostic writings in the 4th century. Until the early Renaissance, the papal palace was in different locations, ranging from the cathedral of St. John Lateran, to Anagni, to Avignon. It was not until the 15th century that there was anything like official power in the vicinity of the Vatican Hill in Rome. In the 4th century, the Vatican was little more than a church and cemetery by the side of the road. Also, St. Peter’s is referred to as a cathedral; it is technically a church. St Peter’s is the second largest church in the world, and covers 5.7 acres

7. Mary Magdalene

Historians have disputed the claim that Mary Magdalene was of the tribe of Benjamin. There is no mention of this in the Bible or in other ancient sources. The fact that Magdala was located in northern Israel, whereas the tribe of Benjamin resided in the south, weighs against it. Furthermore, Paul was a Benjamite but makes no mention of this supposed heritage. Mary Magdalene is revered as a saint in France; a cave in the Sainte-Baume mountains of Provence, where she is believed to have lived, is a popular pilgrimage site. It is believed that she died and is buried there.

8. Gnosticism

The book claims that the Gnostic Gospels (e.g. the Gospels of Thomas, Philip, Mary Magdalene, and the recently rediscovered Judas) are far older, less corrupted, and more accurate than the four included in the Bible. With the possible exception of Thomas, the other Gospels date from the 2nd Century through the 4th Century, while the canonical four are thought by most scholars to date from the 1st Century or early 2nd Century. In the story, a character claims that the label “heretic” was used only after the Nicene Council (325 AD), in order to persecute Gnostics. In fact, St Irenaeus used the term “heresy” to label Gnostic teachings in the second century, long before the Church had any political power to persecute anyone.

9. Geography

The book’s storyline that the “Albino Monk” was arrested in France, imprisoned in Andorra and escaped to Spain, demonstrates the lack of basic research that would be gleaned from a quick glance at a map or tourist guide. It is improbable that someone arrested along the French coast would be imprisoned in another country (in this case Andorra which is a different jurisdiction and several hundred kilometers away up in the Pyrenean mountains). After the scene in the Temple Church, London, the heroes of the story take the tube from Temple Station to King’s College. In fact King’s College is nearer to the Temple Church than to Temple Station, and any tube journey would have carried them further away from King’s College. At the start of chapter 104, (Rosslyn Chapel), Brown states “The chapel’s geographic coordinates fall precisely on the north-south meridian that runs through Glastonbury”. This statement is incorrect: Rosslyn Chapel lies on longitude 3:07:13 west and Glastonbury Tor 2:42:05 west. Brown appears to have confused geographic north with magnetic north.

10. Assorted errors

Albinos typically have very poor vision; in fact, many are legally blind. It is therefore highly unlikely that the albino Silas could ever become an expert marksman, or even that he could drive.

It is stated that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in “the 1950s,” when in fact the initial discovery was made in 1947, with additional documents being located up to 1956.

In his lecture on the Divine Proportion, Langdon states that the proportion of male to female bees in a hive is always in this ratio. This is false, as the ratio can vary widely and is nonetheless usually greater than the Divine Proportion.

In the novel, Brown says the gnostic gospels found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, were “scrolls.” They were actually codices- individual pages bound together as books.

Note: Obviously I would not recommend reading this book – you will be less intelligent after having done so. However, if you want to read an excellent book that covers all of the subjects in the Da Vinci Code as well as others, and does so in an extremely well researched way, I strongly recommend you read Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco, author of Name of the Rose.

I will let the New York Times have the last word on this list: “[The Da Vinci Code is] Dan Brown’s best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence”.

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Top 10 Mad Scientists

Mad Scientists have been appearing in books and movies for generations. They generally follow the stereotype of the white coated, crooked toothed, white haired, white skinned maniac. This list contains the 10 most unusual or well known mad scientists.

1. Dr Benway

Dr Benway is probably the most immoral of the mad scientists. He was created by William Burroughs and first appeared in the book Naked Lunch. He sinced turned up in many other books by Burroughs. He was also featured in the film of Naked Lunch by David Cronenberg. In the photo above we see Burroughs dressed as Benway . I believe this is from a short film excerpt he made of a scene from one of his books. He was used by the author to parody the medical profession and, perhaps, the misuses of science in general. More of a maverick surgical artist than a doctor, Benway lacks a conscience and is more interested in his performance (and his next fix) than his patients’ well-being.

2. Dr Frankenstein

Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life in inanimate matter through artificial means, dropping out of school to pursue this goal for the next two years. Assembling a humanoid creature perhaps by stitching together pieces of human corpses, perhaps by the use of a chemical, apparatus or a combination of both (he avoids the question three times when asked, though the fact that he noted lightning striking down a tree in his childhood is a prominent clue), Frankenstein successfully brings it to life only to be repulsed and terrified by its monstrous ugliness.

3. Dr Jekyll

In the photo above we see Dr Jekyll as his alter-ego Mr Hyde. Originally from the book the “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” by Robert Louis Stvenson, it is best known for its vivid portrayal of the psychopathology of a split personality; in mainstream culture the very phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” has come to signify wild or bipolar behavior. By taking a potion that he concocted, Dr Jekyll transforms himself in to Mr Hyde, a violent and murderous man.

4. Dr Moreau

After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that it’s inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor – Doctor Moreau. The original story is a book by H G Wells, but it has been turned into a film at least three times (once in 1933, once in 1977, and once in 1996)

5. Dr Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove serves as President Muffley’s scientific advisor in the War Room, presumably making use of prior expertise as a Nazi physicist: upon becoming an American citizen, he translated his German surname “Merkwürdigliebe” to the English equivalent. Twice in the film, he accidentally addresses the President as “Mein Führer.” The character is an amalgamation of RAND Corporation strategist Herman Kahn, Nazi SS officer-turned-NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and “father of the hydrogen bomb” Edward Teller. The character was also compared to U.S. Secretary of State and controversial Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger.

6. Dr No

Dr. No is a brilliant scientist with an implied Napoleon complex, a self-described “unwanted child of a German missionary and a Chinese girl of a good family”. He later “became treasurer of the most powerful criminal society in China”, in this case, the Tongs. He then “escaped to America with $10,000,000″ of Tong gold bullion. He specialized in atomic energy, which cost him both of his hands, which were replaced with crude bionic ones that were made out of either iron or steel.

7. Dr Frank N Furter

Dr Frank N Furter is the “Sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania” – the star of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He uses his scientific prowess to create a handsome young man to improve his love life. The film itself is a hilarious musical with all manner of strange goings on and bed swapping.

8. Dr Evil

Dr. Evil is a fictional supervillain played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the chief villain of the movies, and Austin Powers’ nemesis. A parody of any number of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasance’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld of SPECTRE, Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world. He is typically accompanied by his cat Mr. Bigglesworth and his side-kick Mini-Me.

9. Doc Brown

Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown is a fictional character, one of the lead characters in the Back to the Future motion picture trilogy, played by actor Christopher Lloyd in the three films and the live action sequences of the animated series. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta in the animated series. The character’s appearance and mannerisms are loosely inspired by Leopold Stokowski and Albert Einstein.

10. Dr Faustus

The origin of Faust’s name and persona remains unclear, though it is widely assumed to be based on the figure of German Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540), a dubious magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen, Württemberg, who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which a medieval scholar makes a pact with the Devil.

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Top 10 Influential Albums that Bombed

This list is a of 10 albums whose influence on music has been far bigger than their sales.

1.The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society [Wikipedia]

In 1968 a year after the fabled summer of love, one of the biggest and best bands in England released this concept album. Based around a series of nostalgic events and characters its sales were disastrous. And why? Maybe people were just sick of concept albums.

2. Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground [Wikipedia]

Though the Velvet Underground famously sold few albums in their time, their first two efforts did creep into the top 200 of the American charts. This, their third album and their first without John Cale, did not even that make it that far. It is a surprise because in comparison The Velvet Underground is their most accessible, with, Murder Mystery aside, none of their previous avante garde posturing. Perhaps the second album, laden with guitar feedback, put everyone off.

Beginning to See the Light, Candy says, What Goes On and Some Kinda Love are as good as anything in their repertoire.

3. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue [Wikipedia]

Though this album has sold 3 million copies in the U.S., it has taken 50 years. To put this figure into perspective the Michael Jackson album Thriller has sold 27 million copies in half that time. As one of the most influential album of all time, this record vies for the number one spot.

4. Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left [Wikipedia]

One of the best folk albums of all time, this was the legendary Nick Drake’s first record. None of his albums really sold, but now critics consider all three as modern day classics and Nick Drake as the Kurt Cobain of folk.

5. Wire – Pink Flag [Wikipedia]

This album contains 23 punk pop songs, yet its total running time is under 30 minutes. REM covered the excellent Strange on their album Document, but Pink Flag is full of great pop songs.

6. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything [Wikipedia]

My Bloody Valentine has come to the forefront of popular culture recently, making a number of appearances on the Lost in Translation soundtrack. Isn’t Anything is their first album and one of the best British indie albums ever. Kevin Shields was a forerunner of post-modern rock.

7. Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers [Wikipedia]

Keith Richards was probably the only person who bought this record when it came out in 1961. He played it to Mick Jagger and Brian Jones and they went on to form the Rolling Stones, together popularizing rhythm and blues and paving the way for the British blues movement in the sixties. Robert Johnson’s King of the Delta Blues Singers is where it all started.

8. Richard and Linda Thompson I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight [Wikipedia]

You would have thought, after his success with the Fairport Convention, that Richard Thompson’s name alone could shift a few albums. Unfortunately, his first solo record, Henry the Human Fly, was panned by the critics which certainly didn’t help the sales of this is second effort. However, its angry lyrics (“Every handshake is just another man to beat”) and Linda Thompson’s haunting vocals have contributed to its status as the thinking man’s album of the seventies.

9. Iggy Pop and the Stooges Funhouse [Wikipedia]

We would see the influence of this album 7 years later with the explosion of punk. Recorded live in the studio Funhouse sounds more raw and angry then anything the Sex Pistols ever recorded.

10. Pixies Surfer Rosa [Wikipedia]

The famous track on Surfer Rosa is Where Is My Mind, played over the end credits of the film Fight Club. It is an unconventional track, but hardly uncommercial and it is surprising this album did not sell more. In the UK, it did not even chart. The Pixies of course went on to become one of America’s most influential indie bands.

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Top British Comedy Songs

This list looks at some of the best comedy songs released in Britain in the last 50 years. Since the renaissance period, man has used music as a form of comedy and the modern times are no exception. Here are the top 10 British Comedy Songs.

1. The Fastest Milkman in the West – Benny Hill

This song reached number 1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. It is typical Benny Hill.

2. ‘Ello John, Got a New Motor – Alexei Sayle

Alexei Sayle is famous for the anarchic comedy the Young Ones, but deserves a lot of recognition for this track. It shows just how alternative the charts could be in the early eighties in England.

3. With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock – George Formby

George Formby was a pioneer of early comedy songs and famous for his double entendres. His songs may seem a little tame nowadays, but the BBC banned his tune Cleaning Windows for being too suggestive. Strangely With My Stick of Blackpool Rock is far worse.

4. Every Sperm is Sacred – Monty Python

There were many Monty Python songs, but this is one of the funniest. Many religious people were not overly impressed.

5. The Chicken Song – Spitting Image

“Skin… your-… self alive;
Learn to speak Arapho;
Climb inside a dog
And behead an Eskimo!
Eat a Renault 4;
Wear salami in your ears;
Casserole your Gran;
Disembowel yourself with spears!”

Released in 1986 and hitting number 1, this is another example of how alternative the UK charts were in the eighties. Spitting Image was a deeply satirical TV show using vile looking puppets to parody celebrities and politicians. The Chicken Song is a spoof of catchy novelty songs and the bizarre chorus stays in your head for days.

6. The Ying Tong Song – The Goons

The hilarious Goons Show in the fifties was where Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan made their name. This song is a good example of their surrealist humor.

7. Jilted John – Graham Fellows

Graham Fellows is an underrated comic, mostly because his humor is so subtle. Like his other creation, John Shuttle worth, Jilted John is funnier the more you watch it. Jilted John is a rare example of someone daring to parody punk in the seventies. And he was young too.

8. Do the Funky Gibbon – The Goodies

This song is so stupid that you really do not want to find it funny, but unfortunately you cannot help but laugh along to their good-natured antics. The Goodies released a few songs into the charts including A Man’s Best Friend is a Duck.

9. Lily the Pink – Scaffold

An Interesting band that included poet Richard McGough and Paul Mc Cartney’s brother Michael. The song begins relatively straight, but deteriorates into something quite bizarre. It stayed at number 1 for four weeks in 1968.

10. Divorce – Billy Connelly

Billy Connelly based this on a song by Tammy Wynette about two people who spell out the word divorce when they want to discuss it in front of their child. Billy Connelly replaces the child with a dog.

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WOWP–Signature Edit

Here the normal signature ready to edit. Pls Enjoy.

This is mine :-

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4 Ways To Make Sex More Spontaneous

by Dan & Jennifer

Making sex more spontaneous is something that a lot of couples try to focus on when working on their sex lives. Spontaneity can bring a lot to people’s sex lives. This can bring passion and more intimacy to a couple with very little effort. It’s easy to fall into the trap of having the same old boring sex on the same day every week, especially if you’re in a long-term relationship. So in an effort to break this monotony, couples are engaging in more spontaneous and “in the moment” styles of sexual activity.

If you would like to take your sex life out of this rut, there are a few ways to make sex more spontaneous.

1. Toss The Schedule

So many couples rely on a schedule for sex that it completely downgrades their sex lives. This schedule might not be set in stone or written down, but if you know that you always have sex on Saturday morning at 8am it’s probably time to toss the schedule.

A scheduled time to have sex will not only hinder the excitement, it can lead to less intimacy. A relationship is a partnership and having this set day to have sex can make it seem more like a chore than a meeting of the minds. Make a conscious decision to never follow a timetable in your sex life.

2. Always Have Condoms

While this rule might only appear to be geared toward men, it can also be applied to women. One of the biggest reasons that couples can’t have spontaneous sex is because of protection issues. It is a great idea to always carry condoms with you, but if you’re specifically trying to make your sex life more spontaneous, this is a must.

Having the proper protection with you at all times will prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs. This can also give you a “ready anytime” attitude with your partner. This suggestion also extends to women. There are going to be times when your husband or boyfriend does not have condoms on him.

Surprise him by whipping your own stash when the moment strikes. There are a lot of women that consider using birth control for this very subject. Birth control can be a great way to add peace of mind and spontaneity to your relationship, but always check with your doctor beforehand. Different women have different side effects with the birth control they use so you want to bring any issues up with your physician.

3. Discover Each Other’s Fantasies

When you know what turns on your partner, you can easily avoid the pitfalls of mundane sex. Make it a point to share your fantasies with each other so you can spice up your love lives with some spontaneity. You can start to feel those butterflies at any moment and an opportunity might present itself in the blink of an eye.

Say your boyfriend has a roleplaying fantasy and you just happen to be dressed up as a sexy businesswoman. This is an excellent opportunity to take control of his desires and make your sex life a little less ordinary. When you share each other’s fantasies he will also be able to take you up on a spurt of the moment romp. This can also work for women.

Say that your girlfriend has a fantasy of being taken by a mechanic. You’re working on your car one day and boom, she is instantly turned on. Communicate with each other your sex life will thrive.

4. Have Date Nights During The Week

Date nights are usually relegated to Friday or Saturday nights. Why not shake things up a bit and turn date night upside down by utilizing it during the week? Tuesday, Wednesday or even Monday night can give you a little something extra to look forward to when you have a spontaneous date night. Men are expected to make the plans for the date and oversee all of the details.

If you want to have a more spontaneous romance, the woman can take control. Surprise your husband or boyfriend with a date night in the middle of the week. Plan everything yourself and simply tell him that you’re taking him out. This is a great way to break up the week and add to the spontaneity.

A great date night is to meet each other in a bar and pretend that you have first met. Have your boyfriend try to pick you up for some extra spontaneity.

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Top 10 World Cup Goals

The football World Cup is second only to the Olympics as the biggest tournament in the world. In the past, it has showcased such players of the caliber of Baggio, Pele and Maradona and rarely have they disappointed, all three scoring some memorable goals. This list is ten of the best goals in world cup tournaments. The list has tried to include long-range shots and team goals as well as the more spectacular solo efforts.

1. Roberto Baggio. Italy Vs Czech Republic – 1990

This clip from the Italia world cup in 1990 does not quite do the brilliance of Baggio’s goal justice. Though it still looks good. His dummy just before he scores is perfection. Taking two defenders (watch how the closest defender almost spins right around in confusion) and the goalkeeper out of the equation he presents himself with an open goal. He could not miss.

2. Michael Owen. England Vs Argentina – 1998

England undeservedly lost this game on penalties, but is remembered for 18 year old, Michael Owen’s goal. Flicks on Beckham’s pass and then beats the entire Argentinan defense for pace before finishing beautifully.

It is a shame he has never quite lived up to this moment. Still a very good player, but for the injuries he could have been great.

3. Diego Maradona. England Vs Argentina – 1986

Nowadays England and Argentina have a massive football rivalry and this is where it started. Unfortunately, you cannot see his brilliant second goal without watching his handball for the second (There would be no controversy if Shilton went to catch it. Hand or no hand the goalkeeper is still twice the size of Maradona.), but we can forgive him that because he is the best player the game has ever seen. Argentina went on to win this game and the world cup.

The best thing about the second goal is how he turns the English defender at halfway and then sets off with a pace and confidence of a man who thinks he is certain to score. Moreover, he still had 5 players to beat.

Diego Maradona also scored a great solo goal against Belgium in the same world cup that is almost as good.

4. Al Owairan. Saudi Arabia vs. Belgium – 1994

The best goal from USA 1994. This strike won the Saudis the game and took them through to the second round for the first time.

5. Carlos Albertos. Brazil Vs Italy – 1970

Here the Brazilians score a great team goal in an exhibition match. Or is it the world cup final against an Italian side renowned for their defensive ability? It is hard to tell. You have to love the way the Brazilian dribbles past three players just to advance a few yards, but the genius is the way the whole move is played down the left side drawing in the Italian defense before they quickly switch to the right and score.

There are many great Brazilians goals to choose from, but this is the best.

6. Pele. Brazil vs. Sweden – 1958

Too many people claim Pele is the best player ever on the basis that unlike Diego Maradona he did not cheat. Well here is hard footballing evidence.

In the 1958 world cup final and just 17 years old, he had the confidence and skill to lob it over the defenders head and volley it past the keeper. What is just as impressive is how he cushions the pass with his chest and rolls around the first defender.

Brazil won the final and their first world cup 5-2.

7. Fernando Torres Spain vs. Ukraine – 2006

Two teams new to the world cup, ripped apart by a couple of old hands. Spain won 4-0.

Also (above), that same year: Esteban Cambiasso Argentina vs. Serbia and Montenegro. Argentina won 6-0.

8. Arie Haan Holland vs. West Germany – 1978

Now this is what they mean by total football. Arie Haan scored two great goals at this world cup, both from distance. There is little to choose between either of them, but this wins because he scores against Holland’s football enemy West Germany. He must be about 35 yards from goal and the shot seems to come from nowhere. Good build up too.

9. Lothar Mattheus Germany vs. Yugoslavia – 1990

This is a real captain’s charge from Mattheus and a fierce strike to finish. Germany won the game 4-1. They went on to lift the world cup and only a year after the collapse of the Berlin wall.

10. Manuel Negrete Mexico vs. Bulgaria – 1986

Great interchange, great volley and what better place to score than in the second round of a world cup in your home country.

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Densely Populated Nations

Most of us are fortunate enough to live in countries with a lot of wide open space and a few friendly neighbours. But there are some countries that are very densely populated. This is a list of the ten most densely populated nations in the world.

1. Monaco [Wikipedia]

Monaco is the world’s most densely populated country and second-smallest independent nation; with a population of just 32,410 and an area of 1.96 square kilometers (485 acres), Monaco is the world’s smallest French-speaking sovereignty.

2. Singapore [Wikipedia]

Singapore is a highly populated island nation located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. A popular destination for both tourism and business, Singapore is also one of the richest countries in the world because of its highly developed economy. Singapore has been rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world, with thousands of foreign expatriates working in multi-national corporations. The city-state also employs tens of thousands of foreign blue-collared workers from around the world. With a total population density of over 6300 people per square kilometer, it ranks 2nd in the world.

3. Vatican City [Wikipedia]

Landlocked within the Italian city of Rome with approximately 44 hectares (108.7 acres), Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world. As the center of the Catholic religion, the tiny city-state only holds about 821 citizens, but due to the small area, it is ranked 3rd in population density.

4. The Maldives [Wikipedia]

The Maldives is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives’ twenty-six atolls encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, roughly two hundred of which are inhabited by local communities. According to a 2006 census, there is a population of 298,842 living on a total area of only 298 square kilometers.

5. Bahrain [Wikipedia]

Bahrain is a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf and is the smallest Arab nation. In a region currently experiencing an unprecedented oil boom, Bahrain has the fastest growing economy in the Arab region, which translates to a fast growing population due to immigration and guest workers from around the world. There are approximately 987 people per square kilometer on this tiny island.

6. Bangladesh [Wikipedia]

Bangladesh is small country located in South Asia almost surrounded by India. Bangladesh is among the most highly and densely populated countries in the world. With a land area of 144,000 square kilometers (55,600 sq mi), the population density is remarkable considering the fact that Russia’s entire population is slightly smaller than Bangladesh’s.

7. Nauru [Wikipedia]

Nauru is an island nation in the Micronesian South Pacific covering only 21 square kilometers, making it the world’s smallest island nation, the smallest independent republic, and the only republican state in the world without an official capital. There are about 13,048 residents living on this tiny island.

8. Taiwan [Wikipedia]

Taiwan is an island in East Asia off the coast of mainland China. After losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and about 1.3 million refugees fled mainland China to set up the Republic of China (ROC) in Taipei, Taiwan’s largest city. The political status of Taiwan is a controversial topic today, but thanks to an industrialized economy, it is one of the wealthiest and most densely populated countries in Asia.

9. Barbados [Wikipedia]

Situated east of the Caribbean Sea, Barbados is an independent island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. The small country is a major tourist destination for vacationers from all over. Barbados’s total land area is about 430 square kilometers, and with one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates worldwide, has a relatively high population of about 279,000.

10. Malta [Wikipedia]

Malta is a small and densely populated island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands in the Mediterranean Sea. After joining the European Union in 2004, the country has seen an increase in investments and strength of the economy. The resident population of Malta, as of 2005 was estimated at 404,039 and Malta’s population density of 1,282 per square kilometer is by far the highest in the EU and one of the highest in the world.

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