Scientists and aerospace engineers alike have long been worried about the consequences of junking Earth’s orbit^. On this site the topic was first mentioned shortly after North Korea put an (apparently) useless satellite^ up there. This is a serious issue, as highlighted by this year’s conference on space debris, which was understandably worried about recent initiatives that consist of launching entire constellations of micro-satellites:
The title of the article linked above is a bit misleading, as it is often the case with these for-profit media publications that rely on grabbing attention. No, this won’t ruin our orbit “forever”. But if the worst comes to pass, it will, however, ruin it for a couple of generations. So, from a single person’s perspective, it is forever.
Should we expect the worst to happen? With SpaceX alone planning to plant about 3000 (yes, that’s three thousand) satellites in orbit during the next decade, I think it is a valid concern. Especially as this is done with little (if any) preparation to mitigate orbital pollution:
We’re being reckless with our satellite launches. This can cause an orbital catastrophe that might see us lose a lot of our assets there, leading to an informational collapse. So far, I haven’t seen any of these organizations that dump junk around the orbit even consider a valid, peer-reviewed de-orbiting strategy. This seems extremely short-sighted for a species that is increasingly relying on its extra-terrestrial ventures.
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Marching forth with cruel precision, an ominous orchestra serves as the starting point for this lovely ride of terror. There are moments of hopefulness, but these will be quickly extinguished by the bleak landscape that follows.
It takes a lot to make me feature metal music in this space, especially when it comes to this extreme variety. It takes a perfectly executed song, featuring one of the best synergies between electric guitars, merciless artillery percussion, choirs, raging howls and a full-fledged orchestra. Completing the apocalyptic picture, the song showcases some of Dimmu Borgir’s finest lyrics, bringing forth the murderous aspect of man and punishing it with the image of nuclear Armageddon. Even the title of the song is perfect.
“A living hate smoldering abyss
Nurtured through centuries with quietly exercised wrath
Seeks the easiest way to the feed the engine
Praising the final bloodbath
Uncertainty and guilt
Will no longer endorse our fate
There will be no remorse, we kill to kill again
Killing all
Go ahead end it all, we deserve no better
As a forever unblessed detonation The great plutonium chord fulminates Blinding the eyes of creation
Cutting off all life support
Sweeping away existence instantly
Iced desolate ruins linger
Leaving traces of our lovely humanity”
Unfortunately, the label upon which album is released, Nuclear Blast, seems to still be part of those annoying, backward-thinking content-police organizations. No YouTube version is available for this song and, of course, it’s difficult to buy the album in DRM-free format. Luckily, the song can be listened for free on Deezer, which requires only a Google or FaceBook profile to login.
I provided links for the orchestral-only version of the song too. I highly recommend listening to it as well.
Orchestral version (unfortunately, only live versions are available online, “thanks” again to content police not allowing people to get to know this music and potentially buy it):
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The potent summer sun spent its day doing what Portuguese sun does best. That is, baking castle masonry and tourists alike. There are plenty of both to go around in this beautiful region. Going to Sintra is like visiting the castle museum. A day is barely enough to see a few different architectures originating from various periods of the past millennium. Paths treaded by countless generations before are faithful guides into and through the depths of history.
Your writer
We arrived in Sintra via train from Lisbon’s Rossio station. We skipped the tourist information bureau because it was gutted by the dozens of people who were faster to exit the platform through the proper ticket-scanning gates. We didn’t notice that the queue we were standing in was for the disabilities gate, which was much slower because it was a double-gate.
Luckily, we had researched about the area beforehand so we knew that we can use public transport to reach our objectives. And when I say public transport I mean the regional Portuguese network that the locals also use, as opposed to the rip-off (double price) “red busses”, which actually have less frequent departures.
Welcome to Sintra
We exited the station and jumped on a bus that was preparing to leave. Even though these buses are used by the locals as well, they are quite well equipped to meet touristic needs. The local company realized that it can cater to both groups, so they have special day tickets that come with a map that explains how to reach the various monuments in the region. Everything is payable in the bus, with cash. They were out of English maps and we already had our own, but as it turned out it was useful to have two of them because the transport company’s map also contained the bus schedule.
We arrived in the historical center. The Sintra National Palace^ located there is the best preserved medieval Royal Palace in Portugal. I didn’t find the structure all that impressive. It doesn’t look too different from other medieval palaces we’ve seen in Europe, aside perhaps from its two pointy conical towers. So, because we only had one day here, after shielding our skins with sun lotion we decided to get on the next bus and visit some of the other monuments in the area.
The Sintra National Palace
The first stop was the Castle of the Moors^. To reach the complex, we walked upon a cobbled path that snaked through a charming forest. We felt at ease and in tune with nature. Many fancier constructions from the same category feature “royal gardens” where people invest tons of resources into shaping nature to their will. The Castle of the Moors is living proof that any monument is only half of the story. The landscape around it is the other half.
Ancient masonry, everlasting nature
Bits and pieces of forgotten masonry sometimes burst through the lively green of the forest. Here, in the sheltering shadow, dark green moss is slowly but surely consuming rocks, turning them into the soil of tomorrow.
Borders
The Castle consists of a series of ancient fortifications whose construction dates from the 8th and 9th centuries. Several improvements were done throughout the structure’s impressive history. Walking upon walls whose origin is more than one thousand years ago can easily turn into an introspective experience. But the day’s weather wouldn’t allow it.
I’d like to one day see a 360 degrees video featuring a thousand-year time-lapse taken from these walls
Breathtaking doesn’t quite do justice to the panorama that greets the visitors as they walk along the walls. The forest below barely reaches the foundation. Then, the land quickly drops away and unfolds its forests, plains and villages, all the way to the sea that is visible almost ten kilometers away. The “top of the world” feeling is intoxicating.
Two of the most visited places in Sintra in the same shot
Our next destination, the National Palace of Pena, was also visible from here. We heard that the palace is “cute” and already from this far-away glimpse we realized the truth in the saying that it looks like something from fairy tales. And just like a magical place, it was already enthralling us to get there as soon as possible.
Away
Before that, however, we had more walls to climb. And climb we did. Even though the heat was beginning to get to us, we still had the stamina of morning visitors. The view of the villages far below the fortifications tempted us to take countless pictures. We tried to get it all in using our wide lens, but even it was defeated by the wide embrace of this flourishing land. We then played through the streets of the toy-villages below using our zoom lens.
The spine of the world
Our next stop was the Pena Palace^. The bus station was crowded and the situation got worse during the 15 minutes it took for the bus to arrive. While we waited, the Sun was in its full mid-day prime. Luckily, we always managed our water supplies well.
The first bus that arrived filled up before we could squeeze in, but the second one came just a couple of minutes later. The locals probably do not enjoy the height of the tourist season when strangers take over some of their bus lines. We did consider walking to the palace, as a cleaning lady told me it should be only about 15 minutes. I’m glad we didn’t because the winding road was quite steep. Saving energy is important during such a day of voracious exploration.
Your photographer
We spent about half an hour walking through the garden at the entrance of the complex. Not for the first time today I noticed the great care invested in getting the place in tune with the aesthetics of the surrounding vegetation. Following the path that nature has taken is not only beautiful, but also cost effective. Here, there was also a small botanical garden where various species of plants had been labeled.
Pink water lily. Can’t go wrong with this one
A small shuttle bus was available to drive people up to the palace. A brisk walk would probably have taken less than 10 minutes, so the 3 Euro trip and return ticket was a blatant rip-off. Still, adhering to the “time vs energy vs money” principles, we gladly subjected ourselves to said rip-off, especially since we wanted to cram as much Sintra as possible within one day. Besides, Crina was already two months into growing a baby and it’s better to err on the side of caution when it comes to energy reserves.
Looking forward to our visit at Pena
The Pena Palace looks like what you’d get after a convention of architects specializing in fairytale castles spends a three-day weekend collating the best ideas and then decides to implement all of the designs into the same structure. Bursting from the emerald forest, a collage of different colors and shapes greets the visitor with a mood of optimism and innocence.
One of the most architecturally-diverse palaces I’ve ever seen
We decided to purchase a ticket and get inside the palace against my better judgment, which whispered: “once you’ve been in one palace, you’ve seen them all”. Partially, my inner voice was right. What we found were various stuffses of royal character but of little interest to us as seasoned tourists. However, after going through the usual “palace visiting routine” consisting of going through rooms alongside a route defined by the owners, we found ourselves surrounded by the same flavor of coziness that seems to abound in this p(a)lace (couldn’t help it).
One room filled with royal stuff, several rooms filled with royal stuffses
According to the encyclopedia, the architecture is an “intentional mixture of eclectic styles including Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic and Neo-Renaissance”. I think it’s much more than a sum of labels. Not even a wide lens does it justice. I’ll call it “the four Cs of the Pena Palace”: cute, charming, cozy, childish. It is one of the most original constructions I’ve ever seen (it’s a top ten thing).
Architecture’s “all you can eat” Romantic buffet
It was time to replenish ourselves so we grabbed a bus back to the city center. I have to give kudos to Trip Advisor for helping us steer clear of several tourist trap restaurants during the past couple of years. This time, it failed. We got ripped off by a restaurant that had a decent rating. The setting was nice, but the food was expensive and of poor quality. The shops also had the same tourist trap flavor, so we got outta there fast.
Here’s another picture with the Pena Palace to sweeten up the disappointing city center paragraph
The final stop on our blitz tour of Sintra was Quinta da Regaleira^. We arrived by bus from the city center, one station later realizing that the property is walking distance from there. The evening was approaching fast and we wanted to visit a fourth location in Sintra, so our plan was to have a quick peek at what we thought is just one building and then jump onto the next bus.
Welcome to Rivendell
I think it’s safe to say that the architecture of this sprawling estate has been an inspiration for artists that went on to design charming buildings in movies such as The Lord of the Rings. This place is Rivendell in real life.
A monumental figurine
The chapel is a short walk from the estate. Despite its diminutive size, the structure inspires a sense of awe. It is not only the intricate Romantic architecture that is responsible for this, but also chapel’s excellent positioning within the estate’s large complex of gardens, walls, grottos and waterfalls. It is situated close to a walled rock face that is partially covered with vegetation and from certain angles it looks like they are one single construction.
A beautiful and quiet place
Time flew past us and we missed one of the last busses back to the train station. The more we were walking around, the more routes and things to see popped up. We couldn’t explore the grottos and tunnels as much as we would have wanted. Actually, looking over the encyclopedia entry, I realize that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what the property has to offer. We didn’t get to see any of the (two) awesome Initiation Wells^.
The boundary between natural and man-made (also a type of “natural”) is often blurry
Our plan to visit a fourth location during the day proved itself too ambitious. Alas, Quinta da Regaleira was too amazing not to spend all our remaining time there. We had to leave around 18:00 because we had to catch the last bus towards the train station.
In the middle of the bridge, protected by those columns, there are two ghosts promising love to each other
In the half hour until our train was going to depart we sat on a staircase between two houses. As the day’s heat was subduing a large bottle of water was life’s royal gift. For weary legs, the steps we were sitting on were like a throne. We were tired but thankful. Feeling so fulfilled in such simple setting made me wonder if all tourists are aware of how lucky they are. We get the chance to complain about ticket prices while in other parts of the world people are starving and ration their dirty water.
Pointy things, both gray and green, all in Sintra should be seen 🙂
A day is only enough to taste, in a rush, some of Sintra’s most prized treasures. One would need at least three days to thoroughly explore the area. Visit, and become part of the fairy tale.
The reason this soundtrack is here at the bottom (supposedly after the reader finished the text) is because one can’t really focus on music anyway while reading a new text. Hopefully the story was entertaining enough to ask for a second read, this time with some music in the background.
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This is a story about how people are manipulated by organized religion and media. Case in question: the way various religious cults try to explain away the existence of the dinosaurs – a fact of biological history which contradicts certain interpretations of the Bible (namely that the Earth is roughly 6000 years old).
What genre could be better suited for combating outrageous ignorance if not some compositional-diverse, well-produced, perfectly-balanced metal. This melody is a mental sword. Wield it proudly and enjoy its symmetric construction. There’s also a magnificent array of vocals, making this one of my favorite metal song ever. And that’s not all…
It is not often that I recommend seeing the video for a song, but this one is amazingly well made! Starting with the totally apathic employees seen “behind the scenes”, it delves into all the dirt that is shoved down our children’s throats and goes back to the same sad and disappointing view on the developed world, a place where apparently happy adventures are in fact the work of deranged individuals employed by conniving corporations. The video gets quite violent for a while, but it’s all with good reason and, I daresay, well-executed.
“Come to me, I’ll fill the hole
Why would I be lying
End fan, all planned out
Offering a wonderful
Peace of mind worth buying
Bow down last round up
I am wise and you don’t know
A cloud is my home
Only some get in
Got a ‘maginary friend
The devil put dinosaurs here
Jesus don’t like a queer
The devil put dinosaurs here
No problem with faith just fear”
This Weekly Song entry has been brought from the FaceBook archive of Weekly Song^. This exploration was originally started through a FaceBook page, about 13 months prior to launching Mentatul. Slowly but surely, the entire FaceBook archive will be brought here.
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This profound and emotional writing celebrates the difference between men and women in a glorious way. It honors love by crossing into the mystic with little regard for social norms (especially the social norms of Western culture). It is a text that challenges, but one that will shine in an open mind and open heart:
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This is one song where the rather lengthy intro is totally worth it and does a great job of laying the ground for the coming of the mighty dancing droids. The melody sparkles to life soon enough, like a champagne that was rattled for far too long.
It doesn’t take long for the “opposing forces” to show up. To contrast the happy tinkling come the rowdy bass worms. These party animals waste no time in burying deep into the eardrum. They proceed and engage in a thoroughly good time. As the song progresses, the lows get lower and the melody becomes a panorama of a shifting canvas of well-rounded sound textures.
It’s one of the best songs I’ve heard this 2017.
You can listen to the melody for free, in good quality, on BandCamp, which is one of the best websites when it comes to supporting artists. You can also purchase the song (or album) from this same location. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did purchase SYNC24’s album :).
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As it turns out following this journalist’s two-week investigation, it’s pretty bad. The man could barely manage $4.4 per hour working his legs off (for Uber Eats) in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, where the cost of living has increased drastically in the past decade. The pay was better when working for Foodora, a similar service, but still unfair given the amount of work, not to mention the minimum salary in Sweden. The interviewing procedure for Foodora is outright humiliating. The practical test encourages possible employees to jeopardize their life by breaking traffic regulations. Here’s the story in all its juicy (read gory) details:
Some of the things a technologically interconnected world has brought us are great. But damn, some of the others are pretty sad. I bet the argument that “at least they’re creating jobs” will eventually pop up. No, these are not jobs. This is slavery, plain and simple. The fact that the slaves are willingly performing this demeaning work is even worse. This shows the decay of the social structures that were meant to ensure our progress as a species.
Remember this and give a solid tip when you’re delivered food, especially if you’re forced to use a service such as Uber. Even better, protest these tactics and boycott such companies until they offer a minimum wage like any respectable company should. There are other ways you can get food delivered home. Seek restaurants that treat their staff with respect and offer them a stable salary.
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Here’s an hymn for change if there ever was one! And what’s the best music to stimulate change? How about a couple of rabid guitars riffing against relentless percussion? The occasional synthesizer touch is there to bring diversity to an already good song. Even for those that aren’t fans of rap-metal, the lyrics of this song are an ode to change of fascinating intensity.
There aren’t many metal bands that manage to make good music and write decent lyrics. There are even fewer that make excellent music and write excellent lyrics. Clawfinger is one of them. The band’s lyrics are firmly rooted in the sad realities of the late 20th and early 21st century when social decay at the hands of corporations and corrupt governments caused an immense amount of grief and social trauma. This isn’t the last Clawfinger Weekly Song you’ll see around here! Oh, I’m just gettin’ started :).
“Are you satisfied with everything the way it is
Are you stuck in the conformity of minding your own biz
Does a confrontation make you want to turn and run
and do you think about the things you’d like to have undone
Are you scared of looking back at all the things you’ve said
and do you keep the words you’d like to say inside your head
well nothing changes by itself without some kind of clash
and there’s always gonna be some barriers to smash
Are you scared to be, scared of what you see
Are you scared to change, scared to rearrange
There’s a chance that you never take the chances you get
If you never move ahead you’ll keep on looking back
the only thing you’re doing is just filling out the cracks
Another coat of artificial paint won’t change a thing
unless the whole foundation gets a brand new colouring
What is there to lose except some insecurity
that you replace with faith to not be scared of what you see ‘cos every little risk you take breaks down another wall the biggest chance that you can take is just to let it fall”
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A respected investigative journalist has recently penned a rather worrying piece about Tesla Motors’ progress with its high-stakes Model 3 vehicle. Things are far from going according to plan. What is even more disturbing for me are some of the recent shock & awe declarations of CEO Elon Musk. For example his unrealistic plans for colonizing Mars^ or sending people around the world aboard rockets (see this awesome fact-checking^ video), both of which would be a complete waste of critical resources and a mockery of the critical situation in other parts of the planet. The following Seeking Alpha article pours some cold water on all the Musk hype:
Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Musk. He’s done great with Tesla Motors. In fact, he’s done so great that now Big Motor is out to get him. It’s amazing how much competition he managed to ignite and thus has done the world a great favor. He’s done even better with Space X given how much the enterprise has helped our extra-terrestrial research and development. But some of his statements are scientifically unsound and that devalues him in the eyes of those that matter a lot for his ventures’ future. I have no problem with idealism, but I do have a problem with cheap PR tactics.
But I digress. The reason I am writing this is to remind you about some of the great things we have because of Tesla Motors. And what better way to share facts than together with a laugh? Here’s an awesome oldie but goldie comic from The Oatmeal, work of cartoonist Matthew Inman:
And since I mentioned Tesla and The Oatmeal, let me end on a positive note by sharing Matthew’s awesome post-mortem kudos to scientist Nicola Tesla. I think the cartoonist is right and few scientists were as unfairly treated by history as Tesla. But I also think that few scientists have been “avenged” as well as Tesla, thanks to Matthew’s work:
The cartoonist actually managed to get help from his fans and Elon Musk himself to save Nicola Tesla’s lab. There are plans to turn it into a museum. In fact, The Oatmeal comic did so well that it drew out a critical response from a columnist over at Forbes. Below, you can find both the article from Forbes and Matthew’s amusing and wonderful reply:
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It starts slowly enough, with gentle breezy sounds and airy choirs. But do mistake this one for a post-party chill-out tune. Pumping up the volume too much based solely on the first minute might cause problems. That’s because before it reaches halfway through, the melody has built up enough energy to wake up the neighbors (or engage in some serious headphone stress-testing).
Through a beautifully executed buildup, this song becomes a well-rounded journey. The music soars to unexpected heights showcasing sounds with a strong cyclical character. I haven’t often seen a transition from ambient to psybient executed in such a harmonious and fruitful way.
You can listen to the melody for free, in good quality, on BandCamp, which is one of the best websites when it comes to supporting artists. You can also purchase the song (or album) from this same location. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did purchase Carbon Based Lifeforms’ album :).
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