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Alexey Kljatov is a masterful macro photographer who loves to capture the uniqueness of snowflakes.
Merry Christmas 🎄 🎁 Nostriches
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Alexey Kljatov is a masterful macro photographer who loves to capture the uniqueness of snowflakes.
Merry Christmas 🎄 🎁 Nostriches
On this day in 1973, The Elton John LP “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” went to #1 on the UK Albums Chart (December 22)
Elton’s seventh studio LP went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK, #5 in Norway and Italy, #7 in Sweden, #8 in Spain and Denmark, #9 in New Zealand, #22 in Japan, #26 in Finland, #41 in Germany, and #74 in the Netherlands.
The classic double LP has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is Elton’s best-selling studio album.
Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", US #1 single "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting".
Hard to believe with such great, timeless songs, but Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics in two and a half weeks, with Elton composing most of the melodies in just three days while staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica.
In 2020, the album was ranked #112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.
In 2025, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
Iconic 70s cover art too, by Ian Beck…
#eltonjohn, #goodbyeyellowbrickroad, #classicrock, #70smusic, #bernietaupin, #elton, #70srock, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday, #doublealbum, #candleinthewind, #bennieandthejets, #thisdayinrock, #saturdaynightsalrightforfighting, #grammyhalloffame, #rockmusic, #numberone, #number1
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15 SIGNS YOU’RE A BOY — NOT A MAN
(Read this before life embarrasses you publicly.)
This debate exploded on Reddit, TikTok, and comment sections for a reason. Men everywhere are confused, defensive, and secretly insecure about one question:
What actually makes a man?
Not Alpha. Not Sigma.
Not podcasts. Not aesthetics.
Behavior. Responsibility. Presence.
If this stings, good. Growth usually does.
1️⃣ You obsess over being “seen” as a man
A man doesn’t audition. He is. Boys seek validation. Men move quietly.
2️⃣ You react emotionally instead of responding intelligently
Men pause. Boys explode, text paragraphs, and regret it later.
3️⃣ You dress like you never left high school
Baggy tees, loud trends, zero intention.
Respect starts with how you present yourself.
4️⃣ You waste hours gaming while life passes by
Entertainment addiction is still addiction.
Time is currency. Boys spend it. Men invest it.
5️⃣ You’re a people-pleaser
If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.
6️⃣ You can’t hold adult conversations (especially with women)
If making a phone call scares you, you’re not ready for responsibility.
7️⃣ You blame everyone except yourself
Boys defend their ego. Men own their mistakes.
8️⃣ You think vulgarity = personality
Shock humor isn’t wit.
Real humor requires intelligence and restraint.
9️⃣ You avoid thinking long-term
No future plans. No commitments. No depth.
That’s not freedom — that’s immaturity.
🔟 You take but don’t give
Time. Money. Effort. Loyalty.
Men give back. Boys consume.
1️⃣1️⃣ You demand things your way
Boys want control.
Men understand compromise is strength.
1️⃣2️⃣ You depend on others to manage your life
Can’t cook. Can’t clean. Can’t organize yourself.
That’s not masculinity — that’s dependence.
1️⃣3️⃣ You can’t commit to people or purpose
Drifting is easy. Direction is earned.
1️⃣4️⃣ You collapse under pressure
Pressure reveals the truth.
Men stabilize. Boys panic.
1️⃣5️⃣ You can’t do basic life skills
Tie a tie. Cook a meal. Fix something.
Competence is masculine. Helplessness is not.
⚠️ This isn’t about perfection.
Every man has been guilty of some of these.
The difference?
👉 Boys defend their flaws.
👉 Men outgrow them.
Read it twice.
Argue with it if you want.
But don’t ignore it.
Manhood isn’t claimed.
It’s demonstrated.
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On this day in 1978, the Rod Stewart LP “Blondes Have More Fun” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #68 (December 23)
Old school fans of Rockin’ Rod weren’t happy with his ninth studio album’s commercial “disco” leanings, but it was a resounding success, and its lead single "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" was one of Stewart's biggest hits, peaking at #1 in both the UK and US.
Stewart said:
“It was frightening, stirring up so much love and hate at the same time: most of the public loved it; all of the critics hated it.
I can understand both positions."
The album went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, #2 in Norway, #3 in the UK, #4 in the Netherlands, #9 in Germany, and #10 in Austria.
“Blondes Have More Fun” features excellent musicians like ex-Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice, and longtime Rolling Stones keyboard player Nicky Hopkins.
#rodstewart, #blondeshavemorefun, #dayathinkimsexy, #70smusic, #rockinrod, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday
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This week in 1984, the Madonna single
“Like a Virgin” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (December 22)
The classic synth-driven 80s track was Madonna’s first #1, also hitting #1 in Australia and Canada, and making Top 10 in the UK, South Africa, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland.
The song was written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and pitched to Madonna by Warner Bros.
Madonna recalled her first impressions after listening to the demos of "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl":
“I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin?
I liked the play on words; I thought they were clever. They're so geeky, they're cool.
I never realized they would become my signature songs, especially the second one.”
In 2000, "Like a Virgin", was honored by Rolling Stone and MTV, as the fourth song on their list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs".
It was voted ten on VH1's 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years, and was also listed at #95 on Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.
#madonna, #likeavirgin, #80smusic, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday, #numberone, #number1
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"On our 2024 expedition to Papua New Guinea, we found coral reefs teeming with life in this biodiversity hotspot."
In our surveys, we observed:
🐠 568 species of reef fish
🪸 300+ species of shallow-water hard corals and 38 species of soft corals
🌿 97 species of algae
🧽 51 species of sponges
Trim Castle 🏰
Trim Castle is a Norman castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. Covering 30,000m², it is the largest Norman castle in Ireland.
It was built by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter as a seat of the Lordship of Meath
📷 : @christopherfunk_
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$87,089
market price of bitcoin in USD.
1,149
value of 1 USD measured in satoshis.
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That iconic 1958 photograph captures Hungarian-American socialite and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor with her 1956 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL roadster outside the famous Beverly Hills Hotel, a classic image of Hollywood glamour and style, famously taken by photographer Sid Avery, showcasing her signature flair with luxury cars.
Zsa Zsa Gabor Born: February 6, 1917 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died: December 18, 2016 (age 99) in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA
Gabor began her stage career in Vienna and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1941. Becoming a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", she was considered to have a personality that "exuded charm and grace". Her first film role was a supporting role in Lovely to Look At. She later acted in We're Not Married! and played one of her few leading roles in the John Huston-directed film, Moulin Rouge (1952). Huston would later describe her as a "creditable" actress.
Outside her acting career, Gabor was known for her extravagant Hollywood lifestyle, her glamorous personality, and her many marriages. In total, Gabor had nine husbands, including hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders. She once stated, "Men have always liked me and I have always liked men. But I like a mannish man, a man who knows how to talk to and treat a woman—not just a man with muscles."
Gabor's elder sister, Magda, eventually became an American socialite and her younger sister, Eva, became an American actress and businesswoman. The Gabor sisters were first cousins of Annette Lantos, wife of California Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA).
According to Gabor, she was discovered by operatic tenor Richard Tauber on a trip to Vienna in 1934, following her time as a student at a Swiss boarding school. Tauber invited Gabor to sing the soubrette role in his new operetta, Der singende Traum (The Singing Dream), at the Theater an der Wien. This would mark her first stage appearance. In 1936, she was crowned Miss Hungary.
Dancing with director Nicholas Ray (1953)
In 1944, she co-wrote a novel with writer Victoria Wolf entitled Every Man For Himself. According to Gabor, the fictional story was derived, in a small part, from Gabor's life experiences. The book was subsequently bought by an American magazine.
In 1949, Gabor declined an offer to play the leading role in a film version of the classic book Lady Chatterley's Lover. According to an article written for the Cedar Rapids Gazette in 1949, she turned down the role of Lady Chatterley due to the story's controversial theme.
Her more serious film acting credits include Moulin Rouge, Lovely to Look At and We're Not Married!, all from 1952, and 1953's Lili. In 1958, she ran the gamut of moviemaking, from Touch of Evil (1958) to the camp oddity Queen of Outer Space (1958). Later, she appeared in such films as Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) and Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984). She did cameos for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and voiced a character in the animated Happily Ever After (1990)
She was also a regular guest on television shows, appearing with Milton Berle, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Howard Stern, David Frost, Arsenio Hall, Phil Donahue, and Joan Rivers.
She was a guest on the Bob Hope specials, the Dean Martin Roasts, Hollywood Squares, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and It's Garry Shandling's Show. In 1968, she appeared in the role of Minerva on an episode of Batman, becoming the show's final "special guest villain" when it was cancelled soon after.
She appeared on the Late Night show where she told host David Letterman about her blind date with Henry Kissinger, which was arranged by Richard Nixon.
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On this day in 1980, the David Bowie single “Fashion” debuted on the Australian charts at #92 (December 22)
David Bowie said that he considered this song to be a sequel to The Kinks' 1966 send-up of the fashion scene, "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion."
“I was trying to move on a little from that Ray Davies concept of fashion; to suggest more of a gritted teeth determination and an unsureness about why one's doing it”, Bowie told NME in 1980.
The second single from the album “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)” peaked at #5 in the UK, #7 in Sweden, #8 in South Africa, #9 in Norway, #11 in Ireland, #22 in New Zealand, #27 in Australia, #34 in Germany, and #70 in the US.
The song with the trademark Robert Fripp guitar riffs (which the guitarist himself described as "blues-rock played with a contemporary grammar"), has gone on to be a fan favourite, and a popular track at fashion shows around the world.
Classic Bowie…
#davidbowie, #fashion, #80smusic, #80srock, #scarymonstersandsupercreeps, #robertfripp, #dailyrockhistory, #rockmusic, #thisdayinmusic, #thisdayinrock, #onthisday
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Christmas Eve, known as Nochebuena, is the main celebration in most South American countries, where families gather for a late-night feast, attend midnight Mass (Misa de Gallo), exchange gifts, and enjoy fireworks, all in a warm, summery atmosphere since it’s midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere.
The traditional foods vary by country but often feature hearty, flavorful dishes shaped by a rich blend of cultural influences: indigenous ingredients like corn (maize) and plantain leaves form the base of dishes such as Venezuelan hallacas (tamale-like parcels), while Spanish colonial traditions introduced meats, olives, raisins, and techniques like slow-cooking stews; African contributions added bold spices, capers, and creative use of leftovers, and in places like Peru or Argentina, even Asian or European elements (such as rice in Peruvian sides or German/Italian touches in Argentine asados and pan dulce) enrich the table.
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Visual Capitalist.
Bar chart showing countries with the largest gold reserve increases from 2000 to 2024, led by Russia and China
Russia and China have each added over 1,800 tonnes of gold to their reserves since 2000, more than triple the next highest country.
Gold buying by central banks has surged in recent years as countries diversify away from the U.S. dollar and hedge against geopolitical risk.
Since the turn of the century, central banks have been steadily increasing their gold reserves, a trend that has sharply accelerated in the last few years. As global trust in traditional reserve currencies like the U.S. dollar is being tested by inflation, sanctions, and shifting alliances, many nations are turning to gold as a strategic store of value.
This chart by Aneesh Anand visualizes the net additions to official gold reserves from 2000 to 2024, using data from the World Gold Council, IMF, World Bank, and other central banking sources.
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On this day in 1973, the Paul McCartney and Wings LP “Band on the Run” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #33 (December 22)
The album was mostly recorded at EMI's studio in Lagos, Nigeria, and just before heading off, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough left the group.
With no time to recruit replacements, McCartney went into the studio with just his wife Linda and Denny Laine.
McCartney therefore played bass, drums, percussion and most of the lead guitar parts.
Containing songs like the title track and “Jet”, the album was a stunning success, going to #1 in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Norway and Spain, and was critically acclaimed as some of McCartney’s finest post-Beatles work.
Paul said,
“It's a collection of songs and the basic idea about the band on the run is a kind of prison escape. At the beginning of the album, the guy is stuck inside four walls and breaks out. There is a thread, but not a concept.”
In a troubling incident during recording in Lagos, Nigeria, Paul and Linda McCartney were robbed at knifepoint. The assailants made away with all of their valuables and even stole a bag containing a notebook full of handwritten lyrics and songs, and cassettes containing demos for songs to be recorded.
The album cover photograph shows a prison break with McCartney, Linda and Laine plus six other well-known people, including talk show host Michael Parkinson, and actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee.
In 2012, it was listed at #418 on Rolling Stone's revised list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and in 2013, “Band on the Run” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
#wings, #bandontherun, #paulmccartney, #dennylaine, #michaelparkinson, #jamescoburn, #christopherlee, #rockmusic, #classicalbum, #classicrock, #70smusic, #70srock, #grammyhalloffame, #jet, #rockhistory, #thisdayinrock, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday
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George Bernard Shaw.
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
"George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond."
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Death = Time
A Short Philosophical Reflection on Awareness & Living Fully
Rethinking Death
Death isn’t a single event waiting at the end of life. It is already happening—quietly, as time itself. To understand death is not to think about the future, but to notice the present.
Death as a Process
Every passing moment is a small ending:
a thought fades, a feeling dissolves, a version of you disappears.
Life feels continuous only because the mind stitches moments together. In truth, change is constant. Death is gradual, not sudden.
The Illusion of Permanence
Unaware living makes life feel stable and death feel like an interruption.
Aware living reveals the opposite: everything is in flux—body, identity, emotions, relationships. Death isn’t against life; it’s life’s rhythm.
Why We Fear Death
Fear doesn’t come from death itself, but from inattention.
When time passes unnoticed, the final moment feels shocking. The terror is not sudden death—it’s long unconscious living.
Time as Silent Erosion
Time quietly erodes: youth, memory, former selves.
Because this erosion is silent, it’s ignored. Death feels dramatic only because its slow work went unseen.
Awareness vs. Belief
Beliefs explain death away.
Awareness watches it closely.
When time is observed moment by moment, death loses its panic. Awareness doesn’t remove death—it removes fear.
How Awareness Changes Time
Time doesn’t slow, but it deepens.
Moments feel fuller. Change is noticed as it happens. Life becomes less rushed and more alive.
Freedom Through Acceptance
Nothing was ever owned—not youth, not people, not even the body.
When ownership drops, fear loosens. Accepting death as time doesn’t darken life; it makes it intimate and precious.
Living Differently
If death is happening now, how would you live today?
With more honesty?
More presence?
Less illusion?
Conclusion: Death as Teacher
When death and time are seen as one, death stops being an enemy of the future and becomes a teacher of the present.
It asks only one thing:
Stay awake while you are here.
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On this day in 1981, the Men At Work single “Down Under” went to #1 on the Australian charts (December 21)
“Down Under” was also #1 in the US, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Poland and Ireland, and went Top 10 in Germany, South Africa, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The song written by Men at Work co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert from their international #1 album “Business as Usual”, has gone down in Australian rock history as a classic, and is really an unofficial Aussie anthem.
The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) ranked “Down Under” #4 on their list of the Best Australian Songs from 1926 to 2001, as decided by a hundred-strong industry panel.
It was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2007.
The holders of the copyright to a 1932 Australian children’s song successfully sued Hay and Strykert, claiming that they misappropriated the flute riff.
Several appeals by EMI and Men at Work were unsuccessful.
The Men at Work member that played the flute riff Greg Ham said he was deeply affected by the judgment and felt it tarnished his reputation, saying: "I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered—for copying something."
#menatwork, #downunder, #colinhay, #australianmusic, #australianrock, #aussierock, #ozrock, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday, #gregham, #businessasusual, #numberine, #number1, #80smusic, #80srock
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Sausages of the world: www.tasteatlas.com/best-rated-sausages-in-the-world
Originating in medieval Central Europe, the custom of serving grilled sausages at winter fairs is rooted in the practical necessity of the Schlachtfest, the traditional autumn slaughter intended to secure meat supplies for the cold months.
This culinary practice spread rapidly across the Austro-Hungarian territories, evolving into distinct regional signatures that range from the marjoram-spiced Nürnberger in Germany to the paprika-rich Debrecener favored in the Pannonian basin.
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GN
💤
GN
✨
