Nirvana

Nirvāṇa (/nɪərˈvɑːnə, -ˈvænə, nər-/;Sanskrit: निर्वाण nirvāṇa  [nirʋaːɳə]; Pali: निब्बान nibbāna ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण ṇivvāṇa ) literally means "blown out", as in a candle. It is most commonly associated with Buddhism.

In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to the imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion, and delusion have been finally extinguished. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with Brahman, the divine ground of existence, and the experience of blissful egolessness.

In Indian religions, the attainment of nirvana is moksha, liberation from samsara, the repeating cycle of birth, life and death.

Etymology

The word nirvāṇa is from the verbal root √vā “blow” in the form of past participle vāna “blown”, prefixed with the preverb nis meaning “out”. Hence the original meaning of the word is “blown out, extinguished”. Sandhi changes the spelling: the v of vāna causes nis to become nir, and then the r of nir causes retroflexion of the following n: nis+vāna > nirvāṇa. The term is used in the sense of “dead” in the Mahābhārata (i.e. “life extinguished”). [Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary sv nirvāṇa]

Nirvana (Nirvana album)

Nirvana is a "best-of" compilation album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released in October 2002.

Background

Nirvana was released following the settlement of a long-standing legal dispute between Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, and surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. Much of the dispute centered around the song "You Know You're Right" which was recorded during the band's final studio session, in January 1994. Novoselic and Grohl had wanted to release it on a long-delayed Nirvana rarities box set. However, Love blocked the song's release, and sued Novoselic and Grohl over control of Nirvana's legacy. Love's lawsuit maintained that "You Know You're Right" was a "potential 'hit' of extraordinary artistic and commercial value." She believed that "You Know You're Right" would be "wasted" on a box set, and instead belonged on a single-disc compilation similar to The Beatles' 1. In September 2002, it was announced by the Nirvana camp that the lawsuit had been settled, and that "You Know You're Right" would be released on "Nirvana, a one-CD history of the band."

Nirvana (film)

Nirvana is a 1997 Italian cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. The film stars Christopher Lambert, Diego Abatantuono, Sergio Rubini, and Stefania Rocca. It was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The film tells the story of a virtual reality game designer, Jimi (Christopher Lambert), who discovers that the main character of his game, Solo (Diego Abatantuono), has achieved sentience due to an attack by a computer virus. Asked by his creation (who feels everything the character in the game feels, including multiple deaths) to eliminate its existence, Jimi sets out to erase the game from the server of his employer, Okasama Star, before it's commercially released on Christmas Day, and thus spare Solo further suffering.

20 Y.O.

20 Y.O. is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson. It was released on September 20, 2006 by Virgin Records. Its title references her third studio album, Control (1986), which commemorated its twentieth release anniversary in 2006. The release would represent Control's "celebration of the joyful liberation and history-making musical style". For the project, Jackson enlisted a variation of producers to work with her, including LRoc, Manuel Seal, The Avila Brothers and No I.D., in addition to her longtime partners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and then-boyfriend Jermaine Dupri. Its musical style globalizes R&B and dance music.

20 Y.O. received mixed reviews from music critics, with many of them chastising the production and involvement of Dupri. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, making it Jackson's eighth consecutive top three debut and second consecutive number two album debut. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it platinum, becoming Jackson's eighth consecutive platinum album. Internationally, the album failed to make an impact on charts, reaching the top sixty in Australia and number 43 on European charts. Worldwide the album has sold 1.2 million copies. 20 Y.O. earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2007.

Enjoy (play)

Enjoy is a comedy play written in 1980 by Alan Bennett. An idiosyncratic view of working-class family life in Leeds, a city in the north of England, it was one of the rare theatrical flops in Bennett's career.

An elderly couple living in one of the last back-to-back houses in Leeds encounter a series of jolting surprises, not least when their son returns, as a council official in drag, and reveals that the council intends to demolish their house brick by brick, and reassemble it in the local museum, complete with its occupants.

Following a national tour, directed by Ronald Eyre, it opened at the Vaudeville Theatre, in London's West End on 15 October 1980, but in spite of the stellar cast of Joan Plowright, Colin Blakely, Susan Littler, Marc Sinden, Philip Sayer and Liz Smith (who replaced Joan Hickson during rehearsals), it closed on 6 December 1980.

Twenty-nine years later, a new production of Enjoy toured and then moved to the Gielgud Theatre in January 2009. This time the play was described as "an astonishingly prescient, blackly comic modern classic". Starring Alison Steadman and David Troughton, it reportedly took over £1m in advance ticket sales.

Bob Sinclar

Bob Sinclar (born Christophe Le Friant; 10 May 1969) is a French record producer, house music DJ, remixer and the owner of the label Yellow Productions.

Musical career

Christophe Le Friant started DJing in the 1980s under the name Chris the French Kiss. During this time he was more influenced by hip-hop and jazz music and created music projects such as The Mighty Bop and Reminiscence Quartet, this one with an ensemble of musicians. Le Friant used the alias Desmond K in the Reminiscence Quartet.

Le Friant adopted the new name of Bob Sinclar in 1998 (hero from the film Le Magnifique). He became known for popularising the "French touch" of house music with heavy use of sampled and filtered disco strings. He describes his musical style as inspired by "peace, love, and house music". Several of Sinclar's songs have become international hits, being particularly popular in Europe. Some of his most popular hits include "Love Generation" (with Gary Pine) and "World, Hold On" (with Steve Edwards). In 2006 Bob Sinclar received the TMF Award Best Dance International (Belgium).