MTV IS TEACHER APPROVEDIt’s doubtful MTV would have ever used the above as an advertising slogan when they launched in the ‘80s but they could have.From Dire Strait’s “Money For Nothing,” with Sting’s guest vocals, came the ethereal demand “I want my MTV.” Both Sting (The Police) and Dire Straits frontman, guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, were ex-teachers. Someday, somebody will write a doctoral dissertation on the connection between teaching and Rock (Gene Simmons of KISS was also a teacher). Money For Nothing Of course, there would be pages and pages telling us what we already know; going from teaching to Rock is analogous to joining the other side.“Money For Nothing” and its accompanying animated video tore through the music biz. Aside from the hit single, the “Brothers In Arms” album, also showcased the rousing “Walk Of Life” and the riff ballad “So Far Away.” Amazingly, the band didn’t release another album for six-years but Knopfler kept busy with outside projects working with Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, among others. Walk Of Life By that time, the band was considerably different than when Dire Straights got together in ‘77 around a nucleus of Mark Knopfler, his guitarist brother David and bassist John Illsley. Their name came from a friend commenting on the group’s financial condition. After the brief period, they changed the spelling. That tended to blur the meaning – making it more of a pun. They also recorded their self-titled debut containing early signature song “Sultans Of Swing.” It crystallized the Knopfler guitar style – choppy, almost percussive lead lines. As for the vocals, Knopfler clearly belonged to the Dylan school of singers specializing in a talking/singing delivery with about a five-note range. The album also had the stark “Water Of Love” and “Down Along The Waterline.” Sultans Of Swing Dire Straits followed their initial success with their second album “Communiqué” in ’79. Like the first album, this record was entirely written by Mark Knopfler.Starting work on their third full length effort David decided to go solo. “Makin’ Movies” saw Alan Clark added on keyboards. The album also featured work from keyboardist Roy Britten, of E Street Band fame. An outstanding track was the keyboard drenched “Skateaway,” Knopfler’s tribute to a “roller girl.”The “Love Over Gold,” album was followed by the EP “Twisting By The Pool.” The title track was an infectious romp. A whole lotta fun. Also, ex-Rockpile drummer Terry Williams had joined. Then came “Brothers In Arms.” In ‘91 the band re-grouped for the recording of “On Every Street.” The set had three songs that illustrated Knopfler’s stylistic diversity; in both writing and playing. The whimsical “Calling Elvis” had a Country/Rock feeling. “The Bug” was more philosophical but also has a roots Rock feeling. (The song was later covered by Country singer Mary-Chapin Carpenter.) Then there was the driving “Heavy Fuel.” ### The post Dire Straits appeared first on RockinTown.

by Leo Hohmann, Leo Hohmann: Cities across the United States are installing hidden surviellance cameras that track everyone, everywhere, and nobody, not even Donald Trump, is talking about this. What are the Top 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S.? We’ve got the list! My old colleagues at World Net Daily have an interesting story up today […]

The United States is, without a doubt, one of the greatest and most fascinating countries in the world. Made up of multiple locations of natural beauty, lush, ancient forests, expanses of desert and countryside, all sprinkled with metropolis-like cities and towns, each unique and like nowhere else on the planet. It is also home, even if we take Bigfoot encounters out of the equation, to all manner of cryptid creatures, some more legend than fact, and others abundantly documented and recorded.

The excavation of the Minoan palace of Archanes in Crete has unearthed a sacred gate, the first example of its kind ever discovered in a Minoan palace. It is located south the main entrance to the palace and contains four altars and two arms of a stone platform with a pyramidal base on one arm and the partially-preserved base on the western arm. The revelation of the building system of a Holy Gate at the entrance of the palace with the altars and the arms of the stone structure, which framed a platform and two more altars – the large oblong and the stepped altar – which had been revealed in earlier excavation periods was the most interesting. […] Also of interest is a stone base, uncovered under the massive stones to the south of the entrance with the four altars. The plinth had fallen from an upper floor together with remains of burnt wood and four distinctive bronze objects/hooks, a finding leading to the hypothesis that they were links to a wooden plinth resting on it. This is an element that shows that the upper floor of a room to the east of the courtyard had a sacred character. The remains of the Minoan palace were first discovered in the upper village of modern-day Archanes in 1964. The great royal palace of Knossos of labyrinth and minotaur fame, the largest of all Minoan palaces, is just five miles north of Archanes. The Archanes palace was built around 1900 B.C., likely as a dependant satellite of Knossos, its purpose to oversee the fertile arable and administer the major religious sanctuaries in the town. The excavations since its discovery have uncovered the remains of a three-storey building with a main entrance, a theater and sanctuaries. Hundreds of objects, many of them religious (altars, ritual vessels, figurines) have been found there, underscoring the palace’s religious significance. The embankment of massive fallen stone blocks with evidence of a fire that destroyed part of the palace dates to the Mycenaean period (ca. 1750 – 1050 B.C.). The Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland took over the older Minoan civilization on Crete around 1450 B.C. They repaired and reused Minoan monumental architecture, including its palaces. The artifacts from this occupation layer were few and fragmentary, attesting to how destructive this event was.

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