Baal

Baal (/ˈbeɪəl/), properly Baʿal (Ugaritic: 𐎁𐎓𐎍;Phoenician: 𐤋𐤏𐤁; Biblical Hebrew: בעל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal]), was a title and honorific meaning "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Baʿal was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations. The Hebrew Scriptures, compiled and curated over a span of centuries, include early use of the term in reference to their God Yahweh, generic use in reference to various Levantine deities, and finally pointed application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god. This use was taken over into Christianity and Islam, sometimes under the opprobrious form Beelzebub.

Word

The spelling "Baal" derives from the Greek Báal (Βάαλ), which appears in the New Testament and Septuagint, and from its Latinized form Baal, which appears in the Vulgate. The word's Biblical senses as a Phoenician deity and false gods generally were extended during the Protestant Reformation to denote any idols, icons of the saints, or the Catholic Church generally. In such contexts, it follows the anglicized pronunciation and usually omits any mark between its two As. In modern scholarship, the half ring ⟨ ʿ ⟩ or apostrophe ⟨ ' ⟩ in the name Baʿal marks the word's original glottal stop, a vocalization which appears in the middle of the English word "uh-oh".

Baal (play)

Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It concerns a wastrel youth who becomes involved in several sexual affairs and at least one murder. It was written in 1918, when Brecht was a 20-year-old student at Munich University, in response to the expressionist drama The Loner (Der Einsame) by the soon-to-become-Nazi dramatist Hanns Johst.

The play is written in a form of heightened prose and includes four songs and an introductory choral hymn ("Hymn of Baal the Great"), set to melodies composed by Brecht himself. Brecht wrote it prior to developing the dramaturgical techniques of epic theatre that characterize his later work, although he did re-work the play in 1926.

Characters

Plot synopsis

The story charts the decline of a drunken and dissolute poet, Baal. Baal is an anti-hero who rejects the conventions and trappings of bourgeois society. This situation draws on the German Sturm und Drang tradition, which celebrates the cult of the genius living outside the conventions of society that would later destroy him. "The outcast, the disillusioned tough becomes the hero; he may be criminal, he may be semi-human," argues John Willett, "but in plays like Baal he can be romanticized into an inverted idealist, blindly striking out at the society in which he lives." Baal roams the countryside, womanizing and brawling. He seduces Johanna, who subsequently drowns herself. He spurns his pregnant mistress Sophie and abandons her. He murders his friend Ekart, becoming a fugitive from the police. Defiantly aloof from the consequences of his actions, Baal is nonetheless brought low by his debauchery, dying alone in a forest hut, hunted and deserted, and leaving in his wake the corpses of deflowered maidens and murdered friends.

Goa'uld characters in Stargate

This is a list of the Goa'uld characters that appear in Stargate, Stargate SG-1, and Stargate Atlantis. In the Stargate fictional universe, the Goa'uld are a parasitic alien race that use other beings as hosts. Ra had stated in the original Stargate film that he had used humans exclusively as hosts for millennia, because Goa'uld technology can repair human bodies so easily that by inhabiting human forms they can be in effect ageless, though they can still be injured or killed. Most Goa'uld pose as gods in order to control slave armies, and are considered evil, egocentric megalomaniacs by those who do not worship them. The Goa'uld are extremely intelligent and have an aptitude for understanding, working with, and using technology that is superior to that of humans. They each have full access to their species' genetic memory from the moment of birth. As a result, no Goa'uld has to learn how to operate any technological device; they 'know' how to do so innately.

Blood (OSI album)

Blood is the third studio album by American progressive rock band OSI, released by InsideOut Music on April 27, 2009 in Europe and May 19, 2009 in North America.

Guitarist Jim Matheos and keyboardist and vocalist Kevin Moore started work on the album in 2008, collaborating by email. Matheos would send Moore a song idea which Moore would edit and send back to Matheos. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, who performed drums on Office of Strategic Influence and Free, was replaced by Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison on Blood. Matheos played bass guitar on the album, having hired guest musicians to perform bass duties on the first two OSI albums. Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Tim Bowness of No-Man wrote lyrics and performed vocals on one track each.

Critical reception of Blood was generally positive. The more atmospheric and ambient tracks were praised; the more metal-oriented tracks received mixed reactions. Moore's lyrics and Harrison's drumming, in particular, were met with acclaim.

Vs. (Pearl Jam album)

Vs. is the second studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on October 19, 1993 through Epic Records. After a relentless touring schedule in support of their 1991 debut album Ten, Pearl Jam headed into the studio in early 1993 facing the challenge of following up the commercial success of its debut. The resulting album, Vs., featured a rawer and more aggressive sound compared with the band's previous release. It was the band's first collaboration with producer Brendan O'Brien.

Pearl Jam decided to scale back its commercial efforts for Vs., including declining to produce music videos for any of the album’s singles. Upon its release, Vs. set the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week, a record it held for five years. Vs. occupied the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart for five weeks, the longest duration for a Pearl Jam album. The album has been certified seven times platinum by the RIAA in the United States.

Recording

For its second album, Pearl Jam felt the pressures of trying to match the success of its debut album, Ten. In a 2002 interview, guitarist Mike McCready said, "The band was blown up pretty big and everything was pretty crazy."Vs. was the first Pearl Jam album to have production duties handled by producer Brendan O'Brien. It was also the band's first album with drummer Dave Abbruzzese, who had joined the band in August 1991 and toured for the album Ten. Rehearsals for Vs. began in February 1993 at Potatohead Studio in Seattle, Washington. The band then moved to The Site in Nicasio, California in March 1993 to begin recording. Abbruzzese called the tranquil recording site "paradise" while lead vocalist Eddie Vedder said, "I fucking hate it here...I've had a hard time...How do you make a rock record here?"

Blood (TV series)

Blood (Hangul: 블러드; RR: Beulleodeu) is a 2015 South Korean television series starring Ahn Jae-hyun, Ji Jin-hee, Ku Hye-sun and Son Soo-hyun. It aired on KBS2 from February 16 to April 21, 2015 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 for 20 episodes.

Plot

Park Ji-sang is a doctor specializing in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery at Taemin Cancer Hospital, the best hospital in the country. He is also a vampire. Despite seeming cold and unfeeling, Ji-sang masks his soft heart and inner pain and yearns for closeness with people. He believes very strongly in the sanctity of human life, and suppresses his thirst for blood to treat terminally ill patients and save lives.

Among his colleagues is Yoo Ri-ta, a hotshot physician who entered medical school at the age of 17 and is also the niece of the chaebol group chairman who owns the hospital. Ri-ta is highly capable but snooty and prideful, yet Ji-sang finds himself falling for her. He also gets drawn into a conflict between good and evil as he encounters Lee Jae-wook, a two-faced hospital chief who gains everyone's trust with his gentle demeanor, but inwardly harbors a dangerous ambition for power and a talent for cruelty.