Laputa

Laputa is a flying island described in the 1726 book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. It is about 4.5 miles in diameter, with an adamantine base, which its inhabitants can maneuver in any direction using magnetic levitation.

Location

Laputa was located above the realm of Balnibarbi, which was ruled by its king from the flying island. Gulliver states the island flew by the “magnetick virtue” of certain minerals in the ground of Balnibarbi which did not extend more than four miles above, and six leagues beyond the extent of the kingdom. showing the limit of its range. The position of the island, and the realm below, is some 5 days journey south-south-east of from Gulliver's last known position, 46N, 183E (i.e. east of Japan, south of the Aleutian Islands) down a chain of small rocky islands.

Description

Laputa is described as being exactly circular and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in diameter, giving an area of 10,000 acres (4,000 ha). It was 300 yards (270 m) thick, and comprised a bottom plate of adamant 200 yards thick, above which lay "the several minerals in their usual order", topped with "a coat of rich mould 10 or 12 ft deep".

Castle in the Sky

Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Japanese: 天空の城ラピュタ, Hepburn: Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta) is a 1986 Japanese animated adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and is also the first film produced and released by Studio Ghibli. The film was distributed by Toei Kabushiki Kaisha.Laputa: Castle in the Sky won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1986.

Plot

In the film's backstory, human civilizations built flying cities, which were later destroyed by an unspecified catastrophe, forcing the survivors to live on the ground. The only remaining flying city, Laputa, still floats in the sky, concealed by a permanent powerful thunderstorm that surrounds it.

In the story's opening, an airship carrying Sheeta, a girl who has been abducted by Muska, a secret agent working for the government, is attacked by Captain Dola and her air pirate sons who are in search of Sheeta's crystal amulet. In the resulting struggle, Sheeta falls from the airship but her descent is slowed by the amulet which starts glowing. She safely lands in a small mining town where she is discovered by a boy named Pazu, who takes her into his home to recover. On waking, Sheeta is surprised to find that Pazu is building a small aeroplane with the intention of finding the lost city of Laputa, which his father had taken a photograph of while flying some years previously. She tells him that her family lived in a small valley to the north named Gondoa, and that she lived alone once her mother, father, and grandmother died, until Muska and his agents abducted her. Later that day they are pursued by Dola's pirates, and later by Muska's soldiers. Eventually, the two fall into an abandoned mine, where they encounter the local eccentric 'Uncle Pomme', who informs them that Sheeta's amulet is made of 'volucite' crystal ('Aetherium' in the American release) a material used to keep Laputa and the other flying cities aloft.

Joe Hisaishi

Mamoru Fujisawa (藤澤 守, Fujisawa Mamoru, born December 6, 1950), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲, Hisaishi Jō), is a composer and musical director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. Hisaishi's works has invited comparisons with American composer John Williams.

While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, European classical, and Japanese classical. Lesser known are the other musical roles he plays; he is also a typesetter, author, arranger, and conductor.

He has been associated with animator Hayao Miyazaki since 1984, having composed scores for all save The Castle of Cagliostro. He is also recognized for the soundtracks he has provided for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996), Hana-bi (1997), Kikujiro (1999), and Dolls (2002), as well for the video game series Ni no Kuni. He was a student of legendary anime composer Takeo Watanabe.

Hiatus Kaiyote

Hiatus Kaiyote is a future-soul quartet that formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2011. The members are Nai Palm (vocals, guitar), Paul Bender (bass), Simon Mavin (keyboards) and Perrin Moss (drums, percussion). In 2013, they were nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance for their song "Nakamarra", performed with Q-Tip, but lost out to Snarky Puppy and Lalah Hathaway's recording "Something". The song appears on their debut album, Tawk Tomahawk, released by Flying Buddha.

In 2014, the band joined forces with hip hop artist Remi, the multi-faceted Kirkis, producer Silent Jay and vocalist Jace XL to embark on an Australia-wide tour titled 'The Sonic Architects National Conference'. Three additional backing vocalists: Jace, Loreli, and Jay Jay were added for this tour.

The band released their second album, Choose Your Weapon, on 1 May 2015. The review aggregator Metacritic has given the album a normalized rating of 88 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'. On 9 May 2015, Choose Your Weapon debuted at number 22 on the Australian albums chart.

Sky

The sky (or celestial dome) is everything that lies above the surface of the Earth, including the atmosphere and outer space.

In the field of astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere. This is viewed from Earth's surface as an imaginary dome where the sun, stars, planets, and the moon are seen to be traveling. The celestial sphere is conventionally divided into regions called constellations. Usually, the term sky is used informally as the point of view from the Earth's surface; however, the meaning and usage can vary. In some cases, such as in discussing the weather, the sky refers to only the lower, more dense portions of the atmosphere.

During daylight, the sky appears to be blue because air scatters blue sunlight more than it scatters red. At night, the sky appears to be a mostly dark surface or region scattered with stars. During the day, the Sun can be seen in the sky unless obscured by clouds. In the night sky (and to some extent during the day) the moon, planets and stars are visible in the sky. Some of the natural phenomena seen in the sky are clouds, rainbows, and aurorae. Lightning and precipitation can also be seen in the sky during storms. Birds, insects, aircraft, and kites are often considered to fly in the sky. Due to human activities, smog during the day and light pollution during the night are often seen above large cities.