Jungle

A jungle is land covered with dense vegetation dominated by trees. Application of the term has varied greatly during the last several centuries. Jungles in Western literature can represent a less civilised or unruly space outside the control of civilisation: attributed to the jungle's association in colonial discourse in the British Raj. Therefore, the nearest equivalent scientific term is probably monsoon and seasonal tropical forest.

Etymology

The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala (Sanskrit: जङ्गल), meaning uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to dry land, it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its connotation as a dense "tangled thicket" while others have argued that a cognate word in Urdu did refer to forests. The term is prevalent in many languages of the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian plateau, where it is commonly used to refer to the plant growth replacing primeval forest or to the unkempt tropical vegetation that takes over abandoned areas.

Salvatore Giunta

Salvatore Augustine "Sal" Giunta (/ˌsælvəˈtɔːreɪ ˈdʒʊntə/; born January 21, 1985) is a former United States Army soldier and the first living person since the Vietnam War to receive the U.S. military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor. Giunta was cited for saving the lives of members of his squad on October 25, 2007 during the War in Afghanistan. He left the U.S. Army in June 2011.

Early life and education

Giunta was born in Clinton, Iowa, on January 21, 1985, to an Italian American family. Giunta grew up in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha. His parents, Steven, a medical equipment technician, and Rosemary, a preschool teacher, live in Hiawatha. He has two younger siblings, Mario and Katie. Giunta attended John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids. At age 17, while working in a Subway, he decided to enlist and joined the Army in November 2003.

Career

Giunta attended basic training and infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was deployed to Afghanistan from March 2005 until March 2006 and again from May 2007 until July 2008. He was promoted to staff sergeant in August 2009. Giunta was last stationed at Caserma Ederle, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team's base near Vicenza, Italy. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and worked in a support role for members of his unit then deployed in Afghanistan.

The Jungle

The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. However, most readers were more concerned with his exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century, based on an investigation he did for a socialist newspaper.

The book depicts working class poverty, the lack of social supports, harsh and unpleasant living and working conditions, and a hopelessness among many workers. These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power. A review by the writer Jack London called it, "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery."

Sinclair was considered a muckraker, or journalist who exposed corruption in government and business. He first published the novel in serial form in 1905, in the Socialist newspaper, Appeal to Reason, between February 25, 1905 and November 4, 1905. In 1904, Sinclair had spent seven weeks gathering information while working incognito in the meatpacking plants of the Chicago stockyards for the newspaper. It was published as a book on February 26, 1906, by Doubleday and in a subscribers' edition.

Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 then again in October 1988 this time including the US, where it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.

On the 1987 release, the Maxi Single format was backed with a live versions of AC/DC's Whole Lotta Rosie, the bands debut single It's So Easy and Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door. In 2009 "Welcome to the Jungle" was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.

Background and composition

Axl Rose wrote the words while visiting a friend in Seattle. "It's a big city, but at the same time, it's still a small city compared to L.A. and the things that you're gonna learn. It seemed a lot more rural up there. I just wrote how it looked to me. If someone comes to town and they want to find something, they can find whatever they want." Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin summarises the song as "about Hollywood streets; true to life."

X Ambassadors

X Ambassadors (also stylised XA) is an American alternative rock band from Ithaca, New York. The band has had hits such as "Unconsolable", "Jungle" and "Renegades". The band's debut full length album titled VHS was released on June 30, 2015.

History

2009–12: Ambassadors EP and Litost

X Ambassadors began as a band titled simply Ambassadors, touring with artists such as LIGHTS. During this time, they self-released their debut EP, Ambassadors EP, creating a music video for its lead single, "Tropisms". Shortly after, the band self-released its debut LP, Litost. The band started a Kickstarter account to shoot a video for the lead single, "Unconsolable," which would be re-recorded later. The LP's titular song, "Litost", would later be used on the soundtrack for The Host and, like "Unconsolable", on the Love Songs Drug Songs EP. The group was noticed by Imagine Dragons while frontman Dan Reynolds was sick in the hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. Reynolds heard an acoustic version of "Unconsolable" on 96X WROX-FM and asked Interscope to sign the band as soon as possible.