Word Up! By Cameo

Word up! was a 1986 single from funk bank Cameo. "Word up" was a colloquialism popular in NYC and other urban areas meaning "You bet".

What is Kanji?

Kanji literally means "Han characters". It is used to write Japanese along with subsequent syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana.

The Nihon Shoki, or Chronicles of Japan, are written entirely in Kanji. It is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It begins with the Japanese creation myth, detailing the birth of Japan.

What is Amavasya?

Amavasya comes from Sanskrit ama - meaning together and vasya - meaning to dwell or cohabit. It describes the Moon before conjuction - the night before the Sun and Moon line up in a straight line. In English, this is "night before syzygy".

Meaning of Tithi

A "tithi" is a lunar day in the Hindu calendar. 

The technical definition is the time taken for the longitudinal angle between the Sun and Moon to increase by twelve degrees.

Longitudinal refers to longitude, measured from East to West (latitude is the angular distance of a point North or South of the Earth's equator, measure at 0 degrees at the equator, -90 degrees at the South pole and 90 degrees at the North pole).

There are 30 tithis in a lunar month.

Sharad Purnima

Sharad purnima means "autumn full moon". It is also Valmiki Jayanti, birth day of Valmiki who composed the Ramayana.

America's Smoky Mountains

America's Smoky Mountains (within America's most visited National Park) in Tennessee are a great place to see Fall foliage. Spruce-fir forests, roaring waterfalls and year-round wildflower blooms surround the onlooker. It has 800 miles of trail. Staying on marked trails is advised to prevent getting lost. Proper footwear is needed for hiking.

Curioser and Curioser Thought Alice

MIT OpenCourseWare has some dope online materials to learn some of the most interesting things in the known universe.  Here are some recommendations; tried and tested for total coolness..

The Early Universe, Professor Alan Guth (first lecture asks: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse?)

Physical Chemistry, Professor Robert Guy Griffin, Professor Troy van Voorhis (first lecture: Where does quantum physics fit into chemistry?)

Bio-Inspired Structures, Professor Leo Daniel (first lecture: observing birds leading to human flight, quite natural given Professor Daniel specialises in aeronautics).