And for once, Mr. Barney Stinson, I have to agree with you. Rock in Rio 2013 was LEGEN - wait for it - DAAAAARY!!!!!
     Me and my pals Nana, Verônica and Karen enjoyed the concerts of today SO much. 30 Seconds to Mars, Florence + The Machine (totally made my eyes spark!), Muse and The Offspring, among many others...
      I discovered that the festival is extremely big (a lot bigger than SWU, which was the only other big festival I went to in my whole life), very well organized and a little bit expensive. Yeah, you can't really expect to go there and buy lots of souvenirs if you're in a budget like I was. But there's plenty of free stuff you can do: rollercoaster rides, Ferris wheel and tyrolean, to name a few.
      All I can say is that, in 2015, I'll be back (read ir like it's Arnold Schwarzenegger talking, ok?)!

~Ally

     I used to think that the traditional English canticle "Scarborough Fair" was about a mythical village, but it isn't the case: Scarborough really exists!
      It is located in the English county of North Yorkshire, in the coast of the North Sea. During the Middle Age, it was known for being a commercial point, and that is probably why the canticle was composed, though its author is still unknown. Scarborough is also famous for being the birthplace of the actor Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, anyone?) and for being quoted in Virginia Woolf's "Jacob's Room".

~Ally

    Apparently the anthem "The Sound of Silence", by Simon and Garfunkel, wasn't a hit when it was first released. The original version from 1964 didn't have the electric guitar and drums we now are so familiar with, and wasn't well received by the public. The duo then decided to part ways for a while.
    By the time Bob Dylan and The Byrds began to have tremendous success with Folk music combined with electric guitars (which would later become the Folk Rock as we know it), the producer Tom Wilson remembered S & G's first album, and reformed the song, which then became a huge hit. The duo, however, wasn't aware of these alterations, and were quite surprised when Tom called them and said they were high in the US charts with "The Sound of Silence". Paul and Art then rushed back to the country, and began a splendorous career in American Folk music.

~Ally

   It seems, according to information I found in a couple of websites, that the famous 50's singer Pat Boone wasn't related to the famous pioneer Daniel Boone. But he did claim so!
    In fact, it is difficult to determine, with 100% certainty, whether someone is another one's kin, specially if the other person died many years ago. Birth records, censuses and even some websites can be used to gather that kind of information, though it's hard to be sure everything is correct. I would suggest DNA test just to be sure!
   Nevertheless, Pat might be a descendant from the same Boone clan as Daniel - the last name goes way back in the north American history, apparently, and Pat could be related to Daniel through an earlier Boone ancestor.

~Ally

    Yeap. According to a Rock History course I'm currently taking on the Coursera website (which is pretty great) by Professor John Covach, Mr. Presley never wrote his songs, but used the ones of other composers.
    This might sound a little weird - it sure got me off guard - but this was very common in that period (mid 50's). In fact, there weren't many singers who did write their own material, but of course there were some exceptions, like Chuck Berry for example.
    Elvis was, according to Prof. Covach, a "Song Stylist": a performer who could take a bunch of songs and test them until he found one which sounded completely like his style. I believe he made some adjustments on those too, and made them sound, well, "Elvish"! And that was a huge differential, making him stand out among other singers and becoming the King of Rock we all love so much.
    One of my missions in life is to learn some of his dance moves. I don't get how come people don't dance like that all the time. Honestly, guys, Beyoncé couldn't do it better!

~Ally