elanorpam:

jumpingjacktrash:

archiemcphee:

These awesome ladies are taking Japan by storm. They’re KBG84, a one-of-a-kind Japanese girl band comprised of 33 singing, dancing grandmothers. The name of the band is a play on the name of different Japanese girl band called AKB48. The ‘48′ refers to the number of girls in that band, whereas the ‘84′ refers to the average age of the members of KBG84. However the oldest member, Haru Yamashiro, is 97 years old!

KBG84 is from the remote island of Kohama in Okinawa and their first single, “Come on and Dance, Kohama Island”, has reached the top of the Japanese music charts. And they’ve just finished a completely sold out country-wide tour. These grannies are unstoppable!

“When I first heard someone calling us ‘idols’ I thought an idol meant someone who has lived a long life and was at the gates of heaven,” said 92-year-old diva Tomi Menaka. “But in Tokyo they told me it was an entertainer – which was a relief because I thought it meant I was on my way to heaven.”

“We felt like stars in Tokyo,” added 86-year-old Hideko Kedamori. “Everyone in the audience had a big smile, which gave us the energy to sing our hearts out. We’re blessed to have been born in Kohama. Our lyrics are about the island and nature – whales in the sea spouting or dolphins doing somersaults.”

Check out this music video for KBG84′s new hit single:

Head over to Oddity Central to learn more about these amazing women.

this is the cutest thing!

oh noooooo

Someone: it’s too hot
Me, internally: everyone has forgotten, but I haven’t. I haven’t forgotten uptown funk. I can’t hear those words without getting an unexplainable urge to say ‘hot damn.’ Maybe nobody forgot. Maybe we all think this. I feel like we need to talk about the influence this song had on all of us.

frederick-the-great:

Sometimes I marvel at Historical work.

I was reading on Voltaire when I came across this:

Most scholars believe Mme Denis probably became Voltaire’s mistress towards the end of 1745 or early in 1746;

I mean can you think of something more important than this? The mere thought of scenario where there’s an argument about this subject. Imagine a conference in Oxford or Bristol or Warwick where 18th century Enlightenment historians with published works on the immortality of the soul in French Thought or the cultural History of Paris spent two hours out of a seminar trying to figure out when did Voltaire first slept with his niece. And then! passionate arguments about the dates. The months, the days and the place.