Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan on April 17, 1964) is an American rock singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, winemaker, and actor. Originally from Ohio, Keenan spent his high school and college years in Michigan. After serving in the Army in the early 1980s, he attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1988 to pursue a career in interior design and set construction. He formed the band Tool with Adam Jones shortly thereafter.

Music Career
Tool
After moving to Los Angeles, Keenan met Adam Jones who had heard him singing on a demo in college. Impressed with Keenan’s vocals, Jones suggested that they form a band. Although reluctant at first, Keenan agreed and, in 1990, Tool was formed. Fronted by Keenan, the eventual lineup included guitarist Jones; his neighbor, drummer Danny Carey; and bassist Paul D’Amour, who would later be replaced by Justin Chancellor.

Tool signed to Zoo Entertainment in November 1991 and released the Opiate EP the following year. To support this release, the band toured with Fishbone and Rage Against the Machine. During a 1993 show at the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles, Keenan (who would later write the lyrics “Fuck L. Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones” in “Ænema”) bleated like a sheep for a good portion of the show. “Before our set this guy tries to intimidate me by showing me a gun in his jacket,” Keenan recalled. “I explained to him that if he pissed me off I’d start a riot.”

Shortly thereafter, Tool released their 1993 debut album, Undertow, in the United States. It was certified gold after just eight months, and platinum less than a year later. In 1994, the band released their single “Prison Sex”—a song in which Keenan opted to deliver in a slight grunge-style—with a corresponding music video created and directed by Jones. The video was deemed “too graphic and offensive”, and was withdrawn by MTV after a few airings due to “a symbolic dealing with the sensitive subject of child abuse”.

In October 1996, the band released their second studio album, Ænima. The album was certified gold in ten weeks, achieved double platinum in ten months, and won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998. After the release of the album, Tool began a prolonged legal battle with their label, Volcano Records (formerly Zoo Records), over contract violations. Following this legal battle, which resulted in a new three-record deal, the members of Tool decided to take some time off. During the hiatus, the band members were outspokenly critical of filesharing networks, due to the negative financial impact on artists dependent on success in record sales. During an interview with NY Rock in 2000, Keenan stated, “I think there are a lot of other industries out there that might deserve being destroyed. The ones who get hurt by MP3s are not so much companies or the business, but the artists, people who are trying to write songs.”

Five years after the release of Ænima, Tool announced a new album, Systema Encéphale, with a 12-song tracklist in January 2001. A month later, the band revealed that the new album was actually titled Lateralus and that the previous announcement had been a ruse. The album was released in May 2001 to positive reviews. Known for his “dark, intelligent, compelling, and unexpected lyrical twists”, Keenan was acclaimed for his songwriting on the album, in which he “doesn’t cross the line from darkness to ugliness … as often as he has in the past”. In an interview with NY Rock, Keenan explained, “Everything we release with Tool is inspired by our music. It doesn’t matter if it is a video or if its lyrics. The lyrics for “Schism” are nothing more than my interpretation of the music.” The album became a worldwide success, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart in its debut week, and Tool received their second Grammy Award for the best metal performance of 2001 for “Schism”. In 2002, Keenan recorded a song called “Fallen” with 30 Seconds to Mars that was released on the band’s self-titled debut album.

Fifteen years after the band’s formation, Tool had acquired what Dan Epstein of Revolver described as a devoted “cult” following, and in May 2006 the band released 10,000 Days, an album in which Keenan sang about more personal issues in contrast to previous attempts to inspire change. His mother, who inspired the song “Jimmy” on Ænima, also served as the inspiration for the two-part song “Wings for Marie” and “10,000 Days (Wings for Marie, Pt 2)”, which deals with her 2003 death after 27 years, or around 10,000 days, of suffering. The album sold 564,000 copies in its opening week in the U.S. and was #1 on the Billboard 200 charts. However, 10,000 Days was received less favorably by critics than its predecessor Lateralus had been.

A Perfect Circle
During Tool’s post-Ænima hiatus to deal with their legal issues, Keenan began working with Billy Howerdel, Tool’s guitar tech through the Ænima tour, on a different project. The supergroup they formed, A Perfect Circle, began performing in 1999 and released its first album Mer de Noms in 2000. They released a successful follow-up in 2003 titled Thirteenth Step, a reference to twelve-step programs (many of the songs were written from the perspective of recovery). Both albums were eventually certified platinum. Their subsequent 2004 album, Emotive, was primarily composed of covers, except for the singles “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums”—a song inspired by “Pet” that was originally released on Thirteenth Step—and “Passive”. Keenan later characterized the record as a political album with which he “tested the waters” and was subsequently “crucified” for it because of the content. It was certified gold the month after its release. That same year they released the DVD and CD set entitled Amotion, which was certified platinum within a month of its release.

Puscifer
In 2003, Keenan surfaced under the name “Puscifer” for the song “REV 22:20″ on the Underworld film soundtrack. Puscifer was once advertised as a side project with Danny Lohner, who had formerly performed live with Nine Inch Nails, but has since been formed as a manifestation of Keenan’s “creative subconscious”—meaning that Keenan is now using the name as a pseudonym for his solo work. Keenan has stated that it is “a premiere improvisational hardcore band”, and his “catch-all, stream of consciousness, anything goes, etc.” project. When comparing the project to Tool in an interview with Rolling Stone, Keenan described it as his “attempt to make music to inspire people. … This is definitely not thinking man’s music, but groove-oriented music that makes you feel good.” In a later interview with Artistdirect, Keenan said that he did not want the lyrics to be puzzles. He wanted the complexity to be in the music, stating “that’s the part that gets under your skin and makes you feel good.”

Writing and Performance Style
A primary purpose of Keenan’s lyrics for Tool involves a desire to connect with the listeners on a personal level; to encourage them to look within themselves for self-identity, understanding and reflection. Tool does not include lyrics with any releases as Keenan believes most people “don’t get it” and it is not a priority of the band that people do. However, after each release Keenan has eventually published his typed lyrics online via the semi-official fansite, with the exception of “Lateralus”, which was published on the official Tool website.  Lyrical arrangements are often given special attention, such as in the lyrics to “Lateralus”, wherein the number of syllables per line correspond to an arrangement of the Fibonacci numbers, and “Jambi”, in which the metrical foot iamb is used. Keenan’s lyrics on Ænima and Lateralus focused on philosophy and spirituality—specific subjects range from organized religion in “Opiate”, to evolution and Jungian psychology in “Forty-Six & 2″ and transcendence in “Lateralus”.

In live performances with Tool, Keenan has often been known to be situated on a platform towards the rear of the stage, without a spotlight, facing the backdrop rather than the audience. Breckinridge Haggerty, the band’s live video director, says that the dark spaces on stage “are mostly for Maynard”. He explains, “a lot of the songs are a personal journey for him and he has a hard time with the glare of the lights when he’s trying to reproduce these emotions for the audience. He needs a bit of personal space, and he feels more comfortable in the shadows.” An exception, which surprised even hardcore Tool fans, occurred when a fan climbed on stage and attempted to hug Keenan during the band’s performance of “Pushit”. After picking the fan up and dropping him to the ground, Keenan wrapped himself around the man’s back. He eventually turned the fan to his stomach and sat on his back, where he stayed for “an uncomfortably long period of time.” His appearance with Tool has included the Mohawk hairstyle, wigs, Kabuki masks, bras, tights, and his entire body in blue paint. This is contrasted with a variety of long haired wigs while performing with or promoting A Perfect Circle. His posture on stage is usually bent.

Describing Keenan’s contribution to Tool and A Perfect Circle, The New York Times wrote that “both groups rely on Mr. Keenan’s ability to dignify emotions like lust, anger and disgust, the honey in his voice adding a touch of profundity”. Keenan’s ability as a vocalist has been lauded by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: after his performance during an Alice in Chains reunion concert in 2005, freelance journalist Travis Hay saw him as “a natural fit at replacing Layne Staley”. His unique style of singing has often been considered influential to artists such as Pete Loeffler of Chevelle.

Source : http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/music/150553/music_career_of_maynard_james_keenan/

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Have you ever looked at your child and wondered, what will you be and how will I help you get there? This is a question I ask myself all the time. I have four children and I am well aware of how different children are.

There are children you only have to look at and they are immediately back in line.
There is the child that requires time out and constant redirection.
There is the child that is perfect, until something does not go his way and then he looses it.
There are the children whom you think make good choices, has lots of friends, and then one day you discover this child has been manipulating you and you have no idea who he/she is.
There are also the children that make bad choice just for the ‘shock factor’. They love to see the shock on an adults face.
There are many types of children but these are just a few.

As parents, we face many struggles. We must work, be it at home or in the public, we try to balance our activities with those of our spouse and our children. If you are a single parent, these tasks are multiplied. It becomes very easy to just let stuff go. When the toddler has not been heard from over a 15 minute span of time, there is usually a problem. I know it was nice to have those few moments of peace and quiet, but is it worth it when you are cleaning marker off the wall? If your teenager is in his/her room playing on the computer for hours, that is one less person you are having to take care of. When I am at home all day alone, I tend to eat more junk food than I should. When left alone people do not make the best choices. I have found this to be true for all ages, but as parents it is our job to watch our children and give them the accountability and support they need to grow and develop.

This is especially important when it comes to school. If a child believes they are alone, they will not perform to the best of their ability. A child needs to know that not only are friends and family watching, they genuinely care about the child success. A great way to involve family and friends in a child’s education is by using the Earn Your Future program. Earn Your Future is a web based program, www.earnyourfuture.com, that allows students to get paid for report card grades. The program is much like a walk-a-thon fundraiser, where family and friends set a pledge and the student must perform to get the reward. With this program, instead of walking the pledge is based on report card grades.
This is a great program, especially with the economy where it is. It allows all to get involved regardless of their financial situation, because contributors set their own amount.

Regardless of what type of child you have, he/she needs motivation, accountability, and support.

Source : http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/education/141720/what_will_your_child_achieve/

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A handsome Indian evergreen tree often planted as an ornamental for its fragrant white flowers that yield a perfume; source of very heavy hardwood used for railroad ties. In olden time, the very hard timber was used for making lances.

It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree up to 13 m tall, often buttressed at the base with a trunk up to 90 cm in diameter. It has simple, narrow, oblong, dark green leaves 7-15 cm long, with a whitish underside; the emerging young leaves are red to yellowish pink and drooping.

The flowers are 4-7.5 cm diameter, with four white petals and a centre of numerous yellow stamens. The flowers have many uses – they are used to make an incense and also used to stuff pillows in some countries. It is the National tree of Sri Lanka.

Medicinal uses: The leaves are applied to the head in the form of a poultice for severe colds. Oil from the seeds is used for sores, scabies, wounds, and rheumatism.

The root of this herb is often used as an antidote for snake poison. The dried flowers are used for bleeding hemorrhoids and dysentery with mucus. Fresh flowers are also prescribed for excessive thirst, excessive perspiration, cough, and for indigestion.

Source: http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/fragrant.html

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