The album sold okay, but it was not until later when Hikaru started to sing Japanese songs that she became famous. Her music still sounded very R&B, but at this point, it sounded more like pop. Her first single, "Automatic / Time Will Tell", reached #2 on the single charts in Japan. A while later, after another single, she released her first Japanese album, "First Love". This sold a very large amount (over 9 million copies) and became the most sold album by a Japanese singer.
Hikaru went on to release two more albums: "Distance" (2001), and "Deep River" (2002). In each album, her style changed slightly. Each album was less R&B, and more pop. In 2004, she released an album made up of all her old single songs. She then released an album in English called "Exodus". "Exodus" was released under the record label Island Def-Jam. It was sold in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. She sang, wrote, and made the music for the whole album herself (except for when she got hip-hop producer Timbaland to help her). The album sold many copies in Japan, but it did not sell that well in the United States. However, many famous people and music critics thought that the album was good (for example, Elton John thought it was interesting).
Hikaru has started to make new Japanese music again, but continued on making all the music herself. Usually, a singer/songwriter will only write the music and the lyrics, but Hikaru decided she wanted to arrange her songs all by herself as well. She released her new album, "Ultra Blue", in mid-2006. Soon after, she went on a tour all across Japan. This is the second time she has ever done this (despite her singing for eight years).
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa (or the Race for Africa), from the 1880s until the start of World War I, was a time of much colonial expansion in Africa. Many European countries started colonies in Africa during this time. This is an example of New Imperialism. Liberia, Ethiopia and Darwiish State were not conquered at this time.
The last half of the 19th century saw a change in the way countries controlled their colonies. They changed from economic control through mass settlement, to political and military control of the colony's resources, especially in the 1870s. This was seen in the fight for the areas that were controlled by European nations.
Some famous people who helped European countries find more land in Africa included the explorers David Livingston, Henry Morton Stanley, and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, and the French politician Jules Ferry.
The Berlin Conference (1884 - 1885) tried to end disputes between the United Kingdom, France's Third Republic, the German Empire, and other European countries. They agreed that "effective occupation" would be the rule for colonial claims. Laws were made for using direct rule on a colony, backed up by military power.
1160s
Seaweed
Seaweed is a term used for several kinds of algae that live in the ocean. Red algae, Green algae and Brown algae are commonly considered to be seaweed. Seaweed gets its energy from photosynthesis just as plants do.
Two specific environmental requirements are important in seaweed ecology. These are the presence of seawater (or at least brackish water) and the presence of enough light for photosynthesis.
Another common requirement is a place to attach to. As a result, seaweeds are commonly found near the shore. Within that area, they are found more often on rocky shores than on sand or shingle. Seaweeds occupy a wide range of ecological niches. The highest elevation is only wetted by the tops of sea spray, the lowest is several meters deep. In some areas, seaweeds near the shore can extend several miles out to sea. The limit to how much they grow in such cases is based on how much sunlight there is. The deepest living seaweeds are the various kelps.
A number of species such as "Sargassum" have adapted to a fully planktonic niche and are free-floating, depending on gas-filled sacs to stay afloat.
Others have adapted to live in tidal rock pools. In this niche seaweeds must withstand rapidly changing temperature and salinity (amount of salt) and even occasional drying.
Seaweed has different uses. Sometimes it is farmed or foraged from the wild.
People living on the coast often eat seaweed, especially those in East Asia, such as Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also used in Belize, Peru, the Canadian Maritimes, Scandinavia, Ireland, Wales, Philippines, and Scotland.
Tiwi, Albay residents discovered a new pancit or noodles made from seaweed. These have health benefits. Seaweed is rich in calcium and magnesium and seaweed noodles can be cooked into pancit canton, pancit luglug, spaghetti or carbonara.
In Asia, Zicai (紫菜) (in China), gim (in Korea) and nori (in Japan) are sheets of dried "Porphyra" used in soups or to wrap sushi. "Chondrus crispus" (commonly known as Irish moss or carrageenan moss) is another red alga used in producing various food additives, along with Kappaphycus and various gigartinoid seaweeds. "Porphyra" is a red alga used in Wales to make laver. Laverbread, made from oats and the laver, is a popular dish there. Affectionately called "Dulce" in northern Belize, seaweeds are mixed with milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla to make a common beverage.
Seaweeds are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. Hydrocolloids have attained commercial significance as food additives. The food industry exploits their gelling, water-retention, emulsifying and other physical properties. Agar is used in foods such as confectionery, meat and poultry products, desserts and beverages and moulded foods. Carrageenan is used in salad dressings and sauces, dietetic foods, and as a preservative in meat and fish products, dairy items and baked goods.
Seaweed is a source of iodine, necessary for thyroid function and to prevent goitre.
Seaweed extract is used in some diet pills. Other seaweed pills exploit the same effect as gastric banding, expanding in the stomach to make the body feel more full.
Seaweed is currently under consideration as a potential source of bioethanol. Seaweed is an ingredient in some toothpaste, cosmetics and paints.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is an English language expression for a kind of short story. It has the same meaning as the French expression ' or ', the German word ', the Italian ', the Polish ', the Russian ' or the Swedish "". These stories are not all directly about fairies, but they are different from legends and traditions (which usually say that the stories are true) and directly moral stories. There are usually fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants or gnomes in fairy tales, and usually magic.
Fairy tales can also mean unusual happiness (for example, the expression "fairy tale ending", meaning a happy ending, even though not all fairy tales have a happy ending). Also, "fairy tale" can simply mean any unbelievable story.
Where demons and witches are seen as real, fairy tales can sometimes be similar to legends, where the story is claimed to be historically true. However, differently from legends and epics, they usually do not specifically mention religion and actual places, people, and events. They also do not say exactly when it happened. Instead, they say that the story happened "once upon a time".
Fairy tales are found in oral form (passed on from mouth to mouth) and in literary form (written down). Fairy tales' histories are hard to find. This is because only written fairy tales can be passed on for a long time. Still, literary works show that there have been fairy tales for thousands of years. Many fairy tales today have are based on very old stories that have appeared, though in different ways, in many different cultures around the world. Fairy tales, and works based on from fairy tales, are still written today.