Music Friday: Sleeping With Sirens’ Kellin Quinn Has a 24-Karat Vision of Success in the Brand New Release, ‘Gold’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Sleeping With Sirens' frontman Kellin Quinn has a 24-karat vision of success in the group’s brand new single, “Gold.”

Released on Wednesday with an exclusive premiere on Billboard.com, “Gold” alludes to the band's six-year-long, often-bumpy ride to the top of the charts, and how they overcame adversity and never took their eyes off the prize.

Quinn explained his inspirations for writing the song.

“It kind of goes back to those early days of us touring in a van and the experience of touring, getting where you needed to go, not being afraid," Quinn told Billboard.com. "When you're coming up as a band you have this excitement. The only place to go is forward. So that was kind of the idea for me, thinking about the climb and the getting there, some of the most exciting parts of the journey of being in a band and being an artist, creating songs in your garage. That's where the song started for me."

Showcasing his unique tenor leggiero vocal range, Quinn sings, “We made our mistakes / It's not too late / We had to learn the hard way / Bridges will burn / Now it's our turn / We had to learn the hard way / Because all we ever want is gold.”

“Gold” is the third track from the band’s album, Madness, which is set to release on March 17. Billboard.com is predicting that Madness will debut in the top 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The band’s previous album made its debut at #3 on the album chart.

Sleeping With Sirens, which boasts three million Facebook followers, is currently on the European leg of a five-month world tour, which started in Fresno, Calif., in November and will end in London next month.

We invite you to listen to Quinn and his band singing “Gold.” The video and lyrics are below…

"Gold"
Written by Kellin Quinn. Performed by Sleeping With Sirens.

All we want, what we want is
All we want is gold
Sun sets on my nylon
Pull the windows down in the van
Lost my map on the Jersey turnpike
But it's okay we ain't looking back

All we ever want is gold
One way on this winding road

We made our mistakes
It's not too late
We had to learn the hard way
Bridges will burn
Now it's our turn
We had to learn the hard way
Because all we ever want is gold
We made our mistakes
It's not too late
We had to learn the hard way

It's two in the morning
Can't seem to find the words for a song
I remember my dreams and how fun they seem
I can't believe how far we have come
Cause all we ever want is gold
So is sixty miles on this open road

We made our mistakes
It's not too late
We had to learn the hard way
Bridges will burn
Now it's our turn
We had to learn the hard way
Because all we ever want is gold
We made our mistakes
It's not too late
We had to learn the hard way

Don't lose your faith in me (Don't ever look like, don't ever look like)
It's never what it seems

You make your mistakes
But it's never too late
We had to learn the hard way
You made your mistakes
It's not too late
You had to learn the hard way
Bridges will burn
Now it's your turn
You had to learn the hard way
Cause all we ever want is gold
All we ever want is gold (We had to learn the hard way)
All we want, what we want is
All we want is gold
All we want, what we want is
All we want is gold

Image: Facebook/SleepingWithSirens

Israeli Cave Explorers Find Cache of Silver Jewelry and Coins Dating Back More than 2,300 Years

Three spelunkers exploring a stalactite cave in Israel’s Galilee region found a cache of silver jewelry and coins dating back to the era of Alexander the Great — more than 2,300 years ago.

The jewelry included a pair of intricately crafted silver earrings, as well as unusual rings and an assortment of bangle bracelets. The coins feature an image of Alexander the Great, who conquered the region in the late fourth century B.C. The opposite side of the coin has an image of Zeus sitting on his throne, arm raised as if he were throwing a lightening bolt.

The earrings were of particular interest to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) due to their remarkably good condition and detailed workmanship.

IAA authorities believe that refugees hiding during a period of governmental unrest after the death of Alexander stashed the items in the cave with the intention of returning to claim them at a later time.
“Presumably, the cache was hidden in the hope of better days,” the IAA said in a statement, “but today we know that whoever buried the treasure never returned to collect it.”
Dr. Eitan Klein, deputy director of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, noted that the quality of the items seem to indicate that the refugees may have been affluent. “The items were expensive, both in ancient times and today," he said, adding that the style of silver rings has not been seen before.

A set of agate beads found inside a clay oil lamp was particularly well preserved, according to Klein. "They look brand new, like they were just bought," he said.
Three members of the Israeli Caving Club — Reuven Zakai, his son Chen Zakai, and friend Lior Haloney — are credited with the discovery. After wriggling through a narrow passageway, Chen spotted a silver shiny object peeking out from a small crevice.
The jewelry and coins were originally stashed in a cloth bag, according the IAA. The bag had deteriorated after 2,300 years, but the silver jewelry and coins were in remarkably good condition and will give archaeologists new insights into the society of ancient Israeli.
The caving club members immediately reported their discovery to the IAA, which explored the site and found addition artifacts, some dating back 6,000 years.
The exact location of the find will remain a secret to prevent looting.
Images: Israeli Antiquities Authority; screen captures via CNN.com.

Girl Scouts Are Wearing Pearls This Week to Honor Founder Juliette Low; Here's Why...

Millions of Girl Scouts — both former and present — are encouraged to wear pearls this week to honor the 100th anniversary of founder Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low's selfless act of generosity that allowed the organization to survive and prosper.

In 1915, only three years after its inception, the growing organization was in desperate need of funds. To support the movement for another year, Low sold her dearly loved natural pearls — a wedding present from her husband — for $8,000.

A photo portrait of Low featured on a Girl Scout regional website shows the founder wearing what appears to be a 30-inch-long rope of matched natural pearls. These could very well be the pearls she used to finance her organization. According to various sources, Low dedicated almost all of her personal assets to pay for the expenses of the movement.

The magnitude of her sacrifice comes into clearer focus when one translates what $8,000 would be worth in today’s dollars. The answer is a staggering $185,989.

We can fairly assume that her pearls were natural because the patent for the process of culturing pearls would be granted to Japan’s Tokichi Nishikawa one year later, in 1916.

On March 12, 1912, 18 girls from Savannah, Ga., gathered for what would be the first meeting of Girl Scouts (then called the Girl Guides). Under Low’s leadership, the Girl Guides were incorporated as Girl Scouts, Inc., in 1915, and rapidly grew to include 10,000 girls in 328 cities by 1916, according to The New York Times.

Now in its 103^rd year, the organization claims that more than 59 million American women have been part of Girl Scouting at some point in their lives.

Many young scouts will be receiving faux pearl necklaces during Girl Scout Week, which runs through March 14. The pearl gifts are intended to inspire the girls to continue Low’s legacy by “giving back” through service projects.

Photo portrait of Juliette Gordon Low via GirlScoutsCCC.org; Other images: Wikicommons.

Aussie Man Unearths 87-Ounce Nugget Using Metal Detector, Hopes 'Fair Dinkum' Is Worth Twice Its Weight in Gold

An Aussie prospector struck it rich when his metal detector pinpointed the location of an 87-ounce gold nugget that was buried barely six inches under the surface near the famous gold-bearing town of Wedderburn in Central Victoria.

The “Fair Dinkum” nugget has a precious metal value of nearly $102,000, but 42-year-old Mick Brown from Kerang, Australia, believes his nugget will be worth twice that much to the right collector.

"Sometimes they do say, “Gold is worth twice its weight in gold if it's a really nice looking nugget,’" he told The Age.

Brown is confident his nugget will earn top dollar. “It’s got good grooves and moves,” he said.

In October 2014, a 97-ounce gold nugget found with a metal detector in Northern California’s fabled Gold Rush Country was sold to an anonymous buyer for $400,000.

Gold prospectors like to name their memorable finds, and Brown is no exception. He’s calling his nugget “Fair Dinkum,” an Aussie term that means “for real.”

Brown told The Age that when people feel its weight they say, "Fair dinkum this is huge.”

The lucky Aussie must thank his wife for encouraging him to get out of the house on the day he found the nugget. According to Brown’s account in The Age, he was irritable because he was a couple of weeks into giving up smoking. His wife advised him to leave the house for some fresh air. He ended up traveling 64 miles south to Wedderburn — a location he had prospected before.

Brown described how his metal detector reacted to the huge chunk of gold in the ground. “That just blew me ears off, as you can imagine,” he said, referring to the alert signal from the device.

After digging down only about six inches, he was able to grab onto the horn-like protrusions of the “Fair Dinkum” nugget and pulled it from the ground.

At first he thought it was a big blob of copper, but then he realized it was gold. He “cracked a can” (drank a beer) to celebrate.

Brown did not reveal the exact location of his find for fear of starting a gold rush. He wasn’t shy, however, about showing off the “Fair Dinkum” nugget.

"[Am I supposed to say,] 'Yeah, I've found a nugget, but you can't look at it?'" he quipped. "It's cool [to show it], and it's given everyone a good little rev up."

Brown reported that with the money earned from the sale of the nugget he will purchase a home spa for his wife and four daughters.

Despite his big payday, Brown is still motivated to bring home an even bigger nugget one day. "There are some big 10 kilo jobs out there," he said.

Brown’s “Fair Dinkum” — although sizeable — is far from the largest nugget to emerge from the Aussie countryside. In 1981, the 256-ounce “Pride of Australia” was unearthed nearby in Mosquito Gully, just north of Wedderburn.

Images: Screen captures via 9NEWS, Australia

'The Bachelor' Will Propose Tonight With This Double-Halo-Style Diamond Engagement Ring

Fans of The Bachelor are eagerly awaiting tonight’s Season 19 finale when hunky Chris Soules will propose marriage to beautiful Whitney Bischoff or Becca Tilley with a double-halo-style diamond engagement ring.

Bischoff, a fertility nurse from Chicago, is the odds-on favorite to win the heart of Soules, a stylish farmer from Iowa. At stake is an east-west-set emerald-cut diamond ring adorned with smaller round diamonds around the halos and along the band, which is likely crafted in 18-karat white gold or platinum. Glamour’s Kim Fusaro estimated the weight of the center diamond at 1.5 carats.

ABC offered a sneak peek of the engagement ring in a preview aired on last Monday’s Women Tell All special. The preview seems to indicate that Soules — unlike his predecessor, Juan Pablo Galavis — does, indeed, pick a winner in the season’s final rose ceremony.

In Season 18’s controversial finale, Galavis stunned pediatric nurse Nikki Ferrell when he said, “I have a ring here in my pocket and I'm not going to use it. I'm not 100% sure I want to propose to you, but at the same time I'm 100% sure I don't want to let you go."

Tonight’s episode should prove to be a little less dramatic, and either Bischoff or Tilley will emerge with a ring. Whether the winner will ever walk down the aisle with The Bachelor is a harder question to answer.
After 10 years of romantic matchmaking (18 seasons of The Bachelor) only one couple — Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici of The Bachelor Season 17 — has tied the knot.
More than 8.5 million viewers are expected to tune in to the three-hour finale.
Images: Screen captures and publicity photos via ABC-TV