the luminous blog

When it rains, it pours... right?
Picture a bad day...

I am out and about and when I return to headquarters (...) I learn that the neighbors have been rowdy... noisy, really... so I speak to them. In their eyes, I am wrong in wanting to enforce civilized tranquil living rules in the building where my dad lives - and they even concluded that I WILL GET KILLED ONE OF THESE DAYS for "making trouble" like THAT...?!?

If anyone of you had an ill parent under your care, wouldn't you demand peace and quiet for him...?

Is THAT "making trouble"...? OR IS THAT DOING WHAT'S RIGHT... WHAT IS IN FACT MY DUTY...?

I laugh at thinly-veiled death threats though... in fact, I invited the fiends to try ASAP... since they do know where to find me! I always dreamed of going down in a blaze of glory...

Music Video:STATE OF THE UNION (by David Ford)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

.

Labels: David Ford, music video

B.B. KING will be getting a somewhat costly statue of himself in his hometown in Arkansas... WOW. A legendary bluesman he is - I suppose the honor is worth the price tag of tax-payer money... Mister King himself though must be wondering if he truly wants his likeness to be desecrated by pigeons, vandals and the like for as long as the world or the statue endures (whichever goes first, you know what I mean... *lol*). It is not just the weather that is unkind to statues, you know...

After B.B.K. - I sure would like to see a statue of plain ol' B.B. - Brigitte Bardot! B.B. in her starlet days - but with a seal or two, to blur the lines between eras - if she only had taken to baby seals as much as she had to men in those bodacious days too...! *LOL*
Now there would be a well-endowed statue worth erecting, hmm...? ;)

There is still time for you to join the first ever Earth Day Virtual March, and send a free message urging your senators to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge forever. (Forever...? Hmm... yeah... right! As long as we remain in the virtual I guess... Even make-believe fare such as "rasslin" knows that "nothing is forever"... oh well - tis the good intention here that counts! I am sure that the penguins and the polar bears appreciate the thought...).

TODAY IS INDEED EARTH DAY! Join a massive effort to protect wilderness areas from oil drilling in honor of Earth Day. The Earth Day Virtual March is spreading across the country - they say to make sure your town or city is represented! (Again, I am sure that polar bears will feel all fuzzy when they get wind of GenericSmallTown USA that was represented by one or two nature nuts (this said with affection!) who are even aware of their plight up there, as the icebergs melt away...).

On the first Earth Day, 20 million Americans called for a cleaner, healthier environment. (Were they truly heeded...?). Their activism helped secure the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. (Is it really secure...?). Now, 35 years later, with the Senate's recent vote to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that activism is needed to counter a growing threat to all hard-won environmental protections. (Absolutely... although it is a shock to the system to realize that Earth Day and I are basically of the same age! What were people doing before that...?!? Sheesh... And I thought the sixties enlightened!).

http://earthday.care2.com/index.html --- if the link works ; and if it's not too late!

...


Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Yeah - and it led to the downfall of mankind too!

I 69
La grand montagne ronde de sept estades,
Apre???s paix, guerre, faim, inondation,
Roulera loing, abysmant grand contrades,
Mesmes antigues, & grand fondation.

The great mountain, seven stadia round,
after peace, war, famine, flooding.
It will spread far, drowning great countries,
even antiquities and their mighty foundations

Hmm... this would be the most unbalanced line-up of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that I have ever seen, I am sorry to say Michel my man... *lol* (Michel de Nostredame - of course!). Peace?!? War, Famine - fine... Flooding? Of course it can be devastating - the tsunami proved that... still... The classic Biblical line-up is, obviously, Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. Some exegets will say Deception, Death, War and Plague - putting in hunger as a plague of sorts. Conquest has also been hailed as a "Horseman" (which makes you realize that Dubya's entourage is not alone in absurd abstract conceptualizations - as their war on Terror seemed to indicate that they were... wrong!)

Simply put, this quatrain is so vague it could be about all sorts of cataclysms - the key is to find this mountain that is "seven stadia round"... And frankly, I am not in the mood to search for it right now... *lol*

The Pope got his own e-mail account the same day he was rung in - a gmail account I hope? Most importantly of all though... The hierarchy of the Vatican is preserved, they say... Now we know the true reason why the vote went the way it did ; heck, why nothing ever really changes as a matter of fact...! Isn't the most plausible theory regarding the assassination of JFK exactly that ; he wanted to shake things up, to make too many changes... they stopped him cold in his tracks in Dallas. RFK would have been elected President if he had not promised that the first thing he would have done as Prez was re-open the case and the investigation to find out who truly killed his brother - shortly after stating his intentions, he was assassinated too. We know why Abraham Lincoln bit the bullet in such a cowardly way too. Gandhi was realizing peace - an undesired change in this world, in truth of fact (just ask Dubya - he wants no peace! War is SO GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY!) - so he was shot too. Who knows why John Paul the FIRST lasted barely a month himself... maybe he threatened the hierarchy... hmm? The status quo...? Job security is such a precious commodity nowadays... One has to conform in order to survive - otherwise... Now, don't get me wrong here ; I am no anti-conformist for the sake of being so! AU CONTRAIRE - one should do the RIGHT THING - ALWAYS - even if it is not the popular thing to do! I resent any form of elitism though - and if the Vatican is like that, it goes beyond the mere problem of being blind to the problems that the Church faces today... and that is just too bad for the Conclave there...

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany became Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, clearly a transition leader figure for the Church who, at 78, is barely younger than the last Pope... NOT the most imaginative choice at all - and a very conservative one at that... which could backfire. Good old Joe here is a tad of a stern, strict thinker - not as warm and crowd-pleasing as his globe-trotting predecessor. But, as in any other field, it is not what you do or can do, not what you know or might know - it truly is who you know and the degree of leverage at your disposal! And here, as the elected Dean of the College of Cardinals, Ratz had the votes stacked in his favor soon enough - and the odds in his favor from the very beginning. Those cardinals are not quite attuned to their church's, their parishioners as their very own needs it would appear... The Church needed a dynamic leader at this crucial time - someone not necessarily young (average age of cardinals cannot allow much leeway there - no, not the cardinals in St-Louis, they are even worse chokers than those in Rome! *lol*) but definitely someone aware of the situation right now and willing to reach out to the masses and get them back into the Lord's House... Instead, they took a couple of steps backwards here... Oh, well - only a temporary set-back, they must be thinking... right?

There is a difference... is this the day where everyone in the workplace tries their darndest to look like everyone else - a vision straight out of an Orwellian novel, eh?

Or... is this the day where we pinpoint who we look like the most... especially if it's an actor or actress who could play us in a prospective biographical film...?
A day where we go out of our way to find our clone (as opposed to our soulmate) for the mere fun of it...? An exercize in "separated at birth" comparisons... hmm...

Another waste of time so-called "holiday", in other words... *lol*

Most true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is hard to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.
- W. L. Shirer

So, then, to every man his chance -- to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity -- to every man his right to live, to work, to be himself, to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America.
- Thomas Wolfe

Hmm... to every other man - in every other country - tough luck pal! Do with what your country can do for you... since it wouldn't even appreciate what you could do for it, even if you bothered doing anything at all for it... of course!

Maybe these two should do a movie together - try and picture the vanitous and vainglorious Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid of boring films... *LOL*

Vain Costner
(BANG) - Kevin Costner hates the gym but is too vain to quit.
The 'Dances With Wolves' star, who turned 50 in January, admits he would love to stop exercising but is so worried about getting fat and losing his looks he can't give up.
He said: "I hate the gym. And I certainly don't like weights. But it's important for me to look good. So as much as I don't want to do this any more, it's vanity that keeps me going."
Costner, who is about to become a father again for the fourth time with second wife Christine Baumgartner, also says he is motivated to keep working out so he looks good for his wife and children.
The veteran actor recently gained 20lb for his role as a drunken baseball player in new movie 'The Upside of Anger', but believes if he let himself go permanently it would disappoint his family.
He added: "I owe it to my children and my wife."

Sting loses Hollywood star
(BANG) - Sting was left red-faced after he was spotted pacing the Hollywood Walk of Fame looking for his star.
The singer has revealed how he tried to discreetly find his golden accolade on the world-famous Hollywood Boulevard.
Eventually, after fruitless searching, he had to be pointed in the right direction by a fan.
The legendary musician told US TV host Jimmy Kimmel: "I walked very, very quietly, discreetly down the street and I couldn't see it. I walked back a little way and some guy said, 'Sting, your star's over there.' He knew exactly what I was doing."
Meanwhile, the tantric-loving rock star has admitted he is nervous of getting back on stage.
Sting, who performed an intimate show at Hollywood's famous Roxy club last night (28.03.05) before embarking on a US tour, added: "It's a public mistakes show, where you make your mistakes in public so you're so embarrassed that you never make them again."

After choosing a new pope, the naming of that pope will be another matter entirely and a new source of intrigue - what will it be? How many roman numerals will be involved this time? And what will the name mean? (Because every name means SOMETHING... especially in the Vatican!). That is another process entirely - explained in a nice article... in the comments section!

The intricacies of electing a new pope though are still AU MENU DU JOUR and are, verily, truly fascinating... think about it, the pressure on those 115 cardinals as they are confined, sequestred, shut out from the rest of the world until 77 of them agree on the same candidate for new pope... Then again, maybe they are used to it already - their very lifestyle is to be cloistered from the rest of this cold cruel world to begin with...! Away from the pollution and the noise... ah, the bliss!

Ironic to note that today is CAR FREE DAY - we know that those cardinals won't need a ride anywhere today, that is for sure! *lol*

The luminous blog must apologize though - for having forgotten to properly celebrate STRESS AWARENESS DAY on the 16th of this month - however, for the author of this blog EVERY SINGLE DAY is STRESS AWARENESS DAY, so... making a big splash over THAT might have been a bit of overkill in this particular case...! ;)
TODAY though is indeed CAR FREE DAY so - quit polluting, you filthy humanoids - AND TAKE A WALK!!! *LOL*

Too many distractions today - Boston Marathon... USA's Patriots' Day... and, besides, everybody hates mondays... *lol*

Fact of the Week
John Paul II was the first Pope in history to visit a synagogue. In 1986, he went to the synagogue in Rome, where he referred to the Jewish people as "our elder brothers."

Black smoke billowed from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel where 115 cardinals gathered to elect a new pope today - the black smoke signaled "no go" basically...!
Aw, well - maybe tomorrow, eh?
If the new pope is to be the last, they got get it just right - prophecy has a special role for the last pope to play... ;)

...


1998- WCW and the then-WWF (now WWE, since the Panda kicked its corporate butt in court) were rivals - competing for TV ratings, pay-per-view buy shares and assorted merchandizing sources of revenue... Today, WCW no longer exists - but so many elements of it thrive on, in both the WWE as in the "all-new" NWA-TNA (which is, for all intents and purposes, a repackaged WCW - reborn!) that one could really say... hey, nothing has changed here! "Wooooo!" 
I was watching "TNA IMPACT" the other day (a show that could easily be mistaken for some entirely-different brand of "entertainment" right there... *lol*) and could not believe how much it resembled the WCW of old... all the way down to its supporting cast / mid-card cast of characters made up entirely of up-and-comers... and the tired old-timers in the main events! Gentle Giant Kevin Nash (boring) - NWA world champion Jeff Jarrett (technically-sound but boring - as ever) - "6-Pack" Sean Waltman (or "Syxx" - a skinny wimp who actually got roughed up by his GIRLFRIEND Joanie Laurer of former WWF/WWE/Playboy fame as "Chyna"... and I think his Tori also roughed him up too... boring in a sad, wimpy way...). And then there's even... DDP. Diamond Dallas Page, who rose to fame in WCW as, already back then, a too-old-to-wrestle "people's champion"... What can he be labeled as NOW... years later?!? Like 6-PACK there, DDP is wrestling to forget his lovelife woes - as he has been dumped recently by his once-beloved KIMBERLY. Her breaking of the diamond cutter's heart is reminiscent of yet another WCW case of matrimonial infamy - when dumb blonde Debra dumped Horseman Steve "Mongo" McMichael, who soon became so distraught over it he gained pound after pound and quit the Four Horsemen and wrestling all-together... Debra went on to work with the WWE, first with Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart (who died shortly thereafter in a tragic if dumb accident - the bad karma of having a dumb blonde around, surely...) and then with Stone Cold Steve Austin, with whom she remarried. Austin though wasn't as understanding as Mongo - and he mustn't have been as impressed with the alleged stunner there because he gave her a patented "stunner" of his own. Actually, this did not take place in a staged bit of ring action but in real life... Yes. He hit her, allegedly strangled her for good measure, too, they divorced and she has not been seen since. Poor DEBRA... She wrecked Mongo's life - hers is in shambles too. What goes around, comes around... hmm? 

We are in the 21st Century - and there is still such a thing as HUNGER in the world. Christ did say that we would always have the poor with us... but, really now - the true reason that we let the hungry hunger is so that the fragile economical system we've built ourselves does not crumble - likely as it should.
The 21st Century - and CNN reported that there were THOUSANDS of cases of LEPROSY in the UNITED STATES...!!!
The 21st Century - and we are still at the mercy of pandemics ; shaking in our collective booties at the thought of an outbreak that would not be containable (mainly because the medical personnel nowadays is not ready to contain it...!!!).
This despite the wondrous accomplishments of science - which, recently, even linked the medieval plague to AIDS - but in a good way, somehow...! It appears that the Black Death and other great plagues in the Middle-Ages apparently caused a genetic mutation in the european populace which now has resulted in making 10% of Europeans far more resistant to HIV infection... which, in turn, explains the non-fear of Aids in many European countries and the subsequent resulting debauchery...! You gotta take the good with the bad I guess... *lol*
Wondrous discovery - made in the UK - but one that only explains a pattern of wild behaviourial depravity that still doesn't make sense, in the face of AIDS... and one that only shows how much dumb luck Humanity has had over the centuries - for it sure wasn't any human accomplishment that triggered this resistance to HIV...!
In the end though, resistance is not immunity (the French know all about that - in many, many ways too...) and AIDS is still the Great Plague of TODAY... until a surprise ebola-like one hits that is!