the luminous blog

Yeah... I am down -again- and I can't get up! Might as well pick MYSELF up - with some Sam Roberts tunes - since I am not counting on any "brotha" (or "sistah") to do the picking up for me... Ironic, right after publishing something titled "to mop it or not to mop it" here, circumstances made it so that I feel compelled to type THIS up today... hmm... bitter sweet cruel irony of life! The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony would be good too right this minute... but let's stick with Sam... for now!
Play it again - Sam...

Brother Down Lyrics
One life to live but we’re doing it wrong you see
Got my brother down ‘cause it’s nothing to me

Someone else telling you what you’re living for
Been knocking you down now you’re looking for more
The only sound you hear is a closing door
Been looking for peace but they’re bringing you war
Rich man crying ‘cause his money is time
Poor man smiling ‘cause he knows he ain’t blind
There’s a man over there says he’s tougher than me
But I got eyes that can see through fantasy
******I think my life is passing me by******
******I think my life is passing me by******
Take It all back ‘cause it don’t mean nothing
If you give it away and you’re looking for something back
Wake up every morning and there’s nothing there
No reason to die but no reason to care
Someone else telling you what your living for
been knocking you down now your looking for more
The only sound you hear is a closing door
Been looking for peace but their bringing you war
One life to live but we're doing it wrong you see
Got my brother down cause its nothing to me
Rich man crying crying cause his money is time
Poor man smiling cause he knows he aint blind
*******I think my life is passing me by*******
*******I think my life is passing me by*******
One life to live but we’re doing it wrong you see
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Labels: music

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Ahh - those Muppets... It is not enough for them that their two old coots are reviewing movies online in a send-up of Roeper & Ebert (always am about to type "Siskel &..." there) - what's their name again? Wallace & Gromit? Hmm... no... those are the OTHER guys...! Statler & Waldorf - yeah, that's more like it!
Thus - it is not enough to do that - the Muppet crew keeps on spoofing EVERYBODY ELSE it seems - on Sesame Street! Donald Trump became a Muppet, as Donald Grump this year... On top of that, numerous more have been spoofed - from Dr. Phil to Dragnet! Children – and their parents – have a ball watching that show it seems! How billionaire real-estate developer Donald Trump allowed the producers of the long-running PBS show to spoof him in such a way that future potential employees will be coming to him with the memory of GRUMP and thus with a bit or a lot of snickering to do on their minds - well, that is simply beyond me! But then again, Trump allowed himself to be the source of derision on SNL and his own reality TV show... The Apprentice was it? (I never watched). Say what you will about the man - Donald does have a sense of humor! Must come from being named after a DUCK... But I digress... According to TV analysts, "this new Muppet carries on a Sesame Street tradition. Although aimed at pre-schoolers, the show has always included pop-culture references intended to keep older viewers engaged as well.". Okay - but my question remains - why in blue blazes do adults, who would have a choice not to, still watch Sesame Street?!? Maybe I don't want an answer to that... Last season, for example, saw the introduction of Dr. Feel, a Muppet version of TV personality and author Dr. Phil. Daytime TV viewers have to be kept happy... is that the reason?
"Past seasons have seen skits like the Guy Smiley game show Squeal of Fortune, on which contestants spun a pig, as well as one in which a band of insects sings a song titled Letter B to the tune of Let it Be by the Beatles." 

This past season featured quite the hilarious segment in one titled "Desperate Houseplants" - "a parody of arguably the hottest show on the small screen right now" - or so they say! Not content with that just yet, the Muppets struck gold again with Grouch Eye for the Nice Guy - I don't need to mention by name what that was parodying, now do I? Please spare me that... And, as for the Dragnet thing... It was clearly to keep "older viewers interest" alive... Hmm... EVEN OLDER ONES? Actually - THAT I can see very well happening - grand-parents watching Sesame Street with their grand-kids... Especially since it was a takeoff of Dragnet called Cookie Monster: Food Investigator - wow, can't miss that! (Along with Grover and Bert, Cookie there is one of my all-time fondest memories of the show... indubitably! I feel a cookie craving coming on now... darn!). This past season marked the program's 36th season on the air - and guess how many years has this luminous blogger been breathing the polluted air around here... eh? Yup... Sesame and I can share the same sense of humor, surely - for we were separated at birth! ;)

The Chicago White Sox won it for the first time since 1917.

Last year, the Boston Red Sox won it for the first time since 1918.

Who won it in 1916 again? Might be the winner in 2006!

Lest it is the much-maligned Cubs - they who always feel deep sixed!

*lol* At least we know ONE thing for sure - it won't be the damn Yankees! Yes - I had to post about MY SOX - after all, tons of similarities exist between the two Sox franchises - among others, the most striking one is that both ended 80-plus years droughts by winning 8 straight post-season games to finally recapture the title of "World Champions"... Synchronicity there, for sure... Note: the poster is actually another example of revisionistic, outright rewritten and fictionalized history - as the Boston team was not called the Red Sox until 1908. (Ironically, 1908 is the last time the Cubs won it all too - hmm... Odd!). Originally, the Boston club had in fact... no name at all! The Red Stockings of Boston were actually the eventual Boston Braves who then moved to Milwaukee and finally Atlanta. Before swiping and modifying (thank God) the Stockings name, the Red Sox were... the Pilgrims, if I recall correctly (and I usually do!). But when they faced Pittsburgh in the first ever World Series (which they won handily too) - the Boston baseball club was only known... as that! The Boston baseball club! (Opponents would refer to them as the Bostons - or the Bostonians - they sure did talk trash back in those days as well... but that is another story!).

To be righteous, we do not merely have to fight for what is right... No, verily, to be righteous, we should not fight at all - we must accept our lot and even love our enemies! Is such a philosophy compatible at all with the highly competitive world out there today - the so-called "real world" - the cold cruel world... hmm? HMM? Probably not - but such is the criterion of excellence in the field of righteousness and "genuine goodness" set by the very best humankind has ever offered; Jesus, son of Joseph. Jesus was, of course, more than a man. However, over the years, so many men and women have followed His Example - proving that such an impossible thing to do can be accomplished by mere mortals such as "petty, itty bitty us"! The likes of Francis of Assisi, Claire of Assisi, Simeon the Stylite, Augustine, Thérèse de Lisieux, Hildegard Von Bingen, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) - all either declared saints or bound to be real soon. The layman and laywoman can also be found to be a more than worthy example - Che Guevara was quoted saying these more than wonderful words: "the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love" - and, indeed, these words ring not just true, but they ring like the Truth!

Patient saintly souls still walk among us - one has but to open one's eyes to see them. I know a few, elite examples myself...

All of these exemplary men and women - and there are so many more, who no one has ever heard of - are verily what true Spiritual Warriors are all about. Not merely fighting off their own personal demons and everyday temptations - but making a difference in their entourage. For, verily, to me, Spiritual Warriors are Spiritual Survivors - whose awareness and vigilance are just a tad more elevated than the norm.
One has to be aware of the source of any affliction in order to cure it - and Spiritual Warfare is much akin to a chess game, moreso than actual warfare - it is a game of chess with dark influences that we must overcome. Being aware of their very existence is a huge step forward towards accomplishing just that. And once that is done - one's duty is clear; one must share such erudition with the highest number of receptive souls possible. Jesus was a Teacher - he wanted the children to come to Him. And what are we all - from the smallest one of us to the tallest, brightest and most powerful among us? What are we but children still - in the Eyes of the Lord.

I will expound further on this and other philosophical as religious matters in a companion blog - a sister site to TLB Prime (lest it should be called a... brother blog?) titled... Luminous Praising of the Divine* (what else?). Blessings!
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Nothing seems to work right sometimes... like this gif image at left, that should give a blatantly obvious moralistic lesson to all of us - if it did not clog up in its own animation all the time! Mayhaps Blogger doesn't dig gifs? Who knows? Anyway - the image is of a cartoony dog noticing that there is too much traffic to cross the street (though it appears to be a highway lane - why would it want to cross that? Crazy mutt!) and so it decides to stop the traffic - with a cat serving as roadkill! It grabs the cat and tosses it onto the road - but the next car goes OFF the road and nails the pooch instead of the feline! And you can read the message at the end...
I dared send this moralistic tale to my AGENT once - he was taking all kinds of time to produce some results - quite frankly, I suspected him of playing underhanded tactics on me - so I let him have it! Was it a good thing? Who knows?
Thus, this is not a bonafide luminous cornucopia of facts and other oddities - as I have done in the past, in a hodge-podge kind of way! This is merely some venting (about the vampiric agents of our world) and this:
you will notice new elements on THE LUMINOUS BLOG... animated Jesus Christ image... luminous clocks... but also a box right above the luminous quotes (and next to the -what else but- ''luminous'' guestbook!)... That box addresses a need - since some have told me I did not update as regularily TLB as I used to do - and that is true, of course - I plead guilty as charged! To you and to anyone who wants to drop by only when TLB has been updated by ME, I recommend the use of that box - provided free to you as to me by blogarhythm.com - who will notify you by e-mail whenever I finally do update TLB! (Because I am aware that many of you do not think it enough that most of the sidebar features are automatically updated - whether I publish something new here or not - they are always updated; daily! It is called the daily OM after all... and anything by Reference.com and Free Dictionary.com as well as the irreverential ''Today in Twisted History'' - of course! - are also updated every single day. May I take this opportunity now to tell each and every one of you with skin care concerns to consider giving Zenmed products a shot? Ok - my job is done... *lol* Okay now - next!).
This has been a luminous public service message - I guess! *lol* Blessings!

Rosa Parks was a TRUE LEGEND - revered in Detroit for what she sparked in Montgomery, Alabama, with her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparking in effect the modern civil rights movement. Rosa Parks died on the 24th of October, a Monday evening, in this year of Our Lord, 2005. She was 92.

Martin Luther King Jr would have not been the man he became (and a target for murder) had it not been for Rosa Parks. In that, she resembles -almost- the Rosa I know; who was an unwitting party to my enemies when we were children! But that is most definitely another story... (The coincidence was just too much not to mention, though! Ties in neatly, also, with my famous ''name theory'' which dictates that your name tells what you are; just look at your namesakes and you will see what you truly are... THAT is the theory! But it is another story - for another blog. Also, it is never stressed enough; we do affect each and everyone else around us. Every life is intricately linked on this planet - because we are all on the same boat. Depends on our perspective whether it is a sinking boat or not. Again - material to ponder another time, and in another place.)

DETROIT, hence, adopted Rosa Parks when her own town became like hell for her and her husband after the famous bus riding incident that would start the ever-so-slow process of change... She was the local icon there and would never again have the need nor the urge to move. Detroit was her home.
Mrs. Parks was 42 years of age when she committed an act of defiance in 1955 that was to change the course of American history and earn her the title "mother of the civil rights movement." - an act of peaceful protest that would be reverberating throughout the world, verily!

''At that time, Jim Crow laws in place since the post-Civil War Reconstruction required separation of the races in buses, restaurants and public accommodations throughout the South, while legally sanctioned racial discrimination kept blacks out of many jobs and neighborhoods in the North.'' Hence, a man would think it within his rights to ask a woman to give up her seat so that he could sit his lazy a$$ down! As long as the woman was black of course - and he white. The same neanderthal would revert back to gentlemanliness in the presence of a caucasian lady... If she would have him! Of course... Then again, I tend to agree with my fellow Insightful Linguist, Charles Dickens, in his assessment that there never was any such thing as an "American gentleman"... Truly, with details like these a core part of their history, why in blue blazes do the USofA think themselves so great - and the ''leaders of the FREE world''...?!?

The bus in which the infamous act of intolerance took place (much more shocking to me than Rosa Parks' alleged act of ''defiance'' - even if I had lived in such a society) is now a museum piece... Another testimonial to man's folly - is it not. Of course, Jim Crow surely thought it was already quite enough to allow men and women of colour to ride in the same bus with whites, to begin with... Of course, the historical value of that bus is entirely attributable to Mrs. Parks's bravery - and that, even all the Crows in the world will admit to, nowadays. I hope so - for their souls' sake.

I wrote plenty more on Rosa Parks - some of it is here.

Doubtful that it has any bearing on Mrs. Parks departure from our cold cruel world - but her crossing over on a Monday evening reminds this luminous blogger and former wrestling fan that the white man from the Northeast-led WWE has its main television program on Monday nights -RAW, on the USA network- and that he recently downgraded a promising young black talent -one Shelton Benjamin- in favor of, ultimately, an aging southern gentleman, veteran of the sport - the very white and blond haired Ric Flair. Now, I have been a Flair supporter for years - but I did notice he was predominantly from the South and his Horsemen never included a Black member. He did ''put over'' black and white opponents equally though, and this throughout his long career. Not so with Vince McMahon - the white man from the Northeast, owner and barker of the WWE. He NEVER had a Black champion (the WCW was the only one to cross that barrier; and no, I do not consider 'The Rock' black but rather of mixed heritage and at best mulato) - and McMahon has, with his treatment of Benjamin, quickly gone back on his word to ''let nothing stop (Benjamin) now''. Poor Shelton Benjamin, who has gone from title-contender to pre-carder faster than you can say... bigotry? Things have changed - yes or no? Flair effectively asked Benjamin to sit in the back while he took one more glorious ride on Space Mountain (his allegorical reference to his championship runs - and spotlight stealing, among OTHER things!) Just like that white man asked Rosa Parks to go sit in the back of the bus in 1955... It truly is Vince McMahon asking though - not Flair. However, having said all that, once again I must make clear that I am merely making luminous connections for greater understanding of all that goes around... and comes around... no need to sue me, Vince! That is, if your people are reading me at all... of course!

As for Rosa Parks, now, in conclusion -
I've the impression that she and Mother Teresa are spending a lot of time together from this day onward!
And they'll be joined by Marthe Robin.
And Sister Lucia Dos Santos.
And Hildegard Von Bingen.
And Thérèse de Lisieux.
And Teresa of Avila.
And Bernadette de Soubiroux.

Need I go on...?


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Today's Big Cat Fact:
Black tigers have been reported occasionally (Burton 1933, Perry 1964, Guggisberg 1975, Mazák 1981), but the only physical evidence rests with a skin recovered from illegal traders in Delhi in October 1992, which has deep black on the top of the head and back extending down the flanks to end in stripes (P. Jackson pers.comm.).
Did you know that... stripe patterns differ among individual tigers and from one side of the cats body to the other?
Today's Big Cat Trivia:
What is the common name for Panthera uncia? The Snow leopard.
Death Toll Reminder: Three races of tiger - virgata Caspian, balica Bali and sondaica Javan tigers -- have become extinct since the 1950s.
The Bali tiger was the first to become extinct, in the 1940's. (And, if you are like me, you can imagine very well that last Bali tiger crumbling to the ground... dying... and with it going its entire specificity. Fact is, I imagine this with much greater chagrin than I do the demise of the last few dinosaurs... Mayhaps because we are responsible for the Bali tiger's demise... hmm?).
What are two major steps we can take to protect tigers?
To help protect tigers, we can prevent poaching for illegal tiger part trade, and create protected habitats that house tiger prey.
Tigers generally feed predominately on large deer species and wild boar. They will occasionally kill wild cattle, elephant and rhino calves, and sometimes kill monkeys, birds, reptiles, fish, or even crocodiles and leopards when the opportunity arises. Males have also been known to kill cubs fathered by other tigers.
And, just so I am not accused of talking only about tigers... While the puma cannot roar, it is capable of a variety of vocalizations. Both sexes have a distinctive call, likened to a womans scream, which is probably associated with courtship.
More Big Cat Trivia:
What percent of cheetah cubs live to adulthood? Only 5% of cheetah cubs make it to adulthood; cheetahs are not very strong Big Cats, and many stronger predators like hyenas and lions, prey on cheetah cubs.
The cheetah appears to have suffered a series of severe population bottlenecks in its history, with the first and most significant occurring possibly during the late Pleistocene extinctions, around 10,000 years ago.
Enough cats already - let's bring to attention some birthdays and special holidays perhaps, to round up today's post less... somberly?
Last Friday was the International Day of the Nacho... Apparently...
Who does dream these ''holidays'' up again?!?
Much better to honor two birthdays (even if both may be entirely speculative and all...) - OCTOBER 23, 4004 B.C.E. is the date - THE DAY that God created the universe - according to creationists who go by the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar, itself created in 1650 (C.E.). I'll take that over the World According To Garp any day of the week... Still... I have some reserves! The Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar is indeed only a calculation, an estimate that men came up with - and only God Himself Knows for sure! Those who know me recognize that it is far from my intentions to instigate another Scopes Monkey Trial though...! I have far too little respect for the flawed earthly justice system for that! But enough about that - for now!

Of lesser importance, October 23rd (1958) is the Smurfs' birthday too! Those little forerunners of the Snorks (their aquatic cousins, who are said not to be based on the Smurfs at all - but influences can even be unconscious, so...) but also of the Astroniks and, I dare say, precursors to the Pokémons, Digimons and even Teletubbies as well...! Those Smurfs, yes, were created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo on this very date. Had he known what he would influence, maybe he would have shelved it... hmm? He could always have fallen back on *Johan & Pirlouit*- aka Johan and Peewit (!) if I am not mistaken... (Peewit is pronounced Pee-Wee - oui!).
No one would have missed the rather ineffective (in all ways) Smurfs foil, arch-nemesis Gargamel - so much is certain! Some villains we love to hate - this one was just plain boring! And I did not appreciate, even as a kid, to see such a great name as Azrael being wasted on an evil cat - Gargamel's cat or fleabag as he called it... Aye, the sorceror's pet was not all that appreciated (what is it with witches that they always need a cat?!? That might be the subject of another blog altogether!). Now that I know the name Azrael to belong to an angel, I stand steadfastily by my original call! Still... I'll say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMURFS (SCHTROUMPFS, originally)...   But ONLY FOR PEYO'S SAKE REALLY!
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