Now This Is Clear. This Is Convincing.

This is luculent!

or the Art of Always Looking 

On The Bright Side...^

But that's something for that other blog there...!

Mediate, Alleviate, Deviate...

And Meditate...

Meditate...

ME-DI-TATE! *

Click on the pic for an instructive video! 

It's the luminous... er... the luculent thing to do! 

;-)

Because What Is Not Luminous

 Can Still Be Luculent! Remember?!?

* paraphrasing what a certain band member of INXS used to sing...

Rest In Peace, Michael 

(he didn't meditate enough, see...)

On Wearing White...

... it doesn't make it luculent 

 nor luminous. 

...no... 

It doesn't 

AT ALL. 

High Luculence...?

Like, when the luculent factor hits the mark, at high noon...? 

No - not quite that...! 

In this year of Our Lord two-thousand and nineteen (2019 - which means we are really celebrating the Sexy Year; nineteen sixty-nine! Or, if you will, 1969) there are so many 50th anniversaries of note - yes, so many - but none more so than the Woodstock performance of this landmark song - by Grace Slick! 

G.S. was one of the most emancipated, liberated, uninhibited 

(meaning: promiscuous and debauched) women of ROCK 

ever to, er, grace the stage and/or music scene!
All that - and MORE: like an accomplished songwriter
(who wrote them like me: with a melody in her head, but
not written of note sheets whatsoever - not knowing how
to write music per say!)
and what a voice - a true songstress siren-like voice! 

She's inspired MILLIONS - upon millions! 

She's done it all - and she's still ALIVE, in 2019!!! 

Amazing... er... Grace? 

She was high, when she sang this on stage 

 - oh yeah... she was HIGH! 

The (almost?) full set, including the other huge hit
- or timeless tune, as I prefer to phrase it -
that Jefferson Airplane/Starship is remembered for
- never mind their '80s comeback stuff;
even Slick is not too fond of it! -
also from Woodstock '69: 

And the original, official video: 

In an interview on some new cable channel 

desperate for content and viewers 

that had just hired him to do this sort of thing 

- an interview show, duh - 

airhead Howard Stern asked Grace Slick 

this deeply inane question 

regarding WHITE RABBIT: 

"did you know, when you wrote this song, 

that it was going to be a hit?" 

And Grace enlightened the poor schmuck 

(who really should know better) 

"it wasn't like that back then! 

Hits were candy-coated tunes like 

Frankie Avalon used to sing; 

we were not out to write a "hit" 

we just aimed at writing the best possible 

song that we could write!" 

DUH! 

 

AND NOW - IN 2019 - it is so amusing to see 

this marquee song being used on 

CELEBRITY X CRUISES 

commercials... 

... as well as being covered 

- and quite well at that - 

over and over again :

__________

OKAY - not quite that last one there...!!! 

NOT BAD AT ALL; 

FOR A SONG ABOUT DOING DRUGS, 

QUITE BASICALLY... HUH? 

Traveling Luculently...!

The cogent quality of the following tweet -embedded for your convenience- will be instantaneously recognized, we are most certain of it... Zounds, we have a ''Luminous Travel'' playlist over on our YouTube channel -also for your uttermost convenience- and none of the videos handpicked for it have ever stated things so clearly, in such a limpid and pellucid way as this right here:

The Publishing Talk Daily is out! https://t.co/uviSJLS5A7 Stories via @susan_bushell #amwriting #writing

— Publishing Talk (@publishingtalk) July 29, 2018

Oh Yeah - Absolutely! 

Cinco De Mayo...?

Hmm... I don't think I've ever - everrrrrrrrrr - blogged about this, on any blog of mine, throughout the TLB Prime Network and its notorious (if not always luminous) rich history...!

Maybe it is time to atone for that oversight - here and now?  

Alright... Let's go! 

As a luminous history buff, 

I truly have no excuse 

not to have delved into this before...

ESPECIALLY 

given the fact that 

thanks to the deranged creativity 

of Georges and Lucases 

the masses at large are, nowadays, 

totally confused about these things... 

...which leads to terrible hangovers, for the majority, on the next day...

(simply adding up the 14% with the 18% and the 35%...)

Suffice it to state, here -in blog; luculent blog!- it is the .5% 

that is correct: Cinco de Mayo is, very nearly, 

the ''300'' of Mexico! 

(...must have inspired the adaptation of ''Seven Samurai'' 

into ''The Magnificent Seven'' also...

but that is another story!)

And now that is cleared out...

Maybe we can get down to the important stuff, nowadays: 

the reason to party.

One of those bands time has forgotten 

but that I vaguely recalled -always- 

as their tune on the subject seemed to always be on 

whenever the radio would be turned on... 

''Wall of Voodoo'' 

was that band - and their seminal hit, 

a timeless piece of music if there ever was one, 

is called... ''Mexican Radio'' - what else? 

(Never mind that it sounds like some other 

nation and culture completely...!)

We can still chug down tequila to that... no?!?

Then again - I'd sooner skip the tequila 

...skip Sleeping with the Sirens...

Too much tequila can lead to such nightmares...

That was for the voodoo part 

(never mind that it has nothing to do with Mexico...)

now for the WALL part...

(the one Drumpf still dreams of seeing built 

- and the hombres pay for it? 

Yeah... rrrrrright.)

...

Knowledge of Today - New Light of Tomorrow!

My luminous and preferred screensaver, by the way: 

And what can go best with that luminous quote from Mrs Wharton 

other than some equally luminous music from a luminous band: 

Husky Rescue 

is such a great band...

(...was...?)

For 10 years - one's been my motto
And for 10 years - the other, my mantra!
+++

Onze Anos

Dia por dia - é exatamente isto: 

foi numa quarta-feira, da tarde, que aconteçeu... 

E nunca mais foi a mesma coisa, para nôs todos, 

nâo é... pai. 

Onze anos para nôs aqui baixo...

Onze dias para ti, ai em sima... 

Acredito. 

E nunca me esquecerei...

Os teus assassinos ainda nâo foram punidos. 

E eu nem teem vontade de puni-lhes. 

A Vida vai se encarregar disto. 

Deus Todo Poderoso É A Vida. 

Isto marcado na tua sepultura, pai - 

''Jesus É A Nossa Vida'' 

Isto é Uma Bença para nòs 

e é uma malediçâo para eles... 

Nòs temos sò é que continuar a fazer do nosso melhor 

no tempo que temos aqui, nesta terra... 

Como tu fizeste sempre, pai...

Sempre Por O Melhor

+++

Networks: None Too Brilliant

Unbelievable what some folks do - and these peeps are IN CHARGE...?!?

Take the network executives and creative minds behind SNL - both!  After the shootings of two black men and the ensuing protests, chaos that followed - PLUS the mass shootings in Dallas that cost the lives of five policemen. What does NBC and SNL decide to do? They go right ahead with their plans: rebroadcast an episode featuring guest-host Melissa McCarthy, which has this particularity about it that it begins with such an odd idea for a skit - white people unable to accept that some black celebrities are... well, black! Presented as a mock-trailer for another horrible Hollywood would-be blockbuster movie, this piece of crap that should have stayed at ''bad idea'' pile of scrapped written skits not only got done BUT IT GETS REPEATED NOW - AFTER ALL THAT TRANSPIRED?

Please tell me WHO are the morons responsible for such decisions...?
And how did they even land those JOBS...?!?

Of course the ''girly-ghostbusters'' film is coming out - and of course they want to cash in on this opportunity to underline that the entire cast is pretty much SNL-derived...  Of course this has aired before - and OF COURSE you have to be able to laugh at just about any subject; to ease tension, to change things...

But there is a time and a place - for everything.

And this... is a bad time now.

Hell, even ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT has become dead serious all of a sudden, talking about the last few days as a period best described as ''AMERICA IN CRISIS''...

If they know - howcome NBC doesn't know?
The would-be leader in network television news (pre-CNN era) has fallen to the level of competitor FOX...?  Sure seems that way: because it is as clueless as the other guys can be!

Racism in America is going out of control - turning it into ridicule may be one way to make the masses come to their senses BUT IT CANNOT BE DONE RIGHT AFTER A MASSACRE OF THE KIND...  (Hey, the Boston Massacre also had only 5 victims; the media back then called it a massacre, I certainly can on this luculent blog of mine, too! It is the luminous thing to do.)

WAKE UP AMERICA -
for while you are killing each other senselessly like that, your true enemies are readying themselves to deliver the final blow...

No idea who your true enemies are?

Then it is already over for you...

Makes sense, though: with sources of information as you have them...

But that... is another story.

S.M.A.C.K. : Stolen Memories Alert - Christmas Kaput

The original print of this photograph 

-a sentimental favorite of all the women in my life- 

was to be found inside my old wallet 

that I had retired from active duty 

a while ago, already...

This shot was taken many, many years ago indeed - 

I was not even a wee bit lad at the time 

but little more than a little child, 

especially by today's standards 

that see grown men in their twenties 

prolonging their teenager waywardness 

almost into infinity indeed

- that is, when they are not pushing drugs 

or pushing up daisies, already...

One or two of those turds 

that specialize in exactly this  

have my old wallet now - 

that is, if they didn't discard it already.

And, alas, I do not expect them 

to have had the courtesy and decency 

of dropping it off near a mailbox 

much less inside of one- 

so that it could be returned to me, 

along with all the precious mementos 

that it does contain... 

How could they have such a thought, even, 

when they are but turds and scumbags? 

But that is another story...

Along with this old favorite print, 

other prints and plenty of nostalgic, 

personal things of no worth to you 

but of immense value for me - 

membership cards, mementos yes, 

-so many various elements that made it 

a veritable time capsule 

representative of my life and times- 

were to be found inside that wallet;

but what was not in there were 

the ''carte-soleil'' 

or my SIN...

Or even any credit cards 

that weren't already to discard! 

There was practically nothing in there 

of true value to you, thieves! 

There was some cash in there, sure; 

but even that had more nostalgic value to it 

than actual monetary value.

Roughly 200$ - if one equates it to 

the local wretched currency - 

but also two bills with impressive numbers 

(100 and 50) 

that are legal tender in Jamaica, really:

hence it is only about 1.50$ of value!

All of these had their true value 

in the memories they brought me 

of travels with my wife... 

And the promise of repeating that -

eventually, in the future... 

But not yet - no, not just yet; 

that is another story, too...

Damnable ladrâos! 

Malditos imbéciles! 

Blasted wretches by any other name - 

in any other language! 

Why, oh but why did you have  

to get it into your numbskulls 

to try and pilfer from *me* 

on the threshold of these 

holidays of 2015 - 

easily one of the most 

''up and down'' years 

of my entire LIFE?

WHY, you morons??? 

The question is not only ''why'' but 

HOW - as in ''how did you dare 

and purport to lay claim to 

ANYTHING that is MINE'' 

- you accursed lowlives?

No, there is no love lost for humanity here no more; 

no luculence left, no luminescence...

The little boy with the cute little smile has left now 

He is replaced by the Avenger

and Justice Seeker: 

AND VENGEANCE 

- ALONG WITH JUSTICE - 

SHALL BE MINE!

+++

Bananniversaire...

''POTA'' or really P.o.t.A: Planet of the Apes! 

DUH...

Makes me rather think of THIS:

Thanks, Josh Blue!

And FB...

+++

Reminder...

What Glitters Can Be Luculent - 

But Isn't Necessarily Luminous

Case in point:

In a nation that is rife with such fairs and festivals 

in astronomical numbers such as to make one 

lose complete track of time - and more - 

especially in the hellish season of winter,

The ''Festival of Lights'' comes into the picture  

fairly late and somewhat under-publicized as well... 

That is because it caters to a most particular 

as partial crowd -  and yet, it is a diverse crowd too 

which includes the Sikh, Hindu and Jain... 

One could jest that the Jedi belong in there, as well:

for, surely, George Lucas has found much 

to inspire him in this, here...

For it certainly wasn't just buddhism 

that did it for George - no, sir...

But that is -of course- another story.

The craftmanship of the above collectible

has got to be lauded, certainly - 

as it strives to combine elements 

from every culture it is to touch the hearts of.

There is a maple leaf there, after all, 

with, at its center, a diya 

which is a clay lamp 

symbolic of the diwali festivities.

As described on the website itself, these are 

''key central elements that illustrate 

the blending of multiple cultures'' 

indeed.

The descriptive text is even more laudable,

than the coin itself, for us, 

as it continues to put the emphasis 

on that all-important aspect 

as it makes mention of the flame too:

''the flame at the centre of the design 

reflects the essence 

of the Festival of Lights, 

its light radiating outwards 

like spokes on a wheel 

that are framed by a ring 

of maple leaves'' - no less!

And, as you know, reflecting light 

as radiating it 

are two very important things for us here...

We were captivated 

by the words, rather than the coin 

or the festival itself...

The Festival of Lights, 

also known as Diwali 

is about one thing, above all: 

the celebration of good triumphing over evil. 

That is the unquestionable unifying trait 

binding this tradition in each and all of 

the cultures mentioned and omitted here.

''Every faith has its own Diwali legends''

says the text found accompanying this 

sales pitch for a gold coin here...

It is for ''an incredible diverse ethno-social group'' 

which celebrates the Diwali in Canada 

that such a coin was crafted...

Is it coincidence that the obverse art is by a Canadian

while the reverse art is by a true Diwali ''reveller''...?

Perhaps - does it matter anyways?

That the Diwali is such a big deal in Canada now 

underlines quite spectacularly the fact 

that this poor confused nation 

has reached a peak in its self-identity crisis;

it truly is a ''cultural mosaic'' 

with all sorts of pieces glued together 

much like a crazy quilt is thrown together in haste

by a senile granny without much wits left... 

And so it is now -

and so it has come to this: 

Happy Diwali Canada

:-!

now please don't tell us 
this wasn't clear enough...

Calendar Dates

What an interesting last few days we've had, here, in North America... eh?  

Let's just look at it in reverse order here - shall we...

September the 13th - mercifully a Sunday

September the 12th - Saturday...

the birthday of a great man I know...

(he knows who he is!)

And then there's this other anniversary to commemorate...

September the 11th - ''9/11'' forevermore...

and September the 10th - Thursday

was devoted to this...

now THAT is the luculent

-and therefore luminous-

thing to do!

However...

I would be remiss if I didn't add that, 

in my utmost luminous humble opinion,

it would have been most exemplary 

as it would have sent the most 

clear message of all 

-and clarity is the essence 

of luminescence, also-

to have the ''WSPD'' 

set on the same date 

as that which saw 

a bunch of suicidal extremists 

hijack commercial planes 

and force hundreds to die along with them 

as they chose the wrongest way 

to send their own message...

For suicide is always the wrong choice 

but a kamikaze suicide 

has got to be the wrongest of all 

wrong choices.

You simultaneously choose to snuff out 

another's existence -with no right- 

on top of taking your own; 

to which you have no right either.

FOR GOD GAVE YOU LIFE - 

AND YOU SHALL NOT TAKE IT 

AND SIMPLY THROW IT AWAY.

That, I tell you, would be a powerful message: 

to stage the World Suicide Prevention Day action 

on the same day we remember the heinous acts 

of a handful of bastards who had no respect for LIFE 

and therefore none for their very own GOD either.

Maybe next year, hmm?

Sempre Por O Melhor

+++

Let Every Night Be... A Ball In White!

''Ball'' as in BAL... duh!

or dinner...

or night out...

or evening out!

#EveryNightIsALuminousNight

... for the Luminous Couple, especially!

Is that clear enough, for ya?

I Demand Better Driving Than That!

And May It Be A Good Year...

Amen! 

What Is Not Luminous - Can Still Be Luculent!

Luculent And Succulent...!
Okay - maybe that is pushing it a little bit now...

The latin luculentus was not made up by us here at the TLB Prime Network - we assure thee! It has its deep root in the well-known lux and is all about what is bright, what is clear, what is of the Light...!

And thus, as such, this blog will contain nothing obtuse, nothing dark as not to obfuscate - and only things that are indeed both light, in content, and of The Light in spirit!

Let us start off on the right (if not righteous) note immediately with this obviously de-light-ful entry, straight from the bright lights of Bollywood:



Why Bollywood, you may ask?
Because its future is brighter than Hollywood - of course!

NOTA BENE:
for those in doubt, the preceding falls in the category "light - in content" indeed!
AQ would be proud! (Some of you may call him AC or AM... It's all A-OK.)
Entries of 'The Light - in spirit' will be forthcoming!
Thank you!
;-)

Sempre Por O Melhor
+++

40th Anniversary - and not a word about it, anywhere...?

It was forty long years ago, this past November 30th (to be exact!) that it took place... 40 YEARS - a lifetime ago, verily. And it had all begun with a most dubious of a joke, an anachronism in thought and would-be venture, for it was launched upon a premise that would have desecrated any other place of worship, desacralized holy ground, dishonored the Church and Faith overall...

And yet... And yet... It was a project that met with approval almost instantly, from the congregation that administers the shrine involved here - and the Roman Catholic Church overall, or so it has to be implied.

What in blue blazes are we talking about here - yeah, of all places, of all blogs part of the vast and vitreous TLB Prime Network - on this day?  Well, dog-nabbit, we are talking about the 1972 concert that made no sense: the Offenbach concert at the Oratory! Pierre Harel, the living link between two key bands of the 70s and 80s in Quebec rock (Offenbach - and Corbeau) had this idea of a ''messe des morts à l'Oratoire'' (a mass for the dead) blending musical genres; ranging from Gregorian to alternative rock, evidently. Hence the presence of a musical piece titled Requiem in there, somewhere... Only the idea was launched with another variant of that phrasing, not quite the same at all: it was launched as this instead - ''une messe NOIRE à l'ORATOIRE!'' (Put the emphasis and proper intonation onto the ''-oire'' endings for the full Québécois feeling there!) And we can imagine the whole gang having quite the laugh with that one - until it became a reality, involving even the collaboration of a priest who sang with the band too - but his own lyrics, in fact chants, in latin!

Let's pause now and listen to an excerpt or two of it right here:

The society was in revolution, even the church was supposed to be in revolution (or it was already feeling a sharp decline in attendance -and it would get worse- so it was trying to reach out to the masses by letting everyone into its hallowed halls, by reaching out especially to those who wouldn't even think of coming over, not even for a second...) 

They did repeat the experience in 2002 - for the landmark 30th anniversary - which actually makes it even more bizarre that no one would even make a tiny little mention of the 40th anniversary of this purported-to-be 'legendary event'...

What makes this is so special would be the UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE 

of the ecclesiastical environment for this most... ah... 

unorthodox (no denominational pun intended) style of music. 

However... What can we really think of certain choices made by this band of 

hairy misfits that took over the Oratory, a shrine with an international reputation 

for being the biggest of its kind devoted to the earthly father figure for Our Lord, 

and patron saint of workers, the afflicted, Canada and so on... 

And that is said while taking aside that entire ''messe noire à l'Oratoire'' nonsense! 

One choice stands out above all: the song Rirolarma. 

Listen to it, here and now:

Isn't this a most peculiar choice indeed... 

Doesn't it sound like some most unwanted and certainly uninvited guest 

just crashed that party of love, acceptance, and ''quiet and-or rocking revolution'' 

they had going on there, in the timeless Basilica of the sanctimonious Oratoire...? 

In a word - yes! 

That laughter - is it to represent the devil himself, laughing in the face of all 

believers (five thousand of them, that day - mostly rock'n'roll fans who'd come 

to listen to the recording of a most eclectic of rock albums) as he 

(I'd rather say ''... as it...'' right here) 

successfully immersed itself into the workings of the Church 

- yet again!!! 

It is, indeed, enough to roll on the floor laughing, 

to the point of tears... 

And we all know that the devil loves a good laugh! 

He... It... has had plenty of opportunities to laugh 

over the decades, centuries, eras... 

At the inept side of Christianity - 

that which divides it and makes it unable 

to stand united in Faith. 

And then there are those attempts at unification 

and making bridges between various strata of society 

in either ecumenismal ways 

or this way - through the arts 

or so-called arts. 

And it all is ephemeral at best 

and not unifying in truth, not for one iota. 

Having said all that - or, rather, blogged all that indeed - 

an 'A' for effort must be awarded - 

back in 1972 and then, again, in 2002...

But, by the same token, an 'F' must be given out 

in 2012 - for having omitted a mere mention of this 

through all the notable media outlets 

that the Church is so eager to exploit, now, 

as it attempts one (last?) time 

to reach out and regain 

the masses...

And maybe... maybe... 

if the august Oratory allowed Offenbach 

to take over its Basilica twice rather than just once 

and a certain Pierre Harel to get away
with his claims of having gone forth
with his dream of presiding 

or participating in 

a black mass there... 

Then, maybe... just maybe... 

I can indeed gather up 

a few TRUE BELIEVERS 

and truly 

*Occupy The Oratory* 

- as I, also, have been heard 

to be joking around, 

lately...!

(All I need is four more guys -

we'd sing Take That's 

hit song 

''Love, Love''

(We Don't Have Too Much Time Here) 

accompanied by the Great Organ 

up in the Basilica -

and there'd be no encore!)

Sempre Por O Melhor 

+++