The Shazzamity

As I Began to Love Myself – A Self Love Poem by Charlie...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:18:29 -0500

As I Began to Love Myself – A Self Love Poem by Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, best known mime actor, wrote a beautiful self love poem on his 70th birthday (April 16, 1959). It is exceptional because there are not many poems written about loving one’s self and in my opinion, contains much wisdom. Here’s how Chaplin’s self love poem goes….

* * *

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering

are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth.

Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody

As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time

was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this

person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life,

and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.

Today I call it “MATURITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance,

I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens

at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm.

Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time,

and I stopped designing huge projects for the future.

Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do

and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in

my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for

my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything the drew

me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude

a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since

I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry

about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING

is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me

and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my

mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems

with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing

new worlds are born.Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”!

* * *

- Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin, KBE

(16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977)

In Memory of Gianny Gomes Da Cores - Lata “E vem do...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:40:03 -0500

In Memory of Gianny Gomes

Da Cores - Lata

“E vem do verde aquele dom
Que a vida traz sem te cobrar
E com azul tem branco mar

Laranja doce vem do céu
Com cor de rosa e lilás
Pássaro preto voa triste
Se esse canto se acabar…”

A while back, I came across a song that was featured on a Putumayo Bossa Nova CD. I immediately became fascinated with this song as it featured an infectious groove with a complex Brazilian rhythm interspersed with a laid-back almost haunting melody. The song featured lyrics in Portuguese. That being Gi.’s native language, I asked her to translate the lyrics for me. Of course, she provided a very distinct translation as was Gi’s custom to anything that was Brazilian.

After Gi’s death, I found myself thinking of that song and reflecting on the meaning of those lyrics. As I began to do my research, I found out in passing that Gi was very found of a certain image that she wanted as a tattoo. What struck me even more was the image itself pertained the the very topic of the song she had translated for me a while back: COLORS.

And so NOW looking back on that song, I was overcome with emotion because in fact the song speaks of colors that permeate this earth of ours, providing hues of light and darkness. In many ways representing an array of colors much like when white light is dispersed by a prism into the colors of the optical spectrum.

When I thought of Gi., I remembered her translation and I likened the song to those colors, the colors that her aura reflected. As we know Gi. struggled with a lot in her life but to me her aura was very much like that of a color spectrum, providing hues of LIGHT and DARKNESS but always representing an array of COLORS.

And so I will share with you MY translation of those lyrics, a sort of embellished translation as I have tried to tap into the gist of the song but steered away from translating it word for word.

Here’s but a short segment of my translation:

******

The Colors Of Gianny’s Aura

“It reflects the color green.

A gift that life can bring as a source of healing.

It features white light… bright with hues of deep blue.

It is made of coral, that which is of the sea.

It is made of fire engine red, the colors of a childhood toy.

That which can open doors to dream.

With hints of yellow that can be seen

Through the windows of the soul.

The colors of her aura…

Always blinding you with LIGHT but always always leaving you with a smile.”

******

And so that is how I choose to remember our dear friend Gianny.

A source of light wherever she went, permeating colors into the very fabric of our lives.

We love you Gi.

RIP Gianny Gomez.

ओम्

Da Cores - Lata

To listen to song, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbG3_y9W64c

Lyrics can be found here:

http://www.lyricstime.com/da-lata-cores-lyrics.html

Merry Christmas “He will cover you with his feathers, and...

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:12:08 -0500

Merry Christmas

“He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays and seasons greetings!!!

Shazzam! xx

It’s a Kylie Christmas! Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:58:00 -0500

It’s a Kylie Christmas!

Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

“Kylie joined some of the biggest stars from the world of stand-up and comedy to perform live in front of comedy fans and a celebrity VIP audience at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Tuesday the 13th of December.

Kylie sparkled as she gave a rendition of ‘Let It Snow’ with the comedians joining in to close the show with a final Christmas sing-along.

Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Special will air on BBC1 at 10.30pm on Christmas Day.”

Christmas at Rockefeller Center Live from New York it’s...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:44:06 -0500

Christmas at Rockefeller Center

Live from New York it’s the tree at Rock Center!

Fashion Alert Wajajajaja!!!!!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:39:55 -0500

Fashion Alert

Wajajajaja!!!!!

Christmas With The Kardashians From our centerfold to yours....

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:34:31 -0500

Christmas With The Kardashians

From our centerfold to yours. Happy Vanity Fair Day errr we mean Christmas! - The Kardashians

Shazzam! - A Magical Word Shazzam: A word used to express pride...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:30:53 -0500

Shazzam! - A Magical Word

Shazzam: A word used to express pride in the successful completion of something magical. Can also be used to celebrate general achievement & completion of tasks. When split in to two syllables, SHA and ZZAM, it denotes something that is undeniably funny, an expression used when something unusual or unbelievable occurs. A word of empowerment. The incantation used by the comic-strip hero Captain Marvel as it was the source of his power. Shazzam bitches!

The Gift of Gab Thank you Lord for blessing me with the gift of...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:26:59 -0500

The Gift of Gab

Thank you Lord for blessing me with the gift of gab and for the ability to express myself so eloquently through writing. I’m eternally grateful for all those people who taught me the power in words! Shazzam!

Pagan Poetry - Pearl Hands “He offers A handshake Crooked...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:23:00 -0500

Pagan Poetry - Pearl Hands

“He offers
A handshake
Crooked
Five fingers
They form a pattern
Yet to be matched

On the surface simplicity
But the darkest pit in me
It’s pagan poetry…”

Bjork - Pagan Poetry Images About the video, Nick Knight the...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:22:04 -0500

Bjork - Pagan Poetry Images

About the video, Nick Knight the director explained “I wanted to strip her down. She’s actually quite raw, womanly and sexy. There’s a different side to her that doesn’t come across normally in her videos. That’s what I asked her to do and that’s what she did.” When asked if Björk was the one who plays the sexual acts as well, he explained “I gave her [Björk] a Sony Mini DV camera and asked her to shoot her own private scenes […] She asked me to make a film about her love life, so I merely gave it back to her and said ‘Film your love life’.”

Pagan Poetry - Wedding Dress Alexander McQueen Sketch of...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:18:21 -0500

Pagan Poetry - Wedding Dress

Alexander McQueen Sketch of Bjork’s Dress

Pagan Poetry - Pearl Piercings One of the images from the...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:15:30 -0500

Pagan Poetry - Pearl Piercings

One of the images from the “Pagan Poetry” video shows three hoops that were pierced through the back of the body as a pearl-chain passes through each of them in a criss-crossing pattern.

Pagan Poetry Björk wearing an in-body-pierced-wedding dress...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:13:17 -0500

Pagan Poetry

Björk wearing an in-body-pierced-wedding dress designed by Alexander McQueen in the “Pagan Poetry” music video. Covering only the lower portion of her body as the upper portion of the dress seems to be pearls pierced to her skin.

Björk - Pagan Poetry This video is amazing! Still one of my...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:07:00 -0500

Björk - Pagan Poetry

This video is amazing! Still one of my favorite songs ever. And that dress is major Alexander McQueen shazzamity!

The music video for “Pagan Poetry”, directed by Nick Knight, is about “a woman preparing herself for marriage and for her lover”. It was also one of Björk’s most controversial because of the highly blurry images of explicit sex it contains, including fellatio and ejaculation, and also images of big needles sewing pearls to the skin. It features Björk in a dress designed by Alexander McQueen, covering only the lower portion of her body. The upper portion of the dress seems to be pearls pierced to her skin. The video was banned by MTV in the United States, but was eventually shown in unedited form on MTV2 in a presentation of the “20 Most Controversial Music Videos”.

St. Kylie of the Minogue

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:29:27 -0500

St. Kylie of the Minogue

Lady Guadalupe of the Skulls

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:27:00 -0500

Lady Guadalupe of the Skulls

Our Lady of Guadalupe / Dia de los Muertos

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:24:00 -0500

Our Lady of Guadalupe / Dia de los Muertos

Lady of Guadalupe Appears Before Juan Diego On December 9, 1531,...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:17:00 -0500

Lady of Guadalupe Appears Before Juan Diego

On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, an Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The Lady asked him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He then told the local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who asked for proof in exchange.

Juan Diego went back later and saw the Lady again. He told her that the bishop wanted proof, and she instructed Juan Diego to go to the mountain top, where he found Castillian roses, which were native to the Bishop’s hometown and could not possibly bloom during wintertime. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his apron-like tilma and returned to the bishop; an imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary then appeared on the tilma before the Bishop from the residue of the soil and roses.

The image itself is said to be imprinted miraculously on the native’s tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay 480 years later and still defies all explanations of its origin.

Today the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of FAITH and one of UNDERSTANDING.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe “Call me and call my image...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:03:00 -0500

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe.”

It’s believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that probably was used was “Coatlaxopeuh” based on the fact that the “g” and “d” sounds do not exist in Nahuatl.

“Coatlaxopeuh” (pronounced Quatlasupe) means “the one who crushes the serpent” and may referr to the plumed serpent Quetzacoatl.

Since the time the apron-like tilma was first impressed with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours and, in 1921, a bomb which was planted by anti-clerical forces on an altar under it. There was also a cast-iron cross next to the tilma and when the bomb exploded, the cross was twisted out of shape, the marble altar rail was heavily damaged and the tilma was untouched! Indeed, no one was injured in the Church despite the damage that occurred to a large part of the altar structure.

The tilma was examined using infrared photography and digital enhancement techniques. Unlike any painting, the tilma shows no sketching or any sign of outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting. Furthermore, the very method used to create the image is still unknown. The image is inexplicable in its longevity and method of production. It can be seen today in a large cathedral built to house up to ten thousand worshipers. It is, by far, the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere.