This day, 35 years ago, marks the passing of English singer
and songwriter and former member of The Beatles, John Lennon.
(Born John Winston Lennon; Oct. 9, 1940 – 8 Dec.19, 80)
John Lennon was an English musician who gained worldwide fame as one of the members of the Beatles, for his subsequent solo career, and for his political activism and pacifism.
He was shot by “a deranged American gunman” (I refuse to use his name) in the archway of the building where he lived, The Dakota, in New York City on 8 December 1980.
Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono.
After sustaining four fatal gunshot wounds, Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital. He was 40 years old.
At the hospital, it was stated that nobody could have lived for more than a few minutes after sustaining such injuries. Shortly after local news stations reported Lennon’s death, crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Dakota.
Lennon was cremated on 10 December 1980 at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. The ashes were given to Ono, who chose not to hold a funeral for him.
Santa Claus’s reindeer form an imaginary team of flying reindeer traditionally held to pull the sleigh of Santa Claus and help him deliver Christmas gifts.
They are:
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
I’m one of them. Which one do you think I am?
The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (also known as “The Night Before Christmas” or “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas“) is largely credited for the contemporary Christmas lore that includes the eight flying reindeer and their names.
The relevant segment of the poem reads:
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,
with a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen!
“On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Dunder and Blixem!
“To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
“Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
I’ve followed this family since their early days in Miami.
I know their story and how Gloria came to be the main singer of Miami Sound Machine. The band became a huge hit in the Latin community. Then Gloria “crossed over” into the American mainstream music scene.
It was all then about Gloria.
I remember their hits, I have all the CD and concert videos. I couldn’t forget the harrowing time of the bus crash, her fractured back, her rescue, her recovery, her rehab and her comeback … that blue dress singing “Coming Out of the Dark”.
And the rest is history!
In their personal lives, they had Nayib and finally a daughter, Emily. Her name honors her dad Emilio.
I’ve seen Emily dab here and there in music. She has it in her genes, her internal makeup and her talent has grown.
She has released an awesome video with an absolutely on target message.
If you ask Gloria Estefan, it feels like yesterday when her daughter Emily was a baby backstage at her sold-out concerts. Fast-forward to today and the 21-year-old college sophomore is totally grown up and ready to rock out on her own.
“I always think about it as a double-edge sword,” Emily shared on Today’s show when asked about following the same career as her mom. “I don’t even understand that saying because doesn’t a sword have one edge?”
She continued, “But the reality is they’re amazing golden footsteps to follow in so my biggest fear now is just being able to do the past justice.”
“I know that must people I know believe in me for my talent and for what I stand for but there’s always a doubt in my mind because there is no way of knowing when you are a descendant of the Conga Queen.”
As her parents focus on their Broadway musical appropriately titled “On Your Feet,” Emily is ready to prove she herself can turn the beat around. And yes, she’ll do it while wearing mama’s clothes.
“When I want to go shopping, I just go to the warehouse and grab her clothes,” Emily admitted while wearing Gloria’s retro pants and T-shirt. As they like to say, like mother, like daughter.
Singer Emily Estefan, the Miami Beach daughter of Gloria and Emilio, on Thursday released a music video in which she expresses her point of view to a ‘sterile and ominous’ world: F#ck To Be.
F#ck To Be prominently focuses on male and female gender roles and stereotypes.
On November 3, Emily Estefan released her brand new video F#ck To Be. The concept behind the video shows Emily discovering and noticing a world that it is not what she expected instead it is very sterile and ominous.
“There are two POVs in the video, it is either what I see or what the mirror sees. It is me against the mirror. The mirror being expectations that I carry of myself, or what people expect me to be. I’m combatting the mirror, “ says Estefan.
F#ck to Be will be the first single from her forthcoming full length CD, Take Whatever You Want. Emily wrote, recorded, produced and performed her full album at Fairy Light Studios (her own studio in her college apartment in Boston, MA).
“Many people think I am saying “F” everything or everything sucks, but that is not true. I go in and out of these very different looks in the video that I don’t necessarily like for myself, but that doesn’t mean that I frown upon them, it just means that it is not me” said Estefan.
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
More specifically, she is the most amazing cat on the planet.
In July of 2011, she was discovered as the runt of a healthy feral litter in a tool shed in rural Indiana at only a few weeks old. She was taken in as a rescue when it was clear that she would require special care. Since then BUB has become one of the most famous cats on planet.
She is a published author, a talk show host, the star of an award winning documentary, and has helped raise over $200,000 for animals in need.
Shortly after turning one year old, BUB was diagnosed with an exceptionally rare bone condition called osteopetrosis.
For more info about Lil Bub click on the link below
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
The middle of a work week (Wednesday). It’s a phrase used in the context of climbing a proverbial hill to get through a tough week.
After hump day, the weekend gets closer.
Have a great day. My wish for one and all who stop here!
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
Dance to the music
under the stars at night.
Dance to the music
of all time lullabies.
Dance to the music
of your own beat and rhythm.
Dance to the music
that your own heart has chosen.
A Muslim, sometimes spelled Moslem, relates to a person who follows the religion of Islam, a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the Quran. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts called hadith. “Muslim” is an Arabic word meaning “one who submits (to God)”.
~BUDDHIST~
A person who followed Buddhism. This is a nontheistic religion or philosophy that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, commonly known as the Buddha (“the awakened one“). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BC.
~SIKH~
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic dharma which originated during the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term “Sikh” has its origin in the Sanskrit words for disciple, student or instruction. A Sikh, according to Article I of the Sikh Rehat Maryada (the Sikh code of conduct), is “any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh; Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru”.
~HINDU~
Hindu has historically been used as a geographical, cultural or religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. In contemporary use, Hindu refers to anyone who regards himself or herself as culturally, ethnically or religiously adhering with aspects of Hinduism.
The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time. Starting with the Persian and Greek references to India in the 1st millennium BC through the texts of the medieval era, the term Hindu implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in Indian subcontinent around or beyond Sindhu river.
~CHRISTIAN~
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. “Christian” derives from the Koine Greek word Christós, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach.
There are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict. However, “Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance”.
~TERRORIST~
A terrorist is a person who engages in terrorism. In its broadest sense, terrorism is any act designed to cause terror. In a narrower sense, terrorism can be understood to feature a political objective. The word terrorism is politically loaded and emotionally charged.
Celine Dion sings L’Hymne a L’Amour in tribute to Paris attack victims at American Music Awards 2015
The American Music Awards took a sombre turn on Sunday when Celine Dion sang in tribute to the victims of Paris’s terror attacks.
The Canadian singer covered Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne a L’Amour after actor-musician Jared Leto delivered an emotional speech about the deadly events.
Leto spoke about an impromptu show his band Thirty Seconds To Mars had performed at Le Bataclan in Paris, the scene where 89 people lost their lives in the attacks 10 days ago.
He said: “Seven months later that same venue was under siege, one of a series of attacks that changed the world forever.
“Tonight we honor the victims of the unimaginable violence that took place in Paris and around the world.
“France matters, Syria matters, Russia matters, Mali matters, the Middle East matters, the entire world matters and peace is possible.”
Introducing Dion’s performance, Leto added:
“Many of us here are the sons and daughters of immigrants and Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian immigrant, and President Barack Obama.
“The American Music Awards wanted to show its support for the people of France and the entire world.”
At least 81 transgender people were murdered worldwide this year — and those are just the victims whose deaths were reported.
BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM
NOVEMBER 20 2015
Today marks the 16th annual Transgender Day of Rememberance, after the first event was organized by Gwendolyn Ann Smith in Allston, Mass., to memorialize Rita Hester — a trans woman of color killed in 1998.
Every year since, growing numbers of trans people and advocates worldwide take a moment to pause and remember the countless lives lost around the globe to transphobic violence.
The somber occasion serves as a memorial event in which trans people and allies can mourn their dead, celebrate the lives they lived and as a popular hashtag in the wake of unabated anti-trans violence proclaims, #SayHerName.
~~GRAPHICS SOURCE~~
Facebook Timeline
Google Images
Human Rights Campaign
The Advocate Magazine
~~GALLERY~~
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As the names listed in the graphics demonstrate, certain nations — the United States and Brazil — have particularly acute problems with fatal transphobic violence. The number of trans women killed this year in the U.S., for instance, is nearly double that of the total killed last year.
But it’s also worth noting that in many countries around the world, no formal system exists to report the deaths of trans people, and repressive societies combined with oppressive policing worldwide often give trans people good cause to be wary of law-enforcement officials.
So while we mourn those whose names are listed below, take a moment to memorialize those whose names we will never know — because they, too, had lives, and loves, and passions that were extinguished because of hate.
It Is What It Is 