The breath of the morning: I keep forgetting The smell of the warm summer air. I live in a town Where you can’t smell a thing, You watch your feet For cracks in the pavement.
Up above, aliens hover Making home movies For the folks back home. Of all these weird creatures Who lock up their spirits, Drill holes in themselves And live for their secrets.
They’re all Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight...
I wish that they’d swoop down In a country lane Late at night when I’m driving, Take me on board their beautiful ship, Show me the world as I’d love to see it.
I’d tell all my friends but they’d never believe me, They’d think that I’d finally lost it completely. I’d show them the stars and the meaning of life, They’d shut me away
But I’d be Alright... Alright... I’d be alright... I’m alright.
I’m just Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight... Uptight.
Caw crow That handsome body On the cross Cross my heart Crossed swords Uncloaking Some strange Unwise Fallen angel Figures crossing Across the chasm Of some epic Winged dream Torn down By the sharp Pointy thorns Of some epiphanic Dawn
Right through the current turmoil and overwhelming energies pulling us down, learn to unload the burden off your heart by focusing on the only thing that really matters: love. Whatever form it may take is irrelevant; its vibration is so powerful, they do everything to prevent us from transmitting or receiving it. Do not nip it in the bud.
Different types of love... Different types of love... Different types of love... Are possible... Are possible...
In my first photo editing tutorial I taught you how to colourise photos using other pictures. However, since the latter technique only applies to landscapes, here is how I revived this dusty complexion of mine with some colours (which only works on pictures, unfortunately). I used Paint Shop Pro X but any basic photo editing software will do the trick.
Materials
a preferably well-contrasted black and white (or monochrome) portrait picture
Instructions
1. Open a copy of the black and white (or monochrome) picture you wish to colourise. Increase colours to 16 million in order to be able to add colours.
2. Add a new layer and set blend mode to either Colour or Colour (Legacy) and reduce opacity according to your desired effect.
3. Start with skin tones. I recommend picking the appropriate hue from an existing colour picture and change it accordingly. Cover all flesh areas using brush and eraser or freehand tool/magic wand to select and fill zones depending on what's best for you.
4. Repeat procedure for each colour.
5. Once you're happy with the result, merge all visible layers then make some adjustments or use filters to enhance your picture.
NOTE: Since the original picture I used is actually a scan from a sepia coloured print, I first had to reduce colour saturation to 0 so as to obtain a greyscale image (in such case, no need to increase colours). After merging layers, I experimented with global and flesh tones contrast with theColor Efex Profilter series.
For this second example, I just partially coloured the picture using lesser layer opacity in order to produce a soft pastel effect in perfect adequacy with the original atmosphere.
I hope this makes you want to experiment. You may also use colour pictures and turn them to greyscale before recolourising them. The possibilities are endless and can only be limited by your imagination and creativity.
Don't burn this witch! We all have songs that reach us at soul level — magical songs that shoot us in the heart and for me, this legendary title by Fleetwood Mac is one of those. Must be some kind of universal magic that turned it into a cult song and brought the Anglo-american band to fame.
Rhiannon
Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night And wouldn't you love to love her? She rules her life like a bird in flight And who will be her lover?
All your life you've never seen A woman taken by the sky. Well, would you stay if she promised you heaven? Would you even try?
And he says: “Rhiannon, don't go.” And he says: “Rhiannon, stay.” And he says: “I still cry out for you, Don't leave me. Don't leave me.”
Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night And wouldn't you love to love her? She rules her life like a bird in flight And who will be her lover?
She is like a cat in the dark And then she is your darkness. She rules her life like a fine skylark And when the sky is starless.
Once in a million years a lady like her rises ″Oh no, Rhiannon″ you cry. But she's gone, Your life knows no answer. Your life knows no answer.
Rhiannon... Rhiannon... Rhiannon... Rhiannon...
She rings like a bell through the night And wouldn't you love to love her? She rules her life like a bird in flight And who will be her lover?
All your life you've never seen A woman taken by the sky. Well, would you stay if she promised you heaven? Will you ever try?
Rhiannon... Rhiannon...
Dreams unwind, love's a state of mind. Dreams unwind, love's a state of mind.
Your dreams unwind and still it's hard to find, I know. Your dreams unwind and still it's a state of mind, I know.
Take me like the wind child, Take me with the sky, Take me now.
Take me like the wind, baby, Take me with the sky.
All the same... All the same... All the same, Rhiannon...
All the same... Baby, all the same...
And he still cries out for her: “Don't leave me now!”
Stevie Nicks, 1975
About this song
Rhiannon is a major figure of the Welsh mythology. The name itself comes from Rigantona which means “Great Queen”. She's an avatar of a Celtic goddess. Stevie Nicks discovered her in the early 70's, in a a novel called Triad by Mary Bartlet Leader she bought in an airport just before a long flight. Although the story which is about a woman named Branwen, who is possessed by another woman named Rhiannon, did not relate to the Welsh legend of Rhiannon, the characters still bear little resemblance to their original Welsh namesakes, and she thought the name was so pretty it inspired her this song. Which she wrote in 1974, three months before joining Fleetwood Mac and which allegedly took her only ten minutes!
“So I wrote this song and made her into what I thought was an old Welsh witch” she says. “And then I just found out — because somebody from Phoenix found a whole trilogy of books written in 1972 on Welsh mythology — that Rhiannon was a Welsh witch. Which is pretty weird because I never saw that. And yet the song is exactly about that.”
“This legend of Rhiannon is about the song of the birds that take away pain and relieve suffering. That's what music is to me” she adds.
“It is the story of a lady that is from another world called the Bright World, and she leaves her kingdom to become the wife of a mortal king. But goddesses really can't marry mortal kings. If they do they lose their magic powers. And they don't lose the knowledge of them. They know everything that's going to happen, they just can't do anything about it. Which is a much more difficult way to live than not having magic powers is to not be able to use them and know exactly what's coming and to not be able to tell anybody. So she comes down and does her whole trip, and it's just a whole story — it's a wonderful story.
“She is the maker of birds, and the goddess of steeds; she's the protector of horses. Her music is like a pain pill. When you wake up and hear her birds singing her little song, the danger will have passed. I realized that somehow I had managed to pen a song that went very much along with the mythical tale of Rhiannon. That's when everybody started saying Stevie must be a black witch or something !”
“Rhiannon”, she says, “is the heavy-duty song to sing every night. On stage it's really a mind tripper. Everybody, including me, is just blitzed by the end of it. And I put out so much in that song that I'm nearly down. There's something to that song that touches people. I don't know what it is but I'm really glad it happened.”
All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases. In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system increases.
Energy continuously flows from being concentrated to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted and useless. New energy cannot be created and high-grade energy is being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is unsustainable.
Unsu... unsustainable.
The fundamental laws of thermodynamics will place fixed limits on technological innovation and human advancement. In an isolated system, the entropy can only increase. A species set on endless growth is unsustainable.
Gentlemen, you may now treat yourself to a coffee as this article might not be your cup of tea unless you're a big fan of home-made cosmetics or wish to surprise your partner. So now, let me say there's really nothing like a nice eyeliner effect to give your eyes more intensity and enhance their colour. Simple and effective. I'd like to share with you two easy recipes using non toxic ingredients (available online or in specialised shops) to make your own at home for a ridiculous cost.
Dilute oxide with water. Next, add the gum all at once, stirring vigorously with a mini whisk to avoid clumping. Don't stop until it turns into a liquid gel. Then you can add the preservative.
Transfer to a clean and disinfected recycled eyeliner container (using a top-filled syringe with a plastic tube instead of a needle to prevent overspill) or a small jar preferably glassware. Please note I have encountered problems using the latter type of container as it exposes the product to air and increases the risk of potential bacteria infection even if you clean your brush before use. The gel tends to harden and moulds can form while I never had any problem using the bottled version with built-in brush applicator.
NOTE: Leave to dry for 30-60 seconds before opening your eye so it won't smudge.
Recommended storage life is 3 months
.
Compact Eyeliner
Ingredients
1,6 g black oxide
1,3 g cosmetic talc
0.1 g lauroyl lysine
0,04 g acacia gum
10 drops pure (or with vanilla) sesame oil
1 drop vitamin E (optional)
Instructions
Use a mortar to grind powders and build colour. Next add oil and vitamin E and keep grinding until you get a smooth mixture. Transfer to a clean, disinfected recycled eye-shadow container or a small jar. Cover with a tissue and press hard all over the surface using a fat and heavy object preferably of same size to compact.
NOTE: Apply with a moistened eyeliner brush you'll clean-up with soap before using. For my part, I use it with a dry brush just like eye shadow after applying the eyeliner gel for a matt effect and better hold.
Storage life should be one year at least since it contains no water. However, do no hesitate to discard the product should the smell or colour change to avoid any bacteria infection.
If you wish to make a coloured eyeliner, use oxides rather than ochres (more pigments) or micas (for sparkle effect) at proper dosages. You may use activated charcoal instead of black oxide but in the gel recipe only as its granulometry and bulk density will make it impossible to compact.
British film maker and writer Terry Jones has discovered a colony of penguins in Antarctica, which are unlike any other penguins in the world. Miracle of nature or genetic engineering? What do you reckon?
FR
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