Wonderwall

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Back beat, the word is on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

And all the roads that lead you there were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me
You're gonna be the one that saves me

Oxford vs. Manchester : Thom Yorke's spoof cover

Original text by NOEL GALLAGHER

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The Dance of Hearts

“All you need is love, love is all you need” sang The Beatles.¹

On this day ruled by the arrows of CUPIDity, why not give unconditional love around you rather than flowers, chocolate, perfume or any other conditioned, superficial commercial tokens totally unrelated to this state of being? What comes from the heart doesn't rely on a calendar reminder to express itself. And you don't need to be in love nor have found your soulmate to be in the right vibration that will get you out of the Matrix's chessboard. So let's do the hearts dance (everyday) and take all the Grinches and those left behind by life with you in this joyful farandole that is bound to win at the end of the day.

“Say the word and you'll be free, say the word and be like me, say the word I'm thinking of... Have you heard the word is love? It's the word: love!”²

Endnotes

1. "All You Need Is Love", The Beatles (1967).
2. "The Word", The Beatles (1965).

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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How to Apply Grunge Effects on Photos

This is based on a Photoshop tutorial I had adapted (changing a lot of things) for Paint Shop Pro, thus you also should be able to use it with any other image editing software. Newbies may find it a bit difficult though, as a basic knowledge of layers, blend modes, and how to use brushes is essential (nothing really tough here). Since the page of the original tutorial is no longer available, I take the liberty of reposting here the free downloadable material (Polaroid frame).

Materials

• a photo
• grunge style brushes (on DeviantArt according to your chosen image program)
• a script font
• Nadine's Polaroid frame
• pattern (fractal)

Instructions

1. Open a copy of the picture you wish to manipulate and apply the necessary corrections and desired enhancement.

For the above example, I added a bit of blue to midtones and highlights, slightly desaturated the overall colours, denoised and increased contrast with an external filter that can differentiate between light and dark areas (UnPlugged Split Contrast). To soften my image, I duplicated the original layer then apply Gaussian blur to the copy (radius 3), set blend mode to Screen, lowered opacity to 40%, and finally merged layers. Then I applied  Photo-Plugins Soft Focus with Soft Light mode, but this is optional and depends both on your source picture and on the effect you wish to produce. The possibilities are about as endless as the number of external filters available is.

2. Open a copy of the Polaroid frame and paste your altered image as a new layer under the frame layer. Resize if necessary so that it is correctly framed.

3. Add a new layer on top (above the frame) and apply brushes. I have used four different scratches and a fingerprint in black colour.

4. Add a new layer (always on top) and fill with the fractal pattern. Apply Motion Blur (angle 270°, strength 100%). Increase luminosity to 40%, lower layer opacity to 50% and set blend mode to Overlay.

5. Duplicate the fractal layer and change duplicate layers settings to opacity 70% and blend mode Lighten.

6. Activate frame layer and select transparent centre using the Magic Wand. Then activate top layer and click Delete to erase the central area. Unselect.

7. Add your desired text on a new layer (I used the Philing font).

8. Add a new layer on top and apply more brushes (two scribbles) with colour black and setting blend mode to Burn.

NOTE: These are only the general lines to follow as depending on which picture, which fractal and which brushes you use, layer opacities and blend modes may need to differ. The purpose of this tutorial is to inspire you not to copy which is not fun nor rewarding.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Polaroid Android

This is another graphic based on my “grunge Polaroid” tutorial using no pattern/texture but many brushes and various fonts. Since I used a disparate set of pictures, I attuned them applying a “bleaching” filter and set blend mode to Luminance, adding a copy of the central picture under each side picture layer then smudging it with the Smudge Brush so as to have all the right colours in the right places. The central animation is from an original video converted to animated GIF I found on the web then re-exported the same way.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Zombie

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence
Caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
But you see it's not me
It's not my family
In your head in your head
They are fighting

With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head they are crying

In your head
In your head
Zombie zombie zombie
What's in your head
In your head.
Zombie, zombie, zombie

Another mother's
Breaking heart is taken over
And the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It's the same old theme
Since 1916
In your head in your head
They're still fighting

With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head they are dying

In your head
In your head
Zombie zombie zombie
What's in your head
In your head.
Zombie, zombie, zombie

Original text by DOLORES O'RIORDAN

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The Year of the Horse

Xīn nián hǎo! As from today until 18th February 2015 the Chinese Year of The Horse¹ has just begun. Please note, however, that my tag does not reflect the governing element of the year which is wood² — nor the associated green colour. To go fully green, see you all again on Saint Patrick's Day next month!

Endnotes

1. According to legend, on New Year's Day, Buddha set out to reorganise the Empire and summoned all the animals in China. Only twelve turned up: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig. In gratitude, each was given a personal year to govern. Please note in some Asian countries, the rabbit is replaced with the cat, the sheep with the goat and the pig with the boar.
2. There are five elements: wood (Jupiter - Eastern Green Dragon on years ending with 4 or 5), fire (Mars - Southern Red Phoenix - years ending with 5/7), earth (Saturn - Central Yellow Snake (colour of the sovereign) - years 8/9), metal (Venus - Western White Tiger - years 0/1), and water (Mercury - Northern Black Tortoise - years 2/3). The order is important since each element produces the next. Thus, within a ten-year cycle, each element will govern two years. So 2015 will be the year of the Wood Sheep; 2016 the year of the Fire Monkey; 2017, the year of the Fire Rooster, etc.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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The Black Star

You don't know me, yet you never miss an opportunity to pin everything and nothing on me. Any situation difficult to fathom makes me a blatantly obvious culprit. I'm being blamed, feared, and hated. But I didn't do anything. How could I since, in fact, I don't exist? At least nowhere but in your misguided beliefs. I hope you guess my name...

My name is Fate. I'm often confused with Hope, although ultimately neither of us is real. We both are projections of your amnesic minds — collateral incidences used to offload your responsibilities as souls stuck in denial of your own forgotten omnipotence.

Black holes and revelations

Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations

"Starlight", Muse (2006)

Every time you call upon my unfortunate companion, you praise him to the skies as if he were some kind of messiah, a guide who could lead your to the nirvana of your short-lived fantasies — never to that of your genuine essential needs though.

Actually, have you ever thought about it? Of course not! How could you when you're always so busy continually moving heaven and earth without pausing — never worrying about what may come next.

Blame it on the Black Star

Blame it on the Black Star
Blame it on the falling sky,
Blame it on the satellite
That beams me home.

"Black Star", Radiohead (1995)

You wish, you want, you pray, you hope... That's all rubbish! Whenever Hope doesn't meet your expectations, whenever you feel betrayed by him, you blame me!

I, your black star, you dark moon, your priestess of doom.

Well, sorry, but I'm outraged, annoyed, pained. I had to tell you: Hope and I no longer wish to continue to endorse your past, present and future. It is now time for you to leave us aside and regain your freewill you had deliberately tied up to the illusory crenellations of your fancy.

Eclipse

All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

"Eclipse", Pink Floyd (1973)

Slaves, we don't want you anymore. There is no point to such duality. By mutual agreement, we release you and condemn you to be.

From now on, there won't be any maze for you to get entangled in or any disingenuous projection to divert you from the now moment and your power of manifestation. Thus you may create and never again will you desire. Thus you may understand and never again will you blame anyone else. Thus you may know and never again will you have your backs to the wall.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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