Kites, Kites, Kites: Huntington Beach Pier

Kites dance

Kites dance

Fresh Sand balls

Fresh Sand-balls

The Moon by Day: I’ll be watching you!

The Moon by day:   Newport Beach

Natalie Portman: Movies Year by Year…

Natalie Portman (Photo credit: bigdmia)

Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel.^[9][10][11] She is the only child of Shelley (née Stevens), an American homemaker who works as Portman’s agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli citizen who is a fertility specialist and gynecologist.^[12][13][14] Portman’s maternal ancestors were Jewishimmigrants to the United States, from Austria and Russia (her mother’s family had changed their surname from “Edelstein” to “Stevens”).^[15] Her paternal grandparents were Jews who moved to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather, whose parents died at Auschwitz, was an economics professor in Israel, and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy forBritish Intelligence during World War II.^[16][17][18]

Portman’s parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training.^[14] Portman, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel,^[19] has said that although she “really love[s] the States… my heart’s in Jerusalem. That’s where I feel at home.”^[16]

Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D.C., but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990.^{[4][20][21][22]}

This Day in the Yesteryear: 9-MONTH-OLD MARY STUART IS CROWNED “QUEEN OF SCOTS” (1543)

 

9-Month-Old Mary Stuart Is Crowned “Queen of Scots” (1543)

When King James V of Scotland died in 1542, his two sons had already died in infancy and his only surviving child—a daughter—was just a week old. The infant Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned nine months later in an elaborate coronation at Stirling Castle, where she would spend her early years. Laden with regal robes, the tiny sovereign cried throughout the entire ceremony. Soon thereafter, King Henry VIII of England attacked Scotland in an attempt to force what to happen to Mary?More… Discuss

 

Today’s Birthday: COUNT LEO TOLSTOY (1828)

Count Leo Tolstoy (1828)

Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and philosopher. Considered one of the world’s greatest writers, he is perhaps most famous for his masterpieces, War and Peace, a vast prose epic of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, and Anna Karenina, about the tragedy of a woman’s faith in romantic love. Tolstoy was an anarchist and disapproved of all organizations based on the premise of force, including the government and the church. How many characters are there in War and Peace? More… Discuss

Anna Karenina

books.google.com

Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Wikipedia

Published: 1877 Author: Leo Tolstoy Original language: Russian Genre: Novel Characters: Count Vronsky, Oblonsky, Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, More Adaptations: Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina,Love, Anna Karenina,   More

POPE GETS ELECTRIC CAR

Pope Benedict XVI, who has focused on several environmental issues throughout his papacy, is now even greener thanks to an electric car presented by automaker Renault. During Benedict’s tenure, the Vatican has installed photovoltaic cells on some buildings and has attempted to offset some of its carbon emissions. The pope will now be able to further reduce his carbon footprint by using the car within the grounds of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. The vehicle is not considered a Popemobile, however, and is not customized with bulletproof windows or other security features. More… Discuss

The Roman Limites

A limes—plural limites—was a fortified military road of the Roman Empire. Over time, the term came to be associated with continuous barriers punctuated by watchtowers and forts. In Germany and Raetia, one such limes stretched 345 miles (555 km) along the Roman border. Though not impenetrable, limites deterred raiding parties and allowed the Romans to control communications along frontiers. In some places, they were used to guard caravan routes. What two famous limites were built across Britain? More… Discuss

Quotation: Leonard Cohen – a bard – on ‘Love’

 

“Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah” (from his eclectic song ‘Hallelujah’) 

Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

• Quotation: Leonard Cohen – on Poetry (euzicasa.wordpress.com)

 

Regina Spektor – Chelsea Hotel (Live) -‘Ah, but you got away, didn’t you babe’-

regina spektor – Chelsea Hotel (Live)

Recorded: BBC Radio 1 Session

Lyrics:

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn’t you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you,
I need you, I don’t need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music.”

And then you got away, didn’t you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you,
I need you, I don’t need you
and all of that jiving around.

I don’t mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can’t keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that’s all, I don’t even think of you that often.

Visit Regina at her website to find out what she’s been up to, where she will be taking her piano and her music next: Could be your city? 

Regina Spektor – Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen Cover] (Live) ‘love is not a victory march’

regina spektor – Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen Cover] (Live)

Recorded 13th September 2005 Jewish Heritage Festival

Lyrics:

I heard there was a secret chord 
that David played and it pleased the Lord 
but you don’t really care for music do you 
Well it goes like this the fourth the fifth 
the minor fall and the major lift 
the baffled king composing hallelujah 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof 
You saw her bathing on the roof 
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you 
She tied you to her kitchen chair 
She broke your throne and she cut your hair 
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah. 

Hallelujah,hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 

Baby I’ve been here before 
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor 
You know, I used to live alone before I knew you 
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch 
And love is not a victory march 
It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah 

Hallelujah,hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 

Well there was a time when you let me know 
What’s really going on below 
But now you never show that to me do you 
But remember when I moved in you 
And the Holy dove was moving too 
And every breath we drew was hallelujah 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 

Well maybe there’s a God above 
But all I’ve ever learned from love 
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you 
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night 
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light 
It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah 
Hallelujah

Please visit http://www.reginaspektor.com

Related articles

• Regina Spektor: All The Rowboats (bedsidesign.com)
• Cohen’s “Hallelujah” – How Many Versions and Covers Are There? (markingtime4now.wordpress.com)
• Leonard Cohen’s Melancholy Art (vinylstories.com)
• A Masterwork: “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen (timbrosnan.wordpress.com)
• Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (Cover) (greenandfresh.wordpress.com)
• Regina Spektor Returns To The Greek Theatre (thescenestar.typepad.com)
• H – A – Hallelujah (slacktivist.typepad.com)
• Hallelujah (milenanik.wordpress.com)
• Leonard Cohen’s Rasping Sleaze Captivates Berlin: Review – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Hallelujah (amyrmcadams.com)