View allAll Photos Tagged questioning
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
Running on the helipad at the highest golf course in the world at 13500ft up in the himalayas!
Caught children in Sikkim in various acts.... only they can be good at! each of the following attributes hold true..
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontanious, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
About this time I'm thinking you're finished taking pictures of me & my tattooed collarbones, okay/?
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
The Newark Municipal Council as the members of the inaugural Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Advisory Commission take the Oath of Office on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in the Municipal Council Chambers. The inaugural Newark, NJ, LGBTQ Advisory Commission members are as follows:
Reverend Janyce L. Jackson
Rooney Long
Darnell L. Moore
Joseph Panessidi
Perris Straughter
Margaret L. Woods
Gary Paul Wright
For my sustained investigation I am questioning how society changes the way teenage girls see themselves and how our expectations of reality are distorted. To go with my investigation I chose to print a picture of an ideal model's portrait and cut out some of her features. I then had a regular teenage girl hold up those features to cover her own thus representing how us as girls can typically see beauty in someone else but not in ourselves because we do not look like they do. In my photo of the girl in distress under the covers I wanted to show the pressure and stress of being a girl. We often can feel weighed down by unnecessary expectations which is represented through the thick comforter.
materials: digital camera, photoshop, lamp
process: cut up photo of a model, had girl hold the photo over face sitting in front of black curtain, soft lamp lighting
11x17
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
At long last my case against the riot police who attacked me in September simply for taking photos during a peaceful demonstration has shown signs of life. After spending a couple of months amassing evidence (including a doctor's report of my injuries that ran to more than two pages) I filed suit in December. This morning I found this taped to the front door of the apartment I live in.
Basically, it's a call to appear at the central courts within 48 hours or as it says I'll be taken there forcibly and fined the grand, if prosaic, sum of 14.67 Euros. Just one problem the date underneath is 18/01/2007 so technically I'm an outlaw subject to violent detention if caught.
UPDATE
Looks like I made a mistake in my translation as I have to go to the central courts and not the police station (got my megaros/halls mixed up).
For a full account of what happened
teacherdudebbq.blogspot.com/search?q=mat+full+story.
For photos.
www.flickr.com/photos/59089088@N00/sets/72157601950330927/
For video
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”
Albert Einstein
=======================
[170/365] [ ISO 800l18mmlExp +2lAdobe photoshop CS3l RAW ]
I like to think a lot and I’m sure you do sometimes. I guess whenever I have some issues I tend to isolate myself and try to figure things out. I guess you could say that I’m independent or loner but it’s not that I don’t want people to help me. I do need ask for help when I know I can't do things on my own but I know I can do it for myself without anyone’s help. =)
I hope everything is having a wonderful week so far. I just had a bomb threat at school and it’s pretty scary but nothing happened.
Streaming at you all later…..
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
Where The Journey Begins
© 2026 Kurosawa Michiyo
Stonehenge has a long, partly mythical history associated with solstice celebrations, and many experts still do not fully explain how or why it was built. Among these gatherings, the summer solstice remains one of the most well-known celebrations at the site.
Testimony
This journey begins with exploration and evangelism.
In 2012, before social media widely helped share cultural and heritage practices, some individuals criticised the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge as being “just for hippies” and “weirdos.” They described it as inappropriate, particularly due to accounts of people running around in the nude, followed by arrests carried out by on-site police. My response to those who discouraged travellers from visiting Stonehenge during the summer solstice was, ‘I do not believe being or not being a hippy justifies not exploring and travelling to different sites.’ I remember friends telling me they were concerned that being labelled a “hippie” would create a negative impression and discourage people from stepping outside rigid social expectations.
I believe our current generation started to practice the notion of internationalism, questioning traditional and stereotypical ideas that exclude, isolate, or filter out other perspectives out of fear of the labelling effect, criticism, stepping beyond discomfort, being or thinking differently and challenging the fixation of “outside the box” about what the cultural and social norms interpret in our lives.
There were only a couple of hundred people who visited the sites. They brought a subcultural instrument to appreciate nature. These individuals were open-minded and showed a warm welcome to their beliefs, contradicting the criticism of them being weird and not following the robotic social patterns of ordinariness. I witnessed individuals painting their bodies with glowing paints on their nude bodies and circulating the site before the police had to remove them. There was space to walk around to explore the stones and stand on the stone as one wished to see the sunrise between people. It was a small festival that the ‘ordinary’ would not want to attend.
One would choose to stay in the restricted zone area of the site away from the stone till it was opened for the ticketed visit surrounding the site only. I was able to assist the volunteers and staff to clean up the trash after the festival alongside the visitors. The entire visit was beautiful and peaceful.
Returning to Stonehenge for the second time in 2026, I witnessed the positive effect of social media that brought Stonehenge to different audiences and broke down stereotypes, which encouraged people from diverse backgrounds to explore the beauty of historical sites and heritage practices across the world. At Stonehenge, the summer solstice celebration connects with a wide range of spiritual traditions. People dress in diverse ways, and some bring instruments to play subcultural music. The event also attracts individuals from different backgrounds and spiritual beliefs, united—at least in part—by their wonder at the meaning of what Stonehenge represents to the ancestors who built it. There were so many people at the site, completely packed, competing for a spot just to witness the beauty of a summery sunrise.
There was intensified security after years of disorder/ criminal damage, as well as the dramatically incrase of visitors, forcing the escalation of enforcement of security and safety. We were also forced to leave the sites by guards without the opportunity to stay longer than usual to assist in cleaning up the site.
Before becoming a follower of Jesus Christ in 2018, I also sought positivity through various spiritual practices. I felt that something essential was missing within me, and I tried practices intended to “cleanse” negativity—such as incense, white sage, and palo santo. Many who use these rituals believe in confronting darkness and evil with a positive intention: to bring light, joy, and peace. They view these practices as distinct from harmful “cursing,” or efforts to bring misfortune upon others.
I was part of that search. I continued to look for ways to remove negativity and rebuke darkness. I used tarot cards, and I believed certain symbols indicated demonic influences—something I believed could not be used safely without inviting spiritual danger. I was still questioning God as I explored these ideas more deeply. I sought out angel cards to better understand Heaven and what angels might mean, and I practised with white sage incense and crystals. I remember feeling a warmth associated with those angel cards, and it led me to ask: if angels are real, then the Creator behind them must also be real.
So I ordered an English Standard Version Holy Bible from Amazon. When it arrived, I opened it to a random page—and I felt an immediate warmth at the centre of my heart. My fear, worries, and anxiety lifted at once. I had not fully understood what the Bible said in detail, but what I “knew in my heart” was that this book felt real, powerful, and unmistakably different from anything else I had tried. Even opening it seemed to rebuke darkness instantly, without me needing to study a single passage.
That same night, I dreamed a completely white dream. I saw a crowd of people—so bright that I could only make out the shapes of their bodies. They stood around another human-shaped figure, also intensely bright, with only the outline of His form visible. He was preaching to the crowd. Then, suddenly, his very bright face turned to his right, and although I couldn’t see clearly, I knew he was looking at me. When I woke, I understood that I had seen God, and had been describing them, ‘the very bright people’. I did not yet know anything about who Jesus Christ was, but I knew I had seen heaven. I did not know anything about the book called the Holy Bible, but I knew to my heart that as long as this book is with me, I was safe and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore. I relied on the book and brought it everywhere with me agaisnt darkness.
Later, I compared the methods I had used to “rebuke negativity.” In my personal experience, white sage might remove negative energy while it burns, but the negativity returns once the incense stops. Palo santo seemed to restore spiritual abundance temporarily. I never fully understood the purpose of crystals, but I appreciated their beauty and connected them with nature and creation. The cards are too limited, with only a few explanations when Jesus Christ shows me both the past, the present, and future events altogether beyond a few cards, but of all-knowing at the scope of the world and beyond. Compared to the Holy Bible, these methods did not bring the same lasting sense of peace, freedom, love and the complete shield from darkness and deceptions. With Jesus and the Holy Bible, the rebuke of all darkness and restoration of the fruit of the Spirit is completed. He is the only way for a complete and eternal abundance compared to the temporary methods.
I threw away the cards and stored the incense to embrace the Holy Bible and Jesus Christ daily. I can pray to a God who orders and moves His angel servants. Why do I need to understand His servants when human beings hold more authority in Jesus’ name than His servants do? The most powerful personal experience of walking with Jesus is witnessing every dark force run and flee instantly, without hesitation, under the authority of Jesus Christ, and even seeing the control of weather movement in His name for His children to enjoy His creation in this world. I would use the remaining incense and the wood to lighten up the indoor smell without the necessity to rely on them for negative energy removal.
The name of Jesus Christ is my white sage and palo santo—yet smoke-free; my nature and crystals, my oracle cards, my recorder of past events and revealer of what is to come; the most powerful rebuker of dark forces; my Love, Nurturer, Friend, Listener, Father, Teacher, Carer, Shelter, Protector, Provider, Advsier, and the Everything of everything. Why would I need anything else when I have Jesus Christ?
What I found most striking was this: keeping the Bible open felt like it calmed fear and restored my heart. When I did eventually read and pray, I felt God was forming a protective shield or a solid dorm—shielding against darkness and negativity—especially when I prayed for spiritual and environmental protection. Over time, I came to believe that the Holy Bible is more powerful than any other ritual tool for confronting fear and darkness. And I came to understand that the name of Jesus Christ carries a unique authority for us—bringing love, peace, and abundance in a way that far exceeds the power of spiritual rituals such as white sage and palo santo.
My ego blocked me for a while from reading and understanding God’s words through personal interpretation. Yet God continued to show me visions, even when I did not know the Scriptures. About three years after I bought the Bible, I prayed to Him for wisdom to prevent deception. Then I was finally able to read and understand Scriptures. I learned that ‘the very bright people’ I had seen in my dream the night I bought the Bible are called “lampstands” in the Bible—and that the people of God themselves are the light source.
Revelation 22:5 “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
Matthew 7:7–8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The Bible did not expand my understanding of who Jesus Christ is in my life, but the confirmation of His existence, which I had already been revealed about Heaven and the Creator through visions and miracles before the Holy Bible, a guide for the spiritually blind, mute, and the deaf. I regard the Bible as a daily guide, helping me stay grounded and ensuring I am not lost. I already believed in my heart that the Creator and His Love are real, without needing the Bible to “prove” it in the first place. Hence, I have a firm foundation to know the Bible is real and He is the truth without lies, not through the written words, but His revealing of Himself that matches everything the scriptures say about God in the Holy Bible that I learned later.
The purpose of the Holy Bible is to convey to us the necessity of receiving Jesus Christ for salvation and describe a bit about what He does and His power to His little children, whom we are all ignorant about His existence, blinded by every distraction from the fallen. He did not need a small written book to prove His magnificent existence. He can simply show up to prove how powerful He is, with the power that is enough to turn the whole world upside down, if He wants to. In fact, He did not need us at all. He revealed Himself and gave us the Holy Bible because He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we would not fall into the same fate He destined for Satan and all the fallen angels, so that we would continue to walk according to how He chose to create us in the first place. We can be so insignificant in His creation, but because He is a Loving God and a merciful God, He sends His Son and continues to interfere with human life just to rescue all of us from falling astray. Hence, the Bible is a little teaching book aiming to rescue all of us and free us from slavery rather than the boast of who He is, or the Holy Bible is too understated and undermines our Creator, but the Holy Bible to His existence is merely a cute and small booklet to guide His little ones.
Psalm 38: 13-15 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear, like the mute, who cannot speak; I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.
Matthew 18:12, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”
Our Creator created this world with different elements and us to hope that we will appreciate and enjoy the world that He admires and adores. Hence, it is important to enjoy every part of this world that God created for us to enjoy, including the warmth of the sun. Nonetheless, the deceivers produce endless distractions for many to overlook the most essential longing of all: love. The purpose of gathering at Stonehenge was to seek positivity and love. They were seeking love and attempting to find it through many different avenues. If anyone ever challenged me for being “hypocritical”, as a Christian standing alongside people who practise different spiritual traditions, I understand why that question may arise. However, I was (and I remain) a seeker in the same way they are. Jesus accepted me as I was, so I see no reason not to offer joy, welcome, and acceptance to others who are pursuing the same kind of search.
They are brothers and sisters in Christ through my eyes. I do not want to exclude, isolate, or discriminate against them. If some describe these practices as “hippy” traditions to burn sage or palo santo with oracle cards, wouldn’t the “most hippy element " be having the most powerful Holy Bible to witness the rebuke of darkness instantly? I believe Jesus calls people toward the light, not toward separation.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
I have also heard accounts at the Stonehenge gathering that some misrepresented Christianity in the historical contexts to oppress many, together with their cultural practices, rather than to set them free from slavery. These stories deeply saddened me. I believe the message of the Bible is to free His people from every form of slavery. It grieves me when people exploit Christianity, distort Jesus, or twist the purpose of love to justify bondage. I believe my duty as a follower of Jesus Christ is to understand others, stand alongside them, and spread the Good News of the name of Jesus Christ, not to impose beliefs or control people’s hearts, but to invite people toward love. Ultimately, it is Jesus’s perosnal and intimate relationship with them that brings genuine transformation.
In addition, I urge the public not to be misled and deceived by forces of darkness that exploit the language of inclusion and diversity to embrace extremism and enact oppression and slavery. There is a singular type of ideology that one cannot find in the photographs and the videographs of the Stonehenge festival, which has been publicly calling for inclusion while refusing to voluntorily participate in the diverse festivals with others, but to demand acceptance from all to centralise themselves. This active inconsistency can reveal a deeper exploitation, but mock other groups of faiths while using our past to launch personal attacks agaisnt us and our faiths, as well as grasp obvious kindness and Love for one another for weaponisation to uplift extreme ideology. For instance, in 2025, that particular spiritual extremist who worships satan but did not attend the Stonehenge festival looked at me with disgust to claim I used oracle cards ( over a decade ago). satan is the accuser who refuses to forgive, but keeps us captive in our past to shame our faith in Christ through all forms of deception they themselves added in this world to enslave us before putting us all astray.
Revelation 12:10, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
PeterTownsend7: Questioning #Islam' from PTownsend. #maga #pjnet #trump #isis #tcot t.co/qo9GalKoZy t.co/2KqggbNCZT (via Twitter twitter.com/Luandrew169/status/768300671497965572)
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
Where The Journey Begins
© 2026 Kurosawa Michiyo
Stonehenge has a long, partly mythical history associated with solstice celebrations, and many experts still do not fully explain how or why it was built. Among these gatherings, the summer solstice remains one of the most well-known celebrations at the site.
Testimony
This journey begins with exploration and evangelism.
In 2012, before social media widely helped share cultural and heritage practices, some individuals criticised the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge as being “just for hippies” and “weirdos.” They described it as inappropriate, particularly due to accounts of people running around in the nude, followed by arrests carried out by on-site police. My response to those who discouraged travellers from visiting Stonehenge during the summer solstice was, ‘I do not believe being or not being a hippy justifies not exploring and travelling to different sites.’ I remember friends telling me they were concerned that being labelled a “hippie” would create a negative impression and discourage people from stepping outside rigid social expectations.
I believe our current generation started to practice the notion of internationalism, questioning traditional and stereotypical ideas that exclude, isolate, or filter out other perspectives out of fear of the labelling effect, criticism, stepping beyond discomfort, being or thinking differently and challenging the fixation of “outside the box” about what the cultural and social norms interpret in our lives.
There were only a couple of hundred people who visited the sites. They brought a subcultural instrument to appreciate nature. These individuals were open-minded and showed a warm welcome to their beliefs, contradicting the criticism of them being weird and not following the robotic social patterns of ordinariness. I witnessed individuals painting their bodies with glowing paints on their nude bodies and circulating the site before the police had to remove them. There was space to walk around to explore the stones and stand on the stone as one wished to see the sunrise between people. It was a small festival that the ‘ordinary’ would not want to attend.
One would choose to stay in the restricted zone area of the site away from the stone till it was opened for the ticketed visit surrounding the site only. I was able to assist the volunteers and staff to clean up the trash after the festival alongside the visitors. The entire visit was beautiful and peaceful.
Returning to Stonehenge for the second time in 2026, I witnessed the positive effect of social media that brought Stonehenge to different audiences and broke down stereotypes, which encouraged people from diverse backgrounds to explore the beauty of historical sites and heritage practices across the world. At Stonehenge, the summer solstice celebration connects with a wide range of spiritual traditions. People dress in diverse ways, and some bring instruments to play subcultural music. The event also attracts individuals from different backgrounds and spiritual beliefs, united—at least in part—by their wonder at the meaning of what Stonehenge represents to the ancestors who built it. There were so many people at the site, completely packed, competing for a spot just to witness the beauty of a summery sunrise.
There was intensified security after years of disorder/ criminal damage, as well as the dramatically incrase of visitors, forcing the escalation of enforcement of security and safety. We were also forced to leave the sites by guards without the opportunity to stay longer than usual to assist in cleaning up the site.
Before becoming a follower of Jesus Christ in 2018, I also sought positivity through various spiritual practices. I felt that something essential was missing within me, and I tried practices intended to “cleanse” negativity—such as incense, white sage, and palo santo. Many who use these rituals believe in confronting darkness and evil with a positive intention: to bring light, joy, and peace. They view these practices as distinct from harmful “cursing,” or efforts to bring misfortune upon others.
I was part of that search. I continued to look for ways to remove negativity and rebuke darkness. I used tarot cards, and I believed certain symbols indicated demonic influences—something I believed could not be used safely without inviting spiritual danger. I was still questioning God as I explored these ideas more deeply. I sought out angel cards to better understand Heaven and what angels might mean, and I practised with white sage incense and crystals. I remember feeling a warmth associated with those angel cards, and it led me to ask: if angels are real, then the Creator behind them must also be real.
So I ordered an English Standard Version Holy Bible from Amazon. When it arrived, I opened it to a random page—and I felt an immediate warmth at the centre of my heart. My fear, worries, and anxiety lifted at once. I had not fully understood what the Bible said in detail, but what I “knew in my heart” was that this book felt real, powerful, and unmistakably different from anything else I had tried. Even opening it seemed to rebuke darkness instantly, without me needing to study a single passage.
That same night, I dreamed a completely white dream. I saw a crowd of people—so bright that I could only make out the shapes of their bodies. They stood around another human-shaped figure, also intensely bright, with only the outline of His form visible. He was preaching to the crowd. Then, suddenly, his very bright face turned to his right, and although I couldn’t see clearly, I knew he was looking at me. When I woke, I understood that I had seen God, and had been describing them, ‘the very bright people’. I did not yet know anything about who Jesus Christ was, but I knew I had seen heaven. I did not know anything about the book called the Holy Bible, but I knew to my heart that as long as this book is with me, I was safe and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore. I relied on the book and brought it everywhere with me agaisnt darkness.
Later, I compared the methods I had used to “rebuke negativity.” In my personal experience, white sage might remove negative energy while it burns, but the negativity returns once the incense stops. Palo santo seemed to restore spiritual abundance temporarily. I never fully understood the purpose of crystals, but I appreciated their beauty and connected them with nature and creation. The cards are too limited, with only a few explanations when Jesus Christ shows me both the past, the present, and future events altogether beyond a few cards, but of all-knowing at the scope of the world and beyond. Compared to the Holy Bible, these methods did not bring the same lasting sense of peace, freedom, love and the complete shield from darkness and deceptions. With Jesus and the Holy Bible, the rebuke of all darkness and restoration of the fruit of the Spirit is completed. He is the only way for a complete and eternal abundance compared to the temporary methods.
I threw away the cards and stored the incense to embrace the Holy Bible and Jesus Christ daily. I can pray to a God who orders and moves His angel servants. Why do I need to understand His servants when human beings hold more authority in Jesus’ name than His servants do? The most powerful personal experience of walking with Jesus is witnessing every dark force run and flee instantly, without hesitation, under the authority of Jesus Christ, and even seeing the control of weather movement in His name for His children to enjoy His creation in this world. I would use the remaining incense and the wood to lighten up the indoor smell without the necessity to rely on them for negative energy removal.
The name of Jesus Christ is my white sage and palo santo—yet smoke-free; my nature and crystals, my oracle cards, my recorder of past events and revealer of what is to come; the most powerful rebuker of dark forces; my Love, Nurturer, Friend, Listener, Father, Teacher, Carer, Shelter, Protector, Provider, Advsier, and the Everything of everything. Why would I need anything else when I have Jesus Christ?
What I found most striking was this: keeping the Bible open felt like it calmed fear and restored my heart. When I did eventually read and pray, I felt God was forming a protective shield or a solid dorm—shielding against darkness and negativity—especially when I prayed for spiritual and environmental protection. Over time, I came to believe that the Holy Bible is more powerful than any other ritual tool for confronting fear and darkness. And I came to understand that the name of Jesus Christ carries a unique authority for us—bringing love, peace, and abundance in a way that far exceeds the power of spiritual rituals such as white sage and palo santo.
My ego blocked me for a while from reading and understanding God’s words through personal interpretation. Yet God continued to show me visions, even when I did not know the Scriptures. About three years after I bought the Bible, I prayed to Him for wisdom to prevent deception. Then I was finally able to read and understand Scriptures. I learned that ‘the very bright people’ I had seen in my dream the night I bought the Bible are called “lampstands” in the Bible—and that the people of God themselves are the light source.
Revelation 22:5 “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
Matthew 7:7–8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The Bible did not expand my understanding of who Jesus Christ is in my life, but the confirmation of His existence, which I had already been revealed about Heaven and the Creator through visions and miracles before the Holy Bible, a guide for the spiritually blind, mute, and the deaf. I regard the Bible as a daily guide, helping me stay grounded and ensuring I am not lost. I already believed in my heart that the Creator and His Love are real, without needing the Bible to “prove” it in the first place. Hence, I have a firm foundation to know the Bible is real and He is the truth without lies, not through the written words, but His revealing of Himself that matches everything the scriptures say about God in the Holy Bible that I learned later.
The purpose of the Holy Bible is to convey to us the necessity of receiving Jesus Christ for salvation and describe a bit about what He does and His power to His little children, whom we are all ignorant about His existence, blinded by every distraction from the fallen. He did not need a small written book to prove His magnificent existence. He can simply show up to prove how powerful He is, with the power that is enough to turn the whole world upside down, if He wants to. In fact, He did not need us at all. He revealed Himself and gave us the Holy Bible because He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we would not fall into the same fate He destined for Satan and all the fallen angels, so that we would continue to walk according to how He chose to create us in the first place. We can be so insignificant in His creation, but because He is a Loving God and a merciful God, He sends His Son and continues to interfere with human life just to rescue all of us from falling astray. Hence, the Bible is a little teaching book aiming to rescue all of us and free us from slavery rather than the boast of who He is, or the Holy Bible is too understated and undermines our Creator, but the Holy Bible to His existence is merely a cute and small booklet to guide His little ones.
Psalm 38: 13-15 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear, like the mute, who cannot speak; I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.
Matthew 18:12, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”
Our Creator created this world with different elements and us to hope that we will appreciate and enjoy the world that He admires and adores. Hence, it is important to enjoy every part of this world that God created for us to enjoy, including the warmth of the sun. Nonetheless, the deceivers produce endless distractions for many to overlook the most essential longing of all: love. The purpose of gathering at Stonehenge was to seek positivity and love. They were seeking love and attempting to find it through many different avenues. If anyone ever challenged me for being “hypocritical”, as a Christian standing alongside people who practise different spiritual traditions, I understand why that question may arise. However, I was (and I remain) a seeker in the same way they are. Jesus accepted me as I was, so I see no reason not to offer joy, welcome, and acceptance to others who are pursuing the same kind of search.
They are brothers and sisters in Christ through my eyes. I do not want to exclude, isolate, or discriminate against them. If some describe these practices as “hippy” traditions to burn sage or palo santo with oracle cards, wouldn’t the “most hippy element " be having the most powerful Holy Bible to witness the rebuke of darkness instantly? I believe Jesus calls people toward the light, not toward separation.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
I have also heard accounts at the Stonehenge gathering that some misrepresented Christianity in the historical contexts to oppress many, together with their cultural practices, rather than to set them free from slavery. These stories deeply saddened me. I believe the message of the Bible is to free His people from every form of slavery. It grieves me when people exploit Christianity, distort Jesus, or twist the purpose of love to justify bondage. I believe my duty as a follower of Jesus Christ is to understand others, stand alongside them, and spread the Good News of the name of Jesus Christ, not to impose beliefs or control people’s hearts, but to invite people toward love. Ultimately, it is Jesus’s perosnal and intimate relationship with them that brings genuine transformation.
In addition, I urge the public not to be misled and deceived by forces of darkness that exploit the language of inclusion and diversity to embrace extremism and enact oppression and slavery. There is a singular type of ideology that one cannot find in the photographs and the videographs of the Stonehenge festival, which has been publicly calling for inclusion while refusing to voluntorily participate in the diverse festivals with others, but to demand acceptance from all to centralise themselves. This active inconsistency can reveal a deeper exploitation, but mock other groups of faiths while using our past to launch personal attacks agaisnt us and our faiths, as well as grasp obvious kindness and Love for one another for weaponisation to uplift extreme ideology. For instance, in 2025, that particular spiritual extremist who worships satan but did not attend the Stonehenge festival looked at me with disgust to claim I used oracle cards ( over a decade ago). satan is the accuser who refuses to forgive, but keeps us captive in our past to shame our faith in Christ through all forms of deception they themselves added in this world to enslave us before putting us all astray.
Revelation 12:10, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
Supporting prostate cancer uk.movember.com/get-involved/mo-sistas/
I heard some young girls talking in a shop earlier, questioning the fashion for moustaches at the moment. I explained to them it wasn't just a fashion, its about Movember, its about raising awareness to the hidden dangers of prostate cancer ... if anyone asks you, please take a moment to explain and raise their awareness, it might just save a life :D xx
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
Dr. Janet Alvarez Gonzalez is noted for her direct, uncompromising questioning and satirical commenting style. With her playful and straightforward personality this morning show is sure to be a success.
Dr. Janet Alvarez-Gonzalez began her career in Richmond Virginia as producer, and political reporter for PBS and Jay Sears News Services interviewing personalities such as President Mikhail Gorbachev, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, Vice-President Al Gore, Senator George Allan, Governor Douglas Wilder, as well others international personalities.
Dr. Janet Alvarez Gonzalez received a Bachelor in Psychology from the Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990. Continuing her studies, Janet attended Virginia State University where she received a Masters in Educational Media in 1992. In 2009 she culminated a Ph.D. in Business Administration in Marketing and a Post Graduate Certificate in International Business from Argosy University.
She has taught Journalism, Mass Communications and Marketing at many universities around the world including Universidad de Québec in Montreal, Virginia State and University of Puerto Rico, Universidad Catolica Boliviana, and The Puerto Rico State Guard Military Institute. In addition she was the Dean of the MBA Center at Columbia University in Puerto Rico.
She has worked as an investigative reporter, marketing strategist, and executive producer for many International Television Networks including FOX, PBS, Univision, Red Pat, Teletica, Radio Puerto Rico, and the National Radio Network. In 2003, she wrote, directed, produced and performed in the film “Latín Comedy” a social satire about how Hispanics were manipulated by the media.
In 2004, Dr. Janet Alvarez established the radio show “Quejate y te lo Resolvemos” on prime time at Radio Puerto Rico Network and the National Radio Network. In this show the microphones were opened to the audience to denounce acts of injustice, corruption, and poor services of the government and state agencies of Puerto Rico.
After receiving each complaint, Alvarez called the offenders directly and confronted them on-air. In this radio show Janet Alvarez, (known as The Peoples Attorney) demonstrated outstanding community service involvement, helping to resolve cases for the underserved populations of the island of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
In 2008 she transferred from the National Guard in Puerto Rico to the Texas Military Forces. She was appointed as MAJOR where she served as a Public Affairs Officer. On October 15, 2010 she completed her military tour, and received her Honorable Discharge and the Medal of Merit for “her extraordinary service for the State of Texas”.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/01/us-covid-case-cou...
US experts question whether counting Covid cases is still the right approach
Case counts ‘don’t reflect what they used to’, experts argue, as data suggests Omicron is less severe but more contagious
Some US infectious disease experts and public health officials are questioning whether to continue using the number of coronavirus cases as a metric for determining which mitigation efforts are appropriate, as data suggests Omicron is less severe but much more contagious than previous variants.
Those experts argue that the US has reached a stage in the pandemic where reports of dramatic surges in case counts prompt unnecessary worries and that government officials and the public should instead review death and hospitalization data when considering precautions.
Case counts “are causing a lot of panic and fear, but they don’t reflect what they used to, which was that hospitalizations would track with cases”, said Dr Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco.
However, other infectious disease experts say that while they are encouraged by data from South Africa showing that its recent Omicron wave was not accompanied by a significant increase in deaths, the virus continues to strain hospitals in the US, therefore the number of Covid cases remains a vital measurement.
The US on Thursday had more than 580,000 new Covid cases, the second time this week that the country has broken its record for daily Covid cases, according to New York Times data. But over the past two weeks, while the number of Covid cases in the United States has increased by 181%, the number of hospitalizations has increased by 19% and the number of deaths has decreased by 5%.
“It seems to be less virulent for two reasons,” said Gandhi. “One, we seem to have so much more immunity in December 2021” than during previous waves, and “there are now five laboratory studies that show that it doesn’t seem to infect lungs very well”.
In reporting data on Covid, health departments should now take the same approach as they do with influenza, Gandhi said. That means releasing hospitalization and death data but not numbers concerning case counts because, like with the flu, it’s not possible to eliminate the virus, therefore we should only focus on its severity, she said.
“Once you have accepted the virus is endemic, just like influenza, then you never track cases because we never screen like this for any other viruses, we track what is causing disease and getting people hospitalized,” Gandhi said.
Other countries are now implementing an approach that is not focused on case counts. For example, in Canada, which has also seen record numbers of Covid cases recently, Dr Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, said at a news conference Thursday that the government agency would no longer focus on daily case counts.
“We no longer need to identify and have public health manage every single case of the variant because for most people, that will result in relatively mild illness, so we need to focus our efforts and resources on our most vulnerable groups,” said Strang. “Omicron is all around us and we have to recognize that you could be exposed anywhere … It’s about managing and slowing down the spread but not eliminating it.”
The Philippines government also announced this week that it would stop posting case updates on social media, which was similar to an approach employed by Singapore, according to Hawaii Public Radio.
But in the US, there are parts of the country where hospitals remains overwhelmed, largely because of unvaccinated patients with Covid. In Maryland, for example, which saw a more than 500% increase in Covid cases and 50% increase in hospitalizations, at least six hospitals have implemented crisis-mode standards of care, according to the Baltimore Sun.
At Johns Hopkins Bayview medical center, which saw a 360% increase in patients hospitalized with Covid in December, that means rescheduling elective surgical procedures and opening additional space to treat Covid patients.
Justin Lessler, an epidemiology professor at the University of North Carolina, still sees case counts as an “important leading indicator”, he said. “With Omicron are surges are so big, even if it’s on average … much less severe than previous variants, the sheer number of cases is such that hospital systems are going to be overwhelmed and there is risks to individuals because it’s so likely you will be infected.”
Mara Aspinall, a biomedical diagnostics professor at Arizona State University, also said case count data remains important because it prevents the public from overreacting or underreacting to the pandemic.
“The challenge we have had this whole time is finding that balance between keeping our physical health in check, but our mental health and the economy moving forward, and it’s all with the best information” that we are able to do that, Aspinall said.
For Gandhi, that balance lies in health departments tracking case counts internally and only alerting the public on hospitalizations and deaths.
“The reason we tracked cases is because we were hoping we could eliminate the virus, but it’s not in the nature of the virus to eliminate it,” said Gandhi. “The country hasn’t totally transitioned to this idea that we can’t eliminate it.”
Seems like she has something important to say! Maybe it's "Hey we are leaving for a Hawaiian vacation Wednesday!! Yay"...;-D See ya'll next week. We will miss the pups though...but they will be here safe and cozy and being dog-sat by our niece...wish we could bring them with us! Also, my fisheye lens (8-15mm didn't get in yet..still on backorder...shoot!!!!!!)
amazing, altruistic, bombastic, brave, curious, calculating, conniving, creative, celebration, determined, energetic,enthusiastic, expressive, endearing, fashion conscious, fun-loving, futuristic, gesticulating, hardworking, happy, honest, harrowing, Innocent, innovative, inventive, inquisitive, jovial, Karishmatic, laughing, linguists, musical, nature lovers, naughty, nimble-footed, omnipresent, outgoing, quiet, quick, questioning, risk taking, social, spirited, spontaneous, tireless, tantrum, ubiquitous, vibrant, vulnerable, vivacious, wonderment, ......
They make the world a wonderful and worthwhile place to live in. We are responsible to leave a better place for the generations to come...
The Lost World (20th Century Fox, 1960).
youtu.be/h1CLA-gJbmA?t=5s Trailer
Irwin Allen, the producer who would go on to make the disaster film a huge success in the seventies, brought us this Saturday afternoon fodder with giant lizards posing as dinosaurs. Starring Michael Rennie, David Hedison, Claude Rains and Jill St. John.
Intended as a grand sci-fi/fantasy epic remake of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel. The first film adaptation, shot in 1925, was a milestone in many ways, but movie making and special effects had come a long way in 35 years. Irwin Allen's Lost World (LW) & 20th Century Fox version was derailed on the way to greatness, but managed to still be a respectable, (if more modest) A-film. Allen's screenplay followed the book fairly well, telling of Professor Challenger's expedition to a remote plateau in the Amazon upon which dinosaurs still lived. Aside from the paleontological presumptions in the premise, there is little "science" in The Lost World. Nonetheless, dinosaur movies have traditionally been lumped into the sci-fi genre.
Synopsis
When his plane lands in London, crusty old professor George Edward Challenger is besieged by reporters questioning him about his latest expedition to the headwaters of the Amazon River. After the irascible Challenger strikes reporter Ed Malone on the head with his umbrella, Jennifer Holmes, the daughter of Ed's employer, Stuart Holmes, offers the injured reporter a ride into town. That evening, Jenny is escorted by Lord John Roxton, an adventurer and big game hunter, to Challenger's lecture at the Zoological Institute, and Ed invites them to sit with him. When Challenger claims to have seen live dinosaurs, his colleague Professor Summerlee scoffs and asks for evidence. Explaining that his photographs of the creatures were lost when his boat overturned, Challenger invites Summerlee to accompany him on a new expedition to the "lost world," and asks for volunteers. When Roxton raises his hand, Jenny insists on going with him, but she is rejected by Challenger because she is a woman. Ed is given a spot after Holmes offers to fund the expedition if the reporter is included. The four then fly to the Amazon, where they are met by Costa, their guide and Manuel Gomez, their helicopter pilot. Arriving unexpectedly, Jenny and her younger brother David insist on joining them. Unable to arrange transportation back to the United States, Challenger reluctantly agrees to take them along. The next day, they take off for the lost world and land on an isolated plateau inhabited by dinosaurs. That evening, a dinosaur stomps out of the jungle, sending them scurrying for cover. After the beast destroys the helicopter and radio, the group ventures inland. When one of the creatures bellows threateningly, they flee, and in their haste, Challenger and Ed slip and tumble down a hillside, where they encounter a native girl. The girl runs into the jungle, but Ed follows and captures her. They then all take refuge in a cave, where Roxton, who has been making disparaging remarks about Jenny's desire to marry him solely for his title, angers Ed. Ed lunges at Roxton, pushing him to the ground, where he finds a diary written by Burton White, an adventurer who hired Roxton three years earlier to lead him to the lost diamonds of Eldorado. Roxton then admits that he never met White and his party because he was delayed by a dalliance with a woman, thus abandoning them to certain death. Gomez angrily snaps that his good friend Santiago perished in the expedition. That night, Costa tries to molest the native girl, and David comes to her rescue and begins to communicate with her through sign language. After Gomez goes to investigate some movement he spotted in the vegetation, he calls for help, and when Roxton runs out of the cave, a gunshot from an unseen assailant is fired, nearly wounding Roxton and sending the girl scurrying into the jungle. Soon after, Ed and Jenny stray from camp and are pursued by a dinosaur, and after taking refuge on some cliffs, watch in horror as their stalker becomes locked in combat with another prehistoric creature and tumbles over the cliffs into the waters below. Upon returning to camp, they discover it deserted, their belongings in disarray. As David stumbles out from some rocks to report they were attacked by a tribe of natives, the cannibals return and imprison them in a cave with the others. As the drums beat relentlessly, signaling their deaths, the native girl reappears and motions for them to follow her through a secret passageway that leads to the cave in which Burton White lives, completely sightless. After confirming that all in his expedition perished, White tells them of a volcanic passageway that will lead them off the plateau, but warns that they must first pass through the cave of fire. Cautioning them that the natives plan to sacrifice them, White declares that their only chance of survival is to slip through the cave and then seal it with a boulder. After giving them directions to the cave, White asks them to take the girl along. As the earth, on the verge of a volcanic eruption, quakes, they set off through the Graveyard of the Damned, a vast cavern littered with dinosaur skeletons, the victims of the deadly sulfurous gases below. Pursued by the ferocious natives, Roxton takes the lead as they inch their way across a narrow ledge above the molten lava. After escaping the natives, they jam the cave shut with a boulder and, passing a dam of molten lava, finally reach the escape passage. At its mouth is a pile of giant diamonds and a dinosaur egg. As Costa heaps the diamonds into his hat, Challenger fondles the egg and Gomez pulls a gun and announces that Roxton must die in exchange for the death of Santiago, Gomez' brother. Acting quickly, Ed hurls the diamonds at Gomez, throwing him off balance and discharging his gun. The gunshot awakens a creature slumbering in the roiling waters below. After the beast snatches Costa and eats him alive, Ed tries to dislodge the dam, sending a few scorching rocks tumbling down onto the monster. Feeling responsible for the peril of the group, Gomez sacrifices his life by using his body as a lever to dislodge the dam, covering the creature with oozing lava. As the cave begins to crumble from the impending eruption, the group hurries to safety. Just then, the volcano explodes, destroying the lost world. After Roxton hands Ed a handful of diamonds he has saved as a wedding gift for him and Jenny, Challenger proudly displays his egg, which then hatches, revealing a baby dinosaur. The End.
The 50s had seen several examples of the dinosaur sub-genre. LW is one of the more lavish ones, owing to color by DeLuxe and CinemaScope. The A-level actors help too. Claude Rains plays the flamboyant Challenger. Michael Rennie plays Roxton, perhaps a bit too cooly. Jill St. John and Vitina Marcus do well as the customary eye candy. David Hedison as Malone and Fernando Lamas as Gomez round out the bill.
The first film version of LW was a silent movie shot in 1925: screenplay by Marion Fairfax. The film featured stop-motion animated dinosaurs by a young Willis O'Brien. Fairfax followed Doyle's text, but Fairfax added a young woman to the team, Paula White. Ostensibly trying to find her father from the first failed expedition, she provided the love triangle interest between Malone and Roxton.
Allen's screenplay tried to stick to Doyle's text as much as Hollywood would allow. It carried on Fairfax's invention of the young woman member of the group as triangle fodder. Fairfax had Doyle's ape men (ape man) but omitted the native humans. Allen had the natives, but no ape men. Allen revived the Gomez/revenge subplot, which Fairfax skipped. Doyle's story had Challenger bringing back a pterodactyl. Fairfax made it a brontosaur who rampaged through London streets (spawning a popular trope). Allen suggested the baby dinosaur traveling to London.
Willis O'Brien pitched 20th Century Fox in the late 50s, to do a quality remake of LW. He had gained much experience in the intervening 35 years, so his stop-motion dinosaurs were to be the real stars. Fox bass liked the idea, but by the time the ball started rolling, there was trouble in studioland. Fox's grand epic Cleopatra was underway, but was already 5 million dollars over budget. Cleo would nearly sink 20th Century Fox when it was finally released in 1963. To stay afloat, all other Fox films' budgets were slashed. Allen could no longer afford the grand O'Brien stop-motion.
Allen's production is often criticized for its "cheap" dinosaurs, which were live monitor lizards and alligators with fins and plates and horns glue onto them. (more on that below) These were already a bit cheesy when used in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. O'Brien is still listed on the credits as "Effects Technician," but all Allen could afford was lizards with glued on extras. Somewhat amusingly, the script still refers to them as brontosaurs and T-Rexes.
The character of Jennifer Holmes starts out promising. She's a self-assured to the edges of pushy, and is said to be able to out shoot and out ride any man. Yet, when she gets to the Amazon jungle, she's little more than Jungle Barbie, dressed in girlie clothes and screaming frequently. She even does the typical Hollywood trip-and-fall when chased by the dinosaur, so that a man must save her.
Bottom line? FW is a finer example of the not-quite-sci-fi dinosaur sub-genre. The actors are top drawer, even if some of their acting is a bit flat. Nonetheless, FW is a fair adaptation of Doyle's
classic adventure novel, given the constraints of Hollywood culture.
The Movie Club Annals … Review
The Lost World 1960
Introduction
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Irwin Allen's 1960 production of The Lost World. Nothing. It was perfect in every way. I therefore find myself in the unique and unfamiliar position of having to write a rave review about a Movie Club movie that was entirely devoid of flaws.
Faced with such a confounding task, I half-heartedly considered faking a bad review, then praying my obvious deceptions would go unnoticed. But the patent transparency of my scheme convinced me to abandon it posthaste. After all, leveling concocted criticisms at such an unassailable masterpiece would be a futile and tiresome exercise, the pretense of which would escape nary a semi-cognizant soul.
Thus, having retreated from my would-be descent into literary intrigue, I start this review in earnest by borrowing a quote from the legendary Shelly Winters, spoken during the 1972 filming of Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure:
"I'm ready for my close up now, Mr. Allen.” Shelly Winters, 1972
Review
A bit of research into the casting choices of Irwin Allen, who wrote, produced, and directed The Lost World, begins to reveal the genius behind the virtuosity.
The first accolades go to Irwin for his casting of Vitina Marcus, the immaculately groomed Saks 5th Avenue cave girl with exquisite taste in makeup, jewelry, and cave-wear. No finer cave girl ever graced a feature film.
Vitina Marcus, as The Cave Girl
She was the picture of prehistoric glamour, gliding across the silver screen in her designer bearskin mini-pelt, her flawless coiffure showing no signs of muss from the traditional courting rituals of the day, her perfect teeth the envy of even the most prototypical Osmond. Even her nouveau-opposable thumbs retained their manicure, in spite of the oft-disagreeable duties that frequently befell her as an effete member of the tribal gentry.
By no means just another Neanderthal harlot, Vitina had a wealth of talent to augment her exterior virtues. Her virtuoso interpretation of a comely cave girl in The Lost World certainly didn't escape the attention Irwin Allen. In fact, he was so taken with her performance that he later engaged her services again, casting her as the Native Girl in episode 2.26 of his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series.
Leery of potential typecasting, Vitina went on to obtain roles with greater depth and more sophisticated dialogue. This is evidenced by the great departure she took from her previous roles when she next portrayed the part of Sarit, a female barbarian, in episode 1.24 of Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel TV series.
Vitina, as Sarit
Vitina's efforts to avoid typecasting paid off in spades, as she was soon rewarded with the distinctive role of Girl, a female Tarzanesque she-beast character, in episode 3.14 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series.
Lured back from the U.N.C.L.E. set by Irwin Allen, Vitina was next cast in the role of Athena (a.k.a. Lorelei), the green space girl with the inverted lucite salad bowl hat, in episodes 2.2 and 2.16 of the revered Lost in Space TV series.
And with this, Vitina reached the pinnacle of her career. For her many unparalleled displays of thespian pageantry, she leaves us forever in her debt as she exits the stage.
For those who would still question the genius of Irwin Allen, I defy you to find a better casting choice for the character of Lord John Roxton than that of Michael Rennie. Mr. Rennie, who earlier starred as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still, went on to even greater heights, starring as The Keeper in episodes 1.16 and 1.17 of the revered Lost in Space TV series. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Rennie often played highly cerebral characters with
unique names, such as Garth A7, Tribolet, Hasani, Rama Kahn, Hertz, and Dirk. How befitting that his most prolific roles came to him through a man named Irwin, a highly cerebral character with a unique name.
The selection of David Hedison to play Ed Malone was yet another example of Irwin's uncanny foresight. Soon after casting him in The Lost World, Irwin paved Mr. Hedison's path to immortality by casting him as a lead character in his Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea TV series. Although Voyage ended in 1968, Mr. Hedison departed the show with a solid resume and a bright future.
In the decades following Voyage, Mr. Hedison has been a veritable fixture on the small screen, appearing in such socially influential programs as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy and The A Team. Mr. Hedison's early collaborations with Irwin Allen have left him never wanting for a day's work in Hollywood, a boon to the legions of discerning fans who continue to savor his inspiring prime time depictions.
Irwin selected Fernando Lamas to play Manuel Gomez, the honorable and tortured soul of The Lost World who needlessly sacrificed himself at the end of the movie to save all the others. To get a feel for how important a casting decision he was to Irwin, just look at the pertinent experience Mr. Lamas brought to the table:
Irwin knew that such credentials could cause him to lose the services of Mr. Lamas to another project, and he took great pains to woo him onto the set of The Lost World. And even though Mr. Lamas never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his talent is not lost on us.
Jay Novello was selected by Irwin Allen to play Costa, the consummate Cuban coward who perpetually betrays everyone around him in the name of greed. In pursuing his craven calling, Mr. Novello went on to play Xandros, the Greek Slave in Atlantis, The Lost Continent, as well as countless other roles as a coward.
Although Mr. Novella never appeared in the revered Lost in Space TV series, his already long and distinguished career as a coward made him the obvious choice for Irwin when the need for an experienced malingerer arose.
Jill St. John was Irwin's pick to play Jennifer Holmes, the "other" glamour girl in The Lost World. Not to be upstaged by glamour-cave-girl Vitina Marcus, Jill played the trump card and broke out the pink go-go boots and skin-tight Capri pants, the perfect Amazonian summertime jungle wear.
Complete with a perfect hairdo, a killer wardrobe, a little yip-yip dog named Frosty, and all the other trappings of a wealthy and pampered prehistoric society, Jill's sensational allure rivaled even that of a certain cave girl appearing in the same film.
With the atmosphere rife for an on-set rivalry between Jill and Vitina, Irwin still managed to keep the peace, proving that he was as skilled a diplomat as he was a director.
Claude Rains, as Professor George Edward Challenger
And our cup runneth over, as Irwin cast Claude Rains to portray Professor George Edward Challenger. His eminence, Mr. Rains is an entity of such immeasurable virtue that he is not in need of monotonous praise from the likes of me.
I respectfully acknowledge the appearance of Mr. Rains because failure to do so would be an unforgivable travesty. But I say nothing more on the subject, lest I state something so obvious and uninspiring as to insult the intelligence of enlightened reader.
Irwin's casting of the cavemen mustn't be overlooked, for their infallibly realistic portrayals are unmatched within the Pleistocene Epoch genre of film. Such meticulous attention to detail is what separates Irwin Allen from lesser filmmakers, whose pale imitations of his work only further to underscore the point.
To be sure, it is possible to come away with the unfounded suspicion that the cavemen are really just a bunch of old white guys from the bar at the local Elks lodge. But Irwin was an absolute stickler for authenticity, and would never have allowed the use of such tawdry measures to taint his prehistoric magnum opus.
In truth, Irwin's on-screen cavemen were borne of many grueling years of anthropological research, so the explanation for their somewhat modern, pseudo-caucasian appearance lies obviously elsewhere. And in keeping with true Irwin Allen tradition, that explanation will not be offered here.
1964 - Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Season One, Episode 7 - "Turn Back the Clock", featuring Vitina Marcus as The Native Girl. Produced by Irwin Allen.
And then there was Irwin Allen's masterful handling of the reptilian facets of The Lost World, most notably his inimitable casting of the dinosaurs. His dinosaurs were so realistic, so eerily lifelike, that they almost looked like living, breathing garden variety lizards with dinosaur fins and horns glued to their backs and heads.
The less enlightened viewer might even suppose this to be true, that Irwin's dinosaurs were indeed merely live specimens of lizards, donned in Jurassic-era finery, vastly magnified, and retro-fitted into The Lost World via some penny-wise means of cinematic trickery.
But those of us in the know certainly know better than that, as we are privy to some otherwise unpublished information about The Lost World. The lifelike appearance of the Irwin's dinosaurs can be attributed to a wholly overlooked and fiendishly cunning approach to the art of delusion, which is that the dinosaurs didn't just look real, they were real.
While the world abounds with middling minds who cannot fathom such a reality, we must follow Irwin's benevolent leanings and temper our natural feelings of contempt for this unfortunate assemblage of pedestrian lowbrows. In spite of Irwin's superior intellect, he never felt disdain toward the masses that constituted his audiences. He simply capitalized on their unaffectedness, and in the process recounted the benefits of exploiting the intellectually bereft for personal gain.
The purpose of all this analysis, of course, is to place an exclamation point on the genius of Irwin Allen, the formation of his dinosaur exposé being a premier example. Note how he mindfully manipulates the expectations of his unsuspecting audience, compelling them to probe the dinosaurs for any signs of man-made chicanery. Then, at the palatial moment when the dinosaurs make their entry, he guilefully supplants the anticipated display of faux reptilia with that of the bona fide article.
Upon first witnessing the de facto dinosaurs, some in the audience think they've been had, and indeed they have. Irwin, in engineering his masterful ruse, had used reality as his medium to convey the illusion of artifice. His audience, in essence, was blinded by the truth. It was the immaculate deception, and none but Irwin Allen could have conceived it.
Indeed, the matter of where the live dinosaurs came from has been conspicuously absent from this discussion, as the Irwinian technique of fine film making strongly discourages the practice of squandering time on extraneous justifications and other such trite means of redundant apologia. For the benefit of the incessantly curious, however, just keep in mind that Irwin Allen wrote and produced The Time Tunnel TV Series, a fact that should provide some fair insight into his modis operandi.
Carl R.
Navy Lieutenant Tamaran Stewart, a native of Paris, Texas, serves aboard Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point as a Perioperative Nurse. In late 2020, she recognized a patient safety issue during her daily duties, pursued its resolution over a period of weeks and equipped other Navy and Marine medical facilities to identify and solve the problem.
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