Sometimes, you just gotta jump...

and be happy ;)

Support Iranian Struggle for Freedom

CNN has done well in covering the Iran crisis, and this morning they have a report on one of the more interesting and promising subplots — the role of women in the protests. Shoreh Aghdashloo proudly claimed that 40% of the people in the streets were women in a Fox & Friends interview last week, and the infuriating and senseless murder of Neda Agha Soltan has galvanized the movement. CNN reports that the women have taken an interesting and perhaps calming role in the protests, but the latter hasn’t kept them from becoming targets of the regime:
Why have women become such an integral part of the protests? They certainly have the most to gain from a change of government. An end to the mullahcracy would mean opportunity for women, politically as well as culturally, and an end to the morals police that beat them on the streets for not wearing proper covering in public. They might have the most to lose as well, in a reactionary Iran after the failure of protests to rid the country of Khamenei and his Guardian Council.

"posted at 9:28 am on June 22, 2009 by Ed Morrissey in Hot Air"

This is the reason why we all should support Iranians, not for Oil or the "american way of life"...

Life, is like washing machine

FREE IRAN...

A supporter of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi forms a heart shape with her hands, while wearing green ribbons - the color of the party, amidst a festive atmosphere at an election rally rally in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) #

Supporters of the leading reformist Iranian presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, attend an electoral campaign gathering in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) #

My day, 10th June.

1969

1971

D-DAY - 6th June 1944

A Tribute to all Soldiers

Hymn To The Fallen

Band of Brothers - Main Title 'Requiem for a Soldier' Song

OH MY GOD...

"There`s no reason to cry. You just need to be proud of your life."

Blackadder the Third: Stephen Fry as Duke of Wellington LEG

Blackadder : Tell me do you ever stop bullying and shouting at the lower orders?

Wellington : NEVER! There's only one way to win a campaign shout, shout and shout again.

Blackadder : You don't think that inspired leadership and tactical ability have anything to do with it?

Wellington : NO! It's all down to shouting. WAAGGHH !

Jameson Party, cont...

Tks for the pics, Ivo, nice party. Ehhhhhh

Jameson -World Crisis - May 24 -Aula Magna

Great party last night. Good music, free drinks, awesome babes.....

Friday night drink

Duffy - Mercy

...what a blonde...

A Fine Frenzy: You Picked Me Live

...what a beautiful redhead...

Sometimes I just feel like...

an Angel.

Pope recognized Portuguese soldier/saint

Known as "The Constable", Nuno de Santa Maria Alvares Pereira was canonized today 26 April 2009 by the pope. In 1385 he was allied with the English to defeat Spain and the forces of the anti-pope at the Battle of Aljubarrota.

"On April 26 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI canonized a Portuguese national hero who toward the end of his life became a Carmelite monk and served the poor, Nuno de Santa Maria Àlvares Pereira, O. Carm. (1360-1431), the Condestável (“Constable,” meaning General) known in Portugal as “the Father of the Nation.” In the April issue ofInside the Vatican, the Portuguese woman whose blind eye was healed after praying to Blessed Nuno, speaks for the first time on her tragic accident and the moment of her healing. (This and other interviews have been given to the journal because of the writer's friendship with her family.)

Almost a century ago, Pope Benedict XV beatified Nuno (January 23, 1918), and proposed him as a model for the Catholic soldiers then engaged in combat during World War 1. So one Pope Benedict, the 15th, beatified Nuno, and a second, Benedict XVI, will canonize him.

Nuno is considered the founder of the Bragança Royal Family Dynasty of Portugal which ruled from 1640 until 1910. (Nuno’s daughter, Beatriz, married Alfonso, son of John I, whom he helped bring to power, starting the Aviz Dynasty.) The majority of Catholic royal families in Europe and Brazil claim lineage from him, including the recently beatified Charles of Austria, the last Hapsburg Emperor. Queen Isabella of Spain was one of Nuno’s granddaughters.

Nuno even had descendants in the British royal family: Isabella’s daughter (his great-granddaughter) was Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, and her daughter (his great-great-granddaughter) was Queen Mary Tudor. Catherine of Aragon had many miscarriages, a still-born daughter and three short-lived sons before giving birth to Mary. King Henry VIII, desirous of a male hair, sought permission from Pope Clement VII (1523-1534) to annul his marriage to Catherine, but Clement refused, leading Henry to divorce her and break with Rome, beginning the Anglican Church.

Another descendant was Catherine of Bragança, wife of King Charles II (all his children were illegitimate to mistresses) who conversely became a Catholic on his deathbed in 1685.

Blessed Nuno is most highly regarded in his country for masterminding the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. There, Portugal, in concert with England, stopped an invasion by Castile. Both allied nations were then in obedience to Pope Urban VI in Rome, whilst Castile and France followed the Antipope of Avignon, Clement VII (1378-1394).

Nuno fought and won many other battles between 1383 and 1411, and, after peace was established with Castile, Nuno participated in the expedition in 1415 to Ceuta in North Africa, an action that was considered the first European missionary effort.

Equine monuments to him are scattered throughout Portugal and in many former Portuguese overseas colonies. Long before the introduction of the Euro, his effigy was on Portugal’s currency. He was made the 3rd Count of Ourém in 1383, and his main feudal castle was in Ourém, the county where Fátima is located. He believed prayer, penance and commitment to the poor and needy, to be the true calling of nobility and, following the death of his wife, Nuno entered a Carmelite monastery he had established, taking the religious name Friar Nuno of Saint Mary.

He was renowned for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is considered the Founder of the Secular Order because the secular Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, better known as the Confraternity of the Holy Constable, which he founded in Lisbon to support his work with the poor with contributions from its noble members, eventually evolved into the present Carmelite Third Order. This original Confraternity was re-established last year on November 6 (Nuno’s Feast Day) and hopes to be an active branch of the Secular Order providing funds for work with the poor and homeless of Lisbon in remembrance of Dom Nuno. When fighting the Castilians, he was renowned for his fairness to his enemies, and three times crossed the border to feed the peoples in the neighboring kingdom during famines, and to provide for the widows and orphans of the war.

Pope Pius XII was on the verge of canonizing him by decree in 1940, but was dissuaded by Salazar (the leader of Portugal at the time). Blessed Nuno’s cause then remained at a stalemate. The rediscovery of his original grave site in 1996 in Lisbon by archaeologists proved that he had received a burial suitable for the last great knight of medieval Christendom.

John Haffert, co-founder of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, regarded Nuno as the peacemaker who went to war and the precursor of Fátima, and Haffert promoted devotion to Nuno right up until Haffert's death in 2001.

In the USA, the Blessed Nuno Society (www.blessednuno.org) founded in Ourém Castle by Timothy Heinan and Blue Army Protector Bishop Constantino Luna, OFM, was later headquartered in the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota (USA) as a Private Association of the Faithful, continuing to promote devotion to Nuno and, by engaging in works of charity on behalf of orphans and the homeless, being faithful to his example. The association administers orphanage projects in Portugal, Mexico and the Carib bean.

The miracle of canonization took place in the Jubilee Year 2000, when a devotee of Blessed Nuno and volunteer at Ourém Castle, Guilhermina de Jesus, was blinded in her left eye as a result of boiling oil splashing on it, when she was frying some fish and chips. After all medical treatment proved unsuccessful, Guilhermina and her family prayed several novenas to Blessed Nuno, and her sight returned in that blinded eye inexplicably. (She tells the dramatic story of her healing in a world exclusive interview in the current issue of Inside the Vatican.)

On July 3, 2008, alongside a decree of heroic virtue, the Holy Father approved this healing as a miracle obtained through Blessed Nuno’s intercession.

This will be the first canonization of a Portuguese saint since that of St John de Brito, SJ, Jesuit missionary and martyr, in 1947. As a member of the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, it will be the first canonization in this branch of the family since that of St Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi in 1669.

The significance of two Popes named Benedict elevating Nuno to the last two stages of sainthood cannot be overstated. St Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Christian monasticism, from time immemorial has been considered the Father of Christian Europe, and so often Pope Benedict has lamented the continent departing from its Christian roots. The canonization of Nuno is a call to the whole of Europe (not just Portugal) to rediscover its soul, by imitating a man whose Catholic faith shone in both his public and private life.

Nuno’s feast day is obligatory among Carmelites of the Ancient Observance on November 6 (now to be extended to the Universal Church) and optional among the Discalced Carmelites on April 1, who have also a Portuguese cause impending, that of Fatima seer, Sister Lucia dos Santos, whose family had a great devotion to the Condestável.

Having been a Prior of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John (Order of Malta) and Commander of the Minor Religious Military Orders under the observance of the Cistercians of Alcobaça’s rule, such as Saint Benedict of Aviz and Saint Michael of the Wing, Dom Nuno will also be venerated as a Saint or Protector of these Orders.

His official name will be Saint Friar Dom Nuno de Santa Maria Àlvares Pereira, O.Carm, but for the Portuguese he will always be fondly regarded as the Holy Constable or Beato Nuno."

by Andrew Rabel Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bringing light into the darkness

I pray St. Nuno Blesses Portugal

25 A, a dark day in portuguese history.

For 35 years that Portugal is embedded in darkeness, misgovernance, robbery, corruption...

Put an end to this, God save our country...

Lucky - Jason Mraz feat Colbie Caillat (HQ) Official Music Video

Always Look On The Bright Side of Life



Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing life's gristle,
Don't grumble,
Give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistle]
Always look on the light side of life.
[whistle]

If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten,
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps.
Just purse your lips and whistle.
That's the thing.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistle]
Always look on the right side of life,
[whistle]

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin.
Give the audience a grin.
Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow.
So,...

Always look on the bright side of death,
[whistle]
Just before you draw your terminal breath.
[whistle]

Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true.
You'll see it's all a show.
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
Always look on the right side of life.
[whistle]

Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistle]

"Greetings"

" Greetings from the Great Britain its oldest ally" postcard concerning Africa campaings, christmas 1917, from cap. Menezes Ferreira

Portuguese Colonial Empire

Colonial memories

Soldiers of the Queen: A large group of soldiers, posing around a statue of Queen Victoria, with flags to both sides of the statue. The soldiers and officers are dressed in about 80 different regimental uniforms of the British Empire.

"You may be lost, but you are not forgotten. For those who have travelled far, to fight in foreign lands, know that the soldier's greatest comfort is to have his friends close at hand. In the heat of battle it ceases to be an idea for which we fight. Or a flag. Rather we fight for the man on our left, and we fight for the man on our right. And when armies are scattered and the empires fall away, all that remains is the memory of those precious moments that we spent sided by side." Jack Durrance, The Four Feathers, (2002)

...Part 9, and final, censured. :((((((

By Dany

...Part 8...

By Dany

...Part 7...

By Dany

...Part 6...

By Dany

Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden.

"Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou has passed through. Forbearance is the root of quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of the enemy. If thou knowest only whatit is to conquer, and knowest not what it is to be defeated, woe unto thee; it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others."
Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616)

...Part 5...

By Dany

...Part 4...

By Dany

...Part 3...

By Dany

“We are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss”

"For what it’s worth, it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit... start whenever you want... you can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that stop you. I hope you feel things that you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." - Benjamin Button; (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

...Part 2...

By Dany

Strip, part 1...

by Dany

Portugal needs to change, vote for Théoden.

Where now the horse and the rider?

Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountains, like a wind in the meadow,
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow,
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?

AA

AA

Long live the King

That`s why it`s a dream!!!!!!

The Clouds

Father`s Day

To the memory of my father, José M. S.

How I saw and draw my father for the first time.

Me and my father, Summer of 1969.

“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad”

Tattoo on japanese girl's back

A 25-year-old Chiba women, attending the "Love and Tattoo" exhibition in Daikanyama (2006)said "When you get a tattoo, something you can treasure the rest of your life is added to your body. There's a feeling of joy to be had from that."

The English say, Yours Truly, and mean it. The Italians say, I kiss your feet, and mean it. I kick your head. Wilfred Owen

To Firefly, with Love, eheheheheheheh...

To my "Lost", but no Forgotten Geisha.

"International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.
Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them
in a way somewhat similar to Mother`s Day and St Valentin`s Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner". Wikipedia

Monica Belluci

Thank God for Beautiful Women

WOW, I`M SURFING THE BIG WAVE.....................

ONLY OUT OF HONOR

DO YOU EARN THE RIGHT

TO BE KNOWN AS SAMURAI

THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI

Under the Tsunami wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai 1829-1833