If you don’t know who is this goddess, Kelly Brook (born Kelly Ann Parsons; 23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, and television presenter. Every year, she releases an exclusive personal calendar, and this is for 2013. Enjoy.
Click here to see the Kelly Brook Calendar 2012.
Click here to see more photos of Kelly Brook on this blog.
Visit Kelly Brook Official Website: http://www.kellybrook.com.
Happy 2013! This is the first post of this year.
The biggest difference in the 2013 Pirelli Calendar is that its subjects aren’t nude. Photographer Steve McCurry aimed to “portray women who are sexy without being naked,” and he’s definitely succeeded. And all these lovely ladies — from Petra Nemcova and Isabeli Fontana to Karlie Kloss and Liya Kebede — are big supporters (and sometimes even founders) of good causes worldwide.
Instead of pure nude-bodied goodness, photographer Steve McCurry (of “Afghan Girl” fame) decided to shoot beautiful women with serious heart. Isabeli Fontana, Petra Nemcova, Liya Kebede, and a heavily pregnant Adriana Lima all have one thing in common (and we’re not talking about natural beauty): a demonstrated commitment to helping the world through activism, charity work, and foundations of their own.
But don’t get it wrong — the ’13 calendar is just as sexy as ever. The photos, shot in Rio de Janeiro, include plenty of dramatic backdrops and striking colors. That said, the choice of location also reflects the overall change in the images and models. Instead of sticking to luxe, pristine geography, McCurry chose to photograph the women in parts of the city that lay bare its struggles with poverty (and the gaping hole between classes), as well as the beauty of its diversity.
For the 2013 Pirelli calendar parade women like actress Sonia Braga, splendid at 62, and a visibly pregnant Adriana Lima.
“The collection in this Calendar is my personal tribute to the people who live in one of the most exciting cities I have had the privilege to photograph.”
Steve McCurry
PROTAGONISTS:
Isabeli Fontana
Sonia Braga
Liya Kebede
Summer Rayne Oakes
Marisa Monte
Elisa Sednaoui
Petra Nemcova
Hanaa Ben Abdesslem
Adriana Lima
Kyleigh Kuhn
Karlie Kloss
LOCATION:
Rio de Janeiro
The man who gave us E.T., Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones, Jurasic Park and many many others great movies, is completing 66 today.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Spielberg.
A DIRECTOR IN ACTION:
Steven Allan Spielberg was born on December 18, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family. His mother, Leah Adler (née Posner, 1920– ), was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg (1917– ), was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. He spent his childhood in Haddon Township, New Jersey, where he saw one of his first films in a theater, as well as in Scottsdale, Arizona. Throughout his early teens, Spielberg made amateur 8 mm “adventure” films with his friends, the first of which he shot at the Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant in Scottsdale. He charged admission (25 cents) to his home films (which involved the wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn.
In 1958, he became a Boy Scout, and fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled “The Last Gunfight”. At age thirteen, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war film he titled “Escape to Nowhere” which was based on a battle in east Africa. In 1963, at age sixteen, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called “Firelight” (which would later inspire Close Encounters). The film, which had a budget of US$500, was shown in his local cinema and generated a profit of $1.
After his parents divorced, he moved to Saratoga, California with his father. His three sisters and mother remained in Arizona. As an intern and guest of Universal Studios, Spielberg made his first short film for theatrical release, the 26-minute “Amblin'” (1968), the title of which Spielberg later took as the name of his production company, Amblin Entertainment. After Sidney Sheinberg, then the vice-president of production for Universal’s TV arm, saw the film, Spielberg became the youngest director ever to be signed for a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (Universal). He dropped out of Long Beach State in 1969 to take up the television director contract at Universal Studios and began his career as a professional director. His first professional TV job came when he was hired to direct one of the segments for the 1969 pilot episode of “Night Gallery”. The segment, “Eyes,” starred Joan Crawford, and she and Spielberg were reportedly close friends until her death.
Based on the strength of his work, Universal signed Spielberg to do four TV films. The first was a Richard Matheson adaptation called “Duel”. The film is about a psychotic Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driver who chases a terrified driver (Dennis Weaver) of a small Plymouth Valiant and tries to run him off the road. Spielberg will be back to the road in his debut feature film “The Sugarland Express”, about a married couple who are chased by police as the couple tries to regain custody of their baby. The film marks the first collaboration between Spielberg and composer John Williams. Studio producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown offered Spielberg the director’s chair for Jaws, a thriller-horror film based on the Peter Benchley novel about an enormous killer shark. Spielberg has often referred to the gruelling shoot as his professional crucible. Despite the film’s ultimate, enormous success, it was nearly shut down due to delays and budget over-runs. But Spielberg persevered and finished the film. It was an enormous hit, winning three Academy Awards (for editing, original score and sound) and grossing more than $470 million worldwide at the box office. “Jaws” made him a household name, as well as one of America’s youngest multi-millionaires, and allowed Spielberg a great deal of autonomy for his future projects. It was nominated for Best Picture and featured Spielberg’s first of three collaborations with actor Richard Dreyfuss.
Rejecting offers to direct “Jaws 2”, “King Kong” and “Superman”, Spielberg and actor Richard Dreyfuss re-convened to work on a film about UFOs, which became “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), one of the rare films both written and directed by Spielberg. This second blockbuster helped to secure Spielberg’s rise. His next film, “1941”, a big-budgeted World War II farce, was not successful and Spielberg then revisited his Close Encounters project and, with financial backing from Columbia Pictures, released “Close Encounters: The Special Edition” in 1980.
Next, Spielberg teamed with “Star Wars” creator and friend George Lucas on an action adventure film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, the first of the Indiana Jones films. The archaeologist and adventurer hero Indiana Jones was played by Harrison Ford (whom Lucas had previously cast in his “Star Wars” films as Han Solo). A year later, Spielberg returned to the science fiction genre with “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”. It was the story of a young boy and the alien he befriends, who was accidentally left behind by his companions and is attempting to return home.
His next directorial feature was the Raiders prequel “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. Teaming up once again with Lucas and Ford, it was on this project that Spielberg also met his future wife, actress Kate Capshaw. In 1985, Spielberg released “The Color Purple”, an adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, about a generation of empowered African-American women during depression-era America. In 1987, as China began opening to Western capital investment, Spielberg shot the first American film in Shanghai since the 1930s, an adaptation of J. G. Ballard’s autobiographical novel “Empire of the Sun”, starring John Malkovich and a young Christian Bale.
After two forays into more serious dramatic films, Spielberg then directed the third Indiana Jones film, 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. Once again teaming up with Lucas and Ford, Spielberg also cast actor Sean Connery in a supporting role as Indy’s father. Also in 1989, he re-united with actor Richard Dreyfuss for the romantic comedy-drama “Always”, about a daredevil pilot who extinguishes forest fires. Spielberg’s first romantic film, “Always” was only a moderate success and had mixed reviews.
In 1991, Spielberg directed “Hook”, about a middle-aged Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who returns to Neverland. In 1993, Spielberg returned to the adventure genre with the film version of Michael Crichton’s novel “Jurassic Park”, about a theme park with genetically engineered dinosaurs. With revolutionary special effects provided by friend George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic company, the film would eventually become the highest grossing film of all time (at the worldwide box office) with $914.7 million. Spielberg’s next film, “Schindler’s List”, was based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his life to save 1,100 Jews from the Holocaust. “Schindler’s List” earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director (it also won Best Picture).
In 1994, Spielberg took a hiatus from directing to spend more time with his family and build his new studio, DreamWorks, with partners Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. In 1997, he helmed the sequel to 1993’s Jurassic Park with “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”. His next theatrical release in that same year was the World War II film “Saving Private Ryan”, about a group of U.S. soldiers led by Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) sent to bring home a paratrooper whose three older brothers were killed in the last twenty four hours of action in France. In 2001, Spielberg filmed fellow director and friend Stanley Kubrick’s final project, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” which Kubrick was unable to begin during his lifetime. A futuristic film about a humanoid android longing for love, “A.I.” featured groundbreaking visual effects and a multi-layered, allegorical storyline, adapted by Spielberg himself. Spielberg and actor Tom Cruise collaborated for the first time for the futuristic neo-noir “Minority Report”, based upon the science fiction short story written by Philip K. Dick about a Washington D.C. police captain in the year 2054 who has been foreseen to murder a man he has not yet met.
Spielberg’s 2002 film “Catch Me If You Can” is about the daring adventures of a youthful con artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Spielberg collaborated again with Tom Hanks along with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci in 2004’s “The Terminal”, a warm-hearted comedy about a man of Eastern European descent who is stranded in an airport. Also in 2005, Spielberg directed a modern adaptation of “War of the Worlds” (a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks), based on the H. G. Wells book of the same name (Spielberg had been a huge fan of the book and the original 1953 film). It starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, and, as with past Spielberg films, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) provided the visual effects. Unlike “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, which depicted friendly alien visitors, “War of the Worlds” featured violent invaders. Spielberg’s film “Munich”, about the events following the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games.
Spielberg directed “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, which wrapped filming in October 2007 and was released on May 22, 2008. In early 2009, Spielberg shot the first film in a planned trilogy of motion capture films based on “The Adventures of Tintin”, written by Belgian artist Hergé, with Peter Jackson. “The Adventures of Tintin”, was not released until October 2011, due to the complexity of the computer animation involved. Spielberg followed that with “War Horse”, based on the novel of the same name written by Michael Morpurgo and published in 1982, follows the long friendship between a British boy and his horse Joey before and during World War I. Spielberg next directed the historical drama film “Lincoln”, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s bestseller Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the film covered the final four months of Lincoln’s life and was released in November 2012.
Source: Wikipedia.
Milla Jovovich aka Alice from “Resident Evil” movies series is having a birthday today. Happy birthday, Milla!
LIFE AND CAREER
Milla Jovovich was born on December 17, 1975, in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, former Soviet Union, the daughter of Bogić Jovović, a Serbian pediatrician, and Galina Jovovich, a Russian stage actress. She was raised in the Russian Orthodox religion. In 1980, when Milla was five years old, her family left the Soviet Union for political reasons and moved to London. They subsequently moved to Sacramento, California, settling in Los Angeles seven months later. Milla’s parents divorced soon after their arrival in Los Angeles.
In 1988, as a result of her father’s relationship with a woman from Argentina, Milla’s half-brother Marco Jovovich, was born. Milla’s mother attempted to support the family with acting jobs, but found little success, and eventually resorted to cleaning houses to earn money. Her mother and father both provided cooking and cleaning services for director Brian De Palma. Milla’s father was incarcerated for participating in an illegal operation concerning medical insurance; he was given a 20-year sentence in 1994, but was released in 1999 after serving five years in an American prison. According to Milla, “Prison was good for him. He’s become a much better person. It gave him a chance to stop and think”.
Milla attended public schools in Los Angeles, and became fluent in English in three months (as is common with young children). In school, she was teased by classmates because she had immigrated from the Soviet Union during the Cold War: “I was called a commie and a Russian spy. I was never, ever, ever accepted into the crowd.” At age 12, in seventh grade, Milla left school to focus on modeling. She has stated that she was rebellious during her early teens, engaging in drug use, shopping mall vandalism, and credit-card fraud. In 1994, she became a U.S. citizen.
At the age of nine, Jovovich began going to modeling auditions. She was discovered by Gene Lemuel, who shot test photos of her and later showed them to Herb Ritts in LA. In 1988, she made her first professional model contract. Later, Jovovich made it to the cover of The Face, which led to new contracts and covers of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Since then, she has graced over one hundred magazine covers, including Seventeen, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, and InStyle. Her modeling career has included various campaigns for Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Damiani, Donna Karan, Gap, Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Coach, Giorgio Armani, H&M, and Revlon. Since 1998, Jovovich has been an “international spokesmodel” for L’Oréal cosmetics.
Jovovich’s mother had “raised [her] to be a movie star” and in 1985, enrolled Jovovich in the Professional Actors school in California. In 1988, she appeared in her first professional role in the made-for-television film “The Night Train to Kathmandu” as Lily McLeod. Following roles on the television series “Paradise” (1988), “Married… with Children” (1989) and “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” (1990), Jovovich was cast as the lead as Lilli Hargrave in “Return to the Blue Lagoon” (1991). In 1992, Milla Jovovich co-starred with Christian Slater in the comedy “Kuffs”. Later that year, she portrayed Mildred Harris in the Charlie Chaplin biographical film “Chaplin”. Discouraged, she took a hiatus from acting roles, during which time she moved to Europe and began focusing on a music career.
Jovovich had begun working on a music album as early as 1988, when she was signed by SBK Records after the company heard a demo she recorded. In April 1994, billed under her first name, she released The Divine Comedy, a title that was a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri of the same name. Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 to promote the album. In May 1999, Jovovich along with Chris Brenner formed an experimental band called Plastic Has Memory, in which she wrote the songs, sang, and played electric guitar. Jovovich continues to write songs which she refers to as “demos”, and which are provided for free in MP3 format on her official website. This year, she announced via Twitter and her official website a new single called Electric Sky would be released. It was released on May 18, 2012 and it’ll be part of an EP she will be releasing.
Milla Jovovich returned to acting in 1997 with a lead in the Luc Besson-directed science fiction action film “The Fifth Element”, alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman. She portrayed Leeloo, an alien who was the “supreme being”. Jovovich said she “worked like hell: no band practice, no clubs, no pot, nothing” to acquire the role and impress Besson, whom she married on December 14, 1997, but later divorced. She wore a costume that came to be known as the “ACE-bandage” costume, a revealing body suit made of medical bandages designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.
In 1998, Jovovich had a role in the Spike Lee drama “He Got Game” as abused prostitute Dakota Burns, appearing with Denzel Washington and Ray Allen. In 1999, she appeared in the music video for the song “If You Can’t Say No” by Lenny Kravitz. In 1999, Jovovich returned to the action genre playing the title role in “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc”, reuniting her with director Luc Besson. She was featured in armor throughout several extensive battle scenes, and cut her hair to a short length for the role.
In 2002, Jovovich starred in the horror/action film “Resident Evil”, released in the United States on March 15, 2002 and based on the CAPCOM video game series of the same name. She portrayed Alice, the film’s heroine, who fights a legion of zombies created by the evil Umbrella Corporation. Jovovich had accepted the role of Alice because she and her brother had been fans of the video game franchise, saying, “It was exciting for me just watching him play, I could sit for 5 hours and we would sit all day and play this game.” Jovovich had performed all the stunts required in the film, except for a scene that would involve her jumping to a cement platform, which her management deemed too dangerous, and had trained in karate, kickboxing, and combat-training. In 2004, Jovovich reprised the role of Alice in the sequel to Resident Evil, “Resident Evil: Apocalypse”. The role required her to do fight training for three hours a day, in addition to the three months prior to filming in which she had “gun training, martial arts, everything”.
Later, Milla stars as Violet, a vampire in Kurt Wimmer’s “Ultraviolet” (2006). She plays a vampire in a civil war in the late 21st century between humans and a subculture turned into vampires. Violet is forced into protecting a young boy amidst the tumult of war. The movie is a crap, but Milla never loses her beauty.
In 2007, Jovovich reprised her role as Alice in “Resident Evil: Extinction”, the third of the Resident Evil series. Milla returned as Alice in the fourth movie of the Resident Evil series, “Afterlife”, which was directed by her husband, Paul W. S. Anderson.
Milla Jovovich currently resides in homes in Los Angeles and New York with her husband, film writer and director Paul W. S. Anderson, whom she married on 22 August 2009. The two met while working on “Resident Evil”, which Anderson wrote and directed, and in which Jovovich starred. Anderson proposed to Jovovich in 2003, but the two separated for a period of time before becoming a couple again.
On November 3, 2007, Milla Jovovich gave birth to her and Anderson’s first child, a daughter, Ever Gabo Anderson.
She returned to her role as Alice in the fifth installment of Resident Evil for “Resident Evil: Retribution”, which was released on September 14, 2012.
Source: Wikipedia. Photos by Google and Milla Jovovich Official Website.
MODELLING AND GALLERY:
A sad day to remember…
Post published: 08/12/2011.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died…
A fragment of the song “American Pie”, by Don McLean
JOHN LENNON
9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980
John Lennon was an English musician who gained worldwide fame as one of the founders of The Beatles, for his subsequent solo career, and for his political activism and pacifism. He was shot by Mark David Chapman at the entrance of the building where he lived, The Dakota, in New York City, on Monday, 8 December 1980; Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono.
Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where it was stated that nobody could have lived for more than a few minutes after sustaining such injuries. Shortly after local news stations reported Lennon’s death, crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of The Dakota. He was cremated on 10 December 1980, at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York; the ashes were given to Ono, who chose not to hold a funeral for him.
Photo of John Lennon signing a copy of his Double Fantasy album for Mark David Chapman, taken by Paul Goresh, 8 December, 1980.
Read more about the dead of John Lennon at Wikipedia.
Read more about John Lennon at Wikipedia.
Official site: http://www.johnlennon.com/
WATCHING THE WHEELS
JOHN LENNON
People say I’m crazy doing what I’m doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I’m o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,
People say I’m lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I’m doing Fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don’t you miss the big time boy you’re no longer on the ball?
I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,
People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there’s no problem,
Only solutions,
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I’ve lost my mind,
I tell them there’s no hurry…
I’m just sitting here doing time,
I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.
SEE THIS VIDEO FOR WATCHING THE WHEELS ON YOUTUBE:
EMPTY GARDEN: A TRIBUTE TO JOHN
“Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” is a hit ballad from British pop-rock performer Elton John’s 1982 album “Jump Up!”. He dedicated the song in memory of John Lennon. John and Elton were good friends. As part of his 1982 “Jump Up!” tour, Elton performed the song live at Madison Square Garden, with Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and their son Sean in the audience. Elton is Sean’s godfather, but he rarely performs the song live, as he has said it brings back many painful memories of Lennon’s death. The “Empty Garden” referred to in the song is Madison Square Garden, where Lennon performed a duet with Elton in 1974.
EMPTY GARDEN (HEY HEY JOHNNY)
ELTON JOHN
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Bernie Taupin
What happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It’s funny how one insect can damage so much grain
And what’s it for
This little empty garden by the brownstone door
And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothing grows no more
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed we’re crippled and we’re dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace
And I’ve been knocking but no one answers
And I’ve been knocking most all the day
Oh and I’ve been calling oh hey hey Johnny
Can’t you come out to play
And through their tears
Some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he’d have said that roots grow stronger if only he could hear
Who lived there
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now we pray for rain, and with every drop that falls
We hear, we hear your name
Johnny can’t you come out to play in your empty garden
© 1981 Big Pig Music Limited
SEE EMPTY GARDEN VIDEO ON YOUTUBE:
All you need is love. Enjoy the gallery. Peace.
“It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. You’d wake up in a concert and think, Wow, how did I get here?”
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
“Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground.”
“Everything is clearer when you’re in love.”
“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?”
“War is over … If you want it.”
“Christianity will go.. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” – 4 March 1966
“I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I’m sorry I opened my mouth. I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I wasn’t knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it’s true more for England than here. I’m not saying that we’re better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it’s all this.” – Lennon apologized for the comment above, 11 August 1966
“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
“For our last number, I’d like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you’ll, just rattle your jewelry.” – Royal Variety Performance in London (4 November 1963) attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret.
“As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.”
“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.”
“It was just a gradual development over the years. Last year was “All You Need Is Love.” This year it’s “Give Peace a Chance.” Remember love. The only hope for any of us is peace. Violence begets violence. If you want to get peace, you can get it as soon as you like if we all pull together. You’re all geniuses and you’re all beautiful. You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace. Think peace, live peace, and breathe peace and you’ll get it as soon as you like. Okay?”
“My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”
“I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.”
“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.”
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.”
“I’ve always considered my work one piece and I consider that my work won’t be finished until I am dead and buried and I hope that’s a long, long time.”
“I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.”
“The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.”
“Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.”
“I don’t believe in killing whatever the reason!” – November 21, 1980, New York: John Lennon and Yoko Ono come out of 5 years’ seclusion to promote their new album, “Double Fantasy”; they walked around Central Park and posed in front of the Dakota building.
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
“That’s part of our policy, is not to be taken seriously, because I think our opposition, whoever they may be, in all their manifest forms, don’t know how to handle humor. You know, and we are humorous, we are, what are they, Laurel and Hardy. That’s John and Yoko, and we stand a better chance under that guise, because all the serious people, like Martin Luther King, and Kennedy, and Gandhi, got shot.”
“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.”
“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”
“I’m not afraid of death because I don’t believe in it. It’s just getting out of one car, and into another.” – On the afternoon of 8 December 1980, photographer Annie Leibovitz went to Ono and Lennon’s apartment at 2:00pm to do a photo shoot for Rolling Stone magazine.
“Happiness is just how you feel when you don’t feel miserable.” – Annie Leibovitz recalled that “nobody wanted Yoko on the cover” of magazine; John then insisted that both he and his wife be on the cover.
“If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.”
“If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that’s his problem. Love and peace are eternal.”
“When you’re drowning, you don’t say ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream.”
“These critics with the illusions they’ve created about artists — it’s like idol worship. They only like people when they’re on their way up … I cannot be on the way up again. … What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I’m not interesting in being a dead (expletive) hero. … So forget ’em, forget ’em.”
“Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.”
All That I Love 