#mother teresa Icon

[shoppiefire]

Mother Teresa: A Beacon of Compassion and Service

Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, emerged as one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Her unwavering dedication to serving the poorest of the poor earned her global acclaim and reverence. From her humble beginnings as a young girl in a devout Catholic family to her eventual journey to India as a missionary, Mother Teresa's life was a testament to selflessness and compassion.

Raised in Skopje, Agnes experienced the hardships of poverty and witnessed the suffering of those less fortunate from an early age. Her devout faith and desire to alleviate the suffering of others led her to join the Sisters of Loreto at the age of 18. Renouncing her birth name, she became Sister Mary Teresa, dedicating her life to the service of God and humanity.

In 1929, Sister Teresa arrived in Kolkata, India, where she taught at a school for girls and soon became deeply disturbed by the poverty and destitution that surrounded her. Moved by the plight of the poorest of the poor, she felt a calling within her to do more. In 1948, she received permission from the Vatican to leave the convent and venture into the slums of Kolkata to serve the most marginalized and neglected members of society.

With no resources except her faith and determination, Mother Teresa began her work by providing basic medical care, food, and shelter to the destitute. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, a congregation dedicated to serving "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society." Under her guidance, the Missionaries of Charity grew rapidly, establishing homes, clinics, and centers for the needy across India and eventually expanding to other parts of the world.

Mother Teresa's approach to serving the poor was rooted in love and compassion. She saw the face of Christ in every person she encountered, regardless of their social status or background. Her unwavering commitment to the sanctity of human life earned her widespread admiration and respect, transcending religious and cultural boundaries.

Despite facing numerous challenges and criticisms, including allegations of financial mismanagement and criticism of her views on abortion and contraception, Mother Teresa remained steadfast in her mission. Her humility, simplicity, and boundless love touched the hearts of millions, inspiring countless individuals to join her in her mission of compassion.

In 1979, Mother Teresa's work was recognized on a global scale when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian efforts. In her acceptance speech, she humbly declared, "I am unworthy," directing attention instead to the plight of the poor and marginalized whom she served.

Throughout her life, Mother Teresa remained dedicated to her vow of serving the "poorest of the poor" with unwavering devotion. Even as her health declined in her later years, she continued to work tirelessly, never seeking recognition or personal gain. Her legacy lives on through the countless lives she touched and the enduring impact of her humanitarian work.

Mother Teresa passed away on September 5, 1997, but her spirit lives on in the hearts of those who continue her mission of love and service. She may have been a diminutive figure in stature, but her compassion and love knew no bounds. Mother Teresa's life serves as a shining example of the transformative power of selfless service and the profound impact that one individual can have on the world. As she once said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."

[apenitentialprayer]

1. The Eucharist: The True Presence of Jesus, by Diane St. Germaine, 2021. 2. Homeless Christ Icon by Kelly Latimore.

Like all Christians, Mother Teresa found strength and sustenance through prayer. It brought her close to Christ and helped her to know him in a personal way. But she valued her favorite form of prayer -the Liturgy- for another reason: it helped her to recognize Christ in others. Mother and her sisters celebrated Mass every morning at 4:30 a.m. For them, the liturgy, the Eucharist in particular, was the key to living out Matthew 25 - to seeing Christ in the poor. In the Eucharist, Jesus becomes present under the form of ordinary bread and wine. When the priest says the words of consecration, Christ becomes substantially present even if he's not evident to our senses. Our faith helps us transcend sensory experience to spot the divine image in its most ordinary form. Mother Teresa knew how crucial this was. Seeing Christ in the Eucharist allowed her to see him in the streets. "If we recognize [Jesus] under the appearance of bread," she explained, "we will have no difficulty recognizing him in the disguise of the suffering poor." This is why Mother Teresa could say, "I have the opportunity to be with Jesus 24 hours a day." Whether in the chapel or the slums, the pew or the hospital, she recognized the Lord everywhere she went because she trained herself each morning at the altar.

- Brandon Vogt (Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World, pages 22-23)

Et si sensus déficit, Ad firmándum cor sincérum Sola fides súfficit.

What though sense no change discerns. Only be the heart in earnest, Faith her lesson quickly learns.

Præstet fides suppleméntum Sénsuum deféctui.

Faith for all defects supplying When feeble senses fail

Extracts from the Pangue lingua, a thirteenth century Eucharistic hymn.

[familythings]

Saint Teresa of Calcutta: The Saint of the Slums

I am deeply emotional when it comes to talk for a great woman like Mother Teresa. Not only because she is Albanian like me, but because I’ve experienced myself the tremendous influence and love Catholics around the world had for her figure. In one of my visits in Malawi in Africa, I participated in a gathering of clients of a microfinance bank there. As I was a guest the speaker introduced me as…

[experienceandobservation]

Jonathan Bailey | Mother Teresa? 🤔 Jonathan Bailey tells us about his favorite gay icons behind-the-scenes of his Interview shoot | January 30, 2024 | 🎥 Interview Magazine

[blackmensmile]

@jyo_john_mulloor is going viral for a series of AI assisted images depicting iconic leaders such as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and MLK taking selfies surrounded by friends, followers, and the faithful. Seeing these conceptualized images makes me imagine these figures who are typically only remembered for their serious nature and the weight of their Justice movements, actually having moments regular moments like everyone else…taking time out to ultimately just feel human and inviting others to (even in the midst of struggle) feel the same. 👉🏾What do this image speak to you? #vintagephoto #mlk #selfie #conceptart #digitalart #blackmensmile #imagine https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqg_RwKrP7D/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[monasteryicons]

“I Wouldn’t Do That for a Million Dollars!”

A reporter watched Mother Teresa of Calcutta as she cleaned the maggot-infested wound of a man on the street, only to say, “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars.” Mother is supposed to have replied immediately, with a bit of a wry smile, “I wouldn’t either.”

Who knows when each of us will ever have the opportunity to demonstrate such depth of compassion or encounter such depth of suffering as Saint Teresa did. But whoever we are, wherever we are, let us remember her luminous example and follow her dictum: “Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

Saint Teresa’s feast day is September 5. See her icon here:

[fangirls-just-want-to-have-fun]

My Thoughts That No One Asked For on Dancing With The Stars season 31 ep. 11: The Finale!!

THE PROS ARE SLAYING WE LOVE TO SEE IT

Ezra Sosa you own me

Okay listen they all look SO GOOD in white omg 😭(at least I got to see Daniel and Britt look gorgeous and stunning in white the other week)

OKAY TYRA 🤩 

My heart gets a little brighter every time I see Britt and Daniel 🥰 

God bless Jason Lewis my man is trying his damn best

You know I’ll admit Teresa isn’t actually all that terrible

Sam and Cheryl 🥹 

Shangela and Gleb’s partnership >>>>>

THAT SECOND HALF OF SHANGELA’S DANCE HOLY MOTHER

Shangela FIGHTING to make sure she was right I LOVE to see it

Len LOVES her and I did NOT expect that coming into this season 

HALEY NO I HOPE SHE’S OKAY 😭 

Oh my gosh it’s so nice to see all the old contestants back again to support 🥰 

Shangela speaking out on the mass shooting in Colorado ❤️ no one is doing it like her idc

Okay all nines is not bad! (But I can see she looks kind of disappointed dw shangela bb you did fantastic) 🥺 

Off topic but I literally remember watching the episode where the whole “from Len the Ten” thing started 😂 

Okay Wayne is actually doing better than I thought he would!

I’m thinking all nines 

The shoutouts to the musicians get me every time 😭 

CHERYL BURKE YOU ARE AN ICON AND A LEGEND I’LL MISS YOU 😭 

God she just makes it look EFFORTLESS 🤩 

God I’m just reminded of how much the most memorable year night made me SOB

But then I’m also reminded of how angry the dance marathon made me

“You’re my new hero.” Michael Buble you are so real

TEAM SCREAM SLAYED I’LL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT IT

JOSEPH BAENA I MISSED YOU SO MUCH 😭 

Omg it is SO nice to see Jordin and Brandon back together 

OH THEY’RE DANCING IN THEIR PROMO OUTFITS how did I JUST realize that

Positively begging for Alan Bersten to get a nice partner next season please Disney plus help this man 😭 

CHARLI AND MARK LET’S GO

I’ve never seen someone who more objectively deserves to win than Charli D’amelio I’m gonna be real y’all

You know they had to think SO hard to find a redemption dance for her lmfao 😭 

Oh god we are SECONDS in and this is already THE SLAYEST

I smell a mirrorball for mark (update: YEP.)

Dixie looks so proud 🥹 

Oh god Charli looks so nervous 😭 (and Mark holding her hand omg)

It makes me so upset that she is literally a year younger than me and my girl is deadass about to win a fucking mirrorball 

Full offense but the troupe members?? 👀 😍 

“[singing in non-English]” now WHAT kind of subtitle is that pls 🥲 

Is mark wearing a pin of the British flag for Len…? 🥺 

TENS FOR CHARLI BABY I’M GONNA CRY

So we’re gonna talk about the fact that Charli is now officially like the highest scoring DWTS contestant right?? Like we’re gonna talk about that when my girl WINS??

MY COMPUTER IS GLITCHING NO

SELMA GETS TO PERFORM HER CONTEMPORARY I’M GONNA CRY

JORDIN CAME TO SLAY ONE MORE TIME 😭 🙌🏻 

Selma Blair you deserved so much better 🥺 

JORDIN CHEERING FIR SELMA BEFORE THE SONG WAS EVEN OVER I’M GONNA 😢

Okay listen not to be mean but I’m not really looking forward to Gabby’s dances like yes I KNOW she’s a good dancer but she still kind of annoys me

I have said it MANY times before and good god I’ll say it again, every time Gabby claps for herself I die a little bit inside

No do NOT tell me she’s getting a perfect score

gODDAMNIT

I will admit it’s so nice to see Vinny actually having fun on the dance floor instead of looking absolutely terrified the whole time

Get you someone who looks at you the way Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart look at each other 🤩 god it’s so nice to see them again 

Not me crying over Len Goodman 😭 

PLEASE the way he sounded so excited to get his own mirrorball 😭 

Damn they don’t gotta say the “bottom of the leaderboard” there’s literally four of them lmfao

Listen I may not want him to win but I just KNOW Wayne’s freestyle is gonna EAT

God the other pros were staying BOOKED this week

Witney holy SHIT that choreo

“She’s invited to the cookout.” I’m not even kidding that’s probably the single funniest thing Tyra has said all season

“My new little sister” I’m gonna CRY

I know I should be focusing on their scores but Joe Baena is in the back lookin all cute 😊

FUCK IM CRYING OVER LEN AGAIN 😭 

Oh come on Charli and Mark are gonna KILL this

Mark and Charli being Actual Siblings™️ and helping each other rediscover their love for dance I’m fucking sobbing 😭 

THEY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING IN THEIR DANCE ARE YOU KIDDING ME

THAT WAS SO GOOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME IM CRYING

Tag yourself I’m everyone in the balcony losing their fucking minds

Derek is gonna make me cry even harder I can’t do this 😭 

PERFECT SCORE I KNOW THAT’S RIGHT 🙌🏻 

If Gabby gets another perfect score I’m gonna lose my shit

Fuck her dance is actually pretty good so far

NOT HER HEEL GETTING STUCK IN HER DRESS OH GOD

LMFAO YOU KNOW JORDAN AND JOE ARE TALKING ABOUT THAT LOL

Jenna shoutout 🙌🏻 

SHE CHOREOGRAPHED THAT??? WHILE VERY PREGNANT??

God fucking damnit 🤦‍♀️ 

Gen Z we better have come through voting for Charli 

Oh we LOVE the pro dance starting with our queen Britt Stewart (Daniel Durant you are a lucky man)

THE EMMA AND SASHA MOMENT HELLO???? WHAT WAS THAT??

OH my girl Shangela is looking GOOD for this final dance 

The way Gleb talks about working with Shangela >>>>>>> I’m gonna - 😭 

Hold on I do however find it interesting that they ONLY showed Shangela in that little live preview WAIT ARE THEY GONNA PUT HIM IN DRAG OH MY GOD

YEAH I’M SURE THE TOUR IS GONNA BE GREAT CAN WE GET TO SHANGELA ALREADY

I’m sorry is she on WIRES???

OH THIS LOOK ARE YOU KIDDING

THE DEATH DROP GET OUT OF HERE

GLEB HOLY FUCK

THAT WAS SO GLORIOUS OH MY GOD

How are any of the judges being REMOTELY normal after that

LEN FORGOT TO VOTE GET OUTTA HERE

Gleb you are so slay 💅 

Come on let’s give my girl one more perfect score 🙏🏻 

Sasha OWNING that chicken costume is KILLING me

GLEB’S DRAG VOICE I’M ON THE FLOOR

SLAY ONE LAST PERFECT SCORE FOR MY GIRL SHANGELA

Sam Champion I love you forever 💕 

DWTS editors you were so real for showing us the best Daniel and Britt moments in Daniel’s section 

LET THEM ALL SPEAK I WANNA HEAR FROM JOE 

CHARLI AND DANIEL ARE GOING ON TOUR BABY HOW DO I GET TICKETS

I’m sorry did the CHAINSMOKERS just wish Charli luck????

The “whose line is it anyway” guys wishing Wayne luck 🥹 

LIN SUPPORTING WAYNE HAHAHA AIN’T NO WAY

I’M SORRY WHAT DID THEY JUST SAY SHANGELA PLACED FOURTH FUCK OFF WITH THAT NOISE

Okay come on Charli take home that trophy my love 

YES FUCK IT UP CHARLI ABSOLUTELY 🙌🏻 🙌🏻 🙌🏻 THIS IS WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE 👏🏼 👏🏼 

MIRRORBALL FOR MARK WE LOVE TO SEE IT BABY 🙌🏻 

Emma and Pasha lifting Charli and Joe and Alan lifting Mark 😭 

Charli and Mark’s funky sibling relationship >>>>>>>

What a fantastic season!! I’m sad that I won’t be able to make it to the tour, but it looks like they’ve got such a great cast! Loved this season, and I’ll maybe see you guys next time!!

[orthodoxadventure]

The Trisagion Hymn [Part 2 of 2]

What does it mean for us to sing this ancient hymn and call God thrice-holy? First, it signifies that the God whom we worship is completely, totally and utterly transcendent. The one, true and living God stands outside the created universe of time and space as we know it. Because of this we can never fully grasp the divine Reality and must approach God in worship with a sense of reverence and awe. God is, as the Liturgy will later say in one of its prayers, "ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit." In fact, St. John Chrysostom wrote a treatise entitled On the Incomprehensibility of God in which some of these very phrases are used to describe God. For this reason, the one God, our Father, is not and should never be pictured, as an old, white-bearded man sitting on a throne. Whenever this occurs in art, even in so-called Christian art --and even in the iconography found in some of our churches -- it is completely idolatrous and wrong.

Yet, this utterly transcendent and holy God, the creator of the universe whom we cannot even begin to comprehend, has chosen to reveal Himself to us as complete and total Love, Truth, Light and Life in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the "Christ in whom the fullness of the Deity dwelt in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Second, because the Trisagion is based on the hymn of the angels, St Nicholas Cabasilas (c. 1319- c.1391) comments that in singing the Trisagion during the Liturgy "human beings and angels form one Church and one choir." During the celebration of the Liturgy, heaven and earth intersect and our worship here becomes an icon of the worship going on around the throne of God in heaven (Revelation 4:1-10). Third, to call God thrice-holy implies His absolute purity. For us as human beings, this carries moral connotations, for "Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil and You cannot tolerate wrong" (Habakkuk 1:13). The holiness of God demands repentance: the cleansing and purification of one's mind and heart, and the consecration of one's life in love to Him. In the Old Testament, God said to the people of Israel through Moses, "Be holy because I, the Lord Your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2) prior to issuing the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). And in the Sermon on the Mount, after the Lord Jesus tells us to love even our enemies, He concludes by issuing, in essence, the same challenge: "Be perfect, therefore, as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). This call by God for us to share in and reflect His holiness is the fundamental axiom of the Christian life. As Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) has said, "As Christians, we have been created for great things. We have been created to be holy since we have been created in the image of God."

[Source of text: The Divine Liturgy of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom (with Commentary and Notes)]

[sidehugsnsideblogs]

FCSU #82 It’s A Departure

All too soon Abby's eighteenth birthday rolled around. After much soul-searching she came to the conclusion that her father's church, now called The Restored Fundamentalist Church of Spiritual Unity, was the true path to salvation. Like many girls before her, including her mother, she began work on a wedding dress. She twirled around in front of her sisters showing off the textured skirt and fashion forward bodice.

Autumn loved the dress but it also forced her to confront the reality that Abby WAS going back. They'd managed to repair their relationship over the years and it tore her apart to imagine the house without her. In the months leading up to and following Abby’s departure Autumn coped with her grief through meditation and painting. Her skill was improving and sims from around town started to order commissions. She was starting to make a bit of money, too.

For Abby's birthday her mother made her a cake resembling a hamburger, the only food other than FCSU salad that she was willing to eat. She blew out the candles and aged up, finishing high school with a B grade. Abby sat down with her siblings who couldn't for the life of them understand why she wanted to go back to a cult so badly.

She gently explained that she belonged with her people, living a simpler life. "It's okay if you can adapt to the townie world but I cannot. In order to thrive I need my community around me." They were all crestfallen but understood that it was her choice to make.

"You all can come back too if you want, once you're done school." She added. None of them seemed particularly enthused by the idea. Nevertheless Abby hugged everyone and told them she loved them. She broke down when it came to saying goodbye to Allie-Jayne.

"Thank you, Mother. I love you." She whispered. "I love you too Abby, just remember, you are always welcome here." Abby nodded and then left to catch her bus to Oasis Springs. It felt like the end of an era, like everything was changing.

A lot had changed over the years in Brindleton Bay as a whole over the last few years. Ryder, Thomas and Alex now dominated the high school football team. All three of them were easy-going, popular and active. Ryder and Thomas, dissatisfied with the svelte frame they inherited from Isaac began bulking up when they hit their teens. Ryder had grown into a stereotypical heartthrob type. Thomas was determined to excel in all aspects of life, somehow managing to be equal parts jock and nerd. Alex was the funny one of the group and loved to showboat his athleticism.

All three boys had been trained by their aunt Becca-Dawn who'd moved out to Brindleton Bay recently. She thought starting over in a smaller town surrounded by family might ease her anxiety. She still did freelance programming work but was also ready to get back into the fitness game. Becca  was still on good terms with Penny, she just wanted to strike out on her own and give Penny and Greyson some privacy since they’d finally moved in together.

The hardest part of moving was leaving Lily behind. Lily was Penny’s cat but Becca-Dawn had fallen for her too. Her first few weeks were rocky as she tried to adjust to not having a pet. At Teresa’s urging she adopted an adorable Boston Terrier mix named Peanut. She got along well with Hannah’s new puppy, Hugo.

Back in San Myshuno Penny’s documentary finally premiered. It was picked up by several festivals which meant she had to go on a PR Tour to give some insight and interviews for the film. She never dreamt that her project would gain tract outside of Newport or Oasis Springs. Between her documentary and her iconic red carpet looks her fame was skyrocketing.

[box-dwelling]

Ok, I am home alone, theatre kid relapsing and I am watching Diana for the the first time. Here's my live reaction. I may also be grabbing a drink because I don't think this can be enjoyed without ideally wine but we'll see what I have.

Excellent news, I have a lovely sauvignon blanc in. The taste is tart and fruity, perfect for this show (pro shot)

Wow we're just thrown in huh

Ok the opening number feels just... Very boring I want song

The actress is... Making choices. Manic pixie dream diana

Camilla is a mild. I said it. Not irl but here, mommy

This feels high on the hunch meter

Ok ok I love this set work

Ensemble are excellent. Living for them

Lizzy is out

Damn her voice is serving

Ensemble! I'm fucking living for them, they're giving 110%

This choreography is so so MUCH and I mean that in the best way. Saving this

Diana's actress is still making her choices...

I have no idea what this pacing is

Will they mention the tampon thing

I'd love for you to have great influence over me Camilla

Charles is not being mentioned because he is very very white bread

I heard about this. This is how your people dance is... Everything I heard and maybe worse

I need to be more drunk

Charles breakdancing really is something

Snap click is a bop I wont lie

Ensemble continues to slay

Barbara's number slaps too

It's not good but it is very watchable

Camilla and Charles' number has some good music too

Damn that wedding dress is insanely accurate

The actual composition is pretty great actually. Just attached to a very questionable book

Diana is wearing a sailor outfit??

Ah yes the iconic giant metal sign saying WALES hanging over the Welsh country side

Fuck the yanks really really can't do Welsh accents

Very very very funny to see Charles' framing of Wales treated uncritically. Even the crown didn't do that lol

I never thought I'd be this pro Camilla. Diana is just so uninteresting in this and she is so so fucking hot

The ballads are by far the worst but I have heard worse

Simply breathe is actually amazing

Diana deserves an edge. I'm glad of this. Give her a gun I say

Maybe it's my mummy issues but I'd let Lizzy strap me down

Give Diana a gun. I stand by this

The rage is a great villian song

The guitar!!!!

"serves me right for marrying a Scorpio" is actually an insane lyric and is a level of camp unmatched

I do also want Sarah to fuck me

Post pregnancy Diana too actually

Pretty pretty girl is also a bop

I don't want to fuck Barbara but I do want to drink mojitos and bitch with her

JAMES FUCKING INTRO PUTTING ROCKY HORROR TO SHAME

GIVE DIANA A GUN AND SET HER ON THATCHER!!!!!!!!!!

I mean mother Teresa was a pos

Glad they're mentioning the aids thing

THE AIDS PATIENTS FUCKING CRITIQUING HER OUTFIT AND ASKING FOR MAKEUP I'd say it was homophobic if they didn't chose the gayest looking motherfuckers in the cast to play them

The boxing ring song does actually slap

Also Diana and Camilla should fuck

Get his ass Diana

This is the ultimate petty bitch musical and and im living

Officers wife is great but it's rubbing too much against my republicanism

That ending is surprisingly effective

Honestly this is definitely insanely camp and not serious but I highly recommend it. It's very fun trash, I do recommend the wine though, that was the shout. Now to finish off my glass I may have a few minutes of love never dies.

[troydooly]

When you study every Epic Movement in history, there is two words which standout - Grace & Mercy! Think about it for a second, real life iconic men and women, like Jesus, Buda, George Washington, Sitting Bull, Gandhi, William Wallace, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, and many more all shared an underlying message of grace and mercy. Yet most of us get stuck in our guilt and never live out our full potential. How could your life and the lives of your family and friends transform, if you’re willing to forgive yourself of your past mistakes? How could your life transform, if you learned to love yourself, by moving forward to the person you can truly become? Take the first step today and start giving yourself and others grace and mercy. Work towards giving up your guilt as you transform into a new person! https://www.instagram.com/p/ClOfk3yOkKs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #107 (Year 3 / Week 3):

It looked like Cataz was disappearing from the internet’s faceless face, so I started using Squeezebox, a new scraper as a replacement. So far it looks clean. 

🍿

Maggie Cheung in 1996 X 2:

🍿 Comrades, Almost a love story, a magical, under-rated romantic story about yearning from Hong Kong with Maggie Cheung. Before she became magnificently glamorous, she was so peachy, seeing her makes me cry. So sweet that I wanted to watch it very slowly and took frequent stops all evening to savor it longer. The first half of two people trying not to fall in love was comparable to ‘In the mood for love’ which came four years later, but unfortunately Leon Lai was no match to the iconic Tony Leung and the story got sappier during the second half. 7/10.

Now I’m listening to Teresa Young singing Tian Mi Mi...

🍿 Irma Vep, my 5th by Olivier Assayas, from the short period when Maggie Cheung was his wife, the lucky bastard. She plays a fictional version of herself, as “Maggie Cheung, a Chinese actress” who’s acting in a French movie in Paris. It’s a blatant showcase of her radiant cat-woman face, but the story is impressionistic, unfocused and confused ‘Filming of a film’ process, reminiscent of Truffault’s much better ‘Day for night’, down to the casting of Jean-Pierre Léaud. 4/10.

With my favorite Ali Farka Touré’s Soukora on the soundtrack!

🍿

I loved Cristin Milioti as Sarah Wilder in ‘Palm Spring’ so much that I saw it about 10 times. So as soon as I heard that she stars in The Resort, a new TV-series, created by Andy Siara who was the writer for ‘Palm Spring’, I dropped everything to binge on its 8 episodes.

It started unexpectedly well with a couple who arrive at a Yucatan resort to celebrate their 10th anniversary. But the wife is obviously unhappy, and their relationship is missing something serious. Then she finds an old phone in the jungle, and unspools a mystery of two teens who disappeared there 15 years before. The couple start detectiving, but are soon being pulled into a complex metaphysical plot of ‘Time Portals’ and ‘Suspended conscientious’ and ‘Memory Leakage’ and what have you.

I wanted to like it, but every episode became stupider and more outrageous than the previous one. I did love though the many times when Cristin Milioti repeats the exact same speech intonations and voice mannerism from ‘Palm Spring’. 5/10.  

🍿

3 Polish masterpieces, 2 with the extraordinary Joanna Kulig:

🍿 “..[My father] mistook me for my mother, so I used a knife to show him the difference...”

It’s been a year and a half since I discovered Cold war, Paweł Pawlikowski’s devastating masterpiece, and this is the first time that I’ve watched it since. I’m surprised to realize that it’s so much shorter (88 minutes), simpler and straight-forward. I remembered it as intricate, over-layered and complex. But the tragically-restrained love story is still sublime, breathtakingly melancholic and epic, one of the most lyrical romances I’ve ever seen.

How Zula sings ‘Two hearts, four eyes’ differently each time. 10/10.

🍿 In the controversial Clegy, Joanna Kulig plays a completely different character, that of a pregnant housekeeper with no agency. The story is about the utter debasement of the Catholic church, as exemplified by three priest friends. God’s servants are sinners and criminals, hypocritical, potty-mouth, abusive, transgressive alcoholics. And this is before they get into the systematic child-abuse story that engulfs all ranks, from the cynically corrupt Bishop to the local country priest. Shocking, angry, and unforgiving. 9/10. 🍿 Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest, EO, the story of a lowly donkey’s dreams and adventures. Not as spiritual as Bresson’s ‘Au Hasard Balthazar’, it’s still deeply humane. Films about sufferings, whether people or animals, whether abused or just neglected, are tough to sit through. But not this one: It’s simple but not obvious, full of surprises and heart. The protagonist was played by 6 different real-life donkeys.

These 3 were my best film events of the week!

🍿

Jonathan Mehring’s short Walls Cannot Keep Us From Flying follows two young Palestinians who have found freedom in skateboarding while surrounded by walls & barbed wire and facing harassment from the fascist Israeli occupation as well as their own communities. Please don’t get me started...

🍿

Bad words, Jason Bateman’s politically-incorrect directorial debut. A black comedy about a 40-year-old unsympathetic asshole with photographic memory who discovers a legal loophole in the rules of the National Spelling Bee, so they have no choice but allowing him to participate in it. 4/10.

🍿  

7 more marijuana films (none of which I saw before):

🍿 It started innocently enough with a random pick, Tim Blake Nelson’s dark & funny Leaves of grass (one of the four feature films he had written and directed). Ivy League professor Edward Norton gets tricked into going back to Tulsa, Oklahoma by his twin brother the pot farmer, and gets tangled in his brother’s scheme to take down a Jewish drug lord. It starts with a fake lecture about the philosophy of Socrates and, like a Coen Brother plot, changes its tone to black comedy, to deadly action, to dreamy romance and other surprises. Susan Sarandon plays again the estranged pothead mom (like she did in ‘Ride the eagle’). 6/10.  

🍿 Reefer Madness (Originally called ‘Tell your children’) the maniacal cult classic, a piece of anti-marihuana propaganda of North Korean magnitude. “Women cry for it - Man die for it!”. The beginning of the century-long racist “War on drugs”. What a horrible, destructive misdirection that cost so much since. Psychedelically-colorized.

🍿 Ice Cube’s hood masterpiece, Friday about two friends sitting on the front porch in South Central, getting stoned and talking shit. Unabashedly funny. “Bye, Felicia”. 7/10.

🍿 “That is where corn chips come from!”

Smiley Face, my first by Gregg Araki. An unusual stoner comedy, because it’s about a spaced out female pothead. She is such an uninhibited toker, that the story turns unbearably paranoiac, as she stumbles from one train rack to another, until the hilarious last 10 minutes. 4/10.

🍿 The X-rated Paddington, Seth MacFarlane’s directional debut Ted. A cute and often funny fairy tale about a friendship between two lazy slackers, one a grown up slacker and one a party-hardy, raunchy pothead/alcoholic teddy bear. Not exactly Disney stuff. With Norah Jones as the bear’s old lover, and Giovanni Ribisi in his scariest role. (Photo Above). 7/10.

🍿 Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the ‘classic’ coming of age in Southern California mall life. I always thought it was a about the always-stoned Jeff Spicoli surfer dude, but actually it was about high-school kids searching for love and sex. Many early roles for young actors who later went to bigger (and better) things, Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, Forest Whitaker, Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh. 3/10.

🍿 And finally, not a movie, but the full recording of The Marijuana-logues (sound only) from their 2004 show. I saw Doug Benson and friends performing it life at a comedy club in Rancho Cucamonga, and loved it.

High-ku’s like: “My girlfriend thinks that I smoke too much pot. I, on the other hand, don’t think I smoke enough pot, because if I did, I’d be finished. And I’m not. Look, we all have our vices: I like to smoke a little weed; she likes to feed the baby. Different strokes for different folks”...

🍿

Ahmad rolled us a really strong joint, then he rolled his first sushi ever, and then we stone-watched the epic Goodfellas again. Deservedly and still one of the finest American movies of all time, and the most recent of the BBC top 20. It’s a rich, frenzy saga, with exhilarating direction, editing, cinematography, soundtrack and depth.

Also a terrific cast that includes bits by Billy Batts’ Frank Vincent, Samuel L. Jackson as Stacks Edwards, Michael Imperioli as ‘Spider’, Mike Starr, Illeana Douglas, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kevin Corrigan, Etc. Also, Scorsese’s real dad & mom (and her famous painting of John Weaving and his two river dogs). 9/10

.🍿

Un-related, Jefferson Airplane’s Triad from their ‘Crown of Creation’, an old favorite. I just learned that David Crosby “gave it to them”. RIP, David Crosby.

🍿  

Throw-back to the art project:

Jefferson Airplane Adora.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

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Tribute to the global icon and the greatest humanitarian Mother Teresa On his Birth Anniversary.

#SanjaySinha

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The Mother Teresa coloring page is an educational yet amusing tool for children. The page showcases the iconic humanitarian figure in a visually appealing format. Coloring this page allows kids to engage in a fun activity while learning about Mother Teresa's immortal contributions to humanity. A perfect blend of entertainment and education!PrintDownload

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"Mother Teresa's Final Battle: A Fight for Rights in the Courts"

It was the year 1980, when Mother Teresa, an icon of compassion and altruism, suddenly found herself at the home of the most unexpected enemy: a court. She had been wrongly accused of fraud and was now fighting for her reputation and the rights of those she had dedicated her life to protecting. “Sir,” the opposing lawyer began in a tone as foul as dragon’s blood, trying to sow doubt about Mother…