The tension of opposites?

“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you should never take anything for granted.

“A series of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.”

Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.

“A wrestling match.” He laughs. “Yes, you could describe life that way.”

So which side wins, I ask?

“Which side wins?”

He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.

“Love wins. Love always wins.”

However long the night, the dawn will  break.

Photo source: Flickr

Who are you trying to convince JJ?

Jack’s Mannequin is an American rock band formed in 2004, originally hailing from Orange County, California. The band began as a side project of Andrew McMahon, the frontman for Something Corporate, and is composed of guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Jonathan Sullivan and drummer Jay McMillan.

In June 2005, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, just months before the release of Jack’s Mannequin’s debut studio album. They released the album, Everything in Transit, in August 2005. The album peaked at number 37 on the Billboard 200. McMahon made a full recovery and the band returned to touring. They released The Glass Passenger after a series of delays in 2008. It sold 49,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200. “The Resolution” was released as the first single and charted at number 27 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Listen to Swim from the Glass Passenger album. Listen, swim and don’t let yourself sink.

“I regret nothing. There have been things I missed, but I ask no questions, because I have loved it, such as it has been, even the moments of emptiness, even the unanswered-and that I loved it, that is the unanswered in my life.”

— Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead)

Source: Flickr

A change is as good as a rest.

“The trouble with aggressive nonsmokers is that they feel they are doing you a favor by not allowing you to smoke. They seem to think that one day you’ll look back and thank them for those precious fifteen seconds they just added to your life. What they don’t understand is that those are just fifteen more seconds you can spend hating their guts and plotting revenge.”

— David Sedaris (Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays)

Kaong's drag

Explore  The Unmistakable Man.

Against Me! is a punk rock band formed in 1997 in Gainesville, Florida. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records, Plan It X Records, Sabot Productions, No Idea Records, and Fat Wreck Chords. In December 2005, they signed with Sire Records, and released their major label debut, New Wave on July 10, 2007. Their second album on Sire, White Crosses, was released on June 4, 2010.

Always in-love with this band. Wanna know why? Click here.

How cool is that? I was about to delete my Twitter account until..

This phrase, surprisingly, was used to sell Listerine mouthwash! To promote their product, the manufacturers of Listerine employed the personal experience of girls at the time, who desperately wanted to settle down but seemed always to be left on the shelf. First used in the 1920’s, it portrays a situation and a possible explanation for the lack of success these girls had. Here is the transcript of the ad:

Poor Edna was getting on for thirty and most of her girlfriends were either already married, or about to tie the knot. How she wished that, instead of being their bridesmaid, she could be the bride! However, any romance of hers invariably ended quickly. There was a reason. Unbeknownst to her, she suffered from bad breath and no one would tell her, not ever her closest friends. The advertisement sold millions of bottles of mouthwash and also gave the English language a new saying!

Blow Hot and Cold

People who waver in their opinions and quickly change from being enthusiastic to showing disinterest are said to ‘blow hot and cold’. The saying can be traced to one of Aesop’s Fables. It was a cold winter’s day, and the freezing traveler was blowing on his stiff fingers. Mystified, a satyr wanted to know what he was doing. The man explained to him that, with his breath, he was warming his chilled fingers. Taking pity on him, the satyr invited the man to his home for a hot meal. This time, he watched him blowing on the food, which intrigued him all the more. Inquiring why he did so, his guest explained that he was blowing on the stew to cool it down. There and then the satyr told the traveler to leave at once. He was not prepared to entertain, or even mix with, someone who could ‘blow hot and cold from the same mouth’.

Best Foot Forward

When you are trying to make a good impression it is said that you should put your ‘best foot forward’. There are many options as to where this phrase came from, one being that it was believed that ‘the left’ was the realm of the devil, of evil and misfortune. After all the Latin word sinister means left, and in English sinister has kept its ominous meaning. Hence, it was advisable to keep the left foot behind and step forward with the best, the right, foot first.

But this phrase seems to have come from the fashion world, rather than the occult. The saying can be traced to male vanity, particularly apparent in the late eighteenth century, the period of the dandy. His desire to attract people’s attention and admiration took strange and elaborate forms. At the time, people imagined that their two legs differed in shape and that ‘normally’ one was more becoming than the other. To draw attention to it they kept the worse one in the background, literally putting ‘their best foot forward’, and with it, of course, their leg.

Indira Gandhi, India.

She was a true daughter of the country, brought up and his people and his father, who was the first Prime Minister of India after years of British rule.. Cover of TIME magazine soon after its election in January of 1966 reads: “The poor of India in women’s hands.” These hand held India in the next decades through many tests: an economic downturn, famine, India’s first test of an atomic bomb, civil war in neighboring Pakistan, and education (with Indira), a new state – Bangaladesh.

Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom.

Also known Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher was a woman of high principles, short patience and a fan of whiskey. A housewife from the outskirts into one of the most influential women in the world, and ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher became the first woman prime minister in Europe, and the first British permerom, elected for three consecutive terms. During his 11 years in power it has increased the share of private capital and led to the grave the Soviet Union. Thatcher is as for their personal qualities, and for the achievements in the state field, the most popular British politician after Winston Churchill.

Shirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka.

Fifty years ago Shirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman in the foreseeable history – the head of government. Her victory is so overwhelmed by all that no one knew how to correctly call. “We need to invent a new word” – wrote the London Evening News the next day after Shirimavo elected Prime Minister of Ceylon (then called Sri Lanka). “What’s her name? – Regent? “Bandaranaike led the party after the death of her husband, who was slain by a Buddhist monk in 1959 after winning her party in 1960, she took the reins in his hands and rules until 1965. After that she became prime minister twice – from 1970 to 1977 and from 1994 to 2000. Her daughter was the first-ever woman president in 1994, she appointed her mother prime minister for the last time (it should be noted that this appointment was rather a tribute of respect). Shirimavo resigned in April 2000 and died in the same year.

Golda Meir, Israel

Called acute languages “the only guy in the Cabinet” Golda Meir was a formidable and odious figure in Israeli politics. Tall, lean, sharp and decisive, it has become for the world’s epitome of the Jewish stubbornness. “There are a variety of women – she said once – that did not allow husbands to overshadow much of the horizon”. After a brilliant political career, including as Minister of Labour and Minister of Foreign Affairs and several other senior positions, she went to bed, but had returned to politics in the age of 70 years and led the country as prime minister from 1969 to 1974.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia

In April 2006, First Lady Laura Bush America responded to Ellen as “a woman who did not stop working for the good of their country.” “Her courage and dedication inspires me and women around the world,” said Mrs. Bush magazine TIME. Johnson-Sirleaf, started her career with the membership of the Council of Ministers in 1970, then in the 90′s became a senior administrator of the UN, and in 2006 was elected president of Liberia – the first woman president in Africa. She had to sum up years of civil war in the country. Allen vowed to fight corruption and build a brighter future of the country. George W. Bush presented her with a 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Laura Bush said: “Johnson-Sirleaf – a good example of what can happen if the girls get a good education.”

Angela Merkel, Germany’s Angela.

Merkel – an exceptional phenomenon in German politics: the first female chancellor, also grew up in communist East Germany, as well as the youngest chancellor in history. Its underrated on the continuation of decades, but it is not broken. “I myself have never underestimated himself” – she said in an interview with TIME in January 2010 “There is nothing wrong with ambition, and ambition.” She took office in late 2005, and 100 days after the poll showed that it is the most popular chancellor of all German history.

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan.

Descendant of an influential Pakistani dynasty, Benazir Bhutto went into politics after his father, and died. Young and beautiful, she clearly stood out from the male Pakistani political establishment. Benazir led the country as prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, and both times was dismissed from office by the President because of corruption charges which she vehemently denied. Benazir was assassinated in 2007, when the country was ruled by a military junta. The current President of Pakistan is her husband, who was also accused of fraud.

And our very own

Corazon Aquino, Philippines.

After the death of her charismatic husband, pious Catholic widow Corazon Aquino won the people’s love and overthrew the dictatorial regime, who was involved in the murder of her husband. Millions of people took to the streets, and in February 1986 Aquino became president. After crushing the attempts of several military coups, Aquino saved democracy in the country – something for which killed her husband. In 1986, Corazon Aquino, was named “Man of the Year” by magazine TIME – the first woman after the Queen Elizabeth 2, has suffered such an honor.