Happy Easter or Passover - for those that Celebrate

Passover and Easter are occurring the same time this year, which hasn't happened in a while. I don't celebrate either. I do a little for Easter, but I'm not religious or anything.

Anyhow, yesterday, I watched the 1970s film, Jesus Christ Superstar, which utilized the original cast of the Broadway Musical that premiered in 1971 or thereabouts. They'd just finished recording the cast album, when they were asked to do a film version. What I didn't know, until I watched part of a cast reunion/making of the film documentary special, was it was filmed in Israel. The entire film version of Jesus Christ Superstar is filmed in the Israeli desert, along the shores of Gailee, and among the Roman and old city ruins. And in the caves. It lends a certain spiritual weight to the musical, and to some of the lyrics, which state this soon will be nothing but ruins. It also reminds me that in at the time this all was taking place historically - it was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. ( Read more... )

The film wasn't just filmed in Israel. It was filmed in the ruins, and among the scaffolding of restoration efforts. It utilized tanks from the Six Day War that had happened just six weeks prior (this was filmed in the 1970s). With the only bits of modern times: the Israeli tourist bus the cast arrives and leaves in, two army planes flying overhead, and the tanks.

History has a tendency to repeat itself in rhyme.

I don't have much planned. And am being extraordinarily lazy this weekend, but at least getting a little more sleep if in snatches. It's a quiet Easter. And my reluctance to take the subway anywhere...means that I'm much the homebody. I'm admittedly giving my knees a break from climbing up and down so many stairs. I'll probably watch Easter Services from the live stream at the Church, from the comfort of my small living room.

Here's a photo from my walk around Greenwood Cemetery, yesterday.

Meanwhile...some good news (finally)

[this is courtesy of a social rights activist who posts these lists on FB, I know it's accurate because I see it in AP news wire and other sources as well. I'll add links where I'm able, a lot of stuff is under paywalls.] As always, whether this is good news is in the eye of the beholder, ie. mileage may vary on these points.

1.A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of “X” marker used by many nonbinary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers.
( more court cases )

6.US scientists engineer safer LSD to treat schizophrenia and boost brain function. LSD has long been considered too unpredictable to be a viable treatment, but an altered version that “ditches the trip” could change that. Go HERE

7.Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Thursday night that he had met in San Salvador with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador last month has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate and fueled a standoff between the Trump administration and the courts. ( Read more... )

8.Immigrants prove they are alive, forcing Social Security to undo death label. The immigrants are among more than 6,000 who were falsely added to a deaths database by DHS and the U.S. DOGE Service in a bid to pressure them to leave the United States.

9.Audubon is sponsoring Assembly Bill 454 because it maintains crucial and effective protections for California’s migratory birds. This bill would restore essential safeguards and ensure California remains a stronghold for birds on the move. Go HERE

10.Scientists Find Promising Indication of Extraterrestrial Life—124 Light-Years Away: Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope confirmed that the planet K2-18b has traces of dimethyl sulfide, a potential biosignature of marine microorganisms.

11. A new bill is designed to curtail book-banning in Delaware libraries - those open to the public, and those in public schools. House Bill 119 is known as the Freedom to Read Act. Public schools and libraries would be required to adopt policies in developing their collections that prohibit removal of materials based on an author's background, or for partisan, ideological or religious objections. The legislation sets up a clear review procedure for challenging or removing materials. Go HERE

12.American Oversight secured a significant legal victory after a Georgia court denied State Election Board member Janice Johnston’s motion to dismiss in its ongoing transparency lawsuit against the Georgia State Election Board. Go HERE

13.A man experiencing homelessness won a $1Million jackpot in San Luis Obispo, CA. On the evening of April 6, the man bought two $5 Triple Red 777 scratchers, along with some smaller tickets, for a total of $25.
After checking one of the scratchers, he found he had won $200, but the real surprise came when he scratched the second one. Initially thinking he’d won $100,000, he was shocked to learn it was actually a $1 million prize.

14. A vocational training center in Maryland offers more than the usual trade classes — it gives underserved individuals a second chance. Veterans, formerly incarcerated people, and those emerging from homelessness or addiction can enroll in free certification sessions, as well as classes about financial literacy, job retention, and communication. “The most important thing that will change is your internal, how you feel about who you are,” said executive director Walter Billips. “From going to a hopeless situation [to] now you have hope.” GO HERE

15. In a world first, a baby was born after being conceived through a robot-controlled version of IVF. Go HERE. ("The startup company that developed the robot, Overture Life, says its device is an initial step toward automating in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and potentially making the procedure less expensive and far more common than it is today.")

16.A pet tortoise was reunited with his family in Mississippi after going missing during a tornado last month. Go HERE

( the rest )

That's it. Have a lovely day.

More April Memage - or catching up on April Memage

April Memage - Days 17 -19

17. It’s International Bat Appreciation Day – are there bats where you live? Have you ever seen one flying?

Not in NYC or I've not seen any. Probably because it is a city and they tend to stick to the country?

Yes, I saw quite a few as a kid in West Chester, PA, when we living in the rural countryside. Lots of fruit bats.
( the rest )

Another flower from yesterday's walk (this is not part of the meme, although you can post one if you so desire):



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A Meditative Easter Holiday and Earth Day Weekend..

I took a walk, brief, because my knees were bothering me - most likely a combination of arthritis and a side-effect of medication that I'm discontinuing. I wandered in and out of Lofty Pigeons Book Store hunting Maya Angelo's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, but alas couldn't find it.
I may have to look in Barnes and Noble or somewhere in the City?

Prior to that, I watched the Brooklyn Unitarian Church's service on FB, where they discussed letting go of things, burning them away on flashpaper. And now, I'm listening to the Manhattan Unitarian Church's service on Youtube which is also about letting go and moving with the land, not against it, and adapting, and rebirth.

Easter and Earth Day are both today, by the way.

I also rented and watched the 1973 film adaptation of the Stephen Schwartz musical Godspell
and is also known as the lyricist and composer behind Pippin and Wicked.
And you've most likely heard the songs from Godspell out of context: Day by Day, Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord, We Can Build a Beautiful City, and By Your Side, also Turn Back Oh Man, and Willows There.
( Godspell )

It was a lovely day - sunny, and springlike. I did very little. Worked on a water color, but I don't like how it turned out? So may discard and start another one. Some work, some do not.

Mostly a meditative couple of days, doing very little. Except being watchful and commenting on it here for anyone who wishes to listen.