John Francis
LightNews LightNews
banner
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
John Francis
@johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
230 followers 93 following 130 posts
Music, Nature and a Healthy Dose of Cynicism. Guitarist, Composer and Educator. Avian Friendly, Eclectric… I don’t suffer fools.
Posts Replies Media Videos
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"Music is the cup which holds the wine of silence. Sound is that cup, but empty. Noise is that cup, but broken." -Robert Fripp

#music #quotes #sunset
Sunset captures through a wine glass
January 22, 2025 at 4:08 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering. -Haruki Murakami

#MusicQuotes
Winter scene with Homes and trees covered by a blanket of snow. Smoke is rising from each chimney. There is a Warm glow from the lighted windows.
January 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take." –Wayne Gretzky

#motivational #quote #affirmation #snails
Snails sitting on top of wild mushrooms.
December 21, 2024 at 5:29 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
“Music is the shorthand of emotion” -Leo Tolstoy

#music #quotes #Tolstoy #Lyra #guitar
Antique photo of a beautiful lady with a Lyra-Guitar
December 16, 2024 at 1:28 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Birdie Out-Take: Rocky and I do a read though of The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. Rocky thinks my strings need a little preening.

#AfricanGrey #Parrot #ClassicalGuitar #Fingerstyle #Holidays #guitar #Music
December 9, 2024 at 4:40 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Nicky says it’s a pretty good time of year. Happy Holidays from our flock to yours.

#Cockatoo #Christmas #Parrot #merry #Greeting #CandyCane #Tree #Lights
December 7, 2024 at 8:16 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
All The Best For Your Joyful Season!

#cockatoo #holiday #greetings #parrot #christmas
December 5, 2024 at 7:02 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
“Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, and show the heavens more just.”

#Shakespeare #KingLear #Squirrel #TheStorm #Winter #justice #paradox #power #HumanNature
Squirrel in the snow is holding a snowball in both hands. This is a follow up to the Shakespeare squirrel thread.
December 2, 2024 at 3:58 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
“Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you from seasons such as these? O, I have taken too little care of this!”

#KingLear #Shakespeare #TheStorm #Squirrel
A squirrel wields a stick and appears to be shouting against the storm, as if he is in a scene from Shakespeare’s King Lear.
December 2, 2024 at 3:58 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
It”s Delivery
December 2, 2024 at 3:16 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true." -Siddhārtha Gautama "Buddha" (563-483 BCE)

#unity #diversity #harmony #buddha #sky #sunrise #truth #clouds #bahá’í
Sunrise from high in the mountains. The clouds appear below.
December 2, 2024 at 12:26 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Rocky having a bad hair day, otherwise, unscathed by Thanksgiving activities.

#Parrot #BadHairDay #AfricanGrey #MorningAfter #Thanksgiving #SillyBird #Pets #Rocky
Our pal Rocky, the African gray parrot has a few feathers out of place on his forehead reminiscence of a bad hair day after Thanksgiving.
November 29, 2024 at 2:57 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Sisyphus pushing his stone uphill for eternity.
November 27, 2024 at 11:37 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
The opening theme from Fantasia No. 7 in G minor by John Dowland for Renaissance Lute on my Eleven String Alto Guitar made by Georg Bohlin. Goran Sollscher’s performance of this is what I use to wake up to.

#fantasia #dowland #renaissance #lute #ClassicalGuitar #altgitarr #solo #fingerstyle #guitar
November 26, 2024 at 9:19 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass. -Frank Sinatra

#Cat #Tuxedo #Love #Living #LifeAndDeath #Frank #Sinatra #humor #Quotes #svelt #OnTheTown
Cat with tuxedo collar and bow tie, lying loose around his shoulders, looking good, fresh from a night out on the town.
November 26, 2024 at 2:23 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." -Lewis Carroll

All the best for happy and fruitful days ahead.

#GoodMorning #belief #possibilities #fiction #LewisCarroll #quotes #piano #technique #feet
Piano appears as if it is being played by a woman’s bare feet. Only her legs are in view from below the knees. Her tippy-toes are pressing the keys.
November 25, 2024 at 11:17 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Elvis wrote this quote, along with several other handwritten annotations, in his personal bible. It sold at auction in 2012, for the 35th anniversary of his death. The 1,60O page volume fetched $94.000 at the time.
The personal monogrammed Bible of Elvis Presley. It is well worn and has been annotations, including the one quoted in this post. Another picture of the 1600 page personal monogrammed Bible of Elvis Presley. It is well worn and has been annotations, including the one quoted in this post.
November 25, 2024 at 9:42 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away. -Elvis Presley

#truth #honesty #integrity #elvis #elvispresley #wuotes #graceland #authentic
John Francis stands in front of a larger than life portrait of Elvis Presley at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. The portrait is actually painted directly on the wall adjacent to one door of the theater there. There is a wall of picture windows to its left. Elvis Aaron Presley[a] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Known as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's energized performances and interpretations of songs, and sexually provocative dance moves, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy. Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents, paternal grandmother, grandson, and daughter. It has become a Mecca for many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit there each year. The visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective for some, who may plan for years to journey to the home of the 'King' of rock and roll.
November 24, 2024 at 3:17 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” -14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

#humanity #love #compàsion #survival #DalaiLama #kitten #cat #empathy
Old man and his kitten with fixed eyes on each other. The kitten is looking up to the man. Only the two are illuminated in the darkness.
November 23, 2024 at 2:26 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
It may be hard for an #egg to turn into a #bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present, and you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be #hatched or go bad. -C. S. Lewis

#learningtofly #changes
Eggs in the process of hatching. One has sprouted feet and is walking with its shell covering the remainder of its body.
November 22, 2024 at 11:16 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Every Silver Lining's Got a
Touch of Grey.

#pals #africangrey #parrot #friends #Friendship #rocky #birds #gratefuldead
Close Up of John Francis with his African Grey Parrot on his shoulder who matches his beard.
November 22, 2024 at 4:12 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
Holy, Here We Go Again, Rocky!

#The-Morning-After #African-Grey #Parrot #Election-Reaction #Rocky
African Grey Parrot Rocky’s reaction to the 2024 general election.
November 21, 2024 at 6:13 PM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
“They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.” - Charlie Parker

#charlie_parker #music #art #harmony #cross-over #breaking_boundaries #genres
Composer Guitarist John Francis stands in front of a colorful painting that includes a saxophone, violin and upright bass.
November 21, 2024 at 1:16 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"I know you said we would have Box Seats, but really?"

#cats #silly #puns #box #box_seats #audience #opera #concert #game
Two cats looking out of a box while resting their chins against a cardboard flap.
November 20, 2024 at 2:39 AM
johnfrancisguitar.bsky.social
"Everybody is a #genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

"Three Worlds" by MC Escher (1955)

#inspiration #logic #art #nature #einstein #escher
Inspirational quote from Albert Einstein accompanies MC Escher’s artwork entitled Three Worlds. Three Worlds depicts a large pool or lake during the autumn or winter months, the title referring to the three visible perspectives in the picture: the surface of the water on which leaves float, the world above the surface, observable by the water's reflection of a forest, and the world below the surface, observable in the large fish swimming just below the water's surface.
November 19, 2024 at 4:04 PM