Bambi does not want the day to end without a little tribute to Ms. Gloria Jollymore. In the morning, she resorted to a couple of words, even when speechless (https://bit.ly/3kMYrsS). Now, she will resort to music, if she may.
The chosen song is entitled “Je n’aurai pas le temps” [“I won’t have the time“] with an English translation following it. It is a powerful reminder of how short a lifetime can be. Thankfully, it is is up to us to make it meaningful. This is what Ms. Gloria Jollymore did so well. She devoted herself to a career at an institution she loved dearly. While doing so, she inspired so many of us.
Thank you, Gloria (Jollymore), and may your memory be eternal…
Always here for you somewhere… If you do not see me, I am hiding behind clouds!
Do you love the winter season, like Bambi? Or are you “allergic” to it, so to speak? If so, you can rejoice now because March 21st is just around the corner. Anyhow, until the spring will officially and practically arrive, let’s keep either enjoying or coping with winter.
For some potentially amusing ways of coping, Bambi will share a three-year old short video produced by Mr. Mark Hachem & Ms. Rita Nour (Montreal, Québec, Canada), which she discovered only today. It is entitled “How to Actually Survive Winter“.
Before concluding this brief post with the video in question, she will first share with you two songs about the beauty of snow. The first is by Fairouz in Arabic. The second song is in French. It is by Mr. Salvatore Adamo’s and it is entitled “Tombe La Neige“.
Seriously Mr. Bob Rae, do you really mean what you (or your staff) tweeted yesterday?
Is anyone surprised by the official position of Canada at the United Nations?
Where is kindness when we censor citizens who criticize the excesses of wokeism?
Where is kindness in a movement that has sadly resulted in radical outcomes sometimes, such as cancelling artistic or scientific events or even burning books?
Where is kindness when citizens have been wrongly accused of racism in the name of the “kind” so-called anti-racism of wokeism?
Where is kindness in a movement, which insists on pretending to speak in the name of minorities? And to know their best interests better than themselves?
Where is kindness in a movement, which seems to often forget to value the uniqueness and richness of each individual; instead of reducing (and confining) the latter to a single aspect of one’s complex identity over a lifetime?
Where is kindness when clinical psychologists are being censored by their Colleges of Psychologists for having criticized wokeism?
And where is kindness in the attack to the reputation of professors, by our publicly-funded media and on social media, along with long suspensions from work without pay, when they criticize the so-called “kind” wokeism on personal platforms? All this when they know too well what identity politics does to a nation… for having escaped civil war-torn countries.
Where is kindness when your tweet seems to imply that refusing to endorse wokeism is an act of “unkindness”?
Maybe you just meant to support Mr. Trudeau’s political ideology and this could be called a gesture of peer “kindness” toward him?
After all, you do precise that “tweets are you personal views”?
Who knows? Maybe you truly believe your own tweet?
If that is the case, Bambi can understand your position even more, Mr. Rae. However, with all due respect, she will allow herself to remind you that too much of a good thing is a bad thing… even in the case of TRUE kindness.
In this post, Bambi will share a France 24 short and informative video about Lebanon. She will then leave you with Elissa’s beautiful interpretation of Mawtini [My Homeland], which she heard on a Lebanese-American radio yesterday. Since then, she has been humming it…
The picture to the left was graciously provided by Mr. Fred Klein. Good-bye Glenn… Your memory will be eternal
First, Bambi will share Glenn’s obituary or life story https://bit.ly/3ZephJc. Further below, an if you wish, you can see an earlier post spontaneously dedicated to Glenn.
Second, with his consent, Bambi wants to share with you Fred’s elegantly written and moving text celebrating Glenn’s life. He published his “Tribute to Glenn Brown” on the TotalBiblio™website (https://bit.ly/3Zx96q6), which starts with a lovely picture from McGill convocation of October 1998, along with his late friends Alain and now Glenn (maybe they are hanging out together in heaven, could it be?), followed by his tribute.
Published and shared by Mr. Fred Klein
“There I am in the centre with my two best friends from Library School, Glenn Brown on the right and Alain Létourneau on the left. Glenn always called that my ‘stick of gum’ suit. Hard to believe twenty-five years have passed since those memorable and enriching days when we were so much younger and learning so much together. Being in a female-dominated profession, I organized events for the thirteen of us men in our class of fifty (if you do the math, 26%) and Glenn often showed up. So did Alain and the three of us became good pals. It’s hard also to believe I am the last of our trio as Alain passed away in 2006 and Glennlast week.
For our classmate Su, who convocated in June 1998, that ceremony was
memorable also because her husband Jimmy received his PhD from another
faculty but with the three of us at the same time in October. Short
moments after this photo was taken, Glenn lent his robe, mortar and
tassle along with the orange sash of library science to Su so she could
leave her place as a a spectator in the audience, pose with her husband
and have their picture taken side by side at convocation as if they had
been together all along and never separated by time. That’s the kind of
person Glenn was: he could make human moments possible because he was
easy to approach and people trusted him.
Glenn enriched my experience at McGill by being a good classmate and a
role model to look up to for many others in our class as well. Glenn
was suspicious of technology and computers, yet he got one of the
coveted jobs of ‘IT lab technicians’ and was anachronistic in many other
respects, for example being something of an ”agoraphobic agrarian”
difficult to reach by telephone, difficult to enlist for McGill Softball
League. Glenn insisted on meeting and talking to people and for that
reason, always spoke to the bank tellers and never used a bank machine.
Glenn’s interests, education and reading were so varied and sometimes
odd, he had something to offer everyone. I learned plenty from Glenn
about all sorts of things from Newfoundland culture to book culture,
wine and cooking, to history and then some.
Although Glenn never married, I was present on campus when news of
Joy Tillotson’s death from cancer arrived from St. John’s. Glenn was
visibly shaken so I invited him to our regular pub. We had supper
together that same night and I helped Glenn get drunk and talk through
the pain and mourning for his once former girlfriend. It seemed that
evening did him a lot of good.
After McGill, we stayed in touch for several years and when I lived in New York City, Glenn helped prevent my homesickness by sending me the Saturday Montreal Gazette in monthly mailings of a few editions. I’d call Glenn on Sundays at the Neuro Library and he answered because they have a phone in the library. Glenn was very interested to hear about my new job and city in what he called ”fereign parts” since he never visited the ‘U.S. and A’ even once in his life. Eventually, we became roommates in Snowdon for two years and after which, went our separate ways. I will always remember the good times spent with Glenn and the friends we shared in Montreal”.
============ Frederick Klein
March 2, 2023
Thank you Fred. Peace to you heart. Take good care.
Peace also to Louis’ heart, and to the hearts of Glenn’s loved ones, including his brother, nephew, niece, and Peter as well as Donna et al. Each one of you, without naming everyone. Each one of us. We are all united in our sorrow. We are grateful for Glenn’s presence in our lives in one way or another, whether for a limited season or for a lifetime. Tomorrow, at least some of us will be able to say good-bye to Glenn in Montreal (funerals). Please, Louis, give him Bambi’s warm regards.
Last but not least, and if if she may, Bambi will end with a prayer dedicated to you Glenn. May your memory be eternal. THANK you for having existed in our lives ?!
With much love, your sister wishes you a Wonderful Year filled with Love, Health, Happiness, Continuous Success, Prosperity, and Fun with your cutest kitten Dino ❤️.
This being said, Bambi wants to offer you five melodies today, the first is in Arabic, the following ones are in French, and the last piece is musical.
Your first birthday song is a must. As you can see, it is especially designed for a “Roula” (thanks to the anonymous person who posted it on YouTube).
Your second melody is by a certain Ms. Mawey. It is about the meaning of having a big sister in life.
Today’s third song is by Mr. Grégoire and it is meant to celebrate one’s childhood.
Your fourth song is sunny, thanks to Mr. Gilbert Montagné, and its meant to bring you lightness.
As for the last musical piece, it is the Greek Zorba’s dance by Mr. André Rieu et al. Mmm, Bambi will let you take a guess about its meaning :).
Bambi loves serendipity in life. Today, she accidentally discovered a talented Paris-based singer-song-writer, called Ms. Chloé Stafler, on Youtube.
Ms. Stafler seems to be artistically gifted in so many ways. Indeed, she has a beautiful voice, interprets classical French songs in a unique way, composes her own melodies, translates famous English songs into French, and she sings the latter with a personal touch.
Bravo to Ms. Chloé Stafler and may she have a long musical career!
Bambi is grateful to her friend Frank for sharing this powerful video. She watched it before closing her eyes to sleep yesterday night. Today, she wants to share it with you.
Thanks to the NYT Opinion producers… and shame on ALL those responsible for the misery of the Lebanese population.
Before leaving you with this moving video, here is a quick dramatic update from Lebanon: The Lebanese currency was trading today “at almost 90,000 to the dollar, compared to 60,000 in late January”, as per France 24 and confirmed by Bambi’s dad (https://bit.ly/3KIMzTa).
From the article above, and earlier ones by L’Orient Le Jour/Today, Bambi learned that Lebanese supermarkets will now mark prices in dollars.
As a reminder, the World Bank considered that “Lebanon food price inflation reached 332 percent year on year in June 2022, the worst in the world” (https://bit.ly/3KIMzT). Of note, at that time “black market traders in Lebanon” were “selling the US Dollar for 28,300 LBP and buying it for 28,400 LBP“, according to 961 (https://bit.ly/3kDmVEM).
What is next for Lebanon? And had you been in Ms. Sali Hafiz’ shoes, what would you have done for your sister who needed a critical treatment for her brain cancer?!
