As shared further below, Bambi has an older post about the lovely balcony of her mom and dad. Today, she would like to thank her dad for sharing two beautiful pictures of their balcony in Beirut, Lebanon. Bravo for her mom’s green thumb!
If Bambi is not mistaken, the flower featured in the pictures seems to be a rose. However, she is absolutely not knowledgeable and talented in gardening like her mother. If she is wrong, she urges you to please correct her.
As for her parents, she will tell them bravo for contributing to make their beautiful green residential neighbourhood more beautiful. During daytime, birds visit their lovely balcony. At night, a pregnant wild cat comes to sleep on one of their comfortable chairs. She seems to enjoy her “free-of-charge hotel“, as they joke.
Assuming that the picture’s beauty is truly called a rose, Bambi will end this brief post with two songs: (1) the first Arabic melody (with English sub-titles) celebrates a woman’s love for roses; and (2) the second song celebrates “Life in Pink” [“La vie en rose“]. Yes, this is the state of mind, or spirit, when we live with a positive outlook on life. We are happy and we appreciate daily beauty around us. This is similar to how we feel when we (first) fall in love. It is called seeing life through rose-coloured glasses [“voir la vie en rose”], as per Ms. Edith Piaf’s eternal song.
Whether your favourite flower is a rose or not, Bambi wishes you happiness, hoping that your inner well-being will bloom like a flower to shine externally, all around you.
A flower from the beautiful balcony of Robine and Antoine in Beirut, Lebanon. A picture taken by Antoine.
A flower from the beautiful balcony of Robine and Antoine in Beirut, Lebanon. A picture taken by Antoine.
In life, a few of us are blessed with beautiful voices. Thankfully, the rest of us have ears to appreciate their talents. Regardless, whether done accurately, nicely, or not at all (like frogs, including Bambi), we can all sing; of course, if we like it.
Indeed, some people sing spontaneously, like little kids; often out of joy or when listening to songs. Yet others sing more professionally to earn a living while making many others happy. Some sing or whistle out of fear. Some sing for fun while driving or in the shower. Others put kids [or even themselves :)] to sleep with songs. Some sing their feelings to their loved ones and make their hearts melt. Of course, we can sing in spiritual services for our deceased loved ones (hello dear “tante” Renée on your 40-day-memorial today). Of course, thankfully, we can sing a little prayer for them in our homes from far away. Yes, there are too many reasons to sing for life, on earth or eternal, and for love and friendship. Just like those talented “Kids United, Lou, Nemo Schiffman, Angie Robba, Dylan, Ilyana, Thibault” singing Mr. Michel Sardou’s beautiful “En Chantant” [Singing] song.
This older French song starts with the following words: “When I was a little boy, I went over my lessons while singing. And many years later I chased away my dark thoughts singing. It’s much less worrisome to talk about the bad weather while singing. And it’s so much cuter to be treated like a jerk in songs” [Quand j’étais petit garçon, je repassais mes leçons en chantant. Et bien des années plus tard, Je chassais mes idées noires en chantant. C’est beaucoup moins inquiétant de parler du mauvais temps en chantant. Et c’est tellement plus mignon de se faire traiter de con en chanson.”].
Of note, in this melody’s lyrics, there is one meaningful sentence that goes like this:”Life is more fun, it’s less depressing while singing” [“La vie c’est plus marrant, c’est moins déprimant en chantant“]. Indeed, singing helps us release more endorphins (our brains’ natural pain relievers) and oxytocin (with its main function of facilitating childbirth. There is a reason it has been called the “love hormone“). Singing can be a natural anti-depressant, which may reduce feelings of loneliness. Solo and especially group singing leave people feeling not just relaxed and happy, but also connected (https://bit.ly/3MLw1uj).
Bearing the above in mind, with or without singing, may you all have a good day. If your day is not the most joyful, at least it will end and tomorrow is a new start. Regardless of a specific day in the larger scheme of life, Bambi wishes you peace of mind, fun, and love… Yes, from self-love and self-respect to love/respect for others, big L, small L if this is what you wish, and to love in all its colours and shapes.
Outremont is a fancy residential borough of Montreal in Québec, Canada. Bambi learned today from TVA Nouvelles the following: A leaflet, which was distributed in Outremont, suggests having one fewer child to fight climate change. According to the this leaflet, the latter action would be the one with the greatest impact, far ahead of not having a car, taking one less transatlantic flight, and dropping meat from diet (https://bit.ly/3OohNAR) .
Thank Goodness Bambi does not live in Outremont to receive such leaflet at her home :). In her mind, deciding to have children or not is a personal (or familial) choice. No level of governance has the right to enter people’s sexual intimacy to guilt them about their life choices. Indeed, citizens are supposed to be free to decide to have kids or not and as many as they wish. This is a strictly personal decision, whether the protection of the environment is part of the motivation to reproduce or not.Thank Goodness, Mayor Laurent Desbois had enough common sense to order the suspension of the distribution of this leaflet, which was printed in 9000 copies. The operation of distribution began at the start of the week and stopped on Wednesday (https://bit.ly/3OohNAR).
Below, you can find a thoughtful tweet by Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté about this topic. He wrote: “On one hand, we invite people to have one child less to save the planet. On the other hand, we advocate for increasing the levels of immigration. Am I wrong or something does not add up in the dominant ideology?” Dr. Bock-Côté has a logical point here. Indeed, newcomers to Canada from other cultural backgrounds tend to have more children. Of note, Canada’s fertility rate, which was 1.47 children per woman in 2019, was only 1.40 children per woman in 2020 (https://bit.ly/3MK58a9).
To conclude this post in music, Bambi will end with a French-Canadian song she likes. It is entitled “Dégénerations” and it is by a group called Mes Aïeux. Of note, the clever title of the song is a word game meaning both The Generations and Degeneration. For your convenience, the melody is subtitled in English and it was featured in an older post, shown further below. It partly tells us the story of how Québec’s women went, across generations, from having 12 kids (14 as per the melody) to none. Isn’t it a bit ironic to now encourage women to give birth to one child less to save our planet?
This short video is a heart-breaking documentary on the Lebanese economic tragedy. Thank you Channel 4 News for shedding light on the suffering of a father and his son.
Indeed, the father’s tears, along with his son’s reported past suicide attempt, speak volumes about the current despair of the Lebanese people. When will systemic corruption end in Lebanon?
In Canada, we have bills that allow us to die with dignity, if we wish (thankfully). In contrast, Lebanese people are deprived of their right to just live with dignity. To end this post with music, one song comes to Bambi’s mind now. It’s Mr. Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, in an acapella version in both English and Arabic (shared earlier). May God save Bambi’s birth country from its endemic corruption and comfort its sweet people.
“Bon courage à votre femme et à vos trois enfants” [All the best to your family]. Bambi will keep your memory alive; It is her promise to you… and indirectly to your family, which she is making publicly through this post.
—
A NOTE TO THIS BLOG’S READERS
Bambi would like to: (1) apologize for the technical crash of her blog; (2) thank her IT hero, Louis Béliveau, for working days AND nights (from far away) to resuscitate her host server; and (3) express her gratitude to those who touched base to inquire about the blog and to share the shocking news, along with their respect for Dr. Bastien. They know how often Bambi translated his thoughtful columns on her blog or cited his work. Some know how humbled and honoured she has been by his humanity, compassion, and incredible support during her censorship ordeal. Indeed, her life has been enriched by his presence and support. Today, she considers that she lost a friend as well as a brother in arms (i.e., pencils, she means) with regard to the fight for the shared values of freedom of expression-academic freedom, critical judgment, and reason in our world, regardless of our passions or preferences.
Of course, Dr. Bastien and Bambi also share a deep love for Québec, namely the respect for its own societal choices, including Bill 21 on secularism. There is a reason that Bambi earned the title of “Ambassador of Québec” by a faithful reader and friend (hello Fred Klein). What an honour for her, along with her passion for Canada. If anyone deserves such a noble title or the title of Honorary Prime Minister of Québec, it is Dr. Frédéric Bastien! Indeed, Bambi has the utmost respect for Dr. Bastien’s love, deep convictions, and dream/vision for his/our Belle Province (embracing this vision or not is secondary, today more than ever).
—
INTRODUCTION TO THE TRIBUTE
Bearing the above in mind, it is now time to start Dr. Bastien’s official tribute. Bambi’s challenge is to find meaningful words to express her sorrow along with her high respect, appreciation, and even admiration. She wants to describe him to you, dear readers, who do not know him. For her, he is not just an inspiring public figure-aspiring politician, historian, and columnist for the Journal de Montréal. She has been proud to consider him as a friend (“un ami”), now sadly a late one, during and following her censorship saga. The last time she exchanged emails with him was February 27, 2023. Thus, this tribute is perhaps the toughest one she has written thus far, given the striking impact of his sudden death on her and on all of us. Yes, like lightening!
Indeed, Bambi began writing her tribute
in the middle of the night when she had trouble falling asleep after reading the
shocking news first in La Presse. Then confirmed in the Journal de
Montréal, and all the media of Québec, the rest Canada, and even abroad (https://bit.ly/3Inh5jw; https://bit.ly/3MdNHNR). She continued completing
this tribute the following day. One thing is clear in her mind: Dr. Bastien’s death
is a HUGE loss for Québec, Canada, and the entire world. He was a voice of
reason and rigour; both essential to fight obscurantism.
DR. BASTIEN’S BIO (DAWSON COLLEGE, MONTREAL,
QUÉBEC)
Dr. Bastien earned a PhD in History and International
Politics from the Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales in
Geneva, Switzerland.
His own bio reads as follows: “He is the author of two
books on Paris-Québec-Ottawa relations since the Quiet Revolution. Recently his
scholarship focuses on the repatriation of the Constitution of 1982. Most
recently, Dr. Bastien has published “La Bataille de Londres” (“The
Battle of London: Trudeau, Thatcher, and the Fight for Canada’s Constitution“),
a monograph focusing on the role of the Supreme Court of Canada in the
repatriation of the constitution” (https://bit.ly/3Wef7HP).
A TRIBUTE TO DR. BASTIEN
Three days ago, journalist and sister Roula Azar-Douglas wrote from out of Beirut the following deep thought, which Bambi will translate from French as follows: “Only change is permanent. In one fraction of a second, our world can turn upside down”.
Bambi knows the above fact of life so
well… yet she is totally SPEECHLESS.
She has no words, only tears
tonight.
A candle is burning now in Bambi’s kitchen for you “cher Monsieur Frédéric Bastien” [Dear Dr. Frédéric Bastien].
Your candle is still burning…
Both her heart and soul go to your wife, Ms. Marie-Eve Lépine, and your “three children aged 11, 13, and 15”. It seems that it is your wife who found you dead (likely “struck down by a heart attack”), following a stationary bike workout (https://bit.ly/3MdNHNR). Bambi cannot even dare to imagine this CRUEL scene. She is praying that God will know how to comfort your wife’s heart. It is surreal that, not even 48 hours prior to this tragedy, Ms. Lépine and her family were celebrating Mothers’ Day and then she discovers the love of her life and father of her children lifeless. Life is truly too short sometimes and highly fragile.
Regardless of the fragility of life, Bambi also prays for your kids wishing them all the courage of the world.
She sends her love to your parents (if still alive). Hard to find words for them. She also wishes them lots of courage.
Same solidarity with the rest of your extended family, friends, students/mentees, colleagues (both journalists, fellow historians, all faculty members at Dawson College), readers (of books, columns at the Journal de Montréal, and your own social media posts), fans (deer and humans), followers, political allies (and opponents), fellow Québec and Canadian citizens, and citizens of all the beautiful places you visited or lived in, including but not limited to New Brunswick, the rest of Canada, Switzerland, and the Middle East.
Dr. Bastien, you will be missed
greatly by Bambi, more than you think. She will refrain from saying, as she
always does, “May your memory be eternal” now. Instead, she will promise
you publicly (in front of all this post’s readers) and not just in her prayer, the
following: she will keep your memory alive. She will do so on her blog and in
her own drive to keep denouncing the dangers of identity politics (and its resulting
divisiveness). Sadly, our politicians and elites are playing with its fire,
which could eventually harm us all, including them.
Bambi will always remember how you
used to kindly inquire about her situation during her seven months of suspension
from work without pay. At one point, you even generously offered her your
own platform to tell her story, communicate with your online audience, and
thank the men and women of Québec who are so dear to her heart. They represent an
integral facet of her rich identity or individuality (“identité multiple” in French). Indeed,
Bambi’s Canadian adventure began thirty-three years ago in Québec where she lived
for 15 wonderful years.
To come back to her past saga of censorship, you expressed joy when you learned about her Go Fund Me Campaign, which allowed her to cover the fees of her outstanding lawyer. You also kindly expressed that her first public interview, which was with the famous Dr. Jordan Peterson, was an important strategic move as it brought visibility to her surreal case (serving both her fundraising campaign and her fight for her right to academic freedom- freedom of expression). Pragmatically, you added that if it does not help, it cannot harm. Bambi remains full of gratitude for the kind hand that Dr. Peterson extended to her.
Last but not least, Bambi is also grateful for your invitations and encouragements, earlier and even more recently, to publish columns in French.
Clearly, it is in difficult times in life that we appreciate every gesture
of kindness and solidarity. From the bottom of her heart, Bambi thanks you for
your humanity, Dr. Bastien, along with everyone who supported her through you.
This being said, we live in odd times, which Bambi often calls “our collectively insane times”. Yes, strange times where Canada’s diplomacy, whether we agree with it or not, is considered as war criminality, patriotism as fanatism, respect for and love of a country’s (or province’s) flag as hate, expression of either a slightly different or an alternative opinion as encouragement of the following: colonization, systemic racism, rape culture, domestic, and sexual violence. Big words like these sound like empty slogans to Bambi’s ears when used to intimidate those we do not agree with.
Thankfully, there are courageous people like Dr. Bastien who remain rigorous despite their clear political convictions (ie., a dream of a country called Québec), open to others despite his criticism of the excesses of wokeism and Islamism (or any other word ending with “ism”). Yes, like multiculturalism, which seems to be unable or unwilling to question its limitations (like any approach in life) or possible slippery slopes. Bambi is saying so thinking of how Mr. Trudeau’s rather excessive conception of multiculturalism seems to lend itself more to identity-based movements like wokeism, than other cultural approaches to secularism, for instance. Of course, this is not to say that alternative cultural approaches, including those chosen by Québec for itself, cannot also become excessive in different ways.
Anyhow, regardless,
Bambi does not know if you are like her. She has the utmost respect for principled
politicians/scholars with integrity. It does not really matter where they stand
on a any political spectrum so long as they have genuine convictions and rigour
in their work. Indeed, the latter is how she will always remember you, Dr. Bastien.
“Merci du fond du coeur”. Yes, thank you from the bottom of her heart!
To conclude this tribute in music, Bambi will end with a famous love song for Québec and a prayer meant for you today, “cher Monsieur Frédéric Bastien”. May you rest in peace… and good-bye now. May you always watch over your family in invisible yet concrete ways. May your inspiring legacy and rigour, along with the memory of your humanity, be eternal.
Do you enjoy watching, and even feeding, birds like Bambi’s parents in Beirut and like many Maritimers? Thankfully, in New Brunswick, we are blessed with colourful birds. Indeed, this morning Bambi saw a superb red one. Unfortunately, she did not have enough time for a picture. The other day she saw three, one yellow, one partly blue, and the other looked like a little zebra. It was the first time she sees the latter.
This being said, as a pure coincidence, she now came across the latest beautiful song of Mr. Nicola Ciconne. Guess what? It is entitled “Comme un oiseau” [“Like a Bird”].
For your convenience, a quick translation of its lyrics will follow the melody, with a slight adaptation by Bambi (https://bit.ly/3Brgj0P) with the assistance of her faithful friend, Mr. Google Translate.
As for your lovely birds, please keep singing, flying, and being free. Thank you for making us happier just by watching you, whether we live in Sackville, Beirut, or anywhere else on our beautiful planet.
The Atlantic Canadian province of New Brunswick (NB) is very beautiful. If you do not believe Bambi, check Gina’s pictures, which are featured in this post. They were taken at Pokeshaw Beach (https://bit.ly/3M781An) and in the Caraquet fishing port (https://bit.ly/42Z8FH3). Following these pictures, please meet a cute beaver. He may have been washed out by the tides after the destruction of its dam on a river. Thankfully, the most talented and compassionate Gina saved this animal, which was dehydrated and weak. Bravo to her!
To celebrate the beauty of our province, with its landscapes and wildlife, the current post will end with melodies about the sea in French (with Mr. Enrico Macias), Lebanese-Arabic (with Mr. Marwan Khoury), and English (a kids’ song).
Thank you/Merci Gina for making us dream of the forthcoming summer :)!
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Caraquet fishing port in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Shh, please do not wake him up. The rescued beaver is resting! This picture and the following ones were all taken by Gina.
To our mothers (whether on earth or in heaven), godmothers [a wink to Bambi’s aunty Nadia in heaven ❤️], grand-mothers, aunts (a heavenly wink to Renée and Salwa), mothers-in-law, mothers of friends, all the mother figures in all their roles, whatever and whoever they are, sisters, friends, readers of this blog and fellow citizens who are either mothers or have taken care of AND inspired younger siblings or generations (hello Roula 🙂 ❤️!). The latter may include mothers-to-be (if they will want to, of course, and if life will cooperate)… To all of you, Bambi will say: This is your weekend, tomorrow is your day, enjoy it, and THANK you everyday!
As you can guess, this post will end in music. First, Mr. Kendi Girac’s melody is a must. His French song, entitled “Les Yeux de la Mama” [Mama’s Eyes] is sub-titled in English and Arabic. The second melody is the same song by Kids United, which is sub-titled in French only. The third song is Mr. Michael Bublé’s Mother; yes in English. As for the last piece, it is especially dedicated to you mom with MUCH love ❤️, with the voice of your own little Bambi (when she was a child). It is in standard Arabic. Do not worry, it is not a song, thankfully for your ears :)! It is just a poem about a little boy who misses his late mom. Bambi knows that you love this poem and it was shared on this blog in the past, thanks to a gift from her dad ❤️ (post shown further below).
Bambi has several earlier posts about the ordeal of Biologist and Professor Rod Cumberland, all shown further below. She has also been honoured to concretely support him twice.
Professor Cumberland is one of the most decent scientists of our province. He is not afraid of speaking up his mind and sharing his scientific expertise and findings. This is called a professor with integrity in the dictionary of Bambi. But, a Judge from our province “called Cumberland “an individual of strong convictions and not someone who can easily embrace the points of view of others when such views do not align precisely with his own.” With all due respect, what does the latter mean precisely?
And what do claims about sexism or racism or any other “ism” mean in the context of a shocking yet not surprising cancellation of a scientific career?
One thing is sure in Bambi’s mind: Professor Rod Cumberland is anything but what is reported about him in the CBC article entitled “Forestry college instructor wasn’t fired for views on glyphosate, judge rules“ (https://bit.ly/3I0BDOD): “The Judge also added: A forestry college instructor was fired because he was a “disruptive and destructive force” and not because of his views of the herbicide glyphosate, a New Brunswick judge has ruled“.
To conclude this post, Professor Cumberland deserves our utmost respect. Indeed, he is one of the MOST COURAGEOUS citizens of our beautiful province, in addition to being a man filled with goodness and beautiful values. He also deserves a MUCH higher compensation than what he got at the end of his trial ($48,645 in severance and $6,700 from his former College toward his legal costs).
This post is a simple little musical treat, selfishly for Bambi’s own ears before heading to sleep, and then for you :). Actually, she does not know if you are familiar with a French song entitled “L’amour existe encore” [“Love Still Exists“]. What a beautiful melody by Mr. Luc Plamondon (Québec, Canada) and Mr. Riccardo Cocciante (Italy). It has been made famous by Ms. Céline Dion in 1991.
If you wish, you can first listen to Dion’s original version, subtitled in English (in addition to French), for your convenience. This will be followed by two performances. The first is the superb Italian adaptation of this song by Mr. Nicola Ciccone (Québec, Canada). The second is by Mr. Kendji Girac in the original language (France) . The post will end with a quick English translation of the lyrics, which was found online.
To these GREAT artists, Bambi feels like saying bravo for your inspiring talent. As for each one of you, dear readers of this blog, you will be wished a good night (or morning, if you will read this post then). May love, with a small as well as a big L, always exist and have the final word in our world. May it be louder than cannons. May it be more powerful than both hate and indifference.
