Bambi's Thoughts
Bambi loves her friend Diana and considers herself blessed to have her in her life in so many ways [one of them maybe too embarrassing to share :)] ❤️. Today, the blessing stems from Diana’s generosity in sharing those pictures with this blog’s readers. Long live friendship, honesty, kindness, and generosity in life. Long live the beautiful sunsets in Canada and around the world!
Bambi fell in love with a song shared by one of her beloved friends. With his permission, she cannot help not to share with all of you. She hopes you will enjoy it too!
As reported by L’Orient Today yesterday, Mr. Naim Kassem (Head of the Hezbollah) has warned that, in order to face of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, “Lebanon needs resistance”… while reserving the right to decide on the relevant response “in terms of form, nature, and timing” (https://shorturl.at/KP32i).
Has Mr. Naim Kassem ever heard of a concept called “entitlement”? The latter literally means “the right to have, or maybe do, something“.
Of course, as an Islamist, Mr. Kassem is entitled to have his own opinion about any matter. However, as a citizen of Lebanon, not of Iran where he might be still hiding, he has a moral duty that he can no longer ignore: He can no longer impose his vision of the world on others. In other terms, it is about time to have his patriotic compass back to where it should have been in the first place: with the state of Lebanon and with his fellow Lebanese citizens. It would be also nice to have a thought for their relatives or friends abroad (wherever they are). Many, if not most, of them are like Bambi sick and tired of endless wars and of absurd, elevated mortality.
So, no Mr. Kassem, with all due respect to your own insights, Lebanon does not deserve a resistance that brought the occupation back. Lebanon deserves to be sovereign and to live in peace. Thank you.
Mr. Demis Roussos (born Artemios Ventouris-Roussos) came to the world on January 15 1946 in Alexandria into a Greek family. After having been raised in Egypt, his immense talent made him a worldwide star.
As a songwriter, musician, and singer, Mr. Roussos travelled the world, performing in several languages, including English, French, Greek, and German. He sadly died at age 69 on January 25, 2015 (https://shorturl.at/yCiUz).
Of note, in 1985, a horrible tragedy happened to Mr. Roussos. He found himself kidnapped, along with other 144 passengers and 8 crew members of the TWA Flight 847, headed from Athens (Greece) to Rome (Italy). The Lebanese hijackers, affiliated with Hezbollah (and later the Amal movement got involved), forced the plane to take a scary detour to… Beirut, devastated by a cruel civil-war. Bambi, 13 years old at the time, recalls this sad story, which she followed closely from out of Beirut.
Contrary to the other passengers, Mr. Roussos was among the lucky ones. First, he remained alive. Second, his ordeal ended after a few days only (https://shorturl.at/dupq7). Mr. Roussos rarely spoke about his saga in Beirut. However, with his notorious sense of humour, he once said on a French TV show, with Mr. Thierry Ardisson, that he may have been released faster “because Lebanese people love music“. Then, he gave the most likely reason: “he was neither Israeli, nor American” (https://shorturl.at/bsJC1).
Anyhow, Mr. Roussos who spread love and nurtured peace with his music, returned to Lebanon in 2013 where he gave a big concert. The “Country of the Cedars” was grateful.
May Mr. Demis Roussos’ memory be eternal. Long live his incredible musical legacy!
Thank you La Presse (https://tinyurl.com/2e54jhb6) for capturing the moving moments. These Israeli young women could have been our daughters or our students. Their parents our siblings or even ourselves. Same for the Palestinian “Madame Jarrar”. She could have been Bambi’s aunt or mom. Bravo for the happy family reunions.
An English translation of the French lyrics (https://shorturl.at/SqNhl) follows Mr. Nicola Ciccone’s beautiful song. Thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his assistance. Aunty Bambi offers this song to Michael and Stéphanie with love and fond regards across the miles ❤️!
“What if we had a child
what if we tried our luck
to perform the most beautiful miracle
giving life its full meaning
and if we closed our eyes
looking to be happy
what if we loved each other forever
what if we made love
what if we had a child
that from two we went to three
maybe even four or five
okay, let’s start at three
what if we helped him/her grow
in the best and in the worst
and if we gave ourselves to him/her
and if we loved him/her for life
what if we had a child
let us see him/her born very small
that we want to protect him/her from everything
let us watch over him/her day and night
so that one day he/she can tenderly
say mom, say dad
and he/she can stop time
filling our hearts with joy
what if we had a child
what if we united our lives
to see new life born
I know, it’s pure madness
but this is where life becomes beautiful
when we fill it with madness
kiss me without a future
and let’s do it all night
what if we had a child
and if we gave ourselves the right
to still believe in this world
and give him/her a voice
so he/she can sing loud and clear
long after we have passed away
so that he/she can bequeath our history
and say how much we loved each other
what if we had a child
another you, another me
that we were slowly teaching him/her
To live and make his/her own choices
so that one day he/she can in turn
find love in this world
and that he can dream like us (2x)
what if we had a child”.
Have you ever listened to the same musical piece in a repetitive way?
Today, Bambi’s working day progressed while listening to Ms. Abeer Nehme over and over again. On one hand, listening to the same song again and again may be soothing. On the other hand, it is uplifting to be immersed in the world of talent of this Lebanese singer.
The first musical piece, shared with you below, is a masterpiece, which Bambi found on YouTube this morning. The poem is entitled “Ghanni Kalilian Ya Asafeer“, which means “Sing A Little Bit, Oh Birds“. The lyrics are by Mr. Joseph Harb. She could not find them online and she wants to sleep soon. Maybe another time, she might transcribe them and try to translate them for you. Anyhow, the beautiful music is by Mr. Marcel Khalife. As for the musical direction of the orchestra, it is by the skilled Mr. Michalis Economou. Bravo to all the musicians. As for the performer, Ms. Nehme, her voice is a treat to the ears!
The second piece is really short, when we do not play it endlessly :). It is an extract of the “butterfly” [“Frashe” in Arabic] song, composed by the late yet great Mr. Zaki Nassif. Once again, thank you Ms. Abeer Nehme for your great talent.
Please sing, not just for birds or butterflies, but also for deer who are big fans of you!
Bambi wishes you all a good one, hoping your week will be enjoyable. If she may, she now offers you “Le temps des fleurs” [even if it may be a time of snow, instead of flowers, for many of you :)]. This song is especially meant for you, if you are a fan of Dalida and/or you like her lovely song, like Bambi does, regardless of its language version. Yes, this includes you, beloved Roula from Montreal and dearest Jane from Sackville :)!
For this post, Bambi does not have words.
She only had tears in her eyes when she saw pictures and watched videos from abroad.
May the first hours of this ceasefire turn into full days, weeks, and years.
Life is too short to waste it on absurd yet cruel armed conflicts.
Instead, may healing, forgiveness, humanity, peace, love, and prosperity prevail.
If there is one thing that Bambi learned from growing up during civil war, it is to read all media of all sides to build her own opinions. This is what she keeps doing, in our collectively insane times, whether in peace or in war. For instance, and to keep learning, she reads those whom she may not necessarily agree with on a topic, even before those she may share their opinion on this or that topic.
Bearing the above in mind, and in the spirit of continuous open-mindedness (or to gather evidence at the source), this is what she she did from day 1 of the tragic October 7th 2023, for ALL the innocent people of the Middle East, including her own birth country (since a doomed October 8 when the Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into this destructive war). Thus, her sources of information are diverse, ranging from L’Orient Le Jour [or Orient Today], to all the other Lebanese media, to the Times of Israel (as well as other Israeli media in English), to the Tehran times (and if in English, other Iranian sources) to Arabic media, including a Palestinian newsletter, etc.
Today, she wants to focus on an article she read in the Tehran Times entitled “Iranian students ask Hezbollah chief to hold Nasrallah’s funeral in Iran” (https://shorturl.at/AcguE).
As an example, even if clumsy, imagine that like in today’s Iran (at least as per the article cited above), five student unions of the UK or France, or even the States, would have asked to have the 1937 funeral of Brother (or Saint André too, since he was canonized by the Catholic Church) held in the respective countries. Would this have made any sense to French-Canadians or Québécois, especially those from Montreal or Mont Saint-Grégoire where he was born?
Of course, we cannot compare apples and oranges, even if deep inside they are both fruits and they taste good to those who enjoy their taste. Bambi is trying to say here that the late Brother André and the late Said Hassan Nassrallah are both men of faith and conviction. The first keeps dragging tourists to the Saint Joseph Oratory (https://shorturl.at/oAcvY) while the other kept dragging his country into wars.
Whether you are a fan or not, does it make sense to you that Iranian student unions, or the Iranian government in their name, is asking Hezbollah (which it founded and funded) to hold Mr. Nasrallah’s funeral in Iran?
