Bambi's Thoughts
Bambi just discovered these two young artists, thanks to L‘Orient Le Jour (https://bit.ly/3CTlkzQ). The Turkish lyrics and music are by Mr. Ragıb Narin. The Arabic lyrics by Ms. Rima Yussef. Their love song is called Yok Yok, which seems to mean “No, No” in Turkish, if Bambi is not mistaken. Enjoy :)!
Just before going to sleep, Bambi cheered herself up with a musical discovery. Bravo and thank you, Mr. Nicola Ciccone for the lyrics and music of your new song. What a beautiful Christmas gift ahead of time!
Mr. Ciccone’s song is entitled: “Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année” [“I wish it was Christmas all year round“]. If you are interested, at the end of the Youtube video below, you can read the original French lyrics, which are followed by a quick English translation, thanks to Mr. Google Translate.
She does not know about you, but Bambi’s preferred part of the text is the following (English follows the original French):
In French: “Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année. Qu’on choisisse tous la joie et l’amitié. Qu’on laisse tomber la haine, qu’on oublie tous le temps. Et que chaque journée soit remplie de présents“.
In English: “I wish it was Christmas all year round. May we all choose joy and friendship. That we drop the hate, that we all forget the time. And may every day be filled with gifts.”
The original Lyrics in French
“Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année
Des jours d’automne jusqu’aux jours d’été
Des Noëls en soleil, des Noëls en bourgeons
Des Noëls sous les feuilles et plusieurs Noëls blancs
Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année
Qu’on choisisse tous la joie et l’amitié
Qu’on laisse tomber la haine, qu’on oublie tous le temps
Et que chaque journée soit remplie de présents
Je te prendrais dans mes bras à chaque veillée
Et dans toute la maison je te ferais danser
On déferait jamais notre grand sapin
On chanterait des chansons, puis on jouerait du violon
Ça serait toujours la fête sur des airs rigodons
Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année
Pour garder toutes nos maisons décorées
Ainsi que les petites lumières et les bonhommes d’hiver
On préparerait une fête à chaque nouvelle soirée
Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année
Pour qu’on puisse plus souvent se rassembler
Se pardonner nos fautes, redevenir enfant
Les amis, la famille, c’est ce qu’il y a de plus grand
Dans un vieux traîneau je t’emmènerais
Sous le ciel du pôle nord on irait danser
Je te ramènerais chez toi avant le coup de minuit
On chanterait des chansons, puis on jouerait du violon
Ça serait toujours la fête sur des airs rigodons
Je voudrais que ce soit Noël toute l’année
Des jours d’automne jusqu’aux jours d’été
Des Noëls en soleil, des Noëls en bourgeons
Des Noëls sous les feuilles et plusieurs Noëls blancs
Je te prendrais dans mes bras à chaque veillée
Et dans toute la maison je te ferais danser
On déferait jamais notre grand sapin
On chanterait des chansons, puis on jouerait du violon
Ça serait toujours la fête sur des airs rigodons».
An English translation of the lyrics above
“I wish it was Christmas all year round
From autumn days to summer days
Christmass in sunshine, Christmass in buds
Christmases under the leaves and several white Christmases
I wish it was Christmas all year round
May we all choose joy and friendship
That we drop the hate, that we all forget the time
And may every day be filled with gifts
I’ll take you in my arms at every vigil
And all over the house I’ll make you dance
We would never undo our big Christmas tree
We’d sing songs, then we’d play the violin
It would always be a party on funny tunes
I wish it was Christmas all year round
To keep all our houses decorated
As well as the little lights and the winter snowmen
We would prepare a party for each new evening
I wish it was Christmas all year round
So that we can get together more often
To forgive our faults, to become children again
Friends, family is the greatest
In an old sleigh I would take you
Under the sky of the North Pole we would go dancing
I’ll take you home before the stroke of midnight
We’d sing songs, then we’d play the violin
It would always be a party on funny tunes
I wish it was Christmas all year round
From autumn days to summer days
Christmass in sunshine, Christmass in buds
Christmases under the leaves and several white Christmases
I’ll take you in my arms every wake
And all over the house I’ll make you dance
We would never undo our big Christmas tree
We’d sing songs, then we’d play the violinIt would always be a party on funny tunes”.
Anti-semitism is known as a type of hostile prejudice targeting Jewish people. Zionism refers to the movement that created a Jewish state in the Middle East, which supports the modern state of Israel. In that sense, anti-zionism is the opposition to the latter movement. It is not meant to be anti-semitic in theory, but in practice it may be perceived in a different way.
Bearing the above in mind, how sad when the Lebanese State Minister of Culture confuses the latter with politics in the most limited sense of the term. Not any Minister. We are talking about an experienced former judge (https://bit.ly/3TByBUf). By the way, since we are at it, why would a former judge become a politician? Bambi thought that the judiciary and the government were supposed to be two separate worlds of power.
Anyhow, when it comes to the world of culture, writers make us dream. They inspire us while making us escape our own realities to imagine a more appealing world. In that sense, why is the Lebanese Minister of Culture preventing his people from access to such magic stemming from the beautiful French literature? The latter is featured in the francophone and international event, shown below AND initially supported by the Official Lebanon:
Why is Bambi writing the above about this Minister? Well, she learned from La Presse and confirmed it with L’Orient Le Jour as well as both French (https://bit.ly/3TyPZJm; https://bit.ly/3DbgC1w; https://bit.ly/3Tzglec) and international English-media (https://bit.ly/3EYI5oG) the following story:
About a hundred Francophone writers from all over the world, including of course the host Lebanon, began meeting in Beirut yesterday (at the “Beyrouth Livres“), an innovative cultural hub event in which the four finalists of the prestigious Goncourt 2022 Award will be announced. Sadly, it turned out that four members of the latter, namely Mr. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Mr. Tahar Ben Jelloun, Mr. Pascal Bruckner, and Mr. Pierre Assouline, decided not to come to Beirut anymore. Why? Because, on October 8, the Minister of Culture of this country accused some writers participating at this event, without naming them, of supporting zionism. He then removed his message from social media. His words were something like the following: “He would not allow Zionists to come among us and spread the venom of Zionism in Lebanon“.
It seems that a Lebanese media called Al Akhbar, as per TV5 Monde (https://bit.ly/3gpqWdf) applauded the above words with the following terms: “Beirut is standing up to the Zionists”. However, thankfully, there are still courageous free spirits in Lebanon who refused attacks on the freedom of expression and who defended culture with a petition (https://bit.ly/3yWbdJj)!
As per TV5 Monde, this story reminds us of what happened to Mr. Amine Maalouf in 2006. As a reminder he is the winner of the Goncourt prize. What an honour to his birth country! Well, shortly after he had been the target of a vicious boycott campaign in Lebanon for giving an interview to an Israeli media.
The official Lebanon, through its Minister of Culture and at least one of its media, has forgotten that the Lebanese government (with the apparent blessing of Hezbollah) just settled an Israeli–Lebanese maritime border dispute. It means that they officially, both domestically and internationally, recognized the existence and even sustainability of Israel. They did so for economic (or may God forbid potential for corruption) reasons. However, when it comes to “Culture”, in their mind, their country must remain prisoner of cancel culture or boycott. Is there anything more hypocritical than this in life?
Bravo, and thank you, to the great Lebanese and Romanian artists featured in this post for their BEAUTIFUL performance!
All the names of these artists, which appear below, were taken from the description of the Youtube video of the “Ya Rayt” song. The latter is followed by the lyrics, first in Arabic and then in English.
For those who do not understand the lyrics in the beautiful Arabic language, from the Youtube post below, we learn the following: “This is a love song lamenting the events that occurred on a fateful day between two lovers, changing the course of their relationship. They wish that day to be undone, clinging to the idea that with love there is always hope and salvation”.
“Vocals: Mike Massy
Lyrics by: Ghida El Yaman
Music Composed by: Malek El Yaman
Orchestration and Piano by: Lucas Sakr
Performed by: Bucharest Studio Orchestra
Conductor: Alexandru Moraru
Strings Recording by: Andrei Barbu
Vocal Recording, Mixing and Mastering by: Ralph Sleiman
Director of Photography: Catalin Fatu
Camera Operators: Catalin Fatu, George Ionascu, Florin Hatmanu
Editing by: Sary Asmar
Produced by: Malek El Yaman
Lyrics in Arabic (English follows):
يا ريت فينا ننسى شو قلنا وشو اللي صار
بيناتنا يا عمري ونمحي من العمر نهار..
زعلنا وبكينا تفارقنا وقسينا
والقسا بير كبير معذّبتو الأسرار
بسّ قالو إنّو الحبّ أقوى من الدّني
وقادر إنّو يرجّعنا لعمر الولدني
يا ريت فينا ننسى شو قلنا وشو اللي صار
بيناتنا يا عمري تا نكمّل المشوار
***
يا ريت فينا ننسى شو قلنا وشو اللي صار
بيناتنا يا عمري ونمحي من العمر نهار..
من كلمة تجافينا وضاقت فينا الدّني
ومن كتر ما توجّعنا صار العمر ختيار
بتعرف إنّي بلاك ما بشبه أنا حالي
ومن دونك يا أنا عم ينطفي خيالي
بدّي تبقى حبيبي ورفيقي شو ما صار
خلّينا يا حبيبي نخبّي الحزن تذكار…
يا ريت فينا ننسى شو قلنا وشو اللي صار
بيناتنا يا عمري ونمحي من العمر نهار..
Lyrics in English:
If only we could forget
What we said and what happened
Between us, my love,
And erase a day from our lives
We fought,
We cried
We drifted apart,
Our souls hardened like stone
And separation is a deep, deep well
Tortured by all its secrets
But they say that love is stronger than the world
That it can bring us back to our young selves
…If only we could forget
What we said and what happened
Between us, my love,
So we can keep on going
If only we could forget
What we said and what happened
Between us, my love,
And erase a day from our lives
A single word tore us apart
And the world became so small
And with all that pain,
We suddenly grew old
You know, without you,
I don’t resemble myself
And without you, my love,
My shadow is dying
I want you to be my sweetheart, my friend,
No matter what
Let’s just hide sorrow,
Like a memory, a souvenir
If only we could forget
What we said and what happened
Between us, my love,
And erase a day from our lives”.
When Bambi read about what our federal government is suggesting to do to our BEAUTIFUL French language, she almost had the Marie Antoinette syndrome. Yes, her hair almost suddenly turned ALL white (mind you, she is eager to get to that stage, but a bit more gradually).
Today, she was VERY happy to read Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté’s refreshing and sharp article , published in the Journal de Montréal, about this topic (https://bit.ly/3S6oKVm).
One thing is clear in her own mind: She does not know about you (you are free), but as far as she is concerned, she refuses to to take part in such a masquerade of the French language.
The above being said, below is a very quick translation of Dr. Bock-Côté’s article (thanks to Mr. Google Translate), with a few comments by Bambi inserted here and there. This post will end with Mr. Yves Duteil’s superb song on the French language (i.e., how it is still being spoken in North America). Why can’t we keep respecting it?
Bambi will stop here. Below you can find Dr. Bock-Côté’s thoughtful text. Thanks to him.
—
“Radio-Canada [the French CBC] recently informed us that Ottawa has produced a guide to promote and oversee what some call “inclusive writing”.
The latter is based on a paranoid and false thesis: the French language is patriarchal, sexist, transphobic and discriminatory, and it should therefore be reformed by imposing new rules on it, supposed to make visible women, trans people and non-binary people (those who do not identify as either masculine or feminine).
Paranoia
Thus, we will change our way of writing.
It will no longer be necessary to write the students, or even “les étudiants et les étudiantes”, but the studen.t.s. [étudiant.e.s. in French]. This rule can be applied to many words. It has the fault of making the language unreadable by hatching it.
We will also invent words. Rather than “celles” [female of those] et “ceux” [male of those], we invent “celleux” [what an ugly and absurd word]. And rather than he and she, we are pushed to write “iel” [grammatical nonsense].
We will also ban some words. We should no longer speak of deputies, but of parliamentarians, since this word applies to men, women and non-binary people. And so on.
Let it be said: this writing is part of the takeover of the French language by an ideological minority [how sad to make our beautiful French language that ugly, for generations to come, in order to satisfy an ideological minority, which will eventually get tired of being that ideological].
Worse, this way of writing is no longer exclusive to the most radical neo-feminists.
As I said, Ottawa promotes it, and non-binary activists want to generalize it. They even dream of making it compulsory at school in the name of inclusion.
This way of writing is becoming more and more essential in our media and in companies.
Worse: people who hate this way of writing now practice this Newspeak [“Novlangue”, thank you Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté for this term].
Submission
Why? Because they will get noticed if they don’t. Today, writing in “inclusive” is a way of publicly adhering to political correctness, of showing that one is “progressive”.
But whoever refuses to do so will pass for an ugly conservative. Most dread this bad reputation. So they submit”.
Bambi thanks Aline for sharing the moving video below by Mr. Tom Fletcher.
Mr. Fletcher was the British Ambassador to Lebanon from 2011 to 2015.
Bambi would like to thank Fatma for attracting her attention to spread of cholera in Lebanon. What is cholera? It is a bacterial disease, which spreads through contaminated water or food. Cholera can cause severe diarrhea and, thus, dehydration.
The good news about cholera is that it is easily treated. Indeed, death from severe dehydration can be prevented with a simple and inexpensive sugar-salt rehydration solution. However, the worrisome news about this disease is the following: left untreated, it can rapidly be fatal, even within hours, not just in vulnerable people but also in initially healthy ones.
Luckily, in industrialized countries, adequate sewage and water sanitation have eliminated cholera. However, the latter disease still exists in countries like Haiti, in Southeast Asia, and in Africa. Tragically, the ongoing civil war in Syria has severely damaged water infrastructure.
Since September 2022, there is a new cholera outbreak in Syria. It has now spread to neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Irak. By extension, it is also posing a risk to the rest of the Middle East.
As tweeted by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, in the past 48 hours, there has been 46 new Cholera cases. This raises the cumulative number of cases to 89 (mostly in North Lebanon). Sadly, there has been one mortality, which raises the cumulative number of deaths to 3:
Before concluding this post with Lebanese media articles on the topic in Arabic, English, and French, Bambi would like to express the two following thoughts: (1) How sad to see cholera in the Middle East. In the case of Lebanon, it is coming back after over three decades and (2) Even when bankrupt, and on its knees in so many ways, Lebanon is usually skilled in managing national crises (like consequences of armed conflicts, explosions, other crises, etc.). Specifically, the Ministry of Public Health has worked hard, and relatively very efficiently, in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic from the best of its capacity (despite the multiple crises of the country). Bambi wishes Lebanon all the best in all its efforts to control the cholera outbreak and to reduce death!
Arabic content:
https://www.annahar.com/arabic/section/77-
English content:
https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/292975
https://www.mtv.com.lb/en/News/Local/1317162/moph–46-new-cholera-cases–one-death
French content:
Gina is one of Bambi’s friends. She enjoys hiking and wild animals. Yesterday, she walked and climbed Mount Chauve, which is about 600 metres in altitude with a superb view of Mount Orford. During her visit to this national park, she bumped into a few deer. Once again, very kindly, she thought of Bambi :).
Thanks Gina for remembering your friend in New Brunswick and for your generosity, which will enrich her blog. Bambi trusts that the dear readers of this post will enjoy your beautiful pictures!
This being said, to end this post on a musical note, two songs come to Bambi’s mind: First and foremost, a French melody called “Octobre” by Mr. Francis Cabrel. Last but not least, Bambi also remembered Mr. Eric Clapton’s version of “Automn Leaves“.
Since October 17, 2019, the Lebanese population cannot have access to savings in banks. The people of Lebanon went down to the streets expressing their anger and frustration for many days, weeks, and months. No one listened to them.
Despite international efforts to force overdue financial reforms in Lebanon, nothing was done by its political leaders. Furthermore, no one went to jail over Lebanon’s Ponzi finance scheme.
There has been the Covid-19 pandemic and a surrealistic Beirut port explosion that destroyed half of the capital on August 4, 2020. Again, no one went to jail. Instead, the courageous Judge Tarek Bitar, investigating the blast, has been the target of legal and illegal intimidation (as a reminder, the first judge on the case was removed from his functions by the Lebanese authorities).
Today, the Lebanese politicians are fighting over who would become the next President of the Republic. There is still no government formed, if Bambi understands well. There is a scary hyperinflation, a bankrupt state that cannot provide basic needs to its citizens (power, water, etc.) and meat to feed its army for over two years now. In addition, there is a massive exodus of Lebanese professionals (including badly needed physicians and nurses), families, and young people.
Bambi is writing the above, and in all honesty, she does not have any clue where to go with this post and how to end it. She just wonders what the future holds for her birth country. With this question in mind, Bambi will leave you with a Lebanese song she posted twice on this blog before. Sadly, it remains timely as you can see from an English translation of its powerful lyrics: “Revolt for once, revolt” (title). You who were waiting, what are you waiting for? What do you expect from those who stole the sunshine and sold the wind, along with their conscience? From those who stole the country and built houses larger than its squares? You who were waiting, what are you waiting for? Revolt for once. Stand up in those squares and tell them: You have stolen, you have killed, yes you have assassinated the people, the country, and the dream…. And you turned this land into a refuge for the Pharisees (or self-righteous)”
Bambi is blessed to have adorable nephews and nieces, including Nicolas.
Today is a significant moment of the year for Nicolas and for his entire family.
This is why, across the miles, his aunt [and godmother :)] Bambi is now virtually shouting: “Surprise, Nicolas“!
Yes, you got it right, dear Nicolas: this post is devoted to wishing you a Happy Birthday. Bambi is grateful to have you in her life. She loves you beyond words❤️.
Her wish for you is to have a wonderful day and a fantastic new year. May the latter be filled with love, continuous successes, and dreams/projects for a bright future!
