From time to time, Bambi hears this song on the radio. Over the years, it has been performed by both Lebanese and French artists. What a lovely song, whether in its original French or its more recent Arabic (or mixed) version.
May Mr. Elias Rahbani’s memory be eternal. Thanks to his inspiring artistic legacy, he will always be a treasure in our hearts, a pleasure to our ears, and a pride to his country’s cultural heritage.
If she may, on this Saint-Jean Baptiste day, Bambi would like to dedicate this song to all her fellow French-speaking Canadians from coast to coast to coast!
If your answer to the question in the title of this post is NO, why are you doing it to your (and our) own country then?
Are your loved ones (or you?) perfect? Of course not. No one is in life. So is Canada. Does the latter deserve to be celebrated on July 1, despite its imperfect past or even present. Of course it does!
Indeed, exactly like every year for the past 32 years, Bambi is eager to celebrate Québec on June 24 and Canada on July 1 on her blog!
She is just fascinated now by how all the titles of our mainstream media are the same in both English and French, telling us about Canadians’ mixed feelings: Some wanting to change the name to “a New Day“, as has just been done in Winnipeg, and others disappointed:
A couple of years ago, they told us we must cancel Canada Day because of BLM, etc.
Then, they told us it was to be “inclusive“, that is to all the so-called diversity from immigrants to Indigenous people (with Canada’s flags still lowered since the heart-breaking “mass graves” of last year).
Has anyone asked immigrants what they think of all this?
Does anyone care about the thoughts of Indigenous fellows who love Canada like the great Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould?
So far, and to Bambi’s best knowledge, whether we like him or not, there seems to be one decent federal politician who clearly and promptly denounced cancelling Canada Day. Yes, you can guess that it is Mr. Maxime Bernier. Thanks to him. Will other politicians dare to do the same? Or will they be afraid of being called “racist” or “white supremacist” or “proponents of colonization”, etc.?
Our collectively insane times (of political correctness) are absurd: Imagine that we have to be “daring” now to express our (healthy) love for our country, even if it is only on one single day per year. Do you find the latter sad, like Bambi?
Bambi would like to thank her friends Cherry/Olga, Nayla, Aline, and Joëlle for sharing this video. BRAVO to the Mayyas, the incredibly talented Lebanese dancers!!
They make their birth country so proud!
Bambi is honoured to have had an older post featuring them, as shown further below.
Bambi’s heart is with her friend who has been driving many miles, day after day, to the office of passports housed in the Complexe Guy-Favreau in downtown Montreal. She did not need this extra stress in her life when already she is dealing with chronic stress in her family. All what she needs is a renewed Canadian passport to be able to fly in 3 days to Beirut to see her family after three years apart.
Thank you Mr. Mario Dumont for your article about the unacceptable delays in passport renewals in Canada, published in the Journal de Montréal (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/opinions/mario-dumont). Bambi will try to translate it for you in the following paragraphs. She will just make one final sarcastic comment: At least Lebanon’s delays could be explained by the country’s bankruptcy and justified by the fact that this country is part of the so-called (or formerly called?) third world.
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“I spent a night under the stars in front of the Guy-Favreau complex, the main passport center in Montreal.
I spent the night outside on a folding chair because my government is no longer able to issue passports. Yesterday, federal ministers finally recognized the seriousness of the crisis. I spent the night outside because the managers of the federal buildings where the passport offices are located decided not to accommodate citizens. They didn’t want to hire a few night guards to allow queues inside, with restrooms and sheltered from the weather. Although the citizens who wait are the poor victims of their incompetence.
This decision is representative of the rest. Tax payers who exercise a right by applying for their passport are left to their own devices. Security agents have been given the mandate to manage these herds of disturbers and to prevent the cameras from showing the disaster live. To hell with the service.
The absolute blur
No one provides any information to the people waiting. Security guards do not work directly for Service Canada. So they don’t know the procedures. And those who hold the answers are not very accessible.
The hundreds of citizens waiting do not even understand what is happening. Not a single sign provides explanations of the procedures. Not a single document is given to people who have been waiting in some cases for two nights. The distress is unspeakable.
I understand that employees are busy processing files and getting out passports as quickly as possible. They even work overtime! But the bosses, in their role, must ensure communication with the public. When hundreds of people are waiting for explanations, they have a duty to respond.
Bosses in their burrow
Passport office bosses don’t want to see the waiting herd, they don’t want to be confronted with it. In this sense, they project the same image as their department and as the entire federal government in this crisis. Sitting in an ivory tower while things go bad on the pitch. We were led to believe for a while that the government was receiving inordinate demands. In fact, the current volume is the usual volume that we knew before the pandemic. And the return to normal numbers was more than predictable with the resumption of travel. Only the federal government did not see this coming. What I saw that night is deeply shocking. My neighbour slept on the asphalt on a yoga mat. Her husband had waited all night before, for nothing. Being an immigrant, she has not seen her father and mother for 4 years. She hoped to submit her application in the morning, to receive her passport in the afternoon, in order to catch the plane in the evening. “Such chaos, I didn’t think it was possible in Canada,” she concluded…”
Bambi would like to thank both her Lebanese-American internet radio station from LA (yesterday eve) and her friend Aline from Nova Scotia (today) for introducing her to this new song. It is a call to fly to Beirut this summer. Yes, a musical invitation to all the Lebanese diaspora and the tourists of the world.
In the song, we see Ms. Machaalani and her friends wearing T-shirts with the names of each town, village, or Beirut’s famous neighbourhoods. The lyrics go like this: “The summer is here, “yalla” [Come on!] let’s fly to Beirut… whatever happens, we only have you Beirut. You remain a diamond in the the Levant. Yes, your name will shine again one day”… and then the singer names all the regions, cities, towns of Lebanon, including Beirut’s neighbourhoods. Her song ends with beautiful words of hope in Arabic about how the dark cloud will move away in the end and the sun will shine again on the Lebanese capital.
While listening to this song, Bambi could not help not to recall her sister Rania’s words about the sadness in the air of Beirut. She was referring to the economic tragedy that may be perhaps more visible in the city than in the mountains or on the beautiful beaches, etc. Indeed, one must keep in mind that many parts of Beirut have been totally destroyed, or hit hard, by the surrealistic blast of the port on August 4, 2020.
May the summer 2022 bring hope and some healing to Beirut. May it also hopefully inject some fresh money into the market, which would contribute to save, and ideally revive, Lebanon’s economy.
Thank you, Ms. Mchaalani! Happy and safe travels to all!
June 21 is here! Yes, today is the summer solstice with the LONGEST day and SHORTEST night of 2022 in the Northern Hemisphere. Isn’t this exciting?
To welcome the summer season in music, Bambi will share a few songs with you. They are all about the imminent summer season.
Some of the chosen songs are medleys of summer melodies, by talented kids, or simply kids’ songs. Other songs are light and joyful. Some other songs are more romantic. Yet other melodies are classical music.
The songs’ languages range from French, German, English, Lebanese-Arabic, Egyptian-Arabic, and partly Portuguese (in the last medley).
If you take the time to listen, Bambi hopes you will enjoy the songs, wishing you a wonderful June 21 filled with whatever you aspire for. This being said, it is now time for music!
Vive l’été… In a melody in the charming language of Molière.
Happy summer season… in the beautiful language of Goethe.
To continue, it is now the time for the practical and lovely language of Shakespeare with the famous Summer in the City song.
Following the above, it is now the time for the rich Arabic language with a lovely song by Fairouz (in Lebanese-Arabic dialect), which is subtitled in English. Those who understand this language will know that it is about the last days of the summer,as per its title.
To continue in the same vein, how can Bambi have a post devoted to the summer without her favourite romantic yet joyful Egyptian-Arabic song?! Yes, you may have guessed right, she means the three daqat [referring to a 3 heartbeats of love :)].
Now, time to switch to French again to listen to a song Bambi likes too. Thank you Mr. Gilbert Montagné!
The above will be followed by another French song that Bambi adores. It is by the late and great Mr. Joe Dassin!
Please, make no mistake: It is NOT the end of summer/fall season yet despite the cooler days. Yes, she can assure you that it is not l’été indien yet, no worries :). Although Bambi is joking about the weather, she considers herself blessed to live in a a place with a milder weather than the rest of Canada or parts of Europe, which are now ironically warmer than Beirut. Can you imagine?!
How about some classical music now? Of course, it will be Vivaldi’s “Summer” from “Four Seasons” performed by Ms. Mari Samuelson. Bravo!
To continue with melodies about the summer, here is another French song called “nuits d’été” [“Summer Nights”] by Mr. Oscar Anton and Ms. Clémentine. Bambi hopes your nights are as comfortable as possible given the heat in some places and/or lack of power in other places of the world… Yes, Lebanon is on her mind now.
The next French song is by Mr. Claude Barzotti called “On se reverra cet été” [See you this summer!]. It is romantic. You have been warned :).
Enough of romance :). Time to celebrate summer games now. If she may, Bambi would like to dedicate Ms. Ginette Reno’s song to her dear cousin Khalil in Doha wishing him to keep up his great work… and spirit!
How about continuing with another great French-Canadian song by Mr. Claude Dubois, in duo with Ms. Natasha St-Pier, and entitled “Laisser l’été avoir 15 ans” [hard to translate in English :)]?
Last but not least, a medley of Kids United will conclude this post with songs in French, Portuguese, and English. Bravo to these talented children and thanks to them!
Bambi is grateful for the generosity of her friend Khaldie. All the pictures and the short video below were taken in Northern Lebanon.
As described under each picture, most of the images were taken in a gorgeous region of the Akkar district called Tachaa. The rest of the pictures are landscapes, shot by Khaldie from the Saydet el Nouriyi [Our Lady of Nourieh or Light] monastery lying on top of a small mountain (https://www.destimap.com/index.php?act=attraction&a=Saydet-el-Nouriyi-Monastery%2C-Chekka%2C-Lebanon), with a view of the Mediterranean sea in the Chekka region, which lies in the Batroun district/Governorate, shown below.
A picture taken from the internet: Thank you Luis2100PT on DeviantArt.
Bambi is eager to visit the beautiful place of birth of Khaldie one of these days!
For now, she will just comment on the last set of pictures taken in Chekka. She will share with you that this region of Lebanon is dear to her heart. Indeed, during several summer visits to her birth country, her family and childhood friends [some likely reading this blog now :)] used to drive her, all the way from Beirut, to this destination to spend the day swimming in the magical, warm, and transparent water. To end the day with more pictures and perhaps with a spiritual touch, they would drive on top of that mountain by the sea to visit the monastery mentioned above before returning to Beirut. Bambi will always cherish those unforgettable memories!
To conclude this post on a musical note, to thank both Khaldie and Lebanon for this beauty, Bambi will offer them two songs: The first one is by Fairouz, sub-titled in English, and entitled “Bihabak ya Liban” [“I love you Lebanon“]. As for the second song, also sub-titled in English, it is by Ms. Tanya Kassis and it is called “Watani” [“My country”].
Now, after watching the above, we cannot visit Lebanon without tasting its DELICIOUS food. The picture below shows a tannour oven like this one, opened by a guy from Akkar in the city of Byblos or Jbeil (Lebanon):
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Akkar region of Lebanon.
Now, you may wonder how the bread shown in the picture above will become at the end of the short baking process. Please take a look and be honest with Bambi: Doesn’t this “Markouk” [= thin] pita [or Arabic] bread looks delicious?! Bambi is salivating now imagining this bread filled with thyme [yes, zaatar with cucumbers, mint, and tomotoes!] or with delicious homemade cheese or even with roasted chicken like those we find in Montreal or Beirut!
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Akkar region.
OK, enough of salivation because of food. Now is the time to dream of a nice dive in the Chekka bay!
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Chekka region of Lebanon.
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Chekka region of Lebanon.
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Chekka region of Lebanon.
A picture taken by Khaldie in the Chekka region of Lebanon.
Thank you again Khaldie. Welcome back home! Bambi hopes you will enjoy these two songs about our birth country.
Enjoy your day Antonio: Yes, Happy Fathers’ Day papy or baba. Bambi loves and misses you!
Enjoy your Sunday, Robert too. Yes, Happy Fathers’ and Fathers’-in-law day :). Bambi misses you and sends you her love too!
To all the men in Bambi’ life who are, will be, would be, or would have been fantastic fathers: Best wishes, thanks, and have fun today!
To all the fathers of the world, deer or human beings: THANK YOU!
Now, to conclude this post with a touch of humour, here is a kids’ song in French to Bambi’s dad (and indirectly to all the fathers). Last but not least, this melody will be followed by a timely cartoon of YGreck, or Mr. Yannick Lemay from the Journal de Québec, which sadly works for fathers both in Lebanon and Canada.
Yesterday evening, a song was stuck in Bambi’s head. Yes, she kept humming it, of course singing it like a frog (poor spouse!). Well, this love song, by the Rahbani Brothers, is entitled Kenna netlaka min ashiyi” [We used to meet in the evenings] . Here is its original version by Lebanon’s pride, Fairouz, with English sub-titles.
Now here Ms. Ranya El Hage singing it at a concert in Bahrein with the late and great, Mr. Elias Rahbani. Yes, the latter was/is the brother of the duo (Rahbani Brothers, Assi and Mansour) mentioned above (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahbani_brothers). Sadly, Lebanon and the world lost Mr. Elias Rahbani to the coronavirus (as per Bambi’s older post at the end of this one). May the memory of these three incredibly talented brothers be eternal. Thank Goodness their music will never die, especially when transmitted to us by skilled singers like Ms. El Hage. Bambi is so happy she discovered her!
If you wish, below you can listen to Ms. El Hage singing in Arabic, German, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Assyrian, and Sri Lankan. Bravo to her!
Here she is, with her pure voice, singing in Lebanese-Arabic Ms. Majida El Roumy’s famous song that translates into English as follows “I am dreaming of you O Lebanon, our dream“. What a timely song. Indeed, the people of Lebanon are still dreaming of a Lebanon with the rule of law (for all), not of the sect. Will the latter ever see the light?
Last but not least, here is Ms. El Hage’s own adaptation of the “O Holy Night” into Standard Arabic. The lyrics are by Ms. Rima Saikali Khoury and the Director/Editor is the singer herself.
Bambi hopes you have enjoyed this musical post. Until the next one, have a good one!
