Author: Bambi

She does not know about you, but Bambi is sick and tired of both secular and religious ideologies (e.g., woke and Islamism). So imagine when the latter collide in Canada and in the world.

She is fed up of the identity-politics of the Middle East that Ottawa insists on bringing into Québec (https://shorturl.at/nK9Po). Indeed, why is Ms. Amira Elghawaby now recommending hiring more Muslim, Palestinian or Arab Professors in Québec’s CEGEPs and universities? If competent candidates who happen to be Muslim,Palestinian, or Arab of origins get a teaching position based on merit, welcome to them and… “mabrouk” [Congrats] even. Otherwise, no sorry. In other terms, they must compete with the rest of their fellow candidates of all other ethnolinguistic background, including the silent majority of French-Canadians (or Québécois).

Because she values the quality of the education she received in Québec, Bambi joins her voice to Québec Minister of Higher Education, Ms. Pascale Déry, who asks for Ms. Elghawaby to resign. Even more so, she joins her voice to Mr. Yves-François Blanchet, Leader of the Bloc Québécois demanding the abolishing of Ms. Elghawaby’s position, which is supposedly to fight Islamophobia.

There is a difference between fighting Islamophobia and destroying the merit-based system of hiring in Québec or Canada. PLEASE stop using the Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian characteristics to justify your ideologies or elite positions, and to interfere with Québec’s (or other provinces’) education system.

For God/G-D/Allah’s sake, Bambi begs you not to turn Canada into Lebanon. The latter has been destroyed in the past, and is struggling to keep existing, because of identity politics. Indeed, it is both unwise and dangerous to keep dividing us. When it is not by colour skin, it is by gender. When it is not by gender, it is by vaccine status. If it is not by all the latter, it is by religion.

As a proud Canadian, with Québec in her heart, Bambi migrated from Lebanon in 1990 to move away from religion-based (or other tribal-based) identity politics. She does not want it to follow her to Canada now in 2024!

Founded in 1875, the “Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth” OR “Saint-Joseph University of Beirut” (USJ) “counts 13 Faculties (religious sciences, medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing sciences, engineering, law and political sciences, economics, business administration and management, humanities, sciences, educational sciences, and languages), 18 Schools operating under USJ Faculties”. USJ has campuses in Beirut as well as in three Lebanese regions. It also manages a university hospital centre in Beirut, namely the “Hôtel-Dieu de France“. Of note, in 2019, USJ received the “unconditional accreditation by European educational accreditation institute ACQUIN” (https://shorturl.at/M6zMw).

As reported today in L’Orient Le Jour (https://shorturl.at/D6gIn) and the Ivory Coast media (https://shorturl.at/3ge9Y) , “Saint-Joseph University Ivory Coast” is now launched in Abidjan. Bambi is pleased to learn that Psychology is one of the first programs, which are being offered to students in the 2024-2025 academic year. The other existing programs are Business Administration, Marketing and Advertisement, and Computer Science.

Mabrouk to USJ for expanding in the African continent and all the best to its first students!

She does not know about you, but Bambi’s day has been long and rewarding at many levels. However, it was also a day where she thought a lot about her late mom. At one point, she even felt a strangely strong urge to call her. Maybe she missed her so much that, for a few seconds, her brain forgot that there are no phones in heaven.

It is with the above thought in her mind that she checked her emails upon returning home tonight. To her surprise, along with her delight and honour, there was a personal email from Ms. Leila Milki in her Inbox sharing her new release. Yes, imagine, an email from this highly talented American artist of Lebanese heritage to whom Bambi dedicated several posts shared below. Wow!

For those of you who do not know her, Ms. Milki’s YouTube channel describes her as follows: “Leila Milki is a neoclassical-pop singer, songwriter, and pianist based in LA. She draws from her multicultural Lebanese-American roots to honor the nuanced beauty we find in the spaces between. Her Arabic/English fusions have earned her placements on Disney Jr, the FIFA World Cup, The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and Arab America’s “30 under 30″ awards…while her calming collection of solo-piano improvisations has garnered over 12 million streams and counting”.

To come back to Ms. Milki’s new release, it is dedicated to those we lost and how they remain with us “through our dreams and beyond“. For Bambi, this song feels like a spiritual gift that came to her unexpectedly on this day of both personal and collective remembrance. In turn, she offers this musical gift to her dad et al. as well as to the families of the victims of September 11, 2001. She also offers this soothing song to you, dear readers, to honour your own late loved ones. If she may, she will also dedicate it to the world’s innocent people who are trapped in the middle of armed conflicts or wars.

To conclude this post, Bambi thanks Ms. Milki for her inspiring talent and humanity, in addition to her thoughtfulness for Atlantic Canadian wild life :). She urges her to keep writing lyrics, composing music, and singing. Her angelic voice is much needed to make our world a more beautiful and peaceful place!

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Ms. Leila Milki does “not want to fall in love, just fall asleep”

“The World Can be Ours”: Bravo Ms. Leila Milki for recording Arabic vocals for this World Cup track!

Isn’t Los Angeles-based Leila Milki full of talent? With her angelic voice, she sings for a heartbreak and for Christmas in three languages!

Ms. Leila Milki sings Acapella “Helwa Ya Baladi” of Dalida!

Meet Ms. Leila Milki, an award-winning Lebanese-American artist: She plays the piano, the guitar, and sings in several languages!

In general, and on average, young men tend to have more risky behaviour than women. Thus, they are often riskier to insure. Indeed, under age 30, and according to the Groupement des Assureurs Automobiles (https://tinyurl.com/2s49j3zw), the cost of insurance of a car against collision remains more expensive for men in comparison to women. Of note, between 16 and 20 years of age, the collision premium for men is about CAD $972 and the one for women is approximately CAD$780. Independent of age, men pay more. However, the gap narrows with age (https://tinyurl.com/2s49j3zw).

Bearing the above in mind, this post is meant to try to put a smile on your faces with an older brief sketch of Mr. Rudy Ayoub. In it, you can see Rudy’s dad, Rudy, and the insurance company employee all played by the same person. Yes, the talented Rudy :).

This being said, this post’s topic is making Bambi recall her first lessons and drive in the province of Québec. She recalls that one of her brother-in-laws told her once that she drives like a man. Well, she took it as compliment back then. However, after watching Rudy in this short video, she is not too sure about this anymore :). Thank Goodness, she is now much older than age 30. Indeed, 52 is a supposed to be a much wiser age. Is this fully reassuring? Well, maybe not really because between the ages of 45 and 64, “the frequency of claims for women exceeds that for men“, as reported by the Groupement des Assureurs Automobiles (https://tinyurl.com/2s49j3zw).

If you happen to be a driver yourself, please focus well on the roads while remembering to renew your vehicle insurance. Driver or not, please be safe at all times, especially when crossing busy streets or walking on slippery side walks. As for Rudy, it is Bambi’s wish that he will keep making you and her smile!

This musical post includes two songs. The lyrics of the first one, meant for healing, are in the original English as well as in Arabic. Those of the second song on “the desire to love” are in French. May the memory of the lives lost on September 11, 2001 be eternal, along with Bambi’s wishes for healing to their families, unity to their beloved country, and peace as well as unity to all the countries of the world.

Thank you, Mr. Mike Massy, for sharing your new beautiful song on YouTube. The latter is entitled “Jazr W Mad“, which means “High Tide and Low Tide“.

Even if you do not understand Mr. Mike Massy’s mother tongue, Lebanese-Arabic, you may perhaps recognize the word “Habibi“. It means my love or lover, which also could be said to a friend or… even to a stranger you might meet on the street!

Related to the above, when Bambi heard this song with its repeated “ya habibi“, she could not help not to remember her first trip to her birth country, Lebanon. It was in in the summer when she turned 20 years old. While there, she fell in love with a new song that played a lot on the radio. When it was time for her to leave Beirut back home, her dad kindly took her to a nearby music store, called “Ti Amo” (his store neighbour). He wanted to offer her the song. The store owner, kindly and patiently, played SEVERAL recent Lebanese songs, from different albums, one after the other. Each time, he asked Bambi if it was the one. Each time, she said “sorry, it is not the one“. He then tried to help further by encouraging her to recall a few words from the lyrics, maybe singing them if she can. Bambi paused for a few seconds and she proudly expressed the following: “Habibi… lalalala… Habibi”! With humour, he replied: “Tell me Bambi, is there any Lebanese song without the word habibi in it” : )? They all laughed at his funny joke. Even thirty-two years later, Bambi still smiles when she hears the word “habibi” repeated in a song. This story is not only about linguistics, but also and especially about the kindness of the people of Lebanon, especially owners of stores on Saint-Louis street in Beirut :).

On this light note, Bambi hopes you will enjoy Mr. Massy’s talent. For your convenience, the translated English as well as Arabic lyrics appear here: https://shorturl.at/JDrIe.

Who among us has not followed, or was tempted to follow, a wrong trajectory at a certain time in his or her life?

How many of us have had the courage to rectify the trajectory, first for ourselves and maybe publicly?

Mr. Kendji Girac, a France-based singer-songwriter that Bambi [and likely many of her readers, including you Zeina :)] adores, is a man of both courage and talent. Indeed, his new beautiful song, entitled “Si seulement” [If Only], carries an uplifting message of repentance with a ray of hope for a brighter future following his life crisis.

A quick English translation of the simple yet powerful lyrics follows the YouTube video. Once again, thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his prompt assistance.

To conclude this post, and if she may, Bambi will express the following wishes: Bravo Mr. Girac for your authenticity and for your journey of healing thus far. Welcome back. All the best to you and to your family. Please keep singing… and enriching Bambi’s blog with your great music!

“On the stage I left my smile, my smile, my smile

Abandoned captain, without ship, without ship, without ship

Sorry if I preferred to destroy myself

Even if it means risking damaging my empire

On the stage I left my smile, my smile

If only I had known how to tell you

Without having to write it on my skin

If only I had known how to tell you about it

Without the fear of hiding the photo

If only I had known how to tell you, really

If only I had known to tell you before

From our years, I kept your smile, your smile, your smile

He’s the one who warmed me in the worst, in the worst, in the worst

Sorry if I preferred to hold back

The sobs that I carried without saying it

From our years, I kept your smile, your smile

If only I had known how to tell you

Without having to write it on my skin

If only I had known how to tell you about it

Without the fear of hiding the photo

If only I had known how to tell you, really

If only I had known to tell you before

If only I had known how to tell you

Without having to write it on my skin

If only I had known how to tell you about it

Without the fear of hiding the photo

If only I had known how to tell you, really

If only I had known to tell you before

If only…”

Bambi appreciates all the transportation security officers of all the airports. They keep us safe at all times, even if we may be thirsty when they confiscate our water bottles :).

As for the talented Rudy, she feels like telling him: please keep making us smile!

Bambi spent a wonderful day today. She wants to end it by reaching out to you, dear readers because this makes her even happier.

This being said, all the songs below are subtitled in English, for your convenience.

Please note that the last kid’s brief song, which is in English, may repeat itself at your end. You have been warned! However, the adorable character of Mina made Bambi spend a few minutes re-watching her over and over. Yes, she did the latter, as per Aida’s Café’s advice :).

When Russia-Ukraine war broke out, Lebanon sent planes to Poland to help its citizens who were trapped in Ukraine (https://shorturl.at/DYkt3).

Now, and for the second time, Ukraine evacuated from Lebanon a group of citizens, including children and adults, along with one person from the Czech Republic. As reported by Naharnet, “they arrived safely in Poland, are receiving all the necessary assistance, and will be sent to Ukraine” (https://shorturl.at/qgMux).

She does not know about you, but Bambi’s heart aches for all the innocent people of the world who keep finding themselves trapped in war-torn countries or zones. Before going to sleep, she would like to offer them Mr. Michael Jackson’s “Heal The World” as greatly performed by Mr. André Rieu et al. Merci!