Author: Bambi

For the sake of this post, please take the time to listen and contrast the two characters mentioned in the title. Perhaps you will see what Bambi is seeing.

Thank you, Mr. Rex Murphy, for your thoughtful article in the National Post. The latter informs us of Mr. Trudeau’s unwise, divisive (and even hateful?) words concerning a group, surely not as homogeneous as he wants us to think, pejoratively and inaccurately called “anti-vaxxers“, by saying: “these people,” the anti-vaxxers, as “often” being women-haters, racists and science-deniers, as well”.

Can you imagine? This is the Prime Minister of ALL Canada, including those anti-vaxxers that he calls women-haters, racists, and science-deniers. Is this a wise way to assemble your people, Mr. Trudeau? Is this a good way to educate them and convince them of the value of vaccination in a pandemic (https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-justin-trudeaus-blind-hatred-of-anti-vaxxers)?

What about people who want all the other vaccines, but maybe this one?

What about those who, like Bambi, got the vaccines and will get boosters, but who are for informed consent and against mandatory medical treatments? How do you call them? Bambi is saying so, even if she has lost too many people to Covid-19 abroad.

And, last but not least, what about women who do not want the vaccines? Are they misogynistic? And what does racist mean, Mr. Trudeau?

In contrast to our own Prime Minister, just listen (or read) the wise words of President Steinmeier and even also of Mr. Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, for the New Year. Like real statesmen, they both assembled the population of their country. For instance, Mr. Steinmeier used wise and nuanced yet apparently genuine words. He seemed to think in the long-term, post-pandemic.

We used to have politicians like that in Canada… Where are they?

Today is January 6. It is Epiphany day. In Lebanon, it is a day off filled with both spirituality in the air, moving musical prayers or sounds of churches, and incredible smells of delicious deserts!

The beauty of January 6, 2022, is that it is also Christmas Day for the Armenian Orthodox Lebanese community (Diana, you are in Bambi’s thoughts now :).

Bambi will always remember those moving Armenian prayers that groups of citizens used to sing, moving from one corner to the other in her childhood neighbourhood. At times in a nearby public garden. At other times in front of certain icon or a religious symbol on a street corner. All the spots are good to sing Christmas carols :). For those who thought that Christmas was behind us, well not for everyone celebrating it.

Indeed, in addition to today, there is still the Coptic church in Egypt that traditionally celebrates Christmas on January 7. As as result, many Canadians who happen to be Coptic Christians would also be celebrating their Christmas tomorrow. Sadly, a community in the west part of our country had its (Coptic) church destroyed by fire five months ago (i.e., the tragic vague of vandalism of 2021 for a total of 21 churches that Bambi wrote about on her blog). May they have a blessed and peaceful Christmas tomorrow.

This being said, some of the songs that Bambi will share will be spiritual. Some will even be in the Aramaic language of Jesus. However, first, who is Ms. Abeer Nehme that Bambi discovered on one of her preferred internet radio stations a few days ago, perhaps before Christmas? What a lady! Ms. Nehme sings in over 43 languages (e.g., Arabic, English, French, Armenian, Kurdish, Aramaic, Syriac, Italian, Greek, etc.). She is full of talent while being zen, not just wise or life smart. She seems to be filled with compassion and with an inspiring passion for music and singing.

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abeer_Nehme), Ms. Nehme is a Lebanese singer and a musicologist. She “has been referred to as *the all styles specialist* because of her talent in performing dialogues between different styles of music, such as: Oriental modal traditional styles, Lebanese styles, Syriac-Aramaic religious ethnic style, Greek Byzantine religious style, Opera and modern western styles“.

Ms. Abeer Nehme is also a Quanun player. Here is a picture of this oriental traditional instrument:

She “earned a bachelor’s degree with the highest grade ever earned in oriental singing from USEK (Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik)”.

In addition, and always according to her Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abeer_Neh), “she played the leading role in various musical plays. Abeer participated as an honored guest amongst major superstars in international festivals throughout the world, and performed as a soloist in several concerts accompanied by various International Philharmonic Orchestras. One of the compositions, “Abirou Salati” (Aroma of my prayer), is a journey through different styles of music; from the old music traditions of the fathers of the church, traditions of prayer and profound spiritualism, to the modernism of the people of God in the twenty-first century, a modernism of grandiosity and majesty.”

To conclude this post, and before sharing some of her songs in different languages (along with a couple of comments), Bambi will add that this talented musicologist and singer recorded ALL the songs of a movie called Al-Bosta, produced by Mr. Philippe Aractingi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosta_(film)]. If you happen to be reading until now Maya, Bambi will confess to you that she still did not have the time to watch this Lebanese movie you recommended on this blog. However, she still plans to do so! Do you trust your friend’s second public promise :)? Once again, perhaps she will have a post on this topic in the future!

The song below, by Fairouz, is a lullaby to a baby called Rima (yes even deer can have songs :)!). All the Lebanese mothers traditionally sing this song to their baby, describing his or her blond hair, along with a long tale that is hard to translate.

The song below is in Arabic as well. Bambi would like to dedicate it to her dear friend Alexis who likes it! She is yet to complete learning how to play it on the guitar. Still no time, but soon, hopefully. No promise here and no deadline out of fear of not being able to deliver :).

Below is Fairouz’ famous Li Beirut [To Beirut] in Arabic.

Below is the Lord Prayer in Aramaic (yes Jesus’ language).

Last but not least, here is Ms. Abeer Nehme singing in the language of Shakespeare.

The short BBC documentary that Bambi just came across shows: (1) a loving dad crying out of despair as he cannot afford a decent life for his 6-year-old daughter. Kind people on the street, awaiting to fill their cars with gas, try to comfort him; and (2) a heart-breaking grieving mother who lost her son in the surrealistic Beirut port explosion (still unaccountable since August 4, 2020!).

After watching this documentary, Bambi toured the latest news of her birth country. She came across two local media articles (961and l’Orient Le jour) as well as tweets by journalist Roula Douglas. She will start by sharing them. This will be followed by the BBC documentary and, of course, a song.

Indeed, to conclude this brief post on a meaningful (and hopefully powerful) musical note, only one song comes to Bambi’s mind. It is called Ya Natrin Shou Natrin [You who are waiting, what are you still waiting for?]. The singer is called Mr. Rabih el Khawli who, after a successful artistic career, left behind income and fame and became a priest. If Bambi is not mistaken, he may be living in Québec, Canada. His name is Father Tony El Khawli now. You can see him in the video about the Lebanese revolt of October 2019, just before the pandemic. The old song by the Rahbanis stood the test of time. It was featured in one of Bambi’s earlier posts (shown further below). Here is a quick translation of it s lyrics for those of you who do not understand the Arabic language.

“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)…

…Wake up from your coma, time is running out, become the destiny of your country“.

As per the two articles below, there is a theft of electricity cables because of copper, which has resulted in power being cut off (or what is left of it!) to Lebanese towns in both the north and the south of the country.

A Group Stole Electricity Cables, Cutting Off Power To A Lebanese Town

https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1286442/cable-theft-causes-power-outage-in-north.html

—

A Lebanese song that stood the test of time. What wisdom can we learn from its lyrics?

In life, all the seasons are beautiful.

Bambi adores the fall, and of course, she was born in the summer. So how can she not love this season too? And there is a spring after the long winter. Nature and bears wake up!

Bearing the above in mind, this post focuses on winter specifically. Even after 31 winters, Bambi remains under the charm of this season. Just look at the pictures below and see its beauty.

Talking about beauty, Bambi cannot help not to think of the beauty of the talented photographer, her friend Brittany, who took the fabulous pictures in question. She is beautiful at all levels, from her soul to her mind, from her heart through her external look too. Bambi loves you and will forever be grateful for our friendship (to the extent of kinship!). She will always cherish what you did for her during her saga (a true sister!).

So, before sharing her pictures, Bambi will offer her friend an old song of Ms. Céline Dion on friendship called Hymne à l’amitié (sub-titled in… French :). OK but easy to understand). “Vive notre amitié“! Yes, long live our friendship!

As for our beautiful winter, Bambi has two songs for this season. The first is Mon pays c’est l’hiver by Mr. Gilles Vigneault. As for the second, it is about snow and it is by Ms. Fairouz in Arabic with an English translation. “Vive l’hiver“! Yes, long live our beautiful Canadian/New-Brunswick winter!

Those who know Bambi very well know how much she loves this Egyptian song by Abu Yousra.

Yes, she keeps singing it and she cannot help not to feel an urge to dance to it.

Even if it is old and light, Bambi still likes it simply because it is joyful, a reminder of the summer, of love (3 daqat of the heart), of fun, and… of dance. It is a great song to cheer us up. If we want, to be sarcastic, there is a Lebanese version about the fiasco of Lebanese governance and the economic tragedy following the financial crash of October 17, 2019.

Last but not least, the 3 daqat song will forever be associated with beautiful yearly events organized by one of the most beautiful cultural associations of Canada [OK and the world :)], called the Moncton Lebanese Association (MLA). Bambi misses her friends, along with their good food, and our evenings of dance and fun.

Although it is old, Bambi just discovered this moving Lebanese song sub-titled in English entitled “Ya Oumy” [“Ô Mother”]. The lyrics are by Mr. Bassem Kassab. The music and arrangement by Mr. Mike Massy himself.

If she may, she would like to share this deep song with you while dedicating it to all the youth of the Middle East, and beyond, who courageously choose the following: (1) love over blind hatred; (2) reason and peace over rage or endless anger; (3) unity over divisiveness; and (4) faith in shared humanity over complete despair.

Of course, the above becomes much more challenging in tougher economic conditions. Hence the need to be/remain lucid… perhaps now more than ever.

Thank you, Mr. Massy and Mr. Kassab!

Bambi would like to thank the friend who kindly shared this brief interview with her.

She will also say: Thank you Mr. Ezra Levant, from Rebel News, for sharing the following on Fox News: “Tucker Carlson Tonight: Canadian Bank Rejects Mortgage Due to Politics | Ezra Levant and Sean Duffy“.

As Mr. Levant said, “this is a scandal“… a scandal of the intolerance of our collectively insane times.

This would have been sad too had it been the opposite: ANY other person, than Mr. Levant, with ANY other views (even and especially the opposing ones that start with the letter W and that are more trendy, divisive and socially destructive).

When will all this insanity stop, Canada?

May 2022 bring Hope to Lebanon…

Bambi does not only mean “hope” like the English word. She means it more like “l’espérance” in French or “rajaa” in the Arabic language. Indeed, rajāʼ (رجاء or Rajā is Espérance). It can mean: It is my anticipated hope for a better outcome. It stems from a deep, pure faith or an expectation for a brighter future.

This being said, Bambi would like to thank her two dear friends who shared this brief video shown further below on the financial disaster of Lebanon (i.e., tragi-comic!).

But first, a few words from the international media. For instance, according to France 24 (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211229-slow-progress-as-lebanon-awaits-imf-economic-deal),”Lebanon is mired in an economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times, but officials are yet to strike an international bailout deal“… “The financial meltdown began in 2019, and Lebanon defaulted on its debt last year. Politicians have failed to enact significant reforms to rescue the Mediterranean country, and many blame the ruling class and central bank policies for the crash“.

Imagine, that despite this economic boat sinking soooo fast in just 2 years, “the Lebanese government has not met since October due to a political dispute over the fate of investigations into the August 2020 Beirut port blast”, according to France 24.

Second, this January 1st post of the year 2022 is devoted to Bambi’s birth country. She will share the video mentioned above entitled “Robbing Lebanon” now. Following it, she will end with Mawtini (Ma patrie OR My country). It is a moving interpretation by the musicians of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Bless these men and women, serving their country and their people, in such tough economic conditions. As a reminder, they have not been served meat for over 1.5 years. MANY are not getting paid. Thanks to the 20+ countries who have been supporting the Lebanese Army for months now. All the best to tiny, bankrupt yet full of “rajaa” Lebanon. The latter is sadly torn among all the powers of the region/world, with each one pushing it in its preferred direction, while its corrupt leaders are completely disconnected from the population’s sufferings.

To conclude this brief post, best wishes to you Lebanon. Happy/ier New Year… and once again, Happy 2022 to all Bambi’s readers, with much love!

A year will end soon.

A new year will start.

There is something reassuring in how time keeps moving, no matter what.

Indeed, time does not stop when we are facing adversities or when we are in good periods of our lives.

Time also keeps moving when we fall in or out of love.

Time does not stop when we lose our dearest ones… and when they lose us.

Time is just time… and life is beautiful, even when it is tough at times.

Some of our loved ones may be in different time zones.

Some of our dear ones are in a different and timeless world… we miss them, we remember them, and we honour their memory (whether in our own personal times or at specific spiritual rituals, etc.).

Bearing the above in mind, Bambi does not want this year to end without remembering her friends Pat, Nadia, Raymond, Khalil, Kavana, and the adorable Abeer gone too soon (as per the older posts at the end of this one). She also remembers your mom, Rita. May God know how to comfort the broken hearts of their family members… and to support them in keep moving forward, just like time.

To conclude this post on a joyful note, once again life is beautiful (with our loved ones close, far, or very far in that timeless, unknown world). Luckily for us, as Bambi has always thought since her migration to Canada at age 17, it is the distance between the hearts that matters the most in life (more than the geographical or timely distance). As for our own time, well it is up to us to to make the best out of it: To appreciate it, to use it, to pause it, to remember it, be homesick or hopeful about it, and to keep dreaming it.

May your 2022 be joyful and meaningful to you!

HAPPY New Year everyone :)!!

—

Sackville, NB, will not be the same without you, Pat Belliveau!

A song for a friend

Good-bye Professor Nadia Jammal… you left our world on International Women’s Day, which falls on the eve of Teachers’ Day in Beirut

Mr. Raymond Tabet, an inspiration to all those who crossed paths with him, including Bambi and her family

Dearest Khalil Smeira, beloved friend & Professor of French Literature: “Ce n’est qu’un au revoir cher ami de Bambi, ami de son papa… et papa de ses quatre amis”!

“Adeus” Ms. Kavana Wa Kilele… Hard to believe you already left our world!

Rest in peace Abeer

First of all, who is Dr. Timothy Jackson? And who is Schenker?

Dr. Timothy L. Jackson is an American music theory professor of Canadian origins. Indeed, he was born in Ottawa, Ontario (1958). He received his B.A. (1979) from McGill University in Montreal, Québec, and his PhD (1998) from the City University of New York.

For those who do not know it, Dr. Jackson is the son of a most talented and famous painter, Ms. Sarah Jackson. Bambi is honoured to have had the opportunity to appreciate her world-renowned work (that even includes poetry). Bambi is referring to her overall work, but also particularly her very heart-touching Holocaust paintings featuring some of its anguish on children (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Jackson_(artist)).

To come back to Dr. Timothy Jackson, this highly productive and inspiring scholar of music devoted most of his brilliant career at the University of North Texas, where he specializes in the music of the eighteenth-twentieth centuries, including Schenkerian theory.

Among his most significant contributions, we owe Dr. Jackson the foundation of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies (first published in 2005), a peer reviewed academic journal that specializes in music theory/analysis with a focus on Schenkerian analysis. From 2005 to 2020, this journal ran smoothly and enriched the field of music theory. It is only in 2020, in our collectively insane times, that the Schenkerian controversy saga began.

Recently, Dr. Jackson, published a thoughtful article in Quillette about his saga (https://quillette.com/2021/12/20/the-schenker-controversy/). Bambi will try to describe it to you in this post, using this article as well as court documents. If, like Bambi, you are disturbed by injustice in life, you will be shocked by his case… you have been warned!

Bambi was already moved by the first sentence of this article, which reads as follows:

“Located in the Neue Israelitische Friedhof [the New Jewish Cemetery] just outside Vienna, the epitaph of one of the greats of music theory reads, “Here lies he who perceived the soul of music and proclaimed its laws in the spirit of the greats like no one before him, Heinrich Schenker.”

These are the words Dr. Jackson used to introduce Mr. Heinrich Schenker:

“While Schenker might still be unknown to the general public and even to many music theorists, his glowing self-assessment has been taken seriously by scholars since the 1960s. With a gigantic musical mind and vision, Schenker has assumed the status of an Albert Einstein or a Sigmund Freud in the arena of classical music theory, upon which he bestowed the gift of his analytical approach, and his superb ear and musicality.”

Imagine that a giant like Heinrich Schenker is now considered by almost the “entire profession of music theory in America” as a “virulent racist… a Jewish Nazi sympathizer, no less”, to use the words of Dr. Jackson himself. What kind of America (and Canada) are we now living in to come to such an absurd conclusion?

The most absurd and shocking accusation made against Schenker’s legacy is the following: His disciples, of whom MOST were German-born Jewish refugees who escaped the Nazis, have “deceptively colluded to hide the racist character and origins of Schenkerian music theory”.

It is in this wokeism spirit that in, July of 2020, the Journal of Schenkerian Studies and its Founder/Editor, Dr. Jackson himself, were subjected to a massive censorship (or cancellation) attempt over their reasonable efforts to counter an attack on Schenker as well Schenkerian music theorists, and even methodology (by Dr. Philip Ewell of Hunter College).

Imagine, that Dr. Jackson was branded as “racist” when we know what this highly negatively emotionally charged defamatory word means (this is the equivalent of “Israeli spy” in countries like Lebanon!). Why? Because of his critique of Ewell’s views. Can you imagine how dark our current collectively insane times are right now? We are unable to use reason, scholarly writing or critical thinking anymore. We seem to prefer the ideologies, stemming from the so-called Critical Race Theory, that are blinding our hearts, making us push agendas over science and facts, and preventing us from connecting, communicating, and debating (as we are supposed to be doing at universities!).

The most shocking part for Bambi was to read that the University of North Texas initiated an “ad hoc” investigation of its own Dr. Jackson and his journal… all in the name of “combatting racism”!!

Bravo to you, Dr. Jackson, for fighting back by filing a lawsuit against your university and some of your colleagues, for violation of academic freedom and defamation. Good luck for the litigation in process while awaiting the Federal Judge Amos Mazzant III to issue a ruling as to whether the case can go to court. Bambi will be praying for you and your clever legal team, Dr. Jackson (she had the chance to listen to you and your lawyer online in the past).

This link: https://www.nas.org/storage/app/media/New%20Documents/Full%20COmplaint%20and%20exhibits.pdf, which is also provided in the Quillette article, makes available ALL of the documents of the original complaint, including the exhibits. Anyone who wishes to know the full truth about how the Symposium was proposed, assembled and edited, and who is looking for a full accounting of the roles played by all of the editors in conceiving and producing the Symposium, along with the detailed information made available to the “ad hoc” committee prior to the issuing of its report, will find the full documentation at this link. 

As Bambi was fascinated by the beautiful picture above, she inquired about Regine. She learned from Dr. Jackson the following that he generously accepted to share with you too, as her blog’s readers: While Regine was his mother’s first cousin, “she met and was friendly with his father much earlier in her life than his own mother (the two families were already related by another marriage between them). Then came the Nazi occupation of France“. While Dr. Timothy Jackson’s “father and his family were relatively safe in London (although his father almost died in the bombing), Regine and her parents were caught in Nazi-occupied Paris. A friendly Gentile woman from across the street hid and fed Regine and her parents in the barn of her cottage in the country for almost three years. They all almost went crazy in that dark barn with nothing to do and intense hunger. One day, her father could not stand it any more, so that he went out, and he was caught and murdered” (may his memory be eternal, Bambi is saying in her heart now…). ” After that, Regine and her mother never left the barn, and they miraculously survived. After the war, Regine’s mother remarried to a man who was also a survivor whose pre-war wife and children had perished in the Holocaust. This man became Regine’s step-father”.

In reflecting about his grandmother, Dr. Jackson asked himself the following question: “Why did my grandma take that extraordinary step? She said that she wanted to be free – and she could not stand the anti-Semitism in Poland and Europe generally. She did not want to be forced to walk in the street as *a dirty Jew*. She never saw her parents again. Her mother died of natural causes in 1930, and her father, along with five of her six older brothers and all but two children (Regine being one), died in the Holocaust”.

Regarding the above, Bambi will pause her writing now for a few seconds to pray and honour the memory of Dr. Jackson’s family in her heart… may their memory be eternal. As a deer, a human being, a colleague, a fellow citizen (+ USA neighbour too), and, most importantly to her, as a friend/sibling in humanity: she is honoured to post the picture, the immigration document, and share with you the story of the inspiring Ms. Rose Blumstein, thanks to her beloved grandson for his generosity and trust. Once again, how could anyone, with an ounce of common sense, reason, and fairness left in his mind, accuse this man full of humanity of being a racist?!

In relation to the beautiful picture above, Bambi will allow herself to borrow Dr. Timothy Jackson’s own moving words about the compassionate woman shown above: “This otherwise ordinary lady was unbelievably courageous. This lady is the kind of person who gives one hope, even in the darkest times.”

Finally, and to conclude this post, Bambi would like to use Dr. Timothy Jackson’s own story and end with his own wise words filled with humanity and compassion.

First, perhaps contrary to others who pretend to hold the monopoly of truth, Dr. Jackson knows what he is talking about. Not just his scholarly analysis and writing, but also his own family story and roots. His Central European Jewish grandmother spoke German. Dr. Jackson chose to learn German in school to be able to communicate with his beloved grandma. He then learned German in both Austria (like Schenker) and Germany (if Bambi gets it right, Schenker identified as both German and Jew too), as a PhD student in München (or Munich). Furthermore, he later refined his German training, as a post-doctoral fellow in Vienna for two years. Following this, he taught Schenkerian analysis in Germany at the University of Erlangen as a Fulbright professor for another full year. This mastery of German is surely lacking in his woke colleagues. Bambi can only agree with Dr. Jackson that a thorough command of German is the sine qua non for any serious discussion of Schenker and his work.

Last but not least, if she may, Bambi will stop here and end this post with the following beautiful words by Dr. Jackson: “When I listen to Marian Anderson sing “Go Down, Moses,” I think, as the descendent of a generation that miraculously survived the Holocaust, that Blacks and Jews with their common history of oppression, should never forget that shared experience; nor should they ever falsify history per se.” (Dr. Timothy Jackson, 2021).