Author: Bambi

It is already January 17 in Beirut. Thus, it is officially the birthday (as well as the name day) of Bambi’s dad. All the best to her dearest “baba” or “papy” Antonio (she means Antoine or Tony)! May Saint-Anthony always protect him. Same warm wishes to all the dear Tanios, Tonys, and Antoinette of the larger “tribe” of family and friends in both Beirut and Montreal :). Blessings and love to everyone!

Now what does Dalida have to do with Bambi’s dad, you may wonder? Well, first and foremost, he is a a big fan. He and his beloved Robine even drove all they way from Beirut, in the middle of a raging civil war, to enjoy her concert in Damascus, Syria. Recently, during her last visit to Beirut, while co-enjoying fun puzzle time and a Dalida’s song on the radio, Bambi asked her dad about his memories of this concert. She was so amazing, he said.

Last but not least, and this is what explains the title of this post, Dalida was born on a January 17 (https://shorturl.at/cfjpW). Indeed, she would have turned 91 had she been alive today. Instead, she died too young, namely at age 54. Bravo and thanks to her for the eternal musical legacy. This post will end with some of her songs, which are all dedicated to Bambi’s dad… with MUCH love!

Bambi was deeply sad to learn that Dr. Pierre Mailloux is in heaven now (https://shorturl.at/gnCN1). What a loss for his family, patients, audience, society, and country!

We live in a world of fakeness and falseness. Dr. Mailloux was unapologetically whom he was, whether we liked him or not. Bambi has the utmost respect for such a unique and courageous character. He was one of the first to push back against cancel culture. He was a model of resilience.

In this post, she will share a refreshing, and surely inspiring, French-speaking biography that Fred sent to her. Clearly, Québec is no longer the same without Dr. Mailloux. May his memory be eternal. Much love to his family, co-workers, patients, and loved ones.

“Mabrouk”: Congratulations to MEA board agent Abeer and her fiancé :)!

When Bambi arrived to Lebanon, her sister witnessed another proposal on the ground of the Beirut airport by a young man in love asking his girlfriend, who landed on board of the same flight as Bambi, to marry him. Unfortunately, she did not have the chance to shout Mabrouk to them as she was busy with customs : ). To come back to the current story, in the An Nahar video below, you may wish to watch the scene with its hot question in the English language. The video which was public at the moment of writing this post is now private. Thus, you can consult it here: https://shorturl.at/afvZ1 (under the Arabic An Nahar news article).

For Bambi, it is refreshing to read about happy incidents (https://shorturl.at/afvZ1) when touring the news about sad and absurd regional wars, unilaterally imposed by some on their entire populations. Innocent people, caught in the middle of the fire, just want to live in safety while moving on with their personal lives like in this romantic video.

This being said, as usual, the post will end in music with Mr. Ramy Ayyash’s Mabrouk song.

https://youtu.be/jET1coewMSo?si=P6XPsWRmuP0h9YmG

The world is full of hypocrisy. Today, Bambi read that Turkey is “providing documents for genocide hearings against Israel” (https://shorturl.at/ovFMX). Mr. Erdogan even expressed his belief in “the justice of the International Court of Justice“. What about the justice for the Armenian people for their own genocide over 100 years ago? The latter is estimated to have eliminated 1.5 million Armenians (along with other Ottoman genocides, including 950 000 Greeks and 750 000 Assyrians; https://bit.ly/3V2eXTd) .

Those of you who regularly read this blog may remember Salome’s rich insights and heartfelt comments to Bambi and her family.

Today’s post is made possible, thanks to Salome’s talent in photography. Indeed, she managed to capture a majestic view of birds flying in the skies of the Netherlands. She did it both with a beautiful picture and in a brief yet breathtaking video recording.

Some of you may know a bit more about how much Bambi and her spouse are fond of Salome, her sister Bente, their parents, and of their relatives too. Their family and Bambi’s family are united in love and continuous care. Thus, it would be only fair to describe this treasure of life as one family across the ocean.

Of note, with much anticipation, it is Bambi’s dream to share with you one day Salome’s songwriting and singing talent. This post’s birds would be intimidated and touched by her unique voice. Please Salome keep appreciating beauty around you. Most importantly, keep being part of our world’s most lovely beauty, both inside and outside.

Today Bambi discovered two highly talented singers. The first is from France, likely of Algerian heritage. The second is a Jordan-based Palestinian singer/songwriter. If you wish, below you can listen to their amazing and soothing Fairuz medleys (with English subtitles). Bravo to both of them and long live Fairuz’ eternal music!

The world is upside down. Bambi just returned back home from Beirut, the capital of a non-sovereign yet beautiful country, which increasingly looks like an Iranian colony. Yet, even there, journalists seem to still be able to ask independent questions (when they are not being killed in wars or silenced forever). Ironically, in Canada, a journalist from Rebel News was arrested after asking a question related to Iran. Does this make any sense? Shame on Canada for this troubling incident of abuse of power, which took place on the sad anniversary of the downing of a commercial flight by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cops (IRGC). Bravo to Mr. Davis Menzies for continuing to report in such unacceptable circumstances. May the memory of all those who were killed in Tehran on board of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 be eternal. Of note, many of them were Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Iranian heritage.

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Today is January 7th. Some Christians celebrate Christmas. May they have a Merry one. Yet some other Christians, like Orthodox Armenians, celebrated yesterday. Bambi is thinking of all them, especially her friend Diana. You will see why in the following paragraphs.

The above being said, Bambi is blessed to have wonderful friends. When she left Canada two weeks ago, to visit her dad et al. in Lebanon, two sweet friends (Jane/spouse) drove her to the airport.

When she left Beirut, Bambi said good-bye to couple of friends. Hala was one of them. The latter took yet another breathtaking picture of the sunset from her balcony in Kfar Hbab in Lebanon. She shared it with Bambi, kindly thinking of Claire in Montreal (Louis’ aunt) who appreciates beauty. Bambi asked if she could also share it with you all, as she has done in a recent post shown further below. Hala’s generosity goes hand in hand with her modesty. Indeed, when Bambi congratulated her about her talent in photography. He reply was: “I just like to capture beauty“.

The other friend, from both Canada and Lebanon, drove MILES to Beirut just to see her (despite the volatile situation there). Bambi and her had not seen each other for 7-8 years. Thanks again Majida and nice to meet your lovely cousin Fatmeh. Seeing you again, after all this time, was like a rainbow of warmth to the heart and joy to the soul.

To come back to Diana now, the latter took time off her Christmas long day/night to kindly give her a lift from the airport back home. Thanks to her and to Louis.

Of note, the friends’ generosity is not over yet. Just while writing these words, she and Louis received wonderful Christmas’ surprises from friends, like family, from New Zealand. Her heart is filled with love and gratitude now (bless you, Alastair and Fiona, et al.). Minutes earlier, she spent wonderful time chatting with her beloved friend Alexis. Thanks again for the call.

To conclude this post, long live friendship. Long live Canada, New Zealand, and Lebanon’s eternal beauty, which remains shining even without its sovereignty. May love and beauty replace the vicious cycle of revenge and the ugliness of war. May the light prevail on Lebanon, its sad neighbourhood, and on the entire world.

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Through the lens of Hala: time for Mediterranean sunset in Lebanon!

Bambi will start by thanking her childhood friend Hala for accepting to share her beautiful Mediterranean sunset picture with the readers of this blog. As usual, this short post will end in music with two songs, which are sub-titled in English. The first song is Lebanese-Arabic (the late Ms. Salwa el Katrib) and the second is French (Ms. Mireille Mathieu).

Happy 2024, again. How is the start of your year thus far? Bambi hopes you are having or you had good times. May you be well throughout the year, regardless of its ups and downs.

Since her last post, Bambi has been silent yet active working on a forthcoming post in which she will introduce you to a great book she enjoyed SO much. Stay tuned please!

For now, she is not much into talking or writing. She is more into singing (yes, even frogs enjoy this activity). From out of Beirut, where she happens to be right now, she will share two songs. Sadly, one remains timely in a country and region filled with violence and its endless absurdity. The other is a sweet Lebanese melody, which reminds her of her dear cousins, especially Zeina with her BEAUTIFUL voice. It is her hope that her blog will include forthcoming posts highlighting her talent [no pressure on her, just a public reminder that Bambi is a fan :)].

Have a good day everyone!