Almost two years ago, Bambi dedicated a post to a song by Mr. Guy Béart, entitled “Liban Libre” [Free Lebanon], shown further below. Béart composed the music and wrote the lyrics of his powerful melody in 1989. This was exactly one year before the end of an absurd and cruel 15-year civil war.
Bambi recalls how Mr. Guy Béart visited Lebanon on a boat trip, from out of France, to show his solidarity with the civilians of his parents’ birth country. Today, she wants to pause to pay tribute to the memory of the late and talented Guy Béart. She is doing so because the latter was born on July 16 (1930). Although his own life ended on September 16 (2015) (https://shorturl.at/ioALZ), luckily his song is eternal.
Thank you, Mr. Béart for your attachment to your parents’ and to Bambi’s birth place. Most importantly, many thanks for your French song (with a couple of words in Arabic), which is all about unity, peace, and healing among the Lebanese people. Your song remains timely, perhaps today more than ever. Indeed, to what extent is Lebanon free now, you may be perhaps wondering from heaven?
Regardless of the answer to the question raised above, may all the countries of the world (including Lebanon as well as Canada and France) enjoy stability, liberty, unity, and prosperity… along with an urge, by their respective residents, to love one another.
To begin with, Bambi is grateful to her friends, Dima as well as Mary, and her sister Roula for their beautiful pictures. Bravo Dima and Roula for your respective talent. Thank you Mary for your generosity.
The first two pictures (by Dima) show us the sunset on the Mediterranean sea, namely on El Heri, which is a superb sandy beach in the Chekka town. The latter lies in the Batroun district in Northern Lebanon. Bambi has wonderful memories, with her loved ones, on the El Heri beach during several trips to her birth country over the past decades.
This being said, the last three pictures that you see below were taken (by Roula) in a village called Zighrin, which is located in Mount Lebanon. Zighrin’s elevation is 1050 metres, that is 3,444.882 feet. Of note, Mount Lebanon’s highest peak is 3,088 metres, that is 10,131 feet (https://tinyurl.com/yve6a37z).
To express her gratitude to her friends for reminding her of joyful memories and to her sister for sharing Lebanon’s beauty from a higher altitude, Bambi will offer them two songs: the first one is a Lebanese-Arabic melody, originally by the late Ms. Salwa El Katrib and performed by her daughter Ms. Aline Lahoud. This song is about the sea and all the mysteries of the world hiding behind it. As for the second French song, which is entitled “La montagne” [The Mountain], it is performed by the late and unique, Mr. Jean Ferrat.
To conclude this post, one wish comes to Bambi’s mind, like a prayer from the bottom of her heart: long live the sunsets, sunrises, and landscapes of tiny, bankrupt, presidentless, and governmentless yet dignified, resilient, and… eternally charming Lebanon!
A picture taken by Dima in Hirré, Nothern Lebanon (kindly shared by Mary).
A picture taken by Dima in Hirré, Nothern Lebanon (kindly shared by Mary).
A picture taken by Roula in Zighrin, Mount Lebanon.
A picture taken by Roula in Zighrin, Mount Lebanon.
A picture taken by Roula in Zighrin, Mount Lebanon.
Today is France’s national day. Bambi wishes this beautiful country much brighter days (than the recent dark and sad ones). France deserves not only social peace, but also love.
Bambi admires both Ms. Simone Veil and Dr. Hubert Reeves for different reasons. In this post, she will share what she knows about them respectively and what they have in common, namely the same birthday. Yes, it is July 13, perhaps also like someone Bambi knows too well [is Katia reading now :)]?
For those who have never heard of her, Ms. Simon Veil was a French magistrate and politician in several governments (Health, Justice, etc). In addition, she acted as the President of the European Parliament (1979-1982). She also happens to be a Holocaust survivor. Imagine she survived both the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps where she sadly lost her mom. However, her sisters and herself survived the shoa, thankfully. Tragically though, they also lost their dad and brother who were deported to the Baltic states from where they never came back; most likely murdered there (https://rb.gy/oejkg).
“Mistakes are not to be regretted, they are assumed. Fear is not fleeing, it is overcome. Love does not cry out, it proves itself” (Simone Veil)
Bambi admires Veil’s humanity and feminism. Indeed, she was a champion of women’s rights in France. As a health minister, she is known for the 1975 law that legalized abortion. This law is even called “la loi Veil” [or The Veil Act] (https://rb.gy/cgl3u).
In 2010, Ms. Veil became one of the 40 “immortals” of the Académie Française. Of note, she was the 6th woman to have such prestigious distinction of her country (https://rb.gy/cgl3u). In June 2017, at age 89 (well almost 90, to be precise), Simone Veil was buried in the Pantheon (https://rb.gy/eeewu). What an honour!
Now, who is Dr. Hubert Reeves who turns 90 today? Happy Birthday to him, to begin with. Reeves’ birthday song will follow his brief bio and a thoughtful quote from him, which Bambi likes a lot.
Reeves was born in Montreal, Québec, Canada on July 13, 1932. After spending part of his childhood in Léry, a small townon the south shore of Lake Saint-Louis, he returned to Montreal where he graduated from school (Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf), obtained a BSc. degree in Physics (University of Montreal), and an MSc degree (McGill University). Following this, he received a PhD in Physics in the United States (Cornell University). He was awarded highly prestigious national and scientific awards from Québec, Canada, and France (https://shorturl.at/afryA).
After teaching at the University of Montreal, he has worked as an advisor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is a director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique [French National Centre for Scientific Research] (CNRS). He often speaks on television where he vulgarizes science and makes it appealing to popular audiences (https://shorturl.at/afryA).
To conclude this post, Bambi would like to thank both Ms. Simone Veil and Dr. Hubert Reeves. May your memory be eternal, Ms. Veil. Happy Birthday wishes to you Dr. Reeves! From now on and until her death, Bambi will think of both of you each July 13 :)!
It may be sunny yet we may be going through a cloud of unpleasant times in our life. Alternatively, we may feel internally content even if it is cloudy outside like this summer in the Maritimes, at least thus far, where an unstable weather is alternating between being cool and warm. Independent of the weather and even life seasons, how about making our inner sun always shine all year round?
As the great philosopher (551-479 B.C.) Confucius stated, “Happiness is not always in an eternally blue sky but in the simplest things in life”? If there is truth to the latter old Chinese wisdom, what are your own “simplest things” in your daily life? Are you aware of them? If so, do you allow yourself to take the time to appreciate them?
Another tip for happiness comes from Robine, Bambi’s mom, who recently said: “Think of beautiful things and the world around you becomes more beautiful“. Maybe this piece of wisdom is inspired by an old Lebanese saying that goes like this: “Smile and the world will smile back at you“.
Of course, “your” cloud may be too thick to make you (re)-connect with your inner sunshine or appreciate the outer light or warmth. In that case, as the proverb goes, “every cloud has a silver lining“. Indeed, even if you cannot see it (yet?), with increased lucidity and perspective, thanks to time, you can see a good aspect in every bad situation.
Before leaving you with music, Bambi wants to remember today, and perhaps also remind you of the following: Even in the worst situation, the promising aspect may lie in the potential for painful yet meaningful lessons, which are the essence of personal growth. Thankfully, we can learn something valuable from all our experiences, including about ourselves, and thus enrich our life journey.
Did you know that July 11 has been declared, by God knows whom, as “Cow Appreciation Day“. But what is the latter? It “is a day that has been designed to raise awareness about cows and appreciate everything that they do!” (https://shorturl.at/npuGZ).
Bambi loves all her fellow animals as well as human beings. She does know about your favourite animals, but the cow holds a special place in her heart. Who knows? Perhaps it is the same for you for different reasons. Maybe you are into farming or for a veterinary purpose? Maybe it is for spiritual reasons since cows are considered “sacred” by India’s Hindus? Maybe you love their meat or milk? Of note, in Canada this meat is called “beef” whereas in Lebanon it is called “cow”.
Whatever your reason, in addition to being heart-warming, cows often symbolize fertility, thus motherhood, and generosity; this representation exists across many cultures. This being said, both Bambi and her spouse love cows. They appreciate seeing them while driving or walking in the rural areas of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as per the picture shown below:
A picture of cows taken by Louis in Port Elgin in the South-East area of New Brunswick, Canada.
In addition to finding them cute, Bambi is highly grateful to cows because she is a fanatic milk drinker. Even at almost age 51, she still drinks lots of milk. Indeed, on average, every ten days, she drink 2 litres of this delicious and nutritious white substance! No wonder her friend Jane teased her by saying that she may have forgotten to switch to wine when she became an adult :).
Furthermore, Bambi is an ice cream lover. She is lucky to live close to TruemanBlueberryFarms where ice cream is homemade and served on a delicious, also homemade, waffle cone (https://shorturl.at/fjpHR). Same for the famous Cows of PEI!
Yes, we owe cows our balanced human diet, which includes (at least for some of us), ice cream and other delicious dairy products like cheese. Louis, Bambi hopes you are not reading thus far given what cheese means to you. Yak :).
This being said, enough of human food likes and dislikes! What about cows? What do they eat, have you also wondered about it? According to the Dairy Farmers of Canada (https://shorturl.at/wxIKV), the most common food for cows is grass with a typical mature cow eating about 29 kg. of it per day. Cows also drink lots of water, of course as a function of their age, lactating status or not, and the seasons.
Although our devoted dairy farmers continuously collaborate with nutrition experts to come up with a diet tailored to their specific cows (https://shorturl.at/wxIKV), some humans forget about cows’ natural eating habits. They offer them the pleasure of an ice cream. After all, they did contribute to its production.
To conclude this “cowy” post with music, Bambi will leave you with “La vache qui rit” [The Laughing Cow], a famous French cream cheese ad, which reminds her of her childhood in Beirut (it is sub-titled in English). In addition, if you like it, you may listen to a kids’ song about an adorable cow called “Lola”. Happy Cow Appreciation Day to all, regardless or your diet or beliefs. Moo :)!
Many thanks, Mr. Colin Craig for interviewing Dr. Mark Milke and Bambi, as co-authors of “the 1867 Project” book (with 18 other writers). As described by the News Forum‘s on YouTube, “they discuss Canadian values and why we need to continue to create a free and flourishing society“.
Bambi enjoyed the thoughtful conversation. It is her hope that you will learn something valuable about our beautiful country and its history.
The older posts, shown further below, introduce the book entitled “The 1867 Project: Why Canada should be cherished, not cancelled” and edited by Dr. Milke. If you are interested, it is on sale now on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/aAIX6. If you happen to be reading it now, well enjoy it! Oui, bonne lecture!
Bambi has always liked several songs, which celebrate summer times. Some of these songs are a call to go to the beach. Others invite us to dance or to love. This being said, what about you: do you have a favourite song?
With this question in mind, Bambi discovered a superb new song by Kendji (Mr. Girac) and Vianney (Mr. Bureau). If she may, she would like to share it with you today.
Kendji and Vianney are two great French artists who joined forces to write and co-sing Le feu” [The Fire], which is a French and Spanish melody about love. Precisely, it is a promise to protect and keep alive a relationship with a loved one, especially through adverse days.
The promises we make in life are supposed to be seriously deep because they are about commitment. Yet, despite its deep lyrics, “Le feu“, with its melody and video clip, sounds light and thus refreshing like a sea breeze. It is also a celebration of friendship through a successful artistic joint venture along with carefree beach scenes among friends.
Enjoy the summer everyone. May the fire of your passions, whether romantic or not, all remain alive; not just during this season but all year round.
Two days ago, Bambi opened YouTube and found this video, which she watched twice. She would like to share it with you. Check how the cute little cub had much difficulty climbing, contrary to his siblings. Mama Bear did the impossible to help him; he succeeded in the end :)! It is fascinating how mama bear holds her younger ones, like cats do, and how she crosses the street. She seems to be carefully looking both ways. To salute this lovely wild family, Bambi will end this “beary” post with songs related to bears!
As today happens to be Boulay’s birthday, Bambi would like to wish her a wonderful new year. She thanks her for the great music, which she listens [and sings :)] to while driving.
Below, and following the Happy Birthday song, Bambi will share some of Boulay’s performances solo, in memorable duets, and with other inspiring singers from the USA, Europe, and Canada. Except one English song, with the late and great Mr. Kenny Rogers, the rest of the melodies are all in French; some are sub-titled in English for your convenience. Thanks to all those who posted them on YouTube. Of note, Ms. Boulay’ last performance is a French adaptation of “The Winner Takes It All” by the amazing Swedish pop group ABBA.
To conclude this post, it may be Boulay’s birthday on July 7. However, instead of her receiving a gift from you and from Bambi today, this much talented singer is offering us all a precious musical gift: a bouquet of songs with deep lyrics and heart-felt emotions. “Merci chère Madame Boulay et bonne fête”! Happy Birthday to Ms. Isabelle Boulay ❤️!
