Author: Bambi

In a rather random way, Bambi came across this heart-moving song. It is entitled “Terra Corsa“. Its lyrics appear in both Corsican and English languages, following this Youtube video (ps://bit.ly/3krUObd).

First, bravo to Mr. Patrick Bruel, Mr. Patrick Fiori, Mr. Florent Pagny, and Mr. Jean-Charles Papi for their outstanding interpretation!

Bambi has all the reasons of the world to be moved by this song, including a LOVE story with the Island of Corsica ❤️ and WONDERFUL, short yet highly intense, family memories there. She would like to dedicate this song to each of her family members in Sackville, Beirut, Paris, and Dubai. She loves you all… beyond any word, or any note, of any language, including the universal music ❤️❤️!!!

Corsican Land

“Corsican land, so beloved

I hold you in my heart

From near or from afar

When I sing, I sing for you

Corsican land, luminous

With beauty like no other

Rare pearl of the blue sea

When I dream, I dream of you

He who leaves, knows

That one day he will return

To his roots in Corsican land

To stay forever on our land

Corsican land, witness

Of sorrows and joys

Head held high and proud heart

If I speak, I speak of you

Corsican land, mother land

Courageous and generous

You gave so many sons

To glory, to posterity

As the Virgin, Our Lady

And Queen of our island,

Turns her gaze to this Corsican land,

When she prays, she prays for you

Corsican land, holy land

When my life comes to an end

I want to sleep in Corsican land

My last dream of eternity“.

Terra Corsa

“Terra corsa tantu amata

Eu ti tengu in core à mè

Di vicinu ò di luntanu

Quandu cantu, cantu per tè

Terra corsa luminosa

Di bellezza cum’ùn ci n’hè

Di l’azzuru a perla rara

Quandu sognu, sognu di tè

Quellu chi si ne và

Sà chi un ghjornu riturnerà

A e so radighe in terra corsa

In terra nostra per sempre stà

Terra corsa testimonia

Di dulore e d’alegrie

Capu altu e core fieru

S’eu parlu, parlu di tè

Terra corsa, terra madre

Curagiosa e generosa

Ai datu tanti figlioli

A la gloria, posterità

Cum’è a Vergina Madona

E regina di a nostr’isula

Gira i so occhji per ‘ssa terra Corsa

Quand’ella prega, prega per tè

Terra Corsa, terra Santa

Quandu a mio vita finiscerà

Eu vogliu dorme in terra Corsa

L’ultimu sognu d’eternità“.

Bravo to Minister Pascale Dery for sending a letter to all the Presidents of Québec universities reminding them of the value of academic freedom, denouncing censorship as well as the discriminatory practices of the so-called EDI (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) in attributing Canada Research Chairs. Finally, someone standing up against this federally-imposed divisiveness!

Below, you can find her tweet and her letter, all in the official language of Québec. However, Bambi unofficially translated it for you below, with the help of her faithful friend, Mr. Google Translate.

First, Ms. Dery’s tweet, which publicly shared her letter, reads as follows: “I sent a letter to the universities in order to position myself on the importance of academic freedom. Let’s work together for workplaces exempt of censorship“.

Ms. Dery’s beautiful letter to the Presidents of Québec universities (French content) appears following Bambi’s unofficial English translation:

“Québec, January 16, 2023

Ladies and gentlemen, the leaders of the universities of Québec

With regard to recent events that have punctuated the news and fuelled the controversy that exists between the pursuit of objectives favouring diversity and inclusion in higher education and the protection of fundamental and universal values, such as freedom of education and research, a clarification is needed.

Québec’s bill on academic freedom in universities provides institutions with all the necessary tools in order to ensure that these fundamental values ​​are respected and even enriched. The purpose of this bill is to better support academic institutions in the framework of academic freedom and in promoting growth in future decades.

Under no condition should we tolerate censorship in academic institutions. Censorship inhibits thinking and thinking in the grip of fear hinders the pursuit of excellence, which is at the heart of the university’s mission. We cannot sacrifice academic freedom in the name of certain specific struggles, with the risk of losing both at the end of the line.

Academic freedom constitutes the very foundation on which higher education was built and must continue to be so. It shapes our actions, thoughts, and our way of envisioning higher education, not only for the benefit of the student and teaching community, but also for the benefit of the Québec society as a whole. It is inseparable from democratic pluralism, which represents the backbone of our common institutions. This academic freedom is not only a core value, but it is also a Québec value of which we are proud. It is my duty to remind you of this and to ensure that it is respected.

This being so, the pursuit of objectives aimed at diversity and inclusion within educational institutions is legitimate and necessary. This approach promotes equal opportunities because we all want educational environments that promote growth, both personally and academically.

However, under no circumstances should these objectives lead in any way to any form of discrimination or injustice. However, the requirements of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) of programs of Canada Research Chairs, which are set by the federal government, rather restrict certain rights and reduce the primacy of the notions of competence and excellence.

Following a motion that I proposed to the National Assembly last December, Québec’s political class, all parties combined, unanimously denounced these ways of doing things. I underlined that a greater representation of the target groups, underrepresented, must always be carried out in a logic of equal competence. This way of doing things is a the heart of the Québec model, and this in all sectors of society.

It is in this spirit that I have asked the Chief Scientist of Québec to review his evaluation grid in the allocation of research funds by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, so that the EDI criteria are not imperatively predominant, but rather complementary. To do otherwise would endanger excellence, the search of truth and academic freedom.

It is now up to you to achieve this goal. It is about the quality of teaching, research, and the relevance of academia in general.

These expectations are not only those of the government and mine, but they are also those of Québec society. Meeting these expectations is a delicate responsibility that can require difficult trade-offs. This is why, dear leader of university institutions, you can count on my full support in the pursuit of this objective.

Please accept my warmest regards,

Pascale Dery”

Does this post need any word beyond these heart-breaking pictures? Let’s not forget that this is just one of the MANY other families who lost a dear member in the surrealistic Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020. May Ms. Nicole Helou’s memory be eternal as well as the memory of everyone.

Bambi just discovered a beautiful song by the talented and generous French singer Grégoire. An English translation of its thoughtful lyrics appears following the YouTube video; thanks to the assistance of Mr. Google Translate.

This being said, may you live your life to the fullest. May you be content, not just when you are feeling good about yourself, but especially if you happen to be either in a difficult life transition or in a state like the following: sick, feeling lonely, down, and/or with a grieving heart after loosing your dream, job, optimal health, wealth, or a beloved person.

Enough of best wishes for you. Bambi will stop here; it is time for music now :)!

TO LIVE (By Mr. Grégoire)

“Yes, my friends, we will live

and live strong, intensely,

to look only ahead,

live more than 100,000%

forgetting that we are going to die,

yes, my friends, we will live

unconditionally, truly live,

without “maybe”, without “yes, but wait”,

to eat everything to the fullest,

above all never to suffer,

yes, my friends, we will live

fingers in “V”, head in the wind,

the proud look, the fire in the blood,

courage and a beating heart,

getting up despite the worst,

yes, my friends, we will live

never wasting a moment,

never let time slip away,

hugging, kissing,

to forget that we are going to die,

yes, my friends, we will live

live without regrets, without torments,

bendable perhaps but resistant

to all storms, torrents,

to all the critics of the minions,

yes, my friends, we will live

and live without anesthetics,

without being stupefied by sedatives,

to live without being of all these people

who die long before they die,

yes, my friends, we will live

and live free by choosing,

to look only ahead,

live more than 100k%

forgetting that we are going to die,

yes, my friends, we will live

always live by telling ourselves

that apart from love, nothing is urgent,

the rest is vain, inconsistent

because one day we will die

yes, my friends, we will live

to give everything, to all comers,

without calculating almost unconscious,

because nothing is worth more than these moments

where we forget that we are going to die,

yes, my friends, we will live!”

Well, it is this time of the year, when Bambi’s larger family is blessed to come together again to celebrate, after the Christmas and New Year festivities; twice not just once, that is in two consecutive evenings meant to honour two oldest family members called Antoine and Tanios, respectively. Of course, this along with all those from the second generation of the family who happen to also be called Tony or Antoine, etc. Indeed, Bambi has several cousins, with a similar first name, most in Beirut and one in Montreal. They are all uniquely adorable :). Happy “name day” to each one of them and to Bambi’s friends, Antoinette and Tony!

Of course, in Bambi’s eyes, the most significant Antoine OR Tony in this time of the year is her dad, especially that his birthday is celebrated also on his name day. May God keep protecting you, dear “Antonio”. Many thanks for giving Bambi and her sisters values, roots, and wings; this in addition to being a living example of an inspiring self-made entrepreneur, as per an older post honouring you and your business (shown below). Bambi loves you a lot, dad. She is saying so now while sending her deep affection to our all our dear ones across the miles ❤️!

—

Azar Electric: An inspiring story of a store in Beirut…

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that Bambi loves “Zaatar” or thyme, as you can see from an older post below.

This being said, many thanks to Zeina for sharing with us all Chef Alia’s delicious Lebanese-style mixed thyme recipe! It is Bambi’s hope the embedded video will work well :). Regardless, she can assure you that Nova Scotia-based Chef Alia is MUCH talented! Mmm!

 
 @zaynah.habibti Chef Alia is back with a Zaatar Manoushe recipe! #tiktokarab #arabtiktok #recipe #mediterranean #food #foodtiktok #lebanese #chefalia #middleeastern ♬ original sound - Zaynah Mohamad 
 
 

—

Mazeej [blend]: “For the Love of Lebanese Zaatar” [wild thyme]

Bambi was 13 years old when French songwriter/singer and musician Daniel Balavoine suddenly lost his life, on January 14, 1986 at age 33 only. He died in a helicopter accident in Mali, along with four other people on board, including the following: Mr. Thierry Sabine, founder and director of the Paris-Dakkar Rally, a reporter, a cameraman, and the pilot. The latter was the Mr. Albert II, Prince of Monaco’s cousin (https://bit.ly/3ZFl1mP). May everyone’s memory be eternal…

It is not only France that plunged into deep grief following the death of Mr. Balavoine, but also all those who love French music around the world, including the people of Lebanon. Bambi recalls having been touched by his loss, which added to the many losses in her own life due to the ongoing bloody civil war.

To honour the memory of Mr. Balavoine, this post will share some of his most famous songs, which are all sub-titled in English for your convenience. The first song does not need any introduction for those who, like Bambi, love French and French-speaking songs. The second melody is entitled “Mon fils, ma bataille” [My son, my fight]. It focuses on a painful divorce by telling the story of a father’s legal fight to keep the custody of his son. This moving song, which became a big hit in France and abroad, was inspired by the story of Mr. Balavoine’s own parents in addition to the one of his guitarist, who also went through a divorce, and to the story described in the Kramer vs. Kramer‘s movie. Last but not least, the fourth song presented below, entitled “Je ne suis pas un héros” [I am Not a Hero], was supposed to be written to the late and great, Mr. Johny Hallyday (https://bit.ly/3ZFl1mP).

To conclude this post, Bambi would like to thank Mr. Balavoine for his short yet fully lived life; the latter has not only entertained, but also inspired so many people. May his memory be as eternal as the genuine emotions he knew how to put into beautiful songs.

Bambi does not want to go to bed before sharing a talent she just discovered, thanks to an article by Ms. Carla Henoud in Orient Today (https://bit.ly/3H5Beui):

“His name is Savio Haykal, he is 18 years old and he has been living in Paris for five months. The young man has made his mark on social media through a video that went viral for a few days. We see him playing a song by Feyrouz on a piano at the Monoprix on the Champs-Élysées, a song that seduced foreigners and obviously moved the expatriates, Lebanese and Arabs, who were passing by. This was not Savio’s first performance in this and other public places in the capital.

He was born in Tripoli, and after completing his studies at the Greek Orthodox National School for Girls in Zahriyeh, he was admitted to L1 MIASHS (Mathematics and computer science applied to human and social sciences) at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

“Since my arrival in France,” he told L’Orient-Le Jour, “I have been living with my uncle’s family, who does not have a piano. This pushed me to look for places where I could play and especially practice. After a little research, I discovered that many public places in France have pianos available to play, including train stations and Monoprix stores.”

That’s how it all started, with the idea of playing in public, filming and sharing these moments on TikTok and Instagram.

Last week, the young man accumulated over 43,000 followers and hundreds of thousands of views” [with 26,114 Likes as of January 13, 2022].

From the above article, Bambi learned more about Mr. Haikal. He began learning piano at age 8 and, at age 14, he was enrolled at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music. Of note, he participated in the Voice Kids in 2015. He was only 11 years old then. Bambi found his excellent performance of “Rien n’arrête le bonheur” [Nothing Can Stop Happiness]. What a moving tribute to Ms. Linda De Souza who recently sadly left our world, as per an earlier post shown at the end of this one.

Last but not least, bravo to Mr. Haikal’s mother who also has a beautiful voice as he reported and who encouraged him to play the piano (https://bit.ly/3H5Beu): “We have two pianos, one at home and the other at my grandmother’s. My mother has a beautiful voice… Although separated from my father, she insisted on enrolling me in weekly piano, singing and dancing lessons, and music competitions. She always sends me songs to learn to play or sing. She never stopped encouraging me”.

To conclude this post, thank you and bravo Mr. Savio Haikal for your talent, perseverance, and for your natural skill in making random people happy! Please keep practising and sharing your talent online; good luck also in your studies and adaptation to life in France!

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A post shared by Savio Haykal (@saviohaykal)
 

—

Good-bye Ms. Linda De Suza: Merci; Obrigada, and Gracias too!

Did you know that today, January 13, is meant to celebrate several national or International days? In this post, two of them will be discussed by Bambi in relation to the surrealistic Beirut port double explosion of August 4, 2020 .

The first national day is called Make Your Dream Come True. The second one is the National Blame Someone Else Day. To begin with, even after taking the time to read about them (https://bit.ly/3XrHLV), Bambi still does not know the exact meaning or purpose of these days. As she already asked on this blog: who assigns those events to each day of the calendar?

Regardless, and if she may, she would like to pause for a few minutes today to try to integrate both of these January 13’s celebrations using the example of a tiny yet complicated country of the Middle East, called Lebanon.

While doing this mental exercise, Bambi will specifically think of all those affected by the surrealistic Beirut port double explosion. She will contrast the latter with the careless-criminal attitude of the Lebanese political class… and the frustrating silence of the international community. To do so, she will go back in time, using her own memory, with the assistance of “the archived memory” of her blog, to that doomed day of August 4, 2020… and to its following 891 days. She will not re-post any of these earlier posts because the list is TOO long.

Mind you, she does not have to go that far back in time. Just the last couple of days are enough when a few impatient families of the victims may have stormed the Justice Palace in Beirut. They did so to demand the continuation of the investigation by Judge Tarak Bitar. In other terms, they wanted to ask the Lebanese political class to stop interfering in the judicial system.

Look what happened to them? On the next day, they were called by the Lebanese security authorities for investigation. In contrast, those who either remained silent or were directly responsible for the stored ammonium nitrate, which exploded in August 2020, are still free like birds. Yes, like the latter, but not any birds. Rather ugly ones because they fly with total impunity for their criminal negligence. Is this fair?

Of course, it is not good to throw stones on any building, including and especially a country’s Justice Palace. Let’s be clear here: Bambi is against any form of violence, including the one coming out of tiny stones. In her mind, someone may have been too upset to do something like that. If you have seen your own city decimated or if you are a parent of a victim or the friend of a person who is still in the coma or is disabled for life, wouldn’t you loose your mind too? Or what was left of it after the corrupt political and banking system of your country stole your savings?

Bambi would like to thank her sister Roula for making her discover this talented Iraqi singer called Rahma Riad. From the English translation fully shown below (https://bit.ly/3vWotf1), you can learn that her song is about love, precisely about longing to live on another planet… The song starts with these beautiful lyrics: “Let’s be you and I, like stars and clouds in the sky, we travel to the top and never return back. We abandon this planet and its darkness… and it continues like this: ” We spend it with love and longing. We teach those people the meaning of love. We never mention parting, and we colour this world in happiness pink. The life we live without love doesn’t deserve to be lived“.

This being said, Ms. Riad’s first name is Rahma. It means “Mercy” in Arabic. May her song bring both mercy and love to our entire planet, which may have seemed at times like inhabited by humans with masks, not around their faces and noses to protect others, but around their hearts, blinding the latter to the point of being unable to love others.

On this serious note, Bambi cannot conclude this post without thinking of a deep yet funny chat with her childhood friend Hala who, about a year ago, expressed a similar wish like in this song, for both of them, as a solution to get away from the world’s problems :).

Hope you will enjoy the song. Long live love!

Oui, vive l’amour… et merci encore Roula!

Planet

“Let’s be you and I

Like stars and clouds in the sky

We travel to the top and never return back

We abandon this planet and its darkness

Alone we fly and soar

We put a little star in the sky

And we paint our love in air

We spend it with love and longing

We teach those people the meaning of love

We never mention parting

And we colour this world in happiness pink

The life we live without love

It doesn’t deserve to be lived

Let me tell you about my longing

To see what your love has done to me

The more time extend between us

I feel like it has just begun

Put your hand in mine until the day we die

You won’t lose and you know

You’re my magnificent dream

You’re the happiest coincidence in my life

You make me live the best days,

Make me forget all my sorrows,

Your name is the map of my life,

Your eyes are my address,

Without you, my life has no taste,

Empty and has no meaning“.