Bambi received three wonderful pictures today, from out of Lebanon, that she would like to share with you before going to sleep. Thank you Roula and Rana for your generosity.
The first picture was taken by Roula in Ain Saadeh, which is a village in the charming mountains of Lebanon. The last two pictures were taken by Rana in Batroun, which is a superb touristic destination located in North Lebanon.
A picture taken by Roula in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon.
A picture taken by Rana in Batroun, Lebanon.
A picture taken by Rana in Batroun, Lebanon.
To conclude this post, Bambi hopes you enjoyed her sister’s and cousin’s pictures. As for you Lebanon, despite your multiple crises, you remain eternally beautiful. Thus, you deserve Dalida’s famous song, “Helwa Ya Baladi” [My country is beautiful], performed below by Ms. Hiba Tawaji.
Bambi just read a quick article in le Journal de Québec entitled “Des politiciens dénoncent un attaque verbale contre Chrystia Freeland” [Politicians denounce a verbal attack against Chrystia Freeland] (https://bit.ly/3wEUE3l).
With all due respect to Ms. Christia Freeland, why can’t Alberta citizens express their frustration to Canadian politicians? Why can’t our politicians expect that some citizens they will meet will express their dissatisfaction?
Bambi will now allow herself to borrow the comment of one reader; at least in this newspaper, comments are welcome, contrary to the CBC who tries to make a link between “journalists of colour“, “women in politics” and the story of Freeland in Alberta (https://bit.ly/3KuC1VK). Anyhow in her mind, the word “liberals” below can be replaced by any ruling political party at any particular time in history. The issue here is not the name of the party but rather its policies and their impact on peoples’ lives: “The liberals can rot our lives but we have no right to let it be known“.
If Bambi bumps into Ms. Freeland in her town, she will greet her with a smile, warmly welcome her, thank her for her hard work (some is good), but she will express to her her STRONG disagreement with some federal policies, especially the so-called anti-racism (or all the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion blahblahbah). She will also ask about the government either incompetence or malice in using our own tax money to fund radical wokes to teach us about racism when they spent their lives expressing hate against Québeckers and their language, against Jews, against even our Prime Minister and our country. Yes Bambi is referring to the informative article of Mr. Jonathan Kay about Mr. Laith Marouf (https://quillette.com/2022/08/25/the-increasingly-blurry-line-between-anti-racism-and-racism/).
Bambi is a dinosaur when it comes to being aware of the latest movies and songs. However, her American-Lebanese internet radio station keeps her educated.
She did not know this Lebanese singer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Al_Rassi), but she has heard one of Mr. Al Rassi’s song, featured below, on the radio during the pandemic. It is about a comeback or a couple coming back to each other, after a breakup (https://bit.ly/3KrfhWj).
From a quick reading, she understood that the song may have been based on a true story (reuniting with his wife after a divorce). He even sang for his baby son Joe a song telling him that he is the meaning of his existence. Ironically, he also was the spokesperson of an organization meant to prevent car accidents. Imagine that he even had a song that starts with a car crash!
All this Bambi learned it from Naharnet in English (one reader’s comment that she confirmed with her own little research). She also learned more about this fatal car accident from l’Orient Le Jour in French.
Bambi sends her love to your devastated parents (artists too, it seems), to your wife/son, the family of the young woman with you in the car coming back to Lebanon from a concert in Syria (may Ms. Marhabi’s memory be eternal too), and to your sister (a famous actress, it seems), to your fans and friends. You seem to come from the same village as Bambi’s friends in Atlantic Canada. She wonders if they knew you. Condolences to them too.
Anyhow, thank you for your songs, Mr. Georges Al Rassi. From now on, Bambi will listen to the melody featured in this post with a thought for you… in heaven.
To conclude this post, life is truly too short and unpredictable. Let’s make the best out of it NOW. Tomorrow may be just a memory of our lives by our loved ones…
This post is a gift from Bambi to… her own ears :). Yes, this is very selfish gift of self-pleasure before ending a long productive day.
Bambi discovered this Lebanese composer, musician, and singer recently (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwan_Khoury). She now searched his rich repertoire on Youtube. She was happy to listen to him singing a wonderful Lebanese love song from her childhood-teen years in Beirut. She has two older post about this song with a translation, as shown further below. As she knows for a fact that many of this blog’s readers appreciate this song, she will share his performance below.
Thank you, Mr. Marwan Khoury for your voice, talent, and tribute to the late and unique Ms. Salwa El Katrib!
Is there anything more beautiful in life than love?
She does not know about you, but Bambi learned early in her life to tell people she cares about that she loves them.
Maybe a 15-year-civil war trained her well since back then we could lose our loved ones at any time and anywhere?
Maybe it was rather her immigration at age 17, before the internet era, where it mattered to express love words at the end of a phone call or in a mailed letter that would take an entire month to reach loved ones? Who knows?
Now in middle age, more than ever, she knows that life is too short and that neither her loved ones nor herself are eternal.
At least, human love, through memory and spiritual connections, will transcend death. It is her deep conviction in life, even if she may wrong. It is worth believing it and growing in love. Neither in hate nor in indifference. Rather in humanity and friendship.
Of course, love includes self-respect, self-love, and friendship with oneself. To be able to genuinely love others, we must love ourselves first.
May love in all it forms and expressions, whether just by meaningful acts or in silence, triumph in our world over disrespect, indifference, and over violence.
Now, If some of your loved ones are no longer with you, may their memory be eternal and may it warm your hearts if/while you will listen to the song featured in this post.
To conclude, Bambi promises to stop her personal philosophical insights to share Mr. François’ meaningful song, which is sub-titled in English. Now, if she may, she would like to dedicate it to you dearest Claire to wish you a Happy Birthday and reminds you of how much you are being loved by Bambi et al. ❤️. She will speak for herself now and say that she is blessed to have you in her life. She remains grateful for your incredible support of her blog. Well, if you thought you could get away without a Happy Birthday song, you were wrong on that one, despite all your wisdom :). Check the next song please… it is meant for you and it is in French, of course. Thanks to whomever posted it on Youtube and made it public. It is yours now :)!
Good luck to Dr. Frances Widdowson fighting to get her tenured-track position back at the Mount-Royal University. Yes, she was fired by this institution. If Bambi understands well, her arbitration is set for January 16, 2023.
Trust, Frances or Dr. Widdowson, that Bambi will be with you in her spirit on the day mentioned above. Actually, this date is significant one for her family (the eve of Saint-Anthony’s, her dad’s birthday or rather name day). For those who believe in Christianity and the goodness of Saints, they say that Antoine (or Anthony) is your guy to go-to if you lost something. Just pray for him and you may find it, Bambi’s mom used to tell her when she was young. Well, Bambi will take the time to close her eyes on that day to pray in her heart for you. May your arbitration be public, as you wish. Public or not, may it be as fair as possible. May both intelligence and fairness prevail again in the minds of those who did this to you. They lost all their common sense, not just their scientific thinking, work ethic, and humanity.
Anyhow, Bambi has several older posts on Dr. Widdowson’s shocking yet not surprising ordeal, as you can see further below. Dr. Widdowson kindly interviewed her during her own ordeal. More recently, Bambi had the honour to support her in her financial campaign. She encourages you to do so, if you wish and can. Supporting Dr. Widdowson is actually a support to yourself. Today, it is her turn to be attacked for her views. Who will be next?
Indeed, regardless of whether we agree with Dr. Widdowson’s research findings and/or insights, we should ALL be concerned by her ordeal. We should all refuse this circus of intellectual corruption at our universities and public institutions. Everyone has the right to express his/her opinion, including Dr. Widdowson, a Distinguished political scientist specializing in Indigenous politics in Canada.
It is only by coming back to the principles of academic freedom-freedom of expression, respect and, NO to violence/intimidation for ALL that we can dream of universities that would honour again their missions of truth seeking and of smart debates, of a country that truly respects ALL its citizens, and of a society that is and will still be democratic in 2, 5, or 10 years from now.
To conclude this post, bravo to Dr. Frances Widdowson for her dignity and inspiring fight. Thank you Ms. Soos from Rebel News and Dr. Gad Saad from Concordia University for your thoughtful interviews. Bambi discovered a great journalist in you, Mr. Soos, and enjoyed listening to you Dr. Gad Saad, as usual. Please keep up your great work. Canada and the world need it.
Perhaps the greatest gift inf life is friendship? Bambi is blessed to have received it abundantly. This being said, she is unable to find appropriate words, in any language, to describe her beautiful friendship with Nayla. Even without much to say today, she wants to wish her the happiest birthday possible.
Nayla, Happy birthday! Enjoy being spoiled by your family and friends!
To the above, Bambi will send you her love across the miles while thanking you for being a sister to her, not just a close friend. Thanks for going out of your way to highlight her own birthday from far away ❤️.
Thank you also for having enriched this blog with interviews and deep insights about the Beirut explosion and about Lebanon’s economic crisis respectively, as shown below. Bambi is also grateful for Rony’s thoughtful insights and kind comments.
In Arabic now: “Akbel el Mieh” (100 years and all of happiness)!Have fun!
To conclude this post, with her frog’s voice, it is time for Bambi to sing for Nayla now (sorry, it is a must :)). The first two melodies in French and Arabic respectively are for her birthday. As for the last three songs, they celebrate friendship, all in French and each in its own way. Hope you will enjoy them!
Bambi took a little break from work and made a wonderful discovery.
Indeed, this musical post is meant to introduce a talented and moving Lebanese singer called Mr. George Martinos. He sings in several languages. He sings love. He sings faith. He even sings revolutions. It is Bambi’s hope that you will enjoy a small selection of his artistic work.
This brief post will end by urging you, M. Martinos, to keep singing and making your Lebanon and our world a more beautiful place!
Bambi just discovered that today is the World Senior Day. Happy Day to all the seniors of the world, here at home and abroad, to begin with.
This being said, she refuses to go to bed without shedding the light on the daily life of two seniors living in Beirut Lebanon. Indeed, the idea of this post has been in the back of her mind since her return from a trip to the Middle East three weeks ago. Now is the time to do so, she is convinced.
At first, Bambi thought of writing about two unnamed seniors. Today, she changed her mind. She will still write about a typical day of their lives, but she will give them fictional names. She hopes the latter will help in offering some recognition, dignity, and love to them and, through them, to ALL their fellow seniors in Lebanon. She will call them Nour (for light) and Adwam (for most durable).
The power coming from the government does not have a schedule. It is often absent (except during the final games of the FIBA Asia Cup!). In contrast, the electricity from the private provider usually has a more fixed schedule. Here is the daily timeline, and its consequences:
6:30 AM to 7:30 AM: Power back after a dark night. The source of electricity is from the private provider to whom Adwam and Nour pay a high fee and from whom the service is neither optimal, nor sufficient to turn air conditioning on. As a reminder, we are in August and it is the most humid month of the year in Beirut.
7:30 AM to 10:30 AM: No power from neither the government, nor the private provider.
10:30 AM to 1PM: Power is back.
1 PM to 5 PM: Good-bye power; no electricity from neither the government, nor the private provider. It is too hot without even a fan turned on.
5 to 7 PM: Government-electricity is back. Luckily, the TV can be turned on for some entertainment.
7 PM to 10 PM: No electricity (unless there is a surprise from the government).
From 10 PM to 1 AM: Power back from the private provider. Sometimes, the power comes with wrong cycles and risks ruining the fridge and other house appliances. Luckily, Adwam has a clever solution to this problem. This came after they had many appliances damaged due to a mistake in the power supply. Sometimes, you can be surprised by a power outage during this period, but the provider realizes it and re-sends power. At other times, something goes wrong For instance, heating water to take a shower can cause a power outage. Sick or not, Adwam and his wife have to get out of their apartment to try to figure out and fix this problem. Of course, they need to act fast before the end of this period of time where they are supposed to have the power.
After 1 AM: Total darkness. No power from neither the government, nor the private provider. Often, Nour risks falling down while walking to the washroom, as it is still too dark in their apartment, especially with high buildings around. Their three charged lights have lost their batteries by now. In one night/early morning only, Nour did fall down three times, imagine. It was too dark and her fever fighting the coronavirus did not help. Now that she is healed, like usual, she cannot turn the washing machine on (by the way, forget about the microwave, this is a mere luxury now). Needless to say that she literally cannot even see what clothes she is putting on. Forget about the make-up. Searching for important items like medication is more challenging in the darkness. When we are sick, nights always seems longer. Imagine how the nights have been for both Adwam and Nour, fighting Covid in the darkness. Luckily, they have each other, but they do NOT have the basics of a decent quality of life: Neither power nor drinking water. Can you imagine? At least, they still have a sense of humour and creativity. For instance, Nour jokes about the power and Adwam invented a way of making one fan turn completely without being on. How? Simply by aiming their other fan at it at the right angle. Of course, this does not help as it sucks energy, but it is amusing and VERY clever.
Well, that was the daily timeline of the electricity for this couple of seniors. What about the drinking water now? Well, Adwam and Nour are now living from 5 to 7, and even 10 long days without any water. Can you imagine? Of course, they can purchase large bottles of drinking water. They do so. They are heavy to carry and install, especially with a back ache or when we have Covid-19. Needless to say how expensive it is since the Lebanese currency is literally worth nothing now.
Bambi will stop here. What else could be said about what Lebanon’s seniors are going through? They worked all their lives to see their bank savings stolen and their quality of life reduced to the extent described above. Bambi spared you the struggles with access to healthcare and to medication (this has been reported in earlier posts).
To conclude this post, “Happy” World Senior Day Adwam and Nour and everyone in Lebanon. Take good care, please… and hang on! If she may, Bambi would like to offer you all two songs, one in French and the other in Lebanese-Arabic. The first is beautiful and moving where Mr. Nicola Ciconne is honouring a senior neighbour. As for the second, by Mr. Ghassan Rahbani, it is called “Chargeur” [Give me the charger]. It is freaky if this is the appropriate description, just like your daily life without power… Thanks to Mr. Rahbani for illustrating how absurd the life of the average Lebanese citizen is. As for you, dear readers of this blog, thank you and have a good one (night or day, depending on where you live)!
