A bunch of random things

On the eve of this election, I urge you to watch (if you can find it), a "Clean Escape", by Sam Egan, which was the first episode of "Masters of Science-Fiction".If you can't find your hands on it, read this very detailed and adequate recap - but warnings, because it is SPOILERIFIC.This being said - I'll be watching, and crossing my fingers. The US is making history, in the next 24 hours. So what else is new?

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I fail at work, these days. Come to think of it, I'm fail at a lot of things - including NaNo, it's not even funny. I'm not sure what's wrong with me in that respect. For work, I know - I'm suffering from Short Timer Disease. Even if I'm trying to motivate myself with the desire to not let down .... Mr. Burns. (current boss, here, yes, he really, really looks like Mr. Burns, except he's actually nice, and I actually like him. No, that doesn't make me Smithers. **shudder**)

ETA: My boss just made an impersonation of Monty Burns. I am flailing inwardly.

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But for NaNo, I'm not sure. I like my story - it's a fun adventure thingie, where I get to be very cruel to my people. I created a fun pair of characters, and I like them. So. Why can I not write? Damn it! I feel so lazy, at night, it's not even funny. I told my mum about NaNo, and Burns, and also ... how do I call this one? I'm going to call him Wallace, for the Wallace in Sin City. No. He should be Helmholtz Watson, from Brave New World. Because he's perfect. Though I guess I could recast Mr. Burns as Bernard Marx, in that case. Which makes me Lenina. It even works because BMarx has been sort of hitting on me, much to my despair. I'd much rather it be HWatson. Srsly. Anyway. HWatson said he'd be my reader, which is cool. I like him, and I trust him. Too bad this is a one-time assignment together.

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I saw Sin City again last night. It was awesome. I love Marv. I love to hear him say, "That is one damn fine coat you’re wearin’ ". I love Dwight McCarthy so much, too.

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I've been rediscovering Pink Floyd. High Hopes feels so appropriate - I'm not sure why, exactly, but it feels like a good song for a place like Rwanda, were innocence has been so direly tested over the past 40 years.



Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun
Along the long road and on down the causeway
Do they still meet there by the cut
There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide
At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

****

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever

That's it. Tata. Sorry for being so random.

Good times, bad times, this one might be painful for you but was fun for me (and some nice readings)

I mentionned earlier that I had been enlisted to perform at the hotel - here it is !

It's anything but professionnal, and it was a lot of fun. Some while ago, Salt Water had requested that I put up some of my voice - so here it is.

Enjoy it, because this is NOT going to happen often !
(If you don't just scroll down and read the book reviews!)



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Some books I have enjoyed reading during my travelling :

Geisha of Gion / Ma vie de Geisha (Mineko Iwasaki )

Hygiene de l'assassin (Amelie Nothomb)

The Sea House / La Maison Mer (Esther Freud)

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Backlogged in Haiti

I haven't put anything up in a while... I know...

It's just that after the dream week I spend in Paris with CQFD (did you see the pics?), it was... difficult to write again and to get back into the spring of things...

So I left Paris on the wings of British Airways at 7AM on a sunday, to fly to Miami where I would stay one night before I hooked on an the early monday morning flight to Port-au-Prince (PAP for friends).

When I got to Haiti, I made straight for the office where my 4 teammates were waiting for me to start the audit. It was nice to see C. again, a gentleman I worked with in Guinea and who (coincidentally) was my neighbour way back when in Burkina Faso in the early 80's when I was a toddler and he was a little kid...

Getting to Haiti means a lot of hard work, but it also means loads of fun: my team is young, dynamic, eager to go out and do things. I'm sure I won't have to many B.O.R.E.D. moments here.

PAP is a nice city, and slightly messy, but nothing quite as bad as Conakry in Guinea. I am amazed that they have public lighting here.

Our first week here was also the week of the legislative elections in Haiti. Thankfully, it was a peaceful political event and the planned hunker-down week-end turned out to be a weekend of visiting the nearby mountain village of Fermathe, where we had the opportunity of buying and tasting local cakes, of visiting an old fort.


This is just an example of the beauty of Haiti....

Later in the night last saturday, 2 of my teammates and I went to a "concert" with a fellow co-worker who had free tickets from one of her friends. Amazingly, it turned out to be...

STARMANIA (TYCOON) .... an all haitian cast of singers, actors and dancers, on the original text and music of the Plamondon/Berger duet, with bouts in Creole.

I'm very optimistic about my stay in Haiti.

Tonight, our local counterpart is taking us out to play pool, and tomorrow to the Beach. Also,
Haitian art is very colorful and lively. I look forward to digging more on that.

More pics to come !

Cheers !
The Beaver

Thanks, Cindy and Son's in Southern Utah for posting on my guestmap !

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

St-Jean-Baptiste, Quebec National Holiday

On June 24th, I spent the afternoon and evening in Ste-Hyacinth, serving beers to party goers and enjoying the local show of french-canadian music. It was fun to renew with my Quebecer identity and to enjoy the French Canadian way of partying. The whole thing started at 3PM and ended with seemingly cool (well, what I could see from behind the tree) fireworks. No traditionnal bonfire, though, as apparently some Einstein decided to jump in the last bonfire that was made, years ago.

Some may question the existence of a nationalist holiday in a province, but to put all this in perspective, according to a CROP survey, in june, 55% of quebecers would have voted YES to a referendum. Even without ventilation of the indecise, sovereignty would have passed with a meager 52 % based on the 1995 question, which involved a political and economical partership with Canada. Where do I stand ? I don't know. I've been away during most of the events that stand behind such an increase, (the Gomery commission investigating corruption in the federal Liberal party and the student strike contesting modifications to financial aid to students), so I do feel less involved than I might otherwise be. Nevertheless, I am first and foremost a francophone and do feel simpathy for the cause, even if I don't feel that my opinions are strong enough to go along with the new majority.

So anyway, for those who wonder, what is "La Fete Nationale" ? here's a quick wrap-up which also gives you a 101 on French Canadian history. (Thanks, http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfaol/resource/Canada/StJean.htm).

Of European origins...

"While the orgin of the holiday in France was the pagan celebration of the summer soltice; a celebration of light and a symbol of hope. In the reign of the French King Clovis, the annual event was christianized and became a religious celebration of the birth of John the Baptist, who is known as the Precursor of Christ, the light of the world – thus the link with the soltice and the bonfires.

The festival of Jean Baptiste had particular importance for all the Catholics of Europe, especially those of France. The King of France would light the bonfire in the nights of June 23 and 24 in Paris.

...a custom which travelled to Quebec...

Once in America, the French continued to celebrate this event, but it was then a very pious, religious festival with processions in the streets of Quebec City.
St-Jean Baptiste came to be know as the patron saint of French Canadians as a result of centuries of recognition of the influence he had on New France as new colony was developing from the time of early colonization.

It was on 24 June 1615 that the first St-Jean-Baptiste mass was celebrated in New France, though mass had been celebrated since the times of Jacques Cartier. The religious authorities found that the day coincided with the summer soltice and the birthdate of Jean Baptiste, thus the symbolism of the baptism of New France.

From the 150 French residents of New France in 1635, their customs spread with their pursuit of the fur trade. It was quite important, particularly since it coincides with the summer collection of furs and the gathering of employees who had been isolated during the winter. Large bonfires, singing, fiddle music and dancing are all a part of this festive occasion. The conviver (come together) was boisterous with many les santés (toasts) to health and much gunfire and cannon booms. Festivities lasted throughout the night.

French residents in the St. Lawrence River area formed a chain of bonfire lights from village to village. Even in the late 20th Century, more than 15,000 of these fires could be seen on 24 June. Soldiers mustered to fire cannon and muskets as a part of the provincal.

Which survived the British conquest...

After the conquest of New France by the British, the celebration of St-Jean Baptiste lost some of its importance. It was just over two centuries later on 24 June 1834 when Ludger Dunvernay, a newspaper editor, and about 60 people decided during a banquet to turn that day into an event that would unite all French Canadians. The festival grew in size and importance to French Canadians.

A great number of English-Speaking Montrealers took part in the national banquet, which was held in the gardens of a prominent lawyer, John McDonnell. While the enthusiasm for the annual event were put on hold during and after the Patriot’s Rebellion in 1837-38, Celebration of the Fête de la Saint-Jean as it was named, reappeared in Quebec City in 1842 as a religious festival with a great procession. Montreal followed suit in 1843.

... and was declared a statutory holiday...

The annual celebration grew and in 1925 the Quebec legislature declared June 24 as a holiday.
(...) The usual order of activities would open with a mass to commemorate St-Jean Baptiste. A parade would follow the streets of the villages with a band, baton twirlers, people dressed in period costumes and floats. The last float would represent St-Jean Baptiste with a blonde and curly haired child wearing sheep skin, holding a cane. One or more lambs would signify a shepherd and his flock of sheep.

After the parade there was a banquet with entertainment, folkloric dances and the day would end with a great bonfire and fireworks.

...with nationalistic meaning...

The evolution of St-Jean-Baptiste Day from a religious to a nationalist celebration was complete by 1975. In 1976, the Province of Quebec government passed legislation making it the official national holiday of Quebec and an official paid holiday. The name of the holiday was then changed to la Fete Nationale, though many still refer to it as St-Jean-Baptiste Day.
At the beginning of the 19th century, in towns and villages along the St-Lawrence River, it was customary to take the first swim of the year on the even of St-Jean-Baptiste Day. Even today most swimming pools in Quebec open for the season around that day.
Another tradition was the petits pains benits (blessed loaves of bread). These bread loaves were shaped either as a star (another announcement of the birth of Christ) or heart (For God so loved the world). They were then given to the priest. This is not the same as the Lord’s Supper.

Many other French-speaking villages in other provinces celebrate St-Jean-Baptiste Day and several of them have churches named for the patron saint. And there are villages named for St. Jean Baptiste—one in Manitoba is known as the soup pea capital of Canada. Several are in the Province of Quebec."

The Song Box

Yesterday night, I went to a cabaret, in a small cozy café-like pub called "La Butte St-Jacques" in Montreal's beautiful old quarter (textually translated, St-Jack's Hill). La Butte is possibly one of the last remaining "Boites a Chansons" (Song Box), along with "Les 2 pierrots".



"Boîtes à chansons. Name given to the intimate rooms which sprang up in the mid-1950s outside the normal entertainment circuits and in which most young Quebec chansonniers made their start. Usually seating 50 to 100 on uncomfortable chairs, these smoke-filled rooms were casually decorated, often with a fishing net. Coffee - and rarely liquor - was served on rickety tables which were bare or sometimes covered with checkered cloths. The audience generally was made up of students, and despite the surroundings great enthusiasm was generated.

(...)

In its original form the phenomenon gradually lost momentum and for all practical purposes petered out by 1967. Once they became stars, the chansonniers needed larger halls and more complex sound equipment. Yet it was towards the end of the boîtes à chansons era that Le Patriote began operating in Montreal's east end. Larger than most, it featured the big names of Quebec song, and several French artists, and welcomed newcomers.


Over the years the repertoire of the boîtes was broadened. Jazz ensembles, folk groups, singer-instrumentalists, and others, as well as the original singer-songwriters, were heard in them. (...) The Bistro d'autrefois, the Butte St-Jacques and La Licorne, all in Montreal, still have something in common with the boîtes of the 1960s, even though their clientele has changed. Most Cegeps and some universities have similar places. The coffeehouse in English Canada is to some extent the counterpart of the boîte à chansons." (Thank you, Canadian Encyclopedia)



The show I went to see, with my now artist mother and her friends, was called "Cabaret : Y parait que..." (Cabaret : I heard that...) and featured 5 ladies, impersonating very distinct characters :

• Chi Chi : hot-blodded latina drama queen, single lady in desperate search for a love interest ;
• Charlotte : the M/C and owner of the cabaret, who loses her self-confidence in the middle of the show ;
• Madam Camé : Darker lady, wanted by the police (we're not sure why), slightly nutty and famous for trying to sing "over the rainbow" a maximum of times per show ;
• Marie-Neige : means Mary-Snow. Slightly nutty and disconnected, a tender loopy dreamy girl.
• The pianist : the Cow (wearing a cow costume...) witty and sometimes a little bit bossy.

Overall good entertainment, good singing and showcasing. As I was told later, it is a work in progress, but I do beleive it is to be pursued, and will eventually turn out to a complete new form of art, involving song, music, theater, humor, and exuding with the desire to take the audience elsewhere... A perfect example of what French-Canadian artists can come up with, in all its irreverence, charm, and nuttiness.

Corneille en Concert ! Africa live !

Le weekend dernier, le festival Africa Live a déchiré Dakar et la Médina :

"Parmi les artistes présents se trouvaient Youssou N'dour, qui organisait l'événement, de même que Tinariwen, Rokia Traoré, Salif Keïta, Didier Awadi, Manu Dibango et Awilo Longomba.
Le festival Africa Live-Roll Back Malaria s'inscrit dans le cadre du Partenariat pour faire reculer le paludisme. Il a été lancé en 1998 par l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, le Fonds des Nations unies pour l'enfance, ainsi que la Banque mondiale.
La malaria (ou paludisme) affecte environ 600 millions de personnes dans le monde. il s'agit de la maladie la plus répandue sur le globe; un enfant africain en meurt toutes les 30 secondes." (Source : LCN)

Corneille y était et bien franchement, il était excellent. Les membres du public (majoritairement Sénégalais mais aussi une minorité d'expatriés, de mauritaniens et d'étudiants africains d'autres pays) étaient en délire, particulièrement les jeunes femmes qui me semblaient dans le même état que les fans de Beatles dans les documentaires, exaltées, heureuses, criantes et au bord des larmes tout à la fois.

Quelques remarques tout de même :

1. Youssou N'dour a chanté une chanson sur la nécessité d'enlever les eaux usées et le sérieux de la malaria, mais... en anglais, devant un public majoritairement francophone !
2. Le message sur les aux usées... au stade en tout cas il était pas passé, les toilettes étaient infectes !
3. Fa Coly : l'Afrique en a marre marre marre... scandé avec une joie extraordinaire... paradoxal, non ?
4. Je remarque la quantité de chansons anti-coloniales qui ont été chantées, par les rappeurs entre autres. Si le but du festival est de conscientiser la communauté internationale, je veux bien, mais on était au bord du sentiment anti-étranger.

Je profite de l'occasion pour rendre hommage à toutes les personnes de couleur noire qui sont en Europe ou en Amérique du Nord. Encore une fois, le concept de minorité visible etait tres tres réel pour moi. En même temps, au coeur de la fête, il s'effaçait totalement pour faire place a la joie d'être ensemble et de s'amuser !

Nakodje... faut lacher quoi !

Nous avons, encore une fois, assisté à un concert de musique africaine. Le groupe Nakodjé est un ensemble éclectique comprenant, outre le chanteur-guitariste et les trois choriste, une flute traditionnelle, une basse, une batterie, une clarinette, une kora, un balafon et deux djembés. Ça en fait du monde sur la scène ça !

Le chanteur était, définitivement, en train de s'éclater comme un malade sur la scène alors que les toubabs, majoritaires dans l'assemblée, le regardaient l'air de se dire "hmmm j'aime ou j'aime pas ? Est-ce que je dois danser ? Comment je réagis à ce truc ?" Bien sur, la gang de filles, bien ancrée sur leurs siège était aussi perplexe que le reste du monde... sauf que vient un moment d'épiphanie, ou serais-ce de folie, ou on commence à se dandiner, à danser, à rire, à taper des mains. Quelques courageux se mettent sur la piste de danse, la majorité vibre assise, et quelques récalcitrants restent la, les bras croisés, à se dire ("Je veux rentrer à la maison, qu'est-ce que je fais ici ?")

Le spectacle a duré 2 heures, et à la fin, on était quand même prêtes à danser. En bout de ligne, on apprécie tout autant que les autres, seulement, on est plus lents à la détente !

Ba Cissokho

I just came back from a musicalconcert with friends at the CCF, which was absolutely great. The groupwas from Guinea Conakry, another west-African country. It was interesting because it involved a mix of traditional music andinstruments, with modern rhythms and pop instruments (in theoccurrence, it was the base). It was, I’d say, like African Jazz. Butthen again, didn’t jazz originate from this continent ? It took ustime to warm up to the music, but by the time the concert was over wewere on fire ! I can’t help but think that the Africans are such anexuberant people. I mean, in what other place would you have members of the public come up and dance on stage freely during the show ? This evening was a great lesson in the art of partying : it’s all about letting go, letting itall hang out, and the people there certainly taught me that tonight !

Concerts in Senegal (French and English)

- Mbaye Dieye Faye et BAM (Binlingual)

- Africa Live (French)

- Nakodje (French)

- Ba Cissokho (English)

The Beaver