Thursday, November 19, 2020

Eu não quero te tocar muito, bebe

A Winter evening .... as seen from my Minnesota driveway ....

Here we go again ....

Every autumn, I begin to think about leaving the sea of blogs. Although I first found my way here in August 2008, it was not until January 2009 that I began posting one .... two actually, but the first was gone before January ended. Being a rather organized individual who likes to do things in a logical, sequential manner, in the autumn I think that my January anniversary date would be an appropriate time to disappear.

Invariably, I begin to look through old posts with their words and photographs and music and never quite work my way far enough along to utter the words -- it is over. The swirling snow photograph is part of the reason. This is the third post in which it has appeared since it was taken on February 20, 2014. There is nothing particularly remarkable about it, but to me it roars Minnesota and is a perfect illustration of what some people love about the place and what others hate about it. The photograph does have a rather ghostly and surreal quality to it, I think. Anyway, I like it and here it is again.

Also included are four pieces of music:

Yahoo is a Brazilian band formed in 1988 which performs and records both in English and in Portuguese. This particular piece, titled "Mordida de Amor" and sung in Portuguese, probably sounds familiar. It is a cover of "Love Bites," a very memorable song from Def Leppard. The Yahoo lineup includes Zé Henrique (bass guitar and lead vocals), Serginho Knust (guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals), Val Martins (keyboard and vocals) and Marcelão (drums and vocals).

Vixen is an American hard rock band formed right here in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1980 by then high school student Jan Kuehnemund. Its most successful period was from 1987 to 1992, with Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Janet Gardner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Share Ross (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums). Kuehnemund died of cancer at age 51 in 2013. Here is the band performing "Edge of a Broken Heart." Kuehnemund is the young lady with a mountain of blonde hair seen mostly on the right side of the stage.

A few days ago on another blog, I wrote: "My favorite variations of it (the 'Boléro') are with Jorge Donn dancing, alone or with others, and choreography by Maurice Béjart. It is a song meant for dance, I think, and not purely as an instrumental piece .... although in any form it instantly captures you and pulls you deeply into it and along with it."  Since then, I have watched French ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem dance to the music.  I think she does it with more aplomb and grace than Donn. Here is Guillem's  final performance of Béjart's Boléro as it appeared live on television on 31 December 2015 as the clock counted down to midnight in Yokohama, Japan. I also watched for one more time British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean win their Olympic gold medal skating to it in 1984. Their performance is timeless.

"O come, O come, Emmanuel" is sung here in Latin as "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" by New Zealand singer and songwriter Hayley Westenra, who sings in a number of languages. Perhaps, this song will awaken the holiday spirit within you. The hymn has been around for a while and has its origin in monastic life and lore in the 8th or 9th century. Can you grasp how many times "Veni" has been sung since then?

Now then .... after an offering of a number of written words and a photograph of a snowy night appearing for the third time and four pieces of varied music, the question still remains: To blog or not to blog ....






6 comments:

Anita said...

Goodafter noon Mr -Fram!Greetings from also snowy Norway!

Wonderful photo-just how I like it-
I quesss I am among those who likes it wild

Nice text too!It do not matter if the photo has been shown once ,twice, or many mnay times..It still captures the snowstorm and its imagination of what winther is or can be..

To blog or not to blog
I think you should
Whenever it pleases YOU

We have all been in that mood.Some of us every day!

Me for excample..Cant find my way to blog again after beeing sick.It is not that I am feeling weak or something it is just so much else to do..I cant think of leaving my energy around for waste..So only a few person gets my attention.But I WISH I could !I dont need attention either.Lets put it this way.It is not so much fun anymore to blog!My tribe is not here either so I dont know so much of the bloggers ,they are all very strangers

I have found great interest in The ways of Buddism The art of happiness and Living a meaningful life..
Today I went out in the snow took alot of pictures went home baked some scones and a good dinner.Right now I am knitting again and have it all fine

Also started a writing blog for myself. Some of The Topics are the Black Death and the Spanish flu,Sure you know Doctor Nebb ,Doctor Schnabel von Rom?heh heh
It is very learning and for fun for myself.Includes many old photoes of the paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries and the altarpiece with Jesus and the Ten Lepers, Jesus and the Canaanite woman.Also reading a book from that time period year 1100 to 1370.Very interesting!It is like all what one has read..The puzzle of history starts to become a picture!You know what I mean?!Also I got an invitation to Finland with an journalist. Great news from -Ateneum,Finlands National Gallery.Nexts summer main exhibition is Ilya Reptin,the greatest of the Russian Golden Age Painters.. Peredvizhniki,The wanderers -Mavericks from the Imperial Academy of Arts in St.Petersburg in the second half of the 19th century.A unique potrait painter ,with a catalogue covering most of the contempory cultural elite in Russia.Most gripping perhaps a seriously ill Modest Mussorgsky ,painted at the hospital.The composer had passed away by the time the paint was dry.Then it only remains to get the pandemic under control..

Well this was a long long brev!!
Hope you are doing well over there!
I love the last music

I don't want to touch you too much, baby!


Oh my god.Tell me

Hilsner fra Norskejenten

Kelly said...

You've given us such a varied group of videos this time. I'm surprised I'm saying this, but I really like the Brazilian cover of the Def Leppard song. I'm not always a fan of covers in general, much less in a language I don't speak.

Despite the fact it's too early for Christmas music (IMO), I loved this version of O come, O come, Emmanuel. It's beautiful. When it comes to holiday music, I like songs from the 40s-60s. I also like most all hymns and sacred Christmas music.

Your snow picture is something I can't really imagine, not having dealt with a great deal of snow in my life. It's a beautiful view on my laptop screen, but I don't think I'd want to see it out my own window. Unfortunately, we tend to get more ice and freezing rain than snow.

I'm not in a position to offer advice about blogging...

Fram Actual said...

Very good, Anita of FarAway Bergen .... you caught me ....

I like the word "baby" and use it from time to time in posts. I also occasionally pick out a line from the lyrics of one of the songs included with a post and use it as the title for the post. These two elements worked out nicely this time -- right, baby?

I think it admirable that you are taking a serious interest in Buddhism. Having a set of personal beliefs and principles is a fine way to live one's life, and many have found happiness through enlightenment.

As I have mentioned in a few posts, I walked away from organized religion when I was 14. The study of concepts of philosophy and mythology and religions took hold of me when I was a college boy and, for a few years, I read everything I could find on the subjects. That is when I found Will Durant and Joseph Campbell and Jean-Paul Sartre among contemporaries, and people who came before them like John Stuart Mill and Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche and Bertrand Russell.

I also learned what I could about the major world religions and so-called mythologies (once-upon-a-time religions) from the "olden days."

In short, I found nothing that turned me to any religion and plenty which kept me on the trail of philosophy. How much I remember of what I read back then is another matter. It is too bad we are not equipped with memory banks as are computers.

I am familiar with the term "plague doctors" and the fact that some of them wore "costumes" which included a beak of a bird mask which carried herbs and spices which, supposedly, protected the doctors from the diseases.

My knowledge of paintings and painters / music and composers is quite limited, and I looked up Ilya Repin and the composer Modest Mussorgsky, for instance, to learn a bit about them. Again, I say: It is too bad we are not equipped with memory banks as are computers.

Anita writes:
To blog or not to blog
I think you should
Whenever it pleases YOU

Fram replies: Hmmmm ....

Fram writes: Thank you, Ms. Norway, for coming and for reading and for writing. Be safe and take care and do not eat too many scones, bebe ....

Fram Actual said...

My feelings about musical covers are varied. Most of the time, I prefer the originals, but there are exceptions. I enjoy songs by the Everly Brothers, for instance, but think others have done covers better than the originals: "Crying in the Rain" by A-ha is one and "All I've Got To Do (Dream)" by R.E.M. is another and "Love Hurts" by Yahoo (hmmmm) is still another.

Being at the right place at the right time (or wrong) is one of my "axioms" about life and living. It is especially true in the instance of musicians and singers, I think. It is not unusual for me to see a guitar player on a stage or a street musician who seems to be incredibly talented, but who drifts along in life unnoticed by the general public. Of course, there are many elements involved with right place and right time, such as the material being performed and marketing and "charisma" or "stage presence."

Brazil has many talented musicians and musical groups. Some even have made a run at touring in the United States, but, for whatever reason, failed to click here. The brothers, Victor & Leo Chavez, are one such example. Here are two links, one of the pair singing in Portuguese and another of Leo alone singing a medley in English:

https://youtu.be/bckOyVNzBxc
https://youtu.be/Az5wwy2WCvw

If you care to hear an earlier version of Yahoo singing this song, as well as two other covers in English, they exist on my post of December 10, 2014.

Christmas sales come too early; Christmas music does not / cannot. I have another post ready with Christmas music which I have been holding hoping to make it at least to Thanksgiving before turning it loose.

As for snow like in the photograph, little kids are outside playing on days like this in this neck of the woods -- at least, such was the case when I was a little kid.

I would be happy to listen to any advice you might have to offer about blogging .... maybe even take it ....

Thank you, Ms. Arkansas, for coming and for reading and for writing. Be safe and take care and think about visiting your son around the middle of January .... there may or may not be snowstorms, but I would bet you will get a taste of at least minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit .... later ....

Liplatus said...

I like the snowstorm in the picture.
I go out in a snowstorm, in the rain in any weather.
As long as you dress according to the weather, it’s great.
Wonderful cleansing feeling outside and a nice return to the warmth of home.

If I get tired of blogging, I had a break.
It’s always nice to come back to blog when you’re at rest.

Veni, Veni, Emmanuel video gorgeous, i enjoy the winter northern light scenery.
Music beautiful longing.

It is dark here when there is no snow on the ground. It is raining heavily.
Candlelight and mood lights brighten the shortening days of November.

Coping with you and be careful.

Fram Actual said...

Winter camping has been part of my life since before I was a teenager, Liplatus. It is not difficult to acclimate over the span of a few days no matter what the weather, and the best thing is no bugs.

I have lived along a lakeshore a few times and one winter, in particular, I was into running every day in the evening after dark. The best thing about night running is watching the stars change positions during the passage of the seasons. Those which began over my left shoulder behind me in October were in front of me by the end of April. It was the most enjoyable time I have had running. By the way, I dressed as though I were on a polar expedition, including heavy thermal boots and two pair of knee-high insulated socks.

When the ice on the lake was safe and before it had several inches of snow atop it, occasionally I would run on it. The visual experience was unbelievable, especially under a full moon with the glittering ice. The sounds were magical, as well. Sometimes, a soft roar and gurgling-like reverberations would begin from far away and move toward me, pass beneath me and continue on their way. Water beneath ice has its own language.

I took the photograph standing in my open garage door, then went out and began shoveling. I enjoy shoveling snow in a storm. It makes me feel strong and part of Nature, and I think of it as exercise.

Yes, "Veni" is a wonderful song and this is a beautiful version of it.

Yes, I do the same with blogging. Someday, though, I know I will walk away from it.

Yes, darkness might be enjoyable to run in, but it also is a test of the spirit ....

Thank you, Liplatus, for coming and for writing here. I think you are a young lady for all seasons, equally at home on a sandy beach or in a snowy woodland ....

Something special ....