Andrea Bocelli's Canto della Terra - Lyrics (Link: My post WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2011)

Canto della Terra - Lyrics Sì, lo so, amore che io e te Forse stiamo insieme Solo qualche istante Zitti, stiamo ad ascoltare Il cielo alla finestra Questo mondo che Si sveglia e la notte è Già così lontana Già lontana Guarda questa terra che Che gira insieme a noi Anche quando è buio Guarda questa terra che Che gira anche per noi A darci un po' di sole, sole, sole My love che sei l'amore mio Sento la tua voce e ascolto il mare Sembra davvero il tuo respiro L'amore che mi dai Questo amore che sta lì nascosto In mezzo alle sue onde A tutte le sue onde Come una barca che Guarda questa terra che Che gira inseme a noi Anche quando è buio Guarda questa terra che Che gira anche per noi A darci un po' di sole, sole Guarda questa terra che Che gira insieme a noi A darci un po' di sole Mighty sun Mighty sun Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Quarantotto Lucio / Sartori Francesco Link to my Blog: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2011 Andrea Bocelli's Canto della Terra

Daughter forgives IRA operative responsible for Brighton bombing that killed her father

CBC The Current Nov 6 2009 abt 10 am








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http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200911/20091106.html

Whole Show Blow-by-Blow
The Current for November 06, 2009
It's Friday, November 6th.
A senior member of Alberta Health Services has been fired after Calgary Flames players jumped the queue at an H1N1 flu vaccine clinic.
Currently, goaltenders for the Toronto Maple Leafs turned down the vaccine because they've already faced so many shots this season.
This is The Current.
Fort Hood - Reporter
It was the deadliest act of violence committed on a US military base in American history. Yesterday a barrage of gunfire left 13 people dead and wounded 28 more at the U.S. Military Base in Fort Hood, Texas.
The alleged shooter is an Army psychiatrist, who is reported to have been distressed about his impending deployment to Iraq. Major Nidal Malik Hasan is in hospital this morning. Two other soldiers were detained and later released.
For the latest on the situation, we were joined by Jennifer Westaway. She is CBC News Correspondent and she was in Fort Hood, Texas this morning.
Fort Hood - FBI
There are reports that federal law enforcement officials were aware of Nidal Malik Hasan and that he had come to their attention at least six months ago, because of alleged internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other alleged threats.
Officials had not opened a formal investigation. That news is likely to provoke criticism - that law enforcement officials should have done more to stop the suspect. But according to Steven Pomerantz, it's not quite that simple. He is a former Assistant Director and Chief of Counter-Terrorism with the FBI. He was in Fairfax, Virginia.
Fort Hood - Citizen Soldier
Yesterday's shooting at Fort Hood was not the first incident of an American soldier opening fire on his or her comrades. Last May, Sergeant John Russell walked into a military clinic in Baghdad and began shooting. When he was done, five American servicemen were dead, including Navy Commander Charles Keith Springle.
Robert Goodale was a friend of Commander Springle. He is also a director of the Citizen Soldier Support Program at the University of North Carolina. Robert Goodale was in Washington DC.
Listen to Part One:

IRA Bombing and Forgiveness


We started this segment with some tape of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher responding to the bombing 25 years ago at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The man who planted that bomb was an IRA operative named Patrick Magee. His intent was to kill British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She survived. But the bomb killed five people and injured many others. Patrick Magee received 8 life sentences for the bombing. But he was released 10 years ago, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
One of the people killed in the blast was British MP Anthony Berry. His daughter Jo Berry is now a peace advocate who has founded a charity called Building Bridges for Peace. She has spent many years trying to come to terms with her father's death. And among other things, that has meant seeking out and sitting down with Patrick Magee.
We asked Jo Berry and Patrick Magee to share a microphone in a tiny, cramped studio in Stoke-on-Trent, England and to share their thoughts about the Brighton Bombing, 25 years later.
Listen to Part Two:

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小小說: 道歉 / Short Short Story: Apology

話說一個成年的女人,想知道因殺她父親而被判入獄多年的兇犯究竟是一個怎麽樣的人,或許她是想知道在男人寂寞的暮年歲月中,他有沒有萌生道歉的意念。

她只記得在15歲時那一晚,母親悲哀地說:『妳父親死了!!』就是那麽簡單的一句,她就和生父陰陽相隔。在女孩子悠長的成長歲月,她不知道父親臨死前有沒有和劫匪摶鬥,或跪地向他求饒。她不知道在子彈鑽入他軀体內臓之前的一杀那,他又沒有想到他的妻子丶女兒和自己一生的前麈往事。她不知道在最後的數秒間,他瞳孔中有沒有看到人生最後一頁,那回顧是否充滿了所有喜樂的丶後悔的丶做了的丶未做的事情。

在她母親極力反对之下,她開始和殺父親的監犯通訊,什至在兇手出獄後约会和他会面。劫匪对受害者的女兒表示歉意,解釋当日她父親之死是大家的滯運氣 in the wrong place at the wrong time ,在混乱和惶恐中,他開鎗擊殺手無寸鐵的事主,奪去了一個十五歲女孩子的父親,对此事他多年來都是深感為憾,。

女人之後再沒有和那已上了年紀的男人通訊,她只想從生父最後見到的一個活人眼中,看到父親臨死前最後的一面。從兇手的解釋中,她找不到任何答案,她的生命仍是懸掛在空中,沒有一個完好的結局。或許拒絕和不接受他的道歉,是她為自己和父親報仇雪恨最後的一枝武器。

Revenge is best served cold.

公開道歉和私人道歉 / Public Apology and Private Apology

今天聽到加拿大國家廣播电臺一段叫【道歉】的小品文之後,不禁鈎起了我一絲一繞有關香港舊戀人的回憶。不過在未翻閱舖滿塵埃丶多年前往事一頁之前,請讓我轉述【道歉】其中的一個故事。

總是希望能
繼續

忘不了
失掉了父親。
aaaa
入的是一個


為什麽一個


被判入獄





真人真事的


其中一個

題目




了

令我想些
Apology


"Living Out Loud" CBC 2009-10-23 13h30 - 14h00 Robin Brown

Public and Personal Apology: How do you say "I am sorry!!"

Making amend making things right. Righting the wrong.


1998 Japanese internment camp
In May 1942 Japanese Canadians were given 48 hours to leave Cumberland (near Nanaimo) BC coast, surrender properties, sugar beet farm in Alberta. Now the community has re-built the graveyard to commemorate the once residents.

1914 Ukrainians were interned in camps and some were under house-internment.

Devils are in the details: Apolocy for Canada's Residential Schools, In 1998, Statement of Reconciliation was given by Jane Stewart (deeply sorry, profoundly regret)

Ontario Christian Brothers Schools: Sex abuse, raped, beatens, etc
Christian Brothers "apologized": ".... to anyone who may have been abused ...." victims were not even invited. In 1992, one brother was convicted. " ... extended our deepest regret ..." but victims were not invited. In June 1992, negotiations were held btwn the parties. Moral and principle more important than $

In 1996, Ontario govt and Catholic Churches (Ottawa Notre Dame) tried to apology ... "I don't want your apology, I want them from the two dogs (brothers) to apologize!!"

But in St Michael Church in Toronto, the Arch Bishop did not show up.

Ontario Attorney General, and not the Premier, apologized.

Some victims felt as if a weight had been lifted off. But abt 15 past Reformed School students had already committed suicide.

Email: livingoutloud@cbc.ca

新年快樂 Happy New Year 2022

20220108 自從在2011年由Blogger「移文」到Facebook之後,我和很多博友失去了聯絡,至今不覺又有11年多!!! 時光易轉,生命留痕,我希望你們都好。 我現仍家居楓葉國,有瓦遮頭,一日三餐,雖是清茶淡飯,但多逢祖先神靈保佑,生活總算是穩定安康,沒受流行疫症影響。今日趁機在此祝各位新年快樂,有緣者請勿忘留言數句,以慰昔日友情。 微豆 Haricot (Facebook 筆名： Yasso Leung)

20180228 TO MY MOTHER RIP 一路順風

Over the years, I have written a lot abt my Mom. She has finally moved on to join her mother, her husband and all those who are in the great beyond. RIP Mom 一路順風

I would like to dedicate to her this Chinese poem that I learnt when I was in primary school:

白居易: 花非花，霧非霧，夜半來，天明去，來如春夢無多時，去似朝雲無覓處。

My explanation in English:

In the morning fog
We cannot discern
Where flowers begin
And where mist ends

Life, like a spring dream
Arrived silently here at night
And gone traceless by morning

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And the song goes like this:

黃自作曲: 范宇文演唱花非花





Related link:  http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.ca/2008/04/in-memory-of-haricot-senior.html

20171118 DRAGON BOATING (Set #2)

More photos of year-end party

20171118 DRAGON BOATING (Set #1)

Some photos I took at the year-end party.

20160422 MAY YOU ALWAYS

TO ALL MY RUNNING FRIENDS

May you always have

Wind on your back,

Wings on your feet !!!

20151128 EU FILM FESTIVAL: "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch"

"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch" by Roy Andersson, Sweden 2014.

Existentialism is not an easy subject to digest. I would put "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch" in the same category as Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Goddard". I am not too crazy abt it because my rational mind keeps on looking for a storyline when there is none.

Au contraire, I love Brad Pitt's "The Tree of Life" as well as Harrison Ford's "Blade Runner" (loosely based on the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?") because I can relate to the characters and follow the storylines of both movies.

But that's not to say I am not charmed by the Swedish film's segmented presentations and the faint veins that link them together.

Notwithstanding my preference for "realism" (whatever that means in the context of existentialism), there are still some scenes that resonate with me and I can't help but laugh at the absurdities of our everyday routine life.

For example: The bus-stop scene in which a guy said: "You gotta know today is Wednesday; because Wednesday follows Tuesday, and Thursday follows Wednesday, etc. Without that order, everything is chaos."

Perhaps that is my problem. I haven't been wearing a watch for over six months now.

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References:

1. Wikipedia:
" ..... A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Swedish: En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron) is a 2014 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Roy Andersson. It is the third part in his "living"-trilogy, following Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living.
It premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival where it was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film. It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. ....."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pigeon_Sat_on_a_Branch_Reflecting_on_Existence

2. YouTube trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGwGyo5Ywpo

20151126: AMERICAN THANKSGIVING - "JAMESTOWN - SECRETS OF THE DEAD"

(Photo and text from PBS)

As they set sail from London to the distant shores of America in December 1606, the men and boys onboard the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery surely expected the best from their adventure. They’d establish a British settlement, find gold and silver, a passage to the Orient, and, perhaps, the lost colony of Roanoke. The explorers, funded by a group of London entrepreneurs called the Virginia Company, could not have anticipated the fate that actually awaited most of them: drought, hunger, illness, and death.

Their journey started off as badly as it ended. The three ships were stranded for weeks off the British coast, and food supplies dwindled. Over the course of the voyage, dozens died. But 104 colonists — many gentlemen of privilege, but also artisans, craftsmen, and laborers — survived to reach the shores of Virginia. On May 13, 1607, they decided to make landfall on the swampy ground of what was then a peninsula (and now an island) along the James River, some 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Within a month the settlers had constructed a triangle-shaped wooden fort, for protection against the Spanish, who did not want the British to establish any kind of foothold in the New World.

The settlers of the new colony — named Jamestown — were immediately besieged by attacks from Algonquian natives, rampant disease, and internal political strife. In their first winter, more than half of the colonists perished from famine and illness. Eventually, more colonists and new supplies were brought from Britain, and, despite a fire that wiped out the original fort, the settlement found some stability under the leadership of Captain John Smith. Smith, with the help of Pocohontas, daughter of the Algonquian chief Powhatan, managed to broker an uneasy peace with the natives before leaving the colony and returning to England in September 1609.

The following winter, disaster once again struck Jamestown. Only 60 of 500 colonists survived the period, now known as “the starving time.” Historians have never determined exactly why so many perished, although disease, famine (spurred by the worst drought in 800 years, as climate records indicate), and Indian attacks took their toll. On June 7, 1610, Jamestown’s residents abandoned the hapless town, but the next day their ships were met by a convoy led by the new governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord De La Ware, who ordered the settlers back to the colony.

In 1612, John Rolfe — who would later marry Pocohontas — began to grow tobacco, finally giving the colony a cash crop and hope for survival. The first representative government in the New World was convened in Jamestown in July 1619, the same year that African slaves — then indentured servants — were first brought to America. Jamestown was the capital of Virginia until 1698, when its statehouse burned down. The following year, the capital moved to Williamsburg, and Jamestown began its slow decay ....

Source:
* Text from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/…/secre…/death-jamestown-background/1428/
* Video: WPBS TV program: www.PBS.org The American Experience series)

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20151126: AMERICAN THANKSGIVING - "THE PILGRIMS"

"THE PILGRIMS"
(My interpretation of the story aired on WPBS Watertown, New York on 2015-11-24)

Btwn 1630-1651, William Bradford led the pilgrims at Plymouth in an attempt to build a spiritual community in New England where they would live in peace and flourish. But when the Mayflower sailed away, they were left on their own.

Facing the harsh weather, raiding pirates, Indian attacks, dwindling food, fatal diseases, and other misfortunes, many perished and the remaining population barely survived. But a strategic alliance with some of the natives enable them to learn new skills and knowledge to live off the land and fight off hostile tribes.

Unfortunately with the arrival of new colonists at Plymouth and the establishment of new colonies along the eastern seaboard, starvation, conflicts and raids eventually took a strong toll on the relationship btwn the white men and the natives. By the time the Indians tried to eradicate the colonists off their ancestral land, it was already too late. The colonization of North America was unstoppable.

Williams Bradford's dream of a spiritual community and peaceful co-existence with their Indian neighbours did not materialize in his life time. Ironically, it was the survival news of the Plymouth pilgrims that opened the food-gate to the New World.

So without present day political bias, let's take a minute to absorb the story of the pilgrims and reflect on the meaning of Thanksgiving on Nov 26, 2015.

Attachment: A page from William Bradford's hand-written journal that had been lost for over 100 years, then was found in London, and eventually returned back to Boston.

Source:
*   WPBS TV program / The American Experience series:   http://video.pbs.org/video/2365609956/

Photo Credit:
* Wiipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Plymouth_Plantation