Como Yo (2007) – Juan Luis Guerra

Posted on May 27, 2021 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Juan Luis Guerra in 2007 with his 5 Latin Grammy awards

The songs from one of Latin America’s most successful music artists Juan Luis Guerra are coming thick and fast here at the Music Library Project. What entails the ‘Music Library Project’?
It’s not surprising given the vast discography of excellent music which has become well and truly embedded in Latin culture. From my experience, there is no other singer-songwriter who gets more airplay on the radio, and today’s song Como Yo (Like Me) is one of his most popular hits.

Unlike the previous 3 songs to feature here which all came from the landmark 1990 album Bachata Rosa, Como Yo is from Juan Luis’ 2007 5 times grammy award-winning album – (The Key to My Heart). The night before the Latin Grammy Awards, he received the Academy’s Person of the Year Award for his contribution to Latin music and for his philanthropy. Here in Colombia La Llave de mi Corazon sold 17,000 copies in just 3 days of being released. Como Yo reached No 21 on US Latin Tracks.

Look, I’ve seen Plácido Domingo sing in Rigoletto
From Beethoven Fidelio and the Nine Symphonies
Brandenburg Concerts and a Muscovite Choir
But nothing compares to your pretty face

How I love you, how I long for you
If you are not here, I do not know how to live
How I love you, how I long for you
If you are not here, I am not happy, oh no no

Look, I’ve seen Monet’s Agapanthus at the MOMA
I have seen the works of Van Gogh and Picasso
exhibited The Foliage of Cézanne and the Mona Lisa
But nothing compares to your pretty face

(Loose english translation)

I really like the upbeat tempo, catchy melody, and animated delivery in contrast to the desperate lyrics. A lot of the great music in history has this juxtaposition between the melody and words. It grabs the listener straight off the bat and it’s hard not to feel uplifted by it at least based on my listening experience. In contrast to the Bachata style of music from the 3 previous entries, Como Yo has a more commercial Latin Pop sound. In fact, it is better described as part of the Merengue genre of music which like the Bachata also originates from the Dominican Republic where Juan Luis is from. What distinguishes Merengue music from other styles is how I have described it above – upbeat and rapid tempo and festive atmosphere.

Tagged with: Como Yo, Juan Luis Guerra, la Llave de Mi Corazon
Posted in Music

Como Abeja Al Panal (1990) – Juan Luis Guerra

Posted on May 25, 2021 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

Como Abeja Al Panel (Like a Bee to the Honeycomb) is the third song to feature from Juan Luis Guerra in this Music Library Project. What entails the ‘Music Library Project’?
All three songs so far are from Guerra’s hugely popular 1990 Bachata Rosa. Juan Luis is one of my favourite Latin artists. I imagine that more songs will appear from him here than any other Latin artist in my collection.

Como Abeja Al Panel follows very much the genre of ‘Bachata’ music which originated from Domincan Republic where Juan Luis is from. The album Bachata Rosa which sold over 5 million copies catapulted the genre onto the international stage. For more information about the genre ‘Bachata’ I refer you to my post about the Bachata Rosa.

Como Abeja al Panal was the first single released from the album. It peaked at 31 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. Interestingly it reached No 55 on the Netherlands single chart. It’s a very romantic song and wonderfully written by Juan Luis. Not only was he blessed with a stellar voice, he is also a naturally gifted songwriter of the old school.

When I come to your door
The bee reaches the honeycomb
The bee comes to the honeycomb,
Hey! Love me like I love you…

Look for me like a bee to the honeycomb
Drink the honey of my life
Hey! Love me
Just once, look and find me
So that my wound heals.
(loose English translation)

Prior to the release of Bachata Rosa, Bachata was generally regarded as lower-class music in the Dominican Republic and did not receive media attention. After Guerra released the album, bachata became socially accepted by the middle- and upper-classes. In 2015, Billboard listed Bachata Rosa as one of the Essential Latin Albums of Past 50 Years stating that “Guerra created an uplifting, love-themed experience from start to finish and stretched Bachata’s limits by playing with merengue, salsa and Afro-Caribbean rhythms”

References:
1. Bachata Rosa -wikipedia

Tagged with: Bachata Rosa, Como Abeja Al Panal, Juan Luis Guerra
Posted in Music

18/5/21 – 23/5/21 Ignoring Lab leak and Ivermectin is “Crime of the Century” (from Livestream #80)

Posted on May 24, 2021 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

news on the march

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Edited 3/8/2021 I trusted what was said on the banned episodes of the Darkhorse podcast and even wrote articles about them in support of their arguments (such as the article below). I continue to be repulsed about the mass censuring by You Tube / Twitter / Facebook of pro-Ivermectin or Anti Vaccine presentations But, based on the recent interview by Rebel Wisdom with Yuri Deigin called Yuri Deigin Responds to Bret Weinstein on Vaccines, Ivermectin & Quillette and the data presented within I will now stop taking Ivermectin and get the Vaccine at the first available opportunity. Thanks Rebel Wisdom for showing both sides. I don’t disrespect those still unwilling to take the vaccine because people should remain free to decide what they chose for their bodies to be administered. But my own mind has been made up after waiting out a little bit of time to see what extra data and information surfaced about the efficacy and safety of the Vaccines. Now I have at least what satisfies me to take the Vaccine plunge. Cheers and thanks for reading.

The following podcast excerpt is from Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying‘s podcast about how Dr Kory’s senate hearing regarding Ivermectin had been taken down from You Tube or labelled fake on Facebook. I had mentioned about this hearing on an earlier ‘News on the March‘.

As an aside below are interesting comments from the video:

After Pierre Kory’s testimony Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan called Kory’s testimony a partisan stunt by the Republican Ron Johnson. Later Kory stated he was a lifelong democrat – not a republican.

And this…

Valley View seniors home in Toronto witnessed a scabies outbreak and all the senior residents were put on Ivermectin. The entire staff was infected with Covid but all the seniors escaped from Covid infection as they were on Ivermectin. This happened in February 2020.. The story was quietly dumped by the mainstream media and the big pharmaceutical corporates. Even WHO didn’t investigate it further. It was sort of miracle. The big pharmaceutical corporates knew it from the beginning that Ivermectin effective in treating Covid patients and as a therapeutic treatment too.. Thereafter Australian study came out, a single dose of Ivermectin reduces the viral load by 93 % within 48 hours..!!!

Ignoring lab leak and ivermectin is “crime of the century” (from Livestream #80)

Weinsteins

news on the march the end

Tagged with: Ivermectine, The Big Lebowsky, Vaccines
Posted in Health, Movies and TV, News, Science

Great Moments in Sport – Phil Mickelson PGA 2021 Champion

Posted on May 23, 2021 by observationblogger — 11 Comments

Phil Mickelson wins the PGA Championship an hour ago as the oldest ‘Mayor’ winner in the history of golf.

This special edition article is presented because I like to share great sporting moments as I see fit. The last time I did this was when my beloved Australian Football team ‘Richmond Tigers‘ won their third premiership in 4 years. This year they have their backs up against the wall to accomplish the 3-peat because their 5 best midfielders are injured. If Richmond somehow won the premiership for their third in a row at 5 wins 5 losses so far this season considering their injuries and the clear umpiring bias (to even the competition because that’s how society is now), then I would consider my Tiges the greatest team dynasty in the history of sport.

Pardon me, I got sidetracked there. The reason for today’s post is to highlight Phil Mickelson’s win today at the PGA Championship. Lets break down why this win will go down in the annals like Tiger Woods comeback win at the 2019 Masters. Firstly Phil Mickelson is 50 years old and he was paying 280-1 before the tournament to win. I had watched him in previous tournaments leading up to this Mayor and personally I had written him off at even being able to contend let alone win another mayor. I wouldn’t normally do that with a 5 time Mayor winner (now six time), but I did based on his ‘game’ leading into this.

It’s weird I follow golf because its one of the few sports I didn’t have any flair at competing in my youth. I was so bad at it. Like really bad! I remember my father confessing to me after my wrists jerked involuntarily at every putt, ‘Umm perhaps this sport isn’t for you son’. Even in my twenties I tried to master it, playing by myself at obscure courses in Canberra, but I couldn’t get a grip on it literally and metaphorically. My father and brother were solid players and I suppose it’s because of their passion I came back to respecting it later in life. Also as we are perpetually in lockdown here, what the f/&k else will I watch (509 people died today). It’s a great relief to see these skilful players carefully traverse these wonderful landscapes and watch a rambunctious crowd unmasked cheering on their heroes. That’s the closest to ‘freedom’ I have got in many months.

The following statistic about Phil’s efforts is wild. Ok ready?…
On the 16th at the Kiawah course today, where everyone chasing Phil (who held a 2 shot lead) had to make a go of catching him on this Par 5. Naturally you would expect his younger rivals to easily outdrive him to achieve the ascendency on this hole. But Phil hit the longest drive today on the 16th at 362 yards outdoing anyone on the course today at the moment most critical. Now if that isn’t the stuff of sporting legend I don’t what is. He now is the oldest Mayor champion in history. That is extraordinary when you consider that the Mayors have existed since the mid 1800s.

Tagged with: Phil Mickelson, Sporting moments, US PGA
Posted in Sport and Adventure

Coming Around Again (1987) – Carly Simon

Posted on May 22, 2021 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

This song by Carly about romance and family is really well written and beautifully sung. I have always loved hearing it since being a young-en. It reminds me of when things were much more simple. Now we live in times when Cardi B and Megan scissor each other on stage at the Grammys and that is to be applauded or else. How times have changed!

Baby sneezes
Mummy pleases
Daddy breezes in
So good on paper
So romantic
But so bewildering

I know nothing stays the same
But if you’re willing to play the game
It’s coming around again
So don’t mind if I fall apart
There’s more room in a broken heart

The song seems to me be about compromise and following what your heart tells you. It’s how love can evolve and transform into family despite the hardships along the way in forging such a union. The security of a family unit (like an anchor) cannot be denied as it creates our fondest memories as children and stays with us for the rest of our lives.

Carly wrote the song for the 1987 movie Heartburn, staring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. The part I wrote above about hardships is evidently clear in the movie: the vagaries of domestic life with a man who isn’t fully supportive. Her marriage to James Taylor had ended in divorce, and she had two children. Many of her songs paint a picture of her life at that the time she wrote them according to songfacts.

According to wikipedia – The success of the song began a career resurgence for Simon. It peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard. The video below is part home movie of Carly Simon as a baby and young child with her parents.

Tagged with: Carly Simon, Come Around Again
Posted in Music

Comfortably Numb (1979)- Pink Floyd

Posted on May 20, 2021 by observationblogger — 14 Comments

What more can be said about this song? I don’t know how Floyd created a song which projects the listener in a blissful state of numbness. Each time I hear it, I feel a transcendent feeling of warmness and comfort sweep over me. Perhaps because it could be about loneliness and need for meaning. Who knows?..Let’s find out.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying

It may be interpreted as relating to the effects drugs or psychedelics, but I never related to this song like that even if Floyd wrote it under the influence about being under the influence. What songs aren’t likewise elucidated when they prod the psyche so profoundly?
So what’s the history behind its making.

Comfortably Numb is one of Pink Floyd’s best known songs and was released on the concept album The Wall. To understand the song’s significance we need to look at how it tied-in with The Wall, one of the greatest albums in English rock history. The album is about an embittered and alienated rock star named Pink. In “Comfortably Numb,” Pink is medicated by a doctor so he can perform for a show.
Bassist Roger Waters wrote the lyrics and was inspired by an experience of being injected with tranquillizers for stomach cramps before a 1977 performance in Philadelphia.

As recalled here at Auraclave – ‘On the stage, his hands were numb and his vision blurred, but none of this derailed the crowd, who continued to dance and sing. And it was out of this that one of the main themes of The Wall came about: the disconnect between the public and the band.’

Tagged with: Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd, the Wall
Posted in Music

The Kookaburra Moment Part 1

Posted on May 19, 2021 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Susan loved eating fresh barbecued fish, but the thought of having bones wedged down my throat meant I couldn’t last the meal. But I delighted in watching Susan munching the tailor flesh like a primeval woman at the mouth of a cave. Any other time she was refined, correct; a marvel at organisation storing money in envelopes marked Fuel, Rent, Telephone, Matt’s fortnightly spending money.

The kids ate packet frozen fish from the microwave. As Johanna my youngest would say, “I don’t like eating fish from the sea”. Sue and I always chuckled when she said that. Ha! Fish from the sea.

Johanna sat in her high chair eating the same crumbed fish as Jessica but waved her plastic fork and giggled at the kookaburra perched on the back porch. Sue was lost in her meal, bent over stripping meat off the fish from the actual sea. I was having my third beer of the night watching my family’s musings in between eating something I can’t recall. The kookaburra persisted and Johanna cackled. “Dadda hahaha,” pointing at it.

I dropped my things.
“Let’s get closer’, I said.
I undid the high chair contraption and grabbed Johanna – her fork still fluttering. She pedalled away and smudged herself against the sliding door. Jessica ran to the freezer and stretched up high latching onto a plastic bag of raw meat.

Sue crouched down and said, “You must be quiet girls or he will fly away. Remember, quiet girls.”

They tiptoed on the verandah towards the kookaburra who I imagined was laughing under his breath, so impervious to the girls approach.

Next week Part 2

Tagged with: kookaburra moment, nothing man
Posted in Reading, Reflections

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Elenyi & Sarah Young

Posted on May 15, 2021 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

A Venezuelan Mormon introduced me to the music of Elenyi. I read that Elenyi is a female Pop singing group which just happens to be comprised of three talented teenage sisters (two of whom were born in Chile) – Seli, Desi, and Ari and they happen to be much better looking than you and I. Then it’s said they are Latter Day Saints musicians, which is a Mormon Church.

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is a Christian hymn written by the pastor and hymnologist Robert Robinson, who penned the words in the year 1758 at the age of 22. The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (KJV). The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word Ebenezer commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics (verse 2).

I like this viewers comment of the video below:

Whoever reading this, God knows what you are facing through, He heard your cry, He is going to deliver you Just trust in him. Amen

Tagged with: Come thou Fount of Every Blessing, Elenyi
Posted in Music

Chasing Amy (1997) – Kevin Smith (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on May 14, 2021 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

At the time this movie was released I was posted to the biggest shit-hole job one could ever hope for at Canberra’s Defence Department. I wrote a chapter about that experience, but prefer not relay it here because I might have to read it again. Outside work hours I ran amok with my civilian friends as we detoxified from the grunge Alternative-Seattle music scene and begrudgingly succumbed to forging meaningful adulthood existences.

I recall Chasing Amy distinctly from this period. It’s a great time-capsule movie because it depicts that whole post Seattle-grunge scene which my friends and I were part of. Romantic-comedy isn’t my preferred genre by any stretch, but Chasing Amy isn’t your typical romantic comedy. Like, what are the chances? That you meet the girl of your dreams, but she is of the other persuasion? A lesbian.

IMDB Storyline: A pair of comic book authors named Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards, who live in New Jersey, have been best friends for 20 years. They spend their time working in their studio, and in the evenings they are going out. But their friendship is about to be disputed for the first time in their life, when a beautiful young lesbian woman named Alyssa Jones enters their life and Holden falls in love with her. Now Holden has to deal with Banky’s jealousy, and with his new girlfriend’s very rich past.

What do you think are the chances a script / plot like Chasing Amy would receive backing in today’s socio-political climate? Zero. Correct. But it’s a really good movie and I’m glad I have it on DVD before it’s deleted from history. On a budget of $250,000, the film grossed a total of $12,021,272 in theatres and received positive reviews from critics. I couldn’t agree more with Roger Ebert’s take on the film “While the surface of his film sparkles with sharp, ironic dialogue, deeper issues are forming, and Chasing Amy develops into a film of touching insights. Most romantic comedies place phony obstacles in the way of true love, but Smith knows that at some level there’s nothing funny about being in love: It’s a dead serious business, in which your entire being is at risk.’

To be honest, I haven’t seen this movie for such a long time because I watched it ad nauseam in my 20’s. I have such fond memories of it and I look forward to dusting it off again to see if it stands up today.

IMDB Trivia:

*Kevin Smith wrote the script inspired by his experience with then-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams, who plays Alyssa.

*When Kevin Smith pitched the idea to Miramax, he also said that he had written the parts with his friends Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Joey Lauren Adams in mind. Miramax, however, wanted to cast people who already had celebrity status, such as Jon Stewart, David Schwimmer, and Drew Barrymore (these three were actually suggested). The film’s original budget of $3 million depended on Miramax’s support. Ultimately, Smith suggested that he make the movie with his three original actors on his own, and Miramax could buy it for distribution if they liked it. Miramax owners Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein liked this idea, and gave him $250,000 to make the movie (1/24 of the budget of his previous film, Mallrats (1995)

*According to Kevin Smith in 2006, Jason Mewes was high on cocaine when they filmed his sole scene for the movie.

References:
1. Chasing Amy – Wikipedia
2. Chasing Amy 1997-IMDB *

Tagged with: Chasing Amy, kevin smith
Posted in Movies and TV

Come Healing (2012) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on May 13, 2021 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

How I have been champing at the bit to write about this spiritual anthem and finally it has arrived in alphabetical cadence. It titled an earlier post ‘Leonard Cohen’s ‘Come Healing’ and 5 other contemporary spiritual masterpieces‘. There are scant singer-songwriters who you could argue get better with age, but Leonard is one of them. Not to mention Bob Dylan who astonishingly nailed a Sinatra cover record, but that’s for another occasion.

There is no better place to start delving into Come Healing than reflecting on these lyrics:

Behold the gates of mercy
In arbitrary space
And none of us deserving
Of cruelty or the grace

And then there is this:

O, troubledness concealing
An undivided love
The heart beneath is teaching
To the broken heart above

To this day, like Dylan’s early lyrical prowess, I am astounded how Cohen wrote those words above. Also I adore the Webb sisters’ harmony in this song. I think in terms of spiritual nourishment, at least for me Cohen has provided something extraordinary here, you could say ‘scriptural’. That is why it heads my spiritual anthem chart. In decades to come, if we last that long as a human species, (and that’s a big ‘if’) this song will be studied in schools and dissected endlessly like Dylan’s Tambourine Man and Blowing in the Wind.
The thing is Dylan wrote those songs in his early 20’s and Cohen in his 70’s with Come Healing and Show Me The Place and Different Sides. That’s a true poet right there.

Come Healing is in Old Ideas – the twelfth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen released in January 2012. According to wikipedia: ‘It is Cohen’s highest-charting release in the United States, reaching number 3. 44 years after the release of his first album. The album topped the charts in 11 countries, including Finland, where Cohen became, at the age of 77, the oldest chart-topper, during the album’s debut week.’

A deep place seems to exist in us all – underneath all the chaos and brokenness of this earthly realm. We need brokenness in order to know wholeness. I spoke about the Stockdale paradox recently which we need to keep reserves of in these precarious times. Come Healing like that paradox is a constant reminder to us of what is meaningful when it all comes down to it.

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, come healing, leonard cohen, old ideas
Posted in Music

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