C'est magnifique ! (ሴ ማኚፊከ ! ) ~ by Patricia Barber ( ፓትሪሽያ ባርበር)

C'est magnifique ! (ሴ  ማኚፊከ ! ) 

~ by Patricia Barber (ፓትሪሽያ  ባርበር) ~

[ Music composed by Cole Porter ]

" Both Sides Now " ~ Dianne Reeves

 Both Sides Now ! - (ፍቅርን)  በሁለቱም  አኳያ (አይቸዋለሁ !)

~ by Dianne Reeves ( ዳያን ሪቭስ ) ~

Dianne Reeves ===> Both Sides Now 

 ዳያን ሪቭስ ===> (ፍቅርን)  በሁለቱም  አኳያ (አይቸዋለሁ) !

~ an old Joni Mitchell tune! 

" ... It's life's illusions ... I recall ... "

Gilets Jaunes en Paris ~ TPO

Gilets Jaunes en Paris 

~ TPO ~

~ Comment les protestations civiles en Paris de Gilets Jaunes transforment en lutte de guerrières urbaines ! ...

 ~ How in Paris the Yellow Vest's peaceful demonstrations turned into an urban warriors struggle ! ...

~ እንዴት  በፓሪ  የቢጫ  ሰደርዮች  ሰላማዊ  ሰልፍ  ወደ  ከተማዊ  አርበኞች  ትግል  እንደተለወጠ ! ...
 

"River" ~ by Dianne Reeves

 "River"
~ by Dianne Reeves ~

The extraordinary and strikingly beautiful jazz singer, Dianne Reeves, does her take on Joni Mitchell's "River" ...

"Still, still, still, ..." ~ von Der Mädchenchor am Kölner Dom

"Still, still, still, weil's Kindlein schlafen will"  

~ von Der Mädchenchor am Kölner Dom ~

[ Schlaf, schlaf, schlaf, mein liebes Kindlein, schlaf! ]

KINAMA ~ by Hénock Gugsa ( ሄኖክ ጉግሣ )

KINAMA 

~ by Hénock Gugsa ( ሄኖክ  ጉግሣ ) ~   

                    

                               [a folklore from Sidamo in Southern Ethiopia]

Kinama was a brave young Sidama who lived alone in the wilds with her sheep and her goats.  She lived inside a huge cave that had a big boulder right outside blocking the entrance.  Kinama was always on the lookout for her two persistent and dangerous enemies --- the mighty leopard who was “lord of the jungle”, and the pesky hyena who was always sneaky and ravenous.  Everyday as Kinama took her charge out to the meadows to graze, she had to be extremely alert and on the lookout for danger.  She had to be especially wary of the leopard because he was unpredictably dangerous.

But being human, Kinama was prone to habit ... she had gotten into a routine of sorts.  In the mornings, as she prepared to take her sheep and goats out of the cave, she would say: My great cave, open your gate!

And when the boulder rolled back, she’d walk out with her animals.  Once outside, she would turn and say to the cave: My great cave, close your gate!
Then she’d speak up nice and loud and say, “Today, I’m going to take my goats and lambs to graze at Digarre!”  And instead of going to Digarre she’d go to Temede.  But, the next day, she’d get up and say, “Today, I’m going to Temede,” but instead she’d go to Digarre.  And although every day she’d be tricking the leopard in this fashion, she always made sure that nobody was listening to her when she was addressing the cave's entrance.

Not surprisingly, the great leopard was always lurking around not too far away, and he would be looking longingly at Kinama's goats and lambs and salivate.  He was indeed very angry and frustrated that she had been outsmarting him every-time he made a move.  He had to seriously devise a plan to outmaneuver her, and so he came up with an idea.  Over the next few days, the leopard decided to learn every aspect of her routine from beginning to end. Early in the morning everyday, he would clamber to a tree just above the cave and hide.  When Kinama came out with the animals, he would make sure that she would not see him.  He would then point his ears to the ground in order to hear what she was whispering to the cave.

As usual, each morning, Kinama would come out with her brood, talk to the cave in the same way that she always did.  She would also broadcast, to anybody that might listen, where she was headed, and she would go on her way.

The morning came when the leopard was totally ready and he patiently waited for his moment.  As soon as Kinama was gone, the leopard jumped down from behind the tree and ran up to the cave and said, “My great cave, open your gate.”  The boulder rolled to the side and the cave opened up for him.  The leopard went in, jumped up on a perch, and hid himself.

Later that day, Kinama and her animals returned to the cave.  She was safely home, so she says, “My great cave, close your gate,”  and the boulder rolls back shut !

She sits down inside the cave and starts lighting a fire. But the leopard was on the perch and he starts salivating and a drop of his saliva falls into the fire. And immediately she senses that the leopard’s in the cave. And she also smells his scent.
So she says, “I can smell the scent of my lord. He must be in this cave.”  And she continues blowing down on the fire to keep it going.  “Phoo phoo phoo ....”

Another drop of saliva falls down from above and she says, “I’m sure my lord is in the cave. I can smell his scent very strongly.”

And from his perch the leopard says, “Yes, yes, I am here in the cave.  So now, what do you think I’m  going to do?  What is your choice?  Do you want me to jump down and kill you ... or ... shall I pounce on your fattest kid, Warpo there, and eat him whole?”

Kinama said beseechingly, “My great lord, you know I have been rearing fat Warpo for you.  So why would you want to jump down and attack me?  Instead, please come and snatch him.”

So the leopard pounced down on poor Warpo and kills him instantly.  As the leopard slavered on the goat's blood, Kinama asked: Now, my great lord, shall I prepare the meat for you?

And he said, “Yes, do.”  So she skinned the kid, and she said, “I need some water to boil the meat in.”

The leopard said, “Then go to the river and fetch it!”

So she went out, got the water and came back.  But, at the river she’d picked up a huge white stone called chela glaka.  And she brought the stone back with her, and she surreptitiously covered it completely with the white fat of Warpo the kid.   Then she put the fat-soaked rock on the fire and let it get sizzling hot.

The leopard was still salivating and licking his lips.  He was indeed very hungry! So Kinama said, “My lord, let me feed you. Please open your mouth wide.”

The great leopard opened his mouth ...  opened it very wide and said , “Aah!”   And quick as a jackrabbit, Kinama rushed and deposited the burning white rock in his mouth and kills him instantly!

So now that she’d gotten rid of  her most dangerous enemy, Kinama decided to next deal with the hyena once and for all.  She was confidently ready for the job!  The first thing she did was to take out the bones of the kid and scatter them outside the entrance of the cave.  After that, she waited patiently.

But she didn't have to wait long.  Soon enough, the dastardly hyena arrived on the scene as expected.

“What are all these bones?” He inquired suspiciously.

"They're all for you.  Why don't you have some?  I also have plenty of food here for you to eat."

And of course, as you know, the hyena was a greedy lout.  “Oh, you do?” He cackled cynically.

“Yes, there are lots of yummy things for you to eat here.  But I’ll only feed you on one condition.  That is: You must let me stitch together your tail to mine!”

The ravenous hyena was not very attentive, he was only focused on the food that was laid out on the ground in front of him.  So he said,  “OK, go ahead.”

He began eating the bones ... and, as she pierced his tail with the needle, he yelled, “Stop! That hurts!”

She said, “In that case, stop eating!”  But he whined, “No, I want to eat! I’m still hungry.”

“Well if you want to eat, I’ve got to stitch our tails together.”  True to form, the hyena relented and said, “OK, go ahead.”

And Kinama hurried and stitched the leopard’s tail and the hyena’s tail together while the hyena was crunching on the bones.

Then she asked, “I say, hyena, what will you do if your lord, the leopard, were to appear now?”

And he turned pale and said, “Shush girl!  Don’t even mention his name. If he appeared, I’d dash away running for my life. I’d be so scared that I’d jump over thickets and everything, and probably fall into a chasm somewhere.”

She said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!”  He grunted.

So she waited until he ate a few more bones.  Then she yelled out, “Our lord the leopard is creeping up behind you! The leopard is behind you!”

The hyena turned and saw the leopard's spots, which scared him no end.  Coward that he was, he went-a- running like a fitfully-frightened creature!  And because he was now permanently tethered to the leopard's tail, what he kept seeing was the leopard pouncing on him.  Quick as his limping legs could carry him, the terrified hyena bolted through bushes and thickets until he finally reached a cliff ... and ... and he couldn't stop ... and there, he fell over screaming and cackling to his death!
=============================================================
Moral of the story:  Brawn and cunning are no match for brains and acumen!

O Captain! My Captain! [Elegy to Lincoln] ~ by Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain! 

 [Elegy to Lincoln]

~ by Walt Whitman ~

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
                         But O heart! heart! heart!
                            O the bleeding drops of red,
                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
                         Here Captain! dear father!
                            This arm beneath your head!
                               It is some dream that on the deck,
                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
                            But I with mournful tread,
                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.
==================================================
Source: Leaves of Grass  

"Paradise, les flammes de l'enfer " - de TPO

"Paradise, les flammes de l'enfer !"
[ Paradise Perdu ]

- TPO -

" Envoyé spécial: ===> Paradise, les flammes de l'enfer "
Special Dispatch: ===> Paradise, Hell's flames !
                          ፓራዳይስ :===> የገሃነም ቃጠሎ !
Note :===> An idiot (currently known as "Individual One") could not remember the town's name and called it "Pleasure" ! 😧

Pacifist-Anarchist Tolstoy - by TPO

Pacifist-Anarchist Tolstoy 

 by TPO

             Questioning  "Greatness" of Governments  
                         [The Essence of Anarchy]
                                       - Leo Tolstoy -             
~ Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us.

~ In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.

~ The greater the state, the more wrong and cruel its patriotism, and the greater is the sum of suffering upon which its power is founded.

~ There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.

ሪታ ! ሪታ! ሪታ! // Rita! Rita! Rita! ~ by Hénock Gugsa // ሄኖክ ጉግሣ

ሪታ !  ሪታ!  ሪታ!  // Rita!  Rita!  Rita! 

~ by Hénock Gugsa // ሄኖክ  ጉግሣ ~

        ስቴይን  ኧላይቭ !  --- Staying Alive!
        [ Rita Hayworth, certainly one of a kind! ]

True Friends ~by TPO

True Friends 

by TPO
[Click on images to enlarge.]

On Life and Death ~ by TPO

 On Life and Death 

 ~ by TPO ~

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
     - Dr. Seuss
---------------------------------------
Life is the sum of all your choices.
     - Albert Camus
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Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.
     - Emily Dickinson
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A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
     - Bernard Shaw
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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
     - Louis Hector Berlioz

Native American Blessings ! ~ by Hénock Gugsa

Native American Blessings ! 

~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

May we all be in a good place spiritually as the year is coming to an end and challenges and hopeful prospects lie ahead ! 

Son Premier Travail ! (Her First Job !) ~ par Hénock Gugsa

Son Premier Travail ! 
የመጀመርያ  ሥራዋ !  (Her First Job !) 

~ par Hénock Gugsa ~

I extracted a clip from a "French Conversation Familiarization" video that I picked up somewhere.  No source or accreditation was given.  I have edited and posted the clip on YouTube.
Hénock Gugsa
ሄኖክ  ጉግሣ     🗣️ 🤠

On Life and Living ~ by Seneca and Kierkegaard

On Life and Living

~ Seneca and Kierkegaard~

 Seneca (4 BC. - 65 AD)

-[On "the shortness of life"]

The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today… The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.

- [On busyness, "the dual demon of distraction and preoccupation"]

Everyone hustles his life along, and is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present. But the man who … organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day….

===================================================

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

===================================================

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

- [On busyness, "the distraction from living" and from "boredom"]

Generally, those who do not bore themselves are busy in the world in one way or another, but for that very reason they are, of all people, the most boring of all, the most unbearable... The other class of human beings, the superior ones, are those who bore themselves....

- [On "idleness" and "boredom"]

Idleness as such is by no means a root of evil; on the contrary, it is a truly divine life, if one is not bored.... Idleness, then, is so far from being the root of evil that it is rather the true good. Boredom is the root of evil; it is that which must be held off. Idleness is not the evil; indeed, it may be said that everyone who lacks a sense for it thereby shows that he has not raised himself to the human level.

Also a Man for All Seasons ! ~ By TPO

Also a Man for All Seasons ! 

~ By TPO ~

 From the mind of Bertrand Russell ...

~  Drunkenness is temporary suicide.

~  I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

~  If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.

~  In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.

~  It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

~  Liberty is the right to do what I like; license, the right to do what you like.

~  Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.

~  Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.

~  One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

~  Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country.

~  Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic.

~  Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know.

~  The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

~  The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.

~  The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

~  To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

~  To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

~  To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

~  War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

~  We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.

~  Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Silver Bells" ~ by Dean Martin

"Silver Bells" 

~ by Dean Martin ~

( ሲልቨር ቤልስ - ዲን ማርትን  )