Words … 15 juin 2010
Posted by Ushuoca in English Version ;-), Histoire d'y croire encore ..., Ushuoca's ravings.Tags: grandest, pain, speechless, weakness, words
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Words are weak …
Facing pain or facing joy, words are weak …
Facing want as facing need, words are weak
When in tears as when in bliss, words are weak …
Plains, mountains, deserts, oceans, words fall short for all of them …
Wonders small as grandest skies, none ever can be described
Words are weak and can’t express the deepest thoughts nor deepest pains
Powerless, meaningless, useless are they at their best
Failing us when most needed and leaving us speechless …
Thanks !! 9 juin 2010
Posted by Ushuoca in English Version ;-), Histoire d'y croire encore ....Tags: friendship, graditude, thank-you
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I do not know if there truely is a God, but I do know the power of friendship …
For yours, F.C., so sincere and spontanious, that brought me so much help, support and strenght, be thanked, a thousandfold, and find in these words, which we sang in borderschool, far from our owns, written by JJ Goldman, the echo of my gratitude :
You are of my family
Of my order and my rank
The one I chose
The one I feel
In this army of simple men
You are of my family
So much more than that of blood
A few handfulls of seconds
In this strangest world
May He protect you if He hears these words
These words have an ever stronger meaning today than they did in these already troubled days and echo, still, in the deep of my soul …
Thank-you …
Lay down your wings and face life ! 18 août 2009
Posted by Ushuoca in English Version ;-), Histoire d'y croire encore ....Tags: life, motorcycle, Robert Frost, wings
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My motorcycle … A beautiful black, delicate, pure beast … Streamlined like a shark and a killer’s profile …
… She’s got a name. Officially, Daytona, Daytona 675 to be exact. A make, too, légendary, British, victorious : Triumph.
Before all, she’s got a quality : freedom !!
Harshly won, proudly protected and fiercely asserted. The motorcycle, or the freedom, do you ask ? Both … for with the first is born the second, and so fall the chains, shatter time and space, open the doors and the universes, dispear distances, are pulled down all restrictions. And with such freedom flows sheer pleasure, a blend of thrills, accelerations, sound, speed, wind, so that going from point A to point B no longer justifies the ride yet the ride justifies going from point A to point B (if not from point A to point B … to point A !!!)!
Why such a lyric discourse for a simple piece of mecanics ?
Because she gave me wings, and these wings I will soon renounce … She marked my soul, my body too. She made me who I am, a lot of who I am.
Life, this life, is at a crossroads and in the near future will lay down its wings as an offering to the life of tomorrow …
As Robert Frost said :
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Surprise in the UK’s middle o’nowhere 15 juillet 2009
Posted by Ushuoca in English Version ;-).Tags: Basingstoke, John Mayall, Surprise
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Working in the UK ! Great isn’t it ? Ah yes, but … it’s not in London … Nor in Brighton, Manchester or Cambridge … neither is it un Edinburgh … Where is it ? In Basingstoke … Where you say ???
Basingstoke, nice little town one hour from London, be it by train or by car … Or a half hour from Southampton, if you prefer … Er, that is, if the planes also agree, as they have the strange tendancy to be a tit temperamental, especially on the way back home (Cancelled flights, delayed flights … ).
So, Basingtoke, we were saying. A post-war town : its train station, its repetitive residential areas in dark red briks, its ring road, its “business” area, its center … shopping-mall. Yes, the town’s center is a shopping-mall. A miracle : we did find 2 pubs, that were neither b*rger k*ngs nor stuck in the mall !
You might have guessed it, this town is colorfull, homey, blossoming, thriving … Oops, sorry !!! Rather bleak, sad, dark although green (well sure, as soon as you leave you’re in the country side !!). And its business area faithfully reflects the current conditions : composed of abandonned buildings with broken and boarded up windows and surfaces to let, it ain’t quite joyfull.
Yet, I speak of being surprised … ??? Well yes, what a surprise it was (especially for my collegue, as I was clueless) while vaguely exploring the surroundings of the Mall (going round its blind brick walls …) to stumble upon a Concert hall …
But not just a concert hall !!! There, programmed, posted-up on the wall, in the coming days, a John Mayall concert !!! The king of the blues, the discoverer of the best, the master !!! Here, in Basingstoke !!! (And there, my collegue is just about to pass out from shock, surprise, happiness !!!).
Without a second’s hesitation, we buy tickets ! As it works out, the concert is on the evening following my birthday, that I have the pleasure to be celebrating in this hole of a place …
Well, they don’t look it here, but wow !! what a memorable concert !!!
Increadible musicians, amazing music, a terrific sound, solos .. that leave you speachless. And the artists are quite accessible too. Of course, I left a lot less ignorant but most importantly … with the CD.
And the young bassist, him, there, on the left ! Pfiou !!! I’d never seen anyone plying bass with such dexterity and getting such a sound ! (well, ok, I’d never seen a 5 string bass before either) …
Ah, but I forgot to mention … the little John Mayal, the legend of the Blues … he did unearth Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and a few other musicians just as good , during his carreer !
“After Clapton and Jack Bruce left the band to form Cream, a succession of great musicians defined their artistic roots under John’s leadership, and he became as well known for discovering new talent as for his hard-hitting interpretations of the fierce Chicago-style blues he’d grown up listening to. As sidemen left to form their own groups, others took their places. Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood became Fleetwood Mac. Andy Fraser formed Free, and Mick Taylor joined the Rolling Stones. As Eric Clapton has stated, “John Mayall has actually run an incredibly great school for musicians.”
In 1969, with his popularity blossoming in the USA, John caused somewhat of a stir with the release of a drummer less acoustic live album entitled “The Turning Point”, from which his song “Room To Move” was destined to become a rock classic. He received a gold record for this album. Attracted by the West Coast climate and culture, John then made his permanent move from England to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles and began forming bands with American musicians. Throughout the 70’s, John became further revered for his many jazz/rock/blues innovations featuring such notable performers as Blue Mitchell, Red Holloway, Larry Taylor, and Harvey Mandel. He also backed blues greats John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, and Sonny Boy Williamson on their first English club tours.” http://www.johnmayall.com/bio.html
Anyway, surprises like this one I’ll take anytime ! And the Basingstoke Concert hall’s program, believe me, we keep an eye on it now !!!
