Fairy Witch Nousha

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2007-10-15T15:26:00.000+02:00

Nobel Prize for Literature, 2007

2007-10-11T14:25:00.000+02:00

It went to Dorrs Lessing, the 88-year-old British writer.
It's time to enrich my lybrary with a new author (new for me).
Lessing is the second British writer to win the prize in three years. In 2005, Harold Pinter received the award. Last year, the academy gave the prize to Turkey's Orhan Pamuk.
"When you look at my life, you can go back to the late 1930s," she told The Associated Press in an interview last year ago. "What I saw was, first of all, Hitler, he was going to live forever. Mussolini was in for 10,000 years. You had the Soviet Union, which was, by definition, going to last forever. There was the British empire -- nobody imagined it could come to an end. So why should one believe in any kind of permanence?"

The literature award was the fourth of this year's Nobel Prizes to be announced. On Wednesday, Gerhard Ertl of Germany won the 2007 Nobel Prize in chemistry for studies of chemical reactions on solid surfaces, which are key to understanding such questions as why the ozone layer is thinning.
Tuesday, France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg won the physics award for discovering a phenomenon that lets computers and digital music players store reams of data on ever-shrinking hard disks.
Americans Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, and Briton Sir Martin J. Evans, won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for groundbreaking discoveries that led to a powerful technique for manipulating mouse genes.
Prizes for peace and economics will be announced through Oct. 15.
The awards -- each worth $1.5 million -- will be handed out by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

Rain

2007-09-07T10:14:00.001+02:00

This is the video of the song "Dozd" (Rain) from the Russian band DDT. I want to share it for I like it so much.

The text is something like this in English:

Rain draped the sky in a twinkling shroud. May's rain.
Thunder hammered along the rooftops, scared all the cats away. Thunder.
I opened the window, and a merry wind scattered everything on my desk -
Silly poems that I wrote in a clammy and miserable emptiness.

May's thunder roared, and joy, in a sweeping, drunkening wave,
Rolled over: "Hey, get up, and jump in after me!
Get out into the yard and hop around the puddles till morning, if you want, -
Look at how the funny, blessed children are running about.

Droplets on my face - it's only the rain, or maybe it's me crying;
The rain cleansed everything, and my soul, sobbing, suddenly felt soaked through, -
It rolled down in a creek, away from home and towards the sunny, unsown plains,
Turning into vapor, it flew with the wind towards unknown, undiscovered worlds.

And then I imagined: the city suddenly filled with merry people.
Everyone came out into the rain and sang, and laughed… dammit!...
Having forgotten about all shame, and the possibility to fall sick with complications,
The people in the rain greeted thunder like fireworks; the very first spring thunder.

Cartoons and their music in my head

2007-09-04T03:08:00.000+03:00

Just a quick thought that stroke me today, it's about compatibility. I'm translating a cartoon, "Dive, Olly, Dive", it's for very small kids. Very cute and so on.

And I was translating while listening to... "Rammstein". Huh, it just keeps me going. Now it's "Muse". And the cartoons are so colourful and cheerful, though.

That's how life mixes up things.

Do you have a ticket, by chance?

2007-07-01T00:57:00.000+03:00

I feel a little sad

Yamato

2007-06-28T16:51:00.001+03:00

Yamato
This was almost a week ago - one wonderful musical experience in a warm Saturday night.
The performance was amazing. I think I'm not able to describe it in English. It was a brilliant mixture of very deeply traditional music, bringing the sense of Japanese culture, and marvellous interaction with the public, making the audience laugh and become part of the performance thus coming closer to the heart of the Japanese music/culture/art/soul/spirit. And it was true - every beat was like a heartbeat. I enjoyed the show very, very much.
This is a part of it:

And some information:

Yamato’s drummers must first find the ‘heart tone’ of the sound. We try to expose the very heart of life, which is beating inside our bodies and is the origin of performance energy. It is the heartbeat of a lonely runner, beating hard in his smooth flesh, and the embodiment of the soul that strongly supports it. You can’t see it with your eyes, or touch with your hands, but it exists beyond a doubt.
Our intensive training helps us make this heartbeat reverberate the world over, sometimes with gentleness, sometimes with overpowering force. For the drummers of Yamato, it is a celebration of the sound inherited by humankind at the beginning of time.

Placebo

2007-06-27T16:43:00.000+03:00

A lot of concerts are coming and a lot of concerts I was to last week, so I'll try to catch up. And Placebo deserves a separate post.
I decided to go to this concert because I have once listened to "Every Me Every You" and I liked it. At the time I was listening to Suede (not only a song, but a whole album, yeah!) so Placebo were labelled "cool".
And that was it. And now - a concert. Well, OK, I'm going.

What was that sentence about the good intentions and the road to Hell? My good intention to listen to the music of a performer before going to their concert hasn't lead me to Hell (yet) but I never manage to do that (the listening).

I'm a photographer this time. The sticker given to the photojournalists is very clever - looks like a prescription. I like it.

The sound was not good enough most of the time. I liked the bass player - very intensive attitude, nasty look, punk behaviour - well done!

In the beginning I was bored. All the songs sounded the same to me. Poor sound quality... no contact between the artists and the public... great whim: video screen behind the musicians made as the one is broken:

The encore was amazing. It was a completely different story. There was the yellow light, flooding the hall and the thumping music that made me feel... just feel the music. And I like that feeling. When the music starts travelling through the veins and clears the dark and misty corners of the brain like a witch cleaning her closet in Spring. Then I didn't care anymore about the absence of contact between the musicians and the audience - it was all right, everything was all right and I was just feeling happy only because I could feel the music.
See, I didn't want to listen to Placebo when I got home (I'd rather play Suede), I didn't become bigger fan after the concert but now I can label the concert "success". Because a concert is not only listening to the performers' music.

Set list:
Placebo, Winter palace of Sports, Sofia, 18 June 2007

1. Infra-Red
2. Because I Want You
3. Meds
4. Drag
5. Soulmates
6. I Know
7. Song To Say Goodbye
8. Cops
9. Every You Every Me
10. Special Needs
11. One Of a Kind
12. Without You
13. Bionic
14. Blind
15. Special K
16. Bitter End

Encore:
17. Running Up That Hill
18. Taste in Men
19. Twenty Years

Layer Cake

2007-06-15T16:07:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch this film. It was very good, the kind of film that is original, interesting and intensive up to the end. Like Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Drugs and dealers, some nice Serbs producing tons of extasy and killing people without batting an eyelid, some big bosses and so on. It is full of surprises and you donèt get bored. In the end I thought the director is going to ruin everythng with a happy end (don't think I don't like happy ends; I do! but in this case the happy end would suit the film not better than expensive jewel on blue jeans). Fortunately everything went on perfect.
Oh, and the beautiful blond cheek is present too. But for the best.

Behind the Name

2007-06-12T00:17:00.000+03:00

I accidentally found this site where the meaning of many names can be found. My nickname "nousha" is the short form of the long and lovable Gerganousha, cute variation of my name used by my Grandma. But I found that:

NOUSHA
Gender: Feminine

Usage: Iranian

Means "sweet, pleasant" in Persian.

Well, what can I say *angel*

And when looking up for my real name, I'm pleased to see this site too confirms:

GERGANA
Gender: Feminine

Usage: Bulgarian

Other Scripts: Гергана (Bulgarian)

Bulgarian feminine form of GEORGE.

(Let's skip the fact that this in French would be "Georgette", really, I hate the thought of it, and concentrate on the fact that I'm proud my name's the feminine of George - due to many reasons. So, I am being proud *being, being*

*laaarge smile*

Vaya Con Dios

2007-06-11T23:50:00.000+03:00

A lot of people think that the singer's name is Vaya Con Dios. And now it's closer than ever to the truth, because she is the only original member of the band left to continue perform their music.
Saturday, June 9, National Palace of the Culture, Sofia. The grand hall was full - the band has never been in Bulgaria and people love it.
We knew that the concert will be "acoustic" and the hit songs will be performed in new arrangements. But I expected something more dance-like, maybe. Instead it was a lot of blues, jazz, a tribute to the Roma music with their anthem "Jelem Jelem" and the extraordinary voice of Dani Klein.
The sound was poor and it was very hard to hear the guitar most of the time.
In general, I liked it. However it is more suitable, in my opinion, for a large bar with very expensive tickets ;)

Procol Harum

2007-06-07T15:36:00.000+03:00

Procol Harum. What does this mean?

Few days ago everything I knew about this band was:
- They had a smashing hit called "A Whiter Shade of Pale".
- They were produced by Brian Epstein and when their first album went N1 in 1967 he celebrated with them with a bottle of champagne.
- Ummm.... nothing more.
Then I was searching to buy Marillion album and instead I bought seven different albums, including "Procol Harum - The Essential Collection". Then I started listening to it and I was amazed. I won't say more than the fact that if you list the "top listeners" of Procol Harum in last.fm, I'm there. One of the first.
This band is so good. I can't stop listening to the album. I must find all their albums. And find out what their name means. The latter is easy, three-step exercise:
- google it
- read it
- post it to enlighten the readers (whom I seriously suspect in being not more than one)
"The band name was chosen by its original manager, Guy Stevens, after the name of Reid's cat, and it is almost the Latin for "beyond these things". A more correct spelling of the Latin phrase is in fact Procul Harum, and the band's name has frequently been 'corrected' to this in articles and catalogues. However, even Procul Harum is not quite right grammatically, and the correct Latin translation of "beyond these things" would be Procul His."

One thing I like in Google (apart everything else) it that you usually learn more than what you were searching for. So I'll skip the band's biography and stop at interesting facts:
"-The asteroid 14024 Procol Harum is named after the band.
-The second book in the Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker Trilogy, "The Restaurant At the End of the Universe," was inspired by the song Grand Hotel."

Up The Irons!

2007-06-05T20:31:00.000+03:00

Yeah! That is it! Iron Maiden in Bulgaria!
I'm not a great fan but I do enjoy their music. It was a perfect show with Bruce Dickinson singing at his best (except for the last song when his voice got a little bit lost) and all the others playing at their best.
The support act - Steve Harris's daughter Lauryn - that bird can't sing! End of story.
Iron Maiden, the stage - it was huge. But ridiculously, after seeing George Michael's stage on Monday, Maiden's seemed so small to me :(
Iron Maiden, the band - perfect performance.
Iron Maiden, the show - very well done, with all the lights, the decors, the devil and Eddie on a tank (yes, a tank)... one word - impressive!
The crowd - from the place where I was it looked wonderful - hands in the air, everybody singing, headbanging - a human sea where there are no individuals, all personality is lost into the Crowd. The same word - impressive! Metal music has the particularity to provoke this phenomenon better and faster than other genres.
When Bruce stood up and shouted: "Scream for me, Sofia!", that was a thrill. And I screamed. Hell, yeah!
The sound was not very good. The set list was short. The new album they are promoting is not good for me. The concert was not great - I've seen better. But this was Iron Maiden in Sofia! People waited for them more than 25 years!
So I'm satisfied.
Next target - Vaya Con Dios acoustic, Saturday.
Meanwhile I'm listening a lot to Procol Harum, I just discovered how great band they were (and are) and reviewed last Linkin Park album... Now, that's a mix of styles ;)
The set list:

Iron Maiden
Live In Sofia, Bulgaria
Locomotiv Stadium - 04.06.2007

1. Different World
2. These Colours Don't Run
3. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
4. Wrathchild
5. The Trooper
6. Children Of The Damned
7. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
8. For The Greater Good Of God
9. The Number of The Beast
10. Fear Of The Dark
11. Run To The Hills
12. Iron Maiden
Encore:
13. 2 Minutes To Midnight
14. The Evil That Men Do
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name

I love N 14....

Photos: Svetoslav Dagiev, SME

Marillion, 18th May, Munich

2007-06-03T14:19:00.000+03:00

Here we go.
I caught my plane one dark morning, it was very early, the plane was cute and small and took me to Budapest. During the flight it was racing with the sunrise but at the moment it landed, it lost. Nevermind, I was in Budapest, at Budapest airport, more precisely, stayed there for an hour, trying not to fall asleep and then - next plane to Munich.
Munich was sunny and hot, while Sofia that I left six hours ago was rainy and cold. Am I not lucky, heh.
My one week stay in the capital of Bayer deserves another post, so let's go directly to the concert evening, 18th May, club Backstage.
In the beginning it was quite confusing, the venue has two halls, on both sides of the road, so I got lost. But eventually everything got sorted out, I took an interview with Mark Kelly, Marillion's keyboardist, and entered the hall - it was still almost empty so we could choose wonderful places - near the bear bar ;) and only few meters from the scene.
The support act were young German boys, very talented, sorry, I didn't remember their band's name, but it can be checked any time. It's Germany, all right, so they came on stage at 20:00. After them the stage got prepared and at 21:20 it went dark. Then a ray of light fell on Steve Hogarth and illuminated his face. Very strange, he was wearing some kind of coat that reminded me the child on the "Misplaced Childhood" album's cover...

I like both Marillion with Fish and with H. Most people chose one of those two bands. A friend of mine always says that Fish is extremely charismatic artist. And what I see in H is the creative force of the madness. The one that moves most artists at any age or place in the human history. That night he was not only a musician, but also an actor. And he didn't stop singing for two hours. The band didn't use any solo - drums or keyboards, to give the other members time to rest. Two hours perfect performance plus 20 minutes encore. And H's voice was at its best. Powerful, crystal clear, emotional. They did songs from a lot of albums, including, of course, "Somewhere Else", promoted on this tour, and a lot of "Marbles".
But - from the beginning. Mark Kelly said that this tour they decided to perform songs that the audience wants them to do - and as people discuss that on forums, the dates to come are prepared :) In Munich the hall shouted "Easter", it was the last encore.
And there we are, the diabolic light, Steve Hogarth started "Splintering Heart" from "Holiday In Eden". Then the stage become all light and we saw the others - Steve Rothery:
Ian Mosley,
Pete Trawavas:

and Mark Kelly:

Next song was „The Other Half” - the first track from the new album.

I didn't rank "Somewhere Else" very high, but after the show I am considering to revise my opinion. It sounded powerful and enchanting.
Before the second single Last Century For Man, came Ocean Cloud and You’re Gone from Marbles.

The public was amazing. H told them "I remember the show in Munich during Marbles" and they went crazy. It was possible to actually feel the love they were sending to the musicians and to see how this was giving the band power and was charging them like battery. It was like a running circle of emotions.

I am happy that I choose to attend the show in Munich, next day in Prague Marillion has perform less songs...

The Invisible Man stroke me:

I haven't changed
I swear I haven't changed....

And you see H, illuminated face, eyes bright with madness, screaming:

I will scream again
"I am perfectly sane"
"I am perfectly sane".

Yeah, right, "sane"! Amazing!

Then "Man Of Thousand Faces" from my favourite album "This Strange Engine".

When they said "Good night" and left the scene, the hall was about to be ruined :) They came back to perform the encore, and H said "Yeah, I remember Marbles. But you managed to beat it somehow!"
Great.

Belen Maya and her flamenco

2007-06-02T18:08:00.000+03:00

"Belen Maya's company" presented "Dibujos" (Pictures) in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. It was amazing - I like flamenco a lot.
It was an interesting set of different pieces of music and dance. The music is by the flamenco guitarist Jose Luis Rodriguez, who was playing the guitar in "Dibujos".
Belen uses traditional, classic flamenco dance altogether with modern influences. It was like a dialogue between the guitar and her dance. And it made me sit and stare, with no moves, it grasped my attention. Flamenco is always very powerful, like a huge bird, majestic eagle who starts beating his wings at the edge of a high cliff. You see the sea waves below him, the enormous sky above him, the free space between them, and you feel his desire. Sometimes to stay, sometimes to fly calmly, sometimes to fly fast and risky. And most of the times all this at the same time.
The quality of the pictures is very poor, it was hard to take good ones with my camera.

La Tremendida, the singer:

M like Music

2007-05-30T15:47:00.000+03:00

It seems that the month of May will be full of M-Music: Marillion in Munich, George Michael on Monday, Belen Maya yesterday, Iron Maiden next Monday... coincidence?
Before writing something about Marillion in Munich experience, I'll write about George (not Harrison, unfortunately).
The concert in Sofia, Lokomotiv stadium, on Monday was the sixth of his "25 Live" tour. He celebrates 25 years on stage and said in the beginning: "I'll try hard to thank you for supporting me for 25 years". And he did. It was amazing. I never was a fan, I know some of his hits because they are played on the radio and so on and I went to the concert just of "scientific" interest and as a journalist. But it was stunning. Huge scene with giant screen crossing it horizontally and reaching the front rows, the Circle of Faith (I think no one had such a scene in Bulgaria before), all the lights, videos, colours. It was proof of brilliant professional work, on one hand, and on the other - George's voice was at its best and he sang the songs just like studio record - amazing! I was charmed and thrilled. I didn't stop dancing during the upbeat tracks and just sat down quietly, deeply moved during "Jesus To a Child, Ticking, Praying For Time...
The concert was also supporting our nurses in Lybia and the last song - Freedom, almost made me feel like William Wallace ;) Seeing all those 20 000 people around me shouting "Freedom"!
Yes, absolutely perfect concert of an absolutely perfect artist.
The organization of the event was very good, especially having in mind the heavy rain that fell minutes before the start of the show. The promoter covered the grass on the stadium with some kind of plastic and nobody got wet and muddy. Unfortunately the stadium is in the suburbs, I, of course, live in the opposite suburb, there is no public transport after midnight and around the stadium everything was absolutely disgusting - mud, whole lakes and swamps to cross - a real adventure. And the traffic jam - at midnight in the capital city there is a traffic jam because of a concert... At least it was better than the situation after Depeche Mode's show, attended by 45 000!
I am very worried about Iron Maiden's concert next Monday. Very, very worried...
Here some pieces of the amazing night:
"Father Figure", stunning video on the screen (this is shot in Denmark):

Wonderful song, especially with this vision - "Praying For Time", Denmark again:

The same song in Sofia, different aspect:

The beginning of the concert, in Denmark, here in Sofia it was dark when it started - very beautiful.
And the magnificent Elton John's song "Ticking":

Especially for a very good friend of mine:

Flight To Munich

2007-05-16T13:37:00.000+03:00

Everything usually messes up at the very end. Yesterday when I finally decided to print my electronic ticket I saw the return date was scheduled to be on 22 JUNE. I just couldn't believe my eyes. I just ordered the ticket by phone and paid online and didn't look at the reservation receipt. How stupid... Now I try to fix the things up.

So early in the morning I took my flight to Budapest. The new terminal of the Sofia Airport looks like a real European one, mainly from outside. It was quite quiet and not very cozy inside I must admit. The view from the plane was magnificent, especially during the landing, because the sun could be seen above the clouds shining brightly, at the horizon of the clouds the colours were blue, green, red and purple and below the light was still weak and very gentle, it was dawn.

A friend of mine told me that Budapest Airport is huge and messy, nobody speaks English and you find it very hard to discover your departure gate while transferring. But fortunately it was very easy for me, everything was translated into English and there were signs everywhere and the departure gate for Munich was very close to the arrival gate from Sofia. So I waited for an hour - at 6:15 in the morning the airport was busy, full of people, very dynamic and sunny.
Next flight was full of sunlight. We were even given a Hungarian (I suppose) cake during the snack on board - it combined cheese and sultanas. I liked it.

When I saw those majestic mountains in the distance I decided to give my camera a try and here they are:
Yeah, mostly blue and white up there...

Then everything went just fine. It's a little bit cold in Munich though. I have plenty of things to worry about - the ticket, the concert, the pile of work (I took another translation assignment, why, girl, why???) I have to do. Let's hope for the best ;)

"M" like Marillion, Munich, music...

2007-05-14T23:25:00.000+03:00

This week I'll fly to Munich. On Wednesday morning. And if everything goes right, I'll attend Marillion's show there. Still cannot let myself believe in it.
I'll have to leave my two cats and one dog to my brother's care for a week. That'll be interesting.
But what I wanted to say - I'm about to complaining. Just finished two album reviews - Tori Amos's and Maximo Park's. It was OK, nothing great but quite impressive. Now I have to write an article about a band called "The Rosebuds". They sound so ordinary - I mean in the field of writing about them. After writing about the weird "Decemberists" and the majestic "Grindeman" now I must compose a text out of the blue, no, out of the grey - they met, they signed with a major indie label, they are happy. I cross my fingers I'll find something teasing eventually.
That was complaining.
Now, something good. Finally I intend to watch Beatles' Anthology. Believe it or not, I haven't watched it so far. Me, the huge Beatles fan, *smirk*.
Raxo, don't say a word. Everything with its right time ;) And thanks for writing here (I miss the smileys...)

2007-05-06T20:41:00.000+03:00

It's St George's day here. And as my name comes from George, I celebrate. It's good, most people remember my name day, because it's a national holiday too, but few people know my birthday.

I spent the afternoon at my grandparents', eating lamb (tradition!) and drinking old alcohol drinks, not to say ancient. My grandpa keeps them for years - today's wine was from 1972, for instance. And there were so many horses in the green sad field outside. Most of the people in the village are relatives of ours but I still cannot manage to make someone give me a horse to ride. So I'll have to go riding here, in the big city. Modern times...

Speaking (writing) of which, in a minute ago I wrote to my brother, who is in the next room, to turn the volume up, because I heard the beginning of "High Hopes". Not that I couldn't shout and he couldn't hear me through the door, but technologies are much better...

I don't want to do the lot of work I had and I want to learn my Finnish grammar instead, but I cannot because of all the work that had to be done. So I'd better start with doing something useful...

Stuff

2007-05-03T18:07:00.000+03:00

For every body's surprise (and mine too) I guessed correctly the score of Liverpool - Chelsea football game this Tuesday. And knowing that I bet on Liverpool only because I'm huge Beatles fan...

I was given a flower - very spontaneously and although it was small wild one, this was a very beautiful thing.

There are some things that perplex me at last.fm. How doest it exactly work... I'll find put some day :)

RIP

2007-04-12T09:59:00.000+02:00

Well, I was missing more than a week, indeed, but today I've got a lot to write about. I just wish it wasn't so sad news...
Kurt Vonnegut died last night, at the age of 84.
Mr. Vonnegut suffered irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago, according to his wife, Jill Krementz.
I can never forget a chapter from "Cat's Cradle", the chapter about the duprass. "Horlick Minton, the New American Ambassador to the Republic of San Lorenzo, and his wife, Claire...They were lovebirds. They entertained each other with little gifts: sights worth seeing out the plane window, amusing or instructive bits from things they read, random recollections of times gone by. They were, I think, a flawless example of what Bokonon calls a duprass, which is a karass composed only of two persons." The members of a duprass die within a week of each other. A true duprass can't be invaded, not even by children born of such a union.
It reflects part of my understanding of relationships.
I think it's time for me to read Vonnegut again. It's just a pity that the occasion is so sad.

Space Flight

2007-04-12T09:27:00.000+02:00

Last year I was teaching my students about stars and planet and rockets. The Lebanese book wasn't very interesting indeed so I told the kids additional facts, first man in space included. But I realize I've never known the exact date of Gagarin's flight. Thank you, Google - the search engine is celebrating 12 April with a special logo
There are a lot of speculations about the flight, Gagarin's death etc., but I have keen memories from my childhood - we knew songs and poems about him and I suppose this day was celebrated as a holiday. I was always passionate about the outer space, maybe that's why I'm a big SciFi fan.
I will not put links to sites with information about this day - there are plenty and Google helps a lot ;) I just feel spacey today.

Temporarily

2007-03-14T23:11:00.000+02:00

I hope it won't last more than a week. I have so many things I want to write about but I just have to finish translating that book I'm translating now, otherwise I'll become insane - work doesn't disappear when I don't do it, it grows bigger and bigger and soon I'll lay burried under a pile of non-done work... So off I go... See you very soon!
Love,
working witch

Something

2007-03-12T14:41:00.000+02:00

This is a little something, lyrics from "Budha Bar" compilation, that illustrate very precisely my attitude towards love. Not that I am not able to express it in my own words, but when it is already done, why not use it ;)

A lover knows only humility, he has no choice.

He steals into your alley at night, he has no choice.

He longs to kiss every lock of your hair, don't fret, he has no choice.

In his frenzied love for you, he longs to break the chains of

his imprisonment, he has no choice.

A lover asked his beloved,

Do you love yourself more than you love me?

Beloved replied, I have died to myself and I live for you.

I've disappeared from myself and my attributes,

I am present only for you.

I've forgotten all my learnings,

but from knowing you I've become a scholar.

I've lost all my strength, but from your power I am able.

I love myself...I love you.

I love you...I love myself.

I am your lover, come to my side, I will open the gate to your love.

Come settle with me, let us be neighbors to the stars.

You have been hiding so long, endlessly drifting in the sea of my love.

Even so, you have always been connected to me.

Concealed, revealed, in the unknown, in the un-manifest.

I am life itself. You have been a prisoner of a little pond,

I am the ocean and its turbulent flood. Come merge with me,

leave this world of ignorance. Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.

I desire you more than food or drink

My body, my senses, my mind, hunger for your taste

I can sense your presence in my heart

although you belong to all the world

I wait with silent passion for one gesture, one glance from you

Birthday come, Birthday gone

2007-03-09T12:02:00.000+02:00

The worst thing about a birthday is that it actually comes to an end. Sooner or later, usually sooner. You wake up in the morning and in a wink of the eye it's already evening, night, end. New day begins and you realize you'll have to wait for a whole year to enjoy another birthday. Some people don't like B-days - I suppose they just don't like the miserable feeling that nobody remembers this date.

Aah, look at all those lonely people...

So it's time for an un-birthday (I've always liked the Mad Hatter, yes). Maybe I should rename my blog to "Un-birthday Party Gifts"? And try to write things that can be considered as gifts for the readers? ;)
I'm planning to give you some Paris moments, some musical revelations (wow, girl, very impressive, yeah ;) ) and some personal thoughts (the weakest part of the program). When (and if) I have time :)

Magical Music Tour

2007-03-03T02:02:00.000+02:00

Oookay! So, it's March. MY MONTH! I waited for it for so long... and now I know it's going to end very, very soon. It always is. Everybody knows, dreaming is better than the dream itself. But never mind, I'll dream of summer afterwards :)
So let me share something with you - I'm listening to Yes's "Relayer" for a whole week now and I'm going deeper and deeper... I love it! I can say I'm happy. Some years or months ago I couldn't listen to such music without being left worried and insecure about how I do not understand it. But fortunately I am very persistent when I take a decision and the decision I took was to try as hard as I can to break through it. I didn't know much about progressive rock and anything about jazz for example. And I wanted to know, to understand, to feel - because my firm belief is that people can be taught. Even in art, in music, in whatever. If they desire. And not pushed away with words such: "Oh, if you can't already feel it, forget about it, it couldn't be described, it's impossible to be explained. You just don't have the heart for this". Excuse me! It's nonsense.
So... I was reading, listening, listening, reading, listening and now I feel like I succeeded to push aside a big rock that was blocking the opening of a cave and now I'm standing in a stream of sunlight. I'm certainly not a progressive rock expert but at least this music talks to me now.
Next step - I'm attacking "Faithless". It must be hard...
Now let me give you a piece of blue sky shining between thick clouds...

it runs high

to reach pure beauty

Something Funny

2007-03-02T17:06:00.000+02:00

After every flight, Quantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Quantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded by the maintenance engineers (marked with an M).

(By the way, Quantas [Australian] is the only major airline that has never had an accident. This report on their upkeep system tells why... :-)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
M: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
M: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
M: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
M: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
M: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
M: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
M: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
M: That's what they're for.

P: IFF inoperative.
M: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
M: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
M: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
M: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
M: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
M: Cat installed.

P. Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
M: Took hammer away from midget

Short story& pictures

2007-02-27T00:07:00.000+02:00

Sometimes - I wish it was more often, but we cannot manage it - I and a good friend of mine, we go out of the city on Sundays. Mountain walks with two dogs :)

Last Sunday we went to Plana and fortunately there was snow - not much but enough to feel the winter. My dog Dara got crazy - she loves snow almost as much as I do :) It was foggy and she is not very very brave so sometimes she would just freeze and stare in the mist, trying to see if somebody isn't coming.Last Sunday we headed towards another mountain range - the weather wasn't good, I almost felt it didn't like us.
Everything was grey and sad. Just like somebody has killed all the colours - quietly and it passed unnoticed. You look around and you see the face of the sadness. And the wind - blowing angrily at us... But Dara was extremely happy, she was running and jumping all the time. She found a river and jumped in it, drank icy water and was very proud of herself. It was very funny because shortly afterwards (it was cold) her wet ears and hairy legs were decorated with icicles that she was wearing all the morning.

The forest was wonderful - it was like an enchanting place out of a fairy-tale. There were some thrones - I bet the king of the forest likes sitting there and listening to the silence. Brown leaves covered the soil - soft and thick like a precious carpet. Hundreds of colourful pebbles made me think of a huge treasure-house, scattered everywhere around us. You just have to find the right pebble.

The river offered whimsical ice statues - entrances to a hidden world of small tiny people with clever eyes and fine manners who live underground all summer and come out during the winter. They make snow castles and ice palaces, they give balls in crystal caves where the light dances on million ice surfaces.

In the distance Baba peak was rising over everything.

Very adventurously we walked into a swampy field and when it was time to go back we had to cross a river over a very natural bridge - it was scary, brrr!

At the end - click! I have enough of taking photographs, I think it's about time someone to take a picture of me ;)

Et si je t'aime, prends garde a toi!

2007-02-25T18:08:00.000+02:00

Last night I and two girlfriends we went to see "Carmen" at the Sofia Opera.
I know that the National Opera is not very good (and the National Ballet is straightforwardly a real disaster) but we don't have any other chance to listen to operas so there we went.
Carmen is my favourite opera ever. I have seen it many times and I love the music. In my opinion the art of opera combines music and theatre so I pay attention to the acting skills of the singers. Carmen wasn't good. She didn't look well, she wasn't beautiful, I didn't like her voice and she just didn't make me believe in the kind of love she feels. So I was disappointed. Not to mention strange decor and costume ideas (who thought it's good to combine red, orange and pink??), poor ballet-dancers, fat Don Jose... Escamillo was great - both look and voice. Michaella sang quite good but I just can't stand this character.
One advantage is that compared to other National Operas our is very cheap. And as said above I want to see not only hear the opera (this means I'm not keen on buying opera CDs. At least not much.) So I have no choice for the moment.
We usually go out Saturday evening - theatre and then dinner. sometimes piano bar afterwards. Hopefully the music of Carmen is so brilliant that we went out in good mood. But next time we're going to try to see some musical. Hair for example. I have the feeling I'll need iron nerves...

Todorov den

2007-02-25T17:03:00.000+02:00

Yesterday it was Todorov den - a holiday celebrated in my country in honour of St. Todor. He's a dual character - at the same time he's a horse rider who comes from the Land of Death and he's declaring the beginning of the summer. So he's a mediator between our world and the underworld. He's the patron of horses and riders and also of young brides (it has something to do with the fertility and the fact that all plants grow from the soil, the underworld).

On this day the saint sticks his spear into the ground, ties his horse and goes to God to ask for summer. There are many rites, but the more interesting is the horse race, called "kushia". All unmarried men compete in horse riding. The winner becomes very famous and respected.

So now we can relax and be sure that summer will come.

I am longing for it...

Black Friday

2007-02-23T17:26:00.000+02:00

This day (called also lame, deaf, dry or mad Friday) is the worst and the most dangerous day in this week. It is forbidden to work in order to protect people from illness and the harvest - from dryness and thunderstorms and hail. It is believed that this day is the leader of twelve "bad" Fridays in the year - just like the Monday is the leader of all Mondays in the year - I don't know what it means, I just picture the day, looking fierce, leading a gang of days... But everything is over tomorrow - Todorov den. It is the day of the horses, grooms, herds... I just love horses, so I'm going to write something longer and more interesting tomorrow, I hope :)
So today women don't wash or comb themselves, they don't touch any spindles.
All the ritualism of this week is related to numerous prohibitions and rites concerning mainly women. This is the first week of the Long Lent. The main idea is - this is a period of disturbed harmony, it's hostile and impure, evil spirits are unleashed - this is chaotic period the world needs to go through in order to pass from winter to summer. Many parallels with Dionis feasts can be built. The rites are clearly pagan and the last holiday - Todorov den - is a mixture of paganism and Christianity.
All the rites aim at ensuring and preserving the fertility during this transitional period. That's why people imagine saint Todor as a beneficial cultural hero, who destroys the chaos and recreates the world, in the beginning of the new cycle.
But there's a lot to be told about the saint, so - tomorrow :)

Thursday

2007-02-22T12:45:00.000+02:00

This day is special - it's THE Thursday from the so-called "Todor's week" or "Black week". People believe the week right after All Soul's Day is very dangerous and every day has a special meaning. So Clean Monday, Black Tuesday and Mad Wednesday have passed, not it's Stunning Thursday. You shouldn't work on this day (I don't think my boss is going to consider this reasonable enough to let me go home) unless you want to become dazed and stunned. There's an evil spirit that can get inside your head.
To appease this dangerous illness, women bake bread and give it away. This bread is eaten at the dunghill and the crumbs are collected - this is done in order to prevent ants from going into the houses.
And tomorrow - it's the worst day in this week. So I'll tell you about it - tomorrow.

What's Your VisualDNA?

2007-02-22T11:05:00.000+02:00

I just found this and I thought you may like it. Below you can see "my profile":

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Rain

2007-02-22T02:52:00.000+02:00

It was one long rainy day and I just wanted to share some rainy thoughts. To write a few words about rain's many faces. Spring rain - fresh, penetrating, youthful. Like first excitements of love.

Summer offer flood rain, that moves the heart and the soul, heavy, thunder rains - like strong stormy love. And nobody knows what's left afterwards - lush grass or wounds by hailstorm.

It's like "Love Reign O'er Me" (The Who).

Autumn rain is The Rain. When it starts falling, it gets into you. It's sad, elegant and exquisite. Like impoverished nobleman selling nothing but teardrops. Do you remember "November Rain"?

But winter rain, rain in February, is something so sad, so unnatural, that it hurts. Winter must be like:

Just wanted to say...