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Nobel Prize for Literature, 2007

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.

Layer Cake

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

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*

Procol Harum

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."

Marillion, 18th May, Munich

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

"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:

Flight To Munich

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 ;)

Temporarily

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

Birthday come, Birthday gone

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 :)

Todorov den

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

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

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.

Rain

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...