well today's Christmas Eve and we're on the brink of another New Year. In anticipation of some of the changes I'm looking forward to, and in reflection of years gone by, I stumbled upon another translation I did a couple of years ago. The text that I have translated is the song lyrics for Pierre Bensusan's track "Demain dès l'aube", which is composed of lines from Victor Hugo's poem of the same name as well as lines from another poem "A Villequier".
I'm pretty happy with the translation, although the penultimate stanza was a bit harder to render (I'll have to spend some more time thinking of suitable words that rhyme with Harfleur!), so if anyone has any helpful suggestions or comments I'd be glad to hear them!
DEMAIN DES L'AUBE / A VILLEQUIER
(Texte: Victor Hugo, Musique: Pierre Bensusan)
Demain, dès l'aube, à l'heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Je sais que tu m'attends.
J'irai par la forêt, j'irai par la montagne,
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.
Tomorrow, at dawn, when the sun bleaches the land,
I will leave, I know you wait for me.
I’ll go by the forest, I’ll go through the mountains.
No longer can I bear to be away from thee.
Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit.
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.
I will walk in a world of my own,
Hearing no sounds, without sight,
Alone, back bent, hands crossed, unknown,
And the day for me will be as night.
Maintenant que Paris, ses pavés et ses marbres,
Et sa brume et ses toits sont bien loin de mes yeux;
Maintenant que je suis sous les branches des arbres,
Et que je puis songer à la beauté des cieux.
Now that Paris, with her marble and streets,
Her mist and her roofs are so far from my eyes,
Now that I am beneath the branches of trees,
And I can dream of the beauty of the skies.
Maintenant qu'attendri par ces divins spectacles
Plaines, rochers, forêts, vallons, fleuves argentés,
Voyant ma petitesse et voyant vos miracles,
Je reprends ma raison devant l'immensité.
Now I am moved by these divine spectacles,
Field, crag, forest, valley, silver stream,
Seeing how small I am, seeing your miracles,
I come to my senses before your creation supreme
Nous ne voyons jamais qu'un seul côté des choses;
L'autre plonge en la nuit d'un mystère effrayant.
L'homme subit le joug sans connaître les causes.
Tout ce qu'il voit est court, inutile et fuyant.
We only ever see one side of life;
The rest is shrouded in terrifying mystery.
Man bears his burdens without knowing why.
All he sees is short, useless, and fleeting.
Je ne regarderai ni l'or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur,
Et, quand j'arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx et de bruyère en fleur.
I will not watch the gold of the evening rays,
Nor the distant sails of journeys resumed.
And once I have arrived, I will place on your grave,
A bouquet of holly and heather in bloom.
Nous ne voyons jamais qu'un seul côté des choses;
L'autre plonge en la nuit d'un mystère effrayant.
L'homme subit le joug sans connaître les causes.
Tout ce qu'il voit est court, inutile et fuyant.
We only ever see one side of life;
The rest is shrouded in terrifying mystery.
Man bears his burdens without knowing why.
All he sees is short, useless, and fleeting.
Ok, so aside from being indecisive, I'm also pretty damn impatient. I know this about myself. I recognise and accept that that's a bad thing, and I apologise when I know I've gone a wee bit far, but sometimes I find it really hard to be patient with things. Slow walking people in the street, grammatical and spelling errors from co-workers (don't get me started...), people who drive at 40 miles an hour in a 60, and then continue to drive at 40 in a 30 zone (damn you to hell!!)....
Maybe it's because I feel I have to do everything quickly - move quickly, type quickly, talk quickly - that if someone or something holds me up for what seems to be an unnecessarily long time, I don't know how to deal with it. I always seem to have a lot of nervous energy and I'm pretty sure I've got restless leg syndrome.
But something I recently discovered about myself and my impatience - and please don't think for a minute that I'm proud of it - is that, given the right (or should I say wrong) set of circumstances, I can be extremely impatient, and dare I say it, intolerant of others who are drunk when I have to be sober. In fact I'd go so far to say I've recently been borderline rude in this particular situation, and that is something I really, really dislike in others.
As a bit of context, I had agreed to drive me and Tom to his work Christmas meal - mainly because he is not insured on my car and I didn't think it'd be a good idea to go on the motorbike - which meant that I would have to be the designated driver as I don't like to drink anything when I'm driving as I just don't trust myself.
Normally I don't mind driving us to and from various places, but for a combination of reasons (including work-stress, hormones, sleep deprivation, and having already driven 70 miles that day) I started to feel like I was being taken advantage of, particularly as it turned out I would have to take 3 additional people there and back. It wasn't that it would add much time to the journey really as they were all pretty much en-route, but what I ultimately found frustrating was that I would have to be the responsible and sober adult for not just one but four inebriated people who all worked together, whose anecdotes and jokes I would not get, and whose drink-fuelled antics and cringe-worthy chat up lines (thank god they weren't aimed at me) I would not find amusing, and who I would eventually have to herd up like the prodigal cats at the end of the evening, bundle into my car and get them home safely, hopefully without any of them needing to vomit on the way home. I also had to work the next day.Correction, it turns out I didn't actually have to work the next day, I was getting my calendar mixed up. So even less excuse for being so moody...Sorry to everyone who I may have been a bit rude to!
Honestly, I'm not sure why I even agreed to do it in the first place, must have been a moment of madness, but I know for sure that I will not be doing it again. Not because any of my charges were particularly horrendous or awful (annoying but not awful), but I realise now that I personally do not enjoy at all being the sober one at a work 'booze up' for a company that I do not work for. I'm not going to go into any more detail about the evening as I don't want to sound like a miserable old sod, but I did end up writing a short poem about the feelings of extreme frustration that such a situation can inspire, and the bad behaviour it can lead to.
At Last
Nails drumming,
Coke sipping,
Fingers in ears to block the shrieking.
Knees bouncing,
Weak laughing,
Eyes glancing towards the exit.
Deep breathing,
Thin-lipped smiles,
Keys in hand, 'Is that the time?'
Coat on and
Buttons done,
But they're at the bar for another one!
Patience waning,
No more hints,
Does it really take an hour to finish one drink??
Finally in the car,
The heating blows,
As the doors slam shut, away we go
Radio up,
Foot on the floor,
Rain pounding on the windows and doors.
Cargo delivered,
No time for goodbyes,
Wheels spinning wildly on muddy drives.
Fingers unclench,
Can stop grinding teeth,
As we near the house a great sigh of relief...
Engine switched off.
The ordeal is past.
With head on the wheel, I'm home. At last.
Sticking with the cheesy theme, this is one of my favourite snacks to make. The fact that everyone I've made it for has loved it has solidified its place in our house. I made it last night for Tom as he was working late and didn't want anything big by the time he got home, so it reminded me that it was time to share the love!
It's another from Ravinder Bhogal's 'Cook in Boots', and it's from the Chapter 'TV, remote control and a meal for one'. I also think it's quite a good one for a late breakfast after a night out.
Chilli cheese toasts
Serves 1
Ingredients
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (I used white and found it just as nice)
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 green chilli (deseeded if you don't want it too hot), and finely chopped (you could use a shake of crushed chillis instead)
1/4 green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (as I've mentioned before I'm not a lover of coriander, so I tend to just use a small amount of ground coriander instead)
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce or tomato ketchup (Aldi's do a yummy tomato and sweet chilli chutney which works brilliantly)
I also add 1/2 to 1tsp of pesto but that's completely optional
Ground black pepper
2 slices thick white bread
100g Cheddar cheese, grated
Method
1. Preheat the grill to a medium high heat.
2. In a small mixing bowl mix together the onion, tomato, chilli, green pepper, coriander, sweet chilli sauce / ketchup, and pesto (if using). Season with pepper.
3. Toast one side of the bread under the grill, then layer the vegetable mix over the untoasted side of the bread.
4. Flash under the grill for 3 minutes so that the onion softens slightly.
5. Top with the cheese, and cook until bubbling.
6. Serve immediately with a generous helping of trash TV (Ravinder's words, not mine!)
Hi all,
sorry it's been a while since I last wrote anything on here. Been a bit preoccupied with Christmas and work and so on.
Anyway, I wanted to post this recipe as I've cooked it a couple of times and it was sooooo good, I wanted to share :)
Of course it's from the BBC Food website (how I managed to survive without this for so many years I do not know), and it's from the Hairy Biker's (food and bikes, what could be better?). As with all my recipe posts I'll link to the original recipe but add what I changed and my comments or suggestions (not to suggest that I think I know better of course!).
Yes I put it under the grill and the breadcrumbs caught a teeny bit this time
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and broken in to florets
250g smoked streaky bacon (I prefer non-streaked but it's up to you), cut into thin strips
250g chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced (I guess they go further that way)
I also added one leek, sliced
25g butter
50g plain flour
250ml full fat milk
200g Gruyere cheese, grated (I used cheddar instead)
55ml double cream (I used low fat creme fraiche instead and it gave mouth-watering flavour)
Pinch mustard powder (I don't have any so seasoned with cayenne pepper, but go easy on it as it packs a punch!)
Salt and ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
For the topping
50g ciabatta breadcrumbs (I just used normal sliced bread - I'm not made of money!)
50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
I personally felt that the ingredients did not make enough bechamel sauce so I increased the amounts of butter, flour, milk and creme fraiche to make more but even then it didn't fully cover the cauliflower (perhaps the last two cauliflowers have been abnormally big, but I don't think so...). Generally the sauce melts and spreads a bit more in the oven, but still I prefer my cauliflower cheese to be absolutely covered in sauce so next time I might just go for it and add 50% more to each ingredient.
Method
1. For the cauliflower, cook the florets in a large pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and set aside and set the oven to preheat to 180c while you're preparing the sauce.
2. Meanwhile for the bechamel sauce, fry the bacon strips in a dry frying pan until coloured but not crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, keeping the bacon fat in the pan.
3. At this point I fried the leeks in the same pan with a little butter added as there wasn't much fat really (perhaps that's why it needs to be streaky bacon?). I then set aside the leeks with the bacon.
4. Then add the mushrooms to the same frying pan and fry for 2 - 3 minutes until golden brown (depending on your preferences you might want to add a small amount of butter). Remove from the pan and set aside with the other cooked ingredients.
5. Melt the butter in a clean saucepan and beat in the four until smooth. Gradually add in the milk bit by bit, whisking with each addition until smooth. Then stir in the mustard powder if using, or carefully shake in the cayenne pepper (keep tasting to make sure it's not too much), and add the grated cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted and then add the creme fraiche. Keep stirring until everything has melted and the mixture is fully combined and thick and creamy.
NB. If you're not sure about the technique of making a roux for a white sauce, watch the video on the link to the original recipe on BBC Food. Have to admit I've not used warm milk before, so I may give this a go next time to see if it makes it better.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then fold in the mushrooms, bacon, and leeks.
NB. At this point you've probably had a few tastes and made loud exclamations about how tasty the sauce is - RESTRAIN YOURSELVES! Otherwise whoever you're cooking for will be in the kitchen like a shot, spoon in hand, and unless you can overpower them, you definitely won't have enough to cover the cauliflower!
7. At this point the oven should be warm enough, so put the cauliflower florets in an ovenproof dish and pour over the cheesy sauce. Sprinkle over a pinch of ground nutmeg.
In the original recipe they suggested putting the topping on before putting the dish in the oven, but as my sauce tended to melt a bit more in the oven I would be tempted to put it in the oven for a few minutes (maybe 5) and then add the topping and return to the oven, but have a go and see what you prefer.
8. For the topping, mix the breadcrumbs (ciabatta or otherwise) with the parmesan cheese, and sprinkle over the cauliflower. Place into the oven for 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown and bubbling.
9. Spoon onto plates and serve with green salad and crusty bread, or whatever you like (could be a good side for Christmas dinner in fact). Be prepared for some serious bowl and spoon licking as there won't be much left over!
finally got round to taking photos off my phone of one of our recent walks on a particularly beautiful Autumn day in North Wales. We walked over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (something I've wanted to do for a while, as I mentioned in a previous post) and it really was beautiful so here's a link to some more pics.
L. Bardsley, 2011
Turns out it's the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain, as well as being a World Heritage Site (as is the Colosseum in Rome just to put it in perspective) which I didn't know until we reached the other side. I also didn't realise it was a particularly noteworthy tourist attraction until we had to squeeze past groups of tourists coming from the other direction - a tad nerve-wracking given how narrow the walkway was, and given that some of the bars on the barrier were really quite wobbly, which Tom took great pleasure in pointing out to me. Even though the views were lovely from the top, it was actually even more better from below as you got a real sense of how high up the structure is, plus the sun was beginning to set which made the light look really cool on the pics (in my humble opinion). It was also a lot more peaceful down by the river as there weren't any tourists down there (just the odd dog-walker).
If you get the chance I'd definitely recommend a wander over there on a nice Autumn day - the colours on the trees were just spectacular at that time of year.
The last few weeks at work have been frustrating to say the least, to the point where I've felt at times like I just wanted to walk out. I'm not going to go into details as it would be unprofessional and also it will just make me mad again but suffice it to say that right now I'm feeling pretty darn low about work.
When I was a student I probably worked longer hours than I do now (partly because my boss claims they can only afford to pay me for four days/week), weekends were my prime essay-writing/translating/grammar exercising times, and I probably had even less money than I do now. But somehow, even though being a student certainly had stresses of it's own, I was happy to put up with that, safe in the knowledge that, hopefully, one day, all the hours spent in confusion over some mental 19th Century French poetry, the late nights grappling with German philosophers where even the English translations left me completely in the dark, and even the pain of Elaine's Showalter's "The Female Malady", one day, all this would all be worth it. One day I'd get a job that would challenge and inspire me - or at the very least, cover the bills and make me feel ok about getting up in the morning.
Before graduating back in 2009, I had no idea, honestly no idea, how important - or rather vital - weekends would be in my adult working life. Before then TGI Fridays just meant a chain of restaurants, but now I rely on Chris Moyles' 'McFly Day' on the Friday morning commute and Scott Mills' 'Wonderyears' to get me through the week, and bring me into the weekend where I can finally let my hair down and let off some steam.
'Letting off steam' as a phrase reminds me of one of the more memorable lectures I have had as a language student. Martin Crowley, one of our 20th Century French specialists, was giving the lecture on a Monday morning and he started off by commenting that some of the students looked a bit worse for wear, which he surmised was most likely the result of having been out over the weekend 'letting off steam' in true student fashion, e.g. drinking, dancing (or moshing if you're that way inclined), and singing til the wee hours, joking, laughing, larking about, copping off with that person you fancied from your seminar, throwing up, perhaps getting in a fight outside Gardi's (the legendary kebab shop on Rose Crescent), stealing the odd traffic cone or two, or heaven forbid, running across the pristine lawns in college (a privilege reserved for academics and their guests) if you really felt like putting up two fingers to the 'system' - in other words being rowdy. Over the course of the lecture (even though at the time it didn't really feel like a lecture), he tried to get us to think about why we feel the need to 'let off steam'.
Illustration: Ezio Geneletti/Getty Images
If you think about it, we, as students or employees, work hard all week to either get paid, or to complete our assignments so we can eventually graduate with a decent enough qualification to get us paid work. The weekend, or whatever time off we get off, is therefore a socially sanctioned opportunity to act wild and let our hair down in order to vent all the pent up frustration, stress, and petty grievances that build up over the course of the working week. Venting all of this pressure helps us get it out of our systems, so we can simmer down, so that we start the following week somewhat less stressed and frustrated, allowing us to continue to function as students and employees. If you think of the weekend as a safety valve on a boiler, if we didn't have the opportunity to 'let off steam', if our safety valve was missing or faulty, then the pressure would keep building and building and building, until eventually... something a bit like this would happen:
Now the point of the lecture, when it eventually came out, was the suggestion that the cycle of working, de-pressurising, then working again, actually plays a vital role in keeping people working, in keeping us functioning, kind of like human pressure vessels, so that the economy can keep going. As Mythbusters host Adam Savage comments, at 85,500 pounds of pressure, you'd fail too. If we did not have the opportunity to regularly vent, then we would eventually 'fail', and then not only would we be of no use to our employers, but nor would we be any use to the economy as a whole. In some cases, if pressure continues to build and is never properly vented, then you end up with seemingly normal people 'going postal' and murdering their co-workers and managers. [If you're wondering how on earth this links to French literature it has something to do with transgressive (some might say pornographic) writer Georges Bataille who proposed an economic theory involving excess, waste, and non-productive activities].
It's quite a cynical standpoint, one for the likes of Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha, but I have to admit, not only do we see examples of this kind of conduct in 'celebrities' like Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears (who didn't just let her hair down but shaved it all off), and a whole raft of professional sportsmen and women, but I also recognise some of those behaviours in myself, my friends, my co-workers, and my family (not the killing people part, though the thought has occurred to me recently). When I finished my final exams at uni, some friends and I climbed over the fence of the outdoor swimming pool at the end of a night out and went swimming in our underwear. More recently, (last Friday) I felt really angry and upset about work, so we went to see a comic play 'The Village Fete' by my old ADS group in Guilsfield, which was brilliant as it made me roar laughing and therefore made me feel a hell of a lot better about things. (If only the government saw the real value of the arts...*sigh*)
And last night, we met up with some friends to wonder around the Christmas fair in town, and me and my best friend Amy decided to go on the Waltzers. Now either we have aged terribly in the last couple of years, or this thing was going far, far faster than recommended, but we both felt like our heads were going to get ripped off, Amy thought she was going to be sick, and for ages after the ride had finished I felt like I had labyrinthitis again I was so dizzy and wobbly on my feet. But despite the terrifying speed of the ride, we both laughed and yelled from start to finish, and I certainly felt better and happier afterwards.
Now obviously different people let off steam in different ways, arguably in more healthy ways than going on a massive bender and feeling rough for the rest of the weekend. Some people have movie nights with friends. Some people work out, or go running, horse riding, or mountain biking. Some people go shopping (even better for the economy!!). Some people do yoga or meditate. Some people play adrenaline filled computer games where they can race fast cars or fight bad guys (Tom recently finished Batman Arkham Asylum). Some people write angry letters to the newspaper about this and that. And some people cook.
I once worked with a guy whose wife baked when she was in a bad mood, and baked when she was in a good mood, which he was more than happy about, and sometimes I feel the same. I certainly feel that cooking something delicious really lifts my spirits if I've had a bad day. If I'm feeling unappreciated at work, cooking a dish that gives someone else pleasure and enjoyment is a way of re-building self-esteem. For an amateur cook like myself who normally needs to follow a recipe, cooking is an activity that requires me to really focus on what I'm doing right now, to really be in the present moment. If my mind wonders back to something that's worrying me or frustrating me about work, then I lose concentration on what I'm supposed to be doing - I lose track of time and leave a pan on the stove for too long, or put in too much of ingredient x, or cut my finger chopping carrots - and as a result the dish normally ends up being not quite right. So for me, cooking is an excellent activity on two counts - not only does it immerse me in an activity that takes my mind off other things, but it also (most of the time) results in something tasty, and everyone knows how much I love eating good food!
For Julie Powell, the heroine of the film 'Julie & Julia' (based on the book by Powell), the reason she loves cooking is as follows:
"Chocolate cream pie! You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That's such a comfort."
From Julie & Julia, 2009
So having written this long post, how much better am I feeling about work? Well, writing my thoughts down generally makes me feel better, and thinking about cooking makes me feel better. But does it actually change how I feel about work? The answer is no. My situation has not changed one bit. 'Letting off steam' is fine for keeping me 'ticking over' but it does not address or provide solutions to the issues I have about my current job. It's just a distraction / escapism tactic. I think nowadays, in times of recession and escalating utility bills and where a lack of alternatives means I cannot afford to just walk away, it is easier to just keep 'ticking over' in the same position, than it is to take a leap of faith and attempt to do something different. But deep down, I'm not sure that 'letting off steam' in the ways I've outlined above is going to be enough to stop me from exploding sooner or later.
On that happy note, I really hope you all have an amazing weekend whatever you end up doing! :)
Take care x
Just a short post, but I just wanted to share how happy I am that my cousin Jenny has just 'rung the bell' on her final chemo treatment for breast cancer over in Canada where her and her family have been living for the past few years. She's still got a way to go yet before she's out of the woods, but it must feel so good to know that this particular stage of her treatment is now at an end, which hopefully means no more horrible chemo side effects (although the drug she'll need to keep taking does still have some nasty side effects as well), and hopefully it also means she'll get her strength up in time for Christmas, which I know will mean a lot to her family, especially the kids, who've had a hard time getting their heads around their Mum not being well.
It must have been really hard for Jenny as she's always been really fit and healthy (she used to be a dancer), and a really hands on Mum, so she's not been used to feeling ill and weak, but she's kept really positive and has been keeping us all up to date by posting her progress on Caring Bridge, so for those of us who don't live nearby it's been great to hear how she's doing and be able to send her our wishes and thoughts on her guest book through both the good and bad times of her treatment.
I am so proud of her for keeping strong and positive and I know a lot of that strength comes from her and her family's religious faith, and she obviously has a very strong and loyal community of friends around her in Canada and over the pond, and it's been lovely reading all the messages of love and strength to keep her going.
So anyway, this is just to say well done Jenny through getting through this grueling stage of treatment, and fingers crossed everything goes well in the next few months!!
I found this on Stumble Upon months ago so sent the link to myself so I could keep looking at it anytime I felt a bit sad. Just found the e-mail link again so thought it'd be nice to share it.
Here's the link to the original so I don't get in trouble for Copyright theft!
I've wanted for quite a while to transfer a lot of my old translation attempts away from Facebook, so after my translation of the Georges Brassens song 'Les Passantes', the next obvious choice is Emilie Simon's music.
If you've not heard of Emilie Simon, she's one of my favourite musicians/singer/songwriters, not just in French, but EVER. I suppose you could say she comes under the electronic category as she does use an amazing array of weird and wonderful gadgets to create her music, including some strange contraption that attaches to her arm like something out of a Tim Burton film and which modulates the quality of her voice in real time, a bit like the Talk Box favoured by Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, so she can get that strange auto-tune effect, add echoes, or make her voice 'stutter', amongst other things - anyway it's very cool.
But when anyone says electronic music it might suggest something more techno than what it actually is - Emilie's voice is towards the higher end of the range, clear and crisp and times, then soft, breathy and delicate at others, and at times innocent like a young girl (especially when she sings in English on tracks like 'Flowers'), though she can belt it out as well (e.g. on tracks like 'Song of the Storm') - so thinking about it, she's actually quite similar to Kate Bush - and a few of her albums are themed around the natural world like Végétal, Flower Book, and La Marche de L'Empereur which won the 2006 Victoire de la Musique award for a film soundtrack for the French documentary of the same name about the Emperor penguins.
This probably makes her sound a bit like Bjork, but she does also play the guitar so many of her tracks have a punky-rock feel (like 'Roses Never Fall In Love') and she's covered a few rock tracks like Nirvana's Come As You Are, and Iggy Pop's I Wanna Be Your Dog. But what is awesome about Emilie's music is her amazing ear for music so her and her very talented sound engineer Cyrille Brissot (he built the arm gadget) come up with some awesome ideas to make the sounds they're after - like striking the strings of a piano from under the lid while Emilie is playing a melody, splashing out and looping a rhythm in a giant bowl of water, or just tapping and knocking a rhythm on the piano lid. Although I love Emilie's tracks as they are on the album, I think she really comes into her own when she and her team perform live, especially if it's been recorded on film so you can see all the cool gadgets, and inventive sound-makers they use on stage.
But it's really the lyrics and sounds of the words that are my favourite part of her music, which is why I wanted to try to translate them so non-French speakers could in some way access her music, although I have to hold my hands up and admit, it's nowhere near perfect. Poetry/music is one of the hardest things to translate, partly because of trying to get the rhythm of the words right, but also the sonority and rhyme is extremely difficult to replicate if you're trying to keep the meaning of the words. At times I've had to adapt the words to keep the sonority whilst still trying to communicate the overall meaning - it's definitely good exercise for the brain! But anyway, this is my best shot, so I hope you like it :)
Here's a video of the track I've translated Le Vieil Amant which is an acoustic version (so not so many gadgets this time), but I think its simplicity really makes the beauty and melancholy of the song stand out. The original text and my translation are both below:
PS I know 'muguet' is not the same as lily, but it fits better :0)
Mon amour j'ai pensé Avec naïveté Qu'un brin seul de muguet Pouvait te ramener Alors j'ai retrouvé Un ou deux vieux sonnets Pour te rappeler Pour te rappeler A moi mon amour A travers ce beau jour De printemps j'ai laissé Près de tes pieds tomber Un brin seul de muguet Mais il s'est désséché Attendant ce baiser Qui ne viendra jamais
I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
To call you back,
To call you back
To me. My sweet,
On this lovely day
Of spring did I
Let fall at your feet
One little lily
That has since dried
Awaiting that kiss
That will never arrive
Le mois de mai S'est joué de moi Cette année J'ai laissé couler trop d'emois Cette fois le mois mai S'est moqué de moi Cette année J'ai laissé couler trop d'emois Cette fois Cette fois
The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time
Il est parti le temps Il n'a pas pris son temps Me voilà qui t'attends Comme un vieux prétendant Me voilà qui regrette Devant ces quelques miettes Une vielle amourette Qui n'a ni queue ni tête
He left on that day,
He did not hesitate,
And here I am, I wait,
Like an old candidate,
Here I am, I regret,
I cannot forget,
An infatuated brunette,
The lonely half of a duet
Mon amour j'ai pensé Avec naïveté Qu'un brin seul de muguet Pouvait te ramener Alors j'ai retrouvé Un ou deux vieux sonnets Que tu n'as jamais aimé
I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
You never liked it anyway
The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time
Je voulais je l'avoue Danser joue contre joue Je l'avoue je rêvais De te faire tournoyer Respirer cet air frais Regarder rayonner Le visage d'un amour Qui n'a pas vu le jour
I did want, I admit,
To dance cheek to cheek,
I admit, I did dream,
Of our dancing feet,
The fresh air we’d breathe,
Basking in the gleam,
Of the face of a love,
That was never to be.
Mon amour j'ai pensé Avec naïveté Qu'un brin seul de muguet Pouvait te ramener Alors j'ai retrouvé Un ou deux vieux sonnets Je sais tu n'aimes pas les sonnets Je sais
I thought, my sweet,
Quite naïvely,
That one single lily,
Could bring you back to me
And so I found
Some old poetry,
I know, you don’t like poetry,
I know
The month of May,
Has toyed with me
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time the month of May,
Has mocked me terribly,
This year,
I’ve been too melancholy,
This time
This time
I need to preface this recipe with the reason behind my eventual cooking choice.
Long story short, my boyfriend had a very bad hangover this morning, and regardless of the fact that I wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic (amongst other unimpressive acts, he'd left our front door unlocked), I did feel as if I wanted to cook something that would help bring him back from 'Zombieland'. So I turned to Ravinder Bhogal's "Cook in Boots" to see if I could find some inspiration. After about half an hour drooling over recipes I didn't have the ingredients or energy to cook, I decided to combine two recipes from her 'Hangover Food' chapter.
The Masala Omelette I've cooked on several occasions but I'd never tried the hash browns before, and I thought since Tom really likes hash browns it would be pretty good hangover food. It turned out really tasty in the end and definitely filled us both up, and Tom did indeed seem a lot more alive after eating it (and was able to keep it all down, which is a definite plus!!). Now I can't say it cured him completely, but then again I haven't seen him as drunk as he was last night in about 2 years so the fact that he's up and about at all is a miracle.
Omelette might be a bit flat but probably due to being in the oven for too long
Now I didn't quite get the timing right to have both parts of the dish ready at the same time (partly because one of my two mixing bowls was otherwise engaged - ewww); instead I had to prep both dishes one at a time and keep the omelette warm while the hash browns were cooking, but what I thought I'd do was write down what I did this time, with comments on how I'd get it right next time at the end of the post.
Again, as with most of my posts I didn't follow the recipes exactly and I changed/added ingredients according to what I had in the fridge so this is what I used and what I did.
Ingredients
Masala Omelette (serves 2)
1tbsp vegetable oil
1 leek, sliced
1 handful closed cup mushrooms, stalks removed and quartered
1 v. small shake of crushed chillies (less than 1/4 tsp, original asked for 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped)
1 small tomato, seeds removed and chopped
5 eggs
1 splash milk (optional)
1 tsp garam masala
1 shake ground coriander (the recipe asked for 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, but I'm not much of a fan, so never have it in the house)
sea salt and black pepper to season
Onion hash browns (makes 12, so there were a few left over!)
NB. Original recipe used cumin, but again I'm not a big fan so I left it out
500g peeled and grated potatoes
1 small onion, grated (or whizzed through a mini-chopper if you've got one :p )
2 shakes ground coriander (original recipe asked for 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander)
1 shake crushed chillies (approx 1/4 tsp)
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying (original asked for olive oil)
Method
1. Soak the grated potatoes in cold water for extra crunch. At this point I set it aside and left it while I started preparing the omelette. I'll comment at the end on how I would improve the methodology.
2. Preheat the grill to hot. Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the leeks, the chilli, and a tbsp of the chopped onion from the hash brown ingredients. Fry until soft, and then add the tomato and the chopped mushrooms and fry for another minute.
3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs (they need to be quite fluffy or it might end up a bit flat like mine) and season with the garam masala (it will turn the eggs a browny-green colour but don't be put off!), salt and pepper. Add the splash of milk at this point if you like and whisk in along with the ground coriander.
4. Pour the beaten eggs into the frying pan and tilt the pan so the egg sets evenly. Once it has set underneath (silicon spatulas are great for lifting up the omelette and taking a peek), slide it under the grill and leave until it's just set on top. (After this point I had to keep my omelette warm in the oven at a low heat)
5. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes then squeeze out as much excess water as possible.
6. Put the potatoes into a large bowl with the rest of the chopped onion, crushed chillies, ground coriander and mix well. Fold in the flour and mix in the egg.
7. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan (I used a griddle pan and it worked just fine as long as you tilt the pan to make sure the whole surface is covered).
8. With wet hands, shape roughly 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into a flat fritter and carefully slide into the frying pan. Cook the hash browns for about 3 minutes on each side until nice and golden brown and crispy-looking (again silicon spatulas are great for peeking underneath to see how they're getting on). Be gentle when turning them as if they're not brown enough underneath then they can fall apart pretty easily.
9. Drain on kitchen paper, and repeat with the rest of the mixture, adding more oil as necessary (be careful how much you put in as it can spit!). My pan could fit about 4 fritters at one time so I cooked them in 3 batches, although depending on how quickly you can shape and add the fritters you may have to turn some of them sooner than the rest of the batch.
10. Once they've all been cooked, remove the omelette from oven, divide in two and serve with as many hash browns as you can handle!
Notes for next time
Since it actually takes a little while to shape and fry the hash browns, next time I would probably try doing it the other way round, i.e. preparing and frying the fritters first and then popping them in the oven to keep warm while you cook the omelette, as this didn't actually take very long at all. I might also try halving the recipe for hash browns as it was quite a lot of food with the omelette as well, so this would reduce the frying time as well. I think they'd also be really nice served with tomato and onion chutney as well, so shall remember to add that next time.
I'll let you know how it goes next time I try this particular combo!
PS. Admittedly the colour of the omelette might not be very appealing to some of you, but I promise it was really really nice. And if that doesn't convince you, Tom just commented that the photo I just added makes it look a bit like doner meat. Next time I might just let him suffer...
Hi there,
I just recently had a quick look back through some of my favourite pages on Stumble Upon and top of the list is this one about tattoo artist Scott Campbell.
If you have a chance to check the link out you'll see some truly fascinating sculptures that are made by laser cutting the shapes out of stacks and stacks of...wait for it....
US dollars!
The images he uses as a base for his sculptures are traditional fare for a tattoo artist - lots of skulls, flames, spider webs, butterflies, etc - and the article points out the contrast between on one side the notions of wealth, plenty, and the lack of concern about 'wasting money' (one of the pieces is made up of $11,000 in uncut but genuine currency), and on the other side what could be considered "working class" imagery. Now I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that particular terminology, as I don't think the imagery is exclusive to class, but as I mentioned before it is indeed reminiscent of traditional, All-American, tattoo imagery, which I suppose you could argue is not commonly associated with the upper echelons of society.
But it does also shock, as the use of so much money seem to directly contradict the notion of the starving artist who has to live from hand to mouth - just how did this guy get all that money I wonder. You could of course see it is a visual representation of an attempt to free oneself from the shackles of money - it reminds me of Rage Against The Machine's music video for 'Sleep Now in the Fire' when they occupied Wall Street, and where a homeless man wins a wheelbarrow-ful of cash on a game show, only to walk away in disgust at the money hungry audience and TV host. History seems to have repeated itself of late, with the Occupy Wall Street movement of the past two months protesting against greed and corruption, and indeed yesterday saw 30,000 take to the streets in NYC, and all entry points to the New York Stock Exchanges were blockaded.
But back to the art. To my mind, what is particularly interesting is the motif of the skeleton in several of the pieces, which acts like a 'memento mori' (latin for "Remember your mortality"). In my opinion, it seems to be talking about how wealth, and the material things we spend our money on, amounts to very little when we die in the end, but also how excessive wealth can be a destructive force in the world. The economic downturn that was caused by recklesd and unregulated lending and gambling of wholly intangible sums of money has been the downfall of many big businesses and banks, which sadly had the knock on effect of making the world a pretty damn impossible place to live for the all those little guys across the world who lost their businesses or their job, their savings, their homes, and in some cases their families, and so on and so forth. For some people the credit crunch really was the final nail in the coffin.
And in many ways we still can't get our heads around numbers that are so huge. When I was a student, I tried my best to pay attention in Finance classes, and although the lecturer was young, pleasant, and dare I say it, vaguely attractive, it was still so dry, that I didn't even bother attempting to revise Finance for the exam and just hoped that I could answer enough accounting questions to pass (it worked by the way). But there is one thing that the lecturer did pass on which was the link to the following article about how to understand the phenomenally gargantuan numbers sprawled across the news about debts, losses, bail outs, deficits, and so on.
In some ways, I think that this is also another aspect of what Scott Campbell is trying to accomplish with his dollar sculptures. By highlighting the waste involved in creating his pieces, he is also helping us visualise money in more tangible terms. I mean, let's be honest, if we actually had to keep all our actual money (excluding credit and overdrafts) at home under the mattress in $1 bills (or £5 notes) then we'd probably think it looked like a lot, but you would soon be able to see the pile grow smaller and smaller as you had to spend it. But as it is we keep our money in a bank, where we have an overdraft, and most likely a credit card (and a lot of people have more than 1). We spend our money electronically for the most part nowadays too, and I think that is another reason why it has become so easy over the past decade for 'spendaholics' to get into debt.
If I were ever in a position to actually want a Louis Vuitton handbag that cost, let's say £450, then I (personally) would be 100 times less likely to purchase it if I had to hand over £450 in cash than if I could just whack it on a credit card. My boyfriend Tom, as a matter of fact managed to get out of his overdraft relatively quickly by just taking out £10 cash per week to spend on non-essential items (so anything apart from food, fuel, and rent etc), and he felt that having his spending money in cash was a much better way of making sure he stuck to his budget, because when it was gone it was gone. This is something that I really want to try as I hate having to pay overdraft fees, so the sooner I get out the better.
But I digress. One final comment on this work and then I'll leave it for today. I mentioned earlier the skull and skeletons can be seen as a reminder of our mortality and our impermanence in this world, and it seems nowadays that not a lot lasts for very long. In today's 'throw away society' it is not only appliances and computers that are no longer built to last (it's called planned obsolescence I believe), but even the latest fashions that we wear and the newest bands and pop stars that we listen to are all produced to be lusted over, consumed, and almost immediately forgotten as soon as the next big thing comes along. So the fact that these sculptures were created by a tattoo artist, whose day to day job is to create artwork that does for the most part endure is an interesting contrast.
Once again, I feel as if I really want to get the tattoo I've wanted for the last couple of years, but sadly I can't afford it right now...
uggghh, I'm not sure what's wrong with me today but obviously it's not a good day to film myself singing. So to spare you the boredom of me whinging, here's another video (after several aborted attempts), this one an attempt at Songbird which was originally written by Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac and made famous more recently by Eva Cassidy and even more recently All Angels. Bear in mind, I don't make any claims to be able to sing anywhere NEAR as well as any of the other versions, this is just little old me doing the best I can after a pretty frustrating afternoon.
So I hope you like it (I thought it sounded ok while I was singing but not so sure now...), and if you have any comments good or bad please don't be shy. I know I'm not A-Mazing, but if you think it sucks, I'd much rather know and not be like those delusional wannabees on X-Factor who are most likely selected for the entertainment value of watching someone who thinks they're awesome crash and burn on TV. [On a side note, I haven't been following X-Factor, but seriously, people of Britain, Frankie Cocozza?? What were you thinking?]
I've also uploaded a video of me singing 'Feeling Good' by Nina Simone (below) - again, it's nothing like as good as the original and it probably sounds a little strange without any backing, but I hope it gives you a flavour for what the song is about.
Haha! My face looks funny at the end of this video! *Chuckles* I might go so far as to recommend you open another window and do something else while listening as I don't half pull silly faces and close my eyes when a high note is coming up - it's the only way of ensuring I actually make it that high!!
And here's the 'Feeling Good' video. I particularly like it cos to me it's about having a fresh start and just feeling really happy, and I think that's how I'd feel if I was getting married to the person I loved :D Plus I know it has been used at weddings before so it's not unsuitable I feel, but you may feel differently of course.
Hi all,
very quick update before I go to bed. Think we're going to drop Accidentally in Love from the potentials list, just because having thought about it, it does have connotations that could be deemed to be a bit inappropriate for a wedding (i.e. I noticed they used the track on Queer as Folk). Never mind, was still fun to sing :)
Instead we've come up with another 2 (or 3) tracks which seem promising:
Songbird by Eva Cassidy/All Angels (I'm not sure who's version I like best)
Love of a Lifetime by Firehouse (extremely acoustic version)
We've also thought of another Firehouse track we both like (I think it's called I only live for you or something along those lines), but it's very melodic and well suited the guitar and a church setting so could be a potential...
Tom's started learning the guitar to Love of a Lifetime and it does sound really nice (albeit reminiscent of the Axis of Awesome's Four Chord Song):
Anyway, just wanted to update you on (minimal) progress to date.
Will prob write more tomorrow as I'm off then (yippee!)
Catch you all soon x
Another post of me potentially embarrassing myself on film for Jem and Steve's wedding.
This time something very different and a bit more up-beat than the last one, it's Counting Crows, Accidentally in Love (from Shrek 2) and I'm singing a capella this time (just thought I'd throw in a bit of musical terminology there to make it look like I know what I'm doing. Did I fool you? Thought not.) Obviously if you do like it, then Tom and I may well play/sing it differently once we had a chance to get together and work stuff out, but this is just to give you an idea...
Ok, so I've decided the best way to figure out what to sing at the wedding was to just swallow my nerves and make some videos of me singing the various options I have so far so you guys can give me some feedback.
The first one is Lonestar, Amazed (I thought of this last night as we were watching my friend Victoria's wedding DVD and it was their first dance).
Please note that I'm not accustomed to video-ing myself so if I look awkward it's because I'm nervous. Plus I pull funny faces while I sing and it's distracting watching myself gurn into my phone. But the sound quality is about as good as I could have hoped for whilst singing over the original on youtube, and even though my timing is a little off in places I'm putting that down to only just learning the words today so I know I can do better!
If you like it, hate it, or just think I've plain crucified it, please just let me know as I don't want to embarrass myself on the day! Honesty is always the best policy :D
Hi everyone! Hope you're all marvelous today :)
And by everyone I think I'm just referring to the four of my lovely friends who've chosen to 'follow' this blog - thanks guys! I'm not sure I really like this whole thing about 'following' people online if I'm honest though. Let's re-phrase, I like that people are even the slightest bit interested in my wafflings, it's just the word I don't like. Just because I'm interested in what someone's got going on in their life, or in their thoughts on something doesn't mean I'm a donkey with a carrot in front of my nose, or a modern disciple...hmm, I wonder what would have happened if Twitter was around in the times of Jesus. Think he'd have had more than 12 'followers', but then they wouldn't have been quite as committed 'followers' as the original dozen methinks.
I actually have a fear of deep water so perhaps that's why I don't 'dive'
I would have been a useless disciple for sure. I'm definitely the kind of person who flits from one interesting thing to the next without really ever acquiring any profound level of understanding. I recently read an article in Psychologies magazine which pretty much categorized me as a 'scanner' rather than a 'diver' (Doctors are divers for example), which is apparently why I find work frustrating as I get bored pretty much as soon as I've grasped the fundamentals of something, and am always looking for something different and more interesting to move on to. It's also why I find the job search process so hard as I don't like the idea of committing myself to something too specific that will prevent me from doing something different a few years down the line. Over the past 10 years I've wanted to be a translator, a civil servant, a Human Resources officer, a singer in a band, a teacher, a book shop owner or librarian, a baker, a venue manager, a Mythbuster, and even a psychologist or counsellor. Go figure.
I've also wanted a tattoo for a good few years now, and have actually (amazingly) settled on a design I like, but have never gone through with it because I can't choose a) where I want it and b) whether I want it in black & white or colour and c) if colour, which colours?? It's a butterfly so the options are pretty much endless, but also if I change my mind (which is a distinct possibility with me) then I might end up hating it. So it's a stalemate for me and the tattoo. *sad face*
But I'm also frustratingly indecisive about small things - I must drive poor Tom mad - for example this blog. If this is the first time you've tuned in so to speak, you won't have noticed anything odd, but in fact I've changed blog design 3 or 4 or even 5 times already. Part of it is probably just exploring all the different templates and backgrounds of the world of blogging which is all a bit new to me anyway, but part of it is that, in this world where customization slides its slippery self ("like an eel..." *Might Boosh reference*) into almost every aspect of our lives, I'm made to feel like this blog, this webpage has to be an absolute reflection of what makes me ME. Which is ridiculous. As I mentioned earlier, and as I state in my profile, I like a whole range of things, and I write about anything from translations, to recipes, to concerts, to art and museums, to musings on why I'm so indecisive, to travel, to ranting about this or that, to tattoos, to weddings, and so on and so forth. It's quite clear I lack focus as it is (unlike Andy's Completion Project which is a brilliant idea if I may say so), so how on earth can one blog design appropriately encompass and reflect all those individual interests and aspects of what makes me me??
Colour = good
So anyway, at the moment I've settled for something a bit simpler than what I did have, and which will hopefully be a bit clearer to read. I like this particular design template mostly because of the name, Awesome Inc - words are powerful guys - but also because it's bright and colourful (I spent a lot of my teenage years dressed in black so have somewhat recently discovered colour again), because it looks kind of like paint which is arty, but it also kind of looks a bit messy which is like me, especially when I've been cooking. So for now it's going to stay this way, but I can't promise I won't get bored and change it again. Sorry, but some things will never change... wait, is that irony...?
c. 1950. www.scienceandsociety.co.uk
So anyway... to change topic from the seemingly self-centred to the selfless, the other thing I find it difficult to make decisions about is Christmas, specifically, choosing presents for my family. If you thought I was crap at making decisions about relatively unimportant things, you should see me at Christmas. Shopping for my large family has always been a bit of a stress for me. Not in the 'this is such a hassle' sense you understand, it's just I put pressure on myself to get nice things that people actually want and I get frustrated if I can't just get on with it and make a decision. But I've come up with a solution which for the last couple of years has served me relatively well. Every year I send the siblings a Facebook message asking if there's anything they'd like in particular and then between the rest of us we can organise ourselves to either get them something really awesome (read, expensive) between all of us, or just make sure that we don't buy the same gift twice.
I know that might seem lazy on my behalf, but you have to remember that I don't live with (or very close to) any of my siblings anymore. I don't know what CDs or DVDs they already have (unless it's something I've bought for them), besides which, they, like me, probably change their minds about what they're 'into' quite frequently anyway. It's hard to keep up with people like that, me being the worst culprit. I suppose that's why I'm notoriously difficult to buy for and for the record I haven't thought of one thing I'd really like for Christmas. It's enough of a stress trying to find presents for other people let alone myself!
But hopefully this year I'm ahead of the game, and soon I'll get some ideas from the siblings (and maybe even Tom - that one I am going to need to put some serious thought into) in plenty of time to find everyone something they would like that I can also afford. I'm going to pop into town today anyway to see if I can find anything for my sister in the beautiful Vintage shop above the gallery (Timeless Vintage), and then hopefully I can get some inspiration for the others as well while I'm out and about.
Hope I've not bored you with my ramblings!
Bye for now!
x
Right as promised, a few updates on the search for the most appropriate wedding-certificate-signing-interval-song (s).
One I really like, is Nico Stai's One October Song. The guitar is just lovely and I really like the rhythm of the song. Only downside is that the original lyrics aren't particularly suited to a wedding, and by not particularly suited I mean they definitely would not be suitable for a wedding. HOWEVER... Jemma has given me free rein to changes lyrics as we see fit to make stuff fit, so below are my alternative lyrics to Nico Stai's One October Song.
I've included a link to the original (yes it was the main love theme for Chuck) so you can see how it sounds in original:
And here are my alternative, wedding-friendly, lyrics:
You know that thing, that you say you sometimes dream of,
I think it's happening to me.
You know they say, that time can take a hold of you,
Well love can take a hold too.
And oh no.... I never really thought... about it.
And oh no..... I never thought it'd happen...to me.
But you and me, we fit together perfectly,
The sort of thing you never see.
Never thought that love was on the cards, but here we are, and
I count my lucky stars
Cos oh no... I never really thought.. about it
And oh no... I never thought it'd happen... to me.
You know that that thing, that you say you sometimes dream of,
I think it's happening to me...
Any immediate thoughts/comments very much appreciated. Even if you think it's boring/rubbish/god awful and never want to hear it again, or if you think the amended lyrics are too cheesy, I honestly won't mind!! At the end of the day it has to be right for Steve and Jem, so whatever they want is fine with me :)
I may have mentioned previously that some friends of ours are getting married in April next year. Apart from the fact that it's cool that these particular friends are getting married, it's also cool because Tom and I are are both involved in the wedding, as usher and bridesmaid respectively. The third thing that is cool about this wedding is that our friends are not the most typical of couples in many ways; they are both into gaming in a big way, so computer games are going to be a predominant theme, and they are also not really into chart music, so they've managed to get hold of a band that will play all sorts of rock music that we all really like. Neither of them is fussed about fancy food either, so it's going to be either fish and chips, or burger and chips for the meal. Much as I occasionally enjoy fancy food, the overall feel I get about this wedding is that it's going be a hell of a lot of fun, as it will be a real reflection of their unique personalities.
Kevin Costner's window entrance http://www.moviedeaths.com
When we celebrated their engagement several months ago, Steve (the groom) was so excited, that he came up with about 12 over-the-top options for HIS fantasy church entrance, which included a tank, smashing through the stained-glass window a la Robin Hood, and an electric guitar playing clergyman. They, strangely enough, have actually secured the latter, although they won't be calling on his musical prowess on this occasion, and neither will he be on fire as Steve had hoped. In general it's safe to say that I am extremely excited about this wedding.
Jemma, the bride to be, is one of the few women in my friend circle who is even less girly than I am. Before finding The Dress (which was in turns an exciting, frustrating, funny, emotional, but eventually hugely rewarding experience) she hasn't worn a dress since Halloween 2009. She lives in jeans and trainers, and is not a fan of high heels, and has promised me and the maid of honour Cassie that we don't have to wear anything we're not comfortable with - so high heels are out. Winner. For a ridiculously clumsy person like myself flat shoes are a sure-fire way to gain my approval.
Companion cube from Portal
I can just picture the horror on everybody's faces as I trip over Jemma's train and either rip a great big hole in expensive dress (not that expensive Steve honestly!), or fall over my own feet and knock them both into their bespoke Portal 2 companion cube cake, or something similarly mortifying. So flat shoes are just fine and dandy for me.
So far being a bridesmaid is turning out to be really good fun, not stressful at all, and I'm really enjoying the opportunity to get to know Jemma and Cassie more, as before the engagement announcement we only really ever hung out as part of the larger group of lad friends. But so far, the extent of my involvement has been to help pick out a dress at the Wedding Show (which we did, so that's a success rate of 100% right there).
So I was pleasantly surprised when, at the end of The Wedding Show at the NEC, while we were relishing in our success of finally finding and putting a deposit down for The Dress, Jemma asked me if I wanted to sing something during the ceremony while her and Steve were signing the paperwork. I was really flattered that Jemma thought to ask, and also really thrilled with the idea of having something additional to do on the day. Plus as Tom plays guitar and will be up at the front of the church already doing whatever it is that ushers do when they're not actively ushering, I suggested he accompany me as well, which gives us a fun project to work on together in our free time.
Now, I haven't sung anything publicly in years but I used to all the time when I was at school and confidence was never really an issue back then, and people were often quite complimentary about my singing abilities. But between daydreaming about what the best song would be and how cool it would be to sing at Jem and Steve's wedding, doubt has started to creep in. I've never thought of myself as a 'Singer', and now that I've had time to think about it I'm starting to worry that I'm just going to humiliate myself, X-Factor style, in front of a large group of people, most of whom I won't know. It's all very well listening to Bon Jovi songs and imagining how awesome it will sound, but if in reality it sounds like a big pile of poo, well that would be pretty embarrassing.
My High School singing days are ten years in the past, plus five years as a mildly raucous student have done a fair bit of damage to my voice. I can't reach the same notes I used to be able to and I genuinely don't know how long I can maintain notes anymore, as the only singing practice I get these days is when I'm on my own in the car (see my previous post, Les Passantes). On top of this, when I'm starting to feel run down, one of the first things to go is my voice, so I'm also worried about the possibility of sounding more like Tom Waits than Charlotte Church. Or, if we choose a song whose lyrics need altering to be more 'wedding-friendly', what if I forget and sing the wrong words... I could go on and on, but I don't want to give my paranoia any more opportunity to ruin a perfectly nice opportunity.
Tom and I just need to focus on finding a handful of songs that could be appropriate for the ceremony, learn them, put them to Steve and Jem for final approval, and then just practise them until they're spot on. So, this is the real purpose of this particular post, to help me narrow down the search for good songs for the interval.
At the moment my list of Potentials (like Buffy's trainee Slayers in the final season) is this (in no order of preference):
Bon Jovi - In These Arms
Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You (lyrics need changing)
Lifehouse - Hanging By a Moment
Lifehouse - Breathing
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (words would need changing)
Aerosmith - I don't Wanna Miss a Thing
Adam Sandler - I wanna Grow Old With You (from the Wedding Singer, which I watched for the first time with Jem and Cassie the night before The Wedding Show)
Ben Folds - Luckiest (not sure if it's within my vocal range but can give it a go anyway)
Nico Stai - One October Song (was on the Chuck soundtrack, and I've already amended the lyrics)
Something by Avril Lavigne (Steve really likes her)
Something by Jimmy Eat World (Tom really likes them and apparently Steve does to)
During a period of insomnia I also started working on a translation of another french song I really like, but it might be a bit too 'poetic' for Jem and Steve's taste. I'll probably post it up on here once I've had a chance to work on the translation as it sounds quite awkward in places at the moment.
So anyway, progress-wise, we're not very far into it. Tom had a look at the guitar chords for In These Arms today but we didn't get very far to be honest (it's been a bit of a lazy day in general). I had a look at the lyrics and watched a couple of acoustic versions on Youtube and think I could work it out to fit in with my vocal range without too much difficulty.
I shall most certainly write more as we progress, but in the meantime, any suggestions would be very welcome!
Had such a nice day off today so far. Poor Tom has to work all weekend so he got up for work around 7:30 while I stayed in bed and snoozed until 11 - even I was surprised, normally the light through the blinds makes it near enough impossible to carry on sleeping. I needed to get some bits and bobs from town for a moussaka I'm cooking today for some friends so once I realised how late it was I got up straight away and headed in to town. It's such a beautiful, crisp autumn day that it's hard not to feel cheerful. Plus market day in town is always bustling and it's so good to live somewhere where there are always people out and about on the weekend, doing their weekly shop, or heaven forbid Christmas shopping (don't get me started), bumping into friends, or just relaxing with a tea or coffee in one of the many cafes in town. I dropped off some post, and followed the sound of brass band music into the centre of town towards the market.
I haven't bought food from a market probably since I lived in France so it felt really nice to be doing it again, and hearing the banter of the stall holders trying to sell their peppers and courgettes, as well as some other produce that I didn't recognise. I like the idea of supporting the market, as although supermarkets are convenient, sometimes the produce isn't all that good quality, and I prefer to go to independent shops when I can. There's been a campaign to 'Keep Our Town Special' over the last few years to try and fend off Tescos and other big developments, which I think are definitely taking place now which is a shame. I know there are plans to rejuvenate the market hall, so hopefully that will keep people coming.
After browsing the stalls for a while, I paid for and was handed my aubergines in the obligatory blue market-stall bag and headed over to the speciality cook shop. This is another of my favourite places in town. I love just wondering around, checking out the colourful and sugary cake decorating stuff (a diabetic's worst nightmare), drooling over the shelves and shelves of Bridgewater, Denby, and Portmeirion crockery, playing with the bendy silicon cookware (silicone pastry brushes in particular always make me smile with their neon greens, oranges, pinks, and blues, and their silly tentacle-like 'bristles') and watching the flat screen TV displays advertising the latest cooking gadgets. Part of me chuckles inwardly at the over-engineered crap that people buy these days, (banana holders are one of my top sources of amusement), and part of me wishes I could afford to fill my kitchen with precisely that crap.
After finding what I came for (measuring spoons, not very exciting I'm afraid. Until I can afford to part with the cash for a hand-blender, I doubt I'll ever spend much in the shop), I popped around the corner to Sainsbury's to find the spices I needed for the moussaka and a few toilettries, and then once that was sorted I went in search of a coffee. Once again I followed the sound of cheerful brass music and stumbled upon a group of 4 blokes playing trumpets, saxaphones, and accordions. It took me a little while to figure it out but they were playing a dancey version of the 'Winner Takes it All' by Abba. An old gent in a pale yellow shirt and his wife were watching from the street across from them and the husband was stamping his foot energetically in time to the beat on the little stereo the musicians had brought with them. This amused me so much I had to text my Mum to tell her (she loves Abba) and I distracted myself to the point of walking completely past the turning I needed for the coffee shop I wanted.
Normally I go to Booka, which is a lovely book shop which also serves tea, coffee and a selection of yummy cakes, but I wanted to try some of the other cafes as they all look really nice. Up on the same street as the market I could see cafe Aroma which was already pretty full with a fair few groups sitting outside, so I carried on up to Radio Cafe which looked really nice and last time I walked past it had a really delicious looking food menu. As I didn't want food I wasn't sure if they were going to be funny about me just having a coffee outside, but the board said they did the best coffee in town so I went in anyway. The walls are adorned with a few stylish pieces, and to my delight they had the Financial Times Life & Arts supplement.
I don't normally read newspapers that often, but I used to read the FT quite a lot while I was studying management at uni and they do have really interesting articles. I asked the young lad at the counter if I could have a coffee outside and they offered to bring it to me which I wasn't expecting. The gentleman who had greeted me as I entered brought me my coffee and I sat for a very pleasant half an hour or so reading the paper in the sunshine, listening to music from one of the pubs, and watching people go by. Reading the weekend paper reminds me of being a student, as me and my friends used to go to Pembroke College every now and then for Sunday brunch, and they always had a good selection of papers.
Eventually the same guy who'd brought me my coffee came out to collect my empty cup and said I could stay and read in the sun as long as I wanted, which was really nice but I wondered if I was being a bit cheeky just ordering coffee, and as I wanted to get back and start cooking I thought I'd better relinquish my seat and headed home.
Speaking of cooking I'd better make a start on the moussaka!
