5 on Friday -- Set 264 -- International Day of Happiness Edition

Spinning Friday tunes since 2010...

For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.

Today is the International Day of Happiness.

This is only the third annual celebration of this initiative, which seeks to balance the persistent drive to measure a nation's or a people's success in terms of economic output, with its citizens' sense of wellbeing.

One could be extremely jaded and point to a deep savings in national spending for such a measurement. After all, when a population is unhappy, there is more individual use of alcohol and recreational drugs, more medical costs to treat addiction and its ripple effects, more lost days at work, and if the unrest is at high levels, more risk for riots, which adds to spending on police forces and infrastructure rebuilding.

I feel that the International Day of Happiness is a combination of those factors as well as the real desire for nations to recognize that higher individual happiness leads to a higher-performing nation, overall.

You may have encountered this line of thinking in the corporate world already. A happier workforce, as it turns out, is far more energized and of course profitable.

  

This year, the Day of Happiness is looking to build "the world's happiest playlist". Here is my 5 on Friday contribution. All of the tracks remind me of a time in my life when things were hopeful, even when there were mountain-sized obstacles to climb.

1 - Quantum Utopia - Goran Bregovic featuring Eugene Hutz 

2 - All This Time - Sting 

3 - E=MC2 - Big Audio Dynamite 

4 - Temptation Waits - Garbage

5 - Bliss - Muse 

5 on Friday - Set 15

My love of world music brings me to today's set.

I realize I've been drawn to the sounds of other cultures for my whole life. I adore listening to people speak in other languages - just adore it. That's why I can't bear to listen to an English-dubbed foreign film. No sir. No way, no how. I need to hear the original actor's voice, his emotions, his phrasing - everything.

When I was a kid and listened rapturously to my Nutcracker full-length album, I loved the Arabian dance and Russian dance best.

And so it goes. I'm constantly drawn to pop music collaborations with world music. For today's 5 on Friday, I'm featuring two songs that embrace India, one that reaches out to Bulgaria, one that joins with Algeria and one that melds a Latin feel with a Russian Gypsy traditional folk tune.

To check out more great tunes, drop by Travis' blog at Trav's Thoughts.

1 - Within You Without You - The Beatles

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you

- George Harrison, 1967



2 - Rocket's Tail - Kate Bush with Trio Bulgarka

And dressed as a rocket on Waterloo Bridge
Nobody seems to see me
Then with the fuse in my hand
And now
Shooting into the night

And still as a rocket I land in the river
Was it me said you were crazy?

I put on my cloudiest suit
Size 5 lightening boots
Cause I am a rocket on fire
Look at me go with my tail on fire

- Kate Bush, 1989



3 - Desert Rose - Sting with Cheb Mami

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in pain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of rain
I lift my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love

- Sting, 1999



4 - La Isla Bonita / Lela Pala Tute - Madonna with Eugene Hutz and Sergey Ryabtsev from Gogol Bordello

I want to be
Where the sun warms the sky
When it's time for siesta
You can watch them go by

Beautiful faces
No cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy
And a boy loves a girl

- Bruce Gaitsch/Madonna/Patrick Leonard/Susan Leonard, 1987
- performed at Live Earth, 2007

Lela lela lela
Lela pala tute
Giascanamés
Del balla late

Lela lela lela
Lela pala tute
Jas kana medess
Medess anda latay

Translation:

Get her, get her, get her
Get her for yourself

And then, when you die
You'll die for her

- Traditional Gypsy song, performed at Live Earth, 2007



5 - Chiggy Wiggy - Kylie Minogue with Akshay Kumar

Every man who ever sees me
Wants to hold my hand
And be the one to get me
To say, oh, I do

They swear eternal undying devotion
Yes, they swear that they will
Love me forever, love me true

But I don't need a shining star
And I don't want to be rescued
No, neither frog nor charming prince
Nor my summers barbequed

- Abbas Tyrewala, 2009



Naquility says Before hearing Chiggy Wiggy by Kylie Minogue I was going to say Desert Rose was my favorite of the five here. Can't say that now. I love Chiggy Wiggy.

5 on Friday - Set 10

Welcome to my first single-artist showcase for 5 on Friday. The clear choice for me is to give this honor to Gogol Bordello.

I'm still deeply infatuated with this new discovery. Six months ago, I didn't know this group existed, even though they've been together, recording and touring since 1999. But a series of events led me to them and there's been no looking back since.

I featured lead singer Eugene Hutz in a post last October over at my group blog, Popculturedivas. There are songs and clips featured in this post: Nothing Attracts Women Quite Like the Unattainable Man

In November I featured the lyrics from Letter to Mother as a Poetry Train Monday post while I was deep into NaNoWriMo. I also included the full song: Letter to Mother

Following my triumphant finish to the 50,000-word mark, I featured Forces of Victory in this post: 13 Things That Kept Me Going During NaNoWriMo. I dedicated the same song to the Canadian Olympic hockey team for my third set for 5 on Friday.

For my first Thursday Thirteen for 2010, I featured Eugene's offshoot group J.U.F. as well as Gogol Bordello: 13 Songs to Get Your Blood Pumping For All of Those Get-Fit Resolutions

This new group of songs debuts at A Piece of My Mind for my tenth set. This meme is hosted by Travis at Trav's Thoughts.

1 - Avenue B

Eugene speaks about growing up before the song begins at the 1:20 mark. Keep in mind that Eugene has a habit of singing in English, Ukrainian and Roma (Gypsy,) and all in the same song!

Sitting in a Russian bathhouse on Avenue B
No matter how much we sweat we just can't agree

Tall little Sally, my darling
Your panic's so charming
Your shopping techniques are amazing
Celebrity erudition disarming

- Eugene Hutz




2 - Ultimate

If we are here not to do
What you and I wanna do
And go forever crazy with it
Why the hell we are even here?

- Eugene Hutz




3 - My Strange Uncles From Abroad

Bright open eyes
That are still looking
They are still finding
A few unpoisoned hearts
No matter where you are exiled
You are exiled

- Eugene Hutz




4 - Oh No

Oh yeah, oh no, it doesn't have to be so
It is possible any time anywhere
Even without any dough
Oh yeah, oh no, it doesn't have to be so
Forces of the creative mind unstoppable!

- Eugene Hutz




5 - Super Taranta!

Second time I read the Bible
I was thinking, 'It's alright, man'
I was thinking najdedajdaj
I v dushe vse na gitarkah

Ai, ai, shadows of forbidden existence
Come with me, to the future now!

- Eugene Hutz



Linda says This is what I love about Travis' meme - those are five songs that I had never heard of and never would have if you hadn't shared them with us!

Travis says I really enjoyed the first video, listening to the guy speak about his influences. I think it demonstrates how a culture can stagnate if creativity and artistry is never nurtured.

Bond says Interesting find indeed.

Thursday Thirteen - 141 - 13 Views of 2009 at A Piece of My Mind

Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes took a look back at her blog through 2009 last week - and I so enjoyed her post, I decided to borrow her format for my own blog this week.

Clicking on the month will take you to the entire post I've excerpted here.


1 - January 2009 - One of the things I'll be looking forward to is a new tradition I've begun with my two dads. Both of them passed away recently. When the first birthday for my dad rolled around on Dec. 29th, 2007 - the first without him - my husband and I were in Toronto. It's my intention to fill a day when my thoughts naturally turn to missing someone so very, very precious with something that brings me great joy. And so last Dec. 29th began My Date With My Dad - a glorious matinee watching my favorite ballet company with my Dad along with me, sharing my joy.


2 - February 2009 - Welcome to my Second Blogiversary Celebration! Come in. Find a seat. I've got a show planned that celebrates life as I love to live it. And I'm grateful to you, my blog readers and fellow bloggers, for sharing this life with me. First up is Gene Wilder singing Pure Imagination from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. My life just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't fueled by imagination.


3 - March 2009 - I got a good writing day in, which included some internet research on methods to treat cuts that my little laundry maid Helen would use in 1840's Van Diemen's Land. I settled upon tea, as it fit seamlessly with the preceding scene where three characters have a rather surreal tea party. And I realized all the information I just gathered would make a fabulous post for my Blog Improvement Project. Et voila! The Common Tea Bag and Its Uncommon Usefulness in First Aid.


4 - April 2009 - For my second interview here at A Piece of My Mind, I've got Thomma Lyn Grindstaff joining me from her home in East Tennessee in the United States. A big Down East welcome, Thomma Lyn from me here on Canada's east coast.

Question - Your novel Mirror Blue releases May 1st. Will you be doing anything special on that day?

Answer - I'd thought of having a Virtual Book Release party on that day, but my hubby and I are planning a celebratory hike on the mountain!




5 - May 2009 - I've got a busy weekend. Tonight, after an extremely challenging week at work, I had a dress rehearsal for tomorrow's choir concert. Tomorrow morning I'll be hopping on the bus and heading for Spring Garden Road, to have an afternoon at the ballet - La Bayadere. After the ballet, it's hurry-scurry home, get changed and drive my husband and me to my choir concert, where he'll watch from the audience.


6 - June 2009 - For Summer Stock Sunday, I've got my lovely peonies which I transported from their original home in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia when we moved to Cole Harbour eight years ago. As we packed up the house to move to Cole Harbour, I made one final walk-around to make sure we had everything. I looked at the garden to make my goodbye - and realized I hadn't dug up the peony plant. I grabbed a broken, jagged broom handle from the trash and started digging madly for the peony bulbs. I plunged my hands into the earth and felt around until I could grasp the tubers. I yanked as hard as I could until a few broke free and came to the surface. I threw them in a box with some dirt and we slipped them onto the back of the truck.


7 - July 2009 - If you're anything like me, the idea that 39 tall ships will sail into my home port of Halifax Harbour is enough to send you into paroxysms of joy. I have always been attracted to these majestic ladies of the sea for as long as I can remember. So when the first Tall Ships Festival arrived here 25 years ago in the summer of 1984, my sister and I went down to the transformed waterfront filled with awe, our necks cricked up to stare at the forest of masts, the elaborate rigging, to see the faces of sailors from all over the world and hear languages spoken we'd only heard in movies.

We didn't know that we were walking towards the most incredible summer of our lives - the Summer of My Sister's Russian Sailor.


8 - August 2009 - I've been a form of weather vane for several decades, a sort of Doppler radar as far as the weather was concerned. I've felt an oncoming low pressure system, even when it was a few days away. The really bad storms are just giant low pressure systems, and my degree of pain was unrelenting for up to 10 days at a time.

For some reason earlier this year, I began thinking to myself: I resign from my weather vane job. The Weather Network can do it.

I started acupuncture for my migraines in June. There's another big storm coming up along the eastern seaboard toward Nova Scotia this weekend. Tropical Storm Danny. I first heard about it on the news in the middle of the week. I stared at the TV screen in confusion. Whenever a storm system appears on the weather report, I'm already feeling it. But this was actual news to me.


9 - September 2009 - I'm currently reading Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer for the Dewey Reading Challenge. The writing is so exceptional that I could craft found poems from every single page in this 382-page book. Here is one little nugget.

Terribly Lucky

By her twelfth birthday
My great-great-great-great-great-grandmother
Had received at least one
Proposal of marriage
From every citizen in Trachimbrod

She forced a blush
Batted her long eyelashes
Said to each, Perhaps no
Yankel says I am still too young

They are so silly, turning back to Yankel


10 - October 2009 - A few weeks ago I didn't even know who Eugene Hutz was. But I'm reading Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer for a reading challenge, and even though I hadn't finished the book I asked my husband to bring home the DVD of the film adaptation from Blockbuster, where he works. Playing the Ukrainian translater for New York-Jewish Jonathan was Eugene Hutz, turning in a remarkable performance for a non-actor. Now I'm quite obsessed with him.

I started thinking about Eugene's charismatic hold over women. I believe it's his Unattainable Man persona. Who could be more unattainable than a part-Gypsy globetrotter whose undying passion is Music?


11 - November 2009 - Whistleblower diplomat 'Richard Colvin sent senior Canadian officials no fewer than 17 messages in 2006 and 2007 warning that Afghan interrogators used torture as 'standard operating procedure,' that Canadian troops were handing over 'a lot of innocent people,' and that could make them complicit in war crimes. He also copied more than 70 people.' (Toronto Star)

'I find it insulting to listen to the governing party in Canada trying to discredit someone who is standing up for the Canadian sense of human justice.' (Rod Sarty, letter to the editor, Chronicle Herald)


12 - December 2009 - 13 Things That Kept Me Going During NaNoWriMo:

Stewie Griffin ('Victory is mine!')
Gogol Bordello - Forces of Victory ('I can't go on/I will go on')
My fellow bloggers who also did NaNo
My fellow Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada sisters who also did NaNo





13 - Since we don't have thirteen months in the year - although, think of all the stuff we could cross off of our collective lists if we did - here's an extra post that's a favorite of mine from 2009:

13 Reasons Why It's So Much Fun To Go To The Writers' Retreat

Thursday Thirteen - 140 - 13 Songs to Get Your Blood Pumping For All of Those Get-Fit Resolutions

All of these are guaranteed to make me groove. Enjoy!



1 - J.U.F. - Super Rifle (Balkan Express Train Robbery)




2 - Gwen Stefani - Don't Get it Twisted




3 - Beck - Timebomb




4 - Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way




5 - Jimi Hendrix - Dolly Dagger




6 - Lady Gaga - Love Game

I just couldn't use the official Lady Gaga video for this. The True Blood version is the one that's on my playlist. I need Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) to play the love game. Unfortunately, looking at Lady Gaga takes away from my ability to enjoy her music.




7 - Sean Paul - Get Busy




8 - Blackstrobe - I'm a Man




9 - Gogol Bordello - Not a Crime




10 - OutKast - Hey Ya!




11 - Kylie Minogue and Akshay Kumar - Chiggy Wiggy




12 - Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca




13 - Tito Puente - Tito Timbalero

Americanising Desi says You have my blood pumpin :D

Hazel says Oh my Livin La Vida Loca! :-)

Hootin' Anni says Jimi Hendrix!!! ♥

Poetry Train Monday - 127 - Letter to Mother

I'm deep in the midst of the writing marathon known as NaNoWriMo. I can't possibly write any poetry for the remainder of this month, not even found poetry, because that too requires a calm, clear focus to hear what the found words are saying to me.

So I'll share with you some lyrics I really like from mad genius Eugene Hutz, the songwriter for Gogol Bordello.

Yesterday I tappity-tapped a record-breaking (for me) 4000 words into my NaNo first draft novel. So Eugene, give me a hand here.














Photo by Pavla Fleischer


Letter to Mother


The noise in this joint is unearthly
And soon I awkwardly say,
'Oh look, there it is, my whole life in the ashtray
I can go back to her that way.'

Cause in blue darkness of the night
She keeps imagining one thing:
Someone stuck his Finnish knife
Under my heart

I know that even though she doesn't show it
She grieves sorely for her son
And often walks out to the road
In her old fashioned coat

And in blue darkness of the night
She keeps imagining one thing:
Someone stuck his Finnish knife
Under my heart

I know she's there grieving sorely for me
I know she's there turning grey for me
When I come back she'll forgive me
So motherly, motherly, motherly

- Eugene Hutz, 1999



For more poetry, Ride the Poetry Train!

Blog Blast for Peace - Dona Nobis Pacem 3 - Grant Us Peace - Scroll down for Thursday Thirteen

Click to enlarge Peace Globe



Welcome, brothers! ((hug)) Welcome, sisters! ((hug))

It's Blog Blast for Peace Day in the blogosphere.

Bloggers from all over the world are sending their desire for peace into the universe today. Join us by visiting the hundreds of bloggers taking part in this beautiful event.

Just CLICK on Blog Blast for Peace and you will discover
a world where hope reigns,
hands reach across the globe in friendship
and voices rise in glorious harmony.

At the main site, you'll find a Complete Alphabetical List of Participants in the left-hand sidebar - click on the 'plus' sign and this will open up to links to every post taking part in the Blog Blast.

For my Peace Globe today I'm featuring a band who epitomizes my own philosophy regarding world peace.

If you're busy playing music, dancing, singing and celebrating life, there is no room for aggression, destruction and suffering.

As this band likes to sing: Party! Party! Party! Party! Party! Party! After party!

Gogol Bordello is a band made of members from all around the world:

Ukraine
Russia
Ethiopia
Ecuador
Israel
United States
United Kingdom

They come from a wide assortment of ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Eastern European, Gypsy or Romani, African, Indigenous people of the Americas and Asian.

There are men and women.

Their ages range from 30 years old to 54.

If you watch the clip, you'll catch the infectious delirium of joy this group exudes. The crowd is jumping!

Lead singer Eugene Hutz sings in a mixture of English, Ukrainian and Gypsy/Romani. Here are the lyrics from the song that I offer to the Blog Blast today:

Mishto means "Good"

Sha bu'et kruto blya! Sha bu'et kruto! means "This is gonna kick ass!"

T´aven saste taj baxtale means "You should be healthy and lucky"

Is this what we really need?

What if this is my only chance?

What if this is my holy war?

What if this is my stupid dance?

What the f#%k you waiting for?

Let's go!

I'm blogging at Popculturedivas - Won't you join me?

I'm over at Popculturedivas today.

I'm exploring my new obsession - Ukranian-born Gypsy musician and actor Eugene Hutz.







VA Bookworm says Ooh! He was in Everything Is Illuminated! I like him too!

Sheila says Kinda cute in a weird sorta way. Hmmm.