WWI | private universe timeline

story of a song

There was a kid called Joseph,
He’d been dealt a bad hand:
Was born poor and a bastard,
But grew up to be a preacher,
Made a new friend called Franz.

Joe went over to Franz house,
Said: see this poem I once wrote.
I feel like it’s got something,
Can you please put some music
To my words?

Looking down at the paper
And the title read: Silent Night

The first time they performed it
It was Christmas Eve.
They sang it together,
Franz played the guitar –
I can see them before me.

And this big shot organ builder
Fell in love with the song,
Brought it back to his home town
Where some folk singers heard it
And they spread it around.

Slightly changed each time it was sung, was Silent Night.

When I’m down I just think about it –
How they must have felt when they performed it,
If the choir cried when they sang it,
If anyone in the church that day said –
Well I like the older stuff better,
They should do more upbeat tunes

It could have been a day like any other day,
When Joseph would be preachin’ and Franz would be playin’.
9 out of 10 days are slightly disappointing,
But on the tenth, you see that light beckoning.
They had no idea that Silent Night would be Silent Night

Sing it with me.
Let your voice carry from all those miles away.
If you sing loud enough, my microphone might record you,
It might record you.

Silent night, holy night
Silent night, holy night
Silent night, holy night
Silent night, holy night

In World War One, 1914
Because it was Christmas
There was a short truce on the battlefield.

Both sides laid down their weapons,
Sang carols in the night
And the day after
Like nothing had happened, they continued the fight.

There was only one song
Known to soldiers on both sides
And for a second
All was calm, and all was bright

Education:

Annual (birthday related) bout of soul-searching and ceiling staring.

Music:

Films:

В кино:

Wonder Woman (8/10): Идеалист на войне, take №..
Война в данном случай – первая мировая, идеалист – дочь Зевса Амазонка.

Interlude №1

Whenever possible – choose WWI as your backdrop:

First you’ll get to crash your heroes dreams of brave new world of science, technology, progress and freedom.
Then you mow them into the ground with unheard of weapons, products of their precious “progress”.
You may even grant them some kind of a happy ending, out of generosity of your heart, for all their troubles… Your audience though knows – 20 years later, just in time for their children, experience will be repeated.

ALL NEW! Improved!

Дома:

Bend it like Beсkham (8/10): Indian girl wants to play football, delightful film.
10 things I hate about you (7/10): Shakespeare in an american school – entertaining enough.
Duplicity (8/10): Another Clive Owen film. Corporate espionage, love story, non-linear storytelling, some genuine witty dialogue and suspense.

TV-Shows:

None.

Books:

Now, that was unusual.

I ever read three personal blogs in their entirety:

Аuthor of the first one was a great match in terms of personality and hidden intensity of reactions, though our situations, interests, tastes and life aspirations were wildly different;
a curious read along the lines of “what if?”, though quickly our courses diverged too far away.
Author of the second one I shared a lot of interests with, as well as compatible sense of humour and life outlook, our differences offered an opportunity of seeing new tangents for familiar problems;
eventually, we met in real life and I still consider her my friend.
third time is a charm, right?

Travelogues drew me, New Madrid notes got me hooked, account of birthday vacation spent on a remote Norway island crossed by Arctic circle forced me to go back to the very start.
I had to escape my own head for awhile and by chance found a perfect host.

Watching past unfold is at times heartbreaking.

Interlude №2

I should write more often. For the last 5 years my exploits were well documented in photos, yet, every time, I fail at writing up anything. At times I was busy, sometimes content was too personal or I saw no need – but now I do see some worth in it, having experienced it for myself.
Maybe, 10 years from now, someone too will be able to live vicariously through my words, or, at least, cherry-pick a few experiences for their bucket-list.
Allow me to share some bullet-points:

travel alone (10/10, nothing compares)
365days project of any kind (8/10, diversely-rewarding experience)
one-of-a-kind cultural events (7/10, repeat often)
frequent change of residence (?/10, very arbitrary; moving, packing & curating your possessions are essential skills though)
being broke (5/10, invaluable for developing financial discipline)
being stuck at home with a sprained ankle (4/10, enforces preparedness for medical emergencies/hazards) – establishing it as a bi-annual tradition is an overkill, frankly.
heartbreak (3/10, educational, can be substituted with literature if empathy levels are good)
holding vigil over your dying father (2/10, won’t recommend, but someone has to do it)
being late to see your grandmother alive (0/10, skip it)

Dolls:

Milim Луна в качестве подарка на ДР, Питер Паркер от Tonner от того же продавца за компанию.

Еще несколько покупок приедут в июле.

Культурные мероприятия:

08.06.2017 – Выставка к 175-летию со дня рождения В.В.Верещагина: Truly exceptional.
23.06.2017 – Концерт в Малом зале Филармонии “Время арфы”: Александр Болдачёв (арфа), Семен Гуревич (скрипка), Вероника Кожухарова (саксофон)
I heard things you wouldn’t believe: boy played harp, forced audience of die-hard classical fans (median age ~65 years old) to go nuts over his own electronic (heavy on samples!) music.
Other highlights of the evening were solo performance of Stravinsky’ Petrushka ballet suite, Imperial March from Star Wars and Piazzolla’ Libertango.

Настроение:

To live happily, one has to live in hiding.

French proverb

Tag Archives: WWI

all is calm, all is bright

06.2017 | monthly review