My gunsteling gesang is Martin Luther se "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" / "'n Vaste burg is onse God."
Wanneer ek sterf en iemand is lus vir 'n okkasie, dan is hierdie een van die liede, vernaam die Afrikaanse weergawe, wat ek sou geniet. Nie dat ek dit sal "geniet" in die letterklike sin van die woord nie -- ek glo nie 'n mens het enige voortlewende bewussyn na jou dood nie; ek praat van "geniet" in die figuurlike sin.
Nog 'n gunsteling is "What Wondrous Love Is This?"
'n Ander gunsteling is "Flea as a Bird". Sjoe!, was dit nou 'n gesukkel om 'n ordentlike weergawe op YouTube op te spoor. In die volgende videotjie kan jy darem die basiese deuntjie hoor.
Onderaan is 'n blues-versie:
What is jou gunsteling gesang ("hymn")?
Aliens
If you could send a message to aliens (of the extra-terrestrial kind), what would you say to them? I like the letter by Hank of the Vlogbrothers to aliens. He does a really good summary of the human species.
If you are living in a foreign country, like myself, then the term "alien" is applied to you. My identification card in Korea states "Alien Registration Card".
So recently a fellow alien was videotaped while he was shouting in a bus and beating up an old Korean man. The video has gone viral in Korean online video sites like Daum TV-pot and has also made its way onto YouTube. The man apparently misunderstood the Korean guy who was saying something along the lines of 내가 여기 앉아, meaning "you can sit here." 내가, which means "you" is pronounced "nega" which sounds a little like "nigga", i.e. "nigger." So the African-American guy apparently thought the old Korean man was calling him a nigger and went bonkers. This is an apparent case of cultural miscommunication.
But not so fast. The African-American dude shouts back at the old man in Korean 개새끼야, which is the equivalent to "fuck you!" So this guy took the time to learn very offensive Korean swear words, doing it with perfect pronunciation, but he cannot understand something simple like 내가 여기 앉아?! Let's assume that this is true, that he doesn't know what 내가 means, but knows what 개새끼야 means, what does that tell us about his character? For him it was more of a priority to learn to cuss in Korean that to learn the simple pronoun "you"?
Don't tell me its because black people experience racial discrimination in Korea and so that excuses his behaviour. Just two days ago I again experienced racial discrimination myself on the subway. I went to take a seat next to someone in the train and immediately this Korean person got up and went to sit in another seat. I've experienced this enough times to see it for what it is -- racism. Yes, some Koreans are racist and not only towards black people. Still, even though I felt offended by the woman's behaviour I didn't shout 개새끼야 at her. Why? Not because I didn't feel offended -- I do -- but because that is not the kind of person I am. Let's, for the sake of the argument, assume that the Korean old man did call this African-American guy nigger. Does that really warrant that kind of rage and violence? Seriously, this guy needs some Jesus-Love to heal his heart, for he must have experienced the worst kind of racism, oppression, hatred and torture for that word to trigger such a reaction.
In one easy swoop this "tough guy" has reinforced the stereotypes of foreigners in Korea being unmannered, disrespectful and uncivilised. His actions has strengthened the stereotype against black people as violent and barbaric, and he has made my life and the lives of all other foreigner teachers in Korea much more difficult. I'm ashamed on behalf of all foreign residence in Korea. I feel serious pity towards all black foreigners that this guy is representing in the eyes of Koreans. Not to mention another stereotype, that of Americans as arrogant and bombastic also strengthened by this loud and dirty-mouthed individual.
Onto another alien: Lady Gaga. She came out with a rather nice country music-influenced song, "Yoü And I". Did you see the music video? Disturbing and sexy in a mermaid-fetish / Frankenstein-fetish / necrophilia kind of way. Apart from a secret mermaid fantasy, not really my kind of thing. I like, however, the cover by Korean-American David Choi and Lisa Lavie. Not two voices that I would have imagined to go well together, but they pull it off pretty well.
The most beautiful part of the song is that line: "muscle cars drove a truck through my heart."
An all time favourite "alien song" is Sting's "Englishman in New York". "I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York." I sometimes choose this song when I'm singing in a noraebang (karaoke).
A random post on random thoughts about random aliens would probably be incomplete without a list of some of the aliens I find most attractive: Leeloo from Fifth Element; Neytiri from Avatar; Sil from Species; Seven-of-Nine / Borg from Star Trek; T-X from Terminator 3; Leela from Futurama; Alien from Alien; and Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who / Torchwood.
If you are living in a foreign country, like myself, then the term "alien" is applied to you. My identification card in Korea states "Alien Registration Card".
So recently a fellow alien was videotaped while he was shouting in a bus and beating up an old Korean man. The video has gone viral in Korean online video sites like Daum TV-pot and has also made its way onto YouTube. The man apparently misunderstood the Korean guy who was saying something along the lines of 내가 여기 앉아, meaning "you can sit here." 내가, which means "you" is pronounced "nega" which sounds a little like "nigga", i.e. "nigger." So the African-American guy apparently thought the old Korean man was calling him a nigger and went bonkers. This is an apparent case of cultural miscommunication.
But not so fast. The African-American dude shouts back at the old man in Korean 개새끼야, which is the equivalent to "fuck you!" So this guy took the time to learn very offensive Korean swear words, doing it with perfect pronunciation, but he cannot understand something simple like 내가 여기 앉아?! Let's assume that this is true, that he doesn't know what 내가 means, but knows what 개새끼야 means, what does that tell us about his character? For him it was more of a priority to learn to cuss in Korean that to learn the simple pronoun "you"?
Don't tell me its because black people experience racial discrimination in Korea and so that excuses his behaviour. Just two days ago I again experienced racial discrimination myself on the subway. I went to take a seat next to someone in the train and immediately this Korean person got up and went to sit in another seat. I've experienced this enough times to see it for what it is -- racism. Yes, some Koreans are racist and not only towards black people. Still, even though I felt offended by the woman's behaviour I didn't shout 개새끼야 at her. Why? Not because I didn't feel offended -- I do -- but because that is not the kind of person I am. Let's, for the sake of the argument, assume that the Korean old man did call this African-American guy nigger. Does that really warrant that kind of rage and violence? Seriously, this guy needs some Jesus-Love to heal his heart, for he must have experienced the worst kind of racism, oppression, hatred and torture for that word to trigger such a reaction.
In one easy swoop this "tough guy" has reinforced the stereotypes of foreigners in Korea being unmannered, disrespectful and uncivilised. His actions has strengthened the stereotype against black people as violent and barbaric, and he has made my life and the lives of all other foreigner teachers in Korea much more difficult. I'm ashamed on behalf of all foreign residence in Korea. I feel serious pity towards all black foreigners that this guy is representing in the eyes of Koreans. Not to mention another stereotype, that of Americans as arrogant and bombastic also strengthened by this loud and dirty-mouthed individual.
Onto another alien: Lady Gaga. She came out with a rather nice country music-influenced song, "Yoü And I". Did you see the music video? Disturbing and sexy in a mermaid-fetish / Frankenstein-fetish / necrophilia kind of way. Apart from a secret mermaid fantasy, not really my kind of thing. I like, however, the cover by Korean-American David Choi and Lisa Lavie. Not two voices that I would have imagined to go well together, but they pull it off pretty well.
The most beautiful part of the song is that line: "muscle cars drove a truck through my heart."
An all time favourite "alien song" is Sting's "Englishman in New York". "I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York." I sometimes choose this song when I'm singing in a noraebang (karaoke).
A random post on random thoughts about random aliens would probably be incomplete without a list of some of the aliens I find most attractive: Leeloo from Fifth Element; Neytiri from Avatar; Sil from Species; Seven-of-Nine / Borg from Star Trek; T-X from Terminator 3; Leela from Futurama; Alien from Alien; and Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who / Torchwood.
Don't Smoke in Bed & A Poem About the Assassination of a Heart
One of my favourite songs is "Don't Smoke in Bed." I'm not sure why this song resonates with me, because I do not smoke and am unlikely to be romantically involved with someone that does smoke. Nevertheless, there is something wonderfully touching about the lyrics of this song. Even as the narrator is leaving her husband, she still cares for him, she still reminds him not to smoke in bed.
My favourite version is of course the one by Nina Simone, whom I've mentioned on this blog before (see here and here).
Apart from Nina Simone, the other person with whom the song is probably usually associated is Peggy Lee. I especially like the instrumentation in this version.
Patti Smith, the musician partly responsible for the punk rock genre, also does a riviting performance of this old jazz classic.
A more upbeat version in a lounge jazz style is performed by the Eddie Higgins Trio. You might be excused for getting up and dancing to this tune. The trio consists of piano, guitar and bass.
k.d. lang with her beautiful voice provides a beautiful full sounding version, but I do miss the rawness that one hear in Simone and Smith.
In around 2008 my then girlfriend and I broke up after somewhat of a tumultuous emotional period in our relationship. Shortly before we broke up I wrote her the poem below. In the poem the narrator speaks of his lover as an assassin of hearts that will soon come to murder (i.e. break) his heart and in so doing be the cause of his death. At the end of the poem I realised that I needed there to be a personal touch--a loving "don't smoke in bed". After sometime I added the line: "Don't forget to water the flowers"--the idea being that flowers are a symbol of romantic love and by caring for the flowers she will keep his remembrance and symbolically keep their love alive after his passing. In a strange way this poem I wrote was influenced by this song "Don't Smoke in Bed". Basically they have the same themes and tell the same story of broken hearts and separation. Soon afterwards I moved to Korea.
Throughout the night I battle sleep
(my fists broken my temples bleeding
my knees and elbows chafed from fighting)
lest, like a calamity, the morning breaks
open like an egg a skull a heart stuffed
to the brim with love (that undaunted
heartless threatening damned type of love).
And now, as the day comes crawling
(my heart’s assassination on the agenda;
it will, I’m sure, be done with a knife)
and I have little fighting spirit left, I beg you
my love, be swift. I have already
both my stubborn shirt and chest
ripped open (I trust you’ll appreciate it).
My love, both my heart and I am ready
on this day (please don’t torture me further!)
to die enthusiastically an enormous death.
The angels (my guardian angel and yours)
are standing on their marks for a farewell number
(a necro-duet) to call me to the Big Slumber.
Don’t forget to water the flowers.
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