“It’s a little bit risqué. So, if you need at any time… want to cover your eyes, you may do so. Here I come. Ready or not! …”
I would have loved to put the video of Shirley Bassey performing at Prince Philip’s 80th birthday bash here, but unfortunately embedding is disabled. So you have to click HERE to watch it.
It’s already Monday in these longitudes, and I really should be doing other things, but can’t bring myself to do them. I found the song below among my other iPod possessions while walking along the beach this morning. It made me smile. I don’t know if that smile translates to English, but I hope it does. Have a wonderful day!
Nice Day
(“Schönen Tag” by Tom Albrecht, translated by Cosima)
Good day! My name is Tom, and I am twenty-five years old.
This song is not really important,
and is something between nice and superfluous;
a bit silly too, “superkalifragilistisch”.
Maybe it turned out a bit too simple,
but I just want to say: I wish you…
a nice day.
One or two sunny thoughts.
Wish you a nice day.
And if the sky gets dark,
it’s not as bad as it seems.
A nice day.
It may be ridiculous,
but I sing a bit, sing a bit,
sing a bit only for you.
This song wants to hide behind you and not
arouse incentives to buy. No.
I have written it in four quiet five minutes.
It appeals introverted to your good inner core, and wishes you…
a nice day.
One or two sunny thoughts.
Wishes you a nice day.
And if the sky gets dark,
it’s not as bad as it seems.
A nice day.
It may be ridiculous,
but I sing a bit, sing a bit,
sing a bit only for you.
Have fun ironing, driving your car,
reading the papers, riding the tram,
while queuing in the supermarket.
I wish you a nice day.
Have fun eating, watching football,
making love, and building.
You homo sapiens listen up: I wish you a nice…
Yes, I know, this song isn’t really clever,
is not a hit single, not a commercial super success.
This song, you can love or hate it.
Take it into your arms or make faces at it, but it wishes you…
a nice day.
One or two sunny thoughts.
Wishes you a nice day.
And if the sky gets dark,
it’s not as bad as it seems.
A nice day.
It may be ridiculous,
but I sing a bit, sing a bit,
sing a bit only…
I had some errands to run in Central and took my camera along for the ride. The first part shows some of Central’s pedestrian walkways, which connect almost every building in the business district. Have you ever seen the futuristic drawing from the 1920’s in which a city is shown where cars drive on ground level and pedestrians walk on bridges? Unfortunately I have forgotten the painter’s name. In Central Hong Kong that’s pretty much a reality.
First I tip-toed out of the bedroom where little man was sleeping, then I swung my hips along the hallway, and finally tap-danced in the kitchen while my noodles where cooking (with lobster flavor out of a sachet… don’t say anything). I wish it would have looked remotely similar to this…
The whole day, I had a sense of foreboding. Something just had to happen, but in the end nothing did. The morning was nice. I slept in, and it felt luxurious, but then the day kind of fizzled out. I worked the whole day, but didn’t finish what I set out to do, there was just too much of it. Frustrating.
In the evening, the walls started to close in, and I went for a walk after little man fell asleep. A long walk, more than two hours long through dark streets. It didn’t help. I had the urge to pinch myself, just to feel something. I can live with happiness, I can live with sadness, it’s the middle that kills me.
I feel restless.
…and I should really go to sleep… one o’clock… now it’s much too late for anything… anyway.
LACHE, WENN ES NICHT ZUM WEINEN REICHT Laugh, When It’s Not Enough to Cry Over
by Herbert Grönemeyer
translation by Julia Flood and Hyde Flippo
stolen from http://german.about.com/library/blmus_groeneMN05.htm
Thousand hairs in your soup
And your spoon has a hole
There is no shooting star
Your candle has no wick
You’re tortured by a never-
ending hiccup
Your soccer field is always
full of snow
Your gearshift is stuck
in neutral
Even your slow lane is
icy
In the bus of time you can
only find standing room
Standing room, standing room
in a skidding dream1
You’ll do any favor for anyone
You are modest and engaged
You are being used
by everyone
Don’t get a thank you,
just a kick
The Valley of Tears is
closed, too
The Wailing Wall, the Wailing
Wall is occupied
And if one day is so much
like another
And if life is
unbearably shallow
And if inside you emigrated
a long time ago
Laugh, when it’s not
enough to cry over
Your ship already
without rats
The captain already
overboard
Abandoned by everyone
in this world
Sprung a leak on the
high seas
There’s no spirit left
in the bottle
Not enough imagination
for paradise
The wrong wishes
coming true
No love, no poetry
No danger, no adventure
Sameness,
sameness,
melancholy
And if one day is so much
like another
And if life is
unbearably shallow
And if inside you emigrated
a long time ago
Laugh, when it’s not
enough to cry over
And if they also call
you a mimosa2
And if you drag your feet
behind the times
Every heart has
its rose
Laugh, when it’s not
enough to cry over
And if one day is so much
like another
And if life is
unbearably shallow
And if inside you emigrated
a long time ago
Laugh, when it’s not
enough to cry over
And finally reach for
the stars
No planet too far for you
Fortunately you can’t
forget how to yearn
There’s still so much time
left for crying
Fortunately you can’t
forget how to
yearn, right?
There’s still so much time
left for crying
1“Schleudertraum” (skidding dream) is a pun on “Schleudertrauma” (whiplash) 2“eine Mimose” (mimosa plant) is an oversensitive person
There were some very strange blue lights on the sky above Hong Kong last night. It could have been one of these…
… but it would have been way off schedule.
Personally, I think those blue lights were the blinking toenails of wee little faeries trying to catch the air currents to get out of here. I can’t blame them. The air is heavy, humid, and full of toxins. It’s hard to breathe. I have decided to take off my wings today and stay indoors until the gray smog in front of my window clears. I don’t want to end up dead like my unfortunate sister.
Which is just as well, because I have so much work to do. Since it’s Musical Monday and I feel a bit floaty and spacey, I am going to listen to this…
All I Need by AIR from their 1998 album Moon Safari.