Mon Etoile di Gilbert Paraschiva

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year

The Star full of love

I woke up one morning

and there was a star in the sky

I followed that star

all around the world

I was searching for love

and when I found myself

on the starting place,

after twenty five million miles,

I realized that  love was inside of me.

That star was a star full of love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVK8JEm7pjQ&feature=youtu.be

Lyricists and Poets

In the history  of psichedelic and progressive rock there are lyrics that just can't stay up on their own words, without be based on the music they have been written for.

Instead we have some other lyrics that, even without reaching the status of poems, they may show a relevant level as autonomous scripts.

This the case of Keith Reid's lyrics, which have been mostly written for the sixty british band Procol Harum. 

They can be ascribed to the surreal and impressionist style.

Emblematic of Reid's productions surely are the lyrics of the Procol Harum's songs "A whiter shade of pale" "and "Homburg", two of the most astounding hits, not only of the band, but of all rock's history at any time.

And this succes is also due to Reid's lyrics. There is no doubt on that.

For the music, also emotionally suggestive, Gary Brook, the band's pianoplayer and vocalist, said openly he started moving from some J.S. Bach's melodies; and furthermore, band's organist Matthew Miller, succefully suit a claim on a british court for sharing millionaires copyright royalties for the music of great hit "A whiter shade of pale"; but nobody will never dare, or would have a legal reason to do it, to claim the rights  on 50% Reid's royalties for the lyrics.

I personally love very much the two songs above named (you can listen to the  first one through the link below); their memory is strictly related to my first dreams of love; I believe they are good and nice on music and words, though I keep on saying that not even the best lyrics can't be poems.

http://albixpoeti.blog.tiscali.it/2012/12/14/quel-bar-cosi-lontano/

7 Holiday Traditions to Start with Your Family

Some families have holiday traditions that go back generations.  Other families don’t really have any traditions at all.  Regardless of which camp you fall into, why not create a few new holiday traditions this Christmas season?  Traditions give everyone something special to look forward to year after year.  If you are at a loss as to what kind of things you can do to start a tradition, check out this list.

1. Look at the lights.  Magical twinkling lights are all around in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Pick a night to take the whole family on a drive around the neighborhood or a drive through one of those huge displays that you pay by the car load.  You might want to bring along some popcorn and hot chocolate to enjoy during your drive.
2. Serve dinner at a soup kitchen.  Check with your local shelters to find out when they serve dinners and look into if you and your family can take part in helping those less fortunate.  Check early, because sometimes shelters take the first 50 people to help and then turn other volunteers away.  Christmastime is a popular time to help serve at the soup kitchen, and a lot of places will take reservations for volunteers.
3. Go Christmas caroling.  It doesn’t matter if you can carry a tune or not.  Dress warmly and print out the lyrics of some popular Christmas songs, then take a stroll around the neighborhood singing to folks.  This doesn’t happen as regularly as it once did, and people will surely be thrilled to hear a holiday song.  Ask some of your friends to come along if you are shy about your abilities.  There is strength in numbers.
4. Watch a tree lighting.  Most cities have a central square or other location where they have a big Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  Sometimes it’s tied to other winter activities that you might join in on as well.  Check with your city or online to see where the different tree lightings are in your area.
5. Go on a sleigh ride.  If you live in an area where there is no snow then you can look for a carriage ride and go on one of those with your family.  Check the yellow pages in your area and see where you can find a sleigh ride or carriage ride this holiday season.  It’s magical listening to the sleigh bells ring.
6. Invite friends over for Christmas Eve.  Get together with some friends on Christmas Eve and play games or watch a Christmas movie with some popcorn and candy.  Make it a potluck or order Chinese food for something completely different than what everyone will be eating on Christmas day.
7. Bake cookies for the neighbors.  If you love to bake why don’t you and the kids make up a bunch of cookies, candies and bars to take to the neighbors?  People usually like homemade food and will be excited to see someone from the neighborhood bringing them goodies.  You never know, the way to a cranky neighbor’s heart might be through their stomach!

Anything can become a tradition if you make it a point to do it every year.  Bake cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning or mix up a batch of homemade fudge.  You will be amazed how much fun it will be to anticipate these traditions year after year.

 P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Sandra McAubre.  I'm therefore publishing it by her invitation and under her permission. See also the link below fore more information:

http://www.hireananny.org/blog/7-holiday-traditions-to-start-with-your-family/ 

10 Creative Places to Hide the Kids’ Christmas Gifts

When the kids are little it usually isn’t all that difficult to keep their gifts a secret, but as they begin to get older and understand that Christmas entails receiving gifts, they tend to get a little more inquisitive and may start poking around trying to find out where you’re hiding the presents.  If you think your kids are going to be poking around before Christmas in an attempt to locate their gifts, try these 10 different places for hiding them away from their prying eyes:

1. Trunk of the car – If the present isn’t going to be affected by heat or cold, keeping it in the trunk of your car is a great hiding spot because the kids rarely have a reason to be in the car without you being there too. Just don’t forget you stashed them there and send the kids to get something out of your trunk!
2. Empty suitcases – These are the best hiding places! Those suitcases sit there day in and day out and no one has any need to move them or look at them.  You can hide quite a bit of small gifts in one of the larger suitcases, however, if you have an overly bulky item you may need to think of another spot for it.
3. Under bed storage boxes – Most kids don’t have any reason to go under mom and dad’s bed, and the under the bed storage boxes will hold a lot of stuff.  If you have a typical bed, you won’t be able to store very big items underneath it, but Barbie dolls and video games fit well!
4. The neighbor’s garage – If you and your neighbor are friends, this is the ideal hiding place for big items.  You can put your item in a corner and cover it with a blanket.  This is especially great if their kids aren’t little anymore so they can tell their kids the present out there isn’t theirs.
5. A box in the attic – Attics offer a perfect hiding space as long as it doesn’t double as a play area for the kids.  Also, be sure that you don’t store things up there that might be affected by extreme heat or cold. Big items work well in an attic as long as you are strong enough to get them up there.  Cover them up with a blanket and you are good to go.
6. Behind your clothes in the closet – Keep the kids out of your closet this time of year! Hiding presents behind long dresses and suit bags is a smart place to stash them because at first glance, the closet looks the same, and only you will know where you stashed the secret items.  You can even use this spot to hide stuff for your spouse since it’s not likely he will move all of your dresses and shoes looking for his gifts.
7. Your work place – If you pick up some gifts on your lunch hour don’t bring them home, just leave them under your desk at work.  Or, if they are expensive, you can lock them in your desk or file cabinet.  Make sure the cleaning crew can be trusted.
8. Storage box in the garage – Buy a few extra storage boxes that match the ones you have in the garage already and hide the gifts in there.  Then, store the boxes behind normal storage boxes in case someone would happen to look in one.  Add an X or something on the box so that you will know where you stashed the gifts; it’s not good to lose the gifts you went to such lengths to hide!
9. High shelf in the closet – Use a coat closet or a guest closet to hide gifts in a box up on a high shelf.  Put some blankets or other storage items in front of it so it won’t stand out if one of the kids is playing hide-n-seek and decides to hide in that closet.
10. Linen closet – Most kids probably don’t venture into the linen closet very often, and if they do it’s probably just to grab a towel.  Hide small items on the top shelf in the back and no one will be the wiser.  Closets in the laundry room work well for this too, as the kids rarely would have any need to go into the laundry room, let alone the closet in there.

Make sure you keep a list of your hiding places somewhere so that you know where everything is hidden. You don’t want to be scrambling around in the days leading up to Christmas trying to remember where you so carefully hid everything!

 P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Paul Taylor. I'm therefore publishing it by his invitation and under his permission. See also the link below fore more information:

http://www.babysittingjobs.com/blog/10-creative-places-to-hide-the-kids%E2%80%99-christmas-gifts/