Jan 19
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Haiti Chérie
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Haiti’s Earthquake Foreseen…

I Saw Haiti’s Earthquake Coming. I realized this truth only a few days ago… Coincidence or Premonition? You be the judge!

The last four weeks I have been listening to two specific songs, non-stop. For no reason whatosever. If one could browse the logs at Youtube.com, he would see that I had accessed the corresponding pages over thirty times! Each time, I would listen to these songs more than ten times in one sitting, while shedding some serious tears!

Indeed, I cried my butt off, while listening to these songs; every time! (This is also a little secret of mine that very few of my friends know about: I cannot help sobbing when I listen to certain types of music. But that is another story…)

The first number is ‘San Vicente‘ sung by Milton Nascimento; the second, ‘Calice‘ is a duet by Milton Nascimento and Chico Buarque. I do love the music and lyrics of Milton Nascimento’s recordings, but the same two songs, every day? It had to be something else. Only  a few days ago, it dawned on me that the images ’suggested’ correspond perfectly to what I saw in the videos I watched on the devastating earthquake.

As you listen to the songs, scroll down and follow the lyrics. For those of you who understand Portuguese or Spanish, the meaning will be quite clear. If you cannot understand the original text, Google Translate may help a tiny bit.

The song ‘Calice’ is so deep. It deserves to be understood… well, deeply! Most important, while listening, try to replace the original video with one of those earthquake videos, in your mind. It is a trip and a half. Some will get it, some will not. El que sabe, sabe…

San Vicente

Coração americano
acordei de um sonho estranho
(I awoke from a strange dream)
Um gosto de vidro e corte (A Taste of glass and flesh wound)
Um sabor de chocolate (A taste of chocolate)
No corpo e na cidade (In the body and in the city)
Um sabor de vida e morte (A taste of life and death)
Coração americano
Com sabor de vidro e corte

A espera na fila imensa (the wait in the huge line)
E o corpo negro se esqueçeu
Estava em San Vicente
A cidade e suas luzes
Estava em San Vicente
As mulheres e os homens
Coração americano
Com sabor de vidro e corte

As horas não se contavam (Time practically stopped)
E o que era negro anoiteceu
Enquanto se esperava
Eu estava em San Vicente
Enquanto acontecia
Eu estava em San Vicente
Coração americano…

Calice

Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
De vinho tinto de sangue (of bloody red wine)

Como beber dessa bebida amarga (How can I drink this bitter drink)
Tragar a dor, engolir a labuta (swallow the pain, swallow the hardship)
Mesmo calada a boca, resta o peito ()
Silêncio na cidade não se escuta (The silence in the city cannot be heard)
De que me vale ser filho da santa (What good is to be the son of the holy)
Melhor seria ser filho da outra (Better to be the son of another)
Outra realidade menos morta (Another reality less dead)
Tanta mentira, tanta força bruta (So many lies, so much brute force)

Como é difícil acordar calado (How difficult it is to keep quiet on waking up )
Se na calada da noite eu me dano (If I the silence of the night is bringing me pain)
Quero lançar um grito desumano (An inhuman yell, I want to throw in the air)
Que é uma maneira de ser escutado (So I can be heard)
Ese silêncio todo me atordoa (This silence is making me lose consciousness)
Atordoado eu permaneço atento (Even in this state of unconsciousness, I am still aware)
Na arquibancada pra a qualquer momento (in this setting where, at any moment)
Ver emergir o monstro da lagoa (I will see the monster rise from the laguna)

De muito gorda a porca já não anda (The pig hardly walks from so much fat)
De muito usada a faca já não corta (The knife hardly cuts from so much use)
Como é difícil, pai, abrir a porta (How difficult it is, father, to open the door?)
Essa palavra presa na garganta (The word is choking me)
Esse pileque homérico no mundo (this homeric mix we have to drink)
De que adianta ter boa vontade (What good it is to have goodwill)
Mesmo calado o peito, resta a cuca ()
Dos bêbados do centro da cidade ()

Talvez o mundo não seja pequeno (Perhaps the world is not small)
Nem seja a vida um fato consumado (Nor is life a fait accompli)
Quero inventar o meu próprio pecado (I want to invent my own sin)
Quero morrer do meu próprio veneno (I want to die of my own poison)
Quero perder de vez tua cabeça (I want to lose my head once and for all)
Minha cabeça perder teu juízo (Let my head lose all common sense)
Quero cheirar fumaça de óleo diesel (I want to inhale some diesel fumes)
Me embriagar até que alguém me esqueça (And get drunk until they forget about me.)

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Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

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Blog post by Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haitian Designs and Products.


Jan 19
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Haiti Chérie
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TwitterFeed – Haiti’s Earthquake

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Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

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Blog post by Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haitian Designs and Products.


Jan 16
This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Haiti Chérie
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Haiti Earthquake Relief

CafePress is helping raise money for Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts. CafePress designers/sellers get involved by donating designs to their Haiti Relief Effort Shop. Proceeds from the shop will go directly to UNICEF to aid families from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake. Sellers will not receive any commissions.

UNICEF is targeting these funds to provide safe water, temporary shelters, medical supplies and other essentials to displaced children. The money will also be used to help orphaned children reunite with
families.

The design below is Lakay Graphics’ contribution to this endeavour. Support CafePress’ fundraising efforts by going to the Haiti Relief Effort Shop. Thank you for your help.

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Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

Bookmark and Share

Blog post by Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haitian Designs and Products.


Sep 25
This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Link of the Day
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Haitian Street Kids, Inc

Help us show them that there are people that care.

Let’s spread the message of hope for the Haitian street kids. Learn about the horrible conditions some Haitian kids are living under. If you are outraged by the ‘restavèk’ culture in Haiti, and want to Continue reading “Link of the Day: Haitian Street Kids, Inc.” »


Sep 24
This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Link of the Day
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Link of the Day

Every day, we will showcase a website, a set of webpages, an online document, or a piece of information about Haiti, that we deem worthy of consideration.

It can be one of our favorites destinations on the web, specially those outstanding Haitian sites. ‘Bagay Lakay’ will maintain an up-to-date list of all major Haitian websites and other web resources related to Haiti and Haitians. We will particularly include dead or dying Haitian sites we would like to revive or make over.

Some links will point to charitable organizations actively working in our country. Others will link to websites dealing with Graphic Design, Web Technologies, Hobbies, etc. They can also be just the links to our newest designs.

Please, provide us with similar links, and help us build a gallery of outstanding online destinations for the the Haitian Web Surfer, or anybody else interested in Haitian Affairs, Culture or History.

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Bagay Lakay logo

Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

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Blog post by Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haitian Designs and Products.


Sep 24
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Linguistic & Cultural Pearls


Linguistic & Cultural Pearls

Here, you will find Linguistic and Cultural Pearls…
Bèl pèl m rekòlte pou nou…

Weekly posting of commentaries on linguistic and cultural ‘pearls’ collected from different sources: the streets, the schools, the bodegas, the Haitian radios broadcasting on the internet, etc. The focus being on the ‘instrumentalization’ of the language.

Gen tande. Gen koute. Ou ka tande san ou pa ap koute. Men si n vle pran bon son, fò nou mete zòrèy nou an twonpèt pou nou koute byen. Se on aktivite m eseye fè souvan. Kòm rezilta, sa pèmèt mwen rekòlte kèk bèl ti pèl, bèl ti bijou pawoli pou m pataje avèk nou.

Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

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Blog post by Roro and Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haiti-inspired Designs and Products.


Sep 22
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Tatán Uncovered
Name Antoine Pierre-Paul (Tatán is my favorite nickname, along with Pepe and Paulo.)
Date of Birth May 23, 1956
Place of Birth Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Current Location New York, USA
Height 5′ 11″
Weight 185 lbs.
Ethnicity Haitian/Black
Hair Black, slowly going gray…
Eyes Black
Eyesight Bad, very bad… from reading the PC screen and the huge collection of Sheet Music I have.
Primary Education Ecole Darius Denis
Secondary Education Petit Séminaire Collège St. Martial
Post-Secondary Education Faculté des Sciences de L’Université d’Etat d’Haiti
Occupation Freelance Graphic Artist
Favorite Software Platform Ubuntu Linux. (I have a copy of Windows Vista for Music and Gaming purposes)
Computers Various Desktop PCs running Windows 3.1, 98, XP, Vista and many flavors of Linux (Ubuntu, Knoppix, Kanotix, Slackware, etc.)
Sexual Orientation Heterosexual
Relationship Status Recently Widowed
Kids Two daughters, Joelle and Amanda Noelle.
Siblings Marie-Joseph (sister), Anthony & Henri-Robert (brothers).
Religion None, I am a Yogi. (I Grew up Catholic!)
Religious Views For me, Yoga is the Way. Period. (BTW Yoga is NOT a Religion, neither it’s an Exercise program. GTFW!)
Social Life What’s that?
Drinking No more.
Smoking I quit 12 years ago.
Drugs I am not retarded!
Diet 75% Raw Vegan and Fruitarian. Plus Rice & Greens and Wheat Bread.
Hobbies Flute playing (Baroque period, Jazz and Latin), Graphic design, Pen & Ink Drawing, Internet technologies, Graphic Software, Reading, reading…
Favorite foods Fruits, Nuts, Raw Vegetables, Rice and Beans, White Rice & Greens, Wheat Bread, Green Juices, Fruit Smoothies.
Favorite Music Everything but Rap, Heavy Metal and their close relatives.
Favorite bands Chamber Ensembles, Mariachis and Small Jazz Combos.
Favorite TV Shows Wait… there’s something good on TV? Now, this is news to me!
Favorite Movies “And justice for all”, “Stand by me”, most Spaghetti Westerns and good Comedies
Favorite Books Do I have to list all five hundreds of them? Only love (Sri Daya Mata), Autobiography of a Yogi (P. Yogananda), The Flute (J.J. Quantz), How to win friends and influence people (Dale Carnegie)…
Favorite Activities Oh, let’s see… daydreaming, watching paint dry, holding the wall, and my all-time favorite laying on the floor in the Corpse Pose!
Favorite Quotations “Tell the children the truth right now!” Robert Nesta Marley (Babylon System)
Political Views All the way to the Left. (In case you did not know, the Left is actually ‘more right’ than the Right!)
About Me Just an average guy who believes we should be doing a lot better on this planet, since we already have the recipe “Do unto others as we would them do unto us”.
Personal Goal To be the kindest person you will ever meet.


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