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20091207

It all comes down to a matter of perspective...more or less...

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It often does...

Posted by Ben Trovato :

37 comments:

  1. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:25 PM

    It's a funny story...

    I'll have to elaborate.

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  2. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:32 PM

    Supposing that Jesus spoke Spanish...

    Wait--What am I saying?--of course Jesus speaks Spanish. He speaks all languages, doesn't he?

    I wonder which one of those two quotes might have been his, supposing one of those two quotes were his.

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  3. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:45 PM

    The author of the first quote, actually, is a young Spanish (Basque) poet by the name of Alfredo Cuervo Barrero.

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  4. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:53 PM

    As for the second quote, it came about as a result of that verse and others from the poem being widely circulated on the Web by those looking to please or provide inspiration for 2009. Somehow the poem was attributed to Pablo Neruda, and at some point, the word MAS was replaced with LESS.

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  5. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:54 PM

    Interesting, isn't it?

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  6. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 1:54 PM

    Well, I thought so, too.

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  7. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 2:09 PM

    Roughly translated the first quote says:

    It is forbidden not to attempt understanding one another;
    to assume that the lives of others have MORE value than your own;
    to ignore that each of us has a unique path and say...

    The second version says:

    It is forbidden not to attempt understanding one another;
    to assume that the lives of others have LESS value than your own;
    to ignore that each of us has a unique path and say...

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  8. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 2:10 PM

    I am sure Quinty could come with a much better translation than that.

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  9. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 2:18 PM

    Anyway, here is the original poem by Alfredo Cuervo Barrero:

    QUEDA PROHIBIDO

    Queda prohibido llorar sin aprender,
    levantarte un dia sin saber que hacer,
    tener miedo a tus recuerdos.

    Queda prohibido no sonreir a los problemas,
    no luchar por lo que quieres,
    abandonarlo todo por miedo,
    no convertir en realidad tus sueños.
    Queda prohibido no demostrar tu amor,
    hacer que alguien pague tus deudas y mal humor.

    Queda prohibido dejar a tus amigos,
    no intentar comprender lo que vivieron juntos,
    llamarles solo cuando los necesitas.

    Queda prohibido no ser tú ante la gente,
    fingir ante las personas que no te importan,
    hacerte el gracioso con tal de que te recuerden,
    olvidar a toda la gente que te quiere.

    Queda prohibido no hacer las cosas por ti mismo,
    no creer en Dios y hacer tu destino,
    tener miedo a la vida y a sus compromisos,
    no vivir cada dia como si fuera un ultimo suspiro.

    Queda prohibido echar a alguien de menos sin alegrarte,
    olvidar sus ojos, su risa, todo,
    porque sus caminos han dejado de abrazarse,
    olvidar su padado y pagarlo con su presente.

    Queda prohibido no intentar comprender a las personas,
    pensar que sus vidas valen mas que la tuya,
    no saber que cada uno tiene su camino y su dicha.

    Queda prohibido no crear tu historia,
    dejar de dar las gracias a Dios por tu vida,
    no tener un momento para la gente que te necesita,
    no comprender que lo que la vida te da, tambien te lo quita.

    Queda prohibido no buscar tu felicidad,
    no vivir tu vida con una actitud positiva,
    no pensar en que podemos ser mejores,
    no sentir que sin ti este mundo no sería igual.

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  10. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 2:30 PM

    I mean part of it anyway--the poem is in fact much longer and actually begins in this fashion:

    ¿Qué es lo verdaderamente importante?,
    Busco en mi interior la respuesta,
    y me es tan difícil de encontrar.

    Falsas ideas invaden mi mente,
    acostumbrada a enmascarar lo que no entiende,
    aturdida en un mundo de irreales ilusiones,
    donde la vanidad, el miedo, la riqueza,
    la violencia, el odio, la indiferencia,
    se convierten en adorados héroes,
    ¡no me extraña que exista tanta confusión,
    tanta lejanía de todo, tanta desilusión!

    Me preguntas cómo se puede ser feliz,
    cómo entre tanta mentira puede uno convivir,
    cada cual es quien se tiene que responder,
    aunque para mí, aquí, ahora y para siempre:...

    etc. etc.

    You got the idea.

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  11. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 2:44 PM

    And here is a loose translation of it by a Crazy Colombian. Or, more accurately, a loose translation of the version of the poem erroneously attributed to Pablo Neruda, in which the word MENOS (less) had been substituted to MAS (more)):

    IT IS NOW FORBIDDEN

    It is now forbidden
    to cry without learning;
    to wake up one day
    and no longer have dreams;
    to become afraid
    of your own memories…

    It is now forbidden
    to not smile
    in the face of adversity;
    to stop fighting
    for those who you love;
    to abandon it all
    because of your fears;
    or to give up in making
    your own dreams come true.

    It is now forbidden
    to pretend we don’t need
    understanding each other;
    to place less value
    in the lives of others;
    to ignore each of us
    has a unique path to joy…
    It is now forbidden
    to give up on happiness,
    to abandon optimism,
    to quit improving ourselves;
    to believe the world
    will be a better place without you.

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  12. Ben Trovato12/7/09, 3:41 PM

    Giving credit where credit is due:

    The figure in the background is "ungentle, gentle" by Linda Bergkvist (aka enayla).

    The video clip needs no introduction.

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  13. Quinty12/7/09, 3:48 PM

    Yes.

    I agree.

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  14. Quinty12/7/09, 3:50 PM

    Uh,

    I meant with what was said way above.

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  15. Quinty12/7/09, 3:51 PM

    The Neruda (fake?) isn't too shabby too.

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  16. Quinty12/7/09, 3:51 PM

    Where were we?

    Oh yes, ordering drinks.

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  17. Quinty12/7/09, 3:57 PM

    Yes,

    make mine a Budweiser. The beer or choice among sophisticates throughout Europe. Even France.

    It is a better beer than most European beers. And though I have crawled (in the pedestrian meaning of the term) through German beer halls and cellars, finding some exotic delights ---- Did I ever tell you about my first night in Germany? It was in one of the biggest red light districts in the world. Serendipity brought me there. Or was her name Sera? Never mind---- Budweiser could still hold its own.

    I know, I know, some of you like microbrews, and the like. But family values must prevail here. Tradition, the Clydesdale horses, ages of drunkenness, can they all be wrong? Budweiser is the King of Beer. What's more, if you ever watch a championship fight who sponsors it?Lipton Tea?

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  18. Quinty12/7/09, 4:02 PM

    That red light district in Frankfurt was really impressive.

    Disneyland had nothing on it. As red blooded patriots we should all be proud that some of the sex shops were named "Las Vegas Sex" and the like.

    A true honor.

    Of course, Amsterdam, with its whores sitting in brightly lit windows, seeable blocks away, may give Frankfurt a run for the money. But what I like most about Amsterdam are the waves of pot smoke which hit you when you walk down some streets. And the guys staggering out as if they had just taken one in the solar plexis: being, of course, only stoned, and overcome by the smoke of pot in the air. All a lot of fun.

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  19. Quinty12/7/09, 4:05 PM

    Apparently, the Germans, and probably many Germans too, see Las Vegas as an extremely sexy place.

    Whereas we, here, in the United States, see Europe as a free wheeling and sexy place? Where young lads and lasses kiss out on the street. What can be more romantic than Paris? No Protestant ethic there.

    In fact, in the Catholic countries there is an easiness of morals which we may not be accustomed to here. I could tell you stories about that.

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  20. Quinty12/7/09, 4:06 PM

    Urp, that "many Germans too" above should have been "Europeans too."

    Too bad we can't go back in and change our unforgiving errors? No?

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  21. Quinty12/7/09, 4:12 PM

    I never saw a guy as horny as this young guy outside an Amsterdam whore house looking into the windows from the street. He could hardly manage what his over excited body was telling him as he looked at these young scags out on the street. While their bodies appeared noble and pure their faces could have been trampled on. Faces which wrote the gutter loud and clear. But there they posed, behind their windows, in bright lights. And this one guy could hardly walk he was so overcome.

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  22. Quinty12/7/09, 4:14 PM

    You can tell I was impressed.

    Because I never saw such excitement consume a man outside on the street. If you omit the time Cardinal Spellman walked along the side of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York with a young gay man. The good cardinal was so excited he could hardly walk straight.

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  23. Quinty12/7/09, 4:21 PM

    Catholic countries tend to be more understanding and tolerant, I think, than Protestant countries.

    Once in Spain, on a Sunday, I saw a church pour out after a service and its good parishioners immediately crossed the street into a park where on a stage an eight or ten year old kid unleashed the most foul mouthed dialogue you ever heard. And the church goes howled with laughter. Here, in the US, the morals squad would have been immediately called. And the old man encouraging the kid on up on the stage would have been immediately arrested.

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  24. Quinty12/7/09, 4:21 PM

    Now what were we talking about?

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  25. jin12/7/09, 7:06 PM

    Me too!

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  26. jin12/7/09, 7:06 PM

    I mean, what he said.

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  27. jin12/7/09, 7:07 PM

    ...and what he said.

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  28. jin12/7/09, 7:07 PM

    Oh dear, I'm confusing myjinself.

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  29. jin12/7/09, 7:08 PM

    Bartender...
    Could I please have a large glass of wine?

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  30. jin12/7/09, 7:08 PM

    Yes, Red of course!

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  31. jin12/7/09, 7:09 PM

    Now maybe I can make some sense of this.

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  32. jin12/7/09, 7:10 PM

    (and NO... I wouldn't jump off a bridge if everyone else did) :-P

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  33. Quinty12/8/09, 6:46 AM

    Jin -

    But why not?

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  34. jin12/8/09, 7:03 AM

    Well Quinty, because I can't swim, so I'd likely drown, then you'd have to have a huge wake at the Wulfshead in my honour & I wouldn't want to put you through all that hard work.
    ;-)

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  35. Quinty12/8/09, 10:43 AM

    Hard work?

    Getting drunk?

    I suppose you're familiar with this pearl of bar sage?

    "Some people say I have a drinking problem. I get drunk, I fall of the stool. No problem."

    We'll keep a seat reserved for you in case you decide to come back. Or perhaps you can just get the word out that you died and then sneak into the party. But we'll have a blast, whether you can make it or not.

    But thanks for your consideration anyway.

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  36. Kentucky Rain12/8/09, 11:39 AM

    I have spent time in Frankfurt, and Amsterdam as well as Heidelberg, which was the best. I also drink, a lot I think. I wish I had a Johnnie Black right now. Maybe I shouldn't be saying these things. I loved that poem, at least the translation. I speak German but not Spanish, or Latin. It was a cool fairy also. Sighhh...

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  37. Quinty12/8/09, 4:05 PM

    Yes, about that poem.....

    We need more of that than General Electric or Union Carbide.

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